A n s h u l aKant appointedas a Chief Finan-cial Officer forState Bank ofIndia.She isdesignated asDy.ManagingDirector & CFOof the Bank.

Capt B.BSinha, Director,SCI, has beenselected for thepost of Chair-man-cum-Man-aging Director,Shipping Corpo-ration of IndiaLimited (SCI).

Atul Sobti,Director (Po-wer) BHEL, hasbeen appointedas Chairmanand ManagingDirector of Bha-rat Heavy Elec-tricals Limited(BHEL)

Public Sector

Hitesh Khannahas been se-lected for the postof Chairman &Managing Direc-tor, Konkan Rail-way CorporationLimited (KRCL).He is known to bea sincere officer.

Prabal Basu, Di-rector, BalmerLawrie & Co.Limited, will bejoining as Chair-man and Man-aging Director,Balmer Lawrie &Co. Limited(BLC).

Tapan Ray, 82,IAS appointedas DG of Na-tional Inform-atics Centre.Ray was MD of(GSPC).

G.Gurucharan,82, IAS as-signed an addl.charge of Direc-tor General, BISfor a period ofthree months.

M s . A r c h a n aRamasunda-ram, 80,IPSAddl. Dir., CBI,has been ap-pointed DG,(NCRB).

Bureaucracy

Chairperson of(MPEDA) Ms.Leena Nair, 82,IAS has beengiven addl. char-ge of ChairmanCoffee Board.

Secretaryto CM MamataB a n e r j e e ,Gautam Sanyalhas been pro-moted as princi-pal secretary.

Rahul Agarwaltook over thecharge as Man-aging Director ofLenovo. AsiaPacific andC h a i r m a n ,Lenovo India.

Easier list-ing norms willbenefit firms likeus, says Snap-deal co-founder& CEO KunalBahl.

Vijay GopalJindal has beenappointed asAdvisor to Chair-man of JindalSteel & PowerLtd (JSPL)Navin Jindal.

Corporate

During themeeting Infosysshareho lderswant NarayanaMurthy back asits co-founder,but he declines.

After allegationthe MotherDairy MDN a g a r a j a ncame out stro-ngly in defenceof the quality ofits products.

July, 20152MIDNIGHT REPORTER

IASGovernment of India appointments......

Bureaucracy

IPSTayal DG, NSG

RC Tayal has been appointed Director General, NationalSecurity Guard (NSG). Tayal, who is serving as Special DG,Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is 1980 batch IPS of-ficer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Choubey IG,BSFThe Government of Jharkhand has relieved

Kamal Nayan Choubey of cadre responsibilityenabling him to join as Inspector General, BorderSecurity Force (BSF) on central deputation. He isa 1987 batch IPS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Chhaya DGI,NHRCChhaya Sharma is joining the National Hu-

man Rights Commission (NHRC) as DIG. Sheis 1999 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.

Thakur is to relieveOfficial sources have said that PS to Union

HRD Minister Smriti Irani, Ms Binita Yadav Thakurhad written a letter requesting the Minister torelieve her due to domestic reasons.

Jethwa deputed as IG,SPGYoshwant Kumar Jethwa, who is presently in the cadre,

has been deputed as Inspector General in Special ProtectionGroup (SPG). He is a 1994 batch IPS officer of Orissa cadre.

Sharma New CICSeniormost Information Commissioner, Vijai

Sharma has been appointed new Chief Informa-tion Commissioner (CIC). He is former 1974 batchIAS officer of UP cadre.

Bhargava IC,CICSudhir Bhargava has been appointed Infor-

mation Commissioner (IC) in the CIC. He is 1979batch retired IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Anoop assigned Addl. ChargeAnoop Kumar Srivastava has been assigned

an additional charge of Secretary, Inter StateCouncil Secretariat. He is a 1981 batch IAS of-ficer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Sudeep to join ECSudeep Jain is joining the Election Commis-

sion of India as DG Training Institue. 1994 batchIAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre Jain would suc-ceed Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer AshishSrivastava.

Roy deputed as RegistrarV.Arun Roy has been deputed as Registrar,

the Tamil Nadu National Law School,Tiruchirappali in Tamil Nadu. He is a 2003 batchIAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. IFS

Gaur OSD,VPAnshuman Gaur has been appointed as OSD to the Vice

President at Director level for a period of five years. He is a2001 batch IFS officer.

Tuhin next HCI, NamibiaKumar Tuhin (lFS: 1991) presently Joint Secretary has been

appointed next High Commissioner of India to the Republic ofNamibia.

Judiciary

Ravi Thapar Indian envoy toNew Zealand called back

India recalled its top dip-lomat Ravi Thapar in NewZealand following allegationsthat his wife assaulted akitchen staff member, whoapparently told police that hewas “kept in slavery”.A de-tail investigation is being car-

ried out into the matter, the External Affairs Ministry said onSaturday. The action was taken based on report of a team sentto New Zealand last month.

New Zealand police said Thapar’s chef was found wander-ing the streets in a distressed state after walking nearly 20kmfrom the high commission. He was taken to a police station andhe ended up staying several nights at Wellington Night Shelter.

The man apparently told police through an interpreter thathe was physically assaulted by Thapar’s wife Sharmila, sub-jected to slavery and the envoy himself had threatened him withassault.High commissioner Ravi Thapar denied the allegationsand told a newspaper in Wellington that he was returning toIndia to take care of his mother.

Sanjyukta Parashar,Assam’s very first female IPSofficer, could have had all thatconsidering her 85th rank (AllIndia) in the UPSC exams andher exceptional academicmerits. But she chose a routethat even the toughest dreadto take - she decided to leadthe fight against the Bodo mili-tants of Assam. Born and bredin Assam, Sanjukta Parasharis an IPS officer from the 2006batch, and is Assam’s onlywoman to join the Indian Po-lice Services.

She was inducted as anIPS officer and chose Assam-Meghalaya region as hercadre. Now an SP of AssamJorhat District, Parashar’sfirst deployment was in 2008as Assistant Commandant of Makum with the responsibility to control ethnic clashes betweenBodo-militants and illegal Bangladeshi migrants. Bodo militancy has infested Assam since the1960s and has only become worse with time, thanks to political warfare and the harsh terrainof the region.

Sanjukta regularly leads CRPF jawans in treacherous reserve forests of the terror-in-fested region, and has been immensely successful in full-blown bullet-for-bullet crackdowns.She is best known for leading her battalion head-on armed with a loaded AK-47. After takingdown 16 militants, arresting over 64 and impounding tons of arms and ammunition in only a fewmonths, Sanjukta has become one of the most feared police officers among Bodo-militants.

Salute to this Brave Woman !!

Four Chief Secretaries have not been empanelment to therank of Secretary in the Government of India. They are all 1982batch IAS officers. They are, West Bengal CS Sanjay Mitra,Telangana CS Dr.Rajiv Sharma, Punjab CS Sarvesh Kaushaland Tamil Nadu CS K Gnanadesikan.Why ?

Four Chief Secretariesnot empanelled in GoI

Sanjay Mitra Rajiv Sharma S. Kaushal K Gnanadesikan

Mrs.Thakur Sec.,SJ&E,Himachal

Mrs Anuradha Thakur, who was waiting forposting, has been appointed as Secretary, So-cial Justice & Empowerment in HimachalPradesh. She is a 1994 batch IAS officer of

Himachal Pradesh cadre.

Luikham Sec.,Public EnterprisesAmeising Luikham has taken over the charge of Secre-

tary, Department of Public Enterprises in place of Kapil DevTripathi shifted to Petroleum Ministry as Secretary. Luikham isa 1981 batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre.

Justice Mittal resigns to joinCCI

Judge of the Delhi High Court Justice GianParkash Mittal has resigned. He is joining theCompetition Commission of India as Member.

Justice Mukherjee CJKarnataka HC

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, senior-most Judge of the Karnataka High Court, hasbeen appointed Chief Justice of Karnataka HighCourt.

No Essay Required For Bureaucrats ToGet London Posting: Govt

New Delhi: The Centre has done away with therequirement of writing a 250-word essay for getting aposting as Minister (Economics) at the Indian HighCommission in London, which is mandatory for get-ting the same in the US. The officer should have atleast a “very good” service record. However, prefer-ence would be given to officers who have “outstand-ing” service record, the vacancy circular No.10/8/2013-EO(SM-I) issued today by the Department ofPersonnel and Training (DoPT) said.

The officer should have a prior work experiencein commerce, agriculture or industry. They shouldhave an experience in an Economic Ministry of theGovernment of India, it said.

The interested officer must be below 54 years ofage. Experience and familiar exposure to international

trade and bilateral or international trade negotiations are desirable qualifications for the post,the circular said. The post of Minister (Economics) in the High Commission of India in Londonis a Joint Secretary-level appointment under the Department of Commerce.

Last week, the DoPT circulated a vacancy for the same post under the Department ofEconomic Affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC. A write-up of 250 words is one ofthe pre-requisites for getting the posting as Minister (Economics) there.

DoPT Secretary Sanjay Kothari

Paswan Gets IRS Officer Ram Chandra Meena As OSDNew Delhi: IRS officer Ram Chandra Meena was today appointed as Officer on Special

Duty (OSD) to Consumer Affairs & Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.Meena is a 1992 batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre) officer. He has been

appointed for a five-year term or on co-terminus basis with the Minister’s tenure, an orderissued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said. In another order, Ram LalGugarwal has been appointed as OSD to Minister of State for Water Resources, River Devel-opment and Ganga Rejuvenation Sanwar Lal Jat. Gugarwal, a Rajasthan Administrative Ser-vice officer, has also been appointed for a five-year period or on co-terminus basis with theMinister’s tenure, it said.

Top National Anti-NarcoticsAgency Headless For 4 Months

New Delhi: As the world gears up to mark the InternationalDay Against Drug Abuse tomorrow, India’s premier anti-narcot-ics agency, NCB, has been working without a regular chief forclose to four months. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) isthe apex national agency, under the command of the UnionHome Ministry to implement anti-drugs laws in the country andis mandated to coordinate action of various law enforcementagencies working in this domain.Records show the post of NCB’sdirector general has been vacant since February after incum-bent Rajiv Mehta was appointed the DGP of Meghalaya. Theadditional charge of this post is being handled in an additionalcapacity, since April 1, by Special Secretary (Internal Security)in the Home Ministry, Ashok Prasad. What has brought stagna-tion in the overall operations and intelligence gathering mecha-nism task of the agency has been the fact that even two of itssecond-in-command senior posts, at its headquarters here,are lying vacant. While Deputy Director General B B Misra re-tired from service in March, another officer in the same rank, AK Jaiswal has been repatriated to his parent cadre in the In-come-Tax Department about two months ago.

July, 20153MIDNIGHT REPORTER

• Not to brush teethimmediately after takinglemon juice or lemonflavoured drinks...viceversa.

• It is not advisableto consume fruits imme-diately after a strongprotein meal....A mini-mum gap of half an houris suggested.

• Not recommen-ded to take coffee im-mediately after eatinggrapes.

• Milk should not betaken immediately aftereating radish.

Courtesy: ‘HealthScan’ online Healthmagazine.www.healthscan.biz

Imp.Health Tips

*GV Krishna Rao(IAS, 1982, Karna-taka) has reportedlyjoined AP Chief Minis-ter as Chief Advisorpost retirement.

*Dr A Ravi Shan-kar has been ap-pointed as CEO, NTRVidya Seva in AndhraPradesh. He is a 1994batch IPS officer ofAndhra Pradeshcadre.

*S.Johan Bashahas been appointed asManaging Director,APCO, Hyderabad inAndhra Pradesh.

*An inter-cadredeputation of Adusu-milli V Rajamouli fromUttar Pradesh toAndhra Pradesh hasbeen approved for aperiod of three yearson personal grounds.He is a 2003 batch IASofficer of UP cadre.

*AP Cadre IAS of-ficer Neelam Sawhneyis appointed as a Sec-retary in the CentralVigilance Commissionfor the period of fouryears.

*IRS officer J. Kri-shna Kishore is all setto come to AP on depu-tation. Presently he isthe private secretaryto Union Civil AviationMinister Ashok Gaja-pathi Raju.

Appointments

Outstanding & Bemisaal July(MR)The top

cop Telangana DGPAnurag Sharma has suc-cessfully completed hisone year term.So, howwas the term ? It’s totallyoutstanding and if onehas to understand inUrdu, it’s ‘bemisaal’.Theofficer is committed fromthe day one and after oneyear the spirit and theactiveness is the same,infact it increased. Every-one knows that, how the

police department has changed its identity, impact and thesystem of working in the past one year.The nationwide dis-cussion about the caliber of Telangana Police is enough toimagine its growth.Let’s applaud for the rocking performanceof Mr.Anurag Sharma and keep your fingers crossed formany more amazing initiatives from his side….!!!

With Acharya,TelanganaTourism goes to Canada

July(MR)The versatileofficer & Prl. Sec to TourismB.P.Acharya moving for-ward with his awesomeworking style.This time theofficer is on screen for hisunique initiative to promoteTelangana Tourism atCanada.

Where the officerbriefed about the progressmade by T govt. during the

first year.He invited the NRIs totake part in the process of building‘Bangaru Telangana’. Let’s not forgetto applaud him for his unique themeto promote the recent events likeMission Kakatiya, SwachhHyderabad & T Formation Day.Theart work designs and the advertorialswere attractive, which was in dis-cussion national wide.

Meena on Prominent PositionJuly(MR)IAS officer

Mukesh Kumar Meena gotthe new position.The officerhas been appointed DG,Centre for Good Governance& Ex-officio Secretary, Gen-eral Administration Depart-ment in Andhra Pradesh.Asthe officer was serving as aSec., to govt. (Political),GAD.The officer is known for

his sincerity in the officer fraternity and as per his profile theofficer is posted on the prominent post.

July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER 4

Plum cake for Sudheer July(MR)Finally the officer G.Sudheer Babu got the plum

cake.The officer took over the charge as the first police commis-sioner of Warangal City.The officer worked in city police for a longtime on various jobs and was looking for the best option.So, finallythe officer’s services were recognized and he got posed on thebest chair to which other officers were dreaming off.What onecan do in this, ‘ye tho kismet ki baat hai…..!!!

New avatars in City PoliceJuly(MR)Dr.T.Prabhakar Rao, a 2001 batch IPS officer joined

as Jt. Commissioner DD Crimes,Hyderabad City. The officerwas serving as a SP in CID earlier to this posting.He is known forhis hard work and sincerity in the officers fraternity and thoughthe newly posted job is a challenging task for the officer, theofficer will surely deliver his best according to his profile.Bestwishes…!

N.Prabhakar Reddy , a 2010 batch IPS officer joined as aDCP , North Zone, Hyderabad Police.The young officer servedas a Addl. SP Bellampally earlier to the posting.As per the sourcesthe new officer is all set to tackle the tasks of the North zone andquite busy in taking out the details of the area.Welcome to theofficer….!

Chal Chala Chal…July(MR)The young and the vibrant officer L.Kartikeya

(DCP,Madhapur) is on screen these days because of his speedand liveliness.The officer was on screen for his best efforts dur-ing Bias River operation and from there is no stoppage….!! Itwould be Swachh Hyderabad or any campaign the officer will rubhis shoulders with his team and encourage them with hisinvolvement.His picture of cycling shows his zeal and the com-mitment. That’s why we said ‘chal chala chal…..!!!

Great DealJuly(MR)It’s true that where

there is a will there is a way.The HCKolukoori Sridhar is the one,who hasachieved the distinguished degreethrough his hard work.Yes ! The copK.Sridhar is awarded Ph.D, who didthe research on ‘Management ofPolice Communication’ from EinsteinInternational University, Florida,U.S.A. (Distance Education).Let’sapplaud for the committed cop, offcourse who deserves all the appre-ciations. Presently Sridhar is working at the DGP,AP office.

AP Tourism is on screensJuly(MR) AP Tourism is on screens now.As Prl. Sec.

Tourism,AP Neerabh Kumar Prasad has planned the pro-motion strategy and with the erection of the hoardings inprime locations of the town things started moving.In fact theofficer is also working to promote AP tourism globally.So,keep your fingers crossed to hear many more new newsfrom his side.

It’s all about Lake LoveJuly(MR)The HMDA Commissioner Shalini Mishra is all

set for the restoration of lakes.First comes Rangadhaminilake of Kukkatpally.Also,5MLD sewage treatment plant atKukkatpally will be enhanced so that more water can betreated.Not only the cleaning of the lakes like E.E.Jyothi,Buddha Purnima Project, but also beautification of DurgamCheruvu and Fox Sagar.More eighty lakes areidentified.That’s why we said it’s all about lake love.

Who want the lift ? July(MR)All the cameras have zoomed up for Hyderabad

Metro Rail MD N.V.S.Reddy,who is just waiting with his cycle togive a lift to someone….!! Who is the lucky champ ?. Ha ha….!The officer is taking part in the cycle ride and just waiting for avigil to press the pedal…That’s it,but in real the city people areeagerly waiting to take a lift in metro rail.With the dedication ofthe officer the work is in progress on fast track and very soonthe officer will make the dream true.Best wishes for the of-ficer….!!!

Taarif Karu Kya Uski….July(MR)The IT, Electronics & Communication Secretary to

Govt. of Telangana Jayesh Ranjan is making rounds on majorsocial networking sites.Yes ! The comments of public and theirappreciations shows about his dedication and versatility.Let’scheck…..!!!

Ramakrishna V Achanta Great initiatives. It is as important totalk about the policies as much as to make them. We can certainlybe assured that if this vision continues, we will be one of theintegral contributors to the overall GDP growth of the country.

Kamal Narayan Rathi Excellent Sir ! Under your leadershipIT & ITES sector, Industries of Telangana will grow and investor’sconfidence is revived for making Investment in Telangana.

Nps Shinh Excellent presentation by a true topper in all ar-eas. State govt is lucky to have you spearheading the industryinitiatives . I am very optimistic about the coming years . Wish youthe very best.

Jhansi Freelancer You are the best architect for any givenjob. Way to go!

Pardhasaradhi Karingula Your contribution for IT & IndustrialDevelopment is remarkable.Congratulations !!!

Magnificent Mahendar Reddy -No Comparison

July(MR)The city police chief M.Mahendar Reddy is a mag-nificent cop, who completed his one year term with his tremen-dous performance.One has to agree that in just one year theofficer changed the entire system of city police by providing newtechnology solutions to the department as well as to the commonpublic for their convenience.The officer’s success story is justnot one or two to discuss or too finish in a paragraph, as theofficer added immense chapters and new methods in the citypolice, which took the city police on the top level. Tracing thecases on fast track, maintaining the friendly relation with the pub-lic, saying bye-bye to corruption, adopting new technology forpolicing and fulfilling the duties with respect without any onespressure is the remarkable episodes from the officer.Bestwishes….!!!

Both babu’s have done it…July(MR)The Industrial policy of T govern-

ment hits the entire Industrial segment.It’s like abonanza for the industrialists , who are plan-ning to set up a new industry. Industrial Sec.Arvind Kumar and Addl. Sec. A.Shanti Kumariare the two officers, who have put in theirawesome efforts are back to the screen.Moreover the T CM has praised the two officers onthe stage.Another best thing is that the govern-ment kept its promise that made the industrial-ists happy by providing the licenses within theannounced time.The babu’s should be appreci-ated….!!!

Koi bhi ho,Kanoon Kanoon hai July(MR)Whoever it may be one has to face the charges, if

he breaks the law. ‘Midnight Reporter’ was at Cyberbad PoliceCommissionerate and came to know a case in which a cop hasbeen issued with a show cause notice to open a rowdy sheet onhim….! Must be surprising, but it’s true. Yes ! the cop was involvedin many land settlement matters,thus after verifying it the superfast Commissioner CV.Anand issued the notice to the cop.Thisone incident is enough to evaluate the ongoing policing ofCyberabad. Gazab…..!

5 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Public SectorUnion Steel & Mines Minister reviews performanceof NMDC Limited

Union Steel & Mines MinisterN.S.Tomar visited the Head Of-fice of NMDC Limited atHyderabad. The Minister met of-ficers and employees of the com-pany and reviewed its perfor-mance in a meeting. Shri Tomarsaid, “NMDC, one of the largestminers in India must focus on in-creasing iron ore production. Thiswill have the twin benefit of keep-ing prices in check and ensuringequitable supply of raw material to big and small producers. As a responsible PSU miningcompany, it is the responsibility of NMDC to ensure that there is no imbalance on these counts.Mining as an industry has a negative perception in the minds of public, which needs to becorrected by sustained efforts. The company also needs to bring more parity in its physical andfinancial performance. To achieve the target of producing

75 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) iron ore by 2019-20, there needs to be visible incremen-tal increase in production in consecutive years. NMDC needs to have a strategic vision and planfor the same.” Minister advised NMDC to get a strategic plan prepared for long term vision. Hefurther said “Delay in execution and commissioning of the ongoing projects needs to be cur-tailed at the earliest. Nagarnar Steel Plant, Kumarswamy mechanised mines, Deposit 11-b andpellet plant projects must be put on fast track to be completed in time. Performance in respectof financial parameters like gross operating margin, PAT, per employee profit etc. has scope forimprovement.” Earlier CMD, NMDC Mr. N.Kothari welcomed the Minister and stated that this isfirst visit of a Steel Minister to NMDC Head office in last few decades. He apprised the Ministeron progress on SPV front in Jharkhand, MOU for which is likely to be signed next month. Mr.Kothari assured the Minister that hot trials of the Nagarnar Steel Plant would commence byDecember’2016. Senior officials of Ministry of Steel and NMDC were present during this meeting.

SAIL and MIDHANI sign MoU for R&D in iron andsteel industry

New Delhi.An Memorandum of Un-derstanding (MoU) has been signedbetween Research and DevelopmentCentre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS), SteelAuthority of India Limited (SAIL),Ranchi and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Lim-ited (MIDHANI), Hyderabad in NewDelhi. The purpose of this MoU is tojointly undertake research and devel-opment work in the areas of interestand relevance to Iron & Steel industry.RDCIS is the corporate R&D unit ofSAIL at Ranchi. SAIL’s RDCIS andMIDHANI shall work together and

make use of their knowledge and experience for development of process technology for pro-ducing steel products of national importance. To begin with, development of process technologyfor production of CRGO Steel has been identified. Considering the strength of respectiveparties, MIDHANI and SAIL will take up other collaborative projects and assignments of mutualinterest during the pendency of this MoU.

Recently RDCIS had collaborations with reputed academic institutes like IIT Bombay, IITKanpur, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IISc Bangalore, Jadavpur University and researchorganisations like CSIR-NML/Jamshedpur, CSIR-IMMT Bhubaneswar, Centre for Develop-ment of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)/Pune, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI)/Pune, CRRI/New Delhi etc. in various technical disciplines of iron & steel technologies. Atinternational level RDCIS is having collaboration with reputed international organizations andinstitutes like CSM/Italy, Swerea MEFOS, Sweden and Deakin University/ Australia to under-take R&D work in the new & critical areas of steel technologies.

The MoU was signed by Director (Technical), SAIL, Mr S.S. Mohanty and Chairman & MD,MIDHANI, Mr M. Narayana Rao, in presence of Chairman, SAIL, Mr C.S. Verma.

GAIL signs MoU with SDMC to provide civic servicesLending support to the Government’s ef-

forts to promote cleanliness through the‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’, GAIL (India) Lim-ited, the country’s premier natural gas com-pany, today signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC) to voluntarily providecivic services such as sweeping, cleaning andThe MoU was signed by C. Uday Kumar, Dy.Commissioner, SDMC and Amit Ray, Execu-tive Director (HR & HRD), GAIL in the pres-ence of senior officials of SDMC and GAIL.

As per the MoU, GAIL will be responsiblefor the civic services in about 14,000 sq.m. in

Bhikaiji Cama Place in south Delhi, including sweeping, cleaning, upkeep of footpaths, lanes andstreets in the area. It would also deploy Safai Karmacharis for sweeping work and place bins forcollection and transport of garbage, silt, etc. to nearby designateddhalao by SDMC. GAILemployees have been regularly participating in cleanliness drives across the country for atleasttwo hours every week since the commencement of the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ last year.

BHEL commissions first 250 MW Unit at highestrating coal-based power plant

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has achieved one moremilestone by successfully commissioning a 250 MW coal-basedthermal plant in Assam. The unit has been commissioned at theupcoming Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (TPS) in Assam. BHELis executing the Main Plant package contract for setting up threecoal-fired units of 250 MW each at Bongaigaon TPS of NTPC Limited.Significantly, on completion, this will become the highest rating coalbased power plant in North East India.

Bongaigaon TPS is located at Salakati near Bongaigaon inKokrajhar district of Assam. Also known as the gateway to Lower Assam, Bongaigoan is one ofthe industrial towns of the state, which also has a major petrochemical industry.

The sets of this rating class, supplied by BHEL are considered as the workhorse andbackbone of the Indian power sector.These sets have been performing much above the na-tional average as well as international benchmarks. BHEL has so far contracted 251 sets of thisrating class.

HAL Completes Hot Weather Flight Trials of LCHHAL’s indigenously designed and developed

Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) attained a milestoneby successfully completing the hot weather flighttrials for a nearly one week at Jodhpur recently.“Test flights were carried out in the temperaturerange of 39 to 42 degree Celsius. These were donewith the involvement of customer pilots from IndianAir Force and Army in presence of representa-tives from RCMA and DGAQA”, says Mr. T.Suvarana Raju, CMD, HAL. LCH prototype, TD-3

was ferried from Bengaluru to Jodhpur to achieve the successful trials. The flight testingcovered ‘temperature survey of engine bay and hydraulic system’, ‘assessment of perfor-mance’, ‘handling qualities and loads’ at different ‘all up weights’, ‘low speed handling’ and ‘height-velocity diagram establishment’.

LCH had completed cold weather flight testing at Leh in February 2015. Two LCH – one onstatic and another on flying display- enthralled people at Aero India 2015 held in Bengaluruearlier this year. The LCH is expected to receive Initial Operational Clearance and enter intoseries production by the end of this year.

About Light Combat Helicopter (LCH): The Light Combat Helicopter is a twin- engine, dedi-cated combat helicopter of 5.8-ton class designed and developed by HAL to meet the require-ments of Indian defence forces. The helicopter is designed to carry out dedicated combat rolessuch as Air Defence, anti-tank, scout and support combat search /rescue missions.

Management Trainees told to adopt discipline &work with commitment

An interaction session between SriP Madhusudan, CMD, Directors of RINLand Management Trainees (MTs)of2014 and 2015 batches took place inMP Hall of Ukku Club in Ukkunagaramyesterday evening. While interacting withthe MTs, Sri Madhusudan, CMD, RINLexhorted them to cultivate the habit ofpunctuality and discipline to strengthenRINL, which is known for excellence andefficiency in the entire Steel Industry. Agreat future is ahead for RINL, since ithas an ambitious growth plans to reachto 20 mtpa capacity in the near future ata single location, Sri Madhusudan ob-served. Sri Madhusudan stressed theneed to apply best safety practices andimplement with commitment as the plantis a process industry. Sri Madhusudanexplained the history of Vizag Steel andthe strength of Human Resources in its

turn around. There are ample opportunities to grow in RINL and he asked them to contribute fullyand work with great commitment in taking the Company to newer heights, Sri Madhusudanconcluded. Sri PC Mohapatra, Director (Projects), Dr. GBS Prasad, Director (Personnel), SriDN Rao, Director(Operations) graced the occasion and interacted with the management train-ees. Executive Directors, GMs, HoDs were present in the interactive session. Sri BBR Vardhanam,DGM (Trg), HoD, TTI welcomed the gathering.

Sri Madhusudan, CMD, RINL interacting with theManagement Trainees. Sri PC Mohapatra, Director(Projects), Dr. GBS Prasad, Director (Personnel), SriDN Rao, Director(Operations) are seen in the picture.(Insert) one of the Management Trainee interactingwith the CMD.

6 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

CorporatePNB bags four prizes in Reserve BankRajbhasha Shield Pratiyogita

Every year Reserve Bank of India ((RBI) honors those NationalizedBanks and Financial institutions whose performance is excellent in imple-mentation of Official Language Policy and use of Hindi in their day to dayworking. RBI has declared the results for the financial year 2013-14 andPNB has been awarded 1st prize in ‘A’ Region, 2nd prize in ‘B’ Region andconsolation prize in ‘C’ Region category. PNB has also been awarded con-solation prize for its bilingual Staff Journal ‘PNB PRATIBHA’. In a ShieldDistribution Ceremony, organized by RBI at their Head Office Mumbai, Dr.Raghuram Rajan, Governor and S S Mundra, Deputy Governor conferredRajbhahsha shield and certificate of Merit to Gauri Shankar MD & CEO ofPNB, Vivek Jha, FGM Mumbai and Premchand Sharma, AGM Rajbhasha.

NTPC’s 6th RAC Meeting

Sixth Research Advisory Council (RAC) Meeting of NTPC Energy Tech-nology Research Alliance (NETRA) was chaired by Padma Shri & PadmaBhushan Dr.V.K. Saraswat, Member NITI Ayog. The Advisory council delib-erated on R&D activities of NETRA, and development of technologies withon focus Efficiency and Availability Improvement, New and RenewableEnergy, Climate Change and Environment, Advanced Scientific services tothe NTPC and other power stations in India. In his address Dr. Saraswatadvised use of various technologies to ensure, sustainability and long termenergy security of India.

The advisory council is represented by eminent scientists and profes-sionals, Dr. Padam Shri Baldev Raj, Shri S.C.Chetal, Dr. H. Saha, Dr. N.K.Bansal, Shri A.K.Jha(Director Technical), Shri K.K. Sharma, Director (Op-eration), Shri R.K. Srivastava(ED-NETRA) and Shri S. Bandyopadhyaya ,GM (CENPEEP).

Secretary (Steel), Rakesh Singh, IAS,takes charge as SAIL Chairman

Shri Rakesh Singh, IAS, Secretary, Gov-ernment of India, Ministry of Steel has takenadditional charge of the post of Chairman, SteelAuthority of India Limited (SAIL) .Shri Singh isa 1978 batch officer of Punjab cadre.

He has the experience of public sectormanagement in the State of Punjab of about 13years as a Chief Executive. He has also servedon the boards of banks, insurance companiesand financial institutions. He is currently theSecretary in the Ministry of Steel, Governmentof India and is involved in policy making at thehighest level.

Shri Singh is a Graduate in Science and aPost Graduate in History from the University of Allahabad. He also holds aPost Graduate Degree in Economic and Social Sciences from the Univer-sity of Manchester.

Right to left S.S. Mundra, Deputy Governor RBI, Raghuram Rajan,Governor RBI, conferring Rajbhasha Shield and certificate of Merit toGauri Shankar MD & CEO Punjab National Bank. Also seen in thepicture are Vivek Jha, Field General Manager Mumbai and PremchandSharma, AGM Rajbhasha HO.

Selva kumar Director, NLCP Selvakumar, CGM, NLCL, has been selected for the post of Director

(Planning & Projects), Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited (NLC) at a PublicEnterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held.

Canth Director, IOCLB S Canth, ED, IOCL, has been selected for the post of Director (Mar-

keting), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) at a Public Enterprises Selec-tion Board (PESB) meeting.

Ms Prasad Director, NLCMs Sujata Prasad has been appointed as Nominee of Union Ministry of

Coal on the Board of Directors of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited asPart-time Official Director.

Appointments

Coffee Day files papers for Rs 1,150 cr IPOThe firm behind Cafe Coffee Day, India’s biggest home-

grown coffee chain, has filed a draft prospectus with regula-tors for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise as much as 11.5billion rupees ($181 million).

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup areamong the underwriters for the IPO, the draft prospectus said.India’s biggest cafe operator opened its first shop in 1996 andhas grown to more than 1,500 outlets as more young, urbanconsumers opt for cappuccino over tea and seek out spacesto socialise in overcrowded, traffic-congested cities. The ap-plication process with the Securities and Exchange Board ofIndia (SEBI) could take two to three months, two bankers toldReuters, adding they expected the coffee chain to list within

one to two months after that approval. The bankers declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak tothe media. Coffee Day Enterprises had consolidated debt of 28.64 billion rupees as of December 31, according to thedraft prospectus. Of the IPO proceeds, the chain plans to use 6.33 billion rupees towards the repayment of debt, it said.

For Fashionably conscious only,Majestic Trends launches TRENDEVR

Majestic Trends Pvt Ltd, a Delhi based company launched its flagship brandTRENDEVR which is One Stop Online Fashion Destination for the fashionablyconscious through its online shopping portal www.trendevr.com.

The online store offers the convenience to shop some of the finest & latestcollections from across the world. At present the company is launching with anelusive range for women from one of top 3 fashion capitals of the world London.“We aim to be the best friend / partner that every fashionable person needs whileshopping” making us the preferred online shopping destination of choice,” RahulArora, Founder, TRENDEVR said at the launch function. Sharing details aboutfuture plans, Arora said, “ At present the range focuses on women”

however company has plans to expand at a rapid pace and include a rangefor men along with a wide gamut of accessories, artificial jewelry, fine jewelry,handbags, fragrances, footwear, home furnishings & decor.” TRENDEVR alsoproposes to retail designer wear, in near future, from India and abroad offering aunique opportunity to the designers in reaching discerning consumer.AboutTRENDEVR FoundersThe brand is spearheaded by a unique combination ofbrother sister duo Rahul Arora and Megha Arora.

Ravi Dental Clinic inauguratedJuly(MR)Ravi Dental Clinic inaugurated at

Hyderabad city.Thanks to Socialist Mr.I.Ravishankarfor setting up a clinic in an area like GowligudaChaman,where the population is quite high and wherethe people were looking for a dental doctor from longtime.Mr.Ravishankar daughter Dr.I.Rekha andDr.A.Nitin Kumar will serve at the clinic. It’s like theyoung doctors arises at the area to give the bestservice near to them that too in affordable price.Ex-Minister G.Prasad Kumar, Ex-MLA P.Ramaswamy,Ex-Corporater Shankar Yadav and other guests werepresent at the occasion.For best treatment have aappointment through emailsreeravidentalclinic@gmail.com. Best wishes to theyoung doctors…!!!

KFC challenges Indian report on bacteria found in fried chickenThe Indian unit of fast food chain KFC , owned

by Yum Brands Inc, on Friday challenged the re-sults of a test showing the presence of bacterialinked to food poisoning in a sample of its friedchicken, dismissing them as “false allegations”.Food safety has hit headlines in India after govern-ment food safety inspectors found excess lead inpackets of Nestle’s Maggi instant noodles.

The company disputes the test results and asubsequent recall order, but it has become country’sworst safety scare involving packaged food in adecade. On Friday, a children’s rights group inTelangana said it had submitted samples of KFC’sfried chicken legs to the state food laboratory onJune 18.

The laboratory report, which was seen byReuters, detailed traces of bacteria such as E.coli,

which indicates the presence of sewage or animal waste, and salmonella. In a statement, KFC said it had not heardfrom any authorities and was unclear about the circumstances in which the samples were obtained.

“There is no possibility of any microbial development in our food, which is freshly cooked at 170 degreesCelsius,” it added, vowing to seek a clarification from the concerned authorities.

Achyuta Rao, an official of APBHS, the group commissioning the tests, said it would submit a copy of the reportto the office of the state’s chief minister later on Friday. “This is a state laboratory report,” he added. “We are notagainst KFC or any brand. “We are a children’s rights organisation.”

Adani Group to invest Rs 50,000 crore in JharkhandAdani Group is looking to invest Rs 50,000

crore for producing urea, methane, power andsubstitute natural gas in Jharkhand. An MoU withthe group was signed in this regard on Thurs-day, director of state industry department K RaviKumar told PTI on Friday. The MoU was signedbetween Kumar and Adani Group CEO RajeshJha.

Kumar said the group, which has a coal blockat Jeetpur, would invest Rs 50,000 crore to pro-

duce urea, methane, power and SNG from coal. “It is the first stage of MoU. They will prepare a detailed projectreport. Then land will be identified,” he said when asked about location of plants and how much land the investorwould require.

The plants would be set up in two phases and are likely to provide direct and indirect employment to 20,000people. The capacity of phase-I is - urea-1.3 MMTPA, methanol-3.3 MMTPA, SNG-8 and 4000 MW power whilephase-II is 1.3 MMTPA, according to the MoU. The expected year of production of phase-I is within five years ofsigning of stage-II MoU. The phase-II would commence after three years of commencement of phase-I commercialproduction. The proposed location is Sindri in Dhanbad or other suitable location in Jharkhand, it said.

7 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Magic of ‘Surya Namaskar’

Pratibha AgarwalInstead of sitting across the table dis-

cussing on Surya Namaskar,if one canpractice the asana and if one can experi-ence by heart then all debates and the con-troversies would cease naturally.

Now just knowing how to do SuryaNamaskar is not enough. It is also impor-tant to understand the science behind thisvery ancient technique, because a deeperunderstanding will bring forth the right out-look and approach towards this very sa-cred and powerful yogic technique.

Mansi GulatiSurya Namaskar is largely a way of sa-

luting the sun, bringing balance between mindand body.

Each of the 12 poses of surya namaskaris designed to have a specific benefit on thebody. The sequence can boost your cardio-vascular health, improve your blood circula-tion, help you beat stress and detox yourbody along with offering several otherbenefits.That helps in keeping the body andmind healthy.

Paulomi KurupFor thousands of years, people in India have

looked upon the Sun as the life-giver and haveworshipped it in different ways. One of themodes is to perform a series of yoga posturespopularly known as Surya Namaskar. This dy-namic form of yoga exercise consists of 12positions. It is scientifically designed to bringabout the harmonious development of differentparts and systems of the human body. All sys-tems, organs, muscles and tendons are tonedup through this exercise, making the body agileand the mind alert. Thus, Surya Namaskar isone of the finest all round exercises for increas-ing vital energy and preserving health.

Sonali AcharjeeSurya Namaskar : Lubricates and increases

the blood supply to the joints. Stretches andstrengthens the whole body. Improves efficiency ofthe internal organs. Helps to detoxify the body.Stimulates pingala/surya nadi which increases en-ergy and stimulates digestion. Increases the pranain the body and helps to remove energy blockages.Useful for weight loss when practiced as an exer-cise. Helps to balance the endocrine system. Beejamantras strengthen the heart. The particular breath-ing sequence strengthens the lungs.

Niharika KannanSurya Namaskar is well known and vital

technique in yoga.Even it not a part of tradi-tional yoga it is incorporated within the yogabecause of its wonderful results.SuryaNamaskar means salutation to the sun god(sun generates the heat & light necessary tosustain life).Surya Namaskar as a series of12 physical postures and these alternatingbackward and forward bending asanas flexand stretch the spinal column and limbsthrough their maximum range.It loosens up allthe joints,flexes all the muscles of thebody,massages the internal organs,activatesthe respiration,endocrine&circulatory systemsas well as helps to tone all the other systemsof the body in short it harmonizes the wholebody-mind control.

Rina HindochaWhat does Surya Namaskar have to do with

religion?? It’s not a religious activity but a yogicexercise, sun is common to all people and so isSurya Namaskar.Very rightly said by Sadguru“Yoga is not a belief system - it is not a new reli-gion but a technology. A technology because youdon’t have to believe it, you just have to learn touse it. It does not matter what your religion is,what your color is, what your race is or whereyou come from. If you learn to use yoga, it worksfor you” Yoga does not mean standing on yourhead, twisting your body or holding your breath.Yoga means to know the union of life. When youexperience everything as a part of yourself, youare in yoga.

Kiran DemblaSurya Namaskar: Making the body a

stepping-stone Getting up early in the morn-ing and practising surya namaskar is oneof the best ways to start your day fresh.Also known as sun salutation, suryanamaskar is a sequence of 12 yoga posesthat flow one into the other with rhythmicbreathing. Each of the 12 poses of suryanamaskar is designed to have a specificbenefit on the body. The sequence can boostyour cardiovascular health, improve yourblood circulation, help you beat stress anddetox your body along with offering severalother benefits. So start your day with SuryaNamaskar and see the difference in yourphysical and mental state within a shortperiod.

Naina JaiswalPranamasana, Hasthauttasana, Pada

hastasana, Aswa Sanchalasana, Parvatasana,Astanga Namaskara, Bhujan gasana, Parvatasana, Aswa Sanchalasana, Padahastasana,Hasthauttasana, Pranamasana are called asSuryanamaskar which build up the nervous sys-tem, memory system, muscles system, oxygen-ates the blood and shapes the physical and mentalabilities, It refresh the skin. Reduces fat, as well asunpleasant smell from the body and also eliminatesthe depression. This is the best cardiovascularworkout. I do it regularly 12 times in the morning.

8 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Publisher/Printer/Owner: G. Narahari, Printed at Colour Graphics, 3-1-351, Bhagya Laxmi Nilayam, Nimboliadda, Kachiguda, Station Road, Hyderabad - 27. Published at4-6-252, Esamia Bazar, Hyderabad-27 (A.P.) Editor : Dr. Chaitanya Singh, Cell : 8008175000. E-mail : mrnewseditor@yahoo.com. Annual Subscription Rs. 500/- (Including postal charges)

Gorgeous Green

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago and the secondbest time is now”.So, just plant a tree to save the earth. “Plant a Tree” is thetheme of July month and ‘Midnight Reporter’ is with the gorgeous prettyladies of the town, who are all rocking in green color dresses to promotethis noble cause on a large scale.Thanks to one and all…..!!

It’s time for us to take step to transform ourselves from irresponsibleindividuals to responsible human beings. Though we neither can replenisheverything nor can produce what we have lost so far, but we can certainlyconserve what we are still left with, and try to replenish whatever we can.All it need is strong will and just a little contribution by all.

So if you want to save the mother nature from further destructionplease do contribute your might your little initiative is the big thing towardsthe cause of conservation.Plant a tree and make the city green, green andgreen.

Vibha Anand MehtaDeepali Bhutada

Bhavna Bagga

Esha Hindocha Sushmita Lahoti Totla

Shikha Sharma

Swathi Rao

Ishita D Shah Meenu Soni

Jaya Hiranandani

Mahima Gupta

Ruchika Sharma

Neelam Mor

Radhika Agarwal

Sushila Bokadiya

Kancharla Lakshmi Kathyayini

Maya Padhy

Neeru Mohan

MIDNIGHT REPORTER9 July, 2015

CorporateCelebrations

Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye : BNIKohinoor celebrated its 1stanniversary.BNI ED Mr.BharathShah with the Chapter DirectorKishan Patel.

City Cream All Over : Shri SrinivasaDairy Products Pvt Ltd has launchedits new Cream Stone outlet atChennai,TTK Road & Bangalore,IndraNagar. ‘Cream Stone’ ,the taste ofHyderabad is now all set to take itsflavor all over the country. Congratula-tions to Viren Shah,who is onscreen….!!

Awesome Anniversary: Mahaveer &Sangeeta Lohiya celebrated their weddinganniversary.The unique theme of the cel-ebration was a grand attraction,that’s why wesaid it as ‘awesome anniversary’. Friends, rela-tives and the family members had a full toofun. Best wishes for the lovely couple.

Made for each other : The beautiful coupleAnish Varghese & Jeeva Anish celebratedtheir wedding anniversary.The day began withthe showering wishes from family andfriends.Best wishes to the couple…!

Bar bar din ye aaye : The baby girl Deeksha’sfirst birth day bash.The event was full of joy andmasti.The couple K.Santosh Kumar & Sirisha madethe evening memorable with the excellent theme.

Award Time: The Liberty21 Ventures Pvt. Ltd. has done itagain by achieving the 1st prize for the best stall and the prod-ucts in ‘Architech Show-2015’ held at Visakhapatnam.In the pic-ture company MD Sandeep Jain receiving the award.

Deepshikha ‘on screen’: The Deepshika Mahila Club’sinstallation ceremony was on screen as the new memberspledged for a noble cause. Check the ceremony click (fromleft) Anju Kabra,Madhu Jain, MP Kavita Kalvakuntla, ChiefGuest Vimala Narasimhan & Anita Soni.

Best Couple: Sumeet & SejalMaheshwari celebrated their wed-ding anniversary, which became

Ruby of the Town: Ruby Bal, thepretty lady celebrated her birthday.Friends planned the surprise gettogether, which made the day memo-rable. Lots of wishes and bless-ings…..!!!

Steel Man Celebrates: The steelman of the town Yogesh Agarwalcelebrated his birth day with fam-ily and friends.It was totally a fam-ily affair,but onslaught of belatedwishes showed his fan following.

16 years of Journey : TheAluminum Enterprises hassuccessfully celebrated its16th anniversary. It has comea long way in providing thebest services to thetown.Omesh Agarwal, theman behind the success story

CD’s Clap : The BNI Artha CDMahesh Agarwal’s clap has a secretbehind it. When inquired it came toknow that many of the members arescoring in their segments becauseof his clap,which boosts-up to achievethe goals. So, CD’s clap is breakingthe screens now…!!

Power puff Ladies : The power puffladies are making rounds in the busi-ness circles, who are again in the limelight. (From the left ) Shilpa Shah,Sanjana Shah, Neeru Mohan &Jayalaxmi Kandadai.

Party Time: The most happening coupleVivek & Sapna Gupta celebrated their wed-ding anniversary.The huge number of wishesproved their popularity…!!! Hope all agree.

Couple of themonth : Ramesh &Ashwini Chintala, thebest couple of the townis on screen for theirterrific understandingand faithfulness.

Superb Sruti : The CorporateTrainer Sruti Mashru is rocking onthe stage.Many businessmen gotbenefited by her workshops.Socorporates, meet Sruti to sharpenyour skills and to deliver the verybest performance.

Excellency Honor: Governor E.S.L.Narasimhanpresenting the award to K.Satish Reddy for his out-standing social services.Couple G.Mohan Reddy& G.Deepika Reddy also grace the occasion.

special with the sur-prise gifts. It was amemorable affair

who took thebusiness onthe top level ismaking wavesin the industry.

New Beginning: PL Computers got the distributorship of ‘Tally’for Andhra Pradesh. Big deal from the new state.The versatileperson Jayant Jain receiving the authorisation letter in the picture.

10 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

DeveesKeer HejcHeje ! ueeue efce®e& mes DeefYe

11 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Tourism

As India’s e-visa scheme forChinese tourists is set to get imple-mented, Kerala and Andhra Pradeshhave made a strong pitch to woo trav-ellers from China with lucrative pack-ages and their age-old spice, martialarts links besides natural beautysteeped in local culture.

With its well laid out publicity net-work, Kerala made a big show at aspecial evening for Chinese mediaand travel writers in Beijing byorganising a fusion performancecombining its ancient martial art‘Kalaripayattu’ with China’s Shaolintemple, whose early roots stretchesto the South Indian state.

Six performers of ‘Kalaripayattu’joined hands with Shaolin expertshighlighting similarities between twotraditional art forms at a glittery get-together organised by the IndianEmbassy in Beijing.

K Sunilkumar Gurukkal, whofeatured in movies along withHollywood’s Kung Fu star JackieChan, headed ‘Kalaripayattu’ team.Kathakali dance form was also dis-played. Kerala’s Tourism Minister AP Anilkumar is heading a delegation

to China that includes state ChiefSecretary Jiji Thomson and TourismSecretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao.Anilkumar said the fusion of‘Kalaripayattu’ and Shaolin showedthat Kerala and China have a lot incommon, reminding the Chinese theadventure travels undertaken byChina’s marine adventure travellerZheng He to Kerala few hundredyears ago.

The state still has China’s im-prints like the Chinese fishing netsdotting the coast line of Kochi, a ma-jor landmark for tourists.

Though Kerala attracted over amillion foreign tourists last year, Chi-nese accounted for little over 4,000,he said. India is also holding “VisitIndia Year” campaign all over Chinato attract Chinese tourists whosenumbers to India were less than twolakh last year.

Last year’s Chinese touristsnumbers visiting abroad touchedabout 100 million spending over USD128 billion. Boosted by Chinese gov-ernment push, its tourists travelledmostly in the Indian subcontinent toNepal (1.4 lakh), Maldives (4 lakhs)

and Sri Lanka (1.3 lakh) last year.Chinese travel analysts advised

Kerala to coordinate with the SriLanka tourism to work out joint toursas the island’s airline has a numberof flights from different Chinese cit-ies and the flight time between Lankaand Kerala is just an hour.

Kerala also could become a newcentre for Chinese film shooting assome of the Chinese film personali-ties are visiting several locations of

Kerala, Andhra Pradesh Make Strong Pitch to Woo Chinese Tourists

Indian visa cannot do without biometricsfeels home ministry

The exclusion of bio-metrics from normal In-dian visa cannot be done due to security con-cerns said the Union home ministry. The ministrysuggested that foreign tourists should be encour-aged to go for electronic tourist (e-Visa) that al-lows biometrics to be taken at the time of arrival.

The tourism ministry however feels that bio-metrics before issue of normal visa is preventing

many to book trips to India and hindering the flow of international tourists to the country.If Bio-metrics is not made compulsory the tourism ministry feels that the country would

witness a greater share in the world tourist market in the next three years. The increase could beas high as 0.68 per cent which would mean the inflow of almost 7.70 million foreign tourists to India.The foreign secretary also agreed that bio metrics is needed at the point when the tourist is aboutto immigrate into that country not while obtaining the visa. The home ministry is firm on its standand feels that the implementation of bio metrics already extended to 77 countries and waiting to beissued to 73 more is necessary for all foreign tourists hoping to visit India.

The Ministry feels that bio-metrics is an effective way of Visa and Foreigners Registration &Tracking (IVFRT). Once a visitor gets his biometrics done then the same person will not have togo through the process again as the details of the person will be saved in the database. Thebiometrics will help detect the entry of any suspicious person on the basis of the records givenmaintaining the country’s security.

Alliance a Chinese firm promoting In-dian films.

Andhra Pradesh, which hascaught the eye of Chinese investorsafter the April visit of its Chief Minis-ter Chandrababu Naidu, is also mak-ing an effort to attract Chinese tour-ists showcasing its facilities like the974-km-long coastline of Visakha-patnam as well as Buddhist centreslike Amaravathi which too had an-cient links with China.

the state.State-run Chi-

nese TV has al-ready done fourpart series onKerala highlightingits tourism poten-tial for Chinese.

The new jointventure film byChinese and In-dian firms called“Wrecking havocin India”, a comedycould be shot inKerala, saidPrasad Shetty,partner of Strategic

Thanks to popular religious citeslike Tirupathi, the state is attractingabout 100 million domestic and NRItourists but the effort now is to aimfor more international tourists, saidNeerabh K Prasad, the state’s Prin-ciple Secretary to Tourism and Cul-ture. According to Chinese Ambas-sador to India Le Yucheng, AndhraPradesh is becoming a centre forChinese investments, specially theKakinada Port.

Paradise lost? Greek islandsfear tourism decline

Residents on the Greek islands are concerned that gov-ernment plans to end their favourable tax rate would damagetourism. The proposals form part of Greece’s bailout deal withits foreign creditors. Greece has to make a •1.5bn ($1.7bn;£1.06bn) IMF debt repayment. If Greece defaults, it could exitthe eurozone, with possible repercussions for the rest of Eu-rope and the world economy.

12 July, 2015MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Ramayana Museum to Come Up atAyodhya But Away From Disputed Site:Union Minister Mahesh Sharma

NEW DELHI: The government today announced that it wouldconstruct a Ramayana museum at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh,which would portray the epic journey of Lord Rama, but soughtto steer away from controversy saying it would be kept awayfrom the disputed site there. Union Tourism Minister MaheshSharma said the Centre has begun the process of identifyingthe land.

“We are not going to construct this site (museum) in thedisputed site, but away from it. There is land available at 70 km.So, we will not touch the disputed area. Definitely, we will notcome into controversy. We will keep away from the contro-versy,” he told reporters in New Delhi. The museum would beconstructed as part of the Ramayana circuit, which the govern-

ment had declared recently and contacting Nepal and Sri Lanka for the purpose.“We are planning for Krishna circuit and Buddha circuit in Ayodhya. Similarly, we are also

planning for Ramayana circuit. About Rs. 120 crore has been earmarked for establishing theRamayana circuit for which we are also contacting Nepal, Sri Lanka,” he added.

Reiterating that the museum will not come up anywhere near the disputed land, Mr Sharmasaid, “Wherever the land will be easily available, either by the government or by the privateproperties or by any act of donation, we love to construct this museum there.”

He, however, sought to clarify that construction of Ram temple and museum are twodifferent things. “The construction of Ram Mandir is a project of Vishwa Hindu Parishad andRam Janma Bhoomi Samiti. They are doing their job. But, as a tourism minister, I am doing this(museum) on behalf of my ministry in Ayodhya,” he said.

The museum would be established under the museums grant scheme of the union minis-try of tourism and archaeologists and historians have been approached for the purpose.

Asked whether the museum is for Lord Rama or the Indian mythological epic of Ramayan,Mr Sharma said, “Rama and Ramayana, both are same. It will be called as Ramayana Mu-seum and it will a museum that will portray the journey and greatness of Lord Rama.”

MHA rejects Tourism Min proposal onbiometric data of foreign tourists

New Delhi: Citing security con-cerns, the Ministry of Home Af-fairs has turned down a TourismMinistry proposal to do away withobtaining biometric data of foreign-

ers wanting to travel to India on normal tourist visa before issuance of the travel document tothem. According to official sources, the Home Ministry, which is preparing to meet the target ofextending e-tourist visas to additional 73 countries by the end of the current fiscal, hasrejected the Tourism Ministry’s request with regard to normal tourist visa seekers, saying itcould pose a threat to national security. Tourism secretary Lalit K Panwar recently wrote toHome Secretary L C Goyal bringing to his notice two issues — notification for issuance of e-tourist visa for 73 countries and collection of biometric information of foreign nationals at theport of arrival. In the letter, the tourism secretary said the requirement of obtaining biometricdata before issuing regular visa was acting as a dampener for the prospective internationaltourists wanting to visit India.

Referring to a recent meeting of Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar with Tourism MinisterMahesh Sharma on June 15, Panwar said, “Compulsion of biometrics before issue of normalvisa was acting as a dampener for the prospective international tourists wishing to visit India.”

Panwar said Jaishankar was of the view that collecting biometrics before issuing a normalvisa to potential tourists should be discontinued and these should be obtained at the point ofimmigration in the country, only if the Home Ministry agreed to the proposal.

“The travel industry in our country as well as globally has been requesting TourismMinistry to take up the issue with Government and issue directions for biometrics of thetourists (with normal visa) at the point of arrival in the host country,” the letter said.

China Launches World’s First Electric PlaneChina has made the world’s first elec-

tric passenger aircraft that could be usedin pilot training, tourism, meteorology andrescue operations, state media reportedtoday. The BX1E has a 14.5-meter wing-span and a maximum payload of 230 kgs.It can fly at an altitude of 3,000 meters.The charging is completed within twohours, allowing a flight time of 45 minutesto one hour, at a maximum speed of 160km per hour, Xinhua news agency re-ported. The plane, which has receivedairworthiness certificate, was designed

by Shenyang Aerospace University and Liaoning general aviation academy in the northeast-ern Liaoning Province. The first two aircraft were delivered to Liaoning Ruixiang GeneralAviation Co., Ltd. yesterday. The aircraft can be used in pilot training, tourism, meteorology andrescue operations, the report said. Each aircraft is priced at about one million yuan (USD163,000). The number of orders for the aircraft has reached 28, the report said.

Tourism New Zealand voted Best InternationalDestination for Adventure

New Zealand has won the award for the Best InternationalDestination for Adventure by the Lonely Planet Magazine In-dia Travel Awards 2015 for the third time. The winners areselected by magazine readers who vote for the best destina-tion under each category. Steven Dixon, Regional Manager -South and South East Asia, Tourism New Zealand says, “Weare happy to receive this award for the third year highlightingNew Zealand as Indian travellers’ most preferred destinationfor adventure. We look forward to building a stronger connec-tion with new and existing travellers and further amplifyingofferings in this category.”

New Zealand offers a wide range of adventure activitiesthat allow travellers to experience the country’s diverse anddramatic landscapes from the land, sky and water. Activitieslike skydiving, bungee jumping, biking, cycling, hiking, surfing,

fly- fishing, glacier walking and jet-boating are popular amongst visitors. Queenstown, Wanaka,Abel Tasman National Park, Milford Sound and Franz Josef Glacier have been ranked by theawards as the top five most famous destinations in New Zealand for all seasons.

The Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards 2015 were presented in Mumbai .TheBest International Destination for Adventure award was received by Neha Bhola, CountryManager India, Tourism New Zealand. The first and second runners-up in the category wereSouth Africa and Australia, respectively.