Business News - September 2009

IDFC Private Equity, India‟s largest infrastructure-focused PE fund, has decided to buy out energy giant BP Plc‟s wind power assets in India, signalling the latter‟s exit from the country‟s renewable energy

market and underscoring its renewed focus on the US market. BP owns 100 MW of wind energy generating capacity in India, consisting of a 40 MW plant in Maharashtra and a 60 mw one in Karnataka.

Former Novartis senior vice-president Yugal Sikri will be the new India CEO of Ranbaxy Laboratories, the country‟s largest drug maker by sales which was taken over by Japanese company Daiichi

Sankyo in 2008.

L.N. Mittal-controlled Arcelor-Mittal, the world‟s largest steel company, will make entry into India by becoming a co-promoter of Uttam Galva Steel, a Mumbai-based steel firm promoted by the Miglani

family.

James Gorman will succeed John Mack as CEO of Morgan Stanley in January 2010. John Mack will, however, continue to remain as the Chairman.

World's second largest PC maker Dell Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire computer services firm Perot Systems for approximately $3.9 billion, making it one of the biggest deals in the IT space

since global financial turmoil hit the sector.

Max New York Life has appointed Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador for Max Vijay that offers low-income investors stable investment returns along with insurance and savings.

Infosys' Global Education Centre in Mysore is the largest corporate education centre in the world. Located in the 337 acre Infosys Mysore campus, the total capacity of the Centre has been enhanced to

educate 14,000 employees. Infosys' total investment in the Mysore campus is Rs 2,055 crore, of which Rs 350 crore has been invested in construction of software development blocks and related services and

Rs 1,705 crore on education and training-related infrastructure.

Adobe Systems Inc has decided to acquire Omniture, an online business optimisation software provider, for about $1.8 billion (at around Rs 8,600 crore).

Tata Docomo is the mobile service from Tata Teleservices on GSM platform.

Computer maker Dell Inc. has struck a deal to acquire technology services provider Perot Systems Corp, giving it a way to diversify beyond business of selling hardware, which is now a commodity

business with very thin margins.

General Motors has decided to partner with Reva Electric Car Company to develop an electric car for India, based on the Spark model.

Tata Teleservices has joined BSNL for sharing infrastructure across India, in a first such partnership between the government-owned BSNL and a private firm. The arrangement will help Tata Tele expand

its GSM network expeditiously.

US auto major Ford has launched Ford Figo, its first small car, in India.

Montblanc has launched a set of premium pens costing Rs 11.30 lakh under its limited edition series commemorating 241 miles travelled by Mahatma Gandhi during the Salt March. Each pen in the series is

made of white gold and the entire series is called the 'Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-241'. The distance of 241 miles, which Mahatma Gandhi and his followers travelled by foot during the famous Salt

March, has inspired the name and limited edition quantity. Only 241 pens have been produced in the Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition-241 series.

Telecom giant Bharti Airtel has called off the discussions with MTN of South Africa for the $23-billion merger deal as the South African government rejected the proposed structure.

Business News - August 2009

Global probiotic leader, Yakult Danone India (P) Ltd has signed hindi film actress Kajol as its brand ambassador for promoting its probiotic health drink Yakult in the Indian market.

India Hospitality Corp, a London-listed firm with interest in the consumer and hospitality space in India, has taken operating control of its Indian subsidiary Mars Restaurants, the hotel and restaurant

company that manages Not Just Jazz By The Bay and Pizzeria chains, from high-profile restaurateur and current president Sanjay Narang. India Hospitality has also taken operating control of airline catering

business Sky Gourmet Pvt Ltd and Mars Catering Services from Mr Narang.

Bharti Airtel has bagged top honours in the Voice and Data 100 survey, with its CEO Manoj Kohli being named the Telecom Person of the Year 2009. Airtel was named the Top Telecom Services Provider

of the Year 2009.

After years of negotiation, Petronet LNG, a privately registered company promoted by State-run oil firms for importing gas in ships, has signed a multi-billion dollar agreement with ExxonMobil to source 1.5

million tonnes per year of gas for 20 years from a field the US major's Australian subsidiary is developing in partnership wi th Chevron.

Online recruitment company Monster.com has partnered with ITC e-Choupal to launch Rozgarduniya.com, a website that will allow job seekers in rural India to access and apply for jobs. ITC e-Choupal is a

rural digital infrastructure set up by hospitality major ITC.

IT bellwether Infosys Technologies has been adjudged as most admired Indian company, ahead of Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Airtel, according to the survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal

Asia. Engineering major Larsen & Toubro has cornered the fourth place and IT firm Wipro is at the fifth position. Others on the list are Tata Steel (sixth), FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (seventh), HDFC

Bank (eighth), State Bank of India (9th) and ITC (10th).

Tata Coffee’s $220-million buyout of Eight O‟Clock Coffee, a US brand of Colombian origin, three years back, is rocking consumer senses in a recession. Eight O‟Clock‟s instant coffee sales soared 30% in

the first half of 2009 after a reputed and independent product endorsement council, Consumer Reports USA, recommended the brand over other celebrated peers such as Starbucks and Maxwell House to the

consumers in the American mainland.

Blackberry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) tops Fortune magazine‟s list of the world‟s 100 fastest-growing companies. It is the first time that Fortune has opened its list of the top 100 fastest growing

companies to businesses from around the world. Apple, which is BlackBerry makers‟ main rival in the global smart phone market, is way down the list at 39th spot. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, which

is the world‟s biggest fertiliser company, is another Canadian firm among the top 10 in the Fortune list. Among the top 10 are also two companies from China, Sohu.com and Shanda Interactive

Entertainment. Others in the top 10 are: California-based Sigma Designs, Ebix of Atlanta, Texas-based DG Fastchannel, CF Industries of Illinois, Arena Resources of Oklahoma and Massachusetts-based

Bruker Corp.

The publisher of the world‟s largest-circulated magazine, Readers Digest, has filed for bankruptcy in the US.

Fortis Healthcare Ltd today has bought 10 hospitals from the troubled Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd for Rs 909 crore. The hospitals, located in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, have a capacity of 1,902 beds.

The Khorakiwalas, promoters of Wockhardt, will use the proceeds to reduce their debt. With the acquisition, Fortis will have a capacity of 5,180 beds. Fortis already operates 28 hospitals across the country

and had bought Escorts in 2005 for over Rs 585 crore.

Tech Mahindra has bagged around $500 million outsourcing contract from new telecom entrant Swan Telecom.

British Petroleum has signed with India‟s leading technology companies a $1.5 billion outsourcing deal. Though shared between Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and IBM, analysts expect the five-

year deal to pep up the morale of the industry that has been reeling under the global recession. BP, one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas companies with operations in over 100 geographies, has been

busy consolidating its IT vendors in the last one year.

The Times of India Group has won the first Spikes Asia ‟09 ad festival‟s „„Advertiser of the Year‟‟ award for it‟s „„Lead India‟‟ campaign. The Lead India initiative, which evaluated applicants on their

ability to lead the country while still being able to work within the constraints of the current political system, was launched on August 14, 2007.

After losing Satyam to the Mahindras, the Rajus have lost Maytas Infra to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS). The change o f guard was announced by Company Affairs Minister

Salman Khurshid after a Company Law Board (CLB) order to that effect.

Business News - July 2009

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Big Entertainment inks $825 million deal with Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg to fund Dreamworks Studios to make six films a year.

At a time when the economic crisis is forcing companies to reduce costs and cut jobs, retail giant Wal-Mart has emerged as the biggest employer in the world with a whopping 2.1 million people working for

it in 2008, according to Fortune magazine. After Wal-Mart, China National Petroleum is the second biggest employer with 1.61 million employees in 2008, followed by the State Grid with 1.53 million

employees in the third place, the US Postal Service with 765,088 employees in the fourth place, Sinopec with 639,690 employees in the fifth place. Other companies ranking amongst the top 10 employers in

the list are China Telecommunications in the sixth place, France's Carrefour in the seventh place, Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry in the eighth place, Russian Gazprom in the ninth and German

Deutsche Post at the 10th place.

India origin Indra Nooyi is among the 13 women who are at the helm of companies featured in Fortune 500 list compiled by the US magazine. The number of women CEOs in the list for 2009 has increased

by one from last year's list with a new entrant Lynn Elsenhans of US-based firm Sunoco. The other women CEOs in the list include Angela F Braly of WellPoint, Ellen Kullman of DuPont, Irene Rosenfeld of

Kraft Foods, Carol Meyrowitz of TJX, and Gail P Kelly of Westpack Banking. Patricia Woertz's agricultural processing company Archer Daniels Midland is top among the firms managed by women.

India’s largest private equity player, ICICI Venture has hired Prashant Purker as its President.

INTEL, the world‟s biggest chip-maker has awarded a pilot outsourcing contract to Infosys Technologies.

Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have inked a 10-year Web search deal to better compete against market leader Google Inc. The deal will boost Yahoo's annual operating income by about $500 million and

yield capital expenditure savings of $200 million. Microsoft's Bing search engine will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search technology for Yahoo's sites, while Yahoo will be responsible for

selling premium search ads for both companies.

Nissan has rolled out a new electric car, Leaf, capable of running 160 km on single battery charge. It will go into mass-production in 2012 as a global model.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the foreign arm of ONGC, has received approval of Indian government to pick up 25% stake in the Satpayev oil block on Kazakhstan, along with its partner LN Mittal group. The

block has an estimated oil reserve of 1.85 billion barrels.

Public sector telephone operator BSNL has started a marketing drive called Operation Vijay to increase its market reach and capture a larger share of cellular (GSM) market.

Shiv Nadar of HCL has completed his succession planning by elevating his daughter Roshni Nadar as the Executive Director and CEO of HCL Corporation, the holding company of HCL Tech and HCL Info.

Sony India has appointed Keki B. Dadiseth, former Director of HUL, as its Chairman.

The $2.8 billion GE India, the Indian arm of US conglomerate General Electric Company, will be investing $6 billion in medical systems, services and IT services for rural India. GE also proposes to make

India as the sourcing hub for its aerospace parts and healthcare products business.

The Tata group, in collaboration with US-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, is setting up a Rs 1000 crore plant in Hyderabad to manufacture helicopters. This is the first helicopter manufacturing unit of

India.

The vaccine division of French pharma major Sanofi-Aventis, Sanofi Pasteur, has acquired 80% stake in Shantha Biotechnics for about Rs 3,000 crore.

The world's most trade-friendly economy is Singapore, according to the World Economic Forum. The WEF's Global Enabling Trade Report 2009 measures and analyses factors enabling trade in 121

industrialised and emerging economies around the world. The report covers four areas: market access, border administration, transport and communications infrastructure, and business environment. India

occupies the 76th position, reflecting a mixed performance on the four pillars. Although the country has a fairly good border administration and business environment, domestic and foreign market access

continues to be significantly restricted. The United States comes in at 16th position overall. China ranks 49th among the countries covered. Switzerland is placed 3rd overall.

UAE’s Etisalat’s Indian joint venture Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd, formerly Swan Telecom, has signed a Rs 10,000 crore, 10-year tower sharing deal with Reliance Communications (RCom).

Business News - June 2009

US car-maker General Motors has filed for bankruptcy protection, marking one of the biggest collapses in the corporate history.

Bharti Wal-Mart, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and US-based Wal-Mart stores, has opened its first cash-and-carry store in Amritsar.

Ravindra Pisharody has been appointed President of Tata Motors (commercial vehicles), following Prakash Telang‟s promotion as Managing Director of the company. The commercial vehicles division is

the largest revenue earner for Tata Motors, contributing almost 60%.

T. Krishnakumar is the new CEO of Coca-Cola Company‟s bottling arm in India, replacing Bill Shultz who is moving to Philippines to head the company‟s bottling operations there.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has toed up with Bharti Wal-Mart to launch Kotak Best Price Business Card, a co-branded business card for members of Bharti Wal-Mart‟s Best Price Modern Wholesale stores.

Multi-brand mobile service company Pacetal Communication has launched multi-brand mobile repair chain Mobizone to tap the mobile repair market, pegged at 15 million handsets a year.

Market regulator SEBI has abolished the entry load—the fee that is deducted from the amount of money one invests in Mutual Funds—for all Mutual Fund schemes. The fund houses were earlier being

allowed to charge up to 2.5% of the initial investment as entry load.

Samsung India has introduced the world‟s first solar-powered mobile phone „Solar Guru‟ which enables users to charge the battery anywhere the sun is shining, if they are in far-flung areas where there is

erratic or even no power supply. The phone has been launched under the company‟s low-cost „Guru‟ series, at a price of Rs 2,799.

General Motors Corp has signed a deal to sell its Saab unit to a consortium led by Swedish luxury sports car-maker Koenigsegg Automotive AB.

NOKIA’S tagline of “connecting people” certainly seems to have struck a chord with the Indian consumer. For the second year running, the handset maker has topped the prestigious “Brand Equity Most

Trusted Brands (MTB) Survey”. In second and third place are the two venerable consumer brands, Colgate, a four-time winner, and Lux, respectively. This is the sixth year of the MTB survey, and this time

there were two new entrants in the top 10. Coming in at number six is one of the oldest brands in India, Horlicks. The brand, which has perennially been in the top 20, has finally managed to leapfrog into the

coveted top 10. However, it is Reliance Mobile, coming in at number ten, that is the star of 2009 edition, considering that it failed to make it to the top 20 in 2008.

Software services provider Satyam Computer Services Ltd has now a new brand identity: „Mahindra Satyam‟, symbolising the amalgamation of the Mahindra Group‟s values with Satyam's expertise.

Toronto-headquartered Nortel, which is under bankruptcy protection in both the US and Canada, has announced its decision to liquidate itself. The 127-year-old Canadian telecom equipment giant has

entered into a deal with Nokia Siemens to sell its wireless business for $650 million.

SEBI has initiated the concept of an anchor investor for companies coming out with initial public offerings. The anchor investor will have to be a qualified institutional buyer who can subscribe up to 30 per

cent of the shares reserved for institutional investors. No person related to promoters, promoters group or book running lead managers can be anchor investor. Issuers of IPOs will have to carry bidding process

for anchor investors one day prior to opening of issue price. Anchor investors will have to pay 25 per cent of the value of shares applied for on application and the rest within two days of allotments. The shares

allotted to anchor investors will carry a 30-day lock-in period. In another boost to retail investors, SEBI has barred companies from issuing shares with superior voting rights.

Fiat has launched its premium small car Grand Punto in India. The car will be positioned along with Maruti Suzuki‟s Ritz, Hyundai‟s i20, Skoda‟s Fabia and Honda‟s Jazz.

Honda has forayed into the highly-competitive compact car segment with the launch of its premium hatchback Jazz.

India’s S. Kumars and its American partner Emerisque have made a successful $128 million bid for Hartmarx Corporation, the maker of President Barack Obama‟s suits.

Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals will soon come out with yet another drug that can bring down the cost of TB treatment by 33 per cent. The new drug i s called Resorine and has been developed as

a bio-enhancer that reduces the dosage of the existing drug administered to TB patients.

Two India-origin persons—Indra Nooyi and Shantanu Narayen—have been named among the top 25 Chief Executive Officers in the US, who kept their companies on success path despite challenging

economic conditions, according to Forbes magazine. Adobe System's CEO Shantanu Narayen and beverage major Pepsico's Indra Nooyi have been ranked at the 16th and 17th places, respectively, in the list

of 25 'top gun CEOs' for 2009.

Taiwanese handset maker HTC has launched its latest model “Magic”, a handset based on Google's operating system software 'Android' for mobiles and other wireless devices, in India. The phone is being

offered in exclusive partnership with telecom operator Bharti Airtel.

Tech Mahindra has appointed C.P. Gurnani as CEO of Mahindra Satyam and S. Durgashankar as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Business News - May 2009

GAIL (India) Ltd, plans to expand its presence in Russia, Egypt and China. In Russia, the company plans to set up a menthol project along with ITERA Oil and Gas Company.

GAIL also plans to raise its stake in Shell‟s Fayum Gas Co S.A.E. (FGC) in Egypt to benefit from the opportunities in the local gas distribution market.

Cricketer Harbhajan Singh has signed an agreement with License India, a licensing solution provider, to market his brand image. License India will identify the right opportunities for licensed merchandise

to leverage the brand equity of the off-spinner, besides setting up a chain of restaurants under the name of „Bhajji Da Dhabha‟. Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Ajay Jadeja, S. Sreesanth

and Robin Uthappa are other cricketers who own restaurants.

Venturepay, a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, emerged as the highest bidder for the assets of Satyam Computer Services, ending one of corporate India‟s most sordid tales corporate mismanagement. With this

acquisition Tech Mahindra leaps into the big league of Indian IT sweep stakes. Its revenues will jump over three times to cross Rs 14,000 crore, taking it from Number 6 slot to Number 4 slot, after TCS,

Wipro and Infosys.

The government-owned hydel power company NHPC has decided to foray into thermal power business through its subsidiary Narmada Hydro-electric Development Corp (NHDC).

NHDC which is so far confined to Madhya Pradesh (MP) will soon have a national presence.

Infosys Technologies founder and chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy has floated a venture capital (VC) fund. To invest in new ideas that create a lot of value for the society.

Arun Tadanki, the young President of Monster.com has been appointed as the head of Yahoo! India.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil has displaced retailer Wal-Mart to the top slot on the list of 500 largest American companies, compiled by business magazine Fortune. In the ranking of 500 companies based on their

annual revenues, energy majors Chevron ($263.16 billion) and Conoco Phillips ($ 230.76 billion) are at the third and fourth positions, respectively, while diversified conglomerate General Electric ($ 183.21

billion) is at the fifth spot.

Mumbai’s landmark Sea Rock Hotel in Bandra has been taken over by the Taj group.

Donning the role of a commander ill-equipped to save the Titanic of banking world, Citigroup‟s India-born chief Vikram Pandit has found a place among the 20 worst-ever CEO‟s in the American history.

The list has been topped by Dick Fuld, under whose stewardship Lehman Brothers became the world‟s biggest ever bankruptcy candidate and marked the epitome of the current global economic crisis.

Oracle Corporation has agreed to buy Sun Microsystems Inc and its Java programming language for $ 5.6 billion (Rs 28,000 crore) giving Oracle the most important software it has ever acquired.

The board of Axis Bank Ltd, India‟s third largest lender, has recommended the appointment of Shikha Sharma, head of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd, as its Managing Director and Chief Executive

Officer.

Renuka Ramnath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICICI Venture Funds Management Co Ltd, has resigned. Vishakha Mulye, Executive Director of ICICI Lombard General

Insurance Co Ltd, has been appointed to the post.

Wipro has bagged an IT contract worth over Rs 2,500 crore from Unitech Wireless, which recently acquired licences to provide telecom services, spanning over 10 years.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel has signed a five-year managed services deal valued at $500 million with Alcatel Lucent for its fixed line and broadband operations.

Maruti Suzuki India has launched India‟s first Bharat stage IV emission norms compliant car, Ritz, in both petrol and diesel variants.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) attracted investments worth Rs 37,000 crore in 2008-09. These zones have attracted cumulative investments of Rs 104,867 crore since February 2006, when SEZ rules were

notified. Investments in SEZs in the 2008-09 fiscal was, however, lower than the Rs 50,000 crore investment in 2007-08. The government has approved 568 SEZs as of March 30, 2008. While 311 of them

have been notified to start operations, about 90 are already functional.

Tata Housing, a subsidiary of Tata Sons and the group‟s real estate arm, has launched low cost housing project under brand name “Shubh Griha”. The first project is coming up on a 67 acre patch at Boisar,

an industrial area 120 km away from South Mumbai.

Bharati Shipyard, a company promoted by two ex-IITians P.C. Kapoor and Vijay Kumar, has acquired a sizeable stake in Great Offshore, a firm till now controlled by a faction of Mumbai‟s Sheth family.

The deal is fallout of Mr Sheth‟s inability to raise money to free the shares he had pledged to raise funds.

Max New York Life Insurance has announced the launch of a ULIP product: Max New York Life Smart Xpress, offering secure returns.

Zoozoo, clutter-breaking yet utterly simplistic characters created for Vodafone commercials, are products of Nirvana Films, a Bangalore-based company that has created a niche out of ad film production.

Petronet LNG Ltd, India's largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) importer, has tied up 1.5 million tonnes of fuel imports from the Gorgon project in Australia.

Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel has now become the country‟s biggest music company in terms of revenue, overtaking the industry leader Saregama, on the back of its music-related value-added mobile

services.

Honda's Insight hybrid car is billed as the cheapest gas-electric hybrid on the market. It ranked as the top-selling vehicle in Japan for April 209—the first time a hybrid has clinched that spot.

Tata Consultancy Services has been awarded a five-year outsourcing contract by the Volkswagen group, UK, for IT transformation and support system across the company's commercial vehicles and

passenger car brands. The auto major, an arm of Volkswagen AG, markets brands like Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen.

The European Commission has slapped a record fine of 1.06 billion Euros on the world‟s largest computer chip-maker, Intel, for breaching the region‟s anti-trust laws. Intel has been fined for using illegal

anti-competitive practices to keep away its “only competitor”—Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

India has emerged the third largest steel producer in the world in the first quarter of 2009. As per the World Steel Association‟s estimates fo r January-March 2009, India reported a 1.02% increase in output at

13.17 million tonnes for the three months ended March 2009. China and Japan held the first and second slots, respectively.

FMCG player Henkel India Ltd has roped in Hindi film actress Bipasha Basu as brand ambassador for its deodorant brand “Fa Men Xtreme”.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has become the world‟s largest bourse in terms of stock futures contract, with over six crore contracts getting exchanged by May 2009 -end.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, advanced reactors and nuclear services provider, will develop nuclear plants in India in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro. Under the agreement, GEH and L&T will plan for the

construction and engineering management resources that will be needed to build the proposed Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) for a nuclear power station.

Bharti Airtel has partnered with UK-based in-flight solutions company AeroMobile to offer on-flight cell-phone connectivity to its customers. Bharti will be the first Indian telecom company to offer this

facility to its customers. For the time being this service will not be available over Indian air space.

The commodities market regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), has given the go-ahead for Future trading of wheat. Forward trading in wheat had earlier been banned in February 2007, as part of

measures to arrest upward spiral in domestic wheat prices.

Telecom player Bharti Airtel and IT firms Infosys, TCS and Wipro have made it to the list of 100 best performing technology companies in the world, compiled by American magazine “Business Week”.

The „Infotech 100‟ list for 2009, based on shareholder return on equity, total revenues and revenue growth is topped by Amazon.com for the second straight year. Ranked at the sixth position, telecom giant

Bharti Airtel leads the pack of Indian companies featured in the list. The three IT majors—Infosys, TCS and Wipro—find a place in the top 50. Infosys is ranked 25, TCS is at the 30th spot and Wipro is

placed at the 43rd position.

Bharti Airtel has launched Net PC initiative that provides internet connectivity to users without the need to invest in a personal computer. Airtel has partnered with Indian hardware manufacturer Nivio and

global software giant Microsoft for the service.

Indus Towers, a joint venture between Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, has become the first company in the world to have over one lakh mobile towers under its management.

Ranbaxy Laboratories chairman, CEO and MD Malvinder Singh has resigned. The Ranbaxy board has appointed Tsutomu Une as the Chairman and Atul Sobti as the CEO and MD.

Internet Search giant Google has emerged as the world‟s top employer for MBA graduates for the third year in a row, according to the Fortune magazine . Google is followed by consulting firm McKinsey &

Co. and Bain & Co.

N. Chandrasekaran has been appointed as the CEO of Tata Consultancy Ltd.

“India’s Best Companies to work for, 2009” has emerged as the largest workplace study ever done in India. It has been compiled by Economic Times, in association with Great Place to Work Institute, India.

India has become the world‟s second largest CDMA market with over 100 million subscribers. It has overtaken China and is now only second to USA, which has 157 million CDMA users. With this,

Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices have found place among the top five CDMA operators global ly and are ranked second and fourth, respectively.

BUSINESS NEWS - JANUARY 2009 TO APRIL 2009 Panasonic Corp has decided to acquire smaller rival Sanyo Electric Co., establishing itself as Japan‟s top electronics maker. The deal will make Panasonic the world‟s second largest conglomerate, after GE.

Super Religare Labs has acquired Dubai-based Mena Healthcare for $ 20 million. This is the group‟s second acquisition after the promoter‟s sold their stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories.

The first aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India would come up at Hosur near Bangalore, with its promoter Air Works receiving the approval of the Directorate General of

Civil Aviation (DGCA).

India’s engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Malaysian firm Scomi Engineering have jointly bagged India‟s first monorail project to come up in Mumbai. The 19.54 km project is expected to

ease congestion in the highly crowded Jacob circle, Wadala and Chembur areas.

India’s largest mobile operator Airtel has announced a partnership with local search engine Asklaila.com. With this free service, about 21-million Airtel subscribers in six cities will be able to search via

mobile, DTH or internet (or airtellive.com) across 400 different categories.

South Korea’s biggest container shipping firm and West Asia‟s top container carrier have teamed up to launch a fixed-day, weekly direct service from India to Europe. The Asia Europe container Service I

(EC 1) has been launched by Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd and the United Arab Shipping Co (UASC) which is owned by six west Asian countries—Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab

Emirates. The service will run from Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai, with a stop at the Pipapav port.

Japanese telecom firm NTT DoCoMo Inc has announced a Rs 949-crore open offer to the shareholders of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd for up to 20 per cent equity at Rs 24.70 per share.

Rupert Murdoch’s Star has acquired majority stake in Rajiv Chandrasekhar-led Jupiter Entertainment. The new JV, Star Jupiter Entertainment, will hold majority interests in Asia net communications, which

operates general entertainment channels in Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu and Tamil.

Buzan World, the UK-based organization known for its Mind Mapping technique, has started operations in India, with its first training centre in the country in Pune.

Jerry Yang, the co-founder of Yahoo! has stepped down as the Chief Executive of the internet giant, ending a 17 month long turbulent tenure which saw him rejecting a takeover bid from Microsoft.

Intercontinental The Grand New Delhi at Barakhamba Avenue will be now known as the Lalit New Delhi. Hospitality giant Bharat Hotels has adopted their first brand identity The Lalit as their franchise

agreement for the New Delhi hotel with the InterContinental came to an end on November 18, 2008.

Maruti Suzuki has launched its new hatchback, A-Star, in the Indian market and said it would in four years come out with its first indigenous car.

Citigroup has appointed Mark Robinson as CEO of Citi South Asia. Based in Mumbai, he will lead Citi‟s banking franchise in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and also join the Asia-Pacific executive

committee. Robinson succeeds Sanjay Nayar, who has left to head India operations of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co (KKR), one of world‟s leading buyout firms.

Dabur India Ltd has acquired 72% stake of Fem Care Pharma for Rs 203 crore in an all-cash deal, beating other companies like Godrej and Marico.

Singapore has become the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India, surpassing the US and UK. Tax-haven Mauritius continues to lead the charts. Until July 2008, the US was the

second largest source followed by UK.

Publishing company HT Media Ltd has formed a new venture to provide mobile marketing services to other brands, ad agencies and network operators, in collaboration with Velti Pic, a London Stock

Exchange-listed applications and services firm. HT‟s digital subsidiary, Firefly e-Ventures Ltd, will have a 65% stake in the venture, which will be based in Gurgaon.

Jagdish Khattar, former MD of Maruti Suzuki India, is now attempting to tap the Rs 400-acre car customization industry in association with ace car designer and promoter of DC Design, Dilip Chhabria.

Together, they plan to roll-out India‟s first organized car customization studios.

Hyderabad-based Sutchi NEB Construction Company of India has won a major contract to construct a $ 250 million (1,252.5 crore) 70-storeyed building in Colombo, the tallest in Sri Lanka.

Essar Exploration & Production, an Essar group firm, has become the first Indian oil company to enter Australia by winning two offshore petroleum exploration. The overseas E & P assets include three

onshore oil and gas blocks in Madagascar-Africa, and one offshore block each in Vietnam and Nigeria.

Japan’s Suzuki has launched its two super premium bikes in India, Hayabusa and Intruder M188R, both priced at Rs 12.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), with hopes to build the company‟s brand image further

in the country.

Hazira Port Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between the Royal Dutch Shell and the French oil major Total, will develop its existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Hazira (Surat) into $500 million

multi-cargo port.

ONGC’s international arm, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), has secured the necessary 90 per cent acceptances from shareholders of UK-listed Imperial Energy for its £1.3 billion ($ 1.9 billion) bid for the

energy major.

Private equity giant Blackstone is picking 20-25% stake in NSL Seeds. Privately-held NSL, which claims to be India‟s largest hybrid seed company, is engaged in R&D, production and marketing of seeds.

Mahindra & Mahindra has exited from Swaraj Mazda by selling its 14.04% to Sumitomo Corporation of Japan.

India’s second largest mobile services firm by subscriber base, Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), has announced the nationwide launch of its Global System for Mobility, or GSM, wireless service.

The move makes it the ninth player in the GSM-based market.

Dena Bank has announced the appointment of D.L. Rawal as its Chairman and Managing Director.

In one of the biggest cross-border deals in the education space, Manipal Education has acquired the entire shareholding of American University of Antigua (AUA) from New York-based greater Caribbean

Learning Resources.

India’s sixth largest mobile phone services firm by subscribers, Tata Teleservices Ltd, and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd will merge their telecom towers business into a company that will be worth

some $ 2.7 billion (about Rs 13,000 crore).

Walt Disney and UTV Motion Pictures have inked a deal, whereby, beginning January 1, 2009, UTV will be handling the sales and distribution of all the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Hollywood

releases in India.

Indian Hotels Company Ltd, owners of hotels like Taj, Mumbai, is set to unveil a new brand identity for its premium business hotels under brand name Vivanta. The first one to sport Vivanta brand will be

the newly created 200 room hotel in Bangalore‟s IT hub Whitefield.

Canada’s Bata Shoe Organisation (BSO) has set up a specialized division, Bata Industrials, in India for providing its global range of professional industrial footwear. Bata Industrials will churn out these

shoes at the company‟s Batanagar factory near Kolkata.

UTV Motion Pictures has decided to exit the home entertainment business and focus only on theatrical distribution. Moser Baer will now have exclusive home video license for 25 films of UTV for next five

years. The estimated size of deal stands at Rs 25 crore.

Zee Learn, a division of the Subhash Chandra owned Etc Networks Ltd, has said it will expand its presence in the kindergarten to 12th grade, or K-12 schools in the country. It plans to have two brands:

Mount Litera schools will open in metros and tier I cities, with an annual tuition fee range of Rs 50,000 to Rs 4 lakh depending on the curriculum they offer;. Litera valley schools in tier II cities such as

Ranchi will have an annual tuition fee of Rs 15,000-50,000 depending on the city and will offer a CBSE, ICSE or IGCSE International General Certificate of Secondary Education curri culum.

The Manipal Education and Medical Group International India Pvt Ltd has tied up with Tutor Vista.com, an online tutoring service in which it has a minority stake, to float a new venture called Manipal K-

12 education Pvt Ltd. The venture will manage new and existing schools and will operate under the brand name Manipal Schools.

Chanda Kochhar has been named the new Chief Executive of ICICI. She succeeds K.V. Kamath, whose 13-year term comes to an end in April 2009. Mr Kamath will take over as non-executive chairman

from the current chairman N Vaghul.

Unilever has pipped UK‟s Cairn Energy to emerge as the second largest multinational company (MNC) in the Indian stock market at the beginning of 2009. Singtel, which owns more than 30% of the

country‟s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel, has retained its position as the most-valued MNC through its investment in the telecom company, as per an ET study. The study kept unlisted companies out

which explains the absence of large MNC‟s in India such as Nokia, IBM, Coke, Pepsi, Microsoft, LG, Hyundai, GE, HP, StanChart and Citibank among others.

Reva Electric Car Company (RECC), manufacturer of India‟s first electric car, and Reliance Digital, the consumer durables and IT arm of Reliance Retail, will partner to sell Reva electric cars at the

Reliance Digital outlets.

Virgin Mobile has announced a partnership with MySpace for making the latter‟s social networking services available on Virgin Mobile WAP enabled phones.

India’s largest private telecom operator Bharti Airtel has launched its mobile services in Sri Lanka. This is Bharti‟s third global venture after Seychelles, Jersey and Guernsey.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has paid $ 2.1 billion for taking over UK-listed Imperial Energy and will invest another $ 500-600 million in the company‟s Russian fields to raise production over the next 2-3

years.

Vodafone-Essar has unveiled Blackberry Storm, the first touch-screen phone it has developed exclusively with Canada-based technology provider Research in Motion (RIM).

German fashion house Hugo Boss has unveiled a sourcing deal with Hyderabad-based Pokarna Group, makers of Stanza brand. The move will boost India‟s stature as a value-added player in the apparel

sourcing markets globally.

Mahindra & Mahindra has launched Xylo, a multi-purpose vehicle, targeting high-end consumers.

The Washington Post has named Elizabeth Spayd and Raju Narisetti as Managing Editors of The Washington Post. Both will report to executive editor Marcus W. Brauchli.

Citigroup has agreed to merge its Smith Barney brokerage with Morgan Stanley‟s wealth management unit.

Carol Bartz has been appointed as Yahoo Inc‟s new Chief Executive.

India has offered Qatar a 10 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd to get the world‟s largest liquefied natural gas exporter to sell 18 more LNG cargoes in 2009 and agree on a long-term supply deal for

meeting fuel needs of beleaguered Dabhol power plant.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the country‟s largest engineering company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US -based nuclear power firm Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) to

manufacture modular nuclear power reactors.

Prosenjit Datta has been named the editor of Businessworld, the business weekly published by media company ABP Pvt Ltd.

Bharti Airtel has launched its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, becoming the first private player to offer the service in India. IPTV refers to delivery of television content via a broadband

connection. Apart from Airtel, State-owned MTNL and BSNL are also offering these services.

Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, Massachusetts-based publisher of management content for academics, students and professionals, has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India. Harvard

Business Publishing India Pvt Ltd (HBPI), based in Mumbai, will publish India editions of Harvard Business Press Books, grow the reach of Harvard Business Review South Asia and focus on partnering with

leading business schools and companies to deliver leadership and management development content and programmes.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has partnered with KPMG Advisory Italy for a multi-million dollar contract from Ducati Motor Holding to deliver technology-based services for several years that would

help improve the Italian bike maker‟s customer responsiveness and business efficiency.

Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota‟s founder, has been named President of the Japanese

French pen and stationery manufacturer BIC has bought a 40% stake in Mumbai-based stationery products maker Cello Pens for Rs 800 crore ($ 160 million). The deal will enable Cello Pens to expand its

existing global distribution network and give BIC a foothold in the Rs 2,000 crore Indian stationery market.

Indiatimes shopping, the country‟s leading online shopping portal, has launched shopping on the Airtel DTH Interactive Services under the brand-name iShop. Indiatimes is the first company to launch

shopping on the Airtel DTH Interactive Services.

M&A deals and private equity investments in India witnessed consistent activity in 2008, despite the global financial turmoil and crashing stock prices. A total of 766 deals (including M&As and PE) were

registered during the year, down from 1081 in the previous year. The total value of deals (M&As and PE) during 2008 was $ 41.54 billion, with the average deal size being $68.17 million for M&A and $33.93

million for private equity.

India’s top five advertisers in 2008 include only one FMCG major, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), while two telecom companies, Nokia and Airtel, also figured in the list, says a new report by a leading media

buying house. Bharti Airtel, which signed on a slew of celebrities for endorsements, including Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Madhavan and Vidya Balan, upped its ranking to second in 2008 against sixth

the previous year.

Ford India has roped in Bollywood hero Suneil Shetty as the brand ambassador for its sports utility vehicle (SUV) Ford Endeavour.

Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), which has a 31% stake in Bharti Airtel, has got government approval to offer long-distance services in India. SingTel can carry STD and ISD traffic, offer

communication and Internet services to corporates and institutions. As per the existing policy, foreign direct holdings in telecom services has a cap of 74%.

Infosys Technologies Ltd has been selected by the Income Tax (I-T) department to set up a business process outsourcing (BPO) unit to carry out its routine work and give tax officials more time to focus on

nabbing tax evaders.

Owners of Rajasthan Royals, the team that won the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament, have sold a 12% stake to London-based entrepreneur Raj Kundra and his partner, Bollywood

actor Shilpa Shetty, in a deal that values the Jaipur franchise at $ 140 million (about Rs 680 crore).

Rajesh Saxena has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of American Express Banking Corporation. (AEBC), India.

Blue Dart Express Limited has launched DHL‟s value-added service „Duties and taxes Paid (DTP). The value added service is aimed at providing multinational and SME exporters the most convenient

trading experience and would allow an exporter from India to manage his shipping requirements in a seamless manner.

Delhi-based chartered aviation company Shaurya Aeronautics has started India‟s first helicopter simulator training at Safdarjung airport in Delhi.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has entered into a joint venture with NTPC Ltd for nuclear power generation. The two companies would shortly float a new joint venture company

that would implement an array of nuclear power projects in the country.

Mahindra Group (M&M) is launching Odyssea, India‟s first branded yacht venture. The company will initially target Mumbai, Goa and Kochi with the boats, which would be sold by direct sales agents to

corporates travel agencies and individuals.

MAN Force Trucks (MFT), the joint venture between Germany‟s MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG and Pune based Force Motors Ltd would make India its manufacturing hub for supplying heavy trucks to the

overseas markets. The company will utilize its plant in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh.

UBS, the largest Swiss bank, has agreed to divulge the names of rich Americans whom the authorities suspect of using its offshore accounts to e vade taxes. The bank admitted having conspired to defraud the

US internal revenue service and agreed to pay $780 million to settle a federal probe into its activities.

Lintas, the acronym for Lever International Advertising Services, started its Indian branch in the 1940s, reporting to its London headquarters. The advertising network, Interpublic Group (IPG) has been a

stakeholder in the Indian agency for more than 30 years and only recently acquired a 100% stake of the company.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given sanction to Sky Ads to use airspace to tow banners for promotional activity with the help of aircraft . The firm is the first in India to offer aerial

advertising.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has launched its third generation (3G) mobile services in limited areas of Delhi. Named as Jadoo, the service has been started at an initial investment of about Rs

400 crore.

Marten Peters has replaced Asim Ghosh as the CEO of Vodafone Essar.

Mother Diary, a foods company wholly owned by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), is introducing a homogenized fresh milk product variant for the retail market called tea special. This

product variant is available in Surashtra, Gujarat, in bulk and is called „Cha Special‟.

Pepsico has rolled out a new brand called Nimbooz, a lemonade drink under its 7-up umbrella. The brand is among the company‟s most ambitious launches since it will address huge untapped demand for

packaged nimbu pani in India.

Soft Drink Company Coca Cola Co has appointed Gautam Gambhir as brand ambassador for Coke.

India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors has announced the launch of Xenon XT, a four-door, five-seat pickup.

Tata Motors has decided to launch luxury sedan Prima in Europe. The European version of Nano car by Tata Motors is touted as the world‟s cheapest car.

French retailer Carrefour SA, the world second largest retail group by sales, has started a corporate social responsibility, or CSR project in India to train thousands of farmers in global farming practices.

The merger between Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) and Reliance Industries Ltd will create a petro-chemical giant estimated to be worth $47 billion at March 2009 price levels. It will displace state-owned

Indian Oil as the India‟s biggest refiner. It will also make RIL world‟s largest refinery in a single location, with annual capacity to process 62 million tonnes of crude in a year. The combined entity will be fifth

biggest producer of propylene, a key ingredient for plastics.

The inventor of iPhone, Apple, for the second year in a row, has topped the Fortune list of the most admired companies in the world. Pepsico, led by India-born Indra Nooyi, found a place in the list top 50.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway and Japanese auto maker Toyota are ranked the second and the third, respectively.

Wockhardt CMD Habil Khorakiwala has handed over the baton to his, Murtaza who will be the new Managing Director.

Procter and Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (P & G) has appointed R.A. Shah as its new Chairman, in place of Bharat Patel who stepped down to pursue other interests.

Bangalore based PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has appointed Ashok Nayak as Chairman.

In an attempt to boost India‟s infrastructure, the State Bank of India and Australian financial powerhouse Macquarie Group have floated a $ 1 billion venture fund dedicated to this sector. The SBI Macquarie

combine has also roped in International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank arm, into the fund as one of the investors.

Groupe Danone SA of France has decided to sell its 25.48% stake to the Mumbai-based Wadia group company Britannia Industries Ltd, bringing the curtains down on what has been a long, and often sordid,

fight for control of one of the oldest biscuit manufacturing companies in the world that was set up in the late 19th century in Kolkata.

Anil Agarwal-promoted Sterlite Industries has signed an agreement to acquire America‟s third largest copper producer Asarco Llc for $ 1.7 billion (Rs 8,756.6 crore), which includes cash payment of $ 1.1

billion (Rs 5,666 crore).

French food services giant Sodexo is acquiring Radhakrishna Hospitality Services Group (RKHS), India‟s pioneer in the food and facilities management sector, in a transaction valued at over $ 100 million

(roughly Rs 520 crore).

Public sector infrastructure funding agency, India Infrastructure Finance Co (IIFCL), will lend Rs 10,000 crore to banks for financing highways, ports and other projects being jointly executed by the

government and private players. Banks will get the funds at an interest rate of 7.85% and can charge up to 10.35% from infrastructure developers. IIFCL can lend up to 20% of the total project cost, but its

exposure would be less than that of the lead bank.

American Tower Corporation (ATC) is set to acquire Xcel Telecom, founded by former BPL Mobile chief executive Sandeep Basu, in a deal worth over Rs 700 crore. The merger will help ATC compete

with other independent tower companies, besides establishing its footprint in the world‟s fastest growing telecom market.

Bharti Airtel, the country‟s largest telco by subscribers, will restructure its businesses into nine verticals under different CEOs, as it looks to expand into areas beyond its mainstay, voice telephony. Some of

the verticals identified are: mobile commerce, entertainment, media, internet, enterprise services and small and medium businesses.

Amas Bank (Switzerland) Ltd has announced that it has changed its name to Hinduja Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. The bank belongs to the family-owned Hinduja group, one of the largest diversified business

groups in the world.

India’s leading IT solutions major HCL Technologies has bagged a $ 350-million deal from Reader‟s Digest to provide a wide range of outsourcing services spread over seven years. The solutions will be

enabled through an integrated help desk in 14 languages: Portuguese, French, Russian, Czech, Spanish, Polish, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Romanian, Slovak and Turkish.

BPL Mobile, one of Mumbai‟s oldest cellular phone operator, has been renamed Loop Mobile.

DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co Ltd is a joint venture between real estate major DLF and Prudential International Insurance Holdings.

Telenor Group has completed the Unitech Wireless transaction and made the first investment of Rs 1,250 crore that gives it a stake of 33.5% in the telecom JV.

The Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has awarded a Rs 1,182-crore contract to software major Wipro for converting its paper-based administrative and operational system into a paperless e-

governance system.

HDFC Bank has become the most valuable bank of the country in the private sector, toppling ICICI Bank from the number one position. Till recently, ICICI Bank was the most valued bank in India, followed

by the State Bank.

The largest gas transportation company in the country, GAIL India, was split into two legal entities from April 1, 2009. The separated entity, GAIL Gas (GGL), will also be listed on the domestic bourses.

Donna Karan New York (DKNY), label of the fashion designer Donna Karan and part of the world‟s leading luxury group LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton), is entering India through a tie-up with

DLF Brands, DLF‟s wholly-owned subsidiary.

Reliance Industries has signed gas sales and transportation contracts with 12 fertilizer firms who have been chosen to receive the first produce from the company‟s eastern offshore KG-D6 fields. Indian

Farmers Fertiliser Co-op (IFFCO), Krishak Bharti Co-op (Kribco), Tata Chemicals and Indo Gulf Fertiliser were among the companies which signed the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement with RIL for

buying the KG-D6 gas at $4.2 per million British thermal unit price. Others who signed the twin contracts included National Fertilizer Ltd, Chambal Fertilizer, Gujarat State Fertilizer, Rashtriya Chemical

Fertilizer, Nagarjuna Fertilizer, GNFC and Sriram Fertilizer.

Talent Trove Inc., a US-based media firm that offers an online platform to people for showcasing their talent, is now making its entry into India. The company, promoted by an Indian, Devinder Singh, will

invest $ 30 million in India by 2011. The firm will launch a reality talent hunt television channel in India, venture into live talent shows, content production, film making and film distribution.

Miscellaneous GK

Oscar-winning musician A.R. Rahman has won the „Grassroot Grammy‟ for the soundtrack in the Tamil film “Godfather” in the Best Indian Album category at the „Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards‟.

Bangla band „Krosswindz‟ and Ilayaraja were among others nominated in the category. With over 50,000 members worldwide , the Just Plain Folks 2009 Music Awards is aimed at supporting grass-root

songwriters and musicians through networking, education and promotional support. The awards received responses from over 163 countries.

Marathi film „Harishchandrachi Factory‟ by theatre-veteran Paresh Mokashi has been selected as India‟s official entry to 2009 Oscars.

Sakshar Bharat Mission, launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 8, 2009, on the occasion was International Literacy Day, sets itself the goal of educating 70 million learners, 60 million of

them women, by 2012 through an investment of $1billion; it replaces the old adult literacy mission that began in 1988. The final goal is to take national literacy levels from 64 per cent currently to 80 per cent

by 2017, and reduce the gender gap from 21 per cent at present to 10 per cent, eventually.

“Tirupati laddoo” offered to devotees at the Lord Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh has been awarded geographical copyright that bars others from naming or marketing the sweetmeat preparation

under the same name.

Hardeep Puri is India‟s Permanent Envoy to United Nations.

88 years ago, during a meeting of the Indian National Congress (INC) at Vijayawada in 1921, an Andhra Pradesh youth approached Mahatma Gandhi and showed him design of a flag. Thus was born the

Tricolour. But, it was over 88 years later that the designer of the National Flag, Pingali Venkaiah, finally got his due: A commemorative postal stamp has been released in the memory of the freedom fighter.

India Post (Philately) division has honoured Venkaiah by releasing the stamp, priced at Rs 5, on the occasion of his 132nd birth anniversary.

For the fourth straight year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine, while the US First Lady Michelle Obama made her debut in the

top 100 list. The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chairperson Sheila Bair is ranked at the second place and India-origin chief executive of Pepsico Indra Nooyi at the third. Led by Indian National

Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the 13th spot, the list has three Indians. While ICICI Bank CEO and managing director Chanda Kochhar has made her debut in the list at 20th position, Biocon's chairman

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is at the 91st place.

Sera the Tiger is the mascot of 2010 Commonwealth Games to be hosted by India in New Delhi.

Haryana has become the first State in India to have ten eco-sensitive zones. Union ministry of environment and forests has notified around two national parks and eight wildlife sanctuaries of Haryana.

Indian film industry is the world‟s largest in terms of number of films produced as well as the number of cinema-goers. It produces almost as many films as the next three—the US, Japan and China—

combined. The Indian film industry, with its major centres at Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, produced 1,132 feature films in 2007. In comparison, the American film industry in 2008 produced 520 feature

films, Japan 418 and China 400. As for theatre admissions, India‟s count of 3.3 billion for 2008 was higher than the combined total of the next nine biggest film producing countries. The US was the only other

country to have more than a billion admissions. These facts have been put together by European Audiovisual Observatory, a public service body gathering and distributing information on the audiovisual

industry, in its publication, „Focus 2009-World Film Market Trends‟.

Indian Railways has introduced a new train, Andolan (agitation) Express that will run from Singhur to Howrah. According to Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee the name “signifies the victory of the poor

farmers of Singur against the forcible acquisition of their farmland”.

The Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai, seen as an engineering marvel, weighs equivalent to that of 50,000 African elephants! The steel wire used is equivalent to the circumference of the earth. The 5.6

kilometre-long cable stayed bridge is 63 times the height of the Qutub Minar. It has consumed 90,000 tonnes of cement, which would suffice to make five ten-storied buildings. The eight-lane 5.6 km-long Sea

Link is India‟s first bridge to be constructed in open sea conditions with a 4.7 km, twin, 4-lane carriageway. It has been decided to name the link as Rajiv Gandhi Setu.

Ram Pradhan Committee was formed to probe the 26/11 terror attacks.

The Eastman Kodak Company has decided to retire its most senior film Kodachrome, which became the world‟s first commercially successful colour film in 1935, spent 74 years in Kodak‟s portfolio. It

enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s and ‟60s but in recent years has nudged closer to obscurity.

After the Kullu shawl, Kangra tea and the Chamba “rumaal”, it is now the turn of the Kinnauri shawl to acquire a patent and a GI (Geographical Indication) stamp, a hallmark for quality and authenticity.

Threatened with the loss of its distinctiveness to the machine-made Ludhiana shawls, the traditional Kinnauri shawl will be community patented, paving way for its marketing in the international market. With

the Kinnauri shawl being registered under the Geographical Indications Act, 1999, the product made on wooden looms in practically every home of the tribal district of Kinnaur, will be protected from being

lost in the race for modernity. Moreover, with the GI stamp on it, the product, it is hoped, would fetch handsome prices. The Kinnuari shawls have religious significance as the range of colours used in designs

symbolise mythological background. The unique wrap made out of wool, pashmina and angora are known for their intricacy and finesse in weaving.

Indian Constitution

Idea for a Constituent Assembly for drafting a constitution for India was first provided by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1895.

The elections for the first Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Initially it had 389 members, but later the reformed Assembly had 324 members.

The State of Hyderabad did not participate in elections to the Constituent Assembly.

The first meeting of Constituent Assembly was held on December 9, 1946— its president was Dr Sacchidanand Sinha.

The second meeting was held on December 11, 1946. Its president was Dr Rajendra Prasad.

The Objectives Resolution was passed under chairmanship of J.L. Nehru.

The Draft of Indian Constitution was presented in October 1947. President of the Drafting Committee was Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

The Flag Committee worked under J.B. Kripalani.

The total time consumed to prepare the draft was 2 years, 11 months, 18 days. Total 11 meetings were held for this.

The Indian Constitution was enacted on November 26, 1946 and put into force on January 26, 1950.

The Constitution today has 444 Articles and 12 schedules. Originally there were 395 Articles and 8 schedules.

SOCIALIST, SECULAR, INTEGRITY—these words were added to the Preamble later, through the 42nd Amendment, 1976.

The Preamble contains aims and objectives of our Constitution.

Fundament Rights are contained in Part III— called “Magna Carta” of the Constitution. The idea was borrowed from USA. Initially there were 7 fundamental rights, now there are only 6. (The Right to

Property was deleted by the 44th amendment in 1978. It is now a judicial right—it has been moved to Article 300(A).)

The Supreme Court judgement in Keshwanand Bharti vs Kerala case provided that Fundamental Rights can be altered by the Parliament as long as the basic structure of the Constitution remains intact.

The Minerva Mills case ruling of the Supreme Court, however, ruled that Fundamental rights are basic part of the Constitution. The power to alter them was snatched away.

Fundamental Right of Equality provides for:

—Equality in government jobs (Article 16).

—No discriminations (Article 15).

—No untouchability (Article 17).

—Abolition of titles (Article 18).

The important freedoms granted are:

—Against exploitation (Article 23).

—Against child labour (Article 24).

The Right to Constitutional Remedies is provided under Article 32.

The Constitution provides that High Courts and the Supreme Court can issue various writs (written orders) to safeguard freedom of an individual. There are five types of writs:

Habeas Corpus—“may I have the body”—it orders to present reasons as well as physical presence of a body in court, within 24 hours of arrest.

Mandamus—issued to person, office or court—to enforce duties—also called “Param Aadesh”.

Prohibition—issued to inferior courts, by superior courts—it prohibits (stops) action of acts outside their jurisdiction.

Quo Warranto—it asks how one has gained unauthorised office.

Certiorari —Higher Court takes over case from lower courts.

Dr Ambedkar has called this article as “soul” of the Constitution.

Directive Principles of State Policy act as guidelines or morals for the government. They are contained in Part IV of the Constitution. They were borrowed from Ireland. Some important directive principles

are:

—Gram Panchayats (Article 40).

—Uniform civil code (Article 44).

—Free and compulsory education (Article 45).

Fundamental duties are contained in part IV(A). There are ten fundamental duties listed in the Constitution. This idea was borrowed from Russia.

The Vice President is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. However, he is not a member of any House.

If a member is found sitting in another House of Parliament, of which he is not a member, he has to pay a fine of Rs 5000.

Rajya Sabha has 250 members—238 elected and 12 nominated by the President. Uttar Pradesh elects maximum number of members for the Rajya Sabha (34), followed by Bihar (22) and Maharashtra (19).

In one year time, the President must hold at least two meetings of the Rajya Sabha.

If a state of Emergency is declared, the Lok Sabha is dissolved, but not the Rajya Sabha (It is a permanent House).

Lok Sabha has 547 members—545 elected and 2 nominated from the Anglo-Indian Community.

During a state of emergency, the tenure of Lok Sabha can be extended by a maximum of one year.

Maximum number of members of Lok Sabha are elected from Uttar Pradesh (80 members), followed by Bihar (54) and Maharashtra (48).

Minimum age for becoming member of Lok Sabha is 25 years and Rajya Sabha is 30 years.

Minimum age to be eligible for the post of the President is 35 years.

The President is elected by members of both Houses of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies.

The Vice President is elected by all members of the Parliament.

To discuss an important topic, the normal procedure of the Parliament is stopped under the Adjournment motion.

Decision about whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not is taken by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

The first High Courts in India were established at Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, in 1862. Allahabad and Delhi were established next in 1866.

Maximum age to remain a High Court judge is 62 years and maximum age to remain a Supreme Court judge is 65 years.

The process for removal of Comptroller and Auditor General of India is same as that of judges of the Supreme Court.

Attorney General is the law expert to government. He can participate and speak in both Houses of Parliament, but is not allowed to vote.

The idea of having a Lokpal to check corruption at the highest level has been borrowed from “Ombudsman” of Sweden. In the States, we have the Lok Ayukta.

There are three types of Emergencies that can be proclaimed by the President. Emergency under Article 352—due to war or internal rebellion. (Implemented three times (1962, 71, 75).)

Emergency under Article 356—Constitutional problems. (Implemented many times, in various States like J&K, Punjab, etc.)

Emergency under Article 360—Financial Emergency. (Not implemented so far).

The Constitution initially recognised 14 National Languages. Later, four more were added. These were: Sindhi (21st amendment), Nepali, Konkani and Manipuri (71st amendment).

To gain the status of a National Party, a political party must be recognised in four or more States, attaining at least 4% votes on national scale and 9% in each State.

The flag of the Congress party was accepted as the National Flag (with few changes) on July 22, 1947.

The new Flag Code of India gives freedom to individuals to hoist the flag on all days, but with due respect to the flag.

The Question hour in the Parliament is observed from 11 am to 12 noon. The Zero hour is observed from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm.

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee suggested a three-tier structure for Panchayati Raj—Gram Panchayat village level, Panchayat Samiti at block level and Zila Parishad in districts.

First Constitutional Amendment—1951—put a ban on propagating ideas to harm friendly relations with foreign countries.

Planning Commission is only an advisory and specialist body. Its chairman is the Prime Minister.

National Development Council is the main body concerned with the actual planning process. Its chairman is also the Prime Minister.

The first leader of the Opposition was Ram Subhag Singh, in 1969.

The shortest Lok Sabha span was 13 days (12th Lok Sabha in 1998).

Although the Parliament can pass impeachment motion against judges, their conduct cannot be discussed by it.

There are at present 18 High Courts in India.

Article 370 gives special status to Jammu & Kashmir.

The Indian Constitution was the first of the preceding two centuries which was not imposed by an imperial power, but was made by the people themselves, through representatives in a Constituent Assembly.

The Preamble of the Indian Constitution is not enforceable in a court of law. It states the objects which the Constitution seeks to establish.

The Indian Constitution endows the Judiciary with power of declaring a law as unconstitutional if it is beyond the competence of the Legislature according to the distribution of powers provided by the

Constitution, or if it is in contravention of the fundamental rights or of any other mandatory provision, e.g. Articles 286, 299, 301 and 304.

As part of the integration of various Indian States into the Dominion of India a three-fold process of integration, known as the Patel Scheme, was implemented.

(i) 216 States were merged into the respective Provinces, geographically contiguous to them. These merged States were included in the territories of the States in Part B in the First Schedule of the

Constitution. The process of merger started with the merger of Orissa and Chattisgarh States with the then province of Orissa, on January 1, 1948. The last instance was merger of Cooch-Behar with West Ben-

gal in January 1950.

(ii) 61 States were converted into Centrally-administered areas and included in Part C of the First Schedule.

(iii) The third form was consolidation of groups of States into new viable units, known as Union of States. The first Union formed was the Saurashtra Union on February 15, 1948. The last one was Union of

Travancore-Cochin on July 1, 1949. As many as 275 States were integrated into five Unions—Madhya Bharat, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Travancore-Cochin. These were

included in Part B of the First Schedule. Besides, Hyderabad, J&K and Mysore were also included in Part B.

At the time of accession to the Dominion of India, the States had acceded only on three subjects (Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications). Later, revised Instruments of Accession were signed by which

all States acceded in respect of all matters included in Union and Concurrent Lists, except only those relating to taxation.

The process of integration culminated in the Constitution (7th Amendment) Act, 1956, which abolished Part B States as a class and included all the States in Part A and B in one list.

Biobin, India‟s first biodegradable bags meant as an alternative to non-bio-degrable plastic bags, a main source of environment pollution, has been introduced in Tamil Nadu. This is the first time in India

that bio-degradable bags with disinfectant properties and fragrance have been launched. These bags have special characteristics that help them degrade faster. The Sunstar Trading Corporation, jointly with

Exnora International, has designed and launched the biobin bags.

The State Bank of India has launched car loan scheme “SBI Ezee” for financing new cars at interest as low as 8 per cent for the first year.