FINO ties up with ACCESS

B D Narayankar

THE ASSOCIATION will help tier two and tier three MFIs in building capacity and adopting management information systems (MIS) to improve efficiency in their day-to-day operations. FINO, a sectoral entity, has been created to meet the needs of banking and MFI sectors that target the rural masses in India. FINO has been a pioneer in serving low-income households in urban and rural India. It provides biometric smart cards to microfinance institutions, banks, government and insurance companies; it also serves as business correspondent of three of the biggest banks in India.

The smart card facilitates conduct of financial services like savings, loans, insurance and remittances. The card issued, after capturing the KYC (Know Your Customer) details of the customer, acts as an e-passbook, storing all account details of the customer as well as the fingerprints of the customer, which are used to validate each transaction in a secure manner.

The solution deployed by FINO will aid ACCESS Development Services in its endeavours in the MFI sector. FINO will implement its MIS systems along with its various delivery channels, including mobiles, smart cards, micro-deposit machines (MDM’s) and credit bureau services to aid Access’s AmFA partners scale up their operations to the next level.

With this technology, ACCESS Development Services’ rural customers can now access doorstep banking with an array of financial and non-financial services. According to Mr. Manish Khera, CEO, FINO Ltd, “It is a very prestigious association for us. ACCESS Development Services is known for its commitment and dedication to the microfinance sector in India. With this association we see ACCESS Development Services touching the lives of many un-banked customers. We both share a common goal - that is to serve the ‘base of the pyramid customers’. This association will provide FINO the opportunity to deliver scalable low-cost solutions and also help us in our continued long-term growth”

Says Vipin Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, ACCESS Development Services, "We are extremely delighted to be associated with FINO. The tie-up will help us strengthen our relationship with the ACCESS Microfinance Alliance (AmFA) network MFIs by providing them state-of-the-art technology in partnership with FINO and making us reach the un-banked rural masses and help bridge the demand - supply gap in financial and non-financial services. This initiative will enable us to take financial inclusion to the next level."

Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO) is a multi-bank-promoted pioneer providing smart card-based multi-application solutions to the “un-banked” in the banking, micro-finance, insurance and government sectors, primarily located in rural and semi-urban India. FINO’s ethos is to become a sectoral venture for serving the rural masses. FINO executes end-to-end turnkey solutions for LFI’s, including hardware/software, system integration, transaction network, operations, maintenance and training. FINO helps organizations improve efficiencies, considerably reducing the overall project cost thereby. In fact, FINO’s concept is to take banking and banking technology to the un-banked masses of the country.

ACCESS Development Services is a national, technical services company with focus on livelihoods and micro finance. Set up with the support of CARE and DFID in March 2006, it is designed to provide technical assistance to a rapidly-growing livelihoods and microfinance sector, working with civil society organizations, government departments, corporate sector and multilateral / bilateral agencies.

ACCESS focuses its efforts on the more under-served regions, helping to build local capacities and enhancing abilities to work to scale. ACCESS helps develop robust community-based models and demonstrate their efficacy as viable and sustainable institutional forms with a focus on building capacities of local partners in a region. Based on its knowledge and practice, ACCESS has developed a strategy on Livelihoods and Business Development Services, focusing on an inclusive value chain approach and works within a few sub-sectors - those in which the poor are engaged and those that have a potential.

Source: Meri News

D&B expects RBI to cut policy rates in near future

B D Narayankar

In an endeavor to maintain domestic macroeconomic and financial stability amidst turmoil in the global financial markets, RBI has announced a slew of measures which include cut in CRR, repo rate and SLR.

“The recent cut in the policy rates have reduced the cost of borrowing for banks which they are likely to pass on to their customers in terms of lower PLR. This might provide some required impetus to the investment activity and stimulate demand in the long run,” stated Kaushal Sampat, COO, Dun & Bradstreet India.

“However, the current slump in the exports demand and subdued domestic demand conditions coupled with credit crunch faced by the corporates will adversely impact the industrial production in the near future. We therefore expect IIP growth to moderate and remain close to 5.1% during FY09,” he added.

Sampat further said, “Given the increasing downside risks to the growth momentum coupled with the tight liquidity conditions we expect RBI to cut CRR and repo rate by 50 basis points each in near future."

Reduction in CRR and SLR, coupled with the first installment of agriculture debt waiver scheme, led to augmentation of liquidity to the extent of Rs 2,050 billion. This apart, net injection of Rs 9,279 billion through repo window during Oct-2008 and repurchase of MSS bonds worth Rs 200 billion by the Central Bank helped to ease liquidity pressures in the system, thereby leading call rates to ease.

While a severe liquidity crunch was witnessed in the banking system, bank credit continued to remain robust – registering a growth of 29.03% as on 24-Oct-08 as against 24.78% as on 26-Sep-08.

The substantial increase in bank credit can in part be attributed to drying up of external financing route for corporate sector due to global liquidity crunch and the rise in risk aversion amongst international investors. External commercial borrowing by Indian companies amounted to US$ 8.47 bn during H1 FY09 as against US$ 11.13 bn during H1 FY08.

Further, the domestic stock markets have been in a bearish mode during the last few months, making it difficult for the corporates to raise funds from this route and thereby increasing their recourse to the banking system for raising funds.

Further, high input costs coupled with the rising interest rates have adversely impacted the growth momentum during the first half of the current fiscal as is evident from the slowdown in IIP growth to 4.94% during H1 FY09 as compared to 9.49% during H1
FY08.

Even growth in capital goods production has almost halved to 10.76% during H1 FY09 as compared to 20.05% during HI FY08 which is indicative of moderation in investment activity across industries.

However, going forward, easing interest rates backed by the RBI's easy monetary policy stance are likely to help the corporates to raise cheaper funds domestically and would provide some impetus to investment activity in the long run.

Nonetheless, subdued demand conditions in the domestic economy and a slump in exports growth owning to slowdown in global economy are likely to hamper the industrial production in near future. D&B therefore expects IIP growth to moderate and remain close to 5.1% during FY09.

Article Source: http://www.saching.com

Metropolis plans pathology labs across globe

B D Narayankar

Diagnostic chain Metropolis plans to make its presence felt in international market by setting up its pathological labs in Thailand, South Asia, South-East Asia, West Asia, Africa, Latin America, Bangladesh, Nepal and China.

The company is already in talks with authorities of an existing lab in Thailand to acquire the same and open its new upgraded state-of-the-art pathology lab next month.

It also plans to take the same acquisition route to establish centres in Nepal and Bangladesh. "The centres will work in a hub-and-spoke model with collection centres at different parts of the countries," Metropolis managing director G S K Velu said.

Metropolis seeks to network South Asia, South-East Asia, West Asia and Africa by 2009 end. It already has labs in Sri Lanka, South Africa, Seychelles and UAE.

Metropolis is planning to upgrade some of the existing centres to tertiary labs and add more collection centres. Over the next two years, Metropolis will add 80 more collection centres in Sri Lanka and a few more in Dubai and South Africa.

In the second expansion phase beyond 2010, Metropolis will explore opportunities in Latin America and China.

In the domestic market, the company is looking at acquiring a few labs in the north and eastern parts of the country. Until the end of this fiscal year, Metropolis will spend Rs 50 crore on its expansion plans — both domestic and international.

Meanwhile, Metropolis is planning to set up a radiology referral chain with a pan-India presence.

For setting up high-end referral radiology chain, Metropolis will look for options, including opening own centres, public-private partnerships and collaboration with multinational as well as domestic entities.

Metropolis will go for a separate capital expenditure (capex) funding for the new venture, mainly through private equity, Velu informed. The company requires a capex of at least Rs 250 crore for having pan-India presence. "Radiology services are highly capital-intensive due to high equipment cost involved. Each centre costs at least Rs 20 crore," he said.

There is a huge opportunity for radiology services, especially outsourced work from hos­pitals, including the state-run ones. "We are already managing labs of 30 hospitals," Velu said.

The company-owned centres may come up along with the existing pathological centres. In three years, Metropolis hopes to have a chain of 20 centres with high-end equipment, including CT scanners, positron emission tomography (PET) machines and mammography instruments.

In order to expand its pathological testing chain, Metropolis will spend Rs 200 crore until the end of financial year 2010. The company will explore both debt and equity routes to execute its plans.

Article Source: http://www.saching.com

First NobleGuide surgery performed in Pune

B D Narayankar

Sporting a beautiful and wonderful set of working teeth is everybody's dream, including elderly people. They would certainly love to get the smile back on their faces. This wouldn't have been possible a few years back as there were hardly any hi-tech dental solutions. But with Nobel Biocare's dental solutions there is now a good chance for even septuagenarians to get back their smiles on their faces.

Seventy-year-old Dattatray Barve was the first Punekar to get back his self-confidence after he underwent the dental implant surgery using Nobel Biocare's NobelGuide for full-mouth rehabilitation.

Thirty years back, Dattatray had lost all his teeth due to periodontal disease. Since there was no other alternative, he opted for removable dentures and changed them six times. During this period, these dentures gave him multiple problems - he could not eat comfortably and made him feel older. The constant slipping of dentures caused a great deal of embarrassment.

However, after undergoing the dental implant surgery for all his missing teeth with Prosthesis placed on eleven Nobel Biocare implants, Dattatray is delighted to get back his smile and eating comfort. "I am delighted to have performed NobelGuide surgery on my father. It has brought the smile back and gave heaps of self-confidence to him. People who have had traditional dentures before getting a fixed bridge often describe NobelGuide surgery as an overwhelming and positive experience," Dr Nitin Barve, Dattatray's son-dentist, who performed the first NobelGuide surgery in Pune, said.

"Modern medical science has made it possible to have permanent dental solutions that don’t embarrass you. When all teeth are missing, or in such condition that they need to be replaced, a fixed bridge anchored to dental implants provides the best permanent solution. Today, it is possible to replace a full jaw with Nobel implants and kiss goodbye to dentures," Dr Nitin added.

So, what are you waiting for? Chuck those old and uncomfortable dentures and go for a permanent dental solution provided by Nobel Biocare. The help is not too far away. You can log on to www.nobelsmile.in to find out the right kind of dentist closest to you.

How do dentists perform surgery?

Step 1 - He determines what needs to be done and prepares both himself and patient for the treatment.

Step 2 – Plans surgery for placing dental implants, using NobelGuide.

Step 3 - Installs dental implants to replace the missing teeth.

Step 4 - Installs the fixed dentures on top of the implants.

Step 5 – Patients are now set to eat anything.

Article Source: http://www.saching.com

Now hire a professional matchmaker

B D Narayankar

IN THIS era of competition, we get hardly any time to attend to our needs. One of the basic and most important decisions of our life is to select the right life partner. When you begin your efforts, you pity your amateurism in finding a partner. Under the circumstances, it’s advisable that you hire a trained matchmaker.

Services of such matchmakers can be availed of by prospective brides through BM Privilege, a unique personalised service that addresses the needs of the singles who do not have time or the opportunity to search and meet potential partners through usual channels. The service was recently launched in Chennai.

Members who opt for BM Privilege service will be assigned a personal matchmaker, who will either search and identify compatible profiles or complete the initial rounds of contacting profiles. Members are given the freedom to choose either of the services.

Murugavel Janakiraman, chief executive officer and founder, BharatMatrimony.com and the Consim Group said, "BM Privilege has been developed after taking into account the customer needs and it is expected to take matchmaking to a completely new level.”
“We have been in the business of matchmaking for over a decade now and we take pride in delivering the level of service that we promise our members. People want privacy and personalised service. BM Privilege is an answer to the ’personalised service generation’, who are looking for a quick and hassle-free way of finding a life partner," he said.

Source:

EMRI set to redefine emergency services in Karnataka

B D Narayankar

A KID while crossing the road at Whitefield is knocked off by a whizzing car. Next moment he is lying at the roadside fighting for his life. After a while, a hospital ambulance arrives at the scene from Shivajinagar only to find him dead. Like this kid, there are approximately 50,000 people dying without even getting a pre-medical treatment in Bengaluru. This happens because there are inadequate numbers of ambulances owned by city hospitals and deployed at vantage points.

Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) is here to redefine the concept of providing emergency medical services in Bengaluru, in particular and Karnataka at large. The ’Arogya Kavacha-108’ medical, police and fire services, was launched by former President A P J Abdul Kalam in Bengaluru last week. The service is a public-private initiative.

Accident victims will get the most necessary pre-medical services at a quick pace. The caller need not wait too long for getting connected to an EMRI centre. All the calls will be answered by phone jockeys within two rings.

The 108 Emergency Response Service is a toll free number and callers can access it from their landline and mobile phones. "Once the caller dials 108 to report an emergency, the call lands at the Emergency Response Centre in Magadi Road, where at least 35 phone jockeys are working. The jockeys will collect the information regarding the kind of emergency and the location and ask for ambulance, a fire tender or police vehicle to be sent as appropriate," said EMRI chief executive officer (CEO) M Venkat Chengavalli.

EMRI chief operation officer (COO, Karnataka) Bharat Radhakrishnan said that the deployment of 32 ambulances at various vantage points of the city enables EMRI response team to reach the disaster spot in few minutes. "Likewise, we have deployed 34 more ambulances in 17 districts of Karnataka like Tumkur, Chitradurga, Davangere and Bellary, in the first phase," he said.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa said on an average the government will deploy one ambulance for a lakh people. By next March, Karnataka hopes to increase the fleet to 110 and by 210, the service will cover the entire state with 517 ambulances in place in various districts," he announced.

Elucidating on the state-of-the-art ambulances, Radhakrishnan added that the state-of-the-art ambulances can nearly handle any emergency situation. The vans are equipped with medical equipment ranging from defibrillators and ventilators, to extrication tools.

There will be a pilot (the driver) and one emergency medical technician. The EMT will give pre-hospital care under the guidance of emergency response centre physicians, as in pregnancy cases.

Further adding, Radhakrishnan said ’Dial 108’ service has received tremendous response. In just 24-hour span since its inauguration, the service has received a whopping 20,000 calls, of which 100 were effective. Around 35 calls were related to road traffic accidents (RTA), pregnancy cases and cardiac attacks, while ten were police cases like robbery.

Source: Meri News

Now catching a train is as easy as a flight

B D Narayankar

WORRIED OVER airfare hikes? There is an option. Book a train reservation. Taking a train, now a days, is as easy as catching a flight. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)’s magic number "139 - Rail Sampark" has made life easier for travellers.

The inquisitive traveller will get all railway-related information within three rings without any interruptions or disconnections as before. They just need to dial 139 from any fixed line or mobile phone.

Travellers can get answers for their queries quickly because the call centre executives stick to the set questionnaire drafted by IRCTC. They don’t ask questions to callers other than what is listed. "This prevents reducing their Average Handling Time (AHT). Our aim is to give callers information within two minutes," says Rajini Hasija, IRCTC Information Technology General Manager.

The recent hike in air fares forced many to shift allegiance to trains. Sales of First AC and Second AC tickets shot up from 27 per cent to 43 per cent, between August 2007 and 2008. It was a time to rejoice, but IRCTC did not sit on its laurels. It instead focused on challenges thrown up by good revenue performance. First, they started working towards providing accurate and fast information to travellers.


The 24x7 line, operational since July 2007, enables PNR enquiries, all-India current train positions, fare information and ticketing. "It is as easy as taking a flight. I was surprised when I had to make a business trip to Bangalore by train," says T P Shaktivel, chief corporate officer at Unique Infoway, a Delhi-based IT company.

The 139 service, whose call centres are in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, is a revolutionary concept. It can be a good benchmark for public sector units’ serving customers, not only in terms of services provisioning, but also in terms of the business model," says Nilaya Varma, associate director at PricewaterhouseCoopers,

Already 139 employs about 2,000 people and draws over six lakh calls a day, which is expected to rise to 2 million calls by the year end. The system has the capacity to handle an astonishing 20 million calls a day, and more. "It’s a service that is a revolution in the making. It will change the way a customer interacts with the Railways," says Nalin Shinghal, managing director of IRCTC.

Another atribute which other PSU’s can get inspiration from is IRCTC’s indebatable emergency services, despite the 300 pre cent redundancy. This was evident during a series of agitations led by Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla.

Soon IRCTC is planning to route calls to the next closest destination if the network called is dead or busy.

Indian Railways is not incurring any capital or operational ex­penditure for the process, which is borne by the franchisee — a consortium of the Modi Group-promoted Bharat BPO, BSNL, Spanco Telesystems, Stracon Back Office Solutions and the Omnia Group — with a 10-year contract.

"The revenue potential is humungous," says Manish Sharma, associate director at KPMG. "If infrastructure and SLAs (service level agree­ments) are good, the railways could be attracting short-distance travellers on road routes such as Delhi-Chandigarh or Chennai-Pondicherry."

By the end of the year, premium services such as SMS alerts, call backs and fax, and value-added services such as tourism products, hotels and car rentals will be offered on another three-digit number.

There’s more. "We are awaiting government clearance so that customers can show their tickets on mobile phones and not carry a print-out," says Praveen Kumar, CEO of the Omnia Group. But both Hasija and Kumar acknowledge that improved basic services are not intended as revenue generators. "If we can establish a credible connect in basic services, customers will be happy to pay for value-added services," says Kumar. They sure will.

Certainly Indian Railways piloted by Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is in full steam to revamp its dark image into a twinkling one.

Source: Meri News

Learn the art of living with Vedic diaries

B D Narayankar

IT’S BECOME a fad nowadays. Most of the diaries are trendy and give lot of information about the matter outside. Fine. It is important. But to know thyself is even more good. Knowing yourself makes you a perfect human being. What best available means could be than to own a personal diary which has spiritual contents?

Nightingale of Srinivas fine arts, India’s leading premium paper products company has launched its exquisite designer spiritual diaries for 2009 - namely Vedic and God and Goddess diaries.

Vedic Diary

This diary on Vedic philosophy and spiritual knowledge offers guidance to the modern generation to help them lead balanced lives. Specially designed with embossed natural shade paper with gilded edges the Vedic diary has special information about Vedic Tree of Knowledge and general brief on the various systems of philosophy which includes the Vedas, Prasthanatraya, Upanishads, Saddarshana, Vedangas, Vedantasutra, Puranas, Itihasas, Kavyas.

Each dated page includes day-to-day Panchanga information along with Rahu Kalam and Yama Gandam timings.

It contains specially researched content relating to Hindu festivals along with their history and how they are observed and Ashottara Shata Naamavalis of various Indian Gods and Goddesses.

It also contains various drawings of Gods and Goddesses as per ancient Shipa Shastra for daily meditation. The diary priced at Rs 565 is available at all leading stores across the country.

God and Goddesses diary

The Gods and Goddesses diary features Lord Siddhi Vinayaka and Radha Krishna on the cover page. The diary contains specially researched content relating to Hindu festivals with details of their importance and celebrations. Each page contains quotes from the Bhagavad-Gita, which explains the best aspects of both Eastern and Western thought processes along with Hindu lunar months and dates with Tithi and Nakshatra.

It also contains the Amirtadi Yogas, the moons positions in Rasis. The diary also provides details on the Muhurtham days for the year 2009. The back cover of the diary is embossed with the auspicious Sri Gayatri Yantra.

Buyback: Boosting sentiments of Ipca investors

B D Narayankar

THERE IS some good news for people who have already invested in Ipca. They can now heave a sigh of relief, as generic drugmaker Ipca Laboratories is considering a share buyback. This will prevent the price of the stock from falling down further in the weak Indian market. And for the new investors, it will be an opportunity to make big money after investing in it now.

With the economic slowdown and global bourses bathed in red, Mumbai-based Ipca had a tough time as the stock lost 43.42 per cent of its value this year. The buyback news will certainly boost investors’ sentiments.
The company will be deciding the buyback and its investment size at a board meeting scheduled on November 1. Ipca decided on the buyback after considering its strong cash reserve position. The firm plans to use a portion of Rs 600 crore in this regard, Ipca executive director AK Jain stated.

“A share buy-back makes sense now as the valuation is low and it may also help (in) boosting shareholder value,” he said.

Ipca shares closed at Rs 383.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Friday (October 31), nearly half the Rs 760 per share on January 10, when the stock was at a 52-week high.

Buying back shares from the open market at a premium could help support the stock in a bear run. Promoters in Ipca currently hold 46.7 per cent of the company.

The company’s consolidated net sales have witnessed a CAGR of 17.6 per cent since ’03 to reach Rs 1,091.4 crore in financial year (FY) 08, while net profit posted a CAGR of over 16.8 per cent to Rs 136 crore. This growth has mainly been organic.

The past two quarters have seen a drop in profits (and hence margins) due to (extraordinary) translational losses on foreign currency loans. Ipca is in the process of commercialising its new facilities.

The expanded facilities are likely to result in tax benefits and increase Ipca’s capacity to meet new demand. The company has commenced its formulations business in the US and expects an additional business worth $5 million (Rs 22.5 crore) this year.

Ipca incurred a capex of Rs 140 crore in FY08 to increase existing capacities in India. It has a planned capex of Rs 80 crore and Rs 100 crore for FY09 and FY10, respectively. Ipca is a dividend-paying company with an average dividend payout of 20 per cent of profits. It is likely to maintain this payout ratio in the near future.

The company’s consolidated EPS is Rs 51. It commands a fair valuation compared to similar sized peers. It is likely to log a growth of 18-20 per cent to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,287.8 crore in FY09. Considering its estimated earnings for FY09 and excluding the effect of extraordinary translational losses on forex loans, Ipca is currently trading at an attractive forward P/E of eight, against the current consolidated P/E of 10.5.

Lodha - building flats for socialites in Hyderabad

B D Narayankar

YOU GO abroad and stay in a villa or an apartment. You would get bored as there would be no one to share your feelings with. The life there is so clustered. This situation is also prevalent in most of the high-end villas and the residential towers in India. Lodha Group, a Mumbai-based realty company is set to address this problem in Hyderabad. Soon the company will begin constructing its multiple towers with 45 floors, each floor having one luxury apartment at Madhapur for those who value both high-end accommodation as well as socialising.

This is the second such project in Hyderabad after Lanco announced its plans to build 100 plus residential flats recently. Lodha Group is venturing outside Maharashtra to build residential towers for the first time in association with HDFC. It has already acquired 12.9 acres of land for the project in a government auction in Cyberabad six months back.

“About four towers with the very best facilities and green space would be created in the next few years,” said Lodha Group’s senior vice president (marketing) R Karthik.

He said that though villas offered comfort but they denied social life to the residents. "Now these posh apartments will address the problem but without sacrificing the privacy of the denizens living therein," he added.

Karthik, however, did not disclose the apartment costs, saying that his company would divulge related details soon. He said there was a very good response from the Hyderabadis to the group’s new venture.

He felt that the global recession might not impact the real estate sector in India too much. Though the kind of growth witnessed earlier might come down, but there would still be good growth because people want to live in comfort and they do have money. "They might be cautious about how they spend the money, but they would surely spend," he said.

Established more than 25 years ago, Lodha Group has many innovative firsts to their credit and are currently developing in excess of 25 million sq ft over 27 projects in and around Mumbai.

The Group also focuses on office spaces, IT campuses, weekend retreats, townships and SEZs. The company has attracted investments from the leading global financial institutions like JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and ICICI ventures. Its world-class structures are characterised by home automated systems, earthquake-resistant buildings, biometric fingerprint access, 24x7 multi-level security systems and eco-friendly environs among others.

Travel industry: New business model clicks

B D Narayankar

FOR EXAMPLE, online travel portal Cleartrip.com, in partnership with the Indian Railways and Catering and Tourism Corporation, has launched online train bookings. The tie-up with IRCTC has brought cheers to Cleartrip which had experienced a 10 per cent decrease in travel bookings in August-September compared to the first quarter of this year. The 10-per cent decrease in travel bookings was mainly because of withdrawal of certain flights. Also, a few customers, who were regular business class travellers had shifted to economy class travelling.

Cleartrip.com is now recording more than 22,000 railway ticket bookings per day and has also been receiving new traffic. "We have recorded a 15 per cent increase in air and hotel bookings also in the last one month," said Noel Swain, vice-president (Marketing), Cleartrip.com.

Giving the break-up of rail bookings, Cleartrip Rail Product Head Ashish Dhruva said the company had witnessed 17 per cent bookings from East India, while 55 per cent came from Kolkata. “As much as 77 per cent of the bookings from the East are for premium class with an approximate ticket value of Rs 1,650,” he divulged.
“The government-owned Indian Railways boasts one of the largest and most-trafficked railroad networks in the world, with over 18,000 trains operating daily across over 60,000 kilometres of railroad tracks and over 6,800 railway stations. The sheer size and scale of Indian Railways made offering online railway bookings a high priority for Cleartrip,” he added.

By 2009-10, Cleartrip expects domestic travel bookings to account for almost 60 per cent of its overall revenues, railway booking for about 20 per cent; the remaining will be accounted for by hotel bookings. Apart from travel bookings, Cleartrip is contemplating introduction of new services like insurance protection for international travellers, Dhruva said. At present, it offers Tata AIG and General Insurance cover to domestic travellers.

On the other hand, Travelport, a Mumbai-based travel house, has decided to make holidaying an over-the-counter (OTC) experience. At these counters, a customer can browse through information on touch-screen kiosks and plan his travel. He can make air and railway ticket bookings, choose his hotel and the date of travel either for business or pleasure both in India and abroad, informed Adil Bajirao, senior vice-president, leisure outbound division, Travelport.

Travelport will launch about 150-200 such travel solution shops across the country and has decided to tie up with several malls, multiplexes and retail chains for the purpose. The first OTC counter has been launched at the InOrbit mall in the western suburb of Malad in Mumbai.

The company also plans to open unmanned kiosks like travel ATMs, which will function 24x7 and cater to the emergency needs of travellers who may need to change their plans even in the middle of the night.

FINO reaches 2 million mark in just 4 months

B D Narayankar

FINANCIAL INFORMATION Network and Operations (FINO), a Mumbai-based biometric-enabled smartcard solutions provider, engaged in providing financial, non-financial products and services to the unbanked rural masses has completed two million enrollments of unbanked customers in India.

Since its inception, FINO has meticulously reached out to the non-banked sectors of the country and played a pivotal role in strengthening the banking radar of India.

FINO is rapidly growing; over two million households from the rural, semi urban and urban belt are currently getting benefits from the services offered with Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, DGB, ICICI Bank, ING Vysya, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India and other financial and government institutions.

On achieving the target of two million enrollments, Manish Khera, chief executive officer (CEO) FINO said, “We have issued more than 18 lakh cards so far. Enrolling customers at the rate of 20,000 per day, FINO crossed the two million mark in a period of just four months, after announcing its first million. One of the biggest challenges hampering growth in micro-banking industry is the huge amount of paperwork and human effort traditionally involved in supporting micro transactions and credit-scoring potential customers.”

“But FINO’s biometric card resolves these barriers to growth as this is one card that provides all solution. It not only helps end-users with an easy-to-use and highly secure mode of financial transactions, but also assists us to supervise transactions electronically. FINO continues to be hugely popular with customers. The introduction of new value-based services such as FINO-Saral has also contributed to the overall growth of the company. We are extremely honoured by the trust of our partners, the leading Indian banks and its International investors,” he added.

Founded in July 13, 2006, FINO today has an excellent network of nearly 1,500 agents all across, serving customers on the FINO architecture. Rishi Gupta, chief financial officer (CFO) and president (sales and marketing), FINO, said, “FINO is all about offering our customers innovative products and services. We are pleased with the progress we have made over the last two years. We are planning to issue more than four million cards by the end of March 2009.”

Technology upgradation is a priority to attract business opportunities. Hence, FINO has striven to successfully achieve ISO 9001-2000 certification by British Standards Institute (BSI).

Certified for the scope, ’design, development and supply of smart cards and systems’ by an authority like BSI will help attract investments nationally and internationally removing barriers for trade and establishing FINO as a company committed to high standards and continual improvement.

FINO, a multi-bank promoted company is a pioneering company providing cutting edge smart card based multi application solutions to ’unbanked’ in banking, microfinance, insurance and government sectors primarily located in rural and semi urban areas of India.

FINO ethos is becoming a sectoral venture for serving rural masses and helps other institutions contribute as per ’Financial Inclusion’ (FI) guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

FINO executes end-to-end turnkey solutions for LFI’s including hardware/software, system integration, transaction network, operations, maintenance and training. FINO helps organisations improve efficiencies considerably by reducing overall project cost. In fact, FINO’s concept is to take banking and the banking technology to un-banked masses in the country.

Source: Meri News

Railways goes in for skills upgradation training

B D Narayankar

OFTEN YOU get frustrated over the rude conduct of railway staff at various customer care counters. The staff is ill-trained in providing first-class customer service. However, a few years from now, when you revisit them, you will find them giving service with a broad smile on their faces.

This will be made possible through Hero Mindmine’s (HMM), a leading training and consulting organisation’s, customer care training programme, which was recently launched at the Railways Customer Care Institute at Kishanganj, New Delhi. The purpose of Railways for taking this initiative is to train their front end staff to provide the customers a world class customer service experience.

Railways have awarded this training contract to HMM initially for the period of three years, which may subsequently be extended to two more years. Under the three-year customer care training project, HMM will train more than 1.25 lakh railway staff from station master level, right up to the help desk staff.

A W George, business head, HMM said, “It is of immense pride that Indian Railways have chosen us as their partner in training their employees. As our aim is to contribute to India’s competitive workforce and enhancing employability at large, the assignment brings yet another laurel to the organisation. We are pleased to participate in the skill transformation initiative of Indian Railways.”

Quoting union railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, he said, “Rail passengers are our revered guests; (atithi devo bhav) has been a tradition in our country for centuries. We have brought about several important changes to make the travel experience of our guests pleasant, comfortable and secure. With conscious investment in human resource, it underlines yet another initiative of Indian Railways to focus on developing skills of our staff members that may help increase their productivity and further contribute to Indian economy.”

Of late the Indian Railways has been striving to offer best of customer experience to its passengers. Last year with outsourcing its call centre facility to Bharat BPO and launching 139, a customer enquiry service, Indian Railways is showcasing their commitment of enhancing service experience and upgrading value prepositions for its customers.

HMM, is a subsidiary of Hero corporate service limited which is an academic and scholastic body which has emerged as one of India’s leading training and consulting organisation by partnering with spectrum of multinationals, Indian corporations and public sector organisations. It has built proven content delivery methods in the areas of communication skills, sales, customer service, leadership, people management, strategic planning, team building, cultural sensitisation etc.

Backed by the US $ 4.2 billion Hero group, it provides learning solutions in the area of training delivery, consulting, content development and assessments for sectors like airlines, automative, BPO, FMCG, IT, pharma etc. Till date, more than 225,000 people across the country and internationally, have benefited from HMM programmes. It has worked with blue chip clients like American Express, CSC, GE, Godrej, HP, IBM, Infosys, the Tata Group, LG, EDS, Samsung, NTPC, NHPC, Standard Chartered Bank, Wipro, Alcatel and a host of other companies. An independent industry think tank, HMM has renowned names like NR Narayana Murthy, Deepak Parekh, Raman Roy and RA Mashelkar on its advisory board.

Source: Meri News

Dynamic packaging is latest tourism friendly tool

B D Narayankar

IF YOU are looking for an online destination module to create customised Scandinavian tours then simply log on to ScandiVision portal. You will get everything you wanted for a Scandinavian tours. The portal besides recommending good tourist spots will provide route maps, and make reservations easier and hassle-free.

But, people in India will have to wait for few more months, before the software is sold to the travel agents. The first-ever dynamic packaging offer comes from the Norway-based Robinson Scandinavia, the inbound tour operator. The project, which is in the final stages of discussions, is expected to be launched in India by the end of next year.

Once the portal is launched in India, selling Scandinavia will be a different experience for the travel trade. This dynamic packaging will be initiated on a commission basis, which could range from 15 to 25 per cent depending on the bulk of business.

On a similar note, online travel companies in India have also evinced keen interest in launching dynamic packaging by next year. Ezeego, Yatra, Makemytrip, Akbartravelsonline have plans to introduce dynamic packaging options. This will set the trend for new-age travel, wherein technology rules the working scenario.

ScandiVision will serve as a one-stop platform for all packages related to Scandinavia in India, wherein customers can get online and book the package of their choice at their own ease. On completion of the package selection, the customer receives a confirmation, which is sent across via e-mail.

The company also plans to offer travel agents the ScandiVision software through white labeling solution. Through this offering, Robinson Scandinavia will provide a link on the travel agent’s web portal for Scandinavian products.

Once a customer clicks on the link, it will directly take the client to the ScandiVision portal, wherein one can book and build their own tour package. “The white labelling solution will be customised according to the travel agents’ preferences and the bookings will be linked to the ScandiVision website,” confirmed Jordi Somers, director - sales, Robinson Scandinavia.

The portal will provide an online destination module, wherein the end-consumer or travel agents can easily create tours according to their preferences and ideas. After finalising the selected tour, the system will send the confirmation of the selected tour to the travel agent or client. By introducing dynamic packaging, companies will work out cost effective solutions by trimming manpower costs as well as provide the ease of bookings for customers.

Source: Meri News

Metropolis gets SANAS recognition

B D Narayankar

METROPOLIS HEALTH Services, a multinational chain of diagnostics centres, has become the first and only Indian diagnostic laboratory to be accredited by SANAS (South African National Accreditation System). As a result, the Metropolis boasts of the largest number of key and globally-recognised accreditations in the country.

SANAS is recognised by the South African government as the single national accreditation body, that accords formal recognition to laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, proficiency testing scheme providers and good laboratory practice (GLP) test facilities, certifying their competencies to carry out qualified tests.

On the occasion, Dr G S K Velu, managing director, Metropolis Health Services said, “We consider it a great privilege to have been given the SANAS accreditation. It is also a matter of great pride that with this, Metropolis has the highest number of primary global accreditations in the country.”

“Metropolis has the highest number of primary global accreditations in the country. This follows our recent global accreditations from Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), College of American Pathologists (CAP) and domestic accreditation from National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and reflects our endeavour to constantly offer quality and premium services to our customers.”

These accreditations have raised the bar of expectations internally while also ensuring and reaffirming Metropolis’ quality assurance system and technical competence, he said.

Source: Meri News