Daily Archives: March 7, 2015

Creative Smart Waste Bin Fetches her Accolades

Education, Green Initiatives & Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kochi :

Rakshanya Sekar, a confident youngster,is on cloud nine. The student of KV Pattom is the only one from the state to receive the Bio Asia Young Minds award 2015.

The class XII student got the award for her science project, ‘Smart disposal bin’, which she presented at the Bio Asia 2015, a national convention held recently at Hyderabad. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and a citation.

Rakshanya presented a basic working model of the bin at the Bio Asia conference.

RakshanyaKERALA07mar2015

With enthusiasm, the teen elaborates on the working of her ‘Smart Disposal’ apparatus. She says,“The bin is divided into two compartments- the plastic waste unit and the food disposal unit. The food waste unit consists of a food dehydrator, hot air blower and a wire mesh through which the waste reaches the bottom chamber of the food unit. The dehydrator and the hot air blower helps to take out the moisture content from the waste, which can then be used as manure or even animal fodder.”

The empty plastic bottles put in the other unit are crushed and shredded into small pellets by horizontal blades present in the compartment. “These horizontal concave blades work alternatively, and the plastic pellets are collected in the bottom chamber of the unit.”

The 16-year-old sees it as a solution for the waste disposal problem faced by the Railways. She said, “Managing waste, especially plastic, is a huge problem, with plastic bottles lying on the tracks.

The Smart Disposal Bin helps by reducing the volume of the bottle, making it easier to transport. One can utilise the plastic collected in this way, for using in innovative projects.”

The biotechnology student used zinc sheets to make the body of the model, which also has additional boxes to collect powdered waste. Rakshanya,who is passionate about science, says, “I like innovating and coming up with new ideas, and wish to contribute to society through science.” She will be representing KV from her region, along with a few other students in the upcoming Jawaharlal Nehru National Science Exhibition.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Varsha Mohan / March 07th, 2015

Tourism ‘Oscar’ for State campaign

Records, All, Travel, World Opinion
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
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

CMS College gets back its 2 years frozen in time

Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
CMS College, Kottayam
CMS College, Kottayam

Kottayam:

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