Cochin/Kochi projects and pics

[PLUS]

Gold Souk Grande set to open

Anyone knows the date ?

[bhasidali]

^^^
This is not the latest. It has taken on the occasion of key handling ceremony happend months before. Look at the Name board at the second pic. Just Gold Souk..

[uncle_virus]

Projects worth crores comin 4 approval b4 CM,but with strings attached...
They need a lot of exemptions wich d present govt might not approve
http://www.mathrubhumi.com/story.php?id=56857

[PLUS]

Uncal

"മാലിന്യം കായലിലേക്ക് ഒഴുക്കാന്‍ അനുമതി തരുക."

First of all, this is a creation by Mathrubhumi. Terms for Sobha's application for Environmental
Clearance are available Here.

It clearly states treatment facility for all waste generated and continuous monitoring of it.
There are many people who work for Veerendrakumar, than for Mathrubhumi, who himself
is a real estate dealer. That is the origin of such lies.

The rest of the exemptions are mainly are the same for all IT projects, exemption from
KLRA, reclamation of paddy fields etc. Moreover, none of these projects have paddy field
under cultivation. In fact for what was proposed to be Technocity
there have been more paddy field reclamation than both Sobha and Elbit projects and govt
offered approval for it - in fact govt itself took over paddy field that is under cultivation !!
It is another matter that despite such a dolly of approvals it remains a Take-no-city


Finally on sanction, the only party who has objections is CPI - as usual with SEZ.
Even inside CPI there is only a section who objects.

Just as in the case of SEZs, other parties know how to deal with such objections.
Notice that opposition have also blamed govt for the delay in giving approval.

To see whether they get sanction, you only have to wait 2-3 weeks, why speculate ?
Reading such material will help uncal keep up your hopes for 2-3 weeks when reality
will anyway take over.

[svishnudas]

Ladies Only Bank @ Panampilli Nagar, kochi

http://www.metrovaartha.com/2009/09/231 ... kochi.html

[PLUS]

^^^
This is not the latest. It has taken on the occasion of key handling ceremony happend months before. Look at the Name board at the second pic. Just Gold Souk..

Bhasid, Please get us the latest. Looks like exterior is all done up, probably
different stores are doing their interiors now.

[PLUS]

Muziris Heritage project takes off

Cabinet nod for Muziris project

Centre to fund 50% of project cost

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cabinet gave its clearance for the Rs.140-crore Muziris Cultural Heritage Conservation Project on Wednesday.

Briefing the media here, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said project was aimed at preservation and restoration of heritage sites spread over a large area in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts of Kerala. They were the oldest heritage sites in the State (linked to the ancient port of Muziris). The Chief Minister said the Centre would provide 50 per cent of the project cost.

An official release said the project would be undertaken with the participation of local self governments, government departments and institutions such as the National Traffic Planning and Automation Centre and the Kerala Council for Historical Research. The project will cover Vadakkan paravoor, Chendamangalam, Chittattinkara, Vadakekara and Pallippuram in Ernakulam district and Kodungallur, Mathilakam, S.N. Puram, Eriyad and Methala in Thrissur district.

Several historical monuments and buildings such as the Kottappuram kotta, synagogue at Paravoor, Paliayam Dutch Palace, Paliyam Nalukettu, Pallipuram Kotta, Vypinkotta seminary, House of Abdul Rahiman Sahib, Kottayil Kovilakam, Kodungallur Bhagavathi Temple, Cheraman Juma Masjid, Cheraman Parambu, synagogue at Chennappally, Thiurvanchikulam Mahadeva Temple, Keezhthali Siva Temple, and old research centres at Pattanam and Kottapuram will be protected under the project. Besides, basic infrastructure such as roads, waterways and boat jetties in the area will be improved.

The release said several museums would also be set up as part of the project. These include a historic museum related to the independence struggle, historic museums dealing with Syrian Christian and Islamic heritage, museum of Kerala literature, military museum, site museum at Pattanam and a maritime museum.

A committee headed by the Minister for Tourism will oversee the implementation of the Project.

The Hindu

Fillip for heritage scheme

K.P.M. Basheer

Aims at conserving historical sites in Muziris area

The port had trade ties with Rome, China, Arabia

KOCHI: With the approval by the State Cabinet on Wednesday for the Muziris Heritage Site (MHS), the heritage conservation-cum-tourism project that centres on the ancient Muziris port, believed to have been located at Kodungalloor, has crossed a crucial hurdle.

Detailed work plans of the project is already in place and the Cabinet nod will now be followed by a Government Order, which will authorise departments to get involved. The Cabinet has approved an expenditure of Rs.140 crore. Of this, Rs. 67.75 crore will be the Centre’s contribution; Rs.62.25 crore by various departments in addition to the Rs. 10 crore earmarked in the 2009-10 State budget.

The project will be headquartered at the Kunjikuttan Thampuran College, Kodungalloor. There will be a three-tier monitoring system for the project. The first, a coordination committee, will be headed by the Tourism Minister and will have six other Ministers, the principal secretaries of Finance and Higher Education and the Tourism Secretary as members.

For time-bound implementation and coordination among agencies, there will be a monitoring group of senior officials that will be headed by the Tourism secretary. The third tier will be a special implementation team which will supervise the grassroots-level implementation. A special officer in the rank of an executive engineer will be in charge of the team.

Apart from these, there will be a project evaluation committee at the local level with the Tourism Minister as chairman. The Finance Minister and other Ministers hailing from the project area, and heads of local bodies will be members of this committee. Reputed conservation expert Benny Kuriakose will be the conservation consultant. His team has designed the project.

The MHS will cover North Paravur and Kodungalloor municipalities and eight grama panchayats in Thrissur and Ernakulam. The project aims at conserving a lot of historical and cultural sites in the Muziris area. The port which lasted from a few centuries before Christ to the 14th century was an important commercial centre that had trade relations with ancient Rome, China, Arabia and the Mediterranean. The ongoing excavations at Pattanam have thrown up a lot of evidence underscoring the port’s prominence.

Now that the Cabinet has approved it, the work on the MHS will get a fillip, officials said. Already, the project is at least two months behind the earlier timeline.
The Hindu

[PLUS]

State Govt to meet land acquisition expense for JNNURM projects

That will take a big burden off the Corporation.

Land acquisition issue hinders projects in city

Staff Reporter

Chief Secretary to hold meeting in Kochi today

KOCHI: The contentious issue of land acquisition continues to be the major roadblock in completing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission projects in Kochi.

The issue is likely to be come up at a review meeting of the mission projects to be held in the city on Thursday. The meeting, convened by the Chief Secretary, will be held at the Council Hall at 12 noon.

A large extent of land needs to be acquired for projects ranging from water supply to roads and rail overbridges in the city. Three road projects, two rail overbridges, the drinking water supply scheme from Muvattupuzha river and the sewerage project require land acquisition. The Brahmapuram solid waste treatment plant also requires additional land for its expansion. The corporation needs to raise funds for the land acquisition, as the mission will not finance land acquisition.

However, the government has agreed to buy the land and subsequently lease it to the Kochi Corporation. The paper works for the land purchase have been initiated, officials said.

The reluctance of the contractors in taking up the projects is also a matter of concern.

The contractual conditions fixed by the mission are unacceptable to most of the contractors. However, the conditions have been framed in national pattern and there is no scope for dilution of the conditions for individual States, officials said.

The Hindu

[PLUS]

ICICI Banks starts E Lobby in Tejomaya


17/09/2009 - Mr. K V. Kamath, ICICI Bank Chairman Inaugurated first of its kind Electronic Banking Lobby in L&T Tech Park. This is the first Electonic Banking facility if ICICI Bank in South India

The e-lobby, which is ICICI’s first self-serving banking centre in the country, has been designed to showcase electronic money management technology. The e-lobby includes multiple ATMs, electronic bill payment facilities, video-conferencing and on-line broking among other facilities.
http://www.lnttechpark.com/php/showNewsDetails.php?n_id=21

[PLUS]

CIAL to acquire 1200 acres for expansion

Second runway will be constructed

CIAL will need to reintroduce the users fee (UDF) to finance these, as AAI itself
is going to introduce these at the Calicut and Trivandrum airports soon.

Dispute with HUDCO will have to be resolved soon so that CIAL can also
raise funds through IPO.

User fee issue likely to dominate CIAL meeting

A Correspondent

Chief Secretary to be inducted into the board

Nedumbassery: The contentious issue of charging a user development fee from air passengers is likely to trigger a heated row at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) scheduled for Friday, if the director board meeting scheduled on the eve of the AGM fails to take a decision on the issue.

The last AGM had witnessed heated arguments on the subject, with the proposal to reintroduce the fee splitting the company shareholders and directors into two groups. As a consequence, the Chief Minister and company chairman V.S. Achuthanandan had entrusted the board of directors with the task of arriving at a consensus.
Sensitive issue

The airport, since its inception, had been charging a user development fee of Rs. 500 from all departing international passengers till January 2006 when the previous United Democratic Front government decided to do away with the practice.

According to company officials, CIAL has had to forgo over Rs. 250 crore, using which it could have completed its first phase of development in five years.

The issue has become a sensitive one with a section of the shareholders arguing that charging the fee would amount to exploiting low paid Non-Resident Keralites.

It will also reappoint Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac and Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran as company directors. Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan will also be included in the director board.

Airport sources said that with its annual growth rate of 20 per cent in flight movements, CIAL would soon require an additional property of 1,200 acres for constructing a secondary runway to attain the optimum level of operations.

The Hindu

[AbrahamVCherry]

Septic waste won’t stink any more

KOCHI: To tackle the growing septic tank waste, the Kochi Corporation has decided to start two new sewage treatment plants in the city. The tender procedures of the plants, which are to be started in West Kochi and East Kochi areas, have started.

The agency for constructing the plants will be the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). Once the plants are set up, sewage waste from households, offices and other establishments can be disposed of through pipelines specifically laid for it and treated at the plant. “We have initiated tender procedures for constructing two sewage plants. The plants will be a permanent solution to the problem of septic tank waste being dumped in various drains and water bodies in the city,’’ said Deputy Mayor C K Manisanker.

“We will be entrusting the construction of the plant to the KWA as it is the only agency with adequate expertise in the area,’’ he said. There is already a sewage plant run by the KWA at Elamkulam to cater to the needs of the central business district (CBD). But a large section of households and offices in the area are not using the facility. According to the residents in the area, the high rate charged for using the facility keeps them away.

According to Corporation and Health Department officials, one main reason for the mosquito menace in the city is leaking septic tanks. The sewage plant is expected to solve this problem.

kochi@epmltd.com

Express news

[PLUS]

Kochi Mahanagara Road Yatra Marg Ltd to operate JNNURM buses

[PLUS]

NEW TOWN HEIGHTS DLF KAKKANAD

[PLUS]

Duty-free store to open in Cochin cruise terminal
Bill Lumley
24-Sep-2009

A store is planned for India’s first home port for cruiselines

Cochin is preparing to become India’s first home port for cruiselines after Kerala Tourism signed a deal in September with cruise operator Louis Cruises India to begin operating cruises in December 2009. Its ship Ultramarine, which has a capacity for 1,200 passengers, will sail from Cochin to Colombo and the Maldives.

A spokesman for the civil engineer confirmed that one duty-free store will open in the new port development, but said it was too early to give any details. “We will have a clearer idea about the operator and the size of the store early next year,” he told DFNI. At present the only duty-free operation in Cochin is at the airport.

About 10m Indians travel abroad each year, many of whom have significant disposable incomes. An increasing number of international cruiselines call at Cochin, indicating its emergence as an important destination for cruise tourism in the region, according to Kerala state home and tourism minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

The state of Kerala recorded a 16.1% increase in foreign tourist arrivals in 2008.

Source

[PLUS]

Users fee to be levied at CIAL

CIAL will be able to raise funds for expansion with the help of this

Aviation SEZ phase I on 20 acres soon

CIAL to restore user fee

A Correspondent

Nedumbassery: The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has decided to restore the user development fee chargeable from air passengers. This was decided at a meeting of the company director board convened here on Thursday evening ahead of its 15th Annual General Meeting in Ernakulam on Friday.

The meeting also decided to set up a taxi link at the airport for the upcoming Coast Guard enclave in Kochi. A decision to start the preliminary discussions regarding the selection of investors in the aviation industry based in the industrial park proposed by CIAL was also a made.

In the absence of the company chairman V.S. Achuthanadan, the meeting was presided over by Fisheries Minister S. Sarma and was attended by Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan, among others.
The Hindu

[svishnudas]

Kochi - Bangalore Non-Stop (Turanto) Express feasibility study

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/M ... &BV_ID=@@@

[PLUS]

One more

Identify the tall building u/c towards the right



Sreelal TS flickr gallery

[AbrahamVCherry]

Reach out to the world, VS tells CIAL academy

A Correspondent

Reservation to be made applicable to institute

Nedumbassery: The aviation academy set up by the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) will make significant contributions to the global civil aviation scenario, said Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, here on Friday.

Inaugurating the academic block of the institute, he described the institute as a great leap forward by a concern which started the first green field airport in the country. Extending his wishes to the institute, he said the vocational courses designed by the academy would help to train personnel for the fast growing market in the areas of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul.

Speaking on the occasion, M. Madhavan Nambiar, Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, urged the academy to engage in tie-ups with international organisations like the IATA and the ICAO to maintain high standards in the domain.

He suggested spending more funds on infrastructure development. The country required skilled and trained persons in 10 to 15 categories of jobs in this sector, including air traffic control and maintenance, he said.
M.Tech. programme

Fisheries Minister S. Sarma, who presided over the function, said that the norms of reservation would be made applicable to the academy in the coming years. Steps had been taken to ensure that the institute would not charge exorbitant fees from its students.

The academy has already begun classes in aviation business management, airport operations management and air cargo management. It offers postgraduate programmes, diploma courses and certificate courses in the field of aviation.

The managing director of CIAL, C.G. Krishnadas Nair and the Vice-Chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University V.N. Rajashekharan Pillai spoke on the proposed M.Tech. programme on airport design and construction management and the work-integrated learning programmes designed by the institute.

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran; Transport Minister Jose Thettayil; P. Rajiv and K.P. Dhanapalan, MPs, were also present.

Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the new international departure terminal.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/26/stories ... 440300.htm

[AbrahamVCherry]

Master plan for Muziris project

A Correspondent

Nedumbassery: The development of the Muziris heritage tourism circuit that is spread over eight grama panchayats and two municipalities in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts would be carried out such a way as to accommodate the economic and cultural aspects of these localities, said S. Sarma, Minister for Fisheries and Registration here recently.

Addressing the media persons at North Paravur, he stressed the importance of the need to develop infrastructure linking all the historic and cultural sites by constructing new roads and developing the inland waterway system.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/26/stories ... 760200.htm

Presentation on Vytilla terminal

Staff Reporter

Kochi: The first stage of the proposed Vytilla bus terminal could encompass development of the basement parking facility as well. In two detailed reports prepared by the Kerala Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Ltd. (Kitco) on the project, the one with underground parking in the first stage was well-received at a presentation made before Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan here on Friday.

“In the coming days, District Collector M. Beena will submit a detailed report on the same to the Chief Secretary, who, in turn, will place it before the Cabinet after consultations with various departments that have a stake in the project,” said S. Sarma, Minister for Fisheries.

According to Kitco authorities, if a memorandum of understating (MoU) is signed in October, after a month-long tender evaluation process, the project could be launched in November with the aim of completing the first stage in a year. It has also been recommended to prompt the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to create two underpasses at the busy Vytilla junction so that traffic snarls due to criss-crossing of vehicles can be averted. Kitco presented two study reports on the first stage of the project. Besides the District Collector, Kitco chairman and managing director A.X. Alex; general manager Cyriac David; and architect Gopakumar were present on the occasion.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/26/stories ... 430300.htm

[KMC]

Another Luxury hotel by singapore based group
Courtesy : Scorpiogenius

Alila plots growth strategy in Asia

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/articles.as ... cleId=1188