Category Archives: Business & Economy

Urjit Patel appointed as Vice President of ‘Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank'(AIIB) based in Beijing

Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel will serve a 3-year term as a Vice President  of one the AIIB’s multilateral development banks, 5 Vice-Presidents.

He will take the place of former Gujarat Chief Secretary D.J.Pandian who had been Vice President, leading the AIIB’s investment operations and all sovereign and non-sovereign lending in South and Southeast Asia.

Bengaluru Virologist Dr V Ravi’s and teams test kit ‘Omnisure’ – First Test Kit combining both.

Dr V Ravi, former head of the Department of Neurovirology at National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences and Head, Research & Development, Tata Medical & Diagnostic Centre, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, and his team have developed the world’s first test kit, Omisure, that can detect the Omicron variant by combining S-gene target failure (SGTF) and S-gene mutation amplification (SGMA).

UAE businessman B M Zaffer Thonse gets Indian Achievers Award-2021

B M Zaffer Thonse, Chairman, Thonse Health Centre (Nature cure and Ayurveda hospital) has been selected for the prestigious Indian Achievers Award-2021 by the Indian Achievers’ Forum.

This was for his professional achievements and contributions in nation building.

Udupi, Mangaluru, Karnataka / UAE

India’s First All-Woman Bank – ‘ Bharatiya Mahila Bank ‘ inaugrated. November 2013

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi jointly inaugrated ‘Bharatiya Mahila Bank’ – India’s first state-owned all-woman bank, in Mumbai on November 19th, 2013.

The event also coincided with the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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India’s First U.S.based ‘ Ritz-Carlton Hotel ‘ in Bangalore. October 2013 .

Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore is a 277-room, 5 star luxury hotel which will offer 7 food and beverage restaurant options, extensive meeting and flexible events space. Bangalore’s new hotel the Ritz-Carlton will also house the Ritz-Carlton Club, a private floor accessible only by elevator key. The opening is scheduled to open by this month end, October 31st.

Nitesh Estates Limited has built and will manage India’s first Ritz-Carlton on Bangalore’s, Residency Road – centrally located in the heart of the Central Business District. The 500,000 sq. ft. property stands on a 3-acre L-shaped plot.

Hugo Montanari, an experienced international hotelier, was appointed earlier on as Director of Operations of Ritz-Carlton, Bangalore.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC, of Chevy Chase, Md., currently operates 81 hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Carribean. The Ritz-Carlton is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the U.S. headquartered Mariott International Inc.

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First Indian-American & First South Asian to be Confirmed Key U.S. Pivotal Post in South Asia. October 2013 .

Nisha Desai Biswal was unanimously confirmed by the U.S.Senate, as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

This makes Nisha Biswal the first South Asian American to hold that diplomatic position. She is the first Indian-American to hold a top diplomatic position in the bureau, which overseas US foreign policy and relations with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan.

She was earlier assistant administrator for Asia at the U.S.Agency for International Development (USAID).

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Spice Mobility Launches India’s First ‘ AndroidLand ‘ Experience Stores in Bangalore & Noida. October 2013 .

Spice Mobility launched the first 2 AndroidLand stores in India. The two exclusively branded AndroidLand retail experience stores are located in Koramangala, Bangalore and The Great India Place Mall in Noida.

These first-of-its kind multi-location stores will offer Android experiences created for its customers and will showcase a range of Android devices, services and accessories. A wide variety of interactive live demo units that customers can play with and experience the Android platforms are readily available in these dedicated AndroidLand stores.

Spice Mobility, a leading Mobile Technology Retailer in India has a chain of 650 plus stores across India. To these retail locations, two additional AndroidLand retail outlets have been added, the first of many more planned across India.

Tata Motors Launches its First CNG Passenger Car. October 2013 .

Tata Motors Limited launched its first factory fitted compressed natural gas (CNG) passenger car in Ahmedabad – the Nano ‘eMax’. Tuesday – October 08th, 2013.

The new bio-fuel product, can run on gasoline as well as CNG. It comes equipped with a 32-litre CNG tank and has a claim of 36km per Kg fuel efficiency.

This is the first of the 5 brands in the CNG eMax series to be rolled out by Tata Motors. Indigo and Indica are likely to be the subsequent ones in the plan.

First Indian Elected to Board of Governors of the CFA Institute . October 2013 .

Sunil B. Singhania has been elected to serve on the Board of Governors of CFA Institute for a term of 3 years making him the first from India.

Singhania is among the 18-member Board of Governors that represent 11 countries – Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, UK and the USA.

Sunil Singhania serves as the Chief Investment Officer (Equity Investments) of Reliance Capital Asset Management.

He graduated in Commerce from Bombay University. Then completed his Chartered Accountancy ICAI for Delhi. Subsequently his CFA. Additionally he completed a course for Derivatives conducted by the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Amongst other accompolishments, he also sat on the ‘Standards & Practice Council’ of the CFA Institute,USA for 6 years. Being the first and the only thus far based in India.

Sunil was the Founder of the Indian Association of Investment Professionals, the CFA India Society and was its President for a continuous period of 6 years.

CFA Institute : Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute is the global association of Investment Professionals. The Board of Governors is the Senior most body of CFA Institute, with ultimate responsibility for its strategy and management.

India’s First Coffee Carbonated Drink . September 2013 .

Parle Agro has revealed that it is re-entering the fizzy drinks market with ‘ Cafe Cuba ‘ – India’s first fizzy coffee – the beverage is a combination of roasted coffee beans and carbonated fizz. The product was unveiled on Tuesday, September 24th, 2013.

Exactly 2 decades ago in 1993, Parle Agro sold its carbonated beverages businesses with iconic brands Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot and Citra to Coca-Cola Co.which included a non-compete agreement.

It currently sells Frooti and Appy soft drinks and is re-entering the market with a planned launch in early 2014 with India’s first fizzy coffee – Cafe Cuba which is not being branded as a soda. The company has 14 factories in India which will produce Cafe Cuba.

Parle Agro, the Mumbai headquartered company has a presence in about 44 countries worldwide. Apart from soft drinks the company also sells packaged drinking water ‘Bailey’, baked wheat snacks ‘Hippo’ brand and ‘Softease’ toffees.