Normal And Abnormal

(Amal Jyoti College of Engineering, Koovappally, Kanjirapally) According to available information, out of the 51,000 engineering seats available in different colleges 23,000 are lying vacant this year. With the existing employment opportunities for engineers in India this trend is likely to be continued. It may not be worth to find out reasons for our youth going to other countries for studies leaving these much seats in our colleges. However, if we can draft a plan jointly by representatives from engineering colleges, Ministeries of Education, Finance and Tourism of Government of Kerala we may be able to fill these vacancies. Let us try to bring students from other countries, preferably from third world countries. We may initially offer as much concessions as possible to attract more and more students and also to set a trend. Tourism and finance departments should give more focus towards this direction. Let us keep in mind that we may include Medicine and other branches al...

As per the UN report 1.3 million people die in road accidents every year in the world. Half of all accidents the victims are pedestrians, cyclists and motor cyclists. 93% of all road accidents are in low and middle income group countries. They have 60% vehicles in the world. Over speeding, rash driving, violation of rules, failure to understand signs, fatigue and alcohol are prime causes of road accident committed by drivers. Carelessness, illiteracy, crossing at wrong places, moving on carriage way etc are causes for pedestrians. As per information 95% of all road accidents are caused due to human error at some point. According to a study 84% people aged 65 and above hold driving licence in US . One sixth of drivers are above 65 in US. Under aged drivers death in road accident in India in 2018 were, male 1980 and female 157.  Norway is reported to have the best roads in the world, followed by Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and France. Now, what is more important her...

The 10 year old cycle polo player's death in Nagpur seems to have resulted by the unwanted fight between different sports departments of Kerala and also of Maharashtra. The National Sports Authority should also share the responsibility of this unnatural death of a sports child. The Kerala State Sports Ministry, The Maharashtra Sports Ministry and the Central Sports Ministry cannot wash their hands from the death of this girl from Kerala. According to media reports the concerned sports authority of Nagpur had refused the ten year old girl food and a place to stay. It should also be found that where she had food from and what she had eaten that made her vomiting. She was reported to have walked to the close by doctor. She was said to have administered an injection to prevent vomiting. And she dies soon. It can be noticed that in the name of sports some irresponsible people are playing with common man's tax money. Since we cannot expect much from any governments, some ...

According media reports many Malayalis are stranded at different parts of the country due lack of adequate train services towards Kerala, forcing them to keep away from their near and dear at home in this festival time. Bus charge from Bangalore to Kochi is reported to be Rs 6,000/- Many cannot afford this huge rate. What is the reason for this huge rate?  Nothing but availing the opportunity, in the absence of proper law to prevent this exploitation. Now, it is to find that who is responsible for this unfamiliar situation? Undoubtedly the central government, the state government and every elected representative are responsible for this unusual situation. The state government should have convincingly explained and demanded from the Ministry of Railways the number of special trains required by the state of Kerala. On the other hand the central government should have assessed the needs of the state and provided the required trains voluntarily without inviting any pressure...

(16 Indian sailors including 3 Malayalis detained in Nigeria. Image courtesy, The New Indian Express) Nigeria has detained 27 people belonging to five countries including Poland, Sri Lanka and India on charges of illegally operating to take away crude from their region. 16 of them are from India. They all alleged to have entered the Nigerian waters on August 7. According to Nigerian reports they lose about 5 lakhs barrels of crude daily by these illegal operations. Now the question is whether our people have really committed the error or not. If they did it, it should be found that under whose command they did it. Whatever it may be we must think about the families of those sailors.  We may try to operate through the diplomatic chain to rescue those men with the strict arrangement to keep them away from such illegitimate business. It may not be wise for the government to leave these men for the political games of Nigerian political parties. K V George 

Devotees rush to the Sabarimala temple is increasing considerably year after year. The temple may not be able to accommodate these large number of devotees in the coming time. Media reports of today shows that as per the suggestion of the hon' le High Court of Kerala the Darshan is being increased to 90,000 per day. In this connection I would submit my humble suggestion to add over a lakh more to the existing numbers so that the daily Darshan may become possible for over two lakhs people. All you have to do is to construct a platform just before the eighteen stairs. This platform should be set at a height from there the devotees can have a clear view of the deity. Long steps can be provided at both sides of the platform. Since many devotees may not be adamant to climb the eighteen stairs and yet they can have the Holy Darshan, the rush during the coming years can be managed. Trust that the Devaswom authority may look into this suggestion. K V George 

Congress party in Kerala has reached the rock bottom level of unity. It is like a chariot drawn by  many horses to different directions. In other words the party is full of villians without any hero. The tussle is going on in the party at every level at every nook and corner. It is as if the known leaders have taken the oath of shattering the party. The way things stand now the LDF rule may continue for a few more terms continuously. Now Congress party has got an unexpected opportunity for a return, but the so called leaders, instead of availing  this gifted space scratching each other and enjoy right from top to bottom. These so called political heroes so far couldn't realise that their party is on the death bed. Now, instead of rejuvenating their beloved party they are individually and jointly trying to make the coffin for it. I feel pity on them. They will all put their best effort to waste this gifted opportunity to make a come back in the state. K V George...

Gambling in India remains banned since long. It was a common sight till some time ago that police run after agricultural workers playing cards under tree shadows in the fields. Some of those could be caught and thrashed heavily and produced before the court. This was the story of yesterday. Today gambling is legally permitted under the name online gambling. The winner has to pay the share of the winning amount to the government in the form of taxes. Gambling have many adverse impacts to the society including crime, domestic abuse leading to divorces, bankruptcy etc. Gambling also cause health problems like anxiety, depression, stress and the related issues like ulcer, headache, muscles pain etc. It has impact on the economy like lowered productivity, embezzlement, absenteeism etc . Leaving the negligible tax revenue gambling contribute nothing positive. A report by The New Indian Express dated 21 January 2021 says: 'The State (Tamil Nadu)  on Wednesday informed the Madr...

What are all happened in Vizhinjam region were unprecedented in Kerala. As usual in many other parts of the country a bad situation is made worse by antisocial elements here too. There  are also some power centres  playing from behind the seen, can also be reasonably suspected. Whoever must be trying to induce the situation are doing this without knowing the very dangerous consequences of it. Or, they are not bothered about what would happen to our country. We all must know that we are playing with the poverty of a section of our own society. The antisocial people who pretend to be acting like extreme patriots must not be knowing the meaning of patriotism. Any action that hamper peace within our Motherland can only be caused by antisocial elements. The people may look around always and find such antisocial activities and discourage those instantly. This is written with the sole interest of peace and harmony within our country always. Jai Bharat Mata! K V George...

(Great Southwest Industrial Park, Arlington, USA. Image courtesy - Zee News) (This article was published  about an year back) While the government of Kerala is more interested in Governor, V C and such related matters than addressing serious issues concerning the people, the opposition too are joining them. As per the prevailing financial situation of the state, it may not be possible to disburse the salary of the government employees after a couple of months. It is the duty of the opposition parties to suggest ways and means to the government to overcome this precarious situation. Surprisingly the media too is focusing on petty political issues than discussing more important subjects like the pathetic financial state of the government. When the media and the opposition parties allege financial mismanagement of the government they should also suggest ways and means to get over from this. All said and done the state government is in a red hot spot. It may not be that eas...

According to media reports a large rally is being organised in Thiruvananthapuram on 30th November 22 by RSS/BJP. Explosive orators may be addressing this big gathering. Such speeches, if made,  against any particular community it can only worsen the situation. No one is going to gain anything from this but will only hurt one another. I think many of the Malayalis have not suffered from communal riots. As such they do not know the consequences of it. It may create irreparable loss to the state. Under the existing circumstances, it would be ideal that the Chief Minister may have a meeting with the representatives of the fishing community and plainly tell them what the government can offer them under the existing financial condition of the state. Promise may be made only to the extent that could be honoured. However, under whatever circumstances, the proposed rally can contribute nothing to resolve the issue but will only adding fuel to fire. Let us all hope for a peacefu...

           (Image courtesy -                      onmanorama) The  present situation in Kerala has more depth and gravity than many people consider. This should have been subsided much earlier with a composed approach by the government. What is going on in Vizhinjam is misinterpreted by different political parties, media and religious groups in their own choice. But none could see it as a fight for survival of the poor. After seeing what is happened yesterday, only very few could imagine that our state is at the brink of an explosive situation. Under no circumstances we should  allow to repeat what is happened in different parts of North India years before. Some vested interests are trying to convert this into a communal violence. They only try to add fuel to fire. I wish to pray the fighting communities that they should not lose their cool while presenting their problems at any le...

(Takuma Asano #18 scoring against Germany) It is by Mohd Bin Salman in his vision 2030 made the foundation for Saudi Arabia to clinch a historical win against England in Qatar World Cup. And it was Takuma Asano the 28 years old for Japan made the winning shot against Germany in another match next day.  Coming from the reserve bench in the 57th minute he scored the stunning goal against Germany and assured the great Japanese win in world football. Every Indian must be anxious to see such a moment four our country. People from all over the country would like to ask to all concerned that can we ever pick 11 world class footballers from the 140 crores Indians. Let us understand the fact that sports make a country equally prestigious as it becomes wealthy or an armed power. I wish to tell my fellow countrymen as well as the top leaders in different offices that let us throw our stinking politics into waste bins and concentrate on the development of our country to bring it in...

(Image courtesy - You Tube) Almost all Malayalam TV news channels conduct political debates all seven days in a week. Generally current issues are taken as the subject for discussion. Major political parties are made to participate in this. Almost every day the debate reach the boiling point while concluding. When one says yes the other says no is the prime trend of the discussion. Unfortunately these debates normally looks like comedy shows in most days because of the ignorance exposed by some of the participants. In some occasions the law itself were misinterpreted by learned people. This is done to express their loyalty to the party they belong to. In fact the subjects for debate is selected by channels to draw more viewers than for the benefits of the state. The state government is at the rock bottom level of economic growth. The government is trying hard to meet the day to day needs . There are many issues needs urgent attention. Unfortunately none of our news channels...

Indian  cricket team has shamefully surrendered to the English team in the semi final. Had they won that match it would have been the win of the Cup. Lot of people are the shareholders of this 10 wicket defeat. Those include the players, the team management, the coaches, the BCCI and some sections of the media. Decades ago a team was picked from a choice list of hardly 20-25 players. Now we have selection choice of 200 - 250 players. Unfortunately we don't have a winning at all. Why it is said is because our loss to England was for 10 wickets. If we had lost for one or two wickets this discussion would not have come up at all. Today's bowlers have umpteen ways to study the weakness of the opposition batsman. This has been well exploited by our opposition teams, especially England. Now we must go for a more accurate and result oriented selection process. It is suggested to keep three experienced players for this purpose. The team selected should be retained for the p...

According to a news report appeared in The Times of India some time back 10,187 POCSO cases were pending in various courts of Kerala. Consequent upon the increse of crime against children, the number of cases coming to the courts are considerably increasing. There are now 28 special courts in the state to handle POCSO cases. Yet, these seems to be inadequate to deal with as the crime rate is almost double by successive years. While 2,384 POCSO cases were registered in 2015 it was almost doubled in 2018. The state Chief Minister  told earlier that more courts would come up soon to deal with crimes committed against women and children in the state. Due to the paucity of trial facilities the cases are pending in the courts for longer period and this helps the criminals to roam around freely and commit more crimes. Beyond all these, keeping the criminals into prison for few years and feeding them well do not make the desired results unless they are made to refo...

Election is an opportunity for the Indians to make the country dirty the maximum possible. As many walls as possible in the country are used for writing and pasting  posters for election campaign. Over and above these flag posts are erected on way side hampering traffic movements. Even posters are found stuck on the highways. In railway stations in Kerala, publicity boards of Trade Unions are found more than the public information boards. Unfortunately none of our political parties have learnt so far that these wall writing,  posters etc wouldn't fetch even one vote for any party. Yet they keep doing this blemishes. Many countries including USA with a population over 33 crores and Fiji with a mere 9 lakhs population do not do these dirty campaign. When spoil the surroundings the people of Kerala must think that it is a well known tourist destination in the world, the state is striving hard to meet the day to day needs of the people and tourism is one of the largest...

Sree  Narayana Guru must be one of the greatest human being, may be beyond that, ever born in this holy land. He had Jesus Christ in him, Sree Krishna in him and also Swami Vivekananda in him. He taught great human philosophy in the simplest language. He was not confined himself in temples or any other places of worship. His teachings are not within the framework of ethical and moral code of any religion. He did not preach any faith. He said about the Supreme One in his own language. One cast, one God and one religion is for all men is his prime teaching. He could be the model of modesty and purity. About 25% of the state population constitutes the followers of Sree Narayana Guru. SNDP was the rudimentary organisation for the followers of the Guru. This has since been well established both financially and with political support. Other than having some educational institutions, hospitals and old age homes within the state, what have been done nationally or internationall...

    (Image courtesy - iStock) Small  pox took the lives of 300 millions people in the 20th century or it took the lives of 500 millions in the final hundred years before deporting from this world. In my younger days I have heard many unbelievable stories associated with small pox. I was born in Changancherry in the later years of the first half of the 20th century. During a decade ago Changancherry was severely infected with small pox. Countless number of deaths took place in the whole region. Death around were daily stories. When the daily death toll gone beyond the handling rim, the Metropolitan Church of Changancherry had extended the then existing cemetery and one portion was kept separated with a high wall reserved for small pox deaths. Dead bodies were brought usually in the night and no funeral rites were performed in the presence of a priest, it was told. But that was no solution as no people were found willing to bring the dead body to the cemetery as...

(Image courtesy - The Indian Express) What is happening in our country! No other words than shameful to say. A 21 year old girl seeking employment was called to the house and raped by a Chief Secretary, a Labour Commissioner and a business man in our own country as per report by a leading Malayalam daily sometime back. Why it is repeated here because it is continued in different forms relentlessly. What is the future of our country for women? What is the fate of the women in our country? Can we not say an effective no to this? Why can't this issue brought into the root level of school syllabus? Why can't we impose much serious punishment for rape in any form? What can we expect from the sociologists, educationalists, eminent lawyers and the well known media of our country? What is that the thousands of religious leaders teach their followers? It is high time that we must leave the beaten path in every level. It is high time that our youngsters should come to the cen...

(Image courtesy, The Indian Express) In a recently held election in the cooperative sector in Midnapore, West Bengal election, CPIM joined with BJP and they have won 52 seats out of a total of 63 seats, according to the news reports. This can be seen as an alliance in the  ensuing Panchayat and the subsequent Assembly elections. Since power is more important than anything else one may be constrained to approve it. More than that, God and Communism are two rare ingredients for the people and they would like to taste it. When these are all realities the ongoing tussle between the CM and the Governor are likely to be interfered by the central leadership of both the parties and may be called off any time. We all may call it a gimmick tomorrow. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" K V George 

(Routine protests in front of the secretariat of Kerala) If the news reports can be believed, the government of Kerala is at its rock bottom level of revenue of the state exchequer. Despite having wide variety of opportunities to raise the income the government is not at all focusing on such avenues but appears to have focused on - 1) displacement of the Governor, 2) finding ways and means to take severe disciplinary action against the V.C. appointed by the Governor, 3) protecting the seat of the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram. All concerned must know that the people are neither against the government nor against the Governor nor against any Mayor. The people only want that they should not be put into troubles. They have the aspirations for economic growth and a better living atmosphere. If these cannot be provided they cannot stand with such governments irrespective of the ideology it promise. Our educational institutions, health establishments, infrastructure especially road...

According to the news reports in a leading daily of Kerala, the price of Sardine (Chala/Mathi) fishing in Chellanam (Ernakulam) harbour is a mere Rs 20/- to Rs 30/- a kg. Whereas a little away in the market the same fish is sold at Rs 120/- to Rs 150/- a kg. It is not a secret. Both sides i.e the killer and the killed know it. The victims have adequate resources to counter it. But unfortunately they silently concede. Above all, we have a government which said to be always standing with the poor and the downtrodden. Surprisingly, in such cases they seem to prefer the seat among the killers. And the opposition parties of the state, appear to have never heard about such  things! This is the same case with poor cultivators. Dear poor fishing community and the suppressed agriculturalists, you may come out from the cave of silence. You may stop selling it to the middle men. You may directly sell it to the consumer at your preferred price. You will gain and the consumer too. T...

(Image courtesy - The Times of India) According to media reports the government of Kerala has taken a decision to ward off corruption from the state. If the government is determined, it may not be difficult to enforce the decision. In order to  implement this more effectively, the following may also be taken care of. The anti corruption law should be made brief and unequivocal. Irrespective of the amount of money involved, the punishment should be dismissal from service forthwith with a minimum penalty of ten times the money involved in the concerned activity plus imprisonment as the case may be. In the case of suppliers, contractors etc those  involved or corroborated in the action, registration of such firms should be cancelled immediately. Such person/firm should not be considered for any future business with the state. Alongwith these, it should be made mandatory that the names of any government official or politician approach with any recommendation for the ac...

(Ganja plants - image courtesy, India Times) Let  the government and the people move hand in hand, no narcotics can get into this state. Pay handsomely to those give information about narcotics movement. Their identity should not be revealed under any circumstances. Addicts may be forcefully rehabilitated. Any official corruption involved in this should be severely dealt with. Narcotics should be included in the school syllabus from class 4 to 12. Let us join the government in making our state of Kerala a narcotics free one. K V George 

In the recently concluded 36th National Games in Gujarat, the performance of Kerala way really deplorable. While Kerala bagged 54 Gold, 48 Silver and 60 Bronz with a total of 162 medals in the last game of 2015 and stood second in the medal tally, we are placed at the sixth position in the medal tally in the just concluded Games in Gujarat. We could get only 23 Gold, 18 Silver and 13 Bronz with a total of 54 medals. Kerala is behind Services, Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Who is responsible for this pathetic performance? It is athletes, sports department or the government? Undoubtedly it is the government. Primarily, government do not have sufficient money to spend for sports development. The government have no time too to spend for sports as all are busy in politics for one issue or the other. If we continue like this, the problem is not going to be confined to sports but may spread to education, health etc soon. We should now give priority for a multifol...

The news papers and news channels in Kerala are filled with 'VC'. I think a fair amount of the people are not well aware of this 'VC' affair. Some may be thinking this a new virus like Covid! Some must be taking this as another Kit to be distributed during Diwali festival! All political parties are seriously discussing VC all around as if this issue is the greatest problem Kerala is facing and if this is sorted out all issues of the state will be sorted. The ruling government do not have means to meet the daily expenses. Unfortunately they have no time to discuss and find ways and means pay monthly salary of the employees, repair the damaged roads, get over the dog menace across the state. What a democracy! What a politics! What a VC! And what a comedy! K V George 

(Sri Rishi Sunak choosen to become the next Prime Minister of Britain) Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak, an Indian origin, is all set to become the next Prime Minister of UK. Years before, the British captured our country and ruled it for a long period of time. It was an India of small independent countries ruled by many kings. The people as a whole were poor, illiterate and unhealthy. And now, one man from the same country but united, powerful and literate has been chosen by the powerful and wealthy British to rule them. It is their choice. No one has forced them. Every Indian will pray for the health, wisdom and success of the new British Prime Minister and the Prosperity of Britain! K V George 

(World Healthcare Access and Quality Index) Health of the people of a country is determined by various contributing factors prevalent in the country. They include atmospheric pollution, quality of water, quality of food, infrastructure available in the country, medical facilities available, entertainment and sports facilities at reach, behaviour of fellow beings and many such factors. Generally in a world level classification, people of the developed countries are found healthiest. People of developing countries come next and the inhabitants of the underdeveloped countries are found the least in the health categories. According to Bloomberg Global Health Index 2019 the top healthiest countries in the world are: (Name of the country with rank and score) 1. Spain 92.75 2. Italy 91.59 3. Iceland 91.44 4. Japan 91.38 5. Switzerland 90.93 6. Sweden 90.24 In another survey of the year 2021, the ranking and the score of countries are given below. 1. USA 75.9 2. Australia 71.1 3. F...

Answer for this question is too simple. Sri Tharoor has more academic qualifications than many of the contemporary congress men in Kerala. He held positions that may cause jealousy to some of them. Above all he possesses more knowledge than many of his competitors. And certainly he might be considered by many as the most competent candidate for today's Congress party. While these remain the facts, the fellow Congress politicians in the senior cadres do not want to admit it as in many other similar cases. However, they all know that under the present circumstances Tharoor would be the ideal president to lead this self ruined party. Let us wait for the last minute surprise! K V George 

Two women were murdered in Kerala and the flesh were cooked and eaten by the killers and their associates. This killing was in the name of human sacrifice ( Narabali)  and by now this news has been spread across the whole country and most part of the world. Most surprising is that this heinous crime has taken place in a state that claims to be the highest literate in the country. Alas! What made these to happen here! Infact, it is nothing but misconstrued religious beliefs, disarrayed educational system and atrocities caused by outdated political philosophies prevailing in our country are those persuading such crimes in this so called literate state. If we want to do any corrections, we must start from the grass roots level aiming at the coming generations. We must also ensure stringent punishments for the culprits. It is also necessary that people should be encouraged to report any such suspicious things around them. Over and above these, we must think whether we shoul...

(Continued from yesterday) Countries with the highest tourist inflow in the world (2019). (In millions) 1. France 90.00 2. Spain 83.70 3. USA 79.30 4. China 65.70 5. Italy 64.50 6. Turkey 51.20 International tourists visited Kerala during this period was: 01.19 millions Domestic tourist visited: 18.38 millions  Given below are the earnings from tourism by top countries in the same period. (In bn $) USA 210 Spain 68 France 60 Maldives 2.7 Palau and Greneda 141and 48 millions Kerala Rs 45,010.69.crores The above figures show the scope of tourism for the state of Kerala as well as our country. In this context the following are proposed for the consideration of both state and central governments and all concerned departments. 1. Set targets for the number of international tourists to visit the state. The revenue aimed should not be less than Rs two lakhs crores. 2. The tourists visited should be seen as our most loved and cared guests. People should be advised through all a...

For reasons unknown, the state of Kerala is not giving due significance to tourism industry. Though the state is limping on the economic front, probably due to the managerial deficiencies,  no result oriented efforts are being taken for the optimum utilisation of available resources to bring up the revenue. After fuel and chemicals, tourism is the one that brings export earnings in the world. About 10% of the GDP of the world is generated from Tourism Industry. Kerala ranked 9th in the must visit eco tourism spots in the world list of 2022. US magazine has praised this God's Own Country for its spectacular beaches, backwaters, lush green inland, temples, palaces etc as must visit sites. Time magazine has shortlisted Kerala among 50 must explore destinations in the world in 2022. Though others show positive gestures to place Kerala as beautiful must see destination in the world, we ourselves prefer as much silence as possible. Despite having an outstanding tourism menu, ...

We may find the police in different countries. Japan Britain Moscow New York California Germany New Zealand China New Delhi Courtesy: Web sources K V George