Latest news with #Narasimhan
The Hindu
5 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Tamil Nadu: Frustrated over delay in RTE admissions, parents look for other options
As schools in Tamil Nadu are set to reopen in the first week of June, parents awaiting admissions for their children under the Right to Education (RTE) Act have lost hope. They are now searching for admissions in other schools including the private ones. Under the RTE Act, 25% of the seats in entry-level classes, which include LKG and Class 1, in private schools have to be reserved for students from weaker sections of society. Narasimhan A., a resident of Ayappakam, a contract worker in a construction firm, had been waiting to admit his child under the RTE Act. 'But now it looks like it won't be happening, no one has any idea about it. I do not want to waste this academic year for my child if the RTE admissions don't take place,' he said. The admissions under the RTE Act usually begin by mid-April and applications are filed on the State government's online portal. The admissions to the schools end by May. Mr. Narasimhan adds that he would admit his child in the government school but they don't have kindergarten classes. 'There is no government-aided school near my area either. I tried for admission under RTE for my older son but he wasn't selected. I had to take a loan and admit him in a private school. I wanted my younger one to study under the RTE as I cannot afford private schools for both children. Now it looks like I'll have to take another loan,' he said. According to N. Rengarajan, the joint general secretary of All India Primary Teachers Federation, only over 2,500 government middle schools in the State have kindergarten classes. Meanwhile, the School Education Department's helpline 14417 has been inundated with calls about RTE admissions. 'Most incoming calls have been enquiries regarding RTE,' said an official from the department. Tired of waiting for the admissions under RTE, Sumithra. R, a homemaker, recently admitted her child to a government-aided school in Ayappakkam. 'My first son was admitted under RTE and I wanted to do the same for my younger son, so he will also have access to the best education. However, there has been no news about the admissions beginning. I can't wait any longer,' she said. Pending dues Earlier this month, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi stated that the Chief Secretary had written a letter to the Centre seeking clarity over pending dues under the RTE Act. The funds for the Act are covered under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme which is shared between the Centre and the State in a 60-40 ratio. Though the government continues its fight for the release of the Central funds under the scheme, the State had, in March, announced that it would bear the Centre's dues too. A case regarding the delay in RTE admissions has been taken up by the Madras High court. According to sources in the School Education Department, a meeting regarding the admission is expected soon and a decision would be made.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Indian Solar Association to promote rooftop solar energy installations in houses
Efforts will be taken to install rooftop solar energy panels in two lakh houses in Tamil Nadu, said the Indian Solar Association Director C. Narasimhan. Mr. Narasimhan told The Hindu that there are just about 20,000 registrations from Tamil Nadu for the Prime Minister's Surya Ghar Yojana scheme. 'We have appealed to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to provide net metering facility for these connections soon.' The association will organise awareness campaigns and a conference inviting all the solar energy panel providers and banks. A modern house typically requires about 3 kW of rooftop solar panels, and the government subsidy for this will be ₹78,000. The remaining cost can be financed through a bank loan. If around two lakh houses adopt solar energy, there will be a significant reduction in energy consumption from the grid. Additionally, commercial establishments can also install rooftop solar systems, saving ₹4 to ₹4.5 per unit of power. The association will also promote the Kusum scheme among farmers, encouraging the use of solar energy for water pumping. Mr. Narasimhan said Tamil Nadu will soon allocate lands for setting up storage facilities for renewable energy at six locations in the State. The Central government gives subsidy for setting up the storage facilities. These storage centres will enable the State to avoid power disruptions during peak hours, he said.
India.com
27-05-2025
- Business
- India.com
Worldline Gets RBI Nod To Facilitate Cross-Border Online Transactions For Import-Export
New Delhi: Digital payments firm Worldline ePayments India Private Limited on Tuesday announced that it has received authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an Export-Import Payment Aggregator - Cross-Border. According to a statement from its parent firm, Worldline India, this authorisation enables Worldline ePayments India to facilitate cross-border online transactions for the import and export of goods and services. Worldline ePayments India received the official communication from the RBI on May 21, 2025. Ramesh Narasimhan, Chief Executive Officer - India, Worldline, said, 'We've been present in the Indian market for over two decades and have established a leadership position across sectors. We serve merchants in diverse segments such as e-commerce, BFSI, retail, utilities, education, travel, and hospitality.' 'This authorisation from the RBI is a strong endorsement of our unwavering commitment to the Indian market. It reaffirms our focus on regulatory compliance and underscores the importance of a secure and well-regulated payments ecosystem,' added Narasimhan. In addition to the newly granted Payment Aggregator - Cross-Border (PA-CB) licence, the company statement said Worldline ePayments India is also authorised to operate as an online payment aggregator (PA) and a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU), enabling digital payments for domestic merchants across the country. In India, Worldline is a leading omnichannel payments technology player, building a robust payment ecosystem for over 26 years. Worldline said it is the preferred partner for over 30 leading public and private sector banks, as well as key sectors such as NBFCs, insurance companies, e-commerce businesses, startups, retail brands, and hotel chains, among others.
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Over two-thirds of urban Indians face financial stress, slowing demand for Oral Care products: Colgate-Palmolive CEO Prabha Narasimhan
Colgate-Palmolive India managing director and CEO Prabha Narasimhan on Thursday said more than two-thirds of urban Indian consumers are facing financial stress, leading to a slowdown in overall consumer demand, including for oral care products. While 30% urban consumers are resilient, the rest are delaying purchases of daily household and personal products, she said. "The bottom 70% of urban under pressure, and that pressure is leading to an impact on oral health volumes, as much as it is leading to impact on various other categories (and) FMCG volume," Narasimhan told analysts at an earnings call after the firm's March quarter results. She expects a revival in the second half of FY26. "Rural (India) continues to look like a real bright spot. So, we see this getting sequentially better, and particularly towards the back half of this year," she said. The company behind the eponymous toothpaste brand controls half the oral care segment in the country. Consumers are still not shifting to lower-priced products and are instead extending their product usage a little longer, Narasimhan told analysts. "Consumers don't stop buying or using toothpaste. The way to adjust how much you spend on this category is actually by adjusting how much toothpaste you put on your toothbrush, and therefore the titration downwards of that usage is what leads to a decline in volume," she explained. "We are not actually seeing downtrading in the market, and the reason for the slowing volume growth is actually consumers titrating the amount of toothpaste that they use. So, it's not that consumers drop out of the category. The overall penetration of the toothpaste category remains at its near universal level. It doesn't wobble." Narasimhan expects the macro indicators and the company's interventions through new innovations to help reverse the slowdown in demand. Colgate-Palmolive on Wednesday reported a 2% year-on-year fall in its revenue for the quarter ended March, while its net profit declined 7%. Demand for daily groceries and other household and personal products worsened to a two-year low during the March quarter, indicating delayed turnaround for India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Global research firm Kantar said FMCG volume sales growth in the January-March quarter was 3.5%, slowest since the 2023 March quarter. A year ago, the market had grown 5.5% during the same quarter. Earlier this year, Colgate had said India was the most prominent market globally to experience fierce competition among consumer goods companies, marked by steep discounting to attract urban shoppers.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Over two-thirds of urban Indians face financial stress, slowing demand for Oral Care products: Colgate-Palmolive CEO Prabha Narasimhan
Colgate-Palmolive India managing director and CEO Prabha Narasimhan on Thursday said more than two-thirds of urban Indian consumers are facing financial stress, leading to a slowdown in overall consumer demand, including for oral care products. While 30% urban consumers are resilient, the rest are delaying purchases of daily household and personal products, she said. "The bottom 70% of urban under pressure, and that pressure is leading to an impact on oral health volumes, as much as it is leading to impact on various other categories (and) FMCG volume," Narasimhan told analysts at an earnings call after the firm's March quarter results. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Man Fights Nail Fungus for 15 Years…Until He Found This New Brush-On "Pen" Lunavia Learn More Undo She expects a revival in the second half of FY26. "Rural (India) continues to look like a real bright spot. So, we see this getting sequentially better, and particularly towards the back half of this year," she said. The company behind the eponymous toothpaste brand controls half the oral care segment in the country. Live Events Consumers are still not shifting to lower-priced products and are instead extending their product usage a little longer, Narasimhan told analysts. "Consumers don't stop buying or using toothpaste. The way to adjust how much you spend on this category is actually by adjusting how much toothpaste you put on your toothbrush, and therefore the titration downwards of that usage is what leads to a decline in volume," she explained. "We are not actually seeing downtrading in the market, and the reason for the slowing volume growth is actually consumers titrating the amount of toothpaste that they use. So, it's not that consumers drop out of the category. The overall penetration of the toothpaste category remains at its near universal level. It doesn't wobble." Narasimhan expects the macro indicators and the company's interventions through new innovations to help reverse the slowdown in demand. Colgate-Palmolive on Wednesday reported a 2% year-on-year fall in its revenue for the quarter ended March, while its net profit declined 7%. Demand for daily groceries and other household and personal products worsened to a two-year low during the March quarter, indicating delayed turnaround for India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. Global research firm Kantar said FMCG volume sales growth in the January-March quarter was 3.5%, slowest since the 2023 March quarter. A year ago, the market had grown 5.5% during the same quarter. Earlier this year, Colgate had said India was the most prominent market globally to experience fierce competition among consumer goods companies, marked by steep discounting to attract urban shoppers.
