Monthly Archives: July 2014

Tree turmeric on the last leg

Agriculture
The seeds (inset) of the creeper tree turmeric on a huge tree in the Western Ghats. Photo: Special Arrangement
The seeds (inset) of the creeper tree turmeric on a huge tree in the Western Ghats. Photo: Special Arrangement

A survey conducted by KFRI could record only 33 mature plants

Tree turmeric, a rare medicinal plant, is clinging for dear life through a few mature plants in the Western Ghats.

A recent survey along the habitats of the species, known as Mara Manjal in local parlance, could record only 33 mature plants.

The survey by the Kerala Forest Research Institute, Thrissur, revealed that the plant was surviving in less than 10 habitats across the Kerala region of the ghats. Though distributed across the Indo-Malesian tropical rainforests, its habitat has shrunken to a few patches, said P. Sujanapal, a scientist at the institute.

In Kerala, they are found at Meenchalali in Sholayar, Pezha in Parambikulam, Madambra-Kozhikuthu area in Vazhachal range, Kannadivechakunnu, Paripputhode in Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Ambayathode- Palchuram area in the Kottiyur reserve forests. The survey was conducted for the National Medicinal Plant Board for restoring plants in its natural habitats.

Though the researchers could count 615 individuals, 514 were seedlings with bleak survival chances. The 33 ‘adult individuals’ had grown to achieve more than 10 cm in diameter. Among them, only two had fruits, Dr. Sujanapal said.

The climber (Coscinium fenestratum) is a valuable ingredient in a number of traditional medical systems of India, including Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, and the medicial systems of Cambodia and Vietnam.

Berberine, a chemical extracted from the plant, is used in modern medicine and dye industry. Its wood with broad spectrum antiseptic properties is used to treat liver ailments, ulcers, and wounds.

It grows in moist shady and semi-rocky habitats under canopy, near streams. Habitat destruction and uprooting of plants had resulted in the depletion of number and size of the population. Destructive harvesting and the dioecious nature (a species with distinct male and female individuals) had also hit seed production, he said.

“Vegetative reproduction is being tried considering the issue of obtaining seeds. Ground layering and air layering are being tried in individuals of the species at the Meenchalali forest area in the Sholayar range and the Kulamavu area of the Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary.”

The national project plants to restore at least 10,000 seedlings of the species in its natural habitats with the support of the Forest Department, Dr. Sujanapal said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Cities> Kochi / by  K. C. Sudhi / Kochi – July 10th, 2014

When Basheer’s women met each other

Arts,Culture & Entertainment
A scene from the solo docudrama ‘Soja Rajakumari,’ featuring 10 female characters from Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s novels, staged at the Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan in the city on Saturday. / Photo:S. Gopakumar / The Hindu
A scene from the solo docudrama ‘Soja Rajakumari,’ featuring 10 female characters from Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s novels, staged at the Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan in the city on Saturday. / Photo:S. Gopakumar / The Hindu

They were all living their sometimes magical, sometimes sad, and, at other times, quirky lives inside the pages of different books.

That was until Saturday evening, when ten of Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s memorable female characters came together at the koothambalam inside Vyloppilly Samskrithi Bhavan to commemorate 20 years of the Beypore Sultan’s passing.

Soja Rajakumari, a solo docudrama directed by P.C. Hareesh, took back viewers to the time when they read each of those classics.

The first to arrive was Sainaba from Mucheetukalikkarante Makal, who engaged the audience in some friendly banter, at times touching upon even the rising prices.

The drama was so structured that the audience was very much a part all through, although things could have livened up a bit more had there been a glimmer of a response when the characters tried to involve them.

Bhargavikutti from Neelavelicham arrived in typical ghostly fashion, appearing first on a swing outside the koothambalam. If not for the posse of photographers around her, that would have been a bit more eerie. This being the 50th anniversary year of Bhargavi Nilayam, much of the drama’s time was put aside for Bhargavi, in sequences interspersed with songs and dialogues from the film.

Then there was a sequence between Suhara from Balyakalasakhi and Kunjipathumma fromNtuppuppakkoraanandarunnu. Kunjipathumma’s mother Kunjithachumma too peeked in for a minute. Pathumma from Pathummayude Aadu played out one of the famous conversations with her brother, the author himself, asking him to buy her ornaments.

Jameela Beevi from Poovanpazham took audience interaction to another level by actually distributing plantain to members of the crowd as she was exiting the stage.

Saramma from Pranayalekhanam remembered the classic love letter from Keshavan Nair while Devi from Kamukante Diary laid claim for being the writer’s true love.

The drama ended by reminding us of the pain of Narayani from Mathilukal.

Pooja K.Nair, a ninth grade student of Guruvayur Little Flower Convent High School, switched seamlessly from one character to the other and garnered the crowd’s applause.

The docudrama was staged by the Nataka Padana Kendram, Kozhikode.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by S. R. Parveen / Thiruvananthapuram – July 06th, 2014

HIDDEN HISTORIES : A canal flowing with stories

Historical Links, Pre-Independence

CanalKERALA09jul2014

A king, a canal built overnight, and a shadowy enemy

Vehicles ply routinely over the nondescript Pulimuttu Palam (also referred to as Pallichal Bridge) in Palluruthy and people walk across it unmindful of its history. Very few from this generation know of the stories that hang by the bridge and of the canal that flows under it. Such hidden histories, often contested, remain forgotten except when ferreted for some reason. Many-a-time these stories are imagined narrations, exaggerated and many-a-time just half truths. Somewhere in between is authentic history.

In 1997-98 a ‘decentralisation programme’ of the State government led to a compilation of local histories of places and people. It stressed on oral histories that were handed down generations. The compilation, Pradeshika Charithra Shekarnam, is one source wherein is a story of the construction of the Pulimuttu (Pallichal) Canal.

It is said that Maharaja Godavarma of the Cochin Royal Family adopted five boys as his sons and successors. One among them, Veera Kerala Varma belonged to a family who lived in a house behind the Azhiyakavu Temple in Palluruthy. The house which exists till date is called kottaram, meaning palace, in lieu of its princely relation. Veera Kerala Varma is supposed to have ruled for just five years, from 1645-1650, and is said to have ordered for the building of the canal as he often visited the temple. The country boats which the maharaja used to travel in, called palliodams, required a place to harness. Hence a canal was constructed and came to be called pallichal. “Most probably that’s how the name came about,” says Sudhir K. Gopalan, a teacher and social worker from this area. “There are no factual details. Which maharaja, which year, when….all I have are land details,” says V.K. Radhakrishnan of Vadakkumthodam House in Palluruthy about the canal which flows contiguous to his property, a majestic, historical house.

The popular story is that the canal was constructed overnight at the behest of the Cochin maharaja as he made his way upwards on the waterway to survey the lands of his enemies. At these times he made the Vadakkumthodam house, a transit point.

Radhakrishnan is wary. He says it can be just a story. The Vadakkumthodam family were zamindars of the area and owners of land in and around Palluruthy. The maharaja was most probably an ally. According to Radhakrishnan the maharaja had enmity with people living behind their lands. The maharaja wished to see the land of his adversaries and assess the enemy. Hence a canal was built in the night, quietly, for him to go up the waterway.

The maharaja, on these visits, always offered obeisance at the Azhakiyakavu Temple that belonged to the family. “He visited the temple on the first day of every Malayalam month,” says Radhakrishnan.

Prof. K.V. Thomas mentions in his book, Ende Kumbalangi, a possible reason on how Palluruthy got its name. Once, the Vadakkumthodam house became a transit point for the maharaja, the area was referred to as Palli-iruthy, meaning a resting place for the maharaja. Over the years Palli-iruthy changed to a more facile usage, Palluruthy.

Sudhir speaks of the adversaries of the Cochin Royal Family, the muthavadi, who battled for kingship, and always conspired with the Dutch to oust the reigning maharaja, giving good reason to believe that the maharaja journeyed up the canal to assess the enemy territory. The records compiled in the nineties state the length of the canal to be 1.40 km and 5m in width.

Radhakrishnan also talks about the bridge that was later built on the canal over which the main Palluruthy road runs past. It is said that a man called Ramakrishnan began building the bridge but the piling was impossible. Every time the pillars were dug into the ground, it gave way. It is said that only after the appeasement of the Goddess the four pillars to the bridge stood ground and the canal got a bridge over it.

Sudhir hazards a guess about the year of construction of the new bridge. He says, “It must have come after the building of the Harbour Bridge, around the 1930s, out of necessity. By that time of course the maharaja was not visiting Palluruthy anymore.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Priyadershini S / Kochi – July 04th, 2014

Cochin airport declares 18 percent dividend

Business & Economy
Cochin International Airport declares 18 percent dividend. File photo
Cochin International Airport declares 18 percent dividend. File photo

Kochi: 

Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), India’s first greenfield airport under the public-private-partnership model, has declared an 18 percent divided for the last fiscal, one per cent more than what was given during 2011-12.

In a statement here after its board meeting chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, CIAL said it has posted a record profit (after tax) of Rs.124.42 crore during the 2013-14 financial year, 11.68 percent up over the previous fiscal.

The company’s net profit stood at Rs.157.46 crore with total revenues touching Rs.361.39 crore.

CIAL has been showing consistent growth since its inception and paying dividend since 2003-04.

CIAL has an investor base of 11,000 individual investors from 30 countries and the total paid up capital of Rs.306.06 crore, of which the Kerala government has invested Rs.98 crore.

source : http://www.beta.english.manoramaonline.com / Manorama Online / Home> Business> News / by Agencies / Saturday – June 08th, 2014

Shaji N Karun showed monuments to Preisner for ‘Gaadha’

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion
File photo: Shaji N Karun
File photo: Shaji N Karun

New Delhi:

National-award winning director Shaji N Karun, who is making bilingual film ‘Gaadha’, has roped in internationally acclaimed musician Zbigniew Preisner to compose music for the film.

Karun says he took Preisner to various old monuments across the country before he set out to work on the Hindi and Malayalam film, which is inspired by T Padmanabhan’s short story ‘Kadal’.

“I showed him various old monuments for the music required in the film. I thought he will be able to set the tone of the music right. He is the best for symphony orchestra,” the filmmaker told PTI.

Preisner closely worked with noted Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski on his films ‘Dekalog’, ‘The Double Life Of Veronique’, ‘Three Colours Blue’, ‘Three Colours White’ and ‘Three Colours Red’ besides giving music to films like ‘It’s All About Love’,’Effroyables jardins’ and ‘Un secret’.

Though the cast of the film is not finalised yet, Shaji said he hopes to start shooting the film in few months.

source: http://www.beta.english.manoramaonline.com / Manorama Online / Home> Entertainment> Entertainment News / by Agencies / Monday – July 01st, 2014

Transcending musical borders at will

Arts,Culture & Entertainment
Santosh Chandran / The Hindu
Santosh Chandran / The Hindu

The musical journey of Indo-flamenco pioneer

Santhosh Chandran is like a rolling stone. In his musical career spanning a few decades, he has shifted genres effortlessly a mindboggling number of times. Even as he scales new heights in Indo-flamenco, a genre he has pioneered, he is thinking of composing a purely western classical album in the future.

Though he was destined to be a musician, guitar was nowhere in the picture when he took his baby steps into the music world as an eight-year-old. Living in a house where the Kathakali music of his grandfather blended seamlessly with the Carnatic music of his father, a variety of genres seeped into his mind.

“I was sent to learn tabla but I became fascinated with guitar and started learning from Badarudeen sir,” says Mr. Chandran, who is in the city for a two-day guitar workshop at Technopark.

By the age of 12, he was accompanying various professional artistes. Following his schooling, more exploration of genres happened as he shifted base to Bangalore where he discovered rock and metal. “There I joined the band ‘7th Galaxy.’ Before long, I was back in Kerala, playing with drummer John Thomas. I also played with 13 AD when their lead guitarist left.”

The years spent in Muscat saw him moving closer to his current genre of choice — flamenco, though it came after a few years of playing jazz with pianist John Hardie.

“One of the best things was the four years I spent with the African jazz singer Salha Abusaidy. We toured non-stop and played in places such as Lebanon. The Indo-flamenco style was developed during this time, though I did not call it that. Remo Fernandes called up one day and said he likes my Indo-flamenco style and thus that genre got a name.”

Following this, the call from the band Motherjane came when their guitarist left and it was time for Santosh to explore progressive rock. Along with it, he has been performing as a session guitarist for musicians such as M. Jayachandran, Deepak Dev, and Bijibal.

“Right now, I am working on my solo album ‘Take 9’ and also dabbling in some teaching at my school, Guitarra Academy”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by S. R. Praveen / Thiruvananthapuram – July 06th, 2014

Award for Perumbavoor G Raveendranath

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Thiruvananthapuram  :
Perumbavoor G Raveendranath was on Wednesday announced as the winner of the M G Radhakrishnan Award 2014, instituted by the M G Radhakrishnan Foundation, in the memory of the music director who passed away in 2010. The fourth edition of the award comprises a cash prize of Rs 25,000 as well as a plaque designed by artist Bhattathiri and a scroll of honour.

Raveendranath, Carnatic musician and composer, was selected by a jury comprising K Omanakutty, Poovachal Khader, B Arundathi and Pradeep Panangad.

Raghavan Master, Kavalam Narayanapanicker and O N V Kurup were the recipients of the award in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The award will be distributed during Ghana Shyama Sandhya, a programme held to commemorate Radhakrishnan, at the AKG Hall here on July 29. A winner of the Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award and State Film Awards, Raveendranath was also a colleague of Radhakrishnan in Akashvani. “A special award would also be given to K J Joy during the occasion for his contribution to the world of music,” the foundation said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram /  Express News Service   / July 03rd, 2014

The glass palace

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion
In a rare honour, stained glass artist Prabhakaran’s works were featured in this year’s magazine issue of ‘International Contemporary Artists’ | EPS
In a rare honour, stained glass artist Prabhakaran’s works were featured in this year’s magazine issue of ‘International Contemporary Artists’ | EPS

He creates wonders on glass-ancestral Islamic designs, cathedral works, etchings, three-dimensional art works. Stained glass artist Prabhakaran Kanichar has carved a niche for himself in the art scene by mastering and propagating an art that is less known in India. The artist who has introduced the European classical art to Kerala, owns another credit. His works have found a place in this year’s issue of ‘International Contemporary Artists’, a globally renowned magazine. Prabhakaran is the first stained glass artist from the Indian subcontinent to get this rare honour.

Glass, in its unalloyed and transparent form has always enticed Prabhakaran. The artist who has diligently dedicated his life to glass art since the past 25 years, whose works adorn the walls of mosques, churches and government buildings in many Gulf countries says, “Stained glass art is an ancient art form, that has been around even before the reformation period. Many of the ecclesiastic designs found in the European cathedrals are drawn on stained glass.”

The artist who was born in a remote village, Kanichar, in Kannur has come a long way from his humble beginnings. After his formal art education from Chennai, he worked as an art director in several ad agencies in Chennai, Mumbai and Kochi after which he went to Oman. “The beauty of the intrinsic glass works beckoned me. I learned the Arabian art from there.”

“Outside India, the status of stained glass art has grown a lot from being only a Biblical art. While earlier only ecclesiastic designs were made, now the art has entered the drawing rooms of homes. It has become more secular. Now there is demand for custom based designs, as well,” he says.

However Prabhakaran rues that in India the art is yet to pick up. “Here the status of this art is degenerated to the level of glass painting which is not actually an art by itself. While there are professional courses on this art abroad, here people are not even aware what it is.”

The artist who runs his gallery, ‘Fantasies on Glass’ near Cherthala says, “It is not an easy task to create these glass pieces. The hand made coloured glass that are antique pieces have to be cut and fabricated, which is a strenuous process.”

His long-cherished dream is to create a ‘glass art museum’ in New Delhi. “The glass museum will reflect the historical events of the country, its achievements in art, literature, science and technology.” Prabhakaran has already received the copyright for the project, and hopes he will soon get permission to begin the work.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Parvathy Nambidi / August 20th, 2012

Kerala village to implement UN family farming year

Agriculture, World Opinion
Picture used for representational purpose. (photo: DC/File)
Picture used for representational purpose. (photo: DC/File)

Kollam:

Kulasekharapuram, a small panchayat on the border of Kollam district is all set to implement the United Nation’s call to observe 2014 as International Family Farming Year, raising the slogan of self-sustainability in food production.

The panchayat has two villages, Adinad and K.S. Puram and as many as 12,230 families in 23 wards. The agricultural office of the panchayat had identified the fact that extensive cultivation alone was not enough for food security. This concept was promoted in each family in the panchayat and a budget of Rs 5,80,000 was set apart for the venture.

“In 2010-11 when paddy production came down extensively, we promoted upland paddy cultivation on each and every available cent of land in this panchayat. It was from this experience that we got the motivation to take up this project,” said V.R. Binesh, Agricultural Officer, K.S. Puram.

The panchayat committee has organised meetings of prominent personalities in the village and gramasabhas in 23 wards to select a 30-member squad. The squad will be divided into groups and 150 houses will be assigned to each group. Three such groups will be assigned to a ward to distribute seeds and pamphlets.

The Oachira Farmers Extension Organisation (OFEO) will provide training as well as saplings in grow bags on demand, for Rs 60 per bag. Street plays will be staged at select junctions in the wards to spread awareness against the use of harmful pesticides while cultivating vegetables.

The excess vegetables from households will be procured by the panchayat to be sold in an organic vegetable outlet at Oachira. The ‘Mission 90 days’ project to be inaugurated on July 31, envisages a harvest by Onam.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Sham Mohammed / July 03rd, 2014

P.K.Chandranandan passes away

Leaders, Uncategorized

ChandrananathanKERALA03jul2014

Alappuzha:

Freedom fighter and Punnapra-Vayalar hero P. K. Chandranandan passed away on Wednesday following age-related ailments. He was 89.

Chandranandan, who was the CPM district secretary four terms, had also spent 13-and-a-half years in hiding. Chandranandan was identified with the Pinarayi group in the CPM, though he was Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan’s peer in the party.

He was elected as CPM district secretary for the fourth time in October 2006. In 1964, Chandranandan was the secretary of the undivided Communist Party, but when the CPM was formed he became its first district secretary. He also became the CPM state committee member in 1964 and state secretariat member in 1995.

He was also the Travancore Devaswom Board member from 1967-70.

He represented the Ambalappuzha Assembly segment in 1980-81 and was the unit manager of Deshabhimani from 1988 to 1992.

He was also jailed during emergency.

source: http://www.beta.english.manoramaonline.com / Manorama / Home> Kerala / by The Correspondent of Manorama  / Wednesday – July 02nd, 2014