Dubai's debt crisis may not sow lasting global contagion, but it may colour a 2010 investment landscape where asset managers will likely
differentiate more between risks rather than embracing them indiscriminately. The global market sell-off after last Wednesday's Dubai bombshell on delaying debt payments from its state-owned conglomerates lasted only two days. World stocks have bounced back 2.5 percent this week. For all the ripples this aftershock of the credit crisis will create, the direct material impact of any debt rescheduling on international banks or governments outside the region pales in comparison to an event like last year's bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, for example. Of the $26 billion affected by the rescheduling, analysts reckon no more than 50 percent is held by global banks, and individual lenders can absorb that sort of hit. Credit ratings firm Moody's said on Tuesday it saw no reason to alter international bank ratings due to developments. But while there's little rationale for direct contagion, the implications may seep through market psychology for many months to come. The event was a reminder of the excessive leverage the world is still trying to shed and triggered what many investors, including giant US bond fund Pimco, saw as a much-needed correction to 2009's surge in risky assets and emerging markets. While many may see this as a good opportunity to re-enter the market, they will likely be more choosy on their return. "Fundamentals will become more apparent again. It's the theme that will carry on in 2010. It's going to become much more discerning. We do appreciate next year will be turbulent for investors," said Rekha Sharma, global strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management. CAVEAT EMPTOR Growth-sensitive emerging market assets were the main beneficiaries this year of the wholesale shift out of low-risk, low-yielding money market instruments that took place since March of this year. But the liquidity and growth landscape is set to change next year as Western central banks seek to time their exits from super-cheap money policies flooding the world and as many emerging economies attempt to frustrate speculative flows with a variety of controls, taxes and state intervention. As a result, country-specific risks are rising in the face of recent capital curbs by the likes of Brazil and Taiwan. Reflecting these rising idiosyncratic risks, for example, Brazil has moved to the top of Swiss bank UBS's growth surprise rankings followed by China, Korea and Poland.
Showing posts with label Radha Sharma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Radha Sharma. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
The importance of asset allocation
Having an asset allocation plan is crucial to achieve your financial goals. In the long-term, it is the discipline with which you stick to your
asset allocation plan that will decide your returns. “The difference in returns between the best large-cap mutual fund and a fund that is ranked No.10 is too small to really bother me,” says Jaideep Hansraj, executive vice-president of Kotak Mahindra Bank. What makes the difference is the tendency among investors to be driven by greed and fear, and change the share of assets in their portfolio. So it may happen that an investor who wants to predominantly be in equity may end up with 80% of his investment in debt when the Sensex fell to 8500, and a conservative investor may end up holding 90% equity investments as a result of markets pushing up the value of his equity holdings. This indiscipline, may lead to returns dwindling in the long term, and reducing the ability of your portfolio meeting your financial goals. If you can’t approach a financial planner to determine your asset allocation for whatever reason, there are some mutual funds with a readymade solution. (See table.) The offerings from Templeton, Birla Sunlife and ICICI Prudential mutual fund help you invest as per a predetermined asset allocation. If you know your risk appetite, you can consider options from Birla Sunlife Asset Allocation funds or ICICI Prudential Advisor series funds.
asset allocation plan that will decide your returns. “The difference in returns between the best large-cap mutual fund and a fund that is ranked No.10 is too small to really bother me,” says Jaideep Hansraj, executive vice-president of Kotak Mahindra Bank. What makes the difference is the tendency among investors to be driven by greed and fear, and change the share of assets in their portfolio. So it may happen that an investor who wants to predominantly be in equity may end up with 80% of his investment in debt when the Sensex fell to 8500, and a conservative investor may end up holding 90% equity investments as a result of markets pushing up the value of his equity holdings. This indiscipline, may lead to returns dwindling in the long term, and reducing the ability of your portfolio meeting your financial goals. If you can’t approach a financial planner to determine your asset allocation for whatever reason, there are some mutual funds with a readymade solution. (See table.) The offerings from Templeton, Birla Sunlife and ICICI Prudential mutual fund help you invest as per a predetermined asset allocation. If you know your risk appetite, you can consider options from Birla Sunlife Asset Allocation funds or ICICI Prudential Advisor series funds.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Forget net banking, you can m-bank on the go
Ineternet banking has made lives enormously simpler for those who have access to the world wide web. But in terms of penetration, net banking is yet
to achieve the kind of usage that is witnessed by ATMs. The fact that it necessitates a computer means that it is not accessible to a large chunk of bank customers. This is the gap expected to be bridged by mobile banking — the latest channel opened up to bank customers. “Post RBI’s regulations on mobile banking issued in September last year, several banks had started working on launching their mobile banking services, and the hectic activity seen in this space in the last few days is the result of the culmination of these efforts,” says Ajay Adiseshann, managing director of PayMate, an m-commerce facilitator. Though services such as balance check, transaction enquiry and alerts were available with most banks even earlier, this has gained momentum now, as rolling out of full-fledged m-banking facilities is in full swing. Most banks allow their customers to avail of mobile banking even if they have not registered for Internet banking services. Banking on the move As per RBI guidelines, an individual can transfer funds — to another account with the same bank or other banks — through his/her mobile, subject to a cap of Rs 5,000 per day. For paying your bills/making purchases through your m-banking account, this limit would stand enhanced to Rs 10,000 per day. Furthermore, banks are allowed to set monthly limits for their customers. For instance, State Bank of India has placed a ceiling of Rs 30,000 in a month for these transactions. Within these restrictions, you can carry out almost all the transactions that you can do through net banking, including transferring funds, paying credit card and other utility bills, ordering cheque books and demand drafts and issuing stop payment instructions from your cell phone. In addition, you can recharge your mobile, pay life insurance premium, shop for products as well as services and buy movie, airline and train tickets through this channel. Getting started To avail of these services, you need to download the mobile banking application from your bank’s website on to your cell phone, and get registered for this facility. Generally, any Java-enabled cell phone model (cost starting at Rs 3,000) would be able to support this application. You would require a GPRS mobile Internet connection (which your cellular operator will make available on request) to transact through this channel. This facility is meant to be operator-agnostic, meaning, that it should be available across cellular operators. However, you would do well to check the list of telecom service providers through whom your bank is offering this service currently. Some banks also offer m-banking on the sms platform
to achieve the kind of usage that is witnessed by ATMs. The fact that it necessitates a computer means that it is not accessible to a large chunk of bank customers. This is the gap expected to be bridged by mobile banking — the latest channel opened up to bank customers. “Post RBI’s regulations on mobile banking issued in September last year, several banks had started working on launching their mobile banking services, and the hectic activity seen in this space in the last few days is the result of the culmination of these efforts,” says Ajay Adiseshann, managing director of PayMate, an m-commerce facilitator. Though services such as balance check, transaction enquiry and alerts were available with most banks even earlier, this has gained momentum now, as rolling out of full-fledged m-banking facilities is in full swing. Most banks allow their customers to avail of mobile banking even if they have not registered for Internet banking services. Banking on the move As per RBI guidelines, an individual can transfer funds — to another account with the same bank or other banks — through his/her mobile, subject to a cap of Rs 5,000 per day. For paying your bills/making purchases through your m-banking account, this limit would stand enhanced to Rs 10,000 per day. Furthermore, banks are allowed to set monthly limits for their customers. For instance, State Bank of India has placed a ceiling of Rs 30,000 in a month for these transactions. Within these restrictions, you can carry out almost all the transactions that you can do through net banking, including transferring funds, paying credit card and other utility bills, ordering cheque books and demand drafts and issuing stop payment instructions from your cell phone. In addition, you can recharge your mobile, pay life insurance premium, shop for products as well as services and buy movie, airline and train tickets through this channel. Getting started To avail of these services, you need to download the mobile banking application from your bank’s website on to your cell phone, and get registered for this facility. Generally, any Java-enabled cell phone model (cost starting at Rs 3,000) would be able to support this application. You would require a GPRS mobile Internet connection (which your cellular operator will make available on request) to transact through this channel. This facility is meant to be operator-agnostic, meaning, that it should be available across cellular operators. However, you would do well to check the list of telecom service providers through whom your bank is offering this service currently. Some banks also offer m-banking on the sms platform
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Anil Ambani tops Pay Chart ; Mukesh biggest dividend earner
It's Ambanis all the way in the Indian corporate world in terms of pay package or dividend earnings.
With a package of over Rs 52 crore in 2008-09, younger brother Anil has topped the list of executives in terms of compensation, while elder Mukesh has emerged as the country's highest dividend earner at Rs 930 crore, as per rankings compiled by Business India magazine.
In the top-five of compensation chart, Anil is followed by Kalanithi Maran and Kaveri Maran of Sun TV with packages of Rs 37.08 crore each, Madras Cements' P R R Rajha (Rs 28.7 crore) and Jindal Steel & Power's Naveen Jindal (Rs 28.27 crore), the magazine said in a statement today.
It is the first time that Mukesh does not figure among top-10 executives in terms of compensation package ever since the magazine started compiling the annual list in 2002.
Mukesh has been ranked at 19th position with a package of Rs 15 crore, owing to his voluntary salary cut of 66 per cent announced a few weeks ago. The magazine noted that Anil has topped the chart "thanks to the Rs 52 crore he collected in 2008-09 as commissions for the previous year."
Business India said that the salary figures could appear huge, but "they are almost pocket change compared to what some of these owner-executives could potential earn and to what they pocket as (tax-free) dividends."
In terms of dividend payouts, second-ranked Azim Premji got Rs 465 crore, which is nearly half the amount for Mukesh, the magazine noted.
HCL's Shiv Nadar is ranked third (Rs 320 crore), followed by Anil Ambani (Rs 256 crore), Kumar Birla (Rs 202 crore), Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghabi (Rs 181 crore), Sun TV's Kalanithi Maran (Rs 76 crore) and Cipla's Y K Hamied (Rs 61 crore) in the dividend chart.
The magazine said that last year's financial crisis hit senior executives as many companies went into austerity drives and cut the annual compensation of many of their executives.
"But many leading executives like Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge, Onkar Kanwar of Apollo TAyres, Sajjan Jindal of JSW and not to mention Mukesh Ambani took voluntary pay cuts in either salary or commissions and performance bonuses," it added.
For the first time since liberalisation, the salary hikes were in single digits and performance bonuses were also smaller and various studies pointed out at top leaders being the worst affected by the meltdown, the publication noted.
"The slowdown has in fact resulted in a change being introduced in the salaries at the managerial levels ... But executive compensation in India is always a thorny issue, with many companies having the C-level positions occupied by owner- managers," it added.
The magazine said that 64 of the 100 top paid executives are either the controlling shareholders of members of the family that started the companies.
With a package of over Rs 52 crore in 2008-09, younger brother Anil has topped the list of executives in terms of compensation, while elder Mukesh has emerged as the country's highest dividend earner at Rs 930 crore, as per rankings compiled by Business India magazine.
In the top-five of compensation chart, Anil is followed by Kalanithi Maran and Kaveri Maran of Sun TV with packages of Rs 37.08 crore each, Madras Cements' P R R Rajha (Rs 28.7 crore) and Jindal Steel & Power's Naveen Jindal (Rs 28.27 crore), the magazine said in a statement today.
It is the first time that Mukesh does not figure among top-10 executives in terms of compensation package ever since the magazine started compiling the annual list in 2002.
Mukesh has been ranked at 19th position with a package of Rs 15 crore, owing to his voluntary salary cut of 66 per cent announced a few weeks ago. The magazine noted that Anil has topped the chart "thanks to the Rs 52 crore he collected in 2008-09 as commissions for the previous year."
Business India said that the salary figures could appear huge, but "they are almost pocket change compared to what some of these owner-executives could potential earn and to what they pocket as (tax-free) dividends."
In terms of dividend payouts, second-ranked Azim Premji got Rs 465 crore, which is nearly half the amount for Mukesh, the magazine noted.
HCL's Shiv Nadar is ranked third (Rs 320 crore), followed by Anil Ambani (Rs 256 crore), Kumar Birla (Rs 202 crore), Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghabi (Rs 181 crore), Sun TV's Kalanithi Maran (Rs 76 crore) and Cipla's Y K Hamied (Rs 61 crore) in the dividend chart.
The magazine said that last year's financial crisis hit senior executives as many companies went into austerity drives and cut the annual compensation of many of their executives.
"But many leading executives like Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge, Onkar Kanwar of Apollo TAyres, Sajjan Jindal of JSW and not to mention Mukesh Ambani took voluntary pay cuts in either salary or commissions and performance bonuses," it added.
For the first time since liberalisation, the salary hikes were in single digits and performance bonuses were also smaller and various studies pointed out at top leaders being the worst affected by the meltdown, the publication noted.
"The slowdown has in fact resulted in a change being introduced in the salaries at the managerial levels ... But executive compensation in India is always a thorny issue, with many companies having the C-level positions occupied by owner- managers," it added.
The magazine said that 64 of the 100 top paid executives are either the controlling shareholders of members of the family that started the companies.
Indian rupee opens higher as dlr falls overseas
The Indian rupee rose on Wednesday morning, supported by a weaker dollar overseas and traders said they would await the opening of local
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At 9:01 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 48.28/29 per dollar, stronger than Tuesday's close of 46.37/38. The dollar fell to its lowest in seven weeks versus the yen on Wednesday. The dollar index against six major currencies was down about 0.1 percent.
India's benchmark BSE share index shed 0.3 percent on Tuesday, but is up more than three-quarters this year on foreign portfolio buying of about $15.3 billion. The inflow has helped the rupee recover from a record low of 52.2 per dollar in early March.
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At 9:01 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 48.28/29 per dollar, stronger than Tuesday's close of 46.37/38. The dollar fell to its lowest in seven weeks versus the yen on Wednesday. The dollar index against six major currencies was down about 0.1 percent.
India's benchmark BSE share index shed 0.3 percent on Tuesday, but is up more than three-quarters this year on foreign portfolio buying of about $15.3 billion. The inflow has helped the rupee recover from a record low of 52.2 per dollar in early March.
Monday, November 23, 2009
ICICI Prudential Emerging Star demands patience
Emerging markets give rise to emerging companies and this gives fresh investment ideas to mutual funds that are always on the lookout for the next More Pictures
big multibagger. ICICI Prudential Emerging Star was launched with a similar intention in late 2004 and its investment strategy was to build up a portfolio of mid and small cap stocks which it believed had the potential to turn out to be future stars.
The idea was simple, catch them young when they are available at low valuations and then let them evolve into industry leaders. But has the strategy really paid off? Here is the reality check.
PERFORMANCE: After an impressive performance in the first year and a half, it turned into an average show in the following years and then the market meltdown led to a sharp fall in the value of most of the stocks in its portfolio. The year 2008 saw the fund's net asset value tumble by nearly 69% against the 64% drop in its benchmark CNX Nifty Junior.
While the returns were negative, its assets under management (AUM) also began to shrink at a rapid pace. Thanks to the diminishing valuations in the mid and small cap space, the fund was left with just a little over Rs 250 crore of assets by the end of 2008 as against over Rs 1,000 crore in 2007. The fund currently manages about Rs 400 crore.
But the scheme has made a noteworthy comeback this year. Since January, the fund has provided 88% returns to its shareholders outsmarting the Sensex and the Nifty that yielded returns of about 77% and 71% respectively. It however continues to trail the CNX Nifty Junior, that returned 120% during this period.
PORTFOLIO: An extremely high beta fund, Emerging Star clearly has an inclination for extensive diversification. It holds an average of 50 stocks in its portfolio at any point of time. An interesting feature about the fund's investment strategy, however, is its ability to hook on to its selections for a fairly long time.
Most of the stocks that the fund currently holds have been in its portfolio for over a year now and in some cases for over two years. It was probably for this very reason that the fund failed to perform in 2008, committed as it was to holding on to its investments irrespective of market conditions. Sharply criticised then, it is however this commitment and patience that has started to pay off - as reflected by its returns this year - though it is still to beat its benchmark!
Some of the stocks that it has been holding for over a year now include Lupin, TRF, Bajaj Auto, Marico and Kalpataru Power Transmission and most of these have doubled in price since the fund invested in them first. On the other hand some of its fairly long-term investments like United Phosphorus and Phillips Carbon Black are yet to deliver decent returns. At the same time, the fund has also missed out on some of the high growth investments like Axis bank and PNB, which it exited in Feb '09 and May '09 respectively after having acquired them in 2008. It is also surprising to see the fund invest in stocks like Shree Cement in Sep '09 after it had seen a good run up this year.
As far as the sectoral composition is concerned, while industrial manufacturing and financial services currently dominate the portfolio, the fund has also begun to build up on automobiles. The auto sector is fast gaining the interest of many fund mangers across the industry. Having said that, however, the absence of Hero Honda from the fund's portfolio is equally surprising.
OUR VIEW: One needs to have a lot of patience to earn money from this fund. While it can generate good returns in a bull run, be prepared to get hit when the markets move in reverse gear. While the fund has shown a marked improvement in its performance this year, there is still scope for lot more. Those ready to take on some risk and a willing endurance to stay put for long should consider investment in this fund.
big multibagger. ICICI Prudential Emerging Star was launched with a similar intention in late 2004 and its investment strategy was to build up a portfolio of mid and small cap stocks which it believed had the potential to turn out to be future stars.
The idea was simple, catch them young when they are available at low valuations and then let them evolve into industry leaders. But has the strategy really paid off? Here is the reality check.
PERFORMANCE: After an impressive performance in the first year and a half, it turned into an average show in the following years and then the market meltdown led to a sharp fall in the value of most of the stocks in its portfolio. The year 2008 saw the fund's net asset value tumble by nearly 69% against the 64% drop in its benchmark CNX Nifty Junior.
While the returns were negative, its assets under management (AUM) also began to shrink at a rapid pace. Thanks to the diminishing valuations in the mid and small cap space, the fund was left with just a little over Rs 250 crore of assets by the end of 2008 as against over Rs 1,000 crore in 2007. The fund currently manages about Rs 400 crore.
But the scheme has made a noteworthy comeback this year. Since January, the fund has provided 88% returns to its shareholders outsmarting the Sensex and the Nifty that yielded returns of about 77% and 71% respectively. It however continues to trail the CNX Nifty Junior, that returned 120% during this period.
PORTFOLIO: An extremely high beta fund, Emerging Star clearly has an inclination for extensive diversification. It holds an average of 50 stocks in its portfolio at any point of time. An interesting feature about the fund's investment strategy, however, is its ability to hook on to its selections for a fairly long time.
Most of the stocks that the fund currently holds have been in its portfolio for over a year now and in some cases for over two years. It was probably for this very reason that the fund failed to perform in 2008, committed as it was to holding on to its investments irrespective of market conditions. Sharply criticised then, it is however this commitment and patience that has started to pay off - as reflected by its returns this year - though it is still to beat its benchmark!
Some of the stocks that it has been holding for over a year now include Lupin, TRF, Bajaj Auto, Marico and Kalpataru Power Transmission and most of these have doubled in price since the fund invested in them first. On the other hand some of its fairly long-term investments like United Phosphorus and Phillips Carbon Black are yet to deliver decent returns. At the same time, the fund has also missed out on some of the high growth investments like Axis bank and PNB, which it exited in Feb '09 and May '09 respectively after having acquired them in 2008. It is also surprising to see the fund invest in stocks like Shree Cement in Sep '09 after it had seen a good run up this year.
As far as the sectoral composition is concerned, while industrial manufacturing and financial services currently dominate the portfolio, the fund has also begun to build up on automobiles. The auto sector is fast gaining the interest of many fund mangers across the industry. Having said that, however, the absence of Hero Honda from the fund's portfolio is equally surprising.
OUR VIEW: One needs to have a lot of patience to earn money from this fund. While it can generate good returns in a bull run, be prepared to get hit when the markets move in reverse gear. While the fund has shown a marked improvement in its performance this year, there is still scope for lot more. Those ready to take on some risk and a willing endurance to stay put for long should consider investment in this fund.
New Divestment Policy: Centre to lease 6 PSUs to private Cos for 99 years
The government plans to offer six loss-making public sector units on long-term lease to private players for periods up to 99 years, as it Top 10 challenges for India
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looks to bypass the divestment norms that make these firms unattractive for buyers.
The companies that may be offered on lease are HMT, Hindustan Fertiliser, Scooters India, Hindustan Cables, Triveni Structurals and NEPA, said a senior government official. The government will appoint consultants soon for valuation of these firms, he said on condition of anonymity.
The proposal to lease out loss-making PSUs, instead of rehabilitating or selling them, will form part of the government’s divestment policy under which it has already firmed up a plan for profit-making firms. Under the existing norms, the government is required to hold at least 51% stake in companies run by it.
“Some of these companies are not functional. They have assets like machinery and land bank. We’ve proposed that such firms should be transferred to private players under lease, rehabilitate and operate model,” said an official with Planning Commission, the country’s largest advisory body.
Earlier this year, the department of public enterprises had compiled a list of 59 public sector firms and sought opinion of various ministries on their divestment schedule.
The government has now asked the administrative ministries of these companies to start the process of appointing consultants, so that the assets of these companies can be valued.
“In case of some units, they were given land on lease by respective state governments, issues such as this also needs to be resolved,” said an official with the ministry of heavy industries.
According to Ravi Kumar, ex-chairman of capital goods maker Bhel, the proposal to give sick PSUs on lease may work out and will benefit the private sector players. “We have played a major role in the revival of HEC, Ranchi. Some of these PSUs have great assets in terms of strategic location and land bank, which can be advantageous for bidders,” he said.
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looks to bypass the divestment norms that make these firms unattractive for buyers.
The companies that may be offered on lease are HMT, Hindustan Fertiliser, Scooters India, Hindustan Cables, Triveni Structurals and NEPA, said a senior government official. The government will appoint consultants soon for valuation of these firms, he said on condition of anonymity.
The proposal to lease out loss-making PSUs, instead of rehabilitating or selling them, will form part of the government’s divestment policy under which it has already firmed up a plan for profit-making firms. Under the existing norms, the government is required to hold at least 51% stake in companies run by it.
“Some of these companies are not functional. They have assets like machinery and land bank. We’ve proposed that such firms should be transferred to private players under lease, rehabilitate and operate model,” said an official with Planning Commission, the country’s largest advisory body.
Earlier this year, the department of public enterprises had compiled a list of 59 public sector firms and sought opinion of various ministries on their divestment schedule.
The government has now asked the administrative ministries of these companies to start the process of appointing consultants, so that the assets of these companies can be valued.
“In case of some units, they were given land on lease by respective state governments, issues such as this also needs to be resolved,” said an official with the ministry of heavy industries.
According to Ravi Kumar, ex-chairman of capital goods maker Bhel, the proposal to give sick PSUs on lease may work out and will benefit the private sector players. “We have played a major role in the revival of HEC, Ranchi. Some of these PSUs have great assets in terms of strategic location and land bank, which can be advantageous for bidders,” he said.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Govt to inject Rs 400-crore equity into Nacil by Jan
State run National Aviation Company of India (Nacil), which runs Air India and Indian Airlines, on Tuesday said that it would receive the
first installment of equity infusion by the government worth Rs 400 crore by January.
Based on a review of the company’s cost-cutting measures, the group of ministers on civil aviation, led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has recommended the equity infusion.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel announced last week that the government would infuse Rs 800 crore into the carrier that suffered a loss of Rs 5,548 crore in 2008-09.
“Further instalments would be tied up to the milestones of savings effected on account of cost-cutting exercise at various levels,” said the company.
Simultaneously, the airline has been taking measures to enhance revenue and reduce costs. Last month, Mr Patel said Air India planned to cut costs by Rs 3,000 crore and increase revenue by
Rs 2,000 crore over a period of time.
“We are simultaneously taking effective measures to enhance revenues to the extent feasible in today’s market environment. We will also aggressively rationalise its fleet size and network, besides pruning non-core activities in the coming months,” said Nacil.
The airline said that it was trying to resolve the issues concerning the delayed payments of the productivity-linked incentives (PLI) to its employees. It is also putting in place a plan to clear arrears to vendors after posting higher sales since August.
Domestic market share has increased from 16.6% in August to 18.6% in October 2009. Also, it has reported better bookings for December, January and February.
The domestic aviation industry, which suffered a combined loss of $2 billion last year, is on the road to recovery.
first installment of equity infusion by the government worth Rs 400 crore by January.
Based on a review of the company’s cost-cutting measures, the group of ministers on civil aviation, led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has recommended the equity infusion.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel announced last week that the government would infuse Rs 800 crore into the carrier that suffered a loss of Rs 5,548 crore in 2008-09.
“Further instalments would be tied up to the milestones of savings effected on account of cost-cutting exercise at various levels,” said the company.
Simultaneously, the airline has been taking measures to enhance revenue and reduce costs. Last month, Mr Patel said Air India planned to cut costs by Rs 3,000 crore and increase revenue by
Rs 2,000 crore over a period of time.
“We are simultaneously taking effective measures to enhance revenues to the extent feasible in today’s market environment. We will also aggressively rationalise its fleet size and network, besides pruning non-core activities in the coming months,” said Nacil.
The airline said that it was trying to resolve the issues concerning the delayed payments of the productivity-linked incentives (PLI) to its employees. It is also putting in place a plan to clear arrears to vendors after posting higher sales since August.
Domestic market share has increased from 16.6% in August to 18.6% in October 2009. Also, it has reported better bookings for December, January and February.
The domestic aviation industry, which suffered a combined loss of $2 billion last year, is on the road to recovery.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Bad bosses good for economy
For someone who built his reputation lampooning corner rooms and their occupants, Scott Adams has had a change of heart. The creator of 7 types of recession-era employees
Dealing with office politics
Possible cuts in salary slip
What not to say at job interview!
Dilbert, the cartoon strip that adds a comic element to 2,000 solemn newspapers across 70 countries, including ET, has discovered merit in evil bosses. Call it the effect of recession, but Adams is convinced that difficult bosses can be good, as they help spawn entrepreneurs.
“The worse bosses are, the better it is for the economy. In the old days people were born entrepreneurs, but today people are forced into entrepreneurship whether they like it or not,” he told ET in an interview.
His comments may pertain to the US and how the worst economic situation since the Great Depression has affected that country, but California resident Adams could well be looking at India and Indians from the same entrepreneurial prism going forward.
And future Dilbert strips could see India and Indians depicted differently. Adams says that Indians have moved far ahead of the image of the smart, yet inexperienced office intern Asok, who is one of Dilbert’s colleagues.
An IITan by qualification, Asok has been bestowed with psychic powers but continues to work for someone. But this might change soon. “He’s the most confident person with the least power. Maybe, I’ll have him strike out and be an entrepreneur some day.”
Adams, 52, started his career in 1979 with Crocker National Bank (later acquired by Wells Fargo) and then at Pacific Bell where he began working on his cartoon strip.
For the past 20 years Adams’ cartoons have ridiculed corporate workplaces and the ‘Cubicle life’ and everything around it, from management fads to consultants to evil bosses. But he says the central character of Dilbert borrows a bit from his own personality.
“I certainly have shared some of his traits. I’m socially awkward and had trouble getting dates when I was his age, and a bit nerdy, so there’s a lot of me in him. But I am more of Dogbert, the side of me that has a running conversation in my head saying inappropriate things. I use Dogbert as the character who says out loud the things I’m thinking.”
But if there’s one thing that makes Adams uniquely qualified to talk about entrepreneurship is his shot at running real businesses. First there was Scott Adams Foods, which developed the Dilberito, a vegetarian burrito that was sold online and through convenience stores in the US until four years ago when Adams sold it off.
The restaurant business was next. Adams partnered with restaurater Stacey Belkins to open two Stacey’s Cafe outlets in his home town. One of them had to be closed down, and the employees were asked to go.
Adams says he was shocked to find some of them stealing equipment, even as he was doling out severance pay cheques. “I had dipped into my pockets to give them a nice severance. So, as I was telling people and there were tears and people hugging, some of them slipped into the back and cleaned out the electronics from the storage room. They were actually robbing me.”
Could that explain his charitable view of bad bosses?
“Trouble is that in order to be a good boss you got to be kind of a jerk, you got to be selfish and be willing to hurt other people to advance your own cause. I’m not like that. People try and take advantage of me pretty easily,” says Adams, who has for years entertained millions every morning with his wit on employer-employee relationships. Asked about the impact of the US recession on Dilbert, Adams has his own, and distinctive, take.
“There are two things going on in the US right now. If you don’t have a job, and that’s a lot of people, then things are pretty bad obviously. But those people who have kept their jobs, what they’re finding is that the price of stuff is lower. When you order something that used to take a lot of weeks to be built and get shipped to you, you’re getting it in a month.. In a weird way, there are a lot of people who are moving into houses they couldn’t have afforded before the crash.”
From a Dilbert point of view, the US recession has done some good. “There’s a period when everything is great and it’s an employees market and they ask for more money or they’re going somewhere else. But right now we’re in a period where obviously you want to keep your employer happy because finding another job is going to be hard,” says Adams. And this new insight has a source. Adams, who is building a new ‘green’ home in Pleasanton, California, is seeing attitudes change first-hand.
“You’ve never seen such good cooperation from all the sub-contractors. Everybody shows to work because there isn’t that much work to have. It turned out to be the very best time to build a house because everybody’s so eager to work. It’s strange because usually the upside is not very obvious. I’m sure during the Great Depression there
probably wasn’t anybody who was better off.”
Dealing with office politics
Possible cuts in salary slip
What not to say at job interview!
Dilbert, the cartoon strip that adds a comic element to 2,000 solemn newspapers across 70 countries, including ET, has discovered merit in evil bosses. Call it the effect of recession, but Adams is convinced that difficult bosses can be good, as they help spawn entrepreneurs.
“The worse bosses are, the better it is for the economy. In the old days people were born entrepreneurs, but today people are forced into entrepreneurship whether they like it or not,” he told ET in an interview.
His comments may pertain to the US and how the worst economic situation since the Great Depression has affected that country, but California resident Adams could well be looking at India and Indians from the same entrepreneurial prism going forward.
And future Dilbert strips could see India and Indians depicted differently. Adams says that Indians have moved far ahead of the image of the smart, yet inexperienced office intern Asok, who is one of Dilbert’s colleagues.
An IITan by qualification, Asok has been bestowed with psychic powers but continues to work for someone. But this might change soon. “He’s the most confident person with the least power. Maybe, I’ll have him strike out and be an entrepreneur some day.”
Adams, 52, started his career in 1979 with Crocker National Bank (later acquired by Wells Fargo) and then at Pacific Bell where he began working on his cartoon strip.
For the past 20 years Adams’ cartoons have ridiculed corporate workplaces and the ‘Cubicle life’ and everything around it, from management fads to consultants to evil bosses. But he says the central character of Dilbert borrows a bit from his own personality.
“I certainly have shared some of his traits. I’m socially awkward and had trouble getting dates when I was his age, and a bit nerdy, so there’s a lot of me in him. But I am more of Dogbert, the side of me that has a running conversation in my head saying inappropriate things. I use Dogbert as the character who says out loud the things I’m thinking.”
But if there’s one thing that makes Adams uniquely qualified to talk about entrepreneurship is his shot at running real businesses. First there was Scott Adams Foods, which developed the Dilberito, a vegetarian burrito that was sold online and through convenience stores in the US until four years ago when Adams sold it off.
The restaurant business was next. Adams partnered with restaurater Stacey Belkins to open two Stacey’s Cafe outlets in his home town. One of them had to be closed down, and the employees were asked to go.
Adams says he was shocked to find some of them stealing equipment, even as he was doling out severance pay cheques. “I had dipped into my pockets to give them a nice severance. So, as I was telling people and there were tears and people hugging, some of them slipped into the back and cleaned out the electronics from the storage room. They were actually robbing me.”
Could that explain his charitable view of bad bosses?
“Trouble is that in order to be a good boss you got to be kind of a jerk, you got to be selfish and be willing to hurt other people to advance your own cause. I’m not like that. People try and take advantage of me pretty easily,” says Adams, who has for years entertained millions every morning with his wit on employer-employee relationships. Asked about the impact of the US recession on Dilbert, Adams has his own, and distinctive, take.
“There are two things going on in the US right now. If you don’t have a job, and that’s a lot of people, then things are pretty bad obviously. But those people who have kept their jobs, what they’re finding is that the price of stuff is lower. When you order something that used to take a lot of weeks to be built and get shipped to you, you’re getting it in a month.. In a weird way, there are a lot of people who are moving into houses they couldn’t have afforded before the crash.”
From a Dilbert point of view, the US recession has done some good. “There’s a period when everything is great and it’s an employees market and they ask for more money or they’re going somewhere else. But right now we’re in a period where obviously you want to keep your employer happy because finding another job is going to be hard,” says Adams. And this new insight has a source. Adams, who is building a new ‘green’ home in Pleasanton, California, is seeing attitudes change first-hand.
“You’ve never seen such good cooperation from all the sub-contractors. Everybody shows to work because there isn’t that much work to have. It turned out to be the very best time to build a house because everybody’s so eager to work. It’s strange because usually the upside is not very obvious. I’m sure during the Great Depression there
probably wasn’t anybody who was better off.”
Honda may roll out small car before 2011-12
Honda Motor’s small car is likely to hit the Indian market earlier than expected. The new car (code named 2CV) being developed especially Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe
Bentley Mulsanne
Cars with Class
World's fastest car Ultimate Aero
for India may be launched before 2011-12 to take on Toyota and break Suzuki’s stronghold on the Indian market.
Toyota plans to launch its small car next year, while Suzuki with its seven compact models dominates the Indian small car segment with over 60% market share. Honda doesn’t have a small car in its portfolio and has been looking at new models to gain market share in India.
The 2CV may come with a 1.1 litre petrol engine and could double Honda’s volumes in India, currently hovering around 52,000 cars per year. The car is expected to roll out from its stalled manufacturing plant in Rajasthan , where Honda plans to have targeted capacity of one lakh small cars per annum.
The company refused to confirm the developments on the new car and said that nothing has changed from its earlier stated position. “All plans of the new small car are going as per schedule,” the Honda spokeswomen said. An executive in the automotive component industry said that Honda’s small car project is on track and it may also have a diesel variant at a later stage to gain on the rising popularity of diesel cars in India.
The car will be pitted against the growing tribe of premium hatchback cars like the Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, General Motors Aveo UV-A, Tata Motors’ Indica, Fiat’s Punto, Ford Figo and Toyota’s yet to be launched small car. This is the fastest growing segment in the domestic market with over 2.5 lakh cars sold every year.
The new car will be much smaller than Honda Jazz, its other hatchback, but is expected to have an affordable price tag of Rs 4-4 .5 lakh for the petrol variant. It may share platform (common manufacturing line and spares) with the Jazz including the same iV-TEC engine technology, but will fit as a small entry-level A segment car.
The same car will also be made in Thailand where it is expected to be developed and sold under the Thai government’s Eco-Car project, which enjoys many tax concessions. However any such eco-variant is ruled out for the Indian market for the time being.
Bentley Mulsanne
Cars with Class
World's fastest car Ultimate Aero
for India may be launched before 2011-12 to take on Toyota and break Suzuki’s stronghold on the Indian market.
Toyota plans to launch its small car next year, while Suzuki with its seven compact models dominates the Indian small car segment with over 60% market share. Honda doesn’t have a small car in its portfolio and has been looking at new models to gain market share in India.
The 2CV may come with a 1.1 litre petrol engine and could double Honda’s volumes in India, currently hovering around 52,000 cars per year. The car is expected to roll out from its stalled manufacturing plant in Rajasthan , where Honda plans to have targeted capacity of one lakh small cars per annum.
The company refused to confirm the developments on the new car and said that nothing has changed from its earlier stated position. “All plans of the new small car are going as per schedule,” the Honda spokeswomen said. An executive in the automotive component industry said that Honda’s small car project is on track and it may also have a diesel variant at a later stage to gain on the rising popularity of diesel cars in India.
The car will be pitted against the growing tribe of premium hatchback cars like the Maruti Swift, Hyundai i10, General Motors Aveo UV-A, Tata Motors’ Indica, Fiat’s Punto, Ford Figo and Toyota’s yet to be launched small car. This is the fastest growing segment in the domestic market with over 2.5 lakh cars sold every year.
The new car will be much smaller than Honda Jazz, its other hatchback, but is expected to have an affordable price tag of Rs 4-4 .5 lakh for the petrol variant. It may share platform (common manufacturing line and spares) with the Jazz including the same iV-TEC engine technology, but will fit as a small entry-level A segment car.
The same car will also be made in Thailand where it is expected to be developed and sold under the Thai government’s Eco-Car project, which enjoys many tax concessions. However any such eco-variant is ruled out for the Indian market for the time being.
Monday, November 16, 2009
MF fund could give financial inclusion another dimension
Technology has simplified our lives. So why should it be any different for our investments? If the internet and mobile phones have made banking —
one of the most time-consuming affairs — a pleasant experience, mutual fund transactions are not far behind! Come March 2010 and Indian investors will wake up to a gateway of convenience and simplicity as far as their mutual fund investments are concerned. So what is this gateway? Why are newspapers these days flooded with updates about an ‘online mutual fund trading platform’ ? Will this online gateway indeed change the face of the Indian mutual fund industry? Or will it open the doors for the listing and trading of mutual fund schemes on the bourses in future? The online MF trading platform would probably do to the mutual fund space what dematerialisation (demat) of shares has done for the traders and investors in the equity market. It will be an online convenience gateway where mutual fund schemes can be bought and sold at the click of the mouse, payments directly debited from the bank account and units purchased or sold credited or debited to the investors’ demat account just like the way the shares are traded today. No long waits for the dividend cheques as well, as they shall be directly credited to bank accounts. The catch here, however, is that while the shares are listed and transacted at the spot price, mutual funds shall be bought and sold at the net asset value (NAV) of the previous day – as is the current practice. Similarly, while the redemption orders will be accepted at a click of the mouse, the current redemption cycle of T+2 days shall continue to exist, meaning, that while the orders will be accepted on Day 1, the redemption proceeds shall be credited to the investors’ account only by the third day. So where is the value addition? Does an online gateway merely imply saying no to paper? The real convenience stems from the fact that the gateway will empower investor to makes choices. The platform is likely to be designed to facilitate not only buying and selling of mutual fund schemes but will also be loaded with information on various mutual fund schemes, their performances, updates, analysis, trends etc. Moreover, if an investor is unhappy with the performance of a scheme of a particular fund house, say ‘A’ ; he will be empowered to transfer his investments from ‘A’ to a better performing scheme of another fund house ‘B’ within seconds through the click of the mouse. Any applicable exit load shall be automatically deducted from the investment and the balance will be transferred to an absolutely new fund of a new fund house—no paper work or other formalities. While currently too an investor can easily switch between MF schemes, the swapping can be done between the schemes of the same fund house. Another interesting facet of the online MF portal will be its ability to provide the investors a consolidated view of all their mutual fund holdings. Say an investor has investments in 10 different mutual fund schemes, keeping a track of all of them is tedious. The platform will combine the information on all MF holdings of the investor and present a consolidated screen shot view with the latest NAV to help investor keep track of all MF investments along with their current sale value. In case of systematic transfers, it will now be easier and convenient to keep a track of regular monthly debits in the bank accounts and credits of mutual fund units in the folios. No more waiting for the annual or biannual MF statements by post! The features are aplenty, but what about the costs? Are these services free of cost? Market regulator Sebi has scrapped entry loads from the mutual fund investments in order to bring transparency. Keeping that in mind, the new platform will be linked to the demat account of the shareholder and the commission payable on every MF transaction shall be mutually determined between the investor and their respective brokers, who in turn will have to be a Depository Participant (DP). The online platform may also make life easier for distributors who now find it tough to convince investors to issue separate cheques for commission. As MF trading will now be akin to share trading where the commission will evolve into a small brokerage charge, investors may pay it without much resistance. There are also fairly bright chances that competition and price war between brokerages may make these commissions highly competitive. Though simplicity and convenience are the two major aspects that the MF industry is aiming to achieve through this platform, it is in fact the reach and the penetration – the grey areas of this industry for a long time now—that it expects to deal with through this gateway. It will thus become easier and much more convenient for those placed in remote districts of the country to invest in mutual funds either directly or through their distributors who will have online access to the portal as the portal is not restricted to demat account holders alone. To learn more about this MF trading platform and its impact on the fund houses, distributors and the investors, turn to page three where the two honchos of the industry share their views on the new concept.
one of the most time-consuming affairs — a pleasant experience, mutual fund transactions are not far behind! Come March 2010 and Indian investors will wake up to a gateway of convenience and simplicity as far as their mutual fund investments are concerned. So what is this gateway? Why are newspapers these days flooded with updates about an ‘online mutual fund trading platform’ ? Will this online gateway indeed change the face of the Indian mutual fund industry? Or will it open the doors for the listing and trading of mutual fund schemes on the bourses in future? The online MF trading platform would probably do to the mutual fund space what dematerialisation (demat) of shares has done for the traders and investors in the equity market. It will be an online convenience gateway where mutual fund schemes can be bought and sold at the click of the mouse, payments directly debited from the bank account and units purchased or sold credited or debited to the investors’ demat account just like the way the shares are traded today. No long waits for the dividend cheques as well, as they shall be directly credited to bank accounts. The catch here, however, is that while the shares are listed and transacted at the spot price, mutual funds shall be bought and sold at the net asset value (NAV) of the previous day – as is the current practice. Similarly, while the redemption orders will be accepted at a click of the mouse, the current redemption cycle of T+2 days shall continue to exist, meaning, that while the orders will be accepted on Day 1, the redemption proceeds shall be credited to the investors’ account only by the third day. So where is the value addition? Does an online gateway merely imply saying no to paper? The real convenience stems from the fact that the gateway will empower investor to makes choices. The platform is likely to be designed to facilitate not only buying and selling of mutual fund schemes but will also be loaded with information on various mutual fund schemes, their performances, updates, analysis, trends etc. Moreover, if an investor is unhappy with the performance of a scheme of a particular fund house, say ‘A’ ; he will be empowered to transfer his investments from ‘A’ to a better performing scheme of another fund house ‘B’ within seconds through the click of the mouse. Any applicable exit load shall be automatically deducted from the investment and the balance will be transferred to an absolutely new fund of a new fund house—no paper work or other formalities. While currently too an investor can easily switch between MF schemes, the swapping can be done between the schemes of the same fund house. Another interesting facet of the online MF portal will be its ability to provide the investors a consolidated view of all their mutual fund holdings. Say an investor has investments in 10 different mutual fund schemes, keeping a track of all of them is tedious. The platform will combine the information on all MF holdings of the investor and present a consolidated screen shot view with the latest NAV to help investor keep track of all MF investments along with their current sale value. In case of systematic transfers, it will now be easier and convenient to keep a track of regular monthly debits in the bank accounts and credits of mutual fund units in the folios. No more waiting for the annual or biannual MF statements by post! The features are aplenty, but what about the costs? Are these services free of cost? Market regulator Sebi has scrapped entry loads from the mutual fund investments in order to bring transparency. Keeping that in mind, the new platform will be linked to the demat account of the shareholder and the commission payable on every MF transaction shall be mutually determined between the investor and their respective brokers, who in turn will have to be a Depository Participant (DP). The online platform may also make life easier for distributors who now find it tough to convince investors to issue separate cheques for commission. As MF trading will now be akin to share trading where the commission will evolve into a small brokerage charge, investors may pay it without much resistance. There are also fairly bright chances that competition and price war between brokerages may make these commissions highly competitive. Though simplicity and convenience are the two major aspects that the MF industry is aiming to achieve through this platform, it is in fact the reach and the penetration – the grey areas of this industry for a long time now—that it expects to deal with through this gateway. It will thus become easier and much more convenient for those placed in remote districts of the country to invest in mutual funds either directly or through their distributors who will have online access to the portal as the portal is not restricted to demat account holders alone. To learn more about this MF trading platform and its impact on the fund houses, distributors and the investors, turn to page three where the two honchos of the industry share their views on the new concept.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sensex records best weekly rise in 11 weeks
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) Sensex climbed 0.9% on Friday to its best weekly gain in 11 weeks, led by banks and outsourcers, and supported by
rising foreign portfolio investment. The 30-share BSE index rose 4.5% on the week, taking gains this month to 6%, after sliding 7.2% in October, which was its worst performance in a year. “The rally is driven by liquidity, which is fuelled by dollar weakness,” said Manish Sonthalia, portfolio management services manager at Motilal Oswal. Foreign funds have moved $14.8 billion into Indian stocks this year, lifting the Sensex nearly 75%. In 2008, they had pulled out more than $13 billion and the benchmark fell over half. Private lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were among the gainers on hopes rising industrial activity would boost demand for loans and the long-term outlook. “We expect bank credit growth to rise to 16% year-on-year by March 2010,” Morgan Stanley said, adding it would accelerate to 22% by end-2010 as capital expenditure also begins to recover next year. The Sensex closed up 0.92%, or 152.80 points, at 16,848.83. Twenty-five of its components advanced. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank rose 1.6% and 0.4%, respectively, while SBI gained 0.1%. Export-focused software services companies climbed as the sector outlook was positive, with orders set to rise and hiring plans picking up, R Ganesh, director of Systematix Shares, said. Bellwether Infosys Technologies rose 1.5% to Rs 2,358.80. Sector leader Tata Consultancy Services added 2.5% to Rs 670.20 and Wipro firmed 1.2% to Rs 632.70. State-owned oil and gas producer Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 3.1% to Rs 1,183.50 on market talk the oil ministry had proposed a hike in gas prices. Engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 0.2% to Rs 1,643.55, after sources said it sold a third of its holding in outsourcer Mahindra Satyam for about $66 million. In the broader market, losers almost matched the number of gainers on relatively moderate volume of 423 million shares.The broader 50-share NSE index closed 0.9% higher at 4,998.95.
rising foreign portfolio investment. The 30-share BSE index rose 4.5% on the week, taking gains this month to 6%, after sliding 7.2% in October, which was its worst performance in a year. “The rally is driven by liquidity, which is fuelled by dollar weakness,” said Manish Sonthalia, portfolio management services manager at Motilal Oswal. Foreign funds have moved $14.8 billion into Indian stocks this year, lifting the Sensex nearly 75%. In 2008, they had pulled out more than $13 billion and the benchmark fell over half. Private lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were among the gainers on hopes rising industrial activity would boost demand for loans and the long-term outlook. “We expect bank credit growth to rise to 16% year-on-year by March 2010,” Morgan Stanley said, adding it would accelerate to 22% by end-2010 as capital expenditure also begins to recover next year. The Sensex closed up 0.92%, or 152.80 points, at 16,848.83. Twenty-five of its components advanced. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank rose 1.6% and 0.4%, respectively, while SBI gained 0.1%. Export-focused software services companies climbed as the sector outlook was positive, with orders set to rise and hiring plans picking up, R Ganesh, director of Systematix Shares, said. Bellwether Infosys Technologies rose 1.5% to Rs 2,358.80. Sector leader Tata Consultancy Services added 2.5% to Rs 670.20 and Wipro firmed 1.2% to Rs 632.70. State-owned oil and gas producer Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rose 3.1% to Rs 1,183.50 on market talk the oil ministry had proposed a hike in gas prices. Engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 0.2% to Rs 1,643.55, after sources said it sold a third of its holding in outsourcer Mahindra Satyam for about $66 million. In the broader market, losers almost matched the number of gainers on relatively moderate volume of 423 million shares.The broader 50-share NSE index closed 0.9% higher at 4,998.95.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Net turns truly Indian as. Bharat goes online from 2010
Despite so much of content in Hindi, the Internet is still an alien face to me. Everytime I want to read the news on Rediff in Hindi, I struggle to
type the English letters," says Tribhuvan Das, a grocery shop owner in Kanpur who spends time reading the latest news on Google, Yahoo! and other websites during noon when not many customers visit his shop. During its 40 years, including the last 15 years it grew rapidly, the Internet has been an alien to 800-900 million non-English speaking Indians. The Internet started as an English language phenomenon, but even in the later years, when technology made it possible to have content in local languages, addresses continued to be in English. "If I can enter Internet addresses using Hindi letters on the keyboard, I will not have to call my son for help every time I need to read stuff on the Net," added Das. Come February 2010, and Das, along with millions of non-English speaking Indians, will be able to type .bharat in Devnagari script while accessing popular websites including Google, Yahoo!, MSN and many others.
Indians will now be able to access Web addresses in their own languages. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), the global body which sets the standards for the Internet, decided to make addresses available in non-Latin scripts on October 27. The move was in response to requests from a number of countries, including Japan, Korea, India and China. "Countries have been articulating that language is one of the inhibiting factors to Internet's growth. Today, the Yahoo! site is available in 5-6 Indian languages. Portals like Yahoo!, Sify and Rediff are already translating content and putting it on the Net. There is a demand," pointed out N Ravi Shanker, joint secretary, department of Information Technology (DIT). Indeed, according to the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the local language IT market in India is expected to grow 30-60% over the next few years, and reach $100 million by 2010. The government, assisted by organisations such as the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), is set to make addresses with the .bharat extension available in 15 Indian languages. CDAC, one of the pioneers in the use of Indian languages in IT through technologies like the Graphics & Intelligence-based Script Technology (GIST), is carrying out the final tests and expects to make .bharat available commercially by February. It has already put up the technical policy governing the use of Indian language URLs and will shortly put up the administrative policy, which deals with dispute resolution.
type the English letters," says Tribhuvan Das, a grocery shop owner in Kanpur who spends time reading the latest news on Google, Yahoo! and other websites during noon when not many customers visit his shop. During its 40 years, including the last 15 years it grew rapidly, the Internet has been an alien to 800-900 million non-English speaking Indians. The Internet started as an English language phenomenon, but even in the later years, when technology made it possible to have content in local languages, addresses continued to be in English. "If I can enter Internet addresses using Hindi letters on the keyboard, I will not have to call my son for help every time I need to read stuff on the Net," added Das. Come February 2010, and Das, along with millions of non-English speaking Indians, will be able to type .bharat in Devnagari script while accessing popular websites including Google, Yahoo!, MSN and many others.
Indians will now be able to access Web addresses in their own languages. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), the global body which sets the standards for the Internet, decided to make addresses available in non-Latin scripts on October 27. The move was in response to requests from a number of countries, including Japan, Korea, India and China. "Countries have been articulating that language is one of the inhibiting factors to Internet's growth. Today, the Yahoo! site is available in 5-6 Indian languages. Portals like Yahoo!, Sify and Rediff are already translating content and putting it on the Net. There is a demand," pointed out N Ravi Shanker, joint secretary, department of Information Technology (DIT). Indeed, according to the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the local language IT market in India is expected to grow 30-60% over the next few years, and reach $100 million by 2010. The government, assisted by organisations such as the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), is set to make addresses with the .bharat extension available in 15 Indian languages. CDAC, one of the pioneers in the use of Indian languages in IT through technologies like the Graphics & Intelligence-based Script Technology (GIST), is carrying out the final tests and expects to make .bharat available commercially by February. It has already put up the technical policy governing the use of Indian language URLs and will shortly put up the administrative policy, which deals with dispute resolution.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Barack Obama: The 'rock star' president of America
We were led through a door that is usually forbiddingly closed, past a clutch of burly Secret Service agents, around a corner, and there
he was, in a corridor leading to the Oval Office. Barack Obama, America's "rock star" president, greeted us with a smile and a handshake. I had felt a little nervous before the interview, partly because we had so little time allotted, just 15 minutes to try to extract some news. But I also felt a buzz of adrenalin. In a room that evokes history, power and tradition, we were waved to our seats by America's first black president and a man who has caught the imagination of the world like few of his predecessors. So what is he really like, my friends wanted to know afterward. He seemed friendly and charming of course, but businesslike too; cautious and deliberative mostly, but sharp and amusing at times. He was very obviously proud of his daughters and maybe a little sensitive about his Nobel Peace Prize. He was thin and angular, confident and smart, perhaps a little grayer around the temples than I had thought. I found myself noticing his Calvin Klein socks and long, black shoes. As we walked in, we chatted briefly about a wooden carving from Burundi in the corridor, and then we sat. He was on a chair in front of the fireplace, the three of us were on couches on either side. Obama knows my colleague Caren Bohan from his election campaign, and asked her about her son and what she was reading him. He told us how his 11-year-old daughter, Malia, reads for herself these days, but said he was also reading her Yann Martel's best-selling novel "Life of Pi." A "wonderful book," he said, that was enthralling his daughter. "There are whole chapters that really have to do with Hinduism, Christianity," he said. The proud father added, "There is a lot of philosophical stuff in there, but for some reason she is hanging in there." But, "don't mean to use up your time on children's literature," he said, and we were down to business. "Who is starting?" AT EASE WITH QUESTIONS The interview had been pitched as a preview of the trip he is starting this week to Asia, and especially about China. We worked through our carefully prepared questions, attempting the occasional follow-up but acutely conscious that time spent trying to pin down an answer was time eaten up. As we talked, I also absorbed the atmosphere. The desk under which John F. Kennedy's son had famously played seemed a little smaller than I had imagined, not quite adequate for the world's weightiest decisions. And was the Oval Office always this yellow?. Just behind the president, I spotted the bust of Martin Luther King that Obama requested and that has replaced a bust of Winston Churchill. I also saw another Obama choice, Norman Rockwell's painting of the torch of the Statue of Liberty against a pale blue sky. Obama began the interview without the clutch of aides we might have expected. His spokesman Robert Gibbs wandered in late in the interview to perch on the desk. This was obviously a president who didn't need help dealing with our questions. We asked about China's currency, America's trade gap and China's holdings of US debt. Obama warned of "enormous strains" on relations between the world's most powerful nations if those imbalances were not fixed. ANY MISTAKES? With time running out, we moved on to nuclear disarmament. Perhaps it was my imagination, or was the president a little awkward when we mentioned his Nobel prize, an award many saw as premature, and suggested he wasn't making a whole load of progress in stemming the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea? "Well, first of all, I think it's very important to say that if by lack of progress you're suggesting we have not already eliminated nuclear weapons from the face of the earth in the first nine months of my administration, then that's true," he said, with a smile. The interview was almost over. The president kept talking and was passed a note. Gibbs hovered. We had a chance for a final question. Would the president admit to any mistakes? Bush had famously been stumped by the same question at the end of his first term, saying he could not think of any. "Oh, we make at least one mistake a day," Obama said smoothly, to laughter. "I don't think we've made big mistakes. I don't think we've made fundamental mistakes," he said. "There are constant sort of things that I think have proven unnecessary distractions. But in terms of the core decisions that we've made ... I feel very good about our progress." And then our time was up. "Next time we see each other I'm sure I will have all the nuclear stuff solved," Obama joked as we left.
he was, in a corridor leading to the Oval Office. Barack Obama, America's "rock star" president, greeted us with a smile and a handshake. I had felt a little nervous before the interview, partly because we had so little time allotted, just 15 minutes to try to extract some news. But I also felt a buzz of adrenalin. In a room that evokes history, power and tradition, we were waved to our seats by America's first black president and a man who has caught the imagination of the world like few of his predecessors. So what is he really like, my friends wanted to know afterward. He seemed friendly and charming of course, but businesslike too; cautious and deliberative mostly, but sharp and amusing at times. He was very obviously proud of his daughters and maybe a little sensitive about his Nobel Peace Prize. He was thin and angular, confident and smart, perhaps a little grayer around the temples than I had thought. I found myself noticing his Calvin Klein socks and long, black shoes. As we walked in, we chatted briefly about a wooden carving from Burundi in the corridor, and then we sat. He was on a chair in front of the fireplace, the three of us were on couches on either side. Obama knows my colleague Caren Bohan from his election campaign, and asked her about her son and what she was reading him. He told us how his 11-year-old daughter, Malia, reads for herself these days, but said he was also reading her Yann Martel's best-selling novel "Life of Pi." A "wonderful book," he said, that was enthralling his daughter. "There are whole chapters that really have to do with Hinduism, Christianity," he said. The proud father added, "There is a lot of philosophical stuff in there, but for some reason she is hanging in there." But, "don't mean to use up your time on children's literature," he said, and we were down to business. "Who is starting?" AT EASE WITH QUESTIONS The interview had been pitched as a preview of the trip he is starting this week to Asia, and especially about China. We worked through our carefully prepared questions, attempting the occasional follow-up but acutely conscious that time spent trying to pin down an answer was time eaten up. As we talked, I also absorbed the atmosphere. The desk under which John F. Kennedy's son had famously played seemed a little smaller than I had imagined, not quite adequate for the world's weightiest decisions. And was the Oval Office always this yellow?. Just behind the president, I spotted the bust of Martin Luther King that Obama requested and that has replaced a bust of Winston Churchill. I also saw another Obama choice, Norman Rockwell's painting of the torch of the Statue of Liberty against a pale blue sky. Obama began the interview without the clutch of aides we might have expected. His spokesman Robert Gibbs wandered in late in the interview to perch on the desk. This was obviously a president who didn't need help dealing with our questions. We asked about China's currency, America's trade gap and China's holdings of US debt. Obama warned of "enormous strains" on relations between the world's most powerful nations if those imbalances were not fixed. ANY MISTAKES? With time running out, we moved on to nuclear disarmament. Perhaps it was my imagination, or was the president a little awkward when we mentioned his Nobel prize, an award many saw as premature, and suggested he wasn't making a whole load of progress in stemming the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea? "Well, first of all, I think it's very important to say that if by lack of progress you're suggesting we have not already eliminated nuclear weapons from the face of the earth in the first nine months of my administration, then that's true," he said, with a smile. The interview was almost over. The president kept talking and was passed a note. Gibbs hovered. We had a chance for a final question. Would the president admit to any mistakes? Bush had famously been stumped by the same question at the end of his first term, saying he could not think of any. "Oh, we make at least one mistake a day," Obama said smoothly, to laughter. "I don't think we've made big mistakes. I don't think we've made fundamental mistakes," he said. "There are constant sort of things that I think have proven unnecessary distractions. But in terms of the core decisions that we've made ... I feel very good about our progress." And then our time was up. "Next time we see each other I'm sure I will have all the nuclear stuff solved," Obama joked as we left.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wipro's CMO Jessie Paul quits to start own venture
Jessie Paul, the high-profile chief marketing officer (CMO) of India’s third-largest technology services company, Wipro Technologies, has
Jessie Paulquit to start her own venture. Ms Paul’s new venture, Paul Writer Strategic Advisory, will be a marketing platform for B2B early-stage companies in the traditional and new media space like social blogging. She will be consulting companies on marketing strategies to grow. When contacted by ET on the development and who will run the CMO function, Suresh Vaswani, joint CEO, Wipro Technologies, said: “I’m not commenting on anything at present. It’s a Wipro policy not to talk on management exits.” Ms Paul’s resignation was accepted on Monday and she will continue with Wipro till January 8. In her four-and-a-half years at Wipro, Ms Paul was instrumental in globalising Wipro’s marketing team, about 10% of which is non-Indian now. She also created the shared-marketing unit for Wipro Technologies and Wipro Infotech, besides devising strategies to build the Wipro brand. Ms Paul who just wrote a book ‘No Money Marketing’ said: “The book writing experience taught me I could do a whole bunch of other things. That lead me to marketing for early stage companies, a venture I can’t undertake at Wipro as there will be a conflict of interest.” For her marketing B2B venture, Ms Paul plans to tie up with an international firm as well and involve 130 of her over-600 LinkedIn members who are part of her ‘CMO roundtable’ on the professional networking site.
Commenting on the trend to turn entrepreneur among professionals, Gita Dang, founder director, Talent Advisory Services, a Delhi-based headhunter said: “They are very ambitious people who do not see growth for themselves in companies they are working at. That could spur the shift to become an entrepreneur.” With her entrepreneurial venture, Ms Paul, who has worked for almost 15 years in companies like O&M, Infosys Technologies, iGate, prior to working with Wipro, joins the long list of Wipro professionals to start their own ventures. These include Ashok Soota, former president of Wipro, who co-founded MindTree Consulting, Sudhir Sethi is the founder, chairman and MD of IDG Ventures India, Ramesh Emani quit Wipro to start Insta Health Solutions, where he is the founder & CEO, Sridhar Mitta, the former CTO of Wipro, founded e4e, K Vaitheeswaran is the co-founder & COO of indiaplaza.in.
Jessie Paulquit to start her own venture. Ms Paul’s new venture, Paul Writer Strategic Advisory, will be a marketing platform for B2B early-stage companies in the traditional and new media space like social blogging. She will be consulting companies on marketing strategies to grow. When contacted by ET on the development and who will run the CMO function, Suresh Vaswani, joint CEO, Wipro Technologies, said: “I’m not commenting on anything at present. It’s a Wipro policy not to talk on management exits.” Ms Paul’s resignation was accepted on Monday and she will continue with Wipro till January 8. In her four-and-a-half years at Wipro, Ms Paul was instrumental in globalising Wipro’s marketing team, about 10% of which is non-Indian now. She also created the shared-marketing unit for Wipro Technologies and Wipro Infotech, besides devising strategies to build the Wipro brand. Ms Paul who just wrote a book ‘No Money Marketing’ said: “The book writing experience taught me I could do a whole bunch of other things. That lead me to marketing for early stage companies, a venture I can’t undertake at Wipro as there will be a conflict of interest.” For her marketing B2B venture, Ms Paul plans to tie up with an international firm as well and involve 130 of her over-600 LinkedIn members who are part of her ‘CMO roundtable’ on the professional networking site.
Commenting on the trend to turn entrepreneur among professionals, Gita Dang, founder director, Talent Advisory Services, a Delhi-based headhunter said: “They are very ambitious people who do not see growth for themselves in companies they are working at. That could spur the shift to become an entrepreneur.” With her entrepreneurial venture, Ms Paul, who has worked for almost 15 years in companies like O&M, Infosys Technologies, iGate, prior to working with Wipro, joins the long list of Wipro professionals to start their own ventures. These include Ashok Soota, former president of Wipro, who co-founded MindTree Consulting, Sudhir Sethi is the founder, chairman and MD of IDG Ventures India, Ramesh Emani quit Wipro to start Insta Health Solutions, where he is the founder & CEO, Sridhar Mitta, the former CTO of Wipro, founded e4e, K Vaitheeswaran is the co-founder & COO of indiaplaza.in.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
75% Indian engineering students unemployable
Discussing a report by software industry
group Nasscom which says that 75 percent engineering students in India are unemployable,
Best Employers for education experts here on Saturday said that the Indian higher education system must give skill building and practical training equal importance as academics to give them an edge. A.D. Sahasrabudhu, director of the College of Engineering, Pune said that one of the major reasons why engineers, even from reputed institutes, are not easily employed because they lack hands-on skill. "The focus in most institutes here is always on academics and theory. Thus a mechanical engineer may actually not know how to change a part of a machine. Therefore even if a high scoring student gets placed in a good company, eventually that lack of practical knowledge catches up," Sahasrabudhu said during a panel discussion at the sixth Higher Education Summit organised by Federation of of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
"From our experience we now know that practical, hands-on training is very crucial in the education system," he added. In their latest report released in the last week of October, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said that Indian IT firms reject 90 percent of college graduates and 75 percent of engineers who apply for jobs because they are not good enough to be trained. And because there is such a dearth of competent people, companies like Infosys increased its training of employees to 29 weeks from this year. That's seven months of training, the report added. Richard Kerly, a Scottish university professor, who had participated in the discussion said: "Just recently I came to know that Citi Bank had started its recruiting process here, but was not going to campuses placement cells. "The possible reason is that students here, although brilliant, don't have an edge when it comes to putting theories to practice." Sudhir Matthew, Dean, Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa, Lavasa Corporation Limited, Pune said: "The scene is very similar in the hospitality industry. Lack of hands-on trained students have forced hotel chains like the Oberoi, Taj and ITC to open their own hotel schools where the students are trained as per their needs. "Tourism will grow at a rate of 8.8 percent till 2015 in India, making it one of the fastest growing markets but there is a serious lack of skilled hands. Academics combined with practical training is therefore very important to meet this shortage which is estimated at 3.2 million."
group Nasscom which says that 75 percent engineering students in India are unemployable,
Best Employers for education experts here on Saturday said that the Indian higher education system must give skill building and practical training equal importance as academics to give them an edge. A.D. Sahasrabudhu, director of the College of Engineering, Pune said that one of the major reasons why engineers, even from reputed institutes, are not easily employed because they lack hands-on skill. "The focus in most institutes here is always on academics and theory. Thus a mechanical engineer may actually not know how to change a part of a machine. Therefore even if a high scoring student gets placed in a good company, eventually that lack of practical knowledge catches up," Sahasrabudhu said during a panel discussion at the sixth Higher Education Summit organised by Federation of of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
"From our experience we now know that practical, hands-on training is very crucial in the education system," he added. In their latest report released in the last week of October, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said that Indian IT firms reject 90 percent of college graduates and 75 percent of engineers who apply for jobs because they are not good enough to be trained. And because there is such a dearth of competent people, companies like Infosys increased its training of employees to 29 weeks from this year. That's seven months of training, the report added. Richard Kerly, a Scottish university professor, who had participated in the discussion said: "Just recently I came to know that Citi Bank had started its recruiting process here, but was not going to campuses placement cells. "The possible reason is that students here, although brilliant, don't have an edge when it comes to putting theories to practice." Sudhir Matthew, Dean, Ecole Hoteliere Lavasa, Lavasa Corporation Limited, Pune said: "The scene is very similar in the hospitality industry. Lack of hands-on trained students have forced hotel chains like the Oberoi, Taj and ITC to open their own hotel schools where the students are trained as per their needs. "Tourism will grow at a rate of 8.8 percent till 2015 in India, making it one of the fastest growing markets but there is a serious lack of skilled hands. Academics combined with practical training is therefore very important to meet this shortage which is estimated at 3.2 million."
Saturday, November 7, 2009
I-banks, IIMs act pricey again
: WHEN officials from Philips India walked into the IIM-Calcutta campus in November last year for pre-placement talks, gratitude Coming to terms with lay-off
Crisis time: Keep staff motivated
Job-cuts: A blessing in disguise
Keep it light at your workplace!
was in the air. The global financial meltdown and consequent economic slowdown in India that had set in two months ago had dampened placement hopes in this elite institution. Investment banks, the most coveted at B-school campuses, had all but disappeared from the placement scene, and the gap was being filled by state-run companies, start-ups and assorted manufacturing firms.
Philips had no trouble recruiting the brightest minds in the country. After that first trip across IIM campuses, including Calcutta, for final placements, the company took in 10 students. As for salaries, they were surely less than what i-banks and management consultancies would’ve paid.
But this year, the tables appear to have turned. The scales are tilting once again in the students’ favour.
Before he could spot his first candidate, Philips HR chief S Nagarajan was bombarded by students at IIM-C when he arrived with his team for pre-placement talks last month. They wanted to know about Philips in-depth and its future growth areas, but straight from the CEO’s mouth.
Mr Nagarajan had to finally call in his CEO & MD Murali Sivaraman, who flew down from their Gurgaon headquarters to Kolkata to answer the students’ queries. “Now that i-banks and consultants are recruiting in a bigger way, we had to relook our campus recruitment strategy. With the business outlook improving, students are negotiating harder,” he says.
Also Read
→ IIM-A’s summer placements close in four days flat
→ BNP Paribas Fortis to shed 750 Belgian jobs
→ British Airways to cut extra 1,200 jobs amid losses
→ World unemployment up despite economic recovery
But this year, the tables appeared to have turned. The scales are tilting once again in students’ favour. Before he could spot his first candidate, Philips HR chief S Nagarajan was bombarded by students at IIM-C when he arrived with his team for pre-placement talks at the Joka campus last month.
They wanted to know about Philips in depth and its growth areas of tomorrow, but straight from the CEO’s mouth.
Mr Nagarajan had to finally call in his CEO & MD Murali Sivaraman, who flew down from his Gurgaon headquarters to Kolkata, to answer students’ queries.
“Now that I-banks and consultants are recruiting in a bigger way, we had to relook our campus recruitment strategy. With the business outlook improving, students are negotiating harder,” says Mr Nagarajan.
Philips, which again plans to recruit 10 students this year, is eyeing a Slot One place at the upcoming IIM final placements. The way things are going, the company might have to offer international exposure to students from the premier B-schools, says Mr Nagarajan.
People like Mr Nagarajan and Mr Sivaraman are up against significant competitors this year at elite B-school campuses of the Indian Institutes of Management, the Indian School of Business, XLRI and IIFT.
Among them is Goldman Sachs, the tallest investment bank in the global financial universe today. Goldman intends to hire 24 students for summer placement for their centres in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangalore and Mumbai. “As always, we are extremely impressed by the high standards of candidates at IIM campuses,” says a Goldman Sachs (Asia) spokesperson from Hong Kong.
Crisis time: Keep staff motivated
Job-cuts: A blessing in disguise
Keep it light at your workplace!
was in the air. The global financial meltdown and consequent economic slowdown in India that had set in two months ago had dampened placement hopes in this elite institution. Investment banks, the most coveted at B-school campuses, had all but disappeared from the placement scene, and the gap was being filled by state-run companies, start-ups and assorted manufacturing firms.
Philips had no trouble recruiting the brightest minds in the country. After that first trip across IIM campuses, including Calcutta, for final placements, the company took in 10 students. As for salaries, they were surely less than what i-banks and management consultancies would’ve paid.
But this year, the tables appear to have turned. The scales are tilting once again in the students’ favour.
Before he could spot his first candidate, Philips HR chief S Nagarajan was bombarded by students at IIM-C when he arrived with his team for pre-placement talks last month. They wanted to know about Philips in-depth and its future growth areas, but straight from the CEO’s mouth.
Mr Nagarajan had to finally call in his CEO & MD Murali Sivaraman, who flew down from their Gurgaon headquarters to Kolkata to answer the students’ queries. “Now that i-banks and consultants are recruiting in a bigger way, we had to relook our campus recruitment strategy. With the business outlook improving, students are negotiating harder,” he says.
Also Read
→ IIM-A’s summer placements close in four days flat
→ BNP Paribas Fortis to shed 750 Belgian jobs
→ British Airways to cut extra 1,200 jobs amid losses
→ World unemployment up despite economic recovery
But this year, the tables appeared to have turned. The scales are tilting once again in students’ favour. Before he could spot his first candidate, Philips HR chief S Nagarajan was bombarded by students at IIM-C when he arrived with his team for pre-placement talks at the Joka campus last month.
They wanted to know about Philips in depth and its growth areas of tomorrow, but straight from the CEO’s mouth.
Mr Nagarajan had to finally call in his CEO & MD Murali Sivaraman, who flew down from his Gurgaon headquarters to Kolkata, to answer students’ queries.
“Now that I-banks and consultants are recruiting in a bigger way, we had to relook our campus recruitment strategy. With the business outlook improving, students are negotiating harder,” says Mr Nagarajan.
Philips, which again plans to recruit 10 students this year, is eyeing a Slot One place at the upcoming IIM final placements. The way things are going, the company might have to offer international exposure to students from the premier B-schools, says Mr Nagarajan.
People like Mr Nagarajan and Mr Sivaraman are up against significant competitors this year at elite B-school campuses of the Indian Institutes of Management, the Indian School of Business, XLRI and IIFT.
Among them is Goldman Sachs, the tallest investment bank in the global financial universe today. Goldman intends to hire 24 students for summer placement for their centres in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangalore and Mumbai. “As always, we are extremely impressed by the high standards of candidates at IIM campuses,” says a Goldman Sachs (Asia) spokesperson from Hong Kong.
Indian engineers becoming backbone of Japan's IT industry
Indian system engineers have emerged as the backbone of Japan's IT industry and more are flocking to the country which is witnessing a steep More Infotech Stories
Performance of top IT cos in Q1
India's top 10 BPOs
The rise of multinational IT in India
Key facts on India's IT industry
decline in its work force.
Indian system engineers are making their presence felt in Japan's information technology industry. Around 22,000 Indians are living in Japan at the end of 2008, nearly double the number a decade ago.
"India is already the international standard in the IT world," said Kenichi Yoshida, a director of Softbridge Solutions Japan Co., a staffing company. Its founder is an Indian-American, who set up the Japanese company in 2002.
Indian engineers are sent out to Japan after studying Japanese language for five months. In addition to operation and maintenance of financial information systems, they are in charge of systems development for computers and mobile phones, Kyodo news agency reported.
"While the number of working people is decreasing in Japan, in India the number will continue to increase until 2040. Education levels are also high. It's important for Japanese industry to work together with India," Yoshida said.
His company is also providing opportunities for Japanese engineers to undergo training in India for two to four months, and major Japanese enterprises are taking advantage of the service.
"Everything is in English there. They eat curry from same bowl and return home a lot tougher," he said.
Tokyo's Edogawa Ward has the highest number of Indian residents, at about 2,200. After visa requirements for engineers working in Japan were eased in 2001, Indians flocked to the ward because it is close to the centre of Tokyo and prices are lower than in other wards.
"Until several years ago, there were only men in their 20s whose families were back home, but recently, the number of Indians accompanied by their families is increasing," said Jagmohan Chandrani, 57, a company president who came to Japan about 30 years ago.
Chandrani imports and sells black tea, runs a guest house and also serves as leader of the Indian society in the ward, assisting his countrymen in their day-to-day lives.
Many new residents are from Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley. Given that tandoori chicken and nan, which are popular in Japan, are northern Indian dishes, Chandrani has opened a southern Indian restaurant and a food store for engineers yearning for the taste of home.
He also participates in local events and holds an Indian festival twice a year, inviting Japanese from neighboring areas.
Chandrani says he hopes the ward will become not an 'India town' but a place serving as bridge between the two countries
Performance of top IT cos in Q1
India's top 10 BPOs
The rise of multinational IT in India
Key facts on India's IT industry
decline in its work force.
Indian system engineers are making their presence felt in Japan's information technology industry. Around 22,000 Indians are living in Japan at the end of 2008, nearly double the number a decade ago.
"India is already the international standard in the IT world," said Kenichi Yoshida, a director of Softbridge Solutions Japan Co., a staffing company. Its founder is an Indian-American, who set up the Japanese company in 2002.
Indian engineers are sent out to Japan after studying Japanese language for five months. In addition to operation and maintenance of financial information systems, they are in charge of systems development for computers and mobile phones, Kyodo news agency reported.
"While the number of working people is decreasing in Japan, in India the number will continue to increase until 2040. Education levels are also high. It's important for Japanese industry to work together with India," Yoshida said.
His company is also providing opportunities for Japanese engineers to undergo training in India for two to four months, and major Japanese enterprises are taking advantage of the service.
"Everything is in English there. They eat curry from same bowl and return home a lot tougher," he said.
Tokyo's Edogawa Ward has the highest number of Indian residents, at about 2,200. After visa requirements for engineers working in Japan were eased in 2001, Indians flocked to the ward because it is close to the centre of Tokyo and prices are lower than in other wards.
"Until several years ago, there were only men in their 20s whose families were back home, but recently, the number of Indians accompanied by their families is increasing," said Jagmohan Chandrani, 57, a company president who came to Japan about 30 years ago.
Chandrani imports and sells black tea, runs a guest house and also serves as leader of the Indian society in the ward, assisting his countrymen in their day-to-day lives.
Many new residents are from Bangalore, known as India's Silicon Valley. Given that tandoori chicken and nan, which are popular in Japan, are northern Indian dishes, Chandrani has opened a southern Indian restaurant and a food store for engineers yearning for the taste of home.
He also participates in local events and holds an Indian festival twice a year, inviting Japanese from neighboring areas.
Chandrani says he hopes the ward will become not an 'India town' but a place serving as bridge between the two countries
Friday, November 6, 2009
Murthy's wife sells 2 mn Infosys shares for Rs.4.3 bn
Bangalore: Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys Technologies co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, sold two million shares of her holding in the IT bellwether for over Rs.430 crore (Rs.4.3 billion/$91.5 million), the company said today.
In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, the global software major said post-sale, Sudha Murthy's holding in the company had declined to 7,314,600 shares from 9,314,660 shares.
In a related development, Infosys' co-founder and chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan purchased 400,000 shares for around Rs.86.6 crore (Rs.866 million/$18.4 million) from the market today.
"Post-purchase, Gopalakrishnan's holds 6,656,726 shares," the company said.
The blue chip company's share of Rs.5 on par ended at Rs.2,218 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today.
Infosys chief mentor Narayana Murthy sold 800,000 shares Oct 22 from his holding in the company for Rs.177 crore (Rs.1.77 billion/$37.9 million) to set up a venture capital fund in India.
As one of the co-founders of the global software major, Murthy's holding in the company post-selling is 2.38 million shares.
In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, the global software major said post-sale, Sudha Murthy's holding in the company had declined to 7,314,600 shares from 9,314,660 shares.
In a related development, Infosys' co-founder and chief executive S. Gopalakrishnan purchased 400,000 shares for around Rs.86.6 crore (Rs.866 million/$18.4 million) from the market today.
"Post-purchase, Gopalakrishnan's holds 6,656,726 shares," the company said.
The blue chip company's share of Rs.5 on par ended at Rs.2,218 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today.
Infosys chief mentor Narayana Murthy sold 800,000 shares Oct 22 from his holding in the company for Rs.177 crore (Rs.1.77 billion/$37.9 million) to set up a venture capital fund in India.
As one of the co-founders of the global software major, Murthy's holding in the company post-selling is 2.38 million shares.
Tharoor to take steps to stop misuse of business visas
India will take steps to stop misuse of business visas during employment process in the country, Union minister Shashi Tharoor said . According to the minister of state for external affairs, business visas were not to substitute employment visas. With reference to China, Tharoor said there might be fears that business visas issued to Chinese were utilised as employment visas by unskilled and semi-skilled workers of that country in view of the surge in their issuance. "We will scrutinise the visa processing method and business visas will be given for business visits only," he said.
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