Posts Tagged ‘Tamil Nadu’
Written by admin on 12 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) A new Tamil romantic drama, “Pattatthu Yaanai”, was launched here Wednesday, to coincide with the date 12.12.12.
The film stars Vishal Krishna and Aishwarya Sarja, the daughter of actor Arjun Sarja.
“The film starring Vishal Krishna was launched at AVM Studios. The team also took a few shots to mark the beginning,” a statement from the production house said.
“Pattatthu Yaanai” will be directed by Bhoopathy Pandian and S.S. Thaman will compose its music.
Tags: Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 12 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) Automobile seat belt-maker and Rs.672-crore turnover venture Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd (RTSSL) will get into manufacturing of airbags at its plant here, the company said Wednesday.
A statement issued by Rane TRW Steering, an equal joint venture between the city-based Rane Group and TRW Automotive of the US, said the firm would expand by manufacturing airbags.
The company said it would initially make 320,000 units per annum and in three-five years the production would be ramped up to 810,000 units.
“The total investment is around Rs.35 crore in the next five years to manufacture both airbags and seat belts,” the statement said.
The manufacturing facility will utilise driver and passenger airbag technology developed by TRW in Germany. The airbags will be assembled out of the company’s Chennai plant and the intention is to leverage the Rane Group supplier network in a phased manner.
Tags: Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 12 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) Superstar Rajinikanth, known for his unassuming attitude and charming aura, celebrated his 62nd birthday Wednesday with close friends and family at his residence here.
“Though early in the morning he stepped out on to his balcony to wave to his fans outside his house, he spent the rest of the day with his family and select friends from the industry,” a source from the industry told IANS.
Nevertheless, Rajinikanth fans had every reason to celebrate to the fullest. Members of a Rajinikanth fans association cut cakes and unfolded banners in different parts of the city to mark this special day.
“’12.12.12′ is a very special day and our superstar’s birthday falling on the same day makes it much more auspicious. This day comes only once in 100 years and, therefore, we wanted to make the best of it,” Sarathy, a member of Rajinikanth fans association, told IANS.
“We also performed puja in the temple, wishing our superstar health, happiness and prosperity,” he added.
Meanwhile, some members of the Tamil film industry also celebrated the actor’s birthday in style.
At the audio launch of a Tamil film titled “Payapulla”, a 63-kg cake was cut by Rajinikanth’s mentor, K. Balachander.
On the other hand, two books – “My Days with Baasha – The Rajinikanth Phenomenon” and “Rajinikanth – 12.12.12, A Birthday Special” were launched. The former is authored by veteran southern filmmaker Suresh Krissna, and the latter is published by The Hindu.
Rajinikanth’s “Sivaji 3D” also hit screens Wednesday. All the fifteen screens showing the 3D film across Chennai had sold-out shows. The film was released in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Tags: Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 12 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) has called for a national debate on India’s ambitious nuclear power programme and making it an issue in the 2014 parliamentary polls.
In a statement issued Tuesday, PMANE urged the central government to share with it documents like the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and site evaluation report (SER), safety analysis report (SAR), emergency preparedness plan (EPP) and performance report of the country’s existing and upcoming atomic power plants.
“Let the whole country discuss these reports and information and engage in a nation-wide debate about the exorbitant cost of nuclear energy, the hidden costs such as food insecurity and diseases, nuclear safety, nuclear waste management, decommissioning technology and costs, and the whole array of related issues,” PMANE said.
According to PMANE, which is spearheading the opposition to the 2X1,000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), if a majority of people endorsed the government’s nuclear plan then it would immediately withdraw the struggle against KNPP.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has declined to share a copy of the safety analysis report on KNPP with PMANE despite the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) order.
The country’s atomic power plant operator, NPCIL, is setting up the nuclear power project in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here, with two Russian-made VVER 1,000-MW each reactors.
The nuclear power project is an outcome of an inter-governmental agreement between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1988. However, the construction began only in 2001.
Tags: Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 12 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 12 (IANS) Contrary to the general perception that the private life insurers are in favour of 49 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector, a good number of head honchos are less enthusiastic about it, reveals an survey by US-based global actuarial firm Milliman.
The survey also finds that the top executives feel that the sectoral regulator is right in penalising insurers not playing by rules.
According to the survey, three out of 11 chief executive officers (CEO) are of the view that the FDI stake increase from the current 26 percent to 49 percent will not change the status of the industry. Not giving a direct answer, two CEOs said the FDI hike may have a positive impact.
As to the reasons why they do not see any positive impact if the FDI hike happens, CEOs cited the lack of difference in performance of companies with or without foreign promoter having operational/management control.
Given this, there is no evidence to suggest that FDI at 49 percent would help the industry get the much needed domain expertise, the CEOs believe, states the survey.
According to some CEOs, the hike in FDI limit might result in infighting between Indian and foreign promoters as there is not much of a difference between a 26 percent and 49 percent foreign ownership structure in terms of operational/management influence.
Further, the officials said the industry does not have the avenues to deploy the additional capital.
On the other hand, those in favour of FDI hike say that it would enable cash strapped promoters to raise funds and may bring in more foreign companies to India.
“But the moot point is whether the proposed enhancement from the present 26 percent to 49 percent – that is an increase of mere 23 percent – will have any meaningful impact in terms of inflows of capital. To fund increasing needs of capital for any growing insurance company, it may desirable to go the whole hog and increase the FDI limit to a significant 76 percent instead of a half hearted 49 percent. This may also help to bring in significant foreign exchange inflows,” K.K.Srinivasan, former member of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) told IANS.
According to him, there is a flip side to this move. Entry of too many players in insurance is often responsible for unhealthy competition and resultant de-growth and poor profitability.
On the issue of IRDA penalising insurers not playing by the rules, some CEOs felt India is not ready for a principles based systems of regulations and in a rules based regimes companies have to follow them.
According to the survey, one life insurance CEO was of the view that the regulator should have started penalising deviant companies much earlier.
Several CEOs expressed that IRDA should examine why all companies are being non-compliant in certain areas- for example, commission to distributors.
The felt IRDA should recognise the business realities and allow companies to offer flexibility in paying compensation to distributors.
Tags: Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 10 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 10 (IANS) Armed with $6 million funding by Norwest Venture Partners, the Singapore-headquartered healthcare software company Attune Technologies will increase its headcount in India and expand in the Middle East and African markets, a top company official said.
“We will add 25 more people in the product development centre (in Chennai) and also hire people for business development in markets like Middle East, Africa and other places. We will scale up our business in India and other places,” A. Arvind Kumar, chief executive of Attune Technologies told reporters here Monday.
He said the four-year-old 65-employee company got $6 million from Norwest Venture Partners for an undisclosed stake in the company.
Kumar said Attune would offer its healthcare software on “software as a service (SAAS)” model to hospitals, diagnostic labs and others on cloud platform (use of computing resources delivered as a service over the internet).
He said traditionally healthcare information technology (IT) systems are built in silos and do not talk to each other.
There are different systems for scheduling billing, hospital information system, lab information system, radiology information system and others without integration facilities.
“It will also be costly for the hospital and laboratories to go in for software charged on per user basis. There is also risk of obsolescence.
“On the other hand, in our SAAS model, the payment is based on the number of beds a hospital has or the number of samples that a lab handles. Our systems will be modern and the cash outgo for our clients will be minimal,” Kumar said.
He said that when the client moves out of our fold, the data will be provided in a format which can be integrated with other systems.
As there is no legal clarity on taking the patient data outside India, Attune Technologies hosts its client’s data in their respective countries.
According to Mohan Kumar, partner, Norwest Venture Partners, cloud-based software for healthcare will catch up as there are more entrepreneur-driven healthcare chains — hospitals, clinics, labs — with venture capital funding.
“For such chains, cloud-based software architecture is important,” he said.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 10 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 10 (IANS) Telugu producer Kumarbabu, who has cast a bevy of newcomers in his upcoming romantic film “Telisi Teliyaka”, strongly feels new artists need to be encouraged.
“Through this film, we intend to encourage new talent. Most small budget films with newcomers may not be a blockbuster, but they succeed because of the new cast, new director and novel subject,” Kumarbabu told IANS.
The film, directed by debutant Jayaprakash K, stars newcomers Gitanand, Mythili, Krishna, Hasini and Sudhir. It is releasing Dec 21.
Do you always prefer working with newcomers?
“Not always. But as a producer, I feel it’s my responsibility to bring out talented and dedicated newcomers. Not everybody can make a high budget film with a superstar, can they? For those who aspire to make good films in a shoestring budget, most newcomers come in handy,” he added.
“Telisi Teliyaka” has cinematography by Anand Dola and editing by Martand K. Venkatesh, while Karthik Kumar Rodriguez has composed the music.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 10 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 10 (IANS) Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan has confirmed his upcoming magnum opus, bilingual film “Vishwaroopam” will be released on Direct-To-Home (DTH) platform a few hours before the theatrical release of the film.
“My film (‘Vishwaroopam’) will have a release via DTH before it hits the theatres. It will be a one time show and I’m certain that it will help the producers find a new revenue stream. The cost of watching the film on DTH will be approximately Rs.1,000,” said Kamal in a press statement.
He says compared to the population that watches films in theatres, people who own DTH in Tamil Nadu are miniscule.
“If only three percent of population in Tamil Nadu use DTH services, then how much loss can one show of my film possibly cause the producers or theatre owners? In fact, to telecast the film on DTH will serve as a teaser to attract more audiences to cinemas,” he said.
Kamal, 58, has written and directed “Vishwaroopam”, which stars himself alongside Andrea Jeremiah, Pooja Kumar, Rahul Bose, Shekhar Kapur and Jaideep Ahlawat. It is releasing Jan 11 next year.
Meanwhile, the actor will meet a group of producers to discuss and debate the trend.
“Releasing movies over DTH is being criticised because it’s a new trend in the cinema industry. On the contrary, DTH releases will only strengthen business,” he added.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 09 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 9 (IANS) Voting in favour of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail in parliament despite voicing its opposition to the measure, the DMK Sunday asked the Tamil Nadu government to ascertain US retail chain Wal-Mart’s plans here and take appropriate action.
In a statement issued here, DMK president M.Karunanidhi said there is information about Wal-Mart setting up a commercial complex at Vanagaram on the city outskirts on seven acres and a marketing office here.
Karunanidhi said there is also information that Walmart is approaching small grocers for enrolling them as its members with a promise of selling their products at low rates.
“If this news is true, then there might be entry of FDI in retail,” he said.
Karunanidhi said company officials maintain that they are not in retail trade but in wholesale trade selling to retailers.
He hoped the state government would look into the veracity of the news and take necessary action.
The US retail chain has a joint venture with India’s Bharti group – Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt. Ltd., operating cash and carry wholesale format stores.
The ruling AIADMK government is opposed to FDI in retail and has voted against it in parliament.
Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa has categorically said her government will not permit FDI in retail sector in Tamil Nadu.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 08 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 8 (IANS) Actor Sivaji, who has dubbed for the lead role in the Telugu version of Tamil horror-thriller “Pizza”, can’t stop praising the film.
“I recently watched ‘Pizza’ and was totally bowled by the film that I instantaneously agreed to dub for the film on the request of the producer Suresh Kondeti. I feel blessed to be associated with such a wonderful film and I’m sure audience will love it”, Sivaji told IANS.
Sivaji has dubbed for actor Vijay Sethupathi, who played the lead in the Tamil version of the film.
Directed by Karthik Subburaj, “Pizza” is the story of a Pizza delivery boy whose life undergoes dramatic changes whilst on one of his home delivery trips.
The film raked in Rs. 1.85 crore in its first two weeks.
While the Telugu dubbing rights of the film was sold for a whopping Rs. 72 lakh, Kannada dubbing rights were sold for Rs. 35 lakh.
Meanwhile, the Hindi remake rights of the film were bought by Bejoy Nambiar for Rs. 1.10 crore. He will produce the film under his banner Getaway Films.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 08 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 8 (IANS) Telugu director Sekhar KC feels that film titles can be as quirky as one wants, but they should never deviate from the crux of the plot.
“Titles of films should never deviate from the plot. Films are free to choose any title but that should have some connection with the film. Films that use title merely as a tool to draw audience to cinemas, can’t be successful because content is king,” Sekhar said.
Sekhar says his upcoming Telugu romantic-drama too has quirky title “Atanu Hardware Aame Software”, but doesn’t deviate from the plot.
“I have reasons to justify the title of my upcoming film. It explains the value of love and friendship. We highlight that the friendship part in any relationship is filled with happiness, while the love part comes with some pain”, he added.
The film, which is produced by S.V. Rao, will go on floors Dec 17. It features Raja in the lead role, while the female lead is yet to be announced.
Chandramohan, M.S. Narayana, Krishna Bhagawan, Tagubotu Ramesh and Naveen have also been cast in the film, which has music by Mahesh Apala.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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Written by admin on 08 December 2012
Chennai, Dec 8 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has invited suggestions from all stakeholders on a petition filed by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (TANGEDCO) on the distribution of power in the state.
The state power utility in the petition says it wants to continue with the current system of power distribution in the state – two hours of power cut in Chennai and 8 to 12 hours of power cut in other parts of the state.
People and industries have demanded equitable distribution of power or equitable power cuts across the state.
TNERC wants stakeholders to make their comments by Dec 21, 2012.
TANGEDCO has approached TNERC following a court order.
TANGEDCO in its petition has justified preferential treatment to Chennai as it is the state capital, housing establishments like legislative assembly, high court, government secretariat, officers of Consulate and embassy of foreign states, international/national airports, ports, major hospitals and others.
According to TANGEDCO, the pillar box fuses in Chennai would not last after prolonged duration of load shedding owing to the cramped status of distribution network.
The utility cited Karnataka where Bangalore being its capital city has been totally exempted from power cuts while other parts of the state are subjected to load shedding.
According to TANGEDCO, there is a net power deficit of around 4,000 MW in the state during peak as well as day time.
Around 4,300 MW of additional generation capacity is expected to be added before December 2013.
In an effort to augment the power supply situation in the state TANGEDCO has said that it has tied up with private generators located outside the southern region for supply of 500 MW from June next for three years.
Tags: Chennai, Tamil Nadu
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