Monthly Archives: April 2012

Cheer girls add glitz to bull competition

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports

Cheer girls lightened the state-level competitions for Ongole bullocks pulling heavy boulders, here on Tuesday.

The competition is being organised by the JC brothers at a ground near the newly-built municipal office.

As many as 63 pairs of Ongole bulls, known as one of the world’s best bovine species, took part in the competition from all over the state.

Tadipatri legislator J.C. Diwakar Reddy and his brother and former municipal chairman J.C. Prabhakar Reddy made elaborate arrangements for the competition which started on Monday.

On the first day, the competition was conducted in the agriculture and junior sections. A large number of people, mostly farmers, were present.

The highlight of the competition was the presence of cheer girls, who pepped up the spectators with their flashy dances between the breaks.

Referring to the cheer girls’ dances at the IPL 20-20 cricket matches, Mr Prabhakar Reddy said that it was not new to them.

“We had arranged cheer girls around 10 years ago when we conducted a cricket tournament,” Mr Reddy said. He said that it was not obscene and was meant to cheer the spectators.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Regions/ Anantapur / by DC Correspondent / Taipatri (Anantapur) / April 11th, 2012

On road to London

Leaders, Sports

With the deadline for Olympic qualification fast approaching, the shuttlers in Hyderabad — the hub of badminton in the country — are set for two final events — the Badminton Asia Championships at Qingdao, China, and the India Open Superseries in New Delhi — before the places for London 2012 are finalised.

On paper, a total of 32 places each are up for grabs in the men’s and women’s singles events, while 16 pairs will take part in the three doubles events. The players will be selected based on the Badminton World Federation rankings which would be released on May 3.

Realistically speaking, however, this close to the deadline, few surprises can be expected. From India, Hyderabad’s Saina Nehwal, currently ranked World No.5, is definitely through to the quadrennial multi-sport spectacle. “Saina has qualified for sure,” said national coach Pullela Gopichand. “But everyone else could be affected by how they perform in Qingdao and New Delhi,” Gopi added.

For India, there is one spot open in all the five events. The men’s singles quota will be filled up by either Hyderabad’s Parupalli Kashyap or Bengaluru’s Ajay Jayaram. The women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa should also qualify, according to Gopi. “Jwala-Ashwini and Jwala-Diju (mixed doubles) should be through, but we can’t take it for granted,” said Gopi, explaining, “A lot of factors could still influence the qualification scenario. For example, if Jwala-Ashwini lose in the first or the second round and a Korean pair goes on to win the tournament, we don’t go through. But that’s just conjecture. There are too many permutations at this point to be sure,” Gopi added.

Jwala says a pre-quarterfinal finish in both the upcoming events should guarantee their qualification, but a tough draw awaits them in China. “I don’t have the habit of looking at draws as I believe in just going out there and performing against anyone. But I’ve been informed the draw for the Asian championships is tough. Let’s see how it goes,” said Jwala, philosophically.

“I and Ashwini could well become the first ever Indian doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics. In fact, as things stand now, I am in with a chance of becoming the first Indian to make the cut in both doubles and mixed doubles.”

The Badminton Asia Championships are slated to begin on April 16. They will then take part in the India Open, which will begin from April 24.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Sports> Others / by Vijay Anand / DC, April 12th, 2012

New ISRO centre in Sriharikota will control spy satellite launch

Science & Technology

Chennai:

The Indian rocket that will carry the 1,850 kg indigenous surveillance satellite – Radar Imaging Satellite (Risat-1) – to the skies this month will be controlled by the new mission control centre at Sriharikota, said a senior official of Indian space agency ISRO.

“The second mission control centre was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil this January. The forthcoming rocket launch would be controlled and monitored from the new mission control centre. The rocket will fly off the first launch pad,” S Satish, director (publications and public relations), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told IANS.

ISRO has its rocket port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh around 80 km from Chennai.

A senior ISRO official not wanting to be named told IANS: “The new mission control centre is modern and has larger area to accommodate more space scientists, officials, VIPs and others.”

The satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry, and the high resolution pictures and microwave imaging could also be used for defence purposes.

ISRO officials told IANS that the rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carrying remote sensing satellite Risat-1 is slated for launch from 25-30 April.

“The exact launch date depends on the readiness of the rocket and satellite systems. Normally it will take 12-14 days for the rocket launch after carrying out all the tests,” an ISRO official told IANS.

ISRO officials told IANS that Risat-1 systems are being checked at Sriharikota and it will be mated with the rocket later.

Once the satellite is loaded on to the rocket, the entire rocket systems would again be tested.

The PSLV rocket is in a fully assembled condition and is waiting for Risat-1, the heaviest microwave remote sensing satellite to be built by India. The satellite has all weather, day and night imaging capability.

The satellite would be used for disaster prediction and agriculture forestry, and the high resolution pictures and microwave imaging could also be used for defence purposes.

The satellite’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can acquire data at C-band. In 2009, ISRO had launched 300 kg Risat-2 with Israeli built SAR enabling earth observation in all weather, day and night conditions.

Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for use. India has the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world providing imagery in a variety of spatial resolutions, from more than a metre ranging up to 500 metres, and is a major player in vending such data in the global market.

According to ISRO officials, the rocket that would sling Risat-1 would be PSLV’s upgraded variant called PSLV-XL.

The rocket would weigh around 320 tonnes at lift-off and would be the third such expendable rocket to be sent up by ISRO.

IANS

source: http://www.firstpost.com / April 09th, 2012

APSRTC to operate two Chinese Foton buses from Chennai and Bangalore to Tirumala

Business & Economy

State owned public sector undertaking, Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation is planning to operate Chinese buses from Chennai and Bangalore to Tirupati on an experimental basis.

State owned public sector undertaking, Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation is planning to operate Chinese buses from Chennai and Bangalore to Tirupati on an experimental basis. The PSU has already sent two Chinese buses to the Automotive Research Association of India, the Pune-based cooperative industrial research association by the automotive industry, with the Ministry of Industries, Government of India for approval. Once APSRTC gets formal certification, the two buses will start operating. Out of the two vehicles, one is a mini-bus of 8.5 metre length that has 33 seats, while the second vehicle is 12 metre long with a capacity of 41 seats. These two buses are imported from China, produced by the world’s largest bus manufacturer, Foton. In fact, the Beijing-based Foton has forged an alliance with Deccan Auto, a Hyderabad-based automobile company and are setting up a Rs 500 crore manufacturing facility at Patancheruvu in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh.
If approved by ARAI, APSRTC would be operating from Bangalore and Chennai to Tirumala on a trial basis and it finds viable, will order for more buses. The work of the new bus manufacturing unit at patancheruvu is progressing and the first bus would be rolled out next month.

As of now, two major home grown bus manufacturers, Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland dominate the space in the country. With the arrival of other players, the competition in this segment is going to be much more intense in the coming days. When the new India-China joint venture starts mass production of buses, the prices of their vehicles would be much lower than the Indian players. For instance, the APSRTC officials say that the average cost of an 8.5 metre long air-conditioned bus would be between Rs 30-35 lakh. In contrast with that, the Chinese bus with 225 horse power would cost only Rs 27 lakh. The corporation has bought two buses on a trial basis and if found, viable, it is likely to place a big order. Similarly, all the PSUs will be looking forward to buyer low-cost buses to minimise the expenditure.

source: http://www.prlog.org /  April 09th, 2012

ISB celebrates graduation day for PGP and PGPMAX

Business & Economy, Education

Hyderabad, April 7, 2012:

The Indian School of Business (ISB) today celebrated the Graduation Day of its 11th Graduating Class of the Post Graduate Programme in Management, Class of 2012. The day also marked the Graduation of the Founding Class of the Post Graduate Programme in Management for Senior Executives (PGPMAX) at the ISB. The Chief Guest for the occasion was Raghuram Rajan, Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and honorary Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of India. Also, gracing the occasion were Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ISB, Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB, members of the ISB Executive Board, faculty and several business leaders.

The eagerly awaited day marked the culmination of a phase of learning, fun and personal development for the Class of 2012 and the Founding Class of PGPMAX. The ceremony commenced with the Graduation Procession led by Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB. Rows of students dressed in their traditional graduation regalia sat together soaking in the words of wisdom from the esteemed guests. The Chief Guest Raghuram Rajan addressed the gathering and awarded Graduation Certificates to the 574 students of PGP and 57 students of the PGPMAX. Pride and joy reflected the mood for the evening as the families and friends of the students cheered them as they went onstage to receive their graduation certificates.

PGP Class of 2012 – Notable Achievements

Award winners

Every year, the ISB awards meritorious students by presenting them special awards. This year the school presented the ‘ISB Scholar of Excellence’ award to Himanshu Jain and Vamshidhar Reddy Gapal, in recognition of their demonstrated record of outstanding academic achievement throughout the programme. Santosh Mohanram was awarded the ‘Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Leadership’ for displaying exceptional all-round abilities. He also won the prestigious ‘Global Student Leadership Award’ awarded by the Graduate Business Forum (GBF) at New York. He was selected from among nominees of the 50 top B schools across the world.

Joining these achievers were 58 students who made it to the Dean’s list comprising of the top 10% of the class and 69 students were awarded with the ISB Young Leaders and Torch Bearer awards. Two faculty members were honoured as ‘Professors of the Year’ for excellence in teaching – Professor Prashant Kale as the “Professor of the Year for Core Courses’ and Professor Arun Pereira as the “Professor of the Year for Elective Courses.”

Year of intense activity and accomplishment

The Class of 2012 built on the wonderful tradition over the years of growing the richness of the programme through their fresh thinking and new initiatives. The Co2012 demonstrated leadership in thought and action throughout the year as they hosted over 13 conferences, consulted over 60 companies as part of the Experiential Learning Programme (ELP), participated in over 43 competitions, domestic and global and hosted 200+ CxO’s through various initiatives during the year. Some of the other interesting initiatives include –

  • ‘Pathshala’ – Students took on the role of tutors and held knowledge sharing sessions for the entire class to get an insight and understand best practices of the sectors where they had prior work experience.
  • ‘Diffusion’ – A workshop to train NGO staff to increase their knowledge of business and management skills in Patna and Hyderabad.
  • ‘ISB Sustainability’ – An initiative to make the campus environment friendly in line with global standards.
  • ‘ISB Wiki’ – An initiative that will act as a guiding tool for all the future incoming students to understand the school, its philosophy, people and the practices associated with it.

Class Gift

In line with the students’ tradition of giving back to the school, the PGP Class of 2012 gifted the school an amount of Rs 45 Lacs, which is being used towards the refurbishment of a state-of-the-art badminton and basketball courts, and upgrading the football ground, in the school. Founding Class of PGPMAX – Notable Achievements

Award winners

The Founding Class of PGPMAX had its own share of outstanding achievers. Rajiv Bajaj, PGPMAX student and Managing Director, India – Hollingsworth & Vose India Pvt Ltd was awarded the ‘Scholar of Excellence’ for topping the programme. He was joined by 5 other students who made it to the Dean’s List of outstanding performers. In a record of sorts, Professor Prashant Kale was also awarded the ‘Professor of the Year Award’ by the PGPMAX students. Life after ISB

Students of the Founding Class of PGPMAX have already demonstrated great success in their careers and have been contributing to their organizations with increased effectiveness. Several of them have moved into leaderships positions including that of CEO’s and COO’s. The entrepreneurs have also shown remarkable results as they either scaled or expanded their businesses further. PGPMAX also served as an ideation platform for the launch of four new ventures – a medical devices company, a construction company, a software company and a new executive search firm. ISB Global Alumni Network

With the graduation of the 11th Class of the PGP and the Founding Class of PGPMAX, the ISB brand is now represented by a 4200+ strong alumni network which is spread across 25 countries. This is further strengthened by 13000+ alumni of the Executive Educational programmes over the decade. The school also has over 150 alumni entrepreneurs in various sectors and a large number of alumni who are involved in their family businesses. The school is committed to providing a platform for the continuous development of its alumni through life-long learning programmes, career development and support. 2012-13 – Hyderabad & Mohali

Continuing its journey of successes, the ISB now enters its second phase of growth with the setting up of the Mohali campus. On April 14, 2012, the school will welcome the ~770 students of the Class of 2013 of the PGP, which will be delivered concurrently at two locations – Hyderabad (~560 students) and Mohali (~210 students). The school will function as one unified entity with a seamless integration across two campuses.

Quote Sheet

Ajit Rangnekar

“As all of you go forth into the real world outside, I hope you will remember what we have always exhorted you to do, and that is to always be responsible in your thoughts and, deeds. All of you have been brought up in good families and know what good and responsible behavior is. I hope we have added to that upbringing. I am sure that at all times, each one of you will act to the highest standards of ethical and moral values. That, more than anything else, will make your family and us proud.

Adi Godrej

“Leadership is about doing the tough things which need to be done and no one else wants to do, not just the popular ones. It is about telling the truth about how things are, not what people want to hear. A leader needs to think the future backwards, not the present forwards. He or she must have a clear vision of the future and then plan how to achieve it backwards through full involvement of his or her team.”

“Leadership development through constant exposure to new ideas is important. Your education is not over once you step out of business school. A critical factor of success is your ability to continuously learn and adapt to changes in your environment. How you do things is more important than what you do. Doing things right is more important than doing just the right” Raghuram Rajan

“The achievement of narrow personal goals — greater wealth, rapid promotion, or increasing renown – rarely brings you anything other than brief pleasure. I don’t claim to know the secret of happiness, but this seems obvious – if you like the journey, if you get pleasure from the work you do, it matters far less when, or indeed whether, you reach your destination. You have far more control over the journey you choose.”

source: http://www.isb.edu / Hyderabad, April 07th, 2012

Vizag boy competes in British GT

Records, All, Sports

Sailesh Bolisetti of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) who will be competing in the British GT motor racing championship in April this year. / The Hindu

Sailesh Bolisetti makes history by becoming the first-ever Indian to do so

History will be made when Sailesh Bolisetti from Visakhapatnam makes his debut in the demanding British GT debut with the Lotus Sport UK team this weekend (April 7 to 9) to become the first-ever Indian to do so. “Its a dream come true,” he exclaims before leaving for London.

YOUNG CHAMPION

“I wish to perform to my best despite my limited experience. There are no shortcuts in the learning curve. I also want to absorb as much information as possible from my team, including my experienced teammates,” the young champion saloon car racer says.

The seven-round 2012 season of the premier British Sportscar championship is said to be one of the most fiercely competitive in recent times, thanks to a strong 35-car grid featuring several manufacturer-backed entries.

The 23-year-old engineering graduate from Andhra University will be piloting the Lotus Evora in the GT4 category.

“Evora was a completely different beast compared to anything else I had driven before. Having raced front-wheel drive cars throughout my career, I had to make considerable changes to my driving style to adapt to the 360 bhp race car,” he explains.

“I was reasonably comfortable with its behaviour and am looking forward to carry the momentum into my first race weekend,” he states.

“To me, long, endurance-style racing appeals more than the 30-minute sprints,” says Sailesh, who is in his second year in international racing.

“I will be pushing hard from the very first practice session. In endurance racing, if a driver doesn’t perform at high-levels, it ends up dragging the whole team down even if everyone else is doing their best,” he explains.

POINTS SYSTEM

Sailesh said that the British GT points system was similar to the one employed in Formula 1 – 25 points to the winner all the way to a solitary point for the 10th placed finisher.

“I take this as a huge opportunity to realise my dream of making a mark in big-time racing,” Sailesh concludes.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V.Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad, April 06th, 2012

 

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport bags ISO certification

Business & Economy, Records, All

Hyderabad:

Adding another feather to its cap, the GMR Hyderabad InternationalAirportLtd’s (GHIAL) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has bagged the ISO 14064 -1: 2006 certification for its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory.

RGIA is the second airport in India, after Mumbai, and the third in Asia to have achieved this feat, that indicates the airport’s commitment towardsenvironmental issues. The audit of its GHG, which includes both Greenhousegas emissions and removals, was conducted by M/S Bureau Veritas that submitted its independent report on March 31.

The verification of GHG inventories will help the airport in reducing its carbon intensity, which is carbon footprint per passenger or per ton of cargo handled, cost of energy and meet the GHG accounting international norms in the aviation sector.

source: http://www.Spotlyt.com / Home> Business News / April 03rd, 2012

Kuwait Cricket Felicitates Senior Cricketers

Sports, Uncategorized

Ex-Players Honored With Lifetime Achievement Awards

Mohammed Yahya (Right), Receiving The Life Time Achievement Award From Asad Baig.

Kuwait City, April 3:

In commemoration of Kuwait National & Liberation day 2012, Kuwait Cricket, in a memorable & praiseworthy gesture took the initiative to honor and felicitate some senior cricketers in Kuwait by honoring them with Lifetime achievement awards. In fact, it was a reunion of many cricketers of the past & present, along with new generation players, especially the Kuwait National Under 19 women’s team. The gathering of players was quite emotional as they shared the fond memories of the past. These players are known for their passion, dedication and wonderful contribution to the sport of cricket and have always been emotionally attached to the cause of upliftment of cricket & sportsmanship.

The evening was memorable and it started with the address of Irfan Adil who briefed the crowd about Kuwait Cricket’s noble intension of honoring cricketers of the past. Asad Baig, Director General, Kuwait Cricket was the chief guest on this occasion and Lifetime achievement mementos were handed over to Andrew Pinho , Bader Muneer, Kazim Hussein, Mohammed Yahya, Arif Hussein and Chris Amarasekara. In his short message, Asad Baig, Director General, Kuwait Cricket praised the invaluable services rendered by these veteran cricketers and urged them to play role models for the younger generation and to inspire them with positive advises and to share their cricketing experience.

Mohammed Yahya
Currently, Mohammed Yahya is the senior most cricketer residing in Kuwait who had the distinction to play first class cricket in Pakistan in the Qaide Azam trophy where he had brushed his talents against the famous Pakistani cricketers to the likes of Intikab Alam, Mustaq Mohammed, Hanif Mohammed etc. Arriving in Kuwait in 1958, he joined Hawks Cricket club and later on moved to Cresent cricket club where he was the captain for a long time.
In his long tenure with Commercial Bank, where he joined in 1969, Mohammed Yahya was the pillar of the Bank team and this stylish wicket keeper batsman had the opportunity to play against visiting MCC, New Zealand & the England teams. A cracking knock of 177 runs for Commercial bank remains the hightest score of this humble and soft spoken cricketer.

Bader Muneer
A passionate cricketer who plays cricket to win and win only. A good allrounder, gifted with great bat speed, Bader Muneer on a given day can bat and destroy the opposition bowling to pieces and a canny off spinner with a wide range of variety deliveries in his armoury. Represented Unity Cricket club and has participated in all the local tournaments where he exhibited his cricket talents.

Kassim Hussein
A fiery right arm fast bowler who could swing the ball either ways was a terror to any batsmen playing cricket in the early 70’s. Such was the command that he had on the ball, Kazim Hussein could swing a match to his team’s favor which he had performed many a times.
Having played cricket with many great test cricketers in India such as the all time great Indian batsman Sunil Gavaker, Kazim Hussein was the lead bowler for Unity cricket club in Kuwait.

Andrew Pinho
The tall and lanky Andrew Pinho learned and played cricket in the twin cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad, India, under the guidance of late M.L. Jaisimha, who was a former Indian test player. In Hyderabad league, was fortunate to play against most of the national cricketers to the likes of Abbas Ali Baig, Abid Ali, Govind Raj, Jaisimha, and E.A.S Prasanna etc.
Having been in Kuwait since 1975, started playing for Unity Cricket club, Ahmadi and scored 1000 runs for Unity Cricket Club for two consecutive seasons. Also captured 50 wickets in a season on two consecutive seasons. Represented Casuals and played in local prestigious tournaments like Bawa Shield, Speed Bird Trophy, Jashanmal Trophy and four Nations Trophy.
Selected to play for the Kuwait National Team and toured India, Pakistan, England and Denmark in1979/80. Played against the visiting National Cricket Team of Pakistan, led by IMRAN KHAN at Ahmadi Cricket Grounds. Following year played against the visiting National Cricket Team of Pakistan led by JAVED MIANDAD at NC grounds. Also played against the visiting Air India Cricket Team led by Mohinder Amarnath at Ahmadi Cricket Grounds and against the visiting English Team led by Keith Fletcher and Mike Gating at Al Arabi Football Stadium.

Chris Amarasekara
A gentleman cricketer who upholds the traditional term “Spirit of cricket” is Christopher Amarasekara (fondly called Chris) from Sri Lanka and very few who have watched him play cricket in Kuwait can forget the flashy and quick silver wicket keeper batsman who in the mid eighties played in the Hubara and Unity Leagues for Lanka Colts and Wings.
Selected in 1988 to represent Kuwait Select XI against the visiting British Airways team led by Farokh Engineer which included the left arm England spinner Don Wilson. Awarded Man of the Match for a half century and 5 victims behind the stumps in that match and was complimented for his excellent keeping by none other than Farokh Engineer who himself was stumped by Chris. After invasion represented Hawks & Casuals and Lanka Lions in the Hubara and Unity Leagues. Still active in cricket, Chris has many cherishing and happy moments with the bat and as wicket-keeper.

Arif Hussein
Arif Hussein, a stylish opening batsman represented the North Zone combined University team in India which included Kapil Dev, Arun Lal, Kirti Azad, Hari Gidwani etc., and later on represented the Central Zone U-22 team where he scored a match winning innings of 78 runs against West Zone which had the Indian batting legends Dilip Vengsarkar & Sandeep Patil. Blended with perfect batting technique, Arif Hussein played for Starlite cricket club in Kuwait and was known for his precise timing and nimble foot-work and had played in all the local tournaments like Bawa Shield, Speed Bird Trophy, Jashanmal Trophy and four Nations Trophy.
Represented Kuwait Wanderers in an unofficial International tournament and was declared the best fielder of the tournament. Represented Kuwait against visiting Indian, Pakistan & England teams and while touring the Indian sub-continent had scored a scintillating century against Khar Gymkhana.

source: http://www.arabtimesonline.com / April 04th, 2012

 

Vasathi’s First Annual Get-together Was About Fun, Entertainment and Power-packed Performanc

Business & Economy

Hyderabad, March 11th, 2012:

It was an evening to remember. Vasathi’s first annual get-together– Circle of Stars, held atHotel Green Park, Ameerpet, on Sunday was all about fun unlimited, entertainment galore and electrifying performances.

The event took off with the lighting of the lamp by P V Ravindra Kumar, CEO and Satish, Co-chairman of the company. Addressing the occasion the CEO said, “Two year back, the foundation of Vasathi Housing was laid to exclusively address the need of middle income group and create a benchmark in the ‘Affordable Housing’ segment. The company has grown tremendously since then. At present, it has 110+ plus employees, offices in 2 cities and 3 ongoing projects. The company has also grown into three SBUs: Region Holdings Corporate Advisory Services Pvt Ltd., Vasathi Housing Ltd., Clarus Infra Projects Ltd.”

Post the lamp lighting ceremony, awards were handed over to the employees who won the in-house cricket tournament that was held a few days back. Awards were also given to the employees’ kid/kids who contributed their creative pieces for an in-house competition. This was followed by a concluding speech by G Srinivasa Rao, Deputy General Manager – HR.

Special attraction for the evening was an electrifying performance by talented singer Sravana Bhargavi of ‘Simhamanti Chinnode’ fame. Setting the stage on fire she crooned a few popular numbers from her already overloaded kitty.

Post Sravana Bhargavi’s performance, the guests savored the sumptuous spread and connected with friends, acquaintances and colleagues.

About Vasathi:

Vasathi Housing Ltd. is purpose built to be a dedicated national level player in India’s ‘Affordable Luxury Housing’ residential market segment. Since its inception in mid-2009, Vasathi’s sole focus has been to define and deliver to customers the concept of ‘Affordable Luxury’ in India.

Vasathi aims to deliver 15 K housing units in major urban agglomerations across India by 2015. Its endeavor is to leverage the world-class techniques and practices from within and outside the real estate sector to deliver distinctive products to its customers. In keeping with the innovative world class techniques, Vasathi has developed some ‘Cutting Edge Industry Concepts’ such as value sourcing, design to cost and lean construction. Vasathi embraces technology in every aspect of its business, from construction site process automation, to sales and customer service.

Vasathi has launched its first project Vasathi Anandi (October 2010) in Hyderabad. Vasathi Anandi is a self-contained a gated community near APPA Junction. It contains ~500 apartments of sizes ranging from 262 sq ft to 1355 sq ft and price ranging from ~6 lakhs (Studio) and 33 lakhs (3bhk). Vasathi Navya and Vasathi Avanté are planned for launch in December 2011. Vasathi plans to launch two additional projects in Yelahanka, Bangalore and in Sholinganallur, Chennai.

Vasathi aims to make its projects green sensible. In keeping with this vision of Vasathi, Anandi leverages pragmatic and measurable methods to improve performance across key metrics such as energy saving, water efficiency, CO2 emission, indoor environmental quality, etc. Vasathi is committed to obtaining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for all its projects.

For more information please visit: www.vasathihousing.com

source: http://www.prsafe.com / Real Estate / April 04th, 2012

 

HCA to get Rs.10 crore

Sports

Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is in for a bonanza, thanks to Star TV network bagging the telecast rights of Indian cricket from 2012-18 valued at Rs. 3,851 crore. HCA, like any other affiliated unit of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will be getting its share of Rs.10 crore from the telecast rights.

“This will be the same for all the associations irrespective of whether or not they stage an international match or not,” says N. Shivlal Yadav, BCCI vice-president and also vice-president of HCA.

Shivlal, who attended the Board meeting in Chennai on Monday, informed The Hindu that even for Indian Premier League, the State Cricket Associations will get a similar amount irrespective whether they host any match or not by way of their share in ad revenue and other related subjects.

All this will be apart from the annual BCCI grant which runs into a few crores of rupees for all the State Cricket Associations to spend for development of infrastructure and promotion of sport across their domain. “But it is unfortunate that this time around, HCA might end up in a ‘no loss, no gain’ situation with regard to hosting the four IPL matches since we are already forced to pay Rs.75 lakh to the Visaka Industries (the first sponsor which pumped in money to facilitate start of the construction of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium),” Shivlal said to a query.

“The HCA gets Rs.30 lakh to take care of the expenses for hosting each IPL match. Since we are hosting four it should be a comfortable Rs.1.20 crore. Now, we are left (after paying the Visaka Group) with only Rs.45 lakh which might not just be sufficient to conduct these matches,” Shivlal explained.

“It is an unfortunate situation which we could not avoid. But it is a fact that HCA might not end up making profit from these IPL matches,” Shivlal insisted.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V. Suhrahmanyam / Hyderabad, April 03rd, 2012