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VOLUME 11 ISSUE 4 APRIL 2012
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KERENG/2002/6803
EDITORIAL MAGAZINE
Seasonal www.seasonalmagazine.com
Vol 11 Issue 4 April 2012
Managing Editor Jason D Pavoratti 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
When 39-year old Akhilesh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time, and 85-year old Parkash Singh Badal became Chief Minister of Punjab for the 5th time, what was there in common? Nothing much, except that Indian politics is as complex as its colours of Holi, during which time the election results had come? After all, Akhilesh is young enough to be the grandson of Badal, isn’t it? But there indeed is a pattern emerging. This election has sounded the death knell of national political parties, like it has never happened before.
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All India Distributor: India Book House, Mumbai UAE Distributor: Malik News Agency & Distributors Dubai All health related articles are for first information purposes only. Always consult your doctor before taking any decison affecting your health.
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India’s Second Independence?
MEMBER
Now, regional party Chief Ministers govern in 9 Indian states, which is one state above what India’s second-largest national party, BJP, is governing with its own CMs. But BJP is definitely not the biggest loser in this elections. The deadliest blow has been to Congress itself, whose list of governed states are more made up by some of the smallest states in the country like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, & Mizoram. In fact, apart from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, & NCT-Delhi, the largest national party of India is wielding little influence among India’s largest populations. The situation facing BJP is equally bad. Apart from states like Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, & Karnataka, BJP CMs govern over lightweight states like Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand. Though both Congress and BJP tend to show-off their statelevel coalitions that are governing in a few of the states, nobody misses their weak positions vis-à-vis their strong partners like Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik in such states. Now compare the kind of states that regional party chief ministers are governing. They control India’s most populous state, 3rd most populous state, 4th most populous state, 7th most populous state, 11th most populous state, and 15th most populous state. They are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Orissa, & Punjab, respectively. To understand this in perspective, the smallest among these, Punjab, has a population which is higher than the aggregate population of six smaller states governed by Congress or BJP CMs - that is Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Manipur, Goa,
Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram. In other words, an overwhelming majority of India is moving towards regional parties. Yet, Congress is getting a disproportionate percentage of power across India, thanks to the indifference exhibited by BJP as well as capable leaders like Nitish Kumar, to topple the government at centre. But don’t expect that to remain for long. Real power has this characteristic of not going unrecognized for long. The powerful will naturally start exercising their capabilities soon. Or has it already started? If Congress thought that Mamata Banerjee’s uniquely demanding nature was a one-off phenomenon, it is time it got itself ready for a new Mulayam Singh Yadav. Proving that forsaking the UP throne in favour of his son, was no fatherly benevolence, but just to focus more on the New Delhi throne for himself, Mulayam has already announced that it is time for a fourth front, made up by these powerful regional parties. The name may be unnecessary, as the third-front has already proven to be on ventilator, with leadership lying nationally marginalised outfits like the Left Front. Nitish Kumar or Naveen Patnaik may be timid, but don’t expect any level of timidity from Mulayam, when it comes to taking over New Delhi. He very well knows that the coming months, and the next Lok Sabha elections - the earlier it is the better - is his best and probably last chance to stake a claim to rule India, backed by powerful regional leaders like himself. Another hallmark of some of these regional leaders is their ‘Sorry’ plank. While Jaya and Akhilesh have stormed to power, by repeatedly apologizing before their electorates for earlier follies, while for others like Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik, serious allegations of corruption or mis-governance are yet to surface. While Akhilesh was instrumental in dumping elements like Amar Singh, Jaya has been prompt in discarding power centres like Sasikala. For the nation, it may well prove to be a second independence. Because almost all these regional leaders - be it Mamata, Jaya, Nitish or Naveen - are sharply focused on developing their states - which is increasingly covering most of the Indian population. Expect more regional party chief ministers to emerge in the coming years, if not months. It will be a fitting finale to the arrogance exhibited by the country’s national parties like Congress and BJP, and namesake ones like CPI-M. John Antony
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CONTENTS FINANCE
What Makes NBFCs Tick? What Makes NBFCs Risky? Their name itself is unimaginative. Reflecting the utter lack of creativity inherent in our bigwigs. But NBFCs didn’t choose their name. Who would want to be known as anything ‘Non of anything established‘? Still, they were accorded that silly name. The intention was clear - whatever great stuff you do, you will always be secondary citizens to our banks. But that was only in the name...
BUSINESS
Successful Business? Thanks be to 'Core Competence'.
Few management theories have had a more intuitive appeal than that of "core competence", says Ajit Balakrishnan founder of Rediff.
TREND
Debit cards rapidly overtake cash in India
Consumers in India are growing more comfortable with using their debit cards to pay for purchases, according to Visa's latest Global Payment Tracking (GPT) Survey...
MANAGEMENT
“Need For Risk Taking & Innovation”
HEALTH
Now, a Vest that can Alert about Heart Attacks in Minutes Scientists have developed a new cardiac vest that can diagnose heart attacks as soon as they happen, a feat they say could lead to new and effective ways of treating heart patients...
WORKPLACE
Jacob Mathew, MD, MAPE Group
Be a Better Communicator at Office
Investment Banker and Co-founder of MAPE Group, recently spoke at Kerala Management Association about the theme, ‘Technology Potential and Financial Prudence‘. Now Managing Director of Bangalore based MAPE Group
Effective communication is very essential for the success of an individual. However, most people in our country, including professionals, lack the basic skills of communication...
All-time Management Best Sellers
A variety of current fashion trends and clothing staples could land you in the doctor's office, experts have warned.
SEASONAL MAGAZINE page 4
Amazing Job Titles at Google While most people have job titles that are far from exciting, employees at Google not only have unusual designations, but also unbelievable work..
STRANGE
What are Our Call Centres Doing?
A call centre's workers in Gujarat posed as US law enforcement officials and made nearly 8.5 million threatening calls in just eight months to consumers in America, US federal authorities have claimed..
FITNESS
WELLNESS
Dangerous Fashion: Most Unhealthy Style Trends AUTO
TRIVIA
Best Machines at Geneva, Coming Soon to India The Rs 7 lakh Renault Duster Soon in India French carmaker Renault is all-set to zoom in with its rugged yet modish Sports Utility Vehicle...
TOP 5: Yoga Poses to Lower Your Cholesterol! Shameem Akthar, yogacharya trained with the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, Kerala, shows you five simple ways to tackle cholesterol. Research increasingly proves that cholesterol levels may be managed with the right exercise and diet...
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CONTENTS FAMILY
Secrets for Raising Well Behaved Kids Are you a parent worried over how your kid has been behaving? Do you or your spouse often feel dejected at how junior is becoming more disobedient and hyper-active? You are not alone. A majority of modern parents have no clue how to manage their kids properly. Here is a set of lessons from personal experience and deep study on the subject, that reveals the real..
Which Small Private Banks Will Outperform? KARUR VYSYA BANK
Why are Institutional Investors Gung-ho About a Traditional Private Sector Bank? KARNATAKA BANK
RBI Asks Banks to Focus on MSMEs,Karnataka Bank is Already Focused on MSMEs SOUTH INDIAN BANK’S
Outlook Negative if QIP Gets Through DHANLAXMI BANK
“Focus will be on Better Utilizations and Rationalization of Costs” IN-FOCUS
Joy in Every Business
Joyalukkas is spreading across India and Asia, on a faster decision making process. While buying one’s first Rolls is a difficult decision for even billionaires, for Joy Alukkas, it took only a moment’s outrage. Not only that, he was the first person in this whole world who probably gifted a Rolls Royce before buying one for personal use. The place was Dubai. Joy had been to an exhibition where Rolls..
REALTY
3 Reasons Why Realty Marketing has Failed, And What Can be Done to Revive Realty
In the environment of cut-throat competition which exists in the Indian real estate market today..
INVESTMENT
Investments Better than FDs Now that interest rates are headed downwards, fixed deposits will no more be attractive to investors. Stock markets too have run up too fast since January 2012. Here are some alternatives..
INNOVATION
Indian Scientist Claims Water can Increase Car's Mileage!
“Problems find its way to the solutions" is correctly phrased proverb these days. Increasing price of fuel is something that every person nowadays is critically..
HEALTHCARE
Is Vitamin D the Super Nutrient? And are you getting enough D? No single nutrient works on its own to produce health effects in the human body. Your body needs dozens of different nutrients to survive and thrive, and every..
SEASONAL MAGAZINE
LIC OF INDIA
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The Saving Grace of India & India Inc.
Even as the life insurance sector faces a year of slowdown, LIC of India is moving momentously on various fronts to ensure that it is putting to good use the massive funds the Indian citizens..
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BANK OF INDIA
Already in Recovery Path, Before Industry Turns Around
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Alok Kumar Mishra, CMD
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Bank of India had surprised most analysts and industry watchers, when it beat their estimates in Q3. The downtrend seen so far in the fiscal year-to-date seems to be over. What is impressive in the numbers is that the recovery has outpaced the real turnaround in industries. The hard work that BoI had put into the recovery front has yielded results, with recoveries nearly doubling. Bank of India has decided once and for all to steer clear of troubled sectors, and has rightly identified retail banking as the growth engine in the quarters and years to come. BoI has also beat most market estimates with the scrip already gaining more than 50% from early January.
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FAMILY
Secrets for Well Behave Behav
SEASONAL MAGAZINE
Are you a parent worried over how your kid has been behaving? Do you or your spouse often feel dejected at how junior is becoming more disobedient and hyper-active? You are not alone. A majority of modern parents have no clue how to manage their kids properly. Here is a set of lessons from personal experience and deep study on the subject, that reveals the real secrets behind successful parenting.
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hile Americans fret over modern parenthood, the French are raising happy, well-behaved children without all the anxiety. Pamela Druckerman on the Gallic secrets for avoiding tantrums, teaching patience and saying 'non' with authority. Pamela Druckerman's new book "Bringing Up Bebe," catalogs her observations about why French children seem so much better behaved than their American counterparts. When my daughter was 18 months old, my husband and I decided to take her on a little summer holiday. We picked a coastal town that's a few hours by train from Paris, where we were living (I'm American, he's British),
and booked a hotel room with a crib. Bean, as we call her, was our only child at this point, so forgive us for thinking: How hard could it be? We ate breakfast at the hotel, but we had to eat lunch and dinner at the little seafood restaurants around the old port. We quickly discovered that having two restaurant meals a day with a toddler deserved to be its own circle of hell. Bean would take a brief interest in the food, but within a few minutes she was spilling salt shakers and tearing apart sugar packets. Then she demanded to be sprung from her high chair so she could dash around the restaurant and bolt dangerously toward the docks. Our strategy was to finish the meal quickly. We ordered while being seated, then begged the server
By PAMELA DRUCKERMAN
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Raising ved Kids
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to rush out some bread and bring us our appetizers and main courses at the same time. While my husband took a few bites of fish, I made sure that Bean didn't get kicked by a waiter or lost at sea. Then we switched. We left enormous, apologetic tips to compensate for the arc of torn napkins and calamari around our table.
American families visited our home, the parents usually spent much of the visit refereeing their kids' spats, helping their toddlers do laps around the kitchen island, or getting down on the floor to build Lego villages. When French friends visited, by contrast, the grownups had coffee and the children played happily by themselves.
After a few more harrowing restaurant visits, I started noticing that the French families around us didn't look like they were sharing our mealtime agony. Weirdly, they looked like they were on vacation. French toddlers were sitting contentedly in their high chairs, waiting for their food, or eating fish and even vegetables. There was no shrieking or whining. And there was no debris around their tables.
By the end of our ruined beach holiday, I decided to figure out what French parents were doing differently. Why didn't French children throw food? And why weren't their parents shouting? Could I change my wiring and get the same results with my own offspring?
Though by that time I'd lived in France for a few years, I couldn't explain this. And once I started thinking about French parenting, I realized it wasn't just mealtime that was different. I suddenly had lots of questions. Why was it, for example, that in the hundreds of hours I'd clocked at French playgrounds, I'd never seen a child (except my own) throw a temper tantrum? Why didn't my French friends ever need to rush off the phone because their kids were demanding something? Why hadn't their living rooms been taken over by teepees and toy kitchens, the way ours had?
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Soon it became clear to me that quietly and en masse, French parents were achieving outcomes that created a whole different atmosphere for family life. When
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Driven partly by maternal desperation, I have spent the last several years investigating French parenting. And now, with Bean 6 years old and twins who are 3, I can tell you this: The French aren't perfect, but they have some parenting secrets that really do work. I first realized I was on to something when I discovered a 2009 study, led by economists at Princeton, comparing the child-care experiences of similarly situated mothers in Columbus, Ohio, and Rennes, France. The researchers found that American moms considered it more than twice as unpleasant to deal with their kids. In a different study by the same economists, working mothers in Texas said that even housework was more pleasant than child care. Rest assured, I certainly don't suffer from a pro-France bias. Au contraire, I'm not even sure that I like living
here. I certainly don't want my kids growing up to become sniffy Parisians. But for all its problems, France is the perfect foil for the current problems in American parenting. Middle-class French parents (I didn't follow the very rich or poor) have values that look familiar to me. They are zealous about talking to their kids, showing them nature and reading them lots of books. They take them to tennis lessons, painting classes and interactive science museums. Yet the French have managed to be involved with their families without becoming obsessive. They assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service of their children, and that there is no need to feel
ffective parents are zealous about talking to their kids, showing them nature and reading them lots of books. They take them to tennis lessons, painting classes and interactive science museums.
guilty about this. "For me, the evenings are for the parents," one Parisian mother told me. "My daughter can be with us if she wants, but it's adult time." French parents want their kids to be stimulated, but not all the time. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids areby design-toddling around by themselves. I'm hardly the first to point out that middle-class America has a parenting problem. This problem has been painstakingly diagnosed, critiqued and named: overparenting, hyperparenting, helicopter parenting, and my personal favorite, the kindergarchy. Nobody seems to like the relentless, unhappy pace of American parenting, least of all parents themselves. Of course, the French have all kinds of public services that help to make having kids more appealing and less stressful. Parents don't have
to pay for preschool, worry about health insurance or save for college. Many get monthly cash allotments wired directly into their bank accounts just for having kids. But these public services don't explain all of the differences. The French, I found, seem to have a whole different framework for raising kids. When I asked French parents how they disciplined their
Middle-class has a parenting problem. This problem has been painstakingly diagnosed, critiqued and named: overparenting, hyperparenting, helicopter parenting, and my personal favorite, the kindergarchy.
One of the keys to this education is the simple act of learning how to wait. It is why the French babies I meet mostly sleep through the night from two or three months old. Their parents don't pick them up the second they start crying, allowing the babies to learn how to fall back asleep. It is also why French toddlers will sit happily at a restaurant. Rather than snacking all day like American children, they mostly have to wait until mealtime to eat. (French kids consistently have three meals a day and one snack around 4 p.m.) One Saturday I visited Delphine Porcher, a pretty labor lawyer in her mid-30s who lives with her family in the suburbs east of Paris. When I arrived, her husband was working on his laptop in the living room, while 1-year-old Aubane napped nearby. Pauline, their 3-year-old, was sitting at the kitchen table, completely absorbed in the task of plopping cupcake batter into little wrappers. She somehow resisted the temptation to eat the batter. Delphine said that she never set out specifically to teach her kids patience. But her family's daily rituals are an ongoing apprenticeship in how to delay gratification. Delphine said that she sometimes bought Pauline candy. (Bonbons are on display in most bakeries.) But Pauline wasn't allowed to eat the candy until that day's snack, even if it meant waiting many hours. When Pauline tried to interrupt our
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S
mart parents have managed to be involved with their families without becoming obsessive. They assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service of their children, and that there is no need to feel guilty about this.
children, it took them a few beats just to understand what I meant. "Ah, you mean how do we educate them?" they asked. "Discipline," I soon realized, is a narrow, seldomused notion that deals with punishment. Whereas "educating" (which has nothing to do with school) is something they imagined themselves to be doing all the time.
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conversation, Delphine said, "Just wait two minutes, my little one. I'm in the middle of talking." It was both very polite and very firm. I was struck both by how sweetly Delphine said it and by how certain she seemed that Pauline would obey her. Delphine was also teaching her kids a related skill: learning to play by themselves. "The most important thing is that he learns to be happy by himself," she said of her son, Aubane. It's a skill that French mothers explicitly try to cultivate in their kids more than American mothers do. In a 2004 study on the parenting beliefs of college-educated mothers in the U.S. and France, the American moms said that encouraging one's child to play alone was of average importance. But the French moms said it was very important.
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Later, I emailed Walter Mischel, the
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world's leading expert on how children learn to delay gratification. As it happened, Mr. Mischel, 80 years old and a professor of psychology at Columbia University, was in Paris, staying at his longtime girlfriend's apartment. He agreed to meet me for coffee. Mr. Mischel is most famous for devising the "marshmallow test" in the late 1960s when he was at Stanford. In it, an experimenter leads a 4- or 5-year-old into a room where there is a marshmallow on a table. The experimenter tells the child he's going to leave the room for a little while, and that if the child
doesn't eat the marshmallow until he comes back, he'll be rewarded with two marshmallows. If he eats the marshmallow, he'll get only that one. Most kids could only wait about 30 seconds. Only one in three resisted for the full 15 minutes that the experimenter was away. The trick, the researchers found, was that the good delayers were able to distract themselves. Following up in the mid-1980s, Mr. Mischel and his colleagues found that the good delayers were better at concentrating and reasoning, and didn't "tend to go to pieces
ollowing up these kids later, Mr. Mischel and his colleagues found that the good delayers were better at concentrating and reasoning, and didn't "tend to go to pieces under stress," as their report said.
Children should say hello, goodbye, thank you and please. It helps them to learn that they aren't the only ones with feelings and needs. When they misbehave, give them the "big eyes"—a stern look of admonishment. Allow only one snack a day, say at 4 or 4:30. Remind them (and yourself) who's the boss. Smart parents say, "It's me who decides." Don't be afraid to say "no." Kids have to learn how to cope with some frustration. Adapted from "Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting," published by the Penguin Press.
under stress," as their report said. Could it be that teaching children how to delay gratification—as middle-class French parents do— actually makes them calmer and more resilient? Might this partly explain why middle-class American kids, who are in general more used to getting what they want right away, so often fall apart understress? Pamela Druckerman's new book "Bringing Up Bebe," catalogs her observations about why French children seem so much better behaved than their American counterparts. She talks with WSJ's Gary Rosen about the lessons of French parenting techniques. Mr. Mischel, who is originally from Vienna, hasn't performed the marshmallow test on French children. But as a longtime observer of France, he said that he was struck by the difference between French and American kids. In the U.S., he said, "certainly the impression one has is that selfcontrol has gotten increasingly difficult for kids." American parents want their kids to be patient, of course. We encourage our kids to share, to wait their turn, to set the table and to
practice the piano. But patience isn't a skill that we hone quite as assiduously as French parents do. We tend to view whether kids are good at waiting as a matter of temperament. In our view, parents either luck out and get a child who waits well or they don't. French parents and caregivers find it hard to believe that we are so laissez-faire about this crucial ability. When I mentioned the topic at a dinner party in Paris, my French host launched into a story about the year he lived in Southern California. He and his wife had befriended an
uthority is one of the most impressive parts of smart parenting-and perhaps the toughest one to master. Many smart parents I meet have an easy, calm authority with their children that I can only envy.
American couple and decided to spend a weekend away with them in Santa Barbara. It was the first time they'd met each other's kids, who ranged in age from about 7 to 15. Years later, they still remember how the American kids frequently interrupted the adults in midsentence. And there were no fixed mealtimes; the American kids just went to the refrigerator and took food whenever they wanted. To the French couple, it seemed like the American kids were in charge. "What struck us, and bothered us, was that the parents never said 'no,' " the husband said. The children did "n'importe quoi," his wife added. After a while, it struck me that most French descriptions of American kids include this phrase "n'importe quoi," meaning "whatever" or "anything they like." It suggests that the American kids don't have firm boundaries, that their parents lack authority, and that anything goes. It's the antithesis of the French ideal of the cadre, or frame, that French parents often talk about. Cadre means that kids have very firm limits about certain things— that's the frame—and that the parents strictly enforce these. But inside the cadre, French parents entrust their kids with quite a lot of freedom and autonomy. Authority is one of the most impressive parts of French parenting—and perhaps the toughest one to master. Many French parents I meet have an easy, calm authority with their children that I can only envy. Their kids actually listen to them. French children aren't constantly dashing off, talking back, or engaging in prolonged negotiations. One Sunday morning at the park, my neighbor Frédérique witnessed me trying to cope with my son Leo,
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SMART PPARENTING ARENTING LESSONS
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SOCIAL NETWORK
The Flipsides of Facebook et me begin with a confession here - I am a social network junkie. My love affair with social networks started with Orkut way back in 2005 which I dumped in favour of Facebook two years later. I have been quite active on Mark Zuckerberg (co-founder of Facebook)'s creation since then.
Have a rough idea of what is going on in the lives of people I care for if for some reason I am unable to speak with them in a while (which happens quite often with me)
I am certain that I was one of the first thousand users of Twitter and I also have accounts on Google+, Foursquare, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Foodspotting etc. (somehow I could never get myself to like MySpace) Thanks to iPhones and iPads, I manage to stay alive on all of these.
Stay abreast with latest developments (extremely important in my line of work)
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I completely understand that social networks mean different things to different people and the way I use them may not be the manner in which another individual shall. The following were MY purposes of signing on to them:
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Facebook Reconnect with old friends Keep in touch with friends and family in today's hectic life
Twitter Get first-hand opinion of people who matter rather than read a distorted version of the same in the news
LinkedIn Build my professional network and connect with individuals who have similar career goals Saving the rest for another day, we talk about the biggest of them all today - Facebook. Such has been the impact of Facebook on society that I can bet it shall be a part of history text books taught in schools in 2020 and beyond. It is not merely a Website, it is a global phenomenon. Readers would recall the role Facebook (along with Twitter) played during the Arab Spring last year. This, in my humble opinion,
by Tanuj Khosla
However the Website has flipsides as well which have irritated the living crap out of me. I list a few below. Let me clarify one thing before I proceed further. I have 350 odd 'friends' on my Facebook profile but most of them are not my friends as per the dictionary definition of the word. They include ex-colleagues, classmates whom I have not seen in the last 11-16 years, a few competitive blokes who were more like enemies at school, college or my previous job, many random
people who sent me 'friend requests' after one meeting at a wedding or other social gatherings, distant relatives, old neighbours etc. Why did I accept their requests? - For the very reason social networks exist i.e. to be social. I admit that I was na誰ve.
1 Show-off: Facebook profiles have become pseudo identities of individuals who are leaving no stone unturned to build and maintain a 'cool image' in front of their 'friends' on Facebook. I could tolerate people who were the biggest bores on Earth uploading pictures of themselves 'having fun' or one posting pictures of their new watches, cars, Louis Vuitton bags etc. Even status messages like 'Meetings, meetings and meetings.....am so busy!!!' or 'Had 27 missed calls and 5 text messages on my mobile on my birthday....shall return them soon' could be digested. However since the time Facebook has introduced the 'Check-In' button that allows one to post his/her current location on their Wall, all hell has broken loose. One of my friends knows a guy who is so desperate to be seen as hip and happening that he goes outside high-end pubs and lounge bars and does a Facebook checkin! I hope that person gets some help soon. In another case, a couple whose marriage is on the rocks wrote sonnets in each other's praises on their Facebook Walls on their wedding anniversary. The underlying idea was to project a happy marriage to the world.
However Facebook has flipsides as well which have irritated the living crap out of me. I list a few below. Let me clarify one thing before I proceed further. I have 350 odd 'friends' on my Facebook profile but most of them are not my friends as per the dictionary definition of the word.
2 Too much information: Thanks to this 'Check-in' feature, I see people checking in everywhere from an optician's shop to Pitampura Metro Station to their bathrooms (I am not kidding)! It is almost as if they feel that they are in Bigg Boss's house and the world is interested in every little movement of theirs all the time. Then there are a few who have the art of creating an entire photo album from a meal at a neighbourhood McDonalds to a swim in their own condominium. Hats off to their
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was the good effect of Facebook. There are many other positives in addition to the above.
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Sample a few (compiled after a discussion with friends on this topic over the weekend): CHECK-IN LOCATION S & ACCOMPANYING STATUS MESSAGES
energy and enthusiasm! A colleague's brother's ex-wife used to bitch about her in-laws through her Facebook status updates. An ex-classmate from my engineering course informs the whole world what he has for dinner every night.All this might not be a big deal for many but spare me the horror.
3 Louis Vuitton store "Indulged in some impulse buying, they should give me a loyalty card now"
Starbucks
"Didn't want to spend on cab during this rain, so decided that Starbucks is a better option"
Domestic airport "Can't believe I am flying f***ing Economy Class"
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A five-star hotel "Disappointed to see the bathroom dirty"
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Indira Gandhi International Airport "The Business Class of Singapore Airlines is a million times better than that of Jet Airways"
Stalking: I am sure most of the readers would have experienced 'Facebook stalking' at some point. I remember an incident in which I met an ex-colleague after a gap of two years and she had complete dope on my life from the pictures in which I was tagged by various people. What's more scary, she even knew the name and bio-data of the girl my brother was dating as they were also in one of those pictures! Similarly, I had a weirdo in my MBA days who remembered the T-shirts I wore on various vacations and reminded me of the same when I wore them to lectures. For some inexplicable reason, there are many who are always more interested in other people's lives than their own. Fortunately for them, Facebook provides an ideal platform to stalk their acquaintances. I know people who have stopped posting pictures of their new born babies, new house on Facebook for this very reason. In conclusion, Facebook has definitely altered the behavioural pattern of individuals and social scientists would find this an interesting topic of research. Showing-off, sharing every little detail of one's life and cyber-stalking others are some of the negative manifestations of this change in behaviour. Meanwhile, I have neatly organized my 'friends' on Facebook into various lists and groups (inspired by the 'Circles' feature of Google+) and am back to enjoying social networking again.
TREND
Debit cards rapidly overtake cash in India Consumers in India are growing more comfortable with using their debit cards to pay for purchases, according to Visa's latest Global Payment Tracking (GPT) Survey. overspending on their debit card.
"Indians are motivated by both the convenience of usage as well as the avoidance of debt -- key attributes that debit cards possess and which in turn help promote debit card usage," said Brian McGrory, head of debit products in Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa Worldwide.
We have seen that cardholders who've used their card at least once at a shop or restaurant realise that not only there are no hidden transaction charges, but they really are using their own money -- just in a more modern, secure and convenient way," said McGrory.
The tracker suggests that even though awareness is high, the rate of usage is still relatively low in India. This is because consumers are led by two main misperceptions -- they will incur an additional fee by merchants on each debit card transaction and the fear of
"The biggest hurdle sometimes can just be a personal mindset or a lack of experience in using their debit cards at a shop. Visa has been partnering with a number of retailers across India to provide incentives for Visa debit cardholders to pull out their cards when they shop.
The GPT also revealed that consumers around the world are increasingly relying on debit cards to pay for purchases. On an average, 48 per cent of all the monthly spending (excluding rent and mortgage) is paid on cards out of which, over 25 percent (an increase of two percentage points since 2010)
are debit card payments across the 14 countries covered in the study. "Electronic payments also play an important role in helping governments combat money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and fraud. Electronic payments systems such as debit cards are the way of the future for Asia-Pacific governments, companies and individuals, offering scope for significant further gains in efficiency and productivity for payments systems, as well as increasing financial inclusion and access to financial services for large segments of the population in many Asian developing countries," said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist, IHS Global Insight. Across the 14 countries surveyed, more than 60 per cent of the people polled in the world were cardholders (whether debit or credit card). Specifically, 62 per cent own a debit card while 38 per cent own a credit card.
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The debit card penetration in India is at 53 per cent, a four per cent rise over the previous year. Of the respondents that were interviewed for the survey, 68 per cent of the respondents from India said that they feel safe, and another 51 per cent derive a sense of pride when using their debit cards.
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BUSINESS
Successful business? Thanks to
'core compet
Few management theories have had a more intuitive appeal than that of "core competence". hat theory essentially says successful businesses have a unique set of skills or production techniques that make customers prefer them over their competitors; it adds that businesses seeking to grow or diversify should stay within the realm of their core competence. Click here! This is an idea that is allencompassing in its simplicity. It means that if you are a coal mining company, you should not try to run a luxury hotel chain. Or that if you are a shipbuilder, you should not take a shot at making computer chips.
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It can even be translated to the personal level: if you are a good right-handed spin bowler, don't attempt to make your name as a leftarm fast bowler.
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C K Prahalad (with Gary Hamel) proposed this theory in a 1990 article, "The Core Competence of the Corporation", in Harvard Business Review. In this article, they compared the
success of the Japanese company NEC in the three apparently different businesses of mainframe computers, telecommunication and semiconductors with the performance of the failing American company GTE, which made telephone instruments, television sets and satellites - to name but a few of GTE's many products. Prahalad's conclusion was that NEC's businesses were all based on its core competence of making cutting-edge semiconductors, whereas GTE's disparate businesses were not based on any specific core competence. Prahalad then made a more general case about the success of Japanese companies versus the apparent distress of American ones. Honda was, for example, an outstanding success whereas Chrysler was floundering; and Canon was trumping Xerox. He attributed Honda's success across motorcycles, lawnmowers, generators and cars to its core competence in engines and power trains and Canon's success in cameras, laser printers and copiers to its core competence in optics and
Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder, Rediff, & Chairman, IIM Kolkata.
By Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder, Rediff
ence'
But scholars like Frank Dobbin, a sociologist at Harvard, are asking deeper questions about the core competence theory. Right through the 1970s and early 1980s, says Professor Dobbin, the accepted wisdom on Wall Street and among B-school gurus was that the right strategy for big companies was to buy firms in other industries so as to have a diversified portfolio of businesses. ITT Corporation had a portfolio that ranged from telephone manufacturing to the Sheraton hotel chain and Avis rent-a-car; General Electric, with manufacturing units making nuclear plants and power generators, also had the television company NBC. By the late 1980s, however, the newly formed network of institutional investors and securities analysts started fretting about this strategy of conglomeration. For one, the conglomerate structure made it difficult for them to get an accurate picture of the financial conditions of individual businesses within the conglomerate's portfolio. And, in any case, they were portfolio investors. Professor Dobbin says there are four mechanisms that drove the economic behaviour of deconglomeration. The first was a legal institutional change when the Reagan administration relaxed rules about buying related businesses. The second was "managerialism", a notion that defined executive expertise as a key for a business' success. The third was the rise of a new network of institutional investors and securities analysts. And capping it all was the core competence theory.
It can even be translated to the personal level: if you are a good righthanded spin bowler, don't attempt to make your name as a left-arm fast bowler. Prahalad's theory resonated with the chorus of attacks mounted by Wall Street against diversified conglomerates, as these market players, according to Professor Dobbin, "used their market power to reduce the value of diversified conglomerates, inviting takeover artists and CEOs to restructure big corporations". The core competence theory provided the intellectual justification for all this. Viewed in this light, management theories no longer look context-free. This prompts me to wonder whether management theories fulfil a role in modern society similar to that of the Greek choruses in the plays of Euripides and Sophocles - offering background and summary information to help the audience follow the performance of the actors. Stripped of the context of the play and its characters and the intentions of the playwright and the director, they perhaps have no meaning - or, at least, a different meaning? If ever there was a case for dramatically stepping up research in our Indian Institutes of Management and constructing our own management theories, this is the one.
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microprocessor controls.
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HEALTHCARE
Now, a vest that can alert about heart attacks in minutes Scientists have developed a new cardiac vest that can diagnose heart attacks as soon as they happen, a feat they say could lead to new and effective ways of treating heart patients. onventional electro cardiograph technology, which has been around for the past 60 years, has its limitations and patients have to face delays of up 12 hours for blood test results, during which continuing damage may be done.
disease," Dr Dunbar was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
But the new cardiac vest, developed by a British company, can give doctors detailed information within minutes about whether a patient is suffering an attack and where within the heart the problem is situated, the researchers said.
Prof Clive Kay, medical director of NHS trust, said the vest would help identify high-risk patients "when every minute counts" so treatment could begin earlier than at present.
UK's Bradford Royal Infirmary will be the first hospital in world to use the revolutionary cardiac vest, which contains 80 sensors attached to a patient's chest and back.
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If trials of the new "Heartscape" device are successful, sufferers could be diagnosed up to 12 hours earlier than usual, the researchers said.
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Dr James Dunbar, consultant physician at Bradford Royal Infirmary, said the vest would enable speedier treatment for heart attack patients and also detect signs of heart disease. "Current conventional machines are insensitive for diagnosis of heart
"This new Heartscape vest will help us gain an instant in-depth 3D view, making it easier to interpret whether a patient is having a heart attack, enabling treatment to start earlier and hopefully lead to improved patient outcomes."
"Current conventional machines are insensitive for f o rapid diagnosis heart disease.�
UK's Bradfo Infirmary wilrd Royal l first hospitabl e the world to use in the revolutionary c a vest, which c rdiac 80 sensors attontains to a patient's ached ch and back. est The vest will be available to high risk patients in the hospital from March and the trust hopes to widen the vest trial throughout the hospital in 2013.
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WORKPLACE
Be a better Communicator at office Effective communication is very essential for the success of an individual. However, most people in our country, including professionals, lack the basic skills of communication. Here are the 10 common mistakes at work you need to avoid in order to make a better impression at your workplace.
your speech, practise reading aloud a few sentences each day. Once you get a hang of it, you will learn to do it naturally while speaking.
and watch the same. Ensure that what you are saying and what your body is communicating do not conflict each other.
1. Not maintaining proper eye-contact
3. No attention to body language
4. Speaking in the same tone
When you maintain eye contact with the person you are talking to, you show confidence.Eye contact with the listerner(s) allows the speaker to understand the mind of the listerner(s), customise the speech and to build a personal rapport. Stand in front of a mirror and practice how to perfect your eye-contact while communicating.
Research indicates that we communicate only 7 per cent through words. Most of our communication is through body language. However, if you realise, most of us don't pay much attention to what our body is communicating.
When you speak in the same tone, very soon the listener(s) will get bored. It is important that you modulate your voice to express the right emotions. Even simple things like pausing between words and sentences will make a difference. Voice modulation allows you to stress on certain aspects, communicate the emotion and say something beyond words. Moreover, it keeps the audience interested in you. Practise by reading daily used sentences; pause and stress on important words for impact.
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2. Speaking in a low voice
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A listener would not like to stress too much to listen. A loud and clear voice is a sign of confidence and always welcome. If your voice is clear, it communicates that you are very clear with what you are saying. Low voice is also a sign of poor confidence. To improve clarity in
Sometimes, people who appear to be confident while speaking, are betrayed by their body language that reveal their nervousness. An effective communicator is one who is able to control and communicate in tandem to their body language. To do that, we need to be aware about our own gestures, postures, facial expressions and body movements. A good way to start improving your body language would be to video record yourself
5. Not being in touch Silence may not always be golden, at least not at work. For instance,
6. Improper grooming When a stranger enters a room, one look at the person is enough to generate a certain impression about him/her. This largely depends on what you are wearing and how you conduct yourself. No matter how
Research indicates that we communicate only 7 per cent through words. Most of our communication is through body language. However, if you realise, most of us don't pay much attention to what our body is communicating.
hard it may be for you admit, one must realise that what you wear indirectly communicates our financial success, authority, choice, culture and hygiene habits. You need not be wearing the best Armani in town, but it is important for you to dress the best so that you feel the best and confident from within.
7. Not paying attention to the speaker An excellent listener also makes an excellent speaker because he paid attention to what the speaker was saying. Now, there is a vast
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when you don't answer a missed call, forget to reply to an email or fail to inform your manager that you will not be coming to office, you end up communicating that you either don't care or are in difficult situation. Which may not be the case. Ensure that you answer all the missed calls, reply to all emails and keep seniors informed and updated.
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different between the words 'hearing' and 'listening'. While you can 'hear' superficially by merely nodding your head and not absorbing a single word, 'listening' means paying full attention to the speaker and understanding the message. Next time, someone talks to you, listen to them -- it will be the best gift you could give him/her. Also, when you watch movies with subtitles, try to match the voice with the text. This will help you develop your listening skills.
8. Constantly being interrupted
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Ideally, when a speaker is speaking, listener(s) should not talk. Interrupting is bad manners and also breaks the flow of thought of a speaker. One should wait for the speaker to complete what they are saying. Next time you feel the need to interrupt someone while they are talking, raise your hand or use a signal to communicate, then, wait for the speaker to pause and allow you to make your point.
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9. Badly written emails While drafting emails, it is very important to use the right language for communication, especially if you are communicating to a senior
Next time, someone talks to you, listen to them - it will be the best gift you could give him/her. Also, when you watch movies with subtitles, try to match the voice with the text. This will help you develop your listening skills. employee. Before sending an email, read what you have written at least once to avoid errors and possible miscommunication later. A neat, tidy, well-formatted email with bullet points and relevant data communicates that the writer is focussed and organised. Ideally, emails should always end with an action point. Eg. Kindly ensure that the printer is in working condition by 11 am tomorrow. A few tips for email communication: Re-read emails; do a spell check; format properly; mention subject of email clearly; use professional language (use words like kindly, please, thank you); explain technical terms, simplify
jargons and end your email with the required action.
10. Not considering the audience Most people say what they want to say and get away with it, but effective communication is about speaking what and how the audience wants to listen. Listener(s) gets disconnected from the conversation if the speaker gets too technical or subjective. Whenever you start a conversation, try to establish the purpose of your speech which will get the listener(s) interested. Also stop and ask questions in between so that you know what you are speaking is being understood by people in the audience. It is observed that most professionals invest lot of time, money and efforts in developing their technical skills but very few invest the same in developing their communication skills. We must invest our time and efforts in enhancing our communication skills because they are as important as technical skills. (By Piyush Bhatia, corporate communication trainer & Founder and CEO of BM English Speaking)
WELLNESS
DANGEROUS F ASHION FASHION ASHION::
MOSTUNHEALTHY STYLETRENDS A variety of current fashion trends and clothing staples could land you in the doctor's office, experts have warned. Wearing an ill-fitting bra can cause back strain while cinched belts and tight tutus can compress the lateral, femoral cutaneous nerve that runs from the abdomen to the outer thigh, according to an article in Wall Street Journal. In the article, experts wrote that middle-aged or older men wearing jeans a size or two too small often suffer from abdominal discomfort, distention, heartburn and belching a few hours after eating, the Discovery News reported. "The diagnosis can be made easily in the office by comparing the size of the trousers with the abdominal girth. There is usually a discrepancy of 7.5 centimeters or more," Dr. Octavio Bessa wrote in an Archives of Internal Medicine report. Experts told the WSJ that
tight shirt collars and neckties can reduce circulation to the brain and increase intraocular pressure a risk factor for glaucoma. Those men you're planning on having kids should better stop wearing bike shorts and switch to boxers as experts say compression may hinder sperm count. They have also warned against tootight socks and mittens for kids. They say the elastic that keeps those tiny mittens and socks on your toddler's wrists and ankles can leave lasting marks. Women who love high heels also need to consider their fashion. Teetering around in heels higher than two inches can shorten the Achilles tendon, the article said. A study also found that flip-flop wearers clench their toes, which can cause sore calf muscles and alter your natural gait, potentially leading to long-term ankle and hip problems. Experts also said carrying heavy bags can throw your back out of whack. In addition, body piercing could lead to bacterial infections while hair extensions can cause bald spots.
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INVESTMENT
Investments better than
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ow that interest rates are headed downwards, fixed deposits will no more be attractive to investors. Stock markets too have run up too fast since January 2012. Here are some alternatives to earn higher and relatively risk-free returns.
Equity investors had a tough time in 2011 with Indian indices tanking well over 25 per cent from highs posted in November 2010. In such times, capital preservation can be more important for investors than generation of superior returns. While for many investors, debt by default means 'fixed deposits' it is not always the most prudent option. Perhaps, it may be right time to look at other debt instruments too.
This is because of the inverse proportion between yields and bond prices, that is, bond price goes up when the yield comes down and vice versa. Hence, they can generate extra returns now.
One more reason for taking positions in debt now is since interest rates seem to have peaked out and are widely expected to come down in the coming year -- slowly if not rapidly. So investors looking to put money in debt should look at various debt options which benefit from falling interest rates.
These are best suited for investors belonging to the higher tax brackets of 20 per cent and 30 per cent.
Investors can look to lock in money in tax free bonds which will be boom for investors in highest tax bracket. Another option can be to buy in to the bonds that are listed on stock exchanges but are quoting at a discount and offering better yields (post tax returns).
In comparison, tax free bonds are offering a coupon rate of 8.2 per cent for 10 years and 8.3 per cent for 15 years. So it can be a smart option for investors who can lock-in amount for long duration for better post tax returns than FDs.
Investors can also look to invest in long term gilt funds / debt funds.
We look at few financial instruments apart from FDs which investors can consider while making their debt portfolio:
Tax free bonds
For instance, the best interest rate offered by bank FDs currently is close to 10 per cent and for investor who falls in 30 per cent bracket, the post-tax yield is only 6.91 per cent.
Long term debt funds Though last year short term debt
Liquidity can also be issue in such FDs as many of these deposits do not permit premature withdrawal. into cash and wait when there is unusual movement in the interest rates.
Now that interest rates have seemed to have peaked of, the bond market is anticipating a reduction in the interest rates in near future and is therefore moving towards long term bonds.
Dynamic bond funds are well positioned to stay abreast of the interest rate cycle. They have flexibility to shift allocation and also change the mix of underlying debt instruments. Make sure you evaluate track record of the fund manager before investing.
Fixed maturity plans
Corporate FDs
Currently most investors are looking to lock in their money at FDs of around 9.5 per cent offered by various banks. But fixed maturity plans, FMPs, can offer better tax adjusted returns.
There are also fixed deposits offered by corporates. Credit rating of the company must be evaluated by investors before putting money in such FDs. This is because corporates normally approach investors with FDs when they find it difficult to source funds from their regular sources such as bank loans and institutions money markets.
FMPs have a fixed tenure and are pure fixed income products. However, FMPs don't guarantee fixed rate of return but they offer better post tax returns. The interest earned on bank FDs is taxable according to the income tax bracket the individual belongs to. So an investor in highest tax bracket holding a 10 per cent FD will effectively earn a post tax yield of 6.91 per cent. This is not in case of FMPs. This is because FMPs with maturity of more than a year are eligible for inflation indexation benefits where returns are taxed at 10 per cent without indexation and 20 per cent with indexation whichever is beneficial for investor. FMPs are best suited for conservative investors who are looking for better post tax returns than FDs.
Dynamic Bond Funds Within the debt fund category, dynamic funds have emerged winners over the last six months. Dynamic bond funds have the flexibility to shift scheme maturity period according to interest rate scenario. The fund managers also have flexibility to move
Liquidity can also be issue in such FDs as many of these deposits do not permit premature withdrawal.
Conclusion Investing in debt instruments is not a cakewalk as there is a flip side to it as well. Investors need to understand that though debt is a safer option they cannot adopt buy and forget option. Besides this, liquidity can be an issue in debt instruments. Many of these options, especially with tax benefit, come with lock-in period and are therefore, illiquid. Also you need to evaluate the credit risk. Go with one which has higher credit rating as you are locking your money for long duration of time. Investors are advised to have a good mix of debt instruments in their portfolio to fetch effective post tax returns on their investments.
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FDs
funds ruled the roost, this may be the optimum time to invest in longer duration debt funds, namely medium and long term gilt funds. When interest rates fall, debt funds witness a rise in their NAV and vice versa.
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FITNESS
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By Shameem Akhtar
TOP 5: Yoga poses to lower your cholesterol! Shameem Akthar, yogacharya trained with the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, Kerala, shows you five simple ways to tackle cholesterol. Research increasingly proves that cholesterol levels may be managed with the right exercise and diet. Reducing stress is another way to tackle that puzzling reason why cholesterol levels may be high in individuals whose lifestyle may otherwise be rated as healthy. It has been found that a vigorous exercise programme, which combines intensity, resistance training and stretching may be beneficial. For intensity, pawan muktasana series may be done dynamically. A few rounds of surya namaskars (these need to be taught in a phased manner) also provide the right intensity to your practice.
An effective programme should also include healing pranayamas like the anulom vilom (alternate nostril breathing) and ujjayi (victory breath) and healing meditation like the yoga nidra.
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Resistance training benefits may be derived by doing arm balancers, variations of the plank pose (setu asana) and the downward-facing dog (adhomukha svanasana). And yogic forward bends, standing poses, backbends will provide a vast range of stretches to choose from.
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Marjariasana (Cat stretch,variation) Kneel on your fours. Place both elbows in front. Inhale. Exhaling,stretch out the left elbow high, arm straight, twisting your head and torso to look up at the hand. Hold for ten to 15 seconds. Release, to repeat for the other side. Avoid: If having a neck problem. Benefits: Tones the whole body. Helps apply pressure on the liver, involved with cholesterol production. Is a detox pose.
Rajju Karshanasana (Rope pulling) Sit with legs stretched out in front. Place hands along the legs, palms clenched. Begin to move them alternately, up and down, as if pulling on a rope. Breathing sequence must be normal, ideally synchronised with the movement (eg. As one hand goes inhale, and exhale as you drop it down). Do 15 times or so.
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Benefits: Works the chest region, powers the heart, upper back and shoulders. Improves breathing, corrects postural defects. Provides a gentle but powerful workout to the upper body.
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Padasana (Leg raise, variation) Lie on your back. Hold the right thigh with both hands. Inhale. Exhaling, lift head up, while lifting the left leg also off the ground. Continue holding the right thigh, breathing normally. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Inhale, exhaling drop the leg down. Repeat for the other leg. Benefits: It has a huge cluster of benefits, including stress reduction, preventing and controlling insomnia; it is used as therapy in all major ailments like high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory proble ms, cholesterol manag ement, and all spinal problems.
Shashankasana (Hare pose, variation) Kneel down. Clench fists, place them one over other as shown. Place fists on the ground. Inhale, exhaling lean forward to place forehead on the top fist, as shown. Continue breathing normally. Hips may be off the heels, as shown. Hold for half a minute initially. Then, you may progressively increase duration in the final pose, as per comfort and through regular practice. Avoid: If having knee problem. Benefits: Calms, removing stress. Improves blood circulation ot the torso and head. The pressure at the stomach improves digestive
efficiency. The head down position increases blood flow to the brain and the master glands there, initiating a healing cascade of hormonal flow. Makes the facial skin glow.
Pranamasana (Prayer pose) Place both hands behind, arranging the palms so they come together in a Namaste as shown. Continue normal breathing, pushing shoulders back, keeping chest out. Ensure the palms are fully in contact : it may be not possible for those who have stiff upper back and weak chest muscles, but daily practice with awareness will reach you there. Hold for a minute or so. It may be done both standing, or seated. Benefits: Works out the chest, powers the heart, ups respiratory capacity, prevents and controls upper back and neck problems. Boosts mood.
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STRANGE
What are our call centres doing? A call centre's workers in Gujarat posed as US law enforcement officials and made nearly 8.5 million threatening calls in just eight months to consumers in America, US federal authorities have claimed.
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Based on payment documents and the VOIP address of these calls, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has determined that the call center was run by one Zeus Inc Private Ltd, which has its address at A-308 Wall Street-2, B'H Jungle Bhook Restaurant, Gujarat College Road, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
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In a complaint, the FTC has alleged that American consumers received over 20 million of collection calls from India, and that since January 2010 the operation took in more than USD five million from victims, with collectors demanding between USD 300 and USD 2,000 per call.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Armed with apparently stolen personal information – social security number, date of birth, bank details and even the place of work – these callers threatened US consumers with dire consequences and even have them arrested if the consumers did not pay their loan, which they never owned. Ahmedabad-residents Nirav H Raichur and Parag B Chaudhari are listed as the two directors of Zeus. US authorities are seeking assistance from Indian agencies in its investigation on this case. "This is the first FTC case alleging that threatening calls were made to US consumers from call centers in India," a FTC spokesman said.
US authorities are seeking assistance from Indian agencies in its investigation on this case.
While the matter is being probed, FTC's Midwest regional office Director Steve Baker, when asked if the Indian call center knew that they were doing illegal thing, said that to the extent that the individual caller takers were calling people that they are from US law enforcement agencies. According to FTC, in just eight months more than 8.5 million calls were made to the US from this call center in Ahmedabad. This included nearly 160,000 to phone numbers with area codes in the Northern District of Illinois. The records provide specific information about each call, including the telephone number to which it was made, the date, time and dura-
tion of the call, and the IP address where the call originated. It also include calls to consumers who have complained to the FTC about threatening debt collection calls as well as calls to one of the FTC's consumer declarants. Although the IP addresses indicate that the calls originate in India (most frequently Ahmedabad, Gujarat), consumers' caller ID does not reveal that location. Consumers report their caller ID displaying domestic or blocked phone numbers, it said. In its complaint, FTC said these calls were made on behalf of American Credit Crunchers, related company Ebeeze LLC and their owner Varang Thaker. "We are aware of the defendants in this case making payment to one Indian company in Ahmedabad from where these phone calls origi-
nate based on VOIP address. Records indicate that payments were made to a company called Zeus Ink Pvt Ltd," the FTC official said. Varang K Thaker, an Indian national living in the US as permanent resident, claims he has been trapped. "I am cooperating with FTC. I have nothing to do with it. You please talk to my attorney. It's somebody else who has done this (scam). I am also a victim," Thaker said. "I can't give you any answers right now. I have just taken up this case yesterday. I am not up to speed," Saquib Zuberi, attorney for Thaker, said. "My believe is that my client is a victim. He was victimised by somebody or company or an individual in India. We plan on assisting all agencies involved to find the main culprit of who this activity is," the attorney said.
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The FTC has submitted testimonies of a large number of American victims for this first of its kind fake debt collectors calls being made from India to US consumers.
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MANAGEMENT
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Need For Risk Taking & Innovation
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Investment Banker and Co-founder of MAPE Group, recently spoke at Kerala Management Association about the theme, ‘Technology Potential and Financial Prudence‘. Now Managing Director of Bangalore based MAPE Group, he has a rich experience of driving M&A transactions. Jacob started his career with Price Waterhouse where he was instrumental in setting up their corporate finance practice. While at Price Waterhouse, he worked with a host of international majors for strategizing their India entry plans. Clients he has worked with include SAP AG, Qualcomm, British Telecom, Amway, Corning etc. Subsequently, Jacob was Vice President (M&A) at DSP Merrill Lynch where he has driven landmark deals including acquisition of Coats Viyella’s garment business by AV Birla Group, sale of Burnol & Coldarin brand assets, Dr Reddy’s buy-out of American Remedies and sale of Diamond Dyechem to Ciba AG. Jacob has a first degree in Engineering and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. Key Points from Jacob Mathew’s Speech:
Jacob Mathew, MD, MAPE Group
n a lighter vein, Investment Banking is a broking business, where an invest ment banker just introduces a business buyer and a business seller. Fortune 500 list reveals that 90% of the businesses that were there in the list when Fortune started it in 1955, doesn’t exist today. Many of the players in the list today, like Microsoft, Apple, Dell etc didn’t even exist as businesses in 1955. But there are businesses that have survived even longer periods also like Procter & Gamble that traces its history to 1837. Even in India, before Reliance’s advent, petrochemical majors were companies like Nocil. Other majors like Calico mills or Nirlon don’t exist.
Wipro was a vegetable oil or vanaspati company and they successfully re-invented themselves as an IT hardware and later software company. Fritz Henkel who started detergent major Henkel, has started another surviving company. Jyothi Laboratories was set up by a Bcom Graduate from Thrissur in a small way with Rs 5000 as capital. But it beat Robin Blue which was the market leader. Ujjala, Jyothi’s product went for maximum strength in their segment, but soon realized that the maximum has been reached and diversified into soaps, mosquito coils etc. On behalf of Jyothi, Jacob Mathew discussed for 5-6 years with Henkel India for their brands. Finally, declining their offer, Henkel decided to put it on
auction. He flew in to Germany to block this idea but didn’t succeed. Finally, on the same day the Germans put on bid their 51% stake, under Jacob’s guidance, Jyothi bought 15% from their Indian partner, AC Muthiah. Most people thought that it was foolish, but Jyothi quickly identified and bought more than further 10% stake from Mumbai investors who held large stakes in Henkel India. And that was how the Germans finally agreed as it was clear to them that anyone with 25% stake can block resolutions. That shows the importance of risk taking. According to Jacob Mathew, the best book on risk taking is ‘Against the Gods: The remarkable story of Risk’. VG Sidhartha of Café Coffee Day is another risk taker who grew the business to unprecedented heights, and even started a whole category of his own by marrying two concepts, coffee and Internet. Risk takers may fail sometimes. Example: Two men planned for holidays. One did nothing as it was not sure as he could take a holiday,
but one did elaborate plans. Finally, both couldn’t go in for their holidays? Who won? Jacob says the one who did elaborate plans, as he learned many things by taking the risk of making plans. Kerala IT should grow by tapping its huge work force employed in the IT sector of cities like Bangalore. Self-financing engineering colleges were good as it prevented much money flow from the state. The same should happen with Kerala IT. The huge influx of NRI money can act as an enabler, provided we stop the focus on drinking and political discussions, and take a lesson from Keralites outside the state who are working hard. Infosys is not making big plans in Kerala as social infrastructure is not good. For example, Infosys expects residents associations to remain cool even if groups of girls working at Infosys come and leave at odd hours, which is not the case in Kerala. Contrasting Tecom and Embassy Group of Bangalore, Jacob says Embassy builds 12 million sq ft what Tecom aspires to in Smart City - every two years in Bangalore. It is not a problem of Tecom, but a problem of the Kerala mindset. Travelling 200 kms in Kerala might take 4 hours, and even NRKs in US are surprised that it is still the case, but with projects like Alleppey Bypass in the drawing stage for the last 25 years, how can things be different? Think of the tonnes of fuel and crores in funds that have gone waste on nonexecution of that single project. Even metro rail in Cochin is being made to stall by people. Let us pray that God’s Own Country be freed from the clutches of Devil’s Own People.
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Even while some of the biggest corporate groups like AV Birla entered early into the power sector, they didn’t succeed, but a new generation of Andhra based entrepreneurs or Andhrapreneurs are excelling in power and infra sectors.
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INNOVATION
Indian scientist claims water can increase car's mileage!
ucture of The demo str nt is the experime hite in a w incorporated with a Nissan Sunny over it eet green roof sh ssary for the nece cooling effect.
roblems find its way to the solutions" is correctly phrased proverb these days. Increasing price of fuel is something that every person nowadays is critically affected within one or the other way. Presently, great news that would surely soothe the wound of fuel price hike has surfaced. The credit goes to the genius scientist from Jaipur, Prof. YK Vijay, Director of Center for Development of Physics Education at University of Rajasthan, has brilliantly found an easy and affordable way to increase the fuel efficiency of a car using his personal old vehicle Nissan Sunny 1988 model as his subject for the experiment. This apparatus, Catalytic Fuel Production Kit, will subsequently decrease the fossil fuel intake as it would generate combustible hydrogen fuel that will contribute to the fuel bulk and provide extra component of hydrogen for combustion than only the petrol or diesel resulting less use of fossil fuel for a particular distance to travel.
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The demo structure of the experiment is incorporated in a white Nissan Sunny with a green roof sheet over it for the necessary cooling effect.
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He has been using this car with the fuel kit from one and half year. In its present state, the kit costs around Rs 10,000. All these processes work upon the simple principle of water electrolysis. Hydrogen atoms are highly combustible
and these are extracted from water through water electrolysis.
innovation processes of the existing technology or inventing new ones.
The electrolyte that Prof. YK Yadav uses is the easily available common salt and as per him it the best that can be used in this kit. The hydrogen is mixed with the fuel through air filter.
Most car companies are introducing automatic transmission technology for better mileage return and optimum control in almost every new car that is yet to come this year and also in 2013.
In an interview with Carkhabri.com this brilliant scientist, Prof. YK Yadav confirmed that his patent is initially targeted to reduce ill-effects of pollution that a car makes and to increase the fuel efficiency along with it. This kit can be set up on any engine that uses petrol or LPG fuelling. However, its adaptability with the diesel engine is still under evaluation.
New Ford Fiesta, Tata Aria, Tata Safari Storme are few car models that are perfect examples that state the interests of the car makers to deliver eco-friendly and fuel efficient cars. All these gestures show that more emphasis is made to bring out strategies to eradicate fuel and pollution related problems.
This magical kit is a boon to a country like India where both pollution and increasing fuel price are prime issues that are still unsorted. To curb the severity the research and development section of every automobile manufacturing company is extensively working over it by either through
Blessed with great intellect and sharp brains, Indians are taking leap in scientific researches and have proved themselves with numerous examples. Hopefully, with the sanction of this project now, India will find a new hope towards the path of economical as well as ecological advantages that this country craves for such a long time.
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Healthcare
Is Vitamin D the Super Nutrient? No single nutrient works on its own to produce health effects in the human body. Your body needs dozens of different nutrients to survive and thrive, and every nutrient that has a nourishing effect on your body works together with other nutrients and your body's self healing mechanisms to keep you well. With that said, it's become exceedingly clear that vitamin D appears to be one of the most important nutrients we need to prevent all types of disease and live as long as our genetic potential will allow. Alarmingly, vitamin D deficiency is widespread in the United States, Canada, Australia, the U.K., and other industrialized countries where people have been taught to be afraid of the sun and/or they spend most of their days indoors. If you work indoors and do not get some exposure to sunlight on a regular basis (free of wearing sunscreens and makeup), it's quite possible that you are compromising your health by being deficient in vitamin D. The fact is, it's extremely hard to get all of the vitamin D that you need to experience your best health without some exposure to sunlight. Without vitamin D production from
exposure to sunlight, you would need ten glasses of milk that's been fortified with vitamin D to get the minimum amount of D that you need each day. And you are aware of the many health challenges associated with consuming dairy products, including recurrent ear infections, sinus congestion and infections, eczema, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and many other chronic, degenerative health conditions. Salmon, mackerel, and other oily fish are good sources of vitamin D, but again, you would need to eat much more than is realistic for the average person to meet your minimum vitamin D requirement from eating oily fish alone.
How Does Sunlight Create Vitamin D in Your Body? Sunlight contains ultraviolet (UV) rays that come in three different lengths: UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. UVB rays are the ones that are capable of producing vitamin D in your body by acting on cholesterol found in your skin. To make vitamin D, you need UV-B rays to come into direct contact with your skin. UV-B rays cannot penetrate glass, so you don't make any vitamin D while you're sitting in a car or by a window at work or at home. But creating enough vitamin D in your body isn't as simple as getting a certain number of minutes of sunlight exposure every day because the number and intensity of UV-B rays that reach your skin and lead to vitamin D production is affected by a number of different factors, the main ones being:
Your Skin Color Lighter skin color allows deeper penetration by UV-B rays, which decreases the amount of sunlight exposure needed for adequate vitamin D production. If you have
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And are you getting enough D?
The bottom line is this: intelligent exposure to sunlight on your bare skin is the best way to ensure optimal vitamin D status. And with sunlight-generated vitamin D, you don't have to worry about having too much D in your system, as sunlight destroys any excess vitamin D that it generates in your skin. This is an important point, as having too much vitamin D in your system can be problematic.
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Is Vitamin D the Super Nutrient? darker skin, it's harder for UV-B rays to penetrate your skin and create vitamin D, which means that you need greater exposure to sunlight than someone with lighter skin.
Season If you live above 35 degrees latitude north or below 35 degrees latitude south, you receive little to no UV-B rays from some point in autumn to some point in spring. During this time, your body has to rely on the vitamin D that it has created during warmer months, or on intake of vitamin D through food and supplements.
Altitude and Latitude The further north or south you live from the equator, the less exposure you have to UV-B rays. The higher you live above sea level, the greater exposure you have to UV-B rays.
Pollution and Clouds Both decrease the number of UV-B rays that reach you.
Your Age
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With each passing year, natural degenerative changes that occur in your skin make it harder for UV-B rays to convert cholesterol in your skin into vitamin D. It's a known fact that elderly people need to rely more on food sources than sunlight for their vitamin D. At 70 years of age, the average person has approximately 30% of the capacity to generate vitamin D from sunlight that a 20-year old has.
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Why is Vitamin D Important Again? There's a growing mountain of evidence that indicates that having enough vitamin D in your body is essential to reducing your risk of
every disease that we know of. Every single one, no exaggeration. In particular, vitamin D deficiency is strongly linked to increased risk of experiencing the following: Cancers of the breast, ovary, prostate, colon, esophagus, pancreas, and leukemia. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Medicine in 2007 found that women who ingested 1,100 IUs of vitamin D and 1200 mg of calcium daily reduced their risk of developing cancer by 70%, Diabetes types 1 and 2, Osteoporosis Osteomalacia - chief complaint is typically generalized aches and pains throughout muscles and bones, often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. Multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune illnesses. [7,8,9,10] Colds, flus, and other infectious diseases like tuberculosis. Rickets, which occurs at about six months of age in children who are vitamin D deficient. Presenting signs are typically skeletal deformities, growth retardation, and muscle weakness.
How Much Vitamin D Do You Need for Your Best Health? Based on all of the most recent research on this matter,an optimal range is somewhere between 50 and 60 ng/ml (125 to 150 nmol/l). (To convert ng/ml to nmol/l, simply multiply by 2.5.) Unfortunately, the only way to know where you're at is to ask your doctor to include 25 (OH) D, also known as 25-hydroxy D, with your blood work during your next checkup. Some labs test for 1,25 hydroxy D, which isn't as accurate a marker of your vitamin D
status as 25 hydroxy D, so be sure to specifically ask for 25 hydroxy D. You want your 25 hydroxy D level to be at least 30 ng/ml (75 nmol/l), but again, based on the research mainly that of Dr. Michael Holick, the optimal range appears to be 50 to 60 ng/ml. Some prominent physicians and vitamin D experts feel that one can go even higher, even up to 80 ng/ml. But my suggestion is to err on the side of caution and aim to be in the 50 to 60 range. The 50 to 60 range is based on numerous studies that show strong relationships between these levels and reduced risk of a wide variety of chronic diseases and increased lifespan. This range is also based on the 25 hydroxy D levels of healthy people living in areas of the world (tropical and subtropical regions) where it's quite common to receive more than enough sunlight exposure to ensure regular vitamin D production. But here's an important point that you want to keep in mind: When sunlight creates vitamin D in a healthy person and that person's 25 hydroxy D is in the optimal range, that person is almost certainly benefiting from other natural compounds that are generated with sunlight exposure. Dr. Holick calls these other compounds "photo products," and he and his team are currently researching the makeup and benefits of these photo products. Put another way, establishing optimal vitamin D status mainly via healthy sunlight exposure may provide more health benefits than establishing optimal vitamin D status mainly via foods and supplements. Correct usage of foods and supplements only gives you the right amount of vitamin D -
way to be absolutely sure is to get a 25 hydroxy D test. If you are indoors quite a lot, tend to stay out of the sun, and/or live in the mid or high latitudes, chances are good that you can benefit from vitamin D supplementation.
At the same time, it's worth remembering that even responsible exposure to sunlight comes with some undesirable effects, like premature aging of skin and possibly increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancers, depending on your history of sunlight exposure. So it's too early to say which is more desirable between getting vitamin D mainly from sunlight vs. mainly from foods and supplements. What we do know for sure is that keeping your 25 hydroxy D level somewhere between 50 and 60 ng/ ml, possibly even up to 65 ng/ml can significantly decrease your risk of all types of disease and increase your lifespan. And a wise approach is likely getting vitamin D from a combination of responsible sunlight exposure and foods and supplements that come with vitamin D.
Salmon
3 ounces 530 Vitamin D (IU)
Mackerel 3 ounces
508 Vitamin D (IU)
Cod Liver Oil
1 teaspoon 400 Vitamin D (IU)
How Much Sun Should You Get? It's near impossible to provide specific recommendations in this area because of the many factors that affect your ability to generate vitamin D from sunlight.
Do You Need to Take a Vitamin D Supplement? The easiest way to figure this out is to have your blood tested for 25 hydroxy D. If you're below 50 ng/ ml, you can get more vitamin D through sunlight and/or take a vitamin D supplement. If you live in the subtropics or tropics and you aren't shy about getting sunlight exposure, chances are that you don't need to take a vitamin D supplement, but again, the only
Sardines
3 ounces 231 Vitamin D (IU)
Egg Yolk
1 medium 25 Vitamin D (IU)
Physicians who regularly check 25 hydroxy D levels in their patients,they'll agree that vitamin D is easily the most widespread nutritional deficiency in today's population, especially among the middle and upper classes. Getting back to supplementation, the first step is to consider including healthy foods that have naturally occurring vitamin D in your diet. Here are some food that are healthy choices for most people: Keep in mind that for every 100 IU that you ingest, you raise your 25 hydroxy D in ng/ml by about 1. These days,a person who can't benefit from adding an additional 1000 IU to their diet above and beyond what is obtained through sunlight exposure and eating the foods listed above. Dr. Holick feels that every adult and child needs to take a minimum of 1000 IU of vitamin D along with a multivitamin that contains 400 IU of vitamin D. One last point for now: If you're obese, you likely need to get more vitamin D than non-obese people, as obesity is a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. The reason is that vitamin D gets trapped within fat tissue and can have some difficulty leaving to enter your bloodstream to supply the rest of your cells. Because of this, obese patients tend to need at least twice as much vitamin D as nonobese people in order to maintain optimal vitamin D status. The science surrounding the human body's need for vitamin D is groundbreaking in every way, and ensuring that you are getting enough is a guaranteed way of significantly improving the quality and length of your life.
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they don't generate the photo products that sunlight does. As more information about these photo products becomes available, I'll be sure to provide an update.
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INSURANCE
LIC OF INDIA
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The Saving Grace of India & India Inc.
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Even as the life insurance sector faces a year of slowdown, LIC of India is moving momentously on various fronts to ensure that it is putting to good use the massive funds the Indian citizens have collectively entrusted to it for insuring their life and properties, as well as for delivering good market returns. While FIIs sold off Indian market, LIC came to the support of beaten down stocks, and it is even supporting select players in shunned sectors like microfinance and airlines. LIC’s market support for PSUs is right now getting a shot in its arm, as its upper ceiling in PSU stakes has been removed recently. On the infrastructure front, LIC has recently come to the support of the world’s largest infrastructure project that India is proudly undertaking with assistance from Japan.
DK Mehrotra, Chairman 2011 was one of steep losses for India Inc and its shareholders. As a big part of India Inc, government owned companies too were not spared the ordeal. Many retail investors think that the tide however turned recently due to liquidity by FIIs. Though partially true, even before the FII influx came, came the crucial support of LIC of India. India’s largest institutional investor mainly came in to support beaten down public sector, and especially its banks. In a year in which life insurance sector is not expected to outperform this was a generosity from the insurance major. Or was it? It was also one of the wisest investment decisions LIC of India ever took on behalf of its crores of investors. Stock market investments are always done best at low levels, and LIC didn’t waste that precious chance. Today in most of their recent investments, LIC must be sitting on significant mark-to-market gains as Nifty has soared by over 1000 points in recent weeks. LIC had increased its stakes in
public sector banks like, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Andhra Bank. But it was not an all-out buying spree. Revealing that it acted judiciously for meeting its investment objectives, it also booked profits in some banking counters that had run up sharply and were in overbought conditionlike Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, and Central Bank of India. In the private sector banking space,
Features of New Plan - Jeevan Vriddhi The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has recently launched a new plan 'Jeevan Vriddhi' on the traditional platform. This is a single premium non linked insurance plan where the risk cover is 5 times of premium chosen by the customer and offers excellent Guaranteed returns at Maturity. The plan, which is an ideal combination of Insurance and Returns, would be available for a limited period only, up to a maximum of 120 days. A major highlight of this plan is that it offers multiple benefits to the customer, these being: 1) Security - Five times of the single premium is being offered as the risk cover, 2) Growth - There is attractive Guaranteed Maturity Sum Assured along with Loyalty additions, if any, 3) Convenience - One time payment only. 4) Freedom - There is no upper limit on investment for eligible lives. 5) Liquidity Policy Loan is available after just one year.
as a corporate agent to sell its life & general insurance products, so as to leverage Bandhan’s over 1500 branches, 10,000 member field force, and over 33 lakh customers. LIC is also supporting troubled state carrier Air India’s Rs. 7400 crore government-backed bond issue, which is expected to ease the pressure on public sector banks and enable them to support Air India again with a total restructuring program. LIC is ideally suited for this 20-year NCD program as Air India is promising a higher yield than comparable government bonds. All in all, LIC of India is putting to good use massive funds the Indian citizens have collectively entrusted to it for insuring their life and properties, as well as for delivering good market returns. But wait till you hear the largest ever support by LIC to the country. Unknown to many, India is undertaking the world’s largest ever single infrastructure project worth $100 billion or Rs 5,00,000 crore, spanning six of the countries largest and most industrialised states. Bigger than anything that even China has ever undertaken, the nearly 1500 km road and rail corridor will have several new smart cities from Dadri near Delhi to Navi Mumbai. But this ambitious project - Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor - has still not reached anywhere due to the project’s biggest backers like Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) uncomfortable with significant private presence in the project. Government has recently tried to correct this structure, and LIC has wholeheartedly come forward to take over the equity of private entities, IL&FS and IDFC, in this colossus of a project that can transform the fortunes of India.
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TS Vijayan, MD
the life insurance leviathan supported beaten down value picks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, & Yes Bank. However, all these secondary market buying may be soon eclipsed by a more ambitious program from LIC of India. Government had recently ceded to its long pending plea to allow it to acquire more than 10% stake in each PSUs. And with its recent buying spree, LIC had almost reached this crucial level in most blue-chip PSUs. The first beneficiaries of this scheme will be three other public sector banks - Dena Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, & Punjab & Sind Bank - which are raising significant capital by preferential issues of 5% each to LIC. Market watchers are expecting almost all PSUs with a capital raising requirement to knock on the doors of LIC in the coming months. Recent weeks were also witness to several new initiatives by LIC. While other financial sector players continued to shun sectors like microfinance and airlines, LIC scouted deep down into these sectors to find whether there is any synergistic value. It appointed Kolkata based leading MFI, Bandhan Financial Services,
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AUTO
The Rs 7 lakh Renault Duster soon in India French carmaker Renault is all-set to zoom in with its rugged yet modish Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Renault Duster to India by June this year. Duster is expected to bear a 4x2 and 4x4 mechanism apart from the 1.6L, 16-valve petrol engine or a 1.5L dCi diesel power-train under its hood when it sees its global launch. In India, one can look ahead to the 1.5L diesel version that is capable of yielding around 85PS of utmost power. An affordable luxury SUV that is reasonably priced between Rs 700,000 - Rs 10 lakh, Duster will be a threat to brawny Mahindra Scorpio and macho XUV500. Renault Duster will carry an impressive front that will hold a freshly styled chrome grille that adds more value to the face of the vehicle. The Renault badge is placed at the centre of the three horizontal slat grille.
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Twin barrel headlamps
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This sort of headlamps are rarely seen on Indian SUVs. Such headlamps provide more focus and clear beam, which is excellent from the drivers view point when driving on long routes. 16" alloy wheels, front fog lamps The 16-inch alloys are likely to be standard on all variants of Renault Duster.
These broader wheels will give the car a firm grip on uneven city or off-roads. Moreover, the spherical front fog lamps for clearer view are engraved at the respective corners of the large nudge-guard shaped front bumper.
Keyless entry Renault is one of the pioneers to follow innovative and hassle free function of remote keyless entry in their vehicles. This is the safest and latest technique. Earlier it ws available only in premium sedans.
Plush leather upholstery The interior is made of premium leather upholstery that makes the passengers feel fresh even after a long journey. 4-speaker music system with USB, AUX-IN & bluetooth connectivity A surround sound theatre effect will travel with you while on the move with 4quality speaker music system that will carry handy features of USB and auxiliary port to listen to your favorite songs. Moreover, a Bluetooth connectivity interface to pair your handset is also available.
ABS with brake assist Satellite audio & phone & EBD control Being a global car maker the mechanism of ABS (Antilock Brake System) with Brake Assist is bound to make its way into the safety aspect of Renault Duster. It is combined with EBD (Electronic Brake-force Distribution).
Some novel features will comprise satellite audio system to tune in to your desired radio stations from around the globe. While with the phone control feature you can stay connected on the go.
Dual front airbags
Rear defogger, rear wiper & washer
The active safety element of the dusky looking Duster comprise dual front airbags that provide maximum safety to the front occupants.
The tail gate of Renault Duster will enclose a convenient feature of rear defogger that is handy in bad
weather. Rear wiper and washer are also available.
A boot capacity of 475 litres The interiors of Renault Duster are extremely spacious as it has a boot space of 475 litres, hence big luggage can be carried without worries.
Electrically adjustable ORVMs Another convenient feature in the form of electrically modifiable Outside Rear View Mirrors (ORVMs) will be at hand in the Renault's New SUV Duster that can be adjusted according to the need.
Rear parking sensors
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This is a very useful and practical safety feature that avoids any kind of bruises to the rear bumper of the vehicle, at the time of parking.
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COVER STORY:
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What Makes NBFCs Tick? What Makes NBFCs Risky?
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Their name itself is unimaginative. Reflecting the utter lack of creativity inherent in our bigwigs. But NBFCs didn’t choose their name. Who would want to be known as anything ‘Non of anything established‘? Still, they were accorded that silly name. The intention was clear - whatever great stuff you do, you will always be secondary citizens to our banks. But that was only in the name. No other sector has been aided this much, by the Government, for unbridled growth. Again, the intention was clear - you do the unglamorous work like
financial inclusion, and we will look the other way. Too bad that it produced a Sahara and an SKS. If whatever sins that are being alleged on Sahara or SKS is true, the nation has only one question to ask the regulators where were you all through these years? And where is the guarantee that whichever NBFCs that are thriving now won’t be targeted tomorrow? Some of the NBFCs have become so huge that Government will be forced to recommend them for a banking license. Coming to the angle of customers and
Anil Ambani, Chairman RELIANCE CAPITAL
TT Srinivasaraghavan, MD SUNDARAM FINANCE LIMITED
YM Deosthalee, CMD L&T FINANCE HOLDINGS LIMITED
corporate governance of these NBFCs rather than what the regulators do, too late. But is it how a nation and a core sector should really work? Seasonal Magazine takes a sharp look at the listed and unlisted NBFC space to find out players that excel in sustainable business, societal ethics, and corporate governance.
R Sridhar, MD SHRIRAM TRANSPORT FINANCE CO. LTD.
Rajeev Jain, CEO BAJAJ FINANCE LIMITED
Ramesh Iyer Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited
Sanjay Chamria, VC & MD MAGMA FINCORP
VP Nandakumar, Chairman Manappuram Finance Ltd
Hemant Kanoria, CMD
Vellayan Subbiah (CIFCL)
SREI INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE LIMITED
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investors, NBFCs have the potential to affect - positively or negatively - the lives of millions of citizens in this country, maybe more than any other sector. The only silver lining is the due diligence exhibited by some reputed long-only funds - both overseas and domestic - that have invested into listed NBFCs as much as they have invested in listed banks, due to these NBFCs‘ impressive track-record in wealth creation. Their entries and exits are better barometers of
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SHRIRAM TRANSPORT FINANCE CORPORATION
Size to Bring on Greater Regulatory Focus India’s largest NBFC in the leasing and hire-purchase space is noted for its superior return ratios like a Return on Equity of 24.89% and Return on Assets of 4.85%, in FY‘11. But such returns were not enough to guard the stock from selling pressure during most part of the year-to-date, that resulted
in a 50% value erosion in Shriram Transport. Major sellers included Deutsche Securities and Vanguard Group. Due to its mammoth size, Shriram Transport is expected to be one of the first targets by financial sector regulators for closer regulation. The stock had rebounded to an extent, with the market recently, but re-capturing yearly highs won’t be easy, especially with the kind of flat results delivered in Q3. As the leading asset-financing NBFC, Shriram Transport is likely to be most impacted if the recommendations of MV Nair Committee and Usha Thorat Committee are implemented.
R Sridhar, MD SHRIRAM TRANSPORT FINANCE CO. LTD.
PERFORMANCE:
24.89% Return on Assets: 4.85% Max 52-Week Fall: 50% Return on Equity:
Reliance Capital
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A Story of Too Much, Too Fast, Too Bad
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India’s largest diversified NBFC stands as stark testimony to how bad NBFC numbers can go from glorious heights. Reliance Capital’s return ratios have turned deeply disturbing in recent years, with FY’11 Return on Equity at just 2.99% and Return on Assets at just 0.83%. Even all public sector banks fare better than this flagship finance company of Reliance ADA Group, which is into all financial pies imaginable. Diehard ADAG fans still think there will be a turnaround down the lane, but all would agree that it is a long way off. With such returns, there is no wonder that there was tremendous selling pressure in Reliance Capital for most
Performance Return on Equity
2.99% Return on Assets
0.83% Max 52-Week Fall
64.43%
Sam Ghosh CEO, Reliance Capital
part of the year-to-date, with the scrip losing 64.43% in value. Though the scrip had rebounded sharply to an extent with the market, regaining yearly high looks next to impossible, with Q3 consolidated bottomline dipping by 43%. Like other ADAG stocks, Reliance Capital is affected more these days by fears about corporate governance issues and hopes about fortunes of its political allies like SP.
MAHINDRA FINANCE
Mahindras’ Second Try at Finance is Growing Despite Challenges Assets of 4%, in FY‘11. But such returns were not enough to guard the stock from selling pressure during most part of the year-todate, that resulted in a near 30% value erosion in Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services. However, M&M Financial fared
Performance: Return on Equity : 19.41% Return on Assets : 4.00% Max 52-Week Fall : 29.35%
better than some of its peers in this respect. Due to its relatively large size, Mahindra Finance is expected to be one of the first targets by financial sector regulators for closer regulation. The stock had rebounded smartly, with the market recently, and recapturing yearly highs looked easy, especially with the kind of good standalone performance delivered in Q3. But as a leading asset-financing NBFC, Mahindra Finance is likely to be impacted if the recommendations of MV Nair Committee and Usha Thorat Committee are implemented.
SKS Microfinance
Performance:
The Profound Questions the SKS Affair Raises for All NBFCs Country’s largest listed NBFC in the microfinance space has been going through a never-ending series of problems. Though the SKS fiasco is attributed more on its former promoters like Vikram Akula or current leaders like MR Rao, it is a wonder how blame can escape this nation’s financial and securities regulators, their political bosses, the investment banks like Kotak who did the infamous SKS IPO, and even celebrity backers like Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. Were they all bluffed into backing a loan-shark business like MFI, which needed only a state government to
dismantle, or was it a case of making money for all, at the poorest of the poor’s expense, until somebody cried out that the king is naked? Can the mess that hit SKS yesterday, hit other NBFC
MR Rao, MD, SKS Microfinance
Return on Equity
6.27%
Max 52-Week Fall Return on Assets
2.78%
86.35%
segments tomorrow? SKS Micro’s FY’11 RoE was at 6.27% and RoA was at 2.78%, but the situation has deteriorated further since then. The scrip has lost an enormous 86.35% of its value in the year-to-date, and has failed to bounce back with the market. There is no respite seen on the horizon with losses continuing to mount, and latest investigations into farmer suicides revealing links with SKS employees. Though the NBFC successfully raised Rs. 354 crore through a securitization deal recently, future looks bleak.
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Long back Anand Mahindra lend his valuable family name to a young entrepreneur named Uday in the financial sector, and Kotak Mahindra hasn’t looked back since then, eventually turning into a bank too. Understanding the folly since the last few years, Mahindras have been trying hard to bring up their own baby in finance. Today, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, the country’s second-largest NBFC in the leasing and hire-purchase space, is noted for its healthy return ratios like a Return on Equity of 19.41% and Return on
Ramesh Iyer MD, Mahindra Finance
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Sundaram Finance
Adaptability & Rural Focus to Help in Facing Challenges India’s fourth-largest NBFC, by market cap, in the leasing and hirepurchase space, is noted for its healthy Return on Equity of 20.44%. But its Return on Assets at 2.56% lagged some of its peers in FY‘11. But Sundaram Finance demonstrated a steady performance in FY’12 till date, and on back of this, it is one of the few NBFCs that has marked a new 52Week High recently, making its maximum gain from yearly low to yearly high at an impressive 56.32%. Due to its relatively large size, Sundaram Finance is expected to be one of the targets
by financial sector regulators for closer regulation. And as a leading asset-financing NBFC, Sundaram Finance is likely to be
Performance: Return on Equity
20.44% Return on Assets
2.56% Max 52-Week Gain
56.32%
TT Srinivasaraghavan, MD SUNDARAM FINANCE LIMITED
impacted if the recommendations of MV Nair Committee and Usha Thorat Committee are implemented. But there are several pluses that add to a positive outlook like its early-on rural push, and successful adaptation from sluggish sectors like MHCVs to buzzing segments like agricultural and construction equipment as well as LCVs.
BAJAJ FINANCE
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Diversification Makes Returns Safe and a Bit Dull Too
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One of the country’s leading diversified NBFCs, Bajaj Finance is noted for its healthy Return on Equity of 18.18%. But its Return on Assets at 3.06% lagged some of its peers like Shriram Transport and Mahindra Finance in FY‘11. But on resilient fundamental performance in the fiscal year-todate, Bajaj Finance demonstrated a resilient market performance in FY’12 till date, and on back of this, it is one of the few NBFCs that has marked a new 52-Week High recently, making its maximum gain from yearly low to yearly high at an impressive 60.78%, even though it took better part of the
year. Due to its relatively large size, Bajaj Finance is expected to be one of the targets by financial sector regulators for closer regulation. And as a leading asset-financing NBFC, Bajaj Finance is likely to be impacted if the recommendations of MV Nair Committee and Usha Thorat Committee are implemented, but only to a lesser degree than other peers due to its significant diversifications. But due to it being a diversified player, return ratios are likely to not outperform, even while its risk profile is better than many of its peers.
Mr. Rajeev Jain, CEO BAJAJ FINANCE LIMITED
Performance Return on Equity
18.18% Return on Assets
3.06% Max 52-Week Gain
60.78%
“
“ If Interest is Capped, Volumes will Compensate
Seasonal Magazine caught up with Chairman VP Nandakumar to clarify various points regarding both developments. Looking at the clarifications any market watcher would be concerned whether RBI had gone in for an overkill with Manappuram. While nobody will have any doubt that wrong-doers should be warned, the relevant question is who bears the brunt of such regulatory actions. A close look at recent bulk deals post the RBI order reveals that most long-only FIIS and DIIs in Manappuram has remained with them, or at least haven't done large exits. What that also reveals is that much of the exits were by panicked retail investors, many of whom might not be in profit due to the sharp market correction during recent quarters. Also of concern is whether the speculated action against gold loan lenders is to protect the interests of public and private sector banks. Though no one would doubt that
extremely high interest rates shouldnt be charged, it is an undeniable fact that people go to gold loans lenders mainly because banks are not processing such loans speedily or in a customerfriendly way. In its recent Board Meeting, Manappuram Finance has constituted an independent Board Commitee under the Chairmanship of Jagdish Capoor (former Deputy Governor of RBI and former Chairman of HFDC Bank) to improve corporate governance. The committee will be assisted by leading accounting firm, KPMG, and leading law firm Amarchand Mangaldas. Off to the interview with VP Nandakumar: Have Manappuram Finance or Manappuram Agro Farms accepted and/or renewed deposits from public, after March 22nd 2011, when it was converted into a nondeposit taking NBFC? If yes, what is your justification for it?
There are two parts to your question. Firstly, let’s be clear that Manappuram Finance Ltd. has not accepted or renewed deposits from the public after March 22, 2011. However, as we clarified in our recent press releases, we accept investments from the public into our NCDs and bonds which do not fall within the definition of public deposits. Secondly, about Manappuram Agro Farms. This is a proprietary firm that belongs to me that has accepted deposits from the public, mainly from my circle of friends and acquaintances in and around Thrissur. Now, RBI has said that under Section 45-S of the RBI act, unincorporated bodies are prohibited from accepting deposits from the public. However, the legal advice we had been given was that when this section is read along with Section 45-I, there is an exemption for unincorporated bodies dealing in agriculture and related activities. Anyway, now that the RBI has clarified, I have stopped accepting deposits in Manappuram Agro
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Manappuram Finance Ltd has been going through a difficult patch after the RBI directive that its group companies should stop taking deposits. Close on heels came speculations that RBI will regulate gold loan players like Manappuram Finance and Muthoot Finance.
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“If Interest is Capped, Volumes will Compensate” Farms and I am also refunding the same as and when the claims are made.
the depositors who wanted to withdraw prematurely without any hitch.
expect prevention of such issues through better corporate governance?
When Manappuram Finance became a non-deposit taking NBFC, does it imply that other group firms also have to follow suit?
Is there any restriction on you to accept investments through secured NCDs and subordinate bonds? What is the issue, if any, regarding NCDs?
No, there is no such implication.
As things stand now, there is absolutely no restriction on us accepting investments through NCDs and subordinated bonds and I don’t think there Is any issue regarding NCDs.
I accepted deposits in Manappuram Agro Farms believing that no violations were involved and that was an error of judgment. The other point that was brought out was about Manappuram Agro Farms having used a few branches of Manappuram Finance Ltd. to book deposits. At the Board meeting of February 10, it was decided to ring fence the operations of Manappuram Finance from other Manappuram Group concerns and this will prevent a recurrence.
Manappuram Agro Farms Ltd is said to have deposits and liabilities involving Rs. 140 crore. Are you repaying the whole amount and in what time-frame? Yes, I am repaying the whole amount at the earliest, in any case not later than the maturity of the deposits. Moreover, we are also giving depositors the option to withdraw prematurely as well. Why did you opt to roll over some deposits, as being alleged? Deposits were not rolled over in Manappuram Finance, in fact, they were repaid on maturity. Some of the depositors shifted their money to Manappuram Agro Farms of their own accord. Besides, as I said before, at the time we believed it was permissible. Can you approximately quantify the impact of RBI order on your financial projections? There will be no financial impact on Manappuram Finance Ltd.
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You have clarified that there are no balance sheet linkages between Manappuram Finance and the other companies. But even unconnectedly, is there any strain on your balance sheet as some sections of the media claim?
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Yes, there are no balance sheet linkages between Manappuram Finance Ltd. and other Manappuram Group companies. And there is no strain on me whatsoever. In fact, in the past few days, we have met the claims of all
What all constitute your regular ways of raising money for lending, and is any of those routes affected now? We raise money for lending mostly through borrowings from Banks. We also tap the money market through CPs and there is a relatively small portion of debt raised from the retail segment (NCDs and subordinated bonds). All these routes continue to be available as before. Are you talking with institutional investors already on this issue? Do you expect large exits by FIIs, considering last two days’ massive price and volume action? Or is it just a knee-jerk reaction? We have been in regular touch with our institutional investors. Initially, like everyone else, they were also concerned but once they were fully briefed about the situation, they have been supportive. In fact, we had a Board Meeting on February 10 and many constructive measures are being taken based on the inputs received during the meeting. Do you think that the issue that RBI alleges on you is done by other gold loan companies or NBFCs? No, I don’t think that is the case at all. According to you, what led to this kind of situation, and how do you
Rating agencies like CRISIL & ICRA have put Manappuram on a ratings watch. In what time-frame do you plan to alleviate the concern of such agencies? I think it’s very clear that there are no financial implications for Manappuram Finance Ltd. and I’m sure the rating agencies will, in due course, factor that into their ratings. Besides, the measures we have initiated since the Board meeting will fully alleviate their concerns. You had disclosed that an ongoing family feud is behind this development. Can you explain this in detail? Well, yes, I did mention that, but it’s better that I don’t add to what I’ve already said. How do you view RBI's speculated move to curtail gold loan companies like Manappuram & Muthoot by putting interest limits as well as loan-to-value limits? As of now, it is only a speculation. But even otherwise, I don't think there will be any serious impact from this on Manappuram Finance as such a move will cause volumes to surge.
“Our Gold Loans Mainly Fund Seasonal Trade and Home Buying” Gone are the days when gold loans meant distress loans, says Thomas George Muthoot, Director of Muthoot Fincorp Ltd, part of the diversified business conglomerate, Muthoot Pappachan Group. Seasonal Magazine queries Thomas George Muthoot on the Group‘s strategies and plans. Despite having a listed company in the Group for some time now, you have been reluctant to list your flagship, Muthoot FinCorp. How would you assess the strengths and weaknesses of getting listed? We are yet to decide the pre-IPO valuation and pricing as we are exploring other options including divesting a strategic stake to private equity players. We are working on our IPO plans & we plan to approach markets at an appropriate time. Basically, we are waiting for the right valuations. We are growing at a good and steady pace, and by the time the formalities are over, and better valuations are available, we would be automatically at a larger size by way of loan book and bottomline.
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How do you fund this rapid growth? There are different avenues for raising funds, but due to the immense trust the Muthoot name has in Kerala, secured bonds is a preferred way before us.
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Have you already taken your first institutional investors into Muthoot FinCorp? If not, when is the first entry by PE funds expected? We are in talks with multiple PE funds, but we have not yet decided or zeroed down on any of the PE funds as of now. Nor have we given the mandate for identifying them to any investment bankers. Our own team which has members with experience in PE funds is handling this now. The company ownership is currently 100 per cent within the family.
How are you capitalizing on the synergies between your listed company doing auto loans and unlisted company doing gold loans, and how it would benefit each? Muthoot Capital Services enjoys great synergy from Muthoot Fincorp in terms of distribution network and ready customer base resulting into cross selling and up selling of products. The customers walking into Muthoot Fincorp branches can also avail of auto loan services. What we have found, especially in recent years, as a growing trend, is that our customers are often common across categories. For example, somebody who is an insurance customer will very well be a gold loan client too.
would IT sector employees go for gold loans? They mainly go for it to raise the margin money for housing loans. While they tend to rely for home loans on mainstream players like HDFC or banks, for the margin money for these loans they come to us. We get this business because, these young couples have
That is surprising, as gold loans are largely thought of as distress loans still? That is a false impression some people have. From our experience, especially in recent years, the majority of gold loans are not distress loans. Our main segment is now the MSME customers, like traders. And they are taking the loans for capitalizing on high seasonal demand for some products, as well as for meeting certain year-end commitments with their bankers. In both cases, the outcome is definite and positive for them, and most-importantly resolved within a short-time. So gold loans are the perfect tool for them. Another strong segment for us is the young employees in new-generation segments like IT companies. Again, it is a surprising claim. Why
Thomas John Muthoot
Gold loan fraud is said to be a new rising challenges for lenders, with false or stolen gold being pledged increasingly. How much is it affecting your business? What I feel is that frauds related to gold loans were always there. Due to the preciousness of the metal, and the difficulty in ascertaining its purity, fraud was always there. Now it seems to be more mainly because of the volume growth and the better reporting of such incidents. But having said that, let me also tell you that Muthoot Fincorp spends substantially to fortify its systems and processes within its branches. We have gold appraisal not only at the time of loan disbursals, but ongoing periodic inspections of gold
Thomas George Muthoot
ornaments by skilled gold inspectors. We have also instituted the same level of diligence even to gold coins & bars, and use tamper proof packets. So, we have not been affected thanks to our strong internal systems and processes.
is that most NBFCs, including gold loan companies, are doing a pivotal role in financial inclusion, and as such all regulatory action will take into account the role companies like ours have been undertaking.
Do you think RBI would stipulate a maximum ceiling for gold loan NBFCs’ lending rates, and would such a move be welcomed by you as it may grow volumes sharply? I would not like to comment on this. But I think these fears are overplayed, as there would be still enough margin for gold loan companies to operate.
The big game changer for NBFCs is said to be the rural business opening up. How has been your rural push faring? We already have a healthy mix of semiurban and rural branches across the country and this model has been doing extremely well for us. We too feel strongly with late management guru CK Prahalad’s vision that future growth is at the bottom of the pyramid, or at least in the middle-to-bottom of it. Conglomerates like Tatas are following it, and we too pay special attention to it.
As a non-deposit-taking NBFC, how much has losing the priority sector tag on bank advances affected you? Can you mention the impact of other expected regulatory changes in gold loans? Again, I would not like to comment on this specifically. What I would rather say
Thomas Muthoot
Can you tell a specific business model where you are targeting BoP? Well, there are many, but the best recent example is our home loan division. It targets those customers who require only smaller loans, say below 8-10 lakhs, for more affordable homes, and as such doesn’t catch the fancy of mainstream home loan players. It is a fast growing segment, thanks to mass housing schemes, as well as the emergence of new players like us that are focused on this segment. Our customers are mainly in the suburbs of Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. The interest rates are slightly higher, at 14-15%, but we have to do that as the credit profile of these customers would be a notch less than the high salaried class. Our home loans are proving to be a great enabler for our segment of customers. Do you think NBFCs like Muthoot FinCorp is doing an important role in financial inclusion, which the authorities are not properly acknowledging. What would be your wish list for NBFCs in this budget? Increasingly, NBFC’s have helped common people to achieve their larger dreams and meet their immediate requirement for money, leading to financial inclusion in the long run.
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enough gold with them, and their salaries are high making them confident of quick repayment of our loan, whereas with their home financiers they have enough time like 10 or 15 years to repay.
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It is Small which is beautiful in stock markets. Because only small can grow to greater heights, thereby rewarding its investors. Small banks too are no different. Small is also beautiful for customers. Because, they can expect better care from smaller organizations. In banking, it means customers will be saved the arrogance often exhibited by staff of some giant banks. Outperformance is also a private vs. public affair. This nation’s private banks have shown why they command almost double the valuations of some public sector banks. More aggressive growth, yet more safer asset quality, and the nimbleness arising from the ability to take quicker, futuristic decisions. But not all small private banks will outperform in the next bull run. Not all small private banks will grow with their customers, grow with their ever-increasing needs. Seasonal Magazine checks the outlook for four small private banks.
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Which Small Private Banks Will Outperform?
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KARUR VYSYA BANK
Why are Institutional Investors Gung-ho About a Traditional Private Sector Bank?
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Why is world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc, world’s second-largest bank HSBC, and India’s only celebrity investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala engrossed in a traditional private sector bank headquartered in Karur which is far from the hustle and bustle of New Delhi, Mumbai, and even Chennai? Because, KVB has a specific track-record that will get only better as the focus now turns to rural India.
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Were you troubled by the market fall of 2011? You should have looked at a stock called Karur Vysya Bank. Within a short period of 33 trading days, Karur Vysya Bank has rebounded by more than 26%.
100 crore mark in quarterly profits, it is signalling the market that it will soon surpass the Rs. 1000 crore milestone in quarterly interest earned, thereby taking this traditional private sector bank into the big league.
Q3 results have been robust with Net Interest Income surging by 49%, and net profit up by over 10%, both on an year-on-year basis. What the numbers signal is that KVB has not slackened its firm focus on growing volumes, even while it is waiting patiently for the interest regime to ease, so as to deliver more momentously on the profit front.
Despite Non Performing Assets being successfully contained at 1.45% gross level, the bank is not easing on the cautionary front with a high provision coverage ratio of 80%, which will give it headroom to post even better numbers when the wheels of industry starts rolling again, and provisions get reversed.
While Karur Vysya Bank has successfully soared past the Rs.
And KVB is not leaving all its eggs in one basket. Its growth in fee income indicates that it is well up in its flight to compete with new-
generation private banks in their own strongholds. And wherever and whenever there are opportunities to collaborate among peers for obtaining a rightful role in the industry, Karur Vysya Bank has not shied away. One example is the organization, National Collateral Management Services (NCMSL), which was set up by IFFCO and a group of international and national lenders to dominate the emerging field of agri-infrastructure management. KVB is the only bank of its size in this initiative which has players like World Bank arm IFC, PNB, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank etc. In its core activities, Karur Vysya Bank has always been an award-
A professionally run bank with minimum promoter holding of 3.26%, MD & CEO K Venkataraman’s strategy has been to expand KVB’s portfolio of products and services, to encompass everything that all types of customers demand from a modern bank, and even some things that are not expected from a bank. Structured as four sectors, each and every service of the bank falls under one of these - Personal, Corporate, NRI, & Agricultural. On the Personal front, going beyond mere deposits and loans, KVB offers insurance, demat, mutual funds, online/offline share trading etc. that enable the individual customer like an investment manager. And
delivering all these KVB services is their new technology media like net banking and mobile banking that facilitates all these without visiting a branch. KVB also offers air/rail ticketing as well as utility bill payments. On the Corporate front, Karur Vysya Bank offers the full portfolio of services but focuses on two products - KVB Current Account, and Easy Trade Fin, which is a special account for
What makes KVB’s agricultural credit even more attractive is that KVB goes one step forward and offers crop insurance as well as personal accident insurance.
businesses to finance their working capital requirements with minimum formalities. For NRIs, Karur Vysya Bank offers KVB FCNR Deposits and KVB Remit Home. While the former offers fully repatriable principal and interest for NRI’s foreign currency deposits, the latter offers the convenience of within-minutes fast remittance to India for NRIs. But it is when coming to the Agricultural front that Karur Vysya Bank reveals its true strengths, and its roots as a regional and traditional private sector bank. From vehicle loans that finance the purchase of tractors, tillers, harvesters, and twowheelers, to general loans which fund daily agricultural expenditure and personal expenses, KVB’s schemes have been designed with state-of-the-art delivery media like Smart ID Cards. What makes KVB’s agricultural credit even more attractive is that KVB goes one step forward and offers crop insurance as well as personal accident insurance. This thrust may be rural but the impact is not lost on even the choicest institutional investors, with some of KVB’s largest investors being world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc, one of the world’s largest banks, HSBC, and not to mention, India’s celebrity investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
K Venkataraman, MD & CEO
Evidently it is not lost on discerning investors that the future of India is all about rural enabling and that the fortune is indeed at the bottom of the pyramid. Karur Vysya Bank stands uniquely poised to soar with this momentum.
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winning bank, with multiple awards for technology adoption, efficiency, and return ratios, during the last few years.
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Karnataka Bank
RBI Asks Banks to Focus on Karnataka Bank is Already F While former Deputy Governor of RBI, Usha Thorat delivered the Karnataka Bank Founder’s Day recently, she was advising all traditional private sector banks to focus on the MSME sector. She wouldn’t have provided this correct advise from a better platform. Under the guidance of MD & CEO P Jayarama Bhat, the bank is proving that it is agile on the MSME front, even while it pursues its vision of being a family bank across India through new tech-enabled products.
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Karnataka Bank has already rolled out an ambitious and proactive plan for the Medium, Small, & Micro Enterprises. Starting from FY’10, Karnataka Bank has been trying for a credit growth of at least 24% each year.
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The bank is taking proactive steps to ensure that all the genuine credit needs of the MSME sector shall be met. And not only that, KBL is ensuring that as far as possible, both term loans as well as working capital limits are provided, so that customers need not run to multiple banks for the same, thereby avoiding a big inconvenience faced by MSME entrepreneurs these days.
The terms for Karnataka Bank’s MSME customers are also generous. While regular corporates while availing term loans, need to comply with a Debt:Equity ratio of 3:1, MSME customers can go up to a D/E of 5:1. Similarly, in the case of the ratio Total Outside Liabilities (TOL) to Tangible Net Worth (TNW), while bigger corporates have to comply with a TOL:TNW of 5:1, Karnataka Bank’s MSME clients need only comply with 7:1. KBL will lend up to Rs. 2 crore in term loans under these generous conditions. Coming to Working Capital loans, KBL is following the Turnover Method. The bank will provide up to 20% of the
projected turnover as Working Capital, whereas it will insist for only 5% of the turnover as borrower’s margin. Karnataka Bank would provide up to Rs. 5 crore in working capital, under these relaxed norms. The bank seems to have done its homework in detail when it comes to providing MSME credit. Many years of working with such customers have convinced the bank that small conditional clauses can prove to be big hassles for these relatively smaller clients. A case in point is insisting separate sub limit to debtors. KBL has quashed this condition, and as far as possible allowing drawing to be made by margin on stock and book debts. Keeping in mind that MSME
MSMEs, ocused on MSMEs For the micro segment of MSMEs, Karnataka Bank is also not insisting on collateral security, if the loan requested
is within Rs. 10 lakhs. But the bank is well aware of the credit risks in this field, and on behalf of its shareholders, is taking no chances. All eligible loans to the MSME sector by Karnataka Bank are covered under the Credit Guarantee
Apart from its sharp focus on the MSME sector, Karnataka Bank is working hard to live up to its corporate motto ‘Your Family Bank. Across India’. KBL is achieving this by keeping pace with the latest in technology based offerings. Its recently launched travel card and gift card are just two examples. With the KBL Travel Card, carrying cash while on domestic or overseas travel will be a forgotten affair forever. Launched in collaboration with VISA, this card is available in nine currencies, and accepted worldwide in 25 million merchant outlets, as well as 1.6 million ATMs, as well as any VISA approved website.
P Jayarama Bhat, MD & CEO
The KBL Gift Card is for all those and for all those occasions, when picking something to gift your loved ones is a hassle. You know the budget, but you can’t select the perfect gift. Available in flexible denominations from Rs. 500 to Rs. 25,000, the receiver can use the card to shop their preferred gifts at merchant establishments or ecommerce sites, or even dine using the card, across India.
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customers often face urgent but short-term requirements, KBL is also taking special efforts to meet such requirements expeditiously.
Scheme of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE). What this means is that KBL is shielded to the extent of 85% of an MSME loan, even if the unit runs into trouble and defaults.
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DHANLAXMI BANK
“Focus will be on Better Utilizations and Rationalization of Costs” PG Jayakumar, the new MD & CEO, of Dhanlaxmi Bank says to Seasonal Magazine that his focus will also include leveraging core competencies in retail, MSME lending, microfinance, gold loans etc. Interview with Jayakumar: With a new top management, will there be a new direction for Dhanlaxmi Bank? It is not correct to think of the present leadership as something new. I have been with this bank for the last 35 years. Think of this as only a leadership change that happens in all banks after some years.
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What warranted this leadership change then? Was it a personal decision of the last CEO or was it a decision of the Board to have a new leadership? As the new CEO, I feel that I am not the right person to answer this question. That was something that transpired between the Board and the last CEO. My duty has been only to assume the responsibilities the Board entrusted on me as the new CEO.
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But it is a well-known fact that the old leadership has gone out of favour with the Board. What could be the reason?
Well, if you look at the last few years, Dhanlaxmi Bank had really progressed on many fronts like branch network, technology adoption, geographical reach, pace of growth etc. At the same time, the Bank was concerned that it was coming at a high cost. So, there could be good and not-sogood aspects in last few years’ performance, which is inevitable, but there are some times when an organization should take stock of the situation.
What is the main component of this high cost structure? There are many contributors to it, like higher costs for technology and branch expansion, as well as higher employee costs. When coming to tech and branch expansion costs, all we can and should be doing is increasing the utilization levels sharply. This is the right time and opportunity to go about doing it. But coming to high employee costs, that has to be indeed rationalized.
You mentioned a few achievements, the good aspects. What were the main bad aspects? The main challenge is that we have unwittingly migrated to a high expenditure structure. One of my main objectives is how to go about moderating it. For this, we will consolidate our operations in the first phase, and then think about new strategies and initiatives again. I have already submitted my plan for this to the Board.
Does that mean job cuts or salary cuts or slower recruitment and promotions? Well, you may be aware that we two categories of employees. One, our traditional employees affiliated to their associations, and second category which is purely on cost-tocompany basis. Different sets of rules apply to each, they have different kind of privileges including job security, but what we are currently exploring is how we can cause maximum rationalization with minimum anguish to both categories.
RBI had recently warned Dhanlaxmi to go slow on new loans. What are you doing about it? Will it affect growth? What we understood is that the regulator wants us to adhere to the overall banking industry growth rates, and not go overboard. We have been growing aggressively, upwards of 45%, when the average industry growth was less than 20%. We accepted RBI’s advice as wise counsel, and have made the necessary changes accordingly. But one point you should remember is that our asset quality continues to be very good.
But Fitch has downgraded your rating… We take that seriously. We have already started comprehensive work to win back the rating. It is only a matter of time, a matter of months, before we regain it. You should also remember that rating agencies had downgraded other private banks too. Why the abrupt bad results after the leadership change? Is it a one off cleaning-up forced
PG Jayakumar, MD & CEO, Dhanlaxmi Bank on that quarter, so that the past is buried, and from Q4 it will be a good start for you? Not at all, as I had assumed the new office, barely days before the Q3 results were announced. That is for the quarter ending December 31st, and how can I influence it? The fact is that due to many reasons intrinsic and otherwise, during Q3, we had relatively weak numbers to report. What would you rate as the main strength of Dhanlaxmi, going forward? Our main strength has always been superior customer relations. From our very early days, and even now, we go that extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. Soon after assuming office as MD & CEO, I had visited many Dhanlaxmi branches across the country, and has realized through firsthand interactions that this customer
satisfaction is intact. Whatever we do now, we will build up only on that natural flair of Dhanlaxmi for which our customers come to us. Which are the sectors you are most bullish about for Dhanlaxmi? As I told you earlier, the need for higher utilization of past years’ expenditure will see us focusing more on retail banking, technology enabled banking like ATMs, cards, Internet, & mobile banking. They are also the main buzz areas for most banks. We will also focus on developing some sectors where we have core competence and leadership like microfinance, MSME lending, gold loans etc. What we will basically aim for is geographic expansion for services in these sectors from Kerala and neighbouring states to other territories in the country.
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But a section of the employees had alleged that the numbers are fudged, and what is your take on that? It is easy to raise wild allegations on small issues. Our auditors as well as RBI had pointed out certain problem spots, and we have already addressed most of them. They were just doing their duty as auditors and regulators, and we respect that. It is not specific to us. Audit qualifications are very common. It is what the management does about it that counts. I think it is very wrong to blow this issue out-of-context and out-of-proportion.
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South Indian Bank is getting sluggish on a QoQ basis.
South Indian Bank’s
Outlook
Negative
if QIP Gets Through Investors in South Indian Bank stock counter may be in for a rough ride if the private sector lender’s plan for a Rs. 1000 crore Qualified Institutional Placement gets through. At the same time, SIB badly needs the fund infusion if it is to meet the next three-years’ growth targets. The Thrissur based traditional private sector bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio is now only 14%.
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The dilution involved is more than 35%, which means the EPS will go down by that much.
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It is not clear why this relatively small-sized private sector bank wants to go such a large issue at one go that involves this kind of significant dilution. VA Joseph, CEO of SIB was unavailable for comments when contacted for this story. A much more prudent strategy seems to be to go in for a capital raise in tranches like its 2007 QIP for Rs. 326 crore, which will give
It will be interesting to watch the stand taken by large investors in the bank, as this QIP is detrimental to their interests in the short to intermediate term. South Indian Bank’s largest investors are India Capital Fund, Fidelity, LIC of India, and Morgan Stanley. Like most private sector banks, South Indian Bank doesn’t have a promoter group, and is supposedly professionally managed. And like most private banks, its largest investors are Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and NRIs who together hold close to 49%, the maximum permissible under Indian regulations.
According to market sources the issue is expected to be of 40 crore additional shares, which means the issue will be priced at around Rs. 25. An alternate view doing the rounds is that the QIP will be priced at Rs. 29 a share, which means that the issue will feature only 34.50 crore shares. Anyway, for existing and prospective investors, the QIP signals at a massive dilution, as the current equity base is only Rs. 113 crore made up of 113 crore shares of Face Value Rs. 1.
Though the bank wanted to hiveoff its gold loan business into a subsidiary, RBI had not allowed it. Almost 10% of SIB’s business is gold loans, which is a segment witnessing tumultuous regulatory changes these days. In many of SIB’s branches, gold loans is almost the sole business.
VA Joseph, CEO Anyway, for existing and prospective investors, the QIP signals at a massive dilution, as the current equity base is only Rs. 113 crore made up of 113 crore shares of Face Value Rs. 1.
the bank enough time to grow its earnings, thus offsetting the negative impact of dilution to an extent. Though the bank is growing at a reasonable pace, bottomline growth
South Indian Bank scrip which is prone to high volatility, had a lacklustre year in the year-to-date period, but had recently soared with the market. Now along with other bank scrips it has started correcting, and is likely to correct more as it is very expensive now with a TTM P/E of 8.15 and P/BV of 1.74. Karnataka Bank, a comparable player by way of revenue and assets, is trading at a P/E of 7.47 and a P/BV of just 0.78, despite a runup there. Usually, in the run up to a QIP, stocks appreciate, but soon fall steeply as the impact of the dilution sinks in and large institutional investors trim their positions.
Embassy Boulevard
The discerning mindscape, the nuances that characterize contemporary luxury and evolved priorities have been extensively explored in the making of villas at Embassy Boulevard. A fusion of urban chic and Indian heritage, a seamless integration of international design concepts and regionality, technical innovations with use of natural materials create remarkable living spaces. The design reflects contemporary aesthetic idiom and avant-garde architecture while embracing the basic principles of Vaasthu, creating positive energy and balance. Light barriers between the interior and exterior cut incidental heat, allow for passive cooling and reduce resource consumption. As architecture responds to contemporary challenges, there is an increased focus on green living. Embassy Boulevard has been designed to be eco-sensitive and have a reduced impact on the environment. Design concepts have been integrated into the plan, harnessing the natural elements while helping save and replenish resources. At Embassy Boulevard, you can enjoy preferential access to a world of privileges that let you celebrate life sans limits. A 40,000 sft luxuriously indulgent leisure club, designed on par with the best clubs internationally, proffers a slew of activities for relaxation and fun. Enjoy absolute pampering by an unbeatable
global luxury lifestyle service. Quintessentially provides an unparalleled, up-to-the-minute lifestyle concierge service. Residents enjoy membership to the Embassy International Riding School. A world-class equine academy just a gallop away from Embassy Boulevard. Wards of residents enjoy preferential admission to the Stonehill International School. Based on the International Baccalaureate program, Stonehill is a portal to excellence that transcends academia. The design ethos at Embassy Boulevard stems from a deep concern for the planet. Sustainable green building design, embracing regionality and climatic challenges, create a unique urban habitat that is both luxurious and eco-sensitive. A strong expression of materiality featuring local building resources, dry climatic vegetation and other innovative site solutions for climatic control, capture the
essence of the project and its context. The accent is on the rational use of natural resources, whilst replenishing what is used, wherever possible. The coming together of green features and contemporary planning take Embassy Boulevard further on the road to evolved luxury and a pre certified IGBC Green Homes certification. Embassy Boulevard is a lifestyle investment without parallel. The proximity to the International Airport, easy access to the city and the rapid development in North Bangalore assure excellent capital and rental values. The standards of development, verdant ambience and premium leisure facilities make it an attractive draw for the discerning. Embassy’s commitment to the longterm manifests in the professional property manage ment provided by Embassy Services. This will ensure that capital and rental values are continuously enhanced over the years.
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Welcome to Preferential Access
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AUTO
Best Machines at Geneva, Coming Soon to India
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Agreed, not many of the mean machines and concepts showcased at the Geneva Auto Show would ever reach India. But with the passing of each year, the probability of that has increased substantially. Here are a list of machines, right from Tata MegaPixel to Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Rolls Royce that may soon see Indian shores. Even if some of these exact machines don’t come, their inoovative features are sure to come to India. Here is a selection of cars and technologies that may soon be seen in India.
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The A-Class was first introduced to the world fifteen years ago, and back then, it was infamous for tipping over during sudden lane changes and such. Not to worry though, Mercedes-Benz rectified that situation by modifying the suspension and adding electronic stability control to the car. Now there is an allnew A-Class and it is dramatically different compared to its predecessor — the existing “one-box” design (it’s like an MPV, really) has given away to a “two-box” design. With a distinct hood and passenger compartment, it now looks more like a traditional hatchback. The new A comes with the latest in safety technology and despite being the smallest car in Mercedes’ line-up, doesn’t compromise on quality or features. We can expect the A-Class to be introduced in India sometime in 2013 and we can also expect a hefty price-tag too, making it a niche product in the country.
FERRARI F12 BERLINETTA Say hello to the latest V12 from Modena. With a6.3-litre
thoroughbred engine making 730 bhp, this is the most powerful roadgoing Ferrari ever made. We definitely like the sound of that! The F12 Berlinetta is a grand tourer which will replace the 599 GTB in Ferrari’s current line-up. Ferrari is transforming itself into atechnological tour de force and that’s on display in this Geneva star. As with any new flagship GT car, a
whole slew of new manufacturing processes and materials are used in the making of the car. In this case, there are a total of 12 different kinds of aluminium alloys used in the manufacture of the chassis and new methods were used in putting them together. These measures, combined with the fact that the car itself is smaller overall than the 599 GTB, means that it’s lighter and a lot more efficient while still making more power and sprinting to 100 kph (and way beyond!) faster.
AUDI A3 What Europeans get is this, the new A3 hatchback, but what we will get is the sedan version of this car. And when this three-box A3 comes along, it will be the cheapest Audi sold in the country. Internationally, the A3 is a direct competitor to the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and BMW
TATAMEGAPIXELCONCEPT At the last Geneva show, Tata Motors had the Pixel concept on display. This year, the Indian firm showcased a larger, four-door one, called what else but the Megapixel. This car is powered by a 13 kWh battery and a 325cc single-cylinder engine as an auxiliary motor. The wheels have individual hub-mounted motors which will take the Megapixel up to 110 km on a full charge. Once the battery discharges, the 30 bhp engine will take over as a back-
up. The Megapixel concept comes with unique sliding doors; the two front doors slide forward while the rear doors slide back to give you complete access to the four floating seats. The electronics include a BMW iDrive-type controller with an LCD screen to control all the functions of the car. What’s important is that the Megapixel indicates the future design language of Tata cars.
LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR J This is the recipe for the perfect Lamborghini. Take one already insane Aventador, take off the roof and most of the windshield, add some extra carbon fibre bits for effect and you end up with the Lamborghini Aventador J. The J, pronounced “yota”, signifies the appendix in the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) rulebook to which this car adheres. As with the Jota of the 1970s, only one will be made and it will be sold to one lucky customer after Lamborghini is done parading it. Interested? Better queue up!
BENTLEYEXP9 F CONCEPT Yes, that SUV is indeed wearing a Bentley badge. In the glory days of Bentley, the cars were known as ‘the world’s fastest lorries’; now, Bentley is indeed planning on making them! Unbelievable as it may be, the EXP9 F concept indicates that the winged B badge is going to adorn an SUV. Well, if Bentley wants to show some success in the US, the Gulf, China and, well, India, there’s nothing like a plushly upholstered, tremendously powerful SUV to do the job. Even if it looks the way it does. The concept features fourwheel drive, lots of leather and wood and a 6.0-litre 12-cylinder motor. It is safe to say that Bentley will raid the Volkswagen group
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1Series. What makes the Audi significant is that it’s based on Volkswagen’s MQB platform, which will underpin a wide range of cars in the Volkswagen group, ranging from subcompacts all the way to large family cars. The new A3 comes with a full multimedia interface system (MMI) which takes care of everything, from the entertainment to the engine settings and all the other functions of the car. Powering the European A3 is the small displacement but potent 1.4-litre TSI engine, but we will get something more practical.
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parts bin for making this a production reality.
expect the fresh version in India? Late this year, perhaps.
VOLKSWAGEN CROSS COUPE CONCEPT
CHEVROLET CRUZE WAGON
Another car based on the MQB platform (see Audi A3), the Volkswagen Cross Coupe was first shown to the world at the Tokyo Motor Show late last year, but this time, it comes with a new drivetrain option under the hood. Earlier, it was shown with a petrol engine, but now it packs a diesel/ electric hybrid system. It makes atotal of 300 hp from its hybrid drivetrain, but still manages to return a claimed 50 kpl. Now, that’s a concept we’d like to see go into production.
Chevrolet brought a trio of new cars with it to Geneva, two of which were concepts designed by design students and the third model was the Cruze wagon. Now, India isn’t really a market for wagons so this variant probably won’t be making it to our shores, but take a closer look at the picture and you’ll notice subtle changes to the front end of the Cruze. Those changes, however, will make it here soon as a comprehensive facelift. Along with the new face, the 2.0-litre engine that currently does duty in the Cruze will see upgrades to bring the power output to 163 hp from the current 150 hp. That should give the Cruze a nice shot in the arm.
MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER
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Mitsubishi is one manufacturer we wish offered alot more models here for us. Its models are all getting a little long in the tooth now. Here’s some news that cheers us up though. The new Outlander was unveiled recently at Geneva. It features a completely new design language from Mitsubishi and it’s looking good. It is powered by a 2.0-litre petrol engine making 150 hp and power is sent to all four wheels through a full-time allwheel-drive system. There’s three rows of seating on the inside now and the last two rows fold to give you a flat floor for carrying around large objects. There is no news on when this will go on sale in India, but we hope it’s sooner rather than later.
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ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM SERIES II The most sought-after ultra luxury limousine finally gets a makeover. The Phantom was the first all-new Rolls-Royce model to be
developed under BMW’s ownership and has become an instant hit. Over time, different models were added to the range, like an extended wheelbase version, a coupe and even a droptop version. This entire range now sees a few upgrades both on the outside and inside. For starters, the whole front fascia is different; the circular lamps make way for rectangular LED units with cornering assist while the grille and lower airdam are also tweaked slightly. Under the hood, the V12 engine’s power is now routed through a new 8-speed automatic transmission, which gives better fuel economy and lower emissions too. As if it mattered to the Phantom owner! The interior, as usual, is completely customisable anyway...
HYUNDAI I20 FACELIFT Well, even Hyundai was surprised by the terrific response it received for the i20 in India. Now the i20 could have done with some freshening up and that is exactly what happened at Geneva. It features new headlights, a new frontend styling and revamped tail-lights and bumper at the rear. The idea is to give the car a little more of the “fluidic” styling that is prevalent in the other cars of the Hyundai line-up. So when can we
JAGUAR XF SPORTBRAKE What is the Jaguar XF Sportbrake? It’s yet another wagon that we won’t get. The crisp lines of the XF are still retained in this wagon conversion and we’re glad that the designers have taken a practical approach to this and have given it a very useable hatch. The XF Sportbrake will go head-to-head against the BMW 5 series Touring and Mercedes E-Class Touring. The Sportbrake will be powered by the 2.2-litre and 3.0-litre diesel engines only for now, but petrol power might come to the range soon after launch. Webring you the most significant cars from the Geneva Motor Show MercedesBenz A-Class Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II Chevrolet Cruze wagon Mitsubishi Outlander Audi A3 Bentley EXP 9F concept Jaguar XF Sportbrake Tata Megapixel concept Lamborghini Aventador J
TRIVIA
Amazing Job Titles at Google While most people have job titles that are far from exciting, employees at Google not only have unusual designations, but also unbelievable work. Let's take a look at some offbeat job descriptions at Google:
Dance Program Manager These employees teach dance, yoga, and other classes in Google's dance studio on its Mountain View campus. It's all part of Google's efforts to keep workers in good health.
Nutritionist
Food Scientist They are part of the Google's Human Resources Department and their work is to carry out experiments related to the free food provided by the company.
Childcare Center Preschool Teacher They manage and run the child care centres that Google offers to its employees.
Massage Therapist As the name implies, they offer massage and therapy to workers of the technology giant.
Ergonomics Specialist They are incharge of making sure that the workstations of the employees are at the right angle, so that the workers do not get bad back.
Fitness Program Manager Their job is plan exercises that keep
the employees in shape while they are at work.
Transportation Program Manager They are incharge of coordinating commuter shuttles, on-campus bikes, and all the other things Google does to help employees get around.
Green Team Lead They handle things like energyefficient building design and using sustainable food sources.
Intergalactic Federation King Almighty and Commander of the Universe This is the official title of Tiffany Montague, who handles Google's space projects, like the Lunar X Prize, which will give $30 million to the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon.
Jolly Good Fellows This is the official title of Chade Meng-Tan. His business cards add "...which nobody can deny".
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Their job is to make sure that the free food provided by the technology giant is healthy.
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REALTY
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By Shajai Jacob, Head - Marketing & Communication, Jones Lang LaSalle India
3 Reasons
Why Realty Marketing has Failed, And What Can be Done to Revive Realty
1 Faulty Marketing Vision Many newly-launched real estate projects in good locations are losing out on sales because of faulty marketing vision. Coming from an exaggerated perception of the demand for trendy new concepts (‘lifestyle quotient’, ‘green living’, ‘smart workplaces’) the advertising agencies of such developers have hyped these projects off the market. Confronted with the
highbrow amenities and specifications featured on hoardings, banners and advertisements, potential buyers often assume that the project is clearly beyond their means. This ‘marketing disconnect’ seems to happen quite frequently in our larger cities, for either or both of two reasons: a) These developers have not fathomed what marketing touch points will work with their target clientele. b) The creative agencies retained for the marketing of these projects
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In the environment of cut-throat competition which exists in the Indian real estate market today, developers without a forward-looking marketing plan for their projects often lose out. Wherever one looks in the larger cities, commercial and residential property projects with dozens of unsold and un-leased units are evident. One tends to assume that this state of affairs comes from a lopsided demand-supply scenario. While this is largely true, some of it can be attributed to skewed marketing, as well. Some interesting - if disheartening - real estate marketing insights:
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have not been able to fathom the developer’s vision, resulting in a fatal Chinese Whisper syndrome. In both cases, sales and leases take an ‘inexplicable’ and terminal beating.
2 Reputation is Not Everything
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An erroneous assumption that long-standing market reputation alone will ensure sales. This fallacy, based on an obsolete truth of the Indian real estate sector’s boom periods, has caused a number of very respectable real estate banners of yesteryears to hang limp in the winds of change that are blowing today. During the boom time of 2007-’08, a developer’s brand was often sufficient to ensure property sales and leases. The market back then was largely driven by speculators who had very little insight into the true nature of real estate. For these players, a developer’s brand was often the only yardstick, and apartments and offices in newly launched projects were snapped up on that basis alone. Today, even end-users and occupiers know exactly what they want from the spaces they buy and lease. They will patronize a project because it gives them what they
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Agencies use largeformat press ads, largerthan-life hoardings, radio jingles and kiosks without much thought to customization.
want within their budgets - not because the developer has a long-standing brand. In short, players who fail to adopt realtime marketing strategies for their projects are falling by the wayside.
3
Realty Marketing Can’t be Handled by Advertising Companies Developers tend to believe that real estate marketing can be safely entrusted to an advertising company. Because they cater to a wide band of business genres and product categories, generic advertising agencies lack the capabilities to deliver effective real estate marketing plans. In fact, most agencies tend to use a standard ‘cookie cutter’ methodology to address real estate marketing needs. In other words, they use large-format press ads, larger-than-life hoardings, radio jingles and kiosks without much thought to customization. Today, real estate marketing is clearly a domain for real estate experts who are deeply involved in and informed about the Indian real estate market.
What Can be Done to Revive Realty Marketing? In many instances, revitalizing a developer’s marketing strategy has required us to scrap the previous plan altogether. It is not uncommon to find a developer’s balance sheet burdened down by exorbitant promotion spends that are yielding zero results. A professional real estate marketing approach requires research-based insights into market demand, micro and macro-economic market influences and the study of historic sales graphs of a particular project typology in a given location. These insights can give an accurate and predictive road map of what the market wants now and will want in the future. This kind of approach is extremely important from the standpoint that marketing of a project invariably begins much before construction begins. It is imperative to have a marketing plan which factors in realtime demand drivers as well as those that will prevail when the project nears completion. In short, real-time real estate marketing consists of: a) Studying every facet of the project b) Juxtaposing it against prevalent and future market requirements c) Developing accurately targeted promotion collaterals and advertisements d) Allocating marketing funds in a highly focused, result-oriented manner Interestingly, such an approach can often result in a 25% decrease in marketing spend and yield with a 2030% increase in market response.
REALTY TRENDS
DLF & Puravankara Pitch on Golf for Business
“A golf course, with full-scale clubs and recreation, enhances value and adds an upscale lifestyle to a project,” says Sanjay Dutt, chief executive officer, business at international property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, “This improves the positioning and helps command a premium from buyers.” Real estate developers are now game for launching golf tournaments, a move aimed at deepening their association with the sport that they believe is getting increasingly popular among prospective buyers across the country. Firms including the DLF and Puravankara own city teams that are readying to play a national golf league, on the lines of the IPL, called the Louis Philippe Cup. “It will help us in marketing Gurgaon and DLF,” says Aakash Ohri, director of DLF Golf Resort.
DLF owns the Gurgaon team. “Golf is a great catalyst for business worldwide.” Developers have been building golf courses for several years to enhance the appeal of their highend residential projects, but now they are betting bigger on the growing popularity of the sport. Standalone golf courses are expensive to build and maintain, so companies sell real estate around the course to pay for it. “There is a strong relationship between golf and real estate,” says Rishi Narain, owner of Rishi Narain Golf Management, which is organising the city-based pro golf league.
JC Sharma, MD, Sobha Developers believes that the forthcoming Budget will decide how the demand situation will pan out going forward. However, Sharma feels that the worst is behind for the real estate sector with the Reserve Bank of India giving clear indications that interest rates have reached the peak of the tightening cycle. An optimistic Sharma said that 2012 will be a year of growth where realty companies should post better numbers. “Coming to 2012 demand scenario, we feel that we have again entered into that growth phase where with the decrease in the interest cost to the borrowers and with expectations of some positive surprises from the coming Budget, the demand can only pick up,” he said. According to Sharma, “I think Bangalore is number two after Noida but the quality of buyers in Bangalore, in our view, should be the best because there is no investor driven demand in Bangalore.”
Each of the 10 sponsors in the Louis Philippe Cup has paid between Rs 30-50 lakh to own a team. DLF, which has been associated with golf for several years, already organises the DLF Masters golf tournament while Puravankara, which owns the Bangalore team, has been associated with the Touche Golf League and Ryder Cup.
JC Sharma, MD, Sobha Developers
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According to industry estimates, nearly 50 golf-based real estate projects are coming up across the country.
Sobha Says Worst Over for Realty, Bangalore Having Best Prospects
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Management Bestsellers:
BOOK REVIEW
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AGAINST THE GODS: The Remarkable Story of Risk
page78
With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man’s efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17thcentury French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking. Risk management, which assumes that future risks can be understood, measured and to some extent predicted, is the focus of this solid, thoroughgoing history. Probability theory, pioneered by 17th-century French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, has made possible the design of great bridges, electric power utilities and insurance policies. The statistical sampling methods invented by dour Swiss scientist Jacob Bernoulli undergird diverse activities such as the testing of new drugs, stock-picking and wine tasting. Bernstein (Capital Ideas) animates his narrative with a colorful cast of risk-analyzers, including gambling addict Girolamo Cardano, 16th-century Italian physician to the Pope; and John Maynard Keynes, whose concerns over economic uncertainty compelled him to
recommend an active, interventionist role for government. Bernstein also traces the development of business forecasting, game theory, insurance and derivatives, and surveys recent advances in risk forecasting made possible through chaos theory and by the development of neural networks. New York Times wrote about ‘Against the Gods’: “Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism.” Statisticians, in the telling of Peter L. Bernstein, are nothing less than Promethean heroes. He argues that the people who mastered the calculation of probabilities, beginning in 16th century Italy, stole from the gods something more precious than fire—namely, the understanding of risk. We can’t
Peter L. Bernstein see the future, of course, Bernstein writes in Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk. But by calculating probabilities, we can do the next best thing: make intelligent decisions—and take control of our lives—on the basis of scientific forecasts. The mastery of risk is the foundation of modern life, he contends, from insurance to the stock market to engineering, science, and medicine. After the early chapters, there’s not much here outside of finance, which is clearly Bernstein’s main interest. Even within finance, Bernstein gives short shrift to important topics such as Monte Carlo analysis, which uses computer-generated random numbers to solve intractable problems. But that’s O.K. Bernstein covers plenty of ground as it is. And he does so with the verve of someone who has lived his subject. problems. But that’s O.K. Bernstein covers plenty of ground as it is. And he does so with the verve of someone who has lived his subject.
BOOK REVIEW
Management Best Sellers:
First, Break All The Rules: What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently Based on a mammoth research study conducted by the Gallup Organization involving 80,000 managers across different industries, this book explores the challenge of many companies attaining, keeping and measuring employee satisfaction. Discover how great managers attract, hire, focus, and keep their most talented employees.
Key Ideas:
reject
The best managers treat every employee as an individual. The best managers never try to fix weaknesses; instead they focus on strengths and talent. The best managers know they are on stage everyday. They know their people are watching every move they make. Measuring employee satisfaction is vital information for your investors. People leave their immediate managers, not the companies they work for. The best managers are those that build a work environment where the employees answer positively to these 12 Questions: Do I know what is expected of me at work? Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?
In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work? Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person? Is there someone at work who encourages my development? At work, do my opinions seem to count?
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman Simon and satisfied more customers.
In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress? This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?
Without satisfying an employee’s basic needs first, a manager can never expect the employee to give stellar performance. The basic needs are: knowing what is expected of the employee at work, giving her the equipment and support to do her work right, and answering her basic questions of self-worth and self-esteem by giving praise for good work and caring about her development as a person.
The Gallup study showed that those companies that reflected positive responses to the 12 questions profited more, were more productive as business units, retained more employees per year,
The great manager mantra is don’t try to put in what was left out; instead draw out what was left in. You must hire for talent, and hone that talent into outstanding performance.
Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important? Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? Do I have a best friend at work?
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The best managers conventional wisdom.
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IN-FOCUS
Puravankara in High Buzz on
Results, Fund Raising, Diversification, Awards
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Puravankara Projects Ltd has successfully come out of the slowdown in realty, and is poised to grow further on a faster pace now, says top management including Ravi Puravankara, Chairman, and Jackbastian K Nazreth, CEO.
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Aiding the Group’s strategy is the momentum now being felt in Bangalore, thanks to the Silicon Valley of India always having organic demand as against speculative investors as in Mumbai or NCR-Delhi. Purva’s sharp focus on residential space has also comes to its rescue in these troubled times for commercial space due to oversupply concerns. Close to 95% of Purva projects are in residential space, and 100% of its residential projects are in cities of organic growth like Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore, Kolkata etc, apart from Bangalore. Its recession-time strategy of starting a separate affordable housing brand for delivering high-quality lower-cost apartments have paid rich dividends. After successful launch of three Provident
Housing projects - two in Bangalore and one in Chennai this affordable brand is now being taken to Coimbatore and Kochi. There will be three more Provident projects immediately, the third one being in Bangalore itself. Now a subsidiary of the listed Puravankara Projects, the Group
has big plans for Provident Housing including listing it separately. The group is continuing to see good volume growth year-on-year, even though margins are not as high as the 30% it was earlier due to high input and construction costs. Puravankara Projects is eyeing various funding options to kick-start the next level of growth. The promoters have disclosed that they are also getting enough proposals from PE funds for participation in individual projects on an SPV basis. Additionally, the company has to
Close to 95% of Purva projects are in residential space, and 100% of its residential projects are in cities of organic growth like Bangalore, Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore & Kolkata.
around 20 projects, totalling to 27.33 million sq ft at different stages of development. The Group has also created a strategy to enter the commercial space in a big way, when the situation for that sector improves. At the recently concluded ‘Realty Plus Excellence Awards - 2012’ Purva bagged the ‘Popular Choice Developer of the Year: Residential’ award, while Ravi Puravankara, Chairman, received the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award and Jackbastian K. Nazareth, CEO, was adjudged as the “Most Enterprising CEO.”
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dilute the promoter shareholding to 75% by June 2013 as per the revised Regulatory requirement resulting in equity infusion for the Company. Even at the currently relatively low valuations, that amounts to around Rs. 230 crore. So, most probable is a QIP or institutional placement when the valuations improve. Puravankara’s Q3 numbers were good with revenue rising by 9% and net profit rising by 14% year-on-year. The group has a developable land bank of 143.77 million square feet across India. Currently, Puravankara has
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IN-FOCUS
Joy in Every Business SEASONAL MAGAZINE
Joyalukkas is spreading across India and Asia, on a faster decision making process.
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While buying one’s first Rolls is a difficult decision for even billionaires, for Joy Alukkas, it took only a moment’s outrage. Not only that, he was the first person in this whole world who probably gifted a Rolls Royce before buying one for personal use. The place was Dubai. Joy had been to an exhibition where Rolls Royce cars were displayed, and Joy was upset with the arrogant behaviour of a Lebanese showroom assistant. That is how Dubai’s first raffle with a Rolls Royce as gift was born. Anybody buying jewellery worth 500 dirhams were given a ticket to the raffle. Legend has it that the draw becamce such a hit that Arabs were willing to pay 500 dirhams for the ticket even without any jewellery. It was a hugely successful scheme for Joyalukkas, but for Rolls, it resulted in a ban on such raffles as it didn’t suit the British luxury car maker’s sensibilities. Today, if such a situation arose, Joy would rather gift a business jet. Again, the time taken would be momentary. It is on such rapid decision making power that Joy Alukkas is continuing the expansion of his showroom network both in India and overseas, and also getting into 5 more verticals - air charter services, malls, textiles, money exchange, and real estate development.
Is Joyalukkas diversifying into new verticals? We are already into some of these new verticals, for sometime now. Like, for example, we have significant presence in textiles, aviation, and money exchange. But in some sectors like real estate development and malls, though we already have incorporated companies, significant activity is yet to commence. Is this expansion into new verticals only in India? What are the overseas plans? Yes, mainly these new verticals will be in India. Our overseas expansion plans are even more ambitious, but it has got more to do with expanding the Joyalukkas jewellery brand to markets like Singapore, Malaysia etc. Our
Singapore showroom is all set to open shortly. Some diversifications already have an overseas counterpart like our money exchange business. In India, how will be the structure for the new activities? Is the Joyalukkas brand being extended from the core jewellery business? No, not necessarily. Though the promoter group is same in all, the branding strategy will be a mixed one. But before that, the first point to note is that there will be six separate companies with distinct resources and management, for each of these activities. Some of these new activities will be under new brands. For example our air charter service is branded as Joy Jets, our mall business will be Mall of Joy, and our textile brand will be Jolly Silks. Other activities like money exchange and real estate development will have the
Joyalukkas name in them. For example, it will be Joyalukkas Money Exchange and Joyalukkas Lifestyle Developers. Each will be headed by a CEO or COO? No, each will be headed by a professional General Manager reporting directly to me. What I have found personally as an entrepreneur is that, it is better that I take up the topmost tasks that are generally left for CEOs, CFOs, COOs etc. We operate at a breakneck speed that requires rapid decisions that is not easy for everyone. Why did you back out from the IPO plans? While planning for the IPO, attracting funds was not the main issue. At this stage where we stand now, lenders are after us. What I was intending was better visibility, better image, better communi-
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Seasonal Magazine in conversation with Joy Alukkas:
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cation regarding our corporate governance etc. However, looking at many listed companies, we think we fare better than them. And one problem we encountered on the valuation front is that there is no real benchmark for us in the Indian listed space - no similar sized pure retail play in jewellery. That is not good for valuations is the advice we got from our investment bankers. There was news that you had tied up a big-ticket loan, of around Rs. 500 crore, overseas. Was that also a dampener for going in for the IPO? No, that $100 million loan is to take care of our overseas jewellery expansions. It was syndicated by Standard Chartered Bank with some other leading banks in Dubai. The IPO was purely for Indian operations.
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So, will you be going in for stake dilution with some PE funds? We have enquiries from PE funds, but at this point of time, we are not terribly interested. You need
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“Jewellery sales growth is now somewhat sluggish due to the gold rally, but the point I wanted to make is that we are not taking that as an excuse. We are continuing our expansions that will improve our market share, but at the same time we are also looking seriously at diversifications now to have a better growth rate overall.” PEs either for funds or for the resulting valuations. We don’t need both. We are comfortable with our existing valuations and our existing pace of growth, which many would find difficult to emulate. So, how will all these new activities be funded? As I told you some minutes
back, we are already into many of these activities. We are just formalizing them now with formal launches and campaigns. We had established these new verticals on our own funds and debt, and going forward also, we are capable of funding them on our own and also through debt. Our good credit rating helps us in this regard. For some capital intensive verticals like our real estate division, we already hold prime lands in select cities. But what about other resource intensive activities like Joy Jets? Well, the point to note here is that Joy Jets is already operational with one business jet and one helicopter. We already have DGCA approval for unscheduled or chartered flights, and we are having regular business now. Our business jet is an Embraer Phenom 100 that has a range of 1000 nautical miles. We are now looking at buying a second business jet that can do 2000 nautical miles, that is roughly up to Turkey from here.
already had one event - the renovation of our Kottayam showroom. My policy on expansion is that we should have an inauguration or renovation every 15 days.
Why did you opt for these diversifications? Is business slowing down on the jewellery front? Business may be slowing due to the high gold prices, but we are not slowing down at all. In December, we had opened two new showrooms in Karnataka, one in Hubli and the other in Mysore. In January, we opened our second store in Saudi Arabia, which is also the country’s largest jewellery showroom. In February we launched our new Kochi showroom, and in March we
“Joyalukkas Money Exchange is one of our oldest diversifications. We have been in this since 2006. But we were low key, as you know the regulatory hurdles are high in this field. Anyway, we are past all that now, and we have 5 centres in UAE, with another 10 being rolled out in GCC countries. Our first money exchange centre in India will be at Kochi. Our target is 100 centres within the next five years.”
You spoke about Joy Jets. Can you tell the rough ideas behind Mall of Joy and Joyalukkas Money Exchange? Well, Mall of Joy is creating a new concept for malls in India, focused around the celebration theme. Each mall will have a minimum of 2 lakh sq ft and will have two anchor stores in jewellery and textiles, besides having all kinds of luxury retail stores and services. Ample parking space and children’s play areas will be added features. Designed by architects of international repute, the first Mall of Joy is getting ready at Kozhikode, and will be followed by seven more similar malls in Kochi, Coimbatore, Thrissur, Kottayam, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha. The total investment for this phase is Rs. 1000 crore and all the malls are expected to be completed within 30 months.
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What would be the investment for Joy Jets and what is the kind of revenue expected? We will be investing around Rs. 100 crore in Joy Jets. The second business jet alone would cost between Rs. 50-60 crore. Coming to the revenue part, it is still a bit premature to talk about it, even though we have our internal targets, and business is flowing in smoothly according to our plan. We charge around Rs. 1.25 lakh an hour, and we already have customers who have opted for yearly plans like 150 hours.
Are you claiming that jewellery business for Joyalukkas is not sluggish at all? No, not at all. I was coming to that point. Jewellery sales growth is now somewhat sluggish due to the gold rally, but the point I wanted to make is that we are not taking that as an excuse. We are continuing our expansions that will improve our market share, but at the same time we are also looking seriously at diversifications now to have a better growth rate overall.
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Rolls Royce Ghost 2012 is the latest addition to Joy Alukkas’ personal car fleet in India
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And about your Money Exchange division? Well, this is one of our oldest diversifications. We have been in this since 2006. But we were low key, as you know the regulatory hurdles are high in this field. Anyway, we are past all that now, and we have 5 centres in UAE, with another 10 being rolled out in GCC countries. Our first money exchange centre in India will be at Kochi. Our target is 100 centres within the next five years.
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You seem quite at ease even while managing this vast empire. What is your leadership secret? I believe that me fretting over any issue won’t help in solving it. In my small experience, what I have discovered is that what distingu ishes a successful businessman is only one thing - the ability to take quick decisions. I think, naturally and over the years, I have that flair for taking rapid decisions. Unless and until you take decisions, issues won’t go away. You can deliberate till the end of the world, but for things to move forward decisions are vital. I too ask around, but the final decision is mine. If you had watched me closely, during these past few hours, I had taken so many decisions on quite a lot of pressing issues through phone and in
“Joy Jets is already operational with one business jet and one helicopter. We already have DGCA approval for unscheduled or chartered flights, and we are having regular business now. Our business jet is an Embraer Phenom 100 that has a range of 1000 nautical miles. We are now looking at buying a second business jet that can do 3000 nautical miles.
person, without this interview getting affected. Many of them are decisions of significant financial or organizational implications for us. But yet I take them promptly without postponing or wavering. Rarely I may go wrong, but that is part of the game. And only rarely do I go wrong, not because I am very intelligent, but because I
commit our Group’s whole might behind that decision to make sure that it is a success. Are you more fond of delegation or micromanaging? Maybe I do both, and I don’t even think about that, because that is not my focus. My focus is solely taking decisions and seeing that it is followed up with our full might. If it works on delegation, very good, and if it requires intervention or micromanaging, I will not shy away from it. We have created a thoroughly professional company so that maximum tasks are delegated effectively, but yes, things do come to me for decisions, which I take quickly. As an extraordinarily successful businessman, financially too, what is the secret of making money? The secret is this - money is only a by-product. If you target money, it will elude you. Before big money, think of how big your heart is. Our heart or vision should be big enough to conceive big plans. Then start executing those big plans, and whenever hindrances come, take rapid, merciless, but best informed decisions. Money will follow such visions.
“Joy Jets is Kickstarting State’s Corporate & Tourism Air Charter Sector” The top management of Joy Jets, including Group Chairman Joy Alukkas, addressed a media gathering on 8th March at Kochi. In the meet, Joy Alukkas outlined the detailed vision for Joy Jets.
which means London is possible with one stop-over. The latest 6seater Bell helicopter will offer hourly city tours, tourist destination trips, special trips for VIPs and government personnel etc, as well as emergency services. Aerial sightseeing of God’s Own Country’s destinations like Kumarakom Lake, Athirapilly Water Falls, Munnar Hill Station etc is offered, and will deliver dramatic views from the helicopter. Luxury offerings from Joy Jets include guest pick-up and drop in executive sedans, use of airport lounge, transport to aircraft
using lounge-on-wheels, inter national customs clearance on priority, baggage pick-up, onboard in-flight gourmet menu, and insurance cover for all guests. Joy Jets’ operational head Capt. Asif Punathil also spoke during the event, and explained the thoroughly professional and safe features of the service. Capt. Asif has a flying experience of more than 15 years, having flown various aircrafts like the Boeing 747-400, Learjet 45, King Air C90 & B200, and the BE1900 aircrafts. He is an FAA ATP & DGCA CPL holder with a total flying experience of 4000+hrs. Capt. Asif read out a recent testimony from Dr. KM Cherian’s Frontier Lifeline Hospital of Chennai, congratulating the Joy Jets team for enabling a recent heart transplant operation.
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It is the first air charter service in the state to have obtained a licence to conduct unscheduled flights to destinations anywhere in the world. Joy Jets which has been operational since October 2011 has been using its flagship jet, the Embraer Phenom 100, which has a range of 1000 nautical miles. Customers have been many, and now Joy Jets is clocking 30 hours per month on an average. Business is increasing, with unscheduled flights on every other day, and with last month witnessing 36 hours of flying. Joy Jets has also acquired a modern helicopter built by world-leader Bell, which will start its services within days. With the ultra-luxury 5-seater Phenom 100 jet, the company is addressing the corporate charter and tourism charter segments. International charter is also offered, now through tie-ups, until Joy Jet acquires its next jet by December - which will have a range of 3000 nautical miles,
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Wonderla Coming to Hyderabad & Chennai, May Look at Private Equity The amusement park network, Wonderla, it seems is all set to upstage the achievements of group’s flagship firm, V-Guard Industries Ltd. Wonderla has already moved to debt-free status, and has a Net profit Margin of nearly 31%. Wonderla Holidays Pvt Ltd, the amusement parks firm from the promoters of V-Guard Industries Ltd, is planning to set up two amusement parks in Hyderabad and Chennai in next four years, with an investment of around Rs 400 crore. The company is also entering into hospitality segment by launching a resort in its Bangalore park next month, said a company official. The company would commence works for the third park in near the new airport in Hyderabad in April,
while it is in the final stage of acquiring land in Chennai. It is currently running two amusement parks, one in Kochi and another one in Bangalore. “We are looking for around Rs 200 crore investment each in Hyderabad and Chennai projects. Our aim is to complete the two projects within 2015, of which Hyderabad project might roll out initially, in 2014,” said Arun K Chittilappilly, executive director, Wonderla Holidays Pvt Ltd. The company, which is currently debt
free, could fund one of the projects through internal accruals and debt, but if both the projects happen to start togather, it would look for raising fund from investors including private equity. It is also launching its first Wonderla Resort of 3 star facility with around 85 rooms inside the amusement park in Bangalore. It would go for an expansion to around 160 rooms in the park in a later stage and plans are to set up similar resorts in Kochi park and in the upcoming Hyderabad and Chennai parks. The resorts would be a separate new division in the company and it is hiring people for managing the resorts, he said. “So far, our offerings were limited to the fixed time frame of a day. With the resort, which also will have a conference room or facility, would now enable the customers to spend their time in leisure in the park for more than a day,” he said.
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As part of the consolidation the company recently re-branded Veegaland, its first amusement park in Kerala, to Wonderla. Its initial plan is to set up amusement parks in major cities of Southern States, after which it might consider growing to Western parts of the country, added Chittilappilly.
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The company has posted a turnover of Rs 91 crore last fiscal year and expects it to grow to Rs 110 crore, with the resort being launched in Bangalore. It is expecting the net profit to grow from Rs 28 crore, last fiscal to more than Rs 30 crore, this fiscal year.