Nov/23/2011

IBM opens three new offices in India

IBM on Wednesday announced the opening of three regional offices in India as part of its on-going geographic expansion in the country. The new offices in Dehradun, Guwahati and Raipur provide the company with a footprint of 18 branch offices across India to date, a company release said.

IBM is currently focused on increasing its presence in smaller, rapidly developing cities as part of its plan to establish a presence in 40 Indian cities by 2013, the release said.

According to IBM, it is experiencing particular demand for information management, security, cloud computing and business analytics solutions “as businesses and government organisations turn to IT to reduce costs”.

As a key part of its growth strategy, IBM is investing in the education system in these regions with a number of partnerships and academic initiatives especially to support the growth of Open Source technologies, the release said.

For example, IBM is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati to foster innovation and promote local technology talent. ”We recognise the role of technology and innovation in driving economic and societal development,” said Dr. Gautam Baruah, director, IIT-Guwahati, who inaugurated IBM’s Guwahati branch office.

Small and medium enterprises have long been the engines driving economic growth across India and play a key role in regional development. IBM is committed to the success of this segment and is working its business partners to provide small and medium enterprises with the tools they need to compete in a global economy.

“These are dynamic times for Indian regional development and there is tremendous market potential in these cities that we are expanding into,” said Nipun Mehrotra, vice-president, general business, geographic expansion, IBM (India/South Asia).

Force Motors launches SUV in Chennai

The Pune-based Force Motors is planning to introduce two more new products at the auto show to be held in New Delhi, according to Prasan Firodia, Managing Director.

Addressing a press conference here after launching a sports utility vehicle, Force One, in Chennai, Mr. Firodia said that the passenger vehicle division would introduce a nine-seater van with Mercedes Benz collaboration by the first quarter of 2013. He said of the total planned expenditure, it had already invested Rs.250-300 crore towards Force One launch. The balance would be invested towards van and new products in the coming years.

He said Force One, the company's maiden SUV, was launched in Mumbai in August and the initial response was encouraging. The new SUV was being produced at the company's Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh.

He said Force One was powered by a 2.2 litre diesel engine manufactured under licence from Mercedes-Benz.

The SUV, available in four colours, is priced at Rs.10.84 lakh (ex-showroom Chennai).

He said the company was aiming to build a brand in the passenger vehicle space. The current market size of this segment was one lakh vehicles and the company would aim to sell 6,000-7,000 vehicles in the first year.

A new showroom in Chennai was inaugurated by Mr. Firodia and MPC Motors was the authorized dealer.

Mr. Firodia said around 20 dealer-ships were operational in Phase-I, which would be increased to 45 by middle of next year.

DMK members raise ‘Dam 999’ issue in Lok Sabha

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday raked up the issue of a film on damage wreaked by the collapse of a dam and demanded a ban on its release.

Led by their Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu, the DMK members rushed to the well of the House waving clippings of a newspaper report on the issue.

The members complained that the film Dam 999 was based on the story of Mullaperiyar dam, over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala are locked in a legal dispute.

With the House adjourning due to uproar over a slew of issues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who were in the House, called Mr. Baalu and discussed about the issue.

They assured him that they would talk to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni on the issue.

Kerala assures water to Tamil Nadu

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Wednesday that Kerala was not against giving water from Mullaperiyar to Tamil Nadu. It was willing to give an assurance to that effect before any forum.

Talking to the media after a meeting of the Cabinet, the Chief Minister said that Kerala was also ready to bear the cost of construction of the new dam to replace the existing Mullaperiyar dam. The recurring tremours in Idukki district was of cause of much anxiety for Kerala.

The Chief Minister said that the Cabinet had received and considered the report of the official team on Mullaperiyar and recurring tremours in Idukki district. It had also discussed the farmers’ suicides in Wayanad district and the situation in the agriculture sector across the State. It would meet again this evening to discuss both the issues after the all party meeting on Mullaperiyar and the State Level Bankers' Committee meeting this afternoon.

Liquor policy

Mr. Chandy said that the government had never adopted a policy that encouraged consumption of liquor. None of its policy decisions were aimed at expanding the sales network for liquor. The State Beverages Corporation had not opened any new outlet after the present government came to power. The three-star hotels that were given new licences were ones which had started construction during the rule of the previous government.

The Chief Minister recalled that the he had closed down 1661 toddy shop when he was the Chief Minister before. Sale of arrack was banned when A. K. Antony was the Chief Minister.

Mr. Chandy said that he did not have the details of the recommendations made by the sub-committee of the UDF regarding liquor policy. The matter would come to the Cabinet only after the UDF liaison committee considered the matter.

Plan size

Regarding the concern expressed by the KPCC whether the outlay proposed for the 12th Five Year Plan was feasible, the Chief Minister said that the figure of Rs. 105000 crore was arrived at on a clear understanding of fundamentals. The draft Plan was one placed before all for discussions and the debate could continue.

TN CM announces 100% subsidy for small and marginal farmers

Chennai, Nov 22 : To popularise the concept of micro irrigation amongfarmers, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today announced 100 per cent subsidy for small and marginalfarmers, who take up micro irrigation.
While small and marginal farmerswould be given 100 per cent subsidy toinstall mirco, drip and sprinkle irrigationto a maximum of 60,000 acres of land and other farmers would be given 75 per cent subsidy for irrigation in 15,000 acres of land, an official release here said. Women, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, ex-servicemen and differently abled, engaged in farming, would be given priority under the scheme, the release said.
While marginal farmers would be given 100 per cent subsidy to install micro irrigationsystem for 2.5 acres of land, small farmers would be given subsidy for five acres of land. These farmers would be given a maximum subsidy of Rs 43,816 per acre for installing micro irrigation system. They would also be given subsidy for installing drip and sprinkle irrigation systems, the release added.
- Agencies







To popularise the concept of micro irrigation among farmers, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Tuesday announced 100 per cent subsidy for small and marginal farmers, who take up micro irrigation.