Sanjay Gupta, Director (Commercial), EIL took over the charge as Chairman and Managing Di- rector, Engi- neers India Lim- ited (EIL). Satish Kumar Kalra, ED, has been entrusted with an additional charge of MD and CEO of Andhra Bank for a period of three months. Arun Shriva- stava has taken over as Manag- ing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Syndicate Bank. Public Sector Rajnish Kumar has been appointed as the managing direc- tor - compliance and risk depart- ment in the State Bank of India. He is the fourth MD in the SBI. Piyush Tiwari, DGM, RINL, has as- sumed the charge as Di- rector (Com- mercial & Mar- keting), (ITDC). G.Mohan Ku- mar, IAS ap- pointed as a Sec., Defence. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre. Binod Kumar Singh appointed as OSD toHome Minister at Di- rector level. He is a 1994 batch IPS of UP cadre. Tejinder Luthra has joined as JD, PM Security . He is a 1990 batch UT cadre IPS officer. Bureaucracy Dr Sanjiv Tyagi (IFS), Director, (GEMI), Gandhi- nagar conferred upon the fellow- ship of the UK- based RSC. M.J. Joseph appointed as the Controller General of Ac- counts (CGA) in the Ministry of Finance. Divine Doshi Shree Bhanwar Lal Doshi , a well known business man of chemical & plastic industry, has left his empire of worth Rs.3000 crores to became a jain monk.Shree Doshi believes in simple life and that’s the reason he has accept the Diksha. Best Boss Big show at China, Tiens Group CEO, Li Jinyuan sends 6,400 em- ployees on $14.5 million holiday to France. Booked 84 planes, 4,760 rooms in 79 luxury hotels in Cannes & Monaco and hired 147 buses for transportation. Big Beginning ArcelorMittal Chairman & CEO Lakshmi Mittal and SAIL signed a memorandum of understanding to set up an automotive steel manu- facturing facility under a joint ven- ture arrangement in India.That’s a great beginning….! First Lady Professor Louise Richardson to be the next vice-chancellor of Ox- ford University.She will be the first female vice-chancellor since it was founded in 1230. She will take over the role from Professor Andrew Hamilton next year. Rare Record Agastya Jaiswal, Hyderabad who is named as Google Boy for his memory and talent has passed x class with 7.5 grade in the board exams at an age of just nine years.It’s a record in entire Telangana State. Billionaire loses $15 billion in half an hour - that’s $500 million a minute. Ouch. Believe it or not ! A mysterious collapse in share price of a high-flying solar panel firm may have resulted in a new record in personal wealth loss. Li Hejun, chairman of Hanergy, a Chinese producer of thin- film solar-power components, saw his fortune drop by as much as $15 billion within half an hour as his firm’s stock fell by nearly half. Before the steep decline in fortune, Li was China’s richest man.
Transcript
S a n j a yGupta, Director(Commercial),EIL took overthe charge asChairman andManaging Di-rector, Engi-neers India Lim-ited (EIL).
S a t i s hKumar Kalra,ED, has beenentrusted withan additionalcharge of MDand CEO ofAndhra Bank fora period of threemonths.
Arun Shriva-stava has takenover as Manag-ing Director andChief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) ofS y n d i c a t eBank.
Public Sector
R a j n i s hKumar has beenappointed as themanaging direc-tor - complianceand risk depart-ment in the StateBank of India. Heis the fourth MDin the SBI.
P i y u s hTiwari, DGM,RINL, has as-sumed thecharge as Di-rector (Com-mercial & Mar-keting), (ITDC).
G.Mohan Ku-mar, IAS ap-pointed as aSec., Defence.He is a 1979batch IAS officerof Odisha cadre.
Binod KumarSingh appointedas OSD toHomeMinister at Di-rector level. Heis a 1994 batchIPS of UP cadre.
Te j i n d e rLuthra hasjoined as JD,PM Security . Heis a 1990 batchUT cadre IPSofficer.
Bureaucracy
Dr Sanjiv Tyagi(IFS), Director,(GEMI), Gandhi-nagar conferredupon the fellow-ship of the UK-based RSC.
M.J. Josephappointed asthe ControllerGeneral of Ac-counts (CGA) inthe Ministry ofFinance.
Divine DoshiShree Bhanwar Lal Doshi , a well
known business man of chemical &plastic industry, has left his empireof worth Rs.3000 crores to becamea jain monk.Shree Doshi believes insimple life and that’s the reasonhe has accept the Diksha.
Best Boss Big show at China, Tiens Group
CEO, Li Jinyuan sends 6,400 em-ployees on $14.5 million holiday toFrance. Booked 84 planes, 4,760rooms in 79 luxury hotels in Cannes& Monaco and hired 147 buses fortransportation.
Big BeginningArcelorMittal Chairman & CEO
Lakshmi Mittal and SAIL signed amemorandum of understanding toset up an automotive steel manu-facturing facility under a joint ven-ture arrangement in India.That’s agreat beginning….!
First LadyProfessor Louise Richardson to
be the next vice-chancellor of Ox-ford University.She will be the firstfemale vice-chancellor since it wasfounded in 1230. She will take overthe role from Professor AndrewHamilton next year.
Rare RecordAgastya Jaiswal, Hyderabad
who is named as Google Boy forhis memory and talent has passedx class with 7.5 grade in the boardexams at an age of just nineyears.It’s a record in entireTelangana State.
Billionaire loses $15 billion in half an hour - that’s $500 million a minute. Ouch.
Believe it or not !A mysterious collapse in share price of a high-flying solar
panel firm may have resulted in a new record in personalwealth loss.
Li Hejun, chairman of Hanergy, a Chinese producer of thin-film solar-power components, saw his fortune drop by as muchas $15 billion within half an hour as his firm’s stock fell by nearlyhalf. Before the steep decline in fortune, Li was China’srichest man.
June, 20152MIDNIGHT REPORTER
IASGovernment of India appointments......
Bureaucracy
IPSPankaj Jt. Sec., Culture
Pankaj Rag, Joint Secretary, Culture, hasbeen entrusted with an additional charge ofMember Secretary, National Monument Author-ity. He is a 1990 batch IAS officer of MadhyaPradesh cadre.
Gupta Sec.,Defence ProductionAshok Kumar Gupta has been appointed
new Secretary, Defence Producton. 1981 batchIAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Gupta is pres-ently Special Secretary, Defence Production
Mittal Sr.Advisor, ED,World Bank
Dr Neeraj Mittal IAS, (TN:92) Joint Secretary, Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gas, has been appointed Senior Advi-sor to the Executive Director, World Bank, Washington. Hehas been appointed for a period of three years from the date oftaking over charge of the post, an order issued by the Depart-ment of Personnel and Training ( DoPT). During his IAS career,Mittal had served in various departments in his parent cadrestate and centre. Mittal is an electrical engineering graduatefrom IIT, Kanpur, holds an MBA degree from Cranfield Univer-sity, UK and is a PhD (MIS) from Ohio State University, USA.
Meena DG,CAPARTMadan Lal Meena has been appointed as DG, CAPART at
Additional Secretary level in Government of India. He is a 1983batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.
Srivastava Sec.,BM, MHAHAAnoop Kumar Srivastava, an Assam cadre IAS officer
of the 1981 batch, has been named Secretary (Border Man-agement), home ministry, replacing Sneh Lata Kumar, who hasretired. Srivastava was special secretary, department of socialjustice and empowerment in the ministry of social justice andempowerment.
istry of Road Transport and Highways, getsextension of threemonths after his term was extended tenure beyond June 2015.
Yadav Sec., to UP CMSantosh Kumar Yadav has been appointed new Secretary
to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. He is a 1995batch IAS officer
Ex-IAS Damodar Thanvi passes awayVeteran Congress leader and former chairman of the state
commission for disabled persons (Nishakt Janayog)78-year-old Damodar Thanvi died on Saturday after falling down on arailway platform from a moving train at Jaipur junction here.
Arvind Prl. Sec. Delhi General Admin.New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has
created yet another flashpoint with Lt Governor Najeeb Jungjust ahead of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s meeting withPresident Pranab Mukherjee. The AAP on Tuesday, appointedArvind Ray as Principal Secretary in General AdministrationDept (GAD) replacing Rajendra Kumar.
A 1984-batch officer, Ray earlier held the additional chargeof Home Department after its head Archna Arora, a 1983 batchIAS officer, retired on September 30.
AAP, on Saturday, had replaced Anindo Majumdar with seniorbureaucrat Rajendra Kumar, by an order which had been de-clared as void by Jung office on the same day.
Singh receives felicitationUnion Home Minister Raj Nath Singh felici-
tated DG, NDRF O.P.Singh and his team forexemplary work in Nepal after earthquakestruck the Himalayan country. At a function at-tended by Nepal Ambassador in India, MoSHome, Kiran Rijuju, Defence Secretary, HomeSecretary and many officers from MEA, Home
Minister praised the swift response of NDRF and mentionedthat out of 16 people, 11 were saved by NDRF jawans. NDRFteams were the first to reach Kathmandu to conduct rescue.
IPS Alok Kumar To Approach CATAgainst His Suspension
Bengaluru: IPS officer Alok Kumar is likelyto approach Central Administrative Tribunal(CAT) against his suspension which was madein connection with an alleged lottery scam.
Alok Kumar, who was suspended as addi-tional commissioner of police (law and order-west) for links with illegal lottery kingpin Pari
Rajan, was interrogated by the CID for over 10 hours on Sun-day. The entire session was video-recorded. The interrogationwent on for over 10 hours and he came out of Carlton Houseonly around 8.40pm. He refused to speak to the media anddidn’t take calls later. DGP (CID) Bipin Gopalakrishna clarifiedin the evening that there would be no arrest of Alok, saying hehad been summoned only for questioning. Alok Kumar, onceconsidered a star IPS officer was grilled on various issuesranging from the officer’s acquaintance to allegations of himinterfering with the CID investigation by allegedly trying to pro-tect lottery kingpin Rajan from being arrested. Nagaraj, Per-sonal Assistant in the DGP’s office, has also been suspended foralleged links with lottery kingpin Rajan, DGP Omprakash said.
Four Women IPS Officers Appointed InAnti-Graft Watchdog To Curb Corruption
Bengaluru: Karnataka Lokayukta(anti-graft watchdog) appointed fourwomen superintendents of police out ofthe five present for curbing corruption.This is for the first time in the history ofthe Karnataka Lokayukta that fourwomen IPS officers have posted it to thepolice wing. Sonia Narang is the SP forthe Bengaluru Lokayukta police wing; DrM Ashwini is the SP for the BengaluruRural district Lokayukta police wing; K PAnjali heads the Petition Inquiry sectionin the Lokayukta’s office; and Seema
Latkar will be SP-1, as the administrative head of the Lokayuktapolice wing. A top official in the Lokayukta said that there’s aperception among public that women are more serious, honestand fair in their approach. “All of them have been selected onthe basis of merit and they are already demonstrating whatdifference they can make to the institution. The four women IPSofficers also have good track record.” the senior official added.He also said, “The Lokayukta has done the right job by em-powering women police officers. This will definitely motivate theothers.” “We believe the women SPs are strong and nobodyshould take it as weakness. And this is a strong message inempowering female officers in the force,” Justice Subhash BAdi, Upa Lokayukta said. Interestingly, the TransparencyInternational’s global corruption survey found that women per-ceive higher levels of corruption than men, especially when itcomes to positions in leadership.
Sonia Narang
Sunil Sharma in lead role June(MR)T Transport Secretary Sunil Sharma had a tough time during
RTC strike.The officer put all his efforts for the positive talks and also for thesubstitute transport arrangements for the passengers.It was a challengingaffair for the officer, but ultimately he played a significant role in dealing thematters.The officer was ‘on screen’ while serving in civil supplies for hisversatility and hard work.Wish for many more endeavors from his side.
Stunning SultaniaJune(MR) State Road Transport Authority has made it mandatory for all
the schools to provide information about their institutions and their busdrivers. Now, all the schools who are providing transport facility to theirstudents by operating buses, have to furnish fitness certificates for theirvehicles and complete details of their drivers to keep check on unqualifiedpersons becoming drivers and operating buses without a valid license andproper documents. A major step towards the safety of the school children.TheTransport Commissioner Sandeep Kumar Sultania is putting his entire ef-forts on this new program from this academic year.The parents are quitehappy and thankful for his gesture. That’s the reason we say himas ‘stunning sultania’.
Round the clockJune(MR)It’s a ‘round the clock’ working period for AP Chief Secretary
IYR.Krishna Rao,as the officer has to look into the matters like preparationsfor the new capital construction, shifting of offices & off course celebration ofone year of the government. In fact many other administration issues werealso added in his routine work.So, the senior officer is having a very tough timeat this moment and has to be attentive round the clock.
Ajeya again ‘on screen’June(MR)Ajeya Kallam, who served on crucial posts earlier is again on
screen for his new posting. The officer, who was earlier at CMO and handingthe important subjects posted as Special Chief Secretary, CT, Excise & Reg-istration & Stamps, Revenue Department in AP.In fact the officer has served inFinance department for a short period. The officer’s working style has earnedhim key posts and the officer will always be in priority for the top posts undoubt-edly. The profile and the experience means a lot.best wishes to the officer….!
Dr.Ramesh @ FinanceJune(MR) Dr. Penumaka Venkata Ramesh took over as Principal Finance
Secretary in AP government.Mr.Ramesh is one of the most experienced of-ficer, who served in UNO and Urban Finance and Infrastructure DepartmentCorporation. The officer served in Finance Department in the year 2012 and his works earned him the very crucial posting.The officer is all set to deal withthe financial matters and especially at this stage, where the government hashand full of plans in its agenda is a challenging affair.
PM charm continuesJune(MR)Poonam Malakondaiah, the lady officer who is known for her
honesty and toughness all over is allotted to the AP and posted on importantjobs.The lady officer is the Principal Secretary, Primary Health, Health Medical& Family Welfare Department with full additional charge of Vice- Chairman &Managing Director, A.P. Health & Medical Housing Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation. That’s why we endorsed as ‘PM charm continues’ , as the officerserved on many of the keys posts earlier and for the better results it’s impor-tant to post the right officer in a right place.Best wishes to the officer….!
Pani pani re……June(MR)We have a reason to murmur the popular song written by
Gulzar sahab for the movie ‘Maachis’ pani pani re..…! And the reason is onthe directions of AP DG JV.Ramudu more than four hundred drinking watercenters were inaugurated in 17 places for the general public during this hot-summer.It’s a good step from the top cop, but it would have been nice if itwas quite earlier, as the monsoon is due, and the end of summer sufferings.Any ways the common people are appreciating the step of the officer.Theanother news is about the some punga going on with the YSRP, let’s keepthis one in a cold bag till next edition.Till then hope for the best.
Smart ReddyJune(MR)The HMR MD N.V.S.Reddy is a
smart officer and it’s a opinion of mediapersons.The officer is handling the big projectsince couple years, which is moving forwardsmoothly because of his smartness.The newsis when the media asked the officer that liketrain passes is the media will be getting metropass to travel,the officer replied HMR is a pri-vate firm and T govt. has to take a call onthis.After this the media started saying that theofficer is quite smart and knows how to play itsafe.That’s it…!
Das ka ‘Dhamaka’June(MR) Telangana V&E Director Gen-
eral T.P. Das is rocking these days with hisdhamaka performance. As recently differentcommodities worth Rs. 16.64 crore were seizedby officials during raids on seed processingplants and seed dealers conducted across theState.While 32 cases were registered undersection 6 (A) of the Essential Commodities Act,1955 and Seed Act, 1966, a criminal case un-der Indian Penal Code was also booked relat-ing to the raid.Kya baat….!
DM’s ‘Fata-fat funda’MR(June)The both Hyderabad
& RR Dist Collectorates have weekly grievances day, on the daythe DM’s and the concern officerswill be available to listen the com-plaints in person.It’s a very old prac-tice, but now the news is the DM
K.Nirmala and M.Raghunandan Rao of both the districts haveadopted the ‘fata-fat funda’ to resolve the complaintssooner..With this the general public is preferring to attend thegrievance day for the speedy resolving of their problems.
June, 20153MIDNIGHT REPORTER
June(MR)After Swachh Bharat the ‘Swachh Hyderabad’ campaign is on screen. The babus, especially top cops steal theshow with their dedication, though the campaign was in schorching-hot summer. In fact it was quite an amazing affair for thecommon public, to see the cops cleaning the garbage.The cops who were usually seen with lathis and guns were seen with brooms, spades and other cleaning tools in their hands.
It’s wondering that the top cops rub their shoulders with their juniors subordinates, totally it was a ‘dil se’ affair.The Governor shedding all the protocol he has and entering into the public was an unusual one. The campaign hit the National media, butseriously it remains to be seen to what extent it brought awareness in the common people and their involvement in keeping theirsurroundings clean and tidy. Is that a one time show or the babus have to play the music of ‘taal sey taal mila’ every season isthe curiosity ? . As per the intellectuals the one time experiment is enough, but will the government forget this ‘boom funda’ so easyis the question ?
Babus play the music
Taal sey Taal Milaa….!
June, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER 4
Public Sector
NMDC Ltd. A. Navratna PSE under Ministry of Steel, Govt. of India has signed the following MoUs in the august presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, ChiefMinister of Chhattisgarh Dr. Raman Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Steel & Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and other dignitaries at Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. Shri Narendra Kothari, CMD hassigned MoUs on behalf of NMDC Ltd.
MoUs for: 1. Setting up Ultra Mega Steel Plant in Bastar Region (Ministry of steel, Govt. of Chhattisgarh, SAIL and NMDC) 2. Development of Railway Line from Jagdalpur to Rowghat(Govt. of Chhattisgarh, SAIL, NMDC and IRCON) 3. Slurry Pipeline & Pellet Plan (Govt. of Chhattisgarh and NMDC)
NMDC Ltd. is conferred with ‘BT-Star PSU of theyear Award (Best PSU - in Maharatna and Navratnacategory’. The award was received by by Shri NarendraKothari, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NMDC Ltd.from Lt. Gen. A.K. Singh, Lt. Governor of the Andamanand Nicobar Islands, Prof. Dr. Ram Shankar Katheria,Minister of State for HRD (Higher Education), Shri IndreshKumar, RSS Leader and Shri Ghulam Ali, renownedsinger at the award function of BT-PSU ExcellenceAwards-2015 organized at New Delhi. Shri BhaskarChatterjee, IAS (R), Chairman, Organizing Committeewas also present.
NMDC Limited bagsthe prestigiousPLATTS GlobalMetals Award 2015
NMDC Limited has bagged the prestigious PLATTS Global Metals Awards 2015 in “Industry LeadershipAward- Raw Materials & Mining” Category at Hotel Savoy, London, UK. Shri Narendra Kothari, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NMDC Limited received the coveted award.
PLATTS is the leading provider for energy, petro chemicals and metals information and a premier source ofbenchmark prices for those markets. The PLATTS Global Metal awards serve as a unique platform to recognizeoutstanding achievements of the metal industry by showcasing the best practices.
NMDC is the first Indian company to receive this award for its exemplary leadership in the Raw Materials andMining Sector. NMDC has been judged exclusively on performance and achievements on the criteria of financialresults, innovation, product quality, safety and strategic vision. This award recognizes the performance of NMDCin consistently delivering strong returns to shareholders, while improving environmental efficiencies, implementingtechnological advances and displaying a commitment to sustainable, forward- thinking solutions, challenges of thepolitical and business environments etc.
NMDC is the single largest iron ore producer in the India and is also known to be one of the lowest costproducers of iron ore in the world. Presently producing more than 30 MT of iron ore annually with an Indian marketshare of about 20-25%. NMDC is visioning its future development with an intent of attaining global market leader-ship in mineral sector with strategic thrust on operating highly mechanized iron ore mines with best quality of ore,opening of new iron ore mines to enhance iron ore production capacity aligning with the growth of the steel industryin India, value addition by opening of Pellet Plants, vertical integration by opening of Steel Plant, expansion andexploration of Diamonds & Gold production in India and abroad.
Arcelor Mittal and SAILsign MoU on automotivesteel joint venture in India
ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company, and theSteel Authority of India Limited (‘SAIL’), India’s leading steel company, to-day, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (‘MoU’) to set up an auto-motive steel manufacturing facility under a Joint Venture (‘JV’) arrange-ment in India. The MoU was signed in London today by Mr. Lakshmi Mittal,Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, and Mr. C.S. Verma, Chairman of SAIL.Mr. Rakesh Singh, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Steeland Mr. Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal CFO and CEO ArcelorMittal Europe,were also present.
The MoU is the first step of a process to establish a JV between thetwo companies. The proposed JV will construct a state-of-the-art coldrolling mill and other downstream finishing facilities in India that will offertechnologically advanced steel products to India’s rapidly growing auto-motive sector. India is forecast to become the world’s fourth largest auto-mobile manufacturing nation by 2020, growing from approximately 3.5million units today to over 7 million units1. In response to the level of de-mand, and supported by the Indian Government’s ‘Make In India’programme, which has been designed to transform India into a globalmanufacturing hub, automotive manufacturers have been establishing anincreased presence in the country.
Mr. Mittal, Chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal, said: “We have been indiscussions with SAIL for some time and today’s signing signals our inten-tion to further advance our collaboration. Bringing together our leadingautomotive technological capabilities with SAIL’s production scale in India,in a similar manner to ArcelorMittal’s partnership with Hunan Valin on ourVAMA joint venture in China, is an exciting and powerful combination.
Mr. C.S. Verma, Chairman, SAIL, added: “SAIL is on the verge ofcompleting a comprehensive modernisation and expansion program toincrease its hot metal capacity from 14 million tons per annum (MTPA) to23.5 MTPA, with a quantum jump in production of value added steels.
The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI), India’slargest shipping company and a Government of In-dia Public Sector Undertaking, has reported a quar-terly profit of Rs. 101.49 Crores for Q4 FY 2014-15as against Rs.13.24 Crores reported during the samequarter last year. This is the fifth consecutive quarterof reporting profits.
After having reported losses for last three finan-cial years, SCI has turned around and reported a netprofit of Rs. 200.93 Crores for the year ended 31st
March 2015, as against a net loss of Rs. 274.66Crores in the previous year. While the net income
from operations has almost remained flat, the appreciable decrease invarious expenses, impact of judicious cancellation of new ship buildingorders and sale of old vessels have also contributed to the positive results.The overall financial health of the company has improved with enhancednet-worth and reduced borrowings. All the three business segments ofSCI have reported profits before interest in the last quarter and also onannual basis.
SCI finally steadies ship andregisters profit after three years
BHEL adds 736 MW Hydro Electric Capacity in the CountryBharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has brought a turnaround in the hydro power
sector by commissioning 6 hydro sets aggregating to 736 MW, accounting for 100 per centof the hydro power capacity addition in the country during fiscal 2014-15. Notably, this isalso the highest hydro capacity addition in a single year by BHEL in the last decade. Thefeat was achieved by successfully commissioning projects of three major Central utilities– NTPC, NHPC and SJVNL. The projects commissioned by BHEL include 2 units (200 MWeach) of Koldam Hydro Electric Project (HEP), with which NTPC has made its maidenentry in the hydro sector. In addition, a 130 MW unit of NHPC’s Parbati III HEP and 3 units
of SJVNL’s Rampur (68.67 MW each) were commissioned. Significantly, the two units of NTPC’s 4×200 MW KoldamHEP were commissioned on consecutive days. The surface power house comprises 4 Francis turbines of 200 MWrating each, operating under a head of 131.2 metres. BHEL has the distinction of executing all the four hydro projectsbeing presently developed by NTPC. Apart from Koldam, the other three hydro projects of NTPC, being executedby BHEL, are Tapovan Vishnugad HEP (4×130 MW), Lata Tapovan HEP (3×57 MW) and Rammam Stage-III HEP(3×40 MW). With the commissioning of the fourth unit of the 4×130 MW Parbati III HEP of NHPC, the 520 MW projecthas now become fully operational. BHEL has a long standing association with NHPC beginning with setting up ofNHPC’s first hydro generating plant at Baira Siul (3×60 MW) in 1981. BHEL’s contribution to NHPC’s total generatingcapacity now stands at 1,884 MW.
CMD, HUDCO receives ‘Legend CMDof the Year Award’ by News Ink
Dr. M. Ravi Kanth, Chairman & Managing Director, HUDCO was awarded the ‘Legend CMD of the Year Award– 2014’ and Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) was presented the ‘Legend PSU of theYear Award – 2014’ by NewsInk under the ‘Legend PSU shining Award – 2014’. These Awards are an initiative ofPSU Khabar which is India’s No. 1 News Portal in PSU Segment. Each year, awards are given for special drive,efforts and results obtained by the PSUs under 21 different categories. Indian Public Sector Undertakings havebeen playing a vital role towards the development of the Nation since Independence. PSU Khabar has started thisinitiative as a tribute to the contributions made and excellence achieved in public services especially by the PSUsin building a strong India.
5 June, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER
6 June, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER
Banking
NLC bags the coveted “BT Star PSUfor Excellence in CSR” Award
The Neyveli Lignite Corporation has bagged the BT (BureaucracyToday) Star PSU For Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility Award(Maharatna and Navaratna Category). The award, given in recognition ofits commitment and continuous engagement with the communities towardsempowering their development for a sustainable growth was presented at‘BT-PSU Excellence Awards 2015 Presentation Ceremony’ at New Delhi.Ram Shankar Katheria, Minister of State for HRD, presented the award toB. Surender Mohan CMD, NLC, in the presence of A.K. Singh, LieutenantGovernor, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The awardshave been constituted by the journal BT to celebrate the excellence and torecognise the best practices and contribution of the Indian PSUs.”
NTPC Honored at the D&BCorporate Awards 2015
Dr Arup Roy Choudhury, CMD received the D&B Corporate Award2015 for exemplary performance of NTPC as leader of the power sectoron 13th May.The award was presented by Yashwant Sinha, Former Fi-nance Minister & veteran Parliamentarian at a glittering function held inMumbai. Bibek Debroy, Eminent Economist & Permanent Member of NITIAayog and Bob Carrigan, President , CEO& Director Dun& BradstreetCorporation were with him on the occasion. The award felicitated India’sleading companies and corporate entities having stellar track record. Onthis occasion a publication titled ‘India’s Top 500 Companies’ to recognizeexemplary performance in the corporate world, along with the felicitation ofthe top companies across sectors was also released.
Central Bank announced financial resultsPERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS-* Gross NPA to Gross Advances has come
down to 6.09% in FY 2014-15 from 6.27% as on31st March 2014. Net NPA to Net Advances de-creased to 3.61% in 2014-15 from 3.75% of pre-vious year.
* Bank recorded Net Profit of Rs.606 crorein FY 2014-15 as against Net Loss of Rs.1,263crore incurred in FY 2013-14.
* Total Income registered a growth of 7.41%, from Rs. 26,350 crore in FY 2013-14 toRs.28,303 crore in FY 2014-15 on y-o-y basis.
* Total Interest Income registered a growth8.11% from Rs. 24,427 crore to Rs. 26,409 crorein FY 2014-15 on y-o-y basis.
* Net Interest Income of the Bank registereda growth of 11.60 % from Rs. 6,494 crore in FY2013-14 to Rs. 7,247 crore in FY 2014-15 on y-o-y basis. * Net Interest Margin increased to2.79 % in FY 2014-15 against 2.73% of FY
2013-14. * Operating Profit of the Bank stood at Rs. 3,559 crore in FY 2014-15 as compared to Rs. 3,238 crore ason March 2014 registering y-o-y growth of 9.91 %. BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS- * Total Business of the Bankincreased to Rs.4,50,539 crore in FY 2014 -15 compared to Rs. 4,23,390 crore as of March 2014, registering y-o-y growth of 6.41 %. * Total Deposits grew by 6.46 % on y-o-y basis to Rs. 2,55,572 crore in FY 2014-15 fromRs. 2,40,069 crore as of March 2014. * Core deposits of the Bank grew by 21.59 % on y-o-y basis to Rs. 2,28,137crore in FY 2014-15 from Rs.1,87,635 crore as of March 2014. * CASA Deposits increased to Rs. 87,012 crorein March 2015 compared to Rs. 80,011 crore as of March 2014, registering y-o-y growth of 8.75 %. Share of CASAin total deposits increased to 34.05% in March 2015 as compared to 33.33% in March 2014. * Total Advances stoodat Rs. 1,94,967 crore as against Rs.1,83,321 crore in March 2014, recording y-o-y growth of 6.35%. * PrioritySector Advances increased by 10.71 % on y-o-y basis to Rs.75,997 crore in FY 2014-15 from Rs. 68,648 crorein March 2014. * We have achieved 40 % of ANBC in Priority Sector & 18 % of ANBC in Agriculture as per RBIGuidelines. *MSE Advances increased by 23.18 % to Rs.26,503 crore in FY 2014-15 from Rs. 21,515 crore inMarch 2014. * Retail Loans showed substantial growth of 21.91 % on y-o-y basis to Rs.33,538 crore in FY 2014-15 from Rs. 27,511 crore in FY 2013-14. * Housing Loan portfolio of the Bank has shown a substantial growth of29.28 % on y-o-y basis toRs.14,004 crore in FY 2014-15 from Rs. 10,832 crore in March 2014. * Education Loanportfolio of the Bank increased by 15.5 % to Rs.3,442 crore in March 2015 from Rs. 2,980 crore in March 2014. *Provision coverage ratio has improved from 50.68 % in 2013-14 to 55.16 % in FY 2014-15 on y-o-y basis.* CRARunder BASEL II is at 11.89% with Tier I at 8.46 % whereas CRAR under BASEL III is 10.90% with Tier I at 8.05
Vijaya Bank’s net profit rises 5.65 percent in 2014-15Government-run Vijaya Bank on Tuesday said its net profit in 2014-
2015 rose by 5.65 percent at Rs.439.41 crore against Rs.415.91 croreduring 2013-14.
The bank’s net revenue in the review period went up by 15.2 per-cent at Rs.13,152.49 crore against its earnings of Rs.11,416.42 croreduring 2013-14. Even as the bank was able to grow 15.2 percent in its
topline, its profitability during January-March 2015 dropped by 28.73 percent to Rs.96.80 crore against Rs.135.84crore in the corresponding timeframe last year.
“Our net profit in fourth quarter declined YoY due to restructuring of some advances, higher provision for non-performing assets (NPAs) and revised wages,” Vijaya Bank chief executive Kishore Kumar Sansi told reportershere. Advances up to Rs.658 crore were re-structured, which include four major accounts in power and infrastruc-ture sectors whose combined outstanding is Rs.421 crore.
SBH achieves 29.19% growth in ProfitThe meeting of Board of Directors
of State Bank of Hyderabad was heldat Mumbai. The meeting was presidedover by the Chairman Smt ArundhatiBhattacharya and SBI MD & GroupExecutive (A&S) Shri.V.G.Kannan was
also present. On conclusion of the Board meeting, the Managing Director of State Bankof Hyderabad released the Financial Results as under:
SBH shows Consistent Performance – March, 2015* Total Business at Rs.240775 crore (increase of 9.19% yoy)* Total Advances grew by 9.98% (yoy) to Rs.108753 crore* Total Deposits increase by 8.54% (yoy) to Rs.132023 crore* Total PER Deposits increase by 19.04% (yoy) to Rs.72471 crore* Total CASA Deposits increased by 16.87% (yoy) to Rs.43105 crore* ROE improved 192 bps from 12.74 to 14.66 (yoy)* ROA improved 19 bps from 0.70 to 0.89 (yoy)* Total Operating Profit up by 8.29% (yoy) to Rs.2914 crore* Net Profit up by 29.19% (yoy) to Rs.1317 crore* Net profit per employee improved from Rs.6.10 lacs to Rs.8.29 lacs (yoy)* Net Interest Income higher by 10.49% (yoy) to Rs.4393 crore* Net Interest Margin is 3.29% (up by 24 bps over March, 2014)* Capital Adequacy Ratio at a healthy 11.26% (Basel III)* 127 new branches added taking network to 1821.* Provision Coverage Ratio increased to 61% (Previous year 54.50%)* Gross NPAs declined from Rs.5824 crore(5.89%) in March, 2014 to Rs.4984 crore(4.59%) in March, 2015
The Net profit is Rs.1317.13 Cr compared to Rs.1019.51 Cr in March 2014, an increase of 29.19 %. Net Profitduring the quarter increased by 33.43 % from Rs.333.89 Cr in Dec’ 2014 to Rs.445.51 Cr as at March 2015. Netinterest income increased by 10.49% from Rs.3975.99 Cr to Rs.4392.61 Cr (yoy).The Capital Adequacy Ratio asper Basel III norms as on March 15 stood at 11.26 % with CET-1 at 8.86 % which is much above RBI prescription.
Key Financial Ratios* Return on Assets 0.89% in March 2015 against 0.70% in March 2014.* Return on Equity 14.66% in March 2015 against 12.74% in March 2014.* Cost of Deposits declined to 7.26% in March 2015 from 7.50% in March 2014.* NIM increased to 3.29% in March 2015 from 3.05% in March 2014.ASSET QUALITY: Intensive NPA recovery efforts taken by the Bank have yielded results, and the GNPAs
declined from Rs.5824.20 Cr in March 2014 to Rs.4984.77 Cr in March 2015. As a result, GNPA ratio declined from5.89 % to 4.59 % (decrease in 130 bps), and Net NPA ratio reduced from 3.12 % to 2.24 % (decreased by 88 bps),during the period. Provision coverage ratio (PCR) improved from 54.50 % in March 2014 to 61 % in March 2015.
BUSINESS: Bank’s total business stood at Rs.240775 Cr as at end of March 2015, consisting of Total Depositsof Rs.132022 Cr and total Advances of Rs.108753 Cr. The Credit Deposit Ratio was 82.89 % as on March 2015,up from 82.13 % in March 2014. CASA deposit increased by 16.87% YoY, from Rs.36882 Cr in March 2014 toRs.43105 Cr in March 2015. Bank’s Personal segment loans portfolio increased by 17.01 % YoY from Rs.21968 Crin March 2014 to Rs.25705 Cr in March 2015.
BRANCH EXPANSION: Bank opened 127 branches during this FY up to March 2015, (out of which 34branches opened in unbanked rural centres) taking total branch network from 1694 in Mar’14 to 1821 as at March2015. This includes. 741 branches in Telangana and 399 branches in AP.
Left to Right-Executive Directors of Central Bank of IndiaDr R C Lodha, Shri R.K. Goyal and Shri B K Divakara are seenduring the Press Meet to announce the financial results.
Year on Year:· Highest ever dividend for the year 2014-15 is 855% as against 850%
in 2013-14. · Record Iron ore production of 30.44 MT for the year 2014-15as against 30.02 MT in 2013-14.(+1%) · Highest ever Turnover of Rs12,356 crore in 2014-15 as against Rs. 12,058 crore in 2013-14. (+2%)
· Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the year 2014-15 is Rs 9,768 crore asagainst Rs. 9,759 crore in 2013-14. · Profit After Tax (PAT) for the year2014-15 is Rs 6,422 crore as against Rs. 6,420 crore in 2013-14. · CAPEXfor the year 2014-15 is Rs 3,136 crore (previous bestRs. 2,518 crore in 2013-14). (+25%) Even though the international anddomestic prices have come down in the year 2014-15, NMDC with itsefforts had once again achieved the 30 million ton mark.
Quarter on Quarter Performance: (Q4 vs Q4)· Iron ore production of 7.94 MT in the Q4 of 2014-15 as against 9.96
MT over CPLY.· Turnover of Rs 2,829 crore in Q4 of 2014-15 as against Rs. 3,884
crore in Q4 of 2013-14.· Profit Before Tax (PBT) in the Q4 of 2014-15 is Rs 2,064 crore as
against Rs. 2,998 crore in Q4 of 2013-14.· Profit After Tax (PAT) in the Q4 of 2014-15 is Rs 1,347 crore as against
Rs. 1,962 crore in Q4 of 2013-14.The annual accounts for 2014-15 were approved by the Board of Di-
rectors of the Company under the Chairmanship of Mr Narendra Kothari, inits meeting held on 28.05.2015. On this occasion, the Board of NMDCcommended the performance of the Company and hoped that all its stake-holders including shareholders, employees, customers and Governmentwould continue their support and bring laurels for the Company.
Speaking on the occasion, NMDC Chairman Mr. Narendra Kothari said:NMDC during the year inspite of low demand of steel could maintain its
production and sales levels at above 30 MT mainly due to sustained andcollaborative efforts of all disciplines, which itself shows the strong resilientcharacter of NMDC family. I am sure NMDC would become a global mininggiant in the years to come.
NMDC Limited-Performance Highlights 2014-15
7 June, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER
CorporateHealth min gets tough on pharma sector
In a move to implement stringent regulations in the pharma-ceutical industry, the health ministry has initiated a broad surveyof generic drugs for quality test purposes. This includes testingof over 42,000 samples of different therapeutic drugs drawnfrom various manufacturers. “The survey is part of the qualityassessment programme to increase the confidence levels forquality generic drugs manufactured in India and is expected tobe completed in the next six to eight months,” GN Singh, drugscontroller general (India), the ministry of health and family wel-fare, said.
“We faced a lot of challenges in the last two years comingfrom various issues and competition in the manufacturing pro-cess of generic drugs. Hence, we decided to strengthen theregulatory system in India with strong quality control measures,”
Singh said, who was here on Tuesday to attend a workshop at the US Pharmacopeial Conven-tion (USP), a body which establishes network to advance quality medicines. USP aims toadvance the sustainable development of official medicines control laboratories (OMCLs) thatare capable of producing and sharing harmonised and internationally-recognised data, ensur-ing the quality of medicines, and combatting the proliferation of falsified and substandard drugs.
Reliance Power Q4 profit rises 2.8% toRs 276 crore
Reliance Power reported 2.8% growth in consoli-dated net profit at Rs 276.47 crore for the January-March quarter against Rs 268.88 crore a year ago. Thecompany’s net sales came in at Rs 1,584.93 crore, up22% from Rs 1,296.10 crore in the corresponding quar-ter last fiscal.
For the year ended March 2014, consolidated netprofit was almost flat at Rs 1,028.32 crore against Rs1,026.67 a year ago. On a standalone basis, the com-pany reported a net profit of Rs 3.90 crore for the fourth
quarter against Rs 34.56 crore in the same period last year. Reliance Power said the company’spower generating capacity now stood at 5,945 MW.
Wal-mart to open 2 Best Price storesin Vizag, Ludhiana
Walmart India, the wholly-owned subsidiary ofWal-Mart Stores Inc, will open two new ‘Best PriceModern Wholesale’ stores in Vizag and Ludhiana.The Vizag store will be the fourth such in AndhraPradesh and Ludhiana will be Walmart India’s sixthstore in Punjab.
Best Price stores in Andhra Pradesh are based in Guntur, Rajahmundry, Vijaywada. InPunjab, they are in Amritsar, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Zirakpur. Walmart India ownsand operates 20 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores in nine states across India.
Tata Motors net falls 56% as even Jaguarhuffs and puffs
Tata Motors’ domestic business saw losses widento Rs 1,164 crore during the quarter while revenueincreased 26% to Rs 10,784.2 crore on improvementin medium and heavy industrial commercial vehicle(MHICV) and passenger vehicle (PV) segments. “Inthe MHICV segment, improved freight availability andimproved profitability of truck operators, fleet replace-ment demand mainly in the high tonnage segment, sup-ported the company sales growth in this segment,” thecompany said. However, light commercial vehicle (LCV)segments continued to remain weak. As a result, over-
all cv sales were almost flat in Q4, it said. Operating profit stood at Rs 159 crore against a lossof Rs 637 crore in the corresonding period last year, with margin at 1.4%. In passengervehicles, the company said the Zest, and the newly launched Bolt, continued to receive anencouraging response. These led to the passenger vehicle segment growing 19.1% in Q4, withthe car segment expanding 33%, the company said.
Tech Mahindra profit dips 23% as currencyheadwinds, hikes bite
The country’s fifth-largest IT services exporter,Tech Mahindra, on Tuesday reported a 23% year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in net profit to Rs 472 crorefor the March quarter, primarily due to cross-cur-rency headwinds and wage hikes. The Pune-head-
quartered company, however, saw revenues grow 20.9% to Rs 6,116.79 crore from Rs5,058.11 crore in the same quarter previous year. “We have seen one of the highest growthrates this year. Our Q4 results were impacted by macroeconomic factors like cross-currencyheadwinds and salary increases. We will endeavour to work on improving our operatingmetrics to achieve synergy with our recent acquisitions,” Tech Mahindra’s executive vice-chairman Vineet Nayyar said in a statement. In dollar terms, revenues increased 19.3% year-on-year to $984 million.
Orient Electric to launch its own e-commerce websiteOrient Electric, a CK Birla group company that manufactures fans,
lights, home appliances and switchgear, is planning to launch its own e-commerce portal for its products by the end of this year. The company’sCEO Rakesh Khanna told Business Today that the company was not com-fortable with the current marketplace model of e-commerce companies.
“We don’t want our products to be sold at below market price. All we aresaying is that we would charge the right price (on our website) but offerbetter services. We would not only deliver the product at customers’ door-step but also install it,” he said. In the marketplace model, the e-commercewebsites act as platform for retailers for which they charge a commission.
“We have seen the way they (e-commerce websites) deliver products. We don’t want ourproducts to be packaged and delivered that way. Besides, the range of products that we have,I don’t think any e-commerce website can give full display to all of them,” Khanna added.
There have been instances in the past when retailers and manufacturers have lodgedcomplaint against e-commerce websites for selling products at heavily discounted prices. KaffAppliances, a manufacturer of kitchen appliances, had even issued a ‘caution notice’ sayingthat its products sold on e-commerce website, Snapdeal, were counterfeit and not authorised.
Vodafone India may launch IPOnext year to raise $4 billion
Vodafone, the British telecom major, is re-portedly planning to launch IPO of its Indian armto raise about $4 billion next fiscal. The companyhas appointed NM Rothschild as its consultantto work on roadmap and the paperwork for thepublic offering will be completed by the end ofongoing financial year, as per reports. Whencontacted, Vodafone spokesperson declined tocomment.The company has been planning IPOof its Indian arm since a very long time.Vodafone acquired 100 per cent stake in the In-dian venture by buying out entire stake from its
local partners for Rs 10,141 crore in 2013. Vodafone India former MD and CEO Marten Pietershad said that company will proceed with its IPO plan provided that its tax issue is resolved.Vodafone is entangled in a legal dispute with the government in about Rs 20,000-crore taxdispute. Vodafone in January said that it has invested more than GBP 12.8 billion (about Rs1,29,745) in India since 2007 and in 2013 it made commitment to invest about Rs 4,000-6,000crore annually. In addition to this, the company acquired spectrum for about Rs 25,959.74 crorein March and the company has plans to expand its 3G service on its own network from 9 circlesto 16 circles.
DLF targets Rs 4,000 crore new salesbookings this fiscal
Realty major DLF has kept the new salesbookings target for this financial year at last year’slevel of about Rs 4,000 crore as the companyfeels that it would take at least 12 months forhousing sales to improve. The country’s largestreal estate firm achieved gross sales bookingsof Rs 3,850 crore in 2014-15 fiscal, down 5 percent from Rs 4,070 crore achieved in the previ-ous year In a conference call with analysts, DLFExecutive Director (Finance) Saurabh Chawlasaid that the sales bookings target for 2015-16fiscal is Rs 3,500-4,000 crore.
The company had given the same guidance for last fiscal as well. On sales outlook, DLFsaid in a presentation that it would take at least 12 months for the sales momentum to beginimproving; the key factor would be in general, reduced interest rates and GDP growth and, inspecific, demand/supply conditions in micro markets. “The sales volume in most geographiesshall continue at a diminished pace similar to FY14 and FY15”, it added.
The real estate sector is facing huge slowdown, especially in housing sales, from last fewyears due to high property prices as well as interest rates. DLF, however, said that actual userscontinue to purchase into projects which are unique due to both location and product attributes.
“Projects which have better visibility from construction run rate will have higher customerinterest”, it added. Notwithstanding muted sales momentum, DLF plans to launch next phasesof its existing projects including ‘Capital Greens’ in the national capital. DLF said that since the‘normal’ sales momentum is still some quarters away, the company is in a dialogue with fewprivate equity (PE) players for part cash out in some marquee projects and mitigate cyclesbefore launching in FY16.
8 June, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER
Publisher/Printer/Owner: G. Narahari, Printed at Colour Graphics, 3-1-351, Bhagya Laxmi Nilayam, Nimboliadda, Kachiguda, Station Road, Hyderabad - 27. Published at4-6-252, Esamia Bazar, Hyderabad-27 (A.P.) Editor : Dr. Chaitanya Singh, Cell : 8008175000. E-mail : [email protected]. Annual Subscription Rs. 500/- (Including postal charges)
Really, this summer was too hot.Probably the hottest season of thedecade.Thanks to Willis Carrier, whoinvented the modern electrical air con-ditioning unit.What’s next ? Now it’s timeto enjoy the monsoon…..! The mostawaited rainy season, the blue mon-soon, which is also the theme of themonth.
‘Midnight Reporter’ presents theprettiest monsoon divas of the town togreet the ‘rim-jhim’ rainy season on itsarrival.The divas are on screen withthe awesome ‘blue’ color, which is fa-vorite color of all, which is nature’s owncolor, the color of water and sky. Di-vas you are all looking awesome! Thisis the first compliment from our ‘team’and these appreciations will showerlike rain….! Get prepared to bare theonslaught of the compliments……!
Let’s check the significance of theblue color. Dark blue stands for trust,dignity, intelligence,authority and brightblue stands for cleanliness, strength,dependability and coolness, where aslight (sky) blue stands for peace, se-renity, ethereal, spiritual & infinity.
Rina Hindocha
Aakanksha Kedia Tolasariya
Neeru Mohan
Vinita Surana
Alka Khanna
Shaheen Daredia
Inayah KhanSowmya Ch
Kavita AgarwalLona Logan Pari Sengar Shalini Agarwal
Megha Dinesh
Padma KalyanManisha Kapoor
Trushna Tibrewala
Geet Gupta
Sadhna Singh
Shalini Modani
MIDNIGHT REPORTER9 June, 2015
CorporateCelebrations
Crown comes to the town: Mansi Gulati bagsthe title of Mrs.India Asia International-2015 and the crown comes to the town for the first time.It’sreally a great win and credit goes to the efforts putin by Mansi, the mother of a nine year old daughterMuskan.Mansi is a face yoga trainer and fitnessenthusiast by profession. Best wishes…!
Harbhajan’s Hulchal : Harbhajan Singhlaunched ‘Hublot’ at Kamal Watch Co.What anevent ! Just ‘hulchal’…..! The city creamy layergraced the occasion. Selfies & Selfies…!Checkthe click of Niraj Kumar, Sushmita Lahoti,Dishita & Rhaghav Totla with Bajji.
Just Awesome: Couple Brijgopal & DeeplaiBhutada’s son Gaurav’s birth day party wasjust awesome.The event was perfectly orga-nized, which was full of elite gathering.Bestwishes to the b’day boy….!
Social Announcement :Daredia Construction Company& SBDT (Saleem Bhai DarediaTrust) came forward to provideeducation class books and ac-cessories to under privilegedchildren.This is called the idealsocial responsibility. Let’s ap-plaud to the Chairman SikanderDaredia, who is real realtor ofpresent time.
On Screen : The first chapter of the town ‘BNI ARTHA’ celebrated its 3rdanniversary. ED Bharath Shah presented the blue badge to Vivek Gupta forhis outstanding services. Mahesh Agarwal the Chapter Director is alsoseen along.‘Midnight Reporter’ is the new entrant to join the chapter, thanksto Omesh Agarwal.Chak dey....!
Celebration Time : Wedding anniversa-ries are wonderful, which add more loveand care among couples.Which comes withlot of happy moments and gives lovelymemories every year.That’s the reasoncouples will not miss to celebrate thisoccasion.Last month four couples cel-ebrated their wedding anniversaries withcutting the cakes and enjoying the day withfamily and friends.
Rajesh & Deepa Naredi Amit & Dimple Agarwal
Hitesh & Jyoti Jashnani Aman & Sonia Talwar
‘Piku’ moving closer tomark Rs. 80 Cr.
Despite a slow start, ‘Piku’,which stars Amitabh Bachchan,Deepika Padukone and IrrfanKhan, is now inching closer tothe Rs 80 crore mark at the boxoffice. The Shoojit Sircar direc-torial has had the best secondweekend of 2015. The film madearound Rs 1.25 - 1.50 croreapprox. on its third Friday whichhints at the best third week col-lections of any film this year.
Akshay to launch hisown clothing range
Super star AkshayKumar has over the yearsenthralled us in numerousroles on the big screen. Nowwhile the actor is currentlyworking on his next ventureSingh is Bliing, we hear thataction star has decided tolaunch his own clothingrange. In fact talking aboutthe same Akshay Kumarposted on his Facebookhandle saying, “Hey guys,need your feedback forsomething. I’ll soon be
launching my very own clothes line on Best Deal TV andwanted to make the range as affordable as possible. Sowould you’ll be willing to pay Rs 999 for a t-shirt like this?
With this Akshay Kumar will be joining other celebritieslike Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor and and other who havetheir own clothing label.
Tanu Weds Manu Returnsstarts strong
The solo release of theKangna Ranaut - R. Madhavanstarrer TANU WEDS MANURETURNS (TWMR) thatcomes after a successfulprequel. The film which waspiqued to do well at the boxoffice has so far lived up toexpectations. In fact reportsfrom across the country saythat TWMR has opened strongwith a 60% occupancy rate inthe morning shows. On theother hand, Hollywood re-leases TOMORROWLANDand BIG GAME do not featurein morning shows. On the whole, with positive reviews allacross, TWMR that released across 2200 screens in Indiaand 340 screens overseas is expected to register bumperfootfalls evening onwards. While from the Hollywood re-leases, TOMORROWLAND is expected to take the leadover BIG GAME that has hardly been promoted.
Sunny Leone all set for PanBahar masala endorsement?
Whenever we think of SunnyLeone, what usually comes in ourmind are the images of her being asweet and sexy glam doll who is work-ing really hard to make it big inBollywood - her new release KuchKuch Locha Hai failed in terms of boxoffice collections. But elsewhere, it isbusiness as usual and Sunny Leoneis now all set to endorse Pan Baharpaan masala, as per BollywoodHungama sources. The official an-nouncement of the same is awaited.
Bricks and clicks: What’sin store
Godrej Group’spremium food retailchain Natures Basketrecently tied up withonline retailersSnapdeal and Ama-zon to take its gour-met food basket of over 400 products to 8,500 cities. Thefood retailer has also revamped its own e-commerce plat-form promising doorstep delivery within three hours. “Weexpect an exponential rise in traffic and conversion ratesthat can lead to about 10 times growth in our online busi-ness revenues,” says Mohit Khattar, CEO, Godrej NaturesBasket. According to Khattar, the company will also tie-upwith other online marketplaces (the likes of Flipkart) to widenthe reach of its retail entity. “There is growing demand forpremium food products and online is a great platform tomake our products available through the length and breadthof the country,” he says. Earlier, the company catered toonly five cities - Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore andHyderabad - through its brick-and-mortar stores.
Macau Expecting Increase in IndianTourists in 2015
Macau is expecting over 4.8 per cent growth in tourist arrivals from India this year, bettingbig on its unique blend of museums, cuisines, shopping malls and casinos to lure a recordnumber of Indians to the ‘Las Vegas of the East’. ”In 2014, the visitor arrivals from India to Macauwere 1,67,000. Macau has been witnessing a 4.8 per cent growth year-on-year. We expect it todo much better this year,” Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Head of India Represen-tative Arzan Khambatta told PTI in Macau. ”This is because Macau is a perfect destination forleisure as well as Meetings, Incentives, Conference and Exhibitions (MICE) activities,” MrKhambatta said. Macau, recently selected by Lonely Planet, a travel guide book, as one of thetop 10 best travel regions of 2015, has all the ingredients that anybody would want for a goodholiday, he added. One of the biggest advantages is that there is no hassles of getting a visa, asit’s a ‘visa on arrival’ destination. As of now, one can go to Macau from Hong Kong in a comfort-able ferry, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour. ”In the future we will have a bridgeconnecting Hong Kong to Macau by road and hopefully some direct air connectivity will startthat will open the gateway to this exciting destination,” Khambatta said.
Serbia to focus on the Indian marketIn an effort to attract more outbound Indian tourist, the
Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, is concentrating theirefforts to highlight Serbia as an interesting tourist destina-tion for Indians. According to Vladimir Maric, ambassa-dor, Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, the Serbian Tour-ist Board will soon be launching a campaign focusing theIndian outbound traveller. “Since the tourist arrivals fromIndia, which is at present almost negligible, the SerbianEmbassy will be focusing on creating awareness aboutthe Serbian tourist destinations for the Indian market. The
Serbian Tourist Board will also come up with concrete plans and campaigns specifically for theIndian market in 2016, while also identifying the main fairs and trade travel marts for participa-tion, ensuring the presence of Serbia as a tourist destination across India,” he added.
According to the records of the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia, more than onemillion foreign tourists visited Serbia in 2014 and the number of foreign visits increased by 12per cent in comparison with 2013. Taking into account several previous years, the evident trendis that the number has been increasing about 10 per cent to 14 per cent year-on-year.
89 foreigners still reported missing inNepal after massive earthquake
After the massive earthquake onApril 25 eighty-nine foreigners arestill reported missing in Nepal, ac-cording to Nepal Police. The 89 for-eigners are among 329 people re-ported missing while trekking alongroutes particularly Langtang, saidspokesperson of Nepal Police KamalSingh Bam. He did not specify thenationality of the missing foreignersand said the number of missingNepalese could be more than whatwas reported.
“Search for the missing foreign-ers and Nepalese is underway, andthey might have been buried underthe rubbles,” Bam said. According to
Nepal police records, the death toll has reached 8,675 while those injured increased to 21,845.The remains of 8,598 victims have already been handed over to relatives for the last rites.
Most of the injured returned home after treatment. However, 5,613 people who sustainedserious injuries are undergoing treatment in different hospitals across the country, Bam said.
Many people are still staying in tents despite the Home Ministry’s appeal to them to returnhome, as they are fearful of aftershocks.
Five aftershocks measuring over 4 in the Richter scale jolted Kathmandu on Friday.An earthquake measuring 4.8 in the Richter scale also hit the far western part of Nepal with
its epicenter in Humla, close to the Nepal-China border, according to the National SeismologyCentre (NSC).
Government to privatise eight loss-makingITDC hotels: Tourism Minister
Minister of State for Tourism Mahesh Sharma has said theCentre has decided to privatise eight loss-making hotels run bythe India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), and addedthat it would not be wise to bear the burden of these loss-makingunits. The minister, however, ruled out the possibility of selling off‘The Ashok’, the flagship property of ITDC in the national capital,saying that attempts are being made to revive it and turn it into aprofitable venture this year. Sharma said that eight out of the 16hotels are not in good shape and the government proposes todisinvest it. The formal process in this regard would begin withintwo months, he stated. The ITDC hotels together incurred lossesof about Rs. 15 crores, with The alone incurring a loss of aroundRs. 13 crores in 2014-15.
Goa Likely to See 10 MillionTourists by 2017
Tourists arrival in the state may rise up to 10 million by2017, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar today said inPanaji. ”We may have 10 million tourists arriving to Goaby 2017, the year we will go for fresh elections (stateAssembly polls),” Mr Parulekar told reporters after launch-ing hot air balloon and amphibious vehicle service in thestate. He said the overall tourism has gone up by 12 percent since the time BJP-led government took reigns ofthe state in 2012. “The tourist arrival has been on the rise.There was a rise of nine per cent during last year and 14 per cent in the previous year. Thedecline was recorded because of a slump in arrivals from Russia,” the minister said. Goareceives around five million tourists annually. Mr Parulekar said though arrivals of charteredflight have dropped this year, overall tourism sector has been witnessing a gradual rise. ”Thevisa-on-arrival facility introduced at the state-run Dabolim airport has aided in tourists arrival.Around 20,000 people came through the facility since its introduction four months back,” he said.
12 June, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER
Over 9,000 tourists visit Manu NationalPark in Peru every year
Manu National Park inLima is visited by morethan 9,000 domestic andforeign tourists to enjoy itsflora and fauna biodiversityin this 2 million hectarenatural reserve located inCusco and Madre de Diosregions.
John Flores Leiva,head of the park, explainedthat approximately 1,500tourists come to the Ama-zon area of Manu river ba-sin, while about 500 visi-tors are drawn to the TresCruces (Three Crosses)zone, located in theAndean part of the reserve.
However, he clarified the greatest flow of tourists is found in the buffer zone, offered by touroperators as Manu National Park or Biosphere Reserve, where about 7,000 visitors comeeach year. The main reason of the mass flow into the buffer zone is the low prices and accesseasy access routes available for tourists.
“Entering Manu river takes three addition days. This is why operators sell different desti-nations and products such as Bosque Nublado (Cloud Forest), Alto Madre de Dios river basinand a route that runs to Puerto Maldonado through Colorado,” he said.
He said there is an airfield in Fitzcarrald district, in the indigenous community of Diamante.It has been out of service for several years and operators are not making the most of it on theManu tour. “The landing field used to easy the entry of tourists into Manu, but now the trip ismade by land, mainly accessible from Cusco, and in small groups that take the PuertoMaldonado route through Colorado,” he continued.
Latvia eyes India for touristsLatvia, a Baltic state in northern
Europe, has become the latest coun-try to seek tourists and investment fromIndia. Latvia is emphasizing its naturalbeauty, green environment, cultural di-versity, lakes, sea, and forests to en-tice more Indians not only to come tothe Baltic nation but also to invest inproperties for hotels and other busi-nesses. Leaders from the Latvian AsianChamber of Commerce and otherstakeholders interacted with the mediaand potential investors in New Delhi onMay 22, 2015 at a seminar to promoteLatvia as an attractive investment des-tination for several areas including real
estate, tourism, and green technologies. Among the suggestions made was to include Latviain tour packages to Scandinavian countries, like Sweden. Travel agents from Latvia like Ms.Dana Maksimova said that the peace and calm of places in Latvia was a major draw, as wellas cheaper hotels for the many Russian tourists who come to the country.
The Latvian Asian Chamber of Commerce is headed by Deepak Vohra, who has beenIndian Ambassador to several countries, before he retired from the Foreign Service. Leadingbusinessman Virender Bhalla is active in promoting the country in India as well. He said that anoffice of the chamber will soon be set up in India.
Tourism Toronto announcesincentives for Indian MICE market
Tourism Toronto is offering excitingincentives exclusive to its Indian agencypartners — the India Agency IncentiveProgramme. This attractive rewardprogramme offers financial incentives tohandling agencies in India for corporategroup travel to Toronto.
Indian agents can earn lucrative in-centives from 2,500 CAD to more than
10,000 CAD by meeting the required room nights over this calendar year. Meetings, Incentiveand Training are examples of the types of groups that will qualify for this programme. Traveldates do not necessarily have to be within 2015; however, they have to be confirmed beforeDecember 10, 2015. Speaking on the occasion, Sudarshana Kar, business developmentmanager MICE, Tourism Toronto said, “With this introductory programme offering exclusiverates to Indian agents, MICE traffic to the city of Toronto is bound to increase. Rewardingagents for their efforts is essential to Tourism Toronto, as they will be making groups aware ofall the wondrous and impressive MICE facilities Toronto has to offer.” One of the world’s topdestinations for incentives, meetings and conventions, Toronto is enriched with capableinfrastructure and modern, well-equipped conference venues along with hotels that promisea high accommodation capacity making it suitable for the MICE travellers.
Unesco status would’ve boostedtourism: Experts
It’s the age-old debate of heritage versus develop-ment. Area wise both the zones of Shahjahanabad andLBZ, nominated for Delhi’s Imperial Capital Cities dossier,combined are less than 2% of the capital’s total area.Experts stress that a World Heritage City tag would in noway lead to additional restrictions in either the nominatedareas or the rest of the city. Many pointed out that citieslike Rome, Florence, Edinburgh, and other European cit-ies are not only proud of their world heritage status butalso well-developed to provide their citizens good livingstandards. Historian and author William Dalrymple said it
was complete short-sightedness on part of the government to stop Delhi’s bid for worldheritage city. “The government does not realize that they are sitting on a goldmine and how theinscription would have boosted Indian tourism and improved Delhi’s image. Some of the mostprosperous cities in the world, like Paris, Rome, London, Edinburgh, are all world heritagecities and this has not affected development,” he said.
