Category Archives: Business & Economy

MIA pushes for exports centre in Mysore

Business & Economy

Mysore :

The Mysore Industries Association on Monday sought the intervention of Congress MLA Vasu to get requisite funds to set up an exports centre in Mysore, which, it said, will boost investment prospects in the area.

The association asked the Chamaraja MLA to get funds allocated in the budget and also extend Rs 20 lakh from MLA local area development funds so that the project is implemented without any delay.

Members of the association, who are rooting for the creation of the centre since five years, said the Visvesvaraya Inustrial Trade Centre (VITC), a unit under the department of industries and commerce, is planning to set up the centre at the District Industries Centre (DIC) though a plot in Hebbal industrial area is reserved for the proposed project.

The association drew the attention of Vasu during an export promotion and awareness programme on export credit  insurance in India jointly hosted by the VTPC, DIC in association with Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association and Mysore Industries Association.

Vasu said he will approach chief minister Siddaramaiah on the issue but also stated to the stakeholders in industrial development that there are other priorities. The association pointed out that Mysore region has potential for industrial growth given the availability of land and water, the two basic components for industrial development. They said Mysore region has 25,000 micro and small industries and some 100 medium and major industries arguing the case for setting up of the export centre. In their representation, they said the project promoted by the MIA was announced in the 2010-11 budget, which was followed up with sanctioning of Rs 30 lakh during last fiscal. The funds were released by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) through VTPC. The project is estimated to cost Rs 6 crore and MIA is proposing to fund Rs 1 crore for the project and seeking assistance from the state pointing out that the Centre will extend financial assistance too.

During the meeting, industry leaders threw light on exporting and the requirements for export to businessmen from small and medium enterprises. Export is one area in which the small scale industries has made rapid strides in Karnataka, B P Shashidhar, president, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) said. The growth rate of exports from small scale industries from Karnataka is significant, he said.

Karnataka’s contribution to the export of electronics, IT, textiles and garments, silk , processed foods and handicrafts has been quite impressive, he said, adding the state’s export policy has helped in this.

Shashidhar underlined the importance of entrepreneurs asking them to update their knowledge, which, he pointed, can be achieved by visiting trade fairs. Participation in domestic and international exhibition every year will be a rewarding exposure. It will widen the entrepreneurs contact network, he added.

VITC deputy director Shariff spoke about the basic requirements for exports.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mysore / TNN / July 02nd, 2013

Builder of Billion Dollar IT Giant, Azim Premji Turns 68!

Business & Economy, Leaders, Science & Technology

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# Became the Bellwether At 21

Premji completed his schooling from St Mary’s School in Mumbai, and later to pursue his graduation he went to the world renounced Stanford University, USA. Unfortunately he had to drop his studies because of the untimely demise of his father, M.H.Premji, the then owner of Wipro and so, Premji had to take over of the chairmanship.
# Tagged among the World’s Most Powerful CEOs
Premji is a person of clear vision with the ability to create a brand name through sheer integrity and innovation. Infact, he is the voted as the most powerful CEOs in 2013.
It wasn’t an easy task for Premji to guide his company for four decades which has now become one of the most successful companies in the world. In the year 2000, he was voted as 20 most powerful personalities in the world by “Asiaweek”.
Forbes recognized Premji as 100 most influential people in the world in 2000. For many years now, he was voted as one of the richest people in India and in the year 1995, he was honored with Padma Bhushan in 2009 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011.

source: http://www.siliconindia.com / Silicon India / Home> News> Business / Tuesday – July 23rd, 2013

Hop off Metro, board your flight

Business & Economy, Travel

Bangalore :

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) might still be stuck with the pre-feasibility study on extending the Metro till Bengaluru International Airport (BIA). But the BIA has already chalked out an elaborate plan to welcome the Metro right at its front door.

The BIA will accommodate the upcoming ‘High Speed Metro Connectivity’ near the terminal, as part of its Phase II expansion plan. The BIA authority, in its Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for Phase II submitted to the state government recently, said the Metro line would enter the airport from the west and run in the vicinity of the main access roadway.

The EIA will be followed with a public hearing, after which it will get final approval.

The current plan for the Metro station assumes that underground walkways will connect the station to Terminal 1, and one underground station will be located within the terminal area and serve both the existing and upcoming terminals, the report said.

A senior BIA official said Metro connectivity till the heart of the terminal means passengers from the city can just hop off the Metro and board their flight after going through the security checks. “A state-of-the-art baggage tunnel (from Metro station to terminal) will assist passengers in easy boarding,” he added.

Roads to the airport

A copy of the EIA report, available with TOI, says there are plans to improve road connectivity to BIA.

* Currently, NH-7 (Bellary Road) is the single major arterial road providing access to BIA-bound traffic

* Envisages two more access roads – a six-lane divided road from the Southwest and another from SH-104 on the East

* The new roads will cater to eastern section of BIA, comprising cargo, MRO and proposed commercial development

Not just an airport

Phase II expansion comes with a number of non-aeronautical development activities spread over 1,011 acres. It will include amenities like hospitality, entertainment, healthcare, business park, institutional, recreation and commercial facilities, convention centre etc. The proposed non-aeronautical development will support and complement aviation operations.

New-look terminal 1 by October

In 2010, BIAL started augmentation of the existing infrastructure to enhance passenger handling capacity from the existing 11.4 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) to 17.2 MPPA.

A BIAL spokesperson said Terminal 1 (T1) would be open to passengers in a phased manner from October. The highlight of the expansion would be Airport Operational Control Centre, which acts as a nerve centre in monitoring airport activities on a real-time wall monitor. T1 expansion comes with additional check-in counters for passengers, seating capacity and other amenities on a floor area almost double the existing one.

Bigger, better BIA

* After expansion, BIA will cater to 55 million passengers per annum and about 1 million tonne of cargo by 2029-2030

* A new south parallel runway — 4,000m long and 60m wide — will support Code F aircraft and be CAT IIIB compliant to operate in low-visibility conditions

* Terminal 2 to accommodate domestic and international network airlines with a space of 3,65,500 sqm dedicated to passenger facilities.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore> Metro Station / by Rohith B R , TNN / July 31st, 2013

Wipro proposes setting up of telecom equipment centre

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

New Delhi :

IT major Wipro  has proposed to set up telecom equipment and product security test and certification centre, making it operational by October 1.

It has proposed to the Department of Telecom that it will set up the centre in phase manner, segregating the products to be tested in two clusters.

(IT major Wipro has proposed…)
(IT major Wipro has proposed…)

The IT company has classified telecom products in three categories — High, medium and low asset value, based on the security implication that they can have on network.

“Wipro has recommended phased approach for security testing and certification of Information and Communications Technology products. In phase 1, starting October 1, 2013, Wipro has recommended testing 12 of 25 asset classes that have critical value,” a DoT official said.

The company has identified mobile devices, sim cards, network management systems, back-end infrastructure like MPLS, Internet telephony system and billing system among those products that have high risk on the network.

“Wipro would like to be cluster leader for cluster 1, which includes testing and certification of product that can high security risk on network. Wipro is confident that we will be able to get the lab operational for phase 1 by October 1, 2013,” the official said.

Wipro did not make available any comments on the issue.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com /  The Times of India / Home> Tech> Enterprise IT / by PTI / July 31st, 2013

Mohandas Pai backed Tandem Capital announces $100 Mn fund, includes three startup in its latest batch

Business & Economy, Leaders

Silicon Valley based mobile accelerator Tandem Capital has announced its latest fund named Tandem Habit fund III with its batch of startups including, AcceptPay, PacketZoom and Shoptimize. As per an SED filing  – it’s a $100 million fund and headed by Rohit Bhagat.

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This is the third round of fund launched by the accelerator which invests $200,000 in each startup with 6 months on-site collaboration. Earlier it had raised two rounds of funds including $32 million in its previous round.

Most of Tandem Capital’s investments are usually in the form of convertible notes for 10% equity. The accelerator is led by Sunil Bhargava, Rohit Bhagat and John R Ellis.  Launched by Doug Renert and Sunil Bhargava in 2007, Tandem invests in six companies in one batch. Bhargava has over 20 years in technology and marketing in companies such as Xerox Parc, HP and Webvan. Doug Renert has worked with Oracle, DLA and Tello.

So far Tandem Capital has more than a dozen startups in its portfolio including Appthegame, Bash Gaming, SiftShopping and Pune based Shoptimize, a mobile commerce platform targeted for traditional merchants in US and emerging markets.

Former Infosys director T V Mohandas Pai and Ranjan Pai are investors in the fund through Aarin Capital, a PE fund set up by the duo. Earlier, the Pais invested $35mn in 4 startups from their $100 million fund launched in August 2011.

source: http://www.yourstory.in / Your Story / Home> Funding Launch News / Team YS / July 31st, 2013

Mangalore: Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy seeks to purchase books, CDs

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education

Mangalore :

In order to support writers, authors, musicians, and CD composers, the Karnataka Konkani Sahithya Academy has organized bulk purchasing of CDs and books. Books and CDs worth Rs 2,000 will be purchased from Konkani writers, authors, musicians, and CD composers.

Book should have been published between January 1 2013 to December 31 2013. The published books can be on poetry, short story, fiction, or research. The CDs and books will be sold at 20 percent discount; bill will be given for Rs 2,000, hence, books and CDs of Rs 2,000 should be given to the Academy. Only the books and CDs of 2013 will be purchased. Year of CD and date of release should be particularly mentioned, especially for CDs.  Reprinted CDs and books are not eligible.

Those who wish to send their CDs and books can address it to:

Registrar, Karnataka Konkani Sahithya Academy, Mangalore City Corporation building, Lalbagh, Mangalore 575003. For more information: 0824-2453167

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (DV) / Saturday, August 03rd, 2013

Honda Motorcycle starts production at Karnataka plan

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

The company today rolled out the first batch of Activa scooters from its Narasapura plant, which has an installed capacity of 1.2 million units per annum

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter  India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) today rolled out first batch of its largest selling automatic scooter, Activa, from its third plant at Narsapura, near Bangalore. With this ramp up, Honda has started production in the second line at the third plant.

Earlier in June the Narasapura plant started production of Honda’s 110cc mass motorcycle Dream Yuga at the first line. In Phase 1, the third plant has 1.2 million units per annum production capacity, the company said in a statement.

Aiming at a market leadership, an additional increase of 6,00,000 units will be added in the plant, which will take its annual capacity of third plant to 1.8 million units by end of this fiscal.

With this, Honda will increase its cumulative annual production capacity by 64% in just one fiscal from 2.8 million units in FY ’13 to 4.6 million units in FY ’14.

Keita Muramatsu, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “With Activa’s proven legacy of reliability and advanced features we have succeeded in selling 8 million units of Activa till date. It’s a happy moment for us as our new plant in Karnataka has begun rolling out our most popular selling scooter Activa from the 2nd line.”

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by Mahesh R. Kulkarni / Bangalore – July 25th, 2013

Four-day Mysore Silk Saree expo begins

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Hubli :

The Karnataka Silk Industries Development Corporation (KSIC) has organized a four-day Mysore Silk sarees expo in Dharwad on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla inaugurated the expo on Thursday.

The KSIC has showcased elegant designer collection of kasuti embroidery sarees, plain and printed sarees, silk tops, shirts, ties, dress materials and many more and more than 2,000 sarees on display in the exhibition.

KSIC Manager Philomin Raj speaking on the occasion, said that, Mysore silks have been catering to discerning buyers or an individual who has fine taste for pure silk. Now, to enhance the design of the silk sarees, the KSIC has combined the Mysore silks with Dharwad Kasuthi (embroidery).

The prices of sarees range between Rs 12,000 up to whopping Rs 49,000. The KSIC has introduced water resistant sarees and though the gold  and silver prices have shot up, no price revision has been made. Last fiscal the KSIC has recorded a turnover of Rs 105 crore and this year it aims to reach Rs 128 crore, he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Business> India Business / by Basavaraj F. Kittamani, TNN / July 25th, 2013

Second to one: Bangalore is 2nd most affluent city in India

Business & Economy, Records, All

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Galloping at a frenetic pace for a while now, Bangalore — which has come a long way since its pensioner’s paradise days — will continue to do so in the next decade as well, says a new survey by Nielsen. The survey says that Bangalore will be one of the fastest growing cities in the world in the next decade.

And here is another striking development: In a survey of urban, rich and middle-class Indians, Bangalore has been ranked the second most affluent city in the country after New Delhi.

“The IT industry has transformed the city. The industry has given high purchasing power to individuals and today Bangalore is the third largest hub for high net-worth individuals,” says Harish Bijoor, CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults.

The city is also home to about 60,000 super-rich people, who have an investable surplus of Rs4.5 crore. Not surprisingly, various sectors and industries are scampering to cater to the needs of the affluent class.

For instance, builders in the city are increasingly coming up with projects that cater to the super-rich.

According to A Harikesh, senior vice-president, marketing & sales, Tata Housing, Bangaloreans are exposed to international lifestyle and hence they expect nothing short of the best. “They are ready to pay for such a lifestyle. This is the basic reason why builders in the city are coming up with projects that target the affluent class,” he says. Tata Housing is coming up with Promont, a luxury gated community, at Banashankari.

Also, the high concentration of IT crowd translates into high purchasing power for people.

“The per-capita income of IT people in India is much higher when compared to other sectors. Hence, in Bangalore, the odds are in favour of one landing in jobs which give social security and recognition,” says Bino Paul, professor, chairperson at Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

But Bangalore’s crumbling infrastructure needs to be fixed, says Bijoor.
“Builders, who are coming up with high-end, luxury gated community, should take it upon themselves to improve areas within a two kilometre radius of their projects. This will solve half of Bangalore’s problems,” says Bijoor.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Bangalore> Report / Place:Bangalore, Agency:DNA /  by DNA Correspondent / Wednesday – July 24th, 2013

Bangalore: St Joseph’s graduates get tips for success from entrepreneur

Business & Economy, Education, Leaders

Bangalore:

A successful entrepreneur and mentor Claudius Pereira, founder and Managing Director of System Tech Pvt Ltd, provided valuable tips to the new post-graduate diploma holders  in business management of the St Joseph’s College of Business Management to strive for success by starting from their strengths as that alone would pave the way for overcoming any weakness and realize their ultimate dreams.

He was delivering the 16th Convocation Address of SJCBA, after the Chairman of the Governing Council and Rector of St Joseph’s Institutions in Bangalore Rev Dr Stany D’Souza presented the post-graduate diploma certificates to 110 of the 120 students – the other 10 being conferred the diplomas in absentia at a solemn and glittering function.

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Claudius Pereira, the author of the book on his family saga,”Echoes of Footprints,” that created history with book launches in the three countries of India at Bangalore, UK and USA, advised the students to dream big because all great careers generally start with big and great dreams, which need to be pursued with passion, determination, dedication, decisiveness and right aptitude.

”Success does not come to you by itself. You need to go and work for it,” Pereira said pointing out that he was speaking from experience as he himself had come up from utter poverty to achieve success and prosperity which also included failure.

Pereira, who claimed that he had started with a measly monthly salary of Rs 300 to establish three successful companies and tasted failure, said the Josephites should never be discouraged or disheartened by failures because failures provided valuable lessons to learn from the mistakes and strive for success.

”Don’t ever give up in the face of adversity or setbacks because failures are and should be the stepping stones for future successes,” he said asserting that, ”there is no gain without pain.”

In his presidential address, Rev Dr Stany D’Souza emphasized the importance of education in the transformation of self and the world by teaching new things and also in learning them so as to help in the formation of individuals and future citizens.

”Life is about growing and picking good habits as transformation cannot be achieved without changes in ideas, attitudes, beliefs and priorities,” Fr Stany D’Souza said stressing the need for not allowing negative attitudes to dominate the hearts and minds for the development of healthy society.

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The overall gold medal for first rank was given to Amitha M R, silver medal to Sahana B S and bronze medal to Rahul Laxman. The gold and silver medal winners in management were Amitha M R and Anita K B, financial marketing Sharon Flavia Misquith and Deepak Hegde, human resource management Shana B S and Rahul Lakshman and operations management Amitha M R and Joselyn Pereira .

The 16th Convocation function got off with recitation of the readings from three Holy Scriptures – Bible, Quran and Bhagawad Gita – by students. Prof Edwin Castelino, Dean, presented the annual report for the year 2012-13. Prof Vandana Nair compered the entire programme. Prof Venkatesh Raj proposed a vote of thanks.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Home> Top Stories / by Daijiworld Special Correspondent / Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore / July 21st, 2013