Founder of Kothari Group, Mansukhbhai Kothari, breathed his last at his Tilak Nagar residence here on Friday morning. He was 90 and is survived by his wife Sharda Ben, two sons Vikram Kothari and Deepak Kothari and daughter Reeta Ben, besides grandsons and great grandsons.
Kothari was ailing for a long time. His death plunged the entire Kothari family into grief. His last rites will be performed at Bhairoghat on Saturday at about 10.30 pm.
Kothari was born in July 1925 in the village Nareli district of Surendra Nagar in Gujarat in the family of Mahadevbhai Kothari. His father was an ordinary merchant.
At a tender age of 16, he started his journey of life away from home and moved to the greener pastures in the field of business and made Kanpur his Karma Bhumi.
Starting with a meager capital of Rs 500, he set up the trading business of consumable products. Year 1973 became the turning point in his entrepreneurial skills, and foundation of his famous family business of a mouth freshener brand.
Many more manufacturing units of FMCG products were later added to the family business.
Kothari was also concerned and aware about the hardships of the society at large especially about the weaker sections of the society and established charitable trusts and educational institutions for medical treatment, scholarships to the needy students, community buildings helping in the marriage of poor daughters.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / November 27th, 2015
Billionaire Philanthropist and Entrepreneur Manoj Bhargava demonstrate Electricity-Generating Bicycle during its Launch in New Delhi. (PTI photo)
New Delhi :
Indian-American billionaire philanthropist Manoj Bhargava, on Friday, unveiled a stationary bicycle that can generate electricity and help rural households meet their energy needs.
“The stationary bicycle generates power. The pedalling turns a flywheel, which spins a generator that charges the attached battery,” Bhargava said while unveiling the product.
He further said the cycle is estimated to be priced between Rs 12,000-15,000 and will be available by March next year.
One hour of pedalling can meet a rural household’s electricity needs for 24 hours, including running lights, a small fan and charging a cell phone — all without electricity bills, fuel costs or pollution, a statement issued by him said.
Bhargava said he had a discussion about the product with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I had a discussion with Modiji about a year ago,” he said.
Bhargava was also not very enthusiastic about collaborating with government departments.
“…if I go to a government department…they are not bad people but efficiency is zero. Besides, it will take six months to decide which department of the government should help me out,” he said.
Bhargava said he will first start selling the product in Uttarakhand and later target rest of the domestic market.
He also said that Uttarakhand is a power surplus state but households face electricity shortages and this product can help them meet their basic requirements.
He added that the product will be manufactured in India at the facilities of some industrial houses, as well as in US.
The product would have one model where the user can also measure the calories burnt while using it.
These kind of products are especially useful for the 1.3 billion people around the world who do not have access to electricity, he said.
Bhargava, whose net worth is estimated at USD 4 billion, has pledged 99 percent of his fortune to finding solutions that can help people across the world.
Bhargava also supports The Hans Foundation, one of the largest charitable organisations in India.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> NRI> NRI Achievers / PTI / November 27th, 2015
A workshop on export promotion was organized at the Motilal Nehru Research Institute of Business Administration, Allahabad University, on Monday. The workshop was held jointly by the office of joint director general of foreign trade, Kanpur and the college, under the niryat bandhu scheme in collaboration with FIEO Kanpur Chapter on Monday.
Manavendra Singh, Joint DGFT, Kanpur, Professor JN Bhargava, Y.S.Garg, Head, FIEO, Kanpur Chapter and Amit Kumar, Dy. DGFT were among those who participated in the workshop along with the students of MONIRBA, Allahabad. Y.S.Garg was the coordinator of this work shop.
Professor Bhargava welcomed the DGFT representative and stressed upon the need for promotion of foreign trade. Manavendra Singh highlighted the importance of promotion of foreign trade and explained the objective of the niryat bandhu scheme.
The first presentation during the workshop was made by Amit Kumar, Dy. DGFT, on different aspects of international business. He emphasized that the office of DGFT is committed to promote foreign trade, with special emphasis on entrepreneurs. T.P.Mishra, Branch Manager, FOREX Branch, SBI, Allahabad, threw light upon the facilities provided his branch regarding foreign exchange remittances .
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Times of India / News Home> City> Allahabad /TNN / November 03rd, 2015
Crossing the geographical boundaries, the signature products of Varanasi region are all set to catch the attention of international audience at the 55th General Assembly of International Bureau of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. A three member delegation including two artisans left the city on Sunday to take part in WIPO event from October 5 to 10.
“The Banarasi artisans will exhibit some of the famed products in the ‘Make in India -Geographical Indication of India’ event at Geneva”, said the team leader and president of Human Welfare Association (HWA) Rajni Kant before leaving the city. “It is really a proud movement for the artisans that they were invited by the WIPO, one of the specialized agencies in United Nation. It is a recognition of the eastern UP’s GI products at international level,” said a jubilant Kant.
With him the two master craftsmen – Kunj Bihari Singh from Varanasi and Sohit Kumar Prajapati from Nizambad, (Azamgarh) left for Geneva with their artifacts. Kunj Bihari is known for his mastery over the art of Gulabi meenakari (pink enameling), and Sohit is a craftsman of black pottery of Nizamabad. They will give live demonstrations of Gulabi Meenakari and Black Pottery in the front of international audience. For them the trip to Geneva is like a lifetime achievement. “We had never thought of participation in such an international event,” said Kunj Bihari. An art piece made by Kunj Bihari -a replica of pink enameled rickshaw was presented to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the city on September 18.
According to Kant, this event is supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in collaboration with WIPO. “This event will create a great opportunity to the GI registered products of the country, mainly the hand-woven and handicrafts products will get maximum benefit to show-case at Geneva where nearly 170 country will represent in this international event,” he said adding that five other artisans from other parts of the country will also take part in the event with their traditional products. “It is for the first time when the real artisans are participating in this type of international event which is exclusively organize on the issue of Intellectual Property Right (IPR),” said Kant, who played a key role in getting GI tags to many products of this region. Varanasi has emerged as a hub of GI registered products.
According to him, some of the products of this region like Banaras Brocades and Sarees, Handmade carpet of Bhadohi, Banaras Gulabi Meenakari, Wooden Lacquer ware & Toys, Mirzapur handmade Dari and Black Pottery will display there with other GI products of the country. “We are grateful to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and WIPO to provide us this opportunity for creating new dimensions at international level for the traditional weavers and artisans of the GI registered products under Make in India initiative, and we hope that after this initiative, the artisans and weaves will get a new market through GI as a brand and millions of the weavers and artisans and consumers will be directly benefited under “Make in India – Geographical Indication of India,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Varanasi / by Binay Singh, TNN / October 04th, 2015
SBI Life Insurance, a trusted private life insurer, felicitated village level entrepreneurs (VLE) in Lucknow region for taking ‘SBI Life – CSC Saral Sanchay’ life insurance plan to the doorstep of rural Uttar Pradesh. This regular premium plan would help consumers to systematically save so as to achieve their future goals in life and at the same time also supports one’s family in achieving those goals in the event of any eventuality.
Speaking on the occasion, Arijit Basu, MD and CEO, SBI Life said, “The village level entrepreneurs have set an example in taking the ‘SBI Life – CSC Saral Sanchay’ plan to the last mile of the rural hinterland. The plan is specifically aimed at the segment of the population who are largely uninsured. With this offering we are trying to give these families a relief by securing the life of their bread earner and help them save to achieve their goals in the near future.”
‘SBI Life – CSC Saral Sanchay’ life insurance plan, which was launched recently by SBI Life Insurance, is an individual, non-linked, non-participating, variable insurance plan that claims to provide a guaranteed interest rate of 1.00 percent per annum, which will be applicable throughout the policy term. In addition, an additional interest rate (AIR) of 4% pa will also be applicable during the first 5 years and an AIR of 0.5% will be applicable from the sixth year. Further, at the end of each policy year starting from the fifth policy year, residual additions may be added.
Any individual between 18- 60 years can purchase this plan from an authorised Common Service Centre (CSC) under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Government of India. The policy will be issued based on the information provided on their Adhar card and other enrolment details and the plan can be availed for a policy term of 10 years or 15 years.
The plan provides for benefits on death of the life assured or on maturity of the policy. “In addition, it also provides an option of partial withdrawals, which is the flexibility to withdraw a portion of the policy account value from 6th year onwards to cater to liquidity needs. The plan also provides tax benefits as per the prevailing tax laws”, said the company.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Priyanka Singh, TNN / September 03rd, 2015
The UP roadshow was studded with not only business honchos but also stars from Bollywood. A galaxy of cinema icons attended the day-long event and an entire session was devoted to them as chief minister Akhilesh launched the single-window portal of Film Bandhu to facilitate filmmakers.
“Now, film makers need not come all the way to Lucknow just for paper work as to support production of films in the state, the government has facilitated filling up of form from anywhere. They can send it to us and we will respond,” Navneet Sehgal, principal secretary, information and chairman of Film Bandhu, adding “the applications will be cleared in a time-bound manner.”
The session was attended by film personalities including veteran actor Sanjay Khan, producer Boney Kapoor, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Manoj Bajpai, directors Ketan Mehta, Sudhir Mishra and Anurag Kashyap, producer-director Pooja Bhatt and Bhojpuri Ravi Kissan. All the film personalities present on the occasion praised the newly launched initiatives of UP government.
“Filmmaking has become very convenient in UP,” said Sanjay Khan, the first to share his experience, adding, “Now, we find government officials ever ready to help us out.” Boney Kapoor, too, had a similar experience while shooting in the state.
Anurag Kashyap was all praises for Film Bandhu. “It has emerged as a friendly institution for filmmakers,” he said. “The fact that the CM is taking personal interest has come as a great boost for the film industry,” added the director of ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, shot in Mirzapur.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Subhash Mishra, TNN / September 11th, 2015
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav appealed to top bosses of nationalised banks to increase credit deposit ratio for improving economy of the state and to provide employment to youth as well as adopt villages for all-round development. At an industrial road show organised by the Uttar Pradesh government in Mumbai on Thursday, Yadav emphasised that credit deposit ratio in the state is 54% and to take it up to 75% there was a need to invest nearly Rs 1.50 lakh crore, hence bankers should motivate corporate houses to come to Uttar Pradesh to set up big projects.
The CM expressed satisfaction over improvement of credit deposit ratio in last three years from 44% to 54% though there was still need to improve it further vis-a-vis the national average and keeping in mind the size of the state. He said the state’s banking sector had improved in the last two years with opening of more than 3,500 branches. “You have opened branches across UP and the state too had supported the development,” said the chief minister at the meeting attended by heads of the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, besides private sector banks like ICICI.
“Lending in the state has increased by Rs 1.65 lakh crore from Rs 2.01 lakh crore in 2012 to Rs 3.67 crore in March this year,” said the chief minister, adding that government wants there to be one brick-and-mortar branch in every 5km with population of 5,000.
Speaking on the occasion, chief secretary Alok Ranjan who was heading the delegation of top offices of the state advised bankers about the important role they can play in UP which is the largest market and tops in production of sugarcane, potato, milk and vegetables.
Responding to the queries of bankers for increasing recovery rate, Ranjan said necessary directions have been issued to officials at district level to take strict action against big defaulters and help banks in recovery of bad debts.
Principal secretary finance Rahul Bhatnagar said there were nearly 11,000 branches in the state and if each branch adopted just two villages, 22,000 villages could be developed. He said despite directions of the Reserve Bank of India, banks were not lending sufficient loans under various programmes. In Uttar Pradesh, they should have extended loans over Rs 2,850 crore to 19 lakh persons this financial year, but have not. He appealed to bankers to increase loaning under various schemes of UP government, including Kaamdhenu, education, minor and medium sector industries. Bhatnagar added, 38,050 branches of various nationalised banks in the state were sick, which the bankers should revive.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Subhash Mishra, TNN / September 11th, 2015
Renaissance Hotels, a hotel brand known around the world for helping the next generation of business travelers to discover unexpected cultural experiences has announced the opening of its first hotel in North India, in the city of Lucknow. With 16 floors and 112 stylish rooms, it is the tallest hotel to open in Lucknow and offers stunning views of the Gomti River and the city’s landscape.
Renaissance Lucknow Hotel is the brand’s second hotel in India after almost 14 years, with the first Renaissance hotel being based out of Mumbai city. On its launch, Rajeev Menon, Chief Operating Offer – Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), Marriott International said, “Lucknow is fast emerging as a cultural and business hub in Uttar Pradesh and makes for the perfect location for a Renaissance Hotel. Renaissance Hotels is a global, lifestyle hospitality brand that seeks to inspire and provoke its guests to discover something new and different each and every time they visit.”
The Renaissance Lucknow Hotel features a contemporary design that is juxtaposed against the heritage background of Lucknow. The centrally located hotel provides easy access to business hubs as well as popular leisure destinations in the city. The Renaissance Lucknow Hotel has 96 tastefully appointed rooms and 16 suites that offer modern luxury to guests.
The hotel features a variety of dining options that include international cuisine all day dining restaurant, the Awadhi specialty fine dining restaurant, the hotel patisserie that specializes in freshly baked pastries, sandwiches, cakes and brewed coffee and a poolside bar located on the 16th floor offering exquisite wines, cheese boards and an exclusive range of International beverages. Leisure facilities at the hotel also include a well-equipped fitness centre, a yoga studio and a rooftop infinity pool and Jacuzzi.
Conveniently located in Lucknow city centre, the hotel offers extensive facilities for social events and meetings. Spread over 26,000 sq ft, the versatile indoor and outdoor space features the Renaissance Hotels signature R.E.N. meetings program, designed to bring live entertainment and the best of the local destination to business and social gathering. “The Renaissance Lucknow Hotel brings a modern, new face of hospitality to Lucknow and is sure to set benchmarks in the city,” said Rahul Maini, General Manager, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Priyanka Singh, TNN / September 11th, 2015
A boy from Uttar Pradesh Rahul De has been appointed as marketing head of MTN – Africa’s biggest multinational mobile telephone network – and would oversee the operation from Nigeria.
MTN Group’s President and CEO Raymond Sifiso Ndlovu Dabengwa made this announcement. He said that Rahul De would be the Chief Marketing Officer and would head the operation from Nigeria.
He is the first Indian to have been appointed at this level. Before shifting his base to Nigeria De was heading MTN’s marketing division in Ghana. “The new assignment would be a real challenge as MTN in Nigeria has been facing pressure in the market for some time now. Half yearly results of the group show that the Nigerian operation has not grown,” De communicated to The Pioneer through email..
Nigeria market is the largest for MTN in terms of subscribers. At 61 million subscribers and revenue of almost 4 billion dollars yearly it does 30 per cent of MTN group revenues.
MTN is the largest telecom operator in Africa with around 12 Billion dollars revenue and 231 million subscribers. It has operations spread across 22 countries in Africa and Middle east
Rahul has been widely recognised in MTN as having turned around its Ghana operations where worked for four years. “MTN Ghana has become the ‘data network of choice’, and has become a pioneer in ‘mobile money initiatives’. Having customers always at the heart of things the company has grown exponentially though their has been serious pressure due to depreciation of local currency (cedis) to dollars,” De said
“My priority would be to create a more youth centric organization, data network of choice, customer experience management and deliver on all brand promises,” De said.
De belongs to Allahabad. He did his schooling from B SC from Allahabad and did research on international marketing trade.
Prior to his assignment Rahul has held a number of senior roles in Reliance, Aircel, Maxis (Malaysia)
source: http://www.dailypioneer.com / The Pioneer / Home> State edition> Lucknow / Pioneer News Service, Lucknow / Thursday – August 13th, 2015)
As it gets ready to open its first outlet in India, home furnishing giant IKEA turns to rural and semi-rural regions to help double sourcing from the country from 315 million to 630 million euros
Juvencio Maeztu, IKEA’s India CEO
Every day at 8.30 am, Sulekha Bharti steps out of her house in Keshopur Sarpataha in Sant Ravidas Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh (UP), and hails an auto-rickshaw for the half-an-hour, four kilometre drive to the IKEA workshop in Gyanpur, a small town near Varanasi. The day I meet her, she is wearing a bright red sari, her long hair tied neatly in a bun. She is one of hundreds of women in UP who, for the past three years, have been making textile products for the Swedish home furnishing giant.
IKEA, which grossed 28.7 billion euros in sales in FY14, sells ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, kitchenware and household goods in 46 countries, with its largest markets in Germany, the US and France. Though it doesn’t have a presence in India yet, it has been sourcing products from the country for the past 28 years. In 2014, it procured 315 million euros worth of goods from 48 Indian suppliers; it wants to increase this to 630 million euros by 2020. For now, the goods sourced are mostly textiles, but the Swedish giant is planning to expand the scope and sourcing model, even as it is laying the groundwork for an India store by 2018.
Bharti is part of the retail giant’s most recent initiative—Next Generation—which aims to include and support the development of small-scale entrepreneurs in its supply chain. The handcrafted limited edition products that she makes are shipped to Europe and sold in 31 IKEA outlets across Sweden, Austria, the UK and Switzerland. For the 27-year-old—who, like many of her colleagues in the Gyanpur centre, was married at the age of 15—the novelty of leaving the family house, without the permission of her husband, has yet to wear off. Perhaps it never will. Until three years ago, she was confined within its walls in her role as wife, daughter-in-law, mother (she has two sons aged 5 and 9), cook and all-purpose house help. On the rare occasion when she went outside, she had to cover her face with the traditional ghoonghat or veil.
Then in 2012, after participating in a training workshop, she was recruited by artisan-run social enterprise Rangsutra, which is partnering with IKEA for its Next Generation initiative to produce handcrafted products like cushion covers, pillow cases, table runners, and bedspreads. The Rajasthan-headquartered Rangsutra, which also supplies products to companies such as lifestyle chain Fabindia, is one of IKEA’s 48 suppliers in India. In the south, the Swedish company has partnered with Industree Producer Transform in Bengaluru, which employs around 200 artisans and craftsmen who make shoulder bags, baskets and storage boxes out of natural banana fibre.
Social entrepreneur businesses like these will play an important role in IKEA’s supply chain when it starts shop in India. When the home furnishing company was granted permission to operate in India in 2012, it had announced that it would invest about Rs 10,500 crore over 10 years and open 25 retail outlets across the country. Indian consumers, however, will have to wait for three years before they can shop at an India IKEA store as the company has to build a brick and mortar outlet from scratch.
IKEA recently bought a 13-acre plot in HITEC City in Hyderabad. Though this is the first plot of land it has bought in India, it does not mean that the company will open its first store in the country in Hyderabad. IKEA is simultaneously looking for land in Delhi/NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
The retailer has been struggling to find the right piece of land, especially because a typical store can range from anywhere between 2 and 4 lakh square feet on 8 to 10 acres of land. Its outlets, which can pass off as mini-townships, need to be located near highways with easy accessibility to cities. “We offer about 9,000 home furnishing products for sale. In our stores, we have many room settings that give customers inspiration, a large restaurant and play facilities for children. Therefore, the space required is large,” says IKEA India CEO Juvencio Maeztu, 47.
If all goes as planned, women like Bharti will play an important role in IKEA’s India story, and Next Generation, which IKEA describes as a business initiative with a social mission. The home furnishing company has implemented this initiative with a special focus on countries like Thailand and India that score low on the United Nations sustainable development goals.
Of Veils, Cellphones and Bank Accounts
IKEA takes pride in the change it has brought about among women in the villages of Varanasi. Initially, it was extremely difficult for Bharti to convince her husband and in-laws to let her work. “I faced a lot of taunts from people in my village, including the women. They would ask me if I was working or doing something else [the implications being commercial sex],” she says.
In a happy twist, the women who taunted Bharti three years ago have become her admirers and now work with Rangsutra, which has employed 440 women artisans in UP, in and around two centres (one in Gyanpur and another in Mirzapur) to supply products to IKEA. Rangsutra had delivered about 55,000 pieces to the European company as part of the last order; there are two such orders every year.
source: http://www.forbesindia.com / Forbes India / Home> Features-Boardroom / by Shabana Hussain / August 06th, 2015
