Innholdsfortegnelse for 18 December 2016 i Business Today

Over two weeks into the demonetisation exercise, quite a few things are becoming clearer, though other things remain to be resolved. The first thing that is becoming increasingly apparent is that the government may have thought through the exercise to try and minimise loopholes that people could exploit, but it certainly did not think hard enough of the execution. After a fortnight, there still isn't enough cash in banks and currency withdrawal limits remain. ATMS are finally being recalibrated but it will still be at least two more weeks before you can walk into an ATM and withdraw cash as easily as how you could before November 8. Similarly, it will take a few more months to print enough notes for smooth functioning. Finally, there have been myriad changes in…

01 SMART SOLUTIONS WHAT: M-Commerce Summit WHEN: December 1, Mumbai WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The CII event will invite key stakeholders, including representatives of the ministry, regulatory bodies, corporate India and the mobile-commerce industry, to discuss policy challenges, growth and bottlenecks, and how to build partnerships to further scale up the industry, given rising smartphone penetration 02 SAFETY FIRST WHAT: Third Party Risk Management: 2020 and Beyond WHEN: December 2, Hyderabad WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The Nasscom event will focus on key areas of emerging risks due to increased reliance on outsource service providers. It will provide independent, practical advice and insight into future trends, form strategies and initiatives, and exchange best practices with real-world case studies 02 FROM FIELDS TO TABLE WHAT: FoodCon 2016 WHEN: December 2, Chennai WHAT…

“IT WAS AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT. PEOPLE MISTOOK 2012 FOR 2010 AND THOUGHT THE BOOM WAS HERE TO STAY”RAVI UPPAL, Managing Director and Group CEO, Jindal Steel and Power August 7, 2014, was a black day for the Indian steel industry. That day, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Neeraj Singhal, the Vice Chairman of Bhushan Steel, on charges of bribing Syndicate Bank Chairman S.K. Jain for securing credit to prevent the company from defaulting on a loan. The company’s stock fell more than 60 per cent over the next few weeks. This put the spotlight on the extreme distress in the steel industry — its unmanageable high-cost debt and fall in prices due to surge in imports (in 2014 and 2015) aided by “predatory” pricing by China, which further…

PURCHASE OF GOLD • Sale at a premium • Backdated Invoices • UnderInvoicing(less than Rs 50,000) BACKDATED FIXED DEPOSITS • Creation of back-dated fixed deposits at rural cooperative banks with manual operations MONEY MULES • Bank note mafia • Farmer accounts/ PMJDY accounts • Short term loans to the poor AGRICULTURAL INCOME • Land property owned falsely declared to be used for plantation, nursery, garden and income earned TEMPLE HUNDIS • Cash donations declared as anonymous are paid back to donor less commission by cheque PAYMENT OF ADVANCE SALARY/BONUSES • Old notes to pay advance salaries • Employee's accounts opened without employee knowledge DONATIONS TO POLITICAL PARTIES • All donation receipts are structured to be less than 20,000 to avoid quoting of permanent account number (PAN) CASH-DEFICIT FIRMS • Small…

Arthakranti Pratishthan, an NGO based out of a nondescript rental flat in a predominantly residential Rambaug Colony, some 20 km from Pune Airport, is now gaining global attention. Considered to be the brain behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move of scrapping old 500 and `1,000 notes, the think tank stands for a complete overhaul of India’s taxation system. In an exclusive interview with Joe Mathew, Anil S. Bokil, an engineer-turned-economic thinker, the chief architect of Arthakranti Proposal, talks about the merits of demonetisation and how it can lead to a black money free-cashless economy, if the government adopts all of the NGO’s proposals. Excerpts: How do you see Modi government’s surprise decision to demonetise high value currencies? Modi is moving in the right direction. The previous government couldn’t do it…

 By Rajeev Jayaswal PAGES: 450 PRICE: 499 Bloomsbury India The book is a good read for those seeking to understand the socio-political scenario of the past decade I do not know Jayaswal, the author, personally, but have followed his stories on oil and gas when he was a reporter at The Economic Times. Given his prolific reportage, I was eager to read it to tally my views and understanding about the crude oil industry of which I’ve been a part for two decades. There was also curiosity about the ‘untold stories’ mentioned in the title. This book is insightful, and also iconoclastic. It explains how certain political and corporate elements took advantage of people’s ignorance about the controversies in the crude oil sector, and created confusion to pursue their own…

Ahmedabad, November 19, 2016 – 82 golfers teed off on a cool and windy morning at the Kalhaar Blues and Greens Golf Course for the LLOYD Business Today Pro-Am of Champions 2017. The idyllic course was envisaged to combine dramatic natural beauty with accommodations, warm hospitality, expert service and grand recreation. A world class championship course of 18 holes, 7425 yards, Par 72 layout is designed by ‘Nicklaus Design’ the leading golf course designing firm owned by the legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus. Almost 1.2 Million Cubic Meters of earth was moved to follow the design to maximize the undulations and to provide an illusion of playing down in the valley. It’s a modern design and unique in terms of features and technology used. No wonder the course has been rated…

Well-scrutinised The Great Indian Vanishing Trick (December 4) was a multi-pronged scrutiny of the acclaimed strategic display of demonetisation of high-value notes for tackling black money and counterfeit currency issues. But it was a curate’s egg with poor advanced planning to tide over contingencies, missing road-map for implementation, inept handling at all levels, capricious announcements, confusing restraints, and detestable self-satisfaction of the Centre. Shrouded in secrecy to impede its own velocity of operations, the Centre was unmindful of the deprived lot and the middle class, though they are thus far votaries of the scheme! Abolition of black money is a global phenomenon and is the Holy Grail of any government, but the NDA government is behaving pompously as if this is its own finding, and has unilaterally transformed the given…

During the festive season, characterised by e-tailers trying to outshine each other by offering better, more jaw-dropping discounts, Flipkart decided to do things a bit differently. It took to 360-degree videos on Facebook to unveil discounts of the season in the form of a virtual treasure hunt. For the uninitiated, a 360-degree video is recorded using a camera system that can simultaneously capture all 360 degrees of a scene, and can be viewed by dragging the mouse. Flipkart asked users to search for the hidden discounts and offers in its Bangalore office premises, while its employees gave them a virtual tour using a live 360-degree video on Facebook. Prizes were given to users who took screenshots of the offers they spotted. The campaign garnered over one million views, and was…

REAL ESTATE With black money component in real estate deals reported to be 30-40%, property prices may fall by as much CONSTRUCTION The sector could see migration of workers, who are paid in cash, to their native places, stalling work. This could impact cement and steel sales CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY Two-wheeler and consumer durables sales likely to be hit due to falling purchasing power of rural and semi-urban customers BANKS High opportunity cost as bank employees are engaged in just deposit and withdrawal work MFIs AND NBFCs Collection cycles likely to get disrupted due to limited liquidity and restrictions on cash withdrawal…

This may be a political move! The government intends to squeeze farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala, among others. Modi seems to have unleashed a class war, putting systems against the poor and the lower-middle class The sudden move on the part of the Prime Minister to withdraw money in circulation on the pretext of demonetisation is unprecedented in India, or any other country, or the world. The move has already proven immensely disruptive in a country where many people transact in cash. Many countries took recourse to demonetisation, but it was followed by hyper inflation or instability in their currencies. This unprecedented move has disrupted the economy, resulting in production loss, particularly in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, garments and jewellery. More than 400,000 people fear…

I have lived long; I have seen hardship. The earliest memory is of queues outside ration shops. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland; Britain declared war on him, and dragged its prize colony, India, into it. It needed to feed the millions recruited into the army; so it stopped farmers and traders from bringing food grains into cities and selling them. It declared that it had a monopoly of grain purchase; it would buy all grains at prices it fixed, take what it liked for its babus and soldiers, and ration the rest to the people living in cities, so many seers per week, just enough to live on. Thanks to Gandhi’s agitations over three decades, the British left India in 1947. But so did Pakistan, and with it, West Punjab,…

Beyond Competitive Advantage By Todd Zenger Price: 1250 The book provides guidance to the thoughtful strategic leader or the manager tasked with developing strategies for sustaining value and creating growth. IIMA - Day to Day Economics By Satish Y. Deodhar Random House India Price: 299 The Unusual Billionaires By Saurabh Mukherjea Penguin Price: 499 The Rise and Fall of Nations By Ruchir Sharma Penguin UK Price: 799 Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built By Duncan Clark Ecco Price: 599 Shoe Dog By Phil Knight Simon & Schuster Price: 599 *Top books by sales for Nov 7 - 20, 2016; Includes only books released after Jan 1, 2015; Information provided by…

“Wastewater and solid waste management emerging as key thrust areas” What are the challenges developing countries face with water treatment and management? There are multiple challenges such as growing urbanisation, industrialisation, rising living standards, and the increasing pressure on water availability when the resources are becoming scarce. Also, protection of water tables and rivers from pollution caused by untreated wastewater or insufficient norms is a concern. India has recently strengthened the existing norms about the reject from wastewater plants. These imply huge investment programmes, both in potable and wastewater, rehabilitating existing water networks to compensate losses coming from leakage. How do you customise solutions for India? We developed Smart Management for water utilities – an advanced technique that enhances the overall delivery efficiency of the distribution system, saves energy (response…

QUOTE “Ratan Tata once tried to sell Tata Consultancy Services, now the cash cow of the Tata Group to IBM Corp.” – Cyrus Mistry, the ousted Tata Group chief claimed in a statement. However, TCS founding CEO, F.C. Kohli, refuted Mistry's claims. The ugly spat between Mystry and Tata has been all about allegations and counter allegations, and is headed for an even uglier end THE RICH GETS RICHER India's richest 1 per cent now owns 58.4 per cent of the country’s wealth, compared to 40.3 per cent in 2010, says a report from Credit Suisse Group AG. The richest 10 per cent of Indians also increased their share of wealth from 68.8 per cent to 80.7 per cent during the period. The bottom half of Indians own only 2.1…

For a Good Cause Facebook has announced a slew of fundraising updates. The social networking site now allows users to raise funds using Face-book Live. It has also introduced a Donate button, which will help non-profits raise money directly from their page, in just a few taps. The company is currently testing the feature with a few non-profit organisations in the US. “You’ll be able to add the button to your Page and posts, making it easy for supporters to contribute through a one-page form on Facebook,” the company said in a post. Nonprofits can also redirect donors to their websites by using the ‘Donate Now’ call-to-action in ads or on their pages, Facebook informed. Users will be able to donate to 750,000 non-profits using Facebook. Eye-catching Snapchat has started…

While the near-term economic logic may seem weak, the plan on black money appears to be well thought out. Demonetisation is just one leg ... there is a combination of may things executed over the past two years by the Modi government They would play hide and seek. A banker, who nowadays is neck deep in work, “restructuring” the black cash of the rich, promises to meet the writers. Then backs out. “It’s hectic today,” he texts on WhatsApp. “We have audit which will continue for the next three days.” His bank, we learn, has fired him after his illegal cash management expertise was discovered. A second money handler agrees to talk on phone and then never picks the call. A businessman says he is running a clean business for…

The government has made an honest attempt at realigning economic incentives to drastically change human behaviour and make it easier for those who wish to be honest and incredibly tough for the dishonest. It will hit at the roots of untaxed, undeclared, taxable income Don’t wish for elephants unless you own a zoo, ‘cause wishes have a way of coming true, said the Muppet Babies. Let’s not also forget that wishes do come true, but not for free. It is astonishing to see how intellectuals, semi-literate economists, sundry Page 3 types, Lutyens’ former elite including many civil servants, LLMS (Left-liberal media), and politicians of every hue and colour, kept wringing their hands – and rightly so – at the absence of ‘Big Bang’ reforms. And when big bang happens, they…

It has been over a year since Nestle India reinstated Maggi Noodles after it was unceremoniously ousted in May 2015 when a Food Safety and Drug Administration official in UP declared that it contained monosodium glutamate (a taste enhancer, better known as ajinomoto) beyond accepted levels. The brand, ever since, has regained its position as market leader with a market share of 42 per cent (according to Euromonitor), with ITC’S Sunfeast Noodles a distant No. 2 with a 24 per cent share of the 3,180-crore instant noodles market. At Nestle House, the plush headquarters of the 8,175-crore Nestle India in Gurgaon, the 56-year-old-Suresh Narayanan, who was hastily brought in as Chairman and MD last July to save the company from the worst crisis it faced in its 104-year history in…

We asked Uber and Ola to clarify and respond to some of the things drivers said and did. Ola did not respond to our queries. Uber did not answer specific questions, but sent the following note: Yes, Uber's commission is deducted on incentives and we have different models, including fare-based incentives We understand that drivers are looking at maximising their earnings and we are looking at more ways for them to earn more money. We’re constantly testing out new promotions, bonuses and other temporary experiments — which often vary from city to city — to help maximise earnings and create an even more efficient marketplace Uber offers drivers an unprecedented level of control and independence to run their own businesses. They drive when they want and where they want, for…

There was a time when video calls were the perfect remedy for homesickness, albeit subject to good Internet connectivity. Skype was the first to wow users by enabling video calls on PCS/ desktops, with the help of web cams. Several new video calling apps for the mobile platform have sprouted in the past few years. A tap is all it takes to make someone come alive on your phone. With WhatsApp introducing this feature – throwing it open to its one billion monthly active users worldwide – the popularity of video calling is set to peak. Based on your phone’s OS and internet connectivity, you can choose from seven of the most popular video calling apps. WHATSAPP After introducing voice calls last year, the most popular instant messaging app introduced…

By Pavitra Kumar PAGES: 256 PRICE: 399 Portfolio by Penguin Random House Charting the success of any homegrown business often makes for a compelling story. India also has its fair share of corporate anthologies. Bhujia Barons by former journalist Pavitra Kumar brings us the story of snack major Haldiram’s journey from a ramshackle shop in Rajasthan to one of the largest quick service restaurant chains in India that has held its own against the global biggies. The book is not very voluminous, but adequately covers the near 100-year journey spanning three generations of the Agarwals of Bikaner. Given the paucity of information on the family in mainstream media – Wikipedia only offers a five-minute write-up on the company – Kumar digs up a wealth of information, and presents it in…