KERALA

Wayanad to get country’s first-ever digital tribal hamlets

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Wayanad would get the first-ever digital tribal hamlets in the country, K Radhakrishnan, Minister for the Welfare of Backward and Scheduled Communities.

The ‘Digitally Connected Tribal Colonies’ project which integrates e-Education and e-Health on tribal hamlets is expected to improve the health and education sectors of the tribals with the help of various digital platforms.

The project is being implemented by the State Scheduled Tribes Development Department with the help of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. CDAC, under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, is executing the project.

As part of the project, smart classrooms would be introduced in tribal colonies, which would also be linked with the comprehensive e-resource portal of the General Education Department.

The project would make use of the online Services of institutions like Regional Cancer Centre, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, and CSIR-NIIST for the tribal villages of Wayanad.

A telemedicine system would be set up for screening of non-communicable diseases and diabetic retinopathy, oral cancer and cervical cancer with the help of and providing expert advice for treatment, the department said in a release.

Kerala government allots Rs 2 crore for Chellanam

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The decided to allot Rs 2 crore for implementing emergency coastal protection measures in the Chellanam coast before monsoon. Also, the ongoing projects along the coast will be completed in a time-bound manner.

The decision was taken in the high-level meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram to discuss the difficulties faced by the residents of Chellanam. Vijayan Canal and Uppu Thodu will be desilted within a week to ensure free flow of water in case of sea flooding. Project worth Rs 45 lakh to repair seawalls and geobags will be completed by the first week of June.

The Irrigation Design & Research Board (IDRB) has been entrusted with the responsibility to complete the tendering of the projects worth Rs16 crore that was earlier announced by the government.

Kerala gets a higher education institution ranking framework

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TheKeralaInstitutional Ranking Framework (KIRF) modelled on the National Institution Ranking Framework (NIRF) has come into being. Higher Education minister R Bindu launched the framework, the first of its kind in the country, at a function held on Kerala Universitys Kariavattom campus.

The state-specific institutional ranking framework as mooted by the state higher education council aims at bringing a more democratic and secular approach while ranking the higher education institutions in the state. The KIRF would emerge as the hallmark of excellence for higher education institutions in the state. The state-of-the-art ranking system would ensure that higher education institutions in the state are objectively assessed on the basis of their academic prowess, the minister said, adding that the KIRF reflects the social , scientific temper and secular mindset followed by Kerala.

The ranking framework was launched by including it in the 100-day programme of the State Government. Bindu said the ranking framework would give an invaluable impetus to the efforts put in by the state government to convert the Kerala Society into a knowledge society.
The KIRF ranking, said the minister, would help the higher education institutions in the state to further improve their rank in the national and international raking framework in the institutional level. At the same time, based on the ranking, students who seek new generation and cutting-edge courses would be able to make informed decisions while choosing a college and programme.

WB, AIIB clear $250m for RKI second phase

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TheWorld BankandAsian Investment Bankhave cleared $250 million as concessional funding for the second phase ofResilient Kerala Development Programme, which is part of theRebuild Kerala Initiative(RKI).

Programmes for improving the states capacity to withstand climatic changes, natural disasters and pandemics will be devised in the second phase. The World Bank cleared $250 million in 2019 for the first phase of the programme. The German Development Bank had cleared another 100 million euros for the programme too in the first phase.

KSEBs spot registration for rooftop solar units

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KSEBis organizing a spot registration drive for consumers interested to set up rooftop solar power generation units from February 28.

Domestic consumers can register for the setting up of the subsidized solar units. Registration drive would be from February 28 to March 5. More details can be had from KSEB sub-division offices, KSEB informed.

Connected load regularization
Meanwhile, the board has extended to March 31 the opportunity for consumers to disclose their additional connected load and get it regularized.

The board has announced relaxation in the application fees and additional security deposit for consumers who voluntarily disclose the excess connected load in their building. Board appealed to consumers to use the opportunity for regularizing excess connected load at the earliest.

The additional plug points and new electrical equipment added by consumers over time often lead to excess connected load and issues.

Education for tribespeople: Launchpad for for marginalized in Kerala

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While the passing year had seen the pandemic impacting the tribal communities disproportionately in their pursuit to access Education, there has also been a rare silver lining scripted by a collective of adivasi and dalit youths.

Adishakthi Summer Schoolhas helped over 250 tribal youths from remote hamlets across the state gain admission to colleges this year alone by providing end-to-end supportfrom starting an admission help desk to holding orientation classes and extending accommodation facilities.
More significantly, with the handholding coming from student members of the collective themselves who had been mentored through the programme in previous years, an increasing number of tribal students has taken admissions to new generation and job-oriented courses, breaking free from the traditional practice of opting mostly for humanities courses.

Kerala gets largest share of revenue deficit grant

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As per the statement by finance ministerKN Balagopalbefore the assembly, the state has been granted Rs 53,137 crore as grant on the recommendations of the commission, which is the highest when compared to other 16 states which have got the grant.

The state’s main committed expenditure include salaries, pensions and interest payments on loans and the revision of the salaries and pensions on the basis of the recommendations of the 11th pay commission alone has caused an additional burden of Rs 15,000 crore annually to the state. At the same time, to bridge the gap of revenue deficit, state’s revenue generation has to improve correspondingly, that also has not been happening.

Coffee growers in Kerala expect better crop

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The coffeegrowersinKeralaare expecting a goodcropthis year. According to the post-blossom estimate of thecoffeeboard, coffee production in Kerala will go up from 69,100 tonne during coffee year 2020-21 to 70,570 tonne in coffee year 2021-22.

Wayanad accounts for almost all of the coffee production in Kerala with 59,320 tonne expected to be produced during tAhe coffee year 2021-22. Travancore area is expected to produce 8,550 tonne and Nelliampathy is expected to grow 2,700 tonne of coffee during the period.

The International Coffee Organization had noted, In August 2021, coffee prices recorded the tenth consecutive month of increase, sparked by concerns of oversupply, due to Climate adverse conditions in major producing countries and increasing freight costs coupled with Covid-19 lockdown restrictions disrupting trade flows in Asia. Concerns over the size of the next Brazilian crop, exacerbated by the recent frost, have led to record high volatility of the spot and futures prices, ICOs report added.

Kerala to mark 100th year of satyagraha against untouchability

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A century ago, Alummoottil Govindan Channar, an avarna (lower-caste person), was one of the few car owners in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom and also its biggest taxpayer. However, as an untouchable he was not allowed to drive past temples in his car. He had to get out and walk to the other side where his upper-caste driver would pick him up.Untouchabilitywas so deep-rooted in Travancore and other parts of Kerala those days thatSwami Vivekanandahad once called the state a lunatic asylum.

On March 30, 1924, two untouchables a Pulaya named Kunjappi and an Ezhava named Bahuleyan along with Govinda Panikkar from the upper-caste Nair community, took the road around the Vaikom Shiva temple that was closed to the polluting castes. They were arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment.

But they were acting on an idea that had arisen three years earlier in 1921 when social activist T K Madhavan had met MK Gandhi at Tirunelveli to seek his advice and support for launching an agitation for temple entry. Gandhi had approved of the agitation and suggested civil disobedience and non-violent satyagraha.

Gandhis involvement in the struggle proved crucial as it mobilised the educated upper-caste Hindu opinion in favour of temple entry. Madhavan wisely allied himself with the Congress larger movement, became a member and participated in the partys Kakinada session in 1923 that made untouchability one of its main concerns and authorised the state Congress to take charge of the struggle.

Set up drug treatment centres for kids, judicial colloquium tells Union government

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The union and state governments should take proactive steps to establish dedicated drug treatment and rehabilitation centres for children, the regional judicial colloquium onPOCSOAct, juvenile , and drug abuse among children that was organized here by theKerala high courthas recommended.
The colloquium for the five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala made the recommendation on Sunday, the final day of the two-day programme held at Kochi Marriott Hotel. The programme was aimed at sensitizing the stakeholders in different domains of the justice delivery system handling cases involving children.

A recommendation for setting up dedicated drug treatment and rehabilitation centres for children was made by the colloquium in tune with the directives issued by The Supreme Court in a 2016 judgment (Bachpan Bhachao Andolan Vs. Union of India) and as per the provisions of a 2018 central scheme, titled Central Sector Scheme of Assistance for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drugs) Abuse and for Social Defense Services.