Metro Mart Daily

Two Rotaractors  from Rotaract Club of Shishu Mandir ,
Dhanush M., son of Manjunath  from Kadugodi and  Hemanth Y.B, son of     Bhujangashayana  from Yadagondanahalli      are attempting for Guinness Book of World Record by cycling 24000+Kms in 180 days covering 29 states & 3 Union Territories. This will be the longest Journey by bicycle in a single country.

The message they would be carrying is about global warming and Literacy. They shall try and meet the locals and schools on their journey and educate them about Global warming (Rotary’s newest area of focus : Protecting the Environment) and also create awareness on literacy (Basic Literacy, schooling and Adult Literacy).
This event is sponsored by Rotary Bangalore Whitefield Central (Dist.3190) in association with International Fellowship of Cycling Rotarians (Dist.3190),  Shishu Mandir Education Center, Maithri Aqautech Pvt Ltd, and Dr. Durga Prasad Reddy (Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Bangalore)
The ride was flagged-off on 11th July from Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore by District Governor 3190 Rtn Fazal Mahmood

 A seriously ill COVID patient from the district has been treated and brought back to life by employing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) — a procedure which oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body — for 44 days at the KIMSHEALTH hospital here.
The 38-year-old engineer, who was in home quarantine after turning Covid positive, was advised through teleconsultation to come to the hospital after his oxygen saturation dropped suddenly.
The initial treatment was supervised by the KIMSHEALTH COVID team. The patient was given oxygen support and moved to the multidisciplinary ICU. He was then put on the ventilator as his condition worsened after he developed pneumonia and his lungs function dropped.
A multidisciplinary team, which comprised specialists from Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Medicine, Cardiology, Cardiac Surgery, Intensivist, Laryngology, Gastroenterology, Nephrology and Cardiac Anaesthesia, was constituted. The ECMO procedure was started under the supervision of Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery Senior Consultant and Department Head Dr. Shaji Palangandan.
ECMO is employed for providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of oxygen exchange or perfusion to sustain life, said Dr. Palangadan. It pumps and oxygenates a patient's blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest, he explained.
However, through the continuous use of the machine its oxygenator loses efficacy after 21 days and has to be replaced. “The challenge was to replace the oxygenator in a matter of 24 seconds, which was done successfully. There is also the chance of blood clotting as a result of the continuous flow of blood into the ECMO machine from the patient,” Dr. Palangandan said. 
Since blood was flowing through the external ECMO machine, infections were spotted in the patient's blood. However, the Infectious Diseases Department was able to tackle it appropriately.
Thereafter, the patient's health improved and he was weaned away from the ECMO machine and the ventilator. He then came back to normal and left the hospital hale and hearty. He had raised the money for the treatment through fund-raising and insurance.
KIMSHEALTH, which has done over 70 ECMOs, is the only hospital in the state to achieve this feat. The multispecialty hospital has also attained the international standard of 70 per cent success in ECMO.
Many patients facing life-threatening situations have been given a new lease of life by employing ECMO at KIMSHEALTH.

Aiming to allay health risks while eating in public spaces amid the pandemic, the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) has launched a novel facility that serves food to travellers inside their vehicles. 

Through the ‘In-Car Dining’ scheme, customers can place orders and receive dishes of their choice from the KTDC’s Aahaar Restaurants by remaining in their parked vehicles, Tourism Minister Mr. P. A. Mohammed Riyas said.

Adhering to Covid-19 protocols, breakfast, lunch and dinner, besides snacks, will be served under the ‘In-Car Dining’ scheme. Initially, select KTDC restaurants in the state will carry out the scheme, he added.

“‘In-Car Dining’ seeks to provide our customers with a new experience,” Mr. Riyas said in Thiruvananthapuram on June 18, after reviewing a set of ongoing tourism projects as well as the activities of the KTDC. “We plan to reach out to the people with safe and tasty food.” 

“The KTDC hotel chains will be renovated under the project ‘Mission Facelift’ after classifying them on a priority basis,” he said. “Moreover, floating restaurants will be set up in select destinations across the state on the lines of the one at Veli in Thiruvananthapuram. The first of which will come up at Kadalundi in Kozhikode district,” the minister added.

KTDC offers ‘Work from Hotel’ Facility in Tourist Spots
The KTDC has tied up with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer ‘Work from Hotel’ packages for professionals to carry out their work in a comfortable ambience from their hotel rooms. The KTDC’s flagship properties - Hotel Mascot in Thiruvananthapuram, Samudra in Kovalam beach, Bolgatty Palace in Kochi and Tea County in Munnar - will be offered to working professionals.

The special package is priced at Rs. 11,575 a person on double occupancy and Rs. 20,250 a person on single occupancy for five nights. Triple occupancy is also available and the packages are for 14 nights. The cost covers breakfast, lunch and dinner. With the rooms being disinfected according to Covid protocol, the package also includes in-room tea/coffee-making machine, complimentary Wi-Fi, secured parking space and travel insurance.

The duration of package will be for a minimum of five nights which can be extended on pro rata basis. As it is designed with the pandemic in mind, the package does not include any sightseeing

Kerala Travel Mart, along with the state government’s tourism and health departments, launched a free mass vaccination drive in Ernakulam district today to revitalize the holiday industry that has remained dull for one-and-a-half years owing to Covid-19.

Kochi Mayor Shri M Anil Kumar and Ernakulam District Collector Shri Jafer Malik IASopened the three-day programme at suburban Maradu, marking the start of inoculating 2,500 people in the tourism sector. KTM Society president Baby Mathew Somatheeram, secretary Jose Pradeep, vice president S Swaminathan, former president Abraham George and tourism deputy director Abhilash T G participated.

The drive, being held at BTH Sarovaram in Cochin Bypass, aims to counter an anticipated third wave of the pandemic, organisers said.

The campaign is part of a state-wide drive that seeks to vaccinate everyone in the tourism sector so as to make tourism destinations completely vaccinated zones. KTM Society is holding camps till this month-end in all the districts to inoculate tour operators, front-line workers and those who work in the field of tourism that includes, hotels, restaurants, tourist taxi drivers, tour guides, houseboats, homestays and serviced villas.

The drive is for the benefit of those who have yet to get their first doze as well as those awaiting the second shot.

KTM Society, which is the country’s biggest organisation in the travel and tourism segment, has been working towards reviving the industry since the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

The Kerala government will work on a project that promotes Fort Kochi as the state’s foremost tourist destination, Tourism Minister Shri P A Mohamed Riyas said today.

Authorities will convene a special meeting on this matter and take the plan forward once the current wave of Covid-19 subsides, he told newspersons after visiting Fort Kochi’s South Beach that suffered sea erosion recently.

Vaccination for Kerala Tourism employees, including guides, will soon be completed.

As for the restoring the South Beach here, a renovation project will be drafted after holding discussions with pertinent departments, Shri Riyas said.

The developments on recent tourism projects such as a toilet complex and floating Koothambalam were also discussed by the Minister.

Earlier in the day, the Minister chaired a meeting that took an overview of road construction in the hilly regions of Ernakulam district, and said the place had several centres which can boost tourism.

Authorities are taking measures to rejuvenate the district’s tourist destinations even as the sector has been badly hit by the pandemic, Shri Riyas said after the meeting at the Guest House in Pattimattom, 35 km northeast of Fort Kochi. Problems faced by the Kadabrayar Boating Centre and Eco Village at nearby Kizhakkambalam will be solved at the earliest, he added.

Ernakulam district has immense tourism potential as it also houses the Kochi international airport in Nedumbassery. The district has several destinations which foreign tourists can visit once the pandemic is over, the Minister said.

Authorities are currently busy improving the connectivity between these tourist destinations to woo domestic travellers, he added.

Every year June is observed as aphasia awareness month all over the world. However, most people have not heard of the term 'Aphasia'. Aphasia is a communication disorder resulting from brain damage. According to the National Aphasia Association (2012) 40% of stroke survivors will also have aphasia, then an estimated 7500 people who live in Kerala may have aphasia (Dalal, 2007). According to the literature, the number of persons with aphasia in the country is likely to be around two million. The awareness about aphasia can pave the way for better communication experiences for people living with aphasia.

Aphasia affects the ability to speak, write and/ or understand language. It usually occurs following a stroke or head injury affecting the language areas of the brain. Aphasia can have other associated conditions like paralysis, cognitive issues, swallowing difficulties, psychological concerns like depression etc.

Aphasia can severely affect a person’s quality of life by interfering with your job, relationships and daily functioning. Lack of awareness of a disease or disorder may affect general access to services for that disorder. Lack of awareness of aphasia and its symptoms may negatively impact access to aphasia services for the people who need them.

Following medical intervention, a multi-disciplinary teamwork from professionals is a prerequisite for rehabilitation of individuals with aphasia. The rehabilitation team can include a speech therapist, a physiotherapist, an Occupational therapist and a clinical psychologist. Among the professionals involved, the role of a speech therapist is to assess, diagnose and treat the speech, language, cognitive and swallowing issues which can be present in an individual with Aphasia. Speech therapists also help in guiding the family members of the individual with aphasia as their role is inevitable in the rehabilitation process.

If a person with stroke exhibits the following issues, it is important to consult a speech therapist;

Difficulty in speaking (say short/ incomplete/ nonsense sentences)

Substitute one word for another or one sound for another

Not understand other people's conversation

Write sentences that don't make sense

Difficulty to identify letters for reading

Difficulty to recall words

At National Institute of Speech and Hearing , Trivandrum , a unit for Acquired Neuro- communication Disorders (AND) under the Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology is functioning for the rehabilitation of individuals with aphasia and also individuals with other acquired neuro-communication disorders. The unit focuses on the assessment, treatment and counselling of children and adults with acquired neuro-communication disorders. Also, the unit collaborates with other professional services like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychological consultations, and hearing screening to improve the overall quality of life of a person with aphasia.

Channel Manager software to link KTDC with global networks
Tourism Minister Shri P A Mohamed Riyas today said the online booking system of the hotels of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) will be upgraded by this month-end with the introduction of Channel Manager Software to make the booking of rooms from any part of the world quick and hassle-free.

This was disclosed by the Minister while on a visit to Hotel Mascot and Hotel Grand Chaithram of KTDC here to review the progress of their renovation projects launched to elevate the hospitality facilities and services of Kerala Tourism to global standards to meet the post-pandemic surge. 

The upgrading of the online booking system is the first major step to connect the prime properties of KTDC to global tourism networks. The system will connect KTDC hotels with major booking websites like Booking.com, Agoda and Indian booking engines like Make My Trip, Goibibo and IRCTC of the Indian Railways, giving them greater international visibility, ShriRiyas said.

The Minister took stock of the status of various works, including the renovation of the Rooftop Restaurant and Heritage Block at the over a century-old Hotel Mascot and the restaurant, rooms and conference hall at Hotel Grand Chaithram.

“The ongoing projects will raise the comfort and quality of services of these two top hotels of KTDC to international standards. The projects will be completed within the timeframe set for them,” ShriRiyas said after discussions with Tourism Director and KTDC MD Shri V R Krishna Teja IAS and senior officials present. 

The quality and choice of dishes served in KTDC restaurants will also be improved, by including local delicacies in their menu, which will make the food served by them appealing to the local patrons as well as tourists. The ambience and service of all allied facilities at KTDC hotels will also be improved. 

A second wave of Covid-19 and the ensuing restrictions can eliminate the tourism sector in Kerala, the industry’s captains and workers fear, announcing they will observe May 1 as Black Day to press the state government to resolve the grave issue.
The Tourism SamrakshanaSamithi, while noting that the segment was struggling even amid a stimulus package from the government, said the future looked bleaker with the prospects of massive job loss and shutdown of allied businesses.
Even those generating some revenue out of tourism are in dire straits, noted the umbrella body for 20 organisations. It will observe the Labour Day state-wide this time by wearing black masks, and further announce the grimness in the sector by carrying out a social media campaign with #SaveTourism as the hashtag.
Tourism has been a mainstay of the Kerala economy with the sector generating an income of Rs 44,000 crore annually and providing employment to 15 lakh people both directly and otherwise. For 14 months now, tourism in the state has been struggling to come out of the travails in the wake of the pandemic.
Towards October last year, tourism showed faint signs of improvement, but they weren’t enough to inspire confidence among the stakeholders in the sector. Many of them stared at big-time debt, attachment of property andmounting arrears in the payment of taxes and bills on water and power. Besides, extra expenses were incurred to meet the Covid-19 protocols.
Into February this year, Kerala topped the country’s list on Covid-positive patients, reducing the inflow of domestic tourists to a trickle. What’s more, other state governments imposed a law that necessitated a Covid-negative certificate from Kerala-returned tourists.
Amid the worsening situation, the second wave of Covid-19 currently led he administration to imposer further restrictions on travel. Of the 18,000 people who tested Covid-positive the other day, only 269 were from outside Kerala — and none of them in the state as tourists. Even so, none in the tourism sector has so far tested positive for the novel coronavirus, showing the earnestness of its workers in following the Covid-19 protocols.
The Samithi has proposed to the authorities to give all tourism workers immediate access to the vaccine against Covid-19. It wants the jobless to be provided Rs 5,000 a month, a package aiding the labour involved in tourism, exemption of taxes and fees for tourist vehicles and houseboats, moratorium on paying tax arrears, cancellation of KFC’s blood bank policy, remove the fixed charge on power for hotels and concession on bills. The organisation also sought the withdrawal of clamp on tourist movements, not make RTPCR testing compulsory for tourists visiting Kerala and returning, and a 24-month moratorium on GST.
The organisations under the Samithiwith Sudheesh Kumar as the convenor include Association of Tourism Trade Organisations (ATTOI), Confederation of Accredited Tour Operators (CATO), South Kerala Hoteliers Forum (SKHF), Kerala Tourism Protection and Development Council (KTPDC) and Kovalam Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA).

ITB India and Saudi Tourism Authority announce exclusive partnership
The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) and ITB India have announced Saudi as the Official Partner Country of ITB India 2021. The inaugural ITB India Virtual Event, being held on 7 - 9 April 2021, is an annual B2B trade show and conference specifically curated to build a bridge to the Indian and South Asian travel market. STA is responsible for raising awareness of Saudi, the authentic home of Arabia, as a destination. The organization is focused on developing partnerships with travel trade partners around the world, to expand the reach of Saudi’s tourism offer and to drive conversion in key source markets. The Saudi Tourism Authority is building a global community dedicated to driving awareness of Saudi as a unique tourism destination offering authentic Arabian experiences to cultural explorers from around the world, said Fahd Hamidaddin, Chief Executive Officer of STA. The destination’s wealth of heritage sites, its dynamic urban centers and the warm hospitality of the Saudi people make it a compelling destination for travelers seeking the new, unexpected stories that make a journey truly memorable. As the Official Partner Country of ITB India, Saudi Tourism Authority will showcase an array of current tourism offerings and destination highlights as well as the exciting new developments on the horizon. Tourism is a strategic industry for the future of Saudi Arabian and the country is the world’s largest investor in sustainable tourism infrastructure and offerings. Projects such as the Red Sea and Amaala are setting new global standards in the development and management of tourism in harmony with the natural world. And new sites like AlUla and Diriyah are offering visitors a hitherto unexplored insight into the rich cultural history of Arabia. Saudi offers Indian travelers a unique experience, grounded in Saudi hospitality and redolent of Arabian mystery, said Fahd Hamidaddin. Our partnership with ITB India is an important part of our long-term objective to engage, inspire, invite and delight Indian travelers to Saudi.

ITB India attendees will have an opportunity to visit Saudi Tourism Authority’s digital exhibition booth and arrange one-on-one meetings with STA representatives to learn more about the destination.

March 25-29 drive aims to woo tourists in post-pandemic era

Kerala Tourism today launched a pioneering travel initiative led by ten influencers from around the country who will carry out a new-media campaign to attract domestic tourists in the post-Covid era.

Smt Rani George, IAS, Principal Secretary, Tourism, flagged off the Kerala Blog Express, titled ‘My First Trip 2021’, which is slated to conclude on March 29. 

The influencers will tread different itineraries for six nights and five days, facilitating production of exclusive contents for Kerala Tourism.The images, videos and literature generated by them will be shared on social-media platforms as #MyFirstTrip.  They will announce to the world that destinations in God’s Own Country continue to be open for tourists. 

Kerala Tourism Director Shri V.R. Krishna Teja, IAS, and Shri Biju. B.S, Deputy Director, Marketing, Kerala Tourism, were also present at the function held at the Hotel Mascot in the city.

“The trip will give the participants a chance to not just visit the famous tourist destinations in Kerala, but experience the cuisine, culture, art and other popular activities around,” Smt George said. 

“Tourism industry was struck by the pandemic and Kerala was no exception. Gradually, we learned to live on with Covid-19. We started to see visitors coming to Kerala from November-December 2020. Now, these vloggers can also spread the word to the world that Kerala is safer to explore since Covid-19 cases are on the decline in the state. So, people would understand the situation,” she added. 

Shri Teja, in his address, said that through the trip, the vloggers would certainly experience the warmth of people and understand how safe the state was to explore.

While the previous editions of the Kerala Blog Express had only international bloggers and social media influencers, My First Trip 2021 has only domestic influencers and aims to provide additional impetus to the current domestic marketing initiatives of Kerala.

‘My First Trip’ will take the influencers on a trip across various destinations in 10 specially branded cars, stipulating to the pandemic protocol in mind. The participants will follow five different itineraries around the state.

The destinations include the Jadayu Earth Center at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, Thumboormuzhi Garden near Chalakudy in Thrissur district, Vazhachal, Athirapally waterfalls near it and the Malakkapara hill-station in the area. 

The travellers will also experience village life at Munroe Island (Kollam) and nature walk along the bird sanctuary in Kumarakom (Kottayam) and a houseboat cruise there, besides visits to the Muziris Heritage project sites north of Kochi and a town walk through coastal Alappuzha. Other highlights are visits to the Punnamada lake, Marari beach, boating in the Periyar lake, Tea Museum in Idukki district, the dams at Kundala and Mattupetti and water sports at Cherai northwest of Kochi.

Four of the influencers are from Mumbai, three from Delhi and one each from Hyderabad (Telangana), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Ajmer (Rajasthan).