Thiruvananthapuram: HRDS, a private NGO, has dismissed Swapna Suresh, accused in the gold smuggling case. Swapna was appointed as CSR Director in Palakkad-headquartered HRDS in February. The explanation given by HRDS is that the investigation against Swapna is affecting the organization.

Officials also say that the action was taken in consideration of Swapna’s interest. HRDS appointed Swapna on February 12 after she was released from jail in the gold smuggling case.

New Delhi: The Kasthuri Rangan draft notification has been extended again. The decision comes amid ongoing disputes over environmentally sensitive areas. The deadline for the draft notification has been extended till July next year.

The Center again extended the deadline for the draft notification without accepting Kerala’s objection. An area of 13108 square kilometers in 123 villages of Kerala has been included in the list of environmentally sensitive areas by the Kasthurirangan Committee.

Accepting Kerala’s protest against it, the Center issued a new draft notification in December 2018, reducing the environmentally sensitive area to 9993.7 square kilometers according to the Oommen v Oommen committee report. The position of the state government is to reduce the area by 880 square kilometers if the residential areas are to be completely avoided.

Thiruvananthapuram: Gandhian Gopinathan Nair passed away. He was admitted to a private hospital in Neyyatinkara after collapsing at home on May 9. Gandhian Gopinathan Nair was 100 years old.

Born on July 22, 1922, in Neyyattinkara, Gandhian Gopinathan Nair joined the freedom struggle when he was a college student. The motivation to embark on the freedom struggle was the excitement of meeting Mahatma Gandhi who came to Neyyatinkara. Tagore’s study of Viswa-Bharati changed the course of his life. Gopinathan, who was also researching Chinese culture, became a full-time Gandhian when he came to Navakhali and met Mahatma Gandhi.

In 1951, K. He started his work in Kerala by working with the Gandhi Memorial Fund formed under the chairmanship of Kelappan. He remained its chairman until his death.

He was a lifelong worker of the Gandhi Peace Foundation. He was the first Malayali to preside over Sarva Seva Sangh and Sevagram Ashram founded by Mahatma Gandhi. Gopinathan Nair participated in the padayatra of Vinoba Bhave who led the Bhudanayagna for 13 years. In 2005 he won the Jamnalal Bajaj Award. In 2016, the country honored him with the Padma Shri. His wife is Women Welfare Officer Saraswati Amma.

Kochi: Weekly and monthly trip pass announced by Kochi Metro for passengers will be available from today.
The pass costs Rs 700 for a week and Rs 2,500 for a month. You can travel from any station as many times as you want with the pass.

Passes can be recharged and reused after expiry. Travel passes will be available at all metro stations from today. Metro in association with Axis Bank has prepared new travel passes for the public. These travel passes will be available at all metro stations from today.