January, 20182MIDNIGHT REPORTER

IAS*Paul Antony IAS officer Kerala 1983 batch, who is

presently posted as Additional Chief Secretary IndustriesDepartment, Government of Kerala, has been appointedas Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala.

*Keshav Chandra IAS officer AGMUT 1995 batch,who is presently posted as CEO Delhi Jal Board withadditional charge of Secretary Environment & Forest andSecretary(I&FC), has been relieved from Government ofDelhi to join central deputation as Joint Secretary(Logistics)Department of Commerce, Government of India.

*The 1982 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, Pravir Kumarappointed as President of Uttar Pradesh IAS Assocoiation.

*The 1986 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre,Mrs. Salina Singh, presently posted as Chief ElectoralOfficer, has been promoted to the grade of Chief Secre-tary in Government of Madhya Pradesh.

*The 1996 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre, Ms.Gitanjali Gupta has been appointed as Secretary cumDirector Vigilance with the additional charge of Chairman,DSSSB in Delhi Govt.

*The 2007 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, Ms.Tina Soni has been appointed as Deputy Secretary in theCabinet Secretariat.

*The 1986 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre,Mrs. Salina Singh, presently posted as Chief ElectoralOfficer, has been promoted to the grade of Chief Secre-tary in Government of Madhya Pradesh.

*Ms. Sumita Misra, IAS (HY:1990) has been appointedas Joint Secretary in the PM’s Economic Advisory Councilunder the NITI Aayog.

*Mukhmeet Singh Bhatia, IAS (JH:1990) has beenappointed as Joint Secretary, Fifteenth Finance Commis-sion under the Department of Economic Affairs.

*Ashish Upadhyay, IAS (MP:1989) has been appointedas Joint Secretary, Ministry of Coal vice Vivek Bhardwaj,IAS (WB:1990).

*Kailash K. Aggarwal, IRSE (Civil) (1987) has beenappointed as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping viceShri Pravir Krishna, IAS (MP:1987).

*The 1991 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradeshcadre, Jagdish Sharma will be Principal Secretary to newChief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.

*The 1984 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, Ravi Kant,Secretary in the Dept of Food & Public Distribution hasbeen given addl charge of the post of Secretary, Ministryof Food Processing Industry from 23 Dec 2017 to 31 Dec2018 during the absence on leave of Jagdish PrasadMeena(IAS, AM:83).

*The 1982 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, Ms.G. Latha Krishna Rao, Secretary, Department of SocialJustice & Empowerment has been given additional chargeof the post of Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs from16.12.2017to 07.01.2018 during the period of absence onleave of Ms. Leena Nair, lAS (TN:1982).

*The 2004 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, KundanKumar has been appointed as Private Secretary to theHoem Minister, Sh. Rajnath Singh in the Ministry of HomeAffairs at the level of Deputy Secretary.

*The 2005 batch IAS officerof Bihar cadre, Ajay who isrecently returned from inter cadre deputation has beenrelieved to join as Private Secretary to M. J. Akbar, Minis-ter of State from External Affairs.

*The 2009 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, ManojKumar Singh has been appointed as Private Secretary tothe Minister of State(I/C) for Power & Renewable Energy,R. K. Singh at the level of Under Secretary.

*The 1983 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, J. K. Daddoo,Additional Secretary and Financial Secretary, Ministry ofCommerce has been given premature repatriation to hisparent cadre with immediate effect.

*Ms. Prerna Puri, IAS (AGMUT..2006) is Private Sec-retary to Minister for Shri Chaudhary Birender Singha,Ministry of Steel.

*Sambit Tripathy, IRS (IT..1998) is Private Secretaryto Minister for Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Ministry of SkillDevelopment & Entrepreneurship.

*Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, is Secretary (AC), D/o HealthResearch, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

*Anant Swarup, IRPS (1992), is Joint Secretary, D/oCommerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

*Raghvendra Singh, IAS (WB : 1983), is Secretary,Ministry Culture.

*Upendra Prasad Singh, IAS (OR : 1985), is Secre-tary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Developmentand Ganga Rejuvenation.

*Shri M.M. Kutty, IAS (UT:1985), is Additional Secre-tary, D/o Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

*The 1985 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre, OmPrakash Galhotra has been appointed as Director Gen-eral of Police(DGP) in Rajasthan in place of Ajit Singh.

*The 1984 batch IPS officer of Odisha cadre, GurbachanSingh has been appointed as Director General (Investiga-tion) in National Human Right Commission(NHRC) vice PV K Reddy(IPS, TR:82).

*The 1990 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre, RajwinderSingh Bhatti has been appointed as CVO, Airport Authorityof India(AAI) in Delhi under the Ministry of Civil Aviationvice Yatendra Kumar(IAS, TR:96)

Public SectorSinha CMD,NCLGovt has cleared the appointment for nine Board

level positions. AS per notification of GOI , Shri PrabhatKumar Sinha ,Director-Technical, SECL appointed asCMD, Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) .

Sharma Chairman,SJVNLNand Lal Sharma, Director(Personnel), Satluj Jal

Vidyut Nigam Ltd(SJVNL)has been appointed as Chair-man & Managing Director(CMD), SJVNL.

Suchitra Sharma CVO, GAILThe 1987 batch IRS(C&CE) officer, Suchitra Sharma

has been appointed as CVO, Gas Authority of IndiaLtd(GAIL) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gasvice Rajesh Ranjan(IPS, BH:84.

Sundaram ED, Rubber Board KottayamThe 1997 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, Dr. M. K. S.

Sundaram, Development Commissioner, MEPZ SpecialEconomic Zone, Chennai has been given addl charge ofthe post of Executive Director(JS level), Rubber BoardKottayam under the Dept of Commerce for the period ofthree months wef 24 Nov 2017.

Nalini Non-official DirectorACC also cleared the appointment of Ms. Nalini

Padmanabhan as Non-official Director on the Board ofNLC Tamil Nadu Power Limited (NTPL).

Harbans Director (Tech),THDCILHarbans Lal Arora (ED, THDCIL) appointed as Di-

rector (Technical), Tehri Hydro Development Corpora-tion India Limited (THDCIL).

Two new Directors appointed in BCCLNarendra Kumar Tripathi (GM, ECL) appointed as

Director (Technical), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL)and Shri R S Mahapatra (GM, SECL) appointed asDirector (Personnel), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

Kumar Director (Tech), CCLVirendra Kumar Srivastava has been appointed as

Director(Tech), Centre Coalfields Ltd(CCL) at a PublicEnterprise Selection Board(PSEB) meeting held on 19Dec 2017.

Sood Director,SCIRajesh Sood, Senior Vice President, Shipping Cor-

poration of India(SCI) Ltd has been appointed to the postof Director(Technical & Offshore Services), SCI.

IPS

‘Make in India’ will create 10 crorenew jobs by 2020: NITI Aayog

Government ofIndia’s flagship initiativefor job creation andskill enhancement,‘Make in India’ will cre-ate 10 crore new jobsby 2020, said NITIAayog Director Gen-eral-DMEO and Ad-viser, Anil Srivastava.

“We are in themidst of fourth technological revolution where there is lot of integra-tion of technology that is taking place. With Make in India, we aretargeting on generating 10 core new jobs by 2020,” said Srivastava inan event in New Delhi. In the last couple of years the Governmentthrough various initiatives such as Make in India, and Start up Indiahas been looking to increase investment opportunities in the country.

Lending its support to the cause, Konnect Worldwide BusinessMedia organized an event smarttech Manufacturing and ElectronicsIndia Congress 2017 in New Delhi.

The government has a target to make India Net Zero Imports by2020 and is implementing several initiatives to promote electronicsmanufacturing as well. This event brought all the stakeholders in theManufacturing and Electronics ecosystem to discuss on the chal-lenges and opportunities that will enable the country to achieve thistarget. “In our champion category mobile phones India contributesabout 3.9 percent of the value of the world and about 13.8 percent interms of volume of the world. Due to the volumes, we get a sense thatwe are a big market but that is not the case so,” said National Presi-dent, Indian Cellular Association, Pankaj Mohindroo.

“We will be a significant value market and become worth USD 70-80 billion in the coming five to seven years,” Mohindroo added.

As a result of the Government efforts, in the last two years 107new manufacturing units have been established and plenty more arein the offering. During the course of the conference, the panelistlauded the government for laying the regulation groundwork and pro-viding necessary support from time to time. The need of the hourhowever is that India goes beyond assembly units and get into com-ponent manufacturing. “We believe conclaves such as smarttechIndia Congress offers a great platform for players across the smarttechnology domain in India to exchange ideas and work togethertowards a better, mutually beneficial ecosystem. In terms of manu-facturing, we keep comparing how India fares against China, but inreality we can have a better ecosystem, given the kind of resourceswe have,” said country head corporate sales international, MediaTek,Kuldeep Malik.

Abhay appointed NCBDirector General

Senior IPS officer Abhay was today appointedDirector General of Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB), according to an official order.

He is at present working in Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinethas approved his appointment to the post tillNovember 18, 2019, the order issued by De-partment of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

The post was lying vacant after R R Bhatnagar took over as DGof CRPF in April this year.

Odisha police goes DIGITALThe Odisha police goes digitl from this nw

year with computerisation of police stationwork under the Criminal Tracking and Net-working System (CCTNS), a top police officersaid.

The project is being implemented underthe national e-governance initiative at a costof Rs 61 crore, the officer said.

Odisha Director General of Police (DGP)R P Sharma, after reviewing the status of the

CCTNS project, said out of 612 police stations across the state, 589police stations have been equipped with the necessary hardwareand software for successful implementation of the project. “Nearly sixto seven manual registers at police station levels will be abolishedfrom January 1, 2018 and all the records will be maintained online toavoid duplicity of works,” Sharma said.

Stating that CCTNS is like core banking, Sharma said all policestations will have to work online while registering cases, station dia-ries, case diaries and charge sheets.

He said the investigating officers will also be able to use laptops,tabs and smart phones for accessing the database and generatingreports easily. Sharma also said maintenance of manual registers,including entry of station diaries, will also go online in various policestations across the state from January 2018.

Babudom

January, 20183MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Thumbs UpThumbs up to the T police head , DGP M.Mahendar Reddy for good results

and for his continuous efforts.During the annual round up the numbers and thefigures were compared with previous year, how things have been controlled andwhat new initiatives are to come has to be looked after with the positivesense.Mr.Reddy is the boss, so forget about any erroneous happening.

Hope For The BestThe Chief Secretary S.P.Singh is retiring on 31st of January and there is a buzz

that he may get extension for some more time, it all depends on State & Centralgovernment.Whereas the government is keen to appoint him as the advisor toMission Bhagiratha.Hope for the best !

Joshi !The Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) SK.Joshi’s name is making rounds for

the post of Chief Secretary of Telangana state.The media has already carried hisname as the front runner for the post but till the last minute whose name will beannounced , no one knows excluding the Chief Minister of T state.

RelaxGuys relax ! Now no need to worry as the Baldiya Boss Dr.B.Janardhan

Reddy has come across with your problem and ordered all the officers to bepresent at their cabins during the visiting hours. Therefore now the people cango bindass to the concerned officers with their grievances,but be on time.Thisorder shows that how much Mr.Reddy cares for the public. Jawab nahi !

Mala took over Samba RajM. Malakondaiah is the new Director-General of Police of Andhra Pradesh

State Police.A 1985 batch IPS officer has succeeded Nanduri Sambasiva Rao.Healso served as Chairman, State level Police Recruitment Board, Director AP Po-lice Academy and Director General of ACB.Presently many challenges in Andhra,but as per the work profile the officer can tackle the same. Best wishes !

ExpectedPolice Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat is making rounds

and the annual report of the Rachakonda Commissioneratehas took the officer on the higher level.The officers dedica-tion, devotion and the dynamic image has made the polic-ing systematic and the best.When the versatile officer likehim is on his toes such results are expected year afteryear.Kudos !

AwesomeV.V.Srinivasa Rao, the Hyderabad Police Commissioner

is on screen with his awesome performance.During the an-nual press meet the officer focused on the initiatives of citypolice.He stated that because of PD Act and patrolling thecrime rate has come down in the city, whereas ‘She teams’are doing the fabulous job.Overall it’s the best results fromthe city police.

FantasticThings are pretty cool at Cyberabad.The police chief of

Cyberabad Sandeep Sandilya is making all his efforts tokeep up the policing on high side because the entire ITsector comes under his limits.As per the annual round fig-ures the law & order is perfect at Cyberabad, whereas it’s notan easy task, but Mr.Sandilya knows how to reach the goalsand to get the things done.

WarningRajanna-Sircilla District Collector D. Krishna Bhaskar has

informed all the district officials and general public not topresent him with any kind of gifts during the New Year cel-ebrations. Any deviation in this regard would be viewed seri-ously, he warned.Don’t be serious Mr.Collector ! Be cool !

4 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

IAS Officers Who Made 2017Better With Their BrilliantInitiatives

The Better India, web media has announced 10 inspiring IAS officers from the entirecountry,who have gone above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of many in2017.And the news is out of ten two officers are from Telangana & one is from AndhraPradesh.

PS PradyumanFrom initiating the construction of one lakh individual

toilets (under the Palle Nidra programme) to water con-servation in drought-prone (under the Handri-Neevaproject), PS Pradyuman is a man on a mission. His well-planned and inclusive initiatives have breathed new lifeinto the development of the Andhra Pradesh district.

Pradyumna started ‘Palle Vanam’, a rural afforesta-tion programme that will create natural green spots withbenches and walking tracks for villagers. Another popu-lar programme that he has initiated is ‘Nirbhaya Patrol-ling’, in which women cops on electric bicycles keep aneagle eye on zones covering educational institutions,bus stops and areas vulnerable to sexual harassment.

Ronald RoseMahbubnagar district of Telangana has been set-

ting quite a few development records for some timenow. Villages have rapidly become open-defecation freeand farmers are increasingly turning to organic meth-ods. The district has also been in the news for suc-cessfully digging soak pits in all the houses as well asfor its very successful Haritha Haaram (afforestation)programme.

The man driving this amazing transformation is theenterprising district collector of Mahbubnagar, RonaldRose. A 2006 batch IAS officer of the Telangana cadre,Ronald had single-handedly ensured the effective imple-mentation of government initiatives in the district andtaken it to the forefront of the rural development in thestate.

Bharathi HollikeriIn the recent months, pregnant and lactating women

visiting primary health centres (PHCs) for antenatalcheck-ups in Telangana’s Medak district have been pro-vided with a wholesome lunch on all days of the week.The best part is that this is happening without the addi-tion of a substantial financial burden on government ex-chequers as the food is brought from local Anganwadicentres.

The idea of serving food at PHCs was conceived byMedak’s popular district collector, Bharathi Hollikeri, af-ter she realised that pregnant women often missed lunchbecause they returned home late and tired after time-consuming medical investigations at the clinics. She alsocollaborated with IIT Hyderabad to conduct an exten-sive socio-economic survey of villages that would helpidentify grassroots issues.

ChargeThe boss Anurag Sharma has taken the charge as the

Advisor to the Government of Telangana (Police,Law & Or-der and Crime Control) ,where all his loved one rushed tocongratulate him. Vahi energy,vahi enthusiasm,kuch bhi nahibadla aur vahi andaz, vahi attitude,kuch bhi nahi badla…!Jai ho

SwagatamChief Advisor to Telangana government Dr.Rajiv Sharma

is still playing a vital role in the government. Apart fromother important subjects the officer is meeting the inves-tors, who are all interested to invest in the state. ‘Telangana’mey app ka swagat hai, aap yaha nischint hokar nivesh karsaktey hai’. Kya baat ! He is quite serious on Vision 2024document !

KudosKudos to Commissioner and Director Municipal Admin-

istration T. K. Sreedevi for receiving SKOCH award in NewDelhi.As the Department secured national recognition forits initiatives in geo-tagging over 12 lakh constructionsspread over 72 urban local bodies across Telangana.Amazingone ! The State has been awarded the Skoch Golden Awardfor it’s performance in linking all the structures along withtheir property tax details in association with the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation’s National Remote Sensing Agency.

MissionThese days Wanaparthy District Collector Swetha

Mohanty is on a mission.She is keen to makeover the fortGhanpur,which is a historical place and which has preservedlot of treasure in it.Where lots of options can be planned inthe view of tourism.If things really turns up then the daywill come when the district will be known as Ghanpur dis-trict. Fantastic Swetha !

DG AcharyaYes the versatile senior IAS officer BP.Acharya is posted

as Director General of MCR HRD Institute and now after theposting he will be known as DG.Acharya.Earlier to this hewas the Special Chief Secretary, Planning.What ever may bethe buzz, the officer is likely to get a plum posting soon.

AmazingWhen it comes to the commitment and the routine

work of khakis it’s quite challenging.To give the bestkhakis have to sacrifice a lot, said Addl.DGP SantoshMehra during the free medical camp organized by SriKaran Singh Memorial Foundation.The Khakis job isnot that easy yet the work gives satisfaction becauseworking for society & for people is a great cause. Re-ally it’s an amazing work!

One & OnlyThe Telangana State Police Housing Corporation

Managing Director B.Malla Reddy,IG is the one officerwho signs in Telugu and it’s surprising that despiteobjections the officer is signing in Telugu from past 30years.The officer has continued this practice to pro-mote the mother tongue.Hat’s off to his commitment!

Anand OnBatting Side

C.V.Anand loves battingand that’s the reason he willbe always on his toes tomake a good score, what-ever may be the role his in-tention is to benefit the pub-lic in large numbers.Now thenews is civil supplies de-partment has taken up aspecial drive against hotelsand restaurants, who areforcibly collecting servicecharges from customerseven in the GST regime.Civilsupplies and legal metrol-ogy commissioner C.V.Anand said that the drive willbe held across the state.Forcing any customer topay service charge leads tounfair trade practices as de-fined under the Act Sec. 2(r).Mr. Anand has asked con-sumers to send complaintsto the civil supplies WhatsApp No. 7330774444 or tothe legal metrology depart-ment: 9490165619, 27612170or email clm-ts@nic.in. Inanother happening the de-partment has decided to in-voke the provisions of theRevenue Recovery Actagainst the rice millers whowere delaying supply ofcustom milled rice to thegovernment.That’s Mr.Anand, the best batsman.

5 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Public SectorUnion Steel & Mines Minister reviewsperformance of NMDC Limited

Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh visited the Head Office of NMDC Limited atHyderabad’. The Minister reviewed NMDC’s performance in a meeting with N. Baijendra Kumar,IAS, CMD; Dr. Narendra K. Nanda, Director (Technical); Shri P K Satpathy, Director (Produc-tion); Dr. T.R.K. Rao, Director (Commercial); Shri D S Ahluwalia, Director (Finance);

Shri Sandeep Tula, Director (Personnel), NMDC; Shri Saraswati Prasad, Additional Secre-tary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Steel; Shri Sunil Barthwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steeland Senior Officials of NMDC.

Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh appreciated NMDC’s performance and achievements andalso said that the inaugural function of the Diamond Jubilee Year has become a bench mark forall PSEs. “NMDC, being one of the largest miners in India must focus on increasing iron oreproduction, this will have the twin benefit of keeping prices in check and ensuring equitablesupply of raw material to big and small producers. To achieve the target of enhanced productioncapacity to 67 million tonnes iron ore by 2021-22, there needs to be visible incremental in-crease in production in consecutive years. NMDC needs to have a strategic vision and plan forthe same." Minister advised NMDC to get a strategic plan prepared for long term vision.

He emphasized to increase focus on explanation of all minerals not only in India but alsooverseas. He also stressed the importance of having slurry pipeline network to address theevacuation issue and this will also not only help the large steel makers but also the secondarysteel producers. Earlier CMD, NMDC Shri N. Baijendra Kumar, IAS welcomed the Minister andsaid his maiden visit to NMDC Head office is a proud moment for all NMDCians.

Fossil Fuel Power Generation with CleanTechnology at Affordable prices - CMD NLCIL

Dr. S.K. Acharya, CMD NLCIL , in his Visionary Talkdelivered in the 32nd Indian Engineering Congress, heldat Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Chennai, stressed that thoughrenewable power generation is increasing rapidly withoutsteady supply and affordable storage system, the de-mand for fossil fuel based power is unlikely to drop rapidly.

On the 3rd day of the Indian Engineering Congressorganized by The Institution of Engineers (India) andhosted by the IEI Tamil Nadu State Centre, Dr. Acharyapresented the current & future Indian PowerScenario.Elaborating on India’s total installed power ca-pacity and the projected requirement fuelled by rapid paceof development, Dr. Acharya stressed the need to go forlow carbon power generation.

BHEL bags Rs.7,300 Crore EPC ContractAgainst stiff International Competition Bidding (ICB), Bharat Heavy

Electricals Limited (BHEL) has won an order for setting up a 1,320 MWSupercritical Thermal Power Project (TPP) in Tamil Nadu. Valued at overRs.7,300 Crore, the order for setting up the 2×660 MW Udangudi TPP hasbeen placed on BHEL by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corpora-tion Limited (TANGEDCO). Significantly, this is the fourth order for supercriticalsets finalised in the last three years by TANGEDCO, and all the four orders

have been won by BHEL. The previous three orders viz 2×660 MW Ennore SEZ, 1×800 MWNorth Chennai Supercritical TPP Stage-III and 2×800 MW Uppur TPP were also secured byBHEL on ICB basis, reinforcing its position as the frontrunner in the power generation equipmentindustry in India

Coal India board clears way for‘Shakti’ scheme

Coal India Ltd on Wednesday said its board cleared the decks for signing offuel supply agreements after the auction of coal linkages to Independent PowerProducers having long-term Power Purchase Agreement have been concluded.Under the ‘Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently inIndia’ (Shakti), as much as 27.18 million tonnes of annual coal linkages havebeen booked by 10 successful bidders. These fuel supply agreements areexpected to result in an annual generation of over 47 billion units per annum fromthe linkage coal and an estimated savings in tariff of approx Rs 125 crore per

annum for period upto 25 years, a statement said. The Central government introduced the ‘Shakti’policy, replacing the earlier discretion based system of granting coal linkages.

Under the new policy guidelines for allocation of coal linkages to various segments of powersector issued by the Coal Ministry, Coal India or Singareni Collieries Company Ltd are to grantcoal linkages on notified price on auction basis for power producers having already concludeddomestic coal based power purchase agreements. According to the statement, the biddingparameter will be levelised discount on existing tariff that the power producer is willing to provideand the likely benefit arising out of the weighted average discount on tariff as quoted by thebidders for 2.72 paise per kWh will be around Rs 127 crore per annum.

The miner also said its board approved the introduction of evacuation facility charges at Rs50 per tonne for despatch of coal except despatch through rapid loading arrangement.

As a result, the company would be generating approximately an additional revenue of Rs2,500 crore for the full year and approximately Rs 800 crore for the rest of the current fiscal.

NBCC Celebrated its 57th Foundation DayNBCC celebrated its 57th Foundation Day in New Delhi. The evening

was graced by S/Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State forHousing and Urban Affairs (I/C); Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State forCommunication (I/C) and Railways; Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary,(MoHUA); Dr. Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD, NBCC; Directors of NBCC andother distinguished guests. On the occasion, Department of Post, Ministry ofCommunication issued a Postage Stamp and Special Cover on NBCC underthe title ‘My Stamp’ in recognition of NBCC’s Excellent Performance and

Contribution towards Nation’s Development. The Stamp was released by Hon’ble Shri ManojSinha in company of other guests. The event was further followed by musical rendition by therenowned Bollywood singer Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Troupe.

FCI raises concern on quality of jute bagsExpressing concern over quality of jute bags, Food Corporation of India (FCI) has stated

that higher use of lower grade jute in manufacturing of gunny bags could lead to devastatingeffects in storage of food grains.

In a letter to Jute Commissioner earlier this month, the corporation said it had to face hugedifficulties due to bleeding bags, resistance from PDS (public distribution system) authoritiesand wastage of foodgrains as the specifications of jute gunny bags have been revised twicediluting bag weight, breaking strength and others during the last one year.

“…there is a proposal to use higher proportions of TD-6 (a low grade variety of jute) andother lower grade jute in manufacturing of jute bags, which FCI is of the view that it could furtherdilute the quality of jute bags which would still makethe situation worse during the course of storage offoodgrains,” it said.

Usually, state procuring agencies procure foodgrains and then, it is handed over to the FCI forfurther dispatch to different states. The operation ofprocurement and distribution of food grains involveeight times handling of bags by the labourers atwarehouses points as well as railheads.

“As FCI maintains buffer stock for minimumperiod 8-12 months, any kind of further dilution inquality of jute bags would have devastating effectsin storage, which would cause national loss in theform of wastage of food grains,” it added.

NLCIL bags prestigious industry excellence awardNLCIL has been once again bestowed with Industrial Excellence Award 2017 for its best

performance and excellence in engineering operation under category ‘A’ ie., organization havingturnover of Rs 5000 Crore and above. The award was presented in the 32nd Indian EngineeringCongress 2017 held at Hotel Le Royal Meridian, Chennai on 21.12.2017, organized by Institutionof Engineers (India), and Tamilnadu State Centre. The award was presented in the inauguralsession by Shri. M.C Sampath, Hon’ble Minister of Industries, Steel Control and Special initia-tives, Government of Tamilnadu. Shri P. Selvakumar,Director / Planning & Projects and Shri. B.Selvan, DGM /Management Services received the award on behalf of NLCIL. The IEI IndustryExcellence Award has been instituted to recognize industry leaders for their innovation, excel-lence in engineering operation and services and their capacity to sustain excellence in a com-petitive manner. The bench marks created by the industry in India have included productivity,quality, safety and performance assurance which would give India the rightful place in the greatmarkets. Realizing that such industries can provide inspiration to a large number of other indus-tries in the country, it has been once conducted appropriate by IEI council to launch the IEIindustry Excellence Award in the year 2008. Since its inception in 2008, industries like SAIL,Indian Oil Corporation, Tata Motors Ltd., Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., BharthElectronics Ltd., CESC Ltd., Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd., (NLCIL), Bharath Heavy ElectricalsLtd had been the rightful winners of the above Award further the Certificate of Appreciation /certificate.

REC raises $400 Millionthrough Dollar Bonds

REC concluded a USD400 million Reg S bondsdeal in London on11thDecember. The bond is

priced at 115 basis points over three years USTreasury and is for refinancing the existing ECB,being first of its kind by any Indian PSU. The equiva-lent pricing of 6M Libor plus 83bps spread is thebest for any Indian PSU in the last decade. RECpriced its bond at the tighter end of the pricing guid-ance, highlighting a strong appetite frominvestors.This is the second international bondtransaction by REC this year. The company hadsuccessfully raised green bonds of US$ 450 mil-lion in July this year, first of its kind and at thetightest spread at that time by any Indian PSU.

6 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Planning to invest in realestate in new year ?Know these GST rulesfirst

If you are planning to buy a house or to invest in the real estate sector, knowing how tax rates changedafter the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is important. Here's how GST is applicable onthe real-estate sector. If you are planning to buy a house or to invest in the real estate sector, knowing how taxrates changed after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is important. To ensure that aperson is not misdirected under the new tax regime, the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC) onThursday came up with clarity on GST rates that are being levied on the real estate.

Here’s what you need to know about the GST rate on the real estate:1. No GST is applicable to the sale of ready to move-in or completed property, such as properties where

the entire consideration has been received after issuance of the completion certificate.2. The effective rate of the GST payable on the purchase of an under-construction residence or commer-

cial properties from a builder involving the transfer of property in land or undivided share of land to the buyeris 12% with full Input Tax Credit (ITC).

What is Input Tax Credit (ITC)?Input Tax Credit is the tax paid on input, or say raw materials. Under the GST, there is a provision that the

total amount of tax paid on input (raw materials such as cement, bricks etc) is offset against the total amountof tax paid on output (building). So, a builder is eligible for availing full input tax credit from the government, butunder Section 171 of the CGST Act, any reduction in tax rate on the supply of goods and services or thebenefit of the input tax must be passed to the consumer by the reduction in prices.

If any builder is not passing the ITC benefits to customers, a complaint can be lodged with the NationalAnti-Profiteering Authorities. The anti-profiteering authority, if it finds that a builder has not passed on GSTbenefits, will direct it to pass on benefits to consumers or may take action against it.

You can file the complaint by filling out a form before the standing committee or state level screeningcommittee. You would also need to attach self-attested copies of all documentary evidence like proof of identity,invoice, price List, detailed working sheet etc. You can download the form from Central Board of Excise andCustoms website.

Foreign investor interest in India will be strongin 2018: Jon Thorn

Indian markets are not expensive at current levels, says JonThorn, co-founder and director of India Capital Fund ManagementLtd, adopting a stance contrarian to that of his peers among globalfund managers.

“Company earnings are at a trough and total market profits rela-tive to nominal GDP (gross domestic product) is at the bottom of thehistorical range. With the recap of the public bank sector and the startof a recovery in the private capex cycle, there is massive potentialfor an acceleration of earnings growth and thus expansion of stockprice multiples,” Thorn sai

This can be India-specific such as politics-in 2018, assemblyelections are due in eight states-or it can be a global sell-off of emerg-ing market stocks. GDP is so strong, though if there were to be acorrection, it’s hard to see that starting a persistently lower market.

With RERA kicking in, NRIinterest in Indian realty set to rise

Implementation of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 willboost the Non-Resident Indian sentiments on Indian real estate sector, saymarket experts.

With more transparency coming in the realty sector, there is bound to be anincrease in the number of NRIs planning to buy property back home, they said..

The Indian real estate sector, in recent times, has witnessed a lot of changes,more so after the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development)Act, 2016 and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

“As RERA will ensure timely delivery of projects and also since all theinformation will be available online, it will boost the confidence of NRIs who arethinking of investing in the Indian real estate market. But, the GST might have anegative impact on the buyers as there might be increase in the price of theproperties,” said Parveen Jain, Vice-Chairman, NAREDCO (National Real Es-tate Development Council).

Right now, prospective home-buyers have to pay a 12 per cent GST todevelopers if they are planning to buy a property which is under construction.However, there is no GST on the fully constructed property.

Greater transparencyHowever, RV Verma, former Chairman of the National Housing Bank, has a

different take on the GST.He said, “The introduction of the GST in the real estate and construction

industry will certainly benefit the sector and its various stakeholders. This willbring in greater transparency in the valuations of transactions as it providesincentives to the builders for adopting and declaring fair and real valuations. This, in turn, will result in more transparent and efficient pricing with the suppliers ofresidential housing standing to gain from the input credits which was not thecase under the service tax regime.”

On the factors that the NRI should keep in mind while purchasing a propertyin India, Verma, who is also a consultant to the World Bank, said: “With RERA,the NRI community will have better access to the information about the builders,their track record and the status of various approvals.

“So, the NRIs should check all the aspects, including the status of land andits land use.”

Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants Private Ltd, said: “Infact, interest in residential properties from NRIs whose focus is not so much oninvestment growth as on owning a home for themselves and their families backhome continues unabated. “The fact that residential property prices in Indiahave bottomed, with developers rolling out highly attractive offers, has workedvery well for such buyers.” The introduction of RERA has turned out to be a realmarket force, and the transparency it enforces will draw residential real estateback to the centre stage.

Industry experts also think that there is not much appreciation in propertyprices in the real estate market of the developed countries.

Workshops for NRIsSince many NRIs are not too familiar with RERA, some of the real estate

firms like Omkar Realtors are organising workshops to brief them about thelaws, according to its Senior Vice-President Rahul Maroo. Also, keeping in mindthe NRIs preference of healthy lifestyle, many developers in India are comingup with projects which are at par with international standards, he added.

Real estate firms target middle-income buyersWith low-income homes not fetching enough margins and luxury homes

not finding enough takers, builders have found a sweet spot in middle-incomehousing projects, where buyers are willing to put up Rs25-50 lakh for a homeof their own. Among developers who have launched mid-income housingprojects recently are Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, Hiranandani Group andPuravankara Projects Ltd.

“More and more builders are now trying to build in the MIG (middle-incomegroup) price bracket because they have the right balance of high demand andprofitability of margins. It is tough for private developers to maintain the marginsin LIG (low-income group) housing. However, one needs to venture into it as along-term, 6-10 year business, and not just as a market reaction,” said VenkateshGopalkrishnan, chief executive officer, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, part ofthe Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which builds Rs30-60 lakh homes.

7MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Meet The AwesomeInterior Designer

January, 2018

'Year 2017 has changed India's realestate forever'

Property developers in India are hoping for a pickup in business in 2018,following a tightening of the regulatory environment and the continued impact ofdemonetisation, which made this year challenging for the sector.

A long-awaited real estate regulation act (Rera) came into effect in May, aimedat bringing much-needed accountability and transparency to the sector.

“If anything, 2017 will be remembered in history as one of the most challengingyears for developers as they survived GST [India's new goods and services tax],demonetisation and Rera,” says Amit Wadhwani, the director of Sai Estate Con-sultants, a real estate broking firm in Mumbai. Demonetisation, a move in which heIndian government suddenly banned the two highest-value banknotes, sapped alot of the liquidity in the Indian economy, negatively impacting the property sector.The primary aim of demonetisation was to reduce the amount of black money inthe Indian economy, of which the real estate sector had been a major beneficiary,along with the legal cash flows it was accustomed to receiving.

The past few years have been difficult for India's real estate sector, but thisyear was particularly tough, data reveals. The number of residential units sold inIndia's top eight cities, which include New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai,declined by 11 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period ayear earlier, according to Knight Frank. Residential launches dropped by 41 percent. Meanwhile, Rera “has completely changed the landscape of the real estatesector”, says Rohit Poddar, the managing director of Poddar Housing and Devel-opment. The act is applicable to residential and commercial developments. Underthe act, projects and real estate agents have to be registered. Developers canface punishment of imprisonment of up to three years and brokers can be jailed forup to one year for violation of the rules. The rules also dictate that developers areresponsible for paying the interest on bank loans in the instance of constructiondelays. In addition, 70 per cent of the money collected from customers has to bedeposited in a separate bank account. The act helps to protect homebuyers fromunscrupulous developers and it will ultimately boost consumer confidence, ex-perts say. But it has caused some upheaval in the sector. “The introduction ofGST will further streamline the supply chain of developers and bring many small-time contractors and vendors into the GST net.”

Ameet Mirpuri is one of the popularand the awesome interior designer.Hisname is listed in the top interiors of theCountry.Let’s check out from whereAmeet has started his journey.He stud-ied Interior Design at The MM School ofInterior Design in Pune and topped theMaharashtra Technical Board in year2002. That’s when he knew this was trulyhis calling!!

He chose Visakhapatnam as hisLand of Opportunity and small beginningscombined with hard work which led to theformation of DESIGN STUDIO.The De-sign Studio team comprises of 15 design-ers, 5 technical staff and 150 skilled la-bor in various related fields.

His credits his ability to try some-thing new every time to his direct interac-tion with his clients, which helps bring adistinct character to each space that’sreflective of the client’s personal style whilekeeping his own design sensibilities inplay.

After completing a workshop in Milan,Italy at the internationally Acclaimed In-stitute of European Design and with a num-ber of successfully completed hospitalityprojects, luxury homes and designerboutiques in cities across the country,his eyes are now set on the stars!!!

Especially since 2008, Our love fordesigning hospitality projects has seenhim through multiple award winning res-taurants, lounge bars and now 5 starhotels! The most note worthy of the hos-pitality projects being: Novotel Hotel -Visakhapatnam, Novotel Resort, Bheemili- Visakhapatnam, Over The Moon -Hyderabad,Over The Moon Brew Com-pany - Hyderabad,Palm Beach Hotel -Visakhapatnam and Farzi Café -Hyderabad are his projects.

Whereas Novotel Hotel atVijayawada, Boutique Hotel atHyderabad, Boutique Hotel at Kolkata,Boulder Hills Golf Club Lounge & Ban-quet at Hyderabad, Fenicia at Kolkata(Franchise from Panama, SouthAmerica) and Raddison Blu at Visakha-patnam are the upcoming hospitalityprojects. Has won 4 awards at the Insti-tute of Indian Interior Designers HafeleAwards for home and hospitality projectsas well.

Ameet Mirpuri

8 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Publisher/Printer/Owner: G. Narahari, Printed at Colour Graphics, 3-1-351, Bhagya Laxmi Nilayam, Nimboliadda, Kachiguda, Statio n Road, Hyderabad - 27. Published at4-6-252, Esamia Bazar, Hyderabad-27 (A.P.) Editor : Dr. Chaitanya Singh, Cell : 8008175000. E-mail : mrnewseditor@yahoo.com.

A Daily Walk: Smart Move for Seniors' Brain HealthWith New Year's Day fast approaching, one

small, new study suggests that seniors inter-ested in preserving their brain health might wantto add walking to the top of their resolution list.

Why? A team of investigators from Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found thatadults over the age of 60 who are already strug-gling with memory issues are better able to fo-cus and process information if they walk morethan 4,000 steps a day (roughly 2 miles). "Welooked at how physical activity affects thicknessof brain structures and also cognitive [thinking]performance of adults over the age of 60," ex-plained study author Prabha Siddarth.

Siddarth noted that brain thickness is considered to be "an early and sensitive marker of brain health."The study revealed that those who walked more than 4,000 steps each day had thicker areas of the brain

known to be critical to thought processing. What's more, such avid walkers demonstrated "better cognitivefunctioning" than those who walked 4,000 steps or less, she said. Siddarth is a biostatistician in the department ofpsychiatry and biobehavioral sciences with the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior andLongevity Center at UCLA.

To explore the potential mental health benefits of walking, the team focused on 26 men and women between theages of 61 and 88. Nearly 70 percent were women. While none suffered from dementia, all complained aboutmemory issues. For one week, all were outfitted with an accelerometer, to track activity patterns.

Participants were then divided into two groups: those who walked more than 4,000 steps per day and thosewho walked less. (The less active group was older, at an average age of 77, compared with the more active group,at an average age of 68.) In addition, MRI brain scans were conducted and each participant underwent a batteryof mental health tests to assess memory skills, learning skills, verbal skills, attention and information-processingabilities, decision-making function and the ability to execute a task. Playing outdoor games could boost your kid’seyesight Worried that your kid’s eyesight might deteriorate because of endless hours spent on smartphones,gaming consoles, computers and tablets? Take heart, spending just two hours a day outdoors, playing any sportin the sunlight, might help, experts suggest. Myopia - also known as nearsightedness and shortsightedness - is acondition of the eye where the light that enters the eye does not directly focus on the retina, but in front of it.

This causes the image that one sees - when looking at a distant object - to be out of focus. It does not affectfocus when looking at a close object.

According to experts, lack of natural light is the key behind the condition.“The main factor seems to be a lack of exposure to direct sunlight, because children who study a lot and who

use computers or smartphones or tablet computers a lot have less opportunity to run around outside and are lessexposed to sunshine,” Annegret Dahlmann-Noor, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London,was quoted as saying to BBC Health.

While stopping or limiting screen time use may be a big task for parents, the best thing to do, say the experts,is to get children playing outside as much as possible.

“We know that myopia or short-sightedness is becoming more common,” Chris Hammond, professor at King’sCollege London, was quoted as saying to BBC Health.

“Protective of myopia development is time outdoors - sport and leisure outdoors are protective of eyesight,”Hammond said.

“Probably on average across the week and the weekend, two hours a day outdoors is protective of becomingshort-sighted in children,” he noted.

Further, a diet rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids, and vitamins A, C and E and nutrients are good for the backof the eye. Regular annual eye checks can also help, experts suggested.

Corporate Hospitals Should ProvideAffordable Medical Services

Health Minister Dr. C Laxma Reddy inaugurated the MAA ENT Special-ity Hospital near Jubilee Hills check post. Speaking on the occasion, heurged the corporate hospitals to reach out to the needy patients instead oftaking a commercial approach towards health care. The Minister said thatthe hospitals need to help the poor patients providing affordable medicalservices. Mentioning the developmental activities taken up by the govern-ment hospitals in the last one year, he admitted the need for improvement inENT facilities at the government hospitals.

Govt to hire over 900 for NationalHealth Mission projects

The Telangana government recently accorded permission to the Com-missioner of Health and Family Welfare and Mission Director of NationalHealth Mission (NHM) to fill up 965 posts in different categories on contractor outsourcing basis. In the coming few months, the Commissioner of Healthand Family Welfare and Mission Director of NHM will recruit the healthcareworkers for various projects, which are being implemented in Hyderabadand across the State. Out of the 965 posts, 500 nurses will be recruited oncontract or outsourcing basis for NHM’s Non-Communicable Diseases(NCD) project. Eight paediatricians and close to 28 staff nurses will berecruited to strengthen the Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) projects indistricts.

Health cards for studentsDeputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari has announced that the State

Government would soon issue Health Cards for students across theTelangana State.

Addressing the annual meeting of Principals of Telangana Gurukul andModel Schools on Thursday, the Deputy CM said special focus would belaid on health of students and all the students, especially those studying inresidential schools. He said health check-ups would be conducted for schoolchildren and they would be provided treatment if required.

Kadiyam said nearly 1.25 lakh students were studying in 194 ModelSchools across the State. He said despite giving the slogan of 'Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao', the present NDA Government at the Centre has stoppedgiving financial assistance to the Model Schools in the country. However,Telangana Government continued those schools and is spending Rs. 218crore on them annually.

India can provide higher education to 40 millionstudents by 2020 through foreign collaboration

India has an ambitious target of providing highereducation to 40 million students by 2020 and toachieve the goal it should allow foreign universities tooperate in the country - either through partnershipsor letting them open their own campuses, says theVice Chancellor of a top-rated Australian university.

Ian Jacobs, a surgeon-turned-academician head-ing the University of New South Wales (UNSW) inSydney, is exploring how his institution can cater tothe enormous demand and avail the massive oppor-tunities in India’s education sector, one of the world’slargest. But the environment around and the struc-ture of India’s education system is challenging amid

tight regulations even as reforms planned in the sector are exciting for international institutions and educationbusinesses. “The structure of higher education and regulations around it in India make that quite challenging. Weare looking at how to do that and exploring innovations to do that,” Jacobs told IANS during a trip to India.

“At the moment, it is not possible for an international university to open its own campus in India. But it may bepossible for us to partner with an Indian university so that we can bring to India the depth of experience that wehave in quality higher education at a very large scale. That is what we are exploring. It is quite a complicatedenvironment to do that.”

India has set an aggressive target of achieving 30 per cent gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher educationby 2020. GER is the total enrolment in higher education among the population in the age group of 18-23.

AYUSH National Teachers Eligibility test: Allthat is known so far

Are you aiming to teach Ayurveda or any other medicine system in future? Ifyes, then you may soon have may soon have to clear an exit exam. Are you aimingto teach Ayurveda or any other medicine system in future? If yes, then you maysoon have to clear an exit exam. As per a proposed legislation on the lines of thehealth ministry’s National Medical Commission Bill, students seeking licence topractice any medicine system will need to pass an exit test. Here is what is knownso far about the proposed legislature: - The proposal is part of a draft bill whichseeks to create a new regulator, National Commission for Indian Systems of Medi-cine and Homeopathy. The new regulator will replace the two statutory bodies

governing higher education in Homeopathy and Indian systems of medicine. - The AYUSH ministry, in consultationwith NITI Aayog, has formulated the inclusion of integrative medicine in the proposed bill. This enables AYUSHpractitioners to practise modern medicines and vice versa after undergoing a “bridge course”.

-Named as National Commission for Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy, the bill has been proposedby the NITI Aayog-led panel.

- It is aimed at replacing Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) and Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH).The bill also calls for AYUSH National Teachers Eligibility Test to bring in quality teachers in the traditional systemsof medicine.

- The AYUSH National Teachers Eligibility will be conducted for appointment of all teachers in AYUSH institu-tions.

- The bill was drafted after a committee under the chairmanship of vice chairman, Niti Aayog, additionalprincipal secretary to the prime minister, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Niti Aayog and secretary, Ministry ofAyush as members examined the working of the existing regulatory bodies of Indian Systems of Medicine.

EAMCET 2018: Check out theexam dates here

The Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) has pub-lished the exam dates for the Telangana EAMCET (engineering, agriculture,medical common entrance test). The Telangana State Council of HigherEducation (TSCHE) has published the exam dates for the Telangana EAMCET(engineering, agriculture, medical common entrance test). The exam isscheduled to be held from May 2 to May 5.Last year, the exam was con-ducted on May 12 and the results for the same were released on May 23.

About the exam:The exam is conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru Techno-logical University, Hyderabad on behalf of Telangana State Council of HigherEducation (TSCHE) for admission into the first year of under graduateprofessional courses offered in the universities and private unaided andaffiliated professional colleges in the state.

About TSCHE: According to the official website, Telangana State Coun-cil of Higher Education, a statutory body of the state government, consti-tuted by the provisions of a government ABSTRACT, G.O. Ms. No 5. Thecouncil is primarily a coordinating body between the University GrantsCommission (UGC), the State Government and the Universities. It is thegeneral duty of the Council to coordinate and determine standards in insti-tutions of Higher Education, Research, Scientific and Technical Institutionsin accordance with the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commis-sion from time to time. The Act 16 of 1988 envisages three distinct functions(a) Planning and Coordination, (b) Academic Functions and (c) AdvisoryFunctions.

InCred bets big on Telangana foreducation loans

Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are set to be the fastestgrowing segment in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)industry. While a lot of them cater to small and medium enterprises (SMEs),Mumbai-based one-year-old startup InCred is providing loans to varioussegments in the SME space. This includes private schools, hotels andthose institutions which normally may not get loans through traditional means.In this regard, the startup launched an initiative called EduProgress Loansin Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and is witnessing a lot of traction. Theseloans are specifically for private schools that do not get any governmentaid, have 1,000 students till class 10 and has been in existence for 10-15years. And about 70-80 per cent of all lending done in these two Telugu-speaking States has been for this product. Going ahead, InCred is bettingbig on this product and plans to lend their EduProgress Loans to 35 moreschools by March 2019 from the current 18, in both Telangana and AP.“While South India was the first region we launched the EduProgress Loansproduct and in that too AP and Telangana where the two States that we gotinto first.

9MIDNIGHT REPORTER January, 2018

Wedding bells : Wedding of the year ! Shubham& Manuja wedlock at HICC Novotel.It was a big-fat wedding attended by top notch business per-sons & top bureaucrats.Bride Pa Deepak Agarwalwelcomed the guests.The decoration & the dinewas awesome !!!

Made For Each Other : The handsome chapHassan wedlock with Anam.During the weddingreception the guests and the dear family mem-bers blessed the couple and said ‘ye tho madefor each other couple hai’ ! Beautiful jodi !!!Congratulations !

What Next : The known Inte-rior Designer Komal Jain has allready set her identity with heramazing work.And now whatmight be her new year resolu-tion ! To grab many more projectsor to spread the wings all over !Who knows. Komal what next !

Geet Ki Treat : Pretty Geet Guptaki birthday treat and khass-khassdost gathered to join the blast.It wasa amazing moment, which camewith two occasion.Bday & new year! No need to worry friends Geet isplanning one more bash for anotheroccasion.

Inspiring One : Celebratingnew year bash is normal ,but atthe same time planning any so-cial cause is awesome.The copGiri Paka Raju with his family isseen distributing blankets in thenight to the poor.This is reallyawesome, an inspiring story ofthe year.

Dreaming Big : So, ulti-mately with many dreamsDeepthi Ganesh entered intofilm industry as a fashiondesigner.That’s a news and re-cently she grabbed someprojects too.Soon she will beknown as the most preferredcelebrity designer in the indus-try. Wishes for her !

Jawab Nahi : Sach mey an-nual gala dinner ka jawab nahi! To attend sabi yaar-dostawaits entire year.HandsomeMohd Imran hosted the din-ner, where so called all bigges& known faces were movingaround.Imran is again onscreen.

Season’s Greetings : Presentingthe click of gorgeous Maya Padhy,which is in talk.Just imagine theclick of 2018.How it will be !

Salgirah Mubarak : The hand-some Sohel Mateen celebrated hisbirthday with near n dears. Hun-dreds of his friends convey wishesover social media, this shows hissoft nature and good realtions.Happy bday bro…!

Pakki Dosti : This is called thepakki dosti. Occasion Janvi Dulanibirthday and the friend Neelam CLalwani posted a selfie with a beau-tiful line ‘Happy Birthday bestieJanvi.Moments with you all theseyears have been hilarious andbizarre.Never the less I wish youmuch love & laughter in the yearahead.Love you loads.Cheers!

New Look: Amit Gupta,what are your plans for 2018,asyour new look shows that youare planning to enter the filmindustry. Are you !

10 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

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11 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Tourism

Mexico's tourism industryposts strong results

Mexico's tourism industry posted a surplus of $8.27 billion in the first nine months of 2017,up 15.4 percent from the same period last year, the Tourism Secretariat. Mexico's tourismindustry posted a surplus of $8.27 billion in the first nine months of 2017, up 15.4 percent fromthe same period last year, the Tourism Secretariat said Thursday. "The favorable trend in hard-currency receipts from international visitors has generated a significant surplus in the country'stourism balance," the secretariat said in a statement. "Last year, the tourism balance was$9.34 billion, helping to counterbalance the country's overall trade deficit," the secretariat said.An estimated 10 million jobs are either directly or indirectly linked to tourism in Mexico, thesecretariat said. Mexico generated $16 billion in hard-currency earnings from tourism andwelcomed 28.6 million foreign visitors during the first nine months of 2017. The World TourismOrganization (UNWTO) ranks Mexico No. 8 in the world in terms of tourist arrivals, with 35million foreign visitors traveling to the North American nation in 2016.

Turkey, China vow to boost trade,tourism relations

Turkish and Chinese offi-cials vowed to increase rela-tions between the two countries,especially on trade and tourism,during a meeting in the Turkishcapital Ankara on Dec. 28.

Deputy Parliament SpeakerAhmet Aydin welcomed a del-egation from China led by HuChangsheng, an alternatemember of the National Con-gress of the Communist Party.

Aydin said ParliamentSpeaker Ismail Kahraman isplanning to visit China in the nearfuture and Turkey also hopesto host Chinese President XiJinping. “We are planning togradually increase economic

and commercial relations,” he said. “China is our largest trading partner in the Far East andnumber two in the world,” he added. “We have had a trading volume of $28 billion as of last year,and we plan to bring it closer to the level of $50 billion. We enjoy close relations with China onmega construction projects,” he added, referring to major projects such as the construction ofbridges and Istanbul’s third airport project.

‘2018, year of tourism’Aydin said China will celebrate 2018 as the “year of tourism in Turkey” and encouraged

Chinese tourists to visit Turkey. Hu said the number of Chinese tourists visiting Turkey isexpected to rise in 2018. “This year the number of Chinese tourists coming to Turkey probablywill be 400,000,” he said. He also said the presidents of Turkey and China have met four timesin the last two years promoting stronger bilateral relations in the process.

Slovenian tourism sets new record this year

Slovenian tourism has been continuously beating its own records as about 4.4 milliontourists spent 11.3 million nights in the country in the first eleven months of this year, more thanall of 2016 combined. According to the country's national statistics office on Thursday, thenumber of tourist arrivals was up 14 percent and the number of overnight stays increased by11 percent from the same period last year.

Tourists from abroad spent almost 7.7 million overnight stays, which is a 15-percentincrease from the same period last year, while the number of arrivals is also up by 17 percentto 3.2 million. Meanwhile, the number of domestic overnight stays increased by 4 percent to3.6 million and the number of domestic arrivals was up six percent to 1.2 million.

The tourism agency attributes the growth to two main causes -- the recovery of theEuropean economy and the country's social stability and security.

Record 3.6m tourists visit Israel in 2017

The Ministry of Tourism believes that incoming tourism contributed NIS 20 billion to theIsraeli economy. An all-time record 3.6 million tourists visited Israel in 2017, 25% more than in2016. The Ministry of Tourism believes that incoming tourism contributed NIS 20 billion to theIsraeli economy. The country from which the largest number of tourists to Israel come is the US- over 700,000 tourists, 21% more than in 2016. Russia was in second place with 307,000tourists, a 26% increase. The increase in tourism from Russia is attributable to the growth inroutes and flights from Russia to Israel, some of which are run by low-cost airlines, and theexclusion of Turkey from the Russian tourist map in recent years.

The company with the third highest number of tourist to Israel in 2017 was France with284,000 tourists, 8% more than in 2016, followed by Germany in fourth place with 202,000tourists, a 34% rise over 2016, and the UK, which supplied 185,000 tourists to Israel, 10% morethan in 2016. Other important sources of incoming tourism included Ukraine with 137,000tourists, China with 105,000 - a country emphasized by the Ministry of Tourism due to itsenormous potential as a source of tourist, Italy (93,000), Poland (85,000), and Canada (75,000).

59% of the tourists who visited Israel this year came for the first time. 25% described thepurpose of their visit as religious, meaning a pilgrimage, 23% as touring and hiking, and 10% asentertainment and enjoyment. 24% came to visit relatives and friends, and 11% for businessand being an emissary. 30% of the tourists came on organized trips and 64% independently,while 6% purchased tourist packages.

Sport tourism making a strong economicimpact in Lauderdale County

Sporting events are a vital aspect of the area's tourism economy, and the impact keepsgrowing each year. If there was any doubt of the role sports tourism plays, consider this: theNational Association of Sports Commission reports visitor spending associated with sportsevents in North America was $10.47 billion in 2016.

The local numbers are impressive as well, with a $5.47 million economic impact to theShoals via sport tourism in 2017. That figure represents a $400,000 increase over 2016,according to Suzie Shoemaker, the manager of sport/event sales for Florence Tourism.

12 January, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

India Emerges as Australia’s FastestGrowing Market for Tourist Arrivals

Sustained growth in arrivals and spend reveals Australia as a destination of choice forIndian travellers. Arrivals from India to Australia grew by 15 per cent for the year endedOctober 2017, with an influx of 294,000 visitors, compared to the same period last year. Thismakes India the 9th largest inbound market for Australia, and inches it closer towards achiev-ing its Tourism 2020 goal of 300,000 visitors annually, three years ahead of target. Indian visitorspend in Australia for the year ended September 2017 reached A$1.45 billion (approx. Rs7,200Crore), an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year, making India the 8th largestmarket in terms of spend by tourists. With an impressive double-digit growth in arrivals andspend for the fourth consecutive year, India has emerged as Australia’s fastest growinginbound market. In mid-2017 the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protectionextended online lodgment of visitor visa applications to all Indian nationals. The online applica-tion process provides a more convenient option for Indians looking to visit Australia. In an agewhere travellers are increasingly self-reliant in planning and booking holidays, thee-lodgmentallows tourists greater independence when planning a trip to Australia and is likely to be astrong catalyst for boosting tourist arrivals from India.

Feedback related to online lodgment has been positive. Commenting on her experience,Mumbai resident Sangeeta Sood said, “We found the e-lodgment process to be a faster,cheaper and more efficient way of applying for visas. Despite applying during a heavy travelperiod, given the year-end holiday rush, and we received our visas in plenty of time to finaliseour travel plans. We are excitedly looking forward to our dreamholiday and celebrate the NewYear’s Eve in Australia”. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Immigration andBorder Protection (DIBP) commented, “We are extremely pleased with the success of the e-lodgment process, with over 60 per cent of the total tourist visa applications now receivedonline. The month of November 2017 has witnessed the highest-ever tourist visa lodgments.Online lodgment offers benefits such as 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visaapplication charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online. Processingtimes for these visas will now be faster, as both applications and supporting documentation areimmediately available to the processing office. This is good news for every Indian visitorplanning to visit Australia, whether they are travelling for business or pleasure”.

J&K: Tassaduq Mufti gets tourism portfolioJammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to-

day allotted the key tourism portfolio to her younger brotherTassaduq Mufti who along with another PDP legislator JavaidMustafa Mir was inducted into the state cabinet. Accordingto an order issued by the chief minister, Tassaduq Mufti wasallotted the tourism ministry, a portfolio earlier with MehboobaMufti.

Mir was given the portfolios of disaster management,relief and rehabilitation, and reconstruction and floriculture,the order said. In addition, the state's Revenue and Parlia-mentary Affairs minister Abdul Rehman Veeri was givenadditional portfolio of Hajj and Auqaf, while Minister of Statefor Housing and Urban Development, Social Welfare, Healthand Medical Education Asiea Naqash was given the addi-

tional charge of power development, industries and commerce. Minister of State for Forest,Environment, Animal Sheep Husbandry, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Mir Zahoor Ahmad wasgiven additional charge of public health engineering, irrigation and flood control.

India short of nearly 2 lakh tourist hotelrooms: Officials

India has a shortage of nearly two lakh hotel rooms and it is struggling to manage a surgein tourist arrivals, officials in the tourism ministry said.

They said according to a report of the working group on tourism for the 12th Five Year Plan(2012-2017), for a projected annual growth of 12 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs), theprojected requirement of additional hotel rooms in 2016, over 2010, was estimated to be1,90,108. "We are plagued with a huge shortage of hotel rooms and instead of building newones, we are trying to encourage homestays and exploring other alternatives like tying up withexisting known brands with operational hotels and accrediting them," said a senior official ofthe ministry. The ministry of tourism is also working on creating five special tourism zones inthe country so that these areas can be developed into tourist hotspots, officials said.

CM Naidu approves projects for APtourism development134 cr for Rayalaseema tourism

AP Tourism Board proposed a conceptplan to convert INS Viraat into a naval mari-time museum and a tourist destination inVisakhapatnam. Rushikonda in Vizag hasbeen identified as the most suitable loca-tion and site development will be underwayonce all requisite clearances and permis-sions are received, explained the officialsto Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naiduduring a meeting with the AP Tourism, Cul-ture and Heritage Board at Secretariat atVelagapudi.

The officials also proposed a conven-tion centre and a hotel with 148 rooms inthe INS Viraat. Chief Minister also acceptedthe invitation to lay foundation of SheratonHotel in Vijayawada. NAC Hospitality sub-mitted their design and proposal for the 5-star hotel and requested him to attend the Bhumi Puja and the foundation stone laying day onMarch 1st.

Bhavani Islands-The Bhavani Island Tourism Corporation had appointed the consortium ofCBT and Studio PoD who have developed a concept master plan for Islands 1 (792 acres) and3 (515 acres). Out of the 7 islands, these two have been prioritised in Phase 1 due to theirproximity to both Vijayawada and Amaravati.

They will be developed with significant green open spaces and world-class tourist attrac-tions. The islands will be developed with different themes and functions like entertainment(Amusement Park), Culture Centre, Heritage Centre and a Nature Reserve.

Madhurawada-An International Convention Centre, a 5-star hotel, a resort with a golf courseand a helipad was proposed to be introduced in Madhurawada, Vizag. About 240 acre hill will beconverted into an integrated tourist destination, and will have a green area, roads, rural craftvillage, family entertainment centre and an area for future extension.

Luxury beach resort at Kalingapatnam- He reviewed a proposal to establish a luxury beachresort at Kalingapatnam by Club Mahindra. On an extent of 5 acres, with an estimated amountof Rs. 200 crore, the project will be set up consisting of 200 luxury guest units. The ChiefMinister approved the project.

Tribal Circuit, Araku-He also gave his nod for the development of a Tribal Circuit at Araku, aspart of ecotourism. This region will be promoted as a circuit connecting Borra Caves, AnanthagiriHill Resorts, Pathabaluguda, Araku Valley, Chaprai waterfalls, Dallapallo and Lambasingi.

The proposal included upgradation of facilities, coffee-tourism and the concept of a ruralexperience and exposure to tribal culture, with Rs. 157 crore. The project will be proposed to theGovernment of India.

Gandikota - Cable Car- Officials presented an idea of establishing a Passenger Cable CarRopeway at Gandikota to develop it as a tourist destination. For this project, CM approved of theRs. 7.5 crore.

Tourism Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena, Tourism Director Himanshu Shukla, TourismMinister Bhuma Akhila Priya and Principal Secretary G.Sai Prasad were among the officialspresent at the meeting.