Implement Gadgil panel report: BJP (2013) thehindu.com/todays-paper/t… | BJP State unit president V. Muraleedharan has said that his party wanted the Madhav Gadgil committee report on Western Ghats conservation to be implemented instead of the K. Kasturirangan report
‘The protests over the Centre’s move to implement the Kasturirangan report are politically motivated. They are being orchestrated to disrupt the Sabrimala pilgrimage.’
Blood will spill, warns Catholic Bishop (2013) dailypioneer.com/nation/blood-w… | Mar Remegiose Inchananiyil, Bishop of the Thamarassery Diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Kerala warned the Central and State Governments on Thursday that “blood will spill”
Centre reduces Kerala eco-sensitive area by over 3,100sqkm hours before poll date announcement (2013) timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-r… | Accepted the demand of the Kerala state govt hours before Lok Sabha poll schedule is to be announced
Kerala's venerable Syro Malabar Catholic Church mired in multi-crore land scam indiatoday.in/magazine/state…
Church fumes over NRI-NBFC deal for Catholic Syrian Bank shares (2000) rediff.com/business/2000/… | A Bangkok-based non-resident Indian business group, headed by Surachan Chansri Chawla, is planning a tie-up with a Bombay based NBFC to lodge shares of the Thrissur-based bank
'Archbishop Mar Jacob Thoomkuzy has urged RBI not to permit the transfer of the shares. In a letter to the RBI governor,the Archbishop has pointed out that the transfer of the shares would defeat the purpose for which the bank was set up by the leaders of the Christian community'
'The Chawlas had thought of the present arrangement to ensure that the shares held by them become eligible for the rights issue floated by CSB earlier. The rights issue against the 38 per cent shares acquired by the NRIs could not be issued, as the RBI had not given the consent'
'Their attempt to acquire the majority shares of the bank was bitterly opposed by the then Archbishop late Joseph Kundukulam. The present move by his successor indicates that the Church would not allow the bank’s management to change hands'
Federal Bank attempt to acquire Catholic Syrian Bank riles church (2009) livemint.com/Money/RPwGJQ3t…
'A “CSB Protection Committee”, which has Mar Andrew Thazhath, archbishop of the archdiocese in Thrissur as patron, issued a statement on Thursday saying any attempt to merge CSB with any other bank would be resisted.'
'The church had said any attempt to take over the bank, started in 1920 by the local Christian community, had to be opposed.'
Church gives up bid to take over Catholic Syrian Bank (2013) business-standard.com/article/compan… | After one-&-a-half decade of rivalry & public sparring, the Catholic church in Kerala has said it is giving up efforts to wrest the control of the Catholic Syrian Bank
The CSB Protection Committee convener Johny Chandy also concurred saying, "we are not pursuing our effort to take over CSB, as we have been unable to buy shares from Chawla. "
'However, we will ensure that the bank maintains the spirit of its initial promoters and uphold the interest of the Catholic community.'
While doing research on the #KeralaFloods I came across various terms & names i.e. Gadgil, Kasturirangan, Oomen etc... Amidst all these the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church kept appearing. Whether it was leading protests against the Gadgil/Kasturirangan reports, lands deals 1/n
in the Western Ghats, influencing politicians to resist protecting the Western Ghats,the name of the Syro-Malabar Church kept appearing. Reading further about them I realized that they were influential in various businesses including banks.That’s when I came across their role 2/n
in the Catholic Syrian Bank in Thrissur. Lots of questions followed. How is a religious organization allowed to play such an important role in business? Is this allowed? Why wasn’t the Catholic Syrian Bank nationalized by the Indira Gandhi govt? Do Hindu temples own banks? 3/n
