Varkala Radhakrishnan passes away

Senior CPI-M leader and former Lok Sabha member Varkala Radhakrishnan died here today following complications resulting from an accident last week.84-year-old Radhakrishnan, a former Kerala assembly Speaker, was undergoing treatment at the Medical College Hospital for the last few days after he was hit by a vehicle while on a morning stroll. He suffered fracture in the ribs which affected the functioning of his lungs, doctors said. His condition deteriorated last night and he died at 9 am, they said.

Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice from Chirayinkil constituency and made a mark as an able Parliamentarian. Radhakrishnan, who was elected to the Kerala Assembly four times from Varkala segment, served as Speaker of the House between 1987 and 1991 when the LDF government led by K Nayanar was in power.

A lawyer by profession, Radhakrishnan was an expert on Constitution and Parliamentary rules and conventions. As Assembly Speaker, he took great care to safeguard the rights and privileges of the House and members whenever they required to be defended from Judicial and Executive interventions. In the Lok Sabha also, his services were utilised on panel of Chairpersons of the House. For the CPI-M, he was a vocal member and staunchly defended the stance taken by the party during its face-off with former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

He also woked as the private secretery of EMS when EMS was the chief minister in 1967. He is survived by his three children RK Hari, RK Sreelatha and R K Jayasree and his wife Prof Saudamini had died earlier in 2007.

Read more...

Homage to guitarist on May 1

Paying homage to noted guitarist Prakash Krishna, who died recently in a road accident, and as part of the efforts to mobilise a relief fund for his family, Kairali TV, Swaralaya and Soorya Fine Arts Society will jointly organise an ‘Eshal Sandhya’ in the city on May 1.

Education and Cultural Affairs Minister M.A. Baby told a news conference here on Wednesday that the musical evening, titled ‘Snehathinte Patturumal’, will be held at AKG Hall at 6 p.m. on that day. Noted singers K.S. Chitra, M.G. Sreekumar, Unni Menon, K.G. Markose, Sudeep Kumar, Thajudeen Vadakara, Ramesh Narayanan and others will participate in the programme.

Cine actor Suresh Gopi also will participate and sing songs. The first instalment of the relief fund will be handed over to Prakash Krishna’s family at the function.

A committee, comprising Ministers M.A. Baby, M. Vijayakumar and C. Divakaran, MPs Shashi Tharoor, A. Sampath and T.N. Seema, Mayor Jayan Babu, V.S. Sivakumar, M.S. Kumar, G. Rajmohan and Soorya Krishnamoorthy will work for the success of the programme.

V. Sivankutty MLA is the chairman of the committee.

Soorya Krishnamoorthy and G. Rajmohan said all the revenue collected through the programme will be given to Prakash Krishna’s family.

The organisers have opened an account in the name of the Prakash Krishna Family Relief Fund with the State Bank of Travancore branch on Kerala University office campus at Thiruvananthapuram - Branch no. 70292 with the account no 67109015281. IFSE/NEFT/RTGS Code: SBTR0000292.

Read more...