brand story(11-16th dec)

Hindustan Lever Limited (also called HLL), headquartered in Mumbai, is India’s largest consumer products company, formed in 1933 as Lever Brothers India Limited. Its 41,000 employees are headed by Mr.Harish Manwani, the non-executive chariman of the board. HLL is the market leader in Indian products such as tea, soaps, detergents, as its products have become daily household name in India. The Anglo-Dutch company Unilever owns a majority stake in Hindustan Lever Limited.what helped HLL to capture such major share in FMCG market is its diversification into new market and market segments and also segments created for every product it manufactures.
Brands
 
Wheel Detergent ad in rural Nepal area.Some of its brands include Kwality Wall’s ice cream, Lifebuoy, Lux, Breeze, Liril, Rexona, Hamam, Moti soaps, Lipton tea, Brooke Bond coffee, Pepsodent and Close Up toothpaste and brushes, and Surf, Rin and Wheel laundry detergents, Kissan squashes and jams, Annapurna salt and atta, Pond’s talcs and creams, Vaseline lotions, Fair & Lovely creams, Lakmé beauty products, Clinic Plus, Clinic All Clear, Sunsilk and Lux shampoos, Vim dishwash, Ala bleach and Domex disinfectant.

 Marketing
In February 2003 Hindustan Lever Limited has launched a new division called Hindustan Lever Network. This division markets a wide range of Fast Moving Consumer Goods through Network Marketing.This operates by recruiting individuals as consultants. These consultants are paid a commission on the purchases made by them and on the purchases made by those recruited by them.

National Politics [08-15 Dec]

                   PM lays foundation for auto R&D centre

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today laid the foundation stone for the Rs 470-crore Global Automotive Research Centre (G-ARC) at Oragadam, near Chennai. Dr Manmohan Singh said that the facility would have the latest infrastructure for automotive testing and homologation and will be developed on 304 acres. Along with the Centres of Excellence being set up, G-ARC would make India a frontrunner in automobile R&D. The G-ARC is part of the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project and will help automobile and auto component manufacturers achieve global standards.

               Trinamool’s call to boycott Tata products

KOLKATA: With the indefinite hunger strike by Mamata Banerjee entering its 10th day here on Wednesday, the Trinamool Congress leadership called for a State-wide boycott of all products manufactured by the Tata Group of companies. This was in protest against the proposed setting up of the car manufacturing plant by Tata Motors at Singur in Hooghly district.

                  Maharashtra clears land for Reliance SEZ

Reliance Industries’ proposed Special Economic Zone at Navi Mumbai is on course, with the Maharashtra Government clearing allotment of 1,150 hectares of land.With this, Reliance has received more than 50 per cent of the required land for its multi-product SEZ.Out of the total SEZ area, 15 per cent would be earmarked for residential purposes and the remaining 85 per cent for industrial purpose. Reliance is setting up two SEZs in the State, with the other one being proposed in Raigad district, which will be spread over 10,000 hectares, involving a cost of Rs 30,000 crore

                                India, UAE sign deal 

NEW DELHI: Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and visiting Labour Minister of the United Arab Emirates Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka’abi signed an agreement on Wednesday to facilitate recruitment of workers and regulate their terms of employment. Under the agreement, a bilateral committee is to be set up (consisting of three members from the two countries) to review employment opportunities in the UAE and the availability of corresponding skills in India.

 

         

Commodity

Asia ethanol demand seen at 2 billion liters in the year ending September 2007, but it would not push up sugar prices, according to Mr. Christopher Berg, Deputy Director of German analyst F.O Licht.

Pepper futures fell sharply on Thursday on bull liquidation and other factors such as the announcement by the Kerala State Marketing Federation that it would sell 300 tones of pepper held bi it and absence of buying support due to lack of confidence in the quality of the materials available with the e exchanges.

Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed marginally lower on Thursday, as prices of rival soya oil declined on the Chicago Board of Trade. The bench mark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivative exchange finished down 3 ringgit at 1,850 rinnggit ($552) per tonne.

 Group – 5

 15 (B)

OUTSOURCING

Unisys, Wipro Tie Up For IT Outsourcing 

Unisys and Wipro Technologies have formed  a global alliance to establish an intergrated means to execute go-to-market and delivery activities for managed services. The two companies will seek opportunities to provide IT services like deskside and hardware support services and multilingual service desk services. Both the IT giants have signed an initial outsourcing engagement for a fortune 500 company in US with Unisys share of total contract value estimated at $ 27.5 million spread over a [eriod of 5 years. Under the contract Unisys will be a sub-contractor to Wipro in providing managed services to support more than 20000 employees in US, Canada and
UK.

Source: The Economic Times, 8 December 2006.

 

BPOs Shed Vanilla Pricing, Go For The Kill. 

Call centers and process back offices are now increasingly getting paid on the success of each call or transaction rather than the minutes spend on each. The BPO industry has moved a few notches up in the value chain. It evolved from being projected as a fun place to a work place. Today BPO companies have emerged as business partners rather than plain vendors. In line with this, the whole matrix of pricing is that it is witnessing dynamism with new models emerging depending on the complexity of process outsourced.

Source: The Economic Times, 8 December 2006.

 

 

Wipro Pushes Beyond Global Delivery Infrastructure Management. 

Of all the Indian vendors, Wipro today maintains the strongest European client base for offshore infrastructure services. The company is actively pushing beyond pure remote infrastructure management and has recently begun to successfully compete head to head against traditional on-site outsourcers for larger end-to-end infrastructure outsourcing deals. As a result of its strategic commitment to growing the infrastructure management business, Wipro continues to invest in European resources for deeper local market penetration.

Source: www.forrester.com , 5 December 2006.

National Politics [01-08 Dec]

Promoting trade

The King of Jordan, Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, calling on the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, at Hyderabad House, in the Capital on Friday. India and Jordan are expected to sign several agreements and pacts linked to investment, tourism and cultural ties.

Business Line 02 Dec.

India keen on stake in Sakhalin-III project

After the success of Sakhalin-1 fields in Russia, India is making a case for Indian participation in Sakhalin-III oil fields. Russia is planning to invite bids in future for Sakhalin-III project and once the blocks are put on offer, India will look for opportunities there.India plans to get more oil and gas from Russia as part of its efforts to diversify sources of energy.

Business Line 03 Dec.

Centre to come out with accounting standards

Government would soon specify the accounting standards that companies need to adopt for the preparation of their financial statements under the company law.

Business Line 03 Dec.

Control drug prices: Commerce Ministry

Efforts by the Ministry of Chemicals to reduce medicine prices by putting in a regulatory framework for the pharmaceuticals industry has run into another roadblock. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has written an official letter to the Ministry of Chemicals refusing to support the draft legislation for the National Pharma Policy.

Business Line 04 Dec

Panel moots formula for gas price valuation

A high-level committee appointed by the Petroleum Ministry to work out guidelines for valuation of natural gas has recommended a formula by which the Government’s share of royalty and profit petroleum would be at the market-determined price, even though the producer sells to the consumer at a negotiated price.

Business Line 05 Dec.

Tata Power to make Defence products

Tata Power has received seven licences from the Government for manufacturing electronic systems and products for defence services.According to the company, the licences would enable Tata Power to be the prime contractor to the Ministry of Defence for designing, development, manufacturing, assembling and upgrading critical systems in seven core areas of defence strategic electronics.The seven defence production licences pertain to design, development, manufacture, assembly and upgrades of Electronic Warfare Systems for Army, Navy, Air Force, Para-military and Inland Security.

Business Line 06 Dec.

SBI plans domestic float next year to fund growth

SBI plans to tap the domestic capital market next fiscal to fund its business growth. The bank was awaiting Parliamentary nod to the proposed amendments in the State Bank of India Act before it goes about raising more tier-I capital.

 

UNCLE TOM’S CABIN

                                           UNCLE TOM’S CABIN      

                                      BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

 

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Harriet Beecher was born June 14, 1811, the seventh child of a famous protestant preacher. Harriet worked as a teacher with her older sister Catharine: her earliest publication was a geography for children, issued under her sister’s name in 1833. In 1836, Harriet married widower Calvin Stowe: they eventually had seven children. Stowe helped to support her family financially by writing for local and religious periodicals. During her life, she wrote poems, travel books, biographical sketches, and children’s books, as well as adult novels. She met and corresponded with people as varied as Lady Byron, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and George Eliot. She died at the age of 85.REVIEW

The historical significance of Stowe’s antislavery writing has tended to draw attention away from her other work, and from her work’s literary significance. Her work is admittedly uneven. At its worst, it indulges in a romanticized Christian sensibility that was much in favour with the audience of her time, but that finds little sympathy or credibility with modern readers. At her best, Stowe was a early and effective realist. Her settings are often accurately and detailedly described. Her portraits of local social life, particularly with minor characters, reflect an awareness of the complexity of the culture she lived in, and an ability to communicate that culture to others. In her commitment to realism, and her serious narrative use of local dialect, Stowe predated works like Mark Twain. This paper provides an overview and analysis of Stowe’s novel which illustrates the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery. Some of the characters in the novel provide justifications for slavery and others express their reasons for opposing it. Stowe’s novel also demonstrates how slaves were kept disunited and powerless, and how some slaves acted to resist authority. Stowe’s personal view son the issue are also revealed in the novel, as well as the role of lawmakers and the church in allowing slavery to persist.

 

Dr.KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW

Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw 

Dr.Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is an Indian enterpreneur, born on 23 March 1953 in Banglore. She is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd. She was educated at the Bishop Cotton Girls School and
Mount Carmel
College at
Bangalore. After obtaining a B.Sc Honours degree in zoology from
Bangalore
University in 1973, she joined the
Ballarat
University in Melbourne, Australia and qualified as a master Brewer in 1975 to become
India’s first woman Brew master. Her professional career started with the position of trainee brewer in Carlton & United Beverages in 1974. During 1975-77, she worked in technical positions in Kolkata and Vadodara.In 1978, she joined as Trainee Manager with Biocon Biochemicals Limited in
Ireland. Collaborating with the same Irish firm, she founded Biocon
India with a capital of Rs 10,000 in her garage. Over the years, the company grew under her stewardship and is today the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in
India. 

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has held several honorary and advisory positions, few of them are 

·        Member, Board of Governors,IIM Banglore·        Chairperson and mission leader of CII’s National Task Force on Biotechnology·        Member,The Prime Minister’s council on trade & industry in
India·        Member ,Board of science foundation,
Ireland 

Some of the major awards won by Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are: 

·        Wharton Infosys Business Transformation award (2006)·        Padma Bushan (2005)·        Lifetime achievement award from Indian Chamber Of Commerce (2005)·        Honorary doctorate of science, from Ballart university (2004) 

 

GROUP 5A

cover story..(2nd dec to 8th)

Investors move away from small savings 

• Gross small savings collections in post offices and banks declined.
• This for the first time that savings comes down in the last ten years.
• Gross small savings declined to Rs 73,456 crores as compared to Rs 82,800 crores to last year.
• This is due to increasing inflation, investor’s preference for alternative investment avenues, interest rate offered on competing investments like bank deposits etc.

                                                                              Business line (6th December) 

Buddhadev rules out stopping work on Tata Motors project 

• 
  West Bengal chief  minister  said he is ready for talk with anybody even with Trinamool congress
• He denied to stop work on preparation for the Tata motors plant at Hoogly district
• Trinamool congress leader Ms. Mamta Banarjee began a hunger strike against the acquisition of land for the project.

                                                                  The Economic Times          (  5/12/2006) 

Cisco to locate unit in Chennai

With plans to make India its global hub, US-based networking major Cisco Systems on Wednesday announced a slew of initiatives including setting up a manufacturing unit in Chennai and tripling its manpower in the country from 2,000 at present to 6,000 over the next 3-4 years.

·       
India key to its global growth strategy; plan to triple manpower to 6,000.·        Twenty per cent of top executives will move to
India.·        Chennai unit will export hi-tech products to global markets.Chinese bikes to hit Indian roads soon; 3 cos look for distributors“Roadworthiness under Indian conditions doubtful” 

·        Three Chinese bike makers are planning to hit the Indian roads.

·        Cixi Kingring Motor cycle Company, Xindayang Group Company Ltd and Huzhou Jiajieshi Machine & Electric Company are exhibiting their products at the fourth
China products (Mumbai) Exhibition.

                                                            Business Line( 8^th December)

Retail Finance (Nov 25- Dec 1)

Public sector banks too offer online trade services

Businessline, Nov 25

 Not to be left behind private banks, several public sector banks are tying up with broking firms to offer online trading services. In the last week, three public sector banks announced trading services and a few more banks are also expected to follow. While the securities firms provide the trading facility, banks provide savings and demat accounts. For the banks, it means a new source of fee income, more floating funds and a larger base of low cost deposits in the form of savings and current bank accounts. State Bank of India, which tied up with Motilal Oswal Securities, already has 65,000 demat clients and is targeting 1,50,000 clients. “Online trading will give us floating funds,” said Mr Sangeet Shukla, Chief General Manager, (Personal Banking). Punjab National Bank has tied up with IDBI Capital Market Services and Oriental Bank of Commerce with ILFS Investmart. Bank of India is linking up with Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd.

Corpn Bank branch wins LIC award

 Businessline, Nov. 27

Corporation Bank, Personal Banking Branch, Nampally, has become the first public sector bank to earn BIMA Bank award from the Life Insurance Corporation ofIndia, South Central Zone, here. The award is in recognition of the highest insurance premium mobilised by the branch over the last six months. The branch had crossed Rs 50 crore business at the end of September 2006 and earned ISO certification, according to a press release.

SIB to launch co-branded Citi credit card

Businessline, Nov. 29

South Indian Bank (SIB), which opened a new office here recently to streamline its operations here, will be launching co-branded Citi Bank credit card next month. This is part of the bank’s endeavour to increase its non-fund based revenue. SIB has already signed MoUs with five mutual funds to distribute their products.

Catholic Syrian offers mediclaim policy

 Businessline, Nov. 30

Catholic Syrian Bank has launched a mediclaim policy, CSB Health Care Support, in association with the New India Assurance Company. The launch of the scheme is just right since most customers would be looking out for better tax breaks towards the end of the financial year, along with medical insurance facilities, Mr N.R. Achan, Chairman of the bank, said over the phone. The fee-based income of Catholic Syrian Bank is expected to go up substantially during the current year, since the bank has tied up with several mutual funds also for selling their products, Mr Achan said.  

MARKETING (DEC 1 – DEC 7)

Levi’s iPod jeans in India

Business Line, December 7 

Levi’s has launched its iPod compatible jeans in Bangalore, India. The Levi’s Redwire Jeans merges the iPod plug and play technology into the denim apparel. Developers at the Levi’s headquarters in San Francisco in association with Apple have been designed the jeans, are set to be compatible with most iPod models. Each pair of jeans comes with a Tech Pack that carries 6 docking cradles, an earphone set with retractable wires and a tiny device acting as an interface between the iPod and the jeans. Available for both men and women, the Redwire Jeans is priced at Rs 9000.     

H & R Johnson to diversify

Business Line, December 7  

Ceramics and tile manufacturer H & R Johnson (India) Ltd will invest Rs 50 crore to diversify its Marbonite brand in the vitrified wall category. Now, it is about to launch a new vitrified wall brand, the Marbonite Wonderwall. This was done after the market research predicted that there is a great need for Italian marble substitutes. 

Zen Estilo comes with Rs3.2 – 4 lakh price tag

The Economic Times, December 6 

Zen is back in a brand new avatar. Maruti Udyog launched the next- generation Zen as the Zen Estilo. Priced right in the middle of the B segment, the Estilo is now roomier and taller than the earlier Zen. It comes in four variants. The base Lx variant is priced at Rs 3.19 lakh and the top- end Zen Estilo Vxi ABS is priced at about Rs 4.02 lakh. The new Zen will also give competition to Hyundai’s Santro which starts at Rs. 2.7 lakh. 

Air Travel launches heli-tourism in Kerala

The Economic Times, December 5 

Latest marketing news in Kerala tourism, the Kerala based Air Travel Enterprises has tied up with King Rotors and Air charter to launch helitourism in the state. Several products that offered packages covering the hills, beaches and backwaters have been designed for upmarket tourists.   

Warming Up: Coke may launch hot drink Far Coast

The Economic Times, December 5

The Cola major is planning to enter the freshly brewed hot beverage market in India through bars which will serve tea, coffee and cocoa products. It introduced a similar concept in Singapore recently and sees a good opportunity for the product across
Asia. Coca- Cola India is also learnt to be working on a fresh plan on how to give a bigger push to Georgia brand. Already it has launched Far Coast in Canada, Sweden and more recently Singapore. The next destination is Norway.  

BPL plans Rs 60-cr ad campaign to push colour TV sales

The Economics Times, December 5

BPL Ltd, which is about to complete a prolonged financial restructuring exercise, has budgeted Rs 60 crore for advertising and marketing expenses to support its colour television business in 2007. This is expected to help the domestic major match the marketing blitz of chaebols such as LG and Samsung, which dominate the CTV market now. BPL, one among the first domestic brands to unleash big buck lifestyle campaigns, is slated to come out with new customer friendly, easy-to-use CTV models and back it up with new commercials.   

COMPANY NEWS

Reliance proposes to pipe natural gas to Tamil Nadu in 2-3 years 

 Reliance Industries Ltd will launch the project to pipe natural gas to Tamil Nadu in 2-3 years time, according to its Chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani. The plan was to create a southern corridor pipeline to bring to Tamil Nadu a portion of the reserves of natural gas available at the Krishna-Godavari basin

  Business line 4^th Dec 2006

 Tata Power to make Defence product 

Tata Power has received seven licences from the Government for manufacturing electronic systems and products for defence services. According to the company, the licences would enable Tata Power to be the prime contractor to the Ministry of Defence for designing, development, manufacturing, assembling and upgrading critical systems in seven core areas of defence strategic electronics. 

 Business Line 5^th Dec 2006 

Cisco to locate unit in Chennai

With plans to make India its global hub, US-based networking major Cisco Systems on Wednesday announced a slew of initiatives including setting up a manufacturing unit in Chennai and tripling its manpower in the country from 2,000 at present to 6,000 over the next 3-4 years.

Business Line 7^th Dec 2006

Research&Development

 

 

Increasing energy storage

Dramatic growth in computer use is making consumers require more from their electronic devices, which creates increased demand for a better power source than existing battery technologies. To that end, researchers at Carnegie Mellon Univ. (CMU), Pittsburgh, Pa., have discovered a nanocrystalline material that is cheaper, more stable, and produces a higher quality energy storage capacity than what is currently used in a variety of industrial and portable consumer electronic products. According to the CMU team, nanostructured vanadium nitride with controlled oxidation of its surface at the nanoscale is less expensive to use than conventional materials such as ruthenium and can store energy for a longer period of time.

DATE: 03:11:06

Titanium powder process

A new process for making high-purity titanium metal powder can reduce cost and substantially boost efficiency in parts manufacturing. Developed by DuPont, Wilmington, Del., and Honeywell Electronic Materials, Tempe, Ariz., the process makes titanium metal powder which can then be pressed into desired shapes. The new method enables manufacturers to make parts with less machining and significantly less scrap, while yielding virtually the same strength and weight characteristics as machined titanium. The new powder form can be converted with nearly 90% efficiency compared to the 13% efficiency of conventional machining of solid pieces of titanium.

DATE:07:11:06

Fibers that see

Conventional optical systems rely on lenses and detector surfaces to create images, but they are constrained by their size, weight, fragility, and limited field of view. However, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, have developed an optical system made of flexible, lightweight, mesh-like webs of light-detecting fibers. If constructed in the shape of a sphere, the fiber webs can sense the entire volume of space around it. The fiber constructs have already demonstrated the ability to measure the direction, intensity, and phase of light without any components of conventional optical systems.DATE:07:11:06

 

 

Small chip, big results

A miniature wireless data chip, developed by Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, Calif., could provide broad access to digital content in the physical world. The 2- to 4-mm² chip, equipped with a built-in antenna, could be adhered onto or embedded into almost any object, including hospital wristbands, postcards, and printed documents, and it will give users instant retrieval of information and content now found mostly on electronic devices or the Internet. The experimental chip is a memory device based on complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS), with a storage capacity ranging from 256 kb to 4 Mb and a 10 Mb/sec transfer rate. DATE:10:11:06R & D at Bangalore BANGALORE, India — Xilinx Inc., which has an engineering team at CMC Ltd. at Hyderabad, plans to shift the staff to an independent Indian R&D subsidiary in 2006. CMC began providing R&D for Xilinx in early 2004, and so far 18 IP cores have emerged, including one for the company’s automotive business segment. Other work here includes development in embedded processing, high-speed I/O, design system validation and automotive applications. DATE:10:11:06  

A new development in UK

 UK based telecom billing solutions company INTEC, which has a centre of excellence in Bangalore providing professional services to global consumers, is now looking to move some of its R&D activity in India. R&D team will be about 100 people in two years with investment of $12million have been planned.DATE:10:11:06GROUP MEMBERS: REMITHA K RAMADAS(FK-1449)                                       ADITYA PANIGRAHI(FK-1318)                                        KRYSTYNA(FK-1370)                                        SRIKANT KUMAR(FK-1359)                                      VINOTH KUMAR(FK-1340)                                      SUBRAHJEET  JEE(FK-1295) 

COMPANY NEWS

Reliance proposes to pipe natural gas to Tamil Nadu in 2-3 years 

Reliance Industries Ltd will launch the project to pipe natural gas to Tamil Nadu in 2-3 years time, according to its Chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani. The plan was to create a southern corridor pipeline to bring to Tamil Nadu a portion of the reserves of natural gas available at the Krishna-Godavari basin

 

Business line 4^th Dec 2006

 

Tata Power to make Defence product 

Tata Power has received seven licences from the Government for manufacturing electronic systems and products for defence services. According to the company, the licences would enable Tata Power to be the prime contractor to the Ministry of Defence for designing, development, manufacturing, assembling and upgrading critical systems in seven core areas of defence strategic electronics.

 

Business Line 5^th Dec 2006

 

Cisco to locate unit in ChennaiWith plans to make India its global hub, US-based networking major Cisco Systems on Wednesday announced a slew of initiatives including setting up a manufacturing unit in Chennai and tripling its manpower in the country from 2,000 at present to 6,000 over the next 3-4 years.

Business Line 7^th Dec 2006

Mergers and Acquisitions-Batch 15…IMLP–A4(Dec 1 to Dec 8)

1.)Thomas cook to acquire TCI:

                                                    Thomas cook has announced that it would acquire Travel Corporation(India) Pvt Ltd(TCI) for Rs.182.45 crore.In addition it also plans to acquire TT enterprises visa services for Rs.16.9 crore.Both transactions will all be cash deals.

                                                             From Business Line……….2 December 2006

2.) Ranbaxy acquires South African firm for Rs.315 crore:

                                                               Ranbaxy laboratories Ltd has announced that it has acquired South Africa’s 5th largest generics player Be Tabs Pharmaceuticals for Rs.315 crore. The acquisition subject to requisite approvals from South African authorities is slated for completion in the 1st quarter of 2007.

                                                                               From Business Line………2 December 2006

3.)Tata Steel ties up with NYK line:

                                                              Tata Steel and Japan based Nippon Yasen Kabushiki Kaisha have entered into a joint venture agreement for setting up a shipping co. Tata steel and NYK would hold 50% stake each.

                                                                From Business Line…………5 December 2006

4.)Hexaware buys Focus Frame:

                                                      Hexaware Technologies has completed the acquisition of Focus Frame Inc, a US based testing consulting frame.Focus Frame shall now be a wholly subsidary of Hexaware Technologies Ltd.

                                                                           From Business Line…………..6 December 2006.

Mergers and Acquisitions (Dec 1 – Dec 8)

Hexaware buys FocusFrame  

Mumbai, Dec. 5

 Hexaware Technologies has completed the acquisition of FocusFrame Inc, a US-based testing consulting firm. FocusFrame Inc — acquired in an all cash deal for $34.3 million (Rs 154.35 crore) — has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hexaware Technologies Ltd. The acquisition, announced in November, will add about $2 million (Rs 9 crore) to the company’s revenues in the current quarter. It paid $25 million (Rs 112.5 crore) in cash for acquiring 100 per cent shares of FocusFrame along with its employees and consultant base of over 200 personnel. The balance amount of $9.3 million (Rs 41.85 crore) will be paid out over 24 months on meeting the projected revenues and margin. 
US co acquires certain assets of Triune Freight  Chennai , Dec. 3  C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc, a $5.7 billion US-based logistics company, has acquired certain assets of Triune Freight Private Ltd, Chennai. Company officials declined to give financial transaction of the deal. Triune has various licences to do freight forwarding and once they are transferred to C.H. Robinson, Triune would seize to exist. With revenue of Rs 55 crore, 160 employees and 600 customers, Triune provides air and ocean international forwarding along with customs clearance services. Ybrant acquires MediosOne  
Hyderabad, Nov. 30  

Ybrant Technologies Ltd on Wednesday announced it has acquired MediosOne, an Internet advertising network focused on global consumer base. The Colorado-based business facilitates Internet advertising for organisations such as American Express, eBay, US Army and Vonage. Following this development, Ybrant has formed a separate business unit focused on building Internet advertising network to address international traffic online. Mr Brad Cohen will be the CEO of this new business unit. Its existing business of providing services and tools to e-Marketing has been organised into a separate business unit. Mr Vijay Kancharla, Ybrant’s Executive Director, will be the CEO of this business unit. This approach would be a step towards the company’s vision of providing end-to-end e-marketing solutions.

Hot property and new inventions

1.Realty triggers FDI to kiss $10 bn in 6 months. Realty biggies such as Tricona, K Rahya & the Surrender Hiranandani group have already raised close to around$ 3 bn at the  Alternate investment market , several other players including Unitech,  Ansal API Omaxe & Narendra Hiranandani Group are learned to be in talk for raising another $ 2-2.5 bn.

(4.12.06, Economic Times)

2.China eyes Desi Realty

Sources in the  Indian real estate sector say that the chinese govt is planning to invest part of the corpus from its state-run provident & social security, in the indian realty sector to maximize gains from one of the largest growing markets in the world.

(5.12.06, Economic Times)

PERSONALITY QUOTES(DEC3-DEC7)

The test of the pudding is the eating.

                            Pranab Mukerjee,External Affairs Minister (on the India -Pakistan anti-terror mechnaism)

I have become an international gypsy.

                           M.F.Hussain,Artist.

India has become a laboratory where new acts of terrorism are out and then replicated in western democracies.

                          Brahma chellaney,Security expert.

As far as I am concerned , I don’t care if Tony Blair or Robbie Williams bowls me the first ball of the ashes series.All my team mates and I care about is winning back tghe ashes.

                         Justin Langer ,Australian Opener (on asked if England pacer Steve Harmison’s absence would take a bit of shine off the contest)      

Even though India has all the attributes of a great power,its most striking asset was actually its soft power.

                         Shashi Tharoor.

The more time you spend in India ,the more you realize that this country is one of the world’s great wonders -a miracle with message.And the message is that democracy matters.

                        Thomas Friedman,Columnist.

As Indian market grows and wealth increases ,People definitely want to start investing outside.

                        Ajay Srinivasan,chief executive ,Prudential Corporation Asia  .

There is going to be more and better investment opportunities in India than overseas.

                       John Band,Cortex Advisory.

You have a bigger and probably better universe of companies to choose from.

                      Andrew Holland,Executive Vice President,DSP Merril Lynch.

GROUP 06(15 A)

                         

Financial (Dec 1,2006)

 

FY’07 to be best year of growth: FM

With economy logging the highest growth of 9.1 per cent during the first half of this fiscal, Finance Minister P Chidambaram sounded confident that FY’07 would be one of the best years in terms of growth. He, however, tempered the optimism saying supply side-driven inflation was the only worrying factor. “We are happy that the economy grew by 9.2 per cent in the second quarter. The fact that economy recorded the highest growth of 9.1 per cent in the first half of any fiscal since economic reforms began in 1991-92 makes us doubly happy. I hope that the current year turns out to be one of the best years of economic growth,” Chidambaram said.

On less agricultural growth in the second quarter as against the first quarter, he said agriculture in the second quarter is always a lean period. Farm sector grew by 1.7 per cent in Q2 against 3.4 per cent in Q1. When asked whether high growth will put pressure on interest rates, he said liquidity is comfortable in the economy. Revealing the latest tax figures, Chidambaram said the fiscal deficit stood at Rs 87,100 crore during the first seven months of this fiscal as compared to Rs 92,068 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Revenue deficit was Rs 67,299 crore compared to Rs 70,284 crore during the same period last year. Fiscal deficit during the seven-month period constitutes 58.6 per cent of what was estimated in the budget for the entire fiscal.

 

BSNL’s GSM quest receives jolt

The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended the stay on award of contract by state-owned BSNL for rolling out 45 million lines for GSM network till December 14. A bench comprising acting Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Hima Kohli granted a week’s time to Motorola to file its reply on the response filed by BSNL.

BSNL, which plans to expand its GSM network by 45 million lines, had disqualified Motorola from the bidding process on technical parameters – a decision that has been challenged by the
US company. BSNL in its reply had contended that Motorola was not eligible as it failed to satisfy the techno-commercial aspect of the tender.

Motorola has shown its experience only for BSS component, which provides all the transmission and control functions necessary for radio coverage of service area, towards the supplies, installation and commissioning of 20 million network, the state-run telecom company said. BSNL, submitted that instead of fulfilling the basic NSS component of eligibility condition of supplying/commissioning 20 million GSM network, Motorola provided a figure of 3.2 million, which does not meet the minimum requirement of 20 million.

The PSU telecom company had said that Motorola also failed on financial parameters. As per bidding conditions, a company must be a profit earning company in the last two years but Motorola did not meet this criterion too as it suffered a loss of almost Rs 37 crore in 2004-05.

 

Parsvnath lists at Rs 540 on BSE

Parsvnath Developers, pure-play realty major, today got listed at Rs 540 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with a premium of 80 per cent over its issue price of Rs 300. Within a few minutes of trading, the scrip touched a high of Rs 579 on the BSE. The scrips of Parsvnath got listed at Rs 456.70 on the National Stock Exchange and touched a high of Rs 563 in a few minutes of trading.

The Rs 1,000 crore initial public offer of the company received robust response from investors and was oversubscribed 60 times. The issue, also saw an overwhelming response in the qualified institutional buyers (QIB) portion, especially from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

The company comes out with an issue of 18.16 crore equity shares with an issue price of Rs 300 each. The funds raised from this public offer would be deployed in various ongoing projects across the country.

 

Govt okays Fiat, 16 other FDI plans

The Government has cleared 17 FDI proposals worth Rs 3,536.40 crore, including one from Italian automaker Fiat to invest an additional Rs 2,000 crore to revive its beleaguered Indian subsidiary. Another big proposal, cleared by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board, entails an investment of Rs 1,090 crore from NRIs, PIOs and other overseas parties in ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Ltd.

Mauritius-based Essar Communications Ltd has been allowed to invest Rs 230 crore for acquiring additional stake of 5.85 per cent in Hutchison Essar Ltd. Korea-based Mando Corporation would bring in Rs 103.40 crore to set up a new wholly-owned subsidiary in Chennai for manufacturing, marketing and distributing power steering system for Hyundai Motor India Ltd and other auto companies. Fiat Auto Spa of Italy would bring Rs 2,000 crore of FDI to invest in Fiat
India. The company’s proposal was earlier cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to increase its FDI from Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore at its Pune-based plant.

 

Nokia sees 10% growth in mobile mkt

Nokia, the world’s top cell phone maker, cut its profit margin forecasts but remained more upbeat than analysts as it unveiled thinner models to face stiff competition and slower market growth.  Nokia joined market analysts in forecasting slower growth for the global mobile phone market in 2007, expecting unit shipments to grow by up to 10 per cent from this year, compared with a forecast of just over 10 per cent issued by researchers Gartner last week. “We expect the volume growth in 2007 to be above 15 per cent in Asia Pacific, China, and Middle East and Africa, and below 10 per cent in Europe, Latin America and
North America,” Nokia said in a statement.

 

Mergers and Acquisitions ( Nov 25 -Dec 01 )

Bharthi join hand with Wal-Mart for the retail business: 

   Bharathi group the telecom major in India join hand with the retail giant Wal-Mart for foraying into the $300 billion potential retail sector in India. The retail giant Wal-Mart could not enter into the Indian retail sector which is closed for the FDIs and FIIs; as per the present rule FDIs and FIIs can invest up to 51% in Indian retail sector.

                                                                                                                           

Air Sahara for sale again:

After failing a sale deal between Jet Airways months before, Air Sahara is planning a sale of the airline for the second time.

 Lehman buys Spectrum Power for Rs 400 cr
Global investment bank Lehman Brothers (Mumbai) has acquired controlling stake in Spectrum Power Generation (SPGL) after asset reconstruction firm Arcil auctioned the company’s loans. Arcil acquired 77% of the company’s debt from leading banks like State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI and others. Lehman Brothers won the bid over Deutsche Bank and Ganta Infrastructure – a firm controlled . .Under the restructuring proposal submitted by Lehman Brothers, almost the entire equity of the company will be written off against bad debts and a fresh capital of Rs 1,400 crore will be infused.
A part of the Rs 1,100 crore debt will be written off, a part would be converted into equity and some of it will be paid off in cash. Sources said existing lenders will receive Rs 400 crore in cash in two instalments (first, a sum of Rs 50 crore and rest to be paid later) and a part of the debt will be converted into 10% equity.

 YBRANY TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED ACQUIRES INTERNET AD NETWORK MEDIOS ONE
Ybrant Technologies Limited today announced it has acquired MediosOne, a leading internet advertising network focused on global for an undisclosed sum.Ybrant has formed a separate building internet advertising networks to address international traffic online.

Mr vijay Khancharla who was the chief executive director, would be the CEO of this unit.

 VOLKSWAGON TO SET UP PLANTS IN  PUNE
It is now official. German carmaker Volkswagen has finally chosen Maharashtra for setting up a $300-million (Rs 1,350-crore) green field automobile manufacturing facility. The plant, which will come up on a sprawling 500-acre site at Chakan, near Pune, is expected to create employment opportunities for about 2,500 people. On Friday, the company’s board gave its approval for setting up the plant in Maharashtra. As per the plan, production of small passenger cars will commence by the second half of 2009. The carmaker has been planning to set up a manufacturing facility in India since long, having considered other States, prominently Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, to locate the plant. This is seen as a significant development for Maharashtra, as the proposed unit would spawn spin-off benefits for the State, said a State Government official.

                                                                           

BRAND STORY-Group-3 15-A

Hindustan Lever Ltd.   (Nov 24-Dec 1) 

 

In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words “Made in
England by Lever Brothers”. With it, began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937.

In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HLL in November 1956; HLL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 51.55% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 380,000 individual shareholders and financial institutions.

The erstwhile Brooke Bond’s presence in
India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton’s links with
India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972, and in 1977 Lipton Tea (
India) Limited was incorporated.

Pond’s (India) Limited had been present in
India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond’s
USA in 1986.

Since the very early years, HLL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations.

The liberalisation of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in HLL’s and the Group’s growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity.

Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most visible and talked about events of
India’s corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HLL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1995, HLL and yet another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Lever Limited, to market Lakme’s market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HLL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company.

HLL formed a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in 1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. HLL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Nepal Lever Limited (NLL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The NLL factory manufactures HLL’s products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to
India.

The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Icecream business from Cadbury
India.

As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in July 1993, Brooke Bond India and Lipton
India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994 witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall’s range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Icecream Group families and in 1995 the Milkfood 100% Icecream marketing and distribution rights too were acquired.

Finally, BBLIL merged with HLL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond’s (
India) Limited (PIL) with HLL in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Speciality Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories.

In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HLL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HLL’s entry into Bread is a strategic extension of the company’s wheat business. In 2002, HLL acquired the government’s remaining stake in Modern Foods.

Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) is

India’s largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. They endow the company with a scale of combined volumes of about 4 million tonnes and sales of Rs.10,000 crores.

HLL is also one of the country’s largest exporters; it has been recognised as a Golden Super Star Trading House by the Government of India.

The mission that inspires HLL’s 36,000 employees, including over 1,350 managers, is to “add vitality to life.” HLL meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. It is a mission HLL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which holds 51.55% of the equity. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among 380,000 individual shareholders and financial institutions.

HLL’s brands – like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Sunsilk, Clinic, Pepsodent, Close-up, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr-Annapurna, Kwality Wall’s – are household names across the country and span many categories – soaps, detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and culinary products. They are manufactured in close to 80 factories. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates. HLL’s distribution network, comprising about 7,000 redistribution stockists, directly covers the entire urban population, and about 250 million rural consumers.

HLL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in all its operations. The Hindustan Lever Research Centre (HLRC) was set up in 1958, and now has facilities in Mumbai and
Bangalore. HLRC and the Global Technology Centres in India have over 200 highly qualified scientists and technologists, many with post-doctoral experience acquired in the US and Europe.

HLL believes that an organisation’s worth is also in the service it renders to the community. HLL is focusing on health & hygiene education, women empowerment, and water management. It is also involved in education and rehabilitation of special or underprivileged children, care for the destitute and HIV-positive, and rural development. HLL has also responded in case of national calamities / adversities and contributes through various welfare measures, most recent being the village built by HLL in earthquake affected Gujarat, and relief & rehabilitation after the Tsunami caused devastation in
South India.

Over the last three years the company has embarked on an ambitious programme, Shakti. Through Shakti, HLL is creating micro-enterprise opportunities for rural women, thereby improving their livelihood and the standard of living in rural communities. Shakti also includes health and hygiene education through the Shakti Vani Programme, and creating access to relevant information through the iShakti community portal. The programme now covers about 50,000 villages in 12 states. HLL’s vision is to take this programme to 100,000 villages impacting the lives of over a 100 million rural Indians.

HLL is also running a rural health programme – Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The programme endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural Indians and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 70 million people in approximately 15000 villages of 8 states. The vision is to make a billion Indians feel safe and secure.

If Hindustan Lever straddles the Indian corporate world, it is because of being single-minded in identifying itself with Indian aspirations and needs in every walk of life.

 

National Politics [24Nov-01Dec]

Interim relief

The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, on Friday ruled out suo-motu payment of any interim relief to Central Government staff, stating that the Government would await the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission on this issue. The Central Government staff have demanded an interim relief of Rs 1,000 per month.

Mr Chidambaram also made it clear that the Government was not contemplating any mechanism of “automatic revision” of pay and allowances for Central Government employees. The Finance Ministry also assured the Lok Sabha that steps would be taken to avoid anomalies while implementing the recommendations of the Pay Commission.

Business Line, Nov. 24

SEZ tax sops to cost over Rs 1 lakh cr in 4-yr period

With more special economic zones (SEZs) getting Government approval, the Finance Ministry has upped the estimated revenue loss from tax concessions to such zones to over Rs 1 lakh crore for the four-year period 2006-07 to 2009-10.The revenue department has now estimated that revenue loss for this period could be as high as Rs 1,02,621 crore.

While the Finance Ministry has been highlighting the magnitude of revenue loss to the exchequer from the tax concessions, the Commerce Ministry, however, contends that there would be a positive gain in revenue for the Government in the next five years. On their part, the Left Parties have been urging the Government that the tax concessions under the SEZ law should be revisited.

The Commerce Ministry is of the view that the generation of additional economic activity and employment would more than offset the loss of tax revenues due to the tax concessions given under the SEZ Act.Senior officials of the Commerce Ministry had recently observed that an additional direct employment of 80,000 would be created in the zones by December this year. The Commerce Ministry has also estimated total investment to be around $10 billion and additional employment in the construction phase to be 2.6 billion man-days by December 2007. Within five years, the total investment is expected to be around $30 billion and additional employment of 15 lakh to be created within the zones.

 

New Delhi , Nov. 24

 

 

To boost fee income, increase deposit base

In the last week, three public sector banks announced trading services and a few more banks are also expected to follow.

 

State Bank of India, which tied up with Motilal Oswal Securities, already has 65,000 demat clients and is targeting 1,50,000 clientsPunjab National Bank has tied up with IDBI Capital Market Services and Oriental Bank of Commerce with ILFS Investmart. Bank of India is linking up with Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd.Union Bank of India has been offering online trading services since November 2005 with SSKI Securities and has 1.1 lakh demat accounts. Bank of Baroda, too, has plans to offer depository services once its Core Banking Services are extended to more branches.

Banks retain customers with online trading, while investors gain from having a link with their demat, trading and savings accounts. Electronic fund transfer acts as a bonus.

ICICI Direct.com has 10 lakh customers in the last six years..

Business Line , Nov. 25

DoT to allow resellers in international bandwidth

In a move that would make international long distance calls cheaper, the Department of Telecom has decided to allow resellers in the international bandwidth segment.Resellers do not own the infrastructure but take bandwidth from licensed ILD operators and sell it in the market. They also do not need any licence or pay entry fee.

The DoT move is aimed at increasing the level of competition in the international bandwidth segment, which will bring tariffs down. DoT has also decided to make it mandatory for existing cable landing stations, most of which are owned by VSNL, to give access to all operators in a non-discriminatory manner.

Business Line , Nov. 25

Centre plans 5 coastal nuclear power stations

The Centre is will setup plans to set up around five new coastal nuclear power stations using high-end reactors of 1,000 MWe and above.The stations would be designed to accommodate up to six to eight such reactors so that the overall capacity of each station can be gradually ramped up to almost 8,000 MWe.

A 12-member Site-Selection Committee under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which recommends locations for setting up nuclear plants to the Centre, has visited a number of coastal areas in the country and is likely to zero in on sites in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal.The Centre will take a final call on these sites after the committee submits its report by December-end, officials said. The projects are expected to use light water reactors and are most likely to be run using imported fuel, because of which the coastal sites are being selected. With the possibility of transfer of technology from the US appearing brighter given the progress on the Indo-US deal, importing reactors larger than the 700 MWe ones developed by NPCIL is being planned for these new projects.

Business Line , Nov. 26

PM stresses on job creation

There is a consensus across political parties on the need for a high rate of growth, said the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. The Prime Minister reiterated that the interplay of dynamism between the world entrepreneurial community and domestic entrepreneurs would aid the growth process. He expressed confidence that India will make progress and achieve eight per cent growth in the future also.

Business Line, Nov. 26

TATA steel

TATA STEEL 

Tata Steel is one of India’s largest integrated private sector steel companies. The company manufactures and distributes steel, welded steel tubes, cold rolled strips, bearings and other related products. Tata is is headquartered in Mumbai, India.     

     Tata Steel a private sector steel company in India. The company manufactures anddistributes steel and other related products through a number of subsidiaries andassociates.

The company has its own iron mines and collieries. Tata Steel primarilyoperates in India and also has its operations in other countries including Thailand,Singapore, China and Srilanka. 

 For the fiscal year ended March 2006, the company generated revenues of $3,693.6million (IR17,144.22 Crores), an increase of 0.1% over the previous fiscal year. Thecompany saw a net income of $755.4 million (IR3,506.38 Crores), an increase of 8%over fiscal 2005. 

Production Centres In India

 Ferro Alloys Plants are located at

   • Bamnipal, Orissa

   • Joda

KEY EMPLOYEE BIOGRAPHIESB.

Muthuraman

Board: Executive BoardJob Title: Managing Director

T. Mukherjee

Board: Executive BoardJob

Title: Deputy Managing Director, Steel 

TOP COMPETITORS

The following companies are the major competitors of Tata Steel:

Mittal Steel Company

N.V.Daido Steel Co., Ltd.

Steel Authority of India Ltd.

Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd.

Essar Steel Limited 

HOT PROPERTIES AND NEW INVENTIONS(NOV24-DEC1)

Land cleared for TATA’s car project at Singur in West Bengal.They will get the land in a  few weeks time.

(26/11/06,The Hindu).

Researchers in Japan  have developed a microchip that blocks computer viruses before they enter PC’s,an advances that could change how security software is used.

(28/11/06,BL)

cover story(24th to 30th nov.)

Wal-Mart &Bharti For Retail Run 

• Sunil Mittal will own & operate joint venture ,running front-end operations
• Wal-Mart will set up its shop in
  India on August 15,2007.will come through franchise route
• Logistics,supply chain  management will engaged by Wal-Mart
• Wal-Mart is number one $316 billion retail giant
•  Worth of Indian retail sector  is $300 billion
• All major players are focusing on vast middle class

                               

                                        The Economic Times        28/11/2006 

Stock Trading In
South Asia Takes a  Cross  Country Leap

                     

• Stock exchanges in South Asian region including
  India have moved a proposal.
• Proposal is to allow cross-listing or secondary listing of a top basket of local stocks in each other’s exchanges.
• This provides an opportunity to investors to trade in either index stocks or the top few stocks.
• For issuers, this could be an opportunity for raising capital in particular stock exchange or improving brand awareness.
• The main stock exchange  involved in this proposal are BSE, NSE, the Colombo stock exchange, Royal securities exchange, Bhutan and the Lahore stock exchange.

                                                                              Thursday 30, November 2006 Ashok Leyland ties up with French-Co for armored vehicle 

• Today Ashok Leyland is the largest provider of logistics vehicles to the Indian

Army with a fleet of 40000 stallions.

• Ashok Leyland is understand to have tied up with a French company to launch a “Light armored vehicles” in
  India.

                                                                                                             28^th November 2006 (Business Line)

Reliance’s piped gas to be cheaper than LPG.

• Reliance industries ltd said that the price of the piped gas supplied by it would be cheaper by one third (33%) of the price of conventional liquid petroleum gas supplied in cylinders.
• RIL has applied for city gas distribution license in 100 cities and is awaiting finalization of the city gas distribution policy by the Govt.

                                                             28^th November 2006 (Business Line) Nestle to buy
Australia’s Green’s for A$ 137 Mn 

·        Nestle, the world’s largest food maker,agreed to buy Green’s food for A$ 137 mn ($107 mn) to gain alarger slice of
Australia’ pet-food market, Nestle.

                                                                                             30^th,November

A Sailor of
Austria

John Biggins

McBooks Press 2005

 

 

 

In A Sailor of Austria John Biggins turns to one of the less popular settings for naval fiction, the Austro-Hungarian submarine fleet during the First World War. At age 101 in a nursing home in
England, submarine commander Otto Prohaska looks back sixty years, describing his wartime exploits to a sympathetic nursing sister and a young workman.

There’s plenty of action in A Sailor of
Austria. The background setting is vividly portrayed, both in its broad sweep and in its details: the intricacies of government and military hierarchies and titles, the privations and economic hardships of the war, and the lost world of the multi-ethnic Habsburg empire. He himself speaks eight of the eleven official languages of the empire, while his final crew represents all of its nationalities. And some of the most moving parts of A Sailor of Austria come at the end, during the disintegration of the Empire, as Prohaska’s crew is gradually separated into its ethnic components. This, along with the framing story, helps to make nostalgia a dominant emotion.

A Sailor of Austria is not a novel of character. Prohaska himself is fairly bloodless and the other figures, while many are memorable and distinctive, are little more than outlines (perhaps in keeping with the perspective of an old man looking back at his youth). Biggins’ writing is most notable for its understated but probing humour, exploiting the follies of war and bureaucracy and the foibles of individual personalities with irony and wit but without malice, always remaining generous in spirit.

Like the best naval fiction, A Sailor of Austria will appeal to many who wouldn’t normally touch war fiction. Comparisons with the classics of the genre are not particularly helpful; Biggins is distinctive enough that he can stand on his own

 

 

Money and Banking

25^th November

CSN Bankers pick up 11% stake in Corus

 

CSN Banker has bought nearly 11% in Corus, taking the holding of the CSN combine to just over 15% in the Anglo-Dutch steel maker. In a busy session at the Corus counter on the London Stock Exchange, CSN’s corporate broker UBS picked up 66.1 million shares or 7.3% equity of Corus while its advisors Goldman Sachs acquired 36 million shares, representing a 4% stake.

 

 

 

27^th November

SBI, ICICI Bank’s US forays soon

 

The government is close to achieving a breakthrough in getting the approval of the
US authorities for the expansion plans of the country’s two largest banks-SBI and ICICI. According to senior government officials following talks with the
US authorities,
India’s two leading lender may be granted nod in the next six months for branch licenses.

 

28^th November

PE Funds may need FIPB okay for M&A

 

The government may make FIPB clearance mandatory for acquisition of shares in listed companies by private equity funds based in other countries. This follow apprehension expressed by SEBI over the takeover of listed companies through secondary market transactions. A proposal for closer scrutiny of such deals under discussion between the finance industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), and SEBI.

 

 

29^th November

FDI may fly up to 74% in non scheduled airlines

 

The government is planning to raise the FDI limit to 74% for non scheduled airlines using small aircrafts. The current FDI ceiling for airline service is 49%.The proposal for hike in FDI limit in these subsectors, mooted by civil aviation minister Praful Patel, is to catalyze growth in these key areas.However, FDI in domestic airlines will be retained at the existing level of 49%.

 

30^th November

Economy can best 8% levels: ADB

 

The Asian Development Bank said that India’s GDP can grow in excess of 8% this fiscal, higher than its earlier projection of  7.8%.The average 9% growth during 2007-12 is quite achievable but 10% growth may be a stretch.ADB’s Rajat  complemented the govt finances as fiscal deficit was declining and tax revenue was growing.

 

company news

Sony may pick 51% stake in Chennai-based animation co

Sony Corporation of America is close to concluding a deal with Frame Flow India Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based animation and special effects company for a 51 per cent stake in the Indian company, sources in the know told Business Line on Saturday. Frame Flow India is the Indian arm of the Atlanta-based Frame Flow LLC, which front-ends the Indian business in theUS. Frame Flow India has a modern production studio in Chennai and a staff of 70 visual effects artists

BUSINESS LINE 26^TH NOV 2006

BHARTI PLUMPS FOR WALLMART

Bharti Enterprises on Monday announced that it had signed an MoU with Wal-Mart Stores Inc, officially naming the world’s largest retail chain its partner for the telecom major’s foray into the retail segment, after months of speculation

BUSINES LINE  28^TH NOV 2006

Mergers and Acquisitions Batch-15A..Group-4

                                 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS  Holcim hikes stake in Gujarat Ambuja Cements 

Holcim a Swiss based cement company has increased its stake in Ambuja cements
Gujarat buying almost 50 million shares. The shares paid were for an amount of Rs 685 crore (3.6%). The present overall stake by Holcim is 18.4%.

Source: (The Economic Times)

M&M in talks to acquire German company

According to
Bombay stock exchange Mahindra&Mahindra is in discussion with Schoeneweiss& Co GMBH a German based company for acquiring majority stake. But before M&M has to acquire the stake it has to get the approval of the German Federal Cartel on the basis of the competition.

Source: (The Economic Times)

Bharti to approach FIPB on Wal-Mart deal 

With Bharti going on for a strategic alliance with Wal-Mart and which almost seems to be fixed and through but to get things to go on smoothly, both of them are planning to apply to the FIPB (Foreign Investment promotion board) to give them the notice stating that the joint venture deal would be o a 50:50 cash deal and that they would be intending to start several hundred retail stores throughout the country by mid of 2007.

Source: (The Economic Times)

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS (Nov 24 – Dec 1)

ASCENDAS BUYS OUT L&T INTEREST IN CYBER PEARL

Hyderabad, Nov. 28

The Ascendas India IT Parks Trust, a private real estate fund of business space provider Ascendas, has added a third property, Cyber Pearl, through the acquisition of LTIAL (L&T Infocity-Ascendas Ltd), the company that owns Cyber Pearl. The other two IT park assets in the fund are
International
Tech
Park, Bangalore (ITPB), and The V, in
Hyderabad. Formed in 2002, LTIAL is a 50:50 joint venture between Ascendas and L&T Infocity to develop Cyber Pearl in
Hitec
City,
Hyderabad. Cyber Pearl comprises two buildings totalling 500,000 sq ft of IT space and hosts General Electric, Nipuna, Keane, Microsoft and Sitel among  others. It plans to add more than one million sq ft of space at ITPB, including two built-to-suit facilities and the recently completed navigator building. A building of 600,000 sq ft is being constructed at The V,
Hyderabad. Ascendas is also expanding its portfolio out of the fund, constructing about 1 million sq ft of space in Chennai. They will continue to build on the success of the fun, their first in India, and look out for more opportunities to contribute to
India’s relatively new but fast-growing sector of real estate funds.

 SONATA SOFT CONCLUDES TUI DEAL

Bangalore, Nov 27

Sonata Software Ltd has concluded the acquisition of a 50.1 per cent stake in TUI InfoTec GmBH, the IT outfit of
Europe’s leading tourism and shipping group TUI AG, for 18 million euros (Rs 105 crore) in an all-cash deal. The transaction was carried out through the company’s European subsidiary, Sonata Europe Ltd. Sonata raised 10 million euros from State Bank of India, London to part-finance the deal, while the balance 8 million euros was met through its internal accruals. Sonata’s European outfit has received anti-trust clearance from the Federal Cartel Office in
Germany prior to the final stake sale and the transition of earlier contracts from TUI InfoTec to the new joint venture company has already begun.

MICROSOFT TAKES 10 pc IN TCS
CHINA

Mumbai, Nov. 23

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and its three Chinese partners have a tripartite investment agreement for their joint venture TCS China, the Chinese arm of TCS. The joint venture agreement was signed at the `
India – China Trade and Investment Co-operation Summit’ here on Thursday.                                           

The entry of Microsoft follows the granting of business operating licences to TCS China. The three parties had signed a MoU in June 2005 to this effect.Microsoft will hold 10 per cent stake in TCS China whereas TCS will hold 65 per cent and the Chinese partners will hold the remaining 25 per cent. The equity capital of the company would be around $14 million. TCS China will allow TCS to provide the best in technologies to clients there at affordable local prices. Beijing Zhongguancun Software Park, Uniware Company Ltd and Tianjin Huayuan Software Construction are the Chinese parties to the agreement.

 

SOURCE: ECONOMIC TIMES

Retail Financing (Nov 24 – Dec 1)

                  

Mutual banking-an emerging trend in retail banking 

Business line 24 november,2006

A new concept — mutual banking — has emerged offering new product and service innovations for the customers who avail of mutual fund products through banks.  One MF launching a co-branded debit card for withdrawal up to specified limits of investments in MF schemes through bank accounts. Maximization of comfort for the customer, bank and the MF is the basic premise on which these marriages are happening. A scientifically structured business implementation model will reap benefits for all concern. 

UTI Dividend Yield Fund declares 8% dividend 

Moneycontrol.com

UTI mutual fund has declared a of 8% (Re.0.80  per unit on face value of Rs.10) in its open-ended equity scheme – UTI Dividend Yield Fund. Pursuant to the payment of dividend, the NAV of the dividend option of the scheme would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy if any. All unitholders registered under the dividend option of UTI Dividend Yield Fund as on December 1, 2006 will be eligible for this dividend. Also investors who join the dividend option of the scheme on or before the record date will be eligible for the dividend. The NAV per unit as on November 27, 2006 was Rs.13.07 under the dividend option. During this calendar year, UTI Dividend Yield Fund has declared dividend totaling to 21% (Rs.2.10  per unit on face value of Rs.10). the last dividend declare by the scheme was 6% in August 2006. “UTI Dividend Yield Fund is positioned as a conservatively managed diversified equity scheme that invests primarily in stocks with high dividend yield. Over the last one year, UTI-Dividend Yield Fund has yielded 28.2% as compared to 47.2% given by its benchmark BSE 100 as on November 27, 2006.

Finacle from Infosys emerges as a leader in retail banking   

 

Moneycontrol.com

In the recently released Forrester Wave report – Retail Banking Platforms Q4 2006 (November 2006), Finacle from Infosys emerged as a leader. Finacle stood out for its convincing strategy and a very sound current offering. In this study, the first of its kind, comparing the retail banking platform market, Forrester evaluated five global retail banking platform vendors. These vendors were short-listed through a rigorous multi-criteria selection process that included an in-depth appraisal of their coverage of the Forrester banking functions map, forward-looking. Infosys Finacle ranked number 1 in overall strategy with a score of 3.95 (on a scale of 0 to 5) and also earned the top score in the areas of Multichannel Enablement, Architecture & Development and Systems integrators. Infosys is one of the two banking platform vendors that score highest for platform agility.