VS Achuthanandan turns 96, leaders wish oldest communist leader in the country

Agencies
October 20, 2019

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20: Veteran CPI(M) leader and former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan turned 96 on Sunday and celebrated the occasion by cutting a cake.

In the persence of close family members and well wishers, Achutanandan cut a cake and his wife gave him a small piece to mark the occasion.

As leaders from various political parties, friends, well wishers and media personnel turned up to wish him,Achutanandan thanked everyone.

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan was among those who extended birthday wishes to the senior leader.

"Conveyed my heartiest wishes to Shri V S Achutanandan, former Chief Minister and senior leader on his 96th birthday.

Shri V S Achutanandan is one of the most respected political figures of Kerala," Khan tweeted.

The Governor would be visiting Achutanandan tomorrow to wish him personally.

CPI(M) state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Senior Congress leader A K Antony, telephonically wished Achutanandan on his birthday.

KPCC President Mullapally Ramachandran also wished the senior leader.

Born on October 20, 1923 in a working class family in Punnapra in Alappuzha district, VS had to end his education at the primary level and was soon attracted to the trade union movement in Alappuzha district.

A founder leader of the CPI(M), Velikkakath Sankaran Achuthanandan, popularly known as VS Achutanandan, whose life has been linked to the history of Communist movement in the state, including Punnapra-Vayalar uprising, is the oldest living Communist in India.

He was among the 32 leaders who walked out of the historical CPI national council meet in 1964 to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Achutanandan, who is the chairman of the Adminstrative Reforms Committee, had addressed party workers at an election convention at nearby Vattiyoorkavu, which is among the five assembly constitutencies where bypolls are being held on Monday.

VS, who had served as the Leader of Opposition and Chief Minister, was the star campaigner of the CPI(M)-led LDF in 2016 assembly elections, which saw the front riding to power in the southern state with a massive mandate of 91 seats.

After the assembly results came out, the CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had described VS as the "Fidel Castro of Kerala" who would continue to guide and inspire the party, while naming Pinarayi Vijayan as the Chief Minister.

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Agencies
April 23,2020

More and more Indians have become better prepared in the last one month, as far as stocking of their ration, medicine or money is concerned, according to the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker.

With the second leg of the lockdown half way through and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it's a long haul, 57.2% respondents said they have less than three weeks of stock while 43.3% said they have a stock that will last beyond that

However, if one breaks into weeks, most respondents said they are prepared for a week's time. 24.5% respondents said they have ration, medicine or money to last a week. This is closely followed by 21.9 % respondents saying they are ready for a month.

Meanwhile, 20.4 % said they are ready for a couple of weeks. There are 15.8 % who said they are ready for more than a month with food, ration and medicine. A tiny 5.6 % said they are ready with three weeks of stock.

However, there is 12.3% who still seem to live on the edge with less than a week's preparation.

But, the biggest takeaway from the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker is that in the last one month, a massive segment of society realised that the fight is long and the preparation should also be to last that long.

o put things into context, on March 16 when the tracker started, a whopping 77.1% said they have stock to last for less than a week. More than a month later on April 21, that number jumped to just 12.3%, which essentially means, people have become better prepared for a long-hauled lockdown period.

Similarly, on April 21, a sizable 21.9% respondents claimed they are ready with ration and medicine that will last them a month. On March 16, not even one respondent could claim they have a month's stock. In fact till March 22, just ahead of the announcement of the first lockdown, no respondent the IANS-CVoter tracker said that they have a month's preparation.

Similarly, when the tracker started, 9.9% said they simply ‘don't know'. As on April 21, that number is a big zero.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Srinagar, Apr 4: Two militants were reportedly killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Hardmand Guri village in Kulgam, a police spokesperson said.

"This operation based on a credible police input was launched this morning. Two terrorists have been reportedly killed so far," the spokesperson said, adding that the exchange of fire was going on.

Earlier, the police tweeted on its official handle that three militants had been trapped in the cordon. "Same group of #terrorists trapped who killed 3 civilians recently," the police said.

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News Network
May 7,2020

May 7: Two people, including a child, were killed and nearly 70 hospitalised after a gas leak at a chemical plant in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam in the wee hours of Thursday, officials said.

People in Gopalapatnam area, where the chemical plant, LG Polymers, is located, complained of irritation in eyes, breathlessness, nausea and rashes on their bodies.

District Collector V Vinay Chand said two people were killed due to the gas leak, while some are in a critical condition.

Close to 70 people have been admitted to the King George Hospital after for treatment, he said.

TV channels showed people lying unconscious on roads.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have rushed to the spot.

Reports said the gas leak has been contained.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy enquired about the incident and directed the Visakhapatnam district collector to ensure proper medical care for the affected people.

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