Thiruvananthapuram Jan 29 PTI Senior Congress leader and MLA Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday sought appointment of a special public prosecutor in the case connected with the lynching of tribal man Madhu at Attapady in Palakkad district in February 2018 Chennithala in a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the government was sabotaging the trial in the case to help the accused He said it was a shame that the trial court had to ask for the prosecutor in the case The government is trying to sabotage the trial in the lynching case of a tribal youth and in turn trying to help the accused The government should immediately appoint a prominent lawyer as the Special Public Prosecutor for the proceedings in the case and take necessary steps to ensure punishment for all the accused Chennithala said The prosecutor in the case failed to appear before the court on January 25 the date of hearing following which the court enquired about the absence of the lawyer Sources from the government told PTI that this was the second prosecutor appointed in the case as per the demand of Madhus family The first prosecutor as suggested by the family of Madhu was removed as he made some unacceptable demands including exorbitant salary a separate office a high-ranking official as his assistant among other things Later a retired district judge was appointed but he was unable to appear due to a surgery and later the pandemic-related issues the sources said However the trial of the case that happened in 2018 was yet to begin Police had on May 23 2018 filed the charge sheet in the case connected with the lynching of Madhu at Attapady on February 23 2018 All the 16 persons arrested in connection with the case has been charged with various offences including murder The 440-page charge sheet was filed at the Special court for crimes against SC-ST at Mannarkad in Palakkad The 27-year old Madhu was lynched after a mob accused him of theft of some food articles from a shop in the area The incident had triggered widespread condemnation and protest from different quarters The post-mortem report had shown that he was beaten up and two of his ribs were broken in the attack An amount of Rs 10 lakh was given to Madhus mother from the Chief Ministers Relief fund Chandrika the youngest sister of Madhu was among the 74 tribal youths appointed through special recruitment in the police force as part of the governments efforts to empower people from the marginalised sections PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Jan 29 PTI Kerala logged 50812 new infections and eight COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday taking the infection count to 5931945 and the death toll to 53191 According to the health department 47649 persons recuperated from the disease pushing the number of total cured to 5541834 The state has tested 110970 samples in the last 24 hours and there are 336202 active COVID-19 cases in the state the department said Yesterday the state reported 54537 COVID-19 cases whereas it was 51739 on Thursday On January 25 Kerala had registered 55475 cases the highest ever single day spike in the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 Among the districts Ernakulam recorded the highest number of cases on Saturday--11103 followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 6647 and Kozhikode 4490 Among the latest fatalities eight were reported in the last 24 hours 94 were recorded over the last few days while 311 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court Currently there are 336202 active COVID-10 cases in Kerala out of which only 34 per cent are admitted to hospitals the department said in a release Out of those who were found infected on Saturday 208 reached the state from outside while 46451 contracted the disease through their contact The source of infection of 3751 is yet to be traced and 402 health workers are also among the infected There are 498406 persons under observation out of which 11658 are in isolation wards of various hospitals across the state PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Jan 28 PTI The number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala continued to rise unabated with the state reporting 54537 cases on Friday taking the infection count to 5881133 According to the health department 352 deaths were reported pushing the death toll to 52786 Among the latest fatalities 94 were recorded over the last few days while 258 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court Yesterday the state reported 51739 new COVID-19 cases while on Tuesday Kerala had registered 55475 cases the highest ever single day spike in the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 Among the districts Ernakulam reported the highest number of cases today--10571 followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 6735 and Thrissur 6082 The health department said 115898 samples were tested in the last 24 hours Currently there are 333447 active COVID-19 cases in the state of which 35 per cent are admitted to various hospitals the health department said in a release Meanwhile 30225 persons recuperated from the disease taking the total cured to 5494185 PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Jan 22 PTI Amid surging coronavirus cases in Kerala the health department on Saturday instructed private hospitals in the state to set aside 50 per cent of beds for COVID-19 patients The department asked private hospitals to hand over details of daily admissions in the ICUs use of ventilators and beds to the District Medical Officers The private hospitals need to submit their daily admissions in hospitals including the number of occupants in the ICUs and use of ventilators to the DMOs concerned Those hospitals which refuse to handover the data will face strict action Health Minister Veena George said in a release Kerala today reported 45136 new COVID-19 cases taking the count to 5574702 The state had on Thursday logged 46387 fresh cases the highest single day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 During the first and the second wave we received immense support from the private hospitals Even this time we expect the same the minister said The decision to direct the private hospitals to set aside 50 per cent of beds for COVID-19 patients was taken during the rapid response teams daily evaluation meeting which urged eligible people to get their vaccination doses against the virus at the earliest PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Dec 18 PTI Kerala recorded 3297 new positive cases and 43 COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday taking the total affected in the state to 5202765 and the death toll to 44407 The State health department tested 52570 samples in the last 24 hours and there are six wards across five local self government bodies in the state with a weekly infection population ratio above ten per cent Meanwhile 3609 persons recuperated from the disease taking the total cured to 5137619 Currently there are 31901 active COVID-19 cases in the state of which only 82 per cent patients require hospitalisation the health department said in a release Among the districts Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of cases today--708 followed by Ernakulam with 437 cases and Kozhikode 378 There are 141586 persons under observation of which 3841 are in isolation wards of various hospitals Along with the 43 deaths todays toll has also added 175 deaths which were reported over the last few days and were also designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court a department release said Among those who were found infected today 19 reached the state from outside while 3109 contracted the disease through their contact The source of infection of 132 is yet to be traced and 37 health workers are also among the infected PTI RRT BN BN

Kochi Dec 17 PTI Food Flavours a Kochi-based startup has launched Indias first box-packed wellness diet products including ready to cook chapatis with moringa-leaves and ragi The company is ready to launch millet-based noodles and tortilla wraps with the same range of wellness ingredients and is also planning to launch frozen variants of its products Food Flavours promoted by a techie-turned-foodpreneur teamed up with a homemaker-turned-chef has launched the box-packed wellness diet products including five variants of whole-wheat ready-to-cook chapatis with moringa leaves ragi finger millet flaxseeds palak spinach and thena foxtail millet Renjith George Managing Director of Food Flavours said the company had test-marketed these Fresh Start brand of wellness chapatis in northern Kerala since the last one and half years Even those least-urbanized parts of Kerala gave us good response to these niche premium products which made us soft launch them in Kochi a few months back Now with our newly opened 1600-sq ft unit in Chowara near Aluva we are going full-fledged with various other wellness food products in addition to our five types of wellness chapatis he said He added that the wellness diet was catching up fast especially since Covid but developing new wellness products was not that easy We took up the challenge and my co-founder Chinju Philip after regular improvising developed these ready-to-cook chapatis with ingredients traditionally known and scientifically proven for good health and wellness We also developed box-packets made of carton boards to pack them to ensure freshness convenience for handling and storing George said At present the companys newly-opened unit in Chowara has a capacity to produce 15000 to 20000 chapatis a day for all the five variants combined which they want to increase to 50000 pieces soon Fresh Start ready-to-cook wellness chapatis are priced at Rs100 for packet of 10s with oil papers separating each chapati Millet-based noodles with these same wellness ingredients are also ready to be launched soon as successful trials were completed recently which will be followed by tortilla wraps Remaining authentic is a tough task But we enjoy being on a pedestal George said The company has also launched its ecommerce platform wwwfoodflavoursin recently PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Nov 29 PTI International passengers from high-risk nations which have reported cases of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron will have to undergo 14 days quarantine when they reach the state Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Monday George said those passengers found positive will be shifted to a treatment centre set up by the state government on the directions of the union government The passengers from the high-risk nations should undergo home quarantine for seven days On the eighth day they should test again If they are found negative they need to remain under quarantine for seven more days she told the media The minister said those found positive would be shifted the treatment centre and separate wards would be set up for them on the union governments direction We have been regularly conducting genomic surveillance We are testing whether there is any new variant in the state As of now we have not found one If anyone coming from the high risk countries are found positive their samples will be sent for genomic surveillance she said George said five per cent of passengers coming from other countries will be tested randomly as per the directions issued by the union government They should be under self-monitoring she added The minister said details of the passengers arriving will be collected from the airport and handed over to the departments concerned to ensure home quarantine and contact tracing PTI RRT BN BN

Kochi Oct 30 PTI The NeST Digital has announced flexible back-to-office plans including a hybrid working model which is a balance between working from the office and remotely from home along with new women-friendly policies The company which has 37 per cent women in its workforce has decided to launch a host of women-centric policies including a back-to-work program for women NeST Digital has taken various measures to build confidence among its employees and all workstations will be cleaned and sanitized frequently WASH assessment Workplace Assessment for Safety and Hygiene has also been carried out in the organisation The pandemic has brought in several new normals one of which is remote working Companies have adapted to this and are able to work remotely with a high degree of efficiency the company said in a release NeST Digital CEO Nazneen Jehangir said the company is committed to supporting its women workforce in making this transition The company said work-life balance has been a challenge especially for women as they continue to shoulder all the domestic responsibilities while managing demanding work schedules At NeST we want to ensure that we bring in the right policies to assist them every way we can Jehangir said She said the flexi work hours policy that has been brought in aims at providing support to those who may have demanding personal schedules or commitments to manage with flexible working hours with differential pay for limited periods This will now be launched gender agnostic but the key benefactors are expected to be the women workforce the company said PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Oct 30 PTI Kerala on Saturday logged 7427 new COVID-19 cases and 62 deaths taking the infection count to 4961490 and the death toll to 31514 State Health Minister Veena George said 7166 persons recuperated from the disease today pushing the total cured in the state to 4850742 while 70709 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and there are 115 wards across 77 local self government bodies which have a weekly infection population ratio above ten per cent Of the 78624 active COVID-19 cases in the state only 82 per cent of the patients are admitted to hospitals the minister said in a release Among the districts Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of cases in the state today--1001 followed by Kozhikode with 997 cases and Ernakulam with 862 cases The Minister said of those found infected today 55 reached the state from outside while 7069 contracted the disease from their contact The source of infection of 250 is yet to be traced and 53 health workers are also among the infected Currently there are 275185 persons under observation of which 7350 are in isolation wards of various hospitals The Minister also informed that 947 per cent 25296660 of the targeted population in the state received the first dose of vaccine while 509 per cent 13605863of the targeted population received both the doses PTI RRT BN BN

Thiruvananthapuram Oct 25 PTI Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday inaugurated the distribution of homeopathic medicine against COVID-19 among children ahead of school reopening on November 1 Vijayan said the initiative of distributing Arsenicum Album 30 was as per the direction of the Union governments AYUSH department Now that students have started going to schools they need to develop immunity The vaccine for children is not yet ready for distribution The effective immunity measures available in homeo medicine should be used to develop immunity among children Vijayan said while inaugurating the distribution in an online function The preventive tablets will be handed out through over 100 special kiosks Vijayan said a special helpline has also been opened for all queries and district medical officers Homeopathic can also be contacted for clearing doubts regarding the medicine The Department of Homeopathy will distribute its medicine among students from October 25 to 27 through special kiosks The medicine in strips of three tablets will be free for students aged between five and 17 years and there will be no compulsion on consumption of the homeo pills PTI RRT BN BN