Daily News Digest- 16th Dec'13

Thought of the Day:

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Following made the Headlines:

India:

• Ambanis in resQ Act for Electronic Goods: Reliance Retail has entered into a partnership with Samsung to manage its after-sales service, a precursor to the Mukesh Ambani-owned firm’s bigger plan to form similar alliances with almost all top electronic, computer and phone makers to become the country’s largest one-stop consumer electronics installation, maintenance and service venture. The deal between Samsung and Reliance resQ is the first such pact that the Indian company has signed, with a pilot having begun in Pune. Reliance resQ is envisaged as another of the group's big consumer facing businesses alongside retail and will play a crucial role when Reliance launches nationwide 4G mobile services, said a person aware of the plan. This is part of Reliance’s strategy of becoming the conduit for the vast range of service contracts a home needs — from electronic items, kitchen appliances to phones, computers and laptops, he said. “However, it will not be easy,” this person said. “It is a people-driven industry where Reliance has to constantly skill and re-skill technicians and keep them motivated,” he said. Nearly 2,000 people are already working at Reliance resQ and the company wants to raise the headcount to 10,000 in two years. Reliance is trying to emulate US electronics retail giant Best Buy’s Geek Squad that customers call for tech support and services irrespective of where they bought a product, said the person cited above. The company is in talks with the country’s largest white goods makers such as LG, Videocon and Godrej to provide after-sales service, according to two officials aware of the development. The resQ unit currently provides service back-up only for products sold through the group’s electronic retailing venture, Reliance Digital. It wants to extend this to all kinds of warranty and out-of-warranty support for products purchased from other retailers as well.

• Snapdeal to Own Payment Gateway: Following the footsteps of market leader Flipkart, online marketplace Snapdeal is launching its own payment gateway, report Biswarup Gooptu & Radhika P Nair from New Delhi & Bangalore. The service aims to simplify online transactions for consumers and may also be licensed to other e-commerce companies. The gateway will authorise credit card payments and process them securely through a user's bank account, and is expected to help wean Indians away from paying by cash for purchases made online. The gateway will incorporate analytics relating to the buyers’ specific choices, allowing them to complete transactions in a few quick steps.

• Bollywood fitness guru Kris Gethin to set up gym chain in India: Want abs like Hrithik Roshan, pecs like John Abraham and moves like Jagger? Okay, forget the last one but the first two could ostensibly be within reach of those keen on being as buff and willing to pay for it. Kris Gethin — celebrity personal trainer of Bollywood stars Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham, Ranveer Singh, Imran Khan and director producer Karan Johar — is planning a chain of fitness centres. Gethin Gyms is being launched with partners Neil Hill, another trainer, and Nick Orton, a former pharmaceutical industry executive. The three own Physique Elite, schools that train professional fitness trainers globally. This is the first market in which the trio will try out the concept of premium gyms. They plan to launch 80 of them, with an investment of 2 crore each, over four-five years across the country, mainly in the metros. “Today, the fitness market in India has two segments,” Orton told ET. “There are a few independent gyms, where professional trainers are working with a good training philosophy but have old equipment and lack resources. And there are some upmarket gyms, which stock latest equipment but are more of lifestyle statements. We want to bring the best of both worlds through our brand of gyms.” The Indian fitness and slimming industry, still at a nascent stage, is pegged at $780 million and is slated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 25% to $2.4 billion by 2015, according to Invest Shoppe Advisors, the business research arm of wealth management company Invest Shoppe. The industry is fragmented, dominated by a large number of neighbourhood gyms, apart from chains such as Fitness First, Gold’s Gym and Talwalkars. Gethin and his partners have used a three-step strategy to penetrate the Indian market. In his contracts with celebrities, Gethin bound them to endorse his brand if he delivered on his promise to change the way their bodies looked. “To build our brand in India, we had it built in most contracts with celebrities that they would create brand awareness if we delivered on our targets of fitness-related body transformations,” Orton said. “The idea was to first demonstrate the effectiveness of these customised fitness regimes through a set of role models.” It didn’t come cheap, for the stars that is. Gethin charged in the range of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 30 lakh per month for specialised personal fitness training for his first set of celebrity clients. 

• Times OOH Bags Advertising Rights for Mumbai Metro: Times Innovative Media (TIM), a subsidiary of Bennett Coleman & Co, has bagged the advertisement rights of Mumbai Metro One for 15 years. TIM operates its out-of-home media business under the brand, Times OOH. The contract includes various advertising options available at Mumbai Metro like station corridors, pillars, train wraps, train interiors, sponsorship opportunities and a state-of-the art digital network that will be installed by Times Innovative Media. Sunder Hemrajani, managing director, TIM said “Mumbai Metro Line I is an important project under the public private partnership. It will offer Mumbai citizens a comfortable, reliable and efficient transportation mode. Mumbai will see metro rail system for the first time which will offer state of the art coaches, and passenger convenience systems. We are delighted to be associated with this project as the overall media partner of Mumbai Metro to offer world class media solutions to marketers for engaging with their target segments. We look forward to this long-term association.” Times OOH first won the advertising rights at Mumbai and Delhi Airport in 2007, and went on to win the 20-year contract to manage advertising space in T3 terminal at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport in 2010 and an 11-year contract at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai in 2013.

• Govt to Launch ‘Netra’ for Internet Surveillance Soon: The government will shortly launch ‘Netra’, the defence ministry’s internet spy system that will be capable of detecting words like ‘attack’, ‘bomb’, ‘blast’ or ‘kill’ in a matter of seconds from reams of tweets, status updates, emails, instant messaging transcripts, internet calls, blogs and forums. The system will also be able to capture any dubious voice traffic passing through software such as Skype or Google Talk, says a telecom department note seen by ET.  “Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat are currently testing ‘Netra’, which will be deployed by all national security agencies,” the note says. “The specifications of the ‘Netra’ system can be taken as frozen following tests by the Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat, and can be considered for providing multiple user access to security agencies,” it adds. The ‘Netra’ internet surveillance system has been developed by Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), a lab under DRDO. To hasten its deployment, the home ministry will shortly approach DRDO to allocate additional manpower resources to Bangalore-based CAIR, which is also working with the government’s telecom technology arm, C-DoT to formalise a strategy for tracking internet use. The ‘Netra’ deployment strategy was recently discussed by an apex inter-ministerial group headed by DoT’s member (technology) and included top officials of the Cabinet Secretariat, home ministry, DRDO, CAIR, Intelligence Bureau, C-DoT and Computer Emergency Response Team.

• RIL to exit non-veg business: Reliance Industries has decided to pull down the shutters on its profitable non- vegetarian foods business. The venture spans 100 Reliance Delight stores that sell products like sea-food, chicken and mutton in fresh, chilled, frozen and ready-to-cook form. The group has also decided to stay away from any business that holds the non-vegetarian tag. “Echoing consumer sentiments, Reliance Retail has decided to discontinue its non-vegetarian food offering Delight with immediate effect,” said a source in the know of the development while acknowledging that orders to the effect came directly from group chairman Mukesh Ambani’s office. He described the decision as an “ethical” one. People of the Gujarati and Jain communities, who are vegetarians and form a large part of RIL’s investor base, had opposed its move to get into the chicken business when TOI front-paged a report on October 23 titled ‘Mukesh Ambani forays into chicken business, to take on KFC’. The move is in deference to the wishes of a large section of consumers, shareholders and investors who had requested Ambani to get out of the meat segment as it hurt their religious sentiments. The non-vegetarian foods business, said to be growing at a CAGR of 25-30%, is estimated to comprise 10% of the company’s total retail business and is also a profit-making venture. Given that Ambani himself is a strict vegetarian, it is a clear sign that business decisions cannot be separated from an individual’s dietary and lifestyle choices. RIL had earlier picked up a 45% equity stake in Two Sisters Foods India (TSFI), which belongs to 2 Sisters Food Group (2SFG). 2SFG, the third largest food company in the UK, supplies poultry, red meat, fish, and bakery and chilled/frozen products to the retail, food service and food manufacturing sectors. RIL was also planning to set up quick service restaurants (QSRs) named ‘Chicken came First’. 

• Snapdeal eyes listing on US bourses to raise funds: Eyeing to raise more funds to fuel its expansion, homegrown online marketplace Snapdeal is looking at listing on the US bourses in the next two years. "We are talking to our lawyers on how to go about this (overseas listing). We are looking at the US market as it is better exposed to investors and technology driven firms have received a good response there," Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl told PTI. Earlier this year, the government allowed unlisted Indian companies to raise capital overseas without prior or subsequent listing in India for an initial period for two years. Prior to this, unlisted companies were required to either list in the domestic market before or simultaneously while seeking to issue such overseas instruments. "Listing allows access to easy liquidity and one has the option of raising more money for growth. Staying unlisted, on the other hand, has its own benefits," Bahl said. Asked on the timeline, he said the company is discussing the prospects and aims to be listed in the next 12-24 months. "The provision is currently for two years itself. We do not know whether that will be extended or not. So, we plan to get the listing done in the next 12-24 months itself," he said. Other Indian companies listed on US bourses include MakeMyTrip, Infosys and Wipro among others.

• Garment exports to cross $40 billion in current fiscal: Prem Malik: The textile industry is confident of achieving good growth and exports to cross $40 billion in the current fiscal, Prem Malik, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, today said. Garment exports are rowing at around 16 per cent year-on- year and export of other textile products increasing by 11 to 13 per cent and entire textile exports expected to grow by 18 per cent year-on-year, Malik said. He was here to attend the eighth edition of 'TexFair 2013', a four-day Textile machinery, accessories and spares exhibition organised by Southern India Mills' Association. Stating that the European Union was the largest market for Indian textile exports, he said "there is going to be some impact, due to the EU decision to remove sops for Indian exports, and the level of acceleration in growth would be affected.""We have requested the government to take it up with EU (authorities)," he said, adding that the country has a competitive advantage in several product categories and has work systems that are more acceptable to customers. A Shaktivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council, who was also present at the event, said the volumes were growing and the per unit realisation is also increasing. Apparel exports increased 15.5 per cent year-on-year to $8.26 billion in April-Oct and the jump was even higher in rupee terms, he claimed. Even as the Textiles Ministry has set an ambitious target of $50 billion for textile exports in this fiscal as against $34 billion in 2012-13, India can achieve faster exports growth as China was increasingly becoming expensive and Bangladesh facing a host of problems, especially in complying with benchmarks set by buyers, Malik said.

International:

• Google Removes Privacy Feature from Android: Google Inc has removed an experimental privacy feature from its Android mobile software that had allowed users to block apps from collecting personal information such as address book data and a user’s location. The change means that owners of smartphones using Android 4.4.2, the latest version of the popular operating system for mobile devices released this week, must provide access to their personal data in order to use certain apps. A company spokesman said the feature had been included by accident in Android 4.3., the version released last year.

• Peter O’ Toole, star of Lawrence of Arabia, dead: Peter O’Toole, an Irish bookmaker’s son with a hell-raising streak whose magnetic performance in the 1962 epic film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ earned him overnight fame and put him on the road to becoming one of his generation’s most accomplished and charismatic actors, died on Saturday. He was 81. A blond, blue-eyed six-footer, O’Toole had the dashing good looks and spirits befitting a leading man, and he did not disappoint in ‘Lawrence’, David Lean’s homage to T E Lawrence, the daring British soldier and adventurer who led an Arab rebellion against the Turks in the Middle East during World War I. The performance had brought O’Toole the first of eight Academy Award nominations, a flood of film offers and a string of artistic successes in the 1960s and early ‘70s. In the theatre — he was a classically trained actor — he played an anguished, angular tramp in Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’ and a memorably battered title character in Chekhov’s ‘Uncle Vanya.’ In film, he twice played a robust King Henry II, first opposite Richard Burton in ‘Becket,’ then with Katharine Hepburn as his queen in ‘The Lion in Winter.’ Both earned Oscar nominations for Best Actor, as did his repressed, decaying schoolmaster in ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ and the crazed 14th Earl of Gurney in ‘The Ruling Class.’ His carousing became legend in the 1970s. As he himself said, he had long been “happy to grasp the hand of misfortune, dissipation, riotous living and violence,” counting Burton, Richard Harris, Robert Shaw, Francis Bacon and Peter Finch among his drinking companions. He lost much of his ‘Lawrence’ earnings in two nights with Omar Sharif at casinos in Beirut and Casablanca. He was nothing if not ambitious, but success would come on his own terms, not the movie industry’s. He had made that plain at 18, when an acting career was already in his mind. He made a promise to himself, “I will not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony. I do not crave security. I wish to hazard my soul to opportunity.”

• Milan Signs Vittoria Emanuele Deals: Milan’s municipality has signed agreements with Gianni Versace, Prada and Feltrinelli for the revamp of the city’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade, city representatives said Friday. In particular, Versace, which will open a flagship store in the 2,775-square-foot space currently occupied by high-end silverware and tableware vendor Argenteria Bernasconi, will invest 1,500 million euros, or about $2.1 million, to finance 50 percent of the works for the cleaning and conservation of the Galleria. The remaining 50 percent will be paid by Prada and Feltrinelli. The latter will close its current Ricordi Media Store to open a revamped unit under the Feltrinelli brand. This store will be smaller that the existing space because Prada will expand its presence in the Galleria to incorporate two windows of the adjacent Ricordi Media Store, along with its mezzanine floor. These areas will be next to the new Prada men's store and will host Fondazione Prada’s exposition space, which will be accessible from inside the Galleria. “Versace has an indissoluble link with beauty, art and culture. That’s why we immediately seized the opportunity to work in collaboration with the Milan municipality, the city’s superintendence and another company representative of Made in Italy excellence,” said Gianni Versace chief executive officer Gian Giacomo Ferraris. “We are proud to decisively contribute to the restoration of such an important historical and architectural monument as the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, also, but not only, in relation to a major event such as EXPO 2015.”  In addition, the Milan municipality announced it will double the annual rent for the spaces occupied by Versace and Prada, which will pay 723,182 euros, $992,4085, and 928,930 euros, or about $1.275 million, a year, respectively. 

• Bitcoin start-up raises $25m venture capital funding: Coinbase, a start-up that lets people trade Bitcoins, has raised $25m (£15m) in venture capital funding - the largest by a Bitcoin start-up. Bitcoin, a virtual currency, has been attracting a lot of interest and its value surpassed $1,000 recently. Backers of the currency, which is not controlled by regulators, have been pushing for its increased usage. Coinbase said it will use the funding to "educate the market, and promote the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin". "We are nearing a tipping point for broad adoption of Bitcoin - what we at Coinbase believe to be one of the most important shifts in the global economy in our lifetime," the firm said in a blogpost.

• Ex-president Michelle Bachelet wins Chile poll run-off: Left-wing candidate Michelle Bachelet has been elected Chilean president for a second time, defeating her run-off rival by a wide margin. With nearly 90% of the vote counted, Ms Bachelet had 62% to 38% for Evelyn Matthei, a former minister from the ruling centre-right coalition. Ms Bachelet first served as president in 2006-10, after which she was obliged by electoral laws to stand down. She narrowly missed out on outright victory in the first round last month. "I am happy with the result and victory and I shall be a president for everyone in Chile," Ms Bachelet, 62, said as she received a congratulatory telephone call from outgoing President Sebastian Pinera, according to Reuters. Ms Bachelet is now set to become the first leader in Chile to serve two terms since the military rule of Gen Augusto Pinochet in 1973 to 1990. Upon hearing the news, her supporters have been celebrating on the streets by waving flags and sounding car horns in the capital Santiago. "It is clear at this point. She won. And we congratulate her. Later on, I will go speak with her personally," Ms Matthei, 60, told reporters. Official results of Sunday's run-off are expected soon. Turnout appears to have been lower than expected.