Category Archives: Business & Economy

India International Leather Fair to begin in Chennai on January 31

Business & Economy

Chennai :

The 29th edition of the India International Leather Fair (IILF), organized by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), will be held at Chennai Trade Centre from January 31 to February 3.

Over the last few years, there has been a shift in product profile of the fairs which reflects the dynamics of the industry. The fastest growing segments in IILF are machinery, chemicals, components and effluents, according to a statement from the ITPO.

This year’s fair, called Equilibrium, would highlight Indian expertise in the design development of exquisite and high quality leather ware from finished leather through leather products, the statement said.

About 287 Indian companies, 92 foreign firms and six Indian agents of overseas companies will participate in this edition of the IILF. The participants include brands like Armani, British Home Stores, Braciliani, Bata, Bugatti, Daniel Hector, Diechmann, Cole Hann, Guess, Harrods, Kenet, Cole, Marks and Spencers, Marco Polo, Maarc, Mercedezr, Nike, Pierre, Cardin, Reebok, Tommy and Walmart.

Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy and Thailand will set up national pavilions. Individual exhibitors from Bangladesh, Iran, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Netherland, Turkey, the UAE and the UK will also participate.

Though India is the second largest producer of footwear and leather garments in the world, it accounts for a share of 3.05% in the global leather import trade of $159.89 billion (in 2011).

India is emerging as the centre for design development initiatives by institutions and individuals, with continuous modernization and technology upgrade, economizing size of manufacturing units, organizing human resource development programmes to enhance productivity, increasing use of quality components, promoting shorter prototype development time and ensuring delivery compliance, the statement said.

The leather industry is an employment intensive sector, producing job to about 2.5 million people, mostly from the weaker sections of the society. Women employment is predominant in leather products sector with about 30% share.

The major production centres for leather and leather products in India are located in Tamil Nadu – Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Vellore, Pernambut, Trichy, Dindigul and Erode ; West Bengal – Kolkata; Uttar Pradesh – Kanpur, Agra, Noida, Saharanpur; Maharashtra – Mumbai; Punjab – Jallandhar ; Karnataka – Bangalore; Andhra Pradesh – Hyderabad ; Haryana – Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Karnal and Faridabad ; Delhi; Madhya Pradesh – Dewas; Kerala – Calicut and Ernakulam.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Business> India Business / by Sushma U N , TNN / January 24th, 2014

Hygiene Comes First on This Butcher’s Block

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Science & Technologies
BatchaBai’s meat shop in T Nagar | P Jawahar
BatchaBai’s meat shop in T Nagar | P Jawahar

Sparkling white tiles, gleaming metal counters, spotlessly clean knives and the soft humming of refrigerators… This could be the sight that greets you when you walk into a run-of-the-mill meat shop on the streets of Chennai. Not in a few years or even a few months, but right now.

The Meat Sciences Department of the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), has been providing meat retailers free designs and consulting services to convert their shops into places where hygiene is the priority – and they have been doing it for the past five years.

“We have been giving out designs and consultation to any entrepreneur who wishes to start up or modernise his business,” says Robinson Abraham, Head of theMeat Services Department. “All they have to do is approach us.” Consulting at a private firm would be prohibitively expensive to the small businesses that most meat shops were, he pointed out.

But when asked about what these five years of free consulting has engendered, he points to just one operating shop in Chennai. The BatchaBai meat shop in Kilpauk stands as a silent testimony to what a few well-thought out improvements in slaughter house design can do.

There are counters made of stainless steel, teflon cutting boards, rounded edges to prevent wiping hands on tables and white tiles to make any spattered blood visible. Compared to the ill-lit, ill-washed rooms that most meat shops offer, the sight is almost unreal in its cleanliness. “These are very small but necessary design elements,” points out R Narendrababu, one of the three professors in the department. “They improve the hygiene of the shop tremendously.”

The reason why hygiene comes in a sad second in the owners’ list of priorities, he adds, is because consumers themselves have been desensitised to the dangers of bad hygiene. “Unless people refuse to buy meat from shops that don’t adhere to basic hygiene norms, retailers will never feel the need to implement these practices,” he says.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Jonahan Ananda – Chennai / January 29th, 2014

Kumbakonam Sri Mangalambika Vilas 100 and counting (Foodie Trail)

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

The small Sri Mangalambiga Vilas eatery could be easily missed as a non-descript joint in this temple-cum-business town but for a board reading “Since 1914” kept outside amidst the bustle on the lane leading to the Adi Kumbeswarar Temple.

It is not easy to remain in the restaurant business for over 100 years serving traditional South Indian dishes like idly, dosa and others. All the more in Kumbakonam, where almost every eatery serves tasty food and the famed degree coffee.

The success of Sri Mangalambiga Vilas becomes evident when one starts eating the sponge-like soft steaming idly or the crispy dosa (rice or rava) with sambar and coconut chutney.

A little girl who was troubling her mother by refusing to eat the idly on her banana leaf started gulping it down fast after the first bite.

The South Indian coffee – a mix of milk, coffee decoction and sugar – tasted great.

There was a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) family from the US enjoying their meal at the cramped eatery without making any fuss. The staff treated them like any other guests, a pointer that NRI guests are regulars there.

The lunch (rice, sambar, rasam, curd/buttermilk, vegetables) is also good – light on the purse and the stomach. It is a pleasant surprise to hear the staff enquiring from the guests if they wabt second or third helpings of vegetable curries, whereas in such places, you will only get a single small cup.

“The hotel must have been functioning even prior to 1914. But I do not have any record. Based on my father’s age at the time of his death and his age when he came to Kumbakonam I arrived at the year 1914. That is why I have used the words “Since 1914” and not “Established 1914,” proprietor H. Rajagopal told IANS.

He said his father V.G. Harihara Iyer came to Kumbakonam when he was 14 to work in the eatery, then owned by a named Thayu Patti.

“My father died in 1955 when he was 52 years old. By that time, he had bought the hotel from Thayu Patti, who decided to quit the business due to her old age,” Rajagopal said.

In those days the eatery was also called Sannadhi Kadai or Koil Kadai.

While there are outlets in Chennai proclaiming to sell Kumbakonam Degree Coffee, strangely no such boards were visible in Kumbakonam itself.

According to Rajagopal, coffee which is prepared with the first decoction and freshly boiled, pure cow’s milk, is called degree coffee.

“Coffee decoction is made pouring boiling water on coffee powder kept in a filter. The filtered decoction will be strong. It is called first decoction and coffee made with this is called degree coffee,” he said.

Rajagopal said another round of decoction can be obtained from the same coffee powder but it will be lighter.

“Degree coffee made with cow’s milk would taste better than the one made with buffalo milk. We used to roast coffee beans ourselves. The more the beans are roasted the decoction yield will be lower but the coffee would taste better,” he pointed out.

“Today, rich people come here. But the hotel is not for the rich class. People from all walks of lives frequent the hotel,” Rajagopal, also known as Ramani, remarked.

According to K. Hariharan, who manages the eatery, Tamil and Telugu movie actors have visited the place.

Rajagopal’s cousin Ambi Iyer has acted in Tamil movie “Nanban” made by director S. Shankar.

“Shankar, in his younger days, had bought tiffin from our hotel. At that time he had seen Ambi Iyer. And in “Nanban”, he had a role suitable for Ambi Iyer,” Hariharan told IANS.

However, business establishments too have to change with times and Sri Mangalambiga Vilas is no exception. In 2010 the 30-cover eatery was renovated and another round of renovation and expansion is in the offing.

“We are planning to expand by soon opening an air-conditioned dining hall which would increase the number of covers,” Hariharan said.

According to Rajagopal, there are several traditional South Indian dishes like sevvai and others that can be added to the menu so that the offering is not limited to items like idly, dosa, upma and pongal, among others.

Rajagopal does not have any plans of branching out on his own or on franchising the model.

“My elder daughter in the US wants to open an outlet there,” Rajagopal said.

On his plans for celebrating the centenary or say naming a dish with 100 as the suffix, Rajagopal said he had not thought about that.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in

source: http://ww.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Features / IANS / Kumbakonam (TamilNadu) / January 21st, 2014

9,000% dividend! Record payout from TMB

Business & Economy, Records, All

Coimbatore :

Hold your breath shareholders! Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) has declared an interim dividend of 9,000 per cent. Yes, you read it right.

That’s actually Rs 900 per share of Rs 10 each, for the fiscal ending March 2014.

The board of this Tuticorin-headquartered bank took a decision to this effect at a meeting held on January 18.

Bank sources said this would translate into an outgo of Rs 25.6 crore (unchanged from last year).

Highest in the sector

The 9,000 per cent interim dividend is said to be the highest in the banking industry and this is the second year in a row that the bank has declared such a high dividend. It may be recalled that the bank’s board had approved a dividend of Rs 750 per share for 2008-09 and Rs 1,000 per share the following year, but could not make the payment as the annual general meetings for 2009-10 and 2010-11 were not held due to legal issues.

Legal tangles

The AGMs for the subsequent years have also not been held till date.

As a result of the legal tangles, the bank has been compelled to hold back some major decisions, including the plan to go for an initial public offering.

Bank sources said TMB’s shares continue to trade at between Rs 60,000 and Rs 65,000 a share in the informal market.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home / by L. N. Revathy  revathy.lakshminarasimhan@thehindu.co.in / Coimbatore – January 21st, 2014

Madurai hosts world meet of eye hospitals

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

Madurai  :

About 100 delegates representing reputed eye hospitals from across the world have arrived in Madurai to participate in the first annual meeting of the World Association of Eye Hospitals (WAEH) in India. The five-day event commenced here on Tuesday with a board meeting of WAEH. The meet would be officially inaugurated on Wednesday.

Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai, is hosting the eighth edition of WAEH meet that commenced in 2007.

Ophthalmologists and eye surgeons will discuss various developments and problems in their field during the sessions. Representatives of hospitals, including some centuries-old eye hospitals, are attending the event, said Johannes Cornelis Adrianus, president of WAEH.

Various topics, including digital innovations in eye-care and extended roles of non-medical staff, apps in healthcare, current and future developments in the ambulatory care environment, future healthcare and technology to improve efficiency will be discussed elaborately, Adrianus said.

The meet is an opportunity for WAEH members to interact and exchange knowledge about professional topics.

R D Thulasiraj, executive director of Aravind Eye Care System, said latest technology available globally is available in India also. Medical tourism is picking up in India with several foreigners from small developing nations arriving. All new technologies and methods in the field would be shared during the gathering, said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / January 22nd, 2014

Tea turnover tops Rs 500 crore at Coonoor

Business & Economy

Coonoor :

Two significant records were created by the Coonoor Tea Trade Association in 2013, the turnover crossed Rs 500-crore mark and the average price topped Rs 100 a kg, reveals an analysis of market reports.

The average price was above Rs 80-a-kg mark for the second consecutive year. The volume sold continued to remain above 5-crore-kg level for the third consecutive year.

In all, 51 auctions were held last year with 5.95 crore kg being sold against 5.53 crore kg in 2012. A higher volume was sold despite average price rising to Rs 89.32 a kg from Rs 82.28 in 2012.

Consequently, the turnover rose to Rs 531.45 crore from Rs 455.01 crore. This increase of Rs 76.44 crore marked 16.80 per cent growth.

The increased turnover lay spread among factory owners, growers, traders, workers, auctioneers and warehouse keepers.

For the first time at the auctions, the average price crossed Rs 100/kg to touch Rs 104.11 on March 8. It remained above Rs 100 till April 26 peaking to a high of Rs 110.70 on March 21.

However, oversupply in global market reduced exports. Availability of low-priced tea in north Indian auctions reduced upcountry demand. Collectively, in the last quarter, CTTA auction average price crashed to Rs 72 – the least in the last two years. Otherwise, the year’s average price would have been much higher.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home / by The Hindu Corrrespondent / Coonoor – January 07th, 2014

Masala brand Aachi to open Chettinad restaurant chains this year

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Tamil Nadu-based masala brand, Aachi Kitchen is planning to open a chain of Chettinad restaurants, the latest diversification of this nearly two-decade-old group inspired by the success of global chains such as KFC and McDonalds according to a report by Sanjay Vijayakumar and Sangeetha Kandavel in Economic Times.

Aachi Kitchen will start in the first quarter of this year in five locations. “First, I want to see whether I can sustain and then blow the trumpet,” said AD Padmasingh Isaac, Founder and Chairman, Aachi Kitchen, who refused to say how much he is investing in this venture.

Isaac, a first-generation entrepreneur who belongs to Nazareth in Tirunelveli district, started selling masala under the Aachi brand in 1995. This year, he expects to clock revenue of Rs 750 crore.

Holding a bachelor’s degree in business administration, he worked as area manager for Godrej’s personal care products unit for a decade before becoming an entrepreneur. Over the years, the Aachi group has extended to products such as herbal cosmetics, herbal cough syrup and even a matrimonial site. But the restaurant foray is likely to be the biggest-ever extension under the Aachi name.

Aachi’s decision comes at a time when a slew of South Indian players are upping the game in the food business. The likes of Hotel Saravana Bhavan and Adyar Ananda Bhavan have global ambitions in this space. More specifically, though, the quick service restaurant market where Aachi expects to play, is expected to swell in size in the years to come. A September 2013 report of Crisil said it expects this format to double in size to Rs 7,000 crore by 2015-16 from three years earlier.

source: http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com / HospitalityBizIndia.com / Home> F&B Overview> F&B / by HBI Staff, Mumbai / Wednesday – January 08th, 2014

SASTRA’s prescription for dyeing units

Business & Economy, Education, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Science & Technologies

SASTRA University here has come out with a novel method for treating effluents let out by Tirupur dyeing units.

Meera Parthasarathy, Senior Assistant Professor, Center for Nanotechnology and Advanced Biomaterials, School of Chemical and Biotechnology, and inventor of the novel method, explained it to the industrialists and technical persons of Veerapandi Common Effluent Treatment Plant at the university here on Tuesday. The method involves treating effluents with a special bacteria identified at SASTRA University named SASTRA bacteria for which patent had been filed and a powder in a two-step process instead of the seven-step process that was followed by dyeing units.

The untreated effluent undergoes bacterial treatment and powder treatment and becomes non-toxic.

Collecting untreated effluents from Tirupur, the SASTRA team conducted the experiments using bacteria and the powder prepared by them. Treated water was put to Zebra Fish Model (rearing fish in it) to find out whether it has been detoxified. Fish survived even after seven days and there is no toxicity in fish too, Meera Parthasarathy, said.

Following the court order, the dyeing units have been using a common effluent treatment plant.

K.K.Padmanabhan, Technical Director, Veerapandi Common Effluent Treatment Plant, said that as per the court order the units should follow zero liquid discharge and hence wastewater could not be let out.

When T.K.Rangarajan, CPI (M) MP, wanted to know about the usability of the treated water for drinking purposes, Mr.Padmanabhan replied in the negative.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Special Correspondent / Thanjavur – January 08th, 2014

He practised what he preached

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Science & Technologies
Nammalvar / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Nammalvar / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Along with Nammalvar, his brothers Balakrishnan, an engineer, and Ilangovan, a former MLA, practised organic farming.

Chirping of birds rented the air. Gentle breeze from hundreds of trees blew across the farm. It was the farm maintained by the family of G. Nammalvar (75), organic farming scientist, who passed away on December 30, at Ilankadu, his native village near Thirukattupalli.

It was a hot summer in June 2004, when this reporter visited that place to see Nammalvar along with V.Palaniappan, Adviser to Thiruvaiyaru Knowledge Resource Centre of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan Foundation.

Rays of sun and summer heat could not enter the place as it was a mini woodland with all kinds of trees. Birds were in large numbers and went on chirping.

Nammalvar, with his green head gear and flowing beard, was sitting on a wooden coir mesh cot under a tree.

As he took us through the farm and explained the activities, we understood that Nammalvar not only preached organic farming but also practised it in his family farm.

Along with Nammalvar, his brothers Balakrishnan, an engineer, and Ilangovan, a former MLA, practised organic farming.

Nammalvar showed the variety of trees he and his brothers had planted in the farm.

He showed how the leaves that withered from trees and other biological waste were turned into compost.

He also demonstrated the ‘Pancha Kavyam’ was prepared using five products — cow’s urine, dung and milk, ghee and buttermilk. “Pancha Kavyam can be used as a growth regulator and pesticide repellent for crops,” he said.

It was Nammalvar’s padayatra for ‘reviving natural resources and fertility’ (Iyarkai Valam Meetpu Nadaipayanam) in 2004, organised by Centre for Ecology and Research, a voluntary organisation, that made people rally behind him.

The yatra which commenced on June 5, 2004 covered a distance of 550 km in 25 days from Poompuhar to Grand Anicut, passing via 344 villages in Cauvery delta districts.

The padayatra created public awareness of the importance of organic farming, sustainable agriculture and participatory development at Thirukattupalli, Thiruvaiyaru and Orathanadu.

His last campaign for nearly a month from December 1 in Cauvery delta districts was against the proposed methane extraction project.

He was planning to organise a rally at Mannargudi on January 25 to protest against the proposed project.

Hundreds of people, mostly farmers, paid homage to late Nammalvar whose body was kept at Bharath College of Science and Management here.

R.Vaithilingam, State Minister for Housing and Urban Development, paid homage to Nammalvar. The Minister placed a wreath on the body of Nammalvar on behalf of Tamil Nadu Government, said a press release issued here on Tuesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by G. Srinivasan / Thanjavur – January 01st, 2014

Let them eat cake

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
K.R. Balan./ Photo: K. Ananthan / The Hindu
K.R. Balan./ Photo: K. Ananthan / The Hindu

K.R. Balan once travelled on a rented bicycle to sell buns to petti kadais. Today he owns one of the biggest bakery chains in the state.

One morning in 1967, 14-year-old Balan from Kavumpuram boarded a train all alone to Coimbatore. He lied to his mother saying he was going to Calicut to visit his sister. He did that because he wanted to do something to save his poverty-stricken family. “We lived in olappuras – thatched huts. My mother was a daily wage labourer. Father did some small business and farming. I had no education. Life was my teacher,” says Balan who is 61-years-old now. Today he leans back on a plush armchair in his swanky air-conditioned office at Ganapathi, from where he controls K.R. Bakes, one of the biggest bakery chains in the state.

When he started out, Balan would cycle around Coimbatore in a bicycle that he would rent for 25 paise. He sold buns and barley biscuits to shops in the outskirts. In a year’s time, he along with his three friends set up a small shop in Idayarveedhi. “We had no man power or machines and we worked almost nonstop. We woke up as early as two in the morning to make the goodies.” While his friends handled the production side, Balan, who had a way with people, steered the marketing and delivery. “I spotted potential customers as I travelled around in my cycle. Soon, we started sourcing our snacks to almost all the village shops.” The buns were a great hit, recalls Balan. “Coimbatore had many mills. In the evenings, tired labourers would come to our outlet for chai and a coconut bun. Chai shops were considered beedi points and undignified places for women. People would disparagingly refer to us as ‘those chai wallahs’.” But, things changed. The cycle gave way to the scooter and then a Bullet bike. The demand for their buns and cakes rose. Balan zipped around his scooter across the Valayar border to supervise the K.R. outlets that mushroomed in many parts of Kerala.

While his friends decided to move on to other things, Balan stuck on. “I loved my job and had full faith in it.” The brand name KR came into being in the late 80s. “Our outlets had different names. A friend suggested I bring them all under one brand. I chose the name K.R. Bakes.” The two letters, which Balan later added before his name as initials, changed his destiny. From a small room that sold coconut buns, K.R bakes became the most popular bakery brand name. Now, there are 30 outlets in Coimbatore and many more in Erode, Cochin, Malappuram, Palakkad and Trichur. By early 2000, they even introduced a fast food section that sold North Indian items. “We introduced the idea of a coffee shop, way before any coffee outlet chains set up their shops here. But, we cater to the common man and do not compromise on quality. All our fast food are made right in front of the people and served hot.”

Balan and his sons never miss the IBA, an international trade fair for bakery, confectionery and snacks held once in three years in Germany. “It is a great platform where you are exposed to innovative ideas and developments in technology. Bakers from all over the world showcase their products and ideas. I realised my job was indeed honourable.” The Coimbatore production has the latest Italian cookie machine, icing machine, imported egg breakers and cake mixers. “It is not like the olden days. One cannot afford to be laid back. The competition is high now,” says Balan. Balan knows what it is like to be poor and uneducated and this is what has prompted him to help educating economically underprivileged children. “We also tell our labourers to educate their children and assist them financially. Education is important. I know its value as I was deprived of it,” he says. “We have doctors and lawyers in the family now,” he says with pride. His three sons help him in his business. So do his brothers who handle the outlets from different cities. Balan remembers making his sons work at their retail outlets, when they would come home on vacation. He would pay them too. “They never would spend that money. They would save each penny. I wanted them to know the value of hard earned money. I wanted them to know that the money left by ancestors is easily squandered, while the one earned through sweat stays forever.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Food / by Parshathy J. Nath / Coimbatore – January 09th, 2014