Daily News Dose: Kerala HC sets aside order deferring survey for SilverLine | Feb 14, 2022

Hello listeners, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Susan Joe Philip

Kerala HC sets aside order deferring survey in connection with the SilverLine project
The Kerala High Court on Monday allowed the state government's appeals and set aside a single judge order deferring a survey in connection with the SilverLine project.
A bench of Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly set aside the single judge's January 20 order deferring the survey till February 7. The single judge, thereafter, on February 7 had further deferred the survey till February 18.
The single judge's orders had come on several pleas, some of which have opposed the survey being conducted and the others were against the laying of concrete poles to identify land meant for the SIA study.
The Kerala government's ambitious SilverLine project, which is expected to reduce travel time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod to around four hours, is being opposed by the opposition Congress-led UDF, which has been alleging that it was "unscientific and impractical" and will put a huge financial burden on the state.
Strict action will be taken against those who trespass Kurumbachi hills
Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran has said that action will be taken against trespassers at Malampuzha's Kurumbachi Hill in the Palakkad district, where Cherad native R Babu had been trapped for around 43 hours before being rescued by the Indian Army.
Another youth, a native of Anakkal, had climbed the Kurumbachi hill the other day and was found by midnight. Responding to the incident of youth entering the area again, the Forest Minister said that the law will take its own course.
ISRO launches PSLV-C52 successfully with 3 satellites
Marking the first launch mission of the year 2022, Indian Space Research Organisation's earth observation satellite EOS-04 and two small satellites were successfully placed into the intended orbit by the PSLV-C52 rocket today, a feat described by the ISRO as a "marvellous accomplishment".
The space agency's workhorse launch vehicle, PSLV, placed the three satellites into the intended orbit, after blasting off at 5:59am from here amid dark, early morning skies. After a flight of about 19 minutes, the vehicle injected the satellites into its intended orbit, drawing instant cheers and applause from the scientists who were closely monitoring the year's maiden mission.
Man held for Kannur wedding party bombing
Police arrested Eachur native Akshay, who allegedly who hurled a bomb at a wedding party in Thottada here on Sunday, killing a youth. Two others – Saneesh and Jijil – were also taken into custody in connection with the case.
Akshay confessed he hurled the bomb at the wedding party, police said.
A 26-year-old youth, Jishnu, died in the explosion on Sunday, while six others were injured. The incident happened at Thottada in Kannur on Sunday afternoon as the wedding party was heading to the groom's house.
Govt bans 54 Chinese apps citing security concerns
The Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended a ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications that pose a threat to the country's security. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will formally issue a notification banning the operations of these apps in India.
The apps against whom the adverse security inputs were generated include Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Music Player, Music Plus, Volume Booster, Video Players Media all formats, Viva Video Editor, AppLock and Astracraft, among others, the sources said.
This will be second major action against Chinese apps. In June 2021, the government had banned 59 Chinese apps including the popular short video sharing platform TikTok, UC Browser and WeChat, saying they were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.
Both moves came in the backdrop of India's ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with China.
For todays, Covid updates, India adds 34,113 COVID-19 cases
India on Monday reported 34,113 fresh coronavirus infections that took its tally to 4,26,65,534, while active cases dropped below 5 lakh after around 37 days, according to Union health ministry data.
Daily COVID-19 cases have remained below 1 lakh for eight consecutive days now. The death toll climbed to 5,09,011 with 346 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.


That brings us to the end of this episode! Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.