Author: Jisha Surya

Jisha Surya is a media professional with over a decade of experience in various media houses including The New Indian Express and Times of India. She covers city infrastructure, social issues, and lifestyle stories.

Accident at NH raises questions over stalled work at Gurunagar

Jisha Surya

At a quick glance, it is an accident caused by overspeeding. A scooter rammed into a KSRTC bus, killing the rider – a 25-year-old man, his 5-year-old son and grievously injuring his wife. A deeper understanding of the issue reveals a tussle between National Highway Authority of India and the local people near Gurunagar in Kulathoor. As per design, no bus stops are allowed at the national highway where vehicles can move at a speed of 80-100 kmph. In the accident that happened on Tuesday, the scooter rammed into the…

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Prime Minister to inaugurate Aruvikkara drinking water plant

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife>> Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the 75 mld (million litre per day) treatment plant at Aruvikkara this month. Funded by Centrally sponsored Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the project was executed by city-based Chicago Constructions International Private Limited. The project was under a trial run for the past one month. The plant will bring additional 75 million litre water to the city. Already city has been receiving water from the existing 72-mld, 86-mld and the 74-mld water treatment plants at Aruvikkara. However, this…

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Budget ditches light metro, insufficient fund for growth corridor

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife.com>> With less than four months remaining for the Assembly elections, the state government rehashed some old projects in the capital city for the budget. One of the major proposals for Thiruvananthapuram is the Capital City Regional Development Programme, an outer area growth corridor from Vizhinjam to Navaikulam. The mega project involves development of a 78-km outer ring road and an industrial township. However, only seed money of Rs 100 crore is earmarked for the project for which land acquisition alone costs Rs 2578 crore. Though the project has won…

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Two murder convicts escape Nettukaltheri open jail

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife>> One of the fastest settled rape case has got a bizarre twist. Kattakada-native Rajesh Kumar, who was awarded death sentence for rape and murder of a school girl in Vattappara in 2013, has escaped from Nettukaltheri open prison along with another murder convict by around 5 pm on Wednesday. Police have issued a look out for the duo – Rajesh Kumar and Tamil Nadu –native Srinivasan. Both were serving jail term at the annex of the open jail for the past eight month. Rajesh and Srinivasan were engaged in…

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Winning streak since 1995: Three-decade-old LDF rule continues at Trivandrum Corporation

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife: The CPM-led Left Democratic Front retained its rule in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in the local body elections. Despite NDA launched a major campaign, it couldn’t bring an end to LDF rule, which is continuing unchallenged since 1995. In the 100-seat council, LDF won with 51 seats, a seat more than the winning margin of 50 seats. NDA won 34 seats while UDF had to be satisfied with mere 10 seats. Other independent candidates won five seats. Though LDF won the council, it faced severe setbacks in the election with the…

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Covid fatalities cross 500 in Thiruvananthapuram

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife>> More than 500 persons in Thiruvananthapuram have lost lives to Covid so far. With the five deaths reported on Tuesday, official number of deaths has reached 504, making the district highest in the fatalities related to Covid 19.   Ernakulam, which recorded the second highest number of Covid deaths, has recorded around 190 deaths. Case fatality ratio in the district – 0.75 – too is higher than all other districts. While the official figure has crossed 500 mark, the unofficial number of deaths recorded by health volunteers has crossed…

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Light metro: New branch, changeover station proposed for Technopark

Jisha Surya

After a long delay, the board of Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (KRTL) has given approval for the supplement to Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the proposed light metro project from Pallipuram to Karamana. The board, chaired on October 19, has also given approval to the technical report for construction of an arm of light metro to Technopark. With the board approval, the KRTL will soon send the DPR to the union government for approval. It will also start preparation of DPR for the Technopark arm of the light metro…

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Trivandrum youth sets internet on fire with edit skills

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife>> A person who is a magician and mentalist can do wonders. What if he is also a good editor? Meet Trivandrum-native Sandeep Fradian, who is the man behind several viral videos. Sandeep, a resident of Vanchiyoor, has effectively utilized his creative skills during lockdown. The short duration videos he created during the lockdown have become viral hits. Sandeep’s popularity shot up when US internet sensation Zach King selected his video as ‘Magic of the month’ from around 6000 submissions three months ago. Twenty-three year old Sandeep was drawn towards…

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Anand Mahindra invests in Trivandrum-based startup

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife>> It began with a tweet of businessman Anand Mahindra in June last year. Fed up with reports of deaths of sanitation workers during cleaning of septic tanks, Mahindra wondered what was preventing widespread adoption of scavenging machine ‘Bandicoot’ developed by a group of young students. “If funding is needed to produce in scale, count me in,” he had tweeted. Following this tweet, chief executive officer of Genrobotics Vimal Govind M K didn’t think twice before sending a mail to Mahindra. Now, Bandicoot has won Rs 2.5 crore investment from…

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NHAI begins toll plaza construction at Thiruvallam

Jisha Surya

TrivandrumLife>> The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has begun construction of toll plaza for the Kazhakoottam-Karode national highway project. The staggered toll plaza, which would take around six months to complete, is being constructed near the Thiruvallam junction. Though the NHAI would take six months for completion of toll plaza, it has also initiated works for construction of a temporary toll booth at the same location to start toll collection at the earliest. The temporary toll plaza will be ready within three months. Though the measures for collection of…

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