Daily News Digest- 26th Sep'14

Thought of the Day:

Today in History:

Following made the Headlines:

India:

• India eyes $1 billion Sikorsky helicopter deal, other US arms: India is expected to choose Sikorsky Aircraft's S-70B Sea Hawk helicopters at a 16-aircraft tender worth over $1 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The decision could come during a high-profile visit to the United States by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that starts on Friday. The Sikorsky deal would be one of several large US arms purchases by India that are nearing completion, including over $2.5 billion in orders for Boeing Co's AH-64D Apache and CH-47 Chinook helicopters. Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp , declined comment on the potential helicopter order. Those deals could in turn lay the groundwork for a much larger order of 123 helicopters for the Indian Navy, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Boeing continues to negotiate with India on the Apache and Chinook helicopters and hopes to have signed contracts by the end of the year, said spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson. 

• Sony enthusiastic, looks to restart factory in India: On a day PM Narendra Modi announced the `Make in India' initiative, Japanese electronics giant Sony said it may finally re-establish a factory in India as the company is “enthusiastic“ about making the country as a manufacturing base. “Sony is committed to the Indian market and we welcome the recent initiatives by the Indian government, including inviting foreign companies to manufacture in India. While no decision has been made yet, initiatives like these have made Sony's management enthusiastic about looking at India as a potential manufacturing base,“ Sony India MD Kenichiro Hibi told TOI. Sony used to manufacture in India earlier, but shut its fa cility in 2004 as it preferred to import products from plants in Thailand, Malaysia, China and Japan. A relatively-smaller business size in India at that time did not justify a production facility as the company found it more efficient to import, especially in view of India’s free-trade agreements with some of the countries. But, Sony’s business has been growing in India at a time when some of its key markets in the West are not giving encouraging results. Sony's rivals like LG and Samsung, the Korean giants, are already making products in India.

• Microsoft Keen to Team Up with India: Nadella: On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for “i-ways for a Digital India“ and asked industry captains to seize the initiative, the Hyderabad-born chief executive of Microsoft has offered a partnership to help accelerate the country's growth. “Every time I visit, I'm energised to see the advancements India is making and truly believe technology is a key enabler for India to thrive and create more opportunities for every individual and business in its economy,“ said ` Satya Nadella, who was appointed as successor to Steve Ballmer in February. “We are keen to partner with the government and industry at large to help make this vision a reality,“ he told ET in an exclusive interview. Nadella, 47, gave the interview ahead of chairing the meeting of a jury that will select the winners of The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2014. The 11member jury of industry luminaries deciding the awards will meet in Mumbai on Monday, September 29. On Sunday, Nadella will be a guest in New York at the Indian-origin community's reception for the prime minister.Earlier this week, Microsoft's main rival Google announced that it is joining hands with the government to promote several of the aims of the Digital India effort. Modi, who has been elected on the plank of development, has made the government's `Digital India' initiative for a connected economy one of the important elements of his plan to modernise India. Nadella, who is only the third CEO that Bill Gates-founded Microsoft has had in its nearly four-decades-long history, said businesses were looking forward to an accelerated growth phase in India and technology could play a piv otal role in spurring that growth.“Growth will need computing infrastructure on a massive scale,“ he said.

• Skoda Shifts Focus to Big Cars in India: Czech carmaker Skoda Auto will concentrate on selling big cars in India and has ruled out plans to introduce its new compact models in this market, blaming uncertain business environment and policies of the country. Skoda, which has invested around 750 million euros in India, has put on hold fresh investments here. It has phased out the Fabia hatchback earlier this year and said there are no immediate plans to replace it or introduce other small cars. Skoda cited a recent CCI order asking auto companies to pay a combined penalty of more . 2,500 crore for manipulating the ` spare parts, as well as high excise duty and rules on technology transfer among the reasons that influenced its decision to go slow in India. Skoda had plans to bring its Citigo small car to the Indian market, but that has been shelved now. It plans to bring the next-generation Fabia after three years.

• State, Flipkart ink pact for selling handloom products: Chhattisgarh has signed an agreement with 'Flipkart' for marketing of products made by handloom weavers, informed Chhattisgarh rural industries minister Punnulal Mohle during the annual conference of state textiles ministers in New Delhi on Wednesday. Addressing the conference, Mohle said Chhattisgarh is the second largest raw tussar silk producing state in the country. Against the national production demand for two hundred metric tonne, the state has been producing five hundred metric tonne of raw tussar silk, he added. He said Chhattisgarh will soon become the first state to produce one thousand metric tonne in 12th Five Year Plan. Union minister of state for textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar chaired the conference. Drawing the Centre's attention on problems faced by the state, the minister said shortage of handloom thread adversely affects the state's textile industry and urged the Centre not to stop supply of handloom thread to Chhattisgarh due to delay in payment. He demanded 10% grant on polyester cotton yarn for weavers of Chhattisgarh on the lines of 10% grant given by the Centre on hank yarn.

• 'Make in India' rolled out for textile & garment industry: 'Make in India' campaign covering 25 sectors, including the textile and garment industry, has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of Who's Who of the corporate world from India and abroad at a ceremony in New Delhi today. At the launch of the ambitious 'Make in India' project to make India a manufacturing hub, Prime Minister Modi promised effective and easy governance to help achieve high growth and creation of jobs. The 'Make in India' scheme also puts in place the logistics and systems to address in a timely manner queries of potential investors. The scheme has been unveiled along with a logo, a web portal, and brochures on 25 identified growth sectors. Home to 24 percent of the world's spindles, and 8 percent of the world's rotors, India is the world's second largest producer of cotton and silk, and also the second largest textile manufacturer. Besides this, India enjoys a comparative advantage in terms of skilled manpower and cost of production over other major textile producers, which makes the country a preferred destination for investment.

• Cargill India setting up Rs500 crore corn milling plant near Bangalore: Cargill India Pvt. Ltd’s biggest investment in India till date, a new corn milling plant worth Rs.500 crore, is being set up near Bangalore. It will be ready by the second half of the next calendar year, helping the company to expand its business-to-business (B2B) and consumer foods portfolio in India, a top official with the company said. The Indian subsidiary of the $134.9 billion-by-revenue American multinational has three edible oil refineries in India—at Paradip in Odisha, Kandla in Gujarat, and Kurkumbh in Maharashtra. “The plant (in Bangalore) will process corn to produce glucose and other derivatives that will be used as sweeteners, thickeners and for other purposes in the food and healthcare industry,” said Siraj Chaudhry, chairman of Cargill India, on the sidelines of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) Food World event in Mumbai on Wednesday. This is Cargill’s first major capacity expansion project in India in 10 years, he said.

• AirAsia India to Start Flights to Mumbai Soon: AirAsia India will start operating on the Mumbai route soon, group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said on Thursday. "In Incredible India. Bombay is changing by the day. AirAsia India will be starting in this metro soon. We are coming," Mr Fernandes tweeted. In the domestic circuit, AirAsia India currently operates in the Bangalore to Kochi, Chennai, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Goa sectors. AirAsia India, a three-way venture between Malaysia-based AirAsia Berhad, Tata Group and Delhi-based investment firm Telestra Tradeplace, had launched its maiden flight on June 12 from Bangalore to Goa. Indian skies have been witnessing an aggressive fare war, particularly after the entry of AirAsia India. Currently, the budget carrier is offering fares as low as Rs. 690 as part of a promotional sale. The booking period for this AsiaAsia offer will remain open till October 5, 2014. The offer is applicable on travel between January 15, 2015 and June 30, 2015. As part of this AirAsia offer, tickets from Bangalore to Chennai and Kochi routes start from Rs. 690. On the Bangalore to Goa route, the promotional fare starts from Rs. 990. Under this same offer, tickets on the Bangalore to Chandigarh and Jaipur routes are priced from Rs. 2,390.

• Delhi Metro to reach highest point at Dhaula Kuan: The Delhi Metro on Thursday said it will reach its highest point so far - at 23.6 metres - after the construction of a viaduct between the South Campus and Delhi Cantt Metro stations. The viaduct is part of the under-construction 59-km-long Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor of Delhi Metro's Phase III. It will cross over the existing alignment of the Airport Express line at Dhaula Kuan. "The height of the viaduct will be 23.6 m at this spot (as high as a seven-storey building) and will be the highest point of Delhi Metro so far surpassing Karkardooma where it is 19 m above the ground," said a statement, calling it a "major engineering achievement". It said the viaduct will be constructed without hampering movement of trains on the Airport Line and the road traffic below. "The difference between the rail levels of this under construction line and existing Airport Express line is 11.90 m. The viaduct of the Airport Express Line is at a height of 11.7 m from the ground level," it said. The viaduct will be completed by the end of October 2014. Apart from Dhaula Kuan, the elevated viaducts of Delhi Metro's Phase III will pass over existing ones (of Phase I and Phase II metro corridors) at four locations.

• Jet Airways CEO gets security clearance: Jet Airways (India) Ltd said on Thursday the ministry of civil aviation has granted security clearance for the appointment of Cramer Ball as its chief executive officer (CEO). Accordingly, Ball has taken charge as CEO with effect from 25 September, the airline informed BSE. “Pursuant to the approval of the board of Jet Airways on 27 May 2014, regarding the appointment of Cramer Ball as its new CEO, we now confirm that Ball has received all regulatory approvals including his security clearance. He will now officially take charge as the CEO,” Naresh Goyal, founder chairman, said in an internal circular. Mint has reviewed the circular. Security clearance is critical for Jet Airways as the airline has been without a full-time CEO since January. Even its acting chief Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan resigned in April, becoming the fifth senior executive to quit since the airline sold a 24% stake to Etihad Airways PJSC last year. Ball, an Australian national, is a certified accountant with almost two decades of experience in the aviation industry. Earlier this year, he completed a two-year term as CEO of Air Seychelles, where he led a restructuring programme that returned the airline to profitability in 2012 and 2013.

• Tommy Hilfiger is Dropping In to Celebrate a Decade in India: It's been 10 years since Tommy Hilfiger, the brand, came to India. And to mark the milestone, Tommy Hilfiger, the designer, arrives tonight for a whirlwind, fashion-focused celebration. The designer, whose collections embrace the all-American preppy style, begins his India visit with a VIP dinner hosted by Feroze Gujaral at her Delhi residence; also on the agenda is a guest lecture at the National Institute of Fashion Technology and an in-store event with India's favourite fashionista, Sonam Kapoor at Delhi's Select Citywalk.

International:

• Yesler Makes High-Quality, Affordable Athletic Wear in the U.S.A.: Athletic wear brand Yesler is encouraging social support with their Made in the USA stance to add jobs in North America back to the supply chain with every 500 units sold. The brand prides themselves on using locally produced North Carolinian yarn to create their products, and state that this is of much importance as while 70% of US citizens have some participation in athletics, less than 2% of the items worn in this arena are made on home turf. As a result they have stepped in in order to create durable, eco-conscious athletic wear designed to last and last. The team at Yesler seem to have done their research. In order to produce a truly customer driven collection, they talked with casual athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike about what kinds of designs would meet their needs. As such they try to keep the focus on the wearer, and thus the pursuit, says Yesler’s Founder, Vince Chu. “Our designs are deliberately minimalistic,” he told Ecouterre. “We think less is more, and the inspiration there was driven by the dire for simplicity.”

• Football and fitness lead Nike sales jump: Nike has sprinted past Wall Street expectations after fitness-enthused shoppers embracing World Cup fever fuelled a surge in western European and North American sales. “The middle class is growing around the world, interest in sport continues to grow, and consumers are investing more and more in their own health and fitness,” said chief executive Mark Parker, adding that gross margin expansion and a lower tax rate had contributed to a strong quarter. Shares in the world’s biggest sportswear maker rose 6.5 per cent in after-hours trading as investors reacted to the better than expected figures for its fiscal first quarter. Revenue for the three months to August 31 jumped 15 per cent to $8bn, ahead of analysts’ estimates of $7.78bn. Net income was up 23 per cent at $962m, or $1.09 cents a share, with boosts from gross margin expansion and a lower tax rate. That eclipsed consensus expectations of 88 cents a share. Nike’s biggest gains were in its strongest and most established markets. Revenue rose 25 per cent to $1.7bn in western Europe and 12 per cent to $3.5bn in North America, despite industry concerns that a stronger dollar and other currency fluctuations could weigh on sales.

• Tesco accounting error 'stratospheric': Tesco executives could be quizzed by MPs after its "stratospheric" error over profits, the chairman of the Parliamentary Business Committee, Adrian Bailey, has told the BBC. He told Radio 5 live's Wake Up To Money it was "unbelievable" that the retailer could get into "such a mess". On Monday, Tesco admitted that it had overstated its guidance for half-year profits by £250m. The UK's accountancy watchdog says it is "monitoring the situation closely". However, the Financial Reporting Council, said it would not act until Tesco's own investigation was completed. Too little, too late? On Tuesday, Tesco said that its new chief financial officer, Alan Stewart, would be joining the company immediately, more than two months earlier than originally planned. He replaced Laurie McIlwee, who resigned from Tesco in April but was not due to leave the company officially until October. On Wednesday evening, Tesco admitted that Mr McIlwee had not had any input into the retailer's financial matters since he resigned.

• Roberto Cavalli Taps Andrea Tremolada as Communications Director: Roberto Cavalli SpA has tapped Andrea Tremolada as its new communications director. For eight years, Tremolada held the same role at Salvatore Ferragamo and previously at Gianni Versace and Tom Ford. He will report directly to the namesake designer and to chief executive officer Daniele Corvasce. Tremolada will be in charge of communication and marketing projects as well as public relations, media strategy and buying globally. He will also be responsible for the Web area, digital and e-commerce, in addition to the direction of visual merchandising and window display. There was no equivalent position at the company prior to Tremolada’s nomination. Tremolada, an expert pilot, said: “I accepted this appointment with the same spirit and the same passion with which in 2000, aged only 33, I flew over the Atlantic with my Falco plane, which I built in 15 years.”

• Sears Canada CEO Douglas Campbell to Exit: Douglas Campbell has resigned as president and chief executive officer of Sears Canada Inc. after one year on the job. The company said Campbell planned to return to the U.S. to “tend to personal family issues” and that a search for a successor will begin immediately. Campbell was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Toronto-based retailer, which is majority owned by Sears Holdings Corp. He succeeded Calvin McDonald as ceo. He joined Sears in 2011, following six years with Boston Consulting Group. Sears said Campbell will continue as ceo until his successor is in place, but not beyond Jan. 1. “I would like to thank Doug for his diligent leadership of the company, since 2012, and in particular as ceo,” said William Crowley, chairman of Sears Canada. He noted that the outgoing ceo “brought a focus on creating value for shareholders while taking the cost-efficiency and investment steps necessary to produce a viable and profitable Canadian retailer.”

• Sachin & Babi to Launch E-Commerce: Sachin & Babi has ventured into e-commerce with the relaunch of its Web site. Built with Shopify, the e-commerce platform launches with the brand’s fall collection and features a shoppable video in collaboration with Cinematique. As for the look of the site: “Everything is streamlined,” said creative director Babi Ahluwahlia, citing a clean, straightforward aesthetic. “We want to broaden our audience, and we're excited to be able to connect directly with our customers… We want to know what pieces they're responding to and loving right off the bat." The brand, which currently sits in 470 doors worldwide, has been growing 30-40% every year for the last four years, with 30% of the brand’s revenue coming from overseas. It projects sales from e-commerce at $750,000 to $1,000,000 for the 2015 fiscal year.

• Carlos Slim Mimics Zara to Spruce Up Sears Fashions: Carlos Slim, following the lead of fellow billionaire Amancio Ortega, is freshening up his Sears outlets in Mexico with an of-the-moment sense of style in a bid to boost profits. The retailer is joining the ranks of Ortega’s fashion empire Zara by introducing new brands that quickly convert the latest runway styles of clothes and accessories into cheaper, mass-distributed goods. It’s a change of pace for Sears, which opened its first store in Mexico City in 1947 and whose 82 Mexican locations are now owned by Slim’s Grupo Sanborns SAB. Sanborns aims to benefit from the 30 percent growth in Mexican consumer spending that PricewaterhouseCoopers projects through 2017. Slim is betting that his “fast-fashion” strategy will help lure new, young consumers who favor retailers such as H&M and Forever 21, which opened its eighth store in Mexico last month.

Tech:

• Instagram adds front camera support to its Hyperlapse app: Instagram has released an update to its Hyperlapse app for iOS that will let you create timelapse videos using your front-facing camera. We’re not seeing the change log on the App Store just yet, but the update has shown up on our phones. Instagram adds front camera support to its Hyperlapse app. The feature works as expected, adding a small icon next to the record button. You won’t be able to switch cameras in the middle of recording, so you’ll have to decide beforehand whether you want to use “selfielapse” mode. Instagram released Hyperlapse last month, offering an easy way to create moving timelapses. The software takes advantage of the main Instagram app’s Cinema image stabilization technology to give the videos a professional-looking feel.

• Rocket Internet Draws Big Investor Crowd for Emerging Market Web Plan: Rocket Internet, the global e-commerce investor, will take a more hands-on role in its stable of companies through a stock market listing which was fully subscribed within the first hour of taking orders, it said on Wednesday. The German company is riding the coattails of last week's successful listing by Chinese rival Alibaba and on Tuesday said it was doubling the amount of money it planned to raise in its share sale to 1.48 billion euros ($1.9 billion). Founded in 2007 by brothers Oliver, Alexander and Marc Samwer, Rocket Internet has set up e-commerce sites and online marketplaces for everything from taxis to meal deliveries in more than 100 countries. Its companies made about $1 billion in revenues last year. However, chief executive and co-founder Oliver Samwer on Wednesday said Rocket Internet aimed to reinvent itself through the initial public offering (IPO) financing, saying it will turn itself into an operating company from its prior role as an incubator for start-up firms. "Rocket is not an investor. Rocket is an operating company," he told a news conference for the IPO which is set to begin trading in Frankfurt on Oct. 9.

• Apple says bent iPhones are 'rare': Apple has responded to claims that its new handsets are prone to bending by saying such damage would be "rare" during normal use. Media outlets across the globe had reported that several iPhone 6 owners had complained of handsets becoming misshapen after being carried in trousers pockets without a case. Several of the US firm's rivals have also helped publicise the claims. Apple said nine customers had told it their iPhone 6 Plus phones had bent. In a statement the company noted that the handsets' shells had been constructed out of "anodised aluminium, which is tempered for extra strength" and also featured stainless steel and titanium parts to reinforce the areas of the phones likely to experience the most stress.

• Shellshock: 'Deadly serious' new vulnerability found: A "deadly serious" bug potentially affecting hundreds of millions of computers, servers and devices has been discovered. The flaw has been found in a software component known as Bash, which is a part of many Linux systems as well as Apple's Mac operating system. The bug, dubbed Shellshock, can be used to remotely take control of almost any system using Bash, researchers said. Some experts said it was more serious than Heartbleed, discovered in April. "Whereas something like Heartbleed was all about sniffing what was going on, this was about giving you direct access to the system," Prof Alan Woodward, a security researcher from the University of Surrey, told the BBC. "The door's wide open." Some 500,000 machines worldwide were thought to have been vulnerable to Heartbleed. But early estimates, which experts said were conservative, suggest that Shellshock could hit at least 500 million machines. The problem is particularly serious given that many web servers are run using the Apache system, software which includes the Bash component.

• Apple unleashes iOS 8.0.2 to fix yesterday’s iOS 8.0.1 fiasco: Maybe we won’t be as quick to update this time. Apple is rolling out iOS 8.0.2 to iOS device. You can update now or wait. After yesterday, it might be better to wait. Just in case. Apple says the update will fix the issue brought on by the iOS 8.0.1 update yesterday that killed cell service and TouchID. It’s pretty much everything that iOS 8.0.1 was supposed to fix but with less iPhone crippling. According to an Apple statement provided to Business Insider, fewer than 40,000 iPhones were affected by the iOS 8.0.1 update yesterday.