Kerala - Kochi   

Reporter's Diary

MUCH DEBATE has taken place on globalisation. Has it affected the prospects of farming and industry? Many feel so. There are others who think that it should be considered an opportunity to improve conventional procedures, aimed at better performance.

With the service sector also set to be opened up next year, the competition is bound to go up in various professional service sectors. While apprehensions have been raised in some quarters, at least one service sector, that of Chartered Accountants, welcomes the development.

The new regime would throw up fresh opportunities in various fields such as insurance and business process outsourcing. That was what Sunil Goel, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, had to say at the all- India conference of CAs held in the city recently.

Mr. Sunil felt confident of the world-class performance of Indian CAs. Constant efforts were being made to improve the professional competence of CAs. As the economy is picking up, more and more opportunities are bound to come, he said.

Though he sounded optimistic, there was a word of caution. Indians should not be discarded on account of unnecessary visa restrictions.

A country can deny entry permit to a person on various grounds. Such indirect denial of opportunity would have to be sorted out at the Government-level. If bilateral arrangements can solve such problems, Indian CAs will certainly stand to gain, according to him.

THE MALAYALAM film industry seems to be slowly realising the importance of marketing a film properly. Despite spending several lakhs of rupees for making a film, the industry has shown little interest in allocating funds for the marketing department.

But the trend is taking a turn for the better with makers of some of the films released during Onam adopting marketing strategies like interacting with scribes after the preview of the movies.

Actor Mamootty along with the child artistes of director Blessy's new film, Kazcha, were the first to participate in an interactive session with the media last week. The artistes and the director of the film shared their experience while making the movie during the press conference.

The week also saw the makers of Satyam holding a Meet-the-Press for a detailed discussion on the film. The director, Vinayan, the actor, Prithviraj, and the actress, Priyamani, turned up for the session. For Prithviraj, it was an occasion to react to reports that there was a concerted move in the industry to sideline him.

THE EIGHT-member team from Trans Resource Corporation (TRC), Malaysia, which arrived in Kochi on Friday to identify a spot for the proposed marina project, outwitted trade-union activists who had opposed their visit to the 5.5-acre land adjacent to the Bolghatty Palace Hotel.

Having blocked seven suites in the hotel, the team was expected to check in at 8 p.m., straight from the airport. Anticipating protest, they advanced their trip and checked in at another hotel in the city. By afternoon, they completed their visit to the land that had been reclaimed by the Goshree Islands Development Authority, in the area abutting the Mulavukad Island.

They said they preferred this land to the land near the hotel, as the road leading to the hotel was very narrow, with little scope for development. The trade union activists and members of employees' unions came to know of the developments well past evening. But they were happy that the team gave up the proposal to look for space near the hotel for the marina and preferred an area which was at a `safe distance' from the hotel.

By R. Ramabhadran Pillai, G. Krishnakumar and John L. Paul

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Stories in this Section

• Management information system mooted
• Robbery on KSRTC bus: 11 arrested
• Stress on better resource utilisation
• Malaysian team meets Chandy, Tourism Minister
• Shoba yatras mark Krishna Jayanthi fete
• Rally against move to shut down industrial units
• Parents' body to lay siege to school
• Naval school teachers honoured
• Dominic Presentation felicitated
• Around the City
• In Kochi Today
• Reporter's Diary

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