Academic qualifications of India's top business leaders ( Part- 1 )

Kushal Pal Singh Teotia is the chairman and CEO of DLF Limited. After graduating in science from Meerut College, Uttar Pradesh, he pursued Aeronautical Engineering in UK.

 

Narayanaswami Srinivasan is the Managing-Director of the India Cements Limited. He holds a B.Sc. (Tech) from Madras University, a M.Sc. from the University of Chicago and completed his post-graduation in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. 

 

 

Malvinder Mohan Singh is the former Chairman and CEO of Ranbaxy Laboratories. He received his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.Brother Shivinder Mohan Singh holds an Honours Graduate in Mathematics. He also received his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. 

 

 

 

Pawan Munjal, the Managing Director and CEO of Hero MotoCorp Ltd is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering.

 

 

Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director and Director, InterGlobe Enterprises Limited (IndiGo airlines) holds a degree in electrical engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada.

 

 

 

Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao is the Founder Chairman of GMR Group, a global infrastructure developer and operator based in India. He is a mechanical engineer by qualification

 

 

Uday Kotak, is the Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Group. He is an alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

 

 

Chanda Kochhar is currently the Managing Director (MD) of ICICI Bank and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After graduating, she pursued Cost Accountancy ICWAI and also acquired the Masters Degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

 

 

 

Vinita Bali is presently the Managing Director of Britannia Industries Limited. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Economics from LSR at the University of Delhi and her MBA at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies at Bombay University. She pursued postgraduate studies in Business and Economics at Michigan State University.

 

 

 

Kalpana Morparia is Chief Executive Officer of J.P. Morgan, India. She is graduate in law from Bombay University and completed her Bachelor of Science from Sophia College, Mumbai.

 

 

 

Kiran Majumdar Shaw is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Limited a biotechnology company based in Bangalore. She completed her BSc Zoology Honours course from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore University and later did her post-graduation in Malting and Brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University.

 

 

Mallika Srinivasan, the Chairman and CEO of TAFE did her in MA (econometrics) from Madras University. She completed her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

Naina Lal Kidwai is the Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India.She is a chartered accountant by profession, later earned a Bachelors degree in Economics from University of Delhi and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She was the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School.

 

 

Neelam Dhawan is the Managing Director of Hewlett-Packard India. She holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from St.Stephen's College, New Delhi, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.

 

 

 

Dr. Preetha Reddy is the Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited. Dr. Preetha Reddy holds a B.Sc from Stella Maris College Chennai, and a Masters in Public Administration from Madras University.

 

Roopa Kudva is Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of CRISIL and she is also Region Head, South Asia, Standard & Poor's. She is a graduate in Statistics and a post-graduate in management from IIM, Ahmedabad.

 

Sulajja Firodia Motwani, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, USA, Sulajja started her career at BARRA international, a leading investment analytic firm in California. She worked there for four years before joining Kinetic. She is now the Joint Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd and Director, Kinetic Motors.

 

Sulajja Firodia Motwani, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, USA, Sulajja started her career at BARRA international, a leading investment analytic firm in California. She worked there for four years before joining Kinetic. She is now the Joint Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd and Director, Kinetic Motors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Academic qualifications of India's top business leaders ( Part- 2 )

If you thought all of India’s business leaders were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, you are wrong. Even those who were heirs to established business empire, made it a point to equip themselves academically to tackle the challenges posed by the winds of change and uncertain future.

1. Ratan Tata completed his B.S. in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975.

Mukesh Ambani completed his graduation with a bachelor`s degree in chemical engineering from the UDCT, now Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He later enrolled for an MBA from Stanford University but completed only one year of the two year programme, to help out his legendary father in business.

 

 

Deepak Parekh is the Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation. A Chartered Accountant, Parekh began his career with Ernst & Young Management Consultancy Services in New York. After returning to India, he worked with Grindlays Bank and also Chase Manhattan Bank as its assistant representative for South Asia. Parekh joined HDFC in 1978.

 

Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. A chartered accountant by qualification, he also has an MBA from the London Business School. 

 

 

Anand Mahindra is the Chairman and Managing Director of one of India’s largest enterprise, Mahindra & Mahindra. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1977 (he studied filmmaking at Harvard), and completed his MBA from Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts in 1981. 

 

 

 

Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal is the founder, chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises. He started his career at 18 after graduating from Panjab University in 1976 and founded Bharti. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School, USA.

 

 

 

Anil Dhirubani Ambani group head Anil Ambani completed his Bachelors degree from University of Bombay (as it was known then), followed by Master of Business Administration degree from University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. 

 

 

 

N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus of Infosys earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mysore in 1967 and a master’s degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1969.

Azim H Premji, Chairman, Wipro holds an electrical engineering degree from Stanford University, USA.

 

 

Venu Srinivasan is the Chairman and Managing Director of Sundaram Clayton Ltd and TVS Motor Company. After graduating as an engineer from the University of Madras, he completed a Master's Degree in Management from Purdue University in the USA.

 

 

 

Shiv Nadar is the founder and chairman of HCL and the Shiv Nadar Foundation. He received a pre-University degree in The American College, Madurai and degree in Electrical And Electronics Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.

 

 

 

Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj graduated first in class, with distinction, in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune in 1988, and then completed his masters in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, with distinction, from the University of Warwick in 1990.

 

 

 

Manoj Gaur, CEO & MD of Jaiprakash Associates Limited holds a Civil Engineering degree. Sameer Gaur, MD and CEO at Jaypee Sports International Limited completed his Masters in Business Management from the UK.

 

 

 

Media Baron Kaladnidhi Maran has an MBA from the University of Scranton, US.

 

 

Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, Managing Director of JSW Steel, holds B.E in Mechanical Engineering from M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology which was then under Bangalore University.

 

 

Raghav Bahl is the Controlling Shareholder and Managing Director of Network 18. An Economics graduate from St. Stephens College, he has done his MBA from the University of Delhi. 

 

UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya studied at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce degree. While in college, he was interning in his family businesses. After he graduated, he also interned at the American part of Hoechst in the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivendi’s Universal Music to Sell Depeche Mode Label Mute to BMG

Vivendi SA (VIV)’s Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest record company, agreed to sell its Mute label, home to Depeche Mode, to BMG Rights Management in the first of several divestitures after the takeover of EMI Group.
Universal, based in New York, sold the label for almost $10 million, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The company expects to reach agreements for additional label sales after Jan. 1, said one of the people, who requested anonymity because the deliberations are private.
To meet antitrust requirements, Universal Music plans to sell 500 million euros ($659 million) of assets that include Parlophone, home to Coldplay, the Pet Shop Boys and Tina Turner, along with Sanctuary, the label of The Kinks and Motorhead, a person told Bloomberg in November.
“We are confident that with our sales strategy and the number of parties that have expressed interest in the remaining assets, we will be able to create exactly the level of value that we would expect from the quality of these divestments,” Universal said in a statement announcing yesterday’s sale.
The acquisition was the second yesterday for BMG Rights, a music publisher controlled by New York-based private equity firm KKR & Co. BMG Rights is buying the assets that Sony/ATV Music Publishing, jointly owned by Sony Corp. (6758) and the estate of Michael Jackson, and Universal Music are divesting after their 2011 purchase of EMI from Citigroup Inc. (C)
The Sony/ATV assets acquired yesterday represent publishing rights to about 30,000 songs, a roster that includes works by Kurt Cobain and Iggy Pop, for about $90 million.
Vivendi, which also controls Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), climbed 0.9 percent to 17.01 euros in Paris trading yesterday. The stock has gained 3.9 percent this year.

Brevan Howard Paid Partners 270 Million Pounds Last Year

Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP paid its partners as much as 269.8 million pounds ($436 million) in the 12 months ended in March, more than double the amount it paid them a year earlier, after the hedge fund’s investment performance beat rivals.
The highest-paid partner, who wasn’t identified, got 78.9 million pounds, up from 64.8 million pounds in the year earlier, according to a filing by the London-based fund posted Dec. 22 on the U.K. Companies House website. Brevan Howard had 49 designated members during the period, meaning each partner received an average pay of as much as 5.5 million pounds, the filing showed,

                                            

Brevan Howard’s Master Fund, the firm’s biggest hedge fund, with more than $25 billion of assets, gained 12 percent in 2011. Competing macro funds, which trade currencies, interest rates and bonds to try to take advantage of global economic trends, declined 7.4 percent on average, as they were tripped up by the euro-area sovereign-debt crisis and slowing growth in Asia.
Officials at Brevan Howard, which manages a total of $39 billion, declined to comment.
Hedge funds earn money from fees to manage clients’ assets and for positive investment performance. Brevan Howard, Europe’s second-largest hedge fund based on assets, made 371.9 million pounds in fees in the year ended March 31, compared with 236.8 million pounds a year earlier.

Further Gains

The Master Fund has advanced about 3 percent this year through Dec. 14, according to investors. The firm has been hiring credit traders in 2012, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Wayne Leslie and Credit Suisse Group AG’s Josh Bertman, as the Master Fund trails its historical gains.
Alan Howard, 49, founded the hedge fund in 2002 with four other traders from Credit Suisse’s proprietary fixed-income trading desk. Howard, whose personal wealth was estimated at 1.4 billion pounds by the Sunday Times in April, relocated in 2010 to Geneva from London after the U.K. government announced plans to raise taxes on top earners.
BlueCrest Capital Management LLP, Europe’s third-biggest hedge fund, with $32 billion of assets, made 502 million pounds in fees for all of 2011, according to a Companies House filing in September. Winton Capital Management LLC, the fourth-biggest, with $28 billion of assets, generated 351 million pounds of fees last year, the hedge fund said in an October filing. Europe’s biggest hedge fund is Man Group Plc (EMG) with $60 billion of assets.

China Holds Test Run on World’s Longest High-Speed Railway Link

China to Open the Longest High-Speed Line

China tested its 2,298-kilometer (1,428-mile) high-speed rail line, the longest in the world, as it prepares to start passenger service in two days.

                                    

A China Railways CRH3 high speed train is parked at the Beijing South station in Beijing, China. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg

Bullet-trains on the line from Beijing to southern Chinese city of Guangzhou can run at an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour, the official Xinhua news agency said. It will shorten the rail travel time from the capital to the Pearl River Delta to about eight hours from the previous 24 hours.
China is accelerating railway investment again after it introduced new safety measures following a deadly bullet-train crash in Wenzhou that killed 40 people in July 2011. Railway investment as of October rose almost 250 percent from a year earlier as the government stepped up fiscal measures to help growth.
“Government-driven investment has quick effects on boosting growth in the short term,” said Yuan Gangming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank based in Beijing. “But you can’t rely on investment to drive growth forever.”
Yuan said China had a “great leap forward” in spending on railways since 2008 and this is expected to “normalize” in coming years with the completion of major lines such as the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed link.
More than 100 Chinese and international journalists were invited to join the Dec. 22 test run, Xinhua said.

Hong Kong

The bullet-train line will be extended to Hong Kong in the future and will add to competition for China Southern Airlines Co. (1055) A380s flying between the cities, a flight lasting about three hours with an economy class ticket costing 1,620 yuan ($260).
A second-class train ticket on the line, which winds through major inland Chinese cities, including Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Changsha, costs 865 yuan, while a first-class ticket costs 1,388 yuan, Xinhua said. Competition from the new railway line for airlines operating Beijing-Wuhan and Beijing-Zhengzhou flights will be intense, China’s state television reported today.
China Southern Airlines is offering discounts of as much as 73 percent and Air China is offering a 57 percent discount for flights between Beijing and Wuhan on Dec. 26, according to company websites.

Investment Cost

China’s Ministry of Railways didn’t publish a total investment amount for the high-speed line because it was developed in parts and then connected. The Wuhan-Guangzhou section, which extends 1,069 kilometers and began operating a year ago, cost 116.6 billion yuan.
Another landmark Chinese high-speed railway, the 1,318- kilometer Beijing to Shanghai link that started operating in June 2011, cost 220.9 billion yuan.
China’s railway ministry didn’t publish the financial performance of the high-speed railway lines.
China has boosted its railway infrastructure spending plan to 516 billion yuan in 2012 from the 406 billion yuan set at the beginning of the year, helping the share price of CSR Corp Ltd. (601766) and China CNR Corp., the nation’s two leading train makers.

About GSK

Established in the year 1924 in India GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (GSK Rx India) is one of the oldest pharmaceuticals company and employs over 4000 people. Globally, we are a £ 27.4 billion, leading, research-based healthcare and pharmaceutical company. In India, we are one of the market leaders with a turnover of Rs. 2275 crore and a share of 3.9%*. At GSK, our mission is to improve the quality of life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. This mission drives us to make a real difference to the lives of millions of people with our commitment to effective healthcare solutions.
The GSK India product portfolio includes prescription medicines and vaccines. Our prescription medicines range across therapeutic areas such as anti-infectives, dermatology, gynaecology, diabetes, oncology, cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases. The company is the market leader in most of the therapeutic categories in which it operates. GSK also offers a range of vaccines, for the prevention of hepatitis A, hepatitis B, invasive disease caused by H, influenzae, chickenpox, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, rotavirus, cervical cancer, streptococcus pneumonia and others.
With opportunities in India opening up, GSK India is aligning itself with the parent company in areas such as clinical trials, clinical data management, global pack management, sourcing raw material and support for business processes including analytics.
GSK's best-in-class field force, backed by a nation-wide network of stockists, ensures that the Company's products are readily available across the nation. GSK has two manufacturing units in India, located at Nashik and Thane as well as a clinical development centre in Bangalore. The state of art plant at Nashik makes formulations.
Being a leader brings responsibility towards the communities in which we operate. At GSK, we have a Corporate Social Responsibility program that works towards fulfilling basic healthcare, education and other developmental needs of the underserved population. With this dedication and commitment, we believe that the world will be better, healthier and happier.
GSK is committed to developing new and effective healthcare solutions. The values on which the group was founded have always inspired growth and will continue to do so in times to come.

Germany's DVB Bank SE sues DGCA over Kingfisher Airlines planes

Germany's DVB Bank SE has sued India's aviation regulator and Kingfisher Airlines to have two planes it financed for the troubled carrier deregistered, a possible first step towards recouping its funds.

The case underlines the problems that leasing firms and financing companies face in recovering grounded planes from Kingfisher, as airports, banks and tax authorities scramble for the crisis-hit carrier's assets.

International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) - owned by US insurer AIG - is also struggling to take back Kingfisher planes it owns, one of which, an Airbus A-320, has been impounded by tax authorities for non-payment of dues by the carrier.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, must deregister the DVB-financed Airbus planes, now parked in Istanbul, before the bank can put them to use or lease them out.

"Our main trouble really is with the DGCA, which should deregister the aircraft," Carsten Gerlach, senior vice president of aviation finance at DVB, said. "We have now filed a writ petition at the High Court in Delhi against DGCA and also Kingfisher, strictly focused on deregistration," Gerlach said by phone from Frankfurt.

However, the DGCA argues that those aircraft were not financed by DVB alone, so deregistering them would make the DGCA answerable to other financiers, who are also trying to recover their money, according to a senior government source with direct knowledge of the situation.

The DGCA and Kingfisher did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, leasing company IFCL has also asked the DGCA to deregister four Kingfisher-operated planes, but it faces separate obstacles. These planes include an Airbus A-320 parked at Mumbai airport that was impounded by tax authorities last week after the carrier failed to settle long-pending dues.

"People just go the airport, see a plane in Kingfisher colours, and stake their claim on it," the source said, referring to the tax authorities' impounding of the Airbus. "What they don't understand is that the plane may not belong to Kingfisher at all."

Kingfisher, owned by flamboyant liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has hit back at the tax authorities' actions, saying it is illegal for authorities to seize aircraft that are owned by foreign lessors.

"This will send a very wrong signal to any foreigner who wishes to do business in the aviation industry in India," the airline said in a statement last week.

Kingfisher has 33 scheduled passenger planes registered in India, according to data from the DGCA. It had a fleet of 64 a year back, when it was India's No. 2 carrier by market share. It is saddled with a combined debt load of $2.5 billion, according to one estimate, and has not paid salaries for months.

Kingfisher, which has not flown since October, had its license suspended in October after months of canceled flights and staff walkouts.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals hits 52-week high on pact with Forest Laboratories

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals LtdBSE  surged over 2 per cent to hit its 52-week high of Rs 512.20 after the company said its subsidiary has signed an agreement with Forest Laboratories for worldwide collaboration on Novel Agents to treat chronic inflammatory conditions.

At 10:45 am, Glenmark Pharma was trading 2.4 per cent higher at Rs 511.60. It has hit a low of Rs 504 and a high of Rs 512.20 in trade today.

"Glenmark Pharmaceuticals S.A, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has entered into agreement with Forest Laboratories Inc., on collaboration for the development of novel mPGES-1 inhibitors to treat chronic inflammatory conditions," Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said in a statement.

"Under the terms of the agreement, Forest will make a $6 million upfront payment to Glenmark and provide an additional $3 million to support the next phase of work," added the statement.

"This collaboration reinforces our strategy of partnering to achieve our goal of launching innovative technologies around the world," Glen Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.

Both parties will work collaboratively to advance the program into the clinic. The collaboration between Glenmark and Forest will be managed by Joint Development Committee with equal representation from both companies.

Technical Check: Vinay Khattar, Head Research (Individual Clients), Edelweiss Financial Services

The broke its recent high of Rs 499 and further made a high of Rs 511 with good volumes. Beside this stock is continuously making higher top and higher bottom.

Short term oscillators also trading positive as well as stock is trading above the short term averages. This depicts that the uptrend in the stock is far from over and it can rise towards 530 levels in the short term.

Traders can buy the stock from a short term perspective in the range of Rs 490-500, keeping a stop loss below Rs 475 and target Rs 530 upon initiation of the trade.

RIM loses BlackBerry subscribers for first time

OTTAWA: Research In Motion said Thursday that a million BlackBerry owners worldwide stopped using their phones during the company's most recent financial quarter, the first such decline in the device's history.

It reported other bad news as well, a month before introducing its new BlackBerry 10 phones to the public. Revenue fell 48 per cent in the company's fiscal third quarter, ended Dec. 1, to $2.7 billion from $5.2 billion a year earlier.

After a favorable tax gain, RIM reported net income of $9 million or 2 cents a share. A year ago during the same period, RIM earned $265 million, or 51 cents a share. The company said that using nonstandard accounting methods to adjust for the tax gain and other pretax charges led to an adjusted net loss for the third quarter of $114 million, or 22 cents per share.

Analysts had expected a loss of 35 cents a share, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. Nevertheless, RIM's shares fell about 9 per cent in after-hours trading. Before RIM's announcement, shares closed at $14.12, up for the day by 3.6 per cent.

The company has pinned its hopes on the BlackBerry 10 to win back customers who may have defected to iPhones or phones using Google's Android operating system. RIM said 79 million customers are using BlackBerry devices.

"We believe the company has stabilized and will turn the corner in the next year," Thorsten Heins, the chief executive, said in a conference call with analysts. "We are realistic about our competitors, but we know that customers in this industry demand and respond to innovation."

Until now, RIM had been able to offset the drastic drop in the BlackBerry's popularity in its traditional markets, particularly the United States, through increased sales in developing countries. Because every BlackBerry user generates high-margin monthly fees from carriers for RIM, the most recent quarter's loss of subscribers is more than just a symbolic setback.

In the conference call, Heins indicated that RIM had been reducing those fees, which account for 36 per cent of RIM's revenue, in a bid to keep BlackBerry's current product offerings alive. And in an announcement that seemed to concern some analysts on the call, Heins said that the new BlackBerry 10 phones would substantially revamp how RIM set service fees.

With BlackBerry 10, Heins said, corporate and government users would be able to choose what services they purchase from RIM, a step that he said could mean that some of them would no longer generate user fees. The company was unclear about what fees BlackBerry 10s sold to consumers would produce. Last month, Heins said that consumer BlackBerry 10 models would no longer benefit from RIM's special Web compression technology, the chief service provided to consumers by RIM.

Google is not in the search business: Sundar Pichai, Sr VP for Chrome and Apps

Google's senior vice president for Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichai, 40, is among the three Indians in the top team of CEO Larry Page. He is also the mind behind products such as Google Drive, Chrome and Apps. Pichai, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, stopped over in Bangalore en route his annual visit to Chennai. In a chat with ET, he spoke about how search will evolve in the future and Facebook's search bar. Excerpts:

What is the reason behind the frequent Gmail outages? Can businesses trust Gmail and Google Apps with these frequent disruptions?

We rarely ever have problems like this. But that's not an excuse. Sometimes a major inbound cable coming to a country gets damaged and we have to route that traffic to other data centres. Secondly, we are constantly changing the Gmail code. It is like refuelling a plane in mid air. It happens on a day-to-day basis. If you compare it with Windows, one gets to see only four versions of Windows in five years. But with Gmail we're constantly updating it. It's challenging. In the coming months, you'll see a lot more changes in Gmail. We are constantly thinking about how we can make our inbox easier.

We just launched Gmail for the iPhone in the US market. We will also be focussed on integrating our internal products with Gmail. India is a big market for Gmail. Our user base for Gmail has grown to 50 million users here. During Hurricane Sandy, organisations that were working on ground and rescuing people were running Google Apps. It was heartening when they came and told us that nothing happened to Google Apps all those days.

How does Google Apps plan to compete with Microsoft?

Earlier, businesses were used to having this old system of end-to-end computing on a single platform. They are very worried now. They want to move to something different. There are two reasons. Employees don't necessarily use the same platform. 'Bring Your own Device' is a new norm in most companies, and most employees work on platforms ranging from iOS to Andorid. That gives us a big opportunity. Secondly, Microsoft's Windows 8 breaks the backward compatibility of its own end-toend ecosystem. The apps anyways will now have to be rewritten for the Metro look and feel. That will give Google a huge window to break into apps for businesses in the new year.

Does Google fear that Facebook can change the dynamics of online search in the future?

Anytime a company like Facebook does something, it'll have an impact. We believe innovation is important for all of us to advance. We'll see what they do. We are sending tremendous social signals via Google Plus, which we'll constantly be integrating into our services. Search, as we define it today, will evolve. One of the things why people underestimate search is because it looks so simple. But when others try to do, the complexity of it comes out. About 20% of the queries we get everyday are new. At superficial level, others can match what we're doing, but to keep up with information on a day to day is hard.

So, will Google be in the search business five years from now?

Five years hence, if we are doing search the way we are now, we will certainly be doing something wrong. The current search definition won't make any sense then. We, as Google, are not in the search business. We are in the business of knowledge. For instance, Wikipedia is one of the most important sources of knowledge now. In future, there will be completely new ways of getting knowledge. Take the classic analogy of how railroads went out of business in the US when national highways were built. What they didn't realise was that they were in the transportation business and not in the Railways business. That's how we think.

22 Dec, 2012, 02.16PM IST, Indu Nandakumar,ET Bureau Lenovo sees rising competition in a slowing Indian PC market

BANGALORE: India's largest computer seller Lenovo said it expects higher competition from rivals HP and Acer in the coming year, as PC sellers in the country continue to launch aggressively priced devices in an attempt to attract cost conscious consumers.

Lenovo, which is headquartered in China and has a 17% market share in India's PC market, said it will focus on sustaining its present lead in PC's, while at the same time get its

act together to bring out post-PC products such as tablets and ultrabooks. "You can't say with confidence that you will maintain this position. You have to do the right things which can drive the market share," said Rajesh Thadani, head of Lenovo's consumer business in India.

A few weeks ago, HP India head Neelam Dhawan had told ET that she expects HP to regain market leadership.

Close to three million PC units were sold in India in the third quarter of this year, according to market research firm Gartner. On yearly basis, India's PC market declined 5.9% during this period due to decline in consumer buying and an overall decline in economic activity.

US-based HP and Taiwan based Acer have 16% market share in India, followed by Dell that has 12% share. "Clearly it's going to be at a different level," Thadani said referring to competition in the coming year.

Competition, however, feels that Lenovo's emergence as India's top PC vendor in May this year had a lot to do with the bulk order from the Tamil Nadu government to supply free laptops to school children. Prior to that it was India's fourth largest PC vendor behind HP, Acer and Dell.

"Different brands pursue different strategies. Some compromise on profits to win large deals. Acer's focus is having sensible business, without diluting our stated intend for profitability," S Rajendran, marketing head at the Indian arm of Taiwanese-computer Acer.

The Chinese firm, however, defended its position by saying that has seen strong growth even outside the mega deals at a time when the market de-grew 15%. "Large deals are a market reality and anyone who aspires to be a leader will need to be a part of such deals," Lenovo India managing director Amar Babu told ET.

IRDA, Finmin at odds over nod for online sales of insurance policies

NEW DELHI: The insurance regulator has expressed reservations over the finance ministry's view that firms need not take another approval for insurance products sold online, arguing that such plans need to be assessed differently from those sold through intermediaries.

The ministry is seeking to push online insurance products because it believes that cheaper plans available online can help expand the coverage across the country from the abysmally low 4.4% for life insurance and 0.7% for nonlife insurance.

However, this has led to a difference of opinion between the ministry and the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority.

"The structure is different because in an e-product there is no commission payable. It is a global practice that the two products require different approvals," said a senior official with IRDA.

The official said that in case of online policies, a record should be maintained as per a pre-set format to ensure that the product sold is what the customer asked for.

"In order to protect the investor interest, it is required that separate approval for online policies is given," the official said. The ministry has refused to buy this argument, though, and asked the IRDA to fix a ceiling for all products and charges per deal.

"Our view is there is no need for a re-approval as it causes unnecessary delays. As far as pricing is concerned, the insurance companies and web aggregators can work that out within the IRDA ceiling," said a senior finance ministry official, requesting anonymity.

Industry players admit that a separate clearance for online policies is a tedious task and often acts as a deterrent.

"If a product can be sold directly or through phone and has the same features, then there is no need for a second approval for an online product," said the chief marketing officer of a private sector insurance firm.

But online web aggregators feel that the conditions laid by the IRDA are too stringent. "At present, we get Rs 30 per lead or 25% of the commission earned on premium. They also need to revisit these norms if the online insurance penetration has to be increased," said an industry player, who did not wish to be named.

Akshay Mehrotra, chief marketing officer of Policybazaar.com, one of the bigger online insurance aggregators, said the online potential was yet to be fully tapped.

"There are only three pure online ULIP (unit-linked insurance plan) products available as of now. Insurance firms also need to develop focused online products for expanding reach," said Mehrotra.

Since the beginning of this month, the firm has sold about 15,000 policies online. As per industry reports, the sale of online insurance has almost doubled over the past year and online insurance industry is expected to touch Rs 1,500 crore by the end of this fiscal.

Most industry players, such as Aegon Religare Life Insurance, Aviva India, HDFC Life, and ICICIBSE -0.44 % Prudential Life Insurance, also have online insurance products. 

India Inc's top guns like Tata, Ambanis, Adani, Ruia set to attend Narendra Modi's Vibrant Gujarat 2013 summit

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of diplomats and businessmen, including the who's who of Indian industry such as Ratan Tata, MukeshAmbani, Anil Ambani, Sahara India Chairman Subrata Roy, Essar Group's ShashiRuia, GautamAdani of Adani Group and Vedanta boss Anil Agarwal, are expected to gather at the showpiece investment meeting of newly re-elected Gujarat Chief Minister NarendraModi in January.
No effort is being spared to make Vibrant Gujarat 2013 the "most high-powered and effective" investment summit "ever held", an official closely associated with organising the event said on condition of anonymity.

Vibrant Gujarat 2013 will be Modi's first major public event post-elections, and will inevitably be assessed in the context of his ambitions and chances of leading BJP nationally. Senior government officials and marketers associated with the meeting said "the event has been accorded the highest priority by the chief minister".

Modi himself is closely monitoring preparations for the biennial event, marketed by American lobbying giant Apco Worldwide since 2009, said a person with knowledge of the matter. His first task after the polls was to meet officials of the Industrial Extension Bureau, the state government's nodal agency for investments, which organises Vibrant Gujarat, the official said.

Congress MP Naveen Jindal of Jindal Steel and PowerBSE -3.52 %, Lafarge CEO Martin Kreigner and GMRBSE -3.16 % Group head GM Rao are also likely to attend, another person familiar with the matter said.

USIBC Sponsoring Event

Previous summits have been characterised by big investment promises and lavish praise from industry leaders, and have been a key factor in Modi's image building.
Vibrant Gujarat 2013 will be the biggest yet in scale and scope, according to Maheshwar Sahu, principal secretary, industries and mines, Gujarat. The 2011 meeting alone drew 1,400 foreigners from 101 countries and 35,000 Indians, who together signed 8,300 MoUs worth Rs 20,83,000 crore.

In a first, the United States-India Business Council (USIBC), along with counterparts from the UK, Japan and Australia, is sponsoring the event. Peter Haas, consul-general of the US Consulate in Mumbai (the US, which earlier rejected Modi's visa due to the controversy over the 2002 riots, has been warming up to Modi), and representatives of countries such as Iceland, Brunei, Argentina, Costa Rica and Cuba have confirmed participation, said another official.

Sahu said invites have already been sent to these dignitaries and businessmen, and most of them have confirmed participation. While the 2013 Vibrant Gujarat will dwarf previous summits in attendance, the focus will be on strategic partnerships with countries that will make Gujarat a global business hub, help small businesses and create jobs, he said.

A spokeswoman for USIBC said the trade group's president Ron Somers apart, John Luke, chairman and CEO of global packaging solutions company MeadWestVaco, and D Dhamotharan, senior vice-president of engineering company URS Corporation, will attend Vibrant Gujarat. For the past six months, a number of officials from the state have travelled the globe to woo policymakers and businessmen. Modi himself made a much-publicised trip to Japan in July, where he met executives of carmaker SuzukiBSE -0.88 %. 

Maruti Suzuki to set up second plant in Gujarat; acquires 600 acres

NEW DELHI: Maruti SuzukiBSE -0.88 % India today said it has started spadework to set up its second facility in Gujarat with acquisition of another 600 acres, in addition to its existing plan to invest Rs 4,000 crore for setting up a plant in the state.

The company also said it expects about 6-7 per cent sales growth in 2013-14 after closing the current fiscal with about 6 per cent rise in vehicle sales.

The country's largest car maker also said it will not enter the premium segment of passenger cars in India and will "protect" its image of a small car manufacturer.

"We have land at two locations in Gujarat. The first one is offered by the government and the second one is a private land that is directly acquired by us with some negotiations by the government," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava told reporters here.

The company has acquired about 600 acres, located about 40 km from the first site near Mehsana, he added.

"The second location is for our future expansion. Once we exhaust the capacity at the first site, we will move to the second one," Bhargava said.

He, however, did not share details such as when the firm is likely to start construction at the second site.

When asked if MSI is shifting its focus from Haryana, where it has recently witnessed severe labour unrest, Bhargava said: "We are not moving away from Haryana. We have two plants in the state and going to Gujarat after utilising the capacity completely at Gurgaon and Manesar. We will do the same once we exhaust the capacity in Gujarat also."

He said the company will do the ground breaking ceremony for the Gujarat facility early next year.

MSI had earlier this year announced to invest Rs 4,000 crore, its biggest ever outside Haryana, to set up a 700-acre new production facility in Gujarat by 2015-16. Besides, components suppliers of the company are also likely to make an equal amount of investment to set up their respective plants. The capacity in the first phase will be 2.5 lakh units a year.

Talking about the company's performance in this fiscal, Bhargava said: "We are going to end this year with a growth of about 6 per cent over last year. Overall, there is a sign of softening in India's car market due to various factors."

During the next financial year, the company is not expecting anything better than the current fiscal and it will grow in single digit only, he added.

"We hope to grow 6-7 per cent growth at best in next fiscal, which is going to be the election year and so we don't expect anything drastic happening," Bhargava said.

Commenting on exports, MSI Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi said MSI is finding it tough due to the decline in European market.

"Last year we had a total export of 1.27 lakh units. This year we may be a little less than that because of the slowdown in Europe, which used to be our biggest overseas market."

Kingfisher applies for licence renewal - source

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A bid by grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines (NSI:KFA.NS - News) to renew its operating licence, which expires at the end of the year, will not succeed until it submits a turnaround plan, a senior aviation regulatory source said on Thursday.
Kingfisher, which has not flown since October, has estimated debts of $2.5 billion and owes money to banks, airports, tax authorities, plane leasing companies and its staff.
Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, suspended Kingfisher's licence to fly in October after months of cancelled flights and staff walkouts.
The carrier can apply to renew its licence within two years from the day it expires, the source, who has direct knowledge but did not wish to be identified, told reporters.
Kingfisher has tried unsuccessfully to raise cash for more than a year. It said earlier this month it was in talks with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and other investors about taking a stake in the carrier.
Plane leasing firm International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) is seeking to take back four Kingfisher planes, the source said.
Indian tax authorities last week impounded a plane in Kingfisher colours, but DGCA will seek the return of the aircraft, the source added.
ILFC, which is owned by U.S. insurer AIG (NYS:AIG - News), is being sold to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8 billion.
Kingfisher said on Monday it will "restart in a phased manner," with its own funding, and will not seek banks' support. For it to restart operations, DGCA has to be satisfied with its turnaround plan, the source said.

Air India losing Rs.404 crore per month

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) National carrier Air India suffered an average net loss of Rs.404 crore per month for the March-October period of 2012.
This was found out when Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh Thursday reviewed the functioning of the national carrier.
An audit of the airline's books showed that the company had a cash inflow of Rs.1,348 crore per month, while the outflow due to high fuel cost was Rs.1,752 crore, leading to the cash deficit.
"Though there is an overall improvement in the performance of Air India, it is important that the revenue generated should meet the costs incurred," the minister said in a statement.
The minister asked Air India to go into minute operational details to cut the costs, including those incurred on overseas offices, salaries, fuel and office expenses.
"The minister directed to examine the necessity of deputing staff abroad for assisting Air India, embassies for ticketing, since now-a-days these facilities are available online," the statement said.
The minister asked Air India to negotiate with public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) for the same discount as they are providing to international and domestic carriers.
He directed the airline's management that of the Rs.2,000 crore which Air India is to receive next month in the form of equity under budgetary support, Rs.500 crore must be utilised to clear all arrears of the employees.
The airline's management was told to explore possibility of operating to Bali and Istanbul on the newly acquired Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Air India, which has three Dreamliners, is expecting five more by the end of the current fiscal and plans to deploy them to Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore.

Sony buys out Ericsson in mobile joint venture

Japanese electronics giant buys total control of mobile phone business after a 10 year tie-up with Ericsson

Sony is to spend £920 million to acquire Ericsson's half of the Sony-Ericsson mobile handset joint venture.
Sony's chief executive and chairman, Howard Stringer, said that Sony's "four screen strategy" is now in place with this deal. "We can more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets and televisions that seamlessly connect with one another and open up new worlds of online entertainment," Stringer said.
In a statement, Sony said that the deal "provides Sony with a broad IP cross-licensing agreement and ownership of five essential patent families," and that Sony-Ericsson phones would be "integrated into Sony’s broad platform of network-connected consumer electronics products".
Ericsson CEO Hans Vestbeg, meanwhile, said that the company would now "focus on enabling connectivity for all devices, using our R&D and industry leading patent portfolio to realize a truly connected world."
The purchase is seen as a Sony bid to catch up with Apple and Samsung in the mobile phone space. Although Sony-Ericsson's Experia brand has started to catch up with Apple, Samsung and HTC recently, the company was left behind when touchscreen phones originally took off.
The deal will complete in January 2012.

Client orders 1,625 Apple shares, broker buys 1.6 million

Ex-Rochdale trader charged with wire fraud after a $1 billion Apple deal goes bad

FORTUNE -- It must have seemed like a sure thing.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed Tuesday, David Miller thought he'd make a quick killing in Apple (AAPL) on Thursday, Oct. 25 -- the day the company reported its fourth quarter earnings -- by pretending to misplace a decimal point on a client's order.
The client had asked Miller to buy 1,625 shares of Apple -- worth about $1 million at the opening price of $620 a share. Instead, Miller bought 1.625 million Apple shares -- a billion dollars worth -- allegedly assuring his firm, Rochdale Securities, that the client was good for the money and would assume the risk.
Miller's plan, according to the complaint, was that Apple would beat the Street's estimates, the stock would soar, and he would pocket the difference between his client's profits and the gains from the 1,000-fold larger trade.
Unfortunately for Miller, Apple disappointed Wall Street that day, falling short of analysts' earnings expectations and offering surprisingly conservative margin guidance. Instead of soaring, the stock fell. It closed the next day at $601.25, down $18.75 (3%) from Thursday's opening price.
On paper, those 1.6 million Apple shares were worth about $30 million less than what Miller paid for them.
According to the U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, Miller had hedged his bet somewhat by arranging for another brokerage house to short 500,000 shares of Apple -- a trade that firm was able to close at a profit.
But it was not enough to save Miller or Rochdale Securities, which was left holding a bag bigger than its cash cushion. The 47-year-old Stamford, CT-based firm best known these days for employing Dick Bove, a TV-friendly bank analyst, has been searching ever since for a white knight to buy it out.
"As is so often seen in these types of cases, the alleged criminal conduct of Miller was for personal gain at the expense and detriment of others," FBI agent Kimberly Mertz said yesterday in a statement. "Manipulating and orchestrating stock transactions in such a manner is a very serious criminal offense and its impact can be both devastating and lasting."
Miller was charged with wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years. He was released after posting a $300,000 bond.
Meanwhile you have to wonder how often this kind of thing happens, and whether it would have come to light if Rochdale had been able to cover the losses.
The case is U.S. v. Miller, 3:12-mj-288, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut (Bridgeport).

Why is Apple headed down again? Here's one theory

The third selling wave since Sept. 21 could be the bursting of a special dividend bubble

                                                     
FORTUNE -- For Apple (AAPL) investors wondering why the company has been, as Economic Timing's Jason Schwarz puts it, "in sell-off mode for over two months, even in the midst of its greatest quarter of sales in history," Schwarz offers an explanation.
He believes the current wave of selling is linked to the co-called special dividends that hundreds of companies from Costco (COST) to Walmart (WMT) have issued in recent weeks.

"Apple's refusal to issue a special dividend," Schwarz wrote Tuesday in post to subscribers (reposted on Seeking Alpha), "is causing a third wave of its sell-off that began on September 21st.
"The first wave was caused by institutional re-balancing due to Apple's 74.9% YTD returns, the second wave was caused by the hangover effect of President Obama's re-election and the third wave is being caused by special dividend posturing as funds sell Apple in order to gain exposure to the dividend bubble.
"This new variable is what caused Apple to deviate from its weekly pattern on Friday. As soon as funds became convinced that Tim Cook wasn't going to participate, they began transitioning out of Apple for the short run."

Schwarz is advising investors whose patience with the stock hasn't yet worn thin to keep buying the dips. "This dividend bubble will likely enhance Apple's next rally," he writes. "But we'll need to endure another dip before it takes off."

Apple's iPhone 5 as loss leader

FORTUNE -- If you follow Apple (AAPL) news half as obsessively as I do, you've no doubt heard that Walmart (WMT) and now Fry's Electronics are selling the iPhone 5 at steep discounts -- $127 and $126, respectively. I've seen a lot of headlines, and even some commentary to the effect that the discounting shows that the "niche premium magic" of the "once uber-cool gizmo" is gone, not to mention Apple's enviable profit margins.
The thing is, I've haven't heard of anyone who managed to buy a dscounted iPhone 5 at Walmart or Fry's. I'm sure the big chain stores must have had at least a few in stock. Unlike outfits such as Overstock Auction (see promo at right), they're not entirely bait-and-switch shops. But I'm pretty sure they're selling them at a loss, and I suspect that whatever limited supplies Apple consigned to them ran out quickly.
AllThingsD's Tricia Duryee spent a couple hours Friday calling Walmart Supercenters in the Bay Area trying to locate a $127 iPhone 5, with no success.
She had better luck than I did. I couldn't get any of the Walmart electronics departments in the New York City metro area to answer the phone. 

If you've managed to buy an iPhone 5 at Fry's or Walmarts, tell us about it in the comment

Amul case study

Here is an interesting case study on the dairy giant AMUL :
Every day Amul collects 447,000 litres of milk from 2.12 million farmers (many illiterate), converts the milk into branded, packaged products, and delivers goods worth Rs 6 crore (Rs 60 million) to over 500,000 retail outlets across the country.

Its supply chain is easily one of the most complicated in the world. How do managers at Amul prevent the milk from souring?

Walk in to any Amul or Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) office, and you may or may not see a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi, but you will certainly see one particular photograph. It shows a long line of Gujarati women waiting patiently for a union truck to come and collect the milk they have brought in shining brass matkas.

The picture is always prominently displayed. The message is clear: never forget your primary customer. If you don't, success is certain. The proof? A unique, Rs 2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion) enterprise.

Organization structure
It all started in December 1946 with a group of farmers keen to free themselves from intermediaries, gain access to markets and thereby ensure maximum returns for their efforts.

Based in the village of Anand, the Kaira District Milk Cooperative Union (better known as Amul) expanded exponentially. It joined hands with other milk cooperatives, and the Gujarat network now covers 2.12 million farmers, 10,411 village level milk collection centers and fourteen district level plants (unions) under the overall supervision of GCMMF.

There are similar federations in other states. Right from the beginning, there was recognition that this initiative would directly benefit and transform small farmers and contribute to the development of society.

Markets, then and even today are primitive and poor in infrastructure. Amul and GCMMF acknowledged that development and growth could not be left to market forces and that proactive intervention was required. Two key requirements were identified.

The first, that sustained growth for the long term would depend on matching supply and demand. It would need heavy investment in the simultaneous development of suppliers and consumers.

Second, that effective management of the network and commercial viability would require professional managers and technocrats.

To implement their vision while retaining their focus on farmers, a hierarchical network of cooperatives was developed, which today forms the robust supply chain behind GCMMF's endeavors. The vast and complex supply chain stretches from small suppliers to large fragmented markets.

Management of this network is made more complex by the fact that GCMMF is directly responsible only for a small part of the chain, with a number of third party players (distributors, retailers and logistics support providers) playing large roles.

Managing this supply chain efficiently is critical as GCMMF's competitive position is driven by low consumer prices supported by a low cost system.

Developing demand
At the time Amul was formed, consumers had limited purchasing power, and modest consumption levels of milk and other dairy products. Thus Amul adopted a low-cost price strategy to make its products affordable and attractive to consumers by guaranteeing them value for money.

Introducing higher value products
Beginning with liquid milk, GCMMF enhanced the product mix through the progressive addition of higher value products while maintaining the desired growth in existing products.

Despite competition in the high value dairy product segments from firms such as Hindustan Lever, Nestle and Britannia, GCMMF ensures that the product mix and the sequence in which Amul introduces its products is consistent with the core philosophy of providing milk at a basic, affordable price.

The distribution network
Amul products are available in over 500,000 retail outlets across India through its network of over 3,500 distributors. There are 47 depots with dry and cold warehouses to buffer inventory of the entire range of products.

GCMMF transacts on an advance demand draft basis from its wholesale dealers instead of the cheque system adopted by other major FMCG companies. This practice is consistent with GCMMF's philosophy of maintaining cash transactions throughout the supply chain and it also minimizes dumping.

Wholesale dealers carry inventory that is just adequate to take care of the transit time from the branch warehouse to their premises. This just-in-time inventory strategy improves dealers' return on investment (ROI). All GCMMF branches engage in route scheduling and have dedicated vehicle operations.

Umbrella brand
The network follows an umbrella branding strategy. Amul is the common brand for most product categories produced by various unions: liquid milk, milk powders, butter, ghee, cheese, cocoa products, sweets, ice-cream and condensed milk.

Amul's sub-brands include variants such as Amulspray, Amulspree, Amulya and Nutramul. The edible oil products are grouped around Dhara and Lokdhara, mineral water is sold under the Jal Dhara brand while fruit drinks bear the Safal name.

By insisting on an umbrella brand, GCMMF not only skillfully avoided inter-union conflicts but also created an opportunity for the union members to cooperate in developing products.

Managing the supply chain
Even though the cooperative was formed to bring together farmers, it was recognized that professional managers and technocrats would be required to manage the network effectively and make it commercially viable.

Coordination
Given the large number of organizations and entities in the supply chain and decentralized responsibility for various activities, effective coordination is critical for efficiency and cost control. GCMMF and the unions play a major role in this process and jointly achieve the desired degree of control.

Buy-in from the unions is assured as the plans are approved by GCMMF's board. The board is drawn from the heads of all the unions, and the boards of the unions comprise of farmers elected through village societies, thereby creating a situation of interlocking control.

The federation handles the distribution of end products and coordination with retailers and the dealers. The unions coordinate the supply side activities.

These include monitoring milk collection contractors, the supply of animal feed and other supplies, provision of veterinary services, and educational activities.

Managing third party service providers
From the beginning, it was recognized that the unions' core activity lay in milk processing and the production of dairy products. Accordingly, marketing efforts (including brand development) were assumed by GCMMF. All other activities were entrusted to third parties. These include logistics of milk collection, distribution of dairy products, sale of products through dealers and retail stores, provision of animal feed, and veterinary services.

It is worth noting that a number of these third parties are not in the organized sector, and many are not professionally managed with little regard for quality and service.

This is a particularly critical issue in the logistics and transport of a perishable commodity where there are already weaknesses in the basic infrastructure.

Establishing best practices
A key source of competitive advantage has been the enterprise's ability to continuously implement best practices across all elements of the network: the federation, the unions, the village societies and the distribution channel.

In developing these practices, the federation and the unions have adapted successful models from around the world. It could be the implementation of small group activities or quality circles at the federation. Or a TQM program at the unions. Or housekeeping and good accounting practices at the village society level.

More important, the network has been able to regularly roll out improvement programs across to a large number of members and the implementation rate is consistently high.

For example, every Friday, without fail, between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m., all employees of GCMMF meet at the closest office, be it a department or a branch or a depot to discuss their various quality concerns.

Each meeting has its pre-set format in terms of Purpose, Agenda and Limit (PAL) with a process check at the end to record how the meeting was conducted. Similar processes are in place at the village societies, the unions and even at the wholesaler and C&F agent levels as well.

Examples of benefits from recent initiatives include reduction in transportation time from the depots to the wholesale dealers, improvement in ROI of wholesale dealers, implementation of Zero Stock Out through improved availability of products at depots and also the implementation of Just-in-Time in finance to reduce the float.

Kaizens at the unions have helped improve the quality of milk in terms of acidity and sour milk. (Undertaken by multi-disciplined teams, Kaizens are highly focussed projects, reliant on a structured approach based on data gathering and analysis.) For example, Sabar Union's records show a reduction from 2.0% to 0.5% in the amount of sour milk/curd received at the union.

The most impressive aspect of this large-scale roll out is that improvement processes are turning the village societies into individual improvement centers.

Technology and e-initiatives
GCMMF's technology strategy is characterized by four distinct components: new products, process technology, and complementary assets to enhance milk production and e-commerce.

Few dairies of the world have the wide variety of products produced by the GCMMF network. Village societies are encouraged through subsidies to install chilling units. Automation in processing and packaging areas is common, as is HACCP certification. Amul actively pursues developments in embryo transfer and cattle breeding in order to improve cattle quality and increases in milk yields.

GCMMF was one of the first FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) firms in India to employ Internet technologies to implement B2C commerce.

Today customers can order a variety of products through the Internet and be assured of timely delivery with cash payment upon receipt.

Another e-initiative underway is to provide farmers access to information relating to markets, technology and best practices in the dairy industry through net enabled kiosks in the villages.

GCMMF has also implemented a Geographical Information System (GIS) at both ends of the supply chain, i.e. milk collection as well as the marketing process.

Farmers now have better access to information on the output as well as support services while providing a better planning tool to marketing personnel.

Posted by hari at 11:15 PM