Union Energy Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will make a formal declaration at a function to be held in Palakkad on Monday. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will inaugurate the function. Palakkad followed up on Irinjalakuda and 25 other Assembly constituencies in Kerala which were fully electrified. Work for full electrification of 80 other constituencies was in full swing. All the 11 Assembly constituencies in Palakkad district were electrified as part of a special package, Power Minister A.K. Balan said in a press note here on Sunday.

Mr. Balan said as much as Rs.8.5 crore was spent for power lines in different parts of Mannarkkad Assembly constituency. The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had set apart Rs.10 crore as part of a special package for electrification of the tribal colonies in the district. Courtesy: The Hindu

The board, known as the Technopark Area Single Window Clearance Board, is intended to expedite the issue of various licences, clearances or certificates required under the various State enactments for setting up industrial units in the area. The notification is issued in line with the Kerala Industrial Single Window Clearance Boards and Industrial Township Area Development Act, 1999.

Information Technology Department Principal Secretary Ajay Kumar had been appointed as chairman of the clearance board.

Mr Sasidharan said BSNL completed a retail survey in the district as part of a project to expand its retail network. He said the company has decided to open 1000 BSNL shoppe in the district this year itself.

Initially, it would be set up at the central bureau in Thiruvananthapuram and then extended to the other bureaus, including Kozhikode and Vadakara, in the second phase via a dedicated online system.

Now, fingerprint experts trace the identity of criminals manually. The central bureau was using the Finger Print Analysis and Criminal Tracing System (FACTS) from 1999-2004. The department did not update this software following technical glitches, Mr. Kurup said.

The department and the company would reach an agreement for updating the AFPIS software. The software also has the facility to add all existing digitized fingerprints, he added.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, chairman of the union Kallada Ramesh and managing director Baby Joseph said the two products would be launched this year. The chocolate will be produced at the Campco factory based in Mangalore.

Mr. Ramesh said a dairy plant costing Rs.15 crore would be commissioned in Pathanamthitta this year. The Thiruvananthapuram dairy will be modernised at a cost of Rs.10 crore and a new products’ unit will be constructed with financial assistance from the National Dairy Development Board.

The union has taken up a project to ensure the purity of milk in the four districts under its jurisdiction. Another project is also being implemented under a programme to make Kerala self-sufficient in milk supply by 2011.

The union has earmarked Rs.2 crore for adoption of 4,750 calves in four districts. The adoption scheme is aimed at ensuring the quality of livestock and providing better facilities to dairy farmers in the four districts. The union has also embarked on a project to provide technical support and financial assistance from banks to entrepreneurs to set up mini-dairy farms in the most potential areas in each district. Also on the anvil is a scheme to procure milking machines.