"Decided to transform Kerala into 'elderly-friendly state": CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], June 12 (ANI): Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the 35th General Body meeting of the Kerala Grama Panchayat Association and said that the state government has decided to transform Kerala into an 'elderly-friendly state.'
The Kerala Chief Minister also underscored the vital role of local self-government institutions in the state's development trajectory.
Chief Minister Vijayan said, 'In the last financial year, local self-government institutions in the state were able to utilise 90 per cent of their plan allocation - a significant contribution to the state's development. The Association must further strengthen this efficiency.'
'We have decided to transform Kerala into an elderly-friendly state. Currently, 138 gram panchayats have initiated steps in this direction. This must be expanded to all panchayats. In the field of palliative care, effective and active interventions are being made. Alongside government initiatives, many NGOs also work in this sector. These palliative care services must be integrated, and panchayats should take the lead in this effort,' said Vijayan.
The Kerala Chief Minister also said that the state government aims to implement a coordinated approach involving everyone.
'We've also achieved agricultural growth above the national average. This is a testament to the grassroots strength of Kerala's development model,' he said.
Earlier, the Election Commission of India released the schedule for the bye-elections which are to be held to fill vacancies in Assembly constituencies of Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal.
Polling for the constituencies will be held on June 19, and votes will be counted on June 23.
In Kerala, the bye-election will be held in Nilambur to fill the post of PV Anvar, an LDF-backed MLA who resigned in January this year. He was appointed convenor of the Kerala unit of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Bye-election will be held in Gujarat's constituencies Kadi and Visavadar to fill the posts of Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki, who passed away in February this year and the resignation of Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai.
In Punjab, the bye-election will be held in Ludhiana West to fill the post of Gurpreet Bassi Gogi after his demise their January.
The bypolls will be held in West Bengal's Kaliganj to fill the post of Nasiruddin Ahamed, who passed away from a cardiac arrest in February this year. (ANI)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
Why are Iran and Israel sworn enemies?
Representative AI image Iran and Israel have been enemies for the past few decades with Iran saying it wants to wipe Israel off the map and threatening to annihilate it. Israel, for its part, regards Iran as its biggest adversary. But this wasn't always the case. When were Iran and Israel allies? In fact, Israel and Iran were allies until Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran was one of the first states to recognize Israel after it was founded in 1948. Israel regarded Iran as an ally against the Arab states. Iran, meanwhile, welcomed US-backed Israel as a counterweight to the region's Arab countries. Back then, Israel trained Iranian agricultural experts, supplied technical know-how and helped build up and train the Iranian armed forces. The Iranian shah paid Israel in oil, as its burgeoning economy was in need of fuel. Not only that. Iran was home to the second-largest Jewish community outside of Israel. Yet, after the Islamic Revolution, many Jews left the country. That said, even today, more than 20,000 Jews still live in Iran. When did Israeli-Iranian relations change? After the Iranian Islamic Revolution brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his religious revolutionaries to power, Iran scrapped all previous agreements with Israel. Khomeini directed fierce criticism at Israel for its occupation of Palestinian territories. Gradually, Iran adopted an increasingly harsh rhetoric toward Israel with the aim of winning the favour of regional Arab states, or their citizens at the very least. The Iranian regime, after all, was eager to grow its regional influence. When Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon in 1982 to intervene in the country's civil war, Khomeini dispatched Iranian Revolutionary Guards to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to support local Shiite militias. The Hezbollah militia, which grew out of this support, is today regarded as a direct Iranian proxy in Lebanon. Iran's current leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters, remains just as antagonistic toward Israel as his predecessors. Khamenei and the entire Iranian leadership have also repeatedly questioned and denied the Holocaust. Should Iran change its anti-Israel stance? Not all ordinary Iranians support Iran's hostility toward Israel. "Iran must reassess its relationship with Israel because its stance is no longer in keeping with the times," said Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, the daughter of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a 2021 interview. Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, who once held a seat in Iran's parliament, said Muslim Uyghurs are oppressed in China and Chechen Muslims in Russia — and yet "Iran has close relations with both. " Prominent political scientist Sadegh Zibakalam has repeatedly criticized Iran's policy toward Israel. "This stance has isolated the country on the international stage," Zibakalam said in a 2022 interview with DW. Staunch backers of Iran's Islamic Republic, however, support the country's hostile position against Israel and are keen to see it oppose the great powers. Some Iranian regime supporters and members of the so-called Axis of Resistance have been irritated by Iran's long reluctance to attack Israel in the context of the Gaza war or avenge attacks on Iran itself, analyst Ali Fathollah-Nejad said in April 2024. The director of the Berlin-based Center for Middle East and Global Order think tank explained that frustration was growing over "Iran's lack of credibility as the main champion of the Palestinian cause and its hesitance to confront Israel directly. " This article was originally written in German and published in April 2024. It was updated on June 13, 2025, following the Israeli attack on Iran.
India Gazette
36 minutes ago
- India Gazette
Incident is absolutely terrifying: Bhoomi Chauhan, who missed Air India flight by 10 mins
Bharuch (Gujarat) [India] June 13 (ANI): Bhoomi Chauhan, a resident of Gujarat's Bharuch, narrowly escaped death when she missed Thursday's ill-fated flight which crashed, claiming the lives of 241 people on board the Boeing 787-8, Air India flight 171, including 12 crew members, Air India confirmed post-midnight on Friday. While speaking to ANI on Friday, Chauhan recounted her experience, 'We arrived at the check-in gate 10 minutes late, but they didn't allow me, and I returned. They said that it would delay the flight further. I was late because of traffic in the Ahmedabad city area. When I came to know that the flight had crashed, I was totally numb. I thank my mother Goddess that I am safe, but the incident is absolutely terrifying.' Chauhan's mother attributed her daughter's survival to the blessings of the Mother Goddess, telling ANI, 'We thank Mother Goddess for protecting my daughter. She left her child with me, and it's all because of the Mother Goddess blessings; because of that child, she is with me..' Chauhan's father explained that traffic congestion had caused them to arrive late at the airport, and despite their requests, they were not allowed to board the flight. '...We arrived at the airport late because of traffic. We requested, but they didn't allow us. When we came out of the airport, we received the news that the plane had crashed.' Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Air India plane crash site in Ahmedabad and reviewed the ground situation, a day after the AI-171 flight bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad International Airport here. The Prime Minister arrived in the city this morning and proceeded to the site where the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner -- carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed. He was briefed by officials on the situation. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi and other officials accompanied PM Modi during his Modi then proceeded to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital to meet with those injured in the mishap. Upon his arrival in the city today, PM Modi was received by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Union Ministers Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu and CR Paatil. There were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian national on board the crashed plane. Miraculously, one person, a British national of Indian origin, survived the crash, airline authorities said. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, a Line Training Captain with 8,200 hours of flying experience, assisted by First Officer Clive Kundar, who had logged 1,100 flying hours. According to Air Traffic Control (ATC), the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from runway 23. It made a Mayday call to ATC, but thereafter, the aircraft did not respond to the calls made by ATC. Immediately after departing Runway 23, the aircraft crashed outside the airport perimeter. A formal investigation has been launched by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) into the deadly crash of Air India flight 171 that killed 241 people onboard. The government was also constituting a high-level committee of people with expertise in multiple disciplines to examine the crash incident and devise ways to strengthen aviation safety by preventing such incidents in the future. (ANI)
India Gazette
36 minutes ago
- India Gazette
"Still feels as if he is with us": Vijay Rupani's untimely demise leaves neighbours devastated
Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], June 13 (ANI): The untimely demise of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the Air India-171 plane crash has left his family, friends, and neighbours devastated. Speaking to ANI, one of his neighbours, Kiranbe, with a wrenched heart, stated that it still feels as if he is present with them. She could not believe she had lost her neighbour Rupani. '...I still feel as if he is with us. I have not been able to say anything since yesterday. His memories will stay with us used to celebrate all the festivals believe this has happened,' she said. For Rupani's neighbour and family doctor, Dr Nayan Shah, it is hard to believe what has happened, but it would be the memories which he will cherish forever. Shah stated, 'We have been neighbours for 35 years. His memories will always stay with us. Be it good or bad times, we stayed used to celebrate all the festivals is very difficult to believe, but we have to stay with his memories.' Rupani, who was serving as in-charge of the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), lost his live in the aircraft crash incident. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu had confirmed the presence of former CM Rupani on board the crashed Air India flight. A total of 241 people onboard the Boeing 787-8, Air India flight 171, including 12 crew members, have died in the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash, Air India confirmed post-midnight on Friday. The flight, which was operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12, 2025, carried 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals, and one Canadian national. The passenger plane crashed near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Gujarat's Ahmedabad into a resident doctors' hostel building shortly after take-off. Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi visited the Air India plane crash site in Ahmedabad and reviewed the ground situation, a day after the AI-171 flight bound for London Gatwick crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad International Airport here. PM Modi went to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and met the lone survivor of AI 171 plane crash and those injured in the mishap. (ANI)
