Google paid $151m for Zagat

Google Inc paid $151 million in cash to acquire popular restaurant review guide Zagat in September, the Internet company said in a regulatory filing. The acquisition, which added a valuable brand to Google's content offerings and bolstered its push into the local commerce market, was one of 57 deals completed by the Web search company in the first nine months of 2011. Google, the world's No.1 Internet search engine, has been acquiring companies at a rapid clip, as it moves to expand into new markets and adapt its product to a world in which consumers increasingly rely on mobile devices and social networking services to access the Internet. Google also acquired Daily Deals, a privately held, German online coupon company, for $114 million in cash in September, Google said in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. And it completed the acquisition of ITA Software for $676 million in cash in April. Google said it completed 54 other acquisitions and purchases of intangible assets during the first nine months of 2011 for roughly $502 million. During that same period in 2010, Google completed 37 deals for $626 million, excluding the acquisitions of Slide, AdMob and On2 Technologies, for which Google paid a combined $983 million. Google announced its acquisition of Zagat Survey, which polls consumers and compiles reviews about restaurants, hotels and other businesses around the world, in September, but did not disclose a price at the time. Google's largest deal to date, the planned $12.5 billion acquisition of mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc is pending regulatory approval.

Nokia CEO Sees 'Broader Opportunity' with Windows 8, Hints at Tablets

In a brief interview with This Is My Next, Nokia CEO (and mole for Microsoft, clearly) Stephen Elop hinted strongly at the potential for a Nokia-built Windows 8 tablet. While his statement was, strictly speaking, more of a dodge, it’s clear that this is something they’re at least thinking about. When asked about its role as a consumer electronics brand, Elop explained: The user experience of Windows 8 is essentially a supercharged version of the Nokia Lumia experience that you saw on stage today. And you see the parallels and opportunity for commonality from a user perspective. You say wow, this is more than just smartphones, there’s a broader opportunity here. And clearly we see that broader opportunity as well, without specifically commenting on what that may mean in the future.

eBay census: Delhi is No.1 e-commerce hub

Kozhikode: Kerala has been placed at the 12 {+t} {+h} place in e-commerce transactions by eBay India annual census conducted among the 28 States in the country. The census covered the key trends in online buying, selling, importing and exporting, spread across top 20 e-commerce hubs and seven union territories, apart from the transactions at the State level. The top five States are Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Among the 20 largest e-commerce hubs, Delhi has topped the list, closely followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Jaipur and Chennai, while Kochi and Thriuvananthapuram in Kerala are at 19th and 20th spots, respectively. The census has found that the metros contributed 51 per cent of all e-commerce transactions and the tier II and III cities 40 per cent. The rural India accounted for the balance nine per cent. It has also emerged that Sony is the most sought after brand, followed by Nokia, Samsung, Apple and Reebok. Among the items purchased online, electronic gadgets have recorded a share of around 50 per cent. Another finding is that women are increasingly getting addicted to online shopping and are buying cosmetics, jewellery, watches and fashion and fitness equipment. Over 45 per cent of all purchases by women are in the lifestyle category. In Kochi, the top five items bought are memory card readers, console games, peelers and slicers, sunglasses and woman's perfumes. And the top five items sold are gold plated necklaces, fairness creams, artificial flowers, mangalsutra and desktop PCs. Besides, the top five brands are Nokia, Apple, Canon, Nikon and Reebok. In Thiruvananthapuram, The top five items on the purchase list are tool kits, men's wallets, 1GB RAM, dumbbells and helmets, while Web hosting services, flight games, West Asian coins, ice-cream machines and insect repellers figured at the top of the list of items sold online. The top five brands are Nokia, BlackBerry, HP and Canon, according to the census.

Cabinet approves scheme for National Optical Fibre Network

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved a scheme to set up a National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), which will be used to provide broadband connectivity to village-level bodies — Panchayats. The project cost is expected to be “of the order of Rs 20,000 crore”. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed to execute the network. “Immediately, the equity in SPV will be from the Government,” Mr R. Chandrashekhar, Secretary, Department of Telecom (DoT), said. Subsequently, he said, BSNL, Railtel, PGCIL and GAIL are likely to be roped in as equity partners. “The details are being worked out. The funding for the project will be done through Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund. The USO fund accruals over the next two-three years will cover the finances,” he said. “At present, the optical fibre cables reach the block headquarters mostly. Now they will reach the Panchayat level…. The incremental layout will be done through the SPV.” The Government has set a target to complete the roll-out in about two years. The SPV will get revenues by charging its customers access charges according to the TRAI guidelines. The key requirement is to get the right of way (RoW) from the State Governments as they have varying rules and charges for providing it. “We will have tripartite agreements between the executing agency, State Government and the Department of Telecom. The State Governments are expected to contribute by providing free RoW,” Mr Chandrashekhar said.

Govt clears manufacturing policy

New Delhi: The much-awaited National Manufacturing Policy was approved on Tuesday by the Union Cabinet. It comes at a time when the country is facing a slowdown in manufacturing and industrial growth. The policy aims to create 100 million jobs within a decade and increase the share of manufacturing in the country's GDP to 25 per cent by 2022 from the current 15-16 per cent (a level that has been stagnant since 1980). Among the key instruments for realising these goals is the setting up of National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ). The minimum land area of each NIMZ – or greenfield integrated industrial townships with the modern infrastructure – is to be 5,000 hectares. Announcing the policy, the Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, told reporters that, “No cultivable, agricultural and forest land will be allowed to be acquired for NIMZs.” The first phase of the NIMZ will be established along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor which will see early results in the next few years, he added. The policy also has a host of fiscal incentives mainly for the micro, small and medium enterprises. In this regard, an official statement said, “Individuals will be eligible for relief on long-term capital gains tax if the sale proceeds of a residential property are reinvested in equity of a new start-up company,” adding that tax pass through status for venture capital fund will be available if they focus on manufacturing. The other significant features are the single window clearance mechanism to cut red-tape and the high-priority for skill development. “Private sector will be given standard deduction of 150 per cent of expenditure for skill development institutes,” the statement said. The policy was finalised after over 20 months of intense stakeholder consultations. These discussions had seen difference of opinion, notably from the Ministries of Environment and Labour. Green focus With a view to protect the interests of labour in cases of closure of units, the policy has a mechanism of fund to insure the workers against such loss. The policy also features third party inspections in addition to inspections by Government agencies for compliance of both environment and labour norms. The focus will also be on ‘green manufacturing'. In this regard, a Technology Acquisition Fund will be set up to acquire global technologies and build a patent pool especially for equipment manufacturing that seeks to reduce energy consumption. SMEs will be given access to this patent pool up to a maximum of Rs 20 lakhs for acquiring patented technologies, the statement said. The policy statement says that support will be given to employment-intensive industries to ensure job creation, adding that, “Special attention will be given to textiles and garments; leather and footwear; gems and jewellery; and food processing industries.”

UID evangelists set up business incubator

Three veterans from the technology sector who were previously advisers to Nandan Nilekani's unique identification ( UID) project have established a business incubator firm called Angel Prime in Bangalore to mentor and build startups right from the ideation stage. The three co-founders, Bala Parthasarathy, Shripati Acharya and Sanjay Swamy, between them have years of experience in technology giants like Cisco and HP and in setting up startups. Parthasarathy and Acharya were among the cofounders of Snapfish, the web-based photosharing and photo printing service that was bought by Hewlett-Packard in 2005. Swamy was CEO of mobile payment platform firmmChek between 2006 and 2010. The trio will act as general partners and have raised a fund from 12 individual investors. The investments they make are typically in the sub $1 million range and would be made in 2 to 4 companies at a time. Incubators provide mentorship services, offer real estate and infrastructure as well as industry contacts to the startup. They come in prior to the angel investor or venture capital (VC) investment stage, when the company is a mere business idea. They take stakes in these companies and could exit at a later stage when strategic investors enter. Parthasarathy said that Angel Prime would focus on the domain expertise of the team, which includes mobile payments, e-commerce as well as smart phone and tablet phone applications. He said they understand the common mistakes entrepreneurs make and can help them scale to a stage where they attract institutional funding. Angel Prime is currently incubating a startup in the mobile payments space, an announcement on which is expected within the next month. It will also unveil a company in the e-commerce space in the within 90 days, Parthasarathy said. Sachin Maheshwari, director at growth stage fund Zephyr Peacock, said that in India business incubators have generally been the forte of large government institutions like the IITs and IIMs. Outside of the universities, incubation is a relatively new phenomenon, the most notable being Morpheus and eBhana. Morpheus co-founder Sameer Guglani calls incubation outside of universities as accelerators. He said that universities primarily provide infrastructure and plug and play facilities on a rental basis, while accelerators add greater value through mentorship, contacts, funding etc. Business accelerators are popular in the US. Investments are made in different batches of say six months, after which the role of the accelerator becomes more consultative. Guglani said one major reason why the concept has not caught on in India is that it works on a fee or commission basis. As these funds are typically small in size, the earnings of general partners are not as lucrative as in the case of a VC fund. Morpheus for instance recently raised a new fund of Rs 6 crore. Despite this, more incubators are said to be in the works. Senior professionals from India and those returning from abroad are looking for something more exciting to do with their time. And thanks to the emergence of newer technologies, talented skill base and lower costs, the Indian entrepreneur is generally viewed as promising.

Android beats Apple iOS to become app leader

Google Inc's Android operating system passed Apple Inc's iOS as the most popular software platform for application downloads as consumers bought more Androidsmartphones. The Google platform accounted for 44 per cent of all app downloads in the second quarter, eclipsing Apple's 31 per cent share, according to ABI Research. That was fueled by a 36 per cent jump in Android phone shipments from the previous three months, ABI said. Google, based in Mountain View, California, introduced Android in 2007 as an open-source platform, allowing any phone maker to use it for free and focus on designing hardware rather than software. Android has helped propel Samsung Electronics Co into the ranks of top smartphone makers and drive a recovery at Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc even as sales of Apple's iPhone surged. "Android's app downloads per user still lag behind Apple's by 2 to 1," said Dan Shey, practice director of mobile services at ABI. Global downloads of games, music, news and other apps are expected to rise to 29 billion this year, more than triple the 9 billion downloaded in 2010, ABI said.

Olympus blasts ex-CEO

Olympus Corp lashed out at its former chief executive officer for publicly questioning $687 million in advisory fees for a 2008 takeover, saying he used his position "to leak internal company secrets" and was "trying to ruin the credibility of Olympus." The Japanese camera maker also said it was "hard to forgive" Michael C. Woodford, whom it fired as CEO on October 14, and the company was "naturally considering legal action," according to a letter posted on its internal website yesterday, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. The statement came after Olympus employees received an e- mail saying Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa would respond to allegations by Woodford, according to two people who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak for the company. Olympus last week said it was forming an independent committee to investigate previous acquisitions after demands from Nippon Life Insurance Co., its largest shareholder, and Southeastern Asset Management Inc. to explain the fees paid in its $2 billion takeover of Gyrus Group Plc. "I am sure you all want to know more," the statement said. "I will continue to speak out. My next message will be about Gyrus."

Why Obama Needs Social Media to Win in 2012

It’s no secret that President Obama’s 2008 campaign success was due in large part to the overwhelming support of voters age 29 and younger (66%). By all accounts, winning a second term will be almost impossible without that demographic’s continued support. On the other hand, securing the youth vote will be challenging. As a voting bloc they are historically unpredictable, and their approval of the president has dropped 13 pointssince June. To counter his waning popularity, the president’s campaign, Organizing for America (OFA), will need to deploy a social media strategy that combines innovative outreach techniques with a focus on youth turnout. Before addressing the “must-haves” for the president’s digital strategy, it’s important to understand said demographic, both as a consumer and as a voter. Not surprisingly, this audience dominates the online and social networking space. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 83% of Internet users ages 18-29 use social networking sites. The percentage drops off significantly as the age range increases (only 51% of those between the ages of 50 and 64). Second, according to the most recent census, voters ages 24 and younger made up 10% of voters in 2008, and were the only age bloc that increased its participation since 2004. Finally, a staggering number of people age 20-29 do not have jobs. The Census Bureau found that in 2010, one in three were unemployed. As a result, this demographic presents an enormous challenge as well as an opportunity for OFA. The president must connect with this group and make his case for why they should support him as strongly as they did three years ago. After Obama’s 2008 victory, OFA received widespread praise for its social media strategy. This admiration was deserved, mainly because OFA implemented a tool that was foreign to almost everyone else in professional politics. David Axelrod, top strategist for the 2012 campaign and former senior advisor to the president, acknowledged that “so much of our support [in 2008] came from younger, more wired people.”

BSNL and others to build Rs 20k cr broadband network

The telecom ministry has accepted the finance ministry's stance that state-owned BSNL must not be entrusted with the 20,000-crore project to build a nationalbroadband network to take high-speed internet to the hinterlands. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) with equity participation from state-owned telcos BSNL and MTNL and other public sector units such asRailTel, Gail and PowerGrid, among others, will now undertake this project as demanded by the finance ministry. This initiative involves laying 11 lakh km of optic fibre network connecting over 2.5 lakh panchayats across the country. The Department of Telecom (DoT) in its proposal to the Cabinet has said that private players would be 'inducted' into the SPV by equity expansion at a later date. "This stage could be considered at any point when it is felt that it would add value to the objectives of the programme," the Cabinet note seeking approval for this project added. In July, communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal had said that the telecom commission, the apex decision making body of the department, had approved the project to build this network that would connect all the gram panchayats utilising the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Sibal said that the initial phase of this project would cost about Rs 20,000 crore and added that a similar amount of investment was likely from the private sector towards this. Telecom companies contribute 5% of their annual revenues towards this fund, which is used to support rural telephony, and the unutilised amount in this kitty is estimated to be about Rs 20,000 crore and this is expected to increase to Rs 36,000 crore within the next 36 months. But the proposal was delayed after the finance ministry raised concerns on the agency that would implement it. The DoT shared the view that an SPV should only be created for managing the fibre network after it is built by BSNL. The finance ministry, on the other hand, had demanded that the SPV be entrusted with both the rollout and managing the network. The DoT in its Cabinet note has also added that it had already formed a high-level committee (HLC) and an advisory body to oversee the project. "The project implementation team consisting of members of BSNL, PowerGrid, RailTel, National Informatics Centre and C-DoT is presently looking after various preparatory activities such as geographic information systems mapping, finalisation of network design etc.

IAF selects Boeing's Apache Longbow combat helicopter for chopper tender

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has selected Boeing's Apache Longbow advanced attack helicopter for its combat chopper tender. RIA Novosti news agency reported from Moscow Tuesday that the other competitor, Russia's Mi-28N Night Hunter, had lost the competition. It quoted an unnamed Indian defence ministry source as saying that the US helicopter "showed better performance" while the Russian machine did not meet the tender requirements. There was no confirmation here but well placed sources told India Strategic defence magazine that IAF's assessment report had been accepted. No details were given. IAF has a tender for 22 combat helicopters with no options. But more would be required and should be ordered once the first few machines are delivered. According to Lt Gen (retd) B.S. Pawar, a noted authority on combat helicopters, Apache is far more advanced than other attack helicopter worldwide. It has executed successful missions in Afghanistan. Notably, the US is known to have much better Electronic Warfare capability than perhaps any other nation. The Apache has the capability to detect 256 moving targets in speed, distance and direction and engage them as required. The twin-engine tandem seat Apache is operated by two pilots, and can execute an attack within 30 seconds of an alert. It is equipped with Northrop Grumman's highly sophisticated millimeter wave Longbow fire control radar and Lockheed Martin's Hellfire and Raytheon's Stinger missiles. The Block III is the latest version being delivered to the US Army from this year. Apache has a strong shell made of composite fibres to protect the pilots and sensitive components from bullets.

TRAI imposes 5 paise termination charge on commercial SMSes

NEW DELHI: In a bid to further clamp down pesky SMSes, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will impose a termination charge of 5 paise per SMS on operators from whose networks commercial messages originate. Termination charges are paid by an operator from whose network calls or SMS originate to the one on whose network these communications end. These charges impact tariffs. "The promotional SMS charge shall be Re 0.05 (five paisa only). The Originating Access provider may collect the promotional SMS charge from the registered telemarketer," TRAI said in a notification. After much delay, TRAI in September this year came out with recommendations to stop pesky calls and text messages, directing that no operators will permit the transmission of more than 100 SMSes per day per SIM. The limit is, however, not applicable on 'blackout days' (festive occasions) and a customer is free to send as many messages he desires. Subscribers also have the option of choosing to be under the 'Fully Blocked' category, similar to the 'Do Not Call Registry' to not receive any promotional SMS or call. In case a user opts for 'Partially Blocked' category, he or she will receive SMS in only select categories. At present, some operators charge a termination fee of up to 15 paise per SMS. The current directive would make it mandatory for all operators to charge the termination levy for commercial SMSes. CDMA telecom operators have opposed the imposition of a termination charge on SMS, saying the move is anti-consumer, anti-competitive and not based on a scientific technical study. "Some of the incumbent GSM operators always propagate high termination charges for calls as well as on SMS, as it works in their favour. Imposition of any termination charge on SMS will be anti-competitive, anti-consumer and not based on costs," Auspi General Secretary S C Khanna had said in a letter to the Trai Chairman. He added that prices of bulk SMSes are currently 1.5 to 2 paise and if it shoots up to 7 paise per SMS, this important marketing avenue will be eliminated. "It would result in thousands losing their jobs as a result of this change in regulation, which will add to the plight of lower sections of society," Khanna said. TRAI has exempted select service providers --- primarily the dealers of telecom operators, DTH operators, e-ticketing agencies and social networking sites -- from the limit of 100 SMSes per day per SIM. It also includes transactional SMS' from e-commerce agencies, companies registered with SEBI, IRDA, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), NCDEX, and MCX; and goods delivery confirmation messages.

Retailers like Future Group, Lifestyle, Godrej, MegaMart, Fabindia offering 0% EMI to attract customers

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Retailers are countering the economic slowdown by offering interest-free equated monthly instalment (EMI) schemes, which they say are not only helping them pull customers into stores but also encouraging shoppers to buy higher value products. Such EMI-based sales promotions have staged a big comeback at a time near double-digit inflation has put a heavy strain on household budgets, making people defer non-urgent and big-ticket purchases even on credit because of hardening interest rates. But transactions carrying zero percent financing have grown more than 50% over the past year, say retailers and bankers. From apparel sellers such as Arvind Brand's MegaMart and Fabindia to multi-product retailers such as Future Group, Lifestyle and Godrej, firms reckon that zero-interest EMI options are the most effective discounts they can offer. While retailers end up bearing the interest for the duration of the credit extended, they see it as an acceptable cost of keeping the sales register ticking during the downturn. "EMI schemes are removing inhibitions and inducing consumers to splurge on big-ticket items," says Himanshu Chakrawarti, chief executive of Essar Group's Mobile Store, the country's largest mobile phone retailer. He says consumers going for six-month EMIs are buying handsets priced twice than they had initially planned and those going for nine-month to 12-month schemes are tripling their size of transaction. Almost a third of the high-end mobile phones, such as the iPhone and the latest models of Blackberry and Android-based phones, sold at the Mobile Store are paid for through instalments. The company, which rolled out EMI schemes at its 1,200 stores across the country over the past couple of months, recently became India's largest seller of BlackBerry smartphones. Instant approval of loans and minimal documentation help speed up EMI-based transactions, says Parag Rao, senior executive VP, HDFC Bank. He says the bank has seen a more than 100% spurt in this loan category over the past year with an average transaction of 30,000. "Since the amounts are much smaller compared to home or car loan, the EMIs don't pinch much," he says.

Gitanjali inaugurates gold coin and medallions vending machine to cash in on robust investment demand

MUMBAI: Gitanjali Export Corp. said it has launched a gold coins and medallions vending machine to cash in on robust investment demand that is rivalling the thirst for jewellery in India, the world's biggest consumer. "It has a particular significance in India, where usually such items are purchased as tokens to observe traditions on auspicious days," said Sanjeev Agarwal, CEO, Gitanjali Export Corporation. The machine will give stock upto 36 different sizes, price points and designs ranging from 1,000 rupees to 30,000 rupees. India is in a high demand festival and weddings quarter, including Diwali. Gitanjali said it plans to expand the network of these machines in places with high consumer footfalls such as malls, airports and temples to provide visitors with a range of last minute purchase choices for gifting and other needs.

Moser Baer resolves bonus, wage issues with workers

NEW DELHI: Optical storage media maker Moser Baer India today said all issues related to revision in bonus and wages have been resolved amicably between a section of its associates and the management at its Noida plant. "We have successfully resolved all issues concerning a very small group of our associates at the Greater Noida plant. All 150 dissatisfied associates have come back and joined their respective duties. Our plant operations are running as normal," Blank Optical Media and Consumer Electronics CEO Bhaskar Sharma said. Earlier, this week it was reported that some associates from the packaging section of one of the company's optical disc plants were at loggerheads with the management demanding revision in bonus and wages. "This was a stray aberration in the history of Moser Baer India and that the tradition of maintaining high engagement levels with all associates has been further strengthened," Sharma added. The company's revenues for the year ended March 31, 2011 stood at Rs 2,682.93 crore, of which the storage media products business contributed Rs 1,633.10 crore. The company claims to be the world's second largest manufacturer of optical media solutions commanding 16 per cent development, manufacture and supply of optical media across the globe. In the Indian market, Moser Baer forayed into the burgeoning domestic optical storage market with the launch of the Moser Baer label in 2003. The company manufactures the entire spectrum of optical storage media products including Recordable Compact Discs (CD-R), Rewritable Compact Discs (CD-RW), Recordable Digital Versatile Discs (DVD-R), Rewritable Digital Versatile Discs (DVD-RW) and blue laser discs (HD-DVD and Blu-ray) and has an annual production capacity of over 3 billion units

MRF turnover crosses Rs 10,000 cr; eyes acquisitions abroad

CHENNAI: MRF today said its turnover for the first time has crossed Rs 10,000 crore in one year, becoming the first Indian tyre maker to achieve this mark, and announced plans to acquire plantations or companies abroad to neutralise the impact of high import duty on rubber. "MRF is the first Indian tyre company to have crossed the turnover of Rs 10,000 crore in one year. It registered growth in excess of 30 per cent over the previous year," MRF Chairman K M Mammen told reporters here. "In 2007, we reported Rs 5,000 crore. Rs 10,000 crore is something we are proud of, because we are the first Indian (tyre) company to achieve this," Mammen said. Talking about future plans, he said MRF was seriously thinking of going out of the country or acquire companies. "We are reviewing a lot of these wonderful ideas," he said. He also expressed hope that the company would double the revenues in future. Stating that the high import duty was having an impact on its bottom line, he said they were looking to acquire plantations in any region or acquire companies. When asked whether the company has zeroed in on any company or any plantations, he only said, "We are looking at the whole world." MRF exports tyres to 65 nations. It has seven facilities in the country. To another question whether putting up a factory outside India would be a feasible option for the company, Mammen said it was not a right option. "But taking over (of overseas companies) is fine. We are looking at all over the world. I would say, there are lot of opportunities in Europe, South east Asia, China," he said.

TVS, GMR joint venture to go pan-India

CHENNAI/HYDERABAD: TVS and GMR, two of South India's most prominent family businesses, have been in a very silent joint venture in the aviation logistics space for more than a year-and-a-half now. Starting with the Hyderabad airport, where the JV is already operational, the plan is to go pan-national. Such a coming together of these two groups has never been discussed in the media until now. The tie-up is between TVS Logistics, whose MD is R Dinesh, and GMR Hyderabad Airport Resource Management. GMR Group head GM Rao's son Kiran Kumar Grandhi is one of the directors of the JV. The TVS company, which has a 51% stake, didn't share details. However, Hemanth DP, COO of the GMR group company, said the idea behind the alliance with TVS Logistics was mainly to tap road feeder services from and to the airport. "TVS is a very established player in the trucking business. We are developing the feeder services as more and more airlines are in need of an extension of their network," he said. "If you come in Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Hyderabad and go in a Jet Airways to Tirupati, technically you book one seat only but it is in two different airlines. Similarly, in the cargo business, we want to establish the road feeder network to connect the last leg. In some cases, it will be by road." The JV is currently operating Aero Express, the bus service that connects the airport to major locations in the city. This is a service that has been scaled up in recent times with more frequency and routes. Vikram R Jaisinghani, the GMR group company's CEO, said, "There is an opportunity for TVS to offer road feeder services and they may be one of the players in the logistics space at the airport." Then there are warehousing services, where GMR believes players like TVS can work with it. Jaisinghani was bullish about his company's plan to develop a cargo hub. The JV has its origins in a company called Radi Logistics, where some TVS members had minor stakes and an associate of Dinesh owned the biggest stake.

India to overtake China in 2014: Ernst & Young report

New Delhi: India will overtake China in 2014, according to a forecast by the Ernst & Young's report on Rapid Growth Markets (RGMs). In 2014, India is expected to grow at 9 per cent while China is expected to grow at 8.6 per cent. India and China would probably be less impacted among the 25 Rapid Growth Markets (RGMs) in case of a deterioration of the Eurozone debt crisis. The overall outlook for India remains positive and economic growth will steadily accelerate during 2012. "India's consumption-led economy continues to make the country a highly attractive investment destination in the short to medium term. Its domestic demand-driven growth model has helped the country weather the volatility in the global markets, providing significant growth opportunities to businesses," according to Farokh Balsara, Partner & India Markets Leader, Ernst & Young India.

India to attract $80 billion FDI over 12-24 months, says a Morgan Stanley survey

New Delhi: Over the next 12-24 months India could attract a massive $80 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a research report by Morgan Stanley. India received $48-billion FDI in the last two years. "The findings show that global companies see real opportunity in India and that their investment appetite is increasing, notwithstanding continuing negative perceptions around infrastructure bottlenecks," said Ridham Desai, head of India Research at Morgan Stanley. The startling number came out of a survey of 176 of the firm's internationally-based research analyst teams that cover 1,766 global companies. These teams determined the likely India investment opportunity recognised by the companies they covered. The survey did not involve direct interaction with the companies. "Conducting a survey among large companies worldwide was not feasible due to very high costs and time taken," the detailed note says explaining the survey. The 20% of the companies covered in the survey have already invested nearly $80 billion into India, almost 53% of the total FDI into the country. "As per our global analysts, 59 new companies are likely to invest in India while 67 of the currently invested global companies are unlikely to make further investments," the report says. However, according to the survey, despite the intentions to pump in such large amounts India is still not a high priority destination

Oracle to buy RightNow for about $1.5 bln

Oracle Corp plans to buy online customer service company RightNow Technologies Inc for about $1.5 billion, sparking speculation of bids for other so-called cloud technology companies that deliver software, data and computing power over the Internet. Oracle's bid amounted to a 20 percent premium over RightNow's closing price on Friday. RightNow's shares rose 19 percent in early trading. Oracle is pushing into the cloud technology market, including sales force automation, human resources and databases. Oracle said on Monday it would pay $43 for each share of RightNow. The company's shares, which closed at $35.96 on Friday, rose to $42.81 on Nasdaq. "RightNow got a very good price from Oracle. I don't see other bidders. Not at this valuation," said Pacific Crest analyst Brendan Barnicle RightNow may have to pay Oracle a termination fee of around $60 million if it accepts a higher bid from another party. The termination fee could be around $18 million if the deal is terminated under certain other cases. Oracle expects the deal to close in late 2011 or early next year. Analysts said Oracle has buying assets to fill in holes in its cloud offerings in the last year with acquisitions have included ATG, Inquira and FatWire. RightNow's technology helps manage customer call centers and extend the support to Web and social networks. "This acquisition shows Oracle is serious about being in the cloud space," said Susquehanna analyst Derrick Wood. "We however do not think it can do it organically and that if it wants to be a formidable competitor it will need to enter the market through acquisitions," Wood said. But the interest in smaller cloud computing companies will not be limited to Oracle said analysts, other major technology companies that could be interested include Dell Inc, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft Corp. Started in a spare bedroom by its founder Greg Ginaforte in 1997, RightNow clocked sales of over $185 million in 2010 and competes with bigger rival SalesForce.com and online marketing software maker Constant Contact Inc. For years, Oracle have been rumored to be targeting SalesForce.com to beef up its cloud offering but it seems unlikely that it would be one of Oracle's priority targets. Another possible target for Oracle could be NetSuite Inc which is already partly owned by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Pacific Crest's Barnicle said the RightNow deal is good for the entire sector as it signals a potential wave of acquisitions. Shares of Egain Communications Corp, one of RightNow's peers, jumped 11 percent to $7.88, following the news of RightNow's acquisition. In July, RightNow raised its full-year recurring revenue growth outlook to 27 percent from a a previous 24 percent. Separately, RightNow reported third-quarter profit ahead of Wall Street estimates and canceled its conference call scheduled for later in the day. The company also canceled its Oct. 25 analyst day conference.

Indian IT biggies TCS, Infosys, Wipro can withstand demand uncertainty: S&P

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) today said top three Indian IT companies -- Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro -- are likely to maintain their investment grade ratings even if demand weakens. "The largest Indian IT companies have strong margins, are cost-competitive, and have proven delivery models. These attributes will help them to weather uncertain and volatile demand," S&P's Credit Analyst Abhishek Dangra said about the three firms. S&P has given TCS and Infosys BBB+ and Stable rating, while Wipro holds BBB and positive credit rating. S&P report said that the three leading IT companies will be able to grow at a faster pace than the global industry, at least over the next few years. It expects these companies to maintain industry-leading EBITDA (indication of cash flow) margins and grow in double digits in the next 12 months. "Bigger challenges for the Indian IT companies will occur in the long-term. We expect the cost advantages of these companies to diminish as foreign competitors increase their already-large employee bases in India," a S&P statement said. The agency said business and reputation risk is rising due to increasing protectionism and it expects the three Indian IT companies to adapt to the challenges, as they have in the past. On dependency of IT companies on the slowing economies of the US and Europe, it said sovereign budget cuts across these markets could hurt business sentiment and lower private-sector IT spending. The agency, however, added that deal cancellations would not have as much impact as in 2008-2009, and the time it takes to close deals has lengthened. Dangra said high unemployment rates, slowing growth and political activism in many countries are generating opposition to outsourcing. "Still, we expect focus on cutting costs in a slowing global economy to support demand for outsourcing to India. Such a practice results in significant cost savings," he added.

Mysore Palace is among the world's 31 must-see places

Bangalore: If Madame Tussauds in London attracts the maximum number of tourists from across the world, the majestic Mysore Palace ranks a close second in the list of the most-visited places on the globe. In yet another affirmation of its drawing power, the New York Times recently listed it as one of the 31 must-see places on Earth for two consecutive years. The palace plays host to an average 2.5 million tourists each year. Going by the growing tourist footfalls, Karnataka tourism department officials say it could well be the numero uno soon. Feedback from tourists from the UK, Spain, France and other countries suggests that the palace has mesmerized visitors. Many wonder why Buckingham Palace has been considered magnificent for so long when the Mysore Palace can boast of superior construction. In 2010, Mysore Palace had a domestic visitor footfall of 3.1 million and another 70,000 from abroad. Other places in Mysore played host to 7 million domestic and 12,000 international visitors. The first nine months of 2011 have seen 2.4 million domestic visitors and 60,000 international visitors touring the palace. The city, on the other hand, received a whopping 6.75 million domestic and 25,000 foreign tourists till September. "The Mysore Palace and the city attract a large number of tourists to the state. Hardly does Mysore get left out of a tour itinerary involving either Karnataka or south India," says a senior official of the tourism department. Tours that start in Tamil Nadu and end in Bangalore enter Karnataka from Wayanad through Nagarahole, Mysore or Hassan before reaching Bangalore. for onward departures. A lot of tours enter Karnataka coming through Ooty, Bandipur and Mysore and conclude at Bangalore. "Mysore generates a handsome revenue for the state," senior tourism officials said. It's evident by the fact that three new hotels are coming up in a big way to cash on the growing business. Readying their infrastructure are Radisson Blu Plaza (170 rooms), Sheraton Mysore Hotel (220 rooms) and the Country Inn Suites (130 rooms), all expected to start operations in one year. "The fact that Mysore is also popular as a hub for wellness, yoga and meditation, among other things, contributes in a big way to bring good revenue for the state," says Vinita R of Windflower Spa and Resorts in Mysore.

India-Malaysia bilateral trade seen rising to $15 billion by 2015

Hyderabad: India-Malaysia bilateral trade is expected to touch $15 billion by 2015, said Mr Shah Nizam Ahmed, Consul (Trade), Consulate General of Malaysia. Malaysia wants to develop direct trade with India and other Asian countries. India is Malaysia's largest trading partner among countries of the South, excluding ASEAN nations and China, he told a meeting organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry here on Wednesday. The two countries have concrete trade relations through comprehensive economic cooperation agreement. For India, Malaysia is the second largest trading partner in the ASEAN region after Singapore, Mr Ahmed said. The bilateral trade figure as per 2010 data is around $9 billion, said Mr V.S. Raju, President of the chamber.

LG's new phone aims to beat Apple, Samsung

LG Electronics Inc's new Optimus phone sports a display sharper than the one onApple Inc's iPhone and its chip puts it on par with Samsung Electronics Co's newest Galaxy. Gwon Soo Seok, 23, still isn't won over. "LG's image is that of a laggard," said Gwon, a student in Seoul who is leaning toward an iPhone or a Galaxy. "LG seems to have good technology, but Apple and Samsung are the cool ones," said Gwon, who stopped using devices made by Seoul-based LG, the world's No. 3 phonemaker, three years ago. The failure to woo consumers like Gwon leaves LG at a disadvantage to Apple and Samsung insmartphones, the fastest- growing segment of the $207 billion mobile-phone industry. LG had 718 billion won ($625 million) in operating losses at the handset division in the year to June, compared with a 5.7 trillion-won profit in the same period at Samsung. "LG was slow to embrace the smartphone market, and they are still having a hard time correcting the mistake," said Lim Han Eui, a telecommunications consultant at ROA Consulting in Seoul. "There has been nothing particularly special about their phones. They need to develop their own color and identity." LG, whose panel unit supplies the "Retina" displays used in the iPhone, introduced its first smartphone globally last year, more than three years after the debut of the Apple device. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, accounted for 18.5 per cent of global smartphone shipments in the second quarter, compared with 13.5 percent a year earlier, research company Strategy Analytics said in July. Nokia Oyj, based in Espoo, Finland, dropped to third place, falling behind Samsung after its market share shrank to 15.2 per cent from 38.1 per cent. 'Behind the Curve' Including basic phones, Nokia remained the world's biggest handset maker with a 24.5 per cent share, followed by Samsung at 20.5 per cent and LG at 6.9 per cent, according to the researcher. "They've been behind the curve and are constantly playing catch-up," Annalisa Di Chiara, a Hong Kong-based senior analyst at Moody's, said of LG. "The question, really, is whether they will ever catch up on the mobile side." LG shares have slumped 36 per cent this year, compared with a 3.4 per cent drop for Samsung, a 22 per cent jump for Apple and a 39 per cent tumble for Nokia. Earlier this month, Moody's cut the outlook for LG's Baa2 issuer and senior unsecured debt rating to "negative" from "stable," citing weakness in the handset market. Standard & Poor's lowered the long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings to BBB- from BBB on October 14. Hard sell The company is aiming to stem losses and convince investors a turnaround is possible. Koo Bon Joon, the younger brother of LG Group's chairman, took over last year after his predecessor Nam Yong quit, taking responsibility for failing to come up with a model to counter the iPhone. The maker of Chocolate and Prada handsets is cutting back on less-profitable models, Park Jong Seok, head of the mobile business, said in July. More than 12 new models have been unveiled this year, under the Optimus brand. LG showcased the Optimus LTE in Seoul on October 10, touting its 329 pixels-per-inch screen compared with the iPhone 4S's 326. The chip has a 1.5 gigahertz processor, the same as Samsung's latest Galaxy model. LG has the strength in technology for next-generation mobile devices such as the long-term evolution model, said Ken Hong, a Seoul-based spokesman. The latest phone is capable of running on faster networks using the so-called LTE technology. 'Ripe time' "Time is ripe for us to put that into action," he said. "The Year 2012 is going to be a significantly different scene from now." The company is also betting on 3D technology in mobile phones, a feature Samsung and Apple don't offer. It introduced a 3D phone this year and plans are in place for more, said Jeong Ok Hyun, head of LG's research center. Full-year net loss at the mobile-phone division may narrow to 270 billion won in 2011 compared with the 654 billion won loss a year earlier, according to the average of four analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg News. LG is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings this week. "LG's strategy seems to be to make anything they can come up with, with the hope that something will become a hit," said Woo Chang Hee, a Seoul-based analyst at LIG Investment & Securities Co. "They may be taking the right steps, but the pace isn't fast enough."

Ecommerce portal OneBazaar launches online consumer community Jatang

Mumbai-based retail company Cosmic Retail, which operates OneBazaar.com, has launched Jatang as a social networking website that rewards its members for every single activity they do on the portal. The points collected can be redeemed on OneBazaar.com. Users can add other users as friends, exchange messages, write blogs, add videos/photos, browse through classifieds and get automatic notifications on latest updates. Jatang users must register before using the site. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics.

Facebook accused of creating 'extensive profiles' of non-users

Facebook is now building profiles of non-users who haven't even signed up to the social networking site, it has emerged. The claim has been made in a complaint filed in August by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner. It alleges that users are encouraged to hand over the personal data of other people including names, phone numbers, email addresses and more, which Facebook uses to create "extensive profiles" of non-users. " Facebook Ireland is gathering excessive amounts of information about data subjects without notice or consent by the data subject," the complaint said. It added that in many cases the information "might be embarrassing or intimidating for the data subject. The information might also constitute sensitive data such as political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation and so forth." Facebook, however, categorically denied the allegations, Fox News reports. "The allegations are false. We enable you to send emails to your friends, inviting them to join Facebook. We keep the invitee's email address and name to let you know when they join the service," said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes. "This practice is common among almost all services that involve invitations from document sharing to event planning," he said.

Microsoft and Google consider bid for yahoo

As a host of potential bidders circle Yahoo, several of Silicon Valley's biggest companies are considering whether to jump into the fray themselves. Microsoft and Google are both weighing whether to participate in the bidding. Each has its own business reasons for wanting to see the continued existence of Yahoo, which despite its financial struggles still has a monthly audience of almost 700 million unique visitors. But there's one thing the technology giants have in common: Not one of them wants to actually buy or run Yahoo. Instead, Microsoft and Google are considering lending financial support to private equity firms or others weighing a bid, according to people briefed on the matter. Microsoft is the furthest along, having held discussions with a number of leveraged buyout firms, these people said. Under one possible combination, Microsoft would chip in billions of dollars in financing as part of a consortium led by the private equity firm Silver Lake and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, three of these people said. That group would be backstopped by billions of dollars in bank financing as well. Google, for its part, has had conversations with two private equity firms about backing a takeover, according to another person briefed on the matter. Such discussions are in the early stages and may not lead to a bid, this person said. Representatives for Microsoft, Google, Silver Lake and Yahoo declined to comment on any potential bidding. While nearly every major private equity firm has been conducting some preliminary due diligence on Yahoo, potential suitors have been trying to sort out what bids would look like before they sign nondisclosure agreements with Yahoo to officially pore over its books, according to people briefed on the matter. These people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about confidential talks. But what has become apparent is that the private equity firms would be focused on turning around the company, while a deep-pocketed backer like Microsoft or Google would supply capital. A crucial Yahoo adviser, Allen & Company, has told potential bidders that they should focus on how to improve the company's core North American operations and not worry about the divestiture of the company's huge holdings in theAlibaba Group of China and Yahoo Japan. Players like Microsoft and Google are primarily interested in what they could reap from teaming up with Yahoo. Yahoo's news arm reported 81.2 million unique visitors in August, making it the biggest online news site. Microsoft already has in place a wide-ranging agreement with Yahoo: Its Bing search engine fetches answers to user queries, while Yahoo's sales force sells ads against those results. Microsoft may also push to integrate its newest acquisition, the Internet communications company Skype, into Yahoo. With a deal, Google could eventually wrest Yahoo away from Microsoft when their partnership expires. By doing so, the company could provide its own search technology and use its DoubleClick display advertising subsidiary to service Yahoo's advertising inventory, this person said

people who failed to then succeeded