Welcome to the Queen of Arabian Sea
As the patron of the National Conference of the RSSDI - 2025 in Kochi, I am happy to welcome all the delegates to this city which is also known as the "Queen of Arabian Sea" because of its proximity to the Cochin Harbour, one of the finest natural harbours in the world.

Cochin state, a princely state ceased to exist as a separate state when it merged with the adjoining princely state of Travancore in 1949 July, the new state was known as the Travancore Cochin State. When state reorganization was implemented on linguistic basis, Travancore - Cochin state integrated with the Malayalam speaking Malabar Province of Madras Presidency to become the Kerala State in November 1956. Kochi is the head quarters of Ernakulam District, one of the 14 districts of Kerala.

Kochi was an important spice trading centre in the 14* Century and traders from all over the Middle East including Arabs, Persians, Jews and Turks used to come here for spices like cinnamon, black pepper and cardamom. The first foreign occupation of the city was by the Portuguese in 1503, followed by the Dutch, and subsequently by the English. Vasco - de- Gama a Portuguese Naval captain landed in Fort Cochin ( 6 km West of the Town) in 1498 and his body is buried in the famous church in Fort Cochin built by the Portuguese - St. Francis Church. Other places of historical importance are the Jewish Synagogue at Mattenchery, a nearby town and St. Thomas Church in Kodungallor (built in the memory of St. Thomas who came to India in AD 48)

I am also proud to state in this occasion that RSSDI Kerala Chapter was originated from the Kerala Diabetic foundation started in 1991. I was the president and Dr. R.V. Jayakumar was the secretary. After the first national meeting of the RSSDI in Kochi, the Kerala Diabetic foundation was renamed as the Kerala chapter of RSSDI.

We are proud to host RSSDI - 2025 in this picturesque and serene city of Kochi. I am sure that the deliberations during this meeting will be beneficial and thought provoking to all delegates and hope that you will have a sumptuous, delicious scientific feast.

Patron RSSDI 2025 Annual Meeting

Dr. K. P. Poulose

MD, FACP, FRCP Principal Consultant In Medicine Sut Hospital, Pattom, Trivandrum