Monthly Archives: April 2016

Organic agricultural fair a huge draw

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature
FARM FRESH:Organically-grown vegetables on display at the Ernakulam Town Hall as part of the three-day Organic Kerala Agricultural Fair.— Photo: H. Vibhu
FARM FRESH:Organically-grown vegetables on display at the Ernakulam Town Hall as part of the three-day Organic Kerala Agricultural Fair.— Photo: H. Vibhu

Aims at creating awareness among people of the need to undertake cultivation in their backyards

The exhibition that got under way at the Ernakulam Town Hall on Monday as part of the 11th Organic Kerala Agricultural Fair has turned out to be a big draw. Hundreds of Kochiites are visiting the exhibition to get a whiff of the movement towards organic farming in the State.

The three-day programme, comprising an exhibition, interaction with experts on organic agriculture and honouring of farmers, was inaugurated on Monday morning at a brief function.

The aim of the annual show was to create awareness among people in the Kochi urban area and its surroundings of the need to undertake their own cultivation of fruits and vegetables in their own land or backyards, said the general secretary of Organic Kerala Charitable Trust M.M. Abbas.

The show and other programmes are being organised jointly by the Charitable Trust, Rajagiri Outreach programme, Kalamassery, and Sacred Heart College, Thevara.

The sections on organically-grown mangoes and tuber crops are particularly attractive as a large array of the fruits and vegetables are on show.

Organically-grown rice, specially the varieties grown in Kerala; safe-to-eat vegetables; derivatives like neera and neera honey tapped from coconut trees and organic inputs are also available at the exhibition. A section of the exhibition is dedicated to effective and practical disposal of waste at the household level.

Mr. Abbas said protection of bio-diversity and healthy food were the two key focus areas of the programme that is into its eleventh year now.

Beyond the exhibition and sale of organically grown produce, the organisers of the programme have conducted a day-long training programme on organic agriculture with the help of Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam and the Palliakkal Service Cooperative Bank, near Paravoor.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – April 12th, 2016

Delhi doctors in awe: 50 surgeries a day!

Science & Technology

Thiruvananthapuram :

The team of doctors from New Delhi who came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was all praise for the efforts at medical college hospital here following the Paravur fireworks tragedy.

“We should congratulate the efforts of doctors and the nursing staff here, and the excellent facilities you have at the hospital. 50 surgeries were performed within a day , in an excellent coordination among various hospital departments,” said Dr Mansih Singhal, plastic surgery head at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The 20-member team from AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital are camping in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.”In fact, the doctors at Kollam district hospital and Thiruvananthapuram medical college are well experienced and they proved that they are capable enough to handle such situations,” said Dr Susha Sagar, additional profes sor, AIIMS.

The central team also expressed surprise at the excellent liaison between private and government hospitals. “Private hospitals and doctors willing to provide free treatment and helping government hospitals is a rare phenomenon. In Kerala, we really felt how the health sector has achieved rapid strides,” Dr Sagar said.

The doctors and six para medics received the call to travel with Modi at 9am and they were asked to report at the airport at 10am.

“We saw it as a big opportunity as the Prime Minister himself was leading us in giving specialized treatment to Kerala burn victims. Though we had faced such eventualities earlier, it was a first-time experience to travel with a Prime Minister for crisis management,” said Dr Manoj Jha, burn specialist from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

On survivors, Dr Jha said many patients could develop complications any time as it was not just the burns they are facing. “Several of them have various other complications and they will need more time to recuperate,” he said.
All these doctors, nursing staff and paramedics who were off duty and on leave were asked to report for duty on Sunday soon after the reports of the incident came out. “The doctors and nursing staff stayed at the hospital on Sunday night. Crisis management was at its best,” medical college principal Dr Thomas Mathew said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / April 12th, 2016

Golden Cucumber Harvested

Agriculture
Actor Kavya Madhavan harvesting the ‘Kani Vellari’ (golden cucumber) cultivated at the office of GCDA, in Kochi on Monday | Melton Antony
Actor Kavya Madhavan harvesting the ‘Kani Vellari’ (golden cucumber) cultivated at the office of GCDA, in Kochi on Monday | Melton Antony

Kochi :

Golden cucumber cultivated on the land owned by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) was harvested on Monday.

The ‘Vishu’ harvest was inaugurated by actor Kavya Madhavan.

The 5,000-odd golder cucumbers (kani vellari), cultivated organically, attracted a huge crowd and were sold through special counter set up at the GCDA.

Earlier, hailing its initiative, Kavya said the GCDA had set an example by cultivating organic vegetable.

“Now-a-days, it is hard to find pesticide-free vegetables. The model set by the GCDA should be replicated by others,” she added.

“Last year, the GCDA had cultivated 2,800 golden cucumbers. Cabbage, watermelon and papaya are the other major crops cultivated last year,” said GCDA chairman N Venugopal.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Express News Service / April 12th, 2016

Nirdesh to commence designing naval vessels

Records, All, Science & Technology

Kozhikode :

Nirdesh (National Institute for Research & Development in Defence Shipbuilding), the autonomous institution set up to boost the indigenisation of country’s warship and submarine construction, at Chaliyam near here, is all set to commence designing of various vessels for the Indian Navy. It would also set up the first centralised shipbuilding database in the country at the institute.

Though the foundation stone for the proposed Rs 600 crore project was laid by then defence minister A K Antony back in 2011, the activities of Nirdesh have so far been limited to conducting training programmes on shipbuilding and taking up some R&D projects.

Nirdesh would start off with preparing standard designs for a range of small vessels used by Navy including patrolling vessels, harbour vessels, tugs, ferries, survey ships, etc. “We have got approval to engage a design expert and two naval architects. In the first phase, we will be working towards preparing a standardised design for vessels which are required in substantial numbers by the Navy . It is highly beneficial to have a standardised design as the vessels will be built by different shipyards. It would help in the operation side as well as for maintenance,” Captain Ramesh Babu, project director of Nirdesh said.

Nirdesh has also got approval to engage a data management expert to set up and maintain the country’s first centralised shipbuilding database.

“The shipyards of the country generate a vast amount of data during shipbuil ding. Nirdesh will take up the task of collecting, compi ling and archiving the data in a data centre so that it can be shared among shipyards and used for process improve ments,” he said, adding tha the appointments would be made on contract basis. The design expert would be from among personnel who have retired from the defence shipyards or the Navy .

According to Nirdesh of ficials, the full-scale infrast ructural works at the Chaliy am facility has been held up due to the procedural delay in getting the Cabinet appro val for the formation of an autonomous society headed by the Union defence minister.

According to sources, the Nirdesh board of governors have approved a Rs 115 crore prioritize phase-1 master plan which would see setting up of the design and training facility. Nirdesh already has around Rs 20 crore corpus fund provided by the defence shipyards at Mumbai, Kolkata, Goa and Visakhapatnam for infrastructure creation.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / K R rajeev / TNN / April 04th, 2016

Arithmetic Olympiad on April 17

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

Over 1,000 young minds from across the country will compete in the finals of the fourth National Mental Arithmetic Olympiad to be held at Girideepam Convention Centre, Nalanchira, at 10 a.m. on April 17.

Being organised by CMA, a leading institute in mental arithmetic education, the competition will be judged by arithmetic prodigy Tai Chiang Ching.

10 students

The 10 selected students will represent India in the International Mental Arithmetic Olympiad to be held in Singapore next year.

Former chairman, ISRO, G. Madhavan Nair will distribute the prizes to the winners, according to the organisers.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / A Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – April 09th, 2016

Thanks to massive orders, gypsum panels from Kochi going places

Business & Economy, World Opinion

Rising DEMAND: Gypsum panels, headed for Sri Lanka, being loaded into containers from the FACT premises on Thursday.– PHoto: by special arrangement
Rising DEMAND: Gypsum panels, headed for Sri Lanka, being loaded into containers from the FACT premises on Thursday.– PHoto: by special arrangement

Fibre-glass reinforced gypsum wall panels from FACT-FCF Building Products is going places with the Kochi-based unit bagging massive orders from Sri Lanka, Nepal and Kuwait recently.

These orders come close on the heels of the Union government including the use of the gypsum panels among the eight new technologies being inducted to meet the national goal of housing for all by 2022.

The first batch of the export consignment of 6,200 sq.ft. gypsum wall panels meant for a Sri Lankan construction company was despatched from the FACT-Ambalamugal premises here on Thursday. The consignment was flagged from the company premises by the managing director of FRBL, C. P. Dinesh.

A consignment of around 13,200 sq.ft. of the wall panels, meant for a company in Nepal, will be despatched from Kochi on Friday and Saturday.

The FRBL construction products company is a joint venture between the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited and the Kochi-based Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore.

The FACT-RCF wall panels are manufactured using Australian know-how. The 12×3-metre wall panels have a thickness of 124 mm and can be put to versatile use. The panels can be cut to the required size for construction in individual projects. The Building Materials Technology Promotion Council, working under the Union Ministry of Urban Development, has given the go-ahead for the gypsum panels as an approved building material.

One of the major projects involves building 40 houses at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – April 08th, 2016

Now, a school to help chess prodigies make the right move

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, Sports

Thiruvananthapuram:

“Chess is everything; art, science and sport.” So said Russian grandmaster Anatoly Karpov once, and the Capablanca Chess School, the new centre in the city offering professional training in the game of chess, will base its tutoring upon this theory.

“Though there are several coaching centres across the country for chess, ours is the first-of-its-kind which attempts to promote chess at grassroots level. Incorporating yoga, meditation and counselling into the professional training programme, we aim at overall cognitive and psychological development of every student,” says Vijin Babu, one of the three founders of the chess school. Mayor V K Prasanth inaugurated the school on Wednesday.

Though the founders expect a major chunk of their students to be children, adults are also welcome. The two-hour classes will be split into an hour for teaching chess skills followed by an hour of game to put the newly acquired skills to practice.

“Chess is like mathematics. If you learn the right tricks in an interesting way, you can master it. Every great chess player has in some way received professional training which has helped him approach the game scientifically. We, here, will help the students in understanding the notations, theory and the language of the game,” Babu, who is also a district level champion and national player, said. As a part of the curriculum, the school will conduct regular tournaments where students will face players from across the state, he added.

Two-time state champion Sreekumar P will be the principal, and the school will have three permanent faculty members and several guest lecturers. “I have an experience of over 20 years in teaching chess. Studies have revealed that a well-trained chess player will have better memory retention and cognitive ability,” he said. Chess players are eligible for grace-marks at school and PSC examinations, which makes it an even more worthwhile game to pursue, he added.

There will be regular weekday and weekend batches at the school, which is situated Kochulloor.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / April 01dt, 2016

Three-day Science Congress Begins

Education, Science & Technology

Kochi :

Aathree-day ‘Children’s Science Congress- 2016’ (Balasasthra Vijnanotsavam – 2016) to identify the best talented students in the field of science and to mould the next young generation of scientists began here on Tuesday.

J Letha, Vice Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) inaugurated the event in which 150 students from 14 districts are participating.

The programme, organised by the International School of Photonics and Center for Science in Society, Cusat, is being held under the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL 2015), which aims to raise global awareness on the social, economic and developmental role of light and optical technologies.

Many eminent scholars from Cusat campus will be training and guiding the students participating in the Science Congress. Various exhibits on lights and technologies is also on display at the congress.

The main attraction of the fair is the live 3D simulator which displays 3D images in 360 degrees which can be seen by naked eyes. The 3-day camp will also include various entertainment programme for students. The students will also be able to experience the experiments which will be conducted during the program. The exhibition will be a great experience for the young master minds in science.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Express News Service / April 06th, 2016

The feel of books to fill up hearts

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education

PusthakanaviruKERALA07apr2016

The Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature organised ‘Pusthakaniravu 2016’ to mark the granting of classical status to Malayalam language.

Magic Academy chairperson Gopinath Muthukad inaugurated ‘Pusthakaniravu’ at a function held at the Public Service Commission (PSC) office on Wednesday.

In govt. offices

The Institute Director Paul Manalil presided over the function.

The event is being organised in government offices and other institutions to inculcate love for the mother tongue and reading habit in children through their parents.

Competitions

As part of the event, competitions involving the children of the employees, book exhibition, and cultural events were held.

The sale and exhibition of books will be on at the examination hall at the PSC office on Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Discount

Those who purchase one copy each of all the books in stock will be given 50 per cent discount.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Staff Reporter / Thiruvananthapuram – April 07th, 2016