Kammas World

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) terminating  Deccan Chargers ' contract and floating a tender for a new franchise in the  Indian Premier League (IPL), top corporates have shown keen interest in bagging a team of their own. While the Jaypee Group and leading industrialist Gautam Adani have made no bones about their interest, one man who could hold the edge is Potluri Vara Prasad - owner of PVP Ventures. Although the BCCI have kept the bidding process pretty straightforward, it is believed that PVP Ventures - who had earlier tried to help the financially crippled Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) and buy Deccan Chargers - have a top board official backing them. A senior BCCI official said that PVP Ventures could well end up owning the new franchise after their attempt to buy Deccan turned futile. "PVP Ventures' plan to buy Deccan Chargers might have been foiled after DCHL didn't like the terms of payment, but it won't come as a surprise ...

Ernst & Young, the leading professional services firm, announced that 14 of the country’s most visionary business leaders have been selected as the finalists for its Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) – India 2011 from over 340 self nominations. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year is the only global award to honour entrepreneurs . The Finalists for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011: Analjit Singh, Chairman, Max India Group; Dr. Anand Burman, Chairman, Dabur India; B. Soundararajan, Chairman, Suguna Poultry; Dr. B.S.Ajaikumar, Chairman and CEO, Healthcare Global Enterprises; Deep Kalra, CEO, MakeMyTrip (India); Desh Bandhu Gupta, Chairman, Lupin; Dhiraj Rajaram, CEO, Mu Sigma; Kapil Wadhawan, Chairman and CEO, DHFL; Manish Khera, CEO, FINO; Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO & MD, TCS; R.Srinivasan, MD, Redington (India); Rahul Bhatia, MD, Interglobe Aviation; Dr. Sushil Shah, Chairman, Metropolis Health Services; Vivek Chaand Sehgal, Chairman; ...

Divi Murali: #53 with $1.05 billion Pharmacist and youngest of 13 siblings, owns 52% of Divi's Laboratories, pharma firm he founded in 1990 after stint partnering with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. Company makes off-patent generics and does custom manufacturing of patented drugs for big pharma companies. Gets over 90% of its $266 million revenues from international markets. Investing $90 million to expand its manufacturing capacity; its new 350-acre special economic zone in eastern India opened in June. Lagadapati Madhusudhana Rao: #91 with $495 million Fortune down 78% as shares of his power producer Lanco Infratech plummeted amid sector slowdown. Inked $716 million deal to buy Australia's Griffin Coal but got slapped with $3.5 billion lawsuit by fertilizer maker Perdeman Chemicals alleging breach of a coal-supply agreement. Tripling power capacity to 9,300 megawatts by 2014 and bidding for power projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia. Brother L. Rajagopal has been me...

CHENNAI: Just a week shy of his 37th birthday, one of India iconic rally drivers, Velappan Rajendran Naren Kumar, has announced his retirement from motorsports after an 18-year career. The Coimbatore-based Naren Kumar said that he wanted to retire when on top rather than delay the inevitable. "I won my seventh national title last year, driving for Red Rooster Racing. They have since pulled out of motorsports and I was left without a drive this season. So, I thought it was best that I quit when I am on top."

Nagarjun Vallurupalli, Director, Surya Ray Elixir Pvt Ltd, is the owner of not just a beautiful house, but India’s first platinum-rated green home, certified by the Indian Green Business Council. Away from the chaotic lanes of Jubilee Hills, Arjun and his wife, Sarada’s mansion overlooks the blue sky and a green-hued lake. It’s not just the surroundings, the interiors of his house, Avani (named after their daughter), are equally natural and eco-friendly. “I always wanted to have a green home. My research in 2007 led me to the LEED Certification initiative in the US. And I subsequently decided to seek help from IGBC to build a green home,” states Arjun. The entrance on the second floor opens into a huge open area encompassing the living area, dining area and the lounge. There are no dividing walls and the double-glaze glass used on the tall wall-to-wall windows keep the heat at bay. “What you see is old teak wood or 80-90-year-old wooden blocks-reused from old, damaged houses,” confe...

Mumbai, July 16: Vasuki Sunkavalli, popularly known as Vasuki in the Indian modelling industry, has been chosen to represent India at the Miss Universe contest this year. She says she is confident of making her country proud. "In this competition, I met a lot of people from different parts of the country and from different professions. That was very interesting. I am very confident, hopeful and determined that I will bring the crown back. I will give it my best," Vasuki told reporters here. The 26-year-old Hyderabad ( Unguturu, West Godavari native ) girl was crowned Miss Universe India 2011 through former Miss Universe-turned-actress Sushmita Sen's Wadhawan Lifestyle I Am She contest at a private ceremony here Friday night. But the results of the contest were unveiled in the media Saturday. Two more crowns were given out. The I Am She Globe International 2011 title was bagged by 23-year-old Parul Duggal, a fashion designer by profession, while 19-year-old Tanvi ...

Infrastructure company Phoenix Group announced plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in six real estate ventures in Hyderabad, including Rs 350 crore in Golf Edge, a mixed use project, which will have a five-star hotel and high-end residential apartments. Every real estate venture underway will have commercial retail space and a hotel as well. The Managing Director of Phoenix Group, Mr Gopikrishna Patibanda , said “the company has frozen the funding for various projects including Golf Edge, located in the Financial District an IT hub of Gachibowli. The property has a large commercial facility occupied by Deloitte and we have commenced work on the hotel project and housing towers.” Addressing a press conference, Mr Patibanda said the company has tied up with Duet Hotels for the first five-star hotel project with 210 rooms. Negotiations are underway to partner the Intercontinental Group. Golf Edge will have 497 apartments of two-bed room, 3-bedroom, duplex ranging from 1,055 sq.ft to 3,595 sq...

The top scorer in the EAMCET medicine, 158 was secured by Mandalapu Himaja from Vijayawada. Nalluri Snehita got 157 marks in medicine, also the second topper.

Holeta (Ethiopia): The world’s largest exporter of roses is an Indian who grows and ships hundreds of varieties of the prized flowers — not just out of India but mostly out of farms in Ethiopia and Kenya. Just 45 km out of Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, a drive across rolling grasslands at the foothills of the Entoto range brings you to a large encampment, spread over 100 hectares, of greenhouses, cottages and huts from where Karuturi Global (Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, Chairman & MD) has spawned its phenomenal growth. ‘Favourable government policies and environmental conditions, flood-safe geographic location and abundant low-cost labour, coupled with its proximity to the global markets, made Ethiopia an ideal location for our business,’ says chief executive Nagesh Karuturi, who overseas the two east African farms. The Bangalore-based company, which has a 10-hectare farm near the new international airport, forayed into Ethiopia in 2004 through its 100 percent subsidiary, Ethi...

L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) opened its 100th centre at Vijaywada marking the silver jubilee. Over the years, LVPEI has been steadily expanding on its facilities in keeping with is capacity-building strategy.The last month of May saw LVPEI launching ten primary eyecare centres, and one city centre bringing the total tally of its network to 100 locations, a LVPEI release said here today."I am delighted that LVPEI has touched a century of eye care facilities in the service of people," said Dr Gullapalli N Rao, chairman, L V Prasad eye Institute adding that "It is a great beginning in our silver jubilee year on June one, and it brings us closer to our mission of preventing avoidable blindness among our people." The launch of LVEPI's silver jubilee on June 1, 2011 saw a flurry of activities including the traditional lighting of the lamp by State Governor E S L Narasimhan and Vimala Narasimhan on 2nd June

HYDERABAD: Senior IPS officer and IG, CID, Myneni Punna Rao died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Secunderabad on Tuesday. Rao had undergone bypass surgery on Saturday and was recuperating in the intensive care unit (ICU). He developed post-surgery complications. On Monday at around 6 am, he died. Mr.Punna Rao belongs to 1988 batch of IPS and hails from Repalle in Guntur district. He is survived by wife, one son and one daughter. He worked as Superintendent of Police of West Godavari district and as Additional Commissioner in the city branches of Crime, Traffic and Headquarters. The IPS officers' association of Andhra Pradesh expressed deep shock at the sudden demise of Punna Rao.

CHENNAI: Kakarla Narain Karthikeyan is now looking to shift gears to "attack mode" after he and his Hispania Racing (HRT) teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi achieved the target they had set, at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday. The duo's main objective for the day was to last the race distance and banish all doubts about the car's reliability. Narain finished 23rd while his Italian teammate crossed the chequered flag 22nd. The HRT cars were lapped twice by Lewis Hamilton and a few front runners but the Spanish team's Shanghai mission was not to push for pace but to run the full distance and so it was a satisfying result. Now the drivers are looking towards catching up with their immediate rivals - the Virgin cars, which, just like HRT, are powered by Cosworth engines. "We met our main objective today which was none other than to finish the race," said Narain after the race. "I don't think the Virgins are that far ahead of us which is good f...

As part of its international development initiative, US-based premier restaurant chain for subs, salads and soups Quiznos plans to enter India. The company has recently signed a master franchise agreement with Arjun Valluri – who has brought a variety of restaurant concepts, including Xtreme Sports Bar , Excess Night Club to southern India – to open its first outlet in May this year. With 15 Xtreme Sports Bar locations and three Caffe Latte concepts, Valluri, awarded the master franchising rights for southern India, including Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai and Hyderabad, will help Quiznos with understanding of the local market.

HYDERABAD: Krishna Prasad Chigurupati and his wife Uma Krishna Prasad from Hyderabad are no ordinary couple from the city. They have the distinction of being the first married couple in the world to participate in a marathon at the northern most point of the globe, the North Pole. The couple, who set out from the city on April 4, scaled the chilly snow covered terrain on April 9 running by each other's side to reach the exact point which the US navy engineer, Robert Peary had managed to reach in 1909. The couple is also the first ones to complete a marathon `Grand Slam' which includes running in all the seven continents and even the North Pole. The two had covered all the continents by December 15 and had set out to get the grand slam title. According to the Krishna Prasads, the North Pole was the toughest terrain they ran on. "Reaching the place itself was quite difficult. We had to take a private aircraft from Svalbard and reached a point closest to the North Pole po...

Hyderabad March 29, 2011, Natco Pharma’s (V C Nannapaneni, Chairman & MD) a nti-cancer drug, NRC-AN-019, has received ‘Orphan Drug’ designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for three indications — glioma (brain tumour), pancreatic cancer and chronic myelogenous leukemia. “It is for the first time that an Indian company’s drug is designated as orphan drug by the USFDA for three indications, ” Natco said in a statement today. Orphan drug designation is given by the USFDA for rare diseases that affect less than 200,000 patients in the USA. Since the market for drugs intended to treat rare diseases is small, the USFDA extends special incentives to companies involved in the discovery and development of such drugs. The incentives, according to the Hyderabad-based company, include a seven-year marketing exclusivity, specific tax credits and waiver of prescription drug user fee, which is about $1.5 million per indication. Special grants and benefits to defray the costs ...

BHUBANESWAR: Maoists finally released Malkangiri collector Ravella Vineel Krishna on Thursday. The collector, abducted on February 16, was freed at Doliamba, a village bordering the Chitrakonda-Balimela forests, 750 km from here. Malkangiri District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) project director Balwant Singh received Krishna. According to initial reports, around 15 Maoists dropped the collector at Doliamba village where a meeting of local tribal people was held. One of the local Maoists explained that the collector was abducted for the cause of tribals who were being 'exploited' and 'oppressed' by the state administration. The reports said the collector was held on a well-guarded hilltop, eight km from Doliamba. Armed militia was deployed all-around the hill to repulse any possible attempt of attack by security forces. Suspense and drama preceded the collector's release as Maoists demanded immediate release of their ideologue Ganti Prasad and a host of other lea...

HYDERABAD: Like any other ordinary soul, Ravella Vineel Krishna used to move around in the interior and inaccessible areas of Malkangiri district of Odisha on a motorcycle. He mingled with the people freely, discussed their problems and made all efforts to solve their problems. The people there too held him in high regard and felt he was one of them. Despite the fact that he was working in the Maoist stronghold, Krishna refused to move around with security and this perhaps was the reason he landed himself in the 'custody' of Maoists. Hailing from Kuchinapudi, near Tenali, in Guntur district, Vineel Krishna, a 2005-batch IAS officer and Malkangiri district collector in the neighbouring state was abducted by the extremists yesterday. “Being an Indian, serve the country. Why go to some foreign land when you have much more to do here?'' is what Krishna, an IITian from Madras and state topper in the civil services examination, used to tell his US-based brother whenever he a...

Bhubaneswar: A senior IAS officer in Orissa's Malkangiri district has been kidnapped by the Maoists. District Collector Ravella Vineel Krishna was kidnapped while he was returning after an interaction programme in Gumma block of tribal-dominated Malkangiri district. The incident happened on Wednesday, just two days before Home Minister P Chidambaram's scheduled video-conference with the Collectors of 60 Maoist-hit districts. This is for the first time that the Maoists have kidnapped an IAS officer. Malkangiri Additional SP A Das said there has been no communication with the Collector since Wednesday afternoon. Thirty-year-old Vineel Krishna, an IIT-Madras graduate, joined administrative service in 2005. Krishna was posted as the District Collector of Malkangiri 16 months ago. He is known to be popular with the local people and interacts closely with them. Along with the District Collector, the Maoists had also kidnapped two junior engineers. One of them was freed on Wednesday...

Senior producer Kanakamedala Devi Vara Prasad passed away in Hyderabad. Suffering from diabetes he was admitted in KIMS hospital few days back. Devi Vara Prasad produced films with NTR and Chiranjeevi under Devi films. He produced films like Tiruguleni Manishi, Chattamtho Porattam, Kondaveeti Raja, Manchi Donga, Gharaana Mogudu, Alluda Mazaaka etc. Heavy budget Mrugaraju film turned out to be a disaster and then he pushed out of gear. MS Narayana directed his last film Bhajantreelu, which was also a disaster. Ever since his health and financial condition deteriorated until finally he breathed his last today.

NEW DELHI: India's number one ranked women chess player Koneru Humpy on Saturday alleged that she has been overlooked for the upcoming Asian Games in Guangzhou next month. A day after the All Indian Chess Federation (AICF) announced that world champion Viswanathan Anand and Koneru Humpy have pulled out of the Asian Games, the winner of two gold medals of 2006 Doha Asian Games, Humpy minced no words in saying that given a chance she would have loved to represent India. "I have not pulled out of Asian Games but denied an entry. I wish the federation could have shown some respect to international players and their prior engagements," an upset Humpy said. "Playing for India is always the top most priority and I would have loved to play for country and win a gold medal. "The Indian Chess Federation wanted me to attend a training camp before the Asian Games but they should have looked at my international commitments and taken my performance into account before rejec...