TRIVANDRUM, 8 October 2006 — Sreelatha, widow of P.M. Prakashan, an Indian expatriate worker who died in Al-Jubail on Aug. 27, 2005, has approached junior foreign minister E. Ahamed and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan seeking compensation. According to the second autopsy conducted at the Calicut Medical College, there were 14 ante-mortem injuries on the body suggesting “violent altercation and subsequent fall” though initial autopsy conducted in the Kingdom concludes that the 41-year-old’s death was from cardiac disease and its complications. Post-mortem examination in the medical college was conducted after Kerala police registered a case on a complaint from the relatives after the body reached here in February. Pramod, brother of Prakashan, said the family also intends to move the state and national human rights commissions seeking justice.
Rains Lash South Kerala as
Monsoon Gains Strength
Heavy rains lashed south Kerala yesterday as the southwest monsoon gained strength due to low-pressure formation in the Arabian Sea. Heavy downpour since wee hours brought low-lying areas in the state capital under water, causing severe hardships to the urban poor. The rains also caused traffic snarls at vital points including the state capital as the roads got submerged in knee-deep water. According to the Weather Bureau, the Trivandrum airport recorded 10.9 cm and the capital city 7.35 cm rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. The current spell is expected to last till tomorrow with isolated and heavy rainfall and thundershowers.
Special Package to Contain
Mosquito-Borne Diseases
India’s Health Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has announced a special package for Kerala to combat mosquito-borne diseases chikungunya and dengue fever that are spreading alarmingly in the state. The federal government would supply fogging machines, mosquito nets and testing kits, he told reporters after visiting hospitals in Sherthala in Alleppey district where more than 85 deaths were reported in the past month. He said he was awaiting reports from the World Health Organization and federal agencies whose experts inspected the area last week. “More than 70 percent of the victims were above 60 years of age and others mostly children. They died of secondary complications including cirrhosis and cardiac problems. The expert reports will ascertain role of chikungunya in these deaths,” he said.
Police Probe Cyber Money
Swindle Case
Kerala police have sought help of e-mail service providers such as Yahoo! to crack the cheating through online banking after a non-resident Indian customer of a commercial bank complained that 140,000 rupees were missing from his account. The money was transferred to two other bank accounts in two other new generation banks in Madras through internet banking. The police have also approached the Interpol to trace the suspected e-mail account holders. Sreekumar, an expatriate worker in Bahrain, had complained to the bank authorities that the amount was missing from his NRI account and the bank authorities found that the money was transferred to the accounts of one Badharinath and Geetha in two other banks in Madras through the internet-banking facility over the last one month. There were four transactions, each involving 35,000 rupees.
Toxicity Levels Drop After
Coke Plant Shutdown
The content of toxic chemicals like cadmium, chromium and lead in the groundwater in Plachimada village, has come down after the Coca-Cola stopped production at their plant there, according to Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran. The main analytical laboratory in the state had detected traces of heavy metals “much above permissible levels” when the factory was running, he claimed. Spectroscope reports from the State Pollution Control Board had also revealed cadmium level at 201.8 mg per kg in the sludge against a permissible limit of 50 mg per kg, he told the state assembly yesterday. Much before the revelations by the Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment, the Kerala government had conducted a study of the sludge from the Coca-Cola plant which remained closed since March 2004 because of the widespread opposition.
IPS Officer Asked to Pay
Rs 1.5 Million in Marriage Row
The Kerala High Court has directed parents of Assistant Superintendent of Police Vikramjit Singh to pay the marriage expenses of 1.5 million rupees within a week to his estranged wife Dr. Jasleen Virk, daughter of S.S. Virk, director general of police, Punjab. Both Vikramjit and Jasleen have been asked by the court to return the gold ornaments received by them and their relatives at the time of their marriage on June 5 last year.
Navy to Get More Muscle
With New Ships
The Indian Navy is planning to increase its fleet strength with new ships, submarines and aircraft besides developing an infrastructure with an aim to making it a force to reckon with by the end of the decade, Chief of Naval Staff Adm. Arun Prakash has said. Addressing navy cadets in Kochi, he said most of these acquisitions would have a 90 percent indigenous component. By that time, a speedier and secure connectivity will be in place for the navy, which would facilitate all naval units to share information through computers and satellites.
