Solar bicycle is the need of the hour since it is less polluting and will save fuel, says Shyam Kumar S, technical director, Innovation Experience, a Thiruvananthapuram-based non-profit organisation.

In a major initiative the organisation has developed two solar bicycles at a cost of Rs 40,000 each, these are now in use in the Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram campuses of UST Global, the founding and funding partner of Innovation Experience.

Another festival season (November-May) is round the corner in the state with the organisers bracing themselves up to vie with each other to make celebrations grander and colourful by parading maximum number of elephants.

But, it seems, the government is still groping in the dark without knowing how to tackle the rising incidents of bloodshed caused by pachyderms going wild.

The district panchayat has come up with a solution for the waste disposal woes of every household, especially plastic waste. It aims to set up a plant on 90 cents of land and convert the plastic waste into furnace oil. The project will be implemented with private participation.

“We hope to resolve the plastic waste disposal issue by setting up a plant in 90 cents of land. We are planning to implement project with Browns n Whites, a Kakkanad-based firm. We have submitted the project to the government and have sought the required land for the purpose,” said district panchayat president Eldhose Kunnappillil.

Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash on Sunday said that a renewed representation demanding a compensation worth Rs 150 crore for the victims of monsoon disasters would be submitted to the Central Government.

He was addressing reporters at the Government Guest House, Ernakulam, after conducting talks with the Central committee that came to evaluate the loss in the state owing to the monsoon.

The Kochi Corporation is planning to permit the municipalities in the district to process waste at the solid waste treatment plant at Brahmapuram.

The municipal authorities will have to pay Rs 1000 for a tonne to the Kochi Corporation as processing charges. At present, the Aluva Municipality transports waste materials to Brahmapuram where it is recycled to produce manure.

Finding it difficult to dispose of the biomedical waste generated in your home? The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) offers you a solution.

It has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for collecting biomedical waste from apartment complexes in the city and to treat it at the Indian Medical Association’s Goes Eco-friendly (IMAGE) plant.

Fr Paul Madan, director of Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly, inaugurating the organ donation mission and receiving the first agreement letter of hospital administrator P V Thomas.

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court today declined to accept any fresh material other than what has been submitted by the expert panel on the controversial Mullaperiyar Dam row bet

Kerala will convey its displeasure over the appointment of consultant to the monitoring committee for maintenance and repair at Mullaperiyar dam.

The Irrigation department has already conveyed the displeasure to the State Water Resources Department to be taken up with the Central Water Commission. As per the Supreme Court direction, the monitoring committee for maintenance will consist of three members, one each from Kerala and Tamil Nadu and one independent member from the Centre.

The biggest teak tree in Asia has been discovered at Ottakallan area in Thundathil range of Malayattoor Forest Division.

The gigantic tree reportedly beats the record of the teak tree at Kappayam, Edamalayar, which was the biggest tree in Asia till now. According to BN Nagaraj, Divisional Forest Officer, Malayatoor, the newly-discovered tree is estimated to be over 300 years old.“It was first noted by a man while cutting bamboo in the area. He reported it to forest officials and they took the measurement of the tree.