XED NEWSLETTER

11 Pages 13th MAY 2011 19th MAY 2011

a weekly news bulletin

www.xedintellect.com

IN BRIEF
COVER STORY
Mamata Banerjee: Rising Sun on Bengal Horizon
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
(as on 19.05.2011)

BSE SENSEX 18,133 NSE NIFTY 5,427 RS/$ 44.98

PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK
45

INDIAN IT INDUSTRY

NEWS DIGEST
BUSINESS NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MISCELLANEOUS

NEWS

COMPILED BY

India fastestgrowing market for Kraft Foods ECONOMIC INDICATORS 2 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 9

China Raises Reserve Ratio 50 Basis Points

India slips one rank in world competitiveness

COVER STORY 3 PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK 4 BUSINESS NEWS 5-8 MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 10 GENERAL AWARENESS 11

TOP 10 HEADLINES OF THE WEEK

1. India fastest-growing market for Kraft Foods. 2. Vodafone nets profit first time in India. 3. Tata's Tetley tea brand gets new look. 4. Bajaj to launch Duke by Dec. 5. Hyundai Motor eyes big on rural markets with small car. 6. Unilever launches Knorr noodles in Pakistan, Sri Lanka. 7. China Raises Reserve Ratio 50 Basis Points. 8. Google takes on rivals with Chrome book. 9. India slips one rank in world competitiveness. 10. Burj Al Arab is best luxury hotel in Middle East.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Current Market Rates as on 19 Rupee / US Dollar Rupee / Pound
th

May11

Values 44.98 72.68

Stock Market Indices as on 19th May11 BSE SENSEX NSE (NIFTY)

Values 18,133 5,427

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

World Banks Ease of Doing Business Index assesses the time and effort required to start, run, and close a business. It I based on criteria like ease of obtaining construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes, and enforcing contracts.

In China its quicker to start a business, get goods from factory floor on board a container ship, and register property. But India has more flexible labor laws and fewer hassles with licenses.

SL NO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Ease of .. Doing Business Starting Business Dealing With Construction Permits Employing Workers Registering Property Getting credit Protecting Investors Paying Taxes Trading Across Borders Enforcing Contracts Closing a Business

US 2010 Rank 4 8 25 1 12 4 5 61 18 8 15

UK 2010 Rank 5 16 16 35 23 2 10 16 16 23 9

China 2010 Rank 89 151 180 140 32 61 93 130 44 18 65

India 2010 Rank 133 169 175 104 93 30 41 169 94 182 138

Wealthy countries, no surprise, tend to be business-friendly, whereas most poor countries present formidable obstacles to would-be entrepreneurs.

MAMATA BANERJEE: RISING SUN ON BENGAL HORIZON

Mamata Banerjee has come to power with a thumping majority in Bengal. What she inherits is a state that has been marred with politics of conflict and violence for decades. Its her turn now to fulfill the promises that she has made before elections to see the vision of Sonar Bangla come true. Reviving Bengal: TMC mentions that focus would be on labor intensive sectors such as textiles, apparel, leather, tourism, gems and jewellery and agro based industries. It will initiate process of restarting closed public sector units in the state. Where PSUs cannot be revived, land will be used to set up new industries without compromising the rights of the workers. It will also take up ambitious projects for infrastructure building program with focus on state highways, rural roads, ports (including deep sea port in Sundarbans), power, airports, waterways, dredging at Haldia, irrigation network etc. It assures of creating supportive financial structure for SMEs. They will be encouraged to go from mere raw material production to finished products. TMC has identified Darjeeling, Hoogly for apparel and readymade garments; Howrah, Burdawn for engineering goods; Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri for food processing. It will also create a collaborative plan with Airport Authority of India for development of Kolkata airport making it comparable to Delhi, Mumbai airports. It will also demand 50 per cent share in the revenues collected by the Centre from the state in the form of income tax and corporate tax. Most importantly it has already demanded the land acquisition act of 1894 be amended suitably to protect the interest of the farmers. People Mamata can bet on: Amit Mitra, who has for years lobbied for expediting reforms and defended the cause of corporate India, is now expected to head the state's finance ministry and handle its business environment. He was also appointed to the board of beleaguered national carrier Air India to help the airline's management turnaround. Some former IAS and IPS officers have also won as Trinamool Candidates. People like Sultan Singh, Arun Mitra and Manish Gupta know more than just a thing about administration. Mamata would do well in exercising their capabilities to reform the state. Bengal all these years: Since 34 years of Left rule 72,000 small industrial units got shut down. In Hawrah around 12,000 factories have been shut down. Moreover, the laborers did not receive their provident fund and wages. Apart from the sputtering Haldia Petrochemicals and a clutch of IT projects, the Left has nothing to show. The state's share in the national manufacturing had dwindled to 2.9% in 2007-08 from 11.5% in 1980-81. One big reason for the lack of development was political violence in Bengal from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. In 2007, 27 million man days were lost across India, with Bengal alone snatching away 24 million man days, or 87% of the total. The imposition of the Freight Equalization Scheme, which put paid to the natural advantage West Bengal had in being close to the raw material sources of the engineering industry also proved to be a fatal blow. The combined effect was a steady flight of capital from the state. In the post-liberalization period, 1991 to 2004, industrial investment in West Bengal accounted for only 4 per cent against 18 per cent in Maharashtra and 16 per cent in Gujarat. Foreign Direct Investment flowed in copiously to Maharashtra, Gujarat, but not West Bengal. Bengal in a fiscal mess: The Left Front government has left West Bengals finances in a shambles with a debt burden of around Rs 2 trillion. The states debt was 42.8% of its gross state domestic product in 2009-10, the second highest among the non-special category states after Uttar Pradesh at 43.5%. The states debt-to-GDP ratio is high because West Bengal has a very large fiscal deficit. In 2009-10, the states gross fiscal deficit to gross state domestic product was 6.7%, the highest among all the non-special category states except Goa, which too had the same fiscal deficit to state GDP ratio. A third of the states revenue receipts is used to pay interest. Starved of resources, the state government could not do much for development. West Bengals development expenditure as a percentage of gross state domestic product in 2009-10 was 9.2% in 2009-10, the lowest after Kerala and Punjab. The lack of resources also led to a lack of investment by the state government and the West Bengal governments capital outlay was a mere 1% of state domestic product in 2009-10. Herculean Task: In short, Mamata Banerjees government inherits a fiscal mess, with little scope for further expenditure unless it is able to woo private investment or unless help is forthcoming from the Centre. Hope Didi succeeds in both.

PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK

ANIL DHIRUBHAI AMBANI-THE FINANCIAL WIZARD Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, one of the largest private conglomerates. As of 2010, he is the fourth richest Indian with a personal wealth of $13.7 billion, behind Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Azim Premji. Career: Anil joined Reliance; the company founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1983 as Co-Chief Executive Officer and led India's first forays into overseas capital markets. After Dhirubhais death in July 2002 Anil and Mukesh Ambani started having differences and on June 18, 2005, Kokilaben Ambani announced the settlement through a press release. Mukesh was given the responsibility for Reliance Industries and IPCL while Anil was bestowed with the responsibility of Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy and Reliance Capital. Personal Life: He is married to Bollywood actress Tina Munim and has two sons Anmol and Anshul. He wakes up daily at 4:00am, checks the news and then goes for a run. He takes part in the Mumbai Marathon races. Anil Ambani is also the fittest CEO. Reliance Big Entertainment: One of his major achievements in the entertainment industry is the takeover of Adlabs and the recently announced joint venture worth US$ 825 million with Steven Spielberg. Controversies: Anil had been embroiled in a dispute with his brother, Mukesh Ambani, over the supply of gas from the latter's KG basin. SEBI had barred Anil from investing in publicly-listed securities until the end of 2012. Reliance Infra and RNRL on Jan 14, 2011 settled the SEBI probe into possible violation of securities market norms by them for a collective settlement charge of Rs 50 crore. Accolades: Anil was adjudged the 'MTV Youth Icon of the Year' in September 2003. According to the Forbes 2009 list of the worlds billionaires, Anil Ambani is at the 34th position with a net worth of $ 10.1 Billion. In June 2004, Anil was elected as an Independent Member of the Rajya Sabha - Upper House, Parliament of India with the support of the Samajwadi Party but he resigned voluntarily on March 25, 2006. WARREN EDWARD BUFFETT: SAGE OF OMAHA Early Life: Even as a child, Buffett displayed an interest in making and saving money. He went door to door selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola, or weekly magazines. On a trip to New York City at the age of ten, he made a point to visit the New York Stock Exchange. At the age of 11, he bought 3 shares of Cities Service for himself and 3 for his sister. He filed his first income tax return at the age of 13. In 1945, in his first year of high school, Buffett and a friend spent $25 to purchase a used pinball machine, which they placed in the local barber shop. Within months, they owned several machines in different barber shops. By the time he finished college, Buffett had accumulated more than $90,000 in savings. Work: Warren Buffett started his career in 1951 as an Investment Salesman in Omaha, then as a Securities Analyst in New York. Presently he is the Chairman, CEO at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In 1979, Buffett's net worth reached $620 million, placing him on the Forbes 400 for the first time. Buffett ran into criticism during the subprime crisis of 2007 2008, Berkshire Hathaway suffered a 77% drop in earnings during Q3 2008 and several of his recent deals appear to be running into large mark-to-market losses. Yet in 2008, Buffett now worth $62 billion became the richest man in the world. Frugal Lifestyle: He lives in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha that he bought in 1958. It was reported that Buffett does not carry a cell phone, does not have a computer at his desk, and drives his own automobile, a Cadillac DTS. He remains an avid player of the card game bridge, which he learned from Sharon Osberg, and plays with her and Bill Gates. Buffett is a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily via the Gates Foundation. Wealth & Recognition: In 2008 he was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately US$62 billion. In 2009, after donating billions of dollars to charity, Buffett was ranked as the second richest man in the United States with a net worth of US$37 billion. In 1999, Buffett was named the top money manager of the 20th century in a survey by the Carson Group. Buffett, along with Bill Gates, was named the most influential global thinker in Foreign Policy's 2010 report. Numerous books have been written about Warren Buffett and his investment strategies. In October 2008, USA Today reported that there were at least 47 books in print with Buffett's name in the title.

BUSINESS NEWS
1. India fastest-growing market for Kraft Foods-ET May 18 India is the fastest-growing market for Kraft Foods in Asia Pacific and possibly around the world. Cadbury Kraft India rode on established Cadbury brands and successful launch of Oreo biscuits to grow its business twice as fast as Kraft's China unit in the first quarter ended March. In India Krafts business has grown more than 40% and with the launch of Oreo and Tang the growth will continue. A webcast presentation available on the Kraft Foods website quoting McLevish Kraft Foods Global CFO says, China and Indonesia, the other two fast performing Kraft Foods markets in the Asia-Pacific region, grew 20% each in the quarter, while others such as Brazil grew in mid-teens. India is now among Kraft Foods' top 10 priority markets along with Brazil, Russia, Mexico, China and South Africa, across the 170 countries the foods maker operates in. 2. Vodafone nets profit first time in India- ET May 18 The Indian arm of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest private mobile-phone company, has recorded profits for the first time. Vodafone Essar posted a 134% jump in operating profit to 15 million for the 12 months ended March '11, compared with a loss of 37 million during the corresponding period of the previous year, proof that underlying trends are turning positive in the world's fastest-growing mobile market. Vodafone does not give a quarterly profit figure for its Indian operations, which is the country's second-largest telco by revenues after Bharti Airtel. India also accounted for 80% of the 12.9 million customers Vodafone added globally during the three months ended March '11. Sales jumped 16% during the period to 3,855 million. Revenues for the three months ended March '11 were up 17.2% to 988 million compared with the quarter ended March '10. 3. Tata's Tetley tea brand gets new look-PTI May 18 Tata Global Beverages is undertaking an image makeover of its flagship tea brand Tetley, as part of a strategy to reposition the product and bring about uniformity across global markets. The firm said Tetley will have single new logo with a tagline --Free your mind...That's Tetley! - in contrast to its current strategy of developing the product on a local basis, presenting the brand differently around the world. The company said the brand is present over 70 countries across the globe and has around 500 different varieties of tea available around the world. The firm said the new look is part of its strategy to create a global brand logo that is presented uniformly worldwide. 4. Bajaj to launch Duke by Dec- TNN May 19 Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL), in association with its Austrian ally KTM Power Sports, plans to launch their off-road bike Duke 125cc by December in India as well as in Brazil market. The debut in the Brazilian market where 20 lakh bikes are sold annually may see launch of Pulsar and Discover depending upon the response to the Duke brand. Currently, Duke is manufactured exclusively for the export market at BALs Chakan plant, about 30 kms from Pune city. The BAL also plans to further strengthen its base in the Indian market and has plans to reach out to a new category of customers, particularly those in semi-urban and rural areas. 5. Hyundai Motor eyes big on rural markets with small car-TNN May 15 Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), the second-largest carmaker in the country, is betting heavily on its yet-to-be-launched small car to penetrate into the rural market, a top executive of the company said. According to Y K Koo, Senior Director (Sales and Marketing) HMIL, the small car will be launched in the first half of next year and the company has no immediate plans to export the car. To a query on market share, he admitted that the brand is slightly losing sheen to the competitors. He, however, was quick to add that the situation arose as there was no new vehicle launches in 2010. "We launched a new Verna this year. To regain the market share of 20 per cent is our target for this year (Jan to Dec). With new Verna, we aim to sell 4,000 to 5,000 units per month," Yoo said said. "New product will always create new demand," he said, adding that going forward Hyundai will launch at least two new vehicles per year to stay ahead of the competitors.

6. Unilever launches Knorr noodles in Pakistan, Sri Lanka-ET May 18 Consumer products firm Unilever plans to take Knorr soupy noodles, a product developed by its Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever, to global markets, particularly emerging and developing countries. The company recently launched Knorr soupy noodles in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, making it one of a handful of Unilever's made-inIndia international brands along with Fair & Lovely, Wheel, Annapoorna and Pureit lowcost water purifier. Hindustan Unilever Regional Vice-President Sidharth Singh said initial response to the product is very positive in both Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The development reflects the Indian arm's increasing importance in Unilever's global plans. In 2008, Unilever consolidated its research and development operations and Hindustan Unilever's Bangalore R&D centre was chosen as one of the six global centres. Since then an increasing number of brands and innovations are trickling from India to Unilever's global markets. 7. Corporate logos can both help and harm-IANS May 17 These stylized monograms can backfire for firms and have a double-edged effect on consumer perceptions, according to a Boston College researcher. Consumers may perceive companies with incomplete typeface logos - such as the horizontal baby blue stripes that form the letters IBM - as innovative. However, they also run the risk of being viewed as untrustworthy, according to a forthcoming report in the Journal of Marketing. Therefore, although such stylised logos might be a good idea for an entertainment firm, they might backfire for an insurance company. 8. Mahindra & Mahindra begins trial production of mini-Xylo- ET May 17 Small is beautiful, seems to be the new mantra for India's largest utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra. M&M is all set to launch a mini version of its popular car -- Xylo. Sources tell ET NOW that the trial production has already begun. The car will be launched in the next two months and is likely to be rolled out of company's new plant at Chakan. A diesel mini-Xylo is expected to be priced around Rs 5 lakh, making it an attractive option for customers buying premium hatchbacks like Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai's i20 or mid-segment sedans like Tata Motors Indigo. Experts also believe that a more fuel efficient diesel sports utility vehicle (SUV) will be much in demand at a time when petrol price hikes are burning a hole in a car owner's pocket. When contacted, M&M declined to comment. M&M's stock on the Bombay Stock Exchange was down 0.10 per cent at Rs 672.45 from previous close. 9. Bollywood marketing goes mobile-TNN May 18 Times have changed in Bollywood from the days when all that was required to promote a film was a giant, hand-painted poster, a television or cinema trailer and the pulling power of a star actor. Now, the popular Hindi-language film industry is harnessing the latest technology, hoping that the explosive increase in mobile phones and rapid take-up of the Internet will draw in much-needed audiences. In the first move of its kind, the upcoming Hrithik Roshan film Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara " (You Only Live Once), will be promoted only via mobile phone and online. Film studio Excel Entertainment has tied up with one of India's leading mobile phone companies, Aircel, to push two three-minute trailers for free to its 55 million subscribers. 10. Digital marketing firms take to FaceBook to run brand, ad campaigns-Afaqs May 19 Increasing levels of acceptance of Facebook (FB) as a major force in branding and advertising is having a momentous effect on the advertising industry. The digital and interactive marketing industry is making use of FB page almost like a business portal (like a replica of websites) and deriving business advantage out of it. According to Suresh Reddy, chairman and managing director of Hyderabad-based digital marketing solutions provider Ybrant Digital, in India FB has the highest reach with 24 million people accessing it, followed by Google's Orkut with 18 million. Together, they cater to 90 per cent of the users of social media sites. It is estimated that Rs 85 crore was spent on social networking sites last year and is expected to grow by 25 per cent this financial year, he adds. In India, online advertising is estimated to have reached Rs 785 crore last year, and expected to grow 26 per cent this year.

11. Ice cream maker Vadilal plans mango juice forayin Mumbai-The Hindu Business line May 18 Ice-cream and processed food maker Vadilal Industries Ltd plans to launch its mango juice and pulp products in Mumbai and Rajasthan, besides targeting non-resident Gujaratis abroad this season. The BSE-listed company will also launch three varieties of mango pulp alphonso, kesar and totapari domestically in the next two years, Mr Rajesh Gandhi and Mr Devanshu Gandhi, Managing Directors, said here today. Mango juice is a summer delicacy in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, while frozen mango pulp is exported. Vadilal has been marketing its mango products in Gujarat for the last 20 years under the brand name Garden Fresh Kerino Ras', which will now be available outside Gujarat as well. The 80-year-old Vadilal, currently exports frozen mango pulp and milk shake, besides other products to 45 countries. It is also a major supplier to organised retail companies in India. 12. Premji Tests US Waters, Invests in Green Fund-ET May 16 In his first-ever overseas investment, Wipros billionaire chairman, Azim Premji, has invested around $15 million in Vinod Khoslas clean-tech fund in the US, the biggest such fund focused on returns from Silicon Valleys hottest start-ups. With nearly $1.5-billion corpus, Premji Invest, the investment arm that manages the Wipro founders wealth, now plans to look beyond India for diversifying its portfolio and also tap into lucrative opportunities offered by new technology companies in the US. Risk appetites are higher in the Valley, and so are returns if you are betting with somebody like Khosla, said a Valley-based investor familiar with the development. 13. Top MNP loser Reliance Communication OK with loss-BS May 15 If numbers are anything to go by, mobile number portability has not made much of a dent in the fortunes of most telecom companies, as only about 4 million out of 771 million users have dumped their operators in the first five months of the much-vaunted initiative. While Vodafone , Bharti and Idea gained significantly from the roll-out of MNP , RCOM bore the brunt of the switch. But RCOM claims it is focused merely on adding numbers, but adding high value customers. "It is true - initially, we lost big time. And even now, the net numbers are in the red. But we are happy with that," said President (Corporate & Wireless Customer Service) Anurag Prashar. 14. Indias No.1 Biz Channel-ET May 19 In less than two years since its launch, ET NOW has achieved the No. 1 position in the business news segment with a 42% market share against arch rival CNBC TV-18s 39%. This lead over its nearest rival is in the key target audience for business newsTAM all-India, 1 million+ cable & satellite homes, male 25+ in SEC AB, a popular benchmark for media agencies and advertisers. The other two business channelsNDTV Profit and Bloomberg UTVshare between them the remaining 19%. No matter which way you slice and dice the data, ET NOW is a clear market leader. In the top 6 metros, the discerning viewer has voted for ET NOWthe channel has a 37% share on a four-week average, compared with 34% for the No. 2. And again, last weeks data puts it in a commanding position: 47% in the six metros, compared with 33% for CNBC. Indias financial nerve centre, Mumbai, has also switched en masse to ET NOW: it has a 54% market share on a four-week average, compared with 26% for a distant No. 2 CNBC. 15. Laptop Cos Eye Windfall in JayasWin- ET May 18 The cadre and supporters of AIADMK were not the only ones lustily cheering when J Jayalalithaa took her oath as chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday. Ripples of her convincing victory over rival DMK were also felt in the corporate world where laptop manufacturers, sensing a huge opportunity in her triumph, were proposing a quiet toast to the mercurial actor-turned-politician. The reason: Jayalalithaas campaign pledge to dole out free laptops to students of class XI and XII. Considering there are about 1.4 million students in the state eligible for this freebie, laptop makers are looking at an order valued between 140 crore and 350 crore from the state government. This is obviously a sizeable order, whenever it comes through, says S Rajendran, chief marketing officer of Acer India, a subsidiary of Taiwans biggest computer maker. As if seeking to challenge competitors, Rajendran says his company has old ties with Tamil Nadu where it supplied laptops at subsidised rates to students in partnership with state government-promoted Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu.

16. iPads Runaway Success Short-Circuits PC Sales-Bloomberg May 18 The iPad is wreaking havoc on the personal-computer market. Hewlett-Packard Cos consumer PC sales plunged 23% last quarter, and the company lopped $1 billion off its annual sales forecast. And while rival Dell Inc beat analysts estimates because of corporate demand, its sales to consumers slumped 7.5%. More than 70 million tablets like the Apple iPad will be sold in 2011, a total that will balloon to 246 million in three years, according to Jefferies & Co. At 7.3-inches across with a colour screen and an array of popular downloadable games like Angry Birds, applications for watching movies and reading magazines, and software for word processing and spreadsheets, the iPad has siphoned off more PC sales than analysts and executives predicted. 17. As 2G Probe Digs Deep, Financial Pros Turn Wary-ET May 19 As the 2G probe lifts some carefully woven corporate veils, a fear is starting to grip many finance professionals and chartered accountants. The investigation, which is keeping some senior professionals behind bars, has raised serious questions that accountants, corporate lawyers, auditors and structured finance wizards are grappling with. These men cobble together smart structures and often take a technical view to transactions to help companies side-step the law and overcome regulatory hurdles. For years, that has been the way of life. But now, central investigative agencies and courts are going beyond the structures and deals to look for criminal intent a turn of events that most professionals were not prepared for. More and more of them are taking extra care to make sure they are not pulled up for shady deals of their clients. 18. Clients Fret Over Freshers in IT Projects-ET May 19 Top outsourcing customers, including Amex spinoff Ameriprise and Capital One, are raising concerns over the increasing number of new engineering graduates employed by Indian and foreign tech firms in IT projects. People familiar with the discussions said customers, especially in the banking and financial services sector, are worried that a high proportion of freshers may affect quality in what they call critical back-office functions. Already, customers such as Capital Onethe Virginia bank that outsources to some of the top tech firms based in India and overseasare demanding more scrutiny on the ratio of freshers working on critical projects. For the over $100-billion US IT outsourcing market, these concerns are an early warning signal as rivals TCS, Infosys, IBM, HP and others push to maintain profitability by increasing the proportion of fresh graduates at lower salaries in locations such as India. 19. IL&FS Engineering gets $100 million order-Reuters May 17 IL&FS Engineering & Construction , formerly called Maytas Infra, said on Tuesday it has won a contract worth $100 million from Prime Star Energy FZE (PSE) for construction of a storage tank terminal in UAE. PSE plans to undertake the development, operations and maintenance of a storage tank terminal for oil and oil products. PSE is part of the Emirates Trading Agency LLC group and has tied up with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services for financing and construction of this project, it said in a press release. The facility is expected to be completed within the next 2 years, it added. 20. Companies going for background checks of employees- PTI May 17 Against the backdrop of the fake pilot scam shaking the aviation industry, companies in other sectors have woken up to the need of carrying out background verification of their new as well as existing employees. Human resource officials of various companies are now cross-checking each and every detail of job applicants prior to hiring them. The employee verification process includes finding out the genuineness of work experience, educational documents and whether the candidate has any criminal record or not. "The unfortunate negative trend will soon lead to a more robust, centralised, and independent candidate verification process on the lines of a banking credit verification system," Suresh Director of Konnexions HR Pvt Ltd. said. According to an industry survey, only 62 per cent of companies have done any form of background check before hiring an employee.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
21. China Raises Reserve Ratio 50 Basis Points- Bloomberg May 13 China raised banks reserve requirements for the fifth time this year to restrain prices, underscoring the risk that tightening measures will cause a slowdown in the worlds second-biggest economy. Reserve ratios will increase 0.5 percentage point from May 18, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website today. That will boost levels for the nations biggest lenders to a record 21 per cent. Premier Wen Jiabao aims to tame inflation while sustaining growth amid signs the economy is cooling after an expansion that peaked at 11.9 per cent during last year. Besides raising interest rates and reserve requirements, and guiding banks to limit credit growth, officials have accelerated gains in the yuan, which broke 6.5 per dollar for the first time since 1993 on April 29. A stronger yuan helps to reduce import costs. 22. Google takes on rivals with Chromebook-TNN May 13 Laptop computers using Googles Chrome operating system will go on sale in June, as the worlds No. 1 Internet search engine challenges Microsoft Corp and Apple on their home turf. The new web-centric PCs, made by Samsung and Acer, are Googles latest attempt to change how consumers and companies use their computers. The bare-bones operating system is essentially a web browser that steers users to use applications like email and spreadsheets directly on the web, instead of storing software such as Outlook or Word directly on PCs. Moving day-to-day functions onto the Internet removes the burden of time-consuming tasks associated with traditional PCs, like installing software and updates, backing up files and running antivirus checks, executives said. 23. Strauss-Kahn's arrest brightens Montek's chances for IMF top jobs?-TNN May 16 While allegations of attempted rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn are yet to be proved, his arrest has nevertheless raised speculation of a non-European being elevated to the top job at the International Monetary Fund for the first time since the multilateral body was set up in December 1945. Montek Singh Ahluwalia , deputy chairman of Planning Commission, is being talked about among candidates who could hold one of the top jobs at IMF. Before returning to India to join the Planning Commission, the former finance secretary had served as the first director of the IMF's independent evaluation office. Besides, the Europeans and the US are yet to agree to cede control of the two Bretton-Woods institutions . Since the two institutions were founded in 1944-45 , Europeans have headed IMF, while the World Bank has stayed with an American. 24. World's smallest satellite to find alien life developed-PTI May 17 American scientists have developed what they claim is the world's first satellite with the size of a loaf of bread which is designed specifically to look for extra terrestrial life. The nano-satellite, called the ExoPlanetSat, will be launched next year with the task of finding exoplanets beyond our solar system having life-supporting environment like like the Earth. Seamus Tuohy of Draper Laboratory, which developed the satellite in association with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the mission was "ground breaking". At just 10 centimetres wide and 30 centimetres long, the 3-million-pound device works by surveying the brightness of a star as an orbiting planet passes in front of it. Scientists are hoping to launch a fleet of such tiny satellites in the future to survey hundreds of stars to see if they can discover other planets similar to ours. 25. Nokias Bosses Dump Services Brand Ovi-Reuters May 17 Nokias new management will dump its Ovi services brand in favour of its company name across its offerings, the worlds largest cellphone maker by volume said on Monday. Nokia launched the brand in August 2007 for services such as maps and music offerings at a highprofile event in central London, at a time when it dominated the wireless industry with around 40% market share of handset sales. Nokia has scaled down several Ovi services over the past year and is focusing mostly on locationlinked offerings. Nokia said it would start to rebrand its Ovi services from July. The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over. Our mobile experiences are tightly integrated with our devices there is no longer a differentiation, Nokia's marketing chief Jerri deVard said in a statement. The value of the Nokia brand fell 28% last year to $10.7 billion, according to branding agency Millward Brown.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
26. India slips one rank in world competitiveness-BS May 17 INDIA slipped one rank, to 32nd position in overall competitiveness among 59 nations, according to the World Competitiveness Rankings, announced today by the International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne (Switzerland). The recovery of financial markets pushed the US and Hong Kong to first place, followed by last years topper, Singapore, which fell to third spot. In 2010, the US and Hong Kong ranked second and third, respectively. Indias neighbouring competitor, China, also slipped one rank, to 19th and Japan went up one rank to 26th slot, said the business schools 2011 Yearbook. Sharply different trends were observed in Indias ranking in four major parameters. While the ranking relating to economic performance, government efficiency and infrastructure availability marginally improved, India slipped on business efficiency, which pulled down its overall ranking. 27. Burj Al Arab is best luxury hotel in Middle East-ET May 17 Burj Al Arab For the eight year running, the Burj Al Arab , the sail-shaped hotel on one of Dubai's pristine beaches, has been voted the best hotel in the Middle East. And it is a natural choice. The 7-star hotel is a perfect example of the excessive luxury, what with walls embellished with gold leaf, 202 suites staffed with butlers, an underwater signature restaurant and a fleet of Rolls Royces ready to chauffer guests around the city. The award was presented by the World Travel Awards, dubbed the 'Oscars of the travel industry', as part of the World Travel Awards 2011 Grand Tour. 28. Rs 30,000 crore blackmoney recovered in last 2 years-ET May 18 Taxmen have seized blackmoney to the tune of a whopping Rs 30,000 crore in the country in the last two years, said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) which is set to get investigative powers to boost its drive against wrongdoers. The CBDT is in the process of creating a Directorate of Criminal Investigation after getting approval from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last week. CBDT chairman Sudhir Chandra said they have gone after big shots and every search or survey has yielded more than Rs 100 crore in black-money. Addressing the 'National Seminar on Black-money', Chandra said, "Through IT searches and surveys, we have realised around Rs 30,000 crore of black-money" in the past two years. Since February, the Income Tax Department has issued Rs 1.15 crore refunds across the country which runs into Rs 1.04 lakh crore. 29. Pakistans 4th military N-reactor has India worried-TNN May 19 Pakistan is focusing on building low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons which it can use in case of skirmishes at the border with India. After disclosures that Pakistan is building its fourth reactor at the Khushab military facility, fresh estimates made by security and intelligence officials here suggest Pakistan can add 8-10 such weapons in its kitty every year. The news has come as a shock to the government here as its information, based on assessments by top scientists, was that Pakistan did not have enough uranium to undertake such expansion. Pakistan is internationally acknowledged to have a nuclear arsenal of 100 weapons but the recent focus on low-yield weapons has become a source of worry to India. Pakistans testing of a surface-to-surface missile for carrying smaller warheads has confirmed the suspicion. 30. Indians living 8 yrs more than they did in the 90s-TNN May 16 An average Indian (both sexes) lived eight years longer in 2009, compared to what he did two decades ago. However, it was still three years less than the global average life expectancy. An average Indian woman lived three years more than her male counterpart in 2009. While a woman lived for 66 years, the life expectancy of an Indian man stood at 63 years. According to the World Health Organisations health statistics 2011, released late on Friday, an average Indian lived till 65 years in 2009 and 57 years in 1990 and 61 years in 2000. WHO said life expectancy at birth reflected the overall mortality level of a population. It summarized the mortality pattern that prevailed across all age groups in a given year children and adolescents, adults and the elderly.

THE IT INDUSTRY: PROGRAMMING INDIA FOR A HI TECH FUTURE

The origin of IT industry in India can be traced to 1974, when the mainframe manufacturer, Burroughs, asked its India sales agent, TCS to export programmers for installing system software for a US client. When Rajiv Gandhi became PM in 1984, his New Computer Policy reduced import tariffs on hardware & software, recognized software exports as a de-licensed industry, therefore eligible for bank finance and freed it from the license-permit raj. Permission was granted to foreign firms to set up wholly-owned, export-dedicated units. He set up a chain of software parks that would offer infrastructure at below-market costs. These policies laid the foundation for the development of a world-class IT industry in India. Today the IT sector contributes 5% of Indias GDP of $1,488 Billion. Work done by our Software industry includes system integration, software experiments, development, maintenance, Network, IT services and solutions. The countrys IT-BPO industry expanded by 12% during 2009. With an expected compounded annual growth rate of 15% in the next 10 years, the Indian IT and ITES sector could touch $285-billion by 2020 from $71.6 billion in 2009. Tata Consultancy Services Limited is the largest provider of information technology and business process outsourcing services in Asia. It has offices in 42 countries with more than 142 branches across the globe. Promoters hold 74%, while the rest is public. It reported a PAT of Rs 7,000 cr on revenues of Rs 30,300 cr in 2009-10. 45% of its revenues came from clients in banking, financial services and insurance. It began as the Tata Computer Centre, whose main business was to provide computer services to Tata group companies. JRD Tata was the first chairman. In the early 1970s, TCS started exporting its services. The company pioneered the global delivery model for IT services. In 1981, TCS set up India's first software R&D centre, the Tata Research Development & Design Center. The first client-dedicated offshore development center was set up for Compaq in 1985.TCS pioneered the factory model for Y2K conversion. TCS is one of the largest private sector employers in India with core strength in excess of 1, 75,000 employees. It now boasts of the lowest attrition rates in the Indian IT industry. But, in the recent past TCS has been criticized by its employees in Public forums on its Appraisal and Promotion policies. Infosys Technologies Limited, Bengaluru is a MNC IT Services Company. It is one of India's largest IT companies, with nine development centers in India and over 30 offices worldwide. It was founded on 2nd July 1981 by seven entrepreneurs, N R Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, Kris Gopalakrishnan, S. D. Shibulal, K Dinesh and N. S. Raghavan. The founders started the company with an initial investment of Rs. 10,000. The company was incorporated as "Infosys Consultants Pvt Ltd." in Model Colony, Pune. The company went public in 1993. Interestingly, Infosys IPO was under subscribed but it was bailed out by US investment banker Morgan Stanley, which picked up 13% of equity at the offer price of Rs 95 per share. Promoters hold 16%, Government of India 3.84% while rest is public. For 2009-10 it earned profits of Rs 6,219 cr on a turnover of Rs. 23,732 cr. Infosys is one of the first Indian companies to grant stock options (ESOPs) to its employees since 1993. It has the largest corporate university in the world, located on its Mysore campus. Infosys's intranet, "Sparsh" connects its 114,822 employees across 26 countries in which Infosys operates. Wipro Technologies is headquartered in Bengaluru and is the third largest IT services company in India. Some of its customers are Nortel, Boeing, BP, Cisco, Ericsson, IBM, Microsoft, Prudential, Seagate, Sony, HP, Windriver, Airbus, Toshiba, Windstream Communications, and Wal-Mart. It was the sole representative for Sun Microsystems in India, before the Sun liaison office was set up in India, in the early 1990s. Its PAT for 2009-10 was Rs 4,593 cr and revenues Rs 27,613 cr. It employs 1, 15,900 people worldwide as of September 2010. It has varying interests including IT, consumer care, lighting, engineering and healthcare businesses. It is the 9th most valuable brand in India. Azim Premji is the Chairman of the board. Promoters hold 81%, while public share holding is only 19%. It is the largest independent provider of R&D services in the world. Using "Extended Engineering" model for leveraging R&D, Wipro enables firms to introduce new products rapidly. Wipro BPO employs over 22,000, of whom 3,150 are at its Hyderabad campus. The planned new recruitments will be from among science and commerce graduates and under-graduates. The majority of Wipro BPOs business comes from the US, followed by Europe. The rest of the world contributes only marginally to its top line. The company posted a turnover of $290 million in 2008.