THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 7 April 2007 — The UAE-based Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust has urged the Kerala state government to initiate steps to set up the Pravasi University, which was proposed by the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry. In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Trust Chairman K.V. Shamsudheen said Kerala was the right place to set up the university since the largest number of Indians abroad are from this state, which is the recipient of the country’s largest share of remittances from Indians working overseas. The federal Cabinet approved on March 22 the establishment of such a university in India. Shamsudheen said the state government should offer land and other infrastructure for the university at the earliest and convene an all-party meeting.

Third Channel for Kariali TV

Malayalam Communications Limited, promoted by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will launch its third channel, called We, on April 15, according to the company’s chairman and popular actor Mammootty. “It’s basically meant for the youth. In other words, it is a cultural commitment from us,” Mammootty told reporters here. The company’s flagship Kairali TV was launched in 2000 with an equity base of more than 250,000 shareholders, mostly from the party cadre. It launched its second channel, called People, in 2005. “We could break even in a year’s time and we expect that our latest channel would break even faster. ‘We’ channel would showcase the talent of the youth which is abundantly available in our state,” he added.

IT Industrial Park

Grasim Industries of Aditya Birla Group is working on a plan to convert its defunct pulp division in Kozhikode into a knowledge-industry park. In a letter to the Kerala government, the company said it had commissioned an international consultant to undertake a feasibility study and to identify the right knowledge-based industry option for the Mavoor unit. “The detailed project report is expected within eight weeks,” the letter said. The plan involves utilizing 400 acres of the Birla industrial township in Mavoor to create an IT industrial park. Much of the machinery has been moved out or sold after the pulp division was closed in 2001, but the land, buildings and two types of employee quarters are in usable condition. “They might even set up another Birla Institute of Technology there. This would synergize with the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode and National Institute of Technology-Kozhikode,” Industry Minister Elamaram Karim said.

‘Kerala Can Grow Ten Times Faster’

Kerala can grow at least ten times faster than the current pace if it combines economic reforms with the advances it has already made in human development, according to Vinod Thomas, a World Bank representative. “The short-term benefits of such a developmental strategy would start becoming visible within the next three to five years as the state is now ready to reap the gains of the heavy investments it had made in the past in human development,” he said.

The state must focus on the modern industries, such as information technology, biotechnology as well as eco-tourism and tertiary education sector. “The world has changed much in the recent periods, and you can drastically accelerate the growth rate if you concentrate on such industries because the demand for them is not only from within, but from across the globe,” he said adding Kerala’s economy got a boost by $5.5 billion annual remittances from 3.5 million Keralites working abroad. The government should provide better incentives to transform the remittances into productive investments while strengthening the financial infrastructure to smoothen the flow of the remittances into productive investment avenues, he added.