Mookunnimala: reports yet to be finalised

The Neyyattinkara Tahalsidar is yet to file a detailed report, including a data bank, on the quarries and crusher units that are functioning in Mookunnimala even though the district administration had given time till April 25 to file the report.

District Collector Biju Prabhakar had on April 16 directed the Neyyattinkara tahsildar to create a data bank of quarry and crusher units at Mookkunnimala, including survey number of lands owned by the Fire and Rescue Services and Defence establishments in the hill.

Though the district administration has given strict directions that there should not be any delay in filing the data and report, it is ten days that the Taluk office is yet to gather all the data. When contacted, Tahalsidar Sam L Sone said that the data is only being collected. ''We are yet to collect and coordinate all the data. The work will be completed and mostly submitted by Tuesday,'' he said.

Apart from the data on total number of quarry and crusher units functioning in the region and also about the land of the Fire Force and Army, the district collector had also asked to furnish details of closed down quarries.

Meanwhile, Prabhakar said that they were for having a comprehensive data on all the land in that area. ''There are abandoned quarries of which data was not available. The entire area should be marked in Litho. It all will take some time,'' he said and added that the process was on.

Source: The New Indnian Express
http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/488448/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/28-04-2015#page/17/1

Land for tourism, Rules stresses on agriculture

Emphasis on agriculture and protecting the nature of the land has been stressed in the rules framed as part of allowing five per cent of the estate land for tourism purposes. According to the rules submitted by the Land Board to the government, it calls for using 90 per cent of the five per cent land for agriculture purpose.

Though the Kerala Land Reforms Act 1963 has been amended to ensure that five per cent of land in all plantations can be used for other purposes, the rules have not yet been framed. One of the important rules that has been framed and submitted for approval of the government is that only 5 per cent or 50 acres of the total land, which ever is minimal, should be only used for non – plantation purposes. And it has been said that only ten percent of the alienated 5 per cent land or 5 acres should be used for tourism purposes and the remaining for cultivating plants that has been specified in the amendment.

The rules specify that exemption on the land can be given only once, which the officials say would help in preventing more fragmentation of the land. In the rules, it has been said that the amendment will only be applicable to lands that are not involved in any court cases, highly placed sources said.

Another important rule as proposed is that fragmented lands should not be given the benefit of 5 per cent relaxation. It is learned that the Land Board has submitted about 40 rules to the government.

Source: The New Indian express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/488448/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/28-04-2015#page/5/1

Non setting up of Ayush department; Kerala loses big

Kerala is losing big money from the Centre as part of its allotment to the Ayush Department as the state is yet to set up the department. Though into the final stages and the health Minister announcing at regular intervals that the department would be set up at the earliest, official apathy is alleged to have led to the delay.

The latest announcement from Health Minister V S Sivakumar was that the department would be set up in the first week of April. It is alleged that some officials in the health department were creating certain impediments in the process of setting up the department. The sources said that it is highly critical that the department was not set up when the government had no financial burdens. There was no need for creating any additional posts and no money is needed from the state exchequer, they said.

With the delay in setting up Ayush Department, it has been estimated that the state was losing crores of central fund. The state is losing funds for the different schemes under Ayush. And it is also alleged that some of the funds that has been allotted could not be used effectively. If there was an independent department, then all the money could have been utilised in a fruitful manner, they said.

''There is immense scope once the department comes up. Now the state is using only minimal fund from the centre,'' said Ayurveda Medical Association of India (AMAI) General Secretary Dr Rejith Anand. He also noted that the state government only applied for minimal funds from the centre as part of Ayush when compared to the other states.

He said that a separate department would only help in modernising the hospitals, pushing up research activities, development of education, improving quality of drugs and availability of medicinal plants. All these could give an impetus to the growth of traditional medicines, he added.

Source: the New Indian express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/487748/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/undefined#page/5/2

IMA lauds kerala Govt's initiative against sound pollution

Welcoming the state government's decision to prohibit the use of air-horns in vehicles in the State, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said that the state could become a model for the other states to follow.

''The cabinet on Thursday decided to take stringent steps against sound pollution. This is a welcome note that should be followeddd by other states, '' said IMA state president Dr Sreeejith N Kumar and secretary Dr A Jayakrishnan.

The government had also instructed the Motor Vehicles Department to check that the law is strictly adhered to in the State. While flagging off the all-Kerala cycle rally organised by Indian Medical Association, Kerala chapter, against sound pollution, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had on Thursday said that steps will be taken at the earliest to see that vehicles of VIPs, including that of the ministers, do not violate sound pollution norms.

They said that the campaign , titled National Initiative for Safe Sound (NISS), will cover all the districts. The rally that will conclude at Kozhikode on April 28 will highlight the serious health and social effects of noise pollution. Seminars, street plays and other awareness campaigns are being organised as part of the campaign, Kumar and Jayakrishnan said.

Source: the new indian express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/481833/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/18-04-2015#page/2/1

Kendrathil News: Directions for detailed report on Mookunnimala qua...

Kendrathil News: Directions for detailed report on Mookunnimala qua...: T he Thiruivananthapuram district administration has directed the Neyyattinkara Tahalsidar to file a detailed report on the quarries and c...

Directions for detailed report on Mookunnimala quarries

The Thiruivananthapuram district administration has directed the Neyyattinkara Tahalsidar to file a detailed report on the quarries and crusher units that are functioning in Mookunnimala.

District Collector Biju Prabhakar directed the Tahalsidar on Thursday to file the report by April 25. He has asked to furnish the report regarding the total number of quarry and crusher units along with the survey numbers of the land where they are functioning. Even the details of closed down quarries should be included in the report, he said. Apart from this, the Tahalsidar has also been asked to provide details about government land, including that of the fire force and the Army.

The collector gave the direction after a high level meeting at the Collectorate, which was attended by officials of the Revenue department, Pollution Control Board and the Geology Department.

Prabhakar also stressed that all the vehicles and equipment of the quarry and crusher units that were functioning without proper license and documents will be confiscated. Meanwhile, the officials of the Pollution Control Board said that licenses have not been renewed for any of the units at Mookunnimala.

The above direction gains significance in the wake of allegations that the panchayat was going to renew the licenses of the various quarry and crusher units. It has been alleged that the Panchayat had recently renewed the Dangerous and Offensive Trade License to a private quarrying group defying the Collector's orders and directives from the National Green Tribunal.

The Mookunnimala issue has been boiling for the last many years with the Mookunnimala Samrakshana Samithi intensifying their agitation against all quarry activities in the hill. The samithi leaders have reiterated that they would continue the agitation till all the quarries are stopped in the hill. They have alleged that all the rules have been violated by the quarry owners for the last many years and the officials had only helped the quarry mafia. They allege that most of the quarry operators did not have the required licenses and papers.

Source: the New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/481127/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/17-04-2015#page/17/1

Kerala for free recruitment of Nurses abroad

Labour Minister Shibu Baby John has said that the government will actively look into the feasibility of making recruitment of nurses, who seek employment in the Middle East, completely cost-free.

“The government aims to make such a situation where the recruitment is made completely free of cost,” he said after releasing the brochure and prospectus of NICE- Nursing Institute of Career Enhancement, a centre for excellence in nursing under the Kerala Academy of Skill Excellence (KASE), here. The academy will start functioning at Kinfra park here on May 20.

He also noted that during a preliminary round of discussions with the Kuwait government, it has been decided that the employers will bear the recruitment charge. NICE has also decided to sign an agreement with ODEPC and NORKA in the wake of the state government’s move making overseas recruitment of nurses only through government agencies.

NICE will start operations under the KASE with an aim to provide world-class training to nurses, which will help them to find jobs anywhere in the world. The Trivandrum Specialists Hospital of NMC Health Care Group will lead the training sessions and recruitments of the nursing academy.

NICE will provide certificates for subjects including the Basic Life Support, Advance Cardiac Life Support, Quality and Patient Safety, Infection Prevention and Control, Emergency and Critical Care Nursing and Work Ethics. It also provides training for various qualifying exams conducted by the Ministry of Health, Health Authority of Abudhabi, Dubai Health Authority and Qatar Ministry of Health. Apart from the selected section, it will also provide training in languages like English and Arabic.

Source: the New Indian Express

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/481127/The-New-Indian-Express-Thiruvananthapuram/17-04-2015#page/2/1