Land scam case against me is baseless: Achuthanandan

August 17, 2012

achutanandan

Kochi, August 17: Former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan said Friday that the ongoing vigilance case against him for alleged misuse of office to transfer land in Kasargode district to a relative is baseless.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader said the case was foisted on him by the Oommen Chandy government.

"This case is a non-issue. It was not me who gave the land; the land transfer was done during the tenure of K.Karunakaran as chief minister. Now this government is doing its best to indict me. They have no evidence against me," said Achuthanandan told reporters here.

In January this year, the vigilance probe arraigned the veteran Marxist as one of the eight accused in thne land transfer case. Among other accused are four Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials, including Sheela Thomas, who served as principal secretary to Achuthanandan while he was the chief minister.

Then revenue minister and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader K.P. Rajendran and Achuthanandan's personal assistant Suresh are also among the accused.

In June 2011, the Chandy government, after examining files related to the land transfer to T.K. Soman, a relative of Achuthanandan, ordered a probe by the vigilance department.

The cabinet also decided to cancel the land allotted to Soman, a former defence official.

The alleged land transfer took place at the fag end of Achuthanandan's tenure as the chief minister in early 2011.

Under government norms, land given to people in the defence category should not exceed one acre. Soman was given 2.33 acres. Incidentally, under the norms, such land cannot be sold or transferred for 25 years after allotment.

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News Network
April 13,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 13: Three more people in Kerala tested positive for novel coronavirus disease on Monday, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"With 3 new COVID-19 cases, the total number of cases in the state has reached 378," said Vijayan at a press conference.

Giving a break-up of the three confirmed COVID-19 cases, he said, "Of the 3 cases, 2 are from Kannur and 1 is from Palakkad."

He further said, "Till date, 15,683 samples tested, out of which 14,829 tested negative."

However, the total number of positive cases is decreasing, the Chief Minister added.

According to a recent update by the Ministery of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in the country has reached 9352.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Hyderabad, Jun 27: Ahead nurse working with a state-run hospital here died on Friday while undergoing treatment for COVID-19, a hospital official said.

The nurse, who was due to retire this month-end, tested positive about 10 days ago, he said.

The woman, who had been on medical leave for about 20 days, is suspected to have contracted the virus when she attended a private function in a neighbouring district, he said.

She was treated at the hospital for two days after she was found positive for COVID-19.

However, she was shifted to another government hospital as the symptoms continued unabated and sugar levels were high, he said.

The woman, who had comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension, died today.

Meanwhile, about 20 healthcare personnel, including doctors and paramedical staff, have so far tested positive for COVID-19 at the state-run Gandhi hospital, according to a hospital official.

He also said that there are around 50 patients whose family members have not come forward to take them home though the patients can be in home quarantine.

Family members have cited reasons such as residents not allowing a positive patient to return to the villages and presence of children at residences, for not taking them home, he added.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured audit of donations made to the PM-CARES Fund, and to share the details and the money spent with the people.

"The PM-CARES Fund has received huge contributions from PSUs and major public utilities like the Railways. It's important that the Prime Minister ensure the fund is audited and that the record of money received and spent is available to the public," he tweeted.

The #PmCares fund has received huge contributions from PSUs & major public utilities like the Railways.

It’s important that PM ensures the fund is audited & that the record of money received and spent is available to the public.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 9, 2020
His remarks came amid reports that the central government is accumulating a huge sum of money in the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund set up as a corpus to fight novel coronavirus and that the amount spent will not be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The CAG office had clarified that since the fund is based on donations, it has no right to audit a charitable organisation.

On Friday, Rahul Gandhi told the media that the PM-CARES Fund should be audited and people of the country should know about the donors and the donations made.

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