ASIAN
BUSINESS
Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade today as weak
energy demand and concerns over more fiscal battles in Washington tempered the
news of a modest growth in the US jobs market.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for
delivery in February, shed two cents to $93.07 a barrel while Brent North Sea
crude for February delivery gained 14 cents to $111.45.
Data on Friday showed that the US economy generated
1,55,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate held at 7.8 per cent.
However, a US government report last week showing
softer fuel demand outweighed that news, Phillip Futures said in a market
commentary.
Weaker US energy demand “added to bearish concerns
about oil markets, which have been closely monitoring economic data for signals
about consumption, which is under pressure because of the struggling economy”,
Phillip Futures added.
The US is the world’s biggest oil consuming nation
and the health of its economy is a key influence on crude prices.
Other analysts said markets remain concerned over
more brinkmanship in the US Congress after last week’s 11th-hour deal that
averted the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts that threatened to tip
the economy into recession.
While the lawmakers put off the huge tax hikes on
many wage earners, agreement on spending cuts was put off until the end of
February, when they must also hammer out a deal to raise the country’s
borrowing limit.
Asian stock markets rose again on Thursday on a
second day of momentum from Washington’s agreement preventing the U.S. from
going off the so-called fiscal cliff.
Markets in Japan and mainland China were closed for
extended holidays.
Wall Street stocks soared on Wednesday, the first
trading day of the year, amid investor relief that Republicans and Democrats
hammered out a last-minute budget deal, though the compromise left many issues
unresolved.
The deal doesn’t include any significant
deficit-cutting agreement, meaning the country still doesn’t have a long-term
plan or even an agreement in principle on how to curb spending. Big cuts to
defence and domestic programs, which would have hit with the New Year, weren’t
worked out but instead were delayed for two months.
“Continued advances will depend on how spending
deals are or are not negotiated over the next two months and whether any down
payment on the national debt is made,” said analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in
Singapore.
Mixed data on manufacturing and construction
spending in the U.S. didn’t dent investor enthusiasm. The Dow Jones industrial
average finished 2.4 percent higher at 13,412.55. The Standard & Poor’s 500
index rose 2.5 percent to 1,462.42. The Nasdaq composite index shot up 3.1
percent to 3,112.26.
U.S. manufacturing grew slightly last month and
factory hiring increased. The modest gain suggests the economy entered the New
Year with some momentum.
The Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday
that its index of manufacturing activity rose in December to 50.7, up from a
reading of 49.5 in November. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while a
reading below signals contraction.
BANKING
The RBI is likely to issue final guidelines for
grant of banking licences to new players within the next 4-6 weeks, while those
interested in setting up new banks, including giants like Reliance, Religare
and L&T groups, have begun doing the groundwork.
According to sources in Finance Ministry, the
Reserve Bank may release its final guidelines for new bank licenses by
January-end or early next month. The Finance Ministry is currently in the
process of sending its final comments to the RBI on the draft guidelines issued
by the central bank on the matter, after which the final guidelines should be
announced. The RBI is already in the process of collating the comments received
from various stakeholders on the draft guidelines. RBI Deputy Governor Anand
Sinha, who is incharge of the Department of Banking Operations and Development
at the central bank, is scheduled to retire next month and RBI should finalise
the norms before his retirement, sources said. A number of large corporate
houses, including Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, financial conglomerates
Religare and Shriram groups, engineering-to-technology major L&T group and
Aditya Birla group, are said to be interested in entering the banking business
depending on the regulatory framework.
Appeals against the decisions of banking
ombudsman more than doubled in 2011-12, indicating that the customers as
well as banks are losing faith in the scheme promoted by the Reserve Bank of
India as an expeditious and inexpensive grievance redressal forum.
The number of appeals rose to 351 from 133 in the
previous fiscal, according to the annual report of the banking ombudsman scheme
released by the RBI recently. The scheme provides an option to complainants and
banks to appeal against the ombudsman's decision. A deputy governor of the RBI
is the Appellate Authority. "The system is well stabilised. More and more
people are aware of the facility to complain at the highest level," said
Sanjay Arya, executive director at United
Bank of India.
During the year, the 15 offices of banking ombudsman
received 72,889 complaints, a 2% increase over the previous year. A majority of
the complaints received by the ombudsman were against the foreign banks even
though their overall market share
is low.
There were 18.43 complaints per branch against
foreign banks compared with 1.72 against the new private sector banks and 1.33
against the State
Bank of India and its associate banks. However, the data showed a
perceptible decline in the number of complaints per branch against foreign
banks over the last two years.
According to the RBI, this could be because
customers of foreign banks are mainly high net worth individuals and
corporates, who are well aware of their rights as bank customers. Besides, 21%
of the total complaints were related to ATM, debit and credit
cards, where foreign banks have a stronger presence.
BUSINESS
Premier financing company, Housing
and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), may finance projects
through 100 urban local bodies in the next one year on a model that has
striking similarities with government's flagship urban programme JNNURM.
Though the exact funding patterns
will differ from states to states, the state governments in most cases may pay
a grant to an urban body availing HUDCO loans in addition to guaranteeing that
the urban local body returns the loan. The loan could be as low as Rs 1 or 2
crore and could go up to several thousand crores. While talking to ET, HUDCO
chairman VP
Baligar said the programme would empower local administrations in towns and
cities. "The finances will be extended on a first-cum-first basis. Urban
bodies in Madhya
Pradesh and Punjab
have already come forward to avail of the scheme. We expect to cover 35 towns
during the current fiscal, and about 100 in one year," he said.
In Madhya Pradesh, where towns such as Hoshangabad, Ujjain and Bangawan have
qualified to avail of loans for its drinking water and drainage projects, the
state government has made a commitment to pay 25 per cent of the project cost
as grants. Out of the remaining, which is a HUDCO loan, a part will be returned
by the local body.
Petronet LNG made the announcement on Sunday, 6
January 2012.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 7.92 points, or
0.04%, to 19,776.16. On BSE, 88,000 shares were traded in the counter as
against an average daily volume of 1.37 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 166.80 and a low of Rs
163.50 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 179.75 on
21 February 2012. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 122.25 on 18 May 2012.
The stock had underperformed the market over the
past one month till 4 January 2013, rising 0.77% compared with the Sensex's
2.25% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter,
gaining 0.90% as against Sensex's 3.81% rise.
The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs
750 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
Petronet LNG (PLL) on Sunday, 6 January 2013, said
GSPC has booked a capacity of 2.25 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) on a
long term and firm basis in the Dahej terminal of PLL. Relevant agreements to
this effect with a 20 year term were signed by Dr. A. K. Balyan, CEO and MD,
Petronet LNG and Mr. Tapan Ray, Managing Director, GSPC on 5 January 2013.
While a part of this capacity will be made available
by PLL from its existing terminal after completion of second jetty which is
currently under construction, another part will be from the expanded capacity,
PLL said in a statement. PLL has embarked on an expansion of the
re-gasification terminal at Dahej to increase this capacity from the present 10
MMTPA to 15 MMTPA. The expansion is expected to be completed by the first
quarter of 2016, PLL said.
BUSINESS
COMMUNICATION
The modern
world has expanded its use of the Internet. The speed of communication has been
greatly heightened and for companies, reaching out to customers through the
Internet is now the preferred choice of advertising. Email marketing services integrate methods in marketing
that a company can use to their advantage. With this technology, companies can
produce emails that can be tailored to each customer. Through email marketing
services, customers are directed to events and stores, relationships and brands
are strengthened, and more awareness is developed.
In email
marketing services, understanding goals will help to empower your online
marketing campaign. When the goals are not vague, you will be able to devise a
method that is economical and at the same time effective. Email marketing
services helps a company deliver its messages to the right people at the right
time and also helps in building relationships with their target customers. This
can help to build trust between a company and their customer-base.
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Small business owners often have more important
things to do than manage multiple different spreadsheets, repeatedly checking
to make sure that data is consistent between customer accounts, inventory, and
sales. However, these tasks are essential, so luckily some cloud-based
solutions have popped up in recent years to help businesses simplify these
tasks and avoid manually updating multiple spreadsheets over and over again.
Now, small businesses have another option to consider. TradeGecko is a cloud-based
application that aims to help small businesses manage inventory and sales, along
with customer accounts and data.
The application first launched to the public back in
October. And now, thanks to a $650,000 seed funding round, the application is
integrating with other SaaS applications for businesses, such as Xero and Shopify.
These integrations will allow TradeGecko users to
connect their online storefronts, accounting software, and other applications
directly to their TradeGecko account, so that relevant data is updated
automatically and in real-time. The Shopify integration is currently available
to TradeGecko users, and integration with Xero is coming soon.
TradeGecko was created to help small business owners
with various tasks such as managing customer accounts and data, keeping track
of stock levels and inventory, and keeping all sales channels synchronized and
up-to-date in one central system. These new integrations simply eliminate a
step in the process of keeping information up-to-date, since many of
TradeGecko’s users already use these types of applications and services.
FINANCE
Suzlon
Energy Ltd’s REpower UK unit said it signed two new contracts for wind
turbines that can generate a total 16.4MW at two UK facilities. The value of
the orders wasn’t disclosed.
The
turbines are for a new wind farm at Wear Point Wind Ltd in Pembrokeshire, south
Wales, and the Avonmouth Wind Farm in south west England.
The Wear
Point order will consist of four MM82 turbines. Construction will start in the
summer and be completed towards the end of the year, Suzlon said in a statement
on Monday.
Avonmouth
Wind Farm, located at the Bristol sewage treatment works, is being developed by
Triodos
Renewables Plc and GENeco—Wessex Water’s waste-to-energy company—and the
order will consist of four MM92 turbines.
On 26
December, Mint reported that Tulsi Tanti , chairman of Suzlon Energy, sold a 2.11% stake
for about Rs.63 crore.
Suzlon’s
promoters will infuse funds as part of the company’s corporate debt
restructuring process, it told BSE Ltd. The promoter group’s holding has fallen
to 50.65% following the sale. The company plans to use the money for operations
and debt reduction.
The banking regulator, Reserve Bank of India, has
allowed Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) to raise domestic deposits in rupee
denomination.
Making the announcement, the Chairman and Managing
Director of Kerala Fin Corp, Mr. Yogesh Gupta said that the norms applying to
financial institutions for raising deposits from the general public are very
strict.
The central bank gives permission to financial
entities for raising deposits from public after taking into consideration
factors like financial performance, conformity to specific rules and the level
of non-performing assets of the entity.
Although, KFC had recorded high levels of non-performing
assets in the past couple of years, it managed to curtail it to 1.3 percent
last fiscal year. During the last year itself, it reported its highest ever
profit levels and announced highest dividend amongst all nationalized entities
in Kerala.
The non-banking financial company, KFC, provides
loans on soft terms to accelerate industrial growth in the state of Kerala.
INDIA BUSINESS
'India GCC Business Forum' website
(IGBforum.com) has gone live and is the only online connection for business
people in both the GCC region and India where they can easily interact with
each other.
This digital platform serves both Indian and GCC business
communities, as well as all those outside these trading blocks, who need or
want information on how to develop commercial opportunities.
From latest business news to job opportunities, from easy access to visa information and investment opportunities, from travel offers to networking opportunities, this site is a one-stop-gateway.
Through IGBforum.com, Gulfind.com's 400,000 business listings in the GCC, and Infomedia 18's Indian Yellow Pages, are both easily available - giving users immediate access to literally millions of potential business partners.
A dynamic business discussion board enables users to interact with each other on any business or commercial themes in either the GCC, India or indeed both regions.
From latest business news to job opportunities, from easy access to visa information and investment opportunities, from travel offers to networking opportunities, this site is a one-stop-gateway.
Through IGBforum.com, Gulfind.com's 400,000 business listings in the GCC, and Infomedia 18's Indian Yellow Pages, are both easily available - giving users immediate access to literally millions of potential business partners.
A dynamic business discussion board enables users to interact with each other on any business or commercial themes in either the GCC, India or indeed both regions.
South Korea's Mirae Asset Group is open to inducting
a strategic partner in its Indian asset management company, which is aiming to
achieve profitability at operating level in the current financial year.
Established in November 2006, Mirae
Global Investments India -- the investment manager to Mirae Asset
Mutual Fund -- is aiming to build sizable corpus in both debt and equity
segments to become a major player in the next five years. "We had entered
the Indian
market on our own and have committed significant capital for building our
business...we may look at a strategic partner for our mutual fund business in
India if we feel it can help grow our business faster and the partner has same
principles and growth strategy as we have," Mirae Global Investments India
CEO Jisang Yoo
told PTI.
Establishing a successful Asset
Management Company (AMC) is a "long-term process" and we have
finished the first stage of our business plan in India, which is putting
performing funds on the table, he said, adding India is "very
important" in Mirae's Emerging Market strategy.
"Now we are preparing for the second stage of
garnering Assets Under Management...the AMC is on the correct
track as this fiscal we hope to make operating profits," Yoo said.
Seoul-headquartered Mirae
Asset Financial Group, founded by Hyeon-Joo Park, had invested $50 million
of seed capital in India with an aim to build the "business block by
block".
"We are currently associated with 5,000
distributors, including leading foreign private banks, wealth outfits, national
distributors and independent financial advisors...We would be providing
training to our channel partners across specific cities on different
modules," he said.
INSURANCE
The Indian
general insurance industry is likely to grow by around 20 per cent per annum in
the coming years because of increasing penetration, a top official of New India
Assurance said.
"Despite
slowdown in economy, the general insurance industry has grown by around 20 per
cent in the recent past. We hope the industry will see similar growth in the
coming years," Chairman and Managing Director of New India Assurance G
Srinivasan said.
The
penetration of the general insurance in India stands at around 0.7 per cent,
lower than the global average of 1.5 to 4 per cent.
Recently,
the finance ministry had asked the industry to come up with proposals for
increasing the penetration.
As to the
total premium, Srinivasan said it should go up by at least four times in the
next 10 years.
Presently,
the total premium of the industry is around Rs 60,000 crore, with a growth of
around 20 per cent per annum.
A recent spurt of private equity
transactions in insurance have raised eyebrows in the industry as rivals feel
that valuations, particularly for broking companies, are very high at a time
when the industry is not in the best of shape. Recently there have been reports
of Mayfield Fund picking up a 26% stake in Alliance Insurance Brokers for Rs 35
crore giving the broking firm a valuation of Rs 135 crore. Earlier in September
2012, Leapfrog Investments picked up a 12.27% stake in Mahindra Insurance
Brokers for Rs 64.33 crore giving the firm a valuation of around Rs 520 crore.
Insurance officials say that the thumb rule for
valuations in developed markets is 1.5 times revenue and around four times the profit
before tax. In the case of Mahindra Insurance Brokers, the valuation is almost
10 times the top line, said people familiar with the company. "Insurance
Act mandates prior approval of IRDA for acquisition
of stake exceeding 2.5% of paid-up capital in an insurance company by an
investment company. IRDA by notification made these provisions applicable to
insurance brokers as well. Hence concluded transactions of stake acquisition by
PE companies in insurance companies/ broking companies would have received IRDA
approval as required," said K K Srinivasan, former member, IRDA.
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
Mahindra 2 Wheelers, a part of India's auto giant
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (MM) re-entered into the two wheeler market with
its two motorcycles christened Centuro and Pantero.
Mahindra 2 Wheeler announced its second comeback to
the country's motor cycle segment two years after the company called off its
motorcycle model Stallio in 2011. Though the company did not announce the price
and the availability of the newly launched models, it is expected to be priced
competitively.
"Our pricing strategy is all obvious from value
propositions, and it does take competition into account. We will make sure that
the proposition the customer gets will be appropriate to the value that we are
providing to the customer," said Anoop Mathur, President-Two Wheeler
Sector and Member of the Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
according to Business Line. "Our pricing will neither be a deterrent nor a
show-stopper." Mahindra Pantero and Centuro run on Micro Chip Ignited
5-Curve (MCi-5) engines which are designed in-house and will be manufactured at
Pithampur plant near Indore. Both the bikes are expected to pit against the
leading players' 100-110cc motorcycles.
Mahindra Pantero, which is expected to hit the
market first, targets the youth. It comes with a 110cc MCi-5 (Micro Chip
Ignited 5-Curve) engine which is capable of generating a 8.6PS of power at
7,500rpm. It boasts of features like LED pilot lamps, alloy wheels and digital
dashboard. It is claimed to give a mileage of 79.5 kilometer per liter.
American software giant Microsoft
has reportedly acquired a small entertainment-based company, R2 studios, owned
by id8 Group. "Microsoft
Corp. has acquired a small home-entertainment technology startup to beef up its
Xbox unit", according to people familiar with the matter, reported Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft's rivals Google and Apple were also
reported to be in the race for acquiring id8 Group's R2 Studios, but the
Redmond-based company turned out to be the successful bidder.
The price of acquisition deal between Microsoft and
R2 studio is still under wraps. Microsoft is also reported to have
"acquired the some patents owned by the startup related to controlling
electronic devices." The entertainment R2 Studios has been working on technology
related to distributing and displaying digital media on televisions, said WSJ.
The company, id8 Group R2 Studios Inc. was created by Blake Krikorian in May
2011.
The report seemed to suggest that Microsoft is
prepping to project its Xbox console not just as a gaming device but as a total
home-entertainment system.
LOGISTICS
MicroStar Logistics, the market leading provider of
keg management services to the U.S. craft beer industry, announced today that
it has been acquired by Freeman Spogli & Co., the Pohlad Family and
Management. MicroStar was previously a portfolio company of Trilantic Capital
Partners.
Founded in 1996, MicroStar owns the largest
independent keg fleet in the U.S., managing a pool of over 1.4 million kegs and
the corresponding logistical needs for over 160 craft brewery customers.
MicroStar also works with over 1,600 distributors to help their craft brewery
customers reach thousands of food and beverage retail establishments nationwide.
MicroStar’s unique program offers craft brewery customers a compelling value
proposition by enabling them to avoid (i) the investment needed to acquire and
maintain an internal keg fleet and (ii) the burden of managing the reverse
logistics of empty kegs. The Company leverages its asset ownership, pooling
advantages and logistics capabilities to ensure on-time keg supply to craft
brewers, allowing its customers to “ship and forget.”
“We are excited to partner with Freeman Spogli and
the Pohlad Family as we embark on the next chapter of our growth phase. Our
partners’ expertise and valuable business experience in the distribution sector
will be an important resource as we continue to develop and grow our business,”
said Lauri Honea, Chief Executive Officer of MicroStar.
Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that it has
acquired privately-held ALK Technologies Inc. of Princeton, NJ, a global leader
in routing, mapping, mileage and navigation technologies. ALK Technologies
offers proprietary routing and international map-based solutions for
transportation, logistics and mobile workforces. The addition of ALK® is
expected to extend and complement Trimble?s Transportation and Logistics
product portfolio, including TMW Systems' transportation management solutions,
PeopleNet's integrated onboard computing and mobile communications systems and
GEOTrac's fleet management and worker safety solutions for the oil and gas
industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
ALK software products include CoPilot® Live, which
offers onboard GPS navigation for professional drivers; and PC*MILER®, a
truck-specific mileage solution recognized as an industry standard for
logistics, manufacturing, government and transportation operations. ALK offers
a consistent data platform for operational planning activities, such as mileage
and routing and in-cab navigation applications used by fleet drivers. ALK
products are sold worldwide and feature extensive international map data.
Approximately 64 percent of North American for-hire motor carriers use ALK
solutions, including 98 of the top 100 largest for-hire carriers, 47 of the top
50 logistics companies and 77 of the top 100 private fleets.
MANAGEMENT
Buyer confidence seems to have gradually returned to
the U.S. money management industry in 2012, as the deal value of U.S. mergers
and acquisitions transactions increased from the previous year. But in Europe
the reverse was true, with the debt crisis helping to cause transaction value
to decline from 2011.
Transaction value of announced deals involving
U.S.-based asset managers was $7.7 billion in 2012, up 43% from $5.4 billion in
2011 and 60% from $4.8 billion in 2010, according to investment bank Cambridge
International Partners, New York.
Deals involving the purchase of European money
managers totaled $4.7 billion in 2012, a decrease of 41% from the prior year's
$8 billion in transactions and down 47% from $8.8 billion in 2010.
The European statistics also included acquisitions
of money managers in the Middle East and Africa, but almost all the transaction
value was from Europe, said John Temple, Cambridge's president.
Mr. Temple attributed the growth in deal volume in
the U.S. to an improved economy, even with such distractions as the fiscal
cliff. “Economic growth may not be as fast as we like, but the economy is much
stronger than a few years ago,” he said.
2012 was a decent year economically in the U.S.,
helping deal volume, said Eric C. Weber, managing director and chief operating
officer at Freeman & Co., a New York M&A advisory and strategic
management firm. “Even with the fiscal cliff, the budget nightmare and every
other disaster, the (S&P 500) still returned 16%,” he said.
Montana's Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will
meet in Helena on Jan. 10 to consider final approval of elk management
recommendations aimed at reducing the risk of transmitting brucellosis
infections between elk and livestock near Yellowstone National Park.
Brucellosis is a contagious bacterial disease than
can result in miscarriages in some pregnant animals, including domestic cattle,
and bison and elk.
A working group of a dozen landowners, livestock
producers and hunters has led an effort over the past year to look at effective
elk management options to reduce brucellosis transmission in hunting districts
that border or are near YNP.
The recommendations are focused on keeping elk away
from high risk areas where they could comingle with cattle-or in unusually high
concentrations-that could increase disease transmission risks.
Officials stressed that a program to test elk and
then cull those exposed to brucellosis is not under consideration.
MARKETING
An investment of up to $2 million is on track to
proceed at a Fort Wayne marketing firm looking to be closer to Vera Bradley
operations.
The Allen County Plan Commission approved a rezoning
request Thursday for Britton Marketing & Design Group, 1415 Coliseum Blvd.
W., which will allow a move from its present site to across the road from the
handbag maker’s southwest Allen County location.
The rezoning request is subject to final approval by
the county commissioners in coming weeks.
Under a proposed deal, Britton would transfer into
an office and warehouse complex after it is built on the south side of
Lafayette Center Road, south of General Motors Co.’s Allen County truck plant.
Britton plans to lease the building from Great Dane Realty.
Co-founder Susan Britton and Vera Bradley
spokeswoman Melissa Schenkel have said the development is in the exploratory
stage, but the project would include construction of a 20,000-square-foot
building that could begin in the spring and finish by next fall.
Century 21 Real Estate will continue providing
listings to Zillow.com in return for perks intended to help the franchisor's
agents generate more business, the companies said in announcing the renewal of
a 2010 marketing agreement.
Century 21, a Realogy Holdings Corp. subsidiary, was
the first franchisor to enter into such an agreement with Zillow. Listings
represented by independently owned brokerages around the country that are
affiliated with Century 21 automatically appear on the Yahoo-Zillow Real Estate
Network, which includes Zillow.com, Yahoo Homes and Zillow Mobile.
The listings get "enhanced branding" and
can be accompanied by high-quality photos and detailed descriptions. Century 21
agents can also take advantage of Zillow advertising programs such as ZIP
code-targeted searches and Showcase Ads.
In April 2011 Zillow announced that it would provide exclusive discounts to
Century 21 Real Estate brokers and agents on featured listings on Zillow.
"Our relationship with Zillow has empowered our
agents with a valuable marketing program, providing extraordinary reach and
visibility for their listed properties," said Bev Thorne, chief marketing
officer of Century 21 Real Estate, in a statement.
ODISHA BUSINESS
The rates of power generated from Odisha have been
declining in the energy market over the past couple of months because of
evacuation problems precipitated by poor transmission infrastructure, said the
state-run power trader Gridco Ltd.
The rates, which were as high as Rs 6.30 per unit in
November 2012, came down to Rs 4.50 per unit this week. “Though we are at a comfortable position to sell some power
because of shrinking demand in winter season, we can hardly do so in the
absence of proper inter-state transmission infrastructure. So, while the rates
are going up in other regions of the country, we have to sell power at lower
rates,” said P K
Pradhan, director, commerce, Gridco.
Due to
uncertainty in power supply from Odisha to other states, the buyers have shied
away from doing business with Gridco, he explained.
The state
is currently getting about 2,800 MW from different hydro power stations,
thermal power generators and captive power plants situated in the state. The
average daily demand, which was as high as 2,800 MW during the summer has come
down to 2,300 MW in the winter season, providing an opportunity to Gridco to
sell power through energy exchanges to northern , western and southern regions,
where power demand often surpass supply. “But every time we place an order to
sell, the exchange notifies us about congestion in the power supply system,”
Pradhan said.
Gridco
sells surplus power available during off-peak hours on Indian
Energy Exchanges (IEX) and Power Exchange India Ltd (PXIL). It sold
4 million units of electricity during November, while the volume declined to
less than one million units in December.
The Odisha government today rolled out the much-desired
public services for citizens under the Odisha Right to Public Service Act,
2012.
Under the new act, people will get services like
issue of driving license, birth and death certificates, passport and trade
license within a stipulated time. Officials have to give a time limit to
provide the services, failing which they would be liable for penalties. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the public service
delivery system under the act, which was passed during the winter session of
the assembly last month.
"Now
citizens will consider public service as their right and not a favour. Further,
this act will bring in much more accountability, transparency and equitability
in the delivery of public services," Patnaik said.
He said it
was a historic day for the state as the government has been committed to
provide service to people within a specific time period. "An era of good
governance has started from today," he said.
Altogether
34 services of seven administrative departments will come under the purview of
the Act.
RETAIL
Bharti
Infratel , one of the largest telecom tower infrastructure services
providers, gained for all sessions this week, especially after seeing a drop of
13
percent on last Friday , a listing day.
Today the
stock has touched an intraday high of Rs 210, at which the company offered IPO
shares to retail investors. It has been rallied 10 percent in five consecutive
sessions from closing value of Rs 191.20 on last Friday to Rs 210 today.
The
recovery has been seen after the news that it will
be included in the FTSE Global Equity Indices starting January 7, 2013.
Bharti
Infratel said the stock would be added to FTSE All-World Index (Large Cap) with
a investability weighting of 9% and would also be added to FTSE All-Emerging
Index.
At 15:30
hours IST, the stock rose 1.37 percent to close at Rs 207.10 on the Bombay
Stock Exchange.
The
company raised more than Rs 4,100 crore through public offer that received
muted response from retail and HNIs. The issue was subscribed majorly by
qualified institutional investors. The company had allotted shares to retail
investors at Rs 210 per share and other investors at Rs 220 per share while
shares were allotted at Rs 230 to anchor investors.
With the holiday rush over, owners of both large and
small businesses will be shifting their focus internally. For the first time
since October, the consumer experience, product innovation and marketing
strategies are being granted creative bandwidth over seasonal sales campaigns. Protection 1 Security Solutions, the
second largest security company in the U.S., however, notes that, without
addressing fundamental vulnerabilities, the business itself is at risk.
According to the FBI, retail crimes will cost American businesses over $30
billion in 2013 alone. With the nature of these crimes constantly diversifying,
business owners should educate themselves on the evolving security offerings at
their disposal.
Despite what you may have seen in action movies,
asset-specific security systems previously were out of the price range of the
average business owner. The most realistic option available was to remove
valuable products from a display and relocate them to a safe elsewhere in the
store. In addition to taking substantial time and people power to move
merchandise on a daily basis, there was often the additional risk of the
product breaking. Physically relocating merchandise is no longer necessary with
the advent of reasonably priced, asset-specific sensors. These sensors can be
set to trigger an alarm when a product has been moved for a pre-determined
number or seconds or tilted a pre-determined number of degrees. Sensors are
discreet and only need to be configured once.
SUPPLY CHAIN
After HTC kicked off the trend for smartphones to
adopt full-HD (FHD, 1920*1080) displays with its “Butterfly”, there is a great
deal of momentum around the adoption of similar screens in smartphones. Like
the Butterfly, many of these devices will use 5” FHD displays, with a stunning
441 ppi (pixels per inch) resolution. But since the supply chain of FHD screens
may not be ready, transition to such
According to analyst Shawn Lee from DisplaySearch
market tracking firm, other brands jumping into the FHD smartphone display game
include Samsung, Sony, LG, Motorola, Huawei, ZTE, and Oppo; many of these
devices will be launched at CES or MWC. Most of these displays are LTPS LCDs,
which enable high performance at relatively low power consumption, in sizes
ranging from 4.7” to 5.5,” with 400 to 470 ppi; Huawei’s Ascend Mate will use a
massive 6.1” display.
Presto Engineering, a player in integrated test and
product engineering services, announced the establishment of a strategic
collaboration with Advantest Corporation to address the needs of the semiconductor industry.
The collaboration between the companies, as a press
note explains, encompasses Advantest test-technology, combined with
Presto Engineering's comprehensive product-engineering and
supply-chain-management capabilities.
"With the addition of the Israeli hub to our
team earlier in the year, we are now a global provider of product engineering
services", stated Dr. Michel Villemain, Presto Engineering founder and
CEO. "Through this partnership, customers can access a full range of services
including test hardware design and production, test program development and
access to Advantest's leading V93000 and T2000 series test platforms, through
migration to a full volume production line".
____________________________________________________________________
Source of
Information for this issue: Google alert accessed on 7th, 8th and 11th Jan 2013.
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
Junior Librarian
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
Sabita Sahu :Junior Librarian and Syamaghana Mohanty : Chief Librarian, Knowledge and Information Services Unit, Chanakya Central Library, Asian School of Business Management, Bhubaneswar. chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in ; www.asbm.ac.in
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