Nationwide HPV drive for U-14 girls to prevent cervical cancer.

In a major step toward eliminating preventable cancers among women, the government will soon launch a 'human papilloma virus' (HPV) vaccination program.

The program directed at girls under 14 years, will use a single-shot Gardasil, a quadrivalent HPV vaccine that provides protection against HPV types 16 and 18, which cause cervical cancer, as well as types 6 and 11. It is in line with WHO proposals, which identify HPV vax as a pillar of Global Strategy to eliminate cervical cancer.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, opened up the house for the day, lit up the puja room lamp and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

Carried out the usual Wednesday 'aarathi' of the house.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Ribi's workers - Suresh and Ranjith - commenced their work.

Walked within the house; recited my prayers.

Bath, followed by breakfast of upma.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch, watched "Snehakkoottu", followed by siesta.

The evening chores.

War with Iran postponed!

Planned US strike on Iran faces a major problem : toilet failures on board USS Gerald R Ford, their largest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently on deployment off the gulf region in west Asia!

The ship was due to undergo dry docking and refit way back in Jun 2024 but has been deployed continuously for more than one and a half years.

The Captain of the ship, too, had requested not to be deployed but to no avail.

Too few working toilets for 4,600 sailors and an erratic vacuum system that can't be fixed without returning to a dockyard.

My take

A real peculiar situation; any navy man would understand the situation!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, opened up the house for the day, lit up the puja room lamp and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Walked within the house; recited my prayers.

Bath, followed by breakfast.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch, watched the serial followed by siesta.

The evening chores.

Sukesan helped me to unpack the spanking new rocking chair and put it in its place.

An interesting day!

Got up at a half past 4, sent all the messages, opened up the house for the day, lit up the puja room lamp and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

Morning cuppa with Lekha.

Walked within the house; recited my prayers.

Bath, followed by breakfast of appams and egg roast.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch, watched the serial, "Snehakkoottu", followed by siesta.

Went at 4, with Kannan, and converted Crazy to her Kerala registration on FASTag! Nejila of the Akshaya was of a great help.

Got dinner and ice cream from Welcome and Harisree.

Mukund and Devika drop by for dinner. They seemed to be happy! A pleasant evening.

  

The curse of Kerala!

'Nokkukooli' row disrupts waste management in Thiruvananthapuram!

Waste transport by Clean Kerala Company Ltd was halted after headload unions demanded 'nokkukooli' for loading and unloading at the facility.

Operations at the integrated plastic waste management facility at Muttathara - one of the largest centres handling non-biodegradable waste in the capital - have been severely disrupted due to a prolonged dispute over 'nokkukooli' (Gawking charge) for the past six months.

The headload workers affiliated with CITU, INTUC and BMS insisted on 'nokkukooli'. Nearly 300 tons of plastic waste has accumulated at the facility, disrupting the waste management network in the capital. Moreover, manual handling of waste is not feasible at the unit.

It is a fully mechanised facility. Each bailed bundle weighs around 800 kg and is handled using forklifts. On average, 25 tons of plastic waste was transported daily to cement factories. It is equipped with advanced systems for segregation and includes a plastic shredding and bailing unit. The High Court has  directed the police to intervene in case of any law and order issues. The court has also directed that headload workers and associates must not obstruct the functioning of the facility.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, lit up the puja room lamp, switched on the hymns on the home theatre and opened up the house for the day.

Walked within the house, recited my prayers.

Bath, followed by breakfast of puttum kadalayum.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch, watched television followed by siesta.

The evening chores. 

2.69 cr voters in Kerala's final list.

After initial threats by the entire lot of opposition parties saying that they wouldn't allow the Election Commission to carry out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state's electoral rolls, the exercise has been completed. The final tally stands at 2.69 crore voters.

Interesting factors

* There were 2.78 crore voters in the roll before the SIR.

* 87.9 lakh names have been deleted from the earlier list.

* Of the 36.88 lakh voters summoned for hearing, 53,229 were excluded from the final roll. They were

   found to be either dead, had accepted overseas citizenship, shifted or were detected as duplicate

   entries.

* The final voters' list for the Assembly elections will have 16.54 lakh fewer voters compared to the 

   December 2025 local body voters' list.

* Voting in the Assembly elections will be held in 30,471 polling stations.

My take

Congress party's constant gripe about the EC, wasn't parroted by the other parties! After initial hurdles, the court had intervened and said that they didn't expect the exercise to be torpedoed by anyone and consequently, everyone fell in line!

Tailpiece.

Got up late around 7' past 6 and went about my morning chores.

A quiet Saturday!

A child must be six years....

From 2027, an entrant into Class I must be of six years as per the New Education Policy!

* Will affect teachers' appointments

* There will be a downfall of 45% students in class I 

During the academic year 2025 - '26, 2,34,476 students had joined class I.

When six years of age is made compulsory, one lakh students will be less 

and will continue to be so for the next 10 years!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 5, sent all the messages, lit up the puja room lamp, switched on the hymns on the home theatre,

opened up the house for the day.

Walked within the house; recited my prayers.

Bath followed by breakfast of idlis and sambar.

Worked on my laptop.

Lunch, watched television followed by siesta.

Met Jimmy; he has referred me to the gastroenterologist. 

A quiet evening.

 

An appointment with toothy Mallan.

Our day began this morning, at a half past 3 when Lekha's cellphone alarm woke us up. Went through the chores and were ready at the appointed hour; Kannan came in around that time and we kicked off at a quarter to 6, for Muhamma.

Luckily, we didn't come across any traffic blocks the whole day and reached Mallan's kitchen by a half past 9. Had a quick bite of breakfast and Lekha was on the toothy's chair, within no time. The dental work didn't take more than half an hour and we began our return trip by about 11 o'clock. 

Had a lovely lunch at Salkara, at the turn toward the Nedumbasserry airport! Spent about three quarters of an hour at the restaurant for finishing our meal. Resumed our journey, visited a nursery enroute, picked up a couple of ornamental plants, flower pots of varying sizes and some manure.

Had tea at the women's stall, soon after the Amala hospital. Reached The Quarterdeck by a quarter to 5, saw off the workers - Babu and Suresh - for the day, cleaning up our terrace. Settled down for the evening and saw the usual Malayalam television serials. 

Felt damn sleepy but hit the sack at a half past 11, our usual time!

Tailpiece.

A day that went by, like clockwork!