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Mukesh Ambani ranked 5th best CEO in the world

2009-12-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man and chairman of the country’s largest private sector company, Reliance Industries, has been ranked the fifth-best CEO in the world by Harvard Business Review.
Ambani, the only Indian to feature among the top 50 CEOs, is in the same league as Steve Jobs of Apple, Yun Jong-Yong of Samsung Electronics, Alexey Miller of Russia’s Gazprom and John Chambers of Cisco Systems. For the ranking, HBR collected data on over 2,000 CEOs of 48 nationalities, from companies based in 33 countries.Only two Chinese CEOs — China Mobile President Wang Jianzhou, ranked 41, and CNOOC President Fu Chengyu, ranked 42 — feature on the list.

Ambani is also ranked number two among the top 10 emerging market CEOs, with Miller at the top. K V Kamath of ICICI Bank is the other Indian in the list of top 10 emerging market CEOs. He is ranked number 9.“Among the up-through-the-ranks leaders on our list are Yun Jong-Yong, who joined Samsung straight out of college and worked there for 30 years before becoming the CEO, and Mukesh Ambani, who joined RIL in 1981, when it was still a textile company run by his father. These CEOs may not be household names, but here’s an objective look at who delivered the top results over the long term,” Morten T Hansen, Herminia Ibarra and Urs Peyer, authors of the report said.

“To be sure, we had reliable and sufficient data. We excluded CEOs who had assumed their roles before 1995 or after 2007. We measured their financial performance through the last day of their tenure or September 30, 2009. All told, we ended up with 1,999 CEOs from 1,205 companies,” the report said.

Steve Jobs, ranked the best CEO, delivered a whopping 3,188 per cent return on shareholder value (after adjustment to make the figures comparable across sectors) or 34 per cent compounded annually, since he rejoined Apple as CEO in 1997, when the company was in dire straits. From then till this September, Apple’s market value increased by $150 billion.

Jobs was followed by Yun Jong-Yong, who ran South Korea’s Samsung Electronics from 1996 to 2008. “Yun is an example of a leader who has stayed out of the limelight. During his tenure, he capably transformed Samsung from a maker of memory chips and me-too products into an innovator selling digital products such as leading-edge cell phones,” the report added.

“On an average, the top 50 CEOs increased the wealth of their shareholders by $48.2 billion. These CEOs delivered a total shareholder return of 997 per cent during their time in office. That translates into a spectacular annual return of 32 per cent,” the report said.

While Ambani and Chambers were the only two on the top five to hold degrees in business administration, the top three CEOs did not hold an MBA. Many other celebrity CEOs also failed to make the cut, including Carlos Ghosn of Renault-Nissan, Sergio Marchionne of Fiat, John Mack of Morgan Stanley, Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric, Daniel Vasella of Novartis and Robert Iger of Walt Disney.CEOs from US-based companies fill 19, or 38 per cent of the slots on the top 50 list. Only 1.5 per cent were women, and only 15 per cent of the CEOs worked for companies based in a country that was not their country of origin.

Indian firm behind visual effects in Avatar

2009-12-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

A significant part of James Cameron’s mega epic Avatar, with a budget of over $230 million (nearly Rs 1,100 crore) — the most expensive Hollywood movie ever made — has been brought to life by an Indian visual effects (VFX) company — Prime Focus.The company earned $4 million (over Rs 18 crore) from a deal to create 200 shots of the 1,600-odd shots in Avatar. Fox Star Studios is believe to have spent $180 million (over Rs 840 crore) on special effects.Prime Focus is increasingly becoming a hot favorite among Hollywood filmmakers and, as a result, has worked on some box-office blockbusters like New Moon and GI Joe. Almost 80 per cent of New Moon’s special effects were done by Prime Focus.“It takes at least six months for one Hollywood project. Therefore, we sign three-four movies in a year,” said Namit Malhotra, founder and global CEO, Prime Focus.

According to Malhotra, Hollywood is a big market and one needs to be where the business comes from. Therefore, Malhotra has set up facilities in New York, London and Los Angeles, apart from the India set-up. “Most of the work is done there for Hollywood projects simply because India is not yet ready for the level of work international studios want,” added Malhotra. Prime Focus has a 1,200-strong workforce of which almost 750 personnel are based in India. Going forward, Prime Focus plans to outsource work to India, for which it is training its Indian team.“Eventually both projects will be jointly handled by the international and Indian teams,” said Malhotra.

In addition to the international movie business, Prime Focus is a name filmmakers swear by in Bollywood too. Special effects of almost all big-ticket Bollywood films, like Blue, Paa, Wake up Sid, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and De Dhana Dhan came under Prime Focus’ fold. The company is now working on the much-awaited Karan Johar-Fox Star Studios’ My Name Is Khan, starring Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan. Prime Focus works on almost 50 Bollywood films in a year, controlling over 65 per cent of the domestic market.Formed in 1995, Prime Focus has climbed up the ladder, working first on ad films and then television content, and now on movies. The company took a big leap in 2006 when it raised Rs 115 crore from the capital market.

It acquired a stake in UK-based high-end post production facility VTR Plc, which helped it set shop in UK. It also acquired a visual effects boutique Clear Plc. It later forayed into North America through an acquisition. Prime Focus’ market cap is around Rs 296 crore.The Indian VFX industry’s size in estimated at Rs 280 crore in 2009, versus Rs 230 crore in 2008. By 2013, the VFX industry in India has the potential to grow to Rs 560 crore, according to Ficci-KPMG’s .

Symbol for rupee in final lap

2009-12-16T11:08:00.000-08:00

The long wait for a symbol of the rupee is expected to end by March next year. A committee headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Usha Thorat has shortlisted five symbols from 4,000 entries for a public competition to select a design for the symbol.The announcement of the final winner is expected in January, but a finance ministry official said the process would be over by March. “RBI has given its recommendations, but it will need the approval of the finance minister as well as the Cabinet. This may take two-three months,” he said.The official, however, said a formal launch would take time because a software would have to be in place for the new symbol. Besides, a decision needs to be taken on whether the symbol will be used on currency notes and coins.

The final interview of the five candidates took place a couple of days back in New Delhi. The finalists are from very different backgrounds. While two are design professionals, one is doing his PhD in industrial design at IIT-Bombay, one is an architect trained at MIT, while one is a high school computer science teacher at Thalassery.While the five candidates will be awarded Rs 25,000, the winner will get Rs 2.5 lakh.The candidates, four of whom are from Mumbai, are Jitiesh Padmashali (working with advertising agency JWT), Shahrukh J Irani (design professional), D Udaya Kumar (IIT student), Nondita Correa-Mehrotra (MIT, and renowned architect Charles Correa’s daughter), and Shibin KK (teacher in Kerala).

The contest, which closed on April 15, was open only to resident Indians.Unlike other major currencies of the world like the dollar, the pound, the yen and the euro, the rupee does not have a globally recognised symbol. The rupee is generally shortened to Rs and is sometimes described as INR (Indian rupee).That is about to change. “The symbol of the rupee will have an iconic meaning, which is to convey the brand value of the currency and the nation. The launch of a symbol is a step towards making it internationally acceptable for trading,” a senior RBI official said.

While none of the candidates were willing to talk on the issue, sources privy to the discussions between government officials and the shortlisted candidates said the symbols suggested were a mix of the traditional Indian script and the Roman script. The blend will make the symbol recognisable to both the common man in India as well as foreigners.

The government has said the symbol should represent the historical and cultural ethos of the country and should be applicable to the standard computer keyboard.India’s move to unveil a symbol for the rupee comes at a time when the dollar’s status as a reserve currency is being questioned following the global financial crisis which started with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. While Russia and China started lobbying for replacing dollar as the global reserve currency, a recent report of the UN Conference on Trade and Development suggested a new global currency to replace the dollar.

Rahul Gandhi top newsmaker on Yahoo!

2009-12-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

'Oomph' factor does make the likes of Katrina Kaif and Rakhi Sawant popular in online media, but they have been beaten by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the top newsmaker on the popular search engine.

According to Yahoo! India News, the leading online news website, Rahul emerged clear winner in the newsmaker category, followed by cricketers and Bollywood stars."Some of the key stories for Rahul to be the top newsmaker for the year included pulling up the sagging fortunes of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, tirelessly working towards making the Congress a youth-oriented party and repudiate Manmohan Singh's offer to take a seat in Cabinet among others," the company said in a statement.

Following Rahul Gandhi is Katrina Kaif who was in news constantly for her movies and private life. Reality show star Rakhi Sawant managed a fifth spot after Lalit Modi, cricket's billion-dollar man who changed the face of the game and A R Rahman, who made India proud by winning Oscars this year.Based on the number of clicks registered for a particular news item and time spent by users on the news page of Yahoo! India, the website editorial team collated all the information to come up with a list of top five newsmakers in 2009.

In the events category, among the most read on the website are Delhi High Court verdict on gay rights, Mumbai sea-bridge and the swine flu attack, the company said.In the farewells category, top picks include Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, Maharani Gayatri Devi, pop legend Michael Jackson, famous British reality show star Jade Goody and umpire David Shepherd.

Microsoft launches security solution for home PC users

2009-12-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Software giant Microsoft today launched a security solution for its Windows operating system in the Indian market.

'Microsoft Security Essentials', which was launched in September globally, would be available free of cost to all genuine Windows users and provide anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spyware solutions."As threats like phishing, malware and spyware attacks are evolving, an effective security solution has become paramount to consumers. We have anticipated consumers' security needs and delivered a hassle free and non-intrusive form of protection to PC users," Microsoft India Consumer and Online Marketing Officer Rishi Srivastava told PTI.

Microsoft Security Essentials include tools for checking computers for infections by specific and prevalent malicious software, weekly update on Tuesdays automatically when connected to the Internet as well as validation of Windows software."The new offering is targetted at the home user, who often gets confused by the huge number of security solutions available in the market," Srivastava said adding that Microsoft continues to offer separate security solutions for its enterprise clients.With a burgeoning online population of 49 million Internet users in India, threats such as hacking and phishing have also risen, which has led to financial losses to consumers as well as companies.

Dabur to enter ready-to-cook food business

2009-12-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

FMCG major Dabur plans to launch ready-to-cook products under its 'Hommade' brand to expand in the estimated Rs 2,800-crore packaged food segment.The company currently sells culinary products under the 'Hommade' brand, besides 'Real' and 'Activ' brands of fruit juices in the packaged food category."Going forward, we are looking at expanding the range soon, including entry into new formats of packaged food products, which are showing good potential," Dabur India Maketing Head (Foods) K K Chutani told PTI.

He, however, declined to give details on the kind of products but said Dabur is looking at traditional items like paneer, adding the products would be launched under the 'Hommade' brand.Chutani said the company will have strong regional focus for the new products, adding they were in development stage. It has already started working on marketing campaigns."Primarily, we shall focus in the southern market. Hence, the regional TV channels in South will be prime carriers of the new TVC," .Dabur is likely to launch these new products in the begining of the next fiscal.

At present, Dabur sells culinary paste like garlic, ginger, ginger-garlic and tamarind in packaged format besides tomato puree and coconut milk under the 'Hommade' brand.The company's food business, including beverages, is worth Rs 400 crore and contributes around 13 per cent of its overall turnover.

Jewellery exports shine on global economic recovery

2009-12-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

The signs of global economic recovery have given new life to the Indian diamond processing industry, with export orders rising sharply by 20 per cent for execution on the occasion of Christmas and New Year.Export orders generally begin in August and continue till October-end. Ready jewellery items are delivered within 45 days from the date of booking.Jewellery retailers in developed countries, especially in the US, prefer delivery a month ahead of Christmas, for display in their showrooms. This year, too, delivery is likely to be completed by November-end, for which last-minute orders are still flowing in.According to a senior official with one of the largest jewellery exporters, “We have regained last year’s lost ground. We cannot say whether the entire industry has gained the same rate of growth. But, there is a general consensus that the Indian diamond processing industry has achieved the level of export orders in 2007.”

According to an estimate by the apex body, the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), India’s exports to the US declined by 20 per cent on these two occasions that constitute about 40 per cent of total sales.Lehman’s bankruptcy triggered an economic recession in the US, to which India supplies 75-80 per cent of finished jewellery.

Data compiled by the GJEPC show that jewellery exports has turned around to positive territory, with shipments witnessing a marginal growth of 2.26 per cent in September from a sharp decline of over 30 per cent early this year.Gems and jewellery exports constitute about 13 per cent of India’s merchandise export basket. They recorded an export turnover of $2,566 million (Rs 12,429 crore) in September 2009, as compared to $2,509 million (Rs 11,433 crore) in the same month last year.The rupee’s sudden appreciation, however, has dashed the hopes of small processing units, that are abstaining from accepting fresh orders. According to Praveen Shankar Pandya, chairman of Diamond India Ltd and managing director of Revashankar Gems Ltd, the rupee’s appreciation will make a big impact on profit margins, as 60 per cent of orders are denominated in dollars.

The rupee has appreciated over six per cent since the first week of September, equivalent to the processing margin of most tiny and medium-size units processing diamonds.But, Indian exporters will have to meet the commitment, despite anticipated losses, to avoid blacklisting from importers, Pandya said.“Diamonds are an import-based industry which hedges its risk fully against orders. If export orders for finished jewellery are booked at the rupee value, which is higher than its rate on the delivery date, then exporters will make losses,” said Sabyasachi Ray, Executive Director of GJEPC.“Though, we have not yet spoken to our members, the observations are that makers of lighter-weight jewellery will find it difficult going in the current volatile market, while heavy goods still face supply shortage,” .

Facebook, for those who came in late

2009-12-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

It’s simply impossible not to have heard about Facebook. For over five years, this highly successful social networking site has become the definitive place for young adults to upload details about their day-to-day life.As a result, and this is something that must have contributed immensely to the site becoming a smash-hit, even grown-ups now use Facebook to find out what their kids are up to!
In fact, according to latest studies, almost one in every two grown-up internet surfer (defined as anyone above the age of 18) is now using social networking sites or has social networking accounts in the country. Facebook continues to rule the roost as the fastest growing social networking site in India, a claim backed by ViziSense, an online audience measurement and analytics firm.

Today, India has nearly 12 million Facebook users. And, the fastest growing group on Facebook is infamously the 35-54 age group. Remember, if 44-year-old Aamir Khan can use a Facebook profile under the name Pucca Idiot to reach out to audiences for his forthcoming film, then why embarrass your kids or yourself by not having a social networking account?

We say this because, even after five years of existence, there are still people who do not know how to use Facebook. This orientation guide is dedicated to them...

What is it?

Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook for college students to keep in touch with each other and share information. You can, however, use it to create your profile, invite friends to view it and post countless updates to let people know that you are alive and kicking.

What do you get to do?

The process for creating a social profile is similar to that for creating an email id. You should upload a picture too, so that your acquaintances can recognise you while they interact with you online.

You get to meet a real celebrity out there
Twitter-loving celebrities also appear to be turning to Facebook as one of their resources for sending updates to fans. Vin Diesel, Ashton Kutcher, Jackie Chan, Will Smith, Demi Moore, Aamir Khan, Barack Obama and hundreds of other celebrities would be happy to add you as a friend on their Facebook pages.Just remember that if you write a message on someone’s “wall” in Facebook, all of the recipient’s friends can see your message.Keep this in mind when you swoon over a celebrity on his fan page.

How to behave on social networks

Just as there are rules for what you say in a roomful of people, there are rules to be followed on social networking sites too. For instance, don’t go announcing your divorce or loss of job on Facebook as you are bound to attract your Facebook friends (even random strangers) with sympathies that will be publicly posted on the “wall.”

While posting, be aware of what you post and whom you post your message to on the site. Keep it simple and tasteful, instead of ratting on people, trashing your boss, or in-laws, which is a big faux pas.

Beware of the boss...

Chances are that your boss or colleagues are on Facebook too. So, you are going to have to decide whether to accept his or her “friendship” after joining the social network. If you accept, you have to be vigilant every time you post any remark or picture concerning work or even personal updates. If you attempt to play it safe by not accepting your boss’ “friendship,” then you risk offending him or her.

You can also play safe by maintaining multiple profiles for professional and personal reasons, preferably on different sites.

Safe keeping your privacy

Remember to double check the privacy settings (for every member you add) on Facebook so that you can avoid a nasty confrontation with your boss when friends post pictures of you at a party when you were supposed to be sick at home.You can also tweak the privacy settings to choose what information is displayed and who can see it.You can also determine whether or not to appear in general searches on Facebook. You can select the “friends only” option and that will make you invisible to people not known to you.

Keep it simple and clean

The moment you sign up on social networks like Facebook, complete strangers or really distant cousins would want to be your “friends.”

They will pester you with fake flowers for a garden you don’t actually have (a Facebook application). If you don’t want to flood your inbox with requests like these, then politely ignore them.There will be those who won’t accept you on their network, so be prepared for that.

Remembering birthdays

There’s no excuse to forget birthdays once you are on Facebook. The social network has a small reminder window that tells you it’s so-and-so’s birthday tomorrow. You can also get a weekly birthday reminder mail sent to your email id.If you still miss it, it clearly says that you don’t care very much and that’s not a great trait to show off on a social network.

Managing social accounts

Visit Facebook regularly, especially if you have over 100 friends. Browsing your wall for five to10 minutes a day is usually enough to keep up with the posts and comments that matter to you.

You can even land a job with Facebook

Lastly, if you are looking out for a job, then make sure there is nothing inappropriate on your Facebook page.Many companies, nowadays, search Facebook and other social networks before they invite you to interview.

Khan versus Khan

2009-12-13T10:53:00.000-08:00

Dish TV’s new campaign presents Shahrukh in a new avatar to take on Tata Sky’s Aamir

You could call it the clash of the titans. Tata Sky’s innovative use of its brand ambassador Aamir Khan as a ventriloquist, aging taxi driver, family man and puppet (remember the actor’s man-woman act in the first of his commercials for the DTH operator last year) has indeed made rivals sit up and take notice of it.That is why competitor Dish TV has also decided to do away with the mundane and present its brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan in a different avatar. He appears as a 75-year-old man in Dish’s new campaign Ghar Aayi Zindagi.

The slugfest is understandable. Despite mounting losses (the company had a net loss of Rs 476 crore in the last financial year), Dish hopes to cross the seven-million-mark in terms of subscribers by the end of this financial year. Its current subscriber base is 6.3 million.Tata Sky, on the other hand, has a subscriber base of 4.5 million and has been growing fast.According to industry estimates, there are 17-18 million DTH subscribers in the country. Not a large figure considering that India has over 75 million cable and satellite homes.

In a market that is choc-a-bloc with seven players, Dish realises that ads that can cut through the clutter will help it stand out in the crowd. If that means having to do something unusual with its brand ambassador, so be it. “Like FMCG brands, where consumers gravitate towards one for personal gratification, we aim to position Dish TV through Shahrukh as a brand that buyers can trust,” says Salil Kapoor, chief operating officer, Dish TV.

This is the first time in six years that Dish TV has embarked on a brand rejig with an eight-week-long campaign that includes two new commercials with Khan supported by a clutch of print and radio advertisements. This need for change, explains Kapoor, was necessary in order to build an emotional connect with consumers - something that was missing in its earlier campaigns.

Says Sudhan Deo, investment director at media agency MediaEdge:CIA, “In a category such as direct-to-home, it is easy to fall into the trap of product advertising. This is a problem that confronted telecom operators as well a while ago. They managed to get out of it with some intelligent advertising. DTH operators are slowly but steadily realising this.”

Both Tata Sky and Dish seem to be taking a cue from this insight. Never mind if the acting skills of their brand ambassador are put to the test time and again, they are up to to it, in fact, even enjoying it. Says Vikram Mehra, chief marketing officer, Tata Sky, “It’s a pleasure working with Aamir. He is involved in the nitty-gritty of every ad. It’s fun because he lives the brand.”So far, Tata Sky has released four campaigns with Aamir since taking him on as their brand ambassador in 2008. Clearly, the DTH operator is hardly dissappointed with the show the versatile actor has put up.Now it’s Shahrukh’s turn to wow audiences with his histrionics. Says Kapoor, “It wasn’t easy giving up a message as strong as ‘Wish Karo, Dish Karo’, but we were clear we wanted to establish Dish TV as a brand that a family can rely on.” These communication changes will be backed by Dish’s investments in back-end infrastructure. “That is an on-going process,” says Kapoor.There is no doubt that the DTH industry is growing. According to a FICCI-KPMG report, digital pay TV households including digital cable, DTH, IPTV etc is slated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate CAGR) of 35.4 per cent by 2013.That’s an opportunity Dish, Tata Sky and the five others don’t want to miss out.

FMCG firms try to reduce carbon footprint

2009-12-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

As governments debate ways to reduce carbon emission levels at the climate change summit in Copenhagen, some fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are doing their bit to rein in carbon footprints.

FMCG players can reduce carbon emission at two levels, the manufacturing and supply chain, says Chaitanya Kalia, partner, risk advisory services, Ernst & Young. Typically, companies undertake measures to reduce their energy consumption from conventional sources. For instance, 38 per cent of the energy used in the beverage business of PepsiCo in India comes from renewable resources. In its foods business, the figure is a little lower, at 20 per cent. Dabur has 30 per cent of its steam generation fired by renewable resources. “We intend taking that to 50 per cent in the next two years,” says Sunil Duggal, CEO.

These measures are meant largely to prune costs. Some companies such as Hindustan Unilever, ITC and even Pepsi do go a step beyond into areas such as water conservation, afforestation, etc but more of this needs to be done across the board, say experts. These companies, especially, HUL and ITC, for instance, have earned voluntary emission reduction (VERs) and certified emission reduction (CERs) credits for their work, respectively. Broadly known as carbon credits, HUL, for instance, was awarded 52,000 VER credits for developing a new soap-making process called ‘Plough Share Mixer’ that eliminates the need for steam altogether. “We are awaiting the CER certificate from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),” says a company spokesperson.

Tata Nano to be featured at New York design museum

2009-12-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Tata Nano, designed to be the world's most affordable car, will be on view at prestigious Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York's from Feb 18 through April 25 next year. A bright, sunshine yellow Nano, built by Indian auto major Tata Motors, will be on display in Cooper-Hewitt's Great Hall, along with diagrams and a short film describing its concept, development and production, the Smithsonian Institution announced Friday.
The name "Nano" connotes high technology, small size and low price, it said, noting Tata Motors is currently developing versions of the Nano for European and American markets.

This ultra-cheap compact car contributes to the world of affordable motoring, and like its predecessors, Henry Ford's Model T, the Volkswagen Beetle, Citroen 2CV and the original Fiat 500, the Tata Nano continues the tradition of inexpensive cars made in large numbers, it said.
"Cooper-Hewitt's mission is to present the very latest developments in design and technology and the Tata Nano introduces more families in India to the new world of affordable and safer mobility," said Cara McCarty, curatorial director of the museum.

"We're eager to display the Tata Nano at the museum, where many visitors will see it for the first time." Unveiled last year in India, the Tata Nano is targeted to families who had not previously been able to afford a car. Billed as "the people's car," the base model starts at $2,200 in India and can accommodate up to five adults. Conceived by Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, the Tata Nano is intended as an all-weather form of personal

transportation that provides a safer and cleaner alternative to the two-wheelers that are pervasive in India, where often entire families ride clinging to a motorbike or a scooter. The Nano offers a high fuel efficiency of 50 miles per gallon, making it more fuel efficient and less polluting than all other cars on the road today in India, the Smithsonian noted. Designed by a team of 500 Indian engineers, the 35-horsepower, four-door vehicle has been pared down to the essentials: It is about10 feet long, weighs approximately 1,300 pounds, has an all-sheet-metal body, a rear two-cylinder engine, small tubeless tires, a reinforced passenger compartment, crumple zones, seat belts and achieves a top speed of 65 miles per hour.

To allay concerns about safety, the car passed a roll-over test and offset impact, which are not regulated in India. Its barebones design, as of now, does not include more costly features such as power steering, air bags, antilock brakes or an exterior left passenger-side mirror, which are not mandatory in India

Dabur looks at buys in West Asia, Africa

2009-12-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Dabur is scouting for overseas acquisitions, particularly in West Asia and Africa, in a bid to increase its market share in the personal care segment.
“Our foreign business contributes 20 per cent of Dabur's top line. We expect this figure to go up to 25-30 per cent in the next financial year, when we will take the inorganic route,” Dabur Group Director P D Narang told Business Standard.The acquisitions will be in markets in which the company already enjoys a broad and consolidated base, including West Asia and Africa, especially Egypt and Nigeria, where the brand has considerable presence.

“We are present in about 60 countries and are now looking at the inorganic route to increase our footprint abroad. This would help us gain more of a market overseas,” Narang added.

With the acquisition of Fem Care, Dabur strengthened its presence in global markets. The West Asian market for the company has one distributor, Spiniz, which enjoys a 17 per cent margin compared with its Indian counterpart's 5 per cent margin. Overall, Fem Care contributes 3 per cent to Dabur's revenues.

“Dabur now has a greater hold over overseas markets, especially in West Asia which is the company's largest market and contributes 30 per cent of overseas revenues,” a senior analyst said on condition of anonymity.Post-acquisition, Fem Care has grown to become a Rs 110-crore brand. As far as pushing the Fem Care brand further in overseas markets is concerned, the company says it is looking into registration and trademark procedures.

Narang explained Dabur has divided its foreign markets into three categories. The first are the focused markets, where the company is pushing on all fronts in terms of product promotion and advertising (eg, Egypt); then come potential markets, which do good business but are not really ripe markets (including South-East Asia); and, finally, there are opportunistic markets, “which are not ignored as such, but do not have distributors” (like Fiji).

Corus may get the Tata tag next year

2009-12-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

The Tatas are planning a new-look for their first prestigious acquisition Corus Steel next year, a move that coincides with the company emerging from the financial burdens and the global downturn.
The rebranding exercise for the Anglo-Dutch steel maker is underway and the process will start by the middle of 2010."I can confirm that it has always been Corus' intention to adopt the Tata Steel brand as its visual identity," a Corus spokesperson said.

"In fact, the transition began more than a year ago when Tata Steel Europe became the legal name for Corus, and our international operations already bear the Tata Steel brand. A gradual transition for the rest of Corus could start by the middle of 2010...," the spokesperson said, adding however, a final decision is awaited.

Tata Steel had acquired Corus in 2007 for over $12 billion and rechristened it as Tata Steel Europe last year.

Queries regarding the likely cost on this major exercise evinced no response from the company but the move, sources say, is likely to entail huge expenditure as the European arm is still widely known as Corus and therefore would require a massive exercise to change the names of offices, stationary, vehicles and locations.However, the Tata Group, sources added, sees no financial constraints for the exercise.

Corus, which was formed following merger of British Steel and the Netherlands' Koninklijke Hoogovens in 1999, is now the second largest steel producer in Europe with an annual revenue of around 12 billion pound.Corus contributes to a hefty 70 per cent of the 28 million tonne crude steel production of the Tata Steel Group. The company has 40,000 employees.

Indian women have a bigger share of the corner office

2009-12-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Indian women may not have proportionate representation in companies, but they are better off than women elsewhere. Eleven per cent of 240 large companies — Indian-owned as well as multinational, private as well as state-owned — have women CEOs, according to a study carried out by executive search firm EMA Partners. In comparison, only 3 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies have women CEOs.
As many as 54 per cent of the women CEOs are, according to EMA Partners, in financial services. “Amongst private and foreign banks, women almost outnumber men. This has been helped in no mean measure by women from ICICI Bank who have joined other financial institutions in recent times,” said EMA Partners Managing Partner K Sudarshan.

Thus, Chanda Kochhar is the managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank, ex-ICICI Prudential chief Shikha Sharma heads Axis Bank and Kalpana Morparia is the country head of JPMorgan. Renuka Ramnath, the former CEO of ICICI Ventures, will run a yet unnamed fund. In addition, Naina Lal Kidwai occupies the corner office at HSBC and Meera Sanyal at ABN Amro. Manisha Girotra heads UBS, Ashu Suyash Fidelity. In the Fortune 500 list, only 7 per cent women CEOs are from financial services.

Eleven per cent of the Indian women CEOs are in the media and another 11 per cent in pharmaceuticals. Thus, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the chairman & managing director of Biocon and Villoo Morawala Patel is the founder, chairman & managing director of Avesthagen. Eight per cent are in consulting and another 8 per cent in FMCG and consumer durables. The big names here are Vinita Bali of Britannia and Nadia Chauhan of Parle Agro. Four per cent each can be found in manufacturing and IT & IT-enabled services. The largest personal computer company in the country, Hewlett-Packard, is headed by Neelam Dhawan.

In the Fortune 500 list, in contrast, 48 per cent of the women CEOs came from FMCG and consumer durables. Manufacturing and IT & IT-enables services returned 13 per cent each.

Sudarshan said the IT and IT-enabled services do not have many women CEOs because it requires a fair amount of travel to on-site locations. It also comes with the pressure of working through multiple time zones. Manufacturing has traditionally not attracted too many women because of the nature of the business and the location of factories in the interiors.

Thirty-five per cent of the women CEOs, according to EMA Partners, are also promoters of their companies. This includes Rajshree Pathy who runs Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals and Meher Pudumjee who is the chairperson of Thermax. The other 65 per cent are professional CEOs.

Still, most experts say women are under-represented in corner offices across the world. “Given that roughly about 50 per cent of our population is female, that about 50 per cent of staff is female in most markets, the gender is hugely unrepresented in boards and at the CEO level,” said EMA Partners International Chairman James Douglas. “For instance, out of 1,000 public companies in the USA, with at least $1 billion in annual revenue, there are only 30 female CEOs. In the UK’s FTSE 100 list, there are just three.”

According to various studies and EMA Partners’ estimates, there is no shortage of female talent. In Germany, over 25 per cent executives are women, in the UK more than 30 per cent and in France over 35 per cent. In board appointments, the numbers decline further. In Germany, just over 10 per cent of board members are women, according to EMA Partners. In France, it is as low as 7 per cent. To address this imbalance, some countries have insisted on minimum levels of board female members. Norway, in 2004, inaugurated a quota system stipulating that 40 per cent of the board of a publicly quoted company should be women otherwise that company could be delisted. In 2007, Spain decided to go the same way.

Women not on top

2009-12-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

The findings of a recent survey by EMA Partners might prompt the leaders of India Inc. to congratulate themselves on achieving greater gender equality in the corner office than most other countries have managed. To do so, however, would be unwarranted, and indeed misleading. The executive search firm says its 240-firm survey shows that 11 per cent of large companies in India have women CEOs, compared to just 3 per cent in Fortune 500 companies. Apart from the obvious difference in sample size—one is half the other, and a larger sample in India might well throw up different results—it would be incorrect to conclude that India Inc has a thinner glass ceiling than exist in many other countries, the developed ones included. Eleven per cent, after all, is nowhere near 50 per cent.

There is also the important point that many of the CEOs belong to promoter families, and are not in their corner offices because of personal achievement alone. It might be argued that women from even promoter families did not get a chance to enter the family business in decades past, and hence even this qualifies as progress. Yes, it does, but while conservative business families may have begun to change, there is a long way to go before equal treatment of sons and daughters is achieved. Where, for instance, are the sisters of Mukesh Ambani?

This is not to detract from what India’s women CEOs have achieved. Indeed, in fast-growing professions like banking, their prominence is a source of justifiable pride. But it is precisely because the presence of professional women CEOs is a rarity in India that they attract a disproportionate amount of attention. CEO-ship, in fact, is neither a good indicator nor guarantor of gender equality—just as the fact that India was run by a woman prime minister for 16 years did little to enhance the status of women in India. A better indicator would be to study women’s participation in white collar activity, across the board. On this parameter, although women account for half the population, and despite the fact that many fast-growing industries prefer to hire women empoyees, India scores poorly—as the findings of the World Economic Forum’s latest Gender Gap report showed. Under the sub-indices “legislators, senior office managers and so on” and “professional and technical workers”, it turns out that China is leagues ahead of India.

The reason India Inc. should be concerned is that excluding women from the workforce deprives it of a huge human resource pool, precisely at a time when increasing global competition demands the best use of resources. Women are apt to ascribe their scanty presence in decision-making roles to male bias. This is, however, only a partial truth. As the gender gap report shows, gender equality in India diminishes dramatically up the education chain. In other words, India has fewer qualified women to employ than men. That is why the idea of “reserving” board positions for women is unlikely to improve matters. It is also true that corporate India’s response to women’s issues, such as maternity, has been poor. The concept of paternity leave is still a novel one to most, and only a tiny proportion of corporations—mostly IT firms—provide crèches or day-care facilities, services that are standard in the West. Both facts suggest the unfinished agenda for India Inc.

Ratan Tata's successor may be a foreigner!

2009-12-04T10:31:00.000-08:00

Industry leader Ratan Tata has said that his successor could be from outside India.The 71-year-old chairman of Tata Group, which makes nearly everything from salt to steel to luxury cars, told the US daily Wall Street Journal in an interview that his successor could be an expatriate. Tata's tenure is till 2012.

"It would certainly be easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65 per cent of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position with justification now that we are a company that has global reach and global presence," Tata said to a question on how he was conducting the search for his successor.In 2006, group holding company Tata Sons decided to raise the retirement age of non-executive directors from 70 to 75.

"We are in the process of formalising a successor to me. We have some outside consultants and a formal search process is on. There are no constraints. We are looking both within the organization and outside. The successor, I would hope, would have integrity and our value systems in the forefront and... Carry on the path that we have tried to set for the company's growth," he said on when a decision is expected.

Tata hoped that "there would not be a major disagreement in the way that we have operated... In terms of who that successor might be, it could be he or she, it could be an internal or an external candidate".

In an interview to a weekly magazine early last year, Tata had said that his successor would need up to 18 months as handover time.

Marriott to open 18 hotels in India

2009-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

Marriott International plans to open 18 hotels in India by the end of next year and expects to grow ten times over the next decade.The international hotel company is currently running ten hotels under its management.
"By the end of next year we would have seven Courtyard hotels across the country, four JW Marriott hotels and a Renaissance hotel. We are also looking at setting up hotels in places like Nasik, Lucknow, Amritsar and Kochi," Marriott International Area Vice-President (India, Pakistan, Maldives and Malaysia) Rajeev Menon said.In the next 10 years we expect to grow ten times, Menon added.The group is present in India through its brands like such as the five star Marriott, seven star JW Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Renaissance and budget hotel Courtyard.

"We expect recovery to take place in the hotel business by the last quarter of next year and in the next 18-24 months we expect the demand to outstrip supply,

IIMs nearly dumped computerised CAT.

2009-12-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are understood to have contemplated scrapping of the computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT) before deciding to wait for a few more days before taking such a call. At least three IIM professors that Business Standard spoke to, confirmed that a discussion had taken place regarding doing away with the computer-based test and reverting to the paper-pencil model for this year.

Ever since CAT began on a disastrous note on November 28, nearly 8,000 students were not able to take the test in the first three days due to technical glitches, which the IIMs blamed on a virus. After the unsatisfactory show, the HRD ministry had demanded a report on the failure, which was submitted by Convenor of CAT 2009, Satish Deodhar.

“Till yesterday, we were concerned over this issue and with the ministry of HRD also intervening, we wondered on a way forward. But we decided that if things go smooth in the next few days, we would go ahead with the computer-based testing,” said a professor from IIM Calcutta. “The CAT advisory group discusses the daily development with Prometric and NIIT and is keeping us updated on the issue. Today, of 361 labs only five labs were shut. We are hoping things will get better,” added another professor.

The IIMs have maintained a united front publicly. When asked whether IIMs were mulling scrapping of computer-based CAT altogether, director of IIM Kozhikode Debashis Chatterjee said, “Mulling is different and taking a call is different. Nevertheless, I have not heard any such deliberations. As far as IIM Kozhikode is concerned, we would want the test to get over first. For IIMs, candidates’ welfare comes first and we would not want to sacrifice on that.”

Similarly, Satish Deodhar, said, “I have been in touch with various IIM directors and I have got no such instructions to scrap the computer-based test so far. Hence, I am continuing with it.”

However, the IIMs realise that they would have to pull up their socks in the next few days if they intend to continue with the test. The IIMs would be concerned about the public outrage over the way the tests were conducted. Students have been vocal in their demand to the IIMs about scrapping the exam and conducting a fresh one. “The computer-based CAT has led to so much confusion among students. It would not be right to use this score for a seat at an IIM. We wish they cancel the exam,” said a student in Bangalore. The consistent delays in conducting the exam, difficulty in recording biometric details and problems in logging into the system have been a bone of contention for the student community.

Director of TIME coaching institute, P Viswanath has written an open letter to the IIMs, urging them to revert to the paper and pencil test for the benefit of students. “We believe that the computerised CAT should be cancelled for this year – and a paper and pencil test be conducted in its place. This will do justice to all people who have suffered because of the problems faced by them with the computerised CAT. After a series of more thorough dry runs, computerised CAT can be re-introduced next year after solving various problems that are currently plaguing the computerised CAT.”

On the backdrop of the ire against them, the IIMs, Prometric and NIIT, the companies which were contracted to conduct the test had held a joint press conference trying to assuage student fears.

Bajaj Auto, Honda sales surge in November

2009-12-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

Bajaj Auto, India’s second largest bike maker, today posted a growth of 84 per cent in motorcycle sales in November at 242,390 units, against a dismal tally of 131,681 units recorded in the same month a year ago.The Discover brand, which includes Discover 135 and 100, added more than 94,000 to the total, while the Pulsar brand — including 150, 180 and 220 models — contributed little more than 50,000 units, a release from the Pune-based company stated. Sales of the company in November last year were hit hard by the economic downturn, lesser availability of two-wheeler finance and intense competition from Hero Honda and Yamaha.

Exports, which include two and three wheelers, grew 46 per cent during the same month at 98,521 units, compared with 67,397 units. Bajaj Auto is now gearing up to launch a new sub-150cc Pulsar on December 9, which will be the company’s smallest Pulsar in terms of engine size. The bike is expected to be priced below Rs 60,000, according to company officials.

Meanwhile, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, the country’s fourth largest two wheeler manufacturer, registered a growth of 13 per cent in November sales at 113,489 units, against 100,162 units.

The company sold 63,004 scooters and 37,158 motorcycles during the month.

HMSI recently opened operations at its third assembly line at its facility in Manesar, Haryana, which will increase its capacity to 1.5 million units on an annualised basis. The company is forced to increase capacity at a quick pace to avoid further piling up of bookings and reduce the waiting period on a number of its models.

The company had been operating at half the capacity after being hit by a labour strike, which lasted for almost two months. The company makes Activa, Aviator, Dio, CBF Stunner, Shine and Unicorn models.Ford to hike pricesSales of the Chennai-based Ford India grew 13.5 per cent to 2,520 units for the reporting month, compared with 2,219 units in the same month last year.

Ford, which is gearing up to launch its compact car Ford Figo in January, also stated today that it will be hiking prices of all its models in January. The upward price revision is due to a steady rise in input costs and exchange rate fluctuations, the company said.

Over 2,000 Indian firms adopt Windows 7

2009-12-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

Microsoft had set a target of having Windows 7 installed on over 100 PC models.In less than a month since its launch on October 22, over 2,000 Indian companies are in the process of installing Microsoft’s latest operating system (OS), Windows 7. The companies include major IT companies like Infosys, Wipro, NIIT, car companies like Maruti and even the Bangalore airport, and Manipal University, besides many small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), according to Steven Guggenheimer, Microsoft’s corporate vice-president, OEM.

“We also see a reasonable amount of Windows XP (which has been around for eight years) on machines. We expect the natural refresh cycle over the next 12-24 months,” says Guggenheimer. Microsoft has tied up with 17 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India. During the launch, the company had set a target of having Windows 7 installed on over 100 personal computer (PC) models.

All major PC manufacturers in the country, including HP, HCL, Acer and Dell, among others, have come forward to offer the new OS with their range of desktops and laptops. “We have reached around 80 PC models. The target is well within our reach,” he asserts.

Windows 7 has five versions priced between Rs 5,800 and Rs 11,000. The starter edition is cheaper but is not available on shelves (only through OEMs). And the Windows 7 versions are 25-35 per cent cheaper than comparable versions of Windows Vista.

So, what did Microsoft do right with Windows 7 that it did “wrong” with Vista? “Vista was good for security. And while its acceptance was not as good as XP, users forget that it had a very good core model. Windows 7 has been built on that framework, hence it’s so robust. As for Vista, we did have compatibility issues. Besides, there was probably too much hype versus the delivery on our part. This also explains our low-key launch of Windows 7,” says Guggenheimer.

Windows 7, he adds, “has undergone a lot of work which explains its success”. For instance, there were 8 million data testers for the OS, and Microsoft conducted around 16,000 interviews from around 100 cities. “We also worked very hard with our partners to set things right, and ensure that the user experience is complete,” explains Guggenheimer.

So, what was the feedback? First, he says, was the fact that the partners wanted the PC to have good security, and boot quickly. They also wanted the navigation to be easy. “This explains why Windows 7 has easy navigation from a corporate network to a home network. Currently, you have to use a virtual private network or VPN which is expensive. With Windows 7, you can use our ‘tunneling’ technology with lowers costs,” says Guggenheimer.

Microsoft also received feedback from its partners that the “battery life should be extended since notebooks sell more than desktops”. Mobility is the key, hence battery life is important, acknowledges Guggenheimer. “We worked with our partners who now say that the battery life with Windows 7 can extend from 6-12 hours,” he says.

On the media entertainment front, Windows 7 makes watching videos and internet TV easily accessible. “With our premium version, you can pretty much do what our mediacentre PCs did — sharing media, watching videos and effectively making a TV on your PC,” says Guggenheimer.

Windows 7, says the company, is also picking up in the retail market, which accounts for around 10 per cent of all sales. But Guggenheimer does not give any numbers. “All I can say is the experience is too exciting,” he says, adding: “We have received a lot of positive consumer and partner feedback globally.”

Meanwhile, to accelerate its sales, Microsoft is offering its customers who have existing enterprise ‘Volume Licensing’ agreements to access Windows 7 from the second half of August 2009. Microsoft does not charge for the licence. The Software Assurance (SA) offer is an offer for an upgrade license to Windows 7 Professional purchased through Volume Licensing.

For customers who do not have this agreement, Microsoft is providing them an option to upgrade to Windows 7, through a limited time customer promotion of 15 per cent off the price of the Windows 7 Professional upgrade price. The offer is available until end of December 2009. Any PC with a qualifying operating system such as Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional is eligible, regardless of when it was purchased. However, it requires a minimum purchase of 50 licenses of Windows 7 upgrade versions. Besides, there is a Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day trial version.

Wipro to hire 5,000, revamp recruitment strategy

2009-12-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

IT firm Wipro Technologies today said it will hire 5,000 people in the next couple of months and is looking at a fresh recruitment strategy of taking in graduates from non-engineering institutes.
"Our strategy is to recruit non-engineering graduates, in addition to engineering and make them fit into the slot. We are still working out the details," Wipro Technologies Joint Chief Executive Officer Girish Paranjpe today , Refusing to divulge more details for next year's recruitments and outlook, Paranjpe said it would be a mix of 60 per cent freshers and 40 per cent experienced.Around 5,000 will be taken into the company in a month or two, he said.Last year, the company made offers to as many as 8,500 persons through recruitment drives in colleges and institutions.

"We expect clients to make no further cuts in their budgets. We expect 2010 to be a better year than 2009," Paranjpe told reporters here on the sidelines of dedicating renovated Manikonda Lake in Hyderabad facility to the community.

He said the new hiring strategies will be worked out in a month or two. Attrition rate in the company stood at 10 per cent.On becoming energy efficient, he said the company is determined to reduce the carbon emission per employee by 45 per cent from the present 3.96 tonnes to 2.5 tonnes in the next five years.

"Our power consumption went down by 12 per cent last year and we are planning to set up a micro windmill at our Hyderabad facility soon," Paranjpe said.The company consumes nearly 75 megawatt power from both government and internal sources.

He said the company's exposure in the Gulf market is around 4 per cent and the Dubai financial crisis will have no impact.

Big Bazaar: Private label push

2009-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Big Bazaar, the hypermarket of Pantaloon Retail, has come out with a breakfast cereal range under its private label, Tasty Treat. Big Bazaar already sells noodles, pasta, vermicelli, soups, namkeens, chips, toast, khari, papads, jams, pickles, carbonated drinks, ketchup and fruit beverages under the brand. It has now added breakfast cereals to the range.

The breakfast cereals will be available in three variants — plain cornflakes, chocolate-flavoured Choco Gols and honey-flavoured Honey Circles. There are two reasons for launching the product, says Pantaloon Retail’s head of private brands, Devendra Chawla. “One is that private brands give us far higher margins, and the second is that cornflakes as a category is under-penetrated and has a lot of scope to grow.”

The market for breakfast cereals is still small. While the packaged food market is valued at Rs 33,234 crore, the organised breakfast cereal market is just Rs 250 crore — less than one per cent. But the market is growing fast, given the growing health consciousness in the country, especially the urban middle class. Kelloggs monopolises the market for breakfast cereals with its range of flakes. Some other multinational players have also shown keen interest in this market. PepsiCo has already entered with its bestseller brand, Quaker Oates. Heinz India, which has a hugely strong bond with households because of its Complan health drinks, too has joined the bandwagon.

In spite of the presence of a large number of players in the branded packaged food segment, Tasty Treat is growing at about 70 per cent. This perhaps has given Big Bazaar the confidence to try its luck in breakfast cereals as well.

In a recent development, Pantaloon Retail, promoted by Kishore Biyani, has boycotted Kelloggs at all its retail formats for turning down its demand for higher margins. Not surprisingly, Big Bazaar is pushing its own brand of cornflakes now. This is not the first time Big Bazaar is doing this. A while back Cadburys and PepsiCo owned snack food brand Frito Lay had to bear the brunt.

As an introductory offer, the cornflakes brand will be priced at Rs 99 along with a free bowl worth Rs 60.According to Chawla, the brand will provide 10 to 15 per cent value when compared to rivals. “We have the option of pricing it lower as we don’t have to pay intermediaries and can pass on that advantage to consumers,” says Chawla.

Reliance Brands ties up with Timberland

2009-11-30T10:38:00.000-08:00

Reliance Brands, a part of Reliance Retail, today said it has joined hands with US-based Timberland to distribute the latter's footwear and apparel in the country.As part of the arrangement, products from Timberland's portfolio will be available through various premium department stores across the country, besides its own outlets.

"With rapidly-growing fashion and retail sectors, we believe India will become a key market for us," Timberland President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Swartz said in a statement.

Timberland is a US-based firm, which makes premium footwear, apparel and accessories. It is present throughout the North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, South Africa and the Middle East.

Tax-saving fund investors need not fear new code

2009-11-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ordinarily, we would just now be getting into the time of the year when fund investors Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research

would be turning their attention to tax-saving funds. Dhirendra Kumar, CEO, Value Research
However, this year, there appears
to be less enthusiasm for such funds and the fault seems to lie with the confusion caused by the draft of the Direct Tax Code. This is unfortunate and arises from a mistaken notion about what changes are impending and when. Fund investors should understand the issues involved and make the right decision.

During the past three months, fresh inflows into tax-saving funds are actually less than what they were last year, even though we were in the thick of a stock markets crash last year. Not just that, these inflows are just about half (Rs 434 crore; down from Rs 821 crore) compared to the year before that.

According to current tax laws, investments made into tax-saving mutual funds (and some other asset types) are
exempt from taxation under Section 80C. As with all tax-savings investments, these exemptions follow the so-called EEE principle. EEE stands for exempt-exempt-exempt and signifies that all three stages of the tax-saving investments — the initial investments, the returns earned and the eventual withdrawal are exempt from taxation.

The draft Direct Tax Code that the government has announced incorporates a change in this principle. According to the draft, when the new code comes into effect in 2011, tax-saving investments will be subject to the EET principle. The last T means that the eventual redemption of the tax-saving investment will be taxed. Under the EET principle, tax can only be deferred and not avoided.

Based on what I hear from investors and fund companies, it seems that people are under the impression that savings made into tax-saving funds this year will be taxed. The idea is understandable. Since these investments have a lock-in period of three years, they will only be redeemed after the new tax code comes into effect. The fear is that when money is withdrawn from these investments, it will be taxed.

This idea is misplaced. It is quite clear that the old and the new tax regime will be isolated from each other. The new tax laws will be so radically different in principle and practice from the old ones that it seems impossible for one part of a tax-saving transaction to be done under one system and another under the new. Nowhere in the new tax code does it say that the treatment of the old tax-exempt savings made under the existing law would change.

Moreover, the draft Direct Tax Code is just that yet — a draft. Based on what one hears, there will be changes in it before it is actually made into a law. Basically, the new law is vastly simpler to understand than the old one and complying with it would be a straightforward job. Meanwhile, investors have no ground to be apprehensive about tax-saving funds. These funds remain one of the best ways of saving on tax, and investors should certainly include them in their plans.

'D-Street to remain volatile on Dubai woes'

2009-11-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

Dalal Street is likely to witness volatile trade this week with a downward bias taking cues from global markets as concerns about debt repayment problems in Dubai loom large over markets worldwide, analysts said.
Brokers said market had treaded into the overbought zone and needed a trigger to undergo correction. Weakness in the street may continue for the next few days, they said.

"The market will remain volatile and trade in negative terrain this week. As investor sentiment is weak in the market there will be some more sell off," Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Head (Research Centre) Alex Mathews said.The market would now look for some announcement from the Dubai government about how it is planning to deal with the debt crisis, which revived fears of financial meltdown.Global stocks declined last week as investors turned towards dollar as preferred investment on concerns over potential debt problem fall out at Dubai World.

"Indian markets have already felt knee jerk reaction of the Dubai crisis. In the short term although the crisis might keep the market under pressure, going ahead markets here will take its own direction," Unicon Financial Chief Executive Gajendra Nagpal said.

The Monday market opening is expected to move from flat to negative and then take cues from the Asian and European markets.Over the week the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex lost 390 points or 2.29 per cent to reach 16632.01 points. While foreign institutional investors witnessed a net sell off of Rs 577 crore."FIIs have exposure in the Dubai markets. So they were selling their holdings in India. Domestic institutional investors gave some support to the market," Mathew said.

Taurus Mutual Fund Managing Director R K Gupta said, "Indian market movements will depend on how the global markets fare. As no more bad news is coming from Dubai, we can expect some recovery in the Indian markets although the bias will be negative."Indian markets would find its support around 16,300 levels for Sensex, analysts said.

The US markets on Friday closed in the red with the Dow Jones ending down 154 points or 1.5 per cent at 10,309.92 points. The US markets were closed for a holiday on Thursday when other global markets suffered steep losses. On Friday the US markets opened in a shorter trading day.

Besides, Asian markets also closed down on Friday with the Japan's Nikkei index closing down 3.2 per cent and the Hong Kong Sang Seng ended 4.8 per cent lower.

BHEL drops Singur idea

2009-11-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has expressed its inability to put up the proposed power project at the Tata Motors' abandoned Singur site, in a written communication to the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL).

State government sources said, the public sector had cited 6-7 reasons. The projects under consideration were a power equipment plant and a super thermal power plant of 2x800 MW, which would require 1,500-1,600 acres, but the Singur plot was spread over 997 acres. Moreover, the nearest source of water was at least 18-20 km away and coal transporation would also be a problem.Sources added that environment and pollution concerns were also a major reason. Debashis Sen, managing director, WBPDCL said, "I am not commenting on this today."

The project was supposed to be in partnership with WBPDCL. The move would dash the flicker of hope that had been raised with the visit from the BHEL team on November 13.Over a year ago, Tata Motors pulled out its Nano project from Singur after an indefinite protest led by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, who is now Railway minister.

Banerjee's main demand was return of 400 acres to unwilling land losers, though the state government put the figure at 181 acres. A source said, BHEL may have also realised that the land would not be available to them in the next 2-3 years as eight special leave petitions were pending in the Supreme Court.

On his last visit to Kolkata in September, Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata had said that he would not stand in the way of any development that might take place on the land. He indicated, he would return the land if compensated."We left behind a fair share of investment in the land and in sheds, infrastructure and so on for which we would like to be compensated," Tata had said.

Tata Motors has renewed the lease for the year and so have most of the vendors. The mother plant was to be spread over 650 acres and vendor park 290 acres.

Servers crash CAT's date with mouse

2009-11-28T11:18:00.001-08:00

The maiden attempt by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) to make aspirants take the Common Admission Test (CAT) on computers ran into technical snags on the very first day when some servers in 11-odd centers crashed. While there was no official confirmation about the number of affected students, test-preparation institutes estimated that over 300 students could not sit for the examination.

CAT is scheduled between November 28 and December 7 in 32 cities. Nearly 241,000 applicants have registered for the exam and over 24,000 students will sit for the exams every day in two slots of 12,000 each. The number of students who took the examination today however, could not be ascertained as Prometric, which has developed the software for CAT, did not release the data. But it's estimated that 180 to 200 students took the examination at each of the 105 centers. CAT is mandatory for students who wish to study at the seven IIMs and over 150 other B-schools in India.

However, due to the technical snags, many students had to begin the paper without reading the tutorial guidelines, while in some cases, the computer screens went blank. Sources from the test-preparation institutes said each student lost around 15 minutes due to such snags.

“Logging-in was a hassle. The computer screen went blank sometimes. Though we began the test 30 minutes later, it being a computer-based test, that time was not adjusted,” rued a student who took the examination at a test center in Ghaziabad. At many centers, the exam was delayed by 30 to 40 minutes due to the technical glitches. “Prometric has given NIIT the software to conduct CAT, and NIIT will reschedule it in two or three days. We will get an email confirmation by tomorrow in this regard,” said an aspirant from Delhi.

Meanwhile, sources informed that IIMs and Prometric met today afternoon to decide on the future course of action with regard to the 300 students who were not able to take the examination. “Those who have the responsibility to hold the exam are accountable for these glitches. We hope that it is not repeated again,” said Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.

Prometric, on its part, insisted that CAT has not been cancelled at any of the test centres. It has only been rescheduled. “Of the eight CAT testing venues in Bangalore, seven have delivered vast majority of their scheduled exams. Throughout the country, thousands of candidates have successfully completed their exams. Due to technical difficulties, that could not be resolved in time, and many candidates scheduled at Garden City College of Science and Management Studies were not able to take the test today and will be given a new date,” said Prometric India Managing Director Soumitra Roy.

He added that the company has deployed additional technicians and hardware to this test centre to rectify the issues that arose early this morning. To fully effect and test the solution, Prometric and IIMs have decided to delay the start of testing in Garden City College of Science and Management Studies until November 30. Tests in all other centres in Bangalore will not be affected. CAT Candidate Care is in the process of contacting all affected candidates by email and phone to identify a new appointment date and time.

Test-preparation institutes, nevertheless, are unhappy. “We are shocked and condemn the inability of the authorities to conduct the examination in an appropriate manner. The under-preparedness of the test conducting agencies got reflected as thousands of students were unable to take CAT due to system failures. With the career of these students at stake, we urge the exam conducting bodies to take strong steps towards correcting the mess. A body of experts needs to be set up on an urgent basis to ensure a foolproof system which keeps the interest of students in mind,” said Satwinder Singh, director, MBA Universe.com.

Ranbaxy launches GSK's blockbuster drug in US

2009-11-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

In a move that will help Ranbaxy boost its revenues from the US in the next six months, the company has launched the generic version of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) blockbuster medicine Valtrex (valacyclovir hydrochloride) in the United States.

Daiichi-controlled Ranbaxy enjoys the first-to-file status for the drug and, therefore, has a six-month exclusive marketing right to the medicine. During the period, Ranbaxy will be the only company, other than the innovator GSK, to market the product in the US. Ranbaxy has confirmed that the drug was launched on November 25.

Analysts feel the company’s earnings from the drug during the exclusivity period could be over $200 million (over Rs 933 crore). Ranbaxy has approvals to market two strengths — 500 mg and 1 gm — of the anti-herpes drug in the world’s largest medicine market. Analysts have been apprehensive of the launch of the product due to the ongoing regulatory issues Ranbaxy has with the US drug regulator — United States Food and Drugs Administration (USFDA).

The USFDA had banned the supply of all medicines from two of Ranbaxy’s Indian manufacturing plants, including the Dewas facility from which valacyclovir was to be supplied initially.

Since then, the company has managed to get valacyclovir manufactured from the production facility of its US subsidiary, Ohm Laboratories, thereby salvaging the six-month exclusive marketing opportunity.

Ranbaxy had reached a patent settlement agreement with GSK on the drug in 2007 and was pinning a lot of hopes on revenues from it. Ever since the USFDA clamped on the two main production facilities of Ranbaxy, the company has seen a decline in its US revenues.

During the three months ended September 30, the company had registered sales of $44 million (over Rs 205 crore) — 53 per cent lower than its sales during the comparable quarter in 2003.

Year after 26/11, mum's the word for most Pakistanis

2009-11-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

A year after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed nearly 180 people, most Pakistanis have little or nothing to say about the carnage that shook India.Leading newspapers were silent on the tragedy and so were Pakistanis who are active in the virtual world.Except for an odd comment on social networking website Facebook, most Pakistanis were unusually quiet.

"Remembering the victims of 26/11" read a comment by journalist Mehmal Sarfraz on her homepage. Though the comment was welcomed by her Indian friends, her fellow citizens were not exactly happy.

"With all due respect, so many more people die in our own country every day. How many people remember the victims of Peshawar? That has been burning much more and much worse than Mumbai did. For a minute I think people need to stop blowing 26/11 out of proportion. How is it that we don't pay as much tribute to the victims of the war against militancy in Pakistan," commented Qudsia Aziz Rana.

Rana’s comment seemed to sum up the mood of most Pakistanis, who do not want India to blame their country for the attacks.

"Stop blaming Pakistan for every attack! If few people are bad that doesn't mean the whole country is bad! It is not that Pakistan is supporting terrorism. Pakistan is also a victim of it," read a post by Mujtaba Husain, the creator of "Pakistan against Terrorism" group. Not a word on the Mumbai attacks was posted by cyber-buffs active in the blogosphere.

Popular ezines Pakteahouse and Pakistaniat did not have any posts dedicated to Mumbai’s victims. There was, however, a post about the "Indian hand" in Pakistan.

"… a near consensus has been reached by all the major political parties in Pakistan, except the MQM, that India is aiding the Taliban in Swat and Waziristan," said a post on a popular blog.

Not long ago, a local TV channel did a spoof interview with Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested by Indian authorities for the Mumbai attacks.In the spoof, Kasab shows up in the studios with an AK-47, shoots staffers and aims his gun at the anchor too.

He is shown wearing a red thread on his wrist and speaks with a Hyderabadi accent, all of which the anchor contends shows that he is "not Pakistani"! Islamabad has acknowledged in a dossier handed over to New Delhi that the Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba carried out the Mumbai attacks.

An anti-terror court in Rawalpindi yesterday indicted seven suspects, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, for planning and helping execute the attacks.

ITC: Diversified FMCG play

2009-11-25T23:24:00.000-08:00

The FMCG sector has seen healthy top-line growth (ranging from 2-18%, with HUL bringing up the rear) spurred by strong demand in FY10 to date. The icing to the cake has been a significant expansion of gross margins in this period, to the tune of about 250 bps y-o-y as per HSBC estimates. This is because this year input costs deflated faster than companies corrected product prices, which were hiked in early FY09 when there was high inflation.

This earnings boost is likely to be reinvested in higher advertising and brand support spending, enhancing growth. A Morgan Stanley report expected that this would be a season of earnings upgrades for most FMCG companies post the strong results in Q2FY10.

However, going ahead, this could spur competition in the sector (leading to higher ad-spend and incentives like price-cuts etc.) which along with hardening input costs could pose significant risk to margins for most FMCG companies. It is here that ITC has a clear advantage as its bottom- line is derived mainly from businesses like cigarettes, hotels and agri (contributing over 100% of EBIT with the non-tobacco FMCG segment still incurring losses, as per a Morgan Stanley report).

Main advantage

The key to ITC’s resilience is its large portfolio of popular cigarette brands which have an estimated 80% market -share according to an HSBC research report. Its cigarettes business posted a distinct turnaround in FY10 after 2 years of shrinking volumes. Volume growth was about 8% in Q2FY10 as against 5-6% in the preceding quarter, according to HSBC, assisted by steady prices with no excise duty hikes.

Volume growth has proved resilient against several regulatory challenges, according to Morgan Stanley. This is significant as there is a high probability of a hike in value added taxes (VAT) on cigarettes to 20% by state governments, the report adds, but it believes that consumers have demonstrated reasonable price inelasticity to pass through price hikes so far. ITC recently effected a 5-10 % price hike in its premium brands. While the consensus analyst view is that it would not hurt volume growth but actual consumer behaviour bears watching.

Total net sales grew 14% y-o-y in Q2FY10 to Rs 2199.7 crore with cigarettes showing a sales growth of 21.45 and agri posting 19% growth in this period. FMCG was steady at 14% while hotel segment sales were down about 24%. PBT was up 25.5% boosted mainly by a 24% increase in cigarette segment earnings and included a sharp 128% increase in profits in the agri business. The hotel segment and FMCG continued to drag earnings down although FMCG saw some curtailing of losses this quarter (Rs 850 crore versus Rs 1166 crore in Q2FY09). Margins expanded for most segments led by by a 809 bps expansion in the agri business. Cigarettes margins expanded 134 bps y-o-y.

Growth estimates

Consensus analyst estimates see sales volume growth at around 7% after upgrades from around 5% levels. This is based on the fact that it has a dominant share of a market growing at about 5% which is likely to sustain as shift from other forms of tobacco usage to filter cigarettes is ongoing in India, according to HSBC. Net sales should grow at 12% according to Morgan Stanley estimates with EPS growth of about 16% in the next year.

ITC has marginally underperformed the Sensex by 0.5% and the BSE FMCG index by 0.7% in the last month despite stellar Q2FY10 results. It has played catch-up since, closing at Rs 268.75, up nearly 2% intra-day on 25 November 09. It trades at a P/E valuation of 21x and 18x consensus analyst FY11 and FY12 EPS estimates.

Brokers keen on MF trading

2009-11-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

Say move to deepen market but existing distributors may get annoyed.
The recent move by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to facilitate mutual fund transactions through the existing stock exchange infrastructure has found many takers, with broking companies keen to venture into this new area within a fortnight.

Brokers said trading in MF units would help them enhance volumes. In return, investors would save costs, they said. However, they added that this would be different from equity transactions and require a dedicated team.

Motilal Oswal, chairman and managing director of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, “We are set to offer this value-added service as it will provide transparency, reduce costs from investors’ perspective and increase volumes.”

A majority of existing asset management companies (AMCs) do not have a wide network and are limited to a few cities. On the other hand, broking companies have spread to semi-urban regions and are now focusing on retail investors.

Dinesh Thakkar, chairman and managing director of Angel Broking, said, “There is no reason why should we not get into mutual fund trading. AMCs do not have the reach that broking firms can provide.”

Oswal said: “Our existing infrastructure, with a distribution network having access to 560 cities across the country, will be adequate to offer this service. What will we require is mutual fund advisors.”

Trading of MF units on any day would be at the net asset value (NAV) fixed for that particular day, said brokers. Though most brokers are enthusiastic, some say how things turn out is yet to be seen.

Mohan Natarajan, executive vice-president at Edelweiss Capital, said, “Tracking equity and mutual fund markets are two different things. In mutual funds, it is the fund manager’s call which matters. Moreover, the fund market is not as volatile as equity markets. In case it remains an investors’ game, volume may not be there.”

Fund houses agree that using the exchanges’ infrastructure will expand the distribution network significantly. “However, it could annoy existing distributors and small town advisors,” said the chief investment officer of a leading domestic fund house.

Existing MF distributors and financial advisors are taking this as another challenge to their already shrinking business after the ban on entry load in equity schemes came into effect in August.

According to them, it is doubtful if the issue of low penetration of MF products can be addressed by using the existing infrastructure of stock exchanges.

“Though the market regulator wants to increase mutual funds’ reach to the masses, how will such a move increase retail participation? Existing clients of broking firms are likely to go for this service. Moreover, how many brokers would like to take care of small mutual fund investors who invest far less money than equity investors?” said a leading MF distributor who did not wish to be named. According to the equity head of a foreign MF, “Using the exchange’s network will enhance the fund market, resulting in easy transactions. However, the platform has to be more complicated to take care of the various intricacies involved in trading, such as track record of funds, etc. Else, it will be difficult to make investors understand what to buy.

Maruti Suzuki to launch van to replace Versa

2009-11-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), today said it will launch a new van within

MPV Versa, whose production has been stopped."We will be launching a new van by the end of this fiscal. This vehicle will replace the Versa, whose production has already been stopped," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Executive Officer (Engineering) I V Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the Fourth Environmentally Friendly Vehicle Conference here.

He, however, did not give the price point of the soon-to-be launched vehicle. MSI is also looking to produce one million vehicles by the end of this fiscal."Hopefully, we will have one million units in production by the end of this financial year by utilising our full capacity," Rao said.

He added the company is working on making all its models Bharat Stage-IV compliant as required under the government norms. "We have not completed BS-IV compliance norms on all our models but we are working towards that direction," Rao said.

The company is also working on hybrid and electric vehicles for demo cars, but Rao said it has no plans for a full-fledged launch of vehicles with such alternative fuel technologies.

AirWorks plans to invest Rs 180 cr

2009-11-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

Firm works on expansion despite the sector failing to show signs of revival.

AirWorks, a Mumbai-based MRO (maintenance, repair & overhaul) company, plans to invest up to Rs 180 crore to expand and will look at raising funds through equity or debt in the near future. The company is raising resources for building an additional hangar, a dedicated paint operation and for future engine/component MRO activities.

AirWorks, which is hoping to report revenues of Rs 100 crore by the end of this fiscal, has a commercial MRO in Hosur with one hangar capable of housing two ATR 72-size aircraft or one narrow-body aircraft (Boeing 737). It has eight service centres in India and plans to build one more wide-body hangar by the end of 2010.

AirWorks, owned by the Menon family in Mumbai, had raised Rs 100 crore from Punj Lloyd and US-PE fund Global Technology Investment in late 2007.

The 58-year-old independent aviation MRO firm recently secured the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification for its Hosur unit, based on which it hopes to draw more global customers. It has been marketing its services abroad, focussing in a big way on West Asia and neighbouring Asia countries. Till now, AirWorks was constrained by lack of certification from abroad and so was unable to attract business from outside, said Chief Executive Fredrik Groth.

AirWorks, along with four-five other MROs in the country, are in a market that is estimated to be around $250 million and services mostly business jets and helicopters. Many of these are being routed to South East Asia or West Asia. The market that AirWorks is looking to tap is airlines, said to be worth over $350 million. Most of this business goes abroad to facilities that have EASA or FAA certification.

AirWorks’ intent to expand comes despite the MRO industry’s present state of hibernation, with many projects announced over the past two years being put on the backburner. This was after the general aviation sector was hit by the economic slowdown along with the rest of the world.

According to Raajeev Batra, head of transport advisory, KPMG, the aviation industry in India, which was growing 25-26 per cent two years ago, is growing only 3-4 per cent.

Many MRO projects were announced in the last two years. Air India had announced plans to expand its portfolio by building an MRO unit for narrow-body aircraft with Airbus Industrie/Indian Aero venture apart from setting up a GENX/GE90 engine repair facility in association with General Electric.

In late 2007, King Fisher-Air Deccan was reported to have joined hands with Gulf Aircraft Maintenance to set up an MRO for over Rs 200 crore, but nothing moved on that front. Boeing had also announced a plan to set up an MRO in India.

Most MRO projects announced in 2007-08 by large global players like Lufthansa, EADS and Boeing involved major domestic airlines as local partners. However, when the airlines began to suffer growing losses, most preferred to focus on their core business.

AirWorks has 80 aircraft under management, including 30 helicopters and 50 fixed-wing aircraft belonging to private companies, individuals and air taxi operators. It is also into aircraft sales, charters, consulting, finance and insurance.

3G spectrum winners can use it only after June

2009-11-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

The ambiguity over availability of 3G (third generation) telecom spectrum would end soon, as the ministry of defence has agreed to release 25 MHz of 3G spectrum before December 8, paving the way for auctioning of all the four slots in every circle simultaneously. But, the successful bidders in the auction would be able to utilise the spectrum only after June 2010, despite the auction process happening on schedule in January.

“We will ensure the winners in the 3G auction start using spectrum only after June 2010…as the armed forces would need time to shift operations which might be possible only by June 2010,” DoT Secretary P J Thomas said in a letter dated November 18 to defence secretary Pradeep Kumar. In the order to release the 25 MHz of spectrum in the 1920-1980 MHz band, the defence ministry had asked for timely completion of the Optical Fibre Network by BSNL, which has been duly addressed, the telecom secretary said.

DoT has instructed BSNL to complete the alternate optical fibre network for the armed forces (army, navy and air force) in three years instead of the earlier three and a half years. DoT would circulate a Cabinet note on this next week. The OFC network, estimated to cost Rs 10,000 crore, would be implemented as a mission-mode project with BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goel as mission director and one representative each from the defence and DoT on the team, the letter added.

The Telecom Commission would meet on November 23 to consider the detailed project report for laying an alternate OFC network.

The decision was apparently also approved by the EGoM (headed by Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee) meeting on November 19, which had met to resolve differences between DoT and MoD over vacation of spectrum. Prior to this, a meeting under Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister, was held with DoT and ministry.

This would remove all uncertainty over the auction process, already delayed a couple of times. The government expects to rake in Rs 35,000 crore from the sale of 3G, to be used to reduce the fiscal deficit.

Nokia to axe 330 jobs in Finland, Denmark

2009-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

Handset giant Nokia today said it will cut around 330 jobs in Finland and Denmark, as part of streamlining research and development operations.The company plans to streamline research and development (R&D) operations in Finland and Denmark, which is expected to affect up to 230 employees at the Oulu site (Finland) and about 100 employees at the Copenhagen site, Nokia said in a statement.

The company has around 17,000 employees in the research and development division, of which more than 2,000 are in Oulu and over 1,000 are based in Copenhagen.

The company said it aims to support the employees with alternative solutions, such as finding new positions within the company for as many employees as possible.

Nokia, in the third quarter of 2009, reported an operating loss of euro 426 million. It had posted an operating profit of euro 1.5 billion in the year-ago period.

Govt wants industry to trade in CSR

2009-11-18T10:37:00.000-08:00

Union Minister for Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid has asked the industry to propose a corporate social responsibility (CSR) system that rewards the industry.The industry should think along the lines of the ‘carbon credit’ system and see if they could come up with a system that remunerates them for their CSR initiatives, the minister said.

Addressing a conference on ‘Companies Bill 2009’ organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) here today, Khurshid suggested that the incentives for CSR could even be fiscal incentives that are proportionate to the CSR initiatives being undertaken.“There can even be some way of trading your CSR credits, like carbon credits,” the minister suggested.

He said the ministry’s attempt was to see that the industry takes up CSR activities in such a manner that it turned out to be a next-generation affirmative action that went beyond reservations for weaker sections of the society.

On the issue of the remuneration to managing directors, the minister wanted industry to suggest if they require further changes in the current system. He invited industry’s views on the remuneration issue and the role of remuneration committees.

The minister said the ‘Companies Bill 2009’, that is currently being scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance will give a final shape to the legislative changes that are required in such matters. “The parliamentary committee has given top priority to the Bill and has held several consultations on the topic. We expect the committee to come up with its recommendations very soon,” the minister said. Once the committee’s recommendations are in place, the government will take the Bill to Parliament for legislation, he added.Speaking on the occasion, corporate affairs ministry secretary R Bandyopadhyay sought industry opinion on the responsibilities of key management professionals in a company.

“Administration of the company and the role of the board should be discussed for any changes in the proposed amendments to the Bill,” he said.

DCM Shriram enters milk procurement business

2009-11-17T00:14:00.000-08:00

Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar (HKB), the rural retail arm of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd (DSCL), has entered the milk procurement business in Uttar Pradesh and is looking to expand to Rajasthan next month. The milk is being supplied to dairy units and is being mainly used to produce milk powder. The programme has been initiated under HKB’s farm output services. The company has started a pilot dairy operation in Hardoi and Lakhimpur Kheri districts of central UP, where it has four sugar mills. The company has also made arrangements with regional rural banks to facilitate farmers in getting finance for cattle purchase.

The model envisages the setting up of an efficient milk supply chain between the farmer and the dairy industry. “Hariyali has been working with an objective to increase the productivity and profitability of the farmers. So far, we had been focusing more on our agronomy services to help farmers but now have identified milk procurement as an area to enhance farmers’ income, since both small and big farmers have cattle. We collect around 3,500 litres of milk per day in UP and by December we hope to collect 5,000 litres,” said Vikram Shriram, vice chairman and managing director, DSCL. The company makes a rupee on every litre.

Following the successful launch in UP, the company plans to expand the procurement business to other states. It has set up operations in 70 villages of Rajasthan around the districts of Alwar and Hanumangarh. It aims to collect around 10,000 litres per day in December and about 25,000 litres in January.

“The initial response from farmers has been very positive because of timely payment and transparent practices. We are hopeful of extending the procurement business to all the states where Hariyali operates,” he said. HKB is the country’s largest rural retail chain, with 302 stores across the states of UP, Punjab, Haryana, MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Along with the physical infrastructure, farmers are provided with veterinary services. Farmer meetings are being held regularly for training in good animal husbandry practices. Quality cattle feed is also being provided and this has resulted in productivity improvement, he said. Since this area is traditionally not a large commercial producer of milk, extension activities will be done on an ongoing basis to build awareness and improve productivity, he added.

Internet global supermarket booms in bad times

2009-11-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

The Internet global supermarket is booming because people and businesses The world of web browsersAnd the this great global shopping mall can only expand rapidly as mobile phone use explodes, the Chinese get involved and advertisers jump in, the OECD forecasts.

But the e-trade revolution is being held back by hidden frontiers, ranging from concerns over privacy of personal information, language problems, delivery costs and taxation and regulation barriers. As the Christmas spending spree, vital to many retailers and manufacturers around the world, gets under way, the OECD also highlights other worries for consumers.

For example, Santa Claus may never turn up with the goods, or the purchases may be defective, or payment details may be stolen.

These are among the obstacles to increased cross-border trade, paradoxically even within the European Union, which the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development lists in a report on a conference under the heading: "Empowering e-consumers."

The report found that the financial crisis had breathed new life into electronic commerce, with sales rising in Europe, the United States and China at a time when the store-based retail sector struggles as consumers' disposable income shrivels.

"The financial and economic crisis appears to be giving a e-commerce a boost as consumers search for ways to reduce expenditures by purchasing items online," the OECD said, adding: "The savings can be substantial."

It cited a study showing that shoppers in Britain, Germany and France can save 17 percent by buying electronics goods, DVDs and clothing on online trading platforms rather than in physical stores. In the United States on-line sales for 80 retailers rose an average of 11 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to another study.

One site, Craigslist, is forecast to report sales of 100 million dollars this year, a 23 percent increase from 2008. Another platform, Amazon, had net sales of 177 million dollars in the first quarter alone, up 24 percent from the first quarter 2008.

The OECD cites a study by the Forrester research group predicting that western European consumers will buy 123.1 billion euros' worth of goods online by 2014, for an average annual growth rate of 9.6 percent.

Fixing higher education

2009-11-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

The burgeoning demand for graduates as economic growth accelerates has been encouraging Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal to examine more innovative ways of involving the private sector, especially in higher and technical education. This is sensible in as much as the government lacks the financial wherewithal to focus on this sector when the claims from primary education are much more pressing. So his latest suggestion that the government could amend Section 25 of the Companies Act to allow corporations and industry associations to set up universities should be applauded.
Currently, corporations can set up educational institutions only through trusts, which means they have to re-invest the profits and come under the purview of the Charity Commissioner. Section 25 of the Companies Act does not differ significantly from the trust system. Institutions set up under this Act, too, can only reinvest profits but they will come under the scrutiny of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. But the big difference is that the Section 25 institutions will now be eligible for University Grants Commission (UGC) approval.

In a sense, Mr Sibal is pushing at an open door. For one, government investment in higher education has been declining since the nineties even as enrolment numbers have zoomed, suggesting that the private sector is playing a bigger role here than before. For another, the private sector has been openly thirsting for a bigger piece of the higher and technical education action. But meeting numerical targets is one thing — indeed, it is worth considering that India has the largest higher education system in the world after China and the United States. The bigger issue that Mr Sibal will have to address is the quality of the universities that come up.

It is no revelation that the rise in the number of institutions of higher learning in the nineties and 2000s has not seen a commensurate rise in quality. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted in a lecture at his alma mater, Panjab University, last week, “A major problem that we face is in the quality of higher education that our institutions impart. Unfortunately, most of them produce pass-outs who are nowhere near international standards.” Partly because a graduate degree has been the minimum qualification for any white collar job, most universities, whether publicly or privately funded, remain inefficient teaching shops innocent of the rigours of seminal research or innovations that form the foundation of a robust higher education system.

Considering that the private sector already delivers more than half the education services in India — in medical and engineering, the proportion crosses 80 per cent — it is clear that it has not been a notable contributor to quality, so amending Section 25 is unlikely to fix this issue. The urgent problem that Mr Sibal needs to address, therefore, is a regulatory one. Questions need to be raised about UGC’s role as a watchdog that promotes academic rigour rather than a dispenser of approvals that hark back to the licence raj. So far, it’s been a system that indirectly encourages all manner of dodgy practices from capitation fees to fake degrees from fly-by-night private institutions cashing in on exploding demand. Reforming the regulatory system will undoubtedly be harder than opening the floodgates to private investment in education. But if Mr Sibal wants to find durable solutions to India’s education system, he needs to fix what’s broken first.

Idle capital a new problem for many Indian banks

2009-11-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Low cost of funds and low credit growth have meant unprecedented levels of capital adequacy ratios (CARs) for banks.
Also, re-rating of loan portfolios under the standard approach of the new Basel-II norms has released capital for most lenders.

As a result, CARs of at least four banks — Federal Bank, Corporation Bank, YES Bank and ICICI Bank — are around double the prescribed minimum of 9 per cent (see table). HDFC Bank, which had a CAR of 15.7 per cent at the end of September, may join this league after converting warrants into shares at the start of the next month.

While Federal Bank raised Rs 2,100 crore through a rights issue in January 2008, ICICI Bank raised Rs 20,000 crore through a follow-on issue in 2007. This year, Axis Bank has raised around Rs 4,000 crore from institutional investors. Corporation Bank, which has the highest CAR among public sector banks, has raised Rs 1,500 crore through bonds.

“Re-rating by external agencies pushed up our CAR by 84 basis points. We also took advantage of lower rates to raise funds. But as we grow our loan book, the ratio will decrease to 15 per cent by March,” said a senior Corporation Bank executive.

ING Vysya Bank, which raised Rs 415 crore in September, reported a CAR of 14.48 per cent at the end of the second quarter.

While in most cases, the growth in credit flow has moderated, ICICI Bank has shrunk its loan book after the global downturn. On a year-on-year basis, credit growth was 9.7 per cent till October 23.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stipulates a minimum CAR of 9 per cent. The average for Indian banks was 13.2 per cent in 2008-09, as compared with 13 per cent a year ago. The banking regulator, which has noted the growing capital base of Indian banks, says credit offtake in the remaining part of the current financial year will take care of some of the idle capital, according to officials. “Excess capital, if not optimally utilised, may lead to a depressed return ratio. Banks with lower returns on assets and equity tend to get lower price to book multiples and hence do not find much interest among investors,” said a banking analyst with a broking company.

Indian Bank Chairman and Managing Director MS Sundara Rajan said some banks might have to strengthen their capital base in anticipation of the impending redemption of Tier-II bonds. “Tier-II bonds which were issued earlier may be up for redemption. To service this, they may have to increase their capital,” he said, adding, “However, efficiency of the capital is equally important. Capital should not be idle.”

Life covers face MTM valuation

2009-11-12T10:24:00.000-08:00

New norms likely to impact LIC's investment portfolio the most

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) is likely to ask insurers to mark-to-market (MTM) their entire investment portfolio to indicate the change in prices.

The move is expected to impact the non-linked or traditional business of life insurers, since companies already mark-to-market the linked business portfolio, consisting of mainly equity shares. The equity portfolio under the traditional business is already marked-to market.Further, all insurers will have to arrive at the market value of the real estate assets held by them. At present, there are no norms for valuation of real estate and most insurers carry it on a book-value basis.

Actuaries said that the biggest impact would be on Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest insurer, which has a large pool of traditional policies. At the end of March 2008, the latest period for which accounts have been made public, the non-linked sum assured for individual policies was of the order of Rs 12,80,000 crore.

Its government paper holdings was over Rs 3,45,000 crore at the end of March 2008. Its holding in ‘other approved securities’ was of the order of Rs 16,000 crore.

At the end of March 2008, LIC’s investment in real estate was estimated at Rs 3,664 crore.

In case of traditional policies, most of the investment has to be in government securities and, over the years, LIC has accumulated a high amount of such papers. In contrast, nearly 90 per cent of the risk underwritten by most new life insurance companies is unit-linked insurance product (Ulip) business, with most of the funds invested in stock markets. Their Ulip investments are already marked-to-market.

In addition, liabilities will also have to be marked-to-market. So the liabilities arising from the traditional plans will require more capital. Higher exposure to traditional products would result in lower valuation, said an actuary.The new norms will be part of the valuation guidelines, which are expected to be released soon.These guidelines will prescribe the methodology to calculate the economic capital and embedded-value of an insurance company. At present, there are various methods of arriving at embedded-value.

Going forward, an insurance company’s economic capital will be based on the risk each company writes. As a result, the solvency margin, which at present is fixed at 1.5 times of the business underwritten, will differ based on the risk underwritten.

“Normally, solvency requirement under economic capital will bring down the capital requirement by 40 per cent,” said GN Agarwal, president of the Actuarial Society of India.

The guidelines are also expected to provide that fixed liability, such as term covers due over the next few years, should be valued in line with the zero coupon bond.At present, the embedded-value is not directly based on the risk of cash flows, but a risk discount rate is used to calculate the overall risk levels.

Honda looks to India, China; no plan for Nano rival

2009-11-11T19:11:00.000-08:00

Honda Motor Co is not betting on an immediate recovery in traditional Making of Nano

World's fastest car Ultimate Aero Cars with Class New SUVs to hit Indian roads

markets and will focus on bright spots India and China, although it will not build an ultra low-cost car to take on Tata Motor's Nano.

Chief executive Takanobu Ito said on Wednesday that Japan's second-largest automaker was researching a new compact car for Asian markets and more specifically for India, where it launched its first small car, the Jazz hatchback, earlier this year. ( Watch )

"We are still undergoing tough times in many traditional markets," Ito told reporters in the Indian capital. "I wish I had the magic to predict these numbers," he said when asked about a recovery in these markets. "In terms of business planning, we are not predicting an immediate recovery to their original levels."

Honda's Japan operations are expected to stay in red though demand has been brisk, helped by generous tax reductions and incentives on hybrids such as its new Insight model.

Cipla launches generic drug to treat H1N1

2009-11-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

Indian drug major Cipla has launched generic versions of anti-flu drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir in the local market to treat the H1N1 influenza, which is spreading across the globe and in India.

Cipla will brand oseltamivir in the local market as Antiflu and zanamivir as Virenza. Antiflu will cost Rs 475 for 10 capsules, in line with the price of competing products in the market. Virenza — an inhaled drug — will cost Rs 800, which includes the price for an inhalation device.

Cipla’s Antiflu is a copycat version of Swiss multi-national Hoffmann-La Roche’s Tamiflu and Virenza is the copy of GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza. Both drugs, used globally to treat the ongoing H1N1 pandemic, lack patent protection in India as these are pre-1995 innovations. Such innovations are not granted patents in India, according to the product patent regime introduced in the country since 2005.

Dr Y K Hamied, chairman and managing director of Cipla, said his company was equipped to make 2 million doses of oseltamivir a month, in case of any eventuality. Already 450 people have died of H1N1 in India and the winter season may cause further spread of the virus, he said.

“Now the US is facing a shortage of oseltamivir and we have informed our readiness to supply the drug if needed. We make about 20 drugs in the anti-viral segment and are among the global leaders in this category,” said the Cipla chief, who revolutionised HIV/AIDS treatment globally by selling generic drug cocktails at less than a $1 per day.

Both drugs have patent protection in many developed countries, including the US and Europe. Hyderabad-based Hetero is the only supplier licensed by Roche to market oseltamivir in India under the brand name Fluvir.

On August 28, the Indian government had allowed restricted retail sale of the drug under Schedules X category of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, similar to the sale of narcotics drugs. Six Indian companies — Ranbaxy, Cipla, Strides Acrolab, Hetero, Hetco and Roche — were allowed to manufacture and sell the drug. The government has also stockpiled the drug from these manufacturers for supply through government channels.

Two months ago, Natco Pharma had launched its version Natflu in the Indian market at a price of Rs 475 for a bottle of 10 capsules.“In 2005, we had stockpiled about 2.5 tonnes of oseltamivir but there was no demand and about $15-20 million worth products had just piled up as inventory,” said Hamied.Cipla has so far exported about $10 million worth of Antiflu to countries in Latin America, Africa, South-East Asia and West Asia, where the drug lacks patent protection.

Countries with patent protection for these drugs can also allow generic players to manufacture and market it, invoking compulsory licence provisions of the patent rules, which allow breaking of patent rules during emergency, said Hamied.“Shortage or monopoly of any drug will cause panic among people during such pandemic attacks,” he added.

Hamied has suggested that governments should encourage stockpiling of shikimic acid, which is extracted from the ‘Chinese Star Anise’ and is used as a base material for production of oseltamivir through a 14-step chemical process, instead of stockpiling the finished drug.

Indian IT firms growing faster than their global peers

2009-11-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

On the face of it, the $50-billion IT services industry that sees top firms regularly notch

up margins in excess of 20% and that's been growing even in the current downturn
might appear to be an unlikely candidate for frugal marketing. But then, in the global context, Indian IT firms are competing with players much larger, up to 10 times their size in revenues, in a market estimated at over $960 billion. And they are growing faster than their larger peers. This is due to a great value portfolio, delivery excellence, and some innovative marketing techniques.

Think Narrow

The more broadly your audience is defined, the more it costs to reach them. With narrow, tightly defined target audience it is possible to use cheaper, more specific channels. Even mass-media like newspapers and magazines are open to options like “power-jackets” where the advertiser places an ad only for a very narrow distribution such as a hotel or business district. Having a narrowly defined target audience also allows the solution offering to be tightly focused around their needs. As the firm grows, the target audience can be gradually broadened.

Think Broad

In a large, complex sale such as IT services, a number of people can potentially influence the buyer. Media, analyst firms such as Gartner, Forrester and AMR, as well as sourcing advisors like TPI and Everest can determine client perceptions considerably. So, rather than focusing purely on the end-buyer who is difficult and often expensive to reach, proactively reaching out to media, analysts and advisors can reap rich dividends. Continuing to invest in these relationships through the downturn is a smart decision. Every industry has its own eco-system and I would encourage upstart brands to identify theirs.

Think Sharp

Just as the audience needs to be tightly focused, so does the service offering. It needs to be sharply directed at the chosen audience and reflect contemporary economics. For example, this year, a portfolio of offerings built around Performance and Capital Efficiency (PACE) did very well, whereas next year we may need to build a solution that helps clients cope with growth.

Think Virtual

Social media is the Wild West of marketing. The revenue models have not yet been worked out and so there is great value for those who understand the medium. Social media provides a fantastic opportunity to connect with your clients. It also represents a significant shift- in the past the website was the primary online presence and all activities were directed around it. Now marketers have to adopt a mall-and-highstreet approach. For example, much like a mall, aggregators such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn specialize in generation of footfall and companies need to be present there to benefit from walk-in traffic. This is in addition to their website which acts like the “company store”.

The flood of information is overwhelming many consumers and thus there is now a disproportionate premium for insight. Thought leadership becomes an important channel of marketing. Luckily it is a low-cost channel for companies which have genuine insights and views about the industry. A good white-paper today will generate a minimum of 100 downloads and a really good one over 1000.

Just as the advent of newspaper, radio and TV allowed marketers to extend their reach to ever larger audiences, social media allows them to connect with customers one-on-one. There are important implications here though -- the consumers on these channels expect a “real person” to respond to their queries not some automaton. Unlike traditional channels which are loaded in favour of those with big capital, the social channels favour those with friendly, insightful employees. Charm wins over capital in a world where campaigns give way to continuous conversations.

These new channels also force marketers to relook at their PR policies which frequently do not encourage employees to communicate -- in the social media every employee is a potential brand ambassador or detractor. Communication policies will have to embrace this transformation.

Think Trust

The new social medium is ideal for what should always be the overriding priority for any marketer - building trust among clients. Customer communities are no longer annual meetings but a continuous interaction. Marketing can be a powerful voice of the customer by tapping into these communities. We live in interesting times and frugal marketers can play an important role in determining the destiny of their organizations.

Volvo-Eicher buses to hit roads in 2010

2009-11-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

The joint venture between heavy vehicle manufacturers Volvo and Eicher Motors will begin production of buses in the second half of 2010.

"Production will start in the second half of the next year," said Eicher managing director and chief executive Siddhartha Lal in New Delhi on Tuesday. "We will come out with at least 100 buses a month once the production begins," Lal told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit.

"We are also in talks with various state governments, especially for the JNNURM scheme (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission), which would need a lot of vehicles," he said. The JNNURM is a Central government initiative aimed at fast-track planned development in identified cities.

What's new in Firefox 3.

2009-11-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Firefox 3.6's beta 1 is ready for dowload. The open source browser from Mozilla community is built on the Gecko 1.9.2 web rendering engine, and is said to offer many improvements for web developers, add-on developers and users.

Mozilla released the alpha version of Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka, in August. The organization plans to release the final version by the end of the year, with Firefox 3.7 in the first half of 2010 and Firefox 4.0 in about a year. Here's looking into all that's new in Firefox 3.6.Users can now change their browser’s appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas. The feature has been available as an add-on, so users will have plenty of Personas skins to choose from.Firefox 3.6 will alert users about out-of-date plugins to keep them safe. In September, Mozilla debuted plug-in checking with updates to Firefox 3.5.3 and Firefox 3.0.14, which automatically detect outdated versions of Adobe's Flash Player and prompt users to upgrade to the newest -- and theoretically the most secure -- edition.Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames. There's also support for the WOFF font format.

The new version also includes a drag and drop feature which makes uploading files to the web sites easier.

Google launching free videoconferencing

2009-11-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

Google is all set to strengthen its voice and video chat capabilities. The voice and video chat feature in the company's the email service, Gmail, is currently limited to one-to-one communication, however, Google wants to broaden this capability to more than two participants.

The Google Apps product manager Rishi Chandra told SFGate that Google is set to roll out its first update in a long line of updates that will include multi-user video conferencing. Chandra told the web site, “This (current Gmail capability) is the first step in a much broader set of features we hope to roll out over the next six to 12 months around video (and voice) chat capabilities.” He added, "It’s a great opportunity for us to push that space along."

Google acquired Web and video conferencing software in 2007 from Swedish company Marratech.

India's small car market drives the global biggies

2009-11-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

Honda has named India the "lead country" for its global small car which is expected to debut in two or three years. This is part of the Japanese automaker’s strategy to create models for lead countries and modify them appropriately for other global markets. For example, Japan was the lead country for the Jazz.

The reason for Honda’s India inclination is obvious: the country has become the second-largest maker of small cars, overtaking Brazil (Japan is number 1, but the gap is narrowing). Small cars account for 80 per cent of the domestic market (up from 75 per cent last year) and exports are growing at top speed. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, small car exports rose 53 per cent between April and September to 1,97,249 units against 1,29,090 units a year ago.

Little wonder, then, that last Monday, Japan’s Suzuki Motor said its annual operating profit would be four times its original forecast because of strong India sales. South Korea’s biggest automobile maker Hyundai Motors also admitted its growth has been buoyed by small car sales in markets like India.

Hyundai recorded more than half of sales from China and India and Toyota saw around a third of sales coming from emerging markets.Analysts say domestic growth rates for small cars have been boosted by the government’s efforts to combat the fallout of the financial meltdown in the second half of 2008. As a result, taxes on small cars — defined according to length and the size of the engine — were cut to 8 per cent.

Hyundai Motor India Senior Vice-President (marketing & sales) Arvind Saxena says the economic slowdown of the past one year has reinforced consumer preference for fuel-efficient and inexpensive small cars.Almost a quarter of Hyundai’s repeat customers now own two small cars, Saxena added. In the past, the second purchase was invariably a mid-sized sedan.

That’s precisely why manufacturers, like Nissan Motor Company after the meltdown forced it to shut plants overseas, are investing in emerging markets. Nissan is eagerly waiting to launch its new mini-car that will debut in India before the Europe, US and even Japan.The company, which is Japan’s third-largest car company, is making India the production hub for the yet unnamed compact car due to be launched in May. It will export to more than 100 countries from its plant in Chennai that has an annual capacity of 400,000 units.

Similarly, US automaker General Motors’ India arm will become one of the only two centres of production of the new mini-car scheduled for launch in the next two months.

The car, which is expected to be priced at around Rs 4 lakh and will sell side by side with the hatchback Spark, will be exported to Asia Pacific and European countries from its plant in Talegaon near Pune.The lure of the domestic high-volume game of small cars has also attracted Ford Motor Company to put the Indian car buyer on top of its agenda.Allan Mulally, Ford’s president and chief executive, says “We know the high importance Indian consumers place on value for money. We know (they) want quality, fuel efficiency, technology and safety. And Ford is going to give it to you.”

The company is investing $500 million on transforming its India business into a volume manufacturing and export hub and a regional centre of excellence for small car development and production, according to a senior company executive.Car ownership in the developing world shows immense potential for growth. A report prepared by Deloitte says there are 511 cars on the road for every 1,000 citizens in the UK, compared to 22 per 1,000 in China and just 11 for India. Analysts predict that the largest purchasing segment by 2020 will be first-time buyers.

Besides, small cars from India are making it big in European markets, where people are moving from gas guzzlers to fuel-efficient cars and taking the scrappage incentives being doled out by various European governments.According to European Automobile Manufacturers Association, the total passenger car market in Europe is currently pegged at over 14 million units. Estimating the small car market to be 2 to 3 per cent, the total market size for small cars in Europe is pegged at nearly 5,00,000 units, of which over 80 per cent would be met by auto companies Hyundai and Maruti alone.

Nearly 75 per cent of the total vehicles sold in the US earlier were bigger cars and trucks. Now, 40 per cent of the US population is moving towards more fuel-efficient cars, suggesting huge export potential.

New WiFi for phones coming soon

2009-11-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Starting in 2010, new versions of gadgets like cameras, cell phones and PCs will be able to talk to each other using WiFi without connecting to a network first.
The WiFi Alliance, an industry group announced that it’s nearly finished putting together a WiFi Direct specification, a set of “rules” that guide companies to add the new capability. Kelly Davis-Felner, the WiFi Alliance’s marketing director, said WiFi Direct will make it easier to liberate the gigabytes of digital family photos that are trapped in cameras, phones or PCs. Now those gadgets will be able to connect directly to digital photo frames, TVs or printers.

In creating the specification, the Alliance is moving into the territory of Bluetooth, a wireless technology that already handles direct gadget-to-gadget connections. Bluetooth uses less power but has much shorter range and a lower transfer speed. To tackle the latter problem, the industry group behind Bluetooth announced last year that it would co-opt WiFi technology to make it possible to send videos and other large files around the house, much as Wi-Fi Direct promises to do.

Only one of the gadgets need have the new WiFi Direct technology to make a two-way connection work. In one scenario, you could connect a smartphone with WiFi Direct to a laptop and piggyback on its wired Internet connection for a quick email check without tapping your phone’s data plan.

Gold hits record high on strong demand

2009-11-07T10:46:00.001-08:00

Gold prices today spiked to a new high of Rs 16,900 per 10 gm in the bullion market here on strong marriage season demand amid firmimg global trends. Gold gained Rs 75 to close at Rs 16,900, a level never seen before. The precious metal in the US markets scaled a new high of $1,099 an ounce.

Marketmen said fresh buying by stockists and jewellery fabricators to meet the demand during the marriage season and strong global cues led gold to touch an all-time high level. They said the precious metal, which has been on a record-setting spree since last few trading sessions, also influenced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) move to buy 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), raising speculation that more countries would follow suit.

Standard gold and ornaments rose by Rs 75 each to Rs 16,900 and Rs 16,850, respectively. Sovereign climbed to a fresh peak of Rs 13,300 per piece of eight gm. Silver ready closed flat at Rs 27,500 per kg in restricted buying, while silver weekly-based delivery lost Rs 70 at Rs 27,185. Silver coins rose by Rs 200 to set a record high level of Rs 33,500 for buying and Rs 33,600 for selling of 100 pieces.

10 Biggest email blunders of 2009

2009-11-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Remember the time when you sent that gossip mail to your boss accidentally? Thought an email blunder couln't get bigger than this! Take heart you are not the only one, there are people and organisations who can empathise with your sorrow/embarrassment/bewilderment!

Email solutions company Proofpoint recently put together some of the "scariest" email-related blunders, mishaps and threats from this year. In no particular order, Proofpoint highlights some of 2009's biggest email mishaps.

(1)Trojan Horse empties bank accounts

In September, it was reported that a banking Trojan horse, dubbed URLZone, had thwarted fraud detection systems, to enable software to actually steal money while users are logged in to their accounts and display a fake balance. Victims’ computers were infected either by clicking on a malicious link in an email or visiting a website that has been compromised with hidden malware.

The Trojan also kept a log of the victim's bank account login credentials, took screenshots, and snooped on the user's other Web accounts, such as PayPal, Facebook, and Gmail.

(2) FBI forgery

The wife of FBI Director Robert Mueller banned him from online banking after he nearly fell for a phishing scam. Mueller received a seemingly legitimate email from what he thought was his bank, which prompted him to verify some information. He even went as far as filling out some of his personal information before realizing it might not be a great idea.

He said he barely caught himself in time before falling victim to the scam. As a result, he changed his passwords and tried to pass the incident off to his wife as a “teachable moment.” However, that did not stop Mrs. Mueller from sanctioning Mr. Mueller’s online activities.

(3).Hotmail phishing

Most recently, more than 10,000 Hotmail accounts were compromised in October and passwords were posted on several websites where developers typically share programming code. News site Neowin reported it had seen part of the list, which has since been removed, and notified Microsoft of the issue. In this phishing scam, hackers sent out legitimate-looking emails under the letterhead of banks, eBay and other institutions, telling consumers they needed to reset online passwords to their Web sites for security purposes.

It seems that many of the affected account holders could have used a password reset. Security researchers with copies of the exposed passwords reported that "123456" was the most commonly used among them.

(4).Start-up suicide

Back in September, social media advertising and applications start-up RockYou, sent out a mass email to their customers and associates announcing their new site redesign, but instead of using BCC:, they displayed the entire mailing list of over 200 email addresses in the CC: field. Not surprisingly, many of those addresses ended up on a spammer’s list.

Two months later, the start-up sent out another mass email using a mailing list. Unfortunately, the email asked contractors to provide information for their W9 tax forms. This resulted in people inadvertently sending personal information to the entire mailing list.

(5).Start-up suicide

Back in September, social media advertising and applications start-up RockYou, sent out a mass email to their customers and associates announcing their new site redesign, but instead of using BCC:, they displayed the entire mailing list of over 200 email addresses in the CC: field. Not surprisingly, many of those addresses ended up on a spammer’s list.

Two months later, the start-up sent out another mass email using a mailing list. Unfortunately, the email asked contractors to provide information for their W9 tax forms. This resulted in people inadvertently sending personal information to the entire mailing list.

(6).Judge orders gmail account deactivated

In August, Wyoming-based Rocky Mountain Bank mistakenly sent names, addresses, social security numbers and loan information of more than 1,300 customers to a Gmail address. When the bank realized the problem, it sent a message to that same address asking the recipient to contact the bank and destroy the file without opening it.

No one responded, so the bank contacted Google to ask for information about the account holder. US District Court Judge James Ware in the northern district of California ordered Google to deactivate the email account and also disclose the Gmail account holder's identity and contact information. The Gmail user hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, but someone at the bank should be a little more careful when typing in the TO: field in an email.

(7).Judge orders gmail account deactivated

In August, Wyoming-based Rocky Mountain Bank mistakenly sent names, addresses, social security numbers and loan information of more than 1,300 customers to a Gmail address. When the bank realized the problem, it sent a message to that same address asking the recipient to contact the bank and destroy the file without opening it.

No one responded, so the bank contacted Google to ask for information about the account holder. US District Court Judge James Ware in the northern district of California ordered Google to deactivate the email account and also disclose the Gmail account holder's identity and contact information. The Gmail user hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing, but someone at the bank should be a little more careful when typing in the TO: field in an email.

(8).Payroll panic

Payroll processor PayChoice was the victim of a website breach in which customers received targeted emails purporting to be from the company, but were designed to trick people into downloading malware. Workers received emails that directed them to download a browser plug-in or visit a website to continue accessing the onlineemployer.com PayChoice portal.

Clients were notified within hours and the site was shut down. It was later learned that the emails were sent from a Yahoo! email account and the links were hosted from servers in Poland.

(9).Tax terror

Britain’s tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs, issued a warning about a rash of scam emails that used convincing (but fake) government email address in an attempt to lure recipients into divulging their personal information to receive a tax refund.

The scam messages claimed that recipients were entitled to a tax refund and asked for bank or credit card details, so that the fictitious refund could be paid out.

Like most legitimate businesses and government organizations, the HMRC stressed that it would not inform citizens of a tax rebate via email, nor would it invite them to complete an online form to receive a tax rebate.

(10). UCSD fake-out

28,000 students were turned away from UC San Diego in one of the toughest college entrance seasons on record after a particularly cruel twist in the perils of instant communications. All 46,000 students in the entire freshman applicant pool received the same misfired message of acceptance, which could have led to the largest freshman class at any university globally.

The 18,000 students who were actually accepted breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, the rest of the applicant pool had to march on in the grueling college application process.

5 Tips to secure Gmail

2009-11-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

Remember the last time you didn't check your mail? Or didn't use the Internet at all? Have to think really hard?
Most of us - right from a newbie in the world of internet to an addict, from a professional to a student - spend a considerable amount of time inside our mail boxes. But few actually know the security hazards that our mail box exposes us to (if not used properly). Here are a few useful tips that will go a long way in saving us from the so-very common email traps and frauds.

(1) Always sign out

Especially when using a public computer, be careful to sign out of your Google account when you're finished. Just click the "Sign out" link at the top right corner of your inbox. If you're using a public or shared computer and want to be extra thorough, you can also clear the browser's cache, cookies and history. Then, completely close the browser.

On your personal computer, you can also lock your computer with a password-protected screensaver if you need to step away momentarily. Learn the best ways to lock your screen in Windows or in Mac OS X. Forgot to sign out? Open up a new Gmail session on another computer and use Gmail's remote sign out feature to close any sessions that might still be open elsewhere.

(2) Avoid sending sensitive information

Once you send an email, you're no longer in control of the information it contains. The recipients, if they so choose, could forward the email or post its contents in a public place. Even if you know and trust the people you're emailing, that information may become exposed if their accounts become compromised or they get a virus on their machines.

As a rule of thumb, should you need to provide a credit card number or financial account number to respond to a message, provide it over the phone or in person - not over email.

Never share your password with anyone. Google does not email you to ask you for your password, your social security number, or other personal information - so don't send it!

(3) Use 'https' not 'http'

Any time you visit a webpage, your computer needs to send and receive information across the Internet. 'https' is used to encrypt data as it is transmitted between computers on the Internet. So look for the "https" in the URL bar of your browser to indicate that the connection between your computer and Gmail's servers is encrypted.

We use HTTPS on the Gmail login page, and you can choose to protect your entire Gmail session with HTTPS as well. HTTPS can make your mail slower, so we let you make the choice for yourself. Open Settings and choose "Always use https" on the General tab if you want to turn it on.

(4) Be careful with attachments

To help protect you from viruses and malware, Gmail automatically scans every attachment when it's delivered to you, and again each time you open a message. Attachments you send are also scanned. That said, no system is foolproof, so if you happen to get an email from a friend with an attachment you didn't expect, don't be afraid to ask the sender what it is before you decide whether to open it.

(5) Keep account recovery info updated

Your account recovery information helps you regain access to your account if you ever forget your password, or if someone gains access to your account without your permission. We currently offer several paths to account recovery. Every Gmail user must select a security question and answer - be sure to choose a combination that is easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess or come across by investigating.

Don't choose a question like "What is my favorite color?" as others may easily guess the answer. We also encourage you to provide a secondary email address and/or a mobile phone number, so we can send you a link to reset your password if you lose access to your account.

IIM-C summer placement back in limelight

2009-11-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) grads seem to be back in demand as the slot zero--or the most coveted slot offered to recruiters for summer placement--has seen a significant increase in the number of companies coming to the institute over last year.

"This year offers for the slot zero will be significantly higher than previous year of 100 offers," IIM-C external relations secretary Paul Salvo said,Initially, there were some concerns among the students as the batch size is 104 more than the previous year and the economy is still recovering, but, the increase in number of companies and job offers has given them reasons to cheer.

Summer placement gives a clear indication of demand of professionals but it does not give idea about the salary hike over 2008."Students in summer placement are given internship and perks.

It will be when companies make final offer, salary levels could be compared. But, we hope it would be better than previous year," Salvo said.

There were offers from investment bankers like as Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS. Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Credit and HSBC also had offers for IIM-C.

World Trade Centre to come up at Bhubaneswar

2009-11-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

The Orissa government has decided to set up a World Trade Centre (WTC) at Bhubaneswar. It will be set up on a franchise basis and will be a part of the global network of World Trade Centres, headquartered in New York city.

An estimated Rs 12 crore is proposed to be invested in the project. The investment will be in phases and the funds available to Orissa, under the Assistance to States for Development of Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities (ASIDE) scheme of the Union government, will be utilized for the purpose, sources said.

The proposed WTC will make trade information available to its members and the tenants occupying space in the centre in a timely and coordinated manner.

The proposed WTC will be in line with the centres set up in Bangalore and Chennai and will offer a wide range of other facilities and services pertaining to the imports and exports.

Similarly, an information cell on geographical indications system (GIS) and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) under the world trade organisation (WTO) regime will be located in the proposed centre.

“It will be a high rise building and is proposed to come up over 5 acres of land in Bhubaneswar. A special cell for dissemination of information to the exporters of the state is also likely to come up there”, a senior official associated with the process said. Apart from setting up of the WTC, the state government intends to use the ASIDE funds to provide infrastructural development assistance to an aluminium park being developed by Nalco and Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) at Angul. It may be noted, the Union government has allotted Rs 9.14 crore for Orissa under the ASIDE scheme for 2009-10. Out of it, Rs 3.32 crore has already been released to the state. The state got Rs 51.97 crore ASIDE fund between 2003-04 and 2008-09 and out of it Rs 42.59 crore was utilised by the end of 2008-09.

Other projects which are being implemented in the state leveraging the ASIDE funds include the RS 33 crore IT Towers project taken up by the Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC). The proposed tower will act as a MSME software park. {The funds available under ASIDE scheme are also being used for Rs 390 crore Haridaspur-Paradeep broad gauge railway line. Recently, the State Level Export Promotion Committee (SLEPC) on ASIDE, chaired by the chief secretary, approved sanction of additional Rs 72 lakhs towards the state government’s equity in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to implement the rail project.

While Rs 1.5 crore has been sanctioned to provide additional funds for the development of arterial road in the Infocity area of Chandaka Industrial Estate, Rs 1.83 crore was sanctioned for installation of 7.5 MVA substation in the Infocity. Similarly, Rs 1 crore has been approved for setting up of a filigree centre at Cuttack by the industry department and Rs 25 lakh for setting up of a public-private-partnership (PPP) cell in the planning and co-ordination department utilizing the ASIDE fund.

RCom introduces per-second billing plan

2009-11-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) today introduced per-second billing tariff option for its subscribers across the CDMA and GSM platform.
The call charges will be 1 paise per second, it said. RCom is the latest mobile service provider to offer the per-second tariff. Earlier, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Aircel had announced the per-second tariff, intensifying the competition among operators.

RCom's new plan is an extension of the 'Simply Reliance Plan' announced last month, offering single tariff rate across all services.RCom has announced three tariff variants -- 1 paisa per second, Rs 1 for 3 minutes and 50 paise per minute -- effective November 5, 2009, the company said in a statement.

"We now extend the Simply Reliance initiative by offering two new products catering to varied customer needs with the same simplicity and unconditional transparency," RCom President Mahesh Prasad said.

As per the 1 paisa per second billing plan, all local and STD calls would be charged at 1 paise per second, while SMS (local and STD) would be charged at 50 paise.SMS rates for the 50 paise per minute plan are Re 1 (local) and Rs 1.50 (STD).

India, China small car sales cheer auto companies at global level

2009-11-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Consumers in emerging markets have saved the day for top global auto makers grappling with the after-effects of the steepest fall in global output since the Great Depression. On Monday, Japan’s Suzuki Motor said that its annual operating profit would be four times more than previously forecast because of strong sales in India, according to a Reuters report.

Auto majors such as Suzuki and Hyundai Motors, South Korea’s biggest automobile maker, have seen growth buoyed by sales of small car in emerging markets. According to international media reports, Hyundai recorded about 55% of sales from China and India while Toyota saw around 31% of sales coming from emerging markets.

Hyundai, the second-largest carmaker in India, exported Santro cars and Accent sub-compacts made in India to over 100 countries, said company officials. Analysts say that small cars have emerged as a source of competitive advantage for these companies, giving them an edge over other big carmakers such as Ford and General Motors (GM), which have taken a hit in numbers.

When contacted, RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti-Suzuki, said: “We will produce over one million cars this year and will certainly boost the consolidated balance sheet of Suzuki. A good-performing subsidiary always helps the parent company.”

Indian advantage

Suzuki’s 50% share in the rapidly-growing Indian market provides it an unusual advantage, at least in the current circumstances, compared to its much bigger rivals like Toyota and Honda who are more exposed to the US and European markets. India makes almost a quarter of Suzuki’s global production, company officials say.

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, also posted a 32% growth in domestic sales at 85,415 units in October 2009. Hyundai Motor India’s total sales for October 2009 stood at 51,736 units, up 11%. Tata Motors and M&M — the two largest companies owned by Indian entrepreneurs — saw growth rates in excess of 20% in October. Crucially, Tata Motors has seen a smart recovery in sales of commercial vehicles, a bellwether for economic growth.

India is the world’s fifth or sixth largest maker of passenger vehicles, depending on definitions. Sales of cars and utility vehicles is expected to be around 1.8 million units for the year ended March 31, 2010.

Despite the brisk growth rate in India, they palled compared to the eye-popping 9.6 million units sold in the first nine months of 2009 in China. The sharp contraction of consumer demand in the US has propelled China into the position of the world’s largest automobile market. Government incentives
Domestic growth rates have been boosted by Indian government’s efforts to combat the fallout of the financial meltdown in the second half of 2008. As a result, taxes on small cars — defined according to length and the size of the engine — as well as trucks were cut to 8%, the lowest level in many years.

This is true for countries worldwide. China has halved taxes on small cars, while developed markets have sought to boost sales by encouraging consumers to bring forward purchases of new cars. The most famous of these is the ‘cash for clunkers’ programme introduced in the US that encouraged car owners to purchase a more fuel-efficient one by trading in a less-efficient car.

Both Germany and France have had similar schemes, popularly known as “scrappage schemes”. Exports of small cars from India to European countries have benefited from these.

IT biggies may soon get land in WB

2009-11-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government expects to complete price negotiation and allocate land to software biggies, Infosys and Wipro.While Wipro has already shown interest, senior executives from Infosys are soon likely to evaluate the new plot, top sources in Writers’ Building said.

At the same time, the state is also gearing up to come up with a negotiation mechanism which it can put forth to the two software bellwethers. At present, it is toying with two ideas — reduce the price of Rajarhat land to around Rs 1 crore per acre as compared to the last quoted rate of Rs 1.5 crore per acre; and if this does not find favour, it will then try to provide flexibility in land use for non-IT purpose to both the companies.

"It is not so easy to come up with a negotiation mechanism for the two companies. Both of them have their own preferences and the government has to offer a single package to them. We have invited both the companies to gauge what package will suit them most," the senior government official said.

In fact, a couple of weeks ago, the state IT department wrote a letter to Infosys and Wipro to officially inform them about the 45-acre plot at Rajarhat. Though the letter quoted a price of Rs 1.5 crore per acre, it had categorically mentioned that the government will be “open to negotiations”.

"The IT department is already in talks with the housing department to look at possibilities to reduce plot prices at Rajarhat. There is a possibility of reducing the price up to Rs 1 crore per acre, since the chief minister himself is taking an initiative. There might be need for a cabinet approval, which should not be a problem, as the state is extremely keen that Infosys and Wipro expand their base here," the government sources said.

The government is also evaluating possibilities to provide flexibility to the two IT companies to use part of their land for non-IT purpose. However, this clause is likely to be applicable only if the two companies buy the land at the government-quoted rate of Rs 1.5 crore per acre.

"Since the land is quite premium, the IT companies will have the liberty to use part of it for other commercial purposes. Such indirect subsidy could be another option. But the final package will be decided only in consultation with the two companies," sources added.

Sony Ericsson launches 3 smartphones

2009-11-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson launched three new smartphones in the Indian market, priced between Rs16,950 and Rs35,950. The phones, "Satio", "Aino" and "Yari", will set the trend for the new age smartphones, said Anil Sethi, president of Sony Ericsson Mobile India. He said the company would focus on the smartphone category for the next two-three years to boost sales.

"Once the 3G spectrum allocation happens, we can roll out more features with better network," Sethi said. Built on Sony Ericsson's strengths in music, imaging, gaming, applications and content services, the new phones bring alive entertainment on the go for consumers, the company said.

The Satio, priced at Rs 35,950, comes with a 3.5-inch screen and offers a 16:9 widescreen format with 12.1 megapixel camera. The Aino offers services to access content stored on a PlayStation 3 from anywhere in the world through a Wi-Fi connection.

It also gives remote play access to videos, television shows and photos. The mobile has an eight megapixel camera and is priced at Rs 28,950. Yari debuts Gesture gaming that enables users to make the moves in front of the screen and play games without even touching the phone. The Phone comes with a five megapixel camera and is priced at Rs 16,950.

IIM-A grad launches subzi mandi on laptop

2009-11-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

Your daily aloo, baigan and bhindi will soon be just a click away. No more finding your way through the filth at your neighbourhood subzi bazaar and haggling for prices with rude vegetable vendors. An IIM-Ahmedabad graduate has brought the mandi right on your laptop.

City-based Akrosh Sharma, who passed out of the elite B-school in 2004, is all set to launch an online vegetable store after running a vegetable retail business for the last couple of years.

The website will create an online mandi where one can “see” the fresh vegetables, check prices and place orders. “Apart from purchasing daily vegetables, one can gift fruits using the web service. We are launching the concept of gift-packing fruits and vegetables as a ‘healthy gift’ option,” says Sharma. Sharma feels it will be a hit, especially among working couples in the Hazira industrial zone who seldom get time to shop for fresh vegetables everyday.

“Once the order is placed, customers will get the vegetables at the time specified by them,” adds Sharma, who grew up in Vadodara and joined IIM-A after getting an engineering degree from MS University. His stint at IIM-A landed him a lucrative job with a top MNC and was based in Surat. But Sharma, apprehensive of getting into a comfort zone, left his job to tread a different path and go on his own. He launched his vegetable and fruit business in 2007 in a 10 by 10 feet shop.

“I competed with the mandi and not the big stores. I created a subzi bazaar-like atmosphere in terms of product display that had well-behaved staff members dealing with customers, high sense of hygiene and no haggling,” said Sharma. Currently, his “mini mandi” concept has crossed Rs 1 crore in annual turnover.

“New concepts like these will lead to improvement of the market where the customer will have better options. An institute like IIM-A can encourage entrepreneurship in a big way. We wish it is not only IIM grads but even other entrepreneurs should come forward with innovative concepts like this,” says Vardan Kabra, who was Sharma’s classmate at IIM-A and had opted out of the placement process to launch his own school in Surat.

BSNL may roll out 3G in city in November

2009-11-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

State-run telecom operator BSNL is eyeing November as the date for the launch of 3G mobile services in Bangalore. The company is testing the technology and expects sizeable subscriber base from the city. Post its launch, the company plans to start with a capacity of 200,000 3G users.

With the availability of 3G spectrum, about 275 million Indian subscribers will use 3G-enabled services, and the number of 3G-enabled handsets will reach close to 395 million by 2013-end, estimates the latest report by Evalueserve, a provider of knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) services.

BSNL has a subscriber base of 2.5 million in Karnataka for GSM customers, 420,000 for CDMA and around 480,000 broadband customers. The company has already launched 3G services in cities in the northern and eastern region, and plans are afoot to expand it to other states.

Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director, BSNL, said the company is looking at new business segments for the upcoming fiscal like sharing the tower infrastructure with other private telecom players and looking at business opportunities in Africa.. “We have identified some companies in the African region and will look at the bidding process,” said Goyal. He added that the due-diligence into Zain Telecom for which BSNL and MTNL are looking at picking up a 46 per cent stake will start soon.

BSNL has launched its first pre-paid broadband and high speed internet (24 Mbps) services in Bangalore. A pre-requisite for customers wanting to subscribe to prepaid broadband services is to have a BSNL landline connection. A customer can opt for either an unlimited or a limited download pre-paid account.

BSNL started broadband services on DSL lines in 2005 from Bangalore and has 4.3 million customers nationally. The company has already installed broadband capacity on DSL lines of 8.5 million of which 1.5 million ports are in rural areas.

Acer F900 smart phone

2009-10-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

A model shows off the new Acer F900 smart phone in Singapore. Taiwan-based computer company Acer launched a series of 'smart phones' earlier Wednesday for the Asia-Pacific region.
A promoter display the Acer X960 (L) and F900 series smartphone during its launching in Singapore. Taiwan-based computer giant Acer launched a series of stylish 'smartphones' for the Asia Pacific region, further cementing its expansion into the lucrative mobile phone market.

A promoter display the Acer F900 smartphone during its launching in Singapore.A promoter display the Acer F900 smartphone during its launching in Singapore. Taiwan-based computer giant Acer launched a series of stylish 'smartphones' for the Asia Pacific region, further cementing its expansion into the lucrative mobile phone market.

Tata Tea quits beverage retailing, to focus on branded products

2009-10-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

Tata Tea, the second largest branded tea maker in the world, will exit the beverage retailing business, including Chai Unchai, as part of the group’s strategy to focus on its branded products.

Tata Coffee, another group company, which sold its 34.3 per cent equity in retail chain Barista to NRI investor C Sivasankaran five years earlier, has also dropped its plan to re-enter the business.

In a move to refocus on growth of brands, the company has decided to exit from café business like Chai Unchai in Bangalore, said Sangeeta Talwar, executive director - marketing, Tata Tea. She confirmed that Tata Coffee, a listed subsidiary of Tata Tea, would not pursue its plans in the café business.

“As the café retail business in India is dominated by local players, the scope for new brands is limited. However, established brands like Lavazza and Café Coffee Day are expanding their business that will see 5,000 branded outlets across India in five years, up from the existing 1,200 outlets. Since margin from the café business is volatile, Tata Tea would be interested to cash in on its core competence in sale of branded products,” said an industry analyst.

The company, which unveiled Chai Unchai in Bangalore in January 2008, was planning to add more outlets in the city in not just existing movable kiosk format but also in the form of tea parlours, on similar lines with urban coffee outlets. The company had five Chai Unchai outlets in the city.

Tata Coffee was waiting for the non-compete contract it signed with Barista to expire for launching its café network. The largest coffee plantation company in Asia is also running its branded coffee powder retail business through Mr Bean Coffee Junction.

Tata Tea is going through a transformation and consolidation phase, focusing more on branded products and reducing exposure in commodities, said Tetley chief executive officer Peter Unsworth, while announcing the quarterly results. The group markets beverages mainly under brands such as Tata Tea, Himalayan and Tata Coffee, in addition to the acquired brands like Tetley, Good Earth and Eight O’Clock Coffee.

Though the company was called Tata Tea by the outside world, Unsworth said that the name of the entity was Tata Beverages for insiders. “Finding a new unified brand name is still on the cards,” he added.

Sangeeta Talwar said the recently introduced cold drink brand, TiON, was a success in Tamil Nadu, with a three per cent market share in Chennai. The company plans to enter other South Indian states with the drink.The company is hunting for opportunities in beverages segments across the world, said Tata Tea Managing Director Percy T Siganporia. West Asia South America and Africa will be the targeted geographies for fresh forays. In France and Australia, the company will soon begin operation.

Tata Tea, which is exploring takeover opportunities in the US and Africa, has Rs 3,000 crore cash and cash equivalents on books. The gross debt stood at Rs 2,500 crore.

Seven of top-10 firms lose Rs 69k cr in m-cap last week

2009-10-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

Seven of the country's top-10 firms lost a total of over Rs 69,000 crore from Why realty is good investment
their market capitalisation, while state-run NTPC and Why realty is good investment
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IT bellwether Infosys Technologies saw their valuations rise.

The numero-uno in the list, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) saw its valuation dipping by Rs 29,157.16 crore to Rs 3,36,395.96 crore for the week ended October 24. Shares of the company declined nearly eight per cent to close at Rs 2,047.30 on at the end of Friday's trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

RIL had a market cap of Rs 3,65,553.12 crore for the week ended October 17. RIL is followed by state-run oil firm ONGC that lost Rs 13,603.22 crore from its market cap, while power utility NTPC added Rs 618.41 crore to its valuation. The total market cap of ONGC dipped to Rs 2,51,338.61 crore, while the market valuation of NTPC surged to Rs 1,76,988.8 crore. Trading firm MMTC lost over Rs 7,000 crore and the country's largest public sector lender SBI saw an value erosion of Rs 6,882.1 crore. MMTC's market valuation was Rs 1,68,662.75 crore and SBI's at Rs 1,49,441.23 crore at the end of the week. State-run mining giant NMDC lost Rs 6,085.81 crore from its market valuation taking its total market cap to Rs 1,33,134.63 crore.

During the week, IT bellwether Infosys Technologies moved up to the seventh slot after adding Rs 3,818.31 crore, while private telecom services provider Bharti Airtel fell to the eighth spot after losing Rs 702.42 crore from its market capitalisation.

Infosys' market valuation surged to Rs 1,29,581.79 crore whereas Bharti Airtel's to Rs 1,25,713.37 crore.

India's largest software exporter TCS inched up to the ninth position after adding Rs 6,360.9 crore, while power equipment maker BHEL skid to last spot in the list, after losing Rs 5,700.46 crore from its market cap.

Airtel joins tariff war; introduces pay-per-second plan

2009-10-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Joining the tariff war, India's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel today introduced a "pay per second" plan across the country.

In this plan, called Freedom Plan, Airtel customers will be charged one paise per second for all Local and STD calls to Airtel numbers and 1.20 paise per second for local and STD calls to other networks.Some of the new operators, however, are offering pay per second tariff plan across networks.

The plan will be available initially only to pre-paid subscribers of Airtel, an Airtel statement said.This will be one of the tariff plans besides others already existing."As the undisputed leader in the Indian telecom industry, we are committed to delighting our customers through superior network, great customer service and best value for money.

Today, our network covers 110 million customers, has 100,000 sites and is available across 4.25 lakh towns and villages in 1.5 million outlets," Atul Bindal, President, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, said.

Intel eyes 4G entry in India

2009-10-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

In talks with leading telcos for minority stake.

Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, is understood to be in talks with leading Indian telecom companies like Tata Communications (formerly VSNL), Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications that could bid for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum to be auctioned by the government in January 2010.

Talks are currently centred on Intel offering Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access or WiMAX (which provides for wireless transmission of data and up to 75 Mb/sec speed) technology — one of the popular BWA technologies — to the operator, and the possibility of taking a minority stake through its venture capital arm, Intel Capital.A global debate is still on, but most experts consider technologies like WiMAX close to fourth generation (4G) services, offering better speeds than 3G on GSM networks. It is constrained by the fact that it does not provide enough mobility currently and experiments are on in some countries to offer full mobile voice and data service on such networks.

Unlike in countries like Sweden and Bangladesh where Intel has bid for spectrum directly to run WiMAX services (with other partners), the model in India will involve partnerships with current telecom players. Intel has, however, made it clear it isn't interested in becoming a service provider to push WiMAX.

A source close to the development says Intel plans to float a new company for its WiMAX foray in the country. “Spectrum farming is not Intel's idea. Rather, it’s spectrum partnership,” adds the source.

Asked about the talks, an Intel India spokesperson declined to comment, as did Bharti Airtel, RComm and Tata Communications. Intel also plans to follow a consortium approach in India to roll out WiMAX-based broadband services in India, similar to its approach to the US and other markets, including Japan, where it has partnered with the likes of Google and Sprint.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) recently released the information memorandum to auction spectrum for third generation (3G) and BWA services. Under the memorandum, DoT plans to auction two blocks of BWA spectrum at a base price of Rs 1,750 crore for a pan-India licence. The spectrum, which is the radio frequencies that enable mobile communications, will be given in the 2.3 GHz band. Once the defence services vacate more spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band, this will be open for BWA aspirants.

Currently, the country has just around 6.5 million broadband subscribers, much below the estimated 20 million projected by the government by 2010. About 80 per cent of broadband is offered through digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, another 8 per cent through cable and only 1 per cent through wireless.

THE government hopes that by auctioning BWA spectrum, broadband through wireless technology would spur growth.

However, many mobile operators say that GSM 3G services will provide high speed internet data to the masses and is far superior to WiMAX which is still not “established” and its equipment is very expensive.

Last December, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, had invited bids from potential franchisees to provide mobile WiMAX to its customers in 16 circles last December.

Around 28 companies, including majors like Intel Technology India, Alacatel-Lucent India, Motorola India, Moser Baer Industrial Infrastructure, Huawei, HCL Infosystems, Larsen & Toubro Infotech and TCIL, figured among those who bought the tender documents.

Rajdhani hostage drama ends; all passengers, drivers safe

2009-10-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

The government on Tuesday stated that the driver of the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express and his assistant, kidnapped by Maoists between Jhargram and Sarna stations of the South Eastern Railway this
afternoon, have been released. ( Watch Video ) Home minister P Chidambaram today said the train and passengers on board were safe and that the Centre has rushed a relief train to bring back the passengers. "The train is safe. All passengers are safe... good news is the train is safe," he told reporters.

"CRPF and state police have reached the spot and the area has been secured. There is no sign of any other adversary there," Chidambaram said.

He also refuted reports that there was an exchange of fire between security forces and suspected Maoists. "There was firing and a civilian driver was injured but there was no injury to CRPF personnel and there was no exchange of fire," Chidambaram said. He said the Centre has rushed a relief train to Orissa with doctors and relief supplies. The home minister said the train will bring back the passengers on the Rajdhani Express. Chidambaram said railway minister Mamta Banerjee was monitoring the situation form her office. Pro-Maoists group PCPA had claimed responsibility for the attack stating that the train drivers had defied the bandh call. TV reports had also suggested that PCPA had set the conditions for releasing the Rajdhani drivers. The pro-Maoist group sought the release of their leader Chhatradhar Mahato from the police custody, in a swap deal. The ministry has sought a report on the incident from the state government as well as the railway ministry, sources said.

ArcelorMittal in talks with Orissa, Jharkhand for new sites

2009-10-29T09:22:00.001-07:00

ArcelorMittal today said it is in talks with the Orissa and Jharkhand governments for alternative sites for its Rs 1 lakh crore steel projects which have remained stuck, mainly due to problems in acquiring land.Aditya Mittal, Chief Financial Officer of the world's largest steel maker, said through a conference call that ArcelorMittal is also exploring options to move out of the two states where their projects are facing protests.

"We are in talks (with the state governments) for (new) potential sites for our projects. We can shift the sites within the two states. Theoretically, we are also looking at other sites within the country," Mittal said.The company is "disappointed" with the progress made so far on its proposed 12-Million Tonnes Per Annum steel plant, each in Orissa and Jharkhand. It has rued the regulatory hurdles as well.However, Jharkand Industry and Mines Secretary N N Sinha said from Ranchi over phone that the state government has not been formally intimated about the company's new plans. "There have been many informal talks in this regard, but we have not received any formal communication yet," he said.The Orissa government could not be reached for comments. Asked whether the NRI billionaire L N Mittal led firm would drop the projects, Mittal said, "India continues to be an important destination for ArcelorMittal."

1 in 6 SIM cards bought on fake ID

2009-10-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

A large sample test of 35 lakh SIM cards issued over two years until April

2009 has revealed that as many as six lakh SIMs -- ab
out one in six -- do not have
verifiable identities, raising fears that the process of issuing cell connections may be open to manipulation by criminals and terrorists.

With almost every major terror investigation revealing the use of SIMs procured on the basis of fake IDs, the number of six lakh dodgy cards is very high, given that the government has been keen to push for a more thorough and fool-proof verification process.

Recently, an entire series of 30,000 SIMs was cancelled in Jammu and Kashmir after a racket was busted and 12 people arrested. In the Indian Mujahideen case that rocked the country last year, fake SIMs were issued in Kolkata and sold in J&K to terrorist sympathisers.

In the Hyderabad blasts case, a SIM card was issued in the name of a Noida doctor who had nothing to do with the terror attack. Results of the DoT survey has spurred the government to initiate a clean-up operation. While asking operators to cancel all such cards with immediate effect, DoT has imposed a hefty penalty on telecom operators that could amount to Rs 50,000 per fake customer detected.

DoT’s monitoring cell has conducted its own verification against customer application forms submitted by operators. All telecom operators have to routinely submit their customer data of active connections which is made available to agencies like the Intelligence Bureau, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Enforcement Directorate, Military Intelligence, Narcotics Control Bureau and DoT’s monitoring cell.

Sample data is regularly matched against customer application forms for verification of proof of address and photo of actual users by agencies to keep a check on misuse.
Sources said the number of fake IDs had been going up despite the government’s tough talk. Penalties have been graded under five categories ranging from Rs 1,000 to a maximum of Rs 50,000 per unverified or fake customer detected. So far, the penalty was Rs 1,000 per SIM given out on fake identity.

This was imposed last year after the IM blasts which were followed by the Mumbai attacks. The enhanced penalty has been made applicable from April 1, 2009. Already DoT has slapped fines on various operators which added up to Rs 58 crore until April. Interestingly, the verification of 35 lakh customer application forms in the last two years

have revealed an accuracy rate of 60% to 89% f
or top six telecom operators. Last year,
after a dressing down from the home ministry, all major telecom operators had promised to strictly abide by the procedures.

The government is also keen to ensure that all active mobile users are checked and verified as monitoring conversations can be used as forensic evidence. The decision to impose a penalty on telecom operators was taken by the government last year after a TOI series highlighted how thousands of SIM cards were being issued to unverified customers even after instances of terrorists using them to trigger blasts had come to light and how the police were unable to track the culprits due to fake identity details.

Reacting to the findings, a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, “As a responsible company, Bharti Airtel complies with all the regulatory guidelines prescribed by the government. The company deploys world-class systems and processes to monitor subscriber information.’’ A spokesperson for Reliance Communication said since there were different parameters followed by Trai and DoT, there could be a possibility of variations. He, however, said the company had sent its response to the authorities. A senior BSNL official said since data on customer application forms were sent from different circles and at times some forms were not reported, this could have led to inaccuracies. Vodafone refused to comment.

Soon SMS in your mother tongue

2009-10-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

You don’t have to stick with the staid ‘hw r u’. Thanks to research by professors from IIT-Madras and others, in a year, SMSs can be sent in 22 Indian languages, including Tamil, Marathi and Assamese. Further, messages can be transliterated from one language to another. The key to vernacular texting is 7-bit encoding developed by IIT profs and researchers from the Centre for Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT). A fortnight ago, the global mobile standards body 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) approved the technology. Now, cell operators, phone makers and Trai have agreed to adopt the technology. Operation Bhasha
Seven-bit encoding allows 160-character SMSs in regional languages approved by Trai and global mobile standards body 3GPP, accepted by cellular operators and phone manufacturers.

Jet Airways sees Rs 407-cr loss

2009-10-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Five-day strike by pilots also cost the airline about Rs 80 crore
Jet Airways, India's largest private airline, reported net losses of Rs 406.69 crore for the second quarter ended September 20, down nearly 6 per cent from the same quarter last year. The loss was mainly because of lower yield per seat following Jet's decision to shift over half of its capacity to its low-cost service. The shift of capacity to low-cost arm Jet Konnect was executed in May this year. Jet Konnect fares are at least 25 per cent cheaper than full-service fares and a high load factor of 77 per cent did not offset the lower yield per passenger from cheaper fares.

The airline’s revenues fell 26.9 per cent for the second quarter to Rs 2,380.97 crore compared with Rs 3,258.45 crore in the same quarter last year. The fall has been steeper in domestic operations — 43.2 per cent to Rs 831 crore against a 26.3 per cent fall to Rs 1,188 crore in international operations. A five-day strike by pilots also cost the airlines about Rs 80 crore in lost revenue.

Last year, the share of domestic revenues in the total revenue fell to 38 per cent from 46.8 per cent in the second quarter and international revenue's share had increased to 62 per cent from 53 per cent during the same period. The biggest challenge for the company is its burgeoning debt burden which hit $3.1 billion (Rs 14,500 crore) this quarter and could be a cause of worry. In addition, the airline is forking out Rs 236 crore in interest and finance costs in the reporting quarter — an increase of 51 per cent over the same quarter in the last year (Rs 156 crore)

To retire some of its debt, the company has applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to raise up to $400 million in equity through qualified institutional investors. The company is also looking at selling prime commercial property in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai, which is expected to fetch around Rs 1,000 crore.

The company's outlook for the coming quarter is, however, positive.

"Domestic air traffic appears to have started reviving in the last few months. This, along with the peak season impact in third quarter, will help airlines improve yields, which otherwise had been severely impacted by the slowdown and lean season impact," an airline press release said.

Jet Airways Executive Director Saroj Datta said yields would increase by 3-5 per cent in the coming quarter, which would help in improving margins. Other executives also pointed out that, over the last few weeks, airlines raised fares and these increases had not shown any negative impact on traffic — yet another sign of better times. Analysts also said that, if the extraordinary items are removed, the results are better than the corresponding quarter last year. The Ebitdar (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and rent), which refers to the company's operating status, had turned positive. The management was also hopeful that the international operations would break even soon.

"On international routes, we were able to achieve a seat factor of close to 80 per cent and are close to breaking even, despite difficult market conditions," the release said. Meanwhile, Jet Lite, the fully-owned low-cost subsidiary of Jet Airways, reported that its losses fell 53.8 per cent in the second quarter of the financial year to Rs 126 crore from Rs 273 crore during the same quarter last year.

Cellular phones lead to weak bones

2009-10-25T20:26:00.001-07:00

Do you wear your cell phone on your belt? Well, here's some news for you-the electromagnetic rays from mobiles lead to decreased bone density in an Mobile phone (Getty Images)
area of the pelvis that is commonly used for bone grafts.

A study by Dr. Tolga Atay and colleagues of Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey, found that with long-term exposure, electromagnetic fields from cell phones could weaken the bone, potentially affecting the outcomes of surgical procedures using bone grafts.

The researchers measured bone density at the upper rims of the pelvis (iliac wings) in 150 men who were cell phone users and carried their phones on their belts.

They took the measurements via a technique called dual x-ray absorptiometry-the same test used to measure bone density in patients with osteoporosis and other bone diseases.

Bone density was compared on the side where the men wore their phones (the right side in 122 men and the left side in 28) versus the opposite side.

The men carried their phones for an average of 15 hours per day, and had used cell phones for an average of 6 years.

The results showed a slight reduction in iliac wing bone density on the side where the men carried their phones.

The difference was not statistically significant, and did not approach the reductions seen in osteoporosis.

However, the researchers have noted that the men were relatively young-average 32 years-and that further bone weakening may occur with longer follow-up.

The results raise the possibility that bone density could be adversely affected by electromagnetic fields emitted by cell phones.

The ilac wings are a widely used source of bone for bone grafting, so any reduction in bone density may be of special importance to reconstructive surgery.

However, the researchers emphasize that their findings are preliminary.

Meanwhile, Atay and colleagues concluded: "It would be better to keep mobile phones as far as possible from our body during our daily lives."

The study has been published in the September issue of The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.

IIT-Delhi PhD student held for Naga girl's murder

2009-10-25T20:25:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: In what appears to be a bloody retaliation for rejection, a 34-year-old PhD student of IIT-Delhi allegedly murdered and burnt a teenager
who was his neighbour in Munirka, south Delhi, on Saturday. The victim, Ramchanphy Hongray, from Nagaland, was visiting her sister.

Hongray’s burnt body was discovered on Saturday evening and her neighbour, Pushpam Sinha, was arrested on Sunday. Initially, police thought it was a case of accidental death but the postmortem report revealed that the 19-year-old girl was strangled to death and burnt.

Sinha, who hails from Patna, had graduated from an engineering college in Allahabad and completed his MSc from IISc, Bangalore. He was doing PhD in wave mechanics from IIT-Delhi on a monthly scholarship of Rs 14,000.

Sinha reportedly told the cops he lived next door to Hongray and she had been rejecting his advances over the past few days. On Saturday afternoon, when she was alone at home, he entered the house and assaulted her.

When she resisted, he allegedly strangled her and then set her body on fire in the kitchen to remove evidence, police said.

A murder case has been registered in the Vasant Vihar station. Sinha will be produced in court on Monday.

The body of the girl has been handed over to the family.

Google rolls out Music Service!

2009-10-25T11:16:00.003-07:00

Did Google announce this to steal the thunder from Microsoft's much publicised Windows 7 launch? True or not, Google has revealed today that a new swanky music service will be launched soon.

Reportedly, Google has spent the last few months in securing content for the launch of the music service from the most of the top notch music labels. According to a source, the new service will be named 'Google Audio'. Will this new service be any different from the 'Google China music download' service that the company launched back in 2008? That service allows users to search for music and download it for free.

Google Audio will be available first for only US users, but will expand to worldwide distribution in the coming few months. Not many people know that Google already has a music search engine that can be accessed by simply typing “music:” before a query. However, those searches don't allow songs available for download or streaming.

The Google music service will be officially announced on October 28th but a few screenshots have already been leaked to the internet. Upon searching, the user has the option of listening to the song via either iLike or LaLa. The first screenshot below shows how a search result might look on Google for a search for "U2." The other two screenshots show the iLike and the Lala player respectively.

Motorola's iPhone Killer has arrived

2009-10-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

'Droid'
Dozens of new handsets have conspired to lynch Apple's Jesus Phone, none have quite fulfilled their task; today a new candy from Motorola was revealed to the internet that just might reverse the trend.

Motorola's iPhone killer the 'DROID' was teased last week but the final specs have arrived, thanks to a slip up by Motorola. DROID will be powerd by Google's operating system Android 2.0 (Éclair), and will feature a 5 mega-pixel camera with 4x digital zoom, along with dual-LED flash and autofocus. Goes without saying the Droid will also have video capabilities (with a capture rate of 24 fps), Wi-Fi MicroUSB, GPS, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 3.7-inch (480×854) display.

Googles bells and whistles, Gmail, maps, YouTube have all been included of course. The Droid will reportedly support Flash 10 and HTML5. The Droid will come with a 16 GB MicroSD card pre-installed. Motorola promises up to 270 hours of standby time and 6 hours, 25 minutes of talk time on the 1400 mAh battery.

Motorola Droid runs on a 550-MHz processor. No word yet on how much this ohone would cost, but our guess is it will be close to the likes of HTC's Hero, which is another potential iPhone killer.

Facebook gets yet another Redesign

2009-10-25T11:13:00.001-07:00

It is no secret that Facebook is going the Twitter way, in a new move by Team Zuckerberg, Facebook now sports a trendy new 'Top News' filter exclusively for your news feeds.

Facebook had announced on Friday morning that a few changes would be made to the site, the revamped design has just gone live and has met with generally positive reactions from its millions of users. In fact, Facebook has added in these updates based on user feedback.

In the all new Facebook a user will be able to toggle between the News Feed and the Live Feed. The former is basically the same bunch of updates that appeared in the 'highlights' section of the old design. The Live Feed is the usual real time status updates feature that you and your friends use. Of course in case you aren't happy with the new design you can always go to 'Edit Option' (at bottom of page) and change what you want to see in your Live Feed.

According to Facebook's Raylene Yung, the News Feed is now a "summary view of the most interesting activity that’s happened in the last day,". Facebook will automatically determine whichever feeds and stories you like the most, a feature that smartly scans your past history of interracting with the site. For example if your Facebook profile has dozens of activities like 'liking' and 'commenting' they will appear in the Live Feed.

The other feature that has been enabled due to user feedback is that tagging of friends and becoming fans of Pages have been shifted to the News Feed. Birthdays and events have also been given a priority.

Land issue worries Orissa govt before review meet today

2009-10-24T10:59:00.001-07:00

Ahead of today's meeting to review progress of the POSCO and ArcelorMittal projects, the Orissa government is worried over the snail's pace in land acquisition for the two mega steel plants, official sources said.

Both the steel majors have been unable to acquire an inch of land when they together require above 13,000 acres in different districts to implement about Rs 1 lakh crore projects.

There is apparently none at the state owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IIDCO) to look after land acquisition for the mega projects and the post of its managing director has been laying vacant for last over six months, said a company official on condition of anonymity.

Both POSCO and ArcelorMittal have already deposited money with IIDCO to provide them land for their mega projects, MoUs for which were signed with the state government more than three years ago, he said.

While POSCO requires about 4004 acres near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur to set up the steel plant, the Mittals need 8,000 acres under Patna tehsil in Keonjhar district.

Both the projects are facing opposition from the local people crippling land acquisition.

New Satyam to shed 9K staff

2009-10-24T10:58:00.001-07:00

Mahindra Satyam is all set to wind up the 'virtual pool' of nearly 9,000 excess employees of erstwhile Satyam Computer Services Ltd, virtually throwing them out on the roads.

In an e-mail communiquÃ© to Satyam associates pushed into the virtual pool, the Mahindra Satyam management has said it would not pay them salaries with effect from December 18, when the six-month virtual pool programme (VPP) comes to an end.

Stating that the company has constraints reinstating all those in the VPP, the management extended them an option to continue on the rolls without pay, for a further period of three months-from December 18 to March 18, 2010.

The Mahindra Satyam management introduced the VPP in June last as part of efforts to streamline Satyam's manpower strength and to cut costs.

Nearly 9,000 Satyam employees were brought under the VPP. Though not required to report to work with effect from June 18, these employees would continue to receive their basic salary and have access to certain services such as virtual learning and outplacement services.

The management has now reminded the associates that the VPP is a one-time programme and would be wound up at the end of the six-month period. "However, the management has extended the programme by three months, of course, without any financial commitments," a senior executive in the company said.

"Though technically we are on the rolls for another three months, our access to the company's services will be cut off. This is nothing but closing the doors on our faces and telling us to look for jobs elsewhere," said a Satyam associate on the VPP.

"Though software companies are slowly getting back on the path of recovery, they are still not in a position to absorb more employees, at least for another six months. They are focussing on more productivity with limited staff," said Y. Harishchandra Prasad, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), AP chapter.

Maruti Suzuki sees quarterly profit jump 93 per cent

2009-10-24T10:57:00.001-07:00

Boosted by good festive season sales and robust exports, the country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, on Saturday reported a nearly two-fold jump in its net profit at Rs 570 crore for the second quarter of FY'10.

The company had a net profit of Rs 296.12 crore in the same period a year ago.

It is investing Rs 150 crore to hike production capacity at its Gurgaon facility by up to 90,000 units through de-bottlenecking and modernisation.

"During the quarter, we had good festival season sales and response to our new models was good. Moreover, we also saw robust exports," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO S. Nakanishi said in New Delhi.

MSI's net sales grew by 46.67 per cent during the quarter ended September 30, 2009, at Rs 7,049.58 crore, against Rs 4,806.26 crore in the same period last year.

Favourable conditions like stimulus packages of the government, low interest rates, improved financing by government banks were some other factors that contributed to good sales.

The company's domestic sales grew by 21.9 per cent at 2,09,083 units led by new models such Estilo, A-Star, Ritz.

Nakanishi said exports during the period under review jumped by 109 per cent at 37,105 units as against 17,745 units in the year-ago period.

"The A-Star had good sales in Europe as we benefited from the scrappage scheme (incentives given on purchase of new cars for exchange of old cars)," he said.

Barack Obama lauds Hamid Karzai's decision to agree for election run-off

2009-10-23T09:13:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday welcomed as "constructive action" his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai agreeing for a run-off after
electoral authorities invalidated tens of thousands of votes in his favour, reducing his vote share in the presidential election to less than 50 per cent.

Obama, in a telephonic call, congratulated Karzai for agreeing to the run-off on November seven with his rival and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah on the direction of Afghan's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

"I had the opportunity to speak with President Karzai this morning, and I wanted to congratulate him on accepting the certification of the recent election," Obama said at a joint press conference along with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, at the White House.

"...this has been a very difficult time in Afghanistan to not only carry out an election under difficult circumstances, where there were a whole host of security issues that had to be resolved, but also post-election a lot of uncertainty," he said.

"President Karzai, as well as the other candidates have shown they have the interests of the Afghan people at heart, that this is a reflection of a commitment to rule of law and an insistence that the Afghan people's will should be done.

And so I expressed the American people's appreciation for this step," he said.

The commission decided to announce a reelection after finding that Karzai had won only 49.7 per cent of the August 20 vote which is still below the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a run-off.

Pakistan asks India to share terror information

2009-10-23T09:11:00.001-07:00

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday asked India to share information about any imminent terror attack "so that we can take care."

"If India has any information about this, they should let us know, they should inform us because while Indian leaders do make such statements in the public but they haven't, they never shared any such information with us. So it is important that they share this information with us so that we can take care," said Abdul Basit, foreign office spokesman.

"... they (India) should come forward and co-operate with Pakistan rather than making such public statements", he told Times Now.

Earlier in the day addressing top commanders of defence services in New Delhi the Indian Prime Minister said "there are regular Intelligence reports of imminent attacks in the country. This is a matter of deep concern and there is no room for complacency."

No plan to raise JEE cut-off, says Sibal

2009-10-20T17:00:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said there was no proposal to allow only those with 80% marks in their Class XII examinations to sit
in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for IITs in a bid to calm the controversy on the issue.

The minister said it was the IITs' prerogative to decide what weightage to give to the Class 12 exam. Presently, the eligibility criteria for JEE is 60% marks in the Class 12 exam.

Sibal said he was misquoted to create the impression that he wanted to raise the eligibility cut-off for IIT entrance to 80%.

With Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar having faxed Sibal a letter of protest and RJD's Lalu Prasad and LJP's Ramvilas Paswan also on their feet, Sibal issued a written statement making it clear that the eligibility criteria to "appear in JEE is decided by the IITs themselves".

"The government of India has no role to play. The only decision that has been taken by the IIT Council is that the IITs will submit a report in January 2010 to rationalise JEE. It is entirely their decision to decide on the eligibility criteria. It is they who will consider what weightage to give to Class 12 examination," he said.

He added the government had "no jurisdiction in the matter and the HRD ministry can in no way, either directly or indirectly, decide or make any proposal for a decision".

Considering that one of the largest chunks of students in IITs come from Bihar, the state CM reacted swiftly. In a letter faxed to Sibal, Kumar said, "Such proposals will favour students with elite background and discriminate against students with poor socio-economic status. Any examination system should be inclusive. Any change in the existing examination system will have far reaching consequences, which is unwarranted." Lalu had said it was a "wrong step" and Paswan sought the prime minister's intervention.

Sibal, in his reply to Kumar, said the "alleged proposal" was "non existent". "I, therefore, would like to set at rest your concerns by stating that there is no such proposal as referred to in your letter," the minister wrote. "The question of promoting students of elitist background and discriminating against students belonging to the weaker sections of society is entirely misconceived. The Congress party has always stood for equity in all government process and decision-making. All examinations must and should be inclusive," he added.

Rs 2cr is what some IIT coaches make

2009-10-20T16:58:00.001-07:00

MUMBAI: While a lot has been written about how senior IIT faculty earn half the salary that their freshly minted students do, here's a shocker:
faculty at some of India's well-known IIT coaching classes earn a whopping Rs 2 crore per annum. That's 50 to 100 times more than the compensation for IIT teachers.

"The highest salary that a teacher can earn at our institute is Rs 2 crore per annum. This includes their performance-related bonus. And this is all in white money," says Vivek Khanna, vice president, Resonance, a Kota-based coaching centre which recently entered the Mumbai market.

They're not the only ones who pay a hefty packet for faculty. IITian's Pace, a Mumbai-based coaching class, coughs up Rs 70-80 lakh per annum for some its highest-paid teachers.

While FIIT-JEE, another IIT coaching class, would not reveal its compensation figures, Harsh Gupta, FIIT-JEE's admission head in Mumbai, says the industry fixes its pay scales based on FIIT-JEE salaries.

These institutions say that good faculty are the pillars of their industry, and they are willing to
pay to retain their staff. But earning that sort of money is not an easy task.

"We run on pure capitalism. Our salaries are based on the competency of the teacher. Performance-related bonuses form a large part of the salary. Our students regularly fill out assessment forms for the faculty. Our faculty have to appear for tests in their subjects every month. A faculty member who tops the test is made the head of department for a particular subject," says Khanna.

"If a single parent complains about a teacher at our coaching class, we send the teacher a show-cause notice."

Apollo Pharmacy licensed to retail H1N1 influenza medicine

2009-10-20T06:49:00.001-07:00

Apollo Pharmacy today said it has received licence from the national health regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for selling Oseltamivir capsules, used in the treatment of Swine Flu (HINI A Influenza).

The drug is listed under Schedule-X of the Drug and Cosmetic Act 2008, Apollo Pharmacy said in a statement.

The pharmacy chain has also launched a round-the-clock helpline across the country for providing the facility of home delivery of the drug, the company added.

"To ensure easy availability of the medicine, Apollo Pharmacy has also introduced 24X7 helpline numbers to assist in home delivery as well as to provide relevant information on drug procurement and disease management," Apollo Pharmacy Director Shobana Kamineni said.

Delhi govt allows retail sale of Tamiflu

2009-10-20T06:48:00.001-07:00

The Delhi Government today allowed retail sale of Tamiflu, the only drug to treat swine flu, from authorised chemist outlets in the capital.

A decision to this effect was taken by Delhi Minister of Health Kiran Walia and Principal Secretary (Health) G P Singh after receiving a notification from the Centre.

Walia said the Delhi Government has implemented the Centre's notification to allow sale of Tamiflu at the authorised outlets in the capital to help patients of swine flu as well as to curb the epidemic.

"We will identify chemists in every district who have Schedule X licence for sale of the drug apart from giving wide publicity to make people aware of sale of Tamiflu drug," she said.

The Centre had last week brought out a notification allowing retail sale of Tamiflu from select chemist outlets.

Tamilnadu Petro to set up plants in West Asia, S'pore

2009-10-20T06:46:00.001-07:00

Tamilnadu Petroproducts Ltd (TPL) is planning to set up linear alkyl benzene (LAB) and normal paraffin projects in West Asia and Southeast Asia. The projects will entail an investment of $335 million (around Rs 1,600 crore).

TPL is a Chennai-based public limited company jointly promoted by the Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco) and Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Limited.

“With a view to capitalising on company’s crore strength of LAB business, we has envisioned to be a dominant producer by building new capacities in regions where there would be scope for growth. Thus West Asia and Southeast Asia have been identified for the projects,” a company source said.

The proposed plants would be set up by Certus Investment and Trading Ltd (CITL), Mauritius, a special purpose vehicle floated by TPL for overseas investments and Proteus Petrochemicals, formerly TPL India Singapore Pvt Ltd.

The LAB project is likely to come up in Yanbu Industrial City, United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The project includes an 80,000-tonne per annum standalone plant along with associated utilities and offsite facilities. It would involve an investment of $210 million (around Rs 1,029 crore) and is scheduled to begin commercial production in the first quarter of 2012.

“Discussions have also been initiated with the Royal Commission of Yanbu for site allocation. The equity investment in the project company would be made through Gulf Petroproducts Company, in which CITL will have a 50 per cent holding,” the source said.

On the other hand, the normal paraffin project would come up in Singapore and have a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum. The total project cost would be around $125 (around Rs 612 crore), to be funded through debt (70) and equity (30).

CITL had earlier signed a JV agreement with a West Asian investor for taking up 44 per cent equity in the project. However, it did not materialise as certain conditions put forth by the investor were not acceptable to the company.

The normal paraffin plant will be located at Jurong Island, the site possession of which has been completed. It has received in-principle clearance from the National Environment Agency, Singapore, for the project.

Proteus is also in negotiations with US-based Universal Oil Products, the licensor for the proposed normal paraffin project, for entering into related licensing and engineering agreements.

Hero Honda unveils new variants of Hunk and Splendor

2009-10-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

Hero Honda, the country’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles, today unveiled two new variants of its best-selling models, Hunk and Splendor.

For its 100cc executive model, Splendor, the company unveiled the Special Edition Splendor+ to commemorate the brand’s sales crossing the 10-million mark. The price of the new limited edition Splendor is Rs 40,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi).The premium segment Hunk has been given a facelift by the company, consisting of new body graphics on the fuel tank and new colours. The price is Rs 56,675 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Anil Dua, Sr Vice-President (Marketing & Sales), said: “Hero Honda has always believed in bringing added cheer to its customers during the festival season. Now with the introduction of the new Hunk and the Special Edition Splendor+, our customers will have an exciting festival season.”

Swine flu a faster traveller than bird flu

2009-10-18T10:24:00.001-07:00

The H1N1 influenza (swine flu) pandemic has taken over 17 times more human lives in seven months than the H5N1 avian influenza (bird flu) epidemic took in seven years.

Globally, over 4,500 people are officially confirmed to have died due to H1N1 since it broke out in epidemic form in Mexico this April. In contrast, the bird flu virus has taken 262 human lives worldwide since it was first reported in 2003.

In India, the death toll due to swine flu has crossed 400, with Maharashtra alone accounting for over 170. Worldwide, more than 3,75,000 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu virus have been reported by different countries to the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, the actual count may be far higher, as many countries have stopped enumerating individual cases, especially of milder illness, due to the H1N1 virus, the WHO has noted.

In India, the Union health and family welfare ministry had reports of 405 officially confirmed deaths due to H1N1 influenza in different states till October 14. The total count of laboratory confirmed cases of this malady has mounted to 12,486 through the country.

As in other countries, in India, too, the actual incidence of sickness due to this influenza is believed to be far in excess of the reported cases. Many people, and even medical practitioners, do not report cases of milder infection to the authorities, ministry sources say.

The latest ministry data puts the number of deaths due to this disease at 171 in Maharashtra, followed by 112 in Karnataka.

Andhra Pradesh comes third, with 42 confirmed deaths, followed by Gujarat with 38 and Delhi with 15. Among other states, Kerala is the only one reporting a double-digit death list, of 10, due to swine flu.

The highest number of laboratory confirmed cases of this pandemic disease, too, have been reported from Maharashtra, at 3,417. Though Delhi is not far behind with 3,206 laboratory confirmed cases, deaths in the national capital were relatively lower.

Health ministry sources said incoming passengers at all 22 airports receiving international flights were being screened for the H1N1 virus.

About 225 doctors and 172 paramedical staff were manning 83 screening counters on these airports. In all, over 61,88,560 passengers have been screened till October 14.

Ganga project gets $1 billion from World Bank

2009-10-15T19:23:00.001-07:00

It was announced on Saturday that the World Bank has agreed to fund US $1 billion to clean up the Ganga river.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also set to make another serious bid for the project. "We are talking of a long term billion dollar commitment for the newly created National Ganga River Basin Authority, a body headed by the Prime Minister, which will take up the task of cleaning up river Ganga in a much more systematic and serious manner than has been the case so far," Ramesh said.

Manmohan Singh will hold a meeting in New Delhi on Monday and the final decision will be taken when Robert Zoellick, the President of the World Bank visits India in December. According to Ramesh, there has been approval that the World Bank will support the project. India has already spent Rs 960 crores in the last 20 years to clean the river Ganga but it no cleaner today than it was two decades ago.

"Obviously, we have to do things differently then we have done things so far," he said. 75 percent of the pollution in the river Ganga comes from municipal sewage and another 25 percent comes from industrial effluents, both require to be controlled in a much larger and wider way than has been the case so far.

"The World Bank support would be a major element in bringing fair amount of resources as far as cleaning the Ganga River is concerned," Ramesh added.

Anil Ambani reconciles with brother Mukesh

2009-10-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

Industrialist Anil Ambani on Sunday issued a statement which reached out to his elder brother Mukesh Ambani by seeking a “constructive, cordial” settlement to their disputes.

“I believe all disagreements can be sorted out in a constructive, cordial manner. It can be no better gift to our mother Kokilaben in her 75th year,” said Anil in a statement issued after returning from a pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Badrinath.

“The issues are only a handful, and the facts are well known. My judgement says that they can all be resolved in a matter of weeks, and will not require several months of discussions,” said the statement issued to PTI.

Anil said he has "maintained the greatest of love, affection and respect for Mukesh over past four years have left no stone unturned to find a solution."

He hoped that his feelings would be reciprocated and sought "divine inspiration and blessings to heal the wounds with Mukesh Ambani." “I am once again reaching out to Mukeshbhai--and hope and pray that my feelings will be reciprocated, and we will arrive at a solution to all outstanding issues, with a generous heart, a willing mind, and an accommodating spirit.”

Mukesh's group has not responded to the statement yet.

The Anil Ambani group is fighting a bitter legal battle with Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh, for securing 28 million units of gas a day from the Krishna-Godavari basin for 17 years at $2.34 per unit. The Supreme Court will commence hearing the case from October 20.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that the brothers must reconcile their differences in national interest. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other senior government functionaries, too, have urged the brother to end their dispute.

DVDs will die in a few years

2009-10-14T19:32:00.001-07:00

DVD's days could be coming to an end as storage mediums keep getting more and more compact and safe, while movie watchers opt for alternative means of entertainment.

DVDs and their players won't disappear anytime soon, but it is bound to happen as online rental firms Netflix dominate the movie segment, and according to the company, competing formats are already picking up more steam. The other thing that is gaining unprecedented popularity is digital streaming solutions. What with so many devices being plugged to fast broadband internet, more and more subscribers are happy to watch movies online.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that customers are opting for the lower-priced subscription plans that only allow one DVD out at a time, but also offer unlimited streaming. Steve Swasey, Netflix director of corporate communications, clarified that the growth in digital streaming could be magnified in relative terms.

"Streaming video is growing fast because there is no base for before two years ago [when the service was introduced]," Swasey said in a Yahoo story. "You can't say one format is going out or down, all are growing." Swasey added that all Netflix services are growing – but of course, the surging popularity of digital streaming and the increasing shipments of Netflix-compatible devices could be a sign that soon it'll all be coming through the pipe instead of via the postal service.

Services like Netflix aren't popular yet in India and Bollywood movie DVDs are still popular with the junta, apart from the freebie torrents, that is. But rest assured, DVDs are bound to disappear from the face of the planet and digital streaming will be the name of the game. Whether or not piracy will increase because the digital media remains to be seen.

Firefox 3.6 is 22.8 percent faster!

2009-10-14T19:28:00.001-07:00

Internet Explorer is bound to die in a few years considering the uncanny success rate of Mozilla's Firefox browser - the latest 3.6 version beta has rolled onto the internet and has already taken click-happy users by surprise.

The first beta build of Firefox 3.6 gives a performance boot in JavaScript execution and page rendering by nearly 22.8 percent over Firefox 3.5. Site Betanews tested the latest available development and stable builds of all five major Web browsers on Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7 RTM. The testing consisted of mathematics, geometry, control, and several other facets of page rendering.

Firefox 3.6's focus is on browsing improvements in the time it takes to “do things.” Apart from faster JavaScript handling and page rendering, Firefox also makes bookmark synchronization, optimized session store, form completion tools, and new lightweight themes as smooth as butter. The beta is available today for download but the final release is due in the first half of 2010.

What's more, Firefox 3.6 features real-time accelerometer support, that is it will be able to detect a mobile device’s orientation as long as it is equipped with an accelerometer that can tell which way is down. "One new feature that we're including as part of Firefox 3.6 is support for web pages to access machine orientation information if it's available," said Christopher Blizzard of Mozilla. "Many modern MacBooks and ThinkPads contain devices and drivers that expose this information. We've added support for Linux, Macs and some ThinkPads where drivers and devices are available."

Banks want exclusive deals

2009-10-13T22:02:00.001-07:00

Though the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) is considering open architecture, the insurance industry is divided over the issue.

The move, which would allow a bank to sell products of multiple insurance companies, is being opposed by most of the banks that have floated insurance ventures. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bank of India, Union Bank and ING are some of the banks, that have floated insurance underwriting ventures.

Of the 22 life insurance companies, eight are promoted by banks while of the 21 general insurance companies, three are bank-promoted.

Less than half a dozen banks sold insurance policies of their insurance subsidiaries. Many banks which did not have insurance subsidiaries sold policies of an insurance company that offered them a higher commission. Insurers anticipated that this could lead to an increase in premium paid to banks. Depending on the nature of the product insurers paid 2-22 per cent of the premium to banks as commission. For companies such as SBI Life, SBI accounted for as much as 30 per cent of the sales. ICICI Prudential Life had a lower share but wanted to push the level to around 25 per cent.

The regulator had formed a committee to look into the bancassurance model after a host of life and non-life insurance companies sought relaxation in the current rules for agency tie-ups that allowed an entity to be an agent for one life and one non-life insurance company. In an interview, J Hari Narayan, Irda’s chairman had said the committee had not decided on whether to allow agents to sell products of more than one company. Insurance companies promoted by banks are opposing multiple tie-ups. They have sent their opinion to the Life Insurance Council, the representative body of life insurance companies.

The managing director of a large private sector life insurance company, which is promoted by a large private sector bank, said, “A lot of control needs to be brought before going in terms of process structure before allowing open architecture.”

Opposing the idea of open architecture, K Sahay, CEO of Star Union Dai-ichi said: “This will develop unhealthy practices. Banks should be allowed to sell products of one insurance company if the regulator wants customers to be well informed, as it will lead to confusion. Every insurance company has minimum 25-30 products and banks don’t have a dedicated workforce.” Star Union Daiichi is promoted by Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Japan’s Dai-ichi Mutual Life.

“The market is not mature enough for open architecture. Any system should ensure that customers’ interests are protected. It will widen the scope but many things need to be put in place. There are different distribution models other than banks, which is doing well for companies,” said IDBI Fortis MD and CEO G V Nageswara Rao. In an interview last week, SBI Life Insurance MD and CEO M N Rao had told Business Standard that a bank should hawk the products of one insurer.

An insurance company, which is not a bank subsidiary take advantage of their promoter’s distribution channel. While Bharti AXA Life Insurance is using telcassurance, Future Generali is acquiring business through mallassurance. Lured by the distribution channel, customer base and reach of the banks, insurance companies not promoted by banks says open architecture will help them bring down their expenses.

“Eventually, that should be the way to go. Each insurer has to invest heavily on infrastructure. It would do good to support open architecture and to tie-up with banks. This will give more choice to banks and customers, as they have both reach and distribution. We are, however, investing in other channels and this move would only supplement that,” said Aegon Religare Life Insurance MD and CEO Rajiv Jamkhedkar.

Business says govt slow to respond to its problems

2009-10-13T21:58:00.001-07:00

Juxtaposed to the Uttar Pradesh government’s efforts to promote ‘Brand UP’ and woo private investors, the Business Standard Round-Table on ‘Uttar Pradesh: The Development Agenda’, held here on September 25, gave a platform for industry and government to discuss related issues.

There was general agreement that good politics could be good economics too, as exemplified by states like Gujarat and, recently, Bihar. What was needed was the continuity of reforms as in Western countries, where the fundamental premises of economic policies do not alter with a change of guard.

Mirza International Chairman Irshad Mirza noted that although the textile and leather sector provided the highest number of jobs in the state and earned handsome foreign exchange, they were a neglected lot. He minced no words that the complex tax structure and apathetic officials only served as dampeners to businessmen.

“It is the government’s duty to create infrastructure and not solely depend on Public Private Partnership (PPP) models. Besides, a single-window clearance system in approving projects is the call of the hour,” he stressed.

Another panelist, World Bank consultant and Lucknow University professor Arvind Mohan, raised the issue of small and medium enterprises needing government support for growth.

“The 1991 reforms favoured big industries. Today, we need a second generation of reforms, both in rural and human development parameters. UP already has the talent pool available, the question is how to energise it,” he said. Adding that the economic slowdown was an opportunity, as while demand was contracting elsewhere, that in UP was stable, even growing.

“UP alone has 12 per cent purchasing power and if we add the markets of the neighbouring states, the combined purchasing power becomes 65 per cent, which is massive,” he explained.

Participating in the open session discussions, KM Sugar Mills chairman L K Jhunjhunwala stressed on developing power infrastructure in the state and formulating enabling economic policies for the private sector. He demanded the state power utility offer more lucrative prices to sugar mills when it buys co-generated electricity from them. The government pays only Rs 1.82 per unit for co-generated power, while due to shortage of coal, even brick kilns were now giving much better prices for bagasse, which is also used for paper manufacturing.

CII’s state council vice-president and UP head of Tata Consultancy Services, Jayant Krishna, said the state government needed to work hard to get five-six flagship anchor investors. “States are now competing with each other in attracting investors and the state of UP has to show the hunger for investment. The single-window clearance system must ensure at least 80 per cent of proposals are cleared that way,” he maintained.

Industry representatives also complained they had no representation on policy-making bodies or government organisations mandated to usher in industrial development, such as UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC). They urged the government to give more teeth to the industry interface, Udyog Bandhu.

UP Hosiery Manufacturers Association patron Balram Narula lamented that in the current financial year, the trade tax department had hiked the revenue target by 92 per cent. “In the present spate of slowdown, the officials are resorting to harassing businessmen to achieve their targets,” he added.

With the severe power crisis in the state, the hosiery sector was badly affected, said Narula.

Assocham secretary-general S B Agarwal raised the issue of rehabilitation of sick units in the state. He claimed banks had identified about 17,500 sick Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) units in the state, of which only 12 per cent were deemed fit for rehabilitation.

“Of these 12 per cent, only 319 units were put on the rehabilitation track, which shows that the banks were only concerned about the safety of their loan and not the projects,” he said.

Assocham vice president Shailendra Jain urged the state government agencies and departments to develop a more positive and respectful attitude towards the business community and not to treat them as serial offenders.

BSA Motors launches e-scooters in New Delhi

2009-10-10T03:46:00.000-07:00

BSA Motors unveiled five models of electric scooters in the capital just recently priced between Rs 19,450-27,200 (ex-showroom Delhi). The e-scooter models Smile, Diva, Street Rider, Roamer and Roamer+ are aimed at targeting people aged between 14 and 30 years.
While, the 250 Smile has a top speed of 25 Kmph and aims to attract mostly teenagers, the Diva is the first e-scooter designed exclusively for girls in the age group of 16 to 20 years. Street Rider, along with Smile and Diva, neither registration nor license to ride across town. Roamer, with a top speed of 40 Kmph, aims at targeting both men and women who usually ride to work. While the Roamer+ is a 'Family Scooter? and the release specified that these two scooters, with a power of 500w, required registration and license to go about town.
Speaking during the launch, L Ramkumar, Managing Director, Tube Investments of India, said, "We see our entry into the electric scooter market as a logical extension of our current business, from bicycles to electric two wheelers. The electric scooter market is presently an Rs.400 crore market in India and the industry is expected to double in a year's time. BSA Motor's foray into the electric scooters category helps us to expand our portfolio in the two wheeler market. He also added, "The initial market response for our product has been positive in the South and by extending sales and service network into New Delhi we hope to grow rapidly. BSA Motors electric scooters will undoubtedly be the next big success from TII."

BSA Motors also announced an exclusive festive offer 'Lucky Oye Lucky' for the New Delhi customers. The New Delhi customer can turn lucky thrice on purchase of any of the models of BSA Motors electric scooter. The customer can win cash cards worth Rs. 4000, free extended warranty on battery for one year and can also save upto Rs. 29,890 over a period of two years.

Ratan Tata bags award from The Economist

2009-10-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

UK-based news magazine, The Economist, today named Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata as the winner of the eighth edition of its annual ‘Business Process Innovation Award’ for the successful development and launch of the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano. In a statement, the magazine said Tata was selected for “...forging a company that is shaping businesses across the globe and changing the way Indian companies conduct business. The company is also responsible for inventing the Tata Nano, the world’s lowest-cost car. Innovative methods through which the car is designed and manufactured enable Tata Motors to offer a more affordable, safe and efficient form of mobility to families in emerging markets.”

“Innovative ideas are everywhere,” said Mark Langley, executive vice-president and COO of the Project Management Institute. “What we salute with the Business Process Award is rarer: The implementation, through effective projects and programmes that translate ideas into lasting change. Tata Motors’ Nano challenges the way automobiles have been made and marketed for a hundred years. The application of project management is testimony to Tata Group’s record of refining its processes, from boardroom to manufacturing floor, and promises transformation of an industry facing a billion new customers over the next generation.”

This award from a prestigious UK-based magazine comes at a time when Tata’s acquisition of British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover is being severely criticised, for reporting big losses after the take-over and also the most recent decision to rationalise one of its plants in the Midlands

Raymond to open 300 stores across India

2009-10-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

Textile firm Raymond will pump in Rs 100 crore to open about 300 stores across the country by end-March 2011 as part of its expansion plans.The apparel-maker's 'The Raymond Shop' would come up in smaller class IV and V cities.

"We are investing Rs 100 crore to set up precisely 289 Raymond shops but we expect to do more than 300. This expansion plan is for the period between April 2009 and March 2011," Raymond President, FMCG & Retail, Aniruddha Deshmukh told reporters here today.

Raymond's Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania, said funding for the project would be split equally between the company and franchisors/franchisees.

Raymond expects its potential turnover to exceed Rs 200 crore from these stores on an annualised basis.The company is penetrating into India's hinterland by setting up 1,500 sq ft stores in towns like Bijapur, Mandya, Ahmednagar, Bellary, Ghoti and Bhandara, among others.With the addition of about 300 store the total number of the outlets of the company would go up to 800.

"There is a huge aggression in what we are doing. We have been exceeding all the targets we set for the stores in a small town."The company aims to enhance its retail space by 50 per cent by 2011, adding more than 4.5-lakh sq ft to existing floor area.

Ultra Motor launches two electric scooters

2009-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Two-wheeler maker Ultra Motor Company today launched two new electric scooters priced between Rs 28,300 and Rs 31,900 (ex-showroom, Delhi).Both the scooters -- Ultra Fun and Ultra Shakti -- are low speed models, which do not require any licence to run and are fitted with 250W motors, Ultra Motor Company (UMC) said in a statement.

While Ultra Shakti is designed for hilly terrains, Ultra Fun is easy to ride because of its height, size and weight and targetted at women among others, it added.

"The launch of these two models is in continuation of our vision of creating a new transportation movement," UMC Chief Executive Officer K K Bhan said.

UMC has a retail network of over 175 exclusive dealerships across 17 states and in over 130 cities in the country.

For Rs 1 lakh a day, travel like a maharaja

2009-10-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

This Maharaja, you can rest assured, will have no takeoff problems. At Rs 1 lakh per day, the Maharaja Express will criss-cross from Mumbai to Delhi and Delhi to Kolkata, rolling out a luxury tourism package en route.

Billed as Asia's costliest train yet, the trial run begins in December, with the first one set to be flagged off from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in January 2010.

"This is the first time that Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has ventured into the luxury sector. Our partner Cox and Kings is well experienced in this sector so we are banking on them," said R Tandon, managing director, IRCTC.

While the minimum tariff is being kept at $800 per person per day, the maximum tariff runs up to $2500. There are four categories of carriages in the train - presidential suite ($2500), suite ($1400), delux cabin ($900) and junior suite ($800). Talks are on with a premium hotel chain to manage the two restaurants (Haveli and Peacock) and a bar (Machan) on board.

"The USP of this train, with its 7-star hotel ambience, lies in the fact that while other luxury trains cater to specific locations in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Maharastra, this is the first pan-Indian train that will take tourists across a mix of cultures and expose them to the finest of Indian culture," said Tandon.

The facilities include individual temperature control system and environment-friendly toilets - a first in a luxury train - along with live TV, internet, on-board screenings and direct dialling.

With 23 AC coaches, the Maharaja Express will start its seven-day and six-night maiden journey, carrying 88 tourists to Delhi, covering Vadodara, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Ranthambore and Agra on the way from VT station on January 9. The train will return to Mumbai from Delhi on January 17.

The trip from the western metropolis to the national capital will be christened ``Princely India Journey'', while the return journey will be called ``Royal India Tour''.

The bookings for the inaugural run from Delhi and Mumbai are overwhelming, a senior IRCTC official said. "The trial run of the train will be held in December," he added.

The Delhi-Kolkata route will cover Agra, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Bandhavgarh, Varanasi and Gaya. The Delhi-Kolkata route will be named ``Classical India Journey'', while the return will be the ``Celestial India Tour''.

Tourists on both routes -- Kolkata and Mumbai -- may also have the opportunity to have a glimpse of tigers in the forest that lie on the route. While Ranthambore falls in the Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai route, Bandhavgarh National Park is on the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi segment.

``We have given the on-board hospitality service to a leading hotel group so that five-star catering is maintained in the train,'' he said.

The train will be operational from October to March and the rest of the year it will be used for chartered service, said the official.

Pune B-schools cut break to catch up with studies Catch up due to the H1N1 (“Swine Flu”)

2009-10-04T09:53:00.003-07:00

Over 100,000 students along with 2,000 teachers join the move.

Over 100,000 management students from the 300-odd management schools in Pune city along with their 2,000 odd teachers appear to be on a war front when it comes to academics.

They have a lot to catch up with due to the H1N1 (better known as swine flu) outbreak, which started somewhere near the end of July and continued till mid-August. B-schools in Pune had to remain shut. Thus, students missed out on their syllabus during the initial period of the academic year.

Consequently, the preparation leave for the first semester half yearly examination has been reduced by 15-20 days and so has the Diwali holidays too.

Management schools are hurrying up with their portions, working overtime and cutting down on study leaves and holidays. Hear what Virendra Tatke, assistant professor, Indira College of Engineering and Management has to say. “We have given students only a week’s leave in Diwali as opposed to the conventional 2-3 weeks. Now, we have started working on weekends too as we began late due to the swine flu shut down.”

A first year student from Indira Institute of Management said, “Our preparation leave for the exam is cut down to only a week now as we hear that the university is not going to postpone the examination date. Barring public holidays, our classes are conducted on Saturdays and at times on Sundays too. The course has become very hectic as we have to finish the portion in a lesser span of time.”

Some schools have extended their lecture timings by an hour each to finish the portions. “We have started conducting our lectures for an hour more than the usual time so that the syllabus is covered on time.”, a lecturer from the International School of Business and Media (ISB&M), said

Sinhagad Institute’s MBA lecturer, Kavita Kamath is in hope that the university may postpone the examination at least by a week. She noted, “That way the students will get more time to prepare for the exams. Usual days are too packed now as we are doing extra lectures. Our Diwali holidays have not been declared so far but, the leave will not be a long one for sure.”

The pattern seems to be the same everywhere. Aditya Toley, second year student of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS) shares how the management is making up for the lost time due to the swine flu break. “Since we had an unplanned H1N1 break when the lectures were cancelled, we have extra lectures on Sundays and on Saturdays. We work till 8 in the evening these days as opposed to the half day earlier.”

Hopefully, the students will be able to pull up their socks in time, ensuring good grades.

ICICI Pru pips SBI Life to become largest private insurer

2009-10-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Private insurer ICICI Prudential has pipped SBI Life to regain the top position among private players garnering new businesses Rs 1,725 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal.

SBI Life, promoted by the country's largest lender State Bank of India, earned first year premium worth Rs 1,704 crore in April-August period while ICICI Prudential collected Rs 1,725 crore in the same period, according to the IRDA data. The ICICI Prudential's gain is mainly from the large premium the insurance firm managed to mop up in August. The company new business during the month stood at Rs 525 against SBI Life's Rs 306 crore.

SBI Life had taken over ICICI Prudential to become the largest private insurer in the first two months of FY'10. However, when compared to last year, ICICI Prudential's premium dipped by about 40 per cent. In the first five months of FY'09 its premium stood at Rs 2,818 crore.

SBI Life also saw its premium declining to Rs 1,703 crore in the first five months of this fiscal, compared to Rs 1,763 crore raised in the same period last fiscal. Overall, the private life insurers registered a negative growth of about 15 per cent during April-August of the current fiscal. The 21 private life insurers managed to raise Rs 10,227 crore in the first five months of FY'10 against Rs 12,089 crore during the same period last year.

However, the life industry grew by 17 per cent in April -August of the current fiscal, with the life insurance companies' premium rising to Rs 31,039 crore against Rs 26,449 crore during the same period last year. This was mainly due to the 45 per cent growth in new business registered by the country's largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation.

LIC's market share rose to 67 per cent in new business in the first five months of current fiscal from 54 per cent share during the corresponding period last year.It mopped up Rs 20,810 crore during April-August period of the current fiscal, compared with Rs 14,359 crore during the same period last year.

In August, the premium collection of the life insurance industry grew by around 44 per cent to Rs 9,044.18 crore against Rs 6,273.57 crore in the same period last year.The private life insurance segment, however, witnessed a negative growth of around 8 per cent, while the LIC registered a whopping growth rate of 83 per cent in premium collection in August. Commenting on the August figures, Reliance Life Insurance President Malay Ghosh said, "The new business numbers are showing growing trend each month which is a positive sign. We are sure that the private sector will be back on the growth path by the second half of the financial year."