KERALA

CM: World Bank has offered to help state

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Chief ministerPinarayi Vijayanhas said theWorld Bankhas offered support for the Waste Management projects in the state. Apart from the financial help, (WB) will also provide technical support to the projects.

Vijayan said WB has agreed to provide support for conducting drone survey over garbage dumping yards. In the wake of the fire at Brahmapuram, WB has assured to provide all support to the state, he added.

WB representatives will have a detailed discussion on this with the local self-government minister. Apart from this, the WB team has assured of providing technical expertise to conduct fire audit in the garbage dumping yards.

Kerala govt. will not abandon key projects due to controversy: CM

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The government is not ready to abandon or postpone important projects in the face of opposition or controversy, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.

He wasspeaking on Sunday after inaugurating a 12 MW solar power plant set up on 35 acres of land atEttukudaka,near Payyannur, by Cochin International Airport Limited.

The Chief Minister promised that the government would undertake Environment-friendly development activities which would be beneficial to the local community. As part of it, large-scale solar projects and small hydel projects should come to the State. Solar power Plants were indispensable for the future of our country.

The Chief Minister said that CIALs eco-friendly initiative had further strengthened the development vision of the .

The solar power plant at Payyannur is a terrain-based installation, which was done by retaining the gradients of the land and it can accommodate 35% more panels than the plants in the plains. The plant would produce 48,000 units of electricity a day.

With this, the installed capacity of CIALs solar plants has increased to 50 MW. The power generated here is supplied to Kankol 110 KV substation through an underground cable.

Organic agriculture policy should support non-certified poor farmers in Kerala: Study

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Keralahas seen considerable fluctuation in its organic Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture (OA) policy and this has resulted in concurrent high levels of entry into and exit from the agriculture sector, says a study by a group of international researchers with support from Kerala agriculture scientists.

The case study was done with farmer interviews, focus groups and experts, focusing on Thrissur andWayanaddistricts. The researchers developed a typology of organic farmers and formed them into three core groups wealthy hobby farmers, poorer non-certified farmers, and middle class export farmers.

The study points out that in one village, out of the 48 farmers who adopted OA, only 16 were practicing it four years later, and in another, this number dropped from 98 to five.

Gender justice to be ensured in edn sector

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Education minister V Sivankutty said here on Sunday that gender will be ensured in the general Education sector. He was addressing the people after the inauguration of a newly constructed auditorium at Karipoor government higher secondaryschool.
He also spoke about the upcoming changes which will take place in the next academic year. The minister added that the curriculum for the next academic year will include the topics to inculcate Secularism, facts about constitution, Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and awareness against dowry.

The school auditorium was constructed at a cost of Rs 25 lakh as per the annual plan of Nedumangad Municipality. Food and civil supplies minister G R Anil said that the public education system is on its right path of development. He added that the quality of education in government schools could be improved and seven lakh students could be brought back to government schools.

Kelsa to provide free legal aid to transgender persons

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Kerala state legal Services authority(Kelsa) is making all-out efforts to reach freelegal aidto thetransgender personsas part of the initiatives to bring the variousmarginalisedsections into the mainstream. This was stated byKelsachairman and HC judge justiceK Vinod Chandranwhile inaugurating an awareness programme organised as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav here on Saturday.
Chandran pointed out that there are several sections, including transgender persons, being deprived of justice. Kelsa is trying to create legal awareness among them, as well as reach legal support to them. Simultaneously, Kelsa is also trying to cultivate a sense of justice among those being deprived of justice, he said.

SEIAA mandates green nod for proposed sewage project

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The State Environment-impact-assessment”>Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has mandated environmental clearance (EC) for Kerala Water Authoritys proposed sewage management project in the city corporation areas.

While considering a letter from the KWA superintending engineer, requesting the SEIAA to clarify whether EC is required for a sewage treatment plant or not, SEIAA in its 117th meeting quoted the judgment of (NGT) to cite that EC is required for sewage treatment Plants.

As per the judgment, the authorities should be able to take a scientific view at the initial stages of installation of a sewage plant.

The RKI-implementation committee while considering the proposal of KWA had directed that KWA should consider broadening the scope of study to include hydro-geological survey and technical feasibility of decentralized collection of sewage of low-lying areas and pumping it to the sewerage Network to ensure 100% capacity utilization of 107 MLD plant.

Coconut production inKeralahas come down to below 7,000 million nuts during the financial year 2020-21, compared to 8,452 million nuts of FY18, an RTI document from Kochi-headquartered coconut development board (CDB) revealed.

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The production of coconut in Kerala during 2014-15 was 4,897 million nuts, and in 2015-16 it was 7,429 million nuts, which continued almost stable during 2016-17 with 7,449 million nuts. The production during 2018-19 slid down to 7,684 million nuts, from where it went further down to 6,980 million nuts in FY20. And further declined to 6,975 million nuts by 2020-21, CDB said in a reply to the RTI activist K Govindan Nampoothiry.

Over the four-year period (FY15 to FY18), Rs 1.8 crore was spent on training 2,637 neera technicians. The spending on training during 2014-15 was Rs 49.47 lakh, which grew to Rs 98.57 lakh in 2015-16. The next year, the spending declined to Rs 28.84 lakh and then declined further to Rs 3.72 lakh in 2017-18.

The export of coconut products (excluding coir items) during 2019-20 was valued at Rs 1,762 crore against Rs 2,045 crore of FY10. The coconut exports showed a decrease of 13.85% in terms of value during the financial year 2019-20. The major coconut products exported from India are activated carbon, fresh coconut and coconut oil in terms of value.

The first detailedsurveyof reptiles and amphibians (herpetofauna) in theSilent Valley National Parkhas found 40 species of amphibians and 30 species of reptiles from the landscape despite during heavy rains.

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The survey was conducted in the and its buffer zone between July 22 and 25 this year. With this, the total reptile and amphibian Fauna of Silent Valley has become 55 species each. Wayanad bush frog, leaping frogs, cricket frogs, Malabar vine snake and common house gecko were among the commonly observed species.

Several volunteers from Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Calicut University and Forestry College participated in the survey.

District reports almost 40% of state’s daily dengue cases

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Ernakulamhas been reporting almost 40 to 45% ofKerala’s daily dengue cases. Along with dengue cases, fever and chickenpox cases are also increasing.

The situation may worsen due to unresolved garbage issues and flooding, especially in the city area, and there may even be an increase in leptospirosis cases too.

Lack of sunlight and humid weather may bring several monsoon diseases. The spread of monsoon diseases is either through air, water or mosquito bites.

Heavy rains may help reduce dengue cases as larvae may be flushed away from drains. But the downside is that rainwater will collect in other unattended places, which can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Also, heavy rains may help bacteria spread faster and wider and even people who are not directly involved with Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture or gardening or roadside cleaning might also suffer.

Anthrax outbreak in Kerala

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Health Minister of Kerala, Veena George, recently confirmed the outbreak of Anthrax in Athirappilly of Thrissur district, after finding several carcasses of wild boar.

Anthrax is a serious infectious disease, which is caused by spore-forming bacteria.

It has usually been found in southern states of India. It is less frequently found in northern states.

The disease has been reported in Andhra Pradesh, Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Orissa and Karnataka.

Anthrax is also called as woolsorters disease or malignant pustule. It is a rare but serious disease, caused due to rod-shaped bacteria called Bacillus anthracis. These bacteria occur naturally in Soil. As per WHO, Anthrax is a disease of herbivores, affecting wild as well as domestic animals. It is a zoonotic disease; thus, it is transmissible from animals to humans. There are some cases of person-to-person transmission. However, it is a rare phenomenon.

Humans get infected with Anthrax disease directly or indirectly from animals or animal products. They get infected when spores enter the body, through eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water, breathing, or through scrapes or cuts in the skin. After entering the body, spores get activated and start multiplying & spreading in body.