Dear Friends, We have enough jokers around us here in Kerala and we do not want the service of Kochi IPL team management. I'm convinced that IPL team for Kochi is not for Kochi or Kerala for the following reasons. You can be aware and make your own choices. Indi Commandos - All teams in IPL have their city name part of the team name. One exception could be Deccan Chargers, but Deccan clearly display the region they represent. Why Indi Commandos? Management immediately corrected saying the name essentially is Indi Commandos Kerala. My question is why then the logo they released didn't have Kerala in it? We are not children to believe this. Venue Changes - The management has already requested for Ahmedabad to be its permanent venue . They seem to have several issues with Kochi - quality of the pitch and outfield, no permanent stadium, 36% entertainment tax, poor air connectivity. Hello my dear, Kochi was like this only. Why didn't they do their due diligence ? Kerala is ...

According to this report in Times of India , promoters of Varkeys Supermarket are open to sell 35% to stay afloat. They are primarily looking at Private Equity [PE] for the immediate fund infusion and to consolidate business. Nothing much has changed since the earlier post on this blog. It has been more than 5 months since they reported to be looking for fund infusion . Executive director seems not being open to a buy out from another chain. It is probably a brave decision, which only time can tell. Every one in Kerala seems to be waiting for their revival. Shopping experience has not been the same here since the 84 year old brand went 'out-of-stock'.

In the month of November '10 National Consumer Helpline [NCH] recorded 5413 calls. Maximum number of calls were received from Delhi followed by Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Kerala, even with high literacy and consumer awareness, is probably not making use of this service well. Call 1800-11-4000 (from MTNL & BSNL lines). Toll-free helpline provides information, advice or guidance for dealing with his/her consumer problems in the following sectors/products: LPG, Electricity, Telecom, Banking, Insurance, Credit cards, Automobiles, Postal, Courier, water, Transport, Education and Medical etc. Domestic Home Appliances in the range of computers, handycam, Acs, Microwave, Television, Coolers, Fans, Washing Machines, Gas burner, Water Purifier, Mobile Phone, VCD/DVD/CD Player, Food Processor, Invertors and Shoes etc.

Here are select posts from the year 2010. Hope you like them. Karunakaran, a far sighted economic reformer and institution builder Cosmetic creams made out of rubber latex New Kerala Tourism campaign fails in multiple ways Kerala, after K. M. Mathew Varkeys Supermarket: Is end nearby? Innovation Varsity in Kerala Gold loan business minting money for investors Read this before you are in Dubai Muziris Heritage and Culture Circuit: New dimension to Tourism in Kerala GKSF has more to do to convince corporates

K. Karunakaran, the politician also known as 'Leader', is the best institution builder we had in Kerala. No politician supported industries and encouraged private enterprises in Kerala like he did. The wily politician is but known more for nepotism and corruption. A list of projects which would not have realized without Karunakaran are, Cochin International Airport Ltd [CIAL] - India's first airport under Public-Private Participation - Also the project that showed us the real potential of Non-Resident Keralites Kayamkulam Thermal Power Plant Technopark, India's first Technology (IT) park Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology Pariyaram Medical College Keltron Guruvayur railway line Self-financing educational institutions for higher education But, his biggest contribution to the Kerala economy remains how he curtailed Naxalism. This attains importance as it is still a nagging issue hindering economic development in...

Kerala got three international airports now at Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. Another airport is being built at Kannur for which the work is expected to begin soon (or has it started). With 4 million Non-resident Keralites , Kerala can accomodate an airport each in every district. This used to be a joke but may become a reality with fifth airport on its way at Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district. KGS Aranmula Airport is being promoted by KGS Group with a significant investement coming from Anil Ambani. The plans are ambitious as the airport could serve a large population from the belt regularly traveling to US and Canada. Backwaters nearby can bring in tourists from across country and world. Airport also could be a boon for more than 40 million Sabarimala pilgrims. As with any other industrial projects in Kerala, this too has to be approved by political, social and environmental activists first. 

The latest Kerala Tourism Ad campaign - "Your Moment is Waiting" - is evoking mixed responses from the ad fraternity. As Gopinath Menon said in Business Line - "It is tangentially different from all that has been done on Kerala Tourism till now. There are two kinds of mindsets that visit Kerala: There is a ‘traveller' mindset and a ‘tourist' mindset. The traveller is the intelligent guy, the explorer instincts are strong and the journey is as important as the destination. The other one, with the tourist mindset, is the LTC traveller, the pre-decided one. This communication is clearly talking to the traveller mindset." and adds "if you look at the thousands visiting Kerala every year, the traveller mindset is unlikely to fall into the majority." This campaign is predominantly targeting foreign visitors. But what do they come for? It is for the unique Kerala experience and the ad would disappoint them for sure. Their experience in Kerala is bound t...

Manorama paper reports that, in 2010 Onam season household goods clocked a record sales turnover of Rs.700 crores. The report says almost 2 lakh refrigerators were sold in three months from July to September. Washing Machines, LCD TVs, Mixies, DVD players, Induction Cookers and Digital Cameras also recorded good sales. Onam remains to be the biggest shopping season in Kerala. Refrigerators and Washing Machines would keep riding the market with good numbers as there exists a big market for them to penetrate.

Rubber latex is found to have applications in the cosmetic industry. Rapepun Wititsuwannakul, a researcher and professor in Biochemistry at Prince of Songkla University in Thailand holds Intellectual Property Rights on the use of latex as an effective agent in whitening products. More about this can be found here . Rubber latex is found to have inherent abilities to make skin brighter or darker! This is interesting and holds huge economic prospects for rubber growers in Kerala and India.

Smoking in public places is a punishable offence in Kerala since 1999 following a High Court directive. It is strictly followed inside public places like hotels, cinema halls, hospitals, bus stands, railway stations, airports, shops, malls, etc. But not on roads. This is a good law but almost impossible to implement. Policemen enforces this law mostly for some petty personal gains. The trick lies in making public knowledgeable about harmful sides of smoking rather than enforcing it by law. Yes, law is needed to punish people smoking in places but, policemen should not invest their time and energy to stop every smoker. Policemen have better things to do on their job.

Kerala is gearing up for a flurry of news channels. As per this  report  by Ajayan in today's Mint paper, there will be at least a dozen news channels launched in next few months - some supported by politicians and  political parties (Muraleedharan, Muslim League ), some by print media houses (Mathrubhumi, Kerala Kaumudi, Madhyamam, Mangalam) and another interesting venture by Nikesh Kumar  touted to be called 'Reporter'. The Mint report is not going to challenge business acumen of people behind these ventures as they are only  keeping up with the Joneses . A news channel would be justified for a political party. For others, this will be a learning experience they will not forget easily. If they are able to prove something special, the entire media industry across the world will take notice of it.

Government of India has proposed a Mass Communication Institute in Kerala and it seems 10 acres of land earlier allotted for the purpose is already under Kerala Governement's posession in Kottayam . Indian Institute of Mass Communication [IIMC] is a national institute for training, teaching and research in mass communication. It augur's well to have an IIMC at Kottayam, identified as the literary base of Kerala. It would be a proud moment for every Keralites, particularly people predominant in national Media, Advertising and Public Relations industry.

If everything goes well for Kunnath Pharmaceuticals and Musli Power, we might see Musli Power on Indian Cricket Team jersey and before that it will be Musli Power sponsoring Kerala IPL [Indian Premier League] team. For now, Musli Power is a leading sponsor of various sports events and teams in India and abroad.  Musli Power is the title sponsor of cricket team Wayamba Elevens of Sri Lanka at the Champions League T20 in South Africa and an Indian football club, Churchill Brothers Sports Club . Musli Power was one among the seven sponsors of Hockey World Cup 2010 broadcasted on Ten Sports and among seven sponsors of Kerala's Nehru Trophy Boat Race 2009 . It is also reported that Musli Power is the health power licensee of Common Wealth Games 2010 . None of the deal values are announced in public domain. Musli Power from Kunnath Pharmaceuticals is an over the counter aphrodisiac product claiming to cure infertility and impotency. As per a report in Tehelka , Musli Power is giving...

Muthoot Finance Ltd [MFIN] raised Rs 43 crore from Kotak India Private Equity Fund. The deal valued  MFIN, the largest gold loan company according to ICRA, at around Rs 3,925 crore. Baring Private Equity Partners India and Matrix Partners India had infused Rs.157 crore in MFIN last month. Kerala is home to many large scale gold loan companies in India - Muthoot Finance [MFIN], Muthoot Pappachan, Mini Muthoot, Manappuram and Kosamattam. All Muthoot names are from a single family with separate business run by brothers and cousins. Muthoot boasts a tradition of 123 years. Among this Manappuram is the most aggressive in marketing using regional and national film stars in their campaigns. Lately Sequoia Capital exited Manappuram General Finance & Leasing with 5x returns . As such the business model of these NBFCs are not lucid. Also, almost all banks worth their name in India is offering gold loans at their branches questioning the sustainability of these NBFCs.

As per this report in Hindu,  Kochi is among 14 places across the country identified by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) for setting up a world class innovation university.  These universities will be self-sustainable, not-for-profit legal entity with surplus revenue invested for the growth and development of the university, functioning privately, independently and separately under its own 'board of governors' in a chosen subject or theme. Kerala is different where good cannot happen so easily even if it is bestowed. Read this follow-up story.

Varkeys Bakery and Supermarket went out of stock for more than two weeks. Customers were returned saying there are some supplier issues which have been sorted out. According to media reports , Varkeys is facing liquidity crunch. Varkeys is reported to have 59 stores across Kerala in different formats generating Rs.180 crore in turnover. Varkeys is now looking for PE funds , which would be slightly difficult to come by as they have failed in an earlier attempt and there are cases of Subhiksha and Vishal Retail winding up or looking for fund infusion. Varkeys is the pioneer in organised retail in Kerala and is known for quality of products they sell but utmost professionalism was always missing. It is widely believed that rapid expansion has brought Varkeys in to this soup. Competition also is hardening with new organised players coming every now and then which includes Margin Free, Reliance and Big Bazaar. There are also neighbourhood stores morphing in to supermarket, as they are ...

According to this news in Mint , there were 13 reported incidents of ragging in Kerala in the academic year 2009-'10. Nationally there was 164 reported cases and Kerala ranks fourth after Uttar Pradesh (26), Andhra Pradesh (18) and Tamil Nadu (14). There was 19 deaths across nation due to ragging. Ragging, banned in India, is prevalent in almost all undergraduate campuses across India. Kerala is not different with ragging in many forms. Most of them would be really funny which everyone would enjoy for their whole life. But some go to extreme levels of cruelty, which should be stopped by any means. Proactive college administration can always manage ragging inside their campus.

K. M. Mathew, Chief Editor of the iconic Malayalam  newspaper Malayala Manorama passed away yesterday. Malayala Manorama became a media conglomerate under his stewardship. His astuteness is widely recognized as also his humility and professionalism. He made his opinions loud, his friendships known and his dislikes expressed. Huge strata of middle class and high income family rallied behind him. They considered him and his publications as a natural companion and a family friend. Communists opposed and they stood alone! From today, many things in Kerala would be marked as 'after K. M. Mathew'. Kerala politics, politics and fighting in Christian community, Elections, Economy, Education, Communal equations, values, language and culture - he had an influence on every Malayali. We will not realize his influence in our life till we closely analyze everything around us. In 56 years, his paper grew to become the largest read regional language newspaper in India and fourth largest read ...

It is the turn of Sony and Godrej to set their sales targets for this Onam. Sony aims Rs.100 crore turnover with a marketing investment of Rs.5.5 crore. Godrej has set Rs.80 crore as their sales target compared to their Rs. 52 crore business last year, an expectation of 50% growth. Both of them also announced various Onam special offers.

Kerala government can consider establishing an employment exchange in partnership with private firms. This will be a great way to make jobs available for a larger public even in hinter lands. With Akshaya centres and broadband connection at all Panchayats, an employment exchange that can be accesed over internet will be a boon for all in Kerala. Karnataka governement has plans to partner with TeamLease. Politicians in Kerala might think why partnering with a private enterprise, and may decide to do it alone. But a public enterprise will not be able match resources of a private enterprise here.