Monsoon likely to set in over Kerala on May 31

The countdown for the four-month south-west monsoon season has begun.The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the system is likely to set in over Kerala on May 31, with a model error of plus or minus four days.Kerala is the first point of entry for the system in the Indian mainland. June 1 is the normal date for the onset over Kerala.Meanwhile, monsoon flow, the IMD said, was expected to appear over the Andaman Sea in a few days and was likely to cover that region close to its normal date of May 20.

Mamata storms Red bastion; Jaya ousts DMK; Cong gets Assam, Kerala

Breaking the Red citadel, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress ended the 34-year hegemony of the Left Front in West Bengal, while Jayalalithaa's AIADMK scored a landslide victory to oust DMK from power in Tamil Nadu as results of the assembly elections were out on Friday.

India's first 'Rock Theme Park' in Kerala to woo tourists

A 1000-feet high rocky hill cluster at Chadayamangalam in south Kerala, believed to be connected with mythical character 'Jatayu' in epic Ramayana, will woo tourists as the country's first 'Rock Theme Park'.According to local tradition, the rock, 'Jatayupara' in Kollam district, is the place where the mythical bird 'Jatayu' fell after its wings were slain by the ten-headed Ravana by his lethal sword 'Chandrahasam'.As per the epic, Ravana, who ruled Lankapuri (Sri Lanka), chopped off one of the wings of the bird when it tried to block his airship 'Pushpaka Vimanam' in which he was forcibly taking away Rama's consort Sita.The project is a blend of ecological and epic tourism and the state government, through this public-private partnership venture, is building a high-tech theme park on the rocky terrain with a mammoth statue of 'Jatayu' as its core.

Website for Kuttanad Package

The Rs.1,840 crore-Kuttanad Package now has an official website.The package, the implementation of which was launched in September last year, has been the cynosure of all eyes, particularly in the Kuttanad region and has been a topic of debate over the manner in which the implementation was progressing.Now, aiming at doing away with the “baseless rumours” that were floating over the alleged “sluggish” pace of progress, authorities have decided to make affairs transparent through the website.

Committee Studying Effects of Endodulfan being asked to Expedite Report.

An all party delegation from Kerala met the Prime Minister on Friday, 22 April, 2011 urging him to impose a nationwide ban on the use of Endosulfan, an organic insecticide used in agricultural operations. Shri Oommen Chandy, leader of the opposition in the Kerala Assembly and Shri Ramesh Chennithala, President KPCC met the Prime Minister today about the same issue. Explaining the ill effects of the Endosulfan, members of the delegation stated that the use of this insecticide had led to serious health hazards in Kasargod district of Kerala. They urged the Central Government to take up this issue in the Stocholm Convention for a worldwide ban on the use of this insecticide.