KOCHI: The Food Inspectors of the Kochi Corporation has been asked to look out for artificially ripened fruits that reach the market, said Dr. N. Gopinathan, Health Officer of the corporation.

A meeting of the Health Inspectors was convened recently to discuss the issue.

KOCHI: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday set aside the orders of the Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer restraining the State government from implementing its decision to extend the rice-at-Rs.2-a-kg scheme to the families of above poverty line (APL) category subject to certain conditions.

The Bench, comprising Chief Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice P.R.

Registration and licensing of seeds and fixing of prices
State's response to revised draft of seeds Bill
Seeks full powers on compensation issues
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government has sought control for the State governments over registration and licensing of seeds and fixing of their prices under the proposed seeds Bill.

The government made this demand in its response to the revised

KOCHI: The draft proposals for a pesticide policy for the State have suggested a total ban on aerial spraying of pesticides and the use of red and yellow category pesticides.

The draft, prepared by a team of experts constituted by the government, was recently submitted to the government, sources said.

The draft recommended that some fungicides in the green category too should be removed from

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) has reiterated its demand to keep the country's coastline free of any nuclear installation, particularly in view of the disaster that has struck Japan following the tsunami.

KOCHI: Raging wildfires have destroyed large tracts of forests and grasslands in Kerala. According to available information, over 200 hectares of forest area have been destroyed since January and it is mostly grasslands that are lost to the flames.

The State Forest Department has raised concern over the rising incidents of forest fire during the summer months.

KOCHI: The expert committee formed to assess the pollution mitigation measures in Greater Cochin area will recommend to the Central Pollution Control Board to lift the moratorium on new industries.

The committee, which assessed the progress of some long and short-term measures, felt that the pollution levels have come down considerably in the area, said P.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Shanghumughom beach, one of the most favoured weekend destinations of city dwellers, is increasingly getting littered.

Shards of glass from broken bottles, plastic refuse, discarded fruit-juice packets, food leftovers and waste from mobile eateries seem to have usurped the joy of walking barefoot on the sands.

The urban waste is particularly hazardous to scores of chi

Kozhikode: Oxo-biodegradable plastic carry-bags and packaging materials, which offer a possible solution to the plastic menace, made their entry into the Kerala market recently.

And for a district such as Kozhikode, declared plastic-waste-free by the district administration two months ago, they may help to sustain the momentum of the campaign against non-biodegradable plastic, coming as they do

KATTAPPANA: The district administration has given permission for mining sand from 16 kadavus (sand-mining spots) in the rivers that fall under four grama panchayats in Idukki.

The order issued by District Collector M.C.