TRIVANDRUM, 19 October — Parliamentary decorum flew out the window in Kerala Assembly yesterday with the opposition and treasury members engaging in fist fights and assaulting a Cabinet minister during the zero hour. Three Opposition members, M.V. Jayarajan and Raju Abraham of Communist Party of India-Marxist and P.S. Supal of the Communist Party of India, were suspended from the current session for assaulting Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar yesterday. The opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) boycotted the house following the suspension and staged a sit-in, first in the well of the house and later at the entrance. Chief Minister A.K. Antony moved the motion to suspend the troublemakers whom he alleged of having disrupted the business of the house, misbehaved with the lady staff and assaulting the minister. The speaker said he was taking action against the members on the basis of the resolution, which was passed by the voice vote. Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan said the whole drama was enacted to save the face of Antony who was "under a cloud after allegations of corruption in the 18-billion-rupee Japanese-aided drinking water project". The fracas started when Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman denied permission for an adjournment motion moved by CPM member Dr. Thomas Isac on delay in completion of Maitri housing project and asked Kumar to go ahead with his reply to a calling attention disregarding the protests. Today’s developments were a sequel to the personal attacks between the chief minister and the opposition leader.
Sudanese terrorist links
TRIVANDRUM: Security agencies have stumbled upon strong evidence hinting at close connection of a Sudanese student, who left Cochin after the launch of attack on Afghanistan, with several other Sudanese staying in different parts of India, especially students doing various courses in aviation-related subjects, local papers reported. A strong watch has been mounted on foreign students in Kerala, especially the Sudanese and Yemenis pursuing various disciplines in aviation engineering and cargo management. But a search in Cochin for the missing Sudanese Atif Muhammad Ali Sali and has put the intelligence wing on high alert after they found several incriminating documents in his room. Among the documents recovered was a dossier on all terrorist attacks carried out in the country.
AT Ummer passes away
TRIVANDRUM: Noted Malayalam music director A.T. Ummer, who had scored music for over 200 films, died of asthma-related ailment yesterday morning in Madras. He was 73. The burial will take place at Kunnoth Juma Masjid in Thalassery today. A former midfielder of the famous Lucky Star soccer club of Kannur, Ummer entered the tinsel world in 1976 with the number Pakaroo Ragarasam (Thalirukal). Gandheevam was the last film he scored music for.
KSRTC to be revamped
TRIVANDRUM: The Kerala government is planning to apply professional management system to save the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) from the deep financial crisis, Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar told the state assembly yesterday. A total restructuring was being done in the KSRTC to improve its efficiency. Though the daily collection had increased by 2.8 million rupees after the recent fare hike, the corporation continues to be in the red. Of a total of 4,514 buses, only 3,400 could be operated due to shortage of spare parts and tyres. About 400 services would have to be canceled a day due to shortage of buses. As part of the efforts to mobilize additional revenue, prime property of the KSRTC at various centers would be leased out for construction of commercial complexes on Build-Operate-Transfer basis for construction of a shopping complex, he added.
Silk Air operations
TRIVANDRUM: The Silk Air will launch its flights from the Cochin International Airport on Oct. 28. The flights would be code-shared with Air India, the airlines said in a release. Cochin, Kerala’s industrial hub, would be the second destination of the airlines in India after Trivandrum. The new flight services by A-320 to Cochin are scheduled to depart every Wednesday and Sunday.
IT cooperation deal
TRIVANDRUM: Kerala Government, the Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) will ink a deal here today for better cooperation with each other in the IT infrastructure development in the state. Working groups will be constituted to work out the specifics of the cooperation. The main aim is to make use of the abundant bandwidth available with BSNL and VSNL to cater to the growth of IT industry in the state.
Exporters continue stir
TRIVANDRUM: Export cargo continued to pile up at the three airports in the state for the fourth day yesterday with no exports (both perishables and general cargo) being lifted from either the Trivandrum, Cochin or Kozhikode airports protesting the slapping of a security charge on exporters. The exporters from Bombay also joined the protest halting exports of perishables.
