Kochi Dec 21 PTI Multichannel marketplace platform Farmers Fresh Zone FarmersFZ under Kerala Startup Mission KSUM has raised an investment from Yunus Social Business Fund BengaluruYSBFB that supports social businesses FarmersFZ which bridges the gap between rural farmers and urban consumers by providing healthy premium-quality and pesticide-free vegetables from fields to the table within 24hours of harvest has raised an unspecified amount from the Fund Pradeep PS Founder and CEO of FarmersFZ said the assistance of YSBFB is a boost to the startups efforts for a social cause and a recognition of its commitment We will use the fund to facilitate the growth and infrastructure which enhances our working model and thus benefits our famer community and their livelihoods Pradeep said in a release He said YSBFB has done a deep analysis and study on the impact of FarmersFZ in society YSBFB MD and CEO Suresh Krishna hailed FarmersFZ for being able to unlock better earnings for the farmers He said his companys team was aiming to expand the model across southern India We will be replicating it especially in the tier-2 cities he added Leading angel investor Nagaraja Prakasam said FarmersFZs Know your farmer feature enabled by proprietary traceability tech facilitates the startup to provide small-scale farmers better livelihoods by helping them get more value for their produce Our endeavour is to bring food safety in agri-supply chain for a billion along with hygienic and nutritional food with this concept from local farmer to local customer Prakasam said The company connects more than 2000 farmers being able to increase progressive farmers income level by 15-20 per cent KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state PTI RRT BN BN

Kochi Dec 21 PTI Al Ameen College here in collaboration with the Kochi branch of Indian Medical Association IMA has launched Cup of Life a project to promote usage of menstrual cup instead of sanitary napkins IMA Kochi President Dr Maria Varghese inaugurated the event held at the college at Edathala here in collaboration with the National Service Scheme NSS unit and the womens cell As part of this campaign the menstrual cup which costs Rs 300 was made available to all college girls and teachers for Rs 100 the college authorities said in a release Dr Aaavani gynaecologist at Amrita Hospital gave the awareness class for students and teachers of the college IMA Secretary Dr Anitha Thilakan and National Health Mission officials Dr Akhil Xavier Manuel and others led classes on a variety of subjects Doctors spoke on menstrual hygiene and the use of the menstrual cup and how its use can make menstrual days like any other normal day PTI RRT RRT SS SS

Kochi Dec 21 PTI The International Society of Arthroscopy Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine ISAKOS has recognised a new keyhole surgical method to repair knee medial ligament tear developed by a team of doctors at VPS Lakeshore hospital here The Orthopaedic team of the hospital has been using this method to treat ligament injury for the past three years the hospital said in a release the research paper titled Percutaneous Arthroscopic Assisted Knee Medial Collateral Ligament Repair-A Novel Technique And Results was accepted by ISAKOS The paper was presented at the biannual conference of ISAKOS held in Cape Town South Africa it said The conference was held early this month The technique was developed by the expert team led by Dr Jacob Varughese HOD Orthopaedics Dr Appu Benny Thomas Sr Consultant Orthopaedics Dr Julio Chacko Kandathil Senior Consultant Radiology Dr George Jacob and Dr A N Sukesh The innovative method in which the ligament is treated through arthroscopy a procedure for diagnosing and treating joint problems replaces the need for traditional open surgery and is a major improvement in the field of Orthopaedics We have successfully treated more than 25 cases during these three years Varughese said In this method a narrow tube attached to a fibre-optic video camera along with tiny and precise surgical equipment is inserted through a small incision and the surgeon repairs the ligament tear The view inside the joint is transmitted to a high-definition video monitor which thereby avoids the need of opening the site PTI RRT ROH ROH

Kochi Dec 21 PTI The Prime Minister is the leader of the nation and not of a political party and citizens need not be ashamed to carry a vaccination certificate with his photograph and morale boosting message the Kerala High Court said on Tuesday and dismissed a plea seeking removal of PMs photo from the COVID-19 immunisation certificates Nobody can say that a Prime Minister is a Congress Prime Minister or a BJP Prime Minister or the Prime Minister of any political party But once a Prime Minister is elected as per the constitution he is the Prime Minister of our country and that post should be the pride of every citizen they can differ on the policies of the government and even the political stand of the Prime Minister But the citizens need not be ashamed to carry a vaccination certificate with the photograph of the Prime Minister with a morale boosting message especially in this pandemic situation the high court said It also said that when COVID-19 pandemic can be eliminated only by vaccination if the PM gave a message with his photograph in the certificates that with the help of medicine and strict control India will defeat the virus what is wrong with it The court dismissed the petition with a cost of Rs 1 lakh saying it was frivolous filed with ulterior motives publicity oriented and the petitioner probably also had a political agenda According to my opinion this is a frivolous petition filed with ulterior motives and I have a strong doubt that there is a political agenda also to the petitioner According to me this is a publicity oriented litigation Therefore this is a fit case that is to be dismissed with a heavy cost A citizen of this country argues before the High Court that carrying the photograph of his Prime Minister in the vaccination certificate with a morale boosting message in a pandemic situation is an intrusion to his privacy The petitioner says that it is a compelled viewing As I observed earlier these are frivolous contentions which one never expects from a citizen Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said The court directed the petitioner -- Peter Myaliparampil -- to deposit the cost in favour of the Kerala State Legal Services Authority KeLSA within six weeks The court said in case of failure to deposit the cost within the stipulated period KeLSA shall recover the amount from his assets by initiating revenue recovery proceedings against him It also said that the petitioner should study the respect to be given to the Prime Minister and others by watching at least the parliamentary proceedings which are available live on national TV The court said that if the petitioner does not want to see his PM or if he was ashamed to see the PMs photo he can avert his eyes to the bottom side of the vaccine certificate Therefore the argument by the petitioner that the photograph of the Prime Minister of India with a morale boosting message to his fellow citizens through the vaccination certificate is a compelled viewing of the photograph of the Prime Minister of India is to be rejected This is also a frivolous contention raised by the petitioner the judge said in his 32-page judgement The court also said that compelled listening or viewing is only there when the government forces someone to listen or view its messages The court also said What is wrong with politicians Since a small percentage of politicians are having a bad history the entire politicians need not be ignored They are the builders of our nation with innovative ideas While imposing the cost the judge said he was aware the amount was big as far as a citizen was concerned but when such frivolous contentions are raised by a petitioner he should know its effect and the society also should know that if frivolous petitions are filed the court will not accept the same Thousands of convicted persons in criminal cases are in jail in our country waiting for hearing of their appeals Thousands of people are waiting for a result in their matrimonial disputes Thousands of people are waiting for the result of their property disputes In such a situation this court has to consider those litigations as early as possible and this court is doing that every day In such a situation when frivolous petitions are filed that should be dismissed with a heavy cost it said If the petitioner is coordinating this type of campaign I have nothing to say but to pity him the judge added The petitioner had contended that the certificate was a private space with personal details on record and therefore it was inappropriate to intrude into the privacy of an individual He had contended that adding the Prime Ministers photo to the certificate was an intrusion into an individuals private space The petitioner a senior citizen had contended in his plea that the Prime Ministers photo on his vaccination certificate was a violation of fundamental rights PTI HMP ROH ROH