June, 20172MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Babudom

IAS IPS Public SectorY.Tsering IAS officer Assam-

Meghalaya 1983 batch, who is presentlyposted as Additional Chief Secretary toGovernment, Mining & Geology Depart-ment, Government of Assam has beenappointed as the Chief Secretary Gov-ernment of Meghalaya. In place of K.SKropha IAS.

Anant Kumar Singh IAS officer UttarPradesh 1984 batch, who is presentlyposted as Additional Secretary &Finan-cial Adviser, Ministry of Petroleum & Natu-ral Gas, Government of India, has takenover as Secretary, Ministry of Textiles,Government of India.

Mrs. Rashmi Verma IAS officer Bihar1982 batch, she is presently posted asSecretary, Ministry of Textile, Governmentof India, has taken over the charge asSecretary Ministry of Tourism, Govern-ment.

Anil Mukim IAS officer Gujarat 1985batch, who is presently posted as Addi-tional Chief Secretary(ACS) Finance de-partment, Government of Gujarat, islikely to be appointed as Chief SecretaryGovernment of Gujarat. In place of J. NSingh IAS.

Rajive Kumar IAS officer UttarPradesh 1981 batch, who is presentlyposted as Secretary Ministry of Shipping,Government of India, has been givenadditional charge of Secretary Ministryof Road Transport&Highways, Govern-ment of India.

Sanjay Mitra IAS officer West Bengal1982 batch, who is presently poste asSecretary Road Transport&Highways,Government of India, has joined as De-fence Secretary, Government of India.

Aditya Nath Das IAS officer AndhraPradesh 1987 batch, who is presentlyposted as Principal Secretary, SchoolEducation, Department, Government ofAndhra Pradesh has been re-designatedas Special Secretary, School Education,Government of Andhra Pradesh Govt.

P. Lakshmi Narasimham IAS officerAndhra Pradesh 2003 batch, who is pres-ently posted as Collector & D M,Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh Govern-ment, has been given full additionalcharge of Managing Director AndhraPradesh State Beverages Corporation

Limited(APSBCL) Guntur Andhra Pradesh.

Mrs.Niharika Barik IAS officerChhattisgarh 1997 batch, who is pres-ently posted as Commissioner Bilaspurdivision has been transferred as Secre-tary Gramodyog department, Govern-ment of Chhattisgarh Government, hasbeen given additional charge of Secre-

tary Culture Tourism.

Shashi Prakash Goel IAS officer UttarPradesh 1989 batch, who is who is pres-ently awaiting on posting has joined asprincipal secretary to the Chief Ministerof Uttar Pradesh, with the charge of civilaviation, estate department and protocol,Government of Uttar Pradesh.

Mrs. Radha Ratudi IAS officerUttrakahnd 1988 batch, who is presentlyposted as Principal Secretary, ElectionsDepartment, Government of Uttarakhandhas been transferred as Principal Secre-tary, Personnel, Vigilance, Anti-Corruptionand is also Principal Secretary, Women

Empowerment and Child Development.

Rakesh Srivastava IAS officer Rajasthan 1981batch, who is presently posted as Member Secretary,National Commission for Backward Classes, Govern-ment of India, has been appointed as Secretary, Minis-try of Woman&Child Development, Government ofIndia.

K. Durga Prasad former IPS officerTelangana 1981 batch, who is recentlysuperannuated as DG CRPF, Ministry ofHome Affairs, Government of India, hasbeen appointed as Adviser to Road Re-habilitation in Naxal Area , Governmentof Andhra Pradesh. He also served as

Director SPG, Cabinet Secretariat and DIrector Gen-eral of CRPF, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India.

Ashok Prasad former IPS AndhraPradesh 1979 batch, who is presentlyAdvisor in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)Government of India, has been givenadditional charge of Chief SpokespersonMinistry of Home Affairs, Government ofIndia. Prasad served as Secretary (In-ternal Security).

Shivanand Jha IPS officer Gujarat1983 batch, who is presently posted asAdditional Director General ofPolice(Intelligence) , Gandhinagar,Gujarat Police, has been promoted toDGP grade, Gujarat Police.

Balaji Srivastava IPS officer AGMUT1988 batch, who is presently posted asSpecial CP, Intelligence, Delhi Police, hasbeen transferred as Special CP, Eco-nomic Offences Wing, Delhi Police.

A.K Viswananth IPS officer TamilNadu 1990 batch, who is presentlyposted as ADGP/ACG, HG, Chennai,,Tamil Nadu Police has been appointedas Commissioner of Tamil Nadu Police.

Vivek Gogia IPS officer AGMUT1991 batch, who is recently returned fromGoa Government, has been appointedas Special CP, Training, Delhi Police.

Kanti Rana Tata IPS officer AndhraPradesh 2004 batch, who is presentlyposted as Secretary Andhra PradeshGovernment, will be join (GOI)MHA hasasked government of Andhra pradeshabout availity for central Depution as SPin CBI.

Rajesh Nirwan IPS officer Rajasthan1992 batch, who is presently posted asIG Border Security BSF, Kashmir Fron-tier, Ministry of Home Affairs, Govern-ment of India, has been transferred asIG Administration(FHQ) Border SecurityForce, New Delhi.

Mrs. Sonali Mishra IPS officer MadhyaPradesh 1993 batch, she is presentlyposted as IG Border SecurityForce(FHQ) Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India, has been trans-ferred as IG Border Security BSF, Kash-mir Frontier, Ministry of Home Affairs,Government of India.

Mrs. K.B Vandana IPS officerRajasthan 2004 batch, she is presentlyposted as SP, SP University of PS & CJ,Jodhpur, has been appointed as PrivateSecretary to Minister of State of Financeand Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India.

Chandra Prakash IPS officer UttarPradesh 1989 batch, who is presentlyposted as ADG, Spl. ENQ, Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh Police, has been trans-ferred as ADG Crime, Uttar PradeshPolice.

Tith Raj IPS officer Gujarat 1984batch, who is presently posted as Addi-tional Director General of PoliceADGP,Law&Order), Gujarat Police, has beenpromoted to DGP Grade, Gujarat Police.

Ms.Nivedita Kukreti IPS officerUttarakhand 2008 batch, who is presently posted asSP, Vig. Section, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, has been hasbeen transferred on promotion as SSP, Dehradun.

Dr. Sarat Kumar Acharya CMD, NLCIL has beenelected as Fellow in the World Academy of ProductivitySciences (WAPS) at New Delhi.The prestigious WorldAcademy of Productivity Sciences global level FellowshipAward was presented to Dr.S.K Acharya by ShriDharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and NaturalGas of India, GOI during the National seminar on Produc-

tion Productivity for Sustainability in Coal & Power Sector organized bythe world Confederation of Productivity Science, India (WCPS,I) at NewDelhi. Smt. Ratna Chowdary RM,Delhi received the Award on behalf ofCMD, NLCIL.

Sunil Mehta has been appointed as Managing Directorand CEO of PNB. Prior to this, Shri Mehta had been Ex-ecutive Director of Corporation Bank since January 22,2016. Mr. Mehta also served as General Manager ofAllahabad Bank. Mehta is a Post Graduate in Agricultureand also MBA in Finance, a Certified Associate of Indian

Institute of Bankers (CAIIB). He is a seasoned banker with over 35 yearsof rich experience in various administrative and functional capacities atBranches, Zonal Offices and also at the Head Office level.

Anupam Anand, Director (Personnel) is the top con-tender of the Chairman-cum-Managing Director ofHindustan Copper Limited.

Rajeev Kushwah, ITS, has taken charge as the ChiefVigilance Officer (CVO) of Mangalore Refinery and Petro-chemicals Limited (MRPL) . He is an ITS officer of 1997batch. He is an Electrical Engineering graduate with Postgraduation in Industrial Engineering from NITIE, Mumbai.

IFSJaideep Mazumdar IFS officer 1989 batch, who is pres-

ently posted as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of ExternalAffairs, Government of India, has been appointed as Am-bassador of India to the Philippines.

Jagdish Prasad Meena IAS officer Assam-Meghalaya1983 batch, who is presently posted as Special Secretary,Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of In-dia, has been appointed as Secretary Department of Con-sumer Affairs, Government of India.

Anant Kumar Singh IAS officer Uttar Pradesh 1984 batch,who is presently posted as Additional Secretary &Financial Adviser, Min-istry of Petroleum&Natural Gas, Government of India, has been appointedas Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government

June, 20173MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Top Brass

Stunning SambaThese days factionalism and violence

out of political rivalry is on the rise inAndhra,which is giving sleepless nightsto the top officers.Whereas the AndhraDGP Sambasiva Rao is quite confidentthat soon things will be under controland it can only be dealt by maintainingstrict law & order. Hope so….! Kudos tothe officer for the Mahanadu security ar-rangements, which was not an easy task,where the officer proved himself. That’swhy we endorsed him as ‘stunningsamba’.

Hip Hip HurrayTelangana State Police is making

rounds in capital city, this time the kha-kis are in news for the prestigiousawards in various categories.It appearthat to recognize the T police the FICCIhas called the ceremony.This was theversion of the people, who were presentat the event. Coming to the point the bigboss Anurag Sharma,DGP of T state stolethe show. Officers of other state con-gratulated him and media was movingaround the offcier. As usual big bosspassed on the credit to his team offic-ers. Where ever he is, his style, his pres-ence & his charisma makes the differ-ence. One more achievement from hisdiaries ! Cheers !!!

WelfareSchemes OnPriority

Welfare schemes are the first prior-ity of T Chief Secretary S.P.Singh, Whenit comes to the schemes for women &old age he doesn’t compromise inimplementing them on time and reach.In fact the officer directed all the DM’sto look into it personallyand as a resultthe women & the old aged are gettingtheir benefits & pensions in timeregularly.Kudos to the officers commit-ment !

Smart & SmoothThe entire city police already en-

dorsed the City Police Chief M.MahendarReddy as one of the best commission-ers, and now the FICCI has taken a privi-lege to announce him as ‘Smart PoliceOfficer’ for all his initiatives and out-standing performance in it’s ‘SpecialJury Award’. This is not the first timethat city police is endorsed, earlier toomany feathers were added in the cap ofcity police, it is all because of one andonly Mr.Reddy, who has put endless ef-forts to make the policing much effec-tive and more smoother.Kudos to theofficer !

One who works 24/7 without a break with lotof strength, dedication and zeal is acknowledgedas human machine and when it comes to officer’sfraternity the GHMC Chief Dr.B.Janardhan Reddy’sname comes first in the category of workaholicbabus. ‘Subha ho yaa sham kaam hi kaam”. Andthat’s the reason city has achieved 22nd rank inSwachh Survekshan & 1st among the traditionallyknown mega cities of India.After the achievementthe Corporation is now working on better sanita-tion and for the same ‘Self-Assessment Form’ isbeen developed for the circles to verify their per-formance status.This is called the zeal ! It’s a newsthat last month Annapurna scheme has crossedthe mile stone of 1 crore meals, this initiative is ofGHMC & T government.Many more achievementsand records and this is all because of the commit-ment of the officer, who is taking the corporationon the higher levels.Kudos to all his efforts !

Soon after the appointment of IASofficer Anil Kumar Singhal as ExecutiveOfficer of Tirumula Tirupati Deva-sthanams, the debate started.The debateis Singhal hails from ‘North India’ and howcome a Hindi speaking officer can be aEO of TTD, where from the beginningTelugu speaking officers sits on the saidpost.So, the Telugu officers were disap-pointed and moreover some of the politi-cal parties also were unhappy with theappointment.

Mr. Singhal, an AP State cadre of-ficer, prior to his new appointment wasserving as Resident Commissioner ofAndhra Pradesh government at APBhavan in New Delhi.

Especially the officers should under-stand that from when the postings arebeen done according to the region andlanguage or it is a rule that certain postingsare reserved for certain groups.The of-ficer is allotted for AP state and the of-ficer who has to work for the state for hisentire life has a privilege to work on vari-ous departments and it’s a decision ofthe government to place him accordingto his caliber. So, better to be broad andthink positively.

First TimeThe Principal Secretary of Planning

Department B.P.Acharya has handedover the Telangana Social DevelopmentYear-2017’ report to Governor ESL.Narasimhan. It is for the first time in theentire country that this kind of report isprepared and submitted to the Gover-nor. Kudos to the officer, who is knownfor doing the things in an exceptionalmanner. He is also working on manyaspects for the development of the state,

Mango Mania !After the change in regime from in-

dustries to Telangana Bhavan the Prin-cipal Resident Commissioner of TBhavan Arvind Kumar is seen at a mangostall inauguration event. Telangana StateHorticulture Development Corporationis providing the best quality ripenedmangoes. Were the mangoes sweet ?!Who knows the mango mania !

Thakur on SameSpeed

The Andhra Pradesh ACB ChiefRP.Thakur is on same speed.The raidsand catching the big fishes is still con-tinued. Recently his team raided at apremises belonging to KVR.Sai Kumar, former Joint Secretary to General Ad-ministration Department. The raid be-gan at 6 AM in the main house of SaiKumar at Kairathabad, Hyderabad andeight other places of his relatives andfriends in Hyderabad, Kadapa, Guntur,Rajahmundry, Kurnool and Bangalore.This is example of the process of theraid, which is followed with all the othercases too.No person will be spared,who is into corruption activities. Bet-ter to be honest or else be prepared togo behind the bars.

A Funny Fight

The Human Machine

4 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Badminton player and Rio Olympics silver medallist PV.Sindhu appears to havedecided to settle down in Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati after accepting a Group-Iofficer’s job offered by CM.

Sources said the Andhra Pradesh government is likely to offer a post in the rank ofDeputy Collector, a Group-I post. If PV Sindhu does take it up, there is a possibility of herbeing conferred with IAS in eight-nine years, the sources said.

At present, the badminton sensation is working in the public sector oil company,Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) as deputy manager (sports).

“Sindhu will take a call after she gets the appointment order. After all, it should notaffect her game and she has a long way to go in her career.

“But she has to settle down one day. We understand it is a very good offer, and sinceSindhu is still young, I think it will definitely help her,” her mother added.

Sindhu Soon ToBe Dy.Collector

Chitra PlayingLead Role

These days lady officer Chitra Ramachandran isplaying a lead role, as two bed room scheme forweaker section is the major scheme of T governmentand as a Principal Secretary of Housing Departmentshe is putting all her efforts to give the best.Apart fromher chamber work the lady officer is visiting the sitespersonally for the inspection.

Anand Hits AgainCV.Anand, the civil supplies commissioner is

on the batting side since his joining.Several irregu-larities were cracked so far and still the task forceteams are on their toes.Civil supplies is such agigantic department where reaching to misdeedsis a big task.Now the officer is on job to set thethings in a correct form, which was not in anorganised manner since decades. Governmentbrought the officer with the same intention and heis making rounds by doing more & more beyondthe expectation.

Baahubali ThankedBhagwat

The block buster Baahubali - 2 hits the silverscreen worldwide, which provided enormous rec-ognition to the entire team & the Tollywood industryincluding Hyderabad & Telangana state too. Com-ing to the news in the beginning of the film the line“special thanks to Rachakonda Police Commis-sioner Mahesh Bhagwat” is mentioned on thescreen. Because most part of the film shot at Ramojifilm city, which comes under the limits of Mr.Bhagwat.The best security arrangements andtimely coordination is the reason. the film team paidtheir gratitude. Good to see the officers name on sucha film screen, which has taken the entire industry world-wide in storm. An Applaud also for the best arrange-ments from his side during the recent IPL. !

Proud Time For KhanMuzammil Khan, son of A.K. Khan, IPS former

DGP of ACB got 22nd rank at all India level and toprank in Telangana State in UPSC exam.The suc-cess of Muzammil Khan maid the entire Khans fam-ily happy. A.K. Khan said Muzammil not only fulfilledthe wish of his grandfather, Abdul Kareem Khan,IAS, former Registrar of Cooperative Societies andChairman of Minorities Commission but also broughthappiness for the entire family.Khan said ‘I am proudof you my son, you make our dream true’.

For A Good CauseThese days water board chief Dana Kishore

is working for a good cause and that’s rainharvesting.As the rainy season is on and to propa-gate the same the board is offering 25% incentiveon the total cost of rain harvesting pit.This is reallya best initiative to save the water, which is pre-cious and very much needed at this time.Kudosfor all his efforts !

Rajamouli MeetsSuper Cop

It’s a news that film director S.S.Rajamoulistraight away went to meet the young super copDCP (CCS) Avinash Mohanty to convey his grati-tude for nabbing pirates of block buster Baahubali-2.As the cops has arrested six members fromDelhi & Patna for allegedly creating pirated ver-sion and for blackmailing the film producers.Thisshows the soberness of director Rajamouli andthe best performance of the officer Mohanty.

This Is Really AwesomeIt’s a news that the Adilabad District Collec-

tor Jyothy Buddha Prasad has adopted the fam-ily of a martyred soldier V.Santosh Kumar,whowas killed in action during operation Meghdoootin Siachen December 24,2015. Santosh was abachelor and is survived by his motherNagamani,two brothers and a sister.

Prasad is perhaps the first IAS officer whoresponded to the call given by the Civil and Ad-ministrative Service (Central) Association to theIAS cadre offciers across the country to adopt afamily of the martyred soldiers.It’s an inspira-tional step by Prasad.Kudos to the officer !

Jaya’s ‘Power Punch’Tirupati Rural SP R.Jayalakshmi is on screen and

after a gap her toughness is in talk.After a major acci-dent one of the MLA of YSR Party and his followers weretrying to gherao and protest at the govt. hospital, wherethe lady officer got angry on them. She said “what is thatyou are talking? I have been at the scene...and I havepersonally supervised the rescue operations.You can’tdo politics over dead bodies,” the furious SP told theMLA and asked him to leave the hospital.

Ravi On A MissionIn his effort to bring a change in society an IPS officer from Andhra

Pradesh has set an example of his own that should galvanize many todo the same. Superintendent of Police in the Kurnool district Ake RaviKrishna has adopted Kapatrala village.He is also on a mission to makepeople aware of eye donation, a report by scoopwhoop.com has said.As per the report, the village was hit by faction killings and revengemurders and at least 21 people there are facing prison terms thatinclude life imprisonment.

The officer has also written, and sang a song to encourage peopleto donate their eyes after death. The song is titled ‘Kallanu daanamchey, nee choopunu daanam chey’, which means ‘donate your eyes,donate your vision’, was shared on several social media platforms.Such instances of good deeds have also come to fore elsewhere.Earlier this year, cricket icon and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament(MP) had adopted Donja in Maharashtra’s Osmanabad district underthe Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna.He had earlier adopted PuttamrajuKandriga village in Andhra Pradesh.

5 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Public SectorHUDCO celebrates its 47th Foundation Day

M Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban PovertyAlleviation, UD and I & B, Government of India, inaugurated the function and addressed theaugust gathering to commemorate the 47thFoundation Day of HUDCO.

Shri M Venkaiah Naidu congratulated HUDCO on completing 47 glorious years of service tothe nation. Highlighting the significant role of HUDCO, the Hon’ble Minister urged the Organiza-tion to realize the vision of “Housing for All” - “SabkaSapna, Ghar ho Apna”. He added thatHUDCO must focus on innovative financial inclusion strategies for “reaching the unreached”.TheHon’ble Minister emphasized on the three mantras - ‘Reform, Perform & Transform”, which willlead us to ‘Making of Developed India’ (MODI). On the occasion, the Hon’ble Minister releasedHUDCO publications namely, HUDCO Darpan, Shelter, HUDCO Design Awards - 2016 andSankalp. The Hon’ble Minister stressed that the felicitation is to inspire others in doing good workand gave away awards to the Best performing agencies, HUDCO Best Practices, Best Re-gional Offices, Long Services, HUDCO Design Awards etc.

Dr. Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation con-gratulated HUDCO on its 47thAnnual Day and said that HUDCO must continue to play aproactive role in promoting sustainable habitats and also make intensive efforts in resolvingdefaults. Shri K.V. Chowdhary, Chief Vigilance Commissioner present on the occasion, con-gratulated HUDCO on its foundation day and stressed the need for adopting standard operat-ing procedures in all activities and highlighted the importance of transparency and accountabil-ity. While delivering the Welcome Address Dr. M Ravi Kanth, CMD, HUDCO highlighted HUDCO’sachievements of the highest ever loan sanctions i.e. Rs. 31862 crore and highest ever dis-bursements i.e. Rs. 9095 crore. He congratulated HUDCO for getting perfect 100 score in MoUin FY 2015-16, for the first time in 47 years and mentioned that this was possible because of‘Sensible Board, Intelligent Management and Diligent Employees’. He stressed that HUDCO willcontinue to be an integral part of Government of India’s actionable programmes& policies.HUDCO as one of the Central Nodal Agencies (CAN), is channelizing the subsidy, through itsRetail Finance Window i.e. HUDCO Niwas and is making sincere efforts to ‘Reach the Unreached’.HUDCO has executed 51 MoUs with various Banks and has conducted 28 Regional Work-shops for CLSS to sensitize bank officials on Pradhan MantriAwasYojana (PMAY).

Shri N.L. Manjoka, Director (Corporate Planning), HUDCO proposed the Vote of Thanks.Thecelebrations concluded with the cultural programme with participation of HUDCO employees.

REC sanctions Rs.10,453 crores andsigns MoUs worth Rs. 85,723 crores

REC signed MoUs withTANGEDCO and TANGE-DCO and TANTRANSCO forfinancial assistance of Rs.60,063 crore and Rs. 25,660crore respectively in the au-gust presence of Shri.Thangamani, Minister of Elec-tricity, Govt. of Tamil Nadu andPrincipal Secretary (Energy),Govt. of Tamil Nadu atChennai. The financial assis-tance is towards Implemen-tation of various Generation,Transmission and Distribution

projects in the State of Tamil Nadu during the next five years. Dr. P.V. Ramesh, IAS, CMD, RECalso handed over the Sanction letter for Rupee Term Loan (RTL) of Rs.10,453 crore for imple-mentation of 2×660 MW Udangudi Super Critical Thermal Power projectduring the ceremony.

CMD and Directors of TANGEDCO and TANTRANSCO lauded REC for their support indevelopment of power sector in the state and further stated that the huge loan assistance fromREC as per the MoU will ensure timely implementation of these projects. CMD REC stated thatsuch huge investment will not only improve the power infrastructure of state power utilities, butalso improve their financial as well as operational performance. Officials of REC, TANGEDCO&TANTRANSCO were also present at the occasion.

NHPC celebrates 100thanniversaryof Champaran Satyagraha

NHPC Limited, India’spremier hydropower com-pany is celebrating the 100thanniversary of ChamparanSatyagraha with great fervourand gaiety. K.M. Singh, Chair-man & Managing Director,NHPC inaugurated an exhibi-tion dedicated exclusively tothe life of Father of the Nation,Mahatma Gandhi at its Cor-porate Office at Faridabad on.

The exhibition depictsGandhiji’s life journey and vari-ous milestones on the path ofachieving India’s freedom witha special focus on the

Champaran Satyagraha. As part of the celebrations, a special lecture on the ChamparanSatyagraha by Prof. Aparna Basu, Chairperson, National Gandhi Museum and Library was alsodelivered on this occasion which was attended by a large number of NHPC employees.

NLC India builds its Corporate Chennai Office

Dr. Sarat Kumar Acharya, CMD/NLC India Limited laid down the foundation stone for NewCorporate Office at Chennai in the campus of Chennai Regional Office, at Kilpauk .

Regional Office at Chennai for NLC India runs near Kilpauk Medical College. NLC India runsbusiness at various locations, such as Rajasthan, Uttarpradesh, Odisha, Jarkhand, Andamanapart from Tamilnadu; also, Karnataka, Madhyapradesh, Maharashtra would be added throughits proposed power projects. As it is planned to expand its business to cover all over India, it isforced to find a suitable office, where all the projects would be handled very easily on administra-tive reasons. Hence, it was determined to shift its Corporate Office to Chennai, where itsRegional Office, runs hitherto. The planned building would be constructed at a cost ofRs.23,24,84,000/- under most modern Construction Technologies, would have 10 Floors, whichwould be completed within 15 months. This construction work would be carried out by the NBCCIndia Limited (formerly National Building Construction Corporation), a Navratna Company ofCentral Public Sector Undertaking. The building is located in a lay-out area of 1385 Sq.Mts., andconsists of 10 Floors, including stilt and basement; each floor having a plinth area of 444.28Sq.Mts. (4780 Sq.Ft.). After construction, this building would find fully automated, multi levelparking facility to cover 40 Cars and 102 Two-Wheelers. At the Open Terrace, Solar Panels willbe erected, which would cater the needs of power to the building, to some extent.

In the planned venue at Chennai, Dr. Sarat Kumar Acharya, CMD/NLC India Limited laid afoundation stone on 14.04.2017. Directors, Sri P. Selvakumar & Sri R. Vikraman and Sri M.Maheswaran, CRM/NLC India Limited alongwith Officers of NLC India Limited and NBCC IndiaLimited were present at the event.

POWERGRID signs MoU with Ministry of Power

POWERGRID has signed anMoU with Ministry of Power, Government of India detailingvarious targets to be achieved by POWERGRID during FY 2017-18. The MoU was signed byShri Pradeep Kumar Pujari, Secretary (Power), Government of India and Shri I.S. Jha, CMD,POWERGRID in the presence of Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Power, Joint Secretary (Trans.),Ministry of Power, Director (Personnel),Director (Operations), Director (Finance) & Director(Projects), POWERGRID and other senior officials from Ministry and POWERGRID.

SBI net profit up 122.72% in Q4India’s largest public sector State Bank of India on

Friday reported a 122.72 per cent increase in its net profitto Rs 2,815 crore in the last quarter of 2016-17 fiscalended March 31.

The SBI’s net profit was Rs 1,264 crore in the sameperiod in 2016.

The bank’s total income in the quarter under review was at Rs 57,720.07 crore, up 7.8 percent from Rs 53,526.97 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the lender saidin a regulatory filing.

The bank’s net interest income rose by 17.33 per cent to Rs 18,071 crore in the last quarterof the last fiscal from Rs 15,401 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

Its operating profit increased by 12.93 per cent to Rs 16,026 in three months ended March31, from Rs 14,192 crore in corresponding period of previous fiscal.

Deposits of the bank increased to Rs 20,44,751 crore as on March 17, up by 18.14 per centyear-on year from Rs 17,30,722 crore, it said in a statement. Gross advances increased by 7.8per cent from Rs 15,09,500 crore as on March 16 to Rs 16,27,273 crore as on March 17.

Large corporate advances rose 3.59 per cent from Rs 3,30,136 crore as on March ofprevious fiscal to Rs 3,41,990 crore as on last March. The lender said its gross non performingassets (NPAs) increased to Rs 1,12,343 crore as on March 31, from Rs 98,113 crore in the yearago, while its gross NPA ratio stood at 6.9 per cent in March 2017. The state lender reduced loanloss provisions by 9.44 per cent to Rs 10,993 crore in the three months ended March ascompared to Rs 12,139 in the year-ago period. Return on assets declined marginally by fivebasis points to 0.41 per cent as on March 2017, from 0.46 per cent in the year-ago.

Bank of Baroda posts net profit ofRs 154.72 cr in Q4

State-run Bank of Baroda on Thursday reported a netprofit of Rs 154.72 crore for the quarter ended March 31,as compared to a net loss of Rs 3,230.14 crore for thesame period a year ago. The lender’s total income in thequarter under review increased marginally to Rs 12,852.44crore from Rs 12,789.06 crore in the year-ago period, but

its net interest income (NII) during the period grew by 7.57 per cent year-on-year at Rs 3,582crore. In the three months ended March, the bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) inabsolute term rose 5.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 42,718.70 crore from Rs 40,521.04 crore forthe corresponding period previous fiscal. Gross NPA as a percentage of total loans rose to 10.46per cent in the quarter from 9.99 per cent during the same period previous fiscal. Net NPA ratiostood at 4.72 per cent as against 5.06 per cent for the year-ago period. During the fourth quarterof 2016-17, provisions for non performing assets have been reduced to Rs 2,425.07 crore ascompared to Rs 4,880.13 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. Under Basel III,the bank’s capital adequacy ratio during the quarter stood at 12.24 per cent.

6 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Buyers are picking Kolkata,Chennai, Hyderabad overprime metros

The real-estate investment landscape is changing in interesting ways.Residential sales and new project launches have grown by 70% in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the last

quarter of 2016. Demonetisation, of course, kept numbers low in the preceding quarter, but what’s interesting is thatthree research reports have reported that a bulk of the sales volumes are not in the prime metros of Mumbai-MMRand Delhi-NCR but in cities such as Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune.

“These cities, in fact, are well-placed to outperform those in emerging economies across Asia-Pacific, particu-larly in terms of commercial spaces,” says Siddhart Goel, senior director of research services at realty consultancyCushman & Wakefield India, which authored one of the reports.

The other recent studies include an outlook report for 2017 by realty consultancy CBRE South Asia, and aquarterly report by PropUrban.

“A lot of end-users have entered the real-estate market, and since these cities offer mostly affordable and mid-segment housing, they are in demand,” says AS Sivaramakrishnan, head of residential services at CBRE SouthAsia. Inflated land prices in the bigger metros, developed infrastructure and connectivity in the new entrants andexpansion of economic activities to these cities are among the factors driving this change.

“States such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan are also providing greater FSI aimed at boosting theIT sector, and are helping create better job opportunities, leading to the development of real-estate in non-saturatedcities in these states,” says Pankaj Kapoor, director of real-estate research firm Liases Foras. “The cities are alsoseeing migration due to saturation of bigger metros such as Mumbai and Delhi-NCR, and that fact that the newentrants offer affordable properties is driving their growth.”

In the next phase, says Sahil Vora, founder and managing director of real estate services company SILA, wecan expect to see similar growth in cities such as Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Indore, where ready stock is availableat affordable rates.

12% GST will boost real estate sector: NAREDCOThe GST regime will be a game changer for real estate sector and the 12 per cent GST on construction

projects meant for sale to buyers will boost the sector, National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO)said .

"The GST will be a game changer for industry, including for real estate sector, since it will subsume more than16 major taxes and levies into a single consolidated tax," NAREDCO President Parveen Jain said.

Additionally, he said, the unified tax regime will stop the unwanted practice of double taxation, which hurt realestate and other sectors, given their cascading effect which inflated prices for end-users.

"NAREDCO further hopes that the GST Council will also address the issues related to affordable housing,which was exempt from service tax in the previous tax regime," Jain said.

NAREDCO Chairman Rajeev Talwar told the media here on Wednesday, "The heavily taxed real estate sectorwelcomes a single stable 12 per cent GST rate, inclusive of the value of land and with full input tax credits."

"NAREDCO is of the view that the actual tax incidence under GST will match or be lower than the existingmultiple indirect taxes on the sector. The GST rate for work contracts, which will also be offset by input credits, willprovide for a seamless and simplified tax policy," he said.

Indian real estate sector is estimated to account for about 5 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP)and is considered the second-largest employer in the country, according to an industry report.

Indian real estate sector to witness$7 billion investment in 2017: CBRE

Indian real estate is expected to witness an investment of $7 billion thisyear on likely revival in the sector, according to property consultant CBRE.

"The year 2017 to witness about $7 billion of investments; expected tohit the magic $10 billion by 2020," CBRE said in a report-- Asia Pacific RealEstate Market Outlook 2017 - India.

India continues to hold its position as the world's fastest growing G-20economy, on the back of improved investor confidence and better policyreforms, it added.

"With 2016 being the year of landmark decisions for the Indian realestate the sector saw concerted efforts by the government to bring intransparency as well as boost consumer sentiment in the sector, espe-cially in the residential market," CBRE Chairman, India and South EastAsia said.

The outlook for the year 2017 is positive with an expectancy of steadygrowth, stability and revival in the market, he added.

On the residential market, CBRE said that supply has jumped up by 70per cent in January-March period over the previous quarter.

"Compared to only 18,000 units launched in Q4 2016, we have seenmore than 30,000 units launched in Q1 17. Biggest jump was in Chennai,Hyderabad,Kolkata and Bengaluru," the report said.

Housing sales have risen by 70 per cent quarter on quarter in the firstquarter of 2017. "Compared to only 14,000 units sold in Q4 2016, we haveseen more than 23,000 units sold in Q1 17. Biggest jump was again inChennai, Hyderabad,Bengaluru and Pune."

CBRE said the housing sales are expected to revive in H1 2017 bothin primary and secondary markets. The affordable housing segment willemerge as a key driver of housing sales.

TSIIC land auction of about5.2 acres in IT hub of Hyderabadfetches Rs 185 crore

Auction of two land blocks of 2.84 acres and 2.38 acres in Raidurg inthe IT hub of Hyderabad has helped TS Industrial Infrastructure Corpora-tion raise Rs. 185 crore.

As against the base price of Rs. 60,500 per sq.yard, in the first block of2.38 acres, the highest bid was that of Gowra Real Estate working out toRs. 88,000 per sq.yard.

In the second block as against the base price of Rs. 60,500, MSN Lifeoffered Rs. 60,600 per sq yard. The sale of land parcels is part of APIIC toraise funds by way of sale of lands. It helped raise Rs. 185 crore, workingout to about Rs. 42.59 crore per acre. The second block has been offeredat Rs. 29.33 crore per acre.

G Shiva Kumar, Special Deputy Collector, Lands, told Business Linethat the land parcels are located at Raidurg close to the T Hub. There wereseveral participants for the first block where Gowra was the highest bidder.“As of now we do not know how they plan to use the land purchased in theauction,” he said.

Gowra Srinivas of the diversified Gowra Group, said, “We decided totake the bold step as we are sure of the title of the lands with the seller beingGovernment. The land is aimed at developing a real estate project and toensure continuity for the ongoing business. Securing a land with clear titlethese days is not that easy.”

The TSIIC had come out with auction of lands in at least six land blockin different locations under its fold in the IT hub of Hyderabad. However, ofthe six blocks, these two blocks had good response and finally got auc-tioned.

7 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Real Estate lucrativein Hyderabad with noimpact of Amaravati

Hoping to make huge revenues, Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation(TSIIC) has decided to take up auction six big land parcels totalling 15 acres in Raidurg, Hi-TecCity and Khanamet. This auctioning will help us know where Hyderabad stands with respect toits real estate growth. On the other hand, buyers are choosing Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata,Chennai and Pune over the prime metros like Mumbai and Delhi. Post bifurcation there weremany reports on how real-estate will fall flat in the newly formed state of Telangana. However,contrary to the speculations, the income through registrations has seen a significant rise fromthe fiscal year 2015-16 to 2016-17. The revenue increased from Rs 3,100 crore to Rs 3,528crore while the real growth rate around 14 percent putting Telangana in first position in SouthIndia. After Telangana only Kerala has seen a growth by 5percent. The other south India statesincluding Andhra Pradesh saw a dip.

The revenue through registrations in AP fell to 4 per cent, 5.61 per cent in Karnataka and18.36 per cent in Tamil Nadu. However, 83 per cent of Telangana registrations are fromHyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts only. In West Hyderabad alone, 11,877 houses areestimated to be under construction since last year.

There is an increase in sales as well because of the implementation of huge projects. Atleast 600 houses are taken as a part of each project. Consequently, there is really goodincrease in prices of real estate. On the contrary, in counterpart Andhra Pradesh the muddlein capital city construction and drought are obstructing the real estate boom. Sales have beenhalted around the capital city. The Singapore Consortium has set a condition that governmentshould give permission to others only after the work in their plots is completed. The initialexcitement to relocate to Amaravati from Hyderabad is fading. The government’s hoped thatthe citizens of AP will shift their businesses from Hyderabad to Vijayawada but in vain. WithReal estate growing rapidly in Hyderabad, those who wanted to swing to Amaravati arereconsidering their plans.

It is known that real estate elites of Rayalaseema and Nellore regions established them-selves in Bengaluru. Hyderabad is in a league of its own and as such is lucrative, so even theemployees who are posted in AP are not completing shifting their base including the ChiefMinister’s family. It will take time for media and entertainment industry to shift their base, eventhough they have started operations. By 2019, as the election fever grips in, there might besome movement. Everyone is hopeful about the AP capital and want it to constructed at theearliest. The plains have to be converted into sky-rise buildings, industrial corridors and otherswhich can attract investments to make Amaravati a functional capital.

Aamir and Hameeda, the most hap-pening couple and the prominent interiordesigners of the industry known for ex-ceptional, unique & the wow-wow supe-rior designs and luxurious finishes.Theirfirm ‘AANDH’ is committed to deliver chic,refined interiors and occasional bursts ofdaring colour or modern geometrics.

They have won 20 National and Re-gional Awards for Excellence in Designincluding the Hafele Trends ExcellenceAward in Interior Design in 2016 and 2017and have won many National and RegionalAwards by IIID.

Aamir Sharma is a dynamic yetthoughtful designer whose work is invari-ably modern ‘with an eclectic twist’. He likesto describe his designs as ‘creative andplayful’. He’s also a firm believer that goodclient relationships improve the creativeprocess and executes a slick, modernlook or traditional interiors with equal con-fidence.

Whereas, Hameeda Sharma likes todeliver a project with a sense of the unex-pected, but respecting her clients’ person-alities. She masterminds smart yet subtlyglamorous interiors. Their work is aboutproducing contemporary classic designwith transitional notes, creating serene,timeless and elegant interiors.

The couple love discovering their cli-ents’ vision and approach each project withan open mind to create something unique.Their interest in global and local trends infashion, lifestyle, travel and design is re-flected in their varied palette of retailspaces, breweries, restaurants and resi-dential projects.Their past projects rangefrom individual home owners to hospitalityand restaurant chains.

Recently Aamir and Hameeda did in-teriors for a farm house on a 9 acre plotfacing a lake, which is quite in discussion.For more details visit <www.aandh.in>.

Big BoomAamir & Hameeda

Aamir & Hameeda

8 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Publisher/Printer/Owner: G. Narahari, Printed at Colour Graphics, 3-1-351, Bhagya Laxmi Nilayam, Nimboliadda, Kachiguda, Statio n Road, Hyderabad - 27. Published at4-6-252, Esamia Bazar, Hyderabad-27 (A.P.) Editor : Dr. Chaitanya Singh, Cell : 8008175000. E-mail : mrnewseditor@yahoo.com. A nnual Subscription 500/- Rupees Only.

One & Only DanishThe actor & film maker Danish Khan, who

won 14 National / International Film Festival,celebrated his birthday with his dear friendsat Hotel Park Hyatt.Hosted by Taher Bin Jaffer& Syed Ahmed Raza Raffey.Moazzam Aligraced the occasion as guest of honor. In to-tal it was an elite event of the month.Bestwishes Danish !

‘Dream India’ Is In TalkYes ! The Dream India Group is in talk after the announce-

ment of it’s new project coming at Hyderabad airport on a 300acred site with resort & amusement park, the project will alsohave villas,farmlands & adventure sports too.Actor Anil Kapoor,as the brand ambassador attended the launch event in a cityhotel, where the Group Chairman and Managing Director SyedRafi Ishaq, Director Hasnain Saberi & Abdul Razzaq welcomedthe actor & the other guests.It was a fabulous event !

Celebration Time For ‘BNI Artha’‘BNI Artha’ ,the most happening chapter of the Hyderabad region has

celebrated its 5th anniversary with the commitment of setting more recordsin the coming years.The Principal Secretary for IT, Telangana GovernmentJayesh Ranjan,IAS and the Executive Director Bharat Shah graced the occa-sion as special guests.The Chapter President Jaya Lakshmi.K, Vice-Presi-dent Chitwan Naredi & Secretary-Treasurer Amit Shah welcomed the guests& visitors.One of the excellent business meeting held last days. Awesome !

The Elegant‘Pre-Ramzan Dinner’The elegant pre-ramzan dinner was overwhelm-

ing. Mohd Ashraf & Mohd Imran welcomed theeminent guests and the dear friends.The mehmannawazi and the tasty-laziz food was just awesome.‘Imran ki daawat hai mere dost jabardast tho hogihii…! When is the next...?, looking forward !

Dear Meghana -We Are Proud Of You

The new star borned ! GundlapallyRamalinga Reddy’s daughter Meghanawon 1 Silver & 2 Bronze in apparatusand overall Bronze at 1st InternationalEmirates Cup held at Dubai.Proud mo-ment ! Celebrations & congratulations !

Little StarIn an tournament Mohd

Sohail under 17 has given hisbest bowling performance andstood as best bowler,which isorganised by city based Emerg-ing Cricketers DevelopmentGroup in the Inter-State Emerg-ing T20 cricket tournament inMumbai recently. Best wishes toSohail !

SonaliMaking Rounds

Sonali Acharjee,the internationalOdissi Dancer is making rounds.Theabove selfie of her with daughter Dishais clicked during the ‘Kali Puja’ per-formed at her residence.Many turnedup for the event.News is these daysSonali Dance Academy is committedto teach the dance to girl students ofgovernment schools.Not just free train-ing the academy is also providingdresses to the students. This is reallyan excellent job ! Keep going Sonali !!!

Vijaya‘On Screen’

Gorgeous Mrs.TANA-New Jer-sey Vijaya Nadella is makingrounds.The above picture of herin traditional attire is clicked dur-ing TANA conference held atSt.Louis .Vijaya ,the software en-gineer is from the town andsettled down in the US.Apart fromthe work she is into Fashion, Can-cer & Drug Awareness, Rape Vic-tim Trauma, Yoga and Meditation.Delighted to present such a ver-satile feminine. Amazing one !

Khadi Goes HighKonda Kavitha Reddy,the

Panel Designer for Khadi & VillageIndustries Commission ( Ministryof Textiles, Government of India )is all set to take the khadi on a bigscreen.The news is gorgeousSimran Choudary, the participantof Femina Miss India fromTelangana will be wearing khadias her national costume.Thisstage will add more popularity tothe khadi. Kavitha is doing herbest to put Telangana sculptures& its culture into the outfit.Shepassed out from NIFT & did herdiploma in fashion designing fromBox Hill Institute Of Tafe,Melbourne in the year 2000. Let’sapplaud for her efforts !

9 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Maa Tujhe Salam

Dipti Agarwal - Daughter Vanshi“The natural state of Motherhood

is selfless. It’s the greatest & hardestthing to do and so I am proud of manythings in life but nothing beats beinga Mother. Cheers to all the Moms !!!”

Ankita Toshniwal -Son Purvaansh

“No one elsewill ever know thestrength of my lovefor you..After all,you’re the only onewho knows whatmy heart soundslike from the in-side.”

Mamta Mittal - Daughter Mehak & Titiksha“The most precious jewel you will ever have around

your neck are the arms of your children.”Rina Hindocha - Daughter Yukti & Son Drish“Being a mother means loving your children more

than you have ever loved yourself.”

Manisha Mehta - Daughter Devna“For the first time me and my husband fell in love

together with someone another.Yes it’s our angel and ourdaughter Devna, she taught me being a woman is not onlya matter of privilege but being a mother completes wom-anhood n I’m lucky in both the cases because? her exist-ence makes me complete in every way.”

Maya Patel - Son Bhramu“Being mother is a God

gift. Mother never gets tired fortheir KIDS success rather shegets the energy to work hardfor their children.”

Vibha Anand Mehta - Son Kabir“A mother is she who can take

place of all others, but whose placeno one else can take.”

Seema Agarwal - Son Nirmith“Jis ka SAJDA sab kare use

RAB kehtey hai. . RAB jiska SAJDAkare use MAA kehtey hai.”

Shailaja Reddy -Son Shiv Aryan“I am proud of many things

in life, but none of them beatbeing a mother.”

Krithi Praneeth - Son Druva Parepally“It feels good to reside in a hood called mother-

hood, because it’s the only place where every womangets a chance to feel n touch the peaks of godly emo-tions”.

Swetha Reddy - Son Thaman & Daughter Theya“Miracles do happen ! It happened to me when I was

blessed to be a “Mother” these two little angles Thaman& Theya.I wouldn’t think twice to go to any extent for mykids and their happiness. Motherhood is something whichmakes feel complete and gives immense happiness.”

Sara Khan - Son Arhaan“I never knew motherhood could be so reward-

ing and blissfull until I had Arhaan, the most pre-cious jewel I’ll ever have around my neck are thearms of my son.Blessed to have you in my life...thankyou God for giving me Arhaan.”

10 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

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11 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Tourism

Philadelphia area breaks tourism records2016 was a record-setting year for tourism in Philadelphia -- and not just because of the

Democratic National Convention. Center City hotels had a record one million leisure hotel roomnights booked, a first for the city, according to Visit Philadelphia, the official tourism marketingagency for the greater Philadelphia area (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Phila-delphia counties). The agency released its annual report at an industry meeting on May 24,announcing that 42 million domestic visitors came to the area in 2016, a 2.4 percent increasefrom the year before. The overwhelming majority of those visitors, 37 million, were in Philadel-phia area for leisure. That's a substantial increase from 1997, which saw the area surroundingthe City of Brotherly Love receive only 22.8 million visitors. One of the largest areas of growthfor the city is in leisure visitors who stay overnight, with 14.7 million doing so in 2016. That's a101 percent increase from 1997. Saturdays proved to be especially busy, with the city hotelsreaching 90 percent occupancy or higher on 37 different Saturdays in 2016.

What does that mean for the economy? Visit Philadelphia estimates that $6.8 billion wasspent by visitors in 2016 -- the majority of that going towards their food and lodging. That moneycreated $11 billion in economic impact, $634 million in tax revenue and 96,600 jobs, accordingto Visit Philadelphia. The industry is responding too, with 1,795 hotel rooms in eight new hotelsprojected to be added to the city by July 2018.

Philadelphia, it turns out, is also a favorite destination for Canadians. The northern countryis the number one international visitor market for the area, with around 500,000 Canadiansvisiting every year.

Donald Trump has not been good forthe U.S. tourism industry

International tourists have been more likely to choose non-U.S. destinations, according tonew data published by Foursquare. U.S. share of international tourism started to declineshortly before the presidential election, with that fall accelerating into early 2017.

"Our findings reveal that America’s ‘market share’ in international tourism started to declinein October 2016, when the U.S. tourism share fell by 6% year-over-year, and continued todecrease through March 2017, when it dropped all the way to -16%. Currently, there is no signof recovery in the data," wrote Foursquare CEO Jeff Glueck in a Medium post published onWednesday. That's just the most recent data point to show that the U.S. tourism industry, whichgenerated $1.6 trillion in output in 2015 and supported 7.6 million jobs, is hurting under Presi-dent Donald Trump. Online searches by possible travelers are down, as is revenue from airlineflights. Trump's policies have been directly responsible. His efforts to put in place executiveorders restricting Muslim travelers from certain countries spurred thousands of immediatecancellations of trips - with companies warning about lasting damage.

One analysis projected a loss of $18 billion to the U.S. tourism industry over the next twoyears. Foursquare's data provides one of the most comprehensive looks yet at just how badthe industry has been hit. The company used foot traffic data compiled from 50 million globalusers to find that the U.S. has been steadily losing tourism share over the last six months.

This decline is not even across all travelers, according to the Foursquare data."From our data, residents of the Middle East and Central/South America are avoiding the

U.S. more than residents of Asia, Europe and elsewhere," Glueck said. "It goes without sayingthat some of the current administration’s most controversial policies have been focused oncountries within the Middle East and Latin America, and that we’re seeing a greater impact intravel from these nations."

The total monetary impact on the U.S. tourism industry remains to be seen, but Four-square found that the drop seen so far will have a relatively small overall impact - but one thatwill be felt by some companies already facing challenges, most notably retail.

"So though the impact may sound small, it could mean an additional 1-2% YoY sales hit toU.S. retailers already operating on thin margins and besieged by competition from Amazon, e-commerce as a whole, and a generally competitive and 'over-stored' economy. It representssignificant damage to a hurting sector," Glueck wrote.

Philadelphia

Kerala Tourism received the BestDestination for Romance award

Kerala Tourism recently received the award as the ‘Best Destination for Romance’ for Munnarby Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Award 2017. Besides the series of other awards won byKerala Tourism in 2017. During the sixth edition of Lonely Planet India Travel Awards the Bollywoodactress Diana Penty gives out the award to P Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism .

P Bala Kiran, IAS, Director, Kerala Tourism said, “ Kerala is now becoming popular as thepreferred destinations among the Indian travelers. The state’s tourism department will continue tokeep up the positive momentum with its perennial growth trajectory”. The award also inspiresother travel enthusiasts to visit and experience unexplored destinations. Kerala is witnessingconstant progress in foreign as well as domestic tourist arrivals since 2011”, he further added.

" The foreign and domestic tourist arrival in Kerala has escalated by 6.23% and 5.67%respectively in the previous year. Under the leadership of Hon Minister Sri Kadakampally Surendran,there has been very good growth in Tourism infrastructure and is coming up with the new Touristpolicy." he added.

12 June, 2017MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Egypt has drafted a bill that would impose hefty fines on people who harass tourists as partof efforts aimed at attracting additional tourists to Egypt and reinvigorating the country’sstruggling tourism industry. The draft law stipulates that a tourist harasser could receive a fineranging from 3,000 Egyptian pounds to 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($166-$555), state televisionquoted Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Anani as saying.

“The draft law ensures that if tourists are annoyed their harassers will get a maximum fineof 10,000 Egyptian pounds,” El-Anani was quoted as saying in local media. He said that thepunishment is delineated in a new article introduced to the Antiquities Law, which was issuedin 1983. “The draft law would help put an end to sexual harassment at tourist sites - a practicethat mars Egypt’s reputation abroad,” Hossam el-Akawy, a tourism expert and a member ofthe Tourism Investors’ Association in the Red Sea, told Al-Monitor.

Akawy said souvenir hawkers are often seen chasing visitors at the country’s sightseeingsites to force them to buy their wares. “Such a practice irritates tourists and gives them a badimpression about Egypt and the Egyptian people. That is why a decision to punish those whodo that is very good,” he added.

The expert also said that the decision will send a message to the world that Egypt is takingall legal measures necessary to put an end to sexual harassment and rape incidents againsttourists. Tourism is a crucial source of hard currency for Egypt. However, the key industry hasbeen wobbling following the 2011 revolution as well as the downing of a Russian plane overSinai in 2015 that killed all 224 people onboard.

Egypt may impose heftyfines on tourist harassers

Goa most preferred tourismdestination in India, says report

Going by web searches conducted between February and April 2017, Goa has emergedas the the most preferred destination for both domestic and international tourists in the country,states a Google India report.

"The Google India report has rightly positioned Goa as the most preferred place in India fortourists. Goa's natural beauty and bountiful avenues for leisure and relaxation is a very bigdraw for tourists all through the year. Goa Tourism will continue to make this state a hotspot fortourists in the coming months and years through new innovative products and services,tourism infrastructure projects and add more value to its offerings for tourists," tourism minis-ter Manohar Azgaonkar said.

Karnataka Tourism amplifies its“Year of the wild” campaign with theIndian Railway

FROM SHOWCASING eco-trekking along the scenic Western Ghats, to the celebration ofthe iconic Golden Chariot, Karnataka Tourism will look to intensify its 2017 campaign with itscreative collaboration with India’s fastest growing digital outdoor media company, Vyoma Tech-nologies. The association falls strategically in-line with the elevated impact and increased aware-ness Karnataka Tourism is looking to create across highly dynamic, engaging and measurablemediums in the country. As new age medium gains thrust and enables overall campaign effective-ness, Vyoma technology’s collaboration with Karnataka Tourism is extremely befitting and im-perative as the dynamic technology reaches a diverse, and large number of daily commuters andtravellers. With the 2017 campaign titled ‘Year of the Wild’, looking to appeal to audiences acrossdemographics, geographies and age groups, Vyoma’s intelligent displays, which is powered bycurated audience engagement, will enable a reach of over 10 crore people a month. The cam-paign is currently running across 7 states including Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat,Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

The Ministry of Tourism numbers point to a record 15.5 per cent growth in domestic tourismin 2016. This registered a clear shift in traveller’s behaviour and upcoming holiday trend. Whileearlier seasoned travellers or travel enthusiasts used to visit, or look at International destinations,now ultra-modern travellers are inclined towards exploring vast list of unexplored locations acrossIndia. The demand for experiential travel, focused on authentic, local and unique locations hasimmense potential to boost domestic tourism further. The Indian Railways’ recent policy changealso reflect the objective to promote tourism by connecting tourist spots across the countrythrough railways.

Vyoma technologies with its intelligent digital display network across the country has pro-gressively strived to integrate technology and creativity to turn brand awareness into contextualengagement and customer adoption. Speaking on the potential of the medium and creativeapproach of Karnataka Tourism, Shriranga K. Sudhakara, MD, Vyoma said, “Karnataka Tourismhas been at the forefront of adopting innovative mediums, and we are very excited to partner withthem and provide the massive reach of Indian Railways on a digital tech platform that offers bothmeasurability and engagement.”

UNWTO ranks India’s improvedInternational Tourist Arrivals

India climbs 16 spots up to 24 in the International Tourist Arrivals (ITAs) ranking accordingto the latest United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Barometer for March 2017.

Despite tourism deterrents such as demonetisation hitting India’s travel sector hard, therecent figures revealed by the UNWTO and the Indian Ministry of Tourism depict positivetrends.

The ITAs comprises of two components namely Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) andArrivals of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). The UNWTO in its barometer ranks countries interms of their ITAs. So far only the figures of FTAs were compiled in India. India has startedcompiling the data in terms of NRIs arriving as well.

Earlier India’s rank in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), 2017 had alsoshown 12 places jump from 2015. Rank of India in TTCI Report of 2017 was 40th as comparedto 52nd in 2015, 65th in 2013 and 68th in 2011.

The number of NRI arrivals during 2014 and 2015 were 5.43 million and 5.26 million,respectively. Accordingly, the numbers of ITAs in India during 2014 and 2015 were 13.11million and 13.28 million, respectively. After this compilation, India’s rank reflects improvementand also depicts a true and comparable scenario acknowledged by the UNWTO.