The importance of Bio-fuel (bio-diesel & ethanol) is increasing rapidly with growing anxiety over crude oil supply and fast climatic changes. Bio-diesel is an environment friendly fuel prepared from edible and non-edible vegetable oils. Blending of Bio-diesel with petro-diesel has tremendous positive social, ecological and economic impact on the society. If India wants to become a Developed Nation by 2020, as envisaged by former President, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, we need to become self sufficient in the energy sector.Global Energy Scenario: - Petroleum products constitute a major source of energy needs of the world. Energy is one of the major inputs for the economic development of any country. According to conventional wisdom, the world is likely to run out of petroleum in the near future. Besides, current patterns of energy production and use have negative impact on the environment. At the same time, there is a need, especially in developing countries, for higher levels of energy supply and use for economic development. This has generated renewed interest in bio-fuels.
Rudolph Diesel (1858-1913) had famously said, “The use of vegetable oils for engine fuel may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in course of time as important as petroleum and coal tar products of the present time” -.Needless to say, his words have come true.Indian Prospects: -Oil constitutes over 35% of the primary energy consumption in India. It is expected that this would rise both in terms of absolute amount and proportion. The International Energy Outlook (IEO) has projected that India will consume over 5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030; more than double its current consumption. In the light of the above, Government of India is expected to announce its National Bio-fuel policy soon. The policy is expected to lay special emphasis on bio-diesel as diesel constitutes a major portion of our petroleum consumption.
Bio-diesel can be manufactured from both edible & non-edible oilseeds through trans-esterification. However the demand for edible oil exceeds supply, therefore Government has decided to use non-edible oilseeds as bio-diesel feedstock. Jatropha and Karanj have been found to be most suitable crops in the Indian conditions. India plans to replace around 5% of its current 40 million tonnes of annual diesel consumption with bio-diesel within five years. This has opened an era of opportunity for entrepreneurs and corporates. The Planning Commission has suggested that, corporates should be given tax cuts to adopt contract farming of Jatropha and Karanj in private wastelands. It has further recommended that Jatropha and Karanj cultivation should be covered under NREGA.
Thus we can safely presume Bio-diesel sector has a bright future.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Market Opportunity for Solar Power
Globally, energy is fast emerging as a critical issue, especially as existing power generation options have limitations in terms of growth potential and long-term sustenance. With the Sun supplying 10,000 times the amount of energy needed every year by Earth, and with technological breakthroughs fast lowering harnessing and distribution costs, solar power is fast emerging as the most viable and eco-friendly power generation option for tomorrow—with no moving parts, no noise and zero emissions.
Solar Market grew by 30% over in the last 18 years. In Year 2006, the global market for PV energy was 2 GW, grew by 41% compared to the previous year. Market is projected to grow from $15.6 Billion in 2006 to $69.3 Billion by 2015. Further California Solar Initiative should add another incremental $13.2 Billion cumulatively.
The PV space is expected to grow five-fold to a global market size of Rs 300,000 crore ($70 billion) by Year 2015 as per Clean Edge Energy research. As the group is one of the early entrants in this space, and having exposure to domestic and international markets since 1994, Saptashva is well-positioned to leverage this explosive growth curve.
UBS’s global demand estimate is for solar electricity to grow from 5GW in 2008 to 22GW by 2012 (a 46% CAGR). It expects Spain, Italy, and France to increase to 35% by 2012 (up from 27% in 2007) of the global market and drive solar growth in the near term. Its estimate for global solar demand in 2010 is 10GW, which is the base case scenario. The aggressive case assumes faster adoption of solar PV in key growth markets of Spain and the US, with the approval of higher feed-in tariffs in Spain and passage of an energy bill in the US, which includes the extension of Solar Investment Tax Credits with removal of the residential cap and utility exemption.
Given the uncertainty of solar in the US market in 2009 and 2010, UBS believes it is more prudent to assume the conservative scenario. However, if the US Energy Bill passes with the solar investment tax credits included, UBS believes the more likely scenario would be closer to its aggressive case of 13GW by 2010. The conservative scenario assumes a five-year CAGR of 30%, resulting in 5.5GW by 2010, and the aggressive scenario assumes a five-year CAGR of 55%, resulting in 13GW in 2010. The conservative scenario is based on sustaining the 2002-07 solar CAGR of 30%. Global solar demand reached 2GW in 2006, and UBS believes demand could grow by 70% in 2007 to reach 3.4GW lead by demand growth in Spain and Germany. It estimates that global demand will grow at a steady rate above 40% year over year until 2011, as solar PV generated electricity cost approaches grid electricity in regions with high retail electricity rates and high solar irradiance.
Solar Market grew by 30% over in the last 18 years. In Year 2006, the global market for PV energy was 2 GW, grew by 41% compared to the previous year. Market is projected to grow from $15.6 Billion in 2006 to $69.3 Billion by 2015. Further California Solar Initiative should add another incremental $13.2 Billion cumulatively.
The PV space is expected to grow five-fold to a global market size of Rs 300,000 crore ($70 billion) by Year 2015 as per Clean Edge Energy research. As the group is one of the early entrants in this space, and having exposure to domestic and international markets since 1994, Saptashva is well-positioned to leverage this explosive growth curve.
UBS’s global demand estimate is for solar electricity to grow from 5GW in 2008 to 22GW by 2012 (a 46% CAGR). It expects Spain, Italy, and France to increase to 35% by 2012 (up from 27% in 2007) of the global market and drive solar growth in the near term. Its estimate for global solar demand in 2010 is 10GW, which is the base case scenario. The aggressive case assumes faster adoption of solar PV in key growth markets of Spain and the US, with the approval of higher feed-in tariffs in Spain and passage of an energy bill in the US, which includes the extension of Solar Investment Tax Credits with removal of the residential cap and utility exemption.
Given the uncertainty of solar in the US market in 2009 and 2010, UBS believes it is more prudent to assume the conservative scenario. However, if the US Energy Bill passes with the solar investment tax credits included, UBS believes the more likely scenario would be closer to its aggressive case of 13GW by 2010. The conservative scenario assumes a five-year CAGR of 30%, resulting in 5.5GW by 2010, and the aggressive scenario assumes a five-year CAGR of 55%, resulting in 13GW in 2010. The conservative scenario is based on sustaining the 2002-07 solar CAGR of 30%. Global solar demand reached 2GW in 2006, and UBS believes demand could grow by 70% in 2007 to reach 3.4GW lead by demand growth in Spain and Germany. It estimates that global demand will grow at a steady rate above 40% year over year until 2011, as solar PV generated electricity cost approaches grid electricity in regions with high retail electricity rates and high solar irradiance.
XL Telecom- Multi-Multi bagger stock
XL Telecom & Energy has transformed itself from a low margin Telecom company by diversifying substantially into the high margin business of Solar Photo Voltaic Modules (SPV). It has a order book of around 2.2 billion in Solar Photo Voltaic divisions and has secured orders for the supply of Fuel Ethanol from the oil companies.Buy XL Telecom & Energy at Current Market Price of Rs 60for a 24 month target of Rs 1800.This company has transformed itself from a low margin Telecom company by diversifying substantially into the high margin business of Solar Photo Voltaic Modules (SPV). It has a order book of around 2.2 billion in Solar Photo Voltaic divisions and has secured orders for the supply of Fuel Ethanol from the oil companies. For the period 2007-2008 barring unforseen circumstances the company should post a PAT of approximately Rs 45 crores on an equity of Rs 14.5 crores. For 2008-2009 barring unforseen circumstances the company should close with a turnover of Rs 1292 crores and PAT of Rs 155 crores. By then the equity would be Rs 26 crores. Thus the expected EPS would be Rs 60 approximately. It is expected for 2009-2010 that turnover would be approximately Rs 1645 crores yielding a PAT of Rs 222 crores which will result an EPS of 85.This Share therefore has the potential to touch Rs 1800 within the next 24 months.Technical View: Stock has very strong support around 60region and minor resistance at INR 55.00
Praj Industries- Giant in making in Bio-Diesel segment
Praj Industries is the world's single largest supplier of molasses based distillery technology, plant and equipment.
Demand: The need for alternative energy sources like bio-fuels, ethanol etc., other than oil, considering the huge volatility in the crude oil prices. World ethanol demand is slated to double in the next four years from 40 billion to 80 billion litres. Praj, which gets 50 per cent of its revenues from global markets, is seen as an emerging player. The government’s decision to blend ethanol with fuel has given a major boost to Praj’s business.
First-mover advantage & Barriers to Entry: Praj has "finger-printed" almost 2,500 varieties of molasses from around the world at its research laboratory. Bio-processes are not easy to master. It requires thorough knowledge of raw materials and the ability to offer flexible solutions for commercial acceptance. New players can't easily get in.
Investors: The Company has caught the attention of global and Indian investors. Vinod Khosla, the Silicon Valley-based billionaire who has recently climbed onto the ethanol bandwagon, has bought a 10 per cent stake for Rs 117.1 crore. Khosla’s interest in Praj is primarily because of its R&D in different feedstock. That was also one of the reasons why Virginia- based Delta-T tried unsuccessfully in 2002 to acquire a stake in Praj. Top broker-investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala owns 7 per cent. His logic: “Ethanol is hot globally and this company has the potential to become a global leader.”
Competitors: The main competitor of Praj in Fuel Ethanol plants would be Alfa Laval. Praj officials expect other players to enter the field because of the huge opportunity available.
Some more facts:Built more than 50 plants worldwide in the past four years.Has customers in over 30 countries, and continues to invest heavily in R&D.Captured a 6 per cent global market share despite stiff competition from bigger rivals. Praj aims to double its market share in a few years.The company did not neglect the domestic market and has established a 60 per cent market share within India.Debt-free.
Risks: Global technology developments could easily undermine Praj’s traditional strength — its research.
Conclusion: A good Long term investment. Tatget INR 350 by Dec'2009
Short term target INR 100 by Jan'2009
As per Sep 08 share holding pattern of the company, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is holding 11,477,642 shares and Rekha Jhunjhunwala is holding 4,048,000 shares of Praj Industries
Demand: The need for alternative energy sources like bio-fuels, ethanol etc., other than oil, considering the huge volatility in the crude oil prices. World ethanol demand is slated to double in the next four years from 40 billion to 80 billion litres. Praj, which gets 50 per cent of its revenues from global markets, is seen as an emerging player. The government’s decision to blend ethanol with fuel has given a major boost to Praj’s business.
First-mover advantage & Barriers to Entry: Praj has "finger-printed" almost 2,500 varieties of molasses from around the world at its research laboratory. Bio-processes are not easy to master. It requires thorough knowledge of raw materials and the ability to offer flexible solutions for commercial acceptance. New players can't easily get in.
Investors: The Company has caught the attention of global and Indian investors. Vinod Khosla, the Silicon Valley-based billionaire who has recently climbed onto the ethanol bandwagon, has bought a 10 per cent stake for Rs 117.1 crore. Khosla’s interest in Praj is primarily because of its R&D in different feedstock. That was also one of the reasons why Virginia- based Delta-T tried unsuccessfully in 2002 to acquire a stake in Praj. Top broker-investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala owns 7 per cent. His logic: “Ethanol is hot globally and this company has the potential to become a global leader.”
Competitors: The main competitor of Praj in Fuel Ethanol plants would be Alfa Laval. Praj officials expect other players to enter the field because of the huge opportunity available.
Some more facts:Built more than 50 plants worldwide in the past four years.Has customers in over 30 countries, and continues to invest heavily in R&D.Captured a 6 per cent global market share despite stiff competition from bigger rivals. Praj aims to double its market share in a few years.The company did not neglect the domestic market and has established a 60 per cent market share within India.Debt-free.
Risks: Global technology developments could easily undermine Praj’s traditional strength — its research.
Conclusion: A good Long term investment. Tatget INR 350 by Dec'2009
Short term target INR 100 by Jan'2009
As per Sep 08 share holding pattern of the company, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is holding 11,477,642 shares and Rekha Jhunjhunwala is holding 4,048,000 shares of Praj Industries
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Why Lehman and Merrill fell
If you lost your money in the market crash of January 2008, here's the route to your loss, in chronological order.
2001-2005: House prices in the US begin to rise rapidly. Banks lend aggressively and create a sub prime industry.
Sub-prime lending refers to lending (at slightly higher interest rates) to people who may not be eligible for a loan under normal circumstances. Maybe they don’t have a regular job or income, or have defaulted in the past. Banks traditionally did not lend to such people due to high risk of default. But since these loans were mortgaged against property and property prices were rising continuously, banks started doing so. If customers defaulted, they could sell the mortgaged property.
2005: The booming housing market halted abruptly in many parts of the US.
2006: Prices are flat, home sales fall.
February 2007: Sub-prime industry collapses in the US; more than 25 sub-prime lenders declare bankruptcy, announce significant losses, or put themselves up for sale.While they were lending, banks did not factor in the possibility of a fall in property prices. When the Federal Bank (the US equivalent of RBI) started increasing interest rates, the sub-prime borrowers started defaulting and banks started selling off the mortgaged properties. As more and more properties came into the market for selling, the property prices fell.
August 2007: Many leading mortgage lenders in the US filed for bankruptcy
March 2008: Bear Sterns falls.
September 2008: Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch sells off to Bank of America. Between 2001 and 2006, the US financial markets had developed a new product – a bond securitised against the mortgages.
In simple terms it means that the mortgage banks borrowed money against the mortgages on the condition that they would repay to lenders as soon as they recovered their mortgages. The lenders in this case were financial institutions (like Bear Sterns, Lehman and Merril Lynch) who in turn sold retail bonds to individuals. Sadly, the repayment never happened. And institutions like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and AIG were the casualties. Since the mortgages were not honoured, the banks could not repay these financial institutions who in turn could not repay retail investors.
2001-2005: House prices in the US begin to rise rapidly. Banks lend aggressively and create a sub prime industry.
Sub-prime lending refers to lending (at slightly higher interest rates) to people who may not be eligible for a loan under normal circumstances. Maybe they don’t have a regular job or income, or have defaulted in the past. Banks traditionally did not lend to such people due to high risk of default. But since these loans were mortgaged against property and property prices were rising continuously, banks started doing so. If customers defaulted, they could sell the mortgaged property.
2005: The booming housing market halted abruptly in many parts of the US.
2006: Prices are flat, home sales fall.
February 2007: Sub-prime industry collapses in the US; more than 25 sub-prime lenders declare bankruptcy, announce significant losses, or put themselves up for sale.While they were lending, banks did not factor in the possibility of a fall in property prices. When the Federal Bank (the US equivalent of RBI) started increasing interest rates, the sub-prime borrowers started defaulting and banks started selling off the mortgaged properties. As more and more properties came into the market for selling, the property prices fell.
August 2007: Many leading mortgage lenders in the US filed for bankruptcy
March 2008: Bear Sterns falls.
September 2008: Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch sells off to Bank of America. Between 2001 and 2006, the US financial markets had developed a new product – a bond securitised against the mortgages.
In simple terms it means that the mortgage banks borrowed money against the mortgages on the condition that they would repay to lenders as soon as they recovered their mortgages. The lenders in this case were financial institutions (like Bear Sterns, Lehman and Merril Lynch) who in turn sold retail bonds to individuals. Sadly, the repayment never happened. And institutions like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and AIG were the casualties. Since the mortgages were not honoured, the banks could not repay these financial institutions who in turn could not repay retail investors.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
@ My City-City of Joy"Kolkata"
SPECIALITY OF “CITY OF JOY (KOLKATA)”
Authors, scholars, and social reformers:
Kolkata was home to the Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, the Hindu social
reformers: Raja Ram Mohun Roy (founder of the Brahmo Samaj), Keshab Chandra Sen,
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, David Hare (of Calcutta), Alexander Duff, Pandit Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar, William Carey and Moti Lal Seal.
It has produced some great social critics, commentators on culture, religion, philosophy
and scholars and writers (see Bengali language) like: Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, S.Wajid Ali, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Kali Prassanna Singha, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Amritalal Basu, Shishir Kumar Maitra, Dinabandhu Mitra, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Syed Mujtaba Ali, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay,Pramath Chowdhury, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Swami Vivekananda, linguist: Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay, historians: Jadunath Sircar and Romesh Chunder Majumdar, philosophers, presidents and religious leaders: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, political scientist: Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, Souvik, more popularly known as Doodhoo, novelists: Samaresh Majumdar, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Bimal Mitra, Dibyendu Palit, Mani ShankarMukhopadhyay (Popularly known as Shankar), Purnendu Pattrea, Tarashankar
Bandopadhyay, Rajashekhar Basu (popularly known as Parasuram), Premendra Mitra,
Syed Mustafa Siraj, Mahasweta Devi, Anita Desai, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Bimal Kar,
Samaresh Majumdar, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri, Ashapoorna
Devi, and poets: Buddhadev Bose, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Jibanananda Das, Bishnu
Dey, Nirendranath Chakraborty,Satyajit Ray, Annada Shankar Ray, Joseph Emin and
Leela Majumdar.
Calcutta was the birth place of the great English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray
and noted littérateurs such as Benjamin Walker, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Bharati
Mukherjee, Raj Kamal Jha, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Jayabroto Chatterjee, P. Lal, Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni, Lali Chatterjee, Suketu Mehta, Nalinaksha Bhattacharyya, Sasthi
Brata. It was also for some time, the home of German Nobel laureate Günter Grass. The
renowned genetic scientist and Marxist commentator on society, culture and biology
J.B.S. Haldane, spent his last days in his adopted homeland, in Kolkata.
Nobel laureates
Five Nobel Prize winners have been associated with Kolkata at some point of time. They are:
1. Sir Ronald Ross (1902 Medicine)
2. Rabindranath Tagore (1913 Literature, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize)
3. C. V. Raman (1930 Physics, the first Asian scientist to win the Nobel Prize)
4. Mother Teresa (1979 Peace)
5. Amartya Sen (1998 Economics)
Business tycoons:
Many Marwari and Gujarati business tycoons hail from the city. They have contributed to
the growth of business in the city and people respect them for providing employment.
Some of the notables among them are: -
1. Basan Kumar Birla
2. Krishan Kant Birla
3. H.M. Bangur
4. K.K. Bangur
5. S.K. Bangur
6. Hira Lal Somani
7. Ashok Neotia
8. Late Aditya Vikram Biral father of Kumar Mangalam Birla
9. Poddar
10. Bitthal Das Mundhra
11. Rama Prasad Goenka (RPG Group)
12. R.K. Agarwal (Emami Group)
13. Chandra Prakash Birla
14. Lakshmi Mittal
15. Paul family
16. Kankaria Family
17. Shah Family
18. Ramesh Chandra Parekh Family
19. Chandravardhan Desai family
Freedom fighters
Khudiram Bose Subhas Chandra Bose, Rash Behari Bose, Badal Gupta, Benoy Basu,
Bipin Chandra Pal, Sri Aurobindo, Chittaranjan Das, Jatindra Nath Das, Dinesh Gupta,
Dinesh Majumdar, Jogesh Chandra Chattopadhyay, B. C. Roy, Syama Prasad Mookerjee
(FOUNDER OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY), Kripanath Datta, Nirmal Sen, Ashoke
Kumar Sen etc.
Ramon Magsaysay Award winners (incomplete list)
1. Satyajit Ray
2. Mahasweta Devi
3. Samaresh Majumdar
4. Shambhu Mitra
5. Gourkishore Ghosh
6. Amitabha Chowdhury
7. Mother Teresa …………….
Literary Movements
There has been only one literary movement which shook Kolkata during the 1960s. It was launched by Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Ray. About 40 participants joined later.
Cinema, theatre and other performing arts
Cinema
The late film director Satyajit Ray, who won the Special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
or the Academy Honorary Award in 1992 lived in Kolkata and was defined by his
capturing of the Bengali ethos on cinema. Considered by many film makers, Western and
Eastern alike, to be among the four greatest directors of film history, he was lauded by
greats like Akira Kurosawa. Indeed, the Japanese legend of film said that to have not seen
Ray's films was to have never seen the light of the moon and the sun.
In fact the tradition of non-commercial, artistic, impressionistic cinema is vogue in the
cinema of Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Gautam Ghose, Aparna
Sen,Rituparno Ghosh, Nabyendu Chatterjee among others.
In the domain of commercial or mainstream cinema, actors and thespian turned actors
like Dhirendranath Ganguly, Devika Rani Roerich, Utpal Dutt, Pramathesh Barua, Pahari
Sanyal, Robi Ghosh, Kali Bandyopadyay, Kanan Devi, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Suchitra
Sen, Uttam Kumar, Victor Banerjee, Dhritiman Chaterji, and Soumitra Chatterjee have
won international acclaim. Uttam Kumar commands a special place in the hearts of all
Kolkatans. He was the recipeint of two National awards for acting. Even more than two
decades after his premature death in 1980, he is loved by young and old Kolkatans alike.
The Bollywood cinema superstar Amitabh Bachchan started his career as a clerk for an
insurance company in Kolkata. Bollywood action hero Mithun Chakraborty started his
career in a non-commercial Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen.
Theatre
Despite its decline from the pre-eminent position of the cultural capital of India in recent
times, it still retains a strong tradition in cinema and theatre. Renowned thespians include
Bijan Bhattacharyya, Utpal Dutt, Sambhu Mitra, Badal Sircar, Tripti Mitra, Kumar Ray,
Saoli Mitra, Manoj Mitra, theatre directors Rudraprasad Sengupta, Shymanand Jalan,
Sohag Sen, Usha Ganguli, Ashok Mukhopadhyay and Vinay Sharma, actors Rudraprasad
Sengupta, Shymanand Jalan, Sohag Sen, Usha Ganguli, Ashok Mukhopadhyay,Vinay
Sharma,Kunal Padhi,Subrat Chowdhary,Shakil Khan and Sanchayita Bhattcharya among
others. Kolkata is the capital of the Hindi theatre stage in India and was home or is
currently home to the nationally renowned theatre groups IPTA, PLT, Padatik,
Rangakarmee, Nandipaat Ajantrik and Nandikar.Kolkata is host to several acclaimed
mime theatre groups and mime artists, like Jogesh Dutt who pioneered mime in India and
build up a mime academy with 5 years degree course(www.jogeshmimeacademy.org)
and The Young Indian Mime Legend Suman Mukherjee among others. The Kolkata stage
has time and again been inspired and enriched by the translated and transcreated oeuvres
of William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Guy de Maupassant, T. S. Eliot, Leo Tolstoy,
Thomas Mann, Alexander Pushkin, Luigi Pirandello, Maxim Gorky, Maurice
Maeterlinck, Jean Paul Sartre, Sean O'Casey, J.M. Synge, Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard
Shaw, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Ernest
Hemingway, Lorraine Hansberry, Girish Karnad and Chinua Achebe.
Music
Kolkata has produced talented vocal artists like Gaharjaan, Angurbala Dasi, Supriyo
Dutta, Indubala Dasi, Dwijendra Lal Roy, Acharya K. C. Dey (also known as Kana
Kesto), Kazi Nazrul Islam, Pankaj Mullick, Kanan Devi, Feroza Begum, Kanika
Bandyopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra, Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Manna Dey, Kishore
Kumar, Geetashree Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Debabrata Biswas, Shyama Chattopadhyay,
Krishna Chattopadhyay, Sarbani Sen, Robin Bandyopadhyay, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay
and son Shreekumar, Arati Mukhopadhyay, Anjali Mukhopadhyay, Begum Akhtar, Ajoy
Chakraborty, Usha Uthup, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Anirban Ghosh, Indrani Sen, Haimanti
Shukla, Shreekanta Acharya, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta, Suman Chatterjee, Salil
Chowdhury, Rahul Deb Burman, Nirmalendu Chowdhury, Sachin Dev Burman, Purna
Das Baul, Pramita Mallick, Anjan Dutta, Nachiketa, Choir Groups Calcutta Youth Choir,
IPTA and Kolkata Peoples Choir, Bengali bands Mohiner Ghoraguli, Chandrabindoo,
Fossils, Cactus, Crosswindz, Insomnia and Bhoomi. The Bombay-based (or Bollywood)
film musicians Geeta Dutt, Bappi Lahiri, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, Babul Supriyo,
Shantanu Moitra,Chandan,Pritam started their careers in Kolkata.
Globally acclaimed instrumental virtuosos in Hindustani classical music like Jnan
Gossain, Dhruv Tara Joshi, Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar,Radhika Mohon Maitra,
Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Ananda Shankar, Enayet Khan and son Vilayat Khan, Imdaad
Khan, Imraat Khan, Wahid Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Nasir
Aminuddin Dagar, Asifuddin Dagar, Rashid Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Amjad Ali Khan, V.
G. Jog, Bahadur Khan, Budhaditya Mukhopadhyay, Shahid Pervez, Anjan
Chattopadhyay, Keramatullah Khan, V.Balsara, Shankar Ghosh, Anindo Chatterjee,
Swapan Choudhuri, Subhankar Banerjee, Bikram Ghosh, Tanmoy Bose, and Louis
Banks, among others, hail from Kolkata. The Dover Lane Music Conference held every
January celebrates the tradition of Indian classical music. It is also said that Kolkata has
the finest connoisseurs of Western classical music in India.
Among the styles and traditions of vocal music in vogue in Kolkata are Nidhu Babur
Toppa, Mujraah, Kheyaal, Kavi Gaan, Jatra Gaan, Rabindra Sangeet, Carnatic,
Hindustani, Atulprasadi, Shyama Sangeet, Adhunik, Nazrul Geeti, Lok Geeti, Ghazals,
Bhakti Geeti, Jibanmukhi, Pop, IndiPop, Rock and Roll, Santhal Lok Sangeet and Hindi
film music.
Dance
Some of the most beautiful dance themes are based on the eternal songs, and song and
dance based plays of Tagore like Chandalika, The Country of Cards (Tasher Desh), Red
Oleanders (Rakta Karabi) among others. Prominent dancers and dance troupes of the city
include late Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar, Indrani Rahaman, Manjushree Chaki
Sircar, Ranjabati Sircar, Ananda Shankar, Tanushree Shankar and group, Mamata
Shankar Ballet Troupe, Calcutta Youth Choir, Madhuboni Chattopadhyay, Italian born
Ileana Citaristi, American born Leela Samson, Sushmita Bandopadhyay, Gaudiya Nritya,
Odissi Kala Kendra, Mallhar, Anurekha Ghosh and Company, The Nupur Dance
Academy, Padatik Dance Centre, Durga Prasdee Sangeet Vidyalaya, Pandit Chitresh Das
among others.
The different dance schools prevalent in Kolkata are Rabindra Nritya Natya, Adhunik,
Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Santhal Folk Dance, among others.
More recently few Calcuttans started practicing danceforms originating from other
cultures and countries and contributed a great deal in enriching those genres. Of them
perhaps the most accomplished and talented dancer is Bhaskar Dutta, originally from
Sashtri Road, Naihati, but now popular all over the world for his great talent and
contributions in Salsa.
Another famous talented Dancer is dance guru Suman Mukherjee who dances Ballroom
& Latin American Dance in Kolkata. He is also popular for Salsa. Now he teaches in
CALCUTTA SCHOOL OF MUSIC.
Magic and astrology
Kolkata is the magic capital of India and has produced internationally famous magicians
and performers including P. C. Sorcar, P. C. Sorcar, Jr., Manick Sorcar, and P. C. Sorcar
Young. K Lal, Prince Seal and numerous nationally and internationally acclaimed
astrologers. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of the All India Magic Circle.Here also there
are magician like Magician Shamal Kumar.He is the secetary of The Society of Amateur
Magician.
Artists
Artists, painters and sculptors like those of the Tagore family (Gaganendranath,
Abanindranath, Samarendranath, Sunayani Devi, Rabindranath, Rathindranath), Nandalal
Bose, Jamini Roy, Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharya, Paritosh Sen,Rabin Mondal,
Paresh Maity, Thankappan Kutty, Chittravanu Majumdar, Chintamoni Kar, Anil Kumar
Dutta, Rathin Mitra, Jogen Chowdhury and M.F. Husain have at some time in their
careers, been associated with Kolkata.
Among the major styles of Art that Bengal is credited for includes the Art of Bengal
School[1], and Kalighat Patachitra.
Scientists
Scientific greats of Kolkata include Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sir Prafulla Chandra
Roy, Sir C. V. Raman, Sir K. S. Krishnan, Dr. Megh Nad Saha, Professor Satyendra Nath
Bose, Dr. Sisir Kumar Mitra, Sir Jnan Chandra Ghosh, and Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis. The first in-vitro fertilization (to produce test tube baby "Durga") in India
(and second in the world) was performed by city doctor Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay on
October 3, 1978. Prof. Dr. Chhanda Samanta
(http://www.saha.ac.in/cs/chhanda.samanta/), a recipient of the Yamada Science
Foundation Award from Japan, is an experimental nuclear physicist who became the first
Center-Of-Excellence-Professor of the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP),
Osaka University, Japan. Her mass formula for strange and non-strange nuclei is known
as the "Samanta Formula" in literature.
Sports and Miscellaneous records
Summer Olympic medallists
· Norman Pritchard (Athletics - 1900)
· Richard James Allen (Not the same person as the Australian writer, filmmaker,
choreographer and performer of the same name.)
· Leslie Claudius (Field Hockey - 1924, 1928, 1936)
· Gurbux Singh
· Dr. Vece Paes (Field Hockey - 1980)
· Leander Adrian Paes (Olympic Bronze medallist at singles tennis in 1996
Olympics; also Wimbledon and French Open Men's Doubles champion, with
Mahesh Bhupathi; and Mixed Doubles Champion 1999 and Wimbledon Mixed
Doubles Champion 2003, with ace Martina Navratilova). He is also India's
present Davis Cup captain.
International sportspersons
· Sourav Ganguly
· Pankaj Roy
· Gobor Goho (World Amateur Wrestling Championship USA 1900-2)
· Manotosh Roy (former Mr Universe - 1950s)
· Manohar Aich (former Mr. World - 1950s)
· Chandra Hirjee (1958 winner of the inaugural World Amateur Snooker
Championship held at Kolkata. Also Indian Open Billiards Championship winner
in 1946, 47, 56 and 58, runner-up in 1952, 54, 55, 57 and Indian Snooker
Championship runner-up in 1952, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
· Mihir Sen (Guinness Record holder of being the first person to swim across the
English Channel in 1958 and the seven straits across all major continents)
· Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (1998 Asian Games Gold medallist in four events in racing)
· Arjun Atwal
· Dibyendu Barua and Surya Sekhar Ganguly (current FIDE Chess Grandmasters)
· Trans-continental wizards Mohammed Salahuddin Choudhury and his wife
Neena, have the acknowledgement of the Guinness Book of World Records for
the first and fastest circum-navigation of the world by car – under the rules
applicable in 1989 (in a "Contessa Classic" 1989 car) and 1991 (in a Nissan jeep),
and thereby embracing more than an equator's length of driving (40,750 km or
24,901 road miles) in 69 days, 19 hours and 5 minutes in 1989 and in 39 days and
20 hours in 1991 respectively.
· Kolkata has also produced most of the successful footballers of India. Many of the
members of the India Teams which won Gold Medal in Asian Games (1951 and
1962), hailed from Kolkata.
· Bula Chowdhury
· Manoj Tiwary
Sports administrators
· Pankaj Gupta
· Jagmohan Dalmiya
Authors, scholars, and social reformers:
Kolkata was home to the Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, the Hindu social
reformers: Raja Ram Mohun Roy (founder of the Brahmo Samaj), Keshab Chandra Sen,
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, David Hare (of Calcutta), Alexander Duff, Pandit Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar, William Carey and Moti Lal Seal.
It has produced some great social critics, commentators on culture, religion, philosophy
and scholars and writers (see Bengali language) like: Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, S.Wajid Ali, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Kali Prassanna Singha, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Amritalal Basu, Shishir Kumar Maitra, Dinabandhu Mitra, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Syed Mujtaba Ali, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay,Pramath Chowdhury, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Swami Vivekananda, linguist: Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay, historians: Jadunath Sircar and Romesh Chunder Majumdar, philosophers, presidents and religious leaders: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, political scientist: Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, Souvik, more popularly known as Doodhoo, novelists: Samaresh Majumdar, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Bimal Mitra, Dibyendu Palit, Mani ShankarMukhopadhyay (Popularly known as Shankar), Purnendu Pattrea, Tarashankar
Bandopadhyay, Rajashekhar Basu (popularly known as Parasuram), Premendra Mitra,
Syed Mustafa Siraj, Mahasweta Devi, Anita Desai, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Bimal Kar,
Samaresh Majumdar, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri, Ashapoorna
Devi, and poets: Buddhadev Bose, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Jibanananda Das, Bishnu
Dey, Nirendranath Chakraborty,Satyajit Ray, Annada Shankar Ray, Joseph Emin and
Leela Majumdar.
Calcutta was the birth place of the great English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray
and noted littérateurs such as Benjamin Walker, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Bharati
Mukherjee, Raj Kamal Jha, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Jayabroto Chatterjee, P. Lal, Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni, Lali Chatterjee, Suketu Mehta, Nalinaksha Bhattacharyya, Sasthi
Brata. It was also for some time, the home of German Nobel laureate Günter Grass. The
renowned genetic scientist and Marxist commentator on society, culture and biology
J.B.S. Haldane, spent his last days in his adopted homeland, in Kolkata.
Nobel laureates
Five Nobel Prize winners have been associated with Kolkata at some point of time. They are:
1. Sir Ronald Ross (1902 Medicine)
2. Rabindranath Tagore (1913 Literature, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize)
3. C. V. Raman (1930 Physics, the first Asian scientist to win the Nobel Prize)
4. Mother Teresa (1979 Peace)
5. Amartya Sen (1998 Economics)
Business tycoons:
Many Marwari and Gujarati business tycoons hail from the city. They have contributed to
the growth of business in the city and people respect them for providing employment.
Some of the notables among them are: -
1. Basan Kumar Birla
2. Krishan Kant Birla
3. H.M. Bangur
4. K.K. Bangur
5. S.K. Bangur
6. Hira Lal Somani
7. Ashok Neotia
8. Late Aditya Vikram Biral father of Kumar Mangalam Birla
9. Poddar
10. Bitthal Das Mundhra
11. Rama Prasad Goenka (RPG Group)
12. R.K. Agarwal (Emami Group)
13. Chandra Prakash Birla
14. Lakshmi Mittal
15. Paul family
16. Kankaria Family
17. Shah Family
18. Ramesh Chandra Parekh Family
19. Chandravardhan Desai family
Freedom fighters
Khudiram Bose Subhas Chandra Bose, Rash Behari Bose, Badal Gupta, Benoy Basu,
Bipin Chandra Pal, Sri Aurobindo, Chittaranjan Das, Jatindra Nath Das, Dinesh Gupta,
Dinesh Majumdar, Jogesh Chandra Chattopadhyay, B. C. Roy, Syama Prasad Mookerjee
(FOUNDER OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY), Kripanath Datta, Nirmal Sen, Ashoke
Kumar Sen etc.
Ramon Magsaysay Award winners (incomplete list)
1. Satyajit Ray
2. Mahasweta Devi
3. Samaresh Majumdar
4. Shambhu Mitra
5. Gourkishore Ghosh
6. Amitabha Chowdhury
7. Mother Teresa …………….
Literary Movements
There has been only one literary movement which shook Kolkata during the 1960s. It was launched by Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Ray. About 40 participants joined later.
Cinema, theatre and other performing arts
Cinema
The late film director Satyajit Ray, who won the Special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
or the Academy Honorary Award in 1992 lived in Kolkata and was defined by his
capturing of the Bengali ethos on cinema. Considered by many film makers, Western and
Eastern alike, to be among the four greatest directors of film history, he was lauded by
greats like Akira Kurosawa. Indeed, the Japanese legend of film said that to have not seen
Ray's films was to have never seen the light of the moon and the sun.
In fact the tradition of non-commercial, artistic, impressionistic cinema is vogue in the
cinema of Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Gautam Ghose, Aparna
Sen,Rituparno Ghosh, Nabyendu Chatterjee among others.
In the domain of commercial or mainstream cinema, actors and thespian turned actors
like Dhirendranath Ganguly, Devika Rani Roerich, Utpal Dutt, Pramathesh Barua, Pahari
Sanyal, Robi Ghosh, Kali Bandyopadyay, Kanan Devi, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Suchitra
Sen, Uttam Kumar, Victor Banerjee, Dhritiman Chaterji, and Soumitra Chatterjee have
won international acclaim. Uttam Kumar commands a special place in the hearts of all
Kolkatans. He was the recipeint of two National awards for acting. Even more than two
decades after his premature death in 1980, he is loved by young and old Kolkatans alike.
The Bollywood cinema superstar Amitabh Bachchan started his career as a clerk for an
insurance company in Kolkata. Bollywood action hero Mithun Chakraborty started his
career in a non-commercial Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen.
Theatre
Despite its decline from the pre-eminent position of the cultural capital of India in recent
times, it still retains a strong tradition in cinema and theatre. Renowned thespians include
Bijan Bhattacharyya, Utpal Dutt, Sambhu Mitra, Badal Sircar, Tripti Mitra, Kumar Ray,
Saoli Mitra, Manoj Mitra, theatre directors Rudraprasad Sengupta, Shymanand Jalan,
Sohag Sen, Usha Ganguli, Ashok Mukhopadhyay and Vinay Sharma, actors Rudraprasad
Sengupta, Shymanand Jalan, Sohag Sen, Usha Ganguli, Ashok Mukhopadhyay,Vinay
Sharma,Kunal Padhi,Subrat Chowdhary,Shakil Khan and Sanchayita Bhattcharya among
others. Kolkata is the capital of the Hindi theatre stage in India and was home or is
currently home to the nationally renowned theatre groups IPTA, PLT, Padatik,
Rangakarmee, Nandipaat Ajantrik and Nandikar.Kolkata is host to several acclaimed
mime theatre groups and mime artists, like Jogesh Dutt who pioneered mime in India and
build up a mime academy with 5 years degree course(www.jogeshmimeacademy.org)
and The Young Indian Mime Legend Suman Mukherjee among others. The Kolkata stage
has time and again been inspired and enriched by the translated and transcreated oeuvres
of William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Guy de Maupassant, T. S. Eliot, Leo Tolstoy,
Thomas Mann, Alexander Pushkin, Luigi Pirandello, Maxim Gorky, Maurice
Maeterlinck, Jean Paul Sartre, Sean O'Casey, J.M. Synge, Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard
Shaw, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Ernest
Hemingway, Lorraine Hansberry, Girish Karnad and Chinua Achebe.
Music
Kolkata has produced talented vocal artists like Gaharjaan, Angurbala Dasi, Supriyo
Dutta, Indubala Dasi, Dwijendra Lal Roy, Acharya K. C. Dey (also known as Kana
Kesto), Kazi Nazrul Islam, Pankaj Mullick, Kanan Devi, Feroza Begum, Kanika
Bandyopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra, Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Manna Dey, Kishore
Kumar, Geetashree Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Debabrata Biswas, Shyama Chattopadhyay,
Krishna Chattopadhyay, Sarbani Sen, Robin Bandyopadhyay, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay
and son Shreekumar, Arati Mukhopadhyay, Anjali Mukhopadhyay, Begum Akhtar, Ajoy
Chakraborty, Usha Uthup, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Anirban Ghosh, Indrani Sen, Haimanti
Shukla, Shreekanta Acharya, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta, Suman Chatterjee, Salil
Chowdhury, Rahul Deb Burman, Nirmalendu Chowdhury, Sachin Dev Burman, Purna
Das Baul, Pramita Mallick, Anjan Dutta, Nachiketa, Choir Groups Calcutta Youth Choir,
IPTA and Kolkata Peoples Choir, Bengali bands Mohiner Ghoraguli, Chandrabindoo,
Fossils, Cactus, Crosswindz, Insomnia and Bhoomi. The Bombay-based (or Bollywood)
film musicians Geeta Dutt, Bappi Lahiri, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, Babul Supriyo,
Shantanu Moitra,Chandan,Pritam started their careers in Kolkata.
Globally acclaimed instrumental virtuosos in Hindustani classical music like Jnan
Gossain, Dhruv Tara Joshi, Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar,Radhika Mohon Maitra,
Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Ananda Shankar, Enayet Khan and son Vilayat Khan, Imdaad
Khan, Imraat Khan, Wahid Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Nasir
Aminuddin Dagar, Asifuddin Dagar, Rashid Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Amjad Ali Khan, V.
G. Jog, Bahadur Khan, Budhaditya Mukhopadhyay, Shahid Pervez, Anjan
Chattopadhyay, Keramatullah Khan, V.Balsara, Shankar Ghosh, Anindo Chatterjee,
Swapan Choudhuri, Subhankar Banerjee, Bikram Ghosh, Tanmoy Bose, and Louis
Banks, among others, hail from Kolkata. The Dover Lane Music Conference held every
January celebrates the tradition of Indian classical music. It is also said that Kolkata has
the finest connoisseurs of Western classical music in India.
Among the styles and traditions of vocal music in vogue in Kolkata are Nidhu Babur
Toppa, Mujraah, Kheyaal, Kavi Gaan, Jatra Gaan, Rabindra Sangeet, Carnatic,
Hindustani, Atulprasadi, Shyama Sangeet, Adhunik, Nazrul Geeti, Lok Geeti, Ghazals,
Bhakti Geeti, Jibanmukhi, Pop, IndiPop, Rock and Roll, Santhal Lok Sangeet and Hindi
film music.
Dance
Some of the most beautiful dance themes are based on the eternal songs, and song and
dance based plays of Tagore like Chandalika, The Country of Cards (Tasher Desh), Red
Oleanders (Rakta Karabi) among others. Prominent dancers and dance troupes of the city
include late Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar, Indrani Rahaman, Manjushree Chaki
Sircar, Ranjabati Sircar, Ananda Shankar, Tanushree Shankar and group, Mamata
Shankar Ballet Troupe, Calcutta Youth Choir, Madhuboni Chattopadhyay, Italian born
Ileana Citaristi, American born Leela Samson, Sushmita Bandopadhyay, Gaudiya Nritya,
Odissi Kala Kendra, Mallhar, Anurekha Ghosh and Company, The Nupur Dance
Academy, Padatik Dance Centre, Durga Prasdee Sangeet Vidyalaya, Pandit Chitresh Das
among others.
The different dance schools prevalent in Kolkata are Rabindra Nritya Natya, Adhunik,
Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Santhal Folk Dance, among others.
More recently few Calcuttans started practicing danceforms originating from other
cultures and countries and contributed a great deal in enriching those genres. Of them
perhaps the most accomplished and talented dancer is Bhaskar Dutta, originally from
Sashtri Road, Naihati, but now popular all over the world for his great talent and
contributions in Salsa.
Another famous talented Dancer is dance guru Suman Mukherjee who dances Ballroom
& Latin American Dance in Kolkata. He is also popular for Salsa. Now he teaches in
CALCUTTA SCHOOL OF MUSIC.
Magic and astrology
Kolkata is the magic capital of India and has produced internationally famous magicians
and performers including P. C. Sorcar, P. C. Sorcar, Jr., Manick Sorcar, and P. C. Sorcar
Young. K Lal, Prince Seal and numerous nationally and internationally acclaimed
astrologers. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of the All India Magic Circle.Here also there
are magician like Magician Shamal Kumar.He is the secetary of The Society of Amateur
Magician.
Artists
Artists, painters and sculptors like those of the Tagore family (Gaganendranath,
Abanindranath, Samarendranath, Sunayani Devi, Rabindranath, Rathindranath), Nandalal
Bose, Jamini Roy, Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharya, Paritosh Sen,Rabin Mondal,
Paresh Maity, Thankappan Kutty, Chittravanu Majumdar, Chintamoni Kar, Anil Kumar
Dutta, Rathin Mitra, Jogen Chowdhury and M.F. Husain have at some time in their
careers, been associated with Kolkata.
Among the major styles of Art that Bengal is credited for includes the Art of Bengal
School[1], and Kalighat Patachitra.
Scientists
Scientific greats of Kolkata include Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sir Prafulla Chandra
Roy, Sir C. V. Raman, Sir K. S. Krishnan, Dr. Megh Nad Saha, Professor Satyendra Nath
Bose, Dr. Sisir Kumar Mitra, Sir Jnan Chandra Ghosh, and Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis. The first in-vitro fertilization (to produce test tube baby "Durga") in India
(and second in the world) was performed by city doctor Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay on
October 3, 1978. Prof. Dr. Chhanda Samanta
(http://www.saha.ac.in/cs/chhanda.samanta/), a recipient of the Yamada Science
Foundation Award from Japan, is an experimental nuclear physicist who became the first
Center-Of-Excellence-Professor of the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP),
Osaka University, Japan. Her mass formula for strange and non-strange nuclei is known
as the "Samanta Formula" in literature.
Sports and Miscellaneous records
Summer Olympic medallists
· Norman Pritchard (Athletics - 1900)
· Richard James Allen (Not the same person as the Australian writer, filmmaker,
choreographer and performer of the same name.)
· Leslie Claudius (Field Hockey - 1924, 1928, 1936)
· Gurbux Singh
· Dr. Vece Paes (Field Hockey - 1980)
· Leander Adrian Paes (Olympic Bronze medallist at singles tennis in 1996
Olympics; also Wimbledon and French Open Men's Doubles champion, with
Mahesh Bhupathi; and Mixed Doubles Champion 1999 and Wimbledon Mixed
Doubles Champion 2003, with ace Martina Navratilova). He is also India's
present Davis Cup captain.
International sportspersons
· Sourav Ganguly
· Pankaj Roy
· Gobor Goho (World Amateur Wrestling Championship USA 1900-2)
· Manotosh Roy (former Mr Universe - 1950s)
· Manohar Aich (former Mr. World - 1950s)
· Chandra Hirjee (1958 winner of the inaugural World Amateur Snooker
Championship held at Kolkata. Also Indian Open Billiards Championship winner
in 1946, 47, 56 and 58, runner-up in 1952, 54, 55, 57 and Indian Snooker
Championship runner-up in 1952, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
· Mihir Sen (Guinness Record holder of being the first person to swim across the
English Channel in 1958 and the seven straits across all major continents)
· Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (1998 Asian Games Gold medallist in four events in racing)
· Arjun Atwal
· Dibyendu Barua and Surya Sekhar Ganguly (current FIDE Chess Grandmasters)
· Trans-continental wizards Mohammed Salahuddin Choudhury and his wife
Neena, have the acknowledgement of the Guinness Book of World Records for
the first and fastest circum-navigation of the world by car – under the rules
applicable in 1989 (in a "Contessa Classic" 1989 car) and 1991 (in a Nissan jeep),
and thereby embracing more than an equator's length of driving (40,750 km or
24,901 road miles) in 69 days, 19 hours and 5 minutes in 1989 and in 39 days and
20 hours in 1991 respectively.
· Kolkata has also produced most of the successful footballers of India. Many of the
members of the India Teams which won Gold Medal in Asian Games (1951 and
1962), hailed from Kolkata.
· Bula Chowdhury
· Manoj Tiwary
Sports administrators
· Pankaj Gupta
· Jagmohan Dalmiya
Saturday, November 8, 2008
IKF plans Rs 400-cr GDR for biofuel biz
IKF plans Rs 400-cr GDR for biofuel biz
Sushmi Dey NEW DELHI IKF Technologies is raising Rs 400 crore through global depository receipts (GDRs) to fund its biofuel business besides setting up biodiesel refineries in Gujarat and Meghalaya. The BSE-listed firm is planning to invest Rs 1,200 crore in the bio-fuel business by 2013. “We have received a clearance from Sebi to raise the money through issue of global depository receipts,” IKF Green Fuel president Vishal Rawat said. The company is having interests in information technology, telecom and alternative energy sectors. IKF Green Fuel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IKF Technologies, is also in the process of acquiring a company in Rajasthan which has more than 10,000 hectares of land under Jatropha plantation, he said. Biodiesel is a variant of the regular petroleumbased diesel where the fuel is doped with a vegetable oil like oil extracted from jathropa. The government is likely to introduce a biodiesel policy soon. For plantation of the biodiesel crop, IKF Green Fuel has adopted three business models—-plantation on government-leased land, company owned land and contract farming. “We plan to cover close to 5 lakh hectares of wasteland under Jatropha cultivation by 2013 and expect to generate atleast Rs 3,000 crore annually from it. The area will be covered under all the three business models,” Mr Rawat said. While the company has already set up a biodiesel refinery with a capacity of 3,000 litre per day at Udaipur in Rajasthan, it has recently signed pre-agreement deals with government of Gujarat and Meghalaya to install commercial refineries.
Sushmi Dey NEW DELHI IKF Technologies is raising Rs 400 crore through global depository receipts (GDRs) to fund its biofuel business besides setting up biodiesel refineries in Gujarat and Meghalaya. The BSE-listed firm is planning to invest Rs 1,200 crore in the bio-fuel business by 2013. “We have received a clearance from Sebi to raise the money through issue of global depository receipts,” IKF Green Fuel president Vishal Rawat said. The company is having interests in information technology, telecom and alternative energy sectors. IKF Green Fuel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IKF Technologies, is also in the process of acquiring a company in Rajasthan which has more than 10,000 hectares of land under Jatropha plantation, he said. Biodiesel is a variant of the regular petroleumbased diesel where the fuel is doped with a vegetable oil like oil extracted from jathropa. The government is likely to introduce a biodiesel policy soon. For plantation of the biodiesel crop, IKF Green Fuel has adopted three business models—-plantation on government-leased land, company owned land and contract farming. “We plan to cover close to 5 lakh hectares of wasteland under Jatropha cultivation by 2013 and expect to generate atleast Rs 3,000 crore annually from it. The area will be covered under all the three business models,” Mr Rawat said. While the company has already set up a biodiesel refinery with a capacity of 3,000 litre per day at Udaipur in Rajasthan, it has recently signed pre-agreement deals with government of Gujarat and Meghalaya to install commercial refineries.
A DEFINITE MULTIBAGGER FOR 2012
IKF TECHNOLOGIES
A group of individuals bought a listed company in 2004 and turned it around. The software company they bought, has now expanded into telecom and even into the emerging bio-fuels business. IKF Technologies is today a Rs 180-crore company and growing. In 2004-05, when the company was taken over by Pradeep Dutta and Sunil Kumar Goel, it had a share capital base of Rs 10 crore. Over the last two years, the company has invested in putting together infrastructure and technology, which has paid off. It grew its web development, software and BPO businesses internationally, to Australia and the UK. In 2006, it set up a 31-seat BPO for Tata Teleservices. “The initial couple of years went into restructuring and settling down in the core business,” says Pankaj Garg, director at IKF Technologies, which counts domestic telcos and banks among its clients. Though the promoters realise that they are late entrants in BPO outsourcing, they are looking at new markets. IKF has now set up offices in Germany, Brazil, Dubai and Russia, and is hoping to see growth from these markets over the next two years. The idea of getting into telecom was there since 2006 but “since it was difficult to get a licence at that point in time, it never materialised”, says Garg. But it finally got a Category ‘A’ licence for Internet Service Provider (ISP) by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in January. Since then, it has been busy setting up its network. “We have already spent Rs 4-5 crore, and another Rs 8-9 crore will be spent in the future on developing the network,” informs Garg. As an initial foray in telecom, the company decided to get into VoIP services, a segment, which is not too crowded. That’s how IKF Tel came into being. The company is almost on the verge of launching its VoIP services for the retail market, having already launched the same for enterprise customers. IKF has earmarked $2-3 million for its telecom business, of which, says Garg, $1 million has already been spent over the last one year. IKF expects revenues of Rs 100 crore from its telecom business in the next three years, growing both organically and inorganically. Taking its quest for emerging technologies forward, IKF is into bio-fuels too. “The chairman of the company, Dr RP Singh, who is a former scientist at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, led us into this field,” says Vishal Rawat, president bio-diesel at IKF Green Fuel. IKF Green Fuel is also planning to get into ethanol, solar and wind energy in the near future. For bio-diesel, though, it has signed an MoU with the government of Madhya Pradesh through which it is seeking 200 hectares of wasteland for jatropha cultivation and will also be setting up an oil extraction plant with an investment of Rs 30 crore. It also engages in contract farming on private wasteland. “We have one refinery already at Udaipur, which can produce 3,000 litres a day but at the moment, it is being used for trial runs. We expect commercial production to start by 2010-11,” says Rawat. Commercial bio-diesel production would need a steady flow of jatropha seeds. To this effect, IKF has 10,000 hectares of jatropha under cultivation, both on leased and owned land. “By 2008-end, we hope to reach the 30,000-40,000 hectares mark,” says Rawat. Meanwhile, research is on for better seeds with agricultural universities and other institutions. The company has been granted permission by the government of India for a GDR issue to raise Rs 500 crore. About Rs 200 crore are already been allocated for IKF Green Fuel, indicating the company’s commitment to the growing sector. It is also exploring JVs in Brazil and South Africa for plantation and extraction there. “We want to be the leader in the bio-fuels market by 2015,” says Rawat.
IKF Tech plans to grow jatropha in Africa-------
IKF Technologies, the country's first corporate jatropha refiner, has formally approached African Governments — Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa — for permission to cultivate the plant. Armed with detailed project reports, the company has also applied for an area of 50,000 acres of wasteland in each of these countries for organised jatropha farming. Mr Mukesh Kumar Goel, a director of the company, told Business Line that official responses, however, were awaited. According to the company's estimates, the cost of acquiring the land (total 1.5 lakh acres), nursing the plants till the first fruition after 18 months, and setting up crushing facilities would be Rs 3,000 crore. In a phased manner If permissions were obtained, the purchases or acquisition of land through lease and taking up the plantation projects would be done in a phased manner over a long period of time. IKF has sought to own the land in Africa, and prefers not go in for contract farming, Mr Goel explained.
In India, it has opted for the contract-farming model in Rajasthan, where its existing refinery is located, in an area of 5,000 hectares. In Meghalaya, however, IKF cultivates on its own land.
Its refinery was commissioned in March this year. Currently, it is procuring jatropha seeds from the open market since it began farming the plants in Meghalaya roughly 12 months ago.
Though the first flush of seeds takes 18 months, jatropha harvests are available twice a year in the period after maturing. One hectare can accommodate roughly 2,500 plants.
The yield per tree in one harvest, according to thumb rule, is around 3.5 kg and from one kg of seeds, a little over 300 ml of bio-diesel can be had.The company has a one-year renewable technology agreement with Indian Oil Technologies Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, for perfecting mixing grade bio-diesel.
Refinery in Gujarat :
It has proposed to set up another refinery in Gujarat with a capacity of 1 lakh tonnes per annum at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
It has also sought permission for contract farming of jatropha in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
In Rajasthan, it has a refinery running with a capacity to produce 3,000 litres a day.
As a Market Analyst,I am strictly recommending this stock.CMP: INR 3.78.It's future prospect is bright.Stock price will definately touch arround INR 200+ in 2012
A group of individuals bought a listed company in 2004 and turned it around. The software company they bought, has now expanded into telecom and even into the emerging bio-fuels business. IKF Technologies is today a Rs 180-crore company and growing. In 2004-05, when the company was taken over by Pradeep Dutta and Sunil Kumar Goel, it had a share capital base of Rs 10 crore. Over the last two years, the company has invested in putting together infrastructure and technology, which has paid off. It grew its web development, software and BPO businesses internationally, to Australia and the UK. In 2006, it set up a 31-seat BPO for Tata Teleservices. “The initial couple of years went into restructuring and settling down in the core business,” says Pankaj Garg, director at IKF Technologies, which counts domestic telcos and banks among its clients. Though the promoters realise that they are late entrants in BPO outsourcing, they are looking at new markets. IKF has now set up offices in Germany, Brazil, Dubai and Russia, and is hoping to see growth from these markets over the next two years. The idea of getting into telecom was there since 2006 but “since it was difficult to get a licence at that point in time, it never materialised”, says Garg. But it finally got a Category ‘A’ licence for Internet Service Provider (ISP) by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in January. Since then, it has been busy setting up its network. “We have already spent Rs 4-5 crore, and another Rs 8-9 crore will be spent in the future on developing the network,” informs Garg. As an initial foray in telecom, the company decided to get into VoIP services, a segment, which is not too crowded. That’s how IKF Tel came into being. The company is almost on the verge of launching its VoIP services for the retail market, having already launched the same for enterprise customers. IKF has earmarked $2-3 million for its telecom business, of which, says Garg, $1 million has already been spent over the last one year. IKF expects revenues of Rs 100 crore from its telecom business in the next three years, growing both organically and inorganically. Taking its quest for emerging technologies forward, IKF is into bio-fuels too. “The chairman of the company, Dr RP Singh, who is a former scientist at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, led us into this field,” says Vishal Rawat, president bio-diesel at IKF Green Fuel. IKF Green Fuel is also planning to get into ethanol, solar and wind energy in the near future. For bio-diesel, though, it has signed an MoU with the government of Madhya Pradesh through which it is seeking 200 hectares of wasteland for jatropha cultivation and will also be setting up an oil extraction plant with an investment of Rs 30 crore. It also engages in contract farming on private wasteland. “We have one refinery already at Udaipur, which can produce 3,000 litres a day but at the moment, it is being used for trial runs. We expect commercial production to start by 2010-11,” says Rawat. Commercial bio-diesel production would need a steady flow of jatropha seeds. To this effect, IKF has 10,000 hectares of jatropha under cultivation, both on leased and owned land. “By 2008-end, we hope to reach the 30,000-40,000 hectares mark,” says Rawat. Meanwhile, research is on for better seeds with agricultural universities and other institutions. The company has been granted permission by the government of India for a GDR issue to raise Rs 500 crore. About Rs 200 crore are already been allocated for IKF Green Fuel, indicating the company’s commitment to the growing sector. It is also exploring JVs in Brazil and South Africa for plantation and extraction there. “We want to be the leader in the bio-fuels market by 2015,” says Rawat.
IKF Tech plans to grow jatropha in Africa-------
IKF Technologies, the country's first corporate jatropha refiner, has formally approached African Governments — Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa — for permission to cultivate the plant. Armed with detailed project reports, the company has also applied for an area of 50,000 acres of wasteland in each of these countries for organised jatropha farming. Mr Mukesh Kumar Goel, a director of the company, told Business Line that official responses, however, were awaited. According to the company's estimates, the cost of acquiring the land (total 1.5 lakh acres), nursing the plants till the first fruition after 18 months, and setting up crushing facilities would be Rs 3,000 crore. In a phased manner If permissions were obtained, the purchases or acquisition of land through lease and taking up the plantation projects would be done in a phased manner over a long period of time. IKF has sought to own the land in Africa, and prefers not go in for contract farming, Mr Goel explained.
In India, it has opted for the contract-farming model in Rajasthan, where its existing refinery is located, in an area of 5,000 hectares. In Meghalaya, however, IKF cultivates on its own land.
Its refinery was commissioned in March this year. Currently, it is procuring jatropha seeds from the open market since it began farming the plants in Meghalaya roughly 12 months ago.
Though the first flush of seeds takes 18 months, jatropha harvests are available twice a year in the period after maturing. One hectare can accommodate roughly 2,500 plants.
The yield per tree in one harvest, according to thumb rule, is around 3.5 kg and from one kg of seeds, a little over 300 ml of bio-diesel can be had.The company has a one-year renewable technology agreement with Indian Oil Technologies Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, for perfecting mixing grade bio-diesel.
Refinery in Gujarat :
It has proposed to set up another refinery in Gujarat with a capacity of 1 lakh tonnes per annum at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
It has also sought permission for contract farming of jatropha in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
In Rajasthan, it has a refinery running with a capacity to produce 3,000 litres a day.
As a Market Analyst,I am strictly recommending this stock.CMP: INR 3.78.It's future prospect is bright.Stock price will definately touch arround INR 200+ in 2012
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