Coimbatore Information - Manchester of South India.

Entrepreneurs urged to harness opportunities
COIMBATORE: Entrepreneurs need to understand the raw material of their business and life to be successful, Co-founder Subroto Baghci, co-founder of MindTree Ltd, said here on Friday. Speaking at the valedictory of Connect Coimbatore, an Information and Communication Technology conference, he quoted instances from the lives of V.G. Siddhartha Hegde, founder and director of Caf� Coffee Day, G.R. Gopinath who started Air Deccan and Sanghamitra Jena, a tour guide in Orissa. Connect thouhts Entrepreneurs should cogitate on the raw materials of their business and life, he said. They need to look out for patterns and connect thoughts to move forward. �It is time to get some of the old cobwebs out of our mind,� he said. Richest nation Mr. Bagchi said by 2014 India was expected to overtake Japan as the fourth richest nation in the world . By 2020, India would be a developed country. Physical infrastructure was taking off in the major cities. Several other sectors would develop as Information Technology had. What was important was developing the quality of life and living by 2020, as in a developed country. Opportunities would be numerous and entrepreneurs would have to harness these using IT. The dimensions of a developed economy in terms of sectors such as transport, housing and hospitality had not sunk in. It should be explored how IT could be used to build real products and services that would have an impact on the life and living of the common man. �We need to engage with India in her journey to be a developed country.� The demands were huge and the options were many. �What stands between you and your dreams is the need for your conviction,� he said.

Police teams formed to secure Nithyananda
Nithyananda CHENNAI: A former disciple of the Bangalore-based Nithyananda Dharmapeetam has confessed to having videographed Swami Nithyananda in a sexual act with an actress. In a complaint lodged with the Chennai police, Nithya Dharmananda alias K. Lenin of Athur in Salem has accused Swami Nithyananda of harassment and criminal intimidation. The Central Crime Branch police here registered a case under Section 295 (A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences), 420 (cheating), 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy). �Special teams have been formed to secure Swami Nithyananda for further investigation,� Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran said on Saturday. According to police sources, Dharmananda told the police that Swami Nithyananda was sexually assaulting women visiting the ashram and forcing them into unnatural acts of sex. While one person died in a suspicious manner, another attempted to commit suicide in the ashram. Since Swami Nithyananda was often meeting actor Ranjitha in the ashram, he decided to secretly videograph the happenings.

�Identity with people strength of postal department'
Coimbatore: Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, C. Rajendiran on Saturday launched the New Pension Scheme (NPS) through India Post as a Point of Presence (POP) wherein the Head Post Offices would initially market the scheme. Launching the scheme, Mr. Rajendiran said that post offices were a bridge between people and Government departments. The Department would play a pivotal role in every one's life. �Change is a must for growth and post offices have changed over a period both in terms of appearance as well as services�. He exhorted the postal staff to follow a corporate culture and be a trendsetter for others to emulate and pointed out that network and identity with the people was the strength of the department. The Postmaster General, Mr. Rajarajan, said that the Department would act as a POP for extending the new pension scheme on behalf of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). The scheme was being made available through head post offices on an experimental basis in Coimbatore region of Tamil Nadu and Southern Region of Karnataka. In the first phase, 21 head post offices in the nine districts of Western Region namely Coimbatore, R.S. Puram, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Erode, Bhavani, Gobichettipalayam, Namakkal, Tiruchengode, Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Pollachi, Udumalpet, Salem, Aatur, Suramangalam, Tirupur, Dharapuram, Mettupalayam, Tirupattur and Gudiayattam will act as POP. The department would operationalise the NPS in terms of subscriber registration for opening new pension account, acceptance of forms, verification, processing and forwarding the forms to Central Record Agency-Facilitation Centre, initial contribution processing, regular subscriber contribution upload through Meghdoot Software, subscriber servicing, grievance handling and MIS uploading. Any Indian citizen in the age group of 18 to 55 years could join and continue till 60 years. Minimum contribution is Rs. 500 a month and Rs 6,000 per annum and there should be a minimum of four contributions. Account holders could decide on the frequency and extent of contribution across the year as per their grievance. Subscribers' contribution would be invested as per the scheme preference opted by the subscriber and options are low risk: low returns, moderate risk: moderate returns and high risk and high returns. The subscriber could opt for the options failing which the investment would be done in auto choice considering the age of the subscriber. The pension contribution would be invested in various schemes by any one of the seven pension fund managers appointed by PFRDA. The return on investments would be in the range of six to seven per cent.

Bankers praised for surpassing target
Collector also stresses the need to reach rural areas Coimbatore: Bankers in Coimbatore District have surpassed the targets fixed for them under the Annual Credit Plan by extending Rs. 3,010 crore in advances against the target of Rs. 2,995 crore for the first three quarters, Collector P. Umanath said on Tuesday. Dr. Umanath was speaking at the consultative committee meeting of bankers held to review their performance in the first three quarters of the fiscal. The Collector said that for the fiscal 2009-2010, the target was Rs. 4,080 crore under the Annual Credit Plan. The target for April to December, the first three quarters, was Rs. 2,995 crore during which period the banks actually disbursed Rs. 3,010 crore. Out of this, a sum of Rs. 1,050 crore was for agriculture; Rs. 1,280 crore for small and medium enterprises; and Rs. 680 crore for other priority sectors. The Collector exhorted the bankers to continue to perform in the same manner for the rest of the fiscal. He also reminded them that as stipulated by the Reserve Bank of India, bankers would have to market their services in rural areas before March 2011, especially those with a population of over 2,000 people. In Coimbatore District, 138 villages with a population of over 2,000 were identified. The banks have introduced services through their agents in four such villages. The Collector exhorted the bankers to ensure that the remaining 134 villagers also got the services before the stipulated period. The bankers to show more seriousness in disbursement of education loans, he said and added that priority should also be given to disbursement of loans to scheduled tribes to buy homes under Indira Memorial Housing Scheme. M. Sundaram, project officer, Tamil Nadu Women's Development Corporation; R. Nandagopal, manager, Canara Bank (lead bank) ; T.P. Thangavelu, divisional manager, Canara Bank; V. Suresh, deputy general manager, NABARD bank; and S. Asokan, general manager, District Industries Centre were among those who took part. Dr. Umanath also gave away Rs. 15,000 and a shield to the Ganapathy Branch of the State Bank of India for best performance in disbursement of loans to self-help groups (SHGs). The second prize of Rs. 10,000 and a shield was given to the Pasur Branch of Indian Bank, while the third prize of Rs. 5,000 and a shield went to the Raja Street Branch of Indian Bank. He pointed out that 1,624 SHGs of men with 25,984 members and 16,423 SHGs of women with 2,62,268 members were functioning in the district. Citing the performance of the State Bank of India and Indian Bank in extending assistance to SHGs, Dr. Umanath exhorted the other bankers to emulate them.

Consumer forum slaps fine on Southern Railway
Coimbatore: The Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (CDCRF) has slapped a fine of Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1,000 towards cost of litigation besides refund of bus fare and train fare to two passengers who were denied accommodation for a reserved ticket. One of the passengers was physically challenged and the other was his wife. Orders to this effect were passed by the forum on March 2 led by President S.A. Sree Ramulu (who demitted office recently) and member K. Rathinam. According to the petitioner, P.N. Ranganathan, a physically challenged person along with his wife R. Radhamani had booked tickets from Coimbatore to Bangalore on June 24, 2009 and return tickets for June 27. He also availed the concession provided by the Railways for physically challenged senior citizens. He was allotted berths in coach S12. On reaching the Bangalore station on the date of the journey, the train never had the S12 coach and was not even provided with alternative accommodation even in AC coach. There was no proper response from the authorities at the station. Despite being physically challenged and aged, the petitioner along with his wife had to travel by bus to Coimbatore. Hence, he approached the consumer forum seeking compensation. The Southern Railway, in its counter, averred that the passenger who booked the ticket from Bangalore Junction tried to board the train from Cantonment and contended that there was a separate arrangement for physically challenged persons in the brake van of the train and all physically challenged persons were aware of such arrangements. It stated that the petitioner's contention never merited any consideration by the forum. Having boarded the train at a different station, where the stoppage was only for a few minutes, the Railways expressed its inability to make alternative arrangements. The forum said neither S12 coach was attached to the particular train nor alternate arrangements provided. Boarding the train at the next station would not disqualify the passenger from being a consumer, the forum said. The forum, finally, concluded that there was deficiency in service on the part of the Railways causing mental agony and ordered for refund of the train fare Rs. 154, bus fare of Rs. 480 and a compensation of Rs. 5,000 each to both the passengers besides Rs. 1,000 towards the cost of litigation.