CSR to make available 50,000 more jobs in the sector: Experts

NEW DELHI: Compulsory corporate social responsibility is likely to increase the demand for professionals in this field by as much as 50 per cent in the coming years and the industry is likely to see at least 50,000 more job opportunities in the CSR sector, experts say. 
Around 8,000 companies would fall under the Companies Act's ambit and this in turn would open a host of new job opportunities for individuals looking to work in the social development field. 
At present, the CSR work of a company is mostly done by corporate communications team but with this law, many firms would have to build a strong team of around five-six people for the purpose. 
According to leading executive search firm GlobalHunt MD Sunil Goel, "the demand for CSR professionals will surge 50-60 per cent and we may have to train fresh hands to fulfil this need of the industry". 
Echoing similar sentiments, DLF Foundation CEO Rajender Singh said, "some of the demand for CSR professionals is likely to be filled with internal placement. However, the industry is likely to see at least 50,000 more job opportunities in the CSR sector". 
According to experts, the social sector is already a popular option and has low entry barriers and going forward, a lot of people could explore CSR as a career option. 
"CSR should see a spurt in career opportunities. But the real growth would be in effective CSR management agencies which would require a combination of management and CSR experts," Ashwajit Singh, Chairman and MD, IPE Global, a management consultancy company for development sector, said. 
According to Changeyourboss.com CEO Bhupender Mehta: "Big or small, every company makes efforts towards corporate social responsibility with intention of giving something back to the society and with this law, the number of people exploring CSR as a career option will go up for sure." 
Select companies would have spend two per cent of their average profit over the last three years for CSR. 
This would be applicable to firms having turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or with net worth of Rs 500 crore and above, or entities having net profit of Rs 5 crore and more. 
Experts, however, believe that NGO's may not be the target to build the CSR team, and many institutes such as TISS and XISS have trained talent that can be hired through campus placements for the purpose. 
They say people with experience in projects management in organisations like UNDP can also be invited to join the teams. 
"For the companies who will be honestly getting into this for the first time will not poach employees from NGOs, but may look at some sort of tie-ups to avoid the hassles of making the numbers," Prisma Global Executive Director and COO Amitabh Roy Chowdhury said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/csr-to-make-available-50000-more-jobs-in-the-sector-experts/articleshow/24082365.cms

Indian mobile Internet USAGE TO EXPLODE!!!!

Indian mobile Internet users to touch 164.8 mn by 2015: KPMG
Press Trust of India | New Delhi | Updated: Sep 24 2013, 21:06 IST
The number of people surfing the Internet using mobiles in India, the world's second largest mobile market after China, is set to touch 164.8 million by 2015, a report by global consultancy firm KPMG said today. KPMG's 'The SMAC Code Embracing New Technologies for future business' report further revealed that Indians hooking on to social networking sites provides opportunities to firm's for using social media to engage customers, brand building, product launches, etc.
"The mobile Internet users in the country are expected to grow from 4.1 million users in 2009 to 164.8 million in 2015 at a CAGR of 85 per cent," the report revealed. India has emerged as the second largest mobile market globally, behind only China. With over 870 million mobile subscribers, businesses are jumping the opportunity, it said. "Indian Internet users are also increasingly using social media, which in turn is providing opportunities for enterprises to leverage social media strategy for engaging with customers, brand building, product launches and for knowing their customers," it added.
The social media usage is primarily driven by the rising number of active Internet users, who are accessing Internet through host of devices, it said. "Enterprises are increasingly leveraging social media for customer engagement and brand building, as more and more individuals are becoming active Internet users and using social media," it added.
Besides, the proliferation of smart devices and rising mobile Internet usage has supported growth of active Internet users in the country, KPMG's report said. "Social media platforms are not only restricted to the social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, rather extended to various forms of social media including YouTube, blogs, social bookmarking, geo-location sites and daily deals," it added. As the social media modes differ, so their application and priority from business to business. Moreover, changing business dynamics influences enterprise decision to select a social media platform, the report said.  On the global social media scene, KPMG said: "The social commerce market is forecast to reach USD 30 billion by 2015. Leading global retailers are spending between 20-25 per cent of their advertising budget on social media channels." Nearly 90 per cent of the top global banks use social networking to achieve customer engagement, it added. Mobile technologies can be used to cut the cost of a financial transaction by up to 80 per cent, it said.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/indian-mobile-internet-users-to-touch-164.8-mn-by-2015-kpmg/1173610/2

How rupee-dollar rates are determined.....

How rupee-dollar rates are determined
RAKESH GOYAL
April 18, 2013:

Ever wondered why the rupee quotes at 53.2 or 50 and not at Rs 20 or Rs 80 to a dollar?
It’s not much different from how the prices of your mangoes are determined, for example. Whether currency movements or prices of mangoes, the most important factor determining their price is the same – market forces of demand and supply. If the demand for dollars increases, the value of dollar will appreciate. As the quotation for Rs/$ is a two way quote (that is, the price of one dollar is quoted in terms of how much rupees it takes to buy one dollar), an appreciation in the value of dollar would automatically mean a depreciation in Indian rupee and vice-versa. For example, if rupee depreciates, a dollar which once cost Rs 47 would cost, say, Rs 50. In essence, the value of dollar has risen and the buying power of rupee has gone down. Besides the primary powers of demand and supply, the rupee-dollar rates are determined by other market forces as well.
Market sentiments During turbulent markets, investors usually prefer to park their money in safe havens such as US treasuries, Swiss franc, gold and so on to avoid losses to their portfolios. This flight to safety would lead to foreign investors redeeming their investments from India. This could increase the demand for dollar vis-à-vis Indian rupees.
Speculation There are derivative instruments and over-the-counter currency instruments through which one can speculate/ hedge the underlying currency rates. When speculators sense improvements/ deterioration of the sentiments of the markets, they too want to benefit from such rising/ falling dollar. They then start buying/selling dollar which would further change the demand/ supply of the dollar.
RBI Intervention When there is too much volatility in the rupee-dollar rates, the RBI prevents the rates from going out of control to protect the domestic economy. The RBI does this by buying dollars when rupee appreciates too much and by selling dollars when the rupee depreciates significantly.
Imports and ExportsEver give thought as to why our government is trying to incentivise exports and reduce imports? There are a lot of schemes and incentives for exporters while importers are burdened with many conditions and taxes. This is to protect our economy from high rupee depreciation. Importing foreign goods requires us to make payment in dollars thus strengthening the dollar’s demand. Exports do the exact reverse.
Public Debt / Fiscal policyWhenever our Government fails to match expenses with equivalent revenue, there is a shortage of funds. To finance this, the Government at times opts to borrow money from institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF. This debt, accrued interests, and the payments made, also lead to currency fluctuations.
Interest RatesThe prevailing interest rates on the government bonds attract foreign capital to India. If the rates are high enough to cover the foreign market risk and if the foreign investor is comfortable with the fundamentals or credit ratings, money would start pouring into India and thus provide us with a supply of dollars. (The writer is Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.)(This article was published on April 18, 2013)

Educomp lays off 3,500 in three months
Slaps recovery notices on 750 defaulting schools
Educomp Solutions on Friday said it had laid off 3,500 people in three months to ensure employee strength rationalisation.
After the exit of these personnel, the education services company would have an employee strength of 14,670.
In a press statement, the company said it had announced a slew of measures aimed at putting it back on a growth trajectory, at a time when market sentiment was adversely impacting bottom lines across industries and pushed the education sector into a negative-growth territory. “Today, when the economic environment poses a challenge to the education sector as a whole, I am proud that Edu-comp has embarked on a bold strategy to return the company to robust growth,” said Shantanu Prakash, chairman and managing director, Educomp Solutions. “Although this transition will not be painless, we have to do what we have to do to get growth back on track.”
Educomp posted a loss of Rs 23.96 crore for the quarter ended June 30 (consolidated), against net profit of Rs 4.88 crore for the corresponding year-ago quarter.
Collections are being prioritised and a zero-tolerance regime for recoveries has been initiated. Educomp said around 750 schools that delayed payments had been sent notices. Divya Lal, COO, Educomp Smartclass, said 750 non-compliant schools, representing less than five per cent of the installed base, had been asked to explain their repeated payment delays. “While we have continually been accommodative of such schools, we cannot sustain this level of outstanding and have had to take a strict view of the issue,” she added.
In July 2012, there were reports of Educomp letting go of five per cent, or 750, of its 15,000 workforce. However, the management denied having dismissed anybody. Prakash had then said that if someone had resigned that’s a different story, but they had not fired people.
He had added that, in fact, they had hired in that quarter.
The company said it has embarked on a plan to rationalise costs across the board. “Redundancies are being calibrated in a progressive manner and employee strength is being rationalised. Contracts of unproductive staff are being terminated, while enhancing responsibilities among existing staff to control costs without impacting performance. Over the last three months, the company has let go of over 3,500 employees. This alone has the potential of significant savings for the company,” it said. Educomp said its transformational plan is a composite template of critical modifications in structure, systems and sales strategies to return the company to profitability in the current and next financial years. Within this transformational plan, a series of tactical steps have been identified to fast-track the correction. This include an “horizontal-extraction” strategy to offer more products to customers, to increase spending from schools and improve income per capita customer contact point. Educomp has also divested itself of most non-core businesses and monetised non-core assets to improve liquidity and reduce capital needs. The move, the company said, is expected to help it focus on its competencies and execute migration from being just a product company to a solutions company. The education services provided recently made two exits in, what it calls, non-core segments. Last week, the company sold its 50 per cent stake in vocational training firm IndiaCan to joint venture partner Pearson. Prakash had then said this was in line with the company’s strategy to focus on digital content and intellectual property offerings and asset-backed offerings like schools and colleges.
In 2013, Educomp announced a primary capital investment from Kaizen PE and Bertelsmann in its internet education platform business, Authorgen. Under this agreement, Educomp sought growth capital investment of Rs 22 crore in Authorgen from Kaizen PE and Bertelsmann. In March, it completed the sale of 50 per cent stake in Eurokids International Limited to a group of investors led by GPE India. Educomp recently outsourced its service and maintenance logistics to HCL Infosystems to exploit efficiencies of scale and provide specialist services. The company is targeting a reduction in operational costs of close to 20 per cent over the last financial year due to these measures.
In July 2012, there were reports of Educomp Solutions letting go of five%, or 750, of its total 15,000 workforce. However, the management denied having sacked anybody. Educomp Solutions Managing Director and CEO Shantanu Prakash had then said that if someone has resigned and gone, that’s a different story, but they had not fired people. He had added that, in fact, they had hired in that quarter. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/educomp-lays-off-3-500-in-three-months-113081600815_1.html

Tata company-NOT SERIOUS - PAID PENALITY

'Cut and paste' job costs Tata company Rs. 2.28 lakh

Sebi said it will not initiate any enforcement action against the company. A consent order enables settling administrative or civil proceedings between the regulator and the party concerned.

An erroneous 'cut and paste' job in updating its shareholding pattern has cost a Tata group firm, The Tinplate Company of India , an amount of Rs. 2.28 lakh as payment towards settlement of a case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Sebi, in a consent order dated June 28, has settled charges of takeover norms violation by TCIL after it paid Rs. 2.28 lakh.

Besides, the market regulator said it will not initiate any enforcement action against the company. A consent order enables settling administrative or civil proceedings between the regulator and the party concerned. The company had been charged with delay in filing the shareholding details under Sebi's takeover regulations for 2009 and 2010. Besides, there was inaccurate disclosure regarding change in shareholding of the company between March 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011. However, "change in shareholding had never taken place but that the change in the shareholding which had actually taken place between March 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011 and had already been indicated in the relevant disclosures for that particular year had been repeated for the next year due to a 'cut and paste' error."

Consequently, the disclosures for the period between March 31, 2010 and March 31, 2011 indicated a change in shareholding pattern even though there was no such change. Also, there was no change in control of the company during the period.

TCIL submitted an application with Sebi in December 2012 following which their representatives held a meeting with the regulator's internal committee on consent. After that, the consent terms were placed before the high powered advisory committee of Sebi. The committee recommended the case for settlement upon payment of Rs. 2.28 lakh towards settlement charges. The applicant (TCIL) has remitted the sum towards settlement fees. In a separate consent order, Sebi has settled charges of takeover norms violation by Ashok Alco-Chem Ltd after it paid Rs. 3.52 lakh. The company had not filed the disclosures regarding its shareholding details between 2001 and 2007 and 2009 within specific time-frame.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/cutpaste-job-costs-tata-company-rs-228-lakh_919375.html

-Renewable Energy-Solar attracts $3.86 bn funding ....

Solar sector attracts $3.86 bn funding in April-June

A A

 

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA : NEW DELHI, JUL 12 2013, 13:34 IST

The solar sector has attracted total funding of $3.86 bn, through 40 deals, including three Indian transactions, says a report.

According to the Mercom Capital Group's second quarter funding and M&A activity report for solar sector, the VC funding in the solar sector continued to be subpar in the second quarter of 2013, with USD 189 million in VC funding in April-June period compared to USD 126 million last quarter.

The report analysed funding on the basis of four categories -- project funding, VC funding, debt funding and others. Three Indian deals three were listed in the project funding category while one Fortum's acquisition of a solar power plant in Rajasthan was included in the project M&A category.

The three Indian deals in Q2 this year include Acme Solar's USD 50 million loan for its 25 MW photovoltaic power plant in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Welspun Energy's financial closure of its upcoming 20 MW solar power project in Maharashtra, wherein financial institutions have committed to a long-term project funding of USD 22.5 million.Further Welspun Energy, received around USD 8 million in funding from financial institutions for its Karnataka solar project.

Among the VC deals solar downstream companies received USD 128 million in funding, Mercom Capital said. "With solar technology companies struggling, investments have been going to downstream companies," Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu said. Prabhu further added that "investments into solar technology companies haven't completely dried up. Small venture rounds are still going to several niche technology companies instead of the larger deals that were typical for thin film, CSP and CPV companies."

Meanwhile, solar M&A activity in Q2 2013 amounted to USD 1.27 billion in 18 transactions."Themes emerging out of this quarter's M&A activity included: consolidation in the inverter market, strategic acquisitions, and acquisitions of distressed assets/ companies," Mercom Capital added.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/solar-sector-attracts-3.86-bn-funding-in-apriljune/1141010/2

250 TIMES PREMIUM....

Future Generali stake transactions don't add up Published: Sunday, Nov 25, 2012, 21:13 IST  By Rajiv Ranjan Singh | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA A company with no asset of its own issued shares to two different companies on the same day. While one company bought the shares at a face value of Rs10, the other paidRs2,500 apiece. And these weren't one-off deals. Thepractice has gone on for five years now – in Sprint Advisory Services PvtLtd.Sprint, incorporated in 2005-06 as a chain marketing company andrechristened as Sain Advisory Services in 2007-08, and further as Sprint Advisory Services in 2010-11, has no employees on record.What's more, it has posted losses year after year and gets only a paltry income through consultancy services, which has never exceeded Rs5 lakhper annum in the last five years.Still, it has been able to command a 250-time premium.What gives? Well, Sprint Advisory holds 49% stake in Future Generali Life Insurance Company, while Pantaloon Retail India and Maatschappij GraafsschapHolland NV hold 25.5% stake each.Between 2007-08 and 2010-11, Maatschappij, a little known firm based out of a tax heaven in Netherlands, invested Rs268 crore directly in FutureGenerali Life, while Pantaloon Retail invested a like amount, to take at 25.5% each.For the remaining 49% stake in Future Generali Life, Sprint Advisory invested Rs515 crore with an almost equal contribution coming fromMaatschappij and Pantaloon Retail. Maatschappij started investing in Sprint in 2007-08, against which Sprint Advisory issued shares at Rs2,500 a share for a face value of Rs10. As of 2010-11 fiscal end, Maatschappij had invested Rs283.66 crore in Sprint, but got just a 0.4% stake. However, Pantaloon Retail invested Rs283.54 crore in it and commanded a 99.96% stake.For 2010-11, Sprint registered a loss of Rs15.90 lakh, though its income from consultancy services stood at Rs1.2 lakh and other income atRs69,000.To be sure, between 2007-08 and 2011-12, Future Generali Life has attracted investments of Rs1,200 crore from these players, though DNAcould only collate the figures till March 2011 as Sprint is yet to file its annual return for the last fiscal. As these numbers show, despite investing 50% in the share capital of Future Generali Life, Maatschappij holds just 25.5% stake in the company, thanks to the hefty premium charged by Sprint Advisory, in which VijayBiyani, Future Group chairman Kishore Biyani's brother, is one of the four directors. The other three are Prakash Chandra Toshniwal, KrishnakantRathi and Roberto Gasso.For the record, Biyani and Gasso are also on the board of Future GeneraliLife, as Sprint representatives.Surely, all this can't be a coincidence; there has to be a game plan somewhere.Makes one ask – was theMaatschappij and Sprint Advisory transaction done to bypass the norm of a 26% limit for foreign companies in insurance?A detailed questionnaire sent to Sprint Advisory remained unanswered. Deepak Sood, CEO, Future Generali Life refused to give any answer.Curiously, there is little in the public domain about Maatschappij or its key executives.As per Bloomberg Businessweek, Maatschappij Graafsschap Holland NV was founded in 1975 and is based in Diemen, the Netherlands. ParticipatieMaatschappij Graafschap Holland NV operates as a subsidiary ofAssicurazioni Generali SpA.It is ironical that the absurd pricing scheme in Sprint was not questioned by the star-studded board of Future Generali Life. Former SEBI chairman GNBajpai, who is supposed to be an authority on pricing of shares, has headed the board for the last three financial years and Gorakhnath Agarwal, the head of the Acturial Society of India, is on its board and acts as the chief actuary and chief risk officer.It is also reliably learnt that Girish Kulkarni, one of the pilots of the absurd pricing scheme of Sprint Advisory, working as the chief marketing officer and a director of Future Generali in 2007-08 when Maatschappij started paying the premium for Sprint, now heads Star Union Dai-ichi, an insurance company promoted by a public sector bank. http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_future-generali-stake-transactions-don-t-add-up_1769378-2