KANNUR l Sunday l may 18, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city edition CBSE asks schools to set up ‘sugar boards’ to check intake The CBSE has directed affiliated schools to establish “sugar boards” to monitor and reduce sugar intake of children, according to officials move follows rise in type 2 diabetes in kids The move follows a significant increase in Type 2 diabetes among kids, a condition once primarily seen in adults, over the past decade. Several studies indicate that sugar constitutes 13 per cent of daily calorie intake for children aged four to 10 years, and 15 per cent for those aged 11 to 18 years, substantially exceeding the recommended limit of 5 per cent 13% sugary snacks, processed foods culprits ■ “The proliferation of sugary snacks, beverages, and processed foods, often readily available in school environments, contributes significantly to this excessive intake,” CBSE said in a circular ■ The direction was issued after a nudge by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to ensure kids are safe from diabetes of daily calorie intake among children comes from sugar CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Tharoor on govt’s global CM picks ex-MLA outreach team, Cong sore Pradeep Kumar as Wasn’t recommended by party; govt names 7 heads of delegations P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Courts are not outside RTI Act purview: State Info Commission E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Courts are not outside the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and as per Rule 12 of the law, not all information can be denied to an applicant, the State Information Commission has ruled. In an order, State Information Commissioner (SIC) A Abdul Hakeem noted that some court staff turn down RTI applications. The SIC said no information other than those pertaining to judicial proceedings should be withheld. At a time when courts including the Supreme Court webcast their proceedings live, the practice of lower courts denying information under RTI is an offence and is punishable. A citizen is entitled to get information on all matters other than those before the consideration of judicial officers and part of judicial proceedings, the SIC said. The commission’s order was on the basis of a complaint against the information officer at Chalakudy Munsif court in Thrissur. Joseph Jacob from Malappuram had given RTI applications seeking information in 2021 June and July but they were turned down by the information officer on the grounds that court-related matters cannot be divulged under Rule 12. When the commission sought a report, the infor mation sought by Joseph was provided by a new information officer. Since Joseph persisted with his complaint against the previous officer, the commission decided to punish him under Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act for denying the information to the applicant. The official has been summoned for a hearing on May 28. The rift between the Congress leadership and Shashi Tharoor deepened on Saturday after the Centre picked him to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations for its diplomatic outreach against Pakistan’s crossborder terror despite the party not recommending his name. Apart from Tharoor, BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda, JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde will head the other delegations. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party had submitted four names for the mission and was surprised to see ‘a different name’, Shashi Tharoor, in the official list. The party had suggested the names of Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring for the delegations. Significantly, the party distanced itself from Tharoor’s comments endorsing the Modi government’s handling of the India-Pak conflict and US President Trump’s intervention in announcing the ceasefire. Will not be found wanting: Cong MP “I am honoured by the invitation to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals, to present our nation’s point of view on recent events... When national interest is involved, and my services are required, I will not be found wanting. Jai Hind!” Tharoor said “We were asked for names. We expected that the names we had given would be included. But when we saw the press release of PIB, we were surprised. I cannot say what will happen now. Asking four names, giving four names, and announcing another name is dishonest on t h e g ove r n m e n t ’s p a r t , ” Ramesh told the media. “The government cannot include names of MPs in delegations without consulting the party he said. ,” This paper reported on Saturday that the PMO had prepared the list of names and conveyed them to the respective political parties. When asked about Tharoor’s inclusion as a representative of the Congress in the list, Ramesh said that ‘there is a difference between being in the Congress and being of the Congress’. “In a democratic system, when individual MPs are sent as part of an official delegation, MPs must seek the concurrence of the party. If the government wants to send him as part of a delegation, the MP should be asking the party, he said. “The ball is in the government’s court now,” he added. Accusing the government of being ‘dishonest’ in its approach, the leader asserted that the party would not change the four proposed names for the delegation. Ramesh added that Rahul Gandhi has written to Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju on this. private secretary E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram As the Pinarayi 2.0 government enters its final year in office, former MLA A Pradeep Kumar has been selected to be the chief minister’s private secretary, a key political appointment. Once a VS loyalist, the highperforming leader was handpicked by the CM as his trusted lieutenant to lead the ch i e f m i n i s t e r ’s office. The unexpected appointment has put an end to all speculations on who would succeed K K Ragesh, who had stepped down from the post after being elected as party Kannur s e c re t a r y l a s t m o n t h . Though it was widely expected that a leader from Kannur would succeed Ragesh, the CM chose Pradeep to lead the CMO at a time when two significant elections are around the corner. Former Kozhikode North MLA, Pradeep is currently a India tightens the screws on imports from Bangladesh d i pa k m o n d a l @ New Delhi IN what seems like another ‘retaliatory’ move, the Indian government has imposed restrictions on imports of certain goods from its eastern neighbour Bangladesh. In a directive issued on Saturday by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the import of all kinds of readymade garments from Bangladesh through land ports has been prohibited. These goods will only be allowed to be impor ted through the seaports of Nhava Sheva and Kolkata. A wider range of goods—including fruit and fruit-flavoured carbonated drinks, processed food items, cotton and cotton yarn waste, plastic and PVC finished goods (excluding essential industrial inputs such as pigments, dyes, plasticisers, and granules), and wooden furniture — will face more stringent port restrictions. These items will not be allowed entry through northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. The restriction also extends to Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal. However, the DGFT clarified that these restrictions do not apply to essential imports such as fish, LPG, edible oil, and crushed stone. The DGFT notification clarified that these port restrictions would not be applicable to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India but destined for Nepal and Bhutan. Though the government has not disclosed the reasons for the move, it is likely that it came in the wake of Bangladesh restricting land imports of cotton yarn from India to protect local industries from cheaper imports. vlogger Jyoti Malhotra was allegedly in contact with a Pakistani staffer working at Pak High from haryana held Commission in New Delhi | P8 for spying IT had been brewing since Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Tests last Monday. What started as a social media campaign on Tuesday hours af, ter Kohli’s social media post, became a reality on Saturday as thousands of fans came dressed wearing Kohli’s replica Test jersey . “Virat,” the back of the white jersey read “18”. There were some pockets with a lot of Red and Gold, something very com- Calf care A `71-crore scam under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has been unearthed in Gujarat, implicating the family of state panchayat and agriculture minister Bachu Khabad. His elder son, Balwant Khabad, has been arrested, while his younger son, K i r a n K h ab a d , i s u n d e r scrutiny . The scam surfaced after B M Patel, director of DRDA, flagged irregularities in project execution in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur taluks. T he scam involved fake infrastructure projects, with funds meant for tribal employment siphoned off to Gujarat minister a g e n c i e s Bachu Khabad linked to the minister’s sons through fabricated invoices. An audit revealed that Raj Construction and Raj Traders, run by Balwant and Kiran Khabad, were involved in the fraud. Between 2021 and 2025, villages like Kuva, Redhana, and Simamoi were falsely marked as beneficiaries of completed MGNREGA projects. On the ground, there was little to no work—only forged completion reports and a trail of diverted payments. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed. The minister did not respond to questions from this newspaper. PLUS 12 PAGES Kerala beer sales losing fizz, decline 8.6% in 2 yrs R a j e s h R a v i @Kochi Kerala, it seems, is no longer looking to beat the heat with a refreshing bottle of beer! Over the 2023-25 period, consumption of the beverage in the state declined by a sharp 8.6%, or nearly 10 lakh cases. This downturn underscores Kerala’s enduring preference for hard liquor, a characteristic of its traditionally brown spirits market that holds firm even during record-breaking heat, as data from the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Quantity of beer sold (in lakh cases) 2024-25 2023-24 2022-23 Wholesale* 56.72 60.03 63.68 Retail shops 45.67 47.09 48.38 Total 107.12 112.06 102.39 *Through sales to bars Source: Bevco (Bevco) confirms. Bevco managing director Harshita Attaluri told TNIE that beer consumption has been on the decline over the past two years, and she attrib- uted the slump to public preference. As per the Beverages corporation’s data, beer sales slumped from 112 lakh cases -both wholesale (to bars) and retail (Bevco outlets) — in 202223 fiscal to 102.39 lakh cases in 2024-25. Meanwhile, consumption of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) through the wholesale and retail routes surged by 9.74 lakh cases in the two-year period to 229.12 lakh cases. In contrast, beer sales increased year-on-year by 9% nationally during 2024-25, according to Brewers Association of India (BAI), the apex body of the Indian beer industry repre, senting India’s leading beer ● More on P5 manufacturers. express read Photo: Vinod kumar T stan. For the fans, however, it was about giving their cricketing hero a fitting on-field trib- @ Ahmedabad Sultan of Subversion An elephant calf, distressed by its mother’s worsening health leans over her to offer protective cover, preventing forest officials from offering treatment to the animal at the foothills of Maruthamalai in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday | s senbagapandiyan Men in Whites dwarf Red and Gold at Chinnaswamy mon at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But a lot of the ticketholders had turned a Red wall into a lot of White as they paid tribute to the man who has called this ground home for more than two months every year since 2008. In many ways, Saturday was significant even before Kohli’s sudden announcement. For starters, it marked the resumption of the Indian Premier League after an eight-day break following the escalation of hostilities between India and Paki- D i l i p S i n g h k s h at r i ya WITH THIS ISSUE k o h l i t r i b ut e G o m e s h S @ Bengaluru CPM state committee member. With the Left eyeing a third term in the office, Pradeep’s appointment is part of the LDF government’s image makeover. A mass leader with a clean image and proven track record, the party feels that the threetime MLA would undoubtedly be able to steer the CMO away from controversies and deal with political developments in a mature and efficient manner. A leader who maintains close relations both within and outside party circles, Pradeep is widely recognised for his educational and urban life initiatives that have transformed Kozhikode city. His efforts to elevate the city schools to high standards garnered widespread appreciation. Pradeep, who recently turned 61, entered politics through SFI, donning crucial roles in both the party’s student organisation and DYFI.  ● More on P5 Guj minister’s son held for R71-cr scam ute. It did not matter that this wasn’t even an international game. Kohli, as many fans out- side the stadium put it, was, is and will be an emotion to them. They wanted to give a fitting salute to their beloved star. Some fans, when they realised they would not be getting the tickets, decided to shell out money from their own pockets to print white replica jerseys in the name of Kohli and sell them outside the ground. Talamika, an IT professional, said: “We wanted to give a tribute to Kohli. We couldn’t get tickets that is why we are selling the jerseys.” Argentina team’s visit turn into messy affair Kochi: The proposed visit of the Lionel Messi-led Argentina football team to Kerala is turning into a messy affair. Despite the state government’s announcement last year -- and later silence -- that the world champions would play multiple friendlies in Kerala, the plan is now shrouded in uncertainty. And, the government, organisers and sponsors are now contradicting each other. P2 Israel launches new military op in Gaza Jerusalem: Israel’s military launched intensified Gaza operations on Saturday aimed at “the defeat of Hamas”, with rescuers in the besieged Palestinian territory reporting at least 10 killed by new Israeli strikes. The stepped-up campaign came amid increasing international concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza which continues to worsen amid an Israeli aid blockade. P9