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Controversial question paper: Professor's hand cut off in Kerala

[email protected] (CD Network)
July 4, 2010

hands

Muvattupuzha, July 4: A college professor, currently on bail for preparing a inflammatory question paper, had his right palm chopped off by a group of eight unidentified people Sunday morning, police said.

T.J. Joseph was returning home with his family after attending morning prayers when a group of people in a van pulled him out of his car. Joseph's right palm was chopped off and thrown some 200 meters away, police said.

He also suffered deep cuts on the body and was rushed to a specialty hospital at Kochi for a surgery to reattach the severed palm.

Joseph is on bail after being arrested by the police in April for preparing a question paper with alleged inflammatory references to Prophet Mohammed for an exam in a private college.

Joseph, a Malyalam teacher, was suspended by Thodupuzha New Man College after angry protest marches by various Muslim organisations.

"The registration number of the vehicle in which the assailants came is fake. The immediate provocation of this crime appears to be the question paper issue," said P.P.Shams, Muvattupuzha Circle Inspector of Police.

A horrified Mary Stella, Joseph's sister, said: "They (accused) smashed the glass of our car and pulled my brother out and hacked him. Our aged mother was also in the car and witnessed the crime."

Condemning the gruesome crime, Education Minister M.A. Baby lamented that some people had communalised the question paper issue.

"Without doubt, this crime is a blot on the secular credentials of the state" Baby said.

Supreme head of the Indian Union Muslim League, Panakad Hyderali Shiyab Thangal said that one wrong cannot be corrected by another wrong. "Whoever are the culprits, tough action should be taken against them," Thangal said.

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News Network
January 25,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 25: Orange vendor Harekala Hajabba, popularly known as 'Akshara Santha' (the saint of alphabets), who went on to build a school at Newpadpu village on the city’s outskirts in 1999 is among this year’s Padma Shri awardees.

When Hajabba received the call on being nominated for the award, he was standing in a queue to buy rations.

As he is not fluent in Hindi, Hajabba handed over the phone to an auto driver, who conveyed the news that the Padma Shri award will be conferred on him.

The unlettered achiever set up a primary school from his meagre savings of Rs 150 per day,  selling oranges in Mangaluru. 

“The first time I felt bad for being an illiterate was when a foreigner enquired about the price of oranges in English. I did not know what he meant. So, I decided to start a school in my village,” Hajabba had said during a felicitation programme.

When Hajabba decided to start a school, he did not get any support. He started the school with 28 children.

The school today has been upgraded to a composite high school and is catering to the educational needs of hundreds of children in and around Newpadpu.

He ran from pillar to post in the Zilla Panchayat to make his dream come true. All cash awards he had received went into building the school. The United Christians Association, moved by the sight of his dilapidated house, built a 760-square-foot house costing Rs 15 lakh for him. 

Hajabba’s life was prescribed for the syllabus of three universities - Davangere, Kuvempu and Mangalore. His success story is also included in a Tulu textbook.

He won the Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 2013, Real Heroes award from TV channel CNN-IBN.

Hajabba, when contacted, said he could not believe his ears when told about the award.

New dreams

The frail vendor, in his 60s, humbly declared that he could achieve all this because of the support of all. Hajabba now dreams of upgrading the school into a full-fledged PU college.

Comments

Meethal Kasaragod
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

A big Salute to him!

Great effort,

fairman
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

Where there is will, there is way

May God help him.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Jan 31: A bunch of fishermen in Kerala is being praised for releasing an endangered shark back into water. A video posted on Twitter shows the fishermen releasing the whale shark that was trapped in their nets back into the sea.

The video was posted on Twitter by InSeason Fish - a group working towards environmental conservation, sustainable fisheries and healthy oceans. Filmed in Kerala's Kozhikode, it shows fishermen on a fishing vessel with the huge whale shark.

Whale sharks are the largest fish in the ocean and can reach up to 40 feet in length. Distinguished by their white spots, this shark is on International Union for Conservation of Nature's list of endangered species.

In the video, at least seven fishermen are seen working together to lift the thrashing whale shark up with the help of ropes and releasing it into the water.

Watch the video below:

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News Network
July 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 5: A total number of 32 SSLC students, who took exams between June 25 and July 3 have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Eighty other students are in home quarantine. As per a press release from the Karnataka government here as of July 3, more than 7.60 lakh students wrote the exam, with 14,745 absentees. The report from the government stated that 3,911 students did not attend the exams as they were in a containment zone. A total of 863 students had not attended the exams as they were unwell.

Last week, a Class 10 student from Hassan had tested coronavirus positive. The student reportedly wrote an exam on June 25, despite having taken the coronavirus test. His positive result reportedly came shortly after he finished writing the exam.

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