Category: Green Products

** India to convert 150 villages into ‘Villages of Excellence’ with technical help from Israel: Tomar

The Israel government has established 29 Centre of Excellence (CoEs) in 12 States

The Centre on Friday said it has decided to convert as many as 150 villages into ‘Villages of Excellence’ in 12 States with technical assistance from the Israel government.

Already, the Israel government has established 29 Centre of Excellence (CoEs) in 12 States, which are producing more than 25 million vegetable plants, over 3,87,000 quality fruit plants and can train more than 1.2 lakh farmers per year.

The 150 villages that are located around CoEs will be converted into ‘Villages of Excellence.’ “Out of which, 75 villages are being taken up in the first year to commemorate the 75th year of India’s independence, where India and Israel will work together,” Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar conveyed in a meeting with new Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon on January 27 here.

The Minister expressed joy over the completion of 30 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel and said that the government is satisfied with the functioning of 29 CoEs, according to an official statement.

The Ambassador of Israel, Mr. Gilon, said these CoEs are a great example of cooperation between the two countries and proposed the certification of CoEs to further enhance the standards and quality of services being provided to the farmers.

** TNJFU celebrates Republic Day by presenting awards of excellence

Dr. M.G.R. Fisheries College adjudged the Best Performing Institute

Presentation of awards of excellence marked the 73rd Republic Day celebration at the Tamil Nadu Dr. Jayalalithaa Fisheries University, on Wednesday.

Unfurling the tricolour Vice-Chancellor G. Sugumar presented the Best Teacher award to F. Parthiban, and Young Researcher Award to D. Kesavan and Mir Ishafaq Nazir.

The Best Extension Worker award was presented to V. Kannan of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sikkal and the Best Non-teaching Staff awards were given to M. Vasantha Kumari and P. Sumathi.

The Dr. M.G.R. Fisheries College and Research Institute was adjudged the Best Performing Institute for 2020-21.

** Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurates 144 PSA oxygen plants

“Besides establishing the oxygen plants, the government is providing a 30% subsidy to private hospitals with over 100-bed capacity for setting up oxygen plants,” the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said.

Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, on January 10, virtually inaugurated 144 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants set up at various government hospitals in the State.

On the occasion, Mr. Reddy said the government has been taking all measures to contain coronavirus ahead of the third wave and as part of it, 144 oxygen plants have been installed in government hospitals at a cost of ₹426 crore.

** Two new plant species discovered in Ghats

Researchers from SNM College Maliankara, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, and the Payyanur College have reported two new plant species from the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats regions in Thiruvananthapuram and Wayanad districts.

They have been christened Fimbristylis sunilii and Neanotis prabhuii, and the findings by the research teams have been detailed in the November and December issues of the plant taxonomy journal Phytotaxa.

Collected from the grasslands of Ponmudi hills, Thiruvananthapuram, Fimbristylis sunilii has been named after plant taxonomist C.N. Sunil, retired professor and research guide of Botany, SNM College.

Neanotis prabhuii is a prostrate perennial herb named after K.M. Prabhukumar, Senior Scientist at CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, in recognition of his research on flowering plants of the Western Ghats and contributions to biodiversity conservation.

** Amara Raja investing €10 million in European electric vehicle battery group

The investment is part of the Energy and Mobility strategy Amara Raja is pursuing to foray into new green technologies and solutions through expansion and investment

Amara Raja Batteries is investing €10 million in InoBat Auto, a European Group focused on research and development in the field of batteries for electric vehicles and production of lithium-ion battery cells as well as tailored and customs cells.

** Reliance New Energy Solar to acquire U.K.’s sodium-ion battery tech firm Faradion

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd. (RNESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in Faradion Ltd. (Faradion) for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million (around ₹1,000 crore).

In addition, RNESL has also agreed to invest GBP 25 million as growth capital to accelerate commercial roll out.

“Based out of Sheffield and Oxford in U.K. and with its patented sodium-ion battery technology, Faradion is one of the leading global battery technology companies. It has a competitively superior, strategic, wide-reaching and extensive IP portfolio covering several aspects of sodium-ion technology,” RIL said in a statement.

** Project to map rare plants in Parambikulam

Over 1,400 species of angiosperms in reserve

The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation will join hands with the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) to prepare a detailed mapping of the rare and endangered plants endemic to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.

The mapping survey would begin soon, said Parambikulam Tiger Reserve deputy director Vysak Sasikumar. He said it was time to update the inventory of the rare plant species that brought glory to the reserve.

KFRI’s senior silviculturist P. Sujanapal will lead the mapping.

Kerala

** Discovery Channel Makes A Feature Film On The First Indian Wildlife Photographer, Yashas Narayan

Yashas Narayan, one of the most reputed wildlife photographers of India. It would be prudent to say that he is one of the best big cat trackers that India has seen. Proudly known for his astonishing and mesmerising portfolio of India’s tigers, leopards, and black panthers, he is now the first Indian wildlife photographer to get a feature film made by the Discovery networks.

Titled “Eye to Eye With a Tiger”, Yashas got an opportunity to lead a team of highly dedicated professionals to capture the serenity amidst the short lives in the modern world. Partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to support Project CAT, Discovery’s collaboration aims to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022 by spreading awareness about deforestation, poaching, and overhunting of the tigers’ prey. Similarly, Samsung has sponsored this film to raise awareness about Project CAT.

** The ‘dragon’ woman of Behar Jaswan

It is only this year that Sood has been able to take her message of medicinal farming to the common farmer with the help of the district administration.

The ground under Behar Jaswan Panchayat was actually prepared for medicinal plants by Reeva Sood, who loves to be called a woman agro entrepreneur. In her heart she carries love for medicinal farming and Himachal Pradesh — based in Delhi, she came all the way to do medicinal farming in the hilly state — and in her eyes she carries a dream of turning this area into a dragon valley. Dragon is an exotic fruit. She has planted 3,000 saplings of this fruit here.

** Susanta Kumar Dash: Geneticist on a mission to register Odisha’s native livestock breeds

A professor of OUAT and animal geneticist, Susanta Kumar Dash has helped govt in registering 4 native breeds of cattle, 3 breeds of buffalo and one breed of sheep, writes Sudarsan Maharana.

In the last two decades, animal geneticist Susanta Kumar Dash has helped Odisha register eight of its native livestock breeds and secure their Intellectual Property (IP) rights. Working in the field of native livestock breed conservation since 2004, Dash – a professor in the department of animal breeding and genetics in OUAT, Bhubaneswar – has registered four breeds of cattle, three breeds of buffalo and one breed of sheep, all having their own unique features, from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources.