ICFAI Business School (IBS) Student Community

[MayankSingh (Mayank Singh)]

Discuss the Daily moves in the market.

Ford to launch small car in India

The United States-based Ford Motor Company is planning to launch a small car for the Indian market as it looks to enter new segments and expand presence, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

"We know that we need to be in more segments than we are today if we want be a major player in the Indian market," Ford India vice-president (marketing, sales and service) Scott McCormack said.

Ford cannot ignore the small car segment in India, which constitutes around 50 per cent of the desi passenger car market, he said.

"We are studying opportunities to expand," McCormack said at a press conference where the company unveiled Ford Fusion Diesel.

However, the launch of the small car would not take place in the current calendar year. McCormack gave no time-frame for its launch.

Ford India sold around 40,000 cars in India in the calendar year 2006. "We will see growth over last year," he said.

The company sells Ikon, Fusion, Fiesta and Endeavour in India. It has a manufacturing facility at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai spread over 350 acres of land.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/17ford1.htm

[MayankSingh (Mayank Singh)]

Kinetic Motors ropes in Bipasha Basu for new scooter

Bipasha Basu has been signed on by Kinetic Motors as their brand ambassador. Though she will be the ambassador for all the Kinetics brands, Basu will primarily endorse the upcoming Kinetic-SYM scooter that is slated for launch next month.

Basu was identified after the company carried out a research among 1,200 consumers. The findings of the research implied that college girls aspired to be confident and ambitious. As per the research, Basu came across as an independent, modern woman, with her role in the film ‘Corporate’ having found to be the favourite portrayal of today’s professional woman.

The actress will feature in mainstream advertising for the Kinetic-SYM scooter, including TV, print, Internet, outdoor, with hoardings and contests, and a special audio-visual that demonstrates the new scooter, which will be played in all Kinetic dealerships.

Ajinkya Firodia, Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Kinetic Motor Company, said, “Kinetic has been very selective about working with brand ambassadors and looks for perfect synergy between product attributes and ambassador personality. Our upcoming Kinetic-SYM scooter would appeal to women riders, and would be positioned accordingly.”

Firodia added, “Our market research showed that Basu is perceived as a modern and independent high-achiever and is the role model for many young girls who admire her style and success. In fact, the support for her was unanimous.”

The upcoming Kinetic-SYM scooter is targeted specially at women riders. It will feature a 125cc engine and promises to offer best-in-class performance, technology and user friendly features.

http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/newfullstory.asp?section_id=3&news_id=26856&tag=21754&pict=16

[sharohere (-=hidden=-)]

19th July'07
Headline:

BYEE MICROSOFT:
Peter Moore, the head of Microsoft's gaming business, is leaving to join game maker Electronic Arts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6904523.stm

PROFIT FROM LICENSING MODEL:
Bangalore-based biotech major Biocon’s licensing model seems to be paying off. The company has earned Rs 16 crore in revenue in the first quarter of this financial year through technology and licensing fees compared with Rs 2 crore in the previous year.
http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?leftnm=1&subLeft=1&chklogin=N&autono=291656&tab=r

[MayankSingh (Mayank Singh)]

RCom plans big bang investment

BPO arm, eyes SEZ to 'unlock value'.

Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani today announced investments of Rs 20,000 crore for the next one year, aimed at catapulting the mobile services operator to one of the top five global telecom companies.

The proposed investment — the largest ever by a telecom services operator in the country — will be for network expansion through 23,000 new mobile towers as well as for the launch of direct-to-home and Wi-max services.

In this initiative, Reliance Communications plans to cover 23,000 towns or every single habitation in the country with a population of 1,000 or more.

While addressing the shareholders of Reliance Communications at the company’s annual general meeting here today, Ambani also announced important steps to unlock shareholder wealth in the company.

It will hive off its business process outsourcing (BPO) division into a separate company and will set up an 18-acre special economic zone (SEZ) at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge Centre on the outskirts of Mumbai.

“Maximisation of shareholder value is the key mantra for us,” Ambani told the Reliance Communications shareholders. The company’s stock fell 2.31 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, while the 30-share Sensex fell a little over 0.01 per cent.

The BPO division of Reliance Communications employs 7,800 people across various locations, providing multi-lingual support to verticals like telecom, banking financial services and insurance, utilities and entertainment.

The proposed SEZ at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, for which the company had earlier received the government’s approvals, will focus on IT and IT-enabled services.

Reliance Communications is the third-largest mobile services operator in the country, after state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Sunil Mittal-controlled Bharti Airtel Ltd.

But Ambani has nurtured ambitions to grow the business fast ever since he got it in a settlement with his older brother, Mukesh, over two years ago.

He had earlier tried hard to acquire Hutch Essar, which would have made him the leading telecom operator in the country. He, however, lost the race to Vodafone.

http://agencyfaqs.com/perl/digital/news/index.html?sid=18463

[MayankSingh (Mayank Singh)]

Bharti to seal network deal with Ericsson

Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest telecom services company, is close to inking a deal with Ericsson for managing and expanding its network.

The deal, which is expected to be valued between $1 billion and $2 billion, will be announced in a few days.

The deal with Ericsson closely follows the telecom operator coming closer to winning a scaled down version of the controversial Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) mega-GSM order.

Ericsson, which was the lowest bidder for the 45.5 million lines order, is expected to be called for price renegotiation by the BSNL board but for a much smaller order now.

When asked about the deal, Akhil Gupta, joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, merely said “no comment”. Ericsson executives also declined to comment.

The deal is believed to be spread over three years and will involve implementing and managing the GSM major’s network in 15 circles in the country.

A few weeks ago, Bharti Airtel had awarded a $900 million (Rs 3,690 crore) network expansion contract to global communications services provider Nokia Siemens Networks.

Bharti is not new to Ericsson. In June 2005, the Swedish company had signed a $250 million deal for managing capacity in rural India for Bharti Airtel networks.

http://agencyfaqs.com/perl/digital/news/index.html?sid=18464

[MayankSingh (Mayank Singh)]

Mallya pushing for 2010 F1 race

Vijay Mallya, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher Airlines, says he is passionate about bringing Formula One to India as soon as he can.

"Given the sheer size of India and its booming economy, it should be on the Formula One calendar.

"I am pushing all I can to make sure that if not in 2009, India can host a race in 2010," Mallya said in an interview with Formula One, in response to a question if India is ready for a Grand Prix in the country.

Mallya has announced his company's partnership with Formula One earlier this year with the Panasonic Toyota Racing Team.

Asked about his plans to leverage his F1 involvement, Mallya said it is lifestyle.

"Look at the glamour around, the type of people who are involved in Formula One, the people who visit Formula One races and Formula One related events, the huge media turnout -- one could say it is the pinnacle of the fast life," he said.

"Those qualities fit perfectly with my philosophy of an airline. An Airline to me is not about cheap tickets but about enjoying flying. I want to go back to the days when travel was a luxury. I don't want to see it as a very basic transportation industry, ignoring completely the comfort of the passengers."

"That's why at Kingfisher Airlines we call all those who fly with us guests. We want them to enjoy the Kingfisher experience -- and that fits very well with the attitude of Formula One."

Mallya said it did not take him long to decide to participate in Formula One once it became clear that he was looking for a global platform.

"I have participated in Formula One with the Benetton team in the 1990's. I have a basic interest in Formula One. I am the chairman of the local FIA for the past 20 years so; motor sport is second nature to me.

"I follow Formula One closely so nobody needed to tell me about the enormous benefits of publicity that come out of Formula One sponsorships," he added.

Mallya admitted that Kingfisher evaluated other options, but found that Formula One is unique in terms of the kind of global exposure it is looking for.

"It is a global sport and the television viewership is truly international. If you want to reach out for the globe, Formula One is the only solution," he said.

He said Indian companies have focused largely on the domestic market, and there is a big logic in this. China is an export-oriented economy with a small domestic demand while India is the other way around. He said that while India has a huge and growing domestic economy, there are also Indians who acquire companies overseas.

"India was a low cost economy where cost savings were achieved by outsourcing. Now India has many competitive skills and when we Indians acquire overseas companies it is not only for cost cutting reasons but because we can improve the operating performance of those companies, and can look what potential market could be in India itself," he said.

Regarding sponsorship, Mallya said this is not only a question of sponsorship but the whole attitude towards marketing and advertising.

"Marketing and advertising as it is understood in the western world is mainly exercised by multinational companies operating in India. But now Indian companies understood that if they want to compete with multinationals and their aggressive marketing methods, they need to become marketing savvy.

"And in the process of becoming marketing savvy I can see a lot of Indian companies getting ready for global sponsorship."

http://www.rediff.com/sports/2007/jul/20mallya.htm

[MayankSingh (Mayank Singh)]

India can be IT research powerhouse, says Microsoft

The story of Microsoft in India is stuff dreams are made of. Having set up India operations in 1990, Mirosoft's current headcount stands at 5,000. The company primarily has six business units in India -- Microsoft Corporation India (Pvt) Ltd (the marketing division), Microsoft Research India, Microsoft India Development Center, Microsoft Global Technical Support Centre, Microsoft IT and Microsoft Global Services India.

As India moves into its next phase of growth in the global knowledge economy, Microsoft continues to work in tandem with government, Indian IT industry and academicians.

In an exclusive e-mail interview with Senior Associate Editor Indrani Roy Mitra, Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan shares his vision. Read on. . .

We feel the general population is overawed by IT majors like Microsoft, Infosys [Get Quote], Wipro [Get Quote], etc. Could you please explain what Microsoft stands for / does in India?

Ever since we set up India operations in 1990, a strong India focus and commitment for strengthening India's presence in the digital economy has topped our agenda. We are committed to delivering local strategies that are in sync with India's unique environment. Today we have offices in 10 cities, including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

India is significant to Microsoft from, both, a market perspective as well as from a talent perspective. Accordingly we engage with India on a multitude of areas and our long-term commitment is evident from the fact that India is one of the few countries apart from the US where we have an end-to-end presence through our six business units, namely Microsoft Corporation India (Pvt) Ltd (the marketing division), Microsoft Research India, Microsoft India Development Center, Microsoft Global Technical Support Centre, Microsoft IT and Microsoft Global Services India.

Today, we have strength of over 5,000 employees across these six business units.

Our chairman Bill Gates, on his last India visit in 2005, committed $1.7 billion India investment which is a testimony to the increasing confidence of the company in India. Today, India is among the fastest growing subsidiaries for Microsoft in Asia and is poised to be among the top 3 over the next 5 years.

Our focus is on becoming a key IT partner to Indian businesses, the Indian government and the IT industry. We will support and fuel the growth of the local IT industry with a thrust on driving Innovations for, from and with India and under our commitment of 'Unlimited Potential,' create a more inclusive growth for the billion Indians by relevant and affordable access to computing.

A lot is being said these days about corporate social responsibility. What responsibility, according to you, should corporates have to improve the state of living?

All of us -- individuals, families, and organisations -- have a responsibility to contribute to the society in whichever way we are able to. Corporates, of course, have the means to effect change on a larger scale, and it is an opportunity they should take seriously. Having said that, I would just like to add that being responsible is not just about, say, spending money on a cause. It means being conscious of the impact -- both good and bad -- your business could have on the world you inhabit.

As part of the IT sector, for instance, we at Microsoft are constantly looking for ways in which technology can benefit the less fortunate majority of humans. Our global effort, Unlimited Potential, expands and accelerates Microsoft's commitment to facilitate sustained social and economic opportunity for the more than five billion people living in every country around the world who do not today benefit from technology. And this is not about charity but more about responsible growth.

Thousands of children are educated, orphans are cared for, destitute are looked after and the poor are fed under your social project -- Indian Giving Campaign. Could you please tell us its modus operandi? How will you rate it against its parental charity initiative Giving Campaign?


This is an extension of Microsoft's efforts at creating social and economic opportunities that change people's lives and transform communities. Through its matching contributions programme, Microsoft allows its employees to direct corporate contributions to nonprofit organisations working to improve lives in the country. Donations that India based employees make to eligible nonprofits are matched Rupee for Rupee by the company, up to Rs 50,000 per employee per year.

We do believe it is not enough to just give money but giving your time and effort is as important. Under our employee volunteer programme, we set aside three working days per employee per year to enable them to volunteer their time and and donate other resources such as their knowledge and expertise towards the betterment of communities.



A recent report stated that Microsoft is to hawk PCs to school kids. What is your plan for education?

It is the investment made by India in human capital that has led to its success. If India has to maintain and rise further in the emerging global knowledge economy, it has to ensure that it is able to create an enabling environment for education and jobs and opportunities. It has to innovate to be able to do this.

Keeping this in mind, transforming education is one of the three key initiatives Microsoft Unlimited Potential has committed itself to. Over the past several years Microsoft has been using a combination of quality content, partnerships, training, and broad access to transform education In India.

Under its programme, Project Shiksha (the global partners in learning programme) Microsoft has worked with state governments, and other key stakeholders to offer a spectrum of education resources including tools, programmes, and practices. Going forward, Microsoft will both scale up the existing initiatives and broaden the opportunity beyond institutions to enable access for individuals under a 'Connected Learning framework' called IQ. IQ is essentially a combination of an online and offline content tied into all aspects of a student's learning process and growth.

The IQ PC includes Windows, Office/Works, Encarta, Student 2007 and specialised education solutions from a host of key partners. The content focuses on the key concerns of families, be it the learning of English as a language, tutorials for competitive examinations, or ensuring a seamless transition from class work to homework.

Where do you see Microsoft in five years, vis-�-vis its competitors?


If you see Microsoft over the last few years, we have grown considerably and now have a multi core strategy of growth. And over the years we have been able to consistently create a leadership position in every business area we operate in be it gaming, software or mobile computing.

We see ourselves doing equally well over the next five years. A lot of businesses that we are now getting into are areas that are emerging and developing themselves, so more than competing with other players, the challenge in these areas will be the evolving customer needs and business models themselves. For instance, with customers moving increasingly online the delivery of software over the net as a service is starting to gain popularity.

However, most players are trying to attune themselves to how to make this efficient, user friendly and scalable and are grappling with the question of whether customers will adapt this consumption model permanently. Microsoft believes it will be a combination of online and offline usage that will spur adoption. We call it the software plus service approach, and our focus will be on getting this model right and enabling customer adoption.

There are other new areas that we have successfully forayed into recently, such as search-based advertising, gaming and entertainment devices and so on. While we face intense competition in these against a set of very capable competitors, the market growth itself in these areas will be so high in the coming years that we will be able to gain considerable ground.

In October, you launched live.com mainly, it is said, to counter Google's search engine. Please tell us more about it.


Windows Live is a new set of Internet services and software designed to put the individual in control by offering complete choice and customization.. The goal with live services is to create a seamless experience between offline and online technology experiences, and help customers push into the next phase of computing by giving them access to what they want -- how and when they want it, regardless of connectivity or device.

Overall, this is part of Microsoft's software+services strategy. Geared towards enabling customers to optimize full capabilities of the networked environment, and to seamlessly bring together the information, relationships and interests they care about. We believe that no other company has the assets, audience and aspirations to deliver experiences and solutions that span our work styles and lifestyles in this age of Internet services.

Could you please share with us your vision of Microsoft India?

Globally, with Unlimited Potential, we are determined to reach IT to the next billion people by 2015. India is one of the most exciting and important markets for Microsoft right now�both the challenges and opportunities are huge. In addition to being a growth sector of the Indian economy, information technology is also a key enabler of social development. In India especially, the progress on many fronts is already well underway and will continue to mature.

The task that we have today is to make technology pervasive and useful in the everyday lives of more and more people. The growth of IT penetration in India, currently, might be rapid, but it is not rapid enough. And while affordability is critical, it is imperative for technology to be relevant and accessible too. Only when we meet these criteria will the adoption of technology grow exponentially. At Microsoft India, this is what we seek to deliver through Unlimited Potential.

Please throw some light on the research initiatives undertaken by Microsoft India. What impact are they going to have on India's IT growth?

In India, Microsoft conducts research primarily through Microsoft Research India which, like its other sibling labs, conducts basic and applied research in computer science and allied areas.

MSR India currently focuses on six areas of research: Cryptography, Security and Algorithms, Digital Geographics, Mobility, Networks, and Systems, Multilingual Systems, Rigorous Software Engineering, and Technologies for Emerging Markets.

An important objective for MSR, in addition to contributing to Microsoft's products and businesses, is to advance the state-of-the-art in computer science. In fact, a majority of the results of our research are published in leading conferences and journals, and are therefore available for researchers and technologists across the world, including India, to use to advance their technologies.

We firmly believe that research leads to innovation, which is critical to technological leadership. MSR India is committed to enhancing India's research pipeline and have a number of initiatives to help achieve this. MSR India's External Programs and Research Group conducts a number of programmes, including collaborating with Indian academia, granting PhD Fellowships, research grants, research funding and travel grants for researchers.

In addition, some of the MSR researchers also hold adjunct faculty positions in leading technological institutions. MSR India holds an annual research symposium- TechVista- which brings together some of the world's leading researchers and technologists who talk about the cutting edge of research in different domains. TechVista aims to inspire the young, potential Indian research talent to take up advanced studies and adopt research as a career.

We think India has the potential to become a research powerhouse that can drive technology across the world as well as in India, and are confident that our efforts will contribute towards fulfilling this potential.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/19inter.htm

[abhishek1711 (shah)]

gr8 work Mayank, this will help all of us stay updated....however am again very worried about originiality of the posts....YES news have to be copied from somewhere, but can we make it like in our own words or just 2-3 lines of summary of the news with link to read full article....