Here are the key news developments in Kerala to watch out for today.
Media One plea against broadcast ban in High Court
The Kerala High Court will hear a plea challenging the Centre's contentious decision to revoke the broadcasting license of Media One news channel. The High Court's suspension of the broadcasting ban ends on Tuesday. The Madhyamam Broadcasting Corporation, which owns the Malayalam news channel, had earlier challenged the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's decision and gained an interim stay from the court.
Media One has claimed that the Centre had not specified the reason for denying the channel security clearance for using the airwaves. The Centre had also drawn flak from opposition parties for invalidating the channel's broadcast licence. The Congress and CPI(M) had alleged that the move was the Centre's latest attempt to gag the independent media.
Cabinet meeting
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will chair a cabinet meeting remotely from the UAE. The conclave will review pandemic regulations and possibly draw up a schedule for the budget session.
Movie exhibitors plea.
Kerala High Court will hear a plea from film exhibitors seeking the opening of cinema halls with 50 per cent of the seating capacity in COVID-19 high spread [C-category (Threshold-3)] districts. The pandemic had driven movies to online OTT platforms, financially disadvantaging theatre owners and depriving the audience of watching new releases on the big screen.
Lok Ayutka ordinance
Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan is likely to consider the government's 'justification" of the contentious proposal to promulgate an ordinance to purportedly relegate the Kerala Lok Ayukta to a minor advisory role in cases relating to charges of corruption and maladministration against public officials.
The Congress and BJP had opposed the move. The opposition has also sought to exploit perceived rumblings of dissent in the LDF, notably from the CPI, against the "rush" to issue an executive order to amend the Kerala Lok Ayukta Act, 1999, in the run-up to the upcoming budget session.
The UDF has alleged an under-hand bid to shield Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and Higher Education Minister R. Bindu from possible prosecution in separate corruption and nepotism cases pending in front of the Lok Ayukta explained the undue haste to promulgate the executive order diluting the powers of the ombudsman. The issue is also shaping up to be the next battleground between the LDF and UDF ahead of the forthcoming budget session of the Assembly.
Mammooty's intervention for tribal youth
Actor Mammooty has intervened to provide legal aid to the next of kin of Madhu, a tribal youth who was allegedly lynched for taking provisions without permission from a wayside store in Attapady in Palakkad in 2018, to satiate his hunger. The family had complained of shoddy prosecution in the case. The murder suspects include locally influential political activists.
