Kochi-Menlo Park to ink sister city pact

Giving a filip to Kerala's IT aspirations, a sister city agreement would be inked between the state's technology startup hub Kochi and famed Menlo Park in the heart of the Silicon Valley in California, USA, to facilitate mutually beneficial educational, cultural, social and economic exchanges.
Mayor of Menlo Park Catherine Carlton, who arrived here today on a six-day visit to the state leading a delegation of officials, would sign the agreement on February 11 with Kochi, home to Startup VIllage, Infopark and upcoming Smart City.
It will be the first twin city agreement between Menlo Park and any Indian city, and it aims to create a bridge between Silicon Valley and the emerging Silicon Coast in Kerala, a release from the Startup Village said.

The agreement would establish a year of cultural exchange during which the two cities will create a framework to encourage interactions between their citizens.
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Cochin Shipyard organises Roundtable

* Cochin Shipyard Limited and the World Ocean Science Congress today jointly hosted a shipbuilding roundtable here to bring major players of the industry together on a common platform.
The objective of the event was to bring together the major players of the industry to deliberate and arrive at a few implementable policy measures to be recommended to the Union Government, a CSL press release said.

The government's vision was to increase the Indian share in the global shipbuilding from the present 0.4 per cent to 2 per cent in five years.