Category Archives: Business & Economy

Re-enacting the first bus trip, after 77 years

About Kerala, Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

The launch of the first public road transport service on February 20, 1938, in the erstwhile Travancore will be recreated after 77 years on Friday, from East Fort to Kowdiar Square and back in a double-decker bus.

The bus will be flagged off by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) CMD Antony Chacko at 11 a.m. as part of the ‘Bus Day’ celebrations by the Kerala State Road Transport Employees’ Association (KSRTEA) with the theme ‘healthy public transport for public health.’

Sree Chithira Tirunal, the then ruler of Travancore, inaugurated the service 77 years ago. He, along with Col. Goda Varma Raja and other members of the ruling family, were among the passengers. E.G. Salter, Assistant Operating Superintendent of London Passenger Board, drove the bus.

A fleet of 33 buses and a huge crowd joined the celebrations as the bus moved on. The first bus was operated from Thiruvanantapuram to Kanyakumari on February 21, 1938.

From England

Initially, the department imported Comet chassis for 60 buses from England and they were fitted with Frank Perkins-made diesel engines under the direct supervision of Salter. The experimental design of the body created by Salter became the standard design of the rest of the buses, say archival reports.

The early buses were like saloons with 23 soft leather seats. There were 10 First Class seats in the front. The schedules, fares and bus stops were fixed and published. A parcel service was also started. The services were extended to Kochi in 1949 and to Malabar, in 1956. The KSRTC came into existence in March 1965.

People’s representatives, top officials of the corporation, socio-cultural activists, and trade union leaders will be on the bus. The KSRTEA is trying to rope in the members of the ruling family of the erstwhile Travancore for the trip.

Bus Day is being observed as part of the second phase of the “Save KSRTC” campaign. KSRTEA general secretary C.K. Harikrishnan urged the public to shun private vehicles and to travel on KSRTC buses on Friday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities. Thiruvananthapuram / by S. Anil RadhaKrishnan / Thiruvananthapuram – February 18th, 2015

Asia-Pacific coconut community meet from Feb. 2

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, World Opinion

Union Minister for Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh, will inaugurate the 51st Asia Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) session at Hotel Crowne Plaza here on February 2. The meeting will review the global coconut situation and hold deliberations on specific issues in the sector. It will evolve appropriate policy decisions with a view to making inroads into the development of trade in coconut and coconut products between the member countries, a press release issued by the Coconut Development Board said.

The APCC is an intergovernmental organisation under the aegis of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP). The organisation has 18 coconut-producing member countries.The APCC member countries account for 90 per cent of the world’s coconut production and export of coconut products, the release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – January 29th, 2015

Contests to be Held as Part of Coir Kerala 2015

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature

Alappuzha :

A series of competitions will be organised for coir workers and students from February 1-5 in Alappuzha, as part of Coir Kerala exhibition.

Essay writing competitions in English and Malayalam, based on the subject ‘Mechanisation in Coir Sector – Challenges and Opportunities’, will be open to all.

Entries for the competitions should reach The Convenor, Local Publicity Committee, Coir Kerala 2015, Kerala State Coir Machinery Manufacturing Company, Near District Court, Alappuzha -1, before February 2.

A photography competition will be held on the topic ‘Kayarinte Nattile Karalin Thudippukal’.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / January 29th, 2015

KAU technology for solid waste disposal

Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives & Environment, Science & Technology

A new technology developed by Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) for safe and hygienic disposal of household garbage has been released for user trials.

KAUkerala24jan2014

The technology, which involves rapid conversion of degradable waste to value-added manure, was released by KAU Vice Chancellor P. Rajendran at a function held at the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, last week.

The bioconversion methods currently in operation necessitate the dumping of waste for long periods, leading to environmental pollution and human health problems. The KAU claims that the novel mechanism of bioconversion developed by scientists at the Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry is fast, efficient, non-polluting and completed within a day.

The research team led by C.R. Sudharmaidevi has fabricated a technology demonstration unit named Suchitha to be deployed for trials at various locations. The machine with 20 kg processing capacity requires only 1.5 sq m space and three units of electricity for operation.

A press note by the KAU said the product could be used as manure for various crops. The whole process was completed within a day.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by T. Nandakumar / Thiruvananthapuram – January 23rd, 2015

Cardamom auction heats up with new licence holders

Business & Economy

Kochi :

With the Spices Board issuing cardamom e-auctioneer licence to four more players last week, competition in the cardamom auction market has been heated up with a sudden spurt in prices.

Vandanmedu Green Gold Cardamom Producer Co Ltd (VGGCP), Sugandhagiri Spices Promoters and Traders Pvt Ltd, Cardamom Growers Federation – Bodinayakanur, and Idukki District Traditional Cardamom Producer Company Ltd are the new licence holders. Currently, there are 12 licensed auctioneers including the new entrants.

The new licences will be valid till 2017.

The average price of cardamom was in the range Rs 700 – Rs 885 per kg between December 1, 2014 and January 13, 2015. However, with new players came in, the average price shot up to Rs 965 per kg on Monday and then to Rs 980 per kg on Wednesday. “We expect more competition among traders to deliver better prices ,” said A Jayathilak, chairman of the Spices Board.

Ensuring minimum supply of cardamom is critical for the existence of auction houses as they need a minimum annual turnover of Rs 75 crore to Rs 100 crore to survive.  Sunday, which had been traditionally a working day for auctioneers and traders, will be a holiday.

K K Saseendrababu, MD of VGGCP, said that the effect of new entrants, including his own company, is not limited to better price realisation. “Perhaps, the biggest change is in the attitude of auction houses towards the farmers in the region. Now the auctioneers have started going to the farm gates to collect the crop rising competition, heating up the competition,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kochi / by Shenoy Karun, TNN / January 24th, 2015

Young entrepreneurs’ meet

Business & Economy

Kozhikode:

Fusion 2015, a meet of young entrepreneurs will be held at Cyber Park Kozhikode on January 24 and 25.

Select young entrepreneurs from Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts will attend the programme. It is being organized by Kerala State Youth Welfare Board, said C K Subair, general convener of the programme.

Various programmes including interaction with nationally acclaimed entrepreneurs, and CEOs of various firms, development of brand ideas, classes on life skill development and entrepreneurship will be included. Industries minister P K Kunhalikutty will inaugurate the programme on January 24.

Those interested can register their names by visiting www.fusionkerala.com on or before January 16.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / January 10th, 2014

Bamboo star makers of Thoppumpady

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Kochi :

Seated in a circle on the small roof of a house near Thoppumpady, Suresh and a few of his friends are making stars from ‘eetta’, a variety of bamboo known for its flexibility.

The bamboo star has now become hard to find at your average store or market. These star makers strip, bent and fasten the bamboo following specific measurements before covering the frame with tracing paper on which intricate designs have been made.

Suresh is a third generation star maker. “Making stars is not an occupation for me. I am a daily wage worker. But in the month of December, I continue with the tradition that my father taught me when I was young,” he says, pasting delicate pieces of tracing paper on reed frames.

“We are all scheduled caste Hindus. Very honestly, I know very little about Christianity, but how does it matter? It is about brotherhood and living together in harmony. Our stars are only made in the white as a symbol of peace. After all, isn’t that what Christ wanted? Peace and unity among all men?” asks Suresh’s friend Sajeevan.

Every year, they collect bamboo reeds and keep them dry. “We started working on December 5, and till now we have made about 75 stars,” said Suresh. A lot of love and labour goes into the making of these stars. The demand is high for five point stars which takes an average of eight or nine hours to make, depending on the detail and size.

“Back in the day, we didn’t have stars, we had ‘aakashavilakku’ which was hung outside our homes,” says Suresh.

An ‘aakashavilakku’ is either a pentagonal or octagonal prism with cut paper detailing, and usually around two or three-and-a-half feet in length. It took two men 15 hours to make an ‘aakashavilakku’.

Suresh says most of his orders come from churches and for events such as Cochin Carnival since most people now prefer foldable paper and plastic stars.

“Very few people make these now. Considering the man hours, a four feet star will cost around Rs 450. But since the demand is low, we sell them for Rs 300,” he says.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kochi / TNN / December 20th, 2014

Cochin Airport Reaping Profits Year After Year

Business & Economy, Records, All

Cochin-AirportKERALA30dec2014

Aluva :

Armed with its new brand identity and a slew of development projects, CIAL will be aiming for the stars in 2015 as one of the most successful PPP ventures in the state. The profit for the first half of the financial year 2014-2015 clocked at `69 crore, as compared to `63 crore for the same period the previous year. The new international terminal is all set to be completed by December 2015. However, the construction of 8 Small Hydro Electric Power Plants (SHEP) is proceeding ahead of schedule and will enable the airport to become power neutral, officials noted.

Passenger safety was a slogan of paramount importance in 2014-2015, with the introduction of almost `12 crore worth of Canadian robotic equipments such as Threat Containment vessels and Remote Mobile Investigator (RMI-9WT) robots. Commonly used in the West and American Police force, the robots are capable of remotely handling the Improvised Explosive Devices(IED), hazardous chemicals, radioactive materials, fire fighting, hostage and other  situations. Apart from these, the airport has also adapted bomb inhibitors, real time X-ray viewing systems, deep search metal detectors and non-linear junction detectors which are able to discover and disarm an entire spectrum of explosive devices, into its safety repertoire. “Rather than merely purchasing the new security devices, we were able to integrate it with the existing safety measures flawlessly. In the few instances of hoax threats in the year, the airport security ran flawlessly without causing discomfort to the passengers in any way,” airport officials noted.

Gold smuggling

With the sheen of the yellow metal increasing manifold, the customs officials at CIAL were kept busy throughout the year confiscating gold from hordes of smugglers, who baffled officials with their ingenuity. Going by  official records, almost 82 cases were recorded until November 2015 and almost 55.71 kg gold worth `14.04 crore was confiscated. Customs officials noted that the number of smuggling cases have gone down.

According to officials, the smugglers have become imaginative. They are resorting to tricks such as smuggling gold by hiding them in the toilet near the immigration wing. As international flights are subjected to through checks, some of the smugglers have resorted to the new modus operandi of disembarking international flights at other airports and using a connecting domestic flight to reach their destination. Customs officials said that the smugglers even embarked from countries like Malaysia and Singapore to throw the officials off the track. “The smugglers usually come in via the gulf route,” officials noted.

CSR activity

As a part of its CSR activities, CIAL is actively involved in the proposed Jalanidhi scheme in Nedumbassery, Kanjoor and Sreemoolanagaram panchayats. Under this facility drinking water facilities will be provided to all the families in the three panchayats. CIAL MD V J Kurien had announced that he was prepared to meet the cost of water connections to all BPL families.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Vaisakh E Hari / December 30th, 2014

City firms bask in GSLV MK III success

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Thiruvananthapuram  :

As ISRO successfully test-fired GSLV Mark III, two firms in the city are on cloud nine. Medium scale engineering firms based in Thiruvananthapuram — Kortas Industries and Intimate Machines Private Ltd — have been closely involved in the development and production of many of the key components of GSLV-Mark III. Thursday’s launch was an experimental suborbital flight of 630-tonne GSLC Mark III to validate its ability to carry heavier communication satellites and crew modules for future manned missions.

Kortas Industries at Kochuveli has supplied around 12 components for the mission. Intimate Machines Private Ltd, a small and medium enterprise in Manvila, has supplied a model of GSLV Mark III to ISRO in March last. The miniature model was precisely made for conducting wind tunnel test, a crucial prelaunch operation.

“One of the major components supplied by Kortas is flex seal assembly of the gigantic 200 tonne booster motor for its flex nozzle. This is the most critical item for controlling the mission trajectory,” said M Shahabudeen, MD of Kortas.

Kortas also supplied multi-layer thermal boots for two S200 boosters and L-110 engine, nozzle closure assembly with thermal protection cover for L-110 liquid engine, separation system hardware for S200 boosters, nose cone and AFT shroud assemblies of flexi nozzle control tanks, etc. “In case if the GSLV deviate from its trajectory, it has to be destructed before falling at inhabited locations. We have supplied destruction charge sheaths for S200 boosters which will destroy the vehicle on air,” he said. It has also supplied various other auxiliary and pyro systems of the vehicle.

Kortas Industries has been engaged in technology development and manufacturing of aerospace systems, mechanical systems and precision components for the last 14 years. It has earlier supplied critical systems and components for all satellite launch vehicles of ISRO such as Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV), Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions.

Intimate Machines’ MD K C Sanjeev said that the successful launch of GSLV Mark III was a proud moment for them. The company has been associating with ISRO since 2006. After the Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO had congratulated Intimate Machines for their role in the mission.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / by Jisha Surya, TNN / December 19th, 2014

‘Mentoring calendar’ initiative to kick off

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

StartUpVillageKERALA22dec2014

Come March, and the country’s first technology business incubator in the private-public-partnership mode will launch its ‘mentoring calendar’ initiative. In the programme, IT stalwarts from the Silicon Valley and India’s leading Internet entrepreneurs will offer lesson plans to those incubated at the Startup Village here.

“This will be one of the major programmes to be launched in 2015. The aim is to provide the young founders of start-ups an opportunity to interact with mentors and learn from their rich experience,” said Pranav Kumar Suresh, Chief Executive Officer of Startup Village.

Explaining that the mentoring programme would be extended over a period of 10 weekends, Mr. Suresh pointed out that there were several issues that the young entrepreneurs needed to learn. “They may not know the intricacies of how to negotiate with an investor. Sometimes issues may crop up between a founder and co-founder or they may fall into a confused state after realising that the initial goals have not been met. Only a successful entrepreneur would be able to clear their doubts through the proposed face-to-face sessions,” he said.

Expanding space

Racing ahead of their expected target of incubating 1,000 start-ups in 10 years, the Startup Village will host 250 to 300 more ventures by next September.

Currently, over 50 start-ups are housed in the village located at the Technology Innovation Zone in the Kinfra Park. Work to add about 1.5 lakh sq.ft to the existing space is expected to be over in eight to nine months.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had recently opened an additional 10,000 sq.ft to the existing 15,000 sq.ft in the expanding incubator in view of the growing number of youngsters launching unique and innovative start-ups.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi /  by G. KrishnaKumar / Kochi – December 11th, 2014