KL This Week: KPCC President Gets High Court Relief from Arrest in Fake Antiquities Sale Case

NewsClick brings important developments in Kerala during the week, including the Cuban government agreeing to aid the state in training the sports persons and exploring exchange programs to develop sports.

In other news, the High Court of Kerala refrained the Crime Branch from arresting K Sudhakaran MP, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President (KPCC) in a case associated with fake antiquities sales.

Another case involves the state government, which decided to approach the High Court against the central law preventing efforts to end stray dog menace.

CUBA TO HELP KERALA IN SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

The government of Cuba has expressed its willingness to extend support for sports development in Kerala. In a meeting between chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Rahul Fornes Valenciano, the vice chairman of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation, the agreement was arrived upon to train Kerala sports persons in Volleyball, Judo, track and fields by expert trainers from Cuba.

Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted, "An agreement will be made soon to bring Cuban sports experts to Kerala to improve the quality of our coaching methods."

Discussions were held on exploring possibilities of holding sports persons exchange programs to improve the quality of training.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has sought BioCubaFarma, Cuba's biggest biotechnology research organisation, to explore the possibilities of setting up a vaccine manufacturing unit in Kerala.

The delegation led by the chief minister visited the USA before commencing its official trip in Cuba, with finance minister KN Balagopal and health minister Veena George as the members, among other officials.

INTERIM RELIEF FOR KPCC PRESIDENT

The High Court of Kerala refrained the Crime Branch (CB) from taking any action against K Sudhakaran, the KPCC president, in the fake antiquities sale case. Sudhakaran is the second accused in the sale of fake antiques by Monson Mavunkal, a controversial antique seller.

The complainants alleged that the Congress leader was present with Monson while money was handed to him for purchase. The crime branch filed the case after completing the enquiry, which lasted almost one year.

The KPCC president approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the case. The court refrained the crime branch from arresting him till June 21. Meanwhile, allegations of Sudhakaran influencing the complainant to withdraw the complaint through a local-level Congress functionary have emerged.

Initially, Sudhakaran rejected allegations of his association with Monson but later claimed that he consulted Monson for a medical issue. Contradictory statements from Sudhakaran and Monson emerged over whether the former stayed for treatment followed.

The complaint was filed in 2018, but a chargesheet was presented in 2021, following which the role of the KPCC president has come under the scanner.

'CENTRAL LAW PREVENTING STRAY DOG STERILISATION'

The minister for the local self-governance department (LSGD), MB Rajesh, informed about the state government's decision to approach the High Court against the provisions in the central laws preventing sterilisation and immunisation of stray dogs.

The provisions included in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules have restricted the efforts of the LDF government to control the stray dog population in the state.

The government was utilising the services of trained members of the Kudumbashree to vaccinate stray dogs, which is not banned as per the amendments made to the act.

In a recent incident, an 11-year-old differently-abled boy Nihal was mauled to death by stray dogs in Kannur district on June 11.

THRUST ON GENDER-INCLUSIVE TOURISM

The Department of Tourism will soon launch a mobile app to promote gender-inclusive tourism, the first in the country. To increase women's role in tourism, under the Responsible Tourism Mission, the department aims to create 10,000 ventures and 30,000 employment opportunities.

The mobile app will provide information about the features of various tourist destinations, products, and packages rolled out by women-led ventures, including tour operators and tour guides, souvenir production and sales, camping sites, houseboats and adventure packages.

The RT mission has begun the process of data collection across important tourist destinations. The mission has trained over 1,800 women so far, and more people's representatives would be trained to carry out the program.

COMMISSION AND SURVEY ON ELDERLY

The department of social justice has decided to conduct a survey and subsequently set up a commission for the elderly. A house-to-house survey will be held to collect details of the problems and challenges faced by elderly citizens.

Making the announcement during the 'World Elder Abuse Awareness Day', minister R Bindu also announced the plans to set up a commission for the elderly.