India Business

Business leaders pin hopes on India

2008-11-17T06:02:00.000-08:00

The buzz was unmistakable at the Taj Palace Hotel in South Delhi: While the world economy crumbles, India still holds out hope, top business leaders prophesied. Local demand will drive high single-digit growth and companies will expand and create jobs.
"India is still shining. Given the current situation, I am sure at least 150 finance ministers from all over the world will give their left hand and left leg to get that growth," said Bajaj Auto vice-chairman Madhur Bajaj.

Confederation of Indian Industry President and ICICI Bank managing director KV Kamath said India will grow 7 per cent this year and 6 per cent next year. Deloitte Global CEO James H Quigley said 6 per cent growth would be good for India. "This confidence is well placed because India is still growing," he said.
British Telecom chief technology officer Matt Bross talked of how the telecom major "is going steady here," even as the company is learnt to have planned massive job cuts in its global operations. Larsen & Toubro chairman & managing director AM Naik said his company would add 10,000 jobs here.
Amidst the pall of economic gloom all over the world, almost 800 business leaders from 35 countries today started to gather here for the three-day India Economic Summit, the 24th edition of the annual show hosted by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry. The message and the body language were clear: Everything is going right for India, the tight money market conditions and recent production cutdowns notwithstanding.
In the last few weeks, the US and German economies have contracted and China has reported a sharp drop in industrial output during October. Banks as well as manufacturing and service sector companies have announced steep job cuts. Top US automakers too are on oxygen. All this while, India's economic managers have said they are still hopeful of clocking annual growth of around seven per cent.
In this scenario, the biggest challenge before the country is to keep its confidence high, Kamath said and added this could be done by lowering interest rates further. Both industry and the government need to ensure that the growth momentum is not lost. "The need is to have a new financial architecture and avoid arbitrage across sectors," he said.
"In the current situation, the operative word would be protectionism but it is going to be competitiveness," said Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computer Services . He added that the world today has two special assets to leverage on to come out of the turmoil - knowledge and technology.
Keeping in view the current global situation, the summit is focusing on four areas - global shifts, managing risks, inclusive growth and future competitiveness.

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4 steps to a great business plan

2008-11-06T04:49:00.000-08:00

A business plan serves two purposes:
It provides a road map for your business.
It helps you obtain outside financing.
If you're going into business for yourself, you must have a business plan - period. Numerous studies have shown that one of the major reasons new businesses fail is poor planning.

The good news is that developing a business plan is not as hard as it seems. In order to develop a solid business plan, you need to have a thorough understanding of the business you're entering. Next, you need to determine how you'll use the plan and who your target audience is. Finally, you should create a complete a business plan that is comprehensive and concisely written. We'll explore each of these steps in detail.

Step 1: Know your business

In order to prepare a business plan, you must know the business you are entering inside and out. This means lots of research. Research comes in two forms: reading everything you can about the industry and talking to those who are already in it. Learn everything you can about your business and industry.

Step 2: Determine your purposes for the plan

A business plan serves to crystallize your business vision and guide you in fulfilling that vision; it is also frequently used to entice potential investors.
If you are self-financing your business, you design the plan mostly for your benefit, but if you're seeking outside investors, you'll need to target them. As such, before you create your plan, determine whether you will solicit outside investors.

Step 3: Determine your audience

If you plan to recruit investors, you need to build a plan to suit them. Outside investors, who range from friends and family members to banks and venture capitalists, will invest through either loaning you the money, buying shares in your company or some combination of the two. Determine their level of sophistication and what they are looking for in a potential business investment. Remember that regardless of their level of sophistication, they are all looking for four things:
Trust in you - You build trust by demonstrating ethics and integrity, so your business plan should demonstrate those qualities.

Understanding of the business - It is your job to clearly articulate your mission statement, your product offerings and how you will make money. Your may have to tailor your plan to suit your audience: less-sophisticated investors may be scared off by industry jargon, while investment professionals will probably expect it.
Financial confidence - Clearly articulate the risks of investing in your business. Also, show investors how they can recoup their money - whether your venture succeeds or fails.
A good return on investment - Over the period of 1928-2007, the geometric (exponential) return for stocks was 9.8 per cent, while for 10-year Treasury bonds, it was 5 per cent. Historical private-equity returns are more difficult to measure, but, in general, investors will expect a premium of anywhere from 2-5 per cent over public-equity market returns. The return on equity for your new business must be in the private-equity range.Typically, investors will look to beat a certain internal rate of return. Your job is to make sure your projected returns are in line with those of similar industries.

Step 4: Create your business plan

First, develop an outline of your business plan. Consider every aspect of your business and how it will affect your business plan. Remember, this business plan is a road map. It must guide you. It must also communicate to investors what you're doing and why they should invest with you.The order in which your plan is presented should be something like the following:
Mission Statement
Executive Summary
Product or Service Offerings
Target Market
Marketing Plan
Industry and Competitive Analysis
Pro-Forma Financials
Resumes of the Company Principals
Your Offering (what type of financing you're seeking)
Appendix (any other pertinent information)
You'll probably also want to note any personal seed capital you're investing in the venture. Financiers want (and often require) entrepreneurs to put their own funds in the venture, and the greater the portion you invest relative to your net worth, the better. Now let's review each section of the business plan in detail.

Mission statement

The mission statement is a concise, one- to three-paragraph description of your business objectives, or your business's guiding principles. In this section, you should state your unique selling point, or what separates your company from all the others in the industry that are otherwise just like it.

Executive summary

This is a one- to two-page summary of your business. Potential investors will read this to decide whether they want to look at the rest of your plan.

Product or service offering

Create a section describing your product or service offerings in detail, as well as how much you'll charge for what you're selling.

Target market

Present your primary and secondary target markets, along with any research that demonstrates how your target market will benefit from and consequently purchase what you're offering.

Marketing plan

Present your marketing plan, which should show in detail how you'll reach your target market. This part of the plan will include advertising and promotional strategies.Industry and competitive analysisInclude a complete and thorough industry and competitive analysis that includes all stakeholders in your business. Don't forget to include governmental and regulatory agencies.

Financial statements

These must be complete, accurate and thorough. Each number on your spreadsheets must mean something. Don't estimate payroll, for instance; determine what it will actually be. Your income statement must reconcile to your cash flow statement, which reconciles to your balance sheet. Your balance sheet must balance at the end of every period. You must have supporting schedules (e.g., depreciation and amortisation schedules) to back up your projections.If you are having trouble building your pro-forma financial models, which should project out for at least five years, seek outside help from a qualified professional.Use realistic projections. In estimating the growth of your business, you will make certain assumptions, which should be based on thorough industry research combined with a strategy for how you'll compete. Also, analyze how quickly you'll achieve positive cash flow. Investors vary in their standards, but most like to see positive cash flow within the first year of operation, particularly if this if your first venture. In order for your projections to be accurate, you must know your business. If you've built an accurate and realistic model, but still project negative cash flow for more than 12 months, rethink your business model.

Resumes of company principals

Include the bios and professional backgrounds of all significant employees of your business. You will want to emphasize how their backgrounds have prepared them to take on the challenge of running your new startup. Also, if an employee's business background is in a significantly different industry, you might want to emphasize how this can be an advantage instead of a detriment.
Your offering

Present what level of investment you're seeking and for what purposes you will use the funds. If you're selling business units, state the individual price per unit. Once you've put together all of this key information, make sure to present your plan professionally. It should be typed, margin aligned and neatly bound. Use color graphics and pictures where possible. Do not handwrite changes or corrections. The inside of your business plan should be near book or magazine quality.After you've finished your plan, have a professional you trust, such as a Certified Public Accountant or attorney, look it over. This person may catch details, errors or omissions you've made. They also will be able to give you a more objective opinion of the viability of your business.

Building your business plan is just the first step

Once you've completed your plan, you'll submit it to potential investors, who may ultimately commit to financing. Once you receive those commitments, you'll negotiate terms and then, finally, open your doors for business, which is where theory ends and the real work begins.

Source:rediff.com

Sensex seen retracing to 6000, oil $50, gold $550

2008-10-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

The Reserve Bank of India has moved swiftly to “maintain the domestic macroeconomic and financial stability in the context of the global financial crisis”. First, by slashing the cash reserve ratio by 150 basis points to 6.50 per cent on Oct 11 and today, by reducing the repo rate by 100 bps to 8 per cent.
The move comes just three days ahead of half-yearly monetary policy review on Oct 24.
The Indian central bank has already taken a number of measures over the last one month to augment domestic and forex liquidity.
However, the global financial situation continues to be uncertain, and India too is experiencing the indirect impact as reflected by some signs of strain in our credit markets in recent weeks, the RBI said.
On Sunday, the South Korean government announced a rescue package for its financial system by assuring $100 billion of lenders' foreign-currency debts and providing $30 billion in US dollars to banks.
Markets are reacting positively as and when authorities announce financial relief packages, but the positive effect is always short-lived.
Economists and analysts expect global market volatility to continue in the weeks and perhaps months ahead, because of the tremendous weakness in the world economy.
Investors are taking every opportunity to stay liquid on concerns the credit expansion will fail to stem the crisis and may not avert a recession. Traders, on the other hand, are profiting from the increased volatility.
However, the outlook is important to long-term investors who adopt a buy and hold strategy in the stock market. They are likely to suffer an extended period of low or zero growth.
CLSA has reduced India's GDP growth outlook to 6.5 per cent in view of considerable decline in the IIP for last couple of months.
India's Index of Industrial Production for August slipped to a 10-year low at 1.3 per cent compared to 10.9 per cent in the year-ago period.

source:indiatimes.com

eBay to slash global workforce by 1,000

2008-10-07T06:10:00.001-07:00

The world's largest online marketplace, eBay, will be slashing its global workforce to improve the cost structure of the company. This will include jobs in India.
eBay plans to reduce its global workforce by nearly 10 per cent, affecting about 1,000 permanent employees, in addition to several hundred temporary workers and the reduction of open positions, the company said in a statement. The online marketplace has about 16,000 permanent staff worldwide.
"The global reduction is intended to simplify and streamline eBay's organisation, improve the company's cost structure and strengthen the overall competitiveness of the company's existing businesses," eBay said in a statement on October 6.
According to an official of eBay India, the Indian arm of the American company, the firm would be bringing down its employee strength to 80 as part of its organisational plans toward improving its "long term financial architecture." At present, eBay India has 110 employees.
"We have taken the decision to outsource our customer service and payment operations to another BPO firm VCustomer. As part of the process, 30 employees of eBay India will be transitioning to VCustomer," eBay India's Senior Manager (Corporate Communications) Deepa Thomas told PTI. The transition of 30 employees to VCustomer is expected to be completed in three months, Thomas added.
According to the statement, the workforce reduction is expected to result in pretax restructuring charges of about 70 million dollars to 80 million dollars, with the charges predominantly recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Commenting on the move to cut down its workforce, eBay's President and Chief Executive John Donahoe said, "While never an easy decision to make, these reductions will help improve our operations and strengthen our ability to continue investing in growth."
Meanwhile, eBay has also announced the acquisition of three firms. This includes the US-based online payments business Bill Me Later and two Danish sites � the online classifieds site dba.dk and vehicles site bilbasen.dk. The buyouts would help in strengthening eBay's position in online payments and classifieds.
Bill Me Later would be acquired for about $ 820 million in cash and another $ 125 million in outstanding options. eBay would buyout dba.dk and bilbasen.dk for nearly $ 390 million cash.

Rediff.com

Approach 3rd party, warring Ambanis told

2008-10-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Bombay high court on Monday suggested that the warring Ambani brothers could approach an independent body to resolve their dispute relating to supply of natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin.
"The MoU is not able to resolve the issue and we would suggest both the parties to approach an independent body for the same," observed justice J N Patel.
The case relates to supply of gas from Reliance's KG basin to a proposed power project by Reliance Natural Resources , controlled by younger brother Anil Ambani.
This is not the first time that the court has asked the warring companies to approach a third party for a settlement. The division bench comprising Justices J N Patel and K K Tated, had on August 21 suggested that the two brothers should seek the help of their mother Kokilaben to resolve the issue.
Pointing out that direct communication between the two companies have not yielded much result, justice Patel said, "Most of the correspondence between both the parties have been allegations against each other."
RIL [Get Quote] and RNRL have submitted copies of e-mail correspondence between both the companies.
Replying to Justice Patel, Harish Salve, senior counsel of RIL, said that it is a legal matter and can only be resolved through the court's intervention and not by any third party.
"The issue of gas pricing has to be resolved as it has not been reached through an arm's length formula. We cannot keep the gas in the ground. We are under tremendous pressure from the government regarding the gas supply," argued Salve.
However, Salve said that RIL is ready to supply gas to RNRL at the government-approved price of $4.20 per million British thermal unit.
According to the Gas Sale Master Agreement between the companies, RNRL is entitled to 28 million cubic metres of gas per day from the KG basin at $2.34 per mBtu for 17 years. RIL has refused to supply gas at that price for that period. "The tenure can only be as long as I have the gas," Salve argued.
As per the GSMA, RNRL would also be allotted another 12 million cubic metres of gas if an earlier agreement between RIL and power major NTPC falls through.
Besides, the ADA Group will have the first right of over 40 per cent of all future gas discoveries made by RIL.
The case will come up for hearing on October 7.

Rediff.com

2,500 Lehman India employees' fate uncertain

2008-09-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

The fate of 2,500-odd employees working for investment banking giant Lehman Brothers in India remains uncertain following its parent company's decision to file for bankruptcy protection in the United States.
Lehman said in a statement that its New York office intends to file for bankruptcy protection as it owes over $600 billion to lenders.
However, it highlighted that no other Lehman Brothers' US subsidiaries or affiliates, including its broker-dealer and investment management subsidiaries, are included in the filing.
The filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which allows a company to restructure while creditor claims are held at bay, was made in the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York by the investment bank's holding company, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The firm's public relations agency said that no official from Lehman would like to talk to the media. An employee said there was no work and a series of meetings were held on Tuesday.
Lehman set up business process outsourcing operations in India in 2005 and according to the fact sheet on the firm, the centre saw the number of employees going up by eight times by the middle of this year and had declared its plans to grow the operations.
In fact, it was recruiting till as recently as couple of months before.
The company has in all about 2,500 people working for it in India, including those in the BPO unit. Recent news reports said the company had asked a section of its BPO staff to quit.
Over 5,000 workers in the United Kingdom have lost their jobs after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.
Source:rediff

Lehman bankruptcy will hit IIM placements

2008-09-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

With America's fourth largest investment bank Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch being bought over by the Bank of America, placements at the Indian Institutes of Management will be affected.
These financial giants have so far been the biggest recruiters from the IIMs especially from the institutes at Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta.These have been among the day zero firms on IIM campuses and have made plum job offers.
"We are sitting on pre-placement offers from these companies, which go invalid after this development. So, the students will have to go through the regular placement process and look at other companies," said professor Sourav Mukherjee, chairperson, placements, IIM-Bangalore.
The institute will write to these banks in the next few weeks to seek clarification on the issue. Last year, IIM Bangalore had received around 20 job offers from the banks.
IIM Calcutta has recorded 54 offers so far from these banking banks. Last year, IIM-C received 90 pre-placement offers. Students have been offered international profiles with BCG, Mckinsey, Bain and AT Kearney in the consulting sector and Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Barclays, HSBC, Credit Suisse and Citibank in the investment banking sector. The institutes however, are not very enthusiastic of the banking and financial sector doing well on the campus this year.
"Banking giants like Lehman and Merrill have been the leading paymasters on our campus, offering crore-plus salaries. The confidence of students in the banking sector is collapsing with the bad news from the market," said an IIM professor.
The IIMs have decided to host new companies on campus. Many institutes have decided to invite smaller private equity players and wealth management firms. Unlike most years, the banking and financial services sector is not expected to be the best performer on campus this year.
"As of now, we have not heard of any tremors from the consulting sector so we are certainly pinning our hopes on the sector. The FMCG,marketing, manufacturing, trading and services sectors might also take the lead this year," added a placement official from an IIM.
Last year, IIM Ahmedabad placed around 45 per cent of students in the banking and financial sector. Around 37 per cent of students from the institute opted for a job in management consultancy. At IIM Bangalore, while 37 per cent students got placed in consulting jobs, 40 per cent opted for a career in the banking and financial sector.
Students are wary of joining investment banks. Says an IIM-A student: "IIM students are no more upbeat about an investment banking job and are finding these jobs risky. Moreover, there is a possibility of jobcuts in the industry following which offers from these banks are less likely to land up during placements."
As it is, investment banking had been losing status among students for the past year. Thus development will only accelerate the trend, students say.
Gowrish Prabhu, student co ordinator, post graduate programme for executives, IIM-A, says, "Having gained experience in specific areas, the executive programme students will not face any difficulty during placements since very few are interested in taking up jobs in investment banks and financial firms."

source:rediff

UK bans iPhone ad for over-hyping features

2008-08-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

The iconic touch screen handset iPhone, it seems, is not as smart as it claims, with the United Kingdom advertising watchdog on Wednesday banning a television ad for over-hyping its Internet capabilities and misleading the consumers.
The 3G version of iPhone, made by American technology giant Apple of iPod music players and Mac computers fame, made a midnight debut in India last week after much fanfare.
In a ruling, the Advertising Standards Authority asked Apple not to broadcast its commercial that claimed that people can access all parts of Internet from the smart phone.
The ruling follows two complaints received by ASA against the TV ad that showed the phone in someone's hand and a finger switching it on to reveal the menu page.
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The ad further shows the finger touch the weather icon to show the forecast for Cape Town and then navigate through a Heathrow Airport area map, a Safari icon, hotels and stock market Web page.
At the same time, the phone is shown ringing and then being answered, with a voice-over saying "You never know which part of the Internet you'll need. . . which is why all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone."
However, the complainants said the claim about all parts of Internet being accessible was misleading because 'iPhone did not support Flash or Java, both integral to many Web pages.'
In its response, Apple said that the ad was aimed at highlighting the 'benefit of the iPhone in being able to offer availability to all Internet Web sites, in contrast to other handsets which offered access to WAP versions or sites selected by service providers."
While noting that Java and Flash proprietary software was not enabled on the iPhone, ASA said that users would therefore be unable to access certain features on some Web sites or Web sites that relied solely on Flash or Java.
"We considered that, because the ad had not explained the limitations, viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a Web site normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the Web site.
"We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the Internet capabilities of the iPhone," ASA said, while ruling that "the ad must not be broadcast again in its current form."
The multi-media rich mobile phone from Apple made its debut in India at the stroke of midnight on Thursday last.
The entry-level model is priced at Rs 31,000 for a 8GB memory, while the other model with 16 GB memory is priced at Rs 36,100. Two leading Indian mobile operators Airtel and Vodafone have launched the handset in the country.
Technology research firm IDC India's Naveen Mishra had said before the launch that "iPhone with Apple's brand equity, stunning looks and aesthetics is being viewed as the 'ultimate consumer mobile device to own' and is being promoted as such by the vendor." -- PTI

Source:rediff

A web site for the 6th pay panel report

2008-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Two Central Board of Excise and Customs staffers, Raman and Suresh, based in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, have set up a Web site based on the 6th Pay Commission recommendations and dedicated exclusively to government employees.
www.GConnect.in is a community Web site for the employees of the Indian government, their kin and fo those 'who want to be a part of this community.'
The Web site allows people to share ideas, opinions, and experiences with each other apart from helping them interact with other to clear they doubts, etc. are presently working in Customs in Trichy floated a web site www.GConnect.in dedicated to the employees of Union Government.
The Web site also has a pay calculator, a tax calculator, and a ready reckoner to help people understand what the revised pay scales would be like. It provides detailed information about the Pay Commission.
The success of GConnect has also led to the Web site generating sizeable revenue from advertisement.

Source:rediff

Oil prices: Economists get it wrong again!

2008-08-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

The spectacular rise in the oil prices since 2004 has flummoxed the world. Nothing, it would seem, explains the phenomenal rise in crude oil prices -- from a mere $30 per barrel in few years back to well above $145 per barrel in July 2008 -- a rise in excess of 350 per cent.
However, most economists had rationalised this consistent and spectacular rise in the price of oil for the past few years, as one being caused by a steep demand and supply mismatch.
The standard explanation was that oil prices must be rising either because oil supply was falling or that global demand was rising. Better still, it was predicted to be a combination of both.
The most prominent factor for the oil price rise according to these economists that fuelled global demand was the rapid growth of major economies, notably, the booming economies of China and India.
Beyond China and India, it was also pointed out that emerging economies across the globe were also recording robust growth, and along with it, creating their own pressure on global oil demand.
Simultaneously, economists have also been fair to the supply side with equally smooth arguments. The fundamental assumption was that oil supplies could never match the burgeoning growth of global economy as the planet had run out of oil.
But all these in hindsight seem to be with a purpose.
Often supply disruptions (Nigeria, for instance) or potential ones (like in Iran) were repeatedly pointed out to buttress these arguments.
It is in this connection that one notes that, for instance, a supply disruption caused by terrorism in Nigeria of 200,000 barrels a day (the global supply is approximately 85 million barrels) -- less than a mere 0.2 per cent of the daily global supply -- was sufficient to cause a significant spike in the global oil prices.
If oil prices were so sensitive to such minor supply disruptions, terrorism backed by oil speculation (or is it the other way around) must indeed be a profitable business.
In fact, it would seem that the lines differentiating terrorists and oil speculators are indeed getting blurred.
And did the economists play a vital role in blurring those lines -- a question that seemed to have escaped most of us in the rise and fall in oil prices.
Oil at $200 per barrel
Readers may recall that it was only a few weeks back that the entire world feared a serious conflagration in the Gulf. Analysts believed that Israel would launch a presumptive strike on Iranian nuclear facility. This war psychosis was built-up step by step till it reached a crescendo in June-July of this year.
Economists naturally began playing (should I say leveraged) on the fears of the entire world to this possible scenario. And as a possible retaliation to the Israeli attack, it was even openly advised by many that Iran should not possibly retaliate by bombing Israel, but by drowning its own ships in Hormuz Strait.
Why? The reason for the same is not far to seek. Hormuz Strait is a very narrow sea passage, yet it facilitates significant movement of oil -- 40 per cent of global oil, as per some estimates passes, through Hormuz Strait in huge oil tankers.
Obviously, when this narrow passage would be blocked by Iran by sinking its own ships, the assumption was that there would be a huge supply constraint. Logically, it was explained that such a strategic strike by Iran would block oil to the rest of the world. Given this possible paradigm, economists predicted, oil prices would shoot up well over $200 per barrel.
Further, at that price, it was held by economists that Iran, more than anyone else, could profit -- implying that even a war was good for Iran!
It is in this connection that every thing Iranian was analysed ruthlessly by analysts. Every rise of the Israeli eyebrow was clinically dissected by economists. And virtually everyone across the globe came to the near unanimous conclusion -- Israel would attack Iran shortly. Crucially, it would lead to the significant rise in the prices of oil.
It may be recalled that in the first half of this year when the oil prices were rising substantially, a report from Goldman Sachs stunned the world with a prediction of oil at $200 per barrel. And naturally coming from such financial houses, such predictions were carried 'faithfully' by the mainstream media in every country.
And that would explain as to how all data -- or seemingly unconnected information -- was interpreted to mean global supply constraints or exaggerated global demand with a sole intention of psychologically tutoring the minds of the people across the world.
Given the prevalent mood in those weeks it was sacrilege for anyone to voice any contrary thoughts. And even independent and media houses of repute became victims of such constituent tutoring on oil prices.
For instance, mirroring the mainstream opinion of the economists on June 23, BBC in a report stated: "Despite an emerging global consensus that oil prices are dangerously high, there seems little chance of the cost of oil falling significantly in the near future." It was an opinion, no doubt, but coming from BBC it had an aura of invincibility about it.
Let us not miss the woods for the trees here. It is well known that many of these financial institutions had taken huge exposures in the futures markets in oil in the first place. Naturally, it was in their interest to see the rise of oil prices.
In the process nowhere did I ever come across any declaration by any of these institutions, analysts or economists providing details of their interests or exposure to oil before providing such forecasts! Obviously, it is an ethical issue that needs to be tackled by the world sooner than later.
As oil unwinds, economists stand exposed
The interests of these financial houses in first speculating on oil prices, secondly how they could continue to finance their operations through their relationship with the US Federal Reserve and the continued build-up of the strategic reserve stock by the United States government was brought out in one of my previous columns: The real reason why oil prices are rising.
One of the suggestions put forth there was that the US had virtually doubled its strategic stock of petroleum reserves from 350 million barrels to 700 million barrels within the last two years.
It is this build up of reserves, I had argued, that was leveraged by the US financial sector successfully to make huge profits by raising the prices of oil.
Perhaps the US has run out of storage capacity. In the process that could be easing demand pressures leading to the easing of the oil prices. In the absence of authentic data pertaining to the unfilled storage capacities one is not sure. Yet this is one possibility that one cannot rule out.
Similarly, with the Olympics almost behind us, one feels that China could possibly dilute its huge stocks as it may no longer want to hold such huge quantity which it could have built up in its run up to the Olympic Games. Whatever the case may be, slowly but steadily, economists are building up an argument for the unwinding of oil prices!
Nevertheless, it may be noted that some countries, by then ostensibly under enormous pressure created by these economists had already turned into oil speculators and taken positions in the futures market at high prices. In the process it does seem that some of these oil speculators have exited at such high prices pocketing huge profits.
No wonder, as oil unwinds, the entire reasoning of economists built assiduously over the past few years seems to turn on its head. Suddenly demand-supply mismatch is no longer offered as the plausible explanation.
Similarly, the fears about Israel-Iran conflict have miraculously receded in the past few weeks.
In fact, the meltdown in oil is no longer an exception. Recent weeks have been witness to a general meltdown in all commodities including oil, gold and silver. The ostensible reason for all this has been suddenly laid at the slowdown in global economy, notably the US economy.
The theory of burgeoning global demand that was supposed to be the chief driver for the rise in the prices of these commodities for the past few years has been turned on its head. Falling commodities prices are strangely attributed by economists to slackening global demand. Isn't it a bit strange considering that till the other day economists argued that it was global demand that fuelled the rise in the prices of these commodities?
As already pointed out, oil has fallen 25 per cent in the past five weeks, that is, in effect 5 per cent every week. Surely, global demand by any stretch of imagination has not recorded a concomitant fall. Nor has supply built up that significantly over the past few weeks. Obviously, if it was speculation all the way up, it is speculation all the way down.
Yet economists continue to offer standard theoretical explanations, little realising whatever be the reason for the rise and fall of oil and commodity prices, their credibility has registered a huge fall.
PS: If US economy is witnessing a slowdown, would economists explain as to why the US dollar is strengthening in the past few weeks?

Source:rediff

Get ready for Japanese superbikes at Indian prices

2008-08-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to steal the two-wheeler market from the three Indian giants Hero Honda, Bajaj and TVS Motors, which collectively account for almost 85 per cent of sales, Japanese bike manufacturers like Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki will launch scaled-down Indian versions of their international superbike models.
Superbikes are motorcycles that have 800cc engines and can cost upwards of Rs 10 lakh if they are bought in India. Japanese manufacturers plan to offer re-engineered versions with much smaller engines and fewer trimmings at prices ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
The superbikes that are being considered for such an overhaul are Yamaha YZF R1, Honda CBR 1000, Suzuki GSX R and the Kawasaki Ninja.
The re-engineering exercise involves putting in a lower-capacity and fuel-efficient engine and building a new chassis on the lines of the parent model using cheaper, lighter material. Other components built by using best-in-class material in the high-end bike will be replaced by aluminum and rubber components for the Indian version.
Expensive meter console units, twin disc brakes and wide tubeless tyres � all basic features that contribute the high price tag of a superbike � will not be available in the cheaper version.
"There are some superbikes in our international line-up of motorcycles that can be fine-tuned for India," said Naresh Rattan, divisional head (sales and marketing), Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India.
HMSI and Yamaha Motor India launched a product each in the local market, CBF Stunner and R 15, respectively, which are directly inspired from their CBR 1000 and YZF R1. The Indian re-engineered versions, which were launched over a month ago, are up for sale at Rs 53,000 for the 125cc Honda CBF Stunner and Rs 97,000 for 150cc Yamaha R 15.
Suzuki Motorcycle India is also gearing up to launch a similar model, which will be based on the GSX R series (priced at Rs 13-14 lakh), before December this year. The Indianised version will have an engine capacity of about 250cc, and is expected to cost close to Rs 1 lakh.
"We will launch two bikes before the end of the calendar year, of which one will be a mass-market premium model and the other a superbike," said Atul Gupta, vice-president (sales and marketing), SMIPL.
"The premium model will be a model which will be inspired by the GSX R range of superbikes," he added.

Home loans get costlier as banks hike rates

2008-08-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

A day after the Reserve Bank of India's monetary-tightening measures, banks began raising interest rates, effecting the hike for the second time in a month.Home loans just got costlier with the lending institutions on Thursday announcing a hike in their interest rates by an average of 0.75 per cent -- a move that would increase repayments by a minimum of about Rs 2.5 lakh for a Rs 20-lakh loan. HDFC Ltd has raised the retail prime lending rate by 0.75 per cent with effect from August 1. Consumers would have to fork out over Rs 1,000 more every month as EMI for a loan of Rs 20 lakh, whose repayment is spread over 20 years.
HDFC said that for new home loan customers, the adjustable rate loans would now be priced at a minimum of 11.75 per cent. Fixed rate remains unchanged at 14 per cent.
On a 11.75 per cent floating rate, the EMI is estimated to work out to around Rs 21,675 per month, up Rs 1,031 from Rs 20,644 at a rate of 11 per cent.
This would result in an overall additional burden of close to Rs 2,50,000 over the 20-year period.

The rates are being revised in the wake of tight monetary measures announced by RBI on Tuesday, when it asked the banks to maintain higher mandatory cash reserves with it and also increased its short-term key lending rates for them.
Punjab National Bank , the country's second-largest public sector lender, on Wednesday announced a percentage point increase in the prime lending rate (PLR) to 14 per cent, while raising deposit rates by 75-100 basis points. The maximum deposit rate on offer will be 9.75 per cent a year.

Axis Bank, the third-largest private sector lender, however, opted for a more moderate PLR increase of 50 basis points. In a statement, the bank said its PLR will increase from 15.25 per cent to 15.75 per cent with effect from on Wednesday. PNB's rate hike will take effect from August 1.
The big boys -- State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank , HDFC Bank -- have, however, so far, remained silent on how they will respond. SBI's asset-liability committee (Alco), which met within hours of RBI's decision to raise the repo rate, or the rate at which it lends to banks, by 50 basis points and the cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the proportion of capital banks set aside, by 25 basis points, is expected to reconvene tomorrow.

Since April, the central bank has increased CRR by 150 basis points and the repo rate by 125 basis points to tighten money supply and combat inflation, which was estimated at 11.89 per cent in the first half of July.
Bankers said there is little chance that even the big players will be able to absorb the hike. A host of players is expected to join the rate hike list. Punjab & Sind Bank is planning a 50-75 basis points rate increase by the end of the week, while Development Credit Bank may raise its PLR by 100 basis points to 16.25 per cent.

Even refinance agencies like National Housing Bank (NHB), which have so far refrained from raising interest rates, are now reviewing their costs. "We have not revised PLR for a year as we have been able to absorb the higher cost of funds. But we will have to pass on the costs if we have to pay more," NHB Chairman S Sirdhar said. At present, NHB lends at 10.5 per cent.
The increase in PLR will affect all loan products, ranging from personal loans to car, housing, working capital and term loans availed by companies.

"There will be an increase in interest rates for retail borrowers, but we will aggressively pass on the high cost of funds to sub-PLR borrowers," PNB Chairman and Managing Director K C Chakrabarty said.

Home loans get costlier as banks hike rates

2008-07-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

HDFC said that for new home loan customers, the adjustable rate loans would now be priced at a minimum of 11.75 per cent. Fixed rate remains unchanged at 14 per cent.
On a 11.75 per cent floating rate, the EMI is estimated to work out to around Rs 21,675 per month, up Rs 1,031 from Rs 20,644 at a rate of 11 per cent.
This would result in an overall additional burden of close to Rs 2,50,000 over the 20-year period.

Inflation rises to 11.98 per cent

2008-07-31T06:49:00.001-07:00

Inflation rose to 11.98 per cent for the week ended July 19 as some food and manufactured products turned dearer, justifying the harsh monetary stance of the Reserve Bank of India announced a couple of days back.
The moderation in inflation a week earlier to 11.89 per cent turned out to be an aberration as the rate of price rise is now a just a tad below the crucial 12 per cent. It has been rising unabatedly after petrol prices were increased by the government on June 5.

Prices of pulses, fruits and spices went up as did the rates some manufactured products items.
Inflation stood at 4.65 per cent in the corresponding week a year ago.
This is the first official data on inflation after the Reserve Bank increased the short-term lending (repo) rate by 50 basis points to 9 per cent and also raised the mandatory deposits (CRR) that banks have to park with it by 25 basis points to cool down the rate of price rise.

However, the exact effect of these measures will be known after some time only as official data is released with a two week lag and hike in CRR would come into effect only after August 30.
Announcing the first quarterly review of the credit policy RBI Governor Y V Reddy had said that the main thrust of the policy would be to bring down inflation to 7 per cent by March, 2009.

Earlier, the apex bank had set the attempt to bring down inflation close to 5 per cent by end of this fiscal and lower it further to 4-4.5 per cent with a medium-term objective of 3 per cent.

Source:rediff

How to tackle high prices. A few tips

2008-07-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

Consumers have been feeling the heat of rising inflation for the last few months. Though the number seem to have come down marginally to 11.89 per cent (for week ended July 12), there seems to be little respite. Such times force the individual to take a relook at their savings strategy and monthly budgets. The basic idea is to do things smartly to save on costs. Of course, there is a rising interest burden as well that makes things worse.

In such uncertain times, your investments need to deliver higher returns to break even. For instance, if the inflation is touching 12 per cent, you will have to earn 17-18 per cent pre-tax (for the highest income bracket) so that there is no capital loss.

While keeping idle cash in banks may seem like a safe and secure strategy, it can never protect the purchasing power of your money and will lead to wealth erosion. But cash certainly has its uses. It can be used to retire or reduce high-cost loans.
Also, make long-term investments in gold and equities to beat the inflation in the long run. At every sharp dip, you can increase the equity exposure in-line with your asset allocation.

Gold is also a good idea, if the scaling is done in a staggered fashion. Though in the short term, gold might not deliver, it will always do well in the over time. Some jewellers are offering gold without any additional making charges now.
Even investment in residential property is a good hedge, but some correction is due in the prices.
As far as your monthly budget goes, have a savings budget rather than an expense budget. During high inflationary and interest rate periods, do not succumb to the pressure of reducing your saving. Instead spend smartly.

Some of the smart spending measures that you can take up include cutting down on areas that are a part of lifestyle inflation. These would include:
Reduce your expenses on watching movies. Rather watch them on off-days when ticket prices are substantially lower.
Eating out can be an expensive affair. For most professionals today, dining or having lunch outside constitute a significant part of their monthly expenses. Reducing the frequency could be a good idea. In fact having more parties at home can be a cheaper idea.

Electricity bill is another area where cost-cutting can be done. Instead of keeping the home AC on for several hours, use it for a few hours less. Similarly, switch off the appliances and lights when not in use.
Cut your fuel costs. Using public transport or car pools could be a cheaper option.
Go to the big malls once or twice a month and stock up on your grocery items. This can insulate you from not just rising food prices but also lower your transportation costs.

Avoid big purchases. Smart spending does not mean being stingy but focusing on your priorities and expenses that should be done (Children's tuition fees is certainly far more important than eating out several times a month or taking a short vacation.)
For people, who cannot control their mobile expenses, should opt for pre paid cards.
Most importantly, do a monthly review of your credit card and bank account statements. This would help you to pin-point areas where expenditure can be cut. For instance, recently when I checked one of my dormant accounts, I realised that the bank was charging me Rs 500 every month even though, I was told there will be no charges.

This list is by no means exhaustive. But making a start will definitely help to keep your financial health secure.

India sticks to its guns; WTO talks may flop

2008-07-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

With member countries sticking to their positions, the ongoing crucial World Trade Organisation talks are hanging in balance even as its Director General Pascal Lamy warned that the time is running out to finalise the deal.
"The next 24 hours are very crucial for the talks as time is running out," Lamy told trade ministers at the informal trade negotiating committee meeting.

A senior Indian official involved in the negotiations, said, "By tonight the picture would be clear whether we are staying back or going home."
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said, "We are inching, not jumping. We are hoping that we would be able to move even further. Tomorrow, the smaller groups will be meeting and then the greenroom will meet at night."
Earlier, Nath had raised the issue of protecting the industries in developing nations and said that poor countries need tariffs.

He also said that the US must offer 'real' cuts in subsidy to its farmers and its proposal to reduce the doles was not in line with the current food prices.
The US had recently made an offer to reduce its overall trade distorting subsidy to $15 billion.
"It is hardly an offer when their applied duty subsidy is $7 billion, Nath told reporters.
He said the US offer is 'not commensurate with current food prices'. Developed countries have to put something on the table and not 'look into the pockets of the developing countries', he said.
The US has been making a strong demand on the large and emerging economies like India, China, Brazil and South Africa to give their manufacturers market by reducing tariff in return for reduction in American farm subsidies.

Nath did not agree with the contention. "Tariffs are not distortions, subsidies are distortions. Tariffs protect trade and raise revenue," he said.
Meanwhile, Brazilian Minister Celso Amorim also said so far there has been no breakthrough. Engagement time is running out.
"There is not much time left but of course there is the limitation of physical fitness," Amorim added.

He said while the negotiators would still be trying today to make some breakthrough. "But I think today is the day we must know, whether it is possible or not."
USTR Susan Schwab said it was another long day (yesterday). "I could not tell you what day of the week it is. The US came here to make a deal. We will continue to stretch, give our share. There was some progress in the small room, not nearly as we had hoped. Tomorrow we will see whether everybody is prepared to do their share."

California consumes more petrol than India!

2008-07-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

Never ones to let raw facts get in the way of a good story, a familiar line spouted by Americans these days is, 'Why should the US curb energy consumption, when India and China are guzzling petrol and polluting the whole globe?'

From New York to Los Angeles, and everywhere in between, the chorus can be heard: 'Blame India! Blame China!'
Well, brought to our attention by Wired, recent empirical data rubbish this argument and kick it to the curb. The state of California's own statistics show that, in 2006, the state consumed 20 billion gallons of diesel and petrol as transportation fuel, a more than 50 per cent increase over the past two decades. But even more interestingly, 20 billion gallons a year tops the transportation fuel usage of the entire nations of China or India!

Chew on that for a while, and allow it to truly sink in: California alone uses more petrol and diesel for fuel that any other country in the world, save the United States as a whole, which used a whopping 136 billion gallons, or 44% of the world's transportation fuel consumption.
Of course, listening to US politicians, talking heads and media reports, one wouldn't know it. They constantly inundate us with stories of India and China and their rapid growth, and what it portends for the developed world. The two emerging Asian giants have been blamed for everything from food shortages to rising fuel prices to global warming.

But instead of worrying why Indians need two rotis per day rather than one, or why our rapid development has led to increased vehicles on India's roads, perhaps it's time for America to do some soul searching and ask a few questions of itself.

Isn't it outrageous for a state with 36 million people to consume more transportation fuel than a nation of 1 billion, India, and still point the blame elsewhere?
The second question, how is this even possible? How can every 1 Californian consume more transportation fuel than 30 Indians?

It's simple, really. In Asia, we utilise compressed natural gas, mass transportation, bicycles and our good old fashioned leather chappals to get around. In California, it's not unusual for a family of four to have four vehicles, and for each member to drive his or her own separate way, every day!
Whereas the Indian railway system is the world's envy for its efficacy and efficiency, trains are a thing of the past in the States, more of a novelty than anything else. Buses are used only as a last resort, and metros, subways and other urban forms of mass commute are practically non-existent in the Golden State, save San Francisco's iconic streetcars. And even those are primarily tourist attractions.

The average American's idea of 'public transportation' is sharing a taxi. Compare this with Mumbai, where an estimated 6 million people avail of the local trains each day, cramming one on top of another into packed compartments. Now, the discrepancy starts to make sense.

So next time you read of an environmentally conscious American preaching about India's lack of a commitment to green-friendly practices, chances are, that the American is alone in his sports car, cruising the highways around Los Angeles, with the air conditioning on high. Then, picture that packed Virar-Churchgate local in Mumbai.

Source:rediff.com

G-33 for cuts in rich nations' farm subsidies

2008-07-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

A day ahead of the crucial mini-ministerial meet at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) headquarters here, a key alliance of developing countries on agriculture - the G-33 - reaffirmed their unity during a meeting here on Sunday and said only a substantial reduction of the trade distorting farm subsidies of the developed nations would ensure a positive outcome of the Doha Round talks.
Pointing out that the deepening global food crisis is posing a major threat to peace across the globe, the alliance of developing countries with interests to defend in agriculture said the Doha Round negotiations would have a development oriented outcome only if the rich countries effectively address the major distortions in farm trade caused due to their huge subsidies and market access barriers.
The global food crisis has touched alarming levels, the G-33 said, adding that it was the poor in these developing countries that have been affected the most.
The G-33 has insisted that the developed countries must not only substantially reduce their subsidies from the current applied levels, but also ensure that they do not indulge in masking their subsidies in one form or the other.
Developed countries have been facing allegations of resorting to box-shifting - that is recategorising their subsidies to make it permissible as per the WTO norms.
For instance, it has been alleged that the rich nations take out their subsidies from the amber box that is not permissible as per WTO norms and place it in the permissible 'green box'. Green box subsidies include those given for infrastructure development, public stock holding for food security, direct income support, crop insurance and income safety net and are therefore allowed as they do not influence immediate production decisions.
The developing countries have demanded the US to cut their "trade-distorting" farm subsidies from $55 billion to around $13-16 billion. They have also asked the European Union to bring down their agricultural subsidies that is worth billions of dollars.

source:yahoo

RCOM-MTN deal called off

2008-07-19T06:18:00.001-07:00

The much-touted deal between Anil Ambani group company RCOM and South African telecom giant MTN was called off on Friday.

"The two sides were unable to conclude the transaction due to certain regulatory issues," RCOM spokesperson said in statement on Friday night.

The deal, which was clouded by the bitter dispute between the Ambani siblings, was called off a day after RIL nominated an arbitrator to resolve the dispute with RCOM.

RCOM and MTN decided to end the exclusivity agreement three days before its expiry.
MTN, in a statement to Johannesburg Stock Exchange, said, "With regard to exclusive negotiations relating to a potential business combination between MTN and RCOM, owing to certain regulatory issues, the parties are unable to conclude a transaction. Accordingly, it has been mutually decided to allow the exclusivity agreement to lapse."

Mukesh Ambani-led RIL was not immediately available for comments.
RIL had commenced arbitrary process against RCOM on Thursday and nominated Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, as an arbitrator to resolve the disputes with RCOM.

RIL move came just a few days ahead of the July 21 expiry of the RCOM-MTN agreement for exclusive talks, which are aimed at creating an estimated $70-billion entity.

"RIL has commenced arbitration proceedings by nominating Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, a former judge of the Supreme Court, as an arbitrator for the resolution of the disputes."

On other hand, RCOM spokesperson said, "RIL's notice for arbitration proceedings is legally and factually unwarranted."

Source:rediff

Chinese hi-tech handsets for Rs 2000!

2008-07-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

Nearly six months after the Chinese government de-licensed its mobile handset industry, the Indian markets are being flooded with unbranded Chinese phones.

And this time, these are not entry-level phones but mid-level, feature-rich products at aggressive prices between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000. Most of these, branded mobile manufacturers said, would cost consumers at least three to five times more if they came from them.

Mobile manufacturers through the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) estimate that 600,000 to 800,000 Chinese unbranded phones are making their way to India every month, accounting for 8 to 10 per cent of GSM-technology mobile phones sold in the country.

According to research firm IDC, China shipped 85 million GSM handsets in the last fiscal. And it says China's percentage share is likely to go up since these phones offer swanky features ranging from 3 megapixel camera, terrestrial TV, music and MP3 players.

Also leading branded mobile stores have started stocking such phones and are even offering warranties. For instance, Spice Group-owned mobile retail chain HotSpot imports Chinese mobile phones and provides its own warranty and back-end service support for the handset.

"Demand for feature-heavy phones is increasing by the day, and Chinese phones are extremely high-end ones in the price range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000," said Sanjeev Mahajan, CEO, HotSpot, adding, "The margins for such products are also more lucrative for us. On a Chinese phone we can earn margins up to 15 per cent; on branded phones we earn merely 5 to 6 per cent."

But branded mobile manufacturers are stumped with the growing numbers. The issue of anti-dumping duty has been discussed with the government but rejected because most of the leading branded manufacturers too make and import phones from China.

"This is an open and competitive industry and these products come through an open channel. The entry of Chinese products follows a fair amount of competition for all players," said Sunil Dutt, country head for Samsung's mobile business in India.

There are others who are concerned. "It will be a compromise on the part of the consumer in terms of quality and value for money," said Lloyd Mathias, marketing director, Motorola, highlighting the need for stricter norms for quality control.

Source:

Wipro Q1 net up 25% at Rs 908 crore

2008-07-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

Wipro Limited, the $5 billion software to soaps major, has reported a 25 per cent increase in its net profit for the first quarter of the current fiscal as against the corresponding period of last fiscal. The topline has increased by 43 per cent.

The net profit has smarted up to Rs 908 crore (Rs 9.08 billion)for the first quarter, while the topline has moved to Rs 5,967 crore (Rs 59.67 billion).

The flagship software services exports arm, Wipro Technologies, has reported a topline growth of 39 per cent in YoY terms to Rs 4,405 crore (Rs 44.05 billion). Sequentially it has moved up by 3.5 per cent. The company has said that going forward that this IT services arm will grow by a mere 2 per cent for the second quarter on a sequential basis.

Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro, commenting on the results said: "We have had another satisfying quarter. Revenues from our IT Services were $1,067 million for the quarter, ahead of our guidance of $1,060 million. In the backdrop of significant economic uncertainty, our Financial Services and Retail businesses demonstrated their resilience. We had strong growth in our differentiated Service lines like Testing, TIS and BPO. Our strategy of focusing on majro accounts is delivering results with top customers growing ahead of company average. We improved on several of operational parameters during the quarter. Given the environment, we remain cautious in the near-term. Looking ahead, for the quarter ending September 2008, we expect our Revenue from our IT Services business to be approximately $1089 million."

Suresh Senapaty, Chief Financial Officer of Wipro, said: "During the quarter ended June 2008, we were able to sustain margins in spite of Restricted Stock Units grants. Rate Realization and Utilization improved sequentially by 300 basis points and 50 basis points respectively. We have won 7 multi-year multi-million dollar deals and added 31 new customers during the quarter. We added another customer to our $100 million customer list."

source:rediff

Now, a 50 megapixel digicam

2008-07-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

The Swedish company Hasselblad's announcement of the launch of Hasselblad H3DII-50, featuring a new Kodak 50-megapixel sensor, has pushed the available resolution in digital cameras to a new high.

Such high resolution goes beyond the needs of most consumers but professional photographers would appreciate the unprecedented level of detail provided by it.

"The H3DII-50 has been designed to meet the challenging demands of high-end photographers who require the best in image quality, performance and creative freedom," said Hasselblad CEO Christian Poulsen in a press release.

The camera, which would be available from October 2008, would also prove useful for applications such as aerial photography as the availability of higher resolution allows the plane to fly higher and the number of pictures necessary for covering a given area is also reduced.

The new Kodak image sensor, which produces an array of 8,176-by-6,132 pixels, would be implemented in the same size housing as Hasselblad's existing 39 megapixel H3DII-39 camera.

Kodak has also added a set of new features on the sensor, such as new dyes, that would result in richer colours. It also includes quick flush technology that enables faster image capture and lower power consumption, resulting in longer battery life.

The wives of the billionaires

2008-07-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

Gaining membership to the billionaire wives' club is no easy feat. Today, there are just 110 eligible 10-figure bachelors, including divorced men, in the world. So what does it take to marry one? Our list of billionaire wives outlines a few tips--from some of the more notable women who tied the knot with these men.
For starters, looks are great--but brains are even better. Take, for example, the women who recently nabbed two of the world's most eligible bachelors, Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Blonde beauty Lucy Southworth, who married Page in December, is a biomedical informatics doctoral student at Stanford University, where both Page and Brin studied as graduate students before leaving to start their company in 1998.
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Earlier in 2007, Brin married longtime girlfriend Ann Wojcicki, who he met when he sublet a garage from Wojcicki's sister. A Yale graduate who was working as a health care analyst when they met, Wojcicki has since launched her own biotech startup, 23and me.
Being famous of your own accord is often a plus. Industrialist Anil Ambani's wife Tina Munim was a famed Bollywood actress before marrying Ambani. Her career began when she appeared in the 1978 Indian blockbuster Des Pardes; she subsequently starred in 30 more films.
Usha Mittal, married to Lakshmi Mittal, the world's fourth-richest man since he was 21, has clearly earned his trust. Last year, his steel company, ArcelorMittal, passed a resolution that entrusted her with temporary responsibility of managing the world's largest steel company if the managing board of directors is permanently absent or prevented from handling duties.
Diane von Furstenberg was a premiere name in fashion long before she married media mogul Barry Diller. Her signature wrap dresses have been featured at New York's Metropolitan museum.
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Movie actress Kate Capshaw starred in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; that's how she got to know her future husband, director Steven Spielberg.
Which brings up another point: The office, or in Capshaw's case, the movie set, is still a good place to meet a future husband. Wendi Deng met News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch while working as a vice president at the company's Star TV.
Melinda Gates worked as a manager at Microsoft when she met the company's founder, Bill Gates. These days, the couple lead the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which made over $2 billion in grants last year. The pair and U2's Bono were collectively named 2005's Time Person of the Year.
Sometimes working in the same industry can do the trick. Citadel hedge fund chief Kenneth Griffin is married to Anne Dias Griffin, who heads her own firm, Aragon Global Management, where she oversees $160 million in assets.
Not interested in finance or technology or some other popular billionaire industry? Don't fret. Susan Dell, wife of tech tycoon Michael Dell, is chairman of Phi, a cutting-edge fashion label that has had runway shows in New York and has been featured in Vogue. She is also a triathalete who competed in the 2003 Ironman competition, and she heads up the Dell philanthropic foundation.
For many the idea of marrying a billionaire is the stuff of fantasies, but for romance novelist Melanie Craft, marrying a billionaire is a reality. In Craft's case, it is also became the plot of one of her books, Man Trouble, which featured a romance novelist trying to win over a playboy billionaire. The book was apparently written while she was dating Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison, and published soon after they wed.

Prices to remain high for some time: FM

2008-07-17T05:34:00.001-07:00

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said there is still pressure on prices, but monetary measures have started having an impact on the growth of money supply.

"I met RBI Governor Y V Reddy. Governor said there is still pressure on prices. . . I am in broad agreement with him," Chidambaram told reporters after the Cabinet meeting in New Delhi.

The RBI chief informed the finance minister it would take some time before the monetary measures start showing effect on prices.

Chidambaram's comments came a few hours before the release of the fresh data on inflation for the week ended July 4.

The inflation has already come close to the 12 per cent mark.

Delhi cheapest place to park, London most expensive

2008-07-16T05:20:00.000-07:00

Delhi is the cheapest city in the world for parking while London has earned the dubious distinction of being the costliest place for the same, a study indicated on Wednesday.

In Delhi it costs less than a Pound (Rs 86.4) to park a car per day. The monthly rate for a space in London tops the list at 586 pounds - exactly double midtown New York, according to the first global study of parking charges.

Close behind is the West End, where monthly rates for motorists are 568 pounds. Daily parking follows a similar pattern, with the City costing 34 pounds followed by Amsterdam, the West End, Moscow and The Hague.

Australia has some of the most expensive cities in the world for parking as a result of its strong economy and surging currency. Sydney is the third most expensive city on a monthly basis at 387 pounds, while Brisbane and Perth make the top 10.

Regions such as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East are relatively inexpensive but are showing signs of car park inflation, which is becoming more structured.

However, global financial centres dominate the list, compiled by Colliers International, a property consultancy.

"Whether to park for a day or to have access to parking any time during the month, the world's top financial centers are among the most expensive in the world," the report said.

New Zealand Bank to send jobs to India

2008-07-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

The New Zealand-based ANZ National bank will soon be outsourcing its 238 backoffice jobs to India.
A meeting with the staffs at the bank's lending services centre in Auckland and customer transaction service centre in Wellington took place on Tuesday, which according to NZPA report is the beginning of a two-week consultation period over the outsourcing of the work to India.
Meanwhile, Finance workers union Finsec accused the Australian-owned bank of being greedy and a bad corporate citizen. The work will be done in India at a quarter of the cost, the report said.
The bank disputed the union's claim of job losses when the story first broke, saying that the back office workers would be offered the chance to work in bank branches, report said.
"About 403 workers were told that there would be 165 positions in the future, meaning 238 people would either be redeployed or made redundant," said Finsec campaigns director Andrew Campbell.
The plan is still a proposal while consultation continues. The union has no idea how many workers will accept an offer of redeployment.
One group of workers had been told they would be paid redundancy because the bank had acknowledged it would not be able to find them a comparable role.
These were people who worked late in the evening. Campbell said the bank could easily afford to employ a New Zealand workforce. The changes were designed to help it meet a stated goal of doubling profit in five years.

Source:rediff

World's 10 Best Airports

2008-07-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Ruiz, Forbes.com
For the seventh year, the Hong Kong International Airport was ranked the best by millions of worldwide passengers.
Judging more than 40 categories, airport customers chose it over 190 others in an annual survey conducted by Skytrax, a privately-owned research company in London, which released the results today.
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The company ranked the airports after collecting 8.2 million questionnaires completed by passengers over a 10-month time period from 2007 to 2008. They judged each airport on factors like shopping, dining, staff courtesy, baggage delivery and wait times at security.
Overall, airports in Asia and Southeast Asia did well. Hong Kong, which has a reputation for efficiency and comfort, bested airports in Singapore and Seoul, South Korea, with airports in Kansai, Japan, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, also ranking in the top 10.
Airports in Europe--Munich, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; and Helsinki, Finland--took most of the remaining top spots. Cape Town, South Africa rounded out the list at No.10.
Missing from the list were any airports in the United States. Though none of them cracked the top 10, international airports in San Francisco, Denver, Dallas and Atlanta had slightly improved positions over last year, coming in between 11 and 25.
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, attributes the less-than-world-class rankings to an older airport infrastructure in the U.S.
"The three or four at the top," says Plaisted, "have developed purpose-built, 21st century airports that have every conceivable item of product and service." This includes amenities like free wi-fi and speedy train service from the airport to the city's downtown area.
At the seven-year-old Seoul Incheon, passengers can also take advantage of the on-site hair salon, a children's play room and a business center with overseas shipping. The airport's Web site even maintains a list of activities based on the number of hours a passenger must wait. If you're within eight hours of a flight, try using the shower and massage services.
The staff at Munich's airport here want you to be "carefree and relaxed," according to the airport's Web site. To this end, they offer miniature golf, a 60-seat cinema, and cosmetic and physiotherapy services, among other cutting-edge amenities. The airport also promotes aviation technology and history with educational experiences like behind-the-scenes tours and "kinderterminals," a touchscreen that allows children to learn more about how an airport works. On the other hand, Plaisted says, 1960s-era airports in the U.S. are largely function-driven and have been slow to adopt a globally competitive approach.
Getting From Here To There A modern feel is important to consumers, but so is efficiency, says Richard Gritta, an airline industry expert and professor of finance at the University of Portland.
"The reason you don't see U.S. airports [on the list,]" says Gritta, "is because, by and large, our airports have become so crowded. There are security and weather problems and a lack of more sophisticated air traffic control. You're picking up the anger of the entire industry."
What are you flying survival secrets? Weigh in. Post your thoughts in the Reader Comment section below.
Though on-time performance by the major airlines has slightly improved this year, 21% of flights were late as of May. And the current state of the airline industry--under immense pressure with rising oil prices--doesn't bode well for customer satisfaction in the future.
There's bad news and good news, says Gritta. The airlines are "coming apart," but it will force consolidation and result in fewer flights, which, in turn, should address the crowding problem in airports.
To Plaisted, the situation is straightforward.
"The procedural side [to visiting an American airport] is still leaving a fairly bitter taste in customers' minds," he says. "Once they've been bitten by that, they don't want to repeat the process."

source:yahoo

Why You Don't Need A New iPhone

2008-07-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Brian Caulfield, Forbes.com
Confession: It's been easy to warn folks away from buying an iPhone this year. A newer, better phone was clearly on the way. And last month Apple proved the predictions true by introducing a cheaper model loaded with GPS and a zippier wireless connection that will go on sale Friday, July 11.

The coolest thing about the next generation iPhone, however, is its new software. And if you already have the device, you're going to be getting the best parts of the new model for free very soon (or for a small charge to those who own an iPod Touch). Getting stuck with the old iPhone isn't looking as bad as we feared.

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Apple introduced the most interesting features of the new phone in March. CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the software of the new iPhone's and opened that software up to outside developers.
Perhaps the most interesting, and least heralded, thing about this new software is how much better it will mesh with the rest of your life. The software is chock full of small details that help you do this, like allowing you to get e-mail and calendar information directly from Microsoft Exchange servers.

If you've got a BlackBerry, this won't make you switch. But if you're using an iPhone now, it means you might actually be able to get your work e-mail through your phone.
So what will make BlackBerry users sit up and take notice? The multitude of applications being readied for the phone by outside developers. The size and scope of Apple's developer program remains a bit of a mystery, but Apple has already shown off demos from online auctioneer eBay, mobile social-networking start-up Loopt, blogging service TypePad, the Associated Press and game developer Pangea Software.

The best part of the developer program is that it promises to keep cranking out new applications for the old iPhone for years to come. Before, developers were limited to working with the Web browser built into the phone. Now Apple will distribute software from third parties to users through its new Apps Store, which will allow users to wirelessly download software on the iPhone or on their computer via iTunes. Apple will take a 30% cut of any sales, but developers will be able to sell their software for whatever they see fit.

Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers said it will launch a $100 million fund, dubbed the iFund, to invest in developers creating applications for the iPhone.
There will still be some things the new iPhone will be able to do that the old one won't. The lack of a GPS receiver means it won't be able to deliver turn-by-turn directions with the new iPhone's accuracy. And the old phone's relatively poky data connection means applications that rely on a connection to the Internet will crawl along without access to a wi-fi hot spot.

Nevertheless, one of the easiest criticisms one can make of Apple--that it moves to bump off older models with stylish new ones as often as it can--doesn't hold up this time. The old phone looks a lot like the new one. And once you update the software, it will work a lot like the new one as well.

Gurgaon Shopping Malls Video

2008-07-09T05:15:00.001-07:00

Doing Business in India

2008-07-09T05:09:00.001-07:00

IT growth seen falling to 21%

2008-07-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

NASSCOM today announced the findings of its annual survey on the performance of the Indian software and services sector (excluding hardware) for FY07-08 and outlook for FY08-09.

India's software and services exports grew 29 per cent in 2007-08 to register a revenue of 40.4 billion dollar, up from 31.4 billion dollar in the previous year, NASSCOM said today.

The overall IT-BPO industry, including the domestic market, recorded 28 per cent growth to touch 52 billion dollar revenue in FY'07-08.

Within the export segment, IT services exports have grown by 28 per cent (in USD) to clock revenues of USD 23.1 billion; while BPO exports are up by 30 per cent (in USD) registering revenues of USD 10.9 billion. Engineering services and products exports clocked revenues of USD 6.4 billion, growing at 29 per cent (in USD) in FY 07 -08.

The survey also projects that the overall software and services revenues will grow by 21-24 per cent (currency adjusted) to touch USD 50 billion in FY08-09.

Tata Consultancy Service remained the top software and services exporter followed by Infosys and Wipro. The BPO exports clocked 30 per cent increase to reach revenue of 10.9 billion dollars.

Speaking at the conference, Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM said “The Indian IT-BPO industry’s resilience is reflected in its FY07-08 performance, with a 28.2 per cent overall growth rate and next year’s projected growth between 21-24 percent. Given that we are well on our way to achieve the target of USD 60 billion in exports by FY09-10, the industry is now focusing on improving productivity, efficiency, as well as opening up new markets and services”.

He further added “The next decade offers opportunities and challenges which will require new business models and the industry dynamics will also see significant changes leading to a many new industry drivers and enablers, and we will need to prepare ourselves for these. NASSCOM is developing a long term vision for 2020, to chart out the roadmap for all stakeholders and help them tap into this opportunity”.

Source: indiatimes.com

Market closes 177 points down

2008-07-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

The Indian equities market closed in the red, once again.
The 30-share benchmark of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex) opened at 13,292.80 points, touched a low of 13,049.96 before closing at 13,349.65 points. It went down by 176.34 points or 1.30 percent at the day's close.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S & P Nifty, which opened at 4028.70 points, closed at 3988.55 points. It went down by 41.45 points or 1.03 percent.

Australian students outsource coursework to India

2008-07-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

Australian computer science students are reportedly outsourcing their courseworks to cheap programmers in countries like India.
University students here are hiring cheap programmers for their assignments which are put out to tender on the internet sites and coders bid to complete them.
And students are paying anywhere from under 100 Australian dollars to several hundred dollars, depending on the amount of work required, The Age said.
Internet sites such as RentACoder and Kasamba provide an international marketplace connecting businesses in need of computer programming help with low-cost coders around the world.
Various well-established sites already sell students essays and other written work. But with code, which is far more black and white than the written word, it's far harder to spot outsourcing.
"I think it's a growing issue as a form of misconduct that universities are going to have to take seriously and at the moment our defences are weak," David Wilson, associate dean of teaching and learning for information technology at the University of Technology, Sydney, said.
"We're aware that it happens and we're catching some people but I think that's the tip of the iceberg," he added.
Part of the problem, said Paul Compton, head of the school of computer science and engineering at the University of New South Wales, was that existing automated plagiarism detection tools, such as Turn It In, can't detect outsourced work.
They can only tell if multiple students submitted highly similar assignments or if a piece of work had passages copied from the internet.
"The rent-a-coder stuff is almost impossible to pick up," Compton said, adding "If the coder provides the same solution to a few students we'll catch them via the plagiarism detection but if they provide it to only one student you essentially can't catch them."
James Thom, acting head of RMIT's school of computer science, said even if a lecturer was suspicious, proving misconduct the way university policy requires is highly problematic.
"Certain situations arise where it's very clearly happened but being able to have enough to take action against the students - or what sort of action to take - can be difficult," he said.
To combat the problem, university staff scour the rent-a-coder sites looking for assignments they've assigned.
However, even this is fraught with difficulty as the tech-savvy students typically use an email address and alias that makes it difficult to identify them.
"We include questions that test their knowledge of the assignment such that you couldn't really answer the question unless you'd done a lot of work on it," Compton added.
Lecturers contacted by Fairfax Media agreed unanimously that outsourcing coursework was a significant and growing problem but because of the difficulties in detecting it, it's impossible to tell exactly how widespread the practise is.

Source:

Why this IIM-A graduate sells vegetables

2008-07-02T07:05:00.001-07:00

Unlike most management graduates for whom the sky is the limit in corporate matters, Kaushalendra with a management degree from IIM Ahmedabad chose to sell vegetables on city streets and still dreamt of making it big.
But how can someone make it big by selling vegetables? Meet 27-year-old Kaushalendra, son of a college demonstrator in the nondescript block town of Ekangarsarai in Nalanda district.
"I have a dream to build Bihar into the vegetable hub of the country. I want vegetables grown in Bihar on dining tables all over India-- from Srinagar to Salem and from Shillong to Surat," he says.
Perhaps the most highly-educated green grocer India has ever produced, the young man from Nalanda has founded a farmers' cooperative, Samriddhi, which sells vegetables in ice-cooled pushcarts.
The private-public partnership venture, launched about a couple of months ago with assistance from Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) with just one pushcart, has now placed an order for 50 more carts, thanks to a collateral-free loan of Rs 50 lakh.
Nearly 300 farmers have associated themselves with 'Samriddhi'. ATMA, a government undertaking, is training these farmers in matters relating to high-yield seeds and crop protection.
''Our aim is to propagate organic farming and use our expertise in marketing to reach the markets not only in India but also abroad so that the farmers of Bihar fetch good returns for their produce. In five years, we target to penetrate the vegetable markets in the US, Europe and Japan,'' Kaushalendra says.
The ice-cooled pushcart vegetables are a hit with customers in parts of southern Patna. ''The vegetables taste garden fresh, are priced reasonably and, to add to that, they are weighed accurately with electronic weighing machines....we are just delighted to have it at a time when we have to make do with shoestring budget thanks to record inflation,'' says Bharti, a housewife in Kankarbagh area.
Moreover, the pushcart vendor gives the buyers a cash-memo which no other vegetable seller does, as further authentication of the quality and quantity of the vegetables.
''I am not only selling vegetables, but also the name of the farmer and the village where it has been grown. The farmer should not remain an unsung hero any more,'' he says pointing at the tag on the vegetables which has the mention of the name of the farmer and his village.
''One day'', he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "We will be able to build Bihar into a brand....the largest selling brand in horticulture''.
Asked about the initial reaction of his family to the idea of their highly qualified son foregoing a lucrative career in the corporate world and opting for an uncertain future in the calling of his forefathers, Kaushalendra said, ''They were shocked but later reconciled....now they seem happy that I am trying to do something that would benefit hundreds of thousands of farmers of Bihar.''
Asked to comment on the job offers he had, the self-effacing IIM graduate said, ''I did not opt for the placement process. So, in that sense, I had none.''
''I saw the farmers of my village eke out a living by the sweat of their brow and then watch with abject resignation the fruits of their toil rot during the floods. I always dreamt of doing something for them and I am just chasing that dream,'' he says.

Source:rediff.com

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model Concept

2008-07-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

Inflation zooms to a high of 11.42%

2008-06-27T03:22:00.000-07:00

Pushed by higher prices of food articles including milk, cereals, tea, edible oils and some manufactured items like soaps and detergents, inflation soared to 11.42 per cent for the week ending June 14.
The inflation number was higher by 0.37 per cent over the figure recorded during the previous week. Inflation was 4.13 in the corresponding week a year ago.
At 11.42 per cent, it has breached a high of 11.11 per cent witnessed on May 6, 1995, but was still below 16.9 per cent recorded in March that year.
During the week, the prices of tea went up by three per cent, milk by one per cent, sunflower oil by four per cent, vanaspati by two per cent and imported edible oil, salt mustard oil by one per cent each.
At the same time, items of daily use like soap became expensive by eight per cent, detergents by nine per cent, hair oil by one per cent.
Besides, fuel items especially lubricants became dearer by 19 per cent, while prices of steel products like wire ropes and steel wire shot up by 36 and 25 per cent respectively.
Galloping inflation may further prompt government and Reserve Bank to take steps to tame price rise. According to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, "It (inflation) will remain in double digits for some more weeks."
The government and RBI have already taken measures to control inflation, he said, adding that "if necessary we will not hesitate to take more fiscal and monetary measures."
In a bid to contain inflation, RBI earlier in the week increased the short term lending rate to banks and the mandatory deposits which banks are required to park with the central bank by 0.5 per cent each.If inflation continues to remain high, RBI may take further monetary measures to tame inflation, Crisil Principle Economist D K Joshi told PTI.However, Finance Minister's Adviser Subhashish Gangopadhyay told reporters in New Delhi that inflation would remain in double digit for some more weeks even if prices fall due to base effect, and that the government should not be expected to take steps just because inflation is in double digit.Exuding confidence in anti-inflationary steps, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had said yesterday, "It is going to go up by another 0.2 or 0.3 per cent. But we are hoping that in the next two months, we will have some effects of the measures we have taken.""I think we are peaking out on inflation. The figures are going to peak now. We will soon be starting a decline," he had said.Much to the respite of the aam aadmi, prices of fruits and vegetable and masur declined by one per cent each during the week. At the same time, prices of groundnut seed dipped by one per cent, linseed three per cent and cotton two per cent.In the manufactured goods category, prices of safety matches decreased by two per cent, toothpaste and gur by one per cent each. Among mineral group, prices of metallic minerals were up by four per cent.The items which contributed to high inflation also included texturised yarn whose prices shot up by 16 per cent, benzene 22 per cent, pvc resins by 17 per cent, thinners by 16 per cent, enamels by 10 per cent and electric motors by 12 per cent.As per the revised WPI data, the inflation rate for the week ended April 19 was 8.23 per cent as against the provisional figure of 7.57 per cent.

Source:rediff.com

Sensex crash by more than 600 points, sinks below 14K mark!!

2008-06-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

Markets were completely under rough weather after free fall in US markets, crude at new all-time high and likely susequent impact on Indian Inflation has spooked the markets. Bears smashed out bulls. It was a dreadful opening session for July series as well. Rate sensitives like auto, banking and realty stocks have taken huge beating. Infrastructure sectors like capital goods, telecom and power also hammered a lot. All indices witnessed huge selling pressure. The Sensex has lost over 650 points and the Nifty 195 points during the day.
Main reason behind today's fall was sharp sell off in US markets on the back of rising crude oil price and disappointing earnings from tech giants.The Dow Jones fell more than 350 points in Thursday's trade to close at its lowest level since September 2006. Crude Futures has hit new all-time high of $141.71 a barrel on the NYMEX during the day.
Purvin & Gertz said reduced interest rates and weak dollar have led to crude rally. He also said crude is likely to gain if ECB hikes rates in July.
The Sensex closed at 13760, down 661 points and the Nifty at 4125, down 191 points.
Inflation for the week ended June 14 has risen further at 11.42% as against 11.05% in earlier week. Inflation for April 19 revised to 8.23% versus 7.57% earlier. Experts believe that inflation may increase further if crude oil prices stay at these levels.
HSBC spokeperson says that don't expect inflation will have peaked, may go upto 15%. They also see double digit inflation to stay for about 9 months and are cautious on the growth rate outlook for FY10.
Deutsche Bank says it's not done on the rate hike front if oil prices stay at current levels.
Ajay Shah of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, said the Reserve Bank of India's move is in the right direction and that policy rate has to be higher. He thinks the monetary policy is not very effective at combating inflation in India. Shah said, "We are in for a rough ride on inflation, and there will be further rate hikes."
Turnover traded for the markets stood at Rs 78000 crore. This includes Rs 13000 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 60000 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 5500 crore from BSE Cash segment.
On the global front, Asian markets ended sharply lower following weak cues from US markets. Shanghai fell -5.3%, Nikkei -2.01%, Taiwan Weighted -3.4%, Hang Seng -1.84% and Kospi down 1.93%. European markets were trading weak, at the time of writing market report. FTSE 100 fell 0.5%, CAC 40 -1.2% and DAX down 1.6%.

Source: Moneycontrol

Double-digit inflation to stay, says FM

2008-06-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

Double-digit inflation is likely to continue for a few more weeks before government efforts kick in to ease the rate of price rise, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.Ahead of new inflation data to be released on Friday, he told a television channel that he cannot guess the inflation figure, but "will remain in double digit for some more weeks.""I don't know. I can't guess the figure," Chidambaram told Karan Thapar in an interview for the Devil's Advocate programme to be telecast on CNN-IBN.He, however, disagreed with a suggestion that inflation could spoil the United Progressive Alliance's chances in the upcoming general elections."Well, that's a premature conclusion. We will be defensive on inflation. All politics is about communication; we must communicate to the people why prices are high and efforts we are taking to moderate it," he said.Inflation touched a 13-year high of 11.05 per cent as on June 7, after a partial pass through of increase in global crude prices.Government and RBI have taken several fiscal and monetary steps to cool inflation, but these measures may also have a slowdown effect on economic expansion.Asked whether the government feels achieving nine per cent growth this fiscal would be difficult, the finance minister said: "There will be some moderation in growth rate, but growth will not fall precipitously. "(Given) the structure of our economy, which is about 57 per cent services, growth will still be above eight per cent, but the point is we want nine per cent growing up to 10 per cent. This year we can't hope for that,"

source: rediff

OrderMonger.com to cater to more cities

2008-06-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

OrderMonger.com, a city-based startup designed to offer food, flowers and groceries online, is planning to expand to four more cities during the next 12 months.
Founded by a bunch of software professionals, who have between them over 30 years of experience working for Microsoft in the US, OrderMonger.com enables to order food, cars for rent and flowers for any occasion at the click of a mouse. Once the portal receives the order, it delivers the good within two hours.
"We have full-fledged operations in Hyderabad, apart from offering a few services in Chennai, Bangalore and Pune. We plan to replicate this model in Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh and offer a full spectrum of services there in a year," Arvind Krishnan, vice-president, OrderMonger, told Business Standard.
The company has partnered 75 restaurants and hotels, including Bawarchi, Ohri's, Chutney's and Novatel, catering to individuals and over 50 corporates such as Microsoft, CA, Progress Software, Dr Reddy's and Indu Projects. For groceries, it has tied up with the Fresh@ chain.
To fuel its expansion, OrderMonger is currently in talks with four potential investors and expects to raise Rs 2 crore in the next three months. Part of the funds would be infused into creating three separate websites – one each for food, flowers and corporate services, Krishnan said.
Stating that their current focus was on flowers, Krishna Natarajan, CEO of OrderMonger, said, "We plan to establish a retail florist store in Hyderabad in three months from now, before exploring possibilities in other cities where we already have a presence." The company had merged flowers2.in, a city-based online florist, with itself in September 2007.
"We expect to garner Rs 36 lakh from the retail store and a total web volume of Rs 40 lakh from our flowers business a year. In the first year of operation, our turnover from other services should be around Rs 1.35 crore," Krishnan said.

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India's richest 5 lose Rs 5-trillion in last 6 months

2008-06-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

Companies run by India's five richest, including the two Ambanis, have lost a whopping Rs 5 trillion in market value in the current bear phase that began early this year.
The cumulative market value of the companies belonging to the groups led by the five wealthiest of the country � Ambani siblings Mukesh and Anil, real estate magnate Kushal Pal Singh, software czar Azim Premji and telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal -- today fell to about Rs 8.5 trillion.
This marks a significant fall from over Rs 13 trillion on January 10 -- when market benchmark Sensex hit a life-time high of 21,206.77 points before going southward.
The Sensex has plunged close to 7,000 points from its peak and today recorded its fourth consecutive day of losses to settle at 14293.32 points -- marking a loss of close to 1,500 points in the past four trading sessions.
Among the five groups, the one led by Mukesh Ambani, has recorded the maximum value erosion of about Rs 1,71,000 crore (Rs 1,710 billion).
Mukesh emerged as the richest person in India in March this year with a net worth of about Rs 2 trillion. Although Forbes' magazine named steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal on the top of its 'India's Richest' list with a net worth of $51 billion, Mittal is not a resident of India.
Interestingly, market capitalisation of ArcelorMittal, in which Mittal holds a 43 per cent stake, has grown by close to
Rs 2 trillion (about $46 billion) during the same period and is currently valued at over 142 billion dollars.
In the Forbes India list, Lakshmi Mittal was followed by Mukesh ($49 billion), Anil Ambani ($48 billion), K P Singh ($35 billion), Azim Premji ($14.8 billion) and Sunil Mittal ($12.5 billion).
The market capitalisation of firms belonging to Mukesh Ambani group currently stands at about Rs 3.7 trillion, as against Rs 5.4 trillion on January 10.
The second biggest loss has been seen in market value of Anil Ambani group, which has fallen by about Rs 1.3 trillion to Rs 1.9 trillion dollars. This includes Reliance Power, which was not a listed company on January 10.
Total market value of five ADAG firms, excluding Reliance Power that got listed on February 11, stood at Rs 2.5 trillion on January 10 and has dropped to Rs 1.6 trillion currently.
Including Reliance Power, the group's total listed value currently stands at about Rs 1.99 trillion. Reliance Power has also seen a sharp erosion in market value by falling to about Rs 38,900 crore (Rs 389 billion) from over Rs 84,000 crore (Rs 840 billion) on listing day.
The country's biggest real estate firm, DLF, majority owned by India's third richest K P Singh, has seen an erosion of close to Rs 1.2 trillion. Its market value dropped to close to Rs 76,000 crore (Rs 760 billion) from about Rs 1.9 trillion on January 10.
Bharti Airtel , run by Sunil Mittal, has also lost about Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) during this period. The company currently has a market value of about Rs 1.4 trillion.
The smallest loss has been seen in Wipro , run by India's fourth richest Azim Premji. The company's market value has dropped by just about Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) to about Rs 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion).
The net worth of these people are calculated mostly on basis of their shareholding in the listed group companies.
While wealth figures for Premji, Singh and Mittal reflect holdings in only one of group firms -- Wipro, DLF and Bharti Airtel, the two Ambani groups have more than one listed firms.
Mukesh Ambani group entities include Reliance Industries , Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd . Anil Ambani group's listed entities are Reliance Comm, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Capital , Reliance Natural Resources Ltd , Adlabs Films and Reliance Power.

source:rediff

GMR group to buy stake in ONGC's Rs 31,000 crore refinery

2008-06-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

The Rs 31,000-crore refinery and petrochemical plant being planned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh is likely to have a new partner -- the Bangalore-based GMR group.
GMR is the latest to join the long line of suitors, including the Hinduja group, Reliance Industries and Essar Oil , for the refinery.
"GMR has written a letter saying they are interested in a stake in the refinery," said ONGC Chairman and Managing Director, R S Sharma. He declined to divulge the volume of stake that is likely to be offloaded to GMR and the price the Bangalore-based company would have to pay. GMR operates power plants and is also modernising the New Delhi airport.
The board of Kakinada Refinery and Petrochemicals (KRPL), the company implementing the 15-million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) refinery and a 450,000-tonne per annum petrochemical plant, will meet on June 23 to take a decision on the stake sale.
ONGC's subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals holds 46 per cent stake in KRPL, IL&FS holds 51 per cent and the remaining stake is held by Kakinada Seaports.
Before GMR, the Hinduja group was keen on getting a stake in the refinery.
"It was only verbal discussions we had with the Hindujas. They did not give us any written request," Sharma said.
The refinery was initially planned with a capacity of 7.5 mtpa. Following feasibility studies, ONGC decided to double the capacity to 15 mtpa so sale of larger volumes of products could make the refinery viable. Feasible studies for the larger refinery are still on.
ONGC, which still does not have a deadline for starting work on the refinery, says Hindustan Petroleum's proposed refinery in Vishakapatnam, about 10 km from Kakinada, would make a refinery at Kakinada unviable. Hindustan Petroleum already operates a 7.5-mtpa refinery in Vishakapatnam.
The Andhra Pradesh government is, however, keen that the refinery and petrochemical plant come up in Kakinada, and has been lobbying hard with the Central government.
ONGC has sought fiscal incentives, worth Rs 16,000 crore from the state government over eight years to make the refinery financially viable. It wants exemption from sales tax on the sale of petroleum and petrochemical products, free power and water supply during the construction, and road and rail connectivity.
The refinery, along with the petrochemical plant, is proposed to be set up in a special economic zone in Kakinada. Land for the SEZ has already been acquired.
"The fact that the refinery will come up in an SEZ is attracting interest from companies since it will get various tax incentives," said the analyst with an advisory firm.
Companies keen on a stake say the refinery is feasible as the products can be exported to Southeast Asian countries. Kakinada also has a port.
Moreover, the proposed 450,000-tonne per annum petrochemical plant alongside the refinery will also add value to the refinery. "Petrochemicals margins are expected to remain strong till the end of 2013," said an RIL executive.
He expects the margins to remain positive even during the expected downturn in the petrochemical industry after 2013.

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Get ready for more air fare increases

2008-06-21T04:25:00.000-07:00

Leading Indian carriers said more air fare increases are possible soon because airlines have still not been able to sell tickets at a fare that meets their costs.
Sources in SpiceJet said the increase in basic air fares announced on Thursday would meet only half the increase in cost per seat so the airline has to look at ways to increase fares, especially if oil prices went up again.
"We have not been able to make an assessment of how much our yields will exactly increase as a result of these fare increases. We will be able to take a firm decision only after the fares are in the market for sometime," said Samyukth Sridharan, chief commercial officer, SpiceJet.
"But going by the current situation, we might increase our fares as soon as next month if further increase in oil prices are announced by the end of this month," he added.
According to Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, "The last increases in ATF prices from March till June have added $100 million a month to out costs, amounting to $1.2 billion annual costs for the industry as a whole just on this one head."
Airlines are finding it difficult to make good or compensate this cost from revenues, he added.
State-owned carrier Air India, which too raised fares yesterday, is also worried.
"The situation looks quite bad as of now. And we will have to increase our ticket prices in line with the rest of the market if there is another oil price increase," said Anita Khurana, director, commercial, National Aviation Company of India Ltd, the company formed after the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines.
Airline companies said they were treading a very thin line since rising fuel prices had dramatically increased their costs but fares could be raised cautiously so that the industry did not face de-growth.
"It is not possible to make good or compensate the losses with a rise in fares since a steep increase will lead to negative growth," Prock-Schauer said.
Last year, the market grew 30 per cent mainly on the back of cheap fares. This year, with oil companies raising aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices 18 per cent, airlines were forced to raise fares 10 per cent, causing domestic passenger growth to slow to 11 per cent.
Air ticket prices, inclusive of the basic fare, fuel surcharge and other taxes have increased by around 140 per cent for long-haul routes and more than double for short-haul routes from the beginning of 2007 till now. The most recent increase of around 5 to 20 per cent was announced on Thursday.
Vijay Mallya, promoter, Kingfisher Airlines, had said an airfare increase was inevitable. "If ATF prices are raised further we will have to raise fares again," he said after a meeting of airline companies a few days ago.
However, at projected losses of $2 billion for the industry for 2008-09, India would account for 34 per cent of the total estimated global losses, even as it accounts for 2 per cent of the global aviation industry.

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Malvinder gets hefty hike from new owners

2008-06-21T04:17:00.000-07:00

Promoter of Ranbaxy Laboratories , Malvinder Mohan Singh, not only sold a strategic stake in his company to Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyoand, he even managed to get a good increment for himself. According to the company's extraordinary general meeting notice, Singh will now earn a salary and allowances of Rs 25 crore per annum as against Rs 19.58 crore earlier.
However, the new promoters of the company also fixed the ceiling on his salary at Rs 25 crore till 2011. The EGM, to be held on July 15, will discuss increasing the salary, allowances and perquisites of Singh to not beyond Rs 25 crore, effective January 2008. The resolution will also seek to allow the board of directors to revise it from time to time.
The other terms and conditions relating to the appointment and remuneration of Singh, as approved by members at the annual general meetings held on June 28, 2006, and May 31, 2007, shall remain unchanged.
Malvinder has also been invited to join the global mangement team of Daiichi Sankyo.
The meeting will also seek to amend the existing employee stock-option scheme to the effect that the maximum number of stock options granted to an employee in a year shall be from 40,000 to 3 lakhs. The company sought to pass a special resolution that would will allow its board to issue equity shares to Daiichi at the rate of Rs 732 a share with a face value of Rs 5 and warranted to be converted later as shares, at the rate of Rs 737 a share.
Malvinder Singh's family sold their entire 34.8 per cent shareholding in Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo, in a deal valued at $4.6 billion.

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2nd car buyers overtake first-timers in Nano race

2008-06-19T04:57:00.000-07:00

Ganesh Gaikwad (name changed on request) has been working at a Tata Motors outlet in the central suburbs of Mumbai for more than two years now.
But none of the company's models during this period excited him as much as the Nano, which is targeted at the first-time car buyers.
But Gaikwad, who plans to buy a Nano himself, is surprised by the sheer number of second-time car buyers making him calls and personal visits for purchasing the people's car. About 900 customers express their desire to own a Nano every month. On some days, he even gets as many as 150 prospective buyers.
"Most people who visit the showroom are people who want to book as many as four to five Nanos. These people come with cheque books in hand," says Gaikwad.
Surprisingly, the demand from second-time car buyers outstrips the demand from those seeking to upgrade themselves from two-wheelers.
Tata Motors' city dealers say about 60 per cent of all Nano buyers are those who already own a car and the rest 40 per cent are those who either own a two-wheeler or have never owned a vehicle earlier.
The car maker's official Web site for inquiries on Nano has received 22.2 million hits as of June 13, more than four-fold jump from five million hits the page got six months earlier. Tata Motors' plant in Singur will have a capacity of 250,000 units a year in the first phase of expansion, which will be gradually raised to 350,000 units in the second phase.
Auto analysts suggest that Tata Motors may not be able to generate more than three to four per cent on net profit margin and five to six per cent on EBIDTA margin on the model. The car may take four years to break even.

Carry the bank in your mobile

2008-06-19T04:28:00.002-07:00

In reply to the question 'Where is your bank?', if I answer 'In my hand.', I am not exaggerating. With your cellphone, you can now make several banking transactions. "Today, there are more than 300 million cellphone users in India. We expect a huge number of them to become mobile banking service users. So, we are focusing on it," says M G Sanghvi, general manager, Dena Bank .
Small start. Many customers have already started using SMS alert facility that sends messages to their cellphones whenever a significant transaction takes place in their bank, credit card or other accounts.
Besides SMS facility, there is interactive demand facility that allows you to get banking information or transact over the phone. You can check account balance, payment of bills, the last three transactions in your account and cheque status as well as give stop payment orders.

Technology. Mainly, three technologies, SMS, GPRS and unstructured supplementary service data (USSD), are used to provide mobile banking services (see It's At Your Fingertips). As these are evolving, more complex transactions are being allowed through cellphones.

An ICICI Bank spokesperson says, "Our bank allows all Internet banking transactions over cellphones. Customers can now transfer funds to ICICI Bank from other bank accounts. Savings, dematerialised, credit card and loan accounts have been brought under this facility. Customers can also pay their utility bills and insurance premium through this facility."

To reach a wider audience, a few players, such as Barclays Hello Money, allow both English and Hindi interfaces.
Service charges. As of now, the service do not cost much as most banks are providing the service free, while some are charging a small fee. Cellular service providers, however, charge for the SMS or the GPRS facility.

Iron locker. The safety issue, however, is still a concern for several customers. Several banks assure that mobile banking is secure since most transactions work on a four-digit mobile banking PIN. Three incorrect PIN entries lock the application. And, if you lose your cellphone, you can contact the customer care centre to block the feature immediately.

"As long as the technology is safe, dissemination of information is confidential. For restricted use, one would not mind using the facility," says Antara Dasgupta, a 25-year-old Mumbai-based lawyer.

Worldview. Globally, m-commerce has taken a big step. In Japan, you can use it instead of plastic money for shopping. Unlike in plastic money, there is no card number, card verification value or expiry date and other details. So the chance of misuse is also less.

Domestic circle. Experts say that mobile banking has not gained the momentum in India. However, Reliance Communications and HDFC Bank have launched the mPay credit card, where the cellphone number replaces the card number. It can be used for all transactions that credit card is good for.

HDFC Bank authenticates information with RCom, and the cellphone can be used to initiate and authorise all payments. Also, mPay services can be used for Reliance cellphone and Reliance Energy bill payments. In future, it will be extended to allow the customer to book movie and travel tickets, and make payments at shops.

Also, Airtel has launched Mcheck for bill payments in collaboration with various banks. You can also pay your ICICI Prudential policy premium through it.

Sai Narain C.D.K., general manager (Consumer Transaction Banking & Strategic Initiatives), Standard Chartered Bank, says, "We launched it in 2008. We have an aggressive road map for our mobile banking initiatives. In the next few years, we do see it taking over a significant share of the transactions. There are several approaches and models being tried out in the industry."

Scanner. Since many more players are expected to plunge into this promising revolution, the RBI is expected to issue guidelines for mobile banking and m-commerce next month.

Now that the advanced technologies have simplified your life, you can make more out of your bank. After all, it's only an arm's length away.
It's at Your Fingertips
There are three technologies available in the market for accessing your bank account using your cellphone

SMS

You can perform a wide range of query-based transactions.

You need to be a subscriber of the cellular service provider with whom the bank has a tie-up (with SMS facility).

You need to register cellphone number with the bank to avail the facility.

To use the facility, type in the specified code for the transaction as a text message and send it to the bank's assigned number. You will receive the response in the form of a text message on your phone within a few seconds.

This covers most of the basic transactions like balance enquiry, mini statement, cheque status, chequebook request, fixed deposit enquiry, and others. For example, you can type 'bal' and send the SMS to get the available balance in the accounts linked to your customer identification number (a maximum of five accounts). Similarly, type 'txn' to get a mini statement, which will give you information on the last three transactions.

There is no PIN number. However, you can access information only of your account.

GPRS

GPRS: For this you need a Java-enabled handset and subscription to a GPRS connection.

Use the GPRS menu of your service provider and download the application provided by the banks. The software can be installed using Bluetooth, data cable or by sending an SMS to the number concerned. You will receive an SMS with the download application link.

Once the installation is complete, the application icon will appear in the menu. If you click on the icon the application will connect to the bank server and initiate the process. It will download the necessary information, such as details of bank, credit card, demat and loan accounts.

You need to create a PIN that will be used for future logins. It ensures only an authorised customer accesses the facility. Do note that after three consecutive wrong inputs of the PIN, the application gets locked.

To refresh application, press 'Refresh' in the 'Options/Menu' on the main screen. A message will be displayed with a summary of the downloaded/updated items.

USSD

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

You need to register with your bank for this facility and be a subscriber of a cellular service provider that the bank has a tie-up with.

You will need a normal GSM mobile phone and a PIN that the bank will give you. It will also give you the number you need to call for using the USSD facility, which is a no-store-just-forward facility for performing menu-driven transactions. You don't need to download any application.

You can perform account enquiries and financial transactions by dialling the specific number provided by the bank.

You will be guided to the mobile-based text menu from which you can choose from a number of options.

Once you have given the correct PIN, the required transaction is performed on your handset.

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Bamboo industry empowering women

2008-06-19T04:28:00.001-07:00

Honda launches first hybrid car in India

2008-06-18T04:37:00.000-07:00

Japanese car major Honda on Wednesday launched the first hybrid car in India, Civic Hybrid, priced at Rs 21.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The car is powered by a 1.3 litre petrol engine and electric motor. India is the 33rd country where Honda has launched its Civic Hybrid.
"This is yet another step to strengthen Honda's presence in India in line with our long term goal of bringing eco friendly vehicles," Honda CL's car India President and CEO Masahiro Takedawa said here.

Firefox 3 Web browser is now out as free download

2008-06-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

The new version of the Firefox Web browser became available as a free download on Tuesday.

The release was delayed as visitors checking for the update overloaded Firefox's Web servers.

The site was slow or unreachable for about two hours starting about 12:45 p.m. EDT (1645 GMT), 15 minutes before the scheduled release time, according to AlertSite, an Internet performance monitoring company. Performance improved later in the day.

Firefox supporters organized launch parties around the world as they tried to set a world record for most software downloads in a 24-hour period.

The category is new, and Guinness World Records must certify it, a process that could take a week or longer.

Firefox comes from Mozilla, an open-source community in which thousands of people, mostly volunteers, collectively develop free products. Firefox is the No. 2 Web browser behind Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer.

Firefox 3 includes enhancements to help users organize their frequently visited Web sites and block access to sites known to distribute viruses and other malicious software.

Users of Yahoo Inc.'s mail service can also use Firefox 3 to send e-mail by clicking a ``mailto'' link they might come across clicking on a name or a ``contact us'' link on a Web page. Previously such links could only open a standalone, desktop e-mail program.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

New Bengaluru International Airport

2008-06-18T03:49:00.001-07:00

'KPO sector to be worth USD 10 bn by 2012'

2008-06-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

The Indian Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) industry is expected to be worth USD 10 billion by 2012, according to a report released today by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The industry is set to grow at the rate of 25-27 per cent, provided a strong chain of qualified professionals is built, opening up the field for biotechnology and nanotechnology experts, according to the report on "Future Course of KPO Industry". Currently, the size of the KPO sector is estimated at USD 4 billion and it has grown at around 15 per cent in the last few years, dominated by professionals belonging to fields such as management, medical and engineering.
ASSOCHAM president Sajjan Jindal said, "There is need to create a new pool of KPO workers from emerging domestic knowledge-based industries such as biotechnology and nanotechnology as a large number of talented young people have joined academic courses for career excellence in these two areas."
"In India, the KPO industry is banking on availability of this talent pool to fill up its seats, but now they are facing a supply crunch," Jindal added.
As per ASSOCHAM estimates, a vast pool of highly educated professionals in engineering, medicine, management, accountancy and law would be required to serve the industry, which is estimated to employ over 1,00,000 people by 2012 as against the current number of about 40,000.
The KPO sector has the potential to attract professionals as the sector provides higher revenues than the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. The salaries are also 12-15 per cent higher and even the entry-level earnings are more.
Presently, the domestic KPO industry is facing stiff competition from countries like the Philippines, Russia, China, Poland and Hungary as these have qualified KPO professionals, low-cost, domain expertise, location advantage, sales and marketing capabilities and data compliance.
ASSOCHAM says that the domestic KPO industry needs to tighten its service level agreements to provide quality services. It also needs to attract more revenue by entering into partnerships with big financial service organisations.
According to the study, most Indian companies don't have security frameworks in place and overseas clients often hesitate to offshore research and processing of sensitive financial data. Moreover, the few companies that are coming out with ways to secure information are becoming less competitive due to the increase in cost. (IANS)

Source:http://www.headlinesindia.com

Maruti unveils Nano rival to banks

2008-06-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, may after all do what everyone expects it to: take on Ratan Tata's Nano with its own low-price car.
For long, there has been a will-they-won't-they kind of speculation about how Maruti will protect its entry-level consumer base from the Nano, whose lowest variant is likely to cost Rs 1 lakh in some places and about Rs 1.26 lakh in some others. The higher variants may cost Rs 1.5 lakh or more.
According to sources in the consumer finance industry, Maruti plans to counter it with a stripped-down version of the Maruti 800, its best-selling car by far, which has earned the trust of more than 2 million buyers. The stripped-down car will cost Rs 1.2-1.5 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi) making it about Rs 75,000 cheaper than the existing price tag.
A Maruti spokesperson denied any plan to launch a stripped-down version of the Maruti 800, but a senior executive in a bank with a large consumer finance business swore it was in the pipeline. "I am 200 per cent sure. My source is Maruti," he said.
In addition, the chief executive of a leading carmaker confirmed that he had heard about Maruti's new car to take on the Nano.
"Even today the margin on the Maruti 800 is Rs 23,000-35,000. Cutting the price of a stripped-down version will not be a big challenge," he said.
The Maruti 800 was once Maruti's most popular car and even now sells 5,500-6,000 units, which is comparable with Tata Motors's early target for the Nano.
Since the Nano was first showcased this January, the volume of the Maruti 800 has not changed significantly. Market analysts see this as strong customer sentiment in its favour.

Pfizer may counter Daiichi`s Ranbaxy offer

2008-06-13T03:45:00.000-07:00

US giant expected to bid for 65% non-promoter stake.

Pfizer Inc, the world's biggest drug maker, may bid for the 65 per cent non-promoter stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories, sources familiar with the developments said declining to be identified.
Malvinder Mohan Singh, managing director & CEO of Ranbaxy, and his family yesterday signed a binding agreement with Daiichi Sankyo to sell their entire 34.82 per cent stake for as much as $4.6 billion in one of the largest deals in the Indian pharma space.
Institutions and individuals hold 41.28 per cent and 21.24 per cent, respectively, in Ranbaxy. Others have the balance 2.66 per cent stake.
Pfizer's possible bid could queer the pitch for Daiichi, which is seeking to acquire another 17 per cent in Ranbaxy, India's largest pharma company, through an open offer at Rs 737 a share.
Pfizer, which held talks with the Ranbaxy founders for a possible acquisition a year earlier, may offer to buy out the stake held by lenders and other investors, the sources said.
When contacted, a Ranbaxy spokesperson said, "We have a binding agreement with Daiichi Sankyo and it is a final agreement. We will not comment on market speculation."
A Pfizer spokesperson said the Indian arm and its parent would not comment on speculation. Legal experts believe that any company could make a counter offer to buy Ranbaxy even after an agreement of sale is reached. Somasekhar Sundaresan, partner J Sagar Associates, said, "Anyone can make a counter offer for the non-promoter stake within 21 days of the open offer at a comparable price.'' The US-based company is battling Ranbaxy in about 18 countries on patent rights of Lipitor, the largest selling cholesterol drug in the world. Lipitor has annual sales of $13 billion. In most countries the patent on the drug will expire starting 2011.
Ranbaxy has won favourable verdicts on Lipitor in many of the geographies including in the US, the largest drug market in the world, which accounts for 28 per cent of the global generic market estimated at $72 billion.
Pfizer, which is facing patent expiry on some of its large selling drugs, lacks a large pipeline of new drugs.
The sources said Ranbaxy had earlier held discussions with both Pfizer as well as GlaxoSmithKline Pharma (GSK), but valuations were a deterrent in completing the deal.

ADAG pulls out of Mumbai sea-link project

2008-06-13T03:40:00.000-07:00

The consortium led by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company (ADAG) RELINFRA has decided not to seek an extension of the bid for the Rs 6,000-crore, 22-km sea link project between Sewri and Nhava-Sheva citing the state government's "indecisiveness" over awarding the contract.
A consortium of RELINFRA and Hyundai had won the bid for the project in February but the state government ordered a review on grounds that the concession period -- or the period for which the developer collects toll to recover its costs -- was unrealistically low.
RELIINFRA's withdrawal effectively leaves the field free for the only other bidder -- the consortium of Mukesh Ambani-promoted SeaKing Infrastructure Ltd (SKIL) and IL&FS. The RELINFRA consortium had quoted a concession period of nine years and 11 months against the SKIL consortium's 75 years.
RELINFRA submitted the bid documents in December. Under the conditions of the bidding process, a bid document is valid for six months after this. This period lapses on 13 June but RELINFRA has decided not to apply for an extension, as the state government had requested. "It is not correct to say we are pulling out of the project because it is not as though the project is being offered to us and we are rejecting it," a senior RELINFRA official told Business Standard. "In this case, we are not sure whether we will be getting the project and, if we are getting it, when," he explained.
Meanwhile, the state cabinet's committee on infrastructure, which is chaired by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, postponed the decision on the project by a week.
The controversy began last month when the state government asked the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which is a nodal agency for the project, to get both bids evaluated from a consultant owing to widely differing concession period.
Last week, London-based Dar Consultants submitted a report saying both bids are worth considering.
At Thursday's meeting of the cabinet committee MSRDC forwarded four proposals for consideration, which included awarding the project to RELINFRA. The other three options were a re-tender, rebids by RELINFRA and SeaKing or MSDRC going it alone.
Deshmukh also reportedly told the MSRDC to examine the credibility and feasibility of the bids submitted by the two consortiums led by the Ambani brothers and come up with concrete suggestions.
"The project is of the enormous importance to the city and that's why we are being cautious," said minister for public works Anil Deshmukh, justifying the delaying of the decision.

Daiichi to acquire 50.1% stake in Ranbaxy

2008-06-11T04:29:00.000-07:00

Japanese pharmaceutical major Daiichi Sankyo will acquire a majority stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd (RLL), with the promoters of the Gurgaon-based company on Wednesday selling their entire stake.
The transaction, to be followed up by an open offer, puts the entire deal value between 3.4 billion dollars and 4.6 billion dollars.
Ranbaxy said a binding share purchase and share subscription agreement was entered into between Daiichi Sankyo, Ranbaxy and the Singh family.
Under the deal, Daiichi would acquire 34.82 per cent (as per latest shareholding information on the BSE) stake of the promoters and make an open offer as per regulatory requirements at a price of Rs 737 per share.
The purchase price represents a premium of 53.5 per cent to Ranbaxy's average daily closing price on the NSE for the three months ending June 10, 2008. Besides, the offer price is 31.4 per cent higher than yesterday's closing price, it added.
On the post closing basis, which is expected by March 2009, the transaction would value Ranbaxy at 8.5 billion dollars, it added.
Malvinder Singh will continue to lead the company as its CEO and Managing Director, while additionally assuming the position of Chairman of the Board, upon closure, Ranbaxy said.
Commenting on the deal, Singh said it puts Ranbaxy on a new and much stronger platform to harness its capabilities in drug development, manufacturing and global reach.
"Together with our pool of scientific, technical and managerial resources and talent, we would enter a new orbit to chart a higher trajectory of sustainable growth in the medium and long term in the developed and emerging markets organically and inorganically," he said.

iPhone 3G coming soon to India

2008-06-11T04:23:00.001-07:00

Bharti Airtel and Vodofone will launch the 3G version of the much talked about iPhone in India this year. In addition to the regular features of the iPhone, the new device will support 3G - a mobile telephony standard that enhances network efficiency and allows faster data transfer rates over mobile and has yet to come into operation here.
The new device also has Global Positioning System, a satellite-based technology that enables users to identify his location on a map. Apple's iPhone 3G will be commercially launched across 22 countries on June 11 following which it will be introduced in 70 other countries.
"We can't wait to get this revolutionary product in the hands of even more people around the world," Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Operating Officer, said in a statement. Bharti Airtel President and CEO Manoj Kohli said his company expects to bring the device to market by mid-October.
Vodafone officials, however, did not give any definite timeframe for the Indian market. "We are very excited to bring iPhone 3G to many of our customers across Europe and emerging markets this summer," said Frank H.
R and #246;vekamp, global CMO, Vodafone Group in a statement. Neither Vodafone nor Airtel shared pricing details.
In the US the handset will retail for $199 (or Rs 8,000 approximately) for the 8 GB version and $ 299 (Rs 12,000) for the 16GB version

BSNL reduce STD rates up to 50%

2008-06-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited on Monday announced a 40-50 per cent reduction in STD charges of cellular services under various plans.It also announced to slash the call charges of landline services by 50 per cent.Under the landline services, STD rates have been reduced from Rs 2.40 to 1.20 paise per minute to all networks in general and 'sulabh' plan."The intra-circle call charges, to BSNL network and inter circle call charges to all the networks, has also been reduced by 50 per cent," BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal said. Roaming charges under prepaid and postpaid services have also been revised.

Govt to launch biometric PAN cards for new I-T payers

2008-06-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

The government will soon introduce biometric permanent account numbers for income tax payers, though initially only new applicants would be brought under its net, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday.
"There is progress on biometric PAN cards. Features have been finalised, what biometric measure will be used in the PAN card is being identified," he said when asked about the progress on government's proposal last year to introduce biometric PAN cards.
He said the bids would soon be invited by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in this regard to issue PAN cards with biometric features.
The biometric PAN card could use 'iris' scan for identification. This means that one might have to provide fingerprint or iris/retina impression.
The Income Tax department had mooted introducing such cards about two years ago, when it found that over 13 lakh people out of about total four crore PAN card holders had duplicate cards.
Most of them had provided wrong information about their home address or even furnished different names in the column of father's name to get two or three PAN cards.
The move has been, however, delayed due to lack of consensus in the department over the use of technology and due to high costs.
Currently, a PAN card costs about Rs 60. A biometric PAN card, however, will cost anything between Rs 200 and Rs 300, sources said.
Chidambaram further said the biometric cards would be introduced only for new applicants, and 'old PAN cards will be valid.'Biometric PAN cards will not only provide a unique identity to the assessee, but also discourage evading of information regarding investments and high value transactions.
These are expected to reduce chances of duplication and ensure better tax compliance as well.
Although initially only new applicants would be provided such cards, the current taxpayers may be later asked to switch over to biometric PAN cards in a phased manner, sources said.
At present, it is compulsory to quote PAN for many transactions, especially those specified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes. For example, transactions involving sale and purchase of property or a vehicle; payment in cash or by credit card exceeding Rs 25,000; depositing amounts more than Rs 50,000 with a bank or a post office, buying mutual funds or stocks.
The step to introduce biometric PAN cards has been undertaken not just by recent incidents of issue of fake cards but also due to terror threat. The government fears that PAN cards could be an easy tool for terrorists to open bank accounts to finance their activities.

Here comes the over-friendly and 'single-minded' Trojan

2008-06-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

Nita Saxena is both agitated and perplexed. She is continually bombarded with numerous replies from friends and acquaintances, accepting her invitation to join the social networking sites she is active on. If she has invited them, why should she get angry? Simple. She has never sent out a single invitation.
On digging further, she found out that such invites were being sent not only to her colleagues and friends, but to her top bosses too - essentially, everyone who features in her address book.
"I was surprised when people called me up and enquired on the invites that I was supposed to have sent them. Even though my profile is posted on a couple of social networking sites, I don't get much time for social interactions, not to mention asking people to join these sites," says Saxena.
Nita is not alone. She is one among the estimated 5-6 million Indians, who are actively involved in social networking and spend approximately 25-75 per cent of their time online in social networking activities.
Welcome to the world of the over-friendly and 'single-minded' Trojan. Single-minded, as it seems to be inviting people to the site and start networking. A Trojan is a programme that appears to be desirable (like a free downloadable game or screen saver), but contains viruses or worms (self-replicating viruses) that can create havoc with the PC and the network.
However, in the case of these social networking sites, the Trojans that plant themselves on the users' computers and send invites to all mail IDs saved in the contact list, are harmless. The Trojan embeds itself in the user's computer when he/she logs on to a social networking site and sends invites to all listed in the contact list.
The receiver - believing it to be from a genuine friend - accepts the invitations and becomes a member of the social networking site. The sites use this to increase their membership, while hackers use the technique for their phishing attempts.
They do not crash the PC nor the network, an IT specialist with a leading BPO notes. But they sure can mar friendships, relationships or even lead to unwanted and unsolicited networking.
Internet Service Providers Association of India president Rajesh Chharia says, "Even though these programmes only send spam and are quite harmless, at times it can lead to embarrassing situations".
"As most of these social networking sites are used for business networking and friendship, it is not possible for Internet Service Providers to block these sites. The best option is to put in good firewalls at the user's level," he said.
ISPAI, on its part, had sought approvals from the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Telecommunications, to put in filters at the ISP level to protect data and ensure privacy to all Internet users in the country.
"The issue needs to be addressed pro-actively using security solutions, both on the server and client level. F-Secure has solutions both for corporates and consumers, which are being offered through ISP partners," F-Secure director (sales) Venu Palakirti said.
So the next time you log on to a social networking site, an invitation to join the site has gone to your super boss on your behalf. But without your knowledge!

RBI bars Sahara India Financial from accepting public deposits

2008-06-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sahara India Financial Corporation (SIFCL), the largest deposit-taking non-banking finance company in the country, has been barred by the Reserve Bank of India from accepting public deposits with immediate effect.
The company has also been told to repay the existing deposits as and when they mature.
SIFCL, part of the highly influential Sahara group which has interests in mutual funds, insurance, real estate and media, has been found guilty of violating various regulatory norms.
According to a statement issued by RBI, on Wednesday, the violations include non-payment of minimum rate of interest prescribed for RNBCs (residuary non-banking company), non-maintenance of stipulated asset-liability match, violation of Know Your Customer norms for opening deposit accounts, not informing depositors in time about the maturity of their deposits, and non-repayment of deposits on maturity.
Currently, SIFCL, a residuary NBFC, has a huge deposit base of close to Rs 18,000 crore. Asked to repay
RBI has directed SIFCL to repay the deposits as and when they mature and not to treat non-payment of instalments under any running daily deposit or recurring deposit schemes by depositors as a default.
The company is also liable to pay the agreed rate of interest on the amounts actually held by it for the entire term of the deposit as if there was no default, RBI said.
RBI had earlier issued a show-cause notice to SIFCL on violation of various regulations. However, despite the warning, the company continued to violate the guidelines, RBI said.
An RNBC is a non-banking financial company that is wholly dependent on public deposits. Other NBFCs depend on market borrowings and bank finance also.
According to information from the company’s Web site, SIFCL, set up in 1987, has a depositor base of 4.25 core and 1,508 service centres.
Apart from Sahara, the other two RNBCs operating in India are the Kolkata-based Peerless General Finance and Investment Company and Disari India Savings and Credit Corporation.

Source:click here

Tatas, Infosys among world's 15 most reputed Company!!!

2008-06-06T05:41:00.000-07:00

New York, June 5 (IANS) India's Tata Group has been ranked the world's sixth most reputed company and Infosys Technologies 14th in the annual 'Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations' list compiled by the Reputation Institute here.
The list that includes 10 other Indian companies is topped by Japanese automaker Toyota, followed by Google and Ikea, Sweden's home products' chain.
'India's Tata Group and Infosys Technologies saw their reputations increase by over 8 points in 2008, and catapulted over 100 spots in the ranking to join the top tier of global companies in 2008 in recognition of their growing role among the world's business elite,' the Reputation Institute said in its survey report released Thursday.
Other Indian firms in the top 200 list include Maruti Udyog (ranked 77th), State Bank of India (107), Hindustan Lever (131), Hero Honda Motors (147), Life Insurance Corporation of India (161), Bajaj Auto (169), ONGC (186), Mahindra and Mahindra (191), and Indian Oil Corporation (199).
Some large Indian firms which were among 600 shortlisted companies but could not make it to the final 200 included Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, the country's biggest by revenue among private sector firms and overall largest in terms of market value.
India's biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank, Airtel, BSNL, Wipro, ITC and Air India also could not make the cut.
According to the Reputation Institute, the Tata Group and Air India have the strongest and weakest corporate reputations, respectively, among Indian companies.
The Tatas are ranked higher than companies like Walt Disney, Marks and Spencers, Xerox, Colgate-Palmolive, Sony, Honda and General Electric (GE), all of which are in the top 50.
Reputation Institute said that all the 200 companies earned scores higher than the global mean of 64.2 points, but despite earnings better-than-global average, the companies ranked 51-200 have 'significantly weaker reputations than the top tier companies.'
Each company's overall Global Pulse score is based on what the institute terms the seven dimensions of reputation: products and services, innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and performance. The most influential dimensions are products and services, and citizenship.
Reputation Institute, a private, New York City-based research and consulting firm, launched its list of world's most reputed companies in 2006.

Source : Yahoo.com

2008-06-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

Tanla Solutions acquire Openbit for $18.6 mn!!

Payments through mobile will soon become reality! Tanla Solutions, a provider of telecom infrastructure, announced its acquisition of Finland-based Openbit OY, a leading provider of global ondevice payments for mobile applications, in an all cash deal for $18.60 million. With the acquisition, the company would be launching new payment services in the country and has initiated talks with all the leading operators. The company is acquiring 85% from the outgoing financial investors and the remaining 15% held by the management is to be purchased by Tanla in two tranches of 5% and 10% after the first and second year, respectively.
Commenting on the deal Uday Reddy, CMD, said, "smart phones are claiming an increasing share of the handset market driving the consumption of richer content formats and increased use of the mobile phone for processing payments. The acquisition of Openbit extends Tanla's payments portfolio beyond operator billing products to address the emerging market for rich media & business applications on handsets."
"Openbit gives us an opportunity to serve more customers in the international markets, and fortifies Tanla as a leading mobile solutions organisation, in line with its vision to become a global end-to-end applications and solutions provider. We hope to integrate our operations at the earliest to benefit from the tremendous synergies available to us," he said.
With this acquisition Tanla would get a strong footing in this burgeoning market with access to pedigree proprietary technology and best in class applications. Besides, it would also be integrating its global aggregator platforms with the acquired company to enable end users to be billed by premium SMS and also help leverage more than 90 operator relationships to facilitate its objective of global connectivity. Both companies would integrate their respective R&D and product development capabilities to introduce new products and services globally pooling on the resources available with Tanla's development centre for professional services including offshore development.
Openbit is recognised as a leading provider of solutions that seamlessly integrate on-device payment and digital rights management (DRM) for mobile applications. The company has a proven business model with a unique value proposition around on-device payment, with an installed base of over 20 million Symbian OS-enabled Nokia handsets worldwide. The company provides software vendors and content distributors with efficient and secure means to distribute and process payment of mobile content for end-users globally. Openbit has established global billing agreements that allow convenient payment of mobile content with nearly 90 operator networks in over 30 countries and with all major credit cards worldwide.
Openbit's clients include Nokia and some of the largest independent software vendors like Symantec, F-Secure and Quickoffice and gaming companies like 3D Arts & Gamelion. For the financial year ended December 31, 2007, Openbit recorded revenues of $15.88 million with an EBITDA of $0.79 million and Openbit had cash equivalents of $3.04 million as of December 31, 2007.
Further, Tanla has identified mobile payments as one its core verticals going forward. Juniper Research estimates the market opportunity to be in excess of $11 billion by 2011 a third of which would be on account of retail and ticketing segments. The drivers for this growth can be attributed to convenience and increasing use of feature rich phones.
Industry estimates for feature and Smartphone shipments by 2011 exceed 870 million registering far higher CAGR as compared with Voicephones. More than one billion subscribers would be using their mobiles for the purchase of both physical and digital goods globally over the next three years.

Tata plans water brand to take on Coke, Pepsi

2008-06-05T04:39:00.000-07:00

Tata Tea , which sold its stake in US-based Glaceau last year, plans to begin selling a low-priced bottled water in the country through its unit Mount Everest Mineral Water , to take on global rivals such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in the Rs 1,500-crore packaged drinking water market.
"We want to do it quickly,'' Pradeep Poddar, managing director and CEO, Mount Everest, said. "The market is still very young and we can evolve it further through marketing new offerings."
The company may sell its bottled water brand for masses at rates lower than those offered by competitors Bisleri, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, he said. "The challenge for us is developing a right technology."
Tata Tea, which owns 31.73 per cent stake in Mount Everest, doesn't have a mass market bottled water brand in India. The company's Himalayan brand is a premium brand controlling about half of the natural mineral water segment.
Coca-Cola's Kinley and PepsiCo's Aquafina together dominate about quarter of the mass bottled water market. Bisleri, owned by Ramesh Chauhan, accounts for 16 per cent of total sales. More than 50 per cent of the packaged drinking water market is dominated by 200 odd water brands that sell in regional pockets.
The move to create a low-price bottled water is part of Mount Everest's strategy to develop a comprehensive water-based beverage portfolio that straddles all the price points in the domestic market.
Both out-of-home and in-home consumption of packaged drinking water has grown in the country as consumers increasingly see it as an option for getting safe and clean drinking water. Growing health awareness is also boosting demand for bottled water that offer functional benefits like losing weight and nutrition.
"We would focus on introducing brands that can be volume-drivers for the company," Poddar said. The firm's strategy reflects the parent Tata Group's drive to expand its brand presence in top and low-end segments. As part of the plan, the Tata Group is developing the world's cheapest car Nano and acquiring marquee brands including Jaguar and Land Rover, he added.
Tata Tea, which acquired 30 per cent stake in Energy Brands (Glaceau), a vitamin-enriched water brand, in August 2006 for $677 million, sold the stake after nine months as Coca-Cola offered to buy it out for $1.2 billion. It bought the natural mineral water brand Himalayan in the premium segment in August 2007.
Poddar believes that domestic water market could grow in line with the western world, where there is a huge demand for value-added water products like functional water, which offer health and wellness benefits to consumers.
Mount Everest would look at the twin approach of developing its own brands and acquisitions to build its portfolio to service the demand in the country as well as globally.
MEMW's Himalayan operates in a premium segment at a price of Rs 25 per litre as against the average price of Rs 12 per litre of other brands in the packaged drinking water space. However, the company has realised that volumes lie in the Rs 1,500 crore packaged drinking water market that is growing at the compounded annual growth rate of 25 per cent. Out of this, the natural mineral water forms just Rs 100 crore.
The company is also focusing on developing the brand equity and distribution of the Himalayan brand. "Following the rebranding of Himalayan, the response we received for the brand in Mumbai, where it is currently being marketed, was very encouraging. In the course of two months, we would also roll-out this brand nationally in the retail outlets where it was not present" said Abanti Sankaranarayanan, executive director and deputy chief executive officer, Mount Everest.

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World's costliest & cheapest petrol Prices

2008-06-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

Venezuela (Caracas): Rs 2.12 per litre Cheapest
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The United States: Rs 44.25 per litre
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India Rs 50.76(in Mumbai)
Canada: Rs 57 per litre
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Hong Kong: Rs 84.10 per litre
United Kingdom: Rs 95.50 per litre
Norway (Oslo): Rs 112 per litre
Turkey: Rs 113.30 per litre Costliest

Tata Motors hike prices of all Tata cars!

2008-06-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

On Monday Tata Motors hiked the prices of all its cars.
The Prices will be increase between 1% to 2% for it's Indica, Indigo and Indigo marina models and in the SUV category like SUMO and Tata Safari the hike is 2% to 3% according to the statement. The increased prices will be effective immediately, became necessary 'due to the continuous increase in input costs'according to the company.

Tata Indicom introduce a new pre-paid scheme

2008-06-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

Tata Teleservices on Monday launches a new scheme, under which its pre-paid customers can call any Local Tata Indicom number for free.
This service is available with the recharge of Rs 195 for a period of 30 days. Subscribers using the this recharge voucher can make local calls for 50 paise per minute and STD calls are at Rs 1.50 per minute. All existing and new subscribers can avail the benefits of the scheme , but the subscribers under daily rental plans like Go Power, Go Special and Go Speak, can recharge with Rs 165 voucher to enjoy the same benefits.