1. The Kerala High Court will consider the anticipatory bail plea moved by rape case suspect and actor Vijay Babu today.
2. UAE diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case accused Swapna Suresh likely to move the High Court to quash the conspiracy case registered against her based on the complaint filed by former Minister K. T. Jaleel, MLA. Mr. Jaleel had accused Swapna of being a proxy for political conspirators aiming to defame Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government on the back foot. Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leader P.C. George, ex-MLA and purported Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) fellow traveller, is also an accused in the case registered at the Cantonment police in Thiruvananthapuram.
3. Swapna Suresh will move the court seeking immunity from alleged persecution and threat to life under the Victims Protection Scheme following her “disclosures” against Mr. Vijayan in a sworn statement filed “on her own volition” in front of a judicial magistrate recently.
4. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will attend various public functions in Kannur amidst plans for street protests by Congress and BJP demanding his resignation over the “gold and foreign currency smuggling” charges raised against him by Swapna Suresh in her sworn statement in court.
5. Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] general secretary will speak at a seminar on “Three Decades of Neo-Liberal Policies”-Resistance and Kerala Alternatives” at a conference organised in connection with “EMS Smrithi” in Thrissur.
6. Congress workers will march to the Enforcement Directorate’s offices in Kozhikode and Kochi, accusing the agency of spearheading a political witch hunt against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at the behest of the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the centre.
7. Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) employees’ unions will intensify their strike in protest against the management’s delay in disbursing salary.
8. Minister for Public Works, P.A. Muhammad Riyaz, will inaugurate the Standard Design Factory at KINFRA Advanced Technology Park in Ramanattukara. The government expects the unit to generate 1,000 employment opportunities in the initial phase.
9. Upland localities in Kozhikode observe a near-total hartal in protest against the Supreme Court’s order to impose a one-kilometre ecologically sensitive buffer zone around protected forests. Residents believe the move would stymie future development and upend their livelihood, chiefly agriculture.
10. Health Minister Veena George will chair a select committee initiated hearing on the Public Health Bill at the Kozhikode collectorate.
