Kerala

November 13, 2024 9:00 AM

Voting for bypolls begins for 31 Assembly seats across 10 states and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency

Voting is underway in the bye-elections for 31 Assembly seats across 10 states, as well as the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, from where Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Interestingly, though these bypolls will not have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana Assembly polls. Along with Wayanad, seven seats in Rajasthan, s...

September 23, 2024 6:05 PM

India reports first Mpox clade 1b case in Kerala: Sources

India has reported its first case of Mpox clade 1b, confirmed in a 38-year-old man from Kerala’s Malappuram district. The individual had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates and began exhibiting symptoms, according to official sources. This is the first recorded instance of Mpox clade 1b in the country. The patient developed a fever and a rash resembling chickenpox, prompting doctors to send samples for testing. This particular strain, which led the World Health Organisation (WHO) ...

September 22, 2024 9:26 PM

Kerala: Three more test negative for Nipah virus in Malappuram, contact list grows to 267

Kerala's Health Minister Veena George confirmed that three additional individuals tested negative for the Nipah virus, bringing the total number of negative cases in the current outbreak to 78. The state continues to closely monitor the situation as efforts to contain the virus intensify. During a high-level meeting chaired by Minister George, officials assessed the ongoing outbreak and updated the contact list, which now includes 267 individuals. The health minister also provided updates on th...

September 16, 2024 3:23 PM

Onam Festivities Take Over UAE: Malayalees Prepare for Thiruvonam

Onam, the harvest festival from Kerala, is in full swing across the UAE. Today is 'Uthradam', the first day of celebrations, with Malayalees preparing for the main event,Thiruvonam, tomorrow. With a large Keralite community here, Onam has become one of the UAE’s most eagerly awaited cultural events, showcasing the country’s rich multiculturalism. Across the UAE, shopping centers and community spaces are adorned with vibrant 'pookalams' - intricate flower carpets that are a hallmark of Onam....

August 5, 2024 2:58 PM

How missed warnings, ‘over-tourism’ aggravated deadly India landslides

With a steeply pitched tiled roof piercing misty green hills in southern India and a stream gushing through rocks nearby, the Stone House Bungalow was one of the most popular resorts in the Wayanad area of Kerala state. It was empty when two landslides early on Tuesday washed away the 30-year-old stone building: staff and tourists had left after rain flooded its kitchen a few days earlier. But neighbouring dwellings in Mundakkai village were occupied and 205 people, almost all locals, were kil...

September 16, 2024 4:48 PM

Rain, debris, leeches: Wayanad landslide survivors recall ‘night of horrors’

Whenever it rains very heavily in the hills of Wayanad, many people stay awake, recalling a 2019 landslide that killed about 20 people. Last Monday too, housewife M Fathima said she and her extended family in Mundakkai village stayed awake as incessant rain poured down during the day and into the night. "When the first landslide hit around 1 a.m., we were all awake," said Fathima, 52. "Everyone in the room was crying. It felt like death was imminent." At least one other landslide followed. Th...

September 16, 2024 6:35 PM

Kerala announces aid for Kuwait fire victims; MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh visits Kuwait

In response to the devastating fire at a residential building in Kuwait, the Kerala government has announced a financial aid package of Rs 5 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for the injured. As many as twenty-three residents of Kerala were among 45 Indians who died in the fire incident here on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh arrived in Kuwait on Thursday to assess the situation and visit the injured. Singh...

September 16, 2024 5:45 PM

Monsoon rains arrive early in Kerala

Monsoon rains hit India's southernmost Kerala coast a few days earlier than expected on Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, boosting prospects for bumper harvests that could spur farm and economic growth in Asia's third-largest economy. Summer rains usually begin to lash coastal Kerala state around June 1 and spread across the whole country by mid-July, triggering the planting of crops such as rice, corn, cotton, soybeans and sugarcane. The monsoon, the lifeblood of the c...

May 20, 2024 3:34 PM

Heavy rainfall alert issued for Kerala

India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for heavy rainfall in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kollam in Kerala and a red alert for severe rainfall in the districts of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Alapuzha and Idukki untill Tuesday. The districts, including Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad, have received yellow alerts for rainfall for today. According to the IMD, recorded rainfall is up to 28 mm in the last six hours and up to 100 mm in th...

April 26, 2024 9:35 AM

Lok Sabha Polls: FM Sitharaman, Kerala CM Vijayan, Ashok Gehlot, Narayana Murthy & others cast their votes

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cast her vote at the BES polling booth in Bengaluru on Friday. She urged the people from South Bengaluru to come out in large numbers to cast their vote. Sitharaman also accused the Congress party of targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they have no positive agendas to speak about. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan arrived at RC Amala LP School in Kannur’s Pinarayi on April 26. He cast his vote at the polling center. He cast his vote along with hi...