Ban on booze ads ‘will cost SABC R400m’

Acting CEO says an outright ban on alcohol advertising on television and radio is one of the biggest risks to SABC’s revenue

CHANTELLE BENJAMIN

Published: 2011/04/29 06:27:57 AM

THE cash-strapped SABC stands to lose R250m-R400m if a total ban on alcohol advertising is imposed by the government, the broadcaster’s acting CEO Robin Nicholson said yesterday.

"An outright ban on alcohol advertising on television and radio is one of the biggest risks to SABC’s revenue," said Mr Nicholson. "It’s a significant part of our advertising revenue."

The SABC has warned the parliamentary portfolio committee on communications that such a ban would see the SABC lose about 8,5% of its advertising income. The SABC is the only public broadcaster in the world that has to rely almost exclusively on commercial revenue to fund its operations, with 80% of its revenue derived from advertising and 17% from licence fees.

A discussion document being circulated among the departments of health, social development and trade and industry, contains various proposals aimed at reducing alcohol consumption. These include limiting trading, a ban on sponsorships, higher taxes and a ban on advertising.

The SABC’s financial problems have occupied headlines , with the broadcaster indicating recently it did not intend to borrow more than the R1bn it received through a government guarantee, after a R1bn loss in the 2008-09 financial year. The broadcaster will still have to shed 699 out of 3699 jobs in order to streamline the organisation and cut costs, according to reports.

Mr Nicholson was recently asked by Parliament to name the top 20 risks to SABC revenue. "Obviously there were the normal ones like risk to market share, the decline of advertising and threats like mobile advertising, but loss of alcohol advertising revenue was at the top of the list," he said.

Marketing analyst Chris Moerdyk has warned that a ban would have implications for all media.

He said of the R17bn spent on advertising last year, about 10% could probably be directly attributed to alcohol advertising in the mass media.

"Removing that from the advertising and media industries would achieve nothing but considerable job losses.

"So much so that one could easily argue that an increase in alcohol abuse created by unemployment as a result of an advertising ban would exceed any benefits resulting from the ban," he said.

Mr Moerdyk said legislation banning smoking in public, and changes in the acceptability of smoking, helped to reduce smoking — not a ban on advertising. US research indicated that advertising bans led to a 5%-8% drop.

Some have argued that the ban would have more effect on marketing and advertising companies than on alcohol producers, as ads are aimed more at switching brands than encouraging drinking. It is also not clear how much money would be lost to soccer, cricket and rugby, which receive millions in sponsorship deals.

Health ministry spokesman Fidel Hadebe said yesterday the debate was at an early stage. "The ministerial committee , chaired by Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini, drew up the initial documents. Everyone will be consulted, including the alcohol industry before it is submitted to Cabinet. Look, alcohol abuse is a serious problem," he said.

Last month Ms Dlamini said a survey had shown that alcohol and substance abuse was destroying families.

Zuma offers shock deal on disputed ANC lists

Task team to look at candidates foisted on ANC voters ‘after poll’

SAM MKOKELI

Published: 2011/04/29 06:27:56 AM

IN AN astonishing about-turn just weeks before local government elections, President Jacob Zuma says some African National Congress (ANC) candidates could be ejected to make way for communities’ "preferred" candidates.

His climb-down on candidate lists, which have become a major source of friction in the party, could throw the outcome of the May 18 poll into disarray, certainly for some ANC candidates .

It also appears to negate the frantic efforts of ANC leaders in recent weeks to persuade some local communities to accept party- ordained candidates over their own popular choices.

Mr Zuma said yesterday that a task team would be established to investigate complaints about candidates foisted on communities by party leaders, and possibly replace those with popular candidates after the elections.

Mr Zuma told journalists in Johannesburg yesterday that the task team — whose terms of reference were still to be thrashed out — would investigate irregularities with the list process and remove undeserving councillors.

That can only be done after the polls , since the lists have already been submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission.

"We can’t correct the lists before the election, as legally that process is closed," he said.

Replacing the councillors would lead to by-elections , potentially creating even more problems for a party that has fared relatively badly in by-elections in the past five years.

Revisiting the lists could blow up in Mr Zuma’s face as councillors are unlikely to walk away from their jobs. The announcement may also open the floodgates for more communities to complain that their candidates had been imposed on them .

It may be difficult for the ANC to undertake the investigation after the elections as the focus is expected to shift to the succession within the party and its youth league, and the coming leadership elections in the unions and the South African Communist Party.

Mr Zuma told a press conference: "The ANC has taken a decision that the removal of preferred candidates from our lists should be properly investigated by a team to be set up by the ANC headquarters.

"In the affected wards, candidates that are preferred by our structures and communities were removed from the lists.

"This has understandably caused anger and frustration."

He said the findings of that team would allow the ANC to remove councilors who did not get party and community support but were put on the list by regional leaders. "We will deal with the individuals who should not be on the list after the elections."

He said the ANC’s "honesty and track record" spoke for itself and it would keep its word.

He also called on those who had left the ANC to register as independent candidates to return to the ANC.

During an election drive in Bloemfontein yesterday afternoon, Mr Zuma told unhappy ANC members to "vote for the ANC and we will sort out the candidate lists later". Mr Zuma was visiting the Khayelitsha informal settlement near Grasslands in Bloemfontein when local residents handed a memorandum to him containing their grievances.

Political analyst Steven Friedman said the ANC had dug itself into a hole with the introduction of the "ill-conceived" selection process. Revisiting it after the elections "may well backfire" and encourage councillors likely to lose their jobs to organise communities behind them in protest.

By announcing that the process would be revisited, the ANC was not putting out the fire. "It is making sure that the fires continue," Prof Friedman said.

Getting communities involved in the selection process was a bad idea from the start, when the party did not have its own selection process under control.

The ANC’s election campaign has battled to take off . ANC succession tensions have also seen key organiser Fikile Mbalula — the star of its 2009 national elections campaign — sidelined.

The ANC Youth League is campaigning to install him as secretary-general in party elections in December next year, and those opposed to the idea fear the May 18 elections may give him a platform to campaign for that post. With Sapa

Private sector credit extension below expectations

Growth in credit demand by South Africa's private sector slowed to 5,13% year-on-year in March

Growth in credit demand by South Africa's private sector slowed to 5,13% year-on-year last month, compared with a 5,43% rise in February, central bank data showed on Friday.

This was below expectations of 6,05% year-on-year but the numbers are very unimpressive, Ilke Smit, Economic analyst at Metropolitan Asset Managers said.

"Even though household credit extension increased by R8,398bn during March 2011, corporate lending contracted by R9,997bn. Year to date, corporate credit has declined by R17,113bn since December 2010, as household lending has increased by R19,228bn. Therefore private sector credit extension has only increased by R2,11bn since December 2010 – a meagre 0.5% growth for the first quarter of this year," she said.

Corporates are investing and reinvesting very slowly post-recession. Few companies are hiring en-masse either.

"There was no evidence of a meaningful upturn in corporate borrowing in March’s credit usage figures - surplus capacity means there is little compulsion for corporates to expand operations," Investec economist Annabel Bishop said.

In March, credit extended to the government declined by R4,453bn, which brought total domestic credit extension down to R2,124trn. This is R6,052bn lower than the previous month, and only up 3,63% year-on-year from a year ago. Corporate credit extension is up 2,64% year-on-year. Household lending is up 7,37% year-on-year.

"Mortgage lending declined by R1,616bn to a total of R1,046trn. From a year ago, mortgage lending is only up by 2,89% year-on-year. Instalment sales increased once again, speaking to the growth the economy has been witnessing in vehicle and furniture sale sectors. These types of lending are mostly unsecured– which paints a fragile picture for retailers should the job market not commence on a sustainable recovery," Ms Smit.

Sensex off to a weak start

MUMBAI: A benchmark index for Indian equities markets made a weak start on Tuesday morning. Broader markets were trading flat too.

The 30-scrip sensitive index ( Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,596.32 points, was ruling at 19,474.78 points, down 92.23 points or 0.47% from its previous close at 19,584.31 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was also trading 0.47% lower at 5,846.75 points.

Broader markets were ruling flat with the BSE midcap index up 0.03% and the BSE small cap index down 0.01%.

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Sensex off to a weak start

MUMBAI: A benchmark index for Indian equities markets made a weak start on Tuesday morning. Broader markets were trading flat too.

The 30-scrip sensitive index ( Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,596.32 points, was ruling at 19,474.78 points, down 92.23 points or 0.47% from its previous close at 19,584.31 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was also trading 0.47% lower at 5,846.75 points.

Broader markets were ruling flat with the BSE midcap index up 0.03% and the BSE small cap index down 0.01%.

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Most global markets are in bull phases: Deepak Mohoni, Technical Analyst

The stock market had a mixed week, with the Sensex finishing 1.11% or 215.41 points higher and the Nifty 1.03% up, while the CNX Midcap Index lost 0.05%. ONGC was the biggest winner among index stocks with a 6.4% gain. The other index stocks to rise included Mahindra & Mahindra , Hindalco , Hindustan Unilever and Sterlite Industries with gains between 5.8% and 4.3%.

BHEL was the biggest loser among index stocks with a 7.7% loss. The other index stocks to go down included Infosys, Hero Honda , Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Communications with losses falling between 2.7% and 1.0%. C Mahendra Exports was the biggest winner among the more heavily traded non-index stocks with a 15.0% gain. The other non-index stocks to go up included Indiabulls Financial, Lovable Lingerie, VIP Industries , Sintex Industries , HCL Technologies , Delta Corp and Zee Entertainment with gains between 10.3% and 6.7%. IRB Infrastructure Developers was the biggest loser among the more heavily traded non-index stocks with an 8.3% loss. The other non-index stocks to go down included GVK Power & Infrastructure , Unitech, Indiabulls Real Estate, Rural Electrification, Satyam Computers, IFCI and DB Realty with losses falling between 6.4% and 4.2%.

INTERMEDIATE TREND : The existence of an intermediate downtrend was confirmed last week, even though the market has not been falling. The downtrend has been in existence since the Sensex made a peak at 19,811 on April 6. The downtrend is likely to end soon, as the Sensex is close to the level of 19,750 which it needs to cross to confirm an intermediate uptrend. The Nifty's equivalent is 5,925 and that for the CNX Midcap is 8,400 (figures are rounded up to the nearest 25). Almost all the global markets were in intermediate downtrends entering last week, but the Dow, NASDAQ, and a couple of European indices ended the week with their intermediate trend up again, raising hopes of a global uptrend.

LONG-TERM TREND: Our market's long-term (major) trend is up, which means that a bull market is on. The Sensex and the Nifty are above their 200-day moving averages, while the CNX Midcap has still to do so. Around 40% of the more heavily traded stocks are above their 200-day averages. The main indices have so far managed to stay above their long-term averages despite the intermediate downtrend. The bull market started on February 11 when the Sensex bottomed out at 17,295. The index has made larger gains than most other markets since then. About 30% of the more heavily traded stocks are above their last intermediate tops.

TRADING & INVESTING STRATEGIES : Existing portfolios should be held on to as we are in a relatively new bull market. Even the more volatile stocks are relatively safer for now, as the bull market has reduced the market risk. Further investments can be made now as the intermediate downtrend has run for about two weeks. The correction has been a mild one, and waiting for lower levels may not work out.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: The US indices and some of the European ones are back in intermediate uptrends, though a majority of the markets are still in downtrends. The Dow closed at a new bull market high, and its best level in nearly two years. It will fall into a downtrend again should it decline and remain below 11,548.

Most global markets are also in bull phases. Japan and Brazil are among the very few important markets that are in bear phases. The Dow would go into a major downtrend if it were to breach 12,000. The Sensex gained 11.5% in the twelve months that ended on Thursday, down two positions to the 17th place among 35 wellknown global indices considered for the study. Sri Lanka continues to head the list with an 82.9% gain. Argentina, Indonesia, South Korea and Chile follow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 12.3% and the NASDAQ Composite has gained 12.0% over the same period.

Auto companies looking prospective on rough Dalal Street

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MUMBAI: Automobiles may be the only silver lining among Indian industries to invest in now due to unabated demand, while infrastructure and banking face macroeconomic headwinds that could squeeze earnings leading to underperformance.

Telecom and consumer goods makers may also benefit from the rising middle income population, but the competitive pressures could reduce their profit margins which may not help these stocks performance either, said a fund manager.

"Demand from tier II and tier III cities will drive the growth in the auto sector," said Abhijit Gulanikar , chief investment officer, SBI Life, which manages Rs 25,000 crore in equity investments for policyholders . "Affordability is increasing in tier II and tier III," he said referring to state capitals and district headquarters. "The guidance given by most of the auto companies is good."

Sale of cars and motorcycles are setting new records every month as the burgeoning middle class people aided with rising incomes and liberal loans from banks, are splurging. Companies such as Maruti Suzuki , Hero Honda and Ford are expanding capacities and introducing new models to draw customers. Government spending on employment and infrastructure programmes are also helping the rural economy that has set off a growth spiral in smaller towns. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Auto Index has gained 24% in the past year, compared with the benchmark Sensex's 10.7% rise. SBI Life holds Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki.

A McKinsey and National Council of Applied Economic Research forecasts that middle class, defined as the ones with a monthly income between Rs 7,500 and Rs 85,000, may grow from 27% in 2005, to 76% by 2025. Domestic sale of cars and trucks have averaged 13% between 2003 and 2009. It may grow at a compounded growth of 18% this decade , with domestic sales rising seven times its 2009 level, forecasts ICICI Bank. "India is beginning to see the first signs of a long-term consumption boom as a result of rising disposable incomes, higher life expectancy, rapid urbanisation and changing lifestyle," says ICICI Bank in a recent research note.

But it may not be a smooth ride when inflation is disturbing every calculation and that interest rates are rising with the RBI poised to raise for the ninth time in this rate hike cycle on May 3 when he presents the monetary policy for this fiscal. This could be a drag on banks whose costs of funds are rising and that defaults may increase if the overall demand is hurt by high prices. "Interest rates are likely to catch up with banks very fast. During this year, tightening will be at its peak and they are likely to see liabilities on pension. The bond market has already discounted 50 basis points hike," said Gulanikar who owns ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and mortgage lender HDFC.

"We have seen spectacular story in the past two ears. Other than infrastructure , not many companies are borrowing from India since it is cheaper overseas.'' A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The infrastructure theme may play out for a long time, but there are many hiccups facing the industry , he said. "If you say the infra story is very good, you should go for infra-related investments. That will mean power and construction companies ," said Gulanikar who owns Reliance Industries and Tata Steel . "But each sec-tor is facing some problem or the other. In power , there is an issue of coal supply.

In capital goods, there's an environmental clearance. On the construction side, everyone got stuck in real estate." Consumer goods and telecom, that were investors' favourite once, are also loosing sheen as competition erodes profitability. "They are catching the market share and losing out on margin," said Gulanikar referring to consumer goods makers. He owns cigarette maker ITC which dominates the market. So is the case with telecom companies which are also stuck in the licensing scandal. "Pricing is not an issue in telecom, but we have to see if the average revenue per user increases after the 3G rollout." It has a stake in Bharti Airtel .

Oil Min orders RIL to stop KG-D6 gas supply to non-core users

NEW DELHI: Admonishing the defiant Reliance Industries , the Oil Ministry has ordered the Mukesh Ambani-run firm to immediately stop natural gas sales to non-core users like Essar Steel to meet the full demand of fertilizer and power plants.

Citing the May, 2010, Supreme Court ruling that upheld the government's right to frame gas utilisation policy, the ministry last week wrote to Reliance directing it to first supply natural gas from its KG-D6 fields to priority sectors like fertiliser and power, official sources said.

Reliance is currently producing around 50 million cubic metres a day of gas from its eastern offshore KG-D6 gas block, just enough to meet contracted demand of priority sectors -- urea manufacturing units, power plants, LPG extraction plants and city gas distribution companies.

It had refused to abide by the ministry's previous order that wanted the fuel to go to sectors like steel, refineries and petrochemical only if there was any gas left after meeting demand of core sectors.

Non-core sponge iron plants, petrochemicals units and oil refineries have cornered 13.13 mmscmd out of the 60.76 mmscmd of KG-D6 gas that the government had allocated in 2008 and 2009.

With production dipping to around 50 mmscmd, a worried Oil Ministry wanted the fuel to first go to core sectors.

But Reliance has refused to follow the dictat and has continued to follow the July, 2010, policy of pro rata allocation, translating into proportionate cuts in supplies to all consumers, including urea-making plants and electricity generation units, they said.

A Reliance spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

With production just a tad above the 47.59 mmscmd quota allocated to core sectors, Reliance says it cannot stop supplies to any customer unless the government indemnifies it against any legal and financial damages arising from such action.

Sources said the ministry was not impressed by the firm's reasoning and cited the Supreme Court's ruling to buttress its point.

Reliance had in its gas supply and pricing dispute with Anil Ambani Group's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) submitted to the Supreme Court that it is a mere contractor and the government alone has the right to fix price as well as users of the gas.

The same stand was taken by the government, which the Supreme Court upheld in its May 7 judgement.

Sources said Reliance itself had contended that it has no ownership over gas and it is bound by government orders and its gas utilisation policy (GUP).

The logic behind the ministry order is that it does not want fertiliser production or generation of electricity during peak summer months to suffer because of a fall in KG-D6 gas output.

Reliance has so far signed up customers for 60.76 mmscmd of gas, while production from its eastern offshore KG-D6 fields in the week ending April 3 was about 49 mmscmd. Output is lower than the 61.5 mmscmd output achieved in March, 2010.

The government had accorded highest priority to urea plants followed by LPG extraction units, power plants and city gas distribution projects while allocating KG-D6 gas.

Sixteen fertiliser plants have been allocated 15.35 mmscmd of KG-D6 gas on a firm or permanent basis, while 27 power plants in the public and private sector have got 29 mmscmd.

A sizeable 7.79 mmscmd of gas has been signed up by steel producers, while LPG plants have been alloted 2.59 mmscmd.

Refineries, including that of Reliance, have been given 3.46 mmscmd, city gas projects 0.65 mmscmd and petrochemical plants the balance 1.92 mmscmd.

The priority sector allocation totals 47.59 mmscmd, leaving almost very little for steel plants, refineries and petrochemical units from current production, they said.

Senior Wipro executives flood job market with CVs

BANGALORE: A regime change is always an unsettling time for the troops. Wipro which last quarter named a new CEO and drastically altered the way it does business, is seeing a huge churn among its senior staff. By one reckoning almost a fifth of its 500 senior executives (in the 15 to 20 years experience category) have either quit or are looking for new jobs.

According to head-hunting and recruitment agencies, dozens of vertical /domain and business heads of Wipro have started floating their resumes to explore options outside the company.

A head-hunting firm in the city has received 52 job applications from Wipro employees in the 8-20 years of experience range in the last a month. Another recruitment firm has received 18 applications from senior Wipro execs with 8-15 years of work experience while yet another recruiter said his firm has received six exploratory calls from senior Wipro professionals in the last one week.

Some 40 people, including verticals/ business unit heads and general manager, have already quit the company in the past few weeks. That means, nearly 100 of the company's 500 senior exces have either quit or are looking at newer pastures. When contacted, a Wipro spokesperson declined to comment.

"There is an element of uncertainty and fear. Some pressure is mounting internally and heads are asked to show the money," said a leading IT recruiter.

Vedanta buys $1.5 bn stake in Cairn India: Reports

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Vedanta buys $1.5 bn stake in Cairn India: Reports

MUMBAI: India-focused miner Vedanta Plc bought an 11 per cent stake worth about $1.5 billion in Cairn India through block deals in the market, a source said, even as Vedanta faces a delay in its $9.6 billion acquisition of the energy firm.

Shares in Cairn India rose nearly 3 per cent on the news in a broader market down 0.2 per cent.

The source familiar with the matter said Vedanta bought the stake from Malaysia's national oil corporation Petronas

, which also sold its remaining nearly 4 per cent stake to some foreign portfolio investors.

Cairn Energy agreed in August to sell a majority stake in Cairn India to Vedanta, but the deal has been delayed due to a dispute over royalty payments by Cairn India's partner, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp .

Vedanta's share purchase in Cairn India will help it gain a majority stake in the company even if an open offer to buy additional shares in Cairn India from minority shareholders does not see a big response.

Vedanta's deal to buy Cairn's India assets, which would be the biggest deal in the Indian oil sector, is widely seen as a litmus test for foreign investment into India.

The source said Vedanta bought the 11 per cent stake at 331 rupees ($7.4) a share, a 1.6 per cent discount to Cairn India's closing prices on Monday.

Cairn India saw 283 million shares, or 14.9 per cent of the share capital, changing hands in block share market deals on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch represented Petronas in the deal.

Infosys, Wipro increase focus on verticals to overcome growth challenges

Restructuring is disruptive and takes away operational focus," says Kris Gopalakrishnan , CEO of Infosys Technologies , after a week of tumult that saw new and old questions being raised on the company's ability to stay ahead and settle leadership issues. So, if the software-services company is in the midst of its first organisational overhaul in four years, it must have very good reasons. There are.

The first is TCS, the only Indian software company running ahead of Infosys, and running further and further away from it with each passing quarter. The second is Cognizant, one of two companies behind it, and getting bigger and bigger in its mirrors. Gopalakrishnan sidesteps that bait, but senior Infoscians say those two peers provide a context for many internal conversations about growth.

In a sense, the restructuring journey that Infosys has embarked on is one that TCS and Cognizant started a few years ago. The basic premise was how best to compete in the market while keeping their huge employee base engaged. Every Indian software company, while doing business, has to deal with three dimensions-geographies, industries and service lines. And this is where the lines tend to cross-and affect business.

While Infosys kept things centralised and gave importance to all three fronts, TCS and Cognizant regrouped along industry lines, or verticals. TCS, for example, planned to create 23 business divisions, each with a CEO having a high degree of autonomy. Mini-corporations within a large corporation.

For the last seven to eight years, Infosys has been gradually increasing its focus on verticals. It's now taking it to its natural conclusion. "We are now applying this (verticalisation) to the entire company," says Gopalakrishnan. It's a line of thinking that its cross-town rival from Bangalore, Wipro, also embraced in January 2011, after a similar bout of disappointments on the business front threw a poser on how it was doing business.

Partha Iyengar, head of Gartner's India research, says the companies are responding to deeper market changes, but the transition to a more decentralised structure could be painful. "Not everyone is starting from the same point," he says. "I don't look at it as verticalisation, but as an effort to make the organisation more agile and responsive," says Sudin Apte, founder of outsourcing advisory firm Offshore Insights.

'One Wipro'

TK Kurien , new CEO of Wipro, likes to use a moniker to summarise what the software services company wants to transform itself into: One Wipro. It is meant to describe a physical state of being where the sprawling parts of its business are organised to run in the same direction, without crossing paths.

In the old structure, before January 2011, they didn't always. Take the way Wipro did business with a bank like Citibank. Three separate departments in Wipro-banking, sales and software testing-had mandates to sell business to the bank directly.

So, at any point in time, three different teams from Wipro would be making pitches at Citibank. Its banking vertical would be selling a banking software, the sales team might be making a pitching for the bank's back-office work, and its software testing division would be offerings its testing services.

Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy products

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc sued rival Samsung Electronics claiming that Samsung's Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablet "slavishly" copies the iPhone and iPad , according to court papers.

Galaxy products use Google's Android operating system, the lawsuit says, which directly competes with Apple's mobile software. However, Apple's claims against Samsung focus on Galaxy's design features, such as the look of its screen icons.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges Samsung violated Apple's patents and trademarks.

"This kind of blatant copying is wrong," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.

A Samsung representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

John Jackson, an analyst with CCS Insight, said Samsung is essentially Apple's only real tablet competitor at this stage.

"It's clear that they do not intend to let Apple run away with the category," Jackson said.

Apple is one participant in a web of litigation among phone makers and software firms over who owns the patents used in smartphones. For instance, Nokia has sued Apple, which in turn sued handset maker HTC Corp.

U.S. International Trade Commission staff, at a hearing on Monday, recommended that HTC and Nokia shouldn't be found liable for infringing Apple's patents relating to smartphones, Bloomberg reported.

ITC staff acts on behalf of the public and its recommendations aren't binding.

In its lawsuit against Samsung, Apple noted that earlier versions of Samsung smart phones did not embody the same combination of Apple's designs.

"Even the icons in earlier versions of the Samsung smart phones looked different because they had a variety of shapes -- and did not appear as a field of square icons with rounded corners," the lawsuit said.

Apple is bringing 16 claims against Samsung, including unjust enrichment, trademark infringement and 10 patent claims.

CVs of senior Wipro execs flood mkt

Almost a fifth of Wipro's 500 senior executives, in the 15 to 20-year experience category, have either quit or are looking for new jobs.

BANGALORE: A change in regime is always an unsettling time for the troops. Wipro, which last quarter named a new CEO and drastically altered the way it does business, is seeing a huge churn among its senior staff. By one reckoning, almost a fifth of its 500 senior executives (in the 15 to 20-year experience category) have either quit or are looking for new jobs.

According to head-hunting and recruitment agencies, dozens of vertical/domain and business heads of Wipro have started floating their resumes to explore options outside the company.

A head-hunting firm in the city has received 52 job applications from Wipro employees in the 8-20 years of experience range in the last a month. Another recruitment firm has received 18 applications from senior Wipro execs with 8-15 years of work experience while yet another recruiter said his firm has received six exploratory calls from senior Wipro professionals in the last one week.

Some 40 people, including verticals/business unit heads and general manager, have already quit the company in the past few weeks. That means, nearly 100 of the company's 500 senior execs have either quit or are looking at newer pastures. When contacted, a Wipro spokesperson declined to comment.

"There is an element of uncertainty and fear. Some pressure is mounting internally and heads are asked to show the money," said a leading IT recruiter in the city who has spoken to over a dozen senior Wipro execs recently.

The new CEO, T K Kurien, is currently conducting an internal review of the performance, roles and responsibilities of delivery heads, vertical heads and business units heads. Also Azim Premji, company chairman, has given Kurien is a "fixed mandate", which has left him with no flexibility", said a source.

The ongoing exercise means some executives getting bigger responsibilities, while for others it means moving to new roles and changing profiles. A third category of people would be asked to change or move out.

"So in today's context, when the company is under huge performance pressure, the thrust is not just on quality and timely delivery, but also on revenues and P&L," said an internal source.

Previously, Wipro used to prepare P&Ls for verticals, service lines as well as geographies, while now only verticals will be responsible for P&Ls. Vertical heads will now run their businesses as CEOs of strategic business units (SBUs) with full responsibility for their own profit and loss account. The company is attempting to create a leaner organization focused on fewer strategic bets. "This was done because the previous system increased complexity in decision-making and diluted responsibility and accountability," said the source.

"Such an organizational churn has never happened at Wipro before. Under the restructuring, goals are set so high, space is different and speed has increased. All these indicate times of change at Wipro. The company is looking at unleashing the optimum potential of every senior executive and derive additional value for clients. In the next six months, the DNA of Wipro is going to look very different," said the source.

Wipro, whose recent numbers have failed to enthuse the street and also its chairman by the looks of it, is attempting to create a sleek organization that can keep rivals like Cognizant and HCL at bay. Analysts expect that if Wipro and Cognizant maintain their current rates of growth, the latter will overtake Wipro in a few quarters to emerge the third largest IT firm by revenue. The current overhaul is to avoid that possibility.

Wipro has opened up a direct email communication link between Kurien and employees to facilitate interaction. Also, despite concerns of a massive exodus at the very top, Wipro is expected to report a sequential decline in attrition by 0.5-1% for the January-March quarter.

Sensex drops by 108 pts in volatile trading

Persistent selling by operators and investors in view of sustained capital outflows from foreign funds pulled down BSE benchmark Sensex by 108 points amid the bearish sentiment in Asia.

BSE Sensex fell by 107.95 points, or 0.57 per cent to 18,983.22 at 1015 hours from its overnight close. Similarly, NSE's 50-share index Nifty also moved down by 29.35 points, or 0.51 per cent to 5,699.75 at 1015 hours.

Asian stocks fell in the early trade after rating agency Standard & Poor's yesterday downgraded the US soverign rating outlook from stable to negative.

The key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by between 0.37 per cent to 1.88 per cent.

Kilvelur witnesses highest voter turnout at 91.89 percentage

Kilvelur, a reserved Assembly constituency in Nagapattinam district, has recorded the highest voter turnout in the State at 91.89 per cent .

Totally, 1.29 lakh persons in the constituency cast their votes in the Wednesday's Assembly elections, of whom 62,463 were men and 67,219 were women.

Kilvelur has set one more record, as it registered the maximum turnout of women voters —95.57 per cent.

In yet another way, this constituency is notable as Tirukuvalai, where Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi was born, forms part of Kilvelur.

Dairy Development Minister U. Mathivanan, who represents the Tiruvarur constituency in the outgoing House, is in the fray and his main rival is P. Mahalingam of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Second place

In terms of overall voter turnout, Kilvelur is followed by Veerapandi of Salem district, where 89.07 per cent polling was registered.

In total, 1.79 lakh voters exercised their franchise, of whom 91,839 were men and 87,633 women.

Here, the sitting MLA and Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam's son A. Rajendran is taking on former MLA and AIADMK nominee S.K. Selvam.

This constituency has a record to its credit with the maximum turnout of men voters – 89.44 per cent.

Third place

Kulithalai in Karur district comes third, where 88.66 per cent polling has been registered.

Represented by Mr. Karunanidhi during 1957-62, this constituency sees a contest between former Minister and AIADMK nominee Pappa Sundaram and R. Manickam of the DMK.

As regards constituencies having lesser turnout, Harbour in Chennai saw the minimum turnout of 63.65 per cent.

Killiyoor and Colachel of Kanyakumari district recorded 64.07 per cent and 64.13 per cent polling.

Tiruvarur

Tiruvarur, a constituency in which Mr. Karunanidhi is contesting for the first time, witnessed 82.13 per cent polling.

About 1.71 lakh persons had exercised their franchise, of whom men were 83,292, women – 88,633 and transgender – 2.

Srirangam

Srirangam, where AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa is in the fray, had recorded 80.95 per cent polling.

Totally, 1.78 lakh persons had voted, of whom men were 89,916, women – 88,951 and transgender – 1.

Rishivandiyam

In Rishivandiyam, where Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam founder Vijayakant is taking on the sitting MLA and Congress nominee S. Sivaraj, the voter turnout was 82.75 per cent with 74.32 per cent of men voters and 91.76 per cent of women voters exercising their franchise.

Around 1.71 lakh voters had cast their votes.

The constituencies, where sitting Ministers are contesting and which have witnessed higher turnout than the State average of 78.12 per cent are Kurinjipadi (86.38 per cent); Tiruchuli (83.91 per cent); Athoor (83.81 per cent); Aruppukottai (83.06 per cent); Villupuram (82.04 per cent); Madathukulam (81.22 per cent ) Tiruvannamalai (80.71 per cent), Alangulam (80.68 per cent) and Katpadi (80.14 per cent). M.R.K. Paneerselvam, Thangam Thennarasu, I. Periyasamy, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, K. Ponmudy, Vellakoil M.P. Saminathan, E.V. Velu, Poongothai and Durai Murugan are contesting from these constituencies respectively.

Senior AIADMK leaders, K.A. Sengottaiyan and O. Paneerselvam, are contesting from Gobichettypalayam and Bodinayackanur, where 83.29 per cent and 81.07 per cent poling have been registered. Aranthangi, through which former Minister and Congress nominee S. Thirunavukkarsar is seeking to enter the Assembly after a gap of 12 years, has registered 74.81 per cent.

Mettur

Mettur, where Pattali Makkal Katchi president G.K. Mani is in the fray, has recorded 79.46 per cent.

Dindigul, from where the CPI (M) legislature party leader in the outgoing Assembly K. Balabharathi is trying to secure one more term, has witnessed 76.61 per cent polling.

A total of 134 transgendered persons have voted, of whom Tiruchi district accounts for 29; Karur – 26; Chennai – 22, Tiruvallur – 19, Ramanathapuram – 10, Villupuram – 8, Salem – 6 Erode – 4, Nammakal – 3, Tiruvarur, Theni and Tirunelveli – 2 each and Cuddalore – 1.

Milk prices go up by Re.1 in twin cities

The Andhra Pradesh Diary Development Co-operative Federation Ltd has hiked the sale price of Toned Milk, Family Milk, Double Toned Milk, Cow Milk, and Diet Milk by Re. 1 for consumers of twin cities from Saturday, a press release said. For instance, the price of toned milk, which was Rs.26 per litre, will now be sold at Rs.27.

The increase in milk prices will be effective only on cash purchases and consumers who have already purchased milk cards for the month of April will continue to pay the old price till May 10.

All the existing prepaid institutions will be supplied at the old rates till April 30.

The pre-revised milk price printed on the pouch film will be continued with till stocks of old packaging film are exhausted.

The A.P. Dairy officials said that despite the rise in price, Vijaya Milk will remain the cheapest branded milk in twin cities.

Lucky draw

Starting from May 1, AP Dairy has announced a lucky draw scheme for customers who have purchased milk cards for the month of May.

Nearly 1,000 Vijaya gift hampers worth Rs.200 each will be given to 1,000 lucky consumers.

The winners will be selected by a computerised draw of lots and purchasers of bulk cards and institutions are excluded from the lucky draw, the release said.

Inflation rises to 8.98% in March; RBI may hike rates

NEW DELHI: India's headline inflation accelerated in March clouding the overall growth outlook for the economy and piling pressure on the Reserve Bank of India to tighten its monetary policy more aggressively.

The wholesale price index - the country's most watched price gauge - jumped to 8.98% from a year earlier as against 8.31% in February, data released on Friday showed. The government on Friday also revised upwards the inflation reading for January to 9.35% from 8.23%. This could have a bearing on the final reading for March, which may touch double digits.

The latest inflation figure forced Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to acknowledge that measures taken over the past few months to rein in prices have not yielded the desired results. "Inflation has not come under control as much as I had hoped," Ahluwalia said.

Stock prices fell while bond yields rose after the inflation data was released on expectations that the RBI will hike lending rates to squeeze liquidity from the economy. "This may make a case for a 50 basis points (bps) hike to send out a strong signal," said Abheek Barua , chief economist with HDFC Bank . The expectations earlier were that the RBI would raise rates by 25 bps in its May 3 review, in line with the eight similar increases since March 2010.
Damping Demand May Hit Growth

The bank will be particularly worried over the acceleration in core inflation and the higher revised reading for January. Core inflation, or the rate of price increase in non-food manufactured products, rose to 7.1% in March from 6.1% in the previous month.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile components of the index such as food and energy, is a general indicator of demand pressures in the economy. The attempt to dampen demand runs the risk of hurting industrial production growth, which had already slowed to 3.6% in February.

"We are definitely set for a slowdown in the near term," said Saugata Bhattacharya , senior economist and vicepresident of Axis Bank . The International Monetary Fund has pared down India's growth estimates for 2011 to 8.2% from 8.4% estimated earlier. Most analysts expect the country's economy to grow under 8.6%, the growth rate it is believed to have achieved in fiscal ended March 31.

"The upward surprise in core prices along with known increase in fuel inflation suggests that inflation will remain a key overhang for the economy in the near term," Tushar Poddar, chief India economist with Goldman Sachs, said in a recent note.

16 Apr, 2011, 02.16PM IST,Reuters Aditya Birla Group buys Kanoria Chemicals for Rs 830 crore

MUMBAI: Aditya Birla Group said on Saturday it had acquired a unit of local chemicals maker Kanoria Chemicals & Industries for Rs 830 crore ($187 million) in an all-cash deal.

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited , a unit of Aditya Birla Group, will buy the choro chemicals division of Kanoria Chemicals to boost its production capacity, the company said in a statement.

The transaction is expected to be completed by end of next month.

Markets pare gains as inflation, Infosys results dampen sentiments

MUMBAI;Benchmark indices of the Indian equities markets gave up intra-week gains after IT bellwether Infosys disappointed with its quarterly results and latest data showed inflation on the rise again.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), compared to its previous weekly close, slipped a tad to close Friday at 19,386.82 points, down 64.63 points or 0.33 percent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty also ended the week on a lacklustre note, closing almost unchanged at 5,842.55 points Friday.

Broader markets ended with moderate gains. The BSE midcap index closed 0.5 percent higher, while the BSE smallcap index moved up 0.41 percent.

The Infosys stock fell drastically Friday breaking its lower circuit barrier after the company reported a dip in earnings before interest, tax for the fourth quarter of 2010-11 on a sequential basis, and two of its senior executives -- Mohandas Pai and K Dinesh -- said they were quitting the firm amid rumours of dissent at the top.

Also inflation data released Friday showed a rise, with the index at 8.98 percent in March from 8.31 percent the month before, way above the target of 8 percent set by the Reserve Bank of India.

Major gainers on the Sensex for the week were: Hero Honda, up 8.6 percent at Rs.1,830.85; ITC, up 4.6 percent at Rs.191.40; Bharti Airtel, up 3.9 percent at Rs.372.15 and L&T, up 3.2 percent at Rs.1,727.70.

Major losers included DLF, down 9.4 percent at Rs.245.05; Infosys, down 7.9 percent at Rs.2,988.80; Jindal Steel, down 4.9 percent at Rs.672.95 and Wipro, down 4.9 percent at Rs.449.60.

Among other global bourses, Asian markets too ended the week in losses as fears of another rate hike by the Chinese central bank to contain inflation gained strength.

For the week, the Japanese Nikkei average closed 1.81 percent lower at 9,591.52 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.59 percent to 24,008.07 points.

However, China's Shanghai Composite moved down 0.68 percent at 3,050.53 points Friday.

US markets, which were depressed earlier in the week because of lower than expected corporate earnings closed Friday on a high. But on a weekly basis they still ended marginally in the red.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week 0.31 percent lower at 12,341.83 points.

The S&P 500 closed 0.64 percent lower at 1,319.68 points, while the technology heavy Nasdaq ended 0.57 percent lower at 2,764.65 points.

Among the European markets, Britain's FTSE rose fell 0.99 percent at 5,996.01 points and the German DAX closed 0.54 percent lower at 7,178.29 points Friday.

The French CAC 40 fell 2.15 percent to 3,974.48 points.

Mohandas Pai resigns from Infosys Headlines Today I

n a setback to IT giant Infosys, the company's director in-charge of human resource department Mohandas Pai has resigned from its board.

Mohandas Pai

His resignation comes into effect from June 11, 2011. According to sources, Pai had made his intentions clear sometime last year that he would not like to continue once N.R. Narayana Murthy leaves the organisation.

It was in this context that the proposal to make him the company's chief operating officer (COO) came up. According to sources, Pai had reservations about reporting to present COO S.D. Shibulal.

Murthy, the chairman and chief mentor of Infosys, retires in August 2011 and the company's board of directors are scheduled to meet on April 30 to finalise plans for its leadership thereafter.

Pai was prepared to report to Nilekani and Gopalkrishnan as chief executive officers (CEO) but not to Shibulal. The Infosys chief reacted with sorrow to the development.

"Mohan has been an early adopter and a keen anchor builder of Infosys. It is difficult to imagine Infosys without Mohan's passion, commitment, joie-de-vivre and intellect. We all know that he is taking this painful decision, since he has much bigger projects in the horizon. We thank Mohandas Pai for his wonderful contribution and wish him great success in his future endeavours," Murthy said in his farewell note.