Category Archives: Business & Economy

Embassy flat sells for Rs 50 crore, highest ever in Bengaluru

Business & Economy, Records, All
The 1-million-sqft project, previously called CityView, was originally owned by Goldman Sachs (73%) and Dayanand Pai's Century Real Estate Holdings (26%). (Photo: TOI)
The 1-million-sqft project, previously called CityView, was originally owned by Goldman Sachs (73%) and Dayanand Pai’s Century Real Estate Holdings (26%). (Photo: TOI)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Embassy Group has sold an apartment for Rs 50 crore to chairman and chief executive of engineering outsourcing company Quest Global.
  • Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and some of the Infosys co-founders were among the first to invest in these branded residences.

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Bengaluru :

The Embassy Group has sold an apartment for Rs 50 crore to Ajit Prabhu, chairman and chief executive of engineering outsourcing company Quest Global, making it the biggest residential deal in Bengaluru, according to people familiar with the matter.

Prabhu has bought the 16,000-sqft apartment in Embassy One, near Hebbal, which houses a 230-room Four Seasons luxury hotel, 110 Four Seasons-branded residences, 150,000 sqft of office space and 60,000 sqft of retail space. The per-sqft rate for the apartment works out to about Rs 31,000. Last year, Flipkart’s Binny Bansal acquired a 10,000-sqft home in Koramangala III Block -a coveted neighborhood of self-made billionaires -for Rs 32 crore.

Prabhu, who grew up in Hubballi, divides his time between Singapore and India. He will own the yet-to-be customized apartment on the top of the South Tower, and it’s the 30th floor. The first 21 floors will be dedicated to the Four Seasons hotel, and the rest will be serviced residences. Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and some of the Infosys co-founders were among the first to invest in these branded residences. Embassy confirmed the deal, but declined to confirm the buyer. Prabhu could not be immediately reached for comment. “Sales like this bring a great sense of confidence in the market,” Reeza Sebastian, head of Embassy residential marketing and sales, told TOI.

The 1-million-sqft project, previously called City View, was originally owned by Goldman Sachs (73%) and Dayanand Pai’s Century Real Estate Holdings (26%). The investment bank entered into a conditional agreement to sell it to RMZ a few years ago, but failed following opposition from its minority shareholder.

Embassy, led by its flamboyant billionaire promoter Jitu Virwani, stepped in and bought the entire project for Rs 605 crore. During this period of uncertainty, the project was hobbled by delays and ran the risk of being classified as a nonperforming asset by the State Bank of India (SBI).

Prabhu, who has made 75% of the payment, is expected to move in once the apartment is ready by the middle of 2018. Sebastian said the company has sold about 52% of the apartments. The residences will have concierge services, 24 hour valet parking, and residents will enjoy the hotel’s paid services such as room service, limousines and apartment-cleaning.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / by Avik Das / TNN / October 11th, 2017

Freedom fighter Srirangaraju no more

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Records, All
S. L. Srirangaraju
S. L. Srirangaraju

Freedom fighter S.L. Srirangaraju, 97, died at his residence at Ravivarma Street in the city on Friday. He was suffering from age-related illness.

The deceased had participated in Quit India Movement for which he was jailed by the British government. He was a teacher by profession and was honoured with national-level Best Teacher Award in 1975. by then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Mr. Srirangaraju had served as director of Deshiya Vidya Shala Samiti, National Education Society, Karnataka Sangha and Shivamogga City Cooperative Bank.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Shivamogga – Ocotober 06th, 2017

Over 100 Years of Hospitality : Gubbi Thotadappa, the legendary Philanthropist, continues to host tourists, students

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

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An inn set up by Gubbi Thotadappa, the legendary philanthropist, continues to host tourists and students

If any one expects a favour free of charge, ‘Is it a Gubbi Thotadappa Choultry? would be the instant colloquial reaction. Gubbi Thotadappa choultry, close to Bangalore City Railway station and Kempegowda Bus Terminal, is perhaps the oldest non-governmental organisation in the city.

Bangalore has several free hostels belonging to particular communities, but running a dhramashala — a free choultry (inn) for the visitors or tourists, and continues to do the same even after a century is a remarkable feat.

This noble act is the brainchild of Gubbi Thotadappa, who was born in 1838 into a Lingayat-Veerashaiva family at Gubbi in Tumakuru dist. Later, his family moved to Bangalore and he started his business in Mamulpet in the city. In his house, he started offering shelter to students who were coming to Bangalore for studies. Similarly, he opened doors to traders coming from faraway places. When this number increased, he decided to use all his property to the benefit of such traders and students. He bought land from Railways in 1897 and built a choultry which had 10 rooms for students to stay. On February 11, 1903, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV officially opened dharmashala for visitors coming to city and free hostel to students belonging to Lingayat-Veerashaiva Community.

As he had no children, he donated all his property and founded a trust called Rao Bahadur Gubbi Thotadappa Charity in 1910, and appointed K P Puttanna Chetty as its first president. Since then subsequent office-bearers are carrying out the work as per the wishes of the founder. During Dasara celebration in 1905, he was awarded the title Dharmapravrta, a royal recognition given by the Maharaja of Mysore. In 1910, he was honoured with a title Rao Bahaddur by the British Government. On 21 February, 1910, he died at the age of 72.

The choultry he built was very helpful then for traders arriving in the city to buy or sell things. Minister for Horticulture Shyamanur Shivashankarappa still remembers the days when he would come here by night train from Davanagere and the choultry was very helpful for people like him to take shelter here for a day or two. Even today, the lodging facility offers accommodation at a nominal rate and it is open to all irrespective of region or religion, caste or creed, position or property. It was 25 paise per day. Over a period of time it was raised to Rs 10 and now it Rs 35. The money collected is spent on maintenance of the choultry. At any given time of the day, at least 50 to 60 visitors stay here. It is much-sought-after shelter to countless number of visitors coming even from other places as its name is spread far and wide. Similarly, the free hostel has been a boon to economically poor students .

The trust awards scholarships for academic achievers of the community every year. They maintain hostels at 16 different towns in the state. The hostel facility is given for both boys and girls of the students of Lingayat-Veerashaiva community. Revered Dr Shivakumara Mahaswamiji of Siddhaganga Math Tumkuru was a student in this hostel during 1927 to 1930. S Nijalingappa , one of the chief ministers of Karnataka, was an inmate between 1921 and 1924. Likewise, education minister Sri DH Chandrashekaraiah, accountant general Sri DH Veeraiah, Karnataka state police chief H Veerabhadraiah, and many more such illustrious personalities were benefited by this hostel. While unveiling the statue of Gubbi Thotadappa in 2005, Nijalingappa said: “If this noble person had not started the hostel, economically poor students like me would have spent rest of my life working as labourers in cultivating fields”

In Mamulpet, the old residential building of Gubbi Thotadappa was removed and a shopping complex has been constructed.

During centenary year, the trust built Bell Hotel as a source of income to spend on all its charitable projects. There is also an aesthetically built conventional hall in this building. Every year on the death anniversary day of the founder, in Mythic Society, on Nrupathunga Road, the trust arranges an endowment lecture from eminent scholars on various subjects.

Hostel inmates are given training in personality development by experts. The original Dharmashala building still retains its original form. The century-old building represents the tradition of hospitality for which our city is known.

Whereas the centenary building built with modern architectural style represents modern Bengaluru. There are many lodges in the vicinity of railway station and bus stand. They may have tall buildings, but Gubbi Thotadappa Choultry stands tall as a symbol of humanity.

(The author is a historian)

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Suresh Moona / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / September 26th, 2017

Bengaluru gets new Boeing engineering centre

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

New Delhi :

Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha inaugurated Boeing’s additional new facility at the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center (BIETC) in Bengaluru on Friday. This facility will enable Boeing to focus on state-of-the-art technology areas such as data analytics, internet-of-things, avionics, aerospace design, manufacturing, testing and research, to support Boeing products and systems. The centre also includes laboratories for research to support next-gen innovations in aerospace.

“Boeing’s commitment to growth of capability and capacity in the Indian aerospace sector is commendable. I congratulate the team on this brand new addition to the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre and am proud that Boeing is leveraging India’s engineering talent and its expertise for some of the most advanced aerospace products in the world, and developing complex solutions for the world,” said Jayant Sinha.

This expansion comes soon after Boeing opened its engineering centre in January 2017. “As a source for innovative and cutting-edge engineering, India offers us tremendous growth potential. This is a winning formula for India and our own global growth strategy for improved productivity, enhanced engineering efficiency and cost advantage, while focusing on quality,” said Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India.

Recently Boeing announced a partnership with aviation ministry and Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) to develop an aircraft maintenance engineers accelerated apprenticeship program. The key objective of the program is to improve the employability of AMEs through training and hands-on experience with actual aircraft.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> India News / by Saurabh Sinha / TNN / September 22nd, 2017

The sweet taste of success

Agriculture, Business & Economy
Raju and Geetha at their stall in an exhibition. The stall displays various aspects of beekeeping. photo by author.
Raju and Geetha at their stall in an exhibition. The stall displays various aspects of beekeeping. photo by author.

Honey is both the nectar from flowers and a term used to express endearment for someone’s sweetheart. The twain have combined more seamlessly for G Raju, an ace beekeeper from Harati village in Kolar district. What began as a labour of love years ago has turned into a lifetime passion. Travelling across the State, he maintains over 700 beehive boxes in farms, gardens, orchards and backyards.

Honeybees demand nothing from the beneficiaries except some space where their industriousness could blossom uninterrupted. And in turn, they help the farmers increase the yield through pollination.

Raju became interested in bees around the turn of the century while working in an apiary in Punjab. Back in Karnataka in 2001, he rented a house in Bengaluru and placed some beehive boxes in the green surroundings. Bees began to hover around and he saw the potential for adding more boxes. A session of training in Bhagamandala in Kodagu led him to take beekeeping as the main source of livelihood. He decided to place beehive boxes in different regions and began persuading farmers to install boxes in their farms.

Today, he maintains these boxes in places like Hiriyur, Kadur, Birur, Vijayapura, Nargund, Chitradurga and Bengaluru. He extracts 10 to 12 tonnes of honey annually and sells nearly 500 boxes per year. In a standard beehive box, the brood chamber has eight frames suspended from the roof. Generally, a beehive box seller would supply only four frames that would carry the parts of combs attached to them. This allows bees to build their combs in the remaining four empty frames.

Raju says that a beehive box can ideally yield 30 kg of honey in a year in rural areas. The farmers can extract honey every 20 days while in urban locales, these boxes may yield honey just thrice a year. Yield is generally high between November and March, as this is the flowering season.
Sunflower has come to be a major crop in farms right from Tumakuru to Vijayapura. In Birur, Kadur and Chikkamagaluru, where coffee estates abound, the bees mainly draw nectar from coffee flowers.

In the beginning, Raju used to sell the honey to Coorg Honey and Wax Producers’ Cooperative Society at Virajpet. Later, he set up his own honey filtering unit in Bengaluru and secured Agmark certificate for the bottled honey. While he supplies honey to retailers in various towns and cities, he also sets up a stall in events like Lalbagh Flower Show and agricultural fairs.

Acknowledging his achievement in the field, he was felicitated at GKVK recently. A tonne of honey fetches him nearly Rs two lakh. He says, he spends nearly 20 days of a month in the fields and farms across the State, creating awareness about beekeeping and providing farmers the initial training.

His wife Geetha is a constant companion in his pursuit in disseminating information on beekeeping. Their knowledge and consummate skills in beekeeping make them almost a mobile encyclopedia on apiculture. G Raju can be contacted on 9494695937.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Spectrum / by M A Siraj / September 18th, 2017

Archiving the versatile sari

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All
The aim is to create a cultural documentation of the sari.
The aim is to create a cultural documentation of the sari.

The Nivi drape, or the one where the pallu of a sari is worn on the left shoulder, is the most common type of sari drape in the country and the world over. But India has hundreds of such drapes, specific to region and culture, that have been forgotten over the years. To document these drapes and create a digital archive, Border&Fall, a city-based digital platform promoting the garment, textile and craft community of India, is making 80 short films as part of its project ‘The Sari Series: An Anthology of Drape’.

Each film will be two minutes long and will show how to drape a sari in a particular style. The archive, expected to be released this fall, can be accessed online for free .

“This project has been an idea for years, but we began proactively working towards it in early 2016. The aim is to create a cultural documentation of the sari through short films, which will give people access to various drapes, and to showcase the diversity and versatility of sari as a garment,” said Malika Verma Kashyap, founder of Border&Fall.

However, Ms. Kashyap said this was not an attempt to “revive” the garment. “The sari is not a forgotten tradition, it is worn my millions of women every day. But many are unaware of the different ways it can be worn. The Boggli-Possi drape from Andhra Pradesh for example is great to behold,” she said.

Some of the other styles to be documented are the Coorg drape, the Kalna Sari drape from West Bengal, Kuchipudi men’s sari drape from Andhra Pradesh, Yakshagana Kase from Karnataka, Purnia drape from Bihar, Warli drape from Maharashtra, and Ranchi Saiko drape from Jharkhand.

Apart from the 80 films, three independent films directed by Qaushiq Mukherjee, Bon Duke and Pooja Kaul will explore the sari’s past, present and future.

Some of the images of the drapes are part of the #WeWearCulture project by Google Arts & Culture.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sarumathi K / Bengaluru – July 28th, 2017

KIA, first airport to launch custom-made patrolling bikes

Business & Economy, Records, All

KIAbf28jul2017

The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) now has its own patrolling bikes.

Introduced for the first time in any airport in the country, the custom-made motorcycles were launched on Monday.

Two bikes have been introduced now for ground traffic control duties within the airport premises. An airport spokesperson said these bikes will help in quicker and seamless movement of personnel through the network of roads and pathways inside the campus.

More such two-wheelers are expected to be introduced soon.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DH News Service, Bengaluru / July 28th, 2017

Young social entrepreneurs share stories, win hearts at CII summit

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

Bengaluru:

When four youngsters took the stage at the India Innovation Summit on Thursday, the packed hall greeted them with thunderous applause. From a 17-year-old girl who sowed the seeds of her venture in 2015 to a 21-year-old village lad who has gone the extra mile to help distressed farmers, the innovators shared their journeys and success stories at the two-day meet organized by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII).

This app tracks baby’s mental, physical growth

“When I was in class six, school authorities told my parents to get me enroled in a special school. I was 11 when they realized that I was suffering from dyspraxia, a motor disorder caused by damage to the brain. By the time I stepped into class 10, I became an ace coder,” said Harsh Songra, founder of My Child, an app. Featured twice in the Forbes India 30 Under 30 list, he’s been a TedEx speaker too.

Founded in 2015, the app helps parents track the child’s mental and physical development and unusual symptoms from birth to two years. “Today, we connect to over 200 mothers across 140 countries in a month to help them understand their children’s development stages and identify signs of a disorder, if any. The app uses artificial intelligence algorithms. I have also started a content page — We Included — which narrates the tales and travails of the disabled across the globe and sensitizes people,” said Harsha.

Harsh Songra, 21, co-founder, My Child

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A platform which hones communication skills

While chasing the IIT dream, Siddharth Pandiya realized that he was doing no value-addition by becoming another computer engineer. “I left the rat race and started something which I realized is so vital today, a debating platform. My parents always wanted me to develop communication skills,” said Siddharth, who is preparing to join University of California, Los Angeles.

The teenager who just completed PUC from Greenwood High School is the founder of Debate for Change, a forum supported by Google. An avid debater since the age of eight, Siddharth’s aim is to make schoolchildren discuss varied topics with students across the world, hence enhancing their communication skills. “It’s a voice-based platform. One has to meet certain parameters, like the number of debates, to secure a world ranking,” he said, adding, “I’d rather be an aggregator of skills and find the right people to do the right job than a master of all trades. That’s my success mantra.”

Siddharth Pandiya, 18, founder, Debate for Change

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This initiative hopes to change mindsets, save resources

Two years ago, when an environmentalist spoke about the impact of wasting resources and degradation of the planet during environment day, classmates Garvita Gulhati and Pooja S chanced upon the idea of a social startup — Why Waste? “The speech got us thinking and we realized we needed to do something,” said Garvita, who was 15 years old then.

“If we drink water from a bottle at a summit and leave it half empty, 14 million litres of water will be wasted in two days? Our initiative intends to change mindsets. I believe we are all tenants on Earth; if we can leave a house spick and span being tenants, why can’t we do that for the planet? We have to stop wasting resources, which are limited,” she said. As part of the initiative, Garvita organizes campaigns to conserve natural resources.

Garvita Gulhati, 17, co-founder, Why Waste?

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A tech tool to aid farmers

Hailing from a humble farmer family in a remote Mangaluru village, Ajay Gopi started an agriculture startup in 2015. “I have experienced the agony farmers in our country go through. When about 1,500 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka because of crop failure and debt, I decided to make a difference,” said the collegegoer.

The startup, Teraniru, gives users access to the aquaponics technology, wherein plants grow in soil which sucks the same water in which fish breed. His prototype is functioning since December at the Kaggalipura rural market. “My aim is to do away with middlemen in the agriculture sector. We have to focus on people who contribute to the food chain, otherwise we will not survive,” said Ajay, who is now head of Project DEFY in Mangaluru and a fellow at Ashoka India.

Ajay Gopi, 21, co-founder, Teraniru

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / TNN / July 14th, 2017

Google acquires Bengaluru-based Artificial Intelligence startup Halli Labs

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

The firm “was founded with the goal of applying modern artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to solve old problems.”

Google has acquired Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup Halli Labs for an undisclosed sum. The firm said it was founded with the goal of applying modern artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to solve old problems.

“Well, what better place than Google to help us achieve this goal,” said the company in a blog post on Medium. It said the company would be joining Google’s Next Billion Users team to help get technology and information into more people’s hands around the world. “We couldn’t be more excited,” said the company.

Halli Labs was co-founded early this year by Pankaj Gupta, former chief technology officer of online homestay aggregator Stayzilla, which recently closed down its services. An alumnus of Stanford University, Mr.Gupta has also worked as a senior data scientist at Twitter.

Caesar Sengupta, Google’s vice-president for product management tweeted about the acquisition on Wednesday on his Twitter handle.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home>  Business> Industry / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – July 12th, 2017

A ‘sticky’ success story

Agriculture, Business & Economy
Bumper harvest: Avinash Kora of Koppal district has successfully grown drumstick as an intercrop. Photo by Author
Bumper harvest: Avinash Kora of Koppal district has successfully grown drumstick as an intercrop. Photo by Author

Avinash Kora, a young farmer from Narasapura village of Yelburga taluk in Koppal district, has successfully experimented with agroforestry. He has planted horticulture and forest species like lemon, guava, custard apple, jamun, red sandalwood, hebbevu and sandalwood in his six-acre farm. The plants are nine months old. Marigold is grown in an area of two acres. A farm pond (30X40 feet) is also constructed in this part of the land.

There is a gap of eight feet between the rows of fruit plants. Six months ago, Avinash decided to grow drumstick in this area. He sowed the seeds directly on the farm. Almost all the seeds sprouted and grew into healthy plants. Drumstick is a perennial crop and once planted, it yields for five years. In Avinash’s farm, the crop was ready for harvest after four months. Since then, he has been harvesting drumstick once every three days. This is the first season of harvest and he has got a yield of 300 to 450 pieces per plant. Generally, drumstick is harvested twice a year and the harvest season spans over two months.

With neat packing (10 kg packs) and proper transportation, the produce remains fresh for hours, and thus fetches good price. Proper packing and identifying the right sale point are the other aspects that have helped him reap rich rewards from drumstick cultivation. Initially, he sent the produce to the local market. But since he didn’t get a good price there, he contacted a vegetable exporter in Belagavi after a quick online search. Now he sells two to three tonnes of harvest every week, and money is transacted online.

“Everything is going on smoothly. Quality produce coupled with proper grading, packing and transportation go a long way in helping farmers get the right price. Hence, it is time we farmers understand that post-harvest management is as important as choosing the right crops and practicing healthy cultivation methods. Also, we should be more enterprising and take the initiative to sell our produce to the consumers directly,” he says. While he has spent Rs 40,000 on cultivation, he has earned Rs 3 lakh through sales in this season.

This is not the first time Avinash has experimented with minor crops. In the first four months of setting up the farm, he had grown marigold and toor dal as intercrops and earned good money.

“Drumstick grows well in almost all types of soil. The agro-climatic conditions of this region are suitable for growing drumstick,” says Linganagouda Patil, assistant director of Horticulture Department in Koppal.

Kishan Rao Kushtagi
(Translated by AP)

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Spectrum / by Kishan Rao Kushtagi / July 11th, 2017