Kabbadi: Japan's Masayuki Shimokawa, Takamitsu Kono in Mumbai to get used to Indian conditions

Kabaddi might have originated in India but it has trickled down to rest of Asia, becoming popular in Bangladesh, Iran, Japan and other nations. So much so that a couple of Japanese players – who are up for auctions for the forthcoming Pro Kabaddi League to be held in India – thought of dripping their sweat on Indian mats and flew down a week before they were scheduled to arrive.

Masayuki Shimokawa and Takamitsu Kono were easy to spot amongst the Japanese contingent due to their agility and fitness while they played a practice match against a local team at the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) ground in Chembur on Wednesday.



Miles away from the heart of the city, the Japanese stretched, ran and spoke in their own language much to the amusement of the locals. No, they don't speak English, becoming even more difficult for an Indian opponent to read their moves.
Derived from the Tamil word 'Kai-pidi', meaning 'let's hold hands', the sport is painting an all new picture of brotherhood with the upcoming league where foreign players and Indians will play in the same team, like the Indian Premier League in cricket.

The Japanese duo has been fighting on the mat for a while now. Kono, a 22 year-old-student who plays as a right cover, has three gold medals in three years of professional career.
"In Japan, schools provide the early kick when it comes to kabaddi. It is introduced early in the educational institutions and hence the kids become experts at a young age," said Kono, who is born to a priest.
None of his family members are connected to the sport as it was only in 1979 when it was introduced in Japan.

About coming to India, the duo said: "We wanted to train in adverse conditions. In Japan, the temperature is cool and favourable. In India, it is hot and humid and our real test lies here. It is also preparing us for the League and getting to read an Indian player's mind."
Talking about player auctions, the first thing that comes to an Indian's mind is the IPL but Shimokawa and Kono seem unaware of its popularity. "We definitely know cricket but in Japan, baseball is more popular. You have auctions in cricket also?" asked Shimokawa, who has eleven gold medals to his name and is also a baseball enthusiast.

"All professional players are up for the auctions of the League and that is why we are very excited and honoured. It makes us feel important," he added.
But one of Japan's biggest asset is also their football team. Though they are focussing on the League and training, the FIFA World Cup fever has caught their attention too.
"We wish we could be there (in Rio) to support our national team. We wish the Japanese team all the best. It will be exciting if they can win the World Cup. It will also motivate us in the long run," the duo said.

Before jumping on the mat for the friendly, they said: "Now that we are going to play in the Pro Kabaddi League, we would love it if the sport becomes the main sport in our country apart from baseball."

Isuzu rolls out D-Max pick-up trucks

Isuzu Motors India, a subsidiary of Japan’s Isuzu Motors, has launched its global range of pick-up trucks - D-Max - in India with prices ranging between Rs. 5.99 lakh and Rs. 7.09 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). 

The company has launched D-Max range in three models.

“In India, the pickup truck segment is one of the largest and fastest growing segments in commercial vehicles (CV) segment, accounting for 35 per cent of the total CV market. We estimate India to be the world’s largest one tonne pick-up truck market by 2023,” said Takashi Kikuchi, Managing Director of Isuzu Motors India. 

“With this launch (in Mumbai), we look forward to growing our market in West India and gradually across the country. In addition to Mumbai, we will also be opening dealerships in Pune asnd Nasik this year,” he said. 

The D-Max is propelled by a 2499cc, 4-cylinder intercooled turbocharged diesel engine, mated with a 5-speed manual transmission. This engine pumps out 134 hp power at 3600 RPM and 294 Nm torque @ 1800-3200 rpm range. 

As a part of Isuzu’s expansion plans, the company has opened its first dealership in Mumbai. It intends to open 60 outlets across India by end of 2015-16.

Trial run of JICA-aided water project under way

The trial run of transmission of drinking water under the multi-crore Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-assisted drinking water project is under way. 

Project Director K.G. Harshan on Tuesday said on-ground checking of the main transmission lines across 23 km till Balussery had been completed. “We are in the final stages of the project,” he said. However, on the flipside, the drinking water project will not benefit domestic users this summer as the checking of mainlines would be tentatively completed only by May 30.

The Rs.805.6-crore project, set to provide 174 MLD (million litres per day) water from the Peruvannamuzhi reservoir, is expected to benefit 13 lakh people and provide over 1 lakh domestic connections for consumers across 13 panchayats in the district. 

The project, once commissioned, would supply drinking water to Kozhikode city and the panchayats of Balussery, Nanmanda, Kakkoor, Kakkodi, Chelannur, Narikuni, Kunnamangalam, Kurivattoor, Peruvayal, Perumanna, Kadalundy, Olavanna, and Thalakkulathur.

Currently, the city requires 140 MLD water, but the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) is able to supply only 50 MLD after distribution loss. This results in erratic supply of water. The JICA-assisted project will ensure that water is supplied on a daily basis. 

“We have to check the entire pipelines across 123 km. As the exercise has been completed till Balussery, we will move on to pipeline systems in Kakkoor, Chelannur, Kakkodi and Kozhikode city, which has the highest number of consumers,” Mr. Harshan said.

Though work was scheduled to be completed by April 31, issues like a stop memo from the Peruvannamuzhi village officer owing to protests by local people, the controversy over the Kasturirangan panel recommendations and a prolonged quarry owners’ strike leading to shortage in raw materials had delayed the rolling-out of the project.

“Till Balussery, we countered minor repairs in the pipeline. The rectification work has to be minutely done on mainlines and so we cannot give a specific deadline. But as of now, we hope the work will be completed by May 30,” said the project director.

Modi's first foreign visit could be Japan

With economic resurrection to top the agenda of the next government, Japan could be the destination of the first stand-alone bilateral visit of new prime minister, as Tokyo's support to boost infrastructure is likely to be tapped.

While the new PM is expected to travel to Brazil in July for the BRICS summit, to New York for addressing the UN General Assembly in September, followed by the Asean summit in Myanmar and G-20 meet in Australia, both in November, a stand-alone bilateral visit to Tokyo by the head of the government is on the cards towards the later part of the year, a government source told ET. The purpose of the trip would be a bilateral annual summit. Such summits are held alternatively in India and Japan.

This visit would not only mark continuity in India's policy towards Japan but also signify Japan's importance for India's economic and strategic needs.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was the chief guest at this year's Republic Day parade - the first Japanese premier to be given the honour.

Abe, who wants to shed Japan's pacifist image, is a votary of strong ties with India in the backdrop of heightened tensions with China. During his January trip the two countries decided to launch National Security Adviserlevel dialogue and Japan was invited to participate in India-US joint naval exercise to be held this year in East Asia. Ties have prospered, particularly with Manmohan Singh at helm.

If Modi becomes the next PM, bilateral ties may receive a further boost as he has special ties with Japan during his tenure as Gujarat CM, when the US refused to give him a visa.

He received a warm welcome in Japan during his visit in 2012. Japan is engaged in 19 projects in India, of which seven are proposed in Gujarat.

Corporators set to leave for Japan

Elected members and a Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) official will leave for a week-long study tour of Japan on May 25. During the visit, they will study development projects and attend a conference on infrastructure development.

The civic body had organised a study tour to South Korea last year. The tour drew flak from activists and citizens alike for its extravagant expenses on corporators who took their family members along. "No family members of elected members will go to Japan because there is no such invitation," said Bapu Karne, chairman of PMC standing committee.

"The group includes leaders of all political parties in the house, the mayor and a PMC official. The standing committee on Tuesday gave its approval to bear expenses of the civic body official, while the corporators will have to fund their own expenses," said Karne.

The Okayama-Pune friendship park, developed by the PMC, was inaugurated in January 2006.

The Japanese-style park is spread on four hectares of land inside the P L Deshpande garden on Sinhagad Road. Designed by a Japanese architect, the park is developed on the lines of a famous garden in Okayama.

To improve relations between Pune and Okayama, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the two cities on the inaugural day of the conference.

Daikin India eyes 25% growth in turnover this fiscal

Daikin Airconditioning India is looking at a 25 per cent growth in its business in the current financial year.

The company had registered a turnover of Rs 2,200 crore in the last fiscal and is eyeing at least 25 per cent growth in the current financial year, Daikin India Vice President (Residential air-conditioners) Rajesh Jain said.

"With anticipation of rising economic activities in the domestic market, we are expecting a 15-20 per cent growth in room (residential) air-conditioner business," Jain said.

At present, Daikin has 15 per cent market share in room air-conditioner segment in the domestic market, he claimed.

Terming Madhya Pradesh as the 'growing market' in the air condition segment, Jain said the company had done a business of Rs 50 crore in the state last fiscal and is aiming at a turnover of Rs 75 crore in 2014-15.

He also added that Daikin India is working on capacity expansion plan for its only plant located in Neemrana, Rajasthan.

Daikin Airconditioning India is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Daikin Industries Ltd, Japan.

Itochu in talks to buy Redington India for $500 million

Various news reports floating around suggest that Japanese trading conglomerate Itochu Corporation is in discussions to acquire Redington India — a distributor of IT and telecom products, and a large reseller of Apple phones — for as much as $500 million.

Singapore-based NRI family Kewalram Chanrai, Standard Chartered Private Equity and Taiwanese IT distributor Synnex together own over 55% stake in the Chennai-based Redington, which is run by an independent management team under R Srinivasan. The three could offload shares to Itochu at a premium to the prevailing market price, if talks fructify.

Itochu, with a history dating back to 1858, is Japan’s third largest trading giant after Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co. It has used acquisitions to bulk up trading presence in IT and communication products. Redington would provide Itochu a big boost in India and Middle East markets.

A possible majority share acquisition followed by a mandatory open offer could cost Itochu between $450-500 million, a banking source privy to the matter said. He didn’t want to be named since talks are private and not yet finalized.

Chanrai holds 21% stake in the Chennai-headquartered Redington India, which reported $1.73 billion turnover in FY13. The distribution of telecom and IT products is a high-volume, low-margin business as reflected in the company’s net profit of $28.5 million reported in the last fiscal.

Chanrai is paring Redington stake to focus on the other business ventures such as Olam International, the Singapore-listed $10 billion commodities giant.

Redington India was incorporated as G Kewalram Private Limited in 1961. It entered distribution of IT products in the ’90s and later expanded into distribution of telecom products to capture the growing demand for mobile handsets. Over time, the group consolidated a significant part of its worldwide trading operations under Redington India.