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Robots @ school

Waves, a Hyderabad-based school that offers activity-based learning with the help of latest technologies, has announced the launch of Waves-Roboclub, a robotics club for children aged above seven years.

A five-day robotics workshop is being organised in association with the Singapore-based ‘12Brains’ to kick off the Waves Roboclub. The school believes that children are not being given enough exposure to creative activities apart from textbook studies or sports. Apart from organising exciting shows on the science of robotics, the camp will also organise a children’s contest.

After its conclusion, students would be offered free registration into the Waves Roboclub to help them continue with their robotic explorations.

eSeva data centre crashes again

For the second time in 10 days, eSeva centres in some parts of the city, including the one at Khairatabad encountered problems. As a result, hundreds of citizens could not pay their bills as the staff expressed their inability to complete the transactions due to technical problems.

Scores of people who went to pay their telephone and electricity bills had to wait for hours together for their turn. The problem was on account of the eSeva server that was busy accepting transactions of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA). As April 30 is the last date for payment of all RTA taxes including vehicle and road taxes, there was more rush at some e-seva centres.

The eSeva data centre sends data to the RTA server relating to its transactions and as Friday was the penultimate day for payment of taxes, the data was too huge for the server to handle

ATI opens key R&D center

In Hyderabad in south India, ATI Technologies yesterday opened the doors to its largest R&D center outside North America. The new center will be a key R&D center for ATI's consumer and PC business units, the company said.

For competitive reasons, the company has been vague about how many engineers it will hire and how much it will invest in its new Indian operation. ATI chief technology officer Adrian Hartog said it would make a "multi-million dollar investment" in the country and hire more than a hundred engineers this year.

Unlike some offshore chip-design outfits, in which engineers sometimes do just grunt work, such as place and route, ATI's Indian-based teams will design whole chips, said spokesman Chris Evenden.

By giving engineers responsibility for entire chips, ATI hopes to be able to offer high-level jobs that will target top talent in the country, he said. Engineers will develop next-generation audio and digital multimedia chips for personal computers, cell phones and high-definition TVs.

Ontario, Canada-based ATI made its first move into India earlier this year when it bought CuTe Solutions, which has a center in Hyderabad. The terms of the deal, which was announced in February and closed last month, were not disclosed.

Oman Air plans flights

Oman Air, the national carrier of Oman, which at present operates from four cities in India, plans to start operations from two more cities, Delhi and Hyderabad from June 1. The airline will operate four flights a week from Delhi and three flights a week from Hyderabad.

Digital maps within a year

Digital maps of Hyderabad city will be ready by December 2006. The maps of city road network, storm water drains, pipeline network and green cover will be taken by using Geographical Information System (GIS). These maps can be used to locate and solve civic problems as well as to prepare future plans to provide basic amenities in the city.

This is part of a mega project— Computer Aided Utility Mapping— initiated by the Planning Commission in six major cities in the country including Mumbai, Banglore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The Delhi Metro Corporation had started this GIS mapping four years ago and has completed by now.

Three days ago, the Planning Commission had organised a workshop on this project in New Delhi which was attended by the commissioners of all the six municipal corporations. National Informatics Centre will be the implementing agency for the said project.

"Hyderabad city’s GIS mapping will be ready by next year. We can start the work immediately as the MCH has already purchased software worth Rs 35 lakh a few years ago," MCH commissioner Chitra Ramachandran told The Times of India.

The MCH will set up a cell with employees from various departments including Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Central Power Distribution Company Limited, Traffic Police and Bharath Sanchar Nigam Limited, the commissioner said.

NH 9 to be widened

  • 4-lane road to be converted into 14 lanes on 12-km stretch
  • 22 junctions to be improved
  • Engineering wing of JNTU preparing plans
  • Paid parking along the road mooted

The Ranga Reddy district administration has proposed to widen National Highway 9 and carry out improvement of important junctions en route to ease traffic congestion and reduce the incidence of accidents.

The existing four-lane road on the Vijayawada route is proposed to be widened to 14 lanes for a stretch of 12 km from Gaddianaram up to 2 km beyond Hayatnagar at a cost of Rs. 56 crores. Besides, 22 junctions have been identified in consultation with the Cyberabad police for immediate improvement both on NH 9 and other important roads.

The district administration is also considering using the GIS technology for development of roads, water and drainage system. Properties will also be mapped using the GIS. The Kapra and Malkajgiri municipalities have already begun work on the project.

Speaking of Indians going places

O! Aishwarya Rai on Oprah!


Sumith

Saving Charminar

Realising that pollution caused by heavy vehicular traffic is affecting the famous Charminar, authorities in Hyderabad are seeking to ban vehicles in the area.

However, they are facing opposition from the shopkeepers whose business thrives because of the Charminar.

The city's planners want to create a landscape in a 30-metre buffer zone around the 412-year-old monument. However, the pedestrianisation project has run into trouble.

"If they are going to create a buffer zone and stop traffic, why demolish our shops?," asked a shopkeeper.

Shopkeepers oppose move

Shopkeepers argue moving the bangle shops away will diminish the old city aura of the Charminar and also rob them of their USP.

"If this happens our business will shut. What our ancestors did will all stop," rues a local shopkeeper.

No structure more than 10 metres high is to be allowed around the Charminar.

Necessity more than luxury

But decongesting the area is a necessity rather than a luxury.

Heavy vehicular traffic virtually kisses the Charminar and studies have established that air and noise pollution are damaging the monument.

As a result, repair work has become an all-year affair.

"The shops have been operating from there for hundreds of years now. So if we now want to acquire those properties, they are asking for alternate land. And the land they have identified is under dispute,'' said M V Sathyanarayana, Additional Commissioner, MCH.

The Rs 139 crore 'Charminar-by-foot' project was conceived five years ago and the authorities hope it will be completed at least in the next three years.

Have you heard of the Musi project?

Yes, Cleaning Musi, the decks are being cleared for the long awaited Rs 339 crore project of cleansing Musi river—the biggest in Asian continent. The work is likely to be completed in the next two years.

Engineer-in-Chief and Director (Projects) of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewage Board (HMWS&S) D Ramakrishna said that the delay was on account of problems related to land acquisition in Jiyaguda. But he was confident of finishing the project by June 2007.

The Central Government’s contribution is approximately Rs 238 crore. The state government is providing the balance funds of Rs 101 crore.

“The project envisages five Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at various places The STP at Attapur will have a combined capacity of 21 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of Jiyaguda and 30 MLD of Nandimuslaiguda plants,” he said.

While the work at Nagole (172 MLD) will be grounded in the next month, the tenders for Nallacheruvu (30 MLD) will be called by April 30. Ramakrishna said that sewage water being carried by 18 intersection and diversion canals in Musi will also be intercepted by erecting walls between the main canals and the water itself. Works on the five important drains running for a length of 33 km are still undergoing.

While the works at Ramanthapur to Nallacheruvu are in progress, tenders have been called for works at at NIS Main, SIS Main, Duplicate A Main and Jiyaguda Main. Till now, works approximately worth Rs 144 crore have been taken up by the board.

The project initiated in 2002 was funded by the National River Plan Action Assistance and has been approved by National River Conservation Directorate.

An 8 Acre club house

The Andhra Pradesh Housing Board has selected Chiraan Fort Club for developing a clubhouse and `Speck Systems' for developing the commercial complex in its Singapore class township at Pocharam.

The club is to come up on an eight-acre spread with four acres, as the green area while the commercial complex will be built on an area of three acres. The Housing Board has already selected shopkeepers for selling essential commodities like fruits and vegetables, coffee shop, dry cleaners, etc., by putting cement panels around the stilt already planned by Cesma designers.

The APHB also claimed that after taking "proper measurements" following the Bureau of Indian Standards computation, the plinth areas of the flats - two/three bedrooms notified to be 1,100 SFT and 1,400 SFT, respectively, was more by a minimum of 30 SFT to 100 SFT.

Though the cost for the "extra" area for each individual flat was working out to be a maximum of Rs. 21,000 to Rs. 1.4 lakhs, the APHB had decided to absorb the cost working out to be about Rs. 4.5 crores, instead of passing it on to the customers.

Soldier as a system project

The Defence Research and Development Organisation in Hyderabad has embarked on a major futuristic project to make the Indian soldier a smart combatant by equipping him with a complete communication system, weaponry and specially-made clothing fitted with sensors to measure the body condition. Several defence institutions, universities, private sector and user agencies are collaborating in the "soldier as a system" project with the Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) coordinating it.

The project aims at making the soldier independent with an increased decision-making capacity. "Such a soldier will be a unit by himself. He will able to see, constantly communicate with the unit and fight," ARDE's Director A.S. Rajagopal told The Hindu here. Quite a few other countries also have begun similar projects to have "smart and intelligent" soldiers for future battlefield situations. While part of the system is expected to be delivered in three to four years, the project is likely to be completed in seven years.

ARDE has also developed a unique canopy severance system for the multi-role Light Combat Aircraft under which the roof gets fragmented and enables the pilot to parachute to safety during emergencies. Its distinct advantage is that the canopy breaks open without injuring the pilot, just at the pull of a handle.

The pilot can be rescued even if he is unconscious during a crash-landing by the pull of a similar external handle. The system was mounted, tested and cleared by the United Kingdom-based Martin Bakers firm that developed the seat for the LCA.

Finding an address in Hyderabad a pain

Locating a house in Hyderabad merely by its postal address is never an easy task, as the long and complicated addresses are a visitor's nightmare. A typical address in Hyderabad could read like '202, 10-2-312/313/A/1, Road no. 4. Hyderabad'. "It does not follow a particular sequence. The house opposite to me is 444, the very next house is 427," a local resident said.

Continuing problem

The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad established a house numbering cell in 1993 to simplify the house numbers. But 12 years later, hardly one-fourth of the city has got new numbers.

"This is a very big project. It requires a lot of manpower and funds, and the programme has been delayed due to shortages," said M V Sathyanarayana, Additional Commissioner, MCH. To make matters worse, wherever new numbers have been allotted, there are now two sets of addresses in use.

"I prefer old numbers. With new numbers, finding an address is tough. I don't remember them. I have been putting letters on the old addresses for the last 32 years," said J Ramachandriah, a local postman. Going by the pace of the numbering project, it will take half a century before all of Hyderabad gets new numbers. But with the explosion in the city's growth, it may then be time for a fresh numbering project, all over again.

Skybus proposed to ease city traffic

After the monorail and metro rail proposals to ease traffic congestion in the twin-cities, a Malaysian firm has come forward to build a skybus—in which two linked coaches suspended from raised rails ferry passengers or freight.

Malaysian-based M/s Doxport Technology has offered to bear the total cost of the project—Rs 3,500 crore—on a "build, operate and transfer (BOT)" basis for 20 years.

Moving at a height of six metre above the ground with an alighting and boarding point at every one km, the skybus would run on eight city routes covering 70 km, according to the proposal.

B Rajaram, a former engineer at the Konkan Railway Corporation and Indian Railways, who has designed the sky bus technology, made a presentation of the model to chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday. "The technology has undergone trails in Goa. Except for a minor accident, the experiment was successful," Rajaram said.

The sky bus can carry goods up to 30 tonnes and, Rajaram claimed, also be designed to clean roads at nights. The project would be completed in two years if the government cleared it, he added.

Virinchi Technologies PAT up 59.1%

Virinchi Technologies, an e-business collaboration solutions provider focusing on B2B space, today closed the financial year 2004-05 with a growth of 71.85 percent to Rs.182.97 million as against Rs.106.47 million in financial year 2003-04.

Net Profit after tax increased by 59.1 percent to Rs 57.23 million in 2004-05 as against Rs 35.97 million in 2003-04. The total income of the Hyderabad based company for Q4 2005 is Rs.54.8 million as against Rs 40.34 million during Q4 2004, clocking a growth of 35.66 percent.

Net profit after tax increased by 9.75 percent to Rs.18.56 million during Q4 2005, as against Rs 16.93 million for Q4 2004.

AppLabs acquires KeyLabs

AppLabs Technologies, a software testing and development services company managed by Indian American Sashi Reddy, has acquired KeyLabs, a software and hardware testing and specialized certification services company. The acquisition bolsters AppLabs position as one of the world’s largest independent software testing firms and sets the stage for the company’s expansion into key growth sectors.

Sashi Reddi, CEO, AppLabs Technologies said “KeyLabs brings a team of testing experts, as well as a quality assurance lab that ranks among the most advanced in North America to complement our existing team and facility in Hyderabad. AppLabs now has greater resources to extend its reach and growth in both geographical and vertical markets.”

Krishna water for city

The Rs. 107 crore Sahebnagar - Lingampally pipeline that will bring 35 MGD Krishna water to almost the length and breadth of the city as part of the contingency plan for the summer of 2006 will be grounded in the first week of May.

The financial and technical bids for the 42 km pipeline were opened here on Tuesday and referred to the high power tenders committee headed by the Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration, S.P. Singh.

Ocimum introduces biochips

Ocimum Biosolutions has announced that it has launched OciChips, its brand of biochips that are used in drug testing and disease studies. The biochips were formerly known as MWG arrays. Ocimum recently acquired German genomics major MWG Biotech AG's microarrays and microarray services division for an undisclosed sum.

Ms Anuradha Acharya, CEO of the Hyderabad-based life science R&D enabling company, said, "Ocimum completed the acquisition of this division recently and we are happy to continue the superior technology offered by these chips. We also plan to retain most of MWG's GD (genomic diagnosis) business customers and offer newer products and services."

While these operations will continue in Germany, Ocimum said it planned to start wet lab services in India soon.

Roaming rates tumble

Roaming charges cut by 33%, Bharti & Hutch will slash rates from May 1. Cellular service providers Bharti, Hutch and Idea today slashed roaming charges by 33 per cent to Rs 1.99 a minute.

While Bharti and Hutch will reduce the charges from May 1, Idea has not specified a date but a spokesperson said the decision could be taken sooner. The announcement came within hours of Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran's suggestion that private players should reduce roaming charges.

At a summit organised by the Cellular Operators Association of India, Maran said private operators should emulate Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, which did not charge any roaming tariff and only billed subscribers for long-distance calls.

Matisse Networks Operations

Matisse Networks, innovator of DWDM Packet Switching for Multi-Service Metro Networks, today announced the appointment of a Head for its India Design Center based in Hyderabad.

With breakthrough technology, Matisse is among the most forward thinking networking companies in the world today. Matisse's India Design Center has been in operation since July 2003, and has primary responsibility for Matisse's innovative distributed layer 2 and layer 3 switching and routing functionality, as well as for network management applications.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., Matisse is leveraging patented DWDM packet switching technology to develop multi-service metro transport infrastructure. Having raised over $21M, Matisse is backed by the leading venture firms Menlo Ventures, Walden International and Woodside Fund. Additional information on Matisse is available at: http://www.matissenetworks.com.

Thai to fly Hyderabad

Thai Airways International, which currently has daily flights to Mumbai and Delhi, five flights to Kolkata, four flights to Chennai and five flights to Bangalore, has planned to commence operations to Hyderabad by October. The carrier also plans to increase capacity in the Delhi-Bangkok route keeping in view the constant increase in traffic. "We had planned to start the Hyderabad operation in May, but now it will only be in October. We will add the new port of call in the winter schedule," said Ravi Talwar, area sales manager - India, Thai Airways.

He got what he wanted

Gudipati Anantaram has received the letter of admission into MD (radio diagnosis) course in Osmania Medical College. The top ranker in the PG entrance examination had to endure mental agony and fight a legal battle to get a seat in MD (radio diagnosis) course. In the first counselling held last month, he had to be content, much against his choice, with the MD (general medicine) seat as the roster system under GO Ms No 44 denied him admission to the seat of his choice. He moved the High Court in protest and the court struck down the controversial GO and ordered recounselling. With the NTR-UHS now following a merit-cum-roster system for PG admissions, Anantaram had no problem this time in getting admission into the subject of his choice. Ananaram happens to be the brother-in-law of Cricketer V.V.S.Lakshman.

Now, KPO in patents

AFTER software, financial services, clinical research, outsourcing IPR could soon emerge as the new KPO (knowledge process outsourcing), in which India can become a global player. With more than 100 multinationals setting up their research and development (R&D) laboratories, India has turned into one of the global hubs for research.

Corporates and research institutes planning frontline research need proper IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) expertise to pick the correct area, avoid duplication and invest their time, human resources and money to gain competitive advantage. In view of the tremendous growth in knowledge and proliferation of patents, the task has become tough. Hence, the space for specialised entities that can provide this key input is starting to grow. The new patent regime and the growing competition from multinationals have also brought patents into the limelight among Indian companies.

One of the early entrants into this potential, money-spinner is the Hyderabad-based SciTech Patent Art Services (SPA), which provides the end-to-end IP management services to help clients optimise their returns on R&D investments.

Internet a boon for students

They just logged in and got their respective marks. Springing a pleasant surprise on students and parents alike, the Intermediate second year results were accessible online a few minutes after the official announcement. Unlike the inaccessibility of first year results due to jamming of web networks, all the 11 websites given for the results functioned without any glitches on Monday.

"I knew my results within half-an-hour of its declaration. There were no problems in opening the websites," said Deepthi who got more than 960 marks in the MPC group.

The Internet cafes in different parts of the city had several student visitors eager to find out their results. According to a Board of Intermediate Education (BIE), all the websites were freely accessible immediately after the results were out.

Wockhardt plans 2 hospitals

Wockhardt Hospitals, a leading speciality hospital chain, on Saturday announced its plans to open two hospitals in Hyderabad. Wockhardt will establish two world-class heart hospitals in Hyderabad, which will be operational in three months, company chairman Habil Khorakiwala said.

The hospitals, to be opened in a long-term association with the Kamineni Group, a well-known medical education and healthcare group in the state, will be set up at Abid and L B Nagar in Hyderabad. Initially, it will be for heart care and other specialities like orthopaedics, neurology and minimal access surgery would be added later, Khorakiwala said adding, the Worckhard-Kamineni combine will provide 300 beds for super speciality treatment.

"As a national hospital chain, we are delighted to enter the healthcare city and with our experience of over one and a half decades in cardiology and cardiac surgery, we plan to enhance Hyderabad's reputation as a healthcare destination", he said.

TCS tops in VAT software

The multi-crore IT consulting, services and business process outsourcing major has not only developed and implemented the software in eight states, but is also on the verge of concluding deals with five others.

The Andhra Pradesh government, incidentally, is the happiest with this development. For, with every other state that deploys this software based on the solution implemented in AP, the state government gets a royalty.

The Hyderabad centre of TCS has developed the software for Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Tripura, Nagaland and Mizoram. For the northeastern states, it has collaborated with its Kolkata centre in developing the software solution.

Besides TCS, the other players in this domain are CMC Limited, Crown Agents and Mastek Limited. While the UK-based Crown Agents has tied up with the Karnataka government in this regard, Delhi-based CMC Limited has deployed its software in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In fact, TCS is also implementing the VAT software in Delhi with CMC Limited.

Houston and Hyderabad tie up

In order to promote better understanding of Indian culture and civilization, the University of Houston and University of Hyderabad are joining forces to offer a new "Study India Programme" .

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Tuesday between the two universities, to facilitate an exchange of scholars and students and to offer students full credit courses in Indian Studies.

"We look forward to the expanded academic and cultural opportunities that this affiliation with the University of Hyderabad will bring," Jerald W Strickland, interim senior vice president of academic affairs and provost said.

"Given India's growing power, University of Houston recognized the need to create a mechanism for its under-graduate students to learn about the country's history, culture, religious studies and economics," Parul Fernandes, Director of International Studies and programmes said. "The programme will work to develop research, establish a resource center and help the Houston business community," said Krishna Vavilala, Director Indian Culture Center.

Vavilala, who initiated the project, hopes to help create a chair for Indian Studies at University of Houston with support from the 100,000 people of the Indo American Community living in the Greater Houston area. University of Houston also has affiliation with University of Mumbai and the NIILM University and the center for Management Studies in New Delhi.

Northgate net zooms 639%

Hyderabad-based Northgate BPO Services has announced a 613 per cent growth in turnover to Rs 50.86 crore as compared with Rs 8.31 crore in the previous fiscal.

According to the unaudited results, the company earned a net profit of Rs 7.37 crore in 2004-05, up 639 per cent from Rs 0.99 crore in 2003-04.

According to a press release, Northgate earned 80 per cent of its revenues from telecom services while the remaining 20 per cent was from online advertising ($ 2 million).

GMR gets off to a flying start

Hyderabad International Airport, being built by the GMR Group, is indicative of new revenue models.

Consider these facts: Hyderabad is increasingly becoming a hub for domestic airlines; it handles 130 domestic and international flights daily and 3 million passengers annually; and traffic is growing at a scorching 33 per cent (almost twice the rate of Mumbai airport’s 18 per cent) per year.

The current airport is operating under serious capacity constraints, but work has already begun on a new airport on the city’s outskirts where, if all goes well, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (or GMR, as he is popularly known) would like to see the world’s largest aircraft, an Airbus-380, touch down in 2008.

In what is the largest greenfield project for the low-profile, Bangalore-based GMR Group so far, Rao is investing Rs 1,500 crore to build the new airport in Hyderabad with a capacity for handling 5 million passengers in the first phase (early 2008).

By the end of the second phase (2018), the airport will have been expanded to handle over 20 million passengers. By that time the group would have sunk over Rs 5,000 crore into the project.

But that is not proving sufficient to slake the group’s ambition to become the country’s largest airport infrastructure and services company.

GMR (with German giant Fraport) is also aggressively bidding for the Delhi and Mumbai airports that have been opened up for privatisation. If it lucks out, the group will need to shell out Rs 5,000 crore each for the modernisation of both airports, which carry four-five times more traffic than Hyderabad.

Satyam gain from outsourcing

Satyam Computer Services, India's fourth-biggest software company by market value, said Thursday that its fourth quarter profit rose 53 percent on higher sales.

Net income rose to 2.06 billion rupees, or $47 million, in the three months ended March 31 from 1.34 billion rupees a year earlier, according to Indian accounting rules, the Hyderabad-based company said in a statement. Sales increased 39 percent to 10.1 billion rupees.

Satyam and larger rivals such as Infosys Technologies and Wipro are increasing profit as companies like General Electric send work to India, where software writers are paid one-sixth of the equivalent U.S. wage.

"They have concentrated on a few businesses and are trying to cut down costs," said Gurunath Mudlapur, head of research at Khandwala Securities. "They are trying to grow the few clients to larger accounts and manage them to enhance their operating margins."

He is maintaining a "buy" rating on the stock.

Satyam forecast sales would rise by between 26 percent and 28 percent in the year ending March 31, 2006, and earnings per share would increase by 20 percent.

It said fourth quarter sales rose from 7.28 billion rupees a year earlier, while it added 28 clients in the period. The company, which employed 19,164 workers at the end of March, hired 1,499 employees in the quarter.

Larger rival Tata Consultancy added 1,775 employees in the quarter for a total of 45,714 workers, while Infosys added 1,521 employees to bring its work force to 36,750.

Satyam said it will pay a final dividend of 3 rupees a share.

Satyam buys Citisoft

Satyam Computer Services Ltd has acquired Citisoft, an investment management consulting firm, for $23.2 million. Citisoft, with presence in London, Boston and New York, has one of the largest business consulting expertise in the world.

The consideration for the acquisition consists of a guaranteed payment of $23.2 million, payable over three years, and an additional performance based payment of up to $15.5 million, also to be paid over a three-year period, the Hyderabad-based company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday. Citisoft would operate as a subsidiary of Satyam and be a part of Satyam's Financial Services Group, which has been at the forefront of business transformation initiatives in the securities and capital markets, it said.

A few of FSG's strategic clients were instrumental in introducing Citisoft to the company and recommended a strategic relationship between the two organisations, it said.

City to set up ITeS centre

An institute to train students for the booming IT-Enabled Services (ITeS) sector, including business process outsourcing (BPO) openings, is on the anvil. The Institute of Service Management (ISM) will be set up by the AP Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) at Masab Tank to train undergraduates, graduates and even candidates with higher qualifications. APSCHE chairman Prof K C Reddy said students would be offered two programmes — a foundation course and an advanced course — for a nominal fee.

Students will receive free CDs, books, while course ware would be made available online.

An Intelligent mall

It’s ‘malling’ alright. Even before you can explore what’s on offer in the latest mall, another springs up boasting of better facilities and choices. However, most of these malls are plagued by a common problem – parking. Space is at a premium, one may argue, but now malls are innovating.

The Maheshwari group of companies that has the MPM mall to its credit, is mulling automated car parking and this may form part of its projects in Hyderabad by December-end. The group is looking at setting up three more malls in the city in the next couple of years and the earliest among them is likely to be Bonsai – a 60,000-square feet mall at Himayatnagar.

It is planning to install a three-level automated car parking system at the mall, which is likely to be the first in Hyderabad. Automated car parking systems have so far been installed in a very few cities in India like Mumbai, Bangalore and Jaipur.

“We are introducing puzzle parking system at the basement where we will be able to automatically arrange the cars horizontally as well as vertically in three levels,” says Girish Mallpani, chief executive officer, MPM-The Mall.

“This way there will be optimal utilisation of space. We will be able to fit 250 cars at one time at Bonsai,” he adds. Due to this multi-level car parking system, the available land space, which will be around 30,000 sq ft, would accommodate an additional 100 cars. While in normal parking, only 150 cars can be accommodated in this space. And since it is automated, one has to just enter the car details in a computer through which he gets an identification number. The car then gets parked with the help of a hydraulic lift system. The identification number is later used to retrieve the car.

The group is also looking at introducing a tower-parking system at its existing MPM Mall to increase its parking capacity. In this system (also automated), two towers will be set up parallel to each other. A lift will be operational between the two towers that will carry the car up and bring it down and park it at an available space. At present, MPM can accommodate 150 cars at a time and with this system, it is slated to add space for another 100 cars.

Such systems are beneficial not only for the developers in terms of creation of additional space but also for visitors in terms of hassle-free parking. This additional service is, however, sure to come at a cost. Mallpani is, at present, in talks with a few companies in this regard, and so did not divulge the exact amount required to set up and operate such parking systems. He, however, adds that each system is likely to cost at least Rs 3 crore. And this might mean higher parking charges for the users, admits Malpani. But then, it’s a small price for the comfort of smooth entry, easy parking and cool exit.

Hyderabad may get underwater world

Hyderabad is likely to have an underwater world showcasing thousands of marine species including sharks, if the ongoing efforts of the Andhra Pradesh government’s newly formed APInvest succeed. The project, first-of-its-kind in the country, will be set up beside the Hussain Sagar lake and may cost anywhere between Rs 100 crore and Rs 125 crore, according to initial estimates.

Singapore-based Centosa Leisure Group, which runs a similar project in that city state, has evinced interest to set up the underwater world project, during a meeting with C S Rao, chief executive officer of APInvest and IT advisor to the state government, in Singapore a couple of days ago.

According to Rao, a team of the Centosa group is visiting Hyderabad on May 6, 2005, to study the place and the prospects for the proposed project. “We want this project to come up beneath the 90-acre Sanjeevaiah Park located on the banks of Hussain Sagar. This project will be a major tourist attraction,” Rao, who returned from Singapore after a three-day official tour on April 17, told Business Standard.

The state tourism department and the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda), which owns the Sanjeevaiah Park, will be involved in the project, he said. Apart from the underwater world, a 3D and 4D movie screening facility where the audience will travel through a simulated real-life experience, is also being planned by the Centosa group in Hyderabad, Rao said.

According to him, talks are also on with CPG Corporation of Singapore on water treatment and reusable water project, and with Techno 1 Corporation on the Science and Technology Park project at Hyderabad. “Techno 1 wants a huge chunk of land at commercial prices and proposes to run the park on its own. The state government would provide the infrastructural support if the plan materialises,” Rao said.

The business model for the underwater world and other projects is expected to be finalised after the teams from both the companies visit Hyderabad. CPG group is scheduled to send its delegation on May 23, 2005. “While we have grown big in medical and spiritual tourism, the state is still lagging behind in recreational tourism. This is all the more required in places like Hyderabad where people from the fast growing IT and bio-tech industry and other professions look forward to quality recreation,” Rao said.

Matrix Lab wins USFDA nod

Matrix Laboratories Ltd on Tuesday announced that it has received USFDA approval for its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) manufacturing facility located at Kazipally (Unit-II), near Hyderabad. The facility, that was commissioned in 2004, currently manufactures anti-retrovirals (ARVs) for the treatment of HIV / AIDS.

The approval will enable the Company to supply ARV APIs to the President Bush's US$15bn PEPFAR programme, besides other regulated markets. With the latest approval, the number of USFDA approved facilities of the company would be four, thus making it as one of the largest API manufacturing capacities in India to meet the regulatory market requirements. The company has filed cumulative 46 Drug Master Files (DMFs) with USFDA as of March 2005.

Apollo to raise GDR

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd has decided to raise around $135 million by way of issuance of global depository receipts (GDRs). The fund raising could see an equity dilution of around 12-15%. Company sources said that Citigroup has been appointed merchant bankers for the GDR issue. New shares in the form of GDRs for an amount of $75 million is planned, while for the rest ($60 million), a sponsored GDR programme is being drawn up. The timing of the issue is still being worked out. The GDRs are likely to be listed at the London Stock Exchange. The funds raised from the issue will be utilised for expansion of existing hospital activities, besides capital expenditure for “Apollo Cliniq” (a chain of speciality clinics across the country).

Microsoft Hyd to focus on RFID

Identifying RFID (radio frequency identification) technology as a core vertical to drive its operations in India, Microsoft India Development Centre (MIDC) is readying itself to launch world-class software products in supply chain management.

In its move to scale up itself to be a core part of Microsoft's global strategic operation, MIDC in the city has identified RFID as a prominent space both in the longterm and short-term, MIDC managing director Srini Koppolu told The Times of India. "Firstly, we are working on a new product in the supply chain management to be introduced soon," he added.

"We want to make MIDC an incubator of new ideas and make it grow by technology innovation. In a phased manner we have built organisations and groups to understand and figure out the global software development. We have scaled it up and put some 6-7 leaders to drive these groups. They have agreed upon one brand new idea and built a world-class product," he said.

The company has tied up with Denmark-based MBS Group for this new product. "They have a product called Acceptor in the supply chain space based on barcode technology. The same product has been developed into a new product in the RFID space. The prototype for the same was built by MIDC and the pilot project by a identified customer proved to be successful. Based on the results, the team at MIDC is now developing a real code for the product," he added.

The new product would be launched soon, he said, adding, it would help companies -- big size enterprises to small stores -- to reduce the time, cost of labour, errors and loss while handling the stocks. "With this technology, it would be easy for the big stores like Wal Mart, which has over 2,000 big retail stores in the US, to identify and locate a particular product, its type and other minute details without actually touching it. The technology gives value addition at the place of work," Koppolu said.

Stating that Microsoft would show the value proposition by adding some uniqueness to the product, he said the real code was being built to suite real-time communication, Wi-max and peer-to-peer communication.

Green signal for nine malls

  1. The coming up buildings are GSR Hotels &Estates (opp. Jalagam Vengal Rao Park)
  2. GVK Mall (near Banjara Hills Post Office)
  3. City Centre Mall (opp. Hotel Taj Krishna)
  4. Alcazar Plaza and Towers
  5. Shopping complex at former residence of cinestar Akkineni Nageswara Rao
  6. Ashoka Mall (intersection of Banjara Hills Road No.12 &1)
  7. Babu Khan Mall and two more in the region
Rising vehicular traffic, narrow roads, hindrances from religious structures and a mere six per cent road space should make any urban planner for the capital think twice before permitting high-rises or multiplexes in the central region. But, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad thinks differently. Barely has the storm over permission given to the Hyderabad Central Mall at the super-busy Punjagutta crossroads blown over, MCH has already given sanction for nine more private malls in the clogged Banjara Hills-Ameerpet-Punjagutta region!

All study, no action

The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had recently directed officials to initiate action on commercial complexes that misuse cellars and on those without proper parking space. He had also set deadlines for a comprehensive roadmap. But, studies and reports by MCH itself were put on the backburner.

"Capacity of the roads is saturated. Traffic impact studies, calculating the exit and entry capacity of vehicles, are imperative especially for structures of more than 5,000 sq.ft. in the central city region," says S. Raghavachari, former advisor to MCH on traffic

Hyderabad an aviation hub ?

With seven international airlines apart from national carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines now operating from here, this historic city is emerging as a favourite hub among international air carriers.

There are 50 weekly flights being operated from here to various destinations in the world connecting the us, europe, Far East, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

It was former chief minister n chandrababu Naidu, who came out with the idea of making Hyderabad an aviation hub between Europe and China and had successfully pleaded with the Centrral government for permitting foreign airlines to operate from here.

The previous government also set up a greenfield international airport at Shamshabad in neighbouring Rangareddy district to be functional by 2008. At present, about 15,000 international passengers use the present airport situated in the heart of the city. It, however, is not adequately equipped to handle the rush while Shamsabad airport is designed to handle a large number of aircraft.

Outsourcing brings crime

OUTSOURCING capitals of the world Bangalore and Hyderabad are experiencing an unprecedented rise in "crime and extravagance".

In an editorial for the India Daily, here, the leader writer said that authorities are hard pressed to work out why crime levels are on the up, but seem keen on blaming western extravagance. Although Delhi is still the country’s crime capital, that can be clearly linked to poverty, but the people who pontificate about such things can’t explain a 42 per cent crime surge in the the swanky regions in the computer belt.

Per capita income in Bangalore is similar to cities in America and Europe. The number of affluent middleclass is increasing 27% every year, but so apparently is crime.

It seems that in Hyderabad and Bangalore the crime is not centered on the wealthy areas, it is sky-rocketing in the rural surrounding areas. Between 2001 and 2003, Hyderabad recorded a 71 per cent increase in crimes including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and bomb attacks.

CCMB to clone cheetah

India will clone an Iranian cheetah in a bid to revive the Indian species that became extinct four decades ago, a senior scientist said today. A team of scientists from Hyderabad based Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology will soon travel to Iran to collect sperm and tissue samples, Lalji Singh, director of the Center said. Iran is one of the few countries that still has Asian cheetah with features similar to that of the Indian cheetahs.

Asia-Pacific PMI conference

The emerging trends in the project management sector would be discussed at the three-day Asia Pacific Conference of the Project Management Institute (PMI).

President A P J Abdul Kalam will inaugurate the event through a videoconference link and deliver the key-note address from Rashtrapati Bhavan as he would not be able to physically attend the programme on the advice of doctors, the organizers said today.

The Hyderabad chapter of the US-based Project Management Institute, which is one of the 200 chapters in the world working with the objective of creating professional project management awareness in the region, is hoisting the event.

The conference, titled "Gyan Lahari" (knoweldge waves), was aimed at providing a platform for academicians, entrepreneurs, students and industrialists in the Asia Pacific region to share their experiences and knowledge and increase awareness about project management, director of Defence Research Development Laboratory Prahlada and A V Ramam, chapter secretary and chairman of Gyan Lahari conference told reporters here.

MIDC campus may beat Redmond

Microsoft India Development Centre, which is supposed to be a mirror image of its headquarters in Redmond both in looks and deeds, is being positioned as the most strategic development centre for the company in the world. MIDC, spread across a 2.6 lakh sq ft campus in Hyderabad, is a hotbed of activities in the areas of networking, storage, data protection and mobility. The centre has already filed for 40 patents in 2005 for various innovations and is hoping to file for an additional 70 in 2005.

MIDC managing director Srini Koppolu told reporters Thursday that the centre, which started with 20 people, now had 500 skilled professionals in the software and cutting edge technology development.

A key contributor to the overall business of Microsoft, the centre has filed 40 patents during the last financial year and plans to file another 70 patents this year. He said that work was underway on many key projects and innovative ideas.

"We do more cutting edge technology work, more patents will be coming out of this development centre. The Hyderabad centre will become a mirror image of Microsoft Redmond," he said.

"MIDC focuses on projects that are strategic and long-term oriented," he added.

Some of the key development initiatives at MIDC are Data Protection Manager, RFID Platform Technologies, Office Mobile, Windows SFU, features of Longhorn, Visual Studio, Office Live Meeting and MS-CRM.

Making a key contribution to Windows XP SP2 through the introduction of quarantine features to make the operating system highly secure was one of the major successes of this centre.

Gulf Air plans for Hyderabad

Leading West Asian carrier Gulf Air, which operates 57 flights a week from India, plans to add four more Indian destinations to its route network, which would take the total number of cities it operates from to eleven. "We already operate to seven Indian cities and are keen on expanding our operations to four more -- Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Calicut and Amritsar," its President and CEO James Hogan told PTI here.

Microsoft Hyderabad to file for 70 patents

Microsoft India development centre is betting big on its Hyderabad operations. In 2005-06, it is planning to file applications for 70 patents for various projects that are underway at its centre. MIDC filed for 40 patents in 2004-05.

Srini Koppolu, managing director of MIDC, said, "The teams at MIDC will be filing for an additional 70 patents in the current fiscal as compared to 40 in the previous fiscal." MIDC is working on various projects ranging from data protection manager, office mobile to visual studio and office live meeting.

The 2,60,000-sq ft Microsoft India development centre currently employs 500 people, and according to Koppolu, the centre is always looking out for the best talent available in the industry.

Expect United flying into Hyderabad

Flying to America has never been easier. India and the US will sign an agreement on Thursday to allow unrestricted access to each other’s skies. This means any number of Indian carriers can fly to any US city and vice-versa. The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to the new Air Transport Agreement which will be inked by US transport secretary Norman A Mineta — who reaches here Thursday — and civil aviation minister Praful Patel. At present, Indian carriers have access to only four US destinations - Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and New Jersey (Newark). After the agreement is signed, they will be able to fly to any American city; for starters, Air India plans to fly to San Fransisco. A flight to Washington D C is also on the cards.

Moreover, private airlines like Jet and Sahara, too, can plan their foray into America. The pact, in fact, could help Indian carriers more than American ones. This is because apart from Continental - which is planning to start a direct flight between Delhi and New York - other American airlines, like United and American Airlines, are riddled with problems and are unlikely to expand. Briefing newspersons, Patel said India has been operating 28 flights a week and the US, 14. Now the “fifth freedom traffic’’— a phrase in civil aviation to signify unrestricted flying to intermediate points — would be available to all, he said. It would help India wean away traffic now being taken by airlines of third countries.

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Patronage goes up for MMTS

The General Manager, South Central Railway (SCR), D.N. Mathur, has said SCR is sparing no efforts to promote public patronage of the Multi-Modal Transit System (MMTS) in Hyderabad.

At a press conference here on Wednesday, he said having started with 12,000 passengers a day, the figure now stood at about 33,000. He attributed the increase to the introduction of feeder bus services.

Mr. Mathur said the major hurdle was the absence of a combined bus/rail ticket. Despite several meetings between the SCR and the RTC officials they were unable to reach a mutually acceptable apportioning of revenue. "Look at Singapore, Hong Kong and London. Commuters need not stand at different counters every time they have to switch from a bus to a train or vice versa. The SCR and RTC calculate operating costs differently," he said and hoped it would be tackled soon.

iSoft opens 2nd R&D center

iSoft R&D Pvt. Ltd., the Indian subsidiary of iSoft Group Inc., a British healthcare solutions and services provider, has announced the opening of its second Indian R&D center in Hyderabad.

iSoft R&D global product management director, Satya Kalki said, "The Hyderabad center would be primarily working on various phases of product development including delivery of the product. Besides, we would be setting up the global disaster recovery center for business continuity in Hyderabad."

He further added that the Chennai team too works on most of the products developed for global markets and some or the other phase of every product is undertaken from the Indian center. The company that started its operations from Chennai in 2001 presently has an employee base of 1000 and intends to add 200 at the Hyderabad center by the end of 2005.

Dishnet to set up WI-FI hot spots

Chennai-based Dishnet Wireless Limited is setting up around 250 hot spots that will enable people to have wireless internet access in and around Hyderabad by the end of this month. Disclosing this at a media conference here on Tuesday, V G Suryanarana (vice-president-sales and marketing), Dishnet Wireless, said that the service would be available both in prepaid and post paid models.

The hot spots covering railway stations, educational institutions, IT parks, hospitals, cafeterias, star hotels among others will also have a revenue-sharing arrangement with the owner of the property, he said. The company is expecting about 30,000 customers in the first 12-month period in Hyderabad.

According to him, the company is planning to set up over 6,000 We-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) hot spots across the country in the next 18 months. The company is also planning to provide Wimax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) broadband services in 38 cities across the country around the same period with an initial customer base of 2 lakh. The company proposes to invest over Rs 250 crore in the initial year and expects a revenue of Rs 107 crore in the first year from all its wireless products.

Circular train to connect five states

A Rs 40-crore circular train project 'Southern Splendour' would be promoted as a joint enterprise of five states connecting Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Pondicherry.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held on tourism by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, an official release said here today.

Making a powerpoint presentation on the tourism initiatives being taken in the state, Managing Director of the AP Tourism Development Corporation, T V N Rao said the cost of the luxury tourist train having 12 AC coaches would be borne by the Centre, Railways and Andhra Pradesh government at 10:10:20 ratio. Clearance was received for the project from the government of India and the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is being formed, he said. Noting the vast tourist potential at Araku valley in the state, the Chief Minister directed the officials to take up promotion of tourist hotels in private-public partnership. He directed the officials not to encourage contract appointments in the department any longer and suggested to go in for outsourcing, instead, the release added.

Start-ups find Hyderabad as hotspot

In a world where experts anticipated a diminished role for "place" in an age of infinite communications, location has become even more important to the success of technology companies. Earlier, technology relocations or expansions criteria sought for a quality, competitive labour supply in a tight environment. Now location selection analytics has expanded to achieving higher and more long-term strategic purposes. Why are high-growth companies investing millions into new, hightech facilities in places in India, especially Hyderabad? The answer can be found in the new rationale for high-tech location strategy. The bottom line: Start-ups (also others) are no longer constrained to cluster in compact technology communities. Nor cling to traditional metros. For start-ups, technology destinations like Hyderabad have now become the new springboards for technical excellence. Tucked between two cities -- Bangalore and Chennai -- known to offer stiff competition for attracting IT investment and talents, Hyderabad's IT rapid emergence as IT-growth center augurs something far more profound i.e the shifting of top-end tech jobs to a location that offer long-term competitive advantage. And here are top four reasons:

Skilled Human Capital: Access to highly educated talent pool that is smart and cross-trainable. Location selectors will evaluate the enrollment and degrees conferred in engineering, business and computer science. Hi-quality colleges and training facilities in Hyderabad are a sure sign that selectors of startup firm cannot ignore.

Cost benchmarking: Hyderabad was a natural choice based on cost benchmarking carried out by Mars Telecom. Key to start-ups, major geographically-variable operating costs determining the location decision find Hyderabad attractive in human capital cost, supplier purchases, air travel among locations, real estate costs and tax costs.

Competitive business climate: Selection analytics includes high growth & dynamic environments for many reasons and is increasingly affected by tax environments. Tax concessions by Govt of AP/India, STPI benefits, land allotments, power concessions, investment subsidies etc are sure winners amongst start-ups.

Employee Management: Opportunity for a highly balanced workpersonal life resulting in enhanced employee productivity and lesser attrition. Most start-ups are after a young and entrepreneurial workforce. The strong presence of the 20-30 year old age group leads the pack of choices. And Hyderabad is always young in this aspect.

With effective long-range planning and strategic development initiatives, Hyderabad has all the essential fundamentals to be the preferred destination for IT companies. Strategic academic-industry collaboration via 'Class room thru cubicle transistion', proactive venture capitalism, 'easy availability of plug & play infrastructure', finishing schools with cross-cultural and international multi-language training capabilities will undoubteldly accelerate and consolidate the growth that Hyderabad currently experiences.

KFC enters India, Plans for Hyderabad

KFC, one of the world's leading quick service chains, has opened its first outlet in Maharashtra with an entry into Pune. KFC opened doors to its first restaurant in Mariplex, Kalyani Nagar, in Pune on April 10. KFC is part of Yum! Restaurants, the world's largest restaurant company and the parent company of Pizza leader Pizza Hut.

The entry of KFC into Pune is a significant milestone in KFC's plans to extend its presence across the country. Currently KFC is present in India with five restaurants, four in Bangalore and one in Chandigarh. Over the next few months, KFC will enter cities like Kolkata, Hyderabad and other metros. The chain now plans to scale up to 15 restaurants by the end of this year.

Samsung India eyes 70% growth

Samsung India Electronics Limited is targeting to increase its turnover in Andhra Pradesh to Rs 250 crore from its consumer electronics and home appliances division. This is an increase of around 70 per cent from the last calendar year’s Rs 145 crore.

Apart from this, the company is also looking at opening five Samsung Digital Homes/Plazas and one Samsung Digital World outlet in the state by this year-end.

Andhra Pradesh contributes to approximately six per cent of Samsung’s total revenues in the home appliances sector, with south contributing to around 28 per cent.

At present, there are four Samsung Digital Homes/Plazas in the state and 73 in the country. The company is planning to double this network in the country by December-end. “By the end of next month, we will be setting up two digital homes, one each in Vizag and Vijayawada,” Tognatta said. “We are also looking at starting a Digital World outlet in Hyderabad in a couple of months,” he added.

The company is also looking at doubling the sales of ACs in the country this year and expects over 50 per cent growth in refrigerator and microwave oven product categories. “We expect to consolidate our position at the second slot in the country in the AC category and a leadership position in frost-free refrigerators by the end of 2006,” Ravinder Zutshi, director (sales and marketing), Samsung India, said.

Samsung India is also commencing export of refrigerators made at its Noida plant to Africa, Middle East and Commonwealth of Independent States countries. The company plans to export refrigerators to South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation countries. “We plan to export 50,000 frost-free refrigerators and one lakh colour TVs from our Noida facility this year,” he added.

Samsung India earned revenues of Rs 4,900 crore in the calendar year 2004 and is targeting to touch Rs 6,500 crore in 2005. Around 53 per cent of its revenues come from consumer products and home appliances and the remaining from IT and telecom sectors.

ISB graduate bags Rs 80 lakh job

A graduate of the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business, ISB, has just hit the big league with an offer of an Rs 80 lakh (Rs 8 million) per year international job.

The average international salary is at Rs 44 lakh (Rs 4.4 million), that is, a jump of 19% from 2004. The highest Indian salary at ISB this year is Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million), and the average Indian salary stands at Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million), representing a rise of 11% from last year.

The school has seen 100% recruitment, with most students being picked up by consulting firms like McKinsey, Deloitte, Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Maracon.

Infotech registered in Australia

Infotech Enterprises Ltd, a global geospatial, design engineering and software services and solutions company, has announced that it is now registered for business in Australia with Australian Security Investment Commission. According to the company, this allows trading locally participating in the government tenders and local bids directly.

Commenting on the achievement a company official said, "This registration that was obtained within three weeks will allow us to process long term work permits and help us establish greater presence onsite in Australia".

Infotech also announced the opening of its branch office in Melbourne to augment business development in Australia.

Doctor Munnabhai goes online

If the film Munnabhai MBBS was a runaway hit, here is Munnabhai's e-commerce avatar hoping to cash in on the winning formula. No it's not Munnabhai M.Com!

This city-based healthcare service provider has decided to call itself Doctor Munnabhai Technologies and is out to offer healthcare services to consumers through e-commerce and mobile commerce in Hyderabad and Bangalore. It also has a V-Commerce Call Centre in place for the purpose.

Role of facilitator

The fresh medical graduate from Bangalore, Shantan Reddy, who floated the idea along with his brother, an IT engineer, said people could avail themselves of different schemes and save on their medical bills. "We have different contracts with different hospitals. We will be the facilitators between people and hospitals giving them the best possible bargain," Dr. Reddy said.

The services would be available in Apollo, Yashoda, Care, CDR and Image Hospitals, besides Vijaya Diagnostic Centre. "We will be covering other parts of the State soon," he said. The services could be accessed through www.doctormunnabhai.com

WorldSpace Satellite Radio launched

WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio has chalked out a detailed programme to spread its wings across the country and consolidate its operations during the current fiscal.

Towards this, WorldSpace India, which currently has 35 radio stations and lounges in three major cities, plans to come out with more stations to cover almost all the major regional languages of the country and cover major cities with lounges. As a part of this strategy, WorldSpace Radio launched its services in Hyderabad on Friday. It currently has lounges in Chennai and Bangalore.

Currently making its radio sets available at all the leading electronic shops in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, WorldSpace Radio plans to open up its own store shortly, where one can listen to music of his/her choice at their pace and also buy radio sets and subscribe to the service.

WorldSpace boasts of a range of stations across genres from jazz to classical, to old Hindi film music and Rock. It now offers two Indian classical channels and regional Indian channels such as Tara (Bengali), KL Radio (Tamil), Sparsha (Kannada), RM Radio (Malayalam) and Spandana (Telugu) on its network. The Satellite Radio Company is planning to launch a Punjabi channel and an international hit music channel shortly.

More jobs, better pay for OU Grads

Days after the engineering disciplines of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) toted up more than 75 per cent placement of its graduating class this year, Osmania University's three professional colleges have averaged about 50 per cent so far.

About 50 per cent of the OU College of Engineering students have got jobs so far with about three more months of the recruitment season to run. About 60 per cent of the universityfs management students have been picked up. The placement scene at the OU College Engineering this year has shown vast improvement over last year.

Already, 255 of the 500 students have been placed. Last year, the number was just 180. The pay packets are also fatter this year. The highest salary offered last year was 5.8 lakh per annum. This year one student was offered Rs 6 lakh.

The university's Science graduates got the raw end of the stick in the placement programme. In fact, M.Sc. Mathematics students 400 students of this course do not even figure in the placement process, as also M.Sc. Statistics (160) students. On the other hand, almost the entire M.Sc. Computer Science batch of 80 students have been picked up by software firms. Also in demand are life sciences and earth sciences students.

Source: The Times of India

Motorola setting up design centre

Motorola, a Fortune-100 company that provides seamless mobility products across broadband, embedded systems and wireless networks, is setting up a new design centre in Hyderabad. The centre is being built by L&T at a cost of $9 million which will be leased by Motorola for 10 years.

The design centre is being set up to consolidate Motorola’s operations in Hyderabad that is spread over two centres. Motorola employs around 500 people in Hyderabad and the global software group at the Hyderabad facility develops user interaction software for GSM and third generation phones. The team develops features like two-way video telephony, multimedia messaging and advanced graphics.

India plans fund for stem cell research

India plans to set up a “stem cell priority fund” to support research using stem cells and find treatment for diabetes, heart and nerve diseases. "We have submitted a proposal of an exclusive fund for stem cell research. I think the government is keen to set up the stem cell priority fund," announced D Balasubramanian, Chairman of the task force on stem cell research of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), at the Indo-UK stem cell workshop organised jointly by India and Britain.

The funding for stem cell research, which has only been by DBT, will be expanded to include Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other agencies. There are plans to include the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Balasubramanian, who also heads the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, said last year, 30 per cent of the Rs 400 crore budget of the DBT was spent on research.

Andhra firms bid for IT parks

The Andhra Pradesh government’s new norms for the development of IT parks in the state have ushered in a wave of local players into the field, which till now was the domain of big ticket companies like L&T.

Local construction firms like Nagarjuna Construction Company, Lanco and IVRCL Infrastructures and Projects, besides a company like Nuziveedu Seeds with no background of construction activity at all, are now among the 14 companies that have been shortlisted by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to bid for the proposed four IT parks under the private sector.

Nagarguna, Lanco and IVRCL Infrastructure are into core construction activity covering mainly irrigation projects and roads among others.

Cure-all Outsourcing

Until recently, real estate agent Robert Beeney lived in pain. But when he finally decided to do something about the discomfort, he spurned the usual choices.

His doctors advised that he get his hip joint replaced, which his insurer would pay for, but after doing some research on the internet, he decided to get a different procedure - joint resurfacing - not covered by his insurance. And instead of going to a San Francisco hospital, he chose to go to India and paid $US6,600 ($8600), a fraction of the $US25,000 he would have paid at home.

Beeney flew to Hyderabad and had the surgery at Apollo Hospital by a London-trained specialist, Vijay Bose. Two weeks later, Beeney says that he was walking around the Taj Mahal "like any other tourist".

His story is increasingly common, as Europeans and Americans, looking for world-class treatment at prices a fourth or fifth of what they would be at home, are travelling to India. Modern hospitals, skilled doctors and advanced treatments are helping foreigners overcome some of their qualms about getting treatment in India.

Even as politicians and workers' groups oppose the corporate practice of outsourcing, Beeney and patients like him are literally outsourcing themselves - not only in India but also in countries like Thailand and Singapore - for all kinds of medical services from cosmetic to critical surgeries.

About 150,000 foreigners visited India for medical treatments in the year to March 2004, the Confederation of Indian Industry said. That number was projected to rise by 15per cent each year for the next several years. Consultancy McKinsey & Co says foreign visitors will help Indian hospitals earn about $US2.3 billion by 2012.

Value Labs acquires snap fish

Hyderabad-based Value Labs is all smiles with Hewlett Packard (HP)’s acquisition of its partner Snapfish, an online photo services company in the United States which operates on the technology platform developed by it. HP announced the acquisition of Snapfish last month.

“With this acquisition, we are now directly associated with the $ 81.8-billion technology solutions provider and look forward to work for HP” Arjun Rao, chief executive officer of Value Labs, said here on Tuesday. Value Labs entered into a partnership with Snapfish even before the launch of the site in 1999. The company played an integral role in building Snapfish’s highly-scalable technology by quickly building and training its team to take up work in software development, quality assurance and customer support, according to a company press release.

Set up in 1997, Value Labs has 600 employees with an offshore development centre in Hyderabad. Both Value Labs and Snapfish are promoted by Indians. Snapfish is a leading online photo service company with more than 13 million members and has 350 million unique photos stored online.

It enables film camera, digital camera and camera phone users to share, print and store their photo memories at affordable prices – both online and offline. Hewlett Packard, which is into imaging and printing business, too is expected to benefit from the acquisition of the leading online photo service company as it will help HP foray into online photo market.

Mapping satellite to be launched

The satellite will place India among the front-runners in the world to have an exclusive satellite capability in cartography.

CARTOSAT-1, the country's first cartography (mapping) satellite, is ready to be launched from the SHAR Centre in Sriharikota, during the first week of May by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

To be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), the satellite also called IRS P5, will place India among the front-runners in the world to have an exclusive satellite capability in cartography.

The satellite is ready for shipment to SHAR. It will provide 2.5 metre resolution pictures, mapping the length and breadth of the country and overseas, explained, Dr P.S. Goel, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore.

The Cartosat-1 pictures, in combination with the IRS P6 (Resourcesat) imagery, taken in multi-spectral band, would offer the best possible satellite imagery and remote-sensed data products in the global market, he told Business Line here.

The remote sensed data products from the series of Indian remote sensing satellites (IRS), with earth stations at several global locations and tie-ups with global partners, are today among the most sought after in the satellite data products market.

The second of the mapping satellites-Cartosat II is expected to be placed in orbit by the PSLV during October 2005. The other major launches during the current financial year would be the Insat 4A by August and the Insat 4B about six months from August. Dr Goel was in the city to deliver the Aerospace Luminary Series Lecture, organised by the Aeronautical Society of India (Hyderabad Branch) on Saturday. Among the future projects of ISRO, the Moon mission or Chandrayan-I is progressing and Astrosat, the dedicated science mission is targeted to be ready by 2007. The first satellite will look at the stars and study them.

Major research centres such as Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore, the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad along with the ISRO are involved in designing the payload, Dr Goel said.

The President of the ASI Hyderabad Branch and Director, Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Dr V.K. Saraswat, said there was convergence in the aerospace area with technologies from the defence, space sciences, new materials that would impact the lives of common people significantly.

BHEL bags Rs 1,464 crore order

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged Rs 1,464 crore order from Bhilai Electric Supply Co Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of NTPC and SAIL, to set up two units of 250 mw each at Bhilai thermal power project in Chhattisgarh, reports Business Line.

According to sources, the contract includes design, manufacture, supply and commissioning of the main plan package, including balance of plant and civil works on turnkey basis.

The company will build turbine generators and boilers at the company's Haridwar and Tiruchy plants, while company`s Bangalore-based electronics division would supply the controls and instrumentation system. The Hyderabad unit would manufacture the boiler feed pumps and the Bhopal and Jhansi units would supply electricals and switchyard equipment the sources added.

Megasoft plans Xius R&D centre

Megasoft Ltd, the Chennai-based software services and Products Company, has sewn up plans to establish a Xius R&D centre in Hyderabad focussing on telecom related research and is eyeing global expansion.

The Managing Director of Megasoft, G.V. Kumar, said that the company has changed its business strategy in favour of a product and intellectual property led approach from pure services approach after the merger of Xius.

Towards this end, the company has decided to locate its R&D centre in Hyderabad for Xius, which would host about 50 engineers.

Satyam ranks third in survey

Satyam Computer Services Ltd, a leading consulting and IT services provider, has been named by global institutional investors as the third best company in corporate governance in India, in a survey conducted by Asset Benchmark Research.

The survey covering more than 110 global institutions investing in the Asian equity markets asked investors to nominate up to six companies demonstrating exceptional corporate governance, the company said in a release here today.

Bridgestone takes outsource road to India

Japanese tire maker, Bridgestone has decided to outsource its 2,000-user SAP function to Satyam Computer Services of Hyderabad. Under the agreement, Satyam will provide application maintenance and support services to Bridgestone Europe for a three-year period.

Bridgestone has six factories, one technical center and a number of regional distribution centers, warehouses and sales companies across Europe, and has its headquarters in Brussels. The company uses various SAP modules including warehouse management.

Manish Mehta, Satyam director and senior vice-president, added, "We believe that Satyam’s in-depth business and technical know-how of the intricacies involved in running large SAP installations can be leveraged to bring great results for Bridgestone."

Accenture to step up campus staffing

Accenture, the $14-billion IT consulting and services provider is now looking at recruitment in non-traditional areas (dentists and nurses) and eyeing campus inductions.

The Partner and Head Delivery, Accenture, Chet Kamat, said Accenture has grown to 11,000 people across five locations in the country covering consultancy, IT services and business process outsourcing and the momentum continues with Indian manpower accounting for about 10 percent of its global operations.

Kamat said that the company's growth had been remarkable given that most of the recruitment both in the IT services and BPO had taken places since 2001. In fact, the year before last the company closed at 4,500 people, more than doubling the India headcount.

Barrie Osborne in the City

Renowned Hollywood film-maker and producer of the highly acclaimed films "The Lord of the Rings" and "Matrix" Barrie Osborne, opened Spirit's DI, FX and Animation Support Center for film-makers in the City a sister concern of Suresh Productions. The Advance Digital post production technology offers Cintel's DSX Telecine Scanner, Celco's Firestorm Recorder and Da Vinci's 2K Plus Color Correction System. Spirit plans to hold many more open houses for both commercial and broadcast clients in the future.


Barrie M Osborne, the legendary producer of Hollywood blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and Face-Off will partner with N Madhusudhanan, a visual effects veteran in the India to co-found a visual effects studio in India which will cater to the global industry. And he is all set produce his next blockbuster from India. "The joint venture will be fully functional six months from now. Our first movie will be based on the best-selling novel The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. It will be a $100 million, big budget film," Madhusudhanan said.

On his first visit to India, Osborne said he was impressed with Indian films. "I believe that India has a great potential to make world-class films," he said. Films like Monsoon Wedding and Bend it like Beckham have proved that Indian films have an international appeal, he said at the inaugural session of the annual entertainment event FRAMES 2005, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The studio that Osborne plans in India will be on the lines of the famous Weta Digital in New Zealand which is renowned for its work for The Lord of the Rings. Madhusudhanan is a President's Award winner in the visual effects field. He was part of the visual effects team for The Lord of the Rings. Asked whether there will be more partners in this venture, Madhusudhanan said: "Right now, it is just me and Osborne in this joint venture."

Madhusudhanan also plans to rope in a few more Academy Award winners as partners for our studio. Hollywood is opening up, he said, and very soon a lot of the visual effects work is outsourced to India. The creative duo hopes to capitalise on the big opportunity of visual effects work outsourced to India. "With the development of technology, I am confident that there will be more developments in India," said Osborne. Saying that he is a big fan of the Asia-Pacific region, Osborne said, "There will be a paradigm shift in the entertainment sector in India. Soon India will also have significant catalysts, just like Lord of the Rings was for catalyst in New Zealand."

Osborne added that the capabilities and original content existed in India and he is in talks with Indian producers and directors. I hope India will produce more films with international appeal, he said. "I'm working with Shekhar Kapur in his forthcoming film Paani and I hope the industry will come forward to financially support such ventures, he said. With many successful ventures to his credit, the forthcoming film based on The Alchemist is also slated to be a big hit, but this time his film will have a 'Made in India' tag.

Placements show ISB truly global

The Indian School of Business, one of the premier B-schools of the country, has witnessed two notable trends with regard to placements for the class of 2005. The first of these is that Indian companies are increasingly recruiting ISB students for positions abroad. The other is the sharp rise in the number of students landing top jobs with global consulting companies.

Disclosing this at the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2005, ISB dean P Ram Mohan Rao said, “The placement season has been very vibrant this year. We have seen some excellent lateral offers to the class of 2005 from high-quality recruiters including Novartis, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, BCG, McKinsey and many others.” He went on to add that the school had achieved 100% placements this year also. Stating that a course in rural marketing had been introduced this year, he said ISB was the only institute in India to offer entrepreneurship as a compulsory subject in the core courses. “Under the student exchange programme, we have introduced four schools this year and are in discussion with other business schools such as LUMS in Pakistan, HEC in Paris and Tel Aviv University to increase the exchange programmes,” said Rao.

The school will soon set up a centre for manufacturing and logistics as well as a behavioural laboratory. Novartis AG managing director, chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella, in his address to the students, said knowledge without action is useless. He advised students to be aware of the poor even while they generate great wealth. A total of 273 students were awarded certificates for the Post Graduate Programme in Management at the school’s fourth Graduation Ceremony here on Saturday. Two students — Tarandeep Singh Ahuja and Sachin Bhalla — were awarded the ISB Scholar of excellence awards in recognition of outstanding academic performance throughout the year. Reliance vice-chairman & MD Anil Ambani, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, Biocon Ltd CMD Kiran Majumdar-Shaw and former CEO of HSBC Ltd Aman Mehta were also present.

Source: Times of India

KualaLumpur model for Hyderabad

Kuala Lumpur Airport Authority is jointly building the international airport at Hyderabad with an Indian partner. Handling over 25 million passengers a year, the Kuala Lumpur Airport is a model not just for Hyderabad, but also for the proposed modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai Airports.

The Kuala Lumpur International Airport can simultaneously handle 70 aircraft an hour, a figure Delhi and Mumbai put together cannot match. It has two independent runways and over 106 aircraft stands, enough to accommodate all the Indian carriers, should they be allowed to fly there. Over 46 airlines operate from this airport, which has been designed to meet traffic increases for the next seven years. The airport can be expanded to handle over a billion passengers.

For the seamless movement of passengers, there are 216 check-in counters and 146 immigration counters, while Delhi has barely over 20. Two aero-trains ferry passengers between terminal buildings and a super-fast express train connects the airport to Kuala Lumpur city. This integrated system could be replicated in Hyderabad.

A lot of care has been taken to preserve the environment and work around it. There is a lot of use of natural light, something that the Hyderabad Airport will see.

The Airport may have cost a packet but is paying back in revenue and tourist arrivals, which are up 25%. By the time India's Delhi and Mumbai Airports get going, Kuala Lumpur should be able to handle a hundred million passengers a year.

ACRO formed

An Association of Contract Research Organisations (ACRO) has been formed to establish benchmarks, share best practices, tap global opportunities and provide common platforms for promotion and recognition. Formed under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Industry, ACRO will operate from its secretariat in the CII office at Gurgaon. A core group representing the contract research industry met here on Saturday and constituted an Executive Council with the Chairman and Managing Director of Vimta Labs, S. P. Vasireddi, as Chairman, Vidur Kaushik, Chief Executive Officer of SRL Ranbaxy, Clinical Reference Laboratories, as Vice-Chairman, and Arvind Lal, Managing Director, Dr. Lal Pathlabs Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, as Secretary, and four other members.

The executive council is looking at a membership of 100 organisations. It will be open to all sectors of contract activities such as clinical laboratories, pharma research organisations, bio informatics companies, data management organisations and drug research laboratories. Addressing a press conference, Dr. Vasireddi said the association would promote `India brand' in the field of contract research and services. ACRO was in the process of drawing up an annual calendar and would conduct the first conclave to discuss the road map in September.

Dr. Sumedha Sahni, Director (Operations and Clinical Trials of Speciality Ranbaxy Limited), said it was not correct to equate contract research with clinical trials. The association would create awareness among people on the need for clinical trials.

Road-widening in Madhapur

The 1.2 km road-widening work from Cyber Tower to Soft Sol in Madhapur taken up by the APIIC would be competed by July-end. The APIIC Chairman, Rambabu, who visited Mindspace Cyberabad among other Infotech Park units near Madhapur on Friday also said that road-widening and parking works were already taken up near Hi-tech City Railway Station at a cost Rs.1.5 crore in association with Kukatpally, Sherlingampally and Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to decongest the road and to increase use of MMTS trains.

The Kukatpally and Sherlingampally municipalities contributed Rs.28 lakh each while MCH gave Rs.20 lakh. The remaining expenses were borne by APIIC. Of Rs.1.5 crore, Rs.75 lakhs would be spent on providing parking lots.

The Chairman visited Mindspace Hydrabad, a joint venture of K. Raheja Corporation and APIIC. The project with 20 building blocks with a total built-up space of about 65 lakh sqft. area would provide employment to 70,000 people when completed in three or four years. The Director of Mindspace Neel Rajeha made a presentation on the project.

NIMS allotted 150 acres of land

The State Government has decided to allot 150 acres of land for the NIMS Research & Referral University campus in Rangapur village in Bibinagar Mandal of Nalgonda district.

The decision was taken at a meeting the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had with the NIMS Director, Dasari Prasada Rao, the Dean, S. V. Ratnam, the Executive Registrar in-charge, Pinjala Ramakrishna, the Medical Superintendent, Indira Venkat Ratnam, and others.

Dr. Prasada Rao made a presentation on the project to Dr. Reddy, who is President of NIMS. The Chief Minister immediately instructed officials to acquire 150 acres of land in the village, said an official press release.

Virgin Atlantic's plans for India

Virgin Atlantic Airways is keen on more destinations in India following the launch of its flights from London to Delhi and Mumbai, the airline chairman Richard Branson said Thursday. "Virgin Atlantic has long wanted to expand its services to India and so we are all delighted that this has now been made possible and to have finally landed in Mumbai," Branson told reporters after the inaugural flight touched down here.

He hoped that talks between the Indian and British governments would yield more flight frequencies between the two destinations and that Virgin Atlantic would be able to triple daily services to India.Branson said he would love to fly his airlines to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Amritsar.

He added that he favoured the open skies policy, which he said would benefit Indian carriers as well as British carriers flying to India. Virgin Atlantic began operations to India in July 2000 with two services a week. In February 2005, it started operating daily services between London and New Delhi. Additionally, it will have three flights a week between London and Mumbai.

Record Performance by MIDHANI

Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd (MIDHANI), a Hyderabad based Defence Public Sector Undertaking achieved a profit before tax of Rs. 8.8 crore on a sales turnover of Rs. 131.29 crore during 2004-05 with modest export sales of Rs. 0.8 crore, surpassing its performance during the previous year.

Shri Devasis Chowdhury, Chairman and Managing Director of the company disclosed that the Company will be undertaking customer-funded upgradation and modernisation of its manufacturing facilities during the current financial year primarily to meet the hi-tech special materials requirements for the ambitious ‘Chandrayan’ (Spacecraft to Moon) and other programmes of the Department of Space.

Midhani is confident of achieving an ‘Excellent’ Rating for the second consecutive year, meeting performance targets set out in the MoU with Ministry of Defence, Department of Defence Production for the year 2004-05. Payment of a dividend is planned for the year which ended with a healthy orderbook valued at Rs. 210 crore. This follows the breakeven achieved during the previous year when a maiden dividend was paid.

Set up primarily for self-reliance in critical materials, the hi-tech metallurgical facility of Midhani has been supporting programmes of national importance in strategic sectors including Space, Defence, Aeronautics and Atomic Energy. The company will continue to contribute to critical hardware for PSLV & GSLV (Space), Kaveri Engine Programme for Light Combat Aircraft and is contemplating supply of Superalloys, Titanium Alloys and Special Steels for indigenous production of SU-30 combat aircraft, gun barrels for T-90 Tanks and Fast Breeder Reactors of Department of Atomic Energy.

Advanced aerospace technologies were employed as a spin-off to develop and manufacture a wide range of low-cost Titanium Biomedical Implants which were supplied to reputed hospitals in the country.

Intoto opens second facility

Intoto Inc, software Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) of integrated security, wireless and voice software platforms for networking and communications equipment has opened its new Research and Development facility in Chennai. This center is Intoto’s second dedicated technology development facility in India, in addition to its first R&D center in Hyderabad. The Chennai facility will be the key software development location for Intoto’s new generation Secure Socket Layer (SSL) VPN products and components for Unified Threat Management Solutions (UTM) for the Networking industry. It will also be building a linux platform group to support the development efforts on embedded linux platforms.

Evolva Biotech opens research center

Swiss company Evolva Biotech SA has opened a office in Hyderabad for molecular biology research operations in India. Evolva’s India operations became a reality after the firm received $2.5 million funds in the final round of it’s a-round from the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation Venture Capital (APIDC-VC), a government of Andhra Pradesh undertaking with smaller participation from existing investors.

However it was not clear whether the molecular biology research operation would be based in Hyderabad or Goa.

IEL opens office in Singapore

Infotech Enterprises Limited, headquartered in Hyderabad, a global GeoSpatial, Design Engineering and Software services and solutions company, today announced opening of their branch office in Singapore. The Singapore office had been set up to provide services in the fields of Design Engineering and Software Services, to the growing number of clients in the Asia Pacific region. While the office would help Infotech service its existing clientele, it would also help augment business development in Singapore and adjoining countries.

MindTree records 90% growth

MindTree Consulting, an international IT and R and D services company, announced that it has achieved gross revenue of 55 million dollar in the fiscal 2004-05, recording 90 per cent growth over the previous fiscal. This was the first time that an Indian software services company had reached revenue of 55 million dollar within five years, the company claimed in a release. MindTree nearly doubled its revenue over the past year through aggressive expansion of its customer base in multiple geographies.

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