Articles by N V Ravindranathan Nair

Kerala’s print media can claim for itself a unique distinction: It remains the most credible source of news and information for Keralites, and Malayalis outside the state. It is not just that it has successfully fought against the electronic and digital challenges. It has had to survive through severe natural disasters that ravaged the state these past few years. The COVID pandemic is only the latest of such challenges that the print media has faced, and overcome successfully. Nowhere else in the country have daily newspapers instilled the kind of courage and hope among citizens that Kerala’s newspapers have done.…

Having coming up with a three-stage lockdown exit strategy which got much countrywide acclaim, the state government in Kerala abruptly withdrew some of the lockdown relaxations it had announced, causing some confusion and chaos. As per the relaxation proposed by the state government, people were allowed to go out in their private vehicles on odd-even number basis in the Orange B and  green categories starting April 20th.  There were proposals to allow barber shops to open and function. Hotels and restaurants were allowed to  open and permit customers to dine at the hotel from 9 am to 7 pm. Both…

Kerala has received kudos for its proactive measures in this time of COVID19 crisis. First in tracking corona patients and their contacts and creating adequate testing, treatment and isolation of potential victims and the other steps like setting up screening in railway stations to contain the spread of the virus. And the second, for being first state to announce a Rs 20,000 crore economic package providing relief to the poor and other vulnerable sections of society who have been hard hit by the virus spread. Critics have described the measures as a sop to woo voters for the local body…

Though initially declared a “state-specific health emergency’’ after three positive Coronavirus cases were reported in the state, the state’s health ministry, which withdrew the declaration a few days later, is reassuring people that there is no reason to panic. “The decision to withdraw the emergency call was taken since the situation is not alarming as of now,” said health minister K K Shailaja. “But the possibility of community spread of the virus is far from over”. When the country’s first three cases which tested positive for the new virus were reported from Kerala, the state’s public health machinery acted quickly…

As the campaigning ended on Easter Sunday for all 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the big question is whether the BJP will be able to get its first ever MP from the state. Intermittent summer showers did nothing to cool the campaigning fervour of the three main contestants - the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) working to keep its 12 seats intact, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) hoping to not lose any of its current eight seats, and the newly-energised BJP which is hoping to cash in on the sentiments raised over Supreme Court’s Sabarimala temple verdict. The…