
Kalari and karate should be included in the curriculum Aswathy Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi
The International Women's Day celebration was organised by Metro Mart in association with the Thiruvananthapuram Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Terrace Business Hotel Thiruvananthapuram. It was inaugurated by Aswathy Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi of the Royal Travancore Family.
Even though the women of Travancore were shining in various prominent arenas of the country during the post-independence period, it is time to check whether women are getting adequate security in our country even after 75 years of independence. Lakshmi Bayi said that self-defence art forms such as Kalari and Karate should be included in the curriculum to defend themselves in the face of increasing violence against women. One reason for the increase in violence against women is the lack of punishment for it. Proper legislation should be made to overcome it. Lakshmi Bayi in her address talked about how women should not be honoured by holding a one-day event and that society should give them the respect they deserve every day. Women's Day has been celebrated all over the world since 1975, when the United Nations recognized March 8 as International Women's Day. International Women's Day is also a day when everyone remembers the women of the world and their contribution to society. Women's Day celebration was also organized to empower women all around the world.
The celebration was presided over by Sri S.N. Raghuchandran Nair (President – Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industries). Smt. Manju Prasannan Pillai (Chief Post Master General of Kerala) was the Chief Guest and delivered the keynote address. Women entrepreneurs were felicitated in the presence of Padma Shri Lakshmi Kutty (Breakthrough in practising Traditional medicine), Sri Siji Nair (Managing Director, Metro Mart), Mrs. Bernadette Maria (Former U.S. Air Force Helicopter Pilot), Dr. Nidhi M B (ISTE National Executive Member), Smt. Sreelatha Namboothiri (Actress), Smt. Subbalakshmi (Actor, Music Composer), Smt. Aparna Rajeev (Singer), and Smt. Anila Joseph (Beauty Therapist and Make-Up Expert).
Photo caption; Aswathy Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi inaugurated the International Women's Day celebration organised by Metro Mart in association with the Thiruvananthapuram Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Kerala to transform Responsible Tourism into peoples movement Minister Riyas
First-ever Global Responsible Tourism Summit begins in Kumarakom
Kerala will go for timely alterations in its Responsible Tourism (RT) policy to make the activities more people-centric so as to further strengthen the state’s travel and tourism industry, Tourism Minister Shri P.A. Mohamed Riyas said today.
Expert suggestions to accomplish this aim will be central to the first-ever Global Responsible Tourism Summit, he said, inaugurating the four-day event at Kumarakom near this city.
The government’s RT Mission will spread its activities to entire Kerala by introducing responsible tourism practices in all tourist accommodation units across the state. We must showcase our Responsible, Experiential, Rural and Sustainable Tourism initiatives so as to increase tourist inflow, he noted at the ceremony chaired by Minister for Cooperation & Registration Shri V.N. Vasavan.
Emphasizing that Kerala’s tourism activities should be eco-friendly, Shri Riyas said the four-day summit is set to work towards measures that will empower women in the state.
The conclave will discuss RT models of international repute and work towards a global network in sustainable tourism, he noted in his video address at the opening ceremony that saw Kerala Tourism exchanging a memorandum of understanding with the UN Women's Office in India to adopt women-friendly measures that will strengthen sustainable tourism.
Pointing out that Kerala has already decided to convert RT Mission as a Society for the smooth functioning of the initiative, Shri Riyas said the government has decided to revise its 2008 Declaration on RT and scale up its environment-friendly activities across the state.
We want to ensure Resilient Tourism activities across the state and create a network of practitioners and promoters of Global RT. We need to gain more knowledge from RT practices across the globe, for which we are considering the formation of a global-level association,he noted. Strengthening RT is going to bring a drastic change in our tourism industry and raise the state's tourism to a new height.
The RT Mission is marching towards establishing 100 per cent structured Responsible Tourism destinations through endeavours such as STREET (Sustainable, Tangible Responsible Experiential Ethnic Tourism) and PEPPER (People’s participation for Participatory Planning and Empowerment through Responsible Tourism) that have won global recognition, Shri Riyas added.
Minister Shri Vasavan, in his speech to the 280 delegates, highlighted the need for coordinated efforts to ensure the success of RT. Initially, in 2007, when RT was mooted, the idea received poor response. There was even resistance from certain quarters, he recalled. Slowly we won the confidence of the people and RT won public acceptance. We still have a long way to go.
Shri Thomas Chazhikadan, MP, who was Chief Guest at the function, said the Centre’s inclusion of two more of Kerala’s tourism destinations (Kumarakom and Beypore near Kozhikode) earlier this year in the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme will add power to Kerala’s RT Mission. “Ours is a state of letters, latex and lakes,” he noted, noting Kerala’s variety of tourist resources.
UN Women India Representative Ms Susan Ferguson said encouraging women to work in tourism can instill a sense of security among the travellers to the state. “Women should not be confined to backstage jobs such as cleaning or sewing. They should be more visible as drivers and managers,” she noted.
Responsible Tourism Partnership & ICRT International Founder Dr Harold Goodwin said strong RT policies required continuity in governance. “Businesses may try to shirk their responsibility; the administration must woo them into meeting it. Local communities should benefit much more from tourism,” he noted. “RT is essentially a social movement, and not a business venture.”
Kerala Tourism Principal Secretary Shri K.S. Srinivas, welcoming the gathering at Lakesong resort which is hosting the summit featuring 70 speakers, said RT has been the state’s USP in tourism beyond its nature and hospitality. “Earlier we looked for examples from other places; today the world is looking at Kerala for good tourism models,” he added.
Additional Chief Secretary Dr Venu V. gave a video presentation of the state’s RT Mission. Kerala Tourism Director Shri P.B. Nooh presented a report on RT. Kottayam District Collector Dr P.K. Jayasree released the brochure of the February 25-28 summit.
RT Mission State Coordinator Shri K. Rupeshkumar proposed thanks. Other speakers included District Panchayat President Smt K.V. Bindu, Ettumanoor Block Panchayat President Smt Arya Rajan, Ward member Shri P.K. Manoharan, Kerala Travel Mart President Shri Baby Mathew and State Tourism Advisory Council member Shri Abraham George, besides representatives of tourism organisations and people’s representatives.

Kerala inks pact with UN body to empower women in tourism
State Responsible Tourism Mission to implement the MoU
Kerala entered into an agreement today with UN Women, boosting women-friendly activities in the state’s tourism sector by training stakeholders who include young representatives and civil organisations.
A memorandum of understanding signed by Kerala Tourism Director Mr P.B. Nooh and UN Women India Representative Ms Susan Ferguson agreed to work towards promoting gender-inclusive tourism sites in the state. The Responsible Tourism Mission will be the implementing agency for the MoU.
As per the pact inked at the first-ever Global Responsible Tourism Summit in Kumarakom near this city, both parties will promote women-friendly tourism in Kerala. This will be done by creating modules and capacity-building of relevant stakeholders, besides providing advisory support for baseline research, implementing women-friendly tourist destinations and supporting interventions to change prevalent discriminatory social norms.
The world body will help Kerala Tourism in developing reports and material related to women-friendly tourism and their publication. The MoU will strive to build synergies with other flagship programmes of the state and help in rectifying social attitudes that are checking gender-inclusive public spaces in tourism.
Tourism Minister Shri P.A. Mohamed Riyas, while inaugurating the four-day summit at Lakesong resort, said the MoU was in continuation of the state government’s renewed efforts towards women-friendly tourism since October last year. “We will ensure good female participation in tourism initiatives and allied services besides RT (Responsible Tourism) projects. The idea is to promote tourism with focus on women empowerment,” he added.
Ms Ferguson, speaking at the opening ceremony, said women merited encouragement to work in tourism so as to instill a sense of security among the travellers to the state. “More jobs to women in key slots will not only generate employment but curtail the prevailing gender inequality,” she noted.
The pioneering conclave, which is slated to conclude on Tuesday, features 280 delegates and 70 speakers.
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Kerala to host four day global RT Summit from Feb 25 Tourism Minister to inaugurate the meet at Kumarakom
Kerala is all set to host a four day global Responsible Tourism (RT) summit from February 25, showcasing the state’s remarkable achievements in evolving an internationally-acclaimed sustainable tourism model over the last one-and-a-half decade and strengthening it further by coalescing the emerging trends and demands.
Tourism Minister Shri P A Mohamed Riyas will formally inaugurate the conclave, being organised by Kerala Tourism in association with State RT Mission, on February 26 at Lake Song Resort, Kumarakom, at 9 am. The deliberations of the summit will start with a ‘Speakers Meet’ on February 25.
Minister for Cooperation and Registration Shri VN Vasavan will preside over the function where Shri Thomas Chazhikkadan, MP, will be the chief guest.
Significantly, Kumarakom, located on the Vembanad lake and encompassing the rim of Kerala’s rice-bowl Kuttanad, chosen as the venue for the meet as its panoramic rural settings, heritage and lifestyle, had a seminal role in the Kerala model of RT attaining global fame.
UN Women Representative Ms Susan Ferguson and International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) Founder Dr Harold Goodwin will deliver the keynote address on the occasion. Kerala Tourism Principal Secretary Shri K S Srinivas, Kerala Tourism Director Shri P B Nooh, and State Co-ordinator of RT Mission Shri K Rupeshkumar will also be present.
The summit, which will feature discussions on building linkages between RT activities and UN Women, and will formally culminate with the adoption of the revamped ‘Kerala RT Declaration’ on February 27. Speaking about the summit, Shri Riyas said this meet will serve as a platform for brainstorming on creation of sustainable and experiential tourism products and packages in the state in partnership with various agencies in India and abroad to attract more tourists to Kerala. As many as 15 international speakers will attend the summit with 20 foreign speakers sharing their insights through virtual platform. Delegates and speakers from across the country will take part in the event which will also witness around 200 attendees in total.
About 60 experts will talk on more than 12 topics at the summit that will feature a riveting session, titled ‘Inspiring Stories from Destinations,’ where 100 tourists, including delegates, will narrate their experience of travelling in the state.
On February 28, delegates will make a visit to Maravanthuruthu Water Street project that bagged a global award at World Travel Market, London, last year, for the trail-blazing water conservation initiative linked to tourism development.
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Milma receives Metro Foods Awards 2022
Milma was presented the 12th edition of Metro Foods Awards 2022 in the Most Trusted Dairy Co-operative Enterprise category on Tuesday.
Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Smt J Chinchurani presented the award to Trivandrum Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union (TRCMPU) Administrative Committee Convener Shri N Bhasurangan at a function here.
Shri Kadakampally Surendran, MLA; TRCMPU Managing Director Shri D S Konda; Tourism Additional Director (General) Shri Premkrishnan S and Metro Mart Managing Director Shri Siji Nair were also present.
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