| NO ROLL Back!Finmin not opposing new FDI norms! IT @ the crossroads!India Inc eyeing Sri Lanka for projects!Obama to meet Middle East leaders! Australian official cancels Mumbai trip over attack fears!Russia will complete MiG-29 upgradation by 2013.FII inflows set to cross $10 bn-mark this month: Analysts |
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| Domestic institutions, not FIIs, powered stock market rally Foreign institutional investors preferred QIPs, IPOs to secondary market. Contrary to popular belief, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are not the prime driving force behind the recent stock market rally. FIIs have preferred to buy equity ... Set floor space norm for retail FDI: Rajan Mittal |
| | |
 | Gold polishes up its returns It has doubled your money in five years and yielded a 15 per cent yearly return over ten; all without losing even a third of its value in last year's market rout. If you're wracking your brains for this miracle stock, you'll ... |
Reliance tries its luck again in Cauvery offshore
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has returned to the Cauvery offshore block, and officials told Business Line that the initial testing of the reservoir in the appraisal well suggests good hydrocarbon ...
Lakhpatis on the double to banks
SWELLING ACCOUNTS. BL Research Bureau It is an Indian banking industry's version of the Forbes' billionaires ...
INDEX OUTLOOK: Pushing the 2009 ceiling
It was Nifty's turn to walk away with the laurels as it scaled the 5000 peak last week. The usual bout of doubts assailed market participants thereafter and the index closed slightly below this level. In the absence of any ...
Hand-picking stocks
"I have a full year's savings with me and equity investments look attractive at this stage. Tell me, what stocks to buy?" I was surprised when my friend shot this question at me. But my friend isn't the only one ...
Dalmia Cement (Bharat): Buy
Aggressive plans for expanding cement capacities by entering new markets, newly commissioned capacity which is set to contribute to revenues this year and good prospects for the sugar business argue for investing in the stock of Dalmia ...
HCL Technologies – Book Profits
Investors can book profits selling a part of their holdings in HCL Technologies, in light of the expensive valuations that the stock currently trades at. At Rs 339, the stock discounts its likely 2009-10 per share earnings by nearly 18 times. ...
Sanghvi Movers – Book Profits
Investors with a medium-term perspective can consider selling at least a part of their holdings in the stock of Sanghvi Movers, a leading player in the crane hiring business, to lock into profits. The stock has almost trebled in value since ...
CEAT: Hold
A sustained revival in passenger vehicle sales, signs of recovery in commercial vehicles production, healthy replacement demand and cost controls paint a good picture for tyre manufacturer, CEAT. At Rs 163, the stock trades at a ...
Thinksoft Global Services - IPO: Avoid
Investors can avoid the initial public offering of Thinksoft Global Services, a software testing company, given the concerns that surround its performance and global trends in the IT deal landscape. Its niche offerings may also force it to ...
Euro Multivision — IPO: Avoid
Investors can refrain from subscribing to the Initial Public Offering of Euro Multivision (Euro). Lack of track record in the photovoltaic business, competition from larger players in this business and the delays in commissioning the ...
CHART FOCUS: Arvind (Rs 38.7): Buy
Investors with medium-term perspective can consider investing in the stock of ...
Kotak Midcap: Sell
Investors can consider selling the units of Kotak Midcap Fund, given its unimpressive track record within the universe of mid-cap funds. The fund has not contained downsides well, relative to its benchmark during market falls and lagged ...
Stimulus package to continue until economy recovers
The Government has decided not to reverse the stimulus package till the US and European economies recovered ...
Online student visa: Australia suspends 200 agents
The Australian Government has suspended close to 200 agents operating in a number of countries from lodging student visa applications because of evidence of fraud or poor approval rates. In order to regain their access to the online ...
Weekly News Round up(Latest Audio:Enlgish)
Ten days after the West Bengal Government cancelled land allotment to Infosys and Wipro following the scrapping of a proposed IT township project near Rajarhat, the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, on Thursday offered alternative plots ...
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/
India's top 10 business houses
18 Sep 2009, 1031 hrs IST
ET Bureau
The combined wealth of the country's top-20 promoter families, based on their equity holding, has swelled to Rs 8.43 lakh crore, or $174 billion, as per Thursday's closing price.
Among big business houses, the Tatas, Wipro and the Om Prakash Jindal family have been the biggest beneficiaries of the current bull-run. The Tatas, for instance, have not only recouped their entire losses of 2008, but also are now richer than they were at the peak of the bull run.
Check out India's richest industrial/business houses....
Read full text: Promoters make hay, wealth swells to 8.4l cr
Corporate
Duration: 00:29
Posted: 19 Sep, 2009, 1359 hrs IST
Duration: 01:19
Posted: 19 Sep, 2009, 1226 hrs IST
 | Professional worth helps scale peaks As organisational hierarchies get flatter, it is important for you as an individual to start displaying the right skill sets. |
Poverty alleviation, everyone's job
Poverty alleviation must come centre stage, and be everyone's job and not just that of the government, the judiciary or private philanthropy.
Rise of authoritarian capitalism
A fusion of autocratic politics & state-guided capitalism has emerged as leading challenge to international spread of democratic values.
What austerity? Rs 100 crore for renovating MPs' homes
In reply to an RTI query filed by a resident of Mumbai, Chetan Kothari, it was revealed by the government that in the last five years an expenditure of Rs 93.53 crore has been incurred towards upkeep of the bungalows let out to Members of Parliament and Ministers.
"An amount of Rs 93.50 crore has been spent towards upgradation, ordinary repair and superior repair of these bungalows by the office of the CPWD responsible for upkeeping of the MP bungalows," said the reply by the deputy director of the Department of Estates under the Urban Development Ministry, J P Rath.
"MPs are provided with free accommodation throughout the term of office to a member. However, a normal licence fee of Rs 105 is charged on a bungalow," it said.
"Visit these bungalows and you will see construction work every now and then. They have engineered wood flooring, wall panelling and veneering, gypsum board and false ceiling, glazed shutters for doors, windows and glazed partitions, polished porcelain tiles in toilet and wall. All expensive ones," Kothari said.
Some of the occupants and the bungalows include Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee in Talkatora Road, Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar in Janpath, Defence Minister, A K Antony in K M Marg, Home Minister P Chidambaram in Safdarjung Road and Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee in B K S Marg.
A total of 77 bungalows have been alloted to different ministers here.
According to the reply, nearly Rs 11 crore was spent towards upkeeping these bungalows in 2004-2005, Rs nine crore the next year followed by an expenditure of Rs 20 crore in 2006-2007 followed by Rs 33 crore in 2007-2008.
"They have spent Rs 21 crore alone till June 2009 for the maintenance of these bungalows," Kothari said.
According to the figures, Sonal Shah, who's the Deputy Assistant to the US President and Director at Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, gets an annual salary of USD 120,000.
Both Rachana Bhowmick, who is the Director of Special Projects, and Aditya Kumar, also Director of Special Projects as well as Special Assistant to Office of Chief of Staff, earn USD 99,000 a year each.
Those in the salary slab less than USD 90,000 are Anisha Dasgupta who works as a Counsel at an annual package of USD 86,927 and Pradeep Ramamurthy, the Director of Response Policy, whose gross salary is USD 86,927.
The figures, released on the White House blog, also reveal that Kavita Patel who is the Director of Policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement gets USD 65,000 annually, while Shomik Dutta, the Special Assistant to White House Counsel, earns USD 62,000.
Likewise, White House Policy Advisor Manashi Deshpande earns USD 54,000 a year while Taara Rangarajan gets USD 40,000 for her services as Deputy Associate Director.
According to the White House, consistent with Obama's commitment to transparency, the figures have been disclosed on its website as it is transmitted to the US Congress. Since the year 1995, it's required to deliver a report every year.
Private school in govt school!
school in their locality.
The blatant misuse of the government school premises came to light on September 17 following suspension of principal Hanumanth Rao Kamplikar for "renting out'' a part of the school premises to a nearby private school. "It has been going on for more than five years. Senior officials pay a customary visit every year,'' said local councillor Dhyamanna.
He said the private institution, Vinayaka Primary School, run by influential local leaders, had encroached on two rooms of the government school to run its classes. This had happened reportedly in connivance with the government school principal and other staff members.
"The entire premises of the government school had been usurped by the private school. They conducted classes, used the playground for sports activities and functions,'' said Basavaraj Halimani, whose son is studying in Class III of the government school.
This ultimately had also contributed to the dwindling numbers of students in the government school over the years — there are only five students now in Class III after many parents withdrew their children and got them admitted in the private school in the same premises.
"Some parents had objected to it but to no avail, till some of them tipped the primary and secondary education minister Visveshwar Hegde Kageri recently,'' said a parent.
The minister directed the education department officials to visit the school and conduct an inquiry. Subsequently, the school principal was suspended. The education department also served a notice to the private school authorities.
However, principal Kamplikar defended his action claiming that he was doing it at the instance of a powerful local politician who is a member of the private school board. "I am innocent as I had earlier brought this to the notice of the higher-ups,'' he claimed.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/bangalore/Private-school-in-govt-school/articleshow/5029164.cms
Men and Ideas: Let's Protect Workers, Not Jobs
| Anyone travelling in India by air must have got a sinking feeling last week when Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam demanded that Jet Airways be The trouble in Jet Airways began when some of its pilots wanted to form a union. The management said "no", and sacked two of the leaders. In response, the other pilots went on 'mass sick leave', which left tens of thousands of passengers stranded, wondering who to blame for their undeserved suffering. This comes at a time when the aviation industry is going through very tough times. The Mumbai high court ruled the strike illegal. After the dispute was settled last weekend, Justice D Y Chandrachud refused to drop the charges against the pilots. Reflecting the angry public mood, he wanted to prosecute the pilots for contempt of court. "Employees of public utility services...cannot hold the public to ransom," said the judge. The pilots' lawyer argued, "Pilots are an emotional lot and have a sensitive task." The judge countered, "Even doctors and judges have sensitive jobs." The right to form a union is part of every democracy but should pilots, who earn Rs 3-4 lakh a month, be equated with downtrodden labour? Should persons who perform essential services in public transport, military, police and hospitals, be allowed to disrupt services? The judge obviously does not think so. The Jet Airways affair is an opportunity to revisit our archaic labour laws, which hurt the interest of 90 per cent of India's employees while protecting an aristocracy like the pilots. Of course, labour laws are needed, but they should protect workers, not jobs. All governments try to prevent job losses but they never succeed. Companies have to survive in dynamic market conditions. In a downturn, orders are reduced from customers and the only choice before a company is to reduce its workforce or go bankrupt. Sensible countries, like those in Scandinavia, give employers the freedom to hire and lay off workers based on market dynamics. They protect workers who lose jobs through a well-designed safety net of unemployment insurance and retraining. India's labour laws do the opposite they protect jobs, not workers. They assume that a job is for a lifetime, and do not allow employers flexibility to lay off workers in a downturn. Thus, Indian companies avoid hiring permanent employees, and 90 per cent of India's workers have ended up in the informal sector without any benefits or safety net. This is one of the reasons that the manufacturing sector has not become an engine of mass employment in India as it has in the Far East. The answer is not to equate income security with job security. Let us begin by raising job retrenchment costs from the present 15 days' salary for every year worked to 45 or even 60 days. Second, amend provident fund rules so that employees can access their retirement accounts when they lose jobs. Third, raise the contribution to provident fund in order to provide a softer landing to job losers. Fourth, cover unemployed workers under a universal health insurance, such as the excellent Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana. Finally, companies should pay for worker retraining and inflict pain on all employees before laying off some for example, cut executive salaries by 50 per cent, and worker salaries by 25 per cent. Unions will object of course, but the reform of unions has to be part of the solution. The Jet Airways strike has presented us with a mirror to look at our labour laws, showing how we deceive ourselves, thinking that we are protecting labour when we are only protecting an aristocracy like the pilots. | ||
| More Stories from this section | ||
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on Saturday the G20 meeting in London felt stimulus packages injected into economies across the world should continue till there are clear signs of recovery in global markets. "Withdrawal of stimulus package will take some time. We shall have to wait as the government would like to watch the economy's growth in the next couple of quarters,'' he said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers and central bankers Saturday against moving too hastily to roll back the $5-trillion fiscal stimulus plans governments launched to counter fallout from the recession.
Brown told the top G20 finance officials from the world's leading economies meeting in London that scaling back the anti-economic crisis packages would undermine "the tentative signs of recovery" that have recently emerged in the global economy.
Held in the staid surroundings of the British Treasury building in central London, the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers came against the backdrop of divisions in the group over dealing with the economic crisis.
This includes differences on curbing generous bankers' bonuses, which some G20 nations see as triggering the buildup of risk in the global economy that helped to pave the wave for the economic shakeout.
At the same time, Germany, France and Japan, which have already emerged from recession, have raised beginning to wind back the mass stimulus plans, which apart from stabilizing national economies have resulted in rising budget deficits.
But Brown told the G20 finance ministers that retreating too rapidly from the fiscal plans risked resulting in "a downward lurch" in economic confidence.
The finance ministers' meeting has been called to lay the groundwork for a G20 summit later this month in the US city of Pittsburgh, which is to be hosted by President Barack Obama.
The two-day meeting comes about one year after the US investment bank Lehman Brothers imploded sending shockwaves around the world economy.
In addition to the world's leading industrial powers such as Germany, France, and Canada, the G20 also includes emerging powerhouse economies including India, China and Brazil.
RBI governor D Subbarao on Friday met CEOs of large commercial banks to seek their views on liquidity, interest rates and inflation. The bankers were also queried on credit and deposit growth and bad loans.
Most CEOs said they were witnessing fresh demand for credit from the retail and core sectors, though they were quick to add that RBI should slowly unwind the expansionary policy, said an official present in the meeting on the condition of anonymity.
However, there was one section of bankers who were not very optimistic about the revival. "We are concerned over the stock market rally as it does not depict the development in the real economy. Share prices are rising too fast for comfort even as the real economy continues to be in stress. Agriculture, small and medium enterprises and exports are yet to show signs of revival," said a banker in the meeting. He added that capital inflow from overseas should be watched closely.
Bankers indicated to RBI that they would be well poised to meet the 20% credit growth target. With regards to interest rates, they expected rates to stabilise at current levels. However, towards the fourth quarter, rates could firm up if credit demand improved and inflation started rising, they added.
The bank chiefs also urged the central banker to hike the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and the share of government securities that can be parked in the held-to-maturity (HTM) basket. As of now, banks have to invest 24% of their deposits (demand and time liability ) in government securities. Of their g-sec investments, bonds representing up to 25% of deposits can be parked in the HTM basket. Banks do not have to make any mark-to-market provisions on the securities held in their HTM basket in case prices of securities fall.
One reasoning for the increase in SLR requirement is that it will help the government in successfully completing its huge borrowing programme. It many be recalled that RBI had reduced SLR from 25% to 24% a year ago.
The RBI governor will be meeting CEOs of select banks again on October 12 as a prelude to the monetary policy scheduled at the end of the month.
Inflation may hit 6% soon: RBI
Inflation may rise to 6% by the fiscal-end, RBI deputy governor KC Chakrabarty said, reports Our Bureau from New Delhi. "Yes, definitely , it (inflationary pressure ) is already there. If you see consumer price inflation, it is already 12%. This is an area of concern... and whatever is possible at our command would be done," Mr Chakrabarty said on the sidelines of a seminar.
"FII inflows in the Indian equity market would continue in the coming days and it may cross $10 billion level by September-end," Anand Rathi Financial Services Director & Head of Research Tarun Sisodia.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are the net buyer of shares worth Rs 47,674 crore so far in this year, according to the data available with the market regulator or Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The infusion of money by overseas investors in shares is a part of their portfolio management in various emerging markets and India is part of that strategy, Sisodia, who is based in Mumbai, said.
So for in this month, foreign investors have infused over Rs 7,400 crore ($1.5 billion), increasing their total net investment, since FIIs were allowed in India, to over Rs 2.78 lakh crore (65 billion dollars), as per SEBI data.
"FII investment in the local markets may cross $10 billion mark by end of this week. As everything is bullish and picture of Indian stock market is very rosy," Delhi-based SMC Global's Vice President Rajesh Jain said.
Significantly, so far in 2009, the Bombay Stock Exchange's
In long term, the rise in benchmark index would continue, Sisodia added.
"The Indian market has seen a huge inflow of funds from overseas investors and crossing 10 billion dollars level is not tough in the current month," Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Paras Bothra said.
After pulling out a hefty Rs 52,986 crore (11.9 billion dollars) from the local stock markets last year, FIIs remained net seller of shares for the first two month of current year.
However, with the sign of revival of economies, the trend turned positive during March and marketmen feel that the year will close with huge inflows.
"The implementation of the contract signed between India and Russia started last year, and it will be fulfilled in 2013," a defence source was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
Under the contract signed last year, Russia's RAC MiG aircraft corporation will upgrade over 60 MiG-29 fighters, in service with the IAF since the 1980s and service life of the aircraft will be extended from 25 to 40 years.
The contract also stipulates the construction of MiG consignment depots and service centres in India to resolve the problem of timely supply of spares and after sale services, as well as flight simulators for pilot training.
The upgrade MiG-29s will be fitted with advanced avionics, new multi-functional Zhuk-ME radars, a new weapon control system, as well as modernised RD-33 engines.
According to defence official quoted by the agency, first four Indian MiG-29 fighters are being modernised and flight-tested in Russia and the remaining aircraft will be overhauled in India with the Russian technical assistance.
"Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is constructing a commercial complex here and the total cost of the project will be USD 50-million," Sri Lanka Board of Investment's Director, C Ignatius, said.
The company has already acquired the land for the project and it is expected to be completed by next year, Ignatius said.
The engineering and construction major has already developed projects in Sri Lanka such as a 26-storey residential apartment at Colombo, design and construction of urea storage silo and prill tower for a fertiliser complex and design, test, manufacture and supply of 33kV, 132kV and 220kV transmission line towers for Sri Lanka's electricity board.
A Bangalore-based commercial and residential property developer, Girish Puravankara-run Lalith Gangadhar Constructions Limited, is also constructing residential villas outside Colombo, he said.
Victoria state premier John Brumby was scheduled to visit the city this week as part of a trip to assure Indians that Australia remains a safe place to study following a recent wave of assaults on Indian students in Melbourne.
But he said in a statement on Sunday that he had altered his itinerary after Australia's foreign affairs department on Friday issued a travel advisory warning about the possibility of attacks in Mumbai.
"Credible information indicates that terrorists may be planning further attacks in Mumbai, including at places frequented by tourists, in September or October 2009," the warning said.
An assault by 10 Islamist gunmen in Mumbai last November killed 166 people, including two Australians.
Brumby said he would spend more time in New Delhi, instead of travelling to Mumbai.
His visit comes after a spate of street violence against Indians in Australia's second largest city, the most recent when four men were seriously assaulted last weekend in a pub car park.
The attacks have cast a shadow over an education industry worth 15.5 billion dollars (13.4 billion US). About 95,000 Indians are studying in Australia after a university publicity blitz targeting the country's growing middle class.
Brumby said last week that Australia's image in India had been tarnished by the attacks and he wanted to send the message during his visit that Melbourne was one of the safest cities in the world to study in.
"There are deals in the marketplace now where funds are offering to sell down some of their land positions at 50, 60 cents on the dollar. And once they do that, the next fund that's buying in at a much lower basis has the ability to sort of re-engineer, sort of reposition the product," he said.
Chicago-based Walton Street manages $3 billion globally. It has invested $200 million in India, including a position in a high-profile township project in Kolkata.
| Also Read |
| → Step carefully while buying a property |
| → Rakindo, Appaswamy strike Rs 100-crore deal |
| → Mafatlal puts city property on the block |
| → HDIL to pay tax on Rs 350 cr more, says didn't evade tax |
Once-soaring property prices in India tumbled by as much as 50 percent during the global financial meltdown as an asset price bubble collapsed, and while prices have crawled back by roughly 20 percent, Goswami said they have a long recovery ahead.
"I really think that even the 20 percent recovery from the lows may have gotten ahead of itself a little bit, and I think maybe you'll just see it stall here for a little bit before it starts to pick up again," he said in an interview.
Much of the bubble was driven by high-end, high-margin projects, and Goswami said the pool of buyers for such offerings has shrunk in the wake of the global financial crisis.
"To really sell into the marketplace you need to make sure that you're building something that the local population can afford," or a monthly mortgage of about 40 percent of a buyer's income, he told Reuters TV.
However, whether the new scenario will pave the way for Bharti-MTN deal to comply with sectoral caps is not yet clear.
"We are not opposed to Press Notes (2,3 and 4). Earlier, we may have some opposition to some aspects of these Notes. We are doing everything to implement these notes, approved by the Cabinet," a key source said here.
He said the
When asked whether Bharti-MTN deal will require FIPB permission to go through or will it breach the sectoral cap as per the new norms, he said the board has not taken a call on it as the deal has not come to it.
The deal to create the world's third largest telecom company with 200 million subscribers and over 20 billion dollars of revenue is still in negotiating stage and is yet to fructify as it has to cross some hurdles, including dual listing of MTN on South African and Indian bourses with equal voting rights.
However, oil major ONGC and telecom giant Bharti Airtel witnessed erosion in their market cap during the week.
The country's most valued firm, Reliance Industries
RIL had a market valuation at Rs 3,36,957.7 crore for the week ended September 12.
Meanwhile, both ONGC and Airtel together lost Rs 7,688.37 crore in their market valuation.
The market cap of ONGC stood at Rs 2,46,119.77 crore while that of Airtel was seen at Rs 1,57,967.53 crore at the end of the week.
The market cap of trading major MMTC rose by Rs 4,965.25 crore to Rs 1,74,705.25 crore and power major NTPC added Rs 3,339.42 crore taking its total market valuation to Rs 1,72,453.8 crore.
The country's largest iron ore producer, NMDC contributed Rs 693.83 crore to its market cap taking its total market valuation to Rs 1,43,561.79 crore.
IT bellwether Infosys Technologies and public sector lender SBI added Rs 232.09 crore and Rs 5,742.49 crore, respectively to their market cap.
The total market cap of Infosys Technologies stood at Rs 1,30,087.49 crore and that of SBI at Rs 1,27,563.26 crore.
Outsourcing firm, Tata Consultancy Services climbed to the ninth slot from the tenth after adding Rs 2,201.85 crore to its market valuation, while power equipment-maker BHEL slipped to the tenth position even after adding Rs 2,201.85 crore to its market cap.
"Dual listing is not feasible in short term as there are amendments required in FEMA to allow full capital convertibility. These are major bottlenecks," Prime Database Chairman and Managing Director Prithvi Haldea said.
Pointing out that dual listing is not popular globally, he said, "The government will have to amend Companies Act to allow dual listing, which is not allowed currently."
Expressing similar view, SMC Capital Equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said, "If the government is committed for dual listing, it can be feasible. However, there are huge challenges and the process will take some time."
He further said that there are many regulatory hurdles before it to become feasible. "Amendments are required in FEMA regulation, capital account convertibility, listing agreement," he added.
The dual-listed companies retain their separate legal identities while being listed on both stock exchanges. Besides, they also enjoy equal voting rights.
RBI appointed Tarapore Committee has suggested that India should go for fuller capital account convertibility in stages.
Under capital account convertibility, South African shareholders
Amid merger talks between Bharti and MTN, the government recently said it is examining the issue of dual listing of the South African firm as per Indian laws. "There is a provision for dual listing of companies... But whether this can be done under the existing laws of India, that is being examined," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said.
"The South African minister met me at the G-20 finance ministers' meeting and there I suggested to him that this arrangement is to be looked into in the Indian context," he added.
The proposed USD 23-billion deal started in May and it involves MTN taking a 25 per cent economic interest in Bharti Airtel for USD 2.9 billion plus new shares in the South African telecom, which is equivalent to 25 per cent of MTN's existing shares.
On the other hand, MTN shareholders would also get 11 per cent in Bharti Airtel through GDRs that will be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
"Faculty council has termed the recent Union HRD ministry orders on pay structure as infringement on academic freedom, and has asked the institute director to postpone its implementation by a month," a senior faculty council member and IIM-A professor told PTI after the council's meeting.
The IIM-A faculty council will take up this issue with other institutes before future course of action is decided, he added.
The HRD ministry has recently come out with a fresh notification on pay structure of centrally funded technical institutions, which said that the post of lecturer-cum-post -doctoral fellows will be re-designated as assistant professor.
They will be appointed on contract basis, it stated. The government also put 40 per cent cap on promotion of professor to senior grade on the basis of performance, which led to wide resentment amongst the IIM-A faculty here.
According to the Deloitte survey, while Indian business houses have taken appropriate steps to ensure business continuity management (BCM) or preparedness for contingencies, there is limited involvement of dedicated resources for BCM in terms of both personnel as well as budgetary allocation.
"Business continuity management refers to preparedness of companies to deal with any man-made or natural contingencies. Indian businesses are not that resilient with most of them not having a comprehensive plan in place and less than three employees on an average dedicated for business continuity management," Deloitte Senior Director (Enterprise Risk Services) Nitin Khanapurkar said.
However, he said, "the terror attacks in Mumbai and the Bihar floods have acted as a wake up call for companies, awareness about continuity management is increasing significantly but Indian firms still have a long way to go before they can catch up with their global peers."
The study said amid growing awareness of BCM, its growth was inhibited due to lack of understanding of a comprehensive continuity management program.
While there is an intent by senior management to embrace BCM as part of business strategy, adequate resources are not earmarked for this purpose.
"Up till now whatever companies do for disaster management is compliance driven. This attitude needs to be changed and firms should look at BCM has an integral part of their strategies," Khanapurkar added.
A comparison of various sectors --- banking, financial service and insurance (FSI), technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), manufacturing and others, indicated firms in TMT sector fared better than their counterparts with respect to BCM preparedness.
"Organisations in the TMT sector displayed high levels of confidence in their ability to continue business operations in case of a disaster," the survey added.
However, in general there is a lot of scope for improving the level of BCM preparedness of businesses since almost half of the survey respondents indicated that they were 'somewhat prepared'.
Meanwhile, the Deloitte study revealed almost two-thirds of the organisations did not have adequate full-time employees allocated for BCM specific activities.
Moreover, almost a quarter of firms said they had no budget allocated for BCM activities. It highlights the paradox of how companies can claim to have a comprehensive BCM plan, while either having no budget or being unaware of the BCM budget allocation, the survey added.
Companies crack quiet deals to free up captive units
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Companies putting up their captive units on the block are not going to town talking about the sale till the deals are actually sealed. Yet the market is abuzz with companies like Fidelity, Bank of America, Amex, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS considering sales of their captive units much like Citibank, Aviva, GE, AIG and others have done in the past.
Buyers too are keenly eyeing the captives, the business units of companies in low cost countries providing everything from HR, IT support to customer care for the parent company's inhouse needs. For instance Quatrro's CMD Raman Roy is open to a $50 million to $500 million buyout provided, "the captive offers a platform to serve multiple customers.''
IT services major Cognizant which has recently bought two captive units, one in July this year, is open to more such buys to, "deepen our consulting or domain capability, expand our geographic footprint, and enrich our services mix," says R Chandrasekaran, MD at Cognizant.
Teleperformance (TP), the Paris headquartered company with over 4,000 staff in India is also looking at niche providers in financial services and technical support. Early this year TP had bought out one of Dell's captive centres. Consultants and analysts see the sell out moves by captives, estimated to be around $1 billion, to monetise investments and focus on the core, though buyers will come only when they get much more than one customer.
Among companies considering sale, Amex is planning to put its travel-related services for international clients on sale. On the other hand, Royal Bank of Scotland may be hiving off some of its units in India. It has a few thousand people captive unit in India doing retail and forex transactions.
But the bank denied this stating that the RBS manufacturing hub in India will continue to remain an important part of the Group supporting our businesses globally.
Bank of America is also reportedly looking to spin out its captive unit and another Fortune 500 Asia-Pacific based financial institution with a few hundred people captive unit in India is looking to sell out. Most of these banking captive units do tasks like asset management, investment banking, equity research, treasury operations and cash management.
Officials in the know of developments at UBS, Fidelity, Amex and Bank of America told ET they are looking to exit their captive business. However, these companies did not confirm it in detailed e-mail questions barring Amex, where the spokesperson said they are considering sale of a part of the captive unit.
Bulls n bears to fight it out next week
"The market moved between positive and negative terrain alternately. If the Nifty slips below 4900, selling pressure may get intense. Volatility is likely to remain ahead of September F&O expiry," brokerage Anand Rathi Securities said.
The trend next week will depend on news emerging from the US markets. The market has been consolidating gains the last few weeks following the unprecedented rally that has seen the Sensex gain 25.73% from a year earlier to touch a high of 16,820.02 and the Nifty advancing over 17% to touch 5003.05 on Thursday, Sep 17.
Traders are likely to book profits with the September futures and options expiry on Thursday and also due to a curtailed week with markets closed Monday on the occasion of Ramzaan-Eid. However, a big correction is unlikely.
"The trend is strong as huge participation is seen from the underperformed sectors like cement, capital goods and telecom stocks. What it actually means is that there is a strong balancing happening in the benchmark indices due to which we don't see a sharp correction happening. Unless Nifty breaks below 4760 this uptrend is strong and every fall is a buying opportunity.
Global markets are performing strong and Indian markets are also in line with the same trend and this will continue till the Sept expiry. But above the 5000 mark we don't expect the market to outperform further in numbers and the best strategy should be to exit at higher levels. Our sense is that around 5060-5110/17000-17150 market participant should liquidate and wait for the correction to re-enter," says a note by Nirmal Bang Securities.
On the economy front, India's industrial output grew at 6.8% in July, making it the second consecutive month of growth. The provisional IIP figure of 7.8% for June was also revised upwards to 8.2%. And with automobile sales, cement dispatch and steel production for August showing an uptrend, experts expect the growth rate to gather pace and offset the impact of a truant monsoon on the agriculture sector.
On the flip side, the inflation rate based on wholesale prices has turned positive and is expected to hit 6% by March. Latest data showed inflation rose 0.12% in the week to Sep 5 from the previous week's negative 0.12%.
36 lakh people vie for 11,000 SBI posts
Two factors are responsible for the response: the recession and a freeze on recruitment in both the public and private sectors. "This was the first ad after a long time for recruitment to a nationalised bank, and therefore the deluge,'' said a senior official.
With over 36 lakh people applying for 11,000 clerical posts, SBI now faces the dilemma of how to conduct exams for such a large number of candidates. "It has been proposed to hold the exams in three phases, on November 8, 15 and 22, in two shifts. This way we can test 12 lakh people every day. The final decision will be taken within a week,'' the official said.
The huge number of vacancies came into being on account of new branches being opened, the longtime freeze on new recruitments and retirement of existing employees. Incidentally, of the 36.11 lakh applications, more than half a million are from Maharashtra and of the 11,000 posts, 1,100 are reserved for the Maharashtra circle.
Unions have stepped in to ensure that sons of the soil get top priority. "Our effort will be to ensure that a maximum number of persons from Maharashtra get the job. We are in the process of starting a training centre for the purpose,'' a union office-bearer said.
Realty sector sees 25% drop in transactions during Shradh
Shradh or Pitri Paksh fortnight which started in the first week of September this year and is ending ahead of the Navratra festival, sees lowered buying activity. Realty companies, however, factor in this phenomenon which takes place before the festive season.
According to Raminder Grover, CEOHomebay Residential of global real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), as during all periods of traditionally depressed activity, there has been a transient drop of 20-25 % in actual transactions during this period.
However, independent brokers whom SundayET spoke to quoted this as a much higher figure, saying that atleast 50-60 % dip in transactions has been seen during this period . "People want to commit themselves only on an auspicious day. Developers too will come up with project launches only after this period. There has hardly been any activity during this time," says Pankaj Jain, executive director of Realistic Realtors, a North Indian real estate consulting firm.
Usually developers too refrain from making any major launches at this time due to a lack of buyer interest. In fact, there haven't been any incentives or schemes by developers to propel buying activity during this period.
According to Anshuman Magazine, CMD of global real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), transactions have more or less halted . He, however, says that it's a notional loss. "Transactions are down to zero in many places. But it's a notional loss in the sense that it's mainly a delay of two weeks. The fact is that it's not just the buyer, even sellers don't want to sell at this time."
Developers, however, refute the claim that this has meant a loss to the real estate sector in any way. Says Rohtas Goel, CMD, Omaxe, "There has been a 15-20 % impact on sales. Even if people conclude deals, they would sign a cheque dated for the 1st day of the Navratras. We haven't done any project launches during this period either and no price discounts are given. Yet, sales will easily be made up in the Navratra period which commences now." While Goel still admits to the drop, Niranjan Hiranandani, MD of Hiranandani Developers calls it a 'no loss' period . "There has been no impact of Shradh on real estate buying," he points out.
"Essentially, we are shifting from control to regulation, that's the basic theme (of the proposed Company Bill)...for CEO's salary coming to us for approval is not something in the regulatory procedure is called for," he said.
Under the present Act, companies have to take approval of the government before raising salaries of directors.
"Let the shareholders decide, how much they want to pay someone but there must be disclosure, to us, to the shareholder, to the public at large," he added.
Commenting on the move, Diljeet Titus, senior partner with law firm Titus and Co, said: "Such archaic provisions (in Companies Act, 1956) are not in conformity with the liberalised market environment. However, some checks and balances must be put in place to prevent CEOs from extracting disproportionate compensation packages for themselves."
"They (companies) should not come to us for permission (for every small thing). Whatever can be done, should be known clearly; whatever can be done by the approval for shareholders should also be known and there should be transparent declaration and disclosure to the shareholders," Khurshid said.
The provision of seeking approval of the government for salaries of directors, Titus said, has outlived its utility and most of the proposal are cleared by the government in a routine manner without adequate scrutiny.
However, pitching for some checks and balances, he said, "they can be developed by the government in consultancy with the industry. Even the US Treasury has raised objections on unreasonable salaries being given to certain companies. They (CEOs) cannot be asking for moon even if they are in strong position to dictate terms."
Expressing similar opinion, Aseem Chawla, partner, Amarchand Mangaldas, said, "This is a welcome move...It is most desirable that all proposals brought by the government are coherent with other laws, especially the Direct Taxes Code."
The G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors at London recently discussed the issue of high salary and bonuses being paid by the banks and it may come up again at the Pittsburgh summit this week.
As the global slowdown intensified, the airline industry felt the heat with a sharp drop in business and first class travel as companies resorted to video conferencing instead of having their officials fly.
However, in some good news for the beleaguered industry, the latest report of the global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) has projected "early signs of an upturn" in the number of business class travellers, though it says the yields have not gone up.
According to the IATA, the drop in the number of international premium travellers in July came down to 14.1 per cent versus last year, compared with a 21.3 per cent decline in June. Excess premium capacity and changed corporate travel buying kept yields down 23 per cent and premium revenues down 35-40 per cent in July, the IATA's Premium Traffic Monitor said.
It said consumer confidence has been rising since February, pulling economy travel up with it. "Passenger numbers are now starting to turn up but there is a long way to go before activity returns to levels seen in 2007 and early 2008," the report said.
The report, however, added that the problem of low yield would continue with economic growth forecast remaining relatively weak.
Buoyed by this outlook, major global airlines have started offering varied range of incentives to promote high-end travel in the bad times. Global airlines have started wooing fliers back even offering discounts of up to 50 per cent for business and first class fliers.
Air India had offered a limited period 'Companion Free' offer for business class travellers in June for travel till October this year, while other Indian carriers are now considering doling out similar concessions to attract premium travellers. Jet Airways and Kingfisher had also slashed their premium class fares for a limited period earlier this year.
British Airways is offering its outbound business (Club World) passengers a one-way upgrade to its premium First cabin for free, a company spokesperson said.
The offer is available for outbound travel from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to the UK, the US and Canada and from Hyderabad and Chennai to the US and Canada, the spokesperson said, adding that tickets are on sale till September 30 for travel till January 31 next year.
The airline's Regional Area Commercial Manager (South Asia)Judy Jarvis said "this is a great chance for our discerning Indian customers to indulge themselves and enjoy unmatched service on board British Airways. ... This special offer will allow us to totally pamper our passengers."
The airline operates 45 flights per week from London, Heathrow, including double dailies from Mumbai and Delhi, a daily service from Bangalore and five times a week from Chennai and Hyderabad.
American Airlines is also offering low economy class fares and upgrades to higher classes of travel to attract business passengers. A company spokesperson said low-priced tickets can be available till September 30 for travel up to December 10.
The Air France-KLM combine would also soon offer a new travel option for its customers called Premium Voyager, which would be a new class between economy and business with the fares positioned between the two classes. The offer would come into effect from November on Air France and December in KLM.
Similarly, Malaysia Airlines is also attracting passengers through its Economy Plus scheme and business class 'Buy One, Get One Free" offer.
The Economy Plus scheme would allow a passenger to travel in business class at fares which are 30-50 per cent lower than the normal business class fare.
Quit chorus grows over Tharoor tweet
  Junior Foreign Minister, Shashi Tharoor (L) and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar during the book launch of 'Shadows across the Playing Field' written by Shashi Tharoor and Shaharyar Khan in Mumbai. (AFP) |
Congress made it clear that it failed to be moved by the charge of lacking humour levelled by Joseph Jacob, a Tharoor aide, who circulated "tweets" in support of its minister. The party said it found nothing wrong in Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot's suggestions that Tharoor should step down as minister. "It is natural," said spokesperson Manish Tiwari.
It seems that while Tharoor has escaped action for now, he can continue tweeting indiscreetly only at his own peril. It could be a small step from being a tweeter and becoming a twit, a party wag warned. On a more serious note, the party is annoyed that the frivolous remarks over VIPs travelling in the economy section may tarnish the party's austerity drive.
After posting an apology late on Thursday evening on Twitter from Liberia, Shashi Tharoor on Friday said, "(I am) glad to see my tweeting last night was noticed."
At his iftar, the Prime Minister said "it was a joke" in response to questions by media persons about Tharoor's remarks. Explaining his remarks, Tharoor wrote that "Holy cows are NOT individuals but sacrosanct issues or principles that no one dares challenge." About the expression `cattle class' he tweeted, "It's a silly expression but means no disrespect to economy travellers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle."
Going by the stern response of the party, there is a danger of the tweets turning to bleets as Tiwari said he stood by the comments of his fellow spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan who had said the party disapproved of the disparaging reference to economy class travellers. "Congress will take appropriate action at the appropriate time," said Tiwari.
Tiwari also found that there was enough ground for Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot's demand for Tharoor's resignation. "Such reactions are natural when such statements are made," he said. The spokesman said that in the face of the demands it was for the minister to take his decision.
What particularly aggravated the situation for the beleaguered minister the rejoinder posted by Jacob which contains snide references to Natarajan's critical comments on Tharoor. The view that Tharoor is taking snipes at his party colleagues as well as the leadership has been taken note of. "I would not like to dignify the comment of an aide by reaction from this podium," said Tiwari.
Given the mood in the party, Tharoor is sure to find the going tough and needs to tread cautiously. The minister has already caught the media attention for his stay in a five star while apparently awaiting allotment of a house. Again, as in the case with his jibes on economy travel, the minister was rather unrepentant about his ostentatious ways, tweetering that he would not move to Kerala House as it lacked privacy and a gym.
Twitter less, work more, all will be forgiven
But S M Krishna doesn't. This is leading to a bit of a situation. A diplomatic impasse, that needs Pranab Mukherjee's intervention once again. Poor Pranabda. First, he had to boot out our 'seven-star' ministers from their five-star dens. And now, he may have to curb the enthusiastic tweeter addict in Tharoor.
These two fancy gentlemen (Krishna and Tharoor) have added panache to boring briefings. When it comes to the beauty stakes, Tharoor (younger and prettier), has the clear edge over Krishna. But, sartorial stakes? All those in Mumbai who have interacted with Krishna, know that at heart, our dapper foreign minister is a closet fashion designer who loves his trendy gear enough to seriously consider launching his own line of menswear.
This is not a dig or a joke. In a way, both these guys represent a new breed in politics. And we should welcome their kind. So what if they chose to stay in plush suites with staggering tariffs? As Tharoor twittered, ''I would be ashamed if i was spending the people's money. But i am not. I am spending my own savings.'' Good boy.
Krishna was equally forthcoming when he retaliated, ''I have made private arrangements. I will continue to do so till I get my house fit enough to be occupied.'' Right on, buddy. Yeh log aam aadmi nahi, balki raja aadmi hain. Give them credit for being upfront about their creature comforts. Tharoor has two basic requirements, a state-of-the-art gym (staying pretty is not easy!), and privacy (but of course, public figures are entitled to their personal lives).
Fair enough. Why should these two high-flying chaps hole up in some shabby bhawan without basics... like a bidet? There's a huge difference between a valet and a 'ramu' who can't tell between cutting chai and a fine Darjeeling. Really, Pranabda... you are being too mean. Not everyone can be a Rahul Gandhi and spend nights in jhopdis sleeping uncomfortably on chattais, eating frugal farmer fare. Soniaji is welcome to tolerate a sweaty aam aadmi in the next economy class seat.
But give these guys a break! They are handling foreign affairs, positioning is everything, ya! Seriously though, isn't it monumentally hypocritical to make such a big number out of such a maamuli incident? Tharoor is right, our sacred cows deserve nothing but the best, you can keep your cattle, thank you. Even if these two were shelling out a lakh of rupees per day to stay in the style they are accustomed to, so what?
So long as they were footing their own bills, nobody has the right to object. In any case, if one digs deeper, what's the bet those other 'holier-than-thou' pseudo-Socialists in government spend an equal amount on their lifestyles, but not as conspicuously. Who knows where that money comes from? Or how kosher the payments are? I recall breakfasting with the ultimate Gandhian, Morarji Desai, many moons ago. I was staggered by the lavish spread of satvik items, including badam-pistas, assorted fruit platters, fresh butter and goat's milk. For as austere a person as Morarjibhai, this was a repast fit for a king!
Court gives Hindus free hand in adoption
In the verdict, the HC allowed a recent petition by Mumbai-based actor couple (names withheld on request) to be legally declared as adoptive parents of a girl they had taken in as their ward over four years ago under the Juvenile Justice Act. The couple had a two-year-old biological daughter of their own when they sought and were allowed by the court in 2005 to become guardians of a year-old destitute baby girl.
Stating that courts must harmonise personal laws with secular legislation, Justice D Y Chandrachud held the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2000 — a secular law enabling rehabilitation of abandoned children through adoption — would prevail over the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (Hama), a personal law that has placed certain restrictions on adoption.
Justice Chandrachud took up the Pathaks' issue seriously as it "involved the larger issue of encouraging adoption and giving an abandoned child a chance in life''.
He looked closely at adoption laws under their various avtars and at the Indian Constitution as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child which India had ratified in 1992 before ruling that "adoption is a facet of right to life and that freedom and dignity are the foremost values of governance in civil society and freedom and dignity of the young must count above all''.
This was the first time the court was interpreting provisions of two conflicting legal provisions on adoption; it had a 54-year-old Hindu Adoption Act and the more progressive nine-year-old Juvenile Justice Act, which introduced adoption of abandoned children and gave it a wider platform.
The Hindu law places stringent conditions and prohibits adoption of a child of the same gender where an adoptive father or mother already have a child living at that time. For instance, if the adoption is of a daughter the adoptive parent must not have a Hindu daughter or a son's daughter living at the time of adoption. Conditions are stricter while adopting a son and adoptive parents must not have a Hindu son, a grandson or even a great-grandson alive.
The Juvenile Justice Act, a countrywide beneficial social law, came in 2000 and introduced a 'child-friendly' approach towards adoption "in the interest of ultimate rehabilitation of a narrow sub-class of children who are
orphaned, abandoned or surrendered''.
The HC, after hearing advocate Vishal Kanade for Pathak, held: "Right to life includes rights of parents and of individuals, women and men, who wish to adopt to give meaning to their lives on the one hand and, on the other hand, is the right of abandoned children who are in need of special care and protection."
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It was tom-tommed as the great hope of Bengal's industrial resurgence. The Rs 15,000 crore Kolkata Link IT township at Rajarhat Newtown where information technology biggies like Infosys and Wipro would occupy pride of place and create upwards of 2.5 lakh jobs for Bengal's youth. It was nothing short of a breathtaking vision of Bengal 2.0 and it made lots of industry majors come a-calling, keen to participate in this new IT hub of the East. But earlier this week that vision seemed to have vapourised into thin air. The state government suddenly announced that it was ditching the entire project. Reason? Raj Modi, the man who was the government's partner in the project and the prime mover in procuring land for the 1200-acre IT township, was put in jail for being involved in other, allegedly shady, land deals. And the Left Front government, caught in a series of political missteps ever since its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections in May this year, rushed to scrap the project, perhaps in a bid to distance itself from the tainted Modi. Whether or not this was good politics is debatable. But clearly, the government's decision has been a huge blow to the future of industry in Bengal. "There is no doubt that the decision of the government has come as a dampener to the state's IT dream," says Som Mittal, president, National Association of Software & Service Companies (Nasscom), which represents the software industry's interests. "It was the IT industry that in a way gave a leg-up to the government's efforts at industrialising Bengal. Now it is for them to decide what is good for the state." Debesh Das, minister for information and technology, was not available for comment.
The boom in Bengal's IT sector has, in fact, been a major driving force behind the relative economic resurgence of the state that was notorious for industrial disputes till the 1990s. The state's smokestack industries — engineering and jute — gradually shut down in the 1970s and 1980s. The IT industry could have sparked off a rejuvenation of the state's industrial climate. That it did — but only to an extent. Today, big ticket names like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant Technologies, IBM, Tech Mahindra and Siemens figure in the list of roughly 500 IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies that operate in the state, mostly concentrated in Salt Lake's Sector-V. Bengal's software exports in 2008-2009 stood at around Rs 6,000 crore. Yet that's small beer compared with, say, Karnataka, which tops the list with Rs 74,929 crore for the same period. Unquestionably, the jobs potential that the IT industry offers is substantial — in Karnataka, it employed 540,000 people in 2008-2009, according to the the Karnataka government. In contrast, the industry employs some 50,000 people in Bengal. Clearly, Bengal has a lot of catching up to do — something the government had wished to address when it came up with its proposed — and now abandoned — Kolkata Link project. Yet the IT and IT-enabled services industry is wary about investing in Bengal. The head of a major BPO at Gurgaon on the capital's outskirts cites several reasons for not setting up shop in Bengal. "There is huge high-end talent available, but the unionism is a big negative. The political pressures there are huge. This is all a function of a certain way of thinking. You can't take business decisions independently there. We want to take decisions based on the merits of the case." What is more, IT companies that are already here regularly complain of the state's crumbling infrastructure. "This was supposed to be the dream destination of the IT sector. Now look at the potholed roads, waterlogging and the shanties. We are ashamed to invite foreign delegates during the daytime," says S. Radhakrishnan, managing director Descon Limited and the vice chairman of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, based in Salt Lake, Sector V.
To be sure, several others say they would be willing to consider investing in Bengal, but would need compelling reasons — such as the availability of infrastructure, state government support and flexible state regulations — to choose Bengal over other states. Says Suparno Moitra, regional manager, Nasscom (East). "The infrastructure is quite poor compared with that in Hyderabad or Bangalore." Another compelling reason to establish a presence in a state is the availability of land at low prices. IT companies demand big tracts of land. Wipro and Infosys, for instance, wanted as much as 90 acres of land each in the Kolkata Link township. But land prices in Calcutta are much higher than in, say, Hyderabad. Says Radhakrishnan, "Space for IT parks can be obtained for Rs 25-30 per square feet, versus nearly double that in Calcutta." Yet two questions beg for answers here. Why do IT companies want such a large amount of space? And should hugely profitable enterprises be granted land at low prices? "IT professionals are now used to sprawling campuses with facilities like swimming pools, tennis courts and food courts. This has become a global trend and the IT workforce in India expects to work in a similar environment," replies Abrahim Ahmad, group editor, at IT magazine Dataquest. Indeed, IT companies are spoilt for choice. "They have tasted blood. They are being inundated with offers to set up shop in so many states. So they are now looking for the best incentives," Ahmad adds. Mittal makes another point. "A minimum of 25 acres has to be acquired to earn Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status. Hence there is no question of companies like Wipro and Infosys going for areas smaller than that." (SEZ units get a 15-year tax holiday on export profits). It doesn't help either that, as Nasscom's Moitra points out, anybody who wants to set up shop in Bengal has to seek multiple clearances from government departments. If the IT department promises large tracts of land to companies, the housing minister refuses to help. (The Kolkata Link project fell partly under the Housing Infrastructure and Development Corporation land) In fact, housing minister Gautam Deb had offered 10 acres to Infosys and Wipro instead of the 90 acres they wanted. "Why don't they develop multi-storeyed buildings or towers in 10 acres of land in the New Town area? They can easily go for vertical expansion," he says. Retorts Mittal, "It's not about vertical and horizontal space, it is about an enabling environment. An office is not just a space for a software company like it may be the case in other sectors. It's a place of innovation and ideas."
As the debate rages, some neighbouring states are readying to cash in on Bengal's IT rumpus. "We have a stable and proactive government which offers a single window policy for the IT sector. Government departments work in harmony and land is not a problem here. I hope the companies that were thinking of investing in Bengal will move to our state," says Ramesh Majhi, Orissa's minister for information technology. Yet all may not be completely lost to the state. Some IT companies have reiterated their commitment to Bengal. Says Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys, "Infosys has signed an MoU with the state government for our proposed project. When the business environment looks up, and if we receive an offer from the state government, we will take a re-look at the project." TCS, which has a 40-acre plot in Rajarhat (outside the Kolkata Link IT township), also stresses that it "is not affected by the recent Rajarhat land issue." Says a spokesperson, "We are going ahead with our plans for the upcoming campus." Around 15,000 people are expected to work at its Rajarhat campus. And, who knows, perhaps the much vaunted — and now lamented — Kolkata Link township will also come to pass one day. | |||||||||||||||
| Additional reporting by Seetha in Delhi |
Obama to meet Middle East leaders
 The US wants Israeli settlement building to be frozen |
President Barack Obama will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday to try to relaunch peace talks.
Mr Obama will hold separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, before a joint meeting.
Efforts to restart the peace process have so far been blocked by disagreements over Israeli settlements.
A senior US official told the BBC that there was no expectation of an announcement after Tuesday's meetings.
He said the meetings are "clear sign of the President's personal commitment to this issue."
But he added that it was critical to put the discussions "in context".
"Nine months ago there was a war in Gaza," he said. "The Israeli government has only existed for five months.
"And now these three leaders are going to sit down in the same room and continue to narrow the gaps."
Mr Netenyahu's office issued a statement welcoming the invitation to talks and saying they would be held "without preconditions", Reuters news agency reported.
'Deep commitment'
The announcement of the meetings, which will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, came after US envoy George Mitchell's latest round of shuttle diplomacy ended without agreement.
The White House said the meetings next week would continue efforts by Mr Obama, Mr Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of negotiations".
|  The road is now blocked  Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian president |
Mr Mitchell said Mr Obama's desire to personally engage at this juncture showed his "deep commitment to comprehensive peace".
The US envoy held a series of meetings with Mr Netanyahu last week in a fresh attempt at getting a deal on Jewish settlement activity.
He also went to the West Bank to talk to Mr Abbas.
Mr Mitchell was hoping for a consensus before all sides attend the UN General Assembly, but he returned to the US without reaching any agreement.
Mr Abbas and the US administration have been demanding a complete freeze on Israeli construction activity.
Mr Netanyahu had previously offered a temporary freeze for several months, but not in East Jerusalem or in cases where homes have already been approved.
He noted this week that there had been a slowdown in settlement construction, but that work would continue on 2,400 units currently being built.
'New conditions'
On Saturday, both sides were reported as blaming each other for the lack of any agreement to resume the peace process following Mr Mitchell's visit.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yossi Levi said the Palestinian Authority was "preventing the resumption of the peace process by making conditions that it has not made in the past", AFP news agency said.
It was not reported which conditions he was referring to.
But Mr Abbas said Israel was to blame for not agreeing to a total freeze in settlement building.
"The road is now blocked," he told journalists in Cairo.
"There is no more work [for Mr Mitchell] with the Western or Palestinian sides because we are complying with all our duties.
"The focus has to be on the Israeli side."
Gaza scrutiny Will a UN report condemning "war crimes" in Gaza be taken up for further action?
Obama on Israeli-Palestinian 'stalemate' 
| Salam Fayyad Hezbollah Sheikh Nasrallah Ehud Olmert Mahmoud Abbas Ismail Haniya Fouad Siniora Mahmoud Zahhar Amir Peretz Shimon Peres Khaled Meshaal Hamas Islamic Jihad Gaza Strip Al-Aqsa Brigade Ariel Sharon |
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