We have seen the cable operations to go from chaos to unregulated to anything goes in Tamilnadu cities. Any cable opertator can charge any money and it is only determined by the market range. For the same channel lineup, cable companies charging different rates in different areas of the same cities are a norm. While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) fixed the rate for free channels as Rs.77 plus service tax, In Tamil Nadu the cable operators charge anything between Rs.100 and Rs.110 per month.
The government in its budget this year decided to waive the entertainment tax to the tune of Rs.160 million. But cable operators continue collecting it from the households. Have any of you seen a drop in the cost of cable service. ?
While there is a law but no order on the retail pricing of free channels, the state government is moving ahead with its plans to start its own cable operations under the banner Arasu Cable TV Corporation. I am not sure that it is a good idea apart from a revenue stream for the govt. Is it not the govt’s responsibility to enforce the law and reduce the price with private operators. Instead it is using its might to crush the independent and private operators. I am not sure what is the pricing for this service, but If i am correct, it will be close to Rs.77 + tax but I am not sure that it will give all the TV channels equal status. Who decides which is a free channel and which is not and who decides which channel pays how much to air their channel to public. Controlling the distribution is a pretty pwerful propoganda vehicle.
We saw the surge in TV programming quality only after the involvement of multiple private channels. ( We all remember the dismal quality of DD programs before private channels came in ).
Anyway, The State government has decided to float tenders to acquire the necessary equipment and start the cable TV services first in Nilgiri, Coimbatore, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Salem, Dindugul, Trichy, Tanjavur, Puddukottai, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts July 15.
We will see how it goes. …
The recent months have seen a flurry of activities in the airline sector connecting to the southern metros and non metroes and one of the reason is thought to be business importance south is having with the nation. But the real reason for that seems to be simple demand and supply.
With the opening ( close to opening) of two major international airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore has opened up a lot of more international connections and hence the possibility of more domestic air travel demand. Out of around 50 daily flights added in this year’s summer schedule, which came into effect on April 1, more than 30 emanate from cities in the South, including Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Trichy, Coimbatore and Vizag. According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) estimates, air travel in the region is estimated to grow at least 30 per cent faster than in the rest of the country.
With the Trichy airport expansion well underway, it will only be a matter of time we see more national and International connection to our city.
The Hindu reports “A total of 30,000 persons belonging to the economically weaker section in the district have benefited so far under the ‘free colour television scheme’, the Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology, A. Raja, said.
Wow!! Idu allava Munnetram !!
Economically weaker section getting TV sets!! So they can sit and watch quality soaps in TV instead of working for their family ? May be they will sell that TV sets and put food on the table.
What a waste of money and misplaced priorities !
Why can’t we have that money spent towards their education and better living conditions which will help them to live their life better. Instead the money is poured down the drains …
Nenju Porukuthillaiye. !!!
We are all excited about the tremandoes growth in Trichy which is visible in all areas. But there are negative side to that as well, such as , increase in the density of population in the city. To cater to that density, more and more new apartments are being built in neraby areas of the city which slowly but surely removes the beauty and the natural settings of Trichy.
How many of us have enjoyed the greenery and the abundant supply of mangoes outside Mambala Cholai and the endless coconut and other large trees near Cauveri. It is very sad to see none of them exist now there except apartments which have been constructed after removing those magnificient trees ( of course , withour proper planning)
One sad tiruchian had observered the same and lamented about this and I thought should share that with you. Please read their thinking here.
TANCET will be conducted by Anna Univ on May 17th and May 18th.
Applications are invited for the TANCET 2008 to be conducted by Anna University Chennai from candidates who seek admission to
in Tamil Nadu for the year 2008 – 2009 offered at University Departments of
- Anna University Chennai,
- Anna University Coimbatore,
- Anna University Trichy,
- Anna University, Tirunelveli,
- Govt. Engineering, Arts and Science Colleges,
- Govt. Aided Engineering, Arts & Science Colleges, and
- Govt. Quota seats in self-financing Engineering, Arts & Science Colleges / standalone Institutions.
Details of the eligibility conditions are available in the website: www.annauniv.edu/tancet2008
Registeration can also be done at www.annauniv.edu/tancet2008.
Air India Express is planning and submitted request for approval to AAI for starting a service from Trichy to Abudhabi and Kuala Lumpur. Other than the flight carrier type, (737-300) no other information is available that we could use.
Air Asia is also planning to add a service between Kuala Lumpur and Trichy soon. No ETA on this yet.
If nothing else this news reemphasises that the airlines industry has not forgotten about Trichy and are planning to add more services
We all know that the India is rich with various arts forms but they are slowly disappearing from the main stream as the main stream concentrates more on the new forms of arts imported/ copied from European and American countries. Some would argue that the new forms of arts are just derivatives / degradations of the old forms. Anyway the old forms are slowly disappearing and there has to be a process to bring them back to life.
The Thanjavur-headquartered South Zone Cultural Centre (SZCC) has compiled a computerised database of artistes of various art forms from the southern states. The database contains complete details of 3,600 artistes of various art form categories such as folk and classical dances, instrumental, classical and folk vocal, painting and sculpture and theatre of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry , Lakshwadweep and Andamans. This database will be used for grading the artists as well. Hopefully the grading algorithm will take many factors into consideration. The objective of compiling the database is also to enhance the communication between the artistes and the centre.
The SZCC has planned a series of intensive cultural exchange programmes by bringing artistes of various art forms from the northern states to the south.
The programmes would be held in September – October at Chennai, Thanjavur, Madurai and Kanyakumari to encourage better cultural exchanges between the north and the south.
Subsequently, artistes from south would be taken to Agra, Varanasi, Allahabad and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to showcase their art forms.
I think in addition to showcasing their talents in North India, I think they should showcase their talents in their native states also. I looked for the web address for this site, but could not find out. It will be great to have that publicly available.
The Regional Passport Office, Tiruchi will conduct a passport adalat on April 5 (Saturday) for the benefit of passport applicants covering all the 16 revenue districts, which were under the jurisdiction of this office before the opening of a new passport office at Madurai in December 2007. The adalat will be held at the Passport Office itself from 10 a.m. to 5 pm.Those desirous of participating in the Adalat should register themselves by sending either a fax to 0431-2707515 or email at rpo.trichy@mea.gov.in.
Source: The Hindu
The existing collector office in Trichy is about to be expanded to about one lakh Sq.Feet. The initial estimate is about 12 crores. The existing Collector’s office (main building) was constructed in 1995 and though most other districts have got new master complexes over the past decade, Tiruchi was left with the old building, which was mostly occupied by the Revenue Department. Except, Rural Development Department and Revenue Department, most other departments are functioning in the rented buildings in different parts of the city. A team from the Civil Engineering Department of the National Institute of Technology has been roped in to design the new complex.
Source: The Hindu
