Ericsson inaugurated its new R&D location at Chennai on November 27, 2006. The facility was inaugurated by Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister of Communications and Information and Technology, in the presence of Ambassador Harald Faith, Charged Affairs, Embassy of Sweden in India, and Mats Granryd, managing director, Ericsson India.

The new R&D facility is part of Ericssons national R&D team that currently comprises over 100 people, spread over Chennai and Gurgaon. Ericssons R&D efforts are focused on developing charging solutions and value-added applications for the prepaid and multimedia segments. The new R&D facility is the third Ericsson office in Chennai.

Mats Granryd said, Our continued investment in our Indian operations is a reiteration of our commitment to India. We have committed to an investment of over $ 100 million every year for the next few years. Ericsson will re-assess this figure based on growth of the market. At 16 per cent of global sales committed to R&D, Ericsson is one of the leading R&D spenders in the global telecom industry. The India R&D team will work on developing cutting edge charging and multimedia solutions for Indian as well as global operators.

Dayanidhi Maran said he was happy that Ericsson had reiterated its commitment to Chennai by opening their third office in the city. The telecom sector is growing and needs committed players like Ericsson, he added.

The WIRE Group have unveiled plans to develop a 130,000SF International Class A Office building in Gurgaon India (about 20 miles southwest of New Delhi CBD). The build-to-suit facility will be built on 1 acre adjacent to the Jaipur-Delhi Highway, one of the regions main north-south arteries. LEED Certified professionals will be involved in the design and development of the building. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

From the beginning, we were conscious of the commute that many business professionals undertake while working at other buildings in the Delhi regional area. WIREs planned office building is less than a 3-km drive to the New Delhi Airport, and a 25-km drive to Delhis Central Business District. The location will allow local professionals to reduce their daily commute time significantly and allow out of area executives to quickly reach the building from the airport, said WIRE Vice President Ashok Segu.

The location of the site makes the planned office building a draw for Multi-Nationals targeting well-educated knowledge workers in a cosmopolitan city. Designed by Korth Sunseri Hagey Architects out of San Francisco, the hi-tech, state-of-the-art building will be built to International Class A standards with back up power generators and advanced fire suppression systems. The building will be equipped with the latest audiovisual, presentation and communications equipment, powered by high-speed broadband technology.

We want to create an environment that is identical or better than those found in the US or Europe, said WIRE CEO Iqbal Jumabhoy. With tenant representation in the United States and Europe, a world-class development company in Singapore and local Indian construction partners, WIRE removes the hassle and aggravation out of the typical Multi-National Corporation experience in India.

The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), Sector 6, Panchkula and Gurgaon have been held guilty of depriving two Gurgaon residents from allotment of their plots by not issuing them allotment letters for a period of seven years. Reprimanding HUDA for this, the UT Consumer Forum has directed the development authority to award a compensation of Rs 50,000 each to both the complainants.

Mahavir Prasad and Om Prakash, both residents of Gurgaon, had moved the Consumer Forum, alleging deficiency in service on the part of HUDA. The development authority had taken a decision in 1997 to reserve ten per cent of residential plot of all sizes in a sector for Haryana Government employees. HUDA had floated a scheme offering free-hold residential plots in its various urban estates to employees of Haryana Government. The complainants, being employees of Haryana Government, applied for the plots. The two applied for allotment of 10-marla plot in Government Servant Reserve Quota category and they were declared successful in the draw of lots and accordingly plots were allotted to them.

It was alleged by the complainants that except for eight HUDA employees, including them were successful in draw of lots, other allottees were issued allotment letters. When they protested, it was reportedly stated by the Estate Officer, Gurgaon, that the allotment letters were not issued to these allottees on the directions of the Haryana Government. It was stated that the state government had decided that the applicants who are already members of group housing societies or had been allotted flats in any urban estate of Haryana were not eligible to apply for the plots.

THE Haryana government has finally approved a dumping ground for Gurgaon days after the Haryana Urban Development Authority presented some sites to Punjab and Haryana High Court. HUDA Administrator S P Gupta today said: The state government has given the nod to the abandoned mines of Bandhwari village on the Gurgaon-Faridabad road as the site for solid waste management…

The abandoned mines are more than 15 km from the main city, around 30 km from the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Additionally, no farming is possible on the selected site.

Gupta said one mine can be used for about 25 years and the approved site is non-fertile land with habitation 500 metres away. The depth of the mines is more than 50 feet and there is no drainage problem; nor will it pose any danger to the underground water reservoir.

With the wait finally over for a solid waste management site, the authorities now have major plans for the site. Farming is planned on the site. The first of its kind solid waste management programme in North India promises no air pollution. Further, solid waste will be utilised constructively by producing fuel and energy. Gupta says.

Viren Rasquinha, Arjuna awardee for hockey in 2005, requested the Indian selectors and coaches to explain the reason for his last-minute exclusion from the mens squad for the 2006 Asian Games.

The experienced midfielder, with 200 international appearances to his credit, does not figure in the 16-member team named for Doha by the Indian Hockey Federation.

No genuine reason has been given to me so far and it was embarrassing for me to be told to go home on the last day. Can someone tell me why? said Rasquinha.

Rasquinha said that coach Baskaran informed him about his inclusion in the Asian Games team on November 14 at the National camp held in Rourkela. But he was excluded from the final list announced on November 25 after a fitness test held at Gurgaon on November 24.

Rasquinha rules out fitness or form, as the reason for the decision to drop him after a two-month preparatory camp.

On November 24, the team along with standbys had another (fifth) round of trials and fitness tests in Gurgaon, supposedly to rule out last-minute injuries.

A headline in the newspaper reads: Mass Rapid Transit system (MRTS) to link Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar. Another reads: A new airport planned at Noida/Greater Noida, Panvel at Mumbai, SEZ being planned at Navi Mumbai. These snippets may seem arbitrary to readers.

But if you collect those bits and pieces, and do a veracity check, you could get the pulse on residential property trends. Trying to guess where property prices are heading is a tough one. But if know what development is taking place in ones region — may be a new railway station, airport, SEZ a few kilometres away — one could get a clue as to where property prices are headed.

Delhi & NCR Region

For instance, in the Delhi and NCR region, Gurgaon is likely to see a lot of action. Gurgaon residential property prices have shot up by 44% in the past six months ended September 06. According to reports, around eight special economic zones (SEZs) are coming up in Gurgaon. SEZs have mandates to develop residential zones and hence, improve the overall infrastructure quality in their vicinity.

Gurgaon, located towards the South of Delhi, has National Highway 8 running through it, ensuring good connectivity. Its proximity to the existing airport is an advantage. As per property consultant Trammell Crow Meghraj, Gurgaon is expected to see new supply hitting the market in the next 11-14 months.

With little land available for development in Delhi, over the years, Gurgaon and Noida have acted as viable suburbs for owning inexpensive real estate. The introduction of Metro railway in Delhi has, to a large extent, solved intra-city transportation problems. In case of Noida, the future triggers could be the completion of a proposed airport.

Lagging way behind the NCR towns of Gurgaon and Noida in the field of information technology, the Delhi government has asked the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) to set up an IT Corporation for the city.

The Delhi Cabinet took the decision for establishing the corporation last year followed by another earlier this year to chalk out the modalities of the new corporation. Ironically, most of the states of the country have a dedicated corporation for IT, except Delhi.

The Board of Directors of DSIIDC has now approved the acquisition of 15 per cent share of Orisson Infocom to enable it to get full control of Intelligent Communications Systems India Limited (ICSIL).

This will function as the IT Corporation of Delhi government with a minimum assured turnover of Rs 14 crore per annum initially. Secretary of the Information Technology Department of the Delhi government has been nominated as a Board member of DSIIDC to facilitate the entire process.

This would give a new momentum to information technology in Delhi, DSIIDC Managing Director Jalaj Shrivastava told HT on Sunday. The MD said: This would be the first time that Delhi would be venturing into the field with renewed vigour to match Gurgaon and Noida and outclass them in due course.

GAIL (India) Ltd has agreed to supply natural gas to Maruti Udyog Ltds (MUL) plant at Manesar in Haryana. The government-owned gas company plans to develop pipeline infrastructure from Gurgaon for meeting the industrial requirement in areas like Manesar, Dharuveda and Bhiwadi in the state.

Sources said natural gas would be supplied through purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on spot (as and when) basis in the international market. Besides, long-term LNG supplies can also be made from international sources, said an official.

Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC), Maruti Udyogs Japanese parent, had in July announced fresh investment to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore in India, over and above the Rs 6,000-crore investment SMC and Maruti had already committed to India till 2010. The fresh investment will flow into the new car plant Maruti is commissioning at Manesar and the diesel engine facility coming up alongside.

MULs existing plant at Gurgaon is receiving regassified LNG of around 0.22 million standard cubic metre a day (mmscmd) since March 2004 at around $3.86 per British thermal unit (Btu) ex-Dahej LNG terminal. The price is exclusive of transportation charges and taxes. Besides, GAIL is supplying MUL propane at Rs 24,000-32,000 per million tonne.

Global cosmetic giant, The Body Shop International is all set to increase its presence in India and plans to open an additional 45 stores by 2008.

Currently five Body Shop stores are operating in the country, two in Delhi and one each in Gurgaon, Jaipur and Mumbai. We plan to substantially increase our presence in the country in next couple of years and target the tier two cities, Quest Retail Private Manager Operations Vipul Shah said. Quest is the franchise partner of Body Shop in India.

Speaking to reporters at the official launch ceremony of the brand in the country, its founder Dame Anita Roddick said, Im ecstatic. After 20 years of trading relations and community involvement in India, we have finally opened Body Shop stores here.

Body Shop has over 2,000 stores across 55 countries

The Supreme Court today declined to give further time to traders to close their shops voluntarily to escape from sealing, but gave the monitoring committee (MC) constituted by it to oversee the sealing drive two days to conduct a random survey to determine whether traders who had filed an undertaking about closure have done it sincerely.

121 properties sealed in Capital
New Delhi, November 21
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi today sealed 121 commercial establishments in South and Najafgarh zones.

Cabinet nod to new power project
New Delhi, November 21
Delhi Cabinet has approved the commissioning of a 1,000 MW gas-based power project, to be referred to as Pragati-III, at Bawana. It has also given its nod to sale of 5 per cent ethanol-blended petrol.

Privatisation of power the biggest scam
New Delhi, November 21
The Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Prof Jagdish Mukhi, today accused the Congress-led government in Delhi of committing the biggest scam by going for privatisation of Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB).