Steps against dengue fever

Dengue fever surveillance has been strengthened in the district
following the increased reporting of cases from various parts of the
district.The district-level disease surveillance review meeting held
here on Wednesday decided to intensify preventive action to check the
spread of dengue fever. The meeting was chaired by Additional Director
(Public Health) K.S. Anilkumar. Spraying, fogging, source reduction
and awareness creation would be intensified with the help of local
bodies.

The Hindu, 18th December 2008

More than 1,000 species discovered in Mekong: WWF

Scientists have discovered more than 1000 species in Sotheast Asia's
Greater Mekong region in the past decade, including a spider as big as
a dinner plate, the World Wildlife Fund said Monday.A rat throuht to
have become extinct 11 million years ago and cyanide-laced, shocking
pink millipede were among creatures found in what the group called a
"biological treasure trove".The species were all found in the
rainforests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand,Vietnam and the southern Chinese
province of Yunnan.One species of pitiviper was firest noted by
scientists after it was found iin the rafters of a restaurant at the
headquarters of Thailand's Kho Yai national park in 2001.The new
species highlighted in the report includes 519 plants, 279 fish, 88
frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four
turtles, two salamanders and a toad an average of two previously
undiscovered species a week for the past 10 yeard.The report warned,
however, that many of the species could be at risk from development,
and called for a cross-border agreement between the countries in the
Greater Mekong area to protect it.

The Hindu, 18th December 2008

A unique green revolution

Behind the high walls of the Poojapura Central Prison, a green
revolution is in the making. Three acres of prison land are now all
set for cultivating paddy.Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran
on Tuesday launched the 'Ottanjaar' (System of Rice Intensification)
farming in the jail. The Seed Farm at Chirayinkeezhu is providing
'Uma', a paddy seed variety fopr the cultivation.The Minister said
that a revival was needed in the agriculture sector of the State. The
Agriculture Department is in the process of readying fallow lands for
farming, he said. The Department plans to set up 250 demonstration
plots across the State as part of extending the SRI method in paddy
cultivation. The department is also providing Rs.4,000 as financial
aid per hectare.The advantage of this method is that only eight kgs of
seeds are required per hectare, while conventional cultivation methods
require 80-100 kgs. The yield is also better.V.Sivankutty MLA
presided. DGP (Prisons) K.P.Somarajan, IG (Prisons) Paul Leslie and
Agriculture additional director K.K. Ramakrishnan were present.

The New Indian Express, 17th December 2008

New system of farming in Central jail

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran
joined hands with prisoners at the Central Jail here on Tuesday to
plant paddy shoots, under a project to promote farming on
wasteland.The prisoners will plant and tend to the three acre-farm
inside the jail premises. The paddy seeds will be sourced from the
seed farm at Chirayinkeezh. The project named 'System of Rice
Intensification' has been launched by the Department of Agriculture to
enhance productivity and revive paddy farming.The government will
provide an assistance of Rs.4,000 per hectare. The farms set up under
the project will need only eight kg of seeds per hectare as against 80
to 100 kg in other fields. The department claims that the yield would
also go up significantly.Addressing a function organised to mark the
inauguration of the project, the Minister said the new system of paddy
farming was aimed at converting all the wasteland in the state into
paddy fields. He said demonstration plots would be set up in 250
hectares across the State.Mr. Ratnakaran added that moves were on to
promote vegetable farming among prisoners.V. Sivankutty, MLA, presided
over the function.

The Hindu, 17th December 2008

2 trillion tonnes of ice have melted since 2003: NASA

WASHINGTON: More than two trillion tonnes of land ice in Greenland,
Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA
satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is
global warming.More than half of the loss of landlocked ice in the
past five years has occurred in Greenland, based on measurements of
ice weight by NASA's GRACE satellite, said NASA geophysicist Scott
Luthcke.NASA scientists planned to present their findings on Thursday
at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco. Mr.
Luthcke said Greenland figures for the summer of 2008 aren't complete
yet, but this year's ice loss, while still significant, won't be as
severe as in 2007.The news was better for Alaska. After a precipitous
drop in 2005, land ice increased slightly in 2008 because of large
winter snowfalls, Mr. Luthcke said. Since 2003, when the NASA
satellite started taking measurements, Alaska has lost 400 billion
tonnes of land ice.In assessing climate change, scientists generally
look at several years to determine the overall trend.Melting of land
ice, unlike sea ice, increases sea levels very slightly.In the 1990s,
Greenland didn't add to world sea level rise; now that island is
adding about half a millimetre of sea level rise a year, NASA ice
scientist Jay Zwally said in a telephone interview from the
conference.Between Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska, melting land ice
has raised global sea levels about one-fifth of an inch in the past
five years, Mr. Luthcke said. Sea levels also rise from water
expanding as it warms.Other research, being presented this week at the
geophysical meeting point to more melting concerns from global
warming, especially with sea ice."It's not getting better; it's
continuing to show strong signs of warming and amplification," Mr.
Zwally said. "There's no reversal taking place."

The Hindu, 17th December 2008

Sustainable farming key to food security: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for Agriculture Mullakara Ratnakaran said
here on Monday that revival of sustainable and environment-friendly
agricultural practices held the key to achieving food
security.Delivering the inaugural address at an international seminar
on 'Sustainable Utilisation of Tropical Plant Biomass,' organised by
the University of Kerala in association with the Lund University,
Sweden, he said threat to food security was the consequence of man's
plunder of natural resources to satisfy his greed. "The solution is to
go back to Nature and restore harmony with the environment," he
said.The Minister said the government's effort to promote organic
farming in Kerala had received a good response from farmers.In his
keynote address, chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board
V.S.Vijayan said the nation's drive to increase the GDP-based economic
growth had led to grave consequences for the natural environment.
"Environmental degradation and species extinction are the result of
this mad race to achieve the GDP growth rate at any cost. As much as
38 per cent of wetlands have disappeared over the last 10 years,
affecting water availability. There is no action plan to protect the
remaining wetlands." Dr. Vijayan said biomass-based development
offered a means to reverse environmental degradation. "As a key input
for organic farming, efforts should be directed to sustainable
utilisation of this resource," he said.Baboo M. Nair, Lund University,
Sweden, who presided over the function, also stressed the need to
ensure sustainability through intervention at the grassroots level.

The Hindu, 16th December 2008

Horticulture expansion projects for Kannur

KANNUR: Projects worth Rs. 4 crore will be implemented in the district
during this financial year for increasing production of horticultural
crops under the State Horticulture Mission (SHM).The Agriculture
Department has drawn up a plan to expand areas under horticultural
crops, increase production and set targets to enhance production of
various crops.This year, the district target under the SHM envisages
projects worth Rs. 4 crore that include development of nurseries and
gardens, extension of existing horticulture areas, replacement of
senile plants, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), organic farming, farm
mechanisation and rural market establishment.Agriculture Department
officials involved in the SHM schemes say that two nurseries—each of
pineapple and mushroom—will be set up in the district under the
scheme.Pepper will be extended to 250 ha, ginger 300 ha, turmeric 50
ha and cashew 500 ha. Rejuvenation of senile plants under the scheme
will cover 250 ha under cashew plants, 100 ha under cocoa and 500 ha
under pepper. Five projects for development of water resource
facilities have also been included in the plan, the officials add.The
IPM scheme will be implemented in 400 ha of pepper, 300 ha of ginger,
50 acres of vegetable gardens, 100 ha of pineapple and 200 ha of
banana.The plan also envisages organic farming of 50 ha of banana, 50
ha of vegetable and 100 ha of pepper. As many as 110 vermicompost
units and 1,750 bee-keeping units are planned here under the
SHM.Twenty mushroom cultivation units will be set up, each estimated
to cost Rs. 2.25 lakh. A sum of Rs. 14 lakh has been set apart for
farm mechanisation.The officials say that the achievement of the
projects under the SHM during the past three financial years was 53
per cent.

The Hindu, 15th December 2008

Eco-tourism to get a boost

PALAKKAD: A high-level meeting of officials of the Departments of
Tourism and Forest and the district panchayat called by Minister for
Home and Tourism Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in Thiruvananthapuram recently
decided to exploit eco-tourism potentials of the Silent Valley and
Mannarkad forest areas of the district.The meeting which was called at
the request of Deputy Speaker Jose Baby, who represents the Mannarkad
constituency in the Assembly, decided to establish
interpretation-cum-ticketing centres at Mukkali, Attappady and
Siruvani with state-of-the-art facilities.The Forest Department was
directed to take necessary steps to get permission to use the old
unused buildings owned by the Kerala State Electricity Board for
converting them to provide accommodation for tourists in Mukkali.It
was also decided to liaison with the Irrigation Department for
transferring their unutilised buildings at Siruvani to the Forest
Department for providing accommodation for tourists in the forest and
dam areas.The meeting entrusted the Forest Department to prepare
eco-tourism projects for Silent Valley, Siruvani and Attappady within
a month. The projects will be implemented with financial assistance
from the Department of Tourism and the Attappady Hill Area Development
Society (AHADS).The Deputy Speaker told The Hindu that there was high
potential for development of eco-tourism in Silent Valley, Siruvani,
Kanjirapuzha and Attappady Hills of the Western Ghats.Mr. Baby said
that in the absence of infrastructure facilities like facilitation
centre, interpretation, ticketing, transportation and accommodation,
tourists were not able to reach these beautiful areas gifted by
nature.If the Forest and Tourism departments could jointly create
required facilities, these destinations could attract large number of
tourists, both domestic and international.These projects would also
cater to the employment needs of the tribal people who were now
dependent on forest resources only, Mr. Baby said.

The Hindu, 15th December 2008

Green card scheme for more farmers

KALPETTA: Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran said here on
Saturday that the green card scheme for paddy farmers, which has been
implemented in Palakkad district, would be extended to other districts
soon.Mr. Ratnakaran was inaugurating the Wayanad Harvest Festival and
the South Indian Rice Farmers Meet at the Rajeev Gandhi Residential
School auditorium at Kalloor. The green card would help farmers get
various benefits from the government and banks without intermediaries,
Mr. Ratnakaran said.The government agencies would procure paddy from
Wayanad ditrict from the next Nanja (Rabbi) harvest season at the
minimum support price fixed by the government, Mr. Ratnakaran said. To
avoid loss in transportation, a rice mill would be set up either in
Kozhikode or in Wayanad district.Mr. Ratnakaran said paddy farmers
were the most exploited class in society and most of them were unaware
of the various schemes provided by the government. He said the
government would implement a new project to open a direct access for
farmers to the market by connecting six wholesale marketing centres in
the State within two months. For this, an apex authority would be set
up soon. As part of this, a review meeting would be held in January. A
two-day workshop also would be conducted. He said pension benefits for
farmers were on the anvil and priority would be given to paddy
farmers. The Minister honoured seven farmers in the district on the
occasion.

The Hindu, 14th December 2008

Go green, save the world

Thiruvananthapuram: Forest Minister Benoy Viswom said here on Saturday
that planting of saplings offered a solution to the problems caused by
global warming.He was addressing a gathering at Cotton Hill Girls
Higher Secondary School here to mark the inauguration of 'Ente Maram
Varnotsavam', a painting competition organised by the City Corporation
to encourage students to plant saplings. Mr.Viswom said that school
students would be given one sapling each on June 5 every year to
instil the love of nature in them."The 'Ente Maram' project succeeded
only because of the spirited participation of students. It is their
enthusiasm that is responsible for the success of other afforestation
programmes like 'Nammude Maram', 'Vazhiyora Thanal' and 'Haritha
Theeram'. The 'Haritha Keralam' project which aims to plant 10 million
saplings all over the State will be taken up next year," he added

The Hindu, 14th December 2008

Oxygen booth for traffic policemen

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police will install an oxygen booth for the
benefit of constables who endure long hours of vehicular pollution,
dust and heat to regulate traffic on the city roads.City Police
Commissioner Ravada Azad Chandrasekhar said a private mobile telephone
service provider had agreed to help the police set up the proposed
oxygen booth at the Traffic Police Station, Pattom.He said traffic
police personnel could refresh themselves by inhaling pure oxygen
inside the booth.Official sources said the traffic police faced a
severe shortage of men and equipment.Its current staff strength (69
head constables and 219 constables) was fixed on the basis of the
traffic situation in the city in 1994.In 14 years, the city has grown
in size and its vehicle population has increased. However, there has
been no corresponding expansion of the traffic constabulary. "We are
struggling to operate. Most policemen are doing two shifts a day," an
official said.Head constables primarily responsible for investigation
of traffic accident cases are deployed to monitor traffic in front of
educational institutions and other congested areas of the city for the
better part of the day, thus inadvertently causing delay in
prosecution.The courts solely relied on the manpower of the traffic
constabulary to serve summons and execute warrants in traffic offence
cases. Ideally, the traffic constabulary would require at least 400
constables and 150 head constables to meet its current duties. The
traffic police have no specialised equipment to check the speed or
emission levels of vehicles.Its only speed sensing radar has been
lying in a state of disrepair for the past several years. The
constabulary has only one recovery truck for salvaging vehicles
involved in accidents. It is unable to deploy sufficient men and
vehicles for traffic enforcement duty at night.There has been no
let-up in the number of accidents in the city. More than 134 persons
were killed and 1,312 grievously injured in road accidents in the city
till November 30, 2008.Rash and negligent driving and drunk-driving
had caused most of the accidents. Stringent enforcement of traffic
norms, particularly at night, was one way of bringing down the
accident rate in the city

The Hindu, 14th December 2008

Energy generation from waste a feasible option: German delegation

Thrissur: At a time when waste management poses a challenge for local
bodies, making power out of waste using modern technologies is a
viable option for Kerala cities, a seminar on 'Energy from waste' has
suggested. The conference organised by City Service Centre and Chamber
of Commerce discussed the scope of converting waste into electricity.A
four-member German team, which participated at the meeting, explained
how Germany was converting most of its waste into electricity in an
attempt to become self-sufficient in power. The team said it was ready
to provide technology and logistic support if the government here was
ready to set up common treatment plants. The conference was a
follow-up on an Indian Buyers Summit on 'Solar, Bio-Energy' held in
Germany in October.A ten-member team from Kerala had visited Germany
to take a look at the latest technologies for using various
alternative energy sources. The programme was organised by
Deutseche-Energie-Agentur(DENA), the German Energy Agency."Germans
have been making use of entire waste, including drain water, to
produce energy," said Roy John Pullockaren, Project Officer of Amala
Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, who was part of the delegation to
Germany. "We visited one 20 MW sewage treatment plant in Erfurt, near
Berlin, which produces electricity from 90,000 tonnes of waste
collected from nearby areas."Mass Burn is the most common
waste-to-energy technology, in which waste is combusted directly in
much the same way as fossil fuels are used in other direct combustion
technologies. Burning waste converts water to steam to drive a turbine
connected to an electricity generator. In European counties,
individuals and firms have been encouraged to produce power through
alternative technologies. They could sell the power to common grid at
an attractive price, explained K. Alexander Mathew, member of German
delegation.Wolfgang Ament, Sebastian Everding and Calus Hagenhoff were
the other members. Thrissur Municipal Corporation is estimated to
spend Rs.2 for disposing a kilogram of waste. "If the authorities
provide land and other facilities, these common treatment plants could
turn into a viable alternative energy source within 6-7 years," said
Mr. Pullockaren.

The Hindu, 13th December 2008

Space science is for common man: ISRO chief

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) G. Madhavan Nair has said the fishermen can now be told exactly
in which part of the sea they should go to get boatloads of fish.The
ISRO has developed a methodology to locate fish schools by reading sea
surface temperature and analysing the ocean colour through satellite
remote sensing, he said here on Thursday.He was delivering the
endowment lecture in the name of the late Prof. C. Karunakaran, the
founder of the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), a leading
science institution of the State government.Mr. Madhavan Nair referred
to this methodology to explain how space science could positively
influence the life of the common man in the country.He said India's
space programme had been discussed so exhaustively in the media in the
wake of the success of the moon mission Chandrayaan-I that there was
greater public awareness now on what it meant to the common man.He
said the moon mission taken up under the space programme had taken
only three per cent of ISRO's budget for the last four years. Nearly
85 per cent of the budget was spent solely on applications that
directly impacted the lives of the common man. He touched upon several
applications now available for helping in economic planning,
healthcare services, education, nature conservation and weather and
disaster forecast.He said the need now was to go for 'web-based
information system' so that the applications were fully utilised by
the people of the country. ISRO would shortly put in place an IRS
Image Portal called 'BHUVAN' and an information portal called
'BHU-SAMPADA' for this. "Integrated with application-specific Spatial
Decision Support tools, these will open up a new era for use of space
images and spatial information for development efforts in the
country," Mr. Madhavan Nair said. He also shared with the audience his
ideas on how space science applications could be used to address
Kerala-specific development issues. The State gave a rousing reception
to Mr. Madhavan Nair and the leaders of Chandrayaan-I mission during
the day, taking them through a cavalcade of programmes in the capital
city to laud their achievement.Besides the CESS programme, they
attended separate receptions organised by the State government, the
Industrial Forum of Thiruvananthapuram and the School of Bhagavad
Gita.Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Leader of the Opposition
Oommen Chandy, several Ministers, top politicians, high officials,
industry leaders, heads of local science institutions and spiritual
leaders shared the platform with the team at these programmes.Schools
and colleges in the city and suburbs sent their teachers and students
to the programmes. They took out a procession from the Museum Ground
to the University Senate Hall one kilometre away in honour of the
Chandrayaan-I team. And, at all the four programmes, there was
unending applause as the team members were given 'ponnadas' and
mementos.The Chandrayaan-I team leaders present to receive the honours
included K. Radhakrishnan, P.S. Veeraraghavan, T.K. Alex, M.C. Dathan,
M.K.G. Nair, George Koshy, S. Ramakrishnan, Bhaskaranarayana, V.
Adimurthy, H.N. Madhusudhana, C. Venugopal, M. Annadurai and A.S.
Kiran Kumar.

The Hindu, 12th December 2008

Disaster management workshop

KOZHIKODE: The ongoing three-day workshop on disaster management for
NCC cadets, now on in the city, has turned out to be an opportunity
for the participants to learn strategies to respond effectively to
man-made and natural disasters.The cadets would prepare a disaster
management plan for Kozhikode as part of the programme. The
participants would later lead similar programmes in colleges. Experts
from the Army, the Centre for Water Resources Development and
Management (CWRDM) and the media spoke on different aspects of
disaster management.

The Hindu, 12th December 2008

Eco group voices concern over work on bio-park

KOZHIKODE: The Kozhikode Sustainable Development Initiative (KSDI), a
registered society in which professionals and nature-lovers are
members, has renewed its appeal to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan
to ensure that the Sarovaram Tourism Project on Kottuli wetlands is
executed without causing any damage to the fragile eco-system of the
region."All officials concerned with the implementation of the project
should be given clear instruction to adhere to the rules and
regulations related to environmental care and protection," KSDI
president A. Achyuthan and secretary A.K. Prasanth said in their
representation to the Chief Minister.In the memorandum, which was
given to the Chief Minister when he was in Kozhikode to inaugurate the
Sarovaram bio-park on December 7, the KSDI alleged that the project
was launched without conducting an environment impact assessment
study.The Department of Tourism appeared to have decided to do the
mandatory environment impact assessment study after commencement of
the project, and after causing much damage to the flora and fauna of
the wetland region, the KSDI spokespersons alleged.The memorandum
pointed out that the District Collector of Kozhikode had also brought
to the notice of the Chief Minister the environmental degradation
caused at the project site.KSDI had also appealed to the Union
Ministry of Environment and Forest to advise the State government to
refrain from causing "environmental damage to Kottuli wetland
eco-system in the pretext of developing tourism facilities."Dr.
Achyuthan recalled that the KSDI had adopted a resolution at a
'People's Forum' it had organised at Kozhikode Town Hall in February
this year urging the government to take necessary action to protect
the wetland system of Kozhikode district from Kadalundi to
Akalapuzha.The Central government had declared the region as a wetland
of national importance.

The Hindu, 12th December 2008

Bio-pesticids: State nowehere in picture

Despite being a state that has been inclined towards an organic
farming policy, Kerala is nowhere in the picture as far as the use of
bio-pesticides is concerned. If 12 districts in Andhra Pradesh have
become inclined towards farming using bio-pesticies, why is Kerala not
moving towards it asks Devinder Sharma of forum for biodiversity and
food security, New Delhi. It is the time that states follow the
success stories from AP where the Punkula model produced 350 quinals
of pesticide-free chillies a couple of years ago and has begun to
spread to more villages, he said. Sharma was in the city recently to
talk about bio-pesticide management.With the technical support from
the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) and the government
support to market the agricultural products including vegetables,
chilli, redgram, cotton and paddy of the small amd marginal farmers,
more than 10 lakh hectares of land will soon be farmed under the Non
–Pesticidal Management (NPM)."The West has come out with very strict
rules against the pesticides. Recently Japan which accepts only
organic products is checking the DNA of genetically cultivated
products for contamination. If that is the story in Andhra Pradesh,
then the countries's most versatile farmer, from Punjab is not behind.

The New Indian Express,9th December 2008.

Alien fish species in the Bharathapuzha

Thiruvananthapuram: An exotic species of fish, native to Africa and
West Asia, has been discovered in the Bharathapuzha, raising concern
about its impact on the native aquatic ecosystem.A. Biju Kumar of the
Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala,
discovered Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) while documenting the
biodiversity of the river. It was collected from Chamravatom, Shoranur
and Ottapalam regions. The identity of the species was confirmed by K.
Rema Devi, ichthyologist at the Zoological Survey of India, Chennai,
where the specimens are now deposited.Nile tilapia can be
distinguished from its close cousin, Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis
mossambica), a very prevalent fish in Kerala, by the dark vertical
stripes throughout the depth of the caudal fin.Tilapias have been
transplanted to many parts of the world for aquaculture. "They are
large, fast-growing and tolerate a wide variety of water conditions
(even marine conditions). Once introduced into a habitat, they
generally establish themselves very quickly. Though predominantly
phytoplankton feeders, in many water bodies, they act as omnivores and
even carnivores. They may spread to a new river system via estuaries
and coastal waters in which they are able to breed," says Mr.
Kumar.Out of the 112 species of fishes collected by the researchers
from the river, the exotic fishes were represented also by the common
carp and Mozambique tilapia. These fishes were found in the Chulliar,
Meenkara and Malampuzha reservoirs and the tributaries of the
river."However, the presence of Nile tilapia in the river comes as a
surprise as this species has not been introduced in the State formally
for aquaculture. Tilapias have already established breeding
populations and hence their negative impacts on indigenous species
should be viewed seriously," Mr. Kumar said. "They could compete with
local species and prey on the eggs and larvae of other fish."
International organisations such as Worldwatch Institute consider
bio-invasion as the second greatest threat to biological diversity,
the first being habitat degradation. When an exotic species
establishes a beachhead, it can proliferate over time and spread to
new areas. It can also adapt — it tends to get better and better at
exploiting an area's resources and at suppressing native species.
Published scientific data on the ecological and economic impacts of
invasion of alien fish species are not available in India. "While the
introduction of exotic organisms is strictly monitored in most other
countries, considering the threat to the local biodiversity and
endemic organisms, quarantine measures in India are inadequate. There
are no legal restrictions or standardised procedures for introduction
and monitoring of species," Mr. Kumar said.The list of alien fish
species invading the natural water bodies of Kerala includes
Mozambique tilapia, rainbow trout, giant gourami, blue gourami, common
carp, catla, rohu, mrigal, guppy, African catfish, sucker catfish,
platies and sword tail.The Food and Agriculture Organisation has named
tilapia as a biological pollutant after several countries reported
adverse ecological impact after the introduction of the species.

The Hindu, 8th December 2008

31 paddy shelters to be set up in three districts

ALAPPUZHA: With a view to minimizing the damage caused by unexpected
rain and other natural calamities on the paddy fields of Kuttanad, the
State government has decided to set up as many as 31 temporary paddy
shelters in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta
districts.Announcing this here on Saturday after a review meeting on
preparations of the official machinery from the three districts for
the 'puncha' crop harvest, Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran
said the State Warehousing Corporation would open 20 temporary
shelters in Alappuzha, eight in Kottayam and three in
Pathanamthitta.The meeting, which gave priority to the preparations in
the Upper Kuttanad belt spread over the three districts, also decided
to set up three task forces in each of the districts, comprising
students and members of the National Service Scheme (NSS),
Kudumbashree units, Nehru Yuva Kendra and other local service
organizations.These task forces, to be led by the respective District
Collectors, would be given 3,000 hand-reapers to help farmers in the
harvest, Mr. Ratnakaran said.The Minister, who said that the 'puncha'
acreage in the three districts had gone up by around 5,000 hectares,
said the State Meteorological Department had agreed to provide the
District Collectors with daily weather updates, with a forecast of at
least five days in advance.A high-level team would also visit the
Paddy Processing Research Centre, Thanjavur and also convene a meeting
at Alappuzha in January on modes of processing wet paddy and the
possibilities of value added products from such crop.With the October
rains upsetting the agriculture calendar for the 'puncha' crop, the
Minister said the district-level monitoring committees with Alappuzha
Collector V.K. Balakrishnan at its helm was making efforts to ensure
that the harvest process was not disrupted.Measures to ensure adequate
fertilizer and the operation of the Thanneermukkom Barrage shutters
too were discussed in detail, Mr. Ratnakaran added.Agriculture
Director Tinku Biswal, Kottayam District Collector P. Venugopal,
Principal Agriculture Officer (in-charge) Jose Joseph and other
officials were present. Earlier, the Minister visited the Rani,
Chithira and Marthandam kayal paddy fields along with Mr.
Balakrishnan.

The Hindu,7th December 2008

Winners of science literature awards

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology
and Environment has announced the winners of its Science Literature
Awards for 2007. They are P.V. Vinod Kumar in the Children's
literature category for his book Thoovalkuppayakarum doctor
vezhambalum, P.V. Padmanabhan in the Popular science category for his
book Keralathile Pakshikoodukal, M. Krishnan Nair and P.G. Balagopal
in the In-depth science category for their book Cancerinekkurichu
ariyendathellam and V.R. Hariprasad in the Science journalism category
for his popular science articles published in the Deepika daily. The
awards consist of a purse of Rs.10,000 each, a plaque and a
certificate.

The Hindu,6th December 2008

Projects invited for environment congress

KANNUR: Research projects and working models prepared by high school
and higher secondary school students here have been invited for
selection to be presented at the Kerala Environment Congress to be
held here in April.An official release here said two selected projects
and models would be given prizes and presented at the congress. The
focal theme of the congress was water resources in the State, it said
adding that papers would be presented on water resource management,
water and health, water and climate change, indigenous knowledge of
water resources, water pollution, decline of water resources and
watershed management.The environment congress to be held here from
April 22 to 24 would be organised by the Centre for Environment and
Development, Thiruvananthapuram, in association with the Kannur
Science Park.The release said that details regarding the student
project presentation would be available from P.V. Sadanandan, Kannur
Science Park (Phone: 0497-2766780).

The Hindu, 3rd December 2008

Minister promises steps to protect Vellayani lake

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran told the Assembly on Tuesday that the
government had initiated moves to carry out a comprehensive survey of
the Vellayani lake.Replying to a submission moved by Kovalam MLA
George Mercier, he said the Survey Director and the District Collector
had been directed to provide adequate staff for the survey work.The
Minister said the survey was necessary to determine the surface area
of the lake and identify encroachments if any."The Legislative
Committee on Environment hard reported widespread encroachments into
the lake. The committee observed that 600 title deeds issued by the
Survey Department were illegal. Besides, records with different
departments showed a wide variance in the acreage of the lake," he
said.Mr. Rajendran said the government would declare the lake and its
surrounding areas as a protected zone and promote organic farming in
the neighbouring paddy fields.The Minister proposed steps to enhance
the capacity of the lake by desilting it and introduce curbs on the
use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by farmers.Mr. Rajendran
said the government had received complaints about sand-mining from the
lake bed."Special squads comprising revenue and police officials have
intensified patrolling in the area and several boats used by the
sand-miners have been seized," the Minister said.The Minister informed
the House that soil conservation activities had been taken up in the
areas around the lake to check bank erosion.He said a meeting
involving Ministers, officials and people's representatives would be
convened soon to discuss means to protect the lake.

The Hindu, 3rd December 2008

Climate change will trigger natural disasters all over the world

KOCHI: Climate change is a challenge facing the world, but enough
attention is not being paid to the issues pertaining to the
phenomenon, said Prasad R. Menon, Managing Director of Tata Power
Company Limited. He was delivering a lecture on 'energy and climate
change', organised by the Madhavan Nayar Foundation at the Centre for
Visual Arts, Edappally.The magnitude of the climate change in the
years ahead will be unbelievable. There could be long spells of heavy
rain, prolonged dry weather, powerful cyclones or tsunamis. The
glaciers in the Himalayas may start melting and the ocean levels may
rise.It will be difficult to reverse the trend even if the entire
world starts taking measures to protect the environment. The impact
will be felt across the world and not limited to one or two countries.
The solutions like changing the energy models are difficult to
achieve. All the agencies concerned all over the world need to work in
concert.

The Hindu, 3rd December 2008

Eco-feminism’ for environment protection

KOZHIKODE: The concept of 'eco-feminism' has been mooted as a panacea
for combating the widespread degradation of the environment.The idea
was the highlight of a seminar 'Humanity at a crossroad: Can
eco-feminism make a difference?' organised by the Women's Forum of
Oisca International South India chapter here on Saturday.Senior
researcher and coordinator of Oisca International, Japan, Yukiyo
Kamino addressing the seminar opined that involving women in large
numbers in conservation initiatives as part of empowerment would go a
long way in achieving the objective of environment protection.He said
the Indian culture that venerated the Earth as mother would vibe
excellently with the idea of involving women in conservation
initiatives. Oisca Kozhikode Chapter president M.P.M. Mubashir
presided.

The Hindu, 1st December 2008

SOPs to tackle disasters

Thiruvananthapuram: Major government departments in the State will
soon have standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place to help them
cope with natural disasters and other emergencies and accidents.A
two-day workshop organised by the Department of Revenue and Disaster
Management, which concluded here on Saturday, finalised a draft
outline of the procedures for the State police and the departments of
Health, Education, Public Works and Revenue.While SOP for the police
will deal with disaster response, that for the Health Department will
focus on hospital management. The procedure for the Education
Department will cover school safety. As the nodal agency for
coordinating rescue and relief operations during natural calamities,
the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management will have a SOP on
emergency operations.The draft of the various SOPs were presented and
discussed at the workshop. They will be released after consultations
with the respective heads of departments. The workshop was organised
under the Disaster Risk Management Programme supported by United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Delivering the keynote address,
Kamal Taori, retired IAS officer, highlighted the crucial role of
Panchayati Raj institutions and the need for public-private
partnerships in disaster management.He called upon the representatives
of line departments to focus on good governance in disaster
management.Nivedita P. Haran, Principal Secretary, Revenue and
Disaster Management; James Varghese, Secretary, General Education;
Teeka Ram Meena, Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs; Piyoosh
Rautela, Executive Director, Disaster Mitigation and Management
Centre, Uttarkhand; Ajith Chacko, State Programme Coordinator,
Disaster Risk Management Programme, UNDP; and officials from the
departments of Revenue and Disaster Management, Public Works
Department and the Police participated in the workshop. Speakers who
addressed the delegates underlined the need for government departments
to contend with the increasing complexity in emergency response
techniques and equipment. They called for better coordination and
sharing of resources in disaster management.The workshop was organised
with the objectives of providing emergency service providers with
better understanding and helping them navigate the maze of regulatory
and administrative requirements.Managers, on the other hand, need a
mechanism to convey operational guidance to the members and ensure
departmental compliance with laws, regulations and standards. They
need tools to direct and control the rapid pace of change.
Well-designed SOPs help fill both needs.For individual workers, SOPs
clarify job requirements and expectations in a format that can be
readily applied on the job.They explain in detail what the department
wants them to do in the situations they are most likely to encounter.
For department managers, the advantages are equally great.According to
UNDP officials, SOPs provide a mechanism to identify needed changes,
articulate strategies, implement regulatory requirements, enhance
training and evaluate operational performance.Participants in the
workshop discussed the procedures for crisis management, resource
management, coordination with other departments during emergencies and
mock drills. The roles and responsibilities of line departments and
disaster preparedness and response were evaluated.

The Hindu, 1st December 2008

Forest academy to come up in two years

A national-level forest academy will set up in the State in two years,
Minister for Forests Benoy Viswom has said.Mr. Viswom was speaking at
a function organised at Mananthavadi here on Saturday to give away an
aid of Rs.1,00,000 to the widow of K.T. Rajan, a forester who died a
few months ago at Walayar while attending a departmental training.The
academy should have all modern facilities, Mr. Viswom said. He later
inaugurated the central office of the North Wayanad Forest Development
Agency.The Minster inaugurated a traditional archery competition at
Mananthavadi in connection with the 203rd death anniversary of Veera
Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja.

The Hindu, 30th November 2008