
No scope for controversy over Vijnana Keralam post, says Isaac
Dr. Isaac was reacting to a public interest litigation questioning his appointment and an amicus curiae report to the High Court based on it. Dr. Isaac said he was happy to have received an opportunity to explain matters before the court.
Only travel expenses
On the question of the remuneration for his post, he said he was eligible only for travel expenses. Vijnana Keralam is aimed at aligning skilling with job creation, according to Dr. Isaac.
Skilling programmes for the student community under the Vijnana Keralam campaign is to be rolled out from August, he said. He went on to add that the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) assumed its present structure during the previous LDF government's term. K-DISC was shaped with the approval of the Finance department, he said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Southern Railway to roll out Kavach on Ernakulam-Shoranur stretch
The Southern Railway will soon roll out Kavach, an indigenous train collision prevention and avoidance system, on the busy rail corridor in the State from Ernakulam South to Shoranur Junction. The Kerala Rail Development Corporation (K-Rail)-SS Rail joint venture has been awarded the contract to implement the project. The project, which is expected to cost ₹105.8 crore, is to be completed in 18 months in the 106.8 km-long corridor. The project will be completed on time, said V. Ajith Kumar, Director (Business, Development, and Finance), who is also Managing Director in-charge of K-Rail. This will be the first segment in Kerala to implement the Kavach safety system. The new project comes after the introduction of an automatic signalling system from Ernakulam to Vallathol Nagar. The automatic signalling project is being implemented by a joint venture of K-Rail-RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways). Kavach is a system developed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) for the Indian Railways to avoid train collisions. The protective system includes sensors, GPS system, and a communication system. This system detects the possibility of train collisions in time and automatically prevents them. Telecom towers and optical fibre cables will be installed throughout the stretch as part of the project, according to K-Rail officers.


News18
an hour ago
- News18
Punjab & Haryana High Court Acquits Late MLA Om Prakash Hitler's Sons In 30-Year-Old Murder Case
The court set aside the 2004 conviction for the teenager's death. Om Prakash Hitler was an archrival of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala In a significant judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted three sons of former Haryana MLA Om Prakash alias 'Om Prakash Hitler" in a 30-year-old murder case, citing serious doubts over the credibility of the prosecution's evidence and the possibility of political vendetta. The division bench comprising Justices Gurvinder Singh Gill and Jasjit Singh Bedi set aside the 2004 conviction of Manoj Kumar Sihag, Sanjay Sihag, and Sandeep Sihag, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly exhorting their father, Om Prakash, to shoot a 13-year-old boy, Jeet Ram, during a wedding celebration in February 1995. The fourth accused, Om Prakash, passed away during the pendency of the appeal. The incident dates back to February 26, 1995, when Jeet Ram, a teenager attending a wedding hosted by Om Prakash Hitler in village Chautala, sustained gunshot injuries and later died. An FIR was promptly registered under Section 304-A IPC for causing death by negligence, based on the victim's father Madan Lal's statement that the death resulted from accidental celebratory firing. An untraced report was accepted by the magistrate in 1996. However, over four years later, Madan Lal moved a fresh application in 1999, alleging that the death was not accidental but a deliberate murder committed by Om Prakash and his sons, following a verbal altercation at the event. This led to a reinvestigation and subsequent framing of murder charges under Sections 302 and 302/109 IPC. In 2004, the Sessions Court convicted all five accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Om Prakash and Darbara Singh, another co-accused, later died during the pendency of the appeal. The High Court expressed serious reservations about the timing and reliability of the prosecution's key witnesses, Duli Chand and Bhajan Lal, who surfaced only in 1999, over four years after the incident. The bench noted that both individuals were politically aligned with then-chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, a political rival of the accused, and had pending or past enmity with Om Prakash Hitler. The court observed that the initial FIR made no mention of any of the present appellants being responsible, and even in later statements, the credibility of witnesses appeared compromised. 'Apparently, the statement of this witness has been procured belatedly at the behest of the investigating agency possibly on account of political interference," the HC remarked. Furthermore, inconsistencies in ballistic evidence and the post-mortem report cast doubt on the prosecution's claim that a licensed .12 bore DBBL gun allegedly used by Om Prakash had caused the fatal injury. The firearm was only entered into the accused's licence record months after the incident. 'The evidence brought on record cannot be said to be of such sterling quality so as to unequivocally point towards the guilt of the accused," the bench ruled, emphasising that the delay in naming and examining key witnesses raised serious concerns about the integrity of the investigation. Setting aside the conviction and sentence passed by the Sessions Court in 2004, the High Court acquitted Manoj Kumar Sihag, Sanjay Sihag, and Sandeep Sihag of all charges. view comments First Published: July 16, 2025, 18:27 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.


News18
an hour ago
- News18
As Mumbai Mutes Loudspeakers, ‘Secular' Politicians Back Errant Mosques
Last Updated: Islam's self-appointed political guardians are religiously rooting for the noise nuisance to return Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya is fighting a two-and-a-half-front war. He has been relentlessly campaigning against illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants living in Mumbai. More recently, he has been on a drive to shut down thousands of loudspeakers, unregistered and playing at rule-breaking decibel levels, mostly from mosques. After his campaign, the Mumbai police removed more than 1,500 illegal loudspeakers overwhelmingly from masjids but also a few mandirs and gurdwaras in just three months. 'We initiated a campaign after the Mumbai High Court issued directives about the use of such speakers. Almost 99 per cent masjids had never obtained or applied for loudspeaker permission till the High Court order," Somaiya said. But after the police action, more than 600 masjids and their trustees have applied for permission. Somaiya's half-front war is against his party's own allies in the NDA, like Ajit Pawar, who has assured Muslim groups that their loudspeakers would not fall silent and Somaiya would be reined in. But Kirit Somaiya is not playing. Never before have Mumbai's Islamists faced such a daunting resistance to their single-minded focus on capturing more and more physical space and marking territory by decibels. Observing that the use of loudspeakers is not an essential part of any religion, the Bombay High Court on January 25 directed the Maharashtra government to prepare in-built mechanisms to control decibel levels in loudspeakers, public address systems, and other sound-emitting gadgets used at places of worship and religious institutions. The court asked the Mumbai police to crack down hard on violators. It told the state to seriously consider issuing directives to the police for calibration and auto-fixation of decibel limits of loudspeakers or public address systems used at such places. The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, allow noise levels up to 55 decibels during the day and 45 dB at night in residential areas. Noise from loudspeakers can vary between 75 and 200 dB. Celebrities like Sonu Nigam and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi have complained about azaan being beamed over ear-splitting loudspeakers five times a day. Uttar Pradesh has successfully taken down or muted more than a lakh loudspeakers. After the Bombay HC order, the Mumbai police issued a notice on May 11 directing all religious sites to give up loudspeakers. 'Any stakeholders interested in installing loudspeakers would then have to acquire a license, granted after providing documents such as property cards, legal construction proofs, and waqf registration papers," the order read. But Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar met a cross-party coalition of Muslim leaders on June 25, warned the police to follow due process, and urged Somaiya to stop what he says is a 'smear campaign" against noisy mosques. The Muslim coalition has NCP state president Nawab Malik, party leaders Zeeshan Siddique, Sana Malik, and Syed Jalaluddin, Samajwadi Party state president Abu Asim Azmi, and AIMIM national spokesperson Waris Pathan. But Mumbaikars, even many Muslims, seem happy. 'I stay hardly 200 metres away from a couple of mosques at Kurla Pipe Road. I don't see any decrease in the number of devotees in mosques after azaan stopped being amplified through loudspeakers. This is a relief and should be welcomed," a local practising Muslim, Mohammed Tarique, is quoted as telling The Times of India. Many mosques took down the loudspeakers on their own. Khursheed Siddiqui, general secretary, Masjid and Madrassa Mohammadiya in Vikhroli, reportedly called a meeting of elders to explain to them that loudspeakers were not required to amplify Allah's message. They agreed. But Islam's self-appointed political guardians are religiously rooting for the noise nuisance to return, never mind that seventh-century Arabia did not even know the ear trumpet, let alone the loudspeaker. view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.