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April 2010 Page No. 1Business Digest

August 2008 Page No. 1Business Digest

Vol. 17 Issue 4 Kochi April 2010 R.N.I. Registration No. 62545/94

Price Rs 10/-

Snap shots

Now, iPhone appthat can cure acne!

Business News Service

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KL/EKM/637/2009-’11Licence No. KL/CR/EKM/WPP-11/2009-’11

Licensed to Post Without Prepayment

Pranab Mukherjee's 2010-11Union Budget was a cleverlydrafted one. He was talkingmuch about 'aam aadmi'several times during hisBudget speech. But nothingwas there for 'aam aadmi'.The additional provision forrural development was justRs.3,436 crore - a rise fromRs.62,201 crore in the currentyear to Rs.66,137 crore forthe coming year. This wasjust a rise of 6.3%. The rise inthe NREGS in the comingyear is only 2.5% as against146% in NREGS for 2009-'10over 2008-'09. The additionalprovision for agriculture wasjust Rs.900 crore. Then howcan the Finance Ministerclaim it an inclusive budget?Relief for individual taxpayers was beneficial tomiddle class. But it will benefit

Budget: Mere lip serviceto 'aam aadmi'

only those have a taxableannual salary of more thanRs.3 lakhs. The tax cut for thehigh-salaried was five timesthan the increase in theprovision of rural develop-ment. Still it is claimed as'aam aadmi' budget.Even in the case of middleclass, Pranab takes morethan he gives. Whatever theextra income the taxchanges would createwould ultimately be eatenup by the petrol priceincrease and excise dutyhike of various commodi-ties.Although price rise was themost important challengebefore the country, Budgetdid nothing to help thecommon man to fight the

price rise. Instead, duty hikewill lead to further shooting upof the prices of essentialcommodities.Pranab's efforts for fiscalconsolidation was a welcomestep. He set the fiscal deficit

target at 5.5% of the grossdomestic product (GDP) for2010-11. The target of 5.5%includes expenses onaccount of oil and fertilizersubsidies. The total netborrowing of the Governmentin 2010-11 would beRs.3,45,101 crore. Therevenue deficit is alsoexpected to show significantdecline to 4% of GDP from

Lower costs, greater flexibilityand access to resources ondemand: it’s no wonder cloudcomputing is attractingattention. The concept hasgained traction with anincreasing number oforganisations in the past fewyears. The ability to access ashared pool of computingresources on demand isproving highly attractive tocash-strapped IT depart-ments that are underpressure to deliver betterservices at lower cost.The appeal of cloud comput-ing is its promise to deliveragility and real cost savings.It allows organisations torapidly access computingresources when they areneeded, often in a self-service and pay-per-usemodel. These resources canexpand and contract with thenatural ebb and flow of thebusiness cycle, eliminatingthe need to over-invest inexcess capacity.

Evolving to thecloud

Pranab Mukherjee: Clever moves

A new iPhone application hasbeen developed which itscreator says can cure acne.Skin doctor Dr Greg Pearsonclaims that the revolutionaryapp can improve people’sskin by shining a special lighton to the owner’s face whilethey chat on the phone,reports The Sun.The light killsoff bacteria and promotescollagen growth, claims themedic.Dr Pearson said: “This wouldhave to go through a lot more

Ashok V. Desai, notedeconomist and consultanteditor, The Telegraph saidthat price rise of petroleumproducts as a result of budgetproposal to increase customsand excise duty of them willnot result in further inflation.Ashok Desai was replying toa question from the audienceafter offering 11th MalayaManorama Budget Lecture inKochi. Over-spending by theGovernment, according tohim, remains the main reasonfor inflation. Petroleum pricesmust be revised in accor-dance with the global crudeoil prices. Subsidy of any typewill be harmful to theeconomy, says, Ashok Desai.In his speech Ashok Desaisuggested zero price inflationfor a healthy economy. 'I can'tagree with the contention that

Petroleum price rise notto influence inflation:Ashok V. Desai

Focus on Education : Page 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

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The gift of ‘Arasinar Kalloori’ isnow the strength of Federal Bank

There is no wonder if I saythat the Thanjavoor District isa gift of river Kaveri. Herestands the tallest Maha SivaKshetra in South India withpyramidal towers of elevenstories. Kumbakonam is thebiggest city in ThanjavoorDistrict filled with old andwide roads, agraharams,Siva-Vaishnava temples,musical academies etc. etc.The ‘Arasinar Kalloori’ (Govt.College), which stands on thebanks of river Kaveri, remindsus the Cambridge, whichstands on the riverside ofThemes. The Kalloori is alsoknown as Cambridge ofSouth India. It was from thisArasinar Kalloori that thegreat mathematical geniusSreenivasa Ramanujam tookhis degree.The Executive Director ofFederal Bank P.R.

- O.P. Joseph -

Kalyanaramanwho I got anopportunity tointerview nowwas also astudent ofArasinarKalloori(Govt.College) ofKumbakonam.He also hailsfromKumbakonam.In thebankinghistory ofIndia, thename ofFederal Bankas well as itsfounder K.P.Hormis will remain as alegend.It was one fine summerevening that I first met

Kalyanaraman at his office atFederal Towers, Aluva. I wentto kalyanaraman’s P.A. Smt.

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clinical study before I couldquantify its efficiency.”I amfascinated by the concept thatusers would potentially beable to treat their acne whiletalking on the phone.”

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P.R. Kalyanaraman: A man of knowledge andexperience


Sleepiness while drivingsignificantly increases the riskof motor vehicle accidents inadolescents, a new study hasconfirmed.The studysuggests adolescent driverswere twice as likely to crash ifthey experienced sleepinesswhile driving or reportedhaving bad sleep.Eighty of the 339 studentssurveyed for the study hadalready crashed at least onceand 15 percent of themconsidered sleepiness tohave been the main cause ofthe crash.Fifty-six percent ofstudents who had at least oneprevious crash reporteddriving while sleepy, com-pared with 35 percent ofsubjects who had not been ina crash.Fabio Cirignotta, professor ofneurology at the University ofBologna in Italy, who led thestudy, said that the onlyeffective countermeasure todrowsiness is to stop drivingimmediately, pull over to asafe place and nap for 10 to15 minutes.’Commonly usedcountermeasures to fatigue,such as opening the window,listening to the radio, ordrinking a coffee, are knownto be short-lasting and,

Sleepy adolescentsprone to accidents

essentially, useless,’ saidCirignotta.’Moreover, if asubject perceives sleepiness,

he or she would probablyalready have a reducedperformance at the wheel,

and nobody can safely detectthe real instant when sleep isstarting in order to stop

driving at that time.’This cross-sectional studywas conducted in 2004 and

was supported by the Italianministry of education.Self-administered questionnaireswere distributed to 339students who had a driver’slicence and were in their lasttwo years of attendance atone of seven high schools inBologna.Students werebetween the ages of 18 and21 years (mean 18.4 years),and 58 percent of them weremale.Results show thatstudents suffered fromchronic sleep deprivation.Although they reported thattheir sleep need was a meanof 9.2 hours per night, thestudents reported sleeping foran average of only 7.3 hourson weeknights.Only sixpercent of students slept ninehours or more on weeknights,and 58 percent tried to catchup by sleeping nine hours ormore on weekends, says aUniversity of Bolgonarelease.The combination ofchronic sleep loss and poorsleep quality had a negativeeffect on their alertness, as64 percent of participantscomplained of excessivedaytime sleepiness. Thesefindings were published in ofThe Journal of Clinical SleepMedicine (JCSM).

5.3% in the current financialyear. The decision to downthe non-plan expenditure wasalso good to the economy.Government expects tospend 66% of total expendi-ture on non-plan activitiesduring 2010-11 compared to70% in 2009-10.Allocation for education andhealth,the two big compo-

nents of the socials ector,have risen only marginally.Allocation for health accountsfor 0.36% of GDP, which isalmost the same as lastyear's level of 0.35%. Inhigher education, theincrease in allocation is to thetune of only Rs.2000 crore.That was a big disappoint-ment. Pranab did nothing inthe job creation front as well.

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The 5th Budget of KeralaFinance Minister Dr. ThomasIsaac was better thanexpected with no additionaltaxation on essentialcommodities, lot of welfaremeasures, highest-everallocation for higher educa-tion, more outlay for large-scale industries, proposals forRs.50,000 crore rapid railcorridor, Rs.1000 crore greenfund, more allocation forwomen developmentinitiatives, abolition ofsurcharge on stamp duty andKochi-Palakkad, Kochi-Kasargode industrial corridor.Dr. Thomas Isaac's proposalto set up energy creditsystem to encourage energyconservation was veryattractive. The systemproposes to give fixedamount as credit for everyunit of power consumed lessthan in the previous year.Indian Green Building CouncilCochin Chapter wasdemanding for such aninitiative from the Govern-ment. Allocation for the ITsector has been increasedfrom Rs.86 crore to Rs.153crore with a 77% increase.The budget proposes aGreen Fund worth Rs.1000crore to be set up over the

But Dr. Thomas Isaac'sproposal to start 8 new publicundertaking can't beconsidered as wise one.Isaac's expectation for a 25%increase in tax collection isalso not a realistic one. If hefails to achieve this target, hewill be unsuccessful in hisefforts to contain fiscal deficitat 3.12% and revenue deficitat 1.48%. AchuthanandanGovernment’s not so goodtrack record in projectimplementation is the anotherdrawback.

Kerala Budget:A well-balanced one


next 5 years and Rs.100crore has been earmarked forthis in the first year. Allocationof Rs.121 crore for the highereducation was 112% higherthan that of the previousbudget. Proposal to makeavailable rice for Rs.2 per kgfor all unorganised labourerswas a revolutionary one.8.5% of plan fund (Rs.620crore) has been set apart forschemes benefiting women.Increase in assistance toKudumbashree was Rs.50crore.

decision making processmostly converge in thisposition. Here, I am able toeffectively draw upon myexperience in my previousassignments. Further, wehave a very experiencedManaging Director & CEOwith exposure to two largenationalized banks asExecutive Director and

been able to retain ourcustomer base and loyaltythrough our customer-firstapproach in all our servicesincluding our product designwhich are constantlyreviewed to meet the everchanging customer expecta-tions. It is our endeavour toinculcate this philosophy ineach and every staff

Brigit’s room and told herabout my appointment. TheP.A. went in. Within no timethe door of the cabin ofExecutive Director wasopened and I saw thereKalyanaraman standing toreceive me extending hishands. Saying each other‘Vanakkam’, we occupied ourseats.We sat looking each other forsometime thinking whoshould talk first. I thensuddenly put my firstquestion.* You have joined Federalbank on 2nd January 2008 asthe Executive Director. Weunderstand you have gotlucid and direct relationshipswith the customers. And your3-1/2 decades of bankingexperience has raised you tohigh position. How do youfeel now in your presentassignment as ExecutiveDirector of Federal Bank?The assignment as ExecutiveDirector is crucial one as theresponsibilities towardsguiding the Bank in itspolicies, practices and

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The scholarly Executive Director of The Federal Bank,P.R. Kalyanaraman speaks to O.P. Joseph, noted writerand philanthropist, on subjects from banking toknowledge and leadership.

Chairman and ManagingDirector besides a very activeprofessional board to guidethe Bank, the benefits ofwhich are seen in the enviousprogress the Bank hasachieved over the past fewyears.* What is your businessphilosophy? I mean regardingcustomer services.The Bank is customer-centricin all aspects. We have grownto this level with the unstintedsupport of our clients and it isalso known that we have

members who joins our Bank.* What are the services andproducts the Bank isproviding for customers.When did you start yourrelations with NRIs?The Bank offers a completesuite of financial products tothe customers - CorporateBanking, Insurance, RetailBanking, Treasury, StructuredDerivative Products, CashManagement, Online RailwayReservation, E-payment, AnyWhere Banking, Real TimeGross Settlement, CustomerCare Centres etc. etc.As regards our relationshipwith NRIs, I would say itstarted with the first Keralitecrosing the shores of Kerala -whether it be to the Gulf orEurope, USA or Far East. TheNRI customer base of theBank from all over the globeis a testimony to this. Toreciprocate the trust reposedin us by any person of Kerala

Dr. Thomas Isaac


Established in 2001 and ablyrun by the Sringeri Mutt withthe benign blessings of SreeSree BharathitheerthaMahaswamigal, Adi ShankaraInstitute of Engineering &Technology (ASIET), Kaladyhas already made a mark inthe field of Engineering andManagement education.Located at a place, whichkindles vibrant memories ofthe serene presence ofJagadguru Adi Shankara, theinstitution is engaged in anoble and holy task ofcreating a suitable and richbackground of intellectual andspiritual atmosphere thatpromotes love and under-standing for the awakeningand flowering of intelligence.In ASIET there is a true blendof global values and Indianspiritual values after AdiShankara’s teachings andphilosophy. The morningsession begins with yoga andmeditation class preparingthe participants for ameaningful day’s work.Adi Shankara Trust, whichruns the ASIET got four othereducational institutions - SreeSankara College, SreeSarada Vidyalaya, AdiSankara Training College (allin Kalady) and P.N.N.M.Ayurveda Medical College,Shornur. Padmasree V.R.Gourishankar, CEO &Administrator, Sringeri Muttand its properties is thebackbone of all the institu-tions run by the Mutt - insocial, educational, eco-nomic, health, spiritual andtechnical spheres. Hisspiritual scholarliness haseven taken him to UnitedNations General Assembly toaddress the delegates.The reins of ASIET are in theable hands of the veteranlawyer, Dr. B.S. Krishnan, theManaging Trustee, who isfully committed to the overalldevelopment of the college.An expert in Electronics, Dr.S.G. Iyer has been at thehelm as principal. A team ofhighly qualified and dedicatedfaculty, under the directsupervision of the principal,works untiringly for thebetterment of students in allrespects.Affiliated to Mahatma GandhiUniversity and approved byAICTE, the college offersB.Tech. Degree courses inApplied Electronics andInstrumentation, Electronics &communication Engineering(two batches), ComputerScience & Engineering

Adi Shankara Institute: Creatingintelligent minds through quality education


Electrical & ElectronicsEngineering, InformationTechnology and MechanicalEngineering. Apart fromproviding quality technicaleducation at the undergradu-ate level, ASIET providesexcellent, world-classManagement educationthrough its prestigious 2 year,full time M.B.A. programme.According to Dr. S.G. Iyer,ASIET is the first self-financing technical educationcentre to be awarded the ISO9001:2000 certification for topquality education system. Thecollege has a fully functionalplacements cell under adynamic placement officer,Santha Ram Rao. Heregularly laisons with theindustry giants within andoutside the state and helpsorganise training programmesto suit the requirements of thecompanies. The syllabus ofthe Finishing School conceptconcieved by the ASIETplacement cell has beenwidely acclaimed andrecognised. This is a practicaloriented concept which cangive an insight to bothB.Tech. and M.B.A. studentswho wish to pursue a careerin management. TheEngineering College hasestablished a workingrelationship with companieslike Oracle, Infosys, USSoftware, I Gate, TCS,Accenture, IBS, Sify.com,L&T Infotech, Nitta GelatinIndia Ltd., Wipro, Hexaware,Igatech, INFOTECH, Mind-tree, Perot Systems, Cognizand Technologies, SutherlandGlobal Services, NEATTechnologies, Alsec Tech-nologies and Synergy. Someof the companies which wereaccredited ASIET for campusrecruitment purposes areTCS, Perot Systems, Infosys,Hexaware, Sonata Software,Calsoft, Apollo Tyres, HCLInfosystem, Nest, I-Gate,Shree Ram Group ofCompanies and TrivitronBiomedicals. The campusconnect programme of ASIEThas been adjudged as thebest by Infosys.Hi-Fi campus, highlyqualified and dedicatedfaculty, state-of-the artlaboratory, library andworkshop facilities, ultramodern class rooms withlatest teaching aids like P3ceramics boards, publicaddress system and LCDprojectors, fully-air-conditioned and wellfurnished seminar hall and

Dr. B.S. Krishnan, Managing Trustee Dr. S.G. Iyer, Principal

conference rooms, ampleprovision for sports, gamesand cultural activities,Edusat, Everron E-learningsystem, inviting feedbackfrom all stake holdersincluding parents, waterharvesting and biogas plantare some of the specialfeatures of ASIET. ASIET isthe only hi-tech technicaleducation centre wheretraining in classical music isbeing given on a regularbasis.The college has an ever

vibrant Alumni Association,the annual meeting of whichis a real home coming of theold students. The Associa-tion is publishing an annualnewsletter as well.Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visitedASIET while he was thepresident of India. Dr.Kasthurirangan, formerchairman, ISRO, Dr. G.Madhavan Nair, Chairman,ISRO, Dr. M.B. Athreya, worldrenowned Management Guruand Dr. Sivathanu Pillai, CEO& MD, Brahmos Aerospace

were some of the dignitariesblessed the institution withtheir presence.Salient features of AdiShankara are highly qualifiedand dedicated faculty, state -of-the art laboratory, libraryand workshop facilities, ultramodern class rooms withlatest teaching aids like P3ceramic boards, publicaddress system and LCDprojectors,fully air- condi-tioned and well furnishedseminar hall and conferencerooms,ample provision for

sports, games and culturalactivitie,.institution - industryinteraction - mandatoryregular industrial visit guestlectures by industry/ com-merce experts,first newgeneration engg. college toget ISO 9001:2000certification,first self financingengg. college to get fourUniversity ranks in the firstoutgoing batch, first selffinancing engg. college to bevisited by President of Indiafor interaction with the

Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology,Kalady was established with the aim of providing valueadded technical education with emphasis on professionalexcellence under the patronage of His Holiness BharathiTheertha Swamigal of the Sringeri Sankara Mutt .Besides six streams of Engineering courses the Institutealso has an MBA course, all approved by AICTE &affiliated to the MG University, Kottayam.

Adi Shankara Institute of Engg & TechnologySankar Nagar, Mattoor, Kalady., Ernakulam 683 574

Ph:0484-2463825, 2460487, 2463062, 2462341. Fax:2463828Website:www.adishankara.net E-mail:[email protected]

Dr. S.G. IyerPrincipal

Engineering Courses offered

Adi Shankara, Kalady

MBA

The Institute runs a 2-year full time MBA course withspecialisation in different areas like Marketing, HRand Finance.Admission to the course is based on theMAT score and GD & Interview conducted by ASIET.

�Applied Electronics & Instrumentation�Electrical & Electronics Engg�Electronics & Commn Engg�ComputerScience& Engg�Information Technology�Mechanical Engineering

Companies who have recruited our studentsOracle,Infosys,TCS,Perott Systems,Hexaware ,AccentureSify.com �Satyam Computers US Software �NeST ,L&T InfotechiGate, ibs,Tata ElxsiMore than 85% of the students are getting placement every year.

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EDUCATION


A career in sales is extremelychallenging and goodsalesmen will be able toachieve faster careerprogression depending ontheir individual potentialrather than based on othermetrics like the period onehas performed in a similarcapacity in the organization.In brief, for an excellentsalesman, sky is the limit andopportunities in the jobmarket are wide and variedthereby providing them with acompetitive advantage in thecurrent job market.The requirement of efficientsalesmen are going up eachday with the launch of newventures or expansion ofexisting hypermarket/Supermarkets, giant JewelleryShowrooms, big textile showrooms and FMCG compa-nies. The resource require-

K.M’s Academy of Sales Excellence:An excellent academy run by an excellent salesman

Infosys and Shriram Group ofCompanies awarded activecentre status to ASIET.Students’ projects receivedspecial recognition from CEOof Brahmos Dr. A. S. Pillaiand COO of Infosys Dr.Shibulal. More than 10projects of students fundedby Technology IncubationCentre for achieving patents.Conducts every year nationalTech Fest ‘Brahma’ participat-ing multinational companies,research experts since 2001.

MBA at ASIETMBA course started in thisinstitute during the year 2001and this program is recog-nized by AICTE and affiliatedto Mahatma Gandhi Univer-sity Kottayam. At present 4thand 5th batch of MBAstudents are being skilled invarious disciplines ofmanagement.

The department of Manage-ment Studies is a part ofASIET, Kalady, currentlyheaded by Prof. N. D. Bhatt,who has 10 Years ofexperience in teaching,training and consulting. Atpresent there are sixpermanent faculty membersand another four visitingprofessors with industrial andteaching experience rangingfrom 8 to 30 years in theirrespective discipline. Almostall faculty members haveundergone Faculty Develop-ment Programme at IIMs intheir respective areas.MBA at ASIET is offeringspecializations in MarketingManagement, HumanResource Management andFinancial Management. TheInstitute is also planning tooffer non credit papers incontemporary areas ofmanagement like logistics,

students,first new generationengg. college to achieve anover all pass percentage of95% consecutively from thefirst batch, first self financingengg. college to have recordplacement of 85% consecu-tively from the first batch,firstnew generation engg collegewhich provides IQ labtraining, logic puzzle training,online aptitude & technicaltraining module from thirdsemester onwards toenhance the logic andreasoning skills, computa-tional skills, comprehensiveskills, conceptual skillsetc.,first new generationengg. college to conductnational level technicalfestival every year, right fromthe start collaborating withprominent industries, oneamong the few engg. collegeshaving tie up with Infosys forcampus connect initiative.

entrepreneurship manage-ment etc.To further its academicexcellence, students aregiven opportunity to interactwith expertsfrom various industries.

Special Features of the MBADepartment are eminentfaculty having industry andacademic experience, guestlectures with experts fromconcerned fields, industrialvisits to facilitate industryinteractions, case method ofteaching and learning toimpart practical knowledge,frequent conduct of seminarson various managementtopics, effective participationin management fests,placement training byaccredited trainers andplacements offered byreputed organizations forperforming candidates.

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ments of these firms often runinto hundreds of salesmenrequired at any point of timeand firms often find it difficultto resource quality talent insuch numbers. There is noprofessional academycurrently teaching SalesmanCourse apart from KM’sAcademy of Sales Excellence

which is dedicated to servethis purpose.K.M. Manoharan, anaggressive sales manKM’s Academy of SalesExcellence (KASE, a wing ofManoharans group) is a nicheorganization specialized inthe field of training anddeveloping well qualifiedgraduates into salesprofessionals. The Director ofthis Academy, KondathManoharan, has 30 years ofsales and sales trainingexperience in one of theprestigious international

FMCG organizations calledWipro. Manoharan is a bornsalesperson and has hadan extremely successfulsales & marketing careerbefore retiring from WiproConsumer Care & Lighting.KM had a long stint of 26years with Wipro Consumercare & Lighting divisionwhich is the motherdivision of the WiproLimited. During his 26 yearstint, he had performed in awide variety of sales andmarketing roles and hastraveled to much location.KM has a 12+ year’sexperience of recruitment andtraining for positions of SalesOfficers up to Area Managers.KM is proficient in English,Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil andKannada.Post retirement from Wipro,KM is now running KM’s- thesales academy which isspecialized in recruiting andtraining fresh MBAs andgraduates for Wipro Con-sumer Care & Lighting . Hehas also done training to theSales Teams for lot of FMCG

companies. KKR Group ofCompanies (Nirapara band ofProducts), S.D. Pharmacy(Chandanam, MullapooSoaps), Gurukripa Heritageand Ayurvedic HospitalsP.Ltd, Manjilas Group ofCompanies (Double HorseBrand). KMs have also donetraining for the Sales Teamsfor a big FMCG Distributor inDubai.KM’s is also special-ized in recruiting high qualitytalents in sales and is servingthe needs of a few clientsboth in the domestic marketin India and in International

locations like Dubai & Oman.KM’s Academy of SalesExcellence, facilitates as aone-stop shop for many firmsto satisfy their firm’s salesresource needs. KM’s havebeen doing sales training forlast 3 years for WiproConsumer Care & Lighting.KM’s has expanded itsclientele to provide similarservices for many otherFMCG companies in Indiaand UAE. KM’s is specializedin training for the profiles ofMerchandisers, Shelf Boys,

5-8% inflation will not beharmful'. Worst-affected byinflation will be the poor class.According to Ashok DesaiCongress Governmentsspend money as if notomorrow. Over-spendinglead to nepotism andcorruption as well.'I have been watching 20Union budgets. Of theseBudget by CongressGovernments were stupid,essentially populastic. It willbe risky to play politics withthe economy', he said.But Ashok Desai sees signsof change of heart in PranabMukherjee's 2010-11 Unionbudget. Pranab's concernabout debt-GDP ratio was agood sign. Proposal for directsubsidy to the farmers was awelcome step. According toAshok Desai, proposal to giveadditional banking licenses toprivate sector players andnon-banking financecompanies will be helpful toreduce interest rate forfinances. While our banksoffer only 6-7% interest ondeposits they were taxing 13-15% interest for loans. This7% gap was a huge one.Ashok Desai was of theopinion that increase innumber of banks will result inincreased competition andlower interest rate. Pranab'sproposal to review financiallegislation also was a goodstep. In our country, thesituation is such that only bigcompanies can raise moneyfrom the public. SEBI wasresponsible for this situation.It has to be changed.Ashok Desai was of theopinion that FinanceMinister's proposal to

increase import duty on goldwill encourage smuggling.Disinvestment proceeds mustbe invested in other sectors.Government is not expectedto spend this money for otherpurposes.In our country 30% of theagricultural products arebeing wasted because of thelack of storage facility.Poverty is a consequence oflow productivity. Investmentand innovation only canincrease productivity.To a question on loweringagricultural production, AshokDesai said that magic seedsand change in productionpattern must be there for apositive change. Labourshortage remains a con-straint. As a result ofincreasing employmentopportunities in cities peoplewere abandoning agriculturallabour. Ashok Desai sug-gested dependence oncountries like Australia forfood products, whereagricultural land are plenty.With zero customs duty, foodproducts from these countrieswill be available for us at verylower price, Ashok Desaiadded.Riyad Mathew, SeniorAssistantant Editor, MalayalaManorama, presentedmemento to Ashok Desai.Joseph P. Varghese, ChiefGeneral Manager (Finance)welcomed the gathering andGeorge Varghese, ChiefGeneral Manager (CompanyAffairs) proposed a vote ofthanks. Philip Mathew,Managing Director andThomas Jacob, EditorialDirector were also present onthe occasion.

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K. Manoharan Class room


An expert team of facultyalong with state-of-the-artinfrastructure and curriculummakes Sree NarayanaGurukulam College ofEngineering, Kadayiruppu,Ernakulam, the-most-sought-

after educational institutionfor B.Tech., MBA and MCAaspirants. 'An inspiring andmotivating environment,state-of-the-art teaching aidsand top class infrastructureensures the students get thevery best in contemporaryengineering and managementeducation. We at SNGCEgives stress at the overalldevelopment of everystudent. Hence we havecreated systems, facility,procedures and programmesfor offering sports, games,arts, literature and othercurricular activities to ourstudents in a meaningfulway', says Adv. T.A. Vijayan,Executive Director, SNGCE.'Sree Narayana Guru, thegreat social reformer andphilosopher is our never-ending source of inspiration.For us at Sree NarayanaGurukulam College ofEngineering there is just onereligion, imparting world-classengineering and managementeducation for generation tocome', adds Adv. Vijayan.Sree Narayana Gurukulam

SNGCE: Providing world-classfacility & excellent faculty

Prof. Dr. C.E. Krishnan M.Tech., Ph.D., Principal Prof. K. Rajendran M.Sc., Engg. FIE, MISTE, Director Adv. T.A. Vijayan, Executive Director

College of Engineering(SNGCE), started in the year2002 as a private selffinancing institution, under theSree Narayana GurukulamTrust, a creation ofKunnathunadu SNDP Union,

spreads over a sprawlingpicturesque 31 acre campusin the outskirts of Kochi. Thecollege is situated 4 km. northof Kolenchery and 14 kmssouth of Perumbavoor on theKolenchery-Perumbavoorroad. The college housed inits permanent location, has aconstructed area of 31658.72sq.m. It offers B.Tech, MBAand MCA courses.The executive committee ofSree Narayana GurukulamTrust comprises of K.K.Karnan (President), M.K.Viswanathan (Secretary),Adv. T.A. Vijayan (ExecutiveDirector), A.B. Jayaprakash(Treasurer), SureshBharathan (Vice President),T.V. Vijayan (Joint Secretary),Adv. G. Santhosh Kumar, T.V.Padman, M.A. Raju, N.Suresh and M.K. Krishnan(Members). The trust has gotan advisory board consistingof Vellappally Natesan,General Secretary, SNDPYogam, Adv. M. Ratnasingand Dr. B. Balakrishnan,Retd. Joint Director ofTechnical Education.

In SNGCE the staff-student ratio hasbeen 1:13, againstAICTE stipulation of1:15. Out of 164teaching staff, 122are post graduates

including Ph.Ds. The collegehave ample facilities to admit462 students every year forundergraduate Engineeringstudies in Electronics andCommunication (132),Computer Science (99),Mechanical Engineering (99),Electrical and Electronics (66)and Civil Engineering (66).The college has otherfacilities such as intelligentcampus having internetfacility at 24x7 with 4 mbpsdownload speed, library with19,000 books, e-learningfacility with D-space reposi-tory system, separate hostelfor boys and girls, personalitydevelopment programme,meditation classes andcanteen facility inside thecampus.SNGCE won 1st rank in CSE2008 University examinationsand 3rd in EEE 2007examinations. Secured firstposition in cyber safe 2008, anational level competitionheld by Kerala police cybercell. The students from thiscollege are regularly winningin software competition

conducted byInfosys campusconnectprogrammes.SNGCE is anapproved onlinetest centre for

Indian Railway since 2007.Fortytwo meritorious studentsfrom the low income groupare provided with the tuitionfee-free education every year.The MBA programme at thedepartment of managementstudies of SNGCE estab-lished in 2004, has beendesigned to create value-driven leadership for global

business. The MBA at SNGurukulam equips thestudent with the full set ofattitudes, skills and knowl-edge that enable him to facea competitive and fastchanging world.

Chief executives of success-ful organisations are invited tothe campus at regularintervals to share theirsuccess strategies. Manage-ment students conductindustrial visits to feel the realwork environment in theindustry.The funcational areas ofmanagement are ad-

equately covered throughthe core curriculum. Theprogramme is also tailoredto the actual needs, aptitudeand career ambitions ofeach student by offering theoption of dual specialization,

where in a student choosefive elective in onefunctional area and fourelectives in one functionalarea and four elective inanother area of interest. Inturbulent times, this helpsthe students to improve theircareer options and alsoachieve a balancedperspective of business.

EDGE 2010: A land markevent

EDGE 2010 event con-cluded recently in NewDelhi with a resoundingsuccess which drew about350 leading educators,policy-makers, administra-tors and media proving thatthe will within the educationfraternity to transform isbecoming stronger.Kapil Sibal, Minister forHuman Research Develop-

ment, GOI, who was theChief Guest at the EDGE2010 inaugural functionstressed the need for givingfreedom to the institutions.Shri Sibal felt that India is wellplaced to meet the globaldemand for qualified humanresource and especially inhigh tech sectors and it willaugur well if the globalcommunity partners with

Indian Education Sector. Hewas confident that the seedsfor changes in highereducation sector will besown at EDGE. Dr. MarthaKanter Under Secretary, USDepartment of Educationwas the ‘Guest of honour’.Other dignitaries presentwere Dr. Sam Pitroda,Advisor to the Prime Minister

- Dr. R. Chandrasekar -

>> Turn to page 14


Mangalore-based KarnatakaBank has launched four newproducts and inaugurated 10new ATMs across the country.The new products are studentprepaid cards, mobilebanking (mobile paymentsolution), on-line paymentthrough debit card andmoneyplant internationaldebit card.According to Jayaram Bhat,MD & CEO, the studentprepaid card is a reloadablecard that can be purchased inamounts ranging from

Karnataka Banklaunches student card

Rs.1,000 to Rs.45,000. It canbe used anywhere in theworld where Visa cards areaccepted. The card can bepurchased by parents, whoare the account holders of thebank, and it can be used bythe ward to meet the periodicrequirements of funds fortheir academic purposes liketuition fees, hostel fees andother expenditure.The card can be used atmerchant locations with adaily limit of Rs.25,000 anddaily cash withdrawal limit at

ATMs of Rs.15,000.Karnataka Bank has tied upwith Paymate India Pvt. Ltd.for its m-commerce facility toextend the additional facilityto its customers for makingpayment through their mobilefor the goods purchased bythem, payment of utility billsamong others. On registrationfor mobile payment solution,the customer will be enabledto make secured paymentsdirectly from their registeredmobile phone, authorised byusing their ATM PIN.

NIIT, leading Global TalentDevelopment Corporationand Asia’s largest ITtrainer, and ServicioNacional de Aprendizaje(SENA), Colombia’sleading technical educa-tion institute, have signedan International Coopera-tion General Agreement toprovide IT, ITeS andEnglish and ProfessionalLife Skills training to thepeople of Colombia.

NIIT to develop humancapital in Colombia

The agreement was signedat Bogota in the presence ofMinister of State for ExternalAffairs India, Dr ShashiTharoor and Minister ofForeign Affairs of theRepublic of Colombia, DrJaime Bermudez Merizalde,Mrs Julia Gutierrez DePineres, Director of Promo-tion, Corporate & Interna-tional Relations, SENA andAjai Lal, Senior VicePresident, International

Education Business, NIITat the Ministry of Externalrelations office, PalacioSan Carlos, Cancilleria.NIIT was part of thedelegation lead by Dr.Tharoor, at the invitation ofDr Bermudez, as aculmination of thecelebration of 50 years ofestablishment of bilateralrelations between Indiaand Colombia, on January19, 1959.

Retail Salesman, SeniorRetail Salesman, SalesOfficers, Sales Executivesand Area Managers.KM’s Academy of

Sales Excellence has startedthe Retail Salesman Courseto fill the huge gap of finesales talent in the Indianlabour market. KM’s hasformulated a structuredtraining program that will helpmould these smart individualsinto people who can think andspeak sales. The talentsupplied by KASE has beenrecognized as star performersby the clientele which isproven by the repeatedresourcing and trainingrequirements from the clients

in both India & UAE.Retail Salesman CourseKM’s Academy of SalesExcellence is starting RETAIL

SALESMAN COURSE fromApril 2010. The benefits andadvantages of the coursesare- The only Salesman

Course to be certified byGovt.of India (Ministry ofLabour)

- Flexible timings to suit tostudents of differentstreams

- On Completion of course,campus recruitment willbe arranged with KM’sclientele which includessome of the leading

business houses in theIndustry

- Faculty with over 30years+ successful salesexperience

- Limited Seats and hencepersonal attention to eachStudent

- Since Seats are limited,Admission will be closedonce batch sizes are full.

KM’s facility at Kodumbu (5kilometres from PalakkadCity, Kerala) has goodconnection with air, rail andby road. The nearest airport,Coimbatore is 40 KM fromKodumbu. Palakkad is wellconnected by trains from allover India and it is a very bigrailway junction. Thecompany have a full fledgedfacility at Kodumbu with air-conditioned class room/conference hall and basicamenities like 24 hoursrunning water (hot and cold),generator backup, wirelessInternet, telephone, fax andXerox at the Academy tofacilitate training needs.How to register You can register your nameby email [email protected] before 20th April, 2010.For any further details visit

http://www.manoharans.com KM’s can be reached at:KM’s Academy of SalesExcellence,Pranavam,AiswaryaNagar, Kodumbu Palakkad -678551, Kerala, Phone:9846621673/9497674568

From page 4

Over 5500 candidates testedsuccessfully for the first everComputer-based test foradmission to the manage-ment programs of India’spremier management schoolNarsee Monjee Institute ofManagement Studies(NMIMS) nationally till theend of the second session onday 2.The NMAT is beingconducted at 51 centres in 19cities by Pearson VUE.“The feedback on the NMATonline testing experiencefrom candidates has beenvery positive. The tests wererolled out smoothly at all the

Over 5500 take NarseeMonjee’s NMAT successfully

centres as per plan”,according to the Chairman ofthe NMAT AdmissionsCommittee. NMIMSobservers at the test centresare working closely with thePearson VUE team tocontinue the smooth conductin the coming days.This is thefirst year that the NMAT hasgone online. Nearly 40,000test takers are taking the testin India, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,Qatar, South Africa, UnitedArab Emirates, Australia,Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal,Singapore and Sri Lanka. Thetwo hour test is designed on a

multiple-choice questionformat that includes a set ofquestions in Language Skills;Quantitative Skills, DataInterpretation and DataSufficiency; and LogicalReasoning. The test was heldin Chandigarh, Delhi, Jaipurand Lucknow in North;Ahmedabad, Mumbai andNagpur in West; Bangalore,Chennai, Kochi andHyderabad in South;Allahabad, Bhopal, Indoreand Raipur in Central Indiaand Bhubaneswar, Guwahati,Kolkata and Patna in theEast.

region, we have evolved asuite of products exclusivelyto meet the needs of NRIswith particular care beingtaken to their need forensuring instant remittancesto their loved ones backhome. And a score of NRIrelationship managers acrossall important centres in Keralatoday ensure that their needsare looked after withspecialized care.* What about your mergingwith ICICI?Ours is the fourth largestprivate sector bank today witha networth far exceedingmany banks of comparablesize. We look forward togrow, maintainin ourindependent identity, which isa nationally recognizedsymbol of one of Kerala’ssuccess stories. The questionof our merger with ICICIdoest not arise. Infact theBank is marching forward toocupy less than 10th positionin the Indian Bankingindustry.* Do you have any schemefor retired persons?I trust you mean, by ‘retiredpersons’, senior citizens. Inall our deposit accounts,senior citizens are offered anadditional interest of 0.5% asa token of our courtesy,respect and recognition tothem. We have also initiatedthe ‘Reverse MortgageScheme’ for the benefit of‘senior citizens’ who desire tohave independence duringtheir ‘twilight years’. Thescheme is a boon to suchpeople. That is our ‘FederalAashray’ to provide a source

From page 2

of additional income forsenior citizens of India whoown self acquired houseproperty in India, for anypersonal purpose other thanspeculative trading andbusiness, on a monthlypayout.* Before joining Federal Bank,you were the GeneralManager of Bank of India incharge of their prioritybanking sector advances andsupevision of seven regionalrural banks. A leader in teambehaviour you have beenvocal in articulating systems,marketing and HR activitiesand practices at yourprevious bank.Banking is a unique experi-ence in that your experienceencompasses all strata ofsociety ie. from the poorest ofthe poor to High NetworthIndividuals, Professionals, allvarieties of activities,services, education, hospital,agriculture, industry etc. Youget a birds eye view of whatis life - from the individualangle to the corporate oreven government angle. Youalso come across ampleopportunities to be a part ofthis economic life of thecountry. You also haveopportunities to helpentrepreneurs realize theirdream, individuals make theirlife and in the process helpthe soceity to prosper. I seethis as a God given opportu-nity to help the society, whichas an individual, many mayfind difficult to accomplish.But I also see that thisopportunity comes to you withlot of responsibilities loaded

on to it.* Your experience in leader-ship for the three and a halfdecades:Leadership is a vast subject,which has been dealt with bylot of leading lights from theindustry, management as wellas philosophers. But the bestof the approach in mostprecise words that I havelearnt are that a leader has to

have “<SUôÉ ¶ÉÊHò, YÉÉxÉ ¶ÉÊHò

+Éè®ú ÊGòªÉÉ ¶ÉÊHò” ie. thedriving passion or desire todo, the knowledge about thesubject which he is dealingwith to drive the desireeffectively and lastly developthe capacity to physically actupon the desire using theknowledge effectively. Aleader should also behumane, accessible, downto earth, empathise with thepeople around and aboveall a team man so that thebest in the team is broughtabout. The quest forknowledge should be neverending in a leader - as theTamil saying goes, ‘if whatwe have learnt is equal to afistful of earth, what is to belearnt is equivalent to theuniverse”.I was really surprised to hearhis quoting an old sayingof“Sangha Kalam”I now looked at my watch. Heunderstood. Before thankinghim for having spared hisprecious time I could collectfrom him that he is married toMrs. Jayalakshmi. The coupleis blessed with one sonSubbaraman and onedaughter Mrs. Sreepradha.

Training session

Newly built Corporate Office of KM ‘s Academy


With an objective of sensitiz-ing the entrepreneurial spiritwithin the students, LovelyProfessional University set offwith a five day conclavenamed Udhyam 2010; whichwill help students to exploreself employment as analternative way of livelihood,not only for themselves butfor many others as well.The event is the maidenversion of the summit that willbe held on an annual basis bythe University. The five daysummit will feature lecturesand students interaction withsuccessful entrepreneurs ofthe like of Manish Munjal(Hero Group), Ms. SandeepRiat and Ehsan ul Haq (BlueHeaven Securities). Thesecond day of the summit isdedicated to entrepreneurshipbased quiz competition, whilethe third day has Role ModelResearch event, wherestudents will presentmotivational life stories oftheir role models. Trade Fairwill be held on the fourth day,while the final day will seeBusiness Plan Presentationsby students.The program was inaugu-rated by Ms. Sandeep Riat,the lady behind the successof Akal Springs. Sheaddressed the gathering anddelivered a lecture on What ittakes to be a successfulentrepreneur? The speechgave a comprehensiveaccount of the ideas ofstarting a business, thedifficulties and roadblocks inits establishment, the level ofefforts required to script asuccess story, the dos anddonts for the new generationentrepreneurs etc. Sharingher views, Ms. Riat said,Entrepreneurship should notbe seen as a means oflivelihood only. It is a socialservice also. The scale of

LPU organizes Udhyam2010 : Call to embracethe spirit of enterprise

employment it generates andthe needs of society it fulfillsthrough its products andservices, ultimately add to thegood of the society.More than 500 studentsattended the proceedings ofthe first day of the summit,and gave up a thumbs up toconcept of entrepreneurship.Sanjeev Sharma, one of thestudents who attended thesummit said, Being from aservice class family, I havealways been motivated topursue a career in somegovernment undertaking. Butafter listening to the successstory of Ms. Riat, I havebecome restless to provemyself as a successfulentrepreneur.Mrs. Rashmi Mittal,Executive Dean-LPU whileaddressing the gatheringsaid, The event is being heldwith four fold objective ofcreating awareness amongstthe students about entrepre-neurship, to impart training tothem to develop theentrepreneurship skills, tomotivate students throughreal life examples of youngand successful entrepre-neurs; and to providecommon networking groundfor sharing entrepreneurialexperience and know how.”She further added “Thesuccess of the Chineseeconomy hinges on theenterprise of their business-man. In India, the focus ismore on services. Thoughwe have earned thereputation of one of the bestservice providers of theworld, we need to learn fromthe Chinese model also. Toeradicate poverty from thecountry and to bring about amore homogeneous growth,regionally and demographi-cally, we need more ofentrepreneurs.”

Indian Institute of ForeignTrade (IIFT), one of thepremier managementinstitutes of the nation, hasannounced the completion ofits placement season for theyear 2010, maintaining its100% placement record.Placements at IIFT started ona positive note with about30% of the batch of 164students, having Pre-Placement offers andInterviews across its Delhiand Kolkata Campus.Companies making theseoffers included CognizantBusiness Consulting,Mahindra & Mahindra,Johnson & Johnson Medical

IIFT creates new benchmarks in placementsSystems, Tata Steel, ReckittBenckiser, Colgate Palmolive,Essar, Tata Motors, LouisDreyfus, ICICI Securities andWipro amongst others. 30students accepted theseoffers while others chose totest their mettle during theplacement weeks. ”This year new benchmarkshave been created on manyfronts, be it highest salary,foreign placements or theaverage salary offered tostudents. Nothing is moresatisfying than to seestudents getting their desiredprofile with good salarypackage which we consider areal success.” said Munish

Bhargava, Corporate &Placement Advisor, IIFT. International placementswere flagged off by OlamInternational, which has beena regular recruiter at IIFT forthe last 15 years. About 10%of Olam’s Global Talent Poolis comprised of IIFT alumnihandling global roles. Itoffered the highest salary ofUS$ 150,000 p.a. to threestudents. “IIFT and Olamhave been associated for oneand a half decades now andthe relationship keepsgrowing stronger every year”said Michael Joseph, HeadResourcing at Olam Interna-

The commitment of MuslimEducational Society towardsexcellence in engineering andtechnology developmentinspired the society to take upthe challenge of building thisEngineering College.Established in the year 1994with four Undergraduatecourses, the College is nowhaving eight undergraduatecourses (B. Tech. in (1)Applied Electronics andInstrumentation Engineering(2) Computer Science andEngineering (3) Electronicsand CommunicationEngineering (4) Electrical andElectronics Engineering (5)Information Technology (6)Mechanical Engineering (7)Civil Engineering and (8)Architecture Degree Course(B. Arch.) and four postgraduate programmes (1)MBA (2) MCA (3) M. Tech inThermal Systems (4) M. Techin Computer Science andEngineering). This is the onlyprivate college in Kerala

offering B. Arch (5 yeardegree) course.The College is situatedamidst the scenic beauty onthe banks of Bharathapuzha.The College is located atThrikkanapuram, 4 km southof Kuttippuram RailwayStation on the Kuttippuram -

MES College of Engineering,KuttippuramAn Institution committed for Quality Technical Education

Trichur state highway in 30acres of beautiful land. Thenearest Airport is at Karippur -50 km away from the College.The existing carpet area ofthe buildings of the College isa whopping 46,000 Sq.m.Like other best institutions inthe world, the departments ofthe college are housed inseparate full-fledged buildingsin an expansive campus,separated by beautifullandscapes.

RecognitionsThe College has beenawarded ISO 9001 – 2008Certification for excellence inquality systems. It is one ofthe few institutions where thefaculty – student ratio is morethan the required AICTEnorms. The students arenurtured and trained by over250 dedicated and qualifiedfaculty members with richprofessional/academicbackgrounds. The facultyteam has a perfect blend of

experts from the academiaand from industry. All eligibledepartments (AppliedElectronics and Instrumenta-tion Engineering, ComputerScience and Engineering,Electronics and Communica-tion Engineering, Electricaland Electronics Engineeringand Mechanical Engineering)have been accredited by theNBA of AICTE. The Collegehas also been accredited byTCS.

Specific informations· This is the first Self

Financing EngineeringCollege in the Statehaving Muslim MinorityStatus.

· Intake wise the collegestands first among theprivate sector Engineer-ing Colleges in Keralawith an annual intake of730. The present studentstrength is about 3000.

· Secured 15 Universityranks out of 36 ranks inCalicut UnivesityExamination of 2006.During 2007 the College

secured 9 ranks.· Sponsorships are given

liberally for higherstudies.

· The College is publishingquarterly News Letters(Winter, Spring, Monsoonand Autumn). Arrange-ments are afoot forpublication of a TechnicalJournal.

PlacementsThe number of graduatesplaced through campus and

off campus interviews havesteadily grown since theinception of MES College ofEngineering. Some of theorganizations where ourAlumni got placed are : TCS,WIPRO,INFOSYS, IBM,BLUESTAR, CTS, RELI-ANCE INFOCOM, USSOFTWARE, HDFC, MRF,AMERICAN BANK, BBMEetc.

Sports Activities1. Facilities for a variety of

sports & games activities.2. Department of physical

education gives scientificcoaching for all games &sports.

3. Separate field and courtfacilities for foot ball,basket ball, cricket, volleyball, hockey etc.

4. Gymnasium facilities areprovided in both Men’s &Ladies Hostels.

5. Ample facilities for indoorgames are available.

Hostel facilitiesThe College offers separate >> Turn to page 8

Imbichahmed, Chairman, MESCollege of Engineering

P.O.J. Labba, Secretary, MESCollege of Engineering

MES College building

hostels for both boys(accommodating 750students) and girls (for 750students). The separatefacilities include mess hall,prayer hall, recreation hall,computer room and play-ground facilities.

Campus facilitiesCampus wide Network,Campus Software andInternet Facility.College is fully networkedwith a campus wide networkhaving a backbone of 1Gbps.All activities in the institutionincluding Academic/NonAcademic/Accounts/HRMS/Library etc. are automated.The details of any student isaccessible from any teachernode in the campus. Theperformance of the studentscan be assessed by theparents through the web.The department of Manage-ment Science is wi-fi enabledfacilitating their staff andstudents to access theInternet and Intranet withmobility. A lease lineconnection having 10 MbpsBandwidth is being cateredacross the campus. Internetfacility is available at alltimes.

Computing FacilityThe College is equipped withmore than 800 latestconfiguration computerterminals across the campus.Each department runs theirown computer centre(s) withsufficient number of comput-ers and accessories.

EDUSAT and Language LabCollege is having an EDUSATnode through which thestudents/members of staffcan avail the Technicalprogrammes being telecastfrom EDUSAT studios.The students of first year aregiven special training inEnglish Communication in thelanguage lab.

Central LibraryThe institution has a wellestablished fully automatedCentral Library in its ownbuilding. Now the resourcematerial of the library consistsof more than 46000 bookscosting about Rs.260 lakhs.380 Journals, CD ROMs,DVDs, e-databases, ProjectReports, Theses, IS Codesetc. are also available at thelibrary. More than 3000 usersare utilizing the facilities.All library services likeacquisition, cataloguing,

>> Turn to page 9


issue, return, renewal andcatalogue search (On-linePublic Access Catalogue)have been fully computerizedwith the help of bar codefacility. The Central Librarydetails can be accessed fromanywhere in the campus byusing OPAC.Each department of theCollege is equipped withDepartmental Library in theirarea of specialization withextensive level of knowledgebase in the respective fields.A good Digital Library hasbeen established in theCentral Library with effectivee-learning material like e-journals, e-books etc. It canbe accessed from anywherein the campus for 24 hours.The library is an activemember of reputed organiza-tional bodies like INDEST-AICTE Consortium, IEEE,ASME, INSDAG, DELNET etc.

AuditoriumA fully air conditionedacoustically treated CollegeAuditorium with a seatingcapacity of 1200 is available.

College BusTwo college buses run

between College Campusand Kottakkal and Thrissuron all working days for theconvenience of students andmembers of staff. An Airconditioned coach is alsoplying from Thrissur toCollege and back for themembers of the faculty.

BankA Branch of Punjab NationalBank, Kuttippuram isfunctioning inside thecampus.

Co-operative StoreA registered co-operativesociety store is functioning inthe College for the benefit ofstaff and students The storewill be open from 9.00 a.m. to5.00 p.m. on all working days.

CanteenA Canteen is functioninginside the campus for servingquality food for the studentsand staff at moderate rate.

MosqueThe College has a spaciousMosque for Muslim students(including girls) to conducttheir prayers.

Medical FacilityA Doctor is available in thecampus for consultation andtreatment. In addition, theservices of a PsychoCounselor is available in theCampus.

ManagementThe College is managed by aCommittee with Er. T. P.Imbichammad, a renownedindustrialist as the Chairmanand Prof. P. O. J. Lebba, adistinguished academician asthe Secretary, K. K.Aboobacker, Member, CABE,Government of India as theworking Chairman, . M. AbdulRahim, Chartered Accountantas the Treasurer. In addition,there is a Technical AdvisoryCommittee and a GoverningBody.Dr. V. H. Abdul Salam, a toprung professional in engineer-ing and an Educationaladministrator is the Principalof the College. Dr. K. P.Mohammed who had richexperience at renownedinstitutions as Professor andPrincipal is the Director. Dr.Achuthan, who was aProfessor in IIT Bombay is

From page 7

Toyota ETIOS to be launchedin January next yearToyota Kirloskar Motors plansto launch its compact carETIOS in December this yearor January next year. HiroshiNakagawa, ManagingDirector, Toyota KirloskarMotors Ltd. and SandeepSingh, Dy. Managing Director(Marketing) told mdia perosnsin Kochi that the small car willbe 10% fuel efficient than theothers in the segment. Theprice of ETIOS will beannounced at the time of thelaunch.The ETIOS is a true globalcompact car by Toyota,manufactured in India and tobe made available first inIndia. The car will have two

Riding high on thesuccess of thepopular Chevroletbrand, GeneralMotors India has registered arecord growth of 126 % insales in February 2010,compared to the correspond-ing period last year. It sold11,111 units in February 2010against 4,921 units inFebruary last year recordingan all time high in monthlysales. This is the first timethat the company hascrossed ten thousand unitssales in a month since theinception of the company inIndia in 1996.The Febuary 2010 salescomprise of 4431 units ofChevrolet Beat, 3412 units ofChevrolet Spark, 1592 unitsof Chevrolet Tavera, 726 unitsof Chevrolet Cruze, 420 unitsof Aveo, 411 units of Aveo U-VA, 98 units of ChevroletOptra and 21 units ofChevrolet Captiva.The growth was primarilydriven by the much soughtafter Chevrolet Beat and theSpark. The Chevrolet Beatlaunched recently hasbecome the industrybenchmark and a winneramong consumers in India,with its best-in-segment

GM India setsall- time high salesrecord

design, performanceand other productattributes. Other carlines have also

registered impressive growthduring the month. TheChevrolet Spark continues torecord impressive growth insales and it has emerged asthe most sought after mini carin its segment in terms ofstyling, performance, fuelefficiency, value for moneyproposition and other productattributes.Commenting on the recordperformance, P Balendran,Vice-President, GM Indiasaid, “Introduction of best-in-segment cars from the 300series, increase in customeroutreach through distributionnetwork, our unique valueproposition like ChevroletCashless Ownership offerand our promise to deliverquality and performance arethe factors that have led theimpressive sales. Thisconsistent sales growthdemonstrates customer’sbelief and confidence inChevrolet brand. We arepleased to see such robustgrowth for all our car linesand we believe these worldclass products will furtherpropel the Chevrolet brand in

Shubhabrata Saha, CEO,Mahindra First Choice inaugurating Mahindra First Choice super store atKochi. Also seen are Devassy (ED, Focuz), P.T. Jose (CMD, Focuz), Ashis Dhar (Vice President,Mahindra First Choice) & Tony Raphael (CEO, Focuz)

Mahindra FirstChoice WheelsLtd., India’s largest multi-brand pre-owned carcompany, inaugurated its firstSuperStore in the city. FocuzCar Mart is spread across anarea of 5,000 sq. ft. withparking space of 13,000 sq.ft., and is located nearEdapally Junction. It wasinaugurated by ShubhabrataSaha, CEO, Mahindra FirstChoice Wheels Limited andTony Raphel, Director andCEO, Focuz Car Mart.Shubhabrata Saha told presspersons that the company istargeting to sell one lakh carsby 2015.According to TonyRaphel, the super store

Mahindra FirstChoice Wheels inauguratesits first SuperStore in Kochi

will avail of an array ofservices under one roof.These include purchase andsale of pre-owned cars, carfinance and insurance,fitment of car accessories andassistance with paperworkand documentation.Mahindra FirstChoice is thecountry’s preferred pre-owned car mart and is India’sonly organized multi-brandplayer, with 114 outlets in 74towns across India. Thecompany plans to expand thisnumber to 300 outlets in thenext three years. This impliesthat customers will soon beable to choose from a rangeof certified pre-owned cars

throughout India, includingthe metros and tier-2 townsand cities.Tremendousattention to detail is requiredto ensure that each pre-owned car meets a high levelof quality. Before purchasingthe car, a trained engineerthoroughly inspects thevehicle and also sees to itthat all papers are in order.After purchase, every car isrefurbished and undergoesan extensive 118 point qualitycheck as part of thecompany’s robust certificationprocess. The objective behindthe care and diligence exercisedis to present the customerwith a car in mint condition.

versions. The ETIOS conceptSedan, targeted the family, isbased on the concept of ‘BoldSimplicity’. This revolutionarynew concept in luxury andcomfort, which is the globalstandard of quality is also themost affordable. It is rich withbest-in-class space, amplehead-clearance and seam-less storage. The ETIOSconcept Hatchback, targetedfor the young and newlyemployed is sporty andaggressive.Sandep Sing said that Toyotahas 4 lakh customers in India.‘We aim to be a volumeplayer in the Indian marketand ETIOS may help us to

achieve this in a big way. Weare expanding our dealershipbefore the launch of ETIOS.Now we have 82 dealers inthe country. By December2010 the number of dealer-ship would be 150’, adds,Sandeep Singh. In Kerala thecompany have 6 dealers. Twomore will be added during thisyear.Nakagawa and SandeepSingh were in Kochi inconnection with the ‘QWorld’, the exhibition ofToyota products, includingETIOS. The 4-month long‘Q World’ campaign willtouch almost all cities of thecountry.

the market, he said.The company is now in theprocess of further ramping upits production by adding thethird shift at its Halol plantand second shift at Talegaonplant to meet the increaseddemand of its products. Thecompany is also rapidlyexpanding its sales andservice network to supportthe market demand of itscars. It intends to take thenetwork to 300 sales pointsand an equal number ofauthorized service outlets bythe end of this year from thecurrent 206 sales points and200 authorised service outletsacross the country.

(From left): E.K.P. Abdul Jabbar, Director, Amana Toyota, Kozhikode, Hiroshi Nakagawa, ManagingDirector, Toyota Kirloskar Motors Ltd, Sandeep Singh, Dy. Managing Director (Marketing) and M.A.M.Babu Moopan, Chairman, Nippon Toyota at the unveiling of Concept car Toyota ETIOS in Kochi.

>> Turn to page 13


Nowdays atmospherictemperature in our place andmany other parts of thecountry has been increaseddue to the extreme heat ofthe sun. At present it againrised up to 30-40°C in manyplaces. In the coming daysthere is chance for furtherescalation of heat. If once thetemperature increases above42-45°C, it would badly affecthuman beings, animals andplants. Due to exposure toextreme heat of sun, theblood vessels on thesuperficial part of the affectedperson dilates, followed bymalfunctioning of sweatglands. Due to the disfunctionof the sweat glands hedoesn't have sweats. If theheat of the sun furtherincreases, it would havesome bad effects as a resultbody temperature regulatingmechanism of hypothalamusin the brain may becomefunctionless. In this conditionbody temperature of thevictim will further increase. Insome people it may reach upto 105°F. Now victim maydevelop heat stroke. This is avery dangerous condition. Iffirst aid and other treatmentsare not done in proper timethe victim may collapse todeath. Usually death of theperson may happen due to

Management of sun strokeHEALTH

cardiac failure.First aid for the victimImmediately shift the personwho is suffering from heatstroke to a cold room. If anair-conditioned room isavailable it is more appropri-ate for this purpose. Evenotherwise allow the victim tolie under a tree. If possibleimmerse his body underwater in a water tub or watertank for about 20-30 minutes,while doing this procedure hisface should be above thewater level. Check up thepulse and respiration of thevictim every five minutes. Ifpulse of the victim is notgetting it shows that his heartis not working. Then giveartificial cardiac massage 60-65 times per minute. Ifrespiration is not taking placegive artificial respiration 15-16times per minute. There aredifferent methods for artificial

respiration. Out of that mouthto mouth type artificialrespiration is simple, safe andreliable.At this time don't give anymedicine to the victim throughmouth. Don't put ice on thebody for cooling the body. Ifthe victim is conscious givehim small quantity of orangejuice or salted lime juiceevery short interval. Followedby this emergency first aidmost of the casualities mayreturn to the normal condition.In the case of unconscious-ness, special care should begiven. He may needintravenous fluid and lifesaving medicines for recoveryfrom this critical condition.This is possible in a hospitalunder the supervision of adoctor. In such circumstancestake the victim to a hospital inan ambulance or some othercomfortable vehicle. The firstaider should continue theexamination of pulse andrespiration during this time. Ifpulse is not getting giveartificial cardiac massage.Similarly if the respiration isnot taking place give mouth tomouth artificial respiration.Continue the above proce-dure even in the ambulanceon the way to hospital, untilthe case is handled by adoctor there.

Dr. K.O. Antony Kannankeril

1. Sit straight on thechair with backtouching the chair’sbackrest

2. Top of the monitorshould be 5-8 cmabove eye level.

3. Avoid glare on screen. 4. Sit at arm’s length

For your good health

Importance of ErgonomicsGood Posture at work place is very important to avoid strain to the Neck,Shoulder, Hands and Spine.

from monitor. 5. Feet should be flat on the

floor or use a footrest.6. Document holder and

monitor should be at thesame level.

7. Keep your wrists flat andstraight while usingkeyboard & mouse

RECOMMENDED POSTURE

8. Arms and elbowsshould be relaxed.

9. Monitor and keyboardshould be placed rightin front.

- Dr.SashikalaChandrasekar

[email protected]

Assuring the 25 million Indiandiabetics of a cure, Dr RamanGoel, metabolic surgeon fromBombay Hospital, Mumbaisaid that surgery can helpcontrol diabetes in obesepeople. Despite living a life ofrestrictions, lifestyle changesand regular medicine intake,over 50% remain uncontrolleddiabetics. These are at highrisk of heart attacks, visionloss, kidney failure, high BPand shortened life span.Addressing a large nationalgathering of endoscopicsurgeons at Taj Palaceconvention entre in Delhi , hesaid, ‘one surgery does not fitall diabetes patients. Manydiabetic Indians are notobese & thus not suitable forgastric bypass surgery.Bombay Hospital is one at 3-4 centres around the worldconducting study on impact ofsurgery for normal weightdiabetics patients. Results ofIlleal interposition surgeryhave shown early control ofblood sugar levels in almostall patients. Medicinerequirement too reducedsignificantly.’American Diabetes Associa-tion (ADA) has, in a first of itskind change in approach in2009, accepted role of

25 million diabetics can be curedsurgery for control of diabetesin obese people. Thisacceptance has come afterover 40 years of research &analysis of surgical data.‘Blood sugar is controlledwithin 7 days - 90 days ofsurgery & remains so evenafter 14 years,’ shared DrRamen Goel.Surgery does not involve anypancreatic manipulation/transplantation. Control ofdiabetes works by variousmechanism includingsecretion of hormones fromlast part of small intestinewith food stimulus. All ofthese surgeries are per-formed through key holeroute or laproscopically.’Atthe moment diabetes surgeryhas low acceptance amongstphysicians & people, butthere is enough scientific datato support their efficacy,’asserted Dr Goel. Onlypeople frustrated/tired withineffectiveness of medicinesare coming forward forsurgery at the moment. It willgain credibility as results willbe seen by others &presented in scientificjournals/conferences.Thissurgery works only for type 2diabetes patients & evenpatients on insulin have been

able to discontinue not onlyinsulin but even tablets fordiabetes treatment. Mr R VPawar from Bhiwandirequired insulin pump tocontrol blood sugar & had lostvision due to diabetes. Oneyear after surgery he is notonly lighter by 40 kgs but isoff any medicines fordiabetes. His biggest remorseis that he had no informationabout this surgery before helost his vision.

Less is more: Do you needeight hours of sleep tomaintain good health?Scientists are not too sure.It’s possible that sleeping toomuch, like eating too much, isbad for you. An Americanstudy on 1.1 million peopleshows that those who sleepfor eight hours a day are 4-5per cent more likely to diethan those sleeping 5-6hours. And those sleeping 9-10 hours a day have thehighest mortality.93% of Indians are sleepdeprived.

How much sleep do you needPay a sleep debt: It takesmore than a night of extrasleep to pay off a sleep debt,especially if you slept onlythree to five hours—scientistssay. But you recover fasterfrom a week of poor sleepwhen it’s preceded by nightswith 10 hours of shuteye. Soif you know you have a weekof little sleep ahead, tryloading up on sleep before-hand, not later.Bedtime tales: Lack of sleephits a woman harder andraises her risk of heartdisease more than it does for

a man, reports the journalSleep. The study suggeststhat women require moresleep than men, but generallytheir sleep is of a higherquality, and less fragmented.Women also seem to usesleep medication more thanmen. For men, use of alcoholis more common, whichshortens their sleeping time,though. Men tend to startlosing deep, slow wave sleepmuch younger than women,which can make sleep lighterand more easily disturbed.Dreams interpreted: ToFreud, dreaming was aplayground for the uncon-scious mind. To others, ithelps the brain sort throughemotional memories orcurrent problems. Now areport in Nature Neuro-science argues that dreamstune the mind for consciousawareness. We dream whenthe brain warms its circuits,anticipating the sights andsounds and emotions ofwaking. It explains whypeople forget so manydreams.Should you nap?: We’veheard that grabbing an hour’ssleep during the day is asbeneficial as a whole night inbed. But now experts fromHarvard University, US, say,powernaps work only if thesleep is brief.

tional. Other internationalrecruiters included TritonGroup, Sudima International,Punj Lloyd and WilsonInternational with morecompanies confirming theirinterest from Middle East andHongkong. In all, over 10% ofthe batch was made offers tostart their career outside ofIndia. International Businessand Trading profiles weredominant and with this IIFTonce again proved to thenation its superiority in thesesectors. IIFT saw 62 companiesmaking offers with a variety ofprofiles including InvestmentBanking, Equity Research,Corporate Finance, Consult-

ing, Sales & Marketing,Trading, Supply ChainManagement, Risk Manage-ment, Derivative Trading etc.The participating companieswere from different sectorsnamely Banking & FinancialServices, Trading, IT,Pharma, FMCG, Consultancy,Logistics, Media, Telecomand Manufacturing. Upbeat about the place-ments result, K.T Chacko,Director IIFT said, “With theeconomy on a recovery path,IIFT students are reaping itsbenefits impressively. Withthis year’s placements, IIFThas yet again reinforced itspresence in InternationalBusiness & Commerce andhas proven to be a preferreddestination for leading

organizations across theworld.” Indian Institute of ForeignTrade set up by Governmentof India in 1963 is one of thepremier institutes in the areaof International Business,Besides longterm educa-tional programmes such asPh.D Programme, MBA(International Business), PostGraduate Diploma inInternational Business,Certificate Course on ExportManagement and ForeignBusiness Languages. Theinstitute also conducts a twoyear MBA Programme inInternational Business at Dar-Es- Salaam in collaborationwith Institute of FinanceManagement (IFM), atTanzania.

From page 7


THE LIFE

An 80 year old man wassitting on the sofa in hishouse along with his 45years old highly educatedson. Suddenly a crowperched on their window.The father asked his son,“What is this?”. The Sonreplied “It is a crow”.After afew minutes, the fatherasked his son the secondtime, “What is this?”Theson said “father, I have justnow told you “It’s acrow”.After a little while, theold man again asked hisson the third time,What isthis?”At this time someexpression of irritation wasfelt in the son’s tone whenhe said to his father with arebuff. “It’s a crow, acrow”.A little after, thefather again asked his sonthe fourth time, “What isthis?”This time the sonshouted at his father, “Whydo you keep asking me thesame question again andagain, although I have told

Parentsyou so many times ‘IT IS ACROW’. Are you not able tounderstand this?”A little laterthe father went to his roomand came back with an oldtattered diary, which he hadmaintained since his son wasborn. On opening a page, heasked his son to read thatpage. When the son read it,the following words werewritten in the diary :-”Todaymy little son aged three wassitting with me on the sofa,when a crow was sitting onthe window. My Son askedme 23 times what it was, andI replied to him all 23 timesthat it was a crow. I huggedhim lovingly each time h easked me the same questionagain and again for 23 times.I did not at all feel irritated Irather felt affection for myinnocent child”.While the little child askedhim 23 times “What is this”,the Father had felt noirritation in replying to thesame question all 23 times

and when today the Fatherasked his Son the samequestion just 4 times, theSon felt irritated andannoyed.So..If your parents attainold age, do not repulsethem or look at them as aburden, but speak to thema gracious word, be cool,obedient, humble and kindto them. Be considerate toyour parents.From todaysay this aloud, “I want tosee my parents happyforever. They have caredfor me ever since I was alittle child. They havealways showered theirselfless love on me. Theycrossed all mountains andvalleys without seeing thestorm and heat to make mea person presentable in thesociety today”. Say a prayer toGod, “I will serve my oldparents in the BEST way. Iwill say all good and kindwords to my dear parents,no matter how they behave.

The reason a dog has somany friends is that hewags his tail instead of histongue. - AnonymousThere is no psychiatrist inthe world like a puppylicking your face. - BenWilliamsA dog is the only thing onearth that loves you morethan he loves himself. -Josh BillingsThe average dog is a nicerperson than the averageperson. - Andy RooneyDogs love their friends &

Dog logicbite their enemies, quiteunlike people, who areincapable of pure love &always have to mix love &hate. - AnonymousAny body who doesn’t knowwhat soap tastes like neverwashed a dog. - Franklin P.JonesIf your dog is fat, you aren’tgetting enough exercise -UnknownWomen and cats will do asthey please, and men anddogs should relax and getused to the idea. - Robert A.

HeinleinIf you pick up a starvingdog and make himprosperous, he will notbite you; that is theprincipal differencebetween a dog and aman. - Mark TwainDogs are not our whole life,but they make our liveswhole. - Roger CarasIf you think dogs can’tcount, try putting three dogbiscuits in your pocket andthen give him only two ofthem. - Phil Pastoret

Funniest school excuse notes!These are the funniestexcuse notes from parentscollected by schools from allover the country.1. Jimmy has been absentyesterday because he hadtwo teeth taken out of hisface. 2. My daughter isunder a doctor’s care and

should not take P.E. today.Please execute her. 3.Sandra won’t be in school aweek from today. We have toattend her funeral. 4. Pleaseexcuse Holly from Jim today.She is administrating. 5.Kevin was absent from schoolyesterday because he was

playing football. He wasdamaged in the growingpart . 6. Amy could notcome to school todaybecause she was botheredby very close veins. 7.Please excuse Johnny forbeing. It was his father’sfault.

It was a gloomy Saturdayafternoon. A flock of birdswas spending great timesearching for food andplaying on themain road. Out ofthe sudden, a bigtruck spedthrough... Sadthing had hap-pened again. Birdscan feel too.Although this birdhad already died,another bird flewover to her immediately,just like a family member,unable to accept the truth.Not long after that, anothercar stormed in causing thedead bird’s body to whirlwith the wind. The spousenoticed the movement. Asif she was still alive, hequickly flew beside heragain.He stayed beside her and

Real loveyelled ... “WHY ARE YOUNOT GETTING UP!? “Hestayed beside her andyelled... “WHY ARE YOU

NOT GETTING UP!?”Unfortunately, she’s no longerable to hear him. In themeantime, he’s trying to lifther up.He, of course, was unable tobear the burden. Another carsoon passed by. He quicklyflew off. Once the car hadgone, he came down again.Although other birds told himit’s useless, he never gave

up. He was trying his bestto lift her up to see herflying again. Another carpassed by, her dead body

whirled again as ifstill alive and tryingto fly.He had used allof his energy,however...Thephotographersaid he couldn’tshoot any longer.The photogra-pher was so

worried that the living birdwas going to get hurt bypassing cars. So hepicked up the dead birdand left it at the roadside.The live one still lingeredat a nearby tree as ifcrying with his singingand refused to leave.Do humans have the samefeelings nowadays? Wewonder.

Science examIf you need a good laugh,try reading through thesechildren’s science examanswers. Some of them arehysterical.Q: Name the four seasons.A: Salt, pepper, mustardand vinegar. Q: Explain oneof the processes by whichwater can be made safe todrink. A: Flirtation makeswater safe to drink becauseit removes large pollutantslike grit, sand, dead sheepand canoeists. Q: How isdew formed? A: The sunshines down on the leavesand makes them perspire.Q: How can you delay milkturning sour? (brilliant, lovethis!)A: Keep it in the cow.Q: What causes the tides inthe oceans? A: The tides

are a fight between the Earthand the Moon. All water tendsto flow towards the moon,because there is no water onthe moon, and nature hates avacuum. I forget where thesun joins in this fight. Q: Whatare steroids? A: Things forkeeping carpets still on thestairs. Q: What happens toyour body as you age? A:When you get old, so do yourbowels and you get interconti-nental. Q: What happens to aboy when he reachespuberty?A: He says good-bye to hisboyhood and looks forward tohis adultery. Q: Name a majordisease associated withcigarettes A: Prematuredeath. Q: How are the mainparts of the body catego-

rized? ( e.g., abdomen)A:The body is consisted intothree parts – the brainium,the borax and the abdomi-nal cavity. The brainiumcontains the brain; theborax contains the heartand lungs, and theabdominal cavity containsthe five bowels A, E, I, O,and U.Q: What is thefibula?A: A small lie. Q:What does ‘varicose’mean?A: Nearby.Q: Give themeaning of the term‘Caesarian Section.’A: The Caesarian Section isa district in RomeQ: Whatdoes the word ‘benign’mean?’ A: Benign is whatyou will be after you beeight.

Influence of anesthesiaIn a recovery room a manwas just waking up fromanesthesia after surgery.His wife was sitting by hisside holding his hand. Hiseyelids just opened for afew seconds.He looked at his wife as ifhe was returning from out ofbody experience, hallowedby bright white light. With abroken smile and in agroggy voice he mumbled athis wife, “You are so

beautiful.” Then he fell asleepand started snoring againwaking up other recoveringroom surgery patients andannoying nurses.”His wife had never seen himso ugly and yet so romantic.So she suppressed all herdisgust of environment, heldhis hand tighter and choseto stuck there for a while.After a while the man openshis eyelids again but widerand for longer time. He

loves the comfort of hiswife and says, “You arecute! .”The wife wasdisgusted, threw his handon the bed and demandedan explanation, “It was‘beautiful’, last time andhow it is ‘cute’ this time.What happened to mybeauty?” The mananswered, “Honey, I amrecovering to reality fromthe influence of Anesthe-sia.

God createdGod created the dog andsaid to him:”You will guardthe house of man. You willbe his best Friend. You willeat the scraps that he givesyou and you will live 30years.You will be a dog. “The doganswered: “Sir, to live 30years is too much,give meonly 15 years.”God grantedhis wish.God created themonkey and said to him:“You will be a monkey. Youwill swing from branch tobranch doing tricks.You will be amusing andyou will live 20 years. “Themonkey answered: “To live

20 years is too much, give meonly 10 years.”God grantedhis wish.Finally God created man ...And said to him:”You will beman, the only rationalcreature on the face of theearth.You will use yourintelligence to become masterover all the animals.You willdominate the world and youwill live 20 years.”Man responded: “Sir, I will bea man but to live only 20years is very little, give methe 30 years that the donkeyrefused, the 15 years that thedog did not want and the 10years the monkey

refused.”God granted man’swish. And since then, manlives 20 years as a man,marries and spends 30years like a donkey,workingand carrying all the burdenson his back .Then when hischildren are grown, he lives15 years like a dog takingcare of the house andeating whatever is given tohim,so that when he isold,he can retire and live 10years like a monkey, goingfrom house to house andfrom one son or daughter toanother doing tricks toamuse his grandchildren.That’s Life. Is’nt it ?????

Men and WomenMen and Women on planetearth die from variousplaces throughout theworld at a particularmoment in time and go toGod’s abode to be judged.The God welcomes thisnew batch and tries hisexperimental new judge-ment trick and says,” I wantall you humans to form twoqueues. One line is for themen who dominated theirwomen, and the other onefor the men who weredominated by their women.

Also, I want all the women togo away from here so that noman and woman can talkand I can talk to menalone.”When the womenwere gone, the Almightyreturns and there are twolines. The line for the menwho were dominated by theirwomen is a hundred mileslong, and in the line of menwho dominated their womenthere is only one solitaryman. The God about to openhis third eye of anger,thunders, “You men should

be ashamed of yourselves.I created you in my image,and you were all whippedby your mates. Look at theonly one of my sons whostood up and made meproud. Learn fromhim!””Come and tell allthem henpecked, my braveson, how did you manageto be the only one in thisline?” God asked. Thenervous man replies, “Idon’t know sir, but my wifetold me to stand here, untilthis is over.”


AGRICULTURE

Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd.,one of the world’s largestMicro-Irrigation manufactur-ers, t signed a Memoran-dum of Understanding withthe International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI).Jain Irrigation will closelywork with IRRI’s scientiststo determine optimalirrigation and fertigationsystems for irrigated riceand wheat.Under this MoU, JISL andIRRI will study the relevanceof different irrigation andfertilizer delivery systems forpaddy cultivation in Indiaand other south Asiancountries wherever IRRI isplanning research oradaptive trials. The aim is tofind ways to reduce waterconsumption in ricecultivation while increasingcrop productivity. JainIrrigation will providesprinkler and drip systemsto experimental plots eitheracquired by IRRI or toparticipating farmers’ fieldsselected by IRRI.The signing ceremony tookplace in the presence of Dr.Robert Zeigler, DirectorGeneral, IRRI , Dr. J.K.Ladha, Principal Scientistand IRRI Representative forIndia and M. Srinivas Rao,CEO, CSISA. The MoU wassigned by Atul Jain,Director Exports, JainIrrigation Systems Ltd inNew Delhi.Atul Jain, Director Exports,Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd.said that Jain Irrigation is apioneer in introducing theconcept of “small ideas, bigrevolution” in various fieldsof entrepreneurship.’ Webelieve our efforts in paddycultivation would be a greatsuccess like we succeededin banana, onion and hostof other crops. With IRRI,we strive to bring atransformation in the wayrice is being cultivated now.I thank IRRI for their supportin conducting research withour dedicated teamconsisting of the largestpool of talented agriculturalscientists, engineers andtechnicians in the privatesector.” Our collectiveefforts in paddy to produce“more crop per drop” willcreate a great revolution inagricultutre in India andSouth Asia.’, he added.Dr. Robert Ziegler, DirectorGeneral, IRRI, said that in50 years, IRRI’s high-yielding rice varieties andother technologies, plus

Micro Irrigation inpaddy: Jain Irrigationinks MoU with IRRI

It was a long - cherisheddream. At last Kattamballiirrigation project became areality thanks to thecontinous efforts of thefarmers of the area. 503acres have been broughtunder paddy cultivation withthe initiative of farmers basedon the reccommendations ofthe expert committeeappointed by the stateGovernment. The supportfrom the state agriculturedepartment, district andgrama pachayaths werecrucial for the accomplish-ment of the project.Kattamballi Project inKannur district was initiatedby the first communistGovernment for the multi-dimensional development of

northern Kerala. It wasplanned as the biggestirrigation project in the state .Agricultural development ofnorthern Kerala, especiallythe paddy development wasthe main objective behind theproject. On January 17th1958 the project wasinaugurated by then KeralaGovernor Dr. B RamakrishnaRao. The multi-purposeproject as envisaged by thethe engineering departmentwas not merely a regulator tocontrol the flood but alsouseful for the irrigation,agriculture, and roaddevelopment of northMalabar. The projectreflected the initiative of thethe first Government of thestate for the all rounddevelopment of the region.The effective use of 4000acres of paddy fields weretargeted from that time. Butnothing happened. Closingthe shutters of the regulatorof Kattamaballi poject in1966 was a blow to thefarmers. Paddy fields werejust like deserts. This was

Kattamballi: A dreamcomes true

- Divakaran V.V. -

the sorry affairs nearly fourdecades. Real estate, resortmafia became active here,capitalising the situation.Successive Governmentswere neglecting the scheme.In this circustances farmerorganisations startedagitation to save the project.It was a long struggle. Theagitation came into notice ofKerala Agriculture MinisterMullakkara Ratnakran. KeralaGovernment, especillay theagriculture department tookinitiative to reviveKattamaballi project withfarmers ‘participation. AnExpert committee consistingof Dr. P V Balachandran andDr. K G Padmakumar, twospecialists in paddy cultiva-tion from Kerala agriculture

University was appointed bythe Government . Theirreccommemdations didn’tsolve the real problem.Finally All India Kisan Sabhas’Kannur District committeetook up the issue and theircontinuous effort made the

things easy. Kisan sabhaorganised meetings todiscuss the issue in whichfarmers, people’s representa-tives, farmers’ organisations

and expert committeemembers participated.Through these meetingsGovernment understood theseriousness of the problemand shutters of the waterregulator were thrown openin April- May last year.

Although it was not a fullsolution to the issue, farmers’organisations agreed to thisas would help to make landcultivable. 503 Acres of paddyhas been cultivated in thefirst stage. Primary work is onto cultivate more. A monitory

committee has been set upwith represantatives offarmers’ organisations,departmental officials, districtpanchayath standingcommiittiee chairmans, andGrama Panchayath Presi-dents of the Project area.Kisan Sabha district leadersK P Kunchikrishnan, APradeepan, A Balakrishanan,Pullickel Balan and KanndianBahaskarn who were in theforefront of the agitation areof the opinion that re-startingcultivation of paddy atKattamaballi irrigation area isa proof of the stateGovernment’s intention tosave the paddy fields fromencroachers and increase therice production. Farmars aregetting whole-hearted supportfrom the state Government,District Panchayth andGrama panchayaths to

extend the paddy cultivationinto more area. NowKattamballi agriculture areascan be projected as a modelfor the state.

(The writer is a Kerala -basedmedia person)

extensive training, havecontributed to the doublingof average world rice yields.Dr J.K. Ladha said that,“Rice requires a largeamount of water and anytechnology that reduceswater application will bevery attractive for farmers. M Srinivas Rao was of theopinion that rice cultivationrequires large quantity ofwater and for producing onekg rice, about 3000 - 5000litres of water is consumeddepending on the differentrice cultivation methods.Given the persistence ofmassive poverty in SouthAsia and an acute shortageof water, it’s imperative toreduce the water consump-tion in cultivating rice asalso to increase itsproductivityAbout Jain Irrigation(www.jains.com)About Jain Irrigation – JainIrrigation is a diversifiedCompany with more than5,000 employees and aproduct portfolio encom-passing Irrigation Products,Piping Products, PlasticSheets, Dehydrated FruitPuree and Juice concen-trate. Jain Irrigation haspioneered drip irrigation forsmall farmers in India andhas a major market share inone of the fastest growingirrigation markets in theworld and is also the secondlargest drip irrigationCompany in the world.About IRRI (www.irri.org)IRRI, the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI) isa nonprofit independentorganization that, throughrice research aims to reducepoverty and hunger,improve the health of ricefarmers and consumers,and ensure that riceproduction is environmen-tally sustainable. IRRI is aglobal leader in rice sciencewith offices in 15 countriesacross Asia and Africa,including our headquartersin the Philippines. We workwith our partners worldwideand are supported bypublic- and private-sectordonors. In 2010 IRRIcelebrates its 50th anniver-sary. Since its establishmentIRRI has fostered manypartnerships with the privatesector and others that haveincreased IRRI’s capacity todeliver on its mission toimprove the welfare of ricefarmers and consumers –particularly through higherrice yields.

Minister for Agriculture Mullakkara Ratnakaran overviewing the Kattamballi paddy development field

Divakaran V.V.

Manufactured by :

H.O. Kallamkunnu, P.O. Nadavaramba, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, KeralaPh : 2834453, 2827947, 2834452 (Factory), Fax : 0480-2827947www.ksbcoconut.com, email : [email protected](Class 1 Bank) Branch : Kolothumpady, Ph : 2821147

V.K. ANANDAN P.V. SABY(President) (Secretary)

Neethi Medical Store at Govt. HospitalIrinjalakuda, 24 hour working. Ph : 2826144Neethi Medical Store, Near Municipal Bus Stand,Opp SBT, Irinjalakuda, Ph : 2829959Gramasree Consumer Store, NadavarambaKerala Feeds Agency, NadavarambaManure & Pesticides Sales Depot, KallamkunnuCoconut Processing Unit, KallamkunnuGoods VehiclesKSB, Coconut Complex, Kallamkunnu

NON BANKING ACTIVITIES


AKAI ENERGY India Ltdlaunched Akai EnergyProducts in India. Akai is oneof the largest manufacturersof high quality homeentertainment productsspecializing in the audio andvideo arenas. With thislaunch, Akai aims for a largeshare of the fast growingenergy products markets inIndia.Akai batteries have becomethe first from the suite ofEnergy Products manufac-tured by Akai, to enter the

Akai launches energyproducts in india

ity even as the batteries arelaunched. In its first year ofoperations, Akai expects tocorner a 7% share of theRs.1,800 crore market forbatteries in India.Unitech Trades and Imports –The license holders of AkaiEnergy Products in India,have the exclusive mandatefor distributing and retailingAkai branded EnergyProducts in India. Other AkaiEnergy Products soon to belaunched in India are the CFLLamps, LED Torches andLanterns.

Indian market. Akai batteriesare known worldwide for thewide range of products and infact have one of the highestnumber of SKUs (StockKeeping Units) among batterybrands. S L Narayanan,Country Head, said that Akaibatteries will be sold throughmulti-brand retail outlets andchannel partners. Akai hasalready signed on 1,200channel partners across ninestates in the country duringtheir first phase of the launch,ensuring reach and availabil-

Nycil has launched DeoFresh a new skin care talcthat keeps skin fresh andhealthy.It absorbs sweat,fights body odour causinggerms and provides de-odorising fragrance. An-nouncing the launch, NThiruambalam, Chairman &Managing Director, HeinzIndia Private Limited said, “We try and spot the con-stantly evolving needs andpreferences of consumersand meet them by offeringunique propositions throughour brands”.Nycil with morethan forty than forty years oflegacy is a market leader inskin care. Nycil Deo Fresh isavailable in two de odorisingfragrances - Aquamarine andFresh Floral. It is priced atRs42 for a 100gm pack and isavailable in Kerala & AndhraPradesh.

Nycil Deo Fresh

operated and can easily betaken from room to room tobe used in many clinical,hospital or primary caresettings.“Vscan is a breakthroughinnovation from GEHealthcare and has thepotential to redefine frontlinehealthcare practice andpatient management with itsability to give non-invasive,visual information of theinside body in real time.Vscan is designed to becomplementary to thestethoscope – to helpphysicians go beyond what

GE Healthcare Introduces VscanGE Healthcare, the 17 billionhealthcare division of GeneralElectric Company launchedVscan, a new, revolutionary,pocket-sized visualization tooldeveloped to providephysicians with imagingcapabilities at the point-of-care. Roughly the size of asmart phone, Vscan housespowerful, ultra-smartultrasound technology thatprovides clinicians with animmediate, non-invasivemethod to help secure visualinformation about what ishappening inside the body.Vscan is portable, battery

they can hear to what theycan see. Vscan may becomeas critical as a stethoscope toa physician in helping todetect disease more quickly.We believe Vscan can reducethe need for more tests andreferrals during physicalexaminations and could makehealthcare more accessible topeople in India. Vscannaturally echoes our healthymagination commitment tobring high quality healthcareat lower cost to more peoplearound the world” said VRaja, President & CEO, GEHealthcare South Asia.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The overall India PC marketsales (shipments) touched19.7 lakh units during theOctober-December 2009quarter, recording a 25.7%year-on-year growth (over

India overall PC sales touch 19.7 lakh units in Oct-Dec 2009Dell emerges as No. 1 vendor in the India Notebook PC market

- Sanjiv Kataria -

October-December 2008quarter), pointing to astrengthening recovery.Desktop PC sales accountedfor nearly two-thirds of totalPC sales at 12.7 lakh units,

representing a 14.6%increase year-on-year.However, on quarter-on-quarter basis (over July-September 2009) there was

a 12.8% decline in sales(shipments) due to seasonal-ity factor.The Notebook PC sales grewat 52.8% year-on-year (4Q

CY09 over 4Q CY08)clocking 6.9 lakh units inOctober-December 2009. Thedesktop PCs recorded salesof 12.91 lakh units, represent-ing a year-on-year growth of14.6%.Total India personal computershipments have grown for thelast four consecutive quartersof 2009 after dropping sharplyfrom a peak of 22.6 lakh unitsin July-September 2008 to15.6 lakh units in October-December 2008. Notably,home PC shipments (bothdesktops and notebooks)climbed a significant 38% inyear-on-year (October-December 2009 overOctober-December 2008).While this was alongexpected lines, from anindustry viewpoint thepleasantly surprisingdevelopment was the growthof 57.0% year-on-year(October-December 2009over October-December2008) in notebook PC

shipments to the largebusiness (500-999 employ-ees) and very large business(1,000 or more employees)segments.According to Kapil Dev Singh,Country Manager, IDC India,“With multiple factors likeeconomic revival, technologi-cal developments, increasingrelevance for the users andright price points, all converg-ing, we are at the beginningof yet another growth curve inthe domestic PC market.”“The PC market growth willbe led by notebook PCsincreasingly fitting into anindividual’s life in more waysthan one,” he added.In the overall PC (Notebooksand Desktops combined)market, HP retained the topspot with a market share* of16.2% in terms of unitshipments, while Dell andAcer closed in with 13.6%and 10.4%, respectively.In terms of desktop PC

Mobile gadget newsdelivered direct to yourphoneCyberMedia, Asia’s largestspecialty media house, haslaunched an SMS basednews service to cover thelatest in the world of mobilegadgets, in association withMyToday Dailies, India’sfastest-growing opt-in SMSservice.With this service,mobile users can get thelatest updates from the worldof gadgets, free of charge.CyberMedia will use its vastnetwork of 15 publicationsand over 100 technologyreporters to serve readers

through this rapidly emergingmobile news medium.To sign up for the freeupdates, all that a mobilephone user needs to do is toSMS START MOBILE<CITY> to 09845298452 e.g.START MOBILE MUMBAI.The service can be stoppedat anytime by sending themessage STOP MOBILE tothe same number.Subscribers will receive thelatest news on gadgets,mobile phone, handheld

8-pin microcontroller features3.5 kB self-programmableflash memoryMCU enables higher-performing designs in avariety of applications Microchip Technology Inc., aleading provider ofmicrocontroller and analogsemiconductors, hasannounced a new member ofits popular 8- and 14-pin PIC16F61X 8-bit PICmicrocontroller (MCU) family,targeting cost-effectivegeneral-purpose applications.The PIC 12F617 MCUfeatures 3.5 kB of self-programmable Flashprogram memory, andperipherals such as a 10-bitAnalog-to-Digital Converter

(ADC ), comparator, Pulse-Width Modulator (PWM) andVREF for closed-loop-controlapplications — all in aminiature 3 mm x 3 mm DFNpackage.The new MCU provides anexcellent migration path forcustomers using previous-generation 8-pin PIC MCUswho wish to upgrade to alarger-memory, moreperipheral-rich MCU for futuredesigns. This product is well-suited for a variety of general-purpose applications in theconsumer, appliance,industrial, medical and othermarkets.

Microchip Technology introducesworld’s smallest packaged 16-bit MCUsMicrochip Technology Inc., aleading provider ofmicrocontroller and analogsemiconductors, hasannounced two new familiesof 16-bit PIC24Fmicrocontrollers (MCUs) - onewith USB functionality andone for general-purposeapplications—both of whichfeature nanoWatt XLPextreme low power technol-ogy, small packages andmTouch capacitive touchsensing. The USB familyprovides for Peripheral,

Embedded Host and On-the-Go (OTG) implementations.Microchip’s nanoWatt XLPtechnology provides theworld’s lowest sleep currents,with current consumptiondown to 20 nA in Deep Sleepmode, resulting in the lowestpower consumption of anyMCU with USB OTG - 10times lower than USB MCUsfrom other ultra-low-powermanufacturers.“Microchip’s latest USB PICmicrocontrollers enable thesmallest footprint and lowest

power consumption forapplications such as thumb-drive interfaces, capacitivetouch panels and manybattery-powered applica-tions,” said Mitch Obolsky,vice president of Microchip’sAdvanced MicrocontrollerArchitecture Division.“Microchip provides industry-leading USB softwaresupport, configuration tools,customer training and USBdevelopment boards to helpdesigners get to marketquickly.”

>> Turn to page 13 >> Turn to page 13


BANKING & INSURANCE

North Malabar Gramin Bankhas achieved a net profit ofRs.7.70 crore for the thirdquarter of financial year 2009-'10 registering a growth of297% over the correspondingperiod last year. Theoperating profit stood atRs.22.26 crore, a 138.59%growth compared to that ofthe same period last year.V. Sri Rama Prakash,Chairman, NMGB in a pressstatement said that the totalbusiness of the Bank reacheda level of Rs.3909.33 crore asagainst Rs.3080.58 crore ason 31st December 2008,registering a growth of26.90%.According to Sri RamaPrakash, the Bank intends tobring atleast 5 branchesunder CBS during the currentfinancial year itself with thesupport of its sponsor,Syndicate Bank.Deposit increased toRs.1990.37 crore fromRs.1535.05 crore registeringan annual growth of 29.66%.The core deposits (CASA +

NMGB posts 297% growthin net profitTo bring 5 branches under CBS this year

term deposits accepted atnormal rate) increased by39.21% and reachedRs.1825.31 crore as on 31stDecember 2009 againstRs.1311.22 crore as on 31stDecember 2008. Low costdeposit grew by 19.93% andreached Rs.556.98 crore fromRs.464.42 crore as on 31stDecember 2008. Disburse-ment under housing loangrew by 44.48% to Rs.70.52crore and under educationalloan it grew by 65.25% toRs.21.35 crore.Average deposit per accountin the Bank as on 31.12.2009is Rs.15000/- and averageamount of loan per account isRs.50000/-. Per capitahousing loan is Rs.1.76 lakhsand average education loanper account is Rs.1.06 lakhs.These figures clearly showthat NMGB is a 'Small Man'sBig Bank'.NPA level of the bank isbrought down to Rs.33.43crore. The gross NPA ratio ofthe Bank as on 31st Decem-ber 2009 is brought down to

1.74% from 2.83% as onMarch 2009. The Net NPAratio has come down to0.64% as on December 2009from 1.85% as on March2009.The Bank is corporate agentto Life Insurance Corpora-tion of India and as on 31stDecember 2009 it mobilised2929 policies with Rs.2.82crore first premium. TheBank is also corporateagent to United IndiaInsurance Company forgeneral insurance products.The Bank is marketing aunique health insuranceproduct - NMGB Arogyam -to its customers in tie upwith UIICo Ltd. and hasmarketed 3538 number ofpolicies as on 31stDecember 2009.The networth of the Bankincreased by 7.94% toRs.161.85 crore as on 31stDecember 2009 fromRs.149.94 crore as on 31stDecember 2008. Number ofbranches increased to 178from 171.

Dr.G. Madhavan Nair, Former Chairman of ISRO, delivering Fedbank Hormis MemorialFoundation’s 11th Commemorative lecture at Le Meridien, Kochi in the presence of P.V. Mathew, Raju Hormis, M. Venugopalan, Managing Trustee, P.R. Kalyanaraman and P.P. Varghese.

Amitabh Chaturvedi, MD & CEO, Dhanlaxmi Bank signing agreement with BSE making DhanlaxmiBank as clearing banker for the bourse. Also seen in the picture are G.N. Bajpai Chairman,Dhanlaxmi Bank and Ashishkumar Chauhan, Dy.Chief Executive Officer, Bombay Stock ExchangeLimited.

The Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE), Asia’s oldest bourseand Dhanlaxmi Bank,entered into an agreementwhich empanels DhanlaxmiBank as its clearing andsettlement bank.The Bank offers a number ofinnovative capital marketproducts to its customers andhas recently announced thelaunch of its E-brokingservices.Rajeev Deoras, Head,Wholesale Banking,Dhanlaxmi Bank said, “Weare extremely pleased toannounce our associationwith BSE as the Clearing andSettlement Bank. The Bankwill provide a seamlessinterface to all BSE custom-ers to enable a safe and easytransaction on a day-to-day

BSE empanels DhanlaxmiBank as a Clearing andSettlement bank

basis. The association willgive us the desired visibilityand an opportunity toBombay Stock Exchange(BSE), the oldest stockexchange in Asia. The Bankoffers a number of innovativecapital market products to itscustomers and has recentlyannounced the launch of itsE-broking services. TheBank aims to be amongst theshowcase our team’sknowledge base andtechnological strengthrequired to manage anoteworthy task like this.”Dhanlaxmi Bank in recentpast has embarked on a highgrowth expansion strategy.The Bank has reoriented itsteam, has expanded itspresence pan India and hasalso introduced several new

and innovative products for itscustomers. The Bank todayhas a fully integratedtechnology platform tosupport all its financial serviceofferings and its backendprocesses.“We welcome Dhanlaxmibank in our clearing andsettlement banks’ fold. Thebank has dedicated businessverticals backed by high endtechnology platform. As a partof their initiative to become afull fledged universal bankinggroup they have entered theClearing and Settlement inthe Capital Markets segment.With this alliance, we hope toleverage the bank’s expertiseand attract more customers ofthe Bank to trade throughBSE”, added Madhu Kannan,MD & CEO, BSE.

‘VIJAYA VIKAS SMARTCARD’, Vijaya Bank’s IT-enabled FinancialInclusion initiative, waslaunched at KodihalliVillage, a service area ofthe Bank’s Chillahallibranch in ChitradurgaDistrict of Karnataka. The

“Vijaya Vikas Smart Card’launch was part of theBank’s joint initiative withRBI under the latter’sPlatinum Jubilee – OutreachActivities. Vijaya Bank hasalready implemented theproject in its lead districts.On this occasion, B.Srinivas,Regional Director, RBI,

Bangalore, handed overVijaya Vikas Smart Cardsto several beneficiaries.V.Mohandas Shetty,General Manager andUday Kumar, RegionalManager were alsopresent during theoccasion.

the Dean and Professor K.K.George (former Director ofTechnical Education) is theDirector of School ofArchitecture.

MES Institute of Technol-ogy and Management,KollamMES Institute of Technologyand Management, MESITM isanother Engineering Collegepromoted by MES and it

started functioning from theacademic year 2009 – 10.Four B. Tech programmes inthe disciplines of Civil,Electrical and Electronics,Electronics and Communica-tion Engineering andComputer Science andEngineering are offered inthis Institution. It hasexcellent infrastructuralfacilities, well equippedlaboratories and highly

qualified faculty.Construction of yet anotherEngineering Collegepromoted by MES isprogressing at Kunnukara,Ernakulam District. Ifeverything goes well asplanned, this college in thename & style MES College ofEngineering and Technologywill start functioning duringthe current academic year2010 – 11.

From page 8

devices, printers, PCs,laptops, games free of cost.Commenting on this service,Prasanto K Roy, Chief Editor,CyberMedia’s technologypublications said, “For a bigchunk of India’s 300 millionmobile phone users, SMS isthe most widely used featureafter voice. This is a simple,elegant way to get instantupdates on just-launched

gadgets, and Netcore hasshown how rapidly thismedium can proliferatethrough word of mouthalone.”Speaking about the launchof this new channel on its 25channel service, RajeshJain, founder of Netcoresaid, “The non intrusivenature of MyToday dailieswith its opt-in feature has

made it a major success,taking it to nearly 4 millionusers across the channels.This bouquet will beenhanced by CyberMedia’sin-depth technologyunderstanding.”The service is free for theuser, and is advertisement-supported: the SMS alertscarry small text ads at theend.

From page 12

shipments HP retained its topposition with a market share*of 11.6%, followed by HCLand Acer in second and thirdspots, respectively during 4QCY09.However, it was in thenotebook PC shipments thatthe market witnessed ashake-up, as Dell capturedthe top spot with a marketshare* of 26.3% for the first

time in 4Q CY09.“Dell’s ascent in the Indianotebook PC market in 4QCY09 can be attributed totheir consistent marketingefforts over the previousquarters. Availability of a wideproduct portfolio withappealing aesthetics andbranding helped Dell connectwith ‘Gen X’ buyers –students as well as young

executives”, stated SumantaMukherjee, Lead PC Analyst,IDC India.“The revival of buying by thelarge business and very largebusiness segments, whichhave traditionally been strongsegments for Dell also shoredup the vendor’s performancein the quarter endedDecember 31", Sumantafurther added.

From page 12


Dhanlaxmi Bank announcesthe hiring of Arvind Hali asHead Retail Assets. Hali willspear head the retail assetbusiness for the bank. Hisprimary responsibility willinclude setting up the retailassets business for the bankin the coming financial year.Hali brings a proven trackrecord for reaching the retailassets business to greaterheights and brings with him arich and an in-depth under-standing of the retail financialmarket. Before joiningDhanlaxmi Bank, Hali hashad successful stints with GE

Dhanlaxmi Bankappoints ArvindHali as Head-RetailAsset Business

Capital Market Instituteunder Cochin StockExchange has beenconducting courses oncapital market, derivativemarket, depository opera-tions, commodities marketetc. at Kochi, Thrishur,Kottayam, Mavelikkara,Kozhikode, Palakkad andThiruvananthapuram. Thesuccessful candidate will getcertificate from either NSE orBSE.V. Srinivasan, ExecutiveDirector, Cochin StockExchange in a press releasesaid that these 15-daycertificate courses will be verymuch helpful to those

NSE, BSE certificatecourses from CochinStock Exchange

interested to know aboutcapital market, job seekers,students, employees frombanking, capital marketsectors, homemakers andretired hands. Minimumqualification for admission tothese courses will be +2.Course fee isRs.2000+service tax+examfee.Application form is availablefrom the CSE Institute ofCapital Market, Cochin StockExchange Ltd., MES CulturalComplex, 4th Floor, Kaloor,Kochi - 17.Tel: 3048521, 3047470Email: [email protected]

Money, Standard Charteredand Reliance Capital. He isan engineer from MangaloreUniversity and a postgraduate from MumbaiUniversity.

Suresh is a 28-year oldprofessional working in agarment factory. Being amarried man and father of a2-year old child, he decidedto get into the investmenthabit in the New Year. Hedecided to save Rs 2,000every month so that it canhelp him build a corpus ofclose to Rs 50,000 in twoyears. If he did the samething for 10 years, he couldsave a couple of lakhsInterestingly, Suresh isthinking of investing themoney in a child’s plan ratherthan keeping it in a savingsaccount. In fact, manyparents across India arethinking on these lines—saving for the child’s futurethrough an insurance plan.While insurance has alwaysbeen one of the savingsoptions for Indian families formany years, unit-linked plans,launched in recent times,have become a product whichis also helping investors toearn returns besidesinsurance cover. With stockmarkets recovering from theirlows within a year, the fearsassociated with ULIPs havecome down. How do unit-linked plans work? As thename suggests, when aninvestor buys an insurancepolicy, he is allotted a certainnumber of units. The moneycollected from the investor isinvested in stock market bythe insurance company. Thisenables the policyholder toearn good returns in the longterm as stock prices go up inthe long term. However, stockprices can also come down in

Unit-linked child insurance plansbecoming preferred option for parents- Shammi Sharma, Region Vice President - Kerala, Karnataka & Goa, ING Life Insurance -

the short term but since apolicyholder pays premium onyearly or monthly basis, hewill be investing at differentpoints. This helps the investorto average his cost of buyingand hence helps him earngood returns in 10-15 years.The biggest advantage with achild ULIP is that it allows theinvestor to enjoy the benefitsof insurance cover and goodreturns. More importantly, itgives the comfort to theparent that even in the eventof any uncertainty such asdeath the child’s future isprotected as the insurancecompany takes care ofpremium payment.As you areaware, an insurancecompany pays the deathbenefit to the nominee if thepolicyholder dies during thepolicy paying term. In thecase of child insurance plan,besides providing deathbenefit, the insurancecompany takes up theresponsibility of premiumpayment for the remainingyears of the policy. At the endof the term, the fund value ofthe investment (subject tomarket condition) would bepaid to the child.If investorslike Suresh are looking atchild insurance instead oftraditional products likerecurring deposits or gold, itis because of the growingpopularity of equity markets.While interest rates from bankdeposits or recurring depositshave been steadily comingdown, the returns from stockmarket, over a period of 10-20 years has been around15-20%. With our cost of

living going up steadily andother costs like education andmarriage rising at a rapidpace, parents will have toinvest in a product which cantake care of higher costs. Inbigger cities of India andabroad, individuals startinvesting in equity markets ata very early age as it helpsthem build good corpus in thelong term. In fact, childinsurance plan is the firstchoice for many parentswhen they think of saving forthe child’s future. In this era ofglobalisation, it is notsurprising that the trend iscatching up in India too.Ever wondered why insur-ance advertisements ontelevision focus on child? Theanswer is simple. Today’sparent is eager to savemoney for the child’s futureunlike his parents who didn’tfind the necessity to save forchild’s education. Fewdecades ago, educationacquired by the childrendepended on the financialcapabilities rather thanacademics. For instance,many students in the 80’sdidn’t pursue medical coursesimply because their parentscould not afford the cost. Inthe 21st century, the story iscompletely different. Today,parents think of setting asidemoney for a child’s futureimmediately after birth. Notsurprisingly, insurancecompanies have premiumslabs which start from zero!The change in attitude ofparents has been due to anumber of factors. The majorfactor has been the rising

cost of education andsecondly, parents have beenable to set aside money forsaving or investment. Theavailability of differentproducts has made the taskmore exciting as thepossibility of earning goodreturns has gone up. Forinstance, a couple of decadesago, parents had access tolimited range of productssuch as gold, property orfixed deposits. Among thesethree options, property wasunaffordable for many. In thecurrent environment,investors are able to buildmoney over long term withregular contributions such asSIP in an equity fund orthrough ECS (electronicclearing system) in aninsurance policy. This hasmade parents think ofinvesting for a child’s future atan early stage as the amountcan be small but the maturityamount can become big overlong term.For instance, amonthly premium of Rs 1,500per month in an ULIP canhelp the parent to send hischild to an engineering ormedical college withoutresorting to loans or sale ofproperty. All a father has to doit is to think of investment atan early stage or when thechild is small.The habit ofthinking about investing forthe child has already begun inIndia and many are gettinginto the habit of investingimmediately after a child’sbirth. In some cases, parentsare signing up for indepen-dent investments when theyhave more than one child.

The building blocks of cloudcomputing are rooted inhardware and softwarearchitectures that enableresource sharing, such asclustering, virtualisation anddynamic provisioning. Cloudis the evolution of severalproven technologies: gridcomputing, virtualisation,shared services &management systems. Manydata centres already deploythese capabilities, and areextending them to the cloudmodel by adding self-service,auto-scaling and chargeback.Oracle offers the industry’s

most comprehensive portfolioof grid computing technolo-gies from applications to disk,that can help corporate datacentres evolve to becomeprivate cloud serviceproviders, delivering secure,high-quality IT services thatcan be easily scaled andwhich comply withorganisational and regulatorypolicies.Cloud computing is typicallydivided into three levels ofservice offerings: softwareas a service, wherecomplete applications aredelivered as services to end

users; platform as a service,where application develop-ment and the deploymentplatform are delivered as aservice; and infrastructureas a service, where server,storage and networkhardware and associatedoperating system andvirtualisation software aredelivered as a service.These services can beprovided via public, private orhybrid clouds. In a publiccloud, multiple customersshare computing resourcesprovided by a serviceprovider.

From page 1

of India, Dr. V.S Ramamurthy,Director NIAS, Prof. V.NRajashekharan Pillai, ViceChancellor, IGNOU, andAnand Sudarshan, MD &CEO, Manipal Educationamongst many otherprominent names in theeducation sector.Three research reports –NIAS EDGE vision document2010; Catalysing Change,EDGE - Ernst & YoungReport “Building blocks foreducation” and FED UNI(Federation of Universities) :Parthenon Report on‘Bridging The HigherEducation Gap: NationalUniversities and otherModels’ were released duringthe inauguration function.Two More reports - Institute ofInternational Education (IIE)Report on ‘International India:A Turning point in EducationalExchange with the US’ and

EDGE-VALUNITES report on‘Examinations and the role oftechnology: EmergingDirections were also releasedlater.In his address, Sibalemphasized the importanceof thinking globally and notterritorially. He listed varioussteps initiated by thegovernment in last eightmonths concerning highereducation like accreditationsystem and prevention ofmalpractices. The foreignuniversity bill has beencleared by the cabinet andthe discussion on the bill forNational Commission onhigher education is expectedto conclude by March end. Hecautioned that in 2010, we allare standing between “acollapsed past and anuncertain future.” He wasconfident that the seeds forchanges in higher educationsector will be sown at EDGE.

Dr. Kanter said that it was atime for both – US and India –to act and lead avenues inhigher education. As the twolargest democracies in theworld it is their duty toeducate maximum number ofpeople. She said both thecountries have commonchallenge to ensure access toeducation and improvingquality. US was committed towork towards internationaliz-ing education, she added. Dr.Pitroda, in his “highlightlecture” said that it was a timeto question fundamentalissues and a time to changein big way in educationsector. He advised thegathering to stop talking andstart taking action now.Expressing concerns overdeclining quality, he said in 90per cent of our universitiesthe quality was not up to themark and needed to beimproved substantially.

He said expansion was also akey issue and the govern-ment was committed to open14 universities of innovationand 400 new colleges. Hesaid diversity was critical toinnovation.In fact EDGE in its 3rd year

has proved that it is theflagship higher educationforum in India with aninternational focus andapproach.. There was stronginvolvement of internationalorganisations like Institute ofInternational Education (IIE),

The College Board andAssociation of InternationalEducation Administrators(AIEA) who have conductedsessions and workshops atthe event to promotepartnerships with Indian

From page 5

>> Turn to page 16


HAPPENINGS

The Department of Econom-ics of the Cochin College inassociation with the IndianChamber of Commerce &Industry, Kochi had organiseda state level seminar on“India-ASEAN Free TradeAgreement: Opportunitiesand Challenges” at theseminar hall of the college.Presiding over the inauguralsession of the seminar TVidyasager, Manager of theCollege, said that it would notbe prudent for us to keepaway from the framework of

Indian Chamber and Cochin Collegejointly organise seminar on ASEANFree Trade Agreement

Former ICCI President N Radhakrishnan inaugurating the Seminar on “India-ASEAN Free TradeAgreement: Opportunities and Challenges”. Others in the picture are: (L to R) Head of theDepaerment of Economics, Cochin College, Prof.P.Supriya, College Principal Prof. Mathew Vargese,Manager T Vidyasagar, ICCI President Jasbir Singh Chawla and Head of the Department ofCommerce Dr. S Venugopal.

the present world economicorder and global trade. ‘ Wemust strive hard to harnessthe tremendous possibilitiesbrought about by the India-ASEAN FTA rather thannursing and nurturingmisconceptions’, he added.Former ICCI President NRadhakrishnan, whoinaugurated the Seminar,briefly explained the salientfeatures of the Agreement.College Principal Prof.Mathew Vargese, Head ofthe Department of Com-

merce Dr. S Venugopal andICCI President Jasbir SinghChawla offered felicitations.Head of the Department ofEconomics Prof. P. Supriyaand the organising commit-tee Convenor Dr. K.Sindhualso spoke. Dr. N Santhakumarof Centre for DevelopmentStudies, Dr. Manju S Nair ofKerala University, Dr. P SMohankumar of SreeSankara College and Prof.T.P. Thomas of S H Collegewere the faculties of the twoTechnical Sessions.

Demonstrating its focus andcontinued ommitment to theIndian market, FIS an-nounced the xpansion of itsIndia-based ITO and BPOcapabilities and the appoint-ment ofRam Chary asexecutive vice president ofFIS’ Global CommercialServices division. FIS is oneof the world’s largestproviders of banking andpayments technology, withoperations in India since July1999.

FIS expands ITO and BPOdelivery capabilities in India

To further enhance itsdelivery capabilities, FISanticipates opening a newdlivery centerin the Philip-pines in early 2010. FIS’recent merger with MetavanteCorporation and its expansioninto the Philippines makes itwell-positioned to provide anenhanced portfolio ofproducts and services -opening the market for itsexisting client base. Additionally, clients willnow have access to global

delivery capabilities, such asmulti-shore and offshoreservices to stay competitive intheir marketplace. To supportFIS’growth objectives, thecompany anticipatesaugmenting its workforceacross anumber of locations andfunctions in India by at least20 percent.FIS has a strong foothold inIndia, with more than 40banks deploying its anking orpayments solutions.

GAIL (India) Limited hascompleted the route surveyfor its 1400 Km Dabhol -Bengaluru gas pipelineproject for supplying naturalgas to Karnataka. This wasinformed to the ChiefMinister of Karnataka B SYeddyurappa, S V Rangnath,the Chief Secretary, K.Jairaj, the Additional ChiefSecretary, Energy and othersenior officials of Governmentof Karnataka by B C Tripathi,Chairman and ManagingDirector, GAIL (India) Limited,when he called on thismorning. Tripathi alsohanded over a cheque for Rs.2 crore for flood relief inKarnataka to the ChiefMinister.GAIL has completed the routesurvey of the total length ofthe pipeline network and thetendering process for linepipe procurement will start

GAIL completes route surveyfor Dabhol – Bengaluru pipeline;Karnataka Government approves the project

shortly. The High levelclearance committee of theKarnataka Government hasalready accorded approval forthe pipeline projects and theGovernment of Karnatakahas nominated KarnatakaState Industrial InvestmentDevelopment Corporation(KSIIDC) as nodal agency forfacilitating the acquisition ofland for Dabhol- BengaluruPipeline project. GAIL hasalready applied for variouscrossing permissions forlaying the pipeline and will setup a Regional Gas Manage-ment Centre at Bengaluru fordistribution and supply of thegas business through thispipeline.GAIL is currently implement-ing 1,389 km, 30 inchdiameter Dabhol-Bengalurupipeline at an investment ofRs. 4543.43 crore with adesign capacity of 16

MMSCMD. In part A of thefirst phase, 402 km pipelinewill be laid from Dabhol toGokak along with spurlines toBelgaum and Goa at anestimated investment ofRs.1593.47 crore and isscheduled to be completed by2011-12.In part B of thephase I, 570 km pipeline willbe laid from Gokak toBengaluru (KPCL, Bidadi)along with spur lines / feederlines to Bengaluru at anestimated investment ofRs.2,463.91 crore and isscheduled to be completed by2011-12 / 2012-13. In phaseII of the project, 417 km spurlines / feeder lines will be laidto Ratnagiri, Kolhapur,Sangali, Bijapur, Dharwad,Devangere, Harihar andTumkur at an investment ofRs. 486.05 crore and isscheduled to be completed by2012-13 / 2013-14.

The Kerala State IndustrialDevelopment Corporation(KSIDC) has developed 251Acres of Land to set up theIndustrial Growth Centre atValiyavelicham, nearKoothuparamba.. A 50 acresindustrial park dedicated forSmall Scale Units is alsodeveloped inside this growthcentre. Plots of 25 /50 cents

Valiya Velicham Industrial Park: 1500 gotemployment

& 1 acre are on allocationhere, for non polluting unitsacross all sectors. KSIDC hasalready provided basicinfrastructural facilities,including 2 KM of developedinternal roads inside thegrowth centre; an 11 KV linefor power, an EffluentTreatment Plant etc.An administrative block of

1600 Sq.Mtr and aMultistoried StandardDesigns Factory of 10,000Sq.Mtr are already function-ing in this growth centre.Other units operating in theGrowth Centre now include:the RUBCO Hawai Chappals,RUBCO Cycle Tyres &Tubes, NKB Oil Mills,

A high-level delegation fromM/s. Kao Corporation, aFMCG major in Japan, hasvisited Kerala on the 11th &12th of February ’10. Thegroup is planning investmentsto the tune of Rs. 150 croresin the country.Kao Corporation is one of theleading manufacturers ofFMCG products, especiallysoaps, detergents, lifestyleand healthcare products inAsia. Founded in 1887, theTokyo- based Kao Corpora-tion has a capital base of 85.4billion Yen and has anemployee strength of 33,745.The company is planning toset up their manufacturingand marketing facilities inIndia.The delegation, headed byHiroshi Yamaguchi andTakashi Tanaka, helddiscussions with TBalakrishnan, Addl. Chief

Japanese Delegation visits KeralaSecretary, Alkesh Sharma,Secretary, Industries (IP) &Managing Director, KeralaState Industrial DevelopmentCorporation (KSIDC) andsenior officials of KSIDC andKINFRA.The Japanese team alsovisited proposed sites for theproject at Kuttippuram inMalappuram and Koratty inErnakulam. The team visitedthe facilities of M/s. NittaGelatin India Limited in Kochias well, a joint venture ofKSIDC and Nitta Gelatin Inc,Japan.The visit of the Japanesedelegation was the result ofdiscussions held by a Govt. ofKerala delegation with M/s.Kao Corporation at Tokyo inJapan in October 2009,during the visit of Addl. ChiefSecretary and Secretary,Industries (IP) to Tokyo andOsaka.

The fact that the State ofKerala holds immensepotential for investment inthe areas of Food process-ing, FMCG, Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals, Bio-technology and Nano-technology had beenbrought to the attention ofmany Japanese corporateswith whom the team hadinteracted during their visit,including M/s. Riken VitaminCo. Ltd, M/s. Nitta Corpora-tion and M/s. Nitta GelatinInc.The visit of this delegationwas co-ordinated by KeralaState Industrial Develop-ment Corporation, thepremier promotional agencyof the State Govt., whichhas partnered withJapanese companies likeM/s. Mitsubishi Corporationand M/s. Nitta Gelatin Inc.in the past.>> Turn to page 19

B.C. Tripathi, CMD, GAIL handing over a cheque of Rs.2 crore to Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister ofKarnataka. The amount being the donation of GAIL towards the Karnataka Flood Relief Fund.


Ramachandran Kadannappally, Minister for Devaswom, Govt. of Kerala, handing over the key ofMaruti Swift Dezire to Nazer Kattakkulam, the winner of ‘Vyaparotsavam-2009’ organized byKerala Vyapari-Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi Kannur District Committee.

Vodafone Essar wasacknowledged by theGovernment of India for itsoutstanding performance inrevenue contribution duringthe year 2008-09. As a partof the Central Excise Day2010 celebrations held inKochi, the Service Tax Sectorhonoured Vodafone Keralawith the Sammana Patra.

Vodafone Kerala receives awardfor outstanding performance inrevenue contribution

This is a prestigious awardinstituted by the FinanceMinistry, to honour tax payerswho contribute significantlytowards maintaining the

highest levels of compliancewith regard to Tax policies.Present at the occasion wasSundararaman K, ChiefOperating Officer, VodafoneEssar – Kerala, who receivedthe award from Vineet Ohri,(IRS), Chief Commissioner ofCustoms and Central ExciseService Tax Division (Kochi &Coimbatore).

Airtel, India’s leading mobileservice provider announcedthe lowest call rates ever forits prepaid customers inKerala. Customers can nowenjoy local Airtel to Airtel callsat 10ps/min. As a part of thisnew offer, customers inKerala can now avail thisservice through a tariffrecharge of Rs. 80/- that isvalid for a period of 30 days.Airtel has also introduced anAirtel to Airtel calling option at30ps/min for a nominalrecharge of Rs. 14/- with 30

Airtel to Airtel calls at 10Paise/ minute

Days Validity. Both theseservices are available throughAirtel Easy Recharge.Commenting on the newoffer, Rajiv Rajgopal, CEO –Airtel Mobile Services, Kerala

& Tamil Nadu, said “Airtel hasalways been an innovator inthe mobile service arena inIndia. Taking this forward, wehave introduced this new

package for our customers inKerala that will greatlyenhance their experience withAirtel. Customer service andvalue for money has alwaysbeen one of our coreprincipals. Our latest offer forour Kerala customers isanother testament to this andI’m sure this will be instantlywelcomed in this state.”Airtellooks forward to lot moreinnovation in services and callpackages in the comingmonths for the Kerala circles.For Detail visit www.airtel.in.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was recently on an official tour to Saudi Arabia, on hisway to interact with the Indian business delegates being received by Yusuffali MA at King SaudPalace in Riyadh.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing a gathering of Indian Businessmen at King SaudPalace in Riyadh. Also seen in the photo are Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Minister of State forExternal Affairs Sashi Tharoor, National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Yusuffali MA.

Universities. A large delega-tion of University Presidentsfrom USA led by IIE alsoattended the EDGE . It islikely that many morerepresentations of thedifferent counties willparticipate in the comingyears to strengthen collabora-tions with India. This hasbeen an encouragingbeginning!‘EDGE Personality of theYear’ award was conferred onProf. Yash Pal, an accom-plished scientist and thearchitect of the Report of “TheCommittee to advice onrenovation and rejuvenationof Higher Education” whichhas emerged as a referencefor the Government toformulate education policies.Prof Yash Pal also delivered a‘Vision Talk’ in the context ofthe present educationscenario and future directions

in an interesting andengaging talk. He empha-sized the fact that it isimportant to encouragestudents to think indepen-dently and challenged theeducators and administratorsto reward ‘unreasonable’ men/ women.The second award YoungEDGE Award 2010 waspresented to AchyutaSamanta, Founder KIITUniversity and KalingaInstitute of Social Sciencesfor his commitment toinclusive growth in the field ofeducation. It is commendablethat through his efforts veryhigh standards of education isimparted exclusively to tribalchildren in one of theeducationally deprivedregions of India.EDGE 2010 Conferencefocuses on ‘CatalysingChange’ to stress the need oftransforming the educationsector for expansion,

inclusion and excellence. TheConference witnessed stellarspeakers from diversesectors including Dr. SamPitroda, Advisor to the PrimeMinister of India, Dr. WilliamG. Harris, CEO, TheAssociation of Test Publish-ers, USA, Prof. MadhavaMenon, Member, Commis-sion on Center-StateRelations, Government ofIndia, Rob Lytle, Partner, TheParthenon Group, Dr. Allan E.Goodman, President andCEO, Institute of InternationalEducation, Prof. N.Ravichandran, Director IIMIndore, India among otherprominent speakers.EDGE 2010 proved to be aplatform which broughttogether Industry – Academiaon one platform. Thespeakers and delegatesengaged in lively discussionsto collectively work towardscreating talented workforcefor India.

From page 14


Jaypee Infratech, part ofJaypee Group is offering 6crore equity shares of Rs.10each to mobilise Rs.1650crore. The price band of theissue will be decided througha 100% book buildingprocess. At least 60% of thenet issue shallbe allocated ona proportionatebasis toqualifiedinstitutionalbuyers.The BookRunning LeadManagers areMorgan Stanley IndiaCompany Private Limited,DSP Merrill Lynch Limited(BofA Merill Lynch), Axis BankLimited, Enam SecuritiesPrivate Limited, ICICISecurities Limited, iDFC-SSKI Limited, JM FinancialConsultants Private Limited,Kotak Mahindra CapitalCompany Limited and SBICapital Markets Limited.The Equity Shares offeredare proposed to be listed onthe National Stock Exchangeof India Limited (NSE) andthe Bombay Stock ExchangeLimited (BSE).The Rs.7000 crore JaypeeGroup is a diversifiedinfrastructure conglomeratewith interests in the areas ofcivil engineering andconstruction, cement, power,real estate, expressways,hospitality, golf courses andeducation. Jaypee InfratechLimited was incorporated onApril 5, 2007 as a specialpurpose company and isengaged in the developmentof the Yamuna Expresswayand related real estate

Jaypee Infratech's public offeringto fund the construction ofYamuna Expressway

projects. The company holdsthe concession from theYamuna ExpresswayAuthority (YEA) to develop,operate and maintain theYamuna Expressway in thestate of Uttar Pradesh,connecting Noida and Agra.

The concession alsoprovides for the right todevelop 25 million squaremetres (approximately 6,175acres) of land along theYamuna Expressway at fivelocations for residential,commercial, amusement,industrial and institutionalpurposes.Under the concessionagreement, the company hasalso been provided the rightto develop 6,175 acres ofland to be acquired by theYEA and leased to it for a 90-year term, which is expectedto consist of 1,235 acreparcels at each of fivedifferent locations along theYamuna Expressway: Onelocation in Noida, twolocations district GautamBudh Nagar (part of NCR)and one location in each ofdistrict Aligarh and districtAgra.The business model consistsof earning revenues fromtraffic and related facilities onthe expressway during the36-year concession periodand development of

associated real estatepursuant to the concession.Jaypee Infratech Limited isdeveloping the YamunaExpressway, which is a 165-kilometre access-controlledsix-lane concrete pavementexpressway along the

Yamuna river,with thepotential to bewidened to aneight-laneexpressway.The express-way will beentirely in thestate of Uttar

Pradesh. The expressway isplanned to begin at theexisting Noida-Greater NoidaExpressway, pass throughvarious proposed SDZs andthe proposed Taj Interna-tional Hub Airprot and end atdistrict Agra. The concessionfollows a build-operate-transfer model pursuant towhich is has the right to earntoll revenue for a period of36 years following the awardof a certificate of completionof the expressway.R.K. Narang, Director,Jaiprakash Power VenturesLtd., Sachin Gaur, Director,Jaypee Infratech Ltd., R.K.Anand, Joint President(Finance), JaiprakashAssociated Ltd. and MayankPagaria of Morgan Stanleyat a press conference inKochi said that although theconstruction of the Express-way is required to becompleted by April 2013under the concessionagreement, based on theprogress achieved so far, itis expected the constructionto be completed by 2011.

RSS Sarsanghchalak MohanBhagwat criticised PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh forfavouring minorities overHindus, and alleged that themajority community was notgetting its due in the country,especially in the Valley wherethere was a separateyardstick of justice for them.“How can someone of thelevel of Prime Minister say, inviolation of the Constitution,that they (minorities) have thefirst claim over resources?”asked Bhagwat whileaddressing a HinduSamagam (conclave) inJammu.The RSS chief’s attack on thePrime Minister came when hewas making a case thatKashmiri Pandits were beingignored while separatists andterrorists, including those who

Hindus not getting due; PMfavouring minorities: RSS

were killing Muslims, werebeing pardoned andencouraged. He blamed votebank politics for the sorrystate of affairs of Hindus inthe Valley.Peace talks onlyhelped extremists to regroup,he said, wondering, “I don’tknow if it’s nasha (intoxica-tion) or vote ki asha (hope forvotes). Baki sab ke liye eknyay aur Hinduon ke liyeanyay (there’s injustice forHindus but a separateyardstick of justice for therest.)”Quoting a Jain saint, Bhagwatsaid “teaching a lesson tofundamentalists was trueahimsa (non-violence). Suchahimsa is not being practisedbecause of lack of intellectand fear”.Without namingIslam and Christianity, hecame down heavily on these

religions for being violent andusing tricks to convert peoplepractising other faiths. “Theytalk of peace and service butforce their deities down thethroats of others.”Hinduismwas the only religion thatrespects diversity, the RSSchief said, unlike otherreligions that preach “only wewill go to heaven while therest will end up in hell”.They say ‘unity is impossiblewithout uniformity’ andthrust their ideology on therest.He was critical of theWest for its exploitativepolicies. “The solution lies inHindutva, which talks of co-existence and unity withnature.”The RSS had invitedcommon people to theconclave and asked them toexperience it from within.

Following the huge successin Galway when it was thefinish of the transatlantic legof the Volvo Ocean Race2008-09, Ireland, will againfeature in the new route for2011-12. The fleet will racefrom Lorient in France back toGalway on Ireland’s westcoast.Galway, whose twin town isLorient, has fought an intensecontest against the otherbidding ports to win back theevent for a second editionand the Volvo Ocean Race2011-12 will complete its laparound the globe in Ireland’s‘cultural heart’, where the finalprizegiving will be held.The stopover in Galwayduring May 2009 fuelled thepublic imagination as neverbefore. Over 600,000

Finish port for Volvo oceanrace is Galway in Ireland

supporters visited the racevillage during the stopover,with the crowd peaking at62,000 people on in-port raceday alone. The seasideresort of Salthill drew afurther crowd of 120,000 towatch the dramatic closecombat race from the shoreline.Galway’s ‘home town boat’,Green Dragon, becameIreland’s second entry in therace - the first was NCBIreland in1989-90. DoubleOlympic medallist, IanWalker, guided the team to afifth place finish overall andclaimed the third spot on thepodium when the fleetcrossed the finish in Galway,delighting the huge crowdthat had gathered to welcomethem.“The interest in hosting the

Volvo Ocean Race, particu-larly in Europe, has beenquite overwhelming,” saidVolvo Ocean Race CEO,Knut Frostad, as the last ofthe European ports wasunveiled. “I am very proud toconfirm Ireland’s participationand Galway will be amagnificent port to stage thefinish of the event. We havealready experienced theenthusiasm that abounds inIreland for the race and weare looking forward tobringing the competition to itsconclusion in a country thatreally knows how to cel-ebrate,” he said.This announcement com-pletes the list of Europeancities hosting the event. Theremaining ports will beintroduced throughout March.

Bharti Airtel, one of Asia’sleading integrated telecomservices providers made itsdebut into media & entertain-ment with the launch of theAirtel Digital Media Business.With this, Bharti Airtel will beable to offer content deliveryswolutions for media andentertainment sector. Thecreation of its digital mediaexchange offers the industry,a secure digital distributioncapability across multiplemedia platforms. Thisensures that contentproducers can have anintegrated content deliveryand aggregation platform thatrepackages content for all

Bharti Airtel launches DigitalMedia Business

media formats.According to Sanjay Kapoor,CEO-India and South Asia,Bharti Airtel, Airtel DigitalMedia Business will helpestablish India as aninnovation hub for globalcontent and format delivery.This significant step takesBrand Airtel ahead from beingjust a telecom brand to alifestyle enabler, adds,Sanjay. “As Airtel’s digitalmedia business is integratedwith our global network ofsubmarine cable systems,PoPs and CDN services, itwill now be able to deliver ona secure platform, highquality content across

geographies”, says RajanSwaroop ExecutiveDirector, EnterpriseServices, Bharti Airtel.The move will also pave theway for over 16,000 cinemascreens across the country topotentially offer high qualityinternational viewingexperience for consumers inIndia. Addressing criticalareas of operations for mediaorganizations, Airtel throughits Teleport services wouldoffer content gathering,distribution services totelevision channels. Thiswould also include completecontent management

Rajagiri Centre for BusinessStudies wins NIPM quizNational Institute of Person-nel Management (NIPM),Kerala Chapter, in associationwith SCMS Kochi organised

10th Management Quiz 2010for “Ghanshyam Binani EverRolling Trophy” at SCMScampus.

Anuja Nair & HIma Elizabeth of Rajagiri Centre of Business Studies receiving trophy from RoyKurian, President, Binani Zinc Ltd., Dr. K. Raman Nair, Director, SCMS, P.J. Joy, Chairman, NIPM,Kerala Chapter and Johnson Mathew, Secretary, NIPM Kerala Chapter are also seen.

Twenty six teams fromvarious Business Schools allover Kerala participated in the

>> Turn to page 18

>> Turn to page 18


C. Ravindranath, Jt. Secretary, State Forum of Bankers’ Club, Kerala releasing ‘Fellow Banker’, thein-house quarterly magazine of the Forum by handing over the first copy to A. Madhavan, Editor,Business Digest at a function held in Payyanur. C.R.R.Warrier, President, State Forum of Bankers’Club is also seen.

Birla Kerala Vaidyashala, ajoint venture between KeralaVaidhyasala and Rs.3000crore Yash Birla Group hasplans to launch therapycentres in all the districts ofKerala. The company alreadyhave presence in Ernakulam,Alappuzha and Kottayamdistricts of the state.Harshajeet Kuroop,Managing Director, BirlaKerala Vaidyashala at apress conference in Kochisaid that BKV also will setup an exclusive factory tomanufacture ayurvedicmedicines in Kerala.As a part of its ambitious planof opening 200 new centresacross cities in the countrywith an investment of Rs.50crore, BKV recently opened anew 1000 sq.ft. centre inCochin Heritage hotel. Italready houses a 2500 sq.ft.centre in the luxury backwaterKalathil Lake Resort. Othercentres in the state includeAyurvedic Medi Spa at Aluvabyepass junction, AyurvedaHospital and ResearchCentre at Haripad andtreatment centre at SunriseHospital, Palarivattom. BKVruns 30 centres in the countryincluding 12 in Maharashtra,one at Apolloa Hospital,

Birla Kerala Vaidyashala toexpand in a big way

Kolkata, 3 in Karnataka, Goaand Chennai.According to Harshajeet, BKVwill set up a luxury spa atElavoor, near Kochi airportwith an investment of Rs.9.5crore. Land has beenacquired for the same. Thework of a Rs.3.5 crore luxury

spa has been already startedat Nehru Trophy Boat racefinishing point at Alappuzha.Replying to a queryHarshajeet said that BKV is indiscussions to take over aKerala-based AyurvedicCompany.Birla Kerala Vaidyashala hasachieved the title of "MostPreferred Spa of the Year" atthe "Golden Star Awards2010". Birla KeralaVaidyashala specializes inoffering treatments forlifestyle disorders, chronichealth disorders by means ofherbal medicines and oilsprepared in-house. Ayurvedicrejuvenation packages and

day spa procedures are alsothe highlighted offerings.Each treatment of BirlaKerala Vaidyashala deals withdifferent aspects thatsynergize the energy of thebody."The group is right now keenon strengthening its presence

in South India. It is in talkswith the Government ofKerala to set up medi-spas,where the land would beprovided by the Govern-ment. The focus would beon attaining franchiseswhere a frnachisee wouldprovide the infrastructure

and BKV would provide allthe technical help, manpowerand run the centre. Marketingactivities would also bepracticed by BKV", he added."Today Ayurveda plays animportant role in holistic wellbeing and natural therapiesare today an answer tohealthcare. With therapists,practitioners & guest relationsexecutive, the center offerseach customer personalizedattention", said Dr. MadhuDas, Technical Head BirlaKerala Vaidyashala South.Viswajith Kurup, ExecutiveDirector, BKV and Dr.Prasanth were also present atthe press conference.

Satheesh Pottekad, Managing Director, R.M.Co Properties receiving the ‘Young Business Man’Award from Mammooty.

Bharat Mammooty presenting Sreenarayana Gurudevadarshana Award for contribution tospirituality to Unni Damodaran, ‘Devasthanapathy’ of Peringottukara temple.

K.P. Rajendran, Minister for revenue presenting ‘Pravasi Business Excellence ‘Award instituted byPeringottukara Somasekhara Temple to P.A. Lathesh, Managing Director, Popular Group.

Dr. Jayathilakan Pokkenchery receiving the Gurudevadarshana Award instituted by PeringottukaraSomasekhara Temple from K.P. Rajendran, Minister of Revenue, Govt. of Kerala.V.S. Sunil kumarM.L.A., Chaiarman, Pooram Fest and N.B. Swaraj, General Convenor are also seen. The Awardwas presented to Dr. Jayathilakan considering his service in the treatment of heart ailments withayurvedic medicines

competition, The Quiz Masterwas Prof. (Dr) AnandakuttanB. Unnithan of IIM,Kozhikode.Team from Rajagiri Centre forBusiness Studies, Kochiconsisting of Ms. Anuja Nair &Ms. Hima Elizabeth Mathewwas adjudged as the winner& team from SCMS consist-ing of Ms. Annie John & SajivV. Odanath was adjudged asthe runner-up.The Ghanshyam Binani Ever-Rolling Trophy & Cash Prizeto the winning team was

presented by Roy Kurian,President, Binani Zinc Ltd.Kochi and cash prize to therunner-up team by Dr. RamanNair, Director, SCMS.Johnson Mathew, Hon.Secretary, NIPM (KeralaChapter) welcomed theguests and participants andP.J. Joy, Chairman inaugu-rated the function. RoyKurian, President, Binani ZincLtd. and Dr. K. Raman Nair,Director, SCMS also spokeon the occasion. N. VijayanPillai, Vice Chairman, NIPMproposed a vote of thanks.

services such as playout,archival, collocation andstorage. Besides, Airtel willalso offer content producers-an integrated content deliveryand aggregation platform thatcan repackage content for allformats. This platform willbenefit a range of usersincluding producers, creativeagencies, production andpost production houses,animation, gaming firms,visual media firms, newschannels, cinemas, bankinginstitutions, and distributionagencies.

From page 17 From page 17


AirAsia is all out to rock andpaint the India skies red byextending its footprint with thelaunch of its direct flights to 6new routes in the first quarterof the current year. Conquer-ing India skies by storm, thenew services to key metrocities include Chennai,Bangalore, Hyderabad,Mumbai and New Delhi fromKuala Lumpur and fromPenang to Chennai. The Chennai, Bangalore andHyderabad sectors will beserviced by AirAsia’s A320

Air Asia to launch 6 newroutes in India

aircrafts,MumbaiandDelhiwill beservedby itslong-haul affiliate, AirAsia Xvia its new Airbus A330 fleet.AirAsia is the only airlinewhich connects to the mostpoints in India from Malaysiawith a total of 148 flightsweekly. This new develop-ment is subsequent toAirAsia’s huge success of

Tiruchirapplalli(Trichy)fol-lowed-byKolkata,Kochi

and Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum) recording anaverage of 80% load factoron all our four existing routes.Thus, these new services willnot only complementAirAsia’s aggressive growthin India, but is also feedingmore traffic into the country.

Statement of ownership and other particulars about

BUSINESS DIGEST

1.Place of publication : Kochi

2.Periodicity : Monthly

3.Printer's name : P.V. Radhmani

Whether a citizen of India : Yes

Address : Journalist Nagar, Thrikkakara, Kochi - 682 021.

4.Publisher's name : P.V. Radhmani



5.Editor's name : P.V. Radhmani



6.Name and address ofindividuals who own thenews paper and partnersor share holders holdingmore than one percent ofthe total capital

I, P.V. Radhamani, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to thebest of my knowledge and belief.

Date: 15-02-2003 Sd/-

P.V. Radhamani

P.V. Radhmani

Journalist Nagar, Thrikkakara,Kochi - 682 021.

Standard Fibers & AlliedProducts, Maryan ApparelsPvt.Ltd and Apparel Training& Designing Centre (ATDC).These units together havegenerated employmentopportunity for around 1500people. With more unitsstarting operations, employ-ment opportunities here willfurther increase.KSIDC envisages a fullfledged Apparel Park in thegrowth centre in 40 acreshere, on full completion.

From page 15

Uma Preman and P.Gopinathan from Kerala findplace among the 24 ‘RealHeroes’ honoured by IBN 18India’s leading NewsNetwork in partnership withReliance Industries LimitedIndia’s largest private sectorenterprise. Real Heroes is amovement to acknowledgethe unsung champions of thecommon man who strovetirelessly to promote thewelfare of others. These Real

Uma Preman and P.Gopinathan among the‘Real Heroes’

Social Welfare, Health andDisability, Youth, Educationand Children & Sports.The ceremony, held inMumbai was attended by

Uma Preman

P. Gopinathan

Uma Preman with Nita Ambani after receiving the award

Heroes were shortlisted bythe editorial team of CNN-IBN, and they were spreadacross six categoriesincluding, Women Welfare,

them vocational training sothey can be financiallyindependent, and many morewho have dared to stand upfor the betterment of thesociety were awarded as theReal Heroes.Uma Preman has beenrecognised in Health andDisability category as theReal Hero. She lost herhusband to tuberculosis, dueto lack of diagnosis andtreatment. In her loss shefound the mission of her life. She set up free medicalinformation cum care centre,named Santhi MedicalInformation in t memory ofher husband. The centreprovides information topatients and helps them raisemoney for treatment. It hasalready facilitated 500 kidneytransplants and 2,000 heartsurgeries and mobilized morethan 8 crores in aid for poorpatients. Uma Preman evendonated her own kidney tosave a patient’s life.P Gopinathan has beenrecognised in Women’sWelfare category as the Real

luminaries including Mrs. NitaAmbani, Mukesh Ambani,Sachin Tendulkar, AamirKhan, Yash Chopra and othereminent personalitiesapplauded the heroes whothrough their extraordinarywork have made a difference.Each of the Real Heroes waspresented a trophy along witha cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.The Real Heroes all repre-sent an inspirational story ofselfless service, these range

from a mechanic inJharkhand who has set up anorphanage with his ownmeagre resources to provideeducation, food and shelter tochildren who were leftorphans due to polygamy oralcoholism to a person whohas been fighting to preservethe environment over the pastthree decades. From ahockey coach who is on amission to train players freeof cost to an 80 year oldgynecologist who is fighting torehabilitate mentally chal-lenged women and provide

Hero. He’s a master weaverand a Padmashree awardee.30 years ago, P Gopinathan laidthe foundation of hishandloom consortium atManchavilakam village nearThiruvananthapuram. Hebrought together 30 womenof his village as the “MahilaSamajam” and gifted them hisplot of land to set up loomsand taught them weaving.Today almost 1000 womenwork on 600 looms. Improv-ing lives of these women hasmeant better, happier lives fortheir children.

Sandwiched between theKraft Paper Mills and theLarge Consumers, theCorrugated PackagingIndustry is at dismal state ofaffairs again. Industry’s majorraw material, Kraft Paper, hasbeen recently subjected tomultiple, prohibitive andunprecedented priceincreases, resulting in makingthe Corrugated Packagingdearer by almost 25% andthe Paper Mills are planningfor further hikes, in comingweeks.Kirit Modi, President, IndianCorrugated Case Manufactur-ers Association (ICCMA) in apress statement said that toaggravate the situationfurther, the prices of all othercritical inputs of this industryhave shot up substantially.There is a world wideshortage scenario of thefibers that go into making ofKraft Paper, due to theclosure of pulp mills in Chile

Corrugated box manufacturingunits face closure

due to the recent earthquake.The severe winter and snowin the North Americas havealso put a lot of pressure onthe availability of waste paperwhich is the main input for thelocal Recycled Paper Mills inthe Country.The Paper Mills collectivelyimplement price increasesand enforce them withimmediate effect, whereasthe Corrugated Box suppliershave to go through theprocess of getting approvalfrom their customers, whichtake anything from 2 to 4weeks. The price fluctuationis understandable but the waythe Paper Industry implementthe price increases, withimmediate effect, is aproblem with the CorrugatedBox Manufacturing Industry.Paper Industry, which isfueling inflation. The PaperMills are increasing the pricescollectively, by the samequantum and on the same

Harish Madan, Hony.Secretary, Indian CorrugatedCase ManufacturersAssociation (ICCMA), saidthat the Associatoon alreadysubmitted a memorandum onthis subject to the Ministry ofCommerce & Ministry ofFinance, Government ofIndia, requesting them to takeserious note of this situationand initiate appropriateaction.The CorrugatedPackaging Industry alsoappeals to the Government ofIndia to allow import of KraftPaper at NIL rate of customsduty, to tide over the presentcrisis.Unless the end-userIndustry gives an immediateincrease of at least 25% inthe selling prices tocompensate cumulativeimpact of the above hikes,the very survival ofCorrugated Box units is atperil and their closureimminent.

IBN 18 and Reliance Industries honour 24 unsungheroes who strove tirelessly to promote the welfare ofothers.


Edited, Printed and Published by P.V. Radhamani, Printed at Printers Castle, Kochi - 16. Published at Journalist Nagar, Thrikkakara P.O., Kochi - 21.Chief Editor: A. Madhavan (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act). Tel: 98471 78836, 90482 11587, 0484-4025403/3240781. Fax: 0484-2357581

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”Here’s Rippon Mount, nestled in a widespread canvas of nature. In all its sublimedetails and splendid beauties. Well above a height of 2500 ft., here you will fall inlove with the pristine nature. And we cannot give you any word especially on themesmeric wide view of the Soochipara waterfalls from Rippon. Explore this wildworld here in Wayanad, one of the must-see destinations in god’s own country.

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Thirunelly Temple, Soochipara Water Falls, Banasurasagar Dam....

General Motors Indialaunched the ChevroletCruze AT in Kochi at aceremony presided over byits Vice-President, PBalendran. The manualversion of Chevrolet Cruzelaunched in October hasalready redefined the D-segment with its coupe-likedesign proportions, comfort-able interiors, class leadingfeatures and other exclusiveproduct attributes.The 6Speed Automatic Transmis-sion will be offered on theLTZ variant which alsocomes with a host offeatures like PEPS, PushButton Start, Cruise Control,Smart Screen and ElectricSunroof to name a few. TheAutomatic variant will also beavailable in a special 3 coatpaint called White Diamondin addition to the exciting sixcolors already on offer.The Chevrolet Cruze AT alsohas a triptronic mode whichenables a sportier drive forthe customer. Otherhighlights of this six-speedautomatic transmissioninclude Clutch-to-clutch shiftoperation for added precisionand smoother shifts betweengears. Also, it has a widespread ratio with the firstgear designed for a very highratio to provide briskacceleration from the topwhile the sixth gear has anoverdrive ratio to keep theengine revolutions as low aspossible for highway cruisingand improved fuel economy.

GM India launches ChevroletCruze AutomaticThe Company emerging as a volume player in the Indian market: Balendran

One of the key benefits ofthis model is that it usespremium fluids in thetransmission that does notneed replacement duringnormal use.“Chevrolet has alreadybecome a driving force inIndia’s vehicle market,” said

P Balendran, Vice-Presidentof GM India. “The Cruze hasbeen receiving excellent marketresponse since its launch inthe last quarter of 2009.The Cruze has already won6 awards:Top Gear Saloon ofthe Year Award, NDTV Car &Bike Viewers Choice Car of

the Yea,r,Autocar BloombergUTV Best Saloon Car of theYear,ET Zigwheels MidsizeSedan of the year,Car & BikeNDTV Executive Car of theYear and BS Motoring BestValue for Money Car of the

Year.‘It builds on the reputation ofthe brand for attractivedesign, great performanceand outstanding fueleconomy in the D-segment’,Says, Gaurav Gupta,

Director, Marketing, GM,India.. The Chevrolet Cruzeis also one of the key driversof the global expansion ofChevrolet. It is backed by thehighest scores in major crashsafety ratings. The ChevroletCruze has also recentlyreceived the maximum five-star rating in European NewCar Assessment Program(ENCAP) rating, after winning5 star ratings in Australianand China NCAP. The latestfeather in Chevrolet Cruze’scap is its selection as afinalist in the reputed ‘WorldCar of the Year’ Award.TheCruze is all about value,refinement and power-packeddiesel performance combinedwith an array of uniquefeatures. And with theAutomatic transmissionoption the Cruze offerseverything any discerningIndian car buyer could want ina Sedan at a price point thatrepresents uncontestablevalue for money.The car is priced at Rs.13.72lakh in Kochi.“The response to Cruze isabsolutely overwhelming. Ithas already proved to be thebest in its segment. Beatwas also an overwhelmingsuccess. We are emerging asa volume player in the Indianmarket. Last year we sold70,000 vehicles. During thecurrent year we are targeting1,20,000 units “, adds,Balendran.

(From right) P. Balendran, Vice President, GM India, Gaurav Gupta, Director (Marketing) and Babu Moopan, Chairman, GeeyemMotors, Dealer of GM at the launch of Cruze Automatic in Kochi.

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