Arjun Raghunath
Express News ServiceFirst Published : 22 May 2010 08:43:53 AM IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As a part of strengthening coastal security, biometric identification marks of around 31 lakh residents of 129 coastal villages across the state will be made a mouse-click away by the end of this month.
Following the Mumabi terror strike, the Central Government had decided to expedite collection of digital data for the National Population Register (NPR) project in nine maritime states, including Kerala, and four Union Territories. A total of 3,331 villages across the nation, including 129 in Kerala, that are vulnerable to coastal security threats have been identified for the purpose.
The Indian Telephone Industries has been entrusted with the task of collecting the data from Kerala as well as Lakshadweep.
Besides personal data and photographs, biometrics of all the 10 fingers of each individual are being collected digitally. Data is being collected from all persons above the age of 15. A digital identification card (smart card) would be issued to each person above 18 years of age by next year.
The data is being collected using laptops and other accessories through house-to-house visits or by organising camps with the support of local bodies. Villages from Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad and Wayanad districts do not figure among the 129 villages.
"Collection of data from 31 lakh persons in129 villages in Kerala is in the final stages and it would be completed by the end of this month, whereas data collection in Lakshadweep has already been completed. Biometric identification marks of 70,000 persons in Lakhadweep have been collected,’’ highly placed sources told Express.’
Around 120 lakh people across the nine maritime states and four Union Territories are covered in the piloting phase. Following the Mumbai terror strike, the Centre had identified 3,331 coastal villages across the country for piloting the data collection for NPR project.
Besides Kerala, coastal villages of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal come in the initial phase.
Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry are the three Union Territories other than Lakshadweep where the digital identification collection is going on.
NPR is a Rs 3,500-crore project aimed at creating a biometrics-based identity system in the country. It is scheduled to be fully implemented by next year. The project would cover the entire nation in due course.
The data being collected for NPR would also be used for the Unique Identification (UID) project and the unique identification numbers to be allotted by the UID Authority of India to each person would be later incorporated in the NPR data base.
UID project also includes collection of biometrics or iris.
Monday 31 May 2010
Thursday 20 May 2010
Saudi flight to land today
Arjun RaghunathFirst Published : 20 May 2010 12:06:00 AM IST
After Emirates Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines is introducing a weekly freighter aircraft service to Thiruvananthapuram from Thursday onwards. It is for the first time that Saudi Airlines is operating an exclusive freighter service to the city. The Dubai-based Emirates Airlines had introduced weekly cargo services in the Dubai - Thiruvananthapuram - Hong Kong sector from April 27. Emirates is operating a Boeing 777 wide-bodied aircraft.
According to sources, Saudi Airlines would be operating a Boeing 747 jumbo aircraft in the Dammam - Thiruvananthapuram - Hong Kong sector. The scheduled arrival time of the aircraft at Thiruvananthapuram from Dammam is 4.50 p.m. From here, the aircraft would go to Hong Kong as a ferry aircraft. The scheduled departure time is 6.50 p.m. In the initial service, as the Thiruvananthapuram - Hong Kong segment is being operated as a ferry service, no cargo would be uploaded from here.
The introduction of jumbo freighter services would give a fillip to the imports and exports from the State capital, as well as the neighbouring districts in Tamil Nadu. Emirates had initially commenced the services as a non-scheduled cargo service on April 27. But the service is being operated regularly in all weeks since then.
Sources in the export sector said that the foreign airlines seem to be eyeing the export of perishables to European countries by operating services to Hong Kong from here. During the last three weeks, Emirates had taken about 20 to 30 tonnes of perishable items, especially fish, from the city airport. At present, around 25 tonnes of perishables goods are being exported from here to Gulf countries every day. Unaccompanied baggage would be the major cargo being brought from Dammam by the freighter service, said sources. On an average, around 45 tonnes of cargo, especially unaccompanied baggage, is brought to Thiruvananthapuram from Gulf countries daily.
The operation of more freighter aircraft from Thiruvananthapuram Airport is also a reflection of the overall development of the State’s trade and commerce. Till recently, the airport was lacking the necessary infrastructure to handle jumbo freighter aircraft. Air-India, which is the ground-handling agency at the airport, had recently installed the main-deck loader device here for loading and unloading cargo from the upper deck of aircraft.
arjun_raghunath@expressbuzz.com
After Emirates Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines is introducing a weekly freighter aircraft service to Thiruvananthapuram from Thursday onwards. It is for the first time that Saudi Airlines is operating an exclusive freighter service to the city. The Dubai-based Emirates Airlines had introduced weekly cargo services in the Dubai - Thiruvananthapuram - Hong Kong sector from April 27. Emirates is operating a Boeing 777 wide-bodied aircraft.
According to sources, Saudi Airlines would be operating a Boeing 747 jumbo aircraft in the Dammam - Thiruvananthapuram - Hong Kong sector. The scheduled arrival time of the aircraft at Thiruvananthapuram from Dammam is 4.50 p.m. From here, the aircraft would go to Hong Kong as a ferry aircraft. The scheduled departure time is 6.50 p.m. In the initial service, as the Thiruvananthapuram - Hong Kong segment is being operated as a ferry service, no cargo would be uploaded from here.
The introduction of jumbo freighter services would give a fillip to the imports and exports from the State capital, as well as the neighbouring districts in Tamil Nadu. Emirates had initially commenced the services as a non-scheduled cargo service on April 27. But the service is being operated regularly in all weeks since then.
Sources in the export sector said that the foreign airlines seem to be eyeing the export of perishables to European countries by operating services to Hong Kong from here. During the last three weeks, Emirates had taken about 20 to 30 tonnes of perishable items, especially fish, from the city airport. At present, around 25 tonnes of perishables goods are being exported from here to Gulf countries every day. Unaccompanied baggage would be the major cargo being brought from Dammam by the freighter service, said sources. On an average, around 45 tonnes of cargo, especially unaccompanied baggage, is brought to Thiruvananthapuram from Gulf countries daily.
The operation of more freighter aircraft from Thiruvananthapuram Airport is also a reflection of the overall development of the State’s trade and commerce. Till recently, the airport was lacking the necessary infrastructure to handle jumbo freighter aircraft. Air-India, which is the ground-handling agency at the airport, had recently installed the main-deck loader device here for loading and unloading cargo from the upper deck of aircraft.
arjun_raghunath@expressbuzz.com
Sunday 16 May 2010
Nexus with goons; Cops may face axe
Arjun Raghunath
First Published : 11 May 2010 01:43:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
The humiliation suffered by woman police constable Pushkala from her colleagues for not abetting their goonda activities seems to have opened the eyes of senior officers in the city. Top sources in the police said that a move was on to identify those police personnel having a very long tenure in the city and transfer them to other districts after verifying their credentials.
Pushkala, attached to the City Police Commissioner’s office, had tasted the bitterness of the unholy nexus between police and criminals last week following the suspension of 10 cops, who were involved in a ruckus during a meeting of the Police Association.
Goons, allegedly on the behest of some of these policemen, intimidated Pushkala by storming into her house. The unfortunate incident will turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the police, if a proper clean-up drive takes place.
One of the major initiatives of K J Joseph during his tenure as DGP during 2002-03 was to transfer police officers, right from DySPs to constables, who were serving in a district for several years. The intention was not to extend the ‘yeomen’ service of the cops to other locations, but to chop off their unholy nexus with anti-social elements.
‘’There were cases of certain police officers serving in a district for more than a decade. Also, there were gangs of police officers in each district and their transfers were limited to a couple of police stations within a district, a meagre formality, ‘’ a top police official recalled.
But, as years passed, the influential cops managed to return to their favourite turf and continue there for years, unchallenged. Affiliations to the associations often gave an upper-hand to these cops.
‘’Even these days, those serving in a district for more than three years are being transferred out. However, those who have unholy links in a district would continue to serve in the district by way of ‘working-arrangements’,’’ say sources.
Over these years, there were a couple of instances in which action was taken against cops, who were found to have criminal nexus. A head constable attached to the Thampanoor Police Station was shifted recently following complaints of demanding money from a nearby fast food centre.
Another head constable attached to the Cantonment Police Station, Ajith, was recently shifted after he allegedly attacked an oil merchant in the city, who was a police informer, with the help of certain anti-socials.
Certain unethical investigation tricks adopted by the police is one reason for the nexus between police and criminals. Seeking the help of a criminal to nab another is a widely accepted strategy of the police, which eventually takes the nexus between the cops and criminals to disproportionate levels. The very unfortunate outcome of this unholy nexus is that one such instance would defame the force as a whole, sources in the police point out.
“Only a permanent mechanism to monitor the credentials of each and every official would help contain this menace,’’ a senior police officer said.
It is often not possible to take disciplinary action against the cops indulging in anti-social activities, as there would be no evidence, because no ordinary person would dare to give complaint against such a cop. Hence, actions are limited only to transfers.
First Published : 11 May 2010 01:43:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
The humiliation suffered by woman police constable Pushkala from her colleagues for not abetting their goonda activities seems to have opened the eyes of senior officers in the city. Top sources in the police said that a move was on to identify those police personnel having a very long tenure in the city and transfer them to other districts after verifying their credentials.
Pushkala, attached to the City Police Commissioner’s office, had tasted the bitterness of the unholy nexus between police and criminals last week following the suspension of 10 cops, who were involved in a ruckus during a meeting of the Police Association.
Goons, allegedly on the behest of some of these policemen, intimidated Pushkala by storming into her house. The unfortunate incident will turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the police, if a proper clean-up drive takes place.
One of the major initiatives of K J Joseph during his tenure as DGP during 2002-03 was to transfer police officers, right from DySPs to constables, who were serving in a district for several years. The intention was not to extend the ‘yeomen’ service of the cops to other locations, but to chop off their unholy nexus with anti-social elements.
‘’There were cases of certain police officers serving in a district for more than a decade. Also, there were gangs of police officers in each district and their transfers were limited to a couple of police stations within a district, a meagre formality, ‘’ a top police official recalled.
But, as years passed, the influential cops managed to return to their favourite turf and continue there for years, unchallenged. Affiliations to the associations often gave an upper-hand to these cops.
‘’Even these days, those serving in a district for more than three years are being transferred out. However, those who have unholy links in a district would continue to serve in the district by way of ‘working-arrangements’,’’ say sources.
Over these years, there were a couple of instances in which action was taken against cops, who were found to have criminal nexus. A head constable attached to the Thampanoor Police Station was shifted recently following complaints of demanding money from a nearby fast food centre.
Another head constable attached to the Cantonment Police Station, Ajith, was recently shifted after he allegedly attacked an oil merchant in the city, who was a police informer, with the help of certain anti-socials.
Certain unethical investigation tricks adopted by the police is one reason for the nexus between police and criminals. Seeking the help of a criminal to nab another is a widely accepted strategy of the police, which eventually takes the nexus between the cops and criminals to disproportionate levels. The very unfortunate outcome of this unholy nexus is that one such instance would defame the force as a whole, sources in the police point out.
“Only a permanent mechanism to monitor the credentials of each and every official would help contain this menace,’’ a senior police officer said.
It is often not possible to take disciplinary action against the cops indulging in anti-social activities, as there would be no evidence, because no ordinary person would dare to give complaint against such a cop. Hence, actions are limited only to transfers.
NRK welfare scheme a big hit
Arjun Raghunath
First Published : 12 May 2010 03:01:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems that Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) have been eagerly waiting for a statesponsored welfare scheme.
Within a couple of months after its launch, around 50,000 NRKs and returnees have already joined the NRK Welfare Fund constituted by the State Government.
NRKs from the Gulf countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain constitute the major chunk of those who enrolled themselves in the welfare scheme.
Similarly, a good number of returnees have also joined the scheme. But the response from Keralites working in other states within the country is not that impressive, according to NRK Welfare Fund Board chief executive officer K T Balabhaskaran.
Though the Board was constituted in 2009, it started functioning only in January this year. Initially, the response to the scheme from abroad was quite cold, which was owing to certain technical difficulties.
According to the norms, the NRKs working outside India have to submit copies of passport and visa attested by the embassy for joining the welfare fund. Now this norm has been relaxed. One need to submit only self-attested copies and embassy attested copies need to be submitted only within three years or while availing of any benefits of the welfare fund, which ever comes first.
An online facility to join the scheme will also be introduced soon. According to rough estimates, there are around 20 lakh Non-Resident Keralites working abroad.
Only the working class are expected to join the welfare scheme.
``We estimate that around 10 lakh people, including NRKs and returnees, would join the scheme in the next three years. We are giving massive publicity to the scheme through the media in the Gulf countries,’’ said Balabhaskaran.
Several organisations of Malayalis in the Gulf countries are taking the initiative to collect the filled-in forms and other required documents and send it to the NRK Welfare Fund Board which is based in Thiruvananthapuram.
The monthly subscription for the scheme is Rs 300 for NRKs abroad and Rs 100 for returnees and NRKs in other Indian states.
First Published : 12 May 2010 03:01:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems that Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) have been eagerly waiting for a statesponsored welfare scheme.
Within a couple of months after its launch, around 50,000 NRKs and returnees have already joined the NRK Welfare Fund constituted by the State Government.
NRKs from the Gulf countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain constitute the major chunk of those who enrolled themselves in the welfare scheme.
Similarly, a good number of returnees have also joined the scheme. But the response from Keralites working in other states within the country is not that impressive, according to NRK Welfare Fund Board chief executive officer K T Balabhaskaran.
Though the Board was constituted in 2009, it started functioning only in January this year. Initially, the response to the scheme from abroad was quite cold, which was owing to certain technical difficulties.
According to the norms, the NRKs working outside India have to submit copies of passport and visa attested by the embassy for joining the welfare fund. Now this norm has been relaxed. One need to submit only self-attested copies and embassy attested copies need to be submitted only within three years or while availing of any benefits of the welfare fund, which ever comes first.
An online facility to join the scheme will also be introduced soon. According to rough estimates, there are around 20 lakh Non-Resident Keralites working abroad.
Only the working class are expected to join the welfare scheme.
``We estimate that around 10 lakh people, including NRKs and returnees, would join the scheme in the next three years. We are giving massive publicity to the scheme through the media in the Gulf countries,’’ said Balabhaskaran.
Several organisations of Malayalis in the Gulf countries are taking the initiative to collect the filled-in forms and other required documents and send it to the NRK Welfare Fund Board which is based in Thiruvananthapuram.
The monthly subscription for the scheme is Rs 300 for NRKs abroad and Rs 100 for returnees and NRKs in other Indian states.
Saturday 15 May 2010
NRK welfare scheme a big hit
Arjun Raghunath First Published : 12 May 2010 03:01:00 AM IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems that Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) have been eagerly waiting for a statesponsored welfare scheme.
Within a couple of months after its launch, around 50,000 NRKs and returnees have already joined the NRK Welfare Fund constituted by the State Government.
NRKs from the Gulf countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain constitute the major chunk of those who enrolled themselves in the welfare scheme.
Similarly, a good number of returnees have also joined the scheme. But the response from Keralites working in other states within the country is not that impressive, according to NRK Welfare Fund Board chief executive officer K T Balabhaskaran.
Though the Board was constituted in 2009, it started functioning only in January this year. Initially, the response to the scheme from abroad was quite cold, which was owing to certain technical difficulties.
According to the norms, the NRKs working outside India have to submit copies of passport and visa attested by the embassy for joining the welfare fund. Now this norm has been relaxed. One need to submit only self-attested copies and embassy attested copies need to be submitted only within three years or while availing of any benefits of the welfare fund, which ever comes first.
An online facility to join the scheme will also be introduced soon. According to rough estimates, there are around 20 lakh Non-Resident Keralites working abroad.
Only the working class are expected to join the welfare scheme.
``We estimate that around 10 lakh people, including NRKs and returnees, would join the scheme in the next three years. We are giving massive publicity to the scheme through the media in the Gulf countries,’’ said Balabhaskaran.
Several organisations of Malayalis in the Gulf countries are taking the initiative to collect the filled-in forms and other required documents and send it to the NRK Welfare Fund Board which is based in Thiruvananthapuram.
The monthly subscription for the scheme is Rs 300 for NRKs abroad and Rs 100 for returnees and NRKs in other Indian states.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems that Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) have been eagerly waiting for a statesponsored welfare scheme.
Within a couple of months after its launch, around 50,000 NRKs and returnees have already joined the NRK Welfare Fund constituted by the State Government.
NRKs from the Gulf countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain constitute the major chunk of those who enrolled themselves in the welfare scheme.
Similarly, a good number of returnees have also joined the scheme. But the response from Keralites working in other states within the country is not that impressive, according to NRK Welfare Fund Board chief executive officer K T Balabhaskaran.
Though the Board was constituted in 2009, it started functioning only in January this year. Initially, the response to the scheme from abroad was quite cold, which was owing to certain technical difficulties.
According to the norms, the NRKs working outside India have to submit copies of passport and visa attested by the embassy for joining the welfare fund. Now this norm has been relaxed. One need to submit only self-attested copies and embassy attested copies need to be submitted only within three years or while availing of any benefits of the welfare fund, which ever comes first.
An online facility to join the scheme will also be introduced soon. According to rough estimates, there are around 20 lakh Non-Resident Keralites working abroad.
Only the working class are expected to join the welfare scheme.
``We estimate that around 10 lakh people, including NRKs and returnees, would join the scheme in the next three years. We are giving massive publicity to the scheme through the media in the Gulf countries,’’ said Balabhaskaran.
Several organisations of Malayalis in the Gulf countries are taking the initiative to collect the filled-in forms and other required documents and send it to the NRK Welfare Fund Board which is based in Thiruvananthapuram.
The monthly subscription for the scheme is Rs 300 for NRKs abroad and Rs 100 for returnees and NRKs in other Indian states.
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