Akshaya Tritiya day is considered the most auspicious and the best day to buy Gold and Diamond Jewellery. Buying on this day signifies never diminishing good fortune. This year, Akshaya Tritiya falls on Monday, 9^th May 2016. Sree Kumaran Thanga Maligai (SKTM), a unit of The Chennai Silks has made exclusive arrangements, wherein customers can pre-book jewellery by paying 50% and fix the Gold rate as protection against price increase.

The balance 50% can be paid on Akshaya Tritiya day, 9^th May. An added incentive of 2% gift voucher on purchase value redeemable at The Chennai Silks awaits customers who purchase in excess of 50,000/- rupees (Fifty Thousand Rupees). The offer is valid on all branches of SKTM till 9th May.

Special counters have put in place so as to ensure quick and smooth delivery. For details, call: 044 2433 0888.

In Pic: Mr. R. Seshasayee, Chairman, Infosys Ltd. and IndusInd Bank, Ms. Yamini Prashanth, Author and Mrs. Saraswathy Rajagopalan, Executive Editor, Mango books, during the launch of “Uma, Not-So-Perfect” at Odyssey, Adyar.

“Uma, Not-So-Perfect”, written by 14 year old author Yamini Prashanth was launched at Odyssey Book Store, Adyar.

Mr. R. Seshasayee, Chairman, Infosys Ltd. and Indusind Bank, Mrs. Shoba Raman, Principal, Vidya Mandir, Mrs. Saraswathy Rajagopalan, Executive Editor, Mango books and Mr. T.S. Ashwin, Director Odyssey were present at the launch. The book is illustrated by Ms. Soumya Menon.

Yamini Prashanth - the 14 year old author of "Mishti", a children's novel. Mishti was published by Unicorn Books and was launched in October, 2013. She wrote "Mishti" when she was 11 years old. Mishti was reviewed by our honourable Late Ex-president, Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

Her second book, "Best of Granny stories", is a collection of 20 stories for 6 to 8 year old kids. Yamini is a voracious reader and her favourite authors are Shakespeare, Enid Blyton, Ruskin Bond and Rick Riordan. Yamini also became one of the youngest TEDx speakers of India. She spoke at TEDX at the Ecole Mondiale World School in Mumbai. She is a student of Tenth grade in Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Mylapore.

About “Uma, Not-So-Perfect”:

FUN, FRIENDSHIP, FITTING-IN. These are the top three items on the to-do list of the new girl in London, Uma Patel. Fun and artsy by nature, Uma has ticks on all these boxes by the first few months of her school year. But, as the pressure of school builds up, egos clash and terrible truths are revealed, will these tick marks survive, or fade away? With a school play around the corner, there will be drama before the curtain even goes up!

~Why wait for an occasion when you can sparkle everyday~

March 2016, Mumbai: Renowned for their magnificence and grandeur Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers has crafted an unmatched collection of classic and contemporary jewellery. With a showcase of their new collection of sensual pieces they have concentrated on uber and chic collection for younger generation. This assemblage will showcase delicate cut outs extending towards extravagant indulgent jewels.

The collection possesses exclusivity in every design, the royal-inspired charms come embellished with rare gemstones, set in gold and studded with diamonds. Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers has always been a step ahead in introducing newer trends in jewellery. This collection features assorted range of earrings, knuckle bracelets, 3 finger rings, palm bracelet and hand harness amongst others.

On the occasion of the launch of splendid collection, Mr. Deepak Tulsiani, Co-founder, Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers said, “At Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers we are constantly working towards introducing newer trends in jewellery. Classics and contemporary, one can find everything at our stores.”

Mr. Rajesh Tulsiani, Co-Founder, Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers added, “We are happy to launch this new collection. Toujours Treasures is a very dear collection as it features some breakthrough designs.”

Home aggregator and management start-up, Zenify.in eyes 6000 properties by this fiscal year

Zenify aims to capture a large percentage of the 4 million unattended properties of NRIs

Bengaluru, April 21st, 2016: Bengaluru-based Zenify.in, a residential Home aggregator and management start-up is aiming at 6000 properties to be listed on their platform by the end of this fiscal year(2016-17). The company is looking at increasing its stronghold in Bengaluru and expanding its operations to other cities by this year end.

Zenify.in provides an end to end solution to owners and tenants alike by automating the process of rental management. Now, tenants and owners no longer require brokers but can instead rent and find properties on this platform. The company has seen a tremendous growth over the last few quarters and are growing at 100% year on year. They aspire to manage properties worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the next five years.

There is currently 4 million unattended properties of NRIs lying vacant. Zenify plans to capture 2% of the market share. The company’s business model comes as a relief to owners everywhere as Zeniy ensures month on month payment of rent as well as finding the perfect tenant.

Commenting on this,Sudarshan Purohit, CEO & Co-founder, Zenify.in, said“We are off to a great start in 2016. Having  6000 properties on our platform will be a big milestone for us and we will achieve this well ahead of our expectations.”

“We will continue to add a minimum of 4000 properties every year. We’ve already  automated the entire process, providing an end to end solution right from finding a tenant to maintenance” Sudarshan added.

Over the last six months, Zenify has witnessed a surge in their bookings from within the country and abroad. Currently with a total team size of 140, the company plans to target 25000 flats in Bangalore by 2020 and to be present in the top 9 cities of India.

ஆவடி தொகுதி அதிமுக வேட்பாளர் மாஃபா க.பாண்டியராஜனுக்கு மாற்றுத் திறனாளிகள் ஆதரவு!

A City Anthem that runs through the veins of every CITYzen

~ Yet another pioneering move – 20 anthems for 20 cities ~

~ Karthik, Sukhwinder Singh and Keerthi Sagathia rock the new Radio City anthem ~

Chennai, 21st April 2016: In yet another pioneering move, Radio City 91.1FM, the country’s leading radio network, launches a new campaign “Rag Rag Mein Daude City” with 20 different city-specific stationality tunes. Radio in its very essence is local just as every city has its unique identity, and it is this sentiment that Radio City takes to the next level by redefining ‘local’ for India.

Rag Rag Mein Daude City touches upon an emotion that binds citizens to their CITY. The campaign looks at creating a bond with its listeners, invoking the feeling of City Pride that connects seamlessly with Radio City. With this new campaign,the brand focuses on being identified with local culture, sights and sounds, in inimitable Radio City style. “Rag Rag Mein Chennai City” symbolizes the passion a Chennai citizen feels for the Renganathan street shopping, just as “Madhi Madhi lo Hyderabad City” brings out the pride a Hyderabadi feels for his Biryani.

The anthem Rag Rag Mein Daude City has been meticulously crafted after understanding the emotions that runs through the pulse of a cityzen in his day to day life. Karthik, Sukhwinder Singh and Keerthi Sagathia have sparked up the campaign by lending their electrifying voices to the foot-tapping anthem which captivates and binds every cityzen. The anthem highlights a sense of City Pride, a sense of belonging and the passion that runs in the veins of every citizen.

“City is not just in our name, it runs through our veins and that is the thought behind this campaign. The passion a person feels for his city and the pride associated with the spirit of the city is something that runs deep through the DNA of Radio City. Radio City is not just 1 national brand but 39 (soon-to-be) local brands, and to capture this ideology we launched Rag Rag Mein Daude City, yet another pioneering initiative”, said Abraham Thomas, CEO, Radio City 91.1FM.

The campaign too is completely local entailing flash mobs, viral marketing, branded merchandise and integrated branding associations on and off-airto build an emotional connect with the listeners by bringing out the feeling of CITY PRIDE. The brand intends to explore various on-ground, digital and traditional communications across ATL and BTL mediums in order to build recall and salience. The anthem launched across 20 cities, voiced by South Indian superstar Karthik, Punjab di Jaan and National Award winner Sukhwinder Singh and Gujarati singing sensation Keerthi Sagathia, conveys the thought process and pulse behind a differentiated yet passionately unified campaign.

Talking about Rag Rag Mein Daude City, Kartik Kalla, EVP – National Programming, Creative and Marketing Head says “Radio City since inception has always strived towards connecting with its listeners across the length and breadth of various cities.  With the Rag Rag Mein initiative, we aim to enhance this bond through countless activities engaging listeners and encouraging the proud localite in our listeners. Our 360^o innovative marketing plans in tandem with the creative approach revolve around invoking the City Pride feeling every listener feels for his CITY”.

Bringing Rag Rag Mein Daude City alive for listeners across Tamil Nadu, is Karthik who belted out the anthem with the complete ease that he has brought to each and every one of the 1800+ songs sung by him. Karthik opined at the launch of the anthem that Rag Rag Mein Daude City embodies what India is about – the pride, the passion, the zest for life – the reason each and every Indian citizen feels connected to his or her CITY.

“We aren’t just the city’s FM channel. We are its identity.

We aren’t just an entertainment destination for the citizens. We are their voice.

We run through the veins of 39 cities.

We are the beat, the pulse, the adrenaline rush of a city”.

RAG RAG MEIN DAUDE CITY…FM BOLE TOH RADIO CITY

To hum Rag Rag Mein Daude City in 5 different languages, join us here.

Sumathi Srinivas has travelled a long distance from being a simple and assuming homemaker to what she is now – a successful woman entrepreneur and an inspiration to many women and a support for women upliftment by doing various programmes, activities and workshops Much of her success and energy comes from her being a multi-faceted personality managing a wide gamut of activities. She is the CEO n Editor-in-chief of Women Exclusive "WE Magazine", she runs a corporate event management company, she heads the "Twilite Group" and "Rays publications" Founder of the hugely successful women network EWC (Elite Women Confederation) and "INSIGHTS" a forum exclusively for women entrepreneurs.

Her exciting journey and the first glimpse of striving towards women empowerment began with Mrs. Homemaker, a reality show for Women, showcasing the hidden talents of homemakers and gave number of woman the confidence to come out of their shell and express their identity she is also into channel programs and film making. Apart from these she runs a foundation named "Soulmates Foundation" which educates the underprivileged children and upliftment of women in rural areas mainly.

A supremely confident personality, living as an example for woman power and multi-tasking, Sumathi never misses an opportunity to emphasize the need for women to be independent and confident. She is a Guest Faculty for many leading Colleges /University and she has been interviewed for her achievement in all the leading channels and newspapers. She has received many awards for all her achievements.

The biggest accolade came in the way of an invite from the British Parliament U.K London from Mr VIRENDRA SHARMA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, BSICC and UKTNCC ORGANISERS Jacob Ravibalan, to give a speech on media growth for women and women entrepreneurship in the British Parliament among the international audience Her speech was one of the highlights and she was the only one representing India.

She also received the "BUSINESS WOMEN" of the year award 2016 and "WE MAGAZINE" 12yr anniversary was released in the British Parliament U.K London.

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From Left to Right: Mrs Madhuri Menon, DEAN, ​ ​​ Dr. K.V. Kishore Kumar, Director, BALM,​ K.C. Mohan, Chair of the Executive Committee, ​T. Venkataraman, Senior Vice President, Buses, ​ N. V. Balachandar, Senior Vice President, Group HR and Proces​​ s​ ​ Excellence, Ashok Leyland​, handing over the bus keys to ​​ The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health (BALM)

Ashok Leyland Donates a 46 seater Stag Bus to The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health (BALM)

Assists students with greater mobility

Chennai, 21st April, 2016: Ashok Leyland, flagship of the Hinduja Group, and the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, donated a bus to The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental health (BALM), to enable efficient movement between locations, and strengthen student immersion programme.   

The 46-seater Stag bus will help transport students to campus, for fieldwork, and visits to other institutions. Mrs Madhuri Menon, Dean, BALM, said, “Mental health is largely ignored in India due to the social stigma associated with it. BALM is grateful to Ashok Leyland for supporting our work.”

Handing over the keys to the team from BALM, Mr.T. Venkataraman, Senior Vice-President, Global Buses, Ashok Leyland said, “Ashok Leyland has always been involved with community projects and we are pleased to offer our expertise in mobility solutions to BALM. Stag is an efficient, reliable, and proven platform that will benefit students of BALM.”

An active partner in community engagement, Ashok Leyland has donated buses to various schools, mostly catering to children from economically challenged backgrounds, many of whom are specially abled.

Chennai’s iconic Vivanta by Taj-Connemara to undergo a complete renovation

Chennai: April 21, 2016: Vivanta by Taj – Connemara, Chennai’s only heritage hotel, will be undergoing significant restoration and will remain closed for guests from 10^th May 2016.

Built in 1854, the legendary hotel, when fully renovated, will ensure that the discerning traveler finds all modern amenities and conveniences discreetly placed beneath the hotel’s old world charm, colonial legacy and heritage for which it has been admired for over a century.

The iconic Vivanta by Taj-Connemara has been a silent witness of the transformation of Chennai earlier known as Madras.

Built in 1854 as the Imperial Hotel, it was renamed Albany in 1886, and finally re-established as The Connemara in 1890 in honour of Robert Bourke, the Baron of Connemara; the Governor of Madras from 1886 to 1890 who contributed in a major way in the development of Madras.

In 1930s an increasing number of travelers to this part of the country led Spencer’s to modernize its flagship property and make it one of the premier hotels in the South. This renovation went on till 1937 and it reopened with an art deco look! The Connemara Hotel came under the Taj fold on a lease from Spencer’s in 1984 and was initially called Taj Connemara.

In September of 2010, the hotel was infused with the spirited style of Vivanta by Taj - a fresh new vibe that complements tradition, and rechristened to Vivanta by Taj-Connemara.

The hotel might have changed names, hands and brands over the centuries, but for Chennai, it is very much a part of its glorious history.

“I would like to thank the people of this wonderful city who have supported us. We look forward to welcoming all of you, once we reopen this historic hotel,” said Ahmar Siddiqui, General Manager, Vivanta by Taj-Connemara.

Birla Sun Life Insurance enters into Corporate Agency tie-up with Peerless Financial Products Distribution Ltd

~ Partnership to give BSLI access to Peerless’s strong customer franchise Pan India ~

Mumbai / Chennai, April 21, 2016: Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), the life insurance arm of the Aditya Birla Financial Services Group, a significant non-bank financial services company, has tied-up with Peerless Financial Products Distribution Ltd for a corporate agency tie up. 

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Birla Sun Life Insurance and Peerless Financial Products Distribution Ltd for the tie-up. As per the memorandum of understanding, Peerless is now a corporate agent of BSLI. This will enable Peerless to offer BSLI products to its customers in the urban, semi-urban and rural areas.

Speaking on the development Pankaj Razdan, MD & CEO, Birla Sun Life Insurance said, “BSLI has been one of the leading private players in the life insurance market for the last 15 years and remains excited with the India insurance opportunity. We are committed to provide need based life insurance solutions that can make a positive difference and help Indians secure their financial goals. Our approach is centred around adding value in the life of our customers towards helping them self realize their life goals with us as our trusted partner.”

He further added, “We are happy to partner an organization like Peerless that resonates ‘Trust’ and ‘Customer delight’ with its customers. We see great synergy in this partnership as this will give BSLI access to strong customer networks of Peerless Financial Products Distribution Ltd and help us add value to their lives.”  

Speaking on the occasion, Jayanta Roy, MD& CEO, The Peerless General Finance& Investment Co. Ltd. said, “We are privileged to join hands with BSLI, an organization that stands out in the market place for its innovation, strong business ethics and customer focus. Driving customer satisfaction through superior product offerings has always been a priority for us. This partnership will give Peerless Group access to a vast range of BSLI products that suit the investment needs of our customers and value add to our customer relationships through simple, easy to explain ‘Human Life Value’ connect tool”.

For BSLI this partnership will benefit from over 8 decade experience of Peerless Group in serving customers of urban, semi-urban and rural areas through strong distribution network of 67 branches in 63 locations.

Chennai: April 20, 2016: The former Chief Financial Officer of AirAsia India, Vijay Gopalan has joined Updater Services Limited (UDS), India’s premier and largest Integrated Facilities Management and Business support Services Company, as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A Chartered Accountant with over 16 years of experience, Vijay Gopalan will be responsible to charter an accelerated growth path for UDS in the country. He will help grow the business strategically through adding new service lines and diversification.

Prior to joining UDS, Vijay Gopalan had served as the Chief Financial Officer at AirAsia India. He was one of the youngest aviation CFO and he successfully managed the financial operations of the Company for two years. Indulging in every aspect of running an airline, he was instrumental in keeping the costs in control

Before joining AirAsia India, Vijay Gopalan had served as Finance Controller for the India operations of the Compass Group, a fortune 500 and a FTSE 100 Company.

Vijay had started his career with Ernst & Young and worked with them for 8 years.

T.Raghunandana, Chairman and Managing Director, UDS Facilities Services commented on the appointment, “I am really happy to welcome Vijay Gopalan to the UDS family and am looking forward to his contribution to growth of the company. I am confident that he will help scale UDS to greater heights.”

On joining UDS Vijay Gopalan said, “I wish to work closely and complement the visionary promoter, Mr Raghunandana who has built this massive organization of over 40,000 employees and work towards re-inforcing ourselves as the most preferred service provider.

The facilities management services market in India is set to grow at over 30% in the next few years and this scenario adds dimension to the growth of UDS which is already the market leader in this industry. I am very excited to be able to take this brand to newer vistas and also generate more employment in India by way of our aggressive growth plans.”

Little known facts about Vijay Gopalan include the fact that he is a first attempt CA and secured the All India 26th Rank in the CA Foundation examination. He was a faculty for MBA graduates at Loyola Institute of Business Administration as well as for CA students at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. 

He has acted in a Tamil feature film, was a finalist in the RJ hunt conducted by Radio Mirchi and is also a Gold medalist at the South Asian Universities music festival. An Avid Cricket and football follower, he used to practice at the MRF Pace foundation for fast bowlers.

BELTUNER ENRAPTURES THE CITY WITH ITS GYPSY FOLK MUSIC AT PHOENIX MARKETCITY

Chennai, 20th April, 2016: Providing the city an unforgettable experience of French music, Phoenix MarketCity in association with Alliance Francaise Madras, presented an evening of funky and groovy music by hosting the Parisian gypsy folk rock band, Beltuner from Paris, on Wednesday.

The group who was at Phoenix MarketCity as part of their 8 city tour in India, provided a unique form of entertainment to the audience with their mixed genre style of Jazz, Classic, Pop, Rock, Funk etc. The mesmerizing compositions and reprises played by the troupe provided the audience a different taste of International music. The audiences were seen dancing and shaking their legs to the French tunes as the band entrapped the audience in a musical trance with their dynamic and unwavering energy throughout their performance.

The quartet had René Sopa on accordion, Pascal Muller strumming the guitar strings, MickaelCorreia on Percussions and Nicolas Pautras on the double bass. The modern interpretations performed by the band truly resonated with the Chennai audience and had them longing for more.The night ended on a high note with loud cheers and praise from the crowd for Betuner’s performance.

Commenting on the occasion Mr. Noel Vessaoker, Center Director, Phoenix MarketCity,Chennai said: “It was a wonderful experience to watch the crowd enjoy and appreciate the performance of ‘Beltuner’. TheFrench band brought a completely different atmosphere, leaving the audience with a quaint charm of France!.”

EPSON CONDUCTS MULTIPLE RAIDS ON COUNTERFEIT INK MANUFACTURING UNITS IN MUMBAI

Strong message of zero-tolerance being sent to dealers of fake Ink bottles

Bangalore April 21st, 2016: In an effort to curb the sale of counterfeit ink bottles and to protect the rights of its customers, Epson has recently increased its vigilance and action against manufacturers and dealers of counterfeit Epson Ink bottles. On the basis of the Epson vigilance team’s information, the Mumbai police raided the premises of a dealer in Jogeshwari, Mumbai in a swift and well-co-ordinated action on 5^th March. This dealer was involved in the manufacture and supply of counterfeit Epson Ink bottles in Mumbai and to other parts of the country.

The manufacturer of the Epson counterfeit Ink bottles, Mauji Kamji Ora, was arrested and charged under the prevailing laws of the land with counterfeiting and violating intellectual property rights and subsequently remanded to judicial custody. About 1000 packs of refilled ink bottles were seized along with other equipment, duplicate logos and stickers. The unit was shuttered.

A few weeks later, another raid was done by the crime branch on the 29th of March in Mumbai based on information of a big scam involving filling, bottling, packaging and distributing of counterfeit Epson ink in Mumbai and to other parts of India. This business was owned by Ganajibhai Hatiyani who was operating the bottling unit from a shop in Kandivali (W), Mumbai. The owner of the business, has been declared absconding and the Police has arrested one of the employees, Rahul Kumar Lodhi. The Police is on the trail of the owner and arrests are expected soon. During the surprise raid the police seized 120 litres of coloured and black ink, 40,000 glossy papers, a large quantity of packed and empty Epson ink bottles with Epson Trademark on it, packing boxes, Epson bar code stickers and logos.

The raids this year follow a 2015 year end raid in the Fountain area of Mumbai, where a well-established counterfeit manufacturer, running a massive illegal ink bottle racket catering to large parts of west and central India, was terminated and arrested. In an effort to send a strong message of zero tolerance towards the sale of fake cartridges the police in different parts of the country have stepped up their co-operation and efforts to arrest and terminate such practices.

A spokesperson at Seiko Epson Corporation said “We applaud the efforts of the Mumbai police to curb this menace and will whole heartedly assist and support the law enforcement authorities in all such crack downs.” He went on to say, “Epson takes great care to observe the law and regulations, and to maintain high standards of corporate ethics while at the same time expecting others to show appropriate respect for its rights. We will continue vigorous enforcement of our intellectual property rights to protect our innovative products against those who use Epson's patented technology, trademarks, and other intellectual property without permission.”

Seiko Epson Corporation says it will keep on supporting the enforcement authorities for such raids in future to protect its interests and to protect the business of its authorised dealers and also act as a deterrent to the erring manufacturers and dealers.

NEC Asia Pacific orchestrates a better commuter experience through innovative technologies

Internet of Things, video analytics and software-defined networking solutions showcased at Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange

Singapore, 22nd April 2016: NEC Asia Pacific today announced it will be implementing a suite of innovative technologies for SMRT Buses Ltd, a Singapore public transport service provider, at the Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange. In a Living Lab concept, the bus interchange showcases how the fusion of different technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), video analytics and software-defined networking (SDN) solutions come together to provide real-time gathering of intelligent information to improve commuter experience and bus transportation services.

The temporary bus interchange is feature-packed with the latest information system to assist each commuter in their journey. Via interactive information panels, NEC Asia Pacific has implemented the Passenger Information System which provides real-time bus and train departure timings, in addition to bus service traffic footages. Other features include bus route, fares and estimated travelling time; map and journey planner; 3-D directory and vicinity location finder; customer feedback and virtual assistance as well as charging of mobile devices.

NEC Asia Pacific and SMRT Buses have commenced trials on other features such as video analytics technology and face and fingerprint matching technology. These are expected to be fully implemented by end of the year. For the safety and security of commuters, video analytics technology will be utilized to analyze changing behavioral patterns of people and age/gender profiles of people. These data can also help in bus schedule planning and optimization.

To manage a highly complex and sophisticated IT system at the temporary bus interchange, software-defined networking solutions is used to flexibly manage new and existing network issues as it is able to increase the efficiency of the network leading to a more improved and sustainable social infrastructure.

NEC will also introduce its world No. 1* face and fingerprint matching technology to provide a seamless operation flow for better bus asset management and other smart energy features that uses NEC’s IoT technology to promote an eco-living environment.

“SMRT Buses is constantly seeking innovative ways to better serve our commuters and communities along our bus network. We do so by working with industry partners like NEC Asia Pacific to leverage on Big Data analytics, info-comms and telematics technology to run bus services with improved safety, reliability, operational and cost efficiencies as well as great service for our commuters to have a better journey with us.

The Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange is a case in point. Although the interchange will be used for about three years, we collaborated with NEC to install a suite of user-friendly, community-focused and commuter-centric systems to enhance the commuting experience while introducing a quantum leap in the way a bus interchange is managed and operated, 24/365. This partnership model with NEC has proven to be a successful one and will pave the way for future collaborations between NEC and SMRT Buses,” said Mr Tan Kian Heong, Vice President, SMRT Buses Ltd.

“Since 2014, NEC and SMRT have worked together to implement Singapore’s first telematics system. We are happy to continue to build on this relationship with SMRT to co-create and implement NEC’s suite of innovative technologies at the Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange, which delivers our initiatives in showing how technology benefits customers and communities,” said Lim KokQuee, Managing Director, NEC Asia Pacific.

*Ranked top in speed and accuracy in tests conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

WESTERN DIGITAL ENHANCES ITS DATACENTER PORTFOLIO WITH WD GOLD HARD DRIVES

New Color Designated Line Features up to 8TB Capacity with Optimal Performance, High Capacity and Enhanced Reliability for Datacenter Applications

Chennai, India– Apr 22, 2016: Western Digital Corporation(NASDAQ: WDC), a world leader in storage solutions, today announced the expansion of its award-winning color portfolio with a new line; WD Gold™ datacenter hard drives. WD Gold datacenter hard drives are designed for a broad range of applications – including small- to medium-scale enterprise servers and storage, and rack-mount datacenter servers and storage enclosures.WD Gold drives are currently available at select U.S. distributors, resellers and through the WD Store.

With purpose-driven designs for the datacenter, WD Gold datacenter hard drives are launching with a new, high-capacity configuration of up to8TB that offers HelioSeal® helium-technology for performance, ideal capacity per square foot, power efficiency and low power consumption for datacenter environments.

WD Gold datacenter hard drives feature an optimized design with an 8TB option that helps reduce the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of servers and storage systems, benefiting IT administrators challenged with growing storage capacity needs on limited budgets. WD Gold hard drives will also include a premium dedicated support line for customers worldwide.

“Western Digital has a proven history of providing award-winning purpose-driven products for unique requirements of each application environment, like WD Red®, WD Purple® and WD Blue® drives,” said Brendan Collins vice president of product marketing, Western Digital Corporation. “WD Gold is a pinnacle part of the color portfolio strategy and another step in creating optimized drives for the markets we serve. Our continued goal is to deliver the most competitive and reliable solutions on the market.”

WD Gold datacenter hard drives include:

Improved power efficiency - New electronics enhance power efficiency up to 15 percent¹. HelioSeal technology enables up to 26 percent lower power consumption²

Better performance – Up to 18 percent sequential performance improvement over previous generation WD Re™ 4TB datacenter drives, and up to 30 percent improvement in random write performance over previous generation WD Re 6TB datacenter drives through media-based cache, and up to 3x improvement over competitive offerings

High reliability – WD Gold incorporates best-of-breed design, manufacturing and test processes to achieve one of the highest reliability ratings in the industry– 2.5 million hours MTBF (8TB offering)

Dedicated Premium Support Line and WD Gold Model Numbers – Western Digital offers a 24/7 premium support line for WD Gold customers and can be reached at U.S.: (855) 559-3733; International: +80055593733. WD Gold model numbers:

     - 8TB: WD8002FRYZ

     - 6TB: WD6002FRYZ

     - 4TB: WD4002FYYZ

More information about the WD Gold hard drives and terms of the limited warranty may be found on the company website at www.wd.com.

¹Versus previous generation WD Re hard drives

²Versus competitive enterprise class 8TB drives

fbb, India’s fashion hub and the unique style of the young Indian band wagon celebrated the homecoming of the first runner up Miss India 2016,  the gorgeous and stunning banglorian girlSushruthi Krishna, in her home town Bangalore. Ms Sushruthi Krishna got welcomed in a very traditional and royal manner; after tilak and garland ceremony she was driven to Phoenix Market City in a Horse Chariot from the main entrance till the end at fountain entrance.

Excited and overwhelmed people (customers) were enjoying her homecoming ride on the beats of dhol. Right after her royal welcome she was showered with petals of flowers followed by a red carpet till the Big Bazaar.

The grand coronation night of the coveted pageant fbb Femina Miss India 2016 took place on April 9’ 2016 in Mumbai where Sushruthi, an architectural student who loved travelling and dancing proved her mettle. She made a grand entry into the top 21 finalists of fbb Femina Miss India 2016& with each passing day, she proved that she was here to stay.

The home coming grandeur welcome ended on a cheerful and high note when the customers got a chance to ask few questions and got a warm response from Sushruthi.

The perfect selfie requires only two ingredients: your smiling face and an unforgettable backdrop — which you’ll find all across the USA. What better background than an unbelievable natural wonder or an iconic manmade one? Below are some of the most incredible selfie spots in the USA —

* White Sands, Alamogordo, New Mexico: One of the stranger sights in a state full of oddities fills the Tularosa Basin, just west of Alamogordo: the world’s largest field of gypsum sand dunes, blinding white and ringed by the San Andres and Sacramento mountains. The snow-colored dunes cover 275 square miles of the Chihuahuan Desert, and are constantly changing as they are moved by the steady southwest winds. There you see are chalk-white dunes, some as high as 60 feet, mountains shimmering on the horizon and the blue bowl of sky.

* Ozark National Forest, Arkansas - The Upper Buffalo Wilderness portion of the Ozark National Forest in northwest Arkansas (about 325 kilometers northeast of Little Rock) is chock-full of selfie spots. Make a point to pose on Whitaker Point, a rock ledge that juts out over the Buffalo National River. To get there, follow the Whitaker Point Trail, which is nearly a 5-kilometer round trip.

* Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai’i - Prove to your friends and family how close you got to molten lava by commemorating your trip to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park with a selfie. Located in the southeast portion of Hawai’i's Big Island, the park’s black volcanic rock, oozing magma and billowing steam will add dramatic flair to your photo.

* Toadstool Geologic Park, Nebraska - Toadstool Geologic Park, which is part of the Oglala National Grassland and located in the northwest corner of Nebraska, earned its name from its signature mushroom-shaped sandstone formations. You’ll want to get right up next to those rocks, because a closer look may reveal fossilized remains of creatures that lived there millions of years ago.

* Big Bend National Park, Texas - Big Bend National Park in western Texas won’t disappoint the avid selfie-taker. This expansive park along the Texas-Mexico border provides plenty of backdrops to choose from. There are the imposing walls of the Santa Elena Canyon, traces of long-abandoned settlements and one of the starriest night skies in North America.

* Redwood National and State Parks, California - You need to put yourself in the picture at Redwood National and State Parks to provide scale. These parklands in northern California (about 500 kilometers north of San Francisco, California, near the border with Oregon) are home to the USA’s famous towering redwood trees, which can reach heights of about 100 meters.

* Badlands National Park, South Dakota - “Badlands” may not sound appealing, but this national park in the southwest section of South Dakota (about 120 kilometers east of Rapid City) will inspire some unbelievable selfies. The park is known for its nearly 100,000 hectares of striking geological features, including these striped hills that will lend an otherworldly quality to your photo.

* Monument Valley, Arizona and Utah - These sandstone towers have set the scene for many movies, including Forrest Gump, Back to the Future: Part III and Disney’s The Lone Ranger — and they will make a great backdrop for your selfie. You’ll find Monument Valley along the Arizona-Utah border, roughly 275 kilometers northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona.

* Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York - Sometimes the best way to see New York City, New York, is to get out of the city. A selfie in Brooklyn Bridge Park, across the East River from Manhattan, will allow you to fit both the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge and the New York skyline into your shot. Another plus: You won’t have to fight fellow photographers for the perfect angle.

* Everglades National Park, Florida - If you don’t take a selfie, how will anyone know how much you enjoyed communing with nature (or whether or not you were brave enough to get close to an alligator)? You’ll have the opportunity to do just that during a visit to Everglades National Park in South Florida, just southwest of Miami.

Centum Learning participates in CII - GES (Global Expo on Services)

Hon’ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukharjee inaugurates the event

Sanjeev Duggal, CEO and MD, Centum Learning speaks on ‘India Skilling Story’

Chennai, 22nd April’16: Centum Learning, a leading organization in global skill development and vocational training, participated at the second edition of CII-GES(Global Exhibition on Services) which was held at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida between April 21-23, 2016. The event was inaugurated by the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee a day in advance. Centum Learning represented India in the ‘Skilling’ service sector.

Following his special address,Sanjeev Duggal, CEO &MD, Centum Learning presented case study on India’s story on Skilling. He also highlighted the importance of Skilling in Indian context and how India is taking massive strides towards realizing its goal to skill millions and gain the demographic dividend.His session was followed by representatives from Australia, Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland and UK along with company representative of IKEA and Hettich who presented case studies from their respective countries.

On the occasion, Sanjeev Duggal said, “India today is amongst the youngest superpowers in the world where the working age population is far in excess of that is dependent on them. If pursued in the right direction, this will contribute immensely to the development of national economy. And, for that we need to enhance and continuously upgrade the population skills of the youth in the country. Centum Learning is continuously striving to move in this direction.”

The event was organized by the Government of India and Ministry of Commerce and Industry in association with Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It offered a global platform for increasing trade in services, enhancing strategic cooperation and strengthening multilateral relationships between different stakeholders to interact with and explore new business avenues. 

The focus sectors of CII-GES 2016 were – BFSI; Education; Environmental Services; Green Building / Architectural Services; Healthcare; IT & Telecom; Logistics; Media & Entertainment; Next Gen Cities; Professional Services / Legal; Quality / TPM Services; R & D; Retail; Skills Expo; SMEs in Services; Space; Tourism & Hospitality. The event featured more than 700 exhibitors from 60 countries and 18 Indian states and covered over 40,000 square feet area. The event included 3000 B2B meetings who in turn hosted many companies from their regions.

EBITDA for the year stood at INR 2449 million

Chennai, Friday, April 22, 2016: Sify Technologies Limited (NASDAQ: SIFY), a leader in Managed Enterprise, Network, IT and Software services in India with global delivery capabilities, today announced its consolidated results under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the fiscal year 2015-16.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:

* Revenue for the year ended March 31, 2016 was INR 15035 million, an increase of approximately 17% over last year. Revenue for the quarter was INR 4036 million, an increase of 12% over the same quarter last year.

* EBITDA for the year was INR 2449 million, an increase of 22% over last year.

* Net Profit for the year was INR 436 million, an increase of 16% over last year.

* CAPEX during the year was INR 1781 million. Cash balance at the end of the year was INR 1736 million.

Mr. Raju Vegesna, Chairman, said, “This is our 3^rd straight year of profitability with strong revenue growth, since we announced our plan to become an ICT Services provider. I continue to be encouraged by our clients’ acceptance of Sify as a strategic partner in their transformational projects.  We are proud to play a role as  co-authors of our clients’ success stories, while also helping to change the country’s ICT landscape.

This year, Sify also took its first steps toward a larger ambition of going global; not just on signing up international clients, but also building a pool of highly skilled workforce with the launch of our Global Innovation and Development Centre at Hyderabad.

We believe that our complete ICT eco-system and this on-demand workforce will be an undeniable advantage for our customers in the long run.”

Mr. Kamal Nath, CEO, said, “FY15-16 was our 3rd year of Sify 3.0 journey and I am happy to share that our positioning as an ICT Solutions and Services player have led to consistent growth in revenue, order book and profitability . Our Infrastructure as well as Services business have contributed to the growth of each other. A significant number of our clients have endorsed us for our Data Centre Transformation and Network Transformation offering while choosing us as their Integrated ICT partner.

The quantitative and qualitative performance coupled with healthy mix of Run rate, Annuity and Large deals have strengthened our base for a sustained growth in FY 16-17 and beyond.”

Mr. M P Vijay Kumar, CFO, said, “The discipline exhibited over successive quarters on cost control has helped to supplement the good progress on the revenue front.

Our asset utilization has also improved with increased demand for our solutions, both on the Data Center and Network side.

Our Capex investments remain cautious and in sync with the market movements.

The Board has recommended a dividend of 10%.

Cash balance at the end of the year was INR 1736 million.”

Financial Highlights

Business Highlights

Telecom                

* Revenue from the data business grew more than 15% over last year. Voice business grew 21% over the previous year.

* Demand from over 900 new clients for the year has pushed the business to more than triple its existing capacity.

* The largest commercial metro in India is the first recipient of the expansion with the fibre rollout already in progress.

* The business launched the Cloud Interconnect services facilitating access to more than 10 leading cloud service providers across 30 global geographies. Enterprises now have perhaps the largest direct access to the Cloud platform.

* Business Internet saw a revenue growth of 25% with capacity almost tripling. This significant spike is on the back of explosive demand for bandwidth dependent applications.

* Managed services strategy saw maturity with a 2x growth that saw the number of Managed end points almost double. This was also recognised by the industry peers as the Best Network Managed Services at the CIO Choice awards 2016.

* Among the biggest clients signed up were to build and manage a national banking network with multiple service providers with Sify as the primary Network Integrator for both infra and managed services.

* The eCommerce business across the country is also helping with the resultant signups to build the network for multiple large service providers.

* Other sign ups were a national sector telecom service provider, a national insurance provider, a total of 3 large public sector banks, a cement major, a non-life insurance player and a large private university.

* Three major international automobile manufacturers contracted the business to build their entire dealer management network and deliver comprehensive managed services.

Data Centre Services

* Revenue from this business grew by 20% over the previous year.

* This business added more than 50 clients through the year.

* The business saw demand higher power density requirements. In line with the same, augmentation is on to expand the planned capacity of both Noida and Rabale.

* The business focussed approach towards certain Industry verticals paid rich dividends. The fastest growing virtual wallet player contracted us for their complete hosting requirements. Millions of transactions will now be serviced from our Data Center.

* A captive managed service provider for a national mobile services player has contracted the business for co-Location services. Such wins complimented our market focussed approach during the entire year and our market coverage strategy was fairly received by the market.

* During the year, the business also signed up two of the largest nationalised banks, a large format retail player and a third party medical insurance service player.

* One of the largest public sector bank signed up for our Disaster Recovery services.

* A world player in online search has signed up to park their PoP at our Noida facility which will now enable multiple ISPs to host from here.

* This business won awards for Data Center transformation services and Integrated Data Center services at the CIO Choice awards 2016.

Cloud and Managed Services

* Revenue grew by 45% over the previous year.

* Over last 12 months, the business has seen increased demand from customers for cloud-aligned model of IT, including services leveraging cloud such as Backup on Cloud, DR on Cloud etc.

* Content Delivery Network services has seen over 260% growth over last year and has added more than 43 new clients in the last fiscal.

* The business recently signed up one of the largest power distribution companies in India to provide complete IT infrastructure on a business outcome driven “Pay per Bill” model generated from the platform. The platform is built to support over 5 million consumer bills per month and scale as needed.

* Other clients added included a multinational financial subsidiary of an automobile major, a private bank, a multinational IT services player and a pan-India housing finance company; to highlight a few.

* During the entire year we transitioned more than 175 plus key customers onto our cloud platform.

* The biggest response for our cloud enabled suite of services came from logistics, pharma, BFSI and manufacturing verticals. Our ability to address the hybrid cloud requirements of our customers have been well accepted in these verticals.

Applications Integration Services                   

* The business signed up over 25 clients for the eLearning business, while the Managed SAP services signed up more than 10 new clients across industries like manufacturing, renewable energy, steel and hosiery..

* The Managed SAP services acquired the following certifications: SAP Certified in Hosting Services, Cloud Services, HANA Operations and in Application Management Services.

* The business signed up multiple partnerships across India, APAC and Middle East to enhance the service offerings and geographical reach in Talent Management businesses.

* The business has won the National Education Excellence award for 2016 from ASSOCHAM.

* Among the clients signed up were a multinational auto major’s financial arm, a cement major, two Energy players, the National telecom player, a public sector power corporation, public sector oil exploration major, the regulatory agency for mines, a State Government’s testing and evaluation platform and one of India’s largest muti-mineral solutions provider.

Technology Integration Services

* Revenue of this business grew by 14%.

* The business added 85 new clients across Data Centre IT, Network Integration, Security and Collaboration services.

* TIS Business has matured in terms of customer acceptability across customer segments of BFSI, PSU and Govt and it helped customers setup robust IT infrastructure and services leveraging our strong service provider experience.

* Business saw strong growth in focus areas with

     - Network Integration  Business growing by 23% with large wins across State Govt, PSU and BFSI customers

     - Data Centre IT and DC Transformation business grew by 150% with large wins across BFSI, PSU and State Govt customers.

     - Security and Collaboration Business saw strong support from customers in BFSI and PSU and recognition of skills in these areas.

Financial and Operational Performance of Reliance Industries Limited for the Quarter / Year ended 31st March 2016