Kerala emerges most-searched Indian travel destination

By Jisha Surya | ENS - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

15th December 2012 12:19 PM

It’s neither the serene beaches of Goa nor Paradise on Earth, Kashmir, that lured domestic tourists this year. Three cheers to God’s Own Country; Kerala is the ‘top trending’ travel destination, according to Google Zeitgeist for India in 2012.

Interestingly, Google’s year-end search report for India also features Munnar in the ninth position in the list of travel destinations. The search trend among Indian users featuring ‘Kerala’ and ‘Munnar’ is an indicator of growing interest of domestic tourists towards the state.

Google terms ‘trending topics’ as search queries which have highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2012 as compared to 2011.

 Kashmir is in the fifth position, while Goa has not found a place in the top 10. ‘Kerala’ is followed by Taj Mahal, the monument of love. Wagah Border, the lone road border-crossing between Pakistan and India, is in the third position, followed by Vaishno Devi temple and Amarnath. Shirdi, Rameswaram temple hold seventh and eighth position. Gateway of India is in the 10th position. Among the trending searches, IBPS, which conducts recruitment for 19 banks, tops the list. Porn actor Sunny Leone, who made debut appearance in Bollywood this year, was the most searched personality in Google. Google Zeitgeist has list of top searched words, people, movies, cities, local places, news and travel destinations.

 In the global list, Whitney Houston tops the list as her accidental drowning shocked many. Hurricane Sandy, which had devastating effects on the US, was another top searched event.

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‘Start Up Coffee’ getting bigger

By Jisha Surya - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

13th December 2012 08:31 AM 

A lot can happen over coffee. It seems there are more followers to this tagline. ‘Start Up Coffee’, a regular meeting of wannabe entrepreneurs, incubators and like-minded people, launched by My Next Big Idea (MNBI), a technology business incubator focused on mobile and web businesses, is getting bigger. The fourth Start Up Coffee will be held at Cherries & Berries, Vazhuthacaud, at 4 pm on Saturday.
 MNBI was set up a year ago by a group of young minds who are passionate about start-up communities. “We are running a company Xminds for the past eight years and have association with over 90 start-ups globally. In Thiruvananthapuram, we do not have much incubators to support the youngsters. That is why we decided to launch MNBI,” said Ram Govind Narayan, one of the directors of MNBI.
 “To kick start activities, MNBI launched the first-of-its-kind ‘Start Up Coffee’ on October 27, 2012 in the city. These events are held every two weeks. The networking sessions have proved to be highly valuable for entrepreneurs, investors or everyone enthusiastic about the start-up community. There has been a whole lot of learning, sharing and motivation,” said Ram.
 “During the last three sessions, as many as seven ideas were presented by the participants. One that needs special mention is ‘Ente City’ (www.entecity.com) which is a single window service for all the needs in a city,” Ram added.
 Start Up Coffee usually begins with an introduction about the session. It will be followed by session on basic fundamentals such as finance, funding, customer development, etc. Selected people will get an opportunity to share their idea in 5 minutes, which will be followed by as Q&A session. The programme will wind up with a fun game.
 What happens after the meet? “We will listen to the ideas. Our team will later validate it, and if found good, we will provide mentorship, find investors for them, introduce them to venture capital etc,” he said.
 Though the major focus is on mobile and web businesses, MNBI welcomes all kinds of ideas. To register for the event log on to nextstartupcoffee.eventbrite.com or mail in your ideas to ideas@mynextbigidea.com.

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Xmas items online at fair prices

By Jisha Surya | ENS - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

08th December 2012 12:52 PM 

Too busy for Christmas shopping? Two city-based youths are here to help you with an online portal for Christmas celebrations. Anish John and Arun A S, employees of Technopark-based Breezego Solutions Private Limited, have launched www.pulkoodu.com, where customers can place orders for Christmas sets, comprising crib, clay statues, decorations etc. Doorstep delivery of the products is available in the city limits.
Anish and Arun are on a high as they are getting queries and orders within days of launching the website. Anish, who is an active member of the local church, has experience in arranging Christmas decorations. “The prices of crib and other products shocked me when I went to Chalai for purchasing them this time. The prices have skyrocketed. Then I contacted my uncle in Nagercoil and found that the prices were comparatively low there,” said Anish.
 Anish, a web developer, spoke to his friend Arun about the viability of launching a website for exclusive Christmas products. Arun, an expert in online marketing, agreed to join in. Thus they created e-pulkoodu. “We bring products from Nagercoil. So they are available at lower prices,” Anish said.
 The website offers a basic Christmas set for Rs 1,000 which has a portable crib, 12 pieces of clay statues, LED set, rice light serial sets, balloons, star etc. The deluxe Christmas set priced at Rs 1,300 has a Christmas tree of 4 feet height, tree decoration set etc in addition to the basic set. The ultimate Christmas set priced at Rs 1,800 has a Christmas tree of height 6 feet, decoration sets etc.
 “We are also planning to introduce cakes, crackers etc in the coming days. Other than the package, individual products too are available,” Anish said. He said more demand is for the basic Christmas set. Five per cent of the amount would be donated to charity, he added.  For details, call 9746182252 or log on to www.pulkoodu.com.

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This tour is no virtual reality

By Jisha Surya | ENS - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

06th December 2012 11:43 AM 

“A motorbike expedition through North India is an entirely different experience,” said an all-excited Midhun H Kumar  over phone. IT professionals Midhun, Smijth B and Aneesh V K have set out on an expedition, ‘The golden sands tour - West coast to Rajasthan’, on their Royal Enfields.
  Starting from Thiruvananthapuram on November 24, the trio will be back in the city on Sunday after enjoying a motorbike ride through Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa.
 When Express contacted them, Midhun, Smijith and Aneesh were taking a temporary halt on the Mumbai-Goa route. “There were only 16 days, which is a bit hectic. We didn’t get much time for sightseeing,” said Midhun.
 Midhun works in Technopark-based Speridian Technologies, Smijith at QBurst and Aneesh at Trivand Technologies. It was Smijith and Aneesh who suggested the idea of a North Indian tour. “It took some time to convince my mother. Finally, she agreed,” said Midhun.
 ‘Motorcycle diaries’, the biopic on the life and journey of Che Guevara and his friend Alberto, inspired these friends. “We are friends from our college days at Lourdes Matha Engineering College. After going on motorcycle tours across the state and to Goa, we thought of organising a pan India trip. We availed 16 days’ leave and set out on this tour,” said Midhun.
 Midhun owns a Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350 cruiser, while the others Royal Enfield Classic 350s. The trio has plans to spend some time in Goa before starting home. 
 Covering 7,000 km in 16 days was a tedious task for the trio. “If you ask us what we saw, we don’t have much to say. There was more travelling and less sightseeing,” Midhun said. However, Midhun and his friends added that it was a totally refreshing experience.

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It’s ‘babysitting’ time for zoo staff

By Jisha Surya - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

04th December 2012 10:11 AM

Authorities of the city zoo are on a high. During the last six months, the zoo has been ‘blessed’ with as many as nine baby birds and animals. In addition to these, the populations of black buck and hog deer are on the rise. The zoo has also been able to check the mortality rate of animals.

 It is sort of a comeback for the city zoo, which had a tough time battling various deadly diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, canine distemper virus attack and trypanosomiasis.

Over the past six months, the zoo witnessed the birth of an Indian bison named Arjun, two black swans, a sun conure, a blue crowned pigeon, a crested duck and a golden pheasant.   Baby leopards Sarang and Sarishma are the latest in the list.

 Zoo veterinarian Jacob Alexander said the number of newborns is an indicator of the health status of zoo animals. “It is the result of our constant vigil. We have been checking various parameters such as health and nutrition statuses. It is a very long process. We were able to check the mortality rates, especially that of carnivores, in the past six months,” he said.

 “For birds, we took steps such as enriching the enclosure, setting up nests and other facilities,” Alexander said.

 Hatching of eggs as well as raising of newborns were a tedious process for zoo officials. “The eggs of crested duck and golden pheasant were hatched in the incubator. Once they are hatched, introducing them to their group was the next big step. First, they were introduced to the female and then to the male group. The groups were shifted to a new enclosure until all were familiar with the newborns,” Alexander said.

 The number of black bucks and hog deers in the zoo too are increasing.

 There are more reasons for zoo officials to cheer. According to norms of the Central Zoo Authority, the zoo cannot buy new animals. Instead, it could exchange animals with another zoo. “So, increase in the number of a particular variety will be helpful as we could exchange it for new animals or birds,” Alexander said.

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Social media platform to share news, views

By Jisha Surya - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

29th November 2012 10:21 AM 

Social media is a major game changer in today’s society. Now, citizens have a new social media platform to express their news and views. Technopark-based Maxartists Technologies has launched an interactive social media platform, ‘Share the Fact’, where users can share the news that they come across in their daily lives. In order to ensure maximum participation of citizen journalists, www.sharethefact.com has several interactive features. The users can upload images and videos along with their news item.
 The platform also has iPhone, Blackberry and
Android versions which allow users to upload the news using their mobile phones from the place where they witness the same.
 “The platform is very user-friendly The users can upload their news from any part of the world. There are various categories such as political, economic, business etc,” said Ajin Thomas, business development manager, Maxartists.
 The system provides all the necessary features required for a social media system like adding friends, inviting friends (via facebook, gmail and yahoo), creating groups, chatting... the list goes on.
 “In order to avoid misuses, posts will be verified by admin before publication,” said Ajin. “Share the Fact was launched only two days ago. Enquires are pouring in,” said Ajin.
 Employees of  Maxartists feel that the platform would
remind the public about their responsibilities towards society and would help them fulfil their tasks in the most advanced as well as simple manner.
 Maxartists started functioning in Technopark almost eight years ago. The company had hit headlines when it successfully launched a mobile ticketing system which helps users access barcode tickets directly with their mobiles as entry pass. This has been successfully implemented for games, concerts etc.

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Anganwadis in Dalit-tribal belt in a neglected state: Study

By Jisha Surya - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

14th November 2012 11:00 AM 

While the state boasts of having the lowest infant and child mortality rate, little effort is put in by the local bodies for the welfare of infants, especially in the case of those belonging to socially-backward areas.
A study conducted by Thiruvananthapuram-based NGO ‘Rights’ in the dalit-tribal-fishermen belt showed that anganwadis in these areas were in a neglected state. The study shows that 41 to 70 per cent anganwadis do not own buildings. However, a meagre amount of Rs 300 is provided by local bodies as rent. Thus, most of the anganwadis in these areas function under dangerous conditions. Eventually there is no distinction between place of study, kitchen, storeroom etc, according to the study.
85 per cent of anganwadis lack electric connection while 73 per cent do not have drinking water facility. More than 50 per cent lack toilet facilities. There is no kitchen space in 43 per cent of anganwadis and 73 per cent do not have gas connection.
These socially-backward children do not have a specific play area, toys or other study materials, according to the study.
The study was conducted in 14 panchayats across 7 districts. Of the 14 panchayats, five are in hilly areas, five in midland and four in coastal areas.
A look into the budget allocation for the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) is enough to show the neglect faced by this area.
Though the state budget increased manifold during the 11th Plan period, budget allocation for the ICDS remained at 0.06 per cent.
Meanwhile, there was a 60 per cent increase in the number of beneficiaries during 2005-11. The study shows that the budget allocation for anganwadis from plan fund of local bodies was declining. The budget allocation for anganwadis had shown a decline from 0.57 per cent in 2009-10 to 0.40 per cent in 2010-11.
Meanwhile, the budget estimate had seen a 54.03 per cent increase. Also the study finds that panchayats had no interest in allocating amounts for anganwadis from its own fund. The budget spending of last three years had no clear record of its spending on anganwadis, which itself was a proof of local bodies neglect towards it.
‘Rights’ had conducted field survey among anganwadis in Amburi, Vithura, Puthur, Sholayar, Thirunelli, Kuttichal, Kanjiramkulam, Perumkadavila, Eraviperoor, Kurichi, Poovar, Maranelloor, Alappadu  and Kadalundi.

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