Category Archives: Business & Economy

Chennai colleges attracting more foreign students

Business & Economy, Education

It may not be the most preferred location, but Chennai is definitely catching up and the figures are proof of the fact. The number of students from foreign countries applying to city colleges that had increased by almost 20 per cent over the last three years has hit a new high this time.

“We are getting a hostel built at a cost of Rs. 18 crore for international students in Taramani. It will have a support centre and all facilities to make them feel at ease here,” said Madras University Vice-Chancellor G. Thiruvasagam.

Foreign students at the university mainly study specific subjects in Music, Anthropology and Public Administration. “The city is not often the first choice, especially for graduation. For most of us back there it is only Delhi or Kolkata. But I wanted to pursue my M. Phil in Medical Pathology, so I am here,” said Rosario Kevin, from Denmark. Besides a steady flow from Thailand, Mauritius, Italy, Kenya and Bhutan, the university this year has recorded an increase in the number of students from Sri Lanka, the U.K and France for research.

“This time, we have quite a good number of students from China and Korea,” says Prince Annadurai, admissions in charge, Madras Christian College. “Education in English is what these Chinese students are looking for and so they are willing to take up any of the popular courses,” he adds.

The online admission process initiated this year by some colleges and their high position on most all-India lists of best colleges are some of the factors that attracted students. Oscar C. Nigli, former director of Foreign Desk, Loyola College, points out that “the city is intellectually vibrant, safe and has a lower cost of living.”

B. Com with an IMS – (Information Management Systems), biological sciences, computer science and electronics are some of the more popular courses.

“They look for computer training in every course which is not available back home. Students come with an assurance from the respective governments that they will get placements as lecturer or bank official after finishing studies. The Indian degree is considered so high there that a few students get senior posts in universities there,” says K.E.N. Nalla Mohammed, academic director, Mohammed Sathak College of Arts and Science.

The college is one of the most preferred destinations in the city for foreign students, especially for those from Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Arab countries, who come because of the low cost of education.

“A student has to spend just about Rs 50,000 a year which includes lodging, food and tuition fee, way less than what they would have to pay in their countries, which have fewer colleges and almost no postgraduate courses,” Mr. Mohammed says.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Vasudha VenuGopal / Chennai, June 30th, 2012

PSU to commence vaccine production

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies

More than four years after it was shut down for failing to comply with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, the government’s vaccine manufacturing unit-Pasteur Institute of India (PII), Coonoor, is all set to roll out its first batch of vaccine doses for Dipetheria Pertussis Tetanus (DPT) from Tuesday.
The Public Sector Unit (PSU) will supply about 15 lakh of DPT doses for the country’s Universal Immunisation Progr-amme (UIP). The institute proposes to release about 30 million doses of DPT for the year 2012-2013. “This will be the first time after four years that the PSU will start rolling our vaccines again,” said a senior official in the health ministry.
The vaccines have been validated and underwent a quality control testing CDL Kasauli in March 2012.
The manufacturing process had started in 2010 after Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad ordered the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to partially revoke the suspension of licence of the PSU in order to enable domestic use of the vaccines.
PII and two other PSUs— Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) Vaccine Laboratory, Guindy were closed down in 2008 by the then Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on the grounds that they were not GMP compliant.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> NATION> North / by Correspondent / New Delhi / June 26th, 2012

IIT professors to present innovation and incubation at IIT Madras

Business & Economy, Education, Nri's / Pio's, Science & Technologies

The IIT Madras delegation consisting of two-member team led by Director, Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi and Dr. Ram Nagarajan, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and the Faculty Advisor, Office of Alumni Affairs will be visiting Houston on June 18 and 19, 2012.

  Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi and Dr. Ram Nagarajan

The Team will be meeting with IIT Madras Alumni of North America (IITMAANA) and IIT Alumni of Greater Houston (IITAGH) members on June 18 evening to communicate “IITM Vision and Plans” to the alumni and solicit their input and support. This meeting will begin at 6:30 PM on Monday, June 18, at Mayuri Restaurant, 5857 Westheimer.

On June 19, at the luncheon meeting in collaboration with the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi plans to address the business and entrepreneur community about the recent successes of IIT Madras innovation and incubation initiatives.

This gathering will take place at Narin’s Bombay Brasserie, 3115 West Loop South, Suite 110; (77027) on Tuesday June 19, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Later in the afternoon, at the “Academic and Research Collaboration” session, the Team plans to communicate IITM academic collaboration initiatives with the Deans and Faculties of Rice University, University of Houston, University of Texas, and Texas A& M University and solicit their active participation.

The IITMAANA, established in 1980, is a US based non-profit alumni organization that serves the needs of IIT Madras and her alumni in North America region. The Houston Chapter is actively pursuing Prof. S. Sampath Endowment Chair Fund Raising, the first of its kind “to honor the Professors who have made profound impact on the students during their days at IITM and beyond in a sustainable way”.

The IITAGH, established in 2004, is a non-profit organization that was created to meet three goals: to promote professional growth of its members; to provide a social network for IIT alumni and their family members to swiftly assimilate into the Houston community, and to give back to the local community.

The team’s visit is locally coordinated by Mallik Putcha, and Dr. Subba Viswanathan, Founding President and Director respectively of IITMAANA, and supported by Witty Bindra, President of IITAGH

source: http://www.india-herald.com / India Herald

NOCL raises $100 million from Singapore-based Trafigura

Business & Economy

Nagarjuna Oil Corporation (NOCL), a part of the Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna group, has raised about $100 million (Rs 553 crore) from Singapore-based crude oil trading major Trafigura to fund its six-million tonne oil refinery project coming up in the Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region on the Cuddalore-Nagapattinam stretch in Tamil Nadu.

Disclosing this here on Tuesday, KS Raju, chairman of the Nagarjuna group, said that the company will be raising further funds by diluting its equity in the project. According to him, the group currently holds 40 per cent equity in the project, while it had infused about Rs 800 crore towards the equity.

In April, the Singapore company had reportedly announced plans to pick up a 24 per cent stake in the refinery project for a consideration of $130 million. The proceeds will be used to complete the construction of the project, which is expected to be ready in the later part of next year, according to Raju. The project involves a total investment of about Rs 10,000 crore.

Tata Sons and a German company are among the other equity partners in the project.

Nagarjuna is a diversified conglomerate having interests in power, infrastructure, fertilisers and other sectors. The group is currently undertaking a Rs 5,000-crore expansion of its fertiliser plant at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Agrichem targets Rs 1,000-crore revenues 
Nagarjuna Agrichem Limited (NACL), a part of the Nagarjuna group, is targeting to achieve the Rs 1000-crore turnover mark, from Rs 600 crore last year, in the next couple of years.

The proposed revenue growth would be achieved by enhancing the exports by way of contract manufacturing as well as through expanding its domestic footprint by 20-25 per cent, said Raju after inaugurating the company’s new research and development (R&D) centre in Hyderabad. The company had invested about Rs 75 crore in the new research facility and its zero-liquid discharge manufacturing facility at Srikakulam, he said.

The company, which currently produces and markets about 45 generic crop protection products across the country, is currently in discussions with 8-10 international players to bring their proprietary products into the Indian market, according to him.

NACL managing director V Vijay Shankar said that they will be introducing two proprietary products owned by multinational companies shortly, mainly in the herbicide category.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Home> Companies & Industry / by BS Reporter / Chennai/Hyderabad / June 13th, 2012

Tamil Nadu to get 76 new hotels

Business & Economy

State tourism minister Gokula Indira inaugurates centre for tourism and hotel management in Madurai Kamaraj University on Wednesday. — DC

The hotel industry in Tamil Nadu is in for a boom with likelihood of 76 new hotels to be established in the state in a couple of years, said state tourism minister S. Gokula Indira.

Inaugurating the centre for tourism and hotel management at Madurai Kamaraj University on Wednesday, she said there was also a possibility of 4 and 5 star hotels with 3,500 rooms coming up across the state.

She was hopeful that the 5-year integrated post graduate programme on tourism and hotel management, to be offered by the university from this academic year, would help students get employment in star hotels and draw salaries at par with IIT students.

Having realised the importance of tourism and scope for growth, the varsity proposed the programme and admit about 120 students, she said, appreciating effort of vice chancellor Kalyani Mathivanan.

While 77 colleges in southern districts are affiliated to MKU, three more would be added, as CM Jayalalithaa has ordered to start colleges in Tirumangalam, Vedasanthur and Aruppukottai from this academic year, she said, pointing out that AIADMK government has allotted Rs 15,000 crore for education.

VC Kalyani Mathivanan said the varsity has planted seeds for two ambitious projects — tourism and hotel management programme and opening a multi-speciality health centre for those living on campus and in its vicinity.

She said tourism and hotel management have become areas of prime concern with increasing tourists and expanding global markets. It is one of the largest service industries, providing 8.78 per cent employment in India.

The centre would focus on cardiology, gynaecology, diabetes, dentistry and ophthalmology, she said.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Regions> Madurai / DC, June 07th, 2012

Trichy tailors against distribution of school uniform orders

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education, Uncategorized

Trichy:

Women belonging to the Cauvery Women Tailors’ Cooperative Association, Trichy on Monday submitted a petition to district collector Jayashree Muralidharan seeking her intervention to not divert orders for stitching school uniforms to unregistered tailors citing time constraints.

In their petition, the women coming under categories like below poverty line, widows, destitutes and differently-abled persons were given orders from the district social welfare office to stitch school uniforms for government and aided schools in Trichy district. The association has been in existence for the past 29 years and was providing employment to the poor women to run their families.

Earlier, the officials gave enough time for delivering the stitched uniforms. However, last year after the then state government’s decision to provide two sets of school uniforms to the students, the special officer Veeramani sought the tailors to finish the task within a day, failing which he diverted the orders to unregistered tailors in Sivaganga district. Due to this, the tailors had faced a loss of income last year. Unfortunately, the uniforms could not be used as they were declared unfit. This year, the state government has ordered to provide four sets of uniforms to the students. The tailors claimed that the special officer is again trying to give the orders to outsiders.

According to official sources, as many as 1.50 lakh students in the district benefited every year. In the wake of the government order, the number of school uniform sets would go up this year. So, the officials shared the orders to tailors in Sivaganga district to complete it on time. Previously, the tailors were given five months time to complete the orders. But this year, the time is very limited. So this year also, the government gave very limited time to complete the order before June 10.

When contacted K Yasodhai, district social welfare officer, Trichy said that since the petition was submitted to the district collector, she cannot comment on the issue.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Madurai> Collections / TNN / May 29th, 2012

The ice cream man

Business & Economy, Leaders, Uncategorized

 BUILDING DREAMS: R.G. Chandramogan. Photo: R. Ragu

From push carts to parlours, R.G. Chandramogan has built his ice cream empire bar by bar. Priyadarshini Paitandy meets the man behind Arun and Ibaco

Juggling an ice cream in one hand and a notebook and pen in another isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially when you have to take down notes between mouthfuls of waffle cone. This is what I do when I meet R.G. Chandramogan at his office and start a conversation over an Arun ice cream as he traces the journey and growth of his company Hatsun Agro Products.

When Chandramogan was a school boy he would unfailingly put aside money for ice cream. Thirty-seven paise would be saved for an ice lolly and even though flavours weren’t many except vanilla, pineapple and strawberry, that was enough to bring a blissful smile to his lips.

Little did he know then that two decades down the line he would have an ice cream empire of his own. Surely, this is how Charlie must have felt when he inherited the chocolate factory. But in Chandramogan’s case he built it right from scratch, brick by brick or rather bar by bar.

“With a limited capital of Rs.13,000 I had to start something. So I started Arun ice cream in 1970. I was 21 then,” says Chandramogan. The factory was just an unassuming little place in Tondiarpet where three or four people worked and manually produced about 20 litres of ice cream per day. Ten paise candy was their first variety of ice cream and it was sold through push carts. Today of course it’s a different story. The automatic equipment produces 50,000 litres to 75,000 litres of ice cream per day.

Like most success stories that are laced with phases of initial struggle, his story too saw him plough through early hardships in the business. “We struggled a lot in the first 10 years. The top three players then were Dasaprakash, Joy and Kwality. They were financially ahead and had a bigger market. I lacked knowledge about marketing. I am not a graduate. So while I was struggling I did a course in marketing management, export management and personal management from Sabari College. In the first year our turnover was Rs.1,15,000. From 1981 we started growing and in 1991 Arun recorded a turnover of Rs. 3 crore,” he says.

Chandramogan began catering to ships, messes, colleges. Slowly he branched out to Pondicherry, Madurai, Sivakasi and Kumbakonam where his ice creams were a novelty and the other brands hadn’t yet tapped these markets.

While frozen dessert lovers were lapping up whatever came from the stables of Arun, Chandramogan busied himself with another venture — the dairy business. In 1995 he started Arokya milk. “We were procuring milk for our ice creams and so this idea came about. Today Arokya sees an annual turnover of Rs. 1,300 crores. We also manufacture butter, milk powder, ghee and curd. We are associated with 3,50,000 farmers and buy milk from 8,000 villages. We operate from nine different factories and our people travel 4,20,000 km to collect and distribute milk,” he adds. Hatsun dairy products are available across the country.

Hatsun has its dairy plants in Kanchipuram, Palacode, Salem, Madurai, Belgaum, Honnali. As for its ice cream, apart from Tamil Nadu they also have a plant in Seychelles. How does Arun sell in Seychelles, a market for other popular international ice cream brands? “We have a 70 per cent share of ice cream market in Seychelles. In Brunei we have a distributor who buys and sells our ice creams and there we are among the top four brands,” says the seasoned entrepreneur.

In 2012, Hatsun started yet another ice cream brand, Ibaco. This is the posh cousin of Arun ice cream and is based on the ice cream-by-scoop model. “Arun is a factory finished product and comes in cones, cups and sticks. As for Ibaco, it’s the scoop variety. You walk into an Ibaco parlour, choose the flavour and get it dressed with toppings. As of now Ibaco is available in Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi. By next year I’ll be taking it to Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata,” says Chandramogan.

But the launch of a new brand in no way means that Arun has been ignored. This season Arun’s got quite a few new flavours to pep up its range. There’s Berry Storm, Vanilla with Chocolate Fudge, Lemon Bar, Cream and Cookies among others. With myriad options available his favourite still remains the classic Arun chocolate cone. “Earlier I used to eat an ice cream every day. Now I try out ice creams when I travel to get a taste of competing brands,” he smiles.

After a day of cream, dairy and deals, how does he unwind? “I go to the gym, read books. Earlier I used to play badminton. I was a fan of the game and would go to watch Prakash Padukone play at tournaments. I even like watching tennis especially when Roger Federer plays. I am going to London to watch him play in November.” Who knows maybe the Swiss player could be roped in as the brand ambassador for Hatsun? Now that’s a thought!

***

Hatsun produces 18 lakh to 20 lakh litres of milk per day. Twelve lakh litres are used up for milk and milk products. Sixty thousand litres are used for ice cream. The remaining is used for ghee and skimmed milk.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / Life & Style> MetroPlus / by PriyaDarshini Paitandy / Chennai, May 17th, 2012

Lakshmi Vilas Bank signs MoU with TCS for centralization of process

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies

Mumbai, May 11, 2012:

 Lakshmi Vilas Bank, the leading, fast-growing Private Sector Bank today signed a MoU with TCS for centralization of back office operations and document management system.

This arrangement would facilitate centralization of the key processes like account opening, KYC compliance, loans and advances, Trade Finance, ATM card management and many more. This agreement would enable all the branches of the bank to collect applications or request forms from customers and forward them to Central Processing Cell (CPC) for processing. CPC (Central Processing Cell) will be responsible for all centralized business processes and Datacenter (DC) will provide and maintain IT related services like servers, data storage, network etc. The documents comprising of application forms and supporting documents collected at branches will be forwarded to the scan station for scanning and indexing. Primarily the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) will be deployed for data and document management.

The entire process would be implemented in two phases. Phase I would include the processes like Savings Account Opening, Current Account Opening, CC-OD/ Loan Account Opening (Post Sanction), Centralization of account opening under Financial Inclusion and more. Phase II will include Trade Finance, Opening Demat Accounts and 3 in 1 Accounts

Speaking on the occasion Mr. P.R. Somasundaram, MD & CEO, Lakshmi Vilas Bank said, “Centralisation is a natural and significant step in our journey towards leveraging technology for providing a faster, efficient and standardized service without, of course, losing our traditional ‘personal touch’ through our fairly large network.  We were looking for a technology partner who could bring in a banking-specific solution to the table to centralize the bank’s back office operations and document management system. This tie-up will assist the Bank in providing a single platform that can be used for centralizing all the processes.”

Mr. G Srinivasa Raghavan, Country Head, India Business, TCS added, “Banks are increasingly focusing on simplifying branch operations for enhanced customer experience and integrate back office operations for higher employee productivity.  TCS is delighted to partner with LVB in helping them transform branch processes and help establish integrated back office operations for higher cost efficiency.

source: http://www.lvbank.com / Home> Shareholders Info> Press Release / Mumbai, May 11th, 2012

Tyrexpo India to focus on radialization

Business & Economy

Truck tire radialization to be a focus at second staging of Tyrexpo India in Chennai

A major focus at next year’s Tyrexpo India exhibition in Chennai will be the development toward increased radialization of truck and bus radial tires (TBR) in India.

Tyrexpo India 2013 will take place at the Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, India, July 9-11, 2013.

Event organizer ECI International has identified truck and bus tire radialization as one of the most topical issues for the domestic market and will reflect this in the structure and content of the three-day exhibition.

“Indian and international tire manufacturers are making huge investments in new production capacity for TBR radials for the domestic market,” says Paul Farrant, managing director of ECI International. “We want to reflect that dynamic trend at Tyrexpo India by creating a focus on truck tire manufacturing, with tire makers, technology experts, materials suppliers and service providers making a contribution to the show.”

Due to a variety of factors, including poor road infrastructure, heavily overloaded commercial vehicles and a subsequent lack of OEM demand, TBR radials account for just 10% to 15% of the huge commercial vehicle market I India.

But with government plans to build 35,000 kms of new roads over the next two years, the 2005 Supreme Court ruling on the overloading of trucks and increased interest from CV and bus manufacturers, the picture is set to change radically, ECI International points out.

Between them, Indian tire makers Apollo, BKT, Bridgestone India, Ceat, Dunlop India, Falcon Tyres and JK Tyre are in the process of commissioning or building more than a dozen new tire factories in India, with many of them dedicated to producing truck and bus radials. Industry estimates predict that by 2013 there will be an additional 25% manufacturing capacity for TBR radial tires.

And it’s not just Indian companies that are driving this change. Michelin Groupe is reported to be investing 800 million in its new Chennai plant, which will have a capacity of 300,000 radial tires, and Continental Corp. is said to be spending 50 million euros to increase its truck radial capacity in India by 2013.

Industry sources estimate the Indian tire industry’s annual turnover at Rs 300,000 million (£3.8 billion), with exports accounting for Rs 36,000 (£455.8 million) of this. During the year to the end of September 2011 an estimated 119.2 million tires were produced in India by 39 tire companies; the 10 largest manufacturers produced 95% of the total.

Truck and bus tires accounted for 65% of tire industry turnover, with the replacement market making up around 70% of this.

ECI’s Farrant adds: “With the continued rapid expansion of the Indian tire industry there will be greater interest in and demand for associated services for tyre distribution, fitment and repair. Another of our aims for next year’s exhibition will be to reflect this trend by attracting suppliers of workshop equipment, repair and maintenance products and distribution experts to participate in the show.

“With no other event dedicated solely to the tire and service industries, we are confident that Tyrexpo India 2013 will consolidate the strong impression it made in 2011 with an even stronger show next year.”

In anticipation of a larger show ECI has taken an option for a second exhibition hall at the Chennai Trade Centre to cope with additional exhibitor demand from both Indian and international suppliers.

For more information, go to www.eci-international.com.

source: http://www.moderntiredealer.com / Home> News / May 16th, 2012

With upgrades, India to reopen 3 vaccine plants

Business & Economy, Science & Technologies, Uncategorized

HLL, a company that made its name in condom manufacturing, has contract for work

An Indian company known for making condoms has completed upgrades on a vaccine plant there and is nearing completion on two others.

It has only recently been disclosed that HLL Lifecare, formerly Hindustan Latex, has been overseeing the work, reports rediff business, a disclosure it says has been a surprise to some. HLL still makes condoms but also operates hospital chains, diagnostic clinics and MRI centers in India.

The plants all had their licenses pulled in 2008 because of quality problems, leading to a shortage of some vaccines at the time, according to in-PharmaTechnologist.

The government is investing about $37 million in the project. That is about half the cost of the upgrades at the Central Research Institute in Kasauli, the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin Vaccine Laboratory in Guindy, and the Pasteur Institute of India, in Coonoor, rediff reports. Additional funds will come from institutional investors. And while government-owned facilities usually stick to common vaccines like DPT, the plan is for the reopened plants to manufacture a variety of vaccines, including those for hepatitis B, influenza. and rabies.

While strides have been made in recent years in the development and manufacturing of vaccines, the world continues to have huge unmet needs in many areas.

– read the rediff business story
– get the in-PharmaTechnologist story

source: http://www.fiercepharmamanufacturing.com / Home> Topics: Emerging Markests , Facilities / by Eric Palmer / May o3rd, 2012