Come October 3 and the country is likely to plunge into darkness as NTPC diverts the states’ share of power to New Delhi for the Common Wealth Games (CWG). Delhi will require 5,000 mw for the Games. Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project, Pragati Power Corporation and NTPC’s Dadri Thermal Power Station were to meet the requirement, however, except NTPC’s Dadri unit (2x490mw), none of the project have come up to power the Games.
While only a 490-mw unit of NTPC’s newly commissioned Dadri unit was supposed to supply power for the Games, the entire 980 mw generated will have to be diverted to Delhi during the CWG, said an NTPC official. According to the formula agreed upon, Uttar Pradesh was to get 5% of the 980 mw generated and 50% would have been distributed across the country. Delhi was to get 45% of Dadri’s generation. Even after drawing the entire generation of Dadri project CWG would fall short of 4,020 mw, to be managed from the states’ share of NTPC generation. This would violate the Gadgil power sharing formula, overdrawing from the grid, also virtually breaking grid discipline.
According to a Power Grid Corporation official, there are already instructions that the uniformity of frequency for supplying the common pool power to the north, east, west and north east India has to be broken during the CWG and power to north should flow at a higher frequency. In fact the eastern, western, northern and north eastern power zones’ power evacuation is done through a synchronised grid maintaining a uniform frequency level. So while power would flow at higher frequency to the northern part of the country, the grid connecting National Capital Region would overdraw from the northern grid to power the games. Hence, heavy load shedding is expected across the country, especially in the east, north, north east and west India during the Games.
However, the Central Electricity Authority is more eager to look at western India for drawing maximum power since it has the highest installed capacity of 51,454 mw of the country’s total 1,64,509 mw.
Being a clear case of breaking grid discipline in powering the CWG, it would be most interesting to watch the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission act to punish the Delhi government, which in turn would try to shift the blame on to the Centre, said the Power Grid Corporation official.
Source : The Financial Express
Saturday, September 18, 2010
MMTC Seeks to Buy 1.3 Million Tons of Coal for India State-Run Utilities
MMTC Ltd., India’s largest state- owned trading company, is seeking bids for the supply of 1.3 million metric tons of coal to feed power plants run by NTPC Ltd. and other government utilities, an MMTC official said.
The fuel, which will be supplied from Indonesia over six months starting November, will have a calorific or heating value of 6,300 kilocalories, said the official, who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media.
India’s thermal coal imports rose to 44 million tons in the year ended March 2010 from 38 million tons a year earlier, according to data from the nation’s coal ministry. The International Monetary Fund revised India’s 2010 economic growth forecast in July to 9.4 percent from its earlier prediction of 8.8 percent in April.
The coal will be used in power plants located in northern and central India, the official said.
MMTC has asked for 300,000 tons of coal for the Bhilai plant operated by a venture between NTPC, India’s largest power producer, and the Steel Authority of India Ltd., 360,000 tons for a venture between NTPC and the Haryana state utility in Jhajjar, 175,000 tons for the Haryana utility and 500,000 tons for the Uttar Pradesh state utility, the official said.
Tender documents for the two NTPC facilities will be opened on Sept. 23 and the rest on Sept. 28, the official said.
Source : Bloomberg
The fuel, which will be supplied from Indonesia over six months starting November, will have a calorific or heating value of 6,300 kilocalories, said the official, who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media.
India’s thermal coal imports rose to 44 million tons in the year ended March 2010 from 38 million tons a year earlier, according to data from the nation’s coal ministry. The International Monetary Fund revised India’s 2010 economic growth forecast in July to 9.4 percent from its earlier prediction of 8.8 percent in April.
The coal will be used in power plants located in northern and central India, the official said.
MMTC has asked for 300,000 tons of coal for the Bhilai plant operated by a venture between NTPC, India’s largest power producer, and the Steel Authority of India Ltd., 360,000 tons for a venture between NTPC and the Haryana state utility in Jhajjar, 175,000 tons for the Haryana utility and 500,000 tons for the Uttar Pradesh state utility, the official said.
Tender documents for the two NTPC facilities will be opened on Sept. 23 and the rest on Sept. 28, the official said.
Source : Bloomberg
BHEL to invest Rs 1,200 cr in R&D by 2012
India's biggest power equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) is revamping its production processes to develop low cost and more efficient equipment as it seeks to counter the threat of cheap imports from China. The company plans to increase its expenditure on research and development (R&D) by almost 50% to Rs 1,200 crore by 2011-12, said Bhel’s chairman and managing director B Prasada Rao at the 46th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company.
“The engineering & technology character of the organisation will be enhanced with increased focus on innovation and R&D,” he said. In 2009-10 Bhel invested `829 crore in R&D with prime focus on economical power equipment that have high efficiency.
With its R&D initiatives, Bhel has been able to expand the load on existing power equipment to generate more power without much additional cost. For instance, it has introduced rating sets of 600 mw in the sub-critical league that match Chinese 660-MW super critical sets in efficiency without escalating the cost of the equipment. The company has introduced new range of equipment and enhanced the rating of 500 mw sets to 525 mw and 250 mw to 270 mw. The company recorded a jump of 37% in profit-after-tax (PAT) to a record `4,311 crore for the fiscal ended March, 2010.
Its turnover during the fiscal also grew 22% to an all-time high of Rs 34,154 crore.
The company has secured orders worth Rs 59,037 crore from domestic and international clients in 2009-10, of which about 90% came from the private sector. The current order book of the company stands at Rs 1,44,000 crore. Mr Rao said that against the backdrop of climate change, there would be increased focus on low carbon path technologies such as Ultra Supercritical technology, IGCC and Solar Power.
“Bhel proposes to play a lead role in ‘development and deployment’ of advanced Ultra Supercritical Power Plants under the proposed National Mission for Clean Coal (Carbon) Technologies,” he said. The company also proposes to expand its global footprint by establishing manufacturing and service presence in all its major export markets.
Currently, Bhel has the capacity to manufacture power equipment with a cumulative generation capacity of 15,000 MW per annum, which the company plans to scale up to 20,000 MW by the end of the 2010-11 fiscal.
Source : Economic Times
“The engineering & technology character of the organisation will be enhanced with increased focus on innovation and R&D,” he said. In 2009-10 Bhel invested `829 crore in R&D with prime focus on economical power equipment that have high efficiency.
With its R&D initiatives, Bhel has been able to expand the load on existing power equipment to generate more power without much additional cost. For instance, it has introduced rating sets of 600 mw in the sub-critical league that match Chinese 660-MW super critical sets in efficiency without escalating the cost of the equipment. The company has introduced new range of equipment and enhanced the rating of 500 mw sets to 525 mw and 250 mw to 270 mw. The company recorded a jump of 37% in profit-after-tax (PAT) to a record `4,311 crore for the fiscal ended March, 2010.
Its turnover during the fiscal also grew 22% to an all-time high of Rs 34,154 crore.
The company has secured orders worth Rs 59,037 crore from domestic and international clients in 2009-10, of which about 90% came from the private sector. The current order book of the company stands at Rs 1,44,000 crore. Mr Rao said that against the backdrop of climate change, there would be increased focus on low carbon path technologies such as Ultra Supercritical technology, IGCC and Solar Power.
“Bhel proposes to play a lead role in ‘development and deployment’ of advanced Ultra Supercritical Power Plants under the proposed National Mission for Clean Coal (Carbon) Technologies,” he said. The company also proposes to expand its global footprint by establishing manufacturing and service presence in all its major export markets.
Currently, Bhel has the capacity to manufacture power equipment with a cumulative generation capacity of 15,000 MW per annum, which the company plans to scale up to 20,000 MW by the end of the 2010-11 fiscal.
Source : Economic Times
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Let’s understand what fair trade is
India is warming up to fair trade. But the concept remains a niche market as companies are hesitant about taking it to the masses.
Indian farmers have been selling their fair trade produce to developed markets for years by getting certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). Now the FLO wants to invert that model. It will introduce a fair trade label for the Indian market next year. The Spice Board of India is looking to follow suit with a fair trade label for the domestic spice market.
First, let’s understand what fair trade is. Fair trade is an organised movement that helps producers in developing countries get a premium for their products if they follow better social, labour and environmental standards.
More than $4 billion worth of fair trade products were sold internationally in 2008, up 22 percent since the previous year. While sales of products like fair trade tea, coffee, flowers, wine and beer have grown in double digits for the last several years, cultivation has outpaced demand, according to reports.
If the fair trade movement is implemented in India, it could open up a huge new market for fair trade farmers, giving them stability against foreign exchange fluctuation.
For the movement to be successful, however, it requires the customers to be sensitive about this. “The size of the market is very small because Indians are not really concerned about this,” says Arvind Singhal, chief executive of retail consulting company KSA Technopak. “Companies are trying to create fair trade brands for their own reasons but if the customer is not sensitive then this will have only a limited impact.”
The Indian market and other domestic markets in producing countries are increasingly important for the fair trade movement because they could each be larger than the European market, which is the largest market for fair trade products. For instance, take Chetna Organic Farmers Association, which works with 9,000 cotton farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, and Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi region of Orissa. It sells most of its cotton in Europe at a premium of Rs. 320 a quintal. But even now it is able to sell only half the produce; the rest gets sold in India without any premium.
It is no wonder then that Seth Petchers, chief executive of Shop for Change, a marketing and labelling organisation for domestic fair trade products, is trying to launch this movement in India. Shop for Change launched a range of fair trade clothes along with designer Anita Dongre’s prêt label AND. The collection featured an ad campaign that starred fair trade cotton farmers along with former Miss India, Gul Panag.
This collection was made with fair trade cotton from Chetna’s farmers in Orissa, who were paid Rs. 35 per kilo of cotton rather than the market price of Rs. 30 per kilo. The FLO also fixes a fair trade price, which includes a minimum price for the product and a fair trade premium. Says Reykia Fick, external relations co-ordinator, FLO, “On top of stable prices (usually the fair trade minimum price), producer organisations are paid a fair trade premium — additional funds to invest in social or economic development projects.”
Farmer members of Chetna, in Andhra Pradesh’s Karimnagar district, have used this premium along with an international grant to build a storage warehouse for their cotton. During the off-season, they rent out the warehouse as a marriage hall and distribute earnings for the co-operative. Another farmer group in Maharashtra’s Akola district has used the premium to build a school. In Kerala’s Kannur district, the premium is used to create a fund for distressed farmers. It has also allowed the community to set up solar sensing technology as a benign blockade warding wild elephants off the cashew nut trees. Their cashew produce is labelled Jumbo Cashews in the European market.
All of this may or may not result in a price premium for a consumer depending on whether a retailer chooses to crunch its margins. Increasingly, retailers have started selling fair trade products without a price premium for consumers. Dongre’s fair trade collection sold at the same price as her other clothes. Cadbury’s launched a fair trade version of its Dairy Milk chocolate internationally at the same price as the rest of its Dairy Milk chocolates.
In case of fair trade products “it is the imagery which is different rather than a product differentiation,” says Shital Mehta, COO of premium menswear brand, Van Heusen. Right now fair trade numbers are small. Companies want to portray themselves as fair employers but are just experimenting with a small percentage of their products. Will they ever get all their products under the fair trade umbrella?
That change will come when it becomes a civil society movement as it has in the West, says Tomy Mathews, founder of Fair Trade Alliance of Kerala. Mathews’ alliance has been supplying through the FLO for years and he says, “Attempts to create independent labels diverting from the uniform global message on global trade justice is doing disservice to the philosophy of fair trade. I don’t look fairly on [the] Spice Board initiative or the Shop for Change initiative. The moment you confuse market with different logos you’re already losing the game before it begins.”
Retailers that have included more equitable conditions for artisans and weavers, such as Fabindia and Anokhi, have done well here already and this movement can get extended to farmers as well, says Roopa Mehta, president of the Fair Trade Forum of India.
But there may still be some distance between promise and scale in the market. Devangshu Dutta, CEO of retail consulting company, Third EyeSight, says he sees a market developing for fair trade products, albeit slowly. “Things will change. But that change will have to come from the customer side. Currently, it is a very limited market but it could be a business proposition for a few companies.”
by Saumya Roy, Shloka Nath
Source : www.business.in.com
Indian farmers have been selling their fair trade produce to developed markets for years by getting certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). Now the FLO wants to invert that model. It will introduce a fair trade label for the Indian market next year. The Spice Board of India is looking to follow suit with a fair trade label for the domestic spice market.
First, let’s understand what fair trade is. Fair trade is an organised movement that helps producers in developing countries get a premium for their products if they follow better social, labour and environmental standards.
More than $4 billion worth of fair trade products were sold internationally in 2008, up 22 percent since the previous year. While sales of products like fair trade tea, coffee, flowers, wine and beer have grown in double digits for the last several years, cultivation has outpaced demand, according to reports.
If the fair trade movement is implemented in India, it could open up a huge new market for fair trade farmers, giving them stability against foreign exchange fluctuation.
For the movement to be successful, however, it requires the customers to be sensitive about this. “The size of the market is very small because Indians are not really concerned about this,” says Arvind Singhal, chief executive of retail consulting company KSA Technopak. “Companies are trying to create fair trade brands for their own reasons but if the customer is not sensitive then this will have only a limited impact.”
The Indian market and other domestic markets in producing countries are increasingly important for the fair trade movement because they could each be larger than the European market, which is the largest market for fair trade products. For instance, take Chetna Organic Farmers Association, which works with 9,000 cotton farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, and Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi region of Orissa. It sells most of its cotton in Europe at a premium of Rs. 320 a quintal. But even now it is able to sell only half the produce; the rest gets sold in India without any premium.
It is no wonder then that Seth Petchers, chief executive of Shop for Change, a marketing and labelling organisation for domestic fair trade products, is trying to launch this movement in India. Shop for Change launched a range of fair trade clothes along with designer Anita Dongre’s prêt label AND. The collection featured an ad campaign that starred fair trade cotton farmers along with former Miss India, Gul Panag.
This collection was made with fair trade cotton from Chetna’s farmers in Orissa, who were paid Rs. 35 per kilo of cotton rather than the market price of Rs. 30 per kilo. The FLO also fixes a fair trade price, which includes a minimum price for the product and a fair trade premium. Says Reykia Fick, external relations co-ordinator, FLO, “On top of stable prices (usually the fair trade minimum price), producer organisations are paid a fair trade premium — additional funds to invest in social or economic development projects.”
Farmer members of Chetna, in Andhra Pradesh’s Karimnagar district, have used this premium along with an international grant to build a storage warehouse for their cotton. During the off-season, they rent out the warehouse as a marriage hall and distribute earnings for the co-operative. Another farmer group in Maharashtra’s Akola district has used the premium to build a school. In Kerala’s Kannur district, the premium is used to create a fund for distressed farmers. It has also allowed the community to set up solar sensing technology as a benign blockade warding wild elephants off the cashew nut trees. Their cashew produce is labelled Jumbo Cashews in the European market.
All of this may or may not result in a price premium for a consumer depending on whether a retailer chooses to crunch its margins. Increasingly, retailers have started selling fair trade products without a price premium for consumers. Dongre’s fair trade collection sold at the same price as her other clothes. Cadbury’s launched a fair trade version of its Dairy Milk chocolate internationally at the same price as the rest of its Dairy Milk chocolates.
In case of fair trade products “it is the imagery which is different rather than a product differentiation,” says Shital Mehta, COO of premium menswear brand, Van Heusen. Right now fair trade numbers are small. Companies want to portray themselves as fair employers but are just experimenting with a small percentage of their products. Will they ever get all their products under the fair trade umbrella?
That change will come when it becomes a civil society movement as it has in the West, says Tomy Mathews, founder of Fair Trade Alliance of Kerala. Mathews’ alliance has been supplying through the FLO for years and he says, “Attempts to create independent labels diverting from the uniform global message on global trade justice is doing disservice to the philosophy of fair trade. I don’t look fairly on [the] Spice Board initiative or the Shop for Change initiative. The moment you confuse market with different logos you’re already losing the game before it begins.”
Retailers that have included more equitable conditions for artisans and weavers, such as Fabindia and Anokhi, have done well here already and this movement can get extended to farmers as well, says Roopa Mehta, president of the Fair Trade Forum of India.
But there may still be some distance between promise and scale in the market. Devangshu Dutta, CEO of retail consulting company, Third EyeSight, says he sees a market developing for fair trade products, albeit slowly. “Things will change. But that change will have to come from the customer side. Currently, it is a very limited market but it could be a business proposition for a few companies.”
by Saumya Roy, Shloka Nath
Source : www.business.in.com
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Start up Saturday Seminar on Social Media
Today I had the opportunity to attend a seminar on Social Media organized by Startup Saturday which is an initiative by Head Start Network to provide entrepreneurs in each city with a monthly community driven forum that is structured in agenda but open in discussions. A Startup Saturday provides a forum for entrepreneurs to discuss, present, network and learn from peers, prospective customers, adopters, partners and investors.
The fundamental idea is to have all parts of the innovation ecosystem interact with each other with high frequency and through rich conversation. We strongly believe that this would lead to faster evolution of the entire ecosystem.
The key not speakers were
Mr.Aditya Gupta from iGenero http://bit.ly/bSRkvG
Mr. Karthik from 84Ideas http://bit.ly/a9E4bP
Mr. Shameek Chakravarthy from Ohana Media. http://bit.ly/ddZ7OT
What fascinated me was the key note speakers were all below 30 years of age bracket and were very composed, main discussions revolved around various pros and cons of social media.
The first presentation by Karthik talked about “Why” there is a need for someone/organization to jump into the social media band wagon and social media is one latest tool in the arsenal of an effective brand promoter and is not a replacement of conventional brand building exercises. The presentation also talked about the various pitfalls to be avoided while increasing your reach to your customers / potential customers.
A second presentation was followed by Shameek which mostly talked about different evaluation metrics/analytics which could drive your brand marketing strategy and understanding the consumer patterns. How effectively one can analyze the data and fine tune their marketing strategies. The presentation also talked about the quality of the audience whom you try to reach through social media than the quantity. There were some detailed case studies presented.
Third presentation was done by Aditya Gupta of iGenero his emphasis was on the tools and the quality of the content marketed through various social media tools. His take on external tools like Twitter or Facebook were that these are the latest medium which might get outdated by time but the content on your website and the info on that should be more dynamic than static, and companies should design and develop content on their website's/blogs which would strike conversations rather than providing the normal info.
All in all the entire seminar was food for though, which has tinkered my brain cells to do social media differently.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
.Net Technical Architect For a Global Product Development Company @ Chennai
My client is A Swiss company focused on innovation and quality, they design personal peripherals to help people enjoy a better experience with the digital world. They are a NASDAQ listed company and the are distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide through retail channels.
Position : . Net Technical Architect
Location : Chennai
Years of Exp : 8 to 12
Roles and Responsibility
My Client is looking for .Net Technical Architect who should be
Hands-on, ideally 50% or more of their time is writing code
Experienced in design patterns, scalability, security and designing maintainable solutions (SOA)
Guru level in .NET
Excellent communication skills
Up to date on the latest .NET framework and early adopter of new releases
Quick learner
Mail me a copy of your latest resume if this position is of interest to you @ abijith@optionsindia.com
Friday, August 03, 2007
Rupee Vs. India Inc.
Reserve Bank of India, the nation's central bank, has had a tough first six months at office -- first to keep inflation under check and then to delicately address the runaway rise of the Indian rupee (against the dollar).
A series of measures linked to curbing credit growth and lowering short-term interest rates twice this year, have pegged inflation to 4.27 per cent for the week ending July 4 from a two-year high of 6.73 per cent in January-end. Currently, India's inflation is within the medium-term range set by the RBI.
A variety of factors are, however, keeping the rupee firm against the dollar, which has risen by nearly 10 per cent between January-July this year. The rupee stands at a near-decade high of 40.3 against the dollar, from 44.2 when the year began.
Rupee appreciation has been the sharpest in three decades in the April-June quarter this year. And analysts expect the rupee to gain further.
The impact of a rupee rise
As the rupee rises against the dollar (or conversely the dollar weakens) Indian exports firms earn less and thus begin to lose their competitive edge -- whether it be textile, jewellery, software, drugs or automobiles.
India's 'big four' in the software pack -- Infosys], TCS , Wipro and Satyam have already seen their net income in the first quarter ending June, fall due to the sharp rupee rise. This is because India's software companies bill several clients in dollar terms.
A weak dollar thus hits currency-linked earnings.
The impact is seen through:
Lower exports, as exporters are unable to maintain necessary profit margins if their dollar-linked earnings fall. Analysts now predict that India's export target of $160 billion may not be met. A more 'realistic' export target for this year has been pegged at $135-140 billion.
If the rupee continues to gain against the dollar, India's competitive strength in world trade (which is already negligible) will weaken. This, in turn, shrinks new job avenues.
Exporters are keener to sell their product/services locally, if possible. This would increase local supplies and lower prices and inflation.
Export lobby groups and trade analysts are now urging the government to act to curb the rupee's rise. The equation is simple. In a competitive business environment where operating margins will determine survival, export houses are in a fix.
Jobs may be lost
However, on the other hand, if the rupee keeps strengthening, a lot many people may actually lose jobs. Exporters are also considering layoffs, which may eventually affect 275,000 jobs by the year-end.
Yet another fallout of the rupee rise is the proposal by the IT and BPO companies in India which plan to increase the working hours of their employees and doing away with a 5-day week and making them work on Saturdays too.
According to a study by the Union commerce ministry, the worst hit sectors are infotech, textile, leather, handicrafts, marine products, engineering, sports goods, toys and agri products.
How will the Rupee surge impact you?
With factors suggesting that the rupee could rise, we could see a scenario of an increasing percentage of goods and services being offered locally, which would lead to lower prices and hence curb inflation further.
Industries, where domestic prices are linked to the cost of imported raw material -- like metals, have and will lead to further lowering of input cost of imported aluminium and copper. A reduction in the domestic prices is expected. Obviously, importing price-sensitive electronics and gadgets would also be cheaper, as would other retail items.
An appreciating rupee shows the strength of the economy, which can be seen when one travels overseas, if you try to convert what the dollar is worth. So maybe you should plan your overseas trip now, if you have enough disposable income.
You obviously have concerns if you are an exporter or work in an export-house. Another groups of people who may not be happy to see the rupee rising, would be those who hold dollar-denominated accounts.
A series of measures linked to curbing credit growth and lowering short-term interest rates twice this year, have pegged inflation to 4.27 per cent for the week ending July 4 from a two-year high of 6.73 per cent in January-end. Currently, India's inflation is within the medium-term range set by the RBI.
A variety of factors are, however, keeping the rupee firm against the dollar, which has risen by nearly 10 per cent between January-July this year. The rupee stands at a near-decade high of 40.3 against the dollar, from 44.2 when the year began.
Rupee appreciation has been the sharpest in three decades in the April-June quarter this year. And analysts expect the rupee to gain further.
The impact of a rupee rise
As the rupee rises against the dollar (or conversely the dollar weakens) Indian exports firms earn less and thus begin to lose their competitive edge -- whether it be textile, jewellery, software, drugs or automobiles.
India's 'big four' in the software pack -- Infosys], TCS , Wipro and Satyam have already seen their net income in the first quarter ending June, fall due to the sharp rupee rise. This is because India's software companies bill several clients in dollar terms.
A weak dollar thus hits currency-linked earnings.
The impact is seen through:
Lower exports, as exporters are unable to maintain necessary profit margins if their dollar-linked earnings fall. Analysts now predict that India's export target of $160 billion may not be met. A more 'realistic' export target for this year has been pegged at $135-140 billion.
If the rupee continues to gain against the dollar, India's competitive strength in world trade (which is already negligible) will weaken. This, in turn, shrinks new job avenues.
Exporters are keener to sell their product/services locally, if possible. This would increase local supplies and lower prices and inflation.
Export lobby groups and trade analysts are now urging the government to act to curb the rupee's rise. The equation is simple. In a competitive business environment where operating margins will determine survival, export houses are in a fix.
Jobs may be lost
However, on the other hand, if the rupee keeps strengthening, a lot many people may actually lose jobs. Exporters are also considering layoffs, which may eventually affect 275,000 jobs by the year-end.
Yet another fallout of the rupee rise is the proposal by the IT and BPO companies in India which plan to increase the working hours of their employees and doing away with a 5-day week and making them work on Saturdays too.
According to a study by the Union commerce ministry, the worst hit sectors are infotech, textile, leather, handicrafts, marine products, engineering, sports goods, toys and agri products.
How will the Rupee surge impact you?
With factors suggesting that the rupee could rise, we could see a scenario of an increasing percentage of goods and services being offered locally, which would lead to lower prices and hence curb inflation further.
Industries, where domestic prices are linked to the cost of imported raw material -- like metals, have and will lead to further lowering of input cost of imported aluminium and copper. A reduction in the domestic prices is expected. Obviously, importing price-sensitive electronics and gadgets would also be cheaper, as would other retail items.
An appreciating rupee shows the strength of the economy, which can be seen when one travels overseas, if you try to convert what the dollar is worth. So maybe you should plan your overseas trip now, if you have enough disposable income.
You obviously have concerns if you are an exporter or work in an export-house. Another groups of people who may not be happy to see the rupee rising, would be those who hold dollar-denominated accounts.
Monday, July 30, 2007
"Blind Men and the Elephant" - A first step in understanding IT services
So here are two young IT professionals turned- writers, Was Rahman and Priya Kurien, who have attempted to rewrite the story exploring the intricacies of today’s ‘least understood’ IT industry. It would be wrong to say Was Rahman and Priya Kurien are trying to demystify Information Technology (IT) in their book "Blind Men and the Elephant". The industry is too much of a behemoth for one book to be able to do that.
Elaborating on the book, Was Rahman, a post graduate in Management and IT from Coventry University says, “In the poem, the six blind men described each part of an elephant and guess it was the elephant. Similar is the case with the industry as nobody has given its full history. Each group gives its own descriptions, based on its perspective.’’
Priya, an engineering graduate from Guindy Engineering College, says, “The book talks about almost all aspects of the industry from its fascinating past to the future.’’ Was and Priya’s experience in the industry has helped them gain a good understanding of the inner conflicts.
Was Rahman, who started his career in investment banking, has been in the industry for the last two decades. With five years’ experience in Infosys Technologies, he was also responsible for the company’s European Strategy, which included leading its transformation journey from supplier of commodity IT services to solver of Business problems.
Priya, who had a distinguished 13-year-career on the technology front of the industry, also co-developed the firm’s European Strategy and solutions programme.
“The industry had a fascinating history and all are talking about it. But nobody knows where it actually started,’’ she quips.
Like John Godfrey Saxe's parable, the IT services industry is slippery as the "snake", is "a tree" under which the wise man as well as the fool find shade, blows in fresh air like a "fan", ties one up in knots "like a rope" or...
To hit the stands in early August, the book wants "to make people think of the future" and "where the industry is headed" and about the pitfalls in its being and growing.
"We are trying to start a debate, what is the role of the IT services industry?" say Rahman and Kurien in their must-read.
"History repeats itself," Rahman told IANS at an interaction ahead of the release of the book in India, recalling that busts inevitably follow booms and that the IT services industry is reaching an equilibrium, which both the service sector and the customer have to come to terms with soon.
"Most people don't understand what the IT industry is all about, though in the 21st century, most people use IT in their lives in one way or the other," explained Kurien.
This rings a bell, especially when we come face to face with the jargon-filled world of COBOL (common business oriented language), ERPs (enterprise resource planning) and MRPs (material resource planning).
Each specific IT service sector is getting more specialised and more "driven by profit", but not becoming meticulous enough to cover its back, thus exposing itself to technology that can make it not only outdated but the service entirely redundant.
The book looks in some detail at some great IT service sector stories, but they all end with a cautionary note - the euphoria needs to be contained.
The industry is not about technology. Let's not forget, said the authors, "it is about the service, it is about the investment, about leadership and empowerment", and any of these missing can make the industry crash.
Elaborating on the book, Was Rahman, a post graduate in Management and IT from Coventry University says, “In the poem, the six blind men described each part of an elephant and guess it was the elephant. Similar is the case with the industry as nobody has given its full history. Each group gives its own descriptions, based on its perspective.’’
Priya, an engineering graduate from Guindy Engineering College, says, “The book talks about almost all aspects of the industry from its fascinating past to the future.’’ Was and Priya’s experience in the industry has helped them gain a good understanding of the inner conflicts.
Was Rahman, who started his career in investment banking, has been in the industry for the last two decades. With five years’ experience in Infosys Technologies, he was also responsible for the company’s European Strategy, which included leading its transformation journey from supplier of commodity IT services to solver of Business problems.
Priya, who had a distinguished 13-year-career on the technology front of the industry, also co-developed the firm’s European Strategy and solutions programme.
“The industry had a fascinating history and all are talking about it. But nobody knows where it actually started,’’ she quips.
Like John Godfrey Saxe's parable, the IT services industry is slippery as the "snake", is "a tree" under which the wise man as well as the fool find shade, blows in fresh air like a "fan", ties one up in knots "like a rope" or...
To hit the stands in early August, the book wants "to make people think of the future" and "where the industry is headed" and about the pitfalls in its being and growing.
"We are trying to start a debate, what is the role of the IT services industry?" say Rahman and Kurien in their must-read.
"History repeats itself," Rahman told IANS at an interaction ahead of the release of the book in India, recalling that busts inevitably follow booms and that the IT services industry is reaching an equilibrium, which both the service sector and the customer have to come to terms with soon.
"Most people don't understand what the IT industry is all about, though in the 21st century, most people use IT in their lives in one way or the other," explained Kurien.
This rings a bell, especially when we come face to face with the jargon-filled world of COBOL (common business oriented language), ERPs (enterprise resource planning) and MRPs (material resource planning).
Each specific IT service sector is getting more specialised and more "driven by profit", but not becoming meticulous enough to cover its back, thus exposing itself to technology that can make it not only outdated but the service entirely redundant.
The book looks in some detail at some great IT service sector stories, but they all end with a cautionary note - the euphoria needs to be contained.
The industry is not about technology. Let's not forget, said the authors, "it is about the service, it is about the investment, about leadership and empowerment", and any of these missing can make the industry crash.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Mastering the art of Job Hunting !!
Where do I start for a job change or a job hunt ??
What would be the right career move ??
How do I market my curriculum vitae ??
Do you ask yourself these questions before a job change ?? Most of us do and are worried how to headhunt for the right opportunity for the position matching our aspirations.
So I thought to pen down some universal tips and tricks.
1. Preparing a presentable resume.
2. Marketing your resume
3. Handpicking the employers
4. Attending interviews
5. Negotiating your CTC
6. Picking the cream of offers
1. Preparing a presentable resume
Analyze your resume : The resume is a selling tool that outlines your skills and experiences so an employer can see, at a glance, how you can contribute to the employer's workplace.
The most effective resumes are clearly focused on a specific job title and address the employer's stated requirements for the position. The more you know about the duties and skills required for the job--and organize your resume around these points--the more effective the resume.
Optimize your resume : “You will need information to write a good resume.” Not just information about jobs you've held in the past but also information to select the most relevant accomplishments, skills and experience for THIS position. The more you know about the employer and the position, the more you can tailor your resume to fit the job.
2. Marketing your resume
“Your resume has to sell you in short order.” While you may have all the requirements for a particular position, your resume is a failure if the employer does not instantly come to the conclusion that you "have what it takes." The first hurdle your resume has to pass--whether it ends up in the "consider file" or the "reject file"--may take less than thirty seconds.
Below are a few tips to effectively market your resume
- Executive Search Firms : Submitting your resume to Executive Search Firms are the hassle free way of headhunting a job, they are professional’s who have a wide gamut and reach of employers / opportunities to offer . They can even help you in preparing your resume, interview process and offer negotiations; half of your work is done if you submit your resume to these firms.
- Referrals through friends : Let your friends know that your are on a job hunt and looking out for a good opportunity, ask them to refer your candidature to their employers.
- Job Sites : Jobsites are an effective way to market your profile. Update your resume in their respective database and wait for the responses. Always keep a tap on the different jobs posted by employers
- Career / Job Fairs : Career Fairs / Job Fairs are good medium to gather info about different employers and the kind of opportunities they advertise.
3. Handpicking the employers :
Once you are done with the marketing and you start getting responses for your “Marketing Drive”, analyze the response and hand pick a few employers where you might be interested to work and continue with the process further.
4. Attending Interviews :
Lot has been written on this topic I am not elaborating much on this you can have a detailed info here.
5. Negotiating Your Salary :
This is a crucial part of every interview. Before you accept a job offer, you have to make sure the offer is one with which you are pleased. If not, you may have to negotiate. You can find more guidance from this article.
6. Picking the cream of offers :
By the end of this exercise you will be having at least a couple of offers with you. Now you have to make a decision depending on what would be your learning curve with the employer, Work Culture, Projects / Clients / Products, Other Benefits, Brand name of the employer etc.
I guess I have covered most of the things, if missed out anything please comment would be glad to add it up to this posting.
Cheers and Happy hunting !!!!
Password to crack the new IT matrix
For a while now the two words that have characterised the IT industry are “cost arbitrage”. Investors and analysts now want the industry to learn two new words: Pricing power.
Hit on the cost side because of an increase in employee costs and on the revenue side because of a rise in the value of the rupee against other currencies, the industry needs to figure out if its clients need it enough to allow them to raise prices.
“I think it is obvious that these companies do not have power to renegotiate prices to completely offset the adverse circumstances,” says the India head of a multi-strategy fund that currently managed about $2.5 billion. Most companies are negotiating a price increase of 1-2% on contracts coming up for renewal. This is unlikely to nullify the 5-6% decline in profit margins. No wonder then that most frontline IT stocks have underperformed the Sensex by more than 10% over the last six months.
One stark indicator of the state of the industry is the return on incremental capital employed, essentially the additional profits generated by deploying additional capital in the business. On this criterion, most top firms have shown a decline over the last two years. “These guys have a great business. Profits are growing at 25-30%, and revenue growth is strong. It is just that they may not be great stock market investments because the capital efficiency of the business may have declined,” says the fund manager.
For many industry experts IT companies may not be doing enough. “IT companies have done a reasonable job till now but if the rupee and the wages keep rising then they will need to do a lot more,” says Gartner regional research director Partha Iyengar. The IT industry has always relied on external triggers to show the way.
It was Y2K in 1999 and then the Internet mania in 2000 that shaped the business model of the industry. And that was setting up a process to move work offshore quickly and delivered in a “factory environment”. “Everybody then followed this business model that won the Y2K battle for India. I suspect we may be at a similar inflection point and we will see people now choosing differentiated strategies,” says the head of a private equity firm that has large investments in the IT sector.
For almost all the companies the core of the strategy will really mean figuring out how they deliver their bread-and-butter service: The application development and maintenance or ADM business. Since the ADM business is close to 50% of the revenues any strategic move has to deal with this chunk carefully.
So TCS is talking about using much more automation while Cognizant has set up a software factory at Coimbatore where they will use both scale as well as automation to be more efficient in delivering such services. There are other companies that are taking their ADM businesses away from Mumbai or Bangalore to smaller towns like Nashik, Bhubaneshwar or Pune.
All these are the cost-side measures. Things that can get better margins are as yet unaddressed. “The consulting businesses of these companies are yet to take off and these companies have not been able to identify any high-profit niches,” says the fund manager.
To be fair to the IT companies, they have developed deeper relationships with their clients but not in new areas. So, in normal ADM contracts Indian companies do it almost like a turnkey contract today while four to five years ago they would get all the requirements and only do the programming.
In enterprise solutions (SAP software related work) many India companies have moved ahead from doing just grunge work and writing small time programmes for SAP software. “Most of the global rollouts of enterprise software and its customisation in large companies is being handled right out of India and that is a huge step,” says Mr Iyengar.
But there is nothing spectacular in the pipeline that will transform these companies over a five-year horizon. “I think they need to become much more choosy in where they direct their resources. For example, HCL is not going to rebid for almost $16 million worth of contracts,” says Mr Iyengar.
Choices such as these are clearly difficult. Indian companies do not want to walk away from contracts and give smaller companies an opportunity to enter their accounts. Something they had benefited from when large companies like IBM and Accenture and Cap Gemini chose to focus on higher-end business 7 years ago. But clearly something has to give for the industry to get the buzz back. And no, we are not talking about small-fry acquisitions or sponsored ADS programmes.
Hit on the cost side because of an increase in employee costs and on the revenue side because of a rise in the value of the rupee against other currencies, the industry needs to figure out if its clients need it enough to allow them to raise prices.
“I think it is obvious that these companies do not have power to renegotiate prices to completely offset the adverse circumstances,” says the India head of a multi-strategy fund that currently managed about $2.5 billion. Most companies are negotiating a price increase of 1-2% on contracts coming up for renewal. This is unlikely to nullify the 5-6% decline in profit margins. No wonder then that most frontline IT stocks have underperformed the Sensex by more than 10% over the last six months.
One stark indicator of the state of the industry is the return on incremental capital employed, essentially the additional profits generated by deploying additional capital in the business. On this criterion, most top firms have shown a decline over the last two years. “These guys have a great business. Profits are growing at 25-30%, and revenue growth is strong. It is just that they may not be great stock market investments because the capital efficiency of the business may have declined,” says the fund manager.
For many industry experts IT companies may not be doing enough. “IT companies have done a reasonable job till now but if the rupee and the wages keep rising then they will need to do a lot more,” says Gartner regional research director Partha Iyengar. The IT industry has always relied on external triggers to show the way.
It was Y2K in 1999 and then the Internet mania in 2000 that shaped the business model of the industry. And that was setting up a process to move work offshore quickly and delivered in a “factory environment”. “Everybody then followed this business model that won the Y2K battle for India. I suspect we may be at a similar inflection point and we will see people now choosing differentiated strategies,” says the head of a private equity firm that has large investments in the IT sector.
For almost all the companies the core of the strategy will really mean figuring out how they deliver their bread-and-butter service: The application development and maintenance or ADM business. Since the ADM business is close to 50% of the revenues any strategic move has to deal with this chunk carefully.
So TCS is talking about using much more automation while Cognizant has set up a software factory at Coimbatore where they will use both scale as well as automation to be more efficient in delivering such services. There are other companies that are taking their ADM businesses away from Mumbai or Bangalore to smaller towns like Nashik, Bhubaneshwar or Pune.
All these are the cost-side measures. Things that can get better margins are as yet unaddressed. “The consulting businesses of these companies are yet to take off and these companies have not been able to identify any high-profit niches,” says the fund manager.
To be fair to the IT companies, they have developed deeper relationships with their clients but not in new areas. So, in normal ADM contracts Indian companies do it almost like a turnkey contract today while four to five years ago they would get all the requirements and only do the programming.
In enterprise solutions (SAP software related work) many India companies have moved ahead from doing just grunge work and writing small time programmes for SAP software. “Most of the global rollouts of enterprise software and its customisation in large companies is being handled right out of India and that is a huge step,” says Mr Iyengar.
But there is nothing spectacular in the pipeline that will transform these companies over a five-year horizon. “I think they need to become much more choosy in where they direct their resources. For example, HCL is not going to rebid for almost $16 million worth of contracts,” says Mr Iyengar.
Choices such as these are clearly difficult. Indian companies do not want to walk away from contracts and give smaller companies an opportunity to enter their accounts. Something they had benefited from when large companies like IBM and Accenture and Cap Gemini chose to focus on higher-end business 7 years ago. But clearly something has to give for the industry to get the buzz back. And no, we are not talking about small-fry acquisitions or sponsored ADS programmes.
Infy’s Finacle head puts in papers
Infosys Technologies is seeing the exit of another top level official with the head of its banking product business leaving the organisation. Merwin Fernandes, who was heading Infosys’ banking product business — Finacle — has put in his papers.
Mr Fernandes has spent close to a decade in Infosys and was the VP and global head — Finacle. He moved into the role following the elevation of Girish Vaidya as senior vice-president, Infosys Leadership Institute. However, it is not known what will be the Mr Fernandes’ future plans, though speculation is rife is that he will be moving into one of the rival businesses of Finacle. Confirming the development, Infosys in a statement said: “Yes, we can confirm that Merwin Fernandes has resigned from the services of the company to pursue his personal interests. At this stage the organisation is in the process of appointing a successor. The successor will be announced shortly to ensure a smooth transition.” Sources said Infosys has asked Mr Fernandes to stay on in the organisation till a successor has been found. Already, Infosys has sent letters to the various banks which are its customers, notifying the change. This will probably be another top level official exit from Infosys after Akshay Bhargava left its BPO business. Its other high profile exits have been Hema Ravichander.
Finacle — a core banking solution has been doing well for Infosys having recorded over 50% growth year-on-year (YoY). For 2006-07, it registered revenues of Rs 538 crore recording 50.7% YoY growth. Finacle constitutes 4% of Infosys revenues which has 91 customers with presence in 55 countries. It has a dominant share among the Indian PSU banks. Syndicate and Canara Banks have chosen to implement Flexcube of i-flex.
Finacle has been positioning itself as a global player and is targeting the global tier 1 and tier 2 banks. It had recently bagged an order from Emirates Bank of Dubai. It is also looking actively at the regions of South East Asia, western Europe and Australia and New Zealand where deals might start off from anywhere between $40 million and go up to $500 million.
At the marketplace, Finacle is competing not only against the Indian players like i-flex, FNS of TCS but also against the established global players like Misys, Temenos and Metavante. The current market size of core banking solutions is expected to be in the multi-billion dollars range spread over a longer period of time.
Mr Fernandes has spent close to a decade in Infosys and was the VP and global head — Finacle. He moved into the role following the elevation of Girish Vaidya as senior vice-president, Infosys Leadership Institute. However, it is not known what will be the Mr Fernandes’ future plans, though speculation is rife is that he will be moving into one of the rival businesses of Finacle. Confirming the development, Infosys in a statement said: “Yes, we can confirm that Merwin Fernandes has resigned from the services of the company to pursue his personal interests. At this stage the organisation is in the process of appointing a successor. The successor will be announced shortly to ensure a smooth transition.” Sources said Infosys has asked Mr Fernandes to stay on in the organisation till a successor has been found. Already, Infosys has sent letters to the various banks which are its customers, notifying the change. This will probably be another top level official exit from Infosys after Akshay Bhargava left its BPO business. Its other high profile exits have been Hema Ravichander.
Finacle — a core banking solution has been doing well for Infosys having recorded over 50% growth year-on-year (YoY). For 2006-07, it registered revenues of Rs 538 crore recording 50.7% YoY growth. Finacle constitutes 4% of Infosys revenues which has 91 customers with presence in 55 countries. It has a dominant share among the Indian PSU banks. Syndicate and Canara Banks have chosen to implement Flexcube of i-flex.
Finacle has been positioning itself as a global player and is targeting the global tier 1 and tier 2 banks. It had recently bagged an order from Emirates Bank of Dubai. It is also looking actively at the regions of South East Asia, western Europe and Australia and New Zealand where deals might start off from anywhere between $40 million and go up to $500 million.
At the marketplace, Finacle is competing not only against the Indian players like i-flex, FNS of TCS but also against the established global players like Misys, Temenos and Metavante. The current market size of core banking solutions is expected to be in the multi-billion dollars range spread over a longer period of time.
Lenovo to invest $11m in HP factory
PC major Lenovo on Thursday announced it would invest $11 million in setting up a new manufacturing unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. The plant, Lenovo’s second in India, would have a capacity of two million units a year and will manufacture both desktop and notebook PCs.
Lenovo’s investment in the new plant will be spread over a period of five years. The plant will be operational in the third quarter of the current fiscal.
The Baddi plant, which will employ 350 people, will support regional customer requirements, including product assembly, distribution services and reverse logistics. It will also offer additional value-added services like product configuration, the company said.
“India is an integral part of Lenovo’s global manufacturing strategy.
The company already has a plant in Pondicherry that has a capacity of one million units a year. It also opened an innovation centre in Mumbai last year, its third in the world after those in USA and China.
Lenovo’s investment in the new plant will be spread over a period of five years. The plant will be operational in the third quarter of the current fiscal.
The Baddi plant, which will employ 350 people, will support regional customer requirements, including product assembly, distribution services and reverse logistics. It will also offer additional value-added services like product configuration, the company said.
“India is an integral part of Lenovo’s global manufacturing strategy.
The company already has a plant in Pondicherry that has a capacity of one million units a year. It also opened an innovation centre in Mumbai last year, its third in the world after those in USA and China.
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