Day: January 12, 2021

KOCHI WATER METRO PROJECT; FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE COUNTRY NEARS COMPLETION

Kochi, the bustling commercial port city of Kerala is witnessing a massive infrastructural and transportational facelift with enormous investment and technological upgrade. The inland water transport system which once served as the backbone of Kochi connecting its Islands and eyots, faced a severe decline in the past decade as people started depending more on land transportation facilities. The increase in the number of private vehicles on road demanded a return back to water transport as it is more energy and cost efficient. The Kochi Water Metro Project is introduced as an alternative public transport system to reduce the traffic congestion in the city with minimal pollution, providing the population along the city’s shores easy access to the commercial centres.

The Project aims at developing 15 identified water routes that connect 10 islands benefitting over 1,00,000 people by improving their livelihoods. This socially inclusive water transport system is expected to cover a total span of 78 km with a fleet of 78 fast, electrically propelled hybrid ferries plying to 38 jetties. Specially designed environment-friendly and energy-efficient boats equipped with advanced technology will be commissioned for the project. The boat services will start from major jetties between every 10 to 20 minutes; navigational buoys and night navigational assistance will also be ensured. The terminals are designed to have state-of-the-art facilities including automated fare collection and turnstile system for passenger counting. Pontoons(floating jetties) that adapt during high tide and low tide are built to facilitate easy boarding and deboarding for physically challenged personals.

In addition to the ferry services, the project integrates the waterway system with the city’s other public transport system and also intends the development of areas around the waterways through commercial property development along with tourism initiatives. As the project aims to be environment friendly,  the management of waterweed and floating waste will also be taken care of.

The construction activities of the water metro under the supervision of KMRL (Kochi Metro Rail Limited) is progressing at a fast pace and the project is expected to be completed very soon. Almost 50 per cent of piling works of the high court boat jetty have been completed along with the construction of floating pontoons and other civil constructions. “Construction work on terminals at Vyttila and Kakkanad is in the final stage. Work is also progressing at Eloor, Cheranalloor, South Chittoor, Bolgatty, High Court, Vypeen, Mulavukad North, Paliyamthuruth and Kadamakkudy. Cochin Shipyard is expected to deliver the first boat soon,” a KMRL spokesperson said.

With the construction of the jetties at Kakkanad and Vyttila entering the final stage, the first ferry service under the water metro project is expected to be kick-started in this route in the upcoming months. The Cochin Shipyard has been delegated with the manufacturing of the specially designed ferries with different passenger capacities for the project. The water metro project is assumed to be completed within an expenditure limit of Rs.747 crore, excluding the land cost. Once the water metro project is completed, Kochi will become the first city in the country to have an integrated road, metro rail and water transport system under one roof.

Indian Navy to coordinate largest coastal defence exercise Sea Vigil-21

Indian Navy will coordinate second edition of largest coastal defence exercise Sea Vigil-21 starting today. The inaugural edition of the exercise was conducted in January 2019. The two-day biennial pan-India coastal defence exercise, will be undertaken along the entire 7,516-kilometre long coastline. The exercise will also include Exclusive Economic Zone of the country and will involve all the 13 coastal States and Union Territories along with other maritime stakeholders. It will also include the fishing and coastal communities. The entire coastal security set up was reorganised after the 26/11 Terror attack at Mumbai which was launched via the sea route.

The scale and conceptual expanse of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of the geographical extent, the number of stakeholders involved. The exercise is a build up towards the major Theatre-level exercise TROPEX [Theatre-level Readiness Operational Exercise] which Indian Navy conducts every two years. SEA VIGIL and TROPEX together will cover the entire spectrum of maritime security challenges, including transition from peace to conflict. Assets of the Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Customs and other maritime agencies will participate in SEA VIGIL. The exercise is also being facilitated by the Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Shipping, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Fisheries, Customs, State Governments and other agencies of Centre and State.

AIR correspondent reports, the Exercise SEA VIGIL-21 will provide a realistic assessment of our strengths and weaknesses and thus will help in further strengthening maritime and national security.

Centre advises states to enhance surveillance for avian influenza in view of more confirmed cases from various states

Talking about the prevailing situation of Bird Flu in different parts of the country, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, the government has formalized a roadmap, which needs to be followed at an earliest. He said, District Magistrates will also have a major role to play to check the spread of the disease. Mr Modi said, those states, where no case of Bird Flu has been reported, should be on a constant vigil.

Union Government has said that Avian Influenza has so far been confirmed in 10 states of the country. The ten states include Kerala, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Briefing reporters in New Delhi, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Giriraj Singh said that even after writing to the states three times, they did not taken proactive measures to contain the spread of the disease. He said, if the states had taken timely action, the spread of Avian Influenza could have been contained.

Country’s COVID-19 recovery rate reaches 96.49 per cent

The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has reached to 96.49 per cent. More than 18 thousand COVID patients recovered during the last 24 hours. The total number of recoveries has gone up to over one crore one lakh. Health Ministry said, the COVID-19 recovery rate of India is amongst highest in the world. The actual caseload currently comprises only 2.07 per cent of the total positive cases. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is around two lakh 16 thousand.
 
During the past 24 hours, 12 thousand 584 new cases were reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over one crore four lakh. The Ministry said, currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.44 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. During the last 24 hours, 167 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 51 thousand 327.
 
According to Indian Council of Medical Research, more than eight lakh 97 thousand tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far has reached 18 crore 26 lakh.

New National Education Policy gives priority to our youth’s understanding, their decisions & beliefs: PM MOdi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the New National Education Policy focuses on development of better individuals and from better individuals to a better country. He said, this policy gives priority to our youth’s understanding, their decisions and beliefs. Addressing the valedictory function of the Second National Youth Parliament Festival today through video conferencing, Mr Modi said, the new National Education Policy is a step towards nation-building and the Government is building an eco-system which will give better opportunities to the youth.
 
Speaking about Swami Vivekananda, Mr Modi said, Swami Ji always stressed equally on physical and mental strength and spoke about muscles of iron and nerves of steel. He said, inspired from the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, government is specially focusing on the mental and physical fitness of Indian youth.
 
The Prime Minister said, it was Swami ji who said that the fearless, frank, clean-hearted, courageous and aspirational youth is the foundation on which the future of the nation is built. He believed so much on youth and on the youth power.
 
Mr Modi said, time passed, the country became independent, but we still see Swamiji’s influence today. What Swami ji spoke about spirituality, nationalism and nation building, his thoughts about serving people and serving the world flow within people with the same intensity.
 
The Prime Minister said, Swami Vivekananda has given us another precious gift and it is a gift to build individuals, to build institutions. He said, people come under the influence of Swami ji and build institutions. He said, people then come out from these institutions, follow Swami ji’s path and add new people too.
 
The Prime Minister said, our freedom fighters were influenced by Swami Vivekananda and his works have always been effective in instilling nationalism in the youth.
 
Mr Modi said, earlier there was a perception in the country that if a young man turned to politics, people used to say that the child is getting spoiled. He said, people believed that everything can change but politics cannot. The Prime Minister said, but today honest people are also getting a chance in politics. Honesty and performance is becoming the first mandatory condition of today’s politics.
 
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju also addressed on the occasion.
 
Three national winners of the Festival also expressed their views during the event.