THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 5 April 2008 — The Kerala state government has issued a draft policy that envisages the setting up of a gender board which would coordinate with government departments and look into the allocation and utilization of funds for women.
Health Minister P.K. Sreemathi said a committee of women had prepared the draft that would be put for discussion now. “We’ll give a reasonable time and then it would be put before the Cabinet for approval,” the minister told reporters.
“The proposed gender board will have more power. We propose to strengthen awakening committees through networking with police stations and also with the Women’s Commission. We aim to see that atrocities against women in Kerala be eradicated in five years from now,” said Dr. T.N. Seema, a member of the group of policymakers. The policy will address the issues of health, employment and equality for women. With 1,000 men to 1,058 women Kerala has the highest sex ratio as against India’s national average of 1,000 men to 933 women. The average life expectancy of Kerala women stands at 76 years while the national average is 61.8 years.
Active Web GIS Service on Free Software Launched
The Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) has launched Kerala’s first Active Web Geographical Information System (GIS) service in public domain developed using free and Open Source Software (FOSS) technology.
Announcing the launch, Prof. K. R. Srivathsan, Director of IIITM-K said the publication and distribution of spatial data are becoming increasingly important for scientific and business organizations to make smart decisions.
“The main objective of Active Web GIS is to make the dynamic geographical information available in a simplified, open web interface,” he said.
