XED NEWSLETTER

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11 Pages 4th FEBRUARY – 10th FEBRUARY 2011 www.xedintellect.com

COVER STORY
IN BRIEF
ECONOMIC
INDICATORS
REVOLT LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
( as on 10.02.2011 )

NIFTY : 5,234
BSE Sensex : 17,475
INR/1USD : 45.58

PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK

AIRLINES IN INDIA

NEWS DIGEST…

BUSINESS NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS MISCELLNEOUS NEWS COMPILED BY

India world's best Egypt suffers a loss of Big, big problem: 1 in

outsourcing destination $90mn owing to 9 of world’s adults is
Internet blockage obese

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 2 COVER STORY 3 PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK 4 BUSINESS NEWS 5-8
INTERNATIONAL NEWS 9 MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 10 GENERAL AWARENESS 11
 TOP 10 HEADLINES OF THE WEEK

1. India world's best outsourcing destination: AT Kearney.

2. Mumbai Asia's 4th costliest place for office space in Oct-Dec.
3. Ex-IITian starts world-class school in Bihar village.
4. Food inflation spurts again, rises 17%.
5. Strong farm sector to help GDP grow 8.5% in 2010-11.
6. Fuel price index soars to 11.61%.
7. Egypt suffers a loss of $90 mn owing to Internet blockage.
8. Heavy snow strom hits US airlines, 6300 flights cancelled.
9. Avg Blood Pressure dips globally, up in India.
10. Ganguly retires from all forms of cricket.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Current Market Rates as on 10 th
Feb’11 Values Stock Market Indices as on 10th Feb’11 Values
Rupee /1 Pound 73.36 NSE Nifty 5234
Rupee/ 1 US Dollar 45.58 BSE SENSEX 17,475

Migrant workers send as much as $600bn a year back home.

Experts say the money is vital to developing economies - but the
global financial crisis means the cash flow is already beginning to
slow. These vast and difficult to track money flows can represent
as much as three times the total sums sent by governments as
overseas aid and by businesses as foreign direct investment.

The average income levels of NRI’s is quite low in US.

The situation is even worse in Gulf based NRIS. 62%
Indians based in US/ UK earn less than $ 5000 a month
(including taxes). Considering US tax rate of 30%, the
net income of these NRIs comes to less than $3500,
which will not leave any scope for savings.

A Non-Resident Indian (NRI) is an Indian citizen who

has migrated to another country, A Person of Indian
Origin (PIO) is usually a person of Indian origin who is not a
citizen of India.

The NRI and PIO population across the world is estimated at

over 30 million. As per a UNDP's 2010 report, after China, India
has the largest diaspora in the world, besides being one of the
largest "sending" nations in Asia, with an emigration rate of
0.8% out of which, 72% work in other Asian countries. Due to
inter-racial marriages it becomes difficult to identify PIOs.
 Cover Story: Revolt like an Egyptian
The trigger: Who would have thought that a poor, disgruntled street vendor from Tunisia would be the catalyst for the
revolts now spreading like wild fire in the Arab world. But Mohamed Bouazizi is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's
back. He was a Tunisian street vendor who burned himself on December 17, 2010, in protest of confiscation of his wares and
the humiliation that was inflicted on him by a female municipal official. This act became the catalyst for the Tunisian
Revolution, sparking deadly demonstrations and riots throughout, leading President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down after
23 years in power and flee to Saudi Arabia. Protests have engulfed several Arab countries, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Yemen and
most notably in Egypt.

The revolts: The eruption of protests demanding democracy and resignation of President
Hosni Mubarak all over Egypt was a stunning shock. Protesters were in hundreds of
thousands, including people from all walks of Egyptian life. In Cairo pitched battles between
protesters and riot police raged in more than a dozen places, leaving scores dead and
thousands wounded. Then Policemen vanished from the country’s streets. Exactly as in
Tunisia, their suspicious complete exit sparked a wave of looting, vandalism and banditry.
Rioters breached the walls of Egypt’s main prisons, freeing more than 20,000 convicts,
including several hundred on death row.

A History of Military rule: In 1952, Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser staged a military coup that
displaced the Egyptian monarchy. His revolution was secular and socialist. Three years after
the 1967 Six Day War, during which Israel had invaded and occupied Sinai, a part of Egypt,
Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat. Sadat switched Egypt's Cold War allegiance
from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972. He launched the Infitah economic reform
policy, while violently clamping down on religious and secular opposition. A fundamentalist military soldier assassinated
Sadat in Cairo in 1981. He was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak. In 2003, the Egyptian Movement for Change, popularly known
as Kefaya, was launched to oppose the Mubarak regime and to establish democratic reforms and greater civil liberties.

Mubarak ho!!! Egypt’s old president, in charge for the past 30 years, now says he will go—but only at the end of his term in
September, with dignity. Mr Hosni Mubarak is 82 years old, his health is not good. Egypt’s president had suffered bouts of
illness in full view of the public. In 2003 he collapsed while making a speech at the People’s Assembly, prompting the
Defence Minister to lock MPs in the chamber until doctors had revived the president in an anteroom. Last year, upset by the
recent death of a grandson, Mr Mubarak appeared ashen-faced and seemingly too infirm to descend some steps to greet an
important visitor, Barack Obama.
Now What? Some things are clear. Hosni Mubarak, has now been relegated to a
secondary role. His new vice president, Omar Suleiman, now looks like the regime’s
strongman. Suleiman is holding court with opposition groups to prepare for the process
of transition. There are 4 outcomes possible. First, the military regime might survive.
Mubarak might stabilize the situation, or more likely, another senior military official
would replace him. A second possibility is that the demonstrators might force elections
in which ElBaradei or someone like him could be elected and Egypt might overthrow
the statist model built by Nasser and proceed on the path of democracy. The third
possibility is that the demonstrators force elections, which the Muslim Brotherhood
could win and move forward with an Islamist-agenda. The fourth possibility is that elections result in political gridlock in
which a viable candidate cannot be elected and Egypt then sinks into political chaos.

What does Egypt’s revolution mean to other countries? Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin accused US of withdrawing
support to Hosni Mubarak and ignoring Israel’s interests, in light of the possibility of Egypt falling into the hands of Islamists.
Islamists see Israel and the US as their worst enemies. Iran, which is now the center of radical Islamism would be pleased
with such a development. For the US, an Islamist Egypt would be a strategic catastrophe. Even if Syria managed to stamp
out the protests, there's no shortage of hints that reform-seeking groups in the Gulf are trying to seize the moment. A rare
protest rally was organized in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital after activists launched a Facebook page demanding more jobs
and political accountability in the world's most conservative Muslim country. Calls on social media sites also have gone out
for protests next in Bahrain followed by Kuwait. Even the United Arab Emirates with almost no public voice in decision
making is planning for new faces on a 40-member government advisory panel in a bid to show a response to the Arab
revolution. Demonstrations in Jordan brought the heat to King Abdullah II. To pacify the public he fired the old cabinet and
replaced it with a new one containing a few faces from the opposition.

The Social Network: Wael Ghonim, Google's Dubai-based head of marketing for
the Middle East and North Africa, was held by authorities in Egypt for 12 days
and was one of the creators of a Facebook site that advocated action. The 30-
year-old Egyptian has become a symbol for the protest movement's young
majority. Social media has allowed Arab youth to express themselves and voice
their frustrations, and find others who share those same frustrations. The
Facebook page for solidarity with Khaled Said, the victim of police brutality, was
what drew the widest audience for the idea of a “day of rage” to be held on
January 25th. Yet few among the page’s 375,000 followers anticipated the impact
this would have.
 Personalities of the Week

Mamata Banerjee- West Bengal’s Didi

Mamata Banerjee always is a Fire-Brand Leader and a crucial opponent of CPIM in West
Bengal. She is the leader of the Trinamool Congress and Leader of the Opposition in of
West Bengal. She is the founder and chairperson of the party and is the current Railway
Minister of the Republic of India. Her oratory was all about connecting with ordinary
people with ordinary dreams. She is noted for her opposition to Special Economic Zones
and forceful land acquisition for industrialization in West Bengal at the cost of
agriculturalists and farmers.

Political career: She started her political career with Congress (I), and as a young
woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks of the local Congress group, and
remained the General Secretary of Mahila Congress (I), West Bengal, from 1976 to 1980.
In the 1984 general election, she became one of India's youngest parliamentarians ever, beating veteran Communist
politician Somnath Chatterjee, from the Jadavpur parliamentary Constituency. She also became the General-Secretary
of the All India Youth Congress. Losing her seat in 1989 in an anti-Congress wave, she was back in 1991 general
elections, having settled into the Calcutta South constituency. She retained the Kolkata South seat in the 1996, 1998,
1999, 2004 and 2009 general elections.

In July 1996, she squatted at the well of Lok Sabha to protest against the hike in petroleum price, though she was a
part of the Government. In that very time she clasped the coller of Amar singh, MP of Samajwadi Party, in the well of
the parliament. In February 1997, on the day of railway budget presentation in Lok Sabha, Mamata Banerjee threw
her shawl at the railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan for ignoring West Bengal and announced her resignation. The
speaker, P. A. Sangma, did not accept her resignation and asked her to apologize. Throughout her political life she
maintained an austere lifestyle. She has remained single throughout her life.

Trinamool Congress: In 1997, Mamata Banerjee came out of the Congress Party in West Bengal and established the
All India Trinamool Congress. It quickly became the primary opposition to the long-standing Communist government
in the state. On 11 December 1998, she controversially held a Samajwadi Party MP, Daroga Prasad Saroj, by the
collar and dragged him out of the well of the Lok Sabha to prevent him from protesting against the Women's
Reservation bill. In 1999, she joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and was allocated
the Railways Ministry. When tahelka.com exposed the internal corruption of BPJ Party, then Mamata decided to leave
the Government and Resigned from the post of Railway Minister of India. She returned to the cabinet in January 2004,
holding the Ministry of Coal and Mines portfolios until the 2004 Elections, in which she was the only Trinamool
Congress member to win a Parliament seat from West Bengal.

Tata Nano Project: In November 2006, Mamata Banerjee was forcibly stopped on her way to Singur for a rally
against a proposed Tata Motors car project. Mamata reached the West Bengal assembly and protested at the venue. A
major strike was called on 14 December 2006. The Tata Nano project finally went to Gujarat after many
controversies.

Duvvuri Subbarao: The 22nd Governor of Reserve Bank of India

On 5 Sept 2008, Subbarao was appointed the twenty-second Governor of RBI; his term
will end in Sept 2011.Subbarao's hometown is Eluru in West Godavari district, a city near
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He did his graduation in Physics from IIT Kharagpur where
he recieved Director's Gold Medal. He received a M.Sc degree in Physics from IIT Kanpur.
Subbarao topped the IAS examination in 1972 and was assigned the Andhra Pradesh
cadre. He is also an MS in economics from Ohio State University, US and was a
Humphrey Fellow at MIT, US.

Career: Subbarao worked as the joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs,
Ministry of Finance, between 1988 and 1993. Subsequently he became the Finance
Secretary to the Govt of Andhra Pradesh between 1993 and 1998. He was then deputed
as lead economist in the World Bank from 1994 to 2004. On completion of his term, he was appointed to the Prime
Ministers’ Economic Advisory Council from 2005 to 2007 before he was elevated as the Finance Secretary in 2007. He
managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major countries of East Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Philippines and Cambodia. Dr. Subbarao was also involved in initiation of fiscal reforms at the state level. Subbarao
has written extensively on issues in public finance, decentralisation and political economy of reforms.

Financial Decisions: Subbarao is credited for fiscal reforms at state levels. He is also facing a tough time in
controlling the surging prices in the country. As Governor RBI he has increased interest rates to control inflation
initiated programmes for financial inclusions and supported the banking system to keep GDP growth on track. He to it
that banks changed rates as per RBI norms. He has successfully kept the country out of any liquidity crisis.
 BUSINESS NEWS

1. India world's best outsourcing destination: AT Kearney - ET Feb 07

India remains the favourite back-office of the world thanks to its "first-mover advantage"
and deep skill base, as per global management consulting firm AT Kearney's ranking of
the best outsourcing destinations. The top three slots in AT Kearney's 2011 Global
Services Location Index (GSLI) are occupied by three Asian countries: India, China and
Malaysia.

The three countries have enjoyed the top three rankings since the inception of the GSLI in
2003, demonstrating "remarkable staying power, thanks to their deep talent pools and
cost advantages". India has excellence in IT, because of the English language capabilities
of its population, thanks to its elite educational institutions. However, China may not make a great impact in the call
centre arena, the report said, adding that China's most attractive avenues are high-end analytics and advanced IT,
where it is an alternative to Russia and Eastern Europe.

2. Mumbai Asia's 4th costliest place for office space in Oct-Dec - ET Feb 06
Mumbai has become the fourth costliest city in Asia Pacific for renting a office in the
last quarter of 2010 with cost higher than even places like Shanghai, Seoul and
Sydney, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. The global realty consultant Jones Lang
LaSalle (JLL) said that India's capital is also not far behind, occupying the 10th spot in
the list of 26 cities across the region.

The top three costliest cities are Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore , where average
annual rents at the most expensive locations stood at USD 1,511, USD 752 and USD
747 per sq mt during the quarter. While the average annual rentals of Mumbai during
the quarter has been estimated at USD 705 per sq mt.

3. Ex-IITian starts world-class school in Bihar village - TNN Feb 04

In a remote corner of the state, at Chamanpura village, a story is unfolding of unique
enterprise and innovative methods in school education. Situated about 30 km from
Gopalganj, this school, known as Chaitanya Gurukul Public School, was founded in 2009 by
an ex-IITian, Chandrakant Singh , now based in Bangalore. Bereft of electricity till date,
about 450 children, both boys and girls, are imparted lessons in physics, chemistry,
mathematics and computer through Skype, video conferencing and Internet.

Eight of Singh's associates, sitting in various corners of the world, have joined hands to
teach children right from Class I to Class VII, through video-conferencing. Apart from distance learning, 16 teachers,
who reside on the campus, are helping the students in their studies. Here, teachers mark their attendance using a
biometric finger-printer and students too log their attendance in computers.

4. Food inflation spurts again, rises 17% - TNN Feb 04

Food inflation surprisingly shot up in late January due to high prices of onions and vegetables,
piling fresh pressure on the UPA government which is already battling a string of corruption
allegations. Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Thursday showed the food
price index rose 17.05% in the week to January 22, rising from the previous week’s 15.57%.
Food inflation stood at 20.56% in the same period last year.

Retail prices of vegetables and onions have eased in the past two to three weeks. Unseasonal
rains had damaged vegetable and onion crops which impacted supplies, leading to a sudden
spike in food prices. The government was forced to import onions from Pakistan to ease the situation.

5. Strong farm sector to help GDP grow 8.5% in 2010-11 - TNN Feb 05
India`s agricultural sector, often branded as a laggard, has come to the economy`s rescue. The
government`s statistical office is expected to peg gross domestic product at 8.5% for the
current financial year in the advance estimates that are due to be released on Monday. This
reflects a mild slowdown from the 8.9% growth registered during the first half of 2010-11.
During the last financial year, the economy had grown by 8%.

Manufacturing sector, seen as the main job creator, is also going to be the biggest worry for
policymakers with the sector showing signs of slowdown as inflation, and the subsequent
increase in interest rates, is affecting capacity addition in the sector. Economists say the robust
domestic demand is the key driver for India`s growth as is evident from a spurt in the sale of cars and white goods.
Though the worry is about growth being close to full capacity, the higher farm sector output would augur well for the
industrial sector as rural income would get a boost.
6. Fuel price index soars to 11.61% - TNN Feb 04
The government has taken some steps such as banning export of onions and
pulses and a crackdown on hoarders to calm food prices. FM Pranab
Mukherjee will present the 2011-12 Union Budget on February 28 and
economists expect more steps to ease supply bottlenecks and shore up the
country’s farm infrastructure.

The widely watched wholesale price index, the main measure of inflation in
the country, rose to 8.43% in December, rising from November’s 7.48% and
largely driven by high food prices. The Reserve Bank of India has raised
interest rates seven times since March 2010 to tame inflation and has flagged
it as a major concern. It has raised its March-end inflation estimate to 7% from the previous projection of 5.5%.

7. Black money list revealed, Kochi IPL owners exposed - TNN Feb 04
The veil of secrecy on the list of Indians who have stashed black money in foreign banks
has finally been lifted. Two investigations, one by Tehelka and the other by news
channel Headlines Today, have revealed the names of 15 Indians, who have stashed
their black money in the LGT bank of Liechtenstein, a well-known tax haven nation, 190
km from Munich, Germany.

While Tehelka has only listed the names of the 15 Indians, Headlines Today
investigations exposes the identity of the fifteen. According to the channel, the list
exposes the Kochi IPL co-owners, the Mehta brothers. Germany had officially handed
over this list to the Indian Government on March 18, 2009. This means it is almost two years since the Indian
Government had information about the names and bank account details of these eighteen Indians.

8. Star cricketers meet board to protect brand turf - ET Feb 05

STAR cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh on Friday met
Indian cricket board officials to seek clarity on their brand sponsorship rights and the
measures against ambush marketing during the upcoming Cricket World Cup. The
International Cricket Council (ICC) had last year said that players will face penalties ranging
from fine to exclusion from the rest of the tournament if they knowingly or unknowingly
breach the squad terms.

Star cricketers endorse several brands that directly compete with the official sponsors of World Cup. Some of them
met Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials on Friday to seek clarity on their brand sponsorship rights
during the World Cup and Indian Premier League. Coke vs Pepsi FOR instance, Sachin Tendulkar is the ambassador for
Coca-Cola while its archrival PepsiCo is one of the official sponsors for the mega-cricketing event. Ditto in case of
Indian team captain MS Dhoni, who has an endorsement deal with telecom firm Aircel that competes with Reliance, an
official World Cup sponsor.

9. At India Inc, CEO-staff pay divide widens - ET Feb 07

CHIEF executives of India’s biggest companies continue to reel in
much higher salary increases than their employees. Last fiscal, the
CEOs of top companies earned 68 times the average pay in their
companies, up from 59 times average pay in 2008-09, reveals an ET
study.

In other words, top executives earned as much as the average annual

pay of their foot soldiers in just five days last fiscal. In the US, top
executives earn 250 times the average worker. The ratio there has
been rising steadily since the 1980s, when it was in low double
digits. Such social inequality is less glaring in Europe where it is not
unusual to find a CEO using public transport unlike in India or the US,
says Lakshmikanth.

10. IIT-Bombay may set up campus in New York - ET Feb 07

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay could soon have a second address — in New
York. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has invited IIT-
B to submit a proposal to set up a campus in the Big Apple for applied science
courses. The Mumbai institute will fill a lacuna that the city's five boroughs have had all
these years — a world-class facility for applied science teaching and research with a
strong bent towards applied engineering. A committee at IIT-B is firming up the
institute's pitch, which will be sent to NYCEDC by April. The host city will make a capital
contribution, in addition to possibly providing land and other considerations.
11. Rs 2 lakh imposed on Merc India for selling used car - ET Feb 06
Premier luxury car manufacturer Mercedes Benz and one of its Chennai-based dealers have
been ordered by the national consumer commission to pay Rs 2 lakh as damages to a
customer for selling him a used demo car. "Selling of used demo car without the knowledge
of the customer amounts to an unfair trade practice within the Consumer Protection (CP)
Act," the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said. The NCDRC gave its
ruling on a complaint by a private firm executive, Mukund Reddy, who purchased a Mercedes
Benz car of E 250 D model from its dealer Trans Cars India Ltd, Chennai in 1998. Holding it
as a case of complainant being a victim of unfair trade practice, the apex consumer forum
directed Mercedes Benz India and its dealer to pay up Rs 2 lakh as compensation.

12. TV signals to go digital by 2015; Delhi in line for 2012 - TNN Feb 04
The days of wiring your television set for a cable connection could soon be over. The
information and broadcasting ministry on Thursday set a March 31, 2015 deadline for
shift from analog to digital systems. Digital cable TV will ensure better picture quality and
services, choice of channels and interactive services.

The industry will benefit as the move is expected to bring greater transparency in
subscriber base and reduction in carriage fees (paid by channels to cable operators).
Digitization, where the feed will be received through set-top boxes, is expected to be
executed in phases and the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have to
shift to digital addressability by March 31, 2012. Digitization will bring set-top box prices down. The I&B ministry
wants digitization of television feed by March 31, 2015.

13. Retention Bonus up to 6-Month Pay - ET Feb 08

Key employees of Patni Computer Systems and its new owner, Nasdaq-listed
iGate, are set to get a special retention bonus, which could be up to six months’
salary, as an incentive to stay with the company. The bonus package will cover
around 500 senior staff at the mid-management level—300 from Patni and 200
from iGate. Executives in the top management of these companies will not a
receive retention bonus, but are likely to get long-term stock options as an
incentive to stay on, said at least two people with knowledge of the development.

For iGate, which has taken a debt of around $700 million and has also
issued equity to Apax to finance the deal, a lot is riding on the success of the
acquisition, and a key component of that will be its ability to retain
employees. Mercer, who was appointed to advise iGate on the human resources integration of the two firms, is learnt
to have recommended the special retention bonus. Typically, cost of the retention bonus is about 1% of the
acquisition cost, and is taken into account at the time of acquisition itself, said a senior executive with an IT firm.

14. Gillette ropes in Arjun Rampal as brand ambassador - PTI Feb 07

FMCG firm Gillette today said it has roped in Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal as its brand
ambassador. "We are indeed very proud to associate with Arjun Rampal as our brand
ambassador and he would now be immediately appearing on all the new March3 Turbo
Sensitive advertisements," Gillette Brand Manager Sharat Verma said in a statement

Gillette India Limited (GIL), one of India's leading FMCG companies, sells men's
grooming products under brands like Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, Oral-B and Duracell.
Madhusudan Securities to acquire apparel brand Weekender from Primus Retail for Rs
100cr

15. Madhusudan Securities to acquire Weekender –ET Feb 08

Mumbai-based financial services company Madhusudan Securities will acquire apparel
brand Weekender from Ascent Capital-backed Primus Retail for 100crore. The BSE )-
listed financial firm will fund the acquisition partly by issuing fresh equity to Primus
Retail. As part of the transaction, Madhusudan Securities will issue 6.14 million shares to
shareholders of Primus Retail on a preferential basis, subject to obtaining requisite
approvals from authorities concerned, it informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on
Monday.

Post issue of shares, Primus Retail will have 80% stake on the expanded capital base of
Madhusudan Securities, which will trigger a mandatory open offer to buy more shares in
the company, as per the Indian takeover norms. Established in late 1980s, Weekender
was acquired by Primus Retail from the Jagadish Hinduja family for close to 95crore in 2007. Currently, there are 60
exclusive stores and 40 shop-in-shops of Weekender brand spread across the country.
16. Hero set to drop Honda from flagship brands - ET Feb 09
THE Hero Group will remove the Honda brand name from its flagship products — Splendor
and Passion — by June this year as its owners, the Munjals, want to carve out an independent
identity at the earliest. The Honda name will disappear from brands that are owned by Hero.
Four best-selling motorcycles — Splendor, Passion, Glamour and Hunk — belong to this
category, senior Hero Honda officials said in a conference call with analysts on February 5.
Splendor, a motorcycle fired by a 100cc engine, is the world’s most popular, with sales of
around a million for the year ended March 31, 2010. CBZ and CD, two 150cc motorcycles
where Honda owns the brands, will not be part of this exercise.

In all, Hero Honda sold 4.6 million motorcycles for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, of which Splendor and
Passion accounted for over 45%. CBZ and CD, the bikes whose brand rights belong to Honda, account for over 30%.
Of the two, CD is by far the more popular. Hero Honda is setting up distribution channels in growing international
markets such as Latin America, South East Asia and Africa. Under the technology agreement, Hero Honda cannot use
the Honda brand name if they make any changes in the existing products.

17. AI to take 600-cr loan to pay salary dues - ET Feb 09

Cash-strapped Air India will borrow 600 crore from Corporation Bank to pay salaries to
its 31,000 employees. Three independent sources said the state-owned airline had
arranged a short-term loan to pay wages, including salaries for January that are more
than a week overdue. In December, Air India slipped to fourth position behind Jet,
Kishfisher and low-cost carrier IndiGo. For Air India, which has a wage bill of 3,000
crore, late payment of salaries has become a regular affair for almost a year now.

While the working capital is from Indian banks, the long-term debt, largely used to
purchase aircraft, is from foreign banks. After a debt recast was sanctioned by RBI, Air
India is currently trying to restructure its debt which is likely to get completed by this
month end. The airline has appointed Deloitte, an audit and advisory firm, for vetting its
financial and business turnaround plan. It is likely to submit a report by the month-end.

18. BrahMos secures $4 billion order to deliver cruise missiles - ET Feb 08

Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace has secured orders from the Armed
Forces to deliver supersonic cruise missiles, valued at $four billion, a top company
official said today. The orders by Army, Navy and Air Force would be executed in the
next five-six years, BrahMos Aerospace Chief Executive and Managing Director A
Sivathanu Pillai said.

The order book was projected to swell to $10 billion in the next 10-15 years given the
demand in India, Russia and "other countries", which he did not name. BrahMos
Aerospace is a $300 million joint venture between Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) that holds
50.5 per cent stake and Military Industrial Consortium/MPO Machinostroyenia of Russia the remaining equity. BrahMos
cruise missiles with a range of 290 km are already in service in the Army and Navy.

19. Hyundai to launch 6 models in 3 years, to spend Rs 200cr on ads in next 5 years - ET Feb 09
Hyundai Motor India on Tuesday said it will launch at least six new models in the next three
years as it looks to enhance its position in the domestic car market. The company, which
today became an official partner for International Cricket Council (ICC), will also be
spending Rs 200 crore in the next five years on advertising and promotions. The company
is the second biggest car maker by volume in India after Maruti Suzuki.

While HMIL will be the official partner for the mega cricketing event being held from
February 19 to April 2, its parent Hyundai Motor Co has become the exclusive car partner
for the global cricket body from 2011-2015.

20. 20-fold increase in student flow to UK from south India - TNN Feb 08
The number of students from south India going to the United Kingdom for higher studies
has gone up by almost 20 times in the past 10 years, according to the British Council ,
which conducts education fair for students aspiring to study in Britain by inviting universities
from the UK. Another trend which has been observed is that more students are showing an
interest in research and PhD. Over 51,000 Indian students currently study in the UK.

The most popular course among Indian students still continues to be masters in business
administration, with one in three students wanting to go to the UK to do an MBA. "Keeping with this trend in mind and
in order to help students differentiate between a proper MBA and general courses like an MSc in International
Business, we have organised a seminar for the students," said Dhansekaran.
 INTERNATIONAL NEWS

21. Egypt suffers a loss of $90 mn owing to Internet blockage - PTI Feb 04
Egypt has suffered a loss of USD 90 million due to blockage of internet and
telecommunication services during the ongoing political unrest, a top economic body
said today. "The Egyptian government's blocking of internet services for five days is
likely to have cost the country USD 90 million," the OECD said, quoting preliminary
estimates of a study conducted by the Paris-based Science, Technology and Industry
division of the top world economic body.

"The blocked services (telecommunication and Internet) account for roughly 3-4 per
cent of GDP or a loss of USD 18 million per day," it said. The Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is the apex world body to promote
and formulate economic policies across the world and has about 34 major economies as its member.

22. Heavy snow strom hits US airlines, 6300 flights cancelled - Reuters Feb 04
Major US airlines canceled more than 6,300 flights on Wednesday for a second straight day
as a monster winter storm paralysed air travel and threatened to erode revenues for
carriers hit the hardest. The storm blasted the US Northeast and the Midwest, where the
blizzard was on track to dump most snow on Chicago in more than 40 years.

United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines all suspended operations at Chicago
O’Hare International Airport, the second busiest airport in the United States. The airline
industry is clawing its way out of a downturn that was exacerbated in recent years when
the recession drained travel demand but winter weather has put a dent in the industry’s recovery. IATA said bad
weather cut 1% off total traffic in December.

23. China's tightening shows global rebalancing at work - Reuters Feb 09

The inflationary pressures that prompted China to raise interest rates for the third time in four
months are evidence that the imbalances destabilizing the global economy are slowly but surely
being ironed out. China's current account surplus, though shrinking, will not melt away overnight.

An unprecedented surge in money and credit growth in 2009 to fight the downturn induced by the
global financial crisis is the root cause of China's rising inflation. The economy is now growing too
fast for comfort, helping to push up global energy, food and commodity prices that in turn are
feeding back into domestic inflation. In addition, wages, which have long risen at a double-digit
pace, are climbing ever faster. What is new is that manufacturers appear to be finding it
increasingly tough to increase productivity faster than wages.

24. IMF warns on Europe, Japan debt problems - Reuters Feb 09

A possible global economic slowdown sparked by Europe's sovereign debt problems could
affect currency and stock markets and weigh heavily on Japan's growth prospects, an
International Monetary Fund official warned on Wednesday. Japan's large debt burden is
also unsustainable in the long term although its bonds are likely to avoid speculative attacks
in the market due to high domestic savings, said Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing
director of the IMF. "The Japanese banking system is facing a number of external downside
risks, including a possible global economic slowdown stemming from European sovereign
debt problems, a possible slowdown in U.S. growth, and a potential reversal of property boom in emerging markets,
such as in China," Shinohara said at a seminar. Some investors worry that if yields start rising further due to worries
about fiscal discipline, borrowing costs would rise and growth would slow in many debt-laden nations, making it
harder to pay down debt.

25. Brazil and China: A young marriage on the rocks - Reuters Feb 6
At least once a week during her young presidency, Dilma Rousseff has met with trusted
advisers to try to solve an intractable problem -- China. Only a few months ago, Brazil
and China seemed destined to enjoy one of the defining alliances of the early 21st
century -- two fast-growing emerging market economies seeking ever-greater
opportunities for business together and standing side by side on key global issues such
as trade negotiations. It's not quite working out that way.

The core problem is a torrent of Chinese imports that has quintupled in size since 2005,
with disastrous effects for Brazilian manufacturers and the well-paying, highly skilled jobs that Rousseff is so focused
on creating. In the long run, Brazil and China are likely to retain relatively warm ties and continue to expand bilateral
trade. Yet the shift evolving since Rousseff took office on Jan. 1 could affect everything from Brazil's relationship with
the United States to the future of so-called "south-south" ties among emerging market countries.
 MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

26. Big, big problem: 1 in 9 of world’s adults is obese - TNN Feb 05

More than half a billion adults are clinically obese in a near-doubling of the numbers of
dangerously overweight adults since 1980s, doctors warned on Friday. Nearly one in nine
of all adults — are clinically obese, according to research by a team from Imperial College
London, Harvard and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In 2008, the latest year for which statistics were available, nearly one woman in seven and
one man in 10 were obese, it found. The problem has been most prevalent in rich nations,
rising most in the United States, followed by New Zealand and Australia for women, and
Britain and Australia for men. But many developing countries, especially in the Middle East and in rapidly urbanising
areas, are catching up.

27. Ganguly retires from all forms of cricket - TNN Feb 07

Hurt by the snub at the Indian Premier League auction, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly
has retired from all forms of cricket. Ganguly's decision came after no team picked him at the
IPL 4 players' auction held last month. In IPL, Ganguly represented Kolkata Knight
Riders. Ganguly, also known as the Prince of Kolkata, had got off to a brilliant start in his Test
career by hitting centuries in his first two Tests in England in 1996.

Ganguly was appointed the Indian captain after the match-fixing scandal in 2000 and the high
points of his captaincy were the series triumph against Australia in India in 2001. Ganguly has
been the most successful Test captain of India, having led the team in a record 49 Test
matches, out of which India won in 21 matches. Ganguly's ODI record makes him one of the
greatest one-day batsmen of all time. Ganguly is the seventh Indian cricketer to have played 100 Test matches. The
left-handed batsman is the fourth Indian to have played in more than 300 ODIs, and one of only seven batsmen to
score more than 10,000 runs in ODIs.

28. Avg Blood Pressure dips globally, up in India - TNN Feb 04

The latest data of the "Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors" study,
published in the British medical journal The Lancet on Wednesday, shows that while the
average BP of humans declined globally, it actually increased among both men and
women in India.

High BP is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease mortality, causing more than
7 million deaths every year worldwide. "This was mainly due to population growth,
ageing and faulty diet. We estimated trends in systolic blood pressure (SBP) rather than
diastolic blood pressure (DBP), because prospective studies strongly suggest that SBP is
a better predictor of cardiovascular disease risk, especially in older adults above 55 years
of age in whom most deaths from cardiovascular disease occur," Prof Ezzati added.

29. Use mobiles on speaker mode, say IIT-B experts - TNN Feb 05
Do not talk for more than six minutes a day on your cell phone to avoid
radiation, IIT Bombay and telecom sector experts said on Friday. The options
are to put the phone on speaker mode and hold it at least a foot away from
your body or use a headset. You can complain to the authorities against the
towers.

Experts warned that many anti-radiation chips in the market are fake and said
radiation from cell phones and towers posed serious health risks, including
loss of memory, lack of concentration, disturbances in your digestive system
and sleep disorders. IIT-Bombay professor Girish Kumar warned against cell
phone usage for more than six minutes a day as handsets have a specific absorption rate (capacity to absorb
radiation) of 1.6 watts per kg and thus can absorb radiation only for six minutes a day and later can harm the body.

30. IIM-A pips ISB to the post in Financial Times global ranking - ET Feb 06
Indian B Schools are now bringing laurels to the country. Unlike earlier, they are being
recognised across the globe. This year, for the first time, India has got three schools
ranked in the Financial Times , London, B School rankings 2011, namely, IIM Ahmedabad,
Indian School of Business Hyderabad and S P Jain Centre of Management,
Dubai/Singapore. The Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) of the Indian School
of Business (ISB) has been ranked number 13 in the Global Top MBA rankings 2011. It also
recorded the highest “Salary percentage increase” among all the top 100 schools. This is
the fourth successive year that the ISB has featured in the top 20, reinforcing its reputation
as a world class institution.
 Airlines in India

While the common perception about the airline sector is that it’s only about
pilots and airhostesses, there are numerous other, equally significant job
options that the industry cannot function without; from in-flight trainers and
aircraft maintenance engineers to baggage handlers and reservations
agents. The global aviation industry is poised to grow at 5.6% CAGR over
the next 15 years. While major conventional mature markets such as the US
and Europe will witness a significant fall in market share from 61% to 52%,
emerging markets, such as India, China and the Middle East, offer a great
growth potential. The economic slowdown which began in 2008 hit the global
aviation industry severely, with many airlines such as United and British
Airways in the red. This was due to falling passenger numbers and increasing
competition from low-frills airlines coupled with rapidly rising fuel costs.
Despite passengers now resuming air travel, the increase has been very gradual.

Jet Airways has a market share of 26.9% in terms of passengers carried, thus
making it a market leader in India, followed by Kingfisher Airlines with 19.9%. It
is India's largest airline and the market leader in the domestic sector. It operates
over 400 flights daily to 67 destinations worldwide. Its main hub is Chhatrapati
Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. Jet Airways was incorporated as an air taxi
operator on 1 April 1992. It started Indian commercial airline operations on 5 May
1993 with a fleet of four leased Boeing 737-300 aircrafts. In January 1994 a
change in the law enabled Jet Airways to apply for scheduled airline status. It
began international operations to Sri Lanka in March 2004.

The company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, but 80% of its stock is
controlled by Naresh Goyal. On 12 April 2007 Jet Airways agreed to buy out Air
Sahara for Rs 14.5 billion. Air Sahara was renamed JetLite. In August 2008 Jet Airways announced its plans to
completely integrate JetLite into Jet Airways. In October 2008 Jet Airways laid off 1,900 of its employees, resulting in
the largest lay-off in the history of Indian aviation. However due to political pressure the employees were later asked
to return to work. In October 2008 Jet Airways and rival Kingfisher Airlines announced an alliance which primarily
includes an agreement on code-sharing on both domestic and international flights, joint fuel management to reduce
expenses, common ground handling, joint utilisation of crew and sharing of similar frequent flier programmes. On 8
May 2009 Jet Airways launched its low-cost brand, Jet Konnect.

Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a
50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. It is one of the seven airlines to be
ranked as a 5-star airline by the independent research consultancy firm Skytrax. It
operates more than 375 daily flights to 71 destinations, with regional and long-haul
international services. In May 2009, it carried more than a million passengers. It is
also the sponsor of F1 racing outfit, Vijay Mallaya’s Force India. The airline started
commercial operations on 9 May 2005 with a fleet of four new Airbus A320-200s
operating a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. It started its international operations on 3
September 2008 by connecting Bangalore with London. It serves 63 domestic
destinations and 8 international destinations in 8 countries across Asia and Europe.
150 pilots and many other employees left Kingfisher in 2010, to win back employee
confidence, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd’s new chief executive Sanjay Aggarwal has
promised fresh staff benefits in a letter to employees. He also outlined the progress
of the airline’s financial restructuring and said Kingfisher is looking to raise Rs1,575 crore through global depositary
receipts.

Air India is a state-owned flag carrier and currently the oldest airline of the
Republic of India. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft
serving Asia, Europe and North America. Its corporate office is located at the Air
India Building at Nariman Point in South Mumbai. It is the 16th largest airline in
Asia. Air India has two major domestic hubs at Indira Gandhi International
Airport, Delhi and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. In 2007,
the Government of India announced that Indian Airlines would be merged into
Air India. The merged entity will have a fleet of over 130 aircraft. Cash-
strapped Air India borrowed Rs 600 crore from Corporation Bank to pay January
2011 salaries to its 31,000 employees. A union representing pilots flying on
domestic routes has threatened to strike adding to the woes of the state-owned
airline that has been losing market share to private airlines. In December, Air
India slipped to the fourth position behind Jet, Kingfisher and low-cost carrier Indigo.