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VOLU
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Dalal Street’s collective intelligence is said to be distilled intothe price, and nothing else. Then, it is time to stop loss. Or isit? The time to SIP is when market falls, and SystematicInvestment Plans continue to outperform the indices, over thelast 3 years. If fundamentals win ultimately, as per anotherStreet maxim, isn’t this the time to SIP on? Seasonal bringsyou Q3 analysis on over 60 buzzing stocks to help you decide.
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5000 acre own organic cultivation of all herbsUS FDA grade manufacturing facilityAutomated Capacity of 1 lakh capsules an hourPatented as a Medicinal InventionAyush approved own analytical labEach batch tested for efficacy & purityFollows WHO & GMP normsISO 9001:2008 certified100% safe as fully AyurvedicOver 10 million customers
Official Health Power Licensee for Commonwealth GamesSponsor of Wayamba Elevens Cricket Club for T20Champions League, South Africa Director and Sponsor of Viva Kerala Football Club Former Sponsor of Churchill Brothers Football Club
10 Reasons Why Musli Power X-Tra is Unbeatable
Results within a week
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Patent No: 241602
Available at all naval canteens & more than 1,00,000 medical stores all over India
Winning Ayurvedic FormulationMusli Power X-Tra Powers Kerala’sFirst Formula Car Racing Team
Musli Power X-Tra that started its incredible journey six years back as a performancedrug for couples, is now more things to more users. Customers report its efficacy ininfertility, fatigue, geriatric problems, sports performance and lots more. It comes asno surprise, as we at Kunnath Pharma, have always strived to identify, extract, andpack in only the finest herbs and minerals Ayurveda has to offer like safed musli, inoptimum ratios, for wholesome health and vigour, even while never compromising onsafety. With a new US FDA grade manufacturing facility, and export approvals andexport-approvals-under-processing from over 60 countries worldwide, the power toperform is going global. Now, as a patented medicinal formulation, you can be assuredthat the secret to a better life is exclusive to you, in your pack of Musli Power X-Tra.
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VOLU
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SeasonalVol 10 Issue 2 February 2011
MA
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Despite repeated efforts to deflate, prices are getting inflated. Either it shows theincompetence of leaders like Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, & PChidambaram, as the Opposition says, or there is something else to the economy,something that remains hidden to most of us.
The secret might well be this - nobody in central policy-making really cares a damnabout inflation. But not necessarily because of apathy or ignorance. With almosthalf gone from its second-term, and considering the time taken to turn aroundeconomics, UPA clearly cannot afford apathy. And anyone who knows the rudimentsof economics knows that inflation can very well be tamed by cutting down ongovernment spending, or specifically in the post-2008 context, rolling back the fiscalstimulus.
But the central policy makers aren’t willing to even consider these steps. Why?Because, they really don’t care a damn about inflation.
Just recall what the other Singh told press recently, “Inflation is one thing I am leastworried about…” And it is not just Montek’s take on this. Kaushik Basu, FinMin’sChief Economic Advisor recently said, “We want to take steps to bring down inflationbut we do not want to be so single minded in bringing down inflation…”
The political leadership, on the other hand, can’t be as clear as bureaucrats. But theintentions should be clear to all. Now only the question of ‘why’ remains, given thestark unpopularity of inflation.
Chances are that this team, led by Dr. Manmohan Singh, want to go down in historyas the men who finally guided India into the right economic track that a developingnation should take to become a developed nation.
Why, don’t all of us want to live in a developed nation? Don’t we want India to be adeveloped nation like US or UK? Yes, yes, yes. But, sadly, we haven’t yet understoodthat this transition, this growing-up is going to be intensely painful.
To give just a glimpse of this pain, it is enough to realize that there is still room formore inflation. Because, for all of India’s high inflation rates now, realize once andfor all that the cost-of-living index in USA (computed as consumer prices including
indian economy’s dirty little secret:
inflation is here by design
Editorial
SOLVING THE INFLATION PUZZLE Policy makers not overly worried over inflation
Government has opted for the high growth / high inflation model
Room for further inflation high in India
Despite Indian inflation, US & UK living costs 170-230% higher
American Purchasing Power is only 98% higher than Indian
British Purchasing Power is only 57% higher
BRIC shows divergence between BR & IC
India & China following high growth / high inflation model
Equity market unimpressed by the high inflation model
Russian equities gained while Indian and Chinese indices nosedived Inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and corruption rampant
rent) is still 177% higher than in India. In UK, it is 236% higher than in India!
Of course, Indians and Americans don’t earn equally. But not only is this difference smaller, but it is getting smaller bythe year. For example, the local purchasing power of Americans is now only 98% higher than Indians. And in the caseof Englishmen, local purchasing power index is even smaller - only 57% higher than in India now. These numbers areeven more significant, taking into account the better savings culture of Indians vis-à-vis Westerners.
Clearly, room for further inflation is there if we want to end up as a developed nation. And the only thing that can offsetinflation is earnings growth, and if earnings - of individuals, families, companies, governments, and ultimately of thenation - doesn’t keep pace, any and all of these social units will be in deep trouble.
And for earnings to grow, productivity should grow, and that is why the team led by Dr. Manmohan Singh is madly afterGDP growth. That is how USA grew itself in the post-WW2 era, always striving to keep annual GDP at high singledigits, if not low double digits, and suffering high inflation as the outcome. And now, with USA and other developedcountries growing at low single digits, Dr. Singh and his team rightly thinks that if we continually grow at high singledigits, we can successfully play catch up.
In contrast, if growth is slowed down, inflation will in no doubt come down, but so will employment rate, and so will APLpercentage. In fact, studies have shown that with each declining growth percentage (that will tame inflation), thecountry will see unemployment levels inching towards 20%, and the failure to raise another 100 million people fromBPL status.
Simply put, the secret is that India has voluntarily opted for high-growth / high-inflation economics. Amongst the BRICeconomies, while India and China are following this method, Brazil and Russia have opted for the low-growth / low-inflation route. Only time will tell which route was best, but the bad thing is that our leaders don’t have the guts toannounce what they have chosen.
The pains arising from this non-disclosure is apparent. For one, if it were disclosed, people would at least try to earnmore rather than wait endlessly for onions to be cheaper. Only God knows what would be the overall hit if and whendiesel is de-regulated.
Behind the veil of apparent indecisiveness, the real decisiveness of this Government - may be its only decisiveness -in ensuring a high growth / high inflation cycle is unnerving.
It is slowly becoming clearer that the ongoing equity market correction is not just about interest rates edging higher,but more to do with Government’s subtle unwillingness to control inflation by curbing growth. The high growth / highinflation cycle is clearly not favoured by FIIs, which is clear from the way Indian and Chinese indices have nosedivedwhile indices in other emerging markets like Russia have soared over the past two months.
Will Dr. Manmohan Singh and company eventually succeed as history makers? They may, but if, and only if, they arealso willing to admit that development is not only about economics, but about rooting out inefficiencies, bottlenecks,and ultimately, corruption.
For example, despite being the world’s second largest producer of vegetables and fruits, 25% of our produce goes aswaste. Coming to cereals and pulses, the waste is smaller but still a sizeable 7%, enough to correct an ad-hoc pricehike due to any supply side crunch. It is also highly unlikely that our investigative agencies have uncovered andbusted the myriad ways in which hoarding and futures exploit the demand side which is getting stronger in the country.
And if growth is also about empowering the country’s largest profession, farming, the country’s track-record in this ispretty poor, with Indian farmers struggling to get at least one-third of the final retail price.
It is economy that needs to grow, but often it is not only economics that is involved.
John Antony
Wealth Creating Stocks for 2011They are India’s sleeping wealth creators. Once the gems of India Inc, or rather,
Investment Inc, that created multi-fold wealth not only for themselves, but for
their millions of retail investors. But that is history. It was in the last decade’s
early, mid, and until the stock-market’s 2008 peak. From then on, the limelight
was hogged by a different set of players, promising wealth in sectors like
infrastructure and banking. But with these new breed promises only partially
Is India Developing a Gun Culture?
Starting from the rich and the powerful, are Indian citizens starting to rely on
guns for self-defence and family-defence? Or are the guns used to bully or
silence enemies? NEW DELHI, India — Three years after two teenage boys
allegedly gunned down his 14-year-old son, Abishek, over a playground spat,
Gurgaon businessman Rajinder Tyagi
10 Best Spas in IndiaThe spa industry in India has seen some phenomenal growth in recent years.
Kerala, with its ayurvedic roots, has emerged as a hot destination for spa
tourism. You'll also find some wonderfully refreshing destination spas in the
mountains, and enticing resort spas in India. As well as skin treatments and
massages, most spas in India have now evolved to include a number of
different therapies, such as reflexology, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and
FEBRUARY 2011
Contents
Leadership Change, Google Style"When I joined Google in 2001 I never imagined even in my wildest
dreams that we would get as far, as fast as we have today. Search has
quite literally changed people’s lives increasing the collective sum of the
world’s knowledge and revolutionizing advertising in the process. And our
emerging businesses display, Android, YouTube and Chrome are on fire.
3 Ways Families Escapefrom Poverty
MIT economist’s study shows how the poor in developing countries are
becoming wealthier, not often by family's teamwork, but by one family
member's unusual initiatives.
Indian Homes That MakesCities Immaterial
You hate to boast this, but you have seen the world. You can carry out
your work from anywhere, even in forests without Wi-Fi. Because work
will call you, report to you, or go on smoothly without your intervention.
Or you won’t work at all for days, and not because you can afford it.
With Full Wind on its SailsAs the SAIL FPO draws closer, retail investors are
evaluating whether the follow-on public issue of the
country’s largest steel-maker will fare as good as recent
LIC Continues to be Unbeatable inLife Insurance and Capital MarketsIt has been 10 years since many of the largest private life insurers
started operating in the country. Though life insurers are expected to
break even starting from the 7th year of commencing operations,
according to IRDA assessments, it is striking that many
Hamriyah FZ EmergesStronger From GlobalSlowdownDid any nation escape the global slowdown
that started in early 2008? Not USA, not
India, and not UAE. But for Dr. Rashid Al
Leem and his team at Sharjah’s Hamriyah
Free Zone, it was a time for contemplation
and consolidation, and they went to work
Cometh the Hour,
Cometh the Man!VVS? Wo kaun hai? Is he the one who
scored that scintillating knock of 281*
against the Aussies at the Eden
Gardens?.....hard to believe ,ain’t it? Ah!
But that’s our very own VVS’s life. When he
Against fundamental and market challenges affecting the banking sector
since November, Canara Bank is moving fast and furious to sustain both
growth and margins through various initiatives. If they succeed, Chairman
S Raman would also automatically succeed in making this PSB India’s third
most-profitable and the third-most valuable by market cap. Investors are
also sure to cheer such a move, as recently Canara Bank had proven what it
is capable of if the environment is conducive.
Canara Bank Moves UnfazedAgainst Sectoral Challenges
Developers Hope Townships willChange FortunesAjay Arora, a multinational software company employee, commutes 2 hours daily to
work in rush-hour traffic. He spends as much time — sometimes more — on the
journey home. Driving is his passion, but given the gridlock going into Bangalore
almost the time, he recently hired a driver. Still, he is frustrated by the amount of
time he spends on road
We will Repeat ManappuramFinance’s Success..He transformed a 60-year old pawn shop his father founded
into a Rs. 6300 crore financial empire. He is VP
Nandakumar, former banker, entrepreneur extraordinaire,
and one of India’s most successful wealth creators for retail
5 Reasons Your CompanyWebsite isn’t a Hit
After WikiLeaks, ComesAnonymous
Q3 RESULTS
BEST SPAIN INDIA
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ASThe spa industry in India has seen some phenomenal growth in recent
years. Kerala, with its ayurvedic roots, has emerged as a hot
destination for spa tourism. You'll also find some wonderfully
refreshing destination spas in the mountains, and enticing resort spas
in India. As well as skin treatments and massages, most spas in India
have now evolved to include a number of different therapies, such as
reflexology, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and meditation. All you need
to do is lie back and enjoy being pampered!
Here are the 10 best luxury spas in India.
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Set amongst cedar forests, with fresh air and a view of snow cappedmountains, the Spa Pavilion at the Oberoi's Wildflower Hall Resort is ahaven of tranquility. Twice voted "India’s Best Spa Resort" in the WorldTravel Awards, the spa uses plant and flower essences in its aromatherapyand Ayurveda based treatments.
Address: Oberoi Wildflower Hall Resort, Shimla in the Himalayas,Chharabra, Shimla. Ph: (91 177) 264-8585.
Cost: $90-$130 for massages, $50 for body scrubs, $85 for body wraps,Ayurvedic treatments from $80, spa programs from $130, $25 for yoga,meditation, & pranayama.
What's Good: The luxurious Himalayan Retreat spa program, whichincludes body scrub, Indian head massage, full body massage, andHimalayan cedar bath.
Ananda In the Himalayas Spa,Rishikesh
The Ananda In the Himalayas isanother award winning spa in India,set against the soothing backgroundof the Himalayas. The spaciousdestination spa is built on a Maharaja'spalace estate. It offers therapeutictreatments based on traditional Indianpractices of ayurveda, yoga andmeditation. There's also an enticingspa boutique, stocking everythingfrom music to organic food. A threenight minimum stay is required.
Address: The Palace Estate, NarendraNagar Dist. Tehri-Garhwal,Uttarakhand. Ph: (91 1378) 227-500.
Cost: Accommodation and spapackages start from around $500 perperson per night, and include specialcuisine and treatments.
What's Good: The five night StressManagement Package will leave youfeeling relaxed and energized.
2
Wildflower HallSpa, Shimla1
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3Kaya Kalp - TheRoyal Spa, AgraOpened in March 2008 and declared the "World'sBest City Spa" by the UK's Tatler Magazine withinsix months, Kaya Kalp is a spa like no other.Spread over 99,000 square feet of unsurpassedopulence, it could very well be the biggest spa inAsia. However, it's the jaw dropping grandeur ofthe spa that will take your breath away.
Address: ITC Mughal Hotel, Taj Ganj, Agra. Ph:(91 562) 233-1701.
Cost: $35 for a 30 minute tension relievermassage, $95 for a 90 minute facial, $105 for the100 minute Royal Mughal Hamam Spa Journey,$160 for the 150 minute Passage to India SpaJourney. Three hour couples packages, $350.
What's Good: Passage to India Spa Journey,which combines guided meditation withayurvedic treatments to restore the mind and body.
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Winner of "Best Resort Spa" at the2007 AsiaSpa awards, Maya Spais located amidst the Keralabackwaters on the shores ofVembanad Lake. It's the largestspa in southern India and has twowings - one dedicated toAyurvedic treatments, and theother to Oriental and Westernstyle treatments includingmassage, skin treatments,reflexology, and Shiatsu. Theresort also has a specialmeditation and yoga pavilion on
Maya Spa, Kumarakom
4
an island in the lagoon.
Address: Zuri Resort & SpaKumarakom, Kerala. Ph: (91 481)252-7272.
Cost: Accommodation & spapackages from around $500 for adouble per night.
What's Good: The Cloud 9massage, where you'll receive arelaxing head massage whilefloating on an enveloping waterbed to help relax tensed upmuscles.
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As if the alluring lake setting of the Taj Lake Palace isn't enough, theJiva spa takes it to a whole new level. Its exquisite treatment suites, withhand painted heritage frescoes adorning their walls, are the perfect placesto relax and receive an unwind. What really makes this spa unique though,is its Royal Spa Boat. It will take you gliding across Lake Pichola as yousoak in the spa bath on the deck or get an aromatherapy massage.
Address: The Taj Lake Palace, Lake Pichola, Udaipur, Rajashtan. Ph:(91 294) 2528800.
Cost: Signature "Pehlwan Malish" Warrior Massage massage $90. Scrubs& wraps $40. Royal Spa Boat packages from $300 for two.
What's Good: The Romantic Spa Escapade and Romantic SpaIndulgence packages on the Royal Spa Boat.
Taj Lake Palace JivaSpa, Udaipur5
6 Sereno Spa, Goa
Voted "World’s Number One Spa" and "Best Spa in the Asian and Indian Subcontinent" by the readers ofConde Nast Traveller in 2006, Sereno Spa is a real delight for the senses. Located on a quiet Goa beach andspread over 36,000 square feet, the stunning outdoor spa pavilions have breathtaking sea views. A deliciousrange of ayurvedic inspired massage, skin, and body treatments is on offer.
Address: Park Hyatt Goa Resort and Spa, Arossim Beach, Cansaulim, South Goa. Ph: (91 832) 272-1234.
Cost: Around $600 for a one night spa package for two.
What's Good: The Synchronised Abhyanga "Four Hands Massage", designed to invigorate the body. TheTraditional Marma Facial, which includes a crown chakra massage, is excellent for mature skin types.
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Conde Nast Traveller readers rated the Jiva Spa, at the TajMalabar Hotel, as one of their Top 10 favorite hotel spas inAsia for 2008. Located on a peaceful island, the spa looks outover a shimmering swimming pool that appears to merge intothe ocean. Guests can choose from in-depth Ayurveda programs,traditional Indian massages, body scrubs, Ashtanga yoga andmeditation. Perfect for relaxation and rejuvenation!
Address: Taj Malabar Hotel, Willingdon Island, Cochin. Ph:(91 484) 2666811/2668010.
What's Good: The signature Jivaniya energizing treatmentrelives tension an improves blood circulation. It includes anexfoliating herbal scrub, heat stimulating wrap, and massage.The Narikela coconut scrub is a house favorite.
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Taj Malabar
Jiva Spa, Cochin
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The sensuous Amatrra Spa defines itself as the only metropolitan standalone lifestyle spa in India. It wasawarded "Best Day Spa" by AsiaSpa India in 2007, and was recognized by Forbes as one of the "10 Best Spasin India" in 2006. The spa is unique in that its treatments are based on the ancient study of "Astroveda" -- acombination of Ayurveda and astrology.
Address: The Ashok Hotel, Diplomatic Enclave, 50 B Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Ph: (91 484) 2666811/2668010.
Cost: Aromatic baths $35. Massages and detoxification treatments from $60. Spa & lunch package $65. Halfday packages $200. Full day packages from $350.
What's Good: Fully inclusive packages including wellness consultation, spa therapy, meditation, reflexol-ogy, and food.
Amatrra Spa, New Delhi8S
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The opulent Quan Spa won AsiaSpa's "New Spa of the Year" Awardin 2006, and was one of CondeNast Traveler's Hot Spas for 2007.This is a place where you can trulyindulge yourself. The spa has fourdifferent types of treatments onoffer -- rejuvenating, detoxifying,enhancing, and Indian stylemassages. What's great is that youdon't have to be a hotel guest tovisit this spa.
What could me more exquisite thanrelaxing in a bath full of flowers,with a view of the Taj Mahal out-side? You can turn this dream intoreality at the Oberoi Amarvilas Spa.The spa claims that it befits the self-indulgence of royalty, and its notwrong. Couples will find it impos-
Quan Spa, Mumbai
Amarvilas Spa, Agra
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Address: JW Marriott Hotel, JuhuTara Road, Juhu Beach. Ph: (9122)6693-3610.
Cost: $40-$70 for body polish,baths, or massages. $90-$120 forfacial therapy and body wraps.$120-$220 for Ayurvedic rituals.
What's Good: The hotel offersspa and accommodation packagesfrom $400-460, which include avariety of spa massages. The spaalso has a lavish room for couples.
sible not to feel romantic! Treat-ments blend classic Ayurvedic tech-niques with traditional Thai mas-sage, and use exotic herbal oils andcreams of ancient Indian royalty.
Address: Oberoi Amarvillas, TajEast Gate Road, Agra. Ph: (91 562)223-1515.
Cost: Treatments start from around$50 for a body scrub, and go up to$220 for the most extensive spaprogram.
What's Good: The three hourNoor-e-Taj program, which com-bines body scrub, wrap, massageand bath.
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hey are India’s sleeping wealth creators. Oncethe gems of India Inc, or rather, InvestmentInc, that created multi-fold wealth not only for
themselves, but for their millions of retail investors. Butthat is history. It was in the last decade’s early, mid, anduntil the stock-market’s 2008 peak. From then on, thelimelight was hogged by a different set of players,promising wealth in sectors like infrastructure andbanking. But with these new breed promises onlypartially fulfilled, will the old wealth creators come backinto the game in the New Year? Enterprises like Unitech,Satyam, Suzlon, and many more of this genre? Willthey wake up in 2011? Seasonal Magazine finds out.
Stocks for2011
Wealth Creating
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LF and Unitech areperhaps so oftenclubbed togetherthat the uninitiated
would think they are some sortof cousins. But nothing could befarther from the truth, when itcomes to sheer wealth creationcapabilities. Unitech was a listedcompany when KP Singh wasstill buying land for his flagshipGurgaon project. But not theDLF and realty style of listing,of course, with an IPO price ofjust Rs. 25 in 1991.
Highest share price of Unitechin 2000 was Rs. 60. Today’sclosing price for Unitech was63.40. But you would be fooled
Unitech’sUniversal Appeal
only if you started investing in2010. No, not the usual stock-split stuff. That is there, ofcourse, with the current facevalue at Rs. 2 and the then facevalue at Rs. 10. That makes thecurrent price 500% of the 2000price. But that is not all. Shortlyafter the split came a 12:1 bonusissue. That made it a 5 X 13 =65 times appreciating stock. Notcomplete, still. Next year cameanother bonus, of 1:1. That madethe appreciation 5 X 13 X 2 =130 times or 13,000% of theoriginal value. In other words,if you had invested Rs. 77,000in Unitech in 2000, the samewould be today worth over Rs.
1 crore. Still, the story is notover. For the past six years,Unitech has also been a dividendpaying company, with theaverage dividend being 17% ofthe prevailing face values. Thatis why the Unitech story isregarded as one of the mostprofound wealth creation sagasin India Inc. But all this ishistory.
Today, Unitech’s year-to-dateprice-performance is -20%.Even if we discount it for therecent correction, theappreciation has been nil. Inother words, Unitech has beentrapped in a range, unable tomake a convincing close above
WEALTH CREATING
STOCKS FOR 2011
Realty
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Rs. 100 for almost a year. Why?
A quick look at the P/E and P/BV signals that even at Rs. 60levels, the valuation is not cheap,but not obnoxious either.
We can readily blame dilutionthat happened due to the megabonuses, but better is toremember that Unitech is acompany that had not onlymaintained but increased its EPSby nearly 10% in FY’07, a yearin which equity went up to1300%. It has remained as aperformance benchmark that isdifficult to beat by any companyin any sector. So, dilution per sewas not the problem. Thecompany had grown its incomeand profits even faster.
But when Unitech attempted todo a repeat performance inFY’08, disaster struck. Sales andprofit growth slowed, and theequity doubling that year ensuredthat EPS nosedived to 50%. Nextyear, even Unitech didn’t havethe guts to attempt a repeat. Byfiscal 2010, the situation was sobad that Unitech had to fortify itsequity - without any bonus, ofcourse - just to stay afloat.
Now, the question is has the shipstabilized enough to go foranother battle? One hint is thatthough sales is still struggling,Unitech is now much leaner andsmarter. Operating profit marginhas increased by almost 7%from FY’10 levels to reachnearly 62%. Net profit marginhas also improved by almost 2%to reach above 30%. What thismeans is that if housing demandpicks up again, Unitech is battleready.
In a sector, where DLF can stillcommand a P/E of over 50 andGodrej Property can trade on aP/BV of over 5, a much morediversified player like Unitech’sP/E of 27 and P/BV of 2 comesacross as cheap. That is why, ifthe sector turns around in 2011,Unitech might be the realtyshare to watch.
Now forget all these, and to thereal reason. Unitech’scapabilities in wealth creationwill bring back all those oldmemories, and expect a quite alot of investors, includingforeign institutional investors, tojoin the fray, if and whenUnitech presents a true breakout.
That made it a 5 X
13 = 65 times
appreciating stock.
Not complete, still.
Next year came
another bonus, of
1:1. That made the
appreciation 5 X 13
X 2 = 130 times or
13,000% of the
original value. In
other words, if you
had invested Rs.
77,000 in Unitech
in 2000, the same
would be today
worth over Rs. 1
crore.
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Sanjay Chandra
ow, which will beangering theinvestor in youmost? That thereis no stock called
Tech Mahindra Satyam, or thatwe dared to call this non-entitya wealth creator, say, likeUnitech? Well, hold on till theend of this.
If you are a Mahindra Satyamor Tech Mahindra investor, haveno doubt, we understand youranger. Ever since the muchcelebrated takeover, both scripshave not only failed to live upto the promise, but failedmiserably causing seriousdamage to many investors.
Tech MahindraSatyam
Now, before we proceed withour case for this non-entity, aword on what we really intend.Are we asking you to invest inMahindra Satyam? Are weasking you to invest in TechMahindra? Are we asking you towait for the merger and invest inTech Mahindra Satyam,assuming that would be the finalname? No, no, no. All thesewould be wrong strategies.
What we are really advising isto always look at both, if at allyou are considering one of them,or for that matter, any IT stockto invest in. In other words, say,if you have 1 lakh to invest in anew IT play - let 50,000 go to
Tech Mahindra and 50,000 go toMahindra Satyam. Why? Simplybecause, as of now, nobodyknows what would be themerger ratio, and whichever wayMahindras decide, be it the 1:10way the two shares are moving,or the 1:5 way or 1:2 waySatyam investors would like itto be - your investment wouldbe safer this way.
Now, to explain the audacity tocall either of them a wealthcreator.
Looking at Tech Mahindra’srather short listed history, thingsdon’t look that bad. From a 2006IPO price of around Rs. 525, thislate entrant into the listed ITspace had quickly zoomed toaround Rs. 2000 levels by thenext year, that is in 2007 itself.Isn’t that a 300% rise? Ofcourse, later Tech Mahindra fell,but still managed annual highprices above Rs. 1000 in 2008,09, & even in 2010. But it was akind of rollercoaster ride as lowprices went deep down even upto Rs. 200 levels in 2008 & 09.But impressively, in 2010, thelows haven’t breached the Rs.600 mark, which is comfortablyabove the IPO price. The Satyam
WEALTH CREATING
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What we are reallyadvising is to alwayslook at both, if at allyou are consideringone of them, or forthat matter, any ITstock to invest in. Inother words, say, ifyou have 1 lakh toinvest in a new ITplay - let 50,000 goto Tech Mahindraand 50,000 go toMahindra Satyam.
buy was, of course, an importantstabilizer.
Coming to Mahindra Satyam, orits former avataar, SatyamComputer Services, it may nowlook like a beaten down scrip atRs. 73, compared with its IPOprice of around Rs. 57 in 1995.But reality is something quitedifferent. Two 1:1 bonuses andone 10/5 split makes the currentshare 2X2x5=20 times of theoriginal share. In other words, aRs. 57 Satyam share in 1995 isnow worth Rs. 1460. Somethingthat appreciates 25 times within15 years is not bad, and that iswhy, for all his misdeeds, Rajuindeed had capabilities in wealthcreation for retail investors.
But all that is history now. Whyany serious investor should startlooking at Tech MahindraSatyam is something else. If andwhen the companies arecombined, with a combined
sales of around Rs. 10,000 crore,Tech Mahindra Satyam will bedouble the size of India’s fourthlargest IT exporter, HCLTechnologies. And from then on,interesting things can happen. IfSatyam can win back many ofits major orders lost due to thescam, and / or the combinedentity can succeed in synergisticbidding in the financial,engineering, & telecom space,its net sales can reach withinstriking distance of India’s thirdlargest IT exporter by sales, theone and only InfosysTechnologies!
Of course, margins will be adifferent story altogether, buteven if it improves to half ofInfosys levels, the market maybe ready to give Tech MahindraSatyam, near identicalvaluations. That provides for anupside that is twice or thrice ofthe current prices.
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Anand Mahindra
t is doubtful whetherany other first-generation Indiancompany had morewind in their sails
during 1995-2008, than Suzlon?Without any family background inpower business or big business,what Tulsi Tanti did was nothingless than miraculous. Within ashort period of 15 years, Tantitransformed what was a smallscale industrial unit - with 20employees - doing a then not-
Suzlon Energy Ltd
much-understood wind powerturbine manufacturing in Pune,into the world’s third largest windpower company, with 16,000employees across 25 countries.
The scale at which Suzlon wasgrowing would have made evenMukesh Ambani nervous. InFY’08, Suzlon grew its income by73%, and not only that, it was aquality growth as it expanded itswings across the world,conquering each advanced marketwith seeming ease - both
organically and throughacquisitions. The profit growthwas also decent at around 20%,considering the cost of expansion.Net profit went above Rs. 1000crore for the first time. Buoyedalso by the stock market boom,Suzlon scrip climbed tounprecedented heights of Rs.2300. It was a good appreciationto 360%, from the 2005 IPO priceof Rs. 640. Within three years, itwas high-power wealth creation.Enthusiastically, Suzlon also went
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for a 10/5 split.
However, the very next year,FY’09, signalled trouble forSuzlon. Many critics warned thatSuzlon was trying to grow too fast,accumulating massive debt, evenin face of the massive slowdownthat was then coming up on theworld infrastructure space. ButTanti went on with hisacquisitions, maybe in the hopethat demand would again pick upsoon, and by that time he can makeSuzlon the second-largest windpower company, if not the first inthe world. Though he succeededin doubling sales to a whoppingRs. 26,258 crore in FY’09, profitsnosedived to just Rs. 236.48 crore,a 77% fall year-on-year. Theformer year’s split also came tobite on the EPS, which fell to ameasly Rs. 1.52, from FY’08’s Rs.6.89 and 07’s impressive EPS ofRs. 30.
Even worse was in store forSuzlon in FY’10. For the first timein its listed history, the innovativecompany went into the red, as itregistered a disturbing Rs. 982.56crore net loss. Within just two
years, Suzlon had gone from Rs.1000 crore annual profit to nearlyRs. 1000 crore annual loss. EPSwas deep in red at Rs. -6.39. EvenTanti’s strategy of growing sales,come what may, didn’t help inFY’10, as sales also dipped byover 21%, which was also a firstin its listed history. Since then, thecompany has not yet come out ofthe doldrums, even though TulsiTanti has started correcting manyrisky strategies by divesting someacquisitions and paring debt. Still,with a debt of Rs. 12,000 crore anda debt-equity ratio of around 1.5,the apparent outlook remainsgrim.
So, why should anybody bebullish on Suzlon? Firstly, thevaluations are quite attractive. Ona consolidated book-value of Rs.42.40 (as on March 2010), Suzlonnow trades at a P/BV of just 1.20.In its official segment of‘Engineering - Heavy’, this faresquite attractive as 25 out of 29peers have a P/BV above 1.20times, with 10 majors evendemanding valuations above 5times P/BV. Even in related
sectors like ‘Power - Transmission/ Equipment’ and ‘Power -Generation / Distribution’, it israre to find a company with thisP/BV, as 30 out of 34 companiesin these sectors - including PSUs- are trading well above theselevels.
Secondly, compared with many ofthe feeble listed companies in thepower or engineering sector,nobody can ignore the fact thatSuzlon is an internationalfranchise in wind power, thatmakes it an attractive take-overtarget for strategic investors, if notfor pure private equity players.The recent speculative price - Rs.71 - said to be offered by Spain’sGamesa for a 51% takeover ofSuzlon proves this. With thegrowing focus on carbon creditsfor large corporations across theworld, Suzlon’s core businessremains hot and will pick up wind,once the international recovery isin full swing. The recent Vedantaorder bagged by Suzlon for 150MW projects shows themomentum is not lost, butrecovering.
Tulsi Tanti, CMD, Suzlon Energy
The scale at which Suzlon
was growing would have
made even Mukesh
Ambani nervous. In
FY’08, Suzlon grew its
income by 73%, and not
only that, it was a quality
growth as it expanded its
wings across the world.
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MIT economist’sstudy shows howthe poor indevelopingcountries arebecomingwealthier, notoften by family'steamwork, butby one familymember'sunusualinitiatives.
For all the detailed tools developedto study finance in past decades,relatively few scholars havebrought those methods to bear ona pressing social question: How dopoor people manage theirfinances?
Now, a long-term study of the poorin small villages in Thailand isshedding light on the issue. Havinga sound financial strategy,including a commitment to savingmoney, has a large impact on lifting
families out of poverty, theresearch reveals. Moreover,advances in wealth are linked tohighest level of education obtainedby a household member, as well asa willingness to try new ventures.
The study, based on a unique set ofdata collected under the directionof MIT economist Robert M.Townsend, shows that among ruralhouseholds, 43 percent realizedsignificant and lasting gains in networth over a seven-year period, andthat 81 percent of that wealthaccumulation was due to savings ofincome, as opposed to gifts orremittances, that is, contributionsthe family did not earn.
“There is not a poverty trap in theseThai villages,” says Townsend, theElizabeth and James KillianProfessor of Economics at MIT.“There are strategies people canpursue to increase their relativewealth.”
The findings are summarized in anew working paper, “WealthAccumulation and FactorsAccounting for Success,” writtenby Townsend and Anan Pawasutipaisit of Thammasat Universityin Thailand, and slated to be
3 Ways
FamiliesEscape from
Poverty
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published in the Journal of Econometrics. Theconclusions are based on a pioneering survey ofhousehold finances in 16 Thai villages that Townsendinitiated in 1997. This paper takes monthly data from1999 through 2006, for 531 households, andrepresents a unique view into the month-by-monthfinancial lives of rural villagers in a country that hasdemonstrated substantial economic growth in recentyears, yet still has substantial pockets of poverty.
The Thai villagers in the survey tend to be farmers,fishermen, laborers or run small businesses. Householdsthat do get ahead have some generally sharedcharacteristics. The heads of households tend to beyounger than in the families that do not increase theirworth. Additionally, gains in wealth correlate specificallyto the highest level of education obtained by a familymember, and not the family’s median educational level,
as Townsend notes.
“It’s not the average wisdom of household memberspulled together,” says Townsend. Rather, he notes, “It’ssuggestive that it is the ability or talent of one individual”that can change a family’s entire economic trajectory.
Moreover, the data show financial success to be apersistent feature of certain households, meaning it isnot the case that “successful entrepreneurs are thosethat simply get lucky” due to one good crop or fishharvest, as Townsend and Pawasutipaisit write in thepaper. But new ventures are sometimes behind theaccrual of wealth. In one survey village, the householdwith the highest annual rate of return on assets (17percent) was headed by a corn farmer whose wifeinsisted that they try raising dairy cows instead,sensing that owning livestock would be moreprofitable in their area; the idea came in part after amilk cooperative sent workers to educate villagersabout cows.
“This work really lifts the veil on the lives of low-income people that had been hidden, largely becausewe don’t usually collect data with this frequency,” saysJonathan Morduch, a professor of public policy andfinance at New York University. “Once you do that,you see that people are not passively accepting theirfates. We see a lot of consumption smoothing —people’s incomes are going up and down, but they’reborrowing, saving, insuring with each other andreducing risk in an informal way. People are activelyseizing opportunities. That’s exciting and importantto know.”
Townsend has also summarized some of his research
Prof. Robert M. Townsend, MIT
“There are strategiespeople can pursue to
increase their relativewealth.”
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in a 2010 book, Households asCorporate Firms (CambridgeUniversity Press), written witheconomist Krislert Samphantharakof the University of California, SanDiego. Now, as the surveycontinues, Townsend andChristopher Woodruff, anothereconomist at the University ofCalifornia, San Diego, are tryingto further define just what it is thatmakes some households moreentrepreneurial-minded and able togenerate a higher return on assetsthan others. Currently the surveyis asking questions about financialliteracy and risk-taking tendenciesin an attempt to create a moredetailed profile of the types ofhouseholds that escape poverty asa result of trying new businesses.
How do small gainsfeed a large economy?
In turn, another area of ongoingresearch for Townsend and hiscolleagues is the attempt to take themicroeconomic data from
individual households and villages,and use it to flesh out themacroeconomic analysis ofThailand’s economy as a whole.
“It’s easy to think of Thailand andcountries like it as producing GDP[gross domestic product] from thefactories which line the highwaysas you enter Bangkok,” saysTownsend, referring to firms likeFord and Nike with largeoperations in the area. Butmultinationals and incorporatedbusinesses only account for 20percent of Thailand’s nationalincome. “We already know thathouseholds as firms are a bigbuilding block of the nationaleconomy,” he adds. “We want tounderstand the evolution of that as
the economy itself gets bigger.Where did the bigger, domesticallyowned Thai firms come from? Didthey grow from some interestingearlier existence?”
The financial activities of peoplein the more rural areas of Thailandare linked to the larger economicsituation in the country in otherways as well. Households in manyThai villages run businesses that donot earn as great a rate of returnas, for instance, savings accounts;some of the more financially savvyThai households put their savingsinto banks.
“And then that money becomessomebody else’s loan,” saysTownsend. “In the United States,people talk about Main Street andWall Street as if they are separate.But we think it’s really importantto understand how these financialinstitutions and markets are puttogether, and how that fabric iswoven into the national-leveleconomy. That’s a very big part ofour ongoing research.”
Some funding for the research wasprovided by the John TempletonFoundation, the Bill & MelindaGates Foundation, and theNational Institute of Child Healthand Human Development.
“We already know
that households as
firms are a big
building block of
the national
economy,”
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VS? Wo kaun hai? Ishe the one who scoredthat scintillatingknock of 281 against
the Aussies at the Eden Gardens?Hard to believe, isn‘t it? Ah! Butthat’s our very own VVS’ life.When he scores, the question is “What?..unbelievable” ,but whenTendulkar scores, people go aboutsaying,”Wow! Sachin’s the best,better than Donald Bradman.” Butsuch is the comments VVS isbound to receive in a ratherremarkable cricketing career.
Of late, Laxman has forced hiscritics to alter their aboveexclamations about him and thattoo in style. He has playednumerous breathtaking knocks butI feel his gritty unbeaten 73against the Aussies, in the justconcluded home series, stands outamong the all-time best innings.That innings personified the man.It showed that he could do whatTendulkar and Dravid couldn’t. Itshowed why he was India’s crisisman. That innings creamed anastounding appreciation from thecricketing fraternity. To say theleast, he really deserved such highpraises.
VVS, along with Ishant Sharma,scripted one of India’s mostfamous Test wins and through thisknock gave a thundering reply tohis ready-to-pounce-on critics. Hehas faced criticism like nobody
Cometh the Hour,Cometh the Man!
else. Poor average, strike rate etcwere some blots on his cricketingcareer. But that too he has erasedthrough this epic knock.
What makes VVS special? It’sbecause he does special things.Pulling off a rather improbablewin against the mighty Aussiessurely isn’t a piece of cake. He’sthe saviour of Indian Cricket . IfTendulkar is God, Laxmananswers our prayers. His game-plan is simple and logical. Get outthere and do it for the country. Hebattled severe pain and difficulties
during this knock but still kept theflame burning (and the run-rateticking).
He is a kind of player who instillsconfidence in his fellow-teammates. When the chips aredown, there’s Laxman to therescue. But is it possible to carry-out such rescue acts all the time?
Certainly yes, for a team that hashad a history of batting-collapses!Not only that, the stats too show apositive reflection of hiscapabilities. An average of 67.61and that too in the second-inningsis a fantastic feat.
VVS means “Very Very Special “and was indeed very very specialagainst Australia, arguably hisfavorite opponents. If he has it inhim to play and perform againstthe best in business, then why isLaxman India’s unsung hero?Maybe he’s not the slam- bangcricketer like MSD and Viru, buthe surely is flamboyant. Maybenot a consistent performer like theMaster Blaster and he surely isn’ta controversial figure like ourBhajjis and Yuvis.
But these may just be the reasonswhy he is India’s not-so-popularplayer. But Laxman demandsrespect. He’s not the kind of guywho is content and joyful afterplaying a few good knocks. He’shungry for more, which makeshim even more dangerous. Hisrecent inclusion in the IPL KochiTeam just stands to show the beliefthe franchisee has in him. Theyrealize that Laxman is the perfectplayer to bail them out ofpremature troubles and it won’tcome as a surprise to anyone ifhe manages to do so. Such hasbeen the situations in which VVShas been ‘born and brought up”.
If Tendulkar is God,Laxman answersour prayers. His
game-plan is simpleand logical. Get outthere and do it for
the country.
By Carl Jaison
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There has been numerousoccasions where he has raised hishand and taken up responsibilityof any mighty task. Laxmanenjoys playing under pressure.When you feel free and confidentduring times of hardships and
sorrows, then there is nothing thatcan stop you. And that to me isthe greatest boon that God hasshowered upon Laxman.
He was a genius during his schooldays and everyone had visions ofhim being a doctor . But VVS
begged to differ. He knew this iswhere he belonged. He was awareof the improbabilities of this field,but cricket is , and will always be,his true love.
Laxman has gone through toughtimes like any other sportsperson
He’s hungry for more,which makes him evenmore dangerous. His
recent inclusion in the IPLKochi Team just stands to
show the belief thefranchisee has in him.
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would have gone through. Even hehad had that lean phase in hiscareer but that didn’t stop himfrom staying apart from his truelove. Many cricketing experts feelLaxman wasn’t properly used inthe early parts of his career. Hewas used as a “floater” meaninghe had no fixed designated battingposition in the Indian line-up.Gradually, that led to his axingfrom the ODI team.
Still the man didn’t lose hope. Hegot together his shattered dreams,learnt from his mistakes and wasback in the Test-outfit, as achanged man. In spite of thechanges he had to undergo, therewere still ups and downs duringhis second-coming. Evident fromhis rescue-acts, Laxman is ahugely popular player in thedressing room.
He’s a treat to watch when he’s onsong. That stylish Hyderabadi-flick from the off-stump is surelyVVS’s favourite shot from thecricket manual. Althoughcriticised for his low-scoring ratein one-dayers, Laxman scores atreasonably good pace in Tests. Ifthe innings against Australia atEden Gardens is termed his bestin the longer version then hiscentury against Pakistan (102) isclearly the most outstanding
innings he’s ever played in thelimited-over format.
Though he doesn’t have much toboast about in the 20-20’s, he wasinstrumental in the DeccanChargers winning the IPL 2nd
edition. A lot will be expected ofhim by the Kochiites and he’ll beutmost pleased to live up to theirexpectations. Laxman’s name hasbeen going rounds in manyhouseholds of Kochi with thepeople excited about the latestunfolding of their franchisee, whohaving bought a well-balancedteam has stirred fear among theother IPL outfits. Without doubt,Laxman will be a main stay in the
batting line-up but now he onlyhas to let his bat do the talking.
Rusty performances for theDeccan Chargers may have ledthem to over-look VVS, but wemay soon find out if they’ll rue thelost opportunity. Nevertheless,Laxman has to prove his mettle inthe shortest format of the game.One among the Fab 4, India willfind it hard to fill the shoes of thisbatting sensation once he decidesto call it a day. But as for nowIndia will be hoping for manymore of VVS’s high-profileknocks and will keep their fingerscrossed on his retirementdecisions.
Only if we could see him rightaway to congratulate him on hisfabulous cricketing-career, that wewould be able to erase whateverwe’ve talked rough about him. Butalas it’ll be impossible to find himat our eye’s distance. Just switchon your television sets and eagerlyawait for a historic Indian battingcollapse. Only then can you sensethe presence of the realVangipurapu Venkat Sai Laxman,or as he’s fondly called, “VeryVery Sexy” Laxman.
Just switch on your television sets
and eagerly await for a historic
Indian batting collapse. Only then
can you sense the presence of
the real Vangipurapu Venkat Sai
Laxman.
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ave you everheard of PennyAuctions? It is a newonline auction modelthat is becominghugely popular. Pennyauctions allowindividuals to do justwhat the name implies– buy new popularproducts for justpennies.
One of the most interesting andsuccessful companies offeringpenny auctions is called QuiBids.This Oklahoma based companyauctions off brand new productssuch as iPads, Macbooks, HDTVs,Digital Cameras, Gaming Consoles,
Get 95%Discount
and more for steep discounts, oftenas much as 85% off their retail price.
So how do they do it? In the case ofQuiBids it’s quite simple. You see,whenever a prospective buyerplaces a bid for an item on QuiBids,the company collects a small fee.This fee is really inconsequential tothe bidder, but based on the volumeof sales and bids, the company isable to collect a substantial amount.This revenue allows the QuiBids tosell these expensive products to thewinning bidders even if their bid isonly a tiny fraction of the value ofthe product.
Savvy bidders have recently beenable to buy a brand new AppleMacbook Pro for $23.90, a NikonD90 Camera for $45.84, and SonyPlaystation 3 for $12.32. Onaverage, buyers pay just 25% of
retail for items they win in auctionon QuiBids.
The auctions are also insanely fun.Each bid costs just 60 cents, andeach auction has a strict time limit.When you place your bid, the systemadds a little time to the auction tosee if any other bids comein. If youhave the winning bid when the clockruns out – you win the item for thatprice. According to QuiBids CEOMatt Beckham, “A huge part of ourgrowth is generated by word ofmouth and friends recommending usto their friends – so we must bedoing something right.”
But the best part of QuiBids may bethe “Buy-It-Now” feature. Thisallows bidders who did not win anauction to still buy the product theywant and apply the cost of the bidsthey placed as a discount on theregular product price. So you stillget the item and the bids you placedpreviously in the auction don’t costyou anything!
Some customers have really madeout like bandits on the site. Wespoke with Cyril Bennet, a QuiBidscustomer in Arizona who recalled arecent auction that he participatedin, “As I was bidding, my roommatewas asking me how the auction wasgoing. At that moment, gazing at thescreen, I watched as the timer read,"3… 2… 1…SOLD!" and I won thisVIZIO 32 HDTV for $2.60. Truestory. I’ve really enjoyed usingQuiBids…its awesome!"
In today’s tight economy, it’s moreimportant than ever to seek out thebest possible deals on must-haveitems. Sites like QuiBids give savvyshoppers the opportunity to nabproducts at ridiculously low prices.Add in the element of fun, and thefact that their “Buy-It-Now” featuremeans that you can’t ever pay toomuch – and it means there is simplyno reason not to try it out foryourself.
A New Way to Bid,and The First Way to
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WEB PICK
Indian HomesThat MakesCities Immaterial
ou hate to boast this, but you have
seen the world. You can carry out
your work from anywhere, even in
forests without Wi-Fi. Because work
will call you, report to you, or go on smoothly
without your intervention. Or you won’t work
at all for days, and not because you can
afford it. Cities have started meaning less
and less to you, and you are often lost for
words trying to explain why you sometimes
prefer Mumbai over NY. Because what you
HOME BUYINGS
easo
nal M
agaz
ine
look for in a home makes cities
immaterial. You prefer self-contained
setups, from where you call the shots,
and not just of the business kind. Home
for you is for unwinding yet socializing,
and whether it digital or real is blurred.
You want top-of-the-world comfort, yet
you would give greater marks to rapid
access to anywhere in the world. Design
and build quality won’t impress you, not
because they are unimportant, but
because you expect only the superlative.
For such Global Indians and Global
Citizens for whom India is another home,
Seasonal Magazine brings this
compilation of fine world-class projects
across the country.
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HIRANANDANI PALACE GARDENS
he developer who taught others how toship townships by transforming theMumbai suburb of Powai forever, isback in the game in Chennai, on a higher
orbit. If Hiranandani’s selection of the traditionalcity of Chennai stunned the entire industry a fewyears back, the actual project - the first phase ofwhich is over - is proving to be a game changer.Located on the outskirts of Chennai, at a 30-minutedistance from Chennai Airport, the strategic locationof Palace Gardens is appealing to the discerningcrowd as it lies between the NH 45 GST Road andthe NH 4 Chennai Bangalore Highway. Though theHiranandanis are known to offer excellent buildquality and luxury amenities, there are two
difference this time around. One is that PalaceGardens is also eyeing the upper band of the cost-conscious customers. Secondly, apart fromexpected luxuries like the design and build quality,Hirco, the Group firm behind Palace Gardens, haspacked in several extremely practical features thatmake this township a truly live-work-play affair.Embedded in Palace Gardens is a CBSE/IB school,a Hirco hospital, as well as an extensiveHiranandani Business Park that is sure to attractseveral Indian and MNC corporates. Other enablingfeatures include a round-the-clock bus service toand from various hubs of the city. Like its Powaitownship, Hiranandani’s Palace Gardens is alsodesigned by celebrity architect, Hafeez Contractor.
Chennai Falls in Love,With a Township
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ahar Group, one of theleading real estatedevelopers in thecountry, has now
entered the affordable housingsegment and will be developing atownship of 1000 such houses atChikhloli, Ambernath, in a joint-venture with Happy HomeDevelopers.
This is for the first time, the NaharGroup which is known forcreating landmark premiumresidential buildings including alarge residential complex,Sarvodaya Nagar in Mulund andthe prestigious township, Nahar’sAmrit Shakti in Chandivali, isgetting into developing affordablehousing.
Ms. Manju Yagnik, Vice-Chairperson, Nahar Group says“Our decision to enter thissegment was determined by ourcustomers who have beenpersistently requesting us todevelop a township of affordablehousing. When we were on thelook out for an appropriate site,we came across this wonderfullocation at Ambarnath, which toour pleasant surprise had the samebeautiful and scenic backdrop ofhills which our Nahar’s AmritShakti has in Chandivali. The vastexpanse of land available makesit possible for us to offer optionsof reasonably priced apartmentswith amenities for leisure, sportsand shopping.”
The project at Ambarnath,Sarvodaya Nagar, is conveniently
located equi-distantly fromAmbarnath and Badlapur railwaystations, and is in the proximityof medical centers, educationalinstitutes and the upcomingcorporate IT park. SarvodayaNagar will have 1000 spaceefficient homes in sizes rangingfrom 1-BHK to 3 BHK in each ofthe 6-storey 16 buildings. Inaddition to huge parking space,the other amenities include ample
play area for children, clubhouseand indoor games facility,swimming pool, convenientlylocated shopping area with 56shops, and common area powerback-up.
Starting with a price tag of just Rs.13 lakhs for 1-BHK flat, home-seekers can avail of the housingloan facilities from HDFC, IDBIBank & ICICI Bank who haveapproved of the Project.
Nahar Enters Affordable Housing atSurprising Price Points
NAHAR TOWNSHIP, THANE (AMBARNATH)
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hennai is one of thethree cities Indiabulls isfocussing on besidestheir home-turf of
Mumbai and the buzzing NCRcity of Gurgaon. If you have seenany Indiabulls property inMumbai, it is sure you won’tbelieve that this Group wasfounded in just 2000. Within adecade, what started off as a stock-broking firm has become one ofIndia’s largest conglomerates withmajor operations in finance, realestate, power, & securities. TheGroup has four listed companies,with two of them being marketleaders in their segments. WhileIndiabulls Financial Services isIndia’s largest company bymarket-cap in the ‘Finance -General’ category, Indiabulls RealEstate is the country’s fourth mostvaluable real estate firm. What allthese has got to do with IndiabullsGreens project of Chennai, youmay wonder. The connection issimple - Sameer Gehlaut, SaurabhMittal and Rajiv Rattan hadshocked the brokerage scene in2000 with a revolutionary newonline broking platform, therebybusting the myth that brokeragescan’t be any more user-friendly.Again, they had aggressivelygrown their multiple businessesagainst conventional wisdom on
speed, breaking into closely-guarded bastions like homefinance, vehicle finance, and realestate with a matter of years. Inshort, the very philosophy behindIndiabulls’ growth has been a sortof myth-busting innovation. Thesame applies for their IndiabullsGreens in Chennai. This 900-homes 15-acre township ismaking a mark of its own in thetraditional city of Chennai bybreaking a few myths. Firstly,comes the myth that luxury livingcan’t be affordable. No luxuryamenities have been spared atGreens - from outdoor and indoorgames, to fitness centre, toswimming pool, to steam/sauna/Jacuzzi, to jogging / cyclingtracks, to supermarkets, and topremium apartment features like
full height windows, kitchenbalconies, special kids room,integrated interior designing &furnishing etc - nothing has beenspared. Yet, an apartment atIndiabulls Greens wouldn’t costyou a fortune. The magic iscreated by scale and space - at 900units in 15 acres, and sizes rangingfrom a small 1050 sq ft to areasonable 1750 sq ft, Greenswould fit almost any brandedhome aspirant’s budget. Secondly,Greens busts the myth thatwalking to work is a luxury.Strategically located next toELCOT’s 345 acre IT SEZ, andjust 3 km off OMR, Greens is verymuch in Chennai’s IT Corridor,home to giants like TCS, Infosys,Wipro, HCL, Satyam, Accenture,Cognizant, Polaris, and manymore. And lastly, Greens busts themyth that luxury living can’t besustainable living. True to itsname, this is one project that isguaranteed to reduce your carbonfootprint in more ways than one -by recycling, by using eco-friendly materials, by energyconservation, and by, of course,discouraging the need for privatevehicles, and encouraging walk-to-work or bus to work.
Busting Some Housing Myths
INDIA BULLS GREENS, CHENNAIS
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Indian Homes That Makes
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Limited EditionLuxury
uravankara Projects is known for theirlarger projects, be it in their home turfof Bangalore, or in cities like Chennaiand Kochi. Even their luxury projectshave a sizeable number of apartments,
with recent examples being Purva Venezia and PurvaHighlands, both in Bangalore. But with Atria Platina,Purva has done a contrarian play - a limited editionoffering of just 70 apartments. But how can’t theythis time, as the cheapest ultra-luxury offering herewould cost Rs. 1.2 crores. This is one apartmentcomplex that is destined to be occupied by not justthe successful but the discerning among them.Created on a philosophy that ‘excess will undermineyour status’, with the excess here meaning not theamenities but the number of units, Purva Atria Platinais near to one of their larger and earlier launchedprojects, Purva Atria. But Atria is, of course, cheaper,starting at Rs. 80 lakhs. Anyway, the most strikingaspect about Atria Platina is its location in RajmahalVilas, or specifically RMV Stage II or Sanjay Nagar.While native Bangaloreans will readily appreciatethis advantage, here is the advantage explained for
Purva Atria Platina Elevation
PURVA ATRIA PLATINA, BANGALORE
newcomers to the Garden City. While cruising fromMG Road towards the direction of New InternationalAirport, past landmarks like Golf Club, WindsorManor, and Bangalore Palace, comes Mekhri Circle,and RMV IInd Stage is right next to it, and PurvaAtria Platina is just a stone’s throw away. The magicis that though it is enroute to the Airport, the locationis right inside the city, and RMV has always beenknown for its posh status. The next impressive featurehere is that though it is a costly project to buy, AtriaPlatina needn’t be a costly project to maintain. Infact, Platina is designed from the ground up as a greenbuilding, and as such, uses electricity and water veryefficiently, thereby reducing maintenance costs in thelong run. Coming to amenities, Atria Platina is beingbuilt around the theme of rejuvenation from stress,and all the notable amenities like the green walkways,jogging tracks, swimming pool, spa, Jacuzzi, fitnessclub, billiards, and table tennis, are aligned to thistheme. The super built-up areas of the apartmentsshow that it is not too crammed at the lower-end of2000 odd sq ft, and is quite generous at the upper-end of 3000 odd sq ft. In the backdrop of the inside-city location and low number of units, these measurescome across as realistic. Institutions like MSRamaiah, as well as other colleges, schools, malls,clubs, hotels etc. are all rapidly accessible.
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Is IndiaDeveloping aGun Culture?Starting from the
rich and the
powerful, are
Indian citizens
starting to rely on
guns for self-
defence and family-
defence? Or are
the guns used to
bully or silence
enemies?
NEW DELHI, India — Three years after two teenage boysallegedly gunned down his 14-year-old son, Abishek, over aplayground spat, Gurgaon businessman Rajinder Tyagi is dry-eyedas he describes the boy's senseless murder. A veteran of hundredsof media interviews, he's made himself numb in an endeavor toshield his wife and daughter from the press.
"My son was walking down the stairs," recalls Tyagi, his face setwith grim determination. "They shot him from the back. Fourbullets. He died on the spot." India's first school shooting at theposh Euro International School in New Delhi had claimed youngAbishek Tyagi's life.
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For now, schoolyard gunplay re-mains rare. But thanks to a strangecoincidence of Americanization andtraditional machismo brought on byrapid economic growth, India hasdeveloped a gun obsession thatmakes Charlton Heston look likeGandhi.
Police say there has been an alarm-ing rise in gun violence in andaround Delhi over the past fewyears as weapons proliferate. Ille-gal factories have become so com-mon that country-made guns aresold like candy in local bazaars. Andas more and more people seek toobtain legal, licensed guns, an or-ganization modeled on America'sNational Rifle Association hasemerged with the mission to ensureevery Indian the right to bear arms.
Delhi is no Peshawar - yet - but it'sstarting to look an awful lot likeSouth Central. Police say Abishek's14-year-old classmates allegedlyfollowed him into a deserted stair-well, where they shot him at point-blank range with an imported .32caliber Harrison pistol that one ofthe assailants had brought to schoolhidden in a sock. When Abishekarrived at the nearby PushpanjaliHospital, he had two bullets in hischest and one in his head.
"He was our only son," Abishek'sfather said, holding up his boy'sschool photo. "He was a good ath-lete. He was good in his studies. Hewas good natured. I remember ev-erything from his childhood till theday he died. I spent 14 years of mylife with him."
Every few weeks there's a new story.A motorist pulls a pistol to clear atraffic jam. An armed gang shootsand kills a young woman returninghome late at night when she refusesto pull over to be robbed or raped.A man pumps a bullet into the skullof his fiancee when she decides tocall off their marriage. Thugs gun
down a real estate broker over abusiness deal. A businessman -drunk and angry over losing his job- shoots his wife, daughter and sonbefore he turns his gun on himself.A middle-aged woman who beratestwo roadside Romeos for harassingher daughter is shot dead for hertrouble. Or the police shoot and killtraders trying to escape with a stashof smuggled guns. In north India,and increasingly across other partsof the country, it seems, the emer-gent "India Shining" of electioncampaign slogans may turn out tobe nickel-plated.
Nationwide, around 40 million fire-arms - only about 5.5 million ofthem licensed - are in civilian hands.That's the second-highest total in theworld, after the U.S., though itamounts to only four guns for ev-ery 100 people in India, comparedwith 90 guns for every 100 Ameri-cans. And despite relatively strictgun control laws, police and anti-proliferation activists say the num-ber of weapons on the street isgrowing steadily.
"We have weapons ranging fromhomemade guns, which are calledkattas, right [up] to [fire]arms assophisticated as the [American] M-16 and Israeli Uzi," saidBinalakshmi Nepram, head of theControl Arms Foundation of India."And in places like Uttar Pradesh,they say gun shops are mushroom-ing like public telephone booths."
India's most populous state - andknown as one of its most economi-cally depressed - Uttar Pradesh hasaround 900,000 licensed gun own-ers, and several times that numberof illegal arms. According to theNational Crime Records Bureau,Uttar Pradesh, and two other north-ern "cow belt" states, Bihar andJharkhand, accounted for two-thirdsof India's gun-related homicides in2008, the most recent year for whichstatistics have been collected.
But the killing isn't confined to thebackwaters of these so-called "law-less states." Just as in the UnitedStates and other countries, guncrime is an urban phenomenon.Fearful city dwellers are clamoringfor gun licenses to protect them-selves from criminals. And, increas-ingly, the weapons of the mush-rooming illegal rural factories ofstates like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh- along with the culture of the gun -are finding their way into India'scities.
"Everyone in our family has one.Our family has the largest numberof guns in Gurgaon," said RajjeYadav, a real estate developer whoalso owns a liquor store.
Yadav is a representative of northIndia's new rich. Over the past sev-eral years, the rapid economicgrowth of the “National CapitalRegion” (NCR) that surrounds NewDelhi - and an accompanying realestate boom - has brought radicalsocial change to the traditionallymacho, honor-obsessed communities of rural Haryana and UttarPradesh.
Agrarian castes like the Jats andYadavs have been propelled to fan-tastic wealth through the sale oftheir farms to real estate develop-ers. But many have failed to inte-grate into the new urban society thatsurrounds them. For every new richman there's a poor one who covetswhat he has.
And social tensions have been ex-acerbated as the educated membersof the lower castes who onceworked as bonded labor now lever-age social programs to uplift them-selves and overtake their one-timelandlords. Throw in an obsessionwith izzat, or honor, and a fascina-tion with guns, and you have theperfect recipe for violence.
"We and our relatives who are inthe land and wine business have to
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handle enormous amounts of cashevery day, so in order to protectourselves we have to carry guns,"said Yadav. But he admits thatthere's more to the phenomenon."Guns have become a sort of statussymbol," he says. "Possessing a guntakes a person to great heights."
Accidental deaths at NCR weddings- where revelers show off by shoot-ing into the air - have become socommonplace that a council of lead-ers from some 40 villages in Delhi'shinterlands banned firearms frommarriage ceremonies earlier thisyear. In arecent incident, for in-stance, bridegroom Pankaj Kumarwas killed by a stray bullet at hiswedding celebration when his fathercouldn't resist discharging his pis-tol into the air to show his status.No doubt today he feels much thesame pain as Rajinder Tyagi.
"We pray to the almighty that some-thing of this sort never happens toanyone, ever," Tyagi said. "Thetragedy of losing a child is the great-est of them all."
But the rapid proliferation of gunssuggests such tragedies are likely togrow more common. Already, inMeerut, another burgeoning city onthe border of Delhi, guns accountedfor nearly a quarter of accidentaldeaths in 2008.
"According to us, the reason behindthis is the rapid industrialization andcolonization in these areas,” an in-spector general with the Meerutpolice recently told an Indian news-paper. “People are prospering andwhere there is money involved,there is always a fear of crime."
Because of that fear, it's not justrowdies, politicians and criminalswho are arming themselves, and it'snot only the newly rich of India'smacho castes. It's doctors, lawyersand journalists, from the purport-edly bookish Brahmin caste ondown.
Consider Rakesh Singh, a native ofAndhra Pradesh who has been apracticing doctor in Gurgaon fornearly 10 years. A few weeks agoat the private hospital he foundedin 2007, located in a row of prop-erty dealers that hint at Gurgaon's
red-hot real estate market, he gin-gerly pulled a licensed Indian-maderevolver out of his desk drawer. Hewasn't proud. He was angry.
"Deep down there's a sense of inse-curity," he said. "Even in this city.Or as such in the NCR — Noida,Ghaziabad, Gurgaon. Even whenyou're out with your wife on Satur-days with the children, or drivingback [home] at 10:30, you have thisinsecurity."
Not long before, a car had forcedhim off the road while he was onhis way home. Seeing a gun in oneman's hand and realizing theyplanned to rob him, or worse, Singhthrew his car in reverse as the manopened fire, shooting three times.Outside his clinic, he pointed outthe place where one of the bulletshit the hood of his car. Next time,Singh plans to shoot back.
"[It's] survival of the fittest. If youwant to live in Rome, you have tolive like how the Romans do," hesaid. "I have a revolver. But I reallywish I had a more sophisticated,easier-to-use weapon. Because I'mreally angry about the whole thingand I wouldn't think twice aboutshooting back. ... Somebody needsto let them know, you're not goingto take it lying down. You can't goaround, get drunk and go shootingpeople, bully people around whoare just doing their job."
"We and our relativeswho are in the landand wine business
have to handleenormous amounts ofcash every day, so in
order to protectourselves we have to
carry guns,"
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s free speech negotiable?It depends who you askand what country youlive in, but freedom ofspeech is a touchy topic
these days. It's also considered aninherent human right to state youropinion in public without fear ofpunishment or censorship. Sadly,the reality of the situation is not soobviously black or white. Instead,free speech too often falls intomiddle ground where, love them orhate them, Anonymous dwells,protests, or hacks in 256 shades ofgray. Free speech and informationis non-negotiable to Anonymous.
In America, the First Amendmentdoes not protect someone whofalsely yells FIRE in a crowdedtheater according to the clear andpresent danger test. Threateningposts are not protected speech ifthe message reveals a harmfulintent. Other non-protected speechincludes copyright protection,actual malice in defamation (libel,slander), and commercial speechlike advertising. Wikipediamentions other limitations tofreedom of speech by country withexceptions as defined by the "harmprinciple" or the "offenseprinciple" such as pornography orhate speech. There are also freespeech zones. At times, it seemsthat the Internet is moving closer
Anonymousto being outside that zone.
Take for example: as soon asWikiLeaks is mentioned, peopleare all fired up either for or againstthem. The U.S. government seemsto be debating if it should makefelons of us all for simply readingWikiLeaks. To bring upWikiLeaks, Julian Assange andeven Anonymous is risking a flamewar; people are hot on both sidesof the fence. Many folks do not fallin the middle about Assange, theyeither want to protect him or to killhim...GoDaddy was hosting a sitecalled killjulianassange.com, butmade the website owner take itdown. Today, a British court set anextradition hearing for February 7and 8 for Julian Assange whomSwedish authorities have accusedof rape.
The U.S. still wants to get its handson the WikiLeaks editor. One ofthe things that I most dislike aboutthe entire situation is that thegovernment seems to resort toscare tactics.
After the U.S. government got acourt order [PDF] demanding thatTwitter hand over informationabout people connected toWikiLeaks, and attached a gagorder that prevented the companyfrom telling anyone, Twitter didn'tjust roll over and pony up the
information. Instead Twitterchallenged the gag order in court,and then warned the targets thattheir data had been requested,giving them time and anopportunity to try and quash theorder themselves. Twitter deservesa standing ovation for standing upfor its users and the FirstAmendment. As security andprivacy blogger ChristopherSoghoian pointed out, Twitter'sgeneral counsel AlexanderMacgillivray was most certainlybehind this strong, pro-privacymove.
After WikiLeaks tweeted,"WARNING all 637,000@wikileaks followers are a targetof US gov subpoena againstTwitter, under section 2. B,"thousands of people stoppedfollowing them. Then WikiLeakstweeted, "Too late to unfollow;trick used is to demand the lists,dates and IPs of all who receivedour twitter messages."
Tweets are archived in the Libraryof Congress and who anyonefollows is public information, so itseems targeting all 637,000WikiLeaks followers on Twittermay be a scare tactic by the U.S.government.
And that brings me back toAnonymous because they believe
After
WikiLeaks,Comes
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in freedom of speech and freedom of information.The group claims to be watching all governmentsaround the world, planning to hack and deface moregovernment websites if a government supportscensorship of information or disregards privacy infavor of spying. Topiary, a representative ofAnonOps, "the elite arm of Anonmyous thatspearheaded recent attacks on Tunsia," told Forbesthat the group factors in corruption as well asurgency in deciding which governments to attacknext. "We have the capacity to eliminate theinfrastructures of any and all government sites onour watchlist," Topiary said. "We chose not to hackPayPal, Visa and Mastercard because what they didcan't be considered corrupt, only cowardly."
Because everyone is anonymous, the group has someproblems with credibility as well as with rebelsamong its anonymous ranks. Not everything that isclaimed to be done in the name of Anonymous wasOK'd by AnonOps. According to Forbes' ParmyOlsen, "There was confusion and anger this morningwithin the international hacking group Anonymous,and its new operational arm AnonOps, after twopeople purporting to represent the group hacked intothe web site of Ireland's main opposition party FineGael."
Sure, there are things that I don't necessarily agreewith about Anonymous, but I do believe in freedomof speech, privacy, and knowing what mygovernment is really up to. I see civil liberties andfreedom being slowly but surely stripped away inAmerica. Love them or hate them, the groups'passion as "champions of the Internet" is somewhatadmirable. And that's not an endorsement for anyoneto attack anyone else.
What might be the scariest aspect is that no oneknows who Anonymous might aim their protest atnext Yet in playing devil's advocate . . . even theirDDoS attacks are more like busting out a windowduring a protest march. It's cyber protesting. Do youreally think in those 256 shades of gray of thatAnonymous couldn't hack, break and steal fromthose sites after busting out the window if they choseto do so? To those people who comment things likeAnonymous is only 4chan working from theirmother's basement, the group states "Why weprotest."
In fact, Anonymous is asking people to "Join us onJanuary 15th for the first in a series of global protestsin defense of WikiLeaks and freedom of expression.Stand with us to defend your freedoms."
Julian Paul AssangeFounder, Spokesperson, and Editor in Chief, WikiLeaks
To bring upWikiLeaks, JulianAssange and evenAnonymous isrisking a flamewar; people arehot on both sidesof the fence.
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When I joinedGoogle in 2001 Inever imagined evenin my wildest dreamsthat we would get as
far, as fast as we have today. Searchhas quite literally changed people’slives increasing the collective sumof the world’s knowledge andrevolutionizing advertising in theprocess. And our emergingbusinesses display, Android,YouTube and Chrome are on fire.Of course, like any successfulorganization we’ve had our fair
share of good luck, but the entireteam now over 24,000 Googlersglobally deserves most of the credit.
And as our results today show, theoutlook is bright. But as Google hasgrown, managing the business hasbecome more complicated. SoLarry, Sergey and I have beentalking for a long time about howbest to simplify our managementstructure and speed up decisionmaking and over the holidays wedecided now was the right momentto make some changes to the waywe are structured.
For the last 10 years, we have allbeen equally involved in makingdecisions. This triumvirate approachhas real benefits in terms of sharedwisdom, and we will continue todiscuss the big decisions among thethree of us. But we have also agreedto clarify our individual roles sothere’s clear responsibility andaccountability at the top of thecompany.
Larry will now lead productdevelopment and technologystrategy, his greatest strengths, andstarting from April 4 he will takecharge of our day-to-day operationsas Google’s Chief ExecutiveOfficer. In this new role I know hewill merge Google’s technology and
LeadershipChange,Google Style
Posted by Eric Schmidt in Google Blog
Larry will now leadproduct development andtechnology strategy, hisgreatest strengths, andstarting from April 4 hewill take charge of our
day-to-day operations asGoogle’s Chief Executive
Officer.
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From left to right - Eric, Larry
and Sergey in a self-driving car
business vision brilliantly. I amenormously proud of my last decadeas CEO, and I am certain that thenext 10 years under Larry will beeven better! Larry, in my clearopinion, is ready to lead.
Sergey has decided to devote histime and energy to strategic projects,in particular working on newproducts. His title will be Co-Founder. He’s an innovator andentrepreneur to the core, and thisrole suits him perfectly.
As Executive Chairman, I will focuswherever I can add the greatestvalue: externally, on the deals,partnerships, customers and broaderbusiness relationships, governmentoutreach and technology thought
leadership that are increasinglyimportant given Google’s globalreach; and internally as an advisorto Larry and Sergey.
We are confident that this focus willserve Google and our users well inthe future. Larry, Sergey and I haveworked exceptionally closelytogether for over a decade and weanticipate working together for along time to come. As friends, co-workers and computer scientists wehave a lot in common, mostimportant of all a profound belief inthe potential for technology to makethe world a better place. We loveGoogle—our people, our productsand most of all the opportunity wehave to improve the lives of millionsof people around the world."
Sergey has decided todevote his time andenergy to strategic
projects, in particularworking on new
products.
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t the time the announ-cement was made thatTesla was going to geta large infusion of
cash from Toyota, we wonderedwhy.
In its whole existence, Tesla hasmanaged to sell only 1,500 cars,and has never made a dime's profit.
The conjecture was it had to dowith Tesla's battery technology.
Conjecture over. It was the batterytechnology.
Reuters reports that Toyota'sTakeshi Uchiyamada has statedthat by using Tesla's batteries, theycould cost as much as one-third thatof competitive battery packs.
The difference is that Tesla simply
Breakthrough
uses thousands of tiny lithium ionbatteries that are normally used incell phones. These batteries aremass-produced by the millionswhich keeps their price down.
Other manufacturers from Nissanto Chevy use expensive batterypacks designed and built in(currently) small numbers forindividual cars. Each is a differentshape and weight which is matchedto the car.
"If (Tesla's battery structure)works," Mr. Uchiyamada said, "wewon't have to wait for abreakthrough in battery technologyto develop a relatively cheapelectric vehicle."
Currently, a battery pack can
Coming,
Electric Caraccount for up to half of an electricvehicle's retail price. The pack inthe Leaf, for instance costs$15,000
If Tesla's technology can bringsimilar battery power in at $5,000,now we're talking. The Leaf's pricewould shrink to about $22,000 andwith the $7,500 rebate from thegovernment (and more in somestates) you're talking about a neatcity cruiser for 15 grand.
However, there's one thing thatpuzzles us. In 2009, Mr. Musk, thefounder and CEO of Tesla said thatthe replacement cost for theirRoadster would set you back about$36,000.
Of course that's for a car that offers0-60 in 3.9 secs and a 245 milerange. Maybe if the battery isscaled back for, say, a 100 milerange RAV-4, we could be talkinga considerable saving.
Nonetheless, this is an interestingdevelopment, and we'll have towatch how it plays out.
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Tech company Pingdom just released some numbers about the internet in 2010.And in case you doubted it - the Internet is huge.
Just a reminder of how small the internet still is. And of how much room we have to grow.
107 trillionemails were sent in 2010.
255 millionwebsites.
88.8 million.com domain names.
1.97 billioninternet users worldwide.
152 millionblogs.
25 billion tweetssent in 2010 (!).
600 millionusers on Facebook.
2 billion videos watchedPER DAY on YouTube.
More than 3 billionphotos uploaded per month
on Facebook.
Wow. The internet really is huge. Now Read This -
The Internet Is Still Ridiculously SmallThe internet is huge, and getting bigger. But it's also ridiculously small. Especially when you compare it to the rest
of the world. Don't trust us?
The Internet Is Ridiculously Huge
On
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Tot
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Spe
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Online advertising isabout $40 billion.
That's huge! How bigrelative to total
advertising spending?Still less than 10%.
PayPal processed $86billion in online payments
in the twelve monthsending Q3 2010. That's
huge! How much did Visaand MasterCard processover that time? Several
trillion.
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How much revenue did
Amazon do in 2010?
Almost $25 billion.
That's huge! How much
did Wal-Mart do? $405
billion.
Am
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Wal
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5 Reasons YourCompany Websiteisn’t a Hit
o, what are your bigInternet marketingplans for the NewYear? Will you beinvesting more in
social media? Will you startblogging? Will you take a moreproactive stance with self-promotion? Whatever your onlinemarketing plans, the end goal islikely to attract more people toyour website in the hopes that theinflux of new eyes will translateinto new customers, new leads andnew opportunities for yourbusiness. However, you won’t beable to do any of that if your Website is turning people off, insteadof turning them on.
Below are some very commonreasons small and medium-sizedbusiness (SMB) websites fail toattract customers and how to avoidfalling prey to them.
1. There’s no conversionpath in place.
One criticism of many SMB sitesis that they don’t include a clearconversion path for theircustomers. If you want customersto take a certain action, you needto create a funnel intended to guidethem to do that. Simply stringingtogether a number of content pageswon’t necessarily put someone onthe path to buy. Your conversion
path may be as simple as a solitarylanding page paired with a call toaction, or as complex as an entiremicrosite. Either way, you are incharge of designing the flow ofyour website. Creating a clearconversion path not only helpscustomers feel more comfortableon your site, it also gives you cleardata to track so that you can seewhere people are abandoning,where they’re engaging, etc. Themore data you have to act on, thebetter you can design your site toattract new customers.
2. There’s no sign of life.Customers are discriminating. Youcan bet that when they land on yourwebsite they’re going to kick thetires a little to see if they can trustyou. They’re going to check yourcopyright date to see if it lists 2011or 2006. They’re going to look forold statistics or other signs youhaven’t taken the time to updateyour content. They’re going tocheck your company blog to seehow often it’s updated, if you replyto commenters, if people aretalking back, etc. They’re going tolook for signs that you’ve createda dynamic website, instead of onelying around in stagnant water.Before your customers get there,take a look around yourself. Wouldyou hang out with you?
3. It’s all about you.
Customers don’t head to your siteto hear how awesome you are.They’re there because they have aproblem they need you to fix or aquestion they need you to answer.Your website should be designedto help them quickly achievewhatever it is they came for. Toomany references to “I” in lieu of“you,” too much sales talk instead
And what you can do about it.
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of helpful information, and toomuch of you not addressing theirfears/wants/desires will turnpeople away from your brand, noton to it. Your customers don’t careabout you–they care about howyou can help them.
4. People can’t find you.If you’re finding that customersaren’t interacting with your websiteat all, there are a few questions youneed to ask yourself.
* Is it accessible? With more andmore users searching via mobiledevices and on the go – is your
website mobile accessible? If it’snot, users trying to find you mayhit a dead end. There’s nothingworse than trying to find youraccountant’s website while on theroad and finding out his site onlyrenders in Flash and won’t load onyour phone. Not that I’m talkingfrom experience.
* Is it properly SEO’d? Have youmade it easy for users and search
engines to find your content? Thatmeans using the right keywords,linking properly, making your sitesuper crawlable for spiders, andstaying away from common SMBSEO mistakes.
Sometimes before you can seemore traffic, you have to breakthrough the obstacles preventingyou from seeing any.
5. There’s no POD.
If you want to attract people, youhave to give them more of you. You
have to stand out from the crowdand show them something thatthey’ll want to align themselveswith. Take a look at your own site– what are you showing potentialcustomers? I don’t mean thegraphics or the videos you chooseto incorporate (don’t forget to SEOthose, too!), I mean the experiencethat you’re creating. Are you usingyour site to set yourself apart, ordo you come off like everyoneelse? Are you talking to customersin their own language or fillingyour pages up with buzzwords andjargon? The more powerful a POD
(point of differentiation) you cancreate, the better you’ll attract theright customers to your brand.
If you’re finding it difficult toattract leads via your website, itmay be time to ask yourself somehard questions. Before you can fixthe problem, you first have toidentify it. What are some strugglesyou’ve had attracting new leads?How have you fixed the problems?
If you want to attractpeople, you have to
give them more of you.You have to stand outfrom the crowd and
show them somethingthat they’ll want to
align themselves with.
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We will Repeat ManappuramFinance’s Success in
Manappuram Jewellery andManappuram Healthcare
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“ “
IN FOCUS
Seasonal Magazine interviews VPNandakumar, Executive Chairmanof Manappuram Finance, and mainpromoter of Manappuram Group.
Manappuram Group is nowattempting a major diversificationinto two new verticals. Is this anykind of de-risking strategy for thegold loan business?
No, this is not about de-risking atall, as the new diversifications intojewellery retailing and healthcareis not undertaken by Manappuram
Finance, our listed gold loanbusiness, but by some of our corepromoters including myself. Thesediversifications into healthcare andjewellery retailing are led by ourfirm belief that ManappuramGroup can add much value to thesesectors, and thus create new growthavenues for the Group. The listedManappuram Finance is doing fineby itself, with this year's profitgrowth expected to be around 140%,and next year also the listed armmight grow its profit by at least 75%.
e transformed a 60-year old pawn shophis father founded into a Rs. 6300 crorefinancial empire. He is VPNandakumar, former banker,
entrepreneur extraordinaire, and one of India’s mostsuccessful wealth creators for retail investors, whohave seen their investments in Manappuram GeneralFinance & Leasing Ltd zoom 35,600% within 15 years.Despite having a posh office in Bandra-Kurla Complexin India’s economic capital, and frequent overseastravels, Nandakumar calls the shots sitting at hisoriginal office in his native Valappad, a nondescriptvillage in Thrissur District of India’s southern-mostKerala state. His former and current investors includethe who-is-who of international investing like MerrillLynch, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Capital World, &Sequoia. Currently Nandakumar is plotting his nextsuccess saga - two stories in fact - in jewellery retailingand healthcare, sitting at ‘Manappuram’ which is anamesake for the coastal villages including Valappad.His confidence stems from his experience thatManappuram’s core values of thinking-big, finestquality, and transparency will help them succeed intheir new verticals too.
You have started the pilotprojects for your healthcare foray.Can you elaborate on theirfunctioning?
Yes, what we have done is createtwo centres - one dental clinic andone clinical lab - here at Valappad,which will function as our pilotprojects for our dental anddiagnostics divisions. The latestinfrastructure and equipments havebeen provided, so that thesecentres will serve as models for allinvolved. Once we have fine-tunedthese centres, we will replicate itacross the country.
But what about the kind ofdoctors and dental surgeons whowill be required to handle allthese? Have they been roped in?
We have already identified themain doctors who will handle eachdivision. For our dental chain, oneof the most reputed dentalsurgeons, currently based inThrissur has been entrusted theduty of Technical Director.Similarly, a renowned doctor, nowbased in Thrissur, who is also ahighly successful diagnostic chainentrepreneur has been entrustedwith the duty of heading ourclinical labs division. They havevisited our facilities and haveexpressed full satisfaction with ourmodel, protocols, as well asfacilities.
What kind of a business modelwill you be following for yourhealthcare expansion? Is thisgoing to be a franchise model orare you planning to do it on yourown?
Our initial plan was to expand onour own, and not follow thefranchise route. But to fast-trackgrowth, we are now planning tofollow the inorganic route too. Byinorganic, I mean not outrighttakeovers of existing dental clinics
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or labs, but that interestedinstitutions will be brought into ourfold on very attractive terms.Anyway, this won’t be a franchisemodel. Also, wherever there areopportunities to start new clinicsor labs, we will start on our own.So, this is going to be a mix oforganic and inorganic expansion.
Your model seems unique. Doyou have any kind of role modelsfor these healthcare chains?
Well, there are many exampleslately I think, starting from Apollo.Of course, our model won’t be anexact replica of any of these, butwill be a kind of mix ‘n match ofthese models to suit our vision. Weare impressed by quite a fewmodels, especially of Vasan EyeCare Hospital.
Building up a healthcareoperation, especially on this scalethat you imagine, will also be
about managing large teams ofdoctors and other professionals.Will your institutions be doctor-led or manager-led?
Healthcare is one sector whichshould be ideally doctor-led, Ibelieve. But having closelywatched various medical institutions expand, I have realized theneed for professional managementtoo. So our leadership style willtake good elements from both, with
Even on a sequential basis, therewas no signs of growth decelerat-ing. Income was up by almost 36%and profits by 24%, QoQ.
And what this kind of consistentgrowth means is that the market isnow ready to believeManappuram’s guidance even be-yond FY’12. Already, it has givena guidance for FY’12 that hints atdoubling its assets under manage-ment (AUM). Considering theAUM / Market Cap connection forNBFCs, the FY’12 and FY’13valuations thus look quite attrac-tive.
Seasonal Magazine interviewsManappuram Finance Chairman,VP Nandakumar, on their strate-gies to grow amidst the currentadverse environment - both in thefinancial sector and the capitalmarkets:
You have mentioned in Q3 re-views that Manappuram’snetworth has surged from Rs. 321crore to Rs. 1880 crore, which isnearly a 500% increase YoY. Af-ter the dilution, what would be theeffect of this networth surge onbook-value of the share, by per-centage.? And what is
Manappuram Q3 ResultsShow Potential of the Stock
Manappuram’s book-value as ofDecember 2010?
The book value has gone up fromRs.37.24 (adjusted for bonus issueand stock split) as on December31, 2009 to Rs.45.13 as on Decem-ber 31, 2010, representing a 21percent increase.
You have also mentioned that youhave reduced your interest ratesby 3%. What warranted this - wasit due to increased competition, oras a pre-emptive step consideringthe kind of regulations hitting themicrofinance sector?
To begin with, let’s be clear aboutthis, the gold loan sector standsapart from the microfinance sec-tor because we lend to a differentsegment altogether. We lend topeople who have assets (gold),unlike the microfinance sector. Thereduction in interest rates has acombination of factors at work.Thanks to the record growth of ourgold loans portfolio this year, wehave managed to steadily bringdown our non-interest operatingexpenses as a percentage of totalincome, and so today we are in aposition to pass on these efficiencygains. Of course, I am not ruling
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ith Q3 results out,Manappuram Gen-eral Finance & Leas-ing Ltd (BSE:
531213, NSE: MANAPPURAM)has proved its sceptics wrong.While the performance in June2010 quarter was a bit troublingdue to the sequential dip, by theSeptember quarter ManappuramFinance had rebounded, and nowwith a good Q3 behind it, evensceptics will be forced to take a re-look at the company.
Whichever way one looks atManappuram Q3, there has beenoutperformance. This is especiallyimportant, as in this quarter, thebusiness environment was not ex-actly conducive for NBFCs, espe-cially for those like Manappuramthat focus on smaller ticket loansto individuals and MSMEs.
Manappuram even voluntarily re-duced its interest rates from 24%to 21%, shrinking its margins. Goldprices also started looking downafter a dream run.
But the strength of the company isso much so that despite all thesenegatives, it grew its business by150%, and profits by 113%, YoY.
the medical leadership led bydoctors, and the management runby finance or managementprofessionals. The idea is to leaveeach one with responsibilities thatthey only know how to handle best.This demarcation will solveheadaches for both, and achievethe needed synergy.
You yourself are from abanking background. And nowyou have been an entrepreneur
for decades in the financial sector.How difficult will it be for you tomanage doctors - who are unfortunately known for their egos - orthe medical business itself?
I think you are underestimatingdoctors when you say this. In myopinion, some of the bestmanagement experts I have seenare all doctors. By managementexperts what I mean is experts intheir domain, especially in team-
building activities concerningdoctors, nurses, and otherparamedical staff. The bestexample that readily comes to mymind is of the renowned cardiacsurgeon, Dr. V V Bashi, who is nowwith MIOT Hospitals of Chennai.I had an opportunity to watch heand his teams perform once, andthe way he has built up the differentcardiac units with different kind ofspecialists and nurses, and howthey all perform synergistically to
out competition, but more impor-tant is the fact that we are also verykeen to expand our volumes. Thiscertainly requires us to be competi-tive in our offerings, but then, thisis a choice we are consciouslymaking and not as a compulsionthrust on us. As for the regulationsin the microfinance sector, theydon’t really affect us because wedeal with an entirely different classof people, and I see no reason forus to be pre-emptive in any sense.
Though you have repeatedlyclarified that gold prices fallingwon’t have an effect onManappuram’s performance, thestock’s price-performance overthe past few weeks suggest that atleast a section of the marketthinks otherwise. How do youplan to correct this perception?
I don’t think the recent perfor-mance of our stock has anythingto do with a perception about fall-ing gold prices. More relevant isthe performance of the financialservices sector in general which issensitive to hardening interestrates. Here, you will notice that theshare prices across the sector havefallen and Manappuram has beenno exception. And in this context,I think I should also point out thatwhile higher borrowing costs arecertainly unwelcome, we do havea greater capacity (should the needarise) to pass on the increases toour customers. This is because our
typical loans are small ticket loans(average ticket size, Rs.30,000)taken for short periods, say, threemonths. In such cases, unlike as inthe big ticket loans, a marginal in-crease in interest rates is less likelyto antagonize borrowers.
Your recent QIP price of aroundRs. 168 was widely perceived as afirm support, but since the stockis now trading much below thislevel due to the general hit takenby financial stocks, do you expectthis level to pose as a major resis-tance in the short-term? Espe-cially of interest to investorswould be to know what percent-age of your recent QIP partici-pants are long-only funds?
I am actually a little hesitant to talkabout how the stock market will be-have. The fact is, I believe in de-livering on the performance front,and leaving the rest to the market.Anyone who’s been in the marketlong enough would know thatwhen the overall situation is ad-verse, even good performance cango unrecognized. So, if you ask mequestions about our performanceor our future prospects, I’ll be onlyhappy to oblige. But when it comesto questions that would have mespeculate on likely share pricemovements, I would have to say apolite no. As for the QIP, I wouldsay at least 75 percent of the par-ticipants are long-only funds.
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world-class standards is quiteinspiring. Again, we have the caseof Fr. Dr. Francis Alappat who builtup Thrissur’s Jubilee MissionMedical College quite remarkably.Similarly, there are so manyexamples. I think the so-calledmanagement experts have a lessonor two to learn from theseremarkable team builders.
What about managing themedical business itself?
As in all Manappuram ventures,this too will be professionallymanaged with a qualified andexperienced CEO in charge.Though I am new to this line, I havealways had an above-averageinterest in the healthcare sector. Iam also an honorary director in amedical college.
Apart from dental and diagnostics, are you planning any otheractivities in the healthcare sector?
Yes, we also have a couple ofadditional models in healthcare,one of which is a unique conceptof Women’s Wellness Clinics.While diagnostic and dental chainshave been attempted before byother healthcare majors, Women’sWellness will be pioneered byManappuram. The concept is toserve the wellness needs of womenthrough all core stages - pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, post-childbirth, and during the baby’sgrowing up phase. Bothphysiological and psychologicalelements would be there in theseWellness Clinics, as well as thebest elements from traditional careand world-class developments ingynaecology & obstetrics.
Now about your other diversification - into jewellery retailing- which is already on inBangalore. How has been theperformance of ManappuramJewellery?
Considering that we are anewcomer to retailing, I think wehave fared quite good until now.We have 7 showrooms now, 4 inBangalore and 3 in Kerala. Ourfifth shop in Bangalore is all set toopen in the New Year. We have seta target of 50 jewellery shopsinitially, all over India, but mainlyin the South, within the next fewyears. Though our pre-operativeexpenses have been high, weshould be able to break-even andmay be post a profit of Rs. 1 crorethis year itself. We are facing somechallenges in this business, as ourmargins are lower compared withcompetitors, as we are selling onlyBIS Hallmarked gold at non-hallmarked price points, andbecause we pay 100% of our taxes.
How do you plan to overcomethis challenge?
I think this is only a matter ofawareness and time. Customers aregoing to appreciate our real purityproposition over competitors’claims of purity. But until that
happens, we have to match theprices. In any case we will notbudge from our stance of sellingonly BIS Hallmarked gold. Soonerrather than later, customers,especially customers who valuegold’s investment value too, willmake the switch to hallmarkedgold, and then it will be a levelplaying field for us. We shouldn’tcomplain too much now, as ourmega campaign pitchingManappuram Gold’s purity is yetto commence in the media. Youwill see a huge jump after that.
But anybody can sell BISHallmarked gold, isn’t it? Andmany are claiming too…
Well, there are two differenceshere. Though most major jewellerssell some BIS Hallmarked gold, itis not their mainstay. They stillfocus on plain non-hallmarked91.6 gold because the margins arehigh there due to the flexibilitypossible in purity, if I can put it ina mild way. Secondly, we havealready started on an initiative thatgoes beyond even BIS. Usingsophisticated quality controlmachines, we even double checkeach of our hallmarked suppliersamples, and reject jewellery thatdoesn’t live up to the standards.There is going to be no compro-mise on quality, and this is goingto be our differentiator in thejewellery business.
Why this obsession with purity?Are the gold generally availablethat bad?
Yes, you should ask us, of allpeople, this question. Nobodyknows the quality of gold jewelleryavailable in the market better thanthe gold loan companies. Day in andday out, at more than 1800 branchesacross the country, ManappuramFinance staff are testing ornamentsof all kinds for their real gold value.Often, we have been shocked by the
"By inorganic, I meannot outright
takeovers of existingdental clinics or labs,
but that interestedinstitutions will be
brought into our foldon very attractive
terms."
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quality of jewellery that passes offas 91.6. We are obsessed withquality because we foresee a day,not very far, when customers toowill awaken to this purity consciousness.
You mentioned a tax angle.How much is it affecting yourretailing business?
I think we shouldn’t say affecting,as in my opinion, all of us shouldbe paying 100% of our taxes. Ofcourse, if my competition doesn’tpay tax, relatively I am affected,but that is not going to prevent usfrom being 100% transparent.Sadly, the need for beingtransparent is the last lessonentrepreneurs learn, and often ina hard way. They don’t realize thatGovernment is also a keystakeholder in any business. Afterour last QIP, by which we raisedRs. 1000 crore, a few entrepreneurs enquired with mewhether they too can raise moneylike this, and I said why not? Butwhen we look at their balancesheet, it is another story altogether,something that doesn’t match theirpublicly successful status. Butwith each passing year, you willsee the need for transparencyincreasing from all stakeholders,and we are anticipating a hugeadvantage coming to us due to thispolicy of transparency.
Do you plan to list yourhealthcare and jewelleryretailing businesses in thefuture?
Yes, definitely. Both will take afew years to stabilize, and afterthat we will definitely go forpublic issues and listing. From dayone they are being built up to thestandards expected of publiccompanies.
Coming back to our firstquestion of de-risking theManappuram Finance business,
are there any plans for the samein anvil?
The conventional wisdom of banksis that the loan portfolio should bediversified for de-risking. Forbanks, this is true too, to an extent.But when it comes to non-bankingfinance companies, the reverse isseen. Niche NBFCs have proven tobe the least risky due to their sharpfocus on a core competence.
Examples are too many, be itSundaram Finance ShriramTransport Finance, orManappuram. This is because,such NBFCs do one thingexceedingly well. In our case, thiscore competence is gold loans. Weknow this business inside out. Wehave kept with it throughrecessions, gold booms, and goldbusts, and we have survived. I willtell you a small instance of how thiscore competence develops.Manappuram Gold Loans is morethan 60 years old, and I have seenthis business up-close ever since Iwas a six-year old kid, when myfather used to bring me here duringvacations so that I won’t be anuisance at home! Now, thisoriginal core competence is what Ihave taught my senior colleagues,and what they have taught in turnto this organization which todayhas an employee strength of over13,000. That is what enables us toserve over 5 million customersfrom our over 1800 branchesspread across 19 states of India.
But what if the gold prices wereto fall drastically?
The biggest gold price fall inManappuram's history happened inthe 90s when it fell by around 50%from $430 per ounce to $220. Wewere nervous at that time about our
"Considering that weare a newcomer toretailing, I think we
have fared quite gooduntil now. We have 7showrooms now, 4 inBangalore and 3 in
Kerala. Our fifth shop inBangalore is all set toopen in the New Year."
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repayments falling. But none ofthat happened. Later, we found outthe cause - customers are moreinterested in getting their jewelleryback, even if it is only half theoriginal value. Simply because,what we are lending against is notjust the bullion, but something wecall bullion plus. Householdjewellery has this additionalemotional value of bullion plus, asnobody wants to lose householdjewellery. Ever since then, we havebeen very cautious in lendingagainst only household or personaljewellery. Having seen such drasticfalls, and having emerged stronger,we don't see much risk from futurecorrections, if at all it happens.Another point is that we areanyway insulated from long-termcorrections as majority of our loansget repaid within 100 days.
You mentioned an impressiveprobable growth rate of 140% forthis year and 75% for next. Howis such momentum possible?
The reason is nothing but thetremendous opportunity still leftuntapped. Even today, theorganized sector including uscontrols only 25% of all gold loansin this country, with the rest of thebusiness dominated by theunorganized sector comprisingmainly of moneylenders. Butthanks to Manappuram's awareness campaign, customers arerealizing that it is easier, profitable,and safer to take gold loans fromthe organized sector. Also, the totalgold pledged today with both theorganized and unorganized sectoris nowhere near the gold that isavailable in households forpledging. Customers are alsorealising this fact that gold loansare the easiest and safest of allpersonal or MSME loans. We, infact, expect Manappuram Financeto grow at 60% CAGR for the next
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four years.
How do you view the recentstock market correction that alsotook down your stock from nearlyRs. 190 , which is an all-time high,to Rs. 130 levels?
Fundamentally, there was nothingwarranting this correction in ourscrip. But then markets often havea collective nature, and when allbanking and financial sector stockscorrected, we too lost some gains.That is an unavoidable side-effectof being listed in the bourses. Butcapital markets have beengenerally very appreciative of ourgrowth trajectory, and you shouldnot forget that this is a stock thathas appreciated by 35,600% in its15-year old history. Anyway,stability is coming back to themarkets, and as you can see,Manappuram has regained muchof the lost ground.
We also have a coupleof additional models in
healthcare, one ofwhich is a unique
concept of Women’sWellness Clinics. Whilediagnostic and dental
chains have beenattempted before by
other healthcaremajors, Women’sWellness will be
pioneered byManappuram.
Momentum is yet togather, but customerscan expect unbeliev-able offers as MNPgathers steam.
Mobile phone operators often cameup with some mouth watering dealsin order to lure customers to theirnetwork. However, some of theseoperators had pretty bad networkand hence the mobile phone userswere caught in a soup when it cameto making phone calls. Theycouldn’t switch to any other networkbecause their numbers were lockedto a single operator. Mobile num-ber portability India or MNP hasbeen rolled out all over and throughthis facility, you can switch net-works without changing the phonenumbers. This facility was rolled outby the Indian Prime Minister; Dr.Manmohan Singh and service pro-viders are scrambling with a ton ofattractive offers and freebies tomake sure that the customers don’tdesert them.
This mobile number portability In-dia facility will also force the cellphone operators to improve the net-work and service quality and youcan also expect a lot of discountsand innovative schemes.Manmohan Singh said that throughthis move, the network operatorscan make bring in some newschemes in order to retain its cus-tomers and also bring in more cus-tomers from other networks. Itwould further enhance the growthof the telecom sector in India. KapilSibal, the telecom minister, alsoendorsed this move and said that itwould redefine the competition inthis field. There were a lot of at-tempts before this to bring numberportability in the country but theywere couldn’t materialize either dueto security complaints or because ofthe operators who said that theyweren’t ready with the networks.
However, it was finally launched inHaryana last year and MNP Indiahas materialized.
Mobile phone operators have al-ready brought in some freebies forretaining their customers for MNPIndia. BSNL said that it will be wav-ing the Rs.19 that their customerswould have to pay for changing theoperator and have also announcedfree talk time of Rs.100 for the cus-tomers who choose their network.They are offering free 3G/GPRSwith 5GB free data usage for amonth. BSNL also said that there
will be a rebate of 50% on 1st monthcharges and SIM would be given forfree. This brand is launching mar-keting drives for highlighting thequality of their network and is alsoplanning to introduce more schemesin the future. Sistema, which has ser-vices under the brand name MTS,said they have tied a deal with a lotof banks for offering the latestSmartphones through EMIs or easymonthly installments. Customerswho are buying these phones willbe offered some cool deals likemoney back offer, free local SMS,free local data, and free local callsfrom MTS to MTS lines. The ser-vice provider has also brought in apopular tariff plan called MTS HalfPaisa; it is the first of its kind. Cellphone operators who have huge andstrong network coverage all over thecountry will benefit from mobilenumber portability India offer. Thusoperators like Anil Ambani’s Reli-
ance Communications stand to gaina lot from the introduction of MNPIndia. Mahesh Prasad, the market-ing president in Reliance Commu-nications wireless department saidthat this is a boon to the customersand they are taking MNP as a posi-tive thing.
Telecom companies are saying thatthe MNP India offers will give thema chance of grabbing new subscriberbase and customers but they are alsoexpecting a dip in margins and prof-its. The margins will be hit at leastin the short run and only the mobilephone operators have deep pocketswill be able to come out unaffectedfrom it. Some experts are saying thatMobile number portability Indiawon’t be a game changer, it will justmake a bit initial impact and every-thing will flatten out in the long runeventually. At the moment, Indiahas about 700 million cell phoneusers and this makes it one of thelargest mobile phone user-base inthe world beaten only by China.Also, you’d be surprised to knowthat this country adds 15-18 millionnew connections each month to itsnetwork. Officials say that the maxi-mum waiting period for the MNPIndia network transfer is 7 workingdays and your current network willbe out of service for a maximum oftwo hours while the porting takesplace. MNP is new in India but it ishas been around for a long time inother parts of the world. A lot ofcountries in North America and Eu-rope and also Asian countries likeSouth Korea, Taiwan and Singaporehave had this since ages. A lot wasexpected to happen on the first daywhen the mobile number portabil-ity India was launched but therehasn’t been much buzz seen around.Retailers say that a couple of mo-bile phone users did come to switchtheir networks but majority of themwere just curious about it; they askedwhat MNP is all about and left.
The First Weeks of MobileNumber Portability
Ajay Arora, a multinationalsoftware company employee,commutes 2 hours daily to workin rush-hour traffic. He spends asmuch time — sometimes more —on the journey home. Driving ishis passion, but given thegridlock going into Bangalorealmost the time, he recently hireda driver. Still, he is frustrated bythe amount of time he spends onroad.
Then, his firm took office spacein an integrated township inBangalore. “It was a dream cometrue,” he says. “This townshipincludes my office and I amtaking a flat that is hardly 10minutes away on foot. It has ashopping mall, multiplex,hospital, school and most of thenecessary amenities withinwalking distance,” says Arora.
Realty players across India arehoping there are many morepeople like Arora and are bettingon the specialised real estatemodel of integrated townships astheir next growth vertical.
DevelopersHopeTownshipswill ChangeFortunes
“Residential conditions in ourmajor cities are on an accelerateddecline. There is a generalshortage of infrastructure,increased air, water and noisepollution, and a rash of illegal andunorganised structures croppingup everywhere. Increasingly,home-owners face problemsreaching emergency services,finding adequate parking andtraversing pothole-riddled roads,”says Sanjay Dutt, CEO –businessat realty consultancy firm JonesLang LaSalle.
“Given this depressing scenario,it has now been established thattownships are the most suitableresidential solution. Thegovernment is now encouragingthe development of suchtownships to reduce pressure onurban areas and to improveinfrastructure. Also, townshipsattract foreign direct investment
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and make overall economicsense,” says Dutt.
Apart from FDI, integratedtownships can also accessextended commercialborrowings.
Integrated township projects alsooffer real estate developers anopportunity to cash in on therevival in demand for residentialand commercial space. Theseprojects are also part of an effortby these companies to reduce riskin their business model, as onevertical provides a cushion toanother in case of tepid demand.As many as 24 expansivetownships are being set up acrossIndia and are due for completionin the next couple of years.
“Integrated township projects areslowly gathering steam as theconcept of walking to work ispicking up among city dwellers.As a township project integratesresidential, commercial and retailproperties, this is the next phaseof growth in the real estate
industry,” says Venkat KNarayana, chief financial officerat Prestige Estates Projects.However, he pointed out thatdevelopers with considerableexperience in the commercial andretail verticals would have anedge.
Prestige Estates recentlylaunched Shanti Niketan in theWhitefield area of Bangalore.“While most of our residentialspace has been snapped up,bookings have just begun for ourcommercial space. We are alsoplanning to come up with anotherintegrated project in the next sixto eight months,” says Narayana,adding that the operating marginfor an integrated project wascomparable with a purelyresidential one.
Others like Sobha Developersand Brigade Enterprises have alsocome up with similar projects.Top officials at Sobha said thecompany has an integratedhousing project at Thrissur inKerala, and the company is
Prestige Shanti Niketan, Bangalore
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bullish about this emerging trend.Brigade Enterprises recentlylaunched Brigade Gateway,which comprises residential,commercial and retail space.
Even city-based developers areplanning projects of this kind inthe near future. “We are planningto come up with an integratedtownship project in 2011 inBangalore. This space holds greatpromise,” says Bharat Dhuppar,chief marketing officer at MantriDevelopers. He said given theslow development of infrastructure projects and trafficcongestion in cities, integratedtownship projects would be thenext growth spot for the industry.“The concept will not only bepopular in the metros, but alsoTier-II & -III cities,” he adds.
An analyst with a real estateconsultancy firm said the trend oflaunching integrated projectswould continue in 2011 due to anupside in demand for bothcommercial and residentialspace. He also said large real
estate players would like at least10 per cent of the total portfolioin integrated space.
Anil Pharande, chairman,Pharande Spaces, a Pune-basedrealty player that specialises inintegrated townships, says,“Townships counter the trend ofpeople living in smaller, isolatedpockets within larger cities,thereby reintroducing thepossibility of community-basedneighbourhoods. Residentialproperties in smaller, stand-aloneprojects do not have the samecapacity to maintain and increaseproperty investment value asintegrated residential projects.”What’s more, such townships
Lavasa City, Pune
Sobha City, Thrissur
Brigade Gateway, Bangalore
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Integrated
township projects
offer developers
an opportunity to
cash in on the
revival in demand
for residential &
commercial space
also offer the prospect of higherappreciation, as these projectsadhere to a pre-set developmentplan with regard to open spaces,communal amenities andcommon areas. This means theoverall value of the location doesnot take a hit because ofunrestricted developments thatmay crop up later.
“Since such projects have theirown infrastructure, they do notdepend heavily on what the localmunicipal corporation delivers(or doesn’t deliver) in terms ofsewage management, watersupply and overall maintenanceof the immediate surroundings.The maintenance of integrated
townships is centralised. Also,since such residential projectshave various levels of security toprotect the entire project,homeowners are assured of muchhigher levels of safety for
Godrej Garden City, Ahmedabad
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Rustomjee Global
themselves, their families andpossessions,” explains Pharande.
One more critical factor is that astownships are centrally conceivedand executed, there are novariations in constructionstandards. In unplanned localitiesthat are so much a part of theproperty markets of India’s maincities, many developers withdifferent construction ideologiesand standards have projectsstanding cheek by jowl.
“The substandard construction ofone project not only pulls downits own market value, but also thatof those next to it. Two or threepoorly designed and constructedbuildings can cause the entirelocation’s market profile tocollapse,” says Pharande.
As many as 24
expansive
townships are being
set up across India
and are due for
completion in the
next couple of years.
he islands wereintended as theultimate luxurypossession, evenfor Dubai. But
the World, the ambitiously-constructed archipelago of islandsshaped like the countries of theglobe, is sinking back into the sea,according to evidence cited beforea property tribunal.
The islands were intended to bedeveloped with tailor-made hotelcomplexes and luxury villas, andsold to millionaires. They are off thecoast of Dubai and accessible byyacht or motor boat.
Now their sands are eroding and thenavigational channels between themare silting up, the British lawyer fora company bringing a case againstthe state-run developer, Nakheel,has told judges.
"The islands are gradually fallingback into the sea," Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, for Penguin Marine, said.The evidence showed "erosion anddeterioration of The World islands",he added.
With all but one of the islands stilluninhabited – Greenland – and thatone a showpiece owned by the rulerof Dubai, most of the developmentplans have been brought to acrashing halt by the financial crisis.
Nakheel, the developer, was part of
Dubai World, the state-ownedconglomerate that had to be bailedout of debts put at around $25 billionat the end of 2009. The Dubai WorldTribunal was set up to hear casesarising out of the restructuring andseparation of the companiesinvolved.
The low-lying islands represent avague shape out to sea when viewedfrom Dubai's beaches, but arevisible by satellite or from the topof the city's Burg Khalifa, theworld's tallest building, whichopened to the public last year.
According to the company, 70 percent of the World's 300 islands havebeen sold. Nakheel is also behindDubai's famous Palm-shapedoffshore developments. Villas in theonly one near completion, PalmJumeirah, were given to or boughtby footballers including DavidBeckham and Michael Owen.
Though few celebrity buyers werefound for The World, it wasrumoured – or joked – that Brad Pittand Angeline Jolie had consideredEthiopia. Many investors who didbuy the islands proved unwilling orunable to finance further work whenDubai's property prices halved in thespace of a year.
Some were hit by troubles elsewhere– the owner of the company whichbought Ireland for £24 million, John
O'Dolan, committed suicide, whilethe man who bought Britain for £43million, Safi Qurashi, is servingseven years in jail in Dubai afterbeing accused of bouncing cheques.
The dispute being heard by theproperty tribunal involves PenguinMarine, the company which boughtthe rights to provide boat travel tothe islands.
With little business, it is trying toexit the contract, which involvespaying an annual fee of just under£1 million to Nakheel.
Nahkeel say they will cash anadvanced payment guarantee worthjust over £1 million if that happens.
Penguin claim that work on theislands has "effectively stopped".Mr Wilmot-Smith described theproject as "dead".
Graham Lovett, for Nakheel, saidthe project was not dead butadmitted it was "in a coma".
"This is a ten-year project which hasslowed down," he said. "This is aproject which will be completed."
He said Penguin would make moneyeventually. "That's the price Penguinmakes to stay in the game," he said."They have the potential to earnmillions."
The tribunal found for Nakheel onThursday, saying it would give fullreasoning later. A spokesman forNakheel insisted the islands werenot sinking. "Our periodicalmonitoring survey over the pastthree years didn't observe anysubstantial erosion that requiressand nourishment," a statement said.
Dubai's New Islandsare Sinking?
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s the SAIL FPO drawscloser, retail investorsare evaluating whetherthe follow-on public
issue of the country’s largest steel-maker will fare as good as recent PSUIPOs/FPOs like Coal India andMOIL.
Anticipating that government wouldprice the FPO very attractively, theSAIL stock has been correcting fromRs. 225 levels to reach the much-speculated Rs. 165 price range.
At this level, there is no doubt thatSAIL FPO is attractive, as it amountsto only a reasonable price-earningsmultiple of 11, and a reasonable price-to-book-value of around 2 times.
But the real attraction in SAIL is itssize. In FY’10, SAIL registered a netincome of over Rs. 40,000 crorewhich is 1.63 times its nearestcompetitor Tata Steel and 2.23 timesthe next nearest player, JSW Steel.
And there is no stopping thismomentum, with the latest Decemberquarter results also showing excellentsales at Rs. 12,276 crore which is itssecond-best quarterly sales ever, anda record since March 2008. The salesis up both sequentially and year-on-year.
But then nobody is doubting SAIL’ssales or production capacity thateasily dwarfs Tata Steel. Nor cananyone fail to be impressed by its100% adequacy in captive iron ores.
What this means is that SAIL hasalready proven its edge in scalability,which is of core importance in acommodity business like steel, wheredemand is booming. The current FPOproceeds of Rs. 4000 crore from newissue of shares is again going toaugment SAIL’s capacity in hot metalproducts to nearly double the currentlevels.
Though SAIL currently lags in the
With Full Wind on its Sails
other side of the equation, that isprofitability, this is something thecurrent management headed by CMDCS Verma, has been working onactively. If these initiatives succeedeventually, SAIL and its investorsstand to gain much as the room formargin improvement is quitesignificant - while SAIL’s marginshover between 10-20%, Tata Steel’smargins are between 20-30%.
One of the most ambitious of theseinitiatives is the joint venture beingplanned with South Korea’s Posco.This JV, coming up in Bokaro, andwhose DPR is now in the final stages,is keenly watched as not only is Poscothe world’s second largest steelmakerby market-cap, but the most profitablesteelmaker in Asia.
And Posco is not the only steel majorwith which SAIL is probing valueadditions. It is implementing the latestITMk3 technology for nuggets fromJapan’s Kobe Steel, working withIndia’s BHEL for advancing CRGOsteel business, and partnering withBrazil’s CBMM for developingAPIX-80 grade plates.
What all these mean is that SAIL ismoving fast from steel as acommodity to the speciality steelsbusiness, which is the right track totake margins to 25% or beyond. Forexample, CRGO sheets is a highmargin business due to high demandfrom the power sector.
Anticipating the recent price surge insteel industry inputs like iron ore andcoking coal, SAIL was also quick toenter this businesses by way of takingstake in the high-profile InternationalCoal Ventures Ltd (ICVL), which isall set to take over Australia’sRiversdale Mining.
Speaking recently on thepartnership’s progress, ChairmanVerma opined, “ICVL has adequateresources and experienced people andhas leading investment bankers toassist in acquisitions.”
The insufficiency of coking coal hasbeen a trouble-spot for India’s steelindustry, and even SAIL’s Q3 profitswere affected because of this, despiterecord sales.
Anyway, SAIL is also partnering withthe world’s largest steel makerArcelorMittal to use the domesticallyavailable non-coking coal.
The way the steel industry has reactedto SAIL’s aggressive Rs. 70,000 crorecapex plans is evident from Tata Steel’srecent scramble for a quick FPO inJanuary itself.
But Government of India is also in nomood to slow SAIL’s growth plans andit has given the rare permission to fileRHP directly without filing DRHP.
SAIL is already a Maharatna, enjoyingthe autonomy to invest more than abillion dollars (Rs. 5000 crore) withouttaking time-consuming approvals.
The real attraction in SAIL isits size. In FY’10, SAIL
registered a net income ofover Rs. 40,000 crore which
is 1.63 times its nearestcompetitor Tata Steel and
2.23 times the next nearestplayer, JSW Steel.
SAIL FPO
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id any nation escape the globalslowdown that started in early2008? Not USA, not India, and notUAE. But for Dr. Rashid Al Leemand his team at Sharjah’s Hamriyah
Free Zone, it was a time for contemplation andconsolidation, and they went to work quietly butdiligently, to make the free zone ready for theglobal recovery. Today, just into the New Year, andless than one year of global recovery behind them,Dr. Leem was in India with some interestingnumbers. Over 1110 companies have startedfunctioning in HFZ in 2010, thus maintaining theircredentials as one of the world’s fastest growingfree zones for may years now. Not only that,Hamriyah Free Zone - which was always aregional leader in quality certifications - went forsome of the most contemporary and covetedcertifications during these two years. Today, thereis only one free zone in the whole world - of around5000 free zones - that is certified SA8000 forCorporate Social Accountability. Even moreimportantly, HFZ is the first government body inthe world to achieve the coveted SA8000 standard.When Dr. Leem was in India recently, he was also
Hamriyah FZEmerges StrongerFrom GlobalSlowdownLAUNCHES AFFORDABLE E-OFFICE PACKAGES FOR SMEs
pitching for something new - HFZ’s new SMEE-OFFICE products. The ‘E’ stands forExecutive, Economical, Efficient, & Electronic.A quick look at the features of E-OFFICE willbe enough to swoon even the most cost-sensitiveSME entrepreneur. Imagine getting to start yourown office in UAE for as little as $6850! Now,if you feel that this is only the upfront fee, youare wrong. Included in this tiny amount - whichworks out to around Rs. 3 lakhs - are office rent
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for one year, license fee for oneyear, service charges, initialpost box charges, nameapproval charges, onetelephone line charges, andbelieve it or not, allotment offour visas! In short, everythinga commercial or service SMEwould need to be up andrunning in UAE is includedwith the 10 square metre officespace. If an SME entrepreneuris looking for a more flexiblegeneral trading license, it isavailable as another E-OFFICEpackage that costs just $2740more, but it also includesallotment of one more visa. Andof course, the new E-OFFICEpackages comes with the four‘100%’ advantages enjoyed bybigger units in Hamriyah FreeZone - 100% companyownership, 100% repatriationof capital and profits, 100% tax-free environment, and 100%exemption from all commerciallevies. Is there any wonder thenHamriyah Free Zone is nowhome to over 4900 companiesfrom nearly 125 countries,employing over 60,000 people,with a total investment of $6.5
billion. There are only two more secrets to thismammoth success. One is, of course, Sharjah’sand Hamriyah’s strategic and infrastructuraladvantages like three world-class sea-ports,and an international airport connecting 230cities, that make directly addressing 1.5 billioncustomers across three continents, a snap forHFZ companies. The other closely guardedsecret is Dr. Rashid Al Leem himself, who asDirector-General of both Hamriyah Free ZoneAuthority (HFZA) and Sharjah Ports &Customs, has imbibed in this free zoneorganization a rare energy and passion, thatmakes he and his team globe-trotters for thisvision.
Dr. Rasheed Al Leem, Director General, Hamriya Free Zone Authority
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It has been 10 years since manyof the largest private life insurersstarted operating in the country.Though life insurers are expectedto break even starting from the 7th
year of commencing operations,according to IRDA assessments,it is striking that many private lifeinsurers are yet to break even.LIC’s steady performance ofdelivering profits - often up by10% year-on-year - assumessignificance in this background.
LIC excels on various fronts toachieve this performance, notablyby cutting management expenseper premium, preventing premiumlapses, and controllingprocurement costs. Many privateinsurers come across as starkcontrasts, with many witnessingoverall expense growth outpacingpremium growth.
But it is not only mere cost-cuttingthat is delivering for LIC. Thesheer collection momentumcontinues to amaze.
The figures speak for themselves.For the month of November 2010- the latest period for which detailsare available - the total premiummop-up by the industry was Rs.77,000 crore. That LIC dominatethis collection with Rs. 55,500
LIC Continues to beUnbeatable inLife Insurance andCapital Markets
crore is not the real achievement.LIC’s collection is up 52% year-on-year, whereas all otherscombined could grow only by13%, which signals that the LICjuggernaut is growing 400% fasterthan the rest of the industry.
In the last quarter of this fiscal,
LIC expects to mop-up a recordRs. 80,000 crore according toChairman TS Vijayan.
LIC also seems to have betteradapted to the new ULIPguidelines implemented by IRDAaround three months back. WhileLIC could marginally improve its
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TS Vijayan, Chairman
November performance month-on-month despite the ULIPchanges, the private insurerswitnessed marginal decrease inperformance, with ULIP-heavyinsurers like ICICI Prudential’sMoM figures down by 34%.
The contrasting performance inthe case of ULIPs is significant,as this segment also fares as oneof LIC’s core growth areas. Forexample in 2009-10, ULIPsconstituted the fastest growingarea for LIC, by absolute amounts.
However, the overall performanceof LIC during FY’10 wasalso good with the companyexcelling in both emerging areaslike group insurance andconventional segments like non-ULIPs for individuals. In fact, theonly trouble-spots for LIC wereannuities and single-premiumpolicies, where it witnessed a fall,
but which was not enough to takethe sheen out of thisoutperforming fiscal where LICgrew its premiums by over 18%,compared to the previous fiscal’s5% growth.
In a sense, it is correct to note thatLIC is not only unfazed by competition anymore, but is setting itsown growth benchmarks.
The beauty of LIC’s operations isthat the benefits of this
outperformance is shared by eventhe smallest of its agent army.Even in a year of cost-cutting,when the commissions paid to itsagents as a percentage of the totaloutflow fell by 1.75% over theprevious year, the actualcommissions paid to its agentswent up by 20.7%.
The difference between LIC’sinflow and outflow, which thisinsurance giant considers forinvestments in various instrumentslike government bonds, equities,and debt securities rose sharply toRs. 1,90,000 crore. LIC has beena very efficient investor, as itsreturns from such investmentsduring fiscal 2010 stands at a
comparable Rs. 1,12,395 crore.
The unrealized net value of itsinvestments as of June 2010 is alsoimpressive, at a whopping Rs.8,67,935 crores.
Whenever needed, LIC had beencareful in assessing and re-assigning fund managers so as tomaximize performance andrevenue.
The scale of LIC’s trading andinvestment activities at the boursesis mind-boggling to even thelargest of FIIs. Employing around150 empanelled brokerages, LICundertakes around 120-150 tradesa day, many of them Block Dealsamounting to 5,00,00 shares or Rs.5 crore in worth.
However, the insurance leader hasbecome more cautious in the evenbigger segment of Bulk Dealswhere it buys or sells 0.5% of acompany’s listed equities, due tothe volatility in the capitalmarkets, and may be also due tothe fact that it is looking intowhether some alleged irregularitieswere there in the transactions.
But as LIC Chairman TS Vijayanand Managing Director in chargeof investments, Thomas Mathewhas repeatedly clarified, it is verydifficult to manipulate the LIC wayof doing investments, as no singleperson is in charge. The investmentbusiness is managed by theInvestment Committee which is asub-committee of the LIC Board,and the Board looks into theinvestment policies and theiroutcomes every six months.
Serious investors around the worldare interested to know what LIC isinvesting in, and unofficial estimatesshow that India’s largest financialinstitution won’t touch anythingbeyond BSE 200 stocks, and is mostbullish on banks as a segment forthe long-term.
LIC excels on variousfronts to achieve thisperformance, notably
by cuttingmanagement expense
per premium,preventing premium
lapses, and controllingprocurement costs.
Many private insurerscome across as starkcontrasts, with many
witnessing overallexpense growth
outpacing premiumgrowth.
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ndian Bankingsector has againentered turbulentwaters, after adream-run forover an year in
fundamental performance as wellas on the bourses. India’s third-largest public sector bank by totalincome as well as net assets, hasalso been no exception.
On a year-on-year basis, CanaraBank had increased its net profitsby 46% in FY’10, and on that firmgrounding went on to deliver goodprofit levels on the first two quartersof FY’11 too, which seemed to havealmost ensured that anotherblockbuster annual results arecoming.
This fundamental performance wasalso reflected in the capital markets,with exuberant investors taking theCanara Bank scrip from Rs. 350levels in June 2010 to Rs. 850 levelsby November 2010 - a 143%appreciation within 5 months!
But starting in early November,
twin disasters struck. Overheatedby inflation, attracting low-costdeposits became increasinglydifficult for banks, putting pressureon their margins. At the same time,ironically it might seem, the RBIrate-hikes intended to tameinflation, started to slow credit off-take.
BSE Sensex which recorded its all-time closing high on November 5th,began to tank, the fall acceleratedby the steeper fall in Bankex / BankNifty. When Sensex tanked 10%,Bankex fell by more than 21%.
The massively successful 3G/Wi-
Against fundamental and market challengesaffecting the banking sector since November,
Canara Bank is moving fast and furious tosustain both growth and margins through
various initiatives. If they succeed, ChairmanS Raman would also automatically succeed inmaking this PSB India’s third most-profitableand the third-most valuable by market cap.
Investors are also sure to cheer such a move,as recently Canara Bank had proven what it is
capable of if the environment is conducive.
Canara Bank Moves UnfazedAgainst Sectoral Challenges
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allowed it to dampen growth. For example, recently ittied up Rs. 1060 crore in debt for an infrastructureconsortium of Ramky Infra and IL&FS Transportation,that enabled the project’s financial closure.
The bank also continues to be bullish on the retail front,with its Home Loan Utsav attracting many customers.The Utsav provides on the spot sanction for home loan,concession in processing fee, attractive interest rates,and home loan insurance at attractive rates.
Canara Bank’s joint ventures are also performing well,with its JV with cousin PSB Oriental Bank ofCommerce, and MNC major HSBC Insurance, recentlyentering the high-buzz child protection space with awell-designed ULIP that is said to ensure a bright futurefor your child.
On the bourses, Canara Bank is certainly one of thebanking stocks to watch out for, as it is now availablevery cheap at just 6 P/E and 1.75 times its book on astandalone basis. Though some high-profile funds likeFranklin Templeton has exited Canara Bank for now,other majors like SBI Caps have entered the scriprecently.
Canara Bank also has a challenging but glamorous titlebefore it to achieve, which can really take the stock toall-time highs. Though it is the third-largest PSB byincome and assets, it is only the fourth largest by profitbehind BoB. If Canara Bank can correct this, it caneasily cruise past two others to become the country’sthird most valuable PSB by market cap.
Max auctions and huge PSU IPOs / FPOs like CoalIndia, MOIL and Power Grid also contributed to theliquidity crunch now faced by banks.
After the massive run-up, the markets too weren’t kindto PSU Bank stocks. Canara Bank for example fell byalmost 38% to reach Rs. 530 levels.
But when it comes to recovery from these levels - bothon fundamental performance and on the bourses - it islikely that Canara Bank will lead the sector. The reasonsare many.
On the fundamental side, the bank led by veteranbanker S Raman as Chairman, is leaving no stoneunturned to fight back the temporary setback.
Canara Bank is on the frontline when it comes tolobbying with the Government to allow it to launchtax-free bonds to finance infrastructure projects. CanaraBank is likely to try for such a model pioneered byIDFC that has been largely successful.
To tide over the liquidity crunch, Canara Bank has alsobeen aggressive in issuing Certificate of Deposit (CD)and Short Term Paper. Recently it was successful inraising CD of Rs. 300 crore with a coupon rate of9.15%. CDs generally are of one-year duration, whileshort-term paper is of 3-6 months duration. CanaraBank generally raise such instruments from large PSUs.
Also, though many banks have become wary now tolend to corporates, fearing the ongoing investigationsby the regulators as well as CBI, Canara Bank hasn’t
S Raman, Chairman
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t is also debatable whet-her there was any otherday in recent monthswhen so many technicalanalysts and traders were
caught on the wrong foot.
But in one way, they can’t beblamed. After a worrying 53% fallwithin four months, due to the loan-for-bribe scam, many wereexpecting to cash in on a deeper cut.
But obviously they had not countedon a few things.
Firstly, as the LIC Housing Financemanagement had repeatedly said inits reassurance to its customers andinvestors, the scam though serioushad been primarily a singular caseof bribery, and was in no way goingto affect the fundamentals of thecompany.
But markets works not only onfundamentals but sentiments, andthis reassurance went unheeded.But proving the maxim that finallyfundamentals win, LIC HousingFinance has bounced back now.
Though the 53% fall was notwithout intermittent bounces, thistime it is going to be different forthe housing finance major, its
LIC Housing ProvesNaysayers Wrong
investors, and ultimately itscustomers, for the simple reasonthat, this time it is not themanagement doing damage-control, but live vibrant numbersdoing the talking.
Whichever way you look at it, youcan’t remain unimpressed with theQ3 data. Income is up by nearly54% year-on-year, while profits areup by over 38%.
Though income and profit growthis buoyed by a one-time specialincome in this quarter by way ofequity sale of LIC Mutual Fund,this effect is largely offset by thespecial provisioning that was calledfor in this quarter to cover the so-called teaser loans.
Anyway when analyzing an NBFC,analysts look also for theunderlying mechanics likesanctioning growth, disbursementgrowth, loan book growth, netinterest income (NII) growth, andnet interest margin (NIM) growth.
And what you find is prettyamazing for a company whichalmost got a major scam namedafter it, and more importantly, inthat same quarter in which thethunderstorm hit it.
On a year-on-year basis, bothsanctions and disbursements are upby 28%, loan book has grown by36%, NII is up by 55%, and eventhe toughest of the metrics to grow- NIM - has grown by nearly 14%.
Though the scam was all aboutwhether certain loans wereunqualified, and pessimists hadtheir eyes and ears glued onLICHF’s expected announ
TS Vijayan, Chairman
Jan 19th 2011 will go down in LIC HousingFinance’s history as the day in which the housingfinance major finally proved so many cynics wrong.
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cements on Non Performing Assets,on this front too, the company cameup with a surprise.
While Gross NPAs dipped by over53%, the bigger surprise was on theNet NPA front which got trimmedby nearly 77% to reach what isperhaps the industry’s best Net NPAlevel of just 0.18%.
Also of significance was the factthat LIC Housing finally deliveredrobust proof for its long-time claimthat the bone-of-contention in thescam - developer loans - has neverbeen a risky business for them.
Compared with Gross NPA levelsof 0.67% in their overall business,the developer loans only had aGross NPA level of 0.08%, whichis not only one-eighth of the overallrisk, but which is less than half ofthe overall Net NPA.
LICHF’s new CEO and Director
VK Sharma is of the opinion that ifnot for the side-effects of the scam,the company could have postedmuch better results. For example,sequential profit growth (QoQ) wasaffected as a nearly 9% dip.
CEO Sharma also announced that
despite proving that their developerloans business was not risky at all,the company had temporarilystopped giving new loans todevelopers. More than just aperception booster, this is intendedas a temporary period during whichLIC Housing prepares tougherscreening for not only individualdevelopers, but for individualprojects.
When this business is finallyresumed, developers with a proventrack-record in timely repaymentcan expect prioritised treatment,but only if their new project alsoqualifies in all respects. But in anycase, LICHF has now decided tocurtail its developer loan book tojust 10-11% of its overall loanbook.
The company is now all set to do arepeat performance in the ongoingquarter, so that the fiscal can beended on a high note. Projectionsfor the quarter include 35% growthin business, for which it would needto raise around Rs. 10,000 crore.
One of LICHF’s secrets to successhas been the fact that despite beingan NBFC, they have been almostas successful as banks in raisingfunds at lower costs. For example,even in this scenario of interestrates edging high and liquiditygetting squeezed, LIC Housing’saverage cost of funds have beenlimited to 8.12%.
Coming to investor outlook, LICHousing has now become one ofthe most attractive stocks to enter,as it is now available at a price-earnings multiple of 10 odd,compared with HDFC’s 30 P/E,Dewan Housing’s 12 odd, and GruhFinance’s 17 odd P/E. Book Valuewise also the scrip is attractivetrading at 2.43 P/BV, comparedwith HDFC’s 6.38 times, Dewan’s3 odd times, and Gruh’s 5 oddtimes.
VK Sharma, Director & Chief Executive
The company is now allset to do a repeatperformance in the
ongoing quarter, so thatthe fiscal can be ended ona high note. Projectionsfor the quarter include
35% growth in business,for which it would need toraise around Rs. 10,000
crore.
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Godrej Properties hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3consolidated net profit wasdown at Rs 15.5 croreversus Rs 17.6 crore, year-on-year, YoY. Itsconsolidated net sales wereup at Rs 48.2 crore versusRs 20.3 crore, YoY. Thestock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 31.46. Thelatest book value of thecompany is Rs 116.74 per
Godrej Properties Q3 ReflectsRealty’s Downturn
Housing finance companyHDFC has announced itsresults for the quarterended December 2010. Ithas reported net profit at Rs891 crore as against Rs671.3 crore, a growh of32.8% on year-on-yearbasis. Net interest income(NII) jumped 25.6% to Rs1,328 crore in Q3 FY11from Rs 1,058 crore insame quarter of previousyear. Disclosing the results,Keki Mistry, ViceChairman and CEO of thecompany said that netinterest margins (NIMs)was at under 4% whilespreads for 9-month periodstood at 2.33%. The NBFCmanaged to lower its non-performing assets (NPAs)as it declined to 0.85%from 0.94%. Its loan bookgrew 27%. It earned profitof Rs 167 crore from saleof investment as against Rs51 crore. “HDFC’s
HDFC Q3 Improves, But Still BelowLast Q4
Magma Fincorp hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3net profit was up at Rs 32.3crore versus Rs 17.9 crore,year-on-year, YoY. Itsincome from operationswas up at Rs 212 croreversus Rs 165 crore, YoY.The company’s trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was atRs 6.36 per share. (Sep,2010). The stock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was10.06. The latest bookvalue of the company is Rs
Magma Fincorp Q3 Strong, ProvesPrice Fall Not Fully Justified
Hindustan Media Ventureshas announced its resultsfor the quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported net profit at Rs11.7 crore as against Rs 4.3crore, a growth of 172.09%on year-on-year basis. Netsales jumped to Rs 131crore from Rs 41.3 crore(YoY).
Hindustan Media Ventures Q3Signals Stability, No Outperformance
State-run and financeprovider for power sectorPower Finance Corporation (PFC) has declaredits results for the quarterended December 2010. Ithas reported net profit at Rs659 crore in Q3 as againstRs 563.7 crore in Q3FY10,a growth of 16.91%. Netsales increased by 27.02%to Rs 2,576 crore from Rs2,028 crore (YoY).
share. At current value, theprice-to-book value of thecompany was 4.93. Thedividend yield of thecompany was 0.69%.
unrealised profit on listedinvestments stood at Rs.21,695 crore and it madeexcess provision of Rs 300crore on the book,” Mistryinformed. HDFC’s tier Icapital stood at 13%, tier IIcapital at 1.1% and capitaladequacy was at 14.1%.Going forward, Mistry isexpecting loan bookgrowth of 20-15% for theyear.
PFC Q3 is Strong YoY, But ProfitSlips Sequentially
27.18 per share. At currentvalue, the price-to-bookvalue of the company was2.35. The dividend yield ofthe company was 0.63%.
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Q3 RESULTS Q3 RESULTS
Zee Entertainment Enterprises has declared itsresults for the quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported 23% growth in itsQ3FY11 net profit at Rs155.5 crore as against Rs126.3 crore in previousquarter. Revenue jumped16% to Rs 825 crore fromRs 711.6 crore on quarter-on-quarter basis. Adjustedrevenue was up 6% to Rs755 crore versus Rs 712crore. Operating profitmargin (OPM) improved at27.2% in Q3 versus 26.5%in Q2FY11. Adjusted OPMdeclined at 20.4% versus26.5%. The companyapproved amalgamation of2 WoS ZES HoldingMauritius and ZEEMultimedia Worldwide.Adjusted margins dipped to20.4% from 29.6% (YoY)and 26.5% (QoQ). Totalexpenditure was up 15% toRs 600 crore on quarter-on-quarter basis, withprogramming costsincreased by 20% to Rs
Zee Entertainment Q3 Strong,EPS Dips
415.2 crore. Advertisingrevenues rose 6.7% to Rs440 crore from Rs 412.2crore and subscriptionrevenues went up 3% to Rs281.8 crore. Revenues fromDTH business were up by4% to Rs 82 crore anddomestic cable business upby 2.6% (QoQ). Sportsbusiness revenue stood atRs 166.5 crore andEBITDA loss at Rs 32.5crore. (Numbers includedRGEC, 9x + ETC + Rs 70crore one time fees on prematured termination ofSporting Event Rights)
Jaiprakash Power Venturehas declared its thirdquarter numbers. Its Q3total sales were at Rs 181crore versus Rs 119 crore.Its profit was at Rs 22.7crore versus Rs 16.8 crore.The company’s salesincluded sale of vetrifiedemission reduction of 22.4crore versus nil. Its interestexpenditure was at Rs 104
Jaiprakash Power Q3 Good,But Dips Sequentially
Zydus WellnessQ3 - Steady,Strong Showing
IndusInd Bank’s Strong Q3 SignalsSteady OutperformancePrivate sector lender IndusInd Bank has announced itsresults for the quarter ended December 2010. The bankhas reported net profit at Rs 154 crore as against Rs 88crore, a growth of 75% on year-on-year basis. Net interestincome jumped 108.98% to Rs 363 crore from Rs 173.7crore. Other income increased by 68.97% to Rs 196 crorefrom Rs 116 crore (YoY).
Engineering firm Larsen &Toubro (L&T) hasannounced its results forthe quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported a net profit at Rs840.6 crore in Q3FY11 asagainst Rs 768.8 in sameperiod of previous year, agrowth of 9.34%. Thecompany earned one timegain of Rs 35 crore.Revenues jumped 40.52%to Rs 11,413 crore from Rs8,122.2 crore in Q3FY10.However, operating profitmargin (OPM) took a
Zydus Wellness hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3net profit was up at Rs 19.6crore versus Rs 14.3 crore.Its net sales were up at Rs90.8 crore versus Rs 75.1crore. The company’strailing 12-month (TTM)EPS was at Rs 13.53 pershare. (Sep, 2010). Thestock’s price-to-earnings(P/E) ratio was 44.05. Thelatest book value of the
company is Rs 25.74 pershare. At current value, theprice-to-book value of thecompany was 23.15. Thedividend yield of thecompany was 0.5%.
crore versus Rs 50.5 crore.Its forex loss (post tax) wasnil versus Rs 6.9 crore.
L&T Q3 Good Showing, ButNowhere Near Last Q4
beating in third quarter offinancial year 2010-11 -OPM stood at 10.85% asagainst 12.36% inQ3FY10. L&T hasreceived orders worth Rs13,366 crore in Decemberquarter.
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Private sector lender AxisBank has announced itsresults for the quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported net profit of Rs 891crore in Q3FY11 as againstRs 656 crore Q3FY10, agrowth of 35.82%. Netinterest income (NII) grewby 28.47% to Rs 1,733crore from Rs 1,349 crore(YoY). Other income alsoincreased to Rs 1,148 crorefrom Rs 988 crore.
Axis Bank Q3 Signals StrongSustained Growth
Essar Oil Q3 isa PositiveTurnaroundPerformance
Essar Oil has announced itsthird quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net profitwas at Rs 273 crore versusloss of Rs 226 crore, year-on-year, YoY. Its totalincome was up at Rs12,270 crore versus Rs9,958 crore, YoY. Thecompany’s trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was atRs 0.10 per share. (Sep,
2010). The stock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was1,285.00. The latest bookvalue of the company is Rs26.86 per share. At currentvalue, the price-to-bookvalue of the company was4.78.
TCS has declared its thirdquarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 consolidated net sales were up4.05% at Rs 9,663.35 crore
TCS Q3 Reiterates its NumeroUno Position in IT
versus Rs 9,286.39 crore,quarter-on-quarter, QoQ.Its consolidated net profitwas up 9.24% at Rs2,369.83 crore versus Rs2,169.21 crore, QoQ. TCSQ3 US GAAP was asfollows: Its operating profitwas up 4.3% at Rs 2,713crore, QoQ. Its operatingmargin was up 7 bps at28.1% QoQ. Its net profitmargin was up 144 bps at24.1% QoQ.
Rallis India has declared its
third quarter results. The
company’s Q3FY11
revenue was up 31% to Rs
271 crore versus Rs 207
crore, YoY. Its PAT was up
40% to Rs 33.69 crore
versus Rs 24 crore, YoY. Its
OPM was at 19% versus
21%, YoY.
Indiabulls Power hasannounced its results forthe quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported consolidated netprofit at Rs 20 lakh asagainst Rs 8.8 crore.Consolidated net salesstood at Rs 40 lakh andother income declined at Rs7.6 crore from Rs 22.9crore.
Indiabulls Real Estate has declared its resultsfor the quarter ended December 2010. It hasreported consolidated net profit at Rs 76.61crore as against Rs 50.9 crore, a growth of50.51% on quarter-on-quarter basis (QoQ).Consolidated net sales jumped to Rs 399.7crore from Rs 300 crore (QoQ). Other incomewent up to Rs 18.2 crore from Rs 3.1 crore
(QoQ).
Indiabulls Power Q3 ExplainsRecent Price Fall
Indiabulls Real EstateQ3 - Better, But SequentialSeesawing Continues
Rallis India Q3 Good YoY, ButNegative Turnaround QoQ
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Q3 RESULTS Q3 RESULTS
Bajaj Finance has declaredits results for the quarterended December 2010. Ithas reported net profit at Rs76.4 crore as against Rs27.3 crore (YoY). Incomefrom operations increasedto Rs 360 crore from Rs225 crore (YoY).
Exide Industries hasannounced its results forthe quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported standalone netprofit at Rs 124.42 crore asagainst Rs 130.48 crore(YoY). Standalone netsales jumped to Rs1,049.13 crore from Rs912.57 crore (YoY).
Cadila Healthcare hasannounced its results forthe quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported consolidated netprofit at Rs 162 crore asagainst Rs 130 crore.Consolidated net salesjumped at Rs 1,130 crorefrom Rs 960 crore.
State-run GAIL hasannounced its results forthe quarter endedDecember 2010. It hasreported standalone netprofit of Rs 968 crore asagainst Rs 860 crore, agrowth of 12.56% on year-on-year basis (YoY).Standalone net sales rose35.19% to Rs 8,365 crorefrom Rs 6,187.8 crore(YoY). In a pressconference GAIL said:Profit boosted by gastrading, transmission, allpipeline projects are on
stream as of December2010, will add additional1500 km pipeline byDecember 2011, and that ithas successfully completedbond issue of Rs 500 crorerecently.
Bajaj Finance Q3 is aBlockbuster Performance
Cadila Healthcare Q3 Good YoY,But Alarming Consecutive Dips QoQ
Exide Q3 Shows YoY Growth,But Another Quarter ofSequential Degrowth
GAIL’s Strong Q3 Shows ShiftingMomentum Towards Gas
MindTree Q3 Shows Sales Strength,But Profits Weaken Further
MindTree has decalred its third quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 consolidated net sales were at Rs 384.8crore versus Rs 384.4 crore, quarter-on-quarter, QoQ. Itsconsolidated net profit was up at Rs 30.5 crore versus Rs23.2 crore, QoQ. The company’s trailing 12-month (TTM)EPS was at Rs 46.83 per share. (Sep, 2010). The stock’sprice-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 11.45. The latest bookvalue of the company is Rs 162.35 per share. At currentvalue, the price-to-book value of the company was 3.3.The dividend yield of the company was 0.56%. Prism Cement Q3 - Alarming
Negative Turnaround
Prism Cement has announced its third quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net loss at Rs 38 lakh versus profit of Rs51 crore. Its raw material cost was up at Rs 210 croreversus Rs 150 crore. The company’s trailing 12-month(TTM) EPS was at Rs 4.02 per share. (Sep, 2010). Thestock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 12.50. The latestbook value of the company is Rs 23.23 per share. At currentvalue, the price-to-book value of the company was 2.16.The dividend yield of the company was 4.98%.
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NIIT Technologies hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3consolidated net profit wasup 35.3% at Rs 47.8 crore,year-on-year, YoY. Itsconsolidated revenue wasup 30.6% at Rs 300 crore,YoY. NIIT Tech says, it willcontinue to focus on Travel& Tourism sector, focusingon sales in US, Europeanmarkets, and that it hasseen comeback in travel &tourism segment biz.
Tata Elxsi has announced
its results for the quarter
ended December 2010. It
has reported consolidated
net profit at Rs 5.6 crore inContainer Corporation ofIndia has announced itsthird quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net profitwas up at Rs 228 croreversus Rs 201 crore, year-on-year, YoY. Its net saleswere up at Rs 971 croreversus Rs 884 crore, YoY.The company’s trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was atRs 59.51 per share. (Sep,2010). The stock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was20.83. The latest book valueof the company is Rs 333.61
Coromandel Internationalhas reported a salesturnover of Rs 2,061.24crore and a net profit of Rs150.29 crore for the quarterended Dec ’10. For thequarter ended Dec 2009 thesales turnover was Rs1,756.81 crore and netprofit was Rs 146.12 crore.
CMC has reported a sales
turnover of Rs 204.50 crore
and a net profit of Rs 39.36
crore for the quarter ended
Dec ’10. For the quarter
ended Dec 2009 the sales
turnover was Rs 165.97
crore and net profit was Rs
32.23 crore.
Geojit BNP ParibasFinancial has announced itsresults for the quarterended December 2010. Ithas reported consolidatedprofit after tax (PAT) of Rs12.2 crore as against Rs12.4 crore (YoY). Net salesincreased to Rs 76 croreversus Rs 71.3 crore.
NIIT Tech Q3 - StandaloneTroubles, Consolidated Strengths
Tata Elxsi Q3 Shows SluggishSales, Profits in Downward Spiral
Q3FY11 as against Rs 7.3
crore in Q2FY11 and Rs
16.4 crore in Q3FY09.
Consolidated net sales
increased to Rs 100.6 crore
from Rs 100 crore.
Container Corp Q3 - Confirms ThatIt is Back on Track in Sales, Profits
per share. At current value,the price-to-book value ofthe company was 3.72. Thedividend yield of thecompany was 1.13%.
Coromandel Q3 - SalesDisappoints, Profits Back on Track
CMC Q3 Shows Good YoY Growth,But Sluggish SequentialPerformance
Geojit BNP Paribas Q3 -Subsidiaries Start Delivering
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Pfizer has announced itsfourth quarter results. Thecompany’s Q4 net profitwas up at Rs 43.6 croreversus Rs 25.4 crore, year-on-year, YoY. Its net saleswere up at Rs 236 croreversus Rs 195 crore, YoY.The company’s trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was atRs 48.59 per share. (Aug,
Pfizer Q4 - Strong Sales and YoYProfits, QoQ Profits Slow Down
2010). The stock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was23.12. The latest bookvalue of the company is Rs333.20 per share. Atcurrent value, the price-to-book value of the companywas 3.37. The dividendyield of the company was1.11%.
India’s second largest ITservices exporter and ITbellwether Infosys Tech-nologies has announced itsresults for the quarterended December 2010(Q3FY11). The companyhas reported consolidatednet profit at Rs 1,780 croreas against Rs 1,737 crore inprevious quarter, a growthof 2.48% (based on IFRS -International Financial Re-porting Standards). Operat-ing profit also increasedjust by 2.34% at Rs 2,147crore as against Rs 2,098crore on quarter-on-quarter
Infosys Q3 Shows the Struggleto Grow
basis. Company’s consoli-dated revenues came in atRs 7,106 crore from Rs6,947 crore, up just 2.29%on QoQ. Infosys reportedrevenues at USD 1585 mil-lion, a growth of 5.94%(QoQ). CEO & MD ofInfosys, S Gopalakrishnansaid, “The weaker eco-nomic outlook in devel-oped markets coupled withhigh unemployment andrisk of sovereign defaultcould impact industrygrowth.” Operating profitmargin came in flat at30.2% on quarter-on-quar-ter basis.
Sintex India has announcedits third quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 consoli-dated net profit was up atRs 112.8 crore versus Rs72.5 crore, year-on-year,YoY. Its consolidated netsales were up at Rs 1,183.8crore versus Rs 835.5crore, YoY. The company’strailing 12-month (TTM)EPS was at Rs 11.36 pershare. (Sep, 2010). Thestock’s price-to-earnings(P/E) ratio was 14.72. Thelatest book value of thecompany is Rs 68.95 per
Sintex India Q3 - Strong Reboundin Growth, Profits Still Sluggish
share. At current value, theprice-to-book value of thecompany was 2.43. Thedividend yield of thecompany was 0.36%.
GRUH Finance hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3net profit was up at Rs 17.5crore versus Rs 15.5 crore,year-on-year (YoY). Itstotal income was up at Rs93.8 crore versus Rs 79.4crore, (YoY). Thecompany’s trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was atRs 23.00 per share. (Sep,2010). The stock’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was17.56. The latest book
GRUH Finance Q3 - Sales Back toMarch Level, Profit Growth Lag
value of the company is Rs75.54 per share. At currentvalue, the price-to-bookvalue of the company was5.35. The dividend yield ofthe company was 1.61%.
Steel Authority of India,(SAIL) has announced itsthird quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net profitwas down 34% at Rs 1,107crore versus 1675 crore,year-on-year, YoY. Itsrevenues were up 14.5% atRs 11312 crore versusRs.9878 crore. Its OPMwas down at 15.9% versus26.1%.
SAIL Q3 - Sales Growth Satisfactory,YoY Profit Dip Signals Trouble
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You’ve landed that job
interview and have
polished your resume
in preparation. But
what should you do
once you are face to
face? Use these tried-
and-true tips:
1. Eye contact, a smile, a firmhandshake. They’re as important inthe reception area as in the big cor-ner office.
2. If you’re applying for a service
position, let your voice and chin“rise” at the end of each sentenceso you seem more agreeable. If it’sa management position, use “thecredible voice pattern,” one thathas “a calm cadence, almost mono-tone, with the chin dipping down abit.”
3. Sit up straight, and keep eyecontact “consistent but not con-stant”—no need to creep anyoneout with too much intensity. Whereyou look is important: Stay in the“professional zone,” from thebridge of the nose to the top of theforehead.
5 Quick Tips for aSuper Interview
4. When you hear that familiarquestion, “Tell me about yourself,”be ready, and be ready with some-thing good.Tell the person what isimportant to you, [and] tell it tohim/her in a story she can remem-ber and relay to other people.
5. Most job candidates end the in-terview with “Do you have anyquestions for me?” Better is to askearly on what the perfect candidatelooks like. That way, you can tai-lor your answers accordingly. Be-fore you leave, ask whether the in-terviewer has any reservations.
A UK company recently re-vealed the results of a top se-cret project it's been working onfor the past four years: a syn-thetic fuel that could cause gasprices to plunge to $1.50 pergallon.
Developed at the prestigiousRutherford Appleton Labora-tory near Oxford, Cella EnergyCEO Stephen Voller claims thathis company's hydrogen-basedfuel produces no carbon emis-sions when burned, and couldbe the first step toward a trans-portation market that's unaf-fected by unstable oil prices.
"We have developed new mi-cro-beads that can be used inan existing gasoline or petrolvehicle to replace oil-based fu-
Coming, New Secret SyntheticPetrol at 50% Price
els," Voller told Gizmag. "Earlyindications are that the micro-beads can be used in existingvehicles without engine modi-fication."
If Cella Energy is able to pro-duce this gas alternative on acommercial scale, it could bethe missing link millions havebeen waiting for to help easethe pain of transition away froma fossil fuel-based economy.
Hydrogen, which producesonly pure water when burned,is considered an ideal solutionto cutting carbon emissionsfrom petrol, which are esti-mated to cause 25 per cent ofall carbon release. Until now,
attempts to store it have notbeen consumer friendly so thishas not been a viable option.
Currently "the only way to packit [hydrogen] into a vehicle isto use very high pressures orvery low temperatures, both ofwhich are expensive to do. Ournew hydrogen storage materi-als offer real potential for run-ning cars, planes and other ve-hicles that currently use hydro-carbons on hydrogen, with littleextra cost and no extra incon-venience to the driver", saidProfessor Stephen Bennington,lead scientist on the project forthe UK's Science and Technol-ogy Facilities Council.
IDBI Bank Q3 Strong,Bright Future AheadIDBI Bank has reported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10. Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 4,712.33 crore and net profitwas Rs 454.08 crore. For the quarter ended Dec2009 the interest earned was Rs 4007.80 croreand net profit was Rs 287.15 crore.
Syndicate Bank Q3Rebounds,Valuations VeryAttractiveSyndicate Bank Q3 net profit was up at Rs 268crore versus Rs 207 crore. Its NII was up at Rs1,050 crore versus Rs 719 crore. The scripwhich has an yearly price-performance of over23%, has corrected by over 17% in the pastone month, and is now trading very attractively.
R. M. Malla, CMD, IDBI Bank Ltd
Basant Seth, CMD, SyndicateBank
Karnataka Bank Q3Income Strong, ProfitsNeed to ImproveKarnataka Bank has reported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10. Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 603.14 crore and net profit wasRs 38.59 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2009the interest earned was Rs 527.62 crore and netprofit was Rs 36.61 crore.
P. Jayarama Bhatt, MD and CEO, Karnataka Bank
BANKS
Q3RESULTS
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Central Bank of IndiaQ3 ConfirmsOutperformance,Stock UndervaluedCentral Bank of India has reported its resultsfor the quarter ended Dec ’10. Interest earnedfor the quarter was Rs 3,933.06 crore and netprofit was Rs 403.52 crore. For the quarterended Dec 2009 the interest earned was Rs3131.30 crore and net profit was Rs 306.44crore.
Federal Bank Q3Shows Sales GrowthSteady, Profit GrowthSlowerFederal Bank has reported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10. Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 1,021.88 crore and net profitwas Rs 143.10 crore. For the quarter ended Dec2009 the interest earned was Rs 944.64 croreand net profit was Rs 110.25 crore.
S Sridhar, CMD, Central Bank of India
Shyam Srinivasan, CEO, Federal Bank
M D Mallya, CMD, BoB
Bank Of Baroda has reportedits results for the quarterended Dec ’10. Interest earnedfor the quarter was Rs5,666.15 crore and net profitwas Rs 1,068.88 crore. For thequarter ended Dec 2009 theinterest earned was Rs4176.97 crore and net profitwas Rs 832.49 crore.
Bank of Baroda Q3 Shows Overall StrengthBANKS
Q3RESULTS
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Indian OverseasBank Q3 Soars byIncome & Profits,Stock AttractiveIndian Overseas Bank has reported itsresults for the quarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for the quarter was Rs3,101.65 crore and net profit was Rs 231.66crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2009 theinterest earned was Rs 2570.13 crore andnet profit was Rs 101.70 crore.
Jammu and Kashmir Bank has reported itsresults for the quarter ended Dec ’10. Interestearned for the quarter was Rs 934.66 crore andnet profit was Rs167.88 crore. Forthe quarter endedDec 2009 theinterest earned wasRs 857.36 croreand net profit wasRs 139.99 crore.
M Narendra, CMD, IOB
BANKS
Q3RESULTS
Oriental Bank ofCommerce Q3Shows ContinuedOutperformance
Mushtaq Ahmad, Jammu &Kashmir Bank
Oriental Bank of Commerce has reported itsresults for the quarter ended Dec ’10. Interestearned for the quarter was Rs 3,032.76 croreand net profit was Rs 408.25 crore. For thequarter ended Dec 2009 the interest earned wasRs 2671.59 crore and net profit was Rs 289.43crore.
Jammu & KashmirBank Q3 ShowsTurnaround fromLast Q4 Consistent
IDFC Q3 Strong bySales, Profits Dip QoQInfrastructure Development Finance Companyhas reported a sales turnover of Rs 1,162.15crore and a net profit of Rs 304.23 crore for thequarter ended Dec ’10. For the quarter endedDec 2009 the sales turnover was Rs 880.76crore and net profit was Rs 240.11 crore.
Dr. Rajiv B. Lall, MD &. CEO, IDFCNagesh Pydah, CMD, OBC
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Karur Vysya Bank Q3 -Sales Steady, ProfitRebounds EmphaticallyKarur Vysya Bank has reported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10. Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 575.49 crore and net profit was Rs113.22 crore. For the quarter ended Dec 2009 theinterest earned was Rs 451.22 crore and net profitwas Rs 75.87 crore.
P.T. Kuppuswamy, Chairman and CEO, KVB
BANKS
Q3RESULTS
Kotak Mahindra Bank hasreported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 1,135.40crore and net profit was Rs187.87 crore. For thequarter ended Dec 2009 theinterest earned was Rs832.42 crore and net profitwas Rs 142.38 crore.
Kotak Mahindra Bank ProfitGrowth Slower, Stock RemainsExpensive Even After Correction
South Indian Bank hasreported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 622.66crore and net profit wasRs 75.36 crore. For thequarter ended Dec 2009the interest earned was Rs487.79 crore and netprofit was Rs 62.46 crore.
SIB Sales Good, StockAttractive After Correction
Yes Bank Q3
Strong, Stock
of Long Term
Value
Yes Bank has reported itsresults for the quarter endedDec ’10. Interest earned forthe quarter was Rs 1,126.15crore and net profit was Rs191.12 crore. For the quarterended Dec 2009 the interestearned was Rs 626.36 croreand net profit was Rs 125.93crore.
V.A Joseph, Chairman and CEO, SIB
Uday Kotak, Executive Vice Chairman & MD, Kotak Mahindra BankRana Kapoor, Founder/MD & CEO,
Yes Bank
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UCO Bank has reported its results forthe quarter ended Dec ’10. Interestearned for the quarter was Rs 2,894.23crore and net profit was Rs 301.24 crore.For the quarter ended Dec 2009 theinterest earned was Rs 2374.72 crore andnet profit was Rs 245.82 crore.
UCO Bank’s PositiveTurnaround isDecisive in Q3
Dena Bank has reported itsresults for the quarter endedDec ’10. Interest earned forthe quarter was Rs 1,289.89crore and net profit was Rs155.21 crore. For the quarterended Dec 2009 the interestearned was Rs 1015.90 croreand net profit was Rs 134.52crore.
Dena Bank Improves in Q3, ButLoses Some Profit Momentum
State-run Andhra Bankannounced a 20.2% growthin Q3FY11 net profit of Rs331 crore as against Rs 275.4crore in quarter endedDecember 2009. Net interestmargin stood at 3.91% as onDecember 31, 2010.
Andhra Bank is Back on Trackin Profits, Sales Growth Steady
Allahabad Bank has declaredits third quarter results. Its Q3net profit was up at Rs 416crore versus Rs 345.4 crore.The company’s NII was up atRs 1,051.6 crore versus Rs675.6 crore. Its provisioncoverage ratio was at 80.22%.The company’s net NPAs wasat 0.59% versus 0.35%, YoYand gross NPAs wasunchanged at 1.77%, YoY.
AllahabadBank Q3Strong, StockShould GoPlaces
BANKS
Q3RESULTS
Arun Kaul, CMD, UCO Bank
D.L. Rawal, CMD, Dena Bank
R Ramachandran, CMD, Andhra Bank J.P.Dua, CMD, Allahabad Bank
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BANKS
Q3RESULTS
ICICI Bank has declared itsthird quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net profit wasup 30.50% Rs 1437 croreversus Rs 1101.1 crore. Its netinterest income was up by12.32% at Rs 2311.7 croreversus Rs 2058.1 crore.Provisions declined inDecember quarter to Rs 464crore as against Rs 1,002 crore
ICICI Bank Q3 ShowsAcceleration, Stock Only ofLong Term Value
in same period of last year.Gross non-performing asset(NPA) slipped just at 4.75%versus 4.84%. Net NPAdeclined to 1.16% versus2.19%. Other income jumpedto Rs 1,748 crore from Rs1,673 crore. CASA was at44.2% versus 39.6%. Capitaladequacy ratio stood at19.98% versus 19.4%.
Vijaya BankProfitRecovers inQ3, StockAttractive
Union Bank of India has declared its results forthe quarter ended December 2010. It has reportednet profit of Rs 580 crore in Q3FY11 as againstRs 534 crore, a growth of 8.6% on year-on-yearbasis. Net interest income went up by 51.78% toRs 1,616 crore from Rs 1064.7 crore. Otherincome increased to Rs 493.6 crore from Rs 440crore. Gross non-performing assets went up toRs 3,580 crore from Rs 2,092 crore (2.68%versus 1.96%). Net non-performed asset rose toRs 1,597.4 crore from Rs 613.1 crore (1.15%versus 1.29%). Operating expenses were up by38% to Rs 848.3 crore from Rs 615.2 crore.Provisions increased to Rs 400 crore from Rs160 crore (YoY). (Adhoc provision of Rs 120crore for second pension liability (Rs 360 croreprovision made for 9MFY11))
Union Bank Q3 Turnaround Impressive,Stock Attractive After Correction
MV Nair, CMD, Union Bank of India
Chanda Kochhar,
MD & CEO, ICICI Bank
Albert Tauro, CMD, Vijaya Bank
Vijaya Bank has declared itsthird quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net profit wasup at Rs 162 crore versus Rs125 crore, year-on-year,YoY. Stock is trading ataround 6 TTM P/E and lessthan 1.5 times its book.
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State-owned Indian Bank hasdeclared its results for thequarter ended December2010. It has reported net profitof Rs 491 crore as against Rs441 crore, a growth of 11.34%on year-on-year basis andwent up by 18.11% from Rs415.7 crore (QoQ). Netinterest income jumped to18.9% to Rs 1,038 crore fromRs 873 crore (YoY) and rose5.6% from Rs 983 crore(QoQ). Net non-performingassets increased to Rs 418
BANKS
Q3RESULTS
Indian Bank Profits Good,Sales Slow, Stock Cheap
crore in Q3FY11 from Rs 90crore in same period ofprevious year.
State Bank of India, (SBI) hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3 netprofit was up 14.08 % at Rs2,828 crore versus Rs 2,479.1crore (YoY) despite anincrease in the provisions byRs 1,797 crore (84.02%). Itsnet interest income (NII)stood at Rs 9,050 crore versusRs 6,316.3 crore. The banksaw its total provisions go upto Rs 2,051 crore versus Rs
SBI Sales Growth Good, ProfitsLacklustre
Dhanlaxmi Bank hasannounced its third quarterresults. The company’s Q3 netprofit was up at Rs 7.3 croreversus Rs 1.3 crore, year-on-year, YoY. Its NII was up atRs 74 crore versus Rs 39crore, YoY.
Dhanlaxmi’sTurnaroundImpressive, StockStill Pricey
Punjab & Sind Bank has announcedits results for the quarter endedDecember 2010. It has reported netprofit at Rs 135 crore as against Rs125 crore (YoY). Punjab & SindBank was the last public sector bankto list.
Punjab & Sind Bank Q3 Good,Stock Price Among Cheapest
State Bank of Bikaner andJaipur has reported its resultsfor the quarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for the quarterwas Rs 1,226.22 crore and netprofit was Rs 132.46 crore.For the quarter ended Dec2009 the interest earned wasRs 978.36 crore and net profitwas Rs 51.25 crore.
SBBJ Q3 SalesGood, ProfitsShould Improve,Stock Very Cheap
O P Bhatt, Chairman, SBI
T M Bhasin, CMD, Indian Bank
PK Anand, Punjab & Sindh Bank
Amitabh Chaturvedi, MD & CEODhanalakshmi Bank
Supratik Chatterjee, MD, SBBJ
857 crore, YoY.
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BANKS
Q3RESULTS
Bank of Maharashtra hasannounced its results for thequarter ended December 2010. Ithas reported net profit at Rs 90.2crore as against Rs 112 crore. Netinterest income jumped to Rs 522crore from Rs 361.6 crore.
Mahabank’s Recovery hasBegun, Stock Attractive
State Bank of Mysore hasreported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for the quarterwas Rs 1,057.19 crore and netprofit was Rs 132.04 crore.For the quarter ended Dec2009 the interest earned wasRs 900.66 crore and net profitwas Rs 141.31 crore.
SBM Turnaround in Profits Good,Stock Among Cheapest
DCB ProvesPositiveTurnaroundCan Hold,Stock VeryExpensive
Development Credit Bank hasreported its results for thequarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for the quarterwas Rs 140.22 crore and netprofit was Rs 8.17 crore. Forthe quarter ended Dec 2009the interest earned was Rs109.05 crore and net loss wasRs 18.09 crore.
State Bank of Travancorehas reported its results forthe quarter ended Dec ’10.Interest earned for thequarter was Rs 1,379.35crore and net profit was Rs176.01 crore. For thequarter ended Dec 2009 theinterest earned was Rs1116.23 crore and net profitwas Rs 164.96 crore.
SBT Sales Growth Steady,Profits Recovering, StockAmong Cheapest
AS Bhattacharya, CMD, BoM
Dilip Mavinkurve, MD, SBM
P. Pradeep Kumar, MD, SBT Nasser Munjee, Chairman, DCB
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Corporation Bank has come out withits third quarter earnings of FY11. Ithas reported net profit of Rs 382crore as against Rs 305 crore, agrowth of 25.25% on year-on-yearbasis. Net interest income jumped to40.57% to Rs 842 crore from Rs 599crore. Provisions increased to Rs 250crore in December quarter of FY10as against Rs 113 crore in Decemberquarter of FY09.
Bank Of India has announced its third quarter results. Thecompany’s Q3 net profit was up at Rs 653 crore versus Rs405 crore. Its NII was up at Rs 1,986 crore versus Rs1,494.8 crore. Its provisions was at Rs 498 crore versusRs 576 crore.
Bank of India Profits Recover,Stock of Long Term Value
State-run Punjab NationalBank (PNB) has reported netprofit at Rs 1,090 crore asagainst Rs 1,011.3 crore, agrowth of 7.78% on year-on-year basis. Net interest incomejumped 44.80% to Rs 3,203crore from Rs 2,212 crore.Provisions increased to Rs714 crore from Rs 282 crore(YoY). Gross non-performingasset (NPA) went up at 2.03%versus 1.8% (YoY). Thebank’s capital adequacy stoodat 11.9% in Q3FY11 asagainst 14.6%. Net interestmargin stood at 3.99%.
PNB SalesStrong, ProfitsLacklustre,Stock Attractive
BANKS
Q3RESULTS
Ramnath Pradeep, CMD, Corporation Bank
AK Misra, CMD, Bank of India KR Kamath, Chairman, PNB
Corporation Bank RemainsStrong & Steady, Stock VeryAttractive
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How far can honesty as a virtuetake you if you are also perceivedas ineffective and spineless? Doesthat honesty then have any value?Does it serve any purpose?
This is the tragedy of prime minis-ter Manmohan Singh's clean imagepost-Radiagate whichforced the UPA governmentto eject tainted telecomminister A Raja. Thoughupright and honest, Singh'simage has eroded consider-ably because of evidencethat he did not act decisivelyin the 2G telecomscamwhen it was brought tohis notice as early as 2008.
Singh was perhaps con-strained by the compulsionsof coalition politics and thecollective wisdom at the highestlevel in the Congress. But his com-promise has come at a price.
Unless you belong to the Gandhifamily, the party always stands su-preme. That is what prevented thenprime minister Atal BihariVajpayee from demanding the res-ignation of Gujarat chief ministerNarendra Modiin the aftermath ofthe 2002 Godhra carnage. As iswell documented, Vajpayeewanted Modi to quit but had to re-main silent because many seniorsin the party, including LK Advani,differed with him on this issue.
The party asserted itself to repri-mand Advani and Jaswant Singh
What Singh has to LearnFrom Swami
for praising the founder of Paki-stan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Totheir credit, these two leaders stoodtheir ground courageously and paidthe price rather than buckle underpressure.
Honesty in public life works up to
a point and not beyond if it is notaccompanied with courage. IndiraGandhi is admired for her couragein spite of her excesses such as theEmergency. Her decisive role inthe creation of Bangladesh is themost striking example.
Whistleblowers belong to the classof people who may be honest likethe silent majority but stand apartby showing extraordinary couragein helping expose a fraud in thepublic domain. Many newspaperand TV expose' are a result of suchpeople in the system; although,most leaks originate from corpo-rate rivalry, political and bureau-cratic jealousies.
To be sure, today's generation isbenefiting from the fruits of eco-nomic liberalisation. But what'sneeded is a greater willingness totake risks; to do and dare- not justfor personal prosperity but also forthe larger good.
Such is the reality that parents aregripped with fear at the time ofnursery school admission, duringboard exams and admission to pro-fessional colleges. As an IIT vet-eran said, many fresh IIT gradu-ates see themselves as failures iftheir starting salary offer is as
"low" as Rs 10 lakhs per an-num. "Why are we sur-rounded by insecurity?Where is the passion," heasks, "to do something in life,to do something for the coun-try?"
Whether it is ManmohanSingh or the man on thestreet, we need to fix ourfears one way or the other.We need to be unreasonable,because, as George BernardShaw explained, "all
progress depends on the unreason-able man."
This year marks the beginning ofthe 150th birth centenary celebra-tions of Swami Vivekananda, oneof the greatest sons of India. Cit-ing his own example of near-deathexperiences, one of Vivekananda'smost powerful messages to his fol-lowers was to get rid of their fearsand insecurities. As he put it: "Fearis death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fearis unrighteousness, fear is wronglife. All the negative thoughts andideas that are in the world have pro-ceeded from this evil spirit of fear."
It's time to ponder and revisitVivekananda.
Dr. Manmohan Singh doesn’t seem tohave much to learn from SubramanianSwamy, but he seems to have much tolearn from an older, real Swami.
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or car racingenthusiasts in thestate, it is a dreamcome true. Though
their state of Kerala is a state ofsports and auto enthusiasts, itcould never aspire to be a playerlike Gurgaon or Chennai when itcame to formula car racing. Forgeteven plans for a race track, thestate didn’t even have a team tocompete in formula car racing,which is a younger sibling of theacclaimed Formula 1 format.
But that didn’t prevent Dr. KCAbraham, a Keralite businessman,to boldly go in for his own teamwhen an opportunity presenteditself recently. Dr. Abraham is thefounder of Kunnath Pharma-ceuticals and the patent-holdinginventor of Kunnath’s blockbusterayurvedic performanceformulation, Musli Power X-Tra.
Said Dr. Abraham about hisdecision to create Musli Power X-Tra’s own team in formula carracing, “Beyond our patronage forvarious sports, ranging fromfootball to cricket to athletics, herewas an opportunity that was
Kunnath Pharmaceuticals, makers of Musli Power X-Tra,creates two-car formula car racing team with Fordengines, motorsport veterans M&N Racing, and two ofIndia’s best drivers, Gaurav Gill and Arjun Balu.
synergistic with our owncorporate goal - of enhancingperformance. Formula racing is allabout peak performance, as muchas our formulation, Musli PowerX-Tra is about achieving peakpersonal performance.”
Dr. Abraham was speaking toSeasonal Magazine after thelaunch of the team in Kochirecently. The whole teamconsisting of managers, drivers,and support team was here on 29th
January, together with team’sformula racing car.
Said Jose Pottamkulam, racingenthusiast and promoter of M&NRacing who coordinated the teamfor Musli Power X-Tra, “Thesynergy was apparent when Iinformed our chosen driversGaurav Gill and Arjun Balu aboutMusli Power’s support. They toldme that since Musli Power X-Trawas about power, there was greatsynergy.”
Jose is a long-term racingenthusiast and has some wins tohis credit including one in MarutiSuzuki Cochin Autocross, whichis a tarmac race conducted in
Kerala’s First FormulaRacing Team
Musli Power to Power
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Cochin International Airport.
With his initiative, Dr. KCAbraham has succeeded inovertaking several older home-grown consumer brands in Keralain bringing a formula racing teamto the state.
No effort has been spared by theteam in selecting ace drivers forthe team.
35-year old Arjun Balu is one ofIndia’s best known rally drivers,and has to his credit winning theAZRC Rally Of China, and hasbeen five times national runner-up. One of his recent wins hasbeen the K-1000 Rally of
Bangalore in 2009. Known for hislong experience and steadydriving, Balu hails fromCoimbatore.
Team Musli Power X-Tra’s otherdriver, Gaurav Gill is one ofIndia’s leading rally drivers. The29-year old from Delhi is a pastwinner of India’s National RallyChampionship, National RoadRacing Championship and FIAAPRC Rally in Indonesia, and isknown as an aggressive driver.
Though both drivers are fromoutside the state, both share aspecial relationship with Kerala inthat both of them have won major
motorsports events in Kochi,which is also the headquarters ofKunnath Pharmaceuticals.
Musli Power X-Tra stands to gainmuch from the formula race,apart from the extensive brandvisibility, as it will be workingclosely with world renowned autobrands like Ford, which issupplying the engines for the two-car team.
Musli Power X-Tra Racing Teamwill compete in the MRF FormulaChampionship 2011 which is anofficial support race to the 2011Formula One Grand Prix of India.
The race will be held at Chennaiand is schedule to start on 5th and6th of February followed by raceson 12th and 13th February 2011,with a total race of six numbers.
The team is also participating intwo more races on 29th and 30thOctober 2011 in Delhi, prior tothe Grand Prix.
Musli Power X-Tra has alwaysbeen associated with high valuesports promotions. Since itsbeginning, Kunnath Pharma-ceuticals has donated substantialamounts to the promotion anddevelopment of sports, youth andcultural activities in the nation.
The company is sharply focusedon what will take Indian sportahead, and at helping individualsrealize their sporting ambitions.
Musli Power X-tra was theOfficial Licensee for HealthPower in the 2010 DelhiCommonwealth Games. Apartfrom this, the brand is the mainsponsor of the Indian footballclub, Churchill Brothers of Goa;title sponsor of Sri Lanka basedWayamba Elevens T20 Cricketteam; Kerala State AthleticsAssociation, and Kerala basedfootball team Viva Kerala.
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Mumbai, India — Sabid Ali Sheikhstands on a prairie of trash - oldonions, excrement, animal bones -slowly rotting its way back into anearth riddled with rat burrows.Sometimes the ground gives wayunder his feet. It is after midnight,and Sheikh is after the rats. He lis-tens for them. He tries to catch theirred eyes in the sweep of his flash-light. Some rat killers say they cansmell them in the dark. Sheikh, 23,is a night rat killer, one of 44 em-ployed by the city of Mumbai towage its long, losing war againstvermin. Barely taller than the kill-ing stick he uses to ply his trade,Sheikh is a clean man, dressed inelaborately embroidered jeans anda crisp shirt, who thinks himselflucky to have even this dirty work.When he goes home, he will scrubhis body down with soap. Sheikh'sfather is also a rat catcher. Hisbrothers sell vegetables from a cartand wish they could be rat catch-ers too. If he ever has children, hehopes they sit in an office from 9a.m. until 6 p.m. But given whatmodern India has to offer theSheikh family, the children maywell end up standing preciselywhere Sheikh stands now: ankle-deep in the soft earth of a stinkingdump, wearing old flip-flops. Evenas India's booming economy over-flows with opportunities for theeducated and well-connected,
minting new millionaires by thedozen, some 800 million peopletoil on the dark side of the Indiandream. India's boom has liftedmany people out of poverty, but ithas also worsened inequality. Putaside for a moment those storiesabout a great nation of engineer-ing geniuses, billionaires andyouthful promise, whose economymight one day outpace China's.The Sheikh family does not live inthat India. Instead, they curl them-selves, all 15 of them, into a 13-square-meter (140-square-foot)space with peeling paint, tatteredplastic bags to hold their clothesand a fan that leaves everyonesweating. In this India, a job withthe city, even if it involves killingrats, is a thing to fight for. It meanssecurity, more precious thanwealth. The competition for ratcatcher jobs in Mumbai is stiff.Only men ages 18 to 30 need ap-ply. They must be able to lift a 50-kilogram (110 pound) sack and runa few kilometers (miles). Theymust demonstrate their ability tocatch and kill a rat in the darkwithin 10 minutes. Each rat catchermust kill 30 rats a night, six nightsa week. If he doesn't make thequota, he doesn't get paid. ArunBamne of the city's insecticide de-partment, which oversees the rat-catching, says people badly needjobs. The last time the city re-
cruited, he said, over 4,000 people- some with university degrees -applied for 33 rat catcher positions.Joining the war on rats does notlead, with time and diligence, to adesk job in a fan-cooled adminis-trative office. After half a dozenyears, a man might be moved tothe day shift, laying traps and set-ting poison bait. But there is littleelse to look forward to. As a dailywage laborer, still hoping for apermanent job with the city, Sheikhsays he makes 12,000 rupees($271) a month, if he makes hisquota. That's slightly less than acity bus driver, at 13,000 rupees($293) a month, or an entry-levelcall center worker, 15,000 rupees($338). His father, Jahed GabulSheikh, 56, has been a rat catcherfor 30 years. He makes 17,000 ru-pees ($383) a month. "I am tryingmy best to get the city to hire myother sons," he said. "All my kidsknow how to catch rats very well.But the city doesn't employ them."Sabid, his son, said his friends envyhim and his steady paycheck. "Agovernment job is a very securejob," he said. "Everyone wants tobe famous and known. But this ismy destiny. Everything you wishwill not come true." India seemsto exist in multiple historical ep-ochs simultaneously - nowheremore starkly than here, amid thecrumbling stone walls and old goat
The Dark Side of India's
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bones of the Sathe Nagar housingcolony in a northern suburb ofIndia's financial capital, Mumbai,formerly called Bombay. One sideof the neighborhood is edged by ahigh, shining fence beyond whichlies 21st century India: the BhabhaAtomic Research Center, thecountry's premier nuclear researchfacility. On this side of the fence,people live in a vaguely medievalplace where need outweighs hopeand there is still talk of the plague.To the south is a 50-acre slaugh-terhouse, one of the largest in Asia.To the north is a city dump. In otherwords, rat heaven. The alleywaysbetween buildings are frothy withtrash. Look closer. In the faint lightof the windows, the ground is alivewith rats. A twitching nose peeksfrom a crevice in the wall. A rattail vanishes down a hole. SabidSheikh waits. The trick is to catchthe rat's eye and shine a flashlightin its face. The rodent freezes likea deer in headlights. Thwack! Ifperfectly aimed, a single blow cankill a rat. But most do not surren-der meekly. Thwack! Thwack!Thwack! And so it goes until therat lies windmilling its legs and ex-pires in a final, furious shudder. Ifthe rat catcher's aim or couragefails, the rat may scurry into a holeor drain pipe, forcing the man toreach in, barehanded, and extractit by the tail. If the rodent ventures
too far in, the catcher may daub theend of his killing stick with rat'sblood to lure it out. Sheikh's favor-ite technique is to grab the rat bythe tail and twirl it above his headlike a whirligig before bashing itshead against a wall. If it still doesn'tdie, he will grind its head into theground with his heel. By 1:30 a.m.,Sheikh and two other rat catchershave packed 94 dead and dying ratsinto two bloodied sacks to becarted away in a rickshaw, countedby the city, and samplings taken tobe tested for bubonic plague. Theysmell so bad that the rickshawdriver pulls over and vomits.Sheikh's youngest brother, Wasim,tagged along and killed a few ratstoo. He is about 14, and somemonths back his father made a cellphone video of him in action.There is young Wasim, dragging arat as big as his forearm from a trapand smacking it to death. His momgiggles as she watches the video.Such is the parents' pride, theycould be watching their son play-ing the heroic lead in a school play."Now he's putting his hand in theburrow," the father said, beaming."I'm never worried about disease.I have faith in God." He sees him-self as a public servant, ridding thecity of vermin for the greater goodof its citizens. Besides, he had nochoice. At age 8, he set forth on a36-hour train ride, alone, from his
village to meet his father inMumbai. Before boarding he wentto a mosque. "I prayed to God fora job in Bombay," he said. "Iprayed for money. I prayed for asettled life." For 10 years hehawked peanuts and puffed rice tocrowds at a commuter train stationwhile his father did odd jobs, bak-ing the flat bread called roti or col-lecting scrap metal. They slept onfootpaths. One day a woman cameup to Jahed Sheikh and asked ifhe wanted to work for the city."She changed my life by giving methat job I desperately needed," hesaid. "Now it's my kids' turn."Sometimes, drunks would teasehim for having nothing in life.Once, he got beaten up. But heknows he has more than nothing:He has nine children and a daugh-ter-in-law who makes excellentbiryani. He has a stick-thin wifewho sits quietly by his side. Andhe has a job, which is not a giftMumbai gives easily to men likeSheikh. All around him, as India'srichest city gets richer, Sheikh andhis sons remain trapped in a pain-fully slow cycle of aspiration. Heonly hopes his children get aslucky a break as he did. "I'm happywith what I have. I came toBombay. I had nothing. I got thisjob," he said. "Now I pray to Godthat all my sons get employed."
Economic Boom
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By Erika Kinetz, Associated Press
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