Work on mini power project begins

Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed launches work on the mini hydel project in Peruntenaruvi. Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed has said that Kerala will be the State with the worst power crisis in the country, if it failed to augment its power generation and power import capacity by 2021.

The Minister was inaugurating the work on the proposed 6-MW mini hydro-electric project on the Perunthenaruvi stream at Chathanthara, near Vechoochira, in Ranni taluk on Sunday.

According to him, the State's present daily power need has been put at 3,100 MW against its daily production of 1,000 MW. The State has been meeting the production-demand gap with the allocation from the Central pool and by purchasing electricity from other States.

Mr. Mohammed said the State's daily power requirement would shoot up to 6,000 MW by 2021.

He said the Kerala State Electricity Board had incurred loss of Rs.1,350 crore by purchasing electricity at a higher price from other States and supplying it to the consumers at a lower price in the previous financial year alone.

Though former Electricity Minister A.K. Balan had taken an initiative to set up a 1,050-MW thermal power plant in Kasaragod, it failed to materialise because of opposition from environmentalists.

Kerala had a stake in the NTPC's atomic power plant at Koodamkulam in Tamil Nadu. But, the Power Grid Corporation could not yet extend the transmission lines to bring the State's share of 240 MW from Koodamkulam owing to public protest, he said. There were also apprehensions over the route of the transmission lines through the SmartCity project area, he added.

Anto Antony, MP, inaugurated a public meeting held in connection with the stone-laying ceremony of the project. Raju Abraham, MLA, presided over the function. Babu Prasad and Annamma John, KSEB members; V. Viswanathan Nair, Chief Engineer; Benny Puthenparambil, block panchayat president; and K.J. Joseph, Vechoochira panchayat president, spoke.

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Assembly session begins, MLAs sworn in

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 1 : A two-day session of the 13th Kerala Assembly began today with the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected MLAs.

As many as 141 MLAs, including one Anglo Indian representative, were administered the oath of office and secrecy by pro-tem speaker N Sakthan.

The swearing-in of candidates began at 0900 hrs in the alphabetic order of their names.

Fourty-two MLAs are newcomers while among the old-timers are K M Mani, who is already the longest serving member of the House for the 12th time and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who is the second longest serving member by the 10th time.

A P Abdullakutty took the oath first as his name appeared first in the alphabetic order.

Ludy Lois is the Anglo-Indian representative.

Three members took oath in English, while one in Kannada and another member in Tamil. The UDF has 72 and the LDF 68 members in the Assembly.

Senior CPM leader and former Chief minister V S Achuthanandan too was sworn-in as member of the new House.

Meanwhile, A K Balan and G Karthikeyan, the LDF and UDF nominees for the post of Speaker, filed their nomination papers after the swearing-in ceremony.

The election of Speaker will be held tomorrow.

--UNI

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Kerala's trawling ban begins June 15; fish to be dearer

Thiruvananthapuram, May 30 : With the annual ban on trawling coming into effect June 15, the price of fish is set to soar in Kerala.

A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Monday decided to enforce the ban on fishing in the sea by trawlers from June 15 to July 31, an annual practice since 1988 during the monsoon, which is the breeding season for a variety of fish.

The ban extends to 12 nautical miles off the Kerala coast, and applies to all kinds of trawlers and mechanised boats.

The fish prices are already very high in the state, with the popular Seer fish costing over Rs.400 per kg. The fish is is expected to become costlier once the trawlers stop venturing out into the sea.

This ban aims at conserving fish species during the monsoon, which is the spawning season for many varieties of fish, including shrimp.

During the ban period all those working in mechanized boats, peeling sheds and fishing harbours in the state are provided with free ration.

--IANS

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Kerala's trawling ban begins June 15; fish to be dearer

With the annual ban on trawling coming into effect June 15, the price of fish is set to soar in Kerala.

A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Monday decided to enforce the ban on fishing in the sea by trawlers from June 15 to July 31, an annual practice since 1988 during the monsoon, which is the breeding season for a variety of fish.

The ban extends to 12 nautical miles off the Kerala coast, and applies to all kinds of trawlers and mechanised boats.

The fish prices are already very high in the state, with the popular Seer fish costing over Rs.400 per kg. The fish is is expected to become costlier once the trawlers stop venturing out into the sea.

This ban aims at conserving fish species during the monsoon, which is the spawning season for many varieties of fish, including shrimp.

During the ban period all those working in mechanized boats, peeling sheds and fishing harbours in the state are provided with free ration.

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Abhinaya drama festival begins from May 27

Kottayam, May 26 : The 2nd Abhinaya Summer Drama Festival (Malayalam version), under the auspices of the Arts Society Kottayam and Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, will be held at Mammen Mappillai Hall here from May 27 to May 29.

At a news conference here today, Arts Society President P V Cherian, Secretary Anish Punnen Peter and Abhinaya President Reghoothaman said Bhagavadajjukam, Lesson, Macbeth would be staged as part of the festival.

Around 40 artistes were participating in the festival being held at eight centres.

The festival started at Kozhikode on April 28.

Programmes as part of the festival were already staged at Kattapana, Palakkad, Muvattupuzha, and Kochi before reaching Kottayam.

After staging programmes at Kollam from June 1 to 3, the valedictory programme of the festival would be held at Thiruvananthapuram on June 9, they said.

--UNI

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