Metro Mart Daily

Having established an unassailable lead, Tropical Titans registered a resounding triple hat-trick in the Champions Boat League (CBL) today when they finished first at the 11th round in Kallada ahead of the finals of the pioneering water event next weekend.

The star team met the expectation of crowd by outshining all their eight competitors yet again by clocking 3:43.91 minutes in the evening’s final race, ahead of spirited Raging Rowers (3:49.95) and Mighty Oars (3:52.00) who came second and third, respectively. Amid loud cheer down the one-km track, the day’s victors also earned the ‘Nerolac Excel Fastest Team of the Day’ with the best timing in the final race.

Topping the overall tally with 158 points, Tropical Titans sustained their unbeatable lead in the three-month CBL that is to host its final round at the scenic Ashtamudi lake in Kollam on November 23. The all-Saturday event across five districts is being organised by Kerala Tourism on the model of IPL cricket with the simultaneous aim of rejuvenating the state’s traditional boat races underpinned with a high degree of professionalism. The CBL has so far been watched by more than 20 lakh people.

The CBL table now has Raging Rowers standing second with 78 points, followed by Mighty Oars and Coast Dominators sharing the third rank with 69 points.

Tropical Titans, owned by Pallathuruthy Sports Club, had earlier scored hat-tricks in the third round at Karuvatta (September 14) and then in the eighth leg at Kainakary (October 26). The only venue where they lost in the 12-leg CBL was at Kochi on October 5, when Coast Dominators came a surprise first in front of a cosmopolitan gathering along Marine Drive in downtown Ernakulam.

Coast Dominators were runners-up in the previous round (November 9) at Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district, ahead of Raging Rowers in a photo finish.

As two teams share the third rank, the fourth place will lie vacant, as per the CBL rule. Fifth and sixth down the tally are Backwater Knights (56 points) and Pride Chasers (48 points). At seventh position stands Backwater Warriors (32), while Thunder Oars and Backwater Ninjas share the eighth rank with 25 points each.

The Kallada leg saw an instance of penalty when Pride Chasers violated  uniform, thus inviting a five-second addition to their timing.

The all-Saturday races that began at Punnamada in Alappuzha on August 31 offer prize monies totalling Rs 5.9 crore that makes CBL the country’s fourth highest-paid sports tournament. While the day’s topper secures Rs 5 lakh, it is Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1 lakh for the second and third finishers. All participating teams are entitled to Rs 4 lakh per match. The overall winner of the championships is entitled to Rs 25 lakh, followed by Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for the second and third prize winners.

The Kallada leg, which also hosted races for the smaller veppu and iruttukuthi boats, was inaugurated by Kerala Fisheries Minister Ms J Mercykutty Amma. Kunnathur MLA Mr Kovoor Kunjumon presided over the function that was attended by Kerala Tourism Director Mr. P Bala Kiran, District Collector Mr Abdul Nasar, District Police Chief Mr Harishankar and members of the local civic body, including Mr Binu Karunakaran, Munroe Thuruth Gram PanchayatPresident.

The CBL, with its rounds invariably being made more spectacular by cultural programmes featuring folk and classical performing arts, had cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as the chief guest its inaugural round on the sprawling Punnamada backwaters of Alappuzha.

The races were broadcast live as usual. Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2 HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Asianet Worldwide, Asianet Plus, Hotstar, ETV Andhra Pradesh and ETV Telangana will continue to beam the future CBL rounds live for an hour from 4 pm.

The CBL (www.championsboatleague.in <http://www.championsboatleague.in>), billed as a game-changing initiative, seeks to professionalise Kerala’s largely scattered snake-boat races, while commercialising them without losing the conventional spirit. Tickets can be booked online through ‘Book my Show’ platform, besides 20 outlets that facilitate spot purchase of tickets. The prices range from Rs 200 to 2,000.
 

As in previous years international tourism continues to grow in 2019, though not quite as strongly as before. During the first eight months of this year outbound trips increased worldwide by 3.9 per cent, one percentage point below 2018. This year, Asia again recorded the highest growth in international travel, while Latin America saw a decline. Overall, the first trend analyses of IPK’s World Travel Monitor® indicate outbound travel will continue to grow also in 2020. The World Travel Monitor® is based on the results of representative interviews with more than 500,000 people in over 60 countries worldwide. It has been compiled for more than 20 years and is recognized as the most widescale continuous survey of global travel trends.

Outbound trips by Asians driving global growth

At six per cent, Asia reported the world’s highest growth during the first eight months of this year, as it did in 2018. China, by far the continent’s largest source market, contributed to this upward trend with an above-average growth of nine per cent. During the first eight months foreign trips by North Americans rose slightly above average, at 4.5 per cent. Foreign travel by Europeans increased too, although at 2.5 per cent they ranked well behind Asia and North America – and below last year’s figure. In contrast, during the first eight months foreign trips by Latin Americans reflected a negative trend with a year-on-year decline of three per cent.

Asia also a popular travel destination

Interest in Asia as a travel destination likewise shows an upward trend. With a six per cent increase in visitors during the first eight months, it recorded higher growth than any other region in the world. Trips to Europe are popular too, with a global visitor growth by 3.5 per cent, whereas trips to America only rose by two per cent.

Further increase in holiday trips

During the first eight months of 2019, holiday trips increased globally by four per cent, while business travel stagnated. However, this reflects two divergent trends. ”On the one hand we have the still-expanding MICE travel market, which during the first eight months grew by two per cent, and in contrast the traditional business travel, which shrank by four per cent over the same period“, said Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International.

City breaks are booming again – increase in cruises

After moderate increases last year, city breaks came back with strong growth with eight per cent during the first eight months of 2019. With a global market share of close to 30 per cent now, city breaks rank only slightly behind sun and beach holidays, which recorded a two per cent rise during the first eight months. As well as round trips, which increased by three per cent, the cruise market expanded too. Compared with last year its growth by six per cent and therefore above average.

Safety image of travel destinations

Asked about the terror threat of individual destinations, the majority of global outbound travellers still rank destinations like Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia as particularly unsafe. The possibility of terror in these countries is seen as very high. With regard to safety, the USA, Mexico, South Africa and France also have a poor image. In contrast, travel destinations like, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Portugal as well as Australia and Canada are perceived as safe, where the terror threat is seen as low, according to the latest findings from September of this year.

Positive outlook for 2020

Despite political and economic instability around the world, the data on travel intentions collected by IPK International points to a positive outlook for next year: For the global outbound travel market IPK forecasts for 2020 a plus of four per cent. Outbound trips by Asians are expected to record the highest growth with five per cent. For the European outbound trips a growth rate of three to four per cent will be expected and for the Americans of three per cent. These forecasts are based on the findings of the “World Travel Confidence Index” of IPK International, which as part ofWorld Travel Monitor® polls people’s travel intentions for the next 12 months.

Further conclusive results showing 2019 travel trends will be published in future press releases. Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International, will present the final findings of the World Travel Monitor® for 2019 at the ITB Future Day of the ITB Berlin Convention along with forecasts for 2020.

UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry held the 86th UFI Congress from 6th to 9th November 2019 at Avani + Bangkok Riverside Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. UFI members from more than 50 countries with over 550 registered participants attended this year’s event which was the largest in UFI’s history, matching the record number of attendees drawn at the Shanghai (China) Congress in 2016.

Chaired by UFI’s 2019 President, Craig Newman, the General Assembly highlighted an array of new initiatives supporting UFI’s global membership in around 90 countries.

Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) has been the dinner sponsor for UFI Congress over the last 10 years. The 86th UFI Congress featured 21 delegates from India including exhibition organizing venues and service providing companies from the Indian exhibition industry.

At the 86th UFI Congress, V. Anbu, Director General & CEO of Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) and BIEC took over as the Incoming  President of UFI for 2020 - 2021.

Earlier this year the UFI board of directors had elected V. Anbu as its President for 2020-2021. The decision was taken at the board meeting, which marked the start of the annual UFI European Conference in Birmingham (UK).

V. Anbu has been active in UFI for many years, supporting its mission and driving developments. He has been serving on the UFI Board of Directors since 2011 and was further appointed to the UFI Executive Committee in 2017. Anbu is also the first UFI president from India in the history of the association.

Expressing delight in his new role V. Anbu said, “It is indeed a privilege to be associated with the apex international body for exhibitions in such an important role. I am thankful to UFI for reposing their faith and trust in me and I am confident of discharging my duties at the highest levels. I believe that BIEC and the Indian exhibition industry will now get wider recognition and this will also enhance their positioning in the global map.”

Messe Berlin, one of the world’s leading trade fair companies, has announced a strategic partnership with global corporate travel leader, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). The agreement inks a significant partnership to be the 2020 Corporate Travel Day Partner for ITB India, the new 3-day business-to-business travel trade show and convention focusing on the Indian and South Asian travel market.

ACTE joins ITB India’s Buyers Elite Programme Partners to recommend quality buyers and corporate travel managers to the show. The organisers will host up to 50 hand-picked corporate travel managers from first, second, and third tier cities in India and South Asia. At the ITB India Corporate Travel Day, industry professionals will be providing answers to many industry questions and highlighting best practices and actual scenarios from the business travel market.

“Given the success of two editions of the Corporate Travel Day at ITB Asia, it is only logical to join forces with ACTE for the inaugural ITB India as well. The partnership is the perfect pairing of two industry leaders sharing a common vision of drawing more corporate travel buyers to both India and Southeast Asia. As one of the most important partners for ITB India in the corporate sector, ACTE, with its wide international representation from over 100 countries, will play a leading role inpromoting our premiere event,” said *Katrina Leung, Managing Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), co-organiser of ITB India.

A global association dedicated to supporting the corporate travel industry, ACTE has been pioneering educational and technological advances that make business travel more productive, cost-effective and straightforward.

Leigh Bochicchio, Executive Director of ACTE commented, “We are delighted to have concluded the agreement for ITB India 2020, and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue partnership with ITB Asia from 2020 to 2022. At ACTE, we continue to lead global education, advocacy and initiatives to support impactful changes in safety and security, privacy, duty of care and Corporate Travel compliance, along with traveller productivity that supports global commerce. The expanded partnership in India and extended cooperation between ITB Asia and ACTE will undoubtedly foster another unprecedented horizon in our vision for global education in the corporate travel and MICE sectors.”

ITB India is a 3-day business-to-business travel trade show and convention set to take place at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India, from 15 to 17 April 2020. The show caters to the MICE, corporate and leisure travel sectors of the Indian and South Asian markets.

 

Outperforming rivals by several yards amid loud cheers from spectators, Tropical Titans emerged victors yet again today at Race 10, stirring up prospects of scoring a third hat-trick in the Champions Boat League (CBL). The evening’s winners, with a timing of 4:39.76 along the 900-metre track at the Kayamkulam backwaters, surged further up the points position at 143, taking an unassailable lead after the 10th round of the pioneering water event modelled on IPL cricket. The final race saw a photo-finish for the first and second runners-up, with Coast Dominators coming second by clocking 5:17.17 and Raging Rowers (5:17.60) ending third.

Tropical Titans yet again became the ‘Nerolac Excel Fastest Team of the Day’ with the best timing of 4:26.90 during the heats. The team, owned by Pallathuruthy Sports Club, has so far lost only the fifth round of the three-month CBL at Kochi, where Coast Dominators came a surprise first on October 5. With two more CBL rounds left (at Kallada next weekend and the final in Kollam on November 23), the event has sprung a bright chance for Tropical Titans to score a third hat-trick if they win the coming race. The team had won hat-tricks — first in the third round at Karuvatta (September 14) and then at Kainakary (October 26). The overall tally has Raging Rowers currently standing second with 70 points, followed by Coast Dominators (63) and, at fourth with just a point less, Mighty Oars (62). At fifth and sixth respectively are Backwater Knights (51) and Pride Chasers (44). Occupying the last three spots are Backwater Warriors (seventh, 31 points), Thunder Oars (eighth, 24) and Backwater Ninjas at the bottom with 22 points. The Kayamkulam leg saw two instances of penalty. Backwater Warriors violated track, thus inviting a five-second addition to their timing in the second loser’s final. Backwater Knights had seven rowers not sticking to uniform, also leading to an addition of five seconds to the team’s timing at the heats.

The all-Saturday races that began at Punnamada in Alappuzha on August 31 offer prize monies totalling Rs 5.9 crore that makes CBL the country’s fourth highest-paid sports tournament. While the day’s topper secures Rs 5 lakh, it is Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1 lakh for the second and third finishers. All participating teams are entitled to Rs 4 lakh per match. The overall winner of the championships is entitled to Rs 25 lakh, followed by Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for the second and third prize winners.  The Kayamkulam leg was inaugurated by Kerala Finance Minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac. Tourism Minister Mr Kadakampally Surendran was the chief guest at the function that was presided by Kayamkulam MLA Ms U Prathibha Hari. The other VIPs on the dais were Mr A M Ariff, MP, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Managing Director Mr Krishna Teja and former legislator Mr C K Sadasivan besides star German footballer Patrick Owomoyela.

Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA) is organizing a ‘Symposium on Smart Automation’ at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bengaluru on 21^st November 2019. The day-long Symposium will feature industry experts and delegates discussing and debating the various facets of Smart Automation through technical presentations, case studies,and panel discussion, thereby enabling industries to chart out a roadmap for adopting Smart Automation in their manufacturing processes.

Mr.Easwaran Subramanian, Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, India LLP and the Guest of Honour for the Symposium will deliver a keynote address on“Smart Automation - Today's wish, tomorrow's necessity. Are we ready?”.

The Symposium will have parallel concurrent sessions wherein industry experts from companies such as WIPRO, SIEMENS, SCHUNK INTEC, ACE MICROMATIC MIT, KUKA, BEUMER, FELSOMAT, GOM, SANSERA, PEPPERL + FUCHS, TITAN ENGG. & AUTOMATION LIMITED, ROBERT BOSCH ENGG, M2NXT, and AMC AUTOMATIONwill present their case studies and address the various facets of automation. Focus will be on automation in machine shops, assembly lines, collaborative robots, smart sensing, machine learning, material handling, digitalisation in discrete manufacturing, 3D scanning, and so on.

Speaking about the importance of automation in manufacturing, Mr. Indradev Babu, President, IMTMA, said, “With India aspiring to be a $5 trillion economy and manufacturing sector contributing $1 trillion towards it, we need to utilize automation and other Industry 4.0 technologies which will make manufacturing smarter than before. IMTMA will create the ecosystem and facilitate bringing technologies to the doorsteps of industries through Symposiums like these.”

Expressing his views, Mr. V. Anbu, Director General & CEO, IMTMA, said, “India needs to grow stronger in manufacturing sector and automation would lead the way not only in auto sector but in other industries such as defence, aerospace, railways, medical devices, consumer durables, heavy engineering, and others. This would enable India to catch up with global leaders in manufacturing.”

IMTMA is also organizing technical tours a day before the Symposium on 20^th November 2019. The plant visits to Titan Engineering and Automation Limited, TVS Motor Company, SKF India and Sansera Engineering, are expected to provide delegates an opportunity to witness automation projects implemented and translated into action on the shopfloors of these companies.

Noting that the proposed Semi High-Speed Rail (SHSR) corridor from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod will change the texture of the state, KRDCL Managing Director Mr. V. Ajith Kumar today said the project will be more beneficial for the Malabar region. He also informed that the construction work of the project would kick off by next year once it gets the Indian Railway’s approval and it will be completed by 2025.

“Land requirement is minimal for the project and it will be about half of that of four-lane highways,” he asserted, while speaking about Kerala’s dream project at a session organised by Malabar Chamber of Commerce here.

Mr. Kumar said land acquisition would not be a difficult task between Tirur and Kasaragodsince the SHSR rail line would run parallel to the existing railway line. “KRDCL will have to acquire about 1,200 hectares of land for the project that will have the rails elevated along urban stretches. The trains will run at a maximum speed of 200 km per hour.Land acquisition is required in 21-25metre width. There is also provision for providing compensation to those who give land for the project,” he added.

“The 532-km double line between the capital city and Kasaragod will be completed using modern technology. Maximum curves will be avoided and we expect a speed of 200 km/h,” he said.

“With the implementation of the 100 percent green project, it will reduce the journey time from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod from 12 hours to just four hours. If we can go ahead with the current time-frame, the project will become a reality by 2025,” Mr. Kumar said.

The mega infrastructure project, known as ‘Silver Line’,is being implemented by the Kerala Rail Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL), a joint venture of Government of Kerala and Ministry of Railways.

“A detailed project report (DPR) of the double line has been submitted to the state government,” he said, adding that all the stations would function using renewable energy sources, including solar energy. 

The train that starts from Kochuveli will have stops at Kollam, Chengannoor, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod. The construction will commence after getting approvals from the Central and state governments,” the KRDCL MD said.

Mr. K SreenivasaRao, Director, International Airport, Kozhikode gave a felicitation speech. Mr. A SyamSundar, President, Malabar Chamber of Commerce, presided. Mr. NM Salim, Architect, Programme Coordinator, welcomed the gathering. Mr. T Gopakumar, Joint Secretary, proposed a vote of thanks.  The SHSR line is expected to reduce both congestion and pollution on the roads, improve safety and reduce dependence on imported oil. The airports at Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi will be connected in the SHSR.

KRDCL expects a ridership of 67,740 passengers a day. It estimates to carry 1,330 travellers in one direction at peak hours. The average number of travellers a day will be 82,266 by 2028, 116,681 by 2040 and 147,120 in 2051. As for employment, the project will generate 50,000 jobs during the construction of the corridor and 11,000 once it is functional after completion.

Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered KRDCL, floated in January 2017, is a joint venture between the Kerala government and the Railways to execute viable railway projects on acost-sharing basis. The rail corridor will also help stem pollution by buses and other private vehicles on the road. By 2028, SHSR will reduce road vehicles and trucks causing reduction of approximately 2,37,663 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and 3,81,899 tons by 2051.

Rowing westward against a bright evening sun, all the teams displayed special vigour at the ninth round of the Champions Boat League (CBL) today, even as Tropical Titans continued to assert their supremacy by finishing first yet another time ahead of the finals later this month.  The winning team timed 3:37.59 at Pulinkunnu leg of the 12-leg championship modelled on IPL cricket. Finishing second were Raging Rowers (3:45.75), while Mighty Oars (3:46.79) came third amid a cheering crowd of 1.3 lakh on both sides of the Pampa river.

The ‘Nerolac Excel Fastest Team of the Day’ went to Tropical Titans with the best timing of 3:35.67 down the 900-metre track during the heats. Today’s round marked the exit of the all-Saturday championship from low-altitude Kuttanad, as the rest three legs are slated at Kayamkulam, Kallada and Kollam further down the state. Kerala Tourism is organising the pioneering three-month championship that began on August 31 and is concluding on November 23. The event offers prize monies totalling Rs 5.9 crore that makes CBL the country’s fourth highest-paid sports tournament.

At the end of the Pulinkunnu round, Tropical Titans stand atop the overall tally with 128 points, followed by Raging Rowers (63) and Mighty Oars (59). In the previous round at Kainakary eight km northeast of here, Tropical Titans had won their second hat-trick at the CBL.  Standing fourth on the CBL table are Coast Dominators with 55 points, followed by Backwater Knights (45) and Pride Chasers (42). Seventh down the tally are Backwater Warriors (26), Thunder Oars at 23 and Backwater Ninjas (17).

The day’s topper secured Rs 5 lakh, followed by Rs 3 lakh and Rs 1 lakh for the second and third finishers. All participating teams are entitled to Rs 4 lakh per match. The overall winner of the championships is entitled to Rs 25 lakh, followed by Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for the second and third prize winners. 

The Pulinkunnu round was inaugurated by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Managing Director Mr. Krishna Teja. Among the other VIPs at the event were Mr. Kodikkunnil Suresh, MP; former MLA C K Sadasivan; Cochin Shipyard Director B Radhakrishna Menon; STIHL India MD Mr. Parind Prabhudesai; and Mr Varghese Antony of Kansai Nerolac.

Christmas is near. Announcing the onset of the festival of Christmas, this year’s cake mixing ceremony was held at the exquisite Vivin Luxury Suites, Trivandrum in the first week of November. The inauguration of the ceremony was presided over by cine-artist Dinesh Panicker and Dav Whatmore, Kerala Cricket team coach who was the guest of honour. Other dignitaries who attended the celebration included Suri Amarnath, CEO, Thought line Technologies. The event had an essence of joy in the air, welcoming the festival of lights, cakes and happiness.

Declaring the arrival of the festival of Christmas, this year’s cake mixing ceremony was held at the prestigious Mascot Hotel in Trivandrum. The inauguration of the ceremony wasdone by the Chairman M Vijayakumar, co-ordinator of Nava Keralam project Cherian Philip in the presence of Managing Director V R Krishna Teja Mylavarapu IAS and General Manager Dilip and other guests who attended to witness the celebration. “The tradition of cake mixing is a forerunner of the great festivity of Christmas and it is usually done following the harvest. The tradition signifies happiness” added M Vijayakumar at the ceremony.

Cake mixing has a great cultural and historic significance. The cake mix with dry fruits, nuts soaked in liquor & wine and will be held in a big air-tight container for a month with occasional stirring.The cakes cakes will be ready for sale from the take away counter and other Food & Beverage outlets of Mascot Hotel from 9th December 2019 and will be available in two special packs