Bye bye 2023! Welcome 2024!!

A little over an hour and a half is left for 2023 to wind up. There's an excitement in the air to welcome the new year 2024.

It would be worthwhile to go back in time to take stock of the events and happenings of 2023.

The most important thing is that India has arrived in the world scene as a country without parallel. Her aspirations to be a superpower riding on a powerful economy is what the other countries acknowledge. The G20 summit was the event that catapulted the country into big time league.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the tallest leader in the world and his advice/suggestions are taken seriously by the world leaders.

India, as a nation, is slowly getting rid of many of its bad baggage and has begun to understand its strength.

May the country's gallop towards tremendous achievements in the near future become a reality.

Jai Hind!

Cochin Carnival.

Fort Kochi is decked up to welcome people from all over the world for the Cochin Carnival. The origins of the carnival go way back - to the 16th century - when the area was a Portuguese colony.

It's the Europeans who started celebrating New Year on 01 January. The Portuguese introduced the annual tradition of year-end galas to the island city. And the locals kept up the custom as the Vasco da Gama Square in Fort Kochi became synonymous with the carnival.

 

Local residents have been celebrating the New Year with their families for centuries. Clubs turned it into a grand celebration a few decades ago. They started marking the end of the year with the burning of Pappanji. And then, the UN designated 1985 as the "International Year of the Youth". It all began when some local youths decided to be part of the global celebration.

Inspired by the UN announcement, three youngsters - George Augustine Thundiparambil, Ananda Felix Scaria and Antony Anup Scaria - decided to organise a beach festival with the slogan 'Adventure and Environment'. Inspired by the New Year celebrations of the Portuguese, they shaped the festival into a significant cultural event and called it Carnivale Cochin. 

Over time, the event came to be known as Cochin Carnival with people from around the world congregating at the parade Ground to witness burning of Pappanji and usher in the New Year.

Tailpiece.

Got up a trifle before 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9.

Anand, Letha's son, spoke to us as he leaves for Lagos, Nigeria on 03 Jan.

A quiet Saturday. 

Heli-tourism in Kerala.

Heli-tourism project is being launched as part of Kerala Tourism 2.0 - a major announcement in the budget. To quote sources, "Many stakeholders from Kerala and other states are ready to invest in the project. Many participants in the Tourism Investors Meet 2023 held in Thiruvananthapuram, too, have expressed interest".

As per the current plan, following are the price tags for various offers :-

 * Brief heli-rides Rs.6,000/- to Rs.10,000/- (Hourly/half hourly rides) per head.

 * Rides to a specific destination will cost around Rs.1 Lakh depending on the destination, head-count,

    luxury and other services provided by the operators). 

 * The cost of various tourism packages will range from Rs.2.5 lakhs to Rs.10 lakhs.

In the initial phase, the project will cover 10 major destinations including Munnar, Kumarakom, Bekal, Alappuzha, Jatayu Earth Centre and Thiruvananthapuram.

Growing traffic is one of the concerns hampering tourism activities in the state. Presently, tourists spend a lot of their time in travelling distances to reach destinations.

And finally, besides tourism, these choppers can be used for medical purposes in transporting patients.

My take

A futuristic project!

Tailpiece.

Got up at a trifle before 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 7.

Today's dad's 11th Remembrance Day and I'd offered the 'bali tharpanam' at our courtyard.

Washing machinex of bed-linen.

The pain is reducing, slowly but steadily. 

Giving up Indian citizenship.

For greener pastures! 

* 22,300 Gujarat renounce Indian citizenship from 2014 to 2022. Surrendered passports in the last 10      

   years.

* Delhi had the most passport surrenders in India (60,414), followed by Punjab (28,117) and Gujarat      

   (22,300).

* People renouncing Indian citizenship more than doubled from 2011 (1,22.819) to 2022 (2,25,620).

*Andaman & Nicobar had the fewest passport surrenders (16), followed by Lakshadweep/Daman/Diu

  (33) and Sikkim (34).

My take

Was surprised to see this statistics!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9.

A quiet Thursday.

Economy Paradox.

Dateline 27 Dec

1A. If interest rate goes up :

       "How the poor could afford a house, car for themselves?"

  B. If interest rate comes down :

       "How will elders earn interest from the bank?"

2A. If foreigners invest in our country :

       "They are taking away our wealth as profits/dividends".

  B. If domestic companies invest outside :

       "Our wealth shifts for the development of outsiders"

3A. If tax rates are increased :

       "The government is robbing people".

  B. If tax rates are lowered :

       "The government is trying to help the rich". 

4A. If GDP grows :

       "The government is working primarily for the big corporates".

  B. If GDP contracts :

       "There is no job creation".

5A. If currency strengthens :

       "Our exports get impacted".

  B. If currency weakens :

       "Our import bill has gone up.

6A. If food prices go up :

       "Masses are suffering".

  B. If food prices come down :

      "Farmers are suffering".

7A. If stock market comes down :

       "The economy is in a mess".

  B. If stock market goes up :

       "It's not a true measure of economy; only corporates are being supported".

8A. If corporate tax rates are increased :

       "Government is penalising private enterprise".

  B. If corporate tax rates are cut :

       "The government is only trying to boost the profitability of the Corporates"

Tailpiece.

Got up a trifle before 6, the chores and was ready by 9. 

We had gone across to Dr(Mrs) Sodhi to show our medical problems.

A quiet day.

 

 '

Off to Kochi.

Had got up at 4 and woke up Lekha, too. The chores and was ready by a half past 6.

Kicked off at a half past 6, with Sajish as our sa'arthi. 

Lekha was dropped at Shenoy Care and I was off to the Diabetic Care at Panampilli Nagar along with my friends.

Is there unanimity among everyone?

Am speaking in the context of the upcoming reshuffle of Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan government. It's gonna take place on 29 Dec. Kadannappally Ramachandran will be taking over as the Ports minister and KB Ganesh Kumar will take over transport.

While Kadannappaly is known for being decent and his integrity, KB Ganesh Kumar has no laurels to his credit. The list of lapses on his part are :-

      * He'd written a script toward putting the late chief minister Oommen Chandy into deep trouble. 

      * The story has it that he'd ensured the downfall of the late CM.

      * Many firmly believe that he's being accepted by the present CM for ensuring Oommen Chandy's 

         ouster from party politics.

A very high percentage of the common man is also against giving Ganesh Kumar a ministerial berth.

My take

The CM is going ahead despite the all round disgust in Ganesh Kumar's elevation as a minister!

Tailpiece.

Got up at 3, sleep took a long time to come by and the body discomfort also contributed.

Lekha's cough still persists.

My blood sugar results were good. The lab people had come in twice to collect the samples.