THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cabinet on Wednesday deferred a decision on entrusting the clearance of applications for special economic zones (SEZs) to a Secretary-level committee.
The proposal to form a committee, including Principal Secretaries for Industries, Information Technology, Revenue and Law, was mooted by the Industries Department. However, Ministers belonging to the Communist Party of India reportedly did not agree to the proposal. The matter may now be discussed at the Left Democratic Front State committee as the issue involves a policy decision, sources said.
The Cabinet decided to appoint Thiruvananthapuram District and Sessions Judge K. Ramakrishnan as the commission to inquire into the police firing and circumstances that led to the firing at Cheriathura here on May 17.
Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan told the media after the Cabinet meeting that the tenure of the commission would be six moths. The government had requested the services of a sitting judge of the Kerala High Court for the probe, However, the court said the services of a sitting High Court judge could not be spared and permitted the appointment of the sessions judge as the commission.
He said the Cabinet had decided to create 1,767 posts for the execution of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme at the district, block and grama panchayat levels.
Source : The Hindu