Tuesday, July 30, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: North Chennai residential market has potential for...
writingonblog uncensored: North Chennai residential market has potential for...: C Shivakumar Chennai: North Chennai residential market has the potential for growth with improvement in connectivity and better in...
North Chennai residential market has potential for growth
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
North Chennai residential market has the potential for growth with improvement in connectivity and better infrastructure facilities, according to real estate experts.
A report by property portal indiaproperty.com feels that with improvement in connectivity and better infrastructure facilities in the future, one can expect an increase in demand for residential properties in North Chennai.
“The area would see steady growth in the future with stand alone houses giving way to low-rise apartment complexes,” the study predicted.
M Raghunathan, state secretary Builders Association of India, Tamil Nadu feels that North Chennai is an upcoming market. “With the prices going up in south Chennai due to demand from IT sector, it is now not affordable for an ordinary man to buy a property there. This could result in people focusing on North Chennai to live closer to the city,” he says.
Currently, the residential market in North Chennai constitutes of a small percentage of 15 per cent of the total under construction stock in Chennai.
Raghunathan says that lot of development projects are coming up in Madhavaram, Parambur, Ayanavaram and Kodingayur as the city’s connectivity is set to improve.
Interestingly, indiaproperty.com report states that the area sees maximum demand from traditional set of buyers who have lived in the area.
“The demand here comes from the public sector employees, railway workers and port employee who have worked and lived in the area throughout their lives. Having high percentage of middle class population under Rs 50 Lakh, it is the most proffered budget for residential properties,” he says.
Lack of job opportunities, poor access due to presence of railway track, water logging, inadequate fresh water supply, improper sewage lines are few of the reasons for restricted growth in the past.
“With improvement in connectivity and better infrastructure facilities in the future one can expect an increase in demand for residential properties in North Chennai. The area would see steady growth in the future with stand alone houses giving way to low-rise apartment complexes,” predicts the report.
Citing Perambur, the report said that being a low-lying area with poor access, the developers were not interested in Perambur earlier. But things have taken a different turn recently. Capital values in the area have appreciated by over 20 to 30 per cent in the past two years. “One of the common trends in the area is individual houses are getting converted into apartments having 20 – 25 units. Also some of the old mills have given way to huge vacant land parcels, giving way to big residential developments in the area, the report states.
MICRO MARKET CAPITAL VALUE (INR psft)
Kolathur 4000 – 5200
Tondiarpet 4000 – 5500
Korattur
Madhavaram 3800 – 4500
Perambur 5200 – 6500
Puzhal
Source: indiaproperty.com
writingonblog uncensored: Chennai Metro Water plans to automate filling stat...
writingonblog uncensored: Chennai Metro Water plans to automate filling stat...: C Shivakumar Chennai: In a bid to cut down wastages and ensure supply of quality water to 67.27 lakh people in and around Chennai ...
Chennai Metro Water plans to automate filling stations to cut down on water wastage
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
In a bid to cut down wastages and ensure supply of quality water to 67.27 lakh people in and around Chennai City, Chennai Metro Water is planning for total automation of the water filling points located in 30 water distribution stations around the city.
Metro Water sources told Express that the board would provide total automation of filling points through computerized filling system where in it is ensured that all areas receive adequate quantity of water.
This will also this eliminate manual operation of valves and manual entry of all particulars and logs in the filling points, the sources said.
Interestingly, Kilapauk filling station is the first to get such facility. Talking about the features of the automated filling station, a Metro Water source said that the filling stations would be provided with pneumatically operated valves that are linked to a central cabin in the filling point.
The total control including switching it on and Off is vested with the filling point official and manual operation will be permitted only during emergency situation.
The filling station will have electromagnetic flow meters to ascertain the quantity of water filled in lorries through the filling points. The batch controller in the control cabin (filling point office) would regulate the pre-programmed quantity of water to be filled in the lorries.
Wireless controllers are provided to transfer the data for report generation, which can be assessed from any location through Web. Not only that gate pass and consumer authorization copies are also generated through computers as such eliminating manual entries besides minimizing the wastage of water. “This would ensure easy and effective monitoring of the timely delivery of water to public,” the source added.
The measure is also taken up as the tanker fleet of Metro Water grew to 3,894 to ensure supply of water. The filling points play a key role in water supply to far-flung areas. The whole operation is currently being done manually which put a huge strain on the manpower as well as delays supply of water.
Box:
--- Kilpauk is the oldest filling station in Chennai and has been functioning since 1914
--- It has seven filling units
--- It is being accessed by 42 lorries that make around 250 trips across city
--- The technology will ensure that a 9,000 litres tanker is filled within four minutes
Caption:
1. Units of litres of waters being supplied from filling station to the tanker is being displayed
- Electromagnetic flow meters to ascertain the quantity of water filled in lorries through the filling points
- Kilpauk filling station is now fully automated
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of insti...
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of insti...: Chennai: Income tax officials conducted raids on the premises of Meenakshi group of institutions located in 17 places including Chennai,...
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of insti...
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of insti...: Chennai: Income tax officials conducted raids on the premises of Meenakshi group of institutions located in 17 places including Chennai,...
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of insti...
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of insti...: Chennai: Income tax officials conducted raids on the premises of Meenakshi group of institutions located in 17 places including Chennai,...
Income Tax officials raid Meenakshi Group of institutions
Chennai:
Income tax officials conducted raids on the premises of Meenakshi group of institutions located in 17 places including Chennai, Kanchipuram and Puducherry.
The searches, which were conducted by 17 teams to verify the doubts over tax evasion by the group, began around 8 am on Tuesday and Income Tax sources said that it is likely to continue till Wednesday morning.
The raids were also carried out in the newly launched newspaper office besides various institutions across the city including their office in K K Nagar. Income Tax sources said that 14 places in Chennai were searched by officials.
writingonblog uncensored: IIT Madras expert to submit report on cracks in he...
writingonblog uncensored: IIT Madras expert to submit report on cracks in he...: Chennai: Chennai Metro Rail has sought the opinion of Indian Institute of Technology expert after a 153-year-old CSI Tamil Wesley Church...
IIT Madras expert to submit report on cracks in heritage buildings
Chennai:
Chennai
Metro Rail has sought the opinion of Indian Institute of Technology expert
after a 153-year-old CSI Tamil Wesley Church in Broadway suffered cracks as a
tunnel-boring machine of Chennai Metro Rail drilled between Mannadi and Madras
High Court.
A
senior metro rail official said that Chennai Metro Rail is going in for an
impartial assessment of the cracks caused during the tunneling operations that
happened around 2 am on Saturday when the TBM drilled about 50 metres in the
stretch.A
professor from structural engineering department Arun Menon will be submitting
a report after assessing the damages.
Meanwhile, another Broadway church developed cracks. Officials said that more than 100-year-old Arcot Lutheran Church on Prakasam Salai in Broadway developed cracks as tunnel boring machine was drilling through the Mannadi-Madras High Court stretch.
This
comes in the wake of Chennai Metro Rail officials assuring the CSI Wesley Tamil Aalayam church
authorities that the repair works on the CSI Wesley Tamil Alayam may be
completed in a week’s time.
Metro Rail officials said that the tunnel boring works would
continue and ruled out any threats to the buildings.
Meanwhile, Tamil Aalayam church
officials confirmed that the IIT official inspected the site. “He was here for
only 10 minutes along with senior metro rail officials,” a church official said.
Interestingly, media was not allowed inside and the inspection was held behind
the close doors.
Monday, July 29, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: 18 per cent of TN Income Tax target realised
writingonblog uncensored: 18 per cent of TN Income Tax target realised: Chennai: The target for tax collections from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry this financial year is Rs 45,877 crore and during the last four m...
18 per cent of TN Income Tax target realised
Chennai:
The target for tax collections from Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry this financial year is Rs 45,877 crore and during the last four months the income tax department has collected an amount of Rs 8,136 crore which is 18 per cent of the target.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Income tax commissioners N Sankaran and P V Sekharan said that Income tax department was able to achieve 92 per cent of the set target last year.
“The target last financial year for Tamil Nadu was 40,528 crore and the income tax department was able to collect Rs 37,271 crore,” said Sankaran. Interestingly, during 2011-12, despite the economic slowdown, income tax department exceeded the target of Rs 33,041 crore and tax collections worth 34,586 crore were realised.
Even the net growth rate last financial year is only 7.76 per cent, which is nearly 10 per cent less than that of 18 per cent registered in 2011-12. Sankaran said that the number of tax payers till March 31, 2013 in the state were 23.93 lakh.
Sankaran also said that it is mandatory for salaried persons having total income upto Rs 5 lakh to file their returns this year. They can file it either physically or electronically. Last year it was against total income of Rs 10 lakh. The e-filing website address is incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
Earlier, 34 special counters for salaried assesses and two help desks and 30 counters for PAN verification was inaugurated by the chief commissioner of income tax Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry P R Shetty. These counters will be opened till July 31, the last date to file income tax returns. “Last year, about 1.1 lakh people filed their returns during the last three days of July and we expect more or less the same,” said Sankaran. He said the assesses can make use of paid service (Rs 250) of tax return preparers whose services are available at the old auditorium at Aayakar Bhavan for filing of income tax returns manually as well as for filing electronic returns. Tamil Nadu is ranked fourth among the states as per tax collections are concerned, Sankaran said.
Number of assessees on Record as on March 31
Company: 21,753
Individual: 20,85,972
Hindu Undivided Families: 87,842
Firms: 1,66,831
Trusts: 13,810
Others: 16,918
Total: 23,93,126Sunday, July 28, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Could dedicated bus flyover be a solution to ease ...
writingonblog uncensored: Could dedicated bus flyover be a solution to ease ...: Chennai: As the residents near Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus are struggling with traffic snarls, experts are suggesting various ways inc...
Could dedicated bus flyover be a solution to ease congestion in Koyambedu?
Chennai:
As the residents
near Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus are struggling with traffic snarls, experts
are suggesting various ways including a flyover dedicated to buses in the
region.
Delivering
the R Thillainayagam Memorial Endowment lecture on "Bus dedicated flyover
at CMBT’ organized by The Institution of Highway Transport (India) Chennai,
Prof and former principal of P M R Institute of Technology D R Kiran suggested
the need for a dedicated flyover for buses.
He said the
flyover with entry from Koyambedu junction and exit towards Vadapalani junction
could result in congestion free entry and exit for buses to moffusil bus
terminus. He said this could also solve the entry and exit to CMBT.
“It is a
regular exasperating experience to move near CMBT along Kaliamman Koil Street,
the only link from Koyambedu to Arcot Road. The long row of outstation buses
coming out of CMBT and trying to turn right cause a major bottleneck. A traffic
jam rsulting for more than 30 minutes in this area is not uncommon, he said.
Sometimes
police divert the buses during peak hours to proceed till the southern end of
Koyambedu market and return. The extra distance in addition to the diversion along
Koyambedu flyover adds an extra 2 kilometre for south bound buses which form 80
pc of total CMBT traffic.
“Besides
causing delayed departures for long distance bus, millions of litres of fuel
are burnt away every year due to this extra distance and traffic hold ups,” he
said.
He suggested
that if all buses are allowed to join the Inner Ring Road at the CMBT by
providing flyovers dedicated to CMBT buses both outstation and metropolitan,
the journey travel time, the traffic hold up time as well as the heavy
consumption of fuel can be reduced.
Interestingly,
his proposal for dedicated bus flyover comes in the wake of the Chennai Corporation
planning a one kilometer flyover on Jawaharlal Nehru High Road (also known as
100 ft Road and Inner Ring Road). However, experts opined the proposal of Prof
Kiran is worthwhile considering as it reduce the current detour of 2 km taken
by the MBT buses to a mere 800 metres. With BRTS plan also
taking shape, this plan could could cut costs as well ease congestion.
writingonblog uncensored: Shipping Ministry to set up maritime training acad...
writingonblog uncensored: Shipping Ministry to set up maritime training acad...: Chennai: The Union Shipping Minister on Saturday announced that Shipping Corporation of India would set up a maritime training academy a...
Shipping Ministry to set up maritime training academy in Thoothkudi
Chennai:
The Union Shipping Minister on Saturday announced that Shipping Corporation of India would set up a maritime training academy at Thoothkudi in collaboration with V O C Chidambaranar Port Trust.
Addressing a conference on investment opportunities in Thoothkudi organized by All India Chamber of commerce and Industry, Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan said that the Shipping Corporation of India with its experience of running the premier Maritime Training Institute at Powai in Mumbai would provide its expertise in selection of faculty, academic staff, instructors and setting up infrastructure for the academy.
This institute would cater to the requirements of students from southern districts of the state and provide quality maritime personnel to the country.
He said currently a blueprint is being prepared by the director general of shipping, Shipping Corporation of India and Indian Maritime University on the proposal. On the Outer Harbour Project in VOC Port, he said that the draft detailed project report is being prepared. The estimated project cost for the first phase is Rs 5241 crore for the creation of 43 million metric tonnes per annum. “It would be taken up in 2015 and completed in 2021,” the minister said.
Thoothkudi beckons Chennai investors
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
As Tamil Nadu government is targeting southern parts of the state for industrial development, the coastal city of Thoothkudi on Saturday launched a two-day roadshow to woo the investors in Chennai.
Talking to Express, former president of The All India Chamber of Commerce and Industries T Vel Shankar said that the concept of the roadshow is to make Thoothkudi the investment hub.
“We want to showcase Thoothkudi as the investment destination. He said with the growth in bigger cities like Chennai and Bangalore saturating, now the focus is on Tier-II cities like Thoothkudi which has a deep sea harbour and has been a power hub of the state. “Sixty per cent of state’s power is being generated from Tuticorin,” he said.
Interestingly, even the state government is aggressively planning for the Madurai-Thoothkudi-Tirunelveli industrial corridor which is expected to attract 1.90 lakh crore investment. Even the state finance secretary K Shanmugham at a financial conclave here has said that the Industries department is studying the detailed project report on Madurai-Tuticorin- Tirunelveli corridor submitted by the Mahindra Group.
Interestingly, the city is connected by airport, land as well as sea besides it also has Tamraiparani river fulfilling the drinking water needs of the residents.
President of All India Chamber of Commerce and Industries PSSK Raja Sankaralingam said that Tuticorin has a huge potential to emerge as industrial hub. “The area has vacant lands and is more suited for industries,” he said. Shankar said that the chambers in business chambers in Tuticorin along with the state government is planning to make Tuticorin a mini Singapore. “The city has all available infrastructure to be developed as the investment hub of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Rains trickle in hopes of good monsoon in Chennai
writingonblog uncensored: Rains trickle in hopes of good monsoon in Chennai: Chennai: Water has been trickling into reservoirs following rains this week. As a result, Metro water officials are pinning their hopes...
writingonblog uncensored: Indian Ports dependence on foreign dredging Cos to...
writingonblog uncensored: Indian Ports dependence on foreign dredging Cos to...: Chennai India’s dependence on foreign dredging giants is likely to decrease soon with the Union Shipping Ministry setting up an ambitiou...
writingonblog uncensored: TN sugarcane production to dwindle by 20 to 25pc
writingonblog uncensored: TN sugarcane production to dwindle by 20 to 25pc: Chennai: Sugarcane production in Tamil Nadu is likely to decline by 20 to 25 per cent next year and sugar mill owners are preparing str...
Indian Ports dependence on foreign dredging Cos to decline: Vasan
Chennai
India’s dependence on
foreign dredging giants is likely to decrease soon with the Union Shipping
Ministry setting up an ambitious target of procuring state-of-the-art dredgers
to meet the dredging needs of Indian ports.
Dedicating the second
Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger to the nation here on Friday, Union Shipping
Minister G K Vasan said with the new additions Dredging Corporation of India
will continue to play a major role in meeting the dredging requirements in
future and will be able to take over 80 per cent of the annual maintenance
dredging works of Indian ports.
Interestingly, the
procurement of dredgers comes in the wake of Shipping Ministry trying to ensure
that draft at Indian ports commensurate with global standards. “Most of the
Indian ports have drafts of 13 to 14 metres and plans are to make it up to 18
metres,” said Vasan. Drafts is nothing but depth of water at different tide
levels so ships entering the port do not hit bottom.
The government’s Maritime
Agenda 2010-2020 envisages enhancing the draft in all major ports because
globally size of ship has increased which requires deep drafts.
The first dredger of the
three new Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers from Holland was dedicated to the
nation on December 22. Interestingly, it was after 12 years DCI had purchased a
dredger to aid its aging fleet. The third dredger is likely to be delivered by
Holland on February 2014, Vasan said.
He also said that the
Dredging Corporation of India has further CAPEX plans for about Rs 1,972 crore
in the 12th plan including placing orders for two more 9,000 cubic
metre capacity dredgers.
Chairman and managing
director of Dredging Corporation of India captain D K
Mohanty said the now with the addition of the new fleet, DCI can phase out the
old dredgers, which are above 35 years old. “We have already phased out one
dredger and are on the verge of phasing out other,” he said.
The
Memorandum of understanding for the first two dredgers was signed on February
2010 with IHC Merwede, Netherlands and the third one was signed on 2011. The
total cost of the three dredgers is worth 1,570 crore.TN sugarcane production to dwindle by 20 to 25pc
Chennai:
Sugarcane production in Tamil Nadu is likely to decline by
20 to 25 per cent next year and sugar mill owners are preparing strategies to
tide over the lean period.On one hand the prices of sugarcane is rising while on the other hand, the prices of sugar is fixed. This is bleeding the sugar mills, the sugar mill owners said during the 43rd Annual Convention of The South India Sugarcane and Sugar Technologists’ Association
Delivering
the inaugural address at the event, A Vellayan, executive chairman of Murugappa
group, said that the mills are still banking on only one variety of sugarcane
and recommended varieties of sugarcane farming.
He
said that per hectare cultivation in India is quite low when compared to other
sugarcane producing nations like Brazil and Australia. He said that the need is
to improve soil health while citing the example of China, which uses nearly 50
per cent organic fertilizers.
He
also highlighted various challenges the farmers are facing including decreasing
water table and shortage of labour. He suggested drip irrigation besides
mechanized farming to cut short the dependence on farm labourers.
Vellayan
also said the need of the hour for sugarmill owners is to diversify from
traditional production and generate more revenue streams. He said the
aspiration of India changed, lifestyle changed but sugar mills are not coming
up with any new products.
Vice
chairman and managing director of Sakthi Sugars M Manickam said that the cane
prices can’t be controlled as the cost of cultivation is going up. He also said
that suagr mills are directly linked to farmers and the government has to
protect the farmers by giving them commensurate prices for their produce.
Ram
V Tyagarajan, chairman and managing director of Arooran Sugars, said that the
sugar industry is struggling globally. He said the next year is going to be a
major challenge for sugar industry in Tamil Nadu as the sugarcane production is
likely to fall by 20 to 25 per cent. He
predicted that the growth would be normal only in the year 2014-15.
Interestingly,
his comments come in the wake of data compiled by the Union agriculture
ministry showed that the sowing area under sugarcane fell to 4.07 million
hectare as on May compared to 4.57 million hectare area in the corresponding
period last year. Lesser sowing is likely to affect India’s cane productivity
followed by the proportionate decline in the country’s sugar output.
Box:
Rajshree Sugars owner felicitated
Chennai:
Chairman
and managing director of Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals Rajshree Pathy was
honoured by South Indian Sugarcane and Sugar Technologists’ Association for
getting the Padma Shree Award.
Speaking
on the occasion, she said the award recognizes entreprenuership in small cities
like Coimbatore and hoped it this will also stand as an inspiration for women
in all walks of life.
Friday, July 26, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: TN actively considering plan to set up a financial...
writingonblog uncensored: TN actively considering plan to set up a financial...: Chennai: The plan to set up a financial city near Chennai got a boost with the state finance secretary K Shanmugam stating that Tami...
TN actively considering plan to set up a financial city: TN Finance secy
Chennai:
The plan to
set up a financial city near Chennai got a boost with the state finance secretary
K Shanmugam stating that Tamil Nadu government is actively considering the
proposal.
Speaking on
the sidelines of Federation Sector Conclave organized by Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Hindustan Chamber of Commerce, he told
Express that the proposal is being actively considered.
This also
comes in the wake of business chambers urging the state government to set up a
financial city as it would turn the city into a hub of financial world besides
accelerate the realization of Vision 2023.
R
Subramanian, president of Hindustan Chamber of Commerce said that Chennai is
the hub of activity and best for financial development. He said that government
should come forward to create a financial city as it could then serve as a link
for global financial markets between Singapore and Hong Kong. He also developed
the need to create a township for the financial city that could serve as a
offshore facility for the financial city.
writingonblog uncensored: Weak currency, stagnant growth hits southern state...
writingonblog uncensored: Weak currency, stagnant growth hits southern state...: Chennai: A weak currency and stagnant growth has hit south Indian states, which spearheaded the industrial growth and socio-economic dev...
Weak currency, stagnant growth hits southern states: TN finance minister
Chennai:
A weak currency and stagnant growth has hit south Indian
states, which spearheaded the industrial growth and socio-economic development,
according to Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O Paneerselvam.
Delivering the inaugural address during a Financial Sector
Conclave organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
and Hindustan Chamber of Commerce here on Thursday, Paneerselvam assured industrialists
and bankers that Tamil Nadu government is taking all steps to stimulate
economic growth in Tamil Nadu against all odds.
Stating that Tamil Nadu Vision 2023 document envisages an
investment of Rs 15 lakh crore in Tamil Nadu infrastructure, he said only
higher investments in infrastructure and spending by government can counter the
economic slowdown and boost private sector investments.
Urging the private sector to participate in state’s growth
story, he said, “In this difficult economic situation, I look forward to
sustained funding from banks to industries and infrastructure projects.”
He said that the state has been facing difficult power
supply situation due to inadequate investments made by previous government.
“Now the chief minister has taken steps to improve this situation by signing
long-term power purchase agreements for 1200 MW and new generation capacity to
the extent of 4,191 mega watt will be added before March 2014,” he added.
He also urged the industries and trade associations to take
part in State Skill Development Mission to help build a skilled workforce.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Internet could boost SMEs revenue and profits, say...
writingonblog uncensored: Internet could boost SMEs revenue and profits, say...: Chennai: Internet could be a game changer for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as it could help boost SME’s revenue and profits by mo...
Internet could boost SMEs revenue and profits, says FICCI-Google study
Chennai:
Internet could be a game changer for small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in India as it could help boost SME’s revenue and profits, according
to a survey.
The study done
by FICCI in partnership with Google revealed that on an average, an SME adopting the Internet is
able to
grow its customer base by 7 percent and generate employment growth by 4 per cent.
The report, compiled and
presented by Nathan Associates, showed that SMEs, who use the web, fare much
better than those that do not. On an average, web-enabled SMEs boasted revenues
51pc higher, 49pc more profit, and customer bases 7pc broader than their
offline-only counterparts.
The study said
that Internet can be a great equalizer for SMEs, providing them with access to
new markets, more customers and visibility so as to unleash their potential.
The survey of
951 small and medium enterprises in various industrial and geographical
clusters across India shows that SMEs that use the Internet, 69 per cent
experienced an increase in customers, and 63 per cent an increase in geographic
reach and 44 per cent saw an increase in firm employment.
Controlling for factors such as an SME’s investment in
plant and machinery, the age, sex and education of personnel, and ownership
type, the study found that using the Internet for business operations increased
the SME’s revenue by 51 percent and profits by 49 percent.
The perceived benefits of using the Internet are significant:
64 percent of respondents reported an increase in sales due to Internet use, 65
percent an increase in profits, 69 percent an increase in customers, 63 percent
in geographic reach and, 44 percent in employment.
writingonblog uncensored: Educomp Solutions partners with HCL Infosystems fo...
writingonblog uncensored: Educomp Solutions partners with HCL Infosystems fo...: New Delhi: HCL Infosystems Ltd, India’s Premier Services and ICT Systems Integration, Distribution and Hardware Company and Educomp Soluti...
Educomp Solutions partners with HCL Infosystems for its Life Cycle Services
New Delhi: HCL Infosystems Ltd, India’s Premier Services
and ICT Systems Integration, Distribution and Hardware Company and Educomp
Solutions Ltd., India’s largest education company have announced their business
collaboration partnership.
As per the agreement, HCL Infosystems will provide life
cycle services for existing and new Educomp classrooms across India. This will
include providing break-fix support and field repair services along with
managing new installations of Educomp Classrooms. The service and support to
Educomp classrooms would be provided by HCL Infosystems through a nation-wide
network of field engineers, regional repair centres and a centralized repair
factory.
Another aspect to the engagement between HCLI and Educomp
is HCL Learning, the education and learning division of HCL Infosystems Ltd.,
sourcing Educomp’s state-of-the-art smartclass Digital Teaching Systems (DTS)
boards for its own IT Solutions for educational institutions.
Educomp Smartclass reaches close to 15,000 schools and
seven million students. HCL Infosystems had earlier announced the creation of
HCL Learning as a separate subsidiary which is presently under process of being
formed. HCL Learning will continue to focus on growing its business of
providing high quality IT solutions and content to the Indian Education
segment. HCL Learning currently has over
12000 classrooms, over 60 career development centres and offers High Quality Content
as well as innovative products such as DigiSchool and Xcelerate.
Success in institutionalising leadership development key to PSU banks growth says study
Mumbai:
Success in
institutionalising leadership development is likely to emerge as a possible
game changer for the Public Sector Banks in India, says a FICCI-KPMG Report
launched at the Banking Conclave 2013 in Kolkata today.
The business
landscape of Public Sector Banks has made a rapid shift in the last few years.
Changes in the regulatory framework, rising customer expectations, shift in the
employee demography and changes in technology have emerged as key drivers of
change for the Public Sector Banks.
The Public Sector
Banks are gearing up to meet demands from expansion, optimize resources,
increase their presence across the value chain, renew focus on R&D and
innovation, create a better performance culture and service customer
demands effectively. The FICCI-KPMG research assessed
1375 leaders from across PSUs (top three levels of management below MD) to
identify their existing proficiency across the leadership competencies. The
average proficiency across competencies demonstrated by the leaders assessed
was found to be 2.91 on scale of 5. The six leadership competencies -
stakeholder leadership (3.11), customer leadership (2.74), operational
leadership (2.97), talent leadership (2.95), change leadership (2.78),
strategic leadership (2.88) are based on KPMG’s ongoing research in the PSU
sector over the years.
The scale is
operationalised across three dimensions – depth of expertise, breadth of impact
and complexity of situations.
According to Nishchae
Suri, partner and head ofPeople and Change Practice, KPMG in India, “Organization
capabilities serve as the DNA for stakeholder value creation. Leadership
competencies are a key ingredient of organisational capability and are
essential in driving success through processes, technology, structure and the
workforce."
Attracting, hiring, developing and
retaining the best available talent and nurturing them to become the future
leaders is a critical factor, which will pave the way for the Indian banking
industry to achieve a world class level. Existing ways of leadership
development in our PSUs need to be aligned and strengthened. A dynamic business
environment and competition from the private sector demands that PSU banks
adopt cutting edge learning interventions. Such game changing initiatives will
structurally support PSU banks develop a leadership pipeline competent to meet
their short term and long term needs.
writingonblog uncensored: Commerce Ministry to study the relevance of SEZ in...
writingonblog uncensored: Commerce Ministry to study the relevance of SEZ in...: Chennai: Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) will be reviewing the special economic zones (SEZ) in ...
Commerce Ministry to study the relevance of SEZ in Tamil Nadu
Chennai:
Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) will be reviewing the special economic zones (SEZ) in the state as part of the nation-wide study to understand the impact of the SEZ policy as well as find if SEZs have met the economic objectives for which the programme was rolled out.
Addressing a meeting of Export Oriented Units and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) here on Wednesday, Director of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry Sanjeet Singh said that the ministry has entrusted the responsibility of conducting the nationwide study to ICRIER to make suitable policy recommendations on SEZ.
The study will cover Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and West Bengal,
“The purpose of the study is to understand the impact of existing special economic zone policy besides it will try to address the common perception among people about SEZs,” he said.
Currently, the government has approved 577 Special Economic Zones of which 389 are being notified and 170 are operational. Surprisingly, 219 are yet to become operational.
ICRIER external consultant Subhobroto Ray during a presentation highlighted that Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Gujarat have highest number of SEZs. “We will be conducting a primary survey besides drafting questionnaires targeting six to seven states as well as six to seven sectors,” she said.
We will be focusing on land reforms. Including acquistion, infrastructure, job creation, labour relations and governance. “The study will also look into the state’s overall industrial strategy besides its perspective on SEZ.
Interestingly, this also comes in the wake of government coming out with new guidelines on relaxation of land availability in setting up a SEZ. “In view of the acute difficulties in aggregating large tracts of uncultivable land, the government has decided to reduce the Minimum Land Area Requirement by half. For Multi-product SEZ from 1000 hectares to 500 hectares and for Sector-specific SEZ from existing 100 hectares to 50 hectares,” said Singh.
He also said that IT exports constitute a very significant part of India’s exports and IT SEZs have a major contribution in it. In a bid to give a fillip to employment and growth in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, the government has done away with present requirement of 10 hectares of minimum land area for setting up an IT or ITES Special Economic Zone. Now Only the minimum built up area criteria would be required to be met by the SEZ developer, he said.
Exports from IT SEZs during financial year 2012-13 have exceeded Rs. 1.40 lakh crore registering a growth of over 70 per cent over the previous year exports.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: The wonder that was Radio!
writingonblog uncensored: The wonder that was Radio!: Chennai: It was a celebration of eighty-six years since electricity crackled through the capacitors and amplifiers of Indian Broadcas...
The wonder that was Radio!
Chennai:
It
was a celebration of eighty-six years since electricity crackled through the
capacitors and amplifiers of Indian Broadcasting Company’s Bombay transmitter
station on July 23, 1927 bringing to life the first radio station in Bombay.
Tributes
poured in highlighting the glorious era of Radio when it was the sole medium of
entertainment before the advent of television at a function here.
Addressing
a gathering here on the occasion to mark the anniversary, former Supreme Court
Judge S Mohan walked down the memory lane highlighting how it was the only mode
of entertainment for all the classes and also an effective communication tool.
He
said that radio has provided a platform for many aspiring youngsters wanting to
earn name and fame. He also highlighted how the death of Mahatma Gandhi was
broken through the radio. Mohan said that radio would surpass all the
competition.
During
the occasion a platinum jubilee special postal cover was also released.
Interestingly, it was Merwin Alexander, post master general, Chennai region who
highlighted how both postal department and All India Radio are slowly losing
their relevance. “We both had a glorious past but uncertain future,” he said.
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax searches conducted in 40 outlets of Sar...
writingonblog uncensored: Income Tax searches conducted in 40 outlets of Sar...: Chennai: Income Tax (I-T) officials conducted simultaneous raids at over 40 premises of the Hotel Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan ...
Income Tax searches conducted in 40 outlets of Saravana Bhavan chain of hotels, Adyar Ananda Bhavan
Chennai:
Income Tax (I-T) officials conducted simultaneous raids at over 40 premises of the Hotel Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan groups on Tuesday to check tax evasion.
Income Tax department sources told Express the searches were carried out in 40 premises across the country. “We have doubts that there may be tax evasion by these two groups. We have 40 teams conducting searches in Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country to verify it,” a source said.
The raids come in the wake of recent inspections on the premises of some schools in Namakkal and the SRM Group of companies last month and the Lion Dates Impex Pvt Ltd last week.
Sources in the know said the searches began at around 8 am. A total of 20 teams of I-T sleuths conducted raids in Chennai, while another 10 teams operated in other parts of the State.
As many as 10 outlets each of Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan were raided in Chennai. The sleuths carried out search operations in Tirunelveli, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchy and other places in the State.
A 33-member team raided Saravana Bhavan owner P Rajagopal’s property in his native place of Punnai Nagar near Nazreth in Thoothukudi district. Rajagopal reportedly owned a lodge, restaurant, farmhouse and a temple called Vana Tirupathi in the coastal town.
Ten teams operated outside the State to verify tax evasion of these two groups in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Vijayawada, an I-T source told Express. However, the I-T officials refused to divulge information regarding seizure of documents and unaccounted cash, if any, during the raids.
“A detailed hand-out will be issued by the department by Wednesday afternoon,” a senior I-T official said.
Hotel Saravana Bhavan, founded in 1981 by P Rajagopal, has emerged the largest vegetarian restaurant chain in the city offering south Indian cuisine. The group has outlets in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and in the Gulf.
Adyar Ananda Bhavan Sweets and Snacks was founded by K S Thirupathi Raja in Chennai more than three decades ago. It had opened branches in Kancheepuram, Erode, Madurai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Tirupur. It has a presence in Karnataka, Delhi and Puducherry.
Income Tax (I-T) officials conducted simultaneous raids at over 40 premises of the Hotel Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan groups on Tuesday to check tax evasion.
Income Tax department sources told Express the searches were carried out in 40 premises across the country. “We have doubts that there may be tax evasion by these two groups. We have 40 teams conducting searches in Tamil Nadu and other parts of the country to verify it,” a source said.
The raids come in the wake of recent inspections on the premises of some schools in Namakkal and the SRM Group of companies last month and the Lion Dates Impex Pvt Ltd last week.
Sources in the know said the searches began at around 8 am. A total of 20 teams of I-T sleuths conducted raids in Chennai, while another 10 teams operated in other parts of the State.
As many as 10 outlets each of Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan were raided in Chennai. The sleuths carried out search operations in Tirunelveli, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchy and other places in the State.
A 33-member team raided Saravana Bhavan owner P Rajagopal’s property in his native place of Punnai Nagar near Nazreth in Thoothukudi district. Rajagopal reportedly owned a lodge, restaurant, farmhouse and a temple called Vana Tirupathi in the coastal town.
Ten teams operated outside the State to verify tax evasion of these two groups in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Vijayawada, an I-T source told Express. However, the I-T officials refused to divulge information regarding seizure of documents and unaccounted cash, if any, during the raids.
“A detailed hand-out will be issued by the department by Wednesday afternoon,” a senior I-T official said.
Hotel Saravana Bhavan, founded in 1981 by P Rajagopal, has emerged the largest vegetarian restaurant chain in the city offering south Indian cuisine. The group has outlets in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia and in the Gulf.
Adyar Ananda Bhavan Sweets and Snacks was founded by K S Thirupathi Raja in Chennai more than three decades ago. It had opened branches in Kancheepuram, Erode, Madurai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Tirupur. It has a presence in Karnataka, Delhi and Puducherry.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Campus hiring for IT sector to undergo change
writingonblog uncensored: Campus hiring for IT sector to undergo change: Chennai: NASSCOM on Tuesday said that the campus hiring for IT graduates in the country is set to undergo a change and it will be ...
Campus hiring for IT sector to undergo change
Chennai: NASSCOM on Tuesday said that the campus
hiring for IT graduates in the country is set to undergo a change and it will
be based more on soft skills and domain based specialisation.
Addressing a press conference here, NASSCOM president
Som Mittal and senior vice president Sangeeta Gupta, said, “The campus hiring
would not be the same as earlier, due to uncertainty in the IT sector.”
Mittal said that currently the hiring will happen in
two phases -- September to October and in May to July. “In the first phase, it
will happen in the seventh semester and the other will happen once the student
graduates from the institute, he said.
His statement comes in the wake of a drop in campus
hiring in the IT sector, which is reeling due to economic downturn. Sangeeta
said that the campus hiring by major companies has come down substantially. “In
2011, top IT companies were hiring 60 to 70 per cent from the campuses. This
has substantially dropped to 40 per cent,” she said.
Mittal said that the industry will continue to hire
but at a slower rate. He said that 2013 is expected to see just in-time hiring,
with more focus on domain specialists as well as those possessing soft skills.
“This will also pose a bigger challenge to nearly 13
lakh students who are graduating from colleges this year," he said.
He said that the future demands for skills would
include mobile application, cloud virtualisation, platform engineering besides
the need for data scientists.
He said that the colleges to attract IT firms have to
create students with industry-ready skills, besides strengthen foundation
skills and define occupational standards for entry-level jobs.
He also said that the 60 per cent of the present day
workforce are Gen Y, who prefer easy going work environment, rapid job
promotion and work-life balance, mobility and social media device usage.
Mittal also highlighted the growing the growing gender
inclusivity. Of the 3.1 million workforce of the industry, 30
per cent comprise of women, of which 15 to 20 per cent are at managerial level
and above, he said.
IT sector is set to grow 12 to 14 per cent presently,
he said, adding that the growth would be reviewed after October this year.
Commenting on the US new immigration bill, he said,
"There is a shortage in the US corporations and we are filling in those.
If the bill is passed, US corporations would stand to lose more than the Indian
companies. And this would also impact the US economy."
He also said that NASSCOM has
also set a target of providing one to 1.5 per cent jobs for differently-abled
individuals.
Monday, July 22, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Language institutes wooing corporates with tailor-...
writingonblog uncensored: Language institutes wooing corporates with tailor-...: Chennai: As the world is shrinking with the advent of new communication technologies, corporates in India are tapping the expertise of ...
writingonblog uncensored: Builders likely to pay current guideline value for...
writingonblog uncensored: Builders likely to pay current guideline value for...: Chennai: Builders are likely to pay the current guideline value for converting buildings housing IT offices for non-IT purpose. This c...
British Council vying to help CBSE assess English skills of students
Chennai:
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to engage an agency to assess the English speaking and listening skills of its students at secondary and senior secondary levels.
Industry sources told Express that the British Council is also vying for this opportunity by positioning its products particularly Aptis to meet the CBSE’s needs.
The assessment of speaking and listening skills of students is to ensure that these skills are correspondingly acquired during the transaction of English language curriculum in classes. Sources said that CBSE has the responsibility of assessing scholastic, co-scholastic and achievement levels of students of more than 13,500 schools affiliated to it. There has been a longstanding view that CBSE must focus on assessing speaking and listening skills for qualification and summative assessments as much as for formative assessment.
Industry sources said tenders have already been floated in this regard. However, British Council officials refused to divulge details.
Aptis is an innovative assessment tool, designed to help organisations and institutions identify standards of English and select staff or students with the right skills. Aptis is used to benchmark English language levels of employees, potential employees, students or teachers. Developed by testing experts, Aptis is the regarded as being among the smarter methods to evaluate reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in English, a industry source said
writingonblog uncensored: Everstone Group invests INR 200 crore in Hinduja L...
writingonblog uncensored: Everstone Group invests INR 200 crore in Hinduja L...: Chennai: Everstone, a leading India and South East Asia private equity investor, has signed an agreement to invest INR 200 crore for an un...
Everstone Group invests INR 200 crore in Hinduja Leyland Finance
Chennai:
Everstone, a leading India and South East Asia private equity investor, has signed an agreement to invest INR 200 crore for an undisclosed stake in the NBFC Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLF), a commercial vehicle (CV) financing arm of the Hinduja Group.
The Chennai headquartered NBFC is jointly owned by Ashok Leyland and other entities of the Hinduja Group. Led by Mr S Nagarajan, who had previously spearheaded Ashok Leyland Finance and IndusInd Bank, HLF today, is one of the leading financiers of commercial vehicles with current assets under management in excess of INR 4,000 crore.
Atul Kapur, Co-founder and Managing Partner of the Everstone Group said, “We are excited to partner with the Hinduja Group who have built a very attractive and professionally managed business in a sector where they have a track record ofsuccess.”
R Seshasayee, Chairman of HLF added further, “I am happy that in Everstone, we found a partner who shares the same vision as the promoters for the growth and development of HLF, as a significant and profitable player in NBFC space.”
Everstone, a leading India and South East Asia private equity investor, has signed an agreement to invest INR 200 crore for an undisclosed stake in the NBFC Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLF), a commercial vehicle (CV) financing arm of the Hinduja Group.
The Chennai headquartered NBFC is jointly owned by Ashok Leyland and other entities of the Hinduja Group. Led by Mr S Nagarajan, who had previously spearheaded Ashok Leyland Finance and IndusInd Bank, HLF today, is one of the leading financiers of commercial vehicles with current assets under management in excess of INR 4,000 crore.
Atul Kapur, Co-founder and Managing Partner of the Everstone Group said, “We are excited to partner with the Hinduja Group who have built a very attractive and professionally managed business in a sector where they have a track record ofsuccess.”
R Seshasayee, Chairman of HLF added further, “I am happy that in Everstone, we found a partner who shares the same vision as the promoters for the growth and development of HLF, as a significant and profitable player in NBFC space.”
writingonblog uncensored: Rs 300 crore property acquired by TN govt five dec...
writingonblog uncensored: Rs 300 crore property acquired by TN govt five dec...: C Shivakumar Chennai: The state government is set to lose a prime property worth more than Rs 300 crore to the landowners from whom ...
Rs 300 crore property acquired by TN govt five decades ago to be reconveyed at Rs 33,947
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
The state government is set to lose a prime
property worth more than Rs 300 crore to the landowners from whom it acquired
five decades ago at a price of Rs 33,947 due to inaction on its part to build a
training institute for Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department.
Official sources said the 1.62 acres of land,
which was acquired by Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department in
1961 during the era of then chief minister K Kamraj for construction of a
Training Institute, near Raj Bhavan on taluk office road, is set to be
reconveyed to the legal heirs of Manali Ramakrishna Mudaliar for Rs 33,947, the
price which it paid for acquisition in 1961, following a High Court directive
on August 2012.
Sources said the government wanted to build a
Cooperative Training Institute to train its employees. During that time, the
project was likely to be put in backburner due to lack of allotment of funds.
Sources said that the land was to be transferred to the highways department,
which owns a package of land that was also acquired during that period to set
up a Highways Research Institute.
For five decades the government slept over the
acquired land not putting to use for what purpose it was acquired for. It
received a jolt when the legal heirs of the then owner approached the court seeking
reconveyance of the land in November 2006 as per section 48-B of the Land
Acquisition Act. As per the law the
land should be used for the purpose for which it was acquired by the government
or the government should be satisfied that the land is not used for any public
purpose and then only the land should be reconveyed.
Sources say the land has a Highways Engineers
Association Building besides a
test drive track of highways department. Interestingly, the case was weakly
defended by the officials.
The then Cooperation, Food and Consumer
Protection Department Secretary, District Collector and Tahsildar filed a
counter, devoid of facts that could have convinced the court against
reconveyance. And what was more surprising was that the State Government based
their contention over a Government Order that the land was transferred from
cooperation department to highways department.
It was later found out that the GO was for
recognition of Highways Engineers Association rather than transferring the land
from Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department to Highways
Department.
Official sources feel that the amendment
brought in 1996 to the Land Acquisition Act for reconveyance should be studied
afresh and the estate officers of all the government departments should be
strictly instructed to take an inventory of all the properties because the land
prices are steeply rising. Is it not the duty of the officers to protect the
government land?
Sunday, July 21, 2013
More than 10 lakh Chennaites enrol for Aadhar
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
As more than 10 lakh people in the city have enrolled
for Aadhaar, a unique identification project, the Census directorate has
allayed the fears of Chennaites and said nobody will be left off the project.
Although still 31 lakh people have to be covered by
September, Joint Director of Directorate of Census Operations (Tamil Nadu) M R
V Krishna Rao said that the department is trying to reach 70 to 75 per cent of
the 41 lakh people by September.
“But then one should not panic. Permanent centers
would be opened at Zonal offices of Chennai Corporation from October and people
can go to the corporation office and register themselves,” he said.
Interestingly, as per the directorate of Census, the
newly added areas are not included in Chennai Corporation under the Aadhar
project. “The people living in the new areas will be covered by the districts
to which they were aligned to earlier,” he said.
Interestingly, the state already has 20 lakh Aadhar
cards issued by the Unique Identication Authority of India. The whole
process was stopped as the state was keen to have it done through National
Population Registry, he says.
So what will happen to those who already have the
Aadhar cards issued by UID. “They are valid cards but then the data has to be
updated in National Population Registry (NPR). These card holders have to
contact the operators to link their Aadhar card to the NPR,” said Rao.
But the biggest challenge is to bring those who were
not registered during the Census survey conducted in June or July 2010. Since
they don’t have the acknowledgement form, they are ineligible for enrolment.
But Rao says they still can enroll themselves. “All you have to do is go to
your corporation zonal office and ask for the form. The details are also in the
Chennai Corporation website. Those who can fill the forms themselves can hand
it over to office after filling it and for those who are unable to fill, the
Corporation zonal officers would help in filling up the form,” he said.
Interestingly, during the survey conducted in 2010, a
total of 1.83 crore households were registered. The forms were scanned at
Census directorate’s center. The images were then given to Bharat Electronics
Limited. They were categorized as per the districts and circulated to six to
seven data centers in the state.
“These are data which will be in the screen of the
operator while taking in the biometric data,” he said. Now while enrolling for
the Aadhar card, the operator will correct the information like the spelling of
the names as well as change address in case of change of the ward.
Interestingly, the other big issue is people are not
aware of when the process to enroll for Aadhar card starts in their ward. Rao
says that it is decided by the Corporation zonal office. “We are not going in
for massive awareness as we don’t have adequate manpower to handle such a
crowd,” he said.
Interestingly, a day before the enrolment process
starts, corporation officials will be providing a KYR (Know Your Resident)
form. After filling in the form, they have to bring it along with the
acknowldgement card provided during the Census operation in 2010 for the
enrolment process that includes capturing of biometric data.
The KYR forms seeks data about you Pan Card, Ration
card, Passport number etc. But these are optional. After the data is being
stored in the system, the applicant has 92 hours to correct any information
which he has provided to the operator. Interestingly, the operator won’t be of any
help to change the data. “It is only the supervisor of the center, who could
make the changes. After 92 hours, no changes could be made in the data,” Rao
said.
Once the data is complied, then after de-duplication process,
a 12 digit Aadhar number will be generated. The number will be stored in a
centralized database and linked to the basic demographics and biometric
information – photograph, ten fingerprints and iris – of each individual. The
random number generated will be devoid of any classification based on caste,
creed, religion and geography.
After this the process of issuance of Aadhar card will
start. First the data will be verified by the local registrars in corporation
office and the police department. “They have to certify the data after which
the card will be generated,” said Rao.
The card is easily verifiable online and is unique and
robust enough to eliminate the large number of duplicate and fake identities in
government and private databases.
The card will help address the rigged state elections
and widespread embezzlement that affects subsidies and poverty alleviation
programs such as NREGA. It will also address illegal immigration into India.Friday, July 19, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: India tops technology innovation confidence index,...
writingonblog uncensored: India tops technology innovation confidence index,...: Mumbai: Technology executives worldwide believe that the United States, China and India are the top three countries with the potential ...
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