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IAS Appointed UPSC Chairmanmidnightreporter.com/Main/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/december2018.pdfmous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera raj hai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated

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Page 1: IAS Appointed UPSC Chairmanmidnightreporter.com/Main/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/december2018.pdfmous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera raj hai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated
Page 2: IAS Appointed UPSC Chairmanmidnightreporter.com/Main/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/december2018.pdfmous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera raj hai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated

IAS

December, 20182MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Public SectorPradeep Gaur, who is presently posted as Execu-

tive Director(ED), Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd(RVNL) has beenappointed to the post of Chairman & ManagingDirector(CMD) in RVNL.

Vijay Kumar, Executive Director(Rolling Stock &Wagon), National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd hasbeen appointed as Director(Rolling Stock) in NHSRC

The 1989 batch IRS(C&CE) officer, GaigongdinPanmei has been appointed as Financial Adviser at JSlevel in the North Eastern Council, Shillong under theMinistry of Development of North Eastern Region.

Swamynathan Gurumurthy has been appointed aspart-time Non Official Director on the Central Board ofReserve Bank of India.

Satish Kashinath Marathe has been appointed aspart-time Non-official Director on the Central Board ofReserve Bank of India under the Department of Finan-cial Service

The 1988 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, ChetanBhushan Sanghi has been appointed as new Chief Sec-retary of Andaman & Nicobar Island. He is currentlyposted as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Women &Child Development. Prior to this he was posted as Prin-cipal Secretary in the Govt of De

The 1992 batch IAS officer of AM cadre, AshishKumar Bhutani has been appointed to the post of CEO,Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna(PMFBY) at the levelof Joint Secretary under the Ministry of Agriculture,Cooperation & Farmers Welfare.

The 1985 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre, ArunGoel who is presently posted as Special Secretary,Ministry of Culture has been appointed as Secretary inthe Ministry of Culture vice Raghvendra Singh(IAS,WB:83) on his appointment as Secretary, Ministry ofTextiles.

The 1984 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, AnantKumar Singh, Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles hasbeen appointed as Secretary in the Dept of Land Re-sources under the Ministry of Rural Development in thevacancy caused on superannuation of Dinesh Singh(IAS, UP:82

The 1983 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre,Raghvendra Singh, Secretary in the Ministry of Culturehas been appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Tex-tiles vice Anant Kumar Singh

The 1988 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre,Chetan B. Sanghi, Joint Secretary in the Ministry ofWomen & Child Development has been given prema-ture repatriation to his parent cadre without imposingthe extended cooling-off condition

The 2002 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, Dr.Dinesh Arora, who is presently posted as Director,Ayushman Bharat has been appointed as Deputy ChiefExecutive Officer, National Health Agency under theMinistry of Health & Family Welfare

IFSThe 1987 batch IFS officer, Rahul Chhabra who is

currently posted as Ambassador of India to Budapesthas been appointed as next High Commissioner of Indiato the Republic of Kenya.

The 1990 batch IFS officer, Partha Satpathy has beenposted as next Ambassador of India to Ukrain. Prior tothis he was posted as Joint Secretary in the Ministry ofExternal Affairs.

The 1988 batch IFS officer, D. Bala Venkatesh Vermapresently working as Ambassador of INdia to Spain hasbeen appointed as next Ambassador of India to RussianFederation.

Sunil Arora,the new Chief ElectionCommissioner of India

Sunil Arora has been ap-pointed as the new Chief Elec-tion Commissioner (CEC) bypresident Ram Nath Kovind,replacing Om PrakashRawat. Arora was previouslybrought in as the ElectionCommissioner in Septemberlast year, to fill the vacancycreated by former CECNasim Zaidi's retirement.

A former Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer of 1980batch, Arora will take over asthe new CEC on December2, 2018.

How is a CEC appointed?The president appoints

the Chief Election Commissioner and Election CommissionersA CEC of the Election Commission can have a tenure of six years

or hold office till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlierThe convention is to appoint the senior-most election commis-

sioner as a chief election commissioner6 things to know about Sunil Arora1. A former bureaucrat, Arora served as the information and broad-

casting secretary, and the secretary in the Ministry of Skill Develop-ment and Entrepreneurship.

2. A 1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Arora hasworked in ministries such as finance, textiles and the Planning Com-mission.

3. He also served as joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviationduring 1999-2002 and the CMD, Indian Airlines, for five years - twoyears as an additional charge and three years as full charge.

4. In Rajasthan, besides district postings in Dholpur, Alwar, Nagaurand Jodhpur, Arora was secretary to the chief minister during 1993-1998 and then the principal secretary to CM (2005-2008), besideshandling information and public relations (IPR), industries and invest-ment departments.

5. Arora retired in April 2016, following which he was appointed asan advisor to Prasar Bharti and then as director general and CEO ofthe Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs.

6. He will have a nearly two-and-a-half-year tenure as CEC, withthe general election 2019 to be conducted under his administration.

Ajay Bhushan Pandeyappointed Revenue Sec.

UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey was today appointedas the Revenue Secretary replacing Hasmukh Adhia, whoretires on 31 November.

Pandey, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Serviceofficer of Maharashtra cadre, will take charge on 1 De-cember. He will continue to hold additional charge of chiefexecutive officer of the Unique Identification Authority ofIndia and chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Net-work (GSTN), until further orders. Pandey has previouslyserved as secretary of information technology, collector ofJalgaon and deputy commissioner of sales tax inMaharashtra; and as director at the Ministry of Labour andprivate secretary to minister of food at Government ofIndia. Adhia, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre,moved to Delhi in November 2014 as secretary in theDepartment of Financial Services after Narendra Modibecame the prime minister.Vijay Kumar Dev appointed as

chief secretaryDelhi Chief Electoral Officer

(CEO) Vijay Kumar Dev has beenappointed as the chief secretary ofthe national capital, an official ordersaid. The Ministry of Home Affairs hadThursday issued the order appointingthe 1987-batch IAS officer of theAGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa,Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre.

Dev will succeed Anshu Prakashfollowing his transfer to the departmentof telecommunications in the Central

government. Prakash, who was allegedly assaulted at Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in February, has been appointedas additional secretary in the telecom department.

The outgoing chief secretary had claimed that some Aam AadmiParty (AAP) lawmakers, in the presence of Kejriwal and his deputyManish Sisodia, had thrashed him leading to a standoff between theDelhi chief minister and the bureaucrats. Dev will hold the post of chiefsecretary superseding 1986-batch IAS officer Manoj Parida who iscurrently serving as additional chief secretary (home) and principalsecretary in the Public Works Department (PWD).

Ranbir Singh appointedas CEO of Delhi

IAS officer Ranbir Singh wason Tuesday appointed as the newChief Electoral Officer (CEO) ofDelhi. He will replace Vijay KumarDev who has been appointed asthe Chief Secretary, Delhi Gov-ernment.

Singh is 1991 batch ofArunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory(AGMUT) cadre.

An official order by BC Patra, Secretary, Election Com-mission read: “I am directed to forward herewith theCommission’s Notification No. 154/DL/ 2018.P.Admn. dated26.11 2018 appointing Dr Ranbir Smgh, IAS as the ChiefElectoral Officer, NCT of Delhi in place of Shri. Vijay KumarDev, IAS.” Dev was appointed as the Chief Secretary fol-lowing the elevation of Anshu Prakash as Additional Sec-retary, Department of Telecommunications.

Sumanta Chaudhuri assumescharge as Coal Secretary

IAS officer Sumanta Chaudhuri took charge as Coal Secretary onTuesday, an official said. Chaudhuri, a 1985-batch officer from WestBengal cadre, had been named as coal secretary by the Appoint-ments Committee of the Cabinet on November 17.

He replaced Inder Jit Singh. The Department of Personnel andTraining had earlier said that Singh would be given a new assignment.

The “outgoing Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Inder Jit Singh wel-comed the new secretary, Tuesday,” the official said.

Prior to joining the coal ministry, Chaudhuri was the ManagingDirector at Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium, Department ofAgriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.

New Delhi: Arvind Saxena hasbeen appointed as chairman of theUnion Public Service Commission,which conducts examination toselect bureaucrats, diplomats andpolice officers, according to an of-ficial statement issued Wednesday.Saxena will have a tenure till Au-gust 7, 2020, when he attains theage of 65 years, it said. He hasbeen working as acting head of theUnion Public Service Commission(UPSC) since June 20.

Arvind SaxenaAppointed UPSC Chairman

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December, 20183MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Chief Secretary’s‘Charisma’

Hello officers, hope you all have heard the fa-mous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera rajhai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated to the hap-pening top brass Chief Secretary SK.Joshi. Becausehis name is making rounds ! Kyun ki assemblybhang hone se lekar vapis nayi assembly bananetak state ko sucharu roop se chalana aasan nahihota ! The top brass has made his last endless ef-forts to make it possible. Kudos to all his commit-ment and sincere services. No words !

DGPs Big BoundaryAnother big boundary from the top cop DGP

M.Mahender Reddy !The officer who is known forhis effective policing in the power corridors is suc-ceeded to make the assembly election smooth andpeaceful. Aasan nahi hai, par challenges se khelnaaiss afsar ki purani aadat hai....! And because of hiscommitment today the Telangana state police flagis flying higher and higher. Amazing !

It’s a FOURAfter a hit of four bole toh ‘chowkaa’ the cricket

lovers celebrates the boundary,but when it comesto the news corruption crusaders are excited asnow corrupt judiciary bosses are also been probedby the ACB. Let’s applaud for the efforts of toughofficer Dr.J.Purnachandra Rao IPS, (DirectorGeneral,ACB) , since he took over in ACB fourjudges faced the ACB investigation for amassingdisproportionate assets. In fact Mr.Vaidya VaraPrasad is the fifth judge from the state. Apprecia-tions !

Applauds ForDana Kishore

Let’s applaud for M.Dana Kishore, CommissionerGHMC and DEO for doing his best to increase thepolling percentage and ultimately the officer andhis team succeed in the mission for which NGOs/RWAs/SHGs and other organizations also associ-ated to make it possible. Over all the planning andthe execution for the assembly elections was per-fect and outstanding. Appreciations for the entireteam.

Sach mein Rajat Kumar, ChiefElectoral Officer of Telangana de-serves the ‘rajat padak’ for his end-less efforts for the state assem-bly elections.The officer took overthe task as a challenge and fromthe day one he was committedand dedicated for the efficient andthe accurate elections.And withhis efforts and with the coordina-tion of his team he succeed formaking the elections smootherand in a right manner. Whereas it’snot an easy task, but finally theofficer proved his ability andshowed his charisma.

Thanks GivingTreat

Awesome tradition ‘thanksgiving’ to encourage the dedicatedworkers and give them back fortheir comm-itment.The eventplanned in the presence of US CGin Hyderabad Ms.KatherineHadda, where the American staffshared some homemade thanksgiving treats with local staff col-leagues. This happens to be ev-ery year ! Amazing one !

Real Bike LoverWhat a click ! Frame it. Pre-

senting Mr.Andrew Fleming ,theUK Deputy High Commissionerwith the Norton Bike, which isknown to be one of the classicand racing bikes.It seemsMr.Fleming loves bikes and bikeriding and that’s the reason he isunable to stop himself to have aclick with it.Zoom zoom !

No Fear !That’sRajiv Trivedi

Meet the versatile bureaucrat ofthe state Principal Secretary, HomeRajiv Trivedi ! After making rounds forswimming, running and cycle ridingand setting records now the officer isin talk for the adventure, which isquite amazing. Yes recently the officercaught a snake at his residence, hid-ing in greenery. And surprising is,this is not the first time earlier too hecaught some and handed over to thefriends of snake society. No fear, that’sRajiv Trivedi.

Rajat Deserves ‘Rajat Padak’

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4 December, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Top TenJab top ki baat aati hai tho Anurag

Sharma, advisor to the governmentname comes first! So, the news is aboutsmooth assembly elections and thecredit goes to entire state police. Bosski nazar hi kafi hai, baki sab time parhota rahega !

When it comes to social cause, thePrincipal Secretary for Health, Medical& Family Welfare Smt.Shanti Kumari isseen to be the first. Recently the versa-tile lady officer is seen at NIMS hospitalfor the inauguration of waiting hallconstructed by Agrawal SamajSahayata Trust. Good one!

New Look ! Jayesh Ranjan, Princi-pal Secretary is making rounds with hisnew look which suits him a lot.The of-ficer is looking good in thebeard.Mr.Ranjan it’s a advice to con-tinue the same. Change means a lot !

Kudos to Hyderabad Police ChiefAnjani Kumar for setting record afterrecord with his tremendous perfor-mance. From the day one the top copis making rounds with his success sto-ries and now the news is assembly elec-tions, which concluded peaceful. Hatsoff the chief !

Agriculture Production Commis-sioner C.Parthasarathi is on screen.Theofficer was recently at Rome to attendthe ‘Innovation Fair’, where the officerhas shared the success stories of RythuBandhu and Rythu Bima schemes.Amazing !

Cleanness first! HMDA Commis-sioner Dr.B.Janardhan Reddy reviewsenhancement of quality ofHussainsagar water with TSPCB andEPTRI officials. Fantastic !

Be alert! No more eve teasing asShe teams are watching ! IGP , WomenSafety Swati Lakra said harassment ofwomen in public places will not be tol-erated. So be khabardaar or else be pre-pared to feel the heat.

Traffic control ke saath-saath withthe challans collecting the fines inlakhs on daily basis is a big achieve-ment. And the credits goes to AnilKumar, Addl Commissioner of police(Traffic) and his team.The officer whois making things impossible topossible.Thumbs up !

Child and women welfare schemesare the priority of Hyderabad CollectorM.Rahgunandan Rao, in fact the DM isquite serious when it comes to theimplementation of the sameschemes.Good one ! When it comes tothe assembly elections are officer workhard for its smooth execution.

That’s a news ! Guntur Superinten-dent of Police Ch.Vijaya Rao set an ex-ample of its own by acting as a driverto make the retired cops retirementmemorable. Yes after the retirementfunction the SP has driven the vehicleand dropped the cops to theirresidence.Good thought!

Ultimately Work Speaks…!B.P.Acharya, IAS, Spl. Chief Secretary to Govt. and DG, Dr. MCR HRD Institute is on

screen, one of the best officer, who only believes in work. And now after entering Dr.MCR HRD Institute, the officer has done tremendous work by adding more effectivetraining and the courses for the civil servants, who are also getting the opportunity tolisten to some of the distinguish personalities, who have visited for the first time.Nowthe news is recently U.S. Consul General, Katherine B. Hadda addressed over 300trainee civil servants who are undergoing 93rd Foundation Course.The theme was“Global Partnership Between the United States and India - The Two Largest Democra-cies”. That’s fantastic!

Suspense Continues !CBI former Joint Director V.V.Lakshminarayana

keeps the suspense alive, whereas the electionsare on cards.As per the sources the former officerhas a plan to join the politics and will face LokSabha elections.As per the sources Lok Satta,AAPand Telangana People’s Party have approached theofficer, but till now he has not confirmed to any ofthem. Hope the officer will wait for some more timeand waiting the offer from ant national and strongregional party.Keep the fingers crossed to see thepolitical show.

Soropimists‘On Screen’

Soroptimist International HyderabadCharter Ceremony took place at CMEHall,Century Hospital, Banjara Hills in thepresence of Chief Guest Shikha Goel, IPS ,Addl. Commissioner Of Police (CCS&SIT) andNASI of India President Ms.Lata Krishnan. TheSI-Hyderabad President Deepika Chalasaniand team took over the charge of HyderabadCharter. Soroptimists committed to trans-form the lives and status of women and girlsthrough education, empowerment and en-abling opportunities.

Shikha Goel with Jayalakshmi, IAS

NASI of India President Ms.Lata Krishnan &SI-Hyderabad President Deepika Chalasani withthe club members.

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December, 20185MIDNIGHT REPORTER

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NLC India Q2 net profits at Rs. 647.35 CrProfit for the half year ended 30th Sept 2018 is Rs.647.35

Cr compared to Rs.642.97 Cr in the corresponding period ofprevious year, registering a marginal growth.

Lignite production during the half year ending 30th Sept2018 is 99.41 LT compared to 101.26 LT in the correspondingperiod of previous year. Power sale during the half year ending30th Sept 2018 is 8,116.98 MU as against 8,617.76 MU in thecorresponding period of previous year. Lignite sale during thehalf year ending 30th Sept 2018 is 15.82 LT as against 6.26 LTin the corresponding period of previous year. The total Rev-enue of the Company during the half year ending 30th Sept2018 is Rs.3,722.18 Cr as against Rs.4,459.09 Cr in the corre-sponding period of the previous year. Reduction in turnover is

mainly on account of non-applicability of Clean Energy Cess after introduction of GST andapplication of INDAS 115 from 1st April’2018 by the Company and these having no impact onbottom line. The power surrender (net) during the half year ending 30th Sept 2018 is reducedto 1,217.31 MU as against 1,399.07 MU in the corresponding period of the previous year.

NMDC Foundation Day CelebrationsNMDC Limited celebrated its

61st Foundation Day at HeadOffice, Hyderabad and in all itsmajor production projects andUnits as the Corporation was in-corporated on the same day in1958 and has completed 60 yearsof excellence. Incidentally, NMDCis celebrating Diamond JubileeYear by organizing many megaevents such as National and In-ternational Seminars, Marathons,Cultural Programmes.

Shri N.Baijendra Kumar, IAS,CMD was the chief guest of thecelebrations at Corporate Office,Hyderabad. Dr.N.K.Nanda,Director(Technical), Dr. T.R. K.Rao, Director (Commercial), Shri

P.K.Satpathy, Director(Production) and Shri Sandeep Tula, Director(Personnel) graced theoccasion along with Sr. Officials of Head Office and R&D.

Dr. N.K.Nanda and Dr. T.R.K. Rao also addressed the gathering emphasizing the impor-tance of the long service awards. The recipients of the awards include the Shri P.K.Satpathy,Director (Production) and Shri Sandeep Tula, Director (Personnel) for completing 35 years ofservice in PSEs.

Chairman SAIL, stresses on producingtwo third Ferro Alloy requirement in-house

‘‘It is time for us to not just concentrate on increasing production capacity but also tobecome self-reliant in terms of input material as well. Chandrapur Ferro Alloy Plant (CFP)which meets about 40% of SAIL’s Manganese ore based Ferro-Alloy requirement must raisethe production to the rated capacity, so as to enable SAIL to meet two third of it’s total Ferro-alloy requirement. This will not just be a strategic advantage for SAIL but will also lead to bettercost efficiency” said, Chairman Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Shri Anil Chaudhary,during his visit to SAIL Chandrapur Ferro-Alloy Plant in Maharashtra.

Shri Chaudhary said that each unit is important in reaching the set targets of productionand productivity. Elaborating further on this he said, “SAIL is committed to the Ministry of Steel’starget of increasing steel production to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 and in the process, it willaugment production capacity to 50 million tonnes. CFP must tighten its belt start preparing nowbecause this will warrant an increased requirement of ferro alloys and the unit must be able toundertake such an increased requirement in the future.” He further added that the more self-reliant we are in terms of inputs and raw materials, the more will we be able to assert ourpresence in the market.

GAIL Gas signs MoU with EESL

GAIL Gas Limited, a subsidiary of GAIL (India) Limited, has signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) for fast-tracking theimplementation of co-generation and tri-generation projects and use of natural gas in industrialand commercial segments.

The MoU was signed by Shri A K Jana, Chief Executive Officer, GAIL Gas and Shri SaurabhKumar, Managing Director, EESL in the presence of Shri Gajendra Singh, Director (Marketing),GAIL (India) Limited & Director, GAIL Gas and Shri Rajeev Mathur, Director GAIL Gas atINSPIRE 2018 conference.

The MoU is set to benefit commercial installations like hotels, hospitals, airports, commer-cial malls, commercial/ government building, integrated residential complexes, educational insti-tutions, data center, among others, with the advantages of combined heat & power technology.It will help increase the consumption of natural gas through City Gas Distribution networks in co-generation and tri-generation projects, being a natural choice for operating the gas engines.Under the MoU, EESL will manage equipments at the customer’s location and GAIL Gas willsupply natural gas to the feasible projects with in the authorised geographical areas. This MoUwill help in achieving target set by Government of India to increase the share of natural gas in theenergy mix of the country from the present level to 6.5% to 15% by 2020.

HAL to roll out moreTejas fighters fromnew facility

State-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronau-tics Ltd (HAL) will roll out more Light Combat Aircraft

(LCA) Tejas from its new production facility at Nashik in Maharashtra, a top official said onFriday. “We are setting up a new facility at Nashik to double the production of Tejas fighters to 16from 8 per year,” HAL Chairman and Managing Director R. Madhavan told reporters here.

The company is investing Rs 1,300-crore for the Tejas fighter production augmentation, hesaid. The defence behemoth has two production units in Bengaluru where the advanced fourthgeneration multi-role light fighters are built for the Indian Air Force (IAF) combat fleet. The newfacility is expected to be operational by 2020.

Going forward, the additional capacity will augment the LCA production to 20 units perannum. The city-based company has an order book of Rs 64,000 crore.

“We certainly like to have a better order book position. Generally, an order book covers 5-7 years of our sales, but what we have covers four years. It is slightly on the lower side, but wehave pending orders which should make up,” said the Chairman. An order of 83 LCAs for the IAFis pending, he said. Fresh orders are expected for the defence major within the next 3-6 months.

“We are looking at orders for 83 LCA Mk-1s and 15 Light Combat Helicopters (LCH),”Madhavan said. Over the last six months, HAL received an order worth Rs 950 crore for theupgrade of 17 Dornier aircraft from the Indian Coast Guard.

PFC H1 PAT UP 16% atRs. 2728 crore

Consistent with its higher volume of operations, PowerFinance Corporation’s Profit After Tax (PAT) is up by 16%from Rs.2348 crore to Rs. 2728 crore during the first half(April-September) of the current Financial year of 2018-19.Total Income rose by 6% to reach a figure of Rs.14,382crore as against Rs.13,629 crore recorded during the sameperiod last year.

Net Loan Assets registered a growth of 14% during this period. Another significant aspectis that the Cost of Funds has come down by a whopping 25 bps i.e. from 8.32% to 8.07%. It ispertinent to mention in this context that PFC has now access to lost cost funds like 54EC Bondsthe subscription to which has witnessed a quantum leap of 2 times over previous quarter.

Disbursements are up by about 14% to Rs.30,486 crore in comparison to Rs.26,669 croreregistered during the same period last year. Earning Per Share (EPS) has gone up by fromRs.8.9 to Rs.10.33 during this period. Out of the total Loan Book of Rs.2,92,648 crore, Govern-ment Sector assets comprise of 82% and Private Sector about 18%. 90% of the Total LoanAssets are regular in servicing and no stress is envisaged.

Coal India posts eight-foldjump in Q2 net profit

State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) on Monday posted an eight-fold riseyear-on-year in its consolidated net profit at Rs 3,084.70 crore for theJuly-September quarter. The company had a net profit of Rs 370.43crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.Last year, high raw material costs weighed heavily on its margins. Thecoal miner reported a total income of Rs 24,209.33 crore in the quarter

ending September 30 this fiscal, up 26 per cent from Rs 19,171.73 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Allahabad Bank’s Q2 net loss at Rs 1,823 crore State-run Allahabad Bank on Tuesday posted a net loss

of Rs 1,823 crore for the quarter ended September 30 due toincrease in provisioning for non-performing assets and re-duction in interest income. The bank had posted a net profitof Rs 70 crore during the corresponding quarter of previousyear. The bank’s interest income in the quarter under review

fell by about 4.5 per cent to Rs 4,000 crore from Rs 4,190 crore in the year-ago period. Thelender said its total provision for bad assets went up to Rs 1,992 crore in the three monthsthrough September, against Rs 1,470 crore during the corresponding quarter of previous year.

BEML pays annual dividend toDefence Minister

BEML Limited, a Mini Ratna PublicSector Undertaking, under the Ministry ofDefence, Government of India (GoI) paiddividend of Rs.18.00 crores for the year2017-18 to the GoI.

The GoI holds 2.25 crore equity sharesof Rs. 10/- each in BEML and accordinglyentitled to dividend of Rs. 18.00 crores @Rs. 8.00 per share i.e., 80% on the equityshare capital for the year 2017-18.

At a programme held at New Delhi, ShriDeepak Kumar Hota, CMD, BEML handedover the Demand Draft to the Hon’ble

Raksha Mantri Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in the presence of Shri Sanjay Prasad, Joint Secre-tary (Land Systems), Ministry of Defence.

It may be noted that BEML, for the year 2016-17 had also paid a dividend of Rs. 18.00 Crs.to the GoI.

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December, 20186MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Bucking the usual trend of witnessing a slumpduring elections, the real estate sector in the cityis robust and is continuing its good run, that too,despite an escalation in prices, according to thosein the sector.

Generally, before any elections, investors areapprehensive about the formation of a new gov-ernment, especially with regard to stability. Suchfactors influence investors in making a final deci-sion. But that is not the case this time in the city.There is a sense of confidence among investorsabout the ensuing elections and most are hopingthings will remain stable and that their investmentswill bring in good returns for them, says TelanganaBuilders Federations Secretary J. Venkat Reddy.

Echoing the same views, C Shekar Reddy,convenor - Infra, Real Estate and Smart Cities,CII - Telangana, says there is no pressure on theinvestors and they are not worried about the elec-tions. Business is continuing as usual as there isno sense of panic among both buyers and sellers.Bookings and transactions are continuing with the

same frequency as was the case a couple of years ago. This was evident at the Telangana Real Estate Developers Association’s PropertyShow held a few days ago where the footfalls were very encouraging, he says.

Another striking aspect is that despite the prices escalating considerably, it is not turning into a deterrent for investors in buyingapartments or villas. Depending on the location and type of ventures and amenities provided, prices of apartments in the city are rangingfrom Rs.4,000 per sq.ft to Rs.10,000 sq.ft. Land prices have shot up and eventually this was adding to the cost of apartments or villas. Inaddition to this, labour and material costs have also increased. “Despite the price revision, Hyderabad is still the best place to invest asprices are much cheaper, compared to the other major cities like Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai, which are saturated,” adds Reddy.

TS RERA to release list of registered real estate firms on Dec 30For the benefit of home buyers, the Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TS RERA) has decided to publish the list of

projects registered with it, on December 1. The list would comprise all the real estate projects registered with TS RERA till November 30.As per the Real Estate (Regulations and Development) Act, 2016 and Telangana Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules,

2017, notified by the State government, all real estate projects approved on or after January 1, 2017, with plots having above 500 sq.mtsarea or more than eight units, have to be registered with the Authority.

Accordingly, all the builders/developers who had taken permission for real estate for projects between January 1, 2017 and August31, 2018 have to get their projects registered with TS RERA before November 30 online on the website rera.telangana.gov.in to avoidpenalties from December 1, according to a press release. The Authority said despite several notices and reminders, some of the realestate projects were yet to registered by the promoters and developers and action would be initiated for levy of penalty against them.

Godrej, Hero Cycles to invest Rs 1500 crore to build commercial spaceThe Godrej group is stepping into the commercial real estate space in the National Capital Region in a joint venture with Hero Cycles

Ltd, starting with a one-million sq.ft office and retail project. Located at Gurugram’s Golf Course Road, the project will come up at a four-acre plot owned by Pankaj Munjal-promoted Hero Cycles. It is expected to be completed in the next three years.

According to two people aware of the matter, who spoke under condition of anonymity, the development is likely to entail a totalinvestment of around Rs 1,500 crore. Spokespersons of both the companies declined to comment on investment.

A Godrej group statement said Godrej Properties Ltd (GPL) and Godrej Fund Management (GFM) have formed a joint venture withHero Cycles for the project. While GPL develops property, GFM is the group’s real estate private equity arm.

The deal marks the entry of Mumbai-based Godrej Properties in NCR’s commercial realty, while helping Hero Cycles monetise someof its land. “The combination of Godrej Fund Management and Godrej Properties combines superior investment management capabilitieswith best-in-class development capabilities.

RealPage to drive realty with technology US-based RealPage Inc, a global provider of software and data analytics to the real estate industry, is going to increase its

investments and efforts in its Hyderabad engineering centre. The centre has been in operation for last 11 years, developing products andsolutions for the real estate that help developers improve their overall operational performance and increasing their revenues. Thecompany is keen to use emerging technologies to improve efficiency in the realty sector. Explaining how the company looks at ITlandscape in real estate sector and where is it investing, Ashley Glover, COO, RealPage Inc, told Telangana Today, “We have builtcommercial solutions from Hyderabad for the real estate sector. We made huge investments in data and analytics. We are not just asoftware company but an aggregator of datasets that include revenue, occupancy, expense and transactional metrics of real estatedevelopers. We are building the world’s largest data base on global real estate transactions.” “Historically, real estate developers had beentraditional in their way of business and its their customers who are pushing them to adopt technology. We realise there is a lot of room forreal estate sector to use information technology.

Realty boom in Sircilla: Rs 35,000 for one square yardHow much of real estate factor will come into play in the elections is too early to guess but the district headquarters of Sircilla is indeed

witnessing a realty boom. Rise in the number of property registrations and building permissions in the town tantamount to this.Land rates have gone up on a par with some of the suburbs in Greater Hyderabad like Nallagandla, Gopanpally, Boduppal or Medchal.

In Gopanpally and Tellapur, a square yard of land costs about Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000. In Sircilla, which is 160 km from Hyderabad, theland rate is the same. Unbridled growth is very much visible on the bypass roads of Sircilla, Karimnagar-Sircilla Road and Sircilla-SiddipetRoad. This development has come about after some villages like Regudu, Chandrampet and Jyothinagar merged with Sircilla municipality.“A couple of years ago, the land rate was Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 per square yard at the bypass junction. The rate has now gone up to Rs30,000 to Rs 35,000. With the new district collectorate coming up soon, real estate activity in the region has grown by leaps and bounds,”Y Mallikharjun, a real estate agent in Sircilla, told. Construction activity has also picked up in the suburbs. As many as 270 newpermissions in the last two years, especially on the outskirts and outer roads connecting the town to other parts of the state. “Till a yearago, we used to get property registrations of 10 in a day. Registration of land documents has risen to 35 a day now. Revenue throughproperty registrations has jumped from Rs 8 crore a year to Rs 11 crore in the last three years alone,” B Ramachandraiah, sub-registrarof Sircilla told.

Happy days continuesfor Hyderabad’s realty

Page 7: IAS Appointed UPSC Chairmanmidnightreporter.com/Main/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/december2018.pdfmous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera raj hai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated

7MIDNIGHT REPORTER December, 2018

‘F.Quad’ Interior DesignStudio Is ‘On Screen’

AMIT & ASHMI

It’s a news that ‘F.Quad’ interior de-sign studio is on screen, it’s a renamedfirm by ‘AMIT & ASHMI’ Architects andInterior designers. After completing morethan 200 projects in all over a span of last13 years the AMIT & ASHMI has renamedthe architecture and interior design stu-dio as ‘F.Quad’ to update their workingculture and also to define new value sys-tems in the organization.It has to be notedthat in the journey of Architecture andInterior Designing they have rewardedwith 13 design awards till date in severalcategories.

‘F.Quad’ was derived from the 4 val-ues which we constantly work and im-prove on. F- Futuristic designs, F- FastExecution, F- Functional design and F-Friendly approach.

Our Values :-“We give importance to the aspect of

honesty, integrity, transparency, cus-tomer centric designs & service. Teambuilding and knowledge sharing are vitalin our organization. The trust of our clientis our “real earning”. Our entire team prac-tices tolerance and patience along with

research and innovation.”Design Philosophy:-Experimentation is our basic principle on which new design trends are built as well as developed.

Complete flexibility in design is what we usually work with. Creating visuals that are appealing whilemaintaining the utility and functionality is our forte. We believe in the contemporary & minimalistic trendsof design practice, although can offer any kind of styles of designs if desired by the client.

Work Ideology:-We adopt, innovate, & offer easy design solutions to the most of the complicated problems without

losing the visual appeal. Client satisfaction is our ultimate goal.

Page 8: IAS Appointed UPSC Chairmanmidnightreporter.com/Main/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/december2018.pdfmous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera raj hai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated

Publisher/Printer/Editor/Owner: Dr. CHAITANYA SINGH, Printed at COLOUR GRAPHICS, 3-1-351, Nimboliadda, Kachiguda Station Road, Hyderabad - 500 027, Telangana State.Published at H.No. 13-6-249/3, Jafferguda Post Kulsumpura, Karwan, Hyderabad-06, Telangana State. Cell : 8008175000. E-mail : [email protected].

8 December, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Sherwani, Biryani & Khubani

Meetha PaanBy Instagram

Ditto - Jagapati Babu

Pehchaan koun ! Apni pyari Alizeh haiWhat a selfie ! Frame it

‘India Gate’ reaches Hyderabad. Wow !

Yeh toh kisi star se kam nahi hai bhai !

Actress is lucky to be with a happening RJ

Style maar raha hai apna Gullu dada ! Lols

Good selfie Indu ! Wishes

Super excited !

Who is that lucky chap !

Meet the handsome

Bappi Da ko saal giraha mubarakRanvijay is sitting.Why not running !

Ek dum Elegant

I love you mom

App hi padh lo

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�9MIDNIGHT REPORTER December, 2018

Amy releases MR’sNovember edition

Midnight Reporter’s ‘Nova No-vember’ edition is out with a bangreleased by International bloggerAmy Catherine from Ire Land,Dublin.It was a fantastic launchat Marigold accompanied withdear friend Dexter Whelan.

Fantastic FollowingHonorary Consul General of Republic of Ko-

rea & Chairman of Phoenix Group Mr.SureshChukkapalli has a fantastic following and theabove picture is an example of the same. Mr.Suresh’s visit to Guntur, where his well wishersand followers were excited to welcome and felici-tate him. Really fantastic !

Aruna- how are youdoing !

Hello Aruna Goud ! How are you do-ing, how is your work and what’s thenews. Kya baat hai, not in touch from along time….!Hope busy in new project…!Friends hope you all know Aruna, thefounder of India Glam Fashion Week,one of the happening and the versatilefeminine of the fashion industry.

Ghoonghat Mein Chand Hoga…!Presenting pretty Esha Hindocha by one

and only Radha Prasad.It’s a promotional shootwith the association of Harini Fine Jewellery ,Sam & Rupamani.This picture is in talk becauseof its traditional theme and off course becauseof the happening feminine Esha ! Fabulousclick Radha.

Little Tennis StarsLittle Tennis stars Pushti Laddha and Hiya

Mehta are on screen after performing best in therecent championship. Both the little girls fin-ished as Doubles Runners in the AITA Champi-onship Series Under-14 Tournament in Vijay-awada. Many more to come....! Best wishes girls.

The Art & The TraditionA unique ‘Art Brunch’ hosted by

The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace inthe association with food and wineenthusiast, Jyotiee Balani. Artist ThotaLaxminarayana demonstrated livepainting of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in his own unique style,whichwas the attraction of the event.The tra-ditional cake mixing was the highlight.In the picture Jyotiee is with WestinGeneral Manager Rohit Dar.

Ek Selfie Tho Banti HaiWhen group of friends meets up then, ek

selfie toh banti hai ….! Swathi Rao , on the screenwith group of friends Swetha SrinivasDandamudi, Lavanya Bonthu, Sucharitha Reddy,Ramalakshmi Amireddy & others ! Lunch, talksand then selfies. Selfie of the month !

Birthday BeautyNeetika Singh, the happening beauty

of the town has celebrated her birth daywith dear friends and well-wishers.It wasa good gathering of pretty ladies of thecity. One of the friend, who didn’t re-ceived the invite said ‘Yaar Neet kabhi tohbula liya karo’, the question is ,who isthat chap !

Jhanvi FromBurj Khalifa

The entire world has seenthe tallest building BurjKhalifa, but how the Dubai citylooks from the building ! Mostof them has not seen it, butnow Jhanvi Bajaj has broughtan exceptional picture inwhich one can see the Dubaicity from the window. Theamazing view is from the topof 125th floor. Picture of themonth.Good one Jhanvi !

The Brand ManNazim Shaikh, the brand man from the

town is making rounds.The perfect choicefor promotion, marketing and for the bestbranding.Nazim new techniques andthemes are the reason for his success.Catchhim if you wanna popular !

Page 10: IAS Appointed UPSC Chairmanmidnightreporter.com/Main/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/december2018.pdfmous song ‘yahan waha sare jahan mein tera raj hai…!’ Yes the same song is dedicated

10 December, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

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11 December, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

The tourism in Kerala is limping back to normalcy after heavy rain and floods ravaged the state in August. Though the leisure tourism is yet to pick up, the business tourism is looking up."We have seen the number of corporate tourists growing from mid-October. But it may take some more time for the leisure tourism to rebound," said Girish Bhagat, general manager of GrandHyatt, Kochi.

The hotel which opened just before the Nipah virus scare and flood hit the state, is now gearing up for a busy tourist season ahead. "The MICE tourism is looking up and we now have anaverage occupancy rate of 60% which is better than many hotels in the city,"he said.

The hotel plans to get two houseboats in a few months to cater to the expected rise in the tourist flow. It has several inquiries for conducting destination weddings. "Medical tourism is anotherarea which looks promising. We have several medical conferences coming up," he said. The hotel is planning to pitch for large international conferences, which are usually held at Dubai,Singapore etc.

"The domestic tourist flow during the Diwali time was not up to our expectations," said Abraham George, CMD of intersight Tours & Travels . At the biennial tourism conference Kerala TravelMart held here in September, the tourism industry had expressed hope that the number of visitors will improve by November.

Odisha Tourism’s latest campaign to attract international footfallsAs the eastern Indian state, Odisha prepares to host the Fédération Internationale de Hockey’s premier international event, the state government is leaving no stone unturned as

international hockey’s grandest stage is all set up for the game that will start from November 28 and will continue till December 16.In an endeavour to entice foreign tourists to India, the state government has set up the high octane promotional campaign called, “Odisha by Day and Hockey by Night”. The campaign is

supposed to promote the Hockey World Cup in different cities around the globe. Odisha Tourism is also trying to achieve two major objectives via the campaign. The first is to promote thetournament but more importantly, the department seeks to popularise itself in and outside the country.

The event has already promoted itself in London along with Canberra, Sydney and other Australian cities as well as having made a mark in Munich, Germany. Buses drove around theinternational hotspots carrying the slogan, “Odisha by Morning, Hockey by Evening”. Like in London and Sydney, the bus is making a 360 degree promotional campaign around Munich and willcontinue till November end. As Munich winds down its Oktoberfest which is the world’s largest folk fair attracting around six million people to the fest, the Odisha government has the perfectopportunity to promote its tourism.

Commissioner-cum-secretary, Odisha Sports and Youth Services and Tourism departments, Vishal Dev said to the Indian media, “Oktoberfest is a huge crowd puller and bus advertisingis a powerful means to disseminate ideas. Odisha will get valuable exposure during the peak morning and evening commutes, and it will go a long way in popularising the state as an excitingsports and tourist destination. Bus advertising is part of the wider marketing campaign undertaken for Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018.”

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Tourism in Kerala limping back to normalcy

Punjab govt committed to boosttourism and industry

Punjab Commerce and Indus-tries Minister Sunder Sham Arorasaid the government was commit-ted to take every step necessaryto ensure more investments in theindustrial sector and promotion oftourism in the state.Arora, after in-augurating the Punjab Day celebra-tions at the ongoing India Interna-tional Trade Fair, said the tourismtagline of the state is: 'India Begins

Here', and the same is true in more ways than one. The iconic Golden Temple in Amritsar hasbeen acknowledged as the most-visited destination in the world as per the London-basedGuinness Book of World Records. It is also cleanest religious place in India. Arora announcedthat the state had notified its first cultural policy and revised the tourism policy, with an aim topromote cultural and natural heritage. The minister said the Amarinder Singh-led governmenthad notified the business and industrial policy, 2017, under which it signed 143 memorandumof understandings (MoUs) worth Rs 4,335 crore. Arora said Punjab had taken a big leap inforeign tourist arrivals and now ranks in the seventh position in the country. The state govern-ment is also giving special emphasis and providing incentives to the investors for the develop-ment and promotion of tourism, he said.

Soon, tourists canenjoy Kochi'sscenic backwaters

If things go as per plan, tourists will soonget to enjoy the beauty of Kochi backwaters asthey pass through the longest railway bridge inthe country. As per the latest reports, the In-dian Railways is planning to start a tourist trainacross the 4.62 km Vembanad Bridge, which

actually connects Edapally with the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Termi-nal here. This proposal by the Indian Railways is under consideration at this point of time, andpreliminary meetings are being held among the railway officials, Indian Railways Catering andTourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Cochin Port Trust to check if there is any viability in thisproject. As per the plan, steam heritage trains will be chugging through the rails carryingtourists from Edapally to Vallarpadam terminal. Also, as per the latest news reports, when thistourist train hits the rails, it would soon turn into a tourist attraction. And as per the plan, the trainjourney will offer some refreshing views of, which will be an addition to the tourism portfolio.

The authorities are also considering state-of-the-art vistadome coaches for the proposedtrain service. The reason behind this idea is that such coaches offer panoramic views of thesurroundings, thereby adding more components to their train journey. Just think of it-thecoaches will be air-conditioned, with a seating capacity of 40 passengers, further enhancedwith glass roof and 360 degree rotatable seats. It will be a great attraction for tourists as theheritage train will have all the required components to offer you an aesthetic experience whiletravelling through Vembanad Bridge.

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12 December, 2018MIDNIGHT REPORTER

Turkey may host 50 million tourists next year

Turkey may attract 50 million foreign tourists to the country next year, the state-runAnadolu news agency said citing Osman Ayik, head of the Turkish Hoteliers Federation.

The number of tourists is expected to rise from 40 million in 2018, Ayik said, according tothe news wire. Early bookings for next year “are going very well”, he said.

Turkey is seeking to boost revenues from tourism to help fund its current account deficitand to increase economic growth. Economic activity has slumped in the second half of theyear because of a currency crisis that has wiped nearly one third off the value of the lira.

The cheaper lira helped attract more tourists to the country this year. Ayik said the totalnumber had increased by 20 percent from 2017. Still, revenue from tourism is down on levelsseen in 2014, just prior to two years of what he termed a crisis in the industry. Revenues areexpected to recover by 2020, he said. The number of tourists visiting the main resort hub ofAntalya in the south of the country climbed to 13-13.5 million this year from 10 million in 2017,Ayik said. Some 15 million visitors are expected in 2019, he said.

Qatar gears up for tourism ahead of the2022 FIFA World Cup

Eight years after FIFA stunned the soccer world by promising to bring its crown jewel to theMiddle East for the first time, what once seemed impossibly far-off is becoming decidedlytangible. Four years out from hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar wants you to know it’sgrowing. Evolving. Not just physically but politically and - this small Muslim nation tucked into acorner of the Arabian Peninsula insists - culturally. Scan the skyline in downtown Doha andyou’ll find massive construction cranes sprinkled every few blocks in an attempt to keep pacewith demand in a country expanding at a seemingly frenetic pace. Look down and everythingappears to be covered in a fine layer of dust, the kind you see while walking into a new home.

Scientists refine genetically engineered grass to withstand the parched desert conditionsas engineers tinker with massive air conditioners. The ideas to deal with the anticipated influxof over 1 million soccer fans range from the creative - think cruise ships doubling as Air BnBsduring the tournament’s 28-day run - to pragmatic.

Caspian Sea cruises, way fordevelopment of nautical tourism

Until the middle of the 19th century, people viewed sea travel only as a way of transporta-tion, not suspecting that during the voyage they could enjoy the beauty of the opening land-scapes. But nowadays the situation has changed and sea cruises have gained increasingpopularity among tourists from all over the world. More importantly, they have become moreaffordable for a wider range of travelers.

The Caspian Sea, the Earth’s largest inland body of water, has good potential to be amongthe most popular destinations on the cruise tourism map. A new wave of luxurious shipscoming on stream will add on to the cruise offerings in the coming years. Therefore, Caspiancountries, in particular, Azerbaijan given their favorable geographic location with access to theCaspian Sea, do not want to miss this opportunity as well. The project of a cruise between theCaspian countries is at the development stage, the Kazakh Tourism Industry Committee of theMinistry of Culture and Sports told Trend.

The relevant departments of the Caspian Sea countries participate in the elaboration ofthis project and also in the implementation of the decisions of the heads of the Caspian statesadopted at the end of the Fifth Caspian Summit.

Florida breaks tourism recordwith 95.8 million visitors sofar in 2018

Despite record breaking levels of heat and toxic algae, Florida saw more tourists over thelast three quarters than ever before. According to a recent report from Visit Florida, the state'spseudo private/public marketing arm, Florida welcomed 95.8 million visitors from Januarythrough September in 2018, which is the highest number of visitors in any nine months in ourstate's history, and a 6.7 percent increase over the the same period in 2017. According to VisitFlorida, 30.7 million visitors traveled to Florida in the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 10.1percent over the same period in 2017. Those visitors include 27.5 million domestic visitors, 2.7million overseas visitors and 490,000 Canadian, says the agency. For comparison's sake, it'sestimated that 118.8 million tourists visited Florida in 2017. Naturally, Gov. Rick Scott didn'thesitate to give himself credit for this achievement. "Since December 2010, Florida has wel-comed a record number of travelers for 27 quarters and had seven consecutive years ofrecord visitation and visitor spending," said Scott in a statement. "Today’s announcementshows that 2018 is shaping up to be the most robust year for travel to Florida ever."

Plan b to promote St Petersburg tourism in UAEDubai based Plan b Group has acquired the ‘Visit St Petersburg’ destination account,

enabling the Group to promote St Petersburg within the UAE as a choice destination forbusiness and leisure. Additionally, Plan b Group founder &chairman, Harmeek Singh has beenappointed as ‘Visit St Petersburg’s’ representative in the country.

“Through the ‘Visit St Petersburg’ campaign, Plan b will do what we do best by promotingbusiness and tourism opportunities from the UAE to the incredible city of St Petersburg. Ourexperience in integrated marketing services has given us this opportunity and the tie-up willsee us implementing a 360-degree marketing strategy. Experiential activities will highlight theidentity and uniqueness of the city and match the potential travellers’ expectations when theytravel to the city,” said Singh.