Coca-Cola launches Limca 3-Dimensional ad

Coca-Cola India has launched its first 3D (three dimensional)-animated ad for their limy drink brand Limca. The company worldwide has designed several animated campaigns, but in India, it is only the second time that the company has used 3D animation. The television commercial will go on air on August 1.

The agency behind the conceptualisation and execution of the advertisement is Ogilvy & Mather.

"We wanted to surprise the consumers. Animation is neither quicker or cheaper. We wanted to stand above the clutter by doing such a campaign," said Srinivas Murthy, general manager (flavours) - marketing, Coca-Cola India.

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Microsoft, Yahoo tie up to take on Google

Microsoft and Yahoo announced Wednesday a partnership in internet search and advertising that is intended to create a stronger rival to the industry powerhouse Google.

The Microsoft-Yahoo pact is a measured step that represents a pragmatic division of duties between the two companies instead of the blockbuster deal Microsoft proposed last year, when it bid $47.5 billion in an attempt to buy Yahoo. That hostile offer was ultimately rejected by Yahoo, and its collapse and the uncertain aftermath for the web company led to a management change and the replacement of Jerry Yang, the company's co-founder, with Carol Bartz, an outsider who is now chief executive.

Under the pact, Microsoft will provide the underlying search technology on Yahoo's popular websites.

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Now Idea aims for pan-India presence

Idea Cellular, a major global system for mobile communications (GSM) mobile services operator and an Aditya Birla group company, plans to expand its footprint to five more mobile circles to cover the whole of India and deepen its rural penetration, a top company official said. At present, the company has commercial operations in 17 out of 22 mobile service circles in the country, and over 47 million subscribers.

"By the end of December 2009, we will cover West Bengal, Assam, the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir to become pan-India," Rajat Mukarji, chief corporate affairs officer, Idea Cellular, said. He said the company had an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore last year for the pan-India growth, and that Idea has invested in expanding its footprint in Mumbai, Bihar, Chennai and Orissa.

The company's major competitors are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, and BSNL. Mukarji said last month, the company had launched a pilot project called Nokia Life Tools in rural Maharashtra to provide farmers a range of agri-related news in the local Marathi language.

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General Motors India plans expansion of Chevrolet-OK outlets

General Motors(GM) India is keen to expand its southern base for its recently launched `Chevrolet-OK' used-car business. By the end of the year, the company plans to open at least 50 outlets to sell used cars, launched in April this year. The automaker is keen to have at least 15 outlets in south India.

GM India opened one Chevrolet-OK each in Bangalore and Chennai last week. It already has two such outlets in Hyderabad.

"Our Chevrolet-OK pre-owned car initiative has taken off well, even though we formally launched it only in April. We have so far opened 17 outlets across the country and four of them are in the South," P Balendran, director and vice-president of corporate affairs, GM India told Financial Chronicle.

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Wrong PAN can mean Rs 10,000 penalty

Do not mess up your permanent account number (PAN) in the rush to file income-tax (I-T) return before July 31. A taxpayer quoting wrong PAN number in any transaction or while filing his tax return may have to fork out a penalty of Rs 10,000 and forego tax deductions and exemptions claimed under the I-T Act.

Says Subhash Lakhotia, an independent tax expert, "Individuals quote wrong PAN mainly due to oversight or writing error. But in some cases they do it deliberately to hide transactions such as high value deals or other sources of income."

Deliberate misquoting of PAN can result in a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 according to section 272 (B) of the I-T Act. If the mistake is unintentional, all the taxpayer will have to do is file a fresh tax return.

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VVIP? Former president of India? Doesn't matter

US transportation security administration (TSA) protocol cares little about the VVIP tag, even if it's a former President of India. The US rules waive body search and screening only for active heads of state and those travelling under protective escort of the US secret service.

The exemption is also available to high-level active foreign dignitaries, vetted by the department of state and TSA, being escorted by the US diplomatic security service. While the US-based Continental Airlines offered an unconditional apology on Wednesday to former President APJ Abdul Kalam for security screening at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on April 21, the US security agency sees no reason for it.

The transportation security administration guidelines require former heads of state and other VIPs travelling from an international location to destinations in America on a US commercial aircraft to be screened just like other passengers.

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United States space deal to put Isro into higher orbit

The technology safeguards agreement (TSA) signed by India and the US on Monday will expand satellite launch market and boost revenues for Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

The agreement reached between US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and external affairs minister S M Krishna will pave way for execution of two major contracts bagged by Isro for launch of satellites having American component and payloads.

Executive director of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of Isro, K R Sridhara Murthi told Financial Chronicle that the Indo-US pact will enable Isro to launch civilian satellites being deployed for non-commercial purposes by third country that have USmade components.

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India to launch United States satellites

India and the US have taken their strategic relationship to a new level. The two countries concluded three major agreements in defence, space and science & technology on Monday, the last of the five days that US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton was in india.

New Delhi and Washington decided to open a new strategic dialogue with Clinton and the Indian external affairs minister, S M Krishna as co-chairpersons. The dialogue will encompass the key areas of energy, education and finance and also be a forum for interactions among academics, civil society groups and intellectuals of the two countries at the non-governmental level.

As if to underline India's strategic importance in its scheme of things, the Obama administration invited prime minister Manmohan Singh to the US.

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Panasonic's Wi-Fi GSM phone for just Rs 4,000

Panasonic India is looking to scale up it market share in the wired communication segment. The company is riding high on its tie-up with internet service provider, Airtel, which is planning to give away 70,000 fixed line phones with internet connection to subscribers within the next nine months.

The company is also looking to launch several new phones in both the corded and cordless segments over the next three years and clock a turnover of Rs 180 crore.

"We clocked a turnover of Rs 60 crore in the past financial year and we are targeting to achieve Rs 180 crore by 2012. We would spend 3 per cent of our turnover in marketing communication every year," said Chan Wei Ti, Asia Pacific head, wired communication division, Panasonic Corp.

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Composite talks can't resume till Pakistan acts against terror: PM

In an apparent climbdown, India on Thursday dropped its insistence on refusing to hold talks with Pakistan till those behind the Mumbai terror attacks were punished but prime minister Manmohan Singh clarified that the "composite dialogue" will not be resumed.

A joint statement issued after the second top-level meeting since the Mumbai terror attacks said, "Both prime ministers recognised that dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed."

During the two-hour long meeting the two sides agreed to "create an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence".

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Swine flu puts Hyderabad IT companies on high alert

Even as Hyderabad grapples with the spurt in swine flu cases, IT companies in the city find themselves to be the most vulnerable to the deadly virus. With Google shutting down one of its offices after an employee was confirmed to have the H1N1 virus, other major global IT companies are taking extra precautions to educate their workforces about the disease.

Several big names in the IT industry such as Microsoft, Computer Associates (CA), Dell and IBM have major operations in Hyderabad. These companies find themselves all the more susceptible to a swine flu attack, as they host a large number of visitors from the US and the South East Asian region. “We do get a lot of guests from the affected regions. Hence, we have to be extra careful,” Bipin Pendyla, VP and site manager, CA India Technology Centre, told Financial Chronicle.

The company has asked its employees to be alert to swine flu symptoms and to take immediate medical help if they notice any.

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Microsoft earns respect with search engine Bing

In late May, Microsoft unveiled Bing, its new internet search engine, in front of an audience of sceptics, technology executives and other digerati who had gathered near San Diego for an industry conference.

To that crowd, Microsoft’s efforts to take on Google and Yahoo in the search business had become something of a laughingstock, and for good reason. Microsoft’s repeated efforts to build a credible search engine had fallen flat, and the company’s market share was near its low.

Six weeks later, Bing has earned Microsoft something the company’s earlier search efforts lacked: respect.

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Tanishq will rebrand its jewellery with logo

After elimination of the 2 per cent excise duty on branded articles of jewellery, Titan’s jewellery retail chain is re-entering the branded jewellery segment. The company will start the process of branding by putting its logo on its packaging through carry bags and boxes.

Later on, the company will also put its signature mark on all its jewellery. The company is yet to decide if it would like to use the Tanishq logo or design a new logo for this purpose.

“Earlier, there was a lot of confusion about what is branded and what is not. At the time we were branded, we did not pass on the burden of excise to our customers, which wasn’t very a profitable proposition for us,” Sandeep Kulahali, vice president, Tanishq.

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New occupants check into Taj corner rooms

The Tata group has begun a top-level management restructuring of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which runs the Taj chain of hotels.

Jyoti Narang, who was earlier chief operating officer of Gateway hotels, has been made chief operating officer of Taj luxury hotels in India. P K Mohan Kumar, former area director of IHCL based in Bangalore, has moved to Gateway hotels to fill the position vacated by Narang. Anil P Goel, earlier chief financial officer, has been promoted as executive director.

IHCL will now have two executive directors. Besides Goel, the other is Abhijit Mukerji, who is executive director in charge of hotel operations.

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Yes Bank plans to go retail soon

Yes Bank has decided to gradually step up its presence in retail business. The bank, which has consciously maintained a low-key presence in the retail market, now plans to increase exposure in this segment.

“At present, our core strength lies in financing to companies — large, midsized as well as small. As far as our retail portfolio is concerned, we deliberately kept it low as there are too many banks providing such services. But as our presence grows, we will start focusing on the retail portfolio,” said Rana Kapoor, managing director and chief executive officer, Yes Bank.

Asked whether the bank plans to foray into housing loan and car loan segments, Kapoor said, “We certainly plan to foray into these two segments of retail lending.

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Terror tops India’s bilateral agenda as G8 talkathon starts

Prime minister Manmohan Singh huddled with his counterparts from Brazil, China, Mexico and South Africa here till late night India-time on Wednesday ahead of a two-day talkathon with leaders of eight of the world’s most powerful economies on how to heal the world. That the leaders are dead serious about talking is certain. They have chosen to meet at L’Aquila, a small town 120km from Rome, that was devastated by an earthquake in April leaving 300 dead and the city centre in ruin.

What is not so certain is whether these powerful people will walk the talk amidst the rubble heap of global financial collapse on a planet increasingly scarred by human depredations.

Officials accompanying the PM, who did not want to be named, say that much of the talk at L’Aquila is about the world leaders agreeing to agree at later dates about how to fix the world before the next catastrophe happens.

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Sub-brokers, bus operators go out of service tax ambit

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has exempted sub-brokers, inter-bank foreign currency transactions of scheduled banks and private carriers with passenger permits from the service tax.

At the same time, he has brought in a host of new services into the tax net and also expanded the scope of business auxiliary services. In his budget speech, Mukherjee named law firms, cosmetic & plastic surgery, goods transported on the railways and waterways as the services that would now be taxed.

The finance bill reveals the devil in the detail. Despite the 2 per cent cut in the levy rate in the interim budget, the final budget retained the mobilisation target at Rs 65,000 crore.

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New pension system gets much-needed income-tax benefits

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee played hot and cold with investors seeking to invest in the new pension system (NPS). He provided some incentives by exempting the system from the provisions of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and income of the NPS Trust from income tax

But at the same time, he has decided to retain the exempt-exempt-taxed status for NPS, which came as a dampener for investors.

Another positive for the sector was the announcement that investment in the system by self-employed persons will enjoy the benefits of Section 80CCD, a sub-section under Sec 80C that allows deductions up to Rs 100,000 on investments made in different classes of assets

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Disney adds robotic Obama as new attraction

A model of US President Barack Obama made its debut at the ‘Hall of Presidents’ in Orlando’s Disney World during Independence Day celebrations on Saturday, Disney announced.

The ‘Hall of Presidents’ show was suspended for eight months while it was being retooled to accommodate the newest addition. Disney engineers worked with White House officials and the president himself, who filmed and recorded a brief speech for them.

The Obama figure is the most dynamic ever created by Disney, according to a statement released by the company.

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59 million jobs to be created by 2012

Ramping up job opportunities in specific sectors could be among the top priorities of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, if the pre-budget economic survey 2009 is any indication.

With almost 30 per cent rise in job projection between 2007 and 2012, the survey said that 59 million jobs would be created by the end of 2012, higher than 45 million projected at the start of the eleventh five-year plan. The government has identified sectors such as food processing, leather, textiles, gems and jewellery and handicrafts to boost job figures.

“The sectors identified by the centre are labour-intensive and despite being neglected for decades, have growth potential,” Naresh Malhan, managing director Manpower India told Financial Chronicle.

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Petrol dearer by Rupees 4, diesel to cost Rupees 2 more

The government on Wednesday increased the retail price of petrol by Rs 4 a litre and that of diesel by Rs 2. This is the first increase in their prices this year. There is no change in kerosene and bottled LPG prices.

The increase will help the public sector oil retailers — Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil — cut their losses and the government reduce its subsidy burden. At the prices prevailing before the increase, the companies were losing about Rs 170 crore every day.

The subsidy bill will now be about Rs 30,000 crore less, allowing finance minister Pranab Mukherjee some elbow room to increase social sector spending. However, costlier fuel is bound to add moderately to inflation that is still hovering at sub-zero levels.

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