When a lensman’s passion takes the driver’s seat

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion
Motor vehicle inspector Shefiq B.'s photograph of a leopard at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won a prize at the State-level wildlife photography competition. Photo: K.K. Mustafah / The Hindu
Motor vehicle inspector Shefiq B.’s photograph of a leopard at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won a prize at the State-level wildlife photography competition. Photo: K.K. Mustafah / The Hindu

A motor vehicle inspector’s commitment to wildlife photography

: His passion for photography almost cost him his life a decade ago when he was chased around by a herd of wild elephants in Thekkady. And that night in 2003, he stayed atop a tree to escape the wrath of the pachyderms.

For someone who took pictures with trembling hands and landed himself in trouble out of his ignorance about positioning, Shefiq B. has come a long way to grab the victor’s prize at the State-level wildlife photography conducted by the forest department.

A motor vehicle inspector by profession, Mr. Shefiq will receive the award from Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Tuesday at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady.

Motor vehicle inspector Shefiq B.'s photograph of a leopard at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won a prize at the State-level wildlife photography competition. Photo: K.K. Mustafah / The Hindu
Motor vehicle inspector Shefiq B.’s photograph of a leopard at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won a prize at the State-level wildlife photography competition. Photo: K.K. Mustafah / The Hindu

The picture of a leopard lying on a rock at the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary won him the prize.

“Initially, the animal was behind a rock and was not fully visible before it stepped on to the rock. From its stomach I could gauge that the animal had had its prey just then and would be resting there for a while,” he said.

Photography became his passion after he took a five-year break from his job as a vehicle inspector.

During this time, he took up a job in the Middle East which gave him the opportunity to travel to the wildlife sanctuaries of Kenya, a photographer’s delight.

So much was he consumed by the passion that he didn’t think twice before taking a loan for purchasing a professional worth Rs. 2.5 lakh.

Since rejoining duty at the Aluva Regional Transport Office last year, Shefiq puts in extra hours at work, so that he can go exploring nature in the company of his camera on weekends .

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – October 07th, 2014

A One-of-a-Kind College Magazine

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education
Students and faculty of St Thomas Teachers’ Training College holding ‘Mayoorika’
Students and faculty of St Thomas Teachers’ Training College holding ‘Mayoorika’

Thiruvananthapuram  :

Following Yesudas’s controversial comment on jeans, a college magazine has come out with a survey on whether jeans is a good choice. But that is not the only reason why the magazine put together by the BEd (Social Science) students of St Thomas Teachers’ Training College is making waves. The magazine is a piano-fold which would open into a 2.2-metre-long sheet which needs at least 10  people to hold it.

The magazine, named ‘Mayoorika’, was made by sticking 113 pages, and has 25 articles all written in the hand of its editor, Sunitha Mohan. Work on the magazine continued till the dawn of its release. “We began the groundwork for the magazine around two months ago. But towards September end, we had our viva exams. On November 5 our exams start. The college faculty supported by writing messages the moment we asked them to. Still, finding the time was highly challenging,” says Sunitha.

The ten-women-crew, who worked on the articles, conducted the ‘jeans survey’ just last week. The sample size was 100. The verdict: 83 per cent of the men, 89 per cent of the women and 63 per cent senior citizens are in favour of wearing jeans. They have also provided the views of Usha Uthup against Yesudas’s comment as well as the statement of Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi supporting the singer.

The magazine is vibrant and colourful but not noisy. Some of the headlines have been made of words neatly cut out from various magazines. What might seem like one image could be composed of several photographs taken from numerous sources.

There are poems and opinion pieces by students. One of the students, Latha, has written a travel memoir on Nagaland. In it she says that the climb to Phek district in Nagaland is not easy as the winding roads are sandwiched between enormous mountains and frightening gorges. “However, once you reach there, you don’t feel like coming back,” she says in her memoir.

The idea of the magazine was kept a secret until the last day. Principal Anila Chacko said: “When I saw a long array of benches and desks, I had no clue that it were to hold this long a magazine,” on Wednesday, releasing the book.

The book was received by Helen Hepsy, Social Science faculty at the college. She said: “The name ‘Mayoorika’ means memories. No one in the college is going to forget this magazine, ever. Moreover. ‘mayoor’ means peacock. The magazine with its colourful content is like a dancing peacock.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Archana Ravi / October 09th, 2014

Tribute to Hortus Malabaricus

Uncategorized

French botanist Patrick Blanc is set to create a vertical garden in Kochi in tribute to Hortus Malabaricus, the 17 century treatise on plants of the Malabar.

The renowned botanist, who was created over 250 vertical gardens around the world, will set his garden as part of the Kochi Muziris Biennale at Fort Kochi Veli ground.

The ground is believed to have originally been a garden where the study for the 17 century tome took place. Plants from the Malabar were gathered here for local and foreign botanists to study. At this ground, Blanc will now create one of his famed vertical gardens that are ideal for crowded cities that cannot afford the luxury of spacious gardens, said a press release.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Staff Reporter / Kochi – October 06th, 2014

Agri dept to train coconut farmers in Koz

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

Kozhikode  :

Agriculture department in association with Nalikera Karshaka Samithi will be organizing classes on how to make coconut farming financially viable for farmers. Classes on Neera production and other topics will be discussed by agriculture experts.

Apart from coconut farmers, persons engaging in other works related to coconut farming, copra production will also be attending the classes. Coconut tree climbers, toddy tappers, and those engage in producing value added products from coconut are expected to benefit from the training class.

The focus of the training programme will be to make farmers and others aware of the government schemes for coconut farmers, said Kollamkandi Vijayan, president of Nalikera Karshaka Samithi. The need for the use of modern technology for improving cultivation will also be discussed, he added.

Those interested to attend the sessions can register their names by dialling 9048627810 or 9745148451 said, Mujeeb Komath district secretary of the Samithi. The programme will be held at Perambra on Monday, he added.

The focus of the training programme is to make farmers aware of the government schemes for them.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / October 10th, 2014

State’s midget cows head for Punjab Badal’s farm

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kozhikode :

Next week four cows and two bulls – all dwarves, each averaging between 80 to 100 cm in height – will embark on a 3,000 km long cross-country journey from Kasaragod to Chandigarh in a cattle swap involving Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The destination for the six animals belonging to two of the world’s smallest breeds – Vechur and Kasaragod Dwarf – in their 12-day trip is the official residence of the Punjab chief minister in Chandigarh where they will be reared in a farm.

The cows give 1-4 litres of milk per day which is valued for its high nutritional and medicinal properties.

In return, the Punjab chief minister has promised six Sahiwal breed of cattle indigenous to Punjab which will be sent back to the farm of Kasaragod Dwarf Conservation Society (KDCS) at Nagacheri farm near Neeleshwaram.

The stage for the high profile cattle exchange was set during the Indo- Pak interactive seminar on conservation of indigenous livestock breeds held at Punjab Bhavan in Chandigarh on July 10 which was attended by P K Lal, Director of Kasaragod Dwarf Conservation Society.

Following the presentation on Vechur and Kasaragod Dwarf varieties, Lal was invited to the official bungalow of the CM where Badal personally expressed his keenness to get two pairs of the indigenous breeds from Kerala.

“The chief minister is a keen cattle enthusiast and there are around 30 indigenous cattle breeds in his farm attached to the official residence. He had heard about the dwarf cattle varieties of Kerala and requested us if we could give him pairs of each breed which we agreed to,” Lal said.

Sahiwal cows from Punjab are known to produce over 25 litres of milk and are high-yielding even in dry conditions of Punjab where temperatures touch 45 degree Celsius. “We would like to find out how well they fare in Kerala conditions,” Lal said.

Lal said that efforts are on to get the Kasaragod Dwarf included as a native cattle breed by the National Bureau for Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) and hopes that formalities would be completed within one year.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kochi / TNN / October 04th, 2014

Government School Cheers for English with Magazine, Blog and a Movie

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Thiruvananthapuram   :

The non-descript library of this government higher secondary school, catering mostly to tribal students, comes alive every week turning the usually hush-hush zone into a bee-hive of activities, where honey-tongued students speak, debate and discuss in English.

In the past one year, the Government Vocational and Higher Secondary School, Paruthipally, located next to the tribal area of Kottoor in Thiruvananthapuram, has given birth to a magazine titled ‘English Rider’ and a weblog. The latest initiative is an English language short-film ‘Facebook’.

The school, which has over 1,000 students, has a good representation of tribal students coming from the nearby forest area. Four teachers were instrumental in honing the English language skills of students which made them as competent as their counterparts in English medium schools.

J Sija, one of the coordinators of the club, said they started off with reciting nursery rhymes to improve pronunciation. “The initial response was feeble, as nobody conversed with students in English. Things changed this academic year and we had to do a screening test to choose members to the club. Now 200 students are members of the club,” she said.

As the club activities progressed they thought of publishing the articles of students. Initially planned as a newsletter, the product took the shape of a magazine. At every meeting, the members, mostly tenth graders, are shown a film version of the chapters of their English textbooks.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Th New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Meera Nanu / October 08th, 2014

Women launch biotech start-up in Trivandrum

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology

The number of engineering colleges in the State has grown so much and so fast that it has even become the stuff of jokes such as, ‘If you throw a stone in the streets of Kerala, you’re bound to hit an engineer.’ Now, it seems the statement can be applied to the field of entrepreneurship with more and more youngsters rejecting the prospect of a desk job in a large corporation and choosing to follow their own creative and innovative spirit.

A recent entrant into this fold here strikes as a little different from most others that are being incubated in institutions such as the Technopark-TBI in the capital and Start-up Village at Kochi. For one, it has two women at the helm.

For Aardra Chandra Mouli and Gayathri Thankachi, the inauguration of Aeka Biochemicals Pvt. Ltd. here on Friday is the first step towards the dream they have nurtured since college. Both of them graduated from the Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering in 2011.

Another feature that sets this start-up apart is their specialisation in biotechnology and biochemicals – a vast area that is yet to receive a level of interest by new start-ups in the State that matches its immense potential. In Kerala, biotechnology is still viewed as ‘the next big thing,’ when the truth is it has already arrived, said Aardra. She pointed out how in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the concept of ‘bioparks’ has long been established but Kerala is still a step behind.

Aeka seeks to apply its expertise on a wider basis, covering food and agriculture, health care, waste management and environment conservation. “Research for biochemical products is a capital intensive affair which is why we are prioritising small-scale production of high-value, low-volume products to begin with,” said Aardra. Their first product may be brought out as soon as next month and Aeka has the support of the Cashew Export Promotion Council at Kollam in this venture.

Afterwards, Aardra says they hope to work on biopesticides and products that will provide some solution to the waste management issue in the capital. “We were born and brought up here and we know what the city can be at its best. But pollution, accumulation of plastic waste are major civic issues here that need to be addressed,” she said. Their classmate from college Nidhin Sreekumar is another member of the start-up.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Kaaya Pradeep Kumar / Thiruvananthapuram – October 05th, 2014

India’s win due to team work: Sreejesh

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh,who played a stellar role in India’s victory at the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy,has attributed the success to team work.

The player,who was given a warm welcome as he arrived here last night from New Delhi,told reporters at the airport that team work helped India to win the crucial match against Pakistan.

Sreejesh’s two saves in the tie-breaker led to India’s 4-2 win over Pakistan in the championship in Ordos in China. He hoped that the victory would make hockey more popular in the cricket frenzy nation.

On the players turning down the Hockey India prize money offer,he said it was a collective decision and the issue had been sorted out. Sreejesh also expressed happiness at the Rs 1.5 lakh cash award announced by the Union Sports ministry for the team members.

Sreejesh would be given an official reception by Hockey Kerala at Thiruvananthapuram today.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> News> Print / by Agencies / Kochi – Sunday, October 05th, 2014

Synagogues on Makeover Mode as Govt Charms Israel

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion
The Thekkumbhagam Synagogue in Kochi
The Thekkumbhagam Synagogue in Kochi

New Delhi :

The synagogues in Israel may be caught in cross-firing, but those in India are going to be spruced up soon, courtesy the Modi-led BJP government. The files started moving with speed within the Culture Ministry when the Palestine issue got worse — signifying the BJP government’s political stance in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Though the move to protect the synagogues was initiated during the UPA rule, the Manmohan Singh government developed cold feet later as Israel and Palestine has always been a volatile subject in our country. “Our team had visited the synagogues in Kolkata and had even finalised the sketches way back in 2010. But the project did not go beyond that, as there was some terse communication to go slow,” said an ASI source.

The Archaeological Survey of India is busy moving the files and renovation is expected to start soon. Sources admit that the renovation of synagogues is a political decision. “Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj are planning to visit Israel towards the year end and there are enough reasons to believe the renovation is closely connected to the visits,’’ said a government source.

There are around 35 synagogues in India—most of them in Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. “The synagogues in our country represent a rich cultural and religious tradition. The ASI is actively thinking of renovating the synagogues across the country. Most of them have been encroached upon by private parties and some, even by governments,’’ said a source in the Ministry of Culture.

The source added that the renovation work will start initially in Kochi’s Thekkumbhagam Synagogue and the Beth El Synagogue and the Maghen David Synagogue in Kolkata. The government is also planning to start a “Jewish tourism circuit” connecting all synagogues in the country, the source added. Though the government gave in following pressure and even vouched its support to the ‘‘Palestinian cause’’, it is an open secret that many BJP leaders, including PM Modi, have a close affiliation with Israel. Modi visited Tel Aviv as the CM of Gujarat, a state which has old diamond trade ties with Israel.

Transport and rural development minister Nitin Gadkari, too, visited Israel three years ago when he was the BJP chief while Sushma Swaraj is a self-declared “fan” of Israel. She, as the chief of India-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Forum in the past, visited Israel last year.

“Both countries are victims of the growing religious fundamentalism and it is natural that they grow closer. It also helps that both share unique ethnic and religious aspects,’’ said a Culture Ministry official, who is part of the renovation project.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> The Sunday Standard / September 28th, 2014

Malayalam’s first super star

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Left, writer-actor Fareed, Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair and Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair / The Hindu
Left, writer-actor Fareed, Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair and Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair / The Hindu

Rajesh Khanna was Indian cinema’s first ‘official’ superstar. The actor’s fans and admirers, along with film journos gave him this title. Of course, Rajesh Khanna in the 1970s was the most popular Hindi actor with an unbelievable series of super hits. The superstar tag stuck. Soon, similar claims were made by frontrunners in Tamil and Telugu cinema. Interestingly, no one in the Malayalam film industry staked a claim to this status during this period. Sathyan, Prem Nazir and Madhu certainly had their admirers but none of them were eager to latch on to this new found status in cinema.

Surprisingly, one man in the Malayalam industry thought he deserved this title. And he did not hide his intentions. Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair firmly believed that he was the most deserving individual for the superstar status. He often made this claim in private conversations.

Thikkurissi observed closely how Rajesh Khanna and his Tamil contemporaries achieved this title. He came to the conclusion that their claims were backed by the media and of course, their admirers. Unfortunately here neither the media nor fans showed any interest in elevating him or anyone in the Malayalam film industry to such a position. So, Thikkurissi decided to do all the promotion by himself.

Waiting for the right opportunity to launch himself as a superstar Thikkurissi got such a chance in 1982. A group of film lovers and certain film organisation got together to organise a function in honour of veteran film stars. The venue was the Town Hall in Ernakulam. The venue was packed much before time. All the big names in cinema and literature were there. The meeting started. Thikkurissi, who was a special invitee, was a notable absentee. The organisers were a bit disappointed.

A few minutes into the meeting Thikkurissi made his appearance. He was dressed in a dark blue T-shirt and black pants. On his T-shirt embroidered in silver were the words Super Star Thikkurissi with a prominent star on the back of the T-shirt. He had also dyed his hair and moustache black.

It was certain what Thikkurissi was up to, he saw to it that he would be noticed. To reinforce this he walked up to the dais and wished each one seated there before sitting next to Kottarakara Sreedharan Nair.

It is said that Kottarakara made fun of Thikkurissi asking him why he had dressed up like this and whether he was not ashamed to do so. Thikkurissi listened to all this not uttering a word in reply. But when his turn to speak came Thikkurissi unleashed a severe tirade against Kottarakara. He said that Kottarakara was jealous over his young, handsome looks and had even tried to imitate him but failed. He claimed that he was the superstar.

The audience thought there was a running rivalry between the two. But after the meeting both of them hugged each other, went to a nearby hotel and even had a drink together. Thikkurissi’s claim to the title of superstar was perhaps not considered seriously though a few journalists did subsequently refer to him as Malayalam’s first superstar. It was only in the 1990s that the Malayalam film industry got its first superstar.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Saju Chelangad / October 05th, 2014