We saw the UDF Government getting voted out unceremoniously by a disillusioned public in the middle of 2016. The punishing mood of the public was visible much earlier, when a security guard was mowed down in a senseless outburst of rage by the man better known for the cars he owned.
As a stunned Congress-led coalition was left to lick its wounds, other wounds got opened up from a totally unexpected quarter - stray dogs. Soon enough, self-appointed vigilantes began hunting down strays and exhibiting their carcass, reminding one of some of the primitive tribes, showing off scalps. As if all this was not enough, there came, hopefully, the final act of retribution for a long while - Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crackdown against black money hoarders, where the timelines got smudged, goalposts kept getting shifted and the narrative kept getting changed with bewildering frequency. At the receiving end was the hapless public, Kerala being no exception.
As we limp into the last lap of 2016 and try to gaze into the uncertain future of 2017, we ardently hope our rite de passage, in long queues inside banks and in front of ATMs, would have purged us of the ill-effects of our wrongdoings and made us better, definitely more frugal citizens. Evidently, these are some of the reasons why we look forward to a less disruptive year, without any kind of retribution whatsoever.
Over the next five days Express will take you through Year 2016 and will present a wishlist for the coming year
A slap on Kerala’s diplomacy
T P Sreenivasan, former Indian Ambassador to the UN, was slapped and manhandled by student activists linked to the Student Federation of India. He was coming to greet delegates at an international education meet when he was heckled by protesters demonstrating against “commercialising of higher education” outside a convention centre in Thiruvananthapuram. The diplomat fell down on the road as one of the protesters slapped him on the face in the presence.
Hummer man gets
a hammer hit
An additional district sessions court in Thrissur sentenced beedi tycoon Muhammad Nisham to rigorous life imprisonment and another 24 years in jail for causing the death of K Chandrabose a security guard with his Hummer at the Sobha City apartments last year. The 39-year-old businessman, reportedly with assets worth `5,000 crore, will also have to pay a fine of `80.30 lakh of which `50 lakh is to be paid to the wife of the victim. The court also directed police officers to file a case against Nisham’s wife, Amal, for submitting a false affidavit and trying to mislead the court.
A paddy field of protest
The UDF Government revoked two orders according sanction to two projects that required reclamation of ‘kayal backwaters’ and paddy fields following a controversy erupted over it. The government has come under attack for its orders which gave sanction to an eco-tourism project in 420 acres of land of Methran Kayal at Kumarakom village in Kottayam and for a super specialtiy medi-city project in 47 acres of paddy land at Kadamakuddy in Kochi. Later in November, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar inaugurated the revival of paddy farming in 25 acres in the Methran Kayal which have been lying idle for the last eight years.
A murder most foul
M V Shabeer, a native of Vakkom on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, was brutally beaten to death by four assailants on January 31. A video clipping posted online by an eyewitness that went viral led to arrests of all the four accused. As a gesture of solidarity to the 23-year-old, the Vakkom Puthennada Deveeshra Shiva temple next to his home abstained from performing daily pujas for two days. Shabeer, a Muslim, had been an executive member of the local temple festival committee for the past two years.
Smart start, but wanted Investors
After a long wait of 12 years, the first phase of the SmartCity Kochi project, a joint venture between Dubai Holding and the state government, was jointly inaugurated by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Al Gergawi. It includes a `400-crore 6.5 lakh sq ft information technology tower. The launch of the 4.7 million sq ft Phase II, which is expected was also done simultaneously. Unlike it was announced earlier, there are no multinational investors in the first phase.
Testing times for Metro
The first test run of the `5,337 crore Kochi Metro, one of Kerala’s most awaited and prestigious projects, was flagged off by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. It was at a 900-metre specially set up track at the Muttom yard in Aluva. Kochi Metro Rail minimum fare is fixed at `10 and the maximum charge is `40. The fares are fixed after an initial study report from IIM Bengaluru. But, as per Kochi Metro Rail Limited officials, there is no final decision taken on metro rail fares. Within two months time, the final decision on fares will be announced.
PNG: Still a pipe dream?
Then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurated the commercial and domestic connections of the much-touted city gas distribution project. It was launched in the district with the lighting of a stove connected to the Piped Natural Gas (PNG) network at Government Medical College canteen in Kalamassery. However, the project which has been introduced with much fanfare is yet to end its teething troubles. Till now, the project could only be completed in 16 houses and a commercial connection provided to MC, Kalamassery.
Kerala Congress at it again
Prominent state leader and former MP Francis George formed a new party ‘Janadhipathya Kerala Congress,’ nearly a week after he walked out of the Kerala Congress(M) led by K M Mani. Soon, he was accommodated in the LDF camp with four seats in the Assembly elections. However, the party hit a roadblock as it failed to win any of the seats.
Unsolved death Mystery
Kalabhavan Mani
The probe into the mysterious death of Kalabhavan Mani hit another roadblock as the lie-detection test conducted on six friends of Mani, including his manager and driver, found no major contradictions in their statements given to the police. The police have received the report of the lie detection test and there is no major incriminating material to take case forward based on the report for the time being. According to police, with the negative lie-detection test reports of his friends, the police may have to depend upon other circumstantial evidence to sum up the case to a logical conclusion. The state government has already given consent for a CBI inquiry into the death of the actor.
Adieu
