Wednesday, October 30, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Ramco helps Astra Airlines go live in just 8 weeks...
writingonblog uncensored: Ramco helps Astra Airlines go live in just 8 weeks...: Chennai: Ramco Systems, the global Aviation Software provider on Cloud, Mobile and Tablets, has announced go-live at Astra Airlines, ...
Ramco helps Astra Airlines go live in just 8 weeks
Chennai:
Ramco Systems, the global Aviation Software provider on
Cloud, Mobile and Tablets, has announced go-live at Astra Airlines, an emerging
passenger airline operating from Greece. The cloud implementation was carried
out remotely using Lean model that ensured ‘On time, within budget’ delivery.
From project kick-off to go-live, the implementation was
handled predominantly from off-shore through conferencing facility, without
compromising on efficiency. With virtual blueprinting, pre-built business
process documents, pre-loaded Industry standard codes, the lean model of
implementation further ensured reduction in deployment cost by 40pc.
Astra has been able to reap the benefits of a functionally
rich maintenance and engineering (M&E) solution with industry best
practices and standards, in a short time span and within budgets.
Commenting on the Go-Live, Kostas Drizis – CAMO Manager,
Astra Airlines, said “Within a short timeframe and limited resources from our
end, we have transitioned to a modern and sophisticated M&E system provided
by Ramco. This has been possible because of the strong domain knowledge,
professional approach and lean methodology adopted by Ramco. The Ramco team
exhibited excellent domain knowledge and systematic approach which ensured
every member at Astra understands and appreciates the interdependencies within
units and contribute towards an efficient and coherent value-adding system.”
writingonblog uncensored: Coastal cities vulnerable to climate change: repor...
writingonblog uncensored: Coastal cities vulnerable to climate change: repor...: Chennai: The coastal cities in India, including Chennai, will be at risk from the impact of flooding due to rising sea levels and ext...
Coastal cities vulnerable to climate change: report
Chennai:
The coastal cities in India, including Chennai, will be at
risk from the impact of flooding due to rising sea levels and extreme weather
conditions, according to a report Natural Disasters Saving Lives Today Building
Resilience For Tomorrow.
The
report, which was released in the city by Tim Fox, head of energy and
environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said that India ranks
second to Bangladesh facing high risk of disaster due to climate change.
He
said that man-made changes have removed the natural barriers protecting against
extreme natural events thereby increase the likelihood of disasters. These
include human activities such as deforestation, swamp and marsh degradation,
island development and sand dune removal.
The
report highlights the trend of global urbanization which is projected to result
in 75 per cent of world’s population living in towns and cities by 2050.
Ninety-five per cent of the expansion in urban living is being anticipated in
developing countries.
“This
movement of population into areas such as coastal regions, flood plains and
earthquake zones that are typically less resilient to extreme natural events,
has been identified in the report as one of the factors along with degradation
of the natural environment that is moving the world towards more natural
disasters,” the report said.
The
report states that by 2050, it is anticipated that an extra three billion
people will be located in urban settings, with much of the growth taking place
in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Interestingly,
the report recommends more international development funding on building future
resilience. “Currently, only four per cent of all international humanitarian
aid is channeled to helping build resilience in disaster hotspots well below
UN’s recommended 10 per cent,” the report states.
“As
it is estimated that every $1 spent on making communities more resilient can
save as much as $4 in disaster relief, recovery and reconstruction later,” the
report added.
writingonblog uncensored: Koyambedu market heaves a sigh as conservancy work...
writingonblog uncensored: Koyambedu market heaves a sigh as conservancy work...: Chennai: The stir by 170 conservancy workers in Asia’s biggest vegetable, fruit and flower market in Koyambedu that began on Mon...
Koyambedu market heaves a sigh as conservancy workers stir resolved
Chennai:
The stir by 170 conservancy workers in Asia’s biggest
vegetable, fruit and flower market in Koyambedu that began on Monday was resolved
by market management officials and Hyderabad based Ramky group.
MMC officials said the issue over Diwali bonus was resolved
on Tuesday morning after Ramky agreed to pay the conservancy workers an
additional bonus of Rs 500.
The stir had began on Monday with conservancy workers
mostly women gheraoing the officials and demanding full month bonus.
“The officials had paid initially a bonus of Rs 500. But
the workers were not happy. After the negotiations an additional Rs 500 was
agreed o be paid to workers following which the workers took up the regular
work,” MMC officials told Express.
Interestingly, on Monday the garbage could not be cleaned
due to the stir It was only during late night, Ramky officials had arranged temporary staff to
do the cleaning operations.
MMC officials said their job is to ensure the market
remains clean and said it is up to Ramky to sort out the issue with labourers. “It
is their internal issue,” a senior official said.
Interestingly, it is not only the Diwali bonus for which
the workers are protesting, they are also demanding provident fund benefits
besides basic amenities like soap and gloves to clean up the garbage.
Hemavathi, who is working as a conservancy worker for the
last 15 years, alleged that the workers are paid a daily wage of Rs 170 and at
times it is delayed.
She also said that the workers are also not getting
provident fund and other facilities.
Ramky officials told Express that they have taken up the
contract from M V K Murugan this August only. He said the workers have to give
their bank accounts to settle their provident fund.
A total of around 150 to 180 metric tonnes of garbage per
day is collected from around 3, 500 shops and dumped in the yards outside the
city and some used in the bio-methanation plant.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Air Marshal Arup Raha to be the next air chief
writingonblog uncensored: Air Marshal Arup Raha to be the next air chief: Chennai: Air Marshal Arup Raha will be the next Chief of Air Staff after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne on December 31, 2...
Air Marshal Arup Raha to be the next air chief
Chennai:
Air Marshal Arup Raha will be the next Chief of Air Staff after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne on December 31, 2013. Air Marshal Raha was commissioned into the IAF on December 14, 1974 in the Fighter Stream of the Flying Branch.
During a career spanning over nearly 39 years, he has held various command, staff and instructional appointments. He has served as Air Attache at the Embassy of India, Ukraine. Besides various technical courses, Air Marshal Raha has done National Defence College, Staff College, Strategic Nuclear Orientation Course and Junior Commanders’ Course.
He has commanded Central Air Command and Western Air Command. He is one of the Honorary ADCs to the Supreme Commander.
writingonblog uncensored: HTIC of IIT Madras develops affordable, easy to us...
writingonblog uncensored: HTIC of IIT Madras develops affordable, easy to us...: Chennai : Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) of IIT Madras has developed “ARTSENS”, an affordable vascular screening techno...
HTIC of IIT Madras develops affordable, easy to use technology for vascular screening
Chennai: Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre
(HTIC) of IIT Madras has developed “ARTSENS”, an affordable vascular screening
technology that measures stiffness of blood vessel walls.
The technology was developed with the goal of addressing
the unmet need of performing large scale vascular health screening that can
prevent premature vascular events at a younger age. HTIC is a joint initiative
of IIT Madras and Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology,
with the objective of developing technologies for unmet healthcare needs in the
country.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the number one cause of
death globally, causing nearly 17.3 million deaths in 2008, with the number
expected to increase to 23.3 million by 2030. Nearly 10pc of Indian population
suffer from CVDs. India has seen a significant shift in disease burden from
communicable to non-communicable diseases (NCD), over the last couple of
decades, with CVD accounting for half of all deaths from NCDs.
Several factors such as age, diabetes, lifestyle etc
progressively affect the blood vessels, ultimately resulting in an acute
vascular event affecting the heart or brain. Loss of elasticity of blood vessel
walls, referred to as arterial stiffening, is a marker of endothelial
dysfunction, indicative of vascular health and can be used in early detection
and screening. Early detection of abnormalities in arterial stiffness can be
used to triage subjects for further investigation and intervention. Interventions
at this early stage in people with poor vascular health can prevent premature
vascular events with significant decrease in morbidity and mortality.
Conventional equipment available for evaluation of arterial
stiffness are expensive, laborious, time consuming, and require skilled
expertise to operate, and hence not suited for large scale population level
screening.
Dr Jayaraj Joseph, Systems Architect of HTIC who led the
project explained, “ARTSENS is an image-free technology that non-invasively
measures the stiffness of the carotid artery in an automated manner. The
technology uses a single ultrasound sensor that the operator places over the
carotid artery, on the neck of the subject, to get a reading of artery
stiffness within a minute.”
Intelligent computing algorithms assist the operator in
positioning the probe and automatically perform artery detection, motion
tracking and stiffness calculations, allowing the device to be operated with
minimal expertise. The technology was developed and validated in close
collaboration with leading clinicians in the city.
A prototype of ARTSENS was tested at MediScan Systems,
Chennai on 106 subjects in comparison with ultrasound imagers and demonstrated
measurement accuracy and usability in clinical setting. “With this technology,
both the cost of device and time taken for doing a test comes down and thus the
cost per test can drop down to nearly 100 fold”, says Dr S. Suresh, Director,
MediScan Systems.
A validation study of ARTSENS was conducted at
Thambiran Heart and Vascular Institute, Chennai on 125 subjects. Carotid artery
stiffness measurements by ARTSENS demonstrated excellent correlation with
state-of-art echo tracking ultrasound system, illustrating ability of the
device to accurately measure carotid stiffness.“It can be used as a portable,
effective, quick screening tool for assessing vascular health in population at
large”, says Dr R Ravikumar, Head of Thambiran institute. He added that
population level data of arterial stiffness along with affordable, easy-to-use
devices based on ARTSENS would enable wide spread use of vascular screening for
early detection. writingonblog uncensored: Outdated labour laws affect productivity of the na...
writingonblog uncensored: Outdated labour laws affect productivity of the na...: Chennai: Business chambers, trade unions as well as experts on Monday stressed the need to change the labour laws which they felt is...
Outdated labour laws affect productivity of the nation: experts
Chennai:
Business chambers, trade unions as well as experts on
Monday stressed the need to change the labour laws which they felt is outdated
and does not satisfy any of the stakeholders.
At a discussion after the release of a study on labour
laws, experts felt that rigidities in labour laws affect the quantity and also
the quality of employment and investment in the state.
Labour and employment secretary of the state Mohan Pyare
said that that the labour laws are archaic and needs to be changed. “It is the
right time a initiative has come to change it. Neither the employee, nor the
employer or the government is satisfied with the existing laws,” he said.
He said labour laws should deal with all wages, health
and safety, social security and disputes and settlements.
He also stressed on the need for a uniform social
identification so that the worker, wherever he migrates carries the number with
him and the contributions are made to the account.
V Murali, deputy chief labour commissioner of the Union
government highlighted the rise in employment in informal sector and a decline
in formal sector. He said even the state as well as Union government are now
outsourcing their jobs.
Subodh Kumar, executive programmes, Friedrich Naumann
Stiftung fur die Freiheit, said that 93 per cent of lowly paid jobs in India do
not have any security cover. He said India needs to get rid of obscure laws to
compete globally. He also said that 92 per cent of India’s labour forces are economically
active in the informal sector.
The study, which was done by Prof J Reeves Wesley, also
put forth a series of recommendations including devising a mechanism for
availability of apprentice for atleast six months only for SMEs employing less
than 50.
It also recommended for amendments in the Contract Labour
Regulation and Abolition Act 1970 increasing the number of workers in the
definition of applicability to 50 and for companies employing contract workers
for 365 days. It also stated that Employee State Insurance Act should be
applied for SMEs employing more than 50.
writingonblog uncensored: TN media and entertainment industry to grow by Rs ...
writingonblog uncensored: TN media and entertainment industry to grow by Rs ...: Chennai: The Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry in Tamil Nadu is ranked high among the south Indian states and is expected to g...
TN media and entertainment industry to grow by Rs 1500 crore this financial year, says study
Chennai: The Media
& Entertainment (M&E) industry in Tamil Nadu is ranked high among the
south Indian states and is expected to grow by Rs 1,500 crore this financial
year, according to a Deloitte-FICCI report- ‘Media &
Entertainment in South India - the Digital March’.
The report
which was released on Monday said that Tamil Nadu constitutes over
one-third of the South Indian media and entertainment industry and is expected
to grow at a slightly higher rate than the other states of the region, with all
four media platforms – TV, print, radio and new media -- expected to grow
faster in the state.
Currently,
Tamil Nadu market accounts for Rs 8,420 crore of the Rs 23,300 crore media and
entertainment market in and is estimated to reach 15, 850 crore by 2017. The
South India market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 16pc to reach INR 43,600
crore by 2017.
The survey
states that this growth will be mainly driven by popularity of vernacular
content among the region’s populace and the evolving ecosystem, including
endeavors by media vehicles to expand their presence.
South
India, driven by a high literacy rate and a sizable vernacular readership base
(30% of total readership in India) is one of the strongholds of the Indian
print industry. Amongst the four regional states, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
account for 58 per cent of the total revenue. The report also states that
advertising revenue from vernacular print in the region is estimated to grow at
twice the pace of that of English, largely driven by local advertisers and
increasing focus of national advertiser’s beyond Tier 1 cities. Hence, some of
the English players are now launching vernacular dailies to not only
consolidate their presence in South India but also partake in vernacular
growth, the report adds.
The report also states that in
2013, Tamil and Telugu films together accounted for almost 90pc of the revenue,
with the rest being equally contributed by Kerala and Karnataka. While enabling
regional media players to reach their target audience, the industry continues
to attract national players to explore this growing South market. The market is
dominated by television (56%), followed by print (28%) and films (11%). Sectors
such as New Media and Radio, though smaller than other mediums, are expected to
grow at rates higher than the industry average, given their increasing power of
engagement.
South
India Media and Entertainment market 2013-2017 – State wise split; E: Estimated
Year 2013
2014 (E) 2015 (E) 2016 (E) 2017 (E) CAGR
(2013-17)
Tamil
Nadu 8,420 cr 9,970 11,800
13,810 15,850 17%
A
Pradesh 7,140 cr 8,210 9,620
11,180 12,740 16%
Karnataka 4,340 cr 4,980
5,850 6,780 7,710 15%
Kerala 3,350 cr 3,800 4,380
5,050 5,730 14%
Total 23,300 cr
27,000 31,700 36,800 42,000 16%
Source:
Industry discussions and Deloitte analysis Note: New Media has not been
included in the state level market size calculations
writingonblog uncensored: Smart phones trigger demand for Micro Sims
writingonblog uncensored: Smart phones trigger demand for Micro Sims: Top telecommunication firms struggling to meet the demand C Shivakumar Chennai: The smart phones have triggered a huge demand for mic...
Smart phones trigger demand for Micro Sims
Top telecommunication firms struggling to meet the demand
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
The smart phones have triggered a huge demand for micro sims in the city but many leading telecom players are unable to fulfil the demand leaving the customers high and dry.
Public sector telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has admitted the shortage of micro sims in the city and said they will be procuring it from their telecom factory in Mumbai.
“There has been some delay in availability of micro sims at our centers. We will be getting the supplies by next week,” a BSNL spokeswoman said.
Interestingly, it is not only the non-availability of micro sims but also the rude behavior of customer care officials which is pushing some of the loyal customers of BSNL to private telecom players.
“How are they going to withstand the competition when they can’t be polite to their customers,” one of the customer retorted who has gone to buy a micro sim for her iphone at BSNL’s Anna Salai office.
However, even the private players have been hit by the demand for micro sims. A Airtel spokesman said that they too were facing a shortage of micro sims earlier. “Initially, we also faced a shortage of micro sims due to huge demand for smart phones like I-phone, and many models of Samsung and Nokia. However, this supply and demand gap is now bridged,” he added.
A BSNL spokeswoman said that they had sold around 2,500 micro sims till now and would be procuring more than they had sold earlier due to huge demand for smart phones. However, many telecom firms are refusing to divulge the figures of demand for micro sims.
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
The smart phones have triggered a huge demand for micro sims in the city but many leading telecom players are unable to fulfil the demand leaving the customers high and dry.
Public sector telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has admitted the shortage of micro sims in the city and said they will be procuring it from their telecom factory in Mumbai.
“There has been some delay in availability of micro sims at our centers. We will be getting the supplies by next week,” a BSNL spokeswoman said.
Interestingly, it is not only the non-availability of micro sims but also the rude behavior of customer care officials which is pushing some of the loyal customers of BSNL to private telecom players.
“How are they going to withstand the competition when they can’t be polite to their customers,” one of the customer retorted who has gone to buy a micro sim for her iphone at BSNL’s Anna Salai office.
However, even the private players have been hit by the demand for micro sims. A Airtel spokesman said that they too were facing a shortage of micro sims earlier. “Initially, we also faced a shortage of micro sims due to huge demand for smart phones like I-phone, and many models of Samsung and Nokia. However, this supply and demand gap is now bridged,” he added.
A BSNL spokeswoman said that they had sold around 2,500 micro sims till now and would be procuring more than they had sold earlier due to huge demand for smart phones. However, many telecom firms are refusing to divulge the figures of demand for micro sims.
Monday, October 28, 2013
EID Parry turnover, profit dwindles
Chennai:
EID Parry (India) Limited, one of the largest manufacturers of Sugar in India, reported financial results for the Half Year ended 30th September 2013.
EID Parry (India) Limited, one of the largest manufacturers of Sugar in India, reported financial results for the Half Year ended 30th September 2013.
The standalone turnover of EID Parry for the Quarter was Rs. 453.87 Crore (Corresponding quarter of Previous Year: Rs. 502.66 Crore), with a Net Profit before exceptional item and tax of Rs. 25.25 Crore (Corresponding quarter of Previous Year: Net Profit before exceptional item and tax of Rs. 69.07 Crore). The current year figures include the figures of the merged units of Parrys Sugar Industries Limited, namely Haliyal and Sankili, while the previous year figures do not include the same.
The consolidated turnover for the quarter ended 30th September 2013 was Rs. 2,476.74 Crore (Corresponding quarter of Previous Year: Rs. 3,253.73 Crore) and Profit after Tax before Minority Interest was Rs. 68.21 Crore (Corresponding quarter of Previous Year: Profit of Rs. 182.97 Crore).
Vodafone offers roaming packages for 53 countries
Chennai: Vodafone India, one of India’s leading
telecommunications service providers, launched new and attractive international
roaming packs for both post-paid and pre-paid customers travelling abroad.
Covering 53 countries including popular business and
tourist destinations such as UK, USA, UAE, Thailand and Singapore, these
comprehensive packs offer 95% discount on data and up to 78% discount on
outgoing local and international calls as compared with prevailing rates.
The international roaming packs are available for a
rental of INR 599 and INR 1499 and come with a validity of 10 and 30 days
respectively.
For the list of applicable countries and networks, a
subscriber need to SMS Packcountry to 111. To activate the pack of
their choice, Vodafone subscribers only need to SMS ACTIR1 for the
INR 599 pack and ACTIR2 for the INR 1499 pack. The entire list of
countries where the offer on these packs is valid can be accessed at
www.vodafone.co.in
Announcing the launch of the international roaming packs,
Vivek Mathur, Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone India, said, “At Vodafone, we
are committed to providing our customers
with affordable, seamless and
comprehensive communication solutions. With these new international
roaming packs, we are offering unmatched value, convenience and huge savings to
our customer segment that travels abroad for both leisure and business. No
matter which part of the world they travel to, our customers will continue to
enjoy the same enriching Vodafone experience to remain closely connected with
their loved ones and work back home in India.”
writingonblog uncensored: Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy
writingonblog uncensored: Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy: Chennai: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture between the Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance G...
writingonblog uncensored: Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy
writingonblog uncensored: Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy: Chennai: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture between the Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance G...
writingonblog uncensored: Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy
writingonblog uncensored: Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy: Chennai: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited, a joint venture between the Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance G...
Chola MS launches ‘Chola Swasth Parivar’ policy
Chennai: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited,
a joint venture between the Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group
Japan, has announced the launch of its Chola Swasth Parivar Health Insurance
Policy.
The family floater policy offers a combination of Health and
Personal Accident covers at an affordable premium. The premium for a family of
4(2 Adults +2 Children) works out to Rs. 5005 for a sum insured of Rs. 3 lacs.
The premium does not increase with age (upto 70 years) making it the only
policy in the market to offer such a benefit.
A unique feature of Chola Swasth Parivar Policy is that there
are no sub-limits for 30 days prior and 60 days post hospitalization expenses.
The policy covers 141 day care procedures which require less than 24 hours
hospitalization. The entry age for the policy is upto 65 years with medical
checkup and upto 55 years without medical checkup. It offers Lifetime renewal
and tax exemption under section 80(D) upto Rs.15, 000.
Customers can choose from ‘Pearl’ and ‘Royale’ plan options
for sum insured of up to Rs. 5 lacs. The Pearl Plan offers only Hospitalisation
cover for a family of 4 and has 3 sum insured options. The Royale plan offers
Hospitalisation and PA cover for a family of 4 with similar sum insured
options.
writingonblog uncensored: Tasty iron biscuits for Indian women to take on an...
writingonblog uncensored: Tasty iron biscuits for Indian women to take on an...: Chennai: In a bid to reduce maternal and child anaemia in India, doctors in Bangalore are developing an iron-fortified biscuit for use ...
writingonblog uncensored: Luminous to set up new battery facility in Tamil N...
writingonblog uncensored: Luminous to set up new battery facility in Tamil N...: Chennai: Luminous Power Technologies, one of the leading power backup solutions provider would set up its new Inverter battery facilit...
Luminous to set up new battery facility in Tamil Nadu
Chennai:
Luminous Power Technologies, one of the leading power backup solutions provider would set up its new Inverter battery facility in Tamil Nadu in its endeavour to strengthen its market standing in South India and reaching out to consumers, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, managing director of Luminous Manish Pant said that the state-of the-art manufacturing plant, located at Hosur would be operational by next month.
Luminous Power Technologies, one of the leading power backup solutions provider would set up its new Inverter battery facility in Tamil Nadu in its endeavour to strengthen its market standing in South India and reaching out to consumers, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, managing director of Luminous Manish Pant said that the state-of the-art manufacturing plant, located at Hosur would be operational by next month.
Spread across an area of approximately 2.5 hectares, the
investment would be two-phased in the plant to increase capacity
“We have initially invested Rs 10 crore on the plant and in
the next three years we will be putting in Rs 50 crore,” he said.
This is the eighth plant of Luminous and the first outside
of North India for Luminous. The plant initially will have a capacity of
producing two lakh batteries per annum. “In the next three years the facility
could be expanded to manufacture 10 lakh batteries,” he said.
Pant said that South India, especially Tamil Nadu, has
always been a key market for Luminous Power Technologies and the setting up of
production facility here is a critical step strengthening our presence in the
region.
He estimated that the inverter market in the south is roughly about 20 pere cent of the
national market and is growing at a rate of 20 to 25 per cent.
He said that Luminous aims to increase channel partner
network for electrical offerings as well in the region building on the strong
presence for Home UPS and battery market.
writingonblog uncensored: 50pc of built up area in India to go green by 2025...
writingonblog uncensored: 50pc of built up area in India to go green by 2025...: Chennai: The Green Building Congress has set a target of having 50 per cent of built up environment in India to be green by 2025 after t...
50pc of built up area in India to go green by 2025
Chennai:
The Green Building Congress has set a target of having 50
per cent of built up environment in India to be green by 2025 after the
addition of addendum number one in the National Building Code (NBC).
Chairman of Indian Green Building Council Prem C Jain
said that once the green building component is added to the NBC as addendum
number one before 2015, all the buildings in the country should be certified
green before getting the completion certificate.
He said the revised National Building Code is expected to
be ready in the next six months and is likely to take a year to be implemented
The Code will be called “Approach to Sustainability’.
He said that IGBC expects that by 2025, 40 billion square
feet built up space in the country would be green.
Interestingly, Jain says IGBC has entered into an memorandum
with National Housing Bank to finance the green projects at a reduced rate of
interest. “Already State Bank of India has this component of reduced rate of
interests for the green homes,” he said.
“We are also trying to rope in Housing development Finance
Corporation, Life Insurance corporation and ICICI to provide one per cent
reduction in rate of interest for housing loans,” he said.
Currently, India has 1.65 billion square feet built up
green space of the 30 billion built up square feet from the ancient times till
now.
He said another 80 billion built up space will be added
by 2030 of which he expects 50 per cent to be green building.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Chennai Metro Water gets additional machineries to...
writingonblog uncensored: Chennai Metro Water gets additional machineries to...: Chennai: In a bid to enhance the maintenance of sewage system during the monsoon in the city, Municipal Administration minister K P Mu...
Chennai Metro Water gets additional machineries to prepare for monsoon
Chennai:
In a bid to enhance the maintenance of sewage system during
the monsoon in the city, Municipal
Administration minister K P Munnusamy flagged off seven
jetting cum suction machine worth Rs 2.72 crore and six jet rodding machines
worth Rs 2.17 crore on Tuesday.
These
machines would come handy in maintenance of the sewer systems during the
monsoon in Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar, Ambattur, Anna nagar,
Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam and Adyar area.
This also
comes in the wake of Chief minister issuing order for purchasing 35 jet rodding
machines, 50 desilting machines at a cost of rs 9.90 crore besides purchase of 20
jetting cum cuction machines, 66 desilting machinmes, 30 super sucker machines
at a cost of Rs 15.20 crore.
Metro water
officials said that 15 desilting machines worth 2.54 crore, 27 jet rodding
machines worth rs 9.6 crore and eight jetting cum suction machine worth rs 3.02
crore have that have been purchased
recently have been put into use.
Currently,
Metro water has 98 jet rodding machines, 19 jetting cum suction machines, three
super sucker machines and 161 desilting machines.
Officials
feel these machines would help in preparing to maintain the sewage network of
the city besides ending manual scavenging.
writingonblog uncensored: Rainstorms bring reservoirs to life
writingonblog uncensored: Rainstorms bring reservoirs to life: C Shivakumar Chennai: The city’s water woes are likely to end soon if the rain gods continue to smile even as the reservoirs supply...
Rainstorms bring reservoirs to life
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
The city’s water woes
are likely to end soon if the rain gods continue to smile even as the
reservoirs supplying water to the city are bubbling with life receiving 241
million cubic feet of water during the last two days of heavy rains, according
to a Metro Water official.
The last two days of
rains have brought much cheer to the city’s water distribution system which was
struggling to meet the demands, said the official heaving a sigh of relief.
But then it all
depends on the how good the monsoon would be, he said. On Sunday, the
reservoirs received 126 million cubic feet of water and on Monday, an
additional flow of 115 million cubic of water was received,” said a senior
Metro Water official.
Interestingly, this is
the first time the parched reservoirs have been getting water. “The water
situation was well below 2tmcft. Now the reservoirs have water levels more than
2 tmcft,” he said.
Metro Water officials
are also working to ensure that the city gets quality drinking water. “We have
increased the daily sampling of residual chlorine. Besides the 2,500 daily
sampling of the water in different localities, we are also undertaking joint
sampling with Chennai Corporation on Tuesdays and Fridays,” he said.
Interestingly, Metro
Water will also be holding joint meeting Corporation health officials at zonal
levels to ensure quality water supply, he said.
Metro water has
removed chronic obstruction and has carried out desilting along 65 km long
sewage pipeline besides replacement of 20 km of pipeline which results in
contamination the water. “The work is nearly over,” he said.
He also said that
provisions are being made to have power supply 24 hours in the sewage pumping
station. “We have installed and hired generators for all the sewing stations,”
he said.
He said of 218 sewage pumping stations, Metro Water has
161 generators and it has hired additional 57 generators as a precautionary
measure as the flow in the sewage would increase during the rains.
The water supply to the city
improved recently following the city getting water from Veeranam lake and
Krishna water being released from Kandaleru Dam in Andhra Pradesh
Poondi 3231 mcft 225 mcft
Cholavaram 881 mcft
Red Hills 3300 mcft 1190 mcft
Chembarambakkam 3645 mcft 749 mcft
Veeranam 1465mcft 956.70mcft
Total 12522
mcft 3189
mcft
writingonblog uncensored: Homeless now have a roof during monsoon thanks to ...
writingonblog uncensored: Homeless now have a roof during monsoon thanks to ...: C Shivakumar Chennai: Homeless in Chennai could be rest assured to have a roof above their head during the monsoon under The Shelt...
Homeless now have a roof during monsoon thanks to Chennai Corporation initiative
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
Homeless in Chennai could be rest assured to have a roof
above their head during the monsoon under The Shelter for Homeless Initiative
by Chennai Corporation and the civil society.
The 21 homeless shelters, which sprang up in and around the
city after the intervention of Supreme Court, are much in demand during the
monsoon and civil society feels the Chennai Corporation should expand it
further to 100 within a time frame to cater to the homeless population.
As the monsoon has set in there are more homeless people who
are availing this facility in and around the city. “On Monday we had identified
20 homeless people and provided them with shelter managed by SIGA near Beach
railway Station,” said city level coordinator for Chennai Corporation Clement
David.
Interestingly, this initiative was started two years ago
with only 15 shelters but there were several gaps in implementation, said
Clement.
The shelters got a new lease of life in June this year with
effective implementation under the Shelter for Homeless Initiative by Chennai
Corporation after signing a memorandum of understanding with 21 civil society
organisations, says Clement.
Interestingly, these shelters are exclusively for the
homeless and volunteers keep track of them. “It should not be a drive to
forcefully clear off the homeless from the street. It has dignity component. It
should not be forceful and should not have confinement component,” says
independent policy researcher Vanessa, who has been active in demanding shelter
for homeless during the last nine years.
Currently, the shelters have been classified into seven
groups catering to different sections. Care and protection or residential
school for children, shelter for persons with psycho social disabilities,
single women shelter, single men shelter, family shelters and elderly shelters.
“The Chennai Corporation still don’t have a recovery shelter for pallative care
and communicable diseases,” rues Vanessa.
The residential school (as per the guidelines of Supreme
court children should not be confined in shelters but they rather should be in
residential schools) in the city have also been a glimmer of hope for
vulnerable children in street who are left unprotected. The Amanmayyam Rainbow
Home is a cosy nest for the 37 children whose parents have left them in safe
hands. “We have already got 10 children during the monsoon,” says Kruthika of
Vanavil Illangalin Kootamaippu. Run by Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan and infrastructure
provided by Chennai Corporation, this home for shelterless children have helped
nurture their dreams for the future.
“I want to be a doctor,” says Sivaranjini, a class IV
student while her sister Venilla, who aspires to be an engineer looks on.
“Their mother who lives near the Chennai Central station has handed them over
to us as she could not take care of them and is concerned for their safety
during the monsoon,” says Anju, the home manager.
“The biggest challenge the civil society faces is that they
have to win the confidence of the homeless community so that the children and
adults could be rehabilitated,” says Vanessa, adding that it doesn’t happen
overnight.
Interestingly, Chennai Corporation is currently renovation
seven shelters besides finalizing two more to the list of 21 shelters. “We are
providing them with identity cards besides working towards getting them old age
pension and widow pension,” says Palaniandi, coordinator for Shelter for Urban
Homeless run by Surabhi Trust in Kellys that was opened few months ago. “We
have 37 homeless people besides four families and they come from Pattalam,
Otteri, Doveton, Kilpauk Garden and various other places,” says Palaniandi.Tuesday, October 22, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: HP launches new computing products
writingonblog uncensored: HP launches new computing products: Chennai: Hewlett Packard India on Tuesday launched new computing products including a hybrid device that can be used as a notebook...
HP launches new computing products
Chennai:
Hewlett
Packard India on Tuesday launched new computing products including a hybrid
device that can be used as a notebook
as well as a tablet.
The
devices that were launched include HP Pavilion x2 hybrid PC in consumer segment
and HP Elitebook Revolve 810, Probook 430 and Elite 800 series notebooks in
commercial segment.
Addressing
a press conference here, Sunish Raghavan, country category head – personal
systems (commercial) printing and personal systems, said that the products are
priced in the range of Rs 27,000 to Rs 80,000.
HP
Pavilion x2 is a hybrid device that can be used as a notebook as well as
tablet. It also offers Windows 8.1 operating system and the hybrid device is
available with 64GB and 128 GB of storage.
writingonblog uncensored: CHOLA MS launches CHOLA PROTECT - TRUCK
writingonblog uncensored: CHOLA MS launches CHOLA PROTECT - TRUCK: Chennai: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited (Chola MS), a joint venture between the INR 225 billion Murugappa Group a...
CHOLA MS launches CHOLA PROTECT - TRUCK
Chennai:
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited (Chola MS), a joint
venture between the INR 225 billion Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo
Insurance of Japan, has announced the launch of Chola Protect for Trucks with
11 add-on covers that offers total protection
for the trucks and complete peace of mind for the truck owners.
This is the first value added insurance product for truck
owners in the country. The company also launched India’s first ‘Emergency
Road-Side Service’ for trucks.
The new package product with wide range of add-on covers
offers complete protection with unique features like 100pc depreciation waiver,
reinstatement value in case of total loss, monetary compensation for loss of
key, driving license, registration certificate, permit, payment for road tax,
registration and insurance cost. All these features ensure maximum benefit to
the customers.
Speaking on the
occasion, Gopalarathnam, Managing Director, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance
Company Limited, said, “The customer wants an all encompassing, transparent
policy with an affordable premium that gives him a worry-free driving
experience.
He added, “Keeping this in mind, Chola has developed the
product with keen focus on customer needs. It is India’s first packaged
complete protection policy for trucks that offers maximum coverage and service
to the customer. Some of the covers like Reinstatement Value Basis (RVB) cover
with inbuilt depreciation benefit, payment for consumables, Franchise discount,
No claim bonus discount protection and
penalty coverages are unique to the Indian General Insurance market. This
product is a radical attempt to redefine the Motor Insurance industry.”
The company also launched India’s first ‘Emergency Road-Side
Services’ for trucks in tie-up with Mapfre Asistencia. CARE 24X7 (Chola
Assistance for Roadside Emergencies) offer a bouquet of assistance services
like towing of vehicle from the accident site, battery jumpstart, gear lever
setting, brake and clutch settings minor electrical work and many more.
Chola MS customers can call the 24X7 call centre using the
toll free numbers 1800-1035354/ 1800-2095354 to avail CARE service across all
National Highways in the country.
Chola Protect - Trucks will be available at an affordable
premium through 6000 agents, new and
used vehicle dealers and also through the direct sales force of Chola MS spread
through 92 branches across the country.
writingonblog uncensored: British Airways to fly six days a week from Chenna...
writingonblog uncensored: British Airways to fly six days a week from Chenna...: Chennai: British Airways will now be flying six days a week from Chennai starting this Sunday, according to Christopher Fordyc...
British Airways to fly six days a week from Chennai
Chennai:
British Airways will now be flying six days a week from
Chennai starting this Sunday, according to Christopher Fordyce, regional
commercial manager, British Airways, South Asia.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Fordyce
said that the sixth direct service is launched in Chennai as the city is
critical part of British Airways strategy in South Asia.
Interestingly, this comes in the wake of British Airways
marking 25 years of legacy, innovation and flying to Chennai.
Refusing to release the figures, Fordyce said that the
city has a lot of growth potential with the expansion of corporate and lort of
small and medium enterprise traffic. “Being a commercial and cultural hub of
south India, We have nearly double digit growth on London-Chennai sector,” he
said.
Interestingly, this also comes in the wake of Britain
planning to expand its footprint in Tamil Nadu.
To a query on whether this is due to Britain planning to
have additional office in Tamil Nadu, Fordye said that it will does have an
indirect impact on the decision to additional flights from Chennai. He also
said plans are also on to have a daily flight from London-Chennai sector.
He also said that this winter, British Airways would be
operating daily flights from Hyderabad. Currently, British Airways operates six
days a week from Hyderabad.
He also announced that British Airways would shifting its
operations in Chennai, from Anna International Terminal, Chennai Airport to the
New International Terminal, Chennai from Tuesday. “The first departure on
Tuesday would be from the new terminal,” he said.
Box:
AirAsia shifts operations to New International Terminal
CHENNAI: AirAsia will shift its operations in Chennai,
from Anna International Terminal, Chennai Airport to the New International
Terminal, Chennai (NITC) from Tuesday.
From the effective date onwards, flight departure from
Chennai will be based and operated at the NITC. Arrivals will be at the old
terminal.
Monday, October 21, 2013
writingonblog uncensored: Chennai ranked second among top 21 buiness destina...
writingonblog uncensored: Chennai ranked second among top 21 buiness destina...: Chennai: Chennai is ranked second among the top 21 business destinations in the country, according to a recent ranking unveiled by Glo...
Chennai ranked second among top 21 buiness destinations
Chennai:
Chennai is ranked second among the top 21 business
destinations in the country, according to a recent ranking unveiled by Global
Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM), and a not for profit industry body, DTZ, one of the
global leaders in property services.
The report, which scored the cities across various
economic, environmental and cultural parameters, ranked Chennai among the top
five locations considered to be the best options for businesses to invest with
two major ports – Chennai Port and Ennore port contributing greatly to its
economy and around 30 per cent of India's automobile industry and 40 per cent
of auto components industry based in the city.
Interestingly, Bangalore is ranked above Chennai as it displays
high potential to attract talent, offers favorable weather conditions, good
availability of office space suiting different income groups, efficient water management
systems, a high-quality education system and a welcoming, multifarious city culture,
the report said.
As per the report, the city has outscored Mumbai, the
financial capital of India, as the
city is a major industrial, cultural, commercial, economic and educational hub
in South India.
It has a diversified
economic base anchored by the automobile, software services, textile, medical
tourism, hardware manufacturing, petro-chemicals, aerospace and financial
services. The city has a fully computerized stock exchange, the Madras Stock
Exchange. It is also known as “Detroit of India” due to the huge automobile
industry base here. With Chennai having the fourth largest Gross
Metropolitan Product in India, it has a very good and diversified
talent pool available. All these factors make it a hot-spot destination for
business investments, the report said.
The ranking has been developed in association with
leading real estate consultancy DTZ. It rates the cities based on factors such
as human capital, energy, water, transport, housing, healthcare, climate, office
space availability and city culture, amongst others. These constitute the basic
eco-socio-economic factors critical in determining the growth of the city.
Box:
|
Rank
|
Score
|
City
|
|
1
|
129.56
|
Bangalore
|
|
2
|
127.84
|
Chennai
|
|
3
|
123.64
|
Mumbai
|
|
4
|
122.64
|
Pune
|
|
5
|
121.04
|
Indore
|
|
6
|
119.84
|
Bhubaneshwar
|
|
7
|
119.84
|
Coimbatore
|
|
8
|
119.44
|
Ahmedabad
|
|
9
|
119.36
|
Nagpur
|
|
10
|
117.92
|
Kochi
|
|
11
|
117.28
|
Chandigarh
|
|
12
|
116
|
Hyderabad
|
|
13
|
115.84
|
Mangalore
|
|
14
|
115.12
|
Vadodara
|
|
15
|
114.8
|
Jaipur
|
|
16
|
114.48
|
Calicut
|
|
17
|
114.4
|
Noida
|
|
18
|
114.24
|
Kolkata
|
|
19
|
114.08
|
Gurgaon
|
|
20
|
111.68
|
Navi Mumbai
|
21 111.68 Visakhapatnam
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