Trivandrum Projects & Infrastructure :News

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of its 15th anniversary celebration, Ambrosia -The Classic Bake House will host a party on April 4 as a grand finale to the 4-day long anniversary bash. The party will introduce the concept that there can be fun without booze or any other teen deterrents.

The renovated Ambrosia joint at Bakery junction, is all set to host a four-day celebrations featuring Magical and Musical enlightenment, Magic Show, Music Band and Caricature presentation. RJs from Red FM will be joining guests at the joint as part of the celebration, said a press note issued by Ambrosia.

A mega menu buffet is the highlight of the April 4 party accompanied with DJ music and dance’N fun-filled partying for the teens and families alike. An unequalled range of pastries, home-made chocolates, momo, chou mean, summer special drinks and many more munchies offered at an attractive discounts are also on the offer. The tickets for finale will be available from April 1 to 4 at the Bakery Junction and Kowdiar Joints, said the press note.

Source : Expressbuzz

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Hansa Plaza

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Trivandrum City also Celebrated and conveyed best wishes to each and everyone on this Historic Occation of India' World Cup Win...

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Technopark, India's largest IT park is launching a cultural club named NATANA. The club is being launched in partnership with the Group of Technology companies-a strategic grouping of IT/ITES enterprises of Kerala. NATANA will serve as a platform to create an enabling environment for the IT professionals in Technopark to nurture their artistic talents and creative aspirations. The objective of the club is to bring together professionals from the Technopark community who are keen to pursue interests in culture, music, films, dance and other forms of traditional arts. The club also aims to facilitate partnerships with cultural organizations locally, nationally and internationally to facilitate cultural exchange programs and also to organize regular cultural evenings, events, film festivals and musicals for the benefit of the Technopark community.

The Event

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End to one of the major roadblocks in the development of MLA Hostel-Airport Road. When Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram Latin Archdiocese Soosaipakiyam laid the foundation stone for the construction of 1,000 vaults of the Pattoor cemetery here on Monday, it scripted a new episode in the history of road development.

Widening of a stretch of the MLA Hostel-Airport became a highly sensitive issue when two cemeteries needed to be dismantled for it. Two cemeteries at Pattoor - one owned by the St Joseph’s Latin Catholic Cathedral, Palayam, and the other belonging to the St Thomas Marthoma Church, Pattoor - had to give way for the road development.

Though the government was ready to give land as compensation, shifting the moral remains became an issue which would hurt the sentiments of the relatives of hundreds who were laid to rest there. Six long years of deadlock ended when authorities of both churches agreed to the compensation deal and gave their nod to shift the remains. Delay in handing over land and construction of retaining wall caused a time lag of six more months. Finally, most of the hurdles have been cleared for the road development.

The government has given 26.74 cents as compensation to the St Joseph’s Cathedral authorities for the 22.38 cents it had taken over for the road development. The Road Fund Board has agreed to construct vaults and retaining walls. As many as 500 bodies will be shifted from the 23 cents of the 165-year-old cemetery belonging to the St Joseph’s Cathedral. These will be shifted to new vaults to be constructed on the land now belonging to the Public Health Laboratory nearby.

PWD Minister M Vijayakumar, TRIDA secretary Dileep, vicar general Fr Eugene Pereira, vicar of St Joseph’s Cathedral Fr C Joseph and officials of the Road Fund Board, among others, attended the stone-laying ceremony. The road works will begin only after shifting the remains to the new vaults. Shifting of bodies will be a tedious and time-consuming process.

Remains of each of the buried will be collected in separate caskets and transferred to a new vault with all rituals. Only two corpses will be shifted per day. The construction of vaults will take almost four months and shifting of remains will take a year.

More than two hundreds bodies interred in the 13.5-cent cemetery of the Marthoma Church at Pattoor too will be shifted to the PH Lab premises. However, Fr John Mathew of St Thomas Marthoma Church said that there was a delay on the part of the Road Fund Board in constructing a retaining wall. “Unless the construction of the retaining wall gets over, the construction of vaults will get delayed indefinitely,” he said. He expressed the hope of completing the construction ahead of the monsoon.

Source : The Hindu

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The new branch of DSP BlackRock Investment Managers was launched at Pattom near Axis Bank on Wednesday. On the occasion of the branch inauguration, Ajit Menon, who heads the all-India sales for the AMC, said, “Thiruvananthapuram has been rising in the list of cities with a large number of investors, and we already have a large investor-base that hails from here. We see a strong pattern of growth in investors amongst many emerging cities in India, and we plan to launch a few more branches across India over the coming months.”

DSP BlackRock Investment Managers, a joint venture between the DSP Group and BlackRock, is one of the premier asset management companies in India and currently manages assets, including offshore advisory funds of Rs 41,264 crore (as on February 28, 2010).

The DSP group has a track record of over 145 years and through its investment companies owns 60 percent stake in the joint venture. BlackRock Inc., which owns 40 percent stake in the company, is one of the largest quoted asset management companies in the world and manages assets in excess of USD 3.5 trillion as on December 31, 2010.

Source : Expressbuzz

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Thiruvananthapuram: The Technopark campus here is abuzz with preparations for the formal launch of Natana, a cultural club that is expected to provide a platform for artistically inclined IT professionals to express their creative talent. Preparations are in full swing for the launch function to be held at the amphitheatre on the campus. Employees from various companies are participating in the rehearsal of a stage show to follow the inauguration.

Promoted by Technopark and the Group of Technology Companies (GTech), Natana seeks to promote creative arts among the IT professionals.

Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran is scheduled to launch Natana. He will also launch the theme song that has been composed for the inauguration.

The song has been composed by a team drawn from different companies. While professionals from MSquared composed the music and sang the theme song, a team from UST Global contributed the lyrics. Employees of IBS and Allianz Cornhill provided the background score.

The function will also witness a cultural collage of talent from Technopark, with participants from 40 companies. The grand finale will be a performance by the Avial Band.

K. Suresh Kumar, IT Secretary; Dr. Venu, Secretary-Tourism and Culture; Mervin Alexander, CEO, Technopark; and V.K. Mathews, Chairman GTech, are expected to attend the function.

Natana has been created on the public-private partnership model. It seeks to bring together IT professionals keen to pursue interests in culture, music, films, dance and other forms of traditional arts.

The club will facilitate partnership with cultural organisations and facilitate cultural exchange programmes. It will also organise regular cultural programmes, events, film festivals and musical events for the benefit of the employees on the campus.

“Natana would cater to all creative art forms from photography, filmmaking and editing, Kathakali and street hip-hop to scriptwriting and theatre arts. By conducting workshops, exhibitions, discussions and exchange programmes, the club aims at giving Technopark employees the perfect balance of life and getting them in touch with people who share their interest in the pursuit of art,” said Mr. Mervin Alexander.

“We are happy with the turnout and the enthusiasm shown by Technopark companies for the formation and the launch of Natana,” said Binu Shankar, CEO, Group of Technology Companies (GTech).

The core group of Natana comprises a handful of employees from various firms in Technopark who meet on a regular basis and plan upcoming events. A website has also been developed under the title natana.in.

Source : The Hindu

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Thiruvananthapuram: Innoz Technologies, a Technopark-based company specialising in mobile value-added services, has bagged the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) award for telecommunication.

The award was given away at MIT's Technology Review EmTech India Conclave held in Bangalore recently.

Innoz received the award for SMSGyan, a mobile-based search engine that can work with different Internet resources to give correct answers on cricket scores, stock market, weather and general information based on the encyclopaedia or dictionary. A user can subscribe to the service by sending GYAN as SMS to 55444. After subscription, the user can receive instant information about any topic, free of cost.

The company claims that SMSGyan has more than 10 million users in India.

Young innovators

Young innovators who come up with exciting inventions and research are elected for the award by the editors of the ‘Massachusetts Institute of Technology Review.' This year, MIT recognised TR35, a list of technologists and scientists, all under the age of 35.

Deepak Ravindran, CEO, Innoz Technologies, was rated among the 18 hottest technology innovators from India inside the TR35 for 2011 by the MIT.

Students' initiative

Rated among the Global 100 Technology companies in the world, Innoz was started by a group of engineering students from Kerala in 2008. The flagship product SMSGyan was developed while Mr. Ravindran and his partners were final semester students of engineering.

Source : The Hindu

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Drinking water fountains would soon be installed at various locations in the city zoo and the Napier museum. This would open a new front in the war against plastic; a war the zoo does not now appear to be winning.

At least 16 drinking water dispensing facilities would be installed on the zoo and museum compounds at a cost of Rs.60,000 apiece. This, the authorities hope, would give them the right to ban the entry of plastic bottles right at the Museum gates.

Director of Museums and Zoos K. Udaya Varman told The Hindu on Thursday that a government working group would meet after the elections to discuss the project. “This may be through in three to four months,” he said.

Total ban

“Once the fountains are in place, we will stop people from bringing plastic bottles into the Museum compound. If someone is insistent on carrying water, we would charge for that. If the bottle is handed back at the gate, the fee would be refunded. If bottles are not returned at the gate, the money would be used to remove the same from the zoo and museum premises,” Mr. Varman explained.

Over the past few years, the zoo has been fighting the ‘battle of the bottle.' Now, visitors to the Museum compound carry with them plastic material for snacks or meals. Bottles and carry bags are very often found littered in the compound. At the entry point to the zoo, however, visitors are asked to leave behind plastic water bottles. Though many visitors comply, some argue with the security staff. Yet others choose to smuggle in water bottles. As body search is not done, such visitors cannot be identified. The result is that a large quantity of plastic still finds its way inside the zoo premises. “We clear plastic bottles from the zoo lake every week,” Mr. Varman said. The danger posed by plastic material to the animals is often lost on many visitors. All the same, the zoo has so far failed to provide a safe alternative to visitors to quench their thirst. Officials admit that it is difficult for visitors — particularly children and the aged — to complete a round of the sprawling campus without once stopping for water.

Source : The Hindu

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Asian School of Business (ASB) will hold the fifth annual convocation of its Postgraduate Programme in Management (PGPM) at 4p.m. on April 9. The programme would be held at the School's new ‘green' campus near the upcoming Technocity at Pallippuram.

Chairman of the Board of Governors of the ASB and advisor to the Prime Minister for the National Skill Development Council, S. Ramadorai, will be the chief guest on the occasion, a press note issued here said.

Also present during the ceremony will be Samuel Paul, former Director of IIM-A; S. Jagadish, former Professor at IIM (B);George M. Thomas, Patron, ASB and Managing Director of Kenton Group of Companies; and G. Vijaya Raghavan, ember-Secretary, Board of Governors, ASB, and founder-CEO, Technopark.

The ASB campus, spread over 16 acres, is nearing completion and it would be one of the first in the country conforming to ‘Smart Building Protocols' and its specially designed architecture for energy efficiency and water conservation made it compliant for the LEED Green Campus Certification.

“Technopark-based firm UST Global has implemented the building automation, making the ASB campus one of the first ‘intelligent' campuses in India. Classrooms are equipped with advanced audio-visual equipment and video conferencing facilities. A fully Integrated building management system (IBMS), Wi-Fi, CCTV and access control cards for all rooms will make the ASB campus one of the most hi-tech academic campuses in the country,” it added.

A state-of-the-art library and residential and recreational facilities are nearing completion in the first phase of construction.

Singapore-based CPG Consultants, who designed the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, are the architects for the ASB campus.

“Placements for the Fifth batch of graduating students have seen considerable rise in the number of recruiters and the average pay on offer. The list of recruiters included companies like KPMG, Deloitte, Feedback Consulting, TCS eServe, UST Global and ICICI Securities,” the press note added.

Source : The Hindu

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Thiruvananthapuram: IBS Software Services, a Technopark-based company specialising in IT solutions for travel, transportation and logistics, has announced the appointment of Rajiv Shah as its chief executive officer (CEO).

He will take the responsibility for the operation of IBS' business worldwide.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Shah was with Wipro Technologies, based out of Boston, and was heading its securities & capital markets business as chief executive and later its healthcare and services business unit worldwide. He has over 25 years of experience in different companies.

Source : The Hindu

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"Natana" Launch : Part 1

Image Courtesy : technoparktoday.com

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"Natana" Launch : Part 2

Image Courtesy : technoparktoday.com

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"Natana" Launch : Part 3

Image Courtesy : technoparktoday.com

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Source : Kerala Kaumudi

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Source : Malayala Manorama

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All arrangements are in place for IT blue chip Oracle to launch its first operations in Kerala at the Technopark campus here in June.

M.Vasudevan, top official at the Technopark, told IANS: "Initially it would be an operation with around 100 IT professionals and they would be into software development. In the course of the year and later, the operations would be scaled up."

Headquartered in Redwood Shores, California , Oracle Corporation specialises in developing and marketing enterprise software products - particularly database management systems.

As of July 2010, the firm employed more than one lakh professionals across the globe.

The official announcement from Oracle is expected to be made shortly but it remains to be seen if the model code of conduct that is in force till the assembly votes are counted May 13 would act as a hindrance.

The Technopark campus has more than 200 companies that employ more than 30,000 professionals.

Source : Economic Times

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala IT sector will take a major leap forward next week with one of the world leaders in the IT sector, Oracle Corporation, inking an agreement on setting up its facility at the Leela Infopark in the Technopark campus, here.

Sources said that an agreement on allotting the space was expected to be signed between Oracle and Leela Infopark at Technopark on Monday. Technopark will be also part of the agreement.

Official sources preferred to be tight-lipped on the signing of agreement.

Oracle is expected to be represented by a delegation, led by vice president-real estate and head of infrastructure, Oracle India, Air Commodore R Jayaraman and Leela Infopark is expected to be represented by a delegation led by deputy managing director Venu Krishnan.

Technopark Chief Executive officer Mervin Alexander and other senior officials will represent Technopark, sources told Express.

The world IT major, which is planning to acquire about 50,000 square-feet space in Technopark, will be commencing operations from here in June. Initially, they will be commencing operations from about 3,000 square feet space being set up at the Park Centre of Technopark on a make-shift basis and will be moving to the Leela Infopark when the facilities are in place, sources said.

Oracle is also learnt to have already commenced a recruitment drive for its upcoming facility here. Oracle will be starting its operations with around 100 professionals and the manpower will be enhanced in a phased manner, said sources.

It may be recalled that Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had played a key role in pursuing Oracle to set up its facility in Kerala. A state delegation, comprising Tharoor and senior officials of the Technopark, had held a video-conferencing with an Oracle delegation, led by its executive vice-president Thomas Kurien.

Sources in the IT sector said that the decision of Oracle to set up its centre here will enhance the prominence of Kerala in the global IT map.

Leela Infopark, which has a total space of 5 lakh square feet, is already housing 12 companies. The total number of companies in Technopark is around 200.

Source : Expressbuzz

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Tvm: Oracle, the world’s leading business software and hardware systems company, today became the first major US IT company to set shop in Kerala. Oracle is setting up its Kerala operations at the Leela Infopark in the Technopark campus in Trivandrum.

The lease agreement to this effect was signed today between R Jayaraman, VP (Real Estate & Facilities), Oracle India and Venu Krishnan, Deputy MD, Leela Group in the presence of Kerala Chief Minister Shri V S Achuthanandan.

Interacting with the media, Jayaraman said that they found Trivandrum suitable and hoped to start the operations at the earliest. Giving details, Venu said the lease agreement for the 36,000 sq.ft. (one floor) space at the Leela Infopark has been signed for a period of nine years. The agreement also features an option for Oracle to opt for two more additional floors within a year. The facility would be ready in about 3 - 4 months. While Oracle is planning to start with about 100 resources, the said space can seat about 350 - 400 people.

Leela Infopark is the biggest private IT park developer in Kerala with 1.7 million sq.ft built-up space already available within Technopark, Trivandrum and Infopark, Kochi. The construction for another 0.5 million sq.ft is currently underway.

K Suresh Kumar IAS, IT Secretary; Mervin Alexander, CEO, Technopark and V J Jayakumar, CEO, Leela Infopark were among those present on the occasion.

Source : Kerala IT News