Posts Tagged ‘Thiruvananthapuram’
Written by admin on 31 January 2010
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 31 – Malayalam thespian Thilakan, who is angry with the two film organisations and a superstar for denying him an opportunity to act in the new film ‘Christian Brothers’, alleges that the film industry is under the control of a few.
‘The Malayalam industry is now controlled by a mafia which consists of a superstar and a few from the two film bodies (FEFKA and AMMA). Many for fear of being sidelined are silent. I am not going to be silent, I will fight against this gross injustice. You wait and see,’ said Thilakan who is in the industry for five decades.
Speaking to IANS, the veteran actor said that both FEFKA (Film Employees Federation of Kerala) and AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes) and a particular superstar are against him. He did not name the superstar.
‘They are trying to take vengeance against me because I acted in a film directed by Vinayan, who was against all these groups. But I am not going to take this lightly. I will take the fight into the enemy camp,’ said 74-year-old Thilakan, who was honoured with a Padma Shri last year.
Talking about director Joshy’s film ‘Christian Brothers’, he told TV channels: ‘Producer Subair came and paid me the advance and took 25 days from me in November last year. But later he called me and said ‘they’ are opposed to my acting in the film, because the superstar has said that it is a prestige issue for him,’ said Thilakan.
The Malayalam film industry currently has two reigning superstars Mammootty and Mohanlal.
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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Written by admin on 31 January 2010
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 31 – The Kerala government will release a coffee table book ‘IT@Kerala – The Smart State’, depicting the journey of the state from being a tourist destination to an information technology hotspot.
The 160-page book, charting Kerala’s march from being God’s Own Country to the hottest investment destination in the IT sector, will be launched by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here Monday.
The book details Kerala’s IT infrastructure, industry and its journey of becoming a smart state with smarter professionals. It also highlights the strengths and growth potential of IT in Kerala and gives a complete description of infrastructure facilities laid down for the IT industry.
Also, testimonials by the top IT companies operating in the state are shown.
IT Principal Secretary Ajay Kumar said the book is an initiative to provide an insight to potential investors about the exciting opportunities and conducive environment Kerala has to offer.
‘We have developed our IT policy with the idea of inclusive growth to enable socio-economic transformation to reach every single citizen of the state, simultaneously benefiting IT investors also,’ said Kumar.
The book lists all the major tourist destinations, the lush valleys, sunny beaches, misty hills and dozens of cultural spectacles, food, and ayurveda that engage business with pleasure and the facilities available with easier connectivity through road, rail and air transport in the state.
Currently there are more than 30,000 IT professionals working in the state in companies of varying size and shape which include top notch companies in the country.
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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Written by admin on 30 January 2010
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 30 – The Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC), an organisation bringing non-resident Keralites (NRKs) in various countries under one umbrella, came into being Saturday with support from the Congress’ Kerala unit.
Addressing reporters here, Congress state unit chief Ramesh Chennithala said the OICC, comprising various organisations based outside the country, has been formed and its constitution has been approved.
‘The two day meeting that concluded here today (Saturday) was attended by 250 representatives from various Middle Eastern countries and Europe, as also the US and Britain. Now these representatives will go back to these countries and form proper units of the OICC. The district committee would be the primary unit,’ he said.
Chennithala said representatives of the new grouping will soon go to Delhi and meet the prime minister and other ministers to raise the problems of the NRKs.
‘We will raise the issues like the problems faced by them with regards to Air India. Inordinate delays by the national carrier is a problem that has not been resolved for long. We will also demand posting of more Malayalam speaking officials in the Indian embassies in the Middle East countries,’ he said.
OICC came about after Chennithala made several trips to various Middle East countries to unite the various cultural groups that are at present working in those countries.
‘It has also been decided to hold a global summit of the OICC in Qatar in May. An organising committee under the leadership of (Qatar-based businessman) C.K. Menon has been formed,’ Chennithala said.
Currently, there are more than two million NRKs, of whom the majority is in the Middle East. Over the years, their remittances, which have crossed Rs.25,000 crore, now comprise about 20 per cent of the state’s net domestic product and are 30 percent more than the state’s annual receipts.
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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Written by admin on 29 January 2010
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 – An emergency meeting of Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) liaison committee here Friday asked the V.S.Achuthanandan government to take strong steps against all encroachments at the popular Munnar hill station, including by the Tatas.
Ahead of the LDF meeting, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) secretariat met and decided to ensure that a notice is served to Tata Tea, which allegedly built a check dam on eco fragile land at Munnar.
Speaking to reporters after the LDF meeting, LDF convenor Vaikom Viswan said the check dam constructed by Tata Tea is against the rules.
‘This has to be removed and the government has been asked to take appropriate steps. Since the last eviction operations of the government, it has come to light that several encroachments have again taken place at Munnar. We have asked the government to see that all such encroachers are evicted,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Tata spokesman T.Damu, participating in a TV debate, said that the company has done no wrong.
‘All what we did was some maintenance because what existed there was constructed several decades back. Due to the aging construction, we just did maintenance work and when we did it, we did it properly,’ he said.
Set 2,500 feet above sea level, Munnar in Idukki district is often called the ‘tea town’ of Kerala because it has more than 50,000 acres of tea estates, first owned by James Finlay and Company. Changing hands a few times since then, it is now with Tata Tea since 1983.
Even though Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan took the lead by demolishing several plush resorts way back in 2007, this was done without going through the mandatory procedures and as a result, cases piled up at the high court.
Munnar was back in the news when in one of his last judgments ahead of retirement last week, Kerala High Court’s Chief Justice S.R.Bannurmath lashed out at the Achuthanandan government and said that ‘green’ Munnar has now become ‘brown’ Munnar because of widespread encroachments by the rich and mighty.
Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy visited Munnar Thursday and said the Achuthanandan government has failed miserably in containing encroachments.
The opposition has asked the government to see the issues of settler farmers and encroachers separately, and urged it that the farmers who are in possession of less than four acres of land which they are holding on or before July 1977 should be treated differently and should be given title deeds.
Viswan said that in Idukki district, there is a lot of land which has been given on lease to various people and they are now waiting to hear from the apex court on a few cases that are pending before it about the rights of the settler farmers.
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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Written by admin on 29 January 2010
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 – The number of uneconomic schools in Kerala has gone up from over 2500 to 3661 in a span of two years, according to a recent study.
These comprise 1839 government schools and 1822 aided schools, the study conducted by the office of the state’s Director of Public Administration (DPI) said.
Speaking to IANS, DPI A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish said the last time a similar exercise was done was two year back.
‘My office is completing the report, and once it is done it would be submitted to the government for suitable action. It is too early to say what would be done,’ said Hanish.
The state has 4500 government schools, 7284 aided schools and 862 unaided schools.
Senior official at the DPI office Krishnan Kutty said the strength of the school is the yard stick to determine the viability of a school.
‘The basic norm today is that there should be a minimum of 100 students in the schools in each of the three categories of lower primary, upper primary and high school, and if it falls below that level then it is technically known as uneconomic,’ said Kutty.
A state government teacher told IANS that the unviability of the schools is not an alarming phenomenon as over the years the number of children enrolled in the government and aided schools offering the state syllabus is coming down.
‘Parents now feel their kids should get the best education and for that they go to schools which offer the CBSE and the ICSE curriculum. The need of the hour is to see that quality education be provided and the children will come back,’ said the teacher.
Figures published by the Economic Review point that the total number of children in these schools in 2006-07 was 47.19 lakh, it came down to 46.26 lakh the next fiscal, and it fell further to 45.46 lakh in the last fiscal.
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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Written by admin on 28 January 2010
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 – Emirates Airlines announced new packages coinciding with the start of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) in Dubai Thursday.
Travellers to Dubai for the DSF can now avail a package starting at Rs.19,461 on twin-sharing basis for a three nights, return economy class airfare besides breakfast, pick-up and return airport transfers by car.
Asha Subramanian, Emirates sales manager, said the airline has been associated with the DSF since its inception in 1996.
‘We expect to receive an increase of 12-15 percent in bookings during the DSF period compared to the previous years,’ said Subramanian.
The package price however does not include the departure taxes and surcharges.
Customers have a choice of accommodation from 22 selected properties to suit all budgets.
Complementing the DSF packages, the airline is also offering passengers to carry extra 10 kg luggage in all classes.
Emirates currently operate 12 weekly flights to Thiruvananthapuram and 184 weekly flights to 10 Indian destinations.
Tags: Thiruvananthapuram
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