Category Archives: Business & Economy

Sircilla: From a ghost town to a city bustling with life

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

The municipal park inaugurated by K. Taraka Rama Rao in Sircilla on Friday.  

Sircilla textile town metamorphoses with a make-over; weavers’ hands are full with government placing bulk orders

A few years ago Sircilla was synonymous with suicides, reporting the highest number of suicides by powerloom weavers in the unified Andhra Pradesh due to unemployment and mounting debts.

Now, it is the other way round. Weavers’ hands are full with work with the State government placing bulk orders for school uniforms, Bathukamma sarees, Ramzan and Christmas gifts, etc.

Besides, the womenfolk have shifted from rolling beedis – which fetched them a pittance – to working in the Apparel park producing garments for various branded companies.

Big face-lift

The tiny textile town with dingy looks was given a big face-lift by Sircilla legislator K. Taraka Rama Rao after its upgradation into district headquarters in the newly formed Rajanna-Sircilla district. Now, it has wide roads, traffic islands, municipal parks, saplings along the roads, beautified walls, and a mini-tankbund, etc. On Friday, Mr. Taraka Rama Rao, who’s also the TRS working president, participated in a series of developmental programmes in the town.

He had formally launched Akshayapatra, a scheme under which lunch is served at ₹5 to the citizens. He personally served food and partook with the general public. A modern Vaikuntadhamam (a crematorium) with all facilities in Nehrunagar was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.4 crore. Similarly, he inaugurated a municipal park built at a cost of ₹80 lakh in Indiranagar, open gym at Shantinagar locality, and Ekalavya Community Hall.

He also distributed Sthree Nidhi tabs to 18 women of the Slum Level Federation and launched four battery-operated garbage collection vehicles for the municipality.

Incidentally, Rajanna-Sircilla district became the first in the integrated Karimnagar district to open a musical fountain at Bathukamma ghat in the town. Costing ₹60 lakh, it has become a special attraction.

TSCAB chairman K. Ravinder Rao, Collector P. Venkatram Reddy, Joint Collector Yasmeen Basha, Municipal chairperson S. Pavani and others were also present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Rajanna – Sircilla , February 09th, 2019

Local hand in ISRO’s satellite success story

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad firm manufactured fourth stage engines of PSLV

When Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44) successfully put Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites into their designated orbits last month, joyous scenes were witnessed not only at Sriharikota but also at the city suburbs of Kandi in Sangareddy district.

Here, right opposite the IIT-Hyderabad, lies a nondescript firm, ASACO, which has been playing a significant role albeit in a low profile manner in several of the launches as they have mastered the manufacturing of complete integrated PS4 engines or the fourth stage engines of the PSLV under ISRO tutelage.

In fact, 13 minutes 26 seconds after the lift-off of the latest launch, Microsat-R was successfully injected into the intended orbit of 274 km. Soon after, the fourth stage or PS4 of PSLV was moved to a higher circular orbit of 453 km after two restarts to establish an orbital platform and Kalamsat-V2, the student payload is the first to use it, said Ajit Mohandas, joint managing director of ASACO.

“We are the only company in India manufacturing the complete integrated PS4 engines of PSLV and we have been doing all the engine chamber parts since 1986. ASACO has been the sole supplier of these engines from 2008 and also the ‘PS1 RCT Engines’ including assembly of the first stage roll control system,” says Ajit, alumnus of HPS-Begumpet and IIT-BHU.

His father and ASACO chairman K. Mohandas had established the company in 1969 having decided to take up the challenge of making critical engines for launch vehicles of ISRO based on designs submitted by the latter. The precision machine components are also applicable in fighter jets and naval ships besides launch vehicles.

Crucial function

In every PSLV launch, two of these fourth stage engines take the satellites into their final orbits. “Whether it was Chandryaan 1 module, Mangalyaan or the recent world record 104 satellite launch, PS4 Engines have the crucial function of delivering each and every one them into their initial orbits around the earth,” explains Ajit, in an exclusive interaction.

The same engines are now performing a unique function of serving as the orbital platform for the Kalamsat V2 for the brief period of 14.5 hours after deployment — time needed for Kalamsat V2 to perform its experiments — instead of ending up as space debris!

Sole supplier

“We are proud that the engine for which we have been a sole and dedicated supplier for decades continues to perform in versatile ways, thanks to ISRO’s ingenious ways of using them. We are grateful for the faith shown in our capabilities,” he says.

ASACO has aggressive growth plans and is “fully geared” up to take up more challenging work from ISRO, he adds.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. Geetanath / Hyderabad – February 03rd, 2019

Foxconn to set up R and D centre for artificial intelligence in Hyderabad

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad :  

In a major development that will place Hyderabad in an advantageous position in “smart manufacturing”,  the Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group has decided to set up an advanced Industrial Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Centre in Hyderabad. 

Foxconn Industrial Internet Company Limited (FII), a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, has chosen Hyderabad to set up the  Advanced Industrial Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Centre in collaboration with the State Telangana.  This is Foxconn’s first centre in Industrial AI research outside Taiwan.

According to sources, the research and development platform would provide technological services and smart manufacturing solutions to Foxconn Group with a vision to integrate and incorporate cloud computing, mobile devices, IoT, big data, AI, network transmission, and automated robotics with 8K+5G, according to a release.Foxconn will set up this in collaboration with the academic and industrial ecosystem in India with Hyderabad as its base.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Business / by Express News Service / January 31st, 2019

WFZO’s chooses Hyderabad as Asian regional office

Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

The World Free Zones Organisation, the global apex body of free zones or special SEZs, has chosen Hyderabad for establishing its Asian Regional Office.

Free zones are a class of special economic zones with liberalised tax laws, allowed by governments to encourage economic activities. A total of 3,500 free zones are spread across the globe, a press communiqué informed on Friday.

The new regional director of the organisation will be Srikanth Badiga, city-based realtor and chairperson of Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Srikanth said WFZO chose Hyderabad among many other trade centres in Asia because of a proactive government.

Principal Secretary, Industries, Jayesh Ranjan, attributed the choice to the investment-friendly environment, industrial-friendly ecosystem, proactive government policies, and good governance.

The Asian Regional headquarters will be declared open formally in the third week of December Srikanth Badiga added.

Registered and established in Geneva, Switzerland, WFZO has its global headquarters at Dubai.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 30th, 2018

K&M city souvenirs links landmarks and lives with love

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel, World Opinion

A city startup is designing merchandise that tell stories about urban culture, in an offbeat way

When Karthik was working in Malaysia, he was astounded at their collection of memorabilia. Apart from the ubiquitous keychains, magnets and ‘I love KL’ T-shirts, small tin cans on the shelf surprised him. “Tin mining is the oldest in Malaysia; so unless you know a lot about the country tin cans memorabilia didn’t quite make sense to me,” says Karthik.

Karthik Lakshmanan along with Madhusudhan Boga founded K&M city souvenirs to to promote Indian cities and their culture through what he calls their ‘kiraak’ designing. Currently they have over 100 products for five cities — Hyderabad, Amaravati, Chennai, Kerala and Bengaluru.

‘Landmarks, language and lives’ is their design motto.

Karthik explains that each magnet has four elements. For instance, a close observation of a Buddha statue magnet, shows the connect it has to the kings of that era. Other magnets chronicle the city’s evolution with iconic landmarks from different eras.

The concepts aim at ‘standing with an open heart’. “Before opening our mouths to speak, we should first open our hearts. The idea is for people to connect to places, its roots, culture. Some people take some time to do it, some connect instantly. That is where the cultural quotient helps; that’s where the real connection happens. Speaking hastily makes us judgemental; that’s where we begin making boundaries and go back with a very boxed idea of the place and people one visits,” says Karthik.

Their products come in various series. The Indulgence series includes T-shirts, magnets, button badges, name plates, home decor, books, luggage tags, key chains, mugs, and lapel pins. ‘Lite teesko’ (written in Telugu) is one of the messages on a T shirt.

___________________________________
– K&M city souvenirs have a separate set of collection for Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore, Chennai and Kerala.

– Their aim is to make collectibles for each Indian city. The numeric 29 in their website 29km indicates 29 Indian
states and KM stands for their company.

– Their poster collection of Idioms will be made for the south Indian states.
___________________________________

They plan to come up with a series with Exuberance (for art and crafts products) and Fantasy (kids products). “Once we build the connect then gaps and the borders between people, language and culture will reduce. This informs our vision: To make an impact in the world by making tools for the heart that celebrate our culture,” adds Karthik.

A lot of research goes into the design to make it fool-proof. Especially when history is involved and details like using the royalty like the Nizams; saying which, did you know the official shade of the Nizam kings was yellow?” points out Karthik.

This involves the partners touring the cities apart from reading up on that city’s history, people and culture. “A lot of information also comes from interacting with people . this way e also get a feel of the pulse, understand what is trending and will never fade. For instance the word ‘Nakko’. late actor Mehmood had popularised it so much that the moment someone from another city meets a Hyderabadi, they flaunt their ‘nakko’.

The K&M collection is available on www.29km.in.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Prabalika M. Borah / November 30th, 2018

4th edition of Indywood film carnival

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

Five thousand business delegates from across 100 countries to participate

The fourth edition of the Indywood Film Carnival will begin on Saturday at Hitex Convention Centre in Hyderabad, with its repertoire of national and international films.

The main attraction of the carnival will be the All Lights India International Film Festival which will feature films from various parts of the country in different languages. The festival sections include international competition and national competition.

The flagship event All Lights India International Film Festival will screen over 100 movies from nearly 50 countries, a press release said.

The carnival, a flagship venture of 10 billion USD project Indywood, will be one-stop platform for showcasing the latest technology and future possibilities in the entire spectrum of film making, skill development, pre-production, production, technical support, post-production, distribution, and marketing, it said.

Five thousand business delegates from across 100 countries are expected to be present in the carnival.

Indywood Billionaires Meet, Indywood Academy Awards, Indywood Telly Awards, Indywood Fashion Premier and All Lights India International Film Festival are the major attractions of IFC 2018.

Competitions will be held in 28 categories including advertisement/ promotional video, animation movie making, children’s short film, CSR movie making, DJ war, documentary film, drama, dubsmash, educational video, film quiz, group dance, model hunt, and others.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 30th, 2018

When automated kitchens replicated Hyderabadi chefs

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel

At an exclusive live cooking event at the NITHM College on Wednesday, Rational India chefs showcased several authentic Hyderbadi dishes cooked in the SelfCookingCenter India Edition.

Hyderabad :

Chefs from Rational India proved that their SelfCookingCentre India can indeed rustle up the best Hyderabadi cuisine in their automated cooking equipment, perhaps even better than experienced Masterchefs and cooks themselves. Rational India is a Germany-based firm with India operations which is into the field of hot food preparation for professional kitchens and into setting up of mega industrial kitchens across the globe. The company made news earlier this year for being the company behind the food at Ikea home store in the city.

At an exclusive live cooking event at the NITHM College on Wednesday, Rational India chefs showcased several authentic Hyderbadi dishes cooked in the SelfCookingCenter India Edition. “It is possible to prepare dishes like Hyderabadi biryani, mirchi ka salan, chapla pulusu, dum ka murg, dum ki ran, double ka meetha in the our mega kitchen equipment in much lesser span of time, hence saving energy and time”, says Toshit Sharma, National Corporate Chef for the company.

“Around 60 restaurants in Hyderabad are already using Rational in their daily business without compromising on food quality and consistency,” he adds. Rational India organises weekly live cooking events without any obligations for their potential customers.

Speaking before the event, Mithun Suvarna, Sales Director, said that the company could successfully help chefs and hotel cooking staff find a work-life balance without having to compromise on quality. “Many restaurants use our automated kitchen equipments (which are also self-cleaning) in their premises. These easy-to-use equipment not only safe time, but retain quality and hygiene.”

Among Rational’s clients are Akshaya Patra and Iskcon, he informed. Says Pallavi Verma, Marketing Communication for the company, “The event in Hyderabad helped us to drive home the point that automated cooking is indeed tasty, healthy and fast. There is less scope for error and makes the live’s of chefs easier. Today, our kitchens in Ramoji Film City and other such places that attract huge footfalls, have made a huge difference.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / November 29th, 2018

Black and Gold Rolls Royce, This Fashion event’s showstopper!

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

This is the first time the Rolls Royce team is personally coming down to hand over the keys at this intimate gathering.

Hyderabad :

Sudha Reddy wears many hats. The director of Megha Group of Industries and on the board as director of TruJet airlines, identified ‘Áction Against Hunger’ (a 38-year-old Paris-based organisation that leads the global fight against hunger) and ‘Breast Cancer Research Foundation as recipients, she is also known for her charity work.

Sudha is now all set to put together a unique fashion show in Hyderabad this Saturday, November 24 at Hitex which will feature international fashion designers from Los Angeles, Dubai and Europe to showcase their collections. She chats with us and gives us insight into her perspective of the fashion world that she is so acquainted with. Sudha is roping in three international designers including Italian designer Giambattista Valli for the event and host of top models to showcase it. The day also happens to be Sudha’s 40th birthday and she is hosting a sit-down formal dinner for 300 select guests. Indian celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia will oversee the dinner. Sudha is going to wear Harry Winston jewellery.

Juggling so many balls and excelling in all the fields you step in? It isn’t easy balancing so many roles of a businesswomen, a mother and a fashion icon. What is your secret?
Well, it’s not easy. For one thing, you do not possess a natural gift for a certain job, because specific natural gifts don’t exist in my opinion. You are not a born CEO or a chef or chess grandmaster. You cultivate your interests through an enormous amount of hard work over many years and that dedication and wholehearted passion is what keeps me going.

How has the response been for the fashion event so far?
Fashion is something which connects the entire world. The showcasing of different couture and culture makes every fashion show unique and interesting and the response is also so over whelming wherever these shows are held. I believe fashion has the ability to create change in the world through it’s strong appeal that crosses boundaries and brings people together.

Fashion with humanitarian work?
Yes, it’s my passion for both of them which makes it easy for me. My personality, keen attention to detail and dedication to my chosen causes, helps me connect with like-minded people who are willing to use their position, power and talent to make a difference. The biggest influence on me are women of high character, like, Princess Diana. With a generous and empathetic heart for philanthropy, I have been able to successfully carve a strong niche in being a voice for the underprivileged through my charitable contributions over the years, and I hope to continue doing the same.

A specially-commissioned Black and Gold Rolls Royce will appear in the show, how have you managed to bring in such a unique twist to a fashion event?
My loving and generous husband, Krishna Reddy, has gifted me one of the worlds most luxurious cars. The bespoke design team from Goodwood took our brief and has done a fabulous job translating it to reality. Couture and luxury automobiles are all under the large gamut of luxury and the art of appreciation. I think they blend very well together so it was honestly easy to get the Rolls Royce and fashion designers teams to share my vision for this event and come on board. This Rolls Royce Ghost is a limited edition- iconic, custom- crafted, masterpiece, by the Bespoke Team of Rolls – Royce Motor Cars.

This is the first time the Rolls Royce team is personally coming down to hand over the keys at this intimate gathering.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Srividya Palaparthy / Express News Service / November 19th, 2018

Gen X entrepreneurs set to showcase their ideas today

Business & Economy, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Schoolpreneur Summit 2018 will take place today (Nov 17) at Oakridge International School, Newton Campus and promises to give young minds a vibrant platform to share their ideas.

Hyderabad :

Schoolpreneur Summit 2018 will take place today (Nov 17) at Oakridge International School, Newton Campus and promises to give young minds a vibrant platform to share their ideas. The objective is to motivate the young entrepreneurs / innovators to showcase their ideas to established entrepreneurs, industry experts, academicians and government officials. Apart from the Idea pitching sessions, there are panel discussions by experts to discuss on the current education system and future of work.

More than 120 business viable ideas will be presented today as part of the preliminary rounds (Roadshow to Schoolpreneur Summit) for Hyderabad. Over 40 schools from the twin cities are participating in this event. There will also be a panel discussion on “Role of Parent & School Management to nurture the child with skills required in 21st century”. The panel members include Renuka Bodla – Entrepreneur, Investor (Hyderabad Angels, IIIT Seed Fund), Anil Kolli (Director, Epistemo & Vikas Concept School), Sri Lakshmi Reddy (Director, Keystone School), Bhanu Prakash Reddy (Founder, Beenfield Consulting, Startup Mentor), Pavan Allena, Founder, Metamorphosis).

Pavan Allena adds, “A lot of innovations are happening across schools, but there’s no entrepreneurial element added to it. Students should go through entrepreneurial journey with their innovation and learn real-life / 21st century skills. Schoolpreneur Summit is such a platform to inspire the young students with their business-viable ideas. Come join us for the event.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / November 17th, 2018

Solar panel maker to scale up operations in Hyderabad

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

Solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module maker RenewSys India is planning to grow the capacity of its Hyderabad facility to 1 GW and establish a 500 MW plant near Mumbai, both by next year-end, with an investment of $25 million.

A part of $350 million Enpee Group, most of whose companies are based in Nigeria, the firm graduated from being a manufacturer of EVA backsheets used in solar panels to making solar cells and modules when it acquired the assets of Solar Semiconductor three years ago.

Briefing presspersons at the facility in Fab City on the outskirts of Hyderabad, RenewSys managing director Avinash Hiranandani said the company had acquired the assets, of the sick unit, in June 2015 for around ₹100 crore. With new machinery, the solar panel manufacturing capacity over time increased to the 400 MW. The facility also has 130 MW solar PV cell capacity.

Necessary equipment to add 300 MW of solar panels have arrived, he said, adding by next month the capacity would touch 700 MW. The company wanted to increase the capacity of the Hyderabad plant, located on 50 acres, to 1 GW by end of 2019.

On investments, he said $100 million has been made so far and the expansion proposed by next year would entail $5 million more. The investment on the plant proposed near Mumbai, on about 8 acres, is expected to $20 million. The capacity of the Bengaluru plant where encapsulants and backsheets are made is also to be increased, he added.

To queries, Mr. Hiranandani said profitability in solar panel business, in the face of intense competition from China, is possible only with scale of operations. In 2017-18, the RenewSys’ turnover was ₹256 crore, which the management is targeting to take to ₹600 crore this fiscal and over ₹1,500 crore in 2019-20.

The potential for growth was good, he said, pointing out that only 45% of India’s solar panel requirement is being met by domestic manufacturers.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities > Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – November 14th,2018