Vallarpadamport, Vallarpadam terminal, Vallarpadam Church, Cochin Port..

BL reported that Cochin Port Trust is likely to invite fresh tenders for capital dredging together with maintenance dredging at Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal at Kochi in Ernakulam district of Kerala.

After rejecting an initial price bid from a Belgium-based dredging company on the grounds that it was too high, the state-run Cochin Port Trust has floated a fresh tender for capital dredging of its container terminal at Vallarpadam and maintenance dredging of the port.

The port is hoping to receive good response this time for its Rs 480-crore dredging project, including from Indian dredging companies.

It expects lower price bids, as under the new eligibility criteria the smaller dredging companies having relevant experience would also be allowed to participate.

Besides, even with the delay of five months to start the project, the port is confident of completing the capital dredging work on schedule by November 2009. It plans to start dredging work from September 1, 2008.

Cochin Port Trust had received two bids in the initial bidding process four months back, from Belgium-based Dredging International (DI) and Indian dredging firm Jaisu Shipping.

However, only the Belgium company could qualify and had quoted Rs 800 crore for the work, which was rejected by the Port authorities.

The bid submission ends on August 15, 2008.

The port is looking to deepen the approach channel of its transhipment container terminal to a varying depth of 16-18 metres from the current 14 metres for larger container vessels of 14.5 metres draft (8,000 twenty foot equivalent units, or TEUs). Currently, the vallarpadam terminal can accommodate 12.5 metres draft vessels.

Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal project.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Friday lashed out Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu for criticising the state government for not completing land acquisition work of rail-road connectivity of Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal project.

Baalu had recently shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referrring to the state government’s “lack of seriousness” in completing land acquisition procedures for the project, for which the Centre has committed about Rs 1200 crore. When the Chief Minister’s attention was drawn to Baalu’s comments by reporters, he said “Baalu is not a UPA minister but a minister who is always protecting the interests of Tamil Nadu and stood against Kerala’s interests.”

Dismissing the Shipping Minister’s observations, Achuthanandan said the state was committed to the project and land acquisition proceedings were going on.

The deadline for completing land acquisition proceedings had been extended several times by the state. The Shipping Secretary had held a review meeting on April 28 this year in which the government had promised to complete land acquisition procedures by May 30.

Baalu had also twice met the Chief Minister and requested him to expedite the proceedings for early completion of the project, the foundation stone for which was laid by the Prime Minister on February 16, 2005.

Cochin Port to invite fresh bids for capital dredging.
BL reported that Cochin Port Trust is likely to invite fresh tenders for capital dredging together with maintenance dredging at Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal at Kochi in Ernakulam district of Kerala.

The total dredging cost is estimated to be INR 485 crore and the dredging companies have to submit the tenders within one month. The dredging to be carried out is to the extent of approximately 24 million cubic meter and maintenance dredging of 16 million cubic meters in the next 2 years.

It may be noted that CPT was forced to cancel the tenders which were floated earlier in November 2007, as the price quoted by the international company was 70% higher than the estimated cost. Besides, the port did not get sufficient response for the tender as there was only one firm, which placed its bids for the work.

Kochi to host seminar on hygiene code for hotels and caterers

19th July 2008: a one-day seminar and forum on importance of adoption of hygiene, food safety and clean practices for hotels will be organised in Kochi on July 19, at the Abad Plaza. The event is organised by Samanuaya Communications, a b2b media firm with the prime activity of creating b2b-learning platforms for Small Medium Entrepreneurs (SME) and business executives. FoodCert India, functioning under the Offices of FoodCert B V, The Netherlands in the certification programs related to FoodChain, is the knowledge partner of the event.
The programme will have workshops on different topics related to hygiene practices. Experts from hygiene and clean solutions companies and senior management personalities from leading hotel chains, companies and firms who have been successfully practicing hygiene standards will steer the content of the workshops. According to the organisers, nearly 150 hospitality representatives will attend the programme.

The objective of the seminar is to educate the audience on importance of adoption of hygiene practices as well as connect them to various hygiene knowledge, product and service providers. Companies providing hygiene solutions, products and consultancy will also exhibit their services during the event, the press release stated. Supported by a booming consumer market and tourism, the hospitality and restaurant business in Kerala has been on a growth track since many years. Major hospitality and tourism players as well as the state government have many ambitious plans for the industry.

KOCHI: The documentation and sale of the land to be acquired in Edappally North and South villages and Vaduthala for the rail link of the proposed Vallarpadam International Container Transhipment Terminal would be completed by February 23, District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish said on Saturday.

He said that with this all the land required for the rail link in Edappally North and South villages and 75 per cent of the total land in Vaduthala could be handed over to the Centre by February 29, as promised earlier.

The evictees would be given Rs.15.000 towards rent for six months. He said that, if necessary, the Land Acquisition Act would be invoked to acquire land from those resisting to hand over their land.

The Collector said some unofficial discussions were on with landowners at Mulavukad to ease the acquisition process. He said that many have expressed interest in the package offered by the State government in these discussions.

Vallarpadam Transhipment Container Terminal Project and Vizhinjam International Transhipment Container Terminal Project are vital for comprehensive development of the state. The state government has acted to resolve the crisis regarding the rail connectivity in Vallarpadam and could obtain environmental sanction. The earlier agreement for the construction of Vizhinjam International Transhipment Container Terminal was made with a Chinese company.

KOCHI: IBS Software Services Private Limited, a new generation IT solutions company to the global travel, transportation and logistics (TTL) industry, acquired VISaer, a United States-based software solutions provider in aviation maintenance and engineering software solutions, in May. It acquired majority stake of the U.S.-based HBSI, a provider of new generation technology to hotel chains and distribution channels, in March 2008.

V.K.Mathews, IBS’ chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said the company had registered more than 47 per cent annual growth. It was poised to become a Rs.1,000 crore company within two years. The company is likely to have an initial public offer in 2010. Mr. Mathews said the company was planning to expand its Kochi centre. It will have a five lakh Sq ft area, enough to accommodate 5,000 people. The company is already having 40,000 sq.ft. at Infopark.

The expansion programme at Kochi is expected to cost Rs.150 crores.

The company was keen on providing IT solutions in logistics at the Vallarpadam container terminal. It was also planning to open a centre in Kozhikode. The earlier strategic acquisitions of the company included asset purchase of U.S.-based Discovery Travel Systems which added travel, tour and cruise line of business to the company’s service portfolio. The acquisition of the United Kingdom-based Avient Technologies helped in setting up a global centre for excellence in flight operations. Yet another acquisition was that of the product, TopAir, a flight operations solution.

Mr. Mathews said the world’s top airlines, airports, cruise lines, hotel companies as well as oil and gas companies were using IBS solutions. The company presently owns intellectual property rights for over 15 products that cater to the TTL domain.

Mr.Mathews said TTL, though appeared a small segment, was a large space, with gross spending of over $2 trillions annually. IBS was giving its customers viable and inevitable options to liberate themselves from legacy systems built and developed over the past 40 years.

In an era of massive growth and evolution, industry players would have to decide to move towards next generation systems to remain competitive, he said.

The Smart City is going to be a reality. Relentless attempts to materialize the project protecting the noble intentions of the state has been undertaken. Thus major modifications in favour of the state were brought about in the agreement. A quantum jump in the field of IT sector could be achieved within the past two years. The government of Kerala is in the process of acquiring 507 acres of land in Thiruvananthapuram for establishing Techno City.

Technopark, one of the two major IT hubs of Kerala, is further expanding where another 100 acres of land is being acquired. In line with its plans to develop Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi as the foremost IT locations in the region, the Kerala government has commenced work on integrated townships, specifically for IT and ITeS industry. We are developing parks in all districts of Kerala through a hub-and-spoke model with the hubs in Thiruvanathapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, and spokes in all the remaining districts. Many IT companies have already started new ventures in Technopark and Infopark. Our target is to create two lakh job opportunities in the IT sector.

However, the present position reveals that the employment opportunities will be many times more than the target. 40,000 more job opportunities will be generated within the next three years at Infopark, the very institution that was decided to be handed over free of cost to the Dubai-based company by the previous government. Projects are being implemented to make the state totally computer literate. Two districts have already been declared as e-literate. Under the programme ‘Akshaya’, the Kerala government has launched delivery of key e-governance services like e-payment facilities, e-forms, product selling, training programmes etc. By the end of 2008, Kerala is expected to become the first e-literate state in India. More than 3000 Akshaya Kendras will be set up through out the state by the end of this year as service delivery outlets. The state’s software exports during 2006-07 totalled Rs 750 crore and this year, the figure has crossed Rs 1,200 crore.

Kerala, located on the west coast of India, is known as ‘God’s Own Country’ because of its scenic beauty, and Kochi is the shining jewel in this beautiful state. Vallarpadom, which forms part of Kochi, is a small idyllic island on the Vembanad lake, with a serene and calm atmosphere. The serenity and peace, which is a salient feature of this island, can only be attributed to the presence of the historic church of Our Lady of Ransom. This church forms part of the diocese of Verapoly and revered by Catholics as a very sacred church.

The church was built by Portuguese missionaries in 1524. It is said that the missionaries discovered a painting of the Lady of Ransom, and later in a dream, they were asked to establish a church in Vallarpadam, which they dutifully did. Many miracles have been attributed to the Lady of Ransom and most are of people being saved from accidents at sea. As per tradition the church was earlier known as the church of the Holy Spirit. The original building was destroyed by floods in the 17th century and rebuilt later. The present building is said to have built in 1676.

As per local folklore, a lady and her child from a Hindu family who were shipwrecked, survived for three days, sheltered under a rock. The lady prayed that she would commit her life to serving the Lady of Ransom, and she was saved. Even today, all processions in connection with festivities of the church begin from the ancestral house of the Hindu lady, which is called Paliath. The images of the lady and child are also seen in the picture of the Lady of Ransom inside the Vallarpadom church. The local fishermen always bring their new boats to be blessed by the Lady of Ransom before they are taken out to sea for the first time. When prayers are answered, the blessed devotees dedicate their lives to the Lady of Ransom, and sweep the church compound to convey their spirit of dedication. The altar of the church is filled with offerings of devotees who had been blessed by the Lady of Ransom.

Pope Leo the XIII had bestowed ’special status’ to the church in 1888. The Vallarpadam church was declared as a pilgrim center in 1951. The church was given the status of a Basilica in December 2003. The number of pilgrims who visit the church is increasing every year. The major festival of the church falls on the 24th of September and thousands of devotees throng the small island to take part in the feast. The new Goshree bridges which connect Vallapadam with both Vypin and Ernakulam have made it very easy for the believers to come to the church. The church today is not only a major pilgrim center but also an important tourist attraction.

Kerala is a green strip of land, in the South West corner of Indian peninsula. In length 360 miles, the state is only 20 to 70 miles in width and comprises 1 percent of India’s total land.

There is a persistent legend which says that Parasurama, the preserver of the Hindu Trinity, the short-tempered warrior-sage regarded as the 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. After defeating the Kshathriya Kings, the sage approached the wise men for penance. As a Self-mortification he was advised to create a land for Brahmins. He readily agreed and meditated at Gokarnam, (considered to be the end of land). After getting the booms from Varuna, the God of the Oceans and Bhumidevi, the Goddess of earth, he proceeded to Kanya Kumari (Cape Comorin) and threw his battle-axe northwards across the waters. The waters subsided and what was left over was called the land of Parasurama, that is today’s Kerala.