“The site in Dudhwada will comfortably cater to our growth for the next few years. The site had been selected keeping in mind that our future diversification projects will be located there” said Dr. Vinod D. Shah, Executive Chairman of Chembond while inaugurating the new facility. Chembond has been growing consistently over the years on the strength of its technology and service capabilities.

“We would now be able to de-bottleneck our Tarapur plant operations and the free capacity there will be used to cater to the growth generated by our other divisions” added Sameer V. Shah, Vice Chairman and Managing Director. Chembond operates two plants at Tarapur for metal treatment chemicals and paints and coatings.

“This is the best plant we have built so far, incorporating professional layouts and design, newer building materials and techniques and appropriate automation and control. Our customers for construction chemicals and water treatment chemicals will be served from this new plant”, said Nirmal V. Shah, Joint Managing Director. Situated on the same site is a specialised laboratory dedicated to construction chemicals product development. The company had last year commissioned its construction chemicals manufacturing plant near Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

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Chembond Chemicals Limited has headquarters in Mumbai and focuses on the speciality chemicals segment. The company is listed on The Stock Exchange, Mumbai (BSE : CHEMBOND) and has an established presence across India. It operates four divisions – construction chemicals, coatings, trading and biotechnology; and two joint ventures – Henkel Chembond Surface Technologies Ltd. and Chembond Ashland Water Technologies Ltd.

Mr. Kris was speaking after inaugurating the ‘Top Performers 2007-08’ Award Function to honour the top performing regional and branch leaders of South Indian bank (SIB) for the previous fiscal. Mr.S.Ramaswamy, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India delivered the key note address. Dr.V.A.Joseph, Chairman & CEO of the Bank presided over the function.

Mr.P.E.Mathai and Mr. John Thomas, Deputy General Managers heading respectively Delhi and Trivandrum Regions were selected as the Top Performing Regional Heads (in the outside and inside Kerala regions categories).Twenty five Branch Heads and the Corporate Communications Manager Mr. M.J. Simon were also honoured on the occasion.

Elaborating his point to bring back the past glory of our nation, Mr. Kris stated that this is possible only if we utilize the opportunities available today which are far more than India had some 400 years ago when our nation had the world’s largest economy contributing as it did 20% of the world’s GDP.Now India is at a crucial time providing ample opportunities and hence he exhorted the youth to take advantage of these and bring back the past glory of our country. This is possible because, India is one of the fastest growing economies of the World. Every foreign company is trying to gain access to the huge market of over one billion here. So being in India now is an advantage. In view of the competition, organizations should excel and also empowered to stay ahead’, Mr. Kris concluded his inaugural address.

Mr.S.Ramaswamy,Regional Director, RBI, Trivandrum delivering the key note address stated that having completed a successful financial year it is only proper for South Indian Bank to celebrate the success of the team leaders who had been instrumental in causing the corporate success. Stating that three types of people exist–1) those who effect progress 2) those who watch them and 3) those who wonder what is happening , he told the team leaders that success of Managers as leaders lies in motivating the team for better results. He also advised them to render excellent and timely customer service because customer wants action immediately or he/she would leave if it is not received.

Presiding over the function, Dr.V.A.Joseph Chairman & CEO of the Bank stated that South Indian Bank is the first in the country to honour the spouses of top performers convinced that behind every successful person there is a successful spouse too. The Chairman also stated that to recognise the substantial contribution of the staff in its phenomenonal growth, the Bank is implementing Employee stock Option Scheme, for the first time in the 79th year history of the bank. The bank has implemented, from previous financial year onwards the “Performance-Linked Incentive Scheme” to inspire better performance.

Dr.V.A.Joseph also stated that South Indian Bank was one of the few banks in the country to have started in 2001 CBS implementation in technology partnership with Infosys Technologies to acquire the latest technological capabilities available to the banking industry to render personalised customer service. He also referred to the words of Mr.N.R.Narayana Moorthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies who, while inaugurating the total implementation of Core Banking Solution in South Indian Bank had stated,”South Indian Bank’s implementation of CBS was seamless for the customers. It was also implemented in a manner that every employee was enthusiastically involved in it. SIB had shown its commitment to the core values of excellence which includes openness to new ideas, focus on speed, focus on innovation, excellence in execution”.

Mr.M.Valsan and Mr.H.Suresh Prabhu, Executive Directors of the Bank also spoke on the occasion.

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THE SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD :-

CORPORATE PROFILE

South Indian Bank (SIB) is one of the leading scheduled commercial banks in India with a strong focus on technology and service delivery.

SIB has many firsts to its credit .

SIB is –

*The first in the private sector in India to open an NRI branch .

*The first private sector bank to start an Industrial Finance branch in India.

*The first Indian traditional Bank to achieve all branch/office inter-connectivity and register 100% CBS .

*The first private sector bank from India to provide managerial support to an Exchange House in the

Middle East .

South Indian Bank has registered an all time high net profit for the financial year 2007-08. The bank has declared a net profit of Rs. 151.62 crore for the current financial year as against Rs. 86.49 crore for the previous year registering a growth of 75.30%. With the advantage of 100% branches covered by Core Banking Solution, South Indian Bank was the first in its peer group to announce audited results for the financial year 2007-08.

The total business of the Bank stood at Rs 25,910 crore as on 31-03-08 registering a growth of 26.10%. While the deposits went up by Rs. 2,917 crore from Rs.12,239 crore to Rs. 15,156 crore registering a growth of 23.83 %, the advances increased by Rs. 2,446 crore from Rs. 8,308 crore to Rs. 10,754 crore registering a growth of 29.45 % .

With this the Bank has exceeded all the three ambitious targets the Bank had set in 2005 for achieving the milestones of Rs15000 crores , Rs 20000 crores and Rs.25000 crores in total business respectively for 2005-06 , 2006-07 and 2007-08 .

Due to effective recovery measures resorted to during the year, the Bank could bring down its Gross NPA percentage from 3.94 to 1.78 and Net NPA from 0.98 % to 0.33 % .

The Bank crossed the milestone of Rs.1000 crore of networth during 2007-08.

The major FIIs in the FII holding of 47% in the Bank’s equity include ,India Capital Fund, International Finance Corporation,Acacia Partners LP,India Fund Inc.,Goldman Sachs Investments(Mauritius),Morgan Stanley(Mauritius),India Institutional Fund,Deutsche Securities Mauritius,FID Funds(Mauritius) etc.

The Capital adequacy ratio of the bank is as high as 13.80% against the regulatory requirement of 9%.

The Bank had declared 2007-08 as the year of youth and has launched a novel deposit scheme “YOUTH PLUS” with technology features focusing the younger generation.

South Indian Bank, has now presence in 23 States/Union Territories having established a network of 502 Core Banking Branches ,26 CBS Extension Counters and 227 online ATM Centres

The Bank is planning to open 28 more branches during the current financial year to take the total number of branches to 530. Our focus during the next financial year will be on increasing the CASA funds as well as non interest income by sale of mutual funds and insurance products.

Another Milestone –Inauguration of the 14th Region

The 14th Regional Office of the bank to give administrative support to the branches in the tech-savvy state of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated by Mr. K.Rosaiah,Hon:Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh .Dr.N.Krishna Mohan ,Director,IDRBT will be the Guest of Honour. Mr.M.Valsan ,Executive Director of the Bank presided over the function.

Technology As The Key Driver of Business

The Bank’s ambitious technology up-gradation project named ‘SIBERTECH’ by introducing a Centralized Core Banking Solution ‘Finacle’ in technology partnership with the Infosys Technologies Limited is complete and all the branches/offices all over the country have been linked to the Centralized Data Centre at Kochi and hence 100 % of the Bank’s business is now absolutely on-line .The Disaster Recovery Facility is functioning at Bangalore.

With the up-gradation of technology , SIB now offers a host of hi-tech products which enables the customers bank from anywhere , saving them time , money and hassles . This means that they can avail of a range of solutions and make convenience banking a way of life . For this the Bank has launched various value-added products and services like Global Debit-cum-ATM card, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking etc.

SIB’s Global ATM – cum – Debit Card can be used at over 8 lac ATMs and 120 lac merchant establishments all over the world.The Global ATM – cum – Debit Card of SIB, which recently became the first Kerala based bank to have directly joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) of the Institute for the Development of Research in Banking Technology (the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India) can also be used at over 20,000 ATMs all over India . 227 On-line ATM Centres have also been set up all over the country.

The bank has tied up with ICICI Prudential life insurance for selling of insurance products at over 284 SIB branches in Kerala.This is a major step towards growing the fee-based income of the bank. This partnership, would help, for the first time in the country ,the policyholders of ICICI Prudential to pay their first as well as renewal premiums in cash at over 284 branches in Kerala.The Bank has also a tie up with Bajaj Alliance for distribution of general insurance products.

South Indian Bank is the first private sector bank from India to provide management support to an exchange house in the Middle East..This enables SIB to provide top quality service, to NRIs looking at remittances to India , in a technology –driven environment .

The Bank very recently could bag a special award for excellence in banking technology from IDRBT which is the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India .This award was presented to the Bank as a national level recognition to the excellent contribution made in the area of information systems, security policies and practices .The bank has bagged this award by tightly competing with all categories of banks in India such as Foreign Banks, Private sector banks, public sector banks and co-operative banks .

The Bank, as part of the global brand building exercise, has signed mega star Padmashree Bharat Mammootty as its Global Brand Ambassador. His tech savvy image goes hand-in-hand with our bank which has always been in the forefront of embracing technology. South Indian Bank has also unveiled a new corporate logo that demonstrates the major transformation the bank has undergone since its inception .

The Bank has launched a NetBanking initiative to provide real-time fund transaction for the online banking customers through ‘southindian bank.com’ , the online banking channel of the bank. This will make possible for the retail and also corporate customers of the Bank for online debits/credits from/to authorized accounts. This enriched Net-banking product has the potential for utility payments and payment gateway (shopping mall) facilities. This customer- value proposition contains functionalities to support consumer (Retail) e-banking and also corporate e-banking .

Recently the Bank has been rated as a “Top NPA Manager” in “ASSOCHAM- ECO PULSE” study for having reduced Net NPA substantially within one year.

Conscious of the corporate social responsibility , South Indian Bank has launched the ‘Money Lender-Free Village” pilot project at Meloor in Trichur District of Kerala .The main objective of the Project is replace the non-institutional, usurious, exploitative rural credit mechanism of private lending with lending through Self-Help Groups (SHGs)and direct lending by SIB. Under this initiative, SHGs act as extension of SIB to reach out to villages in even the remotest locations. This project though started very recently could garner acclaim from many quarters.

The Bank is committed to become a technology- driven , customer-oriented bank (the new corporate slogan being -“Experience Next Generation Banking”)where passion for excellence is a way of life , innovation is a tradition , commitment to values unshaken and customer loyalty is abiding .

The long-term corporate objective is to emerge as the most preferred Bank in India, with core competence in fostering relationship banking, garnering core deposit with accent on cost, creating high yielding quality assets through focused marketing, qualitative appraisal and effective monitoring. We are dedicated to provide quality service to our customers and maintain high standards in corporate responsibility.

Despite acquiring the latest technological capabilities available to the banking industry in the country, the Bank will continue the emphasis on personalized customer service, which has been the Bank’s core strength for all these 79 years. Incidentally , the Bank had also been selected , in the Outlook Money – C- Fore Survey, as the best private sector Bank in India in the ‘Service Quality ‘ segment .

G. Kiran Kumar Chairman, Airports, GMR Group & President CEO Clubs India – Hyderabad Chapter made the introductory remarks and welcomed the chief guest and the keynote speaker. Dr. Rammohan Rao, Dean of ISB in his address urged the need for stronger industry academia partnership.

“We really are at a point today like many countries facing the daunting task of countering the sluggish global economy.” Hari Vallurupalli, Founder and Chairman, CEO Clubs India Said. “We our advisors, board members are working with our colleagues across the globe to choose such important and socially relevant topics as we are doing today that can help evolve valuable views and opinions from industry leaders, opinion makers and policy leaders to tackle subjects of national and global importance.” We are confident the distinguished panel will identify what they see as legitimate concerns currently that need to be addressed and share some bold recommendations on how to address them.”

“We appreciate the contributions from our advisors, members on board and our members to date and look forward to their continuing participation to help CEO Clubs India achieve their goal and extend as many benefits as they can to its constituents.”

J A Chowdary, Vice President of CEO Clubs India mentioned that CEO Clubs India plans to organize a number of such social, industry and economy relevant event in the coming years to enable greater networking amongst leaders from across many sectors.

Chief Executive Officer Clubs India (CEO Clubs) is part of global business network & learning organization with several thousand CEOs as its members. CEO Clubs was founded by Joseph (Joe) Mancuso a serial entrepreneur and a professor 30 years ago. CEO Clubs India was launched in March 2008 in Hyderabad.

It started its operation in Hyderabad and Chennai and will soon start its Delhi Chapters 2008. The Club will be operational in all major metros by next year.

The objective of the Club in India is to bring together Indian business leaders for sharing knowledge and skills that could prove critical to their respective organizations and act as a focal point in creating global business opportunities for for their constituents. CEO Clubs enable its members to enter or expand their businesses around the world through most effective networking and business development forums, events,

gatherings, hospitality functions and an online community. Several CEOs around the world have benefited from CEO Clubs membership - many mergers and acquisitions have been created and are noted through the last 30 years Web site: http://ceoclubsindia.com

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Exports in the first half of 2008 rose by 44% to reach a total of $1.88bn from $1.3bn, during the same period in 2007. Over 87% of Dubai's rough diamond exports were to the countries of the European Commission (EC) and India, while Dubai's exports to China increased by 950%.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC and Deputy Chairman of DDE said, “The continued surge in diamond trade is a testament to Dubai's success in attracting traders from around the world. We have witnessed healthy growth in bilateral trade with various countries, reflecting the growing confidence in the trading infrastructure and opportunities offered by Dubai."

He highlighted that earlier this year, DMCC inked significant MoUs with People's Government of Panyu District, China, and Gems & Jewellery Trade Association of China (GAC) for promotion of jewellery trade between both the countries, with a special focus on diamonds and coloured stones.

In addition, DMCC assisted HSBC establish a diamond banking unit to enable access to finance for the local and regional diamond trade.

Youri Steverlynck, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Diamond Exchange, said, “While exports in terms of carats grew marginally in the first half of 2008, the price of diamond rose by 10% and helped push the overall trade to high levels.”

The DDE is the only exchange in the region to service the diamond trade from mining to retail.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About DTCM India Representative Office:

The Government of Dubai, Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has had a representative office in India for over eleven years, which has been functioning as an initial contact point and query-processing centre for the Indian travel trade interested in doing business in Dubai.

The India office aims at promoting commerce and tourism, through the organization of marketing activities such as presentations, road shows, advertising, brochure distribution, direct sales meetings and media education programmes, which include familiarization visits for business and travel journalists to Dubai.

The DTCM expects to play an important role in boosting bilateral ties by promoting a widespread awareness of the opportunities Dubai has to offer in both business and tourism. The presence in Mumbai brings to 15 the total number of offices in the DTCM’s international network.

Life Begins at 60

Generation M is an important segment which cannot be stereotyped. Generation M, is not just a qualitatively different niche. Today the size of seniors in India at around 8% of India’s population, with 73 million above the age of 60. This is more than population of countries like France, Italy. 55 lakh people in Urban India are above 60 and of these, 50% are economically independent[1].

The segment is expected to triple in next 50 years. In this context it has become important to study and understand the emerging segment’s needs.

Unlike the stereotypes, a lot of Generation M is financially sound with limited or no liabilities (read high purchasing power). This is supported by a trend of more and more senior citizens getting registered in the employment exchange[2]. Today, senior citizens have higher savings and are becoming open to investing in medium risk instruments like mutual funds.

The future of retirement survey on older people by HSBC dispels the myth of being burden to society. Contribution of older people to the income tax department is 85 billion rupees, out of this 16 billion on voluntary work. The survey was conducted on 1013 people aged from 40-79 years[3].The Generation M rather than being passive & withdrawn is becoming increasingly media – savvy. Consumption of TV and Press is high amongst seniors and intensity of consumption of print higher than that of youth. On the contrary, they are more alert to the changes/stimuli of external world[4].

Marketers please note that Generation M is spending high[5] and not just on rubs/balms/anti-ageing products. Some smart marketers like Himalaya Chyawanprash, Pfizer, and SBI are connecting with seniors by connecting to a more real persona (displaying their playful, mischievous, young-at-heart side).

Sunrise Sectors for Generation M

Some of the sectors that are emerging to be ‘sunrise sectors’ in context of the aging population:

(i) Products and services related to the accommodation and shelter. According to Sarvajeet Chandra of Master Sun Consulting these could be emergency services, security systems, housing / real estate, second home etc.

(ii) Consumer Durables such as refrigerators, ovens, microwave ovens, geysers, washing machines, air conditioners, water purifiers etc. Jasravee Kaur of Master Sun Consulting feels that “changing societal norms and resultant lifestyle needs are creating a segment of seniors who prefer their independence and choose to live separately from their offspring”.

(iii) Personal care-related products and services, general maintenance and care cosmetics, anti-aging cosmetics, colour cosmetics and other anti-aging products, beauty parlours, spas and saunas. Jasravee Kaur notes that “With a second chance at life the elderly are treading the earth softly and with care. They are living for themselves and want to preserve their looks, and keep fit and healthy. Older couples want to feel good about themselves and celebrate their married years of togetherness”.

(iv) Wellness products such as fortified wheat, protein related intakes, nutrition enhancing supplements etc. Increased nutrition is a way of being proactively in-charge of their life and destiny.

(v) Health-related products and services such as gyms and fitness centers, centers offering alternative therapies and treatments, nutritional supplements, immunity enhancing supplements and vitamin tablets, gadgets and equipments related to health monitoring etc. A demand for these products is driven by needs of taking holistic care of themselves and not to be dependent on anybody. Besides Generation M wants to be mobile and active till the very end. According to Sarvajeet Chandra of Master Sun Consulting, this will trigger a proactive spending on positive (testing, monitoring) rather than curative (treatment, hospitalization) healthcare.

(vi) The financial sector will definitely see a plethora of product and services innovation and introduction of new and pertinent forms. This creates opportunities for wealth management and new innovative products like reverse mortgage.

Section III: A Peep into Generation M Insights from Exploratory Research

Overall

* A continuum of profiles ranging from a conventional, traditional and conservative personality to an open, easy-going, exploratory and modern-thinking personality.

* Seeking religion as a gateway to peaceful thoughts and contemplation. Jasravee Kaur of Master Sun Consulting observes that “religion is a coping mechanism for dealing with excess time at hand, and complex /changing role and status in family”.

* View youth with awe, some admiration, and envy. Feel the need to earn respect from the younger generation.

Interests

* Seek active participation and inclusion in all aspects of life. Not adopted a ‘retired’ mindset of disengagement.

* Seek knowledge on technology and are keen to learn, but fear an inability to operate ….results in hesitation and distancing.

* Enjoy traveling, TV viewing, family outings, and listening to music.

* Friends are a key interest and influencer to a positive mind state. Jasravee adds “friends provide an important sounding board to discuss new categories, brands and influence brand choice”.

Attitudes to technology

* Information-seeking and exploration of technology, newer products, their utility and relevance, availability, and usage method.

* Higher excitement towards wanting to own a mobile than a computer. Jasravee Kaur notes “The mobile phone is used sub-optimally for voice and SMS, but value-added newer features are appealing with latest models with camera, download features”.

* There is a desire and an aspiration for computer fluency and guided usage and accompanied instruction. Many have attended computer courses and have access to computers at home.

Critical Feelings / Emotions

* Going out of the house is a big need as it gives the person a feeling of purposeful engagement and time utilization.

* There is a pride in spending time at work especially in one’s own business.

* Inclined towards social work or related activities. Jasravee observes that “this provides fulfillment of the need for recognition and self assurance, social power, fear of getting obsolete, and a sense of ‘giving back’ as a social obligation”.

[1] The Greying India, Sage Publications, 2004

[2] Source: Labour Ministry Report and Survey by HSBC (Oct, 2007)

[3] Source: Labour Ministry Report and Survey by HSBC (Oct, 2007)

[4] Source: NRS 2004

[5] Study of OTC products 2002, AC Nielsen ORG Marg, NRS 2003, Magazine Impact - 2004

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Master Sun is a strategy execution firm. It helps its clients in executing strategy. Good for scaling up or turning a business around.

The report suggests that whilst currently low, the pressure from stakeholders for Indian companies to be more environmentally responsible is likely to increase in the future, thereby compelling delivery by firms across all industries on a triple bottom line of economics, social and environmental performance.

Speaking on the report release Mr. Arvind Mahajan, Executive Director, KPMG said “The Indian companies should take proactive measures to ensure adequate risk appraisal and management as well as leverage opportunities arising out of climate change. They need to do proper due diligence for Clean Development Mechanism projects to assess the quantum of carbon credits expected to be generated”. Mr. Mahajan added, “Indian businesses also need to consider tax and regulatory issues and devise strategies to help ensure that they can maximize the benefit from the CDM process”.

The KPMG-CII report suggests that individual businesses need to develop a structured approach consisting of the following components:

1) Measurement of the carbon footprint of the business

2) Projecting the likely carbon footprint if the business continues to grow under the ‘Business As Usual’ scenario

3) Analysis of the risk of climate change issues to the sector and the business

4) Identification of opportunities within the business, and beyond (CDM projects, clean technologies, renewables, etc) to maintain growth, but with a different approach

5) Preparation of time bound action plan for reducing the carbon footprint compared to the projected carbon footprint

6) Institutionalize the action plan in business processes

7) Institutionalize a measurement and verification system to monitor progress against the plan

8) Periodically report progress to stakeholders

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About KPMG

KPMG is the global network of professional services firms of KPMG International. KPMG member firms provide audit, tax and advisory services through industry focused, talented professionals, who deliver value for the benefit of their clients and communities.

KPMG in India has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune and services over 2,000 international and national clients. The firms in India have access to more than 900 Indian and expatriate professionals.

About CII

CII is a non-government, not for profit, industry led and industry managed organization, playing a proactive role in India’s development process. It is India’s premier business association with direct membership of over 7500 organizations from the private as well as public sector. CII works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes.

Along with high disposable incomes there are other trends that are fuelling the demand for super luxury homes. Members of the joint family who are breaking away invest money from their ancestral property in new super luxury developments. Besides the super rich are upgrading from old buildings (which no amenities to speak of) to new buildings which have a pool, a gym, liftmen and a concierge, not to mention enough parking for family’s many cars.

The Mumbai’s richest live in ‘Presidential Apartments’ .

Presidential apartments are super-premium apartments in exclusive neighbourhoods, with oodles of space, the most luxurious of interiors, named architects, private lifts, landscaped gardens, and every facility that could be required such as a gym, swimming pool, security and CCTV, children's play areas.

These apartments are large; typically in the 4,000 to 7,000 sq ft range, though some can go as large as 10,000 sq ft. Some of the presidential apartments have as many as 8-10 bedrooms. The prices for these average Rs 30,000-35,000 per sq feet and above. On average, 20,000 sq ft of space can cost as much as Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million).

The characteristic feature of a presidential apartment is its privacy and exclusivity, rather than the amenities offered. So you have one apartment per floor, with the habitable floors starting from the 10th floor level or above, in order to rise above the clutter of the buildings around. Besides space, these buildings have top-notch clientele, people that each of the prospective buyers would like to associate with. Most are sold by invitation only to the chosen few to maintain the exclusivity of the community.

Super Luxury Addresses in Mumbai

The super luxury addresses in Mumbai are Nariman Point, Cuffe Parade, Napeansea Road, Colaba, Carmichael Road, Altamount Road and Worli. Some of them have been listed below.

Imperial Towers on Kambala Hill, Tardeo, South Mumbai.

Each apartment, sized 2,550-10,105 sq ft, will be designed specifically for the buyer. Brokers say the smallest flat here will cost Rs 6- 7 crores. Imperial towers have two 25,000 sq ft penthouses on top. At a conservative Rs 50,000 a sq ft, each of these penthouses could cost Rs 125 crore.

K Raheja’s Project at Altmount Road.

Altamount Road, the 2-km stretch of real estate in upmarket South Mumbai, is the hottest address in Mumbai — tall trees, quiet by lanes and thick foliage.Standing tall at 36 storeys, the building on the old Chattan Bungalow site at Altamount Road, being developed by K Raheja Universal. The first 12 stories offer just amenities. The remaining 24 storey have 12 duplex apartments stacked on top of each other. Each apartment has its own huge terrace and an elevator to take the car right up to the living room. The whole building itself is on a hill, enhancing the view. The price tag is Rs.15-25 Crore.

Lodha Solitaire, on Napean Sea Road in South Mumbai.

The area of Lodha Solitaire is 30,000 sq ft. The target possession is in 2008. There are 7 apartments and 1 duplex penthouse. Lodha Builders is selling a 7,200 sq ft apartment for Rs 4.32 Crore, which comes to Rs 60,000 a sq ft. The project highlights are beautiful décor and spectacular sea views. Amenities include an infinity-edge swimming pool and mini-theatre.

Lodha Bellissimo, Mahalakshmi, South Mumbai

Lodha Bellissimo is a 50 storey building, with views of the race course and Arabian Sea situated in the west and an extensive breathtaking garden in the east. Apart from the sprawling garden at the ground level, there is one garden at every four floors. This means that there are over ten flats that come with a garden and sundeck area. Since it is inviting to South Mumbai’s richest of the rich, the Lodha Bellissimo promises a three-level parking to accommodate 500 cars within the premises, with valet service for all. The project will only be ready in the middle of 2009. The flats will only be given to people ‘by invitation’.” The building will be providing 3 and 4 BHK flats at Rs. 4 to Rs. 8 crores.

Lodha Bellissimo has three phases A, B and C. While A & B are already launched and are under construction, which are expected to get complete by September 2009, Bellissimo C is set to get complete by December 2010. Bellissimo C is being sold at the rate of Rs 25,000 per sq ft. Bellissimo A & B have already been sold out.

Residents will have the luxury of access to all the ‘club facilities’, a yoga and meditation pavilion, a hi-tech gym, separate swimming pools for adults and kids, a tennis court with floodlights, squash court, multipurpose hall for basketball, volleyball and badminton, indoor games arena, a well-stocked library, a café, a banquet hall and a cricket pitch.

Villa Orb at Napeansea Road

Orbit Corporation Ltd is set to deliver Villa Orb, an extravaganza costing Rs 55,000-Rs 60,000 a square feet along the upscale Napeansea Road, Mumbai beachfront.Villa Orb consists of seven apartments of 7,500 sq ft each with one apartment per floor. There are eight floors to park over 80 cars.A top floor penthouse will make up a total of eight residential floors of the 18-storeyed super structure, which will also house a gym, squash court, snooker and table tennis tables, swimming pool and health club on the 9th and 10th floor. The façade will have a cladding of Italian marble. An air-conditioned lobby, piped music in common area and a 24- hour concierge system make up the rest.

Clients are offered a bare shell structure to opt for the number of bedrooms they prefer — either four or five. The concept of relating the number of parking slots to the number of built-up units appears to be of a bygone era here. “It’s one for each bedroom we are thinking of, if not more,” says Mr Yadav. Moreover, the company claims to be first in using stainless steel in reinforcement

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Master Sun is a strategy execution firm. It helps its clients in executing strategy. Good for scaling up or turning a business around.It has a robust real estate practice & works on some of the most prestigious projects .

Seventymm, India’s largest movie rental service has raised Rs.50 crores in Series C funding making it one of the largest invested start-up ventures in India with a total capital investment of Rs.90 crores. This round was led by NEA-Indo US Ventures and Vani Kola, Managing Director of NEA India-Indo US Ventures, has joined the Seventymm board. Seventymm had earlier raised Rs.40 crores in funding from leading venture capital firms including Matrix Partners India, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and ePlanet Ventures, who also participated in this round.

Commenting on the occasion, Raghav Kher, Founder & CEO Seventymm, said, “We are delighted to partner with a reputed firm like NEA Indo-US Ventures and this reaffirms our strategic direction. Our vision of movies anytime, anywhere through Seventymm is now a looming reality rather than a distant dream.”

Vani Kola, Managing Director NEA Indo-US Ventures, said, “Seventymm is the market leader in organized movie rentals. We are impressed by the leadership and vision of the management team. Seventymm is an attractive investment proposition for us with its impressive service offering and pioneering achievements in shaping this market. ”

From just movie rentals Seventymm has expanded its canvas to a movie lovers’ community wherein one can discover, enjoy, share and indulge in the world of movies apart from renting movies of their choice. The new avatar of Seventymm - Hangout with Movies is India's first 'interactive' platform for movies with a host of exciting features, interactive games and informative nuggets aimed at attracting the netizens.

Seventymm recently announced a landmark achievement of acquiring 70,000 consumers and currently has operations across leading Indian metros of Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi & Chandigarh. With a long term goal of reaching a landmark of 4 million members in next 5 years, Seventymm plans to be in 40 cities by end of 2009 and offer many more film based entertainment options to its ever growing fraternity members.

Added Subhanker Sarker, COO Seventymm, “Seventymm has played a pivotal role in creating an organized movie rental sector in India which will be further nurtured through various industry defining initiatives. We are constantly innovating to add new dimensions to this service, improve the consumer experience and this capital infusion will accelerate our plans.”

Seventymm has heralded organized movie rental service in India and is constantly setting industry standards in this relatively nascent but fast evolving segment. Indian Entertainment and Media (E&M) industry growing at 18% annually will reach the Rs. 1 trillion mark by the year 2012 from the current Rs. 437 billion. The corporatisation of the industry and the Home Video sector will play a major role in this growth.*

*Source- FICCI - PricewaterhouseCoopers 2008 report

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

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Aparna Vemuri/Debajyoti Mal - PR Pundit, Bangalore
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In his keynote address, James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank and former Olympian noted that his participation in the 1956 Games influenced his whole approach to life thereafter. Wolfensohn highlighted that the Olympics Games have always represented a global “coming together” and that no city that has ever held the Games is the same after the Games.

Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of London 2012 who is preparing for the Olympics handover on August 24, stated that time and time and time again, the Olympics has done more than just change cities, it has changed the framework of society. The primary goal of London 2012 is, according to Lord Coe, to use sport as a bridgehead to solve some of the issues London faces.

Wei Wei, musical Ambassador to the Beijing 2008 Games concurred, noting that the global spotlight of the Olympics has made the citizens of Beijing change their behavior. Foreigners’ perceptions about China prior to the Olympics were skewed and the local population has gone to great lengths to change that. Peter Foss, President of Olympic Sponsorship for General Electric concurred, underlining the public welfare work undertaken in China ahead of the Games. Major sporting events leave a legacy of commercially-viable technologies that help improve the lives of ordinary people, according to Foss.

Representatives for two of the biggest upcoming sporting events in Asia, the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, predicted that these events would have a similar impact on their societies. Raja Randhir Singh, Secretary General, Olympic Council of Asia, stated that the 2012 Delhi Commonwealth Games will be an opportunity for the world to judge India’s capabilities.

Teo Ser Luck, advisor to the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee, agreed saying that the Youth Olympics have tremendous potential to inculcate the values of sportsmanship and athletic excellence not only during the 12 or 16 days that the Games last, but on a sustained basis after the Games.

“Some may say that the Olympics are an ‘edifice complex’, that megalomaniacs just want to build big buildings,” summarized Jaime A. FlorCruz, CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief and correspondent, and moderator of the event. "What this discussion showed us is that sporting events have the potential to change not only the infrastructure of a city, but also produce a transformation of host societies.”

Tessa Jowell, Minister of the Olympics for London was in attendance at the VIP Luncheon Reception hosted by the Commonwealth Games 2010 Organizing Committee. Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, President of the Indian Olympic Committee spoke to the gathering on India’s vision to provide its’ guests a stellar experience whilst encouraging sporting excellence within the country.

The London Development Agency has set up London House in Beijing to promote London during the Olympic Games. A series of events and seminars aimed at attracting investors, tourists and students to London have taken place since August 7 and will culminate in the Olympic Handover celebration on 24th August when London officially becomes the next Host City.

The panel discussion at London House was organized by Mirabilis Advisory (www.mirabilisadvisory.com/) and The NewsMarket (www.thenewsmarket.com) as part of their work for the London Development Agency and other Olympic participants.

For broadcast-quality video supporting this press release, please visit (www.thenewsmarket.com/londonhouse). If you are a first time user, please take a minute to register or with any questions, please contact journalisthelp@thenewsmarket.com

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About The NewsMarket

The NewsMarket (www.thenewsmarket.com) is the leading platform for global brands to market and deliver their video to all their audiences. The company enables corporations and government and non-profit organizations to easily share their video content with the media, blogs, consumers, online communities and other audiences globally. The company’s media site (www.thenewsmarket.com) is used by more than 16,000 media outlets in 193 countries to view and order free news video for use in their programming. The NewsMarket works with many of the world’s leading brands including General Motors, Volvo Cars, Mazda, IBM, Microsoft, UNICEF, Facebook, Google and Visit Mexico. The NewsMarket is headquartered in New York, with offices in Beijing, Delhi, Dubai, London, San Francisco, Munich, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai. To learn more about our capabilities, visit: www.thenewsmarket.com/postingcontent/

About Mirabilis Advisory

Mirabilis Advisory is a boutique consulting firm that facilitates global exchange between India and the world’s leading institutions, cities, regions and countries by building partnerships across the public and private sectors. Clients are global brands that include governments, associations, public-private partnerships, cultural & academic institutions, sports organisations, financial institutions, foundations and media organisations. For more information, visit: www.mirabilisadvisory.com/

Considering the substantial contribution of the staff members to the tremendous leap the Bank has made in the areas of deposits, advances, net profit, earnings per share etc., the Annual General Meeting of the shareholders has also approved “SIB Employee Stock Option Scheme 2008” which will be implemented to reward the existing employees who have put in long years of service and also to offer incentive to the new staff members.

Directors – Dr. John Joseph, Dr. C.J. Jose and Mr. Jose Alapatt were re-elected to the Director Board.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. V. A. Joseph, Chairman & CEO of the Bank said, “Bonus issue is intended to enhance the value for our long-term shareholders in the wake of the unprecedented all-round growth of the Bank. The dividend @ 30% approved for the previous fiscal is the highest in the history of our Bank. Incidentally it was also the year in which our net profit crossed the Rs. 150 Crore mark.”

“ESOPS also has been approved which is a way of rewarding the employees for participating in the excellent performance of the Bank. Employee Stock Option has been recognized generally as an effective step to attract, retain and motivate the employees. This scheme is expected to create a proprietary interest and provide them an opportunity to share the growth of the Bank and also create long-term wealth in their hands”, stated Dr. Joseph.

During the current fiscal we will strive to achieve our net profit target of Rs. 190 Crore and also total business target of Rs. 30500 Crore. At the beginning of this fiscal, we had decided to add 5 Lakh new customers in Savings Bank accounts and are assiduously working towards this target. This addition will increase our CASA (Current Account, Savings Account) by 3%. Besides CASA, we will also focus during this fiscal on increasing non-interest income by sale of Mutual Funds and Insurance Products.”

“We, as the preferred Bank of NRIs, are celebrating now one-month-long ‘Pravasi Utsav’. We have chosen this period as it coincides with the arrival of large number of NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin to India. The Bank is organizing this festival to publicize our bouquet of products and services to NRIs and also to listen to their suggestions. The new product very recently launched for the NRIs with a lot of freebies called ‘NRE SB - Diamond’ for those NRIs who maintain an average balance of Rs. 50,000 will be introduced to more pravasis during this period.”

SIB has become the First Bank to offer online booking of offerings to its customers who are devotees of Sri Guruvayurappan. With the launch of this facility, customers of SIB are facilitated, especially NRIs who want to book offerings also on behalf of their aged parents resident in India, to effect offerings with greater transparency and security at the click of a button.”

“The first Indian traditional Bank to achieve all branch/ office inter-connectivity and register cent percent CBS, SIB will open 19 more branches during this fiscal to increase the CBS branch network to 530 spread over 23 states/ Union Territories”,Dr. V.A.Joseph, Chairman & CEO concluded.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

THE SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD :-

CORPORATE PROFILE

South Indian Bank (SIB) is one of the leading scheduled commercial banks in India with a strong focus on technology and service delivery.

SIB has many firsts to its credit .

SIB is –

*The first in the private sector in India to open an NRI branch .

*The first private sector bank to start an Industrial Finance branch in India.

*The first Indian traditional Bank to achieve all branch/office inter-connectivity and register 100% CBS .

*The first private sector bank from India to provide managerial support to an Exchange House in the

Middle East .

South Indian Bank has registered an all time high net profit for the financial year 2007-08. The bank has declared a net profit of Rs. 151.62 crore for the current financial year as against Rs. 86.49 crore for the previous year registering a growth of 75.30%. With the advantage of 100% branches covered by Core Banking Solution, South Indian Bank was the first in its peer group to announce audited results for the financial year 2007-08.

The total business of the Bank stood at Rs 25,910 crore as on 31-03-08 registering a growth of 26.10%. While the deposits went up by Rs. 2,917 crore from Rs.12,239 crore to Rs. 15,156 crore registering a growth of 23.83 %, the advances increased by Rs. 2,446 crore from Rs. 8,308 crore to Rs. 10,754 crore registering a growth of 29.45 % .

With this the Bank has exceeded all the three ambitious targets the Bank had set in 2005 for achieving the milestones of Rs15000 crores , Rs 20000 crores and Rs.25000 crores in total business respectively for 2005-06 , 2006-07 and 2007-08 .

Due to effective recovery measures resorted to during the year, the Bank could bring down its Gross NPA percentage from 3.94 to 1.78 and Net NPA from 0.98 % to 0.33 % .

The Bank crossed the milestone of Rs.1000 crore of networth during 2007-08.

The major FIIs in the FII holding of 47% in the Bank’s equity include ,India Capital Fund, International Finance Corporation,Acacia Partners LP,India Fund Inc.,Goldman Sachs Investments(Mauritius),Morgan Stanley(Mauritius),India Institutional Fund,Deutsche Securities Mauritius,FID Funds(Mauritius) etc.

The Capital adequacy ratio of the bank is as high as 13.80% against the regulatory requirement of 9%.

The Bank had declared 2007-08 as the year of youth and has launched a novel deposit scheme “YOUTH PLUS” with technology features focusing the younger generation.

South Indian Bank, has now presence in 23 States/Union Territories having established a network of 502 Core Banking Branches ,26 CBS Extension Counters and 227 online ATM Centres

The Bank is planning to open 28 more branches during the current financial year to take the total number of branches to 530. Our focus during the next financial year will be on increasing the CASA funds as well as non interest income by sale of mutual funds and insurance products.

Another Milestone –Inauguration of the 14th Region

The 14th Regional Office of the bank to give administrative support to the branches in the tech-savvy state of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated by Mr. K.Rosaiah,Hon:Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh .Dr.N.Krishna Mohan ,Director,IDRBT will be the Guest of Honour. Mr.M.Valsan ,Executive Director of the Bank presided over the function.

Technology As The Key Driver of Business

The Bank’s ambitious technology up-gradation project named ‘SIBERTECH’ by introducing a Centralized Core Banking Solution ‘Finacle’ in technology partnership with the Infosys Technologies Limited is complete and all the branches/offices all over the country have been linked to the Centralized Data Centre at Kochi and hence 100 % of the Bank’s business is now absolutely on-line .The Disaster Recovery Facility is functioning at Bangalore.

With the up-gradation of technology , SIB now offers a host of hi-tech products which enables the customers bank from anywhere , saving them time , money and hassles . This means that they can avail of a range of solutions and make convenience banking a way of life . For this the Bank has launched various value-added products and services like Global Debit-cum-ATM card, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking etc.

SIB’s Global ATM – cum – Debit Card can be used at over 8 lac ATMs and 120 lac merchant establishments all over the world.The Global ATM – cum – Debit Card of SIB, which recently became the first Kerala based bank to have directly joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) of the Institute for the Development of Research in Banking Technology (the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India) can also be used at over 20,000 ATMs all over India . 227 On-line ATM Centres have also been set up all over the country.

The bank has tied up with ICICI Prudential life insurance for selling of insurance products at over 284 SIB branches in Kerala.This is a major step towards growing the fee-based income of the bank. This partnership, would help, for the first time in the country ,the policyholders of ICICI Prudential to pay their first as well as renewal premiums in cash at over 284 branches in Kerala.The Bank has also a tie up with Bajaj Alliance for distribution of general insurance products.

South Indian Bank is the first private sector bank from India to provide management support to an exchange house in the Middle East..This enables SIB to provide top quality service, to NRIs looking at remittances to India , in a technology –driven environment .

The Bank very recently could bag a special award for excellence in banking technology from IDRBT which is the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India .This award was presented to the Bank as a national level recognition to the excellent contribution made in the area of information systems, security policies and practices .The bank has bagged this award by tightly competing with all categories of banks in India such as Foreign Banks, Private sector banks, public sector banks and co-operative banks .

The Bank, as part of the global brand building exercise, has signed mega star Padmashree Bharat Mammootty as its Global Brand Ambassador. His tech savvy image goes hand-in-hand with our bank which has always been in the forefront of embracing technology. South Indian Bank has also unveiled a new corporate logo that demonstrates the major transformation the bank has undergone since its inception .

The Bank has launched a NetBanking initiative to provide real-time fund transaction for the online banking customers through ‘southindian bank.com’ , the online banking channel of the bank. This will make possible for the retail and also corporate customers of the Bank for online debits/credits from/to authorized accounts. This enriched Net-banking product has the potential for utility payments and payment gateway (shopping mall) facilities. This customer- value proposition contains functionalities to support consumer (Retail) e-banking and also corporate e-banking .

Recently the Bank has been rated as a “Top NPA Manager” in “ASSOCHAM- ECO PULSE” study for having reduced Net NPA substantially within one year.

Conscious of the corporate social responsibility , South Indian Bank has launched the ‘Money Lender-Free Village” pilot project at Meloor in Trichur District of Kerala .The main objective of the Project is replace the non-institutional, usurious, exploitative rural credit mechanism of private lending with lending through Self-Help Groups (SHGs)and direct lending by SIB. Under this initiative, SHGs act as extension of SIB to reach out to villages in even the remotest locations. This project though started very recently could garner acclaim from many quarters.

The Bank is committed to become a technology- driven , customer-oriented bank (the new corporate slogan being -“Experience Next Generation Banking”)where passion for excellence is a way of life , innovation is a tradition , commitment to values unshaken and customer loyalty is abiding .

The long-term corporate objective is to emerge as the most preferred Bank in India, with core competence in fostering relationship banking, garnering core deposit with accent on cost, creating high yielding quality assets through focused marketing, qualitative appraisal and effective monitoring. We are dedicated to provide quality service to our customers and maintain high standards in corporate responsibility.

Despite acquiring the latest technological capabilities available to the banking industry in the country, the Bank will continue the emphasis on personalized customer service, which has been the Bank’s core strength for all these 79 years. Incidentally , the Bank had also been selected , in the Outlook Money – C- Fore Survey, as the best private sector Bank in India in the ‘Service Quality ‘ segment .

With the following carefully thought-out value additions of this pioneering product , banking for NRIs, who maintain an average balance of Rs 50,000/ only , is made extremely easy and comfortable: -

* Free and unlimited Any Branch Banking (ABB) facilities.

* Free and unlimited fund transfer to any other bank account in India through

RTGS and NEFT by debit to NRE accounts.

* Free and unlimited purchase of Drafts/Payment Orders by debit to NRE accounts.

* Free International ATM-cum-Debit Card for which annual maintenance charges are not collected.

* Free withdrawal of cash through other Banks’ ATMs in India.

* Free fund transfer facility through Internet Banking.

* Free utility payment and e-commerce services for Internet Banking customers.

*Free SMS facility and no annual maintenance charges.

Customers of this feature-rich Savings Bank account availing Any Branch Banking (ABB) facilities can withdraw cash and deposit cheques for collection at any branch of the bank. Customers can also issue ABB cheques which are payable at par at all branches of the Bank. This product is available from all the 511 branches of the Bank which has established one of the largest CORE banking branch net work in India in the private sector.

Mr.M.K.Abdullah in his inaugural address stated that as a satisfied NRI client of the Bank for more than thirty years he had been observing the enthusiastic performance of SIB in the arena of NRI services .He had no doubt that the new product would be welcomed by the NRIs the world over.

Presiding over the function, Dr.V A Joseph, Chairman and CEO of the Bank, stated, “South Indian Bank, being a customer – oriented Bank is striving hard to render personalized customer service using the latest technological capabilities. The technological capability of the Bank was recognised when the Bank could bag the banking technology excellence award from IDRBT which is the technical arm of RBI. The service quality of the Bank has also been recognized when the Bank was selected in the ‘Outlook Money – C Fore’ survey as the best private sector Bank in India in the service quality segment.”Dr.V A Joseph also added that Hadi Express Exchange in Dubai for which management support is being provided by South Indian Bank has received licenses to open 3 more branches at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Rasal Khaima. Hadi Express Exchange is already serving our NRIs in Bur Dubai and Sharjah.

Funds remitted through the branches of Hadi Express Exchange are credited online to the accounts of the customers within 30 minutes for which the beneficiary gets an SMS .“SIB Express”, the online delivery channel of SIB’s NRI services has been applauded by the customers in the Gulf who number more than 1.65 lakh. Dr Joseph also referred to the facility recently started for online booking of offerings, free of bank charges , through South Indian Bank payment gateway-the first bank to go online booking -by the customers of the bank who are devotees of Guruvayur Sreekrishna Temple which is described as the Dwaraka of South India. This facility can be utilized by the NRIs to effect offerings, hassle –free with greater transparency and security at the click of a button ,either for themselves or their aged parents .

“South Indian Bank had completed on 26.03.07 the project ‘SIBertech’ by introducing a centralised Core Banking Solution in technology partnership with Infosys Technologies when many banks had not even started implementation of CBS . SIB, which is affectionately called by NRIs as the “Bank for the Pravasis” had started this project in 2001 mainly for the convenience of the NRIs.The new product now launched would confirm this belief”,the Chairman concluded his speech.

Mr.H.Suresh Prabhu ,Executive Director ,Mr.Cheryan Varkey,Chief General Manager,Mr.Alex Mathew,General Manager and Mr.C.J.Jose Mohan ,Dy.General Manager also spoke on the occasion.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

THE SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD :-

CORPORATE PROFILE

South Indian Bank (SIB) is one of the leading scheduled commercial banks in India with a strong focus on technology and service delivery.

SIB has many firsts to its credit .

SIB is –

*The first in the private sector in India to open an NRI branch .

*The first private sector bank to start an Industrial Finance branch in India.

*The first Indian traditional Bank to achieve all branch/office inter-connectivity and register 100% CBS .

*The first private sector bank from India to provide managerial support to an Exchange House in the

Middle East .

South Indian Bank has registered an all time high net profit for the financial year 2007-08. The bank has declared a net profit of Rs. 151.62 crore for the current financial year as against Rs. 86.49 crore for the previous year registering a growth of 75.30%. With the advantage of 100% branches covered by Core Banking Solution, South Indian Bank was the first in its peer group to announce audited results for the financial year 2007-08.

The total business of the Bank stood at Rs 25,910 crore as on 31-03-08 registering a growth of 26.10%. While the deposits went up by Rs. 2,917 crore from Rs.12,239 crore to Rs. 15,156 crore registering a growth of 23.83 %, the advances increased by Rs. 2,446 crore from Rs. 8,308 crore to Rs. 10,754 crore registering a growth of 29.45 % .

With this the Bank has exceeded all the three ambitious targets the Bank had set in 2005 for achieving the milestones of Rs15000 crores , Rs 20000 crores and Rs.25000 crores in total business respectively for 2005-06 , 2006-07 and 2007-08 .

Due to effective recovery measures resorted to during the year, the Bank could bring down its Gross NPA percentage from 3.94 to 1.78 and Net NPA from 0.98 % to 0.33 % .

The Bank crossed the milestone of Rs.1000 crore of networth during 2007-08.

The major FIIs in the FII holding of 47% in the Bank’s equity include ,India Capital Fund, International Finance Corporation,Acacia Partners LP,India Fund Inc.,Goldman Sachs Investments(Mauritius),Morgan Stanley(Mauritius),India Institutional Fund,Deutsche Securities Mauritius,FID Funds(Mauritius) etc.

The Capital adequacy ratio of the bank is as high as 13.80% against the regulatory requirement of 9%.

The Bank had declared 2007-08 as the year of youth and has launched a novel deposit scheme “YOUTH PLUS” with technology features focusing the younger generation.

South Indian Bank, has now presence in 23 States/Union Territories having established a network of 502 Core Banking Branches ,26 CBS Extension Counters and 227 online ATM Centres

The Bank is planning to open 28 more branches during the current financial year to take the total number of branches to 530. Our focus during the next financial year will be on increasing the CASA funds as well as non interest income by sale of mutual funds and insurance products.

Another Milestone –Inauguration of the 14th Region

The 14th Regional Office of the bank to give administrative support to the branches in the tech-savvy state of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated by Mr. K.Rosaiah,Hon:Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh .Dr.N.Krishna Mohan ,Director,IDRBT will be the Guest of Honour. Mr.M.Valsan ,Executive Director of the Bank presided over the function.

Technology As The Key Driver of Business

The Bank’s ambitious technology up-gradation project named ‘SIBERTECH’ by introducing a Centralized Core Banking Solution ‘Finacle’ in technology partnership with the Infosys Technologies Limited is complete and all the branches/offices all over the country have been linked to the Centralized Data Centre at Kochi and hence 100 % of the Bank’s business is now absolutely on-line .The Disaster Recovery Facility is functioning at Bangalore.

With the up-gradation of technology , SIB now offers a host of hi-tech products which enables the customers bank from anywhere , saving them time , money and hassles . This means that they can avail of a range of solutions and make convenience banking a way of life . For this the Bank has launched various value-added products and services like Global Debit-cum-ATM card, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking etc.

SIB’s Global ATM – cum – Debit Card can be used at over 8 lac ATMs and 120 lac merchant establishments all over the world.The Global ATM – cum – Debit Card of SIB, which recently became the first Kerala based bank to have directly joined the National Financial Switch (NFS) of the Institute for the Development of Research in Banking Technology (the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India) can also be used at over 20,000 ATMs all over India . 227 On-line ATM Centres have also been set up all over the country.

The bank has tied up with ICICI Prudential life insurance for selling of insurance products at over 284 SIB branches in Kerala.This is a major step towards growing the fee-based income of the bank. This partnership, would help, for the first time in the country ,the policyholders of ICICI Prudential to pay their first as well as renewal premiums in cash at over 284 branches in Kerala.The Bank has also a tie up with Bajaj Alliance for distribution of general insurance products.

South Indian Bank is the first private sector bank from India to provide management support to an exchange house in the Middle East..This enables SIB to provide top quality service, to NRIs looking at remittances to India , in a technology –driven environment .

The Bank very recently could bag a special award for excellence in banking technology from IDRBT which is the technical arm of the Reserve Bank of India .This award was presented to the Bank as a national level recognition to the excellent contribution made in the area of information systems, security policies and practices .The bank has bagged this award by tightly competing with all categories of banks in India such as Foreign Banks, Private sector banks, public sector banks and co-operative banks .

The Bank, as part of the global brand building exercise, has signed mega star Padmashree Bharat Mammootty as its Global Brand Ambassador. His tech savvy image goes hand-in-hand with our bank which has always been in the forefront of embracing technology. South Indian Bank has also unveiled a new corporate logo that demonstrates the major transformation the bank has undergone since its inception .

The Bank has launched a NetBanking initiative to provide real-time fund transaction for the online banking customers through ‘southindian bank.com’ , the online banking channel of the bank. This will make possible for the retail and also corporate customers of the Bank for online debits/credits from/to authorized accounts. This enriched Net-banking product has the potential for utility payments and payment gateway (shopping mall) facilities. This customer- value proposition contains functionalities to support consumer (Retail) e-banking and also corporate e-banking .

Recently the Bank has been rated as a “Top NPA Manager” in “ASSOCHAM- ECO PULSE” study for having reduced Net NPA substantially within one year.

Conscious of the corporate social responsibility , South Indian Bank has launched the ‘Money Lender-Free Village” pilot project at Meloor in Trichur District of Kerala .The main objective of the Project is replace the non-institutional, usurious, exploitative rural credit mechanism of private lending with lending through Self-Help Groups (SHGs)and direct lending by SIB. Under this initiative, SHGs act as extension of SIB to reach out to villages in even the remotest locations. This project though started very recently could garner acclaim from many quarters.

The Bank is committed to become a technology- driven , customer-oriented bank (the new corporate slogan being -“Experience Next Generation Banking”)where passion for excellence is a way of life , innovation is a tradition , commitment to values unshaken and customer loyalty is abiding .

The long-term corporate objective is to emerge as the most preferred Bank in India, with core competence in fostering relationship banking, garnering core deposit with accent on cost, creating high yielding quality assets through focused marketing, qualitative appraisal and effective monitoring. We are dedicated to provide quality service to our customers and maintain high standards in corporate responsibility.

Despite acquiring the latest technological capabilities available to the banking industry in the country, the Bank will continue the emphasis on personalized customer service, which has been the Bank’s core strength for all these 79 years. Incidentally , the Bank had also been selected , in the Outlook Money – C- Fore Survey, as the best private sector Bank in India in the ‘Service Quality ‘ segment .

Q: What is the attractiveness of SAARC to Global Markets?

MTI: The rapid economic growth in Asia will bring about a historic shift in the core of the world economy. The catastrophes of World War 1, the Great Depression, and World War 2 did not shake the dominance of the North Atlantic economies, though they did shift the balance of geopolitical influence away from Europe to the United States.

The American century is predicted to end sometime in the second quarter of the twenty-first century, when Asia becomes the hub of the world economy, in the sense of producing more than half of the world’s income.

The end of the American century will not be the result of any collapse of America’s well-being but rather the rise of Asia’s economic power.

Within this South Asia plays a predominant role accounting for 1.5 billion of the world’s population and $1.4 trillion worth of output.

The end of the American century will not be the result of any collapse of America’s well-being but rather the rise of Asia’s economic power.

Q: Given the opportunity, should individual SAARC countries pursue individual strategies or have a collaborative approach?

MTI:Individual countries will always have (and should) pursue their individual country strategies, however there is a compelling case for regional co-operation (SAARC in this case) as regards developing a regional strategy to attract investments, tourism and as a supply chain hub.

Despite obstacles such as conflict, corruption and high fiscal deficits in some countries, South Asia has achieved impressive economic growth and poverty reduction in the past decade. If this growth accelerates to 10 percent a year, the region could see single-digit poverty rates by 2015.

A comparison with East Asia’s sustained 7-10% growth rates - shows that South Asia's export-orientation, inflows of foreign direct investment, workers skill levels, infrastructure and ease of doing business are also substantially less advanced than East Asia's. South Asia’s savings, investment and productivity are also lower.

These challenges suggest a set of policy choices for South Asian countries aimed at increasing investment, productivity and the quality of labor, while addressing the problem of lagging regions and poor service delivery. Although the least integrated region in the world, South Asia can benefit from regional cooperation in trade, water and energy, among other things. The enthusiasm and sincerity that characterizes South Asia today makes us optimistic that some, if not all, of these challenges can be met and the region will achieve sustainable economic growth leading to a significant reduction in poverty.

A compelling case for a regional strategy to attract investments, tourism and as a supply chain hub

Q: Why and what benefits will SAARC receive from such co-operation?

MTI: There are many reasons why such a strategy will benefit SAARC:

On the economic front a collaborative approach will help poorer countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Maldives.

The South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement can facilitate zero customs duty on the trade of practically all products in the region. In addition, exporters can benefit with regard to tariff concessions, especially the manufacturing sector.

With the exception of India and Pakistan (to some extent), the other countries lack the critical mass needed by the global market, be it in terms supply chain capabilities or consuming markets. With the exception of India (with due respect to other SAARC member countries), the other SAARC countries are yet to establish a strong brand with a global appeal (of course there are niche exceptions like Bangladesh Apparel, Sri Lanka Tea, Maldives Tourism).

Increasingly, our Global Customers (be it multi-nationals or national majors) are looking for a holistic, integrated supply chain solution that needs to cut across conventional geographical boundaries. Even at a consumer market level, most long-haul tourists would first select a region (in some cases led by a strong brand destination) and then pick the micro destinations.

The cost of creating global awareness (leave alone building strong brands) is increasing and is prohibitive in some cases. Some of the regional countries may have severe country brand image issues, which may be partially overcome by a regional positioning. (this is a very clinical statement, while being sensitive to the Country’s National Ego!)

These reasons, we believe, are sufficiently compelling to support the concept.

Country-brand image issues may be partially overcome by a regional positioning

Q: Could you elaborate the Supply Chain Strategy – at practical level?

MTI: The world is looking to Asia for its supply chain, be it in manufacturing (akin to China’s dominance) or Knowledge based (akin to India’s dominance). Most Multi-Nationals are looking for a holistic, integrated supply chain solution that covers the entire process of procurement, value-addition, logistics and, in some cases, just-in-time deliveries on a ‘consider-it-done’ basis. To do so, their Supply Chain Partners should be able to source the best material and intellectual resources from across the region, wherever that may be.

This means that infrastructure developments and enforceable trade agreements need to be implemented across the region to facilitate growth in trade and to reap the benefits of integration.

Need for a holistic, integrated supply chain solution

At a regional SAARC level, this implies the need to create a regional supply chain cell and investment cell, backed by a strong web strategy and regional grants to set up truly pan-regional companies.

Need for a holistic, integrated supply chain solution

At a regional SAARC level, this implies the need to create a regional supply chain cell and investment cell, backed by a strong web strategy and regional grants to set up truly pan-regional companies.

Q: Do you reckon India to be the engine of South Asian economic growth?

MTI: By far the largest economy in South Asia, India accounted for approximately 80% of South Asia’s GDP, trade, and regional growth in 2007. Therefore, the current accelerated growth of the Indian economy will naturally have positive externalities for the neighboring countries.

· India’s High Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs) control $350 billion worth of assets, according to research conducted by Merrill Lynch

· India plans to invest $475 Billion between 2007-2012 for infrastructure development

· The Indian telecom industry is the fastest growing telecom sector in the world

· India is one of the world’s largest recipients of FDI, and has become the favored location of outsourcing labour intensive work such as call centers thanks to a well educated middle class

Proactive policies to increase economic integration with other South Asian countries could multiply these benefits many fold, and the impact on the economic development of the neighboring countries could be dramatic. The political implications of a more economically integrated and rapidly developing South Asia for the countries in the region could be a major additional benefit.

The impact on the economic development of the neighboring countries could be dramatic

Q: In this scenario how can the other South Asian countries optimize on this economic growth?

MTI: Expansion of intra-regional trade offers immense opportunities for sustaining high growth and reducing poverty in South Asia.

Because South Asian economies have largely similar export baskets, the economies could expand trade by promoting intra-industry trade in the region. For example, most South Asian countries are large exporters of intermediate and finished clothing and textile goods. The region could gain greatly if South Asian countries cooperate strategically to enhance efficiency, improve product quality, and increase value. As India shares borders with most South Asian countries and has good marketing capability and linkages in the major importing countries, it could become a hub for spurring the growth of intra-industry trade in the South Asia region. With its central location and size, India could serve as an assembly and exit point of high value South Asian goods, as well as services, for both domestic and international markets. Intra-industry trade could also be boosted by greater cross-border foreign direct investment.

The world is looking for Manufacturing, ITES and raw materials in Asia.

For example, Singapore, with its open economy and efficient trade handling and marketing capability, plays such a role for Southeast Asia. Singapore sources intermediate goods from the other Southeast Asian countries and exports high value goods within and outside the region. The key to the rapid expansion of intraregional trade in the ASEAN region has been collective action under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement’s (AFTA) framework. The reduction in tariffs, elimination of nontariff barriers, and simplification and harmonization of customs procedures has played an important part in this success.

From protecting borders to blending borders (economically!)

Q: However, in South Asia, barriers to trade remain high despite the introduction of SAFTA. What are the key learnings for the region?

MTI: High nontariff barriers such as complicated customs procedures at borders make intraregional trade difficult and costly. Therefore, attention to ‘behind the border’ issues is crucial to India's development as the regional hub and to achieving deeper regional integration in South Asia. The experience of successful regional trade blocs demonstrates that trade liberalization can benefit all participants. In South Asia, India’s development into a regional hub would attract additional foreign direct investment into India and from India to other South Asian countries, thus boosting economic growth in the entire region.

The strong backward linkages that South Asian countries would develop with India would in turn translate into greater demand for Indian imports from the rest of South Asia, thereby further boosting growth in India. In brief, India is not only crucial for the success of regional trade cooperation in South Asia; it could also transform the development and growth pattern of the entire region.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

MTI Consulting is an international strategy and management consultancy with operations in Bahrain, Dubai, UK, India, Austria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Bangladesh – that has provided solutions to clients in over 275 projects in 32 countries across 4 continents. The company has specialist units focusing on the areas of Branding, Corporate Finance, HRM, Legal & Governance, Channels & Sales, Supply Chain and Technology.

According to the industry magazine Modern Jeweler, 4% of all online jewellery sales occur online. This portion is poised to increase by a factor of 5 over the next 10 years. The reason for this dramatic increase is that people are more comfortable purchasing items online, enamoured with the convenience. Perhaps most compelling is the ability for consumers to quickly and easily make comparisons among online retailers, choosing the best selection, the best customer service and the most competitive prices.

This has prompted small businesses to post their catalogues online in hopes of reaching new markets. One such business is Mumbai, India based Sapna Jewels (www.sapnajewels.com) that perfectly reflects each of the features found most attractive for online consumers.

Sapna Jewels (www.sapnajewels.com), which specializes in custom made fine diamond jewellery, offers the customer a pleasant and convenient shopping experience having brought customer service to a whole new level. All jewellery is backed by a lifetime guarantee, any repairs, resize or polishing, is completed by their fine staff of skilled artisans at no cost to the customer. Finally, and most persuasively, all orders are offered with completely free shipping.

Further, the selection is always expanding as the company seeks out the most interesting designs in a wide array of materials suitable for any price range.

With companies offering services in excess of regular brick and mortar stores it is no wonder why consumer confidence in online purchasing is growing so rapidly. Online jewellery sales certainly have a bright future with such fully customer service focused enterprises creating a presence on the internet.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Based out of Mumbai (Bombay), India, Sapna Jewels offers you an enviable personal and customized jewellery service, unrivaled craftsmanship and the same technical perfection you would expect from much bigger brands. However, without an expensive boutique to maintain it means our overheads (and therefore our prices) are upto 40% lower than our big brand competitors.

Our personalized approach and extensive portfolio of unique and exclusive handmade diamond jewellery has attracted the attention of fashionable socialites and discerning clients from around India, the Middle-East, the UK, Europe and the US.

You may choose from our extensive catalogues or provide us with your own design or concept.

Our business philosophy is a simple one: Honesty.

Fujitsu India will engage top channel partners in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad with some of them having multi-location presence for both Sales and Support. All these partners are focussed on its major business vertical of Enterprise Storage and Server business. Fujitsu will invest in developing the channel partners in terms of training them, developing marketing programmes, road shows etc. Fujitsu and the partners will engage joint and balanced mix of brand building exercises to add substantial value to its perception and equity. Related avenues are being exploredfor channel development and brand promotion.

These activities aim at building the image around its ethos- 'The Possibilities Are Infinite' in the minds of consumers i.e. the possibilities are infinite for more innovative & eco-friendly products, more personalized solutions, more service, more quality from Fujitsu!As of now Fujitsu India Limited has few Tier 1 Partners including distributor and a number of Regional SI Partners. Fujitsu wishes to add few more partners who would have nationwide presence.Fujitsu India will also appoint Tier 1 Enterprise Partner, who would address the requirements like Platform migration, application development etc. other than System Integration.

Apart from this, Fujitsu India is also in the process of signing up a couple of Authorized Service Providers.Mr. Tosh Kataoka, General Manager-IT Business, Fujitsu India Limited, says, “It being an important member of BRIC economy, India is a strategic and one of the most demanding market for Fujitsu. The company forte has been IT Hardware and we aim to strengthen our presence in the Indian Market and expand the regional reach through strong channel partners. We have had good customer wins in the space of Government, Research, Manufacturing and utilities vertical and BFSI in the past 6 to 8 months and we are expecting our customer references to grow both in Value and Volume. Therefore, in order to address our business growth, we need to appoint more channel partners all across the country. So, our newly appointed SI Partners will be spread across all major cities. These partners would predominantly focus on Computing - Servers, Workstation and Storage – business.”“Our entire go to market approach is poised on the channel partners. They are the natural extension of Fujitsu,therefore we will invest in training and incentivising them. Apart from this, we will create co-branded marketing and branding activities very soon. We are in the process of launching Customer and Partner portals, which will ensure proper dissemination of Fujitsu related information,” he adds.

Fujitsu has recently organized a training session for its existing partners. Considering this as one of the most conducive ways for comprehending the needs of channel force, enhancing the product knowledge amongst them and inclusion of new members, company is planning to arrange these meets twice a month on an average, across India, depending upon the requirements of the areas of operations.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Fujitsu India

Fujitsu India is a leading provider of customer-focused information technology and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting technologies, highly reliable computing and telecommunications platforms, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Fujitsu is committed to impeccable corporate citizenship and is dedicated to making its solutions accessible in meeting the evolving needs of customers in an increasingly connected and convergent society. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5,330.8 billion yen (US$53.3 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.Today Fujitsu’s name is synonymous with top-quality equipment backed by efficient and reliable services in the world.

Commenting over this high growth, Mr. Benson Lin, General Manager, APAC, Middle East & Africa, ASUS, said, “The Company is seeing a significant traction in its business during the current quarter. The driving force behind this stupendous growth has been the revolutionary Eee PC, which was launched in January this year.”

The company plans to focus aggressively on the notebook market in India. “We see a lot of potential for growth in the notebooks market. One in 4 computers shipped in India in FY 2007-08 was a notebook. The consumer notebook segment has grown by 141% as compared to a negative 6% growth in consumer desktops segment,” added Mr. Lin.

The Eee PC received great response all over the world, with sales figures of 350 thousand units sold since its inception and with a projected 3 to 5 million units to be sold this year. During launches of the popular netbook, crowds were seen queuing up hours before start of sales in countries like Taiwan, US, Singapore and China. Even on the Internet, demand for the Eee PC has exceeded expectations, and the Eee PC was voted as "The Most Wanted Christmas Gift" by American Amazon.com and CNet. It has also won a prestigious award at the International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards for 2008. Within a short span of its launch in India, Eee PC has accelerated ASUS’ growth immensely.

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ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era. With a global staff of more than eight thousand and a world-class R&D design team, the company’s turnover for 2007 was 6.9 billion U.S. dollars. ASUS ranks among the top 10 IT companies in BusinessWeek’s “InfoTech 100” andhas been on the listing for 11 consecutive years. ASUS was also selected by the Wall Street Journal Asia as No.1 in Quality and ServicesinTaiwan. Its product portfolio includes notebooks, motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, LCD monitors, information appliances, desktop PCs & PC components, servers, wireless solutions, mobile phones, handhelds, digital home solutions, broadband communication products and networking devices.

Burning Brain Society, which keeps the tab on the compliance and enforcement said that despite laxity by the enforcement agencies, voluntary compliance of tobacco control laws remain high at over seventy percent at all times. At the peak of the initiative the compliance was as high as ninety two percent.

“Effective enforcement by the police can always push the compliance level to a higher level. But what is remarkable is that the public has embraced the concept as if they were waiting for it. People complaint even if a single person is seen smoking any where in public. This kind of involvement of the general public is wonderful.” said Hemant Goswami, chairperson of the Society.

“The media has also been supportive to the extent that now anyone smoking even in an open area (not defined as public area) is reported and so the authorities are coaxed to work. Media photographers have been complaining that they have to search out for an hour before they can click a picture of anyone smoking as a supporting visual for the story. This in itself is an evidence of success of the concept.” Goswami adds.

“Not only the city residents, but even the tourists appreciate the smoke-free hotels and restaurants of Chandigarh. Even if there be some amount of enforcement problem with smoking in certain public places but one must not forget that Chandigarh is the only place in the whole country where all restaurants and hotels provide completely smoke-free environment. Having smoke-free policy and environment in each and every educational institute is also not a small thing to celebrate about.” Says APS Shergill, a member of Chandigarh Tobacco Control Cell

Mr. Vivek Atray, Director Tourism of Chandigarh Administration agrees that all has not been rosy and says, “There have been many ups and down and some minor problems, but largely, the experiment has been successful and we can proudly say that Chandigarh has once again proved to be a pioneer in yet another public welfare initiative. It will take a couple of year for any other city in India to even match the levels where we are at present. The tourism industry is bound to gain a lot by this initiative.”

“The problematic area of the smoke-free initiative remains the lack of active enforcement by the Police, laid out casual approach of the Health department and the non-removal of road side tobacco vendors by the Muncipal Corporation,” informs Jagdish Singh Sarpal of CTCC

Hemant Goswami who recently visited London to assess and compare the level of compliance and adherence to smoke-free laws says, “Chandigarh is better than London on all fronts when it comes to protecting people from toxic tobacco smoke and adhering to smoke-free laws. The only low side in Chandigarh is enforcement by police otherwise we are better than London in all respects.”

The civil society and members of Chandigarh Tobacco Control Cell have kept the heat on and in the month of July Burning Brain Society filed nearly five hundred complaints to make sure that the tobacco control legislation is adhered to.

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For the first time since the rise of Western capitalism, entrepreneurs in China and India can ignore New York and London—and still build companies worth billions. Thanks to social and economic revolutions, Asia has captured the best minds and money from all around the world. Billions of Entrepreneurs is a compelling account of how China and India are reshaping business, politics and society around the world.

In Billions of Entrepreneurs, Tarun Khanna, uses on-the-ground stories and thorough research to show how China and India are embracing the world on their distinct terms. Entrepreneurs are powering change through new business models and bringing models and brining hope to countless people. Through intriguing, often provocative comparisons of triumphs and travails in both countries, the author illuminated critical areas which include the challenges of government 2.4 billion people with entrepreneurial tendencies, need for information accessibility, transparency, reliability, balance between private property rights and public interests, need to encourage and fund indigenous enterprise , role of overseas Chinese and Indians in development back home and rise of medical tourism and the inequality of heath care.

Tarun said China and India are radically different –one was top down and the other bottom – up. “How they will complement each other when they have two different political and cultural systems is a question to analyse and understand. “

“India is argumentative; China is about force. If a road has to be laid, it is laid. In India; you’d have a hundred disputes. But we have to work around these,” Tarun said.

But Kiran Mazumdar – Shaw said India and China must work together. “How when we have different systems do we turn partners in growth? I reason that we are competing when it comes to marketing and manufacturing, but a great opportunity lies in research. How do we synergise when we are countries with a vast cultural divide?”

The book reveals how such differences will influence China’s and India’s future development as well as what the two countries can—and must—learn from each other today. A compelling account, Billion of Entrepreneurs paints a vivid picture of how China and India are reshaping business, politics, and society around the world.

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Mr.Valsan in his presidential address stated that being a customer-oriented Bank, SIB is striving hard to render personalised customer service using its technological capabilities.“The new facility launched on the first day of the month of Ramayana for facilitating online booking, free of bank charges, of offerings by the devotees is actually SIB’s offering to Lord Guruvayurappan” , Mr.Valsan also said .” With the launch of the new facility, customers of SIB are facilitated to effect offerings with greater transparency and security at the click of a button” the Executive Director also stated .He also stated that SIB hoped to offer the services of booking of ‘vazhipadu” at any the 511 branches to the general public in the near future.

Mr.Thottathil Ravindran, Chairman, Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee in his inaugural address complimented South Indian Bank for being the first bank to come up with such a convenience banking product for the benefit of the devotees of Lord Sree Guruvayurappan .

Mr.V.V.Ratheesan, Administrator, Guruvayur Devaswom, Mr.C.T.Devis, Asst.General Manager & Regional Head and also Mr.M.K.Parameswaran, Senior Manager of the Bank also spoke on the occasion. Guruvayur Devaswom Managing Committee members –Mr.Gokulam Gopalan,Prof.T.R.Hari and Mr.M.Vasudevan.

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THE SOUTH INDIAN BANK LTD :-

CORPORATE PROFILE

South Indian Bank (SIB) is one of the leading scheduled commercial banks in India with a strong focus on technology and service delivery.

SIB has many firsts to its credit .

SIB is –

*The first in the private sector in India to open an NRI branch .

*The first private sector bank to start an Industrial Finance branch in India.

*The first Indian traditional Bank to achieve all branch/office inter-connectivity and register 100% CBS .

*The first private sector bank from India to provide managerial support to an Exchange House in the

Middle East .

South Indian Bank has registered an all time high net profit for the financial year 2007-08. The bank has declared a net profit of Rs. 151.62 crore for the current financial year as against Rs. 86.49 crore for the previous year registering a growth of 75.30%. With the advantage of 100% branches covered by Core Banking Solution, South Indian Bank was the first in its peer group