INTERNET of THINGS NEXT BUSINESS OPP...

The emerging 'Internet of Things' (IoT), or devices which can communicate with one another without human intervention, offer huge business opportunities over the long term, technology research firm Gartner has said. However, diversity of current 'Internet of Things' applications fails to make a compelling business case to explore or commit resources to this emergent area now, a report by Gartner has said. The Internet of Things extends the role of Internet to encompass an increasingly diverse range of devices and communications streams, many of which will be essentially machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, Gartner said. M2M technology allows a device to capture, process and send information via a network that can then act on the data. "The volume of opportunities arising from the Internet of Things over the long term is generally agreed to be in the realm of very large to huge," said Stephen Prentice, vice president and Gartner Fellow. Business leaders find the diversity of current Internet of Things applications fails to make a compelling business case to explore or commit resources to this emergent area, it said. "Manufacturing opportunities, deployment, activation and ongoing management of millions of devices, and the analytical opportunities arising from massive streams of potentially real-time information all represent huge untapped business opportunities," the report said. Business and IT leaders should explore these developments, and focus not on what is new and different, but look more closely at what is essentially the same as existing business processes, it said.

LOW COST HOUSING A BIG OPPORTUNITY

Low-income urban families need 15 million homes in a price range of Rs 4-10 lakh, presenting an untapped opportunity of a whopping Rs 9 lakh crore for real estate developers, according to a report by Deloitte India. At least 30,500 housing units were launched below Rs 10 lakh by private developers across 22 cities between June 2011 and January 2013, of which maximum (nearly 39 per cent) were in Gujarat. There is an increased interest in supplying housing and housing finance to low-income customers but the gap between supply and need is huge, according to the report 'State of the Low-Income Housing Market' launched by Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Secretary Arun Kumar Misra. "There is a large proportion of low-income urban families, with a monthly household income of Rs 10,000-25,000, who can afford privately build formal housing costing Rs 4-10 lakh without any aid from the government. "There is an estimated demand of 15 million homes from these low-income customers, which translates into an opportunity of Rs 9 lakh crore for developers and Rs 7 lakh crore for housing finance companies," Deloitte said. The housing finance, which was almost non-existent for these low-income customers 5 years ago, is now accessible with over 10 housing finance firms lending to low income customers. The report highlighted that three cities -- Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Indore -- are leading in providing housing below Rs 10 lakh with over 20 projects in each city. "The western and central states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are doing better than the rest of the country. In the northern region, there is a limited LIH supply," the report said. Out of 30,668 homes launched during June 2011 to January 2013 period, Gujarat witnessed maximum supply of 11,823 units followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh with 8513 and 4759 units, respectively. Asked about the reason for Gujarat being ahead of other states, the co-author of the report Ashish Karamchandani said: "Developers in Gujarat had entered in the low-income housing earlier. Also, the approval time for projects is faster."  
The study covered research in 22 cities, interviews of 27 active developers and 9 HFCs serving the low-income customer and survey of 700 low-income customers. Developers, covered in this study, cited challenges like rising land prices, high construction cost and long approval timelines. Fifty-nine per cent of the surveyed developers considered the tedious approval process to be one of the top two challenges to their business. Some developers reported an approval time-frame of 18-36 months for their projects. If the approvals were much quicker the same developer with the same capital could produce twice as many LIH units. The housing finance industry is serving the low-income customers well. Eight HFCs that were included in the study, started after 2007, have a combined loan portfolio of Rs 1,000 crore, are growing at 100-300 per annum and have near zero NPAs. 

PRAFUL QUESTIONS POVERTY ESTIMATES

Questioning Planning Commission's latest poverty estimates, NCP leader and Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel today said they are based on "totally wrong" benchmark of per capita daily expenditure of Rs 33.33 for cities and Rs 27.20 for villages. "...the ceiling set by them (Planning Commission) is totally wrong. In today's time, Commission should set a new ceiling keeping in mind inflation and high cost of living. We do not agree with this data," Patel told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here. According to Planning Commission data, persons spending over Rs 33.33 a day in cities and Rs 27.20 in villages are not poor. Based on this, Commission concluded that the poverty ratio in the country declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05. On whether living at Rs 27-33 a day was sufficient for poor people, Patel said though there has been progress in the country but the Planning Commission ceiling on poverty is incorrect. The Planning Commission's poverty calculation, as per the Tendulkar Methodology, has already generated lot of controversy and was criticised across the political spectrum as being unrealistic and unmindful of present day realities.

SENSEX ENDS FLAT

Wiping out most of its early losses, the S&P BSE benchmark Sensex today closed almost flat on revival of buying by funds after marginal recovery in rupee from record lows and the government announced steps to revive investment climate. After falling to 19,126.82 points intra-day, Sensex managed to close with just a loss of 2.64 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 19,345.70. The gauge has now lost over 955 points in six sessions. Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 13.05 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 5,742 led by banking and interest-related stocks. Also, SX40 index, the flagship index of MCX-SX, closed at 11505.51, down 51.04 points or 0.44 per cent. Rupee plunged to 61 per dollar before trading at 60.88 when the stock market was closing, after Finance Minister P Chidambaram said government will take measures to attract long term non-resident Indian funds. Global markets are keenly awaiting US GDP data release and a policy statement following Fed's 2-day meet later today. Brokers said a volatile rupee raised concerns that the RBI may have to extend its liquidity tightening measures for a longer-than-expected period. Airtel jumped 7.3 per cent after Q1 earnings. Other Sensex gainers included Reliance Industries, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Lab., BHEL, Hindalco Ind., ONGC, Sterlite Industries and Wipro. However, ICICI Bank closed nearly 2 per cent down after posting 25 per cent rise in net profit in June quarter. Banking stocks were hit as RBI kept interest rates unchanged in monetary policy yesterday and did not come out with a clear deadline for unwinding the steps to control rupee which have also pushed up short term rates, traders said. Yes Bank sank 18 per cent in intraday trading, before ending with a loss of 7.19 per cent after it raised base rate by 25 basis points. The realty sector index suffered the most by losing 2.30 per cent to 1,316.95, followed by FMCG index by 2.26 per cent to 6,791.78. Banking index dropped by 1.84 per cent to 11,440.96 and power index by 1.67 per cent to 1,495.56. 

CONCENTRATE ON INFRA FOR ANDHRA

The Telugu Desam Party has asked the Centre to immediately constitute a committee of experts to assess the quantum of funds required to develop a new capital city for Andhra Pradesh state subsequent to the formation of Telangana state. "According to our rough estimates, a staggering Rs 4-5 lakh crore will be required to build a new capital and comprehensively create necessary infrastructure. The new capital should be developed on par with Hyderabad," TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters here today. Chandrababu placed a set of demands before the Centre to fulfil before completing the formalities related to formation of Telangana state. "The Centre should provide full monetary support for building the new capital. There are a number of central Public Sector Undertakings, research centres and premier educational institutions in Hyderabad. Similar institutions should be built in (new) Andhra Pradesh so that employment opportunities will be available for people of that region. "Besides, the Centre should also settle issues related to water-sharing, power, revenue-sharing and jobs. All these things should be incorporated in the State Re-organisation Bill itself so that people across the regions will not be left with heartburn," Chandrababu said. The experts committee should study all these issues, based on which the Centre should come out with a time-bound action plan and "perfect planning" for the development of a new capital city, he said. The Union Budget currently was Rs 15 lakh crore and would touch Rs 25 lakh crore in the next ten years. Hence, funding should not be a problem, the former Chief Minister pointed out. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to attract private investment as well to develop infrastructure and industries to create more jobs, he added. The TDP supremo said his party respected the "sentiments" of Telangana people and accordingly notified its stand on the state bifurcation issue to the Centre in 2008. "We always stood by our stand," he observed. Though the state would be getting divided in "inevitable circumstances", all Telugu people should stay united without any ill-will, Chandrababu said. "It is the responsibility of the Centre to ensure that Telugus are not left with any heartburn or hatred. It should build confidence among all Telugu people through concrete actions and not mere statements," he said. On the demand being raised by some of his party leaders that Hyderabad be made the "second capital of India", the TDP president recalled that B R Ambedkar had put forth this suggestion years ago. "Let's see how things will shape up," he noted.

LEFT DIVIDED

Left parties were today divided over the Telangana issue with the CPI(M) and RSP opposing it and CPI and Forward Bloc in favour, but all of them wanted the people of Andhra Pradesh to maintain harmony in the wake of the government's decision to go ahead with its formation. The Forward Bloc also sought the creation of a separate state of Vidarbha and the establishing of the second State Reorganisation Committee to "find a justifiable solution on all pending demands of small states once and for all." The decision to create Telangana "seems to have been impelled by the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. It will give a fillip to demands for separate states in other places," the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement here. The party, which has been opposing the Telangana demand, said it has "always stood for the integrity of the states based on the democratic principle of linguistic states." It accused the Congress and UPA government of taking a decision to divide Andhra Pradesh and creating Telangana "after long procrastination and more than two years after the report submitted by the Srikrishna Committee." CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat earlier said statehood for Telangana would spur such demands in other parts of the country. "The central government will have to take the responsibility to see that there is no further division of states whether it is West Bengal or anywhere else. It should be made clear that you cannot go on having an endless division of a state or creation of new states," he said. But CPI National Secretary D Raja termed the decision as "too late" and said his party had agreed to a separate Telangana "after indepth discussion and considering and exhausting all options".
"All regions of Andhra Pradesh should take this decision in a brotherly manner without any hostility or bitterness," he said. 

82 LAKH eRETURNS FILED

More than 82 lakh income tax returns have been e-filed till Monday which is 40 per cent higher than the same period last year, the Finance Ministry today said. "On July 30, 2013, 6.23 lakh returns were e-filed till 6 pm. Record peak of more than 85,000 returns per hour has been achieved," the ministry said in a statement. Last date for filing income tax return for individuals and non-auditable cases is July 31, 2013.
The statement said that due to overwhelming response, some taxpayers have reported problems in accessing e-filing portal which is primarily due to network constrains of the local Internet service providers. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made it mandatory for salaried individuals earning up to Rs 5 lakh annually to file income tax returns. The tax department had expected a huge surge in the number of online filings.
In the last two assessment years (2011-12 and 2012-13), CBDT had exempted salaried employees earning a salary of up to Rs 5 lakh annually and interest income on savings account of up to Rs 10,000 from filing tax return. Assessees can transmit tax return data electronically by downloading ITRs, or through online filing. After that they have to submit the verification of the return from ITR-V for acknowledgement after signing to the Central Processing Centre. 

SUBBARAO TAKES TOUGH STANCE IN HIS LAST POLICY

RBI Governor D Subbarao with deputy Governors H R Khan, K C Chakrabarty, Urjit R Patel and Anand Sinha 

RBI Governor D Subbarao today said liquidity tightening steps were not a panic reaction and he refused set a timeline to reverse them, justifying the measures to tame the rupee and keep policy rates unchanged. This is his last policy as he is retiring on September 5th after leading RBI for 5 years...RBI's next Mid Term policy review will be on September 19th. This is Subbarao's 20th Monitory Policy...
"We are as anxious as anyone else to roll these back. But getting locked into a time frame is both not feasible and inadvisable," Subbarao told reporters at the customary post-policy meeting here this afternoon. Subbarao left all key policy rates unchanged and called for urgent measures from the government to contain the current account deficit, which is the main reason for the rupee declining close to 12 per cent since April 1. The recent liquidity tightening measures are aimed at checking undue volatility in the foreign exchange market and will be rolled back in a calibrated manner as stability is restored to the foreign exchange market, the RBI said. "I don't agree with those charges (of being divergent in our stance and panicky). There will be pain in the economy, somebody will have to pay a cost for this, those costs are inevitable and unavoidable," he said. He further said the rollback of these measures is state-contingent and data-dependent and linked to the decline in volatility and disorderly movements in the exchange rate. Explaining the rationale for the July 15 and 23 measures to tighten liquidity, the Governor said, "Forex intervention is a standard tool for defending against volatility. As much as we resorted to that instrument, we were also conscious that we should not fuel speculation or help speculators." 
Subbarao said the idea was to make liquidity scarcer and more costly. The RBI determined that modulating access to LAF would be the most efficient way of controlling volatility and it can be calibrated more flexibly than resorting to CRR or repo because of other implications attached to those measures, he said. "We are going to look at a number of factors to determine if volatility in exchange rates has been contained. We will also make an assessment of global financial markets," before arriving at a decision on rollback. The Governor said some of the indicators the RBI will monitor are the bid-ask spread, the intra-day volatility in the exchange rates, forward contracts to evaluate importers' assessment, volumes and open interest positions in the futures market, options pricing and the forward premia. The rupee declined 106 paise to close at 60.47 against the dollar, a three-week low. The currency touched a record low of 61.21 on July 8. Subbarao said "there is enough arsenal with the RBI to contain volatility in the exchange rate" if the steps taken so far don't work, but he declined to provide details.
Over the next 6-12 months, USD 174 billion of external debt has to be repaid, while depleting foreign-exchange reserves, which stood at USD 280 billion as of last week, have reduced the import cover buffer to about six months.  

GOOD REWARDS ONLY KEEP TALENT IN

In the "eye of an employee turnover storm", Indian companies need to seriously focus on factors such as clarity about business strategies and fair compensation to retain talent, says global HR consultancy Hay Group. Citing the practices of the country's most admired companies, which have been able to hire, harness and retain top talent, Hay Group said such entities depend on five factors for talent management. They are providing clarity on strategies, instilling confidence, encouraging employees to reach their potential, enabling them to work better and aligning rewards, it said. ". the economic upturn is expected to come with a risk that will have implications for talent management -– driven by an ambitious middle class, employers at India Inc will likely face a talent crisis in the coming year," Hay Group India Managing Director Gaurav Lahiri told PTI. He said that already employees are starting to seek new job opportunities in sector where growth is returning. "Given that we are in the eye of an employee turnover storm... in order to retain their top talent, organisations in India must give serious thought to the factors that drive employee commitment," he said. Among the India's Most Admired Companies list, TCS is at the top on the talent criteria. It is followed by Hindustan Unilever (2), ITC (3), Infosys (4) and L&T (5), as per a Hay Group survey. "Employees demand to be reasonably compensated for the work they do, but there is more to fair reward than the right salary and bonus. "India's Most Admired Companies make sure that their packages are competitive with the market, and they strike the balance between external competitiveness and internal fairness," Lahiri said. As per recent research findings by Hay Group, India is expected to see an employee turnover rate of about 26.9 per cent this year, the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. The attrition rate is further projected to rise to 27.5 per cent in 2014. Emphasising on the need to have clear and measurable value in talent management, he said this is the right time for talent management strategies to focus on employees with mission critical skills, high potential and those holding crucial roles. "At the heart of talent management lies a conundrum – the more resources organisations apply to try and find a route through the maze, the more possible options or routes they seem to discover. They, therefore, get lost," Lahiri said. 

SEARCH FOR BERNANKE SUCCESSOR ON

US President Barack Obama has zeroed in on "some extraordinary candidates" to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who can take ordinary people's views into account when deciding the fiscal policy of the world's largest economy. In an interview New York Times, Obama commented on one of his most anticipated decisions - to find a replacement to Bernanke when his term expires on January 31. Obama said he had narrowed his choice to succeed Bernanke to "some extraordinary candidates" and he would announce his choice "over the next several months."
With current fiscal policy measurably slowing the recovery, many in business and finance have looked to the Fed to continue its expansionary monetary policies to offset the drag, the Times said. Obama underlined that he wanted someone who would not just work abstractly to keep inflation in check and ensure stability in the markets.
"The idea is to promote those things in service of the lives of ordinary Americans getting better," he said. "I want a Fed chairman that can step back and look at that objectively and say, Let's make sure that we're growing the economy," the US President said. On Tuesday, Obama had said the US has fought its way back after suffering one of the worst economic recessions in years and asserted that fixing economy would be the "highest priority" of his second term. "Five years after the start of that Great Recession, America has fought its way back. We fought our way back," he said in a speech at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he had delivered his first major economic speech on the national stage in 2005.
Bernanke, 59, who has led the Federal Reserve since 2006, is not apparently seeking a third term. The leading Fed candidates are believed to be Lawrence H. Summers, Obama's former White House economic adviser and President Bill Clinton's Treasury secretary, and Janet Yellen, the current Fed vice chairwoman and another former Clinton official, the report said. 

I WILL FIGHT ECONOMIC INEQUALITY

A feisty US President Barack Obama has vowed not to "sit around and twiddle my thumbs for the next 1,200 days" in the face of opposition from his Republican rivals in Congress who are blocking his efforts to improve the lives of weary Americans.
Obama also said the widening income inequality and the lingering effects of the financial crisis have frayed America's social fabric and undermined Americans' belief in opportunity.
"I will seize any opportunity I can find to work with Congress to strengthen the middle class, improve their prospects, improve their security," he said.
Obama, 51, now in the seventh month of his second innings at the White House, he vowed not to be cowed by his Republican adversaries in Congress and said he was willing to stretch the limits of his powers to change the direction of the debate in Washington.
"I'm not just going to sit back if the only message from some of these folks is no on everything, and sit around and twiddle my thumbs for the next 1,200 days," Obama told The New York Times. Speaking a few days after the acquittal in the Trayvon Martin case prompted him to speak about being a black man in America, Obama said the country's struggle over race would not be eased until the political process in Washington began addressing the fear of many people that financial stability is unattainable.
"Racial tensions won't get better; they may get worse, because people will feel as if they've got to compete with some other group to get scraps from a shrinking pot," he said.
"If the economy is growing, everybody feels invested. Everybody feels as if we're rolling in the same direction." Upward mobility, "was part and parcel of who we were as Americans. And that's what's been eroding over the last 20, 30 years, well before the financial crisis," Obama said. "If we don't do anything, then growth will be slower than it should be. Unemployment will not go down as fast as it should. Income inequality will continue to rise," he said, underlining that "that's not a future that we should accept."
The US economy is "far stronger" than four years ago, he said, yet many people who write to him still do not feel secure about their future, even as their current situation recovers.
"That's what people sense," he said. "That's why people are anxious. That's why people are frustrated."
Without a shift in Washington to encourage growth over "damaging" austerity, Obama added, not only would the middle class shrink, but in turn, contentious issues like trade, climate change and immigration could become harder to address.
Obama also called for an end to the emphasis on budget austerity that Republicans ushered in when they captured control of the House of Representatives in November 2010.
The priority, he said, should be spending for infrastructure, education, clean energy, science, research and other domestic initiatives of the sort he twice campaigned on.
He called for a shift "away from what I think has been a damaging framework in Washington."
Even as he spoke, House Republicans were pushing measures in the opposite direction: to continue into the fiscal year that starts October 1 the indiscriminate across-the-board spending reductions — known as sequestration — that Obama opposes, and to cut his priorities deeper still.
Republicans are also threatening to block an increase in the government's borrowing limit — an action that must be taken by perhaps November to avoid financial crisis — unless Congress withholds money for his health care law. Obama all but dared Republicans to challenge his executive actions, including his decision three weeks ago to delay until 2015 the health care law's mandate that large employers provide insurance or pay fines. "If Congress thinks that what I've done is inappropriate or wrong in some fashion, they're free to make that case," he said. "But there's not an action that I take that you don't have some folks in Congress who say that I'm usurping my authority. Some of those folks think I usurp my authority by having the gall to win the presidency." 

INSURANCE HOT SPOT FOR JOBS

The hiring trend in the private insurance firms shows an optimistic outlook in view of the proposed rise in foreign direct investment with experts predicting up to 30 per cent growth in recruitment. "The job scenario in the private insurance segment has been good and it is growing consistently, despite the cost optimisation. Hiring will rise to around 25-30 per cent from last year as more investments are likely to happen in this sector, and big players will eye more business in the country," GlobalHunt Managing Director Sunil Goel told PTI. If the global economic conditions are better, the hiring would go by up to 40-50 per cent, Goel added. Recently, during a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, the Cabinet decided to raise FDI cap in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent under automatic route, under which investing firms do not require prior approval from the government. Shriram Life Insurance CEO and whole time Director Manoj Kumar Jain, however, said the attrition in the industry has come down. "The total agents for the industry in 2012 fell by 9 per cent or around 2.15 lakh (including 1,600 on roll employees) compared to 3.3 lakh agents or 10 per cent in 2011. In 2012, insurance firms have also closed more than 800 (or over 7 per cent) branches," he added. However, Jain gave a conservative forecast for 2013, saying he expects another challenging year for the life insurers as the sector is not yet out of the doldrums. Talking about capital inflow into the insurance segment if Parliament passes the hike in FDI, Jain said the total share of the private insurance players is little over Rs 25,000-26,000 crore and an additional 23 per cent FDI can bring in close to Rs 5,000 crore of fresh capital into the sector. 

INFRA ON BUMPY TRACK

India Ratings has maintained a negative outlook for the infrastructure sector in the second half of 2013, citing the current unfavourable macroeconomic variables and project-level challenges. "The slowing economy will have a negative impact on transportation assets, particularly those in early ramp-up stages. Road and port projects continue to be plagued by execution challenges and poor traffic, while a sizeable number of power projects continue to be impacted by fuel shortages, execution bottlenecks and weak off-taker quality," the rating agency said in a report released here today. This, the report said, will constrain the sponsors' ability to raise equity, which in turn will pressurise weaker projects, especially those with frail financial structures. India Ratings, however, added that "the long-term credit fundamentals for infrastructure projects remain protected, underpinned by favourable demand trends due to the massive infrastructure deficit in the country. But pain points over the next 6-12 months are unlikely to materially subside." Noting there was near four-fold rise in the number of companies with a negative outlook since December last, the report said as of July 15, as many as 21 per cent of firms in portfolio carried a negative outlook. This is a massive jump from 8 per cent in December 2012. With already 39 per cent of the firms rated by it having 'Ind BBB-' or even lower ratings, the report warned that any further worsening of the economic variables beyond those factored in could lead to pressure on rating levels. However, the report also noted that there have been some rating upgrades as well, as a few companies addressed their risks leading to improved cash-flows. A combination of project-level failures and negative macroeconomic conditions has contributed to the deterioration in credit profiles, which saw around 7 per cent companies' ratings getting downgraded to 'Ind C' or 'Ind D' during the last six months. This reflects defaults in debt service or pending loan recast, said the report. 

HYDERABAD REALTY HIT BY POLITICAL UNCERTAINITY

Political uncertainties in Andhra Pradesh over Telangana issue has hit Hyderabad's residential market hard. Developers are sitting on unsold housing stock of 28 per cent of the units launched during last 3-4 years, says a report by global property consultant Knight Frank.
"33,000 homes are unsold in the primary residential market of Hyderabad till June 30, out of 1,18,000 housing units that have been launched by the developers over the last 3-4 years," Knight Frank India Chief Economist and Director Research Samantak Das told PTI. Das added that the growth in housing demand has been slower than the supply because of political uncertainties in Andhra Pradesh over demand for a separate Telangana state. The consultant also said that it will take more than two years to absorb the current unsold inventory as the city has been taking longer time for absorption than other metros. "Largely an end user market, Hyderabad has witnessed an extended slump due to the prevailing political uncertainties. Weakened consumer sentiments have affected the market deeply with no signs of recovery since the past two years," the Knight Frank report said. Despite competitive capital values compared to other metros, the Hyderabad market has failed to pick up the anticipated pace. Political instability over the Telangana issue is the primary reason for this, it added. Since the residential sector is highly sentiment driven, the Hyderabad market failed to attract buyers, it added. According to Knight Frank research, Hyderabad shows the highest quarters to sell (QTS) ratio among the six metro cities. QTS refers to the number of quarters required to exhaust the existing unsold inventory in the city. However, the consultants have found out that Hyderabad’s residential market is showing some signs of recovery despite an extended slowdown. Nearly 69,800 residential units are under various stages of construction in the Hyderabad market. About 70 per cent of this is expected to be ready for possession by 2014 end. On prices, the consultant said that although Hyderabad residential market has shown signs of revival in the past couple of quarters, rates have not appreciated much. Prime residential locations like Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills have seen an increase of about 7-10 per cent during FY13 due to limited supply there. Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills command high capital values ranging between Rs 7000-7500 per sq ft, which is very high compared to other micro-markets. Western zone locations like Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur and Kukatpally have seen price appreciation to the tune of 9 per cent during FY13.

TATA MOTORS NEW SERVICE INITIATIVE

As part of its HorizoNext strategy, auto major Tata Motors today launched 'Tata Motors Service', a comprehensive and renewed service programme for achieving deeper customer engagement. Besides, the company, which has been facing steep fall in sales for the past many months, also rolled out 11 distinctive service offerings across its 800 service networks spread over 500 locations. "As a part of our greater focus on customer delight in our HorizoNext strategy, these service initiatives harness technology and our network to take service to a higher level of customer satisfaction," Tata Motors passenger vehicle business unit head Ranjit Yadav said after unveiling the new brand identity for the company's new service programme. With these initiatives, the company will harness its over 800 technology-backed sales outlets and customer insights to the next level, he said. To attract customers, the company has already announced a new format of its passenger car showrooms with a video wall, wi-fi-enabled lounges, merchandising of accessories and lifestyle products, cafes and play areas for kids. It plans to upgrade 150 of its 250 strong dealerships by the fiscal end. "We are empowering our network with tools, technology and processes to ensure that Tata Motors service truly stands for responsiveness, reliability and best value that delight our customers," passenger vehicles business unit senior vice-president Ankush Arora said.

IBM PREFERRED DESTINATION

When it comes to employment, many aspirants give more weightage to the job profile and brand image of a company than the salary package, a survey shows. The survey by Firstnaukri.com, a portal for campus hiring, also found that BE/B.Tech IT students prefer IBM for employment, followed by TCS and Infosys. "Job profile and brand image of the company continue to rule the choice in comparison to salary package during placements," according to the survey.
The findings are based on questions e-mailed to jobseekers registered with the portal. It covered BE/B.Tech, BBA, BCA, B.Sc, non-IT engineers, finance and computer science graduates and post-graduate students. "Infosys, TCS and IBM still remain the big giants in campus placements for IT students. It is interesting to note that the students are keener for a good job profile rather than a fat salary package," Firstnaukri.com Business Head Deepali Singh said. For non-IT engineers, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and L&T are the most preferred brands, followed by Tata Motors and Tata Steel, the report said. Among MBA and MCA students, it said that Coca-Cola and Bharti Airtel emerged as the preferred employers, followed by Pepsi & Samsung. 

I COULD HAVE COME A YEAR EARLIER

President Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated a library and sports ground with a small regret that if he had come to Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier he could have saved some structures from demolition. "I thank my team and Secretary Omita Paul for renovating this library (named after him). "I wish I could have come a little earlier and saved some (structures) from demolition and (they could) be utilised for better purposes," he said addressing families of those who reside in the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex. The gathering included a number of youngsters. Mukherjee today spent close to two hours meeting kids, youngsters and staffers of the Presidential Estate as he dedicated the two facilities and unveiled a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi near the historic Durbar Hall of the President's house. The 77-year-old President inaugurated the first ever statue of the Father of Nation in the Rashtrapati Bhavan which till now only has his portraits. "Many great people come to this building and the next time they cross over to the Durbar Hall they will pause for a while and their heads will bow down in respect for the great saint," he said. Mukherjee, during his talk in the library, urged the children and young students to make it a habit to read something everyday. He also gave away the first few membership cards to the staff of the Presidential Estate. He promised that new publications that reach the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be made available to the 'reference and reading section' of the new library named after him.

President Pranab Mukherjee with sculptor Ram Sutar and Gandhi Smriti and Gandhi Darshan Samiti Director Manimala after unveiling the bronze statue of Mahatama Gandhi at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi

Make Rashtrapati Bhavan accessible to public
 Every effort should be made to increase accessibility of Rashtrapati Bhavan to the public, President Pranab Mukherjee said today as he launched a new section of digital initiatives. "The common citizens of our country always have the desire and curiosity to know more about the highest constitutional office in the land," he said. The President said he is very happy to note that a substantial portion of Rashtrapati Bhavan has been opened to public viewing by giving reasonable access to visitors "who want to explore its rich history and architectural heritage and the history leading to the creation of our nation". "This would serve, in a good measure, to educate the young generation and inculcate in them a sense of pride and nationalism. I would like to see the Rashtrapati Bhavan playing an important role in further spreading this sense of pride amongst the citizens," he said. As part of digital initiatives, historical speeches, documentaries and newsreels procured from AIR and Films Division have been added to the new-look Rashtrapati Bhavan website. A video, "The Presidency: Glimpses of First Year", will be added to the website which will cover important events over the past one year in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the President's Estate. A digital photo library with photographs of the first year of Mukherjee's presidency is being added to the website.

COLLECT EMI'S THROUGH ECS

Auto and home loan borrowers need not pay post dated cheques towards EMIs as RBI has directed banks to collect monthly instalments through electronic mode wherever the facility for such fund transfer is available. Banks are advised that no fresh or additional post dated cheques (PDC) or Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) cheques shall be accepted at locations where Electronic Clearance Service (ECS) is available, RBI said in a notification. "The existing cheques in such locations may be converted into ECS by obtaining fresh ECS (Debit) mandates," it said. The move is aimed at cutting usage of cheques and promoting electronic transfer. It will also save borrowers the efforts of going to branch for collection of cheque books. The notification also said that ECS also accords the same rights and remedies to the payee against dishonour of electronic funds transfer instructions under insufficiency of funds as are available under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. "Considering the protection available, there is no need for banks to take additional cheques, if any, from customers in addition to ECS (Debit) mandates," it said. Cheques complying with CTS-2010 standard formats shall alone be obtained in locations, where the facility of ECS is not available, it added. 

COST OF LIVING TOP 10 CITIES

POVERTY ESTIMATES FAR FROM FACTS

Questioning Planning Commission's latest poverty estimates, NCP leader and Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel today said they are based on "totally wrong" benchmark of per capita daily expenditure of Rs 33.33 for cities and Rs 27.20 for villages. "...the ceiling set by them (Planning Commission) is totally wrong. In today's time, Commission should set a new ceiling keeping in mind inflation and high cost of living. We do not agree with this data," Patel told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here. According to Planning Commission data, persons spending over Rs 33.33 a day in cities and Rs 27.20 in villages are not poor. Based on this, Commission concluded that the poverty ratio in the country declined to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12 from 37.2 per cent in 2004-05. On whether living at Rs 27-33 a day was sufficient for poor people, Patel said though there has been progress in the country but the Planning Commission ceiling on poverty is incorrect. The Planning Commission's poverty calculation, as per the Tendulkar Methodology, has already generated lot of controversy and was criticised across the political spectrum as being unrealistic and unmindful of present day realities. Led by Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is a key alliance partner of the UPA government. However, the relations between Congress and NCP have not been good recently and Pawar in May had said that Congress had failed to reciprocate its support and friendship. Patel said considering the present cost of living in the country, the Planning Commission should fix a new ceiling to determine poverty. 

PRESIDENT COMPLETES 1 YEAR, BUSY SCHEDULE TOMORROW

President Pranab Mukherjee completes a year in office tomorrow. He has a very busy schedule for the day which includes unveiling of a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi sculpted by a 89-year-old man and launching of a project to digitise rare photographs. The President, who has made only two foreign visits during the year and travelled extensively within the country. He begins his day by inaugurating "Pranab Mukherjee Public Library" for the residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The library is coming up in a dilapidated building in the President's Estate which was renovated and converted into a library. It si only for the use by the residents of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate and their children. Fully air conditioned, the library will have a rich collection of books, newspapers and magazines for all age groups as well as a special children's section.Separate reading rooms will be provided for young students to prepare for competitive and other examinations. President's estate, which houses nearly 8,000 residents. A Cricket Ground at Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya was built to engage them in sports activities. The stadium, constructed according to latest BCCI guidelines, is aimed at providing better cricket facilities to the students of the school, established in 1949 and which has 60 teachers and 1600 students.  During the day, Mukherjee will interact with governors across the country through a new video conferencing facility installed in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and host a dinner for the Council of Ministers. 

MAHATMA'S BRONZE STATUE
Mukherjee will unveil within the Rashtrapati Bhavan the bronze statue of Gandhi made by Ram Sutar of Maharashtra. Sutar, who was born in the family of a poor carpenter, is considered a master of stone, marble and bronze sculpturing. He was given Padma Shree in 1999 and his bronze statues of eminent leaders adorn the Parliament, government buildings and other public places.

DIGITAL INITIATIVES 
A new section of digital initiatives will be inaugurated by Mukherjee and will be linked to the official website of the President. A video, "The Presidency: Glimpses of First Year", will be added to the website which will cover important events over the past one year in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the President's Estate. A digital photo library with photographs of the first year of Mukherjee's presidency is being added to the website. Later on, the photo library will contain archival photographs of first Governor General after Independence Rajagopalachari and Presidents since 1949. It is intended to help in archival conservation through digitisation of old photographs and will be implemented in a phased manner through a user friendly interface. A face recognition feature was being added to the search engine of the photo library that will enable searching photographs with a given photo in the database and result in all matched photos. The photo library when completed is expected to have a database of over three million photographs, Rajamony said. A catalogue of 1525 old and rare books of Rashtrapati Bhavan is being added to the website for the information of public along with select portions of the audio-visual section of the library. The oldest book in the library -- "The Original Works of William Hogarth" -- dates back to 1795. The audio-visual section includes historical speeches, newsreels and documentaries procured from sources like All India Radio and Films Division. Rare historical speeches like "Tryst with Destiny" and "Death of Mahatma Gandhi" delivered by Jawarharlal Nehru and speeches of Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari, former presidents and other prominent leaders will also be available in this section. The films include archival material on the history of the freedom movement, events around independence, departure of Lord Mountbatten from India and funeral of Gandhi,

HIRING TRENDS ON CHANGE

Hiring for IT graduates in the country would witness a slight difference from this year, as hiring patterns have changed and priorities placed on soft skills and domain-based specialisation, a top NASSCOM official said today. "The hiring might not be the same from this year, since the hiring patterns has changed," NASSCOM president Som Mittal told reporters here.
He also attributed the slow hiring pattern to the slow attrition rates in the country, "When the attrition rates are less, naturally hiring rates will also be slower."
As to whether the hiring will be less, he said, "The numbers will not be as big as it used to be... though, we will be hiring in 2014-15, they will actually be for 2015-16, so that they can go through their training.. We spend over two per cent of our revenue for training."
The hiring would happen this year in two phases -- September to October and in May to July, he said, adding, in the first phase it will happen in the seventh semester and the other will happen once the student graduates.
Asked whether not all graduates would land in a job, he said, "Well, I cannot give job to all students. Also, the number of students graduating is growing. In 2005, there were 36,5000 graduates in IT sector, which this year is 1.3 million graduates now." He also advised colleges to keep up with the expectations of the industry, as employers expect more soft skills and domain specialisation from the students, in addition to the technical expertise.
Mittal said that the future demands in the IT sector for skills would include mobile application, cloud virtualisation, platform engineering besides the need for data scientists.
He also said that the 60 per cent of the present day workforce are Gen Y, who prefer easy going work environment, rapid job promotion and work-life balance, mobility and social media device usage.
Of the 3.1 million workforce of the industry, 30 per cent comprised of women, of which 15 to 20 per cent are at managerial level and above, he said.
IT sector is set to grow 12 to 14 per cent presently, he said, adding, it would be reviewed after October this year. Commenting on the US new immigration bill, he said, "There is a shortage in the US corporations and we are filling in those. If the bill is passed, US corporations would stand to lose more than the Indian companies. And this would also impact the US economy."
He said NASSCOM has also set a target of providing one to 1.5 per cent jobs for differently-abled individuals.

HARYANA TOPS IN HOSEHOLD SPENDING

Haryana topped the list among large states recording largest household monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) in urban areas whereas in rural areas, Kerala ranks the first, a government survey said.
Haryana recorded a MPCE of Rs 3,346.32 in cities followed by Himachal Pradesh at Rs 3,173.30 and Kerala at Rs 3,044.22 as per the National Sample Survey Organisation's survey on household consumer expenditure from July 2011 to June 2012. The study also revealed that among the large states, Kerala stood at first position by recording MPCE of Rs 2,355.53 in rural areas followed by Punjab at Rs 2,136.39 and Haryana at Rs 1,925.96.
In case of union territories and smaller states, Andaman and Nicobar islands tops the charts with monthly per capita expenditure of Rs 4,439.03 in urban areas followed by Delhi at Rs 3,160.76 and Chandigarh at Rs 3,000.27. Similarly in rural areas, among union territories and smaller states, Delhi comes first with MPCE at Rs 2,690.24 followed by Chandigarh at Rs 2,543.57 and Andaman and Nicobar islands at Rs 2,508.19.
Among the states, Chhattisgarh recorded lowest monthly per capita expenditure of Rs 904.04 in rural areas followed by Odisha at Rs 904.78 and Bihar at 907.41 during the period under review.
Similarly in urban areas, Bihar was at the bottom with MPCE of Rs 1,396.65 followed by Manipur at Rs 1,448.91 and Chhattisgarh at Rs 1,776.21.

ADS ARE MISLEADING

Advertising industry watchdog ASCI upheld complaints against 123 campaigns in May for misleading ads, including those of Sony India, Vodafone, Hindustan Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser India. According to the Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of ASCI (Advertising Standard Council of India), maximum 70 complaints of misleading ads were from the education sector during the month.
The CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the advertisement of Sony Xperia Z smartphone which showed the phone could be washed with water and still it worked were not substantiated and the complaint was upheld, said ASCI. ASCI also upheld a complaint against Reckitt Benckiser's ad for Veet body moisturiser which claimed, among others, that 'it's unique pro-minimise formula delays hair re-growth which makes your skin feel touchable, smooth for a longer time' putting it under not adequately/scientifically substantiated category. Similarly, another FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever was also pulled over its ad for Pond's pure white face wash which claims 'you get instant glow on your skin'.
Likewise, L'Oreal India was pulled up for its ad for L'Oreal White Perfect Laser Cream which claimed they provide 'incredible whitening radiance superior to laser treatment'. The advertising industry watchdog also upheld a complaint against Vodafone for an ad which claimed 'unlimited Internet starting at Rs 199 per month. There is no fine print or disclaimer.'
"The back page shows 'pack allowance' and each pack has data limit after which it is at reduced speed. So there is a limit. By definition, unlimited shouldn't have a limit. The CCC concluded that the claims mentioned in the advertisement were not substantiated," ASCI said. In May, ASCI's CCC upheld complaints against 123 ads out of 144 complaints received. Health, personal care and education were the main categories that continued to make misleading and unsubstantiated claims and come under the scanner of the CCC, ASCI said. The education sector leads with a whopping 56 per cent of the ads (70 out of 123) against which complaints were upheld in the month of May 2013.
ASCI said most of the institutions, including Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, claimed that "they provide 100 per cent placement", which were not substantiated violating guidelines for advertising of educational institutions. 

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT AUM'S ON RISE

Wealthy investors are reposing greater faith in their portfolio managers for investments or advisory services, as the assets under management of such entities have reached a record level of Rs 7 lakh crore in the Indian capital markets.
According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Assets Under Management (AUM) of portfolio managers increased to Rs 7.01 lakh crore at the end of June, from Rs 6.17 lakh crore in the previous month.
This is the 14th consecutive monthly rise in AUMs of portfolio managers, who mostly manage investments or provide advisory services to High Networth Individuals (HNIs). The total AUM has nearly doubled since the data was first released by the market regulator Sebi in December 2010.
During June, portfolio managers individually handled assets worth Rs 5.15 lakh crore for discretionary services, besides Rs 78,198 crore for advisory services and another Rs 29,255 crore for non-discretionary investments.
Of the total assets managed by portfolio mangers, about Rs 4.80 lakh crore was contributed by funds from employee provident fund organisation (EPFO) or provident fund (PF), Sebi data showed.
However, the number of clients for portfolio managers has fallen to 65,300 in June from 65,667 in the preceding month. The number of their clients has significantly declined from the levels seen in December 2010.
Portfolio managers, who run portfolio management services (PMS), accept investments of up to Rs 25 lakh or stocks worth this level.
As per Sebi data, portfolio managers handled debt assets to the tune of Rs 4.97 lakh crore, and listed and unlisted equities worth Rs 21,806 crore at the end of June.
In addition, portfolio managers managed AUM worth about Rs 9,260 crore of mutual funds during the period.

NOW ELECTORAL FUNDS

To bring in greater transparency in corporate funding of political parties' poll expenses, the government has paved way for setting up of 'Electoral Trust' companies that would get tax benefits for funds given to various political outfits. The latest move would allow the entities to register non-profit companies having 'Electoral Trust' as part of their names, thus differentiating them from the companies having other business interests. The Corporate Affairs Ministry has amended its 'Name Availability Guidelines' for the companies to enable registration of such entities. "Name including phrase 'Electoral Trust' may be allowed for registration of companies to be formed under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 under the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013, as notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)," the ministry said in a new circular. However, such a company would have to be a new entity and the name application would need to be accompanied with an affidavit to effect that the name to be obtained shall be only for the purpose of registration of companies under Electoral Trust Scheme of CBDT, the ministry added. The government notified this Electoral Trusts Scheme earlier tis year to streamline the process and bring in more transparency in the funds provided by corporate entities to the political parties for their election-related expenses. As per the scheme, such companies can get tax benefits only if they distribute 95 per cent of total contributions received by them in any financial year to the registered political parties within that year itself. Besides, they can not receive any contribution in cash and they are required to take the Permanent Account Number of all contributors who are resident Indians, and passport number of non-resident Indian citizens at the time of receiving the contribution. These Electoral Trust companies are not allowed to accept contributions from foreign citizens or companies. Many business conglomerates, including Tatas, Aditya Birla group and Bharti Groups, have in the past disclosed having made contributions to different political parties through their trusts. However, there have been concerns that a lack of transparency in such funding procedures, prompting the government to come out with a clear set of regulations in this regard. 

TELEGRAM FEVER

The 163-year old telegram service may have technically come to an end a week ago but for many who rushed to be a part of history by sending their last telegrams, the journey is not over yet. Even after a week of booking their cherished telegrams, many -- including those who used 'Taar' for the first time in their lives -- are still awaiting confirmation that the messages have indeed been delivered to the rightful recipients. "I booked eight telegrams on Sunday but none of them has reached. I rushed to book telegram, the service that I never used in my life, as it was turning in to history," says Delhi-based businessman Sanjeev Yadav. "With so much delay in delivery, government has killed the meaning of telegram," Yadav, who stood in the queue at Central Telegraph Office for around two hours, said. The telegram, once the fastest mode of communication, lost its sheen with advent of telephone and later with widespread of mobile phones. Still, hundreds crammed into 75 telegram offices in the country to send souvenir messages before the service was shutdown after running for 162 years at a stretch. As a result, over 20,000 telegrams booked on last day of its service compared to daily run of 5,000. Another individual, M S Seth expressed disappointment at not receiving telegrams till date which were booked for local addresses. "I drove for 20 kilometres to book telegram, stood in the queue for around three hours and even in rain just because of emotions that this service will no longer exist. But after putting so much effort there has been no result. I just pray that my telegrams get delivered properly," Seth said. No comments were received from BSNL, which was in charge of telegram service operations. On July 15, BSNL claimed to have despatched 12,568 out of 20,000 telegrams that were booked on July 14. On July 16, a BSNL spokesperson said all booked telegrams have been despatched with the help of using company's own staff and India Post. Karuppiah, a 96-year old resident of Vadamalaipatti village near Trichy, received a telegram from his grandson Anand Sathiyaseelan after four days. "This time I got telegram by post. It used to get delivered in around 2 hours even when I booked it from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for my parents in this village. There were many telegram offices earlier but the number is now very less. The nearest telegram office to our village was closed , I think, around 5 to 6 years back," Karuppiah said on phone. Sathiyaseelan said his grandfather ran a business in Sri Lanka and had sent first telegram in 1934 to his parents. First 30 words in telegram cost Rs 29 and Re 1 thereafter for every word -- umpteen times more expensive than short message service or e-mails used for communications at present. BSNL decided to discontinue the services following huge gap between the average annual revenue of around Rs 75 lakh compared to cost of over Rs 100 crore.

 

INDIA 2nd LARGEST INVESTOR IN LONDON

India has emerged the second largest investor in London, with companies like software major Infosys attracted to the city by the investment fervour generated by the 2012 Olympic Games. Software services firm Infosys led the charge of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) by a total of 28 Indian companies, which generated 429 additional jobs for the British economy in the last year alone, according to latest government figures released here today to mark a year since London hosted the world's biggest sporting events. "India is a very important market for us and these are fantastic results. The Olympics provided the perfect opportunity for Indians to come and experience London and resulted in more Indian companies setting up here," Gordon Innes, CEO of London and Partners (L&P) and the Mayor of London's business and promotional organisation, told PTI. "I had taken the mayor, Boris Johnson, to India last year where we held some very important discussions at the national and city level. India has seen phenomenal growth and there are a large number of areas of common interest, such as transport and city planning, where we can work together," he said in reference to the future plans of L&P. L&P is a not-for-profit public private partnership set up to unlock London to overseas investment. India brought in a large chunk of the 2.5 billion-pound additional foreign investment into the UK since the Games and Indian FDI projects in 2012-13 are estimated to generate 24 million pounds in gross value added for London's economy over the next three years. Information and communications technology was the key sector in terms of Indian FDI into London, followed by financial services and retail. "The fact that the Olympics were held here generated a lot of positive imagery globally. Our clients employ us because we are at the cutting edge of innovation. We need to be talking to the right people and London & Partners does a good job at helping us with that," Bangalore-headquartered Infosys said in a statement. In the financial services sector, Axis Bank stood out for setting up its global operations in London as a result of discussions during the mayoral visit to India last November. Cyril Anand, chief executive of Axis Bank UK said, "London has the right mix of potential wholesale and retail business to make it the ideal location for our first international subsidiary. It provides us with a robust regulatory environment which will allow Axis to build on its strong corporate franchise internationally. We look forward to establishing a significant presence in the city." 

INDIANS WORK HARD ON VACATION

Indian professionals are more hardworking than their peers globally with many of them dedicating at least one to three hours for work even during holidays, says a survey.
The findings, based on a survey of more than 26,000 executives worldwide by provider of flexible workplaces, Regus, revealed that about 49 per cent of Indian professional spends more time on work, much higher than the global average of 41 per cent. As per the survey, the top reasons making professionals to work on vacations are the urge to check mails, the boredom of being so free on a holiday, obsession with files, clients and meetings and insecurity about jobs or the uneasiness of leaving behind the workstations. Individually, 50 per cent of Indian men surveyed prefer to work for around one-three hours every day even when on a holiday as compared to 38 per cent women respondent in the country. "The dedication men worldwide and especially in India are showing towards their jobs is admirable with a huge percentage of business professionals taking their work away with them," Regus Regional Vice President (South Asia) Madhusudan Thakur said. "However, this can also be interpreted as an indication that they feel overstretched or insecure in their jobs and are unable to properly switch off. The effects of work place stress are well documented so it is important that workers carve out some personal time," he added. The survey, conducted among 90 nations, said American professionals (56 per cent) are the highest percentage of professionals who are willing to lose 1-3 hours each day during holidays followed by Japan (53 per cent), India (49 per cent), Australia (44 per cent) and the UK (35 per cent). The survey showed that in the last year, many companies especially the multi-nationals have adopted the policies of flexible working, work from home options among others thereby giving stress free holidays to their employees. "With growing competition, the companies, these days, are much more concerned about the well being of their staff not only to reduce the attrition rate but to provide best facilities, thereby making the best use of their employees," it added. 

HSBC RETAINS SENSEX TARGET

HSBC Global Research has retained its Sensex target of 20,700 points at the end of 2013. "After the Q4 FY13 (ending March) earnings season, the Street scaled back forecasts on GDP, the rupee value against the USD and market EPS. We believe this dose of realism is healthy for the market," HSBC Global Research said in its `India Equity Insights Quarterly' report. "With growth concerns now more severe across North Asia, we believe India looks relatively better placed in a regional context. Our year-end 2013 index target is 20,700 - 3 per cent above the current level," it said. The 30-share BSE benchmark index ended at 20,149.85 today. "We believe the recent liquidity tightening by the Reserve Bank of India is likely to be temporary, as it could derail the nascent recovery. Raising the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate on July 15 to 300bps above the repo rate should see a hardening of the yield curve," HSBC Securities and Capital Markets Equity Strategist Jitendra Sriram said. During the past quarter we have seen consensus forecasts being taken down after FY13 results. Two factors, lower economic growth and higher effective taxes, have contributed to the downgrades. Currently, the Street consensus is expecting 11 per cent corporate earnings growth for FY13-14, which looks reasonable in our view, Sriram said. HSBC Research said corporate earnings have bottomed out and a gradual recovery is in the offing. Among the sectors, the consensus expectations of 16 per cent earnings growth for consumer discretionary, 17 per cent for material, 15 per cent for industrials and high double -digit growth for telecom look optimistic, the report said. "We believe the rupee depreciation has meant that exporters (IT and healthcare) should see positive earnings revisions," it said. HSBC economists believe India's GDP growth has bottomed out and it should see a marginal rise in the coming quarters. "We expect quarterly GDP growth to increase from 4.8 per cent in Q1 CY13 to 6.6 per cent in Q4 CY14." The economic growth should improve from hereon on the back of improved agriculture output and pre-election spending, they said. 

CYBER CRIME SYSTEMIC RISK

A majority of stock exchanges worldwide came under cyber attacks last year and almost 90 per cent of them perceive such activities to be a potential systemic risk, according to a survey. For the bourses, cyber-crimes -- whose nature is becoming more complex -- could result in "massive financial and reputational impact," among other adverse fallouts. The findings are part of the 2012-13 Cyber-Crime Survey jointly conducted by the IOSCO Research Department and the World Federation of Exchanges. It covered various exchanges and central counterparty clearing houses across the world. The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is a grouping of capital market regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
"A majority of exchanges (89 per cent) view cyber-crime in securities markets as a potential systemic risk," the report said. More than half of the exchanges surveyed said they had suffered a cyber attack in 2012. "Exchanges from the Americas were more likely to report having suffered an attack (67 per cent)," it added. Cyber-crimes in the securities markets are generally disruptive in nature and could negatively impact market integrity and efficiency. Further, the survey showed that exchanges employ several preventative and detection mechanisms to tackle cyber-crimes.
"...Nearly all (94 per cent) of exchanges surveyed report that disaster-recovery protocols are in place in their organisation," it added. However, about a quarter of the participating bourses said that current preventative and recovery mechanisms may not be sufficient in the face of a large-scale, coordinated cyber-attack. Meanwhile, a staff working paper published on July 16 by IOSCO said instances of attacks against exchanges means that cyber-crime is already targeting securities markets' core infrastructures and providers of essential (and non-substitutable services). "At this stage, these cyber-attacks have not impacted core systems or market integrity and efficiency. However, some exchanges surveyed suggest that a large-scale, successful attack may have the potential to do so," the paper said.

CHEERS IN PLACE OF THANKS

Britons are shunning the formal 'thank you' and are more likely to use trendy phrases such as 'super' and 'awesome' to show their gratitude, a new study has found. Words such as 'Cheers', 'ta' or 'that's great' have replaced a thank you because many Britons think it's too formal. Researchers found that four in 10 Britons prefer not to use it while 13 per cent think it is old-fashioned, the 'Daily Express' reported. Instead, words such as 'cool', 'brilliant', 'lovely', 'fab', 'super', 'you star', 'wicked', 'okay', 'nice one', 'much appreciated', 'awesome' and even 'boom' are more popular than a thank you. "People still like to give and receive thanks, but in the modern world there are a million different ways to do this. People use different phrases depending on the situation and who they are speaking to," said Zoe Shore, for the study by First Direct bank. "So words such as boom, cool and wicked might be deemed appropriate with your mates, but not quite so suitable for a work setting, or when talking to an elder," Shore said. Of the 2,000 Brits who took part in the study, six in 10 people believe that, as a nation, Britain is quite rude. Also, 83 per cent think more effort needs to be made to regularly show gratitude.

TRAVELLERS MOBILE SAVVY

Travellers having Internet access are increasingly using smartphones and tablets to get information about tourist destinations and make payments online, says a Goolge study. Of more than 1,500 travellers surveyed, 87 per cent said they used smartphones to research their trips and 66 per cent respondents said they booked a trip element on it, the study 'Multi-screen Traveller' said. About 60 per cent respondents said information they find while researching on smartphones influences their booking decision, it said. The study revealed that 76 per cent users use both computers and mobile devices across various travel stages such as researching and booking. Moreover, the biggest trigger for holiday planning are online pictures. Browsing pictures on social networks, blogs, travel sites get users to start thinking of their next vacation destination, it said. Indian travel planner goes through a variety of resources around destination research, like browsing through pictures on social networks (74 per cent), reading trip information on travel sites & apps (56 per cent) and watching videos about destinations (52 per cent), the study said.
Speaking on the findings of the study, Google India Director (Travel & BFSI) Vikas Agnihotri said, "Over one-third of travel related search queries on Google India are now coming from mobile and tablet devices, with queries from smartphones growing at 397 per cent YoY." The study highlights the opportunity for application makers to develop content which could help users to take quick and better informed decisions on their holidays, he said. Respondents highlighted the convenience and preference for mobile applications over using mobile browsers for booking their trip and sharing information on the trip, he said. Smartphones and tablets are also actively used for sharing experiences through social networks, the study said. "74 per cent respondents said they shared or posted on their social network and 46 per cent respondents re-scheduled a trip element using the phone," it said. 

JOBS 680...APPLICATIONS 1.8 LAKHS

State-run steel maker SAIL has received job applications from over 1.80 lakh engineering graduates for 640 managerial posts. "The process (of recruitment of engineering graduates) has been attracting high number of applicants from leading institutes across the country, with an overwhelming response of over 1,80,000 applicants in 2013," Steel Authority of India (SAIL) said in a statement. The leading steel producer regularly inducts young, qualified and professional talents in frontline managerial cadre and has invited applications for 640 posts this year. "The recruitments have been to the tune of over 600 engineering graduates every year keeping in view the on-going massive expansion and modernisation programme involving investment of Rs 72,000 crores approx," the company said. "Selection for the same is based on an extensive written examination followed by a group discussion and interview," it said.
During the current year, the test was scheduled in 29 cities covering 20 states and 214 test centres. Each centre was headed by a Test Centre Incharge assisted by representatives from the agency and supervised by nominee officials of SAIL. More than 7500 invigilators and other support staff were deputed across the test centres for ensuring effective conduct of the test, the company said. The written examination scheduled on 14th July 2013 was conducted smoothly across the country except for two centres at Patna where certain irregularities were reported, it said. The irregularities, as reported, related to usage of high tech gadgets by some unscrupulous elements for resorting to unfair practices during the examination, it added. These elements have been apprehended by the alert law and order authorities. The company said given the seriousness of the incident it has ordered a retest in these two centres only, which will be conducted within the next two/three weeks. SAIL has embarked on a Rs 72,000-crore modernisation plan to increase its overall capacity from 13.82 million tonnes at present to 23.46 million tonnes. 

ULTRA LOW COST CAR FROM RENAULT NISSAN

Franco-Japanese auto alliance Renault-Nissan today said it will double its investments in India to 5 billion dollars in the next five years for overall expansion, including new products and adding fresh production capacity in the country. The alliance, which today announced a completely new global platform of vehicle (CMF-A), developed fully from the scratch in India for high growth markets, said it is still working on an ultra low cost car (ULC) that would be only tad costlier than Tata Nano. "We have been investing in India .... The Chennai plant, technical centre and the new platform CMF-A and others for introducing new models, so far we have invested USD 2.5 billion in the country," Renault-Nissan alliance Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters here. "There are so many products coming. Nissan has already said 10 cars by 2016 and Renault is also planning to bring many more. So our overall investments of USD 2.5 billion in India will double in the next five years," he added. With all the new products coming in, including the relaunched Datsun brand, the alliance is looking at having 15 per cent market share in few years, he said without specifying a time line. Commenting on the new CMF-A platform, Ghosn said: "This is a completely new platform developed in India, using the Indian engineering and local suppliers supported by Renault- Nissan." The products from the platform will meet specific requirements of first time new car buyers in world's fastest growing markets, he added. The first car from the platform will roll out from the Chennai plant in 2015 and two products are already being planned on it, said Ghosn, adding it could be under any brand -- Renault, Nissan or Datsun, of the alliance. The products based on the CMF-A will be sent for test marketing in fast growing markets such as Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil and if they are accepted there, the alliance would manufacture in those markets, he added. When asked if the alliance is still working on an ultra low cost car, he replied in the affirmative. "We are still sticking to the idea of a ULC, not only for India but for all the high growth markets," he said. On whether the ULC will compete with Tata Nano, Ghosn said: "The product will be much better but the pricing will not be very far from the lowest cost product available in the market." The alliance had earlier partnered with Bajaj Auto for the ULC but pulled out of it due to differences in approach. Sounding bullish on the Indian market, Ghosn said: "India will be among the top five global markets for Renault and among the top ten for Nissan in future." 

TCS INDIA'S MOST ADMIRED COMPANY

TCS has emerged as India's most admired company ahead of Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and Infosys, says global management consultancy Hay Group. According to the findings of the second edition of India's Most Admired Companies (IMAC) compiled by Hay Group in association with Fortune India, TCS replaced last year's winner group company Tata Steel by scoring highest on parameters such as corporate governance, financial soundness, and talent management. Second-ranked FMCG HUL has been rated highest on its endurance and product quality, while ITC and Infosys share the joint third spot. SBI, L&T, Tata Steel, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, and ICICI Bank also feature in the top 10. Commenting on the findings, Hay Group India MD Gaurav Lahiri said "this year, two criteria in particular, Leadership, and Creating Shareholder Value, separated the Top 10 from the rest of the winners, with Talent Management coming in a close third." Interestingly, last year's top 10 did not include any PSEs - accounted for by SBI and ONGC this year. ICICI makes its debut in the top ten this year, while Colgate Palmolive, Tata Motors, and Dell India all have slipped down the order compared to their ranking last year.
The top 10 of India's most admired companies also include SBI (5th), L&T (6th), Tata Steel (7th), ONGC (8th), Maruti Suzuki (9th) and ICICI Bank (10th). Lahiri further added that "as demonstrated by the IMACs, in today's uncertain business environment, it is more important than ever for organisations to create shareholder value through good leadership and talent management practices."
The study was based on a unique peer ranking methodology, that covered 493 companies across 16 key sectors. Findings represent a report card on corporate reputations that involves more than just profits and performance for India Inc. 

RAREST GOLD COINS DISCOVERED

A diver struck gold, literally, when he found 48 gold coins that are nearly 300 years old, and believed to be worth a whopping USD 200,000, off the coast of Wabasso Beach in Florida. The coins, discovered by the 'Capitana' boat crew over the weekend, are believed to be those aboard 11 Spanish ships that broke apart in 1715. Bounds and his crew found the gold approximately 200 feet off the coastline, 'New York Daily News' reported. "You go out every day, hoping that it's gonna happen, and a lot of times it doesn't," dive boat Captain Greg Bounds told WPTV news channel. "But when it does, it's just amazing, the feeling that you get," he said. "Eleven Spanish galleons, loaded with treasure, were sunk along the coastline out here by a hurricane (in 1715). That's what gives us the Treasure Coast," said Brent Brisben, whose company owns salvage rights. "To see [Bounds] come up out of the water, and over the rail, I'll never forget, he waves us in. "He says, 'I think I got one more', and he drops about 15 in my hand," Brisben added. 

MICROSOFT SLASHES PRICE OF SURFACE TABLET

Microsoft has quietly cut the price of its entry-level Surface tablet computer by some 30 percent, after surveys indicating sluggish sales. The Surface RT tablet was being sold for as low as USD 349 for US customers on the Microsoft website today, down from the introductory price last year of USD 499. The move comes amid a price war for tablets and a flood of new devices on the market. Amazon has slashed prices of its Kindle HD tablets to as low as USD 169 in the US and 139 pounds in Britain, while Barnes & Noble has cut the price of its Nook to as low as USD 129, and has announced plans to outsource production of its tablets. Microsoft introduced its Surface last year at a premium price, promoting the device as a substitute for a personal computer with an attachable keyboard. But a survey by the research firm IDC estimated the company sold just 900,000 units in the first quarter, in a global market of some 49 million. Microsoft previously cut the price of the Surface as low as USD 199 for education buyers. 

RBI IN ACTION TO REDUCE VOLATILITY IN RUPEE

In a move to stem the continuing fall of rupee, the RBI tonight came out with a slew of measures including hiking the lending rates for banks and sucking up of Rs 12,000 crore, to make the currency dearer. The measures came after high level meetings between the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister followed by discussions with RBI Governor D Subbarao who was called here today as the rupee lost 33 paise to reach 59.89 after touching over 61-levels last week. Under the measures announced, RBI raised lending rates to commercial banks 2 per cent to 10.25 per cent making the loans costlier. The RBI will conduct sale of Government of India Securities to suck up Rs 12,000 crore on July 18 from the market, in a move to make rupee dearer. 
"The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate is calibrated with immediate effect to be 300 basis points above the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF)... Accordingly, the Bank Rate also stands adjusted to 10.25 per cent with immediate effect.," the release said. Introduced during the 2011-12 period, MSF allows banks to borrow money from the central bank at a higher rate when there is significant liquidity crunch. The central bank said it could take more measures depending on market conditions, liquidity situation and the macroeconomic developments. These steps would be "consistent with growth-inflation dynamics and macroeconomic stability," RBI said.
"The overall allocation of funds under the LAF will be limited to 1.0 per cent of the Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system, reckoned as Rs 75,000 crore for this purpose," according to the release.
According to RBI, the market perception of likely tapering of US Quantitative Easing has triggered outflows of portfolio investment, particularly from the debt segment. "The exchange rate pressure also evidences that the demand for foreign currency has increased vis-a-vis that of the Rupee in part because of the improving domestic liquidity situation." RBI said the rupee has depreciated markedly in the last six weeks. Countries, it said, with large current account deficits, such as India, have been particularly affected despite their relatively promising economic fundamentals. Last week, RBI had asked oil firm to source all of their 8-8.5 billion of dollar needs every month for import of oil, from a single public sector bank. It also barred banks from trading in currency futures and exchange-traded currency options market on their own. 

NO SLOWDOWN IN RICH SPENDING POWER

The Economy is passing through critical phase...Rupee is falling to historic lows....Industrial output dropped to record lows...There is looming shadow of slowdown on the Economy...But the spending power of a majority of people in the High-Income Group continues to rise amid the economic slowdown, with more than a third of their income set aside for luxury brands ASSOCHAM in its survey report revealed..

"Despite the global economic slowdown, the size of high-income group consumers continues to grow and they spend over 40 per cent of their monthly income on luxury items, whereas middle-income group consumers have come under heavy pressure," Assocham said in a statement on the survey. The respondents said the slowdown in the economy had not affected their spending patterns, with many of them stating that maintaining their lifestyle was an extremely important facet of their social life, it said. "Brand recognition continues to rise as consumers become more discerning and seek experiential luxury as well as unique one-of-a-kind such brands," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said. The factors that have fuelled the luxury industry's growth include the rise in disposable income, increased brand awareness among youth and higher purchasing power of the upper class, not only in tier-I cities but also in tier-II and tier-III cities, it said. The chamber said the survey was conducted in major places, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh and Dehradun. The survey covered about 200 respondents in each city from sectors such as IT/ITes, financial services, engineering, management, FMCG and infrastructure.

MALLYA FIRMS GO TO SCRAPS...

Leading bourses BSE and NSE today decided to shift securities of several firms, including Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines and United Breweries (Holdings), to the restricted trading category from July 19. The scrips of Reliance MediaWorks and Ramco Systems, among others, would also be moved to the restricted on both stock exchanges. BSE would shift 62 securities to the trade-for-trade or 'T' group, while NSE would transfer 36 stocks to this segment, the stock exchanges said in separate notifications today.
The stocks would be shifted with effect from July 19. In the trade-for-trade segment no speculative trading is allowed and delivery of shares and payment of consideration amount are mandatory. As per the bourses, the move is part of the "surveillance review and with a view to ensure market safety and safeguard the interest of investors".
The stock exchanges have advised the trading members to take "adequate precaution" while trading in these scrips "as the settlement will be done on trade-to-trade basis and no netting off will be allowed". However, they added the transfer of these securities for trading and settlement on a trade-to-trade basis "is purely on account of market surveillance and it should not be construed as an adverse action against the concerned company". These stocks would attract a price band of 5 per cent which would be the maximum permissible limit within which the share price can move.