Atmosphere in Kerala favourable for industrialisation: Antony

[email protected] (CD Network, Photos by Ahmed Anwar)
November 17, 2012

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Kasargod, November 17: After his recent critical remarks of ruling Congress-led UDF, Defence Minister A K Antony Saturday said there is a favourable atmosphere for industrialisation in Kerala and emphasised the need to work unitedly, forgetting party affiliations for development.

 

"The present political atmosphere is very favourable for industrial development. We should forget party affiliations on the question of Kerala's development. We can debate politics at election time. But in the matter of the state's development, everyone, including the media and political parties, should unitedly work for achieving it", he said.

 

The minister was speaking after inaugurating the Strategic Electronics Manufacturing Unit of aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at Seethangoli in the district.

 

On November 14, Antony had stated at a function at BrahMos unit at Thiruvananthapuram that the atmosphere in Kerala was not conducive for bringing defence sector projects and he had received much better cooperation from previous LDF government to bring several projects to Kerala.

 

Asked about these remarks, he said "the intention was the development of Kerala. What I felt I had said. If you find it wrong, you can ignore', he said.

 

"None need to misinterpret the remark and create a controversy by bring politics in it", Antony said.

 

He said the second phase of expansion of the HAL unit would be undertaken in four months and added more such units can be brought into the state if everyone stood together to get it.

 

Land acquisition for development was a major problem in the country as also in Kerala, he said, adding Kasargod district in northern part of the state was ideal for development as a lot of vacant lands were available.

 

Antony said employment opportunities are coming down in the Gulf region, where there are over 60 lakh NRIs, as also in U.S.A and Europe "which are facing employment problems."

 

"In such a scenario, Kerala should have more industries to accommodate youngsters who return to the state," he said.

 

The minister praised Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty for bringing the project to Kerala and also former Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem for industrial development.

 

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the state had got six defence-related units after Antony took over as Defence Minister and urged him to take steps to take up at the earliest the second phase of expansion of the unit.

 

He urged the Defence Minister to provide leadership in utilising Kerala's potential.

 

Kunhalikutty said Kerala is now reaping the benefit of the recently-conducted 'Emerging Kerala' industrial meet at Kochi. "The investment climate in the state is very good," he said.

 

Kerala government had allotted 200 acres for the unit the foundation stone for which was laid by Antony in 2008.

 

The Rs 200-crore facility in Kasargod is an extension of the Hyderabad Avionics Division of HAL. The division is engaged in manufacturing a wide variety of electronic equipment in the areas of communication, radar, navigation computers and electronics warfare.

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News Network
May 1,2024

Mangaluru: The Bengaluru-Mangaluru air route has recently surpassed the Mumbai route to become the busiest for Mangaluru International Airport.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s city pairing data for March this year, 51,734 passengers travelled between Mangaluru and Bengaluru, while 50,340 passengers flew on the Mangaluru-Mumbai route.

In January and February, the Mumbai air route had the highest passenger flow with 60,306 and 52,732 passengers, respectively, compared to 53,509 and 47,530 for Bengaluru during the same months. However, the trend shifted in March, with the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route surpassing Mumbai.

An official from MIA explained, “The first reason for Bengaluru taking over Mumbai is that flights that almost fly full to Mumbai were reduced from March, after the ministry of civil aviation suggested easing air traffic congestion at Mumbai airport. The air carrier IndiGo, which used to operate four flights a day from MIA, reduced it to three. Air India Express, which operates two flights a day, has made no changes. As a result of this, Bengaluru has taken over Mumbai. A total seven flights operates per day to Bengaluru.” 

The official added that despite the reduction in flights, the Mumbai route still experiences high demand. DGCA data for 2023 shows that the Mumbai and Bengaluru sectors have experienced growth of 11.9% and 19.3%, respectively.

The Mangaluru-Mumbai sector has seen a total of 5,52,767 passengers, followed by Bengaluru with 5,52,500 passengers in the same calendar year.

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News Network
May 2,2024

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Hassan, May 2: JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna on Thursday said that the scandal and charges of sexual abuse levelled against his brother and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna was a "conspiracy to weaken their family politically".

He claimed that he has no information about the whereabouts of Prajwal Revanna, who has been served a notice by the Special Investigation Team over the alleged sex scandal involving him.

He termed the scandal and charges of sexual abuse against his brother and his father and MLA H D Revanna, a former Minister, as a conspiracy to weaken them politically, and expressed confidence about Prajwal's win in the Lok Sabha polls.

H D Revanna is the son of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda. Prajwal, grandson of Deve Gowda, was the BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to the polls on April 26.

"The (sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna) case has been handed over for investigation (to SIT), whatever has to be proved will get proved there. How can I react to it? I don't have information about Prajwal Revanna," Suraj Revanna told reporters here.

On an FIR being registered against his father H D Revanna too, he said, "Let them put a thousand more (FIRs), what has to be proved will ultimately get proved. People of our taluk and district know what Revanna is. I don't want to react."

"Anyone can do anything out of political malice. If you take Hassan politics, there is no competitor for Revanna. There is no one who has done politics like him. To weaken him, all these conspiracies are being hatched," he added.

Scores of explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna had started making the rounds in Hassan recently. The state government has constituted an SIT to probe the alleged sex scandal involving the MP.

The SIT on Tuesday issued notice to Prajwal Revanna and his father Revanna, who have been booked for alleged sexual harassment at the Holenarsipura police station in Hassan district on April 28, based on a complaint by a woman who worked in their house, directing them to appear for investigation.

Prajwal who reportedly left for Germany on April 27, the very next day of the polls, on Wednesday sought seven days' time to appear before the SIT.

Regarding reports of his meeting with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Suraj said they were mere speculations and that he had met the former in January, and after that no such meeting had taken place.

Asked whether JD(S) leaders and workers seem to be in some sort of confusion following the developments around the alleged sex scandal, the MLC said there is no confusion. "Even yesterday there were meetings held to take stock of the situation after the polls. Hundred percent Prajwal Revanna will win."

"Let anyone charge anything, let's wait and see what comes out of the SIT probe," he added.

Victims under pressure?

Meanwhile, victims in the videos of the alleged sex scandal involving the MP, are reportedly refusing to come before the SIT which is probing the case.

Some of the victims are said to have told the SIT officials that they don't want to talk to them about the case, while a few are not reachable, sources said.

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News Network
May 3,2024

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Mangaluru: The passenger vessel service between Lakshadweep and Mangaluru has recommenced operations with the arrival of Parali, a high-speed craft, at the Old Mangaluru Port on Thursday, May 2 

With 160 passengers on board, along with a pilot, a ship engineer, an assistant, and eight labourers, the arrival of the vessel brings hopes of reinstating this vital transportation link.

The passengers were welcomed by Congress brass. The vessels that used to arrive before the Covid-19 pandemic took 13 hours to reach Mangaluru from Lakshadweep. However, the introduction of the high-speed craft, Parali, has reduced the travel time to approximately seven hours, said Abubakar Ashraf Bengre.

Bengre is part of a team that has been instrumental in liaising with the authorities of both Lakshadweep and Karnataka to facilitate the revival of this service. He told reporters that the service would bring better economic activity to Mangaluru. 

Over recent months, discussions have been held with Hamdullah Sayeed, president, Lakshadweep Congress Committee, as well as Karnataka Speaker UT Khader and district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, to garner support for the reintroduction of the service.

The passengers who arrived mostly sought medical treatment, went shopping or met relatives here. They said that they traveled for Rs 450. Former MLA J R Lobo said that they will urge the government to ensure regular vessel services continue.

The passenger service was discontinued due to a lack of demand, it is learnt. In the year 2018-19, 4,955 passengers embarked and 7,422 disembarked from the Old Mangaluru Port. Subsequently, the figures declined to 3,779 (embarked) and 2,294 (disembarked) in 2019-20. The numbers further plummeted to 561 (embarked) and 19 (disembarked) in 2020-21, leading to the suspension of the service.

At present, the administration of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep has released a schedule for high-speed craft movement from April 29 to May 5.

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