Thomson to buy Reuters for $17.23 bn

    

Reuters and Thomson have agreed on terms of the merger. Thomson will buy Reuters for USD 17.23 billion.

 

The UK news agency had confirmed that it was in takeover talks with Canadian data company Thomson about a possible bid worth 8.8 billion pounds (USD 17.5 billion).

Earlier, Canada based Thomson had unveiled plans to acquire the wire agency in a USD 17.5 billion deal, the success of which hinged on whether the two sides could convince a body set up to safeguard Reuters' editorial independence.

 

The deal will create the world's biggest financial news and data group. The takeover has the support of the Reuters founders share company, which has the power to block a change of ownership.

 

But it still needs regulatory clearance and shareholder approval. Reuters Chief Executive Tom Glocer, who will head the combined Thomson-Reuters Group, declined to predict how long the process would take.

Yatra, Hughes tie up for travel services

Online travel portal Yatra Online Pvt Ltd and broadband satellite network provider Hughes announced a tie-up on Wednesday that will enable the portal to offer its travel-related services to customers across the country through select HughesNet Fusion centres.

"Yatra will leverage HughesNet Fushion's existing infrastructure to create an offline model of booking and payment of travel services for its customers," said Mr Dhruv Shringi, Founder, Yatra Online.

He added that the portal can now tap into those sections of the population which do not have access to credit cards or are not familiar with Internet transactions, or are wary of using their credit cards for e-commerce transactions.

The broadband network provider will give Yatra.com an extended retail presence with an integrated offline cash acceptance model; in the first phase, customers will be able to avail the cash transaction services through 28 HughesNet Fushion centres across the country.

Other payment modes such as credit/debit cards will also be accepted. A special helpline has also been created for handling queries regarding customer bookings.

This tie-up will enable customers to book from over 1,500 hotels and resorts in India, and all domestic airlines with instant confirmation.

First retail outlet to open in Pune, in May: AV Birla Group

The AV Birla Group has forayed into the retail segment. The retail venture has been christened Aditya Birla Retail and its first outlet will open in Pune in May. The retail venture will have two formats - hypermarket and supermarket. The Group is not tying up with any joint venture partner for its retail venture.

The retail venture investment will amount to Rs 8,000-9,000 crore and will not be made via any listed AV Birla Group Company. The company is looking for acquisitions to add value and has acquired leading South-based super market chain Trinethra in January, but is not keen on tying up with any JV partner as of now. Its first retail outlet will be unveiled in Pune this month. However, the group has clarified that the Pyramid acquisition talks were only speculative.

Dell launching computer for Rs 10,000

Computer manufacturer Dell is in the process of launching low-cost personal computer at about $238 or Rs 10,000 across the world, including in India.

``We are testing the product. The computer would be customised according to the market and customer needs,'' said Mr Sameer Garde, General Manager-Sales, Dell India.

While speaking at the sidelines of a conference on Thursday, he said the computers would be launched after clearing all the hurdles and declined to give a time frame for the launch in India.

On Thursday, the company unveiled three new laptops for the Indian market — Latitude D630, D830 and D531.

The prices of the three computers range from Rs 52,000 to Rs 64,000.

The new products will have longer battery life, increased connectivity and performance, according to the company.

The company is also planning to launch D430 ultra-mobile notebook and Dell Precision M4300 computers in the coming weeks.

Ford gets ready to tap diesel mkt

Diesel seems to be the buzz word in the Indian compact car segment. Ford is now sharpening its weapon to take on the swift diesel and the to-be-launched Getz diesel, reports .

Ford's bet in the hatchback segment, Fusion, has not really paid off! Even after a facelift last year, it currrently sells only less than 250 units per month. And to improve that performance, Ford is now set to roll out a diesel Fusion.

Sources say, the new offering should be in by July. It will be powered by the Fiesta's frugal 1399 cc engine and is expected to be priced around Rs 6 lakh.
 
Ford could be trying to reduce the Fusion's length by 18 milimeters, so it comes within 4 meters and can avail lower excise duty. And that would make it a strong competitor to the swift diesel and the diesel Getz planned by Hyundai.

Ford's diesel offering in the midsize segment, the Fiesta diesel has been well received by customers. And it would hope to do the same with the Fusion diesel. Currently close to 20% of sales in the compact car segment comes from diesel cars. With the forthcoming additions from Ford and Hyundai, and also Maruti ramping up its diesel engine production, the compact car segment will get more torque for growth.

Ericsson will use Kavveri Tele's products

Bangalore-based Kavveri Telecom announced Ericsson India will use its products to provide telecommunication services across the country.

The agreement is valid for a period of three years and is estimated to bring in orders worth around Rs 50 crore for that time period.

Kavveri manufactures radio frequency (RF) products and antennas for many GSM and CDMA operators, including Hutch, Reliance, Spice and BSNL. It also has in its clientele Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia, Nortel, ZTE.

In March, the company bagged contracts worth Rs 40 crore each from two operators Hutch and Idea for the supply of feeder cables, connectors and accessories for their base stations roll out.

India to be global R&D hub for Johnson & Johnson

In India, Johnson & Johnson is seen mainly as a consumer company. But it is now ramping up its pharmaceutical activities to make India a global hub for research and development.

Johnson & Johnson is working hard to develop India as a global R&D hub. This USD 8 million R&D lab will be followed by a pharmaceutical development building that will come up by end 2008, with a USD 9 million investment, are some steps for its growth.

J&J currently sources around 15% of its active ingredients requirements, worth USD 30 million for its drugs and now it plans to strike alliance with Indian companies for R&D activities and also to develop drugs.

Chairman, Worldwide R&D, Paul Stoffels, at  Johnson&Johnson, says, "Being here in Mumbai, we can start collaboration with academic institutions as well as biotech and larger pharma groups. It's absolutely our intention to have several of these collaborations over the coming years."

This new R&D centre will develop and test formulations for J&J's new drugs, not only for the Indian market but its US and European markets as well. It is currently doing development work for its HIV drug Prezista, which will be marketed in India.

Prezista may be followed by two more HIV drugs that will be introduced by 2010.  Janssen Cilag plans to market all of its new drugs in India in the areas of epilepsy and multi-drug resistant antibiotics. India contributes around USD 40 million to J&J's USD 25 billion pharma business, but the company hopes to increase it with the new investments and integration of its activities.

Ajit Shetty, President, Global Chemical and Pharmaceutical Operations, says, "If you look at intergration of R&D, operations and other activities, in India there's a tremendous talent pool, which would help us in becoming more effective globally."

So, integration of activities and new collaboration in India is what J&J recommends for itself, to become healthier. 

Lachlan Murdoch to consolidate media interests in India

Lachlan Murdoch, the estranged heir of Rupert Murdoch is in India to consolidate his media interests.

 

The former heir apparent of News Corporation and the former blue-eyed boy of Rupert Murdoch, Peter Mukherjea now make a common pair. When Mukerjea resigned from Star TV, it fuelled speculation of a joint venture for the better part of last year.

 

Lachlan Murdoch broke off from Murdoch News Corporation's empire two years back and floated his own company called Illyria Pvt in Australia. Since then speculations of his interest in the Indian media space has been fuelled by his meetings with key players in the industry. While he made it clear to CNBC-TV18 that he had no current plans for a broadcast venture here, he may just be persuaded by his friend Peter Mukerjea.

 

Lachlan Murdoch, Director, Illyria, said, "I have no plans whatsoever to start a broadcast venture in India. Peter and I are good friends and go back a long way, since my days in Star. We have kept in touch. Who knows what may happen."

 

Murdoch made his first direct investment in the Indian media space with a 50:50 joint venture with Percept Holdings to float a new talent management company called Percept Talent Management. He claims this is just the first of many more acquisitions.

 

Rupert Murdoch's USD 5 billion bid for Dow Jones may be strongly opposed by controlling shareholders, the Bancroft family, but media reports suggest that Murdoch is on the charm offensive and wants his entire family to meet the Bancroft family to persuade them.

 

Lachlan Murdoch commented, "I have read the same reports that you have. All I can say is I am still on the board of News Corporation and we would love to meet with the Bancroft family to get a chance to win the Dow Jones bid. I think Wall Street Journal is a great paper."

Will a strong rupee harm or help economy?

Dr Ajay Shah, Professor at IGIDR and Dr RK Dhawan, Chairman, FIEO (Federation of Indian Exporters Organization) debate if the long-term rise of the rupee is inevitable and if a strong rupee will help or harm the economy in general.

Both agree that while, the government is managing the exchange rate, the currency also has to be left free to respond to market forces.

Q: The known friend of the market and a liberal rupee, what would your argument be - do you think the RBI should have intervened or do you think the market should find its own level of the rupee?

Shah: The point we should understand is that intervention by the RBI is not free, it is a costly policy. It comes at the cost of local monetary policy and one can make a good case that it is a key factor, which has given us an upsurge in inflation. Hence, the country has to make a call if it is important to subsidies exporters. Or if it is important to use monetary policy to stabilise the business cycle and inflation.

Q: Would you say that Indian exporters should tighten their belts and learn to live with the market or do you think this crutch of intervention is still needed?

Dhawan: Many of the exporters are diverting their products to the local market, because they find it difficult to continue at this pricing. Government's intervention is a must and if the government doesn't intervene, they will lose the exporters from this country. We have already lost Rs 5,18,000 crore last year and there is a loss of Rs 50,000 crore so far.

Q: According to Mr Shah's arithmetic, from 2002 to 2007 inflation made our exports more expensive by about 15-16%, and over and above that rupee appreciation of 10-12%.

The Indian exporters had logically become more expensive by 30%, nevertheless exports have tripled over the last five years. So why are exporters complaining? Probably Indian exporters are capable of withstanding competition?

Dhawan: I may be a rich person but as a businessman I cannot afford to work at a loss. The situation of an exporter is so bad that, like farmers, they are going to commit suicide and many have already suffered crores of rupees. We are not talking of rich exporters only, but of hundreds of exporters who are very small in this country.

Q: While one takes the point that exporters have been nimble, so far exports also create a lot of jobs and a lot of textile, engineering exporters are working on single digit margins. So is it not incumbent for the policy of the day to ensure that exporters also don't commit suicide like farmers?

Shah: If helping exporters was a free lunch, then I would be all for it. I am not saying that it is bad to help exporters, I am just saying that the country has to make a call. Do you want a monetary policy that deals with inflation, that stabilises inflation, do you want a policy that delivers 3% inflation or do you want subsidised exporters?

Q: But don't we always have to marry these difficult partners?

Shah: No, in an open economy, in macroeconomics, unfortunately, it's a stark choice. When you look on the global scale, the mature market economies of the world have Central Banks who have completely got out of the currency market.

So it's not true that we have to inexorably muddle along. Infact, the choices faced are quite stark and drastic for monetary policy to function properly. It must be freed from the task of managing the exchange rate. It generates confusion and noise, it destabilises financial markets, it distabilises inflation.

For monetary policy to do its job and inflation to be anchored, there is a cost to be paid, which is, that the currency has to be left free to respond to market forces. I would argue, that there are two things going on there, there is a level story and there is a volatility story. The level story is a onetime cost that RBI was trying to hang on to Rs 44 a dollar in February, which has gone and we are at around Rs 40.5 now. The volatility story is that we need much more development of a currency derivatives market, so that people can handle that currency volatility.

Q: If the rupee is indeed not protected, is FIEO taking any steps?

Dhawan: The exporters are agitated; they are telling us that we should learn something from the developed countries. There, they offer agriculture subsidy to the extent of billions of dollars and here we only talk of inflation. In fact, in 1992, a similar situation arose and the currency was exchanged at 60:40 ratio.

Why can't they do something like that for the exporters? The exports, like FDIs, find the local market and do their business here, is that what the government wants?

Introduction of futures and options contracts on 31 additional individual securities

Sr no.	Security Name	Symbol
1	ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LIMITED	ABIRLANUVO
2	ADLABS FILMS LTD	ADLABSFILM
3	AIA ENGINEERING LIMITED	AIAENG
4	ALSTOM PROJECTS INDIA LTD	APIL
5	ANSAL PROP & INFRA LTD	ANSALINFRA
6	BIRLA CORPORATION LTD	BIRLAJUTE
7	BOMBAY RAYON FASHIONS LTD	BRFL
8	DECCAN AVIATION LIMITED	AIRDECCAN
9	DENA BANK	DENABANK
10	EDUCOMP SOLUTIONS LTD	EDUCOMP
11	EVEREST KANTO CYLINDERLTD	EKC
12	FINANCIAL TECHNO (I) LTD	FINANTECH
13	HOTEL LEELA VENTURES LTD	HOTELEELA
14	INDIA INFOLINE LIMITED	INDIAINFO
15	KESORAM INDUSTRIES LTD	KESORAMIND
16	MAHINDRA GESCO DEVELOPERS	GESCOCORP
17	MOSER-BAER (I) LTD	MOSERBAER
18	OSWAL CHEM. & FERT. LTD.	BINDALAGRO
19	PANTALOON RETAIL (I) LTD	PANTALOONR
20	PATEL ENGINEERING LTD.	PATELENG
21	PENINSULA LAND LIMITED	PENINLAND
22	PETRONET LNG LIMITED	PETRONET
23	RAJESH EXPORTS LTD	RAJESHEXPO
24	REL. NAT. RESOURCES LTD.	RNRL
25	ROLTA INDIA LTD	ROLTA
26	S KUMARS NATIONWIDE LTD	SKUMARSYNF

27	SHREE CEMENTS LTD	SHREECEM
28	STERLING BIOTECH LTD	STERLINBIO
29	STERLITE OPTICAL TECHNOLO	STROPTICAL
30	UNITECH LTD	UNITECH
31	UNITED PHOSPHOROUS LTD	UNIPHOS

Nokia Siemens unveils rural low-cost solution

In a bid to garner a larger share of the rural market in India, Nokia Siemens on Thursday launched a new low-cost wireless communication solution that could enable operators to offer mobile services for as low as $3 a month. The company is also looking to source the equipment required to set up the rural communication system locally.

Speaking to Business Line Mr Rauno Granath, Head of New Growth Markets, said, "India is a key market for us and the next 100 million is expected from the non-urban centres. "We realise this and are well positioned to offer this unique solution that can enable operators to offer low-cost services in rural areas where rolling out and operating a traditional GSM network would be too cost-intensive. As per our estimates mobile services can be offered for around $3 with this system."

The Nokia Siemens Networks Village Connection offers to build rural connectivity based on franchise-based business model between an operator and local village entrepreneurs.

"The system can be deployed at the house of a villager on a franchisee model and with a 5 metre antennae, the operator can cover arrange of 4-5 km. The system makes economic sense even in areas where there are as low as 80 subscribers," said Mr Granath. Most cellular network equipment at present are designed to cater to a larger subscriber base.

Nokia Siemens solution comprises GSM access points located in villages and regional access centres.

A village would typically host one access point module comprising GSM radio, power and IT hardware and software components.

Local Switching

"The access point only requires simple installation and powering can be done, for instance, by solar energy. Each access point connects to standard GSM mobile devices and autonomously handles calls within a village through local switching. Access points are connected via Internet Protocol links to a regional access centre.

The access centre connects the villages to the main GSM core network and handles the calls between the villages," said Mr Granath.

The solution is on a trial basis and will be commercially available in 2008.

IBM eyes R-Comm's $1.5 billion outsourcing contract

It's been a low-key sixth India visit for Sam Palmisano, Chairman and CEO of IBM.

 

Apart from taking stock of their India operations, rumor has it that Palmisano is here to personally pitch for a USD 1.5 billion outsourcing contract with Reliance Communications, reports CNBC-TV18.

 

This would be on the lines of IBM's existing deals with Bharti and Idea Cellular. Reliance Communications had shortlisted four players, including IBM, for a 10-year contract. Sources said Palmisano has not met Anil Ambani.

 

However, he did meet existing clients like Sunil Mittal and he also made a courtesy call on Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

ABN-Amro rejects LaSalle bid

 

ABN-Amro has rejected the over USD 24 billion offer from a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland for its US arm LaSalle Bank.

The bank however said that it would put the offer and other proposals to a shareholder vote.

In a statement ABN-Amro said that the RBS offer is not superior to the one made by the Bank of America, as the consortium's financing, as well as various regulatory, tax and legal issues carried uncertainty and execution risks.

ATM delivers fake Rs 1,000 note

IAF personnel Corporal Prakash G had operated a bank ATM at least a thousand times and each time felt great about the modernised banking services offered by banks these days. But on Friday, his belief in the ATMs vanished forever.

In an incident that could send shock waves among bank ATM operators , a fake currency note of Rs 1,000 denomination emerged out of a private bank's automated teller machine at Sector 19D here when Prakash operated it to withdraw money. Prakash, posted at Air Force station here, told TOI that the fake note emerged from a ICICI Bank ATM when he withdrew Rs 9,000 cash. Prakash wanted to send the money to his family back in his hometown Kollam in Kerala.

'' When I operated the ATM, a total of eight Rs-1 ,000 denomination notes and another 10 Rs-100 denomination notes emerged from the machine . At first, I did not suspect the fake note. But it did surprise me that one was badly soiled and the rest were crisp and new,'' said Prakash, showing the fake note.

When the IAF personnel went to Sector 34 ICICI bank branch, the manager there told Prakash it was a fake and that no replacement could be provided unless confirmed through investigation that the note indeed emerged from their ATM. '' This claim shook me, after all Rs 1,000 is a huge sum for a salaried person like me,'' said Prakash. Now, the Sector 34 bank manager directed him to visit the Sector 9 branch.

There, Prakash lodged a written complaint and provided a photocopy of the counterfeit note to a woman official. Prakash was sent away with the promise that the bank would investigate the matter and get back to him. A manager at the Sector 9 branch confirmed to TOI that they had indeed got such a complaint and the said note was found to be counterfeit . But he said the bank had outsourced the job of stacking up ATMs with notes to another agency.

ICICI bank's corporate communications head from Mumbai, Charudatta Deshpande, told TOI over phone that the bank provided the currency for ATMs after completely recording serial numbers of the notes. '' So, it is easy to find out whether the note emerged from our machine,'' he said. But Prakash could not wait for a couple of days. So he sent home Rs 1,000 less than what he had intended to.

How to identify a counterfeit note?

SECURITY THREAD:
The Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have windowed security thread with colour shift from green to blue.

WATER MARK:
Mahatma Gandhi's portrait, multi-directional lines and an electrotype mark.

World Cup googly plays havoc with Sony's plans

Sony's telecast of the cricket World Cup ended this weekend with a whimper. India's loss at the World Cup is a massive loss for Sony as well, which may force Sony to delay its IPO plans, reports CNBC-TV18.

 

The World Cup may be over but official broadcaster, SET India's cup of woes may not be over just yet. Nearly Rs 400 crore worth of revenue was netted by Sony in this World Cup but India's early exit put a dampener on its revenue targets for the entire year.

 

Nearly Rs 200 crore is riding on the rest of the year's TV properties for Sony. Coming up next month is the third season of Indian Idol 3. With all six sponsors for the show finalised, Sony is eager to move on from the World Cup.

 

Rohit Gupta, EVP-Sales, SET India, said, "We have not renegoatiated with any sponsors - we have lost a lot on this World Cup too; we are in no position to offer anything to any sponsor and going forward - it is tough to say what the impact will be."

 

Sony Chairman Howard String who was in India two weeks back has extended CEO Kunal Dasgupta's contract for the next three years despite the World Cup disappointment but Sony's revenue targets for the year are under scrutiny and its IPO plans have been postponed indefinitely. But media planners say, all it would take, is two hit shows for Sony to bounce back.

 

Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal, said, "We are all paying the price - because of the under delivery this World Cup."

 

Sponsors like Airtel, P&G, Loreal have signed on for the next season of Indian Idol reportedly at a discount to the last season's sponsorship rates.

Name game: UTI Bank turns Axis on royalty demand

UTI Bank has decided to stop piggybacking on the UTI brandname and has decided to carve a new identity for itself by rebranding itself as "Axis Bank". The rebranding follows a demand of royalty payment from UTI AMC over the brand use. The bank board which met on Monday also approved the appointment of PJ Nayak as the whole-time chairman of the bank with executive powers. Till now he was the chairman and managing director of the private sector bank.

While several private and public sector banks have gone in for a brand overhaul, this is the first time that a bank has dropped an established brand for an unknown name. According to UTI Bank ED Ashok Kumar: "

The bank had the right to use the brand name till January 31, 2008. Post that, we would have to pay royalty. However there was nothing firm on how much royalty had to be paid. We may have had to pay a high royalty. In order to end the uncertainty we decided to rebrand the bank." After the collapse of the erstwhile UTI, the investment in subsidiaries by the failed mutual fund was transferred to SUUTI — an arm of the government. A new entity UTI AMC inherited the brandname and most of the schemes. However, UTI AMC does not hold any significant shares in UTI Bank.

The bank has been a professionally-run organisation with Mr Nayak as CMD. For now, Mr Nayak, will continue to remain in the bank as its executive chairman. Although Mr Nayak had refused to accept a truncated chairman's or CEO post as advised by RBI the banks board has decided to retain him as chairman and keep the MD post vacant for now. According to Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India's chairman SB Mathur, the board had considered a separate MD and will look for one as the bank grows. Mr Nayak could be among the only executive chairman in the private sector bank industry.

The UTI brand name can be used by entities promoted by the erstwhile UTI only until January 2008, with the licensing right vested with the asset management company. This is as per an agreement worked out by the government in 2005, when it transferred control of the AMC to four promoters — SBI, LIC, BoB and PNB. In order to use the brand name post 2008, the bank would have to pay royalty to the AMC.

On rebranding, the bank will spend Rs 20 crore on change of signages alone. It is also likely to spend around Rs 30 crore for the rebranding and marketing exercise. Last year the bank had spent around Rs 15 crore in marketing. A team of bank officials along with advertising agency O&M worked on the new brand. The brief was to create a new brand that is simple and signifies stability. Also with the bank starting off on its international foray, the name should have worldwide appeal and was modern and also simple. The bank scrip moved up by 2.7% in the BSE to close at Rs 467.85.

The bank will also rebrand its two subsidiaries UBL Asset Management the AMC vehicle which was launched by the bank and UBL Sales — a marketing subsidiary which was established for marketing and retail services. These subsidiaries would now be rebranded as ABL Asset Management and ABL Sales.

The bank will soon finalise a new logo based on the new name. Incidentally, with the new rebranding when banks are arranged in alphabetical order Axis Bank would be among the top few banks against UTI Bank where it was among the last three.

In recent years, banks have used different models to position their image. Yes Bank which was launched in August 2004 had a muted but an effective brand campaign. In fact the bank is said to have spend only a couple of crores. ICICI Bank had used Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador when it wanted to make an impact in the retail space.

The bank had approximately spend Rs 10 crore only on Mr Bachchan. A host of other foreign banks like Deutsche Bank and Barclays have also been major spenders in recent times as they went retail. UTI Bank which has 561 branches in 342 cities and towns may also have to go in for a massive ad campaign

India now a trillion-dollar economy

http://madebyindia.blogspot.com/2007/04/india-now-trillion-dollar-economy.html

A Joke

One day, three consultants, one from StanC, one from HSBC and one from ICICI, went out for a walk.

They were old buddies from College, and they were together for a d
college reunion...
For no apparent reason, they went into this zoo and passed a monkey. Being in the same business and from the same college, there was a little bit of a peer competition going on between them - they couldn't resist testing themselves against each other.- especially the StanC guy.

He said to the others: "Why don't we prove who is the best among ourselves?
" Why not, said the other two.
The StanCion said "Let's have a test. Whoever makes this monkey laugh, works for the best firm".

By mutual agreement, the StanCion took the first turn.
Being a pure logical strategist, the StanCion tried to make the monkey laugh by telling jokes. The monkey stayed still.
As a more practical consultant, the HSBC guy tried to make funny
gestures... no good, the monkey stayed put...
Now, comes the ICICI guy... being the practical guy he was always trained to be, he whispered something into the monkey's ear, and it burst out laughing at him.
The other two were astonished.
How did this ICICI guy manage to beat them? No way were they going to accept defeat so easily.

So the HSBC guy said "OK, let's take another test. Let's make this monkey cry!!" So there they went again, applying the same methods as before.
The StanC guy narrated sad stories, the HSBC guy made sad gestures, and they failed again...
Then, the ICICI guy whispered something into the monkey's ear and lo! It started crying, patting the ICICIion's shoulder!
The other two just could not believe their eyes!

So the StanCion said "OK, you've won twice. If you can win just this one, we will bow to you. Let's make this monkey run".
And he barked at the monkey and ordered him to run. Of course, it stayed where it was.
The HSBC guy, true to his type, pushed and prodded the monkey- still no go.
So... here comes ICICI guy, again, and whispers into the monkey's ear. The monkey just takes off! It runs and runs as fast as it can, as if it was scared to death!


The other two surrendered. Said they: "OK, we give up. You're the best among
us, and you work for the Best firm of the three. But please, please tell us
your secret," they begged him.
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"Well", said the ICICI
"The first time I made it laugh, I told I work for ICICI.
The next time, I told the monkey the salary I get paid...so it started crying.
And then I told that I was here for recruitment!!!

What a difference a decade makes

Ten years may not seem like a long time, but at the pace of change in business, it sometimes feels like a lifetime.

For example: When Outsource Marketing first launched in 1997, outsourcing was not some trendy term for staffing CSRs and software programmers in India. It would be eight years before Tom Friedman's The World Is Flat was published and introduced people to the notion that the global economy had arrived.

Marketing has changed even more dramatically during the past 10 years than any other similar period in the past. Why? Technology and its incredible impact on how we access and process information.

In 1997:
* There were fewer than 500,000 Internet Web sites
* Google, YouTube, MySpace or the iPod didn't exist
* Cell phones were just phones

Now there are more than 100 million Web sites, 35 million blogs, and cell phones are hand-held computers that can multitask phone calling, text messaging, photography, video downloading, digital music files and an endless variety of games. It was in 2004 O'Reilly Media coined the phrase Web 2.0--a group of second generation Web-based services.

A decade ago, high-tech acronyms such as CRM, PPC, SEO, MP3, DSL and DVR were yet to join the lexicon. Television consisted of sports, movies and shows you watched on a set in the living room and maybe on another in the kitchen or bedroom. Now TV programming--all 580 channels--can now be TiVo'd, recalled on demand or viewed on a laptop, MP3 player or cell phone. Cable providers now offer high-speed broadband, as well as local and long-distance phone services.

India is among top priorities of Yahoo!

India is one of Yahoo!'s top priorities, according to co-founder Mr David Filo, who visited the firm's India development centre on Wednesday.

Commending the leadership, innovation and proficiency of the engineers employed in India, who number a thousand, Mr Filo said that India would now be the hub for developing products for markets such as Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Our City

Launching Our City (in.ourcity.yahoo.com), a site that provides city information such as weather, photos, videos, maps and news, Mr Filo said that it was an example of the talent in the country.

"If Our City is successful in India, we will take it to the world," he added.

Our City started as an idea submitted by an employee during the Hack Day event held by the company last year. It is now a full-fledged online tool for tourists and travellers. It aggregates both editorial and user generated content and offers a dynamically updated view of Indian cities to visitors.

Launches Maps

Yahoo! India also launched Maps, developed in association with CE Infosystems, the company behind India's first map portal mapmyindia.com (in 2004).

This is an AJAX version of the product offered to US netizens. It covers 170 cities, 4,785 towns and 2.2 lakh villages across the sub-continent. It includes features developed in the Bangalore centre such as geocoding, annotations and panning, that could be adapted to the global version, said Mr Venkat Panchapakesan, Head (Audience Group Engineering).

Management revamp

The company has also announced the restructuring of its management, with the appointment of Mr Sharad Sharma as CEO of Yahoo! India R&D.

A new facility that seats 1,600 will be inaugurated by Mr Filo on Thursday.

Mr Filo said that the rollout of the firm's new search marketing model will happen in India in the third quarter of the year