Monthly Archives: January 2016
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NSS to honour 146 couples
The Nair Service Society (NSS) will be honouring 146 couples who have completed 40 years of married life at a ceremonial function at Sree Bhadra NSS Aaditorium at Muthoor, near Thiruvalla, on Tuesday.
Minister for Transport Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will inaugurate the programme, according to M.V. Auresh, coordinator of the NSS human resources (HR) department. K.R. Rajan, secretary, NSS HR department, will deliver the keynote address, and M.G. Manjula, academic, will speak on ‘Family relations – today and tomorrow.’ D. Anilkumar, NSS taluk union president, will preside.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Pathanamthitta – January 26th, 2016
Floating solar plant at Banasura Sagar reservoir inaugurated
Kozhikode :
Power minister Aryadan Mohammed inaugurated the state’s first floating solar plant at Banasura Sagar reservoir in Wayanad on Thursday.
The 10-kilowatt-capacity plant, spread over 1,200 sq ft has been installed on concrete floaters with hollow insides. The platform can carry 45 tonnes and the power generated will be fed to the KSEB grid through cables drawn through the reservoir bed. KSEB officials said that it is the first floating solar plant to be set up inside a reservoir in the country.
The innovative power generation system, set up at a cost of Rs 20 lakh, is the brainchild of two young entrepreneurs from Wayanad – Ajay Thomas and V M Sudhin. The duo’s startup firm Vatsaa Energy Private Ltd has implemented the project with financial aid from KSEB under its Energy Open Innovations Zone.
Inaugurating the plant, Aryadan Mohammed said that KSEB was making a big push in the area of renewable energy. He added that the government has acquired 500 acres of land in Kasaragod to set up a 200 MW solar park. A further 1500 acres will be acquired for the project.
The KSEB also has plans to convert the largest earthen dam in the country to a hub of solar power generation with the launch of construction works for two other solar projects at the site.
The projects include a proposed 500-kW floating solar plant at the reservoir and a 400kW ‘dam- top’ solar power generation project. The former is a scaled-up version of the 10kW concrete floating plant. The Rs 9.25-crore project will be spread over the water surface of the reservoir across 1.25 acres.
The minister will also inaugurate the works of the 400-kW dam-top solar project by installing solar panel canopy over the walkway atop the dam at a cost of Rs 4.6 crore. Another hydel tourism development project is being envisaged near the dam premises.
Ajay Thomas, who had developed the indigenous technology for the floating plant, said the device has around 20% higher efficiency compared to ground-mounted units as the cooling effect of water helps in keeping the temperature of the solar panels low, thus boosting output.
“The low dust environment in the reservoir also aids in enhanced performance of the photo-voltaic panels. Water bodies in the state, including those in large hydroelectric projects, can be used for large-scale solar power generation through floating plants,” he said.
KSEB chief engineer (renewable energy and energy savings), Suku R, said the floating solar plant was designed for dam reservoirs in the state, also taking into consideration the seasonal water level variations, heavy rain and winds.
M V Shreyams Kumar MLA presided over the function. KSEB chairman and managing director M Sivasankar, academician RVG Menon among other spoke.
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / K.P. Rajeev / TNN / January 21st, 2016
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Seed fest a hit among farmers at Karuvanchal
An exhibition of indigenous seeds and a collection of carefully preserved agrarian items at Kuruvanchal here is drawing farmers from the region.
The fifth Vithulsavam (seed festival) being held under the auspices of the Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK), an organisation of small holder farmers drawn from the hill areas of the State, has exhibited a large collection of seeds of agrarian crops.
The organisers of the exhibition said that 20 stalls of the FTAK displays the seeds and agrarian items. Among the seeds on display include those of 600 varieties of rice as also dozens of vegetable types and pepper.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Andy Good, founder of Equal Exchange, United Kingdom, on January 22. The exhibition will conclude on January 26. The organisers said that delegates from France, Italy, Switzerland, U.K., Peru, Mexico and Australia participated in the round table programme held on Sunday. The small farmer logo on FTAK products was also released on the occasion. A career guidance workshop and a farm quiz will be conducted on January 25, they informed.
FTAK representatives said that around 5,000 farming families in Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad and Kozhikode are involved in its indigenous seed preservation effort and various promotional programmes.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kannur – January 15th, 2016
I wasn’t aware my name was nominated in the achiever’s list: Shima Sendhil
She hails from a family of educationists and is married to one. So, it was only natural that Shima Sendhil, who spent more than a decade in the US, came back to the country to help with the family run educational institution.
The director of Rathinam Educational Institutions tells us, “I hail from a remote village in Ernakulam, Kerala and my father was a headmaster of a school there. We moved to the US, when I was just 15 years old. After completing my studies in the University of Florida, I worked for a private concern as a programmer for five years. I moved to Coimbatore to take over the family business after the stint. When my husband heard the news about the award, he was quite excited. He asked me to consider this achievement as a motivation to take up many more programmes for the benefit of students.”
Shima has been voted as one of the #100Women Achievers of India in the category of education by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. “I wasn’t even aware of the fact that my name was nominated in the list. It was only when the Ministry asked for my profile that I believed the news was true. A lot of credit goes to my husband for being a pillar of support.”
When it comes to education, Shima ensures that she doesn’t leave any stone unturned as far as benefiting her students are concerned. “We have associated with many corporate companies to provide skill-based training to our students, through their CSR activities. The activities include training in electrical work, plumbing, IT and even costume designing. The idea is to make our students more employable.”
Shima says that her five-year-stint in the US has helped her pick many tricks of the trade and implement them back home in Coimbatore. “For instance, we have upgraded many technical aspects in the college and have also begun providing smart classes for students.” This apart, Shima has also taken steps to provide scholarships to underprivileged students. “We have also been undertaking tree plantation drives, helmet awareness campaigns and providing support to the needy in the times of crises, like the Nepal earthquake and Chennai deluge. We are now envisioning a waste-free campus in 2016 by which we intend to reuse plastics and covert food waste into gas & thus, use negligible resources from outside. This apart, we have a plethora of new activities in the pipeline, focusing on women.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / P . Sangeetha, TNN / January 17th, 2016