Viewpoints: Two Nationalist Poets on Jesus Christ

Christianity in India is almost as old as Christianity itself. It is vain to think that Christianity can be seen as an isolable element in Indian culture. While the new religion settled down quietly in several parts of India, it naturally took on the Brahminic mode of life. The Syrian Christians in Kerala, for instance, are committed to a Brahminic custom like casting the horoscope and looking for a matching horoscope before finalizing a marriage. Father Beschi in Tamil Nadu donned Indian dress and wrote in Tamil. His poem Tembavani is justly famous. Each verse found in E. P. Krishna Pillai\u27s epic, Rakshaniya Yatrikam, is an echo from Tamil hymnology like the Divya Prabhandham and Thevaram. Today we even have a Christu Bhagavatham which astutely relates the life of Jesus Christ to Vedic inspirations

Manual of Analytical Methods for Seawater and Sediment

This "Manual of Analytical Methods for Seawater and Sediment" is a comprehensive laboratory manual prepared for the NATP project " Impact of Dams on river run-off into Sea and Changes in the Nutrient and Productivity Profile of Coastal waters" functioning at Kochi, Mangalore, Visakhapatnam and Veraval Centres with an intention to obtain a relatively comparable results by employing uniform methodology in collection, processing and analyses of sample

Assimilative capacity of Cochin inshore waters with reference to contaminants received from the backwaters and the upstream areas

Assimilative capacity of inshore waters off Cochin was assessed using data on hydrography, photosynthetic pigments, primary productivity, dissolved nutrients and trace metals collected over a period of three years (April 2003 - October 2006) from selected stations spreading over the source to the sink. Assimilative indices for Cochin estuary and inshore waters off Cochin were worked out and a scale of safe, desirable, caution or critical was attributed with regard to different parameters based on the score. The results revealed that in the estuary, total suspnded solids (TSS) and cadmium have reached critical levels and lead have attained levels of cautiion. Similarly, in the Cochin inshore waters, cadmium have reached critical levels while copper and lead have attained levels of caution

Occurrence of tarball and waste materials on the beaches along Kerala coast in India

Results of a study conducted during 2000-2001 on the contamination of nine beaches along Kerala coast by solid waste materials and tar balls are presented. The level of solid waste contamination was higher in urban area due to anthropogenic activities, which included dis- carded pharmaceutical drugs, antibiotic preparations, cement bags, plastic water bottles, thermocol pieces and cany bags. Major tar ball deposits were observed on the beaches north of Cochin especially at Cherai (2.5 g/m2), Kaipamangalam (2.2 g/m3 and Chavakad (3.1 g/ m2) during April and May 2001. The quantity of tar ball deposit was significantly correlated (P< 0.05) with the wind velocity. The results were discussed in relation to their possible impacts on the state of health of coastal flora and fauna

Critical marine habitat restoration programme - initiative on mangrove restoration in Kerala, India

Mangroves are unique habitats which function as nursery ground for several valuable species of finfishes and shellfishes and they play a vital role in supporting marine food chains, protecting coastal areas and in improving water quality. Mangroves in general have relatively high productivity and tend to create highly organic soil and also export organic matter to nearby marine environments. They are effective in stabilizing soils in intertidal areas. Some species of mangroves have been planted in the coastal areas as bio-protection shields to guard coastal households from wind and wave action. They provide shelter to several avian fauna which feed on its fruits and nest in the branches. Rare or endangered species of birds have also been documented in the mangroves

Mangrove ecosystems of Kerala: Resources north of Cochin

Mangroves are salt tolerant marshy vegetation found mainly along the tropical and subtropical intertidal regions of the world comprising trees and shrubs, adapted to thrive in shallow, muddy, salt and brackish waters. The canals, creeks and the estuarine environment provide home for a wide variety of aquatic fauna and the arid zone forms the nesting grounds for aquatic birds. Mangroves constitute the breeding and nursery grounds for the larvae and juveniles of commercially important species of prawns, fishes and molluscs

Observations on selected characteristics of water and sediment at the open sea cage culture site of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer (Bloch) off Cochin, south-west coast of India

Study was undertaken to assess the impact of open sea cage culture of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer on selected parameters of water as well as sediment at Munambam off Cochin, Kerala coast from November 2008 to March 2009. Periodic observations were made on temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, nutrients (NO3, PO4, SiO3), nitrite, ammonia, BOD, total suspended solids, chlorophyll a, gross and net primary productivity as well as bacterial load of the surface and near bottom water from the cage site (N 10º 08' 162''; E 76º 08' 901'') and also from a reference site (N 10º 07' 189''; E 76º 09' 210'') during pre- as well as post-stocking periods. Sediment samples were collected simultaneously from both the sites and analysed for texture, pH, organic carbon and bacterial load. A significant reduction (p<0.05) in silicate and chlorophyll a was perceived in surface water at the cage site, during the culture period as compared to pre-stocking period. No significant variations were noticed in any of the other parameters studied. The sand, silt, clay and organic carbon content in sediment at cage site differed significantly (p<0.05) from that of the reference site. There was no significant difference in the mean values of total heterotrophic bacterial count as well as presumptive Vibrio count of the water and sediment, either between the cage site and reference site or between the pre- and post-stocking samplings. No adverse effect as influenced by cage culture of fish was observed on any of the environmental parameters studied during the period of investigation

Water quality indexing of coastal waters off Cochin

Water Quality Index (WQI) condenses the information from numerous water quality parameters into a simpler version which can be used to appraise and compare water quality data from number of sites as well as to look at trends of water quality over a period of time from a single site. WQI is means for simplifying the reporting detailed water quality assessment and providing meaningful summaries of overall water quality and its trends. It also creates an output that is easy understand for managers and non-technical public

Database on trace metal levels in the Indian marine ecosystem: decadal trends of lead and cadmium in sediment off Cochin

The Fishery Environment Management Division (FEMD) of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, has been documenting the real-time data on total concentration of metals viz., Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn since 1994, in sediments off Cochin and since 2002, data on Pb, Cd, Ni, Hg, Cu, Cr, Zn, Mn and Fe, in sediments from different regions of the Indian coast. Database on these vital parameters determining the sediment quality with respect to environmental toxicity is available in the FEM Division of CMFRI since 199

Inter-annual variations of selected oceanographic parameters and its relation to fishery of small pelagics off Kochi, southwest coast of India

The availability as well as abundance of selected small pelagics along Kerala coast (south west coast of India) was highly variable during the past three decades. During the period 1980-2012 there have been several periods of abundance as well as population crashes in the oil sardine fishery. The present study revealed that the occurrence of low sea level during the month of May implies either early wind driven upwelling or early intensification of equator-ward coastal current and consequent upsloping of isopycnals. The occurrence of low sea level (6857) as early as in May and upwelled water in August with low dissolved oxygen (0.68 ml l-1) with low sea water temperature (24˚C) at the bottom at 10 m depth, off Kochi was found to affect the sardine fishery in the year 1994, when the landing at Kochi was only 15 t. Mean sea level was found to be a sign of upwelling and the real time observations of dissolved oxygen indicated wide variations during the upwelling period