Daily News Digest- 3rd Sept'14

Thought of the Day:

Today in History:

Following made the Headlines:

India:

• The Indian Drumroll Begins: Stocks rose and the Sensex recorded its fourth-fastest 1,000-point gain in six years as it drove past the 27,000 mark on Tuesday for the first time. Cheerful economic data in last week's higher GDP growth and a better than-expected balance of payments report on Monday helped investors push prices higher. But some experts warned the pace of foreign fund flows could slow and valuation concerns reared their heads again after the landmark. ITC, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and Infosys contributed the most to Sensex's climb from 26,000 in July underscoring investors' dependence on select blue chips that have been able to buck the broader economic weakness. Foreign funds bought shares worth 673 crore on Tuesday taking this year's buys past 78,400 crore. Offshore funds have invested more in the first eight months of 2014 than the comparable period in 2012 and 2013, but experts believe a slowdown could be possible if valuations continue to rise. Valuations for the Sensex at 16.6 times estimated earnings in the coming year are marginally above long-term averages, said Ravi Sundar Muthukrishnan, co-head (research), at ICICI Securities. “The incremental news flow on the economy front has been positive which is giving investors a reason to push up the market,“ said UR Bhat, managing director, Dalton Capital India. “But the pace of upsides will be slow with the market at dizzying heights.“ The Sensex climbed 151.84 points, or 0.57%, to close at 27,019.39, off an all-time high of 27,082.85. The Nifty, which crossed 8,000 on Monday, climbed 55.35 points, or 0.69%, to 8,083.05 after briefly crossing 8,100. Shares of cement makers, including UltraTech and Grasim, led gains after top brokerages -including Goldman Sachs and CLSA -turned bullish on the sector after better-than-expected July production. The biggest gainers included Coromandel, which rose 9.91% to 288. Cipla climbed 5.23% to 557. Hero MotoCorp rose 1.54% to 2801.65.

• Achhe Din Here For Apple: For the first time Apple has sold more than a million iPhones in a single year* in India, a major milestone for a company that wasn't serious about the South Asian market until a couple of years ago. The top-selling model was iPhone 5S, the costliest iteration, which accounted for 45% of all sales. Better marketing, and buyback and easy payment plans seem to have worked in Apple's favour. August was the best month, though analysts said it was because of distributors' strategy of pushing older models at cheaper price points ahead of the global launch of iPhone 6 on September 9.

• SC Refuses Mallya’s Plea Against UBI: The Supreme Court has refused to accede to Vijay Mallya’s plea to strike down state-run United Bank of India’s (UBI) decision to declare him a wilful defaulter, dealing a blow to the former liquor baron who has been fending off banks from recovering money they once lent to his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. A two-judge bench of the top court on Tuesday summarily waived off Kingfisher’s objections that its chairman Mallya was declared a “wilful defaulter” by the United Bank of India’s Grievance Redressal Committee without his lawyer being heard during the proceedings. The bench, comprising Justices AR Dave and UU Lalit said the objections were now of no consequence as the order declaring him a wilful defaulter had already been passed. The company could, however, challenge the declaration in appropriate proceedings, the court hinted. Kingfisher’s lawyer Parag Tripathi said the company was facing financial problems, but wasn’t by any stretch a wilful defaulter. “Where is the diversion of funds?” he asked, adding that the company was unable to pay its debts but hadn’t wilfully defaulted. He said UBI had declared Mallya a wilful defaulter, ignoring precedents set in the case of other banks such as Punjab National Bank and Corporation Bank, which allowed the company to be defended by a lawyer of its own choice against the charges. In this case, Mallya’s lawyers say, he was given 72 hours to defend himself without any legal representation. “I am entitled to be represented by a counsel. Otherwise, it is a violation of the principles of natural justice,” Tripathi argued, adding that there were severe penal consequences attached to being declared a wilful defaulter. Mallya is the first prominent businessman to be declared a wilful defaulter by a bank and such a tag could prevent him from holding directorships in companies, render his assets vulnerable to seizure by banks and the recall of business or personal loans taken by him. Mallya’s lead counsel, noted lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also tried to draw a distinction between a defaulter and a wilful defaulter. “I have been blacklisted. I can’t take any loan. There is a complete ostracism by the financial markets,” Singhvi said, accusing United Bank of India of “unnatural conduct” by a public entity. “Do banks function like this? They are painting him (Mallya) black.” However, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for UBI, contested these arguments. “Where is the vested right to a lawyer? He chose not to appear before the committee,” he said, and accused the company of diverting public funds, not paying salaries and taxes. After hearing both sides, the court dismissed Kingfisher’s objections as “infructuous”, noting the order declaring Mallya had already been passed. It, however, left it open to Kingfisher to move any court against the redressal committee’s order. Mallya or Kingfisher will need to move a High Court to strike down the order.

• India Inc Moving Slow on Women Directors: More than half the listed companies in the country have yet to comply with Sebi’s mandate to have at least one woman director by October 1. This means India Inc needs to appoint an average of 25 women to company boards every day this month. According to an estimate by PRIME Database, 755 out of a total 1,469 companies listed on the NSE, or 51%, did not have a woman director as on August 31. The Sebi mandate was announced in February. Since then, so far 244 companies that did not have a woman on board earlier have appointed female directors, PRIME Database said in a press release. These firms have appointed 242 women to 251 directorship positions. Pranav Haldea, managing director at PRIME Database, said 220 of these women are first-time appointees to the board of a listed company. At least 45 of these 251 directorship positions, or nearly one-fifth, have been filled by women belonging to the promoter group. Another 69 positions are non-independent directors, leaving only 137 independent women directors, the release said. Overall, after the Sebi guidelines were announced, 264 companies have appointed 264 women to 274 directorship positions. Out of these, 20 companies already had women on their boards, Haldea said. PRIME Database operates indianboards.com, a joint initiative with NSE to track company boards. As per indianboards.com, across all NSE-listed companies, there are 696 women currently occupying 830 directorship positions. Of these, 428 women hold 463 non-independent directorship positions, while 290 women collectively occupy 367 independent directorship positions. Thus, if the requirement was for boards to have independent women directors, as many as 1,121 firms would have needed to meet the norms.

• BSNL and MTNL to be Merged by July Next Year: The telecom department (DoT) has for the first time set a cutoff date--July 31, 2015--for concluding the much discussed merger of struggling state-run telecom companies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. In a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seen by ET, DoT said it expects to “secure Cabinet approval for the proposed BSNL-MTNL merger by June 30 next year“. Towards this, it plans to wrap up merger consultations with the unions of BSNL and MTNL by March 31, 2015, and circulate a draft Cabinet note for inter-ministerial consultations by April 30 next year. MTNL runs telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai while BSNL offers telecom coverage in the rest of India. In the run-up to the proposed merger, DoT has set additional deadlines for concluding pending organisational restructuring initiatives in both the telcos. For instance, it has set a December 31, 2014, deadline for hiving off BSNL's mobile towers into a wholly-owned arm and also monetising BSNL and MTNL's property holdings to unlock value for their survival, the minutes of DoT's presentation show. BSNL has 61,622 mobile towers, the second largest tower portfolio among all telcos. A sizeable chunk of its tower assets are colocated with landline exchanges to meet business needs. BSNL is also the holder of one of the largest land banks among state-owned firms with properties reckoned to be running into thousands of crores of rupees across 3,500 towns. It had recently said it hoped to raise nearly 500 crore in the first year from leasing parts of its land holdings and would also offer its telecom factories to contract manufacturers to generate cash in its bid to contain losses. While BSNL is yet to do a valuation of its countrywide property holdings, MTNL's land and building assets are pegged above 3,000 crore, according to a senior company executive.

• Air India on Right Path to Turn Profitable by FY17: Seven years after the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India was announced, the national carrier drew some criticism last week for celebrating Air India day' on August 27 ¬ the day in 2007 when the merger process formally began. The criticism was over alleged waste of a large amount of money when the airline is bleeding -a charge the management has vehemently denied. While the issue is still being debated in the media, a look at Air India's progress in the last two years shows that the airline has surely done some things right. Air India continues to operate under losses and ended FY14 with net losses, but it reported EBIDTA positive for the second consecutive fiscal in FY14 at over 700 crore, a significant increase from `19 crore in the previous fiscal. That means the airline is on the right path to achieve its target of becoming fully operationally profitable by FY17.

• China to invest over $5bn in 2 biz parks in Maharashtra, Gujarat: A day after Japan announced investments to the tune of $35 billion in India, China has said that it would set up two industrial parks--one each in Maharashtra and Gujarat involving investments in excess of $5 billion. China would invest $5 billion in the industrial park in Pune alone, which would focus on automobile manufacturing, in phases over the next decade. The agreement on setting up industrial parks would be signed when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits India later this month, said the Chinese Consul-General in Mumbai, Liu Youfa. While the Pune park would have an area of about 6 sq km, the park that would come up near Ahmedabad in Gujarat would encompass an area of around 10 sq km and would require investments in excess of $1 billion. The Ahmedabad park would focus on power transmission and generation equipment manufacturing, Youfa, who was in the city to participate in a programme organized by the Southern India Mills' Association, said. The first phase of the Pune park, which would be completed in three years, would see investments to the tune of $500 million, he said. “It (the park) would be a smart city. It would have banks, hotels, schools, recreational centres and all facilities,“ Youfa said. The Pune park would ultimately employ 1 lakh persons and generate billions of dollars in revenues, he said. The park would have 15 companies and a bulk of the investments would come from Chinese firms, the Consul-General said. China is seeking to prop up its investments in India, which remains paltry due to a host of issues. Direct investments by Chinese firms amounted to just $1 billion compared to around $4 billion invested by Indian companies in China, Youfa stated. China has made investments to the tune of $750 billion across the world. “Excessive security (screening) has killed efforts to increase Chinese investments (into India). Your (Indian) government has been setting up tall barriers,“ he rued.

• Samsonite to focus on Latin America, says next CEO Ramesh Tainwala: In 1981, luggage maker VIP Industries rejected a management trainee job applicant, something quite routine for Asia's largest luggage maker. But three decades on, VIP has to fight to protect its market share against a company headed by that very individual. Ramesh Tainwala, the rejected candidate 33 years ago will take over as the chief executive officer of Samsonite, the world's largest travel luggage company, on October 1. Samsonite's global turnover is 12 times larger than VIP's, and in India it equals the latter's net sales. "When I got rejected, it made me more curious about the industry. It was like when a child is denied an ice cream and he craves for it," Tainwala told ET in his first interview after Samsonite announced his promotion as global chief last week. However, Latin America and not India will be the immediate focus of Tainwala, 55, whose mandate once he takes the reins is to more than double the US multinational's revenues to $5 billion by 2020 from $2.1 billion now with an operating profit of 20%. "Brazil is ten times smaller than the Indian business. We need to change that especially by using India specific learnings," he said. The BITS Pilani post graduate admits that a lot of what he has learnt about consumer behavior comes from Bollywood. "Movies predict human behavior both at the emotional as well as rational level," says this self-confessed movie buff who claims to watch more than a dozen movies every week, and more when he hops on a long-distance flight. Tainwala plans to infuse more bright colours in Samsonite's merchandise assortment after noticing that leading film actors are now embracing such colours comfortably onscreen. Born to a hardware shop owner at Pandra village near Ranchi, Jharkhand, Tainwala's modest upbringing mirrors his lifestyle the multi-millionaire drives a no-frills Maruti Swift while in Mumbai and uses public transportation when he is in his adopted home, Hong Kong.

• Godrej Consumer Products expects Rs 150 crore revenue from Cinthol Confidence: Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) is expecting a revenue of Rs 150 crore from its newly-launched health soap Cinthol Confidence over the next two years. "The total market size in the health soap segment is currently around Rs 3,000 crore and we are looking at capturing 5 per cent of it over next two years," company's Chief operating officer Sunil Kataria told PTI. The two major brands in this space are Lifebuoy from HUL and Dettol from Reckitt Benckiser. "We are targeting the 18-35 age group for this product which was launched by our company a fortnight ago," he said. At present Cinthol Confidence is available in 100 gram packs, but the company has plans to launch smaller sizes too, he said. The company is also eyeing bigger space on the protect range segment too. "It was around two weeks ago that we launched a premium-end brand Godrej Protect which is aimed at providing delightful protection across categories," he said. Some of the products which have been launched by the company under the range include hand sanitiser and personal mosquito repellent in spray format. "The company has already launched five such products and we are planning to launch more in the days to come," he said. The market size of the segment is Rs 700 crore, he said.

• Child's Play: Brands cash in on Mickey Mouse, Angry Birds, Chhota Bheem merchandise: The confectionary giant Parle Products had to create excitement for its Milk Shakti cream biscuits basis a valuable consumer insight. Typically regular cream biscuits though liked by the kids are resisted by the mothers who are the gatekeepers on the kids eating habits, and on the other hand the dogood biscuits are something that the kids do not take to easily, according to Mayank Shah, group product manager, Parle Products. The solution came from the iconic characters Tom & Jerry who were licensed and imprinted on the biscuits before they were baked. The characters helped the kids relate to it even while keeping the mom happy. Its success has already made the brand launch another variant - this time a twin cream offering in chocolate and strawberry flavours continuing with the character imprint. In its pursuit of strengthening its portfolio in the kids segment in India, the lighting division of the Dutch major Philips decided to take the character route by launching Disney-themed LED lighting products. Hero Cycles, a leading player in the kids cycle category with over 30 per cent share, was convinced about the potential of this segment, more than any other. Earlier this year they launched the range of branded bicycles: Mini Mouse and Princess for girls and Mickey Mouse, Spiderman and Cars for boys, amongst others. "The characters work very well for the kids by increasing their preference since it is akin to owning the character" shares Rajesh Gulati, president, corporate strategy and planning, Hero Cycles. With this offering, the brand is looking at a completely new segment, the gifting market, in a big way. The new range is currently selling 5000 units a month and plans are to clock 100,000 pieces by March 2015. These and many other brands in India have started to look at character licensing keenly in a bid to increase sales as well as create a favourable disposition for their brand in a cluttered market.

• Japanese retailer Muji considering India entry: Report: Japanese household and consumer products retailer Muji plans to enter India next year, a newspaper report said. Tokyo-based Muji plans to forge a joint venture in India next fiscal year and open its stores in major Indian cities by 2016, the Japan Times reported, citing sources it didn't name. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently visiting Japan, seeking to improve bilateral ties and attract investment. Tokyo on Monday pledged investment of more than $35 billion in India in a wide spectrum of projects over five years. Another Japanese giant, Fast Retailing Co that operates the Uniqlo fashion apparel stores, has been exploring possibilities to enter India for years. Uniqlo's head met Modi on his current tour of Japan. Muji operates stores in the US, Europe, China and in Southeast Asian countries.

International:

• Abercrombie & Fitch to Improve Corporate Governance: Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s board has settled a lawsuit filed by a Florida pension plan under which the retailer will be required to beef up its corporate governance policies. Abercrombie’s board denied any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still has to be approved by a federal district court in Ohio. The terms of the settlement call for the appointment of a chief ethics and compliance officer. In addition, executive pay will be more closely tied to performance. Executives at Abercrombie declined comment Tuesday. The issue of corporate governance was a point of contention by activist investor Engaged Capital, a hedge fund. Engaged’s discussions with Abercrombie’s board led to the addition of four new independent directors earlier this year. Separately, the teen retailer also divided the roles of chairman and chief executive officer. Former Sears, Roebuck & Co. chairman and ceo Arthur Martinez became non-executive chairman, with Michael Jeffries retaining the ceo post. The settlement on Friday came shortly after the lawsuit was filed on the same day by Florida pension plan City of Plantation Police Officers’ Employees’ Retirement System. The lawsuit sought a closer tie-in between executive compensation and performance, as well as limitations of access to non-public data by third parties. It had alleged that Jeffries allowed certain privileges to his life partner, who is not an employee of the company. While a settlement so soon after a lawsuit is filed is not the norm, it does avoid what could have been a protracted and costly litigation.

• World Economic Forum: UK moves up global economic list: The UK has edged up the global rankings in a major annual economic survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Its Global Competitiveness Report sees the UK rise one spot to ninth on the list, while Switzerland and Singapore retain first and second place. The US improved its competitiveness position for the second consecutive year, climbing two places to third. But the WEF warns that the global economy's health is at risk, despite years of monetary stimulus and reforms. Each year, the WEF, best known for its annual Davos economic meeting, benchmarks countries against 12 factors, including infrastructure, education and training, labour market efficiency, technological readiness and innovation. The aim is to produce a comparative picture of what is driving competitiveness, productivity, and prosperity in 144 countries. The UK wins plaudits for adopting technology to enhance productivity, and for its general business environment. Finland (4th) and Germany (5th) both drop one place.

• Uber banned in Germany by Frankfurt court: Car pick-up service Uber has been banned across Germany. A court in Frankfurt ruled that the firm lacked the necessary legal permits to operate under German law. It has emerged that the firm was told last week that its "low-cost" UberPop service could no longer take passengers and faced a fine if it continued. But an Uber spokesman said it had decided not to suspend the service, adding that the ban was not enforceable while an appeal process was ongoing. "Germany is one of the fastest growing markets for Uber in Europe," he said. "We will continue to operate in Germany and will appeal the recent lawsuit filed by Taxi Deutschland in Frankfurt. "You cannot put the brakes on progress. Uber will continue its operations and will offer UberPop ridesharing services via its app throughout Germany." A check of the firm's software confirms that drivers continue to offer UberPop pick-ups in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.

• Nanjing Cenbest Completes House of Fraser Acquisition: Nanjing Cenbest, also known as Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group, said Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of 89 percent of the U.K. department store group House of Fraser, at an enterprise value of around 480 million pounds, or $797 million, comprising the firm's equity and debt. The deal was originally revealed in April. House of Fraser's executive chairman Don McCarthy, who said in April that he would stand down from the role when the acquisition was completed, said that his move was also effective Tuesday. McCarthy commented that the completion of the deal “will move House of Fraser to the next stage of its development as a leading international, multi-channel retail group with a premium fashion offering.” Yuan Yafei, chairman of Sanpower Group, added that the acquisition was “an unprecedented transaction and the largest acquisition of a foreign retailer by a Chinese listed company,” he said. “We are looking forward to bringing international brands to China through House of Fraser [and]….we are extremely confident House of Fraser will become a leading global department store and will serve as a bridge for premium brands between China and Europe.” House of Fraser noted that the remaining 11 percent shareholding in the business is held by West Coast Capital Limited, a subsidiary of the Sports Direct Group, which is owned by Mike Ashley. The shareholding doesn’t give Ashley the right to a board position, as reported when retail entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter originally transferred the shareholding to Ashley earlier this year. Nanjing Cenbest had offered to acquire the shareholding under the same terms as the rest of the acquisition, the company said, but no agreement was finalized.

• Castanea Partners Invests in Aurora Brands: Castanea Partners has taken a majority stake in Aurora Brands, the owner of Jay Strongwater and MacKenzie-Childs. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This investment marks the first for Ron Frasch, who, in February, became chief operating officer of Castanea and now will join Aurora Brands’ board. The former president and chief merchandising officer at Saks Fifth Avenue was hired to assist Brian Knez and Rob Smith, the founders of Castanea, in identifying new investment opportunities. Frasch’s focus is on the luxury space, which includes apparel, accessories, footwear and jewelry. Castanea will partner with the Aurora Brands management team, led by Lee Feldman and Howard Cohen. As partners in Twin Lakes Capital, they led the acquisition of MacKenzie-Childs, a home furnishings and personal accessories brand, in 2008, and Jay Strongwater, a home and personal accessories brand, in 2011; they have driven significant growth in both brands. “The principals [of Castanea] have a long history of building great brands,” said Feldman. “We’ve experienced very dramatic growth [since acquiring both brands], and we really feel there’s a lot of growth ahead of us.” He noted that, in order to reach their goals, Castanea was the right partner. He declined to reveal both brands’ current sales volume, although MacKenzie-Childs is the larger of the two.

• Dollar General Raises Offer for Family Dollar: Dollar General Corp isn't going away. In the latest chapter in the dollar store wars, Dollar General has increased its bid to acquire Family Dollar Stores in a transaction valued at $9.1 billion, or $80.00 a share. The company has also sweetened the deal by changing the terms of other components of the offer. In a letter to Family Dollar's board, Rick Dreiling, Dollar General's chairman and chief executive officer, said the company is willing to shed up to 1,500 stores if required by federal regulators. It also is willing to pay Family Dollar $500 million in a reverse break-up fee in the event it can't close on the transaction due to antitrust issues. Earlier this month, Family Dollar rejected Dollar General's $78.50 a share offer, or a deal valued at $8.5 billion. That offer also includes the closure of up to 700 stores to satisfy antitrust concerns. Family Dollar said earlier this month that it was staying with its July agreement to be acquired by Dollar Tree Inc at $74.50 a share. Dollar General said Family Dollar's antitrust analysis is based on a grocery store combination, which leads to a different conclusion since those are "destination" or "stock-up" trips and often have local pricing zones. Dollar General said the better comparison is Walmart stores, whose consumers head there for "fill-in" trips. Prices, the dollar store said, are set differently and there are more national brands carried by both nameplates.

• Erdem Moralioglu Planning First Standalone Store: Designer Erdem Moralioglu plans to open his first standalone store, in London in the spring. The new unit will be located on South Audley Street in Mayfair, not far from Marc by Marc Jacobs, Rick Owens and Thomas Goode, and a few steps away from Mount Street. The store is set to open at the end of March, and will showcase the spring 2015 Erdem collection, which will debut on the London Fashion Week runways in September. The opening will also mark the 10-year anniversary of the Erdem label. The new space will span two levels and the interiors will be designed by P. Joseph, an architecture and design practice based in London. Moralioglu said London was a natural choice: “It is where I am based, and where I trained to do what I do,” the designer, who studied at the Royal College of Art, told WWD. “I love the space, and it’s such an exciting first step.” Moralioglu joins designers Christopher Kane and Victoria Beckham, whose standalone stores are set to open soon in Mayfair. Earlier this year, names such as Roksanda and Celine both opened shops on Mount Street, while Anya Hindmarch opened a temporary summer unit there.

Tech:

• Xiaomi Sells 40,000 Redmi 1S Units in 4.2 Sec on Flipkart: Xiaomi has sold in 4.2 seconds all of its units of the entry-level Redmi 1S smartphone which were offered through a flash sale on Flipkart on Tuesday, continuing a trend that was seen during similar sales for its popular Mi3 device. However, the delivery time to consumers of Redmi 1S, priced at 5,999, is now much longer than what it was for the Mi 3. Flipkart's Redmi 1S page showed that the smartphone will be delivered in 10-12 days, while the Mi3 was being delivered the next day. When asked if Xiaomi was facing a supply crunch with Redmi 1S in the country, the company's India head of operations Manu Jain told ET that there was no such issue. “The delivery is being delayed because the company is getting certain freebies such as micro SIM adapter and screen protector from China, which it will ship with the device.“ Jain said that co-ordination was taking time since freebies come via a different route and devices from another route, leading to delayed delivery time. “There's a huge pressure on Xiaomi for not meeting the demand in the country, leaving potential buyers unhappy. By offering such freebies, they are trying to fill the trust deficit, which has been created due to lack of supply,“ said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst-mobile devices and ecosystem at Counterpoint Research. Over 2,50,000 people had registered for the first flash sale of the entry-level Xiaomi device, which had led to the sell off within seconds. Pathak said that Xiaomi recently became the leading smartphone vendor in China in the second quarter, with its shipments exceeding Samsung for the first time, which means they have the capability to meet the demand in India as well. “This seems a well-planned marketing strategy for putting limited devices on sale.“

• Samsung Likely to Bring Smart Home Products to India Next Year: Korean electronics major Samsung is looking to tap the Indian home automation space, and will make product-related announcements early next year, a top official of the company said. “Internet of Things (IoT) is the next big thing. Globally, we have already announced a couple of acquisitions on the Smart Home's side. We will make announcements on the Smart Home side early next year,“ Tarun Malik, director, media solutions centre, South West Asia, Samsung Electronics, told ET. A home equipped with lighting, heating and electronic devices apart from others that can be controlled remotely by a smartphone or a computer is generally described as a Smart Home. Samsung has already launched its Smart Home service in the US and Korean market a few months back. “A little bit of Samsung is in everyone's house, be it in the form of a refrigerator, TV or air conditioner. We are poised in the society wherein we can play a more compelling role because of our products and technology,“ Malik said. He added that the driver of Smart Home services in the country will be the basic concept of convergence of all the devices, which can be connected. “We would be able to control all the appliance and devices from a particular control and that would be a game changer. It would be more contextual and mobile.” According to Allied Market Research, the home automation market globally is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.5% from 2013 to 2020, with Asia Pacific the fastest growing market with nearly 38% CAGR. India’s home automation market is likely to be driven through applications on security, lighting and energy management. In order to further strengthen its Smart Home business and push the ecosystem, Samsung, last month, acquired SmartThings and US air conditioner distributor Quietside.

• eBay for loans: Meet the platform which enable peer-to-peer lending: A bank deposit will earn you at most about 9% now. If you go to a bank for a personal loan, it will charge you between 16% and 20%. Imagine if you could get rid of the bank and directly lend to those in need. You could potentially arrive at a rate like 13%, which is hugely beneficial to both lender and borrower. Faircent and i-lend are technology platforms that enable such peer-to-peer lending. Faircent, which became operational three months ago, is founded by three professionals Rajat Gandhi, who was part of the early founding team of Indiatimes, Vinay Mathews, who held major responsibilities at Timesjobs and Sify Technologies, and Nitin Gupta, who served as CEO of MasterCard (South Asia). i-lend, which became operational last year, is founded by VVSSB Shankar and Niti Gupta, both previously with TVS Electronics, and Gaurav Chopra, who worked with Capital One Bank in Europe. "Banks don't give a fair rate of interest. That whole system is opaque. Our platform allows you to bid for a rate, and is very transparent. We are the eBay for loans," says Gandhi. In the US, the most popular peer-to-peer lending platform is Lending Club, which is in the process of going for an IPO. Founded in 2006, it last year had revenue of $98 million and its most recent private-company valuation stood at $3.8 billion. Google invested $125 million last year for a 5% stake. As of June 30, loans worth over $5 billion were funded through it. In India, most such ventures, including Microgram and Milaap, have focused on raising money from high networth individuals to finance those at the lower end of the income ladder. Faircent and i-lend, on the other hand, are like auction platforms for anybody. Faircent has some 225 lenders and 800 borrowers registered with it, and has seen Rs 15 lakh worth of transactions in the past three months. i-lend has 1,975 borrowers and 800 lenders registered with it, and has seen Rs 12 lakh worth of loans disbursed. Borrowers in Faircent are currently restricted to Delhi and in i-lend to Hyderabad, since both are in pilot stages. Only personal loans are allowed; and these can't exceed Rs 2 lakh in i-lend's case and Rs 5 lakh in Faircent's case. The companies do a due diligence of borrowers to ascertain creditworthiness, and all details, including Cibil scores, are available to lenders. But the companies don't stand guarantee for repayment. The companies help draft legal contracts, and they charge a fee for their services.

• Woolmark prize winner Rahul Mishra partners with Myntra: Fashion portal Myntra has partnered with designer Rahul Mishra, this year's International Woolmark Prize winner, who has been invited to showcase his collection at the Paris Fashion Week in October, and promised to support him with funds for the event. The first-of-its-kind collaboration is set to take to a new level the fledgling practice of Indian online retailers wooing top designers. Based on his Paris collection, Mishra will create a special line 'Rahul Mishra for Myntra' for the Bangalore-based portal, which was acquired by Flipkart in May. He will also work on repositioning Dressberry, Myntra's inhouse apparel brand, as apremium offering. "What would have been a small step by me is becoming a giant leap with Myntra's support," said Mishra, 34, who became the first Asian to win the Woolmark Prize at the Milan Fashion Week in February. Past winners of the award include fashion gurus like Dolce & Gabbana, Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani. "We want to create a madein-India global luxury fashion brand and a young designer like me cannot do it without support." The Paris Fashion Week is considered the ultimate fashion platform. Indian designer Manish Arora became an internationally recognised fashion name after his first show at Paris in 2007 and his designs have been worn by celebrities like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Myntra and Mishra declined to reveal the exact funds the portal will provide. An international fashion show could cost over Rs 1 crore, depending on the extravagance of the show, as per industry estimates. In 2011, the Marc Jacobs fall show during the New York Fashion Week cost $1 million (over Rs 6 crore), according to a New York Timesreport. Mishra's first collection for Myntra will go live on the site in January. An alumnus of the Milan-based Istituto Marangoni, he shot to fame in 2006 with the reversible clothes he created for his Lakme Fashion week debut with Kerala's traditional goldzari-bordered cotton handloom. Mishra's Woolmark winning designs, priced at over Rs 22,000, are now retailing in international stores like Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. "Rahul will help us define the overall design and aesthetic of our Dressberry brand," said Myntra co-founder Ashutosh Lawania. "This fits in well with our overall strategy to create a premium image for our in-house brands."

• Snapdeal to sell stamp collections, ties up with India Post: World's largest postal service, India Post has tied up with online marketplace major Snapdeal to sell stamps to reach out to larger audiences. Under the partnership, targeted especially at philately enthusiasts, Snapdeal will sell stamps and collections priced between Rs 300-5,500. "While stamp collection has been a popular hobby, we found consumers who said they found it difficult to buy stamps. India Post has an amazing collection of stamps that we feel we our consumers will be delighted to have," Snapdeal co-founder and COO Rohit Bansal told PTI. Also, with Snapdeal's extensive reach, India Post will be able to reach a large number of customers, he added. "Miniature works of art, documenting human history and endeavours, cultures, traditions and national heritage, postage stamps can be window to the world. The partnership with Snapdeal will enhance the ease of purchasing philatelic stamps and products on the Internet at the click of a button," Department of Posts Secretary, Kavery Banerjee, said. The first India Postage Stamps were issued in 1854, which bore the inscription 'India Postage'. The first independence stamps, issued in 1947 (three in number), depicted the Ashoka Pillar, the Indian National Flag and an Aircraft. Since then, India has issued more than 3,000 stamps. There are 68 Philatelic Bureaux and 1,111 philatelic counters in the country. "We are increasingly working with government agencies to help them reap benefits of eCommerce. With this partnership, they will be able to reach out to a larger audience," he said. India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1.55 lakh post offices (as on March 2009) of which 1.39 lakh are in rural areas.

• AOL CEO To Lead Venture Fund Aimed At Female-Led Startups: AOL CEO Susan Lyne is stepping down for a position with an in-house AOL venture fund aimed at supporting digital startups led by women. Lyne, who was the CEO of AOL's brand group, will the lead the project. Recode's Kara Swisher was tipped off to Lyne's departure and move to AOL's venture arm which has been less than active in recent years. Lyne hopes that Build Fund will help other women achieve the roles and opportunities in the tech industry that they very much deserve. Lyne hopes to move quickly and start funding projects very soon. With women in the technology industry already facing more than their fair share of bullshit, hopefully this new feature, helpfully led by a woman, can help get things moving in a better direction.

• Robin Williams' daughter Zelda returns to Twitter with message for trolls: The daughter of the late Robin Williams has returned to Twitter for the first time since the Oscar-winning actor's death. Zelda Williams, 25, an actress and one of the comedian's three children, quit the social media website over online harassment following the suicide of her father. On Monday she posted the words "thank you" on Twitter, linking to a quote from actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein that appeared to take aim at online bullying. "Never be bullied into silence," the quote said. "Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." Zelda announced she was going to quit using Twitter on August 12, the day after her father's body was discovered at his San Francisco Bay-area house. She made the decision after at least two Twitter users sent her graphic photos that were visually manipulated to look like pictures of the dead Williams, according to media reports at the time. She also complained of negative online comments from some other Web users. "Deleting this (Twitter application) from my devices for a good long time, maybe forever," she wrote on Twitter on August 12. A number of Web users posted messages of support for the actress after her father's death and after she quit the site. Williams, who won an Oscar for his role in the 1997 drama Good Will Hunting, was one of the world's most well known stand-up comedians.