KOCHI: Astra 2015, the flagship event of Amrita School of Business Kochi, was held at Amrita Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre. District Collector M G Rajamanickam inaugurated the symposium on “Towards Sustainable and Smart Cities: Envisioning Kochi”.
In his speech he pointed out that for any city to be smart and sustainable, a collective effort is required from both the bureaucrats and the individuals to bring out the revolutionary change.
Swami Purnamritananda Puri, general secretary, Mata Amritanandamayi Math, who delivered the benedictory address conveyed that success in life comes with accepting failures and learning from it. It rests not only in intelligence, but also in intuition which could be achieved through spiritual practise.
Ajith Kumar, IG of Police, gave an elaborate note on the Role of Traffic and Transportation in Smart City Development. He highlighted the major problems in transport system and how improving the system will envision Kochi into a Smart City.
Dr Prem Nair, managing director of Amrita Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, pointed out that sustainability can be achieved through efficient utilisation of energy and resources.
Jose Thomas, chairman, Indo American Chamber of Commerce discussed about the Role of Industrial Sector in Boosting Economic Stability. Anil Kumar, company secretary, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd. (KMRL) made a presentation on the overview of the project Kochi Metro Rail.
Saravanan Subrahmanian, senior researcher ZEF, University of Bonn, Germany, Rajinish Menon, CIR and director Startups, Microsoft, Sunanda Muralidharan, chairperson, Amrita School of Business, Jay Misra, Amrita University and A J Rajan, Kerala Chamber and Commerce, spoke.