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PM Modi dedicates Kochi Metro to the nation

Agencies
June 17, 2017

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 17: Kerala shifted tracks to a new phase in urban transport infrastructure on Saturday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicating the first phase of Kochi Metro to the nation.

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Before the formal opening of the 13.26-km first phase, between Palarivattom and Aluva, the Prime Minister took a ride on one of the trains. Addressing a gathering at the inaugural event’s venue in Kaloor, Modi highlighted features of Kerala’s first metro rail network which made it unique.

Kochi Metro is the first metro project commissioned with Communication-Based Train Controlling Signalling System. The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has provided jobs for about 1,000 women and 23 trans-genders. “The project is also an example of environment-friendly development. It plans to meet nearly 25% of the entire energy requirements from renewable sources, particularly solar energy. The long-term plan is to become a zero-carbon emitting urban transit system,” the Prime Minister said.

Modi said 50 cities in the country were ready to implement metro rail projects and foreign investment had been invited to the urban public transport sector. He said the National Transit Oriented Development Policy, issued in April, aimed to create “compact walkable communities” and bring public transport closer to transit.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan acknowledged contributions of migrant labourers in the construction of the Metro and requested KMRL to facilitate a Metro ride for them. Lauding the project coordinators for finishing work on the Metro on schedule, the Chief Minister said Kochi Metro sent out a message to potential investors that development projects could be completed in a time-bound manner in Kerala.

He sought assistance from the Centre to further the state-Centre association to pursue the development agenda while acknowledging the Centre’s “positive” approach to development. In a veiled reference to earlier uncertainties over the Prime Minister’s presence at the event, Vijayan said people who created the controversy were left “disappointed”. Kochi Metro will begin commercial operations on Monday.

Insets

On track

** Construction completed in four years
** Total project cost of Rs 5,181.79 crore
** Rs 2032.91 crore released by GoI
** Total 25.612 km, fully elevated, from Aluva to Petta
** 22 stations; 11 in phase 1
** 13.26 km in phase 1, in 20 minutes
** A train every 10 minutes, fares start at Rs 10
** First-in-India open-loop smart card for buses, taxi-cabs, autos
** 25% of energy requirements from renewable sources
** Covered vertical garden on every sixth pillar
** Water Metro as feeder service planned with 38 jetties

Cheers to Metro man

At the inaugural event attended by senior politicians and bureaucrats, the loudest cheers from the 3,000-odd crowd were reserved for ‘Metro Man’ and Chief Adviser for Kochi Metro, E Sreedharan. The applause, every time his name was mentioned on the dais, was significant after an earlier controversy over his exclusion from the dais. The veteran engineer, however, was characteristically self-effacing in his response. “(the cheers were) Probably because I’m a local,” he told reporters.

Fracas over a "free ride"

The presence of BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan during the Prime Minister’s inaugural Metro journey has come in for some criticism. Rajasekharan was not in the original list of passengers scheduled to travel with Modi, from Palarivattom to Pathadippalam.

The PM was accompanied by Governor P Sathasivam, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Secretary Nalini Netto, Urban Development Secretary Rajiv Gauba, E Sreedharan and KMRL Managing Director Elias George. Rajasekharan’s presence was criticised on social media, also because elected representatives were not invited for the ride.

Comments

Shankar
 - 
Sunday, 18 Jun 2017

BJP is trying really hard to make a mark in Kerala. They are using all the PR tricks known to them.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 20,2020

Mangaluru, June 20: A teenage boy lost his life after accidentally drowning in Netravati River at Boliyar village on the outskirts of the city yesterday.

The deceased has been identified as Mohammed Fazil (15), a resident of Nadupadavu village near Konaje. 

According to his family sources, Fazil had been to work in a horticultural land along with his friends on Saturday afternoon. 

On his way back he went to the river to wash his hands and legs. However, he lost his balance in the river and drowned, police sources said.

His body was retrieved at 2 p.m. A case was registered at jurisdictional Konaje police station.

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Media Release
July 10,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 10: The new team of office bearers of Mangalore Toastmasters Club for the year 2020-21 was installed in an online ceremony themed “Unlockdownable MTM” on 04th July, 2020. The new team will be led by Shraddha S Pai as President and her team consisting of Dr. Sapna Ramaraj as Vice President-Education, Ranjani Vittaldas as Vice President-Membership, Fiona Pinto as Vice President-Public Relations, Aashitha Shetty as Treasurer, Chandrashekar Palekar as Secretary and Oliver Lobo as Sergeant-at-arms. Dr. Ananth Prabhu, motivational speaker and cyber law investigator was the chief guest for the occasion.

In his speech, Dr. Ananth Prabhu emphasized the necessity for a paradigm shift towards cyber security with the rampant increase in digitization. He mentioned three out of fifteen skills that are absolutely necessary for anyone to be successful - how to impress people, independent living and surviving skills and how to bounce back when you fall. The remaining 15 can be found detailed in his book - The Samurai who sold his Suzuki which he presented to the outgoing and incoming Presidents.

Aashitha Shetty was the anchor for the program. Chandrashekar Palekar rendered the invocation and Benzita Ferrao welcomed the gathering. Outgoing President Kavitha Kamath thanked her entire team, mentors and the club members for their support during her tenure. Outgoing Vice President-Education Mareena Seema presented the Toastmaster of the year award to Distinguished Toastmaster M. N. Pai. Jyothi Hebbar presented an elaborate Secretary’s report highlighting the club’s happenings, events and achievements during the past year 2019-20.

Sunitha Periera introduced the 11 new members of the club who were then inducted by Division F Director Molly Chaudhuri. The Oath-taking of the new office bearers was presided over by Area F3 Director Sapna Shenoy. In her acceptance speech, Shraddha S Pai thanked the club members for putting their confidence in her and electing her to the new position. She spoke of her sense of debt and duty to those who held the office before her and promised to do her best in meeting the challenges in the coming year.

17 Representatives and leaders from different clubs of Division F including Club Growth Director Savitha Salian, Division Director Molly Chaudhuri and veteran toastmasters Malini Hebbar and Phyllis D’Costa felicitated the outgoing and incoming office bearers. Isha S Pai, daughter of newly sworn-in President Shraddha S Pai and Mrs. Vijaya Kudva, mother of outgoing President Kavitha Kamath also felicitated the new team. The vote of thanks was proposed by Princita Ferrao. Technical support was handled by Praveen M.N. and Yvonil D’Souza.

Mangalore Toastmasters club is built on 17 glorious years of support and encouragement of a healthy mix of veteran as well as rookie toastmasters. Bagging 93 educational awards, the club has placed 11th worldwide in the past year, upholding Toastmasters International’s core values of integrity, dedication to excellence, service to the member and respect for the individual.

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News Network
August 6,2020

Chennai, Aug 5: Karnataka on Wednesday crossed the 1.5 lakh mark in respect of COVID-19 cases and Kerala was on the verge of 30,000 while Andhra Pradesh witnessed a five- digit daily caseload after a lull. 

Tamil Nadu saw a small jump in its daily cases as compared to Tuesday while Telangana and union territory Puducherry reported their respective record single-day spikes. 

The five states and the union territory reported a combined 24,415 fresh confirmed coronavirus cases and 316 fatalities on Wednesday. 

A Puducherry Minister tested positive for the deadly virus while an opposition AINRC legislator who contracted the coronavirus earlier was discharged after being cured of it. 

In Karnataka, the coronavirus cases stood at 1,51,449 with the addition of 5,619 fresh cases while 100 deaths were reported, pushing the total fatalities to 2,804, the health department said.

According to a health bulletin, 74,679 persons have been discharged so far, leaving 73,958 active cases. Andhra Pradesh''s COVID-19 surge continued on Wednesday too, with 10,128 cases reported afresh after easing a little in the last four days. 

The overall tally rose to 1,86,461 on Wednesday. The state had last reported its five-figure daily tally on July 31 when it was 10,376. 

The state also saw a record number of 77 coronavirus deaths in a day, pushing the toll to 1,681, the latest bulletin said. 

In the last 24 hours, 8,729 patients had also recovered from the infection and there were 80,426 active cases. 

As many as 1,04,354 patients have been cured and discharged so far. Kerala was on the verge of 30,000 cases, as its tally stood at 29,145 with the addition of 1,195 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

The toll from the virus so far climbed to 94 with seven more deaths. Thiruvananthapuram continued to top the districts in infections with 274 cases on Wednesday, of whom 248 had been infected through contact. 

Malappuram (167), Kasaragod (128), Ernakulam (120) and Alappuzha (108) reported over 100 cases. As many as 112 patients died of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, the highest reported in a single day so far, taking the toll to 4,461 on Wednesday while 5,175 more people tested positive, propelling the case count to 2.73 lakh.

Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 6,031 people getting discharged from various hospitals, taking the total cured to 2,14,815 as the active cases dropped to 54,184, a government bulletin said. 

In Telangana, 2,012 new cases emerged while 13 related fatalities were reported, taking the total infection tally in the state to 70,958. Out of the new cases, 532 were from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri 198 and Rangareddy 188, a state government bulletin said on Wednesday, providing data as of 8 PM on August 4. 

The total number of people who recovered from the infectious disease touched 50,814, while 19,568 were under treatment.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in the state was 0.81 per cent, while it was 2.10 per cent at the national level, it said. The recovery rate was 71.6 per cent in the state, while it was 66.31 per cent in the country, it added. 

Puducherry clocked its worst single-day spike of 286 infections, recording seven deaths, even as the overall tally of cases went up to 4,432. 

The deaths during the 24 hours in the Union Territory took the toll to 65 so far since the outbreak of the virus, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao told a virtual press conference. 

His cabinet colleague M Kandasamy and his son reported positive for the virus and were admitted to JIPMER.

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