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1. THE POLITICAL THEATRE
No differences on Aadhar - Chidambaram Chennai, Jan 23 (IANS) Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram Monday sought to refute the existence of any differences between his ministry and the Unique Identification Authority of India on the issue of Adhaar and smart cards issued by his ministry. "There is no clash between Adhaar and the smart card issued by the home ministry," he said at a function held to distribute the Resident Identity Card (biometric smart card) in Pattipulam village near here. Pattipulam is the first coastal village in the country to have received these smart cards under the scheme of National Population Register. Speaking on the occasion, Chidambaram said these cards will help determine who is a resident, who is a citizen and who is a foreigner. The scheme, costing Rs. 216.31 crores, envisages collection of data from individuals in coastal areas and issue of smart cards to all residents above 18 years of age. In all, 3,331 coastal villages are covered in the first phase in nine maritime states and four Union Territories.
Political spats cloud Netaji birthday celebrations in Bengal (Roundup)
West Bengal Monday paid glowing tributes to legendary freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 115th birth anniversary, but the occasion was marred by political spats and one-upmanship.
Mamata, governor differ on farm suicides
Kolkata, Jan 23 (IANS) Amid a political storm over farmers' suicides in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday said only one peasant had taken his life during her tenure. However, Governor M.K. Narayanan said the trend was more widespread. "During the erstwhile Left Front government, around 189 farmers committed suicide only in 2009-10. And during our regime, only one farmer has taken his life," Banerjee said at a function to celebrate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The Congress, whose ties with the ruling Trinamool congress have been strained in the recent past, and the Left Front alleged that 25 farmers had ended their lives in the first eight months of the Magmata Banerjee government due to farm debts."I do not want farmers to commit suicide. They (the opposition and media) are saying that many farmers have committed suicide. This is not right. Only one peasant took his own life during my tenure," she stated. Banerjee has earlier also denied the allegation that the deaths were linked to the farmers' debt burden.
Criminals galore among nominees for assembly polls
New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) At least 15 percent of the candidates in the Punjab assembly polls and 19 percent of those in Uttarakhand have criminal cases pending against them, an analysis by non-political groups said Monday. A total of 32 percent of candidates in Uttarakhand and 65 percent in Punjab were billionaires, said the National Election Watch (NEW) and the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).A total of 408 candidates were analyzed in Punjab and 278 were analyzed in Uttarakhand. "It is obvious that parties give tickets to only the wealthy. This is unfortunate. Why is it that only rich candidates are fit to represent the masses?" said Jagdeep Chhokar, founder-member of ADR.
Congress claims clean sweep victory in Goa polls
Panaji, Jan 23 (IBNS) Goa Congress on Monday said they are confident of a clean sweep victory in the upcoming assembly polls on March 3 without any alliance partners.At a press meet in the State unit's headquarters, Congress spokesperson Ramakant Khalap said the coalition partners would come as an added force though."We will win the election with thumping majority on our own. Our expectation is to win at least over 30 out of 40 seats," he said.The party, he said, is in talks with its old allies Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) on pre-poll alliance."NCP is a valuable partner while MGP is with the party for the last five years due to which pre-poll alliance with them is considered," he stated
Congress takes exception to tone of Hazare's letters New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) The Congress Monday took strong exception to the tone and tenor of letters written by Anna Hazare to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and some other political leaders, saying "no self-appointed preachers and guardians of political morals" have a right to lecture the entire political class. Answering queries about Team Anna writing letters to the prime minister, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and presidents of Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it was for individual leaders to answer the letters."But I do want to make a point that no self-appointed preachers and guardians of the political morals have a right to lecture, or preach to the entire political class across the board in letters or otherwise," he said."This preaching tone, this know-it all know tone" and the approach of treating the entire political spectrum as irresponsible "is shocking distrust of the democracy," he said. Hazare had Sunday shot off a letter to the prime minister asking him to "show courage" in passing a strong Lokpal bill to give the country something to remember him by. Using sharp language in the letters to the prime minister and Gandhi, Hazare described Home Minister P. Chidambaram as "corrupt" and wondered why the government wanted to keep Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) "in its grip."
By Preeti Bhatia (NLC) (PGPM 1ST Year)
2. THE EDITORIAL & CAREER SERVICE DIVISION PAGE
Live Project-Survey of Socio-Economic Development of Flower Mandi at Gazipur
Live Survey done on Socio - Economic Development of Flower Mandi at Gazipur. Thanks to IDCG Consulting for giving an opportunity to students of ISBF.
THE GROWTH OF ISLAMIC BANKING
Islamic Banking is among the fastest growing fields of international finance today with a potential market of US$ 4 Trillion. Islamic Banking as a concept has a presence in more than 75 countries including nations from South East Asia, Europe and North America. The principles of Islamic finance advocate a concept of interest-free banking. The earliest references to the reorganisation of banking on the basis of profit sharing rather than interest are found in Anwar Qureshi (1946), Naiem Siddiqi (1948) and Mahmud Ahmad (1952) in the late forties, followed by a more elaborate exposition by Mawdudi in 1950. All these writings have recognised the need for commercial banks and their perceived "necessary evil," have proposed a banking system based on the concept of Mudarabha - profit and loss sharing. The idea as a whole resulted in the formation of The Islamic Development Bank in 1975. In Islamic finance, rather than interest, a yield from the deployment of money or capital generally arises in the form of profit and loss sharing from an investment activity or a profit or fee from sale of asset or lease of asset. While elimination of "Riba" or interest in all its forms is an important feature of the Islamic financial system, Islamic banking is much more. It is viewed as a form of ethical investing as the funds used are not invested in companies involved in alcoholic beverages, gambling and porcine food products. Its practitioners and clients need not be Muslim, but they must accept the ethical restrictions underscored by Islamic values. According to Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al- Madani, the President of Islamic Development Bank “The main message of Islamic finance, while ethical, is also universal. At a time when world leaders are calling for moral reforms, it is appropriate to have our financial systems rebuilt on widely accepted ethical and moral bases to serve the common good of humanity." Even the Vatican has supported the institution and stated that the principles of Islamic Finance may represent a possible cure for ailing markets. Even India has noticed the sudden growth of Islamic Banking and is looking for opportunities to exploit this niche industry. Some financial institutions such as HSBC, Benchmark, TATAS, Taurus, UTI, Kotak, Reliance, and Bajaj Allianz have some kind of Shariah tolerant products either already in the market or in the pipeline. Government of India too is seriously contemplating various options for allowing Islamic finance in the country. There are many benefits to the development of full-fledged Islamic banks in India which include a potential bettering of the condition of India’s largest minority and better integration of that minority into secular-democratic India. This would also enhance savings across the country and an increase in the national GDP growth rate.
By Dhruv Kaicker (PGPM 1ST Year)
Quickest Way to Grab Funds Is Now Possible
Is credit rating an important criterion for accessing fast cash service? Do people with good credit score are the only lucky ones, to get approval to this monetary aid. When people with horrifying financial record come across certain uncertainties of life and they do not have sufficient funds to overcome with the same, what can be done is the question which ponders everybody’s mind? So, don’t get disheartened and leave your worries right away, as your friend in bad times has come up to help you, and it is called loans for bad credit no guarantor. You cannot fulfill your demands in such tough conditions without any external support. In these hard times, the solution is here in the form of loans for bad credit no guarantor which helps people to cope with their financial crises within a short span of time even though they have a tag of being poor creditors due to some of their flaws like skipped payments, arrears, defaults, insolvency, county court judgments, and so on. This severe situation is usually faced by salaried class people who cannot fulfill all the needs with a limited amount of income. Availing this monetary aid will help them to solve unexpected emergencies which have cropped up their routine life. It will provide you with quick monetary facility in a short span of time. Residents of United Kingdom should feel contented as money backing services have been introduced especially for them. People with different financial classes can opt for this credit scheme. Little paperwork and documentation is involved, thus making it a very simpler process. When getting approved to the same, you need not to pledge any collateral over the borrowed sum of money. Amount one desires is flexible, with feasible repayment tenure. If you fail to repay debts with your next payday then you can request your lender to extend the time period. Loans for bad credit no guarantor, does not require any guarantor when availing this fiscal help. It can be applied through online as well as offline mode. If you lack time due to some hectic schedules lined up, you can simply go through an online procedure. For that, search for the broker’s official website; go through all the terms and conditions listed there. Fill in a small application form with important details like name, address, bank account number, and many more. After completion, submit the form. Money lender will verify your filled details; raised amount will be credited into your valid bank account within few hours.
LIFE OF A 21
A normal 21 years old faces world as the hardest thing ever happened to his/ her life. For that person his own problems , which we would expand as problems with girlfriend or boyfriend, problem of not having either of them, how to get admission in some good post graduate college, how to tackle betrayal of the most closest friend and many other related problems. But did any of us ever thought that, are these actually some problems or these are mere little phases which we can pass easily. No, we never gave a thought, never look beyond our set limits of taking things. Does it actually giving us any help? The answer again is NO. Obviously, expecting a behavior of 30 at 21 also won’t be right but at least we can leave our advanced behavior of 16. In general, we can easily find an advanced behavior of a teenager in a 21 yr old. I used the word advanced because the actual age of being with that behavior is gone and continuing with that will take it to an advanced level, where nothing could be seen as it should be. This will happen because none of us ever tried to change. Here, of course lot of issues would arise. Very few people would agree because nobody wants to accept the fact of behaving like an immature and some would be genuine also. At every age, we in one way or the other use these words “his/her behavior is different, she is different from us, and they are exception” etc. We would target all those genuine people with the words like exception, different, complex or over matured but none would say or accept their behavior on the ground of genuineness. I’m of course not saying or trying to make any one feel low about his/her behavior. I just want one should always go through a check and if u seriously don’t find any mistake in you than better check it again. You just cannot justify yourself by saying “what I’m, I’m” or by not accepting that even you can be wrong and the one opposite to you can be right. A nice example could be shouting unnecessarily after the results are out, of some examination.
It’s unnecessary because at that time blaming others including your teacher would be wrong as from the beginning you knew about your weak points but didn’t work upon them, ultimately that would continue to be weak and the conclusion could be seen over your result chart. At this age one can easily decide his/her goals but it is equally the most difficult task too. “Tell me about you” could be a nice example to this as we are usually confused about what to say and what not to. Here, we are generally confused about which path to choose. “Don’t walk on others path to success, make your own path and walk on. Let others decide whether they are more successful or you”. This statement by me is self explanatory, what is really need to do is to find yourself behind all those layers which we made to safeguard our self but unfortunately those turned out to be the thick flesh of hurdle. Next could be our relationship issues and some of us especially girls die to get married. But why, is this because of what we are seeing in our families or the surrounded environment? You really need to be self sufficient, if you really want to survive happily and this is especially for girls. It doesn’t matter what the next of you think, what matters is you’re thinking about yourself. Rest the minor issues of relationships should not be considered as issues as they are only minor distractions. Life is made to enjoy and one can choose his/her way of enjoyment but it should also be remembered that life has given you some targets and your focus should not move from it. There are some of those 21s which decide to ignore or just stop their personal life for someone who has more importance then their individuality or probably their individuality is because of those special people. It’s all the game of our way of thinking and our perceptions. Today, we are standing here raw but with the abilities to mould. Each one of us is a firework, it’s just we need to show how we work; we need to ignite the light and let it shine.
By Nishtha Wadhwa (PGPM 1ST Year)
Why Should You Use a Marketing Consultancy Firm
Most of the known consulting firms offer diverse consultation solutions either linked to legal, finance or insurance matters. A much more unique branch of consultancy however, is marketing consultancy. From product promotions, design, and advertising strategy service, marketing consultancy firms also provides such as marketing strategy development. By using this method you can easily see the ways in which a business is performing and why it behaves in the way it does. This would help an individual to assess if the business is leaning towards favorable markets or not. Another service which falls under the marketing consultancy umbrella is marketing collateral development. The reason for using this service is to show how effective the tools used for client retention are. The reason this service is essential is due to the fact that an individual can see the best way to deliver messages. Because of the ever changing nature of marketing, business writing and planning are other very important features, they allow a business or individual to have a solid foundation through frameworks and functional plans. There are also other services available such as human resources, both development and strategy and organizational training and customer service. Consultancy firms can also provide training and operational requirements should organizations need them. If a company wishes to upgrade their organizational communication or evaluate a marketing situation then marketing consultancy is the best tool. Marketing consultancy is one of the key tools when trying to boost employee motivation and when defining goals in a corporation. The benefits accrued from consultancy firms are quite many but they are essential. They have many helpful attributes such as the definition of marketing strategies, evaluation of performance and the definition of marketing strategies.
In essence, consultancy services are essential to the overall goals and objectives of marketing. This is particularly important when it comes to pricing and promoting a product and looking at where it fits into the budget. Despite that they are paramount in regard to product branding or when entering new markets. A consultancy firm will also be useful when looking at company rivals or competition from other areas of the market and when assessing how well a product is performing. Looking from an economic point of view, marketing consultancy firms can only be a good thing.
10 website design tips to boost your online sales
1. Objective: The objective of website design must be supported by site objectives. For any e Commerce site, business is the main objective. Therefore, website design must convey the brand message, which a company wants to convey to the target customers. It must bring clarity for what is provided on site with explaining how offering can be used. 2. Choose an appropriate style: There is lot more on the online stores than merely a shopping cart or “Purchase Now” buttons. When you make any e Commerce site, you should take care about the mood, conducted by all the elements. Don’t overlook ‘Contact’ sections or ‘About’ page. Choose an appropriate style, which corresponds to your products as well as establish it till the end. 3. Uniqueness: As every field of business has millions of websites, a company has to face huge competition before having some orders from customers. If first impression of the site fails in keeping the visitors, the visitors will go to other similar sites. Therefore, the website design have to be unique and must help the business in keeping potential clients glued for content and features given on the site pages. 4. Easy navigation: If the users can’t get the right buttons at right positions, your artistic and impressive website design won't have any meaning. Make the navigation easier for customers to find exact product they require.5. Text and graphics: The graphics and text used in website should invite the user to read. It must be attractive and must not irritate his/her eyes. Don’t embarrass the buying or the brand-establishing process, making inappropriate use of large images, Flash, or other gimmicks. 6. Stick to the Basic Concepts: Use the basic concepts, which are applicable to all the e Commerce sites like placing shopping basket at top, making it simple to add something in basket, using basic metaphors like Checkout, View Basket, and About Us with making logo clickable.7. Describe the Products in Detail: Describe the products in detail to your customers. Details like materiel, fabric, size, volume, weight anything, which could be valuable to them. Adding more details will also defend you against the refundable returns. It is advisable that you use attractive adjectives like psychedelic, vintage, collectible, natural, handmade, and so on. Keep in mind that your clients cannot see the product actually therefore; your description is very important for them. 8. Show Multiple Images: Provide the customers, a multi-dimensional scene of your products through displaying different images of a product. High-quality images are very important so, hire a professional photographer for taking them. 9. Add Product Badges: Badges are essential for making any single product shine. They may point the new product, top selling item, discount, and more. Ensure that you use them to the full-effect. 10. Good Product Display: It’s very important that the clients can navigate between the products easily. To make their life easier, ensure that single product demonstration always provides a quick way for viewing other products.
New Year New Corporate Image with Leadership Development Skills from Brandon Partners
Anyone who strives to attain a leadership position has to have a strong, forceful personality. It encompasses many attributes, and two of them are savvy communication skills and strong strategic alliance networking. These are just two of the many skills you will learn to develop when you take part in leadership development from Brandon Partners. Located in the San Francisco area, Brandon Partners provides training and assessment for many well-known corporations, including banks, major retailers, utilities and insurance companies, helping their employees develop the skills they need to excel in today’s competitive corporate environment. Their core business offering, Organizational Savvy, helps employees learn how to effectively communicate their ideas, using the four Ps: Politics, Power, Perception and Promotion. With mastery of these skills, anyone can acquire the leadership skills that are so important in today’s fluctuating economy. Brandon Partners brings 25 years of leadership development experience to the table, providing high-impact workshops tailored to the needs of their clients. Many people are unwittingly victimized by politics in the workplace, despite their inherent skills and education. Attending an Organizational Savvy workshop can provide the tools employees need to strengthen their skills and improve their image within the corporate culture, giving them new opportunities to shine. Power and politics not only control government, they control the hierarchy of every business. Understanding them is the key to success, and leadership development from Brandon Partners can help anyone hone their workplace skills to deal with the intangibles that are integral to personal success. A Brandon Partners workshop will help provide insight and offer protection from the pitfalls of corporate culture, including being underestimated, getting passed over for promotion, falling victim to sabotage by others, overcoming a negative image within the company and dealing with career stagnation and potential job loss. These are just some of the areas an Organizational Savvy workshop can help improve, giving employees the motivation they need to overcome obstacles and become more productive members of a team that shares common goals. These workshops are customizable for women, executives, and for certification of in-house trainers. Brandon Partners provides the options their clients need to tailor their strategies to solve their unique dilemmas, including self-assessment testing to determine how much help is needed to get an organization moving in the right direction. Self-assessment testing can be performed online for a nominal fee to ascertain how proficient, capable or vulnerable individuals are when it comes to dealing with company politics. It is the perfect place to start before embarking on an Organizational Savvy workshop that will help your company to discover its blind spots, in addition to identifying critical strengths and weaknesses. Integrity is key to developing and maintaining influence, as well as getting your organization moving in a positive direction. To learn more about leadership development and all Brandon Partners has to offer, visit them online to view all their Organizational Savvy offerings. Choose from workshops, webinars and executive coaching strategies that are sure to improve your corporate culture and lead your organization down the path to a rewarding future.
By Apoorva Mahajan (NLC) (PGPM 1ST Year)
3. FINANCE + MARKETS
Nippon Life Buys 26% in Rel capital for Rs.1450 cr
Japan’s Nippon life insurance has bought a 26% stake in Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance, the largest investment by a foreign firm in India’s mutual fund industry and one that highlight the continued lure of the Indian equity market for foreign investors despite a less than stellar record in the recent past. The valuation is rich compared to most deals involving domestic mutual funds in recent years.
The investment by Nippon life will help the Anil Ambani group cut its debt and enable reliance mutual funds to tap into japans’ vast saving.”Nippon will give reliance mutual some funds to manage: it will distribute our investment products in Japan and south East Asian markets”, said Sam Gosh, chief executive officer of reliance capital.”Nippon will be on our board and give us their views and help us set systems and processes,” he said. The valuation used in this deal is more strategic in nature than just financial.-said partner at Ernst & young.
LIC, HDFC MF Go against the Tide, stock up on SBI Two of the India’s largest institutional investors stocked up on shares of state bank of India in the three months to December 31. LIC India’s largest institutional investor in equities ,increased its stake in SBI to 12.76% from 8.68% while the country ‘s largest asset manager HDFC MF bought 1.7% stake for its Top 200 product. When many investors are concerned about SBI’s asset quality as a slowing economy and high interest rates threaten to increase its NPAs.
Pantaloon leads Gains as Fitch Rates Industry Stable Pantaloons retail led gains among retail led gains among retailers after Fitch rating said the most since January 11, shoppers stop rose as much as 3.7% and Trent gained as much as.
Profit –taking Drags Nifty down, Futures Premium Dips the market witnessed profit –booking on Wednesday and was unable to break through resistance at 4980 levels. The index lost 0.23% and CNX IT was the biggest losser (-2.14%). Nifty January futures premium decreased to 1.7 from 9.7 points and February futures premium fell to 24.85 from 31.35 points.
US Markets Shrink for First time since 2009 Stocks are getting scarcer in the US for the first time since the bull market began as companies cut share sales to the lowest level since 2006and buyback equity at the fastest pace in four years. Amgen, Hewlett –pack ward and 1971 other US companies repurchased $397 billion of stock last year. The S&P 500 trades for 13.6 times earnings, down from 15.2 a year ago and 19% less than the average level since 1960.
Rupee fall to Hit Coal Importers the Most The recent rupee depreciation has added to the woes of power generation companies. Power companies have an exposure to foreign currency as they are dependent on imported coal due to domestic coal supply deficiency .besides; they also have a foreign loan exposure. Adani power and Lanco will hit the most. This will reduce its earning as the higher cost will not be passed to the users. Though Tata power has the highest foreign currency debt, which is 29% of total debt, it has hedged its interest and principal payments for three years which will offset the increased fuel cost.
Savvy NRI’s Lap up India’s Inc’s Dollar Bonds from Existing FIIs
Dollar denominated bonds of Indian companies are gaining popularity among wealthy NRIs and savvy local investors. These individuals are mopping up such bonds, which are being dumped at 40 to 60% discount to their original prices by foreign investors amid worries that Indian companies could default on their debt repayment in the wake of slowdown in the domestic economy and squeeze in corporate profits. NRIs and the informed domestic investors are seeing opportunity in such fire sales.
They are looking for FCCBs that are up for redemption this year yields on many such bonds are trading at almost 9% overseas with those issued by blue-chip companies like Tata steel ,Reliance and Bharti Airtel at 8.5-9%.such investments make sense for NRIs because dollar deposits fetch them just 1% to 1.25%.As the cash strapped Indian government explores various avenues to raise money to finance its widening fiscal deficit .it will most likely have on eye on the vast cash reserves of state owned companies. A special dividend by these can help the Govt to reduce a portion of its deficit, without wiping out their cash balances. Investors may keep a close on public sector companies with huge cash reserves that are probable candidates for special dividends payouts.
Deutsche Sees 14% Rise in Sensex Pack this year The bank expects Indian markets to gain on improving sentiment borne out of interest rate cuts and post-poll reforms. Real estate, banks and infrastructure companies will be the key growth drivers this year. Its top picks include coal India, ICICI bank, L&T, Axis bank, TCS, Bharti and DLF among others.
Bankers must Disclose Record of Public Issues: RBI With a view to enabling investors to take well –informed investment decisions, regulator Sebi directed merchant bankers to disclose the track record of the performance of the public issues managed by them. In circular sebi said that the decision has been taken after consultation with merchant banks.
RBI to buy Rs.12000 cr worth Govt securities To tide over the current liquidity crisis, the RBI announced that it will purchase govt securities worth Rs.12000 cr through open market operations. “Consistent with the stance of monetary policy and based on the current assessment of prevailing and evolving liquidity conditions”, RBI has decided to do so.
Infy, HDFC Nos to Set the Pace; Global cues Critical for Crude A handful of economic reading of domestic companies Infosys technologies, HDFC will determine the direction of stock markets in the week ahead. Investors will closely watch the escalating political tensions between the US and Iran that drove up crude oil prices by almost 3% .brokers said traders may rely on overseas market trends for cues but the focus will shift to domestic events in later. November IIP, December inflation data also expected to influence market sentiments.
Insurers seek IRDA Nod for 22 Revised Pension Products Insurance companies have approached IRDA for review of 22 pension products fearing they may not be conforming to the regulators guidelines pertaining to assured returns. The IrDA in November 2011 had asked all insurers selling pension products to disclose in the policy document maturity benefits for customer or else withdraw them.
Govt to Incentivize PSU Listing to meet Fund Target
Running short of disinvestment target in the current fiscal, the govt will incentivize the unlisted PSUs to come up with initial share offering in the stock market in 2012-13. At present, there are about 50 PSUs which are listed and their shares are actively traded in the stock market. However, about an equal number of the govt owned firms are eligible but unlisted for various reasons. The govt has already decided that unlisted PSUs with no accumulated losses and having earned net profit in three proceeding yrs should come out with IPO even as the state holding would not come below 51%.
STOCK & MUTUAL FUND INFORMATION
HDFC (CMP 485): why?
HDFC Bank Q3 net up 31.4% at Rs 1429 cr
· HDFC Bank India’s second largest private sector lender.Net interest income or the difference between interests earned and paid out increased nearly 13% to Rs 2,945 crore.
· Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declined at 1.03% in the quarter ended December FY12 versus 1.11% in a year ago period.
· Net interest margins for the October-December quarter reported at 4.1%. Capital adequacy ratio was at 16.3% as on December 31.
· Withdrawal of teaser rates will work in favors of HDFC
· HDFC has investment in subsidiaries like HDFC bank, HDFC mutual Fund, HDFC life insurance, ERGO general insurance.
· Track of paying consistent dividends
DSP Blackrock Equity Fund: A consistent performer (NAV 14.39)
The fund has shown impressive run and was outperforming the benchmark over all time periods covering the last five year. In fact, its strong showing through good and bad times makes it a choice as one of the core holdings of the portfolio for an investor.
Nature: Equity oriented open endedInception: April 1997
Assets under Management: 2422 crore at the end of November 2011
Fund Manager: Apoorva Shah
Analysis
· The portfolio remained extremely diversified with the top sector being banks but with just a 10% exposure.
· In terms of the top holdings it was large caps that made up the top five positions with HDFC Bank at the top followed by TCS, HDFC, BPCL and ICICI Bank. All the holdings of the fund remained below the 5% mark.
· The fund now had the S&P CNX 500 as the benchmark index and the fund was outperforming the benchmark for all time periods.
· The fund managed to keep the portfolio turnover ratio at 1.65 times at the end of November 2011 with banks being the top sector. This was followed by consumer non durables, Pharma and auto.
By Shreshth Uppal (MCC) (PGPM 1ST Year)
4. BUSINESS OF BRANDS
STARBUCKS TO OPEN INDIA STORE BY YR-END: WORLD LARGEST COFFEE SHOP CHAIN ALL SET TO INK DEAL WITH TATA COFFEE BY MONTH END
Starbucks, the world largest coffee shop chain, will open its first outlet in India later this year in tie-up with Tata coffee. The two companies will form an alliance for this by the end of this month, Tata coffee Managing Director Hameed Huq said. “We are working on the final modalities…Hopefully, we will see the first star bucks store by the end of this year,” he said. The $10-billion-plus US giant already has an agreement to source coffee beans from Tata coffee. On Friday, Tata coffee also reported 51.67% dip in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2011 at Rs 24.03 Crore. Brewing India plans: India recently allowed 100% foreign direct investment in single brand retail. So, Star bucks can now enter India on its own. The Seattle-based company signed a deal in Jan 2011 to source beans from Tata coffee. Starbucks faces competition from Barista Coffee, a unit of Italy’s Lavazza Spa, & Café Coffee Day, run by the Amalgamated Bean Trading Company. Nasdaq-listed Starbucks serves coffee, baked products & other food items at over 17,000 retail stores in over 55 countries. Coffee use in India has doubled to more than 100,000 t between 2001 and 2010.
HIGH STREET RETAILERS FLY IN TO DELHI AIRPORT: SWAROVSKI, M&S, SAMSONITE & KIMAYA REPORT BEST SALES NUMBERS LASET CALENDAR
India’s most profitable shopping locations: What works for Delhi Airport: It is the largest and business airport in South Asia. More than 35 Million passengers used it last year. It is the fourth largest retail hub in the country with sales of Rs1, 200 crore in 2011 despite being ten times smaller than malls such as Ambience Mall in Gurgaon. Why sales-per-sq ft is an important parameter? It reflects the profitability of an outlet as the per-square feet cost of operations in comparable in most prime locations in metros. Almost 2% of India’s populations frequent the airport & they together have over 40% of the country’s wealth.
KFC TARGETS YOUTH FOR FINGER LICKIN’ SUCCESS
KFC has come a long way since being pelted with stones on its debut in 1995, having emerged as Yum! Restaurant’s largest restaurant chain and McDonald’s biggest challenger in the country. Yet, analysts feel that the American fast-food major has its toughest challenge yet ahead-of reaching its target of having 500 outlets by 2015, which could be daunting in the face of growing competition and slowing economy. KFC plans to grow on four fronts-geographical reach, food menu, serving hours and customer base, with particular focus on the Indian youth.
CAR Cos SKIP PRICE HIKE ON DIPPING DEMAND: NO CUSTOMARY PRICE HIKE BY COMPANIES THIS JANUARY AS ACONSTANT FALL IN DEMAND OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS FORCE A STRATEGY RETHINK
CAR SALES IN THE COUNTRY DECLINED FROM A HIGH OF 2.18 LAKH UNITS IN SEPTEMBER 2011 TO MERE 1.59 LAKH CARS IN DECEMBER: For the first time in 15 years, carmakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundia Motor & Volkswagen have skipped their customary price hikes in January on constantly falling demand, giving customers a rare opportunity to buy new models at last year’s price. From a high of 2.18 lakh units sold in September to a mere 1.59 lakh cars last December, sales have dipped alarmingly over the last four months despite a slew of discounts and freebies, putting the companies in a catch-22 situation.
AIRTEL OUTSOUCES Ad INVENTORY TO MOGAE: RISING IN HIGH MONETARY ADVANTAGE
PROMOTED BY former Dentu chairman Sandeep Goyal, Mogae Media will run Airtel’s entire end-to-end mobile commerce initiative, such as giving special offers, discounts, freebies to subscribers, apart from sourcing deals and disseminating them. MOGAE MEDIA will create mobile analytics from data available with Airtel on their subscriber base. IT HAS ALREADY SOLD 250 MILLION impressions of Star TV are new broadcasting channel-Life OK. It’s a message that appears after the end of a prepaid call showing the balance amount. HIGH ARPU clients would be targeted for high-end car brands and deals in airlines and hotels. THOSE WITH high facebook usage and a 3G connection may be targeted for offering deals on apparel, career institutes, cafes, movie theatres and music. “No one has done that in India so far. The model has high potential since the mobile phone is the only medium to reach out to 800-900 million people” said by Prashant Singhal, Telecom Leader, Ernst & Young.
SONY SEEKS TRADEMARK FOR KOLAVERI DI: MOVE TO PREVENT COMPANIES FROM LAUNCHING PRODUCTS NAMED AFTER KOLAVERI Viral super hit “ Why this kolavari di…” may soon become the first song in India to have its first line trademarked. Why? Perhaps because Sony Music wants to use the World famous phrase as a brand, and definitely because it wants to stop others from doing it. Sony Music Entertainment India, which recorded the Tamil- English song that has become an International YouTube hit, filled for trademark registration of “ Why this Kolavari di…” last month, a person familiar with the development told ET.
MADE-TO-MEASURE SHIRTS REDEFINE LUXURY IN INDIA: CUSTOMISED LUXURY SERVICES DRIVE BRANDS SUCH AS BRIONI, LOUIS VUITTON, PAUL & SHARK & ROLEX
A growing club of rich Indian’s happily spend up to 50% more, & wait up to 2 months to get their apparel & accessories customized. “The indulgence in these fancies is here to stay for the uber rich Indian, and will continue to rise in the times to come….there exists a huge opportunity for brands to encash upon the budding market”. Lap of customized luxury: 20% growth of brands in customized luxury segment in 2011.
By Apoorva Mahajan (NLC) (PGPM 1ST Year)
5. CORPORATE
EXPECTING REBOUND, REAL ESTATE COS STEP UP HIRING: NEW RECRUITMENT IS ESTIMATED TO INCREASE BY AT LEAST 15% ACCORDING TO CREDIA
HIRING FRENZY GRIPS REALTY COS: 985 million sq ft of residential space is due for delivery between 2011 and 2013. Developers will have to double their bandwidth to execute the amount of space they have sold. Builders are hoping on softening of interest rates, which will make buyers come back to the market. The sector expects regulatory issues holding up growth in key markets to be resolved soon. While Unitech plans to raise staff strength by 15-20%, Sobha developers is ready to double its employee count. Prestige group will add 25% more staff in 2012-13. New recruitment is estimated to increase by 20% led by civil engineers, project managers, and most importantly by sales and marketing teams.
BAJAJ AUTO Q3 PROFIT RISES 19% TO Rs 795 Cr: Bajaj Auto posted its second-slowest net profit growth in nearly three nearly three years as Indians bought fewer bikes due to high interest rates and a sluggish economy and the company suffered a Rs 59-Crore loss on forex derivatives. Net profit rose 19.20% to Rs 795 Cr in the quarter ended December while revenue rose 21.39% to Rs 4,893 Cr. This is the second slowest rate of net profit growth after July-September 2011’s 6.41% rise. Bajaj has never posted a less than 20% net profit growth in the quarter since March 2009.
PM PROMISES POWER BIGGIES MEASURES TO SORT OUT CRISIS: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cheered an anxious bunch of top industrialists, from Anil Ambani to Ratan Tata, with a promise to take immediate, decisive action to solve the power sector’s problems in a time-bound manner and convert the looming crisis into an opportunity. He has asked his principle secretary, Pulok Chatterji, to set up a committee of secretaries that should meet every week and apprise the PM about the progress once a month, said a member of the business delegation. He has also directed his cabinet colleagues to give top priority to resolve the issues that plague the sector.
NOTHING STOPS Us FROM GOING AHEAD WITH Rs 8,200-Cr RIGHTS ISSUE: TELENOR ASIA CHIEF: WE WILL SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PART OF THE RIGHTS ISSUE, EVEN SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE TO TAKE OUR TOTAL HOLDINGS TO 74% IF UNITECH DOES NOT PARTICIPATE IN FULL: Norway’s Telenor which has been under attack by its Indian partner, says its long term commitment to India remained intact and stressed that realty firm Unitech must respect the shareholder’s agreement between both parties & subscribe to the upcoming rights issue. At the heart of their dispute between Telenor and Unitech is a proposal for a Rs 8,200 Cr.
LANCO INFRATECH TRIPS ON Rs 90-Cr LOAN REPAYMENT: DUES FROM DISCOMES & DELAYS IN COMMISSIONING SECOND UNIT TAKE TOLL: Lanco Infratech has missed its quarterly repayment of loan raised for its 1,200 –mw imported coal power project at Udupi in Karnatka as the poor health of state distribution companies is taking a toll on power utilities. Lanco Infratech subsidiary Udupi Power Corporation Ltd( UPCL) was unable to make a debt repayment of Rs 90 Cr that was due on January 15, as it has not received payments totaling Rs450 Cr from the state distribution companies in Karnatka for its first unit of 600 mw at Udapi.
MARUTI HEDGES Rs 5,000-Cr YEN EXPOSURE FOR VENDORS: RESERVE BANK OF INDIA ALLOWED COMPANY TO HEDGE ON BEHALF OF 200 VENDORS. BUT, IT HAS HEDGED FOR ONLY 25-30 SUPPLIERS
HEDGING AGAINST EXCHANGE RATE RISK: Maruti Suzuki has direct & indirect yen exposure worth Rs10, 000 crore, of which Rs5, 000-5,500 is with vendors. The cost of hedge will be shared between the company & vendors. Much of this was not covered till recently. Maruti Suzuki is encouraging suppliers to source locally and slash imports. 25-30 vendors account for 80% of this exposure.” We can now hedge exposure on behalf of vendors like Suzuki Power train, Motherson Sumi, Subros, Denso and others. You will see the benefits of this mechanism in 2012-13” said by Ajay Seth, CFO, Maruti Suzuki.
PEs PLAN TO EXIT LARGE TOWNSHIP PROJECTS: READY TO CHECK OUT
EXECUTION AND APPROVAL delays of integrated townships projects may make PEs exit their investments. PEs FOCUSING on shorter duration real estate projects which can be executed in 4-5 years. PRIVATE EQUITY FUNDS have invested $1.5 billion in township projects since 2006. AVERAGE DEAL SIZE has come down from $50-70 million to $5 million. COST OVERRUN affecting investor’s margins & IRP. $2.5-3 b PE investments that are expected to exit from the Indian real estate sector in 2012.
US MULLS FOREIGN LISTING OF ITS LIQUOR ASSETS: PLANS TO CONSOLIDATE FOREIGN LIQUOR ASSETS UNDER WHYTE & MACKAY TO GET IT LISTED
Vijay Malaya promoted UB group will consolidate its foreign liquor assets under Whyte & Mackay and list the Scottish subsidiary as part of a strategy to overcome the financial crisis caused by its floundering airlines business. The group whose cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines is facing problems making payments to banks & employees, is talking to global investment banks to offer the official mandate for the planned restructuring and listing.
“WE ARE EVERYTHING FROM FINANCIER TO HEADHUNTER TO PSYCHOLOGIST”: WARBURG PINCUS’ CHARLES KAYE & JOSEPH LANDY ARE LONG BELIEVERS IN THE INDIA GROWTH STORY AND THINK PRIVATE EQUITY IS A LONG-TERM PLAY IN THE COUNTRY.
COMPLY OR FACE BLACKOUT: COURT TO GOOGLE, FACEBOOK: Facebook, YouTube, Blogspot and Orkut have come under firefor “obscene” images of gods being uploaded on them. The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to quash a criminal complaint against them.
“WE HAVE ARTICULATED STRATEGY OF BUILDING TOMORROW’S ENTERPRISE”
Infosys CEO SD Shibulai said “his company’s profit margins are not coming at the expense of growth & defends the strategy to be protective about profit, Experts from the interview. I think we need to de-link game-changing and acquisition. We have changed the game many times in the past and we will continue to change. Acquisition, we will try and do. If it comes together, then great”
RBI SETS PAY GUIDELINES FOR EXECUTIVES IN PRIVATE BANKS
UNDER SCANNER: The guidelines are based on the recommendations of International Financial Stability Board. It has provisions to claw back pay if transactions fall years after origination. Norms include capping variable component of the compensation at 70% of the fixed pay in the year.
AUTO EXPO ENDS, NEXT EDITION TO SHIFT OUT OF PRAGATI MAIDAN
The New Delhi automobile fair pulled out of initial chaos to end on a high note on 11th Jan, averaging about lakh visitors a day as motor enthusiast shrugged off complaints of mismanagement for a glimpse of greener vehicles. “There has been quite a success with this edition of the auto expo”.
By Apoorva Mahajan (NLC) (PGPM 1ST Year)
GIZMOS & COOL GADGETS SECTION
By Parushi Thukral (PGPM 1st Year)
6. ECONOMY
MOODY’S RAISES INDIA TO INVESTMENT GRADE
Moody’s upgraded India’s short-term foreign currency rating from speculative to investment grade, a development which will help domestic companies to raise funds from overseas markets at better rates. Moody had upgraded short term government bonds denominated in domestic currency .Moody had upgraded rating on long-term government bond denominated in domestic currency from speculative to investment grade. Besides, the long-term country ceiling on the foreign currency bank deposit was also upgraded .Giving rationale for the upgrade in December, Moody’s had at that side said, and “Diverse sources of Indian growth have enhanced its resilience to global shocks”. It had added the present slowdown “could reverse sometime in 2012-13, as inflation cools from current 9% levels”. The finance ministry had approached the ratings agency seeking clarification regarding the ‘short-term country ceiling on foreign currency bank deposit’, which had not found mention in the earlier decision by Moody’s. According to the ministry, the ratings firm has sent it a mail affirming an upgrade in that front as well. “The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) will continue to engage rating agencies on regular basis to impress upon them the long-term structural strengths and sound fundamentals of the Indian economy. Presently, six sovereign ratings agencies -- Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, DBRS, Fitch, Japanese Credit Rating Agency and the Rating and Investment Information Inc - assigns ratings to India
INDIRECT TAXES ON TARGET
INTEREST RATES FOR INDUSTRY SHOULD BE LOWERED The monetary policy review by RBI, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today made out a strong case for lowering of interest rates in the wake of industrial slowdown. "We are of considerate view that interest rates for investment for industry should be lowered. We have taken up with the Finance Minister who is receptive and positive particularly for small and medium enterprises," Sharma told reporters on the sidelines of SAARC Business Summit organized by FICCI here. He expressed the hope that the central bank would "take a considerate view" as the economy needs infusion of funds and more investment keeping inflation under control. The central bank had hiked interest rates by 375 basis points between March, 2010 and October, 2011 to deal with the persistently high inflation, including rising prices of food items.
SLOWING INDIA DRAGS SOUTH ASIA GROWTH DOWN IN 2011 South Asia's economic growth is seen to have lumped in 2011, dragged down by a slowing India, according to United Nations World Economic Situations and Prospects 2012 report. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in South Asia is estimated to have slowed to 6.5% last year from 7.2% in 2010, with India having decelerated sharply to 7.6% from 9% expansion. A combination of domestic and external factors has reined in the world's second-fastest growing economy, which constitutes almost 80% of South Asia's GDP. India's economy is mainly driven by domestic demand; its dependence on volatile capital inflows makes it more vulnerable to any double-dip recession in Europe and the US than other South Asian economies, the report pointed out. This, along with the lack of fiscal and monetary space, increases the downside risks for Indian economic growth.
WIPRO IS GETTING BACK ON TRACK Wipro Ltd's shares have risen by 3.1% at a time when the CNX IT index on the National Stock Ex- change has fallen by 5.6%.While the company's results weren't extraordinary, investors are enthused that the company is on the recovery path. Revenue grew by 4.5% in constant currency terms, higher than the higher end of its guidance range (1.9-3.9%).This is for the second quarter in succession that the company has beaten the higher end of its guidance range. What's more, its growth rates are be- ginning to align with those of its peers. Revenue growth was aided to a large extent by an improvement in pricing (thanks to increased efficiency and productivity in fixed price con- tracts). Volume growth, at 1.8%, was lower than the 3.1-3.2% growth reported by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Lt.
BUDGET SHOULD AIM FOR 8% GROWTH
The budget should aim at raising the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate to 8% in 2012-13 from the expected 7% in the current fiscal, according to Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
BIGGEST SINGLE DAY GAIN IN 7.5 YEARS FOR MARUTI |
Shares of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's biggest car maker, posted their highest single day gain in seven-and-a-half years on Tuesday, boosted by multiple factors including an in- crease in the price of its automobiles and the company's decision to take care of its vendors' foreign exchange exposure through forward cover. The stock gained 10.48% to close at `1,109 even as BSE's benchmark equity index, the Sensex, rose 1.71% to close at 16,466.05 points. Leading brokerages have up- graded Maruti stock in recent days. Ten out of 16 analysts tracking the firm have upgraded their ratings in the past one week. The shares were also driven up by a report in The Economic Times on Tuesday on Maruti securing Reserve Bank of India approval to take foreign exchange cover for its vendors. The move, reported by Mint on 26 August 2011, will protect it from sharp swings in the currency market. The rupee depreciated about 17% against the dollar last year. Maruti's direct imports as a percentage of net sales are 13% and indirect imports (on account of vendors) stand at 14%. It plans to hedge half the exposure on in- direct imports. Half of Maruti's foreign currency exposure is yen-denominated. It has expo- sure to the yen on account of direct imports of parts and raw materials from Japan, royalty paid to Suzuki Motor Corp. and imports by its vendors.
EU CRISIS: EUROZONE FACES TOUGH DEBT HURDLES EARLY IN 2012
17 countries that use the euro will be quickly confronted in the New Year with major hurdles to solving their government debt crisis, just as the euro zone economy is expected to sink back into recession. With government finances under pressure as growth wanes, the euro zone will find it even more difficult to shore up shaky banks and reduce the high borrowing costs that threaten Italy and Spain with financial ruin. If the auctions go well and borrowing costs ease, the crisis will ease, lending support for the EU strategy of getting governments to embark on often-savage austerity measures to reduce deficits, along with massive support for the banking system from the European Central Bank. High rates, on the other hand, would feed fears of a government debt default that could cripple banks, sink the economy and, in the extreme case, destroy the 17-member currency union.
By Deepam Bhardwaj (NLC) (PGPM 1st Year)
7. REFERENCES
EDITORIAL TEAM (NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE)
APOORVA MAHAJAN
PREETI BHATIA
DEEPAM BHARDWAJ
CONTRIBUTORS
SHRESHTH UPPAL (MCC)
PARUSHI THUKRAL
NISHTHA WADHWA
DHRUV KAICKER
For any type of assistance or feedback please write at apoorva.mahajan11@isbf.edu.in . Your suggestions & Articles are invited for the February 2012 issue.
