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Commercial flight operations from Naval airport at Kochi commenced today with the first Air India flight from Bengaluru arriving this morning Kerala floods  : The situation in the flood-ravaged state was gradually improving, even as some rainfall was forecast for the coastal state from Monday onwards. According to the Indian Meteorological Department, “heavy rainfall” is expected only in Kozhikode, Kannur and Idduki districts over the next four days. However, even as water recedes from major areas, authorities are gearing up to deal with the possible outbreak of water-borne and air-borne diseases. Commercial flight operations from the Naval airport at Kochi commenced today with the first Air India flight from Bengaluru arriving this morning. It is after 18 years that civilian flights are landing and taking off from the naval airport. The Indian Railways said that two special trains will be run on Monday from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam to Kolkata and that t...

Mounting a blistering attack on the Left, the Uttar Pradesh CM said it was its nature to grab power at gunpoint   The BJP on Wednesday fielded  Yogi Adityanath  as part of its campaign against the killing of saffron activists allegedly by the ruling CPI-M in Kerala, where the firebrand Hindutva leader accused the Left party of promoting “jihadi terrorism” Mounting a blistering attack on the Left, he said it was its nature to “grab power at gunpoint”. The saffron-robed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also raked up the contentious issue of ‘Love Jihad’, accusing the Kerala government of not taking steps to check the “dangerous trend”. Leading the ‘Jan Raksha Yatra’, a day after BJP president Amit Shah launched the party’s 15-day campaign for “people’s protection”, Adityanath said Kerala occupied an important place in the Sanatan Hindu tradition, and wondered how the “foreign ideology” of Communism entered the state. “The CPI(M) raises slogans about se...

The relics include sets of copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th century Current Affairs   : Prime Minister   Narendra Modi   has gifted his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu replicas of two sets of relics from Kerala, regarded as key artefacts of the long Jewish history in India. Modi, who arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel on July 6 for a three-day visit, presented the relics to   Netanyahu   at his home. They comprise two different sets of copper plates that are believed to have been inscribed in 9-10th Century, the Prime Minister's Office said. The first set of copper plates is a cherished relic for the Cochin Jews in   India.   It is regarded as a charter describing the grant of hereditary royal privileges and prerogatives by the Hindu King, Cheraman Perumal (often identified as Bhaskara Ravi Varma) to the Jewish leader Joseph Rabban.   Read Full Story

Kerala based NGO to receive UNESCO literacy prize in Paris A Kerala-based NGO will on Wednesday receive the prestigious   UNESCO   Confucius Prize for Literacy for its literacy-linked skill development activities at a ceremony in Paris. The Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS), based in state's Malappuram, has bagged the award for its activities in the field of lifelong education and skill development programme in rural areas - aiming to help underprivileged individuals achieve better livelihood. JSS Malappuram chairman and Rajya Sabha member P V Abdul Wahab and the unit's director V Ummerkoya will receive the award at the ceremony that will also mark 50th anniversary celebrations of UNESCO's literacy programmes, a statement said. Education Ministers from UNESCO's member states are expected to attend the function, in which third edition of Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE 3) will be launched.   (more)

Victory in Assam could help passage of GST, hope of seats in 2019 from all across India After a disastrous 2015, where it was electorally mauled first in Delhi and then Bihar, the year 2016 has brought much cheer for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The results are beyond   BJP ’s expectations -– it has comprehensively won Assam byand nearing the majority mark on its own, it has won its first ever seat and over 11 per cent votes in Kerala, as many as half dozen seats and 10 per cent vote share in Bengal and to top it, has the comfort of the return of a favourable government in Tamil Nadu. The results will sweeten Modi government’s second anniversary celebrations, brighten hopes for the passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution amendment in the Monsoon session and boost BJP’s preparations for the important Uttar Pradesh assembly polls due by February 2017. Most of all, the results are good news for the BJP in the context of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. T...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Kerala government’s liquor policy restricting service and consumption of liquor at bars in five star hotels only. An apex court bench comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh in their judgement pronounced on Tuesday said that petitions challenging the  Kerala liquor policy  are dismissed and the Kerala High Court judgement sustaining the liquor policy is upheld. The liquor policy, upheld by the apex court, allows service of liquor at bars in five star hotels only. Under the policy, the sale and consumption of liquor at the bars in hotels below five star is prohibited. Kerala government, defending its policy, had said that those ousted from the business had no fundamental right to continue selling liquor at the bar. Kerala government also contended that liquor was available in retail outlets and people can buy and drink at their homes. The state government had told the court that drinking at home, ...