Free internet for poor, K-FON, to be launched on June 5, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Thiruvananthapuram, May 19: The ambitious Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project of the Left government, which seeks to provide free internet connectivity to the poor, will be launched on June 5, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday.
Vijayan said around 20 lakh families that are economically backward will be provided the service free of cost. K-FON will be available to others at an affordable rate.
In a Facebook post, the chief minister said that currently 18,000 government offices in the state have been provided with internet facilities through the Rs 1,500 crore-K-FON project.
"The basic infrastructure facilities to provide internet to 7,000 houses have been completed. 748 houses have been given connection," Vijayan said, adding that the project will be launched on June 5.
He said K-FON was an alternative to the corporates in the telecom sector.
"The government has planned K-FON in order to stop the exploitation by private cable and mobile service providers. The project which will be implemented through the state electricity and IT departments will help the state overcome the digital divide," Vijayan said.
He said K-FON is Kerala's own internet service which will help strengthen digital infrastructure in the state.
Kerala was the first state to declare the Internet as a fundamental right of a citizen.
A consortium of public-sector companies including Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Railtel, along with certain private companies, is executing the project.
Vijayan had earlier said that the K-FON network would provide internet connectivity to schools, hospitals, government offices and other public institutions and will be a "catalyst for the knowledge-based economy envisioned by the state".
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19-yr-old woman found hanging from tree in UP village; juvenile held
Lucknow/Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Police have apprehended a 16-year-old boy for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman whose body was found hanging from a tree in a village here, officials said on Monday.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, said that the body of a 19-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in an orchard in the Manikpur police station area on Sunday morning. A post-mortem examination subsequently confirmed that she had been raped.
Police registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder) and 70(1) (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and initiated an investigation.
During the course of the investigation, the police found that the deceased was in contact with a juvenile who was also her relative.
Acting on this information, during a joint checking operation, sub-inspector Amit Kumar Singh of Manikpur police station and SOG In-charge Amit Kumar Chaurasia, along with their team, apprehended the 16-year-old near the Lehdari Ganga River bridge.
The search for other accused persons is ongoing, police said.
According to the police, the woman had gone to sleep after dinner on Saturday night but was found hanging in an orchard nearly 400 metres away from her home the following morning.
Additional Superintendent of Police (West), Brijnandan Rai, had earlier said that the circumstances suggest foul play.
"The victim's slippers and undergarments were recovered 50 metres away from the spot where the body was found. There are visible injury marks on her body," Rai said.
While locals have alleged that the woman was murdered after being raped, the ASP said that it is "prima facie a case of murder."
"Based on the complaint filed by the victim's brother, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons," the officer added.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, "The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable."
"The question remains: why does the spate of murders of 'PDA daughters' continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government's claims regarding women's safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?" he said.
"Whenever the 'wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)' finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you," Yadav added.
