NRK Deposits in Kerala Banks grow further

Switzerland's new international airline brand identity announced

CBSE to start language, cultural courses abroad

G E Shipping complies with STCW 1995 norms

Cooling Central to Construct New Ras Al Khama project

 

keralamonitor.com

New Delhi : January 31, 2002 -The Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE's) international cell will start offering courses in Indian languages, culture and history specially designed for children of non-resident Indians (NRIs).

The courses would give an an overview of various aspects of Indian culture that the expatriates miss most. The courses would cover languages like Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and Gujarati. The cultural aspect would include folk and classical dances, art and architecture, vocal and instrumental music, history, civilisation and literature. The courses are likely to start by July this year. An education board to which most schools across India and many in 21 other countries are affiliated will open foreign centres to conduct these courses.

Most of the Non Resident Indians want want their children to learn these topics. The programme was conceived on the basis of the demands of Indians living all over the world. The recently submitted report on the Indian diaspora has recommended that initiatives should be taken to encourage education of Indian art and tradition. The CBSE plan is to provide a glimpse of India's rich culture to the children who have lost contact with their motherland.

The study syllabus would also include Indian family, social systems and indigenous health systems like yoga and ayurveda. The board will open centres in foreign cities depending on the local concentration of Indians and the demand for the courses. The fee for the courses, structured at three levels of introductory, functional and proficient, would range between $150-200.

The course material would be provided in print and computer packages. Contact programmes would be organised and personal guidance offered for practical and project work. The board would also issue certificates depending on performances in written and oral tests.

There is a vast divergence in the cultural needs of different segments of the Diaspora in the field of culture. There is need to adopt a balanced and coordinated approach in responding to those needs. The Committee on Indian Diaspora examined different models and recommended the adoption of the British Council model for the larger demographic centres while the Alliance Francaise model should be used for centres concentrating on the dissemination of Indian languages.

According to the report, special measures should be designed to recognise and highlight the achievements of India's French and Dutch speaking Diaspora. Cultural interaction should be increased between India and the Diaspora in Reunion and Guadeloupe.

Education is a field where there is a large reservoir of highly qualified PIOs in senior academic positions in almost every academic institution in countries like the USA, Canada and the UK. A number of them are willing to volunteer their time and expertise to impart to institutions in India. There is a crying need for the development of suitable mechanisms to leverage this extraordinary resource.

Special programmes may be developed, both at school and university level, to cater to the needs of various age groups in all segments of the Diaspora. Concerted efforts should be made to introduce India Studies in universities with a sizeable Indian Diaspora, the report recommended.(keralamonitor.com)

 

Switzerland's new international airline brand identity announced

Chris Watts, Vice President of External Affairs for Crossair, in Dubai to announce Switzerland's new airline brand identiy (keralamonitor.com)

Dubai, January 31, 2002 - The new inter-continental airline for Switzerland has announced that it will fly under the trademark, Swiss, once it is launched with the introduction of the summer timetable on March 31, 2002.

Speaking at an exclusive media briefing in Dubai, held simultaneously with the global announcement, Chris Watts, Vice President of Global External Affairs for Crossair, said "this is a great day for Swiss aviation and we are very excited about the new name and new brand strategy which will come into effect by April 1st, 2002."

"With a proposed total fleet of 128 planes operating to 122 destinations in 60 countries, including eight destinations in six Middle East countries, I believe that Swiss will be a strong inter-continental airline of the future," he added.

Speaking at a press conference in Basel, André Dosé, Chief Executive Officer of Crossair and of the new airline, said that there were two decisive factors in the choice of name. "The new airline is a unique instance in Swiss post-war history, of a collective alliance between politics, industry and the people of Switzerland. It will be the qualities, which have made our country great, on which we are banking in the building up of our new airline."

These qualities include reliability, friendliness, safety, elegance and perfect service characterised by innovation and multi-cultural cosmopolitan attitude. It is on this foundation, André Dosé is convinced, "that the integration of Crossair and Swissair employees in the new project can be successfully accomplished."

Tyler Br?lé, the Creative Director of Wink Media of London, who is responsible for the new brand concept and its visual appearance, said "a brand is more than a logo - it is a set of distinct traits built on a solid foundation. The brand shows who we are, what we do, how we think, what our traditions are and where we want to go."

"Swiss quality values were not attributed solely for Crossair or Swissair. They are accepted for excellence around the world and it is on these values that we are building what will be the most respected airline in the world," Br?lé explained.

The registered company name of Swiss will be Swiss Air Lines Ltd. For legal reasons, the change from Crossair cannot be made until October and the start of the winter timetable 2002, as it is waiting authorisation from the next General Assembly of Shareholders.Following today's announcement, the logistical details of the new airline's implementation and phaze-in will be revealed in March.

UAE Labour restrictions due to Demographic Factors; Study

NRK Deposits in Kerala Banks grow further

keralamonitor.com

Thiruvananthapuram: The NRI deposits in commercial banks in Kerala have crossed the Rs 220- billion mark for the first time. The deposits account for a whopping 47 per cent of total bank deposits in the State, according to the latest statistics released by the State Level Banking Committee.

A Kerala Government sponsored study conducted by the Cente for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram covered more than 350 respondents in Arab countries, and according to the principal investigator K.C. Zachariah, the decline in the demand for foreign labour in the Gulf was largely due to the concerns over demographic balance.

According to the study, the percentage of expatriates in the UAE had risen sharply between 1968 and 2000. The share of expatriates, which was 36.5 per cent in 1968 shot up to as high as 75 per cent in 2000. Of all the expats in the UAE, as much as 42 per cent is constituted by Indians. The demographic imbalance may have contributed to new labour migration policies which focus on a reduction in the number of foreign workers, the study says.

It shows that about 77 per cent of the expatriates enjoy regular long-term employment with monthly wages. Of the approximately 1 million Indians in the UAE, almost half are Keralites, and a majority of them are employed in the construction industry and retail business, reveals the study.

Despite the job market in the Gulf countries is found to be pleateauing, the aggregate remittances by non-resident Keralites are growing. Total remittances
from expatriate workers in the UAE to India rose from Rs 57.28 billion in 1998 to Rs 71.87 billion in 2000.The balance of Rs 220 billion in non-resident external accounts in commercial banks in Kerala was recorded on September 30, 2001, which is the latest data available with the State Level Bankers' Committee.

Giving a fair idea of how much expatriates in the Gulf countries save each month, the survey shows that about 36 per cent of the workers have savings of less than Dhms 500 per month while 37 per cent have savings between Dhms 500 and Dhms 1,000 each month.

G E Shipping complies with STCW 1995 norms

Mumbai; G E Shipping has today successfully met the mandatory compliance norms set by the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for seafarers (STCW) 1978 subsequently amended in 1995 for their 11 owned and managed ships (crude, product and gas carriers) currently trading internationally.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) enforced the standards stipulated in the STCW 1978 convention to achieve certain minimum standards of competence in training, watchkeeping and certification within a time frame ending on 31st January 2002. The IMO recognised that all seafarers on board ships may not hold their STCW 95 certificates or flag State endorsements and hence recommended to issue only a warning to companies and to notify the seafarers and administrations accordingly while extending the applicability by a further term of six months till 31st July 2002.

G E Shipping has abided by these rigorous compliance norms for all its officers and crew in order to meet the highest standards at sea and in port. The procedure required certifying around 275 job positions spread over the above vessels. This exhaustive task could be completed only with the commendable support from offices of the Director General of Shipping and the respective Mercantile Marine Departments. The stipulations stretched from 4 to 10 mandatory courses depending on the ranking of the officer and the crew and each such course involved training periods spanning a period of 3 to 14 days. As this could be done only during the annual leave period of the seafarer it required resourcefulness and meticulous planning.

"We lay great emphasis on safety of life and cargo at sea and the protection of the marine environment and meeting such rigorous compliance norms in time further endorses our objectives" said Mr. Bharat Sheth, Managing Director, G E Shipping Co. Ltd.

January 31, 2002

Cooling Central to Construct New Ras Al Khama project

Tabreed - the National Central Cooling Co. (PJSC), has been contracted to supply cooling to Al Gurm Plaza, opposite Manar Mall, from its facility in Ras Al Khaimah. The new, state of the art, four floor building, which will house 80 apartments, is the first residential property in Ras Al Khaimah to utilize the benefits of district cooling, including economic and environmental savings.

300 refrigerating tonnes will be supplied to Al Gurm Plaza from the Tabreed Ras Al Khaimah facility, which currently serves Manar Mall. Tabreed's scheme can supply buildings within a 3 km radius of the facility and has the potential to offer a maximum capacity of 10,000 refrigerating tonnes.

"This latest connection, coupled with a number of other new schemes and project developments across the emirates announced in the last three months, are a tangible indication of the huge growth in interest in district cooling that we are witnessing in the UAE," said Jamal Al Jarwan, Tabreed's Area Manager of Dubai & Northern Emirates.

From one plant, cooling can be piped to a number of buildings within a set area, providing the best solution to cooling requirements for all properties, from residential to commercial and governmental. "District cooling is a relatively new concept in the UAE, but its benefits, including hassle-free, environmentally friendly, maintenance-free, energy saving cooling, better temperature control and noise reduction, are already proving popular with landlords and tenants," added Al Jarwan.The Ras Al Khaimah scheme is one of a number of projects undertaken by Tabreed. A further 10 schemes are currently under construction in different areas in the UAE.