Chennai to host banana festival

In the deserted Island Grounds of Chennai, people will soon be tasting varieties of banana deserts during a two-day banana festival organised by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development (TTDC) on July 25 and 26.The festival to be conducted on weekend would have about 25 varieties of bananas on display in more than 40 stalls spread across in the sprawling 10, 000 sq ft premises. Though one may be familiar with Karpooram, Rasthali, Pachai and Poovan bananas, the urban population might have not heard about the mouth-watering Mondhan, Kumanan and Peyan, which you cannot afford to miss.Besides, the festival will have stalls, where students from catering colleges would be demonstrating delicious dishes prepared using bananas such as chips, salad, vada and so on.“The entry has been made free to visitors to witness and enjoy this visual treat,” he noted.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM

Wine culture in Chennai

Developing a taste for new cuisine is passé and the innumerable food festivals stand witness to the fact. But of late, Chennaiites have developed a love for wine; a love that has been cultivated for many years. Certain families in Chennai prepared home made wines for festivals or bought locally made wines from Goa. But this love for the drink is now reaching the next level where most people can enjoy the drink by doing one of the two - Join a club or take part in a wine dinner. A time when wine was thought to be only a woman’s drink while men enjoyed the rest of the hard drinks is all gone. The growing number of wine lovers- men and women only goes to prove that the wine culture is fast catching on, but is an expensive hobby. The clubs not just promote tasting of the finest wines but also give its members an acquaintance through tasting sessions, lectures by wine experts and makers on the cultural and historical aspects of wine, promoting health benefits of moderate wine drinking, screening of wine related films paired with sipping on their favourite wine and organising wine tours. “There is a growing appreciation for wine and much of it is because of the hype that has been created,” notes Captain Arjun Nair, one of the founding members of Terroir- The Madras Wine Club. Wine tasting is not limited to clubs but the fever has even caught among the star hotels in the city. While some promote wine with food pairing in their full course menus, the rest bring experts from abroad to spread the knowledge about wine.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM

Chennai gears up for the longest solar eclipse

You may be a late riser, but coming Wednesday you can’t afford to be one. There’s a solar eclipse that’s to start early in the day and last for almost two hours — from 5.29 am to 7.18 am — the longest of its kind in the 21st century.The city will see a partial eclipse of 63.2 per cent. This is the third time in 15 years when a full solar eclipse has occurred in India.As for Chennaiites, the next total solar eclipse comes only in 2132.Kanyakumari will be the first to view the eclipse in India. From there, it will be visible in some other cities up north and east. The last Indian city to witness the rare sight will be Port Blair.The Tamil Nadu Science Forum is all set to woo the public — but with caution.Solar filter glasses are being sold for Rs 10. Also, solar filters are available for Rs 5 at its centres, besides specially made aluminium glasses.Arrangements have been made in the city in Gandhi Salai and Thiruvalluvar Nagar near Thiruvanmiyur to view the eclipse. The forum has also made arrangements in Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Ramnad and Pudukkottai.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM

New floating jetty at Muttukadu

A drive to Muttukadu boathouse along the East Coast Road would be more exciting, enjoyable and filled with thrill, thanks to Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) for giving a face lift to it.

The boathouse located about 36 km away from Chennai now has a lounge, from where tourists can view boat rides while having food and bamboo huts, created at a cost of Rs 87 lakh. Also, a floating boat jetty facility has been set up, along with modern toilets and other basic infrastructure for the visitors. More space has been earmarked for parking lots and a children park is planned.

Chief Secretary K S Sripathi on Saturday inaugurated the newly renovated boathouse, in which Secretary, Tourism, Dr V Irai Anbu, Managing Director of TTDC, Dr A Chittranjan Mohandoss participated.

Briefing newsperson, he said, more speedboats would be added to Muttukadu boathouse, which presently has a total number of 51 boats, including 27 mechanised boats. The boathouse has generated net revenue to the tune Rs 161.92 lakh, out of which Rs 79.77 lakh was its net income in the year 2008-2009.

While during the corresponding year, the net revenue and net profit were Rs 139.91 lakh and Rs 58.46 lakh, respectively.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM

Anna Salai, Kamarajar Salai to boast of graffiti

Following the success in maintaining the city’s two arterial roads, Anna Salai and Kamarajar Salai without posters for more than a month, the Chennai Corporation now embarked on a mission to turn them as visual treat for visitors.As part of their drive, the civic body has planned for 50,000 sqft wall paintings on both the roads in coming days. After visiting one of such painting sites near Nandanam on Saturday, Mayor M Subramanian told reporters, “After the ban was imposed on wall posters on these arterial roads, efforts are now on to beautify them by painting eye-catching images depicting rich Tamil culture and tradition.” In the first phase, the compound walls of YMCA School of Physical Education at Saidapet in Zone 9 have been painted with images of the Thiruvalluvar Statue in Kanyakumari, cave temples of Mahabalipuram, Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple and many others depicting our rich culture, the Mayor said. A stretch of 7,102 sq ft have been painted here.A team of painters led by Tamil Nadu Painters Association president J P Krishna have been entrusted with the task of painting them.After Saidapet, painting works on compound walls at Raj Bhavan in Guindy, Tamil Nadu Veterinary department at Nandanam, MC Raja Hostel at Saidapet and Athuma Nagar Bus Stand would be taken up.The walls at the DMS Complex at Teynampet, Island Grounds would be painted with images boasting the culture of the land.
-source EXPRESSBUZZ.COM

Chennai Metro rail project on course: officials

In the wake of the Delhi Metro mishap in the Capital, the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) clarified that the mishap will not affect the ongoing works of the CMRL.

“The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was our consultant. But it is not executing the project. The mishap will no way slow down the execution of CMRL project,” said a senior official with CMRL refusing to go in to the details.

Terming the incident unfortunate, the official said that the resignation of E Sreedharan as the Managing Director of DMRC was unexpected.

The Tamil Nadu government had entrusted DMRC to prepare a detailed project report for CMRL. The DPR was submitted on November 1, 2007 and the Cabinet gave its approval on November 7, 2007. The piling work for the project was inaugurated on June 10, 2009.

On a question on the safety aspect of the ongoing construction project in Chennai, the official said, “CMRL has taken at most care in every step of construction.

We cannot say anything about the Delhi accident. It is too early to say anything about it. We are also keen on knowing what went wrong there and of course here we will take every precaution to avert situations that leads to such mishaps,” he said.

On being quizzed about how the mishap would affect the various projects, which DMRC is associated with in the country and abroad, Krishnamoorthy said, “That will depend upon the nature of DMRC’s involvement in those projects. If DMRC is part of executing those projects, it may affect them,” said the official maintaining that he was not the competent person to speak on other CMRL initiatives.

Meanwhile, S Krishnamoorthy spokesperson for CMRL said that a five-member consortium led by Egis Rail S.A., France had already been appointed as General Consultants. The general consultants were assisting CMRL in design, supervision, quality control, safety and contract management for the project.

Krishnamoorthy said that CMRL would keep a close watch on the developments in the Capital.

“We are confident that we will complete our project in the scheduled time,” he said. It is expected to make the project operational by 2014-15.
-source from EXPRESSBUZZ.COM

Zylog launches Wi-Fi services in Chennai

Zylog systems, a Chennai based IT company has launched Wi-Fi services 'Wi5 Broadband Wireless' in Chennai, thus entering the Indian Internet Service Provider (ISP) business. The company has got an 'A' category service provider license to operate in all of India's Department of Telecom (DoT) circles.

Ramanujam Sesharathnam, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Zylog Systems said, "We are delighted to launch 'Wi5' services in Chennai, as it is a city with high laptop and mobile internet population, familiarity with working online is implausible. Due to Wi5's inherent technological superiority, the speed will be many times faster than conventional broadband and offers a minimum data speeds of one mbps."

Zylog which has already installed wireless internet connectivity in Chennai Corporation (Ripon Building) as a trial run intends to use selective buildings in the city to place intelligent Wi-Fi nodes on roof tops. These tiny nodes which occupy only about two to three square feet space at the terrace will ensure lifelong wi-fi access for residents of the building. The nodes which consume less than 30w of power take only a few hours to install. Apart from the monthly pay of Rs. 500 for electricity charges, the service will be free of cost.

S P Srihari, Director, Zylog Systems India said, "With its new services operational, Zylog is expecting revenues of Rs 500 crores in the next five years through this business. With 250 Wi5 enabled nodes already installed across the city, 4000 more nodes will be operational in Chennai by the next 12-15 months."

For the first phase, Zylog has started installing nodes in Adyar, Besant Nagar and Ashok Nagar. The company will also be looking at some rail projects in the future.
-source from SILICONINDIA.COM