Daily Archives: February 16, 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