Publishing WarsAnyone who thinks that the e-book market is dominated by Amazon may have to revise their opinion. Barnes and Noble (B&N), the world’s largest bookseller, this week launched a new e-bookstore that it claims is the world’s largest. B&N also said its e-books will be available on the eReader of Plastic Logic, to be launched next year. This is in direct competition with Amazon and its wireless reading kit Kindle, which is supposed to have 80 per cent share of the US market for digital books.B&N’s new store will have 700,000 titles, and bestsellers can be downloaded for $9.99 (about Rs 500) — the same price that Amazon offers to Kindle subscribers. But unlike Amazon, whose e-books are available only on Kindle, B&N’s offerings will be available on many platforms: iPod, touch, iPhone, BlackBerry, laptops and desktops, not to speak of the coming eReader. The store also has half a million public books from Google that are downloadable for free. This is obviously the beginning of a new war in e-books publishing, and publishing itself.
BloombergTest Of Swine Flu Vaccine BeginsCSL, an Australian company that makes vaccines, has begun testing the first swine flu vaccine in the world. Healthcare organisations, immunologists and pharma companies around the world will watch the outcome with interest because the ultimate dose of the vaccine will be determined from it. Many firms are developing vaccines for swine flu, which is now expected to return in a few months to the northern hemisphere.Virologists have recently said that Swine flu is more dangerous than they thought so far, and that it could kill far more people when it returns during the flu season. Vaccines and antiviral drugs are our defence against the disease. For the vaccine to work well, we need to determine how much antigen — the weakened or killed virus, or its part — a person needs to trigger a satisfactory immune response. The first trials are supposed to determine this, and the result is necessary to calculate how many doses of vaccine companies will be able to make this year. In the US, President Barack Obama has already set aside $1.85 billion in emergency funds to tackle an epidemic this year.
BloombergPesticide Link To DiabetesConventional wisdom — and recent medical knowledge — suggests that diabetes is caused by genes, a lazy lifestyle and eating a high- calorie diet. You may not be in control of your genes yet, but eating right and exercising are supposed to ward off this dreaded disease. But now a new study says that pesticides can cause diabetes. And scientists based their findings on specific pesticides that are break-down products of DDT. Although US had banned the use of DDT decades ago, their break-down products are seen still in the bodies of people. So, what about India, which still uses the chemical for controlling malaria?
Scientists at the University of Illinois in Chicago studied people who eat fish from the great lakes. They are still full of chemicals that are break-down products of DDT, and get concentrated in larger and carnivorous fish. The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, showed an unambiguous link between diabetes and DDE, a DDT metabolite. The higher the concentration of DDE in the blood, the stronger the association with diabetes. The study is the latest in a series that suggests a link between environmental chemicals and diabetes. It is well-known that India has one of the largest concentrations of such pollutants. Is that also why there is a diabetes epidemic here?
(Businessworld Issue Dated 28 Jul-03 Aug 2009)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Facebook use cuts productivity at work: Study
HOUSTON: Facebook lovers, here is another survey showing how employee productivity is robbed at workplaces. So put a limit on its usage before
employers and the bosses put a stop on its usage at work.
While it won't make employers popular, restricting Facebook can reclaim lost productivity.
A new study by Boston IT advisory firm, Nucleus Research finds that, company that allow users to access Facebook in the workplace lose an average 1.5 per cent in total worker productivity.
Nearly half employees in the recent 'social net-working' study use Facebook during work hours some as much as two hours per day.
The average worker uses it for 15 minutes a day, and most couldn't come up with a legitimate "business reason" for logging on.
 |
While it won't make employers popular, restricting Facebook can reclaim lost productivity.
A new study by Boston IT advisory firm, Nucleus Research finds that, company that allow users to access Facebook in the workplace lose an average 1.5 per cent in total worker productivity.
Nearly half employees in the recent 'social net-working' study use Facebook during work hours some as much as two hours per day.
The average worker uses it for 15 minutes a day, and most couldn't come up with a legitimate "business reason" for logging on.
Bill Gates urges India to move from low-cost to R&D
NEW DELHI: Billionaire Bill Gates urged India to move away from low-cost labour toward high-end research and development to keep its giant IT sectorTech watchIndia - Innovation HubWhat is cooking at MicrosoftWhat's new in Windows 7competitive. On a visit to New Delhi, the co-founder of Microsoft Corp called on the Indian government to speed up its commitment to R&D and to boost low number of home-grown PhD students. Gates told a panel discussion that India's "IT success story" should strive to add value and move away from low-cost labour as other developing countries play catch-up. "At first some of that (IT boom) was built on low-cost labour. And, of course, as time goes on, you don't want to have that as the only differentiator and it's not a sustainable thing, because others can come along with that as well," Gates said.
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Diversified business conglomerate ITC Ltd is planning to invest Rs 4,000-5,000 crore over the next five years in a new paper plant, provided it finds 1,500-2,000 acres in time.
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ITC, 31.7 per cent owned by British American Tobacco, is India’s top cigarette maker and also makes consumer goods and runs the Welcome Group of hotels.
At a press conference in Kolkata today, Y C Deveshwar, chairman, ITC Ltd (pictured), said: “Acquiring adequate land for fresh investments and business expansion is a challenge in India. Nonetheless, we are looking at 1,500-2,000 acres in either of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. We intend to invest close to Rs 4,000-5,000 crore over the next five years in building a new greenfield paper plant, depending on how we scale up.”
The company currently has a 0.5 million tonne paper plant in which it invested Rs 3,000 crore.
“Our focus areas in the short term would be paper, hotels and non-cigarette FMCG businesses. Paper and packaging business has the potential to be the largest and most profitable business for us. We would also invest in building new hotel properties and are in the process of investing Rs 8,000 crore in over 10 hotels. Another focus area for us would be investments in FMCG business, mainly in its R&D and advertising and communications,” Deveshwar added.
ITC currently has a total of 6,500 rooms in India, of which 2,900 are in the luxury deluxe category. It is in the process of investing Rs 8,000 crore in building over 2,000 rooms in 10 more properties.
“The Bangalore property would open soon. We deliberately deferred the launch because the hotels business was down due to the global slowdown. In better times, we would open a few rooms of a hotel property as soon as they would be completed in order to pool in money and complete the rest of the property,” said Deveshwar.
No hostile bids for rival hotelsITC Ltd said it was not interested in hostile takeover of hotel chains like EIH Ltd and Hotel Leelaventures.
“We are not interested in hostile takeover,” said Deveshwar, “These are good investments but if the other side ever thinks of joining hands with ITC it will come in handy, either in terms of joint ownership or handling just the marketing management.”
ITC owns 14.98 percent of EIH, which runs the Trident and Oberoi chain of hotels, and 3.72 percent of Hotel Leela through its unit, Russell Credit, stock exchange filings showed.
Tags : ITC Ltd British American Tobacco Y C Deveshwar
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FIIs net buy Rs 663cr, DIIs net sell Rs 207cr
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ITC, 31.7 per cent owned by British American Tobacco, is India’s top cigarette maker and also makes consumer goods and runs the Welcome Group of hotels.
At a press conference in Kolkata today, Y C Deveshwar, chairman, ITC Ltd (pictured), said: “Acquiring adequate land for fresh investments and business expansion is a challenge in India. Nonetheless, we are looking at 1,500-2,000 acres in either of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. We intend to invest close to Rs 4,000-5,000 crore over the next five years in building a new greenfield paper plant, depending on how we scale up.”
The company currently has a 0.5 million tonne paper plant in which it invested Rs 3,000 crore.
“Our focus areas in the short term would be paper, hotels and non-cigarette FMCG businesses. Paper and packaging business has the potential to be the largest and most profitable business for us. We would also invest in building new hotel properties and are in the process of investing Rs 8,000 crore in over 10 hotels. Another focus area for us would be investments in FMCG business, mainly in its R&D and advertising and communications,” Deveshwar added.
ITC currently has a total of 6,500 rooms in India, of which 2,900 are in the luxury deluxe category. It is in the process of investing Rs 8,000 crore in building over 2,000 rooms in 10 more properties.
“The Bangalore property would open soon. We deliberately deferred the launch because the hotels business was down due to the global slowdown. In better times, we would open a few rooms of a hotel property as soon as they would be completed in order to pool in money and complete the rest of the property,” said Deveshwar.
No hostile bids for rival hotelsITC Ltd said it was not interested in hostile takeover of hotel chains like EIH Ltd and Hotel Leelaventures.
“We are not interested in hostile takeover,” said Deveshwar, “These are good investments but if the other side ever thinks of joining hands with ITC it will come in handy, either in terms of joint ownership or handling just the marketing management.”
ITC owns 14.98 percent of EIH, which runs the Trident and Oberoi chain of hotels, and 3.72 percent of Hotel Leela through its unit, Russell Credit, stock exchange filings showed.
Tags : ITC Ltd British American Tobacco Y C Deveshwar
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Talks on with MTN on deal: Bharti
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd said it is still in talks with South Africa's MTN over a deal which could see a merger of the two telecom giants with a combined revenue of 20 billion dollar.
The two companies would be in exclusive talks till July 31.
"Talks are going on between Bharti Enterprises, the parent of Bharti Airtel, and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. to form a global business combination," Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and MD, Bharti Enterprises, said.
Gupta didn't elaborate any further.
Bharti Airtel and MTN had in May revived talks over a complex USD 23 billion combine that would create one of the 10 largest companies in the mobile telecom sector. Their merger talks last year had fallen apart as they could not reach an agreement on a management structure.
If successful, the combined wireless group will have more than 200 million subscribers and a combined revenue of USD 20 billion.
The Indian telecom major is exploring a potential transaction whereby it would acquire 49 per cent in MTN, and in turn, MTN and its shareholders would acquire approximately 36 per cent economic interest in Bharti.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has exempted MTN from making an open offer to Bharti shareholders.
The market regulator, however, said the open offer would be triggerred only once the global depository reciepts (GDRs) are converted into local shares with voting rights.
The two companies would be in exclusive talks till July 31.
"Talks are going on between Bharti Enterprises, the parent of Bharti Airtel, and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. to form a global business combination," Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and MD, Bharti Enterprises, said.
Gupta didn't elaborate any further.
Bharti Airtel and MTN had in May revived talks over a complex USD 23 billion combine that would create one of the 10 largest companies in the mobile telecom sector. Their merger talks last year had fallen apart as they could not reach an agreement on a management structure.
If successful, the combined wireless group will have more than 200 million subscribers and a combined revenue of USD 20 billion.
The Indian telecom major is exploring a potential transaction whereby it would acquire 49 per cent in MTN, and in turn, MTN and its shareholders would acquire approximately 36 per cent economic interest in Bharti.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has exempted MTN from making an open offer to Bharti shareholders.
The market regulator, however, said the open offer would be triggerred only once the global depository reciepts (GDRs) are converted into local shares with voting rights.
Maytas Ventures asks Centre to denotify SEZ
New Delhi: Maytas Ventures SEZ Pvt Ltd has approached the Board of Approval (BoA) under the commerce ministry to scrap its notified Special Economic Zone at Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, five more developers have also applied for surrendering their tax-free industrial zones, citing the ongoing economic slowdown.
Maytas Ventures Pvt Ltd is part of the tainted Maytas Group, which has six approved zones, out of which three are notified.
The applications will be considered by the BoA, headed by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, on 11 August.
The infotech zone was notified in June 13, 2007 by the commerce ministry, a status which allowed the developer to enjoy tax and duty benefits under the SEZ Act of 2005. In its application, Maytas Ventures has said that it has not taken any customs, excise or sales tax exemption, but availed service tax exemption worth Rs 31, 46,550. While denotifying a zone, the developer has to pay the government back the tax and other duty benefits that it availed while developing the zone. Maytas Ventures has requested the board to waive the refund of service tax benefits, as the company is under “poor financial condition”.
The BoA has so far approved scrapping of five notified zones, of which four were to be developed by DLF, while one was to be developed by Mumbai based K Raheja Universal.
Maharashtra based Sanvo resorts have also applied for denotification of their Panvel based information technology SEZ. Sanvo has not undertaken any development activity in the zone and hence has not availed tax or duty benefits.
Moreover, Shiram Properties and infrastructure Pvt Ltd has asked for scrapping a part of their 23 hectare notified Infotech zone at Kancheepuram , Tamil Nadu. All these zones have stated reasons ranging from unavailability of prospective customers, high debt servicing cost and strict lending conditions for scrapping of the zones.
Developers of two formally approved zones – SEZs with land that are yet to be notified – and one zone with in principal approval – given to SEZs that are yet to complete land acquisition- have also applied for de-recognition. These include a handicraft SEZ proposed to be developed by Gujarat Growth Centre Development Corporation Ltd in Kutch and an infotech SEZ of T. Holdings Electronics Pvt in Mysore, Karnataka.
Significantly, many developers have decided not to abandon their SEZ projects. As many as 25 SEZs have asked for more time to make...
Maytas Ventures Pvt Ltd is part of the tainted Maytas Group, which has six approved zones, out of which three are notified.
The applications will be considered by the BoA, headed by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, on 11 August.
The infotech zone was notified in June 13, 2007 by the commerce ministry, a status which allowed the developer to enjoy tax and duty benefits under the SEZ Act of 2005. In its application, Maytas Ventures has said that it has not taken any customs, excise or sales tax exemption, but availed service tax exemption worth Rs 31, 46,550. While denotifying a zone, the developer has to pay the government back the tax and other duty benefits that it availed while developing the zone. Maytas Ventures has requested the board to waive the refund of service tax benefits, as the company is under “poor financial condition”.
The BoA has so far approved scrapping of five notified zones, of which four were to be developed by DLF, while one was to be developed by Mumbai based K Raheja Universal.
Maharashtra based Sanvo resorts have also applied for denotification of their Panvel based information technology SEZ. Sanvo has not undertaken any development activity in the zone and hence has not availed tax or duty benefits.
Moreover, Shiram Properties and infrastructure Pvt Ltd has asked for scrapping a part of their 23 hectare notified Infotech zone at Kancheepuram , Tamil Nadu. All these zones have stated reasons ranging from unavailability of prospective customers, high debt servicing cost and strict lending conditions for scrapping of the zones.
Developers of two formally approved zones – SEZs with land that are yet to be notified – and one zone with in principal approval – given to SEZs that are yet to complete land acquisition- have also applied for de-recognition. These include a handicraft SEZ proposed to be developed by Gujarat Growth Centre Development Corporation Ltd in Kutch and an infotech SEZ of T. Holdings Electronics Pvt in Mysore, Karnataka.
Significantly, many developers have decided not to abandon their SEZ projects. As many as 25 SEZs have asked for more time to make...
ONGC Q1 net falls 27 per cent
Mumbai: State-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp reported a 27 per cent fall in quarterly net profit on Thursday, a smaller fall then the market had expected, as crude prices declined sharply.
ONGC, the country's second-most valuable company with a market worth of $48.5 billion, reported a net profit of Rs 48.48 billion ($1 billion), down from 66.4 billion a year ago.
The company gave a discount of Rs 4.29 billion on crude sales to state-run refiners during the quarter, down nearly 96 per cent from year earlier, Chairman R.S. Sharma said earlier in the day.
In the June quarter, ONGC shares rose 36.9 per cent while the main index rose by nearly half.
Ahead of the results, shares in ONGC closed flat at 1,092.85 rupees in a Mumbai market that rose 2.6 per cent.
ONGC, the country's second-most valuable company with a market worth of $48.5 billion, reported a net profit of Rs 48.48 billion ($1 billion), down from 66.4 billion a year ago.
The company gave a discount of Rs 4.29 billion on crude sales to state-run refiners during the quarter, down nearly 96 per cent from year earlier, Chairman R.S. Sharma said earlier in the day.
In the June quarter, ONGC shares rose 36.9 per cent while the main index rose by nearly half.
Ahead of the results, shares in ONGC closed flat at 1,092.85 rupees in a Mumbai market that rose 2.6 per cent.
RBI likely to keep interest rates unchanged: Moody's
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank is likely to keep interest rates unchanged in its quarterly monetary policy as there is little pressure on the central bank to further take liquidity easing measures, according to Moody's.
"The Reserve Bank of India is facing little, if any, pressure...March quarter GDP numbers show that India’s economy remained on a solid footing, and subsequent high-frequency data such as industrial production point to a brighter outlook," Moody's economy.com said in a release.
It further said that at the upcoming quarterly meeting on July 28, the apex bank is also likely to keep reserve requirement ratio unchanged.
"The current relatively loose monetary policy setting will complement the fiscal stimulus by ensuring sufficient liquidity for expansionary projects that are expected to gather steam later in the year. Monetary policy takes time to filter through to the economy," Moody's economy.com, the research arm of Moody's, said.
It added that as commercial banks had accepted deposits at high fixed rates in the latter half of 2008, they had been reluctant to immediately lower lending rates to mirror the series of official rate cuts.
"However, as commercial banks gradually re-price these deposits as their terms expire, lending rates are expected to fall accordingly," it said.
Moody's further added that India’s stock market has witnessed a notable rise in net capital inflows, mainly due to improvement in the global investors' sentiment.
"The trend is likely to continue in the coming year, which will help to fund business expansion and strengthen the rupee," it said.
"The Reserve Bank of India is facing little, if any, pressure...March quarter GDP numbers show that India’s economy remained on a solid footing, and subsequent high-frequency data such as industrial production point to a brighter outlook," Moody's economy.com said in a release.
It further said that at the upcoming quarterly meeting on July 28, the apex bank is also likely to keep reserve requirement ratio unchanged.
"The current relatively loose monetary policy setting will complement the fiscal stimulus by ensuring sufficient liquidity for expansionary projects that are expected to gather steam later in the year. Monetary policy takes time to filter through to the economy," Moody's economy.com, the research arm of Moody's, said.
It added that as commercial banks had accepted deposits at high fixed rates in the latter half of 2008, they had been reluctant to immediately lower lending rates to mirror the series of official rate cuts.
"However, as commercial banks gradually re-price these deposits as their terms expire, lending rates are expected to fall accordingly," it said.
Moody's further added that India’s stock market has witnessed a notable rise in net capital inflows, mainly due to improvement in the global investors' sentiment.
"The trend is likely to continue in the coming year, which will help to fund business expansion and strengthen the rupee," it said.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
News: Mahindra Holidays lists at Rs 370 on NSE
Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India, a part of the Mahindra Group listed at Rs 370 on the NSE, at a premium of 23.33% to its issue price of Rs 300 a share.
At 9.56 am, the share was trading at Rs 320.85, at a premium of 6.95% to its issue price. The share touched an intraday high of Rs 374.50 and an intraday low of Rs 315 in the early trade. The total traded quantity was 3,54,757 shares and turnover was at Rs 1,140.76 lakh.On the BSE, the share opened at Rs 315, at a premium of 5% to its issue price of Rs 300. It touched an intraday high of Rs 339.7 and intraday low of Rs 312.70.
The issue had opened for subscription between June 23 and June 26, 2009, with an initial public offering (IPO) of 92,65,275 equity shares. The size of the issue stood at Rs 277.95 crore at the issue price. The issue was subscribed 9.8 times.
The proceeds from MHRIL’s issue are expected to be deployed in the setting up of new projects and expansion of some of the existing resorts.
Source: moneycontrol.com
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