A village free from the grip of private moneylenders
Published March 6, 2008 | 
Thrissur: Here is a model village that is free from the ravenous moneylenders who extend loans to hapless farmers on exorbitant interest rates. Better known as ‘Blade Banks’ in local parlance, these private banks bleed the villagers with abnormal interest loans and difficult terms, which drive many helpless victims into suicide.
The chairman of the South Indian Bank Mr. V A Joseph launched the pilot project of the bank at Meloor Village near here. It is going to be a trail blazer for many other villages, which are burdened with high interest loans.
The project is aimed in making the villagers self reliant. The Kerala Agricultural University has already inked a MOU with the bank for the integrated development of the village. It will help the villagers by offering technical guidance to set up units for ornamental fish rearing, diary, landscaping and medicinal plants. The village panchayat also plans to make available leased land for landless agricultural workers to set up units. The requisite marketing back up will be provided by the Organization for Women Empowerment and Rural Development, which will also help to beget the government subsidies on offer.
Innovative schemes of such genre are sure to make a sea change in the quality of the lives of the villagers in Kerala.
Ornamental fishes attracting huge crowd
Published February 6, 2008 | 
Thiruvananthapuram, February 6
The ornamental fishes are attracting a huge number of visitors in the ongoing 37th Flower Show in the capital. This aquarium show is organized under the 10-day flower show, and is drawing people from all ages to have a look at these dazzling fishes on display. It was informed that Matsyafed Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) along with few private aquariums of the city has jointly designed this fishing extravaganza for visitors. Here people are left to see many varieties of fish and can also buy them.
Daily large numbers of fish lovers are turning out at the Institution of engineers hall premises to have a glimpse of this lovely exhibition. There are many varieties of ornamental fish to look for, well not only these fishes will impress you by its shiny and beautiful colour and looks, but also they have more interesting names. So you can find Miss Kerala here, which is the name of a fish on display, so if you want to enhance the charm of your drawing room, you can buy Miss Kerala for Rs.200 a pair. Apart from that there are Silver Arowana another variety of fish costing Rs 10,000, you could also spot Ring Angle, Gold fish, Sand shark, and many other varieties of fish here.
With the current trend, these days ornamental fishes have traveled quite a long distance and have moved in to our houses. Now these dazzling fishes are a part of our interiors, giving our drawing room an exotic and rich look. All this has increased the demand and interest for these ornamental fishes among people. Meanwhile CMFRI has showcased some 50 varieties of fishes in their stall which attracted many fish lovers. This exhibition will be open for visitors for few more days.