Latest news with #Venugopal
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
NH-66 project: Kerala minister Mohamed Riyas sparks row with ‘Kaalan' remark
Kozhikode: PWD Minister Mohamed Riyas said that even if public accounts committee (PAC) chairman KC Venugopal tries to act as the 'Kaalan' (lord of death) of NH-66 project, road development in Kerala will continue. His comments sparked strong criticism from Congress leaders and Youth Congress workers marched to his house in protest. Addressing the media, Riyas took a dig at Venugopal, saying one shouldn't treat the PAC chairman like a Supreme Court judge. "Even if Venugopal plays the role of 'Kaalan' in this project, the state govt will move forward and take all necessary steps to implement it," he said. Riyas added that the NH project was stalled when Venugopal's party was in power from 2011 to 2016. "They couldn't implement it then and now they're trying to block it. But they won't succeed," he added. In Kochi, opposition leader VD Satheesan said PAC has the authority to investigate flaws in NH construction works and accused CPM leaders of opposing the probe because they fear Centre and BJP. "There's massive corruption in the NH development works in Kerala, involving crores. Why is the state govt afraid of a PAC investigation? The same CPM that protested 'corruption' in the Palarivattom bridge project is now silent. That's hypocrisy. CM Pinarayi Vijayan and minister Riyas met Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who acts as a bridge between CPM and BJP in Kerala. We want a CBI probe," he said, adding that National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had admitted it will take a year to repair the damaged Kooriyad stretch. KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, who visited the damaged NH site in Kooriyad on Thursday, said Riyas was trying to justify the collapse and blame those who acted effectively. "Riyas made big claims about monitoring and reviewing the highway work. Now, is he trying to protect the culprits?" he asked, echoing Satheesan's views. He said the opposition in Kerala and at the national level is raising its voice to expose the issue. Venugopal, as PAC chairman, visited the NH sites and summoned top officials, including the NHAI chairman and transport secretary, for explanations. But the CM and PWD minister didn't even visit the sites, he said, adding that the govt is trying to cover up the problem and distract from its earlier claims about NH work.
The Hindu
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
UDF ramps up attack on State govt. over NH corruption
The United Democratic Front (UDF) ramped up its attack on the State government on Thursday (June 5) by raising allegations of corruption and collusion in the construction of the National Highway and accusing it of blindly supporting the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala questioned the Chief Minister's silence on highway construction irregularities during his meeting with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. The Chief Minister and Public Works Minister have remained mum on the issue despite meeting with the Union Minister, he said. 'Even CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan, who is known for speaking out, has stayed quiet,' said Mr. Chennithala. 'I am speaking about the corruption in a specific reach of NH in Kerala, where Adani reportedly made a profit of ₹867 crore. It is essential to investigate what happened in this case, and the other 22 stretches, too, should be studied,' he said. The Congress leader warned Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas not to assume that the Opposition was celebrating the NH collapse. 'The Minister did not do his job. So the Opposition had to point it out,' he said. 'The primary concern is the safety of the people, and it is the duty of the Opposition to point out the corruption.' Mr. Chennithala said that the Chief Minister and the PWD Minister were challenging the people of Kerala by failing to take up the vital issue of highway collapse with the Union Minister. He said the Pinarayi government was blindly supporting the BJP government at the Centre. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, who visited the collapsed highway at Kooriyad on Thursday, said that both the Central and State governments were responsible for the collapse of NH-66. Citing errors in alignment and ignoring warnings from locals and people's representatives, Mr. Joseph said that unscientific construction was the primary cause of the highway collapse. He said that K.C. Venugopal, MP, as chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), had visited the site and sought explanations from officials and called for action. 'But the Kerala government has defended the construction and criticised Mr. Venugopal for pointing out the flaws,' he said. He lashed out at Mr. Riyas for not visiting the site and failing to take responsibility for the highway collapse.
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Bypoll turns into a war of words
Kozhikode: Nilambur bypoll campaign has turned into a war of words as opponents are using the remarks of senior leaders, including CM Pinarayi Vijayan and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, to attack each other. While UDF is using the CM's 'anti-Malappuram' remark from a media interview about gold smuggling and anti-national funding, LDF is hitting back by targeting Venugopal for comparing welfare pension payments to bribery before the elections. Venugopal first raked up the CM's Malappuram remarks during UDF's convention on Monday. Then opposition leader VD Satheesan and KPCC chief Sunny Joseph picked it up and accused CPM of having a prejudiced view about Malappuram. Satheesan stepped up the attack on Wednesday by saying it was Vijayan who made serious allegations against Malappuram. "The CM's PR team sent notes to all Delhi-based media claiming that Malappuram was a hub for gold smuggling and extremism. After that, he gave a newspaper interview that echoed Sangh Parivar's line. The CM and Sangh Parivar are walking the same path," he said. Satheesan also said that CPM politburo member A Vijayaraghavan, who came to lead LDF's campaign in Nilambur, had insulted Malappuram many times. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Amplie seus horizontes: Estude no exterior (Clique para mais informações) Study Abroad Saiba Mais Undo "Does he still stand by his earlier statement that Priyanka Gandhi won because communal forces voted for her? Are the 95,000 people who voted for Priyanka in Nilambur all extremists? This question needs a clear answer," he added. LDF candidate M Swaraj hit back saying Congress was bringing up the Malappuram issue out of guilt over its past opposition to the district's formation when it had aligned with Jan Sangh. Meanwhile, LDF objected to Venugopal's comment that LDF govt was using welfare pension disbursements, including dues, as a 'bribe' ahead of bypoll. FM KN Balagopal said the remark insulted 62 lakh pensioners in Kerala by implying they vote for money and demanded an immediate retraction. Swaraj also responded, saying welfare pensions are a rightful benefit and calling them bribes insults the state's poor. Venugopal clarified that during the last Parliament elections, state govt paid two of the six or seven pending pension instalments before polls. "I only asked if they see the disbursement of dues ahead of elections that way. Twisting it into a bribery allegation is a deliberate misrepresentation," he said. Satheesan also said those who withheld pensions for six months are now releasing them just before elections and that is the wrong practice Venugopal pointed out. "We will speak out against the govt's attempts to exploit people's misery," he said. Satheesan said he is taking full responsibility for UDF's official stand in Nilambur. "The fight is between UDF and LDF and no one should try to distract voters from that. Not a single UDF vote will go elsewhere. Political and anti-govt votes will go to UDF. Even BJP is not serious about the contest. When the fight is between UDF and LDF, who else will get the anti-government votes? Nilambur voters are politically aware. Our majority will make that clear," he said.
Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Not Just Hype: What Investors Really Think About AI in Indian Education
At a time when Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to dominate many facets of life, the education technology sector is emerging as one of the more promising ones. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. At a time when Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to dominate many facets of life, the education technology sector is emerging as one of the more promising ones. Kobi Gal, Professor at the Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University, Israel and Ganapathy Venugopal, Co-founder and CEO of Axilor Ventures, spoke about untangling the reality of AI's role in education, its adoption hurdles, and whether it presents a true investible opportunity in India at the IGIS 2025 event. "I approach this session with some kind of skepticism," said Venugopal, cautioning against buying into the hype surrounding AI's revolutionary promise. "We've heard a lot of AI this, AI that. But as a student of technology trends for over two decades, I've learned to take a step back. Not every tech turns out to be transformational in the way we expect it to be." While AI has been heralded as the next leap in educational innovation, experts stressed that the sector's structural inertia makes transformation hard to come by. "The education system is deeply rigid, even when it comes to integrating tools like the internet. AI, like the internet, increases access—but it hasn't yet changed the way we learn," said Gal. India's edtech sector, driven by a young population and growing internet penetration, is poised for significant long-term growth despite recent funding headwinds. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the country has over 250 million school-going students, making it the world's largest K–12 market. Meanwhile, the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) reports that only 24 per cent of Indian households have internet access, indicating substantial headroom for growth, especially in Tier II–IV cities. The edtech sector is evolving towards hybrid delivery models, skill-based certification, and regional customization to meet this latent demand. Venugopal said that the real promise of AI lies not in replacing teachers but in amplifying their effectiveness. "The question is, are we building for that, or are we building tools that just generate lesson plans or complete homework?" "We have 250 million-plus students in school today. We are not going to be able to produce that many teachers. If AI can reduce human effort and help in areas where the teacher-student ratio is skewed, that's a direction we cannot ignore," added Venugopal. According to Venugopal, this is a powerful lens for investors like Axilor Ventures, which look for opportunities at the intersection of technology, scale, and critical societal need. "At the early stage, we look for sectors where demand is unquestionable and the cost of not solving the problem is high," said Venugopal. Education fits that bill perfectly in India." For a sector that was long marred by limited monetization pathways, it is now finding ways by addressing business models. Edtech startups often struggle to scale because the for the buyer, access is hard and adoption is slow. Venugoap said that if AI can create tools that parents, students, or tutors adopt directly, there's a faster path to market." "From our lens at Axilor, we don't necessarily think of 'edtech' as the category anymore; it's about learning outcomes, engagement, and readiness. AI is a layer that can power all three, but only if deployed right." Jay Krishnan, Partner, Head of India Investments, Beyond Next Ventures, said, "As investors, especially in deep science, we often enter before compliance frameworks exist, focusing on ideas rooted in physics, chemistry, and biology that can meaningfully impact areas like energy transition and climate. While not every risk can be anticipated or controlled, belief in transformative potential guides our thesis".
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
KC Venugopal explains pension remark, says it was directed at Kerala government
All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal on Wednesday clarified that his recent remarks on the welfare pension disbursement by the Kerala government were intended to highlight the delay in payments and the tendency to clear arrears close to the elections. He said his comments had been misinterpreted and were not directed at pension beneficiaries, but rather at the government's did not say anything against the beneficiaries who deserve to get the pension on time. I only intended to point out the state government's priority with regard to its payment,' he explained. He said, 'Last year, two out of seven months arrears were paid just before the Lok Sabha polls. This year, one month's arrears are being paid just before the by-poll.' Venugopal's clarification followed strong criticism from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), which accused Venugopal of calling welfare pensions an 'election bribe' and described his remarks as baseless and misleading. The party stated that the Left government has consistently paid Rs 1,600 as welfare pension to approximately 62 lakh beneficiaries since coming to power in 2016. The CPI(M) has demanded an apology from Venugopal for his remarks. The Left party leadership said that the Congress MP should withdraw his statement as he insulted a scheme that gives solace to 62 lakh people. Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal said the Congress and KC Venugopal both should apologise to the beneficiaries. advertisementBalagopal also refuted Venugopal's claims, asserting that there were no major arrears in the welfare pension scheme. 'What Venugopal said was wrong and he should not try to justify it now,' the Minister said. Balagopal also added that the recent pension arrears disbursement was decided well before the Nilambur by-poll was announced, at a time when a by-election was not anticipated due to ongoing India-Pakistan tensions and the upcoming state elections in Minister also accused Venugopal for making statements that could 'insult voters' and cautioned that such remarks could alienate the public from the Congress. He further urged Congress, as a member of the INDIA bloc, to oppose Central government policies that adversely affect Kerala rather than misrepresent the state government's welfare initiatives.'The Pinarayi Vijayan government has given two instalments of pension during the election time because they see it as a bribe for buying votes. Now they will come up saying two instalments, one instalment very soon,' Venugopal had said while campaigning for the United Democratic Front in Nilambur, Malappuram, for the bypoll scheduled on June also alleged that while the government had sufficient funds for publicity efforts related to itself and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, it failed to provide timely payments to pensioners and increase the honorarium for Accredited Social Health Activist (Asha) speaking to reporters, Venugopal claimed that the amount of Rs 1,600 being given by the government was done by merging several pensions in the name of revision. He also claimed that there were huge arrears in funds to be given to the various workers' welfare boards in the state. IN THIS STORY#Kerala
