Latest news with #Saji
The Hindu
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
SFI march to Raj Bhavan against Kerala Governor's ‘bid to saffronise State-run varsities' turns violent
A Students' Federation of India (SFI) march to Raj Bhavan against Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar's alleged bid to 'saffronise' State-funded universities turned violent in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday (July 10, 2025). Scores of SFI activists marched behind a lengthy cloth banner slamming Raj Bhavan-appointed temporary Vice Chancellor of Kerala University, Mohanan Kunnumal, as a 'Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stooge'. The police, deployed in strength, cordoned off the road leading to Raj Bhavan with iron barricades to prevent the student activists from trespassing on Mr. Arlekar's official residence. The marchers toppled the barriers and climbed on top, sloganeering against Mr. Arlekar and Mr. Kunnumal. The police discharged water cannons several times to disperse the protesters, who refused to budge from the spot. Subsequently, the police sounded bugles and waved the mandatory red ensign, declaring the march an unlawful assembly and urging the protesters to disband. However, the warning had little effect on the agitators, forcing the police to display another red banner warning the activists that they would fire tear gas shells. As required by law, the police sounded the bugle three times and senior officials on the spot conferred with the protest leaders to pre-empt a police action, which seemed imminent. 'Existential struggle' The SFI declared that breaking into the Raj Bhavan precincts was not the objective of the march. The leaders stated that the activists would disperse on their own accord after the march. SFI national president Adarsh M. Saji inaugurated the protest. He cast the SFI's agitation against the Governor as 'an existential struggle to preserve the constitutionally sanctioned autonomy, democracy and secularism of State-funded varsities.' Mr. Saji said that two successive Governors in Kerala had repeatedly sought to 'undermine' the State's storied higher education sector by meddling in university administration and appointing 'incompetent RSS underlings' as temporary vice-chancellors and Syndicate members. Mr. Saji said Mr. Arlekar's predecessor had laid the ground for the 'RSS takeover of State universities' by refusing to sign the University Amendment Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly into law and referring it to the President when the Supreme Court damned the gubernatorial delay. (The Bill seeks to remove the Governor as chancellor of State-funded universities and appoint leading academics chosen by the Government to the top post.) Opposition Leader slammed SFI State president M. Sivaprasad railed against Kerala's Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan for terming the organisation's struggle against the RSS takeover of secular and autonomous State varsities as 'hooliganism and lawlessness'. Holding aloft a large photograph allegedly showing Mr. Satheesan lighting a lamp in front of pictures representing RSS' depiction of Bharat Mata and its ideological guide M.S. Golwalkar, Mr. Sivaparasad stated that the Leader of the Opposition was 'echoing the words' of former Governor Arif Mohammed Khan by criticising SFI students from working-class families fighting for secularism as 'goondas.' 'The Opposition Leader should change his name from V.D. Satheesan to V.D. Savarkar,' Mr. Sivaprasad said. He accused Mr. Satheesan of reining in KSU from joining the struggle. Mr. Satheesan told reporters in Kochi that the 'victims' of the Governor-government political tug of war were hapless students and families caught in the vortex of the academic and administrative dysfunction swamping universities. Traffic disruption The SFI protest turned the arterial Vellayambalam-Kowdiar road into a strife zone for the better part of the day. Anticipating violence, the police had diverted traffic well in advance of the march, forcing motorists and pedestrians to take long detours to reach their destinations. SFI activists booked Meanwhile, the Cantonment police booked nearly 200 SFI activists, including the leaders, on the charge of unlawful assembly, rioting, disturbing public peace and destruction of public property. So far, they have not arrested anyone.
The Hindu
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Meet Padmakumar Nair, once Thiruvananthapuram's own Michael Jackson
Those who have watched Moonwalk may not forget the police officer, SI Saji, who takes the young dancers to task and makes them cut their long hair short at his station. He is Padmakumar Nair, Thiruvananthapuram's own Michael Jackson. Cut to 1988-91, when he was a student of Mar Ivanios College. 'Once I got wet in the rain and then a friend remarked that I looked like MJ. Till then I hadn't followed him that well. To start with, I watched 'Bad' and started imitating him. I started growing my hair as well. But, someone commented that even though I looked like him, I couldn't dance. So I took a VCR on rent and watched 'Thriller' repeatedly to learn the moves. That was the beginning. Later I choreographed 'Billie Jean' and performed at the college,' he remembers. He was always on his own and did not perform with any group. 'I have no background in dance. I just did what I liked. I designed the costume and did my make-up.' He tried his hand at singing MJ's songs as well. He never did any shows outside the college and stuck to MJ's moves only. However, once he moved to Bengaluru [then Bangalore] to pursue MBA, he performed at a few five star hotels there. In 2010, he moved to the US and returned in 2019 after working as a banker. 'A memorable moment was when I danced on the streets of New York in 2010. It was a dream-come-true occasion.' Acting was a passion for him and he did small roles in a few films and acted in serials before moving to the US. 'After coming back, my first audition was for Moonwalk. It felt good to act as a police officer after playing a goonda in several films.' He also won family audience with his police character in the daily soap, Kudumbavilakku. He has acted in 10 films, which include Satyameva Jayathe, Nammal Thammil, Krithyam, Kappa, Rani, A Ranjith Cinema etc and his forthcoming release is Thimingalavetta. Recalling his first shot for Moonwalk, Padmakumar says, 'It was the scene in which the boys are whizzing past me on their bikes. That was pretty nostalgic since I used to go on such a bike to college.' During the pre-release promotions of Moonwalk, he put on the dancing shoes again. 'I am fit enough to do the moves and remember most of the steps,' he says.
The Hindu
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Adarsh Saji elected SFI president, Srijan Bhattacharya is general secretary
Adarsh M. Saji (Kerala), and Srijan Bhattacharya (West Bengal) were elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the Students Federation of India (SFI) here on Sunday (June 29, 2025) at the organisation's ongoing four-day national conference. Mr. Saji is a native of Chathannur in Kollam district, a release from the SFI stated. He has earlier been the State vice-president and national joint secretary of the SFI. Mr. Saji is a final year LLB student at the Janhit College of Law, Delhi. Mr. Bhattacharya is a native of Jadavpur in West Bengal. He has served as the SFI's national joint secretary. He was a candidate of the Left Front in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election from Singur, and the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Jadavpur. The meeting also elected an 87-member central executive committee. Mr. Saji told the media that the SFI had registered an increase in membership of around five lakh between its previous conference and the present one. Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of trying to snatch away the rights of the poor to study through the National Education Policy, he said the SFI would launch protests against such policies in the coming days. Mr. Bhattacharya said that steps would be taken to increase the organisation's strength in the Hindi heartland, and expand its presence in digital media. The conference will conclude on Monday (June 30, 2025), with a rally and a public meeting at the Kozhikode beach in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
New Indian Express
13-06-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Retired KSEB staffer spending life savings to immortalise French photography pioneer
ALAPPUZHA: Joseph Nicephore Niepce is one of the earliest pioneers of photography and is credited with capturing the first successful photograph of a real-world scene in the 1800s. However, Saji Ennakkad, an artist from Mavelikkara, feels the French inventor never got the credit he deserved. This is why the retired KSEB senior superintendent hailing from Vathikulam has made it his mission to construct a memorial for Niepce using his savings from the past 30 years. A few years ago, Saji, along with some others, formed the Joseph Nicephore Niepce Foundation in Mavelikkara. The Foundation is now helming the construction of the memorial, the first in India. Former chief secretary K Jayakumar laid the foundation stone for the memorial. Saji says the memorial is more than a tribute to photography's origins, it is a personal mission. 'Niepce never received the recognition he truly deserved in his lifetime. This memorial is our way of honouring his legacy and telling the world about the man who captured light for the first time,' he says. The project, having an estimated cost of `50 lakh, will recreate the French scientist's historic residence where he conducted his groundbreaking photographic experiments. The most iconic feature, the window through which Niepce captured the world's first successful photograph, will be replicated, Saji says. A 34kg bronze bust of Niepce, crafted three years ago, will be installed next to the memorial. The structure, set on a five-and-a-half cent plot, is designed as a modern cultural complex, housing a photography museum, art gallery, workshop space for photo and painting enthusiasts, and an open stage for cultural programmes.
