ASBM Business Updates is a Weekly Selective Compilation of Business News from Various Sources. To find details follow the link.
BANKING
BANKING
Targeting young individuals, public sector Indian Overseas Bank today launched ‘Connect Card’, a new ATM cum Debit card in association with VISA that can be used for e-commerce across five lakh merchant outlets.
Though all IOB customers have been provided ATM cum Debit card, Connect Card is targeted at the younger generation aged between 10 and 28 years, the city-based bank said in a statement.
IOB Connect cards can be used at over five lakh outlets as well as for online shopping. Encouraging e-payments, the bank offers five per cent cash back offer till the end of this financial year, it said.
Besides, the bank also launched Channel Financing for its corporate, institutional and SME credit customers.
“IOB Channel Financing is a facility for financing supply chain partners. All activities under Channel Financing are digitally signed and electronically exchanged for speedy disposal and effective management,” it added.
BUSINESS
Hindalco, Tata Steel, Colgate-Palmolive, Ashok Leyland andReliance Infrastructure are some of the marquee names in the Indian stock markets. But investors in these stocks would be surprised to know that their returns, even over a 20-year period, have trailed the inflation rate.
Two other Tata Group stocks — Tata Chemicals and Tata Global Beverages — also figure in this list. But the group can take heart from the fact that the Titan stock’s returns, at 11.68 per cent, beat the rate of inflation. The group’s top performer, Tata Consultancy Services, wasn’t listed 20 years ago.
Not surprisingly, three public-sector companies — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Steel Authority of India Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd — have also failed to pass the inflation test.
Govt plans to tweak revenue model in private airports
Flying out of all six airports that are in the process of being privatised — Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati and Ahmedabad — is likely to get expensive once the privatisation process is through as the civil aviation ministry has decided to follow the 'hybrid till' model and set aside a portion of non-aeronautical revenues for the airport operator.
Not all revenues — aeronautical and non-aeronautical — collected at these airports will be accounted for during the calculation of charges by the airport regulator under the 'hybrid model' than under the 'single till' model followed currently, where collection from both streams are taken into account. By apportioning a part of the revenue stream to the operator under the 'hybrid till' model, the user charges would consequently go up.
"We have decided to follow hybrid model at these airports by taking 60 per cent of the non-aeronautical revenues into account while calculating charges at these airports, and leaving the remaining 40 per cent for the airport operator," said a senior ministry official.
However, compared to the Delhi and Mumbai airports, the new set of six airports are likely to be less expensive as in both the airports that were privatised earlier, only 30 per cent of non-aeronautical charges are taken into account.
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
AIG Global Real Estate has agreed to sell its Indian asset-management business to Brookfield Asset Management as the New York-based privateequity fund ofAmerican International Group is closing its operations in the country, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said.
The assets that AIG Global Real Estate India Advisorsmanage in India will be transferred to Brookfield Asset Management, a Canada-based fund manager. Under the deal, Bamasish Paul, the India MD of AIG Global Real Estate, will join Brookfield Asset Management as a senior vice-president and will continue to manage the portfolio , the person said. "AIG India fund is closing down completely as the fund has no short-to-medium-term plans for India," the person said. All four employees of the AIG fund in India will join Brookfield Asset Management, he added. He didn't provide any financial terms of the deal. Brookfield Asset Management and AIG Real Estates IndiaAdvisors didn't respond to emails from ET seeking comments.
Paul is likely to report to Anuj Ranjan , senior vice-president and country head at Brookfield Asset Management in India. Paul has 15 years of experience in private equity and real estate in the country.
INDIA BUSINESS
Taking a cue from China on ensuring energy security by keeping oil and gas sector out of any future diplomatic standoffs, India has initiated steps to ensure that state-runGAIL's move to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US should be on carriers with substantial Indian ownership.
Already countries like China insist that ships must be built in China if chartered on long-term to Chinese oil majors. GAIL is planning to source six million tonnes (mt) of LNG from the US annually, with an exposure of $2.5 billion calculated at FoB price of $9 a million British thermal unit, eyeing domestic power and fertiliser consumers. Keeping this in mind, the government now wants Indian shipyards to enter into collaboration with foreign shipyards to develop domestic ship building capacity in LNG space. The LNG supply from the US is likely to commence by September 2017.
On December 24, petroleum secretary Vivek Rae had a meeting with the heads of all the major shipyards in the country to push the plan. Representatives from six major shipyards participated in the meeting- including Pipavav Shipyard, L&T Shipyard, Goa Shipyard, Mazgaon Docks, Cochin Shipyard and ABG Shipyard. The CMDs of GAIL, Shipping Corporation of India and ONGC were also part of the meeting.
INSURANCE
Following the footstep of banks, private insurerBajaj Allianz General Insurance today launched an all women's branch which will recruit and train women agents and intermediaries.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance is the first insurer to come up with such an initiative and this is also an industry-first, the company said in a statement. "We aim to tap the vast talent pool of women professionals who had to leave their professional jobs for their family commitments. We plan to give such women an opportunity to re-start their professional career without disturbing their family priorities," Bajaj Allianz General Insurance managing director Tapan Singhel.
The Pune branch will start its operations with a team of 5 women employees and have recruited 10 women agents and plans to increase it to at least 60 agents in this fiscal, it said.
The company plans to roll out similar branches in other metro cities soon, it said.
Many banks are having all women branches which cater to female customers.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. Senate informational panels deemed it legitimate. Detractors dismiss it as unstable and a vehicle for criminal trade. China has banned new deposits on its largest exchange.
Bitcoin, the international digital payment system and currency and one of the hottest technology and finance topics this past year, could become a widespread vehicle for trade, believe the leaders of a Miami group. To further that view, Miami International Bitcoin will be participating in the North American Bitcoin Conference slated for Miami Beach in January.
“The thing that’s really exciting about bitcoin is that, here in South Florida, we have a half billion people to the south of us who do not have access to a banking system that works well, capital markets, credit — things that we take for granted,” said Charles Evans, business professor at Florida Atlantic University and one of the founders of Miami International Bitcoin.
“I fully expect that Miami could become the ‘Silicon Valley’ of small-scale international finance,” said Evans, who will speak at the conference. “I defy anybody to do business in South Florida without doing international business.”
LOGISTICS
Big data offers huge potential for new business models allowing logistics companies to become search engines for users from every field, said an expert.
Martin Wegner, vice president of R&D, DHL Customer Solutions and Innovation team, said that big data and logistics fit together perfectly in the ‘Big Data in Logistics’ trend report.
‘Big data’ is the name given to the huge amounts of information that can be systematically collected from various sources and then analysed and evaluated with the help of new technologies.
“Logistics companies manage a huge flow of goods and thereby create massive volumes of data. Specific data about millions of deliveries, including destination, size, weight and information about contents, is recorded every day,” he stated.
The report included concrete examples that could be applied in three areas for data analysis by logistics companies and other industries - operational efficiency, customer experience and new business models.
MARKETING
Car sales in the UK reached their highest level for six years during 2013, helped in part by manufacturers' efforts to widen their marketing efforts to reach women and younger drivers.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed that 2.26m cars were sold last year, a 10.8% rise on 2012 and the greatest number since the financial crisis hit in 2007. The UK has now seen 22 consecutive months of growth in car sales, culminating in a 23.8% rise to 152,918 units in December.
"Car brands have moved away from just targeting at a small sector of the buying public," an SMMT spokesman told Marketing Week. "They are using branding to appeal to a different and wider audience," he added.
Other factors playing a role in the revival included growing consumer confidence and cheap finance deals. In addition, Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO, told the Guardian that compensation payments, averaging £3,000, to people mis-sold payment protection insurance by financial institutions were enough for a deposit on a new car.
The impact was clear as the strongest growth during the past year came in private car sales which increased 19.8%.
The SMMT also noted a shift towards smaller, more fuel efficient models. Supermini vehicles accounted for 35.9% of sales, while sales of hybrid and plug-in cars were up 20.5% to a total of 32,715 units.
Growth in 2014 is expected to slow to around 1% however, as the effects of the rebound from recession fade.
Ford was the top selling brand with its Fiesta and Focus taking the top two spots, followed by Vauxhall with its Corsa and Astra models in third and fourth, then the Volkswagen Golf in fifth.
ODISHA BUSINESS
The state fisheries & animal resources department today inked an agreement with Iffco (Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd) Kisan Sanchar Ltd to implement a new scheme, ‘Empowering fishermen through mobile advisory services and establishment of toll free call centre for fisheries extension service’.
In the first year of the scheme, 100,000 out of 1,200,000 fishermen in both coastal and interior areas will be provided with SIM cards to receive 4-5 voice messages every day in Odia.
The scheme is aimed at providing quick and timely access to communication on latest information on weather, potential fishing zones, fishing conservation and cultivation.
The total cost of implementing this scheme has been worked out at Rs 3.48 crore for 2013-14. The partnering agency would recharge the SIM regularly as per the approved expression of interest (EoI).
The pact was signed by P Krishna Mohan, director (fisheries), Odisha and S Srinivasan, chief executive officer of Iffco Kisan Sanchar Ltd in the presence of state agriculture minister Debi Prasad Mishra and Bishnupada Sethi, secretary, fisheries and animal resources department. Under the scheme, the fishermen are not required to pay any additional cost towards services offered by the partnering agency.
Source of Information for this issue : Google alert accessed on 6th and 10th Jan 2014.
__________________________________________________________________
Source of Information for this issue : Google alert accessed on 6th and 10th Jan 2014
We welcome your suggestions in improving this information updating service.
Knowledge Is Power. Be Informed, Be Knowledgeable, Be Powerful.
Best wishes
Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Junior Librarian
Concept, Layout and Editing
Syamaghana Mohanty
Chief Librarian
Information and Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
Asian School of Business Management
Shiksha Vihar Bhola,
Barang Khurda Road, Chandaka
Bhubaneswar-754012
www.asbm.ac.in
Tel:0674-2374832, 2374833
E-mail:library@asbm.ac.in, chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in
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
__________________________________________________________________
Source of Information for this issue : Google alert accessed on 6th and 10th Jan 2014
We welcome your suggestions in improving this information updating service.
Knowledge Is Power. Be Informed, Be Knowledgeable, Be Powerful.
Best wishes
Compilation
Sabita Sahu
Junior Librarian
Concept, Layout and Editing
Syamaghana Mohanty
Chief Librarian
Information and Documentation Division, Chanakya Central Library
Asian School of Business Management
Shiksha Vihar Bhola,
Barang Khurda Road, Chandaka
Bhubaneswar-754012
www.asbm.ac.in
Tel:0674-2374832, 2374833
E-mail:library@asbm.ac.in, chieflibrarian@asbm.ac.in
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
No comments:
Post a Comment