The aim of the project is to create integrated pedestrian zone which will bind heritage zone and shopping activities into a well connected urban heritage precinct and will improve traffic and parking management in the area. It will retain heritage importance of the place while improve pedestrian related infrastructure and shopping related facilities. Revenue generation from the area will also improve as a result of environment improvement through betterment charges and other rentals. As a whole it will improve heritage and urban image ability of Kochi Heritage Zone 3 to make it a more popular shopping and safe pedestrian environment.

The project will be implemented by Kochi Municipal Corporation and will take a period of 24 months for completion.

The films of Mr. Hamid are a journey through the happenings of contemporary world and have been screened at various film festivals. Andre Luiz Oliveira, the Brazilian documentary and short filmmaker will also be part of the festival with his films in a Brazilian package. The five-day event will have at least 100 short films in various categories.

The focus of the year is South Asia: Justice-Peace-Democracy. Sri Lankan filmmaker Dharmasiri Bhandaranayake is among those who will be part of the event. Under the special package include films on climate change and the Kerala Spectrum includes films based on life and times in Kerala.

Details

Dates : February 17th to 21st 2010

Venue :Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Regional Theatre, Thrissu

Big B with Mohanlal,Resul Pookutty,Mammooty

Major Ravi, a commando-turned filmmaker, is the director of the film in which Mohanlal, who recently joined the Territorial Army as a colonel, plays the role of Col Mahadevan. Mohanlal and Ravi met Bachchan, who was on a short visit to the Kerala port city, and discussed the project. Bachchan had expressed a desire to act in a Malayalam film during an interview to a television channel in Dubai in December.

The director narrated the story to him and he said he liked the storyline and wanted to read the script in full.  He plays the father of a passenger on the hijacked plane.”

This is Ravi’s fourth film after Keerthichakra and Kuruskshetra, both featuring Mohanlal, and Mission 90 Days, which told the real story of Ravi who tracked down the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Mammootty playedRavi’s role in the film.

Storyline : The flight IC-814 of India’s flag carrier was hijacked by five Pakistani militants while on its way from Kathmandu to New Delhi and was forced to land in Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai before being taken to Kandahar where 186 passengers were kept hostages on board for a week and released in exchange of four extremists in Indian custody.

The film will be shot in Delhi and Nepal besides Kerala.Bachchan was in Kochi to attend a function where he handed over the Newsmaker of the Year 2009 award to Oscar winning sound technician Resul Pookutty. Bachchan wore a traditional ‘mundu’ and said he felt more comfortable in the single piece of cloth that has no buttons or any clips to hold it around the hip.

He also launched Jeevarogya, a health project of the Resul Pookutty Foundation and a Kochi-based private hospital, which will treat the poor and needy and donated Rs 11 lakhs to the foundation. ( KochiVibe article on Jeevarogya inauguration )

The session will involve explaining the concepts of cryptography, and detailed demo of the encryption libraries available with the .NET and Java enterprise stack.

Details:

Venue : Cyber Prism , Kacheripady , Ernakulam North

Date : February 14th , Sunday

Time : 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

Though the launch in Ernakulam district was planned in the last week of December 2009, it was postponed to the first week of January 2010 and then to January end. The officials said that the delay in the launch was due to there being more towers in Ernakulam than in other districts.As many as 240 Base Trans receiving Stations (BTS) are to be activated in Ernakulam for proper network coverage for 3G. That’s why the service was delayed.

BSNL is hopeful to launch it’s 3G service two weeks time. With the launch of the 3G service mobile, subscribers will have access to the latest 3G-technology based coverage. Officials are hoping that about 15 percent of the existing subscribers in Ernakulam circle will move to the 3G sector. 3G, the third generation mobile communication system, has a number of additional services including video calls, internet access with speed up to 3.6 Mbps with live video footage, live TV on mobile and facilities to download video, news, current affairs and sport content.

BSNL is investing an amount of Rs 650 crore in the state for the 3G project together with the expansion of the existing 2G network to cover more than 95 percent of the inhabited parts of the state.

The presence of the tallest figure in the tinsel world was fulfilling for the soundman.But the magnanimity of Mr. Bachchan did not limit itself to his presence. While declaring that he would be there with Mr. Pookutty in future for such a noble venture, Mr. Bachchan also made a contribution of Rs. 11 lakh. Whoa..!!

It was the letters Mr. Pookutty received from different parts of the State seeking assistance for health care and related issues that prompted him to set up the foundation.

Giving back to society : Remembering his student days at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Mr. Pookutty said education at the institute would be an unaffordable affair for a student hailing from the middle class. He viewed the venture as an opportunity “to give back to society what he got in life.” Mr. Bachchan also had a word of appreciation for Mr. Pookutty for mobilising resources for such ventures.

Under the Jeevarogya programme, the two agencies will provide free medical treatment for 3,000 persons, heart surgery for 30 and free surgeries for another 300.

With the enactment of the RTI Act in 2005, seeking information has become the right of every Indian citizen. Unfortunately, there has not been any consolidated effort to recognise, acknowledge and dedicate a space for the information generated through the RTI Act. The new website is part of the `Digitalisation of RTI’ project, which involves collection of information from all the points where applications are filed under the RTI Act and consolidation of the information.

The information gathered will be regularly updated on the website. Using this platform, one can generate various indices of transparency, evaluation of policy implementation, cost and the expenditure incurred under various government programmes. This analysis can further be utilised to compare the performance of the programmes.

The project also aims at evaluating the various government programmes, with regard to their performance on the basis of the defined criteria and operating at different levels of governance – at the village, district, state and national levels. The copies of the RTI applications and their responses will be obtained from the Public Information Offices and the State Information Commission.

K P Manjunath Sagar, president of the convention committee told reporters here on Saturday the convention includes poets meet, multi-language poets meet, laughter sessions, media sessions as well a session on language and integrity. Folk dances, Bharathanatyam, dance dramas, Yakshagana and exhibition of award winning Kannada films also is being organized as part of the two-day event, Manjunath Sagar added.A local reception committee headed by Srikanth Anvatti, president of Kannada Sangha Kochi, has been set up for the smooth conduct of the event. Manjunath Sagar said a senior Horandu Kannadiga writers will be selected to preside over the convention.

A 100-member cultural delegation from Karnataka will go to Kochi to participate in the event. Elected representatives from both states will be invited to attend the event.

A meeting held to discuss about the fest formed a reception committee with Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan; Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas; Ministers G. Sudhakaran, S. Sarma, and Jose Thettayil; and Opposition Leader Oommen Chandy as patrons.

Media professionals attending the programme spoke on a wide range of issues including the impact of media on the youth, impact of reality shows, advertisements, the influence of television and new media; and media and youth culture during the seminar. Panel discussions and interactions on the theme were also held on the occasion.The speakers who addressed the seminar included Lawrence John, Signis Asia president; Rappai Poothokaren, Signis India president; Allen Brooks, Signis India vice-president; and John Paul, secretary, Signis India.

The seminar mainly discussed some of the pertinent issues in media and the impact of media on the lives of children and youth.