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Kozhikode, Sept 14: In the wake of the Nipah outbreak in this north Kerala district, a holiday has been declared for all educational institutions here on Thursday and Friday.

The holiday was declared by Kozhikode District Collector A Geetha who in a Facebook post said educational institutions can arrange online classes on the two days for students.

However, there will be no change in university exams schedule, she added.

A 24-year old health worker became Kerala's fifth confirmed Nipah case on Wednesday since its recent outbreak.

Meanwhile, a 24-hour control room was set up in the neighbouring district of Wayanad following the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode. The Wayanad district administration also constituted 15 core committees to lead the prevention and surveillance activities and effectively deal with emergency situations.

The virus strain seen in the state was the Bangladesh variant that spreads from human to human and has a high mortality rate, though it is less infectious, the government said.

The condition of all 76 people who are in the high-risk contact category remains stable, State Health Minister Veena George had said.

The government had also said that 13 others who have mild symptoms are now being monitored in the hospital, and only a 9-year old child - among those infected - is in the Intensive Care Unit.

It had said that monoclonal antibodies have been ordered from ICMR to treat the child. It is the only available anti-viral treatment for Nipah virus infection, though it has not been clinically proven yet.

A review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was also held in the wake of the outbreak of the brain-damaging virus.

The high-level meeting chaired by the CM analysed the situation thoroughly and "we have come to the conclusion that all the possible prevention measures are in place and there is no need to panic," George had said.

The minister had also said the WHO and ICMR studies had found out that the entire state of Kerala is prone to getting such infections, not just Kozhikode.

People living in forest areas have to take the highest precautions, George had said, and added that the latest case of the Nipah virus originated within five kilometres of a jungle area.

Four more wards - three in Villyapally panchayat and one in Purameri panchayat- in Kozhikode district had been declared as containment zones yesterday in addition to those announced on Tuesday.

Considering the serious nature of the disease, the Kozhikode administration had on Tuesday declared seven village panchayats-Atanchery, Maruthonkara, Tiruvallur, Kuttiyadi, Kayakkodi, Villyapalli, and Kavilumpara- as containment zones.

The Melkar Degree College, located at Marnabail village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada, observed its ninth graduation day on its campus on September 16. Prof M M Khan, head of the Department of Studies in Electronics, Mangaluru University, was the chief guest. 

Mr Khan reminded the fresh batch of graduates that degree is not the end of learning but just a level. He exhorted that everyone should continue to increase her/his knowledge through reading and thereby improve mental ability too. 

He called upon the students to develop a scientific, rational and thoughtful personality enriched with experiences of life. 

Presiding over the event, Dr S M Rashid Haji, chairman of the management committee of the college, advised the students to develop their personality by cultivating discipline and patriotism along with studies and emerge as notable persons in the society.  

Rasheena and Fatima Parveena, the toppers in B Com and BA courses were honoured on the occasion whereas 64 students were conferred with bachelor degrees. 

B K Abdul Latheef, principal of the college, was present. The event commenced with prayer by students. Nazmiya Jasmin of 2nd year B Com welcomed. Nusaiba Banu of final year B Com proposed vote of thanks. P Zubaida of final year BA compered the event.

New Delhi, Sept 21: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the women's reservation bill with near-unanimous backing, setting it on course to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha possibly by Thursday evening.

It was the first time that the women's quota bill, the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill in Parliament's terminology, had been put to vote in the Lok Sabha and it glided past the 2/3rds bar with a massive 454-2 leap, with only both members of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who had demanded a quota for Muslim and OBC women within the larger quota, voting against the affirmative action measure, which has been decades in the waiting.

The landslide support came in spite of the opposition failing to secure acceptance of its demands - that it should be implemented immediately rather than by 2029 as the government has proposed, quota for OBCs and Muslims within the general quota, and for clubbing a caste-wise headcount with the decennial census. This showed that the bill is likely to cruise through the RS as well on Thursday, bringing the prospect of enactment of a law reserving one-third seats in Parliament and legislatures tantalisingly close.

Government sources stressed that once the bill was passed by Parliament and got the President's assent, it would automatically apply to all state assemblies without having to secure ratification by them.

Criticism fails to turn into opposition

Parliament has the prerogative to decide the number of seats in state assemblies, which have no role to play in this regard," a senior government functionary said.

PM Narendra Modi, who vigorously pushed for the long-delayed legislation, was jubiliant. "Delighted at the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha with such phenomenal support. I thank MPs across party lines who voted in support of this bill," he posted on social media site X.

"The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is a historic legislation which will further boost women's empowerment and will enable even greater participation of women in our political process," he tweeted.

Given the bill's troubled history - it was brought to Parliament five times only to be cast aside in view of resistance which would often take an aggressive turn - its smooth passage came as an anti-climax to many and a pleasant surprise for legions of women activists.

The opposition parties, which unanimously saw the bill as a move timed to coincide with the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, refused to give the government a free pass. Congress and others pressed for immediate rollout. Congress also reversed itself on the issue of "quota within quota". It had refused to concede the demand of OBC parties in 2010, leading to the demise of the bill after it was passed by the Rajya Sabha.

Congress also demanded tagging a caste census with the decennial enumeration exercise, in a marked pivot towards the "social justice" platform.

But the criticism did not translate into opposition, something that appeared to be testimony to the PM's sense of timing as well as the influence that women have begun to wield in many parts.

It was home minister Amit Shah who parried the opposition's insistence on immediate rollout by saying that for anything to be considered, the bill had to go through first. "Yesterday was Shri Ganesh Chaturthi, so let the bill have an auspicious beginning," he said.

A few amendments moved by the government relating to the numbering of the Constitution amendment bill were also cleared by the House. When the proposed legislation goes to the Rajya Sabha for consideration, it will be called the Constitution (106th Amendment) Bill, officials said.