SAND ARTIST SUDARSHAN PATTNAIK CREATED THIS PIECE OF ART AT THE GOLDEN BEACH OF PURI ON NEW YEAR EVE

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Will India be able to overcome corruption
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Yes: 20%, No: 74%, Cant say: 6%
TO DAY S Q U E ST I O N

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Y O U R

G A T E W A Y

T O

I N D I A

Birth Rights
And Wrongs
Lok Sabha MP Naveen Jindal
writes about the benefits of
population stabilisation

Development becoming the art

of new-age Indian politics
POLICY: P 6

Looking Beyond
Our Borders
How about a house in London,
land in Singapore and a
portfolio of global stocks!

Designers are experimenting

with metals like steel, tungsten
MONEY & YOU: P 8

Cheers For The

Night Riders
Five people who were working
the graveyard shift on New
Years eve while you partied

Ready for a crash course on

how India changed my life
PEOPLE: P 9

Learning To Fly
A Machine
Flying clubs in India are giving
wings to hobby flyers who
want to take to the skies

Celebrating 125 years of

gems for screen goddesses
LIFE & STYLE: P 11

www.economictimes.com

THE ECONOMYS ON A REBOUND: WILL YOUR TOP PERFORMERS STICK WITH YOU?

LOCK UP YOUR

KEY
MEN

2 JANUARY 2011 | MUMBAI | ESTD 1961 | 12 PAGES | ` 10

W H AT S
N E W S
Sibals new telecom policy
in hundred-day plan

New Delhi: The government in consultation with

the industry will soon unveil a new telecom policy
framework called National Telecom Policy, 2011, that
will replace the existing guidelines for the sector
which were framed over a decade ago, telecom minister Kapil Sibal has said. The new policy is amongst the
slew of measures that the government will introduce
to bring in the much-needed transparency into the
scam-tainted telecom sector. Action will be initiated
to formulate a comprehensive NTP 2011, Mr Sibal
told reporters. P 4

The thing about

top talent is that
you either have
it, or you dont. A
fact that India Inc
will realise in 2011,
as the economy
takes off

Car market grows 25%

in December

ZAHID

NUPUR AMARNATH & PALLAVI SINGH

NEW DELHI

OME major M&A deals were

inked before we signed off
from a year which will be remembered in history as a year
when business was usual despite leaked phone taps that
exposed the ugly side of the
corporate world. The dealsHero group and
Honda, Paras Pharma and Reckitt Benckiser, Tata
Chemicals and British Salt, and Abott Labs and Piramal Healthcare, among othershowever, were
a harbinger of the good tidings in the New Year.
An economy on the rebound; a massive swell in
demand; increased production and more competition.... But all that is fine. Fact remains that if
you are seeking a lead role in the next India
growth story, you will require a winning team.
But will your key employees be with you in this?
Theres bad news. In 2011, employers and
chief executive officers will find that their key
employees are on the lookout, says Namr
Kishore, head of sales and marketing at Manpower, a global leader in the workforce solutions business. There will be a 20 percent movement of
key employees this year as the economy takes
off. According to a Manpower Employment
Outlook Survey, net employment outlook in the
first quarter stood at 42 percent, 3 percent higher
than the last quarter. Some sectors like information technology and manufacturing will experience almost 50 percent growth.
Theres more. An Asian-Pacific study by Mercer on future of talent management in the region
has this to say about India: The recovery is well
under way, with 71 percent of organisations reporting that they have emerged from recession
mode and are back in or entering growth mode....

The quick recovery of Indias organisations has

increased the competition for key talent. Overall,
more than 90 percent of organisations expect an
increase in competition for talent, and a significant proportion (76 percent) specifically expect a
significant increase in competition for key talent
within the next three to five years.
In recent conclaves, veteran management adviser Ram Charan has warned corporates of major talent defections in critical positions this
year. Pointing a finger to the future, in his latest

No matter how much effort they

put into recruiting, training,
and assessing leaders, their talent
management remains hit-or-miss:
Governed by outdated concepts,
dependent as much on luck as on skill
RAM CHARAN
IN HIS BOOK THE TALENT MASTERS

book The Talent Masters, Charan emphasised that

in the fast-changing global market place, talent
will be a big differentiator between companies
that succeed and those that dont.
India in particular will see major growth as
economy moves into a high-growth trajectory (89 percent, or even more). Key employees will see
opportunities for growth and will want to move,
unless they are given similar challenges and compensations. The challenge for chief executives
and employers will be to retain their key employees, while hiring new leaders without destabilising existing management team.
Uday Chawla, managing partner, Transearch
India, a global executive search firm, says that he

has been seeing the war brew up just as Charan

had cautioned Indian CEOs in December 2010. In
his book, Charan wrote, No matter how much
effort they put into recruiting, training, and assessing leaders, their talent management remains
hit-or-miss: Governed by superficial criteria and
outdated concepts, dependent as much on luck as
on skill. Agrees Nischae Suri, managing director,
Mercer India, who says that talent management
and talent retention will be the two key areas
companies need to concentrate in 2011.
But is India Inc waking up to the threat? While
the companies will tell you that they have robust
retention techniques to hold on to key players, HR
experts beg to differ. India Inc is bursting with
ideas and requirement of people especially at the
C-level but as you go up, the talent pool thins and
hence the market opens up to poaching, says Kris
Lakshminath, chief executive officer and managing director, The Head Hunters India.
Despite various projections that there will be
20 percent hikes this year leading to a 20 percent rate of attrition, experts say that money
ceases to be a key determiner when top personnel consider leaving. While stories abound of a
top executive not ready to quit for even more
than 50 percent hike, companies are devising
new ways to reach out to the top level. A high
level executive is already a high net worth individual, so money is not so much a factor for
moving, Lakshminath says, though he adds it
is half as important.
When key personnel decide to shift, the reasons have to be more compelling than just money. They are looking at avenues that multiplies
personal wealth and not income, Chawla says.

How to check attrition at

the workplace P3

New Delhi: There is no stopping the Indian car

market as December set the cash registers ringing for
most carmakers. Lack of discounts and the absence
of good deals in the market couldnt deter customers
from flocking to showrooms that took sales to a new
height, ushering brighter prospects in the new year.
While many carmakers including the biggest Maruti
Suzuki are yet to release their December sales,
reports suggest the domestic car market grew at
least 25% last month over the previous year.
Companies had offered brisk rebates on their
models in December. P 4

China lets exporters to hold

funds in overseas accounts

Beijing: Flush with over $2.64 trillion, China has

permitted its exporters to hold their foreign currency
earnings in overseas accounts as a move to
encourage its export companies to step up their business abroad. Chinas foreign exchange regulator
announced a trial programme to permit the qualified
exporters to hold overseas accounts, being
implemented in Beijing Municipality, Guangdong,
Shandong and Jiangsu provinces would be extended
to the entire country. State Administration of
Foreign Exchange said each export company can
hold up to five overseas accounts.

Salt makes a sweet success for Dandi boys

The cold front in Europe has helped heat up the salt business in Gujarat
TAPASH TALUKDAR
AHMEDABAD

EIGHTY years ago, the British rulers in India used brutal force to quell the salt making movement in Gujarats Dandi village, led by a naked fakir called Mahatma Gandhi. Ironically, as snow storms lash the UK
and much of Europe this winter, the same humble
salt is coming to their rescue back home.
Heavy blizzards in Europe the last two weeks has
forced local firms in the UK to look towards India for
a way out. And not as a travel destination! What
they are demanding is salt of the earth, literally. Not
for consumption but to de-ice the snow and clear up
the ways for movementof traffic and people.
This is the first time in history that European
countries like France, Belgium and Netherlands
have called on Indian salt manufacturers to import a
large volume of sodium chloride. The roads, the railtracks and airports in most of Europe are blocked
with ice and snow. And elementary science taught
us that salt cuts ice its good news for the salt manufacturers of India. The demands are humongous

and India being the fourth-largest salt maker in the

world is ready to feed it.
As per Indian Salt Manufacturers Association
(ISMA), European firms have demanded for over
four lakh tonne of salt to be used in key areas to
make a way for travellers. Europeans, who have
been importing from China and Australia for years,
have put forward a big order, says Hiralal Parakh,
president of ISMA and owner of Gandhidham-based
Doongursee Salt Works. For Indian salt manufacturers this is the first time that salt is such sweet news.
India produces nearly 24 million tonne of raw salt
annually, out of which 20% is exported mainly to
Japan, China, US and Indonesia. As per ISMA, the
almost `1,000 crore salt industry is set to witness a
huge order as the cold front continues in Europe.
Major firms in Gujarat that contributes about 70 percent of the total salt production in India are readying
their capacity to be shipped to European destinations. Indias biggest exporter Friends Salt Works and
Allied Industry has received enquiries of large orders
from European nations with a request to ship it on
an urgent basis. We have received urgent enquiries

of various parties from France for salt and are negotiating in price structure, confirms Ashok Singhvi,
director of Friends Salt works.
Industry experts say that Europe had to rely on India for this season as China has witnessed untimely
rains that resulted in a dip in salt production. China,
the third largest salt producer in the global salt industry worth of $9.7 billion also consumed much of
salt for its newly opened caustic soda plant.
Mukesh Agrawal who heads international business of Aastha Salt Industries is scouting for opportunities to export a lump-sum amount of salt to
meet the European needs. We will cash in on the
opportunity as Indonesia has been complaining of
short supply. It will enhance our reach to wider
market, says Agrawal. Out of Indias total exports
of 3.25 million tonnes, Japan imports more than a
fifth, followed by Vietnam and China. The salt production in India for this year has dipped down by
20 percent due to unseasonal rains that delayed the
harvesting by one and a half month that was due to
start from November.
tapas.talukdar@timesgroup.com

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

AS YOU LIKE IT

A do-not-wish list for the New Year

IN THE brave new world of 2011, where wish-lists are pass, as are
New Year Resolutions, a columnist who is not part of todays swinging
generation and yet wants to be in tune with the zeitgeist should perhaps
draw up a list, not of the things she wishes for, but of the things she most
emphatically does not wish for in 2011!
1) I do not wish to see prices of food articles sky-rocket. Pulses at `100
a kilo, potatoes at `70 a kilo, and now onions at `80 per kilo! Thats
enough to make you weep, even without coming anywhere near an
onion! Never mind Minister of Commerce
and Industry, Anand Sharmas brave words
that he will not allow a single onion to leave
the country! Its a different matter that the likes
of Dawood Ibrahim, Quattrochhi and Warren
MYTHILI
Anderson had no problem leaving the country, despite arrest warrants against them. But the minister knows his
onions. He knows theres no chance they will be as lucky!
2) I do not wish to see another act of terror like the German Bakery blast
in Pune or the Dantewada massacre where 76 CRPF men were
butchered by Maoists and yet failed to win any sympathy from the liberal voices that have come out so strongly in defence of Dr Binayak Sen.

Scarcely a month goes by without some policeman or jawan laying down

his life to wanton acts of terrorism. But theres little appreciation of the sacrifices made by these young men, often poorly-trained and even more
poorly-equipped, who lay down their lives in order that liberal intellectuals are free to espouse their sympathy for whatever takes their fancy.
3) I do not wish to see another ragging death. Despite the SCs guidelines to colleges to curb the menace of ragging and efforts by NGOs like
the Coalition to Uproot Ragging, there is no let down in incidents of ragging. Typically, we only hear of instances where
bright young kids, unable to take the torture
any more, commit suicide. But think of the vast
numbers who do not take the extreme step but
BHUSNURMATH are traumatised for life because a few sadistic
seniors know they can get away scot free!
4) I do not wish to see India play host to another international sporting event spending crores of rupees in the process even as approximately 70% of her citizens do not have access to toilets, let alone reasonable
health care and basic education. We spent close to `30,000 crore on the
CWG in Delhi; enough to build two crore toilets according to a UN estimate, but thanks to skewed priorities chose to host the Games instead.

kaleidoscope

DAKSHIN HARYANA BIJLI VITRAN NIGAM

INVITING TENDER NO. 429/OH/MM
DATED 24.12.10
Short term tenders in Two Parts in triplicate are invited for rate contract providing labour for outsourcing the
repair of damaged Aluminium wound conventional type distribution transformers of ratings 25,63 & 100 KVA, voltage

ratio 11/0 .433 Ky confirming to lS-2026 & IS-1180 complete with filling of oil confirming to lS-335/i993 in
transformer repair workshops of DHBVN as detailed below:Description of work
Approx.
Last date of Last date ot Date of Earnest Cost of
saleof tender receipt of
opening money tender
fly.
QD-N o-580
documents
tender
of tender
document
Providingrate contractlabourfor
Transformer 18 .01.11
19.01.11
19.01.1 1
4000/outs ourc ingtherepa irofa luminium of 25 ,63&
u pto
Upto
at

Ill 1
1 HINDUSTA N AERONAUTICS LIMITED

j j

5.00 PM

transformers of ratings 25,63 & 100 rating for

KVA ,voltage rating 11/0.433KV
repair in
confirming to IS-2026&lS-1 180
each year.
complete with fir st filling of oil
confirming to IS-335 in respect of
thefc llowing packages:

Package-A

1.00 PM

3.00 PM

FM/NCP/37/1 0-11

Package-B
Transformer repair workshop
Faridabad.
Terms & conditions:

2.5 ac

4800

1.77 lac
________

_______

_______

TENDER NOTICE NO. 15 for 2010-2011

Sealed tenders in B-i form for following work is hereby invited by the Executive Engineer, Public Works
(South) Division, Tarabai Park, Koihapur Telephone No. 2650042 from the Registered Contractor The blank
tender forms shall be issued by Executive Engineer, P. W. (South) Division, Kolh apur during working p eriod
at 11.30 am 104.00 pm from 3/1/2011 to 27/1/2011 The sealed tenders will be received by the Superintending
hay IIif puaaIUI
Engineer,
_uP y uuIcoI,
r.
VT. Circle,
,JPIbI ,
onI I 31/1/2011r up
up to
p.m.
opened
same ..ay
possible.
P. W.
rKolhapur
v uuPap u I V
tv 12.00
Ic.uV p.
I I . & vp
u r u aauuI
.
Sr.
Name of work
Estimated
Earnest Time Cost of Blank Class of
No.
Cost in Lakhs Money
limit Tender form Contractor
O i l IICV i

_________

Improvements to Madilge phata Uttur 67,50 ,000/67,500/12

B-i Tender
Class Bahirewadi road S.H. 135 Km. 5/900
Month
Form Rs. 4th A and
to 9/400 Tal. Ajara
5 .000 per set
above
2 Improvements to Kolhapur Gargoti
89,10 ,000/89,100/12
B-i Tender
Class Gadhinglaj road S.H. 130 Km. 85/00
Month
Form Rs. 4th A and
to 86/00, 90/00 to 92/00, 98/00 to
5,000 per set above
99/00 . 104/00 to 106/00 Tal.
Gadhinglaj.
3 Improvements to Amboli Ajara
54,00 ,000/54,000/12
B-i Tender
Class Gadhinglaj Sankeshwar road S.H. 134
Month
Form Rs. 4th A and
Km. 41/00 to 43/00 Tal. Gadhingla]
5,000 per set above
lote : Prebid conference will be held on 21/1/2011 at 15.00 hours. In the office of the Superintending
Note
Engineer P. W. Circle, Kolhapur.
1 The Serial No. 1 to 3 works is to be done by Modern Drum mix plant and Paver finisher and thai
Machinery should be withing 40 km. from site of work Right are reserved by Executive Engineer for
availability of Machinery within 40 Km.
2 Detailed Tender Notice can be seen on the notice board in the Executive Engineer, P. W. (South)
Division , Kolhapur Office. Copy of the same can be obtained on request to Executive Engineer.
___________ ________

___________ ________

___________

Right to reject the tenders without assigning any reason there of is reserved by the Executive Engineer

Executive Engineer

;1 AND
III A II WATER SUPPLY
TAMILNADU
i
;I
:j.
DRAINAG
E BOARD

1. For and on behalf of Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, sealed

(wax sealing) bids (in Two

Tender System for Procurement, Construction . Commissioning and Maintenance of Vellore Combined
Water Supply Scheme in full or in part-Packages (as specified) for as detailed below.
2. This Procurement,Construction ,Contract will follow the procedure prescribed under The Tamil Nadu

Transparency in TendersAct. 1998 and Rules 2000 and subsequent amendment there on.
3. Bidding documents in English may be purchased by interested bidders on submission of written application
accompanied with a separate Demand Draft for each Work from any Nationalized/Scheduled bank drawn in
favour of Managing Director,1WAD Board,forthe respective of the individual packages as detailed below

on anyworking day between 10.00 hours and 17.45 hours from 03.01.2011 to 01.02.2011.
4. Cost of tender document per Work is Rs. 1000 + 4% VAT + 5% surcharge on VAT.
5. The bid documents can also be downloaded free of cost from www.tenders.tn.gov.in
6. Amount of Earnest Money Depositwill be 1% of the tendered value ofthe respective Work.
7. Period of contract is as furnished below in respect of the individual Works.
8. Further details about each Work can be had from the office of the Chief Engineer,Nlorthern Region ,TWAD
Board, Vellore.
9. Important dates:
S.No.
Activity
Date and Time
Venue
1. Date and time of Pre-Bid Meeting
12.01.2011 -11.00 hrs
2. Last date and time for purchase of the Bid Documents
01.02.2011 - 17.45 hrs TWAD BOARD
Head Office ,
of the respective Works.
3. Last Date and time for submission of the Bid Documents 03.02.2011 -15.00 hrs 31 , Kamarajar
Salai , Chepauk ,
for the respective Works .
Chennai.
4. Date and Time of Opening of the Technical Bids of the
03.02.2011- 16.00 hrs
respective Works .
10.Oherdetails can be seen in the bidding documents.
Vellore Combined Water Supply Work Details:
___________________

__________________ _____________

Tender Value

Name of Work

NO.

Tender

(Rupees in
Crores)

Inviting
Authority

Combined Water Supply Scheme to Vellore Corporation , 11 Municipalities ,

5 Town Panchayets & 944 wayside Rural Habitations ri Vellore District

Treated Water Trunk mains to Tiruppathur , Jolarpettai , Vaniambody
Municipalities , Natrampalli , Udhayendram , A langayarn Town
Panchayats , Kandili, Tiruppathur, Jolarpettal, Alangayam Unions Branch
Pipelines , construction of Reservoirs, Surops, Over Head Tanks,
Electrical and Mechanical works including maintenance for one year -

299 93
-

2
cn 2

Package 1130 Months

Combined Water Supply Scheme to Vellore Corporation , 11 Municipalities ,

5 Town Panchayats & 944 Wayside Rural Habitations in Vellore DistrictTreated Water Trunkmains to Vellore Corpn., Ambur , Peranampet,
Kudlyatham . Melvisharam . Arcot . Ranipet , Wa lat a , Arakonam2. Municipalities , Odukathur , Pallikonda Town Panchayats , Madhanur ,
319.00
Gudiyatham, K.V. Kuppam,Anaicut, Vellore, Kanlyambadi , Katpadi,Arcot ,
Wa lajapettai , Peranampet Unions Branch Pipelines. Construction of
Reservoirs, Sumps , Over Head Tanks, Electrical and Mechanical Works
including maintenance forone year. Package Ill3D Months

The following works in the Package as noted below to be done on desi gn built
operate for 5 years and transfer basis (DBOT). All other conditions remains the

Lii

____________

P. W. (South) Division, Kolhapur

DIPR/3198rr ndc r/7o1o

e-PROCUREMENT TENDER NOTICE

The following advertised tenders have been floated through e-Procurement. Tenderers are requested to visit
the web-site www.ireps.gov.in and submit their offers electronically. It may be noted that offers submitted on
paper manually or the offers sent by post shall not be entertained. Closing time is 11.30 hrs. on the date
of opening fixed for the respective tenders. The tender document cost (NON-REFUNDABLE) as indicated
against the tenders & the EMD amount is acceptable in form of Demand Draft/Bankers Cheque in favour of
For detailed description of the tenders as well as tender conditions, log
Chief Cashier C.Rly. Mumbai CST.
on to Central Railways website www.centralrailwayonline.com
Following symbols mentioned against
the Tender No. represent the purchase restrictions (Items reserved for procurement from approved sources)
RDSO #, NSIC , CLW $, ICF , C.RLY. %. DLW (), CEE >, RCF , CORE ? , TEC J, CEE/CR and
CEEPWR , GM! , DMW =, ISO 9000 certified +, ]Word (Safety) in bracket, mentioned against the Tender
No. indicates that it is a Safet
y item.
Sr. No. Tender No.
Brief Description
Qty.
DUE ON 03-02-2011
805
11103226 Lock for transition and non-transition CBC. RDSO Drg. No. SK.62724.
1,780 Nos.
# (Safety) Item No.8.ALT.20. or latest. (Tender Document Cost Rs. 1.000/-).
806 22096518 3.3 (V grade, 630 sq. mm, single core , Stranded Copper Conductor,
880 Mtrs.
XLPE Insulated, Screened , Galvanised steel round wire armoured and
PVC inner and outer sheathed cable, Earthed system as per IS: 7098
(Part-lI) 1988 or latest. (Tender Document Cost Rs.1 0001-).
807 33102511 Pre-printed Coupon Book for Automatic Coupon Validating Machine
59.79 .446
Type I, face value of Rs.30/- each. Note: - Purchase Order will be placed Nos.
only on ISO 9001 printing presses approved by RBIIIBA as securit
y
printer,_(Tender Document Cost Rs.2 ,000I-).
808 33102512 Pro-printed Coupon Book for Automatic Coupon Validating Machine
40,00 ,448
Nos.
Type II, face value of Rs.401- each. Note: - Purchase Order will be

___________

__________

___________

placed only on ISO 9001 printing presses approved by RBI/lBAas

security printer. (Tender Document Cost Rs.2000/-).

33102513 Pro-printed Coupon Book for Automatic Coupon Validating Machine
10,43 ,265
Type lii , face value of Rs,501- each. Note: - Purchase Order will be
Nos.
placed Only Ofl ISO 9001 printing presses approved by RBlIlBAas
security printer. (Tender Document Cost Rs.1 000/-).
,1II ON
. 04-02-2011
DUE
810
13095046 Poly Carbonate Shield. (Tender Document Cost Rs.1 000/-).
790 Nos.
811
13103749
BITUMAN MIXPHALT 80/100. (Tender Document Cost Rs.1 .000I-).
1,10 ,000Kgs.
812
16106513 Auxiliary Air Compressor Complete CLW Specn. No. CLWIES/310197 or 36 Nos.
its latest. (Tender Document Cost Rs.5001-).
813 31092193 Welding electrodes class M5 size 4 X 350mm long as per IRSM 28/2002 26,173
#
and IS 5206/83 (E18.8Mn B26/R26). (Tender Document Cost Rs.5001-). Mtrs.
Important notice on e-Procurement System to registered vendors
of Central Railway & other vendors
1.0 The e-Procurement System is fully functional on Central Railway. The Bulletin tenders have also been
taken on e-Procurement System. No manual offer against Bulletin Tenders will be accepted.
2.0 In orderto participate in all the tenders of c-procurement System, the registered vendors of Central Railway
are required to obtain Digital Signature Certificate of Class-lllb from any of the licensed certifying authorit
y.
The details of the certifying authorities are available on website www.cca.gov.in. It is also mandatory for
all the suppliers to get themselves registered on CRIS website www.ireps.gov.in for participation in EPS
tenders. All vendors are requested to participate in Bulletin Tenders through EPS.
r scw6r1

___________

__________

12:00
12:30

14:00
14:30
15:00

16:30
17:00
17:30

Visit us st www tenderstn invin

MANAGING DIRECTOR. TWAD BOARD. CHENNAI - 5

HO SOUTH WESTERN COMMAND

JAIPUR-302 012

TENDER NOTICE FOR SUPPLY OF STORES

1. Sealed tenders are invited from OEMs / Authorised Representatives! Dealers of OEM for supply
of the following item:Stores
Required

Qty

Earnest

Last Date andilme Tender

Money Submission Opening Processing
(In Rs.) of Tender of Tender Auth and
Plate of
Opening of

_______

__________ ________

Tenders

_______

_________

__________

1. 48172IGS MlS)/ACSFP/ Post Fatigue Muscle 05 45,7861- 1100 Hrs. 1200 Hrs. MIS Branch
800(0)110-11/Post
Relaxant Electro
13 Jan
13 Jan HQ South
Fatigue Muscle
Mechanical
2011
2011
Western
Relaxant Electro
Units.
Comd Jaipur
Mechanical Units.
2. Tender forms can be obtained by hand from MIS Branch, Headquarters, South Western
Command , Jaipur, on payment of Rs. 100/- per form by a Crossed Bank Draft in favour of
__________________
_______________

______________

18:00 THE YEAR OF THE

DEAL
18:30 DECADE OF
DISRUPTION
19:00 INVESTOR'S GUIDE
19:30 STARTING UP
20:00 ZIGWHEELS
20:30 INDIA UNLEASHED 1
21:00 INDIA UNLEASHED 1
21:30 YOUR TRADES
22:00 TEE TIME
22:30 BRAND EQUITY
23:00 LUXURY TRAVEL:
NEW ZEALAND
23:30 HOT COMMODITIES
SPECIAL
0:00 MARKETS MANTRA
YEAR-END SPECIAL
0:30 INDIA UNLEASHED 2
1:00 INDIA UNLEASHED 2
1:30 TOP 10 OF 2010
2:00 THE YEAR OF THE
DEAL
2:30 DECADE OF
DISRUPTION
3:00 HOT COMMODITIES
SPECIAL
3:30 ZIGWHEELS
4:00 STARTING UP
4:30 INVESTOR'S GUIDE
5:00 THE YEAR OF THE
DEAL
5:30 MARKETS MANTRA
YEAR-END SPECIAL

16.00 hours. The Financial bid of the qualified bidders will be

open Later on. Tender can be Procured or can be downloaded

from website www.upsrtc.com.
Finance Controller

HINDU STAN PETROLEUM CORPORATION LIMITED

44 ,

_________

A Govt. of India Enterprise )

Krishna Sree Building , 2nd Floor , Gandhi Nagar , 1st Main Road , Adyar,
Chennai 600 020. Phone 91 44 2445 5482, Fax : 044 2445 5483.
cORKI
s NUUM
!i] 1 (11
I i - III

_________
..

ReferlenderNoticePublished on 27.11.2OlOand 17.12.20l0forlenderNo: 10000038HD-10147 for Design, supply, erection , commissioning of vapour recovery unit at White
Oil Terminal forVisakh Marketing installation resilemerit project , HPCL. Please note that
the Tendersub un ission due date is postponed upto 13.01.2011 . All other Terms &
Conditions of the tender remain unchanged.
MANAGER. PURCHASE

!A!i *uIl

IllI

YAYI

SALE AND REMOVAL OF INDUSTRIAL WASTE PRODUCTS

TenderNoticeNo.:M l79IPLiWaste Product/2010-11,Dated -28.12.2010.
Chief Workshop Manager , Carriage Repair Workshop Lower Parel,
Western Railway, Mumbai -400013 for and on behalf of the Presidont of
India , invites open sealed tenders on prescribed form,from eligible
bidders for the following work : Name of the work with its location :
PL Workshop : Sale and removal of Industrial waste products from
Carriage Repairshop, Lower Parel , Mumbai -400013 of Western Railway.
1. Approx. Cost of the work : f. 80 .91,000/- (Inclusive of all Taxes), 2.
Cost of Tender form : . 5000/-, 3. Address of the office where the
tender form can be purchased and Notice Board Location where
complete details of tender can be seen : M & P Section , Carriage
Repair Workshop, N. M. Josli i Marg, Lower Parel , Western Railway
Mumbai -400013 , 4. Earnest money to be deposited :ff. 1,61,820/-, 5.
Completion period of the work : 01 year, 6. Time & Date for
submission of tender documents and opening of Tender:14.30 hrs.
& 15.00 hrs. on 09102/2011 . 7. Website particulars
htt p://www.w r.indianrai lways. pov.in Mechanical (Construc Uon) SNP/07- 07
i1-4 uI.:.
A
l

SOUTH EASTERN COALFIELDS LIMITED

(A Subsidiary of Coal India Limited)
A Mini Ratna Company

GLOBAL E-TENDER NOTICE FOR ON-LINE BIDDING

SAVE WATER , CONSERVE WATER , EVERY DROP COUNTS

SI. Tender No:

No.

YOUR TRADES
MARKETS MANTRA
YEAR-END SPECIAL
TOP TEN OF 2010
BRAND EQUITY
YOUR TRADES
ZIGWHEELS
INDIA UNLEASHED 2
INDIA UNLEASHED 2
STARTING UP
INVESTOR'S GUIDE
BRAND EQUITY
MARKETS MAKERS
YEAR-END SPECIAL
THE YEAR OF THE DEAL
HOT COMMODITIES
SPECIAL
ZIGWHEELS
MARKETS MANTRA
YEAR-END SPECIAL
YOUR TRADES
DECADE OF
DISRUPTION
LUXURY TRAVEL:
NEW ZEALAND
TEE TIME
MARKETS MAKERS
YEAR-END SPECIAL
LUFTHANSA
PIONEERING SPIRIT
TOP 10 OF 2010
MARKETS MAKERS
YEAR-END SPECIAL

AND WAYBILL ABSTRACT FORM PADS

Sealed Tenders are invited from Security Printing Presses
included in the latest panel of Indian BankAssociation for printing
M.I.C.R. cheques having multi colour offset printing machines
and numbering with computerized checking facility for printing
and supply of 35,000 WAYBILL PADS AND 20,000 WAYBILL
ABSTRACT FORM PADS 25% on 60 GSM white cream wove
paper of superior quality as per speci f ication given in tender
form. Cost of tender form is Rs. 500/- (Non refundable through
Bank Draft of Nationalized bank ) Payable in f avour of Secretary
U.P.S.R.T.C. Lucknow. Last Date for issue of Tender is
06-02-2011 fro m U.P.S.R.T.C. (H.Q. ) Lucknow, Last Date for
submission of Tender forms is 07-02-2011 in the Tender box till
15.00 hours. Opening date of technical bid is 07-02-2011 at

Raw Water Pumping Station, Treatment Plant , Treated

Water Pumping Station, Booster Pumping Stations - 3 Nos., Construction
of Sump Kadathur, Pumping Mains and allied works including
maintenance for 5 years under DBOT basis. Package I 30 Months
Intake Works ,

MATERIALS MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT (PURCHASE TENDERS) ADVERTISEMENT

TENDER NOTICE No: e-3712010 dated 30-12-2010 (Sr. No.805 to 813)

7:00
7:30
8:00
8:30
9:00
9:30
10:00
10:30
11:00
11:30

same as above.

Combined Water Supply Scheme to Vellore Corporation, 11 Municipalities,

5 Town Panchayats & 944 Wayside Rural Habitations in Vellore District

6:00
6:30

TENDER NOTICE FOR PRINTING OF BUS WAYBILL

cover System) are invited by the Chief Engineer, TWAD Board, Northern Region,Vellore under Item-war

_______

P. W. South Division Kolhapur.

Contractor Should submit valid Registration Certificate attested duly by the Gazetted Officer only. Xrox
copies will not be accepted.
The above notice is published on web site www.mahapwd.com

S U N D A Y

15:30
16:00

TENDER CALL FOR VARIOUS PACKAGES OF VELLORE COMBINED WATER SUPPLY SCHEME
FORM OF CONTRACT: ITEM RATE f PNO COVER SYSTEM) INVifATION OF BID NO.02iH0!2010/DATED 31.12,2010

___________ ________

___
__________

A set of tender documents containing technical specifications special conditions for providing labour for

Cost of Tender
Document

And

Up-gradation of HAL Gnanajyothi School at HAL (BC)

Rs. 187.00
02.02.2011
( Including Civil and Electrical works)
Up to 12.30 Hrs .
HAL-C!226/1O-11
Rs. 1165!
For full details , interested contractors / agencies are requested to please visit HAL Web site: www.ha l-india.com under
Tenders , Facilities Management Division , Tender and the Tender Documents shall be down loaded and the interested contractors I agencies shall furnish necessary documents a ong with the Tender Document in Two Bid System as per the
the details available in the Tender Document. (This page can be viewed through Acrobat Reader only).
Sd!-, De p ut y G eneral Manager (W o rks ) , Faciliti e s Management Divisi o n

outsourcing the repair etc. can be obtained from the office of CE/MM, DHBVN , Hisar on payment by Cash/Demand
Draft drawn in favour of Senior Accounts Officer/MM, DHBVN , Hisar payable at Hisar.The bidder may also download
the tender documents from The Nigam s website www .dhbvn .com however , the bidder will have to deposit the
requisite amountof the cost ofthetenderdocuments against NIT atthetime of submission of bid.
Superintending EngineerlMM,
For CE/MM, DHBVN , Hisar .
Issued through:DPR,Haryaea.AdvtNo. I4,307/54,870/31.12.2010.

CONTRACT No.

DATE
OF
RE C EIPT
OF
TENDER

1.

7200

________

Date: 28.12.2010

_________________

_________

repair workshop Hisar.

TENDER NOTICE

Sealed Tenders in prescribed form are invited for following works:

SL.
App. Cost
DE SC RIPTIO N
No.
(In Rs . Lakhs)

WEEKEND

13:00
13:30

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIVISION

BANGALORE COMPLEX

_ _ _

________

wound conventional type distribution 100 I(VA

5) I do not wish to see another year of unending scams 2-G spectrum, CWG, Karnataka mining, Radia tapes, Citibank, weve seen
them all. Barring the last that is the act of an individual fraudster, corrupt
politicians and officials have shamelessly milked the poor hapless taxpayer. Yet there is little prospect of respite with the government and the
opposition at loggerheads over the appointment of a JPC to probe the
first and the other two probes unlikely to lead anywhere.
6) I do not wish to see high constitutional offices like that of the Governor, senior judiciary and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner being debased. If the Karnataka governor, HR Bhardwajs outright meddling in
political affairs to bring down a duly-elected government made a mockery of Constitutional norms, charges of corruption against many former
Chief Justices of the SC cast the judiciary in poor light. Over the years
tainted ministers and senior officials have become par for the course.
But with a tainted CVC weve hit a new low. There are a host of other
things Id like to add to my do-not-wish list: more lawlessness of the
kind that leads to killings on account of road rage or rape of young girls,
air-crashes like the one at Mangalore airport, cricket becoming more
about money than about the game Yes, I know Im a dreamer but
Im not the only one. Have a wonderful year!

_______

PCDA South Western Command , Jaipur

(Raj.), upto 1000 hrs. till the last working day

before the date of opening of tender. Forms can be collected on all working days between
1000 his . and 1330 hrs.
3. For requirement of TE document by post
(a) Requirement of TE document by post can be forwarded to MIS Branch, HQ South Western
Command , Jaipur (Raj.)-302 012, alongwith a crossed account payee Nationalised Bank Draft
of Rs. 100/- as cost of TE form in favour of PCDA, South Western Command , Jaipur , and a selfaddressed & stamped envelope for the documents. Stamps worth Rs. 65/- should be affixed on
envelope for Speed Post.

(b) This HQ will not be responsible for any delay in delivery of tender document to proposed

Supplier by post and consequent submission.

4. Tenders can be dropped in the Tender Box as per place, date and time given in the tender.

Tenders not received by due date and time will not be considered.

5. Envelope to be enfaced/superscribed with Tender No./Specific details as per DAVPIAdvE.

6. If the date of opening of the tenders happens to be holiday the tenders will be opened on the next
working day at the same time and place.

davp 10608/1110017/1011

Offers are invited for supply of the following item through GLOBAL ETENDER ONLINE BIDDING:
Tender No.: SECL/BSP/MMW/SEC.IV-A/Try Cable-42 CuM Shovel/I 38 ,
Dtd. 27.12.2010. Description : Supply of Flexible Trailing Cable 15KV , 3
Phase , 50 Hz Earthed Neutral System for 42 Cu. Mtr. Shovel. Size : 2/0
AWG X 3C + 3AWG Xl C + 2AWG X 2C. Neutral Earth System Type SHD
GC generally confirming to NEMA-WC-58. Qty. : 300 Mtrs . Approx.
Estmd. Value : 24.90 lakh. EMD Value : 49 ,800.00. Tender Fee :
2000.00. Due Date & time of Submission of Required Documents off
line at SECL , Bilaspur : upto 3.30 PM 1ST on 02 .03 .2011 . Due Date &
Time of On line Bidding by Bidders upto 3.30 PM 1ST of 02.03.2011.
Due Date & lime of Opening Off-line Required Documents : at 4.00
PM ISTof 02.03.2011. Due Date & Time of Opening Of Part -I offe r Online , i.e. Techno -Commerci al Bid :At 1100AM ISTon 03.03.2011.
Schedule of E-Tenders through On line bidding with details of terms and
conditions can be had from the office of the General Manager (MM),
SECL , Seepat Road, Bilaspur - 495006 (Chhattisgarh), Phone No.
(07752) 246376-99. Tender documents shall be supplied free of cost , on
demand , to all Government Departments/Undertakings/Ancillary Units of
SECL for tendered items/firms registered with NSIC for the tendered
items. E-Tender documents with details terms & conditions are also
available on our website www.secl.pov.in. & www.tenders.gov.in.
Intending bidders may participate in the E-Tender by downloading the
tender document from the website without need of purchasing the same
from our office. The detailed terms and conditions of E-Tender
submission may be downloaded from the ITI Ltd. portal website
www.itietendering.com/CIL who are our official service provider for
this E-tender. For Online bidding the bidders are requested to read the
instructions carefullygiven in the NIT.
Important note to all prospective bidders : For Online bidding the
bidders are to be registered with M/s. ITI Ltd. and Class-Ill Digital
Certificate issued bythe competent authorities.
For any queries in regard to Online Bidding please contact the following
Officials. SECL, Bilaspur : Shri P. E. Awn Kumar, Sr. Manager
(MM)/Purchase , Phone No. 07752-246376-399. Extn. 5022 , Email
peak _erode@rediffmail.com. ITI Ltd., Bangalore : Contact Person - Mr.
Madhusudhan S - 09980548184. Mr. Kumar Chandan - 09674758720.
Help Desk : 080 - 4 0 4 8 2 1 1 9 , 120 , 116 , e - m a i l
madhus _2003@yahoo.co.in. Mr. Harsh Dev B.G TI Limited, Bangalore .
E-mail-harsh.banaalore amaiI.com. Phone No. :09845464947.
To Obtain the Class III Digital Certificate : please visit the website
www.itietendering.com/CIL and click on the link Digital Certificate and
download the certificate form and fill the necessary details and send the
hard copy tothefollowing address : Mr. R. Bhaskar, ITl Limited (AGovt . of
India Undertaking), Regional Office, F-29 , Ground Floor, Doorvaninagar ,
Bangalore - 560016. (Ph: 080-25660522).
General Manager (MM).
Note : SECL will not be responsible for any misprinting by the
Newspapers concerned. For detailed information and terms & conditions
in respect of the above work tenderers should contact to the tendering
the fact incaseofconfusion .

_____________

COAL : PRIME SOURCE OF ENERGY

________

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

DATELINE INDIA

Panel for landmark changes in Motor Vehicle Act

Proposal Includes Barring Use Of i-Pods, Music & Bluetooth Devices While Driving

NIDHI SHARMA
NEW DELHI

THE government is all set to introduce landmark

changes in Motor Vehicle Act 1988, the legislation
that governs licensing rules and offences on Indian
roads. An expert committee appointed by ministry
of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has recommended multiple amendments including graded punishment for drunken driving depending on
alcohol content in blood, separate driving licenses
for scooters and cars, annual revision of compensation for road accident victims and barring use of Ipods, music and bluetooth devices while driving.
The committee will submit its report to road
transport minister Kamal Nath next week. According to sources, the committee has recommended a
number of amendments to get better compensation for road accident victims and preventive
penalties for offences like drunken driving and hitand-run cases.
One of the major steps recommended is definition of hit-and-run accidents under law. The committee has recommended that a solatium fund be
created to award immediate compensation to the
tune of Rs 1 lakh to hit-and-run accident victims.
The final compensation package would be calculated on the basis of a number of factors like the age of
the victim, how grievously the victim has been hurt
and is there has been any permanent disability. A
victim could get upto Rs 12 lakh compensation.

Penalties for other offences like drunken driving, overspeeding and using mobile phones while
driving have also
been enhanced
manifold.

Apart from this,

all compensations for
road accident victims will be
revised annually in tune with inflation. Sources said that there is debate whether
this revision should be annual or once in three
years. So far, the compensations were as paltry as
Rs 12,500.

Bengal Assembly
elections: Congress
to demand 98 seats
TAMAL SENGUPTA
KOLKATA

Sources
said that
the committee has recommended a graded system
of punishment for drunken driving. This would
mean that penalty would depend on alcohol content in the drivers blood. There is a provision for

on-the-spot suspension of license if the driver is

found drunk and uncooperative with the police.
One of the major aspects being tackled is use of
mobile phones, hands-free and bluetooth devices
while driving. At present, the law does not define
these devices. The committee has put forth exact
definition of Bluetooth devices and I-pods and recommended that use of any such device be banned
while driving. The fines have been enhanced from
the current Rs 100-Rs 600 to Rs 2,000.
Some of the landmark changes are also in Chapter II for Licensing rules. The committee observed
that at present there is no separate license for twowheelers and four-wheelers. Representations from
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka two states which see
very high fatalities on their roads pointed out
that drivers not eligible for driving four-wheelers
were easily driving them absolutely unchecked by
law because the electronic licenses do not specify
the type of vehicles the driver is allowed to drive.
The committee is recommending that separate
colour-coded licenses be issued for two-wheelers
and four-wheelers.
Another recommendation is to include more information on these licenses, like blood group and
Rh factor. A source said that there was a representation from Delhi government which said that information like the drivers willingness to donate his or-

Rajkhowa release may

kick off peace talks

gans should also be included. However, the committee has observed that the states could include
such information if they wanted to.
The government also plans to streamline the
process of granting and renewing driving licences.
Sometimes drivers are caught unawares by expiration of their driving licence. Now, a grace period of
at least six months would be given for renewal.
There would also be regulations for private drivers
training schools. An expert in the committee said,
At present, there are a number of drivers training
schools that have mushroomed without adequate
infrastructure and badly maintained cars. There is a
need to check these and set some minimum standards for operation.
The ministry had first initiated the move to
amend the Motor Vehicles Act eight years back. It
had introduced the amendment bill in Rajya Sabha
in May 2007. The Bill, which proposed 85 amendments in 58 clauses of the Act, was referred to
Sitaram Yechury-led parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture. The committee examined the amendment Bill clause-byclause and gave detailed suggestions in 2009. However, the Bill was withdrawn as minister Kamal
Nath wanted his ministry to have a re-look. This
expert committee was then appointed and has now
given its recommendations.

How to check
attrition at
work place

From Page 1

THE Congress will demand a minimum of one-third of the

total 294 Assembly seats in the West Bengal state Assembly
to maintain its electoral adjustment with Trinamool Congress for this years crucial polls.
This implies that the Congress intends to contest 98 of
the total 294 seats in the state Assembly. Though the seatsharing dialogue between the two parties is yet to take off,
Congress insiders, on Saturday, made it clear that the party
will stick to its demand for 98 seats while bargaining for
seats with the Trinamool Congress.
The executive committee of the West Bengal Pradesh
Congress Committee (WBPCC) will meet on Sunday,
which will be attended by Union finance minister Pranab
Mukherjee. This will be the first full-fledged meeting of the
WBPCCs executive committee after Manas Bhunia was
elected president of the state unit on December 3 last year.
The Congress and Trinamool Congress had an electoral
adjustment during the Lok Sabha elections held in 2009.
The Congress, at that time, had contested one third of the
total 42 parliamentary constituencies and left the balance
two-third seats for the Trinamool Congress. This means
that the Congress had fought 14 of the total 42 Lok Sabha
seats, while the remaining 28 seats were contested by Trinamool Congress.
We want to maintain the same ratio while finalising the
seat-sharing between us for this years Assembly elections,
said Debabrata Bose, WBPCC general secretary. The seatsharing formula during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections saw
the Trinamool Congress creating havoc, winning 19 of the 28
seats they had fought for. The performance of the Congress
was poorer than that of the Trinamool Congress. Of the 14
seats the Congress had contested, the party won just 6.
Taking advantage of the Congresss poor show compared
to the Trinamool Congresss in the last Lok Sabha polls, Mamata Banerjee is unwilling to give up so many Assembly
seats to the Congress. Though the seat-sharing talks between them is yet to start, Mamata has categorically told
her leaders not to accept Congresss demand for 98 seats.
Apart from taking up the issue of seat-sharing, the WBPCC
is likely to discuss a few more issues during their Sunday
meeting. It is learnt that all the sitting Congress MLAs want
to contest the Assembly elections this time, too. They have
already communicated this to Pranab Mukherjee and it is expected that the WBPCC is likely to allow each of its sitting
MLAs to fight the elections also this time, except Sabitri Mitra who won the 2006 Assembly elections on a Congress
ticket from Araidanga Assembly constituency in Malda district. Sabitri has recently joined the Trinamool Congress and
Bhunia has written a letter to the Assembly Speaker Hasim
Abdul Halim seeking termination of her membership.

AP

OUR POLITICAL BUREAU

NEW DELHI

PAVING the way for opening of a formal dialogue with banned outfit United Liberation
Front of Asom (Ulfa), the Assam government on Saturday facilitated the release of its
senior-most jailed leader, chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, on bail.
Sources said the release of two other senior leaders of the insurgent outfit finance
secretary Chitraban Hazarika and foreign
secretary Sashadhar Choudhury would
follow soon as and when their bail petition
comes up before the trial court. The state
government has decided not to oppose their
bail petition.
Other top leaders including vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi, founder Bhimkanta
Buragohain, deputy commander-in-chief
Raju Baruah, publicity secretary Mithinga
Daimary and cultural secretary Pranati Deka
are already out on bail. Even the missing
central committee member Anup Chetia,
who is currently in Bangladesh, is expected
to be back in India soon, as the Centre and
the state government set in motion a formal
dialogue.
The Centre has left it to chief minister
Tarun Gogoi to decide the timing of the proposed dialogue, sources here said. Chances
are that the talks will start ahead of the assembly polls in the state, due in April-May,
with former Intelligence Bureau P C Haldhar
acting as interlocutor.
Meanwhile, efforts are also on to get the

Ulfa middle-rung leaders to give up their safe

havens abroad, primarily in Bangladesh, and
come back to Assam. The state government
is said to have offered a safe passage for their
home-coming.
Also under consideration of the government to create a conducive atmosphere
ahead of formal talks, is lifting of the ban on
Ulfa. Confirming this, Mr Tarun Gogoi told
reporters in Guwahati that the ban could go,
if necessary. The majority of Ulfa leaders
have come forward for peace talks...only one
section still remains opposed to talks and is
still indulging in violence, he noted.
Speaking to reporters soon after his release from the Guwahati Central prison on
Saturday, Ulfa chairman Rajkhowa declared
his readiness for an unconditional peace
dialogue with the Assam government. We
are committed to peace in Assam and will
take the peace process forward. We are ready
for unconditional peace talks, the 54-yearold ULFA leader told supporters.
The Congress expects major electoral returns from making peace with Ulfa, and is
counting on the popular support it would
generate to help the party gain a third term
in Assam.
Mr Rajkhowa on Saturday urged the government to facilitate the release of more Ulfa
leaders, including Chitraban Hazarika and
Sashadhar Choudhury, who were picked up
last year.
Our major demand is also that we want
all our leaders in Bangladesh to be released
soon, Rajkhowa said.

Both Chitraban Hazarika and Sasha

Chaudhury are expected to get bail soon.
Anup Chetia too may be handed over to India within the next four months, most probably ahead of the Assams biggest local festival, Rongali Bihu, on April 15.
Chetia was arrested by Bangladeshi authorities on December 21, 1997 in Dhaka for
illegally entering the country on forged documents. Though he completed his sentence
much earlier, he has been lodged in a detention centre/transit home ever since.
An official claimed Chetia has a lot of information on Paresh Baruahs investments
as well as hideouts right from Dhaka to
Shanghai.
Following his release on Saturday, Rajkhowa will be returning to his hometown in
Lakhuva in upper Assam, where his family is
settled since they were picked up by the Indian authorities along with him a year ago.
He will attend a host of public receptions en
route to Lakhuva.
Rajkhowa went underground after the
formation of the ULFA on April 7, 1979. He
was granted bail by a designated TADA court
in six cases on Thursday.
In 1991, a four-member ULFA delegation
led by its general secretary Anup Chetia and
Arabinda Rajkhowa had met the then prime
minister, the late P V Narashima Rao, for informal talks. During the talks, Rajkhowa
promised to bring top leaders of the outfit,
including Paresh Baruah, for negotiation
with the government and got a safe passage.
But they never returned for talks.

Nitish expects special status for Bihar in 11

PTI
PATNA

IHAR chief minister Nitish Kumar

on Saturday said he expects that
the long-awaited special status
would be granted to the state this year,
paving the way for further acceleration
of the pace of development. I am
confident of the Centre extending fuller
support to Bihar, Kumar said.
The special status would lead to more
Central assistance and remove obstacles
in the way of providing coal linkage for
the proposed thermal power plants in
the state. Wishing the people a happy
and prosperous 2011, he urged them and
leaders of all opposition parties to
cooperate with his government in
obtaining the special status for Bihar.
Kumar said efforts for exerting pressure
on the Centre to meet the demand
would be further intensified this year.
It is a matter related to the progress of
Bihar and the state Assembly and state
Legislative Council had unanimously
adopted a resolution and sent it to the
Centre for consideration, he added.
Kumar charged the Centre with

placing impediments in the way of

proposals for huge investments in Bihar
and hoped that New Year would usher in
good relations between the two
governments.
He said the Centre should scrap the
Sugar Control Act to do away with
impediments in the establishment of

EASY FLOW
The special status would lead
to more Central assistance
and remove obstacles in the way
of providing coal linkage for
the proposed thermal power
plants in the state
ethnol-based industries in Bihar.
Reiterating his commitment to make
Bihar corruption free, the chief minister
described the declaration of the assets of
his ministerial colleagues as a major step
which would help further intensify the
governments war against corruption.
Bihar ministers would continue to
provide details of their income and
expenditure every year, he said, adding,

he had directed the chief secretary to

make public properties of ministers on
websites for comparative analysis.
Corruption at any level will not be
tolerated ... Corruption has spread like
cancer and people have to take a pledge
to wipe it out from society, he said,
adding that the vigilance bureau would
be further strengthened in the state.
Illegal properties of public servants
would be confiscated under the Bihar
Special Court Act 2009 and it would be
advisable for corrupt officials to
deposit their illegally accumulated properties to the state government to open
much needed schools, the chief minister
said. Kumar said his government would
give thrust to empowerment of
households below the poverty line and
efforts were afoot to reach foodgrains to
them.
He said his government was firm in its
decision to implement a new food
security scheme this year for the
purpose. Referring to the proposal for
Right to Service Act, the chief minister
said the draft of the proposed legislation
was ready and it has been circulated for
suggestions and comments.

Pramod Sharma

IT depends on opportunities, challenges and excitement that the new work offers. Of course, people
dont move for the sake of moving and thats why
companies are finding new breaking points for key
employees. While some are offering stock options,
the others are getting more personal like offering
family vacations. But then some are becoming increasingly sensitive to the needs of the prospective
aspirant: Like making sure the son of the person in
question got admission to a reputed foreign university. The companies are now ready to read between
the lines and sensing the needs of the person they
are interested in hiring, says Lakshminath.
But companies are ready with better pay packages
and retention techniques aimed to counter key employees attrition. Like Maruti Suzuki has a policy
against top level hiring from outside. It was in 2004
that Maruti hired its last director level for finance
from outside of Maruti, otherwise we always promote internal talent, says SY Siddiqui, managing
executive officer, administration, Maruti Suzuki.
Besides this the company tries to grow internal talent through leadership programmes like Agni that
gives them cross-functional approach and investing
in research and development activities. As Siddiqui
says there biggest threat is not attrition, which we
have maintained at a 9 percent but poaching.
This is why companies have to go beyond compensatory packages to retain key talent. Theres a
big drive in organisations to think out of the box
ideas for retaining employees. But money is still a big
driver to motivate people to hop, says Suri. Even as
companies try personalised solutions, incentives,
bonuses, unique programmes like bonding with the
family are becoming key to retaining employees,
Kishore shares. Theres nothing simpler than writing a cheque to retain an employee but a progressive
company is recognising the need to spend more time
in listening to them, Chawla says.
Employee engagement has become a core area
with HR in companies. The Mercer survey confirms:
Organisations (in India) have steadily begun to look
to contribution as opposed to simply loyalty, while
employees are beginning to take responsibility for
managing their own careers. Both employers and
workers are looking to understand and redefine the
rules of engagement. Thats why NTPC has an internal leadership development programme that
trains about 1000 executive trainees who grow in
the organisation amounting to about 105 of the key
personnel. Infosys claims that top management is
not a portfolio game where you hire and fire based
on markets, they need to be nurtured and developed
over a period of time, which they do through various
engagement programmes. HDFC follows a strong
referral system of hiring as they understand the advantages of having ones best friend at work. In
fact Suri says, The companies might create positions
like engagement and retention managers.
But the fact remains: There will be too many
jobs chasing too few people, especially at the top
level, says Shiv Agarwal, chief executive officer,
ABC Consultants, an executive search firm. According to Agarwal, companies need more than engagement and increase employer participation.
And employers have to start sensitising itself to its
senior management or the threat of them upping
and leaving becomes all too real. Experts say that
getting key talent to switch cars requires guts and
guile but more than that you need to get the right
person. The cultural fit becomes an important factor while hiring key managers, as they have to drive
growth, says Kishore. The older cadre sees a key
person in a new organisation as a challenge or a
threat. Its only natural. Its just like if you transplant an organ there are chances of it getting rejected in the start, Lakshminath says.
However, the culture fit argument doesnt cut it
with Chawla who feels usually a key manager is inducted to bring in his own way of working into the
stream. The idea while hiring a key manager should
be that he/she should fit into the culture you want to
make it to be, he says, Just like a you buy a big shoesize for a growing size you need to get a different person to drive growth. If companies want to win the
war for talent, HR professionals advise, changing
tack. Money is not the binding factor, emotions are.
India Inc has to start listening to earn loyalty.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

DATELINE INDIA

New telecom
policy to be
unveiled soon

Robust December sales set

the tone for auto cos
Lack Of Discounts Did Not Deter Consumers From Booking Vehicles

OUR BUREAU
NEW DELHI

THE government in consultation with

the industry will soon unveil a new
telecom policy framework called National Telecom Policy, 2011, that will replace the existing guidelines for the sector which were framed over a decade
ago, telecom minister Kapil Sibal has
said. The new policy is amongst the
slew of measures that the government
will introduce to bring in the muchneeded transparency into the scamtainted telecom sector.
Eleven years have passed since the
National Telecom Policy 1999 and
many changes have taken place thereafter. Action will be initiated to formulate a comprehensive NTP 2011, Mr
Sibal told reporters when unveiling the
governments hundred-day agenda for
the sector. Giving details of his plan, the
minister said that over the next hundred days, his ministry would hold
consultations with key stakeholders to
evolve a clear and transparent regime
covering licensing, spectrum allocation,
telecom tariffs, pricing, linkage with
rollout performance, flexibility within
licenses, spectrum sharing, spectrum
trading, mobile virtual network operators, unlicensed bands and mergers and
acquisitions in a technology-agnostic
environment. The minister also said
those who doubted his ministrys commitment towards executing these proposals should come back after hundred
days to take stock of the progress.
Three factors will be kept in mind
while framing the new policyreasonable revenue for government, affordable services to users and robust growth
of the sector. We need to balance all
these three elements, he said, and
added that government revenues
should not come at the cost of the industrys health, nor should service
providers make huge profits by milking
customers and charging them high tariffs. Regarding the industrys concerns
on the allocation of additional airwaves,
the minister said that the telecom ministry would take up the issue with the
department of space and information
and broadcasting to ensure that radio
frequencies were vacated for commercial telephony services.
He also promised to address the industrys concerns on security issues
holding up the launch of 3G services.
Steps would be taken to enable operators to launch services in their entire
plenitude without delay, Mr Sibal said.
Last week, the government had
agreed to give private telcos the conditional nod to continue offering
non-voice third-generation mobile
services if they demonstrate these facilities can be tapped live with a sixmonth time frame, an official in-

CHANCHAL PAL CHAUHAN

NEW DELHI

T
volved in process said requesting
anonymity. A fortnight ago, the
home affairs ministry cited security
concerns and asked the telecoms
ministry to stop all 3G data services,
including high-speed Internet, download of music and video clips, chat
and internet telephony calls, stating
that these facilities could not be intercepted on a real-time basis. Notices
were then issued to private telcos Reliance Communications and Tata
Teleservices that had begun offering
these services, and to Bharti Airtel,
which had planned to launch these
services soon.
The minister also said that other security related issues would also be addressed. Security issues regarding telecom equipment procurement, messenger services and subscriber verification
will be resolved. Steps will be taken to
establish the Central Monitoring System, which will facilitate and prevent
misuse of lawful interception facility.
After taking office in November, Mr
Sibal had kicked off a clean-up act in the
scam-tainted telecom industry by issuing notices to mobile phone companies
for charges ranging from use of forged
documents and suppression of facts to
failure to roll out services in time. The
minister said that so far, the government had collected `73.73 crore as
penalties from mobile phone companies for missing roll-out deadlines and
added that the department of telecom
was considering the possibility of cancelling the licences of these operators.
Total penalty is about ` 219 crore for
missing roll-out obligations. We had
generated demand for over ` 78 crore of
which the operators have submitted
`73.73 crore, he said.
Etisalat DB, Loop Telecom, Uninor,
Sistema-Shyam and Aircel are among
the operators who have submitted
the liquidated damages (penalty), the
minister said and added more notices
would be issued to telecom companies soon. On cancellation of licences,
he said a decision will be taken after
due consideration.

HERE is no stopping the Indian car

market as December set the cash register ringing for most carmakers. Lack
of discounts and even absence of strong
deal in the market couldnt deter customers
from flocking showroom that took sales to a
new height, ushering brighter prospects in
the new year.
While many carmakers including the
largest Maruti Suzuki are yet to release
their December sales, initial reports suggest
that the domestic car market grew at least
25% last month over the previous year.
Sensing the strong demand for cars to continue, companies had offered brisk rebates
on their models in December, which typically carries huge promotions as most automakers prefer to exhaust their year-end
stocks. As expected, sales zoomed in December too, paving the way for fiscal sales
to cross 2 million passenger vehicles in the
domestic market.
Going forward car companies expect robust demand to continue and market to expand further in 2011. The year 2010 has
been positive for Hyundai Motors and largely for the auto industry. We clocked record
6-lakh cumulative sales (including exports)
for the first time since inception. Going further, stronger car sales are expected to in
2011, although the higher base of this year
could moderated the rate of growth to some
extent, Arvind Saxena, director (marketing & sales) Hyundai Motor India said. The
Korean carmaker clocked 17.6% growth to
26,168 cars in December 2010 as compare

Nano sales up 10 fold

NEW DELHI: Tata Motor pulled up an
impressive sales for its latest offering
Nano, the worlds cheapest car as sales
jumped 60% to 5,784 units in December year-on-year. This is much higher
than the 509 Nanos sold by the Mumbai-based automaker in November. The
company has started a slew of measures
to reinforce confidence in the product
by doubling its warranty to 4-years and
extending a 100% financing on the car.
Market experts say that these measures
could bring some consistency in sales of
Nano, which had dwindled from its
year high of 9,000 units in July this
year. Nanos perception is changing in
the customers. It is being perceived as a
safe car with robust performance that is
likely to enhance it sales in the domestic
market, said a Delhi-based Tata Motors dealer. Our Bureau
to 22,252 cars in the same month of 2009.
Countrys largest auto company by
turnover, Tata Motors posted a positive spin
of sales for its small car Nano whose sales
jumped 60% to 5,784 units in December
year-on-year. Its passenger vehicles sales in
December stood at 19,706 units, a jump of
34% from December 2009. The strong performance was further helped by Indica
hatchback that posted a 40% jump in sales
to 5,923 units last month. Sales of its Safari
and Sumo also increased 62% to 2,765
units in the same period.

FAST LANE
Vehicles sold in domestic market in Dec
Company
Hyundai
Tata Motors
Mahindra
Toyota
General Motors
Ford

Analyst tracking auto industry expected

the growth momentum to continue in 2011.
Back by strong economic growth auto sales
are expected to get a boost this year. New
cars at competitive prices would increase demand while rising interest rates could pose a
problem, Pradeep Saxena who tracks auto
sector for consultancy firm TNS Automotive.
Sporty utility vehicle (SUV) also got their
share of attention from the customers in
December. Utility vehicles major, maker
Mahindra & Mahindra also posted a
healthy 28% growth in sales to 15,601

Chicago-bound AI passengers
spend New Year at hotel rooms
PTI
NEW DELHI

ABOUT 220 passengers of a Chicago-bound Air India

flight were forced to spend the New Year day in hotel
rooms after the airline rescheduled their flight by 24
hours due to shortage of cabin crew. Air India flight (AI127) to Chicago was scheduled to take-off at 1.30 am
but was delayed as passengers from connecting flights
was also to be accommodated but those flights arrived
late at the IGI airport, sources said.
Due to this, the flight was delayed by several hours
and in the meantime the duty hours of the flight crew
also came to an end. Since the national carrier is facing
shortage of cabin crew and also many of them being on
leave due to Christmas and New Year it did not have
spare crew to replace them, they said. Though the airline management asked them to continue with their
work beyond their Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL)

saying they would get the clearance from the civil aviation regulator, the crew refused to violate their FDTL.
Left with no option, the airline cancelled the flight and
reschedule it. Due to delay in arriving flights and accommodating the passengers into the Chicago flight, the flight
got delayed and flight duty time of the crew came was almost over so they refused to operate the flight. Due to this,
we have to reschedule to the flight, an Air India official
said. The rescheduling of flight spoiled New Year plans for
many as many spent their new year at the hotel rooms,
provided by the airline. Apart from it, it also caused concerns for many who had to join for their duty. My daughter had to join her job on Monday but airline is not giving
any information when the flight would depart, said K V N
Sharma, whose daughter was to board the flight last night.
I have been asking the airline authorities but they are not
giving us any correct information, he added. When asked,
the airline official said that the flight would depart tonight
with a new number AI 127D.

Holidayers face risk of social jet lag

IANS
LONDON

HOLIDAYING for a long period during new

year and Christmas can interrupt your body
clock and leave you with symptoms similar to
having travelled to a different time zone, scientists say.
People taking extra-long festive break face
risk of being hit by a phenomenon called social
jet lag when they return. According to the Daily Mail, the condition can leave people struggling to get up in the morning, feeling sluggish,
finding it difficult to fall asleep at night and feeling sleepy during the day.

2009 % Change
2010
26,168 22,252
18
19,706 14,654
34
15,601 12,212
28
6,359 6,029
5
8,468 8,258
5
1,582 172
4,301

Other symptoms include indigestion, loss

of appetite, difficulty concentrating, memory
problems, clumsiness, feeling generally unwell, lack of energy, fatigue and irritability.
On top of that, negative emotions associated with the holiday season being over and
two weeks of irregular sleeping patterns could
lead workers to feel tired and lacklustre, experts say. Social jet lag is described as the difference between biological time and external
requirements. It also causes a problem for
teenagers, who will find it difficult to wake up
for school. Over the Christmas period we
will enjoy staying up late at night and staying

in bed in the morning, Victoria Revell, a researcher from the University of Surrey, was
quoted as saying.
However, this will allow our body clock to
drift later in time similar to flying a couple of
time zones west, she said. This means that
when we go back to work in the new year our
body clock will be set later than we want it to
be so we will really struggle to wake up, get up
and get going in the mornings.
One way to enjoy the festive season but
not let our body clock drift too far is to ensure
that we still get up at a reasonable time even
when not going to work.

Snowwhite Show

SNOWCAPPED: A security jawan stands guard as a train moves on a snow covered track at Nowgam Railway Station in Srinagar on Saturday, a day after a heavy snowfall. PTI

Two Wheelers
2009 % Change
2010
Company
TVS Motors
1,71,790 1,20,913
42
Honda
NA
1,40,642
20
Suzuki Motors 25,837 14,549
78
Yamaha
34,839 20,529
70

units in December with its flagship SUV

Scorpio pulling strong demand in the domestic market. While Japanese carmaker
Toyota Kirloskar Motor sales grew 5% to
6,359 units in December.
It has also re-started customer bookings
for Fortuner, which grabbed a lions share
of the SUV segment with over 15,000 units
sold in the past 18 months of its launch.
We are looking at increased production to
cater to the bulging demand of Fortuner,
Toyotas deputy MD (marketing) Sandeep
Singh said.

State Bank to raise base

rate, lending rate
REUTERS
MUMBAI

STATE Bank of India, the countrys top lender, said late on Friday it will raise its base rate, lending and deposit rates, all effective
January 3.
The state-run lender will raise
its base rate to 8% from 7.6% and
benchmark prime lending rate to
12.75% from 12.5%, it said in a
statement. The bank will also revise its deposit rates upwards by
50-100 basis points in various maturities, it added.
ICICI Bank, Indias second
largest lender, on Friday also said it
plans to raise its base rate by 50 basis points and benchmark prime
lending rate by 25 basis points, effective January 3.

2011 to be
observed as Year
of Chemistry
IANS
BANGALORE

NDIAN scientists, research scholars and students Saturday

began celebrating 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) for the achievements and contributions made
by this important branch of science to the well-being of humankind.
The new year will be celebrated as the IYC in line with the
resolution adopted by the 63rd general assembly of the United Nations in December 2008, with Unesco and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) organising the year-long event, eminent scientist CNR Rao said,
inaugurating the celebrations at the premier Indian Institute
of Science.
The year also coincides with the centenary year of the Nobel Prize for chemistry to Marie Curie (1867-1934) for her
discovery of radioactivity.
All known matter is based on chemical elements or compounds and our understanding of the chemical nature is
based on our knowledge of the subject, as all living process is
controlled by chemical reactions, Rao, who is also chairman
of the scientific advisory council to the prime minister, said.
Admitting chemistry was not the most popular, Rao told
about 500 school and college students from across the city
that the subject did not attract the kind of attention physics
and biology get as the benefits of chemistry were not communicated properly. Chemistry does not seem to be as fascinating as other branches of science though it deals with the basic
aspects of life such as food, water, energy, health and transportation. Teaching chemistry as an interesting subject is lacking due to the absence of quality teachers in the field, Rao
lamented. The Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI), set
up in this tech hub in 1999 to mark the 50th year of Indian republic, will spearhead the celebrations of the IYC with a wide
range of activities, including demonstrations, workshops,
prize rewards to chemistry teachers at university level, partnerships with industry for creation of national wealth and
popularization of achievements in the field to the public.
We intend to reach across the young, not so young and
general public with opportunities for participation at the local, regional and national levels, as chemistry is a creative science essential for sustainability and improvements in the
quality of life, CRSI president V. Krishnan said.
To popularise chemistry, the society brought out a book titled Chemistry Today, authored by Rao, for free distribution
among schools and colleges and teachers across the country.
In addition, we have decided to publish and distribute the
periodic table and physical constants as ready reckoners to
students of chemistry at the graduate and post-graduate levels, Krishnan noted.
As part of the celebrations, the society will hold workshops
at Pune in May, Puducherry in June, Siliguri in July and Jammu in September.
The two-day workshops will be devoted to chemical education involving chemistry teachers in the area. Zonal meetings will also be held during the workshops in the respective
cities as a special event to mark the IYC, Krishnan said.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

WORLD UPDATE

Virgin America: Richard

Bransons Will to Fly
The fun carrier has shown promise, despite
byzantine regulations, powerful rivals, and
airlines tendency to haemorrhage money
during recessions and spikes in fuel prices.
But Virgin is at a turning point, and its future
is far from certain, says Brad Stone
n a sunny, wind-swept December
morning, Virgin America kicked off
a day of festivities along the otherwise unfestive runways of Dallas
Fort Worth Airport. Four longhorn
cattle lolled in a pen while dignitaries such as Dallas Mayor Tom
Leppert lunched on pulled pork and ribs, and lasso
artists twirled rope. The main attraction was the host,
60-year-old Sir Richard Branson, billionaire bon vivant
and founder of the Virgin Group. While he was at the
centre of the celebration, he was also making an incursion into enemy territory.
The enemy, American Airlines, dominates air traffic
at DFW. The 80-year-old airline and its affiliates send
about 765 flights out of Dallas every day, making up
more than 85 percent of traffic at the nations fourthbusiest airport. Tiny Virgin Americawith its 36 planes
and 1,700 employeeswas initiating just four daily
flights, two each to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Branson, in cowboy boots, chaps, and carrying a cowboy hat that he looked reluctant to don over his golden
locks, was undaunted by the taxiing AA jets that
crawled past the party like Panzers on patrol. You now
have a choice, Branson told a crowd of around 200
employees, local politicians, and press.
You can either go on that other carrier and get their
kind of service and get treated a little bit like those animals over therehe said, gesturing to the cattleor
you can come on the Virgin carrier and you can have a
blast. Over the last three years, Virgin Americas philosophy of fun in the skies has shown promise, despite
byzantine regulations, powerful competitors, and the

ever-present fact that airlines, as a whole, tend to haemorrhage money during recessions and spikes in fuel
prices. But the airline is at a turning point, and its future
is far from certain. Its Airbus A319 and A320 jets are relatively new, theres in-flight entertainment in every
seat-back, and Wi-Fi Internet access on every plane. As
a result, Virgin has collected a passel of best-domesticairline awards over the last three years from publications such as Cond Nast Traveler and Zagat, and has built
a devoted following among circles such as the West
Coast tech industry. Its clean, the music makes you
happy, and the mood lighting makes you calm. Its just
better, says Jason Hirschhorn, the former co-president
of MySpace, who selects Virgin America flights whenever they are available.
Since deregulation of the airline industry in 1978,
more than 100 small airline startups have come and
gone. JetBlue is among the very few to have survived. In
November, Virgin America announced its first quarterly
profit, of $7.5 million, on $202 million in revenues, but it
lost $22.5 million over the first half of the year and has lost
$400 million or more since its founding in 2004. David
Cush, Virgin Americas CEO and a former American Airlines executive, promises the airline will turn an overall
profit in 2011. With oil prices well off their 2008 highs and
American travelers enthusiastically flying again despite
the groping hands of TSA agents, the entire domestic airline industry is in one of those hearty periods when it
makes good money. The Bloomberg US Airlines Index, of
12 US carriers, climbed 22 percent in 2010. Theyve created a niche, but I dont think its sustainable, says Mo
Garfinkle, chief executive officer of GCW, an aviation
consulting firm. Virgin America does have at least part of

Canadians are now spending

like crazy Americans

one big asset: Branson. American carriers are all very

much the same, and the people who run them do not
think of the customers at all, says Branson, sitting in the
first row of one of the airlines parked, white-and-red
painted A320s. Its become a bus service. Over the last
two decades, Branson has applied a focus on customer
service and industrial design to an array of businesses,
some more successful than others.
Branson first tried to start a domestic US airline in the
1990s and discussed teaming up with former Southwest
Airlines executive David Neeleman. Branson was concerned, however, about a US law restricting foreign
ownership of domestic airlines, which would require
him to turn over control of the Virgin brand to Neeleman. The Federal Aviation Act of 1938, meant to allow
airlines to be commandeered by the military during
wartime, limits foreigners to owning 49 percent of a domestic airline. Neeleman went on to start JetBlue,
which won its flying certification from the Transportation Dept. in just three months, and went public in 2002.
In the spring of 2006, with Virgin America applying
for certification from the Transportation Dept., Continental and American Airlines led a battle to block
Branson from US skies. The ensuing regulatory fight,
waged with lobbyists in Washington, Sacramento, and
Virgins new home base in San Francisco, lasted 18
months and included a provisional rejection of Virgin
Americas flying certificate in December 2006. Branson calls the delay a horrendous waste of money and
says competitors went to extraordinary lengths to
smother us at birth. One person with knowledge of
the companys finances during those years, who spoke
anonymously because the number was never formally disclosed, says Virgin America burned through more
than $100 million of cash waiting to take off. With
David Cush newly installed as CEO, Virgin Americas
inaugural flight, from JFK to San Francisco, finally took
off in August 2007. Adding to all the standard difficulties was an historic spike in oil prices, which peaked at
$145 a barrel in July 2008. For the first nine months of
2008, Virgin America announced a $175.4 million loss
on $259 million in revenue.
After such a tortured launch, both US investors exercised the option to sell their stakes back to the airline. The
company faced a simultaneous cash and regulatory crisis,
since Bransons stake now exceeded 50 percent. In the
ensuing refinancing, the Virgin Group lent Virgin America another $60 million (which did not increase its stake),
and Cyrus Capital agreed to step back in with a $20 million loan and assume the majority ownership position.
Virgin America board members like Cush, Carty, and
Samuel K Skinner, a former Secretary of Transportation
under George HW Bush, also took a collective 21 percent
share of the company to keep it in regulatory compliance.
What Virgin America may really need is more Branson. The foreign ownership laws, however, make it hard
for him to work his usual magic in all but the most superficial ways. A few hours after the party on the tarmac
at Dallas Forth Worth airport, Virgin America hosted
more than 1,000 guests at Dallas Winspear Opera House
for a concert by Willie Nelson, days after his latest arrest
for marijuana possession.
Introducing the country crooner, Branson joked that
Nelson and Virgin America
have much in common: We
both like to fly high, he
cracked. The crowd laughed,
then celebrated throughout
the night. After the event,
even close backers acknowledged the flight ahead could
be rough. Its sad. Theres a
confluence of things working
against these guys, said Fred
Reid, Virgin Americas first
CEO, adding, Im hopeful
because this is the right thing
for air travelers.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek

SPENDTHRIFT Canada? Many Americans

would find that hard to believe. Throughout the
subprime crisis that rocked the US, Canadas economy and banking industry remained rock solid. Yet
in mid-December, the Canadian government released statistics showing that the indebtedness of
Canadians surpassed US levels for the first time in 12
years. Household debt as a portion of disposable income was 148 percent in the third quarter, according to government agency Statistics Canada, exceeding the US level of 147 percent.
Canadians, it turns out, have been acquiring big
mortgages, too, as the countrys recent prosperity
drove demand for bigger and better housing. Low
interest rates have encouraged Canadian consumers
to take on debt, while banks, largely untouched by
the financial crisis, have continued to lend. The average size of a mortgage in Canada has gone from
C$120,000 in 2004 to $170,000 as of last spring, according to CIBC World Markets, a Canadian investment house. The rise in household debt puts the
government and central bank in a corner. The ordinary response is to cool borrowing off by raising interest rates. Bank of Canada Governor Mark J. Carney has boosted the benchmark rate three times
since June to 1 percent.
The problem is that further rate hikes increase the

cost of servicing mortgages, which stretch debtladen households. Higher rates would also attract
foreign investors looking for higher-yielding bonds.
That would strengthen the loonie further: Its basically at parity with the greenback, which has weakened against most currencies in the last year as the
Federal Reserve pursued a loose monetary policy.
A stronger Canadian dollar will make exports pricierespecially to the US, Canadas biggest trading partnerand put growth at risk. Finance Minister James
M Flaherty is trying to cool the market off. The government has tightened rules on refinancing and down
payments, and made it harder to qualify for government-insured mortgages. Everybody knows, I think,
interest rates will have to go up over time, Flaherty
says. So people have to make sure they can afford
their mortgage payments when interest rates rise.
The central bank will have to weigh all these issues
before its next interest rate announcement on Jan 18.
While in December it kept rates steady, the pressure to
raise them and slow down consumer borrowing is increasing. The level of vulnerabilities of households remains high, Bank of Canadas Carney said at a press
conference on Dec 13. Without a significant change
in behavior, the proportion of households susceptible
to serious financial stress will continue to grow.
Bloomberg Businessweek

STARTING 2011,

YOU CAN QUIT SMOKING

WITH NICORETTE!

China output
moderates, factory
inflation slows
REUTERS
BEIJING

CHINAS factory inflation cooled in December as manufacturers expanded more slowly after a strong run in growth, lessening the need
for the countrys central bank to tighten monetary policy too far. The
official Chinese purchasing managers index (PMI) edged down to
53.9 in December from Novembers 55.2 , falling short of a median
forecast of 55.5 in a Reuters poll of 12 economists.
The results of the survey of 820 firms will likely be welcomed by
Chinas central bank by showing the worlds second-largest economy
was still growing solidly despite the slight pull-back in activity. More
importantly, they held out hope that Chinas inflation, running at their
highest in over two years, may be peaking soon. That should calm investors who are worried that accelerating inflation will lead China
to aggressively tighten policy and hurt growth in the worlds fastestgrowing major economy. Growth is not overheated, (and) the
chance for inflation to be out of control is low, said Ting Lu, an
economist at the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.
Policy will be tightened, but dont expect excessive measures. The
input cost sub-index in the official index fell to 66.7 in December
from 73.5 the previous month. Although that is still well above the
50-point level that demarcates expansion from contraction, it
showed prices were rising at a slower pace.
Hitherto accelerating inflation and record house prices have led
Chinas central bank to signal time and again in recent months that the
country needs prudent monetary policy to curb price pressures and
prevent asset bubbles. To match its tough rhetoric with deeds, it raised
interest rates on Dec 25 for the second time in just over two months.
For some, that China can tighten policy at a time when the US economy is still battling near-10% unemployment is a sign of the Chinese economys strength. Zhang Liqun, a government researcher at the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, which compiles the PMI index on behalf of the National Bureau of Statistics, said as much. The growth of
industrial output for November increased a little from the previous
month, while export and investment rose strongly. So from this, it
is not apparent that the economy is in a downward trend, Zhang
said. Inflation in China raced to a 28-month high of 5.1 percent in
November and that has stirred discontent among its populace.
Anxiety over Chinas policy outlook in the face of rising prices have
unsettled some investors and taken a toll on Shanghais share index . It
lost 14 percent in 2010, ranking it one of the worst performers in the
world for the year. For Chinas top leaders, accelerating inflation is a
headache. High prices can threaten their political leadership by causing social unrest, as they had in the past. That has led the Chinese government to signal repeatedly in recent weeks that the task of reining
in prices is among its top priorities for 2011. Chinas central bank,
which has no autonomy over monetary policy and needs approval
from the highest echelons of power within the government on any
rate move, has fallen in line with the policy goal.

::,.

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

www.r hi.org.in

CUSTOMER CARE

CELL FOR REDRESSAL OF COMPLAINTS

NICORETTE

DOUBLES

TO QUIT SMOK INGt

YOUR CHANCES

Reserve Bank has set up a Complaints Redressal

Cell under SHRI J. B. BHORIA, Regional Director
for Ma haras htr a and Goa for prompt redr essal of
complaints from members of public against the
Reserve Bank at the following address:
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
MUMBAI OFFICE

POST BOX NO. 901, FIRST FLOOR

MAIN BUILDING

SHAHID BHAGAT SINGH ROAD

MUMBAI 400 001.

-

Any person , who has a grievance against any

Department of the RESERVE BANK at MUMBAI, may

lodge his/her complaint to the Cell at the above
address. The complaint should contain the name
and address of the complainant , the Department
against which the complaint is being made and facts
of the case supported by documents , if any, relied
upon by the complainant.
Members of public can also approach the Designated
Officer , SMT. ARUNDHATI MECH , General
Manager (Administration) on Telephone No.
22620521 or at the Email-ID crcmumbai@rbi.org.in
or call on her at the above address.
Similarly, any person who has a grievance against
any Department of Reserve Bank at CBD, BELAPUR ,
NAVI MUMBAI , may lodge his/her complaint to the
Cell at the following address:
SHRI SHEKHAR BHATNAGAR

GENERAL MANAGER (OFFICER-IN-CHARGE)

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
PLOT NO. 3,SECTOR 10

H. H. NIRMALADEVI MARG

COD , BELAPUR , NAVI MUMBAI - 400 614.

Members of public can also approach the

Designated Officer, SHRI C. BASKER, Assistant

General Manager (Admn.) on Telephone No.
27576717 or at the Email-ID crcbelapur@rbi.org.in
or call on him at the above address.
Complainants may also log into Reserve Bank
website at http:/Iwww.rbi.org.inlcommonman l
English/Scripts/AgainstRBl.aspx
In the event of the complainant not getting a reply
within a period of 35 days or being not satisfied with
the reply received, he/she may write to SHRI KAZA
SUDHAKA R, Chief General Manager, Customer
Service Department , Reserve Bank of India,
Amar Building, 1st Floor, Sir P. M. Road, Fort,
Mumbai - 400 001.

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

POLICY

Birth Rights & Wrongs

If we are
successful in
sterilising one lakh
couples, the
nation will save an
average of `15 lakh
per couple, or
`60,000 crore over
the next 20 years
in just four states,
says Naveen Jindal

Air India gets

fresh equity

Y SETTING up the Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh or

Population Stabilisation
Fund in India, the ministry
of health has recognised the
need to achieve stabilisation of population.
There are many reasons, both historical
and current, which explain why Indias population has been growing so fast, especially in
many backward states where the total fertility
rate that is, the total number of children a
woman has during her lifetime, is still much
higher than the population replacement rate.
It has been accepted by experts that higher
fertility is wanted by parents because they
feel some children may die. Parents are afraid
that one child may not survive into their old
age or may not care for them in later years.
Hence, the decision to have more children
comes from a desire to find safety in numbers.
An understanding of this issue is important
because in this understanding also lies the solution to population stabilisation. Once we
know that people have large number of children because they suffer from old age insecurity then we can find ways to help them overcome this insecurity and convince them that
they need not have more children because
their old age has already been secured.
I shall suggest here an idea of population
stabilisation that will
Address the problems of financial insecurity
among old age people
Lead to a stable and manageable populace
Be economical to the nation on an opportunity cost principle
It has been estimated that with inflation it
costs about `10 lakhs to take a child from birth
to the age 20 years in a lower middle class
family. This cost may be borne by parents,
government, and by society at large, but it is a
real cost to the nation and represents the expenditure that must be made on every new
born child. However, the same resources that
is `10 lakhs estimated above, could also be
used in other waysfor instance, strengthening our education, health and other social infrastructurehence, it represents an opportunity cost for the country as a whole.
From the above estimate, it is clear that
three children in a family represent an expenditure of `30 lakh for the country. On the other hand, we could spend `1 lakh after the first
or second child was born in the form of an investment to be made in the name of parents

Naveen Jindal
MP, Lok Sabha

THE FINEPRINT

Infrastructure

`1 lakh if sterilisation up to 2 children

Target 1 lakh couples every year in each of 4

Population
Stabilisation

states: UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan

Expense: Approx `1000 cr per state per yr
Scheme can be scaled up if response is good

agreeing to accept some form of sterilisation.

This would save `10 to 20 lakh expenditure
on the one or two unborn children respectively or average of `15 lakh.
This investment of `1 lakh with the NPS or
other reputed financial institution can reasonably be expected to grow to over 10 lakhs
in 20 years. At the end of these 20 years, the
financial institutions would use this amount
to pay an interest to the parents. One can reasonably expect them to get more than `1 lakh
a year for the rest of their life. After the
younger or surviving spouse turns 60, the
scheme may permit access to the capital as
well. The merit of this scheme is that the annual payment to the parents would be made
irrespective of whether those children lived or
died during those 20 years and represents a
far more reliable form of old age security than
in having many children.
As more and more people accept this security cover in the states where they are still having
three children on an average, we will be stabilising the population by preventing one or more
additional births in each such family. One offshoot of this arrangement will also be that the
families themselves will be able to provide a
much better growing up environment for up to
two children, and if, God forbid, those children
should not survive, then the parents will still
have the security cover which starts after 20
years, just when they are beginning to be afraid
for their old age security.
The Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh of the government of India has done useful research in
suggesting innovative schemes for population
stabilisation. One of their suggestions has also
been to provide some sort of deposit to benefit
couples who opt for sterilisation after one or
two children. So it is clear that our suggestion
for population stabilisation is in keeping with
the innovative schemes of the Jansankhya
Sthirata Kosh.
We recommend that government makes a
deposit in the name of the parents (jointly or
survivor) when the couple opts for sterilisation. The scheme would be:
Deposit to reputed institutions like LIC, NPS
Deposit in name of parents
Deposit for 20 years

To begin with, government can provide this

incentive amount for a target of 1 lakh BPL
couples every year for each of these four
states. This translates into an outlay of `1,000
crore per state per annum or `4000 crore per
annum for all four states. What is most important in this context is to understand that this
expenditure will save the nation far more in
terms of the unspent amount for children not
born.
A rough estimate will tell us that if the total
fertility rate is three and we are successful in
sterilising one lakh couples after the first or
the second child is born then the nation will
save an average of `15 lakh per couple. In
other words the nation as a whole in these
four states will save `60,000 crore over the
next 20 years or `3,000 crore every year. We
would stress that while this `60,000 crore
may look like a hypothetical figure to be spent
in future years, but spent it has got to be. The
way in which it will get spent is in the form of
increased outlay for childrens immunisation, for their drinking water, sanitation, doctors, nurses, midwives, hospitals, medicines,
schools, teachers, books, transport and all
these expenses that can go towards providing
a quality life to the child. For example, the
Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh has concluded that
the Right to Education entails:
13.3 lakh new teachers
33,405 pucca schools
Upgradation of 27,000 kutcha schools
7 lakh girl toilets
Drinking water facility in 3.4 lakh schools
Their estimated expense for the Right to
Education is `38,000 crore for UP and
`26,000 crore for Bihar for the next five years.
Similarly, the National Advisory Council is
even now deliberating over `91,000 crore a
year subsidy on food for people living in urban slums and rural BPL households. This list
can go on to include expenses that we will be
required to make in sectors like health, education, housing, transport, sanitation, etc.
If we make a bold attempt to make real deposits which will be valuable to parents after
20 years, we will have made strong head-way
in stabilising the population of the country.
(The writer is a Member of Parliament representing Kurukshetra constituency of Haryana)

National carrier Air India managed

fresh equity infusion of `1,200 crore,
but the much needed government aid
came with a rider. When Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved
the move, it also directed Air India
management to work towards
rationalisation of wage structure. This
is the second round of equity infusion
to the beleaguered carrier during the
calendar year, 2010. In February,
government had released `800 crore
as equity. But in the backdrop of Air Indias total debt burden of about
`40,000 crore and its continuous
accumulation of losses, the
government rider appears to be too
mild. Whats needed is a definite plan
of action to rationalise its wage bill of
whopping `3,100 crore per year.

New guidelines
for CSR spend
As CSR is becoming a global buzzword
with some of the richest corporate
czars beginning to donate a part of
their fortune for social cause, why
should Indian profit making PSUs be
left behind? Already, department of
public enterprises in its recent
guidelines on corporate social responsibility for central PSUs has laid stress
on connecting corporate social responsibility to sustainable development.
Under the new guidelines, the CSR
plan for PSUs is to match with the
long-term business plan of the
organisation. The guidelines could
help, but if the political pressure on
PSUs continues, CSR money may not
go to right pockets.

WILL NITISH KUMARS VICTORY FORCE STATES TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO CORE SECTOR?

Development becoming the art of new-age Indian politics

hy is infrastructure development important today? In simple terms, a robust infrastructure triggers rapid development
and contributes to the process of poverty alleviation. The provision of what is called world class infrastructure is considered necessary not only to improve the competitiveness of the economy but also
to promote inclusive growth and improve quality of
life of the common man.
Yes, the state of infrastructure in our country is not
comparable to that of developed countries and even
with that of a developing economy like China. India
is generally seen as a developing country with poor
infrastructure. Out of 57 countries reviewed in
2009 in terms of economic performance, governance efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure, India ranked the lowest, according to IMD
world competitive year book.
Yet, infrastructure has begun to gain momentum.
It is probably for the first time that need for infrastructure investment got special attention in the current five year plan when the much talked about
$500 billion investment requirement was projected.
This was supposed to be a big jump from the $220
billion investment of the previous five year plan.
This target of about `20,56,150 crore means investment in infrastructure was going up from 5 percent
of GDP to 9 percent.
But it is now well known that the investment projection for the current plan is not likely to materialise
and the expected shortfall could be 25 to 35 percent.
That means we will take even more time to plan for
augmenting road capacity or electricity generation or
making an improvement of urban infrastructure.
What would this mean for the ordinary person?
More struggles and suffering, more so for the common man. Also, it means a big setback as far as the
growth projections are concerned.
We cannot afford to miss the bus as far as basic infrastructure improvement is concerned. On one hand
we have a success story in telecom and on the other
we have a plethora of basic issues such as poor project
implementation, delays in regulatory and land clearances, dearth of viable and properly planned projects,
lack of availability of right kind of long-term debt, lack

M Ramachandran
Adviser (Infrastructure),
Uttar Pradesh
of transparency in the PPP process, absence of proper
regulatory mechanism and so on.
Today, expectations of people in general have become very high, and citizens are aware of what they
deserve. When infrastructure services fall short of demand, cost of producing goods and services would naturally go up. When we look around globally, there are
standing examples like Malaysia and Indonesia which
saw reduction in poverty levels when intense efforts
were made to improve infrastructure in rural areas.
India is projected to be the worlds fastest growing
economy by 2013-15. For this it would be necessary
to considerably hike the infrastructure expenditure
both in absolute terms and as percentage of GDP. The
projected infrastructure investment in the next five
year plan period is about `41 lakh crore. This is a
very ambitious target. The question is how best we
will be able to find the enhanced quantum of resources and how proactive governments will be in
finding new ways of working in partnership with the
private sector so that improved and enhanced infrastructure services become a reality.
(The writer is a former urban development secretary)

s there a link between good infrastructure and

winning elections? The remarkable electoral
sweep by Nitish Kumar in Bihar would certainly
point to this direction. While some may suggest that
astute electoral arithmetic was part of his armoury,
there is no doubt that in some key infrastructure sectors, Bihar has seen remarkable progress over the
last five years. Infrastructure is both hard and soft;
both physical and social. Perhaps the most critical infrastructure is law and order, and Bihar witnessed a
complete turnaround in this crucial aspect. This may
have contributed to the record turnout of women
voters, cutting across socio-economic categories.
Roads and highways are the most visible part of Bihars improved infrastructure. This improvement
has had spin-off benefits in the fields of education,
health, agro-based activities and employment opportunities. In the education and health sectors,
there have been remarkable changes for the better.
Are there some key learnings for other states?
First, as aspirations rise, fuelled by the middle class
and mass media, the electoral demands of voters
would prioritise performance in terms of better governance and better infrastructure. As recent research
has shown, the incumbency factor in winning elections is observed only when per capita incomes show
a distinct increase. Going forward, progressive leaders and chief ministers would certainly try to focus
on better infrastructure to improve per capita incomes. Second, the above is valid not only for the
richer states, but for all states across India. Bihar,
with the lowest per capita income, has proved that
infrastructure and governance matter everywhere.
Third, such infrastructure includes the entire
gamutfrom law and order, to health and education, to
highways, power, rural infrastructure, water and
cities. Fourth, states would realise that the earlier race
to the bottom in incentive packages and sops does
not work. Most progressive states have been moving
ahead on better infrastructure for some timeGujarat,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka Andhra Pradesh
are examples. Now the erstwhile BIMARU states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
are also getting their infrastructure act together.
Infrastructure has positive externalities, and is

Shailesh Pathak
Managing Director, PE
Indian Infrastructure
both an initiator and driver of economic growth.
There is a clear linkage between the high infrastructure spend on the National Highways Development
Programme since 2000, and the boom in construction and the economy in general. Visible symbols of
better infrastructure, such as highways, infuse hope
among the electorate for similar improvements in
other infrastructure sectors as well. To take the specific example of road construction in Bihar, between
2005-06 and 2009-10, expenditure of road construction department went up 11 times, from `263
crore to `3,045 crore; actual road length built in the
last year was 3,474 km, that is 9 km a day. Nitish put
the right people in the department. This is replicable
in any state, given political willput the right people
in leadership positions, empower them and see them
deliver.
Lastly, almost nothing of the above was on publicprivate partnership (PPP). Surely we need to heed to
the other famous saying of Deng Xiaoping: Seek
Truth from Facts.
(The writer has worked for nine years in finance and infrastructure, and sixteen years in government)

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

BUSINESS

Moolah During Mayhem

AST week, Nestle started
beaming commercials
telling consumers they
would be better off using
its packaged Maggi Bhuna Masala, that uses
onions as ingredient, as
it would save them a few bucks. Just like
diesel car makers harp on the fact that
petrol is becoming expensive and hence
less economical, and diamond companies
and silver jewellery makers advertise
more when gold prices shoot up, as it did
the whole of last year. In business, opportunity cost is paramount.
Most advertisers tend to piggyback on a
segment that is topical. Such situations are
often used as a springboard to give a shout
about their brands, says Harish Bijoor, chief
operating officer, Harish Bijoor Consults
and brand-domain specialist.
That is also why when dengue, malaria
and other diseases broke out during last
years monsoons, companies quickly ran
campaigns about mosquito repellents,
some even tying up with health agencies to
drive home the point that prevention is better than care. Then again, in the beginning
of 2010, the scare of the H1N1 virus bolstered the demand for hand sanitisers, a relatively unknown category among Indian
consumers. Needless to say, sales of these
products soared, sending the companies
cash tills ringing.
Advertisements of electric cars and bikes
have become more frequent in mass media
that targets smaller towns after the increase
in prices of auto fuelpetrol and diesel.
Jaysukh Patel, director of Ajanta group,
which is known for its quartz wall clocks,
but has now forayed into the market with
electric bikes, says, A large section of consumers, mostly from rural areas are enquiring about our product which was not the
case earlier. Our demand has gone up almost 25 percent. He has been advertising
heavily as this is an opportunity he just
cant ignore. Its make or break for products like these, he says.
The purpose of such ads, though, is
about creating awareness. Says Bijoor, It
is more about the strong association with a
brand rather than sales. It is a good way for
brands which have gone into a limbo and
are looking at a means to jump back into
the market.
So diamonds were promoted aggressively
when gold prices touched the roof. Champak L Mehta, owner of C Mahendra Exports
went all out last year to promote his brand,
Ciemme, across the world when the world

When fuel price hikes make you fret and

frown, and prices of vegetables make your
household budget go haywire, its time for
companies to roll out crisis commercials,
say Tapash Talukdar and Neha Dewan

START-UP

was shying away from buying gold, which

broke all past records.
The demand for diamonds has gone up
by 15 percent. We did our best to promote
our brand since Diwali and it has helped in a
big way, Mehta says.
Usually the turnaround time for such
ads is faster as compared to other campaigns. And that is primarily due to the
fact that the idea has to reach the market
faster. The budgets could be reasonably
small for them, often in the bracket of Rs
15 lakh-Rs 25 lakh.

When dengue, malaria and

other diseases broke out
during last years
monsoons, companies
quickly ran campaigns
about mosquito repellents.
In the beginning of 2010,
the scare of the H1N1 virus
bolstered the demand for
hand sanitisers, a relatively
unknown category among
Indian consumers
Of course, marketers have to tread on
such territories cautiously. Else, the brand
can be seen in a negative light by the consumer. Santosh Desai, chief operating officer of Future Brands cites the example of a
drug maker, which sent Rs 10 lakh to a disaster prone area and spent Rs 3 crore in advertising it! People can get turned off if they
feel that advertisers are exploiting the situation at hand, he says.
The idea is to look at a need with a solution. However, it doesnt guarantee effectiveness and the ads can be ignored if not
relevant to the situation. It basically depends on how one responds to the given crisis, he adds. So, for instance, when there is
a health scare, the advertising needs to be
done with some sensitivity as well.
Then there is the flavour of topicality
which never fails in striking an emotional
chord with the consumer. And companies
understand that well enough. The Amul
butter ads are a great example of that.
tapash.talukdar@timesgroup.com

Try the new and improved serial

Old serials getting remade is the latest buzz but are the advertisers biting the bait?
While Karan Johars remake of the Amitabh Bachchanstarrer Agneepath is grabbing headlines everyday, his best
bud Shahrukh Khans attempt to remake Fauji (the serial
that launched him) is the topic of discussion. From Amar
Akbar Anthony to Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, the big screen
is trying to fall back upon the tried and tested. No wonder
then the small screen decided to follow suit now.
While SRK has transitioned to the small screen long
time back, his production house Idiot Box acquired the
rights to remake the 1988-serial that made him a household name making it a first of sorts for Indian television.
Khan recently bagged the rights to remake yet another
Doordarshan (DD) serialthe iconic sitcom Yeh Jo Hai
Zindagi. While DD is finally opening up, the latest news on
Fauji is that SRK has shelved the project for not getting
requisite permissions to shoot at army centers.
With the saas-bahu and superficial social-themed serials raking in the TRPs, are we ready to revisit the programmes we grew up on? The real question is how lucrative is the option for the producers and the channel makers to remake a very popular television show of the past
that has carved a niche for themselves and entered the
realms of timelessness, says marketing guru Harish Bijoor, chief executive officer of Harish Bijoor Inc. According to marketing experts out of the two, the 1984-sitcom
that gave recognition to Swaroop Sampat, Shafi Inamdar
and Satish Shah seems to be the more saleable proposition, because comedy as a genre is more appealing to Indian viewers making it a hit for advertisers and channels.
While there would be enough takers for the comedy sitcom but Fauji has to be made well to appeal to a big crosssection of viewers, says Farokh Balsara, head of media
and entertainment, Ernst & Young.
With superior production value and contemporary actors it will work both ways for the old and young audience,
feels Balsara. However, the remake remains to be seen, as
Idiot Box was not available for comment on their new ventures. But media planners are positive that advertisers will

be keen to slot their ad budget for the remade serial. But this
is more for SRK as a brand name than for the concept on the
whole. Disagrees media planner Mona Jain, CEO of Vivaki
Exchange: Advertisers will flock to be a part of history being remade. Its a novelty factor as there is a better brand recall with these popular serials getting remade.
Around 40-45 percent of the ad budget for all advertisers is slotted for television serials and 30-35 percent is slotted for movies channels and the rest 20-25 percent for
news channels. With a production budget of Rs 70-80 lakh
per episode, the producer sells the rights at 20 percent to
the channel who in turn makes over 100 percent profit.
The rationale that whatever works for a bigger screen will
work for the small screen as well seems to have caught the
fancy of production houses.
Initial TRPs of the remake is guaranteed as their will be
a lot of hype and expectations but later only the quality of
the content will spike the ratings, says Bijoor. But do remakes really work? The initial reaction is: Why cant Indian television do anything original and break the clich?
But remakes dont necessarily have to be equated with
poor quality and creative bankruptcy, says Balsara. Remakes tend to work best when they have a lot of time in
between the original and the imitator.
But which yesteryear small-screen favourites will make
a sure shot hit with the advertisers? Id say remakes of
Fauji, Buniyaad and Farmaan would raje in most viewers
who grew up in the first phase of Indian television in the
80s. Nostalgia is a big draw and it is also an opportunity to
recreate magic on the new-look show, observes Satbir
Singh, chief creative officer of Euro-RSCG, an advertising
agency.
While the industry has been abuzz with excitement since
the time SRK bought the rights to remake his small-screen
launch pad, how successful it will be remains to be seen.

Presenting:
Nyoo Tube
For those who wish to catch up on what
they missed out on the picture tube
WHEN Gaurav Mendiratta went to study at the University of Pennsylvania for his masters, little did the Bollywood buff know that he
would need to travel 50 miles every other weekend to catch the
movies of his choice in a theatre. I have always been a movie enthusiast, especially desi flicks, he says. That experience, and the
emergence of Hulu.com, a popular site for Hollywood movies, sitcoms and TV shows in the US, set him thinking. While the popularity of Hulu.com grew, Mendiratta finished his masters and joined
Comcast, Americas largest cable and Internet service provider.
But I kept thinking how I can bring good quality content, like
Hulu.com has, to India and show Bollywood movies and serials to
all Indians, says Mendiratta, who chucked his job at Comcast as I
just had to do it. By January 2009, he had completed a detailed
study of the potential market in India, and what exactly the Hulus
desi counterpart should be about. Later that year, he started AKG
Technologies, and made NyooTV.com its flagship product. Mendiratta was hard put to find an investor so he put in $25,000 (Rs 11.30
lakh) of his own savings, and his family chipped in with another
$40,000 (Rs 18.04 lakh) to give him a start.
Starting troubles swamped him soon after as the first version of
the site, launched in October 2009, was not up to the mark. We
went back to the drawing board, worked hard at it, and re-launched
after five months, he says. The revamped site was good enough for
investors to come flocking. The
most important of them was
Peter F Gardner, a former inThe team has grown
vestment banker with HSBC
in Europe. Gardner, along
from those baby steps
with other angel investors,
to a robust twenty now.
took the total investment in
the company to over $400,000
Visitors to the site, who
(Rs 2 crore). Indias first online
social TV network was now
started with a trickle in
ready to roll. The site today
early 2010, have now
shows a large compilation of
videos from leading and legitizoomed to around
mate content owners for
17,000
on an average
primetime TV shows and latest
Bollywood flicks of all genres.
day. Over 20 lakh have
One problem that Mendivisited the site since
ratta faced was not technical
but existentialwhat to call
July 2010
the site? It gave me sleepless
nights, and we first thought of
Jhalkiyan.com. But this was
tough to spell for people not
fluent in Hindi, he says. After this, the company held a competition on Facebook, gathering thousands of suggestions. The most
popular, VyooTV was selected and it would have been final but for
an European company with the same name. So NyooTV was
born, says Mendiratta.
The experience of working with Comcast came in handy, as he
and his team expanded the site and tied up with top producers and
channels. We started out with two fulltime staff and grew to half a
dozen when I got my first round of funding, says Mendiratta. The
team has grown from those baby steps to a robust twenty now. Visitors to the site, who started with a trickle in early 2010, have now
zoomed to around 17,000 on an average day. Over 20 lakh have
visited our site since July this year, he says.
Investors seem satisfied with their stake. It is important to know
they can be counted on when the going is tough and have the vision
to chart a clear path for growth in a difficult operating environment, says Gardner, who was among the first investors. Gaurav
and his team certainly exhibit these qualities and are dedicated and
passionate about the industry and the company.
The target audience of the site is in the 13-24 age group, who is
conversant with the Internet and, more importantly, might actually prefer watching it on their computer screens than fight for the remote with parents and siblings. Social networks like Facebook are
coming in handy as NyooTVs page shows 3,613 active users each
month. The company is not going to advertisers directly. Instead, it
has partnered with Vdopia, a digital ad network. They are helping
us connect with advertisers, with whom we will connect directly in
2011, says Mendiratta.
Mendiratta is as much a movie buff as the guy who went across
the town to watch them. But wherever you are, you need not go
that far. Just a click is enough.
Anirvan Ghosh
anirvan.ghosh@timesgroup.com

MONICA BEHURA
monica.behura@timesgroup.com

Men skin care products

strike it big in China
Sales of men's health and beauty merchandise in China are set to
overtake those in North America this year
EVERY morning, Shane Zhang uses a facial scrub
and applies a toner from Este Lauder and a
LOral moisturiser. At night he uses Lancme
anti-aging cream. Twice a month he treats himself
to a La Cure facial using mud from the Dead Sea.
People say I look younger than my age, says the
28-year-old, an advertising salesman for lifestyle
magazine Mens Uno in Shanghai who spends
about 1,000 yuan ($150) a month on cosmetics.
Since Im a salesperson, it definitely helps.
Daily rituals such as Zhangs have prompted cosmetics giants including LOral, Nivea maker
Beiersdorf, Japans Shiseido, and a slew of domestic
entrants to target men in China. Sales of mens
health and beauty merchandise in China are set to
overtake those in North America this year and will
probably grow about five times faster until 2014,
according to data from researcher Euromonitor International. All the major cosmetics companies are

focusing on this segment, says Lynn Zhou, a retail

analyst with brokerage CLSA in Shanghai, who
says sales of mens products in China are growing at
more than double the pace for womens.
Rising incomes, growing popularity of magazines such as the Chinese editions of Esquire and
GQ, and the desire to find a competitive edge at
work are driving demand for mens skin-care products. Men who use cosmetics are called du shi yu
nanliterally, City Jade Men, a moniker akin to
metrosexuals in the West. Chinese men are
now more concerned with appearances and projecting an image of success, says Shaun Rein,
managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. First they were spending on
watches and pens and shoes as a status symbol,
then five years ago they were focusing more on apparel, and in the last three years there is a real upsurge in male cosmetics.

Spending by Chinese men on face creams, antiaging gels, and cleansing lotions already exceeds
spending on razors and blades by more than 30 percent, and the gap will keep widening, says Procter &
Gamble, which has created a brand called Olay For
Men sold in China. The Chinese mens skin-care
market may reach $270 million this year, vs. $227
million for North America, according to Euromonitor. The research company expects annual growth
of 29 percent through 2014, compared with 5.7
percent for North America and 7.9 percent in Europe. In the US or Mediterranean countries, when
we tried to tell men to use cosmetics they would
say, Come on. Im a man, and creams are for girls,
says Jean-Michel Ripoll, LOrals Shanghai-based
general manager for market research. In China we
dont have to fight against that.
Liang Guang, a 29-year-old architect for a property company in Beijing, began buying cosmetics

after seeing a television commercial for LOral

mens products featuring Hong Kong action star
Daniel Wu. I think men and women are equal in
terms of making themselves look good, Liang says
while dropping $42 for a bottle of Shiseido Mens
Moisturizing Emulsion at a department store.
Every morning when you wake up and use this
stuff, you get the confidence you need for the day.
LOral is Chinas No. 1 mens skin-care brand
with about 32 percent of the market in 2009, driven by sales of Biotherm Homme and LOral Men
Expert, according to Euromonitor. Chinas Shanghai Jahwa United holds the No. 2 slot in mens skin
care with its gf linethe name sounds like the Chinese word for golfwhich it says uses ingredients
from desert plants that protect the skin. Shiseido,
which began selling its Aupres JS brand in 2001
and introduced the Shiseido Men line in 2005, is
fourth after Beiersdorf.
LOral in 2008 introduced its Vichy line in China, and late last year started selling Garnier, a
brand aimed at entry-level cosmetics users, especially those in smaller cities away from the prosperous coastal regions. Women account for about
half of purchases, bought as gifts for husbands and
boyfriends, says Paolo Gasparini, LOrals China
chief executive officer. This surprised me, for I am
Italian, and Latins are more macho and only use
products they buy for themselves, Gasparini says.
Chinese men dont have any problem using products bought for them by women.
.Bloomberg BusinessWeek

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

MONEY & YOU

PENNY WISE

Beyond Borders
Looking beyond
your national
boundaries could
be the key to
unlocking bigger
returns on your
investment.
However, you
need to take
informed
decisions and
understand
the risks
involved, says
Sanjeev Sinha

This
inspirational
author
and writer
believes in
long-term
investments
and values

DREAM house in London, a piece of

land in Singapore, a large portfolio of
international blue-chip stocks and a
sizable exposure to global art and
ETFs... The list, in fact, is endless.
However, if you thought that we are
talking about ones dream portfolio
or rather the investment portfolio of a billionaire, think
again. For, this might just be the case of a common global investor instead, the likes of whom can be found in
every nook and corner of the world today.
In fact, faced with economic uncertainties, galloping
inflation and dwindling returns at home, more and
more investors across the globeparticularly in developed countries like the US and the UKare looking
abroad for investment ideas these days, particularly towards emerging markets and Asian economies. And the
reasons are not far to seek.
In the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis, the locus of growth has shifted east. Thus, while developed countries stagger under the weight of ballooning deficits, most Asian economies and emerging markets have rebounded well and also offer the
opportunities for growth. The latest IMF World Economic Outlook, for instance, expects growth in developing Asia to be 8.4 percent in 2011 as against the estimates of 3 percent and 1.5 percent for the US and EU,
respectively. Thus, while in most advanced economies,
the recovery is expected to remain sluggish by past standards, in many emerging and developing economies,
activity is expected to be relatively vigorous, largely
driven by buoyant internal demandgiving ample reasons to investors to make a serious shift towards those
parts of the world which are experiencing faster growth.
Its a known fact that in near future, global growth
will be driven by emerging economies and not from developed world. This coupled with low interest rate environment in developed markets will accentuate the flow
of money to emerging economies like China and India.
Given the current situation, global investors are seriously reworking their portfolio strategies and making them
aligned to the themes related to diversification outside
home country, reducing dollar concentration and risks
associated with it, says Rajesh Saluja, CEO & managing
partner, Ask Wealth Advisors.
Already today a global perspective is supposed to be
the key to unlock stronger investment returns. According to the 2010 World Wealth Report prepared by
Capgemini and Merrill Lynch, a large chunk of global
investors have adopted multi-country investing strategies and are moving towards regions where growth is
anticipated, especially the Asia-Pacific. For instance,
HNIs in all regions except Latin America increased the
relative share of holdings in markets outside their
home regions in 2009. European HNIs had 41 percent
of their holdings in investments outside Europe, up 6
percentage points from 2008, while HNIs in North
America reduced their home-region holdings by 5 percentage points to 76 percent. Even Asia-Pacific HNIs
sought opportunity outside their own thriving region,
reducing home-region allocations by 4 percentage
points to 54 percent.
And for obvious reasons, this trend is expected to accelerate in the years to come. I believe that in the next
10 years, the portfolios of investors will be more globally diversified than they currently are, says Saluja.

However, while the shift of developed world investors towards emerging markers is well understood,
does it also make sense for the investors of a red hot
country like India to look towards other markets for
growth and diversification? Not necessarily, say some financial advisors. When the world is looking at Indian
markets as an investment option, we Indians need not
worry about investing in other countries. The Indian
markets are offering a lot of well-regulated options to
the investors, says Atul Surana, certified financial planner, Catalyst Financial Planning.
Karan Bhagat, MD of IIFL Private Wealth Management, also has a similar view. Over the last few years,
emerging markets and particularly India have done very

GLOBAL EDGE
Faced with economic uncertainties, investors
across the globe
are looking for overseas investments
these days
Advisors say investors should
have 10 to 20% of their portfolio in overseas
investments
Your asset allocation should include an
appropriate exposure to different countries,
currencies and asset classes
Investing globally not only brings currency and
geographical diversification, but also provides a
hedge against geopolitical risks
Another advantage of geographical diversification
could be taking exposure to other emerging
markets, alternative asset classes, high-yield bonds,
commodities and emerging themes
well and investors in India have got good returns in equity markets. Debt markets (at the shorter end of the
curve) are also beginning to get attractive for investors.
Considering this, there have been few investing opportunities abroad to match the growth and returns received here, he says.
Some advisors, however, think otherwise. Given the
growth potential for Indian market, Indian investors are
uncertain on why should they venture outside India.
We, however, believe that it makes financial sense to invest up to 10 percent of investment portfolio outside the
home country. This not only brings currency and geographical diversification, but also provides a hedge
against geopolitical risks, says Saluja.
Another advantage of geographical diversification
could be taking exposure to other emerging markets
(some of which are giving better returns than India!), alternative asset classes, high-yield bonds, commodities
and emerging themes like alternative energy, water etc.
It may be high time, thus, to let your asset allocation
include an appropriate exposure to different countries,

currencies and asset classes. To begin with, you have

an option of investing in various economies through
the Fund of Funds route. Various mutual fund companies have such schemes which invest in global
economies which the investor cannot directly invest
into. The returns of such schemes have been around
15 percent p.a. historically and the expected return is
on a lower side of 12 percent p.a. going forward over
the next 5 years, says Surana.
Bhagat, however, advises investors to look at noncorrelated assets for diversification. There have been
many investment products available from local asset
management companies where in you can invest in opportunities abroad. Many have launched funds based
on Asian equities, emerging markets etc. Although
these markets would exhibit good growth rates, the correlation with Indian equities will be high. In our view,
therefore, investor should look at non-correlated assets
for diversification. These could be gold, developed market equities, etc, he says.
Given the liquidity conditions, healthy shape of corporate balance sheets and valuations, you can also take
a look at large cap equities in developed markets like the
US from diversification point of view, as currently blue
chip equities in those markets are reasonably valued.
If you are eyeing real estate abroad, then countries
such as Singapore, Dubai and London are currently the
preferred destinations for Indian property buyers, informs Sanjay Dutt, CEO-Business, Jones Lang LaSalle
India. Since the sub-prime crisis hit, there has also been
an upsurge of interest by US-based Indians for property
in that country. Traditionally, these are countries where
many Indians have business interests, translating into a
continued demand for residential properties there.
Apart from that, Indians buying property abroad can often avail of citizenship in the host country. This factor
has considerable aspirational value with many.
Valuations are at present very reasonable in many
foreign countries. By and large, these countries present
a far greater spread of interesting opportunities for buyers in the Rs 2-crore-plus bracket than cities like Mumbai and Delhi do, says Dutt.
Thus, there is no dearth of investment opportunities
in overseas markets. And the willing investors can remit
and invest up to $200,000 every financial year under
the RBIs Liberalised Exchange Rate Management System, which makes it a sizeable opportunity of $1 million
per annum for a family of five.
However, experts advise investors wanting to invest
abroad to understand the risks involved in such investments and take informed decisions. For instance, global
investment options have risks associated with the individual economies. Most of the time, the uncertainty of
the economy is a significant risk due to poor information
availability. Another obvious risk for offshore investment is from currency movements. If rupee appreciates over the period of investment vis--vis investment
currency, the returns on bringing the funds back to India after conversion in rupee could be lower than realised USD returns. Also, the investment world outside
is very vast and complex, product risks are sometimes
not very explicit and easily understood, says Saluja.
Thus, investors should better make offshore investments in simple and easy-to-understand products like
bonds, ETFs and mutual funds, and try to avoid exotic
products so far as possible.

Shiv Khera
Motivational writer and speaker

Whats money for you?

Money is a very important tool to make a big
difference in people's life. It is positive or negative depending on the values
What do you spend on?
My first objective is to invest and if I have
anything spare then I spend

Most expensive thing you

have ever bought...
In Tangible terms it is My House
Where do you keep your hard-earned
money?
It is invested
Who manages your money?
In long term investments, you dont need day
to day management
What is your most precious possession?
My values, my health and my family
(As told to Pankaj Molekhi)

MONEY MANTRA
Form16A norms
I am a professional consultant.
This year some of my clients, who
have withheld tax on the professional fees paid to me have issued
the Form16A for each quarter.
Until last year, I was receiving the
Form16 only after the year end.
Does that change my annual tax
filing requirements?
Ravindra Bharti, Cochin
As per erstwhile tax provisions,
Form 16A was issued by the
payer/tax deductor on an annual basis in respect of the tax deducted by
him, after the end of the Financial
Year. However, due to a change in
the Income-tax Rules, 1962, effective 1 April 2010, instead of one annual certificate, now Form 16A is issued by tax deductors on a quarterly
basis. Further, the deductor is not required to issue an annual certificate.
Therefore, you are likely to receive
quarterly TDS certificate from your
clients making regular payments to
you, instead of the annual certificate.
This change in tax rules does not impact your personal/professional tax
filing requirements.

Expats provident fund

I am a French national working
with a company in India since December 2009. I recently read an ar-

Vikas Vasal, ED, KPMG India

(These comments are based on the limited
information provided by the investors. The
advice may vary subject to actual facts and
circumstances of the case)
ticle on the amendments being
made in PF withdrawal provisions by the Indian Government.
Please advise me whether I would
be able to withdraw my PF contributions made in India upon relocating to my home country at the
end of my assignment? Further,
whether this withdrawal would
be taxable or not
Antoine Blaise, Bangalore
The Indian Government has recently
amended the Employees Provident
Funds Scheme and Employees Pension Scheme for the International
Workers / foreign citizens. Now foreign citizens coming from a country
with which India does not have a Social Security Agreement in place i.e.
which is not in force, can withdraw
their contributions only on retirement
from service and after the attainment
of 58 years of age, subject to few exceptions like specified medical exigencies etc. At present, India French
Social Security Agreement is not in
force; therefore, the above rule would
apply to you as well. In respect of taxability of the withdrawal of the sums,
broadly speaking, if you have been in
continuous employment in India for
five years or more, then the said withdrawal would not be taxable. Else, the
taxability would be governed by the
prevailing tax laws.

Bogged down by market turmoil and dont have a clue how to manage your
investments? SundayET offers you an expert take to help take care of all your
worries. Just write in to us with your name and city at moneyandu@indiatimes.com

The views expressed by guest writers are their own and not the views of this paper.

GOLD DESIGNERS ARE INCREASINGLY PROVIDING THE OPTION OF METALS LIKE STEEL, OR TUNGSTEN

For jewellers, gold isnt glittering

BIG jewellery chains are finding it difficult
to strike a balance between the rising demand for gold and the equally insistent demand to get it at prices that are not astronomical. With the price of bullion rising by
as much as 22 percent this year, players
have to look at alternatives.
According to the World Gold Council,
the demand for gold increased by 73 percent to 513.5 tonne from 297.2 tonne last
year. Although this might seem as if all is
good, traders say that demand from retailers has not shown much promise. Demand
is poor as spot prices (of gold) reached
above Rs 19,000 per 10 gram in the festive
season. Off-take from jewellers, which
was around 175-200 kg a day, has drastically declined to almost one-tenth of that,
says Ranjeeth Rathod, managing director
of MNC Bullion, a Chennai-based importer. In such circumstances, some are
cutting back on the gold in their products
and turning to less expensive metals. Such
metals are like silver or even tungsten.
According to World Gold Council, the
yellow metal has given a return of 6.88 percent in the last one month, 22 percent in the
past year and 208 percent in the last five
years. The question now is whether new
products being offered by jewellery chains,

will have similar enduring value. The country currently has one of the highest saving
rates in the world, estimated at around 30
percent of total income, of which 10 percent
is already invested in gold.
Pure gold is not going out of fashionit is
just becoming more fashionable to use
lighter gold, and with silver or tungsten. It is
also allowing jewellers to experiment more,
while keeping gold as the main component
in the jewellery. Vinod Hayagriv, chairman,
All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation says there is fluctuation in gold purchases apart from a drop in the quantum of
gold being purchased. I have seen gold designers now providing the option of metals
like steel, or tungsten.
This has not replaced gold, but rather,
offered more options which has allowed
chains like C Krishniah Chetty & Sons,
which Hayagriv owns, to offer alternatives
for jewellery that was mainly about gold
before its price exploded. The value will
endure as you still have a diamond studded in the steel, or the tungsten.
The value will endure even if the gold is
less, as the price shows only an upward
trend, says Tejas Soni, chief operating officer, KT Group, which sells gold jewellery
and watches. KT is using high end steel

The trend of retailers

cutting back on the amount
of gold is now
international, and chains
like Tiffanys or Signet have
done the same. Today, a
majority of Tiffanys
jewellery are diamonds set
in silver and platinum
imported from Taiwan, which when used
with 18 carat gold and diamond pieces zips
down the cost to a more affordable upper
limit of Rs 5,000. The trend of retailers
cutting back on the amount of gold is now
international, and big chains like Tiffanys
or Signet have done the same. Today, the
major components of Tiffanys jewellery
are diamonds set in platinum, and silver.
The value will remain though of course
somewhat dimmer than the glitter of gold.
In India atleast, the situation is better
than the rest of the world, says Soni.
That certainly does seem the case. The

demand for gold in the US for example fell

2.7 percent in 2008 and a further 2 percent
last year as recession strangled household
spending. Jewelry accounted for just a little over half of gold this year, down from
73 percent three years ago. By weight, the
consumption went down 35 percent in the
last three years. During the same period
the price of gold more than doubled to
around $1340 (Rs 60,166) per troy ounce
(1 troy ounce = 31.1 grams).
Anirvan Ghosh
anirvan.ghosh@timesgroup.com

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

PEOPLE

Night Riders

Nupur Amarnath and Neha Dewan spoke to five people who

were working the graveyard shift on December 31 so that you
could party through the night and herald a new year
Platter Yourself
Chef Maria Julia Martini
Chef de cuisine at Caf, Hyatt, New Delhi

THIS will be the first working New

Year for Indian Oceana band that
is known for its fusion fare and
searing honesty of music. For music
lovers, Indian Ocean is the first
band that has managed to make fusion folk a saleable option. The music makers were working this New
Year at The Westin in Mumbai. We
have never chosen to work during
the New Year as the celebrations
follow a set pattern of entertainment with stock music choices,
says drummer Amit Kilam who
likes to sing as much as he likes to
create a new rhythm.
Kilam who was introduced to
music at the age of four by his parents, is not only an instinctive but an
intelligent musician as well. He
knows his audience and his crowd.
Like him, band membersguitarist
Susmit Sen and bassist Rahul Ram
have avoided taking up New Year
gigs as the music tends to veer towards the popular choice of Bollywood or pop. New Year celebrations have always been about drinking and dining and music takes a
backseat, Kilam says.
The band usually celebrates New
Year in a sedate way keeping it an allfamily affair. We tend to travel a lot
for work and thats why whatever
time we get with the family we like
to spend within, he says. In fact, Kilam says that his celebrations are not
occasion-boundlike Christmas,
New Year or Diwali. Every day can
be festive, can be happy, he says. For
2011, the band is busy with their
new album 16/330 Khajoor Road
which will be out in February this
year. We are also looking at some
big musical collaborationsIndian
and foreign, he mentions. Sounds
like a good year ahead.

PHD By Night
Ankur Vaid
Saurabh Shah and Mishal Raheja,
Party Hard Drivers, Mumbai

BHARAT CHANDRA

Amit Kilam (in centre)

Drummer, Indian Ocean, Delhi

wish each other, she says. And a New Year begins for her.
If not working on the New Year, Chef Martini celebrates
with her friends by everyone going out for a little dinner,
sitting and catching up. While the Christmas holidays are
reserved for the family, the New Year is with friends.
What makes working every New Year for the woman in
a mans domain fruitful is a job well done. Seeing the
happiness around and people appreciating your hard
work more than pays up for everything, she says.
For someone who moved to India just three
months ago, Chef Martini is enjoying her first party
season in India. For the celebrations at Hyatt, she
planned a big seafood display, bread displays and an
Indian section. Whats new for her is the separation
of the non-vegetarian and vegetarian food sections.
But as they say, this happens only in India. And Chef
Martini is enjoying the change.

ASHWANI NAGPAL

FOR THE past ten years nowbarring a couple of

yearsChef Maria Julia Martini has brought in the New
Year in the kitchens with her crew. But she doesnt mind
it, as she points out, You spend most time at work and so
the people around become your family too. While working at the New Year is not new for this South American
import, celebrating the season in India is. After cutting her
teeth on the culinary circuit in the Middle East, this is the
first time in India. And she is soaking in every minute.
Her standard New Year ritual: As the clock strikes 12,
when everyone wishes each other, the flurried kitchen
staff gets a moment of breather. Within that time we

The Kings of Fusion

What's Up, Doc?

Song Bird

Dr Satish Chaku
Consultant, Accident and Emergency Services,
Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad

Kamya
DJ, New Delhi

LIFE for an ER doctor is not easy. Always on call, always the graveyard shift and always watching the
battle of life in front of you. Very few have the nerves
to deal with the stress. And that too in the middle of
the year-end revelry. So, thank god for people like Dr
Satish Chaku, consultant, accident and emergency
services at the Asian Institute of medical Sciences.
While you were busy partying, for Dr Chaku, it
meant being on call the whole night.
Festivals are actually not a very pleasant time in
hospitals, he asserts the flipside. And Dr Chaku
should know as he has been mostly working every
year when the entire world is making toasts to a new
year. It gets really busy on 31st night. And the duties
work on a rotation basis, he explains. And the nature of emergencies? There are a lot of roadside accidents, brawls and assault cases, he says.
Ask him if he misses making plans with friends and
celebrating this occasion and he says matter-of-factly,
I have been in this for the last 15-20 years. It has become a part of life. It doesnt bother me in any way.
He, however, makes sure he has some plans for the
day after. If I dont doze off the next day, he says.

SHE makes people dance to her tunes, quite literally! For DJ Kamya, this tradition was carried forward
on the New Year eve as well when she played some
of the latest Bollywood, hip-hop and house numbers for party buffs. Deejaying from 10 at night to
4.30 am at Tab01 in Gurgaon, Kamya thoroughly
enjoyed making people swing to the music! It gives
me a kick to see the crowd having a good time. So it
was a great feeling when people appreciated what I
played on New Years Eve.
Ask her whether she misses celebrating this occasion with her friends and folks and she responds candidly, My boyfriend wanted to spend the New Years
eve with me but he understands my profession and is
supportive. I asked him and my friends to join us at
the same place. Thats what I usually do, as I can get
to be with them whenever I get a chance.
Of course being a woman in the profession does
get her a lot of male attention but she takes it in her
stride. People sometimes randomly come up and
say that you play nice musiceven when they have
never heard me play! But thats fine... Male DJs also
get a lot of cheering from women. So I guess its the
same for me, shrugs Kamya.

THREE years agoSaurabh Shah,

Ankur Vaid and Mishal Raheja
were happy partygoers with nothing
much to plan but the next party. After
December 14, 2007 all that changed.
After the city cops started cracking
down on drunk driving and few neardeath driving experiences that friends
shared, the three came up with Party
Hard Drivers (PHD) with one motto,
you drink but let us drive. For the last
three New Years the PHD people have
been burning the midnight oil to keep
the city safe.
Its a great feeling to be doing
something that makes Mumbai
streets safer, says Shah who recounts how on his very first New
Year at work a concerned mother
called them to book a driver for her
partying hard son. They must be doing something right as the PHD driver crew has grown from 20 in the
first year to 200 now. For a sum of
`500, the PHD driver will drive you
from 10 pm to 3 am and `50 overtime. Or you can hire them for
`1,500, a full day charge.
The PHD people have had calls
from disbelieving partygoers congratulating them for thinking up this service. The one hitch: They cant party together on the New Year anymore, as
one of them (this year Ankur Vaid)
has to be at work to with their 5-6 employees. But in case they manage to
be sold out (when all drivers are on
call) they celebrate by popping a bubbly at work. Shah tells us of the time
when in the first New Year they had
five orders and that was a start.
Working on New Year is not a problem. We are the service industry. We
party the day after, says Shah.
nupur.amarnath@timesgroup.com

STUDYING MANAGEMENT JOINS THESE EXPATS TOGETHER

Ready for a crash course on how India changed my life

(Left to right) Christopher Garnic, Bart C Kortewegg and Atma Shivalanka love India
for the opportunities she offers and promises she holds

N INDUSTRY consultant from Southern California, a former soldierturned-investment banker and an auditor have all chosen India for perhaps the
most important qualification in their careersthe MBA programme. India for them
was not just one option among many; this was
the country they wanted to be in.
For Bart C Korteweg, coming here after 16
years of experience in financial markets as an
auditor and consultant in 2003 signaled a
fresh start. I had come to attend a wedding in
Kerala. As the taxi drove into Mumbai, the
noise, the silence and different scents everywhereI knew this was perhaps going to
change me for life, he says. He came back
every year from that time, and each time
there would this questionso much is happening around, can I be a part of it?
He became a part of it by joining the Indian
School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad, and
planning to stay in a banking or consulting
role in Mumbai. It was at ISB that Atma Shivalanka introduced himself. I was in the

British army, and served in Bosnia, he says.

The first time I was here, I got dengue fever
and had to return to London, he says. Now,
he is at home in India, so much so that he
started his own business from Delhi. He then
joined the post-graduate programme to further his skills. This is my new home country,
and apart from the skills that I gain, I am exploring my Vaishnav heritage. His army
training helps in interacting with people of diversity, as he travels across the country.
Both Bart and Atma found something in
common with classmate Christopher Garnic,
who was earlier a consulting engineer in the
water industry in Southern California and
first came to India as an investor in infrastructure projects. I could have gone back to the
US but would have been missing out on more
by not being here. The changes here would be
much more exciting, surely for business,
says Garnic. It is about the wholeI get to
experience cultural and spiritual elements
and I get that mix here along with work and
studies as I travel, says Atma.

What I miss most about the

UK is walking the streets.
Indian metros are designed
for driving, not walking
ATMA SHIVALANKA

Choosing an MBA is crucialit is often a

life-changer for most participants. For Daniel
Gomez Diaz-Pines, who was in a mid-level
role with in the government of Spain, it was
not just about leaving a cushy job but something that was secure for life. There he helped
out a few Indian students settle in. He gradually learnt about their experiences that made
him think of India as the place to be. He then
learnt a bit of Hindi. Coming here wasnt a
shock, but two things strike youthere are
people everywhere! That, and incessant
noisefrom horns to blaring speakers.

All of them would like to continue in India

post-MBA even though work hours are
longer than in Barts home country the
Netherlands. We are used to work 36-40
hours a week. Here there are weeks when I
barely manage four hours of sleep a day.
There are things that they miss but which are
part of the trade-off. Bart would visit museums, galleries, concerts and theatres. But despite having a rich cultural heritage, there are
so few of them here, he says. He prefers
Mumbai for that reason. Atma says, I dont
miss the variety of goods and services back in
the UK, but I miss walking the streets. Indian
metros are designed for driving, not walking!
For Christmas this year, all of them celebrated in similar waystaking exams! For
New Years Bart and Daniel are off to their
home country. Christopher will celebrate with
friends in Hyderabad, and Atma is in Delhi,
where his family has moved in. And then its
back to Indiatheir new home.
ANIRVAN GHOSH
anirvan.ghosh@timesgroup.com

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

10

INDULGE

When Your Art Beats

If one of your New
Year resolutions
reads, I will
seriously collect
art in 2011, play
on. No rigid rules
here, but as with
most personal
journeys in life,
discovering ones
way within the
art-world is the
best route to take

ARVIND VIJAYMOHAN
Art Advisor
UNDRED. That is my
guesstimate to the number
of art collectors in India.
I am not suggesting that
only one hundred people
buy art in our country of
one billion humans. Au
contraire, the volumes of art acquisition in
India have steadily increased since the turn
of the last decade, with art galleries and
dealers currently reporting a sharp revival
of interest in buying, accompanied by the
resultant brisk levels of trading.
The term art collector is more often than
not employed in a less than precise manner.
The general supposition allows anyone acquiring a few works of art to be ushered into
the privy club of art collectorship. The fact,
however, remains that the critical mass of
Indian art buyers are largely interested in
acquiring 2-3 works, primarily to dress the
trophy spaces within their residences and
offices. While bona fide collectors too are fuelled by the urge to fill their private spaces
with art that reflects their personality and
predilections, their art portfolio would expand well beyond the confines of available
wall space. Once nipped by the collecting
bug, the urge to acquire works of interest
tends to become as primal as breathing itself.
If one of your New Year resolutions
reads, I will seriously collect art in 2011,
you might consider reading on. There are
no rigid rules to collecting art and as with
most personal journeys in life, discovering
ones own way within the art-world is the
best route to take. There are, however, a
couple of basics which create a firm foundation for any collector-in-waiting. Here is my
personal seven-point agenda for starters:

EXPLORE
The first step for any novice collector is to actively explore the art world. The ideal option
is to allocate a 3-4 hours every month exclusively towards art. One can begin by scheduling a fortnightly visit to a shortlisted art
galleries and/or museum in town. Over the
initial months, make it a point not to stick to

ART AND HOW!

1 PABLO PICASSO

Nude, Green Leaves & Bust (Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur)

Sold for $106.5 mn on May 4, by Christies, this bid proves the

authority of Picasso in the art scene. This exquisite piece of creativity
was made only in span of a day but its record sale was done in just 8
minutes. The painting, which is of Picassos lover Marie-Therese Walter, was previously owned by a California philanthropist

2 S H RAZA

Saurashtra
Sold for $3,486,965 at a Christies auction, Syed Haider Raza became
Indias costliest modern artist on June 10, 2010. A 78 x 78 acrylic on
canvas, this 1983 painting brought the limelight back on the Indian
painters at the global stage

3 SIR ANTHONY VAN DYCK

only 2-3 galleries (even if you find yourself

gravitating towards the art on display in one
of them, or a striking an easy rapport with
the on-site gallerist). Get out there and explore a number of galleries during the initial
phase. The key is to build a visual vocabulary which is as vast as possible.
If time is a challenge, one can visit a number of art-specific websites online and coffeetable art books, without even leaving home
(though this is best done at a later stage, following a round of viewings in person).
Akin to a wine-tasting session, make
notes about the art you view. Did you like
anything in particular? Try to access why
you liked it: was it because it was figurative
and not abstract? Was it the palette, or
maybe the subject matter? Do you tend to
enjoy sculptural work more than say, photography? Is this because you prefer the
three-dimensional aspect more than a flat
picture? Asking such questions, and more
importantly, answering them will ensure
you successfully begin identifying the art
you react to. This is the first, most crucial
step for anyone interested in collecting: understanding and defining their inherent sensibilities and preferences as an art viewer.

THE F-WORD
Sort out the financial details. Something
every a beginner should do at the very outset: define an annual working budget for his
collection. Specifying the total spend enables a collector to allocate resources and
tentatively plan the number of objects that
can be acquired over a defined period, thus
affording the emerging collection with a certain structure. The financial framework allows a collector to make key acquisition decisions such as identifying the level of art,
and more specifically the artists who lie
within the ambit of his potential ownership.

BE DISTINCTIVE; BE INSTINCTIVE
Most collections tend to be the standard connect-the-dot, conveyor belt prototypes,
wherein the collector has diligently prepared
and chased after a hot-list comprising the
most hyped artists of the season. While it is a
good idea to keep your radar tuned to the rising stars of the season, to acquire them solely
for that reason is a mistake. If a group of people are buying works by an artist, hes bound
to be good, right? Not really. The art-market
tends to follow a strong herd mentality.
Serious collectors let the herd quietly pass
by, allowing them to chew on whatever cud
they might be. These collectors do not care
what the latest fad/rage/hype is. They remain
true to their tastes. They are distinctive and
harbour no intention of blind collectorship.
This is what makes their collections unique.
Follow your own voice. Be instinctive.
However, do not instantly acquire a work
you like. Take your time. In current times,
the concept of you-snooze-you-lose applies primarily to rare, hard-to-source
pieces by the modernists. Which brings us
to the next point: discuss what you like.

FIND A CONFIDANTE

LAVISH GETAWAY

Collectors should always like

the artworks they are
considering for acquisition.
However, before acquiring a
piece, especially in the case of
emerging artists, they should
be sure that the work is
amongst the artists finest. Do
not acquire a mediocre work
by an artist you enjoy, purely
for the sake of ownership
Identifying someone you can discuss the
artworks you relate to and are shortlisting
to collect is a crucial detail. This should be
someone whose opinion you trust, who
can offer you objective advice; ideally
someone who is connected to the artworld yet has little to gain directly or indirectly from his offered view. Prime candidates for this position would be a
senior/fellow collector, an independent curator or even someone from your circle
whos in art school. You could consider a
professional art advisor to guide you
through the market though I believe one
should initially wade through the water
themselves. The expertise a professional
would bring to the table might be required
later, as the collection demands sharper focus, and as the budgets increase.
In addition, a budding collector should
connect with as many art-fraternity members as possible in order to build a network,
thus offering access to comprehensive
feedback on shortlisted artworks, as and
when required.
While the confidants views matter (especially in the initial phase), the true test
for a collector comes along when he feels
confident enough to acquire/pass on a
work against the confidants opinion. In
retrospect, one might feel they made huge
mistakes in regards with key acquisition
decisions but it is an integral part of the
learning curve and the earlier a collector
starts trusting his own voice, the richer the
potential of the collection in the long-term.

STAY TUNED TO THE MARKET

Like every industry, market knowledge is the
key to success within the art domain as well.
To remain informed about artists and their
practice, their finest body of work, the appropriate current-market valuation, the availability, the next exhibition schedule: all this
information is key to successful collectorship.
It is also imperative that a collector build
professional relations with multiple fraternity members across the board and not remain
relegated by choice to only 2-3 galleries. Not
only does building this network ensure that

the collector not get overtly influenced by the

views of a single gallerist but it is also offers
him a thorough birds-eye view of the market.

ALWAYS LOOK AT THE LARGER PICTURE

The finest collections are rarely about a few
trophy works: they are always about how
all the objects within it come together successfully and seamlessly, in spite of comprising different dimensions, periods,
mediums, subjects and creators.
Important collections are built over the
long-term with a well-directed resolution.
With this point in view, emerging collectors should consider how each work they
acquire connects with other works in the
collection and whether there is some direct or abstract link within it. To collect
comprehensively is a very important detail, wherein a collector consciously revisits his works on a regular basis, to gauge
how the works in the collection are taking
shape. Are there gaps in the current portfolio which need to be filled, or would the
collector prefer that the collection become
specific in context of medium, subject, creator or dimension? Though these questions can be dealt with somewhere along
the collecting journey, responding to them
at a relatively early stage (ideally within
the first year of collecting) makes a monumental difference to the direction of the
collection, giving it the edge required to
make it unique.
It is also essential for collectors to document the contents of their collection. File
all paperwork related to the works in the
portfolio, which would include invoices,
authentication, notes and pictures relating
to the works from the artist and representing gallery.
There are concerns such as authentication, which play heavily on the mind of
budding collectors. To tackle this concern,
buy from reputed galleries or dealers where
in the works are published and in the public-domain, insist on authentication and the
requisite documentation, and importantly
acquire all your artworks on record, with an
accurate financial paper trail.

BUY WHAT YOU LIKE. BUT DONT

JUST STOP THERE
Collectors should always like the artworks
they are considering for acquisition. However, before acquiring a piece, especially in
the case of emerging artists, they should be
sure that the work is amongst the artists
finest. If preferred, high-quality works are
unavailable, place a request with the representative gallery for first right of viewing of
any works to follow by the artist. Do not acquire a mediocre work by an artist you enjoy, purely for the sake of ownership. An
exceptional collection is always built on
the spectacular standard of works housed
within it.
The bottom-line remains have fun along
the way. Unique, prized art collections take
many decades to build. Make this next
decade your first.

A bearded man(study)
This disarming oil on canvas was sold at the hammer price of
$7,250,500 by Sothebys on January 28, 2010. The study, which is
attributed to Van Dycks early production when he was still working in
the studio of Peter Paul Rubens, proved to be the most expensive Old
Master of the year

4 FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA

A large and violent
1962 work, it got
the hammer price
of 881,250triple
the highest estimate for the work.
This 70x45 inches
work painted with
special effect in oils
on black satin went
to an anonymous
buyer
Red Curse

5 SUBODH GUPTA
Using familiar symbols of middle class
life in India the artist
turns everyday
kitchens & stores
into theatres of
stainless steel pots &
pans. This unique
Oil on canvas 65.5 x
90 in | 166.4 x 228.6
cm was sold at
$250,125
by SaffronArt
Untitled Chikoo Drawing

6 ANTHONY WYETH

Off Shore
A foggy sea-going scene sold more than triple its high estimate to
bring $6,354,500 at Christies in May, 2010. A tempera on masonite
21 x 51 inches (54 x 130.8 cm) painted in 1967, this will be
included in Betsy Jane Wyeth's forthcoming catalogue raisonn of
the artists work
TEXT: SHREYA JAI

MANY VACATION HOMES ARE TRYING TO STAND OUT BY OFFERING A NUMBER OF HOTEL-LIKE SERVICES

Vacation Rentals Pile on Luxuries

A SELF-DESCRIBED hotel snob, Jennifer Treadwell prefers to stay at Four Seasons and similar upscale hotels when she goes on vacation, for the high
level of service and luxurious amenities they provide.
The idea of renting a vacation home, where she
would presumably bring her own bed sheets and toilet paper, was never very appealing. Then she discovered the Cottages at Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon
coast, where $500-a-night two-bedroom cottages offer flat-screen televisions, surround-sound systems,
spa-style robes, iPod docks, in-room internet access
and whirlpool tubs. Guests have access to a fitness
centre nearby and a concierge who can book an
oceanfront massage or surf lesson or recommend
nearby hiking trails. Ive been staying there since
they opened, and I never really thought of them as
that vacation rental place, said Ms. Treadwill, a
health coach from Portland, Ore. I always assumed it
was a luxurious boutique hotel.
In an effort to distinguish themselves from other
short-term rentals and capture a share of the $100 billion hotel market, many vacation rentals are trying to
stand out by essentially posing as hotels offering
everything from regular maid service to miniature
toiletries to concierges who can arrange restaurant
reservations. Thats good news for travellers looking

for an alternative to traditional hotels, as the heightened competition creates a greater diversity of places
to stay at a wider range of prices.
Late last year, Wimco, an upscale Caribbean villa
management company on St. Barts, began providing
daily housekeeping and weekly cocktail parties for
guests at waterfront restaurants on the island, and
will soon offer cellphones programmed to ring the
concierge. To maintain a level of consistency among
its properties, Lifestyle Villas, which manages beachfront homes and condos in Los Cabos, Mexico, requires homeowners who list with the agency to include certain standard perks, among them, 800thread-count linens, two bathrobes per room, wall
safes, suitcase holders, alarm clocks and LOccitaine
toiletries. Exclusive Vail Rentals, a Colorado rental
company that opened last year, insists on similar consistency, providing daily maid service, Molton Brown
toiletries and ski and boot delivery for guests.
And ResortQuest, a large vacation rental company
with nearly 10,000 properties in the United States, recently acquired by Wyndham Worldwide, is attempting to entice guests to its vacation rentals with hotel
points. The outfit is offering 25,000 Wyndham Rewards points to travelers who book at least four nights
at ResortQuest ski destinations by Jan. 31 for travel

through April 15. The points can be redeemed for up

to four free nights at a Wyndham hotel.
If you want to have your villa filled 52 weeks of the
year, you have to be competitive with the resort market, said Steve A. Lassman, VP and GM at Villas of
Distinction, which has been offering triple American
Express Rewards points for certain rentals. The company markets one of its newest properties, Nandana,
as a private resort. The five-bedroom oceanfront estate on Grand Bahama Island, says the Web description, goes beyond the traditional villa vacation by
providing guests with a wide range of luxury resort
services. Nandana rates begin at $6,500 a night.
One reason for all this extra effort is the surplus of
vacation properties built during the boom: unsold
homes and condominiums are now being marketed
as rentals, making the entire market more competitive. Even mom-and-pop outfits are stepping up the
personal service, easing minimum booking requirements, offering airport transfers and including welcome baskets with basic toiletries or kitchen supplies.
Last year Greybeard Realty, which manages more
than 200 rental homes in the Black Mountains of
North Carolina near Asheville, with rates from $650
a week, added a guest services division to handle
event tickets, grocery baskets and restaurant recom-

mendations. Similarly, Globe Homes and Condos,

which manages about 50 properties in Los Angeles
and Palm Springs, Calif., recently hired a full-time
service manager to assist guests with theme park tickets, child care and other requests. To establish a base
line of service for all of its properties, the company requires housekeepers to make the beds a certain way
and offers coffee makers, cable TV, wireless Internet
access and unlimited phone calls at each of its rentals.
I need to be able to compete with the hotels, said
Sebastian de Kleer, president of Globe Homes and
Condos. At the same time I need something more to
differentiate myself from other vacation rental companies and individual homeowners.
Vacation rentals have long appealed to families in
search of more space and a kitchen, but they are gaining other converts. Gordon Reid, a frequent traveler
from San Francisco, expected to miss the consistency
of chain hotels when he booked a vacation rental at
the urging of a friend. But he quickly got over those
concerns after experiencing the hotel-like amenities of Globe Homes and Condos. In the past year, he
has chosen its rental properties over hotels on several business trips, saving about $50 a day in the
process. Its a nice alternative, he said.
New York Times

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

LIFE & STYLE

Learning to Fly

GUEST

COLUMN

Aparna Jayakumar

Flying clubs in
India are giving
wings to hobby
flyers who want
to take to the
skies to
experience a
new high, says
Nupur
Amarnath

OHN Travolta does it. So

does Tom Cruise. Angelina Jolie knows how to do
it. And Harrison Ford and
Clint Eastwood are veterans at it. The latest one to
join them is supermodel
Gisele Bundchen. Of course, they dont do it
together. We are talking about flying. These
celebrities have earned their wings by qualifying for their pilot licenses. They are what
we call hobby flyers, a new breed of aviators
thats becoming increasingly common in the
Indian skies. And various flying clubs in the
city are helping them get airborne.
India currently has 32 flying clubs with
many dating back to the 1930s. While old
favourite like Delhi Flying Club, established
in 1928, had its wings clipped some seven
years ago when flying from the Safdarjung
airport was stopped for security reasons,
many like Bombay Flying Club (BFC) started in the same year as the Delhi club are
launching new plans to promote hobby flying. We now have special batches in the
weekends for hobby flyers where they can
do their course for private pilot license (PPL)
during the weekends, says Capt Mihir
Bhagvati, president of BFC.
The weekend classes at the BFC take double the time. While the PPL takes six months
for completion, the PPL for executives
course stretches to nine for Rs 3,60,000.
Now more hobby flyers are approaching flying clubs to earn their wings. And flying
clubs are busy tapping the sectors potential.
According to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation
(CAPA) estimates, around 50 new private
aircraft have been added in the country in
the last one year. Plus they also estimate that
there are around 208 general aviation aircraft in the country.
But flyers feel that tier II cities have a better deal when it comes to flying. Taking off
from Bombay airport requires a lot more paperwork and the permissions are difficult to
get by than smaller towns where the airports
are not so over burdened, says Dr Firdaus
Bativala who claims to be a dentist by profession but a flyer by heart. Dr Bativala took to
flying when he was working in the US for
the sheer passion for flying. Upon his return
to India he bought a Cessna four-seater that
parks at the BFC hangar and he takes it out
to fly the family for vacations around India
especially Kanha National Park.

Even as the DFC is trying to find a way

out for its flightless situations, the 1929-established Madras Flying Club (MFC) in
Chennai is fielding more hobby flying
queries than anything else. Recently, an IAS
officer from Kanjeevaram came in to the
Club to learn flying. We even have some
doctors and two businessmen who have recently enrolled for a PPL, he tells us.
Mention flying and the quintessential pilot film Top Gun comes to mind. But flyers
like Dr Bativala and Capt Bhagvati tell you
that flying is not as glamorous as its made
out to be. Its not that dangerous or difficult.
Statistically, its safer to fly than cross the
road, Dr Bativala says. And with the rising
income graph, even cost is not a factor. The
average rate for a PPL course is `6,700-8,000
per hour with 40 hours of flying.
The MFC has a current fleet of six aircraft:
2 Hansa, 2 Cessna 152 and 2 Cessna 172.
And the BFC maintains four aircraft with
two Cessna 172, a Cessna 152 and a Piper,
plus a Leargate for training. More people
come into hobby flying especially in the 3045 age group, says BL Bijlani, honorary sec-

While old favourite like Delhi Flying Club had its wings clipped
some seven years ago as the Safdarjung airport is close, Bombay
Flying Club is launching new plans to promote hobby flying
retary of BFC. Unlike commercial pilot licenses, hobby courses are not that strict especially for medical requirements. The
medical test for hobby flying is the Class II
category where we are okay with a fit
enough person with a good eyesight but for
a CPL, the medical requirements are
toughers, Bijlani says.
What hampers flying are the regulations.
We have a hobby flyer coming in from
Pune to fly with us in Hyderabad as we find
it easier to get permissions and especially
now that the airport has shifted from Begumpet to Shamsabad where theres no
commercial activity, says Capt SN Reddy,
honorary secretary and chief executive officer of Andhra Pradesh Flying Club. The
club was started in 1930 by the Nizam and
currently has a fleet of two each of Cessna
152 and Cessna 172.
But regulations cage these free birds. At

the heights the small planes fly, we hardly affect air traffic but getting a slot to take off at
the Mumbai airport is hard to come by, Dr
Bativala rues. Thats why the BFC now conducts its classes at Dhule near Nasik nearly
320km from Mumbai.
Even night flying permissions are difficult
to come by. Because of the commercial activity at the airports, night flying permissions
were hard especially at Begumpet, Capt
Reddy says recalling a time when they used
to get only 2-3 slots after many months for
night flying. But now the new airport promises a new high to flyers in Hyderabad.
In a small plane you fly at altitudes where
you can see the extent of environmental
degradation, Dr Bativala says. While flying
around Kanha, the Bativalas throw seeds in
the hope that they are adding some green to
the world. Flying gives you high hopes.
nupur.amarnath@timesgroup.com

(From top to bottom) Dr Firdaus Bativala gets

ready to take off on his Cessna; the Bombay
Flying Club members at Dhule near Nasik; JRD
Tatas private pilot license issued in Mumbai
and a dated picture of the Madras Flying Club
members: SKYS THE LIMIT

ALESSIO SECCI
CO-PROMOTER, DIRECTOR,
FRATELLI WINES

The Wine Diaries

Every bottle of wine has an interesting story
to tell and it is up to the person drinking it to
unfold the mystery. Young Indians have
started to do that now
WINES in India have been around
for thousands of years now. Incidences of wine drinking can be
traced back to the scriptures; wine
has been referred to as Soma in the
Vedic Scriptures and as Drakshasava in Ayurveda. The first vineyard in
India was planted in 1612 by the
British.
Yet, unlike in the West, in India
wine has had a contradictory image.
On one hand, it is considered as a
festive drink, while on the other, it is
forbidden by a society that largely
condemns consumption of alcohol.
But now the wine market is just beginning to blossom. Thanks to globalisation and modernisation, a
healthy and responsible wine culture is on the rise in this country.
Drinking wine is a culture. In
Italy, the last thing on ones mind is
to get drunk on wine. In India we
see the same culture spreading today. It is very encouraging to see todays generation, who have been
subjected to fewer taboos at homes,
opting for wines. Wine is like a
painting for your culinary senses.
As a painting is absorbed and appreciated by your eyes a wine needs to
be appreciated with your nose and
mouth. Every bottle has a story to
tell, and it is up to the person drinking it to unfold that mystery.
Wine consumption in India will
surely increase and it is very encouraging to see that the government too also decided to perceive it
as light alcohol. More and more license are being given out. This will
be the key to the growth of a wine
culture in India as I feel many indians have been subjected to bad
wines, which were given to them as
a present (sometimes passed
around many times) or if bought
from an ordinary retail outlet
where the stock could be completely oxidised. It is as we call it in Italy a
product, which is alive not dead in a
bottle! If wines are not stored properly, opened properly or poured in
a glass properly they will never
taste how they should be. It is critical that like elsewhere in the world,
modern trade outlets soon adopt
these practices to store wine. I have
visited these outlets and I can see
bottles of olive oils, and even
cheeses and pastas increasing in the
basket. The same consumer will
love to carry a bottle of wine for the
family. The same lady cannot be
seen in a so called off-license shop.
This pains me.
If wine in India is to gain popu-

larity and if Indian wines are to

gain acceptance abroad the only
way is to increase the area of cultivation of good quality wine
grapes. We do believe that international standard quality wines can
be made only in vineyards first and
in winery then. Quality wines can
be achieved if you control your
vineyards and this is what we have
pursued and done since the beginning of our venture. There are unfortunately no shortcuts in making a good wine. Every company
needs experienced hands like veteran wine maker and viticulturist
Piero Masi. As Piero always says,
A plant only has that much to
give... its our choice to take that in
a few bunches and let people taste
the soil or take it in multiple
bunches and let people taste sugar
and flavoured water!
Consumers need to realise that
the hygiene levels in a winery need

In India wine has had a

contradictory image
while its considered a
festive drink, drinking
is forbidden by society
to match with medical institutions.
Indian territory holds lot of potential and in climatic conditions can
match up with many other countries that make great wine.
Also, the Indian consumer is extremely smart and his palate is well
seasoned. Why then should wine
not make its space in his spread?
With the amount of money being
spent on lifestyle, ever increasing
exports and the domestic market
growing, who knows India may become a household name in the
world of wine.

ROMAN JEWELLER BULGARIS EXHIBITION SHOWCASES ORNAMENTS USED FOR HOLLYWOODS CLASSIC BEAUTIES

Celebrating 125 years of gems for screen goddesses

THEY WERE They were the cinematic titans with
curves: Sophia Loren with her hour glass figure,
Gina Lollobrigidas swelling bosom and Anna Magnanis earthy sexuality. Something in those ripe Italian stars of the 1950s and 60s melded perfectly with
Bulgari. The Roman jewelers sensual, rounded
cabochon jewels, melon-shaped evening purses
and splashes of vivid color expressed the sensuality
of the stars.
And those were the days, as Amanda Triossi, the
exhibitions curator points out, when the movie divas not only bought, rather than borrowed, their
jewels, but even wore their gems proudly in films
and elsewhere. Photographs of the era show Anita
Ekberg wearing flower jewelry at the premiere of
Frederico Fellinis Boccaccio 70 in 1961 or Claudia Cardinale wearing Bulgari at an embassy event.
Never has La Dolce Vita the sweet life seemed
more appropriate than in the splendid display of
jewels in the Grand Palais in Paris.
Bulgari: 125 years of Italian Magnificence (until Jan. 12) has 603 jewels on display each more
exceptional than the other, from the big, bold colorful breast plates of cabochon stones, through the
tremblant flower bouquets to the serpent watches winding around the wrist. Clips from the movies
bring the actors to life and the overhead screens
compliment a striking exhibition set.
Elizabeth Taylor, for whom diamonds and other gem stones are all her best friends, has an entire
room devoted to her private collection. The snake
bracelet was a favorite; so were luscious and colorful stones. She even posed for Helmut Newton
in 1989, up to her bosoms in a swimming pool
with a parrot on her shoulder color-matched to
her necklace.

The Paris exhibition is a

throwback to a time when
starlets like Sophia Loren and
Elizabeth Taylor showed off
their own jewels in films
The object is to tell a story of style its about
our heritage and that was not built in 20 years,
said Francesco Trapani, Bulgaris current chief executive and a great grandson of the jewelers founder.
The display is broadly chronological, opening with
silver created in the 19th century by the Greek-born
Sotiris Boulgaris, who settled in Rome in 1881. The
vitrines also develop what Mr. Trapani calls the
codes of Bulgari.
From the geometric designs in platinum and diamonds of the 1920s and 30s, often with transformable jewels converting into separate parts,
Bulgari invented a signature piece: the Trombino
or trumpet ring. Introduced in the 1930s, it was a
broad brand of pav set diamonds, its baguette diamond shoulders supporting a big, bold table-cut
gem stone.
Constantino and Giorgio, the founders sons, created for the landmark store in Romes Via Condotti
not only the warm yellow-gold pieces of the 1940s,
but also the later soft and naturalistic effects. The
1950s brought sinuous motifs, soft lines and freeform compositions, especially for the quivering jewelled flowers.
Ms. Triossi, who has been working on the
archives since 1994, points out as significant Bulgari

11

pieces exceptional stones, such as unexpected-colored sapphires. The opulent roundness of the gems
and their bold colors reinforce their rarity.
The voluptuous shapes and luscious color mixes of
La Dolce Vita years gave Bulgari its reputation for
being both the essence of Italian design and craftsmanship and desirably global.
Anna Magnanis collection shows her penchant
for blood red rubies nestling among bright, white diamonds. Other social figures like the Begum Aga
Khan chose turquoise as part of the mix; while Lyn
Revson, wife of Revlon founder Charles Revson,
chose a bib necklace of rounded turquoise,
amethyst and emerald set in diamonds.
Different vitrines are devoted to particular stones
and colors, or to the many facets of Bulgaris work:
the Giardinetto or flower-in-a-pot brooches; classical coins; the melon purses hanging from silken
cords; and the snake wrist bands.
Adding a bit of spice to elegance is how Mr. Trapani describes the jewels that come right up to the
21st century and still demand what the executive
calls a self-confident client who is a bit more
bold.
Increasingly those jewel hunters are from China,
which Mr. Trapani says is slated to take over from
Japan as Bulgaris primary market. The Paris exhibition will move to Beijing and Shanghai next year.
Ms. Triossi says that although Bulgari has a wideranging collection, with an on-going commitment
to buying back key pieces, 60 percent of the Paris
show is made up from private loans. The fact that often fickle stars and royal clients, like the Grimaldi
family of Monaco, have hung on to the jewels, suggests an emotional attachment to Bulgari that resonates through the show.
NYT

THE ECONOMIC TIMES ON SUNDAY
MUMBAI 2 JANUARY 2011

12

BACKPAGE

Fineprint on the
sands of times
IDEAS strike in a flash. But their
execution takes longer. When sand
artist Sudarshan Pattnaik first
thought of depicting Indias economic prowess in the new calendar
year for SundayET, he knew the
finer details would require patient
application. It took ten tons of sand
and six man-hours to realize his
ideas on the Golden Beach of Puri.
Why would an artist, associated
with building sand sculptures
mostly on Earth summits and raging global issues labour for it?
National pride, Pattnaik hammers back with a laconic answer.
By his own admission, the artist
felt conscious when drawing the
ET mast brought out a large number of onlookers on the beach area.

It sparked off interest and discussions on the spot, which was full
with foreign and domestic tourists
on the New Year eve, says Pattnaik, who focused on his work
while the students of his open-air
institute explained the concept to
the curious lot.
Explaining his concept, the
sculptor discloses that building of
blocks above the newspaper title
was symbolic of speedy growth
while the hands reaching out to a
rupee symbol showed the currencys new found exalted status. India is on its way to don a new role
as the world ushers into a new
phase of timeline, says Pattnaik,
betraying the sense of pride in his
voice and eyes.

Sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik at work on New Years eve

AN EQUAL
MUSIC

Pallavi Singh finds out

how an artists passion
and foresight salvaged
a part of Indias
musical heritage

PIX: ASHWANI NAGPAL

COURTESY NATIONAL MUSEUM

Sharan Rani Bakliwal

Edisons patent phonograph

F THESE walls could talk, they would probably break

into a song. With the capitals national museum reopening its Musical Instruments gallery on the occasion of its 50th anniversary last week, 400 years of Indias musical legacy is once again ready to claim its
place in the sun. Collected over a period of 40 years by
Indias first woman sarod player, Sharan Rani Bakliwal, the collection is living testimony to her devotion to the music
and her passion for sharing it with the world.
Sharan Rani was the first and foremost woman instrumentalist of
India and among the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Called the
Cultural Ambassador of India by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, she is also
credited for playing a fundamental role in introducing and popularising Indian classical music in numerous countries ever since the
1950s. She broke the centuries old glass ceiling to take up the sarod,
widely dubbed a mans instrument due to the posture required in playing it. Worried by the possibility of Indias musical traditions disappearing due to the lack of a repository of Indian classical instruments, she
took up the daunting task of collecting them and preserving them
herself. Then in an act of rare generosity she donated her entire collection to the National Museum between 1980,1982 and 2002 so that the
public could have access to the varied musical traditions of India.
The collection, comprising around 450 Hindustani and Carnatic
classical instruments, is the first and largest of its kind in the world.
But it isnt just the numbers that overwhelm. Covering the evolution in classical instruments and hence classical music from the 15th to
the 19th century, it offers a fascinating window into how each instrument changed over time and acquired its present form. Covering
nearly every classical instrument namely the sarod, sitar, rabab, kinnari, yazh, sur-singar, sur-bahar, swarmandal, sehtar, tanpura, santoor, ek-tara, gottuvadyam among others
and specimens from each state, the colMUSICAL
lection also includes certain folk instruMARVEL
ments and western instruments used in
Indian bands.
Thomas Edisons
While most collectors tend to be amateurs, the Bakliwal collection benefits
patent phonograph
from being the brainchild of a performing
catches ones eye
artist who was also a scholar in the field
even as you marvel at
of classical instruments. So the inclusion
the craftsmanship
of a bow and arrow as probably the earliest example of a stringed instrument
behind the glass
probably alerting prehistoric man to the
dholak from Rajasthan
possibilities of music. Thomas Edisons
and the mayuri sitar
patent phonograph catches ones eye
with a peacock
even as you marvel at the craftsmanship
neck among others
behind the glass dholak from Rajasthan
and the mayuri sitar with a peacock neck
among others. Then there are the original instruments played by the masters themselves. Sharan Ranis very
first sarod and the rare Dakshinavarti Sankha (right-sided conch with
clockwise spiral), she used for worship is part of the collection along
with the veena played by eminent 19th century musicologist Raja
Surendra Mohan Tagore, a string instrument played by Jodu Bhatt,
poet Rabindranath Tagores music instructor, and a pakhawaj (percussion instrument) played by famous exponent Ayodhya Prasad.
No wonder the gallery earned the tag of a collection of rare musical instruments of national instruments from then PM Indira Gandhi when she inaugurated it in 1980.
As always, it is the stories behind the stories that fascinate. The collection tells the tale of a woman who defied the tradition of her time and helped to ensure the
legacy of Indian classical music is carried forward.
Sharan Rani left home at a young age and went to
Maihar, a small township in Madhya Pradesh to
learn Sarod as the resident disciple of the legendary musician and Guru, Baba Ustad Allauddin Khan. The first Indian woman instrumentalist
to be conferred the Padma Shri in 1968, she was
awarded the Padma Bhushan later.
Ironically, with the recordings of her concert
gathering dust in the archives of All India Radio and
Doordarshan and no study of her pioneering contribution to Indian music, her legacy has suffered the
neglect she saved these instruments from. Even as the
best of Indian musical traditions threaten to disappear in
todays day and age, it is in this one corner of the National
Museum that a slice of history lives on.
pallavi.singh@timesgroup.com

pic by Sarat Panda

The Pianist Strikes An Indian Note

Musician Pervez Mody shares notes about his life
YOU dont forget your country just because you live abroad, says Pervez
Mody, a Germany-based professional
Western Classical pianist who recently
performed in Mumbai, Delhi and
Kolkata at the invitation of National Centre for the Performing Arts. But the piano happened by chance to Mody who
was brought up in Mumbai. A family
friend of the Modys didnt have space in
his house to keep his piano. So, he requested Pervezs father to move the piano to their flat in Mumbai because it
was a large apartment. Thus began
Modys affair with the black & white
keys. He would play melodies, with one
finger on the piano and his father realized the little prodigy was a gifted musical
ear. Mody Senior took Pervez to a piano
teacher, from where he went to another
one before ending up with the fantastic
mother and daughter duo, Farida
Dubash-Feroza Dubash Labon.
I was a very relaxed child from the
start, because I knew that, music, and not
academics, was my future, says Mody.
There was always music at home. My father would play the accordion and harmonica while my mother sang. You see,
Parsis have this tradition that one has to
learn an instrument. Even though the
Mody family was well off, studying in the
US looked exorbitantly expensive. So, I
decided against pressurising my father and
look for a full scholarship in Moscow. Actually, I was also deeply influenced by
Russian pianists. I was hugely lucky to get
a full scholarship at the Moscow Conservatoire in 1987, says Mody.
One of Pervezs favourite composers is
the Russian, Scriabin. According to him,

Scriabin was deeply influenced by Indian

philosophy and theology. Besides, despite being involved in Romantic compositions to start with, Scriabin was deeply
drawn to modernism and experimental
music. He was born in the third quarter of
the 19th century, but he also went on to
composing music that found colours appearing on a screen as one played the piano. I even found a synthesizer developed by him at the turn of the 20th century, says Mody.
Pervez spent seven years of training at
the Conservatoire before returning home.
He was at the crossroads for a while. It
happens to many of us, I suppose. You
suddenly doubt whether the road you are
on is your career path, says Mody. Then,
two friends, a Cuban and a Kazakh pianist
prevailed upon him to move to Europe
and pursue his career as a pianist. He finally left for Germany in 1997.
Back in India after 13 years, the pianist
says he enjoyed playing for the Calcutta
School of Music and in Mumbai and Delhi. Indians are very receptive and openminded. I would love to perform here
again. Besides, its my birthplace, says
Mody, who gave 63 concerts crisscrossing Europe and has 35 concerts lined up
for next year. Modys favourites include
Olivier Messiaen who was also influenced by Indian music. Yes, Im strongly
bound by my Indian roots. But, Im also
tremendously fond of Liszt, Chopin,
Beethoven and Bach. I feel Bach is the
god of Western Classical music while
Beethoven is the messiah.
Ashoke Nag

MODYS FAVOURITES
INCLUDE OLIVIER
MESSIAEN WHO WAS
INFLUENCED BY INDIAN
MUSIC. MODY TOO
FEELS BOUND BY HIS
ROOTS, EVEN THOUGH
HE FEELS BACH IS GOD
OF WESTERN CLASSICAL

ashoke.nag@timesgroup.com

Publish And Prosper

In Indian Hinterland
IF BOOKS were commodity items,
publishing industry would fly. For,
reading material would then come in
sachets and be sold in Indias burgeoning rural markets. And publishers will
no longer rely on good press for the
sale of their titles in sparse urban
bookstores; they will target the 800
million consumers in Indian hinterland, like FMCG majors Dabur, Godrej, Marico et al, and set up kiosks all
over Bharat. Could this lack of a robust publishing trade in rural areas be
also linked to dismal literacy levels?
There are two reasons why the
business of books in rural areas has
not flourished, says Vivek Mehra,
managing director of Sage Publications, which has been aggressively
targeting the vernacular market.
One, due to the lack of good books
written on issues that directly concern
the rural populace and two, even if
written, poor communication facilities make these books inaccessible to
them. According to Mehra, books
should not only be written on subjects
that the rural folks can relate to, but
they must also be written well.
Anand Bhushan, president of the
Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP),
concurs with Mehra. In India the
postal charges are huge. In certain areas, the cost often exceeds the price of
the book itself. In countries like China, postal charges are kept low by the
government to increase availability of
books in remote areas, Bhushan
says, seeking similar efforts from the
state. The FIP is organising a book fair
on rural theme in association with Indian Trade Promotion Organization.

Shakti Malik, chairman of the federation, said, We picked up the theme

this year to promote some of the good
books written on issues concerning
rural India. We hope to make them
available to the rural population
around the city. Malik feels book fairs
in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, and
NCR regions will expose such books
to publishers and once demand is created, publishers would buy the idea.
Publishers say that so far, of all
books that have been written on issues concerning rural India, microfinance and women rights are the only
subjects that have been discussed in
detail. Most others have remained
mere corridor conversations. The issues are not meagre; from agrarian
development to rural markets, a lot of
topics deserve scholarly research,
says Alok Jain of Bharatiya Jnanpith
Publications. But the dearth of good
books have kept the publishers at bay
from promoting them. Rural issues
have escaped the attention of good
authors. Most publishers shy away
from publishing books on them because there is no good reading material available.
Thankfully, there is some light at

the end of the tunnel. To bolster the

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the government has formulated a national book
policy which includes a proposal for
reducing postal costs for publishing
material. Mobile libraries, to some extent, have also resolved the problem
of communication in states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. These
services deliver books written in vernacular languages to those areas
which otherwise are neglected.
FIPs Bhushan see this as an opportunity that is both socially and economically profitable. He believes such
efforts will not only bring to fore the
problems of rural India, but also enable higher literacy. Our publication
house Pitambar Publications brings
out books in eight languages. We
want people in all states across the
country to be able to read books in
languages they are comfortable with,
he says. With the initiatives taken by
these big-wigs and also the increasing
demand for books in rural areas, it is
hoped that literacy would be another
area where the rural Bharat shines.
Dipti Jain
Volume No.4- Issue No. 51
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Your Week STARTS TODAY

Delhi

YOUNG DESIGNERS

Mumbai

ERIK TRUFFAZ

Kolkata

EARLY BENGAL OILS

This exhibition by National

Institute of Design presents
graduating students' projects
that encompass a range of products and systems. Jan 10-13, Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat
Centre

This Swiss-born French jazz

trumpeter will perform live in a
musical evening along with
Ehtiopian singer-violinist
Mounir Trudi and high-energy
drummer Philippe Garcia. On
Jan 5 and 6, Blue Frog

This exhibition will showcase

the Raj era oil on canvas by
artists invited by Bengali
aristocrats over to churn out
works. Till January 23, Chitrakoot Art Gallery

FLUX

FINE INDIAN CUISINE

TARANG

This exhibition is Ravi Agarwal's

solo show of photographs
described as an engagement with
a 'moment' in changing times.
Till Jan 8, Gallery Espace

A spread and blend of cuisine

from the sub-continent, with
an array of taste, texture and
flavours to choose one's meal
from. Till Jan 15, Veda

This exhibition will be featuring works by Santiniketan Practicing Artists Network projecting the new art
wave. Till Jan 8, Studio 18

Bangalore

STROKES OF EXPRESSIONS
This group show curated by
Jasmine Khanna will showcase
contemporary Indian paintings
by various artists. Till January 31,
Gallerie Third Eye

DREAM:IN
This workshop by IDIOM Design
will train 101 young students and
professionals to become
'Dreamcatchers' by experts in the
field of research, documentation
and sociology. Jan 7-9, Joseph
Chemmanur Hall