Rs. 50
VOLUME 14 ISSUE 7 JULY 2015
Bahrain BD 1.50 Kuwait KD 1.50 Oman OR 1.50, Saudi Arabia SR 12.00 UAE DH 10.00 UK ÂŁ 3.00, US $ 3.00
Eicher Motors
TCS
Tech Mahindra
TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
Suzlon Energy
What makes great companies? Seasonal Magazine identifies 30 small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap companies that have entered the freeway to greatness through holistic strategies including massive debt reduction, higher return on equity, astounding dividend payouts, soaring sales, consistent earnings growth, strategic acquisitions, surprising team work, intelligent diversifications, unbelievable asset quality, solid profit margin, impressive capacity expansion, and many more.
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Editorial MAGAZINE
Seasonal www.seasonalmagazine.com
Managing Editor Jason D Pavorattikaran Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Hyderabad: Iqbal Siddiqui Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D Pavorattikaran
how to find great companies to invest into…
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SEASONAL MAGAZINE
nce again Indian market is at crossroads. While the euphoria driven by a new majority government is getting over, adding to the woes is the Greek situation that will take several quarters if not years to fix, whether there is a Grexit or not sometime in the future. However, on the upside has come a better than expected monsoon, and the rapidly falling Chinese stock market, which is correcting from a steep 100%+ rally within a year. Huge institutional money coming out from China has to find a safe place to hide, and India’s 20 P/E market is a lot safer than China’s overheated 60+ P/E world. India fully can’t accommodate the Chinese market outflow as there is still no comparison between the sizes of the two markets. However, India is likely to accommodate a bit more than earlier due to a peculiar development. Many large-sized unlisted Indian companies are readying their IPOs,
sensing this opportunity. Examples include IndiGo, Café Coffee Day Holdings, DTDC, RBL Bank, GVK Airport Developers, Syngene, Catholic Syrian Bank etc. Some estimates put the number of major upcoming IPOs at over 30. Ad d to t h i s t h e g o ve r n m e nt disinvestment program, which has been lagging its targets, and the Chinese outbound money could find space to park in the emerging world itself. While screening the IPOs, retail investors could do themselves a favour by going beyond the usual headline ratings given out by the rating agencies. Needless to say, most of these IPOs will be offered at the maximum-possible valuations, if not the sky-high type. The quality of the sales and earnings growth remain the most crucial metrics to watch out for. The multiples at which the public offer will be coming will obviously be pegged to these crucial growth numbers.
bank
But it is often seen that unlisted companies go for their IPOs at the height of their growth and the resultant buzz, but often starts underperforming by way of earnings growth soon after the IPO and listing.
1 lakh in this bank in 2002, it recently gave an annual dividend of Rs. 48,000 for FY’15. Not bad, right? Welcome to Union Bank of India. That was dividends alone, while the investment of 1 lakh has become 12 lakhs now.
Even if this is not the case, retail investors could do well to remember that most companies would eventually fail to grow at their best pace, sooner or later. What then shields the investor from massive loss on investments?
Another bank, this one from the private sector, is not a so-called new generation bank or a large private bank. Like all its peers, it is also facing increased competition, and therefore reduced growth rates than earlier. But it is still profit making, and for an investor who had invested Rs. 1 lakh in it in 2000, it recently gave an annual dividend of Rs. 80,000 for FY‘15. Pretty good, right? Welcome to South Indian Bank. That was again dividends alone, while the investment of 1 lakh has become 22 lakhs now.
Only one metric can shield the investors in such a scenario, and that remains the company’s dividend policy. There are numerous examples in the Indian market, where the company is not growing anymore at its historical best rate any more, but is compensating for it by continuing generous dividends. There is a public sector bank that has been challenged like all its peers due to the NPA crisis. It is not growing its earnings as fast as it once used to grow, but it is still a profit-making bank. For an investor who had invested Rs.
Another one, this one from the NBFC sector, used to grow at a blistering fast rate sometime back. But ever since some regulatory controls came in to force in its sector, it is growing at only a much slower clip. But it is still profitmaking, and for an investor who had invested Rs. 1 lakh in it in 2005, it gave out Rs. 3.68 lakhs as annual dividend for FY‘15. Mind blowing, you would agree. That is Manappuram Finance for you. Again, that is dividends alone, while the investment of 1 lakh has become 80 lakhs now.
into a company when it is relatively young. Any possible deep correction after an IPO provide the opportunity to enter into a relatively young company at a more safer level. But the thing to look out for is really the company’s dividend policy. Whether the company is willing to share real cash - your rightful share of the profits - with you on a regular basis. In fact, some of the best multibaggers in recent years like Page Industries were identified by discerning investors from their dividend policy. When it became clear that the Jockey maker has implemented a policy of giving out 30-to-60 percentage of its profits as dividends, with the rest going in for expanding the business, the stock just rallied like crazy, and still goes up to crazier valuations. Of course, matching the dividend policy is one of the best CAGR growth rates in both sales and profits. Coal India is another company that is starting to surprise the markets with its dividend yield that stands at a high 7% at current stock prices.
Of course, for such magic to happen, entering a company while it is still young is also important.
SEBI is planning to enforce a dividend policy for all listed companies, that will force each company to pay out at least a fixed percentage of its profits as dividends, but until that comes, you are on your own to find out dividend paying companies and shun non-dividend payers.
IPOs provide that opportunity to enter
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CONTENTS
What Makes a Company Great? What makes great companies? Seasonal Magazine identifies 30 small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap companies that seems to have entered the freeway to greatness through holistic strategies including massive debt reduction, higher return on equity, astounding dividend payouts, soaring sales, consistent earnings growth, strategic acquisitions, surprising team work, intelligent diversifications, unbelievable asset quality, solid profit margin, impressive capacity expansion, and many more.
"Overkill by Courts and Investigators have Hampered Growth," says Jaitley
Finance Minister echoes what UPA's Dr. Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram have always argued - that much of the policy paralysis is due to fear among senior officers in both departments and investigating agencies. 8
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Just How Big is the Greek Tragedy?
As public debt of Greece crumples world economy, a quick look on how big is the Hellenic debt. It is approximately US$ 271 billion or Rs. 17.34 lakh crore. Mind you, despite all this debt, Greece is not a poor country in the classical sense, with high per capita income. It is a developed nation, and leads in global industries like shipping.
Facebook's Sandberg Mourns for Her Husband in FB
Facebook chief operating officer Shreyl Sandberg has written an emotional post on Facebook on how life has been since the tragic death of her husband Dave Goldberg last month. Goldberg, CEO of online polling firm SurveyMonkey, passed away on May 3 after falling on a treadmill..
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ISIS Consolidates in Yemen, Putting USA in Tough Spot
As Yemen plunges into an inevitable situation of nation-wide famine and water shortage, analysts fear that inadequate concern among countries (outside the Saudi-led coalition) could propel a joint US-Saudi economic takeover, especially with no end at sight to the political crisis. The situation is akin to the US invasion..
Sleep Problems Cause Depression in Men
In a new study, scientists have found a strong link between severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and heightened risk of depression in men. Lead author Carol Lang, PhD, from the...
Why Many Stock Market Investors Fail
Fidelity released a study discussing a performance breakdown for their accounts. The clients that did the best were the ones who were dead. The second best performing set of clients forgot they had Fidelity accounts.
India is where the Silicon Valley was in the 1980s
7 Must-See Beaches for Indians From Around the Globe
From silken sands and gushing waves to a serene ambience and some much need sun tan, beaches always have something beautiful to offer. No wonder...
Will Hong Kong or Luxembourg be the Next London?
After HSBC, the world's third largest bank announced plans to cut 50,000 more jobs, some of them in UK, and probably move its headquarters from London to..
India’s Top Private Universities - Vol. II
PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES ARE TURNING MAINSTREAM Academic year 2015-16 is likely to go down in India’s higher education history as the year in which students started opting for private universities without even waiting for the admission outcomes from central and state universities. To cite an example, with more than 5 nearly equally qualified students vying for each seat in each college under Delhi University, and cutoffs running upward of 97% in most subjects, what can students who have scored fair marks between 60%-95% do, than opt for private colleges or private universities? Many of them didn’t even wait for DU outcomes, as it
A pan-India survey released on Monday revealed more than 80% Indians are protein deficient, indicating that protein deficiency on a rise in the country.
One arm of the European Union is looking into whether Facebook and other tech companies unfairly favor their own services over those of rivals. At least five..
Is BCCI's New Tendulkar-LaxmanGanguly Committee Toothless? India loves a committee. If there is a problem or a crisis, the solution is always the same: form a committee to consider the issue.
Newer Birth Control Pills Likely to Cause Blood Clots
Prasad Kaipa, an alumnus of IIT Madras, coaches executives and mentors entrepreneurs globally. After a PhD in Physics from the Institute in 1983, Kaipa’s passion led him to work with Apple in 1980s and then went on to do
80% Indians Deficient in Protein Consumption
Europe Shows the World How to Fight Facebook
New study finds greatest risk in newer contraceptives, and in women with existing risk factors.
Nasscom Presents Government with a Novel Plan for 1 Million Jobs
10 lakh new skilled jobs are possible if Indian government takes this call, says Nasscom. The IT industry body said this plan's key is expansion into non-metro locations.
Government Plans Disincentives to Boost Telecom Quality
Government want to work on a "disincentive architecture" to reduce call drops.
Mahindra Vehicles Go Android
Android Auto will be available in Mahindra's XUV 500 and Scorpio as well as future platforms, said Pravin Shah, president and CEO, automotive unit.
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E N V I R O N M E N T
AUTO MAKERS FIGHT GOVERNMENT OVER NEW POLLUTION NORMS
an effort to curb vehicular pollution, the government has issued a draft notification making Bharat Standard 4 norms mandatory from April 2017. But all this has done is add fuel to an already raging disagreement between the government, auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), and the National Green Tribunal. Vehicle manufacturers in India feel they are under attack. First, the National Green Tribunal came out with an order banning diesel vehicles which are over 10 years old from plying on roads in the Delhi-NRC region. But even as that order lies in limbo with the government challenging it, the government itself has gone ahead with a draft notification calling for passenger vehicles to conform to the stricter BS4 emission standards within two years. Environmental experts argue that this notification is one-sided, as it makes no 10
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such demand for commercial vehicles. Experts say this draft notification on BS4 standards will only add fuel to the fire that's already raging over the National Green Tribunal's order which has been stayed. Remember, the stay came after the government quoted a study by IITDelhi, which said old vehicles only account for a negligible amount of air pollution. The Centre For Science & Environment (CSE) for instance is already up in arms over this argument. The CSE, which is in any case unhappy with the original NGT order saying it lacks teeth, alleges that the government is blatantly batting for the automobile sector. Says CSE’s Sunita Narain, “The NGT is taking knee jerk action because government refuses to act. Government is listening to three large automobile manufacturers. These are the large three diesel manufacturers Eicher, Mahindra and Tata who do not have the capacity to make these vehicles and are dragging their feet
IN AN EFFORT TO CURB VEHICULAR POLLUTION, THE GOVERNMENT HAS ISSUED A DRAFT NOTIFICATION MAKING BHARAT STANDARD 4 NORMS MANDATORY FROM APRIL 2017.
irrespective of the fact that you and I are suffering from really poor emission.” Needless to say, the auto industry refutes these allegations. It says it is one of the few sectors to actually move towards embracing green policies - and that it is not the main agent for worsening air quality. “We are overestimating the contribution of transport to pollution. Vehicles is the only sector that made major improvements,” says SIAM DG Vishnu Mathur. “Major developments have taken place in vehicle emission norm. We have to see why this has not bought change in air quality. We are only trying to address one source.” Of course, India's green brigade is not convinced by any of these arguments. It is clamouring for a wider net of stronger rules that will really curb emissions. So until more comprehensive studies on the causes, effects and deterrants to air pollution are carried out and used to formulate a more effective green policy, this debate is not likely to simmer down.
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DISINCENTIVES TO BOOST TELECOM QUALITY
GOVERNMENT WANT TO WORK ON A "DISINCENTIVE ARCHITECTURE" TO REDUCE CALL DROPS.
his is one of the solutions the Ministry of Telecom is weighing for frequent mobile call drops problem. The government could soon direct telecom operators to compensate cellphone users with a free call for every call dropped. This is one of the solutions the Ministry of Telecom is weighing for frequent mobile call drops problem, especially in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. “As the telecom minister it is my responsibility to ensure that consumer interest gets top priority. Call drops need to be minimised and private telecom operators should reinforce their mechanisms,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, adding that he has directed officials in his department to “work on a disincentive architecture (for the operators)”. 12
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Additionally, asked about kind of measures that could be put in place as to disinsentivise call drops, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg cited an example of a telecom operator that offers a free call for in lieu of every call that gets dropped due to network issues. “But we are still thinking over this… What all disincentives can be there that can be built-in,” he added. On the timeline for solution, the secretary said DoT is working on it and if needed, the matter can be sent to s e ctora l re g u l ato r T RA I fo r suggestions. The process could take around six months.
AS THE TELECOM MINISTER IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT CONSUMER INTEREST GETS TOP PRIORITY.
Asked about operators’ complaints on hurdles in installing mobile towers due to radiation issues, the ministers said, “There is a campaign on radiation issues, which is not good. In its study, the WHO had set standards for radiation. In India, we have set a standard which is one tenth of this… To minimise call drops it is necessary that we have more towers.” He, however, added that if someone comes with a clear evidence of problems and dangers due to cell tower radiations, the ministry will look into it. Meanwhile, Mr. Prasad said the government has received the report on net neutrality from the six-member telecom department panel. The same is expected to be put up on the ministry’s website in a few days. Also, the spectrum trading and sharing guidelines will be sent to the Cabinet by the end of this month.
MAHINDRA VEHICLES GO ANDROID
NEWER BIRTH CONTROL PILLS LIKELY TO CAUSE BLOOD CLOTS New study finds greatest risk in newer contraceptives, and in women with existing risk factors.
Women taking oral contraceptive pills had slightly higher risks of developing a clot, especially if the pill was a newer formulation, according to the results of two nested casecontrol studies from the U.K. Yana Vinogradova, division of primary care, University Park in Nottingham, and colleagues reported any use of an oral contraceptive was associated with an increased risk of a venous thromboembolism compared with women with no oral contraceptive use in the previous year.
Android Auto will be available in Mahindra's XUV 500 and Scorpio as well as future platforms, said Pravin Shah, president and CEO, automotive unit. Mahindra & Mahindra, India's top-selling utility vehicle maker, plans to offer Google's Android Auto technology in its vehicles, a top company executive has said in a statement. The technology, which links smartphones and tablets with an in-vehicle infotainment system, will be available in Mahindra's sports utility vehicles XUV 500 and Scorpio as well as future platforms, said Pravin Shah, president and CEO, automotive unit. Shah said it would be made available after "successful integration," without committing to a timeline. Android Auto, an extension of Google's smartphone operating system, is expected to make driving safer and easier by allowing drivers to access applications like maps through voice command or by using controls on the steering wheel. Google, already the go-to search engine and the maker of world’s most popular mobile software, may become a bigger part of your life by next year. The company detailed five projects at I/O 2014 conference, that indicate its desire to move beyond your phone and PC’s screen and enter your household with more touchpoints. The company, part of the $17 billion Mahindra Group, also said it has become a member of the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA), a global group of automakers and technology companies working to bringing the Android platform to cars. Automakers such as Ford Motor, Honda Motor, Renault and Volkswagen are part of the alliance which also includes Google, Delphi and LG among others. 14
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But that risk seemed to vary by contraceptive formulation newer third and fourth generation pills appear to have about a fourfold relative risk increase versus about 2.5 times increase for older, second generation pills, they wrote in The British Medical Journal. Merle Myerson, MD, director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program and Lipid Clinic at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Roosevelt hospitals in New York City, found this to be a well conducted analysis. "This study appears to be very well designed and yields important information regarding risk for VTE associated with oral contraception use," she said. "This is a very relevant clinical question."
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IS BCCI'S NEW TENDULKAR-LAXMANGANGULY COMMITTEE TOOTHLESS?
Laxman will do - into the board. It isn’t just a matter of how this new committee will work with the BCCI. There is also the question of how they will work with each other. Big names tend to come with big egos. A story in Hindustan Times quotes an anonymous board official saying Dravid declined to be part of the committee, in part to avoid ego battles
loves a committee. If there is a problem or a crisis, the solution is always the same: form a committee to consider the issue. It doesn’t matter if a committee already exists – it is always possible to form a super-committee (or an empowered group of ministers). Especially if you stack it with high powered names.
INDIA
The BCCI has stayed true to form in appointing Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to an “advisory committee” that will presumably be responsible for things the board’s 30 (yes, 30) other committees don’t already do. You would think that the BCCI would have worked out all the details before appointing former cricketers of such stature but what we don’t know about the committee far exceeds what we do know. As Sharda Ugra pithily explained on ESPNcricinfo: What are they accountable for? That hasn't been made clear yet.
constructive effort.
with Ganguly.
The BCCI has been battered by negative publicity over the last two years, no matter what former BCCI president N Srinivasan’s might have said to the contrary. Lest we forgot, the Supreme Court is currently investigating how the BCCI functions and could well make changes that let a little more light into the corridors of powers.
What happens if Ganguly has one view on the new coach and Tendulkar has another? What if Laxman agrees with neither? Or worse still, if he agrees with one over the other?
The BCCI’s new leadership, led by president Jagmohan Dalmiya and secretary Anurag Thakur, have admitted the board needs some image polishing. And what better way to do that then inducting Tendulkar, Ganguly and Rahul Dravid – oops,
Who is accountable to them? No one. We aren’t the only ones confused either, Ganguly has said he has no idea what the committee is supposed to do (though that did not stop him from being part of it). And what was stopping the BCCI from having them on one of their existing committees? After all, Anil Kumble is chairman of the technical committee. It all makes you wonder whether this is a marketing gimmick as much as a 16
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Then, of course, they will go to Dalmiya and Thakur, who in turn, could have their own favourites. And that only serves to muddle matters even more.
The dynamics of sport are different. Ganguly was the captain and cricketers are trained from an early age to accept that the captain has the last word. There is an obvious need for a committee chairman to settle disputes but that still requires two of the three to accept they are second among equals. And what happens when they have strong but differing opinions? Then, of course, they will go to Dalmiya and Thakur, who in turn, could have their own favourites. And that only serves to muddle matters even more. Make no mistake, having Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman involved is potentially a good thing. But there must be a system in place that works for them as well as Indian cricket. At this stage, it is far from clear that is the case. Positive publicity over the appointment has already started rolling in though.
I N N O V A T I O N
NASSCOM PRESENTS GOVERNMENT WITH A NOVEL PLAN FOR 1 MILLION JOBS 10 lakh new skilled jobs are possible if Indian government takes this call, says Nasscom. The IT industry body said this plan's key is expansion into non-metro locations. ndia's apex IT industry body has sought key policy changes to encourage expansion of the country's multi-billion dollar business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to non-metro locations, a long-standing demand of domestic companies that have been asking for incentives to set up shop in small towns and cities. The National Association of Software and Services Companies, or Nasscom, presented a policy recommendation paper to the government recently ahead of the administration's plan to frame guidelines to promote BPO operations beyond large cities. Nasscom said expansion into non-metro locations has the potential to generate
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over one million skilled jobs, enumerating five points focused on employment generation as the central pillar of the BPO industry that already employs over 10 lakh people. "At the macro level, the BPM industry with a total revenue of about Rs 1,38,000 crore this year will translate into an economic multiplier of about Rs 5,52,000 crore for non-metro cities, estimated to translate into more than 10 lakh direct jobs in 2015," Nasscom said in its paper titled 'Policy to encourage BPO/BPM operations in Non Metro locations of India'. India's outsourcing industry has evolved from providing low-end technology services in the early 1990s to more specialised services for
customers across a wide range of industries. But in recent years, it has had to deal with increased competition from more cost-effective locations such as the Philippines and Vietnam, where outsourcing companies get greater government support. "We have identified 18-20 more locations in the country where we have created the infrastructure for employment. It is not only competitiveness but also the development of emerging cities, harmonising and galvanising the talent pool that is available... and creating digitisation capabilities," said KS Viswanathan, vice-president at Nasscom. These locations include Agartala, Belagavi, Chhindwara, Hazira, Karnal, Shivamogga, Srinagar and Vellore.
India's Complex Gold Dynamics
SLEEP PROBLEMS CAUSE DEPRESSION IN MEN
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n a new study, scientists have found a strong link between severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and heightened risk of depression in men.
Lead author Carol Lang, PhD, from the University of Adelaide, Australia, said their study, in a large communitybased sample of men, confirmed a strong relationship even after adjustment for a number of other potential risk factors. The study involved 1875 men aged between the ages of 35 and 83 who were assessed for depression at two time points over a five-year period. After adjustment for potential confounders, previously undiagnosed severe OSA was associated with an increased prevalence of depression, as was excessive daytime sleepiness. Men who had both previously undiagnosed and excessive daytime sleepiness had 4 to 5 times greater odds of having depression than men without either condition. Both previously diagnosed OSA and previously undiagnosed severe OSA were significantly associated with recent development of depression. Lang said that excessive daytime sleepiness and severe OSA were both associated with the prevalence and recent onset of depression in our community-based sample of men, and the presence of both was associated with an even greater risk. 20
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The government has no clear assessment of how much gold is really there in the country, with its citizens, even while obsession with gold ornaments and its hoarding is still on the rise. ndia is the world's largest consumer of gold, importing around 800-900 tonnes of gold annually. In comparison, the Reserve Bank holds only 557.75 tonne gold. The government does not maintain the data on gold held by the people in the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha recently. However, as per some reports, there is around 20,000 tonne of gold held by the people in the country, he added. Replying to a question about the foreign exchange used to import gold during the last three years, the minister said USD 34.41 billion was used in 2014-15; USD 28.70 billion in 2013-14 and USD 53.82 billion in 2012-13. Further he said that Gold Deposit Scheme was launched by the Government with "the aim and objective of mobilising the idle gold in the country". However, the response to the scheme has not been phenomenal, as it involves melting and hallmarking the gold, as well as low interest rates. Gold shipments to the country have been steadily rising after the Reserve Bank in November 2014 scrapped the 80:20 rule, under which it was mandatory for traders to export 20 per cent of the import.
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Will HONG KONG or LUXEMBOURG be the Next London?
AFTER HSBC, THE WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST BANK, ANNOUNCED PLANS TO CUT 50,000 MORE JOBS, SOME OF THEM IN UK, AND PROBABLY MOVE ITS HEADQUARTERS FROM LONDON TO HONG KONG, HAS COME THE NEWS THAT JPMORGAN, AMERICA'S LARGEST BANK IS MULLING SHIFT OF ITS EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS FROM LONDON TO LUXEMBOURG. SOME OF THE LARGEST FUNDS ARE DRAWING UP PLANS TO LEAVE LONDON IF BRITAIN QUITS EU. everal of the biggest fund managers based in London are drawing up plans to move trillions of pounds of assets and thousands of jobs outside of Britain should the country vote to leave the EU in a referendum due by the end of 2017. Prime Minister David Cameron's
Conservatives won an unexpected majority in polls last month and are now seeking to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the 28-member bloc ahead of a plebiscite. Cameron has toured major European capitals to drum up support for reforms but i s fa c i n g a n i n c re as i n g s t ro n g
Eurosceptic voice from within his own centre-right party at home. Several major funds have said that they had set up committees to prepare for a possible move, with Luxembourg being one possible country to which they could relocate. Fund managers believe that they could be forced to leave due to EU regulations which only allow the sale of investment products in the bloc when the European headquarters are based in a member state. Recently, the only major ratings agency still to give Britain a top-notch credit rating said it risked a downgrade due to the government's decision to hold a referendum over EU membership. However, a senior executive with global investment firm PIMCO said earlier this week that the chance of a 'Brexit' was very low and uncertainty over the referendum outcome was not likely to affect business investment. 21
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" Overkill by Courts and Investigators have Hampered Growth, " says Jaitley FINANCE MINISTER ECHOES WHAT UPA'S DR. MANMOHAN SINGH AND P CHIDAMBARAM HAVE ALWAYS ARGUED - THAT MUCH OF THE POLICY PARALYSIS IS DUE TO FEAR AMONG SENIOR OFFICERS IN BOTH DEPARTMENTS AND INVESTIGATING AGENCIES. inance Minister was referring to CBI investigations which are monitored by courts; stresses on need to revisit certain anti-corruption laws. “Overkill” by courts and investigative agencies have hampered the country’s growth process in recent years, said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. There’s a need, he said, to revisit certain provisions of the anti-corruption law. “The overkill coming from various institutions has certainly not helped growth…The environment of suspicion with regard to decision making has to 22
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end,” he said while delivering the DP Kohli Memorial Lecture here. The annual function is organised in the memory of the first director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Jaitley said this while referring to CBI investigations being monitored by courts. The Supreme Court has monitored the CBI’s probe into allocation of coal blocks and 2G telecom spectrum, besides other high-profile cases. The FM’s opinion comes while trial is on over allocation of the Talabira-II coal block in Odisha to a joint venture of Hindalco Industries in 2005, in which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (also coal minister at the time of allocation), then coal secretary P C Parakh and leading industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla were summoned by a
trial court. After they approached the SC, the trial court’s order was put on hold. There are charges of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and of various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). Jaitley said the judiciary started monitoring certain cases when it felt these were not being probed appropriately. However, what should have been a rare exception turned into a routine practice, which “squeezed” the discretionary powers of investigators and put them on the defensive. As a result, he said, decision-making in the government had been hindered and restrained to a “pass-the-parcel game”, wherein officials fear giving their stamp on policy decisions. “We were earlier told that investigation is police function and courts do not interfere. Today, courts supervise investigations; (this) puts the
investigator on the defensive. He then follows the golden rule that if I submit a report (saying) the accused is prima facie not guilty, questions are going to be raised about it and, therefore, the golden rule is that I must somehow make the case and it’s the good luck of the accused to get a fair trial. This process has actually hindered the whole process of economic decision-making,” said Jaitley. “Decision making becomes a passthe-parcel game. (As a result) Rather than I taking the decision, I put a non-committal role and allow the file to m ove, s o t h at t h e u l t i m ate decision is not taken by me.”
distinction between an act of corruption and an honest error by government officials. “A pre-liberalisation law needs to be re-looked with the changing economic realities,” he said. Only decisions taken with corrupt motives and not an honest error should be criminally dealt with, said the FM. Economic decision-making may be trial and error. It may also involve an element of risk-taking. Thus, the Act (should) adequately distinguish between an act of corruption and an act where a decision-maker makes an honest error.
Jaitley termed many phrases defined in the Act such as public interest, peculiarly advantage, personal interest, Also, Jaitley said, the PCA of 1988, the etc, as vague. As these terms are legislation under capable of more than which CBI conducts one construction, he “Decision making most of its investisaid, it gives the becomes a passgations, fails to investigator an capture the the-parcel game. opportunity to interpret.
(As a result) Rather than I taking the decision, I put a non-committal role and allow the file to move, so that the ultimate decision is not taken by me.”
He said bureaucrats have to make quick policy decisions and this law was drafted keeping in mind the regulation of the pre-liberalisation era. Civil servants are scared that they will be hauled up because of these vague phrases in the 1988 Act, the golden rule that (CBI) investigators follow and this new arrangement, Jaitley said. Jitendra Singh, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions, present at the event, said the Union government would "certainly look into the disabling provisions" Jaitley referred to. In the Hindalco case, the CBI had initially filed a closure report and this was quashed by the court. A fresh probe was sought, examining Singh and other government officials. In his petition to the SC to quash the summon, Singh had argued that an administrative decision could be good or bad but it was ridiculous to charge him with an act of criminality by alleging it was against public interest and caused loss of revenue to the exchequer. 23
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ES H C A E E B B S E AN GLO E S I HE T D US R IN D T M 7 From silken sands and gushing waves to a serene FO OUN ambience and some much needed sun tan, beaches R A always have something beautiful to offer. No wonder M O then that beaches top the must-visit checklist of many FR a tourist. We bring you the ten most beautiful beaches in the world that will mesmerize you with their beauty:
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Bora Bora: Located in the Pacific Ocean, Bora Bora is one of the islands of French Polynesia. Beautiful beaches and lush greenery draw tourists from the world over to this island strip. Once here, you must visit Matira Point. Its clear water and white shores will leave you asking for more.
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ES H C A E B NS LOBE E SE DIA E G T S IN TH U 7 M FOR OUND R A M O R F
Fiji
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This island country’s beaches are its primary attractions. From Coral Coast to the lagoons of The Yasawas to different reefs, this picturesque country is every beach lover’s paradise.
Cayman Islands
Maldives If exploring coral reefs and swimming with fish is your idea of an ideal beach vacation, then Maldives is the place for you. Apart from taking lazy walks on the beaches there, you can even indulge in adventure activities such as snorkeling and scuba-diving.
Langkawi
Seychelles: The Anse Source d'Argent beach in Seychelles is one of the finest and most photographed beaches in the world. It is located on La Digue island that is characterized by huge boulders. Pink sands and turquoise water make this one of the most scenic beaches of the world.
One of the major attractions at Cayman Islands is the Seven Mile Beach. Full of luxury hotels, resorts and restaurants, this beach offers tourists the perfect water vacation.
Langkawi is an archipelago of more than 100 islands in the Andaman Sea, off the coast of Malaysia. Its white sands, clear waters and lush greenery have been charming tourists forever.
Bali
This Indonesian island is renowned the world over for its picture-perfect beaches and temples. Be it the pristine sands of Kuta and Sanur beaches or the beautiful Bukit Peninsula, Bali has a lot to offer to those looking for a water vacation. 27
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A childhood friend of mine who is now a rabbi recently told me that the most powerful one-line prayer he has ever read is: "Let me not die while I am still alive." I would have never understood that prayer before losing Dave. Now I do.
SANDBERG MOURNS FOR HER HUSBAND IN FB FACEBOOK CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER SHREYL SANDBERG HAS WRITTEN AN EMOTIONAL POST ON FACEBOOK ON HOW LIFE HAS BEEN SINCE THE TRAGIC DEATH OF HER HUSBAND DAVE GOLDBERG LAST MONTH. GOLDBERG, CEO OF ONLINE POLLING FIRM SURVEYMONKEY, PASSED AWAY ON MAY 3 AFTER FALLING ON A TREADMILL AND STRIKING HIS HEAD AT AN UPSCALE RESORT IN MEXICO. BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF SANDBERG'S FACEBOOK POST ON HER HUSBAND'S PASSING AWAY: oday is the end of sheloshim for my beloved husband — the first thirty days. Judaism calls for a period of intense mourning known as shiva that lasts seven days after a loved one is buried. After shiva, most normal activities can be resumed, but it is the end of sheloshim that marks the completion of religious mourning for a spouse. A childhood friend of mine who is now a rabbi recently told me that the most powerful one-line prayer he has ever read is: "Let me not die while I am still alive." I would have never understood that prayer before losing Dave. Now I do. I think when tragedy occurs, it presents a choice. You can give in to the void, the emptiness that fills your heart, your lungs, constricts your ability to think or even breathe. Or you can try to find meaning. These past thirty days, I have spent many of my moments lost in that void. 28
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And I know that many future moments will be consumed by the vast emptiness as well. But when I can, I want to choose life and meaning. And this is why I am writing: to mark the end of sheloshim and to give back some of what others have given to me. While the experience of grief is profoundly personal, the bravery of those who have shared their own experiences has helped pull me through. Some who opened their hearts were my closest friends. Others were total strangers who have shared wisdom and advice publicly. So I am sharing what I have learned in the hope that it helps someone else. In the hope that there can be some meaning from this tragedy. I have lived thirty years in these thirty days. I am thirty years sadder. I feel like I am thirty years wiser.
I have gained a more profound understanding of what it is to be a mother, both through the depth of the agony I feel when my children scream and cry and from the connection my mother has to my pain. She has tried to fill the empty space in my bed, holding me each night until I cry myself to sleep. She has fought to hold back her own tears to make room for mine. She has explained to me that the anguish I am feeling is both my own and my children's, and I understood that she was right as I saw the pain in her own eyes. I have learned that I never really knew what to say to others in need. I think I got this all wrong before; I tried to assure people that it would be okay, thinking that hope was the most comforting thing
I know I will never feel I could offer. A friend of I HAVE LEARNED THAT I pure joy again. Those mine with late-stage NEVER REALLY KNEW who have said, "You will cancer told me that the WHAT TO SAY TO find a new normal, but it worst thing people could OTHERS IN NEED. I will never be as good" say to him was "It is THINK I GOT THIS ALL comfort me more going to be okay." That WRONG BEFORE; I TRIED because they know and voice in his head would TO ASSURE PEOPLE speak the truth. Even a scream, How do you THAT IT WOULD BE simple "How are you?"— know it is going to be OKAY, THINKING THAT almost always asked okay? Do you not HOPE WAS THE MOST with the best of understand that I might COMFORTING THING I intentions—is better die? I learned this past COULD OFFER. replaced with "How are month what he was you today?" When I am trying to teach me. Real asked "How are you?" I stop myself from empathy is sometimes not insisting that shouting, My husband died a month ago, it will be okay but acknowledging that it how do you think I am? When I hear is not. When people say to me, "You and "How are you today?" I realize the person your children will find happiness again," knows that the best I can do right now my heart tells me, Yes, I believe that, but is to get through each day. I have learned some practical stuff that matters. Although we now know that Dave died immediately, I didn't know that in the ambulance. The trip to the hospital was unbearably slow. I still hate every car that did not move to the side, every person who cared more about arriving at their destination a few minutes earlier than making room for us to pass. I have noticed this while driving in many countries and cities. Let's all move out of the way. Someone's parent or partner or child might depend on it. I have learned how ephemeral everything can feel—and maybe everything is. That whatever rug you are standing on can be pulled right out from under you with absolutely no warning. In the last thirty days, I have heard from too many women who lost a spouse and then had multiple rugs pulled out from under them. Some lack support networks and struggle alone as they face emotional distress and financial insecurity. It seems so wrong to me that we abandon these women and their families when they are in greatest need.
Shreyl Sandberg with Dave Goldberg
I have learned to ask for help—and I have learned how much help I need. Until now, I have been the older sister, the COO, the doer and the planner. I did not plan this, and when it happened, I was not capable of doing much of anything. Those closest to me took over. They planned. They arranged. They told me where to sit and reminded me to eat. They are still doing so much to support me and my children. 29
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I have learned that resilience can be learned. Adam M. Grant taught me that three things are critical to resilience and that I can work on all three. Personalization—realizing it is not my fault. He told me to ban the word "sorry." To tell myself over and over, This is not my fault. Permanence—remembering that I won't feel like this forever. This will get better. Pervasiveness—this does not have to affect every area of my life; the ability to compartmentalize is healthy. For me, starting the transition back to work has been a savior, a chance to feel useful and connected. But I quickly discovered that even those connections had changed. Many of my co-workers had a look of fear in their eyes as I approached. I knew why—they wanted to help but weren't sure how. Should I mention it? Should I not mention it? If I mention it, what the hell do I say? I realized that to restore that closeness with my colleagues that has always been so important to me, I needed to let them in. And that meant being more At the same time, open and vulnerable than I there are moments ever wanted to be. I told those when I can't let I work with most closely that people in. I went to I hope they understood. they could ask me their Portfolio Night at honest questions and I would I have learned gratitude. Real school where kids answer. I also said it was okay show their parents gratitude for the things I took for them to talk about how for granted before—like life. As around the they felt. One colleague heartbroken as I am, I look at classroom to look admitted she'd been driving at their work hung my children each day and on the walls. by my house frequently, not rejoice that they are alive. I sure if she should come in. appreciate every smile, every Another said he was paralyzed when I hug. I no longer take each day for was around, worried he might say the granted. When a friend told me that he wrong thing. Speaking openly replaced hates birthdays and so he was not the fear of doing and saying the celebrating his, I looked at him and said wrong thing. One of my favorite through tears, "Celebrate your birthday, cartoons of all time has an elephant goddammit. You are lucky to have each in a room answering the phone, one." My next birthday will be depressing saying, "It's the elephant." Once I as hell, but I am determined to celebrate addressed the elephant, we were able it in my heart more than I have ever to kick him out of the room. celebrated a birthday before. At the same time, there are moments when I can't let people in. I went to Portfolio Night at school where kids show their parents around the classroom to look at their work hung on the walls. So many of the parents—all of whom have been so kind—tried to make eye co ntact or say something they thought would be comforting. I looked down the entire time so no one could catch my eye for fear of breaking down. 30
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I am truly grateful to the many who have offered their sympathy. A colleague told me that his wife, whom I have never met, decided to show her support by going back to school to get her degree— something she had been putting off for years. Yes! When the circumstances allow, I believe as much as ever in leaning in. And so many men—from those I know well to those I will likely never know—are honoring Dave's life by
spending more time with their families. I can't even express the gratitude I feel to my family and friends who have done so much and reassured me that they will continue to be there. In the brutal moments when I am overtaken by the void, when the months and years stretch out in front of me endless and empty, only their faces pull me out of the isolation and fear. My appreciation for them knows no bounds. I was talking to one of these friends about a father-child activity that Dave is not here to do. We came up with a plan to fill in for Dave. I cried to him, "But I want Dave. I want option A." He put his arm around me and said, "Option A is not available. So let's just kick the shit out of option B." Dave, to honor your memory and raise your children as they deserve to be raised, I promise to do all I can to kick the shit out of option B. And even though sheloshim has ended, I still mourn for option A. I will always mourn for option A. As Bono sang, "There is no end to grief... and there is no end to love." I love you, Dave.
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"India is where the Silicon Valley was in the 1980s " Prasad Kaipa, an alumnus of IIT Madras, coaches executives and mentors entrepreneurs globally. After a PhD in Physics from the Institute in 1983, Kaipa’s passion led him to work with Apple in 1980s and then went on to do what he likes the most – coaching executives. He has been a consultant in organisation development, and teaches at institutions such as the Indian School of Business, London Business School and Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore). His book ‘From Smart to Wise’ co-written with Navi Radjou, is a best seller. seeing opportunities like never before in India.
What advice do you have for start up entrepreneurs?
ntrepreneurship is gathering momentum and India is where Silicon Valley was in 1980s. The tide has turned in India and now more youngsters want to be entrepreneurs rather than take regular jobs,” he told BusinessLine in an email interview from San Jose, US, on topics like the difference between Indian and US CEOs to entrepreneurship in India. Excerpts:
What are the key things you learnt at IIT Madras? One should work smart and hard to excel. Excellence is everyday affair. There is no end or rest in that quest. You have what it takes to do anything you set your mind to. It does not mean it will come easy but you only fail when you give up. These are what I learnt while working for my PhD with Professor YVGS Murti.
What does it take IITians to become CEOs of companies like Google and Microsoft? I believe we have intellectual calibre and some of us have shown that they have
emotional quotient and political savvy as well. But for some of us, our beliefs get in the way; beliefs such as not valuing political capital or paying too much attention to being straight and knowing when to be offended and when to take things lightly. I do believe that before the end of the decade we will have half a dozen CEOs in Fortune 100 companies.
How do you view the surge in entrepreneurship in India? Entrepreneurship in India today is where Silicon Valley was in 1980s. The tide has turned in India and now more youngsters want to be entrepreneurs. Whenever I come to IIT, I am asked to spend time with entrepreneurs because people are
You have what it takes to do anything you set your mind to.
First, listen to the customer and start there in building the product and service. Don’t come up with product first and then look for customers. Second, you have to value sales and marketing much more than many others do. Finally, don’t sabotage the company or your partner in negotiating a better deal for yourself. That is one common mistake many people do but lose their shirt in the process.
What’s the major difference do you find between Indian and US CEOs? Indian CEOs are well educated, read extensively and are more conceptual and intellectual in nature. But many US leaders want to find practical solutions and want recipes that they can try out more than frameworks that they first need to understand. Intellectual brilliance of Indian CEOs, sometimes, can get them to mistake knowing for being able to do it. They become impatient and do not take enough time to make ideas come alive in the organisation before they lose patience. Sometimes, we can impress people with our brilliance but cannot deliver results because we don’t walk the talk and inspire others. (Credit: Te Raja Simhan for The Hindu Businessline) 31
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S T R A I G H T - T A L K
THE NEW GDP " NUMBERS ARE " COMPLETE NONSENSE: RUCHIR SHARMA OF MORGAN STANLEY Noted Morgan Stanley analyst Ruchir Sharma says what we have now is a path where the Indian economy can grow at just 6-7 percent. Excerpts from a media interview: Q: Just 6-7%? Not 8.5 percent or 9 percent or 10 percent which is the government's projection and forecast?
Ruchir Sharma
A: I think those government projections are completely off the mark. Q: You don't buy the GDP numbers? A: I think those GDP numbers are complete nonsense. I really feel that this is the most ridiculous thing that i have seen from any country in the recent past. Q: Is it hurting India's credibility instead of boosting our confidence? A: Of course it is. At a time when the global economy is growing at pace of little more than 2 percent and the growth rate in emerging markets has halved from a rate of 8 percent at the peak last decade to less than 4 percent just now. Ex-China it is just 2.5 percent, To claim that the Indian economy is growing at 7.5 percent with exports slumping - which was the big contributor to growth last decade - is absolutely ridiculous. Where are the signs of this domestic boom? There is something called as measured economy and something called as experienced economy. Who is experiencing the 7.5 percent economic growth in India, i want to know who these people are? I think this has been the single biggest falling of this government which is not to have put an end to this controversy much earlier and to have used this data to falsely claim that we are growing faster than China. China's economy is slowing 34
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down but to compare with China is anyway misleading but to sort of go ahead with this data to me has been the single biggest pitfall of this government. Q: I want to address the China issue because i remember you wrote that China's slowing down shouldn't be seen
I really feel that these groupings are just great marketing exercises with absolutely no fundamental value.
as a victory for Narendra Modi's government and you are absolutely right, it is misleading to do this India China comparison because you have written about how China's economic miracle has already happened and we are still aspiring to create an economic miracle for ourselves. How do you see now the India China context? There is a lot of talk about Modi's visit to China and how expectations on the India China front have been reset, do you really believe that? A: I really feel that these groupings are just great marketing exercises with absolutely no fundamental value. So, comparing India and China is cool because these are two large economies based in Asia but there is nothing in common between them even in terms of size. The Chinese economy is multiple size India's economy. India today is where China was about 20 years ago. So, these comparisons are completely misleading according to me. Having said that we can aspire to be like China and try and grow as fast as China did but then we have to sort of understand what exactly China did. They took some pretty big risks with economic reforms. Every few years they took some very big risks and those risks paid off. If you are not willing to take those risks we should not aspire to be that. The attitude in India often tends to be where else will the money go? It has got to come to India, this is the best story in the world and you here these clichĂŠs and these banana statements. (Credit: CNBC TV18)
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By Nate Tobik
WHY MANY STOCK MARKET INVESTORS FAIL Fidelity released a study discussing a performance breakdown for their accounts. The clients that did the best were the ones who were dead. The second best performing set of clients forgot they had Fidelity accounts. It seems like a formula to beat the market is to start an account, forget about it, then die. Your heirs will thank you and marvel at your investing prowess. lmost every investing study tells us that buying stocks at a low price to anything results in market beating performance. Even just buying a S&P ETF and doing nothing else beats most investors and mutual funds. If out performance is a matter of doing a few simple things and nothing else then why is everyone acting so crazy? And if earning market matching, or market beating results are so simple then why don't investors earn those sorts of returns? Fidelity released a study discussing a performance breakdown for their accounts. The clients that did the best were the ones who were dead. The second best performing set of clients forgot they had Fidelity accounts. It seems like a formula to beat the market is to start an account, forget about it, then die. Your heirs will thank you and marvel at your investing prowess. How is it that investing is so "easy", yet so hard? If in theory all one needs to
do is follow a few simple formulas, or invest in a few ETF's why aren't more investors matching or beating the market? It's often said that investors are their own worst enemy. Our own emotions get the best of us. When the market is roaring higher we get excited. When the market hits new lows we're too depressed to even open our account statements. I believe investors fail for a number of reasons with the biggest being the lack of patience. There are many investing strategies that make sense on paper. The problem is few investors have the patience to see these strategies through to the finish. It is more exciting to watch a stock jump up and down 2-3% a day, or see a battle ground stock bantered about on CNBC compared to owning a company that trades in tenths of a percentage point most days. The thing is those tenths add up over time, especially for companies that continue to execute operationally. Finding a reasonable investing strategy
isn't an issue, it's sticking to it. It is very easy to find undervalued investments, but holding onto those undervalued investments for years can be difficult. For many investors it's fun to research and watch holdings, but it's no fun to watch a stock effectively do nothing for days, months, or years. If the excitement is in the research then we'll continually be researching new positions and throwing out the old ones. Another reason investors fail is because they're doing too many things at once. A few net-nets, a few growth stocks, some shorts, a turnaround or two etc. Their portfolio is a potpourri of strategies, many of them that are complex and require dedicated skills. Each investor needs to find their own style and stick to it. There is a reason there are so many funds with one focus. It's much easier to be a bankruptcy fund, or a turnaround fund compared to a general value fund. The same is true for individual investors. It's much easier to focus on a specific corner of the market rather than invest 35
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in any and all things cheap. Related to doing too much is researching too much. Some investors fail because they can't see the forest through the trees. They are so caught up in the minutia of an investment that they miss the big picture. I enjoy reading message board posts related to investments I'm researching. I'm always on the lookout for what I consider the obsessive investor. For some reason these obsessive investors often congregate in oil and gas or mining stocks. You've probably seen these posts. A few books worth of material detailing the pressure of well bores the company had in North Dakota in 1988. Excited posts about how rumors are swirling that carpeting is being replace at headquarters and maybe it's a sign of a buyout. Buried within the pages of notes are usually a few nuggets of information useful to an investment thesis. But my feeling is that the author probably has no idea, they are too consumed with finding out everything related to the company to realize this. The ultimate irony is that the body of knowledge an obsessed investor can accumulate is about the minimum amount of knowledge every middle level employee at the company has. In other words outside investors are always at a significant informational disadvantage to almost any company insider, even the lowest level employees at times. My favorite investments are ones where the value is obvious and the investment rests on what I consider a few pivot points. These are general assumptions. The larger the gap between the current price and fair value combined with a small number of pivot points makes for investment success. This is because each assumption, each estimation, and each guess adds uncertainty to a model. At some point endless research can blind an investor from realizing what truly matters from what they think matters. Once I realized that I didn't need compile an exhaustive list of company information to make good investments I began to simplify my research. I only researched what was necessary to confirm or deny the pivot points I'd 36
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Story stocks are a favorite of the news shows. There's a very specific reason for this. There are two types of stocks, stocks that are great stories, and stocks that are great investments.
Once I realized that I didn't need compile an exhaustive list of company information to make good investments I began to simplify my research.
identified with an investment. By doing this I saved myself the endless research. Maybe the carpet color does matter in a merger. Small details can be exciting. But it's the boring details that matter, such as the age of the CEO, or the age of the Board. Companies with graying executives and graying boards are more likely to sell their company. The last reason I believe many investors fail is because they don't really know what they own, or why they invested in the first place. Cloning investments is a very popular strategy right now. And like all investment strategies cloning works well on paper, it generates market beating returns. Just buy what Buffett buys and sell what he sells and you'll do well the story goes. The problem is when we buy something on someone else's thesis it's hard to hold through thick and thin. If bad news starts to come out on a cloned investment it's easy to dump it and say "maybe this is one the guru messed up on." Closely related is when investors purchase stocks on a story basis. That is they feel a given company will benefit from some larger trend at some point in the future. Many times when these story stocks are purchased investors aren't conducting true due diligence to see if the company will actually benefit from the trend. Story stocks are a favorite of the news shows. There's a very specific reason for this. There are two types of stocks, stocks that are great stories, and stocks that are great investments. As someone who writes about stocks I can say that some of my best investments have been my worst posts. This is because there was nothing exciting to write about. There was no narrative or story around the stock. It was cheap, and all an investor needed to do was purchase and wait. Some of my best and entertaining posts have been about stocks that aren't necessarily great investments. But they make great stories. This is the same with the financial media. Companies that make great stories aren't usually great investments. When we look in the mirror we're facing the enemy of our returns. The best course of action is to pick a strategy, stick to it and move on.
W O R L D E C O N O M Y
JUST HOW BIG IS THE GREEK TRAGEDY? As public debt of Greece crumples world economy, a quick look on how big is the Hellenic debt. It is approximately US$ 271 billion or Rs. 17.34 lakh crore. Mind you, despite all this debt, Greece is not a poor country in the classical sense, with high per capita income. It is a developed nation, and leads in global industries like shipping. Alexis Tsipras
hat figure includes loans made under two bailouts from European governments and the IMF since 2010 worth a nominal 220 billion euros so far, of which some has been repaid - as well as Greek government bonds held by the European Central Bank and national central banks in the euro zone. Private investors hold 38.7 billion euros of Greek government bonds following a major writedown and debt swap in 2012 that reduced the Greek debt stock by 107 billion euros and the value of private holdings by an estimated 75 percent. The Greek government has also issued 15 billion euros in short-term Treasury bills, mostly to Greek banks. Here is a breakdown of the country's foreign debt stock:
IMF: Greece was promised a total of 48.1 billion euros by the IMF, of which 16.3 billion was still to come by March 2016 if Athens successfully completed the second economic adjustment programme. It had serviced and repaid loans on time up to this month, when it used an obscure IMF provision to bundle together four payments totalling 1.6 billion euros for payment by the end of June. The older IMF loans carry an
interest rate of 3.5 percent, higher than the euro zone rescue fund charges.
ECB: The ECB owns roughly 18 billion euros of Greek bonds, which would probably be worth a fraction of their face value should the country leave the euro zone, with 6.7 billion euros maturing in July and August. Beyond a default on Greece's national debt, any exit of Greece from the euro zone would lumber the European Central Bank with a huge bill for lost credit. ECB President Mario Draghi recently said that Greek banks had tapped 118 billion euros of central bank liquidity. That includes 89 billion in what is known as Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA). That remains the responsibility of the country's central bank but only if Greece stays in the euro. Were it to leave, the bill would rebound on other euro countries, including Germany. In addition about 45 billion euros of banknotes in Greece represents another liability, being a claim that the wider Eurosystem of central banks would be obliged to honour.
THE EURO ZONE: Euro zone governments gave Greece
52.9 billion euros in bilateral loans under the first bailout agreed in 2010, known as the Greek Loan Facility. Under the second bailout agreed in 2012 Athens has so far received 141.8 billion euros from the euro zone's financial rescue fund. It had been due a further 1.8 billion euros by June 30 if it met conditions but barring major surprises that is off the table. Of the biggest euro zone members, Germany's exposure for the two bailouts totals 57.23 billion euros, France's is 42.98 billion, Italy's is 37.76 billion and Spain's 25.1 billion. That is in addition to their contributions to the IMF loans, commensurate with their respective quotas in the global lender. Euro zone countries have already extended the maturities of their loans to Greece from 15 to 30 years and reduced the interest rates on some to just 0.5 basis points above their borrowing cost. They also granted Greece a 10-year moratorium on interest payments on the second bailout loan from the euro zone rescue fund. Greece has asked for further debt relief from the Europeans, a move supported by the IMF. But euro zone governments have said they would only discuss that if Athens further tightens its Budget. 37
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Good News For Taxpayers:
Loss in Stock Market May Offset Gain in Realty? In a recent decision, the Mumbai Income Tax Appellate Tribunal allowed for long-term capital loss on the sale of shares to be offset against long-term capital gains on the sale of land. That's great news for taxpayers! But does this decision turn Supreme Court jurisprudence on its head? Will it sustain? Rajan Vora, Partner, EY is answering this crucial question in Moneycontrol's The Firm.
aptakos Brett & Co Ltd (‘RBCL’ or ‘Taxpayer’), an Indian pharmaceutical company had incurred loss on sale of equity shares, which has been subject to securities transaction tax (STT) and also made some gain on sale of land. The Taxpayer had set-off long term losses (‘LTCL’) on account of sale of STT paid share against the long-term capital gain (‘LTCG’) on sale of land by claiming that exemption under section 10(38) of the Indian Tax law ('ITL') provided specifically in respect of LTCG on sale of STT paid equity shares while LTCL does not come within purview of the said exemption. In this regard, reliance was placed on Calcutta High Court decision in the case of Royal Calcutta Turf Club (144 ITR 709). The Tax Authority placing reliance on decision of Apex Court in case of Harisprasad & Company Pvt Limited (99 38
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ITR 118) and decision of Gujarat High Court in case of Kishorebhai Bhikhabhai Virani applied the concept of income includes losses and contended that if the income from sale of STT paid shares doesn't form part of total income, the losses also should also not form part of the total income. Accordingly, LTCL on the sale of STT paid equity shares cannot be set-off against LTCG on the sale of land. The First Appellate Authority (‘FAA’) confirmed the order of the Tax Authority. On appeal by the Taxpayer, the Tribunal relying on decision of Calcutta High Court in case of Royal Calcutta Turf Club (supra) held that LTCL arising on STT paid equity shares, can be set off against LTCG arising on sale of land, in spite of the fact that the LTCG on sale of such shares is exempt under the provisions of Section 10(38) of the ITL. Further, the Tribunal ruled that the exemption is
provided in respect of qualified shares, which are only a part of the entire source of capital gains, and not for the entire source. Furthermore, the concept of income including loss will apply only when the entire source of income is exempt under the ITL and not in the cases where only one particular stream of income falling within a source is exempt Conclusion: This decision of the Tribunal is beneficial for taxpayers as it concludes that, where only a part/stream of source is exempt under the ITL, the loss in respect of such source may still be tax admissible. Taxpayers may wish to evaluate if this ruling could assist them to support claims for set off in respect of LTCL pertaining to transactions in listed securities, while gain is exempt by virtue of the tax provisions.
WHAT DO YOGA AND FINANCIAL PLANNING HAVE IN COMMON? THEY BOTH REQUIRE PATIENCE, DISCIPLINE AND REGULAR PRACTICE. YOGA AND FINANCIAL PLANNING TEACH US TO BE FRUGAL AND NOT TO INDULGE IN UNHEALTHY COMPETITION. By V idy aK umar ouRich: Vidy idya Kumar umar,, Ge GetttingY tingYouRich:
O
n the first International Yoga Day, on June 21, millions of people across the world practised yoga. Yoga that is practised generally today is a complete form of exercise that focuses of building physical, mental and spiritual strength. It contributes to the overall wellbeing of a person. Yoga and personal finance planning are similar in some ways for a person:
1. Be in Good Shape: Yoga helps a person to be in the best shape from a physical and mental perspective. Financial planning aims at ensuring a person is comfortable financially. Practicing yoga regularly increases a person's stamina, flexibility and strength and contributes towards a healthy life. Regular planning of finances will help one to get finances in order and build on the wealth he/she has. It helps one to prepare for long-term financial goals.
2. Discipline: Just like one cannot become a yoga expert in a day, week or a month, one cannot become financially successful overnight. One has to practice the postures and exercises regularly to be able to do them properly. Similarly financial planning requires discipline too. One has to create a budget, follow it, save and invest regularly to grow one's
income and wealth. If only some of the steps are followed or one is not disciplined in spending and saving, he/ she will not be financially fit.
3. Practice: Apart from the easy postures, most postures in Yoga require practice to do it properly and derive the full benefits from it. Similarly financial planning can happen properly only if one does it regularly. Instead of depending on the financial planner for every little thing, you can read and understand about finances. You can ask questions to the planner and put forward financial steps to be taken. Some of them may not be apt for you at that point of time. But once you start doing it, you will understand more about it and start making better decisions.
4. Patience: You cannot do a headstand after a couple of days of practicing yoga. It takes time and effort to be able to do complex postures and asanas. Similarly, when you plan your finances properly, you cannot expect to get 20% returns in the first quarter. You have to research, analyse, invest, review and monitor investments and over a period of time, you will be able to generate good returns. The more time your money works for you, the more wealth you can accumulate.
5. Frugality: Yoga does not need much. You can practice it anywhere and at anytime. You do not require special equipment or gear for it except that a mat is preferred by some people. Frugality helps in our finances too. It is easy to splurge when you get your bonus or on a special event. But it takes mental strength to stay frugal now so that our financial future can be comfortable and secure.
6. There Is No Competition: In Yoga, you do not have to compete against other athletes or race against time or measure any other parameters. It depends on you and you have to practice only as much as your body allows you. Even when you plan your finances, you have to do it keeping in mind your current finances and your financial goals and not what other people have. You do not need to think about how much money or how many cars your neighbour has. In both cases, you can hurt yourself if you compare with others and try to imitate them without any thought.
7. It is a Lifelong Journey: Yoga will help you more and more as you keep practicing it. It helps in old age as well when health troubles are usually more. Similarly financial planning is a lifelong activity and you will achieve your goals and your wealth can grow provided you do it continuously and properly. 39
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Stock Price - 2015
% Change
S T O C K M A R K E T
Company
What Rally, and Which Bull Market Are You Speaking About? he Indian markets are technically rallying with Sensex and Nifty above 33% of previous 2008 highs, but there are several mainstream stocks that have not gone anywhere, or even worse, destroyed investor wealth to a massive degree of around 4% to 99%. Even more hurtfully, many of them were part of several key indices back then, but were gradually eliminated when their presence started hurting the indices! So, what sense does it make to claim that Sensex or Nifty or any of the Midcap or Sectoral indices are rallying today? Here is a list of 55 major compamies whose stocks have either not gone anywhere or eroded investor wealth to a massive degree since 2008. Some of the large caps stocks in this list of wealth destroyers include ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Reliance Infra, DLF, NTPC, BHEL, Tata Steel, and GMR Infra.
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ONGC Vedanta ABB Syndicate Bank Bharti Airtel Central Bank CESC Aditya Birla Nuvo Canara Bank Sun TV Network UCO Bank Crompton Greaves Godrej Industries Allahabad Bank Cairn India JSW Steel IDFC GE Shipping Co Union Bank Torrent Power Indian Hotels Reliance Industries. Hindalco Industries Tata Communicatio Andhra Bank Oriental Bank Karnataka Bank Century Textiles Jain Irrigation Bajaj Holdings NTPC BHEL Tata Power Bank of India Essar Oil IDBI Bank NCC Tata Steel National Aluminium IFCI NMDC SAIL IOB TV18 Broadcast Jindal Steel Reliance Infra Reliance Capital GMR Infra HDIL DLF Reliance Communic Indiabulls Real Estat Suzlon Energy JP Associates Unitech
Stock Price 2008 330.49 185.70 1496.10 119.35 487.08 117.31 658.15 2131.75 390.25 420.65 78.10 217.06 466.16 128.70 251.45 1263.45 224.65 520.35 223.55 214.60 144.92 1525.25 189.71 682.80 116.60 296.30 245.22 1202.75 127.31 2538.05 265.25 498.86 151.25 372.80 331.30 168.15 212.66 891.80 125.13 90.55 470.96 263.10 208.25 199.49 530.43 2536.00 2695.50 120.23 941.31 1150.60 804.30 775.10 464.03 308.00 525.05
Stock Price 2015 318.45 176.55 1334.10 104.80 424.20 101.75 555.15 1782.25 309.40 333.30 60.05 164.50 346.70 93.75 181.45 905.70 153.80 350.85 150.60 142.70 94.85 991.35 121.05 431.40 72.70 183.10 145.20 676.40 68.80 1350.80 137.10 246.50 74.55 182.95 136.95 63.80 79.65 310.40 42.95 27.20 119.80 62.55 38.70 36.00 91.70 376.55 365.60 14.51 95.60 114.65 59.55 54.75 24.15 13.10 8.14
% Change -3.64 -4.93 -10.83 -12.19 -12.91 -13.26 -15.65 -16.39 -20.72 -20.77 -23.11 -24.21 -25.63 -27.16 -27.84 -28.32 -31.54 -32.57 -32.63 -33.50 -34.55 -35.00 -36.19 -36.82 -37.65 -38.20 -40.79 -43.76 -45.96 -46.78 -48.31 -50.59 -50.71 -50.93 -58.66 -62.06 -62.55 -65.19 -65.68 -69.96 -74.56 -76.23 -81.42 -81.95 -82.71 -85.15 -86.44 -87.93 -89.84 -90.04 -92.60 -92.94 -94.80 -95.75 -98.45
N E T B A N K I N G
By Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar.com
WHAT IF YOU DO A WRONG MONEY TRANSFER? Wrong money transfer may happen due to technical or human error. Reversing such a money transfer is pain and one must be careful while transferring money online.
roon decided to surprise his sister on her 20th birthday. He transferred Rs.25,000 online to her account. As her name was already added as a payee in his account, he didn’t bother to check if the account number for that payee was correct. Two days later, he realized that his sister had not received the amount he had transferred. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately checked his account statement. Sure enough, the amount had been debited from his account. On cross checking, he realized that the account number he had saved against his sister’s name as payee was wrong. But how did a transaction like this happen in the first place when the payee name and account number didn’t match? What are the steps to be taken if you happen to make a wrong transaction? Well, reversing a transaction is not as easy as you think.
Ways in which a Wrong Transaction Happens: Today, money transactions online have become par for the course – be it settling of utility bills, sending money to parents or friends, paying rent to the landlord, or a plethora of such transactions. However, a slip at any point can be disastrous financially. Apart from wrong account numbers, sometimes even specifying the wrong IFSC code can divert your money into someone else’s account. This is because, for online transactions, once you punch in the details and submit the transaction for processing online, the amount gets transferred electronically through NEFT. The RBI and banks have clearly informed all account holders that in
branch manager of the other bank.
Step-by-step Guide for Senders: Erroneous transactions while sending or receiving funds online can happen due to manual or technical error. For funds that have been transferred incorrectly due to any bank error or technical glitch, the onus of correcting the error lies with the bank. In case of a manual error whereby a sender enters wrong details, banks can only help in reversing the fund. Here is a four-step guide to follow if you happen to make a wrong money transfer to an unknown beneficiary. 1) Inform the bank: If you have made a wrong transfer, inform your bank immediately. If the funds have still not been transferred to the beneficiary’s account, your bank can block the fund transfer.
an electronic fund transfer, the transaction is carried out on the basis of the account number only and the beneficiary’s name has little relevance here. This is why it is so easy to go wrong in NEFT transactions than in direct banking transactions, where a payment is reversed on the spot if there is a mismatch between payee name and account number.
2) Meet the branch manager in person: If the funds have already reached the wrong beneficiary of a different branch or bank, only the bank where the beneficiary holds the account can sort it out. You will have to meet the operations manager or the branch manager of your branch and initiate a written or e-mail request to the branch concerned to take necessary actions for reversing the amount.
What can you do in such cases?
3) Raising complaint: If your branch or the branch concerned is not helping you to sort this out after repeated requests or visits, you can raise a complaint against the bank with their higher authorities.
If you happened to enter a wrong account number and if the number you entered does not exist, the amount will automatically reversed to your account. However, if the account number (someone else’s account) you typed in incorrectly does exist, the transaction will take place and it cannot be reversed.
4) Legal call: If the wrong beneficiary does not allow for a reversal of funds, the bank can take a legal call on the account holder, or automatically reverse the fund from his account. Legal action can also be initiated from your end, if you know the details of the wrong beneficiary. The legal option is to be used only as a last resort.
In such cases, approach your bank with a written request and convince them that you made a mistake. If the unintended beneficiary also holds an account with the same branch, the bank may help you by contacting him and requesting for returning the amount.
Erroneous online money transfers can happen due to human or technical errors. When you are adding a payee to your account, banks normally ask to type the recipient’s account number twice. So if you happen to commit a mistake while typing, the mismatch between the two entries will not allow you to proceed further. If you are transferring a large sum of money online, do a ‘test’ transfer with a small amount prior to the actual transfer and check with the beneficiary if the amount has been received.
But, if the unintended receiver is a customer of some other branch or bank, the recovery process is tedious. The bank can only help with the contact details of the accidental beneficiary’s bank or branch, or help you to connect with the
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Despite Low Inflation, Why are Food Prices Surging? PRICES OF MANY FOODSTUFFS ARE SURGING IN INDIA, DESPITE A GOOD START TO MONSOON RAINS - AN UNEXPECTED BOON FOR WHOLESALERS, BUT A MAJOR HEADACHE FOR THE CENTRAL BANK AND A GOVERNMENT HOPING FOR ITS HELP TO REBOOT THE ECONOMY. tanding in a storage room with sacks of produce stacked almost to the ceiling, the 42year-old is stockpiling garlic and onions, saying unseasonal rainfalls earlier this year and a subsequent heatwave have already hit crops, and farmers won't be able to immediately make up for the shortfall. Prices of many foodstuffs are surging in India, despite a good start to monsoon rains - an unexpected boon for wholesalers, but a major headache for the central bank and a government hoping for its help to reboot the economy. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has cut interest rates three times this year to boost growth, but he has since warned he will not cut again if poor rains drive up prices and threaten his inflation target. Bond and stock traders in Mumbai have been left compulsively checking weather forecasts. But in a bustling market in Aurangabad, 330 kilometres (205 miles) east of the financial capital, wholesaler Shaikh Sharif does not need to track the monsoon: he says prices will stay high no matter what the rains do. Standing in a storage room with sacks of produce stacked almost to the ceiling, the 42-year-old is stockpiling garlic and onions, saying unseasonal rainfalls earlier this year and a subsequent heatwave have already hit crops, and farmers won't be able to immediately make up for the shortfall. "Vegetable prices will rise despite good monsoon rains due to thin supplies," he said, as a book keeper nearby jots fig42
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ures in a thick ledger. "If the monsoon fails, then there will be an even bigger rally in prices." Pulses, vegetables and chicken make up 12% of India's consumer price index. That means significant price rises will pose a major challenge to the RBI, which this year unveiled the country's first inflation target - keeping consumer price rises between 2 and 6%. A fall in inflation to well within those levels this year has allowed Rajan to cut interest rates by a total of 75 basis points, including a move this month. He has indicated he will now pause, projecting consumer inflation could rise to about 6% by next January, not too far from the 5% registered in May. Economists expect him to stay firm on that stance, though a pause will likely frustrate government and businesses wanting more help for an economy that is struggling on the ground, despite strong official figures. "This is a new inflation targeting framework which the RBI is trying to implement," said A. Prasanna, an economist with ICICI Securities Primary Dealership in Mumbai. "If inflation goes out of control they will lose credibility, and this whole framework will come under question." Recent data supports the prospect of potential inflation trouble during the monsoon season, which runs from June to September, even as rains have now started to fall in earnest, easing some of the investors' fears. Average onion prices at Lasalgaon, India's largest wholesale market in the state of Maharashtra, jumped nearly 31%
in June from the previous month, according to government data. Meanwhile, prices for pulses - a key source of protein in a largely vegetarian country - and chicken have soared to record highs because of the unusual weather this year. Amit Magre, a director of Bajrang Pulses and Agro Products in western India, says the production of pulses has been so bad that he's now importing them, and running a single daily shift at his mill compared with three last year. "Even if we assume monsoon delivers good rainfall, new crop supplies will start from October onwards. Until then, prices will remain elevated," he said. The government was lauded last year for its efforts to keep a rein on inflation despite lower-than-expected rainfall, a push that largely consisted of releasing wheat and rice from government-run warehouses and cracking down on hoarders. But it does not have stockpiles of vegetables, chicken and pulses. Importing them is difficult and costly, as pulse production remains low elsewhere, while vegetables and chickens are too perishable. Any relief would need to come, in time, from production, as farmers respond to price rises by increasing output. But not all will be able to. Babasaheb Khole, a pulses farmer from a village outside Aurangabad, said he'd like to increase the area under crop, but couldn't afford the seeds. "I incurred huge losses due to last year's drought. I couldn't repay the bank loan and now the bank is refusing to give me a fresh loan," he said. (Credit: DNA)
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80% Indians Deficient in Protein Consumption A PAN-INDIA SURVEY RELEASED ON MONDAY REVEALED MORE THAN 80% INDIANS ARE PROTEIN DEFICIENT, INDICATING THAT PROTEIN DEFICIENCY IS ON A RISE IN THE COUNTRY.
s m a n y as 91 % vegetarians and 85% non-vegetarians were deficient in proteins, t h e s u rvey t i t l e d ‘Protein Consumption in the Diet of adult Indians Survey’ (Prodigy) revealed. The survey included men and women aged between 30 and 55, belonging to socio-economic classes A and B, with 59% non-vegetarians and 41% vegetarians with a sample size of 1,260 respondents.
Desai, consultant nutritionist at Cumbala Hill Hospital. It showed a region-wise distribution of the awareness levels of people. In the west zone, 73% of the respondents were
“The protein requirement of an average adult per day is 1 gram per kg of the body weight. One of the key symptoms of lack of proteins is weakness and fatigue. The epidemic of lifestyle diseases — central adiposity or belly fat, diabetes and high triglyceride levels — in urban India can also be addressed if we increase our dietary protein intake,” said Niti
KEY SOURCES More than 80% of the people were aware of the health benefits associated with proteins, such as their role in strengthening muscles, building immunity, overcoming fatigue and for healthy nails and hair, the study showed. Milk Green leafy vegetables Pulses and legumes Eggs Chicken Fish
WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT PROTEINS
not aware of the ideal protein intake for an average adult, as against the north zone, where 98% of the people were unaware of the same. The survey also highlighted the myths that revolve around proteins and their consumption patterns across different regions of the country. Remarkably, more than 80% of the people were aware of the health benefits associated with proteins, such as their role in strengthening muscles, building immunity, overcoming fatigue and for healthy nails and hair. On the flip side, 85% believed that a regular diet is almost sufficient for daily protein needs and that higher protein intake would lead to weight gain. “People fail to understand the importance of protein intake in the daily diet regime. They tend to associate increased protein intake as being ideal for body builders, malnourished or very sick patients only. It is high time that we start incorporating protein rich foods in our diet,” said Desai.
MYTHS BUSTED BY STUDY
Regular diet is enough for protein needs Important only for people who exercise/ gym High protein intake will lead to weight gain
WHY YOU NEED PROTEINS Essential for strengthening immunity Important for pregnant and lactating women, growing children and elderly Helps build muscles and speeds up recovery 43
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What Makes a Company Great?
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C O V E R S T O R Y
he first rule of business that beginners in accountancy often struggle to understand is that equity capital comes on the liability side of the balance sheet. To drive home that seeming anomaly, the amused teacher repeats the even deeper underlying principle - that the promoter and the business are different entities. Business is not its promoter or its shareholders. Business is not the capital they bring in. Business is definitely not the CEO, or managers, or employees. Business is not the lenders or their money, however big has risen the debt-equity ratio. Business is not even its customers, despite they being put in the highest pedestal with idioms like ‘customer is the king’ and all such lofty ideals. Business is certainly not about other key stakeholders like suppliers and distributors, even when their ecosystem is huge and determines a company’s success or failure. Business is distinct from all these, is not even an amalgamation of all these, but a distinct standalone entity. And therein lies the secret of what makes a business or a company great. Analysts will offer you an array of simple looking metrics like P/E, P/BV, RoE or Debt/Equity that are supposed to measure the performance of a company. But all end up making an investor only more bewildered, as it happened in the famed Indian story of blind men feeling and reporting back on the elephant. A company is as complex if not more complex as an elephant. And just like only experienced mahouts can sense whether the secretion coming from the elephant’s head indicates musth, signalling imminent madly violent behaviour, only experienced analysts can predict whether that famous company which is hogging the limelight today is destined to lose money for its investors in the coming years. Even tougher to predict than imminent downfalls are emerging positive turnarounds that can last for decades or generations, making millionaires out of ordinary guys and girls. But think again, does companies need to be that complex to analyze? On first looks everything looks simple to analyze. Whether Sales is growing? Whether Profits are growing? And if these two are there, shouldn’t the stock follow? Nope. Even while Sales Growth and Profit Growth remain the most crucial fortune-making metrics, they deliver only if at least two dozen other metrics remain in place. Like, how the Sales Growth is coming? Is it coming at the expense of rising Receivables, or spike in Working Capital Days? Or, like, is the Profit Growth secular? Is the Profit Growth reflected in Operational and Free Cash Flow generation? Then comes the crucial question of whether the promoters or management are respecting their equity or willing to dilute at the first chance? Then comes the company’s willingness to share its profits as dividends. Is it paying that namesake 10% dividend or is it distributing one-third to half of its profits as dividends, as great companies practice? Many investors are also attracted to stocks of large companies that have grossly fallen - some even by 90% plus - thinking that at these sub-3000 crore kind of market caps, these giants are available for dirt cheap. But little do they realize that the Real Market Cap or Enterprise Value = Traded Market Cap + Debt. And eclipsing all these nitty-gritty arithmetic is all powerful value adders like brand equity. Two companies can operate in the same field with similar kind of products, but with grossly differentiated brand values. To put it precisely, it takes a lot to make a company great. Seasonal Magazine identifies more than 30 top performing companies, as per various metrics, that may be on a trajectory to making themselves as great companies in the coming years. 45
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Seasonal M A G A Z I N E
TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN RETURN ON EQUITY IN IT SERVICES (LARGE CAP)
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
TCS Vs. Peers in RoE With RoE of 39% for FY‘15, TCS leads not only peer heavyweights like Wipro (RoE 24.7%) and Infosys (RoE ), but smaller and fast growing aspirants like Tech Mahindra (RoE 33%) and HCL Technologies (RoE 33.3%) in this most crucial performance metric. That TCS continues to be ahead of the industry in RoE despite the large base effect - it has the largest networth or shareholders’ equity in the industry - speaks volumes about TCS’ profitability, pace of growth, and unique capabilities as a huge global IT services organization.
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WHAT MAKES TCS TICK Tata Consultancy Services Limited is the largest information technology service, consulting and business solutions company headquartered in India, by revenues, and is the world’s tenth largest. A massive 10X wealth creator since its listing in 2004, TCS is the most valuable Indian company by market capitalization, which now stands at Rs. 4,87,723 crores, with the second most valuable firm, Reliance Industries way behind at Rs. 2,84,210 crores. TCS employs 3,19,656 employees worldwide and is the third largest IT employer in the world behind IBM and HP. TCS is led by its MD & CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran.
N Chandrasekaran, MD & CEO, Tata Consultancy 47
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Seasonal M A G A Z I N E
TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN DIVIDEND PAYOUT
Arun Kumar, founder and Group CEO, Strides Arcolab
STRIDES ARCOLAB Strides Arcolab Vs. Peers in Dividend Payout
What Makes Strides Arcolab Tick
Strides Arcolab has always been a steady dividend payer, but not an exceptionally high dividend payer. Strides Arcolab, which goes by the stock code STAR in NSE, was used to paying dividends in the range of 15-20% of the face value. But the past two fiscals changed all that. Under the visionary, if not contrarian, leadership of its Founder, MD, & CEO Arun Kumar, Strides took the exceptional step of selling off its core sterile injectables business in US to global major Mylan Inc. But an even more exceptional step followed from Strides, when it paid Rs. 500 as special dividend to its shareholders in FY’14 from the sale proceeds. The share price of STAR at that time was Rs. 900. This move was a far cry from most companies in India Inc, In FY’15, STAR paid another Rs. 105 as dividend to its shareholders when it received a pending part of the sale proceeds from Mylan. Strides has also paid a regular dividend of 50% of face value in FY’15.
Strides Arcolab, headquartered at Bangalore, manufactures pharmaceutical products, over-the-counter drugs, and nutraceuticals. Its softgel manufacturing capability consists of an annual capacity of three billion softgel capsules, which makes it a global leader in this field. This IP and research based pharma firm has 15 manufacturing sites in six countries and marketing presence in 50 countries. In the United States and Canadian markets, the company partners with generic companies to supply retail and hospital generics. It has a noted subsidiary in Italy and is a key Indian player in the African markets. Though many in the industry viewed Arun Kumar’s strategy of selling off its core injectables business as a negative, Strides has bounced back even more powerful under his vision, and is currently merging peer company Shasun Pharma with itself to emerge as one of the Top 15 Indian Pharma companies by revenue.
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Siddhartha Lal, MD & CEO, Eicher Motors Ltd
Seasonal M A G A Z I N E
TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN HIGH & CONSISTENT GROWTH AUTO
EICHER MOTORS
How Eicher Maintains its High Growth Eicher Motors, the manufacturer of the iconic Royal Enfield and Bullet brands of motorcycles, continued its sterling growth performance in its financial year ended December 2014 and the latest quarter ended March 2015. While the revenue growth for the financial year was over 28%, the profit growth was in excess of 56%. Apart from the standalone Royal Enfield, the numbers included the performance of VE Commercial Vehicles, its 50:50 JV with international truck major Volvo. VE Commercial’s products include the full range of Eicher and Volvo trucks sold in India, but not Volvo buses. While VE Commercial is yet to live up to its promise as a major truck manufacturer, especially in the heavy duty segment, it is the superb performance of its Royal Enfield division that is driving Eicher Motor’s performance. Royal Enfield bikes are noted for delivering high profit margins for Eicher, even while it comes across as value-for-money for consumers on a costper-cc basis. The company had so far followed the JanDec financial year, but has now switched to April-March, with the current financial year having 5 quarters instead of 4 to facilitate the switch. In the just concluded March quarter, which is therefore Q1 for Eicher, the topline performance was even better at over 33%, while bottomline expanded by a robust 40.36%. Driven by such steady and high performance, the Eicher stock has tripled in value within the last 12 months itself.
What Makes the Bullet Maker Boom Eicher’s Royal Enfield operates only in the midsized 350500 cc engine category, where it is neither disturbed by India’s Top-3 bike makers - Hero, Honda, & Bajaj - nor by international majors operating in India like Harley Davidson whose bikes are primarily above 500 cc. Under its young MD & CEO, Siddhartha Lal’s visionary leadership, Royal Enfield has been highly successful in weaning off many bike buyers from the commuter segment - of 100 to 250 cc engines - to its 350 cc and 500 cc models by positioning them as leisure bikes. The brand’s strength as the world’s longest running motorcycle brand in continuous production, and its British roots have been cleverly leveraged by Eicher. The sturdily built Royal Enfields have undergone a massive transformation since 2009-10, after which the ancient machines became modern, quality conscious, & user friendly with features like electric start and right-leg breaking like other Indian bikes. Eicher is now in the process of taking the Royal Enfields global, especially into key developed markets like its original home of UK, the largest premium bike market USA, and some emerging markets like Latin America. Eicher’s truck and bus subsidiary VE Commercial Vehicles has also been steadily improving its performance, and Eicher has another ace up its sleeve in the form of a passenger-cum-goods four-wheeler being developed through a 50:50 JV with international offroad specialist Polaris. Due to such varied potential, market is rating Eicher stock at a high PE of over 83. 49
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Tulsi Tanti, CMD Suzlon 50
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Seasonal M A G A Z I N E
TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN DEBT REDUCTION
SUZLON ENERGY Suzlon Vs. Peers in Debt Reduction For the most part of FY’15, Suzlon was saddled with a staggering debt of Rs. 16,500 crore. Though it was not extremely high according to the ‘standards’ of Indian power and infra companies - GVK Power has 22,000 crore in debt, Reliance Power has around 27,000 crore, & Adani Power has around 40,000 crore - Suzlon Founder and CMD Tulsi Tanti finally decided that enough is enough, and took the painful steps of debt reduction. Suzlon sold off its largest international subsidiary, Senvion, formerly called REPower, for around Rs. 7200 crore. Rs. 5000 to Rs. 6000 crore from this sale proceeds would go to repay some of its highest cost rupee denominated debt. During the fiscal, Suzlon has also restructured its FCCBs to lower cost coupons which are getting converted into equity, further easing the debt burden.
What Makes Suzlon Tick Suzlon is a vertically integrated wind power company, which makes and installs windmills. The company manufactures blades, generators, panels, and towers in-house and creates wind farms across the world in 17 countries including USA, Mexico, China, Brazil, & India. Having around 6900 employees, belonging to 17 nationalities, the international sales business of Suzlon is managed out of Aarhus, Denmark, while its global management office is in Pune, India. Suzlon’s diverse client portfolio includes companies from a range of industry sectors, including private and public sector companies, power utilities and independent power producers. Post Senvion sale - which accounted for 65% of Suzlon’s revenues - Tulsi Tanti’s plan is to focus on markets like India, China, & US, with the help of investor Dilip Shanghvi, founder of Sun Pharma, who is investing Rs. 1800 crore into Suzlon.
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN ACQUISITIONS IT SERVICES
TECH MAHINDRA How Tech Mahindra Leads in Acquisitions It was in fiscals 2014 and 2015 that Tech Mahindra finally started reaping the benefits from one of the largest acquisitions ever done in the Indian IT space - that of beleaguered Satyam Computers that Tech Mahindra acquired way back in FY’09 after the infamous Satyam scam involving its founder Ramalinga Raju. The integration of Tech Mahindra with the renamed Mahindra Satyam was in no way easy, and involved even paying off class action lawsuits filed against it in US courts, besides wading through numerous regulatory hurdles in India. It took nearly three years for the integration, which happened in early FY’14. But instead of taking rest for a while, Tech Mahindra announced a lofty target of $5 billion revenue for itself by FY’16 and began scouting for more international and domestic acquisitions. This IT services arm of the Mahindra & Mahindra conglomerate acquired Hutchison Global Services next, followed it up with the acquisition of Comviva, then went in for vCustomer BPO, then Mahindra Engineering Services from its own M&M stable, and followed it up with acquiring the Swedish Type Approval Lab. But it was in FY'15 that Tech Mahindra upped the game by executing two of its largest acquisitions post Satyam - that of Lightbridge Communications Corporation (LCC), the 52
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largest independent telecom services company in the world with local presence in over 50 countries, and of Sofgen Holdings, a Swiss IT firm serving the financial services industry. With the integration of all these acquisitions, Tech Mahindra will soon come within striking distance of its lofty $5 billion revenue target.
What Makes Tech Mahindra Tick Much of Tech Mahindra’s success so far can be attributed to its three-pronged
CP Gurnani, MD & CEO
leadership comprising of its Chairman Anand Mahindra, its Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar, and its CEO & MD CP Gurnani. Anand Mahindra who heads the $17 billion M&M family is one of the most influential business leaders of India and has been pivotal in acquisitions like Satyam. Vice Chair Vineet Nayyar has been a top ranking IAS official who has led some key PSUs, and after retirement has been one of India Inc’s high performance leaders. MD & CEO CP Gurnani has been the hands-on leader at Tech Mahindra, having honed his skills at HCL HP, Perot Systems, & HCL Corporation. Together, these three leaders have been highly successful in identifying the right acquisition targets that have been a strategic fit as well as a bargain deal. The corporate team led by these three leaders has also not shied away from undertaking some of the most complex deals involving significant legal risks. While the technical and financial integration often involves short-term pain, in the long-term Tech Mahindra has continued to display a rare talent for seamless integration. A case in example is the poor Q4 result due to integration issues with LCC, but still Tech Mahindra has closed FY’14 with a topline growth of over 20%. The TechM scrip has also appreciated by around 60% during the past 12 months.
TOP PERFORMER IN HIGH & CONSISTENT GROWTH NBFC
BAJAJ FINANCE How Bajaj Finance Maintains its High Growth Bajaj Finance, a leading NBFC, belonging to the Rahul Bajaj / Bajaj Auto Group, and subsidiary of diversified financial services player, Bajaj Finserv, has continued its high and consistent growth in Q4 and FY’14. Bajaj Finance is the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv, and often operates under the Bajaj Finserv brand. It has been the fastest growing business for Bajaj Finserv, much ahead of its other operations like General & Life Insurance. In Q4, Bajaj Finance has grown its revenue by 31%, while net profit grew by 27%. For the whole fiscal, revenue has grown by 33%, while profit after tax grew by 25%. Being an NBFC, the bigger focus was on Assets Under Management (AUM), and it grew by a robust 35%, which has been a consistent clip at which this nonbanking sector lender has been performing since the past few years. However, the biggest surprise has been on the customer acquisition front, with Bajaj Finance’s retail customer base expanding by 51% in Q4 and 45% in the full fiscal, with the current customer base standing at an impressive 49.25 lakh customers. Bajaj Finance stock has been a 2.5X multiplier within the last 12 months itself. The firm is led by its Vice Chairman Sanjiv Bajaj and MD & CEO Rajeev Jain.
What Makes Bajaj Finance Zoom
Sanjiv Bajaj, Vice Chairman
Rajeev Jain, MD & CEO
Bajaj Finance operates in four segments consumer, SME, commercial, & rural, with the first two being its major sectors. This Bajaj Finserv subsidiary is a de-facto leader in the consumer durables financing segment through its vast network of agents and quick loan servicing at consumer durables showrooms. It has tieups with both manufacturers and showroom chains that enables it to offer features like zero-interest EMIs. Consumer segment is also one of the fastest growing segments for Bajaj Finance, growing at a clip of 42%. However, the segment of SME is larger for Bajaj Finance, and is also growing at a rate of 33%. Bajaj Finance is also a deposit taking NBFC, having a Fixed Deposit book of Rs. 983 crore. Its Commercial segment has witnessed a degrowth of around 5% during the fiscal, but it has been a side-effect of its strategy to limit its NPAs. On the asset quality front, Bajaj Finance is a leader, with its Gross NPA at 1.51% and Net NPA at 0.45%. Despite being well-capitalized, the firm is planning to raise further capital of around Rs. 1800 crore through an upcoming QIP, and promoters too are increasing their stake by investing around Rs. 400 crore through preferential issue of warrants. Bajaj Finance has an eye on a universal banking licence, and it is rapidly readying the tech framework to extend its zero-interest EMI schemes into the booming e-commerce sector of India. 53
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN TEAM WORKPSU BANKS
ANDHRA BANK
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S K Kalra, ED
AR Rath, ED
Its Team Play at Andhra Bank More PSU banks have posted worrying results than encouraging numbers for Q4, which has also pulled down their annual performance for FY’15. No wonder then that many PSU bank stocks are hitting their 52-Week Lows in recent days, including heavyweights like Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda. But one PSU bank, the medium sized Andhra Bank has been a clear outperformer during this quarter, as well as for the full fiscal FY’15. The PSU lender has reported a whopping 110 percent growth in profit during the January-March quarter, driven by strong net interest income as well as other income. Fall in provisions and stable asset quality have also boosted profitability. Net profit of Andhra Bank has increased to Rs 185.2 crore in the quarter ended March 2015 from Rs 88.1 crore in the year-ago period. Andhra Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 638.44 crore for the full year ending March, 2015, an increase of 46.57 per cent as compared with Rs 435.58 crore in the previous year. The total income for the year grew 12 per cent at Rs 17,868.45 crore as compared with Rs 15,630.16 crore in the previous year. The credit for the high performance goes to the leadership of its Chairman & Managing Director CVR Rajendran, and its Executive Directors SK Kalra and AK Rath. But there is more to Andhra Bank than its excellent leadership. Imagine a bank’s employees sitting in dharna at the offices of numerous loan defaulters. Andhra Bank calls it Gandhigiri. Whenever and wherever the employees became convinced that the defaulters were doing in wilfully, even when having funds to clear the debt, they resorted to this dharna style protests doing sit-ins with banners just like a political protest. And the results speak for themselves. In this quarter alone, Andhra Bank’s NPA accounts have gone down from 3,54,000 to 2,44,000. That is why the future of Andhra Bank is in strong hands. CVR Rajendran has just retired as CMD, a new CMD is yet to come, but Andhra Bank is likely to perform fine as a team under its two Executive Directors.
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
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TOP PERFORMER IN EMERGING ASSET DIVERSIFICATION - NBFCs
MANAPPURAM FINANCE What Makes Manappuram Finance Tick Manappuram Finance has started diversifying at the most opportune time, when the banking and financial services sector is again entering a growth period. The firm’s main advantage is its 3200 branches across India, where many of the new lending businesses can be started without much investment on the infrastructure side. It already has a small CV loans business which it is planning to grow multi-fold by acquiring a CV loan firm, as CV loans come under priority sector lending, which will come in handy when it applies for a Universal Banking License with RBI. On the home finance front, Manappuram is focusing on the higher margin segments of affordable home loans and loans against property. Among its new diversifications, the largest currently is microfinance where its unit the Chennai based Asirvad has a loan book of over Rs. 300 crore. Managing Director Nandakumar’s vision is to scale up these three new ventures - microfinance, CV loans, & home loans - to around 25% of its loan book within the next 3 years, and eventually to scale it up to 50% of its loan assets. The remaining 50% will remain gold loans, which now dominates the book. Here also, the outlook is pretty good, as after two years of degrowth in its gold loan AUM, Manappuram has bounced back to loan book growth as well as profit growth in FY‘15.
How Manappuram Finance is Diversifying its Assets Manappuram Finance has been synonymous with gold loans in Indian capital markets, as it was the first loan-against-gold provider to be listed, and for many years, the only listed player in the space. During this period, Manappuram stock was also one of the largest wealth creators in the Indian small cap / mid cap space. But since the last couple of years, heeding the call for asset diversification by sector regulator, RBI, Manappuram’s promoter, MD, & CEO, VP Nandakumar, himself an ex-banker, started the first steps in diversifying Manappuram’s asset base from just gold ornaments to a wider variety of assets. The first in this series was into the booming home loans segment by acquiring a home finance company from Jaypee Group. This was followed up by getting into the buzzing microfinance scene, by acquiring Asirvad Microfinance. Nandakumar is not done yet, and is eyeing commercial vehicles loan companies having around Rs. 1000 crore of loan book, to acquire. The Kerala headquartered lender has also tied up with Tata Teleservices nation-wide to offer mobile based repayment solutions to its customers. Manappuram which once eyed a small bank or payment bank licence has scrapped that plan for now, and is planning to apply for a Universal Banking Licence through its microfinance arm, Asirvad Microfinance. 57
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP HOUSING FINANCE COMPANY IN NET NPA LEVEL
CAN FIN HOMES
C Ilango, MD & CEO CAN FIN HOMES VS. PEERS IN NET NPA LEVEL With a Net Non Performing Assets (NNPA) level of 0% since the last five years, Can Fin Homes is the undisputed leader in asset quality among dedicated housing finance companies. It is also likely that no public or private bank having housing finance activity will have these kind of Net NPA levels in this longest tenure lending activity. Can Fin Homes has also been steadily bringing down its Gross NPA levels during the past few years, standing now at just 0.17%. Can Fin’s performance in asset quality is outstanding in that it leads in not only its peer group companies by size like Gruh Finance, but also much larger players like Indiabulls Housing Finance. Additionally, Can Fin is also growing its loan book at a blistering pace of around 30%, revealing that it is not sacrificing growth for asset quality. Can Fin Homes is backed by noted investors including Catamaran promoted by Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy.
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WHAT MAKES CAN FIN HOMES TICK Can Fin Homes’ performance in both growth and asset quality is directly attributable to its sharp focus on retail housing loans that constitute 87% of its loans, as against developer loans that many of its peers undertake. Around 84% of all retail housing loans given out by Can Fin are to the salaried class, which ensures high asset quality. Also, around 74% of its loan book is in the South Indian market, known for its better reliability and asset quality. This housing finance company promoted by Canara Bank also excels in Return on Equity (RoE) and Return on Assets (RoA), comparable to or better than peers. Can Fin Homes is led by its Managing Director, C Ilango, a Canara Bank veteran. The HFC recently concluded a successful Rights Issue which raised Rs. 276.07 crore that has shored up its capital, for lending requirements for the next two years. The total number of branches and satellite offices have increased to 132 currently, from 83 at the end of FY’14.
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP COMPANY SMALL CAP IN FUNDAMENTAL & MARKET PERFORMANCE
SKM EGG PRODUCTS Why FY’15 was the Wonder Year for SKM Egg Products
SKM Egg Products Export (India) Ltd has achieved a miracle of sorts in FY’2015 - something that all small cap companies dream about. The Tamilnadu based egg powder and liquid egg exporter grew its net profit by 500% or six times during this fiscal. And its investors had a bigger bounty to take home. Within just one year, the SKM stock has zoomed by nothing less than 2650% or 27 times! The Erode based firm’s stock was in penny-stock territory when it started last fiscal - the Rs. 10 face-valued stock was trading at just Rs. 7.05 on April 1st 2014. By next April, SKM Egg Products stock had touched its 52-Week and all-time high of Rs. 193.95. Driving the rally was the improving fundamental performance on both the topline and bottomline, as well as promoter buys of the stock as a confidence building measure. During the fiscal, SKM also repaid its term-loans from banks, further improving the net profit margins.
What Makes SKM Egg Products Tick SKM Egg Products cracks 1.8 million eggs daily, to process and produce 6500 tonnes of egg powder and liquid egg annually. SKM is almost a 100% Export Oriented Unit (EOU), and exports its egg powder and liquid eggs to markets like European Union and Japan. Recently, this largest exporter of egg powder from India - it accounts for 57% of Indian egg powder exports - has commenced exports to Russia too. SKM has subsidiaries in The Netherlands, Japan, & Russia to facilitate operations. SKM’s turnaround was plotted under the leadership of its Managing Director & CEO, SKM Shree Shivkumar. The firm, long plagued by high debt and regulatory concerns, finally got its act right in FY’2015 to make a strong comeback. The beaten down status of the stock during the previous fiscals, enabled new investors to benefit heavily from this year’s rally in SKM stock.
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TOP PERFORMER IN ACCELERATING OVERALL PERFORMANCE SMALL CAP TEXTILES
SIYARAM SILK MILLS How Siyaram is Accelerating its Overall Performance Siyaram Silk Mills, belonging to the Siyaram Poddar Group, may not be an extraordinary performer on any specific metric, but the small cap textile company is making a mark for itself in accelerating its performance steadily on various counts during the past three years. FY’15 was no exception with net profit growing by nearly 24%, whereas in the previous fiscal bottomline growth recorded was less than 16%. Siyaram has also improved its core return ratios like Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) and Asset Turnover Ratio, during the past couple of years. The overall growth pattern is evident from the sales growth since FY’10, that stands at a CAGR of 16%. Growth in EBIDT has also accelerated from single digit percentages around 3 years back, to around 22% now. At the same time, Siyaram has brought down its debt-equity ratio from 1:1 to a more manageable 0.71:1 during FY’15. Market has been taking note of this improving performance, and has spiked the share by 2.7X times within the last 12 months. And during the last 24 months, Siyaram stock has done almost the impossible by being a 6.4X multibagger.
What Makes Siyaram Silk Shine
Ramesh Poddar, CMD
Siyaram Silk Mills, led by its Chairman & MD Ramesh D Poddar, is a vertically integrated textile company that produces yarns, fabrics, & garments. Its strength lies in being one of India’s largest polyester viscose blended fabrics. However, what has proved to be the game-changer for Siyaram during the past three years is its brand focus. Siyaram is home to fabric brands like J Hampstead, Mistair, Royal Linen, Casa Moda, Zenesis, & Moretti, apart from the more value-for-money Siyaram’s brand. It has roped in high profile brand ambassadors including MS Dhoni, Hritik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boris Becker, & Geoffrey Boycott to name a few. It is also a leading exporter, with its fabrics and garments available in North America, Europe, & Middle East. Siyaram’s fortunes are largely tied to the global and Indian textile industry’s shift from cotton to Man Made Fibres (MMF), where the company has a formidable edge. Two other areas that Siyaram is building up focus these days are home furnishing and women’s wear, especially the SKD (Salwar Kurta Dupatta) segment, where it has launched branded operations. 61
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TOP PERFORMER IN RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED ELECTRICAL GOODS & APPLIANCES
V-GUARD INDUSTRIES
How V-Guard Industries Leads in RoCE Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) continues to be the benchmark in assessing how well a company is utilizing its employed capital, comprising both shareholders’ equity as well as debt. Kochi headquartered V-Guard Industries comes out with flying colours in this test, among its industry peers. V-Guard has an industry leading RoCE of 27.62%, ahead of large players like Bajaj Electricals (6.86%), Finolex Cables (20.17%), TTK Prestige (25.08%), and even Havells (26.83%). This electrical appliances and electrical cables player also has a Return on Equity (RoE) ratio that is higher than most of its peers. The entrepreneurial firm started by legendary Keralite businessman Kochouseph Chittilappilly has a neat and conservative balance sheet that enables this kind of high return ratios. The equity base is less than Rs. 30 crore and debt-equity ratio is at a safe 0.31%. The firm which started off in voltage stabilizers and branched out to numerous electrical appliances, is also noted for its industry leading Asset Turnover Ratio, that indicates management efficiency. In addition to Chairman Kochouseph Chittilappilly, V-Guard is led by its young and dynamic Managing Director, Mithun K Chittilappilly. Its scrip had more than doubled during the past 12 months.
What Makes V-Guard Industries Tick From its outset nearly three decades back as a small-scale unit, V-Guard’s founder Kochouseph Chittilappilly has laid great emphasis on an asset-light development model, which V-Guard follows even to this day. To facilitate this, it has evolved a rigorous quality management program, even while much of the manufacturing of appliances is outsourced. Though having a sizeable advertising budget, all other unnecessary expenses have been systematically curtailed over the years. This philosophy extends even to its corporate headquarters in Kochi, which even while being magnificent, is one of the most energy efficient corporate HQs anywhere in India due to its green design that ensures natural lighting and ventilation to the maximum possible. The management is noted for its ethical practices, and high level of corporate governance in comparison with its peers in the small-cap / mid-cap sector. Despite following conservative financial policies, V-Guard has demonstrated high growth appetite in entering new segments, and has almost never failed to garner a market share for itself in each specific segment. The V-Guard stock is backed by some of the most discerning FIIs and DIIs, and has been a 19X multibagger since its IPO in 2008. 62
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FY'15 Performance Highlights V-Guard’s Net Revenue from operations for FY 2015 was Rs.1,745. 92 crores; an increase of 15% over previous financial year (Rs.1,517.56 crores). Profit Before Tax for the Financial Year was Rs.101.45 crores against the Profit Before Tax of Rs.94.28 crores achieved during FY 2014.bIn FY 2015, in light of the macro challenges and strained channel health, V-Guard operated in a prudent manner focussing primarily on cash flows, through better inventory and debtor management. Its working capital cycle saw an improvement of 6 days YoY and 7 days QoQ to 70 days resulting in strong cash flows from
operations of Rs. 84 crore during the year. V-Guard has significantly brought down the debt on its balance sheet by Rs. 41 crore during the year to Rs. 68 crore thereby reducing the financial cost. Debt-equity ratio remains robust at 0.2x. V-Guard worked with an external consultant during the year to develop an integrated supply chain system for the Company, from procurement, planning, distribution and inventory management, which will help drive further benefits going into FY16. Non-South markets have scaled up rapidly and grown by 28% in FY 15 and now account for 33% of revenues from
Kochouseph Chittilappilly
30% in FY14 and 25% in FY13. This bears testimony to the acceptance of the V-Guard brand in these markets and marks a significant step towards further diversification of the revenue base. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and the north eastern states have been the key contributors to the strong growth. Share prices peaked during FY 15 to Rs. 1198.00 from Rs. 465.15 as on 01.04.2015 an increase of 158% thereby increasing the investor wealth. Market capitalization also increased by 97%, to Rs.2737.45 from Rs.1388.36 at the end of FY15.
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How MCX has Rebounded in FY’15 If FY’2014 was the year of crisis at Multi Commodity Exchange of India, FY’15 was the year in which MCX proved that its unique capabilities as the leading commodity exchange of India transcends the abilities of its founding promoter group. The pioneer exchange of Indian commodity trading space, MCX is the clear leader in bullion, energy, and base metals, trailing only in agricultural commodities. Before the payment crisis at NSEL (promoted by MCX‘s original promoter FTIL) , MCX controlled nearly 87% of Indian commodities trading market, whereas post the crisis, it fell sharply to around 77%. However, in FY’15, MCX under the leadership PK Singhal
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of its Government appointed Chairman Satyananda Mishra and Joint Managing Director Parveen Kumar Singhal, has clawed back more than it had lost, with 87.48% market share achieved in Q4. However, when it comes to the listed universe, what differentiates MCX from the rest of the midcap companies is its Profit Margins. MCX has closed FY’15 with an EBITDA margin of 59% (up 3% YoY) and a Net Profit Margin (NPM or PAT Margin) of 38% (up 3% YoY). Not many mid-cap companies in India can claim to have that kind of profit margins. No wonder then that MCX stock has been an outperformer during the past 12 months rising by around 2.5 times. Satyananda Mishra
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TOP COMPANY MID CAP IN PROFIT MARGINS
MCX What Makes MCX Tick Though the payment crisis at NSEL cast a shadow of risk over MCX for a few quarters, the market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) and Government acted swiftly enough to prevent the crisis from spreading over to the country’s largest commodity exchange. While MCX’s overall market share is 87.48% now, it is a misnomer, as the exchange is a near monopoly in bullion (98.39% share), and energy (99.95% share), and a full monopoly in base metals (100% share). And MCX’s high profit margin ensures that the bottomline benefits greatly from any surge or compounding in the topline. India’s commodities trading market is still young, and such a compounding effect on the topline can happen due to the expected mandatory hedging on commodities. India is getting ready for this new regime, with its first step being the merger of FMC into SEBI. MCX also has the additional advantage of being the only listed exchange in India as of now, thereby proving to be the only vehicle for large stock investors to benefit from this radically changing environment in the commodities trading space. That is precisely why ace investors like Kotak Mahindra, Blackstone, DSP BlackRock, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Shivanand Mankekar, & Gopikrishan Damani are invested in MCX.
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP COMPANY SMALL CAP IT - IN FUNDAMENTAL & MARKET PERFORMANCE
8K MILES SOFTWARE SERVICES Why FY’15 was the Wonder Year for 8k Miles Software Services Chennai headquartered information technology services provider, 8k Miles Software Services, hogged the limelight in Indian capital market for the first time perhaps in FY’2015. Though it was clear that this small cap firm - specialising in cloud services and with majority of its operations in North America was in a high growth phase during FY’14 itself, it was in this just concluded fiscal that 8k Miles shifted into top gear. The first two quarters were clear indication of things to come, and 8k Miles quickly attracted its first major institutional investor, DSP Blackrock, whose famed Micro Cap Fund invested in the stock during a rally itself, thereby re-rating the stock. Soon to follow was an MF of the Sundaram stable and 8K Miles hasn’t looked back since then. The stock has rallied from Rs. 101 (on April 1st 2014) to its recent 52-Week High of Rs. 923 recorded in early January of 2015, which is nearly a 814% or 9X appreciation within around 9 months! Justifying the rally was 8k Miles’ fundamental performance in FY’15 that saw consolidated revenue nearly tripling, while consolidated net profit has more than tripled.
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What Makes 8k Miles Software Services Tick It is a misnomer to call 8k Miles an IT services provider in the classic sense of the word, especially as it applies to India’s outsourced IT services industry. 8k Miles, founded and led by its Managing Director, Suresh Venkatachari, a former IT professional with Deutsche Bank, is really a dedicated player in the emerging cloud services sector. The firm, in fact, has a claim of being the only listed Indian player in the cloud services space. 8k Miles helps its clients migrate their software and services to the cloud platform, thereby reducing the costs incurred by its clients drastically. 8k Miles is a premium partner of the leading cloud infrastructure provider Amazon Web Services (AWS). The difference between traditional IT players and 8k Miles is most evident in the fact that the growth of cloud players is not proportional to the head count of IT professionals employed. Adding fuel to the fire, 8K Miles has done a few focused acquisitions in the cloud space in North America, during this past fiscal, especially in the healthcare management sector. The acquisitions were powered by internal accruals as well as by preferential issue of shares to promoters and a few noted investors at high levels itself.
TOP PERFORMER IN RETURN ON CAPITAL EMPLOYED (ROCE) SMALL CAP
AVANTI FEEDS What Makes Avanti Feeds Tick
Avanti Feeds Vs. Peers in RoCE
Avanti Feeds’ high efficiency as measured by its high RoE and exceptional RoCE stems from its small capital base of around Rs. 9 crore and low debt level of around Rs. 53 crore. But from such relatively small investments and debt, Avanti churns out massive profits, with FY’15 EBIT standing at nearly Rs. 182 crore and Net Profit standing at almost Rs. 116 crore. The firm is also unique in that it is a threeway joint venture between the promoter family led by CMD A Indra Kumar, Thai Union Frozen Products Public Company Ltd, and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation. Thai Union, based in Thailand, is the world’s largest shrimp processor. Now, Avanti is planning to set up a new shrimp processing plant with much higher capacity in joint venture with Thai Union. Indian shrimp farmers’ superior safety and disease-resistance technologies are attracting companies like Thai Union to invest more in the country, benefiting Avanti.
While Return on Equity (RoE) measures a firm’s profitability looking from a pure shareholders’ equity angle, Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) evaluates a firm’s profitability taking into account both the firm’s equity as well as debt. While many of its peer small cap companies are struggling to record a RoE of even 30, this Vizag based shrimp processor and shrimp feed producer and exporter not only has a RoE of around 40, but a Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) of nearly 47. No wonder then that the Avanti Feeds scrip has been a 4X multibagger within FY’2015 itself. Powering the superior RoCE of Avanti has been its growing profits, with EBIT growth for FY’2015 standing at a robust 67%. Avanti’s fortunes turned after Indian shrimp farmers switched to the superior vannamei shrimps during the last couple of years. The firm is led by A Indra Kumar as its Chairman & Managing Director.
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP PERFORMER IN DIVIDEND PAYOUT HOUSING FINANCE (SMALL CAP)
s
GIC HOUSING FINANCE Imagine a stock in 2001. Suppose you invested Rs. 2,50,000 in it back then. Within the next 14 years, your 2.5 lakh investment in this company would have returned Rs. 12.05 lakhs as just annual dividends itself. All these returns as tax-free. This year alone this company is delivering a dividend of Rs. 1,96,850 or nearly Rs. 2 lakhs against that old Rs. 2.5 lakh investment. Surprised? You should be, as this happens in a country and its stock market where even big and mighty stocks are known to stand still, or destroy wealth, or pay pebbles as dividend for years. But wait till you
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hear the full story. The tax-free returns of Rs. 12,05,000 was just the dividend. What happened to your capital of Rs. 2.5 lakh? Well, it just went on and multiplied and multiplied and became Rs. 1.13 crore recently! Rising more than 45 times within 14 years. Again, this too is tax-free as it is capital gains from equity. Welcome to GIC Housing Finance. In fact, the real returns from this Joint Sector Housing Finance Company (HFC) would be much bigger for its long-term investors if they had subscribed to its two Rights Issues in 2004 and 2006, that came at hefty discounts. You will
Warendra Sinha, MD, GIC Housing Finance since
not hear GIC as topping the charts in any of the headline metrics like loan-book growth or NIM growth or profit growth. GIC has always been a slow and steady kind of performer, expanding and compounding its business slowly but surely. But sometimes that is only what is needed. With too much speed comes the associated pitfalls, like too much equity dilution that would have hurt its shareholders whenever the housing finance market went through sluggish phases. Instead, GIC has survived for this great age, when housing finance is all set to enter its greatest and fastest growth phase ever, now. GIC too is getting ready for this phase with accelerated branch expansions and more innovative products. What sets apart GIC from its comparable peers by size is its generous dividend policy that kept on increasing from 10% of its Face Value in 2001 to 13% to 15% to 30% to 40% to 45% to 50% to 55% to 60%, over the years. Last year, GIC paid one-third or 33% of its net profit as dividends, in line with what the best companies in the world pay out as dividends, especially when they keep that fine balance between dividends and re-investment for growth. 69
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TOP COMPANY ENTERTAINMENT -IN PROFIT MARGINS
WONDERLA HOLIDAYS
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Why Wonderla is the Most Profitable Entertainment Stock
Arun K Chittilappilly, MD, Wonderla Holidays Ltd
India doesn’t have too many leisure and entertainment stocks. Broadly such stocks fall into either of two categories - multiplexes or theme parks. While multiplexes are not famous for their profit margins, the listed theme park space has only a couple of quality players. Wonderla Holidays , headquartered at Bangalore, and promoted by the promoting family behind such quality businesses like V-Guard Group of Industries, is a clear winner in this fragmented entertainment space. In FY’15, Wonderla had an EBIT margin of over 35% and a Net Profit Margin or PAT Margin of nearly 28%. It has two fully working theme parks at Bangalore and Kochi, while it is working full swing on its third park at Hyderabad.
What Makes Wonderla Holidays Tick Led by its Co-founder and legendary entrepreneur Kochouseph Chittilappilly and managed by his elder son and co-founder Arun Chittilappilly, Wonderla Holidays is one of the best managed theme park chains in India. Unlike multiplexes that compete with theme parks, here there is no content-dependent traffic flow, thereby making well-managed parks like Wonderla a clear winner in profit generation. From a balance sheet angle too, Wonderla comes off as a clear winner, with just the necessary debt after its blockbuster IPO last year. The conventional approach in risk-taking is coupled with a high-growth appetite that will see new parks getting added to the Wonderla banner, thereby giving high scope for the stock which has attracted players like HDFC MF. After the Hyderabad park, Wonderla has its eyes set on the Chennai market. 71
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TOP CORPORATE PERFORMERS
TOP TURNAROUND PERFORMER IN STOCK BROKING
GEOJIT BNP PARIBAS FINANCIAL SERVICES
What Makes Geojit BNP Paribas Tick
How Geojit BNP Paribas Returned to Profits in FY’15 Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, the Kochi headquartered stock broking firm had a bad fiscal in FY’14 when both business was down and it had to make provisions after the NSEL scam. But in FY’2015, Geojit BNP Paribas has come back into the game in a befitting manner. The return to profitability from loss is not only due to the absence of further provisioning this last fiscal, but due to sharply improved operational performance. While revenue is up by 46% riding on the stock market boom, the Profit Before Tax and Exceptional Items has surged by 81%. While Net Profit growth comes across as still short of pre-NSEL level, it is not really comparable as Geojit had positive exceptional item in FY’13 due to a stake sale in an institutional broking arm. The firm’s stock has nearly tripled during the past 12 months due to the improving fundamental performance. 72
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Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services is a leading pan-India brokerage which has been a pioneer in the online trading scene. Promoted by its Founder & Managing Director CJ George, the firm is special in that its Promoter Group includes the French banking major BNP Paribas which holds a 33.14% stake. One of the original institutional backers, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) also holds a stake of 8.64%. After exiting the institutional business, Geojit has emerged as a more focused retail brokerage. It has a strong retail franchise, especially in Kerala, and Middle East where many affluent Non Resident Keralites are its customers. Geojit also has an edge in that it has a robust technology arm that has been quick to develop modern facilities like mobile trading. C. J. George, Managing Director
TOP PERFORMER IN HIGH & CONSISTENT GROWTH MID CAP
PAGE INDUSTRIES How Page Maintained its High Growth in FY’15 Page Industries, the sole licensee for Jockey brand of inner garments in India and a few neighbouring countries, continued to amaze the market with its high as well as consistent growth. In a challenging fiscal year and fourth quarter, that caught many of its peer mid-caps off-guard, Page had sweet numbers to report in Q4. The final quarter numbers were better than the rest of the three quarters, thereby enabling the Jockey maker to keep its untold promise of around 30% growth in both its topline and bottomline. While some analysts were disturbed about the e-commerce channel eating into Page Industries’ performance, the Bangalore headquartered firm led by Sunder Genomal exceeded expectations on the margin and profit front, thereby offsetting the small QoQ dip in revenues. The market has taken the Page Industries stock to astronomical levels, with it proving to be a more than 2.5X multibagger within the last 12 months.
What Makes the Jockey Maker Rock While Page Industries is often given as an illustration for the power of an international brand, the full story is also about superior efficiency in capital allocation and operation. A neat balance sheet, starting with a small equity base, and having a conservative and optimum leverage of less than 0.5 times debt-equity is the foundation on which the Page empire has been built. Superb free cash flows, impressive Return Ratios, and a generous Dividend Policy complete the picture at Page. The innerwear maker’s Return on Equity (RoE) is over 53%, while its Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) is over 56%, way ahead of its peers. Its dividend policy is also impressive, with nearly 41% of its FY’15 profits being distributed as dividends. Page Industries is also the sole licensee for Speedo range of swimwear in India. The primarily men’s inner wear maker is also aggressively expanding into women’s inner wear and sleep wear, and the market is pricing Page stock aggressively at a high P/E of over 92. Sundar Ashok Genomal, MD
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TOP PERFORMER REALTY IN NEW LAUNCH
SOBHA LTD
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HOLDING ITS FORT IN LUXURY SEGMENT, ENTERING IMPRESSIVELY INTO AFFORDABLE SEGMENT Sobha Ltd has killed the only weakness it had in its portfolio with Sobha Dream Acres, at Bangalore, which is not only a new project but its first project in the whole new segment named Dream Series. The realty major famed for its luxury and super-luxury homes, that are priced upward of Rs. 1 crore, has entered majestically into the affordable segment of realty with this project that has 7000 units priced between Rs. 35 lakhs to Rs. 70 lakhs. In tune with the times, and adhering to its superior track-record, Dream Acres will have fast execution despite its size, thanks to its pre-cast technology using machinery imported from Germany and Italy. The initiative is seen as the brainchild of Sobha’s young and dynamic Chairman Ravi Menon, who is innovating rapidly to take Sobha to the next growth phase.
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TOP PERFORMER MID CAP - IN DIVERSIFICATION
JAIN IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
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Bhavarlal H Jain, Chairman
BACK IN RECKONING, IN A BIGGER ROLE FY’15 has gone down in Jain Irrigation’s history as the year of positive turnaround. From a consolidated loss of nearly 40 crore in FY‘14, Jain Irrigation Systems has been able to post a profit of nearly 55 crore in FY’15. Agreed that it is a far cry from the profit run rate of Rs. 280 crore around 4 years back. But then, Jains has been growing its topline during the past five years at a not too bad 15% CAGR, which means that higher and higher profits are destined to follow. Besides that, Jains is no longer just a global micro-irrigation company, but a diversified business house that produces PVC Pipes, Polyethylene & Polypropylene Piping Systems; Plastic Sheets; Agro Processed Products; Processed Fruits; Tissue Culture, Hybrid & Grafted Plants; Greenhouses, Poly and Shade Houses; Bio-fertilizers; Green Energy solutions; Bio-Energy sources; Agricultural Inputs; and Financial Services.
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TOP PERFORMER BUILDING MATERIALS IN WEALTH CREATION
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GREENPLY INDUSTRIES
THE WAIT BEF ORE THE BEFORE NE XT TAKE OFF NEX TAKEOFF India’s leader in plywood, MDF, and laminates, is understandably resting after a nearly 10X performance in the stock between 2012 and 2015. Meanwhile, it has hived off its lower margin laminates business into a separate company, Greenlam Industries, for better unlocking of value in Greenply. And it has also attracted high profile institutional investors like Westbridge Capital and celebrity individual investors like Sudhir Valia of Sun Pharma fame. Greenply is also strengthening its portfolio of products by introducing wallpapers, which have been on a resurgence recently. With the construction industry looking up once again, Greenply is all set for some exciting times.
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TOP PERFORMER - HOME APPLIANCES IN CAPACITY EXPANSION
BUTTERFLY GANDHIMATHI APPLIANCES
POISED FFOR OR A PO SITIVE POSITIVE TURNAROUND Butterfly has been a household name in LPG Stoves, Mixer Grinders, Table Top Wet Grinders, Pressure Cookers, Stainless Steel Cookware and Non-Stick Cookware, besides many other products. The company behind this powerhouse brand, Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances has been going through a debt-assisted capex cycle during the last two years, to prepare itself for the next up move. The most recent quarter has already shown a healthy QoQ growth trend in both topline and bottomline, and the Chennai based home appliances major may deliver better operating profits from the fruits of the expansion, surpassing the costs of servicing debt. V.M.Lakshminarayanan Chairman & Managing Director 79
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TOP PERFORMER IN FAST WEALTH CREATION HOUSING FINANCE (SMALL CAP)
REPCO HOME FINANCE To what kind of homebuyers does the country’s largest housing finance companies like HDFC or largest banks like SBI or ICICI lend? To the safest of the safe customers like well-employed professionals, with either job security or the security of being in an in-demand profession. Will these institutions lend to the non-salaried class? Generally not, as commonsense suggests that only such well-employed pros can take on the impact of a heavy and long-tenure debt like a home loan. Will HDFC, SBI, or ICICI provide home loan to a rural shopkeeper or agriculturist? Even if his finances and assets are healthy, they generally wouldn’t as he won’t be having a proper balance sheet or CIBIL score to accompany his application. Will these institutions provide loans to the so-called affordable segment of homebuyers? Again, most probably no, as commonsense suggests that those looking for sub-15 lakh kind of home loans would not be as financially stable as those looking for 30 or 50 lakh plus kind of loans. Giving those kinds of loans would cause NPAs to surge, goes the wisdom. These are the unshakeable first principles of housing loan business on which companies like HDFC built up huge home loan portfolios of nearly Rs. 2 lakh crore. Now, what if a Housing Finance Company (HFC) proves that each and every one of these first principles of home finance can not only be violated, but turned upside down, to become one of the fastest growing housing finance operations in the country? Welcome to Repco Home Finance. The Chennai based Joint Sector firm promoted by state-owned Repco Bank lends primarily to non-salaried class like shopkeepers, small traders etc. Its home loan portfolio is dominated by rural customers at about 75%. And Repco’s focus is on the afford-
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able segment with average ticket-size being Rs. 12 to Rs. 15 lakhs. Despite all these factors, Repco is not only growing at a furious pace of around 30% annually, but doing so in a safe and high quality way, with Net NPA less than 1% and Net Interest Margin at an industry leading 4.4%. No wonder then that discerning investors including some of the world’s most reputed FIIs have made a beeline for Repco Home Finance’s stock since its IPO in early 2013. The stock is up by nearly 360% since April 1st 2013. That makes Repco a 4.6X multibagger within 2 years, a period in which HDFC stock struggled to grow by even 70%. How Repco has done this next-to-impossible achievement is by a slew of innovations like personal business visits, creating balance sheets out of customers’ simple ledgers, and relying on its own in-house developed credit appraisal system.
R Varadarajan, MD, Repco Home Finance
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TOP PERFORMER REALTY - IN SALES VOLUMES
PRESTIGE ESTATES PROJECTS
RACING TO BE THE MOST VALUABLE DEVELOPER Bangalore headquartered Prestige Estates Projects seems to be the clear outperformer to watch out for in Indian real estate sector. It has achieved the largest annual sales recorded in the industry during FY’15 amounting to Rs. 5014 crore, ahead of all its peers. Its focus on Bangalore market has clearly helped Prestige, in comparison with its peers’ focus on larger but sluggish markets like NCR and Mumbai. While the consolidated debt-equity is at 0.75, Prestige has no issues servicing it as nearly 65% of it is against robust lease income. CMD Irfan Razack’s vision is to grow sales by 100% in the next 3 to 4 years, and Prestige is currently eyeing highly selective forays into the Mumbai and Pune markets, where it hopes to make a mark for itself by following its work ethics like timely completion of projects.
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TOP PERFORMER TEXTILES IN CAPACITY EXPANSION
ALOK INDUSTRIES
WILL IT FINALLY UNLOCK VALUE FOR ITS INVESTORS? Alok Industries has performed well on most counts - be it industry leadership in textiles, massive capacity expansion, exports growth, and diversifications into retail and realty. Alok is also superbly integrated - both forward and backward. Only one frontier is left to be conquered, and that is creation of investor wealth. With India poised to attract more of global textile business than ever, will Alok finally start delivering on the wealth creation front?
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TOP PERFORMER PHARMA IN STRATEGIC EXPANSIONS
DISHMAN PHARMACEUTICALS
GETTING READY TO DELIVER ON THE HIGH PROMISE
Dishman Pharma has always been one of the top small-cap pharma companies to watch out for. Strategic expansions into critical areas like CRAMS, Vitamins, Speciality Chemicals, and APIs, done over more than a decade, and across geographies spanning Europe to China and India, is finally set to bear fruit at Dishman. Once a service provider to only large international pharma companies, Dishman has expanded its scope to include the mid-sized pharma sector.
Arpit Vyas, Managing Director
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TOP PERFORMER DEFENCE - IN APPROVED CAPABILITIES
ABG SHIPYARD
RARING TO GO FOR THE NEXT CRUISE It is one of India Inc’s greatest ironies that even while the biggest buzz from the government is about defence business, India’s largest private shipbuilder is going through a challenging time due to accumulated debt. But ABG won’t give in without yet another battle, as it is qualified to build several kinds of vessels for Indian Navy, and there are several investors who have evinced interest in taking a significant stake in ABG, including Mahindra and Adani, as well as international naval player Privinvest.
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TOP PERFORMER AGRICULTURE IN ENSURING PRODUCTIVITY
MONSANTO INDIA
THRIVING AMIDST CONTROVERSIES Controversy is nothing new to Monsanto. The situation seems similar in America to Europe to emerging markets like India. While its detractors voices are shriller than ever, including the campaigns from heavyweights like Greenpeace, the company maintains a measured dignity and lets the facts speak for itself. The performance in India continues to be robust, revealing that the seed and herbicide major’s technologies and products remain much in demand. Shilpa Divekar Nirula-MD
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TOP PERFORMER REALTY IN PORTFOLIO BREADTH
PURAVANKARA PROJECTS
FOCUSING ON EXECUTION, FURTHERING THE LEAD IN AFFORDABLE SEGMENT Puravankara Projects is focusing more on the execution side these days, even if it means outsourcing the entire construction activities. Managing Director & CEO Ashish Puravankara wants to focus on value adding activities like land acquisition, design, quality compliance, sanctions, and sales. Operating in the luxury and super-luxury segment under Puravankara brand and in the affordable segment under Provident Housing, this listed realty player was one of the first national-level developers to have a dedicated subsidiary and brand to operate in the affordable segment. Puravankara’s balance sheet is cleaner than many of its peers, and under its renewed vision it is expanding into cities like Mumbai and Pune, as well as getting into commercial space development in Hyderabad.
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I N - F O C U S
National Insurance Company
ENTERING HIGHER ORBITS BY EMBRACING OPPORTUNITY AND RISK The new Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana has been one of most momentous developments in the General Insurance sector in recent years. However, the jury is still out on whether the longterm impact of having 40 crore new accident insurance covers of Rs. 2 lakhs at an annual premium of just Rs. 12 would be good or bad for the insurance companies. Kolkata headquartered public sector major National Insurance Company (NIC) has taken on the challenge head on by tying up with the largest bank, SBI, to offer this new scheme. Apart from supporting the national cause, NIC knows that in the insurance business success is closely tied by embracing both opportunity and risk after careful consideration. ational Insurance Company recently executed a coup of sorts when it tied up with country’s largest bank, State Bank of India, to offer non-life cover to all its savings account holders under the new Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
the banks, thereby presenting a good opportunity for general insurers despite the annual premium being just Rs. 12. While some private insurers felt that the premium is too low to offer the scheme’s Rs. 2 lakh of accidental death and disability coverage, there were some private insurers like Bajaj Allianz that went in for a massive kill with this scheme.
This new scheme which is expected to add a minimum of Rs. 400 crore to general insurers kitty as premium, every year, with not much of any operational expenses, was received with mixed response by various insurers. While staterun insurers like National embraced the scheme, some private insurers totally abstained from it.
The starkly contrasting opinion regarding this scheme among general insurers is due to the less understood and appreciated fact that what makes the scheme a success or failure from the insurer’s part is the scale of things.
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That is why National’s success in tying up with SBI was a real coup. Having the largest pool of SB accounts in the country, no bank or even group of banks will come close to SBI’s strength in this
regard. National stands to gain hugely on this single tie-up. PM Modi’s ambition is to provide insurance to 40 crore savings account holders across India in the short term. SBI alone has a SB account base of 25 crore holders. Under this scheme, banks were free to tie up with any public or private insurer of their choice. Insurance companies who were participating in the scheme, were in a scramble to tie up with the largest available banks, as scale was crucial in its long-term success and viability. There was also another reason why this was a dramatic achievement for National. SBI has its own general insurance subsidiary, SBI General Insurance Company Ltd, which is a 74:26 JV between SBI and Insurance Australia Group (IAG). However, SBI General was not convinced about this scheme, and was one of the major private insurers who totally abstained from it. National Insurance Company also tied up with State Bank of Hyderabad, one of the five affiliates of SBI to offer the same scheme. With this, Pradhan Mantri Surakhsa Bima Yojana is available from National Insurance across 17000 branches of SBI and 1821 branches of SBH. All SB account holders between 18-70 years of age can avail of it. After the success of Jan Dhan Yojana for opening
no-frills SB accounts, the Pradhan Mantri Surakhsa Bima Yojana is also racing to be an equal success. However, on the flipside, general insurers who are supporting this scheme are taking a major risk as the number of major and minor road accidents as well as accidental deaths are on an upside curve in India. NIC, having tied up with the largest bank, SBI, has taken on the largest risk, but is rationalising it on the wider vision of supporting the nation’s insurance requirements, being a PSU unit. Meanwhile, National Insurance recently got a new leader at top, Rajesh Aggarwal, IAS. The senior bureaucrat will be the acting CMD of NIC. A joint secretary in the Ministry of Finance, he has taken over the additional charge from PJ Joseph, CMD of Agriculture Insurance Corporation. Aggarwal’s appointment is the fourth since February 2014 after the then CMD NSR Chandraprasad retired from service. After Chandraprasad’s retirement, NIC Director and General Manager AV Girija Kumar served as the acting CMD for a year. However, he later took charge at the Chennai-based United India
K P Brahma General Manager & Director Insurance as General Manager. The Central Government is yet to appoint a regular Chairman at NIC, but the recent achievements of National Insurance Company prove that it is no hindrance for the general insurance major to work as a cohesive team in inking even major deals. Apart from CMD Rajesh Aggarwal, other top leaders at NIC are its General Managers KP Brahma and M Vasantha Krishna, both of whom are also Directors on its Board.
M Vasantha Krishna General Manager & Director NIC also has a strong team of 7 more General Managers, P Venkatramaiah, Kamlesh Vashist, John Pulinthanam, Amitava Das, Sashikala Muralidharan, PK Mahapatra, and Vijay Walia. National Insurance is also a major star in India’s stock markets, despite itself being an unlisted company. In fact, after LIC and GIC, among all public sector insurers, National leads as a Domestic Institutional Investor (DII) with significant stakes in several companies amounting to a total portfolio of Rs. 4490 crore. NIC has more than 1% stake in 11 bluechips including Axis Bank, where it was an initial co-promoter. Cyber Liability Cover is a new emerging area of general insurance, where PSU insurers like National can play a major role in the coming years. While the number of policies in this sector will be very low - in the 100s or 1000s - each policy will be quite hefty at multi-crores. Cyber Liability Covers sold in India are in the range of Rs 12.8 crore to Rs 64 crore, and the premium range is approximately Rs 19.2 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore, depending on the size of the company and the cover, and the customisation that it requires.
Rajesh Aggarwal IAS, CMD
National, which is a major player in the corporate liability cover segment, is wellequipped to play a major role in cyber liability covers. Companies requiring these covers have recently expanded dramatically from software companies and banks to new entrants like ecommerce portals, hospital chains, & telecom companies - practically any company that stores vast quantity of customer data. 91
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By Carl Jaison:
ISIS Consolidates in Yemen, Putting USA in Tough Spot As Yemen plunges into an inevitable situation of nation-wide famine and water shortage, analysts fear that inadequate concern among countries (outside the Saudi-led coalition) could propel a joint US-Saudi economic takeover, especially with no end at sight to the political crisis. The situation is akin to the US invasion of Iraq, which saw the military superpower initiate a pro-West regime change and wrested control of Iraq’s oil reserves. merica throwing its weight behind Saudi Arabia is not a recent development. However, relations haven’t been rosy between these two “friends-withbenefits” since the time US and other Western powers brokered a nuclear pact with Saudi’s perpetual enemy Iran. But what draws skepticism is USA’s support for a country alleged to be funding ISIS operations in Syria, especially in light of the jihad waged by the Sunni terror outfit against America and the West. ISIS can trace its initial funding and arms procurement from Saudi Arabia and USA, hoping to topple the Assad-led Syrian government in which the Al Qaeda offshoot continues to play an active role although now in isolation from the other opposition forces. In reality, USA has refrained from direct military intervention (a prickly issue in U.S special operation circles especially after the 1993 Mogadishu incident) even though Yemen continues to be a haven for the AQAP leadership. But ISIS has made steady gains in the conflict and their recent bomb attack in Kuwait only proves their imminent threat in the region. Meanwhile, USA is clearly in a fix: whether to undertake on-field operation or strongly confront Saudi’s 94
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alleged role in ISIS funding. We all know there is no love for the Yemeni people, perhaps economic and geo-political motives under the garb of preventing the rise of AQAP would ultimately decide America’s latest role in the Gulf region. In the ongoing conflict between the Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia in Yemen, the USA has sufficient reasons to support the latter’s air-strikes in a bid to allay fears of a Shiite-Sunni proxy war that has already worsened the crisis in the Middle East. The desire of the Obama-led administration is to prevent Yemen from falling apart like Iraq did due to the escalating sectarian violence. One of the primary concerns of the USA is the repeated Saudi claims of Iranian support for the Houthi rebels. Iran’s alleged role in the war in Yemen comes at the backdrop of its nuclear program being monitored by IAEA after intense pressure from Western countries, including the USA, forcing it to conform to the regulations of the intergovernmental agency. The USA continues to have a bitter rivalry with the orthodox Shiite power and is thus forthcoming in its support for any operation intended to stem Iranian influence. The U.S. is expanding its role in Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Yemen, vetting military targets and searching
vessels for Yemen-bound Iranian arms amid growing concerns about the goals of the Saudi-led mission, according to U.S. and Arab officials. By preventing a direct intervention by Iran, the U.S hopes to secure the Gulf region in the hands of their principal ally, Saudi Arabia. However, they are now increasingly wary of the shifting war aims of Saudi leaders, who want to bomb the rebels back to their base in the country’s north. Such an extended campaign could take a year or longer, according to U.S. intelligence assessments. Another stakeholder in the region is the powerful Al-Qaeda (AQAP) which is perhaps the most notorious of all Al-Qaeda outfits. Even after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi, reportedly via U.S drone strike, the AQAP has proved itself capable of recovering swiftly from significant leadership losses. Wuhayshi headed al Qaeda’s most active affiliate, the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and was the designated successor of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. The group made fitful progress, at times taking territory but often losing it quickly after alienating locals and proving vulnerable to government counterattacks. But when the government of Yemeni President Ali
Abdullah Saleh fell in 2012 during the Arab Spring, AQAP tried to step into the void. Saleh’s successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, pursued AQAP vigorously, but his weak government was unable to score any lasting successes. The AQAP efforts to attack the United States and the West, in general, led to a greater U.S. focus on Yemen and more drone attacks there. In 2011, the United States killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen and AQAP member who helped lead the terrorist group’s campaign against targets in the United States and Europe. U.S. officials want to find a quick diplomatic exit to the fighting—one that enables the U.S. to restore its counterinsurgency operations in the country and resume drone strikes against Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Those operations were curtailed by the fighting last month. During the initial round of Saudi strikes, the U.S. limited intelligence sharing with the Saudis, as it reviewed its role. The U.S. provided some satellite imagery, but
Obama with King Salman of Saudi Arabia
stopped short of picking targets for them. In recent days, the U.S. has increased intelligence-sharing with the Saudis, providing them with direct targeting support for sites the kingdom wants to bomb, according to U.S. officials. U.S. officials say the review system allows them to warn the Saudis away from potential targets if there is a high potential for collateral damage or if a strike could inadvertently destroy critical infrastructure. The Obama administration is skeptical the airstrikes will reverse the Houthi gains. Worried by the risk of more direct intervention by Iran, U.S. officials say they are urging the Saudis to set their sights more narrowly on halting rebel advances and reaching what amounts to a battlefield stalemate that leads all sides to the negotiating table. U.S. officials worry mounting civilian casualties will undermine popular support in Yemen and in other Sunni Arab countries backing the campaign. At least 648 civilians have been killed since the
Relations haven’t been rosy between Saudi and USA, the two “friends-with-benefits”, since the time US and other Western powers brokered a nuclear pact with Saudi’s perpetual enemy Iran. But what draws skepticism is USA’s support for a country alleged to be funding ISIS operations in Syria, especially in light of the jihad waged by the Sunni terror outfit against America and the West. intervention began, and Saudi-led strikes have hit hospitals, schools, a refugee camp and neighborhoods, according to U.N. officials. Apart from the worries, the campaign has made one of the world’s poorest countries the center of a regional proxy fight with high stakes for the Obama administration. The April 2 framework agreement that the U.S. and other world powers reached with Shiite Iran to trade sanctions relief for limits on its nuclear program has prompted the Saudis and their Sunni Muslim allies to resist what they see as Iran’s efforts to impose its influence in the Middle East—often along sectarian battle lines. Iran openly supports the Assad regime in Syria, which is battling against a coalition force, funded and supported mainly by the U.S and Saudi Arabia, eyeing its overthrow. Thus, U.S support for the Saudi-led air strikes can be seen in the context of the need to maintain the balance of power in the region with its Sunni allies like Saudi Arabia and Qatar being at the helm of decision-making affairs. The Syrian government, Iran and Lebanese terror-outfit Hezbollah have resisted the efforts of opposition forces to overthrow the Assad regime and thus the U.S understands that this failure in the Middle East can’t be replicated in Yemen prompting support for the military airstrikes.. So, the U.S also has its own security interests to keep in mind while searching for a political solution to the Yemeni crisis. 95
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EUROPE SHOWS THE WORLD HOW TO FIGHT FACEBOOK
ne arm of the European Union is looking into whether Facebook and other tech companies unfairly favor their own services over those of rivals. At least five data protection watchdogs across the region are questioning Facebook’s privacy settings. And in a case that could have broad implications for many tech companies, the region’s top court will issue a preliminary decision next month on whether Facebook can continue transferring user data between Europe and the United States. Move over, Google. Facebook is the latest American tech giant that Europeans love to hate. 96
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As Facebook Sweeps Across Europe, Regulators Gird for Battle.
For decades, European policy makers have taken aim at America’s giant tech businesses, trying to force them to play by European rules. In the past, Microsoft and Intel were found guilty of abusing their dominant positions to shut out rivals. Google has most recently been under the microscope, and it now faces accusations that it unfairly promoted some of its search products over those of competitors. In recent months, though, regulators’ gazes have turned to Facebook, raising questions about whether the social network has learned from the past mistakes of companies like Intel, Microsoft and Google when dealing with Europe’s policy makers and its legal system. And as Facebook runs into an increasing
number of regulatory hurdles here, the scrutiny could potentially distract the company from its ambitions of becoming a one-stop shop for Internet messaging, online publishing and digital advertising. Max Schrems, an Austrian law student, has led a vocal opposition to Facebook’s data practices. Credit Christian Bruna/ Agence France-Presse — Getty Images “Platforms like Facebook have grown quickly to become global forces,” said Serafino Abate, a director at the Center on Regulation in Europe, a research organization in Brussels. “But with that size comes responsibility.” The scrutiny is mounting as the company’s messaging and digital advertising services spread globally. More
than 1.4 billion people now use Facebook, and hundreds of millions of people also rely on the company’s mobile messaging services, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and its photo-sharing service, Instagram. Facebook’s core business, its social networking service, is especially popular in Europe. The company has almost doubled its number of European users to the service, to around 260 million, since 2010. Facebook also has more users in Europe than in the United States, according to eMarketer, a research company. Regulators in Europe, however, are especially focused on how the company collects and handles those users’ data. The region has some of the world’s toughest data protection rules, and policy makers from France, Germany and Belgium are investigating whether Facebook broke Europe’s laws after the company announced a new privacy policy this year.
the latest figures available from the European Union’s voluntary database of lobbying interests, which may not include all of Facebook’s activities in the region.
personalized digital advertising. If the European court rules in favor of Mr. Schrems, those practices could be drastically curtailed.
“We expect scrutiny. We’re not afraid of it,” said Richard Allan, a former member of Parliament in Britain who has run Facebook’s policy team in Europe for the last six years. “If you are the new kid on the block, there’s always a reaction to that.”
Mr. Schrems also filed a separate Austrian class-action lawsuit against Facebook after collecting more than 75,000 online signatures. He said that the company had violated Europe’s privacy rules — accusations Facebook strongly denies — and that his side could receive up to $14 million if he wins the case. A decision is not expected until at least early 2016.
To get a sense of the European backlash against Facebook, you do not have to look much further than the experiences of Max Schrems, an Austrian law student who has led a vocal opposition to how the company collects and uses people’s data from around the world. Mr. Schrems, 27, recently said his concern about online data traces back at least to 2011 and a college class in California. In the class, he said, employees of several West Coast tech companies expressed open disdain for Europe’s tough data protection rules, which enshrine a person’s right to privacy as a fundamental human right.
If found to have breached the privacy rules, Facebook may face fines or demands that it change how Big European the company handles people’s companies are data, though the company says also pushing for it complies with the region’s stronger oversight data protection laws.
of Facebook,
After returning to Europe, he began a lengthy campaign against the type of data that Facebook collected on its users, including information on their physical locations.
“Obviously, there are privacy including the issues,” said Mathias Moulin, To rein in the company’s region’s welldeputy director of enforcement efforts, Mr. Schrems filed connected telecom at the French data protection multiple complaints with the industry. regulator, who is overseeing Irish data protection the watchdog’s review of the watchdog, which is company’s activities and who will meet responsible for policing Facebook’s other regulators at the end of May to activities in its international headquarters discuss the investigations. “This is a global in Dublin. That led to a three-month audit company. Facebook affects millions of of how Facebook collected data, and people across Europe.” changes to the way the company Taking a page from the playbooks of other American tech companies, Facebook has not stood idle as regulators steadily lined up against it. The company has hired a number of prominent former lawmakers and regulators, including Erika Mann, a former German member of the European Parliament. This month, the company also chose Kevin Martin, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to champion its cause in Washington, Brussels and beyond. Facebook increased spending on lobbying 25 percent, to roughly $570,000, in 2013 compared to the previous year, according
obtained and used people’s online information. Unhappy with how Ireland’s regulator managed his case, Mr. Schrems intensified his campaign. He appealed to the country’s highest court, which referred the case to the European Court of Justice, the region’s top court. A preliminary decision is expected by the end of June on whether Facebook and other companies can continue transferring data between Europe and the United States. Many American tech giants rely on moving online information between the regions to feed their business models, like
“This is about limiting what Facebook can do with Europeans’ data,” said Mr. Schrems, who remains active on the service despite his legal disputes. “How much should they be allowed to dig into the souls of their users? That’s what we’re fighting for.” Big European companies are also pushing for stronger oversight of Facebook, including the region’s well-connected telecom industry. After Facebook bought WhatsApp, the Internet messaging service, last year for $19 billion, many of Europe’s cellphone carriers lobbied hard for the region’s antitrust regulators to review the deal. Carriers say that by combining WhatsApp with Facebook’s own messaging service, the company has a virtual monopoly over how people send messages on their smartphones. Europe’s antitrust authorities, however, eventually approved the takeover, and Facebook contends there are other Internet messaging services that compete with its offerings. Yet lawmakers are now looking into whether Facebook’s messaging services should be regulated like those offered by traditional carriers. And industry executives say that as the social network starts to offer other services like phone calls through the company’s many smartphone applications, Facebook should play by the same rules that now apply to traditional mobile operators. “We can’t forever be living in a world where we compete with one arm tied behind our backs and they don’t,” Pierre Louette, deputy chief executive at Orange, the former French telecom monopoly, said in reference to Facebook. “Our two worlds are colliding. Now that the worlds have met, we’re all competing for people’s attention.” 97
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India’s Top Private Universities - Vol. II
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PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES are Turning Mainstream cademic year 2015-16 is likely to go down in India’s higher education history as the year in which students started opting for private universities without even waiting for the admission outcomes from central and state universities. To cite an example, with more than 5 nearly equally qualified students vying for each seat in each college under Delhi University, and cut-offs running upward of 97% in most subjects, what can students who have scored fair marks between 60%-95% do, than opt for private colleges or private universities? Many of them didn’t even wait for DU outcomes, as it was pointless. Similar is the case with other states, as well as with the country’s famed IITs and IIMs. India has a habit of obsessing over IITs and IIMs, but it may be gradually getting over. All the IITs and IIMs taken together admit less than 20,000 students in a year, whereas the number of students enrolled at the plus-two level is 2.5 crore, of which at least 50 to 60 lakh students try to join for an undergraduate degree course. The private universities too are working hard to attract students away from self-financing colleges by offering differentiated courses incorporating features like triple mains, super-specializations, dual degrees, integrated programs, CBCS, and industry affiliated courses. It is tougher for self-financing colleges to rapidly implement such measures as they can move only at the speed of the affiliating state universities that often take ages to implement an innovation. The best example is the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS), which the UGC has been coaxing all public universities to implement. Till now, there has been only very few takers for this global standard, whereas many leading private universities have already implemented it without any prompting, as a progressive measure. Private Universities have also turned aggressive on the faculty hiring front, with the latest trend being such institutions hiring from the corporate sector. Many senior managers working in the corporate sector are now switching to teaching roles in these private universities, as they offer more flexible working hours and less of deadlines and targets. The maximum switching has happened from the IT Sector, with professionals having necessary academic qualifications like MTech or PhD changing roles to become Assistant Professors or Professors at these universities. The offered pay is also competitive - between 80,000 to 1.5 lakh - even though it is still around 20% lower than in the corporate sector. The political aversion towards private universities too is ending in some states, with the most notable being Maharashtra. Despite pockets of resistance like Tamilnadu, Puducherry, & Kerala, private universities are here to stay. While the ruckus in Puducherry over allegedly providing private university status to certain colleges raised a storm in the national media, the huge positives coming from Maharashtra is likely to be the longer-term trend. While four private universities have already got approval, another 21 applications are pending before the Maharashtra government. Of these, as much as 6 applications are for starting major private university projects in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and needless to say, when approved, they have the potential to change the higher education landscape of Mumbai forever. Though a late entrant, Maharashtra is also showing the way for other states, on how to go about in legislating these new private universities. They will have to offer 50% seats to reserved category students. These new private universities will also have to admit a minimum of 70% students from Maharashtra. They are not allowed to charge capitation fee, and admission must be based on merit and competitive exams, as far as professional courses are concerned. These are welcome moves that can be implemented by most states for improving the overall standard of higher education in private universities. But even without such legislation there are several private universities across India that implement such merit-first policies. Seasonal Magazine identifies such quality institutions to bring you our Volume II of the compilation - India’s Top Private Universities. 99
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INVERTIS UNIVERSITY, BAREILLY, UTTAR PRADESH
DELIVERING BETTER AND MORE SPECIALIZED EDUCA Northern UP based Invertis University is moving up the value chain by continuous quality improvement, pioneering super-specialized courses in BTech and MBA, providing scholarships for the meritorious, and ensuring an environment of fun as well as discipline at Invertis Village, Bareilly. Dr. Umesh Gautam Chancellor
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INDIA’S TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES VOL. II
ATION Dr. Umesh Gautam has been an early mover in the private higher education scene of Uttar Pradesh. As an edupreneur he wanted to fix the huge gap between demand and supply of quality students that was prevailing in his state. Invertis University started off as a management institute in 1996, but its largest stream now is Engineering with an annual intake of 480 students, followed by its MBA program having an intake of 180 students. Other streams at Invertis include Computer Applications, Architecture, Law, Pharmacy, Journalism, and Nursing. This private university of UP is structured as 8 Schools for these 8 disciplines. For differentiating itself by quality, Invertis University takes faculty development seriously, and many of its faculty are coming from national level Top-10 Institutes, Colleges, or Universities in each field like Law, Management, Engineering, Science, Humanities etc. Invertis is also moving up the valuechain in professional education. It has pioneered super-specializations in BTech like Cloud Technologies and Animation / VFX. There is high demand for these courses, as otherwise companies would have to train regular BTech students for six months in these sunrise technologies. As such, student demand for these courses are also high. Similarly, Invertis has developed specialized courses in postgraduate management, like MBA in Health Care and MBA in Retail Management. With the rise in medical tourism and focus
Sanjeev Gautam, Pro-Chancellor
Prof. Jagdish Rai, Vice Chancellor
on e-commerce as well as malls, these MBA courses are in great demand by both students as well as the respective industries. Invertis students have been performing well in the campus placement scene, with average pay packages and profile of recruiting companies improving year after year. The University is also unique in that it offers engineering diploma programs after matriculation, and also arranges for industrial placements for these students. Invertis takes ragging and discipline very seriously, even though it is not a serious threat in UP, compared with some states like Karnataka. Invertis has a tough stance to ensure a raggingfree campus and discipline, which includes the option of even suspending and dismissing students proven guilty in this regard. Despite being a selffinancing university, Invertis has a stated mission of providing education to all
deserving students without considerations like finance, and has set up a fund of around Rs. 5 crore for this. Around 25% of Invertis students are studying on scholarships, and a unique feature is that apart from academic merit, scholarships are also provided for performers in various sports. The university has modern infrastructure at the sprawling Invertis Village that can attract even overseas students, and while it is yet to attract significant numbers of foreign students for regular courses, many overseas students from even Western countries are favouring Invertis for short-term courses as well as student exchange programs. Differentiating by better and better quality is Dr. Umesh Gautam’s strategy, and his vision is to eventually make Invertis University as one of the Top 100 Universities of the world. 101
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INVERTIS UNIVERSITY, BAREILLY, UTTAR PRADESH Seasonal Magazine in conversation with Dr. Umesh Gautam, Chancellor, Invertis University: In tis Univ er sit ak es pride in some Invver ertis Univer ersit sityy ttak ake of it acult oming fr itss ffacult acultyy ccoming from om IIT/IIM back gr ound. C an yyou ou ttell ell us mor e about backgr ground. Can more this, lik e appr o xima like appro ximatt ely wha whatt per cen our ffacult acult e fr om perc enttage o off yyour acultyy ar are from the se pr e stigious institut e s, and these pre institute whe ther most o whether off the HoDs or Deans ar e fr om such a back gr ound eettc.? are from backgr ground It is not only the IITs and IIMs. From those two backgrounds, we can get only faculty for engineering and management, whereas we have many more streams. So in each stream, we have faculty who have studied or researched or taught at some of the Top10 institutes in that stream, like for Law, you have National Law School of India University. So, we have faculty with background in not only IIT, IIM, or NIT, but from leading institutes in each stream. Many of our faculty are also doctorate holders. In tis ha eams lik e Invv er ertis hass str streams like t, C omput er Applic ations, omputer Applica Management, Comput Managemen Engineering, Ar chit ec tur e , LLa aw, Archit chitec ectur ture Pharmac sing, and Nursing, Pharmacyy, Journalism, and Nur is struc tur ed a es. Which structur tured ass eight institut institute is yyour our lar ge st and sec ond-lar ge st large gest second-lar ond-large gest str eam? stream? Before we got elevated to a private university, our beginning was as a management institute. But as of now, as a reflection of the market demand, our largest contingent is undergraduate engineering, that is BTech course, which has an annual intake of 480 students across 9 specializations. Invertis also offers MTech, Integrated BTech/MTech,
Dr. YDS Arya, Pro Vice Chancellor and integrated BTech/MBA. We also have Diploma in Engineering that is done after matriculation or 10th Standard, where we have 6 specializations. And yyour our sec ond lar ge st str eam? second large gest stream? Our second largest stream is management, comprising of BBA, MBA, and PhD. Our MBA program has three specializations, totalling up to an annual intake of 180 students. In tis seems tto o ttak ak e rragging agging and Invver ertis ake er eryy seriously seriously.. Is it a serious discipline vver thr ea our st ate o threa eatt in yyour sta off UP UP,, and wha whatt ar e the mea sur es yyou ou ar e ttaking aking tto o are are measur sure ensur e a rragging-fr agging-fr ee ccampus ampus and ensure agging-free discipline ? discipline? No, I won’t say it is a very serious threat in Uttar Pradesh, compared with what you have in some states like Karnataka. But still, we take ragging very seriously, and there is a whole system and
administrators in place to ensure that Invertis Village is a zero-ragging campus. While many colleges and universities say similar ideas, we are brave enough to walk the talk. Invertis has made it very clear to all students and their parents that ragging would invite immediate suspension or even dismissal of the guilty. Students from North India gradually became disenchanted with colleges in South India due to this ragging menace, and we don’t want to repeat that mistake here. Y ou ha a t ed mis sion o You havv e a st sta mission off pr oviding educ ation tto o all de ser ving educa deser serving pro studen onsider ations lik e studentts without cconsider onsidera like financ e. C an yyou ou ttell ell us mor e about Can more finance your scholar ship pr ogr am and ho w it is scholarship progr ogram how funded, whe ther it is bbyy endo wmen whether endowmen wmentts etc? Wha cen our studen Whatt per perc enttage o off yyour studentts ar e enjo ying some kind o aiv er are enjoying off w waiv aiver erss? We provide merit based scholarships, and has a fund of Rs. 5 crore for this purpose. For those securing 95% and above marks, we offer full scholarship, that is we waive the entire tuition fee, and for students having 75% and above marks, we offer 50% scholarship. Around 2025% of our students are availing some kind of scholarship provided by Invertis. Our scholarship program is also unique in that we offer scholarships for not only for academic merit, but for merit in various sporting events.
Prof Arpan K Khastagir, Director 102
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Mr. L.P.Mishra (Director Admin)
In tis ha Invv er ertis hass some supertions in B Tech lik e Cloud specializations BT like specializa Technologie tion / VFX. echnologiess and Anima Animation
the retail industry has rapidly gone not only more organized by way of malls, but also gone online, that is, the ecommerce boom. To address these needs, we started MBA in Health Care and MBA in Retail Management. The concerned industries have readily accepted these programs. TThe he univ er sit univer ersit sityy ha hass modern e tha an a ac in fr astruc tur sea infr fra structur ture thatt ccan atttr trac actt o ovver ersea seass our studen cen studentts. Wha Whatt per perc enttage o off yyour studen e fr om o sea studentts ar are from ovver ersea seass?
Wha Whatt is the studen studentt demand and industr or the se ccour our se these ourse sess? industryy demand ffor Invertis has been one of the pioneers in these specializations. We ventured into these areas because there is high industry demand. Before such specializations were available, IT companies used to take engineering students through campus placements, and train them in these technologies like visual effects or cloud computing. But that would cost the companies around six months training. We bridged that gap, and since there is demand from the industry, student demand for these courses also runs high. TThe he univ er sit ar univer ersit sityy st star artt ed o off f a ass a e, and yyou ou ha havve managementt institut institute managemen de ed ccour our se e MB A devveloped specializ specialized ourse sess lik like MBA in Health C ar e and MB A in R et ail Re Car are MBA Managemen t. Ho w ha Management. How hass been the ac cep e ffor or the se ccour our se acc epttanc ance these ourse sess? Yes, we are old hands in management training, dating back to 1996. But in recent years, one thing that has dawned on us is that industry requires many additional specializations apart from the usual Marketing, Finance, or HR. Specializations needed to be more tuned to industry sectors rather than individual functions. So, we started off with two such specializations in our MBA program. Today, most hospitals are moving to a corporate hospital model, and allied activities like medical tourism, that requires MBAs with thorough knowledge in Health Care Management. Similarly,
That is very true, we do have modern infrastructure that can satisfy overseas students. As of now, our overseas students are more here for short-term courses, and as part of our studentexchange programs. We have students from even North American colleges like Livingstone College and North Carolina University on exchange programs, and that stands testimony to our world-class infrastructure and facilities, apart from our academic systems, faculty, and teaching standards. Y ou ha er sing You havve a vver eryy in intter ere nursing esting nur an yyou ou ttell ell us some unique Can division. C fea tur es o t? eatur ture off tha that? Invertis University runs one of India’s oldest nursing colleges, that was started in 1915, and which we took over in 2009. The Invertis Group also runs one of the oldest hospitals in Asia, at Bareilly, that was started in 1870. Both these heritage institutions were taken over by us from a Christian Missionary group. We have upgraded the hospital to a 300 bedded
“
Today, most hospitals are moving to a corporate hospital model, and allied activities like medical tourism, that requires MBAs with thorough knowledge in Health Care Management. Similarly, the retail industry has rapidly gone not only more organized by way of malls, but also gone online, that is, the e-commerce boom. To address these needs, we started MBA in Health Care and MBA in Retail Management.
”
Mr. Santosh Kumar, Registrar super-speciality facility. So, with a 145 year old hospital under our fold, we are nicely poised on the nursing and pharmacy education scene. C an yyou ou ttell ell us some thing about yyour our Can something e in ccampus ampus plac emen ormance placemen ementts, in perfformanc per str eams lik e MB A and B Tech, and streams like MBA BT aver age pa age erage payy pack package agess? With each passing year, our placements have been improving, and we have several BTech and MBA students bagging packages upward of Rs. 5.5 lakh. In tis Univ er sit Invv er ertis Univer ersit sityy also o off f er erss ogr ams a affter progr ograms engineering diploma pr ma tricula tion. Wha matricula triculation. Whatt is the kind o off plac emen se studen these studentts a atttain? placemen ementts the Engineering Diploma holders have ready takers in the industry. India, as you know, is rapidly moving into a high quality manufacturing destination, in different fields like electronics, home appliances, FMCG goods, textiles, computers, defence etc, which all require skilled workforce. So, our diploma holders do get good placements. Wha ould yyou ou cconsider onsider a Whatt all w would ass In tis Univ er sit y’s main U SP Invver ertis Univer ersit sity’s USP SPss? When we started out in 1996 as a management institute, our vision was to carve a niche for Invertis solely by bridging the gap between demand and supply of quality candidates for the industry. This vision continues, and every year, we are not only evolving in better and better quality, but moving up the value chain by providing highly specialized courses. This differentiation by way of our pursuit for quality will continue, to eventually make us one of the Top 100 universities of the world. That is my vision for Invertis University. 103
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NITTE UNIVERSITY, MANGALORE
Crafting High Quality Professionals in Health Sciences Nitte University, headquartered in Mangalore, is promoted by Nitte Education Trust which is one of the leading professional education groups of Karnataka with campuses in Bangalore too. Nitte Education Trust runs over 30 institutions across 3 campuses. The brainchild of Late Justice KS Hegde, who was a Judge in Supreme Court as well as Lok Sabha Speaker, Nitte Education Trust rose to prominence under the leadership of his son and current Nitte University Chancellor, N Vinaya Hegde. The Government of India had conferred the status of Deemed-to-be University to the institution under ‘A’ Category and Nitte University has also been accredited with ‘A’ grade by National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC). Nitte University has a speciality teaching hospital employing 200 doctors, which is one of the leading super-speciality hospitals of Mangalore. Nitte University is primarily a medical & health sciences university, with the only exception being a journalism & mass communication school. Nitte University is professionally led by a large and impressive group of eminent medical educators and trustees. The two Pro-Chancellors of Nitte University are Prof. (Dr.) Shantharam Shetty and Mr. Vishal Hegde. The Vice-Chancellor is Prof. (Dr.) S. Ramananda Shetty, while Registrar is Prof. Dr. M. S. Moodithaya. Prof. Dr. Rajshekar M serves as Director - Curriculum Development. 104
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N Vinaya Hegde, Chancellor
INDIA’S TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES VOL. II
he Nitte University – a Deemed-to-be University, is formed by the Nitte Education Trust which in the last 3 decades has established 26 institutions spread in 3 campuses at Nitte, Mangalore and Bangalore. A centre of excellence in education and community service in Karnataka State, Nitte Health Care institutions are duly recognized by the Government of India. The Government of India had conferred the status of Deemed-to-be-University in June 2008 [vide MHRD Notification No. F.9-13/2007-U.3(A) dated 4th June 2008 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Higher Education), Government of India]. The Nitte University has a total of five constituent colleges, namely, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy (established in 1999), A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences (established in 1985) N.G.S.M. Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (established in 1983), Nitte Usha Institute of Nursing Sciences (established in 1992) and Nitte Institute of Physiotherapy (established in 1997). All the constituent colleges are approved and recognized by the respective Central Statutory Councils and Nitte University is accredited by NAAC. The Nitte University has already started its march towards distinction by firmly believing in its Vision “To build a humane society through education and health-care”, and Mission “To develop Nitte University as a centre of excellence imparting quality education, generating competent, skilled manpower to face the scientific and social challenges with a high degree of credibility, integrity, ethical standards and social concern”. The Nitte University firmly believes that making students by merely loading them with information is not enough but it should be successful in inculcating ethical values, a concern for the lesser privileged and the society at large, in
its students by the time they come out of the portals of the Nitte University. Taking into consideration all these and a critical assessment of functioning of Nitte University by UGC and MHRD, Nitte University is placed under Category A by MHRD, Govt. of India, a recognition of this highest grade is given only to about 40% of Deemed to be Universities in the country.
INFRASTRUCTURE The offices of Nitte University, at present are housed on the 6th floor of the Medical Sciences Complex. All the constituent colleges, namely, K. S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences (ABSMIDS), Nitte Gulabi Shetty Memorial Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (NGSMIPS), Nitte Usha Institute of Nursing Sciences (NUINS), and Nitte Institute of Physiotherapy (NIPT) are housed in independent buildings with state-of-the-art infrastructure and amenities and are located on a sprawling campus of over 50 acres at Deralakatte, Mangalore.
K. S. HEGDE MEDICAL ACADEMY Established in 1999, K.S. Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA) became a constituent Nitte University in 2009. The Institution offers MBBS and MD/ MS programs recognized by the Medical Council of India. It offers B.Sc courses in Medical Imaging Technology, Operation Theater Technology, Medical
Laboratory Sciences and Biomedical Sciences. It also offers the PG courses in Public Health and Biomedical Sciences. Justice K. S. Hegde Charitable Hospital, the 1000 bed teaching hospital attached to the Institution provides tertiary-level care including all major super-speciality services and provides excellent training opportunities to the students of the Academy. The multi-storied superspeciality block with a total floor space of 3 lakhs square feet was added to the Teaching Hospital. This includes new consultation rooms for the OPD services, a new Emergency and Trauma Care Facility, new Operation Theaters and Intensive Care Units. The new block also houses a well equipped surgical skill laboratory which is an inavaluable addition to the training facilities of the Institution. A dedicated oncology facility, the Leela Narayan Shetty Memorial Oncology Center was inaugurated in March 2013. It currently provides 28,000 square feet of floor space for cancer related services and is equipped with an advanced radiotherapy unit. The College block of the Institution was provided with a Wi-Fi network. Several departments have initiated the development of e-learning enabled course websites on a Learning Management System accessible to students over the Wi-Fi network. The Justice K.S Hegde Charitable Hospital attached to the Institution saw a continued growth in its health care 105
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NITTE USHA INSTITUTE OF NURSING SCIENCES
services. The community extension services of KSHEMA are a key aspect of its social commitment and its mission to mould socially sensitive and empathetic health professionals.
A.B. SHETTY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE OF DENTAL SCIENCES The A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences was established by Nitte Education Trust in 1985. In 1989, the Dental Council of India (DCI) permitted the staring of MDS in 4 specialties (Orthodontics , Prosthodontics, Conservative Dentistry and Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery). In 1990 the BDS intake was enhanced to 100 and the DCI has accorded recognition to the college. In the same year, MDS course in 4 more specialities (Periodontics, Pedodontics, Oral Pathology and Oral medicine & Radiology) were started. In 1991 the college was recognized as research centre for the PhD program. On 4th June 2008, the government of India notified the formation of Nitte University, as a deemed to be University under section 3 of UGC act 1956, with the ABSMIDS as the constituent College of the University. The college is continuously striving to make education imparted to prepare professionals with integrity and commitment. To make it socially relevant the college has engaged itself in charitable works right from its inception. The 15 satellite Dental Clinics located in various parts of the district and also in the neighboring state along with regular 106
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treatment camps conducted at various places provide the students with an opportunity to involve themselves in understanding human condition under which the community around strives for material progress and health care .
NITTE USHA INSTITUTE OF NURSING SCIENCES Nitte Usha institute of Nursing sciences, a constituent college of Nitte university has successfully completed 20 years of its existence and is steadily moving towards greater heights in its 21st year. As a mark of great tribute and fond memories this institute which was formerly known as Nitte Institute of Nursing Sciences has been renamed after late Dr. Usha, daughter of Justice K.S Hegde who passed away in the year 2000. NUIN’s is one among the reputed institutes which stands tall in the league of distinguished institutes in the country for excellence and quality in the field of nursing education. To be in tune with the emerging needs of the society and
Nitte University is primarily a medical & health sciences university, with the only exception being a Journalism & Mass Communication School.
to be competitive globally, seeking autonomy was a logical step towards advanced quality education and was achieved successfully by the support and initiatives of our great visionaries who established the Nitte University in 2008 and NUINS is proud to be a part of this great University in 2009. Nitte Usha Institute of Nursing sciences is well known for its unstinted student support system, innovative teaching learning methods and continuous student monitoring system making students feel that their efforts to achieve progress and prosperity in life is well realized. The institute offers Post-graduate, degree and diploma courses in nursing with an annual intake of 35, 100 and 60 students respectively. Apart from academics, exceptional clinical training is provided through a full fledged 1200 bedded super speciality parent hospital.
A.B. SHETTY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE OF DENTAL SCIENCES
NITTE GULABI SHETTY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
In addition to regular teaching skills, students are also given training in value education and job skills, in order to ensure professionalism and gainful employment. Hospitals like Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, & Medanta Group of Hospitals, Delhi periodically visit the institute for campus placement.
NITTE GULABI SHETTY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES The Nitte Gulabi Shetty Memorial Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences was established in 1983 with a view to provide job oriented professional courses in Pharmacy. The college offers Graduate, Postgraduate and Doctoral programs in Pharmacy. The Co l l e g e i s af f i l i ate d t o N i tte University and recognized by All
India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), New Delhi.
NITTE INSTITUTE OF PHYSIOTHERAPY Nitte institute of Physiotherapy was established on 27th February 1997 with an intake of 40 BPT seats under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore. In the year 2002 BPT seats had been increased from 40 to 60. The Postgraduate program in Physiotherapy (MPT) started in the year 2003 with an intake of 05 seats and enhanced to 10 seats in the year 2005. In the 2009 the college has become the constituent college of Nitte University. It is approved & recognized by the UGC, Government of Karnataka and Indian Association of Physiotherapists. The Institute is also accredited by NAAC. Currently it is NITTE INSTITUTE OF PHYSIOTHERAPY
running BPT program which of four and half years of duration including six months internship and MPT of 2 years duration with four specialties like, Musuloskeletal & Sports Physiotherapy, Cardio-Respiratory Physiotherapy, Neurological & Psychosomatics Disorders Physiotherapy, Paediatric Neurological Physiotherapy. The college has a separate building for the academic activities and it is situated in the same campus of the K.S.Hegde Medical Academy. College is having well qualified and adequate staff members as per the norms of the statutory bodies.
DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM Nitte University established the Dept.of Mass Communication & Journalism in 2012 with a view to create a new class of media professionals who believe in welfare and justice for all and carry a deeply reflective understanding of the Indian ethos into the society. The Department has introduced a clutch of innovative UG and PG programs in media, designed in line with the U N ESCO - A M I C ’ s re co m m e n d e d Model for Media Curriculum for the Asian Region. As per the UNESCO’s recommendations the Department’s course content emphasizes three axes: 1. Professional skills to make the students relevant to the industry, 2. Reflective studies of media that brings in fairness, sensitivity and judgement at work and 3. Arts component to promote well -informed and socially relevant journalism. 107
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CAREER POINT UNIVERSITY, KOTA, RAJASTHAN
MAKING STUDENTS READY FOR THE REAL CORPORATE LIFE
Career Point University at Kota in Rajasthan and Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh have been born from the unique parentage of Career Point - arguably the largest career coaching organization in the country - and are thus trying to live up to their high promise of result-oriented teaching. Career Point Universities have several unique features to their credit, and Seasonal Magazine interacts with its Founder and Chancellor, Pramod Maheshwari to unravel its unique offerings.
here are not many private universities in the country that have not been affiliated colleges under other universities, in their earlier avataars. Career Point University of Kota, Rajasthan, and Career Point University of Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, are two exceptions. During academic year 2011-12, the states of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh accorded private university status directly to these Career Point institutions. But this was not surprising, as Career Point has tremendous achievements in the field of higher education, especially in the field of 108
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career coaching by way of tutoring for some of India’s toughest and most sought after entrances like IIT-JEE, JEE Main, and Pre-Medical. Under its Founder Pramod Maheshwari, Career Point has been one of the pioneers in making Kota the IIT entrance capital of the country. Starting off directly as private universities is not the only feature that sets apart the two Career Point Universities. Founder and Chancellor Pramod Maheshwari is an IITian, who did his BTech at IIT Delhi and has since then devoted his life to the cause of higher education. Pramod has acted as mentor
to thousands of engineers who studied at various IITs and NITs, and to thousands of doctors who studied at various prestigious medical colleges, and are in thriving professions across the world. Career Point as an educational organization has thrived on the difficult proposition of result-oriented education. Year after year, Career Point has to perform by way of more and more successful students at IIT-JEE and PreMedical, which is by no means an easy task. That result-oriented attitude is driving Pramod Maheshwari even in the formal university sector. He wants his students,
INDIA’S TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES VOL. II Seasonal Magazine in conversation with Pramod Maheshwari, Founder and Chancellor, Career Point University: K ota is quit e ffamous amous a oaching Ko quite ass a ccoaching tr anc e eexxams. C an cen tr e ffor or vvarious arious en entr tre entr tranc ance Can you st ar elling us ho w this ccame ame star artt bbyy ttelling how in our rrole ole a intto being, and yyour ass a pioneer tut or ba sed in K ota? tutor based Ko Well, this movement at Kota happened around 21 years back. After completing my BTech from IIT Delhi, I was planning to go to US, but due to some familial issues, I couldn’t. So, I stayed back at Kota for a while, and there were not many options for an IIT trained engineer to pursue at a Tier-II city like Kota. I hail from Kota, and while I was preparing for my IIT entrance, around 4 years earlier, there was absolutely no kind of support system available. So, I thought why can’t I start a coaching centre for IIT entrance at my hometown itself? It would help many local students who don’t have access to such facilities in metros. Initially my own IIT label helped me to get some students, as their parents trusted my education, and in the first year itself, which was 1994, we could place 15 students in the various IITs. Thus Career Point was born. That was some achievement back then, and in the very next year, 51 of our students could clear IIT entrance, and then the word spread not only in Kota and Rajasthan, but in neighbouring states, and eventually all over India.
" You learn best when you create something real or run some real activity like a business. So our BTech students creates products like hybrid cars, go karts, and now they are attempting higher challenges like formula racing cars. Our MBA students are encouraged to go out into the real marketplace and run small businesses or showrooms or shops for brief periods as a live project.
So ou w er e the pioneer in making So,, yyou wer ere Kota this en tr anc e eexxam de stina tion entr tranc ance destina stination tha oda thatt it is ttoda odayy?
" whether they are studying for BTech, MBA, MCA, BBA, or BCom, to come out with flying colours at the end. The only difference is that whereas in Career Point it was a coveted IIT seat, here at the university the goal has changed to a coveted campus placement by leading corporates. Career Point Group is also unique in that it is a listed entity, having gone for its IPO in September-October of 2010. It had a robust public offer that was subscribed a whopping 47 times, and closed on the listing day at more than double of the offer price. The two private universities by Career
Point are not owned by the listed entity Career Point Ltd, but by respective charitable societies set up for the purpose. But Career Point Ltd extends Educational Consultancy and Management Services (ECAMS) to the two universities, making it a closed-knit group. ECAMS includes infrastructure leasing fee, and is also extended to Career Point Technical Campuses at Rajasmand and Chandigarh. Apart from entrance coaching and ECAMS, the listed Career Point Ltd has operations in Pre-School and K12 segments, as well as in eLearning Solutions.
Yes, definitely we were one of the pioneers. There was also Bansal Classes during that same period, who also pioneered this initiative. They are our competitors, but we don’t do any kind of dirty competition with them or any others. E ormal Evven a affter ge gettting in intto the fformal ene thr ough a univ er sit ation sc educa scene through univer ersit sityy, educ is C ar eer P oin tiv e in the IIT/ Car areer Poin ointt still ac activ tive Medic al en tr anc e sc ene ? Medical entr tranc ance scene ene? Yes, very much. This year we had 22,000 students studying with us for various entrances including IITs, of which around 16,000 are in our two Kota facilities, and the rest spread over our direct centres 109
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and franchise centres in Rajasthan and neighbouring states. Be e ccommencing ommencing a at e Beffor ore ass a priv priva er sit as CPU a ccollege ollege a wa afffilia filiatted univer ersit sityy w univ to a public univ er sit ou ha univer ersit sityy? And did yyou havve the ffour our ccampuse ampuse aja sthan, ampusess - in R Raja ajasthan, Himachal, and the R ajsamand and Rajsamand Mohali TTechnic echnic al C ampuse ampusess back then? echnical Campuse No, we directly became a university without running or converting any colleges affiliated to any other public university. Both of our Career Point Universities, that is in Rajasthan and
Himachal Pradesh, started off as state private universities directly. However, Career Point Technical Campuses at Rajasmand and Chandigarh are affiliated to Rajasthan Technical University and Punjab Technical University, respectively. Dir ec tly ge ar Direc ectly gettting st star artt ed a ass a er sit ar e model in India. univer ersit sityy seems a rrar are univ Wha omp ou ffor or tha t? Whatt pr promp omptted yyou that? It is rare, but it has its own advantages. We didn’t go in for the affiliated college model initially for our two universities because we wanted a lot of pedagogical
and administrative freedom than what can be provided by a conventional affiliating university like RTU. I will cite just two examples to illustrate this. On the pedagogical side, we want a lot of learning to happen beyond the classroom through product development, live projects, and industry interactions. On the administrative side, an example is that we wanted to unburden the students by offering a more rational approach for reappearances for clearing a subject. Such flexibilities, unfortunately, is not available from conventional affiliating universities. Which yyear ear did yyou ar our star artt yyour ou st er sit ota, and when did yyou ou univer ersit sityy a att K Ko univ st ar ther ccampuse ampuse star artt the o other ampusess? Both Kota and Hamirpur based Career Point Universities were started in academic year 2011-12. The Career Point Technical Campus at Rajasmand was started in the next academic year. CPU plac es a lo sis on industr place lott o off empha emphasis industryy our ccour our se s. C an yyou ou inputss in de devveloping yyour ourse ses. Can input elabor ate on this a spec t? elabora aspec spect?
Dr. Mithilesh Dixit Vice-Chancellor 110
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Professional education, be it engineering or management or any other stream, finally should boil down to this - it should have relevance to industry. So, whenever we design a course or subject we bring in capable leaders from the industry to ensure that what we teach and train our students are the most relevant subjects for the respective industries. That approach has definitely helped our students in getting good campus placements from various corporates. Y our ccour our se eB Tech and MB A also Your ourse sess lik like BT MBA
empha siz e a lo e pr ojec emphasiz size lott on liv live projec ojectts, be it ou elabor ate technic al or busine an yyou echnical businesss. C Can elabora mor e on this including achie e more achievvemen ementts lik like hybrid ccar ar and go-k ar go-kar artts? Well, if you compare IITs with other engineering colleges or technical universities, both have similar kind of well educated and highly experienced faculty. During my years doing BTech at IIT what struck me most was that much of the learning happened beyond the classrooms, through live projects and such activities. You learn best when you create something real or run some real activity like a business. So our BTech students creates products like hybrid cars, go karts, and now they are attempting higher challenges like formula racing cars. Our MBA students are encouraged to go out into the real marketplace and run small businesses or showrooms or shops for brief periods as a live project. Do yyou ou ha tr epr eneur ship havve any en entr trepr epreneur eneurship de ell? devvelopmen elopmentt ccell? Yes, we do have. In case, any one wants to pursue their own business projects seriously, to be an entrepreneur, we have a start-up incubator. We can even help in getting funds raised for promising projects. Which ar e yyour our thr ee bigge st str eams are three biggest streams by w ay o ength? Wha wa off studen studentt str strength? Whatt would be the tto otal studen ength? studentt str strength? Our biggest stream is BTech, followed by MBA. Then in size comes our polytechnic diploma programs. Altogether we have 2450 students, 1800 at Career Point University of Kota,
and 650 students at Career Point University of Hamirpur in Himachal.
marks in the qualifying exams.
Wha omp ou tto o se Whatt pr promp omptted yyou sett up a univ er sit univer ersit sityy in Hamirpur Hamirpur,, which is a back war d and rur al ar ea? backw ard rural area?
Wha cen our univ er sit Whatt per perc enttage o off yyour univer ersit sityy ota ar e fr om studentts studying a att K Ko are from studen out side R aja sthan? Do yyou ou ha outside Raja ajasthan? havve any over sea ersea seass studen studentts?
Yes, a university at a backward locale like Hamirpur doesn’t make any business sense, but then we went there and set up a campus on the request of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister. There are many private universities in Himachal, but almost all in regions like Shimla and Solan. We are the first private university in Hamirpur.
No, we are yet to have overseas students in significant numbers, apart from some students from Nepal. However, we have students from many states and Union Territories of India. In fact, around 40% of our students are from outside Rajasthan, as the Career Point brand is quite famous across India, among the student and parent communities.
Wha ould be the a age plus-t wo Whatt w would avver erage plus-tw mark ar eer P oin markss o off studen studentts tha thatt C Car areer Poin ointt Univ er sit ac or yyour our lar ge st Univer ersit sityy a atttr trac actts, ffor large gest str eam, tha Tech? stream, thatt is B BT
Y ou must ha omple our fir st You havve ccomple ompletted yyour first two plac emen adua aduatte placemen ementt ccyycle cless in post gr gradua and some gr adua our se s. Ho w ha gradua aduatte ccour ourse ses. How hass been CPU’s per e in this rregar egar d? perfformanc ormance egard?
M o re t h a n 6 0 % of o u r BTe c h students have secured above 70%
Our first MBA batch had achieved 78% placements. Our recent batches of MBA, 111
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Career Point University at Kota and Hamirpur are unique in many respects including its founder's IIT background, its learning-beyond-classroom approach, its parent Career Point's focus on result-oriented education, and Career Point's status as a stock-market listed corporate company.
40% of our students are availing some kind of fee waiver. Wha ould yyou ou cconsider onsider a Whatt all w would ass the USP ar oin er sit Car areer Poin ointt Univ Univer ersit sityy? SPss o off C eer P BBA, BCA, & BCom have reached 79% placements in aggregate. Our polytechnic diploma students had achieved 90% campus placements. Our BBA students have also reached 90% placements. Even our BCom batch has reached 83% placements, which is very noteworthy I should say. Recruiters include companies like Wipro, Vodafone, Genpact, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank etc. C an yyou ou ttell ell us some highlight Can highlightss about your V ic e Chanc ellor Dr sh Dixit? Vic ice Chancellor Dr.. Mithile Mithilesh Dr. Mithilesh Dixit is a very different kind of Vice Chancellor, who brings together the best of academic world and administrative prowess. Being a retired Colonel from the army he is a very disciplined administrator, he has corporate exposure, and he has taken 112
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his PhD in management from Boston University. He is very sharp, straightforward, and a go-getter. Dr. Dixit has been with Career Point for around 12 years, and has been the VC since the university’s inception. Dr. Dixit can take even high-level decisions quite effectively. Wha e the scholar ship pr ogr ams Whatt ar are scholarship progr ograms available a cen att CPU? Wha Whatt per perc enttage o off your studen ea ships ? studentts ar are avvailing scholar scholarships ships? What Career Point University is offering in this regard is not scholarships, but partial tuition fee waivers based on the qualifying marks. Such waivers are continued based on each year’s performance. These fee waivers are quite generous and designed to attract and enable meritorious students to study at Career Point University. Around
The first uniqueness of this university is learning beyond classrooms, by way of product development, live projects, industry interaction etc. Secondly, we don’t teach just academics, but various life-skills like communication, collaboration, leadership, problem solving, personal grooming etc that are necessary to succeed not only in careers but in life. Thirdly, we have a sharp and growing focus on research activities. Another important feature is that the university and its leaders are very accessible to all students. If they have a problem, we are here to solve it. ViceChancellor Dr. Dixit and myself are always accessible to our students. Another important feature I would say is our disciplined environment. We take discipline very seriously as without discipline none of the other goals are achievable.
BML Munjal University
INDIA’S TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES VOL. II
THE NEW PRIVATE UNIVERSITY TO WATCH OUT FOR
t is no secret that some of India’s leading private universities are by the country’s leading businessmen. But in most such cases, such business personalities are acting in their own capacity, and rarely do we find a business group openly backing the private university from their family. But at BML Munjal University, things are different. BML stands for Brij Mohan Lall the patriarch of Munjal family and cofounder of Hero Group. At every instance the university proudly acknowledges that it is ‘founded by the Hero Group’. And it is something to be proud of indeed. Heroes are leaders and this Hero has been a true leader in every sense of the word in everything it has attempted so far. Today it is one of the Top-10 business conglomerates in India, with a turnover in excess of US$ 5 billion. But in 1956, it had humble beginnings as a cycle manufacturer. But leadership has been in its genes. By
Akshay Munjal, President, BML Munjal University
Brij Mohan Lall Munjal, Co-founder & Chairman, Hero Group
1975 it became India’s largest cycle maker, and by 1984 it became the world’s largest cycle manufacturer, a position it has not relinquished since then. The same year also saw the start of Hero Group’s greatest success story when it partnered with the then world leader Honda Motor Company of Japan to pioneer 100 cc 4-stroke motor bikes for the first time in India. By 2001, Hero Honda became the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, surpassing Honda, and by 2010 the Japanese major wanted to go it alone in India. Everyone wrote about the impending demise of Hero Motocorp, but the Munjals proved otherwise. Hero has continued to be the world’s largest motorbike manufacturer with a 46% market share, making the best of the divorce by focusing on exports. On wealth creation and sharing too, the track-record of Hero Motocorp has been
impeccable. Its stock has multiplied investors’ wealth by 28 times within the last 14 years, and has been a consistent and high dividend payer. It is also one of India’s best managed companies with an exceptional Return on Equity (RoE) of 42%. When such entrepreneurs start a university, it would be definitely something to watch out for. Founded in 2014, BML Munjal University is one of India’s youngest, and offers only BCom (Hons.), BBA, BTech, & MBA, as of now, but more is destined to come. This private university of Haryana, located near Gurgaon, is taking industry partnerships seriously, with its first visible example being the on-campus Siemens Centre of Excellence. All key leaders of Hero Group are co-founders here, while its President is young Akshay Munjal, who studied at University of Bradford, UK, and Pepperdine University, USA. 114
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Maharaja Agrasen University
FOUNDED ON VALUES, THRIVING ON PARENTAGE MAU is fast emerging as one of Himachal’s top universities, thanks to its focus on values based education and its unique expertise of running two of the most well-reputed professional colleges of Delhi.
aharaja Agrasen University of Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, is the culmination of the pioneering initiatives of Maharaja Agrasen Technical Education Society (MATES), which has been running two of the most wellknown professional colleges in Delhi Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology (MAIT) founded in the year 1999, and Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies (MAIMS) which began operations in 2003. Both the Delhi institutes are affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and has a combined student strength of 4000 students. 116
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Coming from such a pedigree, the young Maharaja Agrasen University can’t be anything but ambitious. Set on the picturesque backdrop of Kasauli Hill, the University was inaugurated by Pranab Mukharjee, President of India on 25th May, 2013, and is a private university of HP. MAU is led by its Chancellor Dr. Nand Kishore Garg, a multi-faceted leader, and its Vice Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) SP Bansal, a renowned academician and consultant to tourism sector. Maharaja Agrasen University follows t h e n o b l e a n d p i o u s l e g a cy of legendry Maharaja Agrasen, born
during the last stages of Dwapar Yuga in the Mahabharta era, who established the Kingdom of Agroha near Hissar in Haryana about 5000 years ago. Equality, humanism and n o n - v i o l e n ce we re t h e g u i d i n g principles of the Kingdom. In a short span of barely 2 years, MAU has marked its presence as one of the most innovative and research driven university in the fields of management, engineering, applied sciences, law, and architecture, and h as b e e n a b l e to m a i nta i n i ts presence felt not only in Himachal Pradesh but in the neighbouring states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab,
INDIA’S TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES VOL. II Haryana, & Uttarakhand, as well. MAU is noted for its well qualified and experienced faculty, regular Faculty Development Programmes, well stocked library, regular Guest Lectures by experts from reputed Universities and leading Industries including MNC’s, regular Seminars & Conferences, and regular Industrial Visits by the students. MAU has organized 4 international conferences and 1 national conference so far. MAU wants to be known for values based education and has set up two Chairs for that purpose. The Maharaja Agrasen Chair has been set up to promote the ideology and principles of legendary Maharaja Agrasen, on September 30, 2014. The Swami Vivekanada Chair was set up to infuse the spirit of nationalism, ethical and moral values in the students, on January 2015. The first batch of MBA & MTTM (Travel & Tourism) students are just completing their course, but the university has provided 100% placements to Tourism Students and 70% of MBA students, with average package of 2.5 lacs and
Dr. Nand Kishore Garg, Chancellor
Prof. S P Bansal, Vice Chancellor
4 students were offered the average package of Rs. 14-20 lakh by a Dubai based agro-company.
provide free computer education to 100 girl students only but as more than 200 application from enthusiastic students were received, it was decided by the management that extra 100 girls, be provided this facility and cost will be met by the university.
MAU practises what it preaches and has bagged a CSR project sponsored by Rastriya Ispat Nigam LtdVishakhapatnam (RINL-VSP) to provide Free Computer Education to the Girls belonging to economically weaker section (EWS) of the nearby areas. The planned expenditure of the project was around Rs 30 Lakhs. As per the term of the project the university was bound to
MAU is also pioneering in the research arena with a research project awarded to Maharaja Agrasen University for the project titled “Establishment and Biological Characterization of Haematopoietic stem Cell lines derived from Buffalo Umbilical Cord Blood” worth Rs. 23,80,000/It was also received a Financial Assistance of Rs. 5,000,00/- (Five Lakh) from Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Delhi For Joint Research Project on “Excellence in Higher Education: An Empirical Study on Quality sustainability of select Universities of Northern India.”
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POORNIMA UNIVERSITY, JAIPUR
TAKING STUDENTS AS THEY ARE, AND MAKING THEM PERFECT Seasonal Magazine interviews Poornima University’s Chairperson Dr. SM Seth and President Prof. (Dr.) KKS Bhatia, to understand the unique philosophies and practices behind this leading private university of Rajasthan. oornima University based in Jaipur, has been born from a strong parentage. Poornima Group of Colleges that preceded the university, and still thrive, include Poornima College of Engineering, Poornima Institute of Engineering & Technology, Poornima Group of Institutions, and Poornima School of Management. Recently, when Rajasthan Technical University with which they are affiliated announced Top-10 performers in each BTech stream, 21 out of 60 toppers were from Poornima Group. Promoted by Shanti Education Society and its Director-General Shashikant Singhi, Poornima Group has rapidly grown to be the leading engineering and management educator in Jaipur as well as Rajasthan. Director-General Singhi is a BArch (Honors) from JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai, and was a leading architect of Jaipur, before deciding to focus on his skills in not only designing great educational institutions but in promoting and managing them. His greatest contribution to Poornima Group has been his decision from day one to 118
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entrust the running of the colleges and university to an eminent team of educationalists and professionals. The first among these leading educationalists at Poornima University is Dr. SM Seth, its Chairperson. A civil engineering professional, he took his PhD in Hydrology as a Commonwealth Scholar from Victoria University, Manchester, UK. In a career spanning 50 years, Dr. Seth has pioneered the teaching, research, and professional practice of Hydrology and Water Resources Management across institutions like IIT Roorkee (then University of Roorkee), and National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) Roorkee, and has worked as a consultant with numerous state and national level bodies in hydrology and dam design and safety, on projects, often funded by international bodies like UNDP, EEU, World Bank, WHO, FAO, UNESCO etc. A multiple award winning scientist, Dr. Seth after retirement started working with Shanti Education Society, as the Founding Principal of Poornima Engineering College, and has risen to be the
Dr th Dr.. SM Se Seth
INDIA’S TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES VOL. II Chairperson of Poornima University. The second top educationalist at Poornima University is its President, Dr. Karan Kumar Singh Bhatia. Also a leading scientist, teacher, and professional from the field of hydrology, Dr. KKS Bhatia did his PhD on this subject from IIT Bombay, and taught there for four years. He later joined NIH Roorkee and rose to be the head of all research activities undertaken by this National Centre of Excellence. An author and coauthor of many books on the subject, as well as a multiple award-winning scientist on this subject, Dr. Bhatia is also a member of some top-level expert committees set up by Government of India. Poornima University also excels in campus infrastructure with Wi-Fi enabled campus, air conditioned and modern auditorium, spacious classrooms with state-of-the-art equipment, a unique cafeteria, modern laboratories, workshops and studios as per the industry standards, well maintained and modern IT Infrastructure, separate hostels for boys and girls, extensive sporting facilities, and a library with a rich collection of books and journals, both offline and online.
Seasonal Magazine in conversation with Chairperson Dr. SM Seth and President Dr. KKS Bhatia: P oornima la ess on Poornima layys a lo lott o off str stre industr y-r eadine an industry-r y-readine eadinesss o off it itss studen studentts. C Can you men tion the br oad initia tiv es tha mention broad initiativ tive thatt you ar e ttaking aking in this rregar egar d? are egard? Poornima being a relatively new private university, we had a clean slate to begin with, to do various calibrated experiments in strategies that ensure industry-readiness of our students. Poornima is very particular that our engineering students complete at least 4 professional courses like various industry-certifications by the time they graduate. Internships are taken very seriously, and to ensure that Poornima students take their industry training seriously, we schedule it during the winter and for a longer duration, than is possible during summer when all colleges send their students to companies resulting in a big rush and reduced effectiveness. Another uniqueness is that the grooming for industry needs like communication
Ar. shashikant Singhi skills, soft skills starts from the first year onward. Around two hours are scheduled every week for this additional grooming needs. P oornima Univ er sit an o be Poornima Univer ersit sityy w wan antts tto wn also ffor or the ccost-e ost-e tiv ene known ost-efffec ectiv tivene enesss kno of yyour our vvarious arious under gr adua undergr gradua aduatte and PG ogr ams. A er sit pr progr ograms. Ass a self-financing univ univer ersit sityy ho w ffar ar ha how hass this ambition been tiv e? effec ectiv tive Poornima University charges only very reasonable fees, especially when compared to private universities in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, or even Madhya Pradesh. Fees are generally lower among Rajasthan universities, and among them, we remain a leader in value for money. The BTech fee is around Rs. 35,000 per semester. P oornima FFounda ounda tion had a lo Poornima oundation loffty tar ge 15. Ho w arge gett o off 14,000 studen studentts bbyy 20 2015. How far ha ou adv anc ed on this ttar ar ge t? havve yyou advanc anced arge get? Of this, ho w many ar e studying a how are att Poornima Univ er sit om PGC Univer ersit sityy, apar apartt fr from PGC? ? I think this year we may reach it, as we are already around 13,000 students at Poornima Group of Colleges and Poornima University taken together. At the university alone, the student strength should be around 3000. TTw wo o ar e initia tiv es tha off the rrar are initiativ tive thatt ar are e e it found a oornima Univ er sit att P Poornima Univer ersit sityy ar are itss Tut or-Men em and Self Help utor-Men or-Menttor S Syyst stem Gr oups. C an yyou ou elabor at e on the Groups. Can elabora
Dr. Karan Kumar Singh Bhatia effec tiv se ttw wo? ectiv tivene enesss o off the these ene For every 60 to 65 students, a tutor acts as a dedicated mentor. He or she interacts with the students continually to understand their various problems or challenges, and interfaces with other professors and parents to ensure that their holistic development is ensured. We felt that such a mentor was one of the biggest missing links in higher education, and it has made a world of difference. And about P oornima’s Self Help Poornima’s Groups… Gr oups… Yes, the SHGs are a smaller concept of around 10 students each. Each such group will have at least one bright or hardworking student as its leader, with the rest being average or above-average students. Now, the SHGs are encouraged to compete with each other on various metrics like consolidated marks, lab performance, attendance etc. So, what happens is that the students in an SHG start helping each other to perform better and come up as a group. All students in an SHG are benefited as the average students seek the help of their leader, while the leading student hones his skills better by helping out his friends. This has been a brainwave of mine, and it has been quite effective. Being only thr ee yyear ear st three earss old, PU’s fir first e only ge w. Still, battche chess ar are gettting out no now ba you ha or yyour our self in havve made a mark ffor ourself 119
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plac emen an yyou ou pr ovide us the placemen ementts. C Can pro de our plac emen cess? dettails o off yyour placemen ementts suc succ We have performed very well in placements, despite these placements being our first one or two cycles. For our first MBA batch, around 80% of students were placed from the campus itself, in around 30 excellent companies. Most of the remaining students opted out of campus placements, as they either wanted to pursue higher education or specialization, or wanted to start their own businesses. In our second batch of MBA, which is still ongoing, around 70% of students are already placed. I am also happy to inform you that some of our students have been asked to join the respective companies were they did their internships. Our major milestone in placements will come in 2016, when our first BTech batch of 660 students present themselves for placements, and with the kind of preparation we have been taking them through, Poornima is quite confident that campus placements for them won’t be a problem at all. C an yyou ou ttell ell us some thing about yyour our Can something facult engths ? Wha cen acultyy str strengths engths? Whatt per perc enttage o off them ar e fr om pr emier institut es lik e are from premier institute like ? Also IIM, IIT IIT,, NIT or similar institutions institutions? Also,, about yyour our ffacult acult acultyy de devv elopmen elopmentt pr ogr ams ? progr ograms ams? Just like our students, our new teachers too come from various backgrounds by way of their education as well as
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Poornima University is very particular that our engineering students complete at least 4 professional courses like various industry-certifications by the time they graduate. Internships also are taken very seriously, and not done as a formality.
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“ At Poornima University, the grooming for industry needs like communication skills, soft skills etc starts from the first year onward. Around two hours are scheduled every week for this additional grooming needs.
” previous jobs. So, what we have done is, to ensure uniform quality, we take them through a rigorous initial training of around 15 to 20 days. We do a crash course for them that includes subtle aspects like teaching psychology. Many of our faculty are from NIT or equivalent kind of institutions, and many of them are doctorate holders. As regards to continuous faculty development programs, we do courses of shorter durations annually, as well as participate in external programs run by Wipro, IIT Roorkee etc. Wha e the scholar ship pr ogr ams Whatt ar are scholarship progr ograms available a att P Poornima Univer ersit sityy tto oornima Univ er sit o orious studen attr ac studentts? trac actt the most merit meritorious Poornima University has one of the most generous scholarship programs ever in the private university sector. Our scholarships are merit based, and our biggest offer is that for all students who secure 80% or above in CBSE/ICSE or state board exams, we waive 100% of
tuition fee for the first year. And if they continue this level of performance in the subsequent years, they continue to get full waivers, or if not, proportionally adjusted part-waivers. Our second most attractive offer is that for all students who get 75-80% marks in plus-two, we provide 80% fee waiver. We also have similar scholarship slabs, for students getting slightly lower marks than the above two slabs. The various scholarship programs have been very successful and around 35% of our students are availing some percentage of scholarship. Poornima University is also very proactive in getting student loans for its students through our tie-ups with a few banks. Wha oornima Univ er sit Whatt se setts apar apartt P Poornima Univer ersit sityy est o ate univ er sitie from off the priv priva univer ersitie sitiess? fr om the rre ther w or ds, wha our rreal eal U SP? In o other wor ords, whatt is yyour USP? Poornima as the name implies stands for full moon, which symbolizes perfection. We want our students to be like full moon, as perfect as they can be. But we don’t get them as perfect. Some of them will come from a background of Hindi medium and lacking in English skills, some of them might be from rural areas and lacking in some soft skills, and some of them might be weak in some subjects or areas. But we take all of them as they are, and devise all ways and means to make them shine like Poornima.
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V STAR UNVEILS FLAGSHIP STORE AT KOCHI
fter the grand success of its first Exclusive Brand Outlet at Kochi Central Mall, V Star has opened a spacious flagship store at Kochi, Near NH Bypass, Opp. EMC. Equipped with facilities that befit an exclusive showroom, V Star’s new flagship store showcases innerwear and lifestyle collections for men, women and kids. The V Star flagship store was jointly inaugurated by V Guard Managing Director Mr. Midhun K. Chittilappilly and Mrs.Joshna Mithun in the presence of V-Guard Group Chairman Mr. Kochouseph Chittilappilly and V Star Managing Director Mrs. Sheela Kochouseph.
Sheela Kochouseph, MD, V Star
The showroom has a classy ambience and promises a world class shopping experience. “V Star plans to open many such exclusive outlets in other major cities and towns in the near future”, said Mrs. Sheela Kochouseph, Managing Director of V Star. V Star, currently going strong in the Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka markets, looks forward to go beyond and explore wider marketing spheres. V Star products can now be found in all major textile outlets across South India and the Middle East. 122
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L U X U R Y ONE&ONLY HAYMAN ISLAND, AUSTRALIA, OPENS PASPALEY PEARLS POP UP BOUTIQUE aspaley and One&Only Resorts have come together in a collaboration, set against the breathtaking backdrop of the private tropical island in the Whitsundays. Paspaley, the world’s leading producer of Australian South Sea pearls, has opened a pop up at Australia’s newest ultra-luxury resort, One&Only Hayman Island, showcasing their current fine pearl jewellery collections. The collaboration will allow guests to discover an elegant on-island popup pearl boutique and a range of exciting pearl experiences on this private island resort. Having organised exciting partnerships with the likes of Christian Louboutin, Alice Temperley and Missoni, One&Only Resorts has opened the Paspaley pop-up store, providing guests of One&Only Hayman Island with the opportunity to discover the rarest and most valuable pearls in the world until April 29, 2015. In addition to the pop-up, guests of One&Only Hayman Island will have the chance to indulge in unique pearl experiences created especially to celebrate the Paspaley partnership. The Paspaley Chef’s Table is a bespoke dining event that offers guests the chance to experience Paspaley pearl strands as part of the resort’s signature gourmet Chef’s Table. The evening commences with cocktails at the Paspaley boutique, where female guests will be ‘stranded’ in a specially selected Paspaley Australian South Sea pearl strand. Guests will then move to the island’s Pacific deck, where they will enjoy canapés featuring Paspaley Pearl Meat, a delicacy rarer than caviar, while taking in views of the Whitsundays and Hayman Beach.
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ITC LIMITED LAUNCHES ITC GRAND BHARAT, ITC'S FIRST ALL-SUITE LUXURY RETREAT TC Limited has launched the country’s first all-suites luxury retreat, the ‘ITC Grand Bharat, Gurgaon-New Delhi Capital Region’. Embodying ITC Hotels’ ethos of ‘Responsible Luxury’, the 104 suites retreat is set amidst a 1.2 sq. km estate, with premium presidential villas, exclusive accommodation, a stand-out, 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, elaborate culinary experiences, conferencing facilities and extensive spa, recreation and wellness services. The hotel stands testimony to the grandeur of India, India's rich heritage and culture, both past and present, reflected in its architecture, interior design and warm Indian hospitality, complemented by ITC’s bespoke services and commitment to world class quality.
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ESTEE LAUDER INTRODUCES NEW NUTRITIOUS VITALITY8 ntroducing a fast and effective solution for youthful, healthy and radiant-looking skin, Estee Lauder has launched the New Nutritious Vitality8. Infused with Estée Lauder’s proprietary, highly potent New Pomegranate8 Complex, this powerful new collection recharges skin with the power of 8. In just 8 days, 8 powerful ingredients help reset skin’s natural dynamic equilibrium to help activate 8 dimensions of radiantly healthy looking skin. The New Nutritious Vitality8 collection includes Nutritious Vitality8 Moisture Crème and Overnight Creme/Mask. An instant infusion of intense hydration that lasts throughout the day, the New Nutritious Vitality8 Radiant Moisture Crème helps neutralize environmental aggressors with anti-oxidant power leaving skin looking
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INDIAN DESIGNER RITU KUMAR PRESENTS A SILK TALE, A COLLECTION OF VINTAGE SARIS ndian designer Ritu Kumar has launched a capsule collection of re-produced Vintage Hand-block woven silk saris. Inspired by the traditional print heritage of Ritu Kumar, the collection spans a range of chintz, paisleys and bold florals prints in a lively colour palette. From cream, yellow to fuschia, reds, turquoise and emerald tones, the saris are crafted using fabrics such as Murshidabad silk and Silk chinnon and are available with matching unstitched blouse pieces. Perfect to be worn for luncheons and day soirees, the printed saris are also suitable wear to work option for the corporate women. The collection is silk screen printed creating a multi-coloured image using several hand screens. One colour has been printed at a time to recreate the vintage effect of the hand-block prints from the Ritu Kumar archives. The range celebrates the hereditary skills of the Kolkata weavers as they weave ancient designs in originally conceived aesthetics. This collection is reminiscent of the printed saris from Ritu Kumar repertoire in the 1970s and 80s and is aimed at brand patrons for whom a Ritu Kumar printed sari was a wardrobe staple. The price range for the saris starts from INR 16,000 upwards. The saris are available for a limited period at the Ritu Kumar Store at Khan Market, New Delhi.
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LOUIS VUITTON LAUNCHES LEATHER GOODS WITH QUIRKY STICKERS irst seen on the Spring Summer 2015 show, the Nicolas Ghesquière stickers pattern is now reinterpreted on Monogram Vernis for the leather goods and small leather goods. The pattern was inspired from a book of paintings from the Hyperrealistic movement. These pictures were combined with stickers which can be found on old LV trunks. Mr Ghesquière associated these pictures of vintage 1950 objects, with old stickers to create the pattern that was seen in the Spring Summer 2015 Show.
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FREDERIQUE CONSTANT ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF ITS HOROLOGICAL SMARTWATCH IN INDIA rederique Constant is all set to introduce its brand new Horological Smartwatch in India which was the centre of attraction at Basel 2015. With a classic dial, proposed with silver finishing, the model is available with a refined polished stainless steel 42mm case. An alligator strap finishes the model giving it a touch of elegance with a folding clasp in sportier versions. Displaying central hours and minutes hands, the smart counter is positioned at 6 o’clock. The small red hand indicates the date during the day and will point out the moon while you sleep.
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L U X U R Y GUCCI PRESENTS ITS PREFALL 2015 COLLECTION FOR WOMEN
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ith a bourgeois soul and a style of the seventies, the Gucci Prefall 2015 Collection has sleek, essential lines mixed with geometric prints for a new glamour.
Menswear materials offer timeless tailoring, while silk is the starting point for new dresses destined to become staples. Suits and outerwear have a form-fitting shape in tweed, herringbone and geometric jacquards. On coats and jackets, colorful trim and embroideries define pure lines. Blazers are sharp and smart with fabrics such as wool mĂŠlange. The low-waisted, cuffed short trouser in silk-wool, the flannel oversized pant, corduroy or flannel flares, and tapered pants will fill up your wardrobe. Black denim is enriched with blackon-black embroideries. Embroideries subtly form Nordic patterns on knitwear woven in mohair, merino, and alpaca. Knee-length dress designs take inspiration from the chemisier. Defined waistlines, puffed sleeves, and fluid skirts alternate with more clean, jacquard mini-dresses. The leather dress turns heads thanks to snap closures, complete with a robe-inspired design, while studs and embroidery outline a crew-neck dress. Fur sets the tone with the woven goat jacket, shearling outerwear with Mongolian lamb on the neckline, and patchwork jackets in fox. Evening is multifaceted, from the printed gown to the tailleur, from mixed and matched separates to the cocktail dress.
THE NEW MINI COOPER S LAUNCHED IN INDIA he new Mini Cooper S was recently launched in India at a driving event held at Aamby Valley, Pune. The new Mini Cooper S with increased power and enhanced driving thrills has the new Mini TwinPower Turbo engine, offering an entirely new understanding of driving dynamics. The new MINI TwinPower Turbo engines make the new MINI faster and lighter on fuel. Bustling beneath the bonnet of the new MINI Cooper S is the mighty 4cylinder MINI TwinPower Turbo petrol engine delivering 280 Nm torque. Developed from scratch, it injects the MINI Cooper S with 141 kW / 189 hp of
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unadulterated driving thrill. The MINI Cooper S is quick and only needs 6.7 seconds to hit 100 km/hr and its top speed is 233 km/h. The new MINI Cooper S is available in Pepper White and Volcano Orange as non-metallic paintwork and in the following nine metallic paintworks: Moonwalk Grey, Blazing Red, Lapisluxury Blue, British Racing Green, Iced Chocolate, Thunder Grey, Deep Blue, White Silver and Midnight Black. The car has a completely redesigned front grille which boasts big air intakes and a black honeycomb-patterned grid specific to the Cooper S. On the back, the air outlet housing two fog lights is wrapped around the double exhaust tailpipes.
MANDARIN ORIENTAL, GENEVA AND CHOPARD CREATE THE HAPPY SUITE DIAMONDS PACKAGE andarin Oriental, Geneva and Swiss luxury jeweller Chopard are offering suite accommodation with an exclusive, behind-the-scenes private atelier visit through The Happy Suite Diamonds package. On arriving at the hotel by private limousine from Geneva International Airport, guests will be welcomed with Champagne inSuite where they can enjoy panoramic views over the city and mountains, before being driven to the nearby Chopard atelier.
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Lancome launches the Absolue Precious Oil Nourishing Luminous Oil See more w w w. l u x u r y f a ct s . c o m / i n d e x . p h p / s e ct i o n s / a r t i c l e / 4 3 9 0 # s t h a s h . u c w A r
LANCOME LAUNCHES THE ABSOLUE PRECIOUS OIL NOURISHING LUMINOUS OIL he latest novelty in Lancome’s Absolue range, Absolue Precious Oil Nourishing Luminous Oil is a natural radiance primer that reveals all of the Golden Glow’s vital force. The alchemy of rose essential oil and seven precious plant or essential oils lies at the heart of its formula. By combining their different properties, Lancôme has found the perfect blend to nourish and revitalise the skin, reviving its radiance and beauty. By reinforcing the skin’s barrier function, Absolue Precious Oil Nourishing Luminous Oil helps to maintain its structural integrity. Rose essential oil accelerates cutaneous barrier repair.
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BVLGARI LAUNCHES THE LE GEMME COLLECTION OF FRAGRANCES nspired by the tradition of high jewellery and its values of excellence and uniqueness, Bulgari’s launches the Le Gemme Collection. The six fragrances represent six jewels of rare richness, each one corresponding with an iconic stone in the story of Bulgari - the amethyst, the tourmaline, the turquoise, the peridot, the citrine, and the moonstone - and in its translation into an olfactory language. Daniela Andrier, master perfumer, creator of Le Gemme collection for Bulgari, said, “In writing these six perfumes, I based myself on the colour of stones, on the magic which allows light to travel right through them, a rare phenomenon in the world. Le Gemme is a singular, very luxurious, collection, if only owing to the cost of some of its components. There is even an ingredient - which comes from vetiver acetate - that in some regards I have helped save, as its production was due to be stopped because of its cost.” The Ashlemah fragrance, inspired by amethyst gem, is contrasting with the delicacy of lavender and the softness of violet. The iris rhizome’s powdery and woody notes play with those of the heliotrope, a blue South American bush. Noorah, inspired by the turquoise, has a “hot and cold” aspect, with an oriental and cheerful character.
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Stunning jewellery has been a woman’s best friend since times immemorial, but, fine timepieces have wooed her equally. And, when the two marry, it only offers elegant and graceful marvels. Here’s our list of a few covetable pieces of jewellery within hidden watches. Adorning your neck, wrist and fingers, these timeless timepieces, set in exquisite jewellery, are a must-have for the discerning ladies. Take a look.
FURLA LAUNCHES THE METROPOLIS CROSSBODY BAG FOR THE SEASON
urla’s popular cross body style – the Metropolis, is back this PreFall season with all new graffiti prints and colors. It is decked up with their signature metal lock and chain straps that provide the ideal spacious functionality and panache to your ensemble. Compact, easy to carry, it looks fabulous with almost every outfit.
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L U X U R Y SOTHEBY'S HONG KONG PRESENTS A PRIVATE SINGLE-OWNER COLLECTION OF IMPORTANT WINES AND WATCHES otheby’s Hong Kong will offer Wines and Watches from the collection of a single owner for auction. Scheduled to take place at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the collection comprises more than 460 lots of wines to be offered on April 4 (est. US$5.2 – 7.2 million) and over 100 lots of watches to be auctioned on April 7 (est. US$2.3 – 3.5 million). The wine collection includes top-quality Burgundy from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) and Henri Jayer, to finest Bordeaux from Château Pétrus and Château Lafite. Spectacular Champagnes from Krug, Dom Pérignon and Bollinger include some of the rarest vintages from the region, while Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate and Dalla Valle Maya are sure to excite collectors. Highly desirable Super Tuscans from Sassicaia and Masseto round out this collection. Top burgundies from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) – the top-selling wine producer worldwide in Sotheby’s Wine’s Ranking 2014 – is the highlight of the collection. Close to 1,000 bottles from DRC (819 bottles, 62 magnums, 3 jeroboams and 2 methuselahs), including 16 vintages of Romanée-Conti (1966 – 2007), 21 vintages of La Tâche (1971 – 2009), 13 vintages of Richebourg (1971 – 2011), 12 vintages of Grands Échezeaux (1985 – 2009) and 14 vintages of Montrachet (1986 – 2009) are on offer.
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CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN INTRODUCES NEW STYLES FOR MEN IN SS 2015 COLLECTION reathing new life into timeless designs, Christian Louboutin’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection shakes off the cold with a wit and spirit that is distinct. Colour blocking redefines Education, a classic brogue oxford; while Gondolier, a low-top sneaker, will help you get your kicks wherever you roam. For the classic gentleman, Fes and Greggo deliver clean silhouettes in smooth veau velours or hand-finished calf leather. Embroidered pineapples add a taste of the tropics to slippers and espadrilles, while the new Chain Chill loafer and Riviero bring a rock'n'roll attitude. Celebrating the No-Shave November all year long? Espoil and Peter Pouch introduce a playful moustache motif.
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JAEGER-LECOULTRE INAUGURATES SECOND BOUTIQUE IN SINGAPORE aeger-LeCoultre has launched its second boutique in Singapore, at the Ion Orchard mall, which has become the "centre of gravity" in the retail scene. Daniel Riedo, Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO cut the ribbon with long-time friend of the brand Kit Chan, His Excellency Swiss ambassador Thomas Kupfer, CEO of Orchard Turn Developments Mr Chris Chong and Managing Director of JaegerLeCoultre for South East Asia and Australia Alexis de Laporte. Following the ceremony, Jaeger-LeCoultre presented an exhibition paying tribute to astronomy at ION Art Gallery. Premiering in Singapore this exhibition reveals the new creations of the Manufacture including the Duomètre Sphérotourbillon Moon, the Rendez-Vous Moon and also historical models from Jaeger-LeCoultre Heritage Collection.
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ASTELL&KERN’S AK JR: A LUXE DELIGHT FOR AUDIOPHILES ccess to a timeless track or a recent favourite song at any given time delivers joy that is unmatched. To delight music enthusiasts across the globe, Astell&Kern has launched an all new, luxury music player - the AK Jr. One of the leaders in portable high-res audio players, South Korea-based Astell&Kern has previously launched award-winning music gadgets like AK100 II, AK120 II and the AK240. In fact, the brand even has a line of accessories such as In-Ear monitors and headphones, portable player docking stations, Bluetooth remote controls and a few home audio products. The AK Jr is all set to be the next most coveted music player in the luxury sector.
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MINI AUGMENTED VISION — A MUST-HAVE GADGET OF THE FUTURE ove over Google Glass, BMW MINI offers an all new way to connect a driver with his car, navigate and improve the overall driving experience. The MINI Augmented Vision is set to change the future of commuting with a range of exceptional features. Wearable tech is growing by leaps and bounds; it is no wonder that the British luxury automobile giant, BMW MINI, has launched smart glasses of its own. The specialised eyewear uses see-through technology and shows information to the driver regarding the drive, without taking away from the view of the road and other elements on the path. MINI has further been working with various Qualcomm companies and has worked on an interlinked system that offers improved routing information, as well as guidance for the driver. Additionally, the design is reminiscent of the classic MINI, as the prototype is created in a combination of carbon black and dull gold.
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AMAN'S THIRD PROPERTY IN CHINA, AMANDAYAN, OPENS IN LIJIANG man Hotels and Resorts have opened their third property in China, Amandayan, in the fabled city of Lijiang. Set on a hillside above the UNESCO-protected Old Town, the property draws its name from the Sanskrit-derived word for ‘peace’ and ‘Dayan’, the historic name for Lijiang when it was first established by the ruling Mu family in the 13th century. The property is made up of traditional courtyard buildings and presents 35 spacious suites with terraces and views of Lijiang, the countryside surrounding the city and the snow-capped mountains on the horizon including the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, considered one of China’s most scenic peaks. The courtyards each offer between five and eight suites, making them ideal for families and groups. The design of Amandayan was inspired by its setting, embracing style elements from traditional Nakhi architecture. Suites are decorated with materials and fabrics from the region, including Yunnan pine from Shangri-La, striking Nakhi embroidery and elaborate Dongba wood carvings of flowers, birds and other nature motifs. Stone floors gently reference the resort’s proximity to the mountains. Amandayan’s furniture is crafted from elm felled in the Don Bei region.
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CONFLUENCE OF VINTAGE CAR & MODERN ENGINE: THE SPEEDBACK GT erge a retro body with contemporary technology and the result is the Speedback GT. An ideal marriage between old style British automobiles and a young speedy engine, created by David Brown, it was launched a year ago. Here’s all you need to know about the Speedback GT, a treat for vintage auto lovers and super car enthusiasts.
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ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS ANNOUNCES THE NAME OF ITS NEW LUXURY MODEL olls-Royce Motor Cars has announced the name of its forthcoming new car: the Rolls-Royce Dawn. “Our new RollsRoyce Dawn promises a striking, seductive encounter like no other Rolls-Royce to date,” said Torsten Mueller-Oetvoes, Chief Executive Officer. “Dawn is a beautiful new open-top motor car… It will be the most social of super-luxury motor cars for those beautiful people who wish to bathe in the sunlight of the world’s social
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L U X U R Y Harry Winston 18K white gold neckpiece with 130 diamonds and peacock shade dial.
Chopard
A white leather bracelet with dials set in the owl eyes in grey.
ONE&ONLY RESORTS LAUNCH NEW RETAIL EXPERIENCES IN COLLABORATION WITH MISSONI ne&Only Reethi Rah, in Maldives, has introduced an array of unique retail experiences for its guests, from a Missoni collaboration and Melissa Odabash pop-up store to a brand new spa ‘boutique’ offering the latest in health and wellbeing accessories. The resort has also introduced a personalised shopping experience, where guests will be able to consult with one of the NEO professionals informally and then a selection of items will be delivered to their villa which will allow guests to try on items in the privacy and comfort of their own villas. One&Only has partnered with world-renowned Italian fashion house Missoni to create a capsule collection of coveted items for the winter sun season, including a bikini ($395), short beach dress ($620), kaftan ($900) and playsuit/romper ($745).
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Rubellite Bracelet
Inspired by the corals in the oceans, the 32.05 carats cushion-cut rubellite bracelet had a range of pink sapphire set in 18k white gold. The round pink sapphires weigh 18.67 carats and round diamonds weight 6.60 carats.
Buccellati
White gold with diamonds drapes the 24mm dial of this Swiss movement timepiece.
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Tanzanite Ring
Sport a classy statement piece with this ring. A magnificent 23.03 carat tanzanite is accentuated by 18k gold and diamonds that weigh 1.29 carats.
Diamond Necklac e Necklace This stunning riveted piece was inspired by an archival Tiffany design from the 19th century. Crafted in platinum, the necklace consists of hundred diamonds that were painstakingly set by hand. The total weight of the brilliant cut diamonds is 60.26 carats.
WHAT MAKES RUPERT MURDOCH’S MANHATTAN PENTHOUSE WORTH $72 MILLION?
enowned Australian media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, is all set to hype his income, listing his penthouse in Manhattan One Madison for $72 million ( approx INR 455 Crore). With a net worth of $14.1 billion, as per Forbes, the 84-year-old billionaire is set to bid farewell to his trilevelled condominium. Currently listed with the prestigious realtor Dolly Lenz, here is why the sky scrapping condo is so expensive.
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CHANDON CELEBRATES
INDIAN SUMMER WITH A LIMITED EDITION BOTTLE tripes aren’t just on the runway this season. Chandon India takes this popular trend and dresses up its special edition Chandon bottle for the season. Says Gaurav Bhatia, Marketing Director, Moët Hennessy India, “A chilled bottle of Chandon Brut with its refreshing bubbles beats the summer heat like no other drink. Summer must be celebrated with all things cool – the new limited edition bottle of Chandon Brut is trendy and your perfect accessory this season.” The Chandon summer bottle’s modern take on stripes immediately invokes a vivacious mood. Be it carefree lounging on the beach, a glamorous party by the pool, or a get together with friends at home, the striped Chandon bottle is perfect for every summer occasion – brunch, early evening cocktails, dinners, summer parties.
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IS BOW TIE A NEW TREND AMONG WOMEN? ow ties are for men only’, so said an archaic designer. The truth is, bow ties are back with a bang but it is not just men who love it, but women are embracing the trend too! Let’s make a round of applause for another new accessory on our list. But a word of caution here: Bow ties are an extremely tricky style statement. You wear it wrong and you may look like a deranged inmate. But we have all the right tips and tricks for you to make the bow tie fashion rock.
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