ISSUE - 103 30th DECEMBER [THURSDAY] EDITOR’S DESK - TANIYA BANERJEE It is that time of the week again! And we are back once again with another round of the most talked about news of the entire week. One of the things that really concerns me is the fact that inflationary trends in food items seems to be on an upward trend, especially in our country and with every passing day, basic food items seem more and more out of the reach of the common man. With various other issues plaguing the Indian government, will it be able to sustain yet another round of blow resulting from the af- ter-effects of the onion price rise? Get a meaningful insight in our Cover Story section. Moreover, we can see some new international ties being strengthened, with India and Russia em- barking on a new road of co-operation, reinforcing their defense deals. Surprisingly, India‟s am- bitious project GSAT exploded mid-air! To know about more such news pieces go through our Fast Track section. Has the judicial system of our country really gone in for a toss? And is the life imprisonment granted to Dr. Binayak Sen justified when we have criminals charged under much graver of- fences running amok in the country? Well our Opinion Column will surely provide some an- swers to the questions running in your minds about this verdict! With the new age mantra of emotional marketing doing the rounds, our favorite brand Coca- Cola is not far behind. It has come up with the „Shadow‟ campaign. The Brand Track section talks much about it in detail. We have also tried to capture the life of and pay tribute to one of the most successful men of our times - Mr. Lido A. Iacocca, in our Focus Of The Week section. He is rightly known as the Fa- ther of Mustang and was responsible for turning around the fate of Chrysler when it was making massive losses. Also the vibrant life at IBS Hyderabad with all its events from various clubs and student bodies is there for you in News @ IBS. And this is not all; for all avid market watchers we once again bring forth Market Watch where you will get to know if it was the bullishness of the bull or the roar of the bear that dominated the market last week. I hope all of you will have as much fun reading this issue as much as we had writing it. See you next week! Cheers, Taniya Banerjee EDITOR 1 OPINION 5 FOCUS 8 COVER 2 BRAND 6 NEWS @ IBS 9 FAST-TRACK 3 QUICK BITES 7 MARKET 10
EDITOR’S DESK EDITOR Cheers, Taniya Banerjee ISSUE - 103 Also the vibrant life at IBS Hyderabad with all its events from various clubs and student bodies is there for you in News @ IBS. It is that time of the week again! And we are back once again with another round of the most talked about news of the entire week. - TANIYA BANERJEE
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
ISSUE - 103 30th DECEMBER [THURSDAY]
EDITOR’S DESK - TANIYA BANERJEE
It is that time of the week again! And we are back once again with another round of the most
talked about news of the entire week.
One of the things that really concerns me is the fact that inflationary trends in food items seems
to be on an upward trend, especially in our country and with every passing day, basic food items
seem more and more out of the reach of the common man. With various other issues plaguing
the Indian government, will it be able to sustain yet another round of blow resulting from the af-
ter-effects of the onion price rise? Get a meaningful insight in our Cover Story section.
Moreover, we can see some new international ties being strengthened, with India and Russia em-
barking on a new road of co-operation, reinforcing their defense deals. Surprisingly, India‟s am-
bitious project GSAT exploded mid-air! To know about more such news pieces go through our
Fast Track section.
Has the judicial system of our country really gone in for a toss? And is the life imprisonment
granted to Dr. Binayak Sen justified when we have criminals charged under much graver of-
fences running amok in the country? Well our Opinion Column will surely provide some an-
swers to the questions running in your minds about this verdict!
With the new age mantra of emotional marketing doing the rounds, our favorite brand Coca-
Cola is not far behind. It has come up with the „Shadow‟ campaign. The Brand Track section
talks much about it in detail.
We have also tried to capture the life of and pay tribute to one of the most successful men of our
times - Mr. Lido A. Iacocca, in our Focus Of The Week section. He is rightly known as the Fa-
ther of Mustang and was responsible for turning around the fate of Chrysler when it was making
massive losses.
Also the vibrant life at IBS Hyderabad with all its events from various clubs and student bodies
is there for you in News @ IBS.
And this is not all; for all avid market watchers we once again bring forth Market Watch where
you will get to know if it was the bullishness of the bull or the roar of the bear that dominated
the market last week. I hope all of you will have as much fun reading this issue as much as we
had writing it. See you next week!
Cheers,
Taniya Banerjee
EDITOR 1 OPINION 5 FOCUS 8
COVER 2 BRAND 6 NEWS @ IBS 9
FAST-TRACK 3 QUICK BITES 7 MARKET 10
COVER STORY– IT REALLY STINGS: THE ONION PRICE RISE! - TANIYA BANERJEE It seems to me that the endless nightmare of every Indian household has finally come true! Yes
you guessed it right! I am talking about the hike in onion prices and it‟s subsequent after effects
on the common man. From the beginning of last week itself we have seen how the prices of on-
ions had started to rise. In a matter of few days it rose from Rs.30 per kg to Rs.60 (double) and
in some parts of the country it went as high as Rs. 100. It seems that with every peel being lay-
ered off, the much coveted onion is adding more woes to everyone from politicians to house-
holds!
In a country like India where onion is a key food item it becomes imperative on the part of the
government to keep the prices stabilized. Though the current spike can be attributed to some ex-
tent to damaging of crops in Maharashtra and Gujarat due to rains but the lack of proper regula-
tory norms, ineffective distribution networks and inability of govern-
ment to prevent hoarding has worsened the situation. And the conse-
quences of these frequent galloping price rises has indeed created
havoc in the life of the common man, for whom paying through the
nose remains the only option to feed himself.
Such is the power of this vegetable that it had once toppled the gov-
ernment in the past when consumers gave vent to their anger at the
polling booth. In 1998, the coalition led by Bharatiya Janata Party (now the opposition at the
center) was defeated in Delhi state election because of a six fold increase in onion prices. There-
fore, the UPA government should consider itself lucky that this is not the election year as an in-
flationary trend in food price never goes unpunished when people go out to vote. Taking all
these factors into consideration the government finally seems to have come to its senses and got
down to action. It has restricted all exports of the vegetable, abolished import duties to 0% from
5% and has come down hard upon all hoarding activities. All these measure cooled down the
prices somewhat and brought the price level down to about Rs. 50-60. But all of this really
shows a pitiable scenario of the second largest onion producer of the world. And it is not just
onions that are the only concern for the common man. These inflationary trends, especially in
food products, have been there for quite sometime. It seems that a vicious circle has been created
and the way out seems to be present nowhere. The prices of other essential food items like toma-
toes and garlic seem to be on an all time high with prices soaring up to Rs. 50 and Rs. 320 per kg
in some of the parts of the country. Moreover, edible oil prices too have risen up by about Rs. 10
-12 a litre. So the big picture here is that the inflationary trend in essential commodities in Indian
market needs to be reigned in at the earliest. With the food price index rising to 12.13% and the
fuel price index climbing to about 10.74%. its time some strict measures were taken.
The government has already had to face a volley of criticisms from various sections for a variety
of reasons like corruption etc. So, the question now which remains to be answered is, will the
government be able to sustain yet another blow in the form of rising inflationary trends in the
country? Well, we can just wait and watch.
THE IBS TIMES
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
In a country like India
where onion is a key food
item it becomes imperative on
the part of the government to
keep the prices stabilized.
The UPA government
should consider itself lucky
that this is not the election
year as an inflationary
trend in food price never
goes unpunished when people
go out to vote.
FAST-TRACK NEWS -SHILPA MALHOTRA India and Russia target more defense deals India and Russia reinforced their defense ties by building on plans to jointly design and manufacture fifth gen-eration Fighter Aircrafts, a deal which would cost $30 billion. The agreement, along with 29 other India-Russia pacts, was signed on a two day visit to India by Russia‟s President Dmitry Medvedev. Both the sides arrived at a framework which will allow construction of additional reactors and nuclear units in the country to meet In-dia‟s growing energy needs.
CBI gets tighter on Raja and raids Kalmadi’s residence A. Raja who costed nation Rs.1.7 crore was subjected to 9 hours of intense interrogation by the CBI for his role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, meanwhile five teams formed by the agency raided the residences of Con-gress MP Suresh Kalmadi; Chairman of the CWG organizing committee. The raids conducted by the CBI in connection with the CWG scam yielded a „wealth of information‟, particularly in the case pertaining to award of a contract for TSR (timing, scoring and result) system to a Swiss firm.
Third quarter advance tax payments by top 100 corporates shoot by 18.7% Advance tax payments by India‟s top 100 corporate taxpayers rose 18.7% in December indicating better corpo-rate performance in the third quarter. The companies paid Rs. 27,531 crore in advance tax compared with Rs. 23,190 crore in December last year. The third quarter payments are closely watched by the government as these numbers form the basis for revised revenue estimates in the Union Budget, presented in February.
Government plans price indices for services India will soon have indices measuring price changes in services that account for 57% of the national income. The centre has shortlisted 10 sectors for which indices will be created which include transport, banking, insur-ance, communication, ports and storage, defense services, health and education. All the indices will add up to a single index for services which will give a more comprehensive picture of price trends in the economy as well as accurately estimate the inflation.
GSAT satellite worth Rs.125 crore explodes in mid-air India's ambitious space programme suffered a serious setback on Saturday as its rocket carrying an advanced communication satellite exploded after lift off. The rocket's first stage seemed to have performed normally, the problem cropped up in the second stage as the rocket did not get sufficient thrust, an official said. Advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P was meant to ensure continuity of telecom, television and weather services after INSAT-2E satellite was retired.
$11 billion Infra fund opens up for insurers The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) has agreed to amend norms to allow insurance firms to lend to the proposed Infra fund which will facilitate meeting the $1 trillion funds requirement of the infrastructure sector. This will allow insurers to invest in the infrastructure sector to the maximum as the companies can allocate up to 15% of their investment portfolio to infrastructure and social sector. However, the current rules allow them to invest only in „A‟ rated debt paper.
Tata Steel in talks for South African asset sale Tata Steel is in negotiations to dispose off its South African plant and assets to raise $150 million in cash. A buyer has not been finalized yet. Standard Chartered's India investment banking team has been mandated to select the potential buyer. The world's seventh-largest steelmaker which is consolidating its past acquisitions including Corus, is preparing for new transactions, which may include an overseas coal asset purchase.
Triple net lease– A lease in which the lessee pays rent to the lessor, as well as all taxes, insurance, and mainte-
nance expenses that arise from the use of the property.
JSW steel announced a $3 billion deal to acquire debt burdened Ispat Industries, a part of Mittal business family, making it the country‟s largest steel maker by capacity. JSW will buy 41.3% in Ispat through prefer-ential allotment of shares. JSW‟s deed also underscores its strategy of cutting costs and improving efficien-cies by stressing on value-added products. On its part, the deal would make it possible for Ispat to be able to refinance its entire Rs.7,500-crore debt exposure at a lower interest cost, and also raise capacity to 4.2 MT from its current 3.3 MT.
Fortis Global Healthcare to buy 30% stake in Australian firm Fortis Global Healthcare Holdings will acquire 30% stake in Australia's Dental Corporation for about Rs.450 crore. Dental Corporation, one of Australia's fastest-growing companies, provides high-quality general and specialist dental services. The proposed investment will allow Dental to continue to expand in Australia and New Zealand and would provide opportunities in Asia through the Fortis network.
IOC’s FPO issue hit hard by the subsidy burden Indian Oil Corporation‟s proposed Rs. 19,000 crore public issue has sunk into uncertainty after the finance ministry decided to reimburse only one-third of company‟s loss for selling fuel at controlled rates. While gov-ernment has clearly announced it would bear only 33% of the fuel subsidy, the balance burden would be shared by the oil companies. The projected revenue loss to the company is about Rs.11,666 crores; much higher than its net profit of Rs.1,906 crores which will erode away the investors and adversely impact its fi-nances.
Tata buys UK’s largest salt manufacturer for 93 million pounds TCL's wholly owned subsidiary Brunner Mond, UK (BMUK), has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 100% stake in British Salt Ltd, UK, subject to requisite regulatory approvals. The acquisition will be financed entirely through debt, with no recourse to TCL. The buy will give Brunner Mond access to assured supplies of key raw materials and salt deposits which will help the company to maintain low cost manufacturing posi-tion in Europe.
US witnesses a stream of optimism after the tax cut deal US growth is accelerating as the year ends, with economists, consumers and companies becoming more con-fident about next year‟s outlook after President Barack Obama busted the tax-cut deal this month. While the developing nations are struggling hard with inflation hitting their economies and some big sovereign nations stuck in debt trap, US is emerging out in pretty good shape reflected by rise in S&P 500 index of US stocks by 12% this year higher in comparison to emerging nations such as China and Brazil, which makes experts believe that US will continue to outperform rest of the world in the next fiscal.
Nadal beats Federer to square charity series Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1 on Wednesday to square a two-match exhibition series for charity between the world's top-ranked tennis players. Nadal sealed the win with a powerfully angled fore-hand crosscourt shot in front of a capacity crowd at Caja Magica sports arena that included many of Spain's leading dignitaries. Federer beat Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday in the opening match in Zurich, Switzerland.
David Beckham all set to drive his passion again Former England captain, David Beckham, has revealed that he wants to play for a European club this winter in a bid to win back his place in the national side. Beckham has spent the last two winters on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy at AC Milan but accepts that move will not happen again - and he has ruled out all Premier League clubs apart from Manchester United. Beckham has not played for England since suffering a torn Achilles tendon in March that kept him out of the World Cup, but he made a successful return for the Galaxy.
Fund Supermarket- It is a brokerage firm that provides access to a variety of mutual funds from different fun
families. The consumers are investors, the producers are mutual fund families, and the central location is a broker
age firm.
THE IBS TIMES
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
OPINION FORUM– JUSTICE DELIVERED– IS IT REALLY SO? - RAJAT MONGA
Shocked! That is the first reaction I had on reading about the life sentence given to Dr. Binayak Sen
– the so called Maoist on the charges of conspiring to commit sedition and wage a war against the
government of India. This should not come as a shock to us as any person found guilty of such seri-
ous charges should get the maximum punishment possible but Dr.Binayak Sen is not „any other per-
son‟. A doctor and celebrated civil right activist, Dr.Sen, has spent decades treating poor tribals in
Chhattisgarh with his work being recognized by international organizations. He is also the vice-
president of People‟s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the organization that tries to expose the al-
leged atrocities of the central forces against tribals and that is how he got in the wrong books of the
Chattisgarh government. Sen was arrested in May 2007 and accused of carrying seditious letters
from Narayan Sanyal, a Maoist ideologue in jail and passing them on to Piyush Guha, a Kolkata
businessman.
The entire trial has been dogged with allegations of police planting evidence, schooled witnesses and
manufactured testimonies. For instance, the jail authorities under whose watch Dr. Sen met Sanyal
testified that the meetings were supervised and there was no way letters could have changed hands.
There is more. Despite so many irregularities, the judge decided to go ahead with pronouncing him
guilty. This has raised a big question mark on the effectiveness and independence of judiciary, as this
judgment somehow gives an impression that judiciary has become a
vehicle of state policy. Even the higher courts were not helpful as Dr.
Sen was not granted bail despite the fact (as I said earlier) that there
was lack of substantial evidence. Another worrying sign is that we as a
society are becoming intolerant to views that do not conform to our
ideologue and are trying to suppress it. Arundathi Roy has been heck-
led on various occasions on her views on Maoists and the Kashmir is-
sue, so has been Medha Patkar for her drive to save displaced villagers
and now this case. Our country takes pride in the noise created by our
vibrant democracy where everybody has the right to state his view-
point unlike our neighbors where the voices of dissident are suppressed. Dr. Sen and other intellects
are regularly rounded off by the authorities for their support of Maoist ideologue. I agree that free-
dom of speech should not be stretched too far but is it really unlawful to write an article in a journal
sympathizing with Naxals? If it is, then maybe I would be arrested too because I believe it was the
neglect by the Indian state that forced tribals to pick up arms, but I also believe that its time for the
Maoist to come to the negotiating table as they have managed to get government‟s attention.
If we want India to remain a vibrant democracy then this country needs informed debates on all the
controversial topics - be it independence for Kashmir or Naxalism. The government has been trying
to shrug these topics under the carpet as it is scared that it might have to answer some very uncom-
fortable questions. The case of Dr. Sen is one such example where the entire state machinery worked
together to make sure his voice is suppressed. How else can you explain this? A couple of months of
jail term for bosses of Union carbide and a life sentence for Dr. Sen. Think about it!
Escrow– Documents, real estate, money or securities deposited with a neutral third party (the escrow agent) to be
delivered upon fulfillment of certain conditions, as established in a written document.
THE IBS TIMES
The entire trial has been
dogged with allegations of
police planting evidence,
schooled witnesses and
manufactured testimonies.
If we want India to
remain a vibrant democ-
racy then this country
needs informed debates
on all the controversial
topics -be it independ-
ence for Kashmir or
Naxalism.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
BRAND TRACK—HAPPY CONNECTIONS WITH COCA-COLA -RINI CHATERJEE
Taking forward the 'Open Happiness' brand thought, the latest commercial of the cola giant
brings out the need for people to connect with each other.
Coca-Cola has an idea to bring people together, as it continues to 'open happiness'. The brand's
latest television commercial stems from the thought that people need to connect with each
other, especially in the increased isolation of urban lives. The Shadow film, conceptualised by
McCann Erickson Delhi, conveys the message in a zestful manner that is also visually stimulat-
ing.
The film has been directed by Dibakar Banerjee of Freshwater Films. The creative team at the
agency includes Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman and regional executive creative director,