
Thirumuruganpoondi sculptors seek TN government support for setting up industry cluster
K Radhakrishnan, a temple architect and president of Thirumuruganpoondi Sculptors Association said, "Thirumuruganpoondi is the main city for sculpture in Tamil Nadu, after Mahabalipuram. Sculptures are exported to other cities and states from here. We purchase stones from quarries in Uthukuli in Tiruppur, and for constructing temples, we source stones from Rasipuram in Namakkal. We do not compromise on quality for lower prices. For six generations, the city has been producing stone sculptures."
Radhakrishnan said, "The government's neglect of our industry is hindering our growth. New workers are reluctant to join, even though we pay skilled workers up to Rs 1,500. We also offer a wage of Rs 500 to new workers learning sculpture making. Unfortunately, even those already in the industry do not want their family members to join. The number of sculpture workshops here, which was over 150 about five years ago, has now decreased to 112. The government should take steps to support traditional industries. It should either set up a separate cluster for us at its own expense or provide land with a 50% subsidy to establish a cluster. Without government assistance, the industry will gradually disappear."

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
18 minutes ago
- Time of India
Over 90% of border habitations in NE get mobile network: Centre
1 2 Guwahati: Among the 5,200 villages and habitations situated in the northeastern border regions, 4,696 now have access to mobile network, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. This accounts for mobile connectivity achieved in over 90 per cent of the remote border villages and habitations of the northeast. Replying to a question by Lok Sabha MP Indra Hang Subba, Union minister of state for communications and rural development Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar told the House that all 1,237 border villages and habitations in Assam have achieved complete mobile connectivity. In Sikkim, too, all 68 border villages and habitations have come under mobile network. However, Arunachal Pradesh, characterised by its challenging topography, continues to face connectivity issues, with 337 out of 1,502 border villages and habitations still without mobile coverage. The govt allocated Rs 1,775.53 crore through various Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) schemes between FY 2020-21 and FY 2024-25 to enhance mobile network infrastructure in the remote northeastern areas. The minister replied that mobile coverage for any uncovered inhabited villages is provided by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) based on techno-commercial viability. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Beyond Text Generation: An AI Tool That Helps You Write Better Grammarly Install Now Undo "The Centre, through funding from Digital Bharat Nidhi, is implementing various schemes for the expansion of telecom connectivity through the installation of mobile towers in the rural, remote, and border areas of the country," Sekhar said. Regarding Sikkim particularly, he said as of June, 11 sites were commissioned in Sikkim under DBN-funded mobile schemes, providing mobile coverage to 13 villages, including border areas. Statistics revealed that Arunachal Pradesh has the highest number of border villages and habitations (1,502), of which 1,165 have got mobile coverage. Meghalaya has the second highest number of border villages and habitations (1,272), of which 1,238 have mobile coverage. While 365 of Mizoram's 378 border villages and habitations got mobile coverage, the minister said, adding 194 of Manipur's 263 border villages and habitations got mobile coverage so far. In Nagaland, 96 out of 135, in Sikkim, all 68, and in Tripura, 333 of the 345 border villages and habitations have mobile coverage.


Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
Ahmedabad startup's 400cr global exit breaks new ground
Ahmedabad: A bootstrapped startup from the city has just made global waves. SocialPilot, a social media management platform used by over 13,000 businesses worldwide, has been acquired by Sweden-based tech firm for over $50 million (more than Rs 400 crore), according to industry sources. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The co-founders, Jimit Bagadiya and Tejas Mehta, confirmed the acquisition, though the deal size remains officially undisclosed. The acquisition is being described by tech industry insiders as "one of the biggest exits by a bootstrapped startup in India" and "a landmark moment for Gujarat's IT sector", which has largely remained behind metros like Bengaluru and Pune in high-value acquisitions. Started in 2014 with no outside investment, SocialPilot has grown steadily over the past decade into one of India's most successful self-funded tech ventures. which serves more than 2 million small and medium-sized businesses across 15 countries, said the acquisition will help deepen its reach in the social media marketing space. For Bagadiya and Mehta, the decision to sell was driven by a vision to scale. "We decided to sell our entire stake to said Bagadiya, CEO. "My partner is based in the US, and after running SocialPilot for over a decade, we reached a stage where the business was profitable, growing steadily, and operating at scale. But we also recognised that to unlock the next phase — expanding into new markets, deepening the product, and accelerating distribution — we needed stronger leverage, either through funding or a strategic partnership. " Interestingly, the tool was originally built for e-commerce sellers struggling to promote products on social media. "While working on e-commerce projects for clients in the US and Europe, we recognised that e-commerce sellers were unable to promote their products effectively on social media. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now So, we built SocialPilot. Which over time evolved into a full-fledged platform for marketing agencies and SMBs, helping manage, schedule, and analyse posts across platforms," he said. Box: Co-founder rose from modest background Ahmedabad: Behind this success is a story of quiet persistence and modest beginnings. Jimit Bagadiya grew up in Limbdi, a small town in Gujarat's Surendranagar district. His father ran a tiny kirana shop and his mother sold papad and khakhra from home with help from his sisters. Bagadiya moved to Ahmedabad in Class 7. "I began living in a Jain hostel. Although the original fee was Rs 10,000 per year, concessions brought it down to Rs 2,500, a sum my family worked hard to cover. I completed my BCA and started my first job in 2004 for a montly salary of Rs 4,000," said Bagadiya, who then constantly worked on developing different skills and set up SocialPilot in 2014.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Real estate fraud: Absconding promoters of Universal Buildwell arrested
1 2 Chandigarh: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Gurugram Zonal Office, on Wednesday claimed to have arrested Raman Puri, Varun Puri and Vikram Puri – promoters and former directors of M/s Universal Buildwell Pvt Ltd – under the prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case related to alleged real estate fraud. The arrested accused, apprehended Tuesday night, were absconding for more than seven years and were declared proclaimed offenders by various courts in predicate matters. They were apprehended by the Delhi Police. The special PMLA court in Gurugram on Wednesday remanded the trio into ED custody until July 29. The ED had initiated an investigation into the case based on more than 30 FIRs registered under various sections of the IPC across Delhi NCR against M/s Universal Buildwell Pvt Ltd, Raman Puri, Vikram Puri, and Varun Puri for failing to complete real estate projects on time and cheating the homebuyers/investors of their hard-earned money. The company was taken to the CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process), which resulted in a resolution plan for homebuyers/other financial contributors being accepted and NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) ordering some assets to be delivered to the homebuyers, who were the financial creditors, and the remaining assets to be liquidated. Most of the homebuyers had invested in the project before 2010. The case stems from the fraudulent mobilisation of homebuyers/investors' funds by the accused persons through Universal Buildwell Pvt Ltd, based on false promises of completing the project by 2010 and also promising assured returns in commercial projects. The arrested persons are also accused of cheating various financial institutions through forgery and fraud. They reportedly transferred some assets at negligible rates, oversold existing inventory, and executed forged agreements for their personal benefits. In this matter, data collected from the resolution professional revealed that the company, through their accused promoters, collected more than Rs 1,000 crore over 12 years on eight different projects in Gurugram and Faridabad, namely Universal Trade Tower, Universal Greens, Universal Business Park, Aura, Universal Square, Market Square, The Pavilion, and Universal Prime. They allegedly utilised only part of the funds for development and siphoned off the funds to acquire lands and other assets for their personal gains through criminal misappropriation, cheating, forgery, and fraud.