Loka Kerala Sabha; CM and team arrive in New York, concern on whether smoke in city will affect meet

NEW YORK: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his team have arrived in New York to attend the American Regional Conference of the Lok Kerala Sabha. They were received by NORKA Director Dr M Anirudhan and Organizing Committee President Manmathan Nair. They then proceeded to the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square.

Chief minister’s wife Kamala has also accompanied him. Speaker A N Shamseer, his wife Dr Sahala, son Izan, Finance Minister K N Balagopal, chief secretary’s staff officer Snehil Kumar are in the team. Chief secretary V P Joy, who is on a personal visit to New Zealand, will join the team today.

The chief minister will officially inaugurate the Loka Kerala Sabha at Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square tomorrow morning He will later visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York. The chief minister will also visit UN headquarters.

The chief minister will inaugurate the Business Investment Meet at Marriott Marquis Hotel on Sunday. He will address the expatriate community at a public meeting in Times Square that evening.

The chief minister will meet World Bank South Asia Regional Vice President Martin Reiser in Washington DC on Monday. The chief minister will visit Maryland waste management systems on Tuesday and will travel to Havana on Wednesday.

Meantime, New York City is engulfed in smoke due to heavy forest fires in Canada. It is dark even in broad daylight. The government is distributing free masks to those who go out of their homes as heavy smoke can harm people's health. Strict instructions have been given to go out only wearing a mask. The present situation in New York is raising concerns whether the American Regional Conference of the Lok Kerala Sabha will be adversely affected.