THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Dammam-based Navayugam cultural organization recently announced its cultural and media awards for 2007. A.M. Muhammad won the Vaikom Mohammed Bashir Award for Novel while Madhawi Menon grabbed the award for poem. Joseph Theruvan and M. Faisal were the winners of the award for short stories. Navayugam’s media awards went to P.A.M. Haris of Malayalam News and P.K. Abdul Ghafour of Arab News. Ahmed Pulikkal, managing director of Al-Rabi Dispensary in Dammam received the award for social work while John Thomas of the International Indian School Dammam got the award for educational services. The awards were announced by Professor Nissar Kathungal, Navayugam’s national committee president in the Kingdom, and Vallikav Mohandas, chairman of the award committee. Nissar said the awards, including a certificate and a cash prize of Rs.10,001, would be distributed during a cultural conference to be held in Dammam in December.
Port projecthits snags
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Trouble is brewing for Kerala’s ambitious seaport project at Vizhinjam 16 km from here with the local people staging protests, as they fear of large-scale displacement. The state government has notified 1,088 hectares (2688 acres) in six thickly populated villages along the shores to be acquired for the Rs80 billion mother port and allied infrastructure. With the federal Shipping Ministry giving its final nod this week, the revenue authorities have asked the villagers to get their land ready for acquirement and remove trees and walls in the notified areas. They were given one month’s time to challenge the notification.
Potable water becomes costly
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After the power and transport fare hike, the left government in Kerala has announced a drastic increase in water charges across the board barring the poor. The state Cabinet, which cleared the bailout plan for the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) last week, has also decided to supply free potable water to the below the poverty line (BPL) households consuming less than 10,000 liters a month. The charges go up from 20 percent to 138 percent in various slabs of the KWA consumers in the domestic sector and 25 percent to 135 percent in the nondomestic sector.
Master swindler in police custody
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 21-year-old man is cooling his heels in police custody after allegedly swindling Rs.2 billion that unsuspecting investors deposited in his finance company. He was on the run for five days until the Kerala police took him into custody from his hide-out in the neighboring Tamil Nadu city of Nagercoil last week. According to the police, J.R. Sabarinath, a school dropout who failed to clear his Class XII exams, set up two investment companies TOTAL 4U and Nest Investment Solutions and attracted more than 1,000 depositors in a span of 20 days.
