Amritsar getting ready for Digital Revolution

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Parsad laid the foundation stone of the Software Technology Parks of India at Amritsar pm 7th November. 

The Amritsar incubation centre to be built on 2.72 acre of land at an estimated cost of Rs.20 crores will be fully-furnished air-conditioned three-storeyed fully-secured facility with state-of-the-art Network Operation Centre (NOC), informed STPI Director Dr. Omkar Rai. 

The Union Minister along with other ministers including Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and Shri Vijay Sampla, and Punjab's IT Minister Shri Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, in their addresses considered it to be the beginning of the new Digital revolution in the State. 

The Union Minister had earlier inaugurated an ultra-modern seven-storeyed incubation facility at Mohali on 25th October built at a cost of Rs.60 crores which would give boost to the entrepreneurship and encourage startups to make their ideas come true through plug-and-play facility. 

STPI is contributing to the IT and startup ecosystem by reaching out to academia, industry and investors community so that the young startups can have access to everything at one place, said Dr Omkar Rai. 

Union Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Parsad reiterated the point that the region has seen exponential growth in software exports from the region which used to be around Rs.7 crores in 1998 when STPI Mohali was established, and today, has crossed Rs.3,000 crore mark, a milestone for any Tier II City, Dr Rai added.

The new facility would serve the IT/ITeS exporting units by offering modern infrastructural facility including incubation facilities, high speed data communication and connectivity and exports facilitation, creating new direct and indirect employment opportunities too.

Dr Omkar Rai complimented the Government of Punjab and Shri Adaish Partap Singh Kairon for giving flip to startup culture in the state by not only providing land for the projects but also facilitating the entire process of extending STPI's reach in different areas. 

Shri Kairon remarked that giving Punjab's youth another push to make the best use of the evolving digital economy was his dream, and having lived and studied in Amritsar, the STPI unit would change the lives of youth here. 

The overall exports done by STPI registered IT/ITES units in the country increased from Rs 2,93,797 Crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 3,19,569 Crore in 2015-16, an increase of 8.77%, and the largest contribution has been from the STPIs setup in the Tier-II cities.

France confers National Order of Merit on Mac Sarin

Ambassador of France advices people of Chandigarh to preserve its rich heritage

Chandigarh, April 23: The Government of France has conferred the second highest  award on the city’s senior Advocate of Punjab & Haryana Higha Court, and President of Alliance Française, M.L. (Mac) Sarin.

The Ambassador of France in India, Mr. Francois Richier, presented the Chevalier de l'ordre National du 'Merite on behalf of the President of France at a function held at Alliance Française here today.


This is the second highest award in France, which has been conferred on Mac Sarin for his exceptional contribution to the promotion of Indo-French relationship, and his continued dedication and pioneering service to strengthening Alliance Francaise in the city.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Francois Richier said that Chandigarh has a rich heritage and one of the smartest cities in the country, which must now have community participation in preserving its rich heritage including its buildings, designs, furnishings and furniture that are housed in those grand architectural beauties so that the true spirit of the city gets protected.

He said he was proud that France is actively engaged with the city to make it more 'smarter' , and is already working on another project with the Indian Railways to setup rail link between Chandigarh and Delhi that could reduce the travel time to mere one-and-a-half hour.

Some of the famous personalities who have earlier been conferred this award include President Charles DeGaulle, President Francois Mitterrand, Marshal Tito of former Yugoslavia, etc.

Mr. Richier commending Mac Sarin as an exceptional personality, who got associated with Alliance Française in 1985 as a student, and recognizing his dedication and goodwill he was inducted into the Executive Committee of Alliance Française.

He rose to become the President of Alliance which he has served efficiently for the last over 25 years now.

Earlier also he has received the award of Chevalier des Palm Acadamique in 1999 from the then Ambassador of France, Mon. Claude Blanche Maison. The Ordre des Palmes académiques (Order of Academic Palms) is a national order of France for distinguished academics and figures in the world of culture and education.

Mac Sarin has been former Advocate General of Punjab & Haryana High Court, and is known for his philanthropy and contribution to voluntary blood donation movement in the city.

the who's-who of the city were present including the Canada's Deputy High Commissioner Christopher Gibbins, wife of British Deputy High Commissioner, judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and numerous other dignitaries. 

Chandigarh to host Chandigarh Open Tennis ATP Challenger in October

A high-level team of world-class tennis tournament organizers visited Chandigarh to inspect the facilities and arrangements for the Chandigarh Open ATP Challenger Tour 2016. 
Fabricio Valdivieso from Ecuador, who would be the tournament director along with Tournament Manager Javier Sansierra, and Luis O’Cleiry of Spain, went around the tennis stadium facilities for the ATP Challenger.
The CLTA shall be hosting the Chandigarh Open ATP Challenger 2016 in October-November which carries a prize money of US$ 50,000 plus hospitality, equal to $75,000, informed Fabricio.

Fabricio was all praise for the world-class facilities and well-maintained tennis courts at CLTA and looked forward to healthy partnership for this international event.

To be telecast by national and international tv channels, the Chandigarh Open ATP Challenger would greatly enhance the tennis lovers interest in the city besides tourists, across the globe, he said.
The visiting organising team from Spain and Ecuador, along with the CLTA's advisor Dr. V Paes (father of  later met with the officials of CLTA and interacted with some of the prospective sponsors in the city.

The ATP World Tour’s global TV audience has soared in recent years and is projected to exceed 900 million viewers globally in 2015 (www.ATPWorldTour.com)
Matches will be made available to ATP Media’s global broadcast right holders and will also be shown on its official live streaming service TennisTV.
The ATP is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits - the ATP World Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour.
With 62 tournaments in 31 countries, the ATP World Tour showcases the finest male athletes competing in the world’s most exciting venues.
From Australia to Europe and the Americas to Asia, the stars of the 2016 ATP World Tour will battle for prestigious titles and Emirates ATP Rankings points at ATP World Tour Masters 1000, 500 and 250 events, as well as Grand Slams (non ATP events).
At the end of the season only the world’s top 8 qualified singles players and doubles teams will qualify to compete for the last title of the season at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

Madrid Tennis Foundation renews protocol with CLTA

Spain’s Madrid Tennis Federation MoU with CLTA renewed for three years.

With the success of the mutual agreement that Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) signed with its Spanish counterpart, Madrid Tennis Foundation (MTF) in 2013, a fresh protocol was signed here today, extending the arrangement for another three years (from 2016 to 2019). 
The renewed protocol signed by Miguel Diaz Roman, President of Madrid Tennis Federation was handed over to Rajan Kashyap, Patron-in-Chief of CLTA and Chairman of Chandigarh Academy of Rural Tennis (CHART), for his signatures by MTF representative Javier Sansierra at CLTA tennis stadium here today.
With this protocol the CLTA shall continue to receive the world’s top tennis coaches to the city to upgrade the training of tennis players here, and the best performing players from the CLTA would continue to visit Madrid, Spain, annually for advanced coaching, informed Rajan Kashyap.
 CLTA’s endeavours to pick up the talent from rural areas and training these students in the world-class facilities, with opportunity to learn from the world-class coaches have helped the high performers at CLTA tremendously. The young boys and girls selected from remote villages in Punjab and Haryana are showing spectacular results in tournaments in India in their respective age groups.
Jai Singh Gill, President, CLTA informed that under the last agreement (during the period 2103-16)  6 to 10 tennis players accompanied with a coach had visited Madrid three times in the period 2013-16, while four of the world-class coaches came to the city for training the locals.
On behalf of Madrid Tennis Foundation Javier Sansierra expressed complete satisfaction with the progress demonstrated by the young potential tennis champions in tournaments played by them in Madrid, Spain. He announced that on April 24, he himself, along with a group of 8 trainees (six boys and two girls) and  Romen Singh, Chief Coach CLTA would be travelling to Spain for a 3 week attachment in Madrid.
Later during the year, around November, 2016 MTF would be sending one of the best coaches from Spain to work with the trainees at CLTA for a period of two weeks.
On hand at the signing of the MOU were Birbal Wadhera and Robin Kumar Dhingra,  two distinguished champions from  the first batch of CHART enlisted in the year 1988. These alumni are role models for the new crop of players

About CLTA
CLTA has one of the best tennis stadiums in the country, having 10 hard courts, 2 red clay courts, four mini-courts (for 4-8 year olds), two wall practice areas, fully-equipped multi-gym, common rooms, commentators box, and well-appointed guest rooms and players hostel facilities, both for boys and girls.  Of the 450 young players receiving specialized training at the CLTA Stadium, 30 boys and girls are CLTA’s adopted children, and  a part of the residential Chandigarh Academy for Rural Tennis (CHART), which is CLTA’s flagship project. 

www.clta.org

Anovus signs MoUs for specialized studies in Canada and New Zealand

Anovus Institute of Clinical Resarch, a regional centre of Punjab Technical University, has signed memorandum of understanding with two leading institutes of New Zealand and Canada.

Anovus which conducts Diploma and Masters in Clinical Research programmes, would enable students to earn credit for further studies and specialization in New Zealand or Canada.

According to Anovus Director, Dr. Dharinder Tayal, the students of Anovus can now apply for Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research, Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance at Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) Inc., Ontario, Canada.

At the same time, the second collaboration with the Waiariki Institute of Technology, New Zealand, offers students to obtain masters in applied professional studies with specialization in infection, prevention and control, or a programme on vulnerable peoples.

AAPS and Waiariki have recognized the courseware and methodology of Anovus after due diligence and has agreed to provide cross-credits for further advanced studies in their respective countries with considerable financial savings to students in terms of tuition fee and opportunity to potentially work and settle there.

Anovous Institute of Clinical Research, founded in 2009, is regional centre of Punjab Technical University for diploma and M.Sc. programmes in clinical research, and IPR is integral part of the studies. 

For further information:  Dr. Dharinder Tayal, Director, Anovus Institute of Clinical Research, Chandigarh, 9814000720, 0172 2726730

www.anovus.net

Haryana Minister Kavita Jain inaugurates Ritu Chaudhary's Hearing & Speech Clinic

Smt Kavita Jain, Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Women and Child Development, Urban Local Bodies, Government of Haryana, inaugurated a Hearing & Speech Clinic of Ritu Chaudhary in Mansa Devi Complex here today.
She launched a public service campaign of Ritu Chaudhary to create awareness amongst parents of young children to help them diagnose any problem like down syndrome, hearing impairement, cerebral palsy, learning disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), etc.
Smt. Kavita Jain appealed to parents that early intervention to detect any deformity or disability can help them take therapeutic and remedial interventions well in time.
She said that the Government of Haryana is making special efforts to address the issues of child-mother health, and that of the differently-abled.
The Haryana Government, she informed, was going to organise a job fair for the disabled on 16th of April at Panchkula, where the disability of those attending would also be examined, and appropriate counselling would be done to skill them and suggest suitable job opportunities for them.  Depending on its success, such job fairs for differently-abled would be organised in other parts of Haryana too, she added.

Ritu Chaudhry informed that symptoms of such serious life-long disabilities, normally can be detected quite early by examination of child’s social and cognitive behaviour, and ability to respond to the environment, for which her clinic is completely equipped.
Ritu Chaudhary is a professionally trained audiologist and speech pathologist from PGIMER, having 20 years of experience in audiology, speech and hearing diagnostics, etc.  She is trained in auditory verbal therapy in rehabilitation programme for cochlear implant patients.
The clinic has a team of audiologists, speech language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and special educators who work with parents to rehabilitate the children with any disability and provide customised therapy.
Ritu Chaudhary said that the Centre also provides specialised care for patients with learning disabilities, stuttering, cleft lip and palate, voice disorders, or swallowing disorder or even loss of speech after head injury.
Ritu Chaudhary, as a Rotarian and chairperson of the Gift of Hearing project of Rotary Club Chandigarh, had been engaged in rendering free services in slums and Government schools for identifying children with hearing and speech disabilities.

Ritu Chaudhary, Senior Audiologist & Speech Pathologist (Ex-PGI)
SCO 98, Swastik Vihar, Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula
M: 98557 51135, 0172-5009345

ASSOCHAM national conference focus on employment of persons with disabilities in food processing industry

The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year. In India, the food sector has emerged as a high-growth and high-profit sector due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry.Enhancing employment opportunities for people with disabilities is one of the main concerns of the disability sector in India. 

ASSOCHAM organised a national conference at Chandigarh today on "Sustainable Development of Persons with Disabilities through Food Processing Industries" at Hotel Shivalikview, Chandigarh.

Shri Ashok Khanna, Chairman, State Coordination Committee, ASSOCHAM in his welcome address said that the Food Processing industry in India has the potential to contribute to the country’s agricultural growth and employment, alleviate rural poverty, guarantee food and nutritional security and contain food inflation.

It is widely accepted that the food processing sector is the most appropriate sector for creating jobs for rural poor, and thus reduce the burden on agricultural sector for creation of their livelihood. He further said that improving vocational training and employment opportunities for people with disability is a critical element for enhancing the quality of life for individuals with disability, their families, but there are also substantial gains for the broader economy.

Smt Rama Chari, Director, Diversity and Equal Opportunity Centre (DEOC) said that enhancing employment opportunities for people with disabilities is one of the main concerns of the disability sector in India. There is growing evidence that people with disabilities comprise between 4 and 10 percent of the Indian population (around 40-90 million individuals). The slow progress in expanding opportunities for disabled people in India results in substantial losses to people with disabilities themselves, and to the society and  economy at large in terms of under-developed human capital, loss of output from productive disabled people, and impacts on households and communities.

Dr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Government of India in his address he said that one may hardly find any job or assignment that cannot be performed by the persons with disabilities. If given the proper environment, majority of them can be made economically productive and useful citizens. But as things stand today, the situation is quite precarious in both developed and developing countries, where working age persons with disabilities experience significantly lower employment rates and much higher unemployment rates than in case of persons without disabilities.He proposed that there should be coherence in the policy outlook of the government as there multiple ministries and bodies are involved.

Shri S K Gulati, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary , Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Haryana, in his address he said that according to the Census 2011, there are 26 crores person with disability in India. This includes persons with visual impairment, 2 hearing impairment, speech impairment, locomotors impairment and mental disabilities.

He also added that the earlier emphasis on medical rehabilitation has now been replaced by an emphasis on social rehabilitation with right based approach. There has been an increasing recognition of abilities   of persons with disabilities and emphasis on mainstreaming them in the society based on their capabilities. People with disabilities constitute a huge talent pool.

He further added that Food Processing Industry (FPI) is traditionally dominated by unorganized players while entry of multi-national companies is driving the growth of organized segment in the industry. Industry growth along with demand for quality standards and technology adoption in manufacturing are driving the need for fresh skilling and up-skilling in the sector.

Dr P M Ghole, Chief General Manager, NABARD- Punjab in his special address said that optimum opportunities must be provided so as to galvanize the potentials and capabilities of the persons with disabilities in food processing industries. Accordingly, a number of schemes/ plans formulated by the Government of India are being implemented for instituting and modernizing food processing units, creation of infrastructure, research and development and human resource development,' apart from other promotional measures aimed at expanding the processed food sector. Ironically, there is abysmally lack of awareness or dissemination of information among the persons with disabilities and their careers about the avenues of their engagement in food processing related activities as a sustainable source of livelihood.

Other speakers who addressed the Conference included Dr J S Saini, Professor & Dean (Consultancy), National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Dr. Hemant Singh Keshwal, Coordinator, Government Rehabilitation Institute For Intellectual Disabilities, Shri R C Dhara, Consultant, Department of Industries and Commerce, Govt of Haryana, Smt Shabina Bano, Deputy Program Manager, The Hans Foundation, Shri Rajesh Jain, Deputy Zonal General Manager, NSIC- Ludhiana, GoI, Dr P M Ghole, Chief General Manager, NABARD- Punjab, Shri Paramjit Singh ,Principal Director, Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship Development – RCED, Shri Gunpreet Singh, Director, Shl Agro Food Inc, Shri Bhavneshwar Sharma, State Head, Helpage India- Chandigarh, Shri Sanjay Nigam, Assistant Director, Department of Food Processing Industries, MSME Development Institute, Karnal, Ministry of MSME, Govt of India, Shri Arun Sharma, Project Manager, Sarthak Educational Trust and Smt Thilakam Rajendran, Director, ATPAR.

KidZania is Named “Best International Franchise”

KidZania is a unique business model. Already in Mumbai, we do hope it would open up soon in north too.





KidZania is Named “Best International Franchise” | KidZania Journal:



"KidZania is one of the fastest growing kid’s hands-on entertainment brands in the world. With 21 locations in 18 countries, it has welcomed over 50 million visitors—since first opening in Mexico City back in 1999—whom have experienced fun and learning through realistic role play.

"



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UT Adviser Vijay Dev would be missed

Whatever the controversy may be around Mr Vijay K Dev, Advisor to UT Administrator, he was a man of few words, focussed, decisive, resolute, and ready to support any good activity or a project in the city.  He was a literateur, well-read with thorough grounding in different scriptures which he quoted extempore during his speeches. A remarkable man...Chandigarh will miss him.


http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/dev-shifted-parimal-rai-new-ut-adviser/206988.html

Chandigarh "The City Beautiful"

No other #city is as #beautiful as #Chandigarh @MyChandigarh.







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List of startups from Chandigarh that are making it big

List of startups from Chandigarh that are making it big - MyVenture.in:



Chandigarh, the most planned city in India is spearheading a robust startup ecosystem. Known for its wide roads, appreciable infrastructure and first rate administration, ‘The City Beautiful’ is all set to become the next big startup hub after Bangalore. Chandigarh already has to its name -the head offices of several top notch companies such as Quark, Infosys, Dell, TechMahindra, and IBM. Many novice entrepreneurs see an excellent opportunity to leverage the rich infrastructure and administration of Chandigarh. 



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Tech Invent 2016 | Mohali

Tech Invent 2016 | Mohali:



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Arijit Singh: Live in Chandigarh

Arijit Singh: Live in Chandigarh, Parade Ground | Whats Hot:



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