Category Archives: Business & Economy

Rampage of a haute kind

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg


Is the city in for an overdose of fashion this January or will be it be “the more the merrier?”

Just when the Bangalore Fashion Week dates were getting set for announcements on January 25, Prasad Bidapa announced his dates for The Prasad Bidapa Fashion Week.

Are we getting set to becoming the pret-a-porter capital of the country? We speak to both the organisers on whether there’s any rivalry brewing or is it all fair in the world of fashion.

Prasad Bidapa will be presenting his first ever fashion week in the city. After three decades of working behind the scenes, we wonder why the fashion guru who has launched many famous faces didn’t think of a fashion week earlier. We questioned him whether it was a tad too late, “Everything has a time. I realised that Bengaluru designers don’t have a platform of their own to showcase their talent and we thought what better way to kick off the year.

The three-day extravaganza from January 18 to 20 will present the fashion history of Bengaluru, right from the days of Royal Mysore to present day by the city’s talented designers. We have Amanda Bachalli, Anjali Sharma, Calantha, Deepika Govind, Jason & Anshu, Lokessh Ahuja, Manish Saksena, Namrata G, Nimirta Lalvani, Pallavi Foley, Raj Shroff, Ritu Pande, Rony Dutta, Royal House of Mysore, Runa Ray, Sanchita Ajjampur, Seema Malhotra and Shalini Subramanian.”

Commenting on the reason that triggered this “fashion week” of his own, Prasad explains, “I have been thinking of it for a while now. The other fashion week (read Bangalore Fashion Week) has random designers. Bengaluru has enough talent to flaunt. I don’t have anything against anyone. It’s a big city and has space for everyone. If my fashion week is a week before theirs, fashion overdose is not my problem.

My designers are different and I will have top notch models like Bruna Abdullah, Indrani Dasgupta, Acquin Paes, Smitha Rao, Dayana Erappa and other models. I have no problem if my models do other shows, as long as they don’t bring the standards down.”

In its eighth phase, Dream Merchants also announced its Eighth edition of Blenders Pride Bangalore Fashion Week that will be held from January 25 to 28. Nisar Ahmed, casting director for BFW says, “I don’t understand the relevance of having another fashion week in the city, as we are already recognised. I think it will be an overdose of fashion. Now more people will come up and start their own fashion weeks.

They wanted to register themselves as Bangalore Fashion Weekend, but have gone ahead and done it in the name of Prasad Bidapa. I have never seen any fashion show in anyone’s name. We have made a name and are also going global this year with a show in Bangkok in March. This year, we have big designers like Ritu Kumar, Rina Dhaka, Abhishika Dutta and Niki Mahajan apart from other designers.”

Roshan Issac, a model who works for Prasad Bidapa feels, “PBFW is the first fashion week that will have only city designers of repute.” Question the organisers of BFW on the same and they say, “The reason why we didn’t have a lot of local talent was that we wanted to show the city talent from other cities.”

Sajad Mahajan, CEO, Dream Merchants reiterates, “We have also brought in several innovations like our BFW tunes.”

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Lifestyle> Fashion / DC, Namita Gupta / January 11th, 2013

Karnataka to expand orange cultivation

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Nature

Bangalore, Jan 03:
Karnataka is planning to expand area under orange cultivation by 50 per cent to 15,000 hectares in five years.

The horticulture department has identified Kodagu, Chikmagalur and Hassan districts for expansion of orange growing area.

“As per the plan prepared by us, about 1,000-hectare addition is planned annually till we achieve sizable production level,” S.V. Hittalmani, Additional Director, Karnataka Horticulture Department, told Business Line.

“Looking at the favourable agro-climatic conditions, the department is planning to expand annually 500 hectares in Kodagu and the rest in Chikmagalur and Hassan districts,” he added.

At present, 10,000 hectares are under orange cultivation, mainly grown as intercrop in coffee estates, though real fruit yield comes only from 5,000 to 6,000 hectares.

“After inclusion of orange under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) in the State seven years ago and also by offering Rs 15,000 per hectares as incentives to growers, we are seeing good quantity of oranges in the market,” said Hittalmani.

“Fairly good yield is being reported from Sidapura and Thitimati in Kodagu. Now we plan to replicate this in other districts where we plan to introduce the crop,” he added.

CURRENT YIELD

Current orange production (2012-13 crop year) in the State is estimated at 50,000 tonnes as against 45,000 tonnes last year (2011-12 crop year).

The department is also planning to give a boost to orange cultivation by encouraging fruit processing units in the growing regions. According to Hitalmani, at present a couple of processing units are operating under cooperative societies in Kushalnagar and Gonikoppa in Kodagu.

Hitalmani said the revival of orange in the State has led to steady demand. “Prices early in the season (November) average around Rs 60 a kg. Then it drops to Rs 45 a kg by the middle of the season (December/January) and later it quotes around Rs 50 to 60 as the season ends (February-March).

ORANGE MELA

As a step forward to develop farmer-centric business model, National Horticulture Board (NHB) and Karnataka Horticulture Department are holding an ‘Orange Mela’ in Bangalore from January 4 to 6, said Jagadeesha KG, Director of Horticulture.

For the mela, farmers from orange producing States such as Maharastra, Punjab, Rajasthan, a few States from North-East, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are taking part.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> Industry / by Anil Urs / Bangalore, January 03rd, 2013

Game time

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports

Rohan Bopanna on brand promotion and tennis

“I am glad to be here today, at the unveiling of Rado’s HyperChrome Collection. I’m pleased that Rado is the new official timekeeper for the Aircel Chennai Open, and am happy to be launching its latest collection,” said well-known tennis player Rohan Bopanna. a watch from Rado’s HyperChrome Collection while playing at the Open. “Its light weight and sturdy. It’s a watch fit for all occasions.”

When asked how he felt on joining Andy Murray as the other tennis player to sport Rado’s HyperChrome, he said; “I’m honoured to have joined the list of international sportsmen and celebrities who have represented this brand.” On his thoughts about the upcoming Chennai Open, Bopanna said that he’s looking forward to it; but refused to answer any questions related to the game. He said he would be looking to start his new season on a positive note; and also revealed that he has a collection of around 32 watches from various watch manufacturers.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Life & Stylye> MetroPlus / by Ashwin Jacob / December 31st, 2012

Tech wiz is ‘Coorg person of the year’

Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Leaders, Science & Technology

Google offered to buy his company, which he turned down

Vineet Devaiah, founder of a technology company which is set to offer tough competition to the controversial ‘Google Street View’ project is ‘Coorg Person of the Year, 2012’.

In fact Google had offered to buy out his company TeliportMe, but the Cornell educated CEO of the Palo Alto California-based start-up refused the offer, though Vineet had many a sleepless nights before turning down the once in a lifetime chance because “once you have said no, you cannot go back and ask them again.”

According to well-known technology website techcrunch.com, the Google buyout offer was in the range of $15-20 million, though Vineet is not prepared to comment on the amount.

He was selected ‘Coorg Person of the Year’ in a poll conducted by www.coorgtourisminfo.com, Kodagu’s first news portal, promoted by senior journalist P T Bopanna, said a release from the jouranlist.

Vineet, 26, son of Theetira Subramani and Latha, hailing from Kutta in Kodagu district of Karnataka State, has developed an Android application which focusses on creating virtual tours using 360 degree panoramas. Users can not only capture high-resolution 360 views, but can also share their images on Facebook and Twitter.

New application

Vineet likens his new application TeliportMe to Google Street View. “It is what TeliportMe will be in the next 5 to 6 years. The only difference between the two companies is that Google is paying billions of dollars to create it and we are getting it done for free… It’s kind of Wikipedia or crowd source imagery by people,” he noted.

Among the others who were nominated for this year’s ‘Coorg Person of the Year 2012’, include Commonwealth Games badminton gold medalist Machimanda Ashwini Ponnappa and noted environmentalist Col C P Muthanna, who has been waging a relentless battle to save the Western Ghats from the forest mafia in Kodagu. said the release.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> District / Mysore, DHNS / December 30th, 2012

Kodagu attracts Rs. 4,114.46 crore

Business & Economy

Kodagu has attracted Rs. 4,114.46 crore business investment at the Coorg Business Summit held in Madikeri on December 18, according to official information received here on Thursday.

Officials of the Industries Department in the district, who collated the statistics till December 26, said in Madikeri that 374 people had signed agreements with the government to invest on various sectors. A report to this effect was submitted to the State government by the Joint Director of the Department of Industries.

Investments

Of the investors, 179 firms were scheduled to invest on industries to the tune of Rs. 1,673.29 crore, 115 for tourism amounting to Rs. 1,339.41 crore, 18 in the field of medical service amounting to Rs. 768.15 crore and 17 persons in the field of education involving Rs. 175.70 crore.

Forty-five others have come forward to invest on other sectors involving Rs. 157.91 crore.

Organisers

The FKCCI, the Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Kodagu District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Department of Industries and Commerce, who had expected investments in the range of Rs. 1,000 crore a year, had organised the Coorg Business Summit.

The summit was inaugurated by Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysore, December 28th, 2012

2 RRBs in Karnataka amalgamated

Business & Economy

Bangalore , DEC. 28:
According to the directions of the Union Ministry of Finance’s Department of Financial Services, the Chikmagalur Kodagu Gramin Bank, a regional rural bank (RRB), sponsored by Corporation Bank, was amalgamated with Cauvery Kalpataru Grameena Bank, sponsored by State Bank of Mysore.

In a release to exchanges, Corporation Bank said the amalgamation comes into effect from November 1 vide notification.

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> Industry> Banking / by Hindu’s Bureau / Bangalore, December 28th, 2012

More funds for 2 Kodagu panchayats

Business & Economy

Madikeri :
Thithimathi village panchayat in south Kodagu and Valnur Thyagathur panchayat in Somwarpet taluk have been selected for the implementation of the five-year development programmes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNEGS).

A total of 10 panchayats from 9 districts have been selected. Apart from Kodagu panchayats, one each from Dakshina Kannada, Uthara Kannada, Chikmagalur, Bangalore Rural, Dharwad, Davanagere, Kolar and Bagalkot will get more funds for overall development. Preference will be given for health, education and employment.

Aptha organization executive officer M C Chandan said after meeting villagers, a list of works to be undertaken will be prepared.

The project includes various schemes by the Centre and the state government. A team will conduct a door-to-door survey in villages to take stock of the needs and present it in the gramsabhas.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mysore> Taluk / TNN / December 26th, 2012

Rs 1000 cr booster dose for Madikeri?

Business & Economy

Mysore:
Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Kodagu District Chamber of Commerce & Industry are all set to woo investors in the hospitality industry, education, garments and tourism to the “Kashmir of the south”.

At Kodagu Business Development Summit scheduled for December 18, FKCCI will facilitate investors and government agencies to set up various industries in the district. FKCCI is expecting an investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore during the meet, which is expected to be inaugurated by chief minister Jagadish Shettar.

FKCCI president K Shiva Shanmugam told reporters that Kodagu has the potential to grow in many sectors. “We want to encourage investment in Kodagu, as it will help in its overall development. Preliminary meetings have been conducted with locals, and many of them have agreed to support environment-friendly medium-scale ventures,” he added.

“We have come out with proposals like hi-tech nursery, residential schools, bee-keeping, garment firms, food-processing industry, cold-storage facility, IT industries, besides those tapping the district’s rich tourism potential by providing facilities at all tourist spots. These projects are viable and will not harm the nature in anyway,” Shanmugam claimed.

Kodagu has not seen any development in the recent past, and it lacks big industries and necessary infrastructure. Many people are migrating from Kodagu to neighbouring districts like Mysore, Dakshina Kannada and Bangalore for higher education and employment. “Setting up industries here will ensure development in the near next five years,” the FKCCI chief felt.
In industrial and infrastructural development, land plays a major role. “Therefore, we have taken many land owners into confidence, and they have shown interest in sharing their property to establish industries,” Shanmugam claimed, adding that FKCCI will act as a facilitator between investors, locals, and government agencies.

“We have felt the need to have cold storage facilities in Somawarpet, Madikeri and Virajpet which contribute to nearly 2.35 lakh tonnes of coffee meant for export.

We have also identified land for mini airport in Somwarpet. Our aim is to wipe out imbalance in economic growth in the state,” he added.

The FKCCI chief said that they are expecting nearly 50 investors at the meet.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mysore / by Lawrence Milton, TNN / December 05th, 2012

ICAR to set up planters’ home at Madikeri

Business & Economy

Expert lays stress on diversification of crops

While agreeing with popular belief that agriculture “is risky business”, Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) S. Ayyappan said on Thursday that, however, farmers in places such as Kodagu had shown how farming could be profitable.

He was inaugurating the golden jubilee of the Cardamom Research Centre (CRC) at Kodagu, an Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) release here said.

The cardamom centre at Kodagu comes under the purview of the IISR. Dr. Ayyappan said the ICAR would also set up a planters’ home at Madikeri to offer training to farmers in the region.

Diversification

“Agriculture being probably one of the riskiest businesses, for it to be profitable, we have to give importance to diversification of crops and specialty agriculture,” Dr. Ayyappan, who is also the Secretary in the Department of Agricultural Research & Education (DARE), said.

He was all praise for planters for their success in spices cultivation. He said that spice plantations at Kodagu were model farms for farmers from the other States. “They have proved that farming is a profitable venture. The productivity of black pepper in these plantations is far above that of Vietnam,” he said.

He said the decision to upgrade the CRC and set up the planters’ home were New Year gifts for farmers at Kodagu.

N.K. Krishnakumar, Deputy Director-General of Horticulture, who presided, wanted the IISR and the CRC to identify pockets where cultivation of cardamom and black pepper and other profitable spices could be grown on a large scale.

M. Anandaraj, IISR Director, Amrik Singh Sidhu, Director of the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore; George V. Thomas, Director of the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, spoke.

Publications such as Capsule, a souvenir of the golden jubilee celebrations, Sadaram, a comprehensive publication on 50 years in cardamom research, and special issues of Spice India and Indian Journal of Arecanut, Spices and Medicinal Plants published to commemorate the golden jubilee were also released at the function.

Progressive farmers from Kodagu such as S.B. Jayaraj of Murugarajendra Estate, Madapur; B.M. Mahesh Kumar of Hosathota Estate, Sakleshpur; John Thomas Ramapuram of Doona Ann Plantations, Siddapura; C.P. Pramod of Cauvery Estate, Madikeri; Duleep Nanjappa of Pakka Estate, Madikeri, and Prema Ganesh of Prema Estate, Madikeri, were honoured by Karnataka Speaker K.G. Boppiah at the programme.
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Planters’ home to offer training to farmers
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Planters lauded for success in spice cultivation
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source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kozhikode, December 22nd, 2012

Potential linked credit plan for Kodagu district released

Business & Economy

Nabard has prepared Rs 2,378 crore worth potential linked credit plan for Kodagu district for 2013-14.

Zilla Panchayat President B Shivappa and CEO K B Anjanappa released the plan at Lead Bank hall in Madikeri on Wednesday. The plan has been prepared by discussing with the various officials, Coffee Board, Spices Board and others.

Compared to last year, there has been increase of 32 per cent in the potential linked credit plan.

About Rs 2089 crore has been earmarked for agriculture. This includes Rs 962 crore for coffee, paddy—Rs 80 crore, pepper—Rs 31.35 crore, arecanut—Rs 21 crore, coconut—Rs 13.12 crore, cardamom—Rs 16.53 crore, orange—Rs 20.92 crore, banana—Rs 12.37 crore, maize—Rs 6.21 crore, ragi—Rs 45 lakh, ginger—Rs 27.20 crore, tobacco—Rs 27.72 crore, and vegetables—Rs 7.40 crore.

A sum of Rs 1596.22 crore has been identified for crop loan. A sum of Rs 492.89 crore has been earmarked for the term loan for agriculture and related activities. A sum of Rs 2089.11 crore has been earmarked for potential linked credit plan for agriculture.

Nabard prepares an estimate of potential linked credit plan every year. Based on the plan, Lead Bank announces district credit plan in the month of March. All the banks will initiate measures to distribute loans to all priority and non priority sectors as per the plan, said Lead Bank Manager Arunachala Sharma.

He said that from April to September, the target was to disburse loan of Rs 989.80 crore in agriculture sector. A sum of Rs 441.54 crore has been disbursed. About Rs 123.26 crore has been disbursed as short term loan during the period.
In the priority sector, the target was Rs 1637.10 crore and loan amount of Rs 712.96 crore has been disbursed. In the non priority sector, loan of Rs 858.20 crore has been disbursed. RBI Chief Manager G H Rao said that the banks should reach its target. Nabard Assistant Manager Shivaram Krishnan also spoke.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> District/ Madikeri> DH News Service / December 13th, 2012