Notes:
In 2017, the Kerala Government formed a three-member commission headed by Justice K Hema (retired), former bureaucrat KB Valsalakumari and veteran actress Sharada as members. The commission was formed to scrutinise problems faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.
The Government in Kerala recently formed a three-member panel to study and work out a plan to implement the recommendations of the Justice Hema Commission report.

Notes:
A team of researchers from Kerala and Brazil have identified a new species of a rare, deep-sea mollusc named ‘Xylophaga nandani’.
The mollusc belonging to the family Xylophagaidae has been identified from the eastern Arabian Sea. The wood-boring, tiny species has been named after Proffessor Bijoy Nandan, Dean, faculty of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

Notes:
The 47-day annual religious fair ‘Magh Mela-2022’ has been inaugurated with thousands of pilgrims taking holy dip on the banks of the Sangam in Prayagraj.
Sangam is a sacred confluence of the three rivers namely Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. The fair is usually held to mark the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

 

Notes:
During a water bird census, an uncommon sea snake was spotted by a team of bird watchers. Hydrophis gracilis, the small-headed sea snake, was spotted at the Perumathura coast in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Members of the Thiruvananthapuram-based forum of bird watchers and nature lovers, Warblers and Waders, were carrying out the survey as part of the yearly water-bird census.

Notes:
Micro-blogging platform Twitter launched the ‘JagrukVoter’ campaign, which aims to empower citizens with right knowledge before they vote.
The series of initiatives aims to enhance engagement of the platform with voters. It includes the launch of a customized emoji, with notification and reminder, to support the conversation around #AssemblyElections2022.