Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

‘Coconut cultivation has potential in coastal Andhra’

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Hyderabad, (PTI):

Andhra Pradesh offers tremendous potential for coconut cultivation on over 5 lakh hectare of land from the existing 1.1 lakh hectare, according to a top official of the Coconut Development Board.

There is enormous potential for growing coconut in the entire coastal Andhra Pradesh and many other districts. The present area under coconut cultivation is around 1.1 lakh hectare and there is scope to grow coconut on around 5-5

source:  http://www.ptinews.com / Home> Business / by Staff Writer / by PTI / Hyderabad, April 03rd, 2013

A modern traditionalist

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
Usha Raghunathan at the Singhania store in Banjara Hills | A Suresh Kumar / Express
Usha Raghunathan at the Singhania store in Banjara Hills | A Suresh Kumar / Express

Dressed in a mustard and pink contrast border silk sari, accompanied with a patchwork choli and traditional jewellery, Usha Raghunathan comes across as any other South Indian mother. But, hang on, there’s more to her than just the looks. Despite the most popular celebrities from Bollywood and Tollywood flaunting her creations, she is as humble as one can get. “It feels very nice, when I see them wearing something that I have designed. I believe saris are the most feminine outfits ever. Though the girls in this generation say they can’t handle saris and are more comfortable in their jeans, there is something about this six-yard or the nine-yard beauty that can bring out the best in them,” she believes. In the city for her latest Ugadi collection, she says cotton is the flavour of the season.  And, who can dispute her?

A flying start

Usha Raghunathan lost her mother at a very young age. Her father worked at the Air Force Civil Aviation, while her grandparents raised her. “It was because of my dad that I also wanted to learn flying. So, I got my license in 1956, which was quite something back then. Then, after I got married, my husband was also very supportive, so I was able to follow my dreams,” she recalls. Usha was then asked to write about her experiences of being a pilot, which was when she started writing. “I wrote a lot of radio scripts for the AIR,” she remembers. But, for the last 35 years, she has been completely involved in designing saris. “There were times when I would travel from Yercaud to Salem, sit with the weavers and get some saris custom-designed,” she reveals.

Cotton, silk and more

“I dream about saris and cholis. I have always loved Kanjeevaram, silk and cotton. I like anything that is traditional,” she admits. Being an ardent follower of  Kanchi Paramacharya, who always insisted on cotton as silk led to killing of silk worms, Usha came up with her “Ahimsa saris” which are made of poly-cot fibre, which resembles silk. “Though it is very expensive, it is just like silk. Many people prefer buying these,” she observes. Usha is known for uplifting the traditional sari and putting it in context for the present generation. Her collections are often tagged as “trendsetters with a traditional touch.” And there’s no exaggeration in that.

Challenges faced by weavers

Talking about the plight of the weavers today, she says, “They have been facing a major challenge in making their products appealing to the current market. But, if you sit with them and ask them to make a few changes, they willingly do it. We need to now focus on making their products accessible to people. There are many who want to wear traditional saris.”

Clothes do not provoke

Disturbed by the recent rape incidents in the country, Usha says, “Women were more respected a few decades back. These days, we see young boys at 17 committing these crimes. And the kind of allegations they make about clothes provoking men is all rubbish. If a woman in a small skirt can get raped, women in saris have also been raped. It is the mindset of men that has to change. Clothes do not send out a message.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Kruthi Gonwar / ENS – Hyderabad / April 04th, 2013

CD of tele-film on environment released

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
Vijay Kumar of Vijay Nirman releasing a CD of a telefilm 'Kotta Bichchagadu' on environment produced by Mokkala Mohan at a function in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. / Photo: C. V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Vijay Kumar of Vijay Nirman releasing a CD of a telefilm ‘Kotta Bichchagadu’ on environment produced by Mokkala Mohan at a function in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. / Photo: C. V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu

The release of the compact disc of a tele-film on the importance of planting saplings to save the environment brought out by Ch.R.K. Mohan, popularly known as ‘Mokkala’ Mohan, provided a platform to speakers to stress the importance of safeguarding trees. CMD of Vijay Nirman Company Limited S. Vijay Kumar released the 40-minute CD “Kotta Bichhagadu” at Visakhapatnam Public Library on Sunday evening. Not only trees should be saved but the next generation should also be made aware of its responsibility, he said.

A professor of Environment Science of Andhra University, E.U.B. Reddy, described plants as carbon lockers and oxygen cylinders.

MD of Sukhibhava Real Estates G.S. Krishna Murthy presented Rs. 15,000 to help Mr. Mohan make another film on environment.

Actor “Kallu” Chidambaram, who presided, lauded the sustained efforts of Mohan to promote green cause. Besides him, 39 artistes from the city acted in it.

Former Vice-Chancellor of Acharya Nagarjuna University V. Balamohandas complimented Mohan, a recipient of Vrukshamitra Kannam Srinivasa Rao award, for spreading awareness by presenting saplings instead of bouquets. He described worshipping Lord Vinayaka as an introduction with nature. Scholar Vedula Subrahmanya Sastry detailed the affinity for ages between life in the country and nature. Even the meal contained several natural ingredients derived from various plants. Joint Chief Engineer of AP Pollution Control Board K.V. Rao spoke on the various activities carried out to spread awareness on the perils of pollution.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Staff Reporter / April 01st, 2013

Hyderabad’s pink lake to be colourless soon

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology, World Opinion

The Noor Mohammed Kunta (NMK) near Kattedan Industrial Estate (KIE) in Rajendranagar, which earned its sobriquet of the pink lake of Hyderabad due to its pinkish hue caused by industrial pollution, will have clear water by the end of 2015.

NMK is the first and only lake in the country to have been identified for cleanup by the World Bank-assisted project on ‘Capacity Building and Industrial Pollution Management Project’ by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2010. The consortium of Witteveen+Bos, Tauw, COWI A/S and Kadam Environmental Consultants under the name of Pollution Control Board Consultants (PCBC) will implement the 32-month pilot project.

The NMK has been dead since years due to heavy inflow of industrial wastes. Representing the consortium of consultants, M Van der Wijk Marten from Nederlands on Tuesday expressed his confidence in the speedy completion of the project.

Speaking to reporters about the remediation process, he said, “First, all highly toxic sediments would be dredged out, dewatered and contained within tubes of geo-textile. According to tests, the tubes a containment efficiency which is well above 99.5 per cent and a life-span of minimum 100 years.”

Adding more, he said these tubes would be made into a bund-like fencing around the lake over which greenery could be developed. The bottom of the lake will be covered with a clean layer of sand. To prevent further inflow of pollutants, the existing Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP), which was started in 2009, would be upgraded to deal with industrial waste treatment.

In Katedan Industrial Estate (KIE), about 3,500 m3 of temporarily stored waste will be collected and disposed to an off-site landfill for Municipal Solid Waste. As a remediation measure, construction of a sediment trap was also recommended at the inlet of drains from KIE to the NMK.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / March 27th, 2013

Seminar begins on natural resources

Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology
RuralHF16mar2013
Anantapur: 
A two-day national-level seminar on ‘Rural Women and Natural Resources Management Opportunities, Policies and Challenges’ was began at the Department of Rural Development and Social Work of Srikrishnadevaraya University here on Friday.
Principal Prof K. Buddanna inaugurated the seminar sponsored under the UGC-SAP programme.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Sreedhar of rural development said that about 90 research scholars from eight states in the country will participate in the seminar and presenting their research papers on rural women and natural resource management.
Interactive sessions with eminent social scientists were being conducted oversuccess and failures of natural resources management. Prof.Galib said that natural resource management was not properly done because of discrimination against the rural women.
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home>News> Current Affairs / DC / Anantapur, March 16th, 2013

500 acres for AP’s ‘Brindavan Gardens’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

The Guntur district administration has decided to allocate 500 acres of land for the mega tourism project proposed by the AP Tourism Development Corporation  proposed a Rs 650-crore Mega Tourism project at Nagulavaram in Macherla mandal on the lines of the Brindavan Gardens of Mysore.

The APTDC sought 640 acres but the district administration has decided to allot 500 acres. Collector S Suresh Kumar sent the land allocation papers to APTDC on Tuesday.

The APTDC expects that the proposed project, in addition to the existing Nagarjunakonda, Nagarjunasagar Dam and Buddhavanam,  will boost tourism in the region.

The APTDC proposes to develop the Ettipotala Waterfalls, lay a ropeway at Ettipotala between two hills, build a five-star hotel, resorts, motels, develop water falls, water fountains, etc as part of the Mega Tourism Project, TGV Krishna Reddy, MLC, told Express.

The number of foreign tourists visiting the district has been growing in the last few years. About 6,400 tourists visited the district in 2008, 8,250 in 2009, more than  12,000 in 2010, 13,450 in 2011 and 15,540 in 2012. The number of domestic tourists was 9.9 lakh in 2008, 15.23 lakh in 2009, 17.6 lakh in 2010, 19.33 lakh in 2011 and 20.45 lakh in 2012, according to tourism officials.

source: http://www. newindianexpress.com / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Ch. Rama Gopala Sastry / ENS – Nagarjunasagar (Guntur) / March 14th, 2013

Herbs hold key to tribal medicare

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

TulsiHF13mar2013

Visakhapatnam:

Andhra University researchers, who did an ethno-medicinal study on the use of medicinal plants by the tribals of Kotia Hills on the Andhra-Odisha border, Vizianagaram district, found that they were treating a range of illnesses — from rheumatoid arthritis and fractures to asthma, diabetes and malaria — with 62 such species.

The researchers observed that the usage was appropriate for curing the disease and that they had inherited the knowledge of traditional medicines over successive generations.

“The knowledge they have is precious and needs to be recorded. The studies done have also to be substantiated by phytochemical analysis and pharmacological screening for their active principles,” said Prof. M. Venkaiah, department of Botany of the univesity.

The tribals of these areas belong mainly to the Mannedora, Kondadora, Jatapu and Savara communities and the most cited plant family they used was the Lamiaceae or mint, with its widely used culinary herbs, such as basil (tulsi), mint (pudina), rosemary (kumkuma puvvu), sage and others. They used plants growing on the ground, rather than below, for medicinal purposes, the study found. They were also combining this with small quantities of milk, ghee or honey to make the taste palatable.

Another survey shows that more than 80 per cent of tribal populations maintain their animals’ health too through traditional medicines largely of plant origin.
A total of 108 plant species belonging to 99 genera and 51 families have been identified as a potential source for treating 47 types of ailments.

Eight species calling under the Solanaceae family are the most in use followed by Caesalpiniaceae with seven. The first consists of plants such as mirapa, ummettha, tomato, pogaku and others.
Medicinal plants have been playing an important role in the survival and wellness of the ethnic communities who live in remote villages in the Agency areas.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC /by P. V. Prasad / March 11th, 2013

Agri-business mela in Hyderabad on March 11

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

An agri-business mela will be held at the ICRISAT complex at Patancheru, Hyderabad on March 11.

Sources said here on Friday that the mela will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will enable entrepreneurs to explore opportunities in agri-business and innovators to present their work and business ideas for incubation support.

Select entrepreneurs and innovators would be provided incubation support under ABI-ICRISAT. For participation, contact the Agri-Business Incubator at ICRISAT, or call 040-30713452/30713417 or 09951353051, ormail s.vemu@cgiar.org.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Gulbarga, Monday 09th, 2013

Nellore rice, a rage among AP farmers

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

Picture for representational purpose only.

Nellore:

A rice variety, NLR 34449 (Nellore Masoori), developed by NG Ranga Agriculture Research Station in Nellore and introduced in the market after successful trials a few years ago has become popular not only in AP but also in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

It is preferred because of high yields to the extent of three to five puttis (one putti is equal to 850 kg of paddy) an acre as against three puttis for other varieties. It is also blast resistant, non-lodging and suitab-le for machine harvesting. The size of the grain is thin and it is among the fine varieties in the market.

Interestingly, farmers of Nellore district are vary of this variety, especially developed for local climatic conditions, because rice traders and millers discourage them by offering meagre price, under the pretext that the quality is poor after cooking, though it was not true.

The traders prefer BPT 5204 (Bapatla) for reasons best known to them. It was alleged that they avoid 34449 because it is difficult to mix them with the low quality rice. Moreover, the traders offer Rs 13,000 to RS 14,000 for 34449 as against Rs 15,000 to Rs 16,000 for BPT 5204. The crop period is around 125 days for 34449 and it is suitable for both rabi and kharif as well as early kharif, said P. Ramesh Babu, principal scientist ARS, Nellore.

He said that there is also good demand for NLR 20084, popularly known as Nellore Molagolukulu variety developed by them. It is not cultivated much in Nellore district because traders and millers pay paltry sum for the crop.

Principal scientist (rice), Dr Y. Suryanarayana of Re-gional Agriculture Resea-rch Station, Maruteru in West Godavari district said that NLR 20084 (Molagolu-kulu) is being raised in large extents in the neighbouring Chittoor, Kadapa and Prakasam districts.

“Yields are very high for this 150-day-long crop and it is resistant to blast (aggitegulu), pests and lodging etc.,” he said and attributed the increasing price of rice in the market to reduction in area of cultivation from 40 lakh hecta-res to 30 lakh hectares. He said cultivation area has come down from 14 lakh hectares to eight lakh hectares during rabi.

Meanwhile, two new variety rice seed, NLR 3041 (Nellore Sona) and NLR 40024 in June last year have been attracting the attention of farmers because of encouraging results during trials. Nellore Sona is widely cultivated all along the north coastal AP due to its quality. NLR 40024 was developed exclusively for cultivation during summer, scientists of ARS said.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> News> Current Affairs / by Pathri Rajasekhar / February 12th, 2013

On a different court: Saina Nehwal joins AP govt’s ‘save power campaign’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Sports

Badminton superstar Saina Nehwal  might have done quite a few endorsements for commercial products; but for the first time, she is going to be a brand ambassador for the Andhra Pradesh government for a public cause.

The  ace shuttler  is going to campaign extensively for State Energy Conservation Mission (SECM), asking the people of all sections to take up energy saving measures so as to minimize power consumption in the wake of severe power crisis staring the state.

“We had a meeting Saina and her coach Pullela Gopichand, the erstwhile badminton star, a couple of days ago and explained the objectives our energy conservation mission. We gave a power point presentation on how the state has been facing an unprecedented power crisis. We explained them how the scarcity of the natural resources like coal, gas and water have led to the present situation of acute power shortage in the state and impact of energy conservation activities,” SECM chief executive officer A Chandrasekhara Reddy told Mail Today on Sunday.

Reddy said for the last few years, there has been indiscriminate use of power by the people, causing tremendous burden on the power utilities. As a result, there has been a huge gap between the demand and supply, as high as 71 million units per day, forcing the power utilities to go in for massive power cuts.

“Though AP’s installed capacity has also reached 16,500 MW, the utilities are not able to utilise even 10,000 MW of capacity due to severe scarcity of fuel, which ultimately warrants the state to go in for energy conservation and energy efficiency measures in a big way,” he said.

The SECM officials told Saina that if everyone in the state was actively involved in this energy conservation mission, the state is estimated to save about 15,000 MU of energy, worth of Rs.7,500 crore every year.

“They were very much impressed with our mission so much that they readily agreed to be part of the programme. And Saina came forward to be a brand ambassador for the government for this mission without charging a rupee, as it is a public cause,” the officials said.

“We will utilise the services of Saina in our promotional activities through short films and other publicity programmes. She agreed to give us time for our programmes whenever she finds time,” Reddy said.

source: http://www.indiatoday.intoday.in / Home> India Today> Sports> Others Sports> Story / by A. Srinivasa Rao / Hyderabad, February 10th, 2013