Who is Pinarayi Vijayan?

Noted writer and Jnanpith award winner M T Vasudevan Nair, who had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital here following heart failure, has passed away, hospital sources said on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Vijayan pointed out that the Centre's stance deviates from the general VGF guidelines, which classify it as a one-time grant, not a repayable loan

Collaboration between Kerala and Tamil Nadu is a testament to cooperative federalism said CM

Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan slammed govt after visiting the recently vandalised new Congress booth committee office at Venduttayi near Vijayan's hometown of Pinarayi

The VGF is contributed by both the state and union governments. The union government's share amounts to Rs 817.80 crore while the state's share is Rs 817.20 crore

The CM said this is not the first time the union home minister has attempted to mislead Parliament and the public regarding the landslide

However, the southern state is not keen to have any big industries which will cause pollution and ecological damage, the minister said

The saffron party said that the Narendra Modi government has provided sufficient funds to Kerala through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)

Queries also included how much amount was there in the relief fund before the disaster, how much was available for use out of it and what portion of the amount allocated by the Centre was utilised

Kerala CM pointed out that as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to create a situation where there are no new cases of the disease by 2030, which will happen soon

The project timeline has been extended by five years, taking into account things such as the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as the Ockhi cyclone, and floods

The state cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, approved the draft supplementary concession agreement

CM said that several reminders, including a unanimous resolution passed by the assembly, were sent by the state government to the Centre

Chief Minister Vijayan said that it was apparent that they had not got any training or imparted with awareness of safe working near railway tracks

He further said that the VGF was a financial support mechanism that was introduced to encourage Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure projects

The VGF is invariably provided as a grant, not a loan and its defining elements are that "the payment to the concessionaire is non-repayable, it is a one-time grant and that it is over the

He also called upon the people of the state to embrace humanistic values that transcend religious, caste, and regional differences

Three persons including two temple committee officials were arrested in connection with the incident on Tuesday after a case was registered under the Explosive Substance Act and various sections

The opposition Congress-led UDF had targeted Vijayan over his Malappuram remarks

Terming Babu as an honest and good officer, Sudhakaran alleged that the government was dragging its feet on investigating the matter