
State for participatory eco restoration
The Hindu
Cabinet nod for policy framework
The Kerala government has come out with a vision document for its ecological and forest restoration programme, proposed to be implemented with the participation of forest-dependent communities.
The policy framework for eco-restoration works was approved by the State Cabinet on Wednesday.
The monocrop plantations of acacia, eucalyptus and wattle, which have lost their ecological significance and have proved detrimental to the ecology, will be phased out and steps will be taken to ensure growth of natural forests in these plantations. These plantations are spread across an area of around 27,000 hectare. The phasing out of the plantations may take two decades to complete, according to the document.

Although students from Tamil Nadu remain the leading recipients of educational loans across India, there has been a significant decline in the number of active loans they hold. The number of active education loan accounts decreased from 27.4 lakh accounts to about 20.1 lakh in the period. The fall can be mostly attributed to the fall in Tamil Nadu’s numbers.












