The Kerala government issued an order allowing more people to attend festivals. As many as 1,500 people will be allowed to attend all religious festivals. The district collectors have been asked to assess the maximum number of people allowed based on the total area of the public space at the festival venue. The assessment shall be made by calculating 25 square feet for one person. Meanwhile, further relaxing Covid-19 restrictions, the Tamil Nadu government announced that classes will resume for students of playschools and nursery after a gap of two years. The state government also did away with restrictions in virtually all sectors, with hotels, restaurants, bakeries, cinemas, theatres, shops, showrooms, jewellery stores, clubs, gyms, indoor stadiums hosting sports events, beauty parlours, salons and amusement parks being given the nod to function with 100% capacity. Moreover, the maximum number of people allowed has been increased to 200 at weddings and 100 at funerals.
HC upholds ban on Kerala TV channel
The Kerala high court declined to intervene in the Centre's decision to revoke the broadcast licence of Malayalam news channel MediaOne TV, terming it a justified call made on the basis of the reasons cited by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for denying national security clearance to the operator. Justice N Nagaresh said the MHA file containing paginated documents, conclusions of the designated committee and guidelines for assessment of proposals received for national security clearance made it a fit case for the ministry of information and broadcasting to revoke the channel's licence. Senior counsel S Sreekumar, representing operator Madhyamam Broadcasting Ltd (MBL), sought two to three days to file an appeal, but the judge said he was not inclined to allow even an hour after perusing the material in the MHA file.
