Category Archives: Business & Economy

MEIL completes power grid substation in seven months, secures spot in Limca Book of Records

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

Earlier, MEIL had secured a place in the Limca Book of Records for completing the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation project in record time.

Director B Srinivas Reddy along with Vice-President Praveen Sharadh Dixit shows the Limca Book of Record certificate in city on Monday | Express
Director B Srinivas Reddy along with Vice-President Praveen Sharadh Dixit shows the Limca Book of Record certificate in city on Monday | Express

Vijayawada :

Infrastructure giant Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) has secured a place in Limca Book of National Records and Asia Book of Records for its outstanding achievement of completing a power substation in a record time of 7 months.

The project was completed five months ahead of the deadline, fulfilling all quality parameters. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL), for which this project was built, has appreciated MEIL’s performance and given it the ‘Best Debutant Award’ with a memento and citation.

Earlier, MEIL had secured a place in the Limca Book of Records for completing the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation project in record time. Construction work for 400/220 KV power substation at NP Kunta began on September 25, 2015, and it was completed on April 25, 2016. “Normally it takes 15 to 18 months for executing such projects, but MEIL could complete it within the span of 7 months. Power is being supplied through this substation continuously for the last 3 years.

This is how the NP Kunta substation entered the Limca Book of Records,” said, B Srinivas Reddy, Director, MEIL. Apart from this, 400 KV 100 AVAR station, 2 line bases each with a capacity of 220 KV, 1 bus copular bay with 220 KV capacity and one 220 KV transformer bus copular bay were also established. Works related to drains, culverts, control room, a transit camp, fire fighting system, and pump house construction were also completed very quickly.

“Power Grid Corporation asked us to complete this substation project within 18-20 months. But from project designing to project testing, MEIL completed all works within 7 months,” Praveen Sharadh Dixit, Vice-President, MEIL, said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Express News Service / March 12th, 2019

Vizianagaram foot over bridge set to create record

Business & Economy, Records, All

Even the FoB at Elphinstone Road station in Mumbai by the Army comes second.

FootoverbridgeANDHRA11mar2019

Visakhapatnam :

With the ongoing construction of 20-foot wide and 205-foot-long Foot over Bridge (FoB) at Vizianagaram railway station, the Waltair division in East Coast Railway will be first ever division in Indian Railways to complete the project in record time of 90 days.

Even the FoB at Elphinstone Road station in Mumbai by the Army comes second. With four CCTV cameras, the works are monitored by Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) M S Mathur and the agents are given rewards for early completion of the works.  The Vizianagaram railway station with a passenger footfall of 2,000 and 150 passenger trains passing through it daily has one FoB towards Palasa side connecting all platforms. The second FoB, under construction at a cost of Rs 2.95 crore, will be connecting all the platforms and circulating area. Keeping the 90-day timeline for the FoB, the officials have set up a workshop which will work for 16-20 hours a day.

The project, started on Dec 24, 2018, was divided into various stages and set to be completed on March 23. “It is not just the division of works, we have given incentives and collect penalty from the contractor depending on the completion. Delay in every stage of works will invite penalty and if it is completed on time, they will get 4 per cent of the contract agreement value as incentive,” said M S Mathur.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / March 11th, 2019

CII-AP chapter gets new chief for 2019-20

Business & Economy, Leaders, Records, All

Vijay Naidu Galla, completed his M Tech in Industrial Engineering from SV University, Tirupati and General Management Programme from IIM- Bengaluru.

Visakhapatnam  :

Vijay Naidu Galla, President of  Mangal Industries Ltd, an Amara Raja Group company, has been elected the new Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Andhra Pradesh Chapter for the year 2019-20. D Rama Krishna, Managing Director, Efftronics Systems Pvt Ltd, is the Vice-Chairman. The CII-AP Chapter Annual Meeting was held here in the Port City on Saturday. The annual meeting focused on the theme of “Unlocking economic potential of AP.”

Vijay Naidu Galla, completed his M Tech in Industrial Engineering from SV University, Tirupati and General Management Programme from IIM- Bengaluru. He was the Vice-Chairman of CII AP.
D Rama Krishna, Managing Director, Efftronics Systems Pvt Ltd, is an active State Council member of CII-AP. He did his M.Tech (Electrical Engineering) in IIT- Madras.

On the occasion of annual meeting, CII organised the AP Economic Conclave focusing on the theme of ‘Unlocking Economic Potential of AP’, chief guest Rear Admiral Kiran Deshmukh, Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, stressed on the importance of indigenisation creating a shared ecosystem. He made a point that the skill set needs to be enhanced and made to meet global standards.

He urged MSMEs to focus on long-term sustainable rather than short-term gain. J Krishna Kishore, CEO, AP Economic Development Board, mentioned that the State is emerging as a major electronics manufacturing hub and automobile hub and the work is in progress to make Vizag the Maritime Capital of India.

Efftronics chief is Vice-Chairman  

D Rama Krishna, Managing Director, Efftronics Systems Pvt Ltd, is the Vice-Chairman.
J Krishna Kishore, CEO, APEDB says the State is emerging as a major electronics and automobile manufacturing hub.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / March 11th, 2019

New Jersey-based IT major plans to expand operations at Visakhapatnam facility

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

Conduent, a New-Jersey based technology-led business process services company, has plans to expand its operations in  Visakhapatnam.

ConduentANDHRA07mar2019

Visakhapatnam :

Conduent, a New-Jersey based technology-led business process services company, has plans to expand its operations in  Visakhapatnam. The company, which has 1,600 employees at Vizag office, wants to increase it by five times in near future.

Inaugurating the company’s new facility at the iconic millennium tower at Rushikonda on Wednesday, Conduent chief executive, financial services and healthcare Pratap Sarker and Conduent CEO-APAC (Asia-Pacific) Lokesh Prasad said the  State government’s focus on Visakhapatnam as a technology, science, and knowledge hub in India is giving a boost to local  economy and creating more job opportunities for youth of the city.

Conduent started operations in Visakhapatnam in March 2018 and since then it has significantly expanded its footprint creating  more than 1,500 jobs across its service delivery and operational teams.
Its new office building is designed using techniques adopted to enhance performance, reduce energy consumption, and  provide a healthy working environment. He said availability of good talent pool, excellent ecosystem and helping government machinery were some of the reasons for locating office in Vizag.

“India continues to play a vital role in Conduent’s strategic growth in the APAC region,” said Pratap Sarker.“As a  technology-driven digital interactions company, we are focused on regions that have the right talent for the work. Being a part of  this dynamic geography is the right move for our clients and our people.”

He said Vizag will be one of the company’s important hubs in India. He said India is crucial to the company’s global growth developing the latest technology for mobile and IoT, human-computer interaction, machine learning, text and multimedia analytics.

Referring to security of client information, Pratap said they have an exhaustive set up to ensure security of the clients data. Their strict protocols ensure that data is secure since their clients belong to sensitive areas, he added.

New millennium IT tower

New iconic millennium tower, inaugurated by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu last month, at Rushikonda witnessed a hub of activity with the inauguration of the new facility of NYSE-CNDT company, Conduent on Wednesday.
With more than 105,000 square feet of floor space and four times more seating capacity than its first incubation space, the new office  is one of the company’s key business locations in India, aimed at delivering key innovations in technology, transportation,  health care, public safety, human resources, process automation and operational excellence to its global clients.
Special Chief Secretary and IT advisor to CM JA Chowdary said the new iconic tower will hasten development of IT in Vizag.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / Express News Service / March 07th, 2019

Session to build GenNext entrepreneurs in Vijayawada

Business & Economy, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Leaders

Vijayawada :

Observing that opportunities for women in the country have increased with the availability of technology, Brandix India Partner Dora Swamy said there is an immense need to mentor them in the right direction so as to make them self-sustainable.

Delivering a keynote address at ‘Building Next Generation Women Entrepreneurs’ event in Vijayawada on Wednesday, Dora Swamy called upon the men in the society to encourage the fairer sex by giving them jobs in all fields of the society. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Amaravati and Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society have organised the event.

“Out of total 22,000 staff in our company, a majority of them i.e.18,000 are women, who hail from rural background. This is our priority the company accords to women,” he added. “We at Innovation Valley believe that entrepreneurship potential can be enhanced vis-a-vis structured support to establish enterprises,” Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society CEO Winny Patro said.

He said, “We are creating a framework to support women entrepreneurs and encouraging them to work in their companies.” TiE Board member Purnima Kamble said the session focused on topics such as challenges faced by women in leadership positions in a male-dominated work environment.
Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of AP President K Ramadevi among others participated.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Express News Service / February 28th, 2019

Nat’l conference on improving cashew cultivation begins

Agriculture, Business & Economy

Horticulture commissioner Chiranjiv Choudhary said that his department was taking steps to improve the cultivation of cashew and value-added products of the fruit.

Vijayawada :

Horticulture commissioner Chiranjiv Choudhary said that his department was taking steps to improve the cultivation of cashew and value-added products of the fruit. After inaugurating a two-day national conference on improving cashew cultivation in the State, the Commissioner said that the byproducts of cashew have a huge market. “Oil extracted from cashews has a large market.

That is why the government is working on increasing the production of a variety of cashews using latest techniques,” he said. He added that cultivating the fruit would help double the income of farmers as it had a very high demand in the market.

The Commissioner noted that over 250 delegates from 17 States from across the country were participating in the conference. “A report would be submitted to us on the deliberations made in the conference on the latest techniques for improving cashew cultivation,” he added.

He further explained the initiatives taken up by the State government to promote horticulture in Andhra Pradesh. “Over the last three to four years, production of horticulture crops has increased manifold, especially in Rayalaseema region. This has helped in boosting the farmers’ income,” Chiranjiv Choudhary said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Express News Service / February 23rd, 2019

Oldest Waltair railway division will now be history

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

Waltair will now be history as the division was bifurcated and part of it was merged with Vijayawada division and rest will be a new railway division.

Visakhaptanam :

Announcement of South Coastal Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as headquarters by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday brought cheers to the people of the Port City. However, in the process, one of the oldest divisions in the country, Waltair, will now be history as the division was bifurcated and part of it was merged with Vijayawada division and rest will be a new railway division with Rayagada (Odisha) as headquarters.

Uttarandhra Charcha Vedika convener Konathala Ramakrishna said, “We have mooted the idea of creating a  zone with Odisha areas to facilitate new zone in Visakhapatnam. However, the merger of part of Waltair division with Vijayawada was unwarranted. It will have bearing on employment opportunities for the local youth.” He said Kolkata has two divisions and in SCR zone there are two divisions. Maybe this is for the first time that a zone without a division, he said,  adding that the BJP government at the Centre had to concede to the demand in view of growing resentment among the people.

Waltair Divisional Railway Manager MS Mathur said South Coastal Zone, created with  Visakhapatnam as headquarters, will have three divisions — Vijayawada, Guntur and Guntakal — and it has a fair chance to become a premiere zone in the country. Addition of Visakhapatnam into Vijayawada division will add up to its revenue and will become one of the top divisions in the country.

 WaltairZoneANDHRA01stmar2019He said the zone can start functioning immediately with minimum disruption as the city has all necessary infrastructure facilities and employees. Modalities and geographical jurisdiction are being worked out and will be announced in a day or two, he said. Waltair division has 1106 km and it is bifurcated between Rayagada and Visakhapatnam. The new zone will facilitate redressal of the employees grievances and passenger-related issues which were hitherto looked after by zones in the neighbhouring States. Stating that holy places Tirupati and Tirumala will be under the new zone, he said new trains are likely to be introduced on the route.

Railway Zone Sadhana Samiti convener JV Satyanarayana Murthy said the BJP, at last, announced the zone, but there is a big question mark over jurisdiction of north Andhra areas — will they come under the new zone or East Coast Railway?

He said there is little to cheer for the people from the region and emphasised the need to merge the entire Waltair division leaving Odisha areas in the new zone by retaining Waltair division.

Uttarandhra Rakshana Vedika convener SS Shiva Sankar said the KK line, which is now under a single section, will face operational problems, if bifurcated. The control of two different zonal railways on a single section will result in administrative problems. So, Waltair division should not have been bifurcated while creating the new zone.

BJP MP Haribabu said the BJP government gave the zone though technical committee felt that the zone is not feasible. “The BJP had to convince its alliance partners and took a political decision, for which it took four years. All is well that ends well,”  Haribabu said, summing up the mood of the BJP cadre.

The move will be a morale booster for the BJP rank and file ahead of the general elections and it will help the party get a foothold in the coastal areas.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by G. Janardhana Rao / Express News Service / February 28th, 2019

Railways Minister announces new railway zone for Andhra Pradesh

Business & Economy, Records, All
A view of Visakhapatnam Railway Station. File | Photo Credit: C.V.Subrahmanyam
A view of Visakhapatnam Railway Station. File | Photo Credit: C.V.Subrahmanyam

Piyush Goyal announces that Southern Coast Railway will be headquartered in Visakhapatnam

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday announced a new railway zone for Andhra Pradesh.

The new railway zone — Southern Coast Railway — will be headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Mr. Goyal said.

The decision comes four days after a BJP delegation from the State met Goyal in the national capital demanding the formation of a railway zone.

In a memorandum submitted to Mr. Goyal, they had said the north Andhra region, comprising Srikaulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts, is “very backward and needs impetus for development”.

The Andhra Pradesh BJP leaders had said that during the 2014 general elections, they had assured the public that a railway zone would come up at Visakhapatnam.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by PTI / New Delhi – February 27th, 2019

Centre presents award to AP Capital Region Development Authority for promoting digital payments

Business & Economy, Records, All

The APCRDA will soon roll out a One Digital Card for all payments in Amaravati City.

Shan Mohan, CEO Amaravati Smart City and Team received the Digital Payment Award from Hardeep Singh Puri. (Photo| Twitter/ Amravati)
Shan Mohan, CEO Amaravati Smart City and Team received the Digital Payment Award from Hardeep Singh Puri. (Photo| Twitter/ Amravati)

Vijaywada  :

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs conferred the Digital Payment Award on Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) at an event in New Delhi on Tuesday. CEO of Amaravati Smart City S Shan Mohan received the award from Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

The Smart Cities Digital Payments Awards 2018 ‘100 days Challenge in 100 Smart Cities’ is part of the ministry’s endeavour to guide, motivate, recognise and reward the Smart Cities for promoting digital payments and carrying out innovative payment initiatives.

Under this initiative, the APCRDA received the award for its Amaravati First Resident Card. The initiative taken by Amaravati to launch its Amaravati First Resident Card was selected as a case study in the Best Practices in Digital Payments by Smart Cities Mission.

The APCRDA has planned for a rollout of a virtual card, which brings an essence of Digital City, One Digital Card for all the payments in Amaravati City. “Amaravati First Resident Card” is an Account-based open loop system, which is QR-enabled for third-party services and generated by seeding with Aadhaar Number. The first resident card usage is planned for about 1,10,000 citizens in the first phase and shall be scaled with reference to the Household Survey, which takes place periodically.

The ‘Amaravati First Resident Card’ can be generated through a citizen portal, mobile app and a kiosk with a single click. This card is envisaged to have an integration with one of the leading payment bank for all the cashless transactions, for all G2G, G2C and G2B services, municipality services (high-valued services such as layout approval, building permissions, development permissions, annuity under land pooling scheme, EPC contracts, property tax, water tax, trade license fee, sewerage charges, property mutation fee and advertisement tax among others), retail services, cashless multimode transport, tourism services, toll payments and public restaurants.

Amaravati First Resident Card soon

APCRDA will soon roll out a One Digital Card for all payments in Amaravati City. Amaravati First Resident Card is an account-based open loop system, which is also QR-enabled.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Express News Service / February 27th, 2019

Water resource department bags Global Platinum Award-2019 for HR, skill development

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Water Resources department bagged Global Platinum Award-2019 for human resources and skill development.

Vijayawada :

Water Resources department bagged Global Platinum Award-2019 for human resources and skill development. The Energy and Environment Foundation of India, Delhi, presented the award during the 9th World PetroCoal Congress and Expo held in Delhi on February 17. Delegates from 10 countries, including India, participated in the conference.

The award has been presented for the skill development activity to empower farmers in different programmes taken up by the Water Resources department, awareness and skill development programmes for the farmers taken up by Hydrology project and Andhra Pradesh Integrated Irrigation Agriculture Transformation Project. During Polavaram project virtual review meeting, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu congratulated Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Principal Secretary Sasi Bhushan Kumar, joint director Varaprasad Rao and DD Srinivas Nalluri for the achievement.

They informed Naidu that 66 per cent of Polavaram project works have been completed so far. The Chief Minister said Anantapur district stood first in groundwater resource and Kurnool district in river water conservation. He said, Visakhapatnam stands second in groundwater recharge and Kadapa district for reviving water resources.  Stating that water will be taken to Chittoor by March 15, the Chief Minister said that he will attend the ‘Jalasiriki Harathi’ to be organised at Palamaner, Kuppam, Madanapalli, Thamballapalle and Punganur in the district. Naidu said drinking water will be supplied to Madanapalle on a regular basis.

The officials apprised the Chief Minister that Pulichintala, Gundlakamma, Madakasira branch canal and Adavipalli reservoir were ready for inauguration.  They said second phase of Vamsadhara, Vamsadhara-Nagavali linking, Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi phase I works are under progress. Earlier, Naidu released a ground report of Polavaram project presented by Keller company.

Global Platinum Award-2019 was presented in Delhi

The award has been presented for the skill development activity to empower farmers in different programmes taken up by the Water Resources department, awareness and skill development programmes for the farmers taken up by Hydrology project and Andhra Pradesh Integrated Irrigation Agriculture Transformation Project.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Vijayawada / by Express News Service / February 19th, 2019