Tourism Secretary G. Kamala Vardhana Raoand Suman Billa, Joint Secretary in the UnionTourism Ministry, receiving the silver prize for Kerala Tourism at the Golden Gate awards in Berlin on Thursday./ The Hindu
‘The Great Backwaters’ campaign of Kerala Tourism has bagged the silver prize at the Golden Gate awards at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) – 2015, the world’s leading travel trade event.
The silver prize at the Das Golden Stadttor (Golden Gate) awards in the multimedia campaign category was presented to Kerala Tourism at the German capital on Thursday. Tourism Secretary G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, who is leading the delegation, and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary in Union Tourism Ministry, received the prize.
Presented every year at the ITB-Berlin for the last 14 years, the Golden Gate awards, dubbed the Oscar in tourism communication, are considered the ultimate recognition in the field.
Conceptualised by Kerala Tourism’s creative and marketing agency Stark Communications, the campaign won the Golden Gate Gold Prize in the print category at the ITB-Berlin last year. The campaign was noted for its use of aerial photography on a wider scale covering the backwaters as a single destination.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Special Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – March 07th, 2015
The 200th anniversary celebrations of CMS College begin on March 17 as new-found records prove that the oldest existing college in India was started in 1815, two years earlier than previously thought.
The early years of the college came to light after a study of documents in the Bangalore United Theological College Museum and the Missionary Register in the CMS College library as well as the Church Missionary Proceedings.
Dr Babu Cherian, the head of the college’s Malayalam department, stumbled on the piece of history during the research for his book, ‘Towards Modernity: The Story of the First College of India’. The college management has approved the change in the birth date.
The bicentennial celebration is also aimed at modernising all the departments of the college and raising the quality of education, principal Dr Roy Sam Daniel said.
The college, then called The College, Cotym, was started by Colonel John Munro, a British statesman who was a political resident and later Diwan of the princely state of Travancore. He started the college on 16 acres at Chungam near Kottayam.
The recently discovered records show that construction of the building was started as early as 1813 and classes were started with 25 students in 1815. Colonel Munro received the support of Rani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, the Regent of Travancore.
Munro entrusted the management of the college to Pulikkottil Ittoop Ramban (Joseph Mar Divannasios) of the Malankara Church.
Munro wrote to the Church Mission Society (CMS) headquarters in Britain in 1813 asking for two missionaries to teach in the new college, the records collected by Dr Cherian shows. The letter was received in Britain after six months.
Thomas Norton, a missionary from Britain, came to Kottayam in May 1816 to take charge of the college. He stayed in Alappuzha, then a bigger and busier town than Kottayam.
Munro’s insistence on a resident head for the college led to the arrival of the legendary Benjamin Bailey in 1817, which was traditionally known as the founding year of CMS College. CMS College calendar recorded 1815 as the year the college was started.
The college’s phenomenal growth started with Bailey, who laid the foundation for English education in Kerala.
The original building where classes were started in March 1815 was later turned into a seminary when the college was shifted to its present location on a hillock in 1837.
source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Kerala / by Manorama Correspondent / Saturday – March 07th, 2015
An expert demonstrates how to prepare organic fertilizers during a training programme organised by the National Horticulture Mission on the CWRDM campus at Kunnamangalam in the city. / The Hindu
Along with vegetables, spices also need to be cultivated organically, say experts.
Spreading awareness among people about the importance of producing toxin-free spices through organic cultivation was the main thrust of a training programme in homestead water management and organic spice cultivation organised by the National Horticulture Mission in collaboration with the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) on its campus at Kunnamangalam here.
Around 60 housewives, who are members of the farmers club aided by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), participated in the two-day training programme, which was inaugurated by the Kunnamangalam MLA P.T.A. Raheem on Monday.
Water resources
In various sessions, scientists as well as experts from the centre and the Agricultural Department spoke on how to go about managing the available water resources in a common household for the cultivation of essential spices including ginger, turmeric and pepper.
E. Abdul Hameed, Technical officer of CWRDM, talked about the things to be done while cultivating spices in the backyard.
While CWRDM scientist Dinesh Kumar spoke about the role of spices in the protection of health, K.R Prasannakumar, another expert from the centre, spoke on the role of soil fertility and use of organic fertilizers for spices cultivation.
P. Vikraman, former Principal Agricultural Officer, demonstrated on how to prepare organic fertilizers and pesticides.
The scientists also clarified various doubts raised by the participants during the programme.
One kg of ginger and turmeric rhizomes each as well as five saplings of pepper were distributed free to the participants at the end of the session. CWRDM executive director N.B. Narasimha Prasad presided over the function. CWRDM Training Education and Extension Division (TEED) head Kamalam Joseph and NABARD District Development manager K.P. Padmakumar among others spoke. Details about organic spices cultivation can be had from the organisers. Ph: 9447276177.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Jabir Musthari / Kozhikode – March 04th, 2015
“I still remember the day when I heard about the murder of Gandhiji in the radio. My mother broke down hearing that,” said poet and social activist Sugathakumari”, while narrating her childhood memories when radio made its entry to the state. “For today’s youth addicted to television, all these stories will sound like a fairytale,” she said.
Sugathakumari was releasing the book ‘Aakaashathile Nakshathrangal, Memories at Akashavani’ written by S Saraswathi Amma, by handing over the first copy to Kudumbashree Mission director K B Valsala Kumari at a function held at Press Club on Monday.
Saraswathi Amma, who retired as assistant station director of All India Radio, Thiruvananthapuram, is well known for the women centric programme, ‘Mahilalayam’, she had produced for several years. She is known as ‘chechi’ among listeners and her advices were hugely popular among homemakers.
It is a blend of history, memories, observation and 25 years of service at AIR which she has narrated in simple language in her book. The book also describes the artists who worked with her at Akashavani. “The book is my gratitude to my AIR family,” said Saraswathi Amma.
Mentioning legends such as G Sankara Kurup, T N Gopinathan Nair, Nagavally R S Kurup and Jagathy N K Achary, who had once ruled the Akashavani Thiruvananthapuram station, Sugathakumari said, “It was through them we learned the language and its pronunciation properly. No doubt, it was the golden era of radio”.
The book contains interesting anecdotes about the stalwarts and like her programmes Saraswathy Amma has presented them in a manner that is appealing to the masses.
Kerala Sahithya Academy president Perumbadavam Sreedharan and others spoke.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / March 03rd, 2015
Artist Namboodiri will script a documentary on auteur-cinematographer Shaji N. Karun.
Veteran artist Namboodiri will script a short documentary film on auteur-cinematographer Shaji N. Karun. Their close association lasting several decades is what has inspired the master artist, known for his fluid sketches, to swap the brush for the pen this time around.
Artist Namboodiri will script a documentary on auteur-cinematographer Shaji N. Karun (above).
“It’s no doubt an honour for me that a visual artist of Namboodiri’s stature has decided to script the film. I have always believed that a filmmaker’s biography comes through his filmography. A creative artist is a bundle of nerves, so a synthetic approach to his works would not work. But when nonagenarian artist Namboodiri visualises it using his tremendous sense of imagery, architecture and visual sensibility, it gets a whole new dimension. It makes me proud that he’s writing the script of this bio,” says Shaji N. Karun.
“Nearly 70 per cent of the script is ready and the shoot is beginning very soon,” says Binuraj Kalapeetom, director of the documentary titled ‘Frames of a Light Bender’.
Binuraj, who has previously taken critically-acclaimed documentaries on literary critic M.K. Sanoo, jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer and artist Namboodiri (whose sequel is being canned at the moment), says the 45-minute long documentary will focus on Shaji the cinematographer.
“While we all see him as a filmmaker making artistic cinema, he’s primarily a cinematographer who handled the camera for the aesthetic films of G. Aravindan and several market-oriented films. In fact, he worked behind the camera for nearly 40 flicks,” says Mr. Binuraj. Which is why the documentary is being planned as a motion picture without any static shot. “Given that Shaji sir is known for using available natural light for shooting, we will be doing the same for the documentary, too,” he says. The film will have no interviews. The film is being made just when Shaji is busy carrying out final editing of his documentary on artist Namboodiri.
Art direction for the documentary is by Namboodiri’s son Devan. Produced by L. Santhosh under the banner of Universal Entertainers, switch-on for the film will be done by Namboodiri himself at BTH, near Rajendra Maidan on March 6 at 6 p.m.
Critic Sanoo master will preside and artist T. Kaladharan will light the lamp.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – March 02nd, 2015
It is 9 pm. Outside their house at Panathady in Kasaragod district in Kerala, Aleyamma and her husband Siby are hurriedly placing beehives inside a van. Later, they climb in and the van sets out towards the Coorg district in Karnataka, which is only 30 km away. Once there, they quickly place the hives in three-foot-high stands, below trees, at a distance of three metres. “We have to do this before the sun comes up,” says Aleyamma. “Because at sunbreak, the bees would want to come out in search of nectar and pollen. And if we keep the hives shut they will die of asphyxiation.”
Aleyamma is a breeder who practices migratory beekeeping. Once the honey is harvested at all the hives placed near her house from January to March, she sets off to Coorg and does bee farming there. “Somehow, the quality of the honey is far better there,” she says.
But there is a reason for that. In Kerala, the major source of nectar is from the leaves of the rubber tree. “This is called unifloral honey,” says Dr Stephen Devanesan, principal scientist, All India Coordinated Research Project on Honeybees and Pollinators, Kerala Agricultural University. “But in Coorg, the hives are placed in forests where there is diverse flora. So, the quality of this multi-floral honey is much better.”
However, the collection of honey is not an easy process. First the bees have to be warded off using smoke. Then the honeycombs are removed from the hive. With the help of a honey extractor, the honey is taken out of the cells and stored in containers. All this has to happen in less than an hour, before the bees start stinging the person.
“In the beginning, the stings used to hurt a lot and there would be swelling as well,” says Aleyamma. “But now, though there is pain, there is no swelling. This is my bread and butter, so I have learnt to tolerate the aches,” she adds.
The biggest problem with honey is that it crystallises and ferments. To avoid this, Aleyamma uses the double-boiling method. In this technique, she pours water into a large container. Then she places a smaller bowl, which contains honey, inside it, resting on three bricks. The bottom container is heated, so that the temperature inside the smaller bowl reaches 45 degrees centigrade. Then the honey is taken out, and put through a sieve, to get rid of wax particles, dust and pollen. Following this, it is reheated to 65 degrees centigrade for about 10 minutes. “After the honey cools, it is filtered,” says Aleyamma. “Once this is done, the honey will last for years, without going bad.”
Interestingly, Aleyamma is the only woman beekeeper in Kerala. Last year, she produced 40 tonne of honey, thanks to the 5,000 colonies of Indian and Italian bees that she has.
And thanks to this high productivity, Aleyamma was recently conferred the Stephen Memorial Award for the best beekeeper of 2014 by state Agriculture Minister KP Mohanan. This award has been instituted by the Federation of Indigenous Apiculturists.
To get a high productivity, Aleyamma depends a lot on the Tamil workers, who are experts at bee collection. “They are sincere, hard-working and not afraid of being stung,” she says.
Aleyamma also credits her success to a workshop which she attended. This was conducted by Devanesan, along with Dr K Prathapan, director of the State Horticulture Mission. Devanesan says: “I have imparted training to Aleyamma and other breeders on how to maintain the health of the bees, manage colonies, and do high-tech apiculture. Today, they are all doing well.”
Like most good things in life, Aleyamma came to bee breeding by accident. When she got married and went to stay at her in-laws’ home in Thodupuzha, she saw beehives for the first time in the backyard. In the mid-1990s, she and Siby decided to move to north Kerala to improve their economic prospects. They tried pepper farming and rubber cultivation.
“It did not do well,” she says. “That was when I thought about bee farming. And now, here I am, the only woman in Kerala doing this work.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Shevlin Sebastian / February 28th, 2015
Abin John Ninan with his grandfather John Babu Panackamattom and doctor Vivek Saseendran.
A three-year-old boy, tuned his ears to the first sound he had ever heard when his grandpa clapped from behind
Abin John Ninan, a three-year-old boy, tuned his ears to the first sound he had ever heard when his grandpa clapped from behind at a demonstration room of the ENT Department at Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (PIMSR) in Thiruvalla on Thursday.
The boy screamed aloud, hearing the sound. Incidentally, it was also his third birthday.
ENT specialist at PIMSR Vivek Saseendran, and P.A. Jacob, anaesthetist, conducted a successful cochlear implantation on him on January 17.
Abin, son of Cyriac Ninan and Lizy Mary Ninan, of Kattappurathu House in the Upper Kuttanad village of Mepral, had been suffering from a series of health problems associated with Congenital Rubella Syndrome, said Dr. Saseendran. He had undergone surgery for congenital cardiac ailment, and bilateral congenital cataract too, earlier. It took six hours for the successful completion of the cochlear implantation on both ears of the child.
The hospital authorities had made the switching on of the implant on Thursday a grand celebration at PIMSR as it was the boy’s third birthday. Fr Shaji Vazhayil, Pushpagiri chairman, inaugurated the function. Suresh David, PIMSR medical superintendent, presided. Mathew Punakkulam, Pushpagiri director, and Dr. Vivek spoke.
According to John Babu Panackamattom, grandfather of Abin who has been looking after the child all these years, the boy with delayed developmental milestones is now very much active The hospital authorities said that the boy would be given speech therapy at the specially designed centre with state-of-the-art facility at Pushpagiri.
Dr. Vivek said the boy was suffering from Bilateral Sensory Neural Deafness, which was associated with his Congenital Rubella Syndrome. The total cost of the two implants was Rs. 10.16 lakh, besides surgical expenses of Rs. 1 lakh, hospital sources said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by RadhaKrishnan Kuttoor / Pathanamthitta – February 06th, 2015
