Business Standard - 16th October

Kiran Parchani
Kinshuk Deb
Kamei Lanchungpu

Section - G
Group - 9

Cabinet may clear Air India’s Rs. 1200 crore equity infusion.
• National aviation company India Limited (NACIL) which runs Air India (AI) is likely to receive government approval for its second equity infusion by next week.
• The airline has much debt on its books. Has a working capital debt of Rs. 1850 crore and pays Rs. 1800 crore as interest at a rate f 12 percent annually.
• The civil aviation ministry feels these infusions of relatively smaller amount would not be of much help.
• The airline is looking at launching a domestic low cost carrier under the Air India Express brand to boost its market share.The monsoon’s has led to an increased demand for fertiliser.
Some new launches in India1. Cars
• Skoda to replace Octavia: Skoda India a subsidiary of Skoda Auto is developing a car to replace the premium sedan ‘Octavia’ in the country.
• It will be a successor of Octavia, will be positioned in ‘C’ segment and will roll out in India by second half of 2011.
• Hyundai Motor India, launched its luxury SUV Santa Fe, priced between Rs. 20.95 lakh-22.95 lakh.
• In India Santa Fe will be imported as Completely Built Units (CBU) from South Korea, even, Hyundai has no future plans to manufacture the car in India in the near future.
2. Phone• Research In Motion (RIM) has launched new Blackberry Torch 9800 for Rs. 35,000. It has an upgraded operating system Blackberry 6 and is the first device to feature full touch screen.
Honda Motor prepares to exit Hero Honda.
• Honda motor company says it is evaluating proposals for a deal which could even see it exiting from its joint venture with the Munjals of the Hero group in Hero Honda.
• The proposal was made by Munjals to Honda Motor. The latter’s technology licensing agreement for the Joint Venture is to end only in 2014.
• Meanwhile Honda has decided to shed its premium tag and has plans to be in the low-cost bike segment, starting with a motorcycle costing just $612 (roughly Rs. 27,000).
• The company plans to target developing countries like India as no motorcycle is available in the market at such a low cost.
Governance for Tomorrow• Regulations governing Indian companies were introduced in 1850, during the British Raj. They were overhauled in 1913 and 1956.
• Upon the recommendations of various committees, including Joshi Committee and Irani Committee, the Companies Act 1956 was re-examined periodically.
• The 54-year-old corporate law in India is due for revision. We have the Companies Bill 2009, a framework to help India Inc operate in the environment of best international practices. In light of the global changes, the expectations from the Bill are the setting of certain standards, deregulation of powers and simplification. In this backdrop is the analysis of certain important provisions of corporate governance and management which continue to be at the centre stage of dynamic and ever-evolving business practices.
• The Companies Bill will include revision of following things:
1. Remuneration policy
2. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Movement
3. Auditors/Audit firm Rotation
4. Independent Director’s Term
5. Selection Panel for Directors
6. Director’s Evaluation
7. Disclosures of related party transactions
An Exuberant Conclusion to games.• The country’s competitors came out with flying colours and helped India finish a historic second in the final pecking order with more than 100 medals as the Commonwealth Games, that had a troubled build-up but proceeded smoothly thereafter, came to a close today. A record medal haul of 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals, the best-ever harvest for the country in the Games history, helped India climb to the record high second position and end the multidiscipline event on a thumping note. The main haul of these 101 medals came from the shooting range, wrestling mat, boxing ring, archery range and, to everyone’s surprise, the track and field events, to provide the country with a reasonably strong sports foundation on which to build a more powerful edifice on.
• CWG MEDALS TALLYCountry Gold Silver Bronze
Australia 74 54 48
India 38 27 36
England 37 59 45
Canada 26 11 32
South Africa 12 11 10