Category Archives: Science & Technology

Lactalis acquires Hyderabad-based Tirumala Milk

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

World’s largest dairy player Groupe Lactalis SA has acquired Tirumala Milk Products Private Limited.

According to a statement by Tirumala, the transaction marks France-based Lactalis’ entry into India .

The deal to buy out 100 per cent stake in Tirumala was reportedly closed at USD 275 million (Rs 1,750 crore)

Lactalis Group Communication Director Michel Nalet said the deal was officially finalised yesterday, but no amount regarding the deal was disclosed either in India or France.

“For Lactalis, this first acquisition in India is an important step for us and due to the quality of the business model developed by the previous share holders, we believe that it will be a very good platform to develop the business in India,” Nalet told PTI in an email reply.

Tirumala Co-Founder and Managing Director D Brahmanandam said his company has emerged as a leader in the private sector dairy market in South India.

“We are extremely happy to have partnered with Carlyle, who provided numerous value creation activities and acted as a catalyst in the growth of the company over the past few years. Tirumala is the partner of choice for Lactalis, and is well poised to emerge as a national brand with market leadership position,” Brahmanandam said.

Tirumala is the second largest private dairy company in South India.

Barclays was the sole financial advisor to Tirumala. J Sagar Associates was the legal advisor to Tirumala. Rothschild was the sole financial advisor to Lactalis. Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co was the legal advisor to Lactalis.

Founded in 1996 by D Brahmanandam, B Brahma Naidu, B Nageswara Rao, Dr N Venkata Rao and R Satyanarayana, Tirumala raised equity investment in 2010 from First Carlyle Ventures III and First Carlyle Growth VII, affiliates of The Carlyle Group (Carlyle), a global alternative asset manager.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / by Press Trust of India / Hyderabad – January 08th, 2014

Suven gets 3 product patents in Australia, Sri Lanka, South Korea

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Suven Life said granted claims of patent include class of selective 5-HT compounds discovered by Suven

SuvenHF24jan2014

Suven Life Sciences Limited, a Hyderabad-based biopharmaceutical company, has received a product patent each from Australia, Sri Lanka and South Korea corresponding to the new chemical entities for the treatment of neuro-degenerative and psychiatric disorders.

These patents are valid till 2029.

In a filing to the BSE on Thursday, Suven Life said the granted claims of the patent included the class of selective 5-HT compounds discovered by Suven and were being developed as therapeutic agents and were used in the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s as well as psychiatric ones like Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia.

With these new parents, Suven has 16 granted patents from Australia, nine from Sri Lanka and 12 from South Korea. These granted patents are the exclusive intellectual property of Suven. Products out of these innovations might be out-licensed at various phases of clinical development like at Phase-I and Phase-II, the company said.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by K. Rajani Kanth / Hyderabad – January 09th, 2014

Hyderabad doctor develops ‘Scrape Cytology’, new medical procedure, to detect spine disorders

Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad based doctor Dr Naresh Babu from Mediciti Hospital has devised a new medical procedure called ‘Scrape Cytology’ to detect and diagnose spine related problems. Unlike existing procedures the ‘Scrape Cytology’ technique can detect spine related problems in just eight minutes.

Dr Naresh Babu a spine surgeon in Mediciti Hospital has spent two years doing rigorous research on about 40 patients and had finally come out with an innovative and novel medical procedure Scrape Cytology. This new technique will help diagnose spinal disorders 30 per cent more accurately than the current tools available.

Reckoned for his contributions in the field of medicine, Dr Babu had recently been honoured by the Indian Orthopaedic Association with the prestigious SP Mandal Gold Medal. His work has also been accepted for publication in the North American Spine Surgeons’ Association’s The Spine Journal.

Elaborating about on the impact the Scrape Cytology can create in the near future, Dr Naresh said. “In coming years, it will become the “gold standard” for all the surgeons. That’s because it saves time and energy to detect the real problem. And, it doesn’t require additional infrastructure to set up, just a few glass slides.”

According to the doctor the scrape technology is very much useful in fast identifying problems like lesion, tumours and fractures inside the spine. As per the traditional practice doctors need to take a sample tissue from the bone and send it for testing. But that sample tissue may not be representative of the problem tissue. So, it has to be repeated four to five times for before achieving an accurate result.

“Unlike the traditional procedure we have developed a method of minimally invasive spine surgery wherein we scrape the ‘problem tissue’ and identify it inside the operation theatre itself before sending it for biopsy in labs. It takes only eight minutes to ascertain if there are any defects in the spine,” explained Dr Naresh.

source: http://www.pharmabiz.com / PharmaBiz.com / Home> Top News> Hospitals &Clinics / by A. Raju – Hyderabad / Friday, January 10th, 2014

Move to extract citric acid from mahua

Science & Technology

 Visakhapatnam :

A project to develop an economically viable method to extract citric acid from ippa or mahua (Madhuca indica) flowers has been sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology of the Union Government, according to a press release issued by Gitam University.

The principal investigator for the project is an assistant professor in the biotechnology department of the university, R. Gopinath. Ippa or mahua flower has been chosen as it is abundantly available in the agency (tribal) areas of the district and is also endemic in tropical mixed deciduous forests in the country.

The project will try and develop an economically viable extraction process using fermentation technique to produce the citric acid from Maduca indica.

Mahua is rich in non-edible oils with large production potential of about 60 million tonnes a year in India. Its flowers and fruits are edible and sweet.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> Science / by The Hindu Bureau   sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in / Visakhapatnam – January 08th, 2014

BITS alumni walk down memory lane at Hyderabad meet

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology

Mumbai : 

It was a congregation of BITSians from across the globe, aimed at bringing alive a mega reunion of all Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani student batches spread across four campuses, five decades and seven continents.

The BITSAA Global Meet (BGM) 2014 at the Hyderabad campus coincided with the golden jubilee celebrations of BITS Pilani. Octogenarians and sexagenarians going back to 1950s, when BITS Pilani was called Birla Engineering College, went down memory lane as more than a 100 BITSians shared their experiences at the meet. BITSAA is the global alumni association.

Ranging from Padma Shri D Balasubramaniam of the 1953 batch, to young achievers from the current batch who have incubated their own companies and started research projects, an array of BITSians shared their perspectives.

Some of the hot ventures by current BITSian students that were represented at the event included Exotel, a smart virtual phone number for businesses; Cubito, a smart car-pooling service; Amaterasu Electronics, offering home automation and voice control solutions for India; Sattva Healthcare, a low-cost fetal heart monitor which can give sufficient warning to medical practitioners and save lives, along with several others.

Since 2005, every three years, the organisation presents 30-under-30 awards, to honour outstanding BITSians under the age of 30 who have demonstrated excellence in their chosen area. At BGM 2014, some achievers who showcased their work included Phanindra Sama, Founder and CEO, RedBus, an online bus ticket booking service; Kavikrut, co founder of Mobile Medics Healthcare, a venture aimed at solving the last mile problem of rural healthcare through travelling teams of doctors and mobile vans. The latter was later acquired by the Piramal group to start Piramal eSwasthya. Mahesh Ramasubramanian, a specialist in producing computer graphics imagery for feature films was also felicitated. He has been associated with movies such as Madagascar 3, Shrek, Over the Hedge, Bee Movies and Monster Vs Aliens among others.

Commenting on 50 years of BITS Pilani, V.S. Rao, Director, BITS Pilani Hyderabad, said with Vision 2020, the institute would aim to be one of the top universities in Asia by 2020.

As a run-up to BGM 2014, top BITSians rang the opening bell for Nasdaq. Plans were also announced for the next BGM to be held in Dubai in 2016-17.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> Industry> Education / The Hindu Bureau   amritanair.ghaswalla@thehindu.co.in / Mumbai – January 09th, 2014

World’s Largest Integrated VRLA Plant Coming up at Chittoor

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Galla Jayadev, vice-chairman and managing director of Amara Raja Batteries performing puja at the inauguration of the company’s new plant at Nunegundlapalle near Chittoor on Sunday. His mother and mines minister Galla Aruna Kumari is also seen | EXPRESS PHOTO
Galla Jayadev, vice-chairman and managing director of Amara Raja Batteries performing puja at the inauguration of the company’s new plant at Nunegundlapalle near Chittoor on Sunday. His mother and mines minister Galla Aruna Kumari is also seen | EXPRESS PHOTO

Extending its business base in the district, Amara Raja Batteries Limited group, belonging to the Galla family, announced its expansion by launching the world’s largest integrated medium VRLA plant at Nunegundlapalli near Chittoor on Sunday.

The first factory in the 500 acre land, set up with an outlay of `350 crore, was inaugurated here on Sunday. With an employment generation capacity of 1,500 in the first plant, the plant can manufacture 3.5 million UPS batteries every year, ARBL managing director Galla Ramachandra Naidu said.

“The second plant is under construction and two more plants–one for tubular and other for plastic–will soon commence operations. The second unit, with an outlay of `350 crore, would provide jobs to another 1,500 people,” he said.

Emphasising that the company will focus on employment generation, Ramachandra Naidu said, “Chittoor is enveloped with barren hills. There is no agriculture and only industries here are dairy and poultry. For the economic growth of the district, industries are the only option and we are providing them.’’

Ramachandraiah Naidu said after the completion of all the plants, the company will provide jobs to as many as 20,000 persons.

Speaking on the occasion, ABRL vice-chairman and managing director Galla Jayadev said the UPS batteries cater to the need of industries and can be used domestically too.

He said Chittoor is a strategic location for development of industries. “Every one thinks that Chittoor is not viable as it is far off from the capital, Hyderabad. But, it is a strategic location as it is located three hours away from Chennai and Bangalore,’’ he said.

Jayadev said economic development will increase commercial activity at the place and also nearby towns. “Thanks to our Karakambadi plant, which is providing employment to 17,000 persons, the local economy increased by 30 per cent in Tirupati. Similarly, with a potential of 30,000 here, Chittoor town and nearby villages will develop,’’ he said.

On their future plans, Jayadev said though they have not yet finalised, they are going to invest in other districts including in coastal Andhra and Telangana.

District collector K Ramgopal, Putalapattu MLA Dr Ravi and others also took part.

Galla Aruna Praises YSR

Mines and geology minister Galla Aruna Kumari heaped praises on former chief minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Speaking on the need of industrial development and his family’s contribution to it, Aruna Kumari said it was YSR who took an initiative in the industrial development of the district. “During talks Rajasekhara Reddy offered lands at three different places to us and we selected this one. It was like a forest then and a lot of effort has gone in transforming the area,” she said. Expressing her gratitude to YSR, she said her appreciation should not be politicised.

No to Division

“We are opposing bifurcation and we will continue to do it,’’ she said. Reacting on the reports of the chief minister likely to float a new party, Aruna Kumari said she was not aware of any such move.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service – Chittoor / January 20th, 2014

Rs 35 cr handloom institute to be set up in Machilipatnam

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Machilipatnam  (AP):

The state government has decided to set up a handloom in Krishna district headquarters of Machilipatnam, Union Minister for Textiles Kavuri Sambasiva Rao said.

The All India Handloom Technology Institute would be set up with a project cost of Rs 35 crore, Rao said last night, after inaugurating a training programme of Jamdani saree weaving under integrated skill development scheme in Kappaladoddi village of Guduru Mandal in Krishna district.

At present, only four handloom technology institutions are functioning in the country, he said.

Rao said the central government has decided to abolish the outstandings of handloom weavers’ loans, including interest.

“We have sanctioned Rs 45 crore subsidy for Siricilla constituency handloom weavers,” the minister said, adding that the amount under Rajiv Arogya Yojna has also been increased.

Later, Rao inaugurated a handloom exhibition in Pedana town and also laid the foundation stone of a Common Production Centre costing Rs 3 crore.

He also distributed cheques of Rs 6 crore of bank linkage amount to Pedana and Gudur SHGs (Self help groups).

All India Handicrafts Commissioner  S Gupta and Krishna District Collector M Raghunandana Rao were also present on the occasion.

source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> News> News By Industry> Cons. Products / Garments – Textiles / by PTI / January 03rd, 2014

DP World and JM Baxi Group to build new Visakhapatnam box facility

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

  • Joint venture granted approval after hiking revenue share offer

  • Visakhapatnam Port, India. Image: The Hindu
    Visakhapatnam Port, India. Image: The Hindu

DP World  and JM Baxi Group have been selected to build and operate a new 500,000 TEU container terminal  in the Indian Port of Visakhapatnam.

The joint venture received approval from the Visakhapatnam Port Trust after the consortium agreed to increase its revenue share offer from 10 percent to 11.04 percent, a port official told Logistics News.

The consortium, already responsible for the day-to-day running of Visakhapatnam Container Terminal (VCT), the port’s first box facility, was the lone bidder for the project, which was offered on a build-operate-transfer basis for a period of 30 years. The new terminal will be built at the site of the existing terminal, which will be see extended to around 850 metres.

“With a total continuous berth length of about 850 metres and water depth of approximately 17 metres, Visakha Container Terminal (VCT) will be able to accommodate bigger ships,” the official added.

Last month, Essar Vizag Terminals, a subsidiary of Indian terminal operator Essar Ports , also entered into a 30-year concessionary agreement with the Visakhapatnam Port Trust for three new iron ore berths at the Indian port.

During the first eight months of fiscal year 2013-14, VCT handled approximately 175,000 TEU compared to the 166,000 TEU handled in the corresponding period a year earlier.

source: http://www.porttechnology.org / Port Technology International / Home> News> Port Planning  / Tenders & Bids / January 06th, 2014

L.V. Prasad Eye Institute’s 100th centre at Araku

Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

L V Prasad Eye Institute as opened its (LVPEI) 100th vision centre for primary care at Araku village in Visakhapatnam district.

“With this, about 2000 villages in Andhra Pradesh will be provided high quality primary eye care,’’ the Hyderabad-based institute said in a release issued here on Saturday.

To serve the under-privileged communities and reach the unreached segment in the eye health, the Gullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye Care (GPR ICARE), the public health component of LVPEI, has established a network of vision centres (primary centres) linked to Secondary Centres across rural and remote rural locations in the State.

With the Araku centre, LVPEI’s network of community eye care services now comprises 100 primary care vision centres and 11 secondary care service centres that have served nearly 2.5 million people thus far. These centres had screened close to 1.30 lakh people last year, about 70,000 of them school children.

The institute’s latest secondary centre was launched in Bellary, in the neighbouring state of Karnataka, and there were projects under way to expand the network into Odisha as well.

Commenting on the occasion, Gullapalli N Rao, Founder and Chair – LVPEI said: “ICARE aspires to evolve into a highly efficient eye health care service delivery component for LVPEI as we step into another year.”

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> National / by The Hindu Bureau / Hyderabad – January 05th, 2014

RTC Bags Awards

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

The APSRTC has bagged the All State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) awards under three categories for 2011-12 and 2012-13.

The corporation has achieved the highest fuel efficiency (5.23 km/litre of diesel)in mofussil services in 2011-12. It also achieved the best road safety record (0.1066 per lakh km). It has got the Union transport minister’s trophy for safety for the fourth time.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / January 08th, 2014