Students, staff and Lions Club members at KGBV, Parvathagiri Mandal centre, in Warangal district on Saturday.

In a move aimed at supporting health and hygiene among young girls, the Lions Club Hanmakonda Tri -City organised a distribution drive at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayam (KGBV) in Parvatgiri mandal on Saturday. During the event, sanitary pads, a blood pressure monitor, a thermal screener, and a weighing machine were provided free of cost to the students.

Addressing the students as the chief guest, Lions former region chairperson Katanguru Ramgopal Reddy emphasised the importance of girls excelling in all fields. He encouraged them to prioritise their health and to communicate openly with teachers about any health concerns.

KGBV special officer Nazia Salma, zone chairman Gunda Vasudev and others participated in the event.

A.P. State Legal Services Authority Executive Chairman G. Narendar distributing hearing aids to needy children, in Amaravati on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT

Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority (APSLSA) Executive Chairman Justice G. Narendra distributed hearing aids to needy children, at a programme organised in Amaravati on Saturday. The programme was organised on behalf of Sri Gurudeva Charitable Trust of Mangalampalem in Vizianagaram district.

In another programme held in Warangal, Telangana High Court judges Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Maushami Bhattacharya handed over hearing aid kits to needy children.

According to a media release, the founder-president of the trust, Raparthi Jagadish Babu, thanked the legal services authorities of both States for taking up the charitable activity. He said that the trust would distribute hearing aids and artificial limbs through special camps to be organised by legal services authorities of north Andhra region very soon.

Guntur SP S. Satish Kumar addressing the media on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: T. VIJAY KUMAR

Reacting to the reports alleging that accused Borugadda Anil Kumar received preferential treatment at a police station, the Guntur Range Inspector General of Police Mr. Sarvashresta Tripathi ordered a departmental inquiry into the matter on Saturday.

The alleged special privileges were provided to YouTuber Anil Kumar, who is now accused in several cases, at the Arundalpet police station in Guntur recently. The events came to light after a video clip went viral on social media on Saturday, in which the police seem to offer him a table, bed sheet and allowed him to sleep outside the lock up, but within the station.

Reacting to the allegations, the IG told The Hindu that he ordered a detailed inquiry into the matter, adding that the report would come within 24 hours and he would take further action based on it.

With reference to the same allegations, the IG had suspended seven police personnel on November 6, in which they allegedly took him to a restaurant while shifting him to Rajahmundry Central Prison after Mangalagiri court denied bail and ordered 14 days judicial custody. Now, within three days after the suspension and departmental inquiry on the seven police personnel, this new video has come out into public domain. 

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Guntur District Superintendent of Police (SP) S. Satish Kumar clarified that all detainees are treated equally under the law, with no exceptions or special privileges granted. The SP detailed the conditions of Anil Kumar’s detention.

Following his arrest and a medical examination at a government hospital, Anil Kumar reportedly suffered from gastric issues, respiratory conditions and a few other health concerns. Subsequently, when presented before the district court for a three-day police custody request, Anil Kumar brought these health issues to the court’s notice, which led to the judge ordering that he should be provided with the minimal facilities to rest. 

The SP said that they only provided Anil Kumar with the basic facilities, as instructed by the court, and not any special privileges. He said that, in law enforcement, everyone is treated equally and police have no bias. He emphasised that any allegations of luxury treatment are unfounded and warned against distorting facts.

Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi
| Photo Credit: ANI

India has effective mechanism to monitor oceans: Navy chief

India has a highly effective mechanism for monitoring the oceans, known as maritime domain awareness, and is fully aware of “who is where and who is doing what” to ensure the country’s interests are not compromised, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi has said.

The Navy Chief also dismissed the dual carrier operation by China in the South China Sea as “nothing we should be concerned of“.

Addressing the media after the grand finale of THINQ 2024, a nationwide quiz competition organised by the Indian Navy on Friday evening, Tripathi also said India keeps a “close watch” on activities in its “area of interest”.

He made these remarks at the Ezhimala Naval Academy here in response to a question on China’s growing influence in the region through its cooperation with Sri Lanka.

“What China does in any part of the globe, let them do it. What they do in our area of interest, we are keeping a close watch. Nothing happens in our part of the world which we do not know of,” the Navy Chief said.

He said the Navy is keeping a very close watch in our areas so that India’s national interests are not compromised.

“When their units, whether military or non-military, operate in the Indian Ocean region, we do ensure that our national interests are not compromised. We have got a fantastic organisation to keep the oceans under watch, which is maritime domain awareness, and we know exactly who is where and who is doing what,” the Navy Chief said.

Women-led global circumnavigation

Tripathi also said the Indian Navy is very proud of the two young women Naval officers who are now on a mission to circle the globe in a boat as part of the Navika Sagar Parikrama-2.

“They are reaching their first port of call in Australia on Saturday. During the voyage, they will only touch four ports across the globe. It is a very challenging journey, as they will have to face rough seas and weather. But they are well-equipped and well-trained. They already have training for 36,000 nautical miles,” Tripathi said.

Talking about the initiatives like THINQ quiz competition, he said that the Navy has several such initiatives to popularise the force among the countrymen, especially youths, and educate them on what the Navy does during peace and during ‘not-so-peaceful times’.

He said innovation is one of the top priorities for the Navy, and the Indian Navy always wanted to remain on top of the technology curve.

“There is a process in which we recruit our officers and cadets. We assess the suitability. I am not worried about the quality (of resources) which we are getting,” he said.

He said the Navy also involved big public sector undertakings, medium, small, and micro establishments, and start-ups for technology sessions in an initiative to popularise the Navy’s pursuit of technological mastery.

For the THINQ 2024 editions, as many as 12,600 schools from 3,800 cities and towns in the country participated. Sixteen teams entered the semifinals, and eight teams contested in the grand finale held here.

A novel fight is shaping up at the Perumbavoor Urban Cooperative Society, which is in the eye of a storm after alleged irregularities running into over ₹100 crore were unearthed recently, as aggrieved investors under the Nikshepaka Samrakshana Samithi (Investors’ Protection Committee) are set to field a panel in the upcoming election on November 24 to seize control of the society.

The election will be held for the 11-member director board, after the cooperative, formed in the 1940s and mostly governed by the Congress, landed in trouble. It almost ran dry of funds due to alleged fraud in the valuation of properties pledged for loans and the sanctioning of loans in violation of its bye-laws. Investors, who had been approaching the society for various needs, have been returning empty-handed, with withdrawals now restricted to emergency requirements like hospital expenses.

“This is perhaps the first time that aggrieved investors of a society are contesting the election on a panel. This comes after it was revealed that the same Congress-led governing committee members responsible for the plight of investors are set to contest again. The governing committee, which had initially considered skipping the election, was forced to hold one due to our pressure. Fourteen investors, including three as dummies, will file nominations on Monday,” said Mayinkutty N.A., secretary of the Nikshepaka Samrakshana Samithi.

According to the Samithi, it now represents 370 aggrieved investors who have collectively lost ₹106 crore. Mr. Mayinkutty said that there might be more investors, both outside the State and abroad, who were still unaware of the fate of their investments.

Paul Pathickal, Perumbavoor municipal chairperson and current president of the society, said that he and at least three other existing director board members would not be part of the Congress panel, which was yet to take shape. Three of the existing members had been part of the previous director boards during the term when the alleged fraud had taken place, while he would stay off due to his position as the municipal chairperson.

“The irregularities date back to 2000, long before our committee assumed charge in 2020. Loan dues of less than ₹5 lakh pertain to our term. Rather than detecting the real culprits, both the Cooperative department and the police are indiscriminately implicating even those director board members who, at best, might have been signatories but otherwise have little knowledge,” he said.

Mr. Pathickal also accused the Cooperative department of not taking swift action or reporting the matter to the government, as the fraud should have been detected during the annual audit. He added that, since the director board members were party nominees, most of them had little knowledge of the functioning of the society.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has taken over the probe into the alleged fraud. Since the Samithi was formed in April, over 200 police complaints have been lodged by investors. The police have consolidated multiple complaints to file first information reports. Sharaf, 59, a director board member and former president of the society, was arrested by the police at the Kochi airport while allegedly attempting to flee to Sri Lanka.

A probe by the Cooperative department had found 26 persons, including director board members and employees, responsible for irregularities and slapped them with a fine of ₹33.34 crore.

The University of Kerala will hire retired teachers as adjunct faculty for its four-year undergraduate programmes (FYUGP)

The decision was taken at a recent Syndicate meeting after Vice-Chancellor (V-C) in-charge Mohanan Kunnummal put a rank list prepared by a selection committee on abeyance. The list was kept aside on account of a petition at the Kerala High Court that alleged that the selection panel violated University Grants Commission (UGC) norms.

The university intended to appoint 12 lecturers on contractual basis for 11 subjects, with more expected to be hired in the subsequent years to meet the demands of the FYUGP.

Dr. Kunnummal said Professors and Associate Professors, who retired in the recent past, preferably from government colleges, will be considered for appointment as adjunct faculty. The appointees, who will receive a monthly remuneration of ₹30,000, will be chosen after being recommended by the Heads of the Departments concerned based on their requirements.

While a proposal to engage retired teachers had been actively considered earlier, it was shot down by the Syndicate that called for appointing young job aspirants to the posts.

The selection committee had come under scrutiny after the V-C had objected to its constitution. He had opposed the inclusion of Shijukhan J.S., the convener of the Syndicate Standing Committee on Staff, Equipments and Building, in the panel. He also questioned the propriety of having the Registrar in the committee, asserting that the administrative head should not become part of a body that decides on an academic matter.

The UGC regulations mandated that the V-C or a professor appointed by the official should chair an interview for guest lecturer appointments. Dr. Kunnummal had proposed appointing former Syndicate member and senior professor P.M. Radhamany as the chairperson, but this proposal too was turned down by the CPI(M)-majority Syndicate.

The State Human Rights Commission has ordered immediate redressal measures to stop wastewater from Government Higher Secondary School, Kulakada, entering the compound of a nearby house and contaminating the well.

Commission member V.K. Binakumari, in her order, directed the Deputy Director of Education, district panchayat secretary, Kulakkada grama panchayat secretary and the school principal to find a solution within one month. The commission directed the Deputy Director of Education to convene the officials concerned within 15 days and take a decision.

Although the school authorities were aware of the rules regarding the discharge of wastewater, the effluent has been reaching the complainant’s well as the authorities did not pay much attention to it, the commission observed in its order.

In the report submitted to the commission, the secretary of the Kulakada grama panchayat said that wastewater was accumulated in the backyard of the complainant. The report also states that a letter was given to the school principal on July 25, 2024, asking him to take steps to treat the water on the school premises to resolve the complaint. But the steps taken after receiving the letter are not clear. The action was taken on the complaint filed by Akhil, a resident of Kulakada.

The Sadashivanagar police have arrested a couple hailing from Nepal who were growing Ganja plants in their kitchen garden in the city.

The couple used to make short video reels and upload them on social media. In one such video, ganja plants growing in pots were visible. One of the viewers tipped off the police about the ganja plants. Following this, a police team raided the house in MSR Nagar and arrested Urmila Kumari, 38 and her husband Sagar Gurang, 37. According to the police the duo was working in a private firm and confessed to the police that they are cultivating ganja plants in their kitchen garden to sell it to their customers.

The couple reportedly tried to hoodwink the police by plucking all the plants and discarded it in the dustbin as soon as they noticed the police team knocking their door. The police recovered the 54 grams of ganja leaves from the dustbin and seized it for further investigation.

The accused have been booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and released them later on station bail.

The rise and growth of Calicut is unlikely to be “a cause and consequence of the ascendancy of the Zamorins alone,’‘ as it had areas of economic importance in the early historic period of the megalithic phase itself, historian M.R. Raghava Varier has said.

He was presenting a paper at a symposium on ‘Calicut in history’ on the second day of the 43^rd South Indian History Congress at Malabar Christian College in Kozhikode on Saturday (November 9). It was K.V. Krishna Ayyar who linked the establishment of the port town to the emergence of the dynasty in his seminal work The Zamorins of Calicut.

Mr. Varier pointed out that the conflict between the Zamorins, who originally belonged to the Nediyiruppu Swarupam near Kondotty in Ernad taluk (now in Malappuram district), and the Polanad chiefs of the Porlatiri Swarupam, the traditional rulers of the coast of Calicut, was probably to get the ownership of those areas of economic importance. It could also be to gain control over the trade routes which spread all over the hinterland, providing outlet not only to the sea, but also to areas beyond the Western Ghats.

According to the legend, the two founders of the Zamorin’s kingdom received two fields, Kokkozhikode and Chullikkadu, and the sword of the last Cheraman Perumal, the sovereign of Kerala, with a royal sanction to “die, kill, and conquer”. Both these places are in the Kasaba Amsam in the city. “Kokkozhikode is a hillock overlooking the river Kallayi. In olden days, it could have served as a strategic point where one could have a view of the entire area, including the traffic in the river. Chullikkadu is mentioned in settlement registers as a ‘patanna’ or a salt pan. According to some authorities, there were 52 salt pans in the area, indicating it was a major economic activity there,” he said.

Thus, the ‘legendary gift’ consisted of a strategic point, Kokkozhikode, and an area of economic importance, Chullikkadu. Kokkozhikode also means the ‘Kozhikode’ that belonged to the king or ‘ko’. Mr. Varier said that the quarrel between the Porlatiris and the Zamorins was for the control of this area with immense resource potential. He also spoke about how the city grew through foreign trade with the Chinese and Arabs during the Zamorin rule.

V.V. Haridas, Professor, Department of History, University of Calicut, spoke about how the Zamorins were key patrons of high culture, as they strategically supported art, literature and religious rituals. Their patronage of the dance drama Krishnattam and Revathi Pattathanam, the annual assembly of scholars, were notable, he said. M.C. Vasisht also presented a paper and Jayaprakash Raghavaiah moderated the session.

Suresh Gopi, Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum and Natural Gas, made headlines with his remarks on the Waqf at a public meeting in Wayanad on Saturday. Mr. Gopi said the term symbolised a disturbing reality. He was speaking at a gathering at Kambalakkadu in the district to bolster Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Navya Haridas’s campaign in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.