Source - Times of India
Nov 30, 2007
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: Bennett, Coleman & Company (BCCL) has acquired a stake in Chennaibased MARG Constructions. MARG Constructions is among India’s fastest growing diversified infrastructure development companies. Established in 1994, MARG Constructions is listed on the Bombay, Madras and the Luxembourg stock exchanges.
The company is promoted by G R K Reddy, who channelled MARG into infrastructure projects as diverse as IT Parks, power, ports, roads, retail and real estate.
Commenting on the tie-up, Reddy, CMD of MARG said, “We aspire to maximize value to our stakeholders by continuously identifying opportunities, developing people, processes and systems. Our methodology integrates innovation and worldclass technologies with professionalism and social responsibility. Times Group’s investment would reinforce our confidence in the company’s future.’’
MARG is presently implementing the Karaikal Port Project under BOT format through a concession agreement with government of Puducherry. The port with anultimate capacity of 10 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), is being implemented in two phases — Phase I of 4 mtpa and remaining capacity addition in Phase II. The company has also purchased a Cutter Suction Dredger from China titled ‘MARG Cauvery’ of 2000 cubm/hour capacity at a landed cost of about Rs 52 crore.
By: Tech2.com News Staff | Nov 29,2007
Bharti Airtel and Western Union have decided to jointly develop and pilot a Mobile Money Transfer service in India ushering in the possibility of sending money to India via a mobile phone.
The Mobile Money Transfer service is subject to regulatory approval.
"We are delighted to work with Western Union in this path-breaking initiative and be at the forefront of enabling international remittance over mobile for our 50 million mobile phone customers in India. This will help us move money via mobile in a fast and convenient way, supporting low-value transactions," said Gopal Vittal, director marketing and communications, Bharti Airtel Limited.
In India, Western Union operates through 45,000 Agent locations, including 8,500 post offices and more than 14,000 bank branches across 5,000 towns and cities. This program will enable Indians living abroad to send remittances to their families in India in an easy and convenient fashion through the vast networks of both companies.
"Our association with Bharti Airtel for the Mobile Money Transfer service is an important step in expanding the range of Western Union global services to a new category of consumers across the world," said Matt Dill, General Manager, Western Union Mobile. "This is a very exciting development, especially given the expanse and reach of mobile services in the Indian subcontinent."
With mobile phones becoming an integral part of our lives applications that allow a mobile subscriber to view and manage funds on their handsets are emerging in select countries as a foundation for phone-based financial services.
According to The World Bank, the number of migrants globally is 200 million - approximately three percent of the world's population. The World Bank also identifies India as the number one remittance recipient market. Statistics from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suggest that the inward annual remittance into India stood at over $26 billion for the fiscal year 2006 – 2007, accounting for approximately 10 percent of the global inward remittance market.
The relationship with Bharti Airtel follows an agreement between Western Union and the GSM Association (GSMA), a global trade association representing over 700 GSM mobile phone operators, to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services.
Nov 22, 2007
Note: Rs 1 crore = Rs 10 millions
Chennai: In an effort to further benefit from tax incentives offered by the government for wind power projects, Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd (CPCL) plans to expand its wind power capacity from the existing 17.6MW.
Chennai Petroleum, a subsidiary of state-owned Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, is the first public sector firm in the country to set up wind energy projects.
“We are evaluating the techno-economic feasibility for further investment in wind power,” said K.K. Acharya, CPCL chairman and managing director. He declined to provide more details.
Acharya added that the company planned to use the power generated from its existing wind power facility in a “5.8 million gallon per day seawater desalination plant” that is coming up near Chennai and will be “commissioned by March 2008”.
CPCL’s refinery has the largest capacity of 10.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) in south India. The company posted a profit of Rs565.27 crore on revenues of Rs29,350 crore in 2006-07.
Drawn by the underlying tax benefits and potential earnings, several oil and gas companies are looking to invest in wind power projects in the country. Other companies with such plans include Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC).
Companies setting up wind power projects get tax incentives for up to 10 years and are eligible for depreciation benefits of up to 80% in the very first year of a project’s operation. Analysts say this helps companies diversify into other energy sources and also earns them carbon credits and tax breaks.
“Right from inception, CPCL has been proactive in its approach to environment issues. CPCL’s reasoning for entering the wind power sector is to establish the green credentials of CPCL and reassure stakeholders regarding its belief in the promise of the renewable energy sector,” Acharya added.
Wind power accounts for less than 5% of the 135,000MW installed power generation capacity in the country. Though India has a wind energy potential of 45,000MW, the installed wind power capacity is only 6,280MW. The ministry of non-conventional energy resources hopes to increase this threefold to around 18,000MW by 2012.
“India is among the top three destinations in the world for wind power generation. This is definitely a lucrative sector for the people to invest both for captive and commercial purposes,” said Ravi Mahajan, a partner at audit and consulting firm Ernst & Young.
CPCL is also considering an initial public offering (IPO) to fund its expansion plan, estimated to cost about Rs 6,000 crore. “The IPO would be considered at the appropriate time considering the financial performance of CPCL, funds flow, the state of the equity market, etc,” said Acharya.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
MUMBAI: As part of its initiative to encourage innovation in research, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is in talks with the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai for a potential collaboration in the future, visiting MIT president Susan Hockfield said here on Tuesday.
The global initiative launched by the US university, called the International Innovation Initiative (I-cubed), is expected to identify and encourage research in other institutes with which MIT has partnerships.
Hockfield said MIT was currently in talks with IIT-Chennai and could enter into talks with other IITs and other universities in the future as part of this initiative.
"This will not be a department focused initiative but one that will encourage the growth of new and innovative ideas," Hockfield said after an interaction session organised by the CII.
The I-cubed model is to be based on the model of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation which is on the MIT campus and will identify and select collaborative research projects across disciplines.
Hockfield ruled out the possibility of MIT, famed for its research in science and technology, would be setting up any campuses in any country in the near future and said they would prefer partnerships with universities across the world.
She cited the success of inter-disciplinary research carried out at MIT and said a similar model could be used by Indian universities in order to encourage research leading to innovation.
BS Reporter / Mumbai November 21, 2007
3i Infotech today announced the launch of its first International Data Centre (IDC), which will offer managed hosting services for application and disaster recovery solutions, in Chennai.
Further, the company will also launch remote IT infrastructure management services through its Global Network and Security Operations Center (GNSOC).
The company is also setting up mini Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for operating systems such as Microsoft, Red Hat Linux, AIX and Solaris, databases such as Oracle, MS SQL, MySQL and DB2, messaging solutions and IT security labs for ethical hacking and vulnerability assessments and niche application infrastructure solutions.
This move is part of the company's foray in to the $ 41.5 billion managed services market, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
'3i Infotech today offers an unparalleled range of products across the insurance, banking & financial services, manufacturing and distribution landscape and we will continue to expand and deepen our product portfolio across the verticals we are focused on,' said Hari Padmanabhan, deputy managing director, 3i Infotech.
Located in 3i Infotech's 7-storey Chennai facility, the IDC, GNSOC and CoEs will be jointly spread over 25,000 sq ft.
Out of this, the IDC, which conforms to the tier-III international data standard, will alone occupy 6000 sq ft, with all-access controls, CCTV, UPS and Precision AG along with rack and cage facility.
The centre will provide secure data centre hosting facilities for its clientele in India and across the globe.
The GNSOC will provide customers with remote IT infrastructure monitoring and management services with a 24/7 IT helpdesk.
With an operating area for around 75 people, the remote infrastructure set up is spread across 3000 sq ft.
Nov 22, 2007
CHENNAI/SEOUL: Hyundai Motor said on Wednesday that it will stop producing small cars in South Korea by 2012 due to low profit margins. This may be good news for India, as the move will make Hyundai's Chennai plant the sole hub for A and B segment cars.
"Sales of vehicles with one-litre engines and smaller in Korea do not make high profits,'' Hyundai Motor spokesman Jake Jang said. He said the small car models will continue to be produced in Hyundai Motor's Chennai plant, which has an annual capacity of 600,000 vehicles, he said.
Hyundai Motor India managing director HS Lheem told ET that Hyundai's Chennai facility will be the global manufacturing hub for exporting small cars, particularly the 'A' and 'B' segment models. "However, there is a possibility that a brand new car, touted as the new 'public car', which Hyundai is planning to develop over the next two years, may also be manufactured in China as well as some other Asian manufacturing unit of Hyundai, besides India," Mr Lheem added. But, the plans for it are yet to be firmed up.
Referring to the Korean parent's move to stop production of small cars in Korea by 2012, Mr Lheem said the Indian company is confident of handling any additional increase in the numbers on the production front. "The Chennai facility is being equipped to produce 0.6 million cars per annum and we can handle the global market requirement at this time," he added.
In Korea, Hyundai will have to focus on mid-size vehicles, said Hahn Kum-hee, an analyst at Samsung Securities Co. Mid-size and large-size cars are usually preferred to mini cars in Korea. Despite high oil prices, Korean demand for mini cars has remained flat, she said. Hyundai Motor sold 240,953 vehicles in October, up 15% from 209,047 vehicles a year ago. Strong sales of the Santa Fe and Veracruz SUVs in the United States and the i30 hatchback in Europe boosted the month's numbers.
Local sales rose 8.9% from last year to 55,224 vehicles. Exports were up 17% to 185,729 vehicles. For the 10 months through October, the automaker sold 511,825 vehicles in Korea, up 9.6% from the same period last year while exports rose 4.2% to 1,627,345 vehicles.
Hyundai Motor, which owns 38.6% of Kia Motors, was the top automaker in South Korea last year, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. Kia Motors was the next largest.
Thursday November 22 2007
CHENNAI: HCL Technologies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chennai- based colleges to commence its first campus engagement initiative.
These include Chennai-based Ethiraj College for Women, MOP Vaishnav College for Women, Stella Maris, SSN College of Engineering, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering and Thiagarajar College of Engineering from Madurai.
The initiative includes introducing 'GoPro' - HCL's 'Campus to Corporate' -a career development programme to develop the next generation of corporate community. The tie-ups with select women's colleges is expected to encourage and widen gender representation in the corporate world.
HCL's 'GoPro' programme will provide non-technical and soft skills training for aiding the student community to become a professional and increase their 'employability' quotient. The training module would include soft skills, communication, etiquette and attitudinal and behavioural skills. The initiative is also structured to encourage 'innovation and creativity' among students.
Competitions and campaigns on innovation and creativity would be rolled out. Apart from tie-ups with engineering colleges, this initiative includes tying up with women's colleges from arts and science backgrounds as well.
BS Reporter / Chennai November 12, 2007
Satyam Computer Services is extending its presence in Tamil Nadu by committing an investment of Rs 800 crore to expand operations in Chennai and open a software development centre in Madurai.
The Madurai centre, located on 50 acre of land on Theni Road, will start operations with about 3,500 people on its rolls. The land has been sanctioned by the Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) under its IT and ITES SEZ development plan.
Subu D Subramanian, director and senior vice-president (manufacturing and automotive business group), Satyam, said the company is also in the process of expanding its Chennai operations by building its own campus at the ELCOT SEZ in Sholinganallur.
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed and operational by the middle of 2008 and will accommodate about 1,500 people, Subramanian said. Two more phases of the campus will be completed over the next three years with a total capacity for 10,000 people, he added.
Satyam currently operates out of 8 lakh [800,000] sq feet of space at nine centres in Chennai with 8,000 people on its rolls.
Seven Golden residents are glad they spent thousands of dollars going to India for hip replacements rather than sit in pain on waiting lists here
Doug Ward , Vancouver Sun - dward@png.canwest.com
Jeff Dolinsky, a dentist in Golden, travelled to India in the spring -- and he didn't go to sightsee, meditate or contort his body in front of a yoga master. Dolinsky's goal was more prosaic -- hip surgery.
When Dolinsky went under the knife in a hospital in Chennai (formerly Madras), he felt reasonably confident he had made the right decision.
After all, six other residents from the Rocky Mountain town of Golden had also undergone successful hip surgery in the same hospital with the same physician during the previous three years.
The patients from Golden are among the small but slowly growing number of Canadians flying to foreign countries for treatment -- a for-profit phenomenon known as medical tourism.
The medical tourism industry earned revenue of $20 billion in 2005 and that figure is expected to double to $40 billion by 2010, according to a recent report by Frost and Sullivan, an U.S. business research firm.
The same study found that Asian countries such as India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia view medical tourism as important sources of revenue.
Canadians who "outsource" their treatment overseas are doing so because of frustration over the list of 875,000 people waiting for surgeries and other procedures.
Dolinsky, 48, had spent many months in severe pain from osteoarthritis. He sought treatment and was told that hip resurfacing -- a less invasive alternative to hip replacement surgery -- was his best option. He was also told that he might have to wait a year if he wanted it done in B.C.
A long pain-ridden wait would have forced Dolinsky to scale back his dental practice and temporarily give up downhill skiing and mountaineering, the sports that drew him originally to the Golden area.
But instead of waiting, Dolinsky flew to India. The hospital picked him up and ushered him into what it called its "platinum ward," which was more like a posh hotel, with its marble floors, big-screen satellite TV and lap-top computer with WiFi.
"And from the time I woke up from surgery until now, I haven't had to take more than a couple of painkillers," recalled Dolinsky recently.
North Vancouver's Gloria Creighton is similarly pleased with her decision to forgo treatment in Canada and fly to Chennai. Doctors here told her she needed a hip replacement. She feared this would end her career as a dance specialist with the Burnaby school district.
Her husband learned about the less invasive hip resurfacing from the Internet. He also learned that the procedure could be purchased at the clinic in Chennai. They decided to fly to the subcontinent and many months later, they have no regrets about the $15,000 cost.
"When I came home I started walking around the park down the street and going swimming," said Creighton.
"It's a miracle. Before that, I'd thought that I was gone, done-in. Now I can keep teaching and not have to go on disability and be a burden to the government."
There are about 15 medical tourism companies based in Canada. Their clients are seeking elective surgeries for such things as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, cosmetic surgery, cancer and transplant surgery.
These firms arrange treatment in Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Critics have said it's morally wrong for these developing countries to foster a private health care sector for wealthy westerners when the majority of their own citizens have poor access to health care.
But these attacks haven't stopped the governments of many Third World countries from trying to attract wealthy western patients.
The website of the Royal Thai Consulate in Vancouver provides an overview and pricing for its medical tourism sector, which attracted 600,000 foreign patients in 2004.
Many of the Canadian medical tourism companies are based in B.C., including Surgical Tourism Canada, which brokers surgeries for Canadians in affiliated high-tech private health facilities in India, Mexico, the United States and Abu Dhabi.
Yasmeen Sayeed, chief executive officer of Surgical Tourism Canada, said her client list has steadily increased since she opened shop in July 2005.
But Sayeed acknowledged that medical tourism is far less of a big deal in Canada than it is in the U.S., where 500,000 Americans went overseas for treatment in 2005.
The reason for the difference is cost. Americans are used to paying for medical care, said Sayeed. Canadians aren't because of their country's universal publicly funded health care. Medical care overseas for Canadians means money out of their pocket, she added.
But for millions of Americans who are either uninsured or underinsured, purchasing medical care overseas can be cheaper than buying it at home.
Another obstacle in Canada for medical tourism, added Sayeed, is the refusal so far of provincial governments to reimburse people who get treated abroad.
While medical tourism in Canada is on the increase, the number of people going abroad for care appears to be insignificant.
Sayeed's Surgical Tourism Canada is one of the largest medical tourism firms in the country, but it has only sent about 100 people abroad since its inception.
Leigh Turner, a McGill University biomedical ethics professor, recently wrote that little is known about how many Canadians do go abroad but that the number is probably relatively modest.
Also modest is the number of Canadians heading to the United States to avoid long waiting lists. There was a flurry of media reports a few years ago about Canadians heading south for private care, but a 2002 study by health care researchers at the University of B.C. found surprisingly few Canadians travelled to the U.S.
The report, Phantoms in the Snow, said Canadian travel tourism to the U.S. was "more myth than reality" and that the numbers involved "appear to be handfuls rather than hordes."
Dr. Michael Rachlis, who has written extensively about the Canadian health care system, said the number of Canadians going overseas "is of trivial significance."
Rachlis recalled attending a conference in Toronto on medical tourism where most of the companies involved were only sending about six people a month abroad.
There seemed to be a jump in recent years in the number of Canadians, mostly ethnic Chinese or South Asians, going to Asia for organ transplants.
Ken Donahue, a spokesman for the B.C. Transplant Society, said 136 British Columbians have received transplants overseas since 1990.
But Dr. David Landsberg, medical director of transplantation at St. Paul's Hospital, said the number of Canadians seeking organs overseas is on the wane because many countries have recently placed restrictions on the practice.
"I haven't had any patients who have gone away and come back in the last six months."
Dr. Brian Day, head of the Canadian Medical Association, is a big fan of a reverse form of medical tourism -- he wants the tourists coming here.
Day believes Canada could eventually make billions of dollars off mostly American medical tourists.
The CMA head believes B.C. could attract many medical tourists from Asia. Day said he visited an orthopedic hospital in Cuba that generates $20 million in revenue annually treating medical tourists.
But Day's opponents in the debate over the future of Canadian medicine are less enamoured of the prospect of medical tourism in Canada.
Rachlis, a sharp critic of private medicine in Canada, said: "Do we really want the administrators in our system spending their time luring Americans? Or do we want them to fix the problems faced by Canadians?"
Rachlis said the money available from medical tourism would only amount to tens of millions of dollars -- miniscule compared to the $150 billion spent on health care annually in Canada.
"It's just a complete diversion."
Day dismissed Rachlis's criticism, saying that Canada should only promote medical tourism once waiting lists are eliminated in Canadian hospitals.
"We are losing all of that potential trade and the only reason we are losing it is because we have wait lists."
He also said that Rachlis seriously underestimates the revenue available to Canada from medical tourism - money that could be injected back into the system here.
Day believes Canada could make "tens of billions or more" from medical tourism based on the sector's projected growth worldwide.
Friday, Nov 16, 2007
Staff Reporter
December 10, 2007 is last date for sending forms
PUDUCHERRY: Minister for Industries and Agriculture V. Vaithilingam on Thursday announced a subsidy scheme for farmers who took up precision farming and cultivated crops such as brinjal, tomato, ladies finger, banana and sugarcane.
Note: 1 lakh = 100,000 and Rs 1 crore = Rs 10 millions
He told reporters here that the Department of Agriculture would be calling for applications from November 19 and the government’s involvement in the projects would be up to Rs 2.25 lakh per hectare.
“In the first year, we will provide 100 per cent subsidy, in the second year it will be 90 per cent, in the third year, 80 per cent. Farmers will take up the projects on their own after that,” he said.
The farmers would be guided by resource persons at each stage and provided with seeds, imported water-soluble fertilizer and plant protection chemicals. This kind of farming is being practiced in locations where water was scarce such as Hosur and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University would be the consultant for the project. Planting would begin by Pongal, he added. December 10, 2007 is the last date for submitting the filled in application forms. A total of 400 farmers would be chosen and the subsidy would be provided to a maximum of two hectares, he added.
Compensation
Mr. Vaithilingam also said that Rs. 39.61 lakh would be distributed as relief to farmers whose crops were damaged in the whirlwind that hit Puducherry in May. The distribution would begin on November 21 and 2,069 farmers, who had cultivated banana, sugarcane, vegetables and casurina, would be compensated.
Additional incentive
The Minister also said that Rs. 1.04 crore had been sanctioned as additional incentive to paddy farmers, who had sold paddy to the Pondicherry Marketing Committee, from October 2006 to June 2007 Till now Rs. 9 lakh had been issued and the remaining amount would be disbursed before December 31.
This incentive would also be provided to farmers, who had sold paddy to the Food Corporation of India as well. Mr. Vaithilingam said that even farmers who had misplaced their bills would be paid the incentive if they produced some evidence like the date on which the sale took place along with their farmer ID cards.
