‘Son’rise in Aruvikkara
Riding the crest of his late father G Karthikeyan’s political legacy and the tactical acumen of UDF campaign managers, Congress nominee K S Sabarinathan romped home in the Aruvikkara Assembly bypoll, securing an emphatic margin of 10,128 votes. However, with a five-fold increase in vote share vis-a-vis its performance in the assembly election of 2011, the BJP has staged a stunning performance in the by-election.
Saffron Surge
The BJP seems to have surged ahead at the cost of CPM in the Aruvikkara bypolls, which is considered to be largest beneficiary of Hindu votes. Although finished third in the contest, BJP proved its mettle through O Rajagopal by securing 34,145 votes, creating a dent in the LDF vote base against the party’s then tally of 7,694 votes in 2011. A look at the vote share of various parties shows that only BJP has increased its vote share. M Vijayakumar of the CPM put up a poor show by bagging 46,320 votes.
IGP Enters Hall of Shame
IPS officer T J Jose, who was sent out of the examination hall for allegedly triying to cheat during the LLM exam held in May this year, was debarred from writing the examination till May next year by Mahatma Gandhi University here after a committee found him guilty. Besides, the university also invalidated his answer sheets of all the papers he had appeared for, they said. The University Syndicate, took the decision after examining a report submitted by sub-committee of MG University here that probed charges of malpractice against Jose. Based on evidence collected from invigilators and students present in the exam hall, the seven-member sub-committee came to the conclusion that he has committed malpractice and tried to copy during the exam. The incident occurred during the LLM examination held at the St Paul’s College, Kalamassery, on May 4. He has denied charges of any malpractice. Jose, then Inspector General Thrissur Range, was asked to go on compulsory leave after the incident and subsequently transferred. A preliminary inquiry report of the Deputy Registrar had also gone against Jose.
Black Friday for Kerala
Five schoolchildren were killed and seven seriously injured after a huge tree fell over the school bus in which they were travelling at Colonyppady near Nellimattom, around five kilometres from Kothamangalam town on Friday, June 26. The tragedy struck when the huge tree on the busy Kothamangalam-Munnar national highway uprooted in heavy rain and strong winds. It smashed right through the middle of the roof of No. 1 bus of a school at Karukadom in Kothamangalam. The deceased, all of them from the Kothamangalam area, were identified as Krishnendu, 5, Johan Jeggy, 13, Gauri Punnakkal, 10, Amin Jabir, 9, and Eza Sarah Eldho, 10.
‘Solar’ Heat Still On
Acting on the first of the 33 solar scam cases booked by the Kerala police, a magistrate court has sentenced main accused Saritha S Nair and her accomplice Biju Radhakrishnan, major stakeholders of a solar panel supply firm that allegedly cheated investors, to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
Saritha and Biju were also fined Rs45 lakh and Rs75 lakh respectively.
The verdict was delivered by Judicial First Class Magistrate R Jayakrishnan in Pathanamthitta on a complaint by an NRI Baburaj. The accused had swindled about Rs1.19 crore from him after offering him a share in Team Solar and the director’s post, the complaint said. Biju, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of his first wife, is currently in jail.
SSLC RESULT Goes Awry
Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb and the officials of his department, who stood basking in the glory of having declared SSLC results (a cheery 97.99 pc pass) in a record speed, had egg on their face after it was found to be a compendium of errors.
As per the revised results brought out by IT@School, the pass percentage has gone up to 98.126. The district-wise pass percentage too has changed. The faux pas, now being blamed on the speed in declaring the results, has kicked up a row with Congress MLA Hibi Eden flaying the government. While the Education Minister blamed software errors for the lapses, officials said the earlier results were declared without taking into account the grace marks.
Immediately after the results were declared, many complaints were aired. Pareeksha Bhavan directly collected marks from the 54 valuation camps after errors were identified. “When the results were declared on Monday, grace marks for students were not included. That’s why there are minor changes in the results.
Five months after major anomalies in publishing of SSLC results left the Department fending off widespread criticism, the government has proposed action against erring officials including the former secretary of Pareeksha Bhavan. Education Minister P K Abdurabb told reporters that the action was based on findings by a committee under S Senthil, Additional Chief Secretary - Department of General Education.
The committee has cited use of flawed score-sheet formats and subsequent data entry errors, faulty updates on examination attendance, shoddy system management and delays in communication with the National Informatics Centre among reasons for the anomalies. Based on recommendations made by the committee, action will be initiated against all officials involved, the minister said. The 2014-2015 SSLC results published in April this year had landed the Education Department in a soup in the wake of widespread discrepancies including mismatched grades. A week later, the department republished the results after correcting the errors but complaints continued to come in. The Education Department, however, has countered charges that an undue “hurry” to publish the results had led to the discrepancies