Frost in Munnar to Hit Q4 Tea Production

KOCHI: The tea plantations in Munnar which are already in a crisis due to heavy fall in prices and higher labour costs are facing another blow with the mercury levels in Munnar falling to as low as minus two degree Celsius, affecting tea production of about 6-7 lakh kg. According to initial estimates, the sudden and unprecedented dip in temperatures which came into effect since Sunday has severely affected even tea leaves which were ready for plucking in about 400 hectares.

Chacko P. Thomas, Managing Director, Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Co (KDHP), said the negative effects of the frostbite will impact tea production for the next 3 months. "We expect the tea production to drop at least 10-15% in the January-March period, with the last quarter performance to be very poor," he said. Last year, KDHP produced 20 million kilos of tea and though the company expects it to remain the same, it fears the net profit to be much lower than last year’s figure of Rs.23.94 crores. 

The Munnar area contributes nearly half of Kerala’s total tea production of 63 million kg. It was reported that such falls in the mercury in this season are unheard of in Munnar. The situation caught the region unawares as there was no meteorological forecast on this as well. The weather at present is that of typical frosty days, with low morning temperature, cloudless and windless with very low humidity levels. Frost is expected to hit again during the course of this week.

The KDHP, which has the highest number of tea gardens in the region, is the most affected by the unexpected cold climate.

Adding to these woes, exports are much lower this year both on volume and value terms, partly due to the glut in Kenya. The industry sources point out that the future outlook also seems to be grim as there is adequate quantity of tea in the worldwide market and therefore the tea price would be lower.  Africa and other tea producing countries still continue to harvest healthy crops.  “In this situation we do not see any major upward trend in tea prices and with COP, going up tea companies find it difficult to be viable,” Mr. Chacko P. Thomas said.

Move over celebrities, it’s ‘You’ on your tabletop calendar

Kochi: For years, companies have been producing wall or tabletop calendars after calendars, and that too year after, to be precisely. Sceneries were an old trend so are the great personalities. Lately, since the topics like conserving the nature and recycling have caught up, our tabletops too have reflected them. However, celebrities, may it be from cinema or sports, have been a consistent trend. In this easy-to-predict clutter of ho-hums, how would you like to see yourself as the best inspirer of your life and creator of your future? Mir Group, a Kochi-based business house with huge investments in real estate, bio-sciences and hospitality sectors, has been consecutively launching theme-based table top calendars for the last three years and this year, the theme of their calendar is “you are the future”, with a mirror embedded on the base so as to see yourself every time you look at the calendar through the square die-cut passing through all pages, garnished with some inspirational quotes.

The unique and custom-made aphorisms include you are the future (visualize), you are the true patron of your life (delegate), set the trend for a healthy lifestyle (pursue), you contribute to a beautiful tomorrow (initiate), you represent every caste, color and creed (influence) and you are the gateway to a radical change (inspire).

It was Bose Krishanmachari Bose, President, Kochi-Muzris Biennale Foundation, who launched the calendar in a function, held in Kochi.

‘Homage to mother’, a tribute to the selfless love of all mothers in 2013 and ‘joy of giving’ without expecting anything in return in 2014 were two of the other widely-accepted themes of Mir Calendars previously. Renowned personalities including Mohanlal picked up the calendar where a separate space was provided where one could paste one’s photo with mother, to pay true a very personalized and realistic homage to one’s mother.

.

helloDOC, India’s first holistic family preventive clinic, opens in Kochi

• helloDOC, a primary and preventive ecosystem, offers both allopathic and ayurvedic doctors’ care, visiting specialists, doctors on call, periodical check-up, diet clinic, counseling, medicinal garden, electronic health records, health store, organic bar and yoga studio under the same roof
• As Kerala is being projected as the diabetic capital of India and heart disease-related deaths occur here as twice that of the USA, the promoters of helloDOC highlight a recent WHO study among the 15-65 age group that called for a strong primary and preventive healthcare in the state

Kochi, January 21, 2015: helloDOC, India’s first primary and preventive healthcare centre, was inaugurated in Panampilly Nagar, Kochi by the celebrity couple Rima Kallingal and Aashiq Abu today. A membership-based lifestyle joint to promote healthy living, helloDOC offers both allopathic and ayurvedic doctors’ care, visiting specialists, doctors on call, periodical check-up, diet clinic, counseling, electronic health records, health store, organic bar and yoga studio among others, all under one roof in a friendly atmosphere, with an amazing ambience and a royal service to match. Dr. Jase John, Director, helloDOC and an allopathic doctor said helloDOC is on a mission to revolutionize the healthcare model with patient-centric care imbibing best of both the worlds. “We are the first of its kind lifestyle ecosystem blending both the Western and Eastern medical practices keeping in mind the sagely principle of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, that is “Treat often, comfort always”. So, what we would like to mostly prescribe are healthy meals based on our in-house dietitian’s recipes,” he said.

helloDOC is a membership based family lifestyle clinic offers three types of memberships namely Select, Essential and Essential Plus. All types of memberships come with any number of consultations with the allopathic and ayurvedic doctors, routine periodical check ups, visiting specialists consultations on referral, up to 40% discounts on medicines, digital health records, e-mail correspondence with the doctors, half yearly reviews and graphical representation for easy understanding. 

Recommended for patrons up to the age of 30, Select includes a select number of tests and services, carefully picked to ensure the best overall health and quality of life to the low-risk demographics while

Essential also includes a select number of tests and services packaged to suit the quality of life to the mid-risk demographics, aged between 30 and 45. Recommended for patrons above 45 with lifestyle diseases or who are smokers, Essential Plus offers, in addition to the tests and consultations, any number of visits for the dietician’s consultation, dental consultation and tooth cleaning and free and periodic doctor’s call on request.

Dr. Varun Nishanth, Medical Director, helloDOC said the concept is the outcome of World Health Organization’s call for a strong primary and preventive healthcare in Kerala followed by a recent study among the 15-65 age group in the state. He also highlighted a report in the Indian Journal of Medical Research in its May 2013 issue which projected Kerala as the diabetic capital of India while adding the fact that heart disease-related deaths occur here as twice that of the USA. “Our health and longevity indices are world-acclaimed but we are sitting on a time bomb. If we do not act now, it’s going to be a now or never situation,” Dr. Varun Nishanth said.

Considering these, helloDOC is positioned as a completely feel-good center with a full scale medicinal garden setup for the use of members under the guidance of the reputed herbalists; an organic health products’ store stocking from the most basics like rock salt to the most complex of ingredients; and an

Organic bar to serve healthy meals exclusively for the members.

“Once we establish soon in Kochi, we would be expanding to more locations so that we can open the helloDOC quality of primary and preventive healthcare to more people,” Dr. Jase John said.

For more details, please visit www.hellodocworld.com

Club Houses Go Royal; the Loom at Asset Kasavu Sets the Trend

·         The Loom, the recently-opened club house with star facilities at the Asset Kasavu, south India’s first CRISIL 7-star rated villa project, creates a new wave in club houses

Kochi: As the number of Malayalis who do not wish to confine their lives just to their homes and workplaces is growing, the waiting list and the entrance fee to join the few luxury clubs is also growing at a faster pace. The new generation Malayali will be quite disturbed if he finds his gym, swimming pool and the library are at three different corners of the city. Fortunately, the leading real estate developers have found a royal solution to this problem by presenting a totally revamped concept of club houses.

A few builders in the state have already responded to this demand from the upper crust of the fast growing luxury segment by setting up club houses with very modern and quality amenities along with their luxurious villas’ or apartments’ projects. The Loom, the recently-opened state-of-the art club house at Asset Kasavu, a 51-villa project from Asset Homes, one of the leading builders in the state, is a case in point.  What makes the Loom unique is the grandeur it adds to Kasavu, the first villa project in south India to receive CRISIL 7-Star rating.

Construction of Asset Kasavu is fast nearing completion at a picturesque West Kalamassery, on the banks of river Muttar, a tributary of Periyar. What is interesting to note is that the Loom, the club house with star facilities, has already been inaugurated. The 3-strorey 10,000-sq-ft Loom, as its name denotes, will be a loom for weaving some finest of life experiences adorned with golden lace that is Kasavu.

“The changing lifestyle is our motivation for building such a club house. Most of us wish to spend the weekends in a luxurious manner and we have arranged the star facilities considering this aspect,” says V. Sunil Kumar, Managing Director, Asset Homes.

The Loom has been built at a location closer to the river. The major attraction in the ground floor of this fully air-conditioned club house is a multipurpose auditorium. The modern seating arrangements for more than 300 persons and a stage make the auditorium more attractive. A kids’ pLay area with a slide, kids’ basketball and various computer games has also been arranged at the left side of the well-appointed reception area in the lobby. The second floor offers facilities for playing billiards and table tennis, a beautifully -designed library and two guest rooms with quality facilities and spacious balconies. A well-equipped gymnasium, resort-model swimming pools for both for kids and adults with original wooden paneling forms one side of the third floor. The steam and sauna facilities along with showers are part of the pools.

“The needs of those who buy homes by spending millions of rupees were in mind while we designed this club house. And as per the schedule, the villas in Kasavu will be handed over to the owners in 2015 itself,” points out Anil Varma, Executive Director, Asset Homes.

The Loom, undoubtedly a trail blazer among the stand-alone club houses, will thus mark the beginning of a new wave in club houses with royal facilities which can enrich the quality time spent by the new Malayali who is surging ahead with higher volumes of disposable income but hard-pressed for time and thus is always on the lookout for some very high quality relaxation and recreation facilities.

Based on the master plan of the Singapore-based renowned architecture fir, Site Concepts International, it was Bineesh Sukumar Architects and Planners who have designed Kasavu, which would emerge as a milestone among the housing projects in the state along with the Loom, club house.

‘My Munnar, Clean Munnar’ Rally Picks up a Lot of Litter on its Way

Munnar: Kannan Devan Hills Plantations Company Pvt Ltd (KDHP) took ‘My Munnar Campaign’ a step ahead by organising ‘My Munnar, Clean Munnar’ awareness rally’ jointly with High Range Wildlife & Environment Preservation Association (HRW & EPA). Chacko P Thomas, Managing Director, KDHP inaugurated the rally held at Munnar Town.

People from several walks of life including politicians, local NGOs, Forest and Police Department officials, religious institutions and Merchants’ Association marched alongside KDHP employees and HRW &EPA members for two hours to show solidarity with Kannan Devan Hills Planations’ mission to promote a clean and hygienic environment in Munnar. Around 250 people turned out for the rally.

The rally flagged off from Old Munnar. The participants collected litter in all their way as the rally proceeded across the town and Nullathanni Bridge and distributed pamphlets to tourists to educate them about the ‘My Munnar, Clean Munnar’ drive. B. P. Kariappa, Chairman of HRW &E PA, MLA, ex-MLA, and representatives of ‘My Munnar Campaign’ addressed the gathering.

In addition to the rally, KDHP, the largest stakeholder in KDH region, also organised separate awareness rallies in all its seven estates. The campaign which specially covered major tourist spots was attended by school children and employees of all estates.

Mother of all bull markets is coming, says Sudarshan Sukhani

Winner of Capstocks Young Investor Challenge receives prize 

He was delivering the keynote address at the 25^th anniversary celebrations of Capstocks & Securities in Thiruvananthapuram

·         Inaugurating the celebrations, Ms. Chitra Ramakrishna, MD and CEO, National Stock Exchange, asked the people of Kerala to match up their financial literacy with their much-acclaimed general literacy

Thiruvananthapuram: Chitra Ramakrishna, MD and CEO, National Stock Exchange, asked the people of Kerala to match up their financial literacy with their much-acclaimed general literacy. Chitra Ramakrishana, the first woman MD of NSE, was speaking after inaugurating the 25th anniversary celebrations of Capstocks and Securities (India), one of the leading stock broking and financial services houses in South India. “Though there have been general improvements in economic conditions, the average savings of people are still in single digit, which should be raised. It is our aspiration to help more people to partake in the prosperity that is there. One product we want an average investor to look at is exchange traded fund (ETF),” she said.

[It may be explained that ETF is a security that tracks an index, a commodity or a basket of assets like an index fund, but trades like a stock on an exchange. ETFs experience price changes throughout the day as they are bought and sold. Because it trades like a stock, an ETF does not have its net asset value (NAV) calculated every day like a mutual fund does. By owning an ETF, one gets the diversification of an index fund as well as the ability to sell short, buy on margin and purchase as little as one share. Another advantage is that the expense ratios for most ETFs are lower than those of the average mutual fund. When buying and selling ETFs, one has to pay the same commission to one’s broker that one would pay on any regular order.]

In his keynote address, Sudarshan Sukhani, a prominent share market analyst and well-known TV personality, said that most of the retail investors could stick their investments to 10 or so companies among the Nifty Fifty as they were chosen through various and thorough scrutiny of experienced professionals. Sukhani said that it is enough for the ordinary investors to invest only in best quality stocks. “Do not invest in companies that are listed only in BSE. Go for the ones which are listed both in BSE and NSE. Also, do not invest in mid-cap or small-cap stocks and if at all, restrict it to a maximum of 20% of your investments in stocks. Do not trade in derivatives. Futures are only for professional investors,” he told a packed RDR Auditorium, Thiruvananthapuram. He also said we are about to see a mother of all bull markets.

“In a bull market of say 15 years, there may be 10 to 15 or 20 bull-bear cycles and in a bear cycle, we should always buy. Never challenge the reason of the markets but go with its flow. Also, never base your decisions on news as most news would be late when you get it,” he said. He has also urged to increase one’s allocation of investments in shares up to 50% or more as we are entering into a bull phase.

V. Rajendran, Managing Director, Capstocks, explained the logic behind his oft-quoted predication that BSE index will cross Rs.1 lakh in 2020. “Sensex EPS (combined earnings of 30 companies in the Sensex) has grown 12% to become 1340 in 2013-14 over that of the previous year.  With the stable governance and new scope of economy, a 15% earnings growth in Sensex can be expected during 2014-15. Historically, Indian share markets have traded between a P/E of 13 and 28.  An estimated earnings growth of 15% and the current P/E of 19 will itself take the Sensex to 30,000 by March 2015. The pace of Sensex earnings growth would accelerate further next year and an estimated 20 per cent growth for 2015-16 will take the index earnings to 1,850. This would translate to a Sensex target of around 40,000 by March 2016. If we extend Sensex earnings further with higher growth rates of 25% and a P/E of 21, the Sensex will touch 50,000 by March 2017 and 1,00,000 by March 2020,” he said.

The prizes amounting to Rs.1 lakh to the winners of Young Investors Challenge, a  mock  investment contest organized by Capstocks for the degree and PG students in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been handed over to  Serin Cyriac, Bhavan’s Royal Institute of Management, Kochi; Dinesh A., Kongu Engineering College, Erode; Bharathan Syam, St. Albert’s College at the function. Dr. K. Ramdas, Head of Radiation Oncology Department, Regional Cancer Center, received a cheque of Rs.5 lakh on behalf of the needy patients in the center. The fund was mobilized by the management, staff, business partners and dealers of Capstocks in connection with their 25^th anniversary celebrations.  26 long term investors and three franchisees of Capstocks were also honored in the event. It may be recalled that the company had given away equipment to set up smart classrooms to five needy schools across the state as part of its silver jubilee.

Grand Legend premium furniture launched

Grand Legend logo unveiling in Kochi

• Grand Legend furniture, made of treated and imported teak, mahogany, pincoda and mpingo timbers, are manufactured in a 60,000 sq. ft. modern factory at KINFRA Park, Kazhakootam

• Grand Legend is the forward integration project of Overseas Air Travel group, which has years of experience in timber trading and import

Kochi: After completing a successful year in exporting, Grand Legend furniture, manufactured in a 60000-sq-ft modern factory set up with an investment of Rs. 25 crores at KINFRA Park, Kazhakootam, has been launched in the domestic market.  Made mainly of scientifically treated, imported timber, Grand Legend offers a series of premium home and office furniture primarily targeting at the upper strata of the market. M. Parijathan, Managing Director, Mega Exports, which is the promoting company of Grand Legend, said that more than 200 people experienced in the most modern furniture manufacturing practices are working at their Kazhakkoottam factory in the three divisions including manufacturing, joinery and upholstery. The factory has a production capacity to make 20 luxury sofa sets a day. The company has launched sofas in more than 65 different finishing and styles.  There are 25 varied models each in bed sets and dining tables. Parijathan said that the company’s own well-equipped R&D, joinery division and the team of designers enable it to design and manufacture furniture as per unique customer requirements and trends and suiting to the various shapes of rooms where they are placed and meant to be used.

Presently, the Grand Legend products are exported to the Gulf countries and Europe. To enter the domestic market, the company has appointed 65 distributors across the state in addition to long-term exhibitions organized in major cities. In phases, the brand is planning to spread pan India.  

Grand Legend is a forward integration project of Mr. Parijathan, the main promoter of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Overseas Air Travels group which has been operating in the travel industry since 1981 and in timber imports and trading for the past 6 years. Teak, mahogany, mpingo and pincoda, the main types of woods used in furniture manufacturing are imported from Malaysia, Burma, Africa and Central America. Parijathan said that even though around 25% of Kerala is covered with forests, timber obtained from the Department of Forests satisfies only a quarter of the demand it has in furniture making in the state. Teak, made available through auction by the Dept. of Forests, comprises the major chunk of the domestic supply. While the domestically available teak costs around Rs.4000 per cu ft, hardwood mpingo, imported from African countries, at par with teak in quality and finishes, costs only less than Rs. 1500 per cu ft. Mpingo also lasts long for many years.

In the estimated pan Indian furniture market of Rs.70,000 crores per year, Kerala is ruling the roost with its high standards of living and unique lifestyles, with an annual market size of Rs.10,000 crores.  The growth of Kerala’s upper middle class has also turned out to be a fillip for the state’s furniture market which is showing a growth of 25 to 30% per annum. Considering these, Grand Legend is expecting a commendable growth in the state.

For more details, please visit www.grandlegend.co.in