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CURRENT AFFAIRS LEARNING MATERIAL

8th April’10 –14th April’10

1. RIM to buy QNX Software from Harman


International
Fri Apr 9, 2010 7:50pm IST

RIM says the deal is subject to regulatory approval

* Expects acquisition to close within 35-45 days

* Says deal will support certain unannounced product plans

TORONTO, April 9 (Reuters) - Research In Motion, which makes the BlackBerry smartphone,
said on Friday it will buy QNX Software Systems from Harman International for an undisclosed
amount as it moves to boost integration of its devices with in-vehicle audio systems.

RIM, which is facing speculation that the popularity of the BlackBerry may be set to wane,
said the acquisition would support certain unannounced product plans for so-called intelligent
peripherals, but did not comment further.

"RIM is excited about the planned acquisition of QNX Software Systems and we look forward to
ongoing collaboration between Harman, QNX and RIM to further integrate and enhance the
user experience between smartphones and in-vehicle audio and infotainment systems," said
RIM President and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.

Stock in Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM rose 0.66 percent to C$70.26 in early trading on the
Toronto Stock Exchange.

Ottawa, Ontario-based QNX Software Systems was founded in 1980 and acquired by Harman
International in 2004.

The unit's open platform operating system is deployed across multiple business sectors
including automotive, industrial, telecommunications, medical, defense, and aerospace.

Stock of Harman International was up 1 percent at $48.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Harman, which competes with Bose, Yamaha and Sony Corp in various markets, told Reuters
in an interview in February that it was talking to potential acquisition targets in China, India
and Brazil as the audio products company plans to spend up to $200 million in deals over the
next 12 to 18 months. [nWNAB0099]
2. Nokia buys location technology firm MetaCarta
Fri Apr 9, 2010 7:46pm IST

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world's largest cellphone maker Nokia said on Friday it had bought
U.S. geographic technology firm MetaCarta, as a part of its strategy to offer local navigation
services to its customers.

It did not disclose the deal price, but said the Massachusetts-based company employed more
than 30 people.

MetaCarta's technology combines geosearch and geotagging allowing users to find written
content about any place.

In January Nokia announced it would offer free navigation on its cellphones and would also
make available local applications and services to its mobile phone users.

The move was seen as an attempt to serve a blow to satnav makers such as TomTom and
Garmin as well as Google, which offers free navigation on Motorola' Droid smartphones in the
North America market.

3. Temasek to invest $200 mln in India's GMR Energy


Fri Apr 9, 2010 7:42pm IST

* Temasek to subscribe to convertible securities

* GMR Energy plans capacity of 6,500 MW over 3-4 yrs (Adds details, background, share price)

MUMBAI, April 9 (Reuters) - Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] on Friday
agreed to invest $200 million in the power business of India's GMR Infrastructure that would
help the Indian firm expand its generation capacity.

Temasek, through a fully owned unit, will subscribe to compulsorily convertible securities of
GMR Energy Ltd (GEL), the two firms said in a statement.

However, they did not disclose how much stake the investor will take.

GMR Energy, which houses the power projects of the GMR group, currently has installed
capacity of 808 megawatts, with several other projects at an advanced stage of development.

"GEL plans to enhance its installed generation capacity to more than 6,500 MW over 3 to 4
years, thus necessitating significant capital investment to fund its expansion plans," GMR said
in a statement.

India's faces a peak hour power shortage of 12 percent, and power generation firms have lined
up for fund raising to expand and bridge the crippling gap in the fast growing economy, Asia's
third-largest.
Since July last year, Adani Power, NHPC, Indiabulls Power and JSW Energy have together
raised about $2.4 billion through public offers, capitalising on investor interest in the sector
and a booming stock market.

GMR, which builds and manages airports, roads and power plants in India, has benefited from
a government focus on infrastructure. Its operations outside India include power plants in
Europe, Mexico and Australia, as well as the Istanbul airport.

A top group official told Reuters last November GMR, based in the southern Indian city of
Bangalore, was in talks with several investors for possible stake sales in its power and
infrastructure businesses. [ID:nBOM491918]

In a separate statement, GMR Infrastructure said its board has approved raising 5 billion
rupees ($110 million) through debentures.

Ahead of the announcements, GMR Infra shares closed up 0.6 percent at 61.70 rupees, in a
Mumbai market .BSESN that rose 1.2 percent. ($1=44.3 rupees)

4. Mphasis acquires U.S. firm Fortify Infrastructure


Services
Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:49pm IST

By Team VCC (VCCircle.com)

Private equity firm Baring Private Equity Partners India holds 10.4% stake in Mphasis.

Mphasis Limited, a Bangalore-based applications and business process outsourcing (BPO)


company, is acquiring Fortify Infrastructure Services Inc, an offshore remote IT operations and
management (ROM) services firm in the US. Fortify has operations in India as well, and has a
command center in Pune, Maharastra, it said in a statement.

VCCircle has learnt that the deal is a combination of upfront payment of $15 million by
Mphasis and earnouts. The revenue of privately-held Fortify is understood to be in the region
of $20 million. Avendus Capital has acted as advisor to Mphasis in the transaction.

According to IT sector observers, infrastructure management is a hotly contested area. It is


clearly one of the fastest growing and highly scalable business in long-term IT services play.
So, acquiring a good asset in the US corridor is important especially since there are not too
many quality assets up for sale.

The shares of Mphasis were traded at Rs 650, up by Rs 16.65 or 2.63% at 12:30 pm in the BSE
today.

The acquisition follows Mphasis’ last year buy of AIG Systems Solutions Pvt Ltd (AIGSS), the
captive back office arm of the insurance major, American International Group (AIG), in India.
Fortify offers services including data center operations, systems and application infrastructure
management, security services, network monitoring and virtualization. It caters to the mid
market customers globally.

Mphasis says in the statement that the acquisition will give it access to an experienced
management team and a talent pool of highly experienced professionals, besides new
customers. “Mphasis will now be able to provide outcome based services which go beyond
technical service level agreements (SLAs). This disruptive approach will be a game changer
amongst the providers of offshore ROM services,” it explains.

Ganesh Ayyar, CEO, Mphasis, said, “As mid market customers are looking for partners to solve
the challenges of operating and managing their IT, we see this as a sweet spot to provide cost
effective and outcome based ROM services.”

Mphasis is a private equity-backed company. Leading PE firm Baring Private Equity Partners
India had invested for around 47% stake in the company, and eventually made two successive
exists as well. It sold 34.73% and 2.1% stake in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Currently, Baring
holds 10.4% stake in Mphasis.

5. Puma must wake up to outdoor oldies market


Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:45pm IST

By Eva Kuehnen

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - World No. 3 sports goods maker Puma risks missing a bonanza as
ageing populations swap their drinking habits and party clothes for a waterproof coat and a
stout pair of walking shoes.

Rivals Nike and Adidas are out in front, capitalising on the trend towards healthier living in a
growing section of the population. Puma has yet to make a move on this lucrative sector, and
a takeover or two could be the answer.

"It's definitely a growth market on a global level, certainly one that sports retailers and major
sports brands should be looking to access," said Planet Retail analyst Bryan Roberts.

"As people move into middle age they tend to look toward outdoor pursuits as something
which is more amenable to their lifestyle than nightclubbing."

The European outdoor market grew 1 percent in 2008 to 14.1 billion euros ($19.0 billion),
outperforming a 1 percent drop in the European sport market of which it forms a part, market
research group NPD said.

There is no data available for 2009 yet, NPD says the market for trekking, hiking, mountain
biking and the like has strong growth potential because of the demographics in Europe and
other mature markets.

Recession also boosted the industry last year as people chose cheaper camping and walking
holidays over long-haul trips to save cash.
The industry itself has also changed, and now sees not only the hardcore mountaineer as its
core client but also those who fight their way through the urban jungle day by day.

"Outdoor clothing is for the textile sector what Formula One is for the automotive industry --
the mass market benefits from technological advancements for extreme applications," said
Stefan Brunner at market research company GfK.

HIKING UP

Brands like Jack Wolfskin, Fjaell Raeven, and The North Face -- which is part of the VF Corp --
are among those riding a wave of strong demand for softshell jackets, high traction hiking
boots and sporty outdoor pants.

Jack Wolfskin, for example, posted a 22 percent rise in 2009 sales to 251 million euros -- the
sixth annual rise in a row.

The German company founded in 1981 said a change in the way people spend their free time
was one reason why demand for its products was growing.

"There is a desire to compensate for an increasingly hectic environment by spending time


outdoors," the company said.

Adidas's campaign to push its professional Terrex outdoor collection is spearheaded by


Alexander and Thomas Huber. They are professional rock climbing brothers, now the faces of
the group's latest attempt to crack the outdoor market after several previous assaults failed.

The Adidas Outdoor brand launched in 2007 now boasts annual revenue of almost 200 million
euros. Adidas plans to "establish itself as a benchmark in the outdoor sector by 2015".

"I think this is a market which will keep growing in the next couple of years because trekking,
hiking and mountain biking are on the rise," Adidas Chief Executive Herbert Hainer said. "We
will invest what's needed to be a strong player in this market."

Arch-rival Nike launched its outdoor brand All Condition Gear (ACG) in the early 1980s and has
just launched its Nike 6.0 action sports brand. It expects its action sports category to grow at
a double-digit rate over the next three years in Europe.

This puts Puma on the spot. The world's third-largest sporting goods maker behind Nike and
Adidas has no individual outdoor brand apart from its sailing operations, which it runs under
the Puma brand.

Planet Retail's Roberts said "it could be of interest to them (Puma) to access a growing
market, but whether or not they could build any critical mass could be a gamble for them".

It could be strategically more significant to push brand presence in places like China, India
and Brazil, he added.
A Puma spokeswoman said Puma would continue to follow its strategy to expand regionally,
both within its categories and via non-Puma brands. It recently bought the golf equipment
brand Cobra for an undisclosed sum.

But the company declined to comment on whether it would expand its outdoor operations.
Puma's net cash stood at 450 million euros earlier this year and it said that it did not want to
get into debt as a result of an acquisition.

Aside from an acquisition, Puma could copy Adidas and Nike and launch its own brand, or co-
operate with other players.

Analysts said a separate brand would make it easier to differentiate its outdoor gear from its
lifestyle wear.

6. Reliance to pay Atlas $1.7 bln for Marcellus JV


Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:38pm IST

* Reliance to pick up 40 pct in Atlas Energy's acreage

* Co to pay $340 mln cash, $1.36 bln as JV development

* Atlas to be development operator for the joint venture

* Atlas shares jump 16.3 pct in premarket trade

* Reliance shares close up 1.8 pct in firm Mumbai market (Changes sourcing to companies,
adds details, background, quotes, share price reaction)

By Pratish Narayanan and Indulal P.M.

MUMBAI, April 9 (Reuters) - Indian energy major Reliance Industries gained an overseas
foothold by agreeing to pay $1.7 billion to form a joint venture with U.S.-based Atlas Energy.

India's largest-listed firm will pick up a 40 percent stake in Atlas's operations in the booming
Marcellus Shale -- a gas project that spans parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York
in the United States and which, according to some geologists, could hold enough natural gas
to satisfy U.S. demand for a decade.

Atlas's core Marcellus position consists of about 300,000 acres, largely in southwestern
Pennsylvania, out of which about 120,000 acres will go to Reliance, the companies said.

Reliance will pay about $340 million in cash upon closing must contribute $1.36 bln to the JV
to develop the shale project, Atlas said in a statement. [ID:nBw095331a]

The deal will help Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, to stamp its presence
outside India, as it attempts to break into new markets and expand its various businesses
including refining, oil and gas exploration and petrochemicals.
"This marks Reliance's foray into a totally new venture altogether. Reliance is going to
generate a lot of cash flows going ahead and investments in shale gas could be a good growth
opportunity," said Deepak Pareek, oil and gas analyst with Angel Broking.

Reliance Chairman Ambani, who according to Forbes is the world's fourth-richest man with a
net worth of $29 billion, has made no secret of the firm's overseas ambitions as the company
has raised a warchest of $2 billion by selling stock in recent months.

But Reliance, founded by Ambani's father Dhirubhai, a school teacher's son, had not met with
much success until now in its foreign takeover attempts.

Bankrupt petrochemicals firm LyondellBasell [ACCEIN.UL] recently rejected a bid from


Reliance that valued the target at about $14.5 billion, and the Indian firm also lost a race for
Canadian oil sands firm Value Creation, in which it wanted to take a majority stake for $2
billion. [ID:nSGE6270CQ] [ID:nSGE62F090]

7. Orissa signs pacts with 5 firms for 4,800 MW power


Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:07pm IST

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters)- The Orissa government on Friday signed initial pacts with five
firms to set up coal-fired power plants with an estimated investment of 232 billion rupees and
capacity of 4,800 MW, an official said.

The coal-rich state has signed the deals with BGR Energy (BGR), JR Powergen (JRPL), Adhunik
Power and Natural Resources (APNRL), Maadurga Thermal Power Company (MTPC) and Vijay
Ferro and Power (VFPL), it said in a statement.

"They will have to apply for coal linkage and coal blocks," Orissa's energy department
secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena told Reuters.

Orissa has nearly a fourth of India's total coal reserves and half of the country's bauxite
reserves. It is also home to several steel and mineral-based process industries.

Rapid industrialisation and rural electrification has driven up the state's hunger for powert in
recent years.

"The state will provide required cooperation and critical support in shape of land, water, law
and order to the promoters to establish their plants", Jena said.

BGR has proposed to set up 1,320 MW super critical thermal power project with a total
investment of 62.87 billion rupees.

JRPPL has planned to set up a 1,980 MW power project with a total investment of 79.9 billion
rupees.

APNRL intends to set up 1,320 MW power plant with an investment of 80.79 billion rupees,
while MTPC has planned to set up 60 MW plant with an investment of 2.96 billion rupees.
VFPL has proposed to set up 120 MW power project at with an investment of 5 billion rupees.

All these projects will be commissioned within 4 to 6 years, Jena said.

8. Facebook joins drive to get UK voters to polls


Fri Apr 9, 2010 6:04pm IST

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - British election officials will for the first time use Facebook to encourage
more people to register to vote on May 6 after turnout fell to historic lows in the last two
ballots, a watchdog said on Friday.

The Electoral Commission said every visitor to the social networking site on Saturday will be
asked if they have already signed up to vote. If not, they will be redirected to the
commission's site where they can register.

At least 3.5 million people failed to register for the 2001 election and the commission
estimates there may still be millions in the same position.

Young people are among the biggest users of Facebook, but are traditionally the hardest to
persuade to cast their vote.

"If you're not registered, you can't vote," said Clinton Proud, head of campaigns at the
Electoral Commission.

The number of voters who go to the polls has fallen over the last 100 years. Turnout at the
last election in 2005 was 61.4 percent. By contrast, turnout in the early 1950s was above 80
percent.

It is lowest among 18-24-year-olds, falling to 37 percent in 2005 from 39 percent at the 2001
election, according to MORI estimates.

In a report after the 2005 vote, the watchdog blamed the low turnout on the perceived
similarities between the main parties and a campaign seen as "at best lackluster and at worst
negative in tone and too stage-managed."

Some voters felt their vote would make no difference because "nothing will change" whoever
wins, the report added.

Younger people are less likely than older voters to see going to the polls as a civic duty, it
said.

Richard Allan, Facebook's director of policy, said the site had 23 million users in Britain, of all
ages and backgrounds.

"We are therefore uniquely placed to reach unregistered voters," he said.


Voters must register by April 20 if they want to vote in an election that polls suggest will be
the tightest in 20 years.

The main parties have taken a leaf out of President Barack Obama's campaign and embraced
email and the web in what some are calling "Britain's first internet election.

9. Tata Tea, PepsiCo in pact for JV


Fri Apr 9, 2010 5:45pm IST

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Tea and world No. 2 cola maker PepsiCo on Friday said they had
signed a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture for non-carbonated beverages focused
on health and wellness.

"More details will only be available once the definitive agreements for the joint venture are
finalized and executed, which is expected to be done over the next few months," the joint
statement by the companies said.

The statement also said the proposed joint venture would not conflict with any existing
arrangement of either party.

"Tata Tea has been talking about getting into the health beverage business for some time,"
said Neha Pathak, analyst with K.R.Choksey.

"It has a big potential in the urban markets (in India) and they can use their strong distribution
network," she said.

Tata Tea, which owns the U.K-based Tetley brand, is the world's second-biggest packaged tea
maker.

Last year it introduced TiON -- a tea made from fruit juice, tea extracts and ginseng -- as part
of its transformation into a beverages company from being just a tea producer.

"It seems like it could be a good deal. But there are very little details to go on, what products
they are planning and what geographies they intend to target," said Manoj Menon, analyst
with Kotak Securities.

He said Tata Tea could piggy-back on the global distribution network of PepsiCo, which also
sells sports energy drink Gatorade.

10. France's Areva signs nuclear deals with Italy


Fri Apr 9, 2010 5:38pm IST

* Areva signs deal to help build at least 4 EPR plants

* Signs co-operation agreement with Techint Group


PARIS, April 9 (Reuters) - French nuclear power group Areva signed a deal with Ansaldo
Energia on Friday to work on an Enel-EDF project to build at least four EPR reactors to help
revive Italy's nuclear power industry.

The Italian government, which pulled out of nuclear energy after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
in Ukraine, now aims to get 25 percent of its electricity from nuclear power.

The four nuclear plants would cover about half of the country's needs. Friday's agreement
coincided with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's visit to Paris.

EDF and Enel will act as investors and architect engineers for the Italian project and use
Areva's technology.

Areva said it had also agreed to co-operate on future nuclear projects worldwide with the
Techint Group, a conglomerate of international companies that help design and build large
industrial facilities.

With its 58 nuclear power reactors, France is the world's second-largest producer of nuclear
energy after the United States.

Italy gave final approval in February to a decree paving the way to start work on new plants in
2013 and nuclear production by 2020.

Areva said it had also signed an agreement with the CIRTEN Italian inter-university consortium
for nuclear research and technology to promote exchanges and student visits.

11. Netflix inks movie rental deal with U.S. studios


Fri Apr 9, 2010 3:28pm IST

REUTERS - U.S. DVD rental company Netflix Inc has reached deals with movie studios
Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Studios that will allow it to rent DVDs and Blu-ray discs
28 days after new releases go on sale in stores.

The deal with News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox also involves a first-time streaming license
for Fox TV shows, the two companies said in a joint statement.

Netflix and Universal said that under their deal, Netflix would get significantly more units and
better in-stock levels from Universal after the four-week period and get access to more of the
studio's movies for customers to stream.

With the 28-day delay, Netflix will be able to rent James Cameron's worldwide blockbuster
"Avatar" to its customers from May 20, after its April 22 DVD/Blu-ray release date.

The first release covered under the new agreement with Universal is the comedy "It's
Complicated," which will be released in stores on April 27.
Earlier this year Netflix Inc and Coinstar Inc's Redbox each agreed to a 28-day delay on Warner
Bros.' new releases.

Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said in October studios were wrestling with declining
DVD sales as the rental market has been modestly growing and that some studios are
considering introducing a DVD retail sales-only window for a few weeks.

Netflix, Universal Studios and Twentieth Century Fox were not immediately available for
comment.

12. Aviva to re-enter Asia general insurance market


Fri Apr 9, 2010 1:13pm IST

By Kevin Lim and Myles Neligan

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Aviva, Britain's No.2 insurer, said on Friday it will re-enter
the Asian general insurance market five years after selling its non-life operations there, with
Singapore becoming its first market in the region.

European and U.S. insurers are keen to expand their presence in Asia, seen as one of the
world's fastest-growing financial services markets, thanks to rising household incomes on the
back of strong economic growth.

"Our entry into Singapore marks the first step in our plan to penetrate the rapidly expanding
general insurance market in Asia," Simon Machel, CEO of Aviva Asia Pacific, said in a
statement confirming an earlier Reuters story.

Aviva quit the Asian general insurance market in 2005 when it sold its non-life operations in
the region to Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance for $450 million.

The British insurer's decision to launch a new Asian general insurance business comes after a
non-compete agreement with Mitsui Sumitomo expired earlier this year.

"The company will quickly increase its portfolio of products to include home and travel
insurance," Aviva said. Machel declined to name the next countries the firm would expand
into.

Prudential, Britain's biggest insurer effectively staked its future in the region with a $35.5
billion bid for the Asian operations of bailed out U.S. insurer AIG, in what would be the
insurance sector's biggest ever takeover.
13. Mexico may cut millions of cellphones to fight
crime
Fri Apr 9, 2010 1:37am IST

* Mexico may cut millions of cellphone lines

* Proponents expect law to reduce crime

* Market leader's losses expected to be minor

By Noel Randewich

MEXICO CITY, April 8 (Reuters) - Tens of millions of Mexicans could find their cellphones
disconnected this weekend if the government goes ahead with a new law meant to fight crime
by forcing people to register their identities.

Advertisements on government radio and television have been urging Mexicans for weeks to
register their cellphones by sending their personal details as a text message, but on Thursday
30 million lines remained unregistered as the Saturday deadline neared.

Analysts said that any related losses for Mexico's largest wireless operator, America Movil,
would be tiny relative to the company's overall sales.

Still, America Movil, controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, is urging senators to extend the
deadline for implementing the law, passed a year ago to try to stop criminals from using
cellphones for extortion and to negotiate ransoms in kidnappings.

"Close to 30 million people will be affected ... many of whom depend on mobile phones as
their only means of communication," America Movil's head of institutional relations, Guillermo
Ferrer, said in emailed comments.

Most of Mexico's 84 million mobile phones are prepaid handsets with a limited number of
minutes of use that can be easily bought in stores. The phones can be topped up with more
minutes through street corner vendors.

America Movil has 71 percent of Mexico's wireless market, along with operations in Brazil,
Chile and other countries in the region. Most of the rest of Mexico's cellphone market is in the
hands of Spain's Telefonica.

MOBILE EXTORTION

Mexico is plagued by organized crime, from drug trafficking to express-kidnappings of taxi


passengers to force them to make cash withdrawals from automatic teller machines.
Increased media reports of kidnappings in 2008 led to calls for the cellphone registry.

Critics have said the law would be ineffective because criminals can easily register phones
under other people's identities.
But telecommunications watchdog head Hector Osuna said in a radio interview on Thursday
authorities planned to check the legitimacy of data people submit.

This week, senators refused requests from telephone companies to extend the deadline for a
year, but discussions were ongoing and a last-minute vote could not be ruled out.

The Reforma newspaper reported that a judge refused to give Telcel an injunction to stop the
deadline.

Based on average spending habits, America Movil stands to lose around $10 million in revenue
per day if the 30 million unregistered lines are cut.

14. "Hannah Montana" creators sue Disney for profits


Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:55am IST

By Matthew Belloni

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two of the creators of Disney Channel's "Hannah
Montana" franchise have sued the network for more than $5 million in profits from the show.

In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, series co-creators Barry O'Brien and
Richard Correll say they've been denied their fair share of the hugely successful Miley Cyrus
series.

O'Brien and Correll created the show with Michael Poryes in 2005. They now say they're owed
millions in pre-negotiated percentage-based bonuses based on their back-end deals and
Writers Guild of America requirements for writers who receive "created by" credits. The duo
claim Disney has denied repeated requests for payment and thwarted attempts to audit
profits from the show.

Correll, a prolific TV director, also claims he was wrongfully terminated from the show and
"blackballed" from future directing gigs by Disney.

A Disney spokesperson said the company is declining to comment on the suit.

O'Brien and Correll also are fighting Disney in a WGA arbitration over the studio's obligations
to them "under certain provisions of the WGA Agreement with respect to the series," the
complaint says. Those issues are not specified, though Correll says he was terminated by
Disney after testifying in connection with the arbitration.

Correll believes "the real reason for Defendants' termination and blackballing of Correll was
Disney's desire to retaliate" against him "for a) seeking compensation owing to Correll" and
O'Brien and "b) their testimony against Disney in the WGA Arbitration," according to the
complaint.

Defendants are Walt Disney Pictures, ABC Cable Networks Group, Disney Channel, producers
Bigwood Films, Fuss Budget Films, Silver Creek Pictures and It's a Laugh Prods.
Poryes, the third "Hannah" creator, sued Disney on similar grounds in October 2008.

The new lawsuit, filed by Robert Nau of Los Angeles firm Alexander Nau Lawrence Frumes &
Labowitz, claims damages of at least $5 million on causes of action for breach of contract,
accounting and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.

15. Bharti Airtel to work with network partners on 3G


Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:53pm IST

BOAO, China, April 10 (Reuters) - Indian telecommunications carrier Bharti Airtel BRTI.TO will
work with its existing equipment suppliers when it builds its 3G mobile network following a
long-delayed auction for 3G licenses, a top executive said.

The auction, which started on Friday, will see a number of companies receive licenses to
build third-generation (3G) mobile networks in parts or all of India, touching off a multi-
billion-dollar spending spree by the likes of Bharti and Reliance Communications.

"We have our vendor partners, as you know," Rajan Bharti Mittal, managing director of Bharti
Airtel parent Bharti Enterprises, told Reuters in an interview on Sunday, on the sidelines of
the Boao Forum on southern China's Hainan island.

He named Sweden's Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL] as two of Bharti's partners.

"For 3G, we will go back to existing relationships and we will have to figure it out," he said.

He added that he saw no obstacles to Bharti Airtel's pending purchase of the African assets of
Kuwait's Zain. In late March, the $9 billion deal had faced a potential hurdle over regulatory
objections in one of Zain's markets, but Bharti signed a legally binding agreement with Zain a
short time later.

"The work is on," Mittal said of the deal, adding that he did not expect any other major
hurdles.

"This is pretty much a straightforward deal."

16. Microsoft's latest phone experiment


Sat Apr 10, 2010 3:33am IST

* New "Pink" phone to be unveiled Monday

* Experimental own-branded phone aimed at young market

* Foreshadows Windows Phone 7 later this year

* Microsoft defending foothold in mobile market


By Bill Rigby

SEATTLE, April 9 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will show off its latest mobile phones on Monday,
but don't expect a direct rival to the iPhone.

The world's largest software company is trying a new tack in the hotly contested arena with
its long-awaited "Project Pink" devices.

Unlike Apple's popular device or Research in Motion's BlackBerry, they are aiming at
hyperactive teenagers who want multiple instant messaging accounts, e-mail, games, music
and Facebook in a cool-looking package.

The phones won't be powered by Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 software, and will be
priced much lower than the iPhone or Google Inc's Nexus One.

But investors will be watching closely as Microsoft, which has ceded ground in past years in
handheld devices, attempts to reassert itself in a small but significant way.

The Microsoft-branded phones -- made by Japan's Sharp and sold by Verizon Wireless -- are
the souped-up descendants of the Sidekick, originally made by hip phone developers Danger,
which Microsoft bought two years ago.

With distinctive slide-out keyboards and swiveling screens, Danger's phones are popular with a
young urban crowd that has more in common with Microsoft's Xbox gaming audience than its
mainstream business-oriented software.

"This is a trial for Microsoft," said Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar. "If this goes well or
better than they expect, they may be more willing to dip their toe in the water and build a
full-fledged phone."

AGE OF EXPERIMENTATION

Apple's minutely designed iPhone showed the weakness in Microsoft's approach of creating
mobile software and letting handset makers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola control the rest.

Among the array of Windows-powered phones, few approach Apple's smooth user experience,
which has attracted tens of millions of customers and redefined the smartphone category.

Microsoft admitted as much when as it launched its new Windows phone software in February,
saying it was working more closely with phone makers to make sure the resulting products hit
the mark. The arrival of the first of the new phones this autumn will determine their success.

In the meantime, Monday's "Project Pink" phones -- which will have a new name at launch --
appear to be an experiment in building its own-brand phone, if only for a limited market,
reducing the chances of upsetting Microsoft's handset partners.
17. Brazil cautions no cotton deal yet with U.S.
Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:16am IST

BRASILIA, April 9 (Reuters) - Brazilian authorities cautioned on Friday that negotiations with
the United States to solve a long-standing dispute over U.S. cotton aid were only at a
preliminary stage and that a deal was not certain.

Brazil delayed slapping import duties on U.S. goods on Monday for two weeks after receiving a
proposal from Washington aimed at settling a long-standing dispute over U.S. cotton
subsidies.

But a senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that
both sides still needed to detail a preliminary agreement by April 21 to avoid retaliation and
launch a two-month process of negotiations.

"We're still trying to establish mutual confidence," the official said.

Brazil would also reserve the right to apply retaliatory measures if the United States did not
comply with its proposed plan, the official said.

Brazil was set to impose tariffs and lift intellectual property right protections on $829 million
of U.S. goods, which would have been its right after a 2009 World Trade Organization ruling
against U.S. cotton subsidies.

But it agreed to hold off after Washington pledged to make some short-term tweaks to its
export credit guarantees and give Brazil about $147.3 million per year in damages to be used
for a "technical assistance" fund. It also promised action on barriers to pork and beef imports
from Brazil.

Foreign Minister Celso Amorim welcomed Washington's move but told U.S. Trade
Representative Ron Kirk late on Thursday that "there was still a difficult negotiation ahead
and that deadlines needed to met," according to the ministry's press office.

Diplomats, trade experts and business leaders are closely watching the case, one of a few in
which the World Trade Organisation has allowed the wronged party to retaliate against a
sector not involved in the dispute. Brazil would become the first country to apply cross-
retaliation under WTO rules.

18. Carlsberg, InBev in talks for tie-up in India


REUTERS Copenhagen, 8 April

Carlsberg, the world’s fourth-biggest brewer, and rival AnheuserBusch InBev are considering
joining ranks in India, where they are both minor players, Carlsberg said on Thursday.

Belgium’s InBev, the world’s largest brewer, declined to comment.


“We have had an initial contact with InBev, at which we talked about possibilities,” said
Carlsberg spokesman Jens Bekke, adding however: “There are no concrete plans. We just had
a chat over a beer.” He said possible cooperation in India could involve production,
distribution or other activities.

Half of the relatively small Indian beer market is accounted for by India’s United Breweries,
and roughly a third by world number two brewer SABMiller, with other players struggling to
get a foothold.

Indians drink on average a litre of beer per year, far below Western consumption patterns.

Carlsberg has four breweries and 171 employees in India.

All Asian markets contributed in 2009 to profit growth for Carlsberg, except for India, where
its investment is in the early stages, Carlsberg said in its annual report.

Afew hundred warehouse workers and drivers at Danish brewer Carlsberg halted work for
asecond day on Thursday to protest a company decision to limit beer drinking at work to lunch
breaks.

The strike in Denmark followed the company’s April 1 decision to introduce new rules for
employees on beer drinking at work, said Jens Bekke, spokesman at the world number 4
brewer.

“There has been free beer, water and soft drinks everywhere,” he said. “Yesterday, beers
were removed from all refrigerators. The only place you can get a beer in future is in the
canteen, at lunch.”

Carlsberg staff strike over limit on drinking at work

‘We have had an initial contact with InBev, at which we talked about possibilities,’ said
Carlsberg spokesman Jens Bekke. He said possible cooperation in India could involve
production, distribution or other activities. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

19. Aban inks deal with Brunel Shell


Aban Offshore Ltd informed the BSE on Thursday that a contract had been signed with Brunel
Shell Petroleum Sendirian Berhad for the deployment of the jack-up rig, Deep Driller 8, off
Brunei shore for a firm period of four years plus four optional periods of one year each.

20. GSPC inks oil, gas deal with Egypt


Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has inked an agreement with the government of
Egypt for oil and gas exploration in the country, where the Indian company has been allotted
blocks. The Gujarat government-promoted company, in partnership with Adani Group, was
recently allotted three blocks for oil and gas exploration in the African nation. The
consortium is led by GSPC, which has a 60 per cent stake, while Adani Group holds 40 per
cent, a GSPC official said. PTI
21. Geneva firm bags AI’s $190-mn deal
Air India awarded on Thursday a $190-million (nearly Rs 843-crore) deal to aGeneva-based
aviation technology firm for a sophisticated passenger service system (PSS) to be provided on
a turnkey basis. Announcing the deal, an Air India spokesman said Societe Internationale de
Telecommunications Aeronautiques PSS platform would be used to deliver a single airline
code to allow seamless integration of the former Indian Airlines and Air India.

22. Tiger Woods appears in new Nike ad ahead of


Masters tournament
BLOOMBERG New York, 8 April

Tiger Woods appeared in anew Nike Inc commercial yesterday, the eve of his return to
professional golf at the Masters Tournament.

The 30-second spot features Woods looking at the camera while a recording of his late father,
Earl Woods, speaks about responsibility. Nike made the ad available on YouTube.com before
running it on ESPN and the Golf Channel.

“Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion,” Earl Woods says in the ad.
“I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are and did
you learn anything.” Woods, 34, hasn’t played in a professional tournament included an
admission of marsors, including Accenture Plc few to stick with Woods, who endorses its line
of golf clothing and equipment. The Beaverton, Oregon-based company signed Woods to a
sponsorship deal in 1996.

“We support Tiger and his family,” Nike said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “As he
returns to competitive golf, the ad addresses his time away from the game using the powerful
words of his father.”

The Wall Street Journal reported the debut of the ad earlier.

The Masters, which Woods has won four times, begins today at Augusta National Golf Club in
Georgia. The world’s No 1- ranked golfer told reporters this week that he wanted to prove to
his corporate sponsors that he’s a “worthy investment.” Woods will tee off at 1:42 pm today
and 10:35 am to

The 30-second spot features Woods looking at the camera while a recording of his late father,
Earl Woods, speaks about responsibility. Nike made the ad available on YouTube.com before
running it on ESPN and the Golf Channel

23. Sibal signs pact with Australia on education


BS REPORTER New Delhi, 8 April

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal today signed a joint ministerial
statement with Australia’s Minister for Education Julia Gillard to build on ties between the
two countries’ schools, higher education, vocational studies and training.
The statement is the result of a commitment made in New Delhi last August to start an annual
dialogue between the two ministers.

24. Grand Prix for Zoozoo at Creative Abbys


BS REPORTER Panaji, 10 April

The lovable egg-headed characters, who took the advertising industry by storm in 2009, swept
the creative awards on the final night of Goafest.

Vodafone’s Zoozoo campaign predictably got its creators — Ogilvy &Mather and Nirvana Films
— the Grand Prix awards, the most coveted trophies at the Creative Abbys.

Incidentally, this was the only Grand Prix announced at the Creative Abbys this year,
indicating just how tough judging standards were.

But the scenario was no different last year when just one agency bagged the Grand Prix —
JWT.

Unlike last year, however, the jurors’ aversion for giving out metals (a term commonly used
by advertising folk to indicate awards) was not restricted to the Grand Prix alone. The total
number of golds given out this year was just 19, in comparison to 33 last year. Ajay
Chandwani, chairman of the Creative Abbys, admitted the overall tally of golds could have
been better this year. “I would have been happy had there been more golds given out. It was
a tough year, no doubt. But the jurors could have given out more gold awards. It encourages
people,” he said at the sidelines of the awards ceremony.

The overall tally of silver awards was more at 66, while the bronze tally was 146 this year,
said Chandwani.

Ogilvy & Mather walked away with 43 awards: 3 golds, 9 silver and 30 bronzes. Mudra group
was second with 4 golds, 9 silver and 13 bronzes, which took its tally to 26, while Publicis was
third with 22 awards (2 golds, 6 silver and 14 bronzes). JWT and Leo Burnett — big winners
over the last two years —stood fourth and fifth with 12 awards (2 silver and 10 bronze) and 11
awards (3 silver and 8 bronze), respectively.

What is worth noting is that barring the Zoozoo campaign, there were no other gold winners
in the crucial television category. In the print category — another big one for advertising
people — there were just three gold winners. This included a social service campaign for the
NGO Srujan by the Mudra group, while the other two were bagged by Publicis for little known
brands such as Croft, which is into business and home services, and Steadfast Shredders,
which is into business appliances.

The total number of entries this year was in line with last year, namely 4,200, which was
whittled down to 500 in the first round of judging, followed by 233 in the second round. These
233 were the final winners, said Chandwani.

No other gold winners in the crucial television category except for the campaign
Ogilvy & Mather walked away with 43 awards. Mudra was second with 26, Publicis was third
with 22 awards, JWT and Leo Burnett stood fourth and fifth with 12 and 11 awards,
respectively

25. Bharti’s education arm to invest Rs 100 crore


KIRTIKA SUNEJA New Delhi, 10 April

Centum Learning, the training and education arm of the Bharti group, plans to invest Rs 100
crore in the next three years to diversify into training school children and expanding its
presence by opening campuses across the country.

The company plans to set up franchisee service training and skill centres to impart
employability skills to students of class VIII and IX.

It will launch these centres in seven states by July. Training will be imparted in retail,
distribution, telecom and automobiles sectors.

“Through these franchisee service training centres, we will enhance the vocational
employability skills of belowpoverty-line students. These centres will teach relevant skills to
students like mobile repairing, installing of direct to home apparatus and repairing
automobiles and scooters, among others. We will offer training in areas where the Bharti
group is present,” said Sanjeev Duggal, CEO, Centum Learning.

After the training, the students will get a certificate from respective industry associations.

Moreover, it plans to set up 20 higher education ‘urban’ campuses called ‘Centum U’ in the
country in the next three years. These campuses, spread across the metros and Tier-I cities,
will offer courses in management, finance, economics, media and entertainment.

The campuses will offer industry-oriented graduate and postgraduate programmes in business
and creative studies.

The first five campuses, to be set up in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Mohali and Mumbai, will start
offering courses by the end of April.

Centum has tied up with London School of Economics and Whistling Woods International for
content and certification and the fee will range between Rs 1.5 and 3.5 lakh, according to
Duggal.

The expansion drive also entails doubling the number of its 130 training centres offering
courses in business and management to around 260 by the end of this year.

26. Maruti invests Rs 290 crore on new WagonR


PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, 10 April

The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India, has invested Rs 290 crore in upgrading
its hatchback WagonR that will be rolled out from a new platform with anew engine by the
end of this month.
The company has stopped producing the ‘Duo’ variant of the existing WagonR, which has both
petrol and LPG versions.

“This (new WagonR) is not a minor change, but a full model change. So, a lot of investment
has gone into it. We have invested about Rs 290 crore for upgrading the model,” Maruti Suzuki
India Executive Officer (marketing and sales) Mayank Pareek told reporters here.

Vendors also put in money for the project he added.

Pareek said when the company does a minor facelift of any model, it costs about Rs 50 crore.

When asked about the LPG variant of the existing WagonR, Pareek said, “As of now, we have
stopped the Duo and the new WagonR will only be in gasoline.” Introduction of other variants
in different fuel modes will be decided depending on the response from the customers.

Currently ‘Duo’ contributes about 2022 per cent of total WagonR sales, which stands at
10,000-12,000 units amonth.

The new WagonR will have a Bharat Stage IV emission norms compliant K10B engine. It will be
produced from the company’s Gurgaon facility.

“The new WagonR is based on a completely new platform and it has a new transmission also,”
Pareek said, adding according to Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) standards,
the car will give a mileage of 18.9 km per litre of petrol.

The company will at first sell the car in the domestic market and later introduce it in the
neighbouring nations.

Maruti Suzuki India has sold about 850,000 units of WagonR since its launch in 1999.

Asked about domestic car market scenario, Pareek said, “Interest rate is a big concern as
about 70 per cent of total passenger cars sold is financed. We are waiting for the RBI’s policy
review this month.” The rising commodity prices, especially that of steel, is also a major issue
that is bothering all the car makers, he added.

The company has already hiked the prices twice in the last two months due to rise in excise
duty, upgrade of engines for new emission norms and input costs.

“As of now, we are absorbing the pressure, but don’t know how long we will be able to (hold
another round of price increase),” Pareek said.

27. SPICEJET STAKEHOLDERS REJECT ADAG OFFER


SURAJEET DAS GUPTA New Delhi, 11 April

Key shareholders of low-cost airline SpiceJet have rejected an offer by the Reliance ADA
Group to pick up a 51 per cent stake in the airline for Rs 4045 per share. The offer was made
last week.
The company’s share price was Rs 63 at the close of trading on Friday at the Bombay Stock
Exchange. The price offered by Reliance is, thus, about a third lower than the prevailing
market price at which the company’s shares closed at the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.

Senior executives in the know of the ADAG offer said the key shareholders wanted Rs 60-70
per share. ADAG had approached both W L Ross India (a private equity investor) as well as the
Kansagara family to buy out their stakes.

The ADAG offer is higher than that of another suitor, Sun TV promoter Kalanithi Maran. He
had offered to buy a similar stake at Rs 39 a share. This would have valued the company at Rs
950 crore.

The Religare group, promoted by brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, had also shown
interest in the airline, though details are not available.

Senior executives close to the negotiations with Maran said he might rethink the offer, given
the challenging patch airlines are again passing through, with the hike in prices of aviation
turbine fuel (ATF). This would impact fares, which would have an adverse impact on the
bottom line of airlines.

A meeting is slated next week between Maran and his advisors, in which a final decision is
likely on a followup of the earlier offer. Maran was not available for comment.

A Reliance ADAG spokesperson, when asked to comment on the offer, declined to do so.
SpiceJet CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said his company did not comment on speculation. W L Ross
India CEO Ranjeet Nabha, which would control 30 per cent of the equity capital of the
company if its converts its $68 million (Rs 300 crore) worth of foreign currency convertible
bonds (FCCBs) into equity, did not respond to a query.

One of the advisors to the negotiations on SpiceJet says every Rs 100 increase in air fare leads
to a one per cent fall in passenger load factor, which airlines can ill-afford to do at the
moment. They note ATF prices had gone up from around $72 three to four months earlier to
$86 currently.

Jet Airways had already said it would have to hike fares by 10-15 per cent. Aggarwal agrees
ATF prices have gone up, but says the total impact of it has been an extra twothree per cent
on cost. Says Aggarwal: “Fuel prices have gone up from $80 to $86 and if this continues, we
might have to look at fares. At the moment, the impact is marginal.” Advisors say the ADAG
group, also interested in airport infrastructure, might have had to confront policy challenges
under which an airport developer cannot pick up more than a minority equity stake in an
airline.

Maran had earlier offered Ross a deal to buy 51 per cent equity in the carrier, provided the
hedge fund brought in other shareholders into a consortium and create a block offering
majority equity in the company, said senior executives involved with the deal.

SpiceJet has 20 aircraft. However, one reason why the price offered for it is lower than the
market price is a Rs 200-crore tax liability on the company, currently under dispute.
The key shareholders of the airline include the Kansagara family with a 12.89 per cent (before
possible conversion of the FCCBs), Ajay Singh who holds 4.15 per cent, aclutch of mutual
funds, and the public.

Say price offered for 51% stake too low; Maran may try again %stake12.89 Kansagara family
4.15 Ajay Singh 3.27 Avanthi Shah 3.26 IDFC Premier Equity Fund 3.05 Sundaram BNP Paribas
Mutual Fund A/c Sundaram BNP Paribas 2.25 Goldman Sachs Investments (Mauritius) Ltd 2.12
Vijendra Singh 1.79 HSBC Bank Mauritius Ltd 1.76 Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius Pvt Ltd
1.51 Legg Mason Southeast Asia Special Situations Trust 1.32 Paradise Credits Pvt Ltd 1.29
Lloyd George Investments Management (Bermuda) Ltd 1.08 IDFC small and midcap Equity SME
Fund 13.39 Ex-Istithmar PJSC stake; now sold to domestic MFs 46.87 Public shareholding

28. Mumbai, B’lore front-runners in IPL 3 merchandise


sales
SWARUP CHAKRABORTY & PRADIPTA MUKHERJEE Mumbai/Kolkata, 11 April

This season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has already thrown up winners even before the
tournament has ended. Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore have emerged as the
top teams, whose brand merchandise has been lapped up by fans. “Teams that are performing
well are seeing good sales. Mumbai and Bangalore lead the chart now. However, sales
fluctuate with performance,” said Saumitra Srivastava, Director, Yog Sports, the official
merchandise distribution partner for IPL.

According to Srivastava, home teams have an advantage, as sales happen almost in the ratio
of 75:25 among the home team and the visiting team, and if Mumbai reaches the semis or the
final, its sales will move up even further. A survey report by eBay India, India’s leading
ecommerce marketplace, says Mumbai is India’s biggest IPL city on eBay, with the maximum
IPL merchandise being bought in Mumbai. Interestingly, southern metropolitan cities like
Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai were in the second, third and fourth positions
respectively, while Delhi made it to fifth place.

Deepa Thomas, senior manager-pop culture, eBay India, said, “IPL has fans from 170 cities
and 11 countries buying merchandise on eBay India. In India, IPL is no longer a metro
phenomenon, with Tier-II cities like Tirupur and Bhubaneswar making their debut in the top
10 IPL cities.” The IPL merchandise on offer on eBay India includes jerseys, T-shirts, caps,
footwear and a wide range of fan gear from backpacks, key chains, fan capes, bottle chillers,
collectibles, cheering sticks, tattoos, wrist bands and even trumpets from all eight teams.

Srivastava said pickup of merchandise could have been much higher with a better pricing
strategy. “We have found in smaller cities like Cuttack that expectations of consumers do not
match the price at which the merchandise is offered,” he said. Also, the deal that Yog Sports
signed with IPL happened three weeks into the tournament and Srivastava said there wasn’t
enough time to finetune the arrangements.

Currently, T-shirts have been priced between Rs 200 and Rs 3,000, while caps are priced at Rs
75, and trumpets between Rs 100 and Rs 150.
The sales in stadiums are on an average between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh per match,
depending on the location. In Mumbai and Bangalore, the revenues are as high as Rs 8 lakh to
Rs 10 lakh. Srivastava said his company would be able to break even on the investment it
made on the distribution deal next year.

Adidas, official merchandise partner for Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, has witnessed
40-50 per cent growth in sales. Andreas Gellner, managing director of Adidas, said, “We have
already seen a 40-50 per cent rise in IPL merchandise sales revenue this year compared with
the last. We expect the frenzy to continue, especially for the popular teams as they enter the
semi-finals.” Adidas added new merchandise this year, like backpacks.

Reebok, which is the official merchandise partner for Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab XI,
Chennai Superkings, and Bangalore Royal Challengers, has also seen IPL merchandise sales
picking up ‘significantly’. Vishnu Bhagat, chief financial officer, Reebok, said, “We have a
more loyal fan base for the IPL teams this year, compared with the last two years. So,
merchandise sales have significantly gone up although the exact quantum has not been
calculated yet.” According to industry estimates, team owners will have revenues between Rs
1 crore and Rs 5 crore this season from merchandise sales alone, depending on the popularity
of the team.

File photos of matches of Royal Challengers Bangalore ( left )and Mumbai Indians. Team
owners expect to have revenues between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore this season from
merchandise sales alone, depending on the popularity of the team

29. Videocon eyes Philips’ consumer products business


in India
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, 11 April

Diversified conglomerate Videocon Industries is understood to be making moves to acquire the


consumer electronics business of Philips India.

“The company is looking at acquiring consumer products vertical of Philips India. The due
diligence has just started,” asource in the know of the development said.

This, however, does not include the lighting and healthcare products businesses of Philips
India, the source said.

When contacted, Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot declined to comment.

Philips India spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation.” Sources said if the
acquisition took place, it would help Vidoecon expand in home appliances, as Philips is a
popular brand in the segment. Other products include LCD TVs, DVDs, home theatre systems
and audio systems.

Philips, the Netherlandbased consumer durable major, which is operating in India for more
than 80 years, has earlier said it was strategically shifting its focus to healthcare and life-style
segment to promote its products in the country.
The monthly sales of its breadand-butter Ambassador slipped to just around 800 in the April-
February period, way behind comparable models. And Hindustan Motor’s market share
nosedived to a minuscule 3 per cent of the Indian mid-size sedan market.

On top that, Managing Director Ravi Santhanam, who was brought in from Mahindra &
Mahindra six years ago to bolster the Kolkata-based company’s efforts to counter a fast-
eroding market share, put in his papers.

But Hindustan Motors, owned by the GP Birla-CK Birla group, is fighting back. While the good
old Ambassador, which improved its sales to over a thousand in March, is being spruced up
with new variants, HM is also launching bookings for the niche sports car Mitsubishi Lancer
Evolution X, popularly known as Evo X, in June-end. The company has a technical
collaboration with Mitsubishi Motor.

“Evo X has been in the minds of the Indian consumer for a long time now. It is a fantasy sports
car that has caught the fancy of speed enthusiasts in movies like the Fast & Furious where it
featured,” says Pritam Saikia, marketing head of HM-Mitsubishi Motors.

Evo-X, HM hopes, would help in creating a contemporary image for the company. “We are not
looking at huge numbers. We plan to sell around 50-75 cars in India per year. It is a car that
boosts the brand equity of Mitsubishi in India. It has the rally DNA that outlines Mitsubishi cars
in the country”.

The four door, five seater saloon is fired by a two-litre, 280bhp, 16 valve, four cylinder petrol
engine which is more powerful than many of its competitors. Priced at Rs 40 lakh, the car is
pegged against the likes of Nissan 370Z, the BMW ZX4. It will be a completely built unit that
currently attracts a 110 per cent import duty.

Also on the launch pad is a new variant of the SUV Outlander, later this month and the Pajero
Sport in October.

The new 2010 Outlander, priced at around Rs 20 lakh, will have a sporty look and a 2.4 litre
engine. The looks have been inspired by the Outlander GT prototype displayed at last years
New York International Auto Show. “We have sold all the 100 preview models that we had
sent to malls and muling on the back of these new launches, the company aims to boost its
sales to 6,000 units this financial year from 4000 units last year.

Mitsubishi is also planning to bring its global electric small car, the MiEV, by 2014-15. Saikia
says “the infrastructure has to be ready for the electric car to roll out in India. We are
working on issues like having an economic, disposable battery instead of creating an
infrastructure of charging stations all across”. HM manufactures the Ambassador in its
Uttarpara plant in West Bengal and the Mitsubishi line of vehicles at its Thiruvallur plant near
Chennai.

THE NEW AMBASSADOR

Post recession, sales of the Ambassador too has shown some buoyancy. “The sales of taxis had
dipped by around 55 per cent during the economic downturn, but the demand is back. We are
now struggling to meet the demand and are working on ramping up production,” says Moloy
Chowdhury, executive vice president of HM. The challenge is to work on the vendor base and
ensure a steady supply chain. “We have now managed to meet almost 90 per cent of the
requirement. We sold 1,075 Ambassadors in March alone and are trying to reach a figure of
1200 cars per month as the demand is in excess of 1000 per month,” Chowdhury says.

Around 65 per cent of the Rs 5 lakh mid-sized sedan sells as taxis, around 20 per cent to
government institutions and departments, while the rest goes to individual consumer.

HM has chalked out a growth strategy in line with the cars brand image. Chowdhury says, “We
are all set to roll out the BS-IV compliant LPG variant of the car later this month in the
Kolkata market and then take it national. With the autorickshaw LPG conversion drive, the
Bengal market now has sufficient As the new emission

30. Kellogg’s goes snacking


SEEMA SINDHU

It’s not only the mass brands that are adopting smallpack strategy to increase penetration;
premium and niche brands like Kellogg’s too are going the same way.

You can now buy Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, the company’s flagship brand, for just Rs 10. The
company calls it Kpak format. It is the third brand to be added in the Kpak range (after
Chocos and Honey Loops). The idea is to increase the penetration of the Kellogg’s’s brands
through affordability, as breakfast cereals are still a very small market in India.

Anupam Dutta, Managing Director, Kellogg’s India, says, “Low price points help us reach the
Tier II and III towns. We launched Chocos Kpak in Tamil Nadu first and then rolled it out
nationally. The small pack for Kellogg’s’s Corn Flakes was first test-marketed in Tamil Nadu,
and going by the response, we decided to launch it nationally this year.” A low fat option,
Kellogg’s’s Corn Flakes at Rs 10 has what the company calls ‘Iron Shakti’. The product
positioning has been changed as well: From abreakfast cereal, it is now also a ‘Shaam ka
Nashta’ (evening snack). The new positioning will help promote outof-home consumption.

While the small-pack strategy will help Kellogg’s push sales in tier II and III towns, the
company is not looking to hit rural markets yet as it feels there is still a lot of head-room in
urban India, considering the low penetration.

Kellogg’s has a market share of more than 70 per cent value share in the ready-to-eat cereal
category. But competition for Kellogg’s is heating up. PepsiCo has increased its focus on
Quaker and is also planning to bring more products from its global breakfast portfolio.

Competition is also strong from the private labels of some retailers like the Future Group,
which have made ahuge success out of its Tasty Treat cornflakes. But Dutta is unfazed: “More
players will only help drive category growth,” he says.

Devendra Chawla, Head (private brands) of the Future Group, agrees: “There’s no
competition as the category is under-penetrated. More players will only help the category
grow. For instance, before our launch of Tasty Treat cornflakes, only two out of 100 bills at
our stores used to be of cornflakes. After our launch, it has become three on an average.”
While Tasty Treat cornflakes are priced the same as Kellogg’s, none is available at the Rs 10
price point, which gives Kellogg’s the first mover advantage.

The size of the ready-to-eat breakfast cereal category is around Rs 350-400 crore and is
growing at 30 per cent. “There is immense potential for a category such as ours that remains
untapped. And the active category growth is likely to benefit all players,” adds Dutta.

Kellogg’s plans to further expand its distribution network in line with its expansion plans and
bring out new introductions.

In India, Kellog’s is present only in breakfast cereals. However, worldwide it has a wide
portfolio of product categories like cookies, crackers, toaster pastries,, frozen waffles and
veggie foods. But at the moment Kellogg’s has no plans to diversify into other categories.

31. Sinopec to buy Syncrude stake for $4.65 billion


BLOOMBERG Houston, 12 April

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia’s biggest refiner, agreed to buy ConocoPhillips’s stake
in oilsands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd for $4.65 billion to help feed the world’s fastest-
growing major economy.

Sinopec, as the Beijingbased company is known, will buy about 9 per cent of unlisted
Syncrude, Houston-based ConocoPhillips said today in a statement.

Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record $32 billion
last year. ConocoPhillips said in October it planned to sell $10 billion of assets over two years
to help cut debt. Sinopec joins domestic rival PetroChina Co in acquiring stakes in Canadian
producers of oil locked in sand.

“China is moving more and more and more toward wanting to and having a desire to secure
natural resources,” said Robbert Van Batenburg, head of equity research at Louis Capital
Markets LP in New York. “For them to get a greenfield operation in the oil sands in Canada is
going to be much more difficult, so this is probably the most viable.” Oil sands are deposits of
bitumen, an extra-heavy oil that must be treated for use in refineries to produce gasoline and
diesel fuels.

State-controlled PetroChina won approval from the Canadian government in December to buy
a stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp’s MacKay and Dover oil-sands projects for C$1.9 billion
($1.9 billion).

China Petrochemical Corp, Sinopec’s parent, bought Calgary-based Addax Petroleum Corp for
C$8.3 billion last year to add oil reserves. Sinopec said on March 29 it will pay $2.5 billion to
buy a stake in an Angolan field from its parent to boost crude-oil production.

The Chinese economy grew 10.7 per cent in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace since 2007,
and is forecast by the United Nations to advance about four times more quickly than the US
this year.
Sinopec joins domestic rival PetroChina Co in acquiring stakes in Canadian producers of oil
locked in sand

32. VMware, Salesforce.com team up on new product


Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:28pm IST

* To announce cloud-computing product on April 27

* Companies decline to discuss details of announcement

BOSTON, April 13 (Reuters) - VMware Inc and Salesforce.com Inc, two software makers whose
sales have outperformed the industry in recent years, plan to introduce a new cloud-
computing product.

Officials at the companies declined to elaborate on a brief statement that they issued on
Tuesday on the website www.vmforce.com. The site said that the chief executives would
make a joint product announcement "on the future of cloud computing" on April 27.

Cloud computing refers to the use of software and computers at large-scale remote data
centers that are accessed via the Internet.

Salesforce.com is the world's biggest provider of software that is delivered via the Web.
VMware is the top maker of virtualization programs that allow companies to boost the
efficiency of computer hardware by running multiple virtual machines on a single piece of
equipment.

33. Palm approached Huawei for acquisition talks


List of possible Palm suitors grows, led by Asians

Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:38am IST

By Melanie Lee and Franklin Paul

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Palm Inc, may be scooped up by an Asian company with
enough cash and manufacturing muscle to turn around the struggling smartphone maker, but
analysts warn a deal could prove too rich for any buyer at current prices.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd became on Tuesday the latest name to surface as a possible
bidder for Palm, whose phones have steadily lost customers to the iPhone and BlackBerry.
Two months ago, Palm reached out to Huawei's bankers regarding a possible deal, although
talks have not moved forward, according to a source.

Palm declined to comment, but another source said this week the company has hired bankers
to explore several options, including a sale of the company.
Huawei, in a statement, also declined to comment on a merger, but said it is "always open" to
opportunities that will enhance its business development.

If Palm fits that bill, Huawei could face competition from a handful of other companies in
Asia. Various reports suggest inquiries in the region already include a PC maker, a handset
developer and a telecommunications provider.

Several North American companies -- from computer maker Dell Inc to Blackberry maker
Research in Motion Ltd -- have also been mentioned as potential suitors.

But speculation has started to favour overseas concerns that can use broad manufacturing
capabilities to boost the supply of Palm-branded phones, at lower costs, as well as help
bankroll the advertising and promotion of new products.

"I think its someone who is on the outside looking in to the U.S. smartphone market --
someone who wants to participate but isn't there currently -- a Huaweh or a Lenovo," said
Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton. "It's those types that would be the best fit."

Despite its challenges, Palm is the No. 3 brand in the biggest growth sector of the mobile
phone market, trailing Apple Inc and RIM. In the United States, smartphones represented
about one-third of new handset volume in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to NPD
Group.

And smartphone sales are expected to rise about 38 percent to 65 million units in the United
States and Canada this year, according to research firm Canalys.

HUAWEI, ZTE, LENOVO

Both Huawei, the world's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker, and Lenovo Group Ltd,
a top PC marker that is reportedly looking to bolster its mobile Internet business, could infuse
much-needed cash into Palm.

"They can capture the Palm brand, their carrier relationships, (and) the patent portfolio," he
added. "For anyone that is starting from scratch in the U.S., this deal makes some sense."

HTC Corp, the No.5 smartphone maker, has also talked to Palm about a possible acquisition,
Taiwan's Economic Daily News said last week. Analysts view ZTE Corp, China's No. 2
telecommunications equipment maker, as another possible suitor. ZTE could not be reached
for comment on Tuesday.

"Huawei and ZTE are potential buyers. It makes sense: they don't have an operating system or
a brand, but they have cheap manufacturing costs and money to invest and develop the
brand," said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo in London.

"Consumers don't associate Chinese brands with quality products and don't pay a premium for
such a mobile phone. Palm would be perfect for them."
34. Nintendo wins patent appeal against Anascape
Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:49pm IST

* US appeals court reverses Anascape win

* Case focused on game controllers

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - Nintendo won a patent appeal on Tuesday in a fight with
Anascape over technology used in video game controllers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a ruling that reversed a decision by a
Texas district court. The Texas court earlier ruled that Nintendo had infringed on an Anascape
patent, was required to stop using the technology and was required to pay damages.

The game controllers in question were used in some of Nintendo's popular Wii, WaveBird and
GameCube controllers.

Microsoft Corp had also been sued by Anascape but settled.

The case is Anascape Ltd v. Nintendo of America Inc and was on appeal from the U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Case no. 06-158.

35. Bajaj cannot buy land for 4-wheeler project


HRISHIKESH JOSHI Pune, 13 April

Bajaj Auto Ltd’s fourwheeler project, a joint venture with Nissan and Renault, at Chakan in
Pune seems to have hit a roadblock, as the company has not been able to acquire enough
land.

Bajaj had plans to launch the vehicle in 2012. If the land acquisition does not happen, Bajaj
may move the project out of Pune.

“We are planning to roll out our four-wheeler in 2012. Chakan has been chosen for the plant.
But, we are facing some problems in acquiring land at the proposed sight,” said Rajiv Bajaj,
managing director, Bajaj Auto Ltd. He was speaking to reporters at the launch of Bajaj’s new
three-wheeler, RE145D.

“We have 250 acres and are still short of 100 acres. Also, our other plants are operational at
Aurangabad and Pantnagar (Uttarakhand). We have enough land in Aurangabad. But we will
look for an alternative, if none of these locations works out.” Bajaj also said the company was
targeting production of 4,00,000 vehicles a month in this calendar year. Bajaj manufactures
3,50,000 vehicles a month, including 300,000 motorcycles and 50,000 threewheelers.

Also, it would stick to its models like Discover, a commuter’s vehicle, Pulsar, a sports
motorbike and RE, a threewheeler passenger vehicle, rather than a Bajaj brand.
The company, which exported 1,58,000 vehicles last year to Egypt, Peru, Tanzania and other
African countries, expects a 15 per cent growth in exports.

Bajaj is also increasing its research and development expenditure. The company plans to
spend Rs 50 crore on R&D this year. It has 650 engineers in its R&D division at Pune.

Bajaj said, “We are planning to launch five platforms for our commercial vehicles. Out of
which, three are operational. Two will get operational in this quarter. There will be a brand
new platform for four-wheeler.”

Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj (left) and CEO (commercial vehicles) of R C Maheshwari with a
newly launched CNG vehicle at Akurdi in Pune on Tuesday.

36. LOCALENTREPRENEUR MAKESAGLOBALCALL


The owner of an all-India virtual directory service plans to expand to every major
English-speaking country in two years

PRAVDA GODBOLE Pune

In March this year, a Tamilian from Kolkata, who claims he grew up in an India that was “anti-
capitalist and antigrowth”, expanded his Rs 500 crore-plus search engine business, Just Dial,
to the world’s capitalist heartland, the US.

He’s not planning to merely leverage low-cost India to maximise revenues from a standard
offshore back-office model. For now, Just Dial’s US operations will be handled out of India,
where the company employs about 4,000 people. “We soon plan to hire up to 1,000 people in
the US, mostly in under-employed, rural areas,” says 42 year-old Venkatachalam Sthanu Subra
Mani.

The days to come will see Just Dial expanding to Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand,
Singapore and Hong Kong to fulfil Mani’s target of being present in all major English-speaking
countries in the next two years. The company also intends to leverage the brand and know-
how for an international franchise.

Fourteen-year-old Just Dial is a directory service that provides information on basically any
entity that has a telephone existence — restaurants, plumbing services, shopping malls,
colleges and so on.

In India, Just Dial receives over 240,000 calls everyday and hosts over 200,000 visitors to its
website. It caters to over 2 million users across 240 cities in the country. Its revenue model
involves a nominal fee to those who list but is free to consumers.

Users need to dial a helpline number and explain to an operator what service they are looking
for (this service is free in the US but customers in India need to pay for outgoing calls). Text
and email alerts are then sent to users listing the four best options.

In some cases, the Just Dial executive patches through an instant call between the user and
the service provider. Although this service is common to both the US and India markets, the
US features have been tweaked. Americans can avail of unlimited free call connect to
businesses and instant search on movies and events anywhere in America.

“The American service also has a facility that allows establishments to bid and compete with
each other to offer the user the best deal. This is our way of ensuring that the customer is
king,” says Mani.

Unlike in India, the US already has multiple ways of accessing business listings. So why is he
entering such a competitive market? “The market in the US is more evolved and mature. In
India, you may need a large sales force on the ground to get local businesses and services
providers to sign up and get listed. In developed economies it is easier to accomplish this
because there are middle-level players who act as aggregators,” he says.

He has also drawn up new services such as Just Dial Genie, a personal assistant that will
enable consumers round-the-clock service for a monthly or annual fee. Genie will allow
instant call connect to any business establishment, reminder services and the like.

The company is currently fighting a case in the Delhi High Court against Infomedia 18 Ltd,
which allegedly copied and hosted Just Dial’s database, its single biggest asset. The high court
has put an injunction against the site, but with the final verdict awaited, neither Mani nor his
team want to comment on this dispute.

When Mani started his career in Delhi as a salesman with city-based United Database —
abusiness directory service — he would watch people leafing through heavy books and lots of
fine print to get at that one small but important piece of information. Why not offer a similar
service on the phone, he thought.

“In 1994, a telephone connection costed Rs 15,000 so I could afford only three lines. Iwaited
for a year to start the company, dreaming of numbers and millions of people using my
service,” Mani recalls.

In 1996, he heard that the Kandivali Exchange in Mumbai was coming out with its 888 series.
“I presented my business plan to the general manager, he liked it and the dream number of
888-8888 was mine.” The business, which has now attracted venture capital from Hong Kong’s
SAIF Partners, US-based Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital, started with borrowed furniture,
rented computers and a small office where employees had to play musical chairs.

Today, Just Dial’s headquarters in Mumbai measures 20,000 square feet, and the company
owns 1,25,000 square feet across India. How did he grow so quickly? By following this business
philosophy: “Stay put, never give up and maintain fiscal discipline”.

Considering his early ventures involved selling a wrist watch to a relative for Rs 10 and
organising a movie show with acolour television and a rented video (there were more people
than tickets), Mani’s certainly proved his self-made entrepreneurial adage right.

VS S Mani, founder and managing director, Just Dial. His business started out with borrowed
furniture and rented computers and now sprawls over 1,25,000 square feet of office space
37. India achieves UN Millennium Goal for drinking
water
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, 13 April

India has achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for drinking water by providing 84
per cent of its rural population with access to improved sources of water, Rural Development
Minister C P Joshi today said here.

However, the country is facing a tremendous challenge in sustaining drinking water security in
rural areas as most water sources are ground waterbased and have been overexploited for
agriculture and industry besides being subjected to untreated sewage, he said.

The MDGs are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member
states and at least 23 international organisations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.

“India has achieved considerable progress in providing clean and safe drinking water in most
rural areas of the country. I am happy to say that we have achieved the MDG for drinking
water...However, there is much to achieve. Our goal is to provide every household with an
improved source of drinking water by 2012,” Joshi said addressing the 4th International
Learning Exchange programme on water, sanitation and hygiene organised by the Unicef here.

Joshi said overexploitation of ground water sources is posing a “growing” threat to the
country’s drinking water security.

“We are, therefore, moving away from exclusive dependence on groundwater to reviving
traditional water bodies and to the practice of collecting rain water, practices that were
neglected when the handpump revolution came up.” There have also been “heartening”
examples of community ground water monitoring and crop water budgeting in Andhra Pradesh
and elsewhere, “models of which we hope to replicate on a larger scale to avoid over-drawing
the ground water resources,” he said.

38. English movie channels ride on IPL frenzy


PRADIPTA MUKHERJEE Kolkata, 12 April

English movie channels has moved their primetime to 11 pm — post Indian Premier League
(IPL) cricket matches.

The channels are airing new programmes and blockbusters immediately after the matches to
get a share of primetime viewership. STAR Movies, Sony Pix and HBO have also increased their
rates for the 10second advertising slots by nearly 50-75 per cent.

While Star Movies has named the prime slot as ‘Super Star League’ (SSL), HBO and Sony Pix
have launched ‘Hollywood Premier League’ (HPL) and ‘Pix Premier League’ respectively —
along the lines of the IPL. The channels will showcase some of the most popular movies of all
times during the 45-day IPL season.
Anupam Vasudev, EVP-marketing, STAR India, said: “On STAR Movies, we are just riding on
the popularity of IPL and have created properties around it to reflect our commitment to the
game as well. The advertising rates during Super Star League is also priced at a premium,
which is usually 20-50 per cent higher than regular rates for the same timeband.” According
to STAR India website, a 10-second slot rate on STAR Movies during the Friday-Sunday 11 pm
timeband will cost Rs 7,000, while on Monday-Thursday, it will cost Rs 10,200. Blockbusters
and premiers are priced separately.

MG Parameshwaran, executive director of FCB Ulka Advertising, said: “English movie channels
are a very strong niche segment and the viewership is so small, compared to Hindi general
entertainment channels that they would not witness much of adrop in viewership during IPL.
So, the content they create around IPL is essentially to ride on the popularity of IPL.” “While,
on an average, regular advertising rates for English movie channels for 10 seconds would be
around Rs 3,500, premium rates for 10 seconds could touch Rs 5,000,” Parameshwaran added.

Sunder Aaron, business head, Sony Pix, said: “We witness around two per cent decline in
viewership. But, our overall reach should increase this year by 10 per cent because alot more
people tune in to television to watch IPL matches. Also, immediately after the matches,
people have a tendency to surf channels and tune in to movies, so the 11 pm movies see 10
per cent increase in reach.”

39. Bajaj-KTM set to launch premium sports bikes this


year end
SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, 12 April

Bajaj Auto and KTM Power Sports AG — the Indo-Austrian alliance — plans to launch a
performance oriented premium bike in three years.

With the launch of this vehicle the Punebased company will be in a league of international
bike makers that manufacture quality superbikes for the global market.

Although Bajaj Auto currently makes the Pulsar 220, an indigenously produced powerful
performance bike, the company lacks the brand appeal and technology expertise to trump
established players like Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki, among others.

The KTM-Bajaj alliance is developing a versatile motorcycle platform that would cater to the
entry-level street bike segment from 125cc to more than 250cc. This platform is crucial as
bikes built on it would be exported to most important global markets.

The 125cc bikes are slated to hit the international market by the end of this year and in India
by next year. The expected launch of the 250cc plus variants will be in 2013, said an official.
“These products are being jointly built by Bajaj and KTM for both the Indian and the world
market.” Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, Bajaj Auto, confirmed in an email response that
both companies are working on highcapacity bikes, that would be eventually launched after
the introduction of the initial line of smaller engined bikes.

The bikes will be manufactured at Bajaj’s Chakan plant, near Pune.


Although the entry-level bikes (with 125cc engine) might appear low on engine capacity and
power output, performance is expected to be better than other products available in the
market.

According to sources, the products would be priced in the range of Rs 2.3-2.4 lakh in the
European market. However, the Indian market price is yet to be determined.

The 250cc plus variants will help Bajaj Auto to add value to its brand in a segment dominated
by the Japanese and European players. Although the premium bike segment is relatively small
in India, with volumes of less than 5 per cent, it is growing at a favourable rate.
Internationally, demand for such bikes at an affordable price is quite high, say market
experts.

When asked, whether the high performance bikes will make Bajaj Auto the first Indian
company to make sports bikes, Bajaj said, “Yes, although I would insist that our Pulsar and
Discover (brands) have already proved that point for they sell at a price premium to
equivalent Japanese competition.” KTM is one of the leading manufacturers of superbikes and
all-terrain vehicles in the world where Bajaj Auto holds 31.92 per cent stake. The promoter’s
hold little under 51 per cent in the company. Rajiv Bajaj is on the supervisory board of KTM.

The first 125cc bike named ‘Stunt’ will be launched in little over a year in India followed by
another bike named ‘Race’ which will share the same engine but will have a different style.

Although Bajaj Auto currently makes the Pulsar 220, the company lacks the brand appeal and
technology expertise to trump established players like Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki, among
others

40. Alcatel Lucent launches new mobile ad platform


Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:17pm IST

LONDON (Reuters) - Telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent unveiled on Tuesday a new mobile
advertising platform to compete with Google, Apple and Orange in an industry which is seen
as on the cusp of taking off.

Alcatel, which like all equipment vendors is looking to get into services because they are less
commoditised, plans to build on its existing relationships with operators to deliver targeted,
relevant ads and new revenue streams.

Mobile advertising has long been touted as a new growth area for operators, although it is still
in the early stages of development.

"We spent a lot of time with advertisers and their main message was that it needed to be
easier for them to buy mobile media," Thomas Labarthe, Vice President of Mobile Advertising
at Alcatel-Lucent, told Reuters in an interview.

"They wanted simplicity and scale."


Alcatel-Lucent already provides some advertising services built around content offerings but
this is a new platform designed to connect advertisers and operators.

Some operators such as France Telecom's Orange have launched their own platform to buy
and sell online ads while Apple has also launched a new smartphone operating system with an
advertising platform.

Google also owns the Admob network.

Alcatel said it hoped to make its hosted software offering attractive by making it relevant to
consumers and easy to use for operators.

Alcatel-Lucent's digital media and advertising business is part of its applications software
segment, which made revenues of 334 million euros ($454 million) in the fourth quarter of
2009, about 8 percent of the company's total revenues.

The French-American group said its service would ask mobile users to opt in or out of the
service and it would then ask the user questions about certain brands and topics, to make the
ads more relevant.

By pulling together mobile ad space from operators, such as mobile Internet pages, Alcatel
hopes to give media buyers and media agencies enough inventory to conduct targeted ad
campaigns across different countries.

"(This) helps advertisers reach wider, yet more targeted audiences through highly responsive,
permission and preference based mobile marketing that is aggregated across multiple mobile
operators, a capability unique in the industry," Alcatel said.

The group, which has struggled to compete with larger European rivals Ericsson and Nokia-
Siemens Networks, said its Optism Mobile Advertising Solution would have a media arm which
would broker relationships between agencies and operators.

Alcatel said it would share the revenue from the deal, with the operator taking the larger
share, but it did not give any further details. Labarthe said it had already signed up Orange
Austria and was working with E-Plus in Germany. It said it would announce further operators
shortly.

The group is also working with media agencies from WPP and media buyers.

41. Twitter chases first revenue with ad service


Wed Apr 14, 2010 4:13am IST

By Alexei Oreskovic
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microblogging service Twitter introduced a new advertising
program on Tuesday, in a first step to prove that its popularity among web users can translate
into a self-sustaining business.

Known as "Promoted Tweets," the ad program represents a much-anticipated move to address


concerns about the revenue generating potential at Twitter and marks a key milestone on the
road to an initial public offering, analysts said.

"Over the years, we've resisted introducing a traditional Web advertising model because we
wanted to optimize for value before profit," wrote Twitter co-founder Biz Stone in a post on
the company's blog on Tuesday.

Twitter, which lets users send short, 140-character text messages, or Tweets, to groups of
"followers," is among the new breed of popular Internet social networking services, along with
Facebook and LinkedIn.

The company struck deals to provide its stream of Tweets to Google Inc and Microsoft Corp for
inclusion in their Web search results last year, but Tuesday's ad service represents the first
fruits of an effort to build a business model around a recurring revenue stream.

Twitter said that it was currently testing Promoted Tweets with a handful of advertisers
including Starbucks Corp, Best Buy Co, Sony Corp's Sony Pictures and Virgin America. Under
the program, a Twitter message, such as a promotional offer by Starbucks, will appear at the
top of search results on Twitter for keywords that companies specifically purchase from
Twitter.

As Twitter broadens the program to include more advertisers, spokesman Sean Garret said,
keywords on Twitter's search engine will be opened to competitive bidding by advertisers,
similar to the way that Google's lucrative paid search advertising program operates.

Twitter also said on its blog Tuesday that the company planned to eventually serve Promoted
Tweets ads beyond its search feature, offering the ads directly within users' message streams.

Josh Bernoff, a Forrester Research analyst, said Twitter needs to roll out the ad program
more aggressively to advertisers if it hopes to turn its service into a money-making tool that
can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

"A handful of advertisers is not going to get them where they want to go," said Bernoff. "Scale
is where the success is."

Twitter does not release information about its number of users, but comScore said the site
had 22.3 million unique visitors in March in the United States, up roughly 140 percent year-
over-year.

The ad program represents Twitter's latest move to evolve from a hot start-up into a
financially focused enterprise. The company has filled out its management team with
executives with experience at Google and Walt Disney Co's Pixar Animation Studios over the
past year.
Twitter's Garrett said that Twitter has no plans for an initial public offering, though as one of
the Internet's most popular Web companies, analysts believe Twitter could eventually make
for an attractive IPO candidate.

Cowen and Company analyst Jim Friedland said Twitter needed to first show investors that
the new ad model can deliver sustainable revenue.

"Even if this ad opportunity is incredibly successful, it's still going to be a while before they
have the track record to go public," said Friedland. He pointed to Google, which unveiled its
AdWords program several years before floating shares to the public in 2004.

Twitter is backed by investors including Benchmark Capital, Spark Capital and Union Square
Ventures. In September, the company raised $100 million in a funding round that valued the
company at $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.

42. Japan want World Cup players to use oxygen tanks


Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:21pm IST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan coach Takeshi Okada has ordered his players to use oxgyen tanks
ahead of the World Cup to build up their high-altitude resistance.

Local media reported that Okada, whose team play two of their Group E games at more than
1,000 metres above sea level in South Africa in June, would ask his players to use the
aparatus daily.

"After the squad is named I will get the players to use oxygen masks in small doses for an hour
a day," Okada told the Nikkan Sports. "They can use the tanks while watching TV."

Japan face World Cup-bound South Korea at home on May 24 before flying to Europe for
warm-up matches against England in Austria on May 30 and Ivory Coast in Switzerland on June
4.

The Blue Samurai, who have never won a game at a World Cup tournament on foreign soil,
have been drawn against Cameroon, Netherlands and Denmark in Group E.

43. CSR loses U.S. appeal in Broadcom patent case


Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:10pm IST

LONDON (Reuters) - A patent lawsuit between chipmakers Broadcom and CSR will resume
after a U.S. appeal court ruled against CSR in a case involving GPS navigation chips, CSR said
on Tuesday.
UK-based CSR -- which makes wireless chips for customers including Nokia, Apple and
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion -- also said it might face further litigation from
Broadcom or others.

"We will continue to take appropriate steps to deal with any claims that may be made," CSR
said in a statement.

CSR shares fell 1.7 percent to 436 pence by 0809 GMT, underperforming a flat wider market.
Goldman Sachs also cut its price target on the stock to 525 pence from 550 pence on
unrelated margin concerns.

The lawsuit concerns SiRF, a U.S. company that CSR bought a year ago, and predates the
acquisition.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Monday affirmed a year-old ruling by the
U.S. International Trade Commission that SiRF had infringed on three Broadcom GPS patents,
and banned the import of the infringing chips.

SiRF has since redesigned the global positioning-system (GPS) chips in question, and these
have been imported for consumption and sale in the United States.

"We believe this appeal was simply an attempt by SiRF to restore its reputation," analysts at
Citi said in a note.

CSR said that as a result of the ruling a 2006 patent case between SiRF and Broadcom, in
which each is asserting patents against the other's products, would come unstayed and
proceed.

44. S.Korea to put curfew on online games for kids


Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:33pm IST

By Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters Life!) - South Korea plans to cut off on-line video games at midnight for
school-age children and allow parents to set limits on playing hours to curb problems of
Internet gaming addiction in the world's most wired country.

The sensational case in March of parents whose infant daughter starved to death while they
were playing games on the Internet raised concerns in the country about gaming addiction
and calls on the government to act.

Under the plan announced this week by the culture ministry, computer game companies were
asked to put in place voluntary restrictions by the end of the year for children that also try to
cut down on the hours adults play games.
South Korea, which has one of the world's highest penetration rates for high-speed broadband
connections at homes, is also saturated with PC rooms where gamers spend long hours in front
of computer monitors.

Internet gaming would be denied from midnight to about 8 a.m. for school-aged children.
Several game providers have already set in place the regulations.

To enforce the measures, the government has called on game providers to monitor the
national identity numbers of users, which include their ages, while allowing parents to see if
their IDs were used by children looking for ways to play after hours.

"The policy provides a way for parents to supervise their children's game playing," said Lee
Young-ah, an official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The ministry has asked the game companies to find ways to cap the hours that adults play.

"Users can select a special server that gives them incentives for cutting down on their gaming
time," said Kim Kun-woo of NC Soft, a leading South Korean game company.

45. Microsoft launches Kin phones for youth market


Tue Apr 13, 2010 11:27am IST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp launched two new phones aimed at young people
on Monday, marking a fresh assault on the low end of the growing smartphone market, where
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd and Apple Inc now dominate.

The software company's first foray into designing its own phones comes six months before it
rolls out its new Windows software for phones made by handset makers HTC Corp, Samsung
Electronics Co Ltd and others, which should be a more direct challenge to Apple's iPhone and
Google Inc's Android phones.

"Kin is an interesting attempt to target the 15 to 25 market," said Ross Rubin, consumer
electronics and wireless industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group.

Success will depend heavily on the pricing of data plans, said Rubin, which is not expected for
a few more weeks. Microsoft did not say how much the phones would sell for.

"But even if the device does not turn out to be successful, Microsoft is introducing some
concepts that might be useful," said Rubin.

The Kin One and Kin Two, as they are being branded, are made by Japan's Sharp Corp and will
be sold by Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc and
Vodafone Group Plc.

The new phones -- available in the United States in May and Europe in the autumn -- focus on
combining feeds from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter onto the homescreen, and allow users
to set up networks of friends to share photos, weblinks and so on.
Both of the new Kin phones have a touch screen, slide-out keyboard and camera. Kin One is
smaller, designed to be used with only one hand, while Kin Two has a larger screen and
keyboard, more memory and can record high-definition video.

They incorporate Microsoft's Zune digital music player and FM radio. Almost everything on the
phone is stored by Microsoft in remote servers and accessible via the Internet from any Web
browser via an online application called Kin Studio.

Kin automatically backs up text messages, call history, photos, videos and contacts, in an
attempt to soothe fears of data loss. Last October, users of Microsoft's Sidekick phones
temporarily lost data due to a server failure.

Microsoft broke with tradition by working with only one manufacturer on the phone, but
stressed that the Kin is consistent with its broader Windows Phone 7 strategy, which will put a
new generation of smartphones on the market later this year.

"This isn't a Microsoft product," said Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's entertainment and
devices unit, at the Kin launch event in San Francisco. "Sharp is not just the manufacturer,
they sell the phones to Vodafone, not Microsoft. This is a very traditional model, it's just that
we were more involved in the design and the hardware with Sharp."

Microsoft has traditionally licensed its Windows phone software to a wide range of handset
makers, allowing them to control the user experience.

Launching Windows Phone 7 in February, Microsoft admitted that approach had led to some
loss of consistency across models, which suffered in comparison with Apple's minutely
designed iPhone.

Microsoft plans to work more closely with handset makers, but Bach repeated that it still had
no plans to manufacture its own phones.

46. AVATAR RELOADED


It’s tribal faith vs Vedanta might in Kalahandi forests
Vedanta wants flat-top mountain massif, but locals say it is the abode of their god

KALAHANDI has always captured the national imagination, but never for the right reasons.
Recurring poverty deaths and reports about entire communities surviving on mango kernels
defined this predominantly tribal district in southern Orissa for decades.
So when the London-listed, Indian-run miner Vedanta Plc announced plans in 2002 to set up
a Rs 4,000-crore bauxite refinery and bauxite mining project in the district's Niyamgiri hills,
there was a feeling in New Delhi and Bhubaneswar that Kalahandi was finally climbing on to
the development bandwagon.
“A big company was coming to Kalahandi… It would make the district into something like
Kolkata or Mumbai. That's how we felt then,” said local journalist Mahamad Ashlam.
Eight years on, Ashlam is a disappointed man. It is a feeling shared by Kalahandi's elected
representatives, people living near the refinery, the local middle class and the business
community. The company, too, says it is disappointed because the refinery can break even
only if the state government acts on its promise to let it mine in the bauxite-rich Niyam
Dongar mountain.
Vedanta wants the flat-top mountain massif, the best-forested in the Niyamgiri hill range,
but the local Dongria Kondh tribals say it is the abode of their god Niyam Raja. The surreal
fight between the $12.3-billion mining firm and tribals facing extinction has already drawn
parallels with James Cameron's blockbuster film Avatar.

47. Ulips back on shelves as Sebi,Irda call cease-fire


THE government has brokered a truce between the two warring financial sector regulators—
the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India (Irda)—over the supervision of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), signalling
a return to normal business for the insurance industry.
On Monday, after several rounds of talks, the government managed to persuade both the
regulators to seek a legal mandate from a court on oversight of this product. Finance
secretary Ashok Chawla said the appropriate authority in this case would be the high court.
This may provide comfort to the insurance industry, which prefers to approach a high court
rather than the Securities Appellate Tribunal that hears appeals against orders issued by Sebi.
Their reasoning is that moving SAT would be a tacit admission that Sebi’s writ runs large over
Ulips, which are investment products with an element of insurance. There are indications that
the insurance industry may consider the option of appealing to the Delhi High Court.
Following the meeting between the chiefs of Sebi and Irda and senior finance ministry
officials, both the regulators have decided to restore status quo and keep in abeyance the
orders issued by both during the weekend.
Later, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters that Sebi chairman CB Bhave and
Irda chief J Hari Narayan had held talks on the issue of regulatory jurisdiction over Ulips. “To
resolve any ambiguity and to ensure smooth functioning in the markets, the regulators have
agreed to jointly seek a binding legal mandate from an appropriate court. Meanwhile, status-
quo ante is being restored,” Mr Mukherjee said.

48. MORE KIDS AND WOMEN GLUED TO IPL


Aminah Sheikh MUMBAI

IF YOU thought India’s cricket craze has reached its peak, here’s a shocker: More kids and
women are watching the Indian Premier League this year than ever before, forcing children’s
channels to change the timings of their popular shows.
As much as 69% children aged between four and 14 in homes with cable and satellite
connection tuned in to IPL during the first 33 matches this year, up from 65% in the first two
seasons of the twenty20 tournament, according to data released by TAM Media Research.
“We have tweaked our programming to accommodate IPL viewing,” said Krishna Desai,
director-programming Cartoon Network & Pogo, Turner International India. “Some of our key
shows now air pre-prime time, starting 1 pm,” he added.
Prime time for children’s channels is between 4 pm and 8 pm.
Cricket’s appeal among women has also increased this year. The world’s most valuable
cricket event has so far recorded 4.3 television viewership ratings among female audience this
year compared to 3.8 last year and 4.0 during the first IPL season, as per TAM data.
“IPL has grown to become a family viewing property,” said Rohit Gupta, president-network
sales at Multi Screen Media, which owns SET Max, the official broadcasters of the tournament.
“That is why advertisers are willing to pay a premium as it reaches out to various age groups,”
he added.
Almost 80% of Indian households are single TV homes and “IPL is definitely one of the most
preferred family shows,” said Mr Gupta.
SET Max says it has a total channel share of 13% for all children watching television
between March 12 and April 3, based on TAM data. This means of 13% children in C&S homes
watched IPL matches from start to finish.

49. Tracking networking sites gets fashionable


Apparel Brands Chase New Design Trends On Facebook, Twitter
Durba Ghosh NEW DELHI

WHO WILL design your favourite brand's next line? You! Apparel brands such as Benetton, Wills
Lifestyle, Pantaloons and Van Heusen are using Facebook, Twitter and other social networking
sites as design centres where the end users can play co-creators.
Fashion brands are increasingly using peer-to-peer networks like Facebook, Twitter,
MySpace, Orkut, YouTube and Flickr to spot the latest fashion trends, find out what the
youngsters want and just to stay in touch with their target customers.
"Trends change very frequently, so the real time research on these sites (social networks)
are really helpful," said Atul Chand, CEO of ITC's lifestyle retail business. "The contribution
can wary from colour schemes to textures to designs," he added.
ITC's clothing brand Wills Lifestyle is using Facebook and other sites to identify the latest
trends among young members. Its Facebook fans can upload pictures and use discussion
forums as the company looks to catch the young fashion vein.
Van Heusen, a US brand marketed by Madura Garments in India, has even launched a new
product line, Eco Range, based on inputs received from its community members.
"The range is one such example where we have directly involved our consumers in the
development process," said Shital Mehta, COO of Van Huesen.
"We gauged that awareness on eco-friendly products among the youth is phenomenal, so we
thought of commercialising it," he added.
Van Heusen is also running a programme called Coffee Mornings, where a team of about 20
online community members interacts with the brand's designing team on weekends.
ITC's Chand said Wills Lifestyle too is looking at directly involving its consumers in product
development and designing. The band is also pushing online sales through its member
community on Facebook. "It's an additional revenue channel. Online sales are almost equal to
business made from one store," he said
Italian apparel brand United Colors of Benetton too has deployed its creative team to spot
consumer trends online and has also incorporated few suggestions in its product line like
colour scheme and cuts, said Sanjeev Mohanty, its managing director.
He said using social networks to spot fashion trends is an international trend that has
spilled out in India too. Creating a presence on these social networking sites is vital to catch
the pulse of the target consumers, said Mr Mohanty.
Kishore Biyani-led Pantaloons is currently present on Facebook and it plans to extend it to
other popular sites too.

50. We aim to be a $2-b company by next March:


Apollo Tyres
My Main Task Now Is To Consolidate Ops of Vredestein & Expand Footprint In European
Market: Neeraj R S Kanwar

NEERAJ R S Kanwar joined Apollo Tyres as a summer trainee way back in 1991. After that,
he quit Apollo and did brief stints as a management trainee at American Express Bank, New
York and the investment banking division of Global Finance. After rejoining Apollo Tyres in
1995, his goal has been to transform Apollo Tyres into a global tyre maker. He was the driving
force behind acquisition of South Africa’s Dunlop Tyres International in 2006 and Europe’s
Vredestein Banden BV of Netherlands in 2009. The tyre major, which is the 15th largest tyre
manufacturer in the world, company has invested Rs 2,000 crore in building India’s largest
truck radial manufacturing factory near Chennai, which will produce 6,000 truck radials per
day. ET’s Sutanuka Ghosalengaged Mr Kanwar in a freewheeling chat to get his take on how he
plans to make Apollo a global brand. Excerpts:

You’ve been aggressive in the tyre acquisition space since 2006. When do you plan to
consolidate your operations and expand footprint across the globe?
We have decided to set up our global marketing office in Brussels to cater to the world
markets. Europe is a major zone and we wish to increase our presence there. We’ve roped in
Marc Luyten as chief marketing officer to steer out marketing growth plans in overseas
markets. South Africa is also a big market for us and in coming years we plan to aggressively
grow the Dunlop brand. At present, Apollo, Vredestein and Dunlop are our three key brands.
Other brands are Regal and Kaizen (truck-bus tyres), Dyra Tyres (retreaded tyres), Dura Tread
( retreading material) and Acelere Wheelz (alloy wheels for passenger cars).
Vredestein is an established brand in the passenger car tyre market in Europe. Do you
have any plans to establish your home brand—Apollo—in the world market?
Having established our global marketing office in Brussels, we are now poised to launch Apollo
tyres in Europe. It will be launched in June and we’ve identified Reifen Essen Show, which
will be held in Germany as the launching pad for our tyres. The Reifen Essen show takes place
after every two year. The last Reifen Essen show took place in 2008 and 576 exhibitors had
displayed their latest innovations and services to more than 17,600 trade visitors from over 80
countries. The show’s product offerings include tyres, rims, wheels, chassis technology, tyre
repair shop equipment, tyre retreading, and vulcanization among many others.
Do you have similar plans to launch Vredestein tyres in the Indian market?
We have already worked out plans to introduce Vredestein brand in the Indian market. Our
plan is to introduce these tyres in the second quarter of FY 11. Similarly, we may also launch
Vredestein tyres in South Africa, where we already have a presence through Dunlop Tyres
International, which has been renamed as Apollo Tyres South Africa Pty Ltd.
Ajay Banga named CEO of MasterCard

51. ANOTHER INDIAN BECOMES THE HEAD OF A


MULTINATIONAL CO; THE APPOINTMENT TO BE
EFFECTIVE FROM JULY 1
Our Bureau MUMBAI

YET another Indian has been appointed the global head of a multinational company. Ajay
Banga, MasterCard’s president and chief operating officer, has been named its president and
chief executive officer effective July 1. He has also been appointed to the board with
immediate effect.
The 50-year-old former Citi banker will succeed Robert W Selander, who has been
MasterCard’s CEO since March 1997. The 59-year-old Selander will become the executive vice-
chairman and remain on the board until his retirement on December 31, 2010.
The other Indians to head multinationals after the advent of the economic slowdown
include Vikram Pandit, CEO, Citi; Deven Sharma, president, Standard and Poor’s; and Piyush
Gupta, CEO, DBS Group.
Mr Banga joined MasterCard last August from Citi where he spend 13 years since 1996. As
CEO of Citi’s Asia Pacific unit at the time of his resignation, he was responsible for all of the
company’s business lines in the region, including institutional banking, alternative
investments, wealth management, consumer banking and credit cards.

52. TAXING TIMES


I-T dept to issue letter rogatory to Swiss govt
Dept, ED Probe $8-B Tax Evasion Case Of Hasan Ali Khan
M Padmakshan MUMBAI

THE income-tax department is making a last-ditch effort to lay its hands on the $8 billion
allegedly stashed away by Hasan Ali Khan, a Pune-based stud farm owner, who is being
investigated by the income-tax department as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED),
which deals with violations of rules governing use of foreign currency.
The department is in the process of seeking clearance from various authorities for issuing a
so-called letter rogatory to Switzerland, including a sanction from the home ministry. The
letter rogatory, essentially a request for legal assistance, will ask the Swiss authorities to
furnish information about Mr Khan’s accounts.
The I-T department this time wants to ensure that the offences it will be charging Mr Khan
with would be considered as offences under the Swiss laws. Swiss banks furnish details of a
bank account to a foreign government only if the offence committed by the account holder is
an offence under the Swiss laws. For example, not filing returns is an offence under the Indian
tax laws, while it is not an offence under the laws of Switzerland. However, tax evasion is an
offence in both countries.
A letter rogatory is to be issued by the magistrate’s court in India to the Swiss police,
which will present it to the authorities in Switzerland. The Swiss court will decide whether
the request by the Indian authorities is to be complied with. Ever since the I-T authorities
raided his premises in 2007, it has been speculated that the money allegedly deposited by Mr
Khan in Swiss Banks in fact belonged to politicians and industrialists and that Mr Khan was
only a conduit who facilitated the transfer of the money from India, apparently on a
commission basis.
Nonetheless, Mr Khan has been declared as the highest tax defaulter in Indiawith tax dues
allegedly amounting to over Rs 50,000 crore. The government, replying to a query in Rajya
Sabha in August last, declared that the tax dues, including interest for belated payments,
exceeded Rs 70,000 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate, the agency under the finance ministry for exclusively dealing
with violations of foreign exchange regulations, had issued a letter rogatory in 2007. The
Swiss authorities, after examining the documents submitted to them, had reportedly told the
ED that the papers seized from Hasan Ali Khan’s residence and premises, were forged. The
Enforcement authorities, however, did not pursue the matter further.
DEFAULT SET-UP
The letter will ask the Swiss authorities to furnish information about Mr Khan’s accounts
IT dept wants to ensure that the offences it will be charging Mr Khan with would be
considered as offences under the Swiss laws
Mr Khan has been declared as the highest tax defaulter with dues amounting to over Rs 50,000
crore

53. GM in pact to develop Jatropha fuel for US


Our Bureau AHMEDABAD

AIMING to be a green leader, auto major General Motors is working towards developing frost-
tolerant varieties of jatropha — a drought-resistant, non-edible plant that can be grown
commercially with minimal care on marginal land — for the US market.
Having successfully tested bio-diesel made out of jatropha in India, GM has entered into a
five-year partnership with Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research
Institute (CSMCRI) and the US Department of Energy to develop jatropha as a sustainable
biofuel energy crop for US markets that guzzles 200 billion gallons of diesel and gasoline per
annum against mere 0.5 billion of bio-fuel.
GM would invest $1.1 million on the project of which $0.93 million would be pumped in the
Indian market during 2009-2014, while the rest will be used for research in the US. Karl Slym,
president and managing director of General Motors India, told media in Ahmedabad that
CSMCRI would take up cultivation across 83 hectares for the project. One litre of bio-diesel
from jatropha has been found to have a fuel-economy of 18 km on GM vehicles that ran
15,000 km on bio-diesel.
“The goal of the project is to demonstrate that jatropha can produce significant quantities
of oil for commercial scale conversion to biodiesel. The partnership will also explore the
development of new varieties of the plant that have high yields, can withstand adverse
environmental conditions,” he said.
54. Modi set to spill the beans on many more
Rendezvous
14 Apr 2010, 0004 hrs IST,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Lalit Modi has promised to disclose the ownership


details of all teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), as a nasty and escalating row between
him and minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor over the Kochi franchise puts the
spotlight on confidential contracts and snowballs into a major political controversy.

Such a disclosure has the potential to open a can of worms as it has been widely speculated
that several political bigwigs and cricket board functionaries are silent investors in IPL
franchises.

“Modi has painted himself into a corner of answerability. If you reveal such information, you
have to show accountability on all fronts,” a source close to Rendezvous said, referring to
stakeholdings in other IPL franchisees. There is information to prove such “sweat” equity has
been awarded to other companies, he added.

The IPL commissioner countered saying: “What is there to hide? We will make everything
public.”

On Tuesday, Mr Tharoor was put under severe pressure, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) demanding his resignation and the Communist Party of India asking the
government to explain his links with the Kochi IPL team.

“The PM must sack Mr Tharoor immediately,” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said. “He
has abused his position for the pecuniary benefit of his friend,” he added.

At the heart of the controversy is the revelation by Mr Modi on Sunday that Sunanda Pushkar,
a close associate of Mr Tharoor, owns part of the free equity in Rendezvous Sports, which in
turn is a part owner of the Kochi IPL team. Mr Tharoor maintains that he has no role in the
Kochi IPL team apart from that of a mentor.

In two years, IPL has grown to a massive commercial enterprise estimated to be worth more
than Rs 15,000 crore, riding high on its unique mix of fast-paced sporting action and glamour.
Known for its cheergirls and afterparties, the tournament has proved to be a highly sought-
after marketing platform. Billionaires such as Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya as well as
movie stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta own IPL teams.

55. Satyam will take two years to rejoin race against


TCS, Infy & Cognizant: CEO
14 Apr 2010, 0640 hrs IST,ET Bureau
HYDERABAD: Beleaguered Satyam Computer, which was
taken over by the Mahindras a year ago and renamed as
Mahindra Satyam, is still facing major operational challenges,
said CEO CP Gurnani. He said the company will take two
more years to rejoin the race against erstwhile peers TCS,
Infosys and Cognizant.

“At the time of acquisition, we had presented a three-year


transformation plan. The company still needs another two
years to level out on some scorecards. It has been
structurally reorganised to reduce the management layers between the CEO and a trainee
engineer from 14 to seven. These changes have happened for transparency, collaboration
among teams and for better customer centricity,” he said.

Mahindra Group vice-chairman Anand Mahindra and Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayyar, along
with corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid, flew down to Hyderabad on Monday to mark
the first anniversary of Satyam’s takeover by the Mahindras.

The toughest challenge facing Mahindra Satyam is attrition. Analysts say while the industry
average attrition is 13-14%, the company’s attrition rate could be higher at 30%. While there
has been some client issues, the firm said it has been able to retain almost all customers post
takeover. Mahindra Satyam is, however, hopeful of meeting the financial restatement
deadline, slated for June-end.

56. Moselle in France woos Tatas to set up Nano plant


13 Apr 2010, 0054 hrs IST,PTI

PARIS: The province of Moselle in France on Tuesday said Tata Motors should explore setting
up a manufacturing unit for the Nano in the region as it could facilitate the company's plans
to launch the world's cheapest car in Europe by 2011.

"Tata Motors should take a look at the Moselle province for establishing manufacturing and
logistics units for Nano cars," Moselle Development Agency Director General M David
Malingrey told PTI on the sidelines of the JEC Composites Show.

He said the province also has lucrative business openings for major auto component makers as
it is home to German firm Daimler's manufacturing unit for its popular urban two-seater small
car 'Smart'.
Leading Canadian automobile parts maker Magna, which supplies automobile parts to the
Smart cars, also has its unit here, he said.

Malingrey said, "By the end of this month, we are planning to contact Tata Motors in India
with a proposal to look at the investment opportunities here for the Nano."

The setting up of a manufacturing base in Moselle will help Tata Motors expand the Nano'
market across Europe fast, he added.

Last year, Tata Group Chief Ratan Tata had said that the company hopes to have a version for
Europe by 2011 and one for the US perhaps by 2012.

Tata Nano is the world's cheapest car priced at Rs 1,00,000. It was commercially launched in
India last year. If the company plans to launch a version in Europe, it would have to boost the
safety features of Nano and meet higher emissions standards, as well.

57. Godrej to give prime 35-acre land in Mumbai for


development
14 Apr 2010, 0633 hrs IST,Nauzer K Bharucha,TNN

MUMBAI: The city's biggest landowner, Godrej Group, is set to release a prime 35-acre chunk
in Vikhroli for development by the end of the year.

This could be one of the largest sprawls of unencumbered real estate coming into the market
in the recent past. Most of the large industrial plots in the eastern suburbs sold to builders
over the past decade have been between five and 20 acres.

According to an estimate, the Godrejs control about 4,000 acres in Vikhroli; most of it
consists of a huge mangrove sprawl described by environmentalists as the best preserved
mangrove park in the state. The 35-acre plot does not fall in this eco-sensitive zone.

Talking to TOI on Tuesday, Pirojsha Godrej, executive director of Godrej Properties, said a
master plan is being prepared by architect Cesar Pelli for mixed-use development.

58. MBAs losing out to CAs as decision-makers


12 Apr 2010, 1016 hrs IST,Bhargav Trivedi,ET Bureau

AHMEDABAD: Chartered accountants, the nuts-and-bolts
professionals in the world of finance, are scoring brownie
points over suave MBA finance graduates as India Inc gets
increasingly risk-averse in a post-slowdown environment.

Companies are focusing more on risk-compliance than


pursuing ambitious targets as they recover from an 18-month
economic downturn, paving the way for recruitment of more
CAs, perceived to have core competence in financial
matters.

Thus, CAs are currently being accepted as business leaders who could take up roles beyond
auditing and financial management. While MBAs are being hired for purely sales, marketing or
international trade functions, CAs are increasingly being looked upon as decision-makers.

“They are superior (to MBAs). CAs are already groomed for three years during articleship
(training with auditors) and can start working from day one,” says a finance official at a top
Indian company who did not wish to be named.

Further, with Corporate India getting cautious with salaries, CAs are gaining a natural edge.
“If a company is unable to afford an MBA from a top B-School, it would rather hire a top CA
than look for a management graduate from lower-rung B-schools,” says a global headhunter.
A chartered accountant’s average salary is at Rs 6 lakh a month, while for MBAs, the figure is
the minimum, says Nagesh Pinge, chief internal auditor at Tata Motors, who sees a growing
preference for CAs when companies need better financial control. Loyalty also tilts the
balance in their favour. MBAs, due to peer pressure, appear to constantly pursue higher
salaries. CAs, on the other hand, are seen as less aspirational and stick to the job longer.

59. Attrition-hit Infy offers 17% pay hike


14 Apr 2010, 0109 hrs IST,ET Bureau

BANGALORE: Infosys Technologies will offer up to 17% salary hikes for over 100,000 of its
employees this year, as the company seeks to retain staff and also attract new recruits in the
year when most of its rivals are expected to lock horns in the war for talent.

With top customers, such as General Electric, British Telecom and Microsoft, expected to
send more projects offshore to lower their operational costs by half, multinational rivals,
such as IBM and Accenture, apart from Indian offshoring firms including Infosys, will have to
deal with double-digit attrition rates, and ensure uninterrupted delivery of services. “There
will be a war for talent and it’s one of our biggest worries in the medium-to short-term,” said
S Gopalakrishnan, chief executive of Infosys.

This year, India’s $60-billion outsourcing industry is expected to hire around 150,000 new
staff in order to cope with higher demand for offshore outsourcing.

Indeed, nearly 4,500 Infosys employees decided to quit the company after introduction of a
new employee rating system called iRace — a new grading programme started by Infosys to
grade employees last year across different levels according to their roles. Of these, nearly
2,500 staff were given promotion, while the remaining were retained at the same level.

The salary hike will translate into $135 million, as a cost for the company, and also affect its
profitability by 3%. “This is the largest-ever salary hike given by any company in the IT
industry,” said TV Mohandas Pai, V-P, human resources, Infosys. The company, which began
the FY10 with no salary increases due to the recession offered an 8-10% mid-term increase in
salary during October last year. The latest salary increase will be effective from April, while
senior managers will be getting the same in July.

Besides iRace, the reason behind this hike is the improving market conditions and search for
talent. Despite the improving conditions, employees in many companies are holding on to
salary levels of 1-2 years ago. According to a senior company official, this salary increase is
also a message to its competitors who are indulging in “irrational pricing” and would now be
forced to look at salary increases.

For its onshore employees, Infosys plans to give a 2-3% raise in salary. At the end of FY10, the
total number of employees in Infosys stood at 1,13,796 and made a gross addition of 27,639
during the fiscal. For FY11, Infosys plans to hire 30,000 people, of which 19,000 would be
trainees.

However, the attrition rate of Infosys went up during the fourth quarter of FY10 touching
13.4%, against 11.6% in the third quarter.

However, about 3% of the 13.4% was involuntary attrition of trainees, which Infosys claims
were unable to pass its ‘benchmarking’ tests. According to Mr Pai, the company expects the
attrition rate to stabilise in the next six months.

According to Mr Pai, the remaining impacted employees can expect promotion during the
next promotion cycle in October. The iRace programme created a furore in the organisation,
on blogs, in town hall meetings and even on websites. The company is now trying to pacify
those employees, and plans to promote them too. “Our learning has been that managers need
to communicate with employees better. For an employee, it’s the manager who represents
the company to him,” said Mr Pai.

60. Videocon floats SPV to buy Ness stake in Kings X1

Videocon Industries is in advanced talks to buy Bombay Dyeing joint MD Ness Wadia’s stake in
IPL team Kings XI Punjab and has already floated a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the same,
said a company official, reports Ratna Bhushan from New Delhi. “Yes, an SPV has been floated
by Videocon, and there could be more than one promoter on the SPV,” the official said. Ness
Wadia holds close to 26% in the Kings XI team.

BAIN Capital is buying an undisclosed stake in Lilliput Kidswear for around Rs 350 crore, a
precursor to an initial share offering next year by the retailer of apparel and accessories for
children.
The money will be used by the Delhibased company to add stores and extend its product
range, Lilliput founder and managing director Sanjeev Narula said.
With sales of around Rs 400 crore, Lilliput operates more than 260 stores in India and nine
other countries. It also supplies to retail chains such as GAP Kids, Primark, Old Navy, Next and
Carter’s American Eagle. Officials from Bain Capital could not be reached for comment. The
private equity firm made its first investment in India in January, buying over 15% stake in
Himadri Chemicals. It now owns more than a fourth of the Kolkata-based company.
Lilliput is on the verge of opening ‘Lilliput World’ stores, where it will retail soft toys, baby
walkers, footwear, feeders and other accessories in addition to clothing for children, Mr
Narula said.
Everstone Capital, the private equity arm of retail conglomerate Future Group, owns some
35% of Lilliput. Sameer Sain, a co-founder and managing partner of Everstone, described the
investment in the retailer as a “successful” one. “The entry of a large private equity player
with global resources will take the company to
the next level,” he said. Lilliput and
Everstone Capital were advised on the
transaction by Ernst & Young.
When Mr Narula launched Lilliput in
1991, he also sold apparel for men, women as well as innerwear, until he found that buyers
in foreign markets were keen on specialised garments, especially Indian cotton.
“In 1994, we quickly took a decision to be very focused on branded kidswear. Earlier, as
someone new in the business, it was something like ‘beggars can’t be choosers’. But now, we
are in a strong position to lead growth,” he said.
The market for children’s apparel is estimated by retail consultancy Technopak Advisors to
be worth Rs 21,000 crore, but organised retailers such as Lilliput account for less than a
quarter of annual sales. Profit margins for kidswear are a healthy 17-18% on an average and
even higher in the branded segment. Lilliput, whose rivals among organised players include
Petals, Gini & Jony and Catmoss, estimates the branded segment to be growing by 20%
annually.

61. Nike runs first Tiger ad since scandal


9 April’10
WASHINGTON: Disgraced golf superstar Tiger Woods on Wednesday appeared in his first new
television ad since embarrassing revelations about extramarital affairs emerged. An
advertisement for Nike— airing on the eve of Woods's much-anticipated return to competitive
golf after a five-month layoff —features a voice recording of the golfer's late father appearing
to talk about the golfer's personal woes. "I want to find out what your thinking was; I want to
find out what your feelings are. Did you learn anything?" said Earl Woods as a somber-looking
Tiger looked directly into the camera. —AFP
62. Reliance Retail to open 20 Hamleys stores
9 April’10
MUMBAI: Reliance Retail, which has a tieup with UK-based toy retailer Hamleys, on Thursday
said it plans to open 20 toy stores in the next seven years with an investment of Rs 150 crore.
"We plan to open 20 Hamleys stores across the country at a total investment of Rs 150 crore
over the next seven years," Reliance Retail president and chief executive (Lifestyle) Bijou
Kurien told reporters at the opening of the first toy store here. The organised toy market in
the country, estimated at Rs 1,500 crore is poised for a healthy growth, he said.—PTI

63. Aircel drops Dhoni from INQ ads


9 April
MIND It! Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni, who had been endorsing mobile handsets from
two different brands at the same time, has been caught on the wrong foot. While in one
commercial, Dhoni was endorsing Aircel’s latest social networking handset INQ, in another
one the dashing cricketer was seen batting for Maxx Mobile handset. Telecom service provider
Aircel is now running a new INQ advertisement which doesn’t feature Dhoni.
Mumbai-based company Maxx Mobile Communications, which owns Maxx Mobile brand,
immediately took note of the INQ ads and asked telecom service provider Aircel to pull the
commercial off air. “We have communicated our stand to Mindscapes Maestros, the agency
that manages Dhoni, asking them to discontinue the advertisement which has Dhoni endorsing
INQ handset as it breaches category exclusivity in the handsets space,” said Mir K Rasool,
head, marketing, Maxx mobile.
Last month, Aircel launched social networking handset in partnership with the UK-based
social networking handset maker INQ Mobile, part of the Hutchison Whampoa group. Dhoni’s
endorsement of the handset was the cornerstone of the marketing campaign of the INQ
handset.
Aircel, on its part, offers a standard explanation for the marketing move. “MS Dhoni is our
brand ambassador for Aircel. Therefore, he endorses all products and services for Aircel.
However, when we were informed by MS Dhoni’s agent that he is endorsing Maxx for IPL,
keeping the sensitivity and his honour in mind, we withdrew him from this particular ad,” an
Aircel spokesperson said.
Rima Gupta, country head of WPPowned marketing consultancy The Futures company, said:
"There is no doubt that it is an oversight. But as long as it does not impact the brands on a
long term, it is not something that cannot be mended and made right.”

64. Now Rival Retailers Work under one roof


9 April’10
SHARING SPACE TO EXPAND SPECIALTY CHAINS
THEY are fierce rivals in the marketplace, but big retailers such as Future Group, Reliance
Retail, RPG Retail and Aditya Birla Retail now tap each other’s synergies to expand their
specialty chains.
So, walk into a ‘Central’ mall of Kishore Biyani’s Future Group and you may well see
Reliance TimeOut, the gift-music-book format of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail. Reliance's
optical chain Vision Express shares some premises of Birla group’s ‘More’ hypermarkets, while
RPG Retail has rolled out 20 Music World stores inside Future Group’s Big Bazaar outlets.
"Retailers have now realised that they alone cannot manage all categories on their own,
how much hard they may try,” says Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consultancy Technopak
Advisors.
Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani says it’s a win-win model for both retailers and customers.
“The retailers can exploit each other’s synergies in non-competing categories, which
ultimately helps the customer get a wider choice from the same store,” he says. “We are
open to locate our specialty stores in other’s premises, if such opportunities come up.”
There has been a flurry of deals and expansions in the $20-billion organized retail sector
over the last five years since companies such as Reliance, Aditya Birla and Bharti entered the
turf and started floating specialty chains on their own or in tieup with foreign players.
“There are obvious opportunities to associate with each other, provided the brand
positioning of the stores match,” says Bijou Kurien, president and chief executive
(lifestyle) of Reliance Retail.
He says that this model of co-locating stores could emerge as a way to expand. “We
understand each other’s issues like constraints in standalone expansion and profitability.”
The concept of shop-in-shop within largeformat stores such as hypermarkets is selling like
hot cakes among garment and other single/limited product retailers because it saves them the
cost of operating standalone stores and gives access to a captive consumer base of the large
format.
Also, specialty shop-in-shop owners need not worry about associated costs like security,
civil engineering and air-conditioning, says Mr Singhal of Technopak.
Retailers say running a shop-in-shop costs at least 25% less than a standalone shop of the
same size.
These deals mostly follow a revenue-sharing model, but retailers say there is no standard
formula on the percentage of revenue shared. It depends on the customer traffic the large
store is able to drawn.
In some cases, there could be sharing of shop-floor employees, sharing of loyalty schemes
and payment counters.
“The model of collaborative expansion will drive efficiencies,” says K Dasaratharaman,
president (speciality retail) of RPG Retail, which plans to more than double the number of its
music-and-movie chain Music World outlets inside Big Bazaar. “We are talking to few others
like Aditya Birla Group to expand on this model,” he says.
Shoppers Stop vice-chairman B S Nagesh says the chain will explore this model to expand its
book retail chain Crossword. “Distribution has emerged as the key point in the country,” he
says.
The retailers can exploit each other's synergies in non-competing categories, which ultimately
helps the customer get a wider choice from the same store. We are open to locate our
specialty stores in other’s premises, if such opportunities come up

65. HP foresees a revolution in building memory chip


9 Apr
HEWLETT-PACKARD scientists on Thursday are to report advances in the design of a new
class of diminutive switches capable of replacing transistors as computer chips shrink closer to
the atomic scale. The devices, known as memristors, or memory resistors, were conceived in
1971 by Leon O Chua, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, but they
were not put into effect until 2008 at the HP lab here.
They are simpler than today’s semiconducting transistors, can store information even in the
absence of an electrical current and, according to a report in Nature, can be used for both
data processing and storage applications.
The researchers previously reported in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
that they had devised a new method for storing and retrieving information from a vast three-
dimensional array of memristors. The scheme could potentially free designers to stack
thousands of switches in a high-rise fashion, permitting a new class of ultradense computing
devices even after two-dimensional scaling reaches fundamental limits. Memristor-based
systems also hold out the prospect of fashioning analogue computing systems that function
more like biological brains, Chua said.
“Our brains are made of memristors,” he said, referring to the function of biological
synapses. “We have the right stuff now to build real brains.”
In an interview at the HP research lab, Stan Williams, a company physicist, said that in the
two years since announcing working devices, his team had increased their switching speed to
match today’s conventional silicon transistors. The researchers had tested them in the
laboratory, he added, proving they could reliably make hundreds of thousands of reads and
writes. That is a significant hurdle to overcome, indicating that it is now possible to consider
memristor-based chips as an alternative to today’s transistorbased flash computer memories,
which are widely used in consumer devices like MP3 players, portable computers and digital
cameras.
“Not only do we think that in three years we can be better than the competitors,” Williams
said. “The memristor technology really has the capacity to continue scaling for a very long
time, and that’s really a big deal.” As the semiconductor industry has approached
fundamental physical limits in shrinking the size of the devices that represent digital 1’s and
0’s as on and off states, it has touched off an international race to find alternatives.
New generations of semiconductor technology typically advance at three-year intervals, and
today the industry can see no further than three and possibly four generations into the future.
The most advanced transistor technology today is based on minimum feature sizes of 30 to 40
nanometers — by contrast a biological virus is typically about 100 nanometers — and Williams
said that HP now has working 3-nanometer memristors that can switch on and off in about a
nanosecond, or a billionth of a second.
He said the company could have a competitor to flash memory in three years that would
have a capacity of 20 GB a square centimetre. “We believe that that is at least a factor of
two better storage than flash memory will be able to have in that time frame,” he said.

66. RIL set to buy 40% in Atlas shale gas arm for $1.7 b
10Apr

RELIANCE Industries (RIL) has agreed to buy a 40% stake in a US shale gas venture of Atlas
Energy for $1.7 billion, joining Exxon Mobil and France’s Total in the race for a fuel that may
change the global energy economics.
The nation’s biggest company will invest $340 million in cash for the stake and pay Atlas’
drilling expenses of up to $1.36 billion over the next five-and-ahalf years, said a statement
from Atlas. The deal values per acre of shale at $14,167, compared with $14,000 an acre paid
by Japan’s Mitsui & Co in a similar deal.
“This is the most lucrative deal we’ve seen in the Marcellus,” Bloomberg quoted Scott
Hanold, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Texas as saying. “It’s a fair price. It’s a
significant chunk of acreage in an area with some of the best well results.”
ET NOW, this newspaper’s television channel, was the first to report the deal. Reliance
shares rose 1.6% to Rs 1,124.70.
The joint venture will hold 300,000 acres, of which Reliance’s stake will be equivalent to
120,000 net acres, said Atlas.
For Reliance, the investment may be an experiment to benefit from what is potentially a
game-changer in the US economy where oil & gas prices are key to economic and political
decisions. The experience may also help Reliance imitate the process in this region where it is
drilling for oil & gas. In the last few months, it lost out on bids to buy stakes in petrochemical
company LyondellBasell and Canada’s Value Creation.
`Shale gas represents a growing source of energy and is expected to constitute 20% of the
overall gas production in the US over the next 10 years,” Alok Agarwal, chief financial officer
at Reliance Industries told reporters. The transaction is expected to close this month.
Gas locked in shale formations is expected to account for 50% of US supply by 2035, up from
20%, Bloomberg quoted a report by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates as saying.
Extracting gas from shale rock formations is accelerating in the US, which is looking for
ways to reduce the dependence on Middle-East oil and cut pollution by limiting coal-fired
power plants. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling are the two methods used to release
natural gas trapped in shale rock formations.
Under the fracturing method, chemicals and other materials are blasted into the rock to
create cracks that lead to gas flowing to the well.

Deal provides upside for RIL

HORIZONTAL drilling penetrates the earth vertically before moving sideways for thousands of
metres.
Reliance may fund the transaction from the $2 billion it raised in the past few months by
selling its own shares from treasury when it was preparing the Lyondell bid. The deal provides
an upside for Reliance, which retains the first right to buy out Atlas’ stake if the US company
plans to sell and in the fields. Mukesh Ambani’s company could buy them at lower prices that
may bring down the overall valuations.
“Atlas has granted Reliance a right to purchase such acreage at a price of $8,000 per acre,’’
said the statement. “Reliance also receives a right of first offer with respect to potential
future sales of this acreage by Atlas at lower prices.” Atlas Energy’s core acreage is
concentrated in the Marcellus Shale in Southwestern Pennsylvania, New Albany, Michigan and
the Chattanooga Shale in Tennessee, the states near the East Coast of the US and New York.
The venture plans to drill 45 horizontal wells this year, 108 wells next year, and 300 wells in
2014, said Atlas.
Although some US companies began shale gas exploration nearly two decades ago, they did
not become a success due to lack of technology and interest form big energy companies.
Given the stagnant reserves, many oil companies now see shale gas as a major source for the
future. Statoil ASA bought 59,000 net acres of Marcellus Shale leases from Chesapeake Energy
Corp last month for $253 million. British Petroleum and Consol Energy of Pennsylvania are the
recent entrants to explore shale gas. Exxon Mobil in December bought shale pioneer XTO
Energy for $29.3 billion.
But Reliance’s venture also faces some risk as the potential may be exaggerated and due to
environmental issues. The New York state has reportedly imposed a moratorium on drilling in
its portion of the Marcellus Shale, and the US Environmental Protection Agency is concerned
about potential risks to watershed. Barclays Capital advised Reliance Industries and Jefferies
& Co played the role for Atlas.

67. Tata Tea, Pepsi plan health-drinks JV


TROPICANA, AQUAFINA MAY COME UNDER NEW ENTITY
10 Apr’
TATA Tea and PepsiCo took the first step to form a joint venture on Friday by signing a
preliminary agreement for a new non-carbonated beverage entity. The new company will be
exclusive for the Indian market, said Sanjeev Chadha, chairman of cola and snacks foods
multinational PepsiCo.
“We will formalise the details within a couple of months. As of now, only the MoU
(memorandum of understanding) has been signed,” he said. The development has raised
questions about PepsiCo’s existing JV with Hindustan Unilever for marketing, selling and
distributing Lipton ice tea. HUL competes with the Tata Group firm in the packaged tea
market. A joint statement issued by PepsiCo and Tata Tea said the proposed venture is not
intended to conflict with any existing arrangements of the parties.
RK Krishnakumar, vice-chairman of Tata Tea, said he sees a strong and enduring
partnership. “This exciting venture opens new dimensions for both enterprises,” he said.
People familiar with the development said PepsiCo’s noncarbonated beverages such as
Tropicana juices, Aquafina packaged water and lime-based Nimbooz may come under the new
entity. It could also include Tata Tea’s ‘good for you’ liquid beverages such as Himalayan
packaged water and T!ON — a fruit juice and tea-based beverage. The two companies,
however, said more details will be available only after the venture is finalised and executed,
which is expected over the next few months.
It is not yet clear whether the proposed venture would be listed in India. Tata Tea is listed,
but PepsiCo is not. So, the shareholding pattern of the new entity will have to be worked out.
Tata Tea shares closed 2.83% up at Rs 1,000.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on
Friday.
Industry veterans and officials said the development is part of Tata Tea’s move to reposition
itself as a ‘health and wellness’ company in the footsteps of foods major Nestle. “Tata Tea is
passing through a transition and over a period of time, it has positioned itself as a beverage
brand instead of a plantation company. Now, it is moving further towards value addition and
positioning itself as a health and wellness beverage company,” said Amnish Agarwal, FMCG
analyst at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Tata Sons mops up Rs 600 crore
MUMBAI: Tata Sons, the holding company of Tata Group, has raised Rs 600 crore via bonds,
two sources said on Friday. The two-year bonds carry a coupon rate of 7.45%, they added.
One source said HSBC Bank was the arranger for the issue. — Reuters

68. Media Abby puzzle Who won?


10Apr’
DECLARING AN OVERALL WINNER BEING TOUGH, FESTIVAL PANEL LEAVES QUESTION OPEN-
ENDED ON PURPOSE, AND AGENCIES IN THE DARK
IS EVERYONE a winner? Or is it the agency leading the medals tally? Or could it be the
agency winning the maximum number of golds? Questions, more questions but there’s no clear
answer. And even the committee at Goafest 2010 is leaving it open for interpretation. Seems
like it’s about taking the middle path on an issue which invariably surfaces during the awards.
As Goafest 2010 was officially thrown open to the delegates on Friday, it was the Media
Abby that captured the imaginations of ad folk from across the country. After a day full of
sessions by speakers like Will Collin, partner, Naked; Tim Mellors, chief creative officer, Grey
worldwide and Richard Pinder, COO, Publicis to name a few, the best media work was feted
at a glittering event in the evening. However what makes declaring a winner difficult, if not
impossible, is the ambiguity surrounding the gongs. If one considers the overall tally, Maxus
leads the pack with 11 medals followed by Lodestar Universal with 9 and Mindshare at 7
medals. However if one takes the gold tally, Mudra Max is on a par with Lodestar Universal
with 3 golds each, while Maxus has only one gold in the overall haul . Mudra Max won gold for
the best use of television, outdoor & ambient media and live advertising, while Lodestar won
gold for Tata Nano in best use of newspapers and magazines, outdoor and ambient media and
radio. A total of 39 medals were awarded across 13 categories including best use of television,
best use of cinema, best newspapers and magazines, to name a few.
Shashi Sinha, chairman, Media Abby at Goafest and CEO, Lodestar Universal said television
and internet had the maximum number of entries with some quality work seen in mixed
media, internet and television. He also said that the aim of the Media Abby is to award
mainstream work done on brands by agencies and not consider who won the maximum number
of medals or leads the pack. “Therefore, there are no Grand Prix or agency of the year here.
That’s the official position,” he said.
Sam Balsara, chairman, leadership conclave at Goafest 2010 and chairman of Madison added
that it had been done by design to keep away unnecessary controversy: “The critical thing is
to recognise and understand the work that has won. There’s no need to say that there’s only
one winner.” The open-ended award has definitely left agencies asking questions. Pratap
Bose, CEO, Mudra Max and COO, Mudra group said like the Olympics, one has to see the
maximum number of golds won at an event. If one were to take the 5,3,1 points given to gold,
silver and bronze respectively (followed at the Effie awards for effectiveness in advertising),
then Lodestar is clearly the winner by virtue of the maximum number of points garnered.
However the points system is not followed while judging Media Abby winners therefore
presenting a conundrum as to which agency parties the hardest at the end of the day.
If one considers the overall tally, Maxus leads the pack with 11 medals followed by Lodestar
Universal with nine medals and Mindshare with seven
If one takes the gold tally, Mudra Max is on a par with Lodestar Universal with 3 golds each,
while Maxus has only one gold in the overall haul .
A total of 39 medals were awarded across 13 categories including best use of television, best
use of cinema, best newspapers and magazines. team et

69. FIIs, sub-accounts told to lay bare investment


structure
10 Apr

Move Comes As Sebi Looks To Track Real Gainers


FOREIGN institutional investors and their sub-accounts will have to disclose the investment
structure in India, say the new guidelines from the regulator, Sebi, as it looks for ways to
identify the eventual beneficiaries.
Existing FII and sub-accounts too will have to make necessary changes in line the new
disclosure norms.
“The change may help curb round tripping, if any,” said Suresh Swamy, executive director
(Tax and Regulatory Services), PwC.
These foreign investors will now have to disclose to the regulator whether they are a multi
class vehicle (MCVs), segregated portfolio company (SPC) or a protected cell company (PCCs)
and whether they maintain segregated or a common portfolio.
SEBI action comes in the backdrop of alleged misreporting of transactions by some large
blue-chip FIIs such as Barclays Bank and Societe Generale (SocGen).
The market regulator had put on hold registration of close to 50 investors organised as
‘multi-class share entities’ in tax havens including Mauritius as reported by ET on February 1.
A multi-class structure allows distinct pools of investments, akin to various schemes of a
Mutual Fund, under an umbrella asset management company.
Investors deploying funds in the various pools, called cells, can have different fund
managers pursuing different investment strategies.
There were concerns that investments through such a structure can slip out of the
regulatory radar. They could also be used as a conduit for round tripping, or Indian money
being invested through foreign entities to avoid tax.
Pluri, the entity which surfaced in the Barclays and SocGen cases, was a multiclass entity
incorporated as a “protected cell company” in Mauritius.
“Funds will need to amend their structures to meet the new requirement; else registration
could be denied” said Swamy.
FIIs are required to have at least 20 investors at each entity level. They will also need to
fulfil this rule for achieving broad-based funds for each class of share if they maintain or
propose to maintain segregated portfolio for each distinct shares class, as per the new norms.

FIIs will also have to give a separate undertaking for their sub accounts stating that common
portfolios shall be allocated across various share classes and it shall be broad based. In case of
any change in the structure or constitution of classes of shares approval of SEBI shall be
taken.
Now, the Form A and Form AA applications for new or renewal of registration of FII and sub-
account will also be amended subsequently.

DIGGING DEEP

FIIs will now have to tell Sebi whether they are a multi class vehicle (MCV), segregated
portfolio co (SPC) or protected cell co (PCC)
They will also have to tell regulator whether they maintain segregated or a common portfolio
Registration of close to 50 investors organised as 'multi-class share entities' put on hold
In case of any change in the structure or constitution or addition of classes of shares prior
approval of SEBI shall be taken
SEBI action comes in the backdrop of alleged misreporting of transactions by some large blue-
chip FIIs such as Barclays Bank & Societe Generale (SocGen)

70. EU to rescue Greece as Fitch downgrades debt


10 Apr
EUROPEAN Union officials said they are ready to rescue Greece, if needed as Fitch Ratings cut
the country’s credit rating to the lowest investment grade and economists at UBS said a
bailout may be imminent.
“A support plan has been agreed and we are ready to activate at any moment to come to
the aid of Greece,” French president Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters in Paris. The EU is “ready
to intervene”, Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the 27-member bloc, was cited as saying
by Le Monde on Friday.
The premium investors demand to buy Greek 10-year bonds instead of German bunds
jumped to 442 bps on Friday, the highest since the introduction of the euro. Prime minister
George Papandreou has said borrowing at those levels is unsustainable. Greece will need to
seek emergency funding now to make debt repayments of more than € 20 billion in the next
two months, UBS economists said in a note.
“The recent market action means that an external intervention may be unavoidable and
could happen very soon, as the situation is untenable,” UBS economists including Stephane
Deo wrote. “An intervention over the weekend is a distinct possibility.” ECB plans to call a
Governing Council teleconference this evening to “discuss latest developments”, two people
familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Greece still needs to raise € 11.6 billion to cover debt that is maturing before the end of
May and plans to sell bonds to US investors in the coming weeks. The country’s debt agency
announced on Friday it would offer € 1.2 billion of six-month and one-year notes on April 12.
Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou said on Friday that he’s still not planning to
seek emergency EU financing.
Greece’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings were cut to BBBfrom
BBB+ by Fitch Ratings. The outlook is negative, Fitch said. — Bloomberg
Athens not asking for rescue: Minister
ATHENS, GREECE: Debt-ridden Greece has not asked for the activation of a euro-zone and IMF
rescue plan designed to prevent a default, but details of how the plan would operate are
being worked out, finance minister George Papaconstantinou said on Friday. Greece has faced
spiraling borrowing costs in the last few days, a sign that markets fear the country will be
unable to pay off its debts and that a bailout may be needed soon. The country has been
gripped by a debt crisis for months, and in March eurozone leaders agreed on a hard-fought
bailout plan that would provide Greece with bilateral loans and IMF funds to avoid default and
protect the euro. — AP

71. Sebi, IRDA lock horns on Ulip issue


11 Apr’10
SEBI’S order asking 14 insurance companies to stop selling unit-linked insurance plans
(Ulips)has turned into fullfledged regulatory battle with the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority, or IRDA, issuing its own order directing the 14 companies to continue
selling Ulips.
“After due consultation with the members of the consultative committee all the 14
insurance companies which are mentioned in the order of Sebi are directed to note that
notwithstanding the said order of the Sebi, they shall continue to carry out insurance business
as usual including offering, marketing and servicing ULIPs in accordance with the Insurance
Act 1938” IRDA said in a late evening order on Saturday signed by chairman J Harinarayan.
In the order IRDA observed that Sebi’s order would upset financial stability, jeorpardise
policyholders interest and was prejudicial to the interest of insurers.
The 14 companies mentioned in this order are Aegon Religare, Aviva, Bajaj Allianz Life
Insurance, Bharti AXA, Birla Sun Life, HDFC Standard Life, ICICI Prudential, ING Vyasa Life,
Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life, Max New York Life, Metlife India, Reliance Life, SBI Life, Tata
AIG Life.
“The IRDA Act ’99 is specifically enacted to provide for an authority to protect the interests
of holders of insurance policies, to regulate, promote and ensure the orderly growth of the
insurance industry” IRDA said. The insurance industry was greatly relieved by IRDA’s order. “It
is now between the regulators who have to settle this among themselves” said a senior
industry official.
Sebi’s order has more far reaching implications than a press release or a circular. Since the
order has been issued under Section 34(i) (a) and (b) of the insurance Act. IRDA has said that
in the year ’08-09 Ulip policies involving a total premium of Rs 90,645 cr were in force. In
fiscal 2009-10 upto February 16.7 lakh policies have been sold with a premium of Rs
44,611crore. “It is also observed that the 14 insurance companies have an equity capital of Rs
16,281cr as on March 2009” IRDA said.
The insurance regulator said that observance of Sebi’s order would cause the stoppage of all
renewals of insurance policies already invested by the insuring public and may result in forced
premature surrender of insurance policies causing substantial loss to the policyholders and to
insurers. “The financial position of the insurers will be seriously jeopardized thus destabilizing
the market and upsetting financial stability,” IRDA said.

72. Goafest ’10: Ogilvy tops,Zoozoos win two grand


prix
11 Apr
ALMOST like the Australian cricket team’s domination of the top slot, Ogilvy again picked up
the maximum number of gongs to emerge at the numero uno position at Goafest 2010. No
prizes for guessing which campaign won biggest; as reported by The Economic Times a week
ago it was Vodafone’s Zoozoos. The campaign won the Grand Prix in the integrated as well as
the film craft category, one trophy going to O&M and the other to Nirvana films. Mudra group
with 26 metals and Publicis with 22 were second and third in the overall metals tally.
Commenting on the performance, Piyush Pandey, executive chairperson and chief creative
director, Ogilvy South Asia, believed that the win was special, keeping in mind the turbulence
witnessed in the market last year.
“An idea which is liked not only by the industry but by the consumers as well is most
satisfying,” he said on the Zoozoo Grand Prix. Reflecting on the key behind the grand prix win
in film craft, Prakash Varma of Nirvana films said the equation between the creative and the
filmmaker was the most important ingredient. “We did something for the first time and the
stories that came out are ones that anyone can relate to,” added Rajiv Rao, co-NCD, Ogilvy.
Both Mudra group and Publicis returned from Goafest 2010 with a haul that was a marked
improvement over last year. JWT which won a grand prix last year for Lead India for The
Times of India stood at the fourth position in the overall metals tally with no gold coming its
way. The Abby received a total of 4400 entries compared to around 4200 entries last year.
Print and outdoor categories got the maximum number of entries “This is a watershed year
and the results have been astounding,” said Pratap Bose, CEO, Mudra Max and COO, Mudra
group, adding that the road ahead is to get the all verticals like Tribal DDB and Mudra Max,
for example, to add to the tally. Many of the winning entries in print were again not entirely
free of the allegations that they had been created exclusively for the awards. Reacting to
these comments, Richard Pinder, COO, Publicis Worldwide, said “If that was the case, I’d be
very surprised.” He added, “We have a very clear view that if the work is not paid for and run
we are not entering it in any show. What you tend to find in Asia – you don’t find this in
Europe or the US anymore – is when someone is doing well for the first time, everyone shouts
‘scam’ which is a pretty easy thing to do.” Commenting on the one offs, Pandey said that a
lot of effort, time and money spent amounts to nothing. “Are we going the Singapore way is
the question the industry needs to ask itself,” he stated.
Mudra wins two awards
IN THE direct response (TV) category Mudra won two awards, gold and silver, for The
Economic Times. In the direct campaign category, The Economic Times’ Power of Ideas won a
silver. In the media and publication category, Mudra won a bronze award for The Economic
Times’ 20 Years campaign. The Times of India Aman Ki Aasha won a bronze in the direction
category. The work was created by Footcandles Film. Taproot India won a silver for their The
Times of India campaign in the corporate category.

73. Android ATTACK


11Ap

Motorola’s back with a ring you can’t ignore


IT’S A company that we had sadly written off when it came to mobile handsets, but then
came the Milestone
Long ago, almost at the beginning of the mobile phone era in India, almost every handset was
from a brand named Motorola. But slowly companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and the rest
(read crappy Chinese mobiles) conquered their space and threw them into an abyss of
obscurity. Then for a long time the only places where we saw the stylish M logo was in the
wireless sets used by cops and the iconic Moto Razr series which created a style statement
that no other brand could emulate. And apart from the Razr high point there are not many
milestones that we can chart in their course through the consumer devices market. But now,
years later, they have once again come up with a product that might end up as a redefining
point in this era of telecommunication. What’s that? The Milestone, yeah that’s exactly what
this mobile handset it is called!

TOUCH AND FEEL

Some people like it to be chunky,some like it sleek… What we have here is a solid looking
device which surprisingly has been designed in a very sleek manner. It feels so good to hold
that we’ve been carrying it in our hands ever since we got it! What we instantly liked about
this phone was that the sliding movements of its QWERTY pad seemed right on track without
any unwanted creaky noises or creaky movements. And at a time when most of the other
brands are coming up with kiddish looking plasticky phones Motorola has come up with a very
distinguished and ever lasting design for the Milestone. So the round one easily goes to Moto
without any objection.

PERFORMANCE

Now comes the most important part which decides the fate of any device. The most
important thing is that the Milestone is powered by the latest Android 2.1 operating system
and that is what sets this device apart from the rest. What that does is help us in multitasking
in a way never imagined before. Maps, browsing, playing around the screen with slight flicks
and pinches; it lets you do all this without a nano seconds lag in between. Secondly unlike
other operating systems this one takes the degree of customisation to an entirely different
level. Cause of its open source nature and the unlimited access to the platform developers
can come out with a wide range of apps which in turn means that we, the end users, get to
goof around with more and more of the craziest softwares ever.

FINAL VERDICT

Frankly the Milestone is the best Android powered handset we have ever used. In fact it might
even pose serious threat to the otherwise unchallenged regimen of the snobbish iPhone (yeah,
even the latest 3Gs version). But to be fair to the other handsets the Milestone is the first
device to be powered by the latest version of Android in India, so you surely can’t really
compare it with the rest of the crop. Overall with this kind of a package, viz… amazing build
quality, snappy processing, a great set of speakers and a pretty good 5 megapixels camera
with a flash, image stabilisation, and DVD-quality recording, it easily comes out as an
unputdownable smartphone. Do we have the RIM and the rest of the entertainment/prise
handset makers brainstorming to come up with a worthy challenger?

74. Govt may soon invite India Inc to set up urban


centres in rural areas
11 Apr

IDFC, IL&FS, Srei, ITC And HUL Likely To Join Pilot Project

IF THE rural development ministry has its way, India Inc may soon collaborate with
Panchayats by inking concession agreements for building seven urban centres in rural India.
The ministry may soon invite expression of interest (EOI) from private sector companies to
apply for the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (Pura) scheme, originally envisioned
by former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. It may also allow the companies to decide
where exactly they would like to set up these urban centres, a senior official of rural
development ministry, who did not wish to be named, told SundayET.
Several core sector companies like Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC),
Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) and Srei, and FMCG companies
with strong rural presence such as ITC and Hindustan Unilever may be vying for such projects
in public private partnership (PPP) mode with Panchayats, a first of its kind in India, said the
official. Though Panchayats would sign the agreements with the concessionaires, both the
state and Central governments would back it, making it comfortable for the private sector to
pump in money in rural areas.
Each of these urban centres would be created in rural areas with population of 30,000-
40,000 with urban facilities like piped drinking water, sewerage, village solar street lights,
solid waste management etc. will be put in place. According to plans, about Rs 100 crore are
likely to be spent in each of these urban centres, out of which 35% would be Central grant,
whereas 55% will be arranged from existing rural development schemes and the rest 10% is
expected to be spent by the corporate sector, said another official on the condition of
anonymity. The ministry has already earmarked Rs 248 crore for the projects to be executed
in three years.
“This exercise will initially be in six to seven places on a pilot basis, and the selection of
private parties, preparation of DPRs (detailed project reports) etc. should be over by the end
of this year. The work should begin by early next year. If successful, it could be scaled up to a
full-fledged mission, say JNNURM of rural India,” said the official. In fact, the model
concession agreement has already been prepared by the ministry, and the private sector
would be engaged in a revenue sharing model with the Panchayats, as rural tourism,
handicraft hubs etc. will generate revenue for the private parties. RCM Reddy, CEO of IL&FS
looking after the company’s cluster development initiatives, confirmed to SundayET that the
company would bid for such a project. “Yes, we would like to be partnering with Panchayats
and get involved in such a major rural development initiative,” he said.

75. Both of us dreamt of owning a top healthcare firm


11 Apr

Aman Dhall speaks to Singh brothers about their dreams and future projects
When you joined the family business, what was your dream then?

MMS: My father has been my role model. And I always looked up to him—be it his management
philosophy or his approach towards life. Our father and both of us shared this dream of
owning one day a world-class healthcare company. When we started we never thought we
would reach the level achieved today. It will be indeed a viably profitable business. As we
reached a certain stage, we started believing in the story. It offers a great deal of satisfaction
looking back. We have undergone a multiple set of emotions running the business.

Today, Fortis Healthcare has the fourth largest healthcare network in the world. Have you
set any targets for the company to reach the top-three podium?

SMS: There was never a timeline to be among the top-four in the world to begin with. In the
January analyst call, I remember one of the analysts asked now that you have acquired
Wockhardt, what’s your next target? I said we are going to switch our focus from size, beds
and hospitals to revenues. At the end of the day, all the former things are functions of capital
expenditure. And you can’t sustain your life just having expenditure numbers. Something like
putting a billion dollar in the topline will be the next target, I said then. Before the next
quarter could run out, we were able to hit that as well. So it’s a futile exercise putting a
target. The objective remains the same—we want a strong clinical excellence based
organisation. We want to be leader in the market. Now that we have presence in Asia, we are
looking at leadership not just by numbers but also by brand recall.

You have decided to relocate to Singapore. Is cultural integration one of the reasons for
the move?

MMS: Since the beginning, we have gone about managing the business in a manner that builds
a strong professional team. When we acquired Wockhardt Hospitals, we ensured that every
person was given the due respect they deserve under the new set-up. We made Vishal Bari the
second CEO who reported directly to us. Our partnership with Parkway has redefined the
game in Asia. It has enabled us to become the fourth largest healthcare company in the
world. The top three companies are based out of the US. Today there’s no global brand as
such. It shows the gap as well as the opportunity the healthcare sector offers. We are now
jointly creating values for the firm assuring that it remains an independent company. It’s a
business three to three and a half times bigger that the Fortis Healthcare is. The move is part
of the process to create a truly global company.

How have your friends, relatives and people close to you reacted to your decision to step
down from the Religare board alongwith your brother?

SMS: The reactions have been typical ranging from crazy to wow and why. Whatever we have
done until now hasn’t got a reaction of great, love it. I don’t remember the last time I heard
a reaction that was logical, same thing happened with Parkways and Ranbaxy too.

On kids joining the business...

MMS: They may inherit the ownership but to be part of the management team they would
have to earn their way up in the company. I started my career as a management trainee in
Ranbaxy in 1994, and they would have to do the same thing if they decide to join the
business.
SMS: It would eventually depend on them. I recall when my kids were three-four years old. I
asked them what they wanted to be in life. My wife thought I had really lost it. My elder one
said he wanted to become a fighter pilot then. Every year I have this conversation with them
on holidays. Every year this story changes. The reason why I am saying that I have gone
through a period of eight-nine years not knowing exactly what to do. For kids, it’s important
to have a target. It may change every six months, which really doesn’t matter.

76. Videocon eyes Philips' consumer products biz


12 Apr
NEW DELHI: Diversified conglomerate Videocon Industries is understood to be making moves
to acquire consumer electronics business of Philips India. “The company is looking at
acquiring consumer products vertical of Philips India. The due diligence has just started,” a
source in the knowledge of the development said. This, however, does not include the lighting
and healthcare products businesses of the Philips India, the source said. When contacted,
Videocon Group chief Venugopal Dhoot declined to comment. Philips India spokesperson said,
“We do not comment on speculation.” Sources, however, said if the acquisition takes place, it
will help Vidoecon expand in home appliances, as Philips is a popular brand in the segment.
Other products include LCD TV, DVD, home theatre system and audio system. Philips, the
Netherland-based consumer durable major, which is operating in India for more than 80 years,
has earlier said that it is strategically shifting its focus on healthcare and lifestyle segment to
promote its products in the country. Videocon had recently failed to acquire Finland-based
consumer electronic maker Elcoteq. Last September, both the companies had announced that
they have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent for negotiating and finalising a potential
Definitive Transaction Agreement.
77. MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI DOES NOT
12 Apr pg 4
miss out on deodorant even as the Indian Premier League makes him run from one end of the
wicket to the other and one city to another. Thanks to Reebok. The Indian cricket captain
managed to find time to shoot for Reebok’s commercial for its deodorant. It will be the
company’s first major ad campaign for deodorant. And its first direct challenge to brands such
as Axe and Rexona. “We wanted to get done with the campaign and release the ad during IPL
3 but Dhoni did not have dates,” said McCann Eriksson creative director (art) Vineet Mahajan,
who executed the commercial. The ad will now be aired in the first week of May. Well, better
late than later!

78. EXCHANGE TV FOR LCD


12 apr pg 4

TVP Group, a littleknown company that claims to be the second-largest manufacturer of


computer monitors, is entering the LCD television market. It’s brand name: AOc. Perhaps
inspired by the impressive performance of domestic mobile phone manufacturers led by
Micromax, TVP Group has set an ambitious sales target of one lakh LCD TVs within a year of
its launch. AOc will be price warrior. “The product USP will be providing quality at
competitive price points,” said Mukesh Gupta, director, TPV Technology Group. He said the
company is targeting tier 2 and 3 towns and cities through a network of 2,000 dealers. “We
will be looking at converting CRT TV consumers, so the focus will be on the smaller sized LCD
TVs,” he said.

79. LIC, 8 others may also face Ulip sale ban


12 Apr pg 19

LIC BAN MAY NOW BRING GOVT INTO THE PICTURE AS IT GUARANTEES ALL THE POLICIES SOLD
BY THE INSURANCE CORPORATION
CAPITAL market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is set to bar
nine more life insurance players including India’s biggest insurer, the Life insurance
Corporation of India (LIC), from selling fresh Unit Linked Insurance Plans, or Ulips, unless they
get their policies cleared by it.
Sebi barred 14 insurance firms late on Friday night from selling Ulips and will now issue
notices to the rest of the insurance companies, a senior official said. LIC sells 40% of Ulip
policies, the highest among insurance companies.
LIC officials, who declined to be named, said this would force the government to get
involved since not only is the government its owner, it is also the guarantor of every policy
sold by the corporation. ET wasn’t able to obtain an official response from the state-owned
insurance company.
Sebi is likely to send a letter directing the nine insurance companies to comply with its
Friday order. According to Sebi’s interpretation of the law, insurance companies will have to
get their Ulips approved by it before selling them to the public.
In response to Sebi’s Friday night missive, insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA), issued an order on Saturday directing the 14 life insurers to
continue marketing and servicing Ulips. According to IRDA, if Sebi’s order were to be followed
it would endanger financial stability, and adversely impact policyholders and insurers.
Sebi’s Friday order barred 14 private life insurance companies including ICICI Prudential,
HDFC Standard Life, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life, SBI Life and Reliance Life from selling
new Ulips to investors. Both Sebi and IRDA were formed under Acts of Parliament and the
conflicting orders from the two regulators have created uncertainty for investors. Either
courts will have to sort it out or the government will have to step in, analysts say. LIC is
governed by an Act of Parliament and also by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Act
(IRDA), which allowed the private sector to sell insurance policies. Sebi is governed by an Act
of the same name.
In the war between the regulators, Sebi fired the first salvo on December 14, 2009 when it
sent a show-cause notice first to HDFC Standard Life and later to 13 other life insurance
companies, asking them to explain how Ulips were launched without obtaining its approval.
Insurance companies in their response to the Sebi notice said that a Ulip is an insurance
contract falling within the ambit of life insurance. The predominant feature of a Ulip is the
insurance cover and the mere existence of an additional investment feature cannot convert a
Ulip into a mutual fund, they argued. The insurance regulator IRDA has also contented that
internationally Ulips are regulated by insurance regulators.
But Sebi insists that the investment component of Ulips will have to regulated by it. “I find
that the entities by their own admission have stated that there are two components of Ulips —
an insurance component where the risk on the life insurance portion vests with the insurer
and the investment component where the risk lies with the investor. This establishes
conclusively that Ulips are a combination product and the investment component need to be
registered with and regulated by Sebi,” the order passed by Sebi’s whole-time member said.
Most insurance companies are studying the Sebi order to decide what to do next. Officials at
two insurance firms told ET that they planned to move the High Court rather than the
Securities Appellate Tribunal. They also expressed surprise at Sebi’s action as Ulips have been
around for a while. “ All insurance plans have a savings element and an insurance element.
Why has Sebi woken up now ?” said a senior official at an insurance firm. “ What if Sebi has a
problem with pension funds tomorrow on the same ground. Should they stop investing in
equities,” he said.
Many insurers are worried that the Sebi move could prompt many Ulip investors to redeem
their policies. Quite a few insurers offer a 15 day trial during which customers can redeem
their policies without a penalty. Most trial policies may not be redeemed, insurance industry
executives fear.

80. Iffco wants to do an Amul, plans Rs 1,000-cr foray


into dairy biz
12 Apr pg7

NEW BIZ MAY BE A JV BETWEEN NEW DELHI-BASED BIZ HOUSE AND AN ISRAELI DAIRY MAJOR
TAKING a leaf out of Amul’s book, Iffco, the world’s biggest fertiliser co-operative, is
getting ready to enter the dairy business with a Rs 1,000-crore-plus venture by this year-end.
The dairy venture, the first unit to go on stream at Iffco’s Kisan AEZ at Nellore, will showcase
a state-of-the-art worldclass processing plant for processed dairy produce, including cheese.
It is likely to be a joint venture between an undisclosed New Delhi-based business house and
an Israeli dairy major.
However, the model of the dairy farming envisaged is different from that of the Kaira
District Co-operative (Amul) and the GCMMF. Amul has a processing capacity of around 130
lakh litres of milk a day. This will be for the first time in recent years that the dairy industry
will actually see a venture of this size with a dairy farm attached to the processing plant.
The Iffco venture is likely to attain a capacity to process milk from as many as around
15,000 milch animals. Holstein/Jersey cows are expected to breed for the dairy farm to
ensure better quality of products. The idea at work, officials said, is Iffco farmers between
them own a decent share of cows at the farm. The company is still to hit upon a “distinctive”
name for its produce alongside the Iffco brand name. Iffco MD US Awasthi stated: “We are
entering the sector after much deliberation. But we are not in competition with anyone since
there is ample unmet demand for quality dairy produce.”
Iffco is understood to be in the “penultimate stage of negotiations” with an Israeli dairy
major. A New Zealand dairy house is also in the reckoning. The location at Nellore is also
considered ideal for distribution of produce in all the metros in the radius including Chennai,
Hyderabad, Bangalore and even Mumbai, apart from many tier II, III towns in the region.
“We will tap into that and plan to use cold storage, maybe even dedicated trains from
Nellore, to transport the produce to these metros,” an official said. Iffco plans to sell the
same quality milk at a concessional rate to domestic consumers in semi urban and rural
regions. A recent NSSO study pegged rural milk spends — of all food spends — at 15% and
urban spends at 19%.
Andhra has seen significant growth in the past on the dairy front. Chandrababu Naidu’s
Heritage brand vies for space with other brands such as Creamline and the weakening state
coop milk federation.
In early 2008, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi struck a deal with the Israeli dairy firm El bit for
setting up a massive dairy farm and processing plant in the state but, following strong
protests from Amul, El bit moved its $100-million plans, including import of high-breed milch
cows and state-of-the-art processing, to Chittor district in AP. The size of the planned Iffco
dairy venture is also significant.

MILKY WAY

Dairy venture will be the first unit to go on stream at Iffco’s Kisan AEZ at Nellore
It will showcase a stateof- the-art, world-class processing plant for processed dairy produce,
including cheese
Iffco venture may attain a capacity to process milk from around 15,000 animals

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