People, places, products
Perfect host
He is the man behind the successful campaigns ‘God’s Own Country’ and ‘Incredible India’ and has just penned a book, Branding India: An Incredible Story. But Amitabh Kant, Principal Secretary & Special Commissioner (Industries), Government of Kerala, admits to not being ‘exactly thrilled’ on being deputed to the Ministry of Tourism in 2001. “I wanted finance, but I guess my experience with tourism in Kerala was responsible for nudging me towards this,” he says. Kant, 56, has peppered the book with vivid details of all that India presents and the initiatives taken along the way. Maybe, it’s time someone paid heed to some of the infrastructure bottlenecks that Kant notes as India gears up to host the Commonwealth Games next year.
Cyber Achiever
For two years, Sheela Bhide’s team at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs travelled all over the world looking for the best technology, computerised around 15 crore documents and dealt with thousands of companies, middlemen and banks. “At that time, it was like walking through a tunnel, with no end in sight,” recalls Bhide, 60, now CMD, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The end came and along came recognition. Bhide, then a Joint Secretary, together with her team has been conferred the Prime Minister’s Award for Administrative Excellence for MCA-21, an e-governance project undertaken during her stint to ease registrations by companies. MCA-21 was conceptualised in 2002 to make the entire ministry paperless and seamless. The 24/7 anytime, anywhere e-filing process saved companies the arduous process of paperwork that took years to materialise and cut down on expenses for the ministry, which started saving up to Rs 800 crore per year. E-filing was made mandatory from September 2006. “I had the best team in the world and couldn’t have asked for more,” says Bhide, now busy cybernating ITPO.
At the wheel
A fortnight ago, Prakash M. Telang was in the midst of a flurry of activity—accepting the board’s decision to promote him, fielding media queries on annual performance of Tata Motors and launching a new truck brand, all in a day. Telang, 61, would do well to get used to all the action as he will now head Tata Motors’ India operations as its Managing Director. The job couldn’t have come at a more challenging moment as the company is battling an economic slowdown and faces financing woes for Jaguar Land Rover. But Telang is on familiar terrain. In 2000-01, when Tata Motors went into the red with its biggest ever loss of Rs 500 crore, Telang’s cost-cutting, including voluntary retirement to 6,000-odd employees, came to the rescue. In the driver’s seat this time around, the ‘cost erosion champion’ will need all his prowess to steer the behemoth.
Places
Bangalore: Thippagondanahally—Just 35 km from Bangalore, this reservoir houses the submerged Samgameshwara temple that is visible only when the water recedes.
Chennai: Kolathur—30 km from the city on the Kolkata highway, numerous ornamental fish are bred and sold here. They deliver anywhere in India!
Delhi: Pataudi—The Pataudi Palace’s (32 km from Delhi on NH8) rose and cypress gardens are stunning.
Mumbai: Matheran—Drive up to the entry point of the hill station as cars are banned here. Return the same day.
Kolkata: Raichak—A 90-minute drive from Kolkata on the east bank of the Hooghly, Raichak is home to the luxury Radisson Ffort Hotel. Have breakfast on a ferry here as you watch dolphins play.
Products
Okay, LCD TVs made the usual CRT sets look like overweight aunties. Now, it’s the turn of LCDs to suffer the ignominy. Samsung has used LEDs (light emitting diodes) as the technology for its new TV set, which not only makes the panel super slim, at 29.9 mm, but the use of LED also helps avoid use of chemicals like mercury and lead. One more happy feature: the new technology consumes 40 per cent less power than an LCD does. And a hidden benefit: in sustained viewing, it hurts the eye less than LCDs or CRTs. Samsung LED TV series 6 (40 inches)
Price: Rs 1,25,000
The projector moves out of the conference room with Acer’s compact K10. A LED lamp-based projector, the K10 is a system about as big as a tiffin. You can set it up at home to see the T20 World Cup on big screen and then carry it the next day in the palm of your hand to the client’s office for your PowerPoint presentation. It’s not the sharpest of projectors, though, and must be placed around 2 ft from the screen for an image size of 1 ft. ACER K10 PROJECTOR
Price: Rs 36,673
Contributed by Shamni Pande, Anumeha Chaturvedi, Sulabh Puri and Rachna M. Koppikar
