Monthly Archives: February 2019

Malabar gets a Startup Incubation Centre

Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

Launch of ₹5-crore project at Mangattuparamba tomorrow

The Malabar Startup Incubation Centre (MSIC), the first such venture being started in Malabar, will be inaugurated at the Kerala Clays and Ceramic Products Ltd.’s (KCCPL) unit at Mangattuparamba here on February 22.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Wednesday, local MLA T.V. Rajesh and KCCPL chairman T.K. Govindan said the MSIC was being started as part of the launch of the diversification programme by the public sector company under the Industries Department.

The incubation centre would be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Mangattuparamba here at 6 p.m. Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan and MPs P. Karunakaran and P.K. Sreemathy would participate in the function.

Mr. Rajesh said the State government had granted ₹5 crore for the MSIC project being started in collaboration with the Kerala Startup Mission.

There is no start-up incubation centre in parts of the State north of Ernakulam district. The State government has granted preliminary sanction for the ₹9.5-crore proposal submitted by the KCCPL for starting a dairy farm and coconut processing unit as part of the company’s diversification programme. Mr. Govindan said the diversification of the company into other areas was being considered in view of the shortage of raw material as two clay mining units of the company had been closed due to environmental issues.

The KCCPL and the Kerala Startup Mission envisage exploration of business opportunities and development by introducing achievements in the IT sector to start-up entrepreneurs.

In the first phase, 305 seats were arranged in 23,000 sq ft area for starting 50 start-up companies, he added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kannur – February 20th, 2019

A historical canvas at Kannur station

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Artists with their relief mural works at the Kannur railway station on Tuesday. S.K. MOHAN   | Photo Credit: S K Mohan N

Payyannur-based organisation offers a glimpse of Railways’ history

Railway passengers can now experience the local history of Kannur and railway history now etched on the parapets of the entry and exit approaches of the Kannur railway station’s main concourse under a beautification project initiated by a Payyannur-based organisation promoting cultural conservation.

The relief murals sculpted on the parapet walls by a group of 14 artists, headed by K.R. Babu and curated by V. Jayaraj of Folkland, an organisation promoting conservation, reflect the tradition of the region and offer a glimpse of the history of Railways as expressed artistically.

Art works

The art works done by the artists occupy an area of 5,000 square feet depicting cultural landmarks, village life, activities inside the railway station and evolution of trains.

“This artistic and cultural initiative is meant to serve as an art gallery that can be a cultural experience to people reaching the railway station,” Mr. Jayaraj told The Hindu. The work depicting the heritage was done in collaboration with the corporate social responsibility fund of the Mumbai-based Dorf Ketal company, he added.

The cultural history visually narrated by the relief murals captures the Theyyam, Kalaripayattu, circus and bakery traditions of the district, as also art forms such as Oppana and Margamkali.

The works that deck the walls also include rural activities such as weaving, pottery, oil expeller work, goldsmiths and blacksmiths at work, among others. Railway vendors and porters, railway platforms, steam engines, diesel engines and electric engines are among the mural relief images done on the walls of the entry approach to the station.

Work in six stages

“The relief mural works have been done in six stages, the first stage being drawing on paper the ideas prepared by artist K.K. Marar, Mr. Jayaraj and myself,” said Mr. Babu, who had also done relief mural works in the Kannur international airport.

Golden paint

Those drawings were converted into 3D forms on the walls using cement and they were finally coated with golden paint, he said.

The relief murals, completed in less than two months, were opened to the public by Southern Railway General Manager R.K. Kulshrestha during his visit to the Kannur railway station on Tuesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Mohamed Nazeer / Kannur – February 19th, 2019

Mrinal which powered space dreams turns 50 today

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

VSSC to felicitate surviving members of Propellant Engineering Division team

February 21 marks the 50th anniversary of a landmark development in the history of the Indian space programme.

It was on this day in 1969 that the first composite solid rocket propellant developed by the fledgling Indian space establishment was flight-tested from Thumba, near here. An interesting element in what was otherwise a purely scientific enterprise was this: The propellant was christened ‘Mrinal’, reportedly after Mrinalini Sarabhai, the noted classical dancer and wife of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme.

Mrinal was developed by a team at the Propellant Engineering Division (PED) of the Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC), a precursor to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). At the time, the PED was headed by Vasant Gowarikar.

The VSSC plans to felicitate the surviving members of the PED team at a function on February 27.

Mrinal was significant in that it marked the space agency’s first major step in developing solid propellants, which are still used today in ISRO launch vehicles.

On February 21, 1969 the propellant was used to fly a Rohini series RH-75 sounding rocket, which was the designated Dynamic Test Vehicle (DTV), from Thumba.

Former members of the PED team which developed Mrinal such as K.N. Ninan and V.N. Krishnamoorthi remember that the February 21, 1969 test was a huge success.

“’It’s significance is that composite propellants form a class of propellants that are ideal for space launch vehicles. Mrinal was the first totally indigenous composite propellant manufactured using locally available raw materials,” Mr. Ninan, who retired as Deputy Director, VSSC, said. What was till then available were mostly double-base propellants suitable for missiles, Mr. Krishnamoorthi said.

Altogether, the DTV was test-flown thrice, but no records are available as to whether subsequent tests were carried out. Anyhow, the propellant itself was short-lived.

Mrinal did not find extensive use with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in later years due to scaling-up issues.

ISRO chairman K. Sivan is also scheduled to attend the February 27 function.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kerala / by Tiki Rajwi / Thiruvananthapuram – February 20th, 2019

Curtain goes up on Thunchan fete

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Bengali writer Manoranjan Byapari inaugurating the Thunchan Literary Festival at Thunchan Paramba, Tirur, on Friday.  

This year’s Thunchan Literary Festival began at Thunchan Paramba, Tirur, on Friday. Inaugurating the festival, well-known Bengali writer Manoranjan Byapari described his life’s journey from being a shepherd to accidentally meeting Jnanpith laureate Mahasweta Devi while riding an autorickshaw.

He said that he had entered into writing much later in life. It was his incarceration that helped him find an interest in reading books. His writings in Bengali are considered one of the strongest in Indian Dalit literature.

Thunchan Memorial Trust chairman and Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair presided over the function.

Arts festival

Mr. Nair released the Thunchan history penned by K. Sreekumar by giving a copy to Artist Namboothiri. Mr. Namboothiri inaugurated a book festival being held as part of the literary festival.

Poet V. Madhusoodanan Nair delivered the Thunchan Memorial Lecture on poetry and tradition. Writers Chathanath Achuthanunni, Manambur Rajanbabu, and V. Appu Master spoke.

Actor V.K. Sreeraman inaugurated the Thunchan Arts Festival.

Poet Alankode Leelakrishnan spoke.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Malappuram – February 15th, 2019

Rare experiment with sand art greeted with loud cheers

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education

Sand art presented by students of Vidyodaya School, Thevakkal, at the Krithi International Book Festival in the city on Friday.  

Visual interpretation of poem on Jhansi Rani presented on sand

As it is, creating an image on sand is a tough task. Setting it to the tune of poetry can be even a bigger challenge.

Seven girls from Vidyodaya School, Thevakkal, managed just that when they presented a visual interpretation of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’s poem on the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai at the Krithi International Book Festival here on Friday.

“We wanted to break the popular notion that women always need to strive to be men’s equal and instead drive home the message that what is more important is to realise and fulfil one’s own potential. It was the students themselves who came up with the idea of sand art to put across that message,” said Rema K. Nair, a teacher from the school.

The performing team was made up of Theerdha, Gaddha, Arundhathi, Varsha, Nidhi, Shwetha, and Ardra from Standards 6, 7, and 8 with the support of the school staff.

They felt that creating images on sand would infuse more life into characters rather than simply painting them on paper.

They first wrote the script, designed the scenes, and finally practised it in tune with the poetry.

Because of the enthusiastic response from the crowd, the students did an encore.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Staff Reporter / February 16th, 2019

Golden jubilee of Dinesh Beedi

Business & Economy, Records, All

Has diversified into sectors like apparel-making, food processing, IT

The Kerala  Dinesh Beedi Workers’ Central Cooperative Society (KDBWCCS), comprising a number of primary societies spread over Kannur, Kasaragod districts and Vadakara in Kozhikode, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with year-long functions.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Wednesday, organising committee chairman and trade union leader K.P. Sahadevan and society management representatives said that when the 50th anniversary of the industrial cooperative society was being celebrated, beedi making was one of the activities of the society as it had already branched off to non-beedi sectors such as apparel-making, umbrella production, food processing and IT sectors. Explaining the history of the cooperative society, which during its peak business period had employed 42,000 people, Mr. Sahadevan said the KDBWCCS was formed in 1969 in the aftermath of a major crisis that beedi workers in the northern Kerala had faced when major beedi manufacturing companies with headquarters in Mangalore closed down their units in the northern parts of Kerala in 1968 in response to workers’ agitation demanding implementation of the Beedi and Cigar Workers’ Conditions of Employment Act that guaranteed minimum wages.

The Left government that came to power in 1967 had committed to the implementation of the Central legislation.

The workers’ share had been fixed at ₹20, but the then State government had extended ₹19 as a share capital loan to each worker.

Today, the society employs nearly 6,000 workers, he said.

Founding day

On the founding day on February 15, workers, trade union leaders and local people’s representatives would hoist the society’s flag in all the offices and branches of the society.

On February 22, Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan would inaugurate a function in Kannur to felicitate retired workers and director board members.

Similar function would be held at Kanhangad on February 23, the organisers said. The formal inauguration of the function would be done by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on March 9, they added.

Society chairman C. Rajan and secretary K. Prabhakaran said that the society’s total turnover in 2017-18 was ₹75 crore, around ₹55 crore of which was from sale of beedis.

₹18 crore as GST

The company is annually paying around ₹18 crore as GST.

The society had been bestowed awards by industries organisation for fair business practices.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kannur – February 13th, 2019

Wayanad sanctuary yields a new spider

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion

Team from CATE spots a spider taxonomically related to an Australian species

A new species of spider has been discovered from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, a major biodiversity hotspot in the State. The new species, Cocalus lacinia, spotted in the Kurichiad forest range of the sanctuary, is taxonomically related to an Australian species, described by arachnologist Fred Wanless in 1981.

A biodiversity investigation team, based at the Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE), Christ College, Irinjalakuda, spotted the new species.

The head of the 8-mm-long male spider is brownish yellow and there are black lines along the sides of the hairy head region. Its eyebrows and forehead are white. The oval shaped abdomen is yellow and covered with black and white scales. The head of the 13-mm-long female is brownish and hairy. There is a V-shaped black mark on the upper surface of the head and red lines along the sides.

‘United biosphere’

“The nocturnal spider hides in the crevices of teak plants during day, and hunts at night for small insects. This discovery of a new species of spider from India and the presence of its close relative from Australia supports the theory that millions of years ago the biosphere was united and the present continents were formed by splitting a single big continent named Pangea,” says Sudhikumar A.V., Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Christ College, who led the team. Investigations are on with the help of genetic samples from the Australian species and Indian species to get more evidence for the theory of supercontinents. It may give more information on plate tectonics and the evolution of modern spiders, he said.

Sudhin P.P., Nafin K.S., and Sumesh N.V., research scholars of CATE, also took part in the study.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Mini Muringatheri / Thrissur – February 15th, 2019

A recyclable and reusable cast for arm fractures

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

Marnu Prasad displaying his award winning invention, Uni-cast.  

Kerala student Manu Prasad bags design award for his ‘Uni-cast’, which he says addresses multiple hygiene issues

Innovation has always been the passion of Manu Prasad and his urge for invention has bagged the prestigious Lexus Design Award for him in the student category this year.

Mr. Prasad, 26, an electronics engineer, is presently pursuing an Advanced Product Design course at the Kerala State Institute of Design.

He is all smiles as he speaks to The Hindu about his invention — a resizable and recyclable cast for treating arm fractures.

He says that he has already filed an application to obtain patent for the universal cast, christened Uni-cast.

Research at hospitals

Mr. Prasad came up with the idea after a series of research work at various hospitals across the State.

According to him, this unique cast is a low-cost product and for that reason, accessible to every one.

Mr. Prasad said the Uni-cast can overcome several problems.

The product has been designed to address various problems associated with traditional casts, like sweating, itchiness, dry cell accumulation, bad odour, difficulty in keeping the cast dry, hygiene issues and neck pain, he said.

Unlike the conventional system, the Uni-cast is both light-weight and waterproof, Mr. Prasad said.

“The product is ergonomically designed so that it can be used for both hands. Uni-cast is recyclable and can even be remade, leaving zero waste behind,” he said.

Sporty look

Moreover, Mr. Prasad’s invention has got a sporty look, making it different from the traditional casts and braces.

The award was presented to Mr. Prasad at the Design Festival 2019 held in Pune a week ago.

P.B. Venugopal, president of Lexus India, said, “India possesses an incredible depth of design talent, and we wanted to give these designers an opportunity to exhibit their skills.”

With the theme ‘Design for a better tomorrow’, Lexus Design Award India (LDAI)-2019 was open to emerging designers, both professionals and students

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Health / by Radhakrishnan Kuttoor / Pathanamthitta – February 12th, 2019

Rubik’s cube is just child’s play for her

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Niah Sanjith  

Three-year-old Niah has set her sights on Guinness record

Come March 3, 2019, Niah Sanjith will be participating in a cubing competition organised by the World Cube Association in Thiruvananthapuram, where she hopes to do what she loves most — solving Rubik’s cube puzzle in record time. Niah, a 3-year-old cuber from Thathampally in Alappuzha can solve different variants of puzzle — 3×3, 2×2, and Pyraminx under two minutes. With her amazing skill to get uniform colours on all sides by spinning and rotating the cubes in a short time, the girl’s family is hoping to use the cubing competition to enter the Guinness World Records as the youngest cuber to solve three types of twisty puzzles/Rubik’s puzzle. “Niah is attentive and has a strong desire to learn things. She would watch older kids in our neighbourhood solving Rubik’s cube and play board games,” says her mother Tixy, a veterinary doctor. She can solve 2×2 and Pyraminx in under a minute, whereas she solves 3×3 variant in 1.45 minute. Dr. Tixy says that Niah has her own technique to solve the puzzles.

“Before Niah turned two, she used to bring the Rubik’s cube to me to solve it. I tried my best to teach her, but she couldn’t understand it. Later, she started to solve it by herself,” Dr. Tixy says.

Sensing the child genius, thecubicle.com, a leading online cube store has come forward to sponsor her. Niah is the first cuber from India to be sponsored by them. In a letter sent to Dr. Tixy, thecubicle.com noted this: “We are very excited to see Niah, having so much passion and interest in cubing. She is incredibly talented for her age, and we hope she can continue to solve puzzles and inspire young cubers.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Sam Paul A / Alappuzha – February 12th, 2019

124th Maramon Convention begins at Pampa

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

The Metropolitan announced that the evening session at Maramon Convention was rescheduled to 5 pm to 6.30 pm instead of 6 pm to 7.30 pm with the participation of all the faithful.

Pathanamthitta :

The eight-day Maramon Convention, billed as the largest Christian gathering in Asia, began on the sand bed of the Pampa at Maramon near Kozhenchery on Sunday. Delivering the inaugural address, Mar Thoma Church supremo Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan called on the faithful to see Christ as the human face of God.

Joseph Mar Thoma urged the faithful to follow the path of God with the principle of compassion and unconditional love for fellow-beings.“True love and compassion to the needy should be without any pre-condition and vested interests,” the Metropolitan said, adding people should try to see others through the eyes of Christ.

The Metropolitan announced that the evening session at Maramon Convention was rescheduled to 5 pm to 6.30 pm instead of 6 pm to 7.30 pm with the participation of all the faithful. Joseph Mar Thoma said environment protection and conservation are needed for the very survival of human being and other living creatures. Development programmes should be implemented scientifically, with an eye on the environment, he said.

Euyakim Mar Coorlios, president of the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association, which is organising the convention, presided over the meeting. York Archbishop John Tukker Mugabe Sentamu of the UK delivered the main speech.

Man-made flood

The Metropolitan said the mid-August flood was not natural. The disaster was due to the lapse on the part of the authorities concerned. He said the deluge caused destruction on all fronts and the river water-level even went up to six feet.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / February 11th, 2019