THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala and the Netherlands have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a project named ‘Cosmos Malabaricus’ that will help further illustrate the history of Kerala in the 18th century. The state will also collaborate with the European country for the establishment of paint academies in Kollam and Malappuram. The agreements were signed in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and The Netherlands’ Ambassador to India, Marten van den Berg.
The Cosmos Malabaricus project is being implemented by the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) under the Department of Higher Education, the National Archives of the Netherlands and the
University of Leiden. The project will be completed in six years.
The MoU for the establishment of the paint academy was signed by ASAP (Additional Skill Acquisition Programme), Indian Institute of Infrastructure & Construction, Kollam; CREDAI, Kerala and AkzoNobel India Limited, the Indian subsidiary of a leading paint and chemical company in the Netherlands. The paint academy on the IIICC Campus at Chavara, Kollam, will impart training in painting buildings while the academy at ASAP Skill Sky Park at Thavanur in Malappuram will train in painting vehicles. The aim is to offer training to 380 people in the first year.
The chief minister said that it is our responsibility to future generations to preserve historical events and documents. Dutch cooperation is also expected in areas such as floriculture and disaster management. The chief minister said that Kerala is pre paring to become a quality learning centre in the higher education sector.
Marten van den Berg said the Netherlands has good relations with India, especially Kerala. Cosmos Malabaricus will help understand more about the political, social, economic and cultural history of Kerala. He added that the paint academy would employ more young people. As part of the Cosmos Malabaricus project, students from Kerala will get an opportunity to do an MA at Leiden University and the students from the Netherlands will get an oppurtunity for doing an internship at KCHR.
Labour Minister V Sivankutty, Higher Education Minister R Bindu, Chief Secretary V P Joy; Officer on Special Duty Venu Rajamony, Deputy Consul General of the Netherlands Hein Login, Additional Chief Secretary V Venu, Labour Secretary Mini Antony, KASE MD K Gopalakrishnan, KCHR chairman Prof Michael Tharakan; AkzoNobel director Harshi Rustogi; CREDAI Kerala chairman M A Mehboob; ULCCS chairman Ramesan Paleri and other departmental officials were present on the occasion. Representatives from the Netherlands National Archives and the University of Leiden attended the function online.
PAINT ACADEMY TO COME UP IN KOLLAM
The paint academy on the IIICC Campus at Chavara, Kollam, will impart training in painting buildings, while the academy at ASAP Skill Sky Park at Thavanur in Malappuram will train in painting vehicles. According to The Netherlands’ Ambassador to India, the paint academy would employ more young people. As part of the Cosmos Malabaricus project, students from Kerala will get an opportunity to do an MA at Leiden University and the students from the Netherlands doing an internship at KCHR.