ISSUE - 105
14th JANUARY [FRIDAY]
EDITOR’S DESK
- TANIYA BANERJEE
Someone has rightly said that leadership and learning are indispensible for an individual‟s growth. With learning comes greater awareness and with greater awareness comes in a sense of responsibility which instills the first seed of becoming a good leader in an individual. We being MBA students can all the more identify with these two terms. Being aware of the daily events and happenings around the globe is all the more important in order to add-on to this learning process. Therefore, The IBS Times is back again with its weekly dosage of news from around the globe to make our learning process here at IBS all the more enriching. All of us are aware about the unemployment crisis currently prevalent in Europe. Our writer here brings a new perspective to the entire issue. Why irrespective of higher profit by individual companies, is the rate of unemployment still increasing? Why are the GDP rates of these countries dipping slowly? These are just some of the many questions which will be answered in our Cover Story. After Benazir Bhutto and many others, the next assassination to have rocked the nation of Pakistan is the recent murder of Pakistan‟s governor of Punjab province Salman Taseer. On the other hand its neighbor India is still reeling from the effects of an ever rising food inflation which has touched an all new high of 18.32%. All of this and more is there in our Fast Track section. Telangana, which has been a long contented issue of recent times, finally got to hear. Will there ever be a final conclusion to this? What will be the pros and cons on formation of Telangana as a separate state? Get our writer‟s opinion in our Opinion Forum. For all the brand lovers and enthusiasts this time we have a special column on Puma where you will come across many an unknown facts about the brand. Mark Hurd, the name of this man has been in news for various reasons, we will get to know about the various achievements and failures of this enigma in our Focus of The Week. And for all you avid market watchers we have your weekly quota of market watch here once again. Hope you enjoy the ride!! Cheers, Taniya Banerjee
EDITOR COVER
1 OPINION 2 BRAND
5 FOCUS 6 NEWS @ IBS
8 9
FAST-TRACK
3 QUICK BITES
7 MARKET
10
THE IBS TIMES
COVER STORY– EUROPEAN UNEMPLOYMENT AT A RISE AND SO ARE THE PROFITS
- SANYA DHAWAN
The unemployment rate in the western world is at a rise. Unemployment in the UK is seeing unprecedented figures at 13.4% equaling over 2.5 million people, and youth unemployment rate is 19.8%. In the past couple of months, the public sector in the United Kingdom laid off 33,000 people. Due to the recession, the British Government has planned to take various austerity measures this year in terms of cuts in public spending, increase in tax (there has been increase in the VAT rates which have been criticized a lot in the past couple of weeks) and job cuts in the public sector. There were huge lay offs from the public sector due to redundancies seen in the job role, which can be supported by figures as 33,000 full-time jobs were lost from the public sector, and it is expected that 330,000 jobs will be shed in Britain's public sector over the next four years under a cost-cutting drive totaling In the past couple of 81 billion pounds. Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday that he was „concerned‟ by months, the public sector in the rise in unemployment recorded in the latest data. He assured that the new monetary policy guarthe United Kingdom laid of antees that the economy will be on a road to recovery. But the Office for Budget Responsibility in the UK feels that unemployment will 33,000 people. peak at a little more than 2.5 million this year and then fall for the next four years. But they feel that there can be no fall in unemployment in 2011 until the economy starts creating more full-time jobs. What is interesting about all this is that despite the low GDP growth rates and the alarming unemployment rates, companies have shown increasing profits. Why is this happening? I have a two fold explanation to this. Firstly, Europe has invested a lot in the Asian economies. Let us take legal firms as an example to substantiate this. The legal firms have a lot of work which does not require too much skill- say forming quasi contracts. Now this job which would cost say around 100,000 pounds in Britain is outsourced to Asia for 40% of the cost which basically results in 60% profits. Secondly, if 10 lawyers were required to form this contract, the firm will employ nine in say, India, and keep one person in Britain. Result is obvious- lay offs. This is the case with not only legal firms but most of the „knowledge‟ based industries. Say industries like- forming computer games, mobile applications etc. Most of the manufacturing firms have also outsourced their work to the emerging economies like India and China. Simple reason-the costs are low and profits high. If you go to an H and M store in Britain, over 80% of the clothes are from India and China. Secondly, high productivity is also a major reason for unemployment. Robots have replaced humans in most of the manufacturing factories. Recently, I visited the Jaguar factory in Britain and was astounded to hear that they have cut jobs from 13,000 to 3,000 people in the past decade. Most of the processes in the factories have become automated. Also, the productivity has rapidly increased and consequently the profits. The interesting fact here is that the divide between the rich and the poor is increasing at a rapid rate in the European economy. Because of high profits in companies, wealth is being accumulated in a few hands. In times of financial crisis, we saw a lot of companies undergoing mergers and acquisitions. Incidentally, I had also recently visited the Cadbury factory in Bourneville, UK. Cadbury has been recently The GDP is also rising at taken over by the American giant Kraft. Now as companies merge, functional departments are also a very small rate in Europe. merging. After all, you do not require duplicated job roles. The manager told me (secretly) that about For 10 years to 2008, this 40% job cuts were expected. The GDP is also rising at a very small rate in Europe. For 10 years till reality was disguised. Easy 2008, this reality was disguised. Easy credit and rising property prices fed the increase in spendcredit and rising property ing. The slump in the housing market for example has hit Western Europe tremendously. At the time prices fed rising spending. of boom, thousands of houses were sold in south of Spain, with the recession now creeping in, we now see thousands of unsold houses. People just do not have the jobs and so the consumption has declined. The Asians seem to be taking over. The consumption is there so is the employment and the rich poor divide is narrowing down. In a latest study by PwC, India is supposed to be the largest economy by 2050.
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FAST-TRACK NEWS
THE IBS TIMES -SHILPA MALHOTRA
Pakistan’s Governor assassinated by his bodyguard
The governor of Pakistan's Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was shot dead by one of his police guards in Islamabad on Tuesday. The police arrested Taseer's killer on the spot who allegedly confessed that he was angered by Taseer's recent public endorsement of pardoning a Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. The 26-year old bearded assassin, Mumtaz Hussain Qadari, was governor's official bodyguard, who joined the elite police force in 2008.
RBI announces purchase of Rs.12000 cr govt securities
The Reserve Bank announced the purchase of government securities worth Rs.12,000 cr as part of its decision to inject Rs.48,000 cr into the system, which is facing a cash crunch due to advance tax payment and the busy credit season. The central bank's mid-quarterly review of credit policy in December 2010 had made it clear that it would conduct an Open Market Operation (OMO) purchase auction of Rs.12,000 cr every week for four weeks. In the process, RBI will purchase four kinds of government paper that are scheduled to mature in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
Food inflation soars to 18.32%
Wholesale food inflation saw a sharp increase to 18.32% primarily due to a steep rise in onion prices. The inflation rate is on a 23-week high, much above the expectations of analysts and policymakers. About three-fourths of food inflation is explained by inflation in vegetables, and nearly one-fourth is explained by inflation in milk and a large part of the price rise is due to widening gap between wholesale and retail prices, and the growing demand for these products due to rising income levels. Meanwhile the government has revealed that the situation is not under its control.
India tells Pakistan to rethink ban on onion exports
The government has termed Pakistan‟s decision to ban the export of onion to India via the land route as „unfortunate‟ following which it has urged Islamabad to review its decision. Pakistan had stopped 300 trucks carrying the root vegetable to India via the Wagah border crossing, after complaints that exports to India had caused a sharp spurt in the vegetable prices in Pakistan. The imported onions were meant to be distributed at subsidized rates through the government-owned Kendriya Bhandars.
Kingfisher issues group of securities to restructure its debt
Private air carrier Kingfisher Airlines has allotted preferential shares to a consortium of lenders, besides promoter group firms United Breweries (Holdings) and Kingfisher Finvest India Ltd, under a scheme to recast its debt. According to a filing, to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company has allotted a total of 139.81 cr compulsorily redeemable preference shares (CRPS) of Rs 10 face value and a coupon rate of 8 per cent to the lenders consortium and its promoter group firms to cover its outstanding loans. The airline's debt currently stands at over Rs.6,000 cr.
NSE Nifty welcomes New Year with a 23-point gain
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) 's benchmark index S&P CNX Nifty gained 23 points on the first trading session of the New Year following sustained buying support from operators mainly in metal and consumer durable stocks. Asian markets ended higher on the first trading day of 2011. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan finished higher by 0.59% to 1.74%.
Kraft sues Britannia for trademark infringement
US-based packaged food maker Kraft Foods on Tuesday sued Nusli Wadia-owned Britannia Industries for trademark and copyright violations of its popular Oreo cookies. A petition filed by Kraft in the Delhi High Court alleges that the Bangalore based manufacturer‟s Treat-O biscuit copied its well known cream-filled sandwich biscuits using recognised characteristics of its Oreo cookies such as their florets and inner rings. Kraft, in its petition, has further submitted that `Oreo' was registered in India in 1991 and has been imported and sold in the country since then.
Affinity card– A credit card that donates a small percentage of what customers spend to the card sponsor, often a charity or football club.
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THE IBS TIMES Facebook deal with Goldman Sachs under SEC lens
Facebook, the popular social networking site, has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor in a deal that values the company at $50 billion. The deal makes Facebook worth more than companies like eBay, Yahoo and Time Warner. However the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly opened an inquiry into private trading at the social-networking giant and other tech companies possibly under 500 shareholder rule wherein after a company passes 500 shareholders, it must register its shares with the SEC and publicly disclose its financial results.
TATA steel enters into JV with Nippon steel
Tata Steel on Friday said it has inked a joint venture agreement with Nippon Steel for setting up an Rs.2,300cr specialty steel-making line, having a capacity of 60,000 tonnes per annum at Jamshedpur to cater to the domestic auto sector. The project is expected to be operational in three years. Tata Steel would hold a majority 51% stake in the unnamed joint venture entity while the Japanese major would have the rest 49% stake.
PE firm Avigo plans to sell stake in Spykar lifestyle.
Delhi-based private equity firm Avigo Capital Partners has initiated talks with a host of buyout funds and strategic players to sell its 40% stake in denim maker Spykar Lifestyle. It is looking at a deal size of about Rs. 80 cr which puts the valuation of the company at around Rs.200 cr. Industry experts speculate that apparel makers are set to attract private equity interest, as investments in the sector and industry estimates peg the Indian apparel market at Rs.32,000 cr growing at 15-20 % annually.
Kapil Sibal slammed by the opposition over CAG estimate
Opposition parties slammed telecom minister Kapil Sibal's stand on CAG scam as flawed and a cover-up exercise. Sibal had stated that there was no loss at all on account of the controversial 2G spectrum allocation after debunking CAG estimates of Rs.1.76 lakh cr loss. The opposition leaders including PAC chairman Murli Manohar Joshi also hit out at Sibal for his strident criticism of the CAG saying it was highly objectionable as his stand was an attempt designed to save the former telecom minister A Raja, who had to resign in the wake of the 2G scam.
China’s trade union introduces collective bargaining
China's state-run trade union, which came under fire for not taking up workers' rights issue when they went on flash strikes demanding higher wages last year, has floated the idea of introducing collective bargaining to address labour disputes. The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is planning to introduce collective wage negotiation, meaning talks between union representatives and heads of enterprises in all enterprises over the next three years, to reduce labour disputes, said Zhang Jianguo, head of the collective contract department of the Federation.
Davydenko beats Nadal to reach Qatar Open final
Defending champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia beat a visibly ailing Rafael Nadal of Spain to reach the final of the Qatar Open. Fourth-seeded Davydenko won 6-3, 6-2 in 84 minutes against an uncharacteristically slow and sluggish Nadal, who had a fever earlier this week. The Russian, who beat Nadal in last year's final in Doha, now leads the Spaniard 6-4 in head-to-head meetings on the ATP tour. He will look to add to his 20 career titles when he takes on second-ranked Roger Federer in the final.
India VS South Africa series ends in a draw
The third and final test match between India and South Africa ended in a draw. Chasing 340 for a win, Gautam Gambhir top-scored with 64 as India decided to play for a draw. Jacques Kallis was declared the Man-ofthe-Match and the Man-of-the-Series. India has enough reason to cheer as this is the first time they have drawn a Test series in South Africa. The result also meant that India maintained their number one ranking in tests.
Ponzi scheme - In a Ponzi scheme, the swindler uses money from new investors, who are lured with the promise of high or consistent returns, to pay off earlier investors. It's the American name for a pyramid scheme named after Charles Ponzi.
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THE IBS TIMES
OPINION FORUM– THE FATE OF AN UNORDERED STATE
- TANIYA BANERJEE
Twenty eight states and one more to come? We do seem quite close to achieving the round number soon, with perhaps a few more propositions for new states coming into existence.
The entire trial has been dogged with allegations of police planting evidence, schooled witnesses and manufactured testimonies.
Telangana is a story that has time and again captivated our attention. From 1960‟s, till date it has been a long battle for empowerment and political space. Though many new states like Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh did come into existence; Telengana was the one which stayed behind in the race to have a separate state of its own. This 40 year old feud has seen a number of lives being claimed, in its quest to attain separation from the state of Andhra Pradesh and be christened as the separate state of Telangana. It all started post independence with the modern state of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) being formed with the amalgamation of two large groups of telegu speaking people belonging to Madras and Hyderabad. Herein was sowed the first seed of dissent as the telegu speaking districts of the Madras presidency were not convinced of the idea. The main basis of this conflict lies in the fear among the people of Telengana that Hyderabad being the capital and a major region of political power concentration, their rightful claim to various resources would be depleted. But these apprehensions were laid to rest with the formation of The Gentleman‟s agreement which claimed that no such thing would occur, but in times to come this region indeed remained highly under developed with a paucity of adequate resources while its compatriots like Hyderabad got converted into a swanky metropolitan. If we start to track the history behind the issue then we will see that it has been a long journey filled with struggle, bloodbath (almost 370 people died during the Osmania university protests) but Congress with its staunch attitude against the formation could be budged only in 2009 when TRS‟ Chandrasekhar Rao‟s health started to deteriorate followed by a fast until death vow taken by him. The recent hype as well as renewed interest in the issue has been because of the report submitted by the Srikrishna committee. It can be rightly termed as an anticlimactic report with it coming out with several possible solutions like dividing the state into Rayala, Telangana and Seemandhra, making Hyderabad a union territory or giving it the status of capital of Rayala-Telangana and letting Seemandhra form its own capital etc. The main point of contention now is that various parties within the state like TRS, see this as a ploy of the government to retract from the statement made by them on December 9, 2009 that a separate state would indeed be formed.
If we want India to remain a vibrant democracy then this country needs informed debates on all the controversial topics -be it independence for Kashmir or Naxalism.
Now coming back to what the real statistics are, as far as real development coming about in the Telangana region with its separation from A.P. is concerned. Well, we have some examples in our hand. The states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have shown remarkable amount of growth since their separation from their original states. But then various other questions arise too. In an interview with NDTV, K Chandrashekhar Rao used statements like “Telangana wale jago….Andhra wale bhago”. It is said that 90% people in Hyderabad are Telangana but he also says that the Andhra people living in the capital are reducing the job opportunities of the former, well if that is the case then is it actually possible that a mere figure of 2- 3 lakhs Andhraites are rendering 10 lakh people jobless? These kinds of divisive thinking might not lead to the results desired by the general population. Even if the state is getting divided divisive politics should not come about. No matter how glorifying united front we pose to the world, as a nation we are still divided to the core regionally and this tussle for representation would continue until „power politics‟ is taken out from the system so that the fruits of development are shared by rich and the poor equally.
Animal Spirits– A term used by John Maynard Keynes in one of his books used to describe human emotions those drives consumer confidence. According to Keynes, animal spirits also generate human trust in business.
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THE IBS TIMES
BRAND TRACK—PUMA DECODED
-RINI CHATERJEE
German sports and lifestyle brand, Puma was one of the first international players to venture into the Indian forum. Established in 2005, Puma India has moved away from the mainstream media platforms to popularise its products. Nonetheless, this swift feline mountain lion has consistently been basking in loyal consumers across the country, and has more than managed to convey its brand message to the target audience: 16-25 years old belonging to SEC A, A- and B+.
In India, the brand indulges in a subtle and niche communication strategy, such as onground, digital, in-store branding or just word of mouth.
The brand only opts for traditional methods of advertising during the end of its seasonal cycle. It is only at that time when Puma chooses to resolve to billboards, magazines and newspapers. The brand has purposely tried to reposition itself to become a niche label as well as a brand carrying a strong waft of fashion sense with it. Instead of waging a futile battle against stronger opponents, Puma changed it strategy and successfully occupied the vacuum between sports and style. In India, the brand believes in a niche communication strategy, such as digital, in-store branding or word of mouth. For this reason, mass brand awareness is purposely ignored. Long regular television commercials are not a media of communication adopted by Puma and. static billboards are deemed unemotional. However, in 2008, as interest demands innovation, the two media were combined to create an outdoor television commercial. Puma‟s strongest point of sale is its retail stores, which become its mass marketing weapon, especially to communicate with its consumers in tier II and III towns. This is why the brand invests in maintaining in-store consistency across stores. Puma is not a mass media brand. It relies more on interactivity than 'one way shouting' at the target audience. Puma's heavy digital presence conveys its deliberate attempt to remain niche and limited to the youth who are fashion-conscious individuals. Buzz marketing works for high involvement categories, where herd mentality is important as it relies heavily on its fashion quotient.
On the experiential front, Puma relies heavily on product co-creation; two recent ‘Below the Line’ activities, Pimp Your Sole and Creative Factory are best examples.
Global celebrity endorsements are done by athlete Usain Bolt, associates with the Volvo Ocean Race and tie-ups with several African football teams. Back home, Puma is associated with IPL teams, Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers, and has been the players' official kitting supplier since the first season of the tournament. 'It grows on you' campaign created a buzz with artefacts such as stick-on moustaches and wearable horns. In September 2010, Puma created a viral film to promote the spirit of Commonwealth Games. On the experiential front, Puma relies heavily on customised product creation. It takes the help of Below the Line activities, like „Pimp Your Sole‟ (PYS) and „Creative Factory‟ events. PYS was a 15-day event, where youngsters were encouraged to design their own soles. Winning designs would become part of the Puma 2011 Spring Summer Flip-Flop collection. Clearly, Puma relies a lot on the concept of buzz marketing and viral communication of early adopters and opinion leaders, and thus, generates content via earned - not paid - media.
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THE IBS TIMES
QUICK BITES- NEWS THAT CAN’T BE MISSED !
- SUPRIYA MAMGAIN
Big Shots… 70% of mobiles sold in 2010 were of Nokia or Samsung. Facebook valued at $50 billion. Apple mobile OS still tops Google Android, controlling 28.6% of the smartphone market in U.S.
Company Talks… Emami expects 15-20% increase in Chyawanprash sales. Pfizer sued Dr Reddy‟s laboratories to delay the latter‟s Lipitor copy, the Indian maker‟s low cost version of the world‟s best selling drug medicine in the U.S. market. Nalanda Capital hikes stake in Voltamp to 8%. Qualcomm, the wireless technology company, to buy Atheros for $3.2 billion. National carrier Air India started the New Year on a positive note, with operational profit of Rs.21.66 crore in November 2010. Arvind to launch the American youth brand Mossimo, owned by Iconix Brand Group, to boost its fashion quotient in its discount apparel Megamart. Fiat split its industrial vehicle business from its automaking unit on Monday. Kotak Realty sells 20-acre Chennai plot for Rs.130 cr to Mexican firm Homex. Tanishq, India‟s first and largest jewellery retail store chain to open 15 retail stores in next fiscal. The national airline of United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways launched flights to its eighth destination in India. FedEx Express, a subsidiary of the world‟s largest express cargo company FedEx Corp., announced the launch of its services from India to China. Glaxosmithkline consumer healthcare launched Sensodyne toothpaste, its biggest gobal brand with annual sales of $750 million. Tata misses 100,000 Nano delivery target in 2010.
Economy Speaks… By 2030, the aviation industry is expected to be worth $350 B, contributing 5% to India‟s GDP. Economic growth expected to remain high in 2011, as both the industrial and services industries continue to expand; the growth is projected to be around 8.5%. The government plans to offer stamp duty exemption for factoring services, to allow businesses to encash sales on credit. In U.S. the unemployment rate has eased from 9.8% to 9.7%, as employment rose for a third month in December. Government allowed export of 5 lakh tonnes of sugar, the country‟s top two sugar makers Bajaj Hindustan and Balrampur Chini together got a quota of more than 33,000 tonnes. The purchasing manager index (PMI) dropped to 56.7 in December from 58.4 in November. Food subsidy bill could shoot up by nearly Rs.25K cr to touch Rs.80K cr. Railway PSU‟s pay Rs.312 cr dividend to the government.
The Captains of the Ships.. Chairman, IRDA - J Hari Narayan . Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone –Kumar Ramanathan Executive Vice- President Unitech Wireless – Rajiv Bawa CEO, Fiat and Chrysler -Sergio Marchionne President, European Central Bank- Jean Claude Trichet.
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THE IBS TIMES
FOCUS OF THE WEEK– MARK HURD: THE LEGEND OF A BANISHED MAN
- ADHIRAJ SOOD
This is a piece about a man who was born to be a CEO, a leader and a cold blooded business man. A man, who fell in love, got thrown out of a company and came back with a vengeance, only to join a bigger company as a Co-President, Director and Board Member.
In 2005, Mark Hurd replaced Robert Wayman the CFO and interim CEO of Hewlett-Packard, as CEO and President.
Born on the 1st of January 1957, Hurd graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University, and was a member of the Tryon Coterie, the Texas Lambda chapter of Phi Delta Theta. He then took up a job at NCR Corporation, his first, as a Junior Salesman, in 1980. He subsequently held a variety of positions in General Management, Operations, and Sales and Marketing. He also served as head of Teradata, data-warehousing division for three years. In all, he spent twenty five years of his life turning the company‟s fortunes around. He was named the President of NCR in 2001 and was given additional responsibilities as the CEO in 2002. His leadership was marked by a very successful improvement in the operating efficiency of the company, an increase in the product line offered and in building a strong bench of future leaders. His policies helped NCR generate revenue of $6 million, up 7 percent from before he took over, and also a near five fold increment in net income to the tune of $290 million. In 2005, Mark Hurd replaced Robert Wayman, the CFO and interim CEO of Hewlett-Packard, as CEO and President. On September 22, 2006, Hurd took over as Chairman after Patricia C. Dunn resigned from the job. Working with HP, Hurd developed a style of managing that got him the title of and standing amongst the „TopGun CEOs‟ of the World (2009, Brendan Wood International advisory agency). Hurd has transformed the 71-year-old company from a computer and printer maker hooked on profits from printer cartridges into a company that looks a lot like its archrival IBM Corp., a major player in technology services and other fastgrowing areas.
He has a reputation of aggressive cost-cutting. Hurd said he believed in what he called ‘pay for performance’, that is the employees had a major chunk of their salaries ‘at-risk’, which got paid only when the company's performance measured up.
He has a reputation of aggressive cost-cutting. Hurd said he believed in what he called „pay for performance‟, that is the employees had a major chunk of their salaries „at-risk‟, which got paid only when the company's performance measured up. He also laid off 15,200 workers – 10% of the workforce, shortly after becoming CEO. Other cost-cutting measures included reducing the IT department‟s size from 19,000 to 8,000 and a reduction in the number of software applications that the company used from 6,000 to 1,500. He also consolidated HP‟s datacenters from 85 to a staggering 6. When recession hit, Hurd imposed a pay cut of 5% on all employees and took a 20% pay-cut for himself on his base salary, while withdrawing many benefits as well. However, he promised employees who now fell below scale that their pay scales would be adjusted through an internal process albeit which didn‟t happen soon. Apart form this, under his leadership HP made some expensive and path breaking acquisitions and mergers. For example, the $13.9 billion acquisition of technology-services provider Electronic Data Systems, the $2.7 billion takeover of computer-networking equipment maker 3Com Corp. and the $1.4 billion deal for mobile phone maker Palm Inc. All said and done, Hurd was forced to resign on August 6, 2010, for improper conduct and a claim of sexual harassment made by Jodie Foster (former reality TV actor – a marketing contractor who worked under him from 2007 to 2009). Although it came to light that he never shared a physical relationship with Ms Foster, it was found that he had filed inaccurate expense reports related to her in terms of corporate luncheons et al.
Air Pocket Stock- A stock that experiences a sudden drop; usually as a result of investors reacting to the negative news.
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THE IBS TIMES
NEWS @ IBS– ALL HAPPENINGS IN IBS HYDERABAD! IPL: VAPS
- SAINYAM KUMAR
Just like they say, “Don‟t judge the book by its cover”, lets not “judge the article by its title.” When I say IPL, I am not talking about the much talked about Indian Premier League but I am talking about the scam free, equally entertaining ICFAI Premier League. With the feature of live commentary and awesome music, it was a great to see that the bat and bowl were doing all the talking. The event was organized by V.A.P.S., the sports club of IBS Hyderabad and was not only a great sight to watch but also provided a perfectly laid platform for the enthusiastic cricketers of the college. The rivalry between the teams could be sensed in the air and that was mainly because the event took place three weeks after Mrinal Anand and gave the teams another chance to prove their mettle. The same four teams reached the semi-finals this time as well, Kings XI, The Invincibles, IBSXI and IBS Champs but look at the irony, both the teams who lost the semi-finals last time, won them this time. A perfect stage was set for The Invincibles and IBS Champs to put their foot down. Playing in the flood lights with a jam packed ground, the former had to make sure that the Batch of 2011 bids farewell on a winning note while the latter had to make it clear that they are the ones who will carry the legacy forward. Batting first, The Invincibles made a challenging total of 89 runs from 16 overs. The disciplined bowling attack of IBS Champs had done their work and it was upto the batsman to complete the task. The match proved to be as nail-biting as expected and reached the last over with IBS Champs spoiling the party for their seniors as they scored the winning runs with 5 balls to spare. With the traditional handshake at the end and both the teams applauding each others efforts, the final was indeed played in the true spirit of the game. We hope that the next flag bearers of V.A.P.S. continue to entertain the college students by continuing to organize the events of similar stature.
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THE IBS TIMES MARKET WATCH
- VASUNDHARA ARORA
The very onset of 2011did not give a great start for the Indian markets, as they were the sole losers this week, with Sensex plunging down by a whopping 4%. Food inflation continues to be the most mischievous ball in the Indian kitty, giving huge challenges to the government to tame it since a long time. Presently, soaring onion and milk prices complete the said picture and justify its figure of 18.32% during week ending 25th December. Fuel inflation also climbed to 11.6% and was at similar levels of last week. Inflation measured through WPI which was 7.5% in November, reiterates the possibility of a significant interest rate hike. The sector specific performance was no different than the overall gloomy picture as all the sectoral indices ended in red. Interest rate specific stocks were the ones under most pressure this week and leading the pack of losers were stocks from the auto-sector followed by real estate and banking sectors. Defensive stocks emerged as the top performers with BSE-Oil & Gas leading the que followed by BSE-Healthcare, BSEFMCG and BSE-Power indices. Tata Steel reportedly entered into an INR230 billion Joint Venture agreement with Japan based Nippon Steel Corporation to set up a steel plant for auto-grade steel. The facility is expected to become operational in a period of three years. From the FMCG sector, Dabur completed the acquisition of US based personal care firm Namaste group for $100 million in an all cash deal. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare officially announced its aggressive foray into Indian oral care market with its global brand „Sensodyneâ€&#x;. The Movers & Shakers of the Week
SURGES
%Change
DOWNFALLS
%Change
JAIN IRRIGATION GUJARAT NRE COKE
6.4 5.4
YES BANK JSW STEEL
-12.7 -12.1
INDIAN HOTEL
4.8
BAJAJ AUTO
-11.4
Global Cues: All the markets across the world did fairly well, except India. Most of the losses in Indian market occurred on the last trading day backed on huge concerns relating high inflation numbers and a very likely hike in interest rates going forward. Asian stocks led the pack of gainers this week with Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore recording gains of about 2-3%. The UK, Chinese and US markets remained behind them recording gains of about 1%.
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THE IBS TIMES MARKET WATCH 03 Jan 2011
04 Jan 2011
05 Jan 2011
06 Jan 2011
07 Jan 2011
Sensex
20,561.05
20,498.72
20,301.10
20,184.74
19,691.81
Nifty
6,157.60
6,146.35
6,079.80
6,048.25
5,904.60
DJIA
11,670.75
11,691.18
11,722.89
11,697.31
11,674.76
HangSeng
23,436.05
23,668.48
23,757.82
23,786.30
23,686.63
*
6,013.87
6,043.86
6,019.51
5,984.33
Gold ($/oz.)
1,414.60
1,381.30
1,378.60
1,371.10
1,369.80
Crude($/bl)
91.75
91.55
89.38
90.30
88.38
INR v/s USD
45.705
45.328
45.511
45.859
45.892
INR v/s EURO
61.161
60.410
60.771
60.708
60.151
FTSE100
* FIGURES NOT AVAILABLE
Agflation - An increase in the price of food that occurs as a result of increased demand from human consumption and use as an alternative energy resource. The term is derived from a combination of the words „agriculture‟ and „inflation‟. BUSINESS JARGONS BY– VASUNDHARA ARORA
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SourcesThe Economics Times, The Hindu Business Line, Times of India, Business Standard, Financial Ex-press, Financial Times, Business Week, Business World, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Moneycontrol.com, Vccircle.com, yahoofinance.com, Business Today, India Today, Investopedia.com, Wikipedia.com, DNA, The Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu, The Tele-graph.
EDITORIAL TEAMADHIRAJ SOOD, RINI CHATERJEE, SAINYAM KUMAR, SANYA DHAWAN, SHILPA MALHOTRA, SUPRIYA MAMGAIN, TANIYA BANERJEE, VASUNDHARA ARORA
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