Putt Pirates Gang takes lead in the first round of PTGL south zone

Putt Pirates Gang takes lead in the first round of PTGL south zone

5^th September, Bangalore: Putt Pirates Gang has become the leader of the day as the top 10 golfers shot 92-over for the total of 792. The most famous and old gang of the Bangalore city called Pin High fired 804 to finish in the second position while Green Warriers Gang ended at third place with the score of 814.

132 golfers of 11 gangs got together to participate in the first round of south zone qualifier at Clover Greens golf course in Bangalore today. It was the first round of this zone where the participants were vying to notch up a place in the cavalry round at Karnataka Golf Association next month. Renuka Phillip who was playing for Sultans of Swing Gang shot consistent pars and scored three-over as the best score amongst three ladies in the stroke play championship. “I am quite familiar with this golf course as I have played couple of corporate tournaments here and it seems I have done a better job then expected. Now, I am all set to produce another great show in the next round,” Says a smiling Phillip.

The main highlight of the tournament was Ambarish from Birdie Shooters Gang, also a popular Kannada film star who has been playing golf from the age of five said, “Not just golf but I get excited about playing any sport. One thing I like about golf is that it tests my patience and especially gives me a friendly atmosphere when I am not only as a looked upon as film star but also as a friend in the championships like Touché Golf League.”

A former number one amateur golfer, David D’Souza who was a part of The Vella Warriors  Gang shot two-over for the day and didn’t look very satisfied. “I have been playing very good golf in the last couple of days but I am very disappointed with my performance today. It’s hard to believe that it took me and my group six hours to finish a round but still I will take it as another bad day in storm clouds and windy condition, “added D’Souza.

12 new gangs will tee-off tomorrow at the challenging Clover Greens golf course.

Yoshihiko Noda: political donations to be checked

The office of Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says it will investigate alleged political donations from foreign nationals. Some media reported that Noda received donations of about 4,000 dollars from 2 South Korean residents in Japan between 1998 and 2003.

On Saturday, Noda's office released a comment, saying Noda and his office were not aware of the reported donations. It said it will look into the matter with the help of experts. The office added that it will report on whether there were any problems with political funds, including the case in question.

Receiving political donations from a foreign resident is prohibited by Japan's political funds control law.

Former foreign minister Seiji Maehara resigned in March after admitting he had received funds from a foreign national.:Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda,  on Friday to keep Japan on its path of phasing out nuclear power, saying it was “unrealistic” to build any new reactors in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis or to extend those at the end of their life spans.
First speech to the nation as prime minister, Mr. Noda, Japan’s former finance minister and a fiscal conservative,  said Japan would seek to rebuild its tattered finances even as it pays for reconstruction after the country’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in March.
“Speeding up the recovery and reconstruction process is our biggest mission. We must also work to bring the nuclear crisis to an end as swiftly as possible,” Mr. Noda said. “But our finances are also on the brink. We must strike a balance between economic growth and fiscal discipline.”Media-agencies

BNF organizes its 3nd Symposium in New Delhi

Britannia, India’s leading Food Company created the Britannia Nutrition Foundation (BNF) with the belief that Every Child has a Right to Growth and Development which includes not just the Right to Food, but also the Right to Nutrition.Symposium 2Sept-brought together multi-sectoral experts from various domains that impact malnutrition like the Government, Nutritional Science, Medicine, Economics, Private sector and the Development sector to deliberate and collaborate on action to combat Malnutrition. The case for addressing Malnutrition in India with a sense of urgency is compelling when you consider the following:

Over 40% of the world’s underweight children below 5 years live in India.
Close to 70% of children in India suffer from Iron deficiency.
Prevalence of Low Birth Weight in India is about 30%.
Malnutrition costs the nation approximately 4% of GDP in productivity losses.
55% of preschool children in India are underweight and 50% of preschool children in India are stunted.
Poverty is a major cause but not the only cause of malnutrition. Percentage of population suffering from various forms of malnutrition far exceeds the percentage below poverty line.

Britannia, India’s leading Food Company created the Britannia Nutrition Foundation (BNF) with the belief that Every Child has a Right to Growth and Development which includes not just the Right to Food, but also the Right to Nutrition. The purpose of the BNF is to provide a forum for organizations and experts in diverse fields who share the same conviction, to find models and solutions for the multi dimensional nutrition challenge. Drawing from the commitment and knowledge of key experts in this area, BNF has evolved a strong framework for effective action by focussing on three pillars –

Scientific knowledge building and dissemination
Awareness building
Creating a platform for action:
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Vinita Bali – Managing Director, Britannia Industries Limited and Chairperson of the Britannia Nutrition Foundation said, “Given the complexity of the Malnutrition challenge, it is imperative to drive co-ordinated action through multi-sectoral partnerships and programs. The 3nd BNF Symposium is an efficient and effective way to channelise productive dialogue and create a shared and common agenda, while respecting the diversity of views and experiences to combat Malnutrition”.

Mrs. Veena S. Rao – Former Secretary, Government of India with domain expertise in Malnutrition was also present at the event. On this occasion, Mrs. Veena S. Rao released the Britannia Nutrition Foundation special position paper on Malnutrition titled ‘Reducing Malnutrition in the Next Decade – Multi-Sectoral Stakeholders and Agents of Change’. Through the BNF position paper on Malnutrition, the cases for participation of multi-sectoral stakeholders and the need for a comprehensive intervention strategy were detailed out.

The following themes emerged as ones of utmost importance for an effective and comprehensive intervention strategy targeted at combating Malnutrition:
1. Planning and Design of Integrated programs through collaboration with various Government ministries

2. Measurement of Nutrition: Articulation of Key outcome indicators and inclusion of Nutrition sufficiency in overall development indices

3. Aggressive build-up in care and Nutrition interventions during the Critical ‘Window of Opportunity’ i.e. -9 to 24 months or formative years of the child

4. Addressing the problem of Malnutrition at various stages to break the Inter-generational cycle of Malnutrition and Ill health

5. Designing and Delivering Creative food-based solutions to make solutions both, broad-based and acceptable by the targeted individuals

6. Designing insightful and strong Communication and Campaign Approach to create awareness, seek participation and ensure compliance

7. Designing and Delivering effective Nutrition programs through Multi-sectoral Partnerships

8. Bringing a Change in Gender Equity and other Key Social Factors related to women

Political will, policy and governmental action need to be complemented by other sectors engaging with the issue of Malnutrition. This spectrum is wide and includes the Scientific and Knowledge building community, Private sector, NGOs, Developmental organizations and civil society. An attempt was also made to articulate the framework for drawing up the strategic contribution that each sector can make in impacting design, delivery and scale up of pro-nutrition programs:

1. Government and Policy makers – Central and State Governments can lead with the single most important thrust i.e. inclusion of Nutrition status and development as the most important development outcome for units and populations in their responsibilities. Apart from this, there is a direct need for them to recognize evidence-based nutrition solutions and provide resources and commitment to scale them up; in addition to creating regulatory frameworks that enable food-based solutions.

2. Scientific Community and Knowledge Building – There is a clear role to up-weight resources and expertise applied to building fundamental understanding of Nutrition Science, Nutrition status articulation, Frequent Measurement and evaluation of evidence-based nutrition interventions.

3. Private sector – The Private sector, especially the Food Industry can make a significant contribution by both, delivering nutrition through food products and helping build awareness for malnutrition by partnering in creation and delivery of communication programs to people at large.

4. Developmental organizations – It is noteworthy, that the Copenhagen consensus, 2008 identified Nutrition intervention and solutions, as having the best Return scenarios for resources. Several Developmental organizations, both International and Domestic have done commendable work in supporting Nutrition programs. Developmental organizations need to keep the momentum both, in terms of supporting key projects and creating platforms for action.

5. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) – NGOs and Self-help groups working on ground have outstanding domain expertise in taking key messages and interventions to the grass roots. The discipline certainly needs more on-ground partners who can collaborate to build capacity for program delivery.

6. Civil Society and the Education Sector – The cause of Nutrition can find an extremely competent partner in individuals. Emerging India has, in recent history witnessed several cases where the Civil Society has taken a lead in generating greater interest and providing stimuli for change. World over, Nutrition has seen very encouraging build-up with improvement in overall education levels and specifically for Mothers/ girl children. Efforts in this direction must intensify for a multiplicative effect on combating

e-Governance key to Right to Public Services for citizens

New Delhi September 2, 2011-Defending the pressing need of citizens to efficient public services, Mr. Shankar Aggarwal, Additional Secretary, Department of Information Technology said that-e-Governance will play a significant role in citizens getting the services without any intermediaries.He expects a set of initiatives rolled out by the government to make-e-Governance a reality to start falling in place beginning next year. These include setting up of the 100,000th common service centre, making all State Wide Area Networks and electronic service delivery gateways operational and application roll out.

Mr Aggarwal his keynote address at the Telecom Special Interest Group session of the Delhi-NCR chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) indicated that a bill to legislate the delivery of all government services in electronic mode in the next five years is likely to be introduced in the next session of Parliament.



The official who is driving the e-Governance efforts of the Government added that for m-Governance initiative to take off the Department of Information Technology will soon mandate mobile device makers to enable with Hindi and one more regional language on the mobile phones. This step will allow mobile devices to deliver a variety of services in their local language—hitherto a common complaint against mobile makers. Mr Aggarwal shared that Goa has already launched a dozen government services on mobiles.
In a bid to encourage small entrepreneurs to participate in tenders for e-Governance and m-Governance, he told the TiE conference attendees that the department will soon be issuing model RFPs mandating 20% of the tenders be reserved for small entrepreneurs.

Opening the first session of the TiE Special Interest Group (SIG) on Telecom, army officer turned entrepreneur Col. H.S. Bedi of Tulip Telecom and Chairman of TiE SIG on Telecom said that vast opportunities lie ahead of entrepreneurs willing to look beyond the commoditized business. Col. Bedi added that the entrepreneurs are likely to make more money by finding innovative solutions in niche pockets of opportunity.

With government plans to take broadband fibre to villages with population of 500 people, entrepreneurs will have enough opportunities in making these facilities in the rural space, Col. Bedi added.

Dwelling on the flagship annual event of Entrepreneurs—TiECon Delhi 2011, Ms. Geetika Dayal, Executive Director, TiE Delhi-NCR said, “Innovative sessions planned for TiECon Delhi 2011 include a deal flow session where shortlisted entrepreneurs will get a chance to pitch their plans to over 50+ renowned national and international investors.”

Bobby Bedi, Kaleidoscope Entertainment, Abhishek Sinha, eko India Financial Services led the discussions on opportunities, challenges and innovations needed in the industry.As part of TiE Institute, the Telecom SIG will also facilitate mentoring for start-ups and emerging companies, while building bridges with investors leading to businesses that can scale up quickly.
The panelists include Mr. Ankur Lal, Infozech Software; Mr. Ajoy Khanderia, GAP VC; Mr. Satya N Gupta, BT Global; Mr Kunal Bajaj, Analysys Mason; Mr. Arvind Jha, Lava International and Movico Technologies; Mr. Raj Singh, 2ergo India; Mr. Siddharth Sahi, Bubble Motion; Mr. Abhijit Bhattacharjee, Luna Ergonomics; Mr. Sanjay Diwan, IMI Mobile; Mr. Rahul Khanna, Canaan Partners; Mr. Mukul Singhal, SAIF Partners and Mr. Kiran Vasireddy, One97.

About The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the advancement of entrepreneurship. TiE was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region.

There are currently over 15,000 members and more than 2,500 charter members in 57 chapters across 14 countries. TiE’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiE’s focus is on nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs
TiE members include senior and successful Entrepreneurs, VCs, Angel Investors, Private Equity, and Law Firms, Tech and Management professionals, SME’s, aspiring entrepreneurs and students.

Mercedes launches new C-Class-Cars

New-Delhi:2nd-Sept-2011
Mercedes Benz on Thursday launched an advanced version of its flagship sedan C-Class. The car has been priced between Rs. 29.75 lakh and Rs. 32.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Mercedes Benz India company is planning to introduce 3-4 new products, comprising upgrades and new variants of the existing models, within next two months in India.

"The C-Class is our flagship and we are the market leader in this segment. The new C-Class will further strengthen our position in the market," Mercedes-Benz India Director (Sales & Marketing) Debashis Mitra said."We are mainly targeting the youth in the age group of 25-30 years for the new car and to attract them, we have added many advanced technical features in the car," Mr Mitra said.

Mercedes-Benz has been associated with India for more than 50 years:-Mercedes Benz plan to introduce up to 10 new brands in the next three years to regain the number one position by 2015.

MTS India launch the CDMA EV-DO Rev.B Phase II

MTS India is the first telecom company in the world to commercially launch the CDMA EV-DO Rev.B Phase II network," the company said.Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL) is a venture, with equity participation by Sistema of Russia, the Russian Federation and the Shyam Group of India. Sistema is the majority shareholder in the joint venture company which operates its telecom services under the MTS brand. MTS in India has over 12 million wireless subscribers and under the MBlaze brand provides mobile broadband services to more than 1 million customers in over 200 cities across the country.

Balwinder Singh Mattu maintains lead at Karnal

Balwinder Singh Mattu maintains lead at Karnal-
Gaurav Pratap Singh and Akshay Sharma rise to joint second-
Karnal, September 1, 2011: Balwinder Singh Mattu of Jalandhar shot a three under 66 to establish a one-stroke lead after round two of the PGTI Feeder Tour event being played at the Madhuban Meadows Golf Course in Karnal. Mattu’s total moved to eight under 130 as a result of his second round 66. Noida’s Guarav Pratap Singh and Chandigarh golfer Akshay Sharma are in joint second at seven under 131.
The cut was declared at two over 140. Thirty-eight professionals made the cut.
Balwinder Singh Mattu (64-66), the joint leader from round one, made six birdies for the second consecutive day. However, his three birdies on Thursday ensured he did not repeat his first round score of 64. Mattu, who is now staring at his first ever professional win, held on to his lead on Thursday despite struggling with the putter.
“The good part about my game was that I sank as many as six birdies. In fact, I even missed some relatively easy eagle opportunities on the sixth and 12th. But my poor putting let me down in the second round as I made three-putts on a couple of occasions.
“I’ll now concentrate on scoring around three to four under in the final round. My plan would be to play steady and I’ll only attack the pins if someone else gets ahead of me,” said Mattu, who belongs to the Punjab Armoured Police Golf Course in Jalandhar.
Gaurav Pratap Singh (67-64) climbed to joint second in round two thanks to an immaculate five under 64 that consisted of an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys.
Akshay Sharma (66-65) fired five birdies and a bogey in his round of 65 that helped him join Gaurav Pratap in joint second.
Ramesh Kumar of Faridabad and Pawan Kumar of Delhi are in tied fourth at six under 132.