ASIAN
BUSINESS
Asian
shares slid on Friday after a Republican proposal to fend off a U.S. fiscal
crunch failed to get enough support, deepening uncertainty over prospects for
the negotiations to avert automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to
start in January.
"Markets
disliked signs of further delay in talks, with the risk that a deal may not be
reached by the end of the year deadline," said Yuji Saito, director of
foreign exchange at Credit Agricole in Tokyo. "It clearly hit risk
sentiment."
Risk
assets were sold off, from shares, oil to currencies such as the Australian
dollar and the euro, while the yen rirmed slightly, though it was pinned near
multi-month lows versus the dollar and the euro.
U.S.
S&P 500 stock futures plunged 1.5 percent on worries over the U.S.
"fiscal cliff".
MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell
0.4 percent, after having traded up 0.2 percent at the open.
The U.S.
House of Representatives will adjourn until after Christmas, Republican
Representative Peter Roskam said on Thursday, after House Speaker John
Boehner's proposed tax bill designed to avert the fiscal cliff failed to pass.
The proposal was aimed at extracting concessions from the White House, which
had threatened to veto it, and advance talks closer to a deal.
Asian
buyers of Iranian crude will deepen import cuts in 2013 and struggle to send
cash to Tehran to pay for oil as tightening Western sanctions choke the flow of
hard currency to Iran's coffers.
Tough
sanctions from the United States and Europe to
force Iran to curb its nuclear programme have
already cut Iran's oil exports by more than half this year, costing it more
than $5 billion a month. The reduced cash flow has contributed to a plunge in
the value of Iran's currency, the rial.
Iran says
it is enriching uranium to fuel power plants, not make bombs.
Almost all
of Iran's remaining exports flow to China, South Korea, Japan and India. The additional cuts Asian
importers will make in 2013 would translate into a fall in sales of about
135,000 barrels per day (bpd), resulting in a loss of about $5 billion next
year based on today's oil price, according to Reuters
calculations.
The United
States requires buyers of Iranian crude to progressively cut imports to ensure
they secure exceptions to the sanctions when they come up for review every 180
days.
Making
matters worse for Iran is a little-noticed provision in U.S. sanctions, which
goes into effect on Feb. 6, that states funds being used to pay for oil must
remain in a bank account in the purchasing country and can be used only for
non-sanctioned, bilateral trade between that country and Iran.
BANKING
The State-owned Union Bank of India (UBI) today said it would raise up
to Rs 1,500 crore from bonds over the next three months.
The decision to raise funds was taken at the Board meeting held on
December 22, UBI said in a BSE filing.
The Board approved raising of additional capital funds not exceeding Rs
1,500 crore during the year 2012-13 by way of issue of Tier-I and Tier-II
capital bonds as per eligibility, it said.
Meanwhile, another public sector lender Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has
cleared raising up to Rs 1,350 crore from various bonds.
BoM plans to raise up to Rs 350 crore from Tier-I unsecured, non
convertible, subordinated, perpetual bonds (Innovative Perpetual Debt
Instruments), the bank said in a separate filing to the BSE.
Besides, it intends to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore from lower Tier-II
bonds in the nature of promissory notes. The bonds would have maturity period
of 10 years.
The issue opens on December 26, 2012, closes on December 29, 2012 and
the deemed date of allotment is December 31, 2012, it added.
The banking bill and the fast forward for Aadhaar
are two forces which will shape the Indian banking industry from the New Year.
Each is a game changer. Both of them introduce competition for the sector at a
pace that has not happened for a long time.
The Banking Laws (amendment) bill introduces
competition in the sector in the way it is understood in a mature market.
Though RBI has kept the right to decide which company will be allowed to bid
for a 26 per cent shareholding in a bank through the fit and proper criterion,
it will be soon under pressure to accept all competing challenges, irrespective
of the parentage of the bidder. For instance, how can a regulator say it is
satisfied that a bid for a minority stake in a bank mounted by company A will
be allowed to go through and say no to B, without getting involved in every
possible way with the management of a bank, its politics and exercising
judgement on the corporate sector that will compromise its neutrality. The
choice for the regulator will become one of either allowing every bid or none
at all. Also, as foreign banks have got the clarity to become wholly owned
subsidiary in India, the competition they will mount for the established
players will be awesome instead of being restricted to the Mumbai-Delhi market.
BUSINESS
Japanese industrial solutions giant Hitachi
will sign a contract with the Gujarat government next month for setting up of a
sea water desalination plant in the state that will treat 3.36 lakh tonnes of
water every day.
To be executed by four partners, the construction of
the facility will largely be financed by the Japanese government under
Indo-Japan joint investment strategy. We are going to sign the contract next
month with the Gujarat government. The plant will be developed under
Build-Own-Operate-Maintain (BOOM) method.
"The plant will have the capacity to desalinate
3,36,000 tonnes of water per day," Hitachi India Managing Director Ichiro
Iino told PTI here.
The project will be executed by a consortium of four
partners where apart from Hitachi, other parties include Hyflux from Singapore,
Japan's Itochu Corporation and the Gujarat government, he added.
When asked how much could be the investment to build
the plant, Iino said: "We have not decided it yet as the details are being
worked out...The project will be developed by Indo-Japan joint investment and
largely be financed by Japanese government.
Global retail giants such as Walmart, Carrefour, Tesco
and others seeking a foothold in India’s $450 billion retail market may take
years before earning profits, going by the experiences of big Indian players in
domestic retail.
Between them, three of India’s leading domestic chains, Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Retail and Bharti Retail, notched up combined losses touching Rs 1,200 crore in 2010-11, according to the latest available figures. Each of them has been in business for almost 10 years now.
Reliance Fresh, an arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL group posted a net loss of Rs 345.82 crore in 2010-11, while Aditya Birla Retail, which runs the ‘more’ chain, posted a net loss of Rs 423.1 crore that year. Bharti Retail, which operates in partnership with Walmart, reported a net loss of 394.32 crore in calendar 2011. The figures were revealed by minister of state for commerce and industry S Jagathrakshakan in Parliament last week, in the wake of the parliamentary nod to 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multibrand retail.
While none of the big foreign retail players have revealed their India-specific plans yet, not a single among them is known to have approached the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) with investment proposals either, even a month after majority foreign ownership in multibrand retail was notified.
Between them, three of India’s leading domestic chains, Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Retail and Bharti Retail, notched up combined losses touching Rs 1,200 crore in 2010-11, according to the latest available figures. Each of them has been in business for almost 10 years now.
Reliance Fresh, an arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL group posted a net loss of Rs 345.82 crore in 2010-11, while Aditya Birla Retail, which runs the ‘more’ chain, posted a net loss of Rs 423.1 crore that year. Bharti Retail, which operates in partnership with Walmart, reported a net loss of 394.32 crore in calendar 2011. The figures were revealed by minister of state for commerce and industry S Jagathrakshakan in Parliament last week, in the wake of the parliamentary nod to 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multibrand retail.
While none of the big foreign retail players have revealed their India-specific plans yet, not a single among them is known to have approached the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) with investment proposals either, even a month after majority foreign ownership in multibrand retail was notified.
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
1-800
numbers have become the most popular choice of contact number in business
telecommunication. Toll free numbers became this popular because calls made to
these numbers are actually free of charge. It is very appealing to the
customers if they have a free phone call service. This feature is known as one
of its prime benefits.
800
number’s free phone call service feature encourages your customers to
make business transactions to your company. If they have any inquiries
about your products and/or services, they will no longer hesitate to contact
you anytime since they know that the call will not cost them even a single
penny. This telecommunication feature not only helps you increase the number of
calls you receive but also increases the chances of having new clients and
other business opportunities.
Tech blog
DigitalOlympus.com recently released a new study about how businesses can save
costs significantly on the telecoms side by switching to VoIP and adopting a
unified communications (UC) architecture. Selecting VoIP business phones
and integrating VoIP phone system equipment into a platform that
supports unified communications is critical for cutting costs and boosting
performance when it comes to hosted business communications networks.
According
to the DigitalOlympus.com study, businesses can save costs on their
telecommunications infrastructure by adopting VoIP (VoIP phones)
as the backbone for both their Internet and phone system network services. A
second wave of cost reduction can be achieved through the use of business telephone systems that support
UC (unified communications).
Using VoIP
ensures that both phone system voice services and other data services are
supplied by the same connection – saving costs and boosting efficiency in the
process. The use of UC (unified communications) systems allows business
communication networks to support voice, data, SMS, IM and other communication
streams on the same device and the same network – a plus for businesses as the
cost of acquiring separate machines or configuring other devices and
accessories can be avoided.
BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT
Groupon (http://www.groupon.com) (NASDAQ: GRPN) announced today it
has acquired CommerceInterface (http://www.commerceinterface.com), a leading provider of
web-based channel management technology that helps manufacturers, distributors
and retailers succeed at managing their businesses and selling online. Terms of
the deal were not disclosed. Groupon has used CommerceInterface technology
since April 2012 to streamline operations of the growing Groupon Goods platform
and automate interactions with thousands of existing vendors. The acquisition
enables Groupon to leverage infrastructure provided by CommerceInterface to
support and optimize the Groupon Goods business around the world in 2013.
“CommerceInterface has proven to be an important
piece of Groupon Goods infrastructure in the U.S., quickly and reliably
streamlining the execution of orders and other vendor interactions,” said
Faisal Masud, head of Groupon Goods. “We look forward to enhancing our
abilities to better support merchants overseas beginning early next year.”
CommerceInterface will no longer service other
retail channels and current customers will have the option to transition to
other vendors over the next six months with migration support from the company.
n Q3 2012, Groupon Goods reached an annual run rate of nearly $1.5 billion in
global billings. A wide variety of high quality inventory is featured, from
diamond jewelry and designer sunglasses to mattresses, computer tablets, 3D HD
televisions and the giant radio-controlled flying shark. New items are added
every day of the week and often sell out. To find the perfect holiday gift or
subscribe for email updates,
Businesses that have set up shop at the Eastman
Business Park will have new management for their utilities.
Eastman Kodak announced the sale of its coal-fired
power plant at the Eastman Business Park Friday.
Recycled Energy Development will operate the park's
facilities.
The Illinois-based company also plans to invest $40
to $80 million to convert the old plant to cleaner-burning natural gas fuel.
The deal is still subject to approval from the U.S.
Bankruptcy court. Kodak would get about $10 million in cash for the plant and
the park's utility infrastructure.
In a statement released this morning, Kodak says it
believes this will help foster continued economic growth at the budding
business park.
Just this week, two businesses at the park were
awarded grants from the state through the governor's Regional Economic Council
awards.
RED has promised to offer "competitively
priced, reliable and sustainable services" to the park's tenants.
FINANCE
The Rangarajan Committee is believed to have
suggested a complex pricing formula that will lead to near doubling of natural
gas price to about USD 8.
However, it is unclear if this will override the
price discovery mechanism set out in current oil and gas contracts.
The six-member panel, which submitted its report to
the Prime Minister’s Office on December 20, is believed to have suggested
pricing of natural gas based on weighted average of the fuel in North America,
Europe and Japan markets as well as imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Sources said the panel has suggested bringing
gas-on-gas competition in five years, which essentially means deregulation of
the sector. In the run-up to that, it wanted domestically produced gas to be
priced based on a complex weighted average formula.
The formula translates into a gas price of just over
USD 8 per million British thermal unit compared to the current rate of USD 4.2
per mmBtu for most of the gas produced in the country.
The panel headed by Prime Minister’s Economic
Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan was tasked to suggest design of future
contracts for exploration and production of oil and gas as well as basis or
formula to price domestically produced gas.
Sources said it was unclear if the suggestion of the
panel can override the arms-length price discovery set out in the Production
Sharing Contracts (PSCs) signed by companies like Reliance Industries.
Under current PSC, a contractor is required to
discover an arms length price of gas by calling bids from prospective users.
The third instalment of the Advance
Tax collection recorded a growth of 10.44 per cent to Rs 78,226 crore, finance
ministry said on Monday.
Advance Tax collections for the month of December 2012 (up to December 20) stood at Rs 78,226 crore, against Rs 70,826 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, it said.
So far in the current financial year (April 1-December 20), the advance tax collections grew 7.52 per cent over the corresponding period last year. It includes a 7 per cent growth in corporate tax and 12.3 per cent in personal Income Tax, the statement added.
The growth in advance tax collections in December follows government's stern warning to tax evaders earlier this month to either disclose their correct income and pay advance tax by December 15 or be prepared to face action.
"Government would urge all assesses to disclose their true income. There is no advantage in suppressing the true income or avoiding paying income tax that is due", revenue secretary Sumit Bose had said.
Regretting that there was "gross-understatement" in filing of advance tax by assesses, he said, "sooner than later, the information available with the income tax department will lead the department to the doors of such persons."
The direct tax collection during April-November worked out to Rs 3.25 lakh crore, showing an increase of 7.14 per cent as against the annual growth target of 15 per cent. The government proposes to collect Rs 5.70 lakh crore from direct taxes, which include income tax, corporate tax and wealth tax, this fiscal.
Advance tax payment is a reflection of performance of the economy and lower collection would suggest lower profitability. The economic growth rate in the first half of the current fiscal was 5.4 per cent as against 7.3 per cent in the same period of previous fiscal.
Advance Tax collections for the month of December 2012 (up to December 20) stood at Rs 78,226 crore, against Rs 70,826 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, it said.
So far in the current financial year (April 1-December 20), the advance tax collections grew 7.52 per cent over the corresponding period last year. It includes a 7 per cent growth in corporate tax and 12.3 per cent in personal Income Tax, the statement added.
The growth in advance tax collections in December follows government's stern warning to tax evaders earlier this month to either disclose their correct income and pay advance tax by December 15 or be prepared to face action.
"Government would urge all assesses to disclose their true income. There is no advantage in suppressing the true income or avoiding paying income tax that is due", revenue secretary Sumit Bose had said.
Regretting that there was "gross-understatement" in filing of advance tax by assesses, he said, "sooner than later, the information available with the income tax department will lead the department to the doors of such persons."
The direct tax collection during April-November worked out to Rs 3.25 lakh crore, showing an increase of 7.14 per cent as against the annual growth target of 15 per cent. The government proposes to collect Rs 5.70 lakh crore from direct taxes, which include income tax, corporate tax and wealth tax, this fiscal.
Advance tax payment is a reflection of performance of the economy and lower collection would suggest lower profitability. The economic growth rate in the first half of the current fiscal was 5.4 per cent as against 7.3 per cent in the same period of previous fiscal.
HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
Atlanta-based
ThePortNetwork, Inc., a leader in social networking technology for business,
announced today it has acquired PowWowHR, LLC, a leading provider of human
resource management software (HRMS) for small and mid-sized employers. The
combined cloud technology will introduce the first natively integrated social collaboration
solution with traditional HRMS. Kevin Noland, former CEO of Atlanta-based
A.D.A.M., Inc. has been named CEO. The new company will be renamed PowWowHR.
INDIA BUSINESS
India and Asean on Thursday
extended their free trade pact
to include services and investment, a move that will help Indian doctors,
nurses and engineers get access to the vast markets in East Asia. The
trading partners, however, decided on at least three set of rules — one for
eight Asean members and two separate sets of norms for Philippines and
Indonesia that feared adverse impact of India's entry into their markets.
India is learnt to have agreed to the Philippines's demand to ensure that contractual service supplier (CSS) are persons who are executives, managers or specialists and have been an employee of a local entity. Even Vietnam and Indonesia's concerns on the issue have been addressed, a source privy to the discussions said.
With the long-awaited deal out of the way, PM Manmohan Singh said trade between India and the 10-member trading bloc will exceed $100 billion by 2015 and set a target of reaching $200 billion over the next decade. India, whose services sector contributes about 55% in the country's economic growth, was very keen to enter the Asean market as it will help Indian companies tap the markets easily.
India is learnt to have agreed to the Philippines's demand to ensure that contractual service supplier (CSS) are persons who are executives, managers or specialists and have been an employee of a local entity. Even Vietnam and Indonesia's concerns on the issue have been addressed, a source privy to the discussions said.
With the long-awaited deal out of the way, PM Manmohan Singh said trade between India and the 10-member trading bloc will exceed $100 billion by 2015 and set a target of reaching $200 billion over the next decade. India, whose services sector contributes about 55% in the country's economic growth, was very keen to enter the Asean market as it will help Indian companies tap the markets easily.
VistaJet, the Switzerland-based luxury aviation
company that operates private jets for top corporates and business honchos,
thinks some government regulations are working against this niche sector's
growth and should be re-looked at.
Thomas Flohr, founder and chairman of VistaJet, said
some of the issues faced by private operators include delays in getting
statutory clearances, lengthy paper works in all destinations of port and cash
payment hurdles.
"Schedules of our clients who happen to be
business heads are not known in advance, but the regulation says that there
needs to be an application before a certain number of days (six days). This either
delays the trip or cancels it," Flohr said in an interaction with IANS.
"We operate nearly 10 times the number of
operations from Moscow than, compared to India. This is not because India is a
smaller market but because of some regulations that hinder the private jet
industry," Flohr said.
VistaJet is one of the fastest growing private jet
operators in the world and is eying to expand presence in the fast-growing
Indian market, which itself is growing between 10-15 percent year-on-year and
is expected to reach a market size of Rs.1,600 crore ($290.90 million) by 2017.
Flohr said the company has had an interaction with
government officials and that he was confident that some changes may take
place.
The company recently placed the biggest order in
business aviation history. It ordered for 142 aircraft which includes a firm
order for 56 jets and an optional 86 more worth over $7.8 billion from Canadian
aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.
INDIA MANAGEMENT
Difficult times for someone could be the most
opportune time for another. Daniel Chopra,
managing director of Doehle Danautic, is setting another example with an
innovative offering to Indian shipowners who find the goings tough due to the
various pressures due to depressive climate prevailing in shipping trade.
The 11-year-old shipping service provider, Doehle
Danautic is very much an India-focussed company and offers a plethora of
services including crew management, technical management, commercial
management, chartering, NVOCC / freight
forwarding, training and ship agency. Its latest offering is an unique package
that promises to take away some of the major worrisome elements that trouble
shipowners while operating their fleet. While announcing the company's tie-up
with Singapore-based Thome Ship Management, the 50-year-old provider of
integrated ship management services to the international shipping and offshore
industries, Mr Chopra, on Wednesday in Mumbai, said: "We have cargo
available and Thome have ship management expertise. So we combine and offer
commercial management, technical management and crew management together as a
package out of a single office,".
"It is a package that any ship owner would find
difficult to refuse," said Mr Chopra, implying the various advantages that
such an engagement would entail, especially in these difficult times when every
operator is trying to optimise and deploy various cost saving measures.
INSURANCE
The new Mobile Rhino app offers six points of
protection including coverage for loss, theft, ID theft, accidental damage,
electrical and mechanical malfunctions. The coverage is available to
individuals, business and schools.
Many carriers offer buyer protection programs from
companies like Asurion, but Mobile Rhino’s creator Dwight Stuckey says Asurion
has a much higher deductible of $144 - $199 for device replacement versus the
$99 Mobile Rhino charges for iPad or iPhone.
Another distinction is the inclusion of Mobile
Rhino’s Digital Life protection that extends beyond device replacement. Once a
claim is filed for a lost or stolen device, Mobile Rhino can help the user wipe
their device and provides personal privacy monitoring to protect against ID
theft.
“There are a ton of tablets out there, but no other
insurance program is available through licensed agents, and there are
warranties like Apple Care that’s not the same as insurance,” said Stuckey
who’s company Stuckey & Company provides
a range of specialty insurance products.
Mobile Rhino is
sold and managed through a downloadable mobile app and is said to the first
mobile device insurance product available for sale through licensed insurance
agents. It’s underwritten by Chartis/AIG and Sedgwick serves as its third-party
claims administrator.
A social
security insurance scheme for the unorganised sector is likely to be
the next big announcement the government will make as part of its inclusive
politics agenda in the run-up to the 2014
general elections.
The government is gearing up to launch the scheme,
flagged by the National
Advisory Committee ( NAC)
headed by Congress
president and United Progressive Alliance ( UPA)
chairperson Sonia
Gandhi. She held a meeting of the NAC today, where department of
financial services secretary D K
Mittal and labour secretary M Sarangi
made a presentation on the salient features, coverage planned, implementation
plan and timelines for implementation of the Comprehensive Social Security
Insurance Scheme ( CSSIS).
In its meeting in March this year, the NAC had pulled up the government for its
failure to formulate a social security programme for unorganised sector
workers, estimated to be 430 million, though the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act was passed three years ago. NAC pointed
out this lapse on the part of the government in a communication to the latter.
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
The PC maker's unusually designed laptop computer
that doubles up as a tablet with a 360 degree swiveling screen, has created a
buzz ever since its debut at the Consumer
Electronics Show 2012. Techies and tablet lovers worldwide have been
eagerly waiting to lay hands on the tablet computer. The device has stolen the
spotlight for its unique hardware offering - laptop and tablet in a single
device.
"The product is targeted at individuals who
want to enhance their performance at work and play through one extraordinarily
light device that offers flexible multi-modes. Despite having two devices
rolled into one, the Yoga is unbelievably thin, offering the user great mobility
and convenience," said Rajesh Thadani, Director, Consumer Business
Segment, Lenovo India at
the launch event in Bangalore, according to Business Today. Ideapad Yoga 13 ships with a 13.3 inch,
1600 x 900 pixel IPS display and is powered by an Ivy Bridge (3rd generation
Core family) processor. The device weighs 1.54Kgs and measures 0.6 inch in
thickness. On the connectivity front the hybrid device supports 1 USB 3.0 port,
1 USB 2.0 port, HDMI output, an SD card slot, 802.11n WIFI and Bluetooth
4.0.The device is designed to enable users to swivel its display in different
angles, and hence use it as tablet, laptop and all-in-one desktop like
configuration.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has
been rated by Topeka Capital at an initial level of PT $ 245. However, the
analysts working at Topeka consider IBM as a significant place for investment
in coming year because of its tendency to cause an expected large scale
innovation in cloud computing in future, which will definitely serve as a
source for a noticeable surge in the income levels of the company.
Additionally, shareholders are inclined to sell their stocks in the company, as it is not offering favorable financial returns on the investment for the past few years.
But, according to analytical view it is not the case because, IBM is one of those companies which invested in R&D when financial outlook was grim due to recession, therefore, the company could offer sizable income in terms of dividends to the shareholders.
At the current trading session, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) shares are down -0.56% to $193.67 while the stocks are trading within the range of $191.57 – $194.50. In the past year, the stock has traded within a range of $177.35 – $211.79. Average daily trading volume is 3.92 million shares.
If we look at a few other stocks within industry, Hewlett-Packard Company, Teradata Corporation and Cray Inc were in the top volume leaders. Let’s have a quick look on their Market performance.
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) shares are down -1.46% to $14.22 while the stock is trading within the range of $14.05 – $14.32 in the current trading session. In the last 12 months the shares have traded between $11.35 and $30.00. The average daily trading volume is 35.40 million shares.
Additionally, shareholders are inclined to sell their stocks in the company, as it is not offering favorable financial returns on the investment for the past few years.
But, according to analytical view it is not the case because, IBM is one of those companies which invested in R&D when financial outlook was grim due to recession, therefore, the company could offer sizable income in terms of dividends to the shareholders.
At the current trading session, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) shares are down -0.56% to $193.67 while the stocks are trading within the range of $191.57 – $194.50. In the past year, the stock has traded within a range of $177.35 – $211.79. Average daily trading volume is 3.92 million shares.
If we look at a few other stocks within industry, Hewlett-Packard Company, Teradata Corporation and Cray Inc were in the top volume leaders. Let’s have a quick look on their Market performance.
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) shares are down -1.46% to $14.22 while the stock is trading within the range of $14.05 – $14.32 in the current trading session. In the last 12 months the shares have traded between $11.35 and $30.00. The average daily trading volume is 35.40 million shares.
LOGISTICS
Kolkata-based Prayag Group on Saturday launched
helicopter services in Bengal with an investment of nearly Rs 100 crore. The
Group is involved in diversified businesses starting from food processing to
real estate.
According to a release, the company will cater
helicopter charter service mainly to corporate houses to locations across West
Bengal, beginning next week. A Bell 407 helicopter with a capacity to carry six
passengers will be used for the service.
An hour’s trip will cost approximately Rs 90,000,
the release said. “It has been the need of the hour to provide a continued and
safe helicopter services….The primary requirement in this case is a quick
turnaround time in fulfilling business assignments in the not-so-well connected
areas,” Avik Bagchi, Managing Director of Prayag Group said.
He added that the company is planning to expand the
service to the North-Eastern region. It has also plans for joy ride services
and pilgrim tourism.
With a British court awarding Rs 1,650 crore
compensation in a law suit, defunct Paramount Airways is working on a revival
plan and talking to overseas carriers for investment, according to industry
sources.
“Paramount is quite upbeat over the Rs 1,650 crore
compensation awarded by a London-based international arbitration court. With
this money on the table, the carrier has initiated its efforts to take to wings
again,” a source close to the development told PTI here.
With the aviation regulator DGCA giving its nod to
the airline to restart operations a couple of months ago, the airline is now in
discussion with certain foreign carriers, taking advantage of the recent
liberalisation of the FDI policy in aviation.
In all probability, the airline may take off again
by the early next fiscal, the sources said.
“Paramount promoters recently held preliminary
discussions at the board level with some Far-East based carriers and a
Gulf-headquartered airline to rope in one of them,” the source said, adding one
top official of a low-cost carrier held deliberations in Coimbatore to explore
investment possibilities.
“However, the airline has not yet decided whether it
should re-launch the carrier with the same business model of full-business
class or it should go with the trend of no-frills model,” the source said.
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had
suspended Paramount Airways in April 2010 for its failure to maintain the
mandatory minimum of five aircraft in its fleet.
Paramount, which had an original fleet of five
leased aircraft, was operating with a single one at that time as three of its
planes were de-registered on account of default in payment.
MANAGEMENET
IT hardware maker HCL
Infosystems today partnered ESi Acquisitions
to distribute the US-based firm's crisis
information management software (CIMS) in the country.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) to co-operate for joint initiatives and the
partnership is expected to create new market opportunities and contribute to
the expansion of the crisis management solution market in the country, HCL
Infosystems said in a statement. "We believe that there is a tremendous
opportunity for both the companies to pursue in providing WebEOC software and
services to government and private corporations," ESi Acquisition Director
Paul Butler
said.
Introduced in 1998, WebEOC is an Internet-enabled
and locally-configurable incident and event management system. Using it,
authorised executives and emergency managers can communicate and collaborate in
managing daily operations and support emergency management functions.
WebEOC is currently installed in over 750
organisations globally in various languages. "The partnership will further
strengthen our portfolio and together, we will be able to achieve robust
success and create new benchmarks in the Indian market,"
HCL Infosystems President (Enterprise Solutions) Neeraj
Jaitley said.
Ventas, Inc. (NYS: VTR)
("Ventas" or the "Company") announced today that it
executed a transaction whereby Ventas and the management team of Atria Senior
Living, Inc. ("Atria") own 100 percent of Atria, effective December
21. Atria's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John A. Moore will continue to
lead Atria, one of the nation's premier providers of senior living care
services.
In the transaction, Ventas acquired 100 percent of
various private investment funds (the "Funds") previously managed by
Lazard Frères Real Estate Investors LLC ("LFREI") or its affiliates.
The acquired Funds now own (a) a 34 percent interest in Atria and (b) 3.7
million shares of Ventas common stock. The total purchase price for these
interests was approximately $242 million. Atria's executives and employees,
including Moore, now own 66 percent of Atria.
"We are excited to complete this strategic
transaction, creating additional alignment and capacity to grow our private pay
senior housing business with Atria," Ventas Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Debra A. Cafaro said. "Atria is one of the nation's premier
providers of care to seniors, with a robust reporting and regulatory
infrastructure. Its experienced team has delivered outstanding results. We are
proud to expand our relationship with Atria, ensure its continued success and
create additional opportunities for growth," she added.
MARKETING
MOBILE device applications (apps) are not marketed
well enough in South Africa to make substantial money for their developers or
companies, according to World Wide Worx.
Mobile apps are a multi billion-dollar industry in
the US, Europe and Asia, but have not yet taken off commercially in South
Africa.
Arthur Goldstuck, MD of business technology research
company World Wide Worx, said on Thursday that online retail sales should do
well next year, but downloadable apps for cellphones, tablets and other mobile
devices had a long way to go before they broke out of a niche market.
He singled out FNB, News24 and Ster-Kinekor’s apps
as being among the best locally produced. "These are apps which large
companies have designed well and which customers have reacted to," Mr
Goldstuck said.
"Our research found that South Africans do not
get enough information … from applications used on cellphones, tablets and the
like. This is especially with respect to applications used to encourage buying
decisions."
Mr Goldstuck said PriceCheck, an app built in South
Africa which allows comparisons of the prices of the same product at different
shops, was well made.
Property24, appening, a gig guide for Johannesburg
which can be downloaded onto cellphones and bidorbuy are also gaining
popularity, the research showed.
The electronic gig guide’s founder, Dale Amler, said
yesterday that success was a result of the strength of the idea.
"We have identified a need. People have asked
what is there to do and I believe appening has answered that question. Anyone
can add an event straight onto the app," Mr Amler said.
Volvo Auto India (VAI) will bring its Rs 25 lakh
car, V40 Cross Country, unveiled recently in Paris, to India in March or April
2013 and increase its overall marketing budget in the country from Rs 16 crore
to Rs 20 crore next year, a senior company official said here on Thursday.
Commercially, this car will become available in the
country in May-June 2013.
Also, the company could take a call next month to
increase prices by 5%, although other carmakers have already effected a 6-8%
price hike in the country, said Sudeep Narayan, Director-Marketing and PR.
VAI, which appointed a dealer in Ahmedabad, hopes to
sell 1,200 cars in Gujarat in 2013, as compared to 800-plus in the current
calendar year. By 2020, it expects to sale 20,000 cars in the country, out of
150,000 luxury cars expected to be sold that year, said Tomas Ernberg, Managing
Director.
Volvo Auto, which commenced operations in the
country in 2007, currently has 11 dealers across India.
Globally, the Swedish major is targeting to increase
its current sales of 440,000 to 800,000 by 2020.
ODISHA
BUSINESS
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought replies
of the Union and the Odisha governments and Essar Steel to a plea accusing the
firm of drawing water from Baitarani river without forest clearance to
facilitate iron ore transport.
An NGT bench of its acting Chairman Justice A S
Naidu and expert member P C Mishra directed against use of the river water
contrary to the agreement between the state government and the Essar Steel
Orissa which was also ordered not to execute the project without Forest
Clearance.
“Issue notice to the respondents both ways ie by
registered post/acknowledgement due and by dasti. The water from river
Baitarani shall not be used contrary to the agreement for the purpose for which
the clearance has been granted. Respondent No 5 (Essar Steel) shall not go
ahead with the construction of the project without obtaining Forest Clearance.
“List the matter on February 6, 2013, for appearance
and filing replies,” the bench said.
The tribunal’s order came on a plea by Odisha
natives Sarbeswar Mishra and Murli Manohar Sharma, through their counsel B P
Tripathy, challenging as “illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable” the decision of
the Centre and the Odisha government allowing Essar Steel to draw water from
the river for transportation of iron ore through slurry pipelines and for other
industrial purposes.
In their plea, they have also sought NGT’s
directions to restrain construction of water intake wells and pumping stations
by Essar Steel for drawing water from the river.
Referring to a Memorandum of Understanding signed
between Essar Steel and Odisha Government on April 21, 2005 to set up a steel
power plant at Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur district, the applicants said “under
the project Essar Steel has proposed to set up a 10.7 MTPA capacity iron ore
benefaction plant at village Dubuna in the district of Keonjhar, Odisha”.
Distribution companies (discoms) operating in Odisha
have floated tenders of Rs 805.29 crore for implementing the capital
expenditure (capex) programme aimed at slashing AT&C (aggregate technical
and commercial) losses.
In a written reply to the state assembly, minister
(energy) Arun Kumar Sahoo said work order of Rs 395.15 crore has been placed by
the discoms. "Materials are now being
received and some of the turnkey projects have already been started. The
proposed date of completion of this programme is March 2014,” he added.
Inadequate
counterpart funding from three distribution companies (discoms) - North-Eastern
Electricity Supply Company of Odisha ( Nesco), Southern Electricity Supply
Company of Odisha (Southco) and Western Electricity Supply Company of Odisha
(Wesco) has hit implementation of the Rs 2,400-crore ambitious capital
expenditure (Capex) programme in Odisha.
Nesco,
Wesco and Southco controlled by Reliance Energy have managed to arrange
counterpart funding of around Rs 80 crore against requirement of Rs 120 crore
for Capex implementation in the first phase that was to be completed by March
2013.
The other
discom- Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha Ltd (Cesu), currently
managed by power regulator- Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC),
has contributed its share of counterpart funding of Rs 78 crore for the first
phase.
The Capex
programme was conceptualised in 2010-11 with an outlay of Rs 2400 crore.
RETAIL
The government today said FDI in multi-brand
retail would boost the growth of the food processing industries and invited
private players to invest
in this sector to tap the huge potential.
"The steady emergence of the organised food
retail and the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail will surely take the
Indian food processing industry to greater heights," Minister
of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Tariq Anwar
said at the Third International Potato Expo 2012 organised by Indian Chamber of
Commerce. The private sector must join hands with the government in improving
the prospects of the food processing sector, the minister added.
Potato and potato-based products, which contributes
85 per cent of the USD 3 billion Indian snack market, would be a major
contributor to the growth in the food processing sector, he added.
"I would urge the Indian
Chamber of Commerce to rope in investors and entrepreneurs interested to
set up processing units for potato and also other food items," Anwar said,
adding that Food processing Ministry is providing fiscal incentives for setting
up projects.
The Minister saisd that the government is targeting
to increase the level of processing of perishable items from 6 per cent to 20
per cent, value-addition from 20 per cent to 35 per cent and share in global
food trade from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent by 2015.
The
back-and-forth over a safety net for investors
is coming to an end. Market regulator Sebi is inclined to introduce a series of
measures to beef-up retail investor safety in the New year, reports,
CNBC-TV18’s Sajeet Manghat and Sandeep Srikanth.
Sebi
chairman, UK Sinha's pet project -- investor protection -- is all set to get a
leg-up. Nearly two months after releasing a draft paper on a safety net
mechanism, indications are the market regulator is leaning towards increasing
safety for retail investors. Once who invest in IPOs and especially against
mispricing of issues.
"The
safety net paper is not meant to actually compensate the investors. The whole
rationale behind it is to ensure that there is some amount of sanity in
pricing. My feeling is that if there is a good pricing and the disclosure are
correct and well laid out, issues will be successful," he said.
Sebi's
draft proposal seeks to shield any IPO investor who invests upto Rs 50,000 and
caps the safety net at 5 percent of the issue proceeds. Exchanges have voted
supporting the proposal, especially given the huge variance in information
available about various issues, which affects pricing.
Ashish
Kumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, BSE said, "Irrespective of the size of the
prospectus there is huge asymmetry of information. That is between the company
and the investment banker. What is transpiring in from a prospectus is even
more asymmetry vis a vis what a person is going to read. Assuming a retail
investor has enough time to read up 1000 pages, there is still a huge asymmetry
of information. Some where along the line the pricing is not only about the
fundamental of the company but also about variety of things."
SUPPLY CHAIN
Sharing is in vogue, and not just in social media
networks.
Increasingly, corporations are opening up and
reporting more of their non-financial information. In 2011, only around 20
percent of the Fortune 500 reported their performance on environmental, social
and governance (ESG) issues, but that jumped to 57 percent this year, according
to a new report from the Governance and Accountability (G&A) Institute,
which saw similar growth among S&P 500 firms. What's more, this and other
recent reports -- from research firm Verdantix and the Underwriters Lab (UL) --
show firms slow to embrace transparency are likely to suffer by losing the
faith and patronage of an increasingly inquisitive and empowered consumer base.
Manufacturers' supply chains used to be largely invisible and unimportant to
consumers, but that is changing fast, in part because consumers both in
developed and developing markets are demanding more transparency.
"Consumers are more informed than ever about
what brands are responsible," says Sara Greenstein, president of UL Environment.
To grab more business opportunities in the Windows 8
touch-panel market, Chimei Innolux Corp. (CMI), the largest thin film
transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturer in Taiwan, is
developing its touch-panel integrated supply chain in the Southern Taiwan
Science Park (STSP) to meet strong demand from tablet and notebook PC
customers, according to industry sources.
The panel supplier has set up a production line with monthly production capacity of 500,000 WIS (Windows Integration System) panels.
Institutional investors pointed out that CMI aims to boost its market share in global tablet- and notebook-panel to more than 20% in 2013, from about 11% in 2010 and 16% in 2012. By the end of 2012, CMI aims to double its monthly touch-panel capacity to 200,000 to 220,000 panels.
Currently, CMI`s touch-panel shipments are mainly Glass-on-Glass (G/G) type products produced by a 4.5th-generation (4.5G) line in Chunan, northern Taiwan, and a new 4.5G touch-sensor line in STSP.
Industry sources said that touch-panel shipments enjoyed rapid increase in the past two years, and are expected to continue enjoying clear advancement in the next three years; while demand for such products for mainly small- and medium-sized applications in smartphones and tablet PCs will develop into larger-size applications thanks to the Windows 8 OS applications in other types of computing devices.
The sources said that CMI owns the most comprehensive generations of panel factories, making it very flexible to shift production lines to produce touch panels.
The panel supplier has set up a production line with monthly production capacity of 500,000 WIS (Windows Integration System) panels.
Institutional investors pointed out that CMI aims to boost its market share in global tablet- and notebook-panel to more than 20% in 2013, from about 11% in 2010 and 16% in 2012. By the end of 2012, CMI aims to double its monthly touch-panel capacity to 200,000 to 220,000 panels.
Currently, CMI`s touch-panel shipments are mainly Glass-on-Glass (G/G) type products produced by a 4.5th-generation (4.5G) line in Chunan, northern Taiwan, and a new 4.5G touch-sensor line in STSP.
Industry sources said that touch-panel shipments enjoyed rapid increase in the past two years, and are expected to continue enjoying clear advancement in the next three years; while demand for such products for mainly small- and medium-sized applications in smartphones and tablet PCs will develop into larger-size applications thanks to the Windows 8 OS applications in other types of computing devices.
The sources said that CMI owns the most comprehensive generations of panel factories, making it very flexible to shift production lines to produce touch panels.
______________________________________________________________________
Source of
Information for this issue: Google alert accessed on 24th, 25th and 28th Dec 2012
We welcome your
suggestions in improving this information updating service.
Knowledge
Is Power. Be Informed, Be Knowledgeable, Be Powerful.
Best wishes
Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Sabita Sahu
Professional Library
Trainee
Concept, Layout and
Editing
Syamaghana Mohanty
Chief Librarian
Chief Librarian
Information and
Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
Asian School of
Business Management
Shiksha Vihar Bhola,
Barang Khurda Road,
Chandaka
Bhubaneswar-754012
Tel:0674-2374832, 2374833
No comments:
Post a Comment