What caused the flooding?
The last week of July 1924, witnessed an increase in both rainfall and wind speed. There is a widespread consensus among the older generation of Kerala that a breach of the Mullaperiyar Dam had prompted the floods. The breach occurred just 29 years after the dam was built. At the time, there were said to be no other dams in the region, implying that there could have been no other cause for such destructive floods.
The total cumulative rainfall over the three weeks was said to be 3,368 mm. Most districts in the former Travancore and Cochin states experienced flooding, and so did parts of the Malabar region. Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki and Kottayam faced substantial damage. The floodwaters managed to overthrow the Kundala Valley Railway, a narrow-gauge railway line in Munnar, and the road to Munnar had disappeared owing to landslides.
Once the flooding subsided, constructing an alternate route from Ernakulam to Munnar became an urgent priority. British surveyor, Mr. Valentine, oversaw this new alignment. The road was completed by 1931 and was inaugurated by Regent Queen Sethu Lakshmi Bayi on March 31, 1931.
The inauguration ceremony took place at Ranikkallu, near Nerjamangalam. In the years that followed, the affected localities underwent a momentous transformation. Idukki, in particular, has withstood large-scale encroachment on the riverbanks. Idukki happens to be a quake-zone, however, and has received warnings about any impending threats. In 2017, the assembly committee backed the immediate removal of over 100 illegal constructions in the district. A majority of the illicit buildings were located in the valleys and hills of Munnar and its neighbouring areas.
Kerala is routinely criticised for being underprepared for such disasters. The state does not have a binding unit within the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). On top of this, though the Central Water Commission (CWC) has flood monitoring sites in Kerala, it reportedly does not implement any flood forecasting systems in the state, which only heightens its vulnerability.
Sriram secured 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions in Vulnerability Reward Program-2022, which finds and publishes flaws in Google services. Sriram had earlier gained attention by finding the security breach of Google and others. The security flaws found are usually reported to the company and fix them.
Google's Vulnerability Rewards Programme gives as report the vulnerabilities found. Sriram and his friend Sivanesh Ashok from Chennai submitted four reports for the competition. Three of them were awarded.
Canada-registered Squadron Labs protects organizations from cyber intrusions. Sriram is the son of K Krishnamurthy and K Liji.
A Northampton restaurant has been fined 33,097 for hygiene breaches following successful prosecution by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) after health protection officers found poor hygiene standards during a routine visit.
At Wellingborough Magistrates Court on Tuesday 5 December, the food business operators of Kerala Hut, Wellingborough Road, Northampton, pleaded guilty to 12 charges of breaching food safety and hygiene regulations.
Prosecuting the case from the WNC in-house legal team, Susan Desfontaines informed the Court that the case followed a routine inspection and subsequent revisits carried out between 28 September 2022 and 31 March 2023 when WNC officers found that the kitchen was not kept clean, equipment in contact with food was in a filthy condition and/or was in poor repair, food was not being protected from contamination, and adequate facilities for cleaning hands had not been provided. In addition to this, Hygiene Improvement Notices that had been served on the company, had not been complied with.
While the Opposition Congress alleged corruption in the Rs. 232.25 crore project, experts have pointed out that the cameras peeping into vehicles to detect offences like non-wearing of seat belts was a breach of privacy.
The state public sector undertaking, Keltron, which was awarded the work, had given a sub contract to a Bengaluru-based firm for Rs. 151 crore. The company again formed a consortium with two Kerala-based firms for carrying out the work.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan alleged that Keltron and the Bengaluru-based private firm founded by a Malayali had pocketed huge amounts without doing any work. The tendering process involved was shady, and hence a firm without technical know-how was given the contract. The government was also aiming to collect Rs. 420 crore as fine from people by using the cameras.
He flayed that the only aim of the project was to generate revenue for the cash-strapped government by collecting fines. There is also no justification for imposing fines for the same offence as the authorities had said that motorists would be fined repeatedly even for the same offence if they are caught on different cameras on the same day itself.
The AI-based cameras have been installed in national highways, state highways and other important roads in the state by the state transport department under Safe Kerala project with the stated objective of reducing road accidents.
The Kerala High Court has granted a stay for one month on the proceedings initiated against actor cum producer partner Soubin Shahir, producer Shawn Antony and Soubin's father Babu Shahir in an allegation of cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust regarding the production of the Malayalam film Manjummel Boys.The court passed the above interim order in the petition filed by Soubin's...
The Kerala High Court has granted a stay for one month on the proceedings initiated against actor cum producer partner Soubin Shahir, producer Shawn Antony and Soubin's father Babu Shahir in an allegation of cheating, forgery and criminal breach of trust regarding the production of the Malayalam film Manjummel Boys.
The complaint was filed by a person called Siraj Valiyathara Hameed alleging that the petitioners cum producers made 'Manjummel Boys' under the banner of their production company M/S Parava Films LLP.
The plea stated that the complainant himself had breached the terms of the agreement by failing to make investments on time which caused huge losses to the parties. It was stated that the complainant had breached the terms of the Investment Agreement because of which the shoot schedules were disrupted, shoots got extended and losses were incurred. Thus, the plea stated that the complainant was not legally entitled to get any profits from the film.
The plea alleged that the entire dispute was a civil dispute and the criminal proceedings were initiated only to pressure the parties to make payments although there were no payments to make. It is alleged that criminal proceedings were initiated to gain publicity and to pressure the parties to settle their civil disputes.
The plea has been moved by Senior Advocate P Vijaya Bhanu, Advocates Thomas J Anakkallunkal, Deepa Jose George, Anupa Anna Jose Kandoth, Jayaraman S., Dhanya Sunny, Ann Milka George
Kochi: The Kerala High Court has held that the offence of rape on the false promise of marriage cannot be presumed just because the accused had a sexual relationship with the complainant and then married another woman.
A Vandiperiyar native had filed an appeal against the sessions court verdict that sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case of rape on the false promise of marriage. The Division Bench of Justice Kauser Edappagath and Justice A Muhamed Mustaque set aside the conviction and acquitted the accused.
The offence of rape on false promise of marriage can be presumed only if having a sexual relationship by not disclosing truth, misconception or denying the woman the autonomy to take a decision on it, the HC held.
The HC pointed out that the woman's consent was obtained for the sexual relationship. The prosecution could not prove that her consent was obtained through false promises or by non-disclosure of facts. The law aims to protect the woman's autonomy to take decisions on matters of sex. If prior to the sexual relationship, the accused had not disclosed the facts or misled the woman, it would affect her judgement.
The court observed that it can be said there was breach of promise; but it cannot be presumed that he gave a false promise of marriage. Nor can it be presumed that he secured the woman's consent by concealing facts. The High Court held that the accused was entitled to benefit of doubt and acquitted him.
Directed by Rosshan Andrrews and written by Bobby and Sanjay, Salute has all the ingredients of a good whodunnit, from a cold case with new suspects to fight scenes and corrupt police officers. Whether it means to or not, the film explores heavy issues like the breach of ethics in the police force and the impact of external pressure on sensationalised cases.
Whatever the root cause of a data breach, the stolen information can help cyber criminals make a profit by selling the data or using it as part of a wider attack. A data breach typically includes the loss or theft of information such as bank account details, credit card numbers, personal health data, and login credentials for email accounts and social networking sites.
A data breach can be caused by an outside attacker, who targets an organization or several organizations for specific types of data, or by people within an organization. Hackers select specific individuals with targeted cyberattacks.
A common form of security incident is the loss of devices or unauthorized access to credentials, resulting in cyber criminals obtaining confidential information. For example, a lost laptop, mobile phone, or external hard drive that is unlocked or unencrypted can easily lead to information being stolen if it ends up in the wrong hands. Even a locked device could be hacked into by a sophisticated attacker.
An insider attack is a data breach caused by an employee leaking information to a third party. Also known as a malicious insider, this individual will access or steal data with the intent of causing harm to the organization or another individual within the company.
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