KERALA

Tourism and public littering are the main contributors to beach litter, says a pan-Indian litter density study of beaches in the country, including Kerala done in 2019 and 2021 by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR).

A total of 33 beaches in 2019 and 30 beaches in 2021 were studied. Based on density, the national beach litter Average was 0.475 items per square metre in 2019 and 0.3 items in 2021. Plastic was the dominant litter type (65% in 2019; 74 % in 2021) and single-use plastics (SUPs) were predominant. Based on the clean-coast index, six beaches in 2019 and three beaches in 2021 are classified as extremely dirty.

Among the studied 33 beaches in 2019, data on litter density (number of litter items per square meter of area) from 22 beaches and data on litter weight from 33 beaches were deemed suitable for inclusion in the final analysis. A total of 3,26,424 litter items from 22 beaches and 36,519kg of litter from 33 beaches were collected during the 2019 international coastal cleanup (ICC) day. Whereas, in the 2021 ICC-day event, a total of 1,97,309 items and 11,809kg of litter from 30 beaches were collected.

Amid protests by some people under the collective of Muslim coordination committee, theBalusserygovernment girls higher secondary school inKozhikode,Kerala, on Wednesday implemented the gender-neutral uniform for its students, a move which the state higher Education ministerR Bindutermed a radical step forward.

Bindu said those who oppose such moves are acting against the interests of Kerala and its future generations. She said there are always people who oppose the new changes. “Those who love children will never oppose such progressive changes,”Bindusaid.

The higher secondary section in the school is open to both girls and boys.early a dozen schools in Kerala have already shifted to the new gender neutral uniform.

The public works department (PWD) has approached the ministry of Environment and forests (MoEF) seeking clearance for the proposed 8km-longmega tunnel road projectbetweenKozhikodeandWayanadin the Western Ghat region.

The Rs 2,080-crore four-lane tunnel project aims at reducing the travel time, mainly for interstate motorists betweenKeralaandKarnataka, by half an hour. Government documents submitted to the MoEF show that around 63% of the land required for the project go through forest land. Of the 54.62 hectares of geographical area that will be acquired for the project, 33.72 hectares fall under the ambit of forest.

Meanwhile, ecologists have raised the fundamental question that how can such a mega project be undertaken without conducting a detailed study on the impact of the of the region.

Jeo Baby-directed ‘The Great Indian Kitchen’, which revolves around the story of a newly-wed couple in a traditional middle class family, bagged the titles for the best film and screenplay in the 51st Kerala State Film Awards announced on Saturday. The small-budget movie, which shattered the myth of domesticity and raised some disturbing questions against patriarchy, was a huge hit.

Prithviraj-starrer “Ayyappanum Koshiyum” secured the award for the best popular film.

The Cheraman Juma Masjid located in Kerala, the oldest mosque in the Indian subcontinent. The Masjid dates back to 629 AD, and the Holy Cross Church at Chendamangalam built by Jesuit clergymen in 1577 AD, were renovated under the Muziris Heritage Project.

Highlights:

The Kerala Government has initiated the Muziris Heritage Project to reinstate the historic and cultural magnitude of the legendary port of Muziris.
This Muziris Heritage Project is one of the largest conservation initiatives in India, where the state & the central governments have joined together to conserve a rich culture that is as historical as 3000 years or more.
The location is dotted with several monuments of a bygone era that conjure up a great and vivid past.
The complete venture is designed to contain and combine the local community in all intended developmental initiatives.

The state governments flagship project that started in 2016 to provide water to industries at Kanjikode Kinfra Park is held up as the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) rejected sanctions to use its service road at Kanjikode to lay 1,600m pipeline in its final lap.

The project aimed at drawing 10MLD water from Malampuzha reservoir and should have been commissioned in February this year. Kerala Water Authority (KWA) laid a 16km pipeline for the Rs 32-crore project till Kanjikode. But to reach the industrial park it has to pass through the service road of NH-544 from Kinar stop to Government High School Junction and towards Walayar. The difficult portion, the NHAI road, has been crossed at Kanjikode High School Junction through the trenchless method.

Juvenile fishing practice continues to be a major challenge to the states marine sector, according to a report by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). The report presented at a stakeholder workshop at CMFRI in Kochi pointed out that 31% of the threadfin breams (Kilimeen) caught from theKeralacoast last year were juveniles — below the minimumlegalsize (MLS).

In a case study done in threadfin breams to analyze the impact of the MLS implementation on Keralas marine fisheries, the CMFRI has found that standing stock Biomass had gone up by 27% while the yield was up by 47% and there was a 64% increase in recruitment of this fish after the regulation was put in place.

A significant Percentage of sharks (82%), which are not covered by the MLS regulations, caught off the Kerala coast last year were below their size at first maturity.

The state recently reported 7,499 fresh cases and 94 deaths taking the toll from Covid-19 to 12,155.

The number of active cases dropped to 99,693 after 13,596 recoveries were made on the day. There was also a dip inTest Positivity Rate(TPR), to 9.63% after 77,853 samples were tested in 24 hours. TPR in178 local bodies was found to be under 8% while in 633 places it was between 8 and 20. In 208 areas, TPR was in the 20-30% range and it was above 30% in 16 local bodies.

Students in Kerala are likely to be taught the portions that the NCERT had deleted from its class 11 and 12 textbooks, including those pertaining to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the ban on RSS.

The NCERT recently had, in the name of rationalisation of the syllabus, dropped from its class 12 HISTORY textbook certain portions on Mahatma Gandhi and how his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity “provoked Hindu extremists”. It also left out the portion where the government placed a ban on the RSS after Gandhi’s assassination. The revision of textbooks by obfuscating facts has triggered a row.

The State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), an autonomous body of the General Education Department, is considering a decision by its curriculum steering committee to include these deleted portions in the state syllabus.

The committee, which met on Tuesday, has entrusted General Education Minister V Sivankutty with taking a final decision on the matter after consulting with the government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.