Kerala

Kochi, Aug 8; GANASHAKTI: Flight operations at the international airport here have been suspended till Friday morning as floodwaters inundated the apron area (parking area), authorities said.

Earlier on Thursday, flight operations were suspended for four hours till midnight as a precautionary measure in view of heavy rains.

"As the apron area is waterlogged due to the flood, all aircraft operations (have been) suspended at Kochi airport till 9 am on August 9," a statement issued on Thursday by the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10 (PTI) As Kerala continues to battle the torrential downpour lashing its shores, death toll has risen to 42 in rain related incidents, including flooding and landslides, with over one lakh people moved to relief camps, officials said on Saturday.

Twenty people have been killed in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, and nine have died in Wayanad in rain related incidents since August 8, officials said quoting reports received till 7 am

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 3 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Saturday said his government would do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for the death of a scribe here.

In his Facebook post, he also said that the government would take necessary steps to improve the safety of journalists.

IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman was arrested here Saturday for causing the death of a scribe by allegedly driving in an inebirated state.

Kochi, Jul 29 (PTI) A new freshwater fish species has been discovered in Kerala, a state blessed with freshwater resources, scientists said here.

This fish belonging to the subterranean snakehead species was found in the well of a house in Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district last year, they said Sunday.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 24 (PTI) Shweta Bhatt, the wife of Sanjiv Bhatt, the former IPS officer, who was recently sentenced to life, Wednesday met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior congress leader Ramesh Chennithala seeking support for her "fight against injustice" towards her husband."

Bhatt, who was an officer of the Gujarat cadre, was sentenced in a 1990 custodial death case.

He had earlier filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court against the role of then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots in the state.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 21 (PTI) Congress MP from Alathur Ramya Haridas Sunday said she will not accept the car which the Youth Congress workers in Kerala have decided to buy her as a gift through crowdfunding, which is in line with her state party chief's views.

A row erupted after the Alathur Youth Congress committee had decided to present a car to their MP and source the amount through crowdfunding.

Kollam (KER), Jul 17 (PTI) A Keralite who had allegedly raped a minor girl two years ago and fled to Saudi Arabia, was nabbed with Interpol's help three weeks ago and brought here from Riyadh by a Kerala police team early Wednesday.

Sunil Kumar, 38, had raped the 13-year-old girl, belonging to the scheduled caste community, in 2017 when he had come to Kerala from the Middle East for a holiday, police said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 15 (PTI) Marking its first 'state partnership' in India, the World Bank will extend a USD 250 million loan for the Resilent Programme in Kerala, which had been devastated by worst floods in a century last Augst.

The Centre, state government and the World Bank had last month signed the loan agreement of US

250 million for the programme, which aims at enhancing the state's resilence against the impacts of natural calamities and climate change.

Thiruvananthapuam, Jun 30 (PTI) A German woman, who had come here in March, has gone missing from here, police said Sunday.

The foreigner, in her 30s, is identified as Liza, they said.

A senior police source told PTI that they received a complaint in this regard last week and an investigation was on.

"Police have received a letter from the German Consulate that she is missing. A probe has begun. She came here in March," sources said.

Kochi, June 4 (PTI) A 23-year-old college student here has been confirmed to be infected with the Nipah virus while 86 others are under medical observation, Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja Tuesday said.

The results of blood samples of the student, which were tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, have confirmed Nipah, she said.