Innholdsfortegnelse for 7-Oct-2018 i Business Today

OVER THE NEXT few years, a number of entrepreneurs, who had shot to prominence over the past decade and a half, will either have lost their entire businesses or will see their empires shrink dramatically in size, after losing many of their companies. They will see their prized possessions either auctioned off or liquidated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Their aggrieved lenders, with a little bit of prodding from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), would have already taken them to the National Companies Law Tribunal (NCLT) for bankruptcy proceedings. For many tycoons, the process is already under way. Some others may see their firms going to the NCLT soon, unless they find the money to repay the banks. Thus the Ruias of Essar will lose their flagship Essar…

ALMOST TWO YEARS after the last Bharat Bandh, educational institutes, transport services, and stores were shut in large parts of India as Opposition parties protested the continued rise in fuel – diesel and petrol – prices. A Bharat Bandh leads to an estimated loss of ₹25,000 crore to the economy according to an Assocham study. Trade, transport, hotels, and financial services – all a substantial chunk of GDP, are directly impacted by the bandh. More importantly, it affects the attractiveness of the country as an investment destination. But, then that is the price that the BJP government has to pay, as elections get closer, and fuel prices continue to be on fire.…

AUROBINDO PHARMA TO BUY PARTS OF SANDOZ Novartis will sell Sandoz’s dermatology business and generic oral solids portfolio in the US to India’s Aurobindo Pharma for $900 million in cash and up to $100 million based on performance. The deal will make Aurobindo the second-largest generic player in the US by prescriptions, adding nearly 300 products to the company’s portfolio plus commercial and manufacturing capabilities. AMAZON BRIEFLY HITS $1 Tn MARKET CAP Amazon briefly joined Apple in the trillion-dollar valuation club when the company’s shares rose nearly 2 per cent to reach $2,050.50 in morning trading on September 4. Analysts cite the e-commerce giant’s diverse portfolio, which now includes Whole Foods and PillPack, as its value driver, reports CNBC. Amazon crossed the mark five weeks after Apple reached $1 trillion…

MANAGING PRODUCT BRAND, as well as corporate branding, has become a challenging area. Today, each firm is making efforts to increase brand equity and public relations (PR) has emerged as the favourite tool. Social media is the most-sought-after medium now for making the correct noises at the right time and places. Moreover, of late, corporate social responsibility and its different offshoots have been sought after as a part of the PR strategy. Researches of David Aaker and Jean-Noël Kapferer are still very relevant when it comes to brand management. However, firms in India have moved far ahead when it comes to establishing and maintaining a sustainable competitive edge through brand equity. Interestingly, with the ever-increasing array of product variants and brands, customers were never more confused than now. To top…

The first week of September brought into the open the growing chasm in the aviation sector. The government, along with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and global industry body IATA, organised a mega event in New Delhi’s Taj Palace Hotel to celebrate 50 consecutive months of double-digit passenger traffic growth. The participants, led by Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, painted a rosy picture of the sector, including India’s potential to become the world’s third-largest aviation market, flying over a billion passengers a year, and plans to build 100 new airports at an investment of $60 billion in the next 10-15 years. A day before this, global consultancy CAPA came out with a report that highlighted the fault lines in the sector. “Indian airlines are expected to post combined losses of…

Frank Zappa once said, “You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline.” India has six even though a ‘beer-airline’ shut down a few years ago. Zappa was bang on when it came to figuring out India because clearly, we are still “worth something”. Here is a fun fact. Did you know that Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai now handle more than half of the air traffic in South Asia and also act as a vital air traffic hub supporting Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan? According to a recent analysis, Delhi and Mumbai currently rank as one of the busiest city pairs when it comes to flight arrivals and departures. That alone should drive airport modernisation and…

*Top books by sales for Aug 28-Sept 11, 2018; includes only books released after Jan 1, 2015; information provided by…

Are you insurance savvy? Many people who claim to be financially smart never fail to review and realign their budgets and investment portfolios. But they would rarely monitor and analyse their options to get the best out of a fast-evolving, consumer-centric and technology-driven insurance ecosystem. In India, the industry was off to a flying start in the first decade of the new millennium. But due to a high-cost structure and the severe downturn during 2007-2008, prospective consumers were reluctant to buy insurance products by the end of the decade. It prompted the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to come out with several path-breaking reforms which shredded the earlier cost structure and made the segment more customer-friendly. As a result, insurers have reinvented their products and minimised costs,…

STAY CONNECTED WITH US ON www.facebook.com/BusinessToday@BT_India PERSPECTIVES PM Modi Talks About Electric Cars But No Word on FAME 2 In the last 18 months, the government has been making only noises about a swift transition from internal combustion engines to battery-operated vehicles businesstoday.in/electriccars-fame2 Why Jan Dhan Is Critical to Modi’s Plans PMJDY scheme is meant to promote financial inclusion and provide at least one bank account per household across the country in four years businesstoday.in/pmjdy-operation Rajan’s Prescription to Stave Off Bad Loans Lost in ‘Political’ Translation The former RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan, had listed out the key reform areas to prevent recurrence of bad loans that the banking system is currently grappling with businesstoday.in/rajan-prescription NEWS More Rules Likely to Flush Out ‘Shell’ Companies The government’s move is to ensure that…

Market regulator Sebi did well to promptly address concerns around its earlier circular that barred NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin from being Beneficial Owners (BO) in FPI funds investing in India. If the Sebi accepts the HR Khan panel’s proposals, the concept of BO will only be applied to KYC norms while NRIs will be allowed to invest up to 25 per cent single-handedly and 50 per cent in concert in FPI funds. If misuse of the FPI route is to be tackled, the BO declaration should take care of it, but a blanket ban would result in huge financial losses. Lobby group AMRI (Asset Management Roundtable of India) estimated $75-billion funds could move out from Indian shores if the Sebi circular was enforced. At a time when the…

AFTER THE RUPEE plunged to new lows against the dollar, having depreciated to close to 73, the government has finally acted by announcing a slew of measures to prop up the currency. In the past, the Reserve Bank of India has also been using foreign reserves to stabilise the rupee. Some say the interest rate tool will be used next by increasing the repo rate by 25-50 basis points in the next monetary policy. Globally, after Turkey and Argentina, the focus is shifting now to Brazil. But should the United States make the expected announcement on another set of tariffs on Chinese goods – worth $200 billion — all emerging markets will be thrown into panic. The outlook for the rupee isn’t looking better.…

INDIA’S APEX drugs regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is all set for a makeover with a new name and logo. But, just a name change will not suffice. Earlier suggestions were to make it a more powerful regulator as the National Drug Authority (NDA) or Central Drug Authority (CDA) or Indian Drug Administration (IDA). Currently, the CDSCO mainly regulates (and approves) drugs (new and imported), clinical trials, and blood bank licensing. Skeletal staff with lean infrastructure comprise the CDSCO’s six zonal, four sub-zonal, 13 port offices, and seven laboratories. The main industry activities of drug manufacturing and pharmacy licensing and regulation are with the states. To effectively regulate healthcare, India needs a one-point agency with vast powers, manpower, and infrastructure similar to the US Food and Drug…

WOOING START-UPs WHAT: CII Start-up Conclave WHEN: Sept 20, Chennai WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The forum proposes to encourage southern states to engage with the start-up community and provide support and guidance to create more entrepreneurs. The theme is “Startups – The Next Wave of Indian Economy”. More than 150 start-up participants across industries are expected to attend this conclave. METAL TRADE WHAT: Minerals & Metals Outlook 2030 WHEN: Oct 9-10, New Delhi WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The event will witness a Global CEO Session and Country Panel Discussion with top CEOs on the future of minerals and metals worldwide. India is well endowed with most minerals. It produces 95 minerals and offers a vast opportunity for investors to mine unexplored regions. BRINGING BILLIONS TOGETHER WHAT: Advantage India Summit WHEN:…

IN 2015, INDIAN BOLLYWOOD stars often made news for posting small video clips on social media platforms. In these clips, stars lipsynced and acted out famous dialogues or songs, made on the app Dubsmash. In 2017, a similar app called Musical. ly, started trending in India and within a few months, became the most downloaded app on Android and iOS. However, the app was also a social network (it still is) and enabled users to make videos and share those on its platform, apart from other social networks. In June this year, the app had about 4.84 million daily active users (DAUs) in India on the Android platforms, according to data from New York-based analytics company SimilarWeb. In July, the company merged with another music video platform TikTok, and in…

WE HAVE LONG KNOWN that air pollution causes lung problems, deteriorates the heart’s functionality, and may even cause diabetes, some researchers claim. But nobody ever thought it could blunt one’s intelligence. However, a recent study involving as many as 20,000 people claims just that. It has been found that breathing impure air severely affects one’s IQ and the loss could be equivalent to a whole year of education or more. The research was carried out in China, home to some of the most polluted cities of the world, as Xin Zhang, Xi Chen and Xiaobo Zhang studied the impact of short-term and chronic air pollution on cognitive performance. Their work was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team had studied the same participants…

PRICE ₹15,999 FLAGSHIP SMARTPHONES are getting bigger and taller, but here is a compact, mid-range device from HMD Global (the official licensee of Nokia smartphones) that looks and feels premium. The 5.8-inch full HD+ display, with a notch in the front and a glass rear, gives it a handfeel similar to that of iPhone X. But the side panels are not as smooth as the Apple product. In fact, the 6.1 Plus is a tad taller and thicker (147.2x70.98x7.99 mm) than the iPhone X, but 23g lighter (weighs 151g). It is the company’s first ‘notch’ phone to arrive in India. The rear houses a vertical dual-camera unit and a circular fingerprint scanner. The power key and the volume button are mounted on the right panel, the 3.5 mm jack is…

AUCTION VINTAGE AND MODERN DO YOU LOVE VINTAGE timepieces? Mumbai-based online auction house AstaGuru is hosting an auction on September 24 and 25, which will feature a wide array of vintage pieces, including bracket clocks, carriage clocks, table clocks, pocket watches and wristwatches. Plus, there will be modern fare from brands as varied as A. Lange & Söhne, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, IWC and more. A must-attend for those in love with distinctive styles. SOUND SYSTEM AUDIOPHILE’S DELIGHT SOUND TECHNOLOGY has made giant leaps and today, you can get smooth as silk and powerful sound at the press of a button. The Gold Phantom wireless speaker (there is a socket too for legacy equipment) from the house of Devialet is one such invention that takes…

IT HAS BEEN 15 years since Business Today became the first publication to identify and award India’s Most Powerful Women (MPW). At a power-packed evening in Mumbai on September 5, we once again felicitated India’s Most Powerful Women, including, for the second consecutive year, women who are making an impact at the grassroot level. The awards were given to 30 business leaders and 16 women working to bring about a change in the society. The 30 women business leaders included first generation entrepreneurs, marketing wizards, bureaucrats, legal luminaries, banking leaders and deal makers. The impact category had women working in areas of food safety, poverty alleviation, women’s rights, and education, among others. The award ceremony at ITC Grand Central in Mumbai saw a dozen new awardees. This included Ameera Shah,…

Nobody wishes for the day when he has to make a claim against an insurance policy, but that is precisely the day insurance policies are meant for. The insurance premium that you pay will be worth it if you are able to sail through the crisis without going broke. This is also the time when an insurer can make a difference by making the claim process easier for the troubled customer. This is an era of internet, where word of mouth resonates fast and loud across social media platforms, amplifying both positive and negative experiences. No company wants to be seen on the wrong side of customer experience, and insurers are focusing on improving their claim processes to be on the right side. “For years, insurance companies have mostly focused…

You offer a special category product called Critical Illness and Cancer Secure. Wouldn’t it be better for customers to buy one compressive plan that offers a broader coverage for all health conditions? MAYANK BATHWAL: The cost of medical care is high for critical illnesses like cancer, and a comprehensive cover would result in high premiums, which may not match people’s insurance budget. Hence, the critical illness cover is kept separate to mitigate such risks besides comprehensive plans. These special plans provide lump sum amounts right from the time of disease detection. It not only supports the cost of treatment but also ensures income protection when the insured can no longer earn due to health issues. With the rising cost of healthcare, what options do people have to increase the sum…

Ravinder Dagar, 41, is a telecom professional and his wife Kavita, 38, is a government employee. The couple lives in a rented house in Delhi with their daughters Vedanshi, aged 14, and Priyanshi, aged 8. Together, they bring home a net salary of ₹2.58 lakh and also have a rental income of ₹25,000 from their house located in Delhi and worth ₹30 lakh. Their monthly outflow is around ₹1.12 lakh, leaving a surplus of ₹1 lakh post actual investments. In addition, they own a plot of land and some agricultural land, both valued at ₹15 lakh. The Dagars have a big dream – that of sending their daughters to Harvard University. The parents want to fund their daughters’ Ivy League education (at least, a big chunk of it), want to…

EXACTLY 10 years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the recent recovery in the US and world economy is equally overshadowed by the growing unease over what the future holds in store. By all accounts, the world economy is nearly as precariously poised – if not more – as it was right after the Lehman collapse. The biggest fear revolves around the ultimate outcome when the ongoing tariff war between the US and China reaches its logical conclusion. Rising tariff barriers have truly enveloped the world economy as countries have imposed retaliatory tariffs, including Europe and several US allies. If this continues for long, it has the potential to slow down and practically disable global supply chains and world trade. Nobody knows for sure where this is headed. The second big fear…

THE RESERVE BANK of India nod to appointing Amitabh Chaudhary as the next MD and CEO of Axis Bank, after Shikha Sharma had to opt for a hasty exit, comes with a clear underlying message. Banks and their leadership – CEOs as well as boards, need to improve performance and justify their employment. “The boards have been mechanically approving extensions and re-appointments for the top brass,” a market expert said. When the RBI told the Axis Bank board to reconsider reappointing Sharma, the message on performance was clear. Subsequently, the regulator asked Yes Bank CEO, Rana Kapoor to continue until further notice. One hopes that bank boards will be more proactive now rather than needing the regulator to step in all the time.…

As blockchain emerges from the shadow of bitcoin, experts are heralding it as the ‘mother technology’, which has catalysed the massive global fintech revolution and provided cost-optimised solutions to a host of financial problems that have been plaguing the industry for a while. The widespread acceptance of this disruptor has already been proved with a vast majority of banks (both global and domestic) adopting pilot initiatives to understand the effectiveness that this technology brings to the table with the focus on transparency and transactional speed. Trade finance, clearing and settlement, and loan syndication are most primed for wide adoption of the blockchain, a constantly updated ledger which is reliable and cannot be altered or fudged. The foundation of any financial institution or technology is based on the modicum of trust.…

Base changes happen periodically, but why has it become such a big issue this time? What was the problem getting back series data? A: You change base because the structure of the economy is changing. Though the structure is changing daily, you cannot adjust it every day. So you take a time series every 10 years and change the base. It happens globally. However, when you change the base precisely to capture this change, the absence of a back series makes things difficult for anyone interested in long-term analysis for policy purpose, market projections, etc. In the absence of back series, they are forced to use their own macro modelling. For the past two years, everything was held up due to absence of back series. When I had requested for…

NOT TOO LONG AGO, starting an airline was easy. Entry barriers were low as anybody with a moderate understanding of the sector could take aircraft on lease (leased aircraft were easily available with limited upfront capital commitment) and start an airline. The costs were low too, with the three biggest cost components — aviation turbine fuel (ATF), leasing and maintenance (for which airlines pay in dollars) — under control. Lower fares ensured that airlines didn’t have to worry about filling seats. Easy availability of leased aircraft also resulted in airline companies making aggressive plans, adding huge capacity, and driving down fares. The last two years have seen a tragic unfolding of this story. Nearly half-a-dozen regional airlines that had taken a plunge into the sector at its peak, have shut…

IndiGo Reportedly weighing options to add A321 LR to its fleet to tap European markets. Adding services to Abu Dhabi, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Male, Jeddah and Hong Kong to its existing list of eight international destinations. GoAir Starting with three return flights per week from Mumbai to Phuket and Male and two return flights per week from New Delhi to Phuket and Male before expanding services to other underserved international routes. Vistara Has partnered with 27 global airlines, including its recent codeshare agreement with British Airways. Starting international operations this year with destinations within the range of A320neo aircraft. Ordered six wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for which delivery will start in 2020. AirAsia India Its international foray has been affected by the alleged involvement in rigging the scrapping of the…

On October 15, 1932, when J.R.D. Tata landed his single-engine De Havilland Puss Moth aircraft at Mumbai’s Juhu airstrip – to herald the birth of civil aviation in India – it had no terminal building or any other paraphernalia generally associated with aerodromes, as they were then called. Since then, India has come a long way, albeit at a pace that has virtually negated the head start that Tata provided the country. This was because governments in that era considered the aviation industry to be elitist. No significant investments were made in creating the infrastructure that could make our airports global hubs considering that India was advantageously placed geographically – 8-10 hours of flying time from both the UK and Europe in the west and Japan in the east. This…

COULD someone steal your voice and misuse it, say, for spreading fake news or offending others? The idea is unsettling, but it can be done in a matter of minutes. Head to Lyrebird.ai and register; it is an easy enough process. Follow the instructions and record your voice by reading out several sentences. Keep your voice natural but expressive, as if you are talking and not reading out. Do not speak in a self-conscious manner or with an accent – it will help you sound natural and spontaneous. Give Lyrebird a few minutes to use the recordings and generate your voice clone. Once this is done, type a few sentences in the text box. Prepare to be startled. You can now hear your voice saying things that you have never…

PRICE ₹6,995 IF YOU ARE LOOKING for a portable Bluetooth speaker, you will find aplenty. But not all of them live up to the promise of an immersive experience. The recently launched Ultimate Ears Wonderboom Freestyle is a great outdoor speaker – compact, rounded (102 mm tall and 93.2 mm wide), weighing 425g and with a loop on the top that makes it easy to hang almost anywhere without worrying about the speaker getting damaged. The IP67 rating makes it waterproof and dustproof, which means it can withstand up to 1m deep water for up to 30 minutes. I tested it during my recent vacation where it was pouring and kept it next to me on the beach. When it got a little dirty, I gave it a quick wash…

ECONOMIC EVOLUTION IS complicated, and often paradoxical, but its outcomes seem to have a frightening clarity. Towards the end of their book – Financial Economy: Evolutions at the Edge of Crises – authors Smita Roy Trivedi and Sutanu Bhattacharya state it in no uncertain terms when they write, “We are mounting debts on our future to inflate our present activities. So our future is lost in the present, as our present debts must be repaid ultimately out of our future earnings.” The financialisation of the global economic system is mainly responsible for this environment. “About fifty years ago, we used to save first for a period of time to build a fund to buy a house or a car, and then afterwards purchase those with our savings. Nowadays we purchase…

Q. The biggest challenge you faced in your career A. Aviation has always been a male-dominated industry. So, being accepted and recognised as an effective woman leader was a major hurdle. We also learn from our male colleagues, and again, these are opportunities to develop, nurture, empower and grow women’s talent. Over the years, it has taken us a great deal of hard work to change the gender stereotype. Now Etihad has women leading all major departments in the Indian subcontinent – right from finance, marketing and sales to airport and cargo operations. Q. Your best teacher in business A. My inspiration has been my namesake Neerja Bhanot (Pan-American World Airways purser) who lost her life in 1986 on the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73. She inspires me as she…