/India PRwire/ - Chembond Chemicals Limited (Chembond), announced today it has inaugurated its latest plant located at Dudhwada in Vadodara district.

“The site in Dudhwada will comfortably cater to our growth for the next few years. The site had been selected keeping in mind that our future diversification projects will be located there” said Dr. Vinod D. Shah, Executive Chairman of Chembond while inaugurating the new facility. Chembond has been growing consistently over the years on the strength of its technology and service capabilities.

“We would now be able to de-bottleneck our Tarapur plant operations and the free capacity there will be used to cater to the growth generated by our other divisions” added Sameer V. Shah, Vice Chairman and Managing Director. Chembond operates two plants at Tarapur for metal treatment chemicals and paints and coatings.

“This is the best plant we have built so far, incorporating professional layouts and design, newer building materials and techniques and appropriate automation and control. Our customers for construction chemicals and water treatment chemicals will be served from this new plant”, said Nirmal V. Shah, Joint Managing Director. Situated on the same site is a specialised laboratory dedicated to construction chemicals product development. The company had last year commissioned its construction chemicals manufacturing plant near Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Chembond Chemicals Limited has headquarters in Mumbai and focuses on the speciality chemicals segment. The company is listed on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE : CHEMBOND) and has an established presence across India. It operates four divisions – construction chemicals, coatings, trading and biotechnology; and two joint ventures – Henkel Chembond Surface Technologies Ltd. and Chembond Ashland Water Technologies Ltd.

/India PRwire/ - Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd. (BCCL), one of the largest media conglomerates in India and the publisher of Times of India has acquired a stake in Manhattan Communications (India) Private Limited, through Times Private Treaties. Manhattan Communications specializes in total marketing solutions which include advertising, branding, public relations, marketing (media, interactive, ATL, BTL) and events in India.

Manhattan Communication boasts a client base which includes some of India’s top brands providing innovative strategies and solutions to meet their marketing objectives from branding to aggressive acquisitions facilitated via traditional methods, guerrilla marketing or innovation. The company is an integrated affiliate of MediaMorphosis Inc., a full service marketing agency located in the United States that specializes in targeting ethnic markets, specifically the growing South Asian Diaspora in North America, UK, and Europe.

Speaking on the tie-up with BCCL Mr. Adris Chakraborty, Chairman said, “we are extremely excited to partner with Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd as we feel the partnership offers us a significant resource which we can use to continue to push the envelope for our clients and partners to help them compete in the now global market. Clients look to us to bring them to leadership positions in their respective category, we feel with BCCL we can better deliver on this goal”.

Manhattan Communications delivers ROI to its clients by tapping into its extensive pool of global resources and partners to effectively deliver on objectives at cost. It holds strategic partnership with market leaders in entertainment, creative, web 2.0, digital services and media. Its full service affiliates include leading ethnic marketing agencies Here&Now365 communications in the UK and MediaMorphosis Inc in the North America. More information can be found on their website www.mymanhattancom.com.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

/India PRwire/ - Today as most companies are gearing up to avoid any disaster. Venture Infotek, India’s leading transaction processing and knowledge management company announced that it is in a position to meet up the challenges when facing with Disasters like Monsoons, Earthquakes, Tsunami, Fire, or Civil commotion.

Venture Infotek which has its Disaster Recovery Site (DRS) at Bangalore, ensures business continuity for its customers and business partners, in case of any disaster or major information service disruption at its primary data centre in Mumbai.

Announcing this facility, Mr. Piyush Khaitan, Managing director of Venture Infotek said, “This Disaster Recovery Center of Venture Infotek provides real time comprehensive Business Recovery Service to the customers of Venture Infotek, which is essentially needed in today’s competitive business environment. This Disaster Recovery Site has been built in Bangalore, which is in a different seismic zone. Both, the primary and secondary data centers are mirror images of each other with real-time data replication enabled between the two sites. In addition, the well-defined disaster management process involves monitoring, analyzing and identifying an emerging crisis and taking necessary steps. Venture Infotek is geared up to respond to the crisis and execute the defined action on time.”

The Disaster Management solution was implemented by IBM for Venture Infotek, and entailed a capex investment of Rs 100 Mn, besides an operating budget of Rs. 40 Mn each year. Venture Infotek has in effect replicated its entire data center facility at Bangalore as a ‘Hot Standby’. On-line data replication is done using Veritas on-line replication technology. This ensures that the servers at the primary site, and the back-up site are always in synch. The two sites are linked by leased lines from multiple service providers, and using Juniper Networks’ Peribit solution, provides a 40 mbps effective data throughput. The disaster recovery center has payment gateways linking it to 24,000 banks globally to ensure continued transaction authorization and processing.

This complex solution was implemented over a period of 6 months, and is now an international reference site for such a complex implementation. Venture Infotek tests this site on a regular basis, by doing a cut-over exercise, and operating exclusively from the Back-up center to ensure its effectiveness

The Disaster Management team of experts ensures that all the areas of Emergency Management, right from installing a public address system for mass communication to arranging for radio and television access for quick information, and from maintaining emergency cash balance to enlisting emergency numbers of various services are adequately covered. Venture Infotek has designed an explicit communication policy for its customers, vendors and employees working onsite and offsite for communication during and post-emergency. Apart from these steps, Venture Infotek has also arranged dedicated lines for incoming calls and hotline between its various branches, besides stocking spare mobile handsets, chargers and batteries.

“Venture Infotek’s mission of providing e-infrastructure through a suite of on-line, fully integrated set of products, services, and widely accessible shared e-infrastructure has been accomplished by easing of the panic of its clients and end customers through it Disaster Recovery Site”, added Mr. Khaitan.

Venture Infotek caters to 40 leading Indian institutions from the Banking & Corporate sector like Axis Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation etc.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Venture Infotek Global Pvt. Ltd. is India's leading ISO 9001:2000 transaction processing and knowledge management company. The company has practically built the Indian third party credit card processing industry from scratch. Having built a dominant position in the Indian Transaction Processing landscape over the past 10 years, Venture Infotek provides integrated end-to-end card payment solutions to organizations across industry verticals like banking, financial services, petroleum, retail and telecom. Venture Infotek manages payment card and other transactions emanating from over 140,000 Merchant locations in India, and managed card issuing programs for over 5,000,000 cards. Last year Venture Infotek processed 150 Mn transactions and commerce of Rs. 35,000 Cr. With a truly pan-India reach from Leh to Port Blair, Venture Infotek services are available in over 6,000 unique PIN codes across the country. For more on Venture Infotek, please log on to www.ventureinfotek.com

Bank of Rajasthan, one of the fastest growing, technology driven and customer friendly private sector bank, has announced a revision in Non-Resident (External) Rupee Deposits (NRE) and Foreign Currency Non-Resident Deposits (Banks) FCNR (B) with effect from September 01, 2008.

(A) NRE Fixed Deposits

As per the revised rates, interest rates on Non-Resident (External) Rupee deposits for :

1 year to less than 2 years has been revised to 3.21% from 3.25% p.a.

2 year to less than 3 years has been revised to 3.31% from 3.50% p.a.

and rate for 3 years and above has been revised to 3.63% from 3.86% p.a.

(B) FCNR Deposits

The interest rate on FCNR (B) deposits in U.S. Dollar for :

1 year to less than 2 years has been revised to 2.46% from 2.50% p.a.

2 years to less than 3 years has been revised to 2.56% from 2.75% p.a.

3 years & above but less than 4 years has been revised to 2.88% from 3.11% p.a.

4 years & above but less than 5 years has been revised to 3.10% from 3.34% p.a.

5 years only has been revised to 3.26% from 3.49% p.a.

The interest rates on FCNR (B) deposits in Great Britain Pounds for :

1 year to less than 2 years has been revised to 5.27% from 5.42% p.a.

2 years & above to less than 3 years has been revised to 4.65% from 4.88% p.a.

3 years only has been revised to 4.63% from 4.87% p.a.

The interest rates on FCNR (B) deposits in Euro for

1 year to less than 2 years has been revised to 4.58% from 4.62% p.a.

2 years and above but less than 3 years has been revised to 4.13% from 4.29% p.a.

3 years only has been revised to 4.03% from 4.25% p.a.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Bank of Rajasthan

Established way back in 1943, Bank of Rajasthan is one of the fastest growing private banks in the country, which has made rapid strides by making consistent profits for past several years. With a wide network of 463 branches in the entire length and breadth of the country, Bank of Rajasthan has emerged as one of the largest private sector banks in the country. The bank has made tremendous and historical progress during the last few years, thanks to the prudent corporate governance and vision shown by the new management. The Bank has over 2 million customer base and offers ATM facilities at over 10,500 ATMs across the country with strategic tie-up with other banks. All the branches of bank spread over 286 cities across India in 22 states and 2 union territories and all branches offering online services. The bank has covered 125 cities in Rajasthan alone.

Financial Highlights for the FY 2007- 08

The bank has maintained its growth in net profit for the financial year 2007-08. The net profit of the bank increased to Rs. 115.20 crore for the year ended March 31.2008 against Rs. 110.57 crore for the previous full year. The bank has given 1:5 bonus shares (i.e. 1 equity share for every 5 equity share). In the last year also, bank gave bonus shares in the ratio of 1 share for very 4 shares held. This is the second bonus in a row in last two years.

/India PRwire/ - Five students from recognized schools in Chennai will represent India for the first time ever in the World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) to be held in Washington DC, USA from September 5 - 15, 2008. Started as a unique training session by Ramco Systems, the selected students for the first time will make India proud and stand up on the debating stage. 39 countries will be participating in the internationally acclaimed 2008 WSDC.

S. Pranav Kumar (Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School, K.K. Nagar, Std. IX), Sithara Rasheed (Sri Sankara Sr. Sec. School, Adyar, Std. XI), Rajalakshmi Natarajan (Sri Sankara Sr. Sec. School, Adyar, Std. XI), Shreya Murali (Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School, Nungambakkam, Std. IX) and Amrithavarshini (Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec. School, Nungambakkam, Std. IX) will represent the Indian team. India’s first debate will be against Slovakia, followed by Bermuda, Pakistan, Australia, Mexico, Japan, USA and South Korea.

Coached by Andrew Fitch, a renowned debater from the English Speaking Union, UK and managed by Ms. Padmini, Principal - Arsha Vidya Mandir the five students have had series of training modules preparing them for the championship. Ramco Systems will sponsor the entire visit of the students and coaches.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. P.R. Venketrama Raja Vice Chairman, Managing Director & CEO, Ramco Systems said, “Events like these provide students an excellent opportunity to go international and interact with the best coaches and students from other prestigious schools. Ramco Systems is proud to sponsor this historic event for the first time in India which is aimed to give a wonderful platform for students to debate. Structure Debating helps our children to think logically and put forward their point of view with grace and elegance. Our children are our future and we need to put in our efforts for our country’s better tomorrow”.

Coach Andrew Fitch, English Speaking Union added, “Its going to be a real challenge for the team but our team is all geared up and I think the sky is the limit for them.”

39 teams have registered for the 2008 WSDC in Washington DC. Few of the participating countries are Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, United States, Zimbabwe etc.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

World Schools Debating Workshop

From June 13 – 18, 2008, Ramco Systems organized the Chennai Schools Debating workshop, in conjunction with the English-Speaking Union an international education charity based in London, for some of Chennai’s most prestigious schools. (Arsha Vidya Mandir, Bala Vidya Mandir, PS Senior Secondary School, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Sr. Sec School – KK Nagar & Nugambakkam, Shree Sankara Sr. Sec School.) The workshop was held to teach students the skills in debating, argument and rhetoric. It also introduced students to the World Schools Debating format, which provides a formalized structure for debates between two teams of three speakers each. The workshop had been led by coaches from the UK who had come to Chennai on behalf of the English-Speaking Union: Patrick Emerson, Alex Worsnip and Eve Hibbert–Keene all of whom have extensive experience of debating as competitors, adjudicators and coaches.

A range of debating sessions from reasoning and evidence to listening and response, expression & delivery was conducted. Topics such as International Relations and rights were covered in the workshop. The workshop culminated into a mini competition, resulting in the selection of the five students who would enter the World Schools Debating Championships to be held at Washington.

About the World Schools Debating Championships

The World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) is a truly global competition for high school debaters. The Championships take place each year in a different country, hosted by a national debating body. Recent venues include Sydney, London, Johannesburg, Singapore, Lima and in 2006 Cardiff, Wales. All Debates take place in English. Each country can submit a squad of 3-5 students under 19 in full time education in that country to debate social, moral and political issues. Post patrons of the championships include Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela. The aims of the World Schools Debating Champions are to achieve excellence in debating, to encourage debating throughout the world, to promote international understanding and free speech. For more information: please visit www.schoolsdebate.com

About Ramco Systems

Ramco Systems, part of the USD 800+ million Ramco Group, has delivered enterprise software and services since 1989. Today, Ramco is a global provider serving over 100,000 users with more than 1,800 employees operating out of 18 offices in 9 countries. Ramco Systems develops cost effective, flexible and innovative enterprise applications that can be deployed fast. It helps businesses respond to change swiftly. The company provides solutions to multiple verticals including banking, insurance, manufacturing, supply chain, aviation, transportation and logistics, healthcare, governance, retail and more. Ramco’s collaborative solution innovation platform - Ramco VirtualWorks ensures that when your business changes, your system changes too. Ramco Systems has been certified for ISO 9001:2000 quality standards, ISO 27001 security standards and assessed at SEI CMMi - SW Level 5. For more information, please visit www.ramco.com

/India PRwire/ - Always at the forefront of innovating high tech, yet relevant technology products for the discerning consumer, Godrej Appliances has now set its sights on changing the way Indian’s enjoy their television viewing experience. Culminating from months of advanced technology and consumer research, Godrej Appliances today announced its entry into the Indian television market with the launch of its stunning Godrej EON range of XLCDs with iPIX technology.

Cleaner Images for the best viewing experience!

Poised to make a colorful start from Andhra Pradesh, the most dynamic of all Indian television markets, the Godrej EON XLCD - with iPIX technology makes your screen come alive with strikingly Cleaner Images that you may never have seen or imagined before. Intelligent Processing for Image Excellence (iPIX) Technology uses the similar technology used by remote sensing satellites to receive input signals and cleans them by reducing video noise levels, improving sharpness and clarity for a flawless viewing experience. One of the biggest plus points that Godrej has with iPIX technology is that it is perhaps the only demonstrable technology which shows visual improvement in the video images.

iPIX works on the input signals in four ways:

p iPIX Sharpness Enhancement : iPIX corrects blurred, hazy images. The superior built in algorithm uses a unique filter to enhance vertical and horizontal details to produce natural images with sharper transients. Image defects are detected and immediately corrected for much sharper and cleaner images on your LCD screen

p iPIX Color Optimizer: Brightness and color information is analyzed for every pixel. Red, Green and Blue pixels are treated independently so the image does not look unnaturally bright or faded

p iPIX Contrast Enhancer: Dark or bright regions of the picture are stretched towards the corresponding shade, with regions in-between enhanced to give a more impressively detailed and contrasting image

p iPIX Skin Tone Reproduction: Detects skin pixels and adjust hues for more lifelike natural skin tone

Commenting on their entry into the television category, Mr. George Menezes, COO, Godrej Appliances said, “Godrej has always focused its efforts on innovative design and technology aimed at delivering the most efficient and enjoyable products for the masses. Godrej has rich knowledge and years of experience in aerospace technology and we have garnered this expertise to give the Indian consumer a revolution in TV viewing. We have spent the last 3 years not just in developing superior technology but also in developing the infrastructure, most critical being service for LCDs and CRTs. Infact, in Andhra Pradesh, our service network is the largest, even before the launch of the

product. We are confident that our precision designed EON range of televisions with iPIX Technology for Cleaner Images will raise the bar on the markets expectations. Andhra Pradesh is an excellent market for televisions and we are looking forward to the continued support and patronage of our customers here.”

Added Mr. Kamal Nandi, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Godrej Appliances, “Nowadays, the Indian consumer is well aware of what is available in the market and demands the highest quality products using the latest technology. Customers are even willing to pay a premium provided they get the best in class. Television continues to be one of the fastest growing markets, more so in LCDs for which we have specially designed the Godrej EON XLCD with iPIX technology. Before making their purchase, customers can take a demonstration and actually see the Cleaner Images our technology delivers. We are confident of making a significant impact into the Andhra Pradesh market within the first few months of our launch, after which we will move into other states.”

Godrej’s EON Range of televisions consists of 13 XLCD and CRT models of different screen sizes from 15” to 42” configured with various speaker options for full rich sound. More details of the range and features are provided in a separate sheet. The range will be available across Andhra Pradesh from Godrej showrooms and its extensive dealer network.

The launch will be supported through a well planned advertising and marketing strategy highlighting the “Cleaner Images” through iPIX technology, using various media channels and customer demo/education initiatives. Prior to its launch, Godrej had run an interesting pre launch teaser campaign about Scientists inventing an advanced ‘Clean Up’ technology. The idea was to arouse curiosity about what this “Clean up” was all about – which is the Godrej EON XLCD range that gives “Cleaner Images”.

Growth Plans:

The CTV industry in India is pegged at 10.5 MN units of which Andhra Pradesh is .86 MN units. Overall this industry is growing at 17% at an all India Level. Godrej with its new and extensive range of products with stylish looks and latest technology is looking at 10% market share market share within one year of operation.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

The Godrej Group is one of the largest players of Home Appliances in India and has always delighted the consumer with relevant technology in a wide range of efficient products. In 1958, Godrej was the First Indian Company to manufacture Refrigerators and has become synonymous with the category. Godrej pioneered the launch of Polyurethane Foam (PUF) which became the new benchmark for the refrigerator industry. With Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Washing Machines, Microwave Ovens, DVD Players, and now Televisions in its product basket, Godrej is a full line consumer durable player.

For more information about Godrej Appliances, please visit www.godrejappliances.com

/India PRwire/ - CERA Sanitaryware Limited, Country’s leading bathroom solutions major has launched premium designer tiles with the opening of its exclusive showroom, CERA VOGUE, in Delhi, by its Executive Director, Mr Vidush Somany. The showroom located on the main road at Lajpat Nagar in Delhi, displays over 100 concepts of designer tiles—imported from leading tile manufacturers of Italy and Spain, apart from regular polished vitrified tiles.

“CERA VOGUE offers best of tiles to architects, interior designers and high-end customers, who are looking for exclusive and customized options. Soon, CERA will have more such showrooms in other major cities in India, says Mr Santosh Nema, Chief Executive Officer, CERA.

According to Mr. Deepak Agarwal, GM, CERA’s tile venture, “The tile collection has latest finishes like lapato, metal, stone wood and polished vitrified tiles. Apart from conventional sizes like 30x30 cm, 30x60 cm, 40x40 cm, 60x60 cm, CERA’s collection has newer sizes like 20x50 cm, 47.2x70.8 cm and big slabs like 40x120 cm and 60x120 cm.”

CERA’s tiles are marketed under the umbrella brand—Castello and are handpicked from best of the manufacturers in Europe, like Rondine Group, Emil Ceramica and Gigacer in Italy and Diago Ceramica and Rocerca in Spain.

With the addition of tiles to its portfolio, the customers can now look forward to one more premium offering from CERA stable—and an assured quality and unmatched after-sales service.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

CERA, which launched sanitaryware in India in 1980, has the manufacturing plant near Ahmedabad for manufacturing 2.8 million pieces of sanitaryware per annum, making it the biggest plant in the country. Cera has been consistently growing at above 25% in the past several years. Apart from sanitaryware, CERA also provides taps and shower products, making it a total bathroom solutions provider.

/India PRwire/ - National Film Development Corporation's Screenwriters’ Labfor writers with screenplays in development is pleased to announce this year’s distinguishedguest mentors and advisors who bring their expertise from all over the world toshare with the Indian participants in Goa. The list is as follows:

Ido Abram

Director, Binger Filmlab

Ido Abram was formerly attached to the International FilmFestival Rotterdam as CineMart Director and Head of Public Relations andIndustry Affairs. CineMart is the annual co-production market of theInternational Film Festival Rotterdam. In August 2005, Ido joined Binger as itsnew director. In addition, he is a consultant to the European Film Market ofthe Berlin Film Festival, a consultant to the Producers Network of the CannesFilm Festival, a consultant to the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum and anadvisor to the Dutch Film Fund.

Marten Rabarts

Artistic Director, Binger Filmlab

With a background in producing film and documentaries,Marten has been head of the Binger Programmes since 2001. In January 2006 hewas named Artistic Director of the newly branded BINGER FILMLAB. He wasresponsible for the Binger Partnership in the production/training incentiveProject 10 – real stories from a free South Africa. He continues to workas a producer, screenwriter and Script Editor and has recently served as Jurymember of the Berlin Film Festival International Short Film Jury (2005)Sundance NHK prize (2003) and The Netherlands Film Festival KODAK developmentaward (2004, 2005).

Guest Mentors

Sooni Taraporevalais an award winning screenwriter, photographer and now director, has beenwriting screenplays for the past 21 years. Most recently she has written thescreenplay of the film The Namesake, based on the book by Jhumpa Lahiri,directed by Mira Nair with whom she has earlier collaborated with on Salaam Bombay! and Mississipi Masala. In 2007 she directed her first film Little Zizou whichis the closing night film at the MIAAC festival in New York City and is slated for a March 2009release. She is currently writing the adaptation of Mark Shand's book TravelsOn My Elephant.

Udayan Prasad isan award winning UKbased director whose work includes the critically acclaimed BrothersIn Trouble (1995), My Son The Fanatic (OfficialSelection Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997,) and his fifthfeature is The Yellow Handkerchief, starring William Hurt, Maria Bello,Kristen Stewart and Eddie Redmayne. Produced by Arthur Cohn and shot in Louisiana, the film was his US debut, and had its premier inJanuary 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival.

Franz Rodenkirchenis an International Script Editor and Tutor. He currently heads the consultingdepartment at Berlin-based script development company Script House. He is Headof Selection for Torino Film Lab. As script advisor he regularly works for theBinger Filmlab, Amsterdam; European workshopScript&Pitch; CineLink, the co-production market of the Sarajevo FilmFestival, and the Deutsche Film-und Fernseh Akademie, Berlin. Franzhas been working on well over 100 mostly international film projects,predominantly with writer/directors. He is also a regular at co-productionmarkets all over Europe and besides doingproject development has helped writers/directors to prepare public pitches.

Philippa Campbellis ones of New Zealand’smost accomplished producers known for her development process and is formerchair of the NZ Writers Guild. Her recently produced credits include Rain byChristine Jeffs, No2 by Toa Fraser (2006 Audience Award winner at Sundance), andBlack Sheep by Jonathon King.

This experienced and talented team of professionals will mentor eight Indian writers over a 5 day period. At the end of the workshop participants will have four months to submit revised versions of these scripts. The scripts will be co-owned by NFDC and will receive production support towards their realisation of becoming feature films. Entries are being accepted till September 15th.

The Screenwriters' Lab is part of NFDC's line-up of activities that are being held in Goa at the end of November. It runs alongside Film Bazaar which is the Coproduction Market for feature films and documentaries. As was the case in 2007, at Film Bazaar industry members from India and other parts of the world will travel to Goa to consider partnering with Indian stories that are geared for a global marketplace. While the feature film market and the writing workshop were held last year the documentary section is a new initiative.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

National Film Development Corporation of India is the central agency established to encourage the cinema movement in the country. Theprimary goal of the NFDC is to plan, promote and organize an integratedand efficient development of the Indian film industry and fosterexcellence in cinema. Over the years NFDC has provided a wide range ofservices essential to the growth of Indian cinema. The NFDC (and itspredecessor the Film Finance Corporation) has so far funded and/or producedover 300 films. These films, in various Indian languages, have beenwidely acclaimed and have won many national and international awards.

/India PRwire/ - India’s largest district Leh will be the first city to host “3rd CMS VATAVARAN 2008- Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival” between 11th – 13th September. The theme of the festival is Climate Change. Such festival is being held in Leh for the first time.

“The festival will start from Leh and travel to the cities of Agartala, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune & Ranchi from September 2008 to January 2008,” said Ms P. N. Vasanti, Director CMS. Providing a unique opportunity for students, individuals, filmmakers, environmentalists, corporate organizations, government officials, scientists, etc to interact and network for enhanced co-operation, knowledge and expertise exchange. The 2008 festival will have Seminars, Symposium, Panel

Discussions, Film Screenings, Climate Change Exhibition, Photography Exhibitions, Expert Talks and Competitions based on the Festival Theme to create awareness among the general public about the issue, the consequences and action which need to be taken to curb this catastrophe.

The festival showcases the best of the Indian and International environment and wildlife films. CMS VATAVARAN is not just celebrating the cinematic art of the films but focusing more on using the films as a tool and catalyst for change. Some of the participating films have also been responsible in bringing changes in legislations, policy and people's attitude.

While the Leh CMS VATAVARAN is being organized in association with WWF-India, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council as the State Partner and the Department of Wildlife Protection, Govt of J&K as the Programme Partner. In each city, CMS VATAVARAN 2008- the Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival, will have partners to communicate the theme message across the target audiences.

The five month festival will explore issues of regional and local concern. It will throw open a range of interactive programmes comprising screening of approximately 40 award winning and best of CMS VATAVARAN documentaries apart from Expert Talks in each city. The screening of the films will be at Leh Auditorium with special screenings for the Army and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in their premises. In Leh a seminar on Conservation of High Altitude Wetlands and a panel discussion by children on “Environmental Concerns of Ladakh” are main highlights. A painting competition on the theme Climate Change will also be organised simultaneously. Climate Expo, Climate Change Exhibition and Film Bazaar will also be special attraction of Leh Festival.

“The wetlands of Leh are the strong bond between nature and culture and this is one of our main reasons for starting the CMS VATAVARAN 2008 from here. Also CMS VATAVARAN is not just celebrating the cinematic art of the films but focusing more on using the films as a tool and catalyst for change”, added Ms Alka Tomar, Director, Film Festival, CMS VATAVARAN.

The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council has indicated his keeness to make Leh CMS VATAVARAN an annual feature in Leh. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India and Royal Norwegian Embassy, Govt of Norway are the India Principal Partners. HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is the theme partner and SIDA (Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency) Eco-friendly Partner supporting the festival in eight cities namely Agartala, Bhopal, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Leh, Lucknow, Pune and Ranchi.

In each city the festival which will be a free-for-public event aimed at 10,000 people of all ages and streams across the city of Leh aims to ensure the participation of approximately 80,000 people during its traveling film festival in the 8 cities across the country. In each festival more than 5000 children would be participating i.e. 40,000 children all over the country would be senitized about the issues concerning planet earth. The efforts would be to ensure children from non-metros cities to participate in the festival activities.

Further details about the festival can be obtained from the festival website www.cmsvatavaran.org

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About CMS

Established in 1991, CMS is an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to research-driven initiatives that enable policy makers take informed decisions on development and social change thus helping to improve the quality of life. CMS is widely recognized for its rigorous study methodologies, the innovative approaches that it brings to research initiatives and for the credibility of its findings.

Over the past two decades CMS has engaged with issues of social development, environment, behavioural change, transparency in governance, organisational effectiveness, network analysis, impact of media, use of communication technology for networking and service delivery. The approach has been one of knowledge accretion and dissemination, and in this process CMS has emerged as an inter-disciplinary professional body.

CMS operates through specialised teams of professionals with multidimensional expertise. The teams are CMS Environment, CMS Social, CMS Communication, CMS Academy, CMS Transparency Studies, CMS Surveys and CMS Media Lab.

About WWF-INDIA

WWF-India, Leh: WWF-India is the largest organisation engaged in wildlife and nature conservation in the country. Established as a Charitable Trust in 1969, it has an experience of over three decades in the field. With modest beginnings, the organisation was propelled forward by the efforts of its founders and associates who volunteered their time and energy to lend momentum to this movement. A part of WWF International, the organisation has made its presence felt through a sustained effort not only towards nature and wildlife conservation, but sensitising people by creating awareness through capacity building and enviro-legal activism.

A challenging, constructive, science-based organisation WWF addresses issues like the survival of species and habitats, climate change and environmental education. www.wwfindia.org

About Ladakh Hill development hill Council

Leh was constituted in accordance with the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act, 1995. The council came into being with the holding of elections on August 28,1995. The inaugural meeting of the council was held at Leh on September 3,1995. The democratic constitution of the Council has heralded democratic decentralization of planning process with the involvement of people at the grass root level. Owing to the difficult geographical problems, the need for greater public participation in the planning and development process was all the more necessary. http://leh.nic.in/

Acting provides emotions and expression into animation, said Mr Paresh Parekh, creative head of Frameboxx Animation and Visual Effects, Mumbai, who is in Chandigarh to conduct special acting and film making classes for the students of animation.

A well known artist of the Hindi and Gujarati television media, Mr. Paresh Parekh is has been the casting director for Ketan Mehta's film, ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’ Dream Production's ‘Naina’, Rakeysh Ompraksh Mehra's ‘Rang De Basanti’, Percept Picture's 'Jai Santoshi Maa', upcoming thriller ‘Lonawala Khandala Ghat’, ‘Kidnap’, and ‘Rangrasia’ .

Paresh is planning a comedy movie for which he has completed the script and would go on floor early next year.

“I have been inspired by mentally challenged children whom I used to teach earlier, and their freedom of action is what I try to make animation students throw away their inhibition and learn about the body movement, expressions, posture, which can be generated through computer graphics to add realism to the animated objects”, he said.

Animators, he said, are not only the creators of character but also the directors and actors to infuse life into inanimate graphics who come alive and entertain once it is executed with perfection.

Animation is being used extensively in the field of advertising, cinema, television, education, simulation for health and aviatiopn, besides hi-end gaming industries that offer immense opportunities for a career in the industry to the Indian youngsters.

Paresh informed that at the moment there are over 70 full-length animated feature films being produced in the country including remake of many live-action movies including Shivaji, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Sholay, Andaaz Apna Apna, to name a few.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Frameboxx Animation and Visual Effects Institute started its operations on 8th December 2007 with 40 centres in India. Frameboxx enjoys the backing of the leading animation studios and film production houses and would be offering various programmes including short term of 3-months duration and 2-years diploma programmes.

/India PRwire/ - National Instruments, a technology pioneer and leader in graphical system design, announced the launch of the Planet NI (Nurturing Innovation) Foundation. The Planet NI Foundation is a non-profit initiative instituted by National Instruments with a mission of enabling current and future engineers in developing nations to achieve economic prosperity through education and easy-access to technology.

Planet NI foundation addresses the needs of education institutes and SME Entrepreneurs by providing access to technology at an affordable cost. With a vision of making this world a better place, National Instruments has a group of individuals and organisations working together towards the goal.

Mr. Victor Meires, VP - Sales, Asia, “At National Instruments, we have always worked towards making this world a better place. We achieve this by maintaining a fun and innovative corporate culture, providing tools that inspire and empower engineers and scientists to change the world. With Planet NI we want to address the issues faced by students, emerging entrepreneurs and companies by providing access to technology. To take this movement forward we invite individuals and organizations to join and support us in this endeavor. “Hundreds of entrepreneurs across the world have started their organizations using NI technology and have been very successful and continue to reach new milestones,” he added.

Planet NI comprises STEM Education, SME Entrepreneurship program and Green Engineering.

• STEM Education – This is an ongoing initiative adopted by the company to improve the quality of engineering education in the country. The Program strives to enhance learning in engineering colleges through experiential learning by collaborating with organizations working in this area. Some of the programs in this framework include Professor Internships, Centers of Excellence, Student Training and Certification, Train the Trainer Program, etc

• NI SME Benefit Program –The framework of Planet NI addresses factors affecting the technology adoption among the SMEs by providing increased affordabilityand flexible pricing for NI Technology and easy access to NI Training and Support.

• Green Engineering – In this program NI helps and educates companies to design and develop eco-friendly products.

Mr. Ravi Kumar, Managing Director, KRISAM Automation, Bangalorewas among the first to benefit from the initiative, he said "Under the NI SME Benefit Program we were able to gain access to graphical system design technology by purchasing NI LabVIEW, and this in turn opened channels for our business and increased our productivity."

Planet NI in India is driven by employees and is the company’s way of showing responsibility to fellow citizens who would like to have a better way of life

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About National Instruments:

For over 32 years, National Instruments has transformed the way engineers and scientists around the world design, prototype, and deploy systems for test, control, and embedded design applications. Using NI open graphical programming software and modular hardware, customers at more than 25,000 companies annually simplify development, increase productivity, and dramatically reduce time to market.

/India PRwire/ - Parsvnath Developers Limited (PDL), India’s leading Real Estate Company with pan India presence having diversified portfolio has announced the launch of Parsvnath Premier a Group Housing project in Parsvnath City, Indore.

The Group Housing project spread over an area of 6.3 acres is strategically located in Indore adjoining NH-3 & AB Bye Pass, Mangliya. The realization from the project is approximately Rs 60 crore and is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2011.

“At Parsvnath it has been our constant endeavor to explore opportunities to completely develop the fastest growing cosmopolitan city of India by furnishing it with residential and commercial projects so that it stands at par with the metro towns. In order to do so in the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh where we marked our presence by launching Parsvnath City, an integrated township with IT/ ITES SEZ we are further launching Parsvnath Premier.” said Mr. Sanjeev Jain, Managing Director, Parsvnath Developers Limited.

Parsvnath Premier having 4.11 lac sq. ft of saleable area offers 300 units. The project comprising of ground plus five floors would be equipped with two and three bedroom flats. The project to be built with rich construction specifications offers a gamut of leisure activities.

Parsvnath also entered into an agreement with Madhya Pradesh government for expeditious and unhindered development of its 76-acre SEZ at Indore which will create direct and indirect employment opportunities for approximately 40,000 people and is developing 100 acre Integrated Township in Ujjain.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Parsvnath Developers Limited:-

Parsvnath Developers is noted for its rapid pan India spread. It is the fastest growing real estate group in India. Parsvnath Developers is amongst the largest listed real estate companies in India. As of today, company is developing 114 mega projects spanning 211.32 million square feet in 51 cities and 18 states. For the year ended March 31, 2008, Parsvnath Developers Ltd. recorded consolidated revenues of Rs 1837.12 crore and net profit of Rs 424.39 crore.

For more details please visit www.parsvnath.com

/India PRwire/ - MMG Worldwide is a media group active in Business to Business (B2B) publications and events. Some of their journals like Outsoursing2India, Outsource2APAC and Outsource Directory are internationally renowned. After having successfully organized a convention like the IT SEZ India 2008 (Intercontinental, Goa), MMG wanted to bring Facility Management heads of leading IT, software and BPO companies under one roof to debate, discuss and learn how to improve the existing operations towards becoming a more efficient, cost effective and environment friendly organization.

Facility Management performs the twin tasks of supporting the people in the core business & taking care of the CSR as well. Facility Managers are increasingly asked to deliver support service that is broader and deeper than ever before – often with the continuing demand for cost reduction as well. Hence the roles and responsibilities of facility managers are changing and becoming more challenging. The proposed conference seeks to explore this widening horizon of facility management and has the distinction to be the first of its kind in India.

In the last decade and a half, Information Technology (IT) has emerged as a key driver of Indian economy. It has also added a lot to the development of commercial real estate in India. This growth is fuelled by the Government’s decision to have IT specific Special Economic Zones all over the country. But is the Industry ready to cash in upon the opportunities and react favorably to the situation? To facilitate an intra-industry debate and discourse upon this question, MMG Worldwide brings a series of conferences and seminars on related critical issues – the latest being a proposed conference on “Facility Management in IT specific SEZ’s in India” on 18th September at The Leela Kempinski, Mumbai.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Apnaloan.com Service Pvt. Ltd. (www.apnaloan.com), India’s first and largest personal finance supermarket have launched their home loan and personal loan comparators where one can get information about all these products online.

On home loan comparator one can actually compare features of 29 home loan products offered by various banks across the nation and can compare loan rates for 3 various products i.e. Plot of Land, Repairs & Renovations and Residential House. Both salaried as well as self-employed customers can compare data for both fixed and floating interest rates. One can also get to know about an approximate loan amount he is eligible for and the EMI he will have to pay for the seeking loan amount. The comparator also gives an in-detailed various features of the products like processing fees, upfront fees, late payment charges, prepayment charges etc. These features have been selected on the basis of the fine prints one usually misses out while taking a loan but are of utmost importance.

With the help of personal loan comparator one can compare personal loans for salaried as well as self-employed. The customer’s age is linked to the loan tenure. One can also distinguish features of 29 personal loan products offered by various banks across the nation. The comparator will inform how much EMI one will have to pay for the loan amount he is seeking for. Just like the home loan comparator this will also give an in-detailed various features of the products like Processing fees, Prepayment charges etc. The comparator will also advise if one needs a guarantor.

“Today the information available in the market in too vast and perplexed and it becomes invariably difficult for a common man to get accurate information about all the available products under one roof. We at Apnaloan, have tried to provide as much precise information on all these personal finance products across nation,” says Mr. Harsh Roongta, CEO of Apnaloan.com.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Apnaloan.com:

Apnaloan.com is India’s first and largest personal finance supermarket. Over 10, 00,000 consumers have purchased a loan product with the assistance of Apnaloan.com to date, and many more have used the site to make a better, more informed decision to buy a home, get a credit card or to borrow money. The Company has recently launched Apnainsurance.com that is a comprehensive guide to insurance in India. It enables customers search and apply for all their insurance needs.

/India PRwire/ - Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, announced today that it will launch daily service to Hyderabad, India, beginning October 27, 2008.

Hyderabad will be Air Arabia’s 43rd global destination and its 12th in India, reinforcing its status as the largest destination network in India of any Middle East-based carrier. Currently, Air Arabia provides direct service to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram.

The LCC will fly to Hyderabad daily, departing Sharjah at 0:20AM and arriving at Hyderabad at 5:30AM. Return flights will depart Hyderabad at 6:15AM and arrive in Sharjah at 8:40AM.

“Following the introduction of service to New Delhi in March, we are delighted to further expand our destination network to India by announcing the launch of service to Hyderabad,” said AK Nizar, Head of Commercial Department, Air Arabia. “Hyderabad is known for its rich history, culture and architecture representing its unique character as a meeting point for North and South India. By introducing timely, efficient and cost-effective travel options for those visiting this historic city, Air Arabia continues to demonstrate its unmatched commitment to India, especially on behalf of the significant Indian expatriate population in the UAE and wider Gulf region.

Twinned with Dubai, and also known as The City of Pearls, Hyderabad is today one of the most developed cities in India and a hub for information technology and biotechnology.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Air Arabia: Air Arabia (PJSC), listed on the Dubai Financial Market, is the Middle East and North Africa’s leading low-cost carrier (LCC). Air Arabia commenced operations in October 2003 and currently operates a fleet of 15 new Airbus A320 aircraft, serving 41 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Central Asia through itsmain hub in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Air Arabia is modeled after leading American and European low-cost airlines, and its business model is customised to accommodate local preferences. Its main focus is to make air travel more convenient through Internet bookings and offering the lowest fares in the market along with the highest levels of safety and service standards. For further information, please visit: www.airarabia.com

/India PRwire/ - Dabur India Limited, India’s leading natural healthcare company, today announced the launch of its range of natural conditioners under the Vatika brand. This is the first-ever range of natural conditioners to be introduced in the market by any consumer products maker. Dabur India also announced the launch of a mega singing & talent hunt contest in Punjab -- ‘Dabur Vatika Koyal Punjab Di’ – to celebrate the launch of the new Vatika conditioners.

“Dabur’s in-depth knowledge about nature and natural ingredients has helped us create a range of natural hair care products that offer the goodness of nature without any side effects. Chemical-based products are known to damage your hair, but the Vatika range of products -- with its herbal heritage -- is packed with the goodness of nature to give you problem-free hair,” said Dabur India Ltd Brand Manager Mr. Girish Pai.

Promising the same nutrient value as other Vatika hair care products, Vatika conditioners come in two variants – Vatika Smooth & Silky Conditioner and Vatika Root Strengthening Conditioner. “The Vatika range of conditioners is packed with the natural goodness of Henna, Amla, Green Almonds & Coconut Milk that nourish your scalp and hair and ensure that there’s no such thing as a ‘bad hair day’,” he added.

The Vatika Conditioners are available in two SKUs: 100ml for Rs 55 and 200ml for Rs 100. The active natural ingredients in these conditioners have properties that help repair damaged hair even as you go through your stressful routine. With this, Vatika has become the only brand in India to offer hair care solutions for every Indians pre-wash, wash and post-wash need. The Vatika portfolio today includes Vatika Enriched Coconut Hair Oil, four variants of Vatika shampoos and, now, two variants of Vatika conditioners.

Dabur has enriched its coconut hair oil with herbs and other natural ingredients like soya extracts, lemon oil and rosemary oil that make it superior to other coconut hair oil brands available in the market. Vatika Enriched Coconut Hair Oil makes hair stronger, thicker and shinier than normal coconut oil, and also has better dandruff control properties over normal coconut oil. These benefits have been proven through both scientific tests and consumer research. Riding on its natural heritage, Vatika today is the fastest selling shampoo brand in the country, growing ahead of international brands available in the market.

Announcing the Chandigarh auditions for their Voice talent hunt – Dabur Vatika Koyal Punjab Di – in Chandigarh, Mr. Pai said: “This Voice and Talent hunt is an initiative to connect with our consumers in Punjab. We are now taking this natural association to the next level with the launch of this talent hunt that seeks to identify the naturally melodious voice of Punjab, a voice that also embodies the core natural values of Vatika.”

Dabur Vatika Koyal Punjab Di contest seeks to empower the young women of Punjab by offering them a chance to showcase their talent on a bigger scale. The contest would be held across the top five cities across Punjab and auditions have begun today in Chandigarh. The contest –open only for girls in Punjab -- will select five finalists each from the five cities, and they will come together for the Grand Finale in Chandigarh on September 28th, 2008. The winner will get an once-in-a-lifetime chance to become the on-air singing sensation on a popular private FM radio station – Big 92.7FM.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Dabur India

Dabur India Limited is one of India’s leading FMCG Companies. Building on a legacy of quality and experience for over 120 years, Dabur today is India’s most trusted name and the world’s largest Ayurvedic and Natural Health Care Company. Dabur India’s FMCG portfolio today includes five flagship brands with distinct brand identities -- Dabur as the master brand for natural healthcare products, Vatika for premium personal care, Hajmola for digestives, Réal for fruit-based drinks and Anmol for affordable personal care business.

/India PRwire/ - AppLabs, the world’s largest independent testing, quality management and certification solutions company, today announced that it will host a live Webinar entitled ‘The Future of Testing is in the Business.’ The thirty-minute event will take place on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT / 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM GMT / 8.30 PM - 9.00 PM IST.

Testing is a business imperative. Testing helps organizations to realize and maximize the value of the business benefits that accrue from business and IT change projects. So why is testing traditionally owned by IT and why is it perceived to be a second class citizen within the IT community, let alone within the business? In the Webinar, the host Ian Londesbrough, Principal Consultant at AppLabs would addresses the preconceptions and prejudices which are rife in the IT and business communities and demonstrate that testing has a pivotal position as mediator, translator, negotiator, critical friend and arbitrator between the business and IT.

Profile of Ian Londesbrough:

Ian Londesbrough is a Principal Consultant at AppLabs. He is an inspirational thought leader and presenter who regularly speaks at conferences (e.g. ICSTest, National Outsourcing Association, EuroSTAR 2007, Butler Group, IEEE ICST 2008.), at Universities and to large multinational organizations on the ‘people and organizational aspects of testing and the importance of testing as a quality governance and assurance imperative. Ian's insight into why the business should own testing will challenge the status quo and provide thought provoking ideas.

This Webinar is aimed at the following roles within enterprise organizations:

- CIO/COO/CMO
- Business Unit Heads and Operational Heads
- QA and Testing Heads
- Testing Professionals

To register for the Webinar please visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/356580067

AppLabs Retail Online Businesses Survey

With the US/Europe holiday season less than four months away, many retailers have already started planning their online strategy for the busiest shopping period of the year. To get first hand information on how prepared are these retail online businesses to sustain the increasing number of online transactions, we recently launched a Retail Survey, now live on our web-site.

To participate in the online survey please visit –
http://www.applabs.com/html/WebsitePerformanceSurvey_621.html

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About AppLabs:

AppLabs is the world’s largest independent testing, quality management and certification solutions company. With over a decade of experience, AppLabs has become a trusted partner to more than 600 companies, providing both quality assurance and third-party validation. Clients include American Airlines, Experian, JP Morgan, VocaLink and National Australia Bank amongst others. AppLabs goes beyond technical expertise when it comes to IT services and offers customers rigorous risk mitigation processes, a singular focus on quality, expert project management, communication and global delivery capabilities. It is the first software testing company to get appraised at SEI CMMI Level 5, the highest quality standard attainable in software engineering. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company maintains advanced testing facilities in the US, India and the Europe. For more information, visit www.applabs.com

/India PRwire/ - Webkinz World™, the premiere children's virtual world, is now actively growing around the world as children everywhere want to share in the fun.

In response to worldwide demand, key elements of Webkinz World will be translated over the next several months in phases. Global participation is expected to increase dramatically. Members of Webkinz World will soon be able to play online with friends all over the world.

The multi-award-winning site has seen skyrocketing growth across North America since its launch three years ago. Children purchase a soft plush pet with a secret code, which allows them to adopt a virtual pet online. In Webkinz World, they care for their pets, decorate rooms and earn virtual money by playing games and quizzes and doing small jobs. Members can visit with 'friends' on the site and ensure their pets are happy, healthy and content.

The Webkinz World site lists distributors and stores around the world that carry the plush Webkinz pets. Ganz is launching the international Webkinz eStore (www.webkinzestore.com), giving kids in areas where Webkinz toys are not sold the chance to purchase a plush pet or a virtual pet code. Members all around the world are also able to purchase special online feature codes for exclusive virtual items to expand their play in Webkinz World.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About the Webkinz World™ site:

Each Webkinz pet carries a secret code. After logging onto www.webkinz.com, kids enter the code, adopt and name their pet, and are welcomed into a lively, activity-filled virtual world. With the code as their key, kids can enter the Webkinz World™ site without giving out any personal information such as their e-mail, last name or phone number.

Award-Winning:

In 2008, the Webkinz site received the Best of the Web award from the world's largest internet safety and help group, WiredSafety.org. In 2007 they received Toy of the Year Award from the Toy Industry Association (TIA), in the Specialty Toy category. In 2006, Webkinz pets were awarded an iParenting Media Award and the Canadian Toy Testing Council Children's Choice Award.

Take a tour! www.webkinz.com.

Contacts:
GANZ
Susan McVeigh
Communications Manager
(905) 851-6661 x2375
Email: susanv@ganz.com
Website: www.webkinz.com

/India PRwire/ - The World has adopted many great concepts, which originated in India. Be it the core of mathematics--Zero--or the way to healthy living--Yoga. Similarly the Bhagwad Gita is one of the most famous spiritual classics in the world. ISKCON attempts to unlock all the secrets of the ancient knowledge of the Gita and places them before us as an exciting opportunity for self-improvement and spiritual fulfillment.

ISKCON will be conducting an introductory session on Bhagwad Gita on 05 September, 2008 9:00 PM To 10:00 PM, on WiZiQ.com. It is the first session in a series of six sessions, every Friday at 9:00 p.m. and every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. The first session will discuss the importance of Bhagavad Gita, the spirit behind it and requirements for understanding Bhagavad Gita. This session being an introductory session would be useful for everyone tied up in the maddening material race, relationship tangles and mental confusion. One can visit http://www.wiziq.com/public to join this session.

“The teachings of the Gita are broad, universal and sublime. Its teachings do not belong to any cult, sect, creed, particular age, place or country. They are meant for the people of the whole world at large. The whole world is a big battle-field. The real Kurukshetra is within you. The battle of Mahabharata is still raging within you. Gita teaches a method which is within the reach of all. It has a message for the solace, peace, freedom, salvation and perfection of all human beings.” says Narottam Prabhuji.

About the presenter: Narottam Prabhu ji

Narottamanand Das is a computer engineer from PEC and is associated with ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) for the last 20 years. He travels and preaches the science of Krishna Consciousness all over the region. Along with his team, he is conducting seminars on stress management, personality development and various topics relevant to the corporate sector for last years.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

WiZiQ.com is an online learning platform focused on empowering teachers and education service providers to reach out to students and make learning more effective over the Internet. It boasts of a free virtual classroom tool that is equipped with live audio-video communication, chat, content sharing, and session recording capabilities. WiZiQ.com keeps organizing various public sessions for valuable knowledge exchange. WiZiQ’s Basic membership is free and Premium membership comes at a very nominal cost of just over $4/month. WiZiQ’s Virtual Classroom can also be integrated in Moodle, a free course management system.

/India PRwire/ - International Management Institute New Delhi, has released the admission notification for its Ph.D Program from & Fellow Program in Management (FPM) approved by AICTE

PH.D. PROGRAMME ADMISSION: 2008-09 (AWARDED BY GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY, NEW DELHI)

ELIGIBILITY

(a)An applicant possessing any one of the following qualifications shall be eligible to apply for admission to a Ph.D. programme.

(i)A Master's degree in Management, Engineering, Technology, Science, Architecture, Humanities, Commerce, Medicine, Law, Education or Pharmacy from a recognized Indian University, or a degree approved by Association of Indian Universities, or any other equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Academic Council of the University, in the relevant field with not less than 60% marks in aggregate.

(ii)Applicants with a Bachelor's degree in engineering technology or any other professional discipline, with either 75% or more marks in aggregate and a minimum of three years of relevant experience or 60% or more marks in aggregate and a minimum of fifteen years relevant experience in recognized Institute, University, Industry or Government Organization, may be considered eligible for admission, on the recommendation of School Research Committee (SRC) and approval by Board of Studies (BOS ) provided that such applicants may, in cases considered essential, be required to qualify in the courses specified by the SRC/BOS.

(iii)For applicants belonging to SC/ST category and/or physically handicapped applicants, a relaxation of 5% in marks shall be admissible under eligibility conditions prescribed under sub-clauses (a) (i), (ii).

(iv)Teachers working in any University or its affiliated colleges and having a teaching/research/other relevant experience of not less than 5 years, may be allowed a relaxation of 5% marks under clause (a) (i).

FELLOW PROGRAMME IN MANAGEMENT ADMISSION: 2008-09
(AICTE approved)

Eligibility:

Post-Graduate degree or equivalent in any discipline (including M.A, M.Sc., M.Com, MBA, MCA and M.Tech.) with at least 55% marks or equivalent CGPA. CA, ICWA or CS with at least 50% marks. Other professional qualifications such as MBBS and LLB with at least 55% marks or equivalent CGPA. Engineering degrees, viz., B.Tech and BE, with at least 60% marks or equivalent CGPA.

Those appearing for the final exams can also apply; but their final selection will be subject to successful completion of the requirement.
Selection will be based on applicant’s profile and test scores in CAT/ GMAT/ GRE (general/advanced), UGC/CSIR/ICAR/JRF or GATE and personal interview.

The short listed candidates will be called for personal interview at IMI New Delhi or any other venue fixed by the Institute on dates to be mentioned in the call letter for interview. In the interviews, the candidates will be assessed for their intellectual capabilities and research aptitude as well as their interest in management discipline.

IMI encourages applications from Non-Resident Indians, Persons of Indian origin and foreign citizens. Such candidates should have a valid GMAT/GRE score of not older than 2 years from the date of application.

Closing date of submission: September 15, 2008.

How to apply

Interested candidates can apply in the prescribed application form available at IMI, Fellow Program Office against a fee to be tendered by way of DD/Cash payment of Rs. 1000/-. DD should be made in favour of International Management Institute, payable at Delhi. Application form can also be downloaded from IMI website (http://www.imi.edu/)

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

/India PRwire/ - For the 5th consecutive year, Premier India Football Academy will be flying in the best UEFA/FA licensed academy coaches from England to conduct football camps in Mumbai. The camp is open to boys & girls between 10-18 years of all abilitiies.

These camps are an unique opportunity for all young football players of different abilities to improve their game. Past participants from these camps like Rickin Dang have gone on to excel for their school and state teams.

The 4 day camp will entail 6 hours of training daily and with lots of activities related to football such as a skill test, quiz, fitness test, etc. So if you want to be the best, then make it your GOAL to be there.

The camp is co-sponsored by Nike

Due to popular demand, Mumbai will host 2 camps during the Diwali break. The first will be held at Karnatak Football ground from 25 October to 28 October 2008 and the second at St Andrews ground from 29 October to 1 November 2008

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

A Football Academy dedicated to training young Indian children. It strongly believes that the road to India's FIFA World Cup is thru the children, they are the future of India.

PIFA organize camps in Europe & in India with UEFA Coaches as well as runs a training academy in Mumbai. All coaches are AFC / FA/ UEFA licensed. They have a men’s & women’s team in the MDFA league. They also conduct various events related to children’s football.

Associated with Inspire Academy, Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy, Rangers Soccer School, AC Milan Academy, Cruzerio EC, EVerton Fc Youth Academy.

PIFA Vision - India in the 2022 World Cup !!!

/India PRwire/ - After a two month long trial period, PIFA-CYFC announced their team that will participate in the 2008 Mumbai Elite league.

The team will be trained and coached by PIFA Director & UEFA licensed coach Nirvan Shah.

The teams is as follows :

1. Rashid Sheikh

2. Clifford Garreth

3. Imran Khan (GK)

4. Vaibhav Thandel

5. Mahendra Thandel

6. Prateek Ian

7. Ratan Khandhadia

8. David D’souza

9. Raza Rizvi

10. Satish Singh Keer

11. Mohammed Shadab

12. Balbir Rawat

13. Sagar Ghadigaonkar

14. Nilesh Patidar

15. Burges Master

16. Naresh Raina

17. Joynacks Mathews

18. Ivano Fucci (foreign Italian transfer)

19. Mohammad Khan (GK)

20. Ankur Gogia (GK)

PIFA has been able to use its Italian association to sign an Italian striker, Mr Ivano Fucci, he has played the Italian serie league. The team is in negotiation for one more foreign player to strength their defence.

The youngest player in the team is 16 year old Burges Master, a product from the PIFA academy.

The team training was taken over two years ago by PIFA, it achieved promotions in both the years by being runners-up in their league.

The team will play its first match on 9 September 2008 against Union Bank of India at the RCF grounds.

This year due to lack of a sponsor the management was unable to have a big squad and had to cut costs drastically. The team still hopes to make it to the Elite play off stages.

“PIFA Foundation for the benefit of sports” has undertaken the management of the finances of the team.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

A Football Academy dedicated to training young Indian children. It strongly believes that the road to India's FIFA World Cup is thru the children, they are the future of India.

PIFA organize camps in Europe & in India with UEFA Coaches as well as runs a training academy in Mumbai. All coaches are AFC / FA/ UEFA licensed. They have a men’s & women’s team in the MDFA league. They also conduct various events related to children’s football.

Associated with Inspire Academy, Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy, Rangers Soccer School, AC Milan Academy, Cruzerio EC, EVerton Fc Youth Academy.

PIFA Vision - India in the 2022 World Cup !!!

/India PRwire/ - Mithros Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. in Hyderabad, India, is a direct subsidiary of Taros Chemicals, an established provider of custom chemical research and outsourcing services, in Germany. Mithros was formed when Taros decided to expand its laboratories to foreign shores in order to increase its capacities and fulfil the growing demand for its research and development services worldwide.

The organizational structure of Mithros is identical to Taros, Germany (www.taros.de). It has about 50 employees who report directly to Taros. Situated in a state-of-the-art biotech park in the hub of Genome Valley, Mithros has easy access to technical instrumentation and analytical equipment. Managed closely by Taros’s scientific team, Mithros follow western business practices, implements stringent quality control measures and upholds the highest standards. Typically, 95% of the projects are completed prior to the deadline or within planned lead times. Taros’s highly sophisticated, internal project management software tracks and generates continuous reports on dispensed time and resources, enabling close monitoring of work process, minimizing errors while optimizing the process.

Projects outsourced to Mithros can offer clients savings up to 50% of the original project cost. The primary advantage, apart from attractive pricing, is the one-stop shopping experience through Taros, Germany. Requests are placed with Taros, which coordinates and oversees projects from start to finish. This approach saves clients both the added costs of travelling to India as well as the handling of bureaucratic and communication bottlenecks.

Playing the role of consultant, Taros advises clients on which projects to outsource to Mithros based on their capacities and expertise. When a project is completed a quality control check is run in Germany before compounds are shipped to the client. If required, purification of the product is conducted in Taros’s German facility for a final quality check.

Through the creation of Mithros, Taros Chemicals was able to merge the talents of scientists from two continents creating a synergetic effect of unparalleled excellence in research and synthesis.

Mithros’s business activities include:

Organic synthesis
Substance libraries
Process development
Medicinal chemistry
Lead structure optimisation

Mithros is specialised in the following R & D technologies of active substances:

Reference Compounds (by-products, literature, impurities)
Combinatorial chemistry and chemical templates
Starting materials
Building blocks
Synthesis of active substance intermediates
Capacity extensions and process optimization

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

/India PRwire/ - In an effort to bring together thebest practicesassociated with water management , Automation Industry Association (AIA) is organizing Water Tech 2008 at Chennai on 17th October 2008. The one daysymposium is an effort to address the key issues on water supply, water quality and treatment & recycling and demonstrate the tangible benefits that Automation Technology provides in theIndian perspective.

The event willfeature reputed speakers from various parts of the country and abroadto share their experiences and evolve future initiativestostrengthen Water Conservation and Revenue maximization, Water Quality Protection and On-line diagnostics. andmove towards24*7 WaterAvailability.

WaterTech 2008 gains more relevance today because per-capita availability of water in India has steadily declined from 5000 cum/annum in the year 1947 to 2000 cum/annum now. This means that with the expanding supply, treatment and recycling capacities it is important to implement modern processes.A number of areas are already in crisis situations: among these are the most populated and economically productive parts of the country. The catastrophic consequences of indiscriminate short-term actions, pumping of groundwater, – including the provision of free power – have compounded instead of solving the problem.

Since most modern water and wastewater processes are controlled by sophisticated computer-based systems, the use of industrial automation technologies is crucial to facilitating these processes enabling measurement and control, ensuring optimum efficiency, reducing wastages and maintaining regular supply. Thetechnology focussedsymposium will strive to answer reliability and visibility concerns particularly in relation to growing emphasis on compliance with safety, environmental and health standards.

WaterTech 2008 is targeted at State and Municipal Water Authorities, Plant Operation Heads, Reliability and Quality Auditors, Safety & Health Auditors, Process Engineering Specialists, Technology Suppliers, IT analysts, Equipment & Project Contractors, Operation & Maintenance Contractors, Water Consultants, Automation & Instrumentation specialists, Financing bodies, Environmental NGOs among others.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Automation Industry Association

Automation Industry Association (AIA) was founded in 2004, by leading automation technology players in the country. It is a vibrant forum for all automation companies in India spreading knowledge and creating awareness levels that make a vital difference to the global competitiveness of Indian industry. AIA founding members include ABB, Emerson, Honeywell, Invensys, L&T, Rockwell, Siemens and Yokogawa. The association currently represents 50 high tech companies delivering technology products and integrated automation systems. For more information on AIA and the event please visit http://www.aia-india.org/

/India PRwire/ - Exhorting the youth to bring back the past glory of our country, Mr.Kris Gopalakrishnan, MD & CEO of Infosys Technologies stated that all the blocks of a person which prevent from fulfilling one’s dreams are in his/her mind only, and physical limitations cannot cause any hindrance. He advised them to aspire to be the best as the Olympic winners did. He also revealed that when people perform at their peak, especially young people, he got personally inspired.

Mr. Kris was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Top Performers 2007-08’ Award Function to honour the top performing regional and branch leaders of South Indian bank (SIB) for the previous fiscal. Mr.S.Ramaswamy, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India delivered the key note address. Dr.V.A.Joseph, Chairman & CEO of the Bank presided over the function.

Mr.P.E.Mathai and Mr. John Thomas, Deputy General Managers heading respectively Delhi and Trivandrum Regions were selected as the Top Performing Regional Heads (in the outside and inside Kerala regions categories).Twenty five Branch Heads and the Corporate Communications Manager Mr. M.J. Simon were also honoured on the occasion.

Elaborating his point to bring back the past glory of our nation, Mr. Kris stated that this is possible only if we utilize the opportunities available today which are far more than India had some 400 years ago when our nation had the world’s largest economy contributing as it did 20% of the world’s GDP.Now India is at a crucial time providing ample opportunities and hence he exhorted the youth to take advantage of these and bring back the past glory of our country. This is possible because, India is one of the fastest growing economies of the World. Every foreign company is trying to gain access to the huge market of over one billion here. So being in India now is an advantage. In view of the competition, organizations should excel and also empowered to stay ahead’, Mr. Kris concluded his inaugural address.

Mr.S.Ramaswamy,Regional Director, RBI, Trivandrum delivering the key note address stated that having completed a successful financial year it is only proper for South Indian Bank to celebrate the success of the team leaders who had been instrumental in causing the corporate success. Stating that three types of people exist–1) those who effect progress 2) those who watch them and 3) those who wonder what is happening , he told the team leaders that success of Managers as leaders lies in motivating the team for better results. He also advised them to render excellent and timely customer service because customer wants action immediately or he/she would leave if it is not received.

Presiding over the function, Dr.V.A.Joseph Chairman & CEO of the Bank stated that South Indian Bank is the first in the country to honour the spouses of top performers convinced that behind every successful person there is a successful spouse too. The Chairman also stated that to recognise the substantial contribution of the staff in its phenomenonal growth, the Bank is implementing Employee stock Option Scheme, for the first time in the 79th year history of the bank. The bank has implemented, from previous financial year onwards the “Performance-Linked Incentive Scheme” to inspire better performance.

Dr.V.A.Joseph also stated that South Indian Bank was one of the few banks in the country to have started in 2001 CBS implementation in technology partnership with Infosys Technologies to acquire the latest technological capabilities available to the banking industry to render personalised customer service. He also referred to the words of Mr.N.R.Narayana Moorthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies who, while inaugurating the total implementation of Core Banking Solution in South Indian Bank had stated,”South Indian Bank’s implementation of CBS was seamless for the customers. It was also implemented in a manner that every employee was enthusiastically involved in it. SIB had shown its commitment to the core values of excellence which includes openness to new ideas, focus on speed, focus on innovation, excellence in execution”.

Mr.M.Valsan and Mr.H.Suresh Prabhu, Executive Directors of the Bank also spoke on the occasion.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

THE SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD :-

CORPORATE PROFILE

South Indian Bank (SIB) is one of the leading scheduled commercial banks in India with a strong focus on technology and service delivery.

SIB has many firsts to its credit .

SIB is –

*The first in the private sector in India to open an NRI branch .

*The first private sector bank to start an Industrial Finance branch in India.

*The first Indian traditional Bank to achieve all branch/office inter-connectivity and register 100% CBS .

*The first private sector bank from India to provide managerial support to an Exchange House in the

Middle East .

South Indian Bank has registered an all time high net profit for the financial year 2007-08. The bank has declared a net profit of Rs. 151.62 crore for the current financial year as against Rs. 86.49 crore for the previous year registering a growth of 75.30%. With the advantage of 100% branches covered by Core Banking Solution, South Indian Bank was the first in its peer group to announce audited results for the financial year 2007-08.

The total business of the Bank stood at Rs 25,910 crore as on 31-03-08 registering a growth of 26.10%. While the deposits went up by Rs. 2,917 crore from Rs.12,239 crore to Rs. 15,156 crore registering a growth of 23.83 %, the advances increased by Rs. 2,446 crore from Rs. 8,308 crore to Rs. 10,754 crore registering a growth of 29.45 % .

With this the Bank has exceeded all the three ambitious targets the Bank had set in 2005 for achieving the milestones of Rs15000 crores , Rs 20000 crores and Rs.25000 crores in total business respectively for 2005-06 , 2006-07 and 2007-08 .

Due to effective recovery measures resorted to during the year, the Bank could bring down its Gross NPA percentage from 3.94 to 1.78 and Net NPA from 0.98 % to 0.33 % .

The Bank crossed the milestone of Rs.1000 crore of networth during 2007-08.

The major FIIs in the FII holding of 47% in the Bank’s equity include ,India Capital Fund, International Finance Corporation,Acacia Partners LP,India Fund Inc.,Goldman Sachs Investments(Mauritius),Morgan Stanley(Mauritius),India Institutional Fund,Deutsche Securities Mauritius,FID Funds(Mauritius) etc.

The Capital adequacy ratio of the bank is as high as 13.80% against the regulatory requirement of 9%.

The Bank had declared 2007-08 as the year of youth and has launched a novel deposit scheme “YOUTH PLUS” with technology features focusing the younger generation.

South Indian Bank, has now presence in 23 States/Union Territories having established a network of 502 Core Banking Branches ,26 CBS Extension Counters and 227 online ATM Centres

The Bank is planning to open 28 more branches during the current financial year to take the total number of branches to 530. Our focus during the next financial year will be on increasing the CASA funds as well as non interest income by sale of mutual funds and insurance products.

Another Milestone –Inauguration of the 14th Region

The 14th Regional Office of the bank to give administrative support to the branches in the tech-savvy state of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated by Mr. K.Rosaiah,Hon:Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh .Dr.N.Krishna Mohan ,Director,IDRBT will be the Guest of Honour. Mr.M.Valsan ,Executive Director of the Bank presided over the function.

Technology As The Key Driver of Business

The Bank’s ambitious technology up-gradation project named ‘SIBERTECH’ by introducing a Centralized Core Banking Solution ‘Finacle’ in technology partnership with the Infosys Technologies Limited is complete and all the branches/offices all over the country have been linked to the Centralized Data Centre at Kochi and hence 100 % of the Bank’s business is now absolutely on-line .The Disaster Recovery Facility is functioning at Bangalore.

With the up-gradation of technology , SIB now offers a host of hi-tech products which enables the customers bank from anywhere , saving them time , money and hassles . This means that they can avail of a range of solutions and make convenience banking a way of life . For this the Bank has launched various value-added products and services like Global Debit-cum-ATM card, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking etc.

SIB’s Global ATM – cum – Debit Card can be used at over 8 lac ATMs and 120 lac merchant establishments all over the world.The Global ATM – cum – Debit Card of SIB, which recently became the first Kerala based bank to have directly joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) of the Institute for the Development of Research in Banking Technology (the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India) can also be used at over 20,000 ATMs all over India . 227 On-line ATM Centres have also been set up all over the country.

The bank has tied up with ICICI Prudential life insurance for selling of insurance products at over 284 SIB branches in Kerala.This is a major step towards growing the fee-based income of the bank. This partnership, would help, for the first time in the country ,the policyholders of ICICI Prudential to pay their first as well as renewal premiums in cash at over 284 branches in Kerala.The Bank has also a tie up with Bajaj Alliance for distribution of general insurance products.

South Indian Bank is the first private sector bank from India to provide management support to an exchange house in the Middle East..This enables SIB to provide top quality service, to NRIs looking at remittances to India , in a technology –driven environment .

The Bank very recently could bag a special award for excellence in banking technology from IDRBT which is the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India .This award was presented to the Bank as a national level recognition to the excellent contribution made in the area of information systems, security policies and practices .The bank has bagged this award by tightly competing with all categories of banks in India such as Foreign Banks, Private sector banks, public sector banks and co-operative banks .

The Bank, as part of the global brand building exercise, has signed mega star Padmashree Bharat Mammootty as its Global Brand Ambassador. His tech savvy image goes hand-in-hand with our bank which has always been in the forefront of embracing technology. South Indian Bank has also unveiled a new corporate logo that demonstrates the major transformation the bank has undergone since its inception .

The Bank has launched a NetBanking initiative to provide real-time fund transaction for the online banking customers through ‘southindian bank.com’ , the online banking channel of the bank. This will make possible for the retail and also corporate customers of the Bank for online debits/credits from/to authorized accounts. This enriched Net-banking product has the potential for utility payments and payment gateway (shopping mall) facilities. This customer- value proposition contains functionalities to support consumer (Retail) e-banking and also corporate e-banking .

Recently the Bank has been rated as a “Top NPA Manager” in “ASSOCHAM- ECO PULSE” study for having reduced Net NPA substantially within one year.

Conscious of the corporate social responsibility , South Indian Bank has launched the ‘Money Lender-Free Village” pilot project at Meloor in Trichur District of Kerala .The main objective of the Project is replace the non-institutional, usurious, exploitative rural credit mechanism of private lending with lending through Self-Help Groups (SHGs)and direct lending by SIB. Under this initiative, SHGs act as extension of SIB to reach out to villages in even the remotest locations. This project though started very recently could garner acclaim from many quarters.

The Bank is committed to become a technology- driven , customer-oriented bank (the new corporate slogan being -“Experience Next Generation Banking”)where passion for excellence is a way of life , innovation is a tradition , commitment to values unshaken and customer loyalty is abiding .

The long-term corporate objective is to emerge as the most preferred Bank in India, with core competence in fostering relationship banking, garnering core deposit with accent on cost, creating high yielding quality assets through focused marketing, qualitative appraisal and effective monitoring. We are dedicated to provide quality service to our customers and maintain high standards in corporate responsibility.

Despite acquiring the latest technological capabilities available to the banking industry in the country, the Bank will continue the emphasis on personalized customer service, which has been the Bank’s core strength for all these 79 years. Incidentally , the Bank had also been selected , in the Outlook Money – C- Fore Survey, as the best private sector Bank in India in the ‘Service Quality ‘ segment .

/India PRwire/ - Vanu, Inc., a leading provider of software radio infrastructure solutions for cellular operators, today announced a $32 million venture capital investment. Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) led this round of funding, while previous investor Charles River Ventures and Tata Capital participated in the round which will largely support business development, marketing and integration currently underway in India. Vanu is also in the process of significantly expanding its presence in India through increased staffing and the signing of strategic partnerships.

In addition to the new round of funding, Vanu, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of two new board members, Bruce Sachs of Charles River Ventures who has been a board observer for the past year and Promod Haque, managing partner of Norwest Venture Partners. They join fellow board members Reed Hundt, a former FCC Chairman; Clay Christensen, a Harvard Business School Professor and noted author; Andy Beard, Chief Strategy Officer of Vanu, Inc. and Vanu Bose, President and CEO.

Vanu, Inc. grew out of groundbreaking research in software radio at MIT and was founded in 1998. It is the developer of the Anywave Base Station, the first U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-certified software radio. Anywave’s software-only design runs on commercial off-the-shelf servers, rather than expensive proprietary hardware. In addition, it is the only Radio Access Network (RAN) product to simultaneously support multiple cellular waveform standards on the same platform. Anywave has been deployed by cellular operators in the United States and Canada. Additionally, current evaluations are underway in India and other international markets.

“Vanu’s innovative technology clearly delivers a unique value proposition to wireless carriers,” said Promod Haque, managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “Nowhere is this needed more than in India. The combination of explosive market growth and low ARPU requires new and innovative infrastructure solutions. We are extremely impressed with the Vanu executive team and the company’s traction to date. We believe Vanu is well positioned to capture the leadership position in this rapidly growing global market.”

“Vanu’s technology transforms the wireless infrastructure industry into an upgradeable software and services business delivered on commodity hardware,” stated Bruce Sachs, partner at Charles River Ventures. “We continue to be impressed by Vanu’s recent advancements, I am excited to join the board of directors and look forward to working with the Vanu team to expand the company.”

“We are privileged to work with quality investors such as Norwest Venture Partners and Charles River whose industry and market expertise will facilitate our strategic growth as a company,” said Vanu Bose, President and CEO of Vanu, Inc. “We are extremely excited about the growth prospect and market traction we have seen in India, and this investment gives us the ability to meet that demand.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Vanu

Vanu, Inc. is the developer of the Anywave® Base Station, the first U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-certified software radio for both CDMA and GSM standards. The company delivers Anywave radio access network solutions, licenses its software, and provides design consulting to service providers, system integrators, and wireless OEMs. Founded in 1998, Vanu is based in Cambridge, MA, with additional offices in India. For more information, please visit www.vanu.com

About Charles River Ventures (CRV)

Founded in 1970, Charles River Ventures is one of the nation’s oldest and most successful early-stage venture capital firms with approximately $2.1 billion under management. CRV is dedicated to helping exceptional entrepreneurs turn their ideas into the next category leaders in high growth technology and media sectors. Over the past 10 years, CRV funds have been ranked among the industry’s top performers. CRV has offices in Boston, MA and Menlo Park, CA. For more information, visit www.crv.com.

About Norwest Venture Partners (NVP)

Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global venture capital firm that has actively partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 45 years. NVP focuses on investments in information technology including: software, services, enterprise and communications systems, semiconductor/components and Internet, media and consumer. The firm currently manages more than $2.5 billion in venture capital out of its office in Palo Alto, California, Mumbai and Bangalore, India.

Managing Partner Promod Haque has been ranked as a top dealmaker on the annual Forbes Midas List for the past three years. In 2004, Forbes named him as the #1 venture capitalist worldwide based on performance over the last decade. NVP has funded over 450 companies in the U.S. since inception, as well as several direct investments in India and more than 20 cross border companies. For more information, please visit www.nvp.com

/India PRwire/ - A first of its kind large format ‘Business Plan’ competition was launched in India today by Centre for Entrepreneurship, Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) a premier b-school in India, IDG Ventures India, a leading Venture Capital firm and TiE Chennai, a leading association of Entrepreneurs. Winners of the competition will be considered eligible for funding amounting to a minimum of USD 500,000 from IDG Ventures, India.

Registrations for the competition have commenced from August 25, 2008 and will close on September 23, 2008. The grand finale where the finalists will make presentations to a Jury comprising of eminent entrepreneurs, investors, successful business executives and academicians is scheduled to take place on November 21, 2008, in Chennai. Competition entries, updates and results will be entirely managed through the website accessible at www.liba.edu/bpc

The Business Plan Competition is open to any team who has a business idea and the entrepreneurial motivation to nurture the idea in the commercial venture space into a global class business.

Ideas that involve or leverage technology in any sphere of human activity - be it services, agriculture, manufacturing, construction or education stand a good possibility of qualifying. The competition is also open to ventures that are in early stages of planning and execution.

Fr. P. Christie, Director, LIBA said, “The objective of the competition is to foster entrepreneurship in India. The competition will also identify and recognize ideas & talent that can create tomorrow's businesses. It will bridge the border between business ideas and commercialization.”

T.C. Meenakshisundaram, Founder & Managing Director, IDG Ventures said, “We at IDG Ventures are pleased to be associated with the “LIBA – IDG Ventures – TiE Business Plan Competition. Through this competition we look to identify the next generation of technology and technology enabled consumer companies in seed/early stage for investment.”

Ramaraj, President TiE Chennai and Director the LIBA Centre for Entrepreneurship said, “The objective of TiE is to foster entrepreneurship and since this event furthers the entrepreneurship ecosystem, TiE, Chennai, is very happy to promote it.”

Contesting teams will include students, experienced professionals, members of start up companies, entrepreneurs etc. The entries for the competition will be evaluated by a team of expert Jurors that will include successful entrepreneurs, industry captains and members of the academia.

Winners will receive attractive prizes worth Rs. 8 lakhs, a one year associate membership in TiE Chennai which will give them access to networking with business partners, entrepreneurs & investors apart from access to excellent mentorship under the TiE umbrella. They will also be exposed to diverse and rich discussions and feedbacks on their business plan.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About LIBA

LIBA is a renowned Jesuit institution with an emphasis on academic excellence coupled with value based education. As one of the top b-schools in the country and undoubtedly the best in Tamil Nadu, LIBA strives through this programme to make managers in the proximate business community create better value to the organizations they serve.

About IDG Ventures

IDG Ventures India is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology and technology-enabled companies. IDG Ventures India is a $150 million early stage venture capital firm investing in technology and technology enabled companies.