Kochi | Discussions

DileepKS said:

I was away from Kakkanad for the early half of this decade. But what I know is that when Kinfra park was being set up, companies were DENIED permission to set up IT operations in favour of Technopark. When that (stupid) policy changed, companies started thronging to the area. That included DIC.

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Boss, I was with KINFRA in business development in (2001-2002). It was the Kinfra Information Technology & Electronics Park (KITEL) which was christened as INFOPARK later. Nobody had denied permission to set up operations from that Park.

I had worked with Technopark also later (2002-2003). WIPRO who had come to Technopark and was requested to take space in Infopark by the Govt since Infosys had alreay taken space in Technopark. We have later seen the press releases by the Satyam guy (I forgot his name, can dig out his name if reqd) also on similar grounds when they were requested to move to Infopark. Infact I was with him when he was responding to one of the media houses over the issue.

So there is no need to put the blame on 'Technopark' promotion.

arunpr said:

Same will the case for TCS also.

TCS asked for 50 acres of land in Infopark for a development centre in 2005 itself. Govt gave land in Technopark and now the development centre is almost finished. Later govt gave only 14 acres of land in Infopark, Kochi.

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Same here too. I have been seeing the first TCS facility in Technopark, (Training Centre) from late 1990s itself. It was later expanded as 'PEEPUL PARK', the global training centre in about 50 acres. This has happened before the request for land in Infopark. In Technopark too TCS had sought 14 acres for Development Centre. Just as in Infopark, they had been allotted the same in Technopark. Now, TCS is about the start the construction of the development centre in the 14 acres SEZ. (Tata Realty is the PMC & Shapoorji Pallonji are the contractors).

DileepKS said:

Sudheesh, I assume you know/guess where my information comes from. .

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Dileep, I think I know a brief outline of your curriculum vitae…Your stint overseas as well as your present company.

Probably the KITEL started after the policy change.

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No, KITEL was started prior to 2000.

There was no ‘policy’ earlier too favouring Technopark which got later changed. The LDF had initiated Technopark first then moved on to other district level industrial and IT parks. During their time they had somewhat neutral approach to all regions/parks. I could see the clear change when UDF got in to power (I think it was in 2002). It was very well evident from the actions of Kunhalikutty. Govt started pushing ‘Infopark’ from then. I myself has seen letters from Minister’s Office urging the need for promoting Kochi & Infopark. There is nothing wrong in promoting any park or any region, but it was like turning the head away from a facility which was getting critical mass and being noticed. Many new initiatives were announced in Kochi, ‘IT Corridor’ along Sea-port Airport Road, HI Tech City at Kalamassery etc. I had participated in trade shows, like India International Trade Fair in Delhi, with the models of those parks while the mention/participation of Technopark was not there.

Technopark at that time was going good with Mr. Rajiv Vasudevan, who was one of the most capable CEOs Technopark had seen. It was he who took the courage to get loans from banks for the construction of ‘Bhavani’. It was during his time Technopark got its critical mass, also MNCs like Ernst & Young, Mckinsey, Alliance Cornhill etc set up shop. He had maintained good relations with all companies and it was just like any other corporate CEO, he had been instrumental in the formation of Group Of Technopark Companies (GTECH), which provided a platform for all the companies to come together and work in tandem with Park Centre (Technopark). He was too ‘Corporate’ to adjust to our Govt settings and he became a ‘pain in the neck’ for many and finally he resigned. As I have mentioned earlier, I have the first hand information of the Govt’s request to Wipro to take space in Infopark and not in Technopark.

What is this Krishna? I just navigated to the link you provided for the Bangalore 'Case' of Bineesh Kodiyeri. Which all 'altoo- phaltoo' portals you depend on news?

See the language of the copywriters there. Seems they have not even got basic school education.

Home Minister of Kerela & Top communalist leader of Kerala, Bineesh kodiyeri is again trapped in prostitution case. He was engaged in Student association of India when he was going at Thiruvanathapuram for doing law.

Now he is working in UAE for a company. Bangalore Police was got arrest Russian Girl from a brothel central in Bangalore.

This foreign prostitute is from country russia and charge 15000 Rs. Per three hours.

News channel TV9 said that many laptops, photos, pen drives are found from that Russian lady. She has photos of Bineesh Kodiyeri. Before 6 months, Bineesh kodiyeri got married with a malayali girl Reneetha.

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And who said he was arrested in Bangalore? The news link says so in the heading, but not in the news matter.

Personally speaking, I do not think Bineesh had done anything that much wrong to get in to the headlines, if he has F****d the Russian girl. Perhaps he can be legally correct if he proves that no 'monetary transaction' is involved. Consenting sex between two adults is not a crime in India. BTW it says she also had the photos of Bineesh. I wonder which man will give even his 'real name', let alone share photos with a 'prostitute'.?

PS. BTW I am not a member of communist party. I do not agree with some of their ideologies. (Perhaps you can label me as a Sangh Parivar sympathiser/BJP guy, but there too my principles clash with some of their principles. I am with Sashi Tharoor, but it doesn't make me a Congress man either.)

But when you choose between LDF & UDF there is nothing much to differentiate. Kerala owes a lot to the early communist movement for the egalitarian society it has.

I have also seen a comment saying because of the communists, Kerala is 10 years behind other states. That is an 'ignorant', bull shit statement.

sakrishna said:

Any answer about the arrest Binsih Kodiyeri had to face in Bangalore?

Bineesh Kodiyeri arrested in bangalore

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^^Nowhere in India, city/metro public transport corporations are in profits, except BMTC (Bangalore Metro Transport Corporation). Without even running the costly Volvos, BEST, DTC are in losses for decades. Regarding the state transport corporations also KaSRTC is the only one which is in profit for consecutive years.

Bangalore has the highest number of Volvo city buses, around 500 and it leads any other Indian city by a big margin. (I think in any other Indian cities , the number is in two digits only). The buses have good patronage and in many routes you will get a Volvo within 5 minutes of waiting time. Even then it is in ‘Operational losses’. I think the operational losses of 9 crores in 2007-08 had come down 3 crores in 2008-09. to But they earn other income through full body wrap advts which manage to bring in profits.

JNNURM is specific to cities. But in TN, the buses are being used in intercity routes.

I don’ think any low floor a/c Volvo buses have started operations in Coimbatore. They are non a/c semi low floor buses.

‘Thiru Kochi’ gets the name from the name of state formed by the merger of ‘Travancore (Thiruvithaamkoor ) & Kochi in 1947.

KSRTC had its origins from Travancore. The first city service was started in Trivandrum. The State Motor Service was inaugurated by His Highness Sree Chithirathirunal on 20.2.1938. There were 34 buses which were flagged off from the Kowdiar Square. Consequent on the enactment of Road Transport Corporation Act in 1950, Govt of Kerala formulated KSRTC rules in 1965 and the Travancore State Transport Department was converted in to Kerala State road Transport in 1965.

See some pics also here..(Binaiks is an avid bus/train fan and has lots of pics about KSRTC, KaSRTC, MSRTC, BEST, BMTC, MTC, TNSTC and Indian Railways)

binaiks said:

Yesterday was another big day for Kochi (kerala). The state run KSRTC introduced City services in the second biggest city in Kerala. Till date, over 700 private buses were operating on city routes in Kochi. From yesterday, 50 brand new KSRTC buses started operations.

The buses are a mix of TATA and Leyland, and all are normal buses (regular chassis). Body was built by KSRTC workshops in Trivandrum (Pappanamcode, Central Workshop), Mavelikkara, Aluva, Edappal and Kozhikode. The buses are named "Thirukochi" - which was the name of the state before reorganisation as Kerala. Although the name has no particular bearing to the operating area, the name lends the service an identity of its own.

Posting a couple of pics:


A Central workshop built TATA


A Kozhikode workshop built Leyland

The colour scheme is similar to the one being used in new City buses in Trivandrum. These buses operate as "City Ordinary" and would stop at all stops. The charge is same as that of the current private buses.

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DileepKS said:

First of all, I am a naturally born subject of Sripadmanabha Dasa Vanchipala Kulasekhara kiritapati Maharaja of Travancore, and I happen to know the history of State transport in Travancore and the Thiru-Kochi joint state very well. I don't see any reason for that name for the city service here, that's all. Thiru-Kochi was an interim arrangement for administration, directed by the policy of the union of India to merge the neighbouring princely states into administrative units. Malabar was british India, part of Madras state. It would take time to break it apart and merge to form Kerala.

It has no significance today.

The only thing I saw in the papers is that it was suggested by John Paul, the screenwriter. I don't know what inspired him, when the best name 'Goshree' was there in everyone's minds..

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Ya, I too agree, I was wondering why ‘Thiru-Kochi’ was used to brand the city buses in Kochi.

The branding of buses started some 5-6 years back with ‘Ananthapuri Fast’ buses of Trivandrum city. The name was apt in denoting the name of the city. Then mofussil buses of KSRTC (not city services) got two more brands, ‘Venad’ and ‘Malabar’. These names also specify the respective regions.

DileepKS said:

Oh, and for the record, I don't hate any place. .

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You said you hate 'Thiru Kochi'.(Post No 178) Naturally the term denotes the province 'Thiru Kochi', and so people will take it as you hate either Thiru or Kochi or both.

arundinil said:

I feel, the best is that KSRTC introduced city services, no matter what name is.......A major relief to those who were brutally suppressed by private red killers.

Thanks

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Of course, right..

DileepKS said:

There is no province Thiru Kochi since 1956, and the authorities have made it clear that the name does not refer to that erstwhile contraption..

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Even though no province in there, there are cases where still Travancore-Cochin is still used..

First one is the state common engg/medicine entrance test, which has merit lists for TC and Malabar seperately. I have observed that chances for those in Malabar list to get through is more easy than those in TC merit list.


In the case of Societies Registration Act, an Act for the registration of literary, scientific and charitable societies, the societies in TC area is registered as per "Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act.1955". For Malabar, there is seperate Registration Authority.

DileepKS said:

I said "I Hate the name". The name chosen for the service. Any other connotation comes from biased minds..

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When the reason for 'hate' is not clear, we cannot find fault if people think otherwise, since the name of the region is there, with an 'superlative adjective' of ' Thiru'. Normally 'Thiru' is used for all such usages like 'Thiru Onam', 'Thiru Manassu', 'Thiru Ananathapuram' etc.

DileepKS said:

Yes, I hate the name chosen by the authorities for the city service of KSRTC in Kochi.

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Noted

sree_ec said:

Without food security within our state, we will be nothing in the coming days. See how some TN politicians dare to block the food supplies to kerala whenever there is some developement regarding the Mullapperiyar issue in favor of Kerala.

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You guys are not seeing the other side. It is BS saying that if one neighbouring state doesn’t give supplies like rice or vegetables it will be a doomsday for us.
I would like to see it from another angle. It will affect the livelihood of many farmers in that state. I remember reading about the suicides of chicken farmers in Namakkal when the supply to Kerala was slowed down due to the ‘Kozhi Vasantha’ disease.

We will try out alternate ways for getting the supplies, there are other routes and states. Mallus are smart in that. Only thing is that we should have cash to buy, and the percapita income levels of keralites are among the highest in India. If you have cash, products will find a way to where you are. While many crib that we don’t have enough agricultural production, they are not aware of the other sector which brings in cash. It is the cash crops. Infact it is Jawaharlal Nehru’s advise to kerala to focus on cash crops and earn the much needed foreign exchange. Kerala tops in the production of cash crops including spices, rubber, etc. Sell rubber, spices etc and use that money to buy rice or vegetables.

Alternately, scarcity is the mother of invention. If we are having shortages, we will try to find out alternatives. Rather than large scale cultivation, everybody can think of having ‘Adukkal Thottams’ (Of course not for Rice, eventhough things are getting better in cooperative farming in that sector also). In Trivandrum Corporation, along with Kudumbashree there are such schemes to be self sufficient as far as daily needs are concerned.

Best example is the blockade of supply of ‘Sand’ from South TN to Trivandrum and other southern districts. From the time I know Trivandrum was getting sand from Nagercoil and Tirunelveli (Tamraparni River). Some 2 years back, on the pretext of some court order, TN stopped the sale of sand across the borders. The reason is said to be the stoppage of Neyyar water to the Kanyakumari dist. Checkposts were erected and shoot at sight orders were also issued for those smuggling sand across the border. This was exactly the time when I started the construction of my new home in TVM. The prices shot up and then we began to think of alternatives. Then MSand became popular and ‘Poabsons’ made good money. We even imported sand via Ship from Gujarat. And I think there were talks of getting sand from GULF. We learnt to live with it. Nobody has stopped construction since the sand is not coming from Kanyakumari. I have also completed the construction of my home in a grand way.

What happened to the poor guys on the other side? Historically most of the construction labour, material suppliers etc in TVM are from Kanyakumari dist. This blockade has affected them. My neighbour is a material agent and I get to see many of the suppliers who comes to his house to get orders. These guys even risk their lives driving through alternate routes or crashing through barriers.