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Tag: Switzerland

  • KCR’s Golden Boy KTR Woos Lulu Group to Invest Rs 500 Crore in Golden Telangana!

    KCR’s Golden Boy KTR Woos Lulu Group to Invest Rs 500 Crore in Golden Telangana!

    The Charismatic Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao has a Golden Boy – KT Rama Rao, who touches anything to turn it into gold! This time KTR has touched and woed global multibillionaire and Lulu Group Chairman Yusuffali or Yusuf Ali to invest Rs 500 Crore in Golden Telangana – India’s youngest state with the brightest prospects. It is only natural that the Lulu group comes to Hyderabad as Lulu in Arabic means ‘pearl’ and Hyderabad is famous as the City of Pearls!

    The Lulu Group has come forward to invest Rs 500 crore in Telangana with a promise to scale up the investment later. The investment was announced during a meeting between Telangana’s IT and Industry Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) and the Lulu company chief Yusuf Ali in Davos. The Lulu Group will start its operations in the food processing sector in Telangana. On the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Telangana IT and Industries Minister KTR held a series of successful meetings with various international industry leaders at the Telangana pavilion and attracted investments worth crores in Telangana. 

    On behalf of the Telangana government, the young and energetic Minister KTR handed over the necessary permission-related documents to Yusuf Ali for the food processing unit to be set up by the global chain. Yusuf Ali disclosed that besides this investment, they also have plans of setting up another unit in the food processing sector. An official announcement will be made soon in this regard. He declared that they will be laying the foundation stone for their food processing units soon. The company’s unit would export food processing products from Telangana to foreign countries in Europe.

    The global Malayali Yusuf Ali also visualised that the Lulu group would invest more in the construction of large-scale commercial complexes in the state of Telangana. “We have already selected several areas in Hyderabad city in this regard and are in talks with the respective property owners. Our aim is to build an excellent shopping mall of international standards in Hyderabad city,” he added. Hopefully, it becomes a reality this time. Not only the Telangana biddas (sons of the soil) will get jobs but also the real estate sector will zoom in after the pandemic-induced slowdown. The elated Minister KTR expressed happiness over Lulu Group’s decision to invest in Hyderabad, one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. KTR observed that, “Telangana government was working towards establishing a demand for agricultural products and agricultural allied products through food processing units. Lulu Group is setting up an international level food processing unit that will help this cause.” He thanked the Lulu Group for the valuable investment.

    Enjoying the scenic beauty of Switzerland, KTR also welcomed Swiss Re, the world’s largest insurance company to Telangana. The firm will set up its office in Hyderabad this August. Swiss Re is a 160-year-old insurance organization, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, and operates in 80 locations globally. Telangana’s insurance scene will be global with Swiss Re’s foray into Hyderabad. The Swiss Re’s Hyderabad center will start with an initial headcount of 250. The insurance company will focus on data and digital capabilities, product modeling, and risk management. Veronica Scotti, Group Managing Director, and Ivo Menzinger, MD Public Sector Solutions, Swiss Re met Minister KTR and the Telangana delegation at the Telangana pavilion in Davos today to finalise the deal.

    The Spain-based Chemo Pharma announced Rs.100 crore investments in the expansion of its existing unit in Hyderabad for the production of pharmaceutical finished dosage forms. It may be recalled that the company had established additional Quality Check and Stability Labs at their existing facility at Genome Valley last year. The company is planning to initiate a new Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and R&D Centre in Hyderabad while continuing new product development activities in solids and injectables in Hyderabad. KT Rama Rao met Chemo Group R&D Director (Pharmaceuticals Generics Business), Dr. Jean Daniel Bonny, during the World Economic Forum (WEF).

    In 2018, Chemo India Formulation started its operations at Genome Valley, Hyderabad. Since then, the company has invested about Rs. 170 crores so far, besides providing employment to nearly 270 people. During his meeting with KT Rama Rao, Dr. Jean said the company had taken up around 25 new development projects in solids and 12 new development projects in injectables. KTR chuckled: “I am delighted that Chemo, a leading pharmaceutical company, is continuing to grow from Hyderabad. This is indeed a testament to the life sciences ecosystem in the city and Genome Valley.”

    In the coming days, KTR is sure to mop up more investments from Davos.

  • There Are Enough Laws to Tackle Black Money; Parliament Cannot Take Dictation From Self-Appoi​nted Crusaders: Union Commerce and Industry Minister

    There Are Enough Laws to Tackle Black Money; Parliament Cannot Take Dictation From Self-Appoi​nted Crusaders: Union Commerce and Industry Minister

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Making an attempt to rescue the government from the nationwide reaction on the crackdown of Baba Ramdev, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said yesterday that there were enough laws to tackle black money and that Parliament could not take a dictation from self-appointed crusaders.

    Talking to The Indian Express yesterday, Sharma said, “There are enough laws to tackle ill gotten money — be it from money laundering, crime or drug trafficking. The government’s actions so far were only to defuse the tension.”

    The minister admitted that such events did result in a negative projection of India in international forums. “But, our global partners will surely see through the political agenda,” Sharma said. “India has a rule-based governance system. Such decisions cannot be made in the streets and chowks.”

    The issue of black money is complex and the government is seriously addressing it. “We have signed agreements with a large number of countries including the Bahamas, Channel Islands, Switzerland. India is also part of the international task force set up on this issue by the G-20. The government is sincere and committed to tackling the black money issue,” he said.

    Sharma said in his meeting with industry captains in the two cities, there was general concern about these self-appointed activists being unelected and unaccountable to any institution. “There are issues that need to be taken care of through legislation. There is a clear political agenda behind orchestrating such events,” he said.

    In a press statement earlier in the evening, he claimed that developments in the recent weeks to project India as a country of scams and corruption were part of a diabolic and sinister political agenda. “The coercive attempts to hold the state to ransom and dictate to Parliament in discharge of its sovereign function have no place in democracy,” he said.

    According to him, Ramdev’s agitation was a coalition of a partisan political agenda and political forces rejected by democratic processes in recent elections. “Hiding behind the mask were communalist and fascist forces — Bajrang Dal, RSS and VHP which had at their heart an aim to destabilise Indian polity.”

  • Switzerland: Govt Freezes $1bn Worth of Gaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali Assets

    Switzerland: Govt Freezes $1bn Worth of Gaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali Assets

    The Swiss government has ordered banks and other financial institutions to freeze possible assets belonging to the three men and their key supporters to prevent the funds from being secretly withdrawn.

    By Staff writer

    Tunis, Tunisia: The Swiss Government says it has identified and frozen potential assets nearly $1bn worth linked to Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and the ousted presidents of Egypt and Tunisia.

    Speaking in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, Swiss Foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, said some 830m Swiss francs ($960m) had been discovered which include assets worth 360m Swiss francs (SFr) that may belong to Col Gaddafi or his entourage. On the list, was 60m SFr was tied to former Tunisian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his associates. The largest proportion – 410m SFr – was linked to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his circle.

    The Swiss government has ordered banks and other financial institutions to freeze possible assets belonging to the three men and their key supporters to prevent the funds from being secretly withdrawn. The Swiss government has said Tunisia and Egypt have already started legal proceedings to claim the assets.

    Initially, the government ordered freezing of assets linked the Ben Ali and 40 people in his entourage on 19 January together with Mubarak and his associates On 11 February after they were toppled in popular uprisings.

    The Swiss government sent diplomatic cables to Tunisia and Egypt in late March explaining they must submit evidence so authorities can decide if the offences are punishable in Switzerland. In both cases, the money will remain locked away for three years while the two countries satisfy Swiss legal requirements.

    At the beginning of the year, Switzerland also froze funds tied to Laurent Gbabgo, the former president of Ivory Coast who refused to cede power and finally was captured.

    Switzerland is trying hard to shed its reputation as a favoured location for dictators’ money because of its banking secrecy rules, and has established an investigative unit to help track down hidden funds.

    The three-year freeze on assets is meant to give nations time to draft possible criminal cases against former leaders ,said Calmy-Rey.

    “Switzerland is willing to help make those cases because it wants to avoid being used to hide funds illegally. A new law affecting the seizure of assets went into effect on 1 February that makes it easier for the Swiss government to freeze and seize the money,” she added.

    Published in Exclusive Partnership with Newsfromafrica.org