Success in my Habit

Friday, March 23, 2012

PVR Cinemas partners with Scrabble Entertainment to go 100% Digital

Pune: PVR Cinemas will have all its screens converted to digital projection by the end of this month. It has tied up with Scabble Entertainment, a Mumbai-based digital cinema system supplier, that will convert 73 of PVR's 162 operational screens to digital in the next fortnight.

Digital cinema is a technology by which movies are screened using digital projection unlike the traditional system where a beam of light is passed through physical cellulose prints. It allows greater security and safety for the content, when films are screened digitally. Physical prints are more likely to be stolen and leaked to pirates. Digital cinema is transferred through either satellite downloads or in copy-proof hard disks.

The company supplies 2K digital systems, where 2K refers to images having 2048 pixels of horizontal resolution. The conversion of 73 screens will cost Rs 21 crore and all the future properties will be digital. The size of the entire partnership for digital conversion until December 2012 would be approximately Rs 66 Crore, a company statement said.

Ranjit Thakur, CEO, Scrabble Entertainment Ltd. highlighted "It is extremely encouraging to see the entire foot-print of a leading theatre chain go digital. Being one of the biggest & best theater chains in India, this partnership is a major step for India going completely digital by 2014. It is great to partner with PVR Cinemas as both of us strive at giving our patrons the best movie-viewing experience."

Pramod Arora, Group President & CEO of PVR Cinemas elaborated, " The value, flexibility & quality that 2K digital provides is far beyond the differential cost difference when compared to any other digital platform in the country. The stellar image on screen substantially improves the overall viewing experience of the consumer. At PVR we have taken a conscious decision to always go with the best available technology from time to time "

Kapil Agrawal, Joint Managing Director of UFO Moviez added that leading exhibitors such as PVR Cinemas understand the importance of digital platforms and are planning to adapt to the technology at an initial stage before print goes obsolete by 2014. We hope to see many more exhibitors such as PVR Cinemas taking this initiative." UFO Movies holds a 52% stake in Scrabble Entertainment.

The partnership will be based on a rental model which will include the services of programming, flexibility logs of movies advertising, Theatre Management System and a central library.

Xilinx opens expanded R&D facility

Hyderabad: Chip-designer Xilinx Inc has inaugurated its expanded facility here.

“The facility, Xilinx's largest research and development centre outside the US, would continue to support all programmable technologies and devices,'' Mr Moshe Gavrielov, President and Chief Executive Officer, Xilinx Inc, told newspersons here on Tuesday.

The US-based company's advanced solutions including 28 nanometre next-generation technology were associated with India development centre.

"We have grown here from 60 professionals four years ago to 400 now. The investments here will be continued," he said.

All these employees in Hyderabad report to Xilinx's programmable platforms development and worldwide technical support groups.

Mr Neeraj Varma, Director Sales – India, Xilinx, said India became a crucial market for his company.

Segments such as telecom and Defence would drive growth in Indian businesses, he added.

Citing industry estimates, Mr Varma said the addressable semi-conductor market in India was estimated at $3.2 billion.

Shiv Nadar University in tie-up with Babson College

New Delhi: Noida-based Shiv Nadar University on Tuesday announced its collaboration with Babson College to offer three programs focused on entrepreneurship and establish a Center of Entrepreneurship.

The three programs (under the School of Business) include a four-year undergraduate program in business administration (BBA), a two-year MBA program and a one-year MS program.

All the programs will focus on entrepreneurship and will commence next year onwards. Students pursuing BBA and MBA programs will get an option to study one of the semesters at Babson College, while those pursuing MS will spend the summer semester at Babson College. The course fee ranges from Rs 11.5 lakh to Rs 15.75 lakh, depending on the program.

Babson College will help the School of Business at the University with curriculum design, selection and admissions, faculty training and student exchanges.

According to Nikhil Sinha, founding vice chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, India will have about 100 million young people looking for jobs in the next 10 years, but it may not be possible for the existing corporates to grow and create jobs in such large numbers.

"Our country needs new entrepreneurs to create the adequate number of jobs in the future," he said. "While individuals and business families in India have displayed sharp business acumen and have established global recognition, there is a need for structured and formal intervention through education to nurture and promote leadership in entrepreneurship," he added.

The University will also work towards providing financial support to entrepreneurs to launch their start-ups. However, the university is yet to decide on the student intake.. "We are looking to attract working executives who want to become entrepreneurs, as well as those who will handle their family businesses in the coming years," Sinha said.

Len Schlesinger, president, Babson College, said they will help develop the Centre of Entrepreneurship, which will serve as a center for excellence for entrepreneurship in India, focusing on research, incubation programs, outreach programs and case studies.

"We believe that entrepreneurship can be taught and how it is taught can make all the difference in the way businesses can be a success," he added.

11% rise in E. Rly revenue in April-Feb

Kolkata: The Eastern Railway (ER) has posted an over 11 per cent increase in revenue of nearly Rs 4,858 crore for the period between April 2011 and February 2012, as compared to the Rs 4,364 crore that it posted over the same period last year.

ER during the period carried nearly 52 mt of freight, a six per cent growth over the 49 million tonnes carried between April 2010 to February 2011.

In February 2012, freight went up by nearly 25 per cent to over 5 mt as compared to 4 mt in the same month last year. Meanwhile, ER recorded a nearly six per cent increase with over 107 crore passengers.

FDI inflows up 92% in January

New Delhi: India received $2 billion foreign direct investment in January 2012, registering a 92 per cent rise, compared to $1.04 billion a year ago. The cumulative inflows for the April 2011-January 2012 period stood at $26.19 billion, according to an official release. Sectors which received FDI inflows during the 10-month period this fiscal are: services ($4.83 billion), pharmaceuticals ($3.20 billion), telecommunication ($1.99 billion), construction ($2.23 billion), power ($1.56 billion) and metallurgical industries ($1.65 billion). Mauritius remain the top source of inflows ($8.91 billion), followed by Singapore ($4.30 billion), Japan ($2.75 billion), UK ($2.75 billion), Germany ($1.46 billion), the Netherlands ($1.16 billion) and Cyprus ($1.31 billion). FDI inflows into India totalled $19.42 billion in 2010-11 financial year, down from $25.83 billion in 2009-10.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Gujarat plans LNG terminal at Pipavav port

New Delhi: Gujarat plans to set up its fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Pipavav port soon besides commissioning the 5-MT capacity greenfield LNG terminal at Mundra by 2015-16, the state's principal secretary for energy, DJ Pandian, said.

"We want one more LNG terminal at Pipavav port, which will have 2.5 MT to 5 MT capacity. Many companies have expressed interest in the project," Pandian told ET. The state already has terminals at Dahej and Hazira and a third one is coming up in Mundra.

"Companies like Torrent, BPCL and HPCL are interested in Pipavav project. The project would be launched soon," Pandian said.

He said many companies were interested in picking up 25% equity stake in Rs 3,500 crore Mundra LNG terminal project. "A strategic partner would be inducted by 2013," he said.

GSPC, owned by Gujarat government, wants to develop the project before inducting a new partner, a company official said. "We will invest Rs 60-100 crore in next 6-12 months before inducting a new partner," said the official who did not wish to be named. GSPC has 50% equity stake in the terminal and Adani group holds 25%. Essar group, which initially held 25% stake in the project, exited the venture.

The company plans to source gas from Australia and Egypt for the Mundra terminal. Pandian said Gujarat had emerged as LNG hub of the country and has appetite for new capacities.

Hazira and Dahej terminals have combine capacity of over 13 MT and there is a scope for two more terminals, he said.

The Saumitra Chaudhuri committee report estimates that the domestic gas output would reach to 199 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) by 2016-17, but demand would outstrip supply.

Tata Power is largest private power producer

Mumbai: Tata Power on Monday synchronised the second unit of its Maithon power project in Jharkhand. With this 525 megawatt (Mw) unit, the company has a total power generation capacity of 5,297 Mw, making it the country’s largest private sector power generating firm.

The Maithon project's first unit was commissioned in September 2011. It is a 74:26 joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation. “The synchronisation of Maithon unit-2 today is a significant milestone. This development reaffirmed Tata Power's contribution as the largest integrated power company in India,” said Anil Sardana, managing director, Tata Power in a statement.

Ten days earlier, the company commissioned the first unit of India’s first ultra mega power project in Mundra, Gujarat.

The 800-Mw unit was synchronised in mid-January and achieved full load in late February. With Mundra and Maithon, Tata Power has a gross thermal power generating capacity of 4,447 Mw, and a clean generation capacity of 850 Mw from renewable sources. The company’s stock went down by three per cent in Monday’s trade, to close at around Rs 102 per share.

The company added 1,300 Mw in gross capacity this quarter. Lanco Infratech comes second in terms of capacity with private power sector companies, and has an operational capacity of 4,388 Mw and Adani Power has 3,330 Mw of capacity. Reliance Power which has plans to add 24,000 Mw of capacity, plans to bring their capacity to 5,000 Mw, by December this year.

India's web economy to touch Rs 11L cr by 2016: Study

Mumbai: The Indian internet economy is projected to touch Rs 10.8 trillion by 2016, according to a report in the The Boston Consulting Group’s Connected World Series study.

Indian internet economy that contributed Rs 3.2 trillion to the overall economy in 2010 represents 4.1 per cent of the gross domestic product.

The report ‘The $4.2 trillion Opportunity: The Internet Economy in G-20’, further notes that if the internet were a sector, it would be the eighth largest in India.

It is driven especially by exports of information technology services — net exports make up 59 per cent of the Indian Internet economy, while consumption is only 20 per cent.

“Consumption is the principal driver of internet GDP in most countries, typically representing more than 50 per cent of the total in 2010. It will remain the largest single driver through 2016. China and India stand out for their enormous internet related exports — China in goods, India in services — which propel their internet-economy rankings toward the top of the chart,” said Arvind Subramanian, a Mumbai-based BCG partner.

He said, “In emerging countries like India, social media is fast becoming the internet medium and mobile the access medium of choice.

India’s internet economy growth rate of 23 per cent makes it the second fastest across the G-20 countries and ahead of many other developing nations in the G-20, which are growing at an average of 17.8 per cent. Projected growth rates elsewhere are: 24.3 per cent in Argentina, 18.3 per cent in Russia and 15.6 per cent in Mexico. In 2010, developed markets contributed 76 per cent of the G-20's internet economy; by 2016 that will fall to 66 per cent.

In 2010, the share of online retail out of the overall retail in India was only 0.9 per cent. It is projected to reach 4.5 per cent by 2016. What's more, the internet influences only an additional 0.8 per cent of total retail from connected consumers researching online and purchasing offline ('ROPO'). These numbers compare to 3.1 per cent for online sales and 4 per cent for ROPO in Brazil, 1.7 per cent and 4.8 per cent in Russia, and 5 per cent and 9.6 per cent in the US.

The report also highlights how internet has become an integral part of consumers’ everyday life. When the report asked the surveyed base how much they would have to be paid to live without internet access, Indian respondents said an average of Rs 21,436 per year, or 2.8 times what they pay for access and services. When asked whether they would forgo to take showers for a year in order to keep internet access, 36 per cent of Indian online consumers said they would; 64 per cent said they would forgo chocolate; 63 per cent coffee; and 70 per cent would give up alcohol.

The report further stated that the internet economy in developed markets of the G-20 will grow at an annual rate of 8 per cent over the next five years, far outpacing just about every traditional economic sector, producing both wealth and jobs. The contribution to GDP will rise to 5.7 per cent in the EU and 5.3 per cent for the G-20. Growth rates will be more than twice as fast — an average annual rate of 18 per cent — in developing markets, some of which are banking on digital future with big investments in broadband infrastructure. The economy by 2016 will also employ 32 million more people than it does today.

In 2010, the internet economy in the UK accounted for the highest percentage of national GDP, followed by South Korea (7.3 per cent) and China (5.5 per cent). In each of these three countries, the internet economy would rank among the top six industry sectors. At 4.7 per cent, the 2010 share of US GDP contributed by the internet was about the same as the share contributed by the federal government — and ranked slightly ahead of the developed markets' average share of 4.3 per cent.

Turkey to double flights from India

Hyderabad: Turkey seeks to double flights from India, besides opening four more connecting points. The other destinations it is looking at are Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. At present, Turkish Airlines operates daily flights from Mumbai and New Delhi to Istanbul.

“We have sought permissions from the Indian Government to double this number and expand to other destinations,” Dr Burak Akcapar, Turkish Ambassador to India, said.

Free Trade Agreement
Referred to as the ‘sick man of Europe', Turkey has now emerged as the 16th largest economy in the world. After signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 21 countries, Turkey now wants to sign one with India.

“Last year, the bilateral trade volume was just about $7 billion. This is nowhere near the full potential. We expect it to grow to $20 billion in the next few years,” Dr Akcapar said.

India's share was put at $5.9 billion in the bilateral trade.

“The basket is very small,vis-à-visits potential. We can expand the scope to textile equipment, chemicals, electronics, electrical appliances and kitchenware. There is scope for increase in trade from both sides,” he said.

The Ambassador was here to attend a road show by TUSCON (Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey) to promote the upcoming Turkey World Trade Bridge in June.

“India and Turkey have completed a joint study on the FTA. We are yet to sign it. This will pave way for signing the FTA. We are awaiting the Indian side's time for signing the study. Businessmen from both sides are eagerly waiting to tap the potential,” he said.

Consulates
Turkey would open a Consulate in Hyderabad soon. “We have received permission to open consulates in Chennai and Hyderabad. But before establishing consulates, we will appoint honorary consuls,” the Ambassador said.

Foreign venture capital investors get to dabble in securities via secondary market

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India has allowed foreign venture capital investors to invest in securities through the secondary market and also through private arrangements or purchase from a third party.

The move is expected to bring several venture capital investors to India's debt and equities market, legal experts said.

"It has been decided to allow foreign venture capital investors (FVCI) to invest in eligible securities (equity, equity-linked instruments, debt and debt instruments, debentures of a domestic venture capital undertaking or VC funds, units of schemes/funds set up by a VC fund) by way of private arrangements or purchase from a third party also," a circular issued by the central bank said.

Till now, there was no clarity on whether registered foreign venture funds could buy securities from the secondary markets using the FVCI route.

While there was no specific restriction under the FVCI Regulations issued by capital markets regulator, the Securities Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, certain custodians did not permit their FVCI clients to purchase shares. The RBI notification has clarified that FVCIs can invest in securities of investee companies "by way of a private arrangement or purchase from a third party".

"FVCI registered entities now have a greater investment horizon as they will be able purchase shares of venture capital undertakings from existing investors, including angel investors, venture capital and private equity funds, under the FVCI route," said Vikram Shroff of law firm Nishith Desai Associates.