India Press Release Distribution onLine

Cochin International Airport fortifies operations with SAP

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:30:39 +0000

SAP integrates Cochin International Airport’s systems and processes for greater transparency and superior governance

SAP NEWSBYTE — May 23, 2012 — Moving a step ahead in enabling airports run efficiently and profitably, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has adopted SAP AG’s (NYSE: SAP) flagship SAP ERP ECC 6.0 solution. The solution will enable the different departments of CIAL to be connected over a unified network and will facilitate smoother information flow and access.

CIAL which is situated over 1250 acres of land, is one of the largest airports in south India, and 4th largest in India in terms of its international passengers volume. CIAL has over 500 employees and an annual turnover of over INR 250 crores. The company needed a solution suite that would integrate the functions of different sections and departments on a single platform and include internationally accepted best practices and features. SAP’s ERP ECC 6.0 solution provides this and much more. The solution will be integrated with CIAL’s existing cargo and duty-free shop system and will boast of the ability to send live dashboard reports to senior management.

CIAL is confident that the project will instill greater transparency and agility in the system and will provide it with far greater operational proficiency. SAP’s partner Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will implement the project and it is expected to go live in 18 months. The deployment will also include other solutions such as SAP SRM, Real Estate Management and BU-BI Analytics.

“Airports today want the right competitive advantage; real-time business processing drives stronger outcomes and helps increase bottom lines. SAP has been aiding airports in India and across the world to get up-to-speed, become transparent and achieve greater profitability by enabling sound management,” said Mathew Thomas, Vice President – Strategic Industries, SAP India. “Our association with CIAL is another milestone in aiding airports in India to gain that distinct edge in greater value creation,” he added.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 190,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of SuccessFactors) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com

# # #

For more information, press only:

Chaya Arora, +91 99875 90976, chaya.arora@sap.com

Prasanna SR, +91 99860 77303, prasanna.sr@bm.com

LSI Blade-Optimized PCIe Flash Caching Solution to Power Cisco and EMC Datacenter Environments

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:29:50 +0000

LSI Blade-Optimized PCIe Flash Caching Solution to Power Cisco and EMC Datacenter Environments

Extends powerful datacenter application acceleration benefits of PCIe flash and intelligent caching software to Cisco servers attached to EMC storage systems

INDIA, May 23, 2012 – LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today announced it is working with Cisco and EMC to bring the dramatic application acceleration benefits of PCIe^® flash caching technology to the innovative and widely deployed Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers.

The solution combines EMC VFCache™ intelligent caching software with the LSI^® Nytro™ WarpDrive™ card, LSI’s second-generation family of PCIe flash adapters, to further accelerate application performance and improve response time for Cisco servers in EMC storage environments.

Accelerating application performance without disrupting existing storage architectures has been a challenge as server processor performance improvements have outpaced storage performance gains. The combined EMC VFCache and LSI Nytro WarpDrive solution has shown up to 3X faster performance and 60 percent reduction in latency for mission-critical database environments such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.

“Today’s heavy application workloads demand more I/O performance than ever before,” said David Yen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Data Center Group, Cisco. “By integrating LSI flash technology into our UCS solution and optimizing for EMC storage environments, we will deliver unparalleled application performance to our customers.”

VFCache and Nytro WarpDrive technology benefits include:

§ Dramatic application acceleration for Cisco blade servers

§ Optimized data I/O rates for faster system and application performance

§ Automated, intelligent caching of frequently accessed data while enabling the continued protection of the data

§ Power, cooling and physical footprint savings, reducing total cost of ownership

§ Broad compatibility with existing infrastructure through use of industry-standard drivers featuring extensive operating system and management support

“Integrating server-based flash technology with intelligent software in conjunction with enterprise storage arrays gives customers incredible performance while at the same time delivering the data protection they require,” said Mark Sorenson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMC Flash Products and Technologies. “This collaboration with Cisco and LSI will allow joint EMC and Cisco customers to gain the benefits of intelligent VFCache software for their mission-critical applications that run on Cisco blade servers.”

“The deluge of data being stored and accessed worldwide is outpacing the ability of traditional storage architectures to keep up,” said Abhi Talwalkar, LSI President and CEO. “The integration of LSI’s latest generation of PCIe flash adapter technology with Cisco’s popular UCS blade servers will allow datacenter managers to contend with massive data growth and speed the ability of databases and other applications to access and extract the full value from data.”

§ EMC VFCache: A server flash caching solution anchored in storage array protection that reduces latency and increases throughput to dramatically improve application performance. Intelligent caching software combined with PCIe flash adapter technology extends storage tiering to the server. VFCache eliminates the need for hot data to travel through the network to the storage array, boosting throughput performance up to 3X and reducing latency by up to 60 percent.

§ LSI Nytro WarpDrive Application Acceleration Cards: A second-generation family of PCIe flash adapters from LSI, designed to offer high performance with low latency, accelerating applications such as Web serving, data warehousing, online transaction processing and high-performance computing. Nytro WarpDrive cards combine enterprise-class flash performance and reliability from LSI^® SandForce^® flash storage processors with LSI SAS drivers for simplified integration into standard servers. In addition, the card’s “offload” architecture uses up to four times less CPU and memory resources than competing solutions.

Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers are expected to be available with custom form factor Nytro WarpDrive mezzanine cards beginning in the second half of 2012.

# # #

Manju Menon

VOX Public Relations India

Lakeview Manor, 20 Annaswamy Mudaliar St • Bangalore 560042 •www.voxpr.co.in

D: +91 80 42898211 • F: +91 80 4113 4314 • M: +91 9986818039

E: manju.menon@voxpr.co.in

StyleCraze Launches India’s First Women’s Social Network Dedicated to Beauty

sangramsimha — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:27:41 +0000

May 22, 2012 – StyleCraze.com has launched StyleCraze Community, a Social Network dedicated to Beauty and open exclusively for Women.

On the 11 February 2012, StyleCraze.com launched StyleCraze Community, a Social Network dedicated to Beauty.

“Women love Makeup and love talk about it. They want to understand what others think about a certain look or a certain product. But unfortunately this information is not available easily. We conceived the Community as a place where Women can socialize with like minded beauty addicts and get solutions to all their beauty queries. This is a platform to bring together Customers, Bloggers, Makeup Artists and Brands together at one place” says Chetana, founder of StyleCraze.com

You will find a wealth of information on Beauty care and Beauty products in the form of Articles, tutorials, product reviews, discussions, blog posts, polls etc. “Network Members can ask queries in the forums and can others can comment and give solutions for these queries. We have started the Community on Feb 15th and already have 2000 members within the first two months of launch.” says Chetana.

Today, the community has more than 1200 blog posts and 600 discussions and is growing at a meteoric rate.

About StyleCraze Community:

StyleCraze Community is an extension of Stylecraze.com. It was built two aspects in mind. To create a platform for:
1. Regular folk who love make up and related things, to be able to discuss, ask and talk about anything make up and beauty.
2. Blogger folk who love to write about their love for beauty and help those who are a little less inclined about make up

To mingle and talk!

Contact Information:

Sangram Simha
StyleCraze Beauty Care Pvt Ltd,
No – 106, Chaayamina Enclave,
Kukatpally, 500072,
Hyderabad, India
Telephone: +91 – 8790099777
Email: sangramsimha@stylecraze.com
Website: http://www.stylecraze.com
Community Website: http://www.community.stylecraze.com

Manaswini Chilli seed helps farmer achieve high yield

Prana PR — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:24:49 +0000

Mumbai, May 22, 2012: With the Kharif season at its peak many chilly farmers look at high yield for their produce, one such farmer Mr Vasant Telangre from Jalna District harvested a massive yield production of Manaswini chilies upto 22 Quintals per acre (42 Quintals Red Chilies and 40 Quintals Green Chilies ploughed in 2 acres of land) against the production of average 12-15 quintals per acre. ‘Manaswani’ hybrid Chilly seed, introduced by Krishidhan Vegetable Seeds India Private Limited, is known for yielding high productivity, LCV (Leaf Curl Virus) tolerant, thus making it conducive to grow across India. Manaswani Chilly is a highly pungent fruit, suitable for consumption and medicinal properties. It fetches high red color & is used in processing industry. Its high seed content of around 96-110 seeds per fruit makes each fruit bulb heavy, thus attracting high price.
India is the world leader in chilly production followed by China and Pakistan. The world production of chillies sums up to around 7 million tons that is cultivated on approximately 1.5 million hectares of land. India produces the maximum amount of chilies in the world figuring upto around 11 lakh tons and is the leading country in context of area covered in chilli production.
Speaking on the record growth, Mr. Vasant Telangre, a progressive farmer of Walsa, Taluka Bholkardha, Jalna mentioned “I am extremely pleased with the results of Manaswani seed. It has not only increased my yield to a massive production but has also improved my economic growth which has given a good turn to my life.”
Speaking of the success achieved by Mr Telangre, Mr Ashish Karwa, Crop Life science Director, SFPL (Subhash Fertilizers Private Limited) mentioned “Our Company constantly strives to bring out seeds that have high yield productivity and help farmers gain profits. Our expert team ensures that the farmers are guided about the process of the harvest to ensure productive results. Instances like Mr. Vasant Telangre, motivates our team to work hard and come out with more innovations in seeds”.
Chilly, in the Indian subcontinent are produced throughout the year, during both dry and wet season. The dry season extends from mid March to August. On the other hand, wet season starts from August till December, making it one of the most demanded vegetable seed in the country.
About Krishidhan Seeds:-
Krishidhan Seeds was founded in 1980, and today, it is one of the fastest growing seed companies in India with strong National and International presence. The group embarked on its International journey in 2010 by launching a fully own subsidiary, Krishidhan Seeds Europe B V headquartered at Enkhuizen, Holland.
The group operates in an integrated seed business based on Quality R&D, Production, Quality Control, Processing, Marketing, Sales and Extension.
The R&D activities and research stations of Krishidhan are recognized by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Govt. of India. The company is actively involved in research, production, processing, packing, and marketing of high quality seeds of Cotton, Cereals, Pulses, Oil seeds and Vegetables.

For more information contact:
Krishidhan Seeds Pvt Ltd:-
Pooja Sikcchi, Manager – Public Relations:
020 26742600 / PoojaSikcchi@KrishidhanSeeds.com
Prana Public Relations Pvt. Ltd:-
Vaidehi Joshi: +91 9619598680
vaidehi.joshi@pranapr.com

IMS NOIDA holds Media fest “Varchasva 2012”

imsnoida2 — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:24:43 +0000

Institute of Management Studies Noida, organized two days inter college media fest “Varchasva 2012”.
The Second Day of the Inter College fest “Varchasva 2012” in Institute of Management Studies Noida, started with news reporting competition.
About 150 students of IMS Ghaziabad, Makhanlal Chaturvedi Vishwa Vidhyalay, Moscomedia Institute, Purple Rose Art and Media Academy, Jagan Institute, Nims, Sadhna Institute and many colleges of media participated in the fest.
Rohit Pandey won the First and Prashant Shukla won the Second prize in news writing competition.
First prize in Page layout competition goes to Arun Tyagi and second prize to Mohit Bansal.
In Debate competition first prize won by Aman and second prize by Alpana.
At the end Mr and Miss Smart Journalist competition was held. Amit Yadav and Aprova Pradhan were announced Mr and Miss Smart Journalist of Varchasva 2012.
Punit Tripathy from IBN 7, Amit Shukla from CNNIBN with Om Praksh Mishra from Indian Express were amongst the judges of the competition.
Dr A.K Shrivastav Director IMS Noida gave trophies to the winners and congratulates them.
The event was coordinated by Dr Vinita Gupta.
For more information

IMS NOIDA Official Address:-

A- 8B, IMS Campus, Sector-62, Noida-201303, U.P.
Student Helpline No.:– 0120-4798800
Fax No.:- +91-120-4798808
Official Websites: – www.imsnoida.com
Write to us at: – info@imsnoida.com

Anil Ltd PAT up 44% at Rs 14.45 cr in Q4 of 2011-12

ahmedabad.adfactors — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:24:38 +0000

Company’s turnover jumps 34% to Rs 200 crore in Q4

Financial Highlights (Rs Crore):
Particulars FY12 FY11 Annual
Growth (%) Q4 FY12 Q4 FY11 Quarter
Growth (%)
Total Income 646.55 505.84 27.82 199.96 148.71 34.46
Net Profit 50.41 40.13 25.62 14.11 9.82 43.64
EPS (Rs) 51.62 41.09 25.62 14.45 10.06 43.64

Ahmedabad, May 23, 2012: Agro and food processing major, Anil Limited, reported a 43.64% jump in net profit and a 34% increase in total income for the fourth quarter (Q4) ended March 31, 2012 at its board meeting held on 22 May 2012. The company also declared a dividend of 20% for the year 2011-12.

For the fourth quarter (Q4) the company has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 14.45 crore which represents a jump of 43.64% over Rs 10.06 crore posted in the Q4 of the previous financial year. Net sales in current Q4 at Rs 199.96 crore were higher by 34.46% compared to Rs 148.71 crore in same quarter of previous fiscal.

For the 12 months ended March 31, 2012 the company’s consolidated profit after tax was Rs 50.41 crore an increase of 25.62% over Rs 40.13 crore net profit posted in the previous financial year. Total income for FY2012 at Rs 646.55 crore was higher by 27.82% over previous fiscal’s turnover of Rs 505.84 crore.

Commenting on the financial performance of the company, Mr. Amol S. Sheth, Chairman and Managing Director of Anil Limited said, “Development of new products and focus on speciality products along with a very focussed approach on efficiency improvements and cost management have enabled us to grow both the top line and the bottom line.”

New engineering degree at the cutting edgefrom Macquarie University

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:23:28 +0000

Macquarie University in Sydney haslaunched a new industry-focused engineering course in 2013 – an undergraduate degree focusing on the high-demand area of Mechanical Engineering.

Macquarie has a longstanding reputation for its engineering program, which is highly respected in the industry, with a specialty traditionally in electronic engineering. Most famously the University’s engineering researchers helped develop and commercialise the WLAN technology breakthrough that underpins today’s high-speed wi-fi.

Macquarie has strong industry partnerships with major companies such as BAE Systems, Cochlear and Honeywell that are located close to the University in one of Australia’s leading high-technology precincts.

Industry demand

Executive Dean of Science, Professor Stephen Thurgate, says that in 2012 student demand for Macquarie’s engineering degrees continued to grow,in particular the Bachelor of Engineering (41% increase in enrolments) and Bachelor of Engineering/Bachelor of Business Administration double degree (100% increase). Now an even wider choice of specialty will be offered.

“The expansion of the engineering program is a direct response to the increase in demand by industry as well as students,” Professor Thurgate says.

Admissions to the Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, are open from 1st June 2012, with forms being available online. The degree programme will commence from 2013 as a new major in the Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering), with a focus on micro mechanical devices. This major will equip students for a career in mechanical engineering, manufacturing or industrial design, helping them develop creative and practical solutions for the benefit of society.

Key features of the degree include:

the opportunity to interact with academics in a variety of ground-breaking areas from life sciences to nanofabrication

a focus on industry experience

the ability to combine the degree with others such as the Bachelors of Science, Arts, Business Administration or Commerce by adding just one more year of study.

Eligibility Criteria for Bachelor of Engineering Course

All students passing out from science stream with an ATR 5 and above (75% and above from ISC/CBSE boards) with an excellent knowledge of mathematics. Candidates will also have to have a score of 6.5 overall in their IELT score.

For more information about studying at Macquarie University, visit www.international.mq.edu.au

End….

Media Contact: Golda Mitchell

(02) 9850 4051 golda.mitchell@mq.edu.au

ITM University students bring a smile on disabled orphan children faces

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:22:36 +0000

New Delhi, May 23, 2012: ITM University, one among India’s foremost independent multidisciplinary universities recently organised a cultural event for physically and mentally challenged children from the orphanage, Deep Ashram. The event organised by Yukti, a social initiative of ITM University is an NGO run by the students for benefit of society.

The day-long event saw children competing enthusiastically in painting competitions, some even painting with their toes! A community lunch, followed by a magic show in the afternoon organized by the university students was an exciting experience for the children. The event concluded with the distribution of gift hampers to each of them.

The social initiative of ITMU, Yukti, organizes various programmes throughout the year on education, awareness, sanitation, collecting clothes for the poor and blood donation. Each year over 500 students donate blood in a camp organized at the campus.

The Yukti team of ITM University has also organized a year-long education programme for the housekeeping staff of the university, where they will teach them on Saturdays at the campus.
“It is an honour to bring a smile on innocent children’s faces and with this colourful and exuberant event our university students have made us proud. People have a misconception that today’s youth is not sensitive towards society and are not socially aware. But that is completely a wrong notion; young students are mature and aware about their social responsibilities and endeavour to bring a change in the society.” said Prof. Prem Vrat, Vice Chancellor and Professor of Eminence, ITM University.

About ITM University

ITM University (formerly Institute of Technology and Management) was founded in 1996, to promote excellence in higher education by Educate India Society, registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860. The university was conceived in response to the acute deficiency of centers of higher learning in the country as also, the need to develop relevant human capital to meet the technology and management challenges of the 21st century. The founders had a clear and well defined mission – to build an unaided, self – financed university committed to delivering education of internationally recognized standards, a university that would go on to serve as an intellectual resource base in India and the sub-continent.

The university has collaborations with ITB (Ireland), University of Chester (UK), Pukyong National University (Republic of Korea) and Hogeschool van Amsterdam (The Netherlands), the University of Warwick (UK), Michigan Technological University (USA) and American Society for Quality.

ITM University has three schools namely, School of Engineering & Technology, School of Management and School of Law, offering UGC approved courses at UG, PG and Ph. D. level in all three schools. It has the distinction of being rated in the ‘Premier’ category by the reputed international rating agency: Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC), UK.

Abhishek Pandey

Public Relation I Events I Corporate Merchandising

203, Second Floor,
Ashok Bhawan – 93,
Nehru Place
New Delhi – 110 019 (India)
Mobile: +91 9999858558

Email: abhishek.teamwork@gmail.com
URL: http://www.teamworkmedia.co.in

HCL ME Tablet U1 and Micromax FunBook are up for order at Infibeam.com

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:22:02 +0000

Are you on the lookout for a budget tablet? Have you considered the HCL ME Tablet U1 or the Micromax FunBook? If you have, you can get them at whopping prices at Infibeam.com, India`s trusted online portal. You can place your order at Infibeam.com and get the best deals. The HCL ME Tablet U1 is priced at Rs 7,950 and the Micromax FunBook Tablet at Rs 6,499.

The Indian market today is flooded with tablets and there are new entrants emerging from different brands. In order to cater to the price conscious and smart shopper HCL has announced the much in news and versatile HCL ME Tablet U1. Micromax, on the other hand has announced the Micromax FunBook. Both these tablets offer a host of user friendly features to the user.

HCL ME Tablet U1 VS Micromax FunBook

Design:
The design bears differences as the HCL ME Tablet is made up of polycarbonate frame and is slightly thicker than the Micromax FunBook. The Funbook offers variation in the colors and it is available in slate grey and midnight black.

The similarity is in the type of display which is touch-based and they weigh 350g each.

The HCL tablet has additional buttons provided at the right side of HCL tablet for volume control. There is an intelligent Display ON and OFF switch which saves battery while you listen to music on the HCL ME tablet.

RAM:
Both the tablets come with 512 MB DDR3 RAM

Sensors:
Accelerometer sensor is provided in both the devices.

Processor:
Although the HCL ME Tablet U1 and the Micromax FunBook are based on CORTEX A8 but the former is clocked at 1GHz and the latter at 1.2 GHz.

Software:
Both run on the Android 4.0.3 and support almost every file extension.

Why Choose the Micromax Tablet?
• Speedy processor
• Flexible plans for educational content
• Easy access to Google Market Place
• Besides it is thinner than the HCL ME tablet.

Why Choose the HCL ME Tablet?

• Unmatched touch experience
• USB and mini USB ports
• Long battery life
• Polycarbonate frame for extra protection

Have you made up your mind to choose the tablet that is apt for you? If you haven’t the content above should let you choose the perfect one based on your preferences. Zero in on the ideal device and place your order at Infibeam.com.

http://www.infibeam.com/#tabshowcasetab1

###

Contact:-
Infibeam.com
9th Floor, A Wing,
Gopal Palace, Nehrunagar,
Ahmedabad – 380015, Gujarat, India
Ph: 079-40260260
Email: pr@infibeam.net

http://www.infibeam.com

Punjabi traditional music fest concludes on high note

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:21:03 +0000

New Delhi, May 23, 2012: The two-day Festival of Traditional music of Punjab, organized by Punjabi Academy in association with Department of Art, Culture and Language, Government of Delhi concluded on a high note today at India International Centre here.
The performance by Meeta Pandit and Raza Ali Khan, grandson of legendary Ustad Bade Ghaulam Ali Khan and son of Usatd Munawar Ali Khan was the highlight of the concluding day.

The evening opened with the rendering of traditional, but increasingly rare, Punjabi bandishes by Meeta Pandit. With her unique-deep voice, penetrating with tremendous power she captured the audience.
Meeta Pandit is the grand-daughter and disciple of Padma Bhushan Pt Krishna Rao Shankar Pandit, and the daughter and disciple of legendary Pt L K Pandit. She belongs to the prestigious Gwalior musical gharana. Her melodious and robust voice coupled with intricate handling of ragas has won her critical acclaim, and a following of music lovers.
Whereas, Raza Ali Khan, the khalifa of Kasur Patiyala Gharana, is one of the finest vocalists of the country and has performed all over the world and represented India as a cultural Diplomat in many occasions. Recently he was honoured with the title of ‘Master of Khayal’ instituted by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Art.

According to Mr. Rawail Singh, Secretary, Punjabi Academy, “Each and every artist participated in the festival has put forth remarkable performances. The singers from different musical Gharana presented a mixed taste of age-old Punjabi bandishes. We believe that we have succeeded till certain extent in our effort to showcase the aesthetic and spiritual quality of an art like Punjabi bandishes.”
“This traditional music culture is pride of our nation and it is our responsibility to preserve them in its original form,” he added.
About Punjabi Academy
Delhi after independence emerged as a cosmopolitan city of diverse cultures and languages. It has always been the endeavor of the Delhi Administration to provide all possible facilities for the development and promotion of different languages and projection of the composite culture of Delhi. Thus, the Delhi Administration established the Punjabi Academy in September, 1981 to propagate and promote Punjabi language, literature and culture as an integral part of composite culture of Union Territory of Delhi.
Ever since its inception, the Academy has been playing a catalytic role in the proliferation of Punjabi literary and cultural activities, in the spheres of music, folk dances, seminars, symposia, short story, poetry, novel, literary criticism, drama etc. during the last two decades, the Academy has assumed a significant role and status of premier organization in the field of Punjabi language, literature and culture. Department of Art, Culture and Language (Government of Delhi) is the administrative department of Punjabi Academy. Please visit www.punjabiacademy.com for more information.

Media Contact
Abhishek Pandey

Public Relation I Events I Corporate Merchandising

203, Second Floor,
Ashok Bhawan – 93,
Nehru Place
New Delhi – 110 019 (India)
Mobile: +91 9999858558

Email: abhishek.teamwork@gmail.com
URL: http://www.teamworkmedia.co.in

New Health Survey to Assess Lifestyle Health Disorders of Maharashtra’s Population

admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:19:36 +0000

Mumbai, India, May 23rd 2012,

A first of its kind state-wide health survey will be conducted in each of the 35 districts of Maharashtra to assess amongst other things the lifestyle related health disorders amongst the rural and urban population of the state.

Shri J.K Banthia, Addl. Chief Secretary, Public Health Department, Maharashtra launched the survey at an inauguration ceremony held on 20th May’ 2012 in Mumbai. In its fourth round, the District Level Households and Facility Survey (DLHS-4) will enable the Maharashtra State Public Health Department gain valuable insights into various health indicators for each of the 35 districts including:

Level of anaemia, Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure and anthropometric parameters (height, weight, etc) through Clinical, Anthropometric and Bio-Chemical (CAB) tests and measurements.
Ante natal care and immunization coverage.
Extent of safe delivery and coverage of Janani Swasthya Yojana.
Contraceptive prevalence and unmet need for family planning.
Awareness about Reproductive Tract Infections/Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS
Assessment of the quality of Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) services
Contribution of public-private sectors to RCH services
Availability of RCH services nearest to the selected population groups
Availability of critical inputs in public health care establishments through a Facility Survey of District Hospitals, Sub-Divisional Hospitals, Community Health Centers, Public Health Centers and Sub-Centers in all districts of Maharashtra.

This is the first time Clinical, Anthropometric and Bio-Chemical (CAB) tests will be conducted as part of a health survey at this massive scale and will result in creation of ‘Health Cards’ for each surveyed household. The tests and measurements including the Health Card will be provided free of cost to the household members.
In total, 51,000 households with an estimated population of a quarter million across 2040 Primary Sampling Units (Urban and Rural areas) in 35 districts will be covered under this survey. VIMARSH is the survey agency implementing this ambitious survey in the State, which has earlier conducted the Concurrent Evaluation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) for Maharashtra in 2008-2009. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare sponsored survey is being coordinated by International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai.

About the District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS)

Three rounds of District Level Household and Facility Surveys (DLHS) have been undertaken in the past (Round- I in 1998-99, Round-II in 2002-04, and Round-III in 2007-08) with the main objective to provide reproductive and child health database at district level in India. The data from these surveys have been useful in setting the benchmarks and examining the progress the country has made after the implementation of RCH programme. These surveys were useful for the central and state governments in evaluation, monitoring and planning strategies. In view of the completion of six years of National Rural Health Mission (2005-12), there is a felt need to focus on the achievements and improvements so far. Therefore, DLHS-4 is being conducted during 2012-2013.

For Further Information Contact:

Prof. R.K Sinha
Project Coordinator, DLHS-4, Maharashtra
VIMARSH – The Consultancy Group
Office No. 118, Grow More Towers,
Sector-2, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai
Email: rksinha@vimarsh.in
Phone: 8108763697, 9833075429

TCS wins the “People Choice” award from National Science Foundation, USA

TCS — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:18:27 +0000

“Velu the Welder,” an interactive game to teach welding, wins the People’s Choice award at the International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge
Mumbai, May 21, 2012: A team of associates from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, have won the “People’s Choice” award at the ninth International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge with their interactive game called Velu the Welder. The international challenge was jointly organized by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), publisher of journal Science, to celebrate the grand tradition of visualization, specifically for communicating science, engineering and technology for education and journalistic purposes.

The TCS team developed an interactive game called “Velu the Welder” for personal computers and popular gaming consoles to help school drop-outs in India develop a highly marketable trade skill.

The 2011 challenge received over 200 entries from 33 countries in five categories, which were evaluated on the basis of visual impact, effective communication of a scientific idea and overall originality. Visualizations with the most votes from the public received the People’s Choice award. This year for the first time, participants were permitted to submit entries online, while the public was allowed to vote for their favorite images as “People’s Choice” winners.

The awards criteria were also based on the visual impact, originality and clarity. The entries weren’t just limited to photographs. Contest categories also included illustrations, informational graphics, videos and interactive video games.

Ajoy Mukherjee, Executive Vice President & Head, Global Human Resources, TCS, said, “The advancement of information technology tools combined with visualization and innovation enhances the effectiveness of learning especially in the area of vocational training.” He added, “At TCS we try to foster a culture of innovation and create space and opportunities where individuals are able to bring fruition to their thoughts and ideas. The award-winning interactive game Velu the Welder is one such example where TCSers have combined the power of visualization and technology to bring about an innovative learning method.”

Selection:
A committee of members from Science and NSF screened the entries and, in a new departure this year, the selected finalists were posted on NSF’s website and visitors were invited to vote for their top choice in each category. A total of 3200 votes came in; entries that received the most votes were named the “People’s Choice.” Independently, an outside panel of experts in scientific visualization reviewed the finalists and selected the winners.

Note on “Velu the Welder”:
Welding is a method used for binding metal or non-metal structures. In this game, an apprentice, who goes by the name Velu, gets basic training in the art of welding. The game is designed to expose a person to basic skill sets aimed at getting acquainted with the craft of welding. Developed as a technology demonstrator for the National Skills Development Initiative of India, this game could be used to train millions of apprentices in a cost-effective way. The objective of the game is to introduce the apprentice to two types of welding — gas and arc and is designed to have five tasks. In the first two tasks, he learns hand coordination and movement using gas welding. In the remaining sets, he is exposed to arc welding to join four metal pieces together to build a frame. The game is best played using a Nintendo Wii Remote, which mimics the actual welding gun. The console’s motion-sensing controller makes players feel like they’re holding a real welding torch.

Learning to weld takes patience and nimble fingers. Some time spent on a Wii gaming console might not hurt, either. In this interactive challenge, the brainchild of developers at TCS in Chennai, India, players step into a virtual apprentice workshop. They follow in the footsteps of Velu, a young Indian man getting a crash course in welding. The aim is to provide marketable skills to school dropouts in India.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 238,500 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 42 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $10.17 billion for year ended March 31, 2012 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

TCS Media Contacts:

Global:
Email: pradipta.bagchi@tcs.com
Phone: +91 22 6778 9999

Europe / UK:
Email: abhinav.kumar@tcs.com
Phone +32 22821927

India:
Email: h.ramachandra@tcs.com | shamala.p@tcs.com
Phone: +91 22 6778 9078 | +91 22 6778 9081

USA / Canada:
Email: m.mccabe@tcs.com
Phone: +1 646 313 4594

Asia Pacific:
Email: sean.davidson@tcs.com
Phone: +65 9139 3668

Australia and New Zealand:
Email: alex.goldrick@tcs.com
Phone: +61 (2) 8456 2800

# # #

Admissions Open for New Two Year PG Film and Video Production Course at SACAC, Delhi

sacac — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:10:33 +0000

New Delhi — Admissions have begun for the new two year post graduate diploma course in Film and Video Production at Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi (SACAC). The course starts from November 1, 2012 with a total intake of 24 students.

The Film & Video Production course offers 4 core areas of film production such as Direction & Screenplay writing, Digital Cinematography, Motion Picture Editing and Sound Recording & Design according to area of students’ flair, keenness and aptitude. This film making course facilitates production experience in celluloid, video and HD video from planning, production and post production for overall understanding of the process in various mediums.

The Film & Video Production course takes an interdisciplinary approach to film making without compromising on learning the basic tenets of cinema. The “Art Appreciation and Practice” module is unique to the film making course and integrates possibilities in other mediums of art into cinema. The “Insights” module facilitates development of the student’s individual creative potential. Study tours to Pondicherry, Auroville, Prasad Lab in Chennai and Kerala International Film Festival are organised during the film production course to promote multifaceted growth of the students.

SACAC already has rich experience in film making education for the last 7 years. The curriculum of the Film & Video Production course has been designed after evaluating existing programmes to incorporate emerging trends in film making practices and digital technology. This new intensive film making programme bridges the journey from classical to contemporary cinema with new technologies in a lean and smart way, without resorting to outdated and expensive methods.

Admission to the diploma in Film and Video Production is open to graduates from any discipline, working professionals and students in their final year of graduation/post graduation in any discipline. Interested applicants must fill the application form and then appear for a written test and personal interview.

To learn more about the film production course, please visit the link http://www.sac.ac.in/film-video-production.asp. For more information on admission procedure, go to http://www.sac.ac.in/important-dates.asp. Application forms are available at http://www.sac.ac.in/online-application-form.asp

About Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication
Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication (SACAC) is an autonomous non-profit mass communication institute for creative learning in media arts and communication. Started in 2003 as a unit of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry, SACAC is a multi-disciplinary institute with programmes in Advertising & Public Relations, Creative Photography, Film & Video Production, Journalism and Music production & Audio Engineering.

Contact
Ms. Archana S. Nasa
Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi
Phone: 91-11-2656 1986/ 91-99537 55245

http://www.sac.ac.in

New UK Visa Application Centre Opens in Bengaluru

OlympusIndiaPR — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:10:18 +0000

Bengaluru, 21 May 2012: British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Ian Felton; Regional Director UK Border Agency, Mr Thomas Greig, and VFS Global’s Chief Operating Officer for South Asia and CIS, Mr Murali Raghavan formally launched the new UK visa application centre in Bengaluru today.

This new bigger, brighter and better visa application centre is now fit for the future.

Mr Ian Felton said:

“Trade and tourism between our two countries are important strands to the overall relationship. We are fully committed to supporting them through our UK Trade and Investment offices, our UK visa operation and the work of VisitBritain.

“2012 is a great year to travel to the UK, with the Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics. The GREAT campaign shows why the UK is one of the best places in the world to live, study, visit, invest and do business.”

The new visa application centre provides a new enhanced service for the UK-bound travellers and businesses in Bengaluru. The brand new premium lounge in the visa application centre provides customers with the option of submitting their applications in a separate comfortable lounge with dedicated staff and additional facilities.

The new internet facilities in the visa application centre allow customers to complete and print their online visa application forms. Operational from 28 May 2012, these are the first internet facilities to be introduced to the UK visa application centres, and will be rolled out to others in due course.

The normal hours for submission of applications and collection of documents are being extended by 2 hours for the convenience of customers in Bengaluru. With immediate effect, the opening hours are 08.00 to 16.00 hours.

The current prime time facility in Bengaluru will be taken to the next level. The facility currently provides customers with the option to make an appointment to submit their visa applications outside normal hours during the week in five visa application centres (in Bengaluru this is 18:00 – 20:00 hours). It was announced that with immediate effect in Bengaluru, this would be extended to Saturdays and holidays, 11:00 – 15:00 hours.

Mr Thomas Greig said:

“The aim of our visa operation is to support the partnership between the UK and India. We are pleased to be working closely with VFS Global, our commercial partner, to ensure an efficient visa service for all customers. Together we are also working hard to provide special services for major investors, regular travellers, and high value customers to access premium lounges, more convenient times to make their applications and quicker turnaround times. I am pleased to see all that this flagship application centre has to offer our customers in Bengaluru.”

VisitBritain has a travel shop in the visa application centre in Bengaluru. This is one of seven across India. They offer information to customers and sell tickets for travel and attractions to prepare them for their visits to the UK.

Mr Murali Raghavan said:

“It is with great pleasure we announce the opening of the new UK Visa Application Centre in Bengaluru. VFS Global is honoured to be associated with the Government of UK in India since 2003, and also have the privilege to be their trusted partner in 35 other countries globally.

“We are committed to partner the Government of UK and the UK Border Agency in offering new and diverse value-added services for its visa customers from time to time. We invite applicants wishing to travel to the UK to visit our new state-of-the-art and better equipped visa application centre and benefit from the renewed and additional services offered by the UKBA and VFS Global.”

Notes to editors:
1. The visa application centre in Bengaluru is one of 12 visa application centres across India through which UK visa applicants submit their visa applications.

2. Further information about the range of additional services: fast tack, premium lounges and prime time are available on VFS Global’s website: www.vfs-uk-in.com.

3. India is one of the UK’s biggest visa operations in the world: last year the UK Border Agency dealt with about 400,000 visa applications. Most Indians who apply for a UK visa get one:
 Of over 400,000 visa applications processed in India last year, 87 % were successful.
 Over 250,000 short term visitor visas were issued in 2011, 90% of those who applied were successful.
 Of the 250,000 visitor visas issued, 57,000 were for business visitors. This equates to 95% of those who applied for one. About 75% of these applications were processed within 5 working days and we are currently exceeding this figure.

4. The UK Border Agency aims to issue visas as quickly as possible: its published processing time is 15 working days for 90% of short term visas. In practice most of these applications are completed within 10 working days. Many successful applicants will receive their visas more quickly than this. During particularly busy periods (such as now) applicants are advised to allow up to 15 working days. Further information about processing times is available at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/india/processing-times1.

5. Further information about the UK’s visa operation is available at:
www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/india and guidance on applying for visas to work, visit and study is available at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration.

UK Visa Application Centre

Address: Unit 302 – 303, 2nd Floor, Prestige Atrium, No 1, Central Street, Bengaluru 560001

Helpline: +91 22 6786 6000

Email: infouk.southin@vfshelpline.com

Website: www.vfs-uk-in.com; www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/countries/india

Business Hours:
Submission of applications and return of documents: 08:00 to 16:00 hrs | Monday to Friday
(except holidays)

Service fee and other charges (over and above the visa fee) will be payable at the UK Visa Application
Centre at the time of application. Optional services are available at an additional cost.

*VFS Global is responsible only for accepting UK visa applications and the return of documents. All applications continue to be assessed and processed by the UK Border Agency in Chennai.

Media Contacts:
UK Border Agency
Sam Murray: Sam.Murray@fco.gov.uk

VFS Global
Rustom Dhanbhoora: drustom@vfsglobal.com

# # #

Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication (SACAC) Introduces Social Media Marketing Course

sacac — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:10:01 +0000

New Delhi – A two month course in Social Media Marketing is the latest addition to the growing list of short term courses offered by Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication (SACAC), New Delhi. Slated to start from 1st July 2012, this course will be conducted during weekends over 2 months.

Open to all graduates, the course will cover subjects like social media analytics & strategies, integration & multichannel marketing, SMO & offline integration, ROI & reporting, converting & retaining online customers and incorporating social media into SEO & SEM strategies. Modules will include social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube.

The Social Media Marketing course is steered by Ramswaroop Gopalan and Avinash Joshi. An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and BITS Pilani, Mr. Gopalan started his career in advertising and subsequently worked through technology start-ups like rediff.com, moving on to head the digital arm of Rediffusion Y &R. He was, till recently, the VP and country head of Sapient Nitro.

Avinash Joshi currently works with SapientNitro as a Senior Manager, an interactive marketing, creative design, and technology services agency. With over 15 years, spread in the areas of Social Media, Marketing Advocacy, Creative Direction, User Experience, Training, Project & Operations Management and Business Processes Implementation, he is able to seamlessly integrate design and technology with culture.

A fundamental shift has taken place in relationship between companies and their customers. Social media and Social networking platforms have opened up new ways companies engage with their customers, drive, sustain and grow their brand.

It has become routine for people to use search engines to find products and services and then evaluate them via the social networks. Organizations and business models have started to change to reflect this new environment. They need social media marketing experts to create well-rounded strategies that can reflect brand values in multiple interactive ways.

The course in Social Media Marketing has been initiated to meet this requirement of trained social media professionals. More details on course curriculum, admissions etc. are available at http://www.sac.ac.in/social-media-marketing.asp. Application forms for this course are available to download at http://www.sac.ac.in/pdf/short-term-form12.pdf or fill online at http://www.sac.ac.in/short-term-online-application-form.asp

About Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communications

Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication (SACAC) is an autonomous non-profit mass communication institute for creative learning in media arts and communication. Started in 2003 as a unit of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry, SACAC is a multi-disciplinary institute with programmes in Advertising & Public Relations, Creative Photography, Film & Video Production, Journalism and Music production & Audio Engineering.

Contact
Ms. Archana S. Nasa
Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, New Delhi
Phone: 91-11-2656 1986/ 91-99537 55245

http://www.sac.ac.in

Goose Launches world’s first fully configurable ‘API Manager’ – A Key Tool for Pharmaceutical Project Management

sheela Panicker — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:07:24 +0000

Hyderabad, India, May 21, 2012: Hyderabad based Goose (www.goose.co.in) a specialist Pharmaceutical business re-engineering solutions provider, announced today the launch of API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) Manager, the only of its kind in the world, fully configurable solution that enable Pharmaceutical companies manage complex projects and improve Project delivery Quality, Yield and significantly bring down the cost of project management.

‘Goose API Manager’ is an essential component of any Quality by Design initiative, providing the necessary automation, integration and database reporting functionality that ensures all multi-variety data are tracked and measured.

The areas that are likely to witness quantum performance leaps using ‘Goose API Manager’ will be in the 5 phases of API Project Management that include project initiation, feasibility, optimization, validation and Drug Master filing process, also their integration.

Making the announcement Goose Founder CEO, Deb Pattnaik said “In an environment of extreme cost containment a well-integrated Project Management solution contributes significantly to Pharmaceutical business that require product quality enhancements and compliance with strict regulations, as well as improved efficiencies which can lead to reduced costs.”

Goose has been able to rapidly introduce new Pharmaceutical industry solutions to meet growing market demands by leveraging its Pharmaceutical Re-engineering expertise having worked closely with a number of Big Pharmaceutical Companies offering regulatory compliance and enterprise management solutions.

“Laurus has implemented Goose Task Manager as an enterprise solution. Currently, it is being used in the organization in areas of Project Management, R&D and Contract Research in collaboration with various functions and departments.” Dr. Satyanarayana, CEO of the Laurus Labs. Laurus Labs is one of the leading names in API manufacturing industry with multiple manufacturing sites and capabilities in a wide range of areas including high potent molecules.

With acknowledgement of its product potential from market leaders such as Laurus Labs, Goose is confident of adding up more enterprise customers in its ‘API Manager’ portfolio.”Our goal is to become an industry standard when it comes to API Project Management,” Deb added. The Goose API Manager is designed for better control and efficiency, ensuring successful completion of projects on time, thereby saves both time and money for Pharmaceutical companies.”

An important feature of ‘Goose API Manager’ is sequencing and synchronization of multiple project management activities which is the key to the success of enterprise wide, large scale project management right from initiation stage to Drug Master Filing Process. It gives clear visibility of action points related to a project in terms of completion time, reasons for delay and when it could be completed.

The Goose API Manager meets cGMP guidelines and enables Pharmaceutical companies to connect crucial project management practices maximising business value, communicate project objectives more effectively internally or with third party partners that include systematic treatment of data as well as provide effective technology transfer into the first site of commercial active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacture.

According to a report from Markets and Markets, the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) forms the most vital part of every formulated end product, and is an important part of the whole Pharmaceutical industry. The overall API market was valued at $101.08 billion in 2010, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2011 to 2016.
Additional Information

Challenges in Pharmaceutical API manufacturing division:
Over the past decades, the API Industry have entered into a challenging period where the market and the regulators have imposed significant pressure for making regulatory changes within the manufacturing sector of the API Industry. With the increasing demand to reduce timelines and costs in Pharmaceutical production, as well as the need to maintain high quality whilst stringent regulatory and safety requirements, API manufacturing process has never been more challenging. Improving the management of projects is one of the main areas for realizing productivity gains.

How API manager helps to solve these challenges
Goose API Manager accomplishes the Indenting process, receipt & approval of raw materials for the company and it easily visualizes the status at every stage. Regulatory Affairs Department users manage their Drug Master Filing (DMF) preparation with ease using this application. It tracks the phases & tasks and enables automated periodic reminders to the task owner for task completion thereby minimizing follow up chain and maintain Drug Master File (DMF),feasibility, optimization, Lab Validation and stability detail reports. The dashboards and predefined KPIs such as Schedule, Critical Milestone, Submission Batch Hit Rate, Filing Hit Rate, Cross-selling dossier, Bio-study, Evaluation features help in real time decision making.

The JK Tyre-MMS Rotax Rookie Cup Hyderabad

Aadarsa — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:06:57 +0000

HYDERABAD, May 20, 2012 _ Mumbai lad Arya Gandhi of Rayo Racing (206 points) pipped Chennai boy Surya Raguram of Meco Racing by one point (205) to emerge the Junior Max champion in the JK Tyre-MMS Rookie Cup 2012 karting championship at the MMS-Lahari Karting centre here on Sunday.

Gandhi, who led consistent Raguram by a single point after three races on Saturday, finished third in Sunday’s opening race which was won by Raguram, but came back strongly to win the last race in which Raguram finished third.
“I am thrilled to win the championship,” said Gandhi, a class 9 student of Hill Spring School, after the second and final round of five races in the 10-race series.

Raguram, who emerged champion in the opening round last month, said he was unlucky in the last race. “I got back-marked. I was lapping one of the drivers and when I overtook him there was another kart in front and no space, I lost time there,” said the class 9 student of Billabong School.

Mysore boy H.B. Phaneesh of Mohite’s Racing (225 points) and Anshuman Chatterjee of Mumbai (Rayo Racing) (215 points) emerged champions in the Micro Max and Senior Max categories respectively.

The JK Tyre-MMS Rotax Rookie Cup has witnessed an increase in participation as young motorsports enthusiasts have registered themselves from all over the country. The JK Tyre-MMS Rotax Rookie Cup is a prelude to the JK Tyre National Rotax Max Karting Championship (JKNRMKC) in June and provides an opportunity to rookie drivers to step up speed before they compete in the prestigious JKNRMKC.

Phaneesh made a clean sweep of the five races over the weekend end and emerged champion in thumping fashion with nine wins in the 10-race series. “I was confident of winning the title from the start,” Phaneesh said.
Anshuman Chatterjee finished second behind Pranav Thakkar in Sunday’s final two races which was run concurrently with the Junior Max class.

“I was sure of bagging the championship after my three wins on Saturday, so we tried a few experiments with the kart’s set-up, that didn’t work, so I came second today,” said Chatterjee.
The winners of the three classes in the Rookie Cup will be rewarded with Scholarship Training Programs under former ace driver Akbar Ebrahim.

“We are pleased with the increase in participation and the interest and commitment that the young drivers have shown in the championship,” Sanjay Sharma, Head of Motorsport, JK Tyre, said. “There is a lot of talent and promise in these young drivers and this augurs well for the future of Indian motorsport,” he added.

JK Tyre is credited with introducing the concept of Karting in India and has patronized karting circuits in seven cities of the country. JK Tyre together with MECO Motorsports introduced the professional level of karting in 2004 with the introduction of the Rotax 2 Stroke Kart Engines. It was then the JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship came into being and today it is the only National karting championship of the country.

The winners of the JK Tyre Rotax Max National Karting Championship are selected to represent the country in the Rotax Max World Finals held every year. Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim have all graduated from these karting championships to becoming international motorsport icons.

Dhruv Mohite from Kholapur won the GP Cup, a grueling race of one hour with a compulsory refueling stop. The GP Cup is open to all drivers, rookies and professionals and the exciting feature of this race was that the juniors and the seniors raced together but under different weight categories. A grid of 24 karts took part. Arya Gandhi finished second and Nanjappa third.

Mr Hari Babu, chairman, Lahari Resorts, gave away the trophies at the prize distribution function.

Results:
Micro Max (10 laps):
Race 4: 1. H.B. Phaneesh 6:10.858; 2. Preethunna 6:21.994; 3. Yash Aradhya 6:23.958. Race 5: 1. Phaneesh 6:02.472; 2. Padam 6:03.293; 3. Mrinal 6:19.430.
Junior Max: Race 4 (15 laps): 1. Surya Raguram 8:31.154; 2. Nayan Chatterjee 8:33.668; 3. Arya Gandhi 8:35.696. Race 5 (14 laps); 1. Arya Gandhi 9:00.091; 2. Nayan Chatterjee 9:02.944; 3. Surya Raguram 9:03.200.
Senior Max: Race 4 (15 laps): 1. Pranav Thakkar 8:41.799; 2. Anshuman Chatterjee 8:43.675; 3. Rubeel Saleem 8:50.986. Race 5 (14 laps): 1. Pranav Thakkar 9:09.297; 2. Anshuman Chatterjee 9:13.763; 3. Rubeel Saleem 9:17.924.
Championship position:
Micro Max: 1. H.B. Phaneesh 225 points; 2. Yash Aradhya 174; 3. Mrinal Chatterjee 105.
Junior Max: 1. Arya Gandhi 206 points; 2. Surya Raguram 205; 3. Akash Gowda 123.
Senior Max: 1. Anshuman Chatterjee 215 points; Rubeel M. Saleem 180; 3. Pranav Thakkar 162.

About JK Tyre Motorsports:
JK Tyre has always been closely associated with the world of sports. Almost three decades back the company laid down a long term and sustained approach to promote Motorsport. Participating in this form of the sport has helped the company in continuously updating its products to meet the challenges of grueling Indian conditions. The sport at that time in India was perceived for elite but JK Tyre took upon itself to package and redesign the sport to suit the masses. The company not only made the sport affordable but also equivalent to International operating standards. JK Tyre’s foray into Motorsport was a well thought out strategic decision to not only use and develop this virgin branding platform but also to realize the dreams of making India a force in the field of motor sport.
The company acquired the Formula BMW Series in 2011 and rechristened it as the JK Racing Asia Series. With this acquisition, the company became the first Indian company to acquire an FIA accredited series. The series has been running successfully since 2001 and is in sync with JK Tyre’s philosophy of identifying and developing young racing talents to become future world champions.
The Racing and Karting programme by JK Tyre has been the breeding ground for the country’s motorsport talents like Narain Karthikeyan, Armaan Ebrahim, Karun Chandhok, Aditya Patel and other new emerging talents.
EOM
For any other information please contact: Geeta Fadnavis: 98492 56292: geeta@conceptpr.com

Aspire signs MoU with Assam Down Town University

admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:06:04 +0000

ADTU students to build hard & soft skills with MBAPro and ProHire Classic
Delhi, May 21, 2012: Aspire Human Capital Management (Aspire) and Assam Down Town University (ADTU) today signed an MoU to prepare their MBA students through Aspire MBAPro and Aspire ProHire Classic, Aspire’s leading embedded employability products for Management Education.
Aspire, headquartered in Gurgaon, is India’s leading employability education firm which has since 2007 trained over 52,000 students across 78 unique campuses in 14 different states of India. ADTU, set-up in 2010 by The Down Town Group, is a multidisciplinary educational institution in the North-East Region, offering over 45 courses across engineering, management, nursing, pharmacy, allied health and hotel management to almost 2000 students from all across the North East as well as Nepal.
Both Aspire and ADTU share the vision to create global employability for students. Through this alliance, Aspire will provide ADTU MBA students with access to MBAProTM and train ADTU faculty to deliver Aspire’s syllabus. MBAPro has been built with content provided by Harvard Business Publishing (HBP), the subsidiary of world’s leading Harvard University. MBAPro uses Harvard’s famed “Case Study” approach to learn the art and science of business management. ADTU will use four courses of MBAPro over the two year MBA course beginning academic year 2012-13.

Additionally, Aspire will train ADTU MBA students with ProHire Classic, Aspire’s 4-semester Employability Training program with modules on Aptitude, English Language & Communication Skills, Personality Development & Soft Skills and Corporate Skills. ProHire Classic will lead to a University of Cambridge BULATS certification for students.

The combination of MBAPro and ProHire Classic will ensure balanced hard and soft skills for ADTU students while giving them access to content and certification from leading global educators.

After signing the agreement, Mr. Amit Bhatia, Founder & CEO, Aspire Human Capital Management, said “We are delighted to joined hands with Assam Down Town University and are confident that we will make this partnership a resounding success, grooming ADTU MBA students for global employability. Aspire’s adoption of experiential learning, balanced hard and soft skills, learning management system, teacher training, and, global content and certification create India’s leading and hard-to-beat combination for professional MBA education.”

Acknowledging Mr. Bhatia’s statement, Dr. N.N. Dutta, Chancellor of Assam Down Town University said, “We take pride in joining hands with Aspire; a renowned name in employability education. Through this partnership, we will bring content, certification and faculty development from global educators to students in North East India. We are committed to developing industry-ready talent and this alliance, the first of its kind in North East India, is a big step in this direction.”
___________________
About Aspire Human Capital Management
AspireTM is an industry-promoted social enterprise offering Embedded Education for schools, colleges and universities to Enhance Employability and Life Skills. All Aspire products have Global Certifications: ProHireTM and EnglishProTM with University of Cambridge (ESOL Examinations); ITProTM and RoboticProTM with iCarnegie (subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University); VETProTM with Edexcel and MBAProTM with content from Harvard Business Publishing (subsidiary of Harvard University). Our products are enabled by an Employability Education Management System (EEMSTM) which includes online learning management, elearning and assessments (e.g., NESTTM). Declared “Education Czar” by Mint (2008), adjudged finalist of the John P. McNulty prize (2010), and profiled as “Who’s Next” by Fast Company (USA, 2011), Aspire enables Educators, Employers and Employees to Grow More. Please visit www.aspireindia.org for more information.

About Assam Down Town University
The Down Town Charity Trust was formed in 1997 by the Down Town Hospital Ltd in pursuit of services to underprivileged and deprived section of our society. Apart from doctors, the members of the Trust include Engineers, Educationists and other professionals from various walks of life. Down Town Hospital is the first corporate multi-specialty hospital in North East India. It has a distinguished name in the healthcare industry, serving the people of Assam and the North Eastern Region with its expertise for the last 23 years. ADTU, set-up in 2010 by The Down Town Group, is a multidisciplinary educational institution in the North-East Region, offering over 45 courses across engineering, management, nursing, pharmacy, allied health and hotel management to almost 2000 students from all across the North East as well Nepal.

For more information please contact: Nikky Gupta, Teamwork Communications: +91-9999886136
Samridhi 9811114622

Punjabi traditional music fest brings charm of classical music alive in Delhi

admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:05:17 +0000

New Delhi, May 23, 2012: Highlighting the state’s rich lineage of classical music, ‘Festival of Traditional Music of Punjab’ today kicked off at the capital. The festival was inaugurated by Smt Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Delhi andProf. Kiran Walia, Minister of Languages, Social Welfare, Child and Women Development.

While presenting a number of traditional Punjabi Bandishes (compositions), the festival got the golden era of Punjabi classical music alive at India International Centre, where the two day music festival is in progress.

The festival kicked off with the performance of a vocal jugalbandi by Bhai Mohan Singh and Sukhdev Singh. With unique enunciation of each and every composition, they gave a befitting beginning to the festival. Groomed by their mentor, Sri Satguru Ji, they have learnt old bandishes of gayaki from famous Sitar Maestro Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan.

Starting with “bhijurian chamkan ghoran ghatayat kalian….” in Malkauns Raga, they moved into Raga Kedar and sang “seekhe ho tum”. They followed it with a composition in Raga Desh “he maa gharaj gharaj barsariyan boondanya”.

Bhai Mohan Singh and Sukhdev Singh were born in Bhaini Sahib, and learnt the skill from Ustad Mohinder Singh and Ustad Harbhajan Singh right from their childhood. They are a known name on international front also.

The vocal jugalbandi was followed by the performance of Tushar Dutta, a renowned young vocalist from Kolkata. Born in a musical family, this immensely talented vocalist has proved his musical prowess which reflects his disciplined and rigorous talim under some of the greatest Gurus of Indian Classical Music.

According to Mr. Rawail Singh, Secretary, Punjabi Academy, “With this exceptional music festival we are trying to showcase the rich tradition of Punjabi bandishes without loosing its authenticity. The responses we have received during the past years have led us to make this festival one of our annual features. In these two days our artists will be presenting a bouquet of century old bandishes, including a series of ragas sung from early morning to midnight”.
On May 23rd, the concluding day, Raza Ali Khan, grandson of legendary Ustad Bade Ghaulam Ali Khan and son of Usatd Munawar Ali Khan and Meeta Pandit, a Delhi-based classical singer will performance.

About Punjabi Academy
Delhi after independence emerged as a cosmopolitan city of diverse cultures and languages. It has always been the endeavor of the Delhi Administration to provide all possible facilities for the development and promotion of different languages and projection of the composite culture of Delhi. Thus, the Delhi Administration established the Punjabi Academy in September, 1981 to propagate and promote Punjabi language, literature and culture as an integral part of composite culture of Union Territory of Delhi.
Ever since its inception, the Academy has been playing a catalytic role in the proliferation of Punjabi literary and cultural activities, in the spheres of music, folk dances, seminars, symposia, short story, poetry, novel, literary criticism, drama etc. during the last two decades, the Academy has assumed a significant role and status of premier organization in the field of Punjabi language, literature and culture. Department of Art, Culture and Language (Government of Delhi) is the administrative department of Punjabi Academy. Please visit www.punjabiacademy.com for more information.

Abhishek Pandey

Public Relation I Events I Corporate Merchandising

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New Delhi – 110 019 (India)
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German brands in India – Excellent reputation, unexploited potential

admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:04:05 +0000

· Brand and marketing communication consultancy globeone analysed the image of German brands in India and other emerging markets China, Brazil and Russia in the first ever survey of its kind

· German brands enjoy a high awareness and a very positive image amongst Indian consumers – Adidas is in the lead
· Local brands score high on being “close to local customer needs”, offering “good value for money” and “good after-sales service” – shortcomings of many German brands in India in the eyes of local consumers
· Great potential to seize the advantage of a German brand origin

Mumbai, 22 May 2012 – Half of the urban consumers in India know a multitude of German brands and show a strong preference for them. The appeal of foreign brands, particularly those with German origin, is strongest for consumers from the upper middle class and higher income segments (with gross monthly income above Rs. 42,000), with 71% and 63% respectively saying they prefer German brands. More interestingly, half of the surveyed Indian middle class consumers (with gross monthly income of Rs. 18,000-42,000) like German brands, pointing to a huge potential for German products and services among the rising urban affluent in India – an often unexploited potential by German companies.

These are some of the key insights of the “BRIC Branding Survey”, the first ever representative survey of German brands in the emerging BRIC countries. The survey was commissioned by the Germany-based brand and marketing communication consultancy globeone. Findings were based on more than 4,000 interviews with consumers in 20 of the most important cities in China, India, Brazil and Russia, conducted by leading independent market research institutes in 2011. In India, a total of 1,000 Indian consumers in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune were interviewed.

Adidas is the most well-known German brand in India
59% of urban Indian consumers could spontaneously name one or more German brands. This stands in comparison to China, where the top-of-mind awareness of German brands is 85%. The brands with the highest awareness rates are German sportswear giant Adidas (79%), consumer goods brand Nivea (73%) and insurer Bajaj Allianz (68%), followed by automotive brands BMW (65%) and Mercedes-Benz (60%). Surprisingly, given the traditional dominance of German automotive, only BMW and Mercedes-Benz made it into the top 5 ranks of German brand awareness in India. In the eyes of Indian consumers, Adidas is not only the most well-known, but also the most popular German brand, with 57% of consumers claiming that they like the brand. In the popularity stakes, Adidas is closely followed by Puma and Nivea (both 52%).

German brands are strong on product excellence, weaker on meeting local customer needs
The findings also suggested that, for many attributes, the perception of German brands is substantially more positive than that of brands from the USA, Japan or France. Indian consumers from the upper middle class and higher income segments rank German brands highest on the attributes of “excellent quality”, “high durability” and “outstanding design”. On top of that, every second consumer agreed that German brands are associated with “high prestige”.

German brands do not enjoy a perfect scorecard in India, however – only 23% of the respondents believe German brands are closely oriented towards “meeting local customer needs”, compared to 53% for Indian brands. Furthermore, local brands perform more strongly on offering “good value for money” and “good after-sales service”. On these attributes German brands have it more difficult in India.

German country-of-origin can be used to drive purchase
It was apparent from the findings that brand association with Germany is more prominent in some industries than others. Typically, these are industries where Germany has long had a global stronghold, such as automotive and engineering. The brands most strongly associated with a German origin include beer brand Becks, industrial group ThyssenKrupp, sanitary fittings manufacturer Hansgrohe and fashion house Hugo Boss. As brand origin is a relevant purchase driver for 69% of respondents, a stronger emphasis on the German brand origin can further increase the overall preference for German brands. Across the board, more can be done by German brands to enhance this attribute.

“Compared to many other global brands, German brands tend to act very conservatively and are often reluctant to invest in building brands in India. In local communication, the strength of the label ‘Made in Germany’ should be used more often or emphatically,” said Tina Marie Monelyon, Country Manager of globeone India.

German brands are perceived as relatively expensive
Despite the good reputation and consumer-identified preference of German brands, they are purchased infrequently in many product categories. The relatively high prices – about 68% of Indian consumers consider German brands to be expensive – and, in many cases, the positioning of German brands in luxury and premium segments are likely causes.

“In India it is important to also address the aspirations and needs of the expanding middle class. A company must be willing to reconsider its brand proposition and even extend its brand universe, in order to appeal to the varied demographics in India – not just the top earners but the consumer who may be earning RS. 42,000 a month,” said Monelyon.

Word-of-mouth remains an important source of brand information for consumers
In China, Brazil and Russia, the Internet plays a major role in enabling consumers to obtain information about foreign brands. Indian consumers, however, are still more likely to rely on traditional channels such as word-of-mouth (recommendations from friends and family) as well as TV for brand information. Overall, digital channels may be of relatively low relevance now but their future potential cannot be overstated. The onus is on brands to carefully integrate such channels into their communication media mix and, more importantly, to continuously listen to and engage their most important audiences.

xxx

About globeone
globeone is a dynamic international brand management and communication consultancy. With strong competence in market-oriented business management, globeone helps its clients develop and implement branding, marketing and communication strategies for business success in the world’s highest-growth markets including China, India and Brazil. globeone’s international expertise is recognised by its roster of long-term and current multinational clients. From its headquarters in Cologne and network offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, São Paulo, Singapore and Seoul, globeone serves its clients with a dedicated, experienced team who draw upon both local expertise and global perspectives to deliver strategic consultancy and hands-on support.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by globeone management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

Information for Editors
You can find further information concerning globeone and the study on our website at http://www.globe-one.com/news-insights/publications/.

Shreeravi Kachinthaya

globeone – strategic market communication

Mumbai Office
B 806, Sagar Tech Plaza
Sakinaka Junction
Andheri Kurla Link Road, Andheri (East)
Mumbai 400072 – India

Phone +91 (0)22 67703-718 (ext. 15)
Mobile +91 9833 548668
Fax +91 (0)22 6645 9842

Email: shreeravi.kachinthaya@globe-one.com