Kerala Congress (B) chairman, former minister R Balakrishna Pillai passes away

News Network
May 3, 2021

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Kollam, May 3: Kerala Congress (B) chairman and former minister R Balakrishna Pillai passed away at a private hospital in his hometown Kottarakkara on Monday morning due to age-related ailments, his family said.

He was 86.

Born in a wealthy family in Kottarakkara, Pillai entered politics during his student days. He was a member of the Students Federation before joining the Congress.

He was a member of the AICC from 1958 to 1964.

Having been elected to the Assembly in 1960 from the Pathanapuram seat at the age of 25, Pillai quit the Congress in 1964 and formed the Kerala Congress along with senior leader K M George.

Pillai was the founder general secretary of the Kerala Congress.
He won the election from his home constituency Kottarakara in 1965, but was defeated in the next two polls in 1967 and 1970.

Pillai was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 from the Mavelikara constituency.

He was a minister for several years in various ministries headed by C Achutha Menon, K Karunakaran, E K Nayanar and A K Antony.

Pillai's over six-decade-long political career saw many ups and downs.

He had to resign from the ministry for his speech in the 1980s in which he had called for an agitation on the lines of the militancy in Punjab against the central government for ignoring Kerala's development needs.

He was the first minister in Kerala who was sentenced to jail for corruption.

The Supreme Court had in February 2011 sentenced Pillai and two others to one-year imprisonment for allegedly abusing their positions in the award of a contract for the Idamalayar hydroelectric power project during his tenure as power minister from 1982-1985 in the K Karunakaran ministry.

From 2017 onwards, he had been serving as the chairman of the Kerala State Welfare Corporation for Forward Communities, with cabinet rank.

Pillai is survived by his three children.

His son Ganesh Kumar, who is also a former minister, was re-elected to the Kerala Assembly as an LDF candidate from his family bastion Pathanapuram.

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News Network
December 6,2025

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With IndiGo flight disruptions impacting thousands of passengers, the airline on Saturday said that it will offer full waiver on all cancellations/reschedule requests for travel bookings between December 5, 2025 and December 15, 2025.

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation ministry had directed the airline to complete the ticket refund process for the cancelled flights by Sunday evening, as well as ensure baggage separated from the travellers are delivered in the next two days.

In a post on X, titled 'No questions asked', IndiGo wrote, "In response to recent events, all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment."

"We are deeply sorry for the hardships caused," it further added.

Several passengers, however, complained of not getting full refund as promised by the airline.

Netizens have shared screenchots of getting charged for airline cancellation fee and convenience fee.

"Please tell me why u have did this airline cancellation charges when u say full amount will be refunded (sic)," a user wrote sharing a screenshot of the refund page.

"Well, but you have still debited the convenience charges," wrote another.

Passengers have also raised concerns about the "cancel" option being disabled on the IndiGo app. "First enable the 'Cancel' button on your App & offer full refund on tickets cancelled by customers between the said dates," wrote a user.

A day after the country's largest airline, IndiGo, cancelled more than 1,000 flights and caused disruptions for the fifth day on Saturday, the ministry said that any delay or non-compliance in refund processing will invite immediate regulatory action.

The refund process for all cancelled or disrupted flights must be completed by 8 pm on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.

"Airlines have also been instructed not to levy any rescheduling charges for passengers whose travel plans were affected by cancellations," it said.

On Saturday, more than 400 flights were cancelled at various airports.

IndiGo has also been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells.

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News Network
December 19,2025

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru CEN police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly posting provocative and misleading content on an Instagram page named “mr_a_titude”, targeting the Bajpe police.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H identified the arrested as Abhishek M, a resident of Katipalla in Mangaluru.

A case has been registered at the Bajpe Police Station under Sections 353(1)(c), 353(2), 56, and 57 read with Section 189 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the post.

According to police, the accused uploaded a photograph of a hotel on the Instagram page and alleged that accused persons in a murder case under the Bajpe police jurisdiction were being given “royal treatment” by the police, including being served beef meals daily from the hotel.

The post further accused the police of supporting criminals, misusing their authority, and betraying public trust. Police said the content was provocative in nature and aimed at inciting public outrage against the police.

Following the post, a case was registered at the Bajpe police station, and further investigation was transferred to the CEN police station.

Police records indicate that the accused has a criminal history, with multiple cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder, assault, and robbery at the Surathkal Police Station, and one case at the Kaup Police Station.

The Commissioner said the accused was traced and arrested using technical evidence.

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