Read `n` Win

Transcription

Read `n` Win

thegulfindian.com
ISSUE NO. 36
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2014
DUBAI - UAE
North Mumbai: A hub for
buyers and investors Pg 10
The health benefits of Aloe
Vera Pg 19
Yet another record tumbles. It’s
Rohit Sharma this time Pg 26
UAE in the fast lane
The country’s got
motor fever. With
an electrifying
line-up of racing
and automobile
events, this
motoring season
promises to be an
exciting one…
team’s driver, Romain Grosjean, told the official Formula 1 website: “I think it’s
a good track with very nice
paddock facilities, which
in my opinion are amongst
the best on the calendar. It’s
also a very special Grand
Prix, given that it starts in
the day and finishes under
lights, which makes it incredible for the fans, as they
can see through our visors
and watch how hard we are
concentrating.”
Payal Kamat Samant
Associate Editor
T
he UAE’s racing season has just taken off.
With multiple motor
racing events, automobile
events and a car show lined
up in the coming days, we
thought we’d bring you a
comprehensive
summary
of what to look forward to;
starting with the Big Daddy
of the season, the Formula 1
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi
Grand Prix.
F1 Grand Prix
For those of you wondering, what exactly is Formula
One? It’s a type of motorsport in which teams compete
in a series of Grand Prix races that are held in different
countries across the globe.
The 2014 Formula One season is the 65th season of the
F1 World Championship.
This year, the season began
on March 14, 2014, in Melbourne, Australia, and is
concluding in Abu Dhabi’s
Yas Marina Circuit today
(November 23). Teams have
been competing against each
other since Friday (November 21), at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
To kick off the sports
world’s biggest event, or-
Dubai Motor
Festival
Motorsports fans turn out in full force to catch the F1 action at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit
ganisers put together a grand
opening ceremony at the Du
Arena on November 20. The
live performers at the ceremony were Egyptian movie
star Tamer Hosny, Lebanese actress Carole Samaha,
Emirati singer Faiz Al Saeed
and Palestinian singer of
Arab Idol fame, Mohammed
Assaf. Abu Dhabi F1 tickets
for all sections guaranteed
entry to post-race concerts,
where live entertainers included the likes of superstar
DJ Armin Van Buuren, R&B
giant Pharrell Williams and
rock legends The Who.
With the circuit hosting
the season’s last race and
with double points up for
grabs, this year’s event has
been a big hit with racing
fans—the 60,000 daily allocated tickets were sold
out. To accommodate overseas guests, the premium
sponsor, Etihad Airways,
designed special packages
that included grandstand
tickets, flights, hotel ac-
In the Emirate of Dubai,
under the patronage of
H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin
Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum, Crown Prince
of Dubai, the Dubai Motor Festival 2014 began its
second edition on November 19. The motor festival
will go on until December
6 and will feature the phenomenally popular and successful Dubai Grand Parade
on November 28. The Dubai
Grand Parade is a citywide
motoring
extravaganza,
which celebrates the passion
of motoring. It will feature
the largest convoy of super,
luxury and classic cars and
bikes in the region, which
will weave through Dubai’s
iconic streets.
>> Continued on Page 2
commodation and more.
Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat
Al Beri, Abu Dhabi, in partnership with Ferrari, has illuminated the hotel’s porte cochere (coach gate) with red
lights, showcasing the hotel’s affiliation with the Italian luxury sports car brand.
To add to the Grand Prix feel,
a Formula 1 show car, alongside a Ferrari 333 SP sports
car—courtesy of Dragon
Racing, has been placed at
the lobby. Dragon Racing is
the UAE-based international
racing team, which is made
up of highly experienced
professionals from Europe
and the Middle East.
A brief synopsis for our
readers on the big players:
The teams participating in
the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand
Prix include names such
as Ferrari, Mercedes, Red
Bull, Force India, McLaren,
Williams, Lotus, Sauber,
Marussia and Caterham.
Ahead of the event, Lotus
Enter our
Read ‘n’ Win
Stay connected.
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Dual Core 4.0, Android 4.4 for FREE.
(For details refer to our ad on the
Page no. 13.)
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2
The Consul
General Speaks...
Anurag Bhushan
www.cgidubai.com
Q
UAE THIS WEEK
W E E K L Y
: How do I get a bachelorhood certificate attested?
A: You will have to procure a decree from
a competent court in India, affixed with a seal of the
court. If such a decree is produced, the Embassy/
Consulate will authenticate the correctness of the
certificate. The certificate then has to be produced,
along with the following:
• Personal presence of the applicant.
• Valid passport in original and photocopy (first/
last and valid visa page).
• Original certificate with a photocopy.
Q: What is the procedure for getting
Power of Attorney attested?
A: Power of Attorney can either be on a plain paper or stamp paper as per your requirement, or as
advised by your lawyer.
Personal presence of the executant/s at the IVS
Global Attestation Center, with the following documents, is a must:
1. Valid passport in original with photocopy (first/
last and valid visa page) of the executant/s.
2. Original Power of Attorney and its photocopy.
This document has to be signed in the presence of
the Consular Officer.
3. Two current passport-sized photographs of the
executant/s.
A company can give Power of Attorney, when authorised to so do, by its Memorandum or Articles
of Association or by a Statue and based on a Board
Resolution, attested by the competent authority.
Q: My passport expired 5 years ago.
Can I renew it now? What is the procedure for renewal?
A: In such a case, you have to fill out Application
Form No. EAP-I and submit it, along with original/photocopy of your expired passport and proof
of your residence/address. However, since the passport expired 5 years ago, there is an elaborate procedure for re-issuance. Prior approval of the Consulate is required, along with a sworn affidavit for late
submission.
Follow us on our Facebook and Twitter accounts to get our updates!
Enter our
Read ‘n’ Win
contest
You could win a CUBOT GT95 Smartphone,
Dual Core 4.0, Android 4.4 for FREE.
TGI Team
DUBAI
T
he Gulf Indian Weekly’s Read ‘n’ Win
contest’s 10th lucky
winner is Muhammed Dai,
an Indian, who has been living in the UAE since 1997.
Currently, Muhammad Dai
works as a Training Instructor at Juma al Majid, in Ras
Al Khor, Dubai. A person
who likes to read during his
lunch hour, Muhammad has
been following TGI regularly.
Muhammad said, “I was
going through TGI and saw
the winner, a young girl, who
had won a Canon digital camera. Reading that, I turned to
the page where the contest
was published. I went to my
desk, read the paper online
and entered the contest, once
I found the answers to the
questions, immediately.”
Muhammad told us that
he likes to read about the ed-
Muhammad Dai (left) and Fahim (centre) receive the contest prize
from TGI’s Graphic Designing Head, Anil Kumar
ucation and healthcare scene
back in India. “I also like to
read the real estate segment,
as I like to keep track of
India’s property scape, especially what’s happening
back in Mumbai and Banga-
no. 13.)
lore,” added Muhammad.
Muhammad came to collect his prize, a Sony Cybershot 20.1-megapixel digital camera, along with his
brother-in-law. Muhammed
revealed, “When I got the
UAE in the fast lane
<< Continued from Page 1
Next up, will be the exciting Red Bull
Car Park Drift Championships, which returns to Dubai on November 28 at Meydan. The adrenaline-pumping high-octane
spectacle will see 16 contestants, from
across the region and beyond, compete to
be crowned the “King of Drift”.
Another feature under the umbrella of the
festival is the Supercar Taxi, in which residents and tourists get to experience a free
ride in a super luxury car, each of which is
valued at over Dhs 1 million. This chauffeur-driven service will provide them with a
free one-way ride within Dubai on November 28 and 29 and on December 5 and 6.
Other motoring events
International Automobile
Show
The International Automobile Show, a biyearly consumer exhibition, will be held at
the Expo Centre Sharjah from November
26 to 29. Automobile enthusiasts get to
check out latest car models, automotive
services and commercial vehicles and can
splurge on an array of automotive accessories.
Exclusive Super-Sport Cars
Exhibition
Stay connected.
(For details refer to our ad on the Page
Muhammad is the 10th
lucky winner of TGI’s
Read ‘n’ Win contest
You have just two days left to seize the
opportunity to take stock of 17 exclusive
super-sports cars, as the exhibition is on
only until tomorrow (November 24) at The
Galleria on Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi.
This is The Galleria’s inaugural Car Show,
in partnership with Al Ain Class Motors.
The 11-day Car Show is an extravaganza
of some of the world’s most renowned
luxury brands such as Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Koenigsegg.
Auto Art Exhibition
The Auto Art Exhibition, which is on until November 30 at the Sofitel Abu Dhabi
Corniche, is a premier exhibition by Ukrainian artist Yuri Shevchenko and is dedicated to the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Grand
Prix Abu Dhabi 2014. Well-known for his
contemporary pop art and naturmort oil
paintings on canvas, Shevchenko uses the
exhibition to look at how car owners transfer their fashion, culture and social necessities onto their cars. The exhibition also
explores the evolution of automobiles over
the past 100 years and how the automobile
has moved on from simply being a symbol
of possession to sometimes being an object
of contemporary art.
call to inform me about my
lucky win, I first thought it
was a prank being played
by one of my friends. Then
I recollected that I’d entered
the contest and was elated.
However, I only informed
my brother-in-law, Fahim,
about it. I now plan to tell
everyone about winning the
contest. But first, I plan to
pull my mom’s leg by telling her that I bought it.”
Muhammed further added, “Actually, I’m flying to
Korea for 15 days on official
visit. Mom keeps telling me
to save and not splurge unnecessarily. I want to see her
reaction when I tell her, I
bought it and only thereafter
will I tell her that I won it, in
reality! This is the best time
to have won this prize, as I
can now make the right use
of the camera in Korea.”
So, what are you waiting
for? Enter TGI’s Read ‘n’
Win contest and be the next
lucky winner.
Indian Embassy:
Clarification
on revision of
wages of Indian
workers
TGI Reporter
ABU DHABI
T
he Embassy of India,
Abu Dhabi, has announced that it has
come across news reports
regarding demands for raise
in minimum wages of Indians working in the Gulf
countries. The Embassy in
Abu Dhabi said that it had
last revised minimum wages
for various categories of Indian workers employed in
the United Arab Emirates
on March 15, 2011. Detailed
information related to minimum wages can be accessed
at www.uaeindians.org/newminimumwages.aspx. The
Embassy stressed that there
is no change to the information provided, on the abovementioned portal thus far.
These wages are applicable
for all Indian workers in all
the Emirates of the UAE.
UAE THIS WEEK
W E E K L Y
3
Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival 2014
showcases Emirati heritage and culture
The festival, which runs from
November 20 to December 12, makes
use of latest technologies to provide an
interactive experience for visitors
TGI Reporter
Abu Dhabi
S
heikh Zayed Heritage
Festival 2014, held
under the patronage
of His Highness Sheikh
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE,
and with the support of His
Highness General Sheikh
Mohammed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Crown Prince of
Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the
UAE Armed Forces, kicked
off in Al Wathba, Abu Dhabi, on November 20 and will
run until December 12. The
festival is also supported by
His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.
The Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival, named in honour of the UAE’s founding
father, celebrates the country’s cultural inheritance
and diverse traditions. The
2014 edition of the festival
showcases four environmental aspects that have
shaped UAE’s history—the
desert, oasis, sea and mountains. These environmental
aspects are represented in
the various living museums,
workshops,
exhibitions
and replicas of old villages
and settlements. The festival also features traditional
bands and Emirati folklore.
A traditional folklore performance that depicts Emirati culture
Check out the ‘Memories of a Nation’ exhibition,
which displays rare documents and historical photo-
Sharjah International Book
Fair draws to a close
TGI Reporter
SHARJAH
T
he 33rd edition of the
Sharjah International
Book Fair, which
drew more than 1,470,000
visitors from the UAE and
abroad and 450 media professionals, came to a close,
making it the most successful edition to date, according
to the organisers.
The book fair, held at the
Sharjah Expo Center from
November 5 to 15, witnessed the participation of
1,256 publishing houses
from 59 countries. On November 11, nearly 46,000
students, from 350 schools,
visited the fair.
“Not only has the fair been
successful in terms of visitors, but also in terms of sales,
with the total amount of sales
reaching US $48.5 million
from local and international
governmental organisations,”
the Sharjah International
Book Fair (SIBF) said.
Ahmed bin Rakkad Al
Ameri, Director of SIBF,
commented: “Under the
direction, patronage and
support of H.H. Sheikh Dr
graphs.
on the
Ahmad
also an
Or, the exhibition
Emirati navigator
bin Majid. There’s
exhibition that cel-
ebrates 17th century Emirati
poet Majidi bin Dhaher. All
the exhibitions make use of
the latest technologies to en-
gage visitors.
Another interesting feature is an exact replica of the
historic Al Badiyah mosque,
which dates back to more
than 500 years ago. There’s
also the International Village Market, which features
markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Yemen,
China, India, Pakistan and
European countries.
Moreover, the Higher
Organizing Committee of
Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival 2014 has announced
six diverse competitions
that have debuted at the
festival: ‘Our Emirati heritage’; ‘Sheikh Zayed our
idol’; ‘Best heritage image’;
‘Best heritage press coverage’; ‘Best supporting hotel
for Sheikh Zayed Heritage
Festival 2014’ and ‘Best
supporting tour operator for
Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival 2014’.
Looking for
a career
opening?
More than 1,470,000 visitors flocked to the Sharjah International
Book Fair 2014
Sultan bin Muhammad Al
Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of
Sharjah, this book fair has
been the most successful one
yet. This event will continue
to be a platform for the exchange of literary thoughts
and energy for people from
all over the world. Next year
will be even bigger; we are
already planning for it.”
Eminent
personalities
from the literary world increased the footfall to the
fair. Authors such as worldfamous Dan Brown, Chetan
Bhagat, Shiv Khera, awardwinning Malayalam author
K.R Meera and acclaimed
Bengali author Amithav
Ghosh engaged in informa-
tive, interactive and exhilarating sessions. Other speakers at SIBF 2014 included
Indian politician and author
Shashi Tharoor, British publisher, John Butto, Egyptian
movie and stage actor, Adel
Emam, academician and
quizmaster Terry O’Brein
and several others.
The UAE Board on
Books for Young People
(UAEBBY) had organised
a stand, where children enjoyed listening to stories
and tales, read by the authors themselves.
Several master chefs conducted cookery classes and
held fun activities at SIBF
2014.
Source: Wam
Advertise with us in our
Classifieds section, for Free.
Note: For details on how to apply, refer to our full page ad on page no. 23.
Tel: +971 4 354 6288, Fax: +971 4 354 6285, E-mail: [email protected]
4
UAE THIS WEEK
W E E K L Y
UAE improves position in IDF’s Diabetes
Atlas ranking, but must make more efforts
UAE ranked 16th in new figures from
the International Diabetes Federation,
but the number of people with diabetes
has actually grown over the past year
TGI Reporter
Abu Dhabi
T
he UAE has improved its global
ranking for diabetes
prevalence according to the
latest figures released by the
International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari, Executive Director,
Mubadala Healthcare and
Chairman, Imperial College
London Diabetes Centre
(ICLDC), Abu Dhabi, referring to IDF’s new Diabetes
Atlas, which was published
on November 14, to mark
World Diabetes Day, said:
“The UAE now sits at the
16th (position) in the global
rankings for countries with
the highest diabetes prevalence, having been placed
15th in the 2013 standings.”
Despite the ranking improvement, the IDF figures
suggest that the prevalence
of diabetes in the Emirates
is still a huge challenge.
In fact, it hasn’t improved
over the past year; it’s gotten worse. The 2014 figure
suggests that 19 per cent
of the UAE’s population—
that’s 803,900 people—now
lives with diabetes. That’s
an increase from last year’s
figure, which reported the
UAE had 745,940 diabetics.
Worldwide, the Diabetes Atlas 2014 suggests that 387
million people live with the
disease. That’s five million
more than 2013’s figure of
382 million.
Al Ansari warned that around
half of those living with diabetes are unaware that they
#WALK2014 attracts 21,000 UAE residents, who participated to raise awareness about diabetes
have it, as the symptoms can
be difficult to detect.
He stressed that diabetes remains a significant global
challenge, while, at the same
time, praising the large turnout at last weekend’s Walk
2014, an annual event organised by ICLDC’s DiabetesKnowledge-Action
campaign to help raise awareness
about a healthy lifestyle.
Since
2007,
ICLDC’s
award-winning campaign,
which is under the patronage
of Her Highness Sheikha
Fatima Bint Mubarak, has
treated more than 200,000
people in the UAE.
“Walk 2014 is about raising awareness about diabetes and the smart, simple
fact that just 30 minutes of
exercise each day can result in huge gains, as 58 per
cent of Type 2 diabetes can
be reversed or prevented if
healthy lifestyle steps are
adopted.
“With a turnout of more
Malaysia plans to participate in
India’s affordable housing project
TGI Reporter
NAY PYI TAW
M
alaysia is planning to participate
in the Indian government’s project to develop
affordable houses in the
country, according to Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“This is because Malaysia’s
developing companies have
a proven track record in this
area,” the PM told the Malaysian media, on the outcome of his meeting with
his Indian counterpart, Na-
Indian PM Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart, Datuk
Seri Najib Tun Razak
rendra Modi, in conjunction
with the 25th ASEAN Summit on November 12.
Razak said during the meeting that Modi invited Malaysian companies to come
to India, as he believed that
the companies were capable
of implementing affordable
housing projects, Malaysian
news agency, Bernama, has
reported.
“He (Modi) also expressed
hope that the medical degrees offered by the many
medical colleges in India
will be given due recognition by Malaysia, besides
recognising the traditional
treatment of Ayurveda,”
Razak said.
The two leaders have expressed confidence that the
target to have US $15 billion worth of trade between
their countries by next year
would be achieved, as, at
present, they have already
reached US $13.4 billion.
Source: Wam
Did You Know
Arab Woman Awards UAE 2014 to honour
region’s successful women
T
he Arab Woman
Awards UAE 2014
is being held on December 8 at St. Regis, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. The
award aims to raise public
awareness about significant
achievements by Arab women in the region and to provide young women with inspirational role models. With
nominations flooding in for
exceptional women across
the seven emirates, the 2014
Awards are expected to present the richest field yet, of
inspiring women in leading
positions. The awards will
be presented at a glittering
red carpet gala dinner. More
than 400 female VIP guests,
as well as members of the
royal family, will attend the
prestigious event.
than 21,000 and a great deal
of online interest, I feel very
encouraged that the UAE
is indeed embracing the
healthy lifestyle message
and moving in the right direction. Indeed, I feel we are
at a ‘tipping point’ as more
and more people join the
healthy lifestyle conversation,” Al Ansari added.
A new data collection programme, geared towards
identifying the average
Body Mass Index (BMI)
of the nation, was taken
by more than 4,000 of the
21,000 participants at the recent Walk 2014 event at Yas
Marina Circuit (YMC).
The ‘Big Data’ project, a
joint initiative between the
ICLDC, Daman and YMC,
is an online BMI calculator
filled in by Walk 2014 participants, along with details
of activity levels, providing what is believed to be
the first such baseline in the
UAE.
The initial findings suggest
a tendency towards an overweight nation, with an average BMI reading of 25.5.
Any reading over 25 is considered overweight.
Let’s hope that campaigns
like ICLDC’s DiabetesKnowledge-Action
drive
make a difference to the
UAE’s diabetes problem.
And, quickly. Because the
IDF is warning that the region’s diabetes numbers will
rise to 68 million by 2035,
unless action is taken.
1,500 residents benefit
from health screenings
at Ibn Battuta Mall
TGI Reporter
DUBAI
M
ore than 1,500 UAE residents benefitted
from the complimentary health check-ups
and healthcare advice offered by Lifeline
Healthcare, as part of its three-day ‘Family Health
Awareness Drive’, at the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai.
Hosted from November 6 to 8, the drive offered free
blood glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, Body
Mass Index (BMI) and tympanometry tests. Consultations for dental care, paediatric care, gynaecology
and audiometry were also available.
For those with aberrant levels, medical experts were
available on-site to offer advice, as needed. In an
effort to engage the wider community, onsite raffle
draws were conducted, which gave away prizes, including vouchers for dental scaling and polishing,
teeth whitening, mammograms and flu vaccines.
W E E K L Y
5
6
SOCIAL ROUND-UP
W E E K L Y
Off the
record
UAE calendar
The Property Show
A multi-brand real estate exhibition comes to Dubai International
Financial Centre for the first time
from November 23 to 27. The
Property Show aims to address
all the queries of investors and
consumers as well as corporate
entities.
Entry: Free
Call: 04-3465504
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of
Culture, Youth and Community Development, and
Dr Shashi Tharoor
Legal experts and
professionals headed to Ritz
Carlton last week to attend the
official launch of an Indian
law firm, Kochhar & Co Inc.
A few prominent faces added
glitz to the evening.
Dr Shashi Tharoor and Rohit Kochhar
Happy Birthday Sunita
Shabana Azmi works her acting
magic once again on stage, here
in Dubai, at DUCTAC, Mall of
the Emirates on November 27, 28
and 29. The play, Happy Birthday
Sunita, revolves around Sunita’s
40th birthday and how, what starts
off as a fun celebration, turns sour.
Entry: Dh 200, Dh 250, Dh 300,
Dh 350
Call: 04-3414777
Mother, Baby & Child
Show 2014
The Mother, Baby and Child
(MBC) Show, at Dubai World
Trade Centre (DWTC), from November 27 to 29, will be packed
with the biggest brands, all under
one roof. Many, will be offering
great discounts and free samples,
all aimed at mothers and their little
ones.
Entry: Adults - Dh 25, Children,
Dh 15
Call: 04-3791981
Paras Shahdadpuri and Manek Palekar
Crisp fashion for
cool weather
Lamhe - A Melodious
Retrospective of the
Golden Era of the 50s,
60s, 70s
Coming to Dubai once again is
Lamhe, at Crowne Plaza Dubai,
on November 27. Musical talents
will take you down memory lane
with songs from the classic era of
playback singers such as Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and
Asha Bhonsle.
Entry: Dh 100, Dh 150, Dh 250,
Dh 350
Call: 04-3373724
Varoin Marwah
Zina Abboud and Bassam Daou
With warm colours,
thick fabrics and
wonderful stitching, ETRO’s Autum/
Winter 2014 collection oozes style.
The preview, held
at Dubai Mall’s VIP
Fashion Lounge,
saw fashionistas
checking out the
new collection, as
they nibbled on
sweets and pastries.
Here’s a look:
Anneka and Bindu
Rasha, Laura, Rihab and Mirei
Shreya Ghoshal Live in
Concert 2014
Shreya Ghoshal comes to wow
Dubai audiences once again at
DWTC on November 28.
Entry: Dh 125, Dh 250, Dh 500,
Dh 750, Dh 1,250
Log on to: www.platinumlist.net
Muroj Saadi
Lucas, Luca and David
Kenan and Weam Alhila
Vikram Arora & Zohaib Haider
UAE BUSINESS
7
W E E K L Y
Rajan Mathrani: A man who
established a global home
appliances and electronics brand
Rajan Mathrani’s belief in hard work, long hours and a long-term vision has led his company, Elekta, to great heights
Saifur Rahman
FOR TGI
Rajan
Harbhagwandas
Mathrani, Managing Director of Elekta Group, was
born on May 25, 1948, in
New Delhi to Harbhagwandas Pribhdas and Kamla
Mathrani.
His father was an accomplished engineer and
received the commendation
of an Officer of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent
Order of the British Empire,
also known as the Order of
the British Empire (OBE),
in recognition for designing
and executing a number or
barrages, such as the Sukkur Barrage and Guddu Barrage, across the Indus river
basin and adjacent areas, to
protect them from flooding.
Rajan Mathrani was expected to follow in his father’s illustrious footsteps in
the field of engineering. To
this end, after completing his
schooling, Mathrani went to
Sheffield University, UK, to
study Mechanical Engineering. He realised, early on,
that engineering was not his
cup of tea, but, continued his
studies according to his parents’ wishes.
Degree in hand, he made
a break from engineering,
and embarked upon a career
in the consumer durables
industry in Japan in 1968,
thanks to a cousin. “One of
my cousins used to run an
export-import and trading
business in Japan,” Mathrani says. “I found solace in
trading and worked for my
cousin’s company for nearly
20 years.”
While in Japan, he says
he increasingly began to
think in Japanese and got
accustomed to Japanese culture. So, it’s no surprise that
the young Rajan Mathrani,
who was immersed in the
Japanese way of life, fell in
love with a Japanese beauty:
Yuriko. The two were married in 1972.
While working in Japan, the couple noticed the
Dh1
billion - annual
turnover of Elekta
500
types of products
manufactured by
Elekta
70
countries import
Elekta appliances
Rajan Mathrani, Managing Director of Elekta Gulf, with his wife Yuriko Mathrani at their office
Dr R.L. Bhatia, promoter of the United Nations-backed Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) movement and Founder of World CSR Day, presents
the Asian Leadership Award to Rajan Mathrani
price gap in the consumer
electronics market. This
led Mathrani to invest part
of his savings into launching his business under the
banner of Elekta, in 1988.
“Initially, we sold branded
electronic items, such as
Sony and Toshiba,” he says.
“But, as major electronics
giants started taking on a
direct role in retail, margins
begun to squeeze. It was becoming difficult to survive.
While demand was growing
in East Europe, we could not
supply them according to the
prices they wanted. But, my
experience at my cousin’s
company had allowed me to
make some good contacts in
key markets and we began
to export to them as well.
This is when I realised that
there was a widening gap in
the prices of electronics that
we could take advantage of.
“Accordingly, we explored the idea of manufacturing brand new electronics
products at a plant in Korea,
developed prototype designs
and agreed on a price. We
found that we could supply
the same quality products
at a 40 per cent lower price.
And, many people were
ready to buy our goods. We
placed our first order, under
our new Elekta logo, which
was soon sold out. After
this, we sold out our second
consignment as well. This is
how the brand took off as a
small player in the consumer electronics business.”
Elekta cemented its footing and went on to become
a major player in the consumer electronics field. Its
original team consisted of
just five employees; today,
the group’s worldwide team
consists of 550 people. In
less than a quarter of a century, Elekta has become a
household name in many
countries in the Middle East,
Africa, Central Asia and
South Asia.
Today, Elekta is a Dhs 1
billion global conglomerate
that produces 500 types of
electronics and household
appliances. These appliances
are designed, manufactured
and sourced from a handful of countries and then
re-exported to 70 countries,
550
people are working
for the organisation
globally
through a multifaceted global operation that is carried
out from Elekta’s corporate
headquarters in Dubai.
The company moved its
headquarters to Dubai in
1994, to reposition itself
closer to emerging markets
in Eastern Europe, Central
Asia and Russia. There’s
been no looking back since,
for Mathrani and Elekta.
Around 60 per cent of the
company’s revenue, today,
comes from its household
appliances segment, while
the remaining 40 per cent
comes from its electronics
segment.
Mathrani hasn’t ruled out
the possibility of spinning
off majority shares of the
company to public or private participation. He says
if he decides to do this, it
will either be through an
initial public offering (IPO)
or through a private placement to fund the company’s
future growth. But, for now,
he’s proud that Elekta remains in the family’s hands.
As for Elekta’s plans for
India, Mathrani says, “We
are currently entering the
Indian market, both for the
sale and marketing of our
products, as well as to establish retail and after-sale
service centres across the
country. We might consider
setting up manufacturing
plants within the country to
serve the Indian market, if
demand picks up.”
The company’s geographical spread means it has a
marketing office in every
Gulf country. It services
the Asian market through a
sales office in the Thai capital and the Indian subcontinent, through a sales office
in Mumbai. And, the Japan
office still exists. It now
serves as the company’s Research and Design centre,
with implementation of various innovations carried out
in Guangzhou and Ningbo
in China.
As part of its latest development efforts, under Mathrani’s guidelines, Elekta is
currently focusing on tablet
PC products. It has launched
four tablet models, with a
price range of Dhs 299 to
Dhs 750.
So, what does it take to
run a Dhs 1 billion conglomerate? Well, hard work
and putting in the hours certainly seem to top the list of
requirements for Mathrani.
He works almost 11 hours
a day, every day, from 9:30
AM until about 8:30 PM. In
his own words: “There is no
short cut to success.”
Another reason for Elekta’s success, he believes,
is a “far-sighted approach.”
He explains, “We are in this
for the long haul. We are not
interested in a short-term
game to earn some quick
bucks. We are here to improve the lifestyle of our
customers by constantly trying out new products that
help us to positively affect
their lives.”
8
BANKING & INVESTMENT
W E E K L Y
The path to prosperity
We explore the path to your first crore,
subsequent few crores, how to stay
wealthy and monitor your progress
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
F
orbes survey pointed
out that most of the
billionaires were either born or married into
wealth or were sophisticated
investors or ran businesses
or were top in their chosen
profession. We presume that
will leave most of the readers out who possibly came
to the Middle East in search
of better prospects. But then,
don’t worry too much; you
have a reasonable chance to
become a millionaire.
tending that concept a bit
further, the table below indicates how long would it take
to become a crorepati under
various return rates and savings assumptions. That said,
do remember that the first
crore is always the most difficult to build.
Presuming your goal is to
become a crorepati within
20 years, then you would
need to save Rs 20,000 per
month or Rs 666 per day.
See box for some quick tips.
Saving Rs 666
per day
Getting to the first
crore
Just how soon depends upon
one of the two approaches
you decide to take:
1)By focusing on a combination of savings and rate
of return that you earn,
one can typically become
a crorepati in a timeframe
of 10 to 30 years.
2)By focusing on increasing your revenues, one
could potentially become
a crorepati within a relatively shorter time frame.
Though be mindful of the
income volatility and potential heartburn it could
cause, given its dependence on a myriad number of factors including
education, background,
personality,
economy,
luck, etc.
Starting with option 1,
savings, a simple calculation suggests that even a
paltry Rs 5,000 in monthly
savings invested at the end
of the year at 10% can turn
into Rs1cr within 31yrs. Ex-
• Cut eat-outs by half.
• Buy from super markets, buy in larger quantities and look for deals.
• Switch off car engine
while waiting.
• Cut down on your vices
• Save on your salary
hikes.
• Plan holidays in advance and hunt for the
best deals.
• Choose
electronics
with care
• Cut-down on unnecessary add-ons – extra
channels, unused club
memberships, etc.
Moving on to the revenue
side of it; investing in education, career and building
experience can result in a
higher earning capacity and
thereby help achieve your
goal quicker. Separately, remember running a successful business is probably the
best shot you may have to
become a crorepati in a really short time. All of them
obviously require hard work.
How long would it take to
become a crorepati?
10% return rate and
monthly savings of
5,000
10,000
20,000
50,000
Rs20,000 monthly savings
and a return rate of
10%
12%
15%
18%
Five pillars of a
crorepati’s
journey
• Be patient: Results
cannot be achieved
overnight.
• Focus on systematic
planning and discipline, avoid stupid
mistakes.
• Avoid permanent loss
of capital.
• Try to increase your
revenue
• Finally-enjoy life
Getting richer
Presuming you have been
saving Rs 50,000 a month
and it grows at 10% p.a.
and earns you a modest return of 10% over a period
of time, this is how your
savings graph will look
like. The first Rs. 1 crore
took roughly about 10 years
to build up. But the next Rs
9 crores took only an additional 12 years to build.
Further by year 12, your
money would start to pay
off with interest income
contributing to almost 40%
of your total wealth (power
of compounding!!!) and
by the time you hit Rs. 10
crores, the interest income
would have accounted for
almost 60% of it.
Naturally, the time to hit
the Rs 10 crore mark reduces with higher rate of returns
and higher savings so start
early, aim to generate high
returns and keep on adding
to your savings.
Lessons from
“The Richest
Man in Babylon”
• Control thy expenditures
• Make thy gold multiply
• Guard thy treasures
from loss
• Make of thy dwelling a
profitable investment
• Insure a future income
and provide for your
retirement.
• Increase thy ability to
earn.
Staying rich
Now that you are rich and
decide to take a partial retirement, how do you stay
rich? In one simple sentence, “sticking to your
habits”. Lets see what are
they
• You review everything
- You budget, you know
your expenses and avoid
needless expenses.
• You find deals and bargain
hard - You value every
single penny that’s saved.
• You know your goals and
do whatever it takes to
achieve them
Rs.
Number of Years
31
24
18
11
Number of years
18
16
15
13
Number of years
• You have goals for your
partial retirement
• You delegate
• You play to win
• You diversify
• You are frugal at the right
time
• You plan for a rainy day
• You know more than
your advisors
• You spend time understanding things that matter whether its sales or PR
or finance.
• You execute
• You are an active learner
• You plan effectively for
taxes
Monitoring
progress
Finally, how do you know
you are on the right path?
We have provided a quick
cheat sheet that will indicate your financial health
and measure your progress.
Regular monitoring of these
will help you take corrective
steps before it is too late.
As discussed earlier, the
first crore are the hardest to
get; once there, your professional progress and compounding will work wonders
and soon you will be closer
Cheat sheet to measure your
financial health
Which ratio?
Objective
Net worth to
How far are you from your wealth
goal
goal? It is measured as total wealth net of all debts
Liquidity ratio How many months can you survive
after a permanent loss in income and
without withdrawing from long term
investments? It is calculated using
liquid assets divided by monthly
expenses.
Liquidity to
How many months of liquidity one has
debt ratio
to pay off monthly debt payments?
Survival ratio
How long can you survive without any
income, excluding investment income?
How long do you have to succeed in
your new career especially as an
entrepreneur? It is calculated by
dividing all your assets less debts by
monthly expenses.
Ultimate
How long can a family survive in
survival ratio
case of untimely death of the key
bread earner?
Savings to
Are you financially healthy today?
income ratio
It is calculated as your net worth by
annual income and indicates health
of your finances.
Savings rate
Is your progress satisfactory
ratio towards a wealth creation goal?
Debt to
Are you overleveraged? It is calculated
income ratio
as total debt (mortgages, personal loans,
credit card debts, auto loans, etc) to
total annual income.
to your wealth goals. After that all you have to do is
stay rich by simply following
your age old habits – after all
what worked for you the in
past will work in the future as
well. And during this journey
don’t forget to take support of
personal finance ratios to ensure that you are on the right
path of financial well being
and are up and running towards wealth creation. All in
all, the path to riches is not all
that complicated, with a little
planning and hard work one
can aspire to be a millionaire.
BANKING & INVESTMENT
Key to investment success:
Avoiding companies that
are deteriorating slowly
A guide to where you should not park
your money
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
K
omodo dragons are
large lizards that are
endemic to a couple
of islands near Flores in Indonesia. These lizards have a
venomous bite that results in
rapid swelling, localized disruption of blood clotting, and
pain shooting up to the elbow. Eventually, the dragon
moves on the weakened prey
and devours it.
So, what does all this have
to do with investing? In investing, sometimes, management acts like a Komodo, biting it and then slowly
seeing its business underperform. Over the years, we
have identified numerous
ways companies die. Over
a long term, stocks follow
the fate of the companies
and destroy value as well. In
the short run, stocks could
jump, based on false hope
that the Komodo bite will
not work, but then, in the
long run, these companies
will be significantly weakened, thereby, destroying
large shareholders wealth.
Do not generate cash –
Companies that are poorly
managed, typically, struggle
to generate operating cashflow over extended periods
of time. This could be the
result of poor product profile, highly competitive environment or simply a poor
marketing effort. Whatever
the reason, the management
is simply not able to do anything to make this business
generate cash.
Over leveraged – These
companies often borrow
more than they can afford
to pay back. Further, lack of
positive cash-flow impairs
their ability to pay back
money and results in deteriorating performance.
High operating risk and
high leverage Companies
displaying this combination
are the worst of its kind.
They operate in a trying
business environment and
load large amounts of debt
during normal times. When
the downturn comes they
get hit by this double whammy, never to recover again.
Expensive acquisitions –
Some companies mask their
inability to focus on acquiring companies. They throw
caution to the wind while
doing so and pay high valuation for these acquisitions.
Unfortunately its only much
later that these companies
realize that expensive acquisitions do not help.
Unrelated business diversification – A few promoters try to amass wealth
by pursuing unrelated businesses. While there is nothing wrong with the idea
per se, these promoters use
cash-flow from the existing company to fulfill their
ambitions. Unfortunately in
most cases it’s the minority
shareholder that suffers.
Accounting issues –
Exchange rate
Brought to you by:
W E E K L Y
WEEKLY INR EXCHANGE RATE
(PER AED / BANK DRAFT RATE)
59.80
59.70
59.60
59.50
59.40
59.30
59.20
14-Nov
15-Nov
16-Nov
17-Nov
18-Nov
19-Nov
20-Nov
Gold Watch
Brought to you by:
Accounting issues
Do not generate cash
Over leveraged
Expensive acquisitions
Unrelated business diversification
Change of accountants,
auditor’s
qualifications,
frequent changes in policies, you name it and that
happens. Such companies
are ticking bombs that will
implode.
As you would have realized by now that spotting
some or all of the above really does not need a lot of
financial knowledge, but
merely awareness of what
the company is up to. In
addition, it’s always better
to not get swayed by the
PR planted stories in the
press or glossy broker reports when such companies
are spotted. Hence, the best
strategy when you are stuck
with such types of companies is to exit at the first instance even if it’s hard to say
whether your management
is Komodo in disguise.
What difference does
0.25 per cent make?
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
W
9
W E E K L Y
e have often come across
friends and bankers who have
tried to brush off a 0.25 per cent
difference in rate for the convenience of
banking with one bank and for maintaining relationships. Should it be brushed off
that easily?
To answer it, let’s consider a hypothetical example. Say you have Rs ten lakhs to
invest in fixed deposits. Here you have two
options 9.0 per cent with Bank 1, where
you have historically maintained a relationship, and 9.25 per cent with Bank 2,
with a bank where you have no relationship. Which would you choose? Most
of us would choose Bank 1 as we do not
want to go through the hassles of managing one more bank account. But what if I
added that by choosing Bank 2, you can
be wealthier by over Rs. five lakhs in 25
years. Would your decision change?
Before we answer it, here’s some elementary maths.
As you can see from the table on your
right, by the end of the first year you make
Rs 2,500 more, by end of the fifth year
Rs. 17,700 more, by the end of the tenth
year Rs. 54,800 more and by the end of
the twenty-fifth you would be wealthier
by Rs 5.08 lakhs. Some of you would say
that Rs. five lakhs in twenty five years are
not the same as Rs. five lakhs today. Yes,
you are absolutely right. In fact, if we presume a 10 per cent inflation rate per annum, then this amount is equivalent to Rs.
47,000 in today’s terms. At a 5% inflation
rate, this amount would be Rs. 170,000+.
Now with this data in hand, don’t you
think that making this extra effort is
worthwhile? We recommend that you
start with your existing bank first. Ask for
higher rates than the stated rack rates. If
the bank values your relationship, they
will budge a little. If not, you know that
the banking relationship is fickle and it’s
time to move on anyways. In fact you can
search online for which bank offers the
highest rates. You can simplify that process further by looking at sites like ratekhoj.com, bankbazaar.com, etc to find out
the best FD rates. It also helps when such
conversations are initiated closer to the
end of the quarter when the pressures to
meet sales targets are at the highest. After
all, 0.25 per cent extra does make a large
difference, doesn’t it?
150.00
W E E K L Y
WEEKLY GOLD PRICES
(PER GRAM / IN AED) 145.00
140.00
135.00
24k 22k 130.00
125.00
14-Nov
15-Nov
16-Nov
17-Nov
18-Nov
19-Nov
20-Nov
WEEKLY GOLD PRICES
(PER GRAM / IN INR) 2,750.00
2,700.00
2,650.00
2,600.00
2,550.00
2,500.00
2,450.00
2,400.00
2,350.00
2,300.00
24k
22k
14-Nov
15-Nov
16-Nov
17-Nov
18-Nov
19-Nov
20-Nov
End of term principal presuming (Rs.) Difference
Year
rate of 9 per cent rate of 9.25 per cent (Rs.)
1
1,090,000
21,188,100
31,295,029
41,411,582
5
1,538,624
61,677,100
71,828,039
81,992,563
92,171,893
10
2,367,364
112,580,426
122,812,665
133,065,805
143,341,727
153,642,482
163,970,306
174,327,633
184,717,120
195,141,661
205,604,411
216,108,808
226,658,600
237,257,874
247,911,083
25
8,623,081
1,092,500
1,193,556
1,303,960
1,424,577
1,556,350
1,700,312
1,857,591
2,029,418
2,217,139
2,422,225
2,646,281
2,891,062
3,158,485
3,450,645
3,769,829
4,118,539
4,499,503
4,915,707
5,370,410
5,867,173
6,409,887
7,002,801
7,650,560
8,358,237
9,131,374
2,500
5,456
8,931
12,995
17,726
23,212
29,552
36,856
45,246
54,861
65,854
78,397
92,680
108,918
127,347
148,233
171,870
198,587
228,749
262,762
301,079
344,201
392,686
447,154
508,294
Notes: Excludes tax impact and other potential transaction costs. Presumes immediate re-investment without any lag. Annual compounding only
- had it been compounded quarterly, which is the case with all FDs, difference would be higher by ~ Rs. 75,000 in year 25.
10
REAL ESTATE SCENE
W E E K L Y
North Mumbai: A hub for
buyers and investors
North Mumbai impresses realty
investors with its vast array of
commercial and residential properties
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
F
rom the plush neighbourhood of Bandra
Kurla Complex to
the bustling areas of Andheri (East), North Mumbai
is an exciting belt in terms
of real estate. Though the
demand-supply ratio is
somewhat skewed at present, experts feel that realty
prices will soar once the
infrastructure projects get
underway. Here’s a look at
some of the realty hubs of
North Mumbai.
Bandra Kurla
Complex
The new corporate hub of
Mumbai, Bandra Kurla
Complex is viewed as one
of the hottest real estate destinations across the country.
It has some great projects
both in residential and commercial realty. It is well connected to both the western
and eastern suburbs via the
Santacruz Chembur Link
Road, Western Express
Highway and Sion route.
The American Consulate,
Bharat Diamond Bourse,
National Stock Exchange,
Dhirubhai Ambani International School and NABARD
Building are some of the
main buildings here. Many
national and international
banks have their presence
here like the ICICI Bank,
Citibank and Dena Bank.
The Asian Heart Institute,
one of the leading hospitals
for cardio care is situated
here. The rates here range
from Rs 35,000 per sq ft for
a residential project and Rs
30,000 onwards for commercial properties. There
has been a decent appreciation in per capital values of
properties in BKC over the
last few years. Some of the
builders operating here are
Omkar Realtors and Developers, Dheeraj Realty, Sunteck Realty, Rustomjee and
Godrej Properties. Keeping
in mind the profile of buyers,
the projects here have stateof-the-art amenities with
exclusive services. A buyer
can buy a compact 2BHK
or opt for a penthouse overlooking the swanky skyline.
Bandra Kurla Complex has
five-star hotels like Trident
and Sofitel along with topnotch restaurants and takeaways. One of the attractions is the Mumbai Cricket
Association Club and Stadium, arguably the best sports
club in the city.
Malad
One of the biggest success
stories in the western suburbs, Malad is a buzzing
suburb with a plethora of
real estate options. Nowadays, people working in the
main city don’t mind living
in Malad as the connectivity
to the suburb has increased
manifold. The Western Ex-
A look at the booming real estate sector in the suburb of Andheri East
press Highway, Metro Rail,
Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link
Road have all made Malad
a strategic location for businessmen as well as homebuyers. With a number of
people from the film and TV
industry residing in Malad,
there is no dearth of starry
quotient as well. Inorbit
Mall and Infiniti II, two of
Mumbai’s biggest malls are
situated here. Malad has always been a self-sufficient
locality. Home seekers can
explore colonies like Evershine Nagar, Jankalyan
Nagar and Adarsh Nagar. A
number of buildings have
also come up on SV Road.
Due to a space crunch, many
new projects are stand alone
buildings with hi-tech features but sans amenities like
swimming pool, clubhouse,
jogging track and so on. The
Mindspace layout near Inorbit Mall is a hub of commercial offices. Real estate rates
in Malad (West) are around
Rs 16,000 per sq ft while
that in Malad (East) are upwards of Rs 13,500 per sq
ft. Commercial property in
Malad (East) is priced in the
range of Rs 20,000-30,000
per sq ft. Property prices will
soar higher once the Line 1
and Line 2 of Mumbai Metro gets active. There is also
a proposal to improve the
Malad-Manori-INS Hamla
Road. Kanakia Group, Sheth
Some of the projects in North Mumbai
Project
White City
Vihang
Mayfair Akshay
The Corner
(source: www.housing.com)
Location
Kandivali Goregaon Andheri (W) Borivili (W)
Price
Rs 96 lakhs onwards
Rs 1.48 crores
On request
Rs 2.28 crore onwards
Creators, Legend Siroya,
Rizvi Builders, NRDL-Nirman, DGS Group and A & O
Realty are some of the builders with projects here.
Andheri (East)
Though it is a little congested, the neighbourhood
of Andheri (East) is sought
after by home buyers and
investors alike. The realty
rates here have appreciated with the VAG corridor
of the Mumbai Metro Rail
project getting underway.
Andheri (East) enjoys good
connectivity to BKC and
Powai, two of Mumbai’s
top localities. A number of
people working in the western suburbs prefer to live in
Andheri (East). This makes
it easy for investors to find
tenants. It is close to the
international airport at Sahar and Western Express
Highway as well. There are
a number of five star hotels
here like The Lalit, Courtyard Marriott and Hyatt
Regency. Seven Hills Hospital at Marol is one of the
top multi-specialty hospitals
in the city. Saki Naka and
MIDC-SEEPZ are two industrial and corporate zones
in the suburb. Marol has a
number of offices belonging
to firms operating in the entertainment industry. Andheri (East) is one of the affordable luxury destinations
in Mumbai where people
can buy a swanky apartment
within a budget of Rs 80
lakhs or so for a 1BHK. The
Andheri-Kurla Road has a
number of realty projects in
this category. The rates here
are upwards of Rs 13,000
per sq ft. People can also
invest in commercial spaces
like showrooms, shops and
warehouses. However, there
is a severe traffic issue and
travelling in the evening can
be quite nightmarish. Kanakia Spaces has come up with
a distinct project in Marol
called Rainforest. The flats
start from a crore onwards.
Rainforest is a swanky project overlooking the Tulsi Vihar Lake and forest.
Mira Road
Once a sleepy suburb, Mira
Road is now the prized destination of the upper middle
class that want a 2BHK in
a budget of Rs 50 lakhs to
one crore. The connectivity
to Mira Road has improved
greatly with special trains
running from Borivali to
Virar. It takes 20 minutes
to travel by road from Mira
Road to Borivali. The MiraBhayendar Municipal Corporation has been working
hard to give a facelift to the
suburb. It has good schools,
hospitals, restaurants and
multiplexes. Understanding
the profile of the customers, developers here build
no-frill homes that need less
maintenance. However, the
new buildings are quite posh
with modern amenities. RNA
(NG), Rashmi Housing and
Ravi Group are some of the
big builders operating here.
REAL ESTATE SCENE
11
W E E K L Y
Central Mumbai’s realty boom
With the infrastructure boom and a slew
of new real estate projects, Mumbai’s
central suburbs are on a property high
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
T
he realty boom in
the central suburbs
has come slightly
later than the western suburbs. However, the demand
for the central suburbs has
picked up significantly due
to a couple of reasons – infrastructure growth and
properties which offer better
value for money. The zone
gets its name from the Central Railway Line that starts
from Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus (CST) and ends at
Kalyan. Technically, these
are the Eastern Suburbs of
Mumbai. Some of the city’s
biggest and luxurious projects are coming up in this
belt. Here is a look at some
of the hottest realty destinations in the central suburbs.
Chembur
While Chembur is served by
the Harbour Line railway, it
is largely considered as a central suburb due to its proximity to Kurla and Ghatkopar.
Traditionally, the area was a
purely residential one. It had
individual bungalows, row
houses and apartments with
few a storeys. It used to be
one of the greenest localities
in Mumbai. The realty boom
has taken place in Chembur
in the last couple of years
with a 2BHK now costing
no less than two crores. The
Wadala-Chembur monorail,
Santacruz-Chembur
Link
Road and construction of the
Eastern Freeway are three
projects that have placed
Chembur right on the realty
map. Prices now have gone
up by three to five times in
the suburb. There are a number of good schools, colleges
and hospitals in the suburb.
The RCF sports ground and
Chembur Fine Arts Society
are two landmarks. It has
only one mall-K Star on the
Sion-Panvel Road but shops
are aplenty. Some of the leading builders coming up with
luxury projects in Chembur
are Ekta World, RNA Corp,
Omkar Realtors and Developers, Sheth Enterprises,
Heritage Group, Vardhaman
Group and so on. There are
a number of redevelopment
projects in Chembur as well
in places like Maitri Park,
Sindhi Colony and Sahakar
Nagar. Rates in the suburb
range from Rs 17,000 to
18,000 per sq ft.
latest additions to the glitzy
line up is A&O Realty’s F
Residences. A tower with
42 storeys, it has premium
2-3-4BHK flats with top line
amenities. The price for a
2BHK typically starts from
Rs 1.5 crores onwards.
Disadvantages
Disadvantages
The roads in Chembur, especially the internal ones are
not in good condition. Lifestyle options for the elite is
limited. However, the biggest issue is water scarcity.
Chembur is one locality
that faces water woes every
summer.
Mulund
Much before Chembur entered into the suburban
home-buyers wish-list, Mulund reigned as the prime
realty destination in this belt.
Blessed with good connectivity from all parts of Mumbai city, it is an area for the
affluent class. It is an educational hub with good schools
and colleges. The Nirmal
Lifestyle mall is one of the
biggest malls in the city. It
houses leading Indian and
foreign brands along with
multi-cuisine restaurants. On
the real estate side, a number
of luxury projects are coming up in the Mulund-Nahur
stretch. Tata Gateway Tower, Wadhwa Atmosphere,
Runwal Green and Ariisto
Bellanza are a few notable
names. Leading builders like
Rajesh Lifespaces, Nirmal
Lifestyle, Oberoi Realty,
Kamla Landmarc Group,
Marathon Group and Gundecha Builders have projects
in Mulund (West). One of the
An aerial view of Thane City. It is one of the most vibrant suburbs in Central Mumbai and has a good demand-supply ratio for properties
While proximity to the LBS
Road is a benefit, one has to
deal with noise and congestion on a daily basis. The
number of real estate projects has ruined the quiet feel
of the suburb. One of the
issues in the current market is timely completion of
projects. So, check if you
will get the project on time
or not.
Thane
One of the most vibrant realty markets in Mumbai,
Thane has a good demandsupply ratio, which has kept
the market stable so far.
There were reports earlier
this year of how rates had
increased by 30 per cent
in the suburb. The real estate growth here is centered
around Ghodbunder Road,
Thane (West). Those looking for more affordable options can select properties
in Navi Thane that is at a
distance from Kapurbawdi
Junction. The infrastructure
development in Thane has
been pretty good. Firstly,
it was the skywalk near the
station area that decongested
the zone. The construction
of the flyover at Kapurbawdi
was the second development
that made a lot of difference
for the residents. Now it’s
a lot easier for residents to
travel to Ghodbunder Road.
Thane is a self-sufficient
suburb with good civic and
lifestyle amenities. Viviana
Mall is one of the biggest in
the country spread over one
million square feet. It houses
the best of Indian and foreign brands. Majiwada Junction, Hiranandani Estate,
Pokhran Road I and II and
Balkum are some of the best
areas to buy residential properties. Rustomjee has a project in Majiwada, Urbania,
which is one of the largest in
the precinct. Other builders
operating in Thane are Sheth
Realty, Lodha, Runwal
Homes, Dosti Group, Puraniks, DSS Group and JVM
Spaces. The prices of properties start from Rs 85 lakhs
to Rs one crore for a 2BHK.
Most of the projects come
with amenities like clubhouse, podium parking, and
energy back up. A number
of local builders also operate
in the market. Buyers should
do a check on the approvals as delay in possession
is pretty common. Thane is
also a good market to invest
in commercial property, especially close to the station
and Teen Hath Naka.
Kurla
The Metro Rail from Versova to Ghatkopar and Santacruz Chembur Link Road
has increased Kurla’s value
on the realty map. A lot of redevelopment is taking place
in Kurla, which will give the
suburb a facelift in a few
years. Phoenix Market City
is a big mall in the suburb.
Some of the realty stretches
are Andheri-Kurla Road,
Bandra-Kurla
Complex
(BKC) and Kurla (West).
Buying a home in Kurla is
ideal for those working in
BKC. The big real estate
firms operating in Kurla are
Dudhwala Group, Rustomjee and HDIL. The rates in
Kurla (West) are upwards of
Rs 14,500 per sq ft while the
ones in Kurla (East) are Rs
11,000 to 13,500 per sq ft.
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Some of the projects in Central Mumbai
Project
Location
Price
HDIL Premier Residences
Ariisto Bellanza
Nirmal Sports City RNA Continental Kurla (West) Mulund (West) Thane (W) Chembur Approx. Rs 11,500 per sq ft
Rs 1.38 crores onwards for 1BHK
Rs 1.39 crore onwards
Rs 2.4 crores
Source: www.magicbricks.com
For enquiries contact: [email protected] or +971 4 228 7654
12
W E E K L Y
HIGHER EDUCATION
Architectural studies in India
Students can take their pick from many educational institutes of repute for Architectural Studies across India
TGI Correspondent
PUNE
A
rchitecture involves
the planning, designing and constructing of buildings, such
as houses, office buildings,
places of worship, and various other physical structures.
From the Great Pyramids of
Giza to the skyscrapers of
Manhattan, architecture provides windows into the history of various civilizations. It
may even have a bigger impact on us than we think. A
recent study, led by Dr Julio
Bermudez (a professor at the
Catholic University of Amer-
ica’s School of Architecture
and Planning), which used
fMRI to study the effects of
architecture on the brain, has
found that architecture may
affect mental states. Perhaps
that explains why the Eiffel
Tower rings a romantic note
in so many hearts!
As urbanization levels in-
crease across both residential and commercial sectors,
today, the demand for architects is greater than ever. For
those of you considering pursuing a career in this profession, this week, TGI looks at
some institutes in India that
are known for their architectural programmes.
College of Architecture, Pune
A part of the Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University
(BVDU), the College of Architecture, Pune, was founded
in 1994. The university is a member of the International
Association of Universities and has a diverse student base,
with enrolled students coming from 47 different countries.
The College of Architecture, which is equipped with
state-of-the-art infrastructure, offers B. Arch (with an annual intake of 80 students) and M. Arch (Sustainable)
courses. Students interested in applying to these courses
must submit copies of their passport, NRI card and NRI
certificate from the Indian Mission at the time of admission.
NRI Quota - Interested students must get in touch directly
with the institute to obtain exact information on latest NRI
quotas
Course Fee – US $5,200 per annum for the B.Arch course.
If it’s a sponsored NRI seat, the fee is US $6,000 per annum.
School of Planning and
Architecture, New Delhi
Located in Indraprastha Estate in New Delhi, the School
of Planning and Architecture (SPA) was established
in 1941 as the Department of Architecture at the Delhi
Polytechnic. In 1959, it was integrated with the School
of Town and Country Planning and that’s when it got its
current moniker.
In 1979, the Ministry of Education and Culture conferred
the status of ‘Deemed to be a University’ on the SPA. The
school offers undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) courses in different fields of
architecture. A lot of SPA’s courses focus on various aspects of the human habitat and environment.
NRI Quota – 15%
Course Fee – UG: US $4,000 per annum, PG: US $6,000
per annum, Ph.D.: US $5,000 per annum
Department of Architecture, BIT,
Mesra, Ranchi
CEPT University, Ahmedabad
The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology
(CEPT) began in 1962 through a grant-in-aid from the Gujarat government. It originated with the School of Architecture and went on to establish four more schools (Planning,
Building Science and Technology, Interior Design and
Technology Management) as part of the university.
The university is recognised under Section 2(f) of the
University Grants Commission Act, 1956, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in architecture. Its
courses are recognised by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).
NRI Quota and Course Fee – Interested students must get
in touch directly with the institute to obtain exact information on latest sessions
The Birla Institute of Technology (BIT) was founded in
1955 by B.M. Birla and is a ‘deemed university’ under Section 3 of the UGC (University Grants Commission) Act,
1956. The institute has been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) of UGC and
the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) of AICTE.
BIT’s Department of Architecture was established in
1993 and offers the B. Arch course, which combines elements of engineering, science and the arts. The final year
is dedicated to practical training. Candidates who have secured at least 60% in Class 10+2, with English and Mathematics as compulsory subjects, and pass the National
Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) are eligible for admission.
NRI Quota – Interested students must get in touch directly
quotas
Course Fee – US $4,500 per annum for the B. Arch (Bachelors of Architecture) course
College of Architecture and School
of Interior Design and Decoration,
Navi Mumbai
Another college that falls under BVDU, the College of Architecture in Navi Mumbai was established in 1992 and
is affiliated to Mumbai University. The college has been
an active participant in the annual National Association of
Students of Architecture (NASA) zonal and national conventions since 1995.
The college offers B. Arch (with an option to specialise
in Interior Design), M. Arch (with an option to specialise
in Environmental Architecture) and Diploma courses. NRI
students who want to apply to any of its courses must submit HSC (High School Certificate) mark sheets, migration
certificates, copies of passports and visas as well as character certificates.
NRI Quota and Course Fee - Interested students must get
in touch directly with the institute to obtain exact informa>> Continued on Page 14
tion on latest sessions
W E E K L Y
13
14
W E E K L Y
HIGHER EDUCATION
Architectural studies in India Medical education
curriculum being
revamped
<< Continued from Page 12
D.C. Patel School of Architecture,
Arvindbhai Patel Institute of
Environmental Design, Vallabh
Vidyanagar
Established in 1980, this school is part of the Arvindbhai
Patel Institute of Environmental Design (APIED) and is
affiliated to Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Built on a 2.5-acre campus with a number of facilities, the
school offers a five-year undergraduate course in Architecture with an emphasis on exposing students to the practical
aspects of design. This course has been approved by the
Council of Architecture (COA), India.
To date, a total of 1,600 students have graduated from
APIED. Students who meet the eligibility criteria defined
by COA, AICTE and Sardar Patel University are selected
on merit.
quotas
Course Fee – US $5,000 per annum for the B. Arch course
Department of Architecture,
National Institute of Technology
(NIT), Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)
Founded in 1964 as a co-operative venture between the national government and the state government of Tamil Nadu,
NIT Trichy was formerly known as the Regional Engineering College. In 1993, it was granted ‘Deemed University’
status by the UGC and AICTE. The institute is autonomous
in its financial and institutional affairs.
The college offers a B. Arch course and has a wellequipped campus with a CAD (Computer-Aided Design)
lab and audio-visual teaching aids. Admission for NRI students is open under the DASA (Direct Admission of Students Abroad) scheme. NRI Quota – 5 seats for the B. Arch course
Course Fee – For the B. Arch course, the fee is US $2,000
per annum for SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nationals and US $4,000 per annum
for Non-SAARC nationals.
School of Planning and
Architecture, Vijayawada
Sushant School of Art and
Architecture (SSAA), Gurgaon
According to a 2014 survey by Outlook, SSAA has been voted the top private architectural school in India. The school
was established in 1989 by Chiranjiv Charitable Trust and is
recognised by AICTE, COA (Council of Architecture) and
the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The school offers B. Arch and M. Arch courses and with
a faculty-student ratio of 1:12, it lays a strong emphasis on
personalised attention. Admissions are made on the basis
of the National Aptitude Test in Architecture scores (which
should be at least 80 out of 200).
quotas
Course Fee – US $2,500 per annum for the B. Arch course
Faculty of Architecture and
Ekistics, Jamia, Delhi
Abbreviated as SPAV, the School of Planning and Architecture was established in 2008 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development as an autonomous institute. It
also falls under the Direct Admission of Students Abroad
(DASA) scheme, which is being coordinated by the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, Mangalore. The school is equipped with design studios, free Wi-Fi and air-conditioned labs for CAD and GIS
(Geographical Information Science) work.
SPAV offers B. Arch and M. Arch courses as well as a
newly launched Ph.D. course. Students who have cleared
the 10+2 or an equivalent examination, with Physics,
Mathematics and Chemistry as compulsory subjects, with
at least 60% or a 6.75 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average), are eligible for to apply for admission.
NRI Quota – 15%
Course Fee - For the B. Arch course, the fee is US $2,000
per annum for SAARC nationals and US $4,000 per annum
for non-SAARC nationals.
Jamia is the only Central University that has a full-fledged
Faculty of Architecture and Ekistics. Founded in 2001, the
institute offers two undergraduate degree courses and five
postgraduate courses and a Ph.D. course.
The facilities within the campus include a construction yard, studios, a well-stocked library with more than
3.5 lakh study resources and computer labs. Students
who have secured 50% marks in 10+2 or equivalent,
with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics as compulsory subjects, are eligible for admission, subject to an
aptitude test.
NRI Quota – 5%
Course Fee – US $3,000 for the B. Arch course
TGI Reporter
NEW DELHI
I
n a step that will be welcomed by medical students
across the country, the Medical Council of India
(MCI) has begun a comprehensive revision of the
58-year-old medical education curriculum.
The current medical curriculum has been in place
since 1956 and has seen very few amendments since
its inception. MCI has set up an expert committee to
incorporate more fields like allergy medicine, marine
medicine and paediatric neurology into the syllabus.
Introducing the latest medical technology and teaching aids for anatomy, biochemistry and pathology for
the MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) courses is also on the agenda.
The revamped syllabus for postgraduate and Ph. D
courses will see the inclusion of new specialities and
super-specialities and will be designed keeping in mind
the disease profile in India. Additionally, there will be
a renewed focus on improving the quality of general
practice, through the introduction of a postgraduate
course for general physicians.
MCI President Dr. Jayshrebeen Mehta said, “Medical science has made some very important leaps in
these 58 years. While doctors do keep abreast of the
latest developments through medical journals etc.—
many of them have foreign degrees—our colleges continue to teach an outdated syllabus. Many of the techniques that we teach are obsolete. Even simple things
like segregation of physiology and biochemistry into
discrete fields is not accounted for at the MBBS level.
There are simulators that can replace cadaver dissections, at least in part, but we don’t use them. The new
curriculum will incorporate all these things.”
In another first, the council also plans to obtain a
copyright for the new curriculum. According to Dr
Mehta, this is so that only colleges and educational institutes expressly permitted by the MCI to teach the
new curriculum, can do so.
MCI also intends to expand on the medical ethics
module, in a bid to lower the instances of medical malpractice in the country.
The council is in the final stages of completing the
revised curriculum. Once this is done, the curriculum
will be distributed to medical colleges for teacher
training purposes and will be implemented from 2016
onwards.
Currently, one of the major challenges MCI is facing
is the lack of enough experienced faculty to teach medical students. A total of 291 private and government
medical colleges in India are recognised by the MCI.
Among these, 78 colleges offer postgraduate degrees,
45 offer Ph.D degrees, 61 offer PG Diplomas and 51
offer super-speciality courses. But, there is an acute
shortage of senior instructors to teach the students pursuing these courses. The council will have to look into
addressing this shortfall.
DISCOVER INDIA
15
W E E K L Y
Karnataka
Karnataka: A kaleidoscope of
the best that India has to offer
A state that perfectly encapsulates India’s vibrant culture, rich
topography and developing infrastructure, Karnataka is among
the best Indian travel destinations
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
F
eaturing ethnic diversity, a rapidly growing economy and a
heritage that has been influenced by many cultures,
Karnataka possesses an appeal that makes it one of the
country’s most sought-after
holiday destinations. It has
lively urban hotspots, like
Bengaluru and Mysore. And,
geographical marvels, which
range from the beaches of
Gokarna and the mountains
of Kudremukh to the raging
Abbey Falls and flourishing
national parks of Nagarhole
and Bannerghatta.
Bengaluru
Bengaluru, or Bangalore, is
the largest city in Karnataka
and serves as the state capital. Also known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India,’ due to its
significance in the country’s
IT industry, Bengaluru is an
ancient city that is believed to
have been part of a transoceanic trading route between
ancient kingdoms during the
Roman Era. The city was
ruled at different junctures
by South Indian kingdoms,
the Mughals and the British
Raj. You can still find many
reminders of Bengaluru’s
varied past in the city today.
The
Chokkanathaswamy
temple, Someshwara temple, Gavi Gangadareshwara
temple and Kaalikaamba Kamatheshwara temple, which
go back hundreds of years,
have stood the test of time.
Some of the roads and areas,
like Infantry Road, Brigade
Road and Richmond Town,
get their names from military
nomenclature that the Brits
imbibed during their rule.
Today, Bengaluru is a thriving metropolis, which is a
home to many people who
have flocked here from all
parts of the country. The city
is also known as the ‘Garden City of India,’ owing to
its numerous parks and gardens, such as the Lalbagh
Gardens, Cubbon Park, Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain and Freedom Park. Art
lovers can visit the National
Gallery of Modern Art, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad
and Venkatappa Art Gallery.
Bengaluru also boasts of architectural marvels like the
Vidhana Soudha, ISKCON
Temple, UB City, East Parade Church and St. Mary’s
Basilica. The city has many
museums that are worth visiting, such as the Visveswaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Government
Museum and the HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace
Museum (India’s first aerospace museum).
Mountains Galore
Karnataka’s varied geography includes a number of hill
stations such as Kudremukh,
Kodachadri, Chikmagalur
and Nandi Hills. Bengaluru’s residents often travel to
Nandi Hills, which is around
60 kilometres away from the
city. Nandi Hills served as a
getaway for the British Raj.
Today, it is undergoing massive development, including
a one-crore renovation of
Tipu Fort.
For trekking enthusiasts, the
likes of Kudremukh, Kodachadri and Chikmagalur
have inviting hiking trails.
Those interested in waterfalls will find Abbey Falls
and Jog Falls appealing.
They’re among the most
visited waterfalls in the state
and Jog Falls is the second
highest plunge waterfall in
all of India.
Karnataka’s Tourism Department says the hill station of Coorg, also known
as the Kodagu region, is one
of India’s best tourist destinations. Interestingly, Coorg
yields about 60% of India’s
coffee produce. The Raja’s
Seat, a seasonal garden of
flowers and fountains, is a
remarkable spot from which
to witness Coorg’s glorious
sunsets against a backdrop
of teak, sandalwood and
rosewood forested hills.
Mysore Palace: A
testament to Tipu
Sultan
A couple of hours from Bengaluru is the city of Mysore,
which is famous for its royal
past. The Wadiyar Dynasty
ruled Mysore from 1399 to
1947, except in the period
1760 to 1799, when its rule
was largely nominal, and
power lay with Hyder Ali
and his son, the well-known
soldier and scholar, Tipu
Sultan. The Mysore Palace is the official residence
and seat of the Wadiyars;
it is visited by more than
three million tourists every
year. The palace’s architecture features a mixture of
Hindu, Muslim, Rajput and
Gothic styles and has exquisite mouldings, marble
architraves, a stained glass
pavilion, slender-columned
colonnades and much more.
It is surrounded by meticulously maintained gardens.
Inside, visitors can view relics, royal paintings and the
royal armoury. The palace
is illuminated every Sunday
and on public holidays.
Hampi: A glimpse
of the past
Hampi is an ancient settlement that may date as far
The Karnataka Legislative building, with its impressive architechture, attracts many visitors annually
back as the 3rd Century BC.
It was the last capital of the
Vijayanagara Empire. The
region contains more than
1,600 remains of historical
significance, including forts,
riverside features, temples
and shrines. Its temples bear
witness to Karnataka’s glorious past. The Virupaksha
Temple, which is part of
the Group of Monuments
at Hampi that constitute a
UNESCO World Heritage
Site, is dedicated to Lord
Shiva. Another famous temple complex here is the Hazara Rama Temple. It contains around 1,000 intricate
carvings and inscriptions
that depict the story of the
Ramayana. There are many
more striking temples to be
seen in Hampi.
A paradise for
wildlife lovers
Karnataka has many mountains, valleys, rivers, streams
and vegetation that serve as
a home to countless species
of flora and fauna. Close to
the state capital is the Bannerghatta National Park,
which features panthers,
lions, tigers, a wide variety
of avifauna and reptiles as
well. The Nagarahole, or Rajiv Gandhi, National Park is
nestled amid the Brahmagiri
Mountains and houses large
numbers of tigers, Asian
elephants and Indian bison
or gaur. The crown jewel
among the national parks of
Karnataka is the Bandipur
National Park, which once
served as the private hunting
ground of the Maharaja of
Mysore. The park has many
biomes and protects several
endangered and vulnerable
species, including the Indian
elephant, tigers, sloth bears
and four-horned antelopes.
Sprawling beaches
Situated on India’s western
coastline, the beaches of
Karnataka have something
to offer everyone. Waters
near Murudeshwar are popular for scuba diving. The
town is also known for the
Murudeshwar temple and
the world’s second largest
Shiva statue. Another favourite haunt for beach lovers
is the town of Gokarna. The
Om Beach here has verdant
wilderness, hidden coves,
rugged cliffs and showcases
stunning sunsets.
Best time to visit: Karna-
taka is best visited between
November and April as the
state has pleasant weather
and little rainfall, then. June
to October is when temperatures rise and the start of the
monsoon can hamper vacation plans.
How to reach:
By Air: Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport features domestic and
international flights. There
are domestic airports in
Mangalore, Bellary, Belgaum, Hampi and Hubli as
well.
By Train: Railways cover
3,000 square kilometres of
the state’s area and Bengaluru connects to major cities
around the country via rail.
By Road: Karnataka is
well connected by roads
within the state and outside
it as well. You can easily take buses or taxis from
nearby states like Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh and Kerala.
Popular hotels in Karnataka
Hotel
Average rate
per night
Infantry Hotel, Infantry Road, Bangalore
INR 1,100
St. Marks Inn, MG Road, Bangalore
INR 2,499
Radisson Blu Plaza, 1 MG Road, Mysore
INR 5,375
The Chancery Pavillion, Residency Road,
Bangalore
INR 5299
Vivanta by Taj, Yeshwantpur, Bangalore
INR 7,500
16
TRAVEL & TOURISM
W E E K L Y
The Internet is revolutionising
train travel in India
E-commerce websites and mobile apps
by service providers are making train
travel more convenient
TGI Reporter
NEW DELHI
W
ith the growing presence of
smart
devices
and easy availability of
WiFi, travelling by train has
become much more convenient nowadays. There
are a lot of mobile applications (apps) that provide
time and location updates
of trains, replete with scheduled arrival and departure
times and real-time delays.
IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) also has official apps:
IRCTC Connect for Android
and IRCTC for Windows
Phone platforms.
Srijan Mukherjee, who
frequently travels by IRCTC
for work purposes, shares,
with TGI, a recent example
of how this on-the-go facility
helped him: “After boarding the Rajdhani Express at
Madgaon station in Goa for
Delhi, I came across two
families who had the same
berths allotted to them in
the same 3rd AC (air-conditioned) coach. After a few
minutes of confusion, I intervened and offered to help. I
took their respective Passenger Name Records (PNRs)
and looked them up on
IRCTC’s app. The berths for
one of the families had been
upgraded to 2nd AC, due to
cancellation of tickets in that
The Indian Railways has launched several mobile apps to make train travel easier
coach. Checking this change
in PNR status wouldn’t have
been as easy, if not for the
mobile app.”
The IRCTC says it continually works to make its website and mobile apps more
user-friendly.
Providing
an update on the work being done, Railway Minister
D.V. Sadananda said, “We
Expedia.com wins Best Online
Travel Agency Website award
TGI Reporter
Mumbai
E
xpedia.com
was
awarded the Best Online Travel Agency
Website in the Asia-Pacific
region on November 12 at
the 7th Travelmole APAC
Web Awards. The award
ceremony, which was held
in association with the ITB
Asia 2014 conference in Singapore, this year, honours
the best technological developments in web, mobile and
social platforms for travel in
the Asia-Pacific region.
The award was received
by Kathleen Tan, CEO of
AirAsiaExpedia Travel, who
said: “This award is a testament to the strides Expedia
has made over the past few
are increasing the overall
capacity of the IRCTC site,
in addition to several other
initiatives. All of which are
a part of our new IT policy
for providing better services
to our passengers.” During a
recent meeting, the Railway
Minister was informed about
the need for more ideas, investments and professionals
to ramp up IRCTC’s website. To this end, the Indian
Railways has launched new
initiatives like e-ticketing,
a train inquiry mobile app,
freight e-demand and Go
India Smart Card, in the
last four months. The Indian
Railways hope such moves
will help them stay competitive with e-travel portals.
Among the private etravel portals, RailYatri,
ixigo and Travelkhana are
the most popular. With
the RailYatri app, you can
check PNR status, find out
what the live location of a
train is, book taxis and stay
up-to-date about any disruptions or delays. Travelkhana
allows passengers to order
food, which is delivered to
one’s seat within the train.
With ixigo, one can obtain a
variety of information about
trains and hotels.
Ashvin Vellody, partner
of KPMG in India, says:
“Travel constitutes nearly
70 per cent of the entire ecommerce business and
railways is a large segment
in this. With an increasing number of railway passengers using mobiles, the
trend and the businesses are
bound to grow”.
Goibibo now offers more
than 400 airline options
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
years to overhaul the technology driving the website in
order to deliver the best possible user online experience.
“There’s so much that
Asia, a huge, diverse continent, can offer and we
understand how complex
and complicated travel planning and booking can be.
Expedia has been testing
and learning exactly what
the consumers want in order to deliver a rich and
relevant user experience to
our customers in Asia. In
the past couple of years, we
have also been building up
teams in the region with local knowledge and creating
strong localised content and
value-driven bundled deals
to delight our customers. I
would like to thank all our
website users and industry
peers for this award.”
AirAsiaExpedia is a
global joint venture company between Expedia, an
online travel company, and
Air Asia Travel, a low-cost
carrier that debuted in 2011.
The company is headquartered in Singapore.
A
t the beginning of November,
Goibibo introduced the ‘Anywhere to Anywhere flight bookings’ feature on its website. In a new
development, the online travel aggregator has announced that it now offers
more than 400 airlines for customers to
choose from. Goibibo has tied up with
global airlines like Tigerair, Fly Dubai,
Air Asia and Air Arabia. The company
now offers more than 400 airlines and
52,000 routes, globally.
Sanjay Bhasin, CEO, Goibibo said:
“We are delighted with our recent tieups with some of the best and most renowned international air carriers. These
are amongst the most popular low-cost
airlines in the Middle East and South
East Asian regions and this association will significantly help us increase
international flight bookings in these
sectors”.
The company says that international
flight bookings on Goibibo are growing
by 110 per cent year-on-year in comparison to the industry average of 8 per
cent year-on-year. The Goibibo mobile
application has also been gaining traction for international flight bookings,
which the company attributes to the
app’s user-friendly features.
Seamless travel between SAARC countries, soon?
TGI Correspondent
NEW DELHI
I
ndia’s Road Transport
Minister, Nitin Gadkari,
is pushing for an agreement among all SAARC
(South Asian Association for
Regional Corporation) coun-
tries for seamless movement
of passengers and cargo.
SAARC’s technical committee, which consists of
representatives from all
member nations, has already
agreed to a draft agreement.
The proposal now needs to
be approved by the various
government leaders at the
upcoming SAARC summit,
which will be held in Nepal.
In the meantime, India
and Nepal are set to sign
a bilateral agreement on a
proposed daily bus service
on three routes: Kathmandu-Bhairahawa-SunauliAzamgarh-Varanasi-New
Delhi; Kathmandu-Bhairahawa-Sunauli-GorakhpurLucknow-New Delhi; and
Pokhara-Bharahawa-Sunauli-Gorakhpur-LucknowNew Delhi. An Indian delegation recently visited
Nepal to make some headway in the plan.
The proposed agreement
would not only launch the
regular bus service, but also
also provide a framework for
the easy cross-border movement of private vehicles and
non-regular passenger vehicles. If the agreement is finalised, such vehicles will be
able to make use of all established entry and exit points
outlined in the framework.
KERALA THIS WEEK
W E E K L Y
Kerala Governor’s call for
Chancellor’s Council meets
opposition
NMC hospital’s owner
promises jobs for
5,000 Kerala nurses
B.R. Shetty
says his group
will provide
jobs for around
5,000 Kerala
nurses over the
next year
Kerala’s Governor says he wants to
improve the standard of education in the
state, but faces opposition to plans for a
Chancellor’s Council
TGI Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
P
Sathasivam, Governor
of Kerala and also a
former Chief Justice
of India, on October 27,
called for a Chancellor’s
Council to be set up to improve educational standards
within the state. The Governor convened a meeting of
Vice Chancellors to discuss
the move. During the meeting, he asked directors to
submit a quarterly report on
infrastructure development,
facilities, exams, results and
other issues.
After the meeting, Sathasivam told reporters, “The
Chancellor’s Council would
discuss issues in the higher education sector and it
would function as an effective forum for an exchange
of ideas.”
But, Sathasivam has
faced criticism following
the announcement. The
Pradesh Congress Committee’s leadership is accusing him of overstepping
his constitutional limits.
The Indian Union Muslim
League has also objected
to the Council. Its nominee, PK Abdu Rabb, is the
state’s Education Minister.
Former Mizoram Governor and senior Congressman
Vakkom
Purushothaman
has said that it is up to the
elected government to take
TGI Reporter
Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam calls for a Chancellor’s Council to be
set up to improve educational standards within the state
such measures, and that the
Governor’s role is simply to
consult the state government
and request measures; not to
pilot initiatives. The Governor is a nominee of the central government.
Kerala’s Chief Minister,
Oommen Chandy, has been
more guarded in his response
and has said that he hopes the
issue will be resolved amicably and quickly.
Disagreements have reportedly arisen over the
Governor’s Vice Chancellor
choices for Cochin University of Science and Technology and Kerala Medical
Varsity, which differ from
the top choices of the state
government that were submitted to the Governor.
Opposition leader VS
Achuthanandan has come
out in support of the Governor’s proposal to form a
Chancellor’s Council and
his having convened a Vice
Chancellors’ meeting.
KSCSTE announces the winners of
the Science Literature Awards 2013
TGI Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
T
he Kerala State
Council for Science,
Technology
and
Environment
(KSCSTE)
announced the Science
Literature Awards 2013
winners on November 13.
The awards recognise the
contributions of individuals
towards science literature in
Malayalam.
The various eminent authors awarded for sciencerelated works in Malayalam
that were published in 2013,
included: C.P. Aravindakshan, K.V. Mathew, A. Achuthan, Aranmula Hariharaputhran, V.P.N. Namboothiri
and Sasidharan Mangathil.
Awards for Best
Books
Dr. Aravindakshan won the
award for the Best Science
Book (Children’s Literature) for ‘Madhuram Athimadhuram Rasathanthram’.
He is known for popularising science among the
masses, especially among
17
The awards are presented to eminent Malayali authors for
their contributions to science literature
KOCHI
B
.R. Shetty, an Abu Dhabi-based businessman, says
his group will place 5,000 Kerala nurses in the
Middle East within a year’s time. Mr. Shetty, who
is the MD and CEO of the UAE Exchange Centre and of
the NMC (New Medical Centre) Health group of hospitals, said: “The salary and the working conditions would
be the best in the industry. I have full faith in the Kerala
nurses because their quality is highly commendable.”
Shetty was speaking after an agreement was finalised between the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence
(KASE) and the NMC Health group of hospitals to set up
the KASE-Centre of Excellence in Nursing in Thiruvananthapuram.
“In this centre, we will offer highly specialised training
for qualified nurses, which will extend up to a maximum
of six months. World-class value addition to their existing skills will be provided and they will be certified, too,
which will be accepted worldwide,” said Shetty.
According to recent research conducted by the Centre
for Development Studies on the Kerala diaspora, 15 per
cent of Kerala’s migrants are women, of which a large
majority are nurses.
Minister for Labour, Shibu Baby John, said that he supported the skill development programme, and said it is a
first-of-its-kind initiative for an Indian state government.
KSEB introduces a
24-hour call centre for
electricity consumers
TGI Reporter
C.P. Arvindakshan
Aranmula Hariharaputhran
young students.
Mr. Mathew was awarded
for his book, ‘Manushyan
Oru Super Computer,’ and
Dr. Achuthan for ‘Paristhithi Padanathinu Oru
Aamukham’ in the Best Book
(Popular Science) category.
Two awards for the Best
K.V. Mathew
V.P.N. Namboothiri
Science Book (In-depth
Science) were presented to
Dr. Hariharaputhran and
Dr. Namboothiri for their
respective works ‘Jeevasaasthrathinte Kadha’ and ‘Prapancha Srishtiyude Padippurayil - Daivakanathinte
Samkshiptha Charithram’.
A. Achuthan
Sasidharan Mangathil
The Science Journalism
award was given to Mr.
Mangathil for his articles on
disaster management, which
were published in the Mathrubhumi newspaper in 2013.
Each winner will be
awarded Rs 50,000, a citation and a certificate.
KOCHI
T
he Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has
started a 24-hour call centre service for consumers in more than 100 electrical sections in
Kottayam, Thiruvalla, Changanassery, Shoranur, Ottappalam, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.
KSEB says that, over the next six months, electricity
consumers in 228 electrical section offices spread over
48 towns all over the State will be able to register complaints related to power failure, line damage, billing
issues and power theft by dialling 1912. They will also
be able to learn more about online payment details.
The 24-hour call centre is equipped with an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), which will allow
consumers to register complaints automatically, without the assistance of a call centre operator. The project
has cost around Rs 60 crore.
The KSEB is headquartered in Vydyuthi Bhavan,
where facilities like a Cash Deposit Machine for bill
payments have been introduced, as part of its centralised customer service system.
18
KERALA THIS WEEK
W E E K L Y
Stadiums in Kerala gear up
for the 35th National Games
Sporting venues, in the state, for the
mega-sporting event are almost ready
TGI Reporter
KOCHI
W
ith just over 70
days remaining
for the start of
the 35th National Games,
Kerala’s State Sports Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, has provided
an update on the progress of
stadiums that will be used
for the event.
He said, “As things stand
today, 90 per cent of the
entire infrastructure for the
country’s biggest sporting event is now ready. By
January 15, each of the 27
venues will be fully ready.
This is a huge achievement
for our state as things have
gone so well and as planned
and within the budget.”
Before work began for the
35th edition of the National
Games, authorities decided
to set aside a budget of Rs
261 crore for giving existing stadiums a facelift and
new features. Out of that, Rs
206 crore has already been
utilised so far. In addition to
the work on existing venues,
a new state-of-the-art stadium is also being built.
The state Sports Minister
added that Sachin Tendulkar
will be the brand ambassador for this year’s Games.
He said, “We have had several rounds of discussions
with him and he will be with
us for the promotion.”
Venue-wise budget allocation for
major stadiums
Lal Bahadur Shastri Corporation Stadium, Kollam
– This stadium will host sev-
All the 27 venues (stadiums) for the 35th National Games will be
ready by January 15, 2015
en rugby matches. Work on
the stadium has been completed at Rs 6.89 crore.
Rajiv Gandhi Indoor
Stadium, Ernakulam –
Managed by the Regional
Sports Centre, this stadium
will host badminton and table tennis competitions and
its renovation has cost Rs
10.23 crore.
Medical
College
Ground, Kozhikode – A
Every household in Kerala
has a bank account now
TGI Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
I
n what is being lauded as a remarkable
achievement for the
state, one person in every
household in Kerala has a
bank account now. Kerala
and Goa have become the
first Indian states to reach
this landmark, under the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojna (PMJDY), a scheme
intended to achieve comprehensive financial inclusion. It took Kerala just
two and a half months to
achieve the target.
Since the advent of the
PMJDY on August 28,
2014, a combined total of
12.8 lakh accounts have
been opened by all banks,
together, which includes
around 5 lakh no-frills accounts. Around 5.25 RuPay
debit cards have also been
issued and account holders
have already deposited a to-
tal of Rs 326 crore in their
banks.
Kerala Finance Minister
K.M. Mani formally announced the 100 per cent
bank account coverage of
households in the State at
Durbar Hall in the Secretariat on November 11. He
highlighted the importance kiosks are serving as bankof financial inclusion, say- ing kiosks. The current
ing: “Without this, there is number of Akshaya kiosks,
no full participation of the which stands at 848, is exindividual in the socio-eco- pected to go up to 1,222 by
nomic progDecember
ress of the
31 of this
PMJDY helps
country.”
year. Finanopen 12.8 lakh
The event
cial literacy
bank accounts in c e n t r e s
was
attended by
have been
Kerala
bankers and
opened in
officials and was used by all 152 blocks.
the Minister to release the
The second phase of
PMJDY mission documents the PMJDY aims to open
and a financial literacy a second bank account
book in Malayalam.
separately for a woman in
Today, Kerala houses each household, issue Rumore than 6,000 bank Pay credit cards to all acbranches and every Pan- count holders and enroll
chayat in the state has a all families in the Aadhaar
banking channel. Akshaya scheme.
new stadium has been constructed and a new synthetic field laid at this venue,
which will host the men’s
football competition. The
work at the Medical College Ground has cost Rs 15
crore.
Sreepadam
Stadium,
Thiruvanthapuram – The
refurbishing work at this stadium has cost Rs 7.18 crore.
The stadium will host kho-
kho and kabaddi matches.
VKN Menon Indoor
Stadium, Thrissur – Maple
wood flooring has been used
to renovate this stadium.
Total renovation costs have
rung in at Rs 7.36 crore. The
venue will be used for judo
and weightlifting competitions.
Indoor Stadium, Kannur – The rebuilding work,
here, has been to the tune
of Rs 30 crore. The stadium
will host basketball and
wrestling competitions.
University
Stadium,
Thiruvanthapuram
–
Floodlights have been installed at this venue, which
will host athletic events.
The entire renovation work,
here, has cost Rs 10 crore.
Jimmy George Indoor
Stadium, Thiruvanthapuram
– This stadium will host
gymnastic and handball
events. Owned by the Directorate of Sports, Kerala,
the revamping of Jimmy
George Stadium has cost Rs
11.6 crore.
Other stadiums include
Squash Court and Agriculture College Indoor Stadium in Thiruvanthapuram;
Thriprayar Indoor Stadium
in Thrissur; CIAL Golf
Course in Ernakulam; and
VKK Menon Indoor Stadium in Kozhikhode.
The 35th National Games
will take place from January 31 to February 14,
2015, across 31 venues in
7 districts. The event will
see participation by more
than 12,000 athletes and
sports officials and more
than 6,000 facilitators. The
Games will be inaugurated
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 31 at
the Green Field Stadium in
Kariavattom, Thiruvanthapuram, which is still under
construction, at an estimated
cost of Rs 240 crore.
Kerala unhappy with Centre’s decision
of imposing tax on NRI remittances
The Centre
plans to levy a
12.36 per cent
tax on NRI
remittances
TGI Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
T
he Kerala government has expressed discontent over the Centre’s decision to levy a 12.36 per
cent tax on commissions realised by financial institutions on NRI remittances.
The state government says the decision
will ultimately impact the families of
NRI Keralites who are employed in the
Gulf and other nations.
In a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, K.C. Joseph, Minister
for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs, has
made an appeal for the decision to be
withdrawn. According to Joseph, financial institutions, including money
exchange firms, already charge a seven
per cent commission on remittances and
they will now pass on the burden to account holders to cover the new tax rate.
Joseph said the move was tantamount to
double taxation.
The Non-Resident Keralites Affairs
Minister added that 90 per cent of
non-resident Keralites working in the
Gulf are engaged in low-end jobs and
the income sent by them is the only
source of support for their families in
India.
The UPA-led government had made
a similar proposal, which was retracted
after intervention by Kerala’s Chief
Minister, Oommen Chandy.
According to the State Level Banking Committee, during the last fiscal,
non-resident Keralites sent a colossal
Rs 95,000 crore to India, through banks
and other institutions.
wellness
W E E K L Y
19
The health benefits of Aloe Vera
Are you aware of Aloe Vera’s various topical and oral uses?
TGI Correspondent
NEW DELHI
A
loe Vera has been
used by multiple
civilizations over the
centuries. And, now, modern
science has confirmed some
of the benefits of having this
plant in your home.
Aloe Vera’s history can
be traced back to the Ancient Egyptian era, some
6,000 years ago. The Egyptian Queens Nefertiti and
Cleopatra are said to have
applied Aloe Vera gel to
their skin, as part of their
beauty regimens.
The Aloe Vera plant was
no less magical for the Ancient Greeks, who used it
to treat baldness, insomnia
and other ailments. Legend
has it, Alexander the Great
procured large supplies of
the plant to treat wounded
soldiers.
Aloe vera was also used
by the Ancient Chinese and
Vera juice and Aloe Vera
gel are rich in nutrients and
fibres (such as vitamins, lignin, saponins, sterols, sugars,
anthraquinones or phenolic
compounds, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and salicylic acid) and have antiseptic, antifungal, antioxidant
and moisturising properties.
Oral uses
Digestion - Due to its nutrient content, Aloe Vera helps
digestion by stimulating the
process of catharsis in the
digestive tract. Some studies
have suggested Aloe Vera
consumption also reduces
irritation, boosts healing
and helps in the treatment
of ulcers in the stomach
and intestines. The same
anti-inflammatory properties (derived from glycoproteins) that make Aloe Vera
effective in treating arthritis
and rheumatism, also help
in diminishing inflammation
associated with colitis, irNutrients Found
In Aloe Vera
Ancient Romans, and by Native Indians, who called Aloe
Vera, the ‘Wand of Heaven’.
This week, we take a closer look at this magical plant
and its wonderful, varied
uses.
An overview
Aloe Vera is a succulent
plant species. Succulent
plants are ones that can adapt
to extremely dry climates.
If you’ve ever seen an Aloe
Vera plant, you’d have noticed how thick and rubbery
its leaves appear. Its what’s
inside these leaves that’s
used for a variety of health
and beauty purposes. Aloe
ritable bowel syndrome and
other inflammatory diseases
of the alimentary canal. It
can also be used as a natural
laxative for people dealing
with constipation.
Heart ailments and
diabetes – In 1985, an Indian doctor, OP Agarwal,
presented a paper to the
American College of Angiology, in which he reported
incredible results of using
Aloe Vera in the treatment
of 5,000 atheromatous heart
and diabetic patients. His
study found a considerable
reduction in their serum triglycerides, lipids and total
cholesterol levels, and an in-
Health Benefits
Amino Acids
Vital for metabolism. Used in the transport and optimal
storage of all essential nutrients such as fats, water, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins.
Anthraquinones
Aid digestion by acting as a laxative. Reduce inflammation in
arthritis and have been reported, in some cases, to slow down
the growth of cancer cells.
Enzymes
These are a special type of protein used by the body to start
basic chemical reactions. They assist in digesting foods, the
copying of information in the DNA and burning glucose.
Minerals
Used by the body for building of bones and muscles, regulating the heartbeat and oxygenating cells.
Vitamins
Essential for good metabolic function, overall good health and
protection against certain diseases.
Sugars
Provide immediate energy. Sugars like glycogen, when stored
in the liver and muscles, act as a backup source of energy.
crease in ‘good cholesterol’
or high-density cholesterol
levels, following a regular intake of Aloe Vera and
Psyllium. Many of his diabetic patients were also able
to reduce their consumption
of drugs, due to an improvement in blood sugar levels.
Increasing
immunity
– Aloe Vera has also been
touted by many, as being
an excellent regulator of
the immune system. Proponents say it stimulates the
immune response in people
with weakened immune systems, whether this is due to
a chronic ailment or whether
it is due to a recent illness.
And, on the other end of the
spectrum, they say it can
also calm the immune response, in conditions such
as hayfever.
Dental and Oral Benefits – The healing properties of Aloe Vera have
gained traction among some
dental practitioners, too. A
2011 study published by the
Journal of Indian Society of
Periodontology concluded
that Aloe Vera resulted in
the improvement of the periodontal condition in patients
who had undergone scaling
and root planting. Another
study, published in the journal, Advances in Clinical
and Experimental Medicine,
found that Aloe can help in
the healing of lichen planus,
which is a common oral
condition.
Topical uses
Acne – Aloe Vera contains
saponins like gibberellin,
mannans and polysaccharides that kill anti-causing
bacteria. The magnesium
lactate in Aloe also helps
relieve the itching sensation
that acne can cause; this is
what makes it effective in
treating rashes and sunburns
as well. Plus, Aloe gel can
help with acne scars, since
the Anthraquinone present
can boost cell development
and restoration—think, skin
regeneration. In Ayurveda,
Aloe Vera has been used for
the treatment of psoriasis,
acne and eczema, too.
Sunburn – Aloe Vera is
cooling, soothing, moisturising and antibacterial. All
these qualities make it great
for treating sunburn. Some
studies have shown that
Aloe Vera enhances skin
healing following burns.
The fresher the Aloe Vera
gel you use, the quicker
your sunburn will heal.
Slows down the signs of
aging – Youth fades with
the passage of time, no
doubt. But, there are natural
ingredients that can reduce
visible signs of aging. Aloe
Vera is packed with antioxidants such as beta-carotene,
vitamin C and vitamin E,
which help keep skin firm
and hydrated.
Moisturiser – Talking
about hydrating, Aloe Vera is
a great moisturiser. It, generally, works well on both oily
and dry skins and rarely tends
to leave behind a greasy film.
For those of you who want
something more hydrating,
you can add some oil to it
or you can use it as a base
(primer-style) before applying your regular moisturiser.
And, for those with dry skin,
you can dissolve vitamin C
crystals in Aloe gel, to make
your own serum. Aloe Vera
gel also makes for a great
pre-make-up base.
Aloe Vera clearly has many
health benefits, but it’s worth
noting that it can have unwanted side effects and interactions, too. The American
Cancer Society, for instance,
has warned that Aloe may
interact with certain drugs,
herbs and food items. Also,
long-term use has resulted in
some reports of side effects
such as gastrointestinal issues, electrolyte imbalances
and liver inflammation.
Therefore, moderation is key
and it’s highly advisable to
consult your doctor before
taking Aloe Vera as a supplement. Another word of warning: If you’re going to buy
Aloe Vera products for oral
or topical use, do some research on trustworthy brands
beforehand. For those with
a green touch, nothing beats
keeping an Aloe Vera plant at
home.
20
MEDICAL TOURISM
W E E K L Y
Top 10 multispecialty
TGI Correspondent
BANGALORE
The city of Bangalore has made huge advancements in the healthcare sector and is one of the most
preferred destinations sought after by both domestic and international patients. TGI takes a look at the top 10
multispecialty hospitals of Karnataka’s state capital
Fortis
Hospital
Fortis Hospital in Bangalore is a 400-bed
multispecialty tertiary care hospital, that
specialises in treating complex cardiac
cases. It was awarded the Best Cardiac
Care Hospital award in 2012, in the Outlook Hospital survey. Apart from being a
centre of excellence in cardiac care, the
hospital offers world class care in 38 other
specialities, including urology, orthopaedics, neurology, and neuro-surgery. The
best part of Fortis Healthcare is that its
inter-linked network consists of 11 superspeciality hospital hubs, that concentrate
on one or more specialities. These hospitals are interconnected to a larger network
of multispecialty hospitals that ensure a
patient’s access to expert care for any speciality—heart care, brain and spine care,
bone and joint care, minimal access surgery, nephrology and so on.
Manipal
Hospital
This chain of multispecialty hospitals has
three hospitals in Bangalore itself. Established in 1990, the Manipal Hospital is a
landmark. It is managed by Asia’s largest hospital management group and is
one of the first multispecialty hospitals
in Bangalore. This tertiary care hospital
has state-of-the-art technology and a 650bed strength, providing sophisticated and
specialised medical services at affordable
costs in over 39 serious ailments. The
hospitals in Bangalore are well-known
for being one of the best kidney transplant
centres in the city. The hospital’s department of rheumatology—a sub-specialty
HOSMAT
Hospital
As the name suggests, the hospital specialises in orthopaedics, sports medicine,
arthritis, accident trauma, arthritis and
joint replacement surgeries and care. With
a bed strength of 400, HOSMAT is a super specialty hospital in Bangalore and is
located in the heart of the city. “We specialise in orthopaedics and offer services
like fibre-optic arthoscopy of various
joints, specialised joint replacements of
knee, hip, shoulder, etc. We also perform
specialised limb lengthening procedures,
complex reconstructive surgeries and paediatric orthopaedics,” says Dr Thomas A.
Chandy, Director and Chief. Dr Chandy
adds that HOSMAT is the first hospital
in India to perform Patellofemoral Replacement (knee cap bone) and the first
to perform a third generation Unicondylar
Replacement (one side of the knee only
and not the entire knee). “We feel proud
that we were also the first hospital in the
country to have two MRIs. One is an ultra-sophisticated machine, while the other
is a high-resolution open MRI machine,
which is non-claustrophobic,” adds Dr
Chandy. HOSMAT has the lowest infection rate for joint replacement surgeries at
0.8 per cent. In the US, the infection rate
stands at 1-2 per cent.
Apollo
Hospital
of medicine dealing with diagnosis and
treatment of diseases, predominantly affecting the joints and connective tissues—
is a pioneer in its field and is well-known
all over India. Many international rheumatic disease patients prefer to come to
this hospital for its wide range of diagnostic facilities and therapy for disorders like
rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout and osteoarthritis. Critical autoimmune diseases like lupus, scleroderma
and dermatomyositis are also treated here.
The hospital was honoured with the Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2005,
in the service category.
NIMHANS
Apollo Hospital in Bangalore is a pioneer in preventive healthcare services.
The hospital specialises in a wide range
of healthcare facilities like renal diseases,
respiratory diseases, infectious diseases,
sugar and endocrine problems, mental
health, gastroenterology, haematology
and care for the elderly. Dr Shiv Kumar
Sharma, the administrative officer, says,
“Our hospital focuses on being the centre
of excellence in cardiac sciences, neuro
sciences, cancer, emergency medicine and
solid organ transplants. Apart from this,
we deal with 35 other specialities.”
The hospital is renowned for its excellent healthcare standards and is a preferred destination for many international
patients, due to cost effective treatmens
combined with world class facilities. It
boasts of the latest medical equipment
like 64-Slice CT Scan, low energy and
high energy Linear Accelerators, Digital
X-Ray, Holmium & Thullium Laser and
4-D Ultrasound for 4-dimensional sonography. The hospital offers exclusive birthing suites, complete with family waiting
areas. It also has a special children’s play
area and a room for yoga and meditation.
This super-specialty hospital in Bangalore
is renowned world over for its research
and path-breaking treatments in the field
of mental health and neuro sciences. This
is the only hospital in the country that has
recognised the use of the Internet as an addiction and has started a first-of-its-kind
clinic in the country to treat tech addiction. Worried parents are trickling in to the
newly opened centre, seeking treatment
for their child’s obsession with social networking and instant chatting sites, texting
and mobile games. Moreover, the hospital
is considered to be the nodal centre in the
field of mental health and neurosciences,
because of its attempts to evolve strategies to offer diagnostic and therapeutic
facilities to all corners of India by utilising the advances in information technology. It is the first public institute to be
declared an e-hospital. “We get patients
from across the globe and the country. We
have attempted to make getting appointments easier by making online bookings,”
says P. Satish Chandra, Director of NIMHANS.
MEDICAL TOURISM
W E E K L Y
21
hospitals of Bangalore
Narayana
Health
It is one of India’s largest and the world’s
most economical hospitals. This hospital
in Bangalore is a key centre for cardiac
care, though it is also equipped with all
super-specialty and tertiary care facilities, which are at par with western countries. Its cardiac unit has been rated as the
Best Private Cardiac Hospital in India, in
The Week-Nielsen Survey, 2013, and is
known for path-breaking complex cardiac surgeries. While the group performs
150 major surgeries (including 44 cardiac surgeries) daily, its Bangalore unit
claims to perform about 12 per cent of
all cardiac surgeries done in the country. Dr Devi Shetty, the Founder, says,
“At NH we focus on both quality and
affordability. At NH, the mortality rate
(1.27 per cent) and infection rate (1 per
cent) for a coronary artery bypass graft
procedure is as good as that of US hospitals.” This chain of hospitals has eight
centres, in which, the Narayana Hospital
in Whitefield is the group’s first premium healthcare facility. Like in malls and
restaurants, the hospital recently started
offering discounts on key services, including diagnostics, radiology and consultancy, during off-peak hours. The discounts range between 30 and 75 per cent,
depending on the services.
Columbia
Asia
Hospital
This premier multispecialty hospital is
known for its pain management department, neurosurgery and neonatology. The
hospital aims at excellence in neurosurgical care and has a team of highly qualified and experienced neurosurgeons, specialising in all types of neurosurgery for
comprehensive management of diseases
and disorders of the brain, spinal cord and
peripheral nerves. Its pain management
clinic has specialists like neurologists,
psychiatrists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists and uses technology
Mallya
Hospital
Located in the heart of the city, Mallya Hospital is one of the premier hospitals in Bangalore that has grown over
the years, with a substantial increase in
bed strength, infrastructure and an assurance of quality patient care. The hospital is one of the first multispecialty
hospitals in India. Dr DK Audikesavulu,
Chairman, says, “In our hospital, every
specialty, both in and out-patient care,
including the critical care segment, is
equipped with state-of-the art equipment,
designed to deliver cutting edge results.
We have the latest equipment to ensure
we provide world class treatment to our
patients. 64 Slice Cardiac CT, most
advanced Cathlab, 1.5 Tesla MRI, Car-
diac Catheterization lab with flat panel,
Intravascular Ultrasound machine, two
C-Arms and Stainless Steel OT complex are witness to our commitment for
the best and latest healthcare services.
Amongst the international patients, the
hospital is well-known for its clinical
skills, friendly ambience and motivated
staff.” The hospital’s heart centre annually performs over 500 angioplasties and
over 2,500 diagnostic catheterisation
procedures. Its department of cardiology
is one of the leading ones for non-invasive and invasive surgery within the city.
The hospital is also known for its department of neurology and is backed by a
clinical neurophysiology lab.
Sagar
Hospitals
like ultrasound guided nerve blocks, epidural infusions and patient-controlled analgesia. Other clinical specialties include
dermatology, emergency medicine, ENT,
general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology and orthopaedics. It
specialises in obstetric pain management,
using continuous or patient-controlled
epidural analgesia during labour. The department also provides pain management
for patients with chronic pain due to cancer, bone, joint and neurological disorders
in adult and paediatric patients.
Vikram
Hospital
Sagar Hospitals is a landmark healthcare
services institution in Bangalore. It presently has two multispecialty hospitals,
four clinics and a chain of pharmacies in
the city and enjoys a unique reputation
of being a popular destination for both
Indian and international patients seeking
treatment at an affordable cost.
The hospital claims that its mission is to
maintain a high degree of quality and patient care. It has many firsts to its credit, including being the first hospital in the state
to perform bone marrow transplant and spinal cord stimulation for intractable angina.
The hospital is also the first to have conceptualised birthing suites in its state. For
its international patients, it has a dedicated
team of professional patient care coordinators, who ensure that every patient’s visit
is comfortable, pleasant and hassle-free.
The department is also equipped to provide
language assistance, including assistance
by qualified sign language interpreters for
those challenged with impaired hearing.
This hospital is one of the largest private hospitals in South Karnataka. Dr
Rajesh Iyer, Neuro-Epileptologist, says,
“Our neurologists and neurosurgeons are
experts and highly experienced in antiepileptic drug therapy and surgical treatments of epilepsy. These surgeons have
controlled and even permanently stopped/
disabled seizure disorders in epilepsy patients and have helped them lead normal
lives.”
The hospital’s epilepsy management
team specialises in treating patients with
seizure disorders, that were unresponsive
to medications, using advanced techniques
such as less invasive surgical techniques,
using MRI guidance. This procedure
helps in performing epilepsy surgeries
through smaller incisions, resulting in less
discomfort and faster recovery.
Its neurosurgical team has performed
more than seven hundred brain and spine
surgeries of a complex nature. The neurosurgery department has one of the best specialists for neurosurgery, neurology, neurooncology, interventional neuro-radiology
and has state-of-the-art technologies.
The hospital is also known for bariatric
and metabolic surgeries and has a special
team for the same.
22
BOLLYWOOD ROUND-UP
W E E K L Y
Lavish weddings of Bollywood
Indian actors celebrate their nuptials in style. Here’s a look at some of Bollywood’s big fat weddings
TGI Correspondent
MUMBAI
T
he city of Hyderabad shone like a
galaxy of stars as
Bollywood’s who’s who
descended on the city last
week to attend Arpita Khan
and Aayush Sharma’s grand
wedding. It was touted to
be the wedding of 2014.
Superstar Salman Khan’s
youngest sister’s wedding,
was a grand affair. This gala
ceremony took place at the
Taj Falaknuma, in the old
city of Hyderabad, where
the entire hotel was booked
for two days - November 18
and 19. Falaknuma is one of
the most beautiful palaces
belonging to the Nizam, the
former ruler of erstwhile
Hyderabad State.
Arpita and Aayush, (son
of a businessman from New
Delhi) had been dating since
2013. The nuptials, which
took place on November
18, were earlier expected to
take place in 2015, but were
brought forward. A wedding
that Salman Khan had been
personally looking into,
was exclusive all throughout, right from the wedding
invite to the invitees. The
wedding invite was an elegant card in white, gold and
pink, which was sent out
along with specially-made
cupcakes.
Among the invitees were
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, Congress President
Sonia Gandhi, Amitabh
Bachchan, actor Shah Rukh
Khan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Hrithik Roshan,
Deepika Padukone, Saif
Ali Khan, his wife Kareena
Kapoor Khan, Dharmendra
and Hema Malini, Karan
Johar, David Dhawan and
other glamorous faces. The
guest list included around
300 names.
According to sources
close to the star, Salman is
said to have spent more than
Rs 2 crores to book the hotel
for two days. All the wedding planners, caterers and
specialists, providing services from make-up to decoration to mehendi (henna
application) and sangeet (a
part of the wedding rituals)
were flown in from Mumbai
for the big fat wedding.
While this is the biggest
Bollywood wedding of
2014, here’s a look at other
big Bollywood weddings in
the past:
Abhishek-Aishwarya
After endless media reports of their kundalis (birth charts)
not matching, Abhishek Bhachchan and Aishwarya Rai
got married on April 20, 2007. The wedding took place
at Bachchan’s home, Jalsa, in Mumbai, while their other
home, Prateeksha, became Ash and her family’s temporary
residence. The wedding took place at 6.30pm on April 20,
according to Arya Samaj rites. Aishwarya’s wedding outfit
was designed by fashion designer Neeta Lulla, while Abhishek wore a sherwani by Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. The
couple was named, Abhi-Ash, following the Brangelina
wave. The intimate affair had a few well-known faces, including Sanjay Dutt, Karan Johar, Preity Zinta, Kajol and
Ajay Devgn, Anil Ambani, Jayaprada and other high-fliers.
Imran-Avantika
Bollywood’s chocolate boy, Imran Khan, broke millions
of hearts when he got married to long-time girlfriend
Avantika Malik on January 10, 2011. The couple got married in a private civil ceremony at actor Aamir Khan’s
home in Pali Hill, Mumbai. The pre-wedding functions
were held at Avantika’s farmhouse in Karjat. The wedding
reception saw the most powerful personalities of business
and Bollywood in attendance. The reception was a grand
Black and Silver-themed affair at Taj Land’s End, Mumbai. The marriage was planned by uncle Aamir and his
wife Kiran Rao.
Raj-Shilpa
Saif-Kareena
One of the biggest royal weddings of Bollywood took place
on October 16, 2012. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor
tied the knot after a long courtship of 5 years. It was spread
over five days, where the entire pre-wedding celebrations
were held at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. Post
which, Saif and Kareena signed marriage papers in the
presence of family members at Saif’s Mumbai residence.
Dawat-e-Walima (the reception) was organised by Saif’s
mother, Sharmila Tagore, in Delhi. After the five-day long
wedding affair, the new bride was welcomed into the family at Ibrahim Palace, Saif’s ancestral home. While the
Mumbai event was a star-studded affair, the Delhi reception was an exhibit of grandeur.
Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty’s wedding was like a fairytale. Raj presented Shilpa with a 20-carat heart-shaped
diamond ring on Valentine’s Day in 2009. The wedding
took place on November 22, 2011. The wedding invite was
created by designer Ravish Kapoor, which cost Rs 500 per
piece. The guest list included Amitabh Bachchan’s family,
Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rekha, Jermaine Jackson,
Vijay Malya and skipper of IPL team, Rajasthan Royals,
Shane Warne. The venue for the wedding, mehendi and
sangeet was friend Kiran Bawa’s bungalow in Khandala,
a hill station near Mumbai. Raj and Shilpa danced to ‘Teri
Ore’ from ‘Singh is Kinng’, while the rest of the family
danced to ‘Aahun Aahun’ from ‘Love Aaj Kal’. The marriage combined the rituals of the Mangalorean bride and
the Punjabi groom, with vows being exchanged according
to South Indian tradition, while pre-wedding rituals like
mehendi and sangeet were held in Punjabi tradition. Raj arrived at the wedding in great style in a horse-drawn chariot.
The reception was held at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai.
Riteish-Genelia
Bollywood’s cutest-looking couple, Riteish Deshmukh and
Genelia D’souza, tied the knot on February 3, 2012. Riteish
is a Maharashtrian- Hindu, while Genelia is a Mangalorean
Catholic. Their wedding was a beautiful amalgamation of
both the cultures. The grand sangeet ceremony, held at Taj
Land’s End, was a star-studded event. One day before the
wedding, Genelia had a traditional function called ‘Umbracha Paani’ at her home. Riteish and Genelia had two
weddings, a Marathi-style wedding at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel and a church wedding at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Bandra, Mumbai. While the Maharashtrian
wedding transported guests to the world of the Marathas,
the Christian wedding was every bit infused with beautiful
catholic traditions. From politicians to industrialists to Bollywood biggies, all attended the opulent nuptials.
W E E K L Y
23
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W E E K L Y
FILMYchakkar
BOLLYWOOD ROUND-UP
Mamta Kulkarni in
drug trafficking
Mamta Kulkarni, who disappeared from Bollywood decades ago, has grabbed the limelight
once again. But this time, for all the wrong reasons. Last seen in 2002 in Kabhie Tum Kabhie
Hum, Mamta and her husband Vicky Goswami
were arrested in Kenya under an alleged drug
trafficking case. The arrest was made jointly
by the Drug Enforcement Agency of the US
and Mombasa police. According to reports,
Vicky, who has a history of drug trafficking,
was caught with a possession of 98 kg of heroin
during the arrest. Mamta’s involvement in the
case is yet to be revealed. The former actress
was interrogated, but wasn’t arrested, since the
police failed to connect her association to the illicit drug trafficking case. What is interesting is
that when questioned about her identity, Mamta
claimed that she is Ayesha Begum and not the
infamously popular Bollywood actress (Mamta
and Vicky reportedly converted to Islam, while
in Dubai, in 2012).
Kim’s Rs 5 crore Bigg Boss
appearance?
The reality TV diva, Kim Kardashian, is coming to India. Kim is currently on a
world tour to promote her new fragrance, Fleur Fatale. After her visit to Australia, Kim will land in India and then in Dubai. The lady tweeted: “Just touched
down in Australia!!! My perfume world tour begins for my new fragrance Fleur
Fatale! Next stop India then Dubai! All in 1 week!” But that’s not all. Kim will
also make a guest appearance on Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 8. According to
sources, Kim struck a hush-hush deal a few days ago with the channel and is,
allegedly, charging a whopping fee of around Rs 5 crore, including travel and
stay and appearance, for her one-day stint on the Indian reality show!
Ravi Chopra
passes away
Bollywood recently bid adieu
to one of the veterans of the
industry, Ravi Chopra. Son
of well-known director B.R.
Chopra, Ravi Chopra took his
last breath on November 12.
The director, who was suffering from a neuro-degenerative
disease, succumbed to a severe lung infection. He was admitted at Breach
Candy hospital in Mumbai. The 68-year-old filmmaker was also being treated for motor neuron disease since 2010. Ravi is survived by his wife Renu
and three children. He is known for his works like Zameer, The Burning
Train, Baghban and other Bollywood epics. A bevy of Bollywood and TV
stars were seen at the condolence meeting held in Mumbai on November 15.
Saif loses sleep
Saif Ali Khan is apparently in turmoil as one of
his quotes was misquoted by the media, while
giving an interview for his upcoming film, Happy Ending. Saif had commented about how he
might never again get a chance to work with
Shah Rukh Khan again (like in Kal Ho Na Ho).
This statement was tweaked by the local media,
where it came across as “Saif says he will never
work with SRK again”!
Sona ko gussa kyun
ayya?
Where there is KKR, Kamal R Khan, controversy follows. This time around, KRK has miffed Sonakshi
Sinha. Last week, KRK tweeted on a micro blogging
site: “RT If you think Deepika Padukone has the biggest
butt in the world”, and then went on to tweet about other
actresses too. His public views and conversations, comparing the actresses’ bodies, irked Sonakshi. The actress
was so agitated that she took to Twitter and retaliated.
She tweeted: “Please RT this if u think @kamaalrkhan
is a woman disrespecting waste of space and deserves to
be hung upside down and given 4 tight slaps.”
KRK further aggravated the matter by replying: “Dear
@sonakshisinha Ji I am really sorry if you took it in a
disrespecting way. It’s just a survey to choose sexiest
actress of Bollywood.” Stooping even lower, the actor
said: “As you @sonakshisinha think that this survey is
a disrespect of woman so you are disqualified n out of
competition. Sorry to hurt ur feelings.”
Beautiful masseuse
Nargis Fakhri demonstrates
a massage technique at an
event organised by Parachute Advanced Knowledge
Centre in Mumbai. Wonder
whether the actress actually
makes the effort herself or
heads to a salon for some
TLC!
Walk for a cause
Check out Shaan and Govinda at
the ‘Sunshine Run’, a walkathon
organised by Surya Child Care hospital in Mumbai, on the occasion
of Children’s Day. While Shaan
is perfect in gym wear, Govinda’s
dapper looks make us curious—did
the actor really walk on the Juhu
roads with a suit on?
BOLLYWOOD ROUND-UP
MOVIE
W E E K L Y
25
review
Not a killer effort
with Bhaiyaji and he warns Dev. Irrespective, Dev gives up his underworld dealings
and starts working as an insurance agent.
Tutu tries to be a bridge between Dev and
Bhaiyaji, who is not ready to relent. Disha
too finds out about Dev’s past. What happens thereafter is for you to watch.
Film: Kill/Dil
Cast: Govinda, Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar,
Parineeti Chopra
Plot: Kill/Dil is a story of two orphan
friends, Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali
Zafar), who are nurtured by Bhaiyaji (Govinda) to be sharpshooters. Their world revolves around Bhaiyyaji and even this cruel
don is fond of them. The two friends live
together and love what they do; until Dev
meets Disha (Parineeti Chopra) in a bar
fight. Disha is the daughter of a rich businessman and works towards the rehabilitation of criminals. Over a period of time,
both Disha and Dev fall for each other.
Disha is unaware of Dev’s criminal background and hence, Dev decides to give up
crime. His decision doesn’t go down well
What’s hot
Govinda is the soul of the film. He does an
extremely good job as Bhaiyaji, his first
out-and-out negative role. Ranveer performs well too. Parineeti tries her best, but
the script doesn’t give her much scope. Ali
looks good, but needs to work a bit on his
dialogue delivery. The dialogues, written
by Nitesh Tiwari, Shreyas Jain and Nikhil
Mehrotra, are witty and fresh. The first half
of the film is very entertaining with dialogues in Delhi lingo. Gulzar’s lyrics and his
voiceovers during the film are very good.
Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Jim
Satya is catchy, especially the title track.
What’s not
Shaad Ali as a director is pretty impressive in the first half, but fails drastically
post interval. The climax too is very abrupt
and ditches the expectations created in the
minds of the audience. It leaves you high
and dry. Ritesh Soni could have done a better job at editing. Parineeti’s character is
unnecessarily rebellious and loud, which
doesn’t work in her favour. When the song
‘Bol Beliya’ plays on the screen, Parineeti
and Govinda are shown in a split screen
format. And in spite of looking hot, Gov-
inda grabs all the attention off Parineeti.
Also, too many songs at irregular intervals
spoil this action thriller.
Bad writing, along with bad direction,
kills Govinda’s performance and Ranveer’s charm. Having said this, the film is
a must-watch for Govinda fans.
Our rating:
26
CRICKETING GEMS
W E E K L Y
Yet another record tumbles.
It’s Rohit Sharma this time
It was Misbah barely two weeks ago, who
batted his way into the record books, and
now it’s the turn of Rohit Sharma
Shahid Ahmad
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
B
arely had the excitement settled down
about Misbah UlHaq of Pakistan equalling
Viv Richard’s record of the
fastest century in test cricket
and setting a new record for
fastest 50 in test cricket, in
the same match, when we
witnessed another incredible world record-breaking
knock. This time, from an
Indian—Rohit Sharma.
Cricket experts are unanimous in their opinion that
Rohit Sharma is an extremely talented youngster. However, unlike Virat
Kohli, he has consistently
failed to exploit his skills,
to their optimum level. His
biggest weakness being,
inconsistency. On many an
occasion, a casual approach
and poor shot selection has
cost him his wicket.
However, time and again,
he has demonstrated his
brilliance. It is, after all,
not an easy task for a batsman to hit a double century
in ODIs… Not once, but
twice. His first knock, of
209, came against the formidable Australians at Bangalore, back on November 2, 2013. In this knock,
against the Aussies, which
fell short by 10 runs of Sehwag’s world record for
highest ODI score, Sharma
amassed his 209 in just 158
deliveries. This spectacular
double century included
12 fours and was studded
with 16 glorious sixes, as
well. The latter statistic is a
world record.
This promising youngster was, perhaps, always
destined to achieve much
greater heights in his career.
On November 13, 2014, he
set the Eden Gardens, on
fire. Opening the Indian innings against Sri Lanka in
the 4th ODI, Rohit Sharma
batted himself into the record books, by the end of
his innings.
He hammered an unbelievable 264 in 173 balls
faced, against the Lankans.
In doing so, Sharma broke
Virender Sehwag’s world
record of 219, by quite a
distance. He also became
the first batsman in the history of the game, to have
scored two double centuries
in ODIs.
When you achieve such
a landmark, you are almost certain to break many
other records as well. Rohit
Sharma did exactly that.
The stylish right-hander
smashed 33 fours in this
historic knock, eclipsing
Sehwag’s 32, for a new
world record. With this performance, he also snatched
the record for highest number of boundaries in an ODI
innings, 42 in all, including
Sharma has smashed the highest individual score in ODIs Pic/Sportzpics
264
runs
173
balls
Sharma has become the only batsman in history to score two double centuries in ODI
9 massive sixes.
What is really remarkable
about this great knock is the
fact that he paced it so beautifully. His first 50 came in
72 deliveries. He reached
100 in 100 deliveries, taking only 28 deliveries for
his second fifty. From 100
to 200, Sharma faced just
51 deliveries. He simply
massacred the Sri Lankan
attack for the next 50, slamming it in just 15 balls, at
a spectacular strike rate of
333.33. At the end of his innings, his overall strike rate
was an impressive 152.60.
Many critics may hold the
view that it’s all too easy to
score huge knocks on the
flat wickets of the Subcontinent. However, they should
bear in mind that the next
highest score in this Indian
innings, was a knock of 66
by the Indian stand-in captain, Virat Kohli. Therefore,
Rohit Sharma’s feat did re-
quire application, skill and
stroke play for him to have
hammered the new world
record for highest ODI
score, at 264.
pic/rediff.com
It is also important to
remember that against his
individual score of 264, Sri
Lanka’s entire team could
only respond with 251, on
the same strip of 22 yards
in Eden Gardens.
Though Rohit Sharma
made his ODI debut on June
23, 2007, against Ireland,
he has been in and out of
the Indian team. At times,
because of poor form and
more recently, due to injuries. This is reflected quite
clearly on his total number
of appearances in the ODI
format.
Rohit Sharma has represented Team India in 125
ODIs thus far, and has only
five centuries under his belt
(two of which are double
centuries). His indiscretions, especially in regard
to his poor shot selection,
has resulted in an inability
to convert more of his 23
fifties into hundreds.
With the amount of talent he possesses, one hopes
he will serve Indian cricket
on a long-term basis, and
establish himself as being
in the same league as Virat
Kohli. His acid test, therefore, will be the way he
performs in the India-Australia series, Down Under,
and then, in the 2015 World
Cup, also to be played in
Australia and New Zealand,
later next year.
A few knocks of just one
hundred runs less than the
mammoth 264, on these
wickets, would be as valuable as his recent world
record-breaking
knock
against the Lankans.
Rohit Sharma’s Knock – At-a-glance
Runs scored
Balls faced Dots
264
173
Singles
Doubles
5868 5
Fours
Sixes
33 9
Rohit Sharma’s Knock – Off-side vs. On-side
Side
Runs
Fours
Sixes
27 4
22
4
On-side117 41 1
11
5
Off-side147
Singles
Doubles Rohit Sharma’s Knock – Balls per 50 scored
Runs scored
Balls faced
Fours
Sixes
Strike/Rate
50 7250 69.44
100 100121
100.00
150 125193
120.00
200 151255
132.45
250 166328
150.60
264
152.60
173
33
9
FUN & LEISURE
W E E K L Y
Your Horoscope — November 23 to November 29, 2014
Munisha Khatwani
astrologer and tarot card reader - [email protected]
ARIES
These last few weeks of
the year seem to be good
for you. Mercury is in a
strong position, but you need to be careful if you plan to make any investments in
property. Love life enters a good phase.
Those who have recently had heartbreak,
you can look forward to a better phase.
Finances too look good, as Venus is in a
strong position.
LEO
Stress and some delays
in in-coming finances are
indicated. The following
year promises to be better. Relationships,
though, will have a smooth sail. Singles
can look forward to some special people
giving you more importance. You might
purchase a luxury item soon, like a vehicle. Some old contacts will help you
professionally.
TAURUS
Watch your thoughts, as
they are powerful and
you can manifest things
quickly. As far as work is concerned,
this is definitely a better phase for you.
Those starting their careers should look
forward to something good happening
soon. However, it is not a good time for
health, so pay attention. Finances will
be stable.
You may be facing a tough
time in your relationship;
be patient. Since Venus sits
in a weak position, try to sort out issues
by communicating well. Professionally,
this is a good time for you. You may close
a couple of deals. Individuals in the field
of media will get more fame and success
in the coming days.
VIRGO
LIBRA
You seem to be realizing
all your dreams recently.
This phase will continue
even now. Fame and popularity will
knock your door in the coming days.
Planet Venus sits in a strong position,
which helps you fulfill your dreams and
desires. Singles may get into a relationship, while for others, marriage is on the
cards. Finances look good too.
You are happy with the
way your career is shaping up. You have drawn
the card of the World, which indicates
foreign travel and success in all your
endeavours. Those starting a new line of
business, invest your money wisely. Married Librans will enter a better phase with
their spouses and will get to spend quality
time with him or her.
CAPRICORN
SAGITTARIUS
Marriage and happiness is
on the cards, reveals the
tarot. Those who are engaged, this is definitely a happy period.
Your career too is on the right track. If you
want to study abroad, this is a good time
to plan for the same. Your family will give
you a lot of support. You will work very
hard towards a particular project and will
get success, but not immediately.
GEMINI
Marriage plans are on
the cards, but there could
be some delays as well.
Don’t rush into doing anything. As far
as you career growth is concerned, you
will need to take things slowly. Don’t
push for success too hard. Some of you
will want to do some charity or help the
needy. You might suffer from backache,
so, be aware.
AQUARIUS
Many new opportunities
will come your way over
the new few weeks. Weigh
your options and then choose what’s best.
Since you have drawn the card of 3 of
Pentacles, you will get appreciation for
your work and principles from others. If
you have a tiff with a friend, sort it out
now. Some of you will extend a helping
hand to family members financially.
CANCER
Old friendships are back
on track, which makes you
happy. At work, a slow,
but steady growth is indicated. Since
Moon is strong, this will get your creative
and artistic juices flowing. Those wanting to marry will have to wait some more.
Married individuals could plan a family
soon. Since Mars is a little weak, it can
cause you minor health issues.
SCORPIO
You may face ups and
downs in your relationship, since the cards you
have drawn are not so positive. But, you
may grow spiritually and will think deeply about other things in life. On the health
front, you can expect positive changes,
which will lift up your mood. Things
look alright on the work front. Singles
will have to wait a while to tie the knot.
PISCES
If your relationship has
turned sour, let it go as
something better will
come your way in future. As you have
pulled the card of 8 of Wands, you are
bound to get quick and positive success
at work. Look for new hobbies to keep
your mind occupied. Foreign travel is indicated. Health gets better, as you focus
on your fitness and diet regimes.
ARCHIE COMIC
Shahid Ahmad
Vijay Rampal
MANAGEMENT
Shahid Ahmad
Managing Director
Daniyal Khan
Executive Director
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Shahid Ahmad
CONSULTING EDITOR
Sannam Ahmad
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Payal Kamat Samant
CORRESPONDENTS
Dubai Bureau
Delhi Bureau
Mumbai Bureau
Bengaluru Bureau
Kochi Bureau
MEDIA SALES-UAE
EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIVE
DUBAI:
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2901, 1 Lake Plaza, ClusterT
JLT, P.O. Box: 309070, Dubai
Tel: +971 4 4423785,
Mob: +971 50 6514603
Email: [email protected]
(North & West India)
Quick Clues
Down
1 Sorrow (7)
2 Approximate (7)
3 Without purpose (9)
4 Unduly severe (5)
5 Full to capacity (3-6)
6 Unexpected additional benefit (5)
7 Originate (7)
8 In a melodious way (7)
14 A fair chance (4,5)
15 For each person (3,6)
16 Mythical winged horse (7)
17 Without exception (7)
19 Ingenuousness (7)
20 South American country (7)
22 Forbidden by social custom (5)
23 Supplementary (5)
FOUNDERS
MEDIA SALES-INDIA
WEEKLY CROSSWORD - 36
Across
1 Green leaf vegetable (7)
5 Unemployed (7)
9 Fantasist (7)
10 Ordinary (7)
11 Obliterate (5)
12Initial advantage (4,5)
13 As it were (2,2,5)
15 Devoutness (5)
16 Concisely cogent (5)
18 Staying power (9)
21 Within reach (3-2-4)
24 Farewell (5)
25 Capable of explanation (7)
26 The last part (4,3)
27 Shakespearean moneylender (7)
28 Layman (7)
27
MUMBAI:
PDM Media (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Allwyn D’souza
Mobile: +91 9833038666
Tel: +91 22 61177900
E: [email protected]
Solution to last
week’s puzzles
DELHI OFFICE:
Swapnil Sinha
Mobile: +91 8585916446
Tel: +91 11 41071743
E : [email protected]
(South India)
CHENNAI:
Aakarshana Media Comms.
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Mobile: +91 9382335287 /
+91 9841015356
BANGALORE OFFICE:
D. B. Dutta
Mobile: +91 9845305675
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Anil Kumar
PRINTING
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Publishing Co
PO Box: 485100, Dubai
DISTRIBUTION
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Logistics L.L.C
PO Box 211289, Dubai
PUBLISHED BY
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PO Box 54217, Dubai
UNDER LICENSE
Dubai Media City
28
W E E K L Y
Valid until 30th November 2014
Interested? SMS NQ11 to 4881

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