Rado is the Official Timekeeper of Aircel Chennai Open 2013

Chennai, 18 December, 2012 – Rado is the new Official Timekeeper of the Aircel Chennai Open 2013 which will be held from 31^st December 2012 to 6^th January 2013 at the SDAT Stadium in Chennai. This is the 18th edition of the tournament and promises to be the best yet with a field consisting of top international tennis stars.

Rado, which has been associated with the ATP World Tour and other international events in tennis, has come on board as Official Time Keeper of Aircel Chennai Open 2013 for the first time. A prominent sponsor and leading official timekeeper in international tennis for more than two decades, Rado is synonymous with precision timing in its products and on the courts.

As the Official Timekeeper, Rado will provide timing and scorekeeping services through the Aircel Chennai Open 2013, guaranteeing the precision and reliability of results. The displays on the Rado corner clocks will ensure that spectators across the world can follow each match and service speeds through the tournament.

Aircel Chennai Open 2013 will see in action an impressive line-up of Indian and International players including Tomas Berdych, Janko Tipsarevic, Marin Cilic and Stanislas Wawrinka, who are among the top 20 players in the world.

Ashu Jindal, COO, IMG Reliance said,” We are delighted to have a global brand like Rado associating with Aircel Chennai Open 2013 as the Official Timekeeper. Rado has long been associated with tennis and we are proud that they have decided to partner with Aircel Chennai Open. We are excited and definitely looking forward for a strong and successful long-term association.”

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ABOUT AIRCEL CHENNAI OPEN 2013

The USD 430,000 Aircel Chennai Open owned by IMG and operated and organized by IMG Reliance, is India’s only and South Asia’s premier ATP World Tour Open 250 event. Started in 1996, by IMG, a global leader in sports management and marketing, the tournament has completed sixteen successful years of existence, branding Chennai and India on the global tennis map thus creating a legacy of sorts of promoting international tennis in India. Winner of the prestigious ATP’s Player Services Award of Excellence (2006) for its outstanding organization and wonderful hospitality towards the participants and ATP’s Best Marketing Award (2008), the event has acquired the status of a much sought-after tennis event for both players and fans alike in the International tennis circuit. The 18th edition of the tournament will be held from December 31, 2012 to January 6, 2013 at the SDAT Tennis stadium in Nungambakkam, Chennai. The tournament is conducted in Chennai under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and is organized with the active collaboration of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).



ABOUT RADO

Rado is a globally recognized brand, famous for innovative design and its use of revolutionary materials to create some of the world’s most durable watches. Ever since its beginnings in Lengnau, Switzerland in 1957, Rado has had a pioneering spirit, with the brand philosophy “if we can imagine it, we can make it” still holding true today. Rado has long been associated with tennis. Its continued focus on pushing traditional boundaries in the world of watchmaking reflects the dedication of tennis stars past and present to push themselves to the limit, surpassing all expectations through strength and determination.

Rado is the Official Timekeeper of the following tournaments in 2012: the Aegon Championships, The Queens Club, London (June), the Malaysian Open Kuala Lumpur (22nd – 30th September), the Rakuten Open, Japan (1st – 7th October), the Erste Bank Vienna Open, Austria (13th – 21st October) the Bank of Russia Kremlin Cup (13th – 21st October), the Mubadala World Tennis Championships, Abu Dhabi (27th – 29th December), Aircel Chennai Open, India (31st Dec – 6th Jan)

ABOUT IMG RELIANCE:
In 2010 Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest and most recognized private sector company, and IMG Worldwide (IMG), the world’s leading sports marketing and management company, announced the formation of an equal joint venture to develop, market and manage sports and entertainment in India. The joint venture company, IMG Reliance Pvt. Ltd., will create and operate major sports and entertainment assets in the country.  In its first initiative, IMG Reliance entered into an agreement with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to create a new professional basketball league and manage all aspects of the commercial rights to the game in India. IMG Reliance signed a 15-year agreement with the AIFF, to improve, popularize and promote the game of football throughout India, from the grassroots to the professional level.  IMG Reliance has also created a scholarship program to identify and train talented young Indians from sports including – basketball, soccer and tennis–at IMG’s world-class sports training facilities at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida.

For more information please contact
ZZEBRA PUBLIC RELATIONS
Puneet Chadha- 09884440937- puneet@zzebra.net
Neha Parab Kandalgaonkar- 9892194965- neha@zzebra.net

3^rd India International Potato Expo 2012

“FARM to FORK”

“Productivity, Processing & Cold Chain Logistics”

December 21 & 22, 2012, IARI Exhibition Ground, PUSA, New Delhi

New Delhi 17 December 2012: With high food value and substantial production across the world, potato can play a crucial role in food security and economic development of developing and developed economies. It is the third most important food crop in the world after rice and wheat and constitutes half of the world’s annual output of roots and tuber crops. Various researches showed that in the face of rising world population and concomitant scarcity of arable land, Potato can and will feed many a hungry mouths. Thus, potato is not only a mere staple food and cash crop in many parts of the world, it fetches increasing economic importance year by year. India is the second largest potato producing nation. It is the most familiar food across all the states of India. Potato is an important constituent in Indian food processing industry as well. A diversified product range including chips, fries, and many other snacks are capturing higher market share in our country and is poised to grow substantially in near future. Thus potato has evolved as a true global food with huge economic value.

On the occasion of the “Year of Horticulture”, the Indian Chamber of Commerce with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Food Processing, Govt of India is organizing the 3^rd India International Potato Expo 2012 during 21^st & 22^nd December 2012 at IARI Exhibition Ground, PUSA, New Delhi. This would be a forum where all the stakeholders of Indian Potato sector would assemble and exchange views on how the benefits from the 1st & 2^nd India International Potato Expo can be taken forward. The Summit & Expo will be attended by international experts, academicians, policy makers, corporate houses, agri-scientists, bankers, members from the farming community and others. 3rd IIPE’2012 aims to enhance the production of good quality potato and processable variety for processed industries and also explore the global market by exporting surplus potato.

The 2-day programme is truly going to be very significant in terms of the subjects to be covered, including food security, sustainable use of technologies, technical know-how, potato productivity, marketability and trade, best practices, modernization of potato processing, marketing and export of potato products,. The longstanding impediments against smooth growth of potato industry like huge wastage due to lack of adequate cold storage facilities, fluctuating potato prices, shortage of proper agri-infrastructure, policy challenges, adverse climate and loss of biodiversity will be addressed in the technical conference.

The Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture & Food processing Industries, Shri Sharad Pawar and Shri Tariq Anwar, Minister of States of Agriculture & Food processing Industries, West Bengal Agriculture Minister, Shri Moloy Ghatak, West Bengal Agriculture Marketing Minister, Shri Arup Roy, Union Agriculture Secretary, Shri Asish Bahuguna, Union Food Processing Secretary, Shri Rakesh Kakkar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Shri Atanu Purkayastha, Shri Sanjeev Chopra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr B P Singh, Director, Central Potato Research Institute will grace the occasion. The event will also witness the presence of representatives from National Horticulture Board, Central Potato Research Center, State Government, Agriculture Scientists and many other stakeholders like cold chain companies, fertilizer industries, potato processing industries, banks, research institutions and agriculture universities. The 2day Exhibition would also have participation from Ministry of Agriculture, State Governments like, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Meghalaya and others.

For Further Information please contact:

Sreeraj Mitra / Urmimala Dutta 

Sagittarius Communications

Ph: +919007307884 / +919830750093 

Google Zeitgeist 2012 unveils the spirit of Indian netizens

December 18, 2012

Google Zeitgeist 2012 unveils the spirit of Indian netizens

Indian Web Goes Utilitarian: Communication to Convenience

• From net banking to eCommerce: ‘convenience’ drove search for the connected India
• Entertainment and Education – emerged as trending searches for 2012
• Mobile searches grow as Indians look for information on the go

 
INDIA| December 18, 2012: Revealing the local flavours of internet search in the country, Google India today announced its annual Zeitgeist, a look at 2012 through the collective eyes of our nation on the web. Like every year, this year’s Zeitgeist also offers a unique perspective on the major events and hottest trends, based on searches conducted in India. Taking an interesting diversion from the results of 2011, which reflected the emphasis on people and event related searches, internet users in India have now started using the web for their personal needs – shopping, booking tickets, and making informed decisions for their offline purchases.

Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director – Sales and Operations, Google India, said, “Google’s 2012 Zeitgeist reflects data from 1.2 trillion searches in 146 languages globally. With 137 million users, India is the world’s third largest internet market and is a good barometer of trends in Indian society as a whole.”

“With growing smartphone adoption, mobile searches continued to grow with over 70 million mobile internet users. We expect India’s next 150–180 million Internet users will access the Internet through their mobile devices. This means that the information that these users will look for will need to be more local and meaningful as already reflected in the kind of search trends we’re seeing in the country,” he added.

Google’s Zeitgeist data shows that utilitarian services drove search volumes. With more institutions moving their services online for greater convenience, searches for them ticked upward accordingly. For instance, banks emerged as one of the most popular categories, with net banking being the most frequently searched query within the category.

An analysis of the top searched travel websites showed that while railways, airline tickets, and hotel booking sites were an obvious trend, a bus booking portal – redbus.in – featured at number 3 in the list, marking a new trend in how Indians prefer to travel.

Exams, traditionally pen-and-ink affairs, are also moving online as IBPS (Institute of Banking Personnel Selection), GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)  and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) came in at numbers 1, 2 and 6 in the top overall trending list respectively. This shows that young Indians are showing a great deal of interest in government jobs.

Another fascinating trend was the warming up of Indian netizens to e-commerce. There is definitely a positive shift in the user’s perception on purchasing gadgets, books, accessories and more online. While business brands rode on this trend, celebrities leveraged social media to build their ‘brands’ as well. Users searched for politicians and celebrities who were either present through their own social media channels or in news for their active online presence.

Zeitgeist’s India data also gave an interesting view of what is troubling Indian users – it seems like global economic turmoil kept Indians worried, with Sensex being the top searched event this year. Prominent deaths – including those of Vilasrao Deshmukh and Rajesh Khanna – made it to the list as well.

From an information perspective, education and examination related searches also drew consumers to use the web for search, with banking and engineering related aptitude examinations topping the trends list throughout the year. Overall, IGNOU was the most searched university across India.
Utilitarian web:

Top Trending searches IBPS                        GATE Exams Sunny Leone Ek Tha Tiger        Rowdy Rathore CBSE Rajesh Khanna Aakash tablet HDFC Jabong

India’s Top searched banks HDFC SBI ICICI Axis Bank of India RBI Citibank IDBI Corporation Bank Bank of Baroda

India’s top searched shopping websites: Flipkart Homeshop18 Snapdeal Bookmyshow Myntra Paytm Olx Jabong Fashionandyou Naaptol

India’s Top Searched Actors – 2012 Salman Khan Shahrukh Khan Rajesh Khanna Akshay Kumar Shahid Kapoor Amitabh Bachchan Hrithik Roshan Ranbir Kapoor Sunny Deol Aamir Khan

India’s Top Searched Actresses – 2012 Katrina Kaif Aishwarya Rai Kareena Kapoor Priyanka Chopra Vidya Balan Anushka Sharma Deepika Padukone Madhuri Dixit Asin Sonakshi Sinha

India’s Top Searched Sports persons – 2012 Yuvraj Singh Sachin Tendulkar Sania Mirza Messi Saina Nehwal Maria Sharapova Mary Kom Gagan Narang Vijay Kumar Yogeshwar Dutt

India’s Top Searched News – 2012 Sensex Vilasrao Deshmukh death Hurricane Sandy Anna Hazare Aseem Trivedi cartoons Abhishek Manu Singhvi Kingfisher Airlines Earthquake in Chennai Pranab Mukherjee president Rajesh Khanna death

India’s top searched travel sites Makemytrip Cleartrip Redbus Yatra Tripadvisor

India’s Top Searched Airline Brands – 2012 Indigo Air India Jet Airways Spicejet Kingfisher Emirates Go Air Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines British Airways

India’s Top searched auto brands 1. Maruti Suzuki 2. Royal Enfield 3. Honda 4. Hero Honda 5. Bajaj