Chennai, Jan 7 : As a prelude to the 7th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai, an exhibition portraying the might of the industrial and service sectors in India was inaugurated today by Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning, V. Narayanasamy.

Union Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi was also present on the occasion.

Chennai, Jan 7 : The three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2009 will begin here today.

About 1500 delegates from across the world are expected to take part in the PBD.

The 7th Indian Diaspora convention is being organised by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in partnership with the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The theme of PBD 2009 is `Engaging the Diaspora - The way forward'

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the PBD convention tomorrow.

Chennai: Local fellow Prakash Amirtraj lost his first-round match to German fifth-seeded player Rainer Schuettler 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, even as Rohan Bopanna made his passage to the main draw after winning his final qualifying match in the $450,000 ATP Chennai Open here.

Amritraj had no answers to the tactical play of the German player. From the last seven years, Amritraj has been favoured with a wild card entry for the tournament. From the last few months, the Davis Cupper is being criticized for his continued poor show at the lone ATP event in India.

Chennai, Jan 5 : Consim Info Pvt Ltd, formerly known as BharatMatrimony Group, has announced the launch of the world''s first matrimony channel on the internet, BharatMatrimony. tv.

The pioneering website features exclusive and exciting videos that will create an engaging, informative and compelling experience for audiences across the globe.

BharatMatrimony. tv will also produce capsules covering news, events and developments in the world of marriages. Video clips featuring weddings of topnotch celebrities, fashion, style and bridal wear are also available.

Recently the number of crimes on elderly living alone has increased. A survey revealed that one of out every seven people above the age of 60 in Tamil Nadu lives alone. 

To give senior citizens full protection, the Chennai city police have decided to revive and expand a toll-free helpline, which was launched sometime ago to address the security concerns of senior citizens. 

On Friday, a low-cost home computing device was launched by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Chennai-based IT solutions company Novatium, which could help the former achieve a target of 9 million broadband connections across the country in the next couple of years.

Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL Kuldeep Goyal informed at a press conference after the launch of “Nova netPC” on the BSNL’s network, “Affordability issues over buying a desktop PC or laptop would no longer stand in the way of broadband penetration, especially in rural areas.”