Monthly Archives: September 2013

Major food processing conference in Hyderabad in November

Business & Economy

FoodProcessingHF03sept2013

The food processing industry contributes three to five per cent more to the country’s gross domestic product than agriculture. Its growth rate is also faster. Improvements in this sector will not only increase its growth opportunities but will also contribute to strengthening food security and lowering food inflation. With this in mind, a major agribusiness and food processing conference, called Food 360 degrees, is being organised in Hyderabad on November 6 and 7. It focuses on leveraging the next wave of opportunities in the food services and food processing sectors.

S Sivakumar, Programme Chair – Food 360 degrees and the group head – Agri and IT businesses at ITC, added that one of the key problems the food processing industry could help solve is reducing agriculture wastage.

The current estimate of fixed assets investments (of capital assets) in the food processing industry is around Rs 150,000 crore. Sivakumar noted that this had a multiplier effect on employment as it provided to 10 million jobs in the food processing and agri-services sector. The industry could play a crucial role in ensuring job-led growth in the economy.

The conference, along with an exhibition, is being organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in partnership with the government of Andhra Pradesh, consultancy firm KPMG and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Topics (ICRISAT).

Another conference, the World Agricultural Forum (WAF) Congress with its agri-tech fair is also scheduled in Hyderabad from November 4 to 7. The event is being held for the first time in Asia since the WAF was set up in 1997. Its theme is that of re-shaping agriculture for a sustainable future with special focus on small farmholders. Sivakumar said Food 360 was being held around the same time to have a multiplier effect. It will focus on the next wave of opportunities in food services and the food processing sector.

There are also opportunities emerging in the export market which the conference could discuss. Sivakumar said agri and food product annual exports from India were more than $36 billion or 12 per cent of India’s total exports.

The Food 360 conference, which 600 delegates are expected to attend, apart from other international delegates and some from the WAF event who might also lend their presence, will discuss mega trends in this sector such as changing consumer preferences, technological developments, sustainability imperatives and the policy environment. J. A. Chowdary, Co-chairman, FICCI (Andhra Pradesh) and Conference Chair of Food 360, says a new ecosystem is emerging with lot of interests being evinced by venture capitalists and private equity investors in the food processing and agri-processing sector.

source: http://www.businesstoday.intoday.in / Business Today / Home> Biz Wrap> Corporate> Story / by  E Kumar Sharma / August 19th, 2013

Workshop on minimally invasive procedures

Science & Technology

With an aim to discuss the latest advances and improved outcomes of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgeries (MICS) and educate the surgeons in and around India, Yashoda Hospital is organizing and conducting a live international workshop on MICS for the third time from August 10. Dr. Alla Gopala Krishna Gokhale, HoD, department of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, Yashoda Hospital  will preside over the live workshop to facilitate smooth interactions between the audience and the faculty and contribute to the workshop’s success.

Explaining more on MICS, Dr Gokhale said, a minimally invasive procedure uses small incisions to access the heart without stopping the heart or cutting the breastbone and ribcage. It causes lesser trauma with faster recovery time and lowers risk of complications such as bleeding and infection. In just three weeks, patients can resume day-to-day activities and even return to their jobs”. He said, one day most of the cardiac surgeries have to become minimal access procedures without compromising on the long term results and patient safety and the goal of this workshop is to taking surgeons in this direction. Two live cases a bypass surgery and mitral valve surgery will be performed using the minimal access approach in this workshop.Speaking on the occasion, Dr. GS. Rao, managing director, Yashoda Group of Hospitals said,  “We have made great strides in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery performing thousands of procedures and surgeries with precision and success. This live workshop will not only highlight the advantages but will also talk about taking this procedure to its next logical level.”Nearly 200 eminent doctors from all over India and Sri Lanka and renowned international cardiac surgeons will attend the workshop as faculty. International faculty include Dr. Jaishankar Raman from Rush University Medical Center, Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, USA and Dr. Theo Kofidis, associate professor, head opf division of Adult Cardia Surgery, Deptartment of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, National University of Singapore.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / August 10th, 2013

Spice garden soon at Necklace road

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature

A spice-cum-herbal garden is coming up opposite Sanjeevaiah Park on the Necklace Road.

The Buddha Purnima Project (BPP) wing of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has initiated the process by floating the tenders.  The tenders would be finalised in about two weeks time and the entire process would be completed by this month-end, BPP Officer on Special Duty P Rajender Reddy told Express.

The spice and medicinal-cum-herbal garden will come up in about 2.25 acres of land at a cost of 1.5 crore.

It will be developed with the support of Spice Board India under the Union ministry of commerce, Andhra Pradesh Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Board, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other departments concerned.

Initially the civil works would be taken up first whereas the landscaping, planting and related works will be taken up later.

The facility would be developed in a eco-friendly manner. It would likely be thrown open to the public early next year.

Based on the topography of Hyderabad and surrounding places, spice plants like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, cloves, chilli, cumin curry leaves, turmeric, ginger, garlic, mustard basil, cassia, coriander, saffron and other varieties etc would be planted. Spices park will help render educative services to the visitors. Because of the varying climates – from tropical to sub-tropical to temperate-almost all spices grow splendidly in Hyderabad, he added.

Herbal plants aloe vera, tulsi, chamomile, ashwagandha, sarpagandha, coleus, geranium, rosemary, jatropa and other herbal plants will also be planted etc. He said that there is a global resurgence in traditional and alternative healthcare systems, so having medicinal garden gains importance.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by S Bachan Jeet Singh / ENS – Hyderabad / August 11th, 2013

Waheeda goes down memory lane

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Actor Waheeda Rehman posing for a photograph with teachers at St. Joseph’s School in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday./ Photo: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu
Actor Waheeda Rehman posing for a photograph with teachers at St. Joseph’s School in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday./ Photo: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu

Dressed in a chiffon saree and sporting a string of pearls around her neck, noted Hindi actress Waheeda Rehman was a picture of timeless beauty as she walked the corridors of Hawa Mahal in the city on Tuesday. She went down on a nostalgia trip during a private visit to the city. Waheeda had spent a few years of her childhood in the city in the 1940s when her father was posted here and was back after a long gap.

She had studied at St. Joseph’s Convent and later visited her alma mater and went around the corridors remembering her school days.

Waheeda posed for photographs with a few teachers and staff of the school and spoke to them in fluent Telugu. She was accompanied by talk show host and comedian Vinay Pathak who was full of praise for the beautiful Hawa Mahal on the Beach Road. Mayank Kumari Deo, who belongs to the royal family of Jeypore (Odisha), was excited to host the actress at the heritage building that was a favourite summer holiday home of the family.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Staff Reporter / Visakhapatnam – August 28th, 2013

Fight for rights, tribal communities told

Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Campaign launched to bring awareness in Visakha Agency area

A campaign has been launched to sensitise vulnerable tribal communities in the Agency area of the district on their rights and responsibilities. The weeklong campaign was inaugurated at Araku Valley on Friday on the occasion of the International Day of World Indigenous People.

A round-table meeting was held at Tribal Foundation at Padmapuram to drive home the point that tribal culture and advancement could sustain only if they overcome the fast spreading globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation simultaneously protecting the cultures.

It was decided to take up mass campaigns at shandies, ashram schools, youth gatherings and at villages covering around 1,200 participants to promote tribal cultures. The awareness will cover environment protection, conserving empowerment and indigenous living patterns.

The round-table meet called upon the communities to make unified efforts in accessing the constitutional rights and guarantees and overcome the challenges in the way of empowerment with unity.

The round-table laid emphasis on the health, education, livelihoods, facilitating the de-addiction, avoiding the child labour and marriages, poverty with a collective spirit recognising the beneficiaries as right holders’ overcoming the exclusion, disparities and other social barriers towards a holistic tribal advancement direction.

The participants at the round-table included teachers, students, farmers, self-help groups, Dhimsa Foundation, Tribal Foundation, Girinestham, Chaitanya, Vanamithra, Power, Focus, Chetana, IPAP and Nature and functionaries from international NGOs like DKA Austria, UNICEF, Save the Children, New Education Group — FIRE.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities / by Special Correspondent / Visakhapatnam – August 12th, 2013