Top Kerala news developments today

Key news developments in Kerala on Friday, August 19, 2022

Here are the important news developments from Kerala to watch out for today:

1. The government has convened talks with the fishworkers and the Latin Archdiocese in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday in a bid to find a negotiated settlement to the four-day long protest demanding a detailed study into the damage caused to the coastal environment by the construction of the seaport at Vizhinjam and steps for rehabilitation of families that have lost their houses to coastal erosion.

2. UDF leaders, including Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, to visit Avikkal Thodu in Kozhikode on Friday to express solidarity with the protest against the sewage treatment plant project. He will also address a Congress convention.

3. Kannur University Vice Chancellor is likely to move the High Court challenging the Governor's stay on the appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of the Chief Minister's private secretary K.K. Ragesh, as Associate Professor.

4. The Kerala High Court is likely to hear a petition by the survivor in the actor rape case seeking to transfer the trial to the Special Court from the District and Sessions Court.

5. The High Court will pronounce its order on a petition by Swapna Suresh, an accused in the diplomatic gold smuggling case, for quashing the case registered against her for hatching a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the Chief Minister and others.

6. Officials of the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department drove back a tigress and its cubs, which had triggered panic among the villagers in the Vakery area in Wayanad district, into the forest on Thursday night.