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New Delhi : Reiterating his government's resolve to not allowing the 'digital divide' to become a barrier between people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Digital India Week here during inauguration of digital India week, he exhorted the youth to not only use technology for the country's benefit, but also serve the world by building cyber-security solutions. He urged industry captains, who were present in huge numbers, to boost production of electronics devices and goods in the country as part of the “Make in India” initiative, leading to corporate pledging Rs. 4.50 lakh crore for the Digital India initiative. Drawing attention to global worries on cyber-security, Modi said digitization will mean a lot of data usage stored in servers or cloud. For that the country has to meet the challenge posed by the threat of the 'bloodless war', he added. Clouds of a bloodless war are hovering over the world. The world is terrified by this....India has a big role to play in this,” he said, adding that India should accept the challenge to provide a shield to the world. Modi, who launched the 'Digital India' logo and released policy documents related to the initiative, said his vision of e-governance and mobile governance was when all important government services will be available on a mobile phone. “I dream of a Digital India where highspeed digital highways unite the nation; 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation; technology ensures that the citizen-government interface is incorruptible,” he said, adding that “so many coal mines were auctioned but there is no allegation against the government because it was all done in a transparent manner (online).” Similarly, the Digital India initiative was aimed at improving the lives of the common man. “India may have missed the Industrial Revolution, but will not miss the IT revolution,” he said. Assuring full support to young entrepreneurs who wished to launch start-ups, Modi called upon the youth to innovate and said 'Design in India' is as important as 'Make in India'. Among the top business honchos who pledged investments worth Rs. 4.5 lakh crore and employment to around 18 lakh people are Mukesh Ambani, Cyrus Mistry, Sunil Mittal, Anil Ambani, Anil Agarwal Azim Premji and global CEOs such as Ping Cheng of Delta Electronics. The honchos, who shared the dais with the Prime Minister, were given twoand-a-half minutes each to share their vision and commitment on the Digital India programme.
he railways are perhaps one of the most sought after travel methods in the country. They are convenient and also carry a lot of people and goods at the same. There are several types of trains, from inter-state to intra-state, from Delhi and Jaipur Metros to the Mumbai locals. It would be remiss to not call them the lifeline of many citizens of the country. Indian Railways is also continuously adding to the plethora of services that it already provides. The latest addition to this repertoire is India's first air-conditioned DEMU (diesel electric multiple unit) train
launched by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on June 21. The Angamaly-ErnakulamTripunithura-Piravom train service is expected to help in reducing traffic congestion in Kerela's fastest growing city. DEMU and MEMU trains are trains that run short distances in Semi-Urban and Rural areas and usually carry daily commuter traffic. The AC coach has reclining-type comfortable cushion seats for 73
Simla : The government of Himachal Pradesh had signed an agreement with the Government of Spain to let them purchase carbon credits under the Bio-carbon Project of World Bank-funded HP Mid-Himalayan watershed project. This project is being implemented in the state to increase the livelihood means of the marginalized people, mainly small and marginal farmers. The agreement has led the government to receive the first installment of the sequestered carbon credits which is a sum of Rs 1.93 crores. The Himachal Pradesh government has received the cash benefits from the government of Spain for implementing the climate change mitigation project under the Kyoto Protocol. The beneficiaries of the cash benefits are about 50,000 villagers from 602 villages who all raised multiple forest plantations on degraded public land in the mid and high hills under the community-led initiative. As a part of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), forest and other plantations are being raised on the
common village land by villagers and local communities who have banded together into groups. The financial benefits from the carbon credits will be directly passed on to the local communities and user groups as incentive for improved natural resource management practices. Additional Chief Secretary (Forests and Environment) Tarun Shridhar told Media that “The Project is registered under CDM provisions and subsequently a purchased agreement was entered with the government of Spain through the World Bank for the sale of carbon credits. The forestry plantations raised on 3204 hectares became eligible for the first cycle of carbon credits. The verification process for the first cycle was completed in November, 2014.” In fact, the project is one of its kinds in India and is under the public sector and community driven initiative in the hill state.
passengers and is equipped with biotoilets and vestibules for free movement of passengers between coaches. There are other non-AC coaches in the train which have bench-type cushion seats and large windows with glass shutters. Prabhu said at a function at the Ernakulam Junction,“It is for the first time in a DEMU service, we have provided air conditioned service. We want to increase it further.
“If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” - Bob Hooe
New Delhi : The Government will provide a roadmap for ending corporate tax exemptions in the next 45 days, Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das said here , as part of a plan to lower the tax rate to 25 % in four years. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while presenting his annual Budget in February, had announced that the Government would gradually pare corporate tax by 5 per cent during the next four years from 30 per cent and roll back various tax exemptions.
Indore : Mandu, the tourist hotspot of Madhya Pradesh, is all set to get a makeover this August. A joint venture of Mandu Tourism Promotion Council and Dhar administration, the project entails provision of adventure sports, open air theatre, workshops for tourists and other amenities. SDM of Dhar district, Neeraj Singh said, "Despite Mandu's fame as an archaeological marvel, it is unable to attract an encouraging number of visitors throughout the year. Hence, a decision was taken to upgrade tourism amenities and make visitors' stay at Mandu more enjoyable." Highlighting the project, he added that adventure sports would include paragliding, paramotor, parasailing, water tugging, banana rides, hiking, rappelling, rock climbing and a zipline across the valley of Kakdakho. Also, an entertainment zone would extend facilities like paint ball and machine ball cricket to tourists. "We
have also decided to develop an open air theatre on top of Chhapan Mahal or in front of Jahaj Mahal, which would screen movies during the evenings. Films depicting heritage of Malwa and Mandu region and also the blockbusters shot in Mandu, will be screened." Also, National Rural Livelihood Mission and local selfhelp groups (SHGs) from different fields will come together to hold workshops for tourists on local jewellery, pottery, local dances, turban tying and traditional cloth dyeing. Anup Shrivastav, an artist from Dhar, said, "Mandu is a treasure trove of scenic beauty. We can convey pulchritude of this archaeological marvel through our artworks."
Indore : The Indore Development Authority is planning to widening 62year-old Shastri Bridge through a huge facelift plan and be developed into a four-lane one. This bridge in located at centre of the city and connecting two major parts of Indore. By briefing expansion plan of the bridge Shankar Lalwani, chairman of Indore Development Authority (IDA) said that “The bridge has undergone a lot of wear and tear, and has withstood the adversities of all kinds of weather all these years; it is high time we upgrade it into a four-lane bridge for the safety and convenience of the citizens,”. The proposal for widening the bridge was discussed and approved by the board members in a meeting held last month. He said: “The low height and narrow width of the bridge is also obstructing the
railways from expanding the railway station, introducing more rail lines underneath.” At present, the gap between the base of the bridge and high-tension electric lines passing underneath is merely a couple of inches the height of the bridge will be increased at least by a meter, he said. On several occasions, the railways have asked the district authorities for the bridge's uplift, as it will give them enough space for expansion of both platforms one and four and attach more bogies with the trains. The expansion will also allow the authorities to connect the new platforms with the old one. The 448-meter-long Shastri Bridge was constructed in 1953 and has served as one of the important links in
connecting the new Indore in the west and old Indore in the east. Lalwani said: “We will conduct a feasibility survey and obtain land from the government and the railways if needed.”The traffic will, however, be allowed to flow while the bridge is under construction. “We will try to come up with some mechanism so that the construction work does not obstruct the normal flow of traffic,” he said. The board also discussed the construction of several flyovers in the city in order to ease the perennial issue of traffic congestion.
Indore : In the month of July, Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport will get WiFi facility. Director of the airport Manoj Chansoria said that passengers had been demanding Wi-Fi internet for a long time. "Process for building a WiFi zone at the airport has started. The survey has been done by a telecom c o m p a n y, " s a i d C h a n s o r i a . He said Wi-Fi facility would be accessible for limited hours and after which passengers would have pay for the services depending on their usage. Passengers will be able to access internet on their laptops and cell phones sitting inside terminal buildings. "We will charge a monthly fee from the company, which will take user fee from passengers," said Chansoria. He said the company would be asked to install Wi-Fi device of standard
bandwidth so that is can be accessible to more passengers. "The Wi-Fi facility will help passengers stay connected," said Chansoria. Airport Manager Vivek Atre said, "On an average, passengers at Indore airport wait or spend around 20 minutes or more when there are flight delays. There are many business dealers and professionals who constantly require internet connection".
EDITORIAL
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f a failed monsoon could have meant riots and lost elections in the 1980s, it still means crop failures, and possible farmer suicides and electoral debacles. Over forty per cent of the agricultural area that gets harvested continues to depend on rains, without any irrigation support. This grim fact looms large over all the technological advancements, daily analysis, warnings, contingency announcements and ministerial proclamations that have become an annual drill every MayJune period. Last monh, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh informed that the latest monsoon predictions by the meteorological department point to a 12 per cent deficient rainfall during this season. Even before that his ministry put in place a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) for drought 2015. All chief ministers have been asked to expedite preparation of state level 'Management Plan on Drought' at the state level. The monsoon situation looks similar to the last year (201415), when bad monsoons affected the Kharif crops. Last year's overall production of food grains also suffered because of unseasonal rains and hailstorm that affected the Rabi crops. As per 3rd Advance Estimates for 2014-15, total food grains production in the country should be 251.12 million tonnes, lower by 13.92 million tonnes as compared to the - monsoon favoured - record food grains production of 265.04 million tonnes in 2013-14. Total production of rice is estimated at 102.54 million tonnes which is lower by 4.11 million tonnes than the last year's record production of 106.65 million tonnes. Production of wheat estimated at 90.78 million tonnes is lower by 5.07 million tonnes than the record production of 95.85 million tonnes achieved during 2013-14. Similarly, the total production of coarse cereals is estimated at 40.42
million tonnes, also lower by 2.87 million tonnes than the previous year. As a result of setback in kharif as well as rabi seasons, the production of most of the crops in the country declined during 2014-15, the reason why the government continues to be worried. While the figures are proof of the genuine political and social concerns over delayed or deficient monsoons, agriculture production statistics also tells us that Indian farmers might be in the process of learning how to minimise its impact on overall agricultural output. That is because, even when compared to a year of record production, 2014-15, which was rain deficient and saw unfriendly unseasonal rain and hail storm, the decline in agricultural production was only 5.3 per cent. The government preparations did help last year, but there was also an element of luck here. Some of the regions where there was less rain fall were well irrigated areas, thereby minimising the impact. While there is no doubt about the need to increase the reach of irrigation, public investment in agricultural research, education, extension, soil testing, warehousing and cold-storage etc. also helps minimise adverse impacts. Let us not forget that the latest National Sample Survey Organisation data indicates that about 59 per cent of farmers do not get much technical assistance and know-how from government-funded farm research institutes or extension services. They rely on progressive farmers, media, and private commercial agents such as dealers of farm inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides for technical information. Effective measures to tackle adverse climatic conditions should not be a once-in-a-year exercise. It should be a continuous, round the year exercise. Will the new Kisan TV, along with mobile applications and technology tools help?
Pratibha Shrivastava
Dear Readers, As you must be aware GSN is a newly launched Business Monthly, releasing from Indore (M.P.), our team request you to send your suggestions feedback, Stories related to our columns & article’s. Your views are valuable to us. Please write mail to us at : globalstandardnews@gmail.com or call : 98930-98803 or visit us : www.globalstandardnews.in “Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.” - Viktor Frankl
Indore : Veteran banker KV Kamath ,the newly appointed chief of the New Development Bank of BRICS nations, has stepped down from the post of chairman of the Indian Institute of Management , Indore. Mr. Kamath become the chairman of the board of directors of IIM, Indore on 18th May ,2012. "Consequent to his appointment as president of BRICS Bank, KV Kamath has stepped down from the position of chairman of IIM-I board of governors (BoG) and society," said Akthar Parvez, spokesperson of IIM-I. With Mr. Kamath steping down the HRD secretary will act as the chairman of IIM, Indore until a new chairman is appointed. Mr. Kamath was appointed as the head of the BRICS bank in may and his appointment will become effective once he is free from all his current assingnments.
Paris : Operating environment has improved for airlines in India but there is a need to get the airfare metrics right to make profits."We are clear that the Indian market is going to grow at the fastest rate across the world. Our 20-year annual growth rate forecast stands at eight per cent and we had estimated India's aircraft requirement at $205 billion. But we will revise upward this forecast this month," Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar said at the Paris International Air Show . Keskar, also a Senior Vice President at Boeing Asia Pacific, said at the Paris International Air Show that fundamentals remain good for the Indian aviation market, irrespective of the absence of any major announcements of orders placed by Indian carriers at the week-long show. "There are basically three factors that affect the aviation market -- fuel prices, exchange rate and the basic supply-demand ratio. "The first part, which is fuel prices is very much under control. The exchange rate may be still high, but it has broadly remained within a range and that is a positive."The third factor, which actually determines the fare and therefore can impact the sector in a big way, is the only area where there is some concern," Keskar told media in an interview. He said: "I am hopeful that there
Bhopal : According to a data released by the Reserve Bank of India, as against a FDI of Rs 1,208 crore (US $220 million) in 2012-13 and `708 crore (US $119 million) in 2013-14, the state attracted just `601 crore (US $100 million) foreign investment in 2014-15. The foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to Madhya Pradesh has shown a steady decline over the past three years even as foreign investment in the neighboring Rajasthan and Gujarat has picked up.The state government has blamed economic slowdown and other commercial factors behind the slump, but expressed optimism about the future. “Foreign investors look at multiple factors, including worldclass infrastructure and logistics. The Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have failed to take off in the state and this is one indication that Madhya Pradesh is not a very attractive destination except for companies in the pharmaceutical sector,” Dewas Industry Association
president Ashok Khandelia said. Assocham secretary general DS Rawat said “There is a problem of availability of raw material, land and clearances and so investors, especially the foreign investors, are not getting the right environment for investment,”. A recent study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India has also pointed out that poor implementation of MoUs signed by investors in Madhya Pradesh over the past few years has resulted in huge escalation of costs. “Foreign investment depends on a number of factors and we have big projects in the pipeline…The state government has come out with a policy for defence sector and we are confident that it would attract foreign companies in future,” a state industry department official said.
My favorite food is Hyderabadi Biryani & favorite drink is Coconut Water. My favorite sweet is Junnu (made from first milk of cow). My favorite sports are Cricket & Bedminton, favorite sports man is Sachin Tendulkar.
would be an improvement on this front as well. The average DelhiMumbai airfare today is just adequate enough to break even for an airline. The low cost carriers are today seeing 90 per cent load factor and therefore I am not concerned on that front as well. "But what I think is that a high load factor and a low fare is not a good idea. Besides, the basic infrastructure remains an issue."On the positive side, Keskar said airlines are expected to begin showing profits from the current quarter. "Even Air India has begun reducing its losses, although revenue still remains low. One of the private players has already reported a profit, while the other has cut the losses significantly," he said. On aircraft purchase plans of the carriers, Keskar said that only one carrier has gone for cutting its fleet size while Jet is still cautiously adding to its fleet. "Air India is actually doing pretty well and one of the reasons could be their use of our fuel-efficient 787," he said, while adding that another key factor for an airline to make profit is the fleet deployment," he said.
My favorite writer is Alex Haley. My favorite book is Roots. Favorite Subject is Biography & Autobiographies. My idol is Rahul Dravid. My favorite movie is Maya Bazaar (Telugu). My favorite actors are Amitabh Bachchan, Rajendra Prasad (Telugu) & favorite actress is Savitri (Telugu). Last seen movie is "Tanu Weds Manu-2" at Indore. My favorite holiday destination are Besant Nagar (my native place) & Karim Nagar Dist. Telangna. My last visited place is Kumarakom (Kerala). I always carry my mobile & purse with me.
Indore : The piped natural gas (PNG) project is yet to catch people's fancy in Indore because of switchover fears and the liquid petroleum gas (LPG) still being a handy s u b s i d i s e d o p t i o n . At present, the piped gas connections are being provided by Avantika Gas Ltd (AGL), which is a joint venture of GAIL (India) Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). The PNG project took off in December 2011 with a target of providing 5,000 connections by March 2012 and 1.20 lakh by 201617. But, so far only about 3,100 households have been put on the PNG connection. The sources attribute many reasons to the slow
pace of the project besides procedural delays. However, Avantika Gas Ltd (AGL) managing director Anil Kumar cites other reasons too. He says, “One problem is that the price difference between the piped gas and the LPG is negligible. The other (problem) is that many people are reluctant to shell out the initial Rs 6,000 registration amount…” Kumar says efforts are on to create awareness among the people about the advantages of a piped gas connection and the momentum, he says, has picked up in the past few months. “In 2014-15, we have added 1,200 connections as against 1,900 connections until 2014,” he says. “There are many instances when one household has a connection but the neighbour is reluctant to get one,” he says. At present, AGL has a 220-km pipeline network for supplying PNG in the city and will soon increase it to 400 km. After launching operations in Saket and South Tukoganj area, the company is now expanding to other locations, including Bhanwarkuan area, Pipliyahana and Nepania. Sources say that subsidy on LPG cylinders is one of the main reasons that is preventing piped gas from becoming a cheaper option.
The company is also trying to allay fears that the supply might be affected at a future date when the connection spreads to more households in the city. The company has a capacity for supplying 12 lakh SCM (standard cubic metre) of gas per day and can easily cover the whole city, as a single household needs an average of 0.5 SCM daily. The piped gas prices in Indore start from Rs 22 per SCM (standard cubic metre) and vary according to the consumption. Company officials say a family that consumes one LPG cylinder per month will consume piped gas of about Rs 410 to Rs 430 (including VAT). The price of a subsidised LPG cylinder in Indore is Rs 460 so the piped gas consumer will end up saving some money.
Bhopal : Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), a leading global telecommunications service provider with operations in 20 countries and Government of Madhya Pradesh rolled out 'E-Shakti', an initiative to build internet awareness and literacy among the women of Madhya Pradesh. The initiative was launched by Hon'ble Minister for Science and Technology Shri Bhoopendra Singh at a ceremony held at Subhash Excellence School, Bhopal. A training session was also conducted at the launch program with more than 300 girl students in the audience. The objective of the training would be to empower the women with useful
knowledge on internet which would make them adopt and use internet in their daily lives leading into a digitally i n c l u s i v e s o c i e t y. T h e S t a t e Government has identified the girl students from Government schools and colleges and women employees of various Government departments as the beneficiaries of 'E-Shakti' initiative. The 1st phase of the initiative will be conducted across 6 Districts of Madhya Pradesh – Bhopal, Dewas, Gwalior, Damoh, Dhar and Satna. The internet awareness training would include elementary knowledge pertaining to internet, email usage, browsers, YouTube, IRCTC, State
Government portals and mobile apps and other apps of daily use including social media. It also throws light on the various ways to access internet and the devices required for the same. The training would be conducted in Hindi and would be aided by explanatory videos. Each session would be attended by 50 members. Speaking on the occasion, Vir Inder Nath, Chief Executive Officer, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Bharti Airtel Ltd said, “Internet has the potential to transform the society into a strong, prosperous and a progressive ecosystem by building access to the infinite world of knowledge and technology. Adoption
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” - Aristotle
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illionaire Anil Agarwal-led Sterlite Technologies announced an investment of Rs. 40,000 crores to set up a LCD panel manufacturing plant in the country, generating about 50,000 jobs.The company, which makes optical fibres used in high speed Internet services, is also working on a project to connect defence establishments through optical fibres in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). "Sterlite Technologies under the Digital India theme will also set up a LCD manufacturing plant in the country with an investment of Rs. 40,000 crores and which will generate about 50,000 jobs," Agarwal, the head of mining giant Vedanta Resources Plc, said at the inauguration of the Digital India Week in New Delhi. Industry would actively participate in the drive as it has the potential to drive India ahead as a knowledge and economic power, he added."Sterlite Technologies will play a responsible role in being a part of Digital India. We are already working on a project in J&K to connect the Defence establishment through optical fibres," Agarwal said. He said such a step will help in cutting down import of electronic goods in the country. However, he did not specify the timeline of investment or for establishing the plant. Agarwal added that whenever the country and government have trusted the industry they have performed, whether it is pharma, telecom, etc.
of internet by the girls and women of Madhya Pradesh would help them stay connected, access wide range of information, keep pace with the latest happening around them and implement its use in their daily lives and thereby bridge the digital divide. We strongly believe that digitally empowered women would prove to be a strong foundation for the forwardmarching state of Madhya Pradesh. We are honored and extremely thankful to the Government of Madhya Pradesh for giving us this opportunity to conduct the E-Shakti initiative and collaborate with them in their march towards achieving the vision of a truly Digital India.”
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mother of two children, a cooperative wife and CEO of a leading IT company Hewlett-Packard India, Neelam Dhawan is an icon of women in the corporate world. She has also worked as the head of Microsoft India for quite some time. In an industry, which is predominantly male oriented, her rise to the top echelons of IT industry is no less than a miracle. She faced terrific challenges and fought her way up to grab the less crowded top positions. Her story is quite inspiring to the young females, who think it is very difficult to survive as a woman in the tough corporate world.
Early rejections and fierce struggle to survive She has had her fair share of failures before she acquired this glorious success. In fact, companies like Hindustan Lever Ltd. (now Hindustan Unilever Ltd.) and Asian Paints did not hire her as the HR people of these companies thought she did not have the spark in herself. It was largely a stereotypical bias of the 80s and 90s that a woman cannot handle the role of the successful marketer. But Neelam Dhawan was not among the quitters, who accept failure too quickly. She was among the rare species, who are stronger than most of their contemporaries, including males. She was determined to venture into the unchartered territory of the IT industry of that time, that too in the role of a marketer, where no Indian lady had ever claimed any noticeable achievement. But, she successfully created history and became an inspiration for thousands of young ladies, who quit midway getting disheartened. It is difficult to believe that she was the face of Indian arm of Microsoft throughout her stint, especially in the light of the fact that she ended up working for IT industry accidentally. The employers of her main field FMCG had closed doors for her and it led to her entry into IT and software industry in the field of marketing. Childhood and schooling Neelam Dhawan had a privileged childhood, where her parents never discriminated between girls and boys. She did her BA (economics) from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi in 1980, followed by an MBA in marketing management in 1982 from FMS New Delhi. When she was rejected by the FMCG giants such as Hindustan Unilever and Asian Paints, she was extremely dejected, but she had an undaunted conviction that she's made for marketing and her qualification at FMS New Delhi was a call of destiny. She refused to surrender in front of the insurmountable barriers and joined HCL, an IT services company. Her decision to join HCL was not inspired from any IT boom theory as nobody could have predicted the phenomenal growth of IT industry, way back in the 80s. It was just to continue her marketing career and learn new insights. Surprisingly, she joined HCL as a trainee executive
increasing and dollar was depreciating, so the ride was not so smooth. She put on the leadership cap and successfully sailed the company out of the trouble waters. Impressed with that, Meg Whitman, another woman stalwart and the global leader of HP assigned her an extended portfolio of IT services and software engineering research. At present, she is working as the director of HP India Pvt. Limited and at the same time also a member of the supervisory board of Philips Electronics NV. Family Neelam Dhawan is married to Atul Dhawan, who is very cooperative and doting husband. Her mother-inlaw, who was also a working woman, resigned from her job to take care of the second child of Neelam Dhawan, only to enable the ambitious lady to focus on her enhanced responsibilities. Her two daughters are named Naina and Nupur. International recognitions for a female business leader from India When someone achieves so much, despite rejections, challenges and friction, the world comes out to salute him/her; and the case with Ms. Dhawan is no different. She was featured as 37th “Most Powerful Women in Business” in the entire world in the Fortune's annual global list in 2009. Bill Gates of Microsoft had declared Microsoft India as a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation in the year 2006 in the Asia-Pacific region, being impressed by the leadership and performance of Ms. Dhawan in the capacity of its managing director. It's a huge recognition for a female business personality from India that has earned respect for the country as well. Controversies When we live, survive, struggle and thrive in the real world, the controversies are quite natural. Though, there are no noticeable controversies related to Ms. Dhawan's career, but she was in news in 2008, when she resigned from the prestigious position of managing director of Microsoft. According to several microblogs, Microsoft India was under scrutiny at the time, for various irregularities and the investigation was being initiated by the Microsoft Corp. Seattle. She resigned 10 days before official announcement, citing a family bereavement. People still believe that she had some differences with her colleagues in other departments of Microsoft India and that was the reason she wanted to keep herself away from all the controversies. She calmly denied all such allegations and reiterated that she wanted to be a part of a major change going on in HP India, which was struggling with various issues at the time. It was like homecoming to her, where she shouldered the responsibility to pull the company out from troubled waters. Both HP and Microsoft India must be indebted to this lady, who restructured their brands and took these companies to glorious heights in India.
H
er genius was discovered at the age of two and she was admitted in class IX at the age of five. Since then, she has created many records. She will now do her PhD till she turns 17 and becomes eligible to apply for medical entrance test. Know more about this child prodigy. She was just five when she was directly enrolled in class IX in 2005. When she was seven, she got listed in the Limca Book of Records for being the 'youngest student' to pass class X. She was 13 when she completed her graduation and at the age of 15, she has created yet another record by finishing her Msc. And that too with a Semester Grade Point Average (SGPAs) of 8! Meet Sushma Verma, a 15-year old young genius from the outskirts of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, who has made headlines by clearing Msc (Microbiology) from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University (BBAU). Not only cleared the course with flying colours, but also topped the class in the first, second and third semesters in spite of being the youngest in the class. Most of her classmates were at least eight to nine years older than her. Her talent was discovered when she recited the Ramayana at a local school function at the age of two. Her brother Shailendra, who is also a prodigy, had cleared class 10 at the age of nine and
and continued over there for the next 14 years. Her career also flourished with the growth of HCL until it became a brand name in IT industry. Her marketing challenge grew with the rising stature of the company. A quantum jump Her 14 year long stint at HCL not only polished her marketing and administrative skills, but also ascertained the fact that she was meant for the field of marketing in the IT industry. It clearly charted her career path and she joined Compaq and worked there for six years before joining IBM, where she stayed for another four years. At IBM, she was designated as VP and also a member of Board of Directors. It was a huge jump that established her as a leading Jaipur : Did you know that a simple name in the entire IT industry of mobile is almost doubling the soya India. harvest of women farmers in It was in 1999, that she joined Rajasthan? Soya Samridhi, a mobileHewlett-Packard as a VP, Customer based initiative by Self Reliant Solutions Group. It also established Initiatives Through Joint Action her as a renowned name in the (SRIJAN), has made it possible through corporate sphere. She is an their interesting approach.Thanks to unconventional story of success in this mobile-based intervention, the the IT industry, where the ratio of harvest per hectare has increased from female employees is less than 18%. 12 quintals to 30 quintals in just one year! Becoming a face of Microsoft India SRIJAN's interesting mobile-based After that, she started with Microsoft Soya Samriddhi project is helping India in 2005. It was the first time women farmers manage their soya that she walked into the corridors of a crops and get advice on relevant software major because till yet she techniques and best practices from had worked only for the hardware experts to enhance their harvest. industry. She was the head of sales “The productivity of Indian agriculture and marketing operations at is in a deplorable condition. Farmers Microsoft, where she also learned to don't make enough profits and are deal with both the customers and struggling with poverty. We thought we channel partners. She also tried her should monitor each farm to see if farmers are using techniques prescribed hands on people management and by us and determine what is lacking,” brand awareness. She made such a says Ved Mitra Arya from SRIJAN. remarkable impression that From monitoring the growth of crops to Microsoft Corporation declared providing solutions in case of crop Microsoft India as its subsidiary in failure, this service has had a the entire APAC region in 2006. tremendous positive impact on Indian Soon, she became the face of agriculture. Microsoft India despite the fact that The field representatives from SRIJAN there were many senior leaders in the register the farmers using a smartphone company at the time. During the and create their profiles which have course of the time, she assumed the their primary details, land details, crop responsibilities of managing director details, resource details, etc. This is (India) for Microsoft Corp and later followed by a survey that marks the field and measures the area to optimise on went back to her passion input and increase productivity. “hardware.” The team also checks details like seed Homecoming to bringing the rate, application of fertilizers, diseases sinking HP back to life in the crop, any irregularities and In 2008, she again joined HP, the important areas of intervention. “Apart company where she had learned a lot from getting crucial advice and tips, the about IT industry, but now she took farmers can also get help in tackling on a more challenging role of a diseases in the crops. The SRIJAN team managing director. It was a tough connects them with agricultural time as the company was faced with scientists who then provide timely many troubles. Competition was solutions,” says Arya. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. - Benjamin Franklin
became the youngest science graduate at the age of 14. She would often read her brother's books and took training from her teachers to solve the problems quickly. Her brilliance does not just shine in India. She was invited for an IQ test in Japan where she competed with 35 other students of her age and stood first. She aspires to become a doctor but her age came in between her dreams and her CPMT results were withheld because she was under age. As she couldn't pursue the medical course due to age constraints, she thought of finishing her PhD till she turns 17. Daughter of a sanitation worker who is employed in the same college where she studied her Msc, Sushma was also given a grant of Rs. 8,00,000 by Sulabh's chief Dr Bindeshwari Pathak towards higher education. Sushma is indeed a rare talent who has surprised the world with her incredible achievements. She has yet again proved that true talent can find its right place in spite of many challenges. We congratulate Sushma on all her achievements and hope to see her scaling great heights.
In addition to this, the mobile service dispatches information on price and weather forecasts and prediction or forecasts on harvests, which help farmers in harvest collection and better managing the allocation of warehouses. Launched in 2014, the facility has reached out to over 700 women farmers effectively in 17 villages of Rajasthan. Apart from this, SRIJAN is connected with over 15,000 farmers in four states of India. “Currently this mobile service is just available in Rajasthan for soya crops. But it can be easily be replicated for other crops in other states of the country,” says Arya. The USP of this programme is that it reaches out to marginalised farmers with less than one hectare of land. “The government schemes mostly focus on bigger farmers, and small scale farmers are not benefitted from their services. This initiative reaches out to those farmers who need it the most,” says Arya. Those farmers who do not have access to a smartphone can avail the facility through a text-based service, where the SRIJAN team gives out valuable advice, suggestions and help in Hindi. “Many farmers can't read, so we are planning to build a vocal component in the service that will read out the solutions to the farmers. But then, with dialect and language being different in every district, it is a challenge to come up with this feature,” he says. The SRIJAN team also plans to start a peer-to-peer learning experience for the farmers. Through this feature, successful farmers will be profiled, honoured and publicised as case studies to give them a confidence boost and also encourage other farmers to follow similar techniques. Thanks to SRIJAN, a simple mobile phone is creating a larger impact and helping Indian farmers to make the best out of limited resources.
I never wanted to be part of the familyowned business, but wished to do something on my own. In 1982, while I was studying chartered accountancy the opportunity came my way. A friend managed to convince me that industrial chemicals were in great demand and I would do well if I started a manufacturing unit. The offer was too tempting as he was into the same business and offered to help me out with the technical knowhow. He also promised to buy the entire range of products. It could not get any better, I thought. I dropped out of the CA course and took a loan of Rs 15 lakh from a public sector bank. My father stood as the guarantor. I purchased a small plot of 1,200 sq ft at Bhayander, a western suburb in Mumbai, for Rs 3 lakh. The rest went into buying raw material, machinery and as working capital for running the business. In short,Paranjape Chemicals started operations with nine people on board. The first three months went into learning the basics of the trade. I did
not have to worry about selling or marketing the products. I was making decent profits with the friend making timely payments and buying products on a regular basis. However, six months into the business my luck ran out and I was duped by my friend. He called me up one morning and asked me to ship him the entire stock of raw material I had. He said he needed it urgently and would pay me as soon as he gets payments from his clients. In good faith, I gave him the entire stock of around Rs 7 lakh. Within a few days he simply disappeared. The financial loss was immense and because I depended entirely on him I did not have my own network of clients. All that I still possessed was chemical stocks worth Rs 30,000. I did not lose hope and decided to employ a couple of marketing professionals to sell my products. Soon enough, I was back in business and started generating decent returns. The experience taught me one invaluable lesson; not to trust everyone and, instead, depend on my
own capabilities to run a successful venture. By the end of the first year Paranjape Chemicals had posted a turnover of around Rs 1.5 lakh. I continued with the chemicals manufacturing business, but was not happy with the progress. In 1987, I came to know of someone who owned a vacant plot in Pune measuring 10,000 sq ft. I expressed my wish to construct a multi-storey building and he readily agreed. I paid him Rs 1 lakh and got into an agreement to give him two flats on completion of the project. I was considering taking a bank loan to fund the construction, but the advance payments I received from the people who booked flats in the project helped me finish it. I named the new company Paranjape Schemes (Construction). This, however, could not have been possible if my uncle would not have helped me. He was a contractor and he guided me all through with his expertise and experience. Even before we could finish the first project, a family approached me to
National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) allow individuals, companies and firms to transfer funds from one bank to another. You can check the RBI website for a list of NEFT and RTGS-enabled branches of your bank. These facilities can only be used for transferring money within the country. To opt for these, you need to fill a form providing your or the beneficiary's details — name, bank branch where the account is held, the Indian Financial System Code, a unique code for identifying the branch, and the account number and type. You have to submit a cheque while opting for this facility. You can also transfer funds through net banking. These are third-party transfers and the option is available under the same header on your net banking home page. How much can be transferred? There is no ceiling on the minimum or maximum amount that can be transferred through NEFT. You can even transfer Re 1. However, a minimum of Rs 2 lakh must be transferred through the RTGS service. There is no cap on the maximum amount, though. However, banks may
restrict the amount you can transfer in one day. For example, HDFC Bank allows a maximum of Rs 10 lakh to be transferred in a day. What are the charges applicable? According to RBI, banks cannot levy any charge for inward remittances or on receipt of funds. However, it has capped the charges on outward transfers through NEFT and RTGS. For transfers through the former, you need to pay around Rs 5-25, depending on the amount. Banks cannot charge more than Rs 5 for any transfer up to Rs 1 lakh, Rs 15 for Rs 1-2 lakh and Rs 25 for those above Rs 2 lakh. Under RTGS, you have to pay Rs 25 for Rs 25 lakh and Rs 50 for anything above Rs 5 lakh. How are the two different? NEFT operates on a deferred net settlement (DNS) basis and settles transactions in batches. The settlement takes place with all transactions received till a particular cut-off time. It operates in hourly batches — there are 11 settlements from 9 am to 7 pm on weekdays and five between 9 am and 1 pm on Saturdays. Any transaction initiated after the designated time would have to wait till the next
settlement time. In RTGS, transactions are processed continuously, all through the business hours. RBI's settlement time is 9 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 1:30 pm on Saturdays. Banks can function within this time frame or change it. Here, transfers made are quick and can be helpful in emergencies. What if the amount does not get credited? If the transaction fails, the beneficiary's bank must return the amount to your bank within two hours and the transaction must be reversed. Also, the bank must transfer the amount to your account within 30 minutes of receiving the same. The process can work quickly for RTGS. But, in case of NEFT the entire process could take an additional three-four hours.
The IRDAI makes it mandatory for insurers and the TPAs to ensure that every discount received or agreed to be received from the hospital are passed on to the policyholder. A regulatory move that actually helps consumers in getting a discount is although a rare event but always a welcome move. Health insurance policyholders are set for a sweet surprise as Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has directed all insurance companies and Third Party Administrators (TPA's) to ensure that if there are any discounts obtained from the hospitals, they need to be passed on to the policyholders. The new rule : Insurance companies and the TPA's have an agreement with hospitals on the rack rates of treatment cost of all specific ailments. When a hospital raises a bill, there can be a discount offered on the same which goes hidden from the bill. IRDAI has a s k e d i n s u r e r a n d T PA ' s t o appropriately identify and apportion the
discount to the health insurance policy (on cashless or on reimbursement basis). How discounts work : The hospital bill will now on reflect the discount being offered, if there is one. Say, the sum insured of a health policy is for Rs 1 lakh and the gross bill amount is Rs 1 lakh i.e. excluding the discount. If there is an agreed discount of 10 percent, the insurer would end up paying (if its cashless payment for policyholder) Rs 90,000 to the hospital. Importantly, see how you as a policyholder gain. Instead of Rs 1 lakh (entire sum insured) being utilized, Rs 10,000 of your coverage remains unused. In case, the hospital bill is more than the sum insured, IRDAI has asked to initially adjust the amount of discount from the bill amount and then present the same to the insurer or policyholder to pay. Say, in the above case, if bill raised is to the tune of Rs 1.20 lakh. In that case, policyholder would have to pay extra Rs 20,000 from own pocket as sum insured is till Rs1 lakh. However,
now discount has to be adjusted and extra payment will be restricted to Rs 10,000. Gains for policyholder : As a policyholder, one stands to gain on three counts: One, the sum insured to the extent of the discount remains available for the policyholder for future use, and secondly, in case the bill is exceeding the sum insured, discounting helps in minimizing payout and thirdly, in case it's a reimbursement case (unlike cashless where insurer pays), you need to pay lesser amount. End note : The move is certainly customer friendly and brings out the agreement clauses between insurers, TPA and hospitals out in open for the benefit of policyholders. The IRDAI makes it mandatory for insurers and the TPAs to ensure that every discount received or agreed to be received from the hospital are passed on to the policyholder. The next step could be to make the treatment rate chart along with discount transparent and easily accessible to all.
develop their 6,000 sq ft plot. The agreement was to give them five flats in exchange of the land. Both projects were completed on time and we made a net profit of Rs 20 lakh from the 37 flats we sold. Next, we purchased a plot and developed that as well. The turnover in 1987-88 was around Rs 80 lakh. In the following year I closed the chemical manufacturing unit and focused on scaling up the construction business. Between 1988 and 2004, we built several housing projects, from 20-30flat buildings to constructing townships in and around Pune. My approach was simple. I would reinvest every bit of the profit back into the business to expand operations. In the 25 years after the launch of Paranjape Schemes, we have expanded operations to various real estate categories, including housing, commercial spaces, schools, colleges, hospitality, SEZ and townships. Till now we have completed 160-plus projects or 1.40 crore sq ft of real estate space,
Between your wallet and that locker in your house where you keep things safe (in theory; in practice you forget to put things in there safely, and then have a panic attack as you desperately search everywhere for your missing passport), how many government documents do you think you have? A quick check shows that there are several at hand - an Aadhaar card, a driver's license, voter ID, PAN card, all in the wallet, and a passport at home. Then there's old income tax return, property tax receipts, and educational certificates from school and college, all kept "safely" archived for when they're needed. That's a huge number of documents to keep and manage, and the government also seems to have taken notice. As part of Digital India week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched a digital locker service called DIGI Locker, though the service was softlaunched sometime back. So what exactly is DIGI Locker? Very simply, it's a website where you can store your various government issued documents, using your Aadhaar card as your identification. While it hasn't been stated as such, to us, it also looks like a good way of bringing data from different government agencies together under the aegis of the Aadhaar card, potentially making the document more useful to people carrying it. To sign up, you need only enter your Aadhaar number, and an SMS is set out to the mobile phone number you registered at the enrollment camp. This one-time-password is the only way to get inside your DIGI Locker for the first time, but afterwards, you can set your own password or link the DIGI Locker to your Google or Facebook login. After you've signed up, you can upload your government documents to the DIGILocker - there's only 10MB of storage at present - but you can also save the Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) of government documents using DIGI Locker. The idea is that this should minimise the need for physical documents; if your birth and education certificates are online, and you apply for a passport, then the Passport Office could use your Aadhaar number to request the DIGI Locker for your details, without needing you to carry a large file of documents for the
Don’t wish for less challenges, wish for more wisdom. - Earl Shoaf
including Athashri, a 1,500-unit senior citizen home. As a company, we have always strived to provide satisfaction to our customers and have been successful in doing so. The proof of this lies in the fact that nearly 60% of our business comes through referrals of our customers. Today, I am proud to be associated with a company that has pan-India presence. As of now, almost 2 crore sq feet is under construction across Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, Chiplun and Bangalore, with over 1,000 people in our payrolls. Last financial year we registered a turnover of Rs 1,500 crore and made Rs 225 crore in net profit (2013-14). This year we have a target of Rs 2,000 crore. We are also planning to get into the hospitality segment with a 153room hotel at Hinjewadi, Pune.
application. Or, the RTO could issue your Driver's License directly to your DIGI Locker, based on your Aadhaar information alone; this way, if you need to send your new license to any agency as verification, you'll have an online, authenticated version available whenever you need it. There's also a planned e-Signature facility with DIGI Locker, though that will be launched later; between digital signatures and government documents in the cloud, it is clear that the government wants to make it easier for people to use government services online. Today, getting almost anything done with the government requires you to produce ID documents, which requires a visit to the government offices. Few, if any, government branches allow you to mail a copy of your documents - which actually makes sense for security reasons - but DIGI Locker will be a way to authentically curate your documents, and make it easy to share them to different departments. There's also the question of external threats. While the DIGI Locker website looks to have the basics in place by using HTTPS (the same protocol that your bank uses to secure communication between your computer and their servers) for the main part of the website, you have to wonder how secure the backend is. You can be pretty sure that a place where everyone is keeping their official documents will be a target for hackers foreign and local. Right now, there's not too many ways in which DIGI Locker is useful, but it's a clear signpost to the direction we're moving in. Some people worry that this much centralised data could lead to misuse, and also warn of the potential of small mistakes in documents now creating much bigger problems than before, but there's no denying that the convenience of having all our documents digitally accessible and easily shared to different government departments when needed is very appealing. To access your digital locker, visit DIGI Locker and you can sign up now for free with your Aadhaar details.
New Delhi : While Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the Wimbledon women's doubles title, Hingis combined a day later with Leander Paes to win the mixed doubles crown.India has never had it so good at Wimbledon. With three titles on the center court here, Leander Paes, Sania Mirza and young Sumit Nagal brought a lot of cheer to the Indian fans that came out in good numbers to support their tennis heroes. Sania had combined with Swiss legend Hingis to win the women's doubles' crown. Hingis returned a day later to accompany Paes and walk away with a fluent 6-1, 6-1win over
Mumbai : Director turned choreographer Remo disuza once again proved his caliber through Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer dance film “ABCD 2” which has recently crossed the Rs.100-crore-mark in its third week. With the success of the Remo D'Souza directorial, Varun has made his debut in the Rs.100-crore club, The box office collection of "ABCD 2" suffered heavily in its third week as compared to its first and second weeks, though on the positive side, the movie has made it to the
New Delhi : UAE-based, GP Petroleums previously knows as Sah Petroleums, announced a tied up with Spain's petroleum company Repsol to exclusively manufacture and market Repsol's superior and comprehensive line of premium quality lubricants across India, thus unfolding a new chapter in the history of Indian company's operations. Sudhir Goyel, Managing Director, Gulf Petrochem Group, said, “We will be marketing their entire product
Austrian-Hungarian pair of Alexander Peya and Timea Babos. The fifth seeds were no match for the seventh seeds and could only manage a feeble smile after being completely outclassed. Nagal grabbed the headlines when the 17-year-old partnered Vietnam's Nam Hoang Ly to win the boys doubles trophy. The eight seeds beat fourth seeds Reilly Opelka and Akira Santillan 7 -6(4) 6-4 in the title clash that lasted 63 minutes. With three Indians rising to the occasion and achieving glory at the holy grail of tennis, the Indian tennis fraternity had a lot to cheer about.
? 100-crore club in its third weekend with its total collection of ? 103.25 crore in India. “ABCD 2”, which released on June 19, is the second Bollywood film in 2015 to enter the Rs.100 crore club after Kangana Ranaut's “Tanu Weds Manu Returns”. “With #ABCD2, Varun Dhawan as well as director Remo D'Souza will march into Rs.100 crore club.
Banglore : India defeated the visiting New Zealand team by nine wickets in Bangalore to clinch a five-match series 3-2.The New Zealand team was bowled out for 118 in 41 overs, which the home team comfortably chased down in 27.2 overs. Pundits believe the popularity of women's cricket in India will receive a boost with the national team's series win against New Zealand. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a prize of £21,500 for the women's team after the victory. Congratulations to our skipper Mithali Raj on leading the team with distinction and registering a series win against New Zealand," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said. BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur congratulated the captain of
the Indian team Mithali Raj for crossing 5,000 runs and expressed optimism for the future. "This fivematch ODI series proved to be competitive and was a wonderful showcase for the skill and class of women's cricket. It augurs well for the future," he said. Cricket is the most popular sport in India but the women's version of the game does not generate as much interest. While the men players enjoy celebrity status and make big money, the women players do not get much
Shraddha Kapoor's 2nd film to cross Rs.100 crore. The sequel of the 2013 film “ABCD: Any Body Can Dance", got the highest opening day and opening weekend collection in the year so far. While the film's entry is Varun’s first time ever in B-town’s this muchhyped club, Shraddha has been there done that. Her film “Ek Villain” was her first ever Rs.100 crore-plus film.
“We see the Indian market to have great potential. India will be a very important market for us and this tie-up will help us expand our footprints in t h i s e v e r g r o w i n g e c o n o m y. Partnering with GP Petroleums Ltd, a brand with strong presence in the Indian lubricant market, has given us a firsthand advantage in this sector. With our strengths together, we extend our capabilities to globally distribute a wider variety of products,” said Orlando Carbo, Lubricants Director, Repsol. IPOL has been present in India for over 4 decades & has established itself as one of the well accepted industrial range as part of our portfolio. With the lubricant brands. economy showing recovery, the GP Petroleums has well equipped lubricant segment is expected to manufacturing facilities with hi-tech witness growth in future. With the blending facility, quality-control test changing engine technology, Repsol labs & automated filling & packaging lubricants which is focused on stations. The group's in-house Base innovation is the answer to today's Oil Storage facility of 17,000 KL is consumer needs." With this, GP one of the largest in the Indian Petroleums with its flagship brand industry which uses cutting edge IPOL, will now unleash a new remote sensing technology to aggressive marketing strategy in the accurately measure and control the automotive segment also with Repsol, storage volumes. It has an annual a global leader in the lubricant space. production capacity of 80,000 KL. "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
recognition. But this victory appears to be a step in the right direction."this series win against a quality New Zealand side will be a shot in the arm for the women's team".the fact that the women's series was broadcast live in TV in India after several years was also an important development."With the eyes of the world and the powers that be at the BCCI upon them, it was important for the team to put up a good show," The team win has also received praise on social media
New Delhi : In the second round of crackdown on NGOs, the central government cancelled the licence of 4,470 such set-ups.The government's whip to regulate NGO operations has also hit entities like top universities in the country. The Union home ministry cancelled the registration of these NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) after going through their activities. One of the reasons cited for the strong action was non-filing of annual returns by these NGOs. The MHA claimed that notices were given by the ministry's foreigners division before the action was taken. Prominent organisations whose FCRA licences stands cancelled include Chandigarh-based Panjab University, Gujarat National Law University, Delhi University's Gargi College, Lady Irwin College in Delhi, Vikram Sarabhai Foundation and Kabir, an NGO floated by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. The Centre had cancelled licences of nearly 9,000 NGOs in April last year
for alleged violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The government had also taken action against Greenpeace India when its activist Priya Pillai was offloaded from a London-bound flight by immigration officers at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport in
January this year. She was to address British parliamentarians in the UK. The Delhi High Court later overturned the action by the Home Ministry and Pillai's "offload" passport stamp was expunged in May. The HC also ordered quashing of the Look Out Circular in Pillai's name that
the offload stamp be expunged and she be removed from any IB database. Greenpeace India was at loggerheads with the Centre over the action. In April, the government had also blocked Greenpeace India's bank accounts, following which the environmental group had to seek interim relief from the Delhi HC. The government had also blocked funding from the USbased Ford Foundation without mandatory permission from the Home ministry. A crisis response campaigner with Greenpeace International, Aaron GrayBlock, was denied entry into India after landing in Bengaluru as his name figured in a Home ministry "black list". A senior MHA official, who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak on the record, said the ministry would question the immigration officials to learn why they blocked his entry. The fresh round of cancellation process of the 4,470 NGOs started on May 6 and the highest number of such voluntary organisations - as many as 971 - was de-registered in a single day.
Mumbai : Money held by Indians in Swiss banks fell by over 10 per cent last year to 1.8 billion Swiss franc (about Rs 12,615 crore), amid an enhanced clampdown against the famed secrecy wall of Switzerland's banking system by Indian and other governments. The funds held by Indians with banks in Switzerland fell by CHF 215 million to CHF 1,815 million ($1.98 billion), from 2,030 million Swiss franc, as per the latest data released by the country's central banking authority SNB (Swiss National Bank). This is the second lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss banks and follows an increase of over 40 per cent in the previous year, 2013. In contrast, the money held in Swiss banks by their foreign clients from across the world surprisingly rose during 2014 to 1.5 trillion Swiss franc ($1.6 trillion or Rs 103 lakh crore), from about Rs 90 lakh crore at the end of 2013 - the record low level so far. During 2012, the Indians' money in Swiss banks had fallen by over one-third to its lowest ever level of 1.42 billion Swiss franc (Rs 8,530 crore). As per the latest data, the total Indian money held in Swiss banks at the end of 2014 included 1,776 million Swiss franc or Rs 12,350 crore held directly by Indian individuals and entities (down from 1,952 million a year ago), and another 38 million Swiss franc (down from 77.3 million Swiss francs at 2013-end) through 'fiduciaries' or wealth managers. However, "amounts due to customers' savings and deposit accounts" was only CHF 52 million (down from CHF 63 million a year ago), while over CHF 100 million was due through other banks and the remaining amount of well over one billion Swiss francs have been classified as "other amounts due to the customers" from India "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein
Banglore : Five years ago Adobe Systems products were the favourite pirated downloads in India. At the same time, there were so many startups that began using their products without really knowing that they were using pirated software. Next thing you know these startups had scaled up and were struggling to find the original version of the Adobe software. It's with these small businesses that the San Jose-based company wants to build a brand in India. It also wants to bet big on the smart city program where paperless government offices will become the norm, which will help citizens to use digital forms. Over the last year it has made efforts to connect with over 1,000 small businesses to offer pricing that is about $300 a month, for less than 10 seats in a company, and about $1000 a month for larger comapnies. Five years ago, these small companies were subject to expensive enterprise licences. "This effort has made India the second most important market in the Asia region," says Umang Bedi, MD of Adobe Systems South Asia. He says that many startups were waking up to compliance and governance as a primary element in setting up businesses, which can help them raise private capital. Therefore it was easier for Adobe to get many more startups on board over the last 12 months. Adobe has also shut down its perpetual license business and has moved everything to a cloud-based business model, which charges customers based on the number of users and usage. The company has also gone on to increase its enterprise
business, in India, and has signed 500 term licences in two years. Then there is the Adobe Marketing Cloud, which has been a global success, as a product, for the company. Most of the large ad tech firms such as In Mobi and ecommerce companies such as Flipkart use the marketing cloud to gain traction with customers. Umang adds that the marketing cloud was an important transformation piece for Adobe because it allowed digital companies to make, mobilize, manage, measure and monetise content. For its marketing cloud business it has the likes of Publicis, WPP and Sapient Nitro using the marketing cloud for the creative business. "Software as a service is the preferred model today and all MNCs have already migrated to such a business model," says Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO of Greyhound Research. However the Adobe India MD feels the government business is going to be the largest revenue earner because of the smart city program that as an outlay of Rs 48,000 crore, set aside, to build modern citizen services. Adobe is already working on a program with the government where 28,000 villages can avail documentation services from a single source in a village. This is a paperless initiative run by the Central government. Adobe is also supporting 10 local languages that can be used by several education and government institutions. What remains to be seen is Adobe's foray in to setting up a program for startups, which others, such as Microsoft and Citrix, have already set up as accelerators. –
New Delhi : The Finance Ministry reiterated that more capital support will be given to public sector banks, which need an additional Rs. 2.40 lakh crore in the next three years to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms.“We are working and trying to understand exactly what the capital requirements are going to be in the next two-three years for (public sector) banks. And we are there to support them and provide them the capital they need,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said. Sinha, along with Financial Services
Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, has already held four rounds of meetings to assess the capital requirements of banks. Another round will take place in Bengaluru when Andhra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Corporation Bank, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank and Vijaya Bank will make their presentations. The Minister also indicated a comprehensive package to strengthen public sector banks, which would cover five aspects and dimensions, such as bringing changes in governance and management of
New Delhi : India is planning to issue sovereign bonds linked to the bullion price in an effort to divert some of the estimated 300 tonnes of annual demand for gold bars and coins and curb bullion imports, which can push up the trade deficit. The Reserve Bank of India, the central bank, will issue the bonds on behalf of the government, with a minimum interest rate of 2 per cent, according to a draft outline issued by the government last month."The main idea is to reduce the demand for physical gold," according to the draft. Indians prize gold as gifts and as a way of storing wealth. The country consumes nearly 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, most of it imported, and gold is the second-biggest expense on the import bill after oil. To reduce overseas purchases of the precious metal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
public sector banks, introducing a transparent selection process for heads of banks, working on improving operating performance and providing capital. For the current fiscal, the government has allocated Rs 7,940 crore in the Budget for capital infusion in banks. However, last month the Finance Minister promised to provide more than the Budgeted amount this fiscal.
unveiled plans in February for a sovereign gold bond and a bullion d e p o s i t s c h e m e . While the deposit scheme aims to mobilise idle household gold, estimated at more than 20,000 tonnes, the sovereign bond would allow consumers to invest in 'paper' gold rather than physical gold. The price of the bond would be linked to the price of gold and it would pay an interest rate linked to the international rate for gold borrowing. For interest rates, "an indicative lower limit of 2 per cent
may be given but the actual rate will have to be market-determined", the government proposal said. The sovereign bonds would be issued in denominations of two, five and 10 grams of gold or other sizes for a minimum term of five to seven years and they could be used as collateral for loans, it said. The government aims to issue bonds worth Rs 135 billion ($2.12 billion) or the equivalent of 50 tonnes of gold in the first year.It also invited the public to comment to consider on this issue.
Mumbai : Microfinance group Bandhan Financial Services has received regulatory approval to begin operating as a bank from the end of August, its chairman and managing director, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, said to media person here. The group received its final banking license from the Reserve Bank of India earlier and now plans to work in 27 Indian states including Maharashtra, MP and Southern states
of the country with nearly 500 to 600 bank branches and 10 million customers at its launch, Ghosh said. All the existing microfinance businesses of the company and clients will be transferred to the bank, he added. Bandhan had received an "inprincipal" approval from the central bank along with Mumbai-based IDFC in April last year, and was required to start operations within a deadline of 18 months.
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