Category Archives: Business & Economy

Mustafa Appointed HLL Treasurer, M&A Head

February 14, 2014Business & EconomyGroup Treasurer Hindustan Lever Limited, S.P. Bobby Mustafa, S.P. Mustafa 'Bobby', S.P.Mustafa son of Lt.Col.Syed Mustafampositiveone@gmail.com

S P ‘Bobby’ Mustafa has taken charge as Hindustan Lever Ltd’s (HLL) group treasurer and head of M&A — a critical post at the consumer products multinational — with effect from June 1, 2002.

Mr Mustafa, who was commercial controller (detergents) at HLL, replaces Mr Prince Asirvatham, who sought early retirement.

Mr Asirvatham, who served 26 years with the fast-moving consumer goods major, decided to pursue his personal interests in social service and corporate governance. Mr Asirvatham has headed treasury & M&A at HLL for about four years.

Mr Mustafa has also served a stint earlier with the erstwhile Pond’s India Ltd as vice-president (finance and personnel). He had taken over from Mr Vishwanathan as group controller in charge of finance.

In fact, the post of group treasurer and head of M&A was created at a time when HLL has been involved in hectic M&A activity. It had merged Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd (BBLIL) into HLL; Pond’s India was being merged into HLL; and the company was acquiring Lakme’s stake in the joint venture company Lakme-Lever Ltd.

Inorganic growth has been an integral part of HLL’s strategy. The company recently acquired a majority stake in Modern Foods. In 2001, the amalgamation of International Bestfoods with HLL was confirmed by the Mumbai High Court.

The merger resulted in a power brand, Knorr, joining the company’s stable, and strengthening the culinary business. The turnover of Knorr doubled in 2001, and its profitability was improved by streamlining the supply chain and restructuring some of its operations. This merger coincided with the amalgamation of yet another wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, Aviance, to consolidate its personal products range with that of HLL’s personal products business, thereby, facilitating long-term growth while realising the benefits of greater synergies between these overlapping businesses.

Last year, Rossell Industries, which has seven tea gardens spread over a planted area in excess of 3,000 hectares, became a subsidiary of HLL consequent to Lipton India Export Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of HLL raising its shareholding in Rossel Industries.

source: http://www.financialexpress.com / The Financial Express / Home> Corporate / Mumbai 06th / Uploaded Monday June 07th, 2002

Crafting new designs

February 12, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & EconomyBangalore, Farah Ahmed, Farah and Dhaval Design (FADD) Studio, St. Marks Road Bangalore, www.faddstudio.commpositiveone@gmail.com

Meet architects Farah Ahmed and Dhaval Shellugar, who love to come up with out-of-the-box ideas

Farah Ahmed and Dhaval Shellugar are the people behind the Farah And Dhaval Design (FADD) Studio on St. Mark’s Road, which started in 2012. So, what’s new about them?

For starters, they like working with offbeat and natural material such as burnt rust cement or bricks. “Cement, when it is waxed, looks so gorgeous that you will be surprised that it is cement,” explains Dhaval.

He adds that he always had a passion for architecture. “My father was into automobile accessories. The products at his store always intrigued me and I would find myself creating something new with the material he had. Then, I decided that I had to study architecture at Rachana Sasand’s Academy of Architecture in Bombay, after which I worked with Sandeep Khosla.”

Farah, on the other hand, was an artist. She says she always had leanings towards design. She studied in the U.S. and the turning point came when “I was gifted a camera which drove me into photography. Strangely it was never about people, but more about landscape and forms and textures. I was so inspired by nature that I found myself always creating an abstract composition.”

The young architect started exhibiting her works and lived as an artist before she interned with Sandeep Khosla, where she met Dhaval and the duo decided to start FADD.

She went on to study at Istitutio Marangoni in Milan. “I feel interior designing is a different manifestation of the same kind of creativity that I used in my art work. The only difference is in architecture, the physical space becomes my canvas,” explains Farah.

Coming to their work they say that Indians are fascinated with new designs. And with the world becoming smaller, resources are always “at our disposal”.

Dhaval says one should also always keep a tab on global trends. “That way you will be in sync with the latest in the market. No, we do not have a signature style for that will just put us and our thinking in a box. It is more like playing with form and function and yet keeping it minimal.”

They talk about the challenges they face in their profession. According to Farah it is “changing people’s set notions about designs. They think if something is expensive then it is classy. That is not always true.”

Dhaval says for him the challenge was designing the florist shop, Flower Box in Indiranagar. “We wanted to create a special look for the flowers, which are so colourful by nature. So we had to create an intensive design that would not kill the beauty of the flowers. We studied Zen and Ikebana and other flower arrangements to come up with something unique for this store.” The duo used shades of white and grey and found that the “flowers simply pop out from the shaded backgrounds”. A Kerala houseboat designed for a business man in Goa is also close to their heart.

For more on the architects, log on to www.faddstudio.com or call 22223661.

This column features those who choose to veer of the beaten track.

SHILPA SEBASTIAN R.

People think if something is expensive then it is classy. That is not always true

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metro Plus / by Shilpa Sebastian R. / February 12th, 2014

Cipla chairman donates Rs 8 cr to promote chemistry

February 11, 2014Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Leaders, Science & Technology, World OpinionCIPLA Chairman, Dr.Yusuf Hamied, Hamied Inspirational Chemistry Programme, Yusuf Hamiedmpositiveone@gmail.com

Indian business leader, scientist and philanthropist Dr Yusuf Hamied on Monday announced a major financial donation to the Royal Society of Chemistry, the world’s leading chemistry community, to support an innovative chemistry education programme for school students in India.

Dr Hamied, who is the chairperson of the generic pharmaceuticals company Cipla and has pioneered the model of producing affordable medicines for patients in developing countries, is donating Rs eight crore to the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Hamied Inspirational Chemistry Programme.

The programme will be managed by the Royal Society of Chemistry in partnership with the UK’s Salters Institute and leading Indian academic institutes to enhance the skills and knowledge of Indian chemistry teachers and inspire students to study chemistry at university.

Over the next five years, the programme aims to equip 8,000 teachers across India with the specialist knowledge and skills to deliver exciting and engaging chemistry lessons, and to pass this knowledge on to their colleagues. It will also provide 1,600 of the brightest chemistry students from all backgrounds with places at chemistry camps to motivate them to reach the necessary standards to study chemistry at university.

Dr Hamied said: “I am very pleased to be working in partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry to support the Hamied Inspirational Chemistry Programme. I believe the programme will make a real difference to the education and experience of students studying chemistry in schools across India.”

Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Dr Robert Parker, said: “We are delighted to be working with Dr Hamied and grateful for his generous donation to enable us bring together leading organisations from the UK and India to deliver this education programme and make a real impact.” Dr Hamied added: “To inspire the next generation of great Indian scientists we must equip our teachers with the specialist knowledge and practical skills they need to show their students that chemistry is a fascinating.”

Just as teachers pass on their knowledge to their pupils, the programme will support the most talented chemistry teachers in India to train their colleagues to deliver informative and exciting chemistry lessons – a “train the trainer” approach. I am very pleased to support this sustainable model for teacher training which will allow the programme to reach thousands of teachers across the country.” Dr Hamied said: “An inspiring chemistry education isn’t just about excellent teachers.

We need to encourage and motivate the best students to achieve the knowledge and skills they need to go on to study chemistry at university and eventually, to make a strong contribution to India’s success. This isn’t just about getting the best grades – we also need students to develop problem-solving and interdisciplinary skills. That is why I am also very pleased that this joint initiative will support the best students – particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds – to take part in chemistry camps at leading academic institutions and experience a true taste of chemistry at university.”

Dr Simon Campbell, former president of the Royal Society of Chemistry and personal friend of Dr Hamied, said: “This unique programme is a significant educational investment with great potential to train the skilled chemists that will be vital for India’s growth and social wellbeing.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / Bangalore – DHNS / February 10th, 2014

A Digital Village

January 22, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Science & TechnologyChanderiyaan, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), Shahid Ahmad, Shahid Ahmad Project Directormpositiveone@gmail.com

Shahid Ahmad (38) Project Director, Chanderiyaan

When you ask a software engineer like Shahid Ahmad about Jacquard weaving, the answer would stump many a fashion designer. “It is actually the world’s oldest binary system,” says Ahmad of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF). He has even devised a Jacquard card punching machine that eliminates two weeks of manually punching a card with the binary sequence to an hour’s work. And the weavers of Chanderi village in Madhya Pradesh are rejoicing.

Ahmad’s tryst with the age-old traditional weaving business of Chanderi began when it was gasping on its last breath. It started off with a 2008 basic survey of Chanderi village on the instigation of Jyotiraditya Scindia when Ahmad had gone to invite him for a DEF function.

The survey threw up distressing facts: weavers were being treated as labourers and earned a pittance; a few businessmen controlled the market; there wasn’t much demand for the products in the market and the youngsters were migrating to cities. Ahmad decided to give the ancient craft and its craftsmen a shot of digital empowerment. Thus was born Chanderiyan, a programme that has transformed the ancient weaving village of Chanderi.

Ahmad eased the bottleneck in the designing process (which was done manually by a couple of designers on graph paper). “I wanted to speed up designing and other aspects of the business while retaining the traditional looms,” he recalls. He also wanted to increase the earning capacity of the weavers, which was then at Rs 2000 a month.

He customised the CAD CAM software and trained 20 weavers in using the software. Of these, three to four weavers were selected to train a further 100 weavers. Simultaneously, a design library was created with 10,000 traditional designs, some retrieved from old saris.

Digitisation gave the weavers a chance to create designs and replicate the same in the loom quickly. It also allowed them to visualise new colours and create contemporary variations without having to waste precious man hours. The demand for Chanderi saris increased as the market saw newer designs and faster supply. Today, the weavers earn at least Rs 10,000 per month. The business turnover, according to an IIM Calcutta survey is anywhere between Rs 65 crore to 100 crore.

Ahmad has now taken his big idea a step further: he has devised an e-portal (Chanderiyaan.net) wherein weavers can sell their products directly to the customers globally. He also trained the weavers in aspects like taking photographs of their products, sending couriers etc. He also put up Wi-fi in a five kilometer radius. “From raw materials pricings to what exhibitions are on, the youngsters can now take their own decisions,” says Ahmad.

His dream is to make the weavers the future businessmen of Chanderi. Ahmad admits to now being more of a textile engineer than a software engineer; he even trains NID students from Bhopal on the technique of Jacquard weaving. He might not be familiar with colours, warps and weaves, but he sure knows his binary system.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Work / by Jayanthi Madhukar, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / January 21st, 2014

GRAB YOUR GRUB : Breaking bread

December 24, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Travel & TourismGriffin, Griffin - The Artisan Bread Store, Hyderabad, Mohd Mujahidmpositiveone@gmail.com

A view of the open space outside the Griffin. / Photo: Nagara Gopal / The Hindu

From artisan breads to scones, pastries, sandwiches and pastas, Griffin has something in store for everyone

Fancy some sourdough bread or maybe some ciabatta? You could try Griffin- The Artisan Bread Store in Madhapur, which promises to dish out fresh breads of various kinds. Fairly new, this store was the brain child of Mohd. Mujahid, who wanted to give the city a taste of different breads. The store, which is already a hit with the expat crowd in the area, also offers a variety of short eats for gastronomes.

The little bread store-cum-café has an interesting array of baked goodies that are perfect for those long conversations over a cup of coffee. You could take your pick from their cookies, scones, donuts, croissants, muffins, cheesecakes or tarts. Priced at around Rs. 50 each, they hardly burn a hole in your pocket.

The artisan bread store at Madhapur in Hyderabad. / Photo: Nagara Gopal / The Hindu

Griffin can also be a pit-stop for a quick lunch or casual dinner with its selection of pizzas, sandwiches and pastas. You could choose from their delicious pastas in an array of sauces like arrabiata, pesto, alfredo or a juicy sandwich with some smoked or grilled meat or roasted veggies of your choice. You can’t really get bored with their selection of sandwiches, which are served in different breads each day. “I started this store mainly so I could introduce people to different varieties of breads. The idea behind serving sandwiches in different kinds of breads is to give our clients an idea of the kinds of breads we offer and how they can use them in different ways,” says Mujahid.

You can’t really get bored with their selection of sandwiches, which are served in different breads each day. / Photo: Nagara Gopal / The Hindu

The café section of this bread store is also a good place to spend an afternoon just reading or browsing the internet with a free wi-fi connection available to patrons. For the coffee lovers there are a variety of coffees to choose from while those watching their weight can pick a salad of their choice.

Griffin also has a bread shelf with different breads like sourdough, ciabatta, bagels and baguettes among others that you can choose from. The breads that are baked in two batches a day are brought in from the Griffin factory in Shamshabad. “We want to keep the products as fresh as possible,” explains Mujahid. The breads like the items on the menu are priced affordably with a whole wheat bread costing as less as Rs.50, while a sourdough could go up to Rs.100 The ciabatta and panini cost around Rs. 30, while a Scottish Bap comes for around Rs. 20.

Griffin – The Artisan Bread Store

Where: Kavuri Hills, Phase-1, Madhapur

When: 7.30 a.m. to 11p.m.

Contact: 040-30512844 ext:454

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Food / by Ranjani Rajendra / Hyderabad – December 12th, 2013

Taking Indian cinema global: Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, AR Rahman tell how

December 14, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinionmpositiveone@gmail.com

With divides like mainstream and parallel cinema, single screens and multiplexes, Indian cinema lives under a divide which is a deterrent to its own good, superstar Shah Rukh Khan said here Saturday, even as Amitabh Bachchan felt the need of the hour is to “blend in” to go global.

“Until we don’t inculcate a habit of collaborations, we won’t be able to inch towards global cinema,” Shah Rukh said at the Solutions Summit, a conclave organised by NDTV to celebrate 25 years of its existence.

The actor said it is important to be able to give to the world what it understands, in order to be accepted.

“If you want to be a part of global cinema, you have to tell what you want to tell, show the emotions which you want to show, but you have to put it in the way the world wants to see it,” he added.

Shah Rukh was joined on the panel with veterans like Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman and Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman.

Rahman, who has created tunes for international projects like “Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours”, says he finds himself in a situation when different things are expected from him in India and in foreign shores.

“I have been a victim of this. What is considered to be good here, is not good there…I have to switch between the two. However, there are some things which are common as well,” he said.

Amitabh, 71, who made his Hollywood debut with “The Great Gatsby” earlier this year, agreed with the fact that Indian cinema is unique, but added that we need to try and “blend in”.

“It is obvious that our cinema is unique. We need to blend with the west in order to be global,” he said.

Amitabh attributes this to the work of the current generation of actors and filmmakers, who are putting in efforts to make Indian cinema visible to the world.

“Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar are responsible in bringing commercial cinema to where it is now. The way they have marketed it has helped us a lot. I think that was a point when Indian cinema became global,” he added.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Entertainment> Report / Place: New Delhi, Agency:IANS / Saturday – December 14th, 2013

Multifaceted Singer-Actor Kaleem Pasha from Bangalore to release a book on Bob Christo titled ‘Flashback’

December 7, 2013Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economympositiveone@gmail.com

Mumbai :

Bangalore based Kaleem Pasha, the young multifaceted and multi-talented singer, sarod player, actor, poet and Co-writer will release a book titled Flashback… on late actor Bob Christo (bodyguard of actor-filmmaker Sanjay Khan) on June 14th at Crossword, Juhu Mumbai. Bob Christo during his last days was closely associated with Kaleem Pasha, who became a fan of his. Very few may be aware that Bob Christo was a Shaayar… too. The book will highlight never known facts of the late versatile actor known for his bad-man roles.

Kaleem Pasha has rendered songs and acted in Kannada films like Kaviya Kogile, Bangalore Raphrile amongst many others. He is also doing an untitled Kannada film where he is also crooning with Kavita Krishnamurthi. He has even played the lead in a Hindi film titled Saadu Mera Jaadu. Known as the title clone singer and fan of Pankaj Udhas he has bagged 9 awards from India; viz; Tipu Sultan Shahid Anwar award, Rajiv Gandhi Award, Proline India Achievers Society award, Lions Club Award from Delhi, etc. He has even bagged Sheikh Shahid award from Dubai. He has penned and rendered more than five albums on various chapters of life! . Zindagi Ki Dastaan, Zindagi Ek Ehsaas, Zindagi Ek Nashan and others. It may come in as a surprise that Kaleem who was closer to veteran singers like Mannadey, Mohd. Aziz, Anwar and hailing from Ali Akbar Khan gharana is an hotelier by profession too and holds a chain of coffee shop down south. He has even penned a book on poetry A Journey Of Successful Life…

Now he is soon stepping into Mumbai with a new pop album with a fusion of Indian melodies and the style of Mohd. Rafi sahib and it will appease the young and old alike. Welcome aboard ..

source: http://www.radioandmusic.com / RadioandMusic.com / Home> Channels> Indiatelivision / by RnM Team / June 06th, 2011

Tally Solutions ties up with Osmania University

December 4, 2013Business & Economy, Science & Technologympositiveone@gmail.com

Bangalore :

Tally Solutions has tied up with Osmania University to provide vocational training to students through distance education.

As part of the collaboration, students undergoing the programme will be offered a month of training, for which all the learning material will be provided by Tally, according to a company statement.

Further, Osmania University will award them with a certificate on successful completion of the course. The plan is to extend this programme to more number of colleges in and around Hyderabad under Osmania University, the statement added.

Shoaib Ahmed, President, Tally Solutions, said: “We strongly believe that providing the right vocational training will go a long way in addressing the unemployability crisis that the country is facing. Students have to be skilled enough to sustain in this competitive industry.”

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / BusinessLine / Home> Industry> Info-Tech / by The Hindu Bureau / Bangalore – November 20th, 2013