Category: Business & Economy

** Building green bridges

An artist from Karkala is promoting sustainable living, and reviving the culture of areca tree trunk bridges in villages. His philosophy being ‘Keep it natural’.

UDUPI:

The grey gash of a concrete bridge strikes a discordant note in the earthy shades of a rustic setting — a sign of development which stands out like a sore thumb. It’s not meant to be there, says Purushotham Adve, who spent his childhood in Karkala taluk, by streams and rivers running through the Western Ghats. There were no squat ugly bridges in his childhood memories, only natural crossovers built by experienced villagers — often areca tree trunks slung together to form a bridge.

** APFT to set up pilot training academy at Kalaburagi Airport

It has signed an MoU with Airport Authority of India (AAI) to establish a flight training organisation on Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer basis at Kalaburagi Airport for 25 years.

Hyderabad-based Asia Pacific Flight Training (APFT) will be setting up a training institute at Kalaburagi Airport in Karnataka.

** Jeevan Rekha gets permission for Sanofi vaccine trials

Belagavi-based Jeevan Rekha Hospital has obtained the Union government’s permission to conduct safety and efficacy trials of Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine, developed by a French company.

Jeevan Rekha has been part of the trials of Covaxin and ZyCov-D vaccines.

Trials for the new vaccine will start in 10 days, hospital director Amit Bhate told journalists in Belagavi on Thursday.

** New Skoda Kushaq model unveiled

The new Skoda Kushaq model was unvieled at the Tafe Assessment showroom on St. Mark’s Road in the city on July 12 by Damodar L., head of TAFE Assessment Branch.

There are more opportunities now in the luxury travel market for customers, said Mr. Damodar. Kushaq is available in two engine variants, 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI, and in five colours, a release from the company said.

** ISRO conducts hot test of liquid propellant Vikas engine for Gaganyaan

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas engine for the Gaganyaan programme, the country’s first manned mission to space.

The test was done for the core L110 liquid stage of the human rated GSLV MkIII vehicle, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan programme, the space agency said in a statement.

** In Karnataka, a silent revolution with bananas

Farming communities in Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka are demonstrating that much more than banana bread — the flavour of the first year of lockdown — can be made with the fruit.

In rain-rich Karnataka, banana cultivation is common but farmers have no control over prices. “Merchants categorise the fruit into first and second quality. It was being bought at ₹4 and ₹5 per kg during the lockdown. The farmers were forced to take back the seconds. When there is a glut, distress sales are common in this region,” says farm educator Shree Padre.

Now, homemakers are helping these farmers by experimenting with banana flour, which can be used for everything from dosas to gulab jamun.

** Unique tamarind tree to fetch ₹9 lakh over next one year

A 40-year-old tamarind tree in Tumakuru district in Karnataka has brought sweet tidings for its grower, though its speciality is very high sour content. The tree, with distinct properties, is set to fetch a revenue of over ₹9 lakh in the course of the next one year, as the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) has identified it for further propagation under revenue sharing model of Tamarind Improvement Project.

The institute has named the tamarind variety after the 66-year-old farmer Lakshmana, who has grown this tree in his farm in Nandihalli of Tumakuru district. The initiative by the institute comes close on the heels of massive response to two such earlier efforts with jackfruit, including a special variety of ‘Siddu jackfruit’.