SMALL-SCALE FISHING
For Kerala's small-scale fishers, a stark choice

Erratic monsoon patterns and other disruptions by climate change are reducing the number of fishing days in coastal Kerala. Small-scale fishers are looking for other livelihood options instead.

#Climate #Fisheries #Environment
CHILD ABUSE IN KERALA
Legislation to safeguard children fails to protect them

Post-POCSO Act, reporting of child sexual abuse cases have rocketed in Kerala, but conviction rates remain dismal. State government and judiciary lack the infrastructure to ensure justice for victims, finds Navya P K.

#Justice System #Children
KERALA’S PLIGHT - III
Rescued child labourers - institutionalised or forgotten

Kerala lacks a system to rehabilitate migrant child labourers. Navya P K finds out how rescued children are sent off to their home districts, and then forgotten.

#Child labour #Labour Issues #Children
KERALA'S PLIGHT - II
Ineffective implementation of child labour laws

Cases on child labour or trafficking are rarely filed by the labour department and police. Even when cases are filed, offenders get away quickly.

#Child labour #Labour Issues #Children
KERALA'S PLIGHT
The rise of migrant child labour

A large number of migrant adolescents work in the state. Children are forced to work long, arduous hours, and often suffer physical abuse, and sometimes even sexual abuse.

#Child labour #Labour Issues #Children
FOOD VENTURE
Kerala pioneer eyes new horizons for jackfruit industry

A new food processing company in Kerala proposes to market innovative products, the success of which could well place the largely neglected jackfruit in the focus of attention of bigger players in the state’s food processing industry. Shree Padre reports.

#Agriculture #Economy
BOAT-MAKING IN BEYPORE
Kerala’s royal connection: The luxury ‘uru’

In the non-descript town of Beypore near Kozhikode, skilled artisans have revived in a big way the tradition of making luxury ‘urus’, or dhow-shaped boats, as they find a ready clientele in the royal family of Qatar. Akshatha M visits Beypore.

#Art #Livelihoods #Economy
ORGANIC FARMING
What binds every family in this Kerala Panchayat

The thrust on chemical-free cultivation of vegetables that started as an experiment in the 90s has now evolved into a culture in Kerala’s Kanjikkuzhi Gram Panchayat. P N Venugopal traces the growth and success of this initiative so far.

#Livelihoods #Organic #Agriculture #Environment
LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN KERALA
Are too many ‘gramasabhas’ posing a challenge to governance?

As the Kerala government takes steps to re-inspire citizens to engage in grassroots level governance, P Mohammad Nizar draws attention to certain critical issues that must be addressed for the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state to be effectively revitalised.

#Panchayats #Government #OP-ED
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Kerala: A murky ‘state’ of affairs

From misguided attempts at prohibition and moral policing to scams in higher education and declining development, things in Kerala have been taking a rather sordid turn and hitting headlines for all the wrong reasons. P N Venugopal recapitulates some of the most recent developments.

#Economy #Government #Society #States
BANGALORE BLASTS CASE
In conversation with an alleged terrorist

Abdul Nasser Madani, a key accused in the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts, waits in vain for his trial to be speeded up after countless adjourned sessions of court. PN Venugopal recounts the circumstances of the case and talks to Madani himself to discover how rules become exceptions in such cases.

#Interviews #Justice System #Law and Order #Human Rights
CONFLICT BETWEEN STATES
Mullaperiyar: Is the light in the tunnel itself?

With the SC striking down the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation Act, concerns over the Mullaperiyar Dam could create tension anew between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Could a new study contain a potential solution to the issue? P N Venugopal explores.

#Water #Laws #States #TAMILNADU
ELECTIONS IN KERALA
Will the Western Ghats decide Kerala’s mandate?

The controversy over the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports on ecological preservation in the Western Ghats has brought about a churn in politics in Kerala. P N Venugopal wonders if this will determine the decisions of the electorate in the Lok Sabha elections.

#Elections #Environmental Hazards #Mining #Government
VISION DEFICIT
The strange case of ICTT Vallarpadam
A PPP project, hailed as a milestone in logistic infrastructure development at the time of launch shows scant growth three years later, costing the Cochin Port trust dearly in the process. P N Venugopal throws light on all that has gone wrong with it.
#Public Funds #Transport #Economy
POKKALI FARMING
Farmers take the long-term view, with long stalk rice
A group of committed individuals in Alappuzha, Kerala are battling odds to revive cultivation of the unique Pokkali variety of paddy that had given way to the more lucrative business of shrimp farming. P N Venugopal reports.
#Agriculture #Environment
  • Population : 35.6 m (2019 est)
  • Area : 38,852 sq.km.
  • Density : 919/sq. km.
  • Sex Ratio : 1084 (2011)
  • Child Sex Ratio : 964 (2011)
  • Literacy : 96.20% (2020)
  • Forest Cover : 54.42% (2019)
  • Lok Sabha MPs : 20
  • Rajya Sabha MPs : 9
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