|
Subscribe to
Posts [RSS/Atom]
Subscribe to Environment of Kerala by Email
Post your queries
Newsletter
Searchable Database
State Symbols
SOE Report 2007
|
|
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
|
|
|
