General Discussions

[ajithv]

These four young art directors have broken a barrier and travelled into a terrain that, till last year, had remained ‘exclusively’ for foreigners.

Meet Thiruvananthapuram-based art directors Sabu Sivan, Ison P. Jacob, Rishi M. and Sreekumar.

Till last year, the Kerala Pavilion at all major travel marts was designed by professionals from foreign countries. This trend was reversed last year when ‘Next Frame Designers’, the city-based art directors’ firm, was awarded the work of the pavilion for the ITB-Berlin. It was followed by the works of the Kerala Pavilion at ITB-Asia, Singapore and Fitur, Spain. They have also been selected for designing the World Travel Market, London, the annual four-day festival to be held in November.

There is a story behind their selection for the ITB-Berlin. The State Government had selected spices of the State as the theme of last year’s pavilion. It had approached foreign professionals to design the pavilion giving it an ethnic touch. However, they backed out of the projects as they were not used to working with ethnic Kerala materials. They were more comfortable working with hi-tech materials.

It was at this juncture that Stark, the official advertising agency of the Tourism Department, had approached the group as they had the experience of working with the pavilion of the Kerala Travel Mart.

“In Berlin, our style of working with materials like wooden frames had created curiosity in other professionals working on pavilions of other countries,’’ said Sabu Sivan.

“We used old-fashioned instruments like hammers and ladders. In fact, some of the foreigners who were using most modern hi-tech equipment like cranes could not believe that they could complete complicated structures like backlights using these equipment. However, when the work was completed, they appreciated our work,’’ he said.

“Our pavilion was the only pavilion with an ethnic look. It was full of greenery and remained distinct from other pavilions that had a hi-tech look. In fact, we could even recreate the smell of ethnic Kerala spices,’’ he added.

They are familiar with working with hi-tech instruments too. “In fact, we are always up to date on materials and software. We are the first set of art directors to use computer-aided instruments for cutting art materials,’’ according to Sabu.

“The key to our style of functioning is always teamwork. We complement each other in our work,’’ he said.

The team has been working independently and collectively for film and television. In fact, the sets of all major reality shows like Super Star, Super Dancer, Star Singer and Mahila Ratnam were also designed by the team. They have also to their credit the sets of the news bulletins of Asianet News and Amritha TV.

Source

[ajithv]

Call this a giant leap in the tennis history of the State. Five students belonging to economically weaker families in the city have been selected to the district tennis team in the Under-14 girls and boys categories.

The credit goes to the Community Tennis Programme (CTP), the first such initiative of its kind in the country, launched by the Trivandrum Tennis Club in a bid to provide intense professional tennis coaching for children of (below-poverty line) BPL families.

As part of the CTP, which was inaugurated by Sports
and Youth Affairs Minister M. Vijayakumar during January 2009, one hundred children - both boys and girls - in the age group of 6-12 were shortlisted from six city schools.

Among them, Nimisha M. Kumar, Viji Prasad, Neethu G., Sandra Mahendran and Abhjith R. are the students who have made the grade.

Nimisha, Neethu and Viji are the eighth standard students at Peroorkada Government Higher Secondary School. While Sandra Mahendran is the seventh standard student at Cotton Hill Girls Higher Secondary School, Abhijith, the only boy in the list, is a sixth standard student at St Mary’s Higher Secondary School, Pattom.

“These kids have really made us proud. What they have achieved is much above our expectations. Actually, during the inaugural, we had decided to sponsor promising talents from this group after one year. Now, it is hardly seven months since the coaching has begun in full swing and the kids have produced good results,’’ TTC secretary Biju B. Soman told Expresso.

Initially, the students were given a three-hour training every Saturday. A tennis kit that carries a pair of tennis shoes, shorts, T-shirt and a racquet were given to each candidate. Now, the TTC has absorbed these kids and they will be given regular training.

“We are planning to give regular training to 20 players of the CTP. Presently, we have absorbed six players. The others will be selected next year,’’ Biju said. Besides sporting equipment, the adopted players will be given milk and egg everyday.

Students are thrilled to be part of a district team. “Before joining the camp, I hadn’t ever thought of playing tennis. Now, I am extremely happy and would like to become a tennis player in the future,’’ said Nimisha, who hails from Peroorkada.

Abhijith is very proud that he is the only boy who has achieved this feat.

“Apart from playing, now we don’t miss any chances to watch international tennis tournaments,’’ Neethu said.

All the kids, who attribute their success to coaches at the club especially Biju Mani, admire Roger Federer
and Serena Williams.

Parents accompany the students during their practice at the TTC.

“What the TTC is doing is a great job. Without CTP, my son could not have learned tennis. I can only give my physical support and will continue it as long as my child wishes to play,’’ said Abhijith’s father Radhakrishnan, a daily-wage labourer.

“Apart from exposing them to competitions, the training gives good exercise to the kids. My child has become more healthy and energetic now,’’ Neethu’s father Gopakumar said.

More importantly, this is the first time that the Peroorkada GHSS is getting a representation in the district tennis team. “As this was a rare chance for students of government schools to learn tennis, we thought of making the most of it. Around 28 students had got selection in the CTP. And it has yielded success. Now, we have given a proposal to the City Corporation requesting them to provide tennis racquets for the school,’’ said Asha Rani, Physical Education teacher at the school.

Source

[25Dude25]

King George V of The Tongan Islands enjoying a boat ride @ Poovar, Trivandrum



Courtesy: Kerala Kaumudi

[shelly]

Courtesy: Kerala Kaumudi

[RajeshVR]

A three-day Mexican film festival, being jointly organised by Kerala State Chalachitra Academy and the Mexican Embassy, will begin here from Tuesday.

Five feature films and eight short films would be screened at the festival, titled ‘First Impressions-New Mexican Directors,’ an Academy press release said.

‘More than anything in the world’ (Andres Leon Becker Javier Solar), ‘Tropic of cancer’ (Eugenio Pologovsky), ‘1973’ (Antonino Isordia), ‘Island being’ (Eun Hee Ihm) and ‘New from afar’ (Ricardo Benet) are the feature films to be screened at the festival.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities...ticle23175.ece

[Tob]

There was a peice in Manorama new today morning saying ' the requirement for a high court bench in the capital is cooling down'.....wats happenin on ground!!!

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by Tob

There was a peice in Manorama new today morning saying ' the requirement for a high court bench in the capital is cooling down'.....wats happenin on ground!!!

Cooling down perhaps in Nonorama's view.

A view that anyone interested in reality shouldn't care two hoots about. Dr. Tharoor has held discussions with the CJK and a reply is awaited from him.

[vinodtnt]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A free Wildlife Film Festival will be organised jointly by Forest Department and Kerala Chalachitra Academy from October 2 to 8 at Kalabhavan Theatre as part of the Wildlife Week celebrations. National and international films will be screened at the festival.

url

[sunilananda]

"The move to introduce Hi Tech Low floor buses in the city under the Centrally financed project has run into a roadblock.And it comes from the KSRTC that wants to run the service by itself rather than by the Ananthapuri Yathra Nigam under the city corporation.This objection will deprive the chance of having a different commuting experience as envisaged by the Nigam.Kochi Yathra Nigam is also facing a similar objection from KSRTC." as reported by Asianet News.


I had posted my opinion on running this service under a autonomous agency some time back in the same thread.I am seeing the idea being shared by atleast some in the city corporation , maybe under the GOI duress.It is high time, support is provided to a entity to run the city services under a different work ethics expected from a service of this sort.I hope better sense will prevail on the powers that be to restrain KSRTC from becoming a DOG IN THE MANGER.

[vinod/kakka]

Originally Posted by sunilananda

.I hope better sense will prevail on the powers that be to restrain KSRTC from becoming a DOG IN THE MANGER.

Hey, KSRTC looses 50 Lakh a day. Its not a dog. Its a crown jewel.

[Kannan46]

New aviary at city zoo

Sources: thehinduonline

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pelicans and herons in the city zoo now have space to stretch their wings. A new aviary at the zoo will be inaugurated by the Cultural Affairs Minister M.A. Baby on Friday.

Located next to the old bird-house, the new aviary sports 10 nesting boxes, six hanging perches and two fashioned out of bamboo. There is also a pool inside and two hillocks from which there is a waterfall that empties into the pool.

Preparatory to the inaugural ceremony, zoo officials transferred five grey pelicans, a rosy pelican and two grey herons to the new enclosure. On Friday, the Ibis and the spoon-bill too will be shifted to the new facility.

“What we plan to do is to house all water birds in the new enclosure and birds of prey in the old one,” zoo vet Joe Jacob Sebastian said.

The new enclosure has five feeding troughs. Unlike in the old bird house, the feed will be placed in these troughs and not scattered across the facility.

According to Dr. Sebastian, many birds in the old enclosure suffered from fungal infection due to lack of adequate exposure to sunlight. There will be no such problem in the new, airy aviary. Half of the new aviary’s dome will be covered.

“The birds will have the choice of either enjoying the rain and shine or remain in the shade,” he said. The facility has two service entrances.

On Friday, Mr. Baby will also launch a drive to clean the lake on the zoo premises. The lake will be de-silted and an embankment will be built around it. A cobbled pathway will be constructed along the lake’s perimeter. The project will be executed by COSTFORD. The drive will be held in two phases.

Surgery
A portion of the gangrene-afflicted tail of a male leopard was surgically removed on Wednesday. The 22-year-old is the oldest leopard at the city zoo. In all, the zoo has four leopards. The hoof of a Nilgai that had developed ‘laminitis’ was also subjected to a surgical procedure.

Cheers!!!

[Sivaharibuilders]

Hey folks,I have been a regular viewer of this site and am extremely happy with the job u guys are doin........!So,We the team from Sivahari builders in Trivandrum wishing u all de best and continue the gud job........We joined here for seeing the latest happenings in trivandrum and with permission from the moderators we are posting all of our projects here at regular intervals...do we?

Once again congrats for these gud job...

Visit http://www.sivaharibuilders.com

[ajithv]

Vilappil panchayat is slowly getting a makeover, shedding its image of being the city’s dumping yard. Hundreds of women in the panchayat have taken to dairy farming in the past three years, scripting a ‘desi’ white revolution here.

Thanks to Ksheeradhara, a project which was initiated by the Vilappil panchayat, along with the Kudumbasree District Mission, in 2006. Vilappil is now one among the panchayats with the largest milk production in the district.

An agricultural panchayat, crops have never been faithful to the farmers here. The waste treatment plant gave another shock to the locals, who still bear the brunt of it. Locals accuse water pollution from the leachate of the plant as a reason for a good number of farmers bidding goodbye to their occupation. However, things are definitely better now, at least for a group of women with the arrival of Ksheeradhara.

Initially, it was started as a cow-rearing scheme for women. Panchayat officials, along with the Vilappil Veterinary Hospital, zeroed in on three milkers from SEWA, who gave training to 48 women in the first phase. It was then that Kudumbasree entered the scene. Self-help groups of five women were first formed, training given in milking cows and two cows distributed to every member of 25 such self-help groups.

“There were the initial hiccups, but now everyone has fallen on track. There are three milk societies in the panchayat who are giving every ounce of support to these women. From individuals, it has now grown to a family affair and the whole panchayat has benefited,’’ says Dr Venugopal, Veterinary Surgeon at Vilappil Veterinary Hospital.

The family of Natarajan, a Gulf-returnee, is one of the families in the area who have seen the good effects of Ksheeradhara. “I returned from Gulf and took to dairy farming. Then, my wife joined the scheme and now we have 10 cows at home and are thriving,’’ Natarajan says.

His wife Latha takes equal interest in farming, and on their land, the couple has been doing fodder cultivation too. Their house has a dung-pit in the backyard, so there is enough of manure. “Under the scheme, we received financial assistance from Vilappil Cooperative Bank. We use the milk for our purposes and sell the rest. Now our family runs on this dairy farming,’’ Latha says.

Apart from the beneficiary contribution of Rs 10,000, the bank gives a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh to each group. “It’s a three-year scheme. But there is continuous monitoring from our part. Every three months, a team consisting of officials from the Panchayat, bank and hospital visit the beneficiaries to check the progress,’’ Venugopal says.

While milk shortage had hit the State badly a few months ago, the Vilappil panchayat has not known it for a long time now. The Vilappil, Myladi and Karode milk societies together procure more than 3,500 litres of milk per day. The largest private farm in Thiruvananthapuram, Pappas dairy, which collects nearly 1,000 litres of milk per day, is also located in Vilappil.

Source

[Pradeep Jacob]

Originally Posted by vinod/kakka

Hey, KSRTC looses 50 Lakh a day. Its not a dog. Its a crown jewel.

There is another report today on difficulties faced by this project in The Hindu.

I am of the opinion this is a pathetic failure of the state executive. What is the need for a special purpose vehicle for introducing this service? We should be aspiring to improve the performance of KSRTC and eventually phasing out the older buses. There is no valid reason why the old and the infirm has to face difficulty in boarding a public transport bus anywhere in the state.

[BabuCS]

Originally Posted by Sivaharibuilders

Hey folks,I have been a regular viewer of this site and am extremely happy with the job u guys are doin........!So,We the team from Sivahari builders in Trivandrum wishing u all de best and continue the gud job........We joined here for seeing the latest happenings in trivandrum and with permission from the moderators we are posting all of our projects here at regular intervals...do we?

Once again congrats for these gud job...

Visit http://www.sivaharibuilders.com

I think you should... by being a builder yourself, I guess it would be useful if you could share your experiences and other issues related to construction in TVM. But, certainly this is not a forum for promotion of your products.

[sanjay4]

[QUOTE=BabuCS;43458990]

Originally Posted by Pradeep Jacob

Well, he has limitations as an MP. He can only facilitate development ... he needs active support from GoK for most of the initiatives. Take for instance our Vizhinjam .. he cannot help if GoK is not willing to accept assistance from GoI shipping ministry. Similarly, the idea of twinning with Barcelona .. everything depends on the city administration and Tharoor can chip in with his contacts with that city.

We are less interested in Dr. Tharoor's family values and personal matters!! All we look forward is whether he can represent us in Parliament in a better way ... I mean speaking for TRV in all available venues including Twitter!!

Dr. Tharoor is a visionary leader. The elected MPs can only act according to the Framework of the Government. He is person whom both the Parties will listen to.

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by Pradeep Jacob

There is another report today on difficulties faced by this project in The Hindu.

I am of the opinion this is a pathetic failure of the state executive. What is the need for a special purpose vehicle for introducing this service?

The reason is simple, the creation of an SPV is mandated in the JNNURM project under which the buses are being introduced. All JNNURM funding is given only to LSGs and agencies like the KSRTC or the KWA, in the case of water-related projects, are only supposed to assist in operational aspects.

The user fees will also be accounted to the LSGs to help them payback the component that they have invested in the projects. Hence, it is not a situation unique to Kerala. The State Government cannot unilaterally change a Union Govt. policy.

The Trivandrum City Bus Service is central to KSRTC's revenue flows and hence they are worried of losing their cash cow. I am sure the private bus operators in Cochin would be even more scared of losing their turf.

[BabuCS]

We have discussed this before in this space. I am putting it again because someone has received a letter from a top builder on this matter .. I am quoting some part of the letter here.

" Dear Customer

We are thankful to you for supporting and motivating us in contruction of ............The sand used for construction in Trivandrum is imported from Tamil Nadu sources ( Nagercoil). Recently the Tamil Nadu Government has taken an in principle decision not to allow export of sand out of the state of Tamil Nadu.

Most of the builder's and contractor's construction in Trivandrum has been stopped.With our good relationships and stock at site, we could continue till now.This is a Force Majeure situation which nobody had anticipated.

The concerned authorities are discussing various means to ease the situation. As such we would also like to inform you till the situation improves, we could either go slow or if the situation worsens, we would have to stop the construction.

This situation would slightly affect our delievery schedule and as a responsible builder we would make sure to put all efforts to overcome the situation.

We would like to thank you again for the motivation and guidance you have given us till now "

[RajeshVR]

The poster of Shri Ram Sena that appeared in front of a women’s college in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.Express News ServiceFirst Published : 26 Sep 2009 10:53:22 AM ISTLast Updated : 26 Sep 2009 12:29:35 PM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State police intelligence is probing the presence of the Shri Ram Sena in the district following a poster campaign launched by the organisation in Thiruvananthapuram.


In the name of the Shri Ram Sena, a poster campaign had been launched in front of the women’s colleges of the district on Friday urging the Hindu girls to be vigilant against the “Love Jihad”. The posters appeared in front of the Government Women’s College at Vazhuthacaud and also the NSS College For Women at Perunthanni near West Fort.

The posters warn Hindu girls that, “Don’t fall prey to the campaign by the Islamic organisation “Love Jihad”. The organisation is indulged in wooing girls in the name of love and then converting them to Islam. Hindu girls should be aware of the Islam’s trap in the disguise of love. Moral war (dharmayudham) against Jihad.”

The posters sprang a big surprise for the state intelligence officials as they have not received any information about the presence of the organisation, which is popularly known as “Hindu Taliban”, in the district so far.

“The intelligence wing is yet to trace any source of the organisation here. The chances of any other group publishing the posters in the name of Shri Ram Sena also cannot be ruled out. However, we are not taking it lightly and are probing the incident following the presence of the posters in the city,” K Padmakumar, IG, Intelligence, told Express.

The Shri Ram Sena is a right-wing Hindu group founded by Pramod Muthalik, a former member of the RSS, Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena. The outfit is rated as a Hindu fundamentalist organisation in the country indulging in violence in many cities.

The group gained notoriety by attacking girls in a pub in Mangalore. A group of 40 activists of the Sena barged into a pub and beat up a group of young women and men, claiming the women were violating the traditional Indian values. The role of the outfit was also suspected behind the abduction of C H Kunhambu’s (MLA) daughter in Kasargod last February.



http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...OVZOOEmts&SEO=

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by BabuCS

We have discussed this before in this space.

Excavating river beds was never going to be a sustainable source of sand. The only solution is a combination of rock sand, desilting of reservoirs and dredging of sand from the sea.