Kannur

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday admitted in the state assembly that there have been repeated incidents of bomb blasts in some areas of the northern district of Kannur and said the police will conduct more vigorous investigations there. The submission by Vijayan came while rejecting the Congress-led UDF opposition's demand to adjourn the House proceedings and discuss the issue of repeated instances of bomb blasts in Kannur district. Claiming that a peaceful environment prevailed in Kannur, the CM said that the police were taking strict measures, including inspections, to prevent the manufacture of explosives. "The government is viewing the recent incident and similar instances very seriously and police have been directed to take stringent actions. Do not try to give it a political colour," he said. He said that a case of unnatural death has been registered under the Explosive Substances Act in connection with the demise of an 86-year-old man in a bomb blast at ..

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday lashed out at Governor Arif Mohammed Khan for calling a group of protesting SFI members "criminals" and said the BJP-led central government has "let loose such a deranged man". Addressing a gathering at Adoor near here as part of the ongoing 'Nava Kerala Sadas', Vijayan also attacked Khan for his remarks related to the Kannur region of the state. "It is not a good idea to let loose such a deranged man. At least the central government should understand that it is not good to leave him in this condition. We know that things are happening with the connivance of the central government but everything has a limit," the chief minister said. The Left leader alleged that Khan has been going around and calling those who oppose his ideology "rascals". "Earlier he called renowned historian Irfan Habib a rascal. He is calling protesting students rascals and criminals," Vijayan said. Referring to black flag protests, Vijayan said such demonstrati

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday rejected Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's claims that the government interfered with the re-appointment of Kannur University's Vice Chancellor. On Thursday, the Supreme Court criticised Khan's order reappointing Gopinath Ravindran, stating that the Governor had previously "abdicated or surrendered" his statutory powers for reappointing the VC. The court, while quashing the reappointment, also criticised the Left government for its "unwarranted intervention" in the matter. Talking to media in Shoranur in this north Kerala district, Vijayan dismissed news reports suggesting that the Supreme Court's verdict was a setback for the Kerala government, and termed them baseless. He clarified that the apex court had affirmed that due process was followed in the reappointment. Despite this, the governor continued to claim in the media that there was external pressure, Vijayan added. "The letter written by the ex-officio pro-chancellor -- the high

Schools in five districts - Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Madurai, Theni, Dindigul - of Tamil Nadu have been declared closed due to heavy rains

The state's health department said in a release that the elderly and children should maintain caution and avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes

An IndiGo plane flying from Kannur to Doha was diverted to the airport here on Friday due to a technical issue. The airline said the flight 6E-1715 was diverted to Mumbai as a precaution. "The operating crew noticed a technical issue and diverted the aircraft to Mumbai for necessary maintenance. The passengers are being accommodated on an alternative aircraft for their onward journey," it said in a statement. According to a senior DGCA official, the aircraft was diverted due to a hydraulic leak. Kannur is in Kerala. Details about the number of passengers onboard the aircraft was not immediately available.

A total of Rs 2 crore worth of MDMA, a banned contraband in seven packets in a bag, was seized from a train in Kannur district on Saturday. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) said here that the bag, with 678 gm of MDMA, was found in the compartment of the Yesvantpur-Kannur Express when it reached here. Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of RPF personnel and State Excise sleuths unearthed the substance. It was suspected that the owner of the bag left it there and escaped after knowing that a search was being conducted. The substance was worth to the tune of about Rs two crore in the international drug market, the RPF said. RPF inspector Binoy Antory said CCTV visuals of the passengers who boarded the train from Yesvantpur in Karnataka were collected and an investigation was begun. Recently, a native of Kozhikode was nabbed with 600 gm of MDMA after coming here by the Rajdhani Express from New Delhi.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Kannur University's Vice Chancellor (VC) by calling the latter a "criminal". The Governor accused Vice Chancellor Gopinath Raveendran of being part of the alleged conspiracy to attack the former when he was invited to the varsity amidst the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) agitations in the country. "He was party to the conspiracy to hurt me physically. He is a criminal. He is sitting as VC because of political reasons. I was invited there by the VC. What was his duty when I was attacked? Was he not supposed to report it to police? He did not do so," Khan told reporters in the national capital. He claimed that the Raj Bhavan had asked the VC to send a report to the police regarding what had transpired on stage, but he did not do so. "In normal course, I have no business to say anything against any VC. If I have to take action, I can. I have the power. Why should I speak publicly? "But, I have been forced to

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has sought a report from Kerala and Kannur universities over recent goof-ups in examinations.The answer key was distributed instead of question paper to students appearing for BSc electronics examination on "Signals and Systems" at Kerala University. The exam was held in February and not a single student raised the issue during the examination. The goof-up was noticed when the answer sheets were sent for valuation.Meanwhile, exams were postponed at Kannur University after it was found that the previous year's question papers have been repeated once again this year.A Raj Bhavan official termed the report sought a 'routine matter' as Kerala Governor is the de facto Chancellor of state universities."Action will be taken on the basis of the reports. This is a routine intervention of the Raj Bhavan in the university matters," the official said.The goof-up in universities has come at a time when the Kerala Governor is indulged in a row with the state ...

At least 10 Left party offices were vandalised and police resorted to baton charge as violence broke out in Kerala's Kannur district on Wednesday night over the death of an IUML youth wing member

In a similar incident, another minor girl, apparently a friend of the victim, was allegedly sexually assaulted by some people, police said, adding two FIRs have been registered