RUSSIA-CHINA RELATIONS ARE DEVELOPING DYNAMICALLY
Russia-China relations are developing dynamically regardless of the international situation, said Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin in a recent interview with Xinhua.
ENERTIA – SOLAR & CLEAN COAL SPECIAL 2017
FALCON MEDIA ADDED 4 NEW PHOTOS.
ENERTIA – Solar & Clean Coal Special 2017
Editorial Momentum :
CHINA Outpaces INDIA in Solar Power Installation to reach 77GW of Installed Capacity
Brings Longyangxia Dam Solar Park 850MW Solar Power Park World’s Largest Solar Project on China-Grid in the process
CHINA Outpaces INDIA in Solar Power Installation to reach 77GW of Installed Capacity
Brings Longyangxia Dam Solar Park 850MW Solar Power Park World’s Largest Solar Project on China-Grid in the process
A STUDY OF LIFE — BOOK LAUNCH
UK MAY CALL FOR SNAP POLLS
UK Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called for an early general election on June 8. She said this is the only way to guarantee political stability for years ahead after Britain leaves the European Union. She held a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street she said she would go for election to the country this year.
There has to be a House of Commons vote on Wednesday on the proposed election and May thus need Parliament’s backing to hold a vote before 2020.
Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Opposition, welcomed May’s decision to hold the snap election.
“Labour will stand up for the people of Britain. I welcome the prime minister’s decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first,” he said.
“Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS,” he said.
Britain’s next election was due to have been held in 2020, according to a legislation but the law can be overruled if two-thirds of lawmakers in the British parliament vote in favour of early elections.
‘TEXTILES INDIA 2017’: CURTAIN RAISER |
On behalf of the Ministry of Textiles, we take great pleasure in inviting you for the curtain raiser of ‘Textiles India – 2017’ – a curated textile and crafts presentation being hosted by Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India.
May we request you to join us on Tuesday, 18th April 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Crafts Museum, New Delhi (Entry from Bhairon Marg Gate)
Curated by IMG Reliance-Fashion in collaboration with Ministry of Textiles the event aspires to showcase an entire spectrum of heritage handloom to handicraft textiles as well as modern fabrics.
It will include artisans, weavers, emerging & established designers that features the following names for the showcase at the curtain raiser:
~ Abraham & Thakore, Anita Dongre, Anuj Bhutani, Anuradha Pegu, Amit Aggarwal, Chaman Premji, Good Earth, Hemant Agarwal, Kaleekal, Masaba Gupta, Madhu Jain, Manish Arora, Manish Malhotra, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rahul Misra, Ritu Kumar, Rimzim Dadu, Rohit Bal, Sanjay Garg, Sabyasachi, Samant Chauhan, Shades of India – Mandeep Nagi, Sunita Shankar, Suket Dhir, Wendell Rodricks & Tarun Tahiliani ~
THE PUZZLE OF INDIAN URBANISATION
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MCD ELECTIONS DELHI 2017: ANALYSIS OF CANDIDATES
From: ADR India on Tue, 18 Apr 2017 14:41:15 Add to address bookTo: You & 2 others | See Details
Dear Friends,
The National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 2315 out of 2537 candidatesfrom 18 political parties, including 6 national parties, 12 state parties, 7 unrecognized parties and 1051 independent candidates, who are contesting in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Elections to be held on 23rdApril, 2017. There are 222 candidates who have not been analysed as their affidavits were not available at the time of making this report. Among the major parties, 22 candidates are from Aam Aadmi Party; 15 from Indian National Congress; 7 from Bhartiya Janata Party and 20 candidates are from Bahujan Samaj Party, who have not been analysed.
The full report can be accessed here: http://adrindia.org/content/municipal-corporation-delhi-elections-2017-analysis-criminal-background-financial-education
Main Highlights are given below:
| S.No. | Party | Number of Contesting Candidates | Total Number of Candidate Analyzed |
| 1 | Aam Aadmi Party | 272 | 250 |
| 2 | Indian National Congress | 271 | 256 |
| 3 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 267 | 260 |
| 4 | Bahujan Samaj Party | 211 | 191 |
| 5 | Communist Party of India | 14 | 12 |
| 6 | Nationalist Congress Party | 43 | 38 |
| 7 | Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 16 | 16 |
| 8 | All India Forward Bloc | 14 | 14 |
| 9 | All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen | 9 | 9 |
| 10 | Indian National Lok Dal | 19 | 15 |
| 11 | Indian Union Muslim League | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party | 3 | 3 |
| 13 | Janata Dal (United) | 95 | 85 |
| 14 | Lok Janshakti Party | 14 | 13 |
| 15 | Rashtriya Janata Dal | 9 | 8 |
| 16 | Rashtriya Lok Dal | 21 | 17 |
| 17 | Samajwadi Party | 28 | 25 |
| 18 | Shiv Sena | 56 | 51 |
| 19 | Independent | 1174 | 1051 |
| Total | 2537 | 2315 | |
CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
- Candidates with Criminal Cases: Out of the 2315 candidates analysed, 173 (7%) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.
- Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 116(5%) candidates have declared serious criminal against themselves.
- Candidates with cases related to Murder: 1 candidate namely Rajesh contesting from South Delhi Municipal Coporation, ward no. 042-S-dichaon kalan from Lok Jan Shakti Party has declared case of murder (IPC Section-302).
- Candidates with cases related to Attempt to Murder: 15 candidates have declared cases of attempt to murder (IPC Section-307).
- Candidates with cases related to Kidnapping: 7 candidates have declared cases of kidnapping (IPC Section-365,366,359).
- Candidates with cases related to Crime against Women: 23 candidates have declared cases of crime against women such as assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354), rape (IPC Section-376) etc.
- Party wise Candidates with Criminal Cases: 26 (10%) out of 260 candidates from BJP, 35 (14%) out of 256 candidates from INC, 21(8%)out of 250 candidate scontesting from AAP, 13 (7%) out of 191 candidates from BSP, 3 (8%) out of 38 candidates from NCP, 1 (6%) out of 16 candidates from CPI (M) and 1 (8%) out of 12 candidates fielded by CPI have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
- Party wise Candidates with Serious Criminal Cases: 13 (5%) out of 260 candidates from BJP, 22 (9%) out of 256 candidates from INC,15(6%) out of 250 candidates from AAP, 10 (5%) out of 191 candidates from BSP, 2 (5%) out of 38 candidates from NCP, 1 (6%) out of 16 candidates from CPI (M) and 1 (8%) out of 12 candidates fielded by CPI have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
FINANCIAL BACKGROUND
- Share of wealth among candidates : The share of wealth amongst the candidates contesting in the MCD Elections is as follows:
| Value of assets | Number of candidates | % of Candidates |
| Rs.10 crores and above | 74 | 3% |
| Rs.5 crores to Rs.10 crores | 106 | 5% |
| Rs.1 crore to Rs.5 crores | 517 | 22% |
| Rs.20 lakhs to Rs.1 crore | 719 | 31% |
| less than Rs.20 lakhs | 899 | 39% |
Table: Share of wealth amongst contesting candidates
- Crorepati Candidates: Out of the 2315 candidates analysed, 697 (30%) are crorepatis.
- Party wise Crorepati Candidates: 141 (54%) out of 260 candidates from BJP, 163 (64%) out of 256 candidates from INC, 104(42%) out of 250 candidates from AAP, 41 (22%) out of 191 candidates from BSP, 9 (24%) out of 38 candidates from NCP, nd 1 (8%) out of 12 candidates fielded byCPI have declared assets worth more than Rs.1 crore.
- Average assets: The average of assets per candidate contesting in the MCD Elections 2017 is Rs 1.61 Crores.
- Party wise average assets: Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 260 BJP candidates is Rs 2.89 Crores, 256 INCcandidates have average assets of Rs 4.36 Crores, 250 AAP candidates have average assets worth Rs 1.65 crores, 191 BSP candidates have average assets worth Rs 89.59 Lakhs, 38 NCP candidates have average assets worth Rs 92.38 lakhs, 16 CPI(M) candidates have average assets worth Rs 19.20 lakhs, , 12 CPI candidates have average assets of Rs 23.04 Lakhs and 1051 Independent candidates have average assets of Rs. 97.79 lakhs.
- High asset candidates: The top 3 candidates with highest assets contesting in the MCD Elections 2017 are given below:
| S.No. | Name | Municipal Corporation | Ward No. | Party Name | Movable Assets (Rs) | Immovable Assets (Rs) | Total Assets (Rs) | PAN Given |
| 1 | Geeta Yadav | SOUTH DELHI | 068-S-MEHRAULI | IND | 10,21,111* | 82,60,00,000 | 82,70,21,111 82 Crore+ | Y |
| 2 | Mohd Usman | NORTH DELHI | 080-N-SADAR BAZAR | INC | 5,83,42,345 | 51,20,00,000 | 57,03,42,345 57 Crore+ | Y |
| 3 | A Dhanwati Chandela A | SOUTH DELHI | 007-S-VISHNU GARDEN | INC | 2,50,13,270 | 52,93,99,960 | 55,44,13,230 55 Crore+ | Y |
Table: Top three candidates with highest declared assets
*on assets value indicates that the candidate has not provided the total in their affidavits, it has been calculated on the basis of details provided by them in the same
- Zero asset candidates: There are 2 candidates have declared zero assets in his self-sworn affidavits, their details are given below:
| S.No. | Name | Municipal Corporation | Ward No. | Party Name | Movable Assets (Rs) | Immovable Assets (Rs) | Total Assets (Rs) | PAN Given |
| 1 | Priya Jha | NORTH DELHI | 010-N-SANT NAGAR | IND | 0 | 0 | 0 | N |
| 2 | Sunita Gill | NORTH DELHI | 017-N-ADARSH NAGAR | NCP | 0 | 0 | 0 | Y |
- Low asset candidates: The three candidates(excluding candidates with zero assets) with lowest assets are as follows:
| S.No. | Name | Municipal Corporation | Ward No. | Party | Movable Assets (Rs) | Immovable Assets (Rs) | Total Assets (Rs) | PAN Given |
| 1. | Ram Rup | EAST DELHI | 008-E-KALYAN PURI | IND | 113 | 0 | 113 1 Hund+ | N |
| 2. | Harsh Kumar | SOUTH DELHI | 009-S-SUBHASH NAGAR | NCP | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 1 Thou+ | Y |
| 3. | Tara Chand | NORTH DELHI | 076-N-SANGAM PARK | IND | 1,200* | 0 | 1,200 1 Thou+ | N |
Table: Candidates with declared lowest assets
*on assets value indicates that the candidate has not provided the total in their affidavits, it has been calculated on the basis of details provided by them in the same
Candidates with high liabilities: The top three candidates with highest liabilities are as given below:
| S.No. | Name | Municipal Corporation | Ward No. | Party | Total Assets(Rs) | Liabilities (Rs) | PAN Given |
| 1 | Amarjeet Kaur | EAST DELHI | 020-E-PREET VIHAR | INC | 42,17,65,497 42 Crore+ | 12,74,56,088 12 Crore+ | Y |
| 2 | Satish | NORTH DELHI | 065-N-SARASWATI VIHAR | INC | 35,00,47,074 35 Crore+ | 9,06,47,318 9 Crore+ | Y |
| 3 | Mohd Usman | NORTH DELHI | 080-N-SADAR BAZAR | INC | 57,03,42,345 57 Crore+ | 8,94,92,610 8 Crore+ | Y |
Table: Top three candidates with high liabilities
- Undeclared PAN: A total of 272(12%) out of the 2315 candidates analysed have not declared their PAN details.
- Candidates with high income as declared in the ITR*: 10 candidates have declared total annual income of more than Rs 50 lakhs. The details of top 3 candidates are as given below:
| S.No. | Name | Party | Ward No. | Municipal Corporation | Total Asset (Rs) | The financial year for which the last income tax return has been filed by candidate | Total income shown by candidate in ITR (Self+Spouse+Dependent) (Rs) | Self income shown by candidate in ITR (Rs) |
| 1 | Nisha Mann | BJP | 003-N-ALIPUR | NORTH DELHI | 21,07,55,636 21 Crore+ | 2015-2016 | 2,88,00,372 2 Crore+ | 19,75,277 19 Lacs+ |
| 2 | Amarjeet Kaur | INC | 020-E-PREET VIHAR | EAST DELHI | 42,17,65,497 42 Crore+ | 2015-2016 | 2,52,36,000 2 Crore+ | 34,36,000 34 Lacs+ |
| 3 | J.K. Sharma | INC | 044-S-ROSHANPURA | SOUTH DELHI | 7,36,26,948 7 Crore+ | 2015-2016 | 81,41,141 81 Lacs+ | 3,61,556 3 Lacs+ |
Table: Top three candidates with high income as declared in ITR
*Total income includes income of self, spouse and dependents
- Candidates who have not declared Income Tax Details*: 1020 (44%) out of 2315 candidates analysed have not declared income tax details.
* Some candidates may be exempted from filing Income Tax Returns
- Candidates with high assets who have not declared Income Tax Details*: Top 3 candidates with high assets have not declared income tax details. Their details are as given below:
| S.No. | Name | Municipal Corporation | Ward No. | Party | Total Income (Rs) | Total Assets (Rs) | PAN Given | Self Income |
| 1 | Suman | EAST DELHI | 011-E-MAYUR VIHAR PHASE-II | INC | 557105 | 13,34,57,933 13 Crore+ | Y | ITR not filed |
| 2 | Promila Mishra | SOUTH DELHI | 032-S-SAGARPUR-EAST | IND | 0 | 13,31,50,000 13 Crore+ | N | ITR not filed |
| 3 | Dharm Veer | SOUTH DELHI | 069-S-VASANT KUNJ | JD(U) | 0 | 12,61,94,620 12 Crore+ | Y | ITR not filed |
Table: Top three candidates with highest assets who have not declared ITR details
* Some candidates may be exempted from filing Income Tax Returns
OTHER BACKGROUND DETAILS
- Education details of candidates: 1403(61%) candidates have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 685(29.5%)candidates have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above. There are 40 candidates who have declared themselves as just literateswhereas 125 candidates are illiterate.
- Age details of candidates: 1807 (78%) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 and 50 years while 385(17%) candidates have declared their age to be between 51 and 70 years. 30 candidates have not declared their age.
- Gender details of candidates: 1127 (49%) women candidates are contesting in the MCD Elections, 2017.
Thanks & Regards
| Media and Journalist Helpline
+91 80103 94248
Email: adr@adrindia.org
| Maj.Gen. Anil Verma (Retd)
Head
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
011 4165 4200,
+91 88264 79910
adr@adrIndia.org,
anilverma@adrindia.org
| Prof Jagdeep Chhokar
IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.)
Founder Member,
National Election Watch, Association for Democratic
Reforms
+91 99996 20944
jchhokar@gmail.com
| Prof Trilochan Sastry
IIM Bangalore
Founder Member,
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
+91 94483 53285
trilochans@iimb.ernet.in
|
—
Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95A, C.L. House, 1st Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
THE CRAZE FOR BIG BANKS
April 5, 2017
Now the clamor is for big; bigger and biggest. Particularly in the banking sector. After the merger of subsidiaries with SBI there is a talk of merging other banks. The chief of Kotak opines that five banks will only remain in future.
This craze for big banks with big balance sheets was prevalent in the eighties in US/Europe. But after the banking and financial crisis of 2008 there is a re-think about this. Issue is whether “bigness” by itself will provide efficiency and customer service along with profitability. With the induction of technology in banking services the size is no more a big issue. Even a small bank can be part of a network.
Banking is essentially a relationship based activity even though rules are important. Knowing the customer, his business needs and his product lines and trends in that sector are all important for the banker. In our context in Public sector banks specialization is not common and transfers are regular. The branch manager spends more time in managing the personnel activities of a branch rather than the customer /market centric activities. If he is transferred to rural or semi urban branch then he is looking at calendar to return to his home base. Hence he is not fully involved in his “catchment Areas”.
Indian Economy is dominated by Partnership and Proprietorship firms. They constitute nearly 50 % of our GDP. In services sector like Construction/trade [Wholesale and Retail]/transport/Restaurants/professional services like Plumber; carpenter; painter; electricians; priests etc. they constitute as much as 70 to 80 percent.
But unfortunately Bank credit is not adequately available to them since existing commercial banks are more focused towards big corporates. In 1990 Corporates had 30% of the share of Bank credits while as these Non-corporates had 58% and it became 40 and 42% in 2015. The remaining got by Govt. Up to 10 Crore credit limits were 61% of outstanding in 2005 which became 46% in 2015. [Source: Basic statistical returns—various issues—RBI]
Out of the total credit needs of our economy nearly 55 to 60% is met by Non-bank sources like money lenders /chits/NBFCs etc. Banks are not geared to meet the credit needs of small businesses which are the engines of our economic growth. The earlier mentioned service sector activities are growing at more than 8% per annum –real growth rates—in the last decade and they all borrow at 2 to 6% per month. The Bank lending rates are not material to them.
Bigger banks become more “system” oriented and look at “paper” ratios like current ratios and Debt service coverage .They do not distinguish between customers. If a customer has not repaid in 90 days then it is bad debt and need to be provisioned irrespective of the “nature” of customers and issues.
Bigger banks rely on technology and some even charge for customer to meet its managers and call it as “personal banking”. The longer is the “chain” between the banker and customer greater is the probability of failures. We need more of small banks catering to local communities and local businesses. We need banks which understand the aspirations of the emerging entrepreneurial class in small towns and villages. We need to enact MUDRA act to integrate our credit markets including money lenders and make local banks which understand local customers to flourish. Many local banks have served the community very well like City Union Bank [CUB] in TN; Federal Bank in Kerala; TJSB–Sahakari bank in Maharashtra etc. can be examples.
Experts talk about banks having larger balance sheets—for what? Are our banks planning to have hundreds of branches in France/USA/Germany? Will they be allowed in the context of decline in the glamour for globalization? Most developed countries are increasingly inward looking—Le Pen of France says that there is a need to save France from Globalization-
This is the exactly wrong time for India to be a Globalizer—but we always imitate failed models of west to learn later that they were not working.
The fetish about larger/bigger equated to better and efficient is most absurd in the era of technology in banking which is altering the way banks function. A mobile phone is becoming a bank these days and the one with 20000 branches may become a dinosaur. The imported experts and big consulting firms are like snake oil salesmen. Sell that helps them not the country. We imitated soviet model in the fifties and sixties which was a failed model and we are imitating the US model now which is recognized in US as a failed model.
But we refuse to learn from failures of others as well as ours and that is one interesting quality of ours.
_________________
Prof R. Vaidyanathan; Cho. S Ramaswamy Visiting Chair Professor of Public Policy SASTRA University; Professor IIMB[Rtd]
______________________
Prof. R.VAIDYANATHAN
Bangalore
DR. B R SHETTY TO INVEST RS.1000 CRORES “THE MAHABHARATA” FILM
Bilionaire Businessman Dr. B R Shetty To Invest Rs.1000 Crores (USD 150 Million) To produce India’s Biggest Ever Motion Picture – “THE MAHABHARATA”
New Delhi, 18th April 2017: Setting a rare record in the Indian film industry, Dr B.R. Shetty, UAE based billionaire businessman and philanthropist is investing Rs. 1000 crore (USD 150 million) to produce India’s biggest ever motion picture, ‘Mahabharata’. This magnum opus is being directed by noted ad man and advertising film maker V.A Shrikumar Menon. Mahabharata will be produced in two parts and is scheduled to go on floor by September 2018 and will be released in early 2020. The second part of the film will be released within 90 days of the first part. The film will be shot primarily in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil & Telugu and will be dubbed into major Indian languages and leading foreign languages.
The film will be a coming together of the crème de la crème of Indian and global cinema, in terms of its cast and crew. The technical crew would include some of the great names in the world cinema including some academy winners. The cast will have the best of talents from Indian cinema as well as some big names from Hollywood. This film will have an identity across continents, with their representatives donning the myriad characters in Mahabharata! A global team led by an Internationally renowned casting director will handpick the cast.
Serial entrepreneur and billionaire Dr. B.R. Shetty has been a keen supporter of Indian arts and culture for over many decades. With his decision to back Mahabharata, Dr. Shetty will join the league of visionary producers like Lord Richard Attenbourgh who backed the biopic “Gandhi” which was based on the life of India’s most famous freedom fighter, and Father of our nation, which appealed to a global audience.
It remains almost impossible to narrate Mahabharata in the big screen except by way of adaptation of M T Vasudevan Nair’s Jnanpeeth Award winning novel Randamoozham (The Second Turn). This novel narrates Mahabharata through the eyes of Bhima, the second of the Pandavas. The screenplay is written by the writer himself who holds a record of maximum national award for screen writing in the history of Indian cinema
The ancient Sanskrit epic of Mahabharata has been a topic of creative adaptation in different formats for many decades. There have also been efforts to render it, but the success of these have been limited to the stage or serialization for the television audiences. Hence, this project will be the first of its kind to take the epic which has engaged generations of audiences on the silver screen at such a grand level. The Indian core team led by Dr. B.R. Shetty augurs well to ensure that the sanctity and the iconic status of the epic is upheld.
Dr B.R.Shetty, Founder and Chairman of UAE Exchange and NMC Healthcare said, “Mahabharata is an epic of all epics. This movie will be a true ‘Make in India’ made for the world. Mahabharata mesmerizes as well as brings focus on life and living”. “ I believe that this film will not only set global benchmarks, but also reposition India and its prowess in mythological storytelling. I am confident that this film will be adapted in over 100 languages and reach over 3 billion people across the world.” Importantly, am awestruck by the fantastic screenplay by Sri. MT and I have tremendous faith in the ability of V.A. Shrikumar to paint this narrative on celluloid. His passion and energy are boundless” Dr. Shetty added.
Commenting on the initiative, Padma Bhushan M.T. Vasudevan Nair, recipient of almost every literary award in the India including the Jnanpith Award and many abroad said “I’m extremely happy with Dr. B. R. Shetty’s belief in the potential of the story and his passion and commitment to take it to global audiences. I sincerely congratulate him for his vision in backing a project of this scale.”
Mr. V A Shrikumar, Director, who has been living the script and researching for this project for the past few years, said, “I would like to sincerely thank Dr. B R Shetty for having immense faith in this project and help bring it to life with his financial commitment & his innate pride on Indian heritage. We are fully geared to attain the next level of production quality and visual magic, as well as narrative wizardry with this initiative.”
About Dr B R Shetty
Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty (known as Dr. B.R. Shetty) is the Founder and Chairman of Abu Dhabi based nmc group. The conglomerate includes global institutions like NMC Healthcare, UAE Exchange, Travelex etc. The group when established in 1975 was initially interested in hospitals, but since then has diversified into sectors including pharmaceuticals, global financial services, retail, advertising and information technology.The Enterprise he has built over the years is truly a metaphor of India’s emerging leadership in a global marketplace.
PUNE OPEN RETURNS FOR SECOND EDITION
Prize Purse of Rs. 30 lakh
- Field to feature defending champ Harendra Gupta, Udayan Mane, Shamim Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shankar Das
Pune, April 18, 2017: The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, will be staging the second edition of the Pune Open at the prestigious Poona Club Golf Course from April 20 – 23, 2017. The Pune Open, the seventh event of the PGTI’s 2017 season, carries a prize purse of Rs. 30 lakh. The Pro-Am event is scheduled for April 19.
The Associate Partners for the event are 24K by Kolte Patil, LIC, Pirelli, Bank of Maharashtra and Websym. Hotel Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre is the Official Hotel Partner.
The tournament will see some of India’s leading professionals in action such as defending champion Harendra Gupta, Shankar Das, Mukesh Kumar, Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane, Shamim Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Khalin Joshi, to name a few.
The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan trio of Anura Rohana, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Australia’s Kunal Bhasin and South African Damian Naicker.
The host city of Pune will be represented by Gurki Shergill (winner of 8th TATA Open 2009), Pravin Pathare, Sameer M Shaikh, Rajiv Datar and Sagar Raghuvanshi.
This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 125 professionals. The cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top 50 players and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another 36 holes.
Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The city of Pune has produced some promising golfing talent over the years. The second edition of the Pune Open will help generate greater interest for professional golf in the city and act as a catalyst for players from the region to realize their full potential. We thank the Poona Club Golf Course for partnering with us in staging the Pune Open and look forward to a successful tournament.”
Mr. Navin Thakur, AVP-Marketing, Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd, said, “We are happy to associate with PGTI for Pune Open Golf Championship. We look at this tie up more than a sponsorship, for us this is a collaboration to boost golf as a sport. 24K, a luxury brand from Kolte-Patil that develops high end projects, has introduced the 9 hole golf putting green in 24K Opula which is under construction basis the learning from the customer interests from earlier delivered project. With the profile of people who choose 24K as a abode, we have to set high standards, these are reflected in our 24K properties through the quality of construction, our value added services and just about every aspect. With this collaboration we aim to boost golf as an emerging sport in India.”
The Poona Club Golf Course, the venue for the event, is spread over 100 acres and dotted with majestic banyan trees and other flowering trees. The course, which is one of the top championship venues in the country, is well appreciated for its water bodies and fast and true greens. The course has staged many National level professional, amateur and junior events over the years.
About PGTI:
Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI’s objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI’s governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.
About 24K –
24K is Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd brand for luxury abodes. Design, thinking and planning is reflected at every stage of crafting a 24K project and in every aspect, be it materials, processes or design details, we start from nothing but the best. 24K Province in Aundh Annexe consists of four 24K projects. 24K Glitterati I and 24K Glitterati II have been delivered, while 24K Opula & 24K Atria are available for booking. Collectively these 4 projects are part of 24K Province a mix use development.
