KERALA

Keralas 10% population vaccinated

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Among the south-Indian states, Kerala is leading in thevaccination drivewith at least 10% of its Population receiving a dose of the vaccine. While in Nadu 4% of the population received the Vaccines, inAndhra Pradeshit is 5%, and Karnataka it is at 6%. However, Health experts said that it was not enough and the state needs to fasten the vaccination drive before the second wave hits Kerala.

In other words, Kerala has vaccinated 1,04,203 people per million population. Karnataka has so far vaccinated 63,645 people per million population and Andhra Pradesh 53,985 people per million population.

Tamil Nadu and Telangana have not been able to achieve even half of what Kerala has achieved. Tamil Nadu vaccinated 39,825 people per million population and Telangana 35,313 people per million population.

Kerala state biodiversity board to enforce ABS provision for bioresources

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Any or cooperative or buyer using bioresources for commercial purposes will have to get a NOC from theKeralastate Biodiversity board (KSBB). The State Government has decided to strictly enforce the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Provisions of the Biodiversity Act under which they will have to pay for using a bioresource for commercial purposes.

According to officials, the National biodiversity board has asked the states to implement the ABS and several states are already earning huge revenue from this. Under Section 7 of the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and Section 16 of Kerala Biological Diversity Rule, 2008, any Indian citizen or body corporate or association or registered organization in India should seek approval of KSBB for access to the collection of biological Resources from Kerala for commercial utilization or bio-survey and bio-utilization for commercial utilization.

Kerala tops in solar rooftop installations

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Though Kerala may not be among the states where large solar Plants are installed, it has been among the top states investing in solar rooftop panels. According to a report, Maharashtra had the most rooftop solar installations in Q3 2022, followed by Kerala and Gujarat in the third quarter of the year.

Kerala was the quarters leading state for installations under the (CAPEX ) model where consumers have to bear the capital expenses incurred in installing rooftop systems upfront. India added 320 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar in the third quarter which is almost an 18% drop compared to 389 MW installed during the same period the previous year, according to the Mercom India Rooftop Solar Market Report Q3 2022.

Meanwhile, Agency for New and RENEWABLE ENERGY Research and Technology (Anert) has recently invited bids from empanelled agencies for the rate contract to develop 15MW of rooftop solar projects in Thiruvananthapuram. The scope includes supplying, installing, and commissioning multiple solar power systems in the range of 30kW to 100 kW atop public buildings within Thiruvananthapuram under the Solar city project.

Almost 46% of rooftop solar was installed in the Industrial Sector nationally, followed by residential, commercial, and government sectors, with 32%, 21%, and 1%, respectively.

TAMILNAD

New Education policy, job-ready graduates and filling the Learning gap: 2023 is Tamil Nadus future

From 2023-24, children enrolled in pre-primary schools in Tamil Nadu will just play.And, as they go to higher classes, they will get to play the sport of their choice.

All-round development seems to be at the core of the state education policy Tamil Nadu is working on. Sports will be part of everyday life in schools for every child, said Aruna Rathnam, a member of the state education policy panel.

But the state needs to have more clarity.It is yet to decide on whether to have a 5+3+3+4 school education system or continue with the 10+2 system.Also unclear is TNs stand on the Union Government proposal for four-year BA, BSc degrees with multiple entry and exit.

It is also undecided about the academic bank of credits (ABC) proposed in the national education policy (NEP) and revamping of state universities.

Better mgmt practices key to increase fertility rate of crossbred cows: Study

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Better management practices and congenial Environment play an important role in ensuring better fertility among crossbred cattle in the state, according to a study by researchers ofKeralaVeterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU).

The study is based on data collected from 1,180 crossbred cattle sired by 208 Frieswal bulls, spread over a period of 16 years from 2003 to 2019. The cattle have been maintained at different farms of the university. A team of genetic scientists from the Centre For Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics andBreeding,KVASU-Thrissur, found that there is no co-relation between high milk yielding cows and fertility.

The findings were published in Elsevier Science Direct-Estimation of co-Variance components and genetic parameters of fertility and production traits in crossbred cattle of Kerala withJamuna Valsalanas the lead author.

Entering its 15th year, the Kerala Education Department’s KITE-Victers television channel is getting ready to launch its second channel soon.

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Kerala and Technology for Education (KITE) CEO K. Anvar Sadath said Victers began alongside the EDUSAT group in 2005 when then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam inaugurated EDUSAT and it was on August 3, 2006, the Victers channel was launched and since then it has been providing yeomen service to the students studying under the state syllabus.

From 2019, it became a round the clock channel and in 2020 it was made available in the DTH segment too.

In July 2021, KITE started providing the offline version of its First Bell 2.0 Digital Classes for students in the Lakshadweep region who study according to the Kerala school syllabus.

And since the Covid-19 pandemic struck hard, the channel has now scheduled substantial time for programmes on Covid-preventive measures, which include telecast of awareness Videos related to Covid-19 prevention and a live phone-in programme titled ‘Athijeevanam’ (which means survival) in association with the Kerala Health Department.

Govt must fund proposed waste treatment plant

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The opposition councillors in the Kochi corporation have come up against a public private PARTNERSHIP (PPP) project to set up a garbage treatment plant and demanded that the new plant should be funded by the .

The state government has designed a project titled KeralaSolid Waste Management Project to resolve the issue of waste management, said opposition leaderAntony Kureethra.

World Bank has given $300 million to the state government for the project. The state government should allot funds for constructing the 100-tonne per day (TPD) solid waste treatment plant from Kerala Solid Waste Management Project, said Kureethra.

Kerala government includes foreign job & study aspirants in priority list of Covid vaccination

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TheKerala governmenthas included those who are going abroad for studies and EMPLOYMENT purpose, in the prioritised group under the 18-45 years age category for the Covid-19 vaccination.

An immediate decision has been taken in this regard as many foreign countries have madevaccination compulsoryfor those arriving there for study and job purposes,HealthMinister Veena George said.

Besides them, 10 othercategorieswere also included in the prioritised group and an order was issued for the same, she said. Field staff of various government departments including food and civil supplies, postal, social , Women and Child Development, Fisheries and teachers assigned for the valuation ofSSLC, Higher Secondary and Vocational Higher Secondary examinations were among those newly added to the prioritised group.
As many as 32 categories of people belonging to the age group were earlier included in the priority category after considering them as frontline fighters against Covid-19.

Kerala sees decade’s worst live births dip

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Live births inKeralarecorded the highest drop in a decade in 2021, showed civil registration figures given by the local self-government department. The number of live births dipped by 71,000 between 2020 and 2021, and for the first time in the past decade, the state’s live births went below four lakh.

Ernakulam was the lone exception among the districts. While live births decreased by 1,000 to 16,000 in other districts, in Ernakulam it increased from 26,190 in 2020 to 27,751 in 2021. The steepest drop was evident inMalappuram,KannurandKozhikode, which recorded a decline of 18%, 22% and 26%, respectively. Districts like Trivandrum,KollamandThrissurrecorded a decline of 5,000 to 6,000. Over the past 10 years in Kerala, live birth rate has shown marginal variations between years. Officials involved in registration of vital events said delayed registration could not be taken into account while calculating live births in the state.