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Author / Vidya Nair
January 12, 2017

Short Film Festival Arabian Frames Showcases the Talents of NRIs

Kochi Metro Malayalam Short Film Fest (KMMSFF) commenced in 2014 with an aim to encourage and nurture budding talents, who, apart from having passion towards cinema, also have the talent to create a good a movie. Through this initiative, for the last two years the organisers have been able to screen almost 360 short films in different stages, which in turn have given an opportunity to many people., who aspire to make films but are held back by various constraints, to showcase their talents. The fest started as a combined effort of actor Mohanlal, who is also the chairman of KMMSFF, and actor Raveendran, who is the director of the entire initiative.

After the grand success of the Kochi metro chapter, KMMSFF is all set to begin its UAE chapter through ‘Arabian Frames’, with an aim to screen almost 60 short films made by expatriates at different venues in Kerala. Arabian Frames, according to the organisers, is a first-of-its-kind film festival that will only showcase movies made by non-resident Indians.

Entertainment
By Vidya Nair
January 11, 2017

In Conversation with Ullekh On His Latest Book ‘The Untold Vajpayee: Politician and Paradox’

Ullekh N.P., apart from being a successful journalist and working with top media houses in the country like India Today, The Economic Times, and DNA for about two decades, is also a well-known political commentator and author. Currently the executive editor at OPEN Magazine, the constant involvement and exposure he has with the current happenings keeps him well-versed with the political scenario in our country. He is a person who digs deep into the finest details of the political framework, which has in turn made him an acclaimed and knowledgeable political commentator.

It is probably this quality of his that persuaded him to write books so he could provide a detailed and real picture of the political machinery in our country. His first book ‘War Room: The People, Tactics and Technology Behind Narendra Modi’s 2014 Win’, covered the 2014 national elections extensively and how a political brand was built in a country as multi-dimensional as India from the badlands of Uttar Pradesh to the Odisha hinterland, from Modi’s hometown Vadnagar to the capital city’s corridors of power.

People, Politics
By Vidya Nair
January 10, 2017

Public Outrage over 18-Year-Old Student’s Suicide in Kerala

Parents have lot of expectations from their children when it comes to education, choosing a career, and all other important decisions of their lives. Jishnu Pranoy’s parents also had many dreams and expectations from their 18-year-old son, all of which abruptly shattered after hearing the news that Jishnu killed himself following the mental harassment he had to face after he was accused of cheating in the university exam.

Jishnu was a first-year student of Computer Science at the Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre, Pampady, Thrissur. The incidents that compelled him to take such a drastic step, according to his friends were – Jishnu being caught turning around while the examination was going on by an invigilator named Praveen, and being accused of copying.

The invigilator scolded Jishnu and asked him to strike off the answer. He was also threatened to be debarred from the examination, which meant he could not attend the examination for the next three years. Despite repeatedly claiming that he had not cheated, Mr. Praveen asked him to go to the vice-principal’s office. Later in the evening, Jishnu’s friends discovered he was missing from the roll call session in the hostel and found him hanging in the bathroom. He had also cut his veins before hanging himself.

Education
By Vidya Nair
January 8, 2017

Bird-Watcher Dr. Jayan Thomas Spots the Rare Black-Capped Kingfisher

Dr. Jayan Thomas is well-known among nature lovers in Kerala for his passion for birds. He holds a place in The Limca Book of World Records for photographing the Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, a rare bird from Alaska, in his hometown of Kannur. He is the only South Asian who has been able to photograph this uncommon bird.

It is probably his love towards these birds and the acumen of a doctor that makes him spot very rare and distinct avians. After the Sandpiper, Dr. Thomas now has a clear and detailed image of the usually shy and introverted Black-Capped Kingfisher, which he had photographed while bird-watching at Muzhappilangad drive-in beach.

Environment
By Vidya Nair
January 6, 2017

CPI(M) Receives Flak for Decision to Hold Central Commitee Meeting at 5-Star Hotel

Hycinth, a five-star hotel in Trivandrum,  is all set to host the CPI(M) Central Committee that is scheduled to be held from January 6-January 8. This action has brought the ruling party of Kerala under the scanner as it is drastically contradictory to the abstinent attitude that the party has maintained throughout on lavish spending. The hotel is reportedly located at a distance of 3 km from AKG Centre, the party headquarters.

Such a step from a party which claims to be the common man’s party has raised many speculations among the public as well as the Opposition parties on the principles they follow.

Opposition Minister Ramesh Chennithala took to his official page on Facebook and posted a comment criticising the CPI-M’s decision to host the committee in a five-star hotel. In his comment, he has thrashed the party for deviating from its duties and for giving priority to the committee members’ comfort when it came to booking rooms for the meeting. He added that the party should not lose its standard at least on such petty matters and must remember the promises made to the common man.

Politics
By Vidya Nair
January 5, 2017

Meet Sophia. The Inspirational Hearing-Impaired Model from Kerala.

Sophia M. Joe is hearing impaired. This would not make much difference to anyone else other than Sophia herself and her loved ones. However, certain other things about her will surely make other curious to know more about her. She is a model, a medal-winning athlete, a painter, dancer, and a very confident girl who instantaneously proved the RTO wrong, when she was asked how she could drive a car being deaf. Sophia is the first person in Kerala with a hearing impairment who holds a driving license.

Sophia’s parents were unaware of the fact that their first child was born with such an irregularity and though they were taken aback as soon as they discovered it, they stood strong and decided to bring up their child exactly like other children in society. Bhavan’s Bala Mandir, the school where Sophia’s mother was a teacher, came to their rescue and so she was admitted there with all the other children.

“Right from the beginning my daughter proved her talent in academic as well as non-curricular activities,” says Goretti Joe, Sophia’s mother and her “official spokesperson”.

Fashion
By Vidya Nair
January 4, 2017

Kerala is 8th on UK-based ABTA’s ‘Destinations to Watch’ List of 2017

Travelers and nature lovers across the world have a unanimous opinion that God might have carefully curated Kerala, a small State in the southernmost tip of India, with all his special craftsmen to assist, because a piece of land with all the elements of nature blended in the perfect proportion is very rare. This could probably be the reason why Kerala is called God’s Own Country.

The backwaters, beaches, coconut lagoons, hill stations, rubber, spices, and coffee plantations and above all nature’s secret healing therapy – Ayurveda – have put Kerala on top of the list of places to visit for most avid travelers. Tourism in Kerala has seen a huge growth in the last 6-7 years that has in turn helped open up many unexplored places in Kerala to tourists.

The recognition and acclaim the small State has received are also many. Just after a small island in Alappuzha called Kakkathuruthu was listed by National Geographic as one of the best destinations to watch the sun set, the State has also been recently listed as a ‘Destination To Watch’ in 2017 by Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), UK’s largest travel agents and tour operators. Kerala has been ranked eighth in ABTA’s Travel Trends Report, 2017.

Travel
By Vidya Nair
January 2, 2017

How a Boy from Wayanad Grew up to Start the 100-Crore iD Fresh Foods

India is a country where education is given immense priority. This could probably be one of the reasons why education has also grown up to become a business sector that gains huge profits. Competition among the brightest students is so tight that students who are not toppers are left behind in the race of getting a good academic education and then a successful career.

However, there are exceptions. There are a few people like Mustafa P.C. who have run the race and also claimed the trophy, despite being considered not even eligible to take part in the competition. Who knew that a boy who failed class 6, hailing from a remote village in Wayanad, would one day own iD Fresh Foods a 100-crore company that sells fresh idli and dosa batter to many homes across Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, and even Dubai and become a role model and inspire many to overcome their constrains and fulfill their dreams.

And for all those who think that universities like NIT and IIM are only for a special category of students, Mustafa’s story says otherwise. His father was a coolie and his mother didn’t even have any formal education. Even then he graduated from these universities with top scores proving once again that anything is possible, just that one requires to identify his/her dreams and work towards that.

Economy
By Vidya Nair
January 1, 2017

The Beauty From Barrenness, Brainchild Of Arpith Roy Is A Park Made Of Recyclable Items

One of the biggest problems our country is currently facing is the proliferating amount of waste materials that are being dumped on the roadside near houses, schools, and even hospitals. Though waste management has been considered the need of the hour, efficient measures to deal with the problem still remains far-fetched.

Of the waste materials that are piling up on earth, non-biodegradable ones pose a greater problem as they need advanced technologies to get disposed off efffectively into harmless substances. That said, the inefficiency in the establishment and negligence by the system has not allowed any such high-end technologies to thrive in our country.

Amid all these discussions, the University of Westminster, with a vision of being a part of collective change, announced a design competition as an initiative to upgrade 1000 public places in South Asia. This project brought together all the South Asian countries in an attempt to enhance their public spaces thereby involving local participation in this endeavour. A group of students from Priyadarshini Institute of Architecture and Design Studies, Nagpur enrolled to participate in the competition and decided to use the waste dumped in an area to beautify it and make the place useful for the local residents.

Architecture, Environment, Life, People
By Vidya Nair
December 31, 2016

Restrictions Placed on Late Night New Year, DJ Parties in Kochi

New Year is around the corner and a majority of Kochites are excited to welcome 2017 with party and celebrations. However, disappointing all those who are set to party till early morning of 1 January, the Kerala Police has come up with a set of regulations that ensure total restriction to the celebrations this year.

These rules according to the police officials have been formulated in order to put a limit on unwanted sale and consumption of beer and wine and celebrations that become unsafe if not controlled. Strict instructions have been given to the hotels hosting DJ parties that no beer or wine should be served there after 10 p.m. Also, it has been made mandatory that no celebrations will be allowed anywhere in the city after 12.30 p.m.

The applications from hotels requesting late night parties have been rejected by the police.

Entertainment
By Vidya Nair
December 30, 2016

Malayalam Film Industry’s Hits and Misses of 2016

We have come to the end of 2016, a year that would probably have brought many odds and evens in everyone’s life. This again gives us the hope to dream and work for a better 2017. The year 2016 was an average year for Malayalam cinema with some great hits and some other films that did not even hit the screens.

Cinema has always been able to grab the attention of the public by its awe-striking glam and glitz. Malayalam film has also changed with the times and the evolving tastes of people, who are considered as the real judges and are bestowed with the power of deciding the destiny of a movie at the box office. Despite some much-awaited releases of 2016 like Mohanlal’s Pulimurugan, which is the first Malayalam film reaching the 100 crore clan, these movies were only able to fill the void created by more number of commercially unsuccessful films to a certain extent.

A total of 118 movies were released in 2016, out of which only 22 were hits at the box office. Though there were many other movies that received critical acclaim for their concept and the way the movies were conceived, some did not survive even one week. The collective approximate budget of all the movies released in Malayalam is roughly estimated to be between Rs. 500 crore and Rs. 600 crore, which also includes the Rs. 130 crore box office collection of Pulimurugan.

Entertainment, Movies
By Vidya Nair
December 29, 2016

How Efficient Is e-Governance in Kerala?

The technological boom has made life much easier. It is advancing at great speed and has made many complicated things simple. While the internet has brought people throughout the world under one umbrella, many services like banking and shopping have gone online.

Of late e-governance has gained more importance and government offices have started adopting technology as the platform to address the various issues of citizens. Are these developments and innovations an eyewash or are these really working?

All of us are aware of the complex paperwork involved in getting even a simple permission or certificate from a government office. However, despite technology being introduced to simplify these procedures, the amount of strain required to acquire a certificate still remains more or less the same.

Technology
By Vidya Nair
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