Bharti hopeful of 50:50 JV with Wal-Mart for retail stores

Bharti Enterprises has started talks with Wal-Mart and is hoping to form a 50:50 joint venture to roll out retail outlets in India, a top company official has said.
The two companies have an equal partnership in wholesale business and the Indian partner is hopeful of replicating it in the retail business, following government's decision to allow up to 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail.

Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman and MD Rajan Bharti Mittal said "talks have started" and the company is hopeful that the nature of their relationship, under which Wal-Mart became an equal partner in wholesale business despite having a chance of bringing in 100 per cent FDI, would continue.

"All I am trying to say here is that when there is opportunity to go 100 per cent in wholesale, they had 50:50 with Bharti. Now, with the opening up of the front-end, the discussions are on the table and hopefully the relationship that we have enjoyed in the last five years will continue," Mittal said in CNN-IBN TV programme Devil's Advocate.
When asked if the retail JV will still be a 50:50 one, he said: "That's what I am trying to say. That's the relationship we have despite 100 per cent being open (in wholesale)".
Mittal also dismissed various reports questioning the impact and work ethics of Wal-Mart terming them as "myth".
"That's not true to be honest. That's a myth of course. You really look at the US, where they do USD 300 billion business, they have about 11 per cent of market share. They save about USD 230 billion worth to the consumers and two million jobs.
"So, that's a myth that they are going to squeeze from both sides," he said when asked about allegations on Wal-Mart paying less to farmers and hiking prices for consumers after capturing the market.
Mittal said Bharti Walmart currently sources 95 per cent of its products from India and it will continue to be so.

Dispelling fears that foreign retailers' entry will lead to death of kirana stores and huge job loss, Mittal said modern organised retail is already present in India for almost 10 years and big companies' presence are gradually shrinking.

"The big business houses in this country have 4,800 stores today. Let's talk about them, let's not talk about foreign investment here. They have declined. It's the other way round.
"The modern retail has declined. If you really look at the modern retail, if I name six of them, there were 5,600 stores (a year back), there is 4,800 stores today," he added.
He said modern retail is struggling because of cost of real estate and cost of people among others.

Mittal said modern retail is about six per cent today and it is likely to grow to 20 per cent in about 20 years.
Stressing that Indian retail market is more similar to China, Brazil, Mexico and Japan than the US and the UK, he said: "India has a very unique model. People have to realize that and people are not realising that India will be a different model". 

Domestic tourism goes up in spite of inflation

Rupee depreciation as well as escalating airfares and hotel room rents are not deterring the Indian travellers from holidaying.
Domestic travel trips have gone up by nearly 84 per cent over the first six months. Interestingly, 79 per cent have said that they are looking at one more holiday by this year-end.

Goa continues to be a favorite destination followed by Uttarkhand, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and Andamans. As per the latest report by Goibibo.com the average spends on a holiday for a family of 3 was Rs. 21,999. Jammu & Kashmir region leads at Rs. 38,577 followed by Kerala and Andaman.

The most preferred package duration is 4 nights / 5 days with 33 per cent, says Ashish Kashyap, CEO, IBIBO group. The trends were analysed from the buyers’ data available with this online travel site.

“Learning from data, we have recently created a Goa Carnival from Sept. 29 2012, exclusively for Goibibo customer. This is the second in the series in providing travel insights for the entire market,” says Mr. Kashyap.

A survey by TripAdvisor says that the number of domestic business trips in 2012 increased or stayed the same for 67 per cent of travellers, with a decline for 33 per cent.
The survey taken by over 1,300 respondents from public sector, private companies and multinational companies revealed that companies were slowly becoming watchful of their travel expenses - a sign of an imminent slowdown.

International business trips increased for 40 per cent of the respondents while it remained unchanged for 28 per cent of respondents and a fall in foreign travel for 32 per cent.
“Survey results showed that over one-third of the respondents reduced their work trips this year from those in 2011, along with organisations growing careful and vigilant of their travel spends,” says Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor India.

Hirotec to expand its production in India

Hirotec, a Japan-based manufacturer of car doors and exhaust systems has recently announced its plan to expand its production in India. For that, the company is going to invest an additional Rs 40 crore to create an integrated international engineering centre of excellence and manufacturing facility in its Coimbatore unit.

Katsutoshi Uno, chairman, Hirotec America and director, Hirotec Corporation said, “The investments are done to establish facilities which would meet Hirotec Global standards to facilitate in the production of quality tooling solutions to growth needs of automotive OEMs in India.”

Hirotec Corporation, Japan, has obtained 40 per cent share in Hirotec India. Uno also informed that the integrated facility will be operational in April 2014. On the other hand, Takahiro Hayama, president Hirotec India has spoken on the financial performance of the company that Indian operations have made a turnover of $ 5 million in 2011-12, which has reached $ 10 million in 2012-13 so far.

Japan commits Rs.7,802.17 crore assistance to India

Japan Friday committed 132.645 billion Yen (Rs.7,802.17 crore) as part of the official development assistance (ODA) loan package to fund four development projects in India.

The projects include development of the Indian Institute of Technology (Hyderabad) campus (Rs.313.62 crore), Tamil Nadu transmission system improvement project (Rs.3,572.73 crore), Rajasthan rural water supply and fluorosis mitigation project (Rs.2,211.52 crore), and Delhi water supply improvement project (Rs.1,704.30) crore.

"Notes were exchanged today (Friday) between joint secretary of department of economic affairs and charge de' affaires ad interim of embassy of Japan to India. Through this exchange of notes, Japan committed an amount of Yen 132.645 billion," the finance ministry said in a statement.

With Friday's commitment, the ministry said the ODA from Japan has reached 3,587.302 billion Yen.

Chidambaram to visit Japan next month

Will project the recent measures of the government to curb fiscal deficits and FDI reforms as a major step forward in shrugging off the perception of policy paralysis

Finance minister P Chidambaram will be in Tokyo next month to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

In his first official visit abroad since he resumed charge as finance minister, Chidambaram would be also taking along the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India Nandan Nilekani.

US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner is visiting India on October 9-10 and is to also attend the Tokyo meetings during October 11-13.

Finance minister has devoted one hour in his busy schedule every day to get briefed from external affairs, agriculture and commerce ministries officials about his Japan visit. In a detailed presentation to CWC P Chidambaram also mentioned about his proposed Japan visit and how it would articulate the downturn economy India faced in the past two years.

This year’s deliberations, on October 9-14, come in the backdrop of the persisting crisis in Europe and the US and its apparent effects on India, China and other countries supposedly driving growth.
Chidambaram took over on August 1 and his first appearance on a significant international platform would be watched with keen interest, as the country faces a rating downgrade threat on account of fiscal pressure. The minister is expected to project the recent measures of the government to curb fiscal deficits and also FDI reforms as a major step forward in shrugging off the perception of policy paralysis.

The annual meetings of the Fund and the Bank each year bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives and academics to discuss issues of global concern. Generally in September-October, these have customarily been held in Washington for consecutive years and in the third year at another member-country.

On October 9, Geithner will be here to participate in the third annual meeting of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership with Chidambaram. The next day, he’ll meet Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao in Mumbai.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh, who’d held additional charge of the finance ministry after former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s resignation, had indicated that keeping in mind this Fund-Bank meeting, he would be handing over the job to a full-time finance minister before September.

Japan Refuses to Buy ‘Toxic’ Shrimp from Odisha State

Shrimp farmers in the Indian state of Odisha are worried as Japan has stopped buying their shrimp following the detection of ethoxiquin, a quinoline-based antioxidant used as a preservative and a pesticide, in shrimp exports to the country

"Odisha has been affected badly as around 60 per cent of our shrimp is exported to Japan," said G Mohanty, president of Odisha Seafood Exporters Association.

Exporters are not procuring more shrimps from farmers as they already have heavy stocks. As a result, shrimp farmers are forced to sell their produce to the middlemen of Andhra Pradesh. Seafood exporters in the neighbouring state are exporting the shrimp to US and European countries in larger quantities, sources said. In the face of heavy losses, small and middle category shrimp producers are unlikely to take up prawn culture next year, reports TheTimesofIndia.

"Not only seafood exporters, but shrimp farmers in the state will also be badly affected if the situation persists for a few more months," said A Chandra Sekhar Rao, a shrimp producer in Ganjam district.

Seafood exporters have urged chief minister Naveen Patnaik to intervene in the matter and take up the issue with the Centre for an early solution of the issue. "The issue can be solved only after the prime minister of the country takes up the matter with his Japanese counterpart," said Mr Mohanty. He pointed out the issue has remained unresolved even after an official delegation discussed the matter with Japanese officials recently.

"We are aware of the fact and will discuss the issue with higher authorities for its early solution," said the state's commissioner-cum-secretary, fishery and animal resources department, Satyabrata Sahu. Other government officials, however, said except Japan the export has not hit other countries.

Odisha exported seafood worth around Rs 800 crore last year.

Hirotec group on expansion mode

(from left) Takahiro Hayama, President, Hirotec India, James B. Toeniskoetter, President & COO, Hirotec America Inc, and Sharon L. Beetham, Vice President of Finance and Purchasing, Hirotec America, at a news conference in Coimbatore on Thursday.

Japan’s Hirotec Group, which has unveiled plans to invest Rs 40 crore in its Coimbatore automobile tooling facility, is open to the idea of expanding its manufacturing capacity in India by establishing units elsewhere in the country to meet growing demand.

The company, which globally is into the production of car doors and exhaust systems, has not felt any impact of the slowdown witnessed by the automobile sector.

Responding to questions at a news conference here on Thursday about the company’s plans to establish a facility in Gujarat where many automobile companies are setting up units, James B. Toeniskoetter, President & COO, Hirotec America Inc., said the company was “open to opportunities”. He, however, added that “definitely Coimbatore is our home” which is why it is making its investments here.

Sendtil Parthasarathy, Vice-President, Business Development, Hirotec India Private Ltd, Coimbatore, said the company, which began in a small way in the city, would like to establish itself before taking a call on exploring opportunities in Gujarat.

He said the company has invested about Rs 20 crore in its Coimbatore tooling facility and some of its major clients are Ford, Nissan,Tatas, Hyundai and Volkswagen. Besides, the company also has a sales and support facility in Pune where some of its major clients have manufacturing units. The proposed assembly integration and try-out facilities would come up near the existing unit in Saravanampatti on the outskirts of Coimbatore.

Parthasarathy said the company’s engineers in Coimbatore were also imparted continuous training both in the US and Japan. It planned to ramp up the headcount once the first phase of expansion is ready by April 2014.

Sharon L. Beetham, Vice President of Finance and Purchasing, Hirotec America, expects revenue from Indian operations to be around $25 million in the next fiscal and further growth would depend on the investment made in the second and third phase. The initial forecast for 2014-15 was only marginal growth and the company planned to grow continuously and “catch up with US at some point”. The company cannot continue funding from the US or Japan and expected the Indian operations to generate enough cash to fund its expansion.

Takahiro Hayama, President of Hirotec India, said the company was open to the idea of supplying parts from India to other countries like China.

Katsu Uno, Chairman & CEO, Hirotec America, explained that the company’s strength was the closure products for automobiles. Its operations in India have not been hit by the slowdown in the auto sector. He said the Rs 40 crore investment being planned was to meet the demand for quality tooling solutions by the automotive OEMs in the country and to meet increasing localisation, shorter vehicle launch cycles and to optimise cost.

On whether the power shortage affected the operations, Toeniskoetter said the company was not into mass production and as it was in the tooling market, the engineering services they provided were not as sensitive to power shortage as anyone in mass manufacturing. Theirs was also not a power intensive activity.

The new facility would have a modern machine shop, engineering office to seat 300 engineers, assembly and tool try-out facilities.

Nissan expects to double domestic sales this year

Japanese auto major Nissan hopes to double its sales volume in India this year but expects exports to remain static.

"We are expecting almost doubling our sales in this financial year. We are very well on track with Micra, Sunny and Evalia. Evalia will generate a very new type of customers..", Nissan Motor India Managing Director and CEO Takayuki Ishida said.

"For Nissan, Evalia buyer will be a new customer. They may not be Micra or Sunny customers", he told PTI.

Nissan, which along with France-based auto-maker Renault has a Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) manufacturing facility at Oragadam near here, had sold about 40,000 units in the domestic market and around one lakh overseas last year.

Nissan's "Micra" and "Sunny" are manufactured at Oragadam plant. "I do not think (of a) jump in our exports", Ishida said after unveiling the Evalia in Chennai market.

The car is priced at Rs 8.49 lakh for the base variant while Rs 9.99 lakh (exshowroom Chennai) for the top model.

Evalia with 80 per cent localisation is developed by Hinduja-group company Ashok Leyland while engineering is from Nissan's headquarters in Tokyo.

"R&D is done by Ashok Leyland and engineering comes from Nissan, Japan... Of course, with Ashok Leyland we learnt something about how to produce a product at a very reasonable cost," he said replying to a question about its partnership with the heavy vehicles major.

Evalia is the second product from joint venture between Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor India. The first product was the light commercial vehicle "Dost" which was introduced with Ashok Leyland badge in it.

Ishida said the company's plan is to increase the localisation level of Evalia by adding more local suppliers for its components.

"Next year, we will increase the localisation...ultimate goal is 100 per cent. We will gradually increase it (to that level)", he said.

The Oragadam plant currently has two assembly lines in which one line was already running on three shifts while the other line is flexible to use for manufacturing "Micra" and "Sunny", he said.

The production could be ramped up as and when the demand increases.

On exports of Evalia, Ishida said the company does not have a concrete plan yet as the product was "exclusively" made for domestic market.

"At this moment, we do not have a concrete plan. This car is exactly developed product for Indian demand. Probably, in other countries, the demand will be different", he said.

He said Nissan Motor would also increase its dealership network to 300 by 2016 when they would have 10 new models in India including the "Datsun" brand by 2014.

"Dealership network is 75 and they are already in operation. We are targeting in the middle term plan period, we like to have over 300 by 2016,"he said.

A company official said Nissan would increase the dealership network to 95 by end of this financial year. Ishida did not rule out the possibility of launching the company's mass-electric car "Leaf" in India saying they would introduce it in small numbers for testing purposes.

"We are thinking to introduce smaller volume of our Leaf (for a testing purposes). You know electric vehicle is very very fuel efficient. For that we also need infrastructure like charging station...," he said.

Observing that for launching such electric vehicles there need to be a tie-up between the Government and such automobile manufacturers, he said "right now Leaf is exported (from Japan) and bringing it in India at what time and when is another story".  "Our intention is to bring it (for the Indian market)", he said.

Nissan had introduced the Leaf in Tokyo last year.

Insecticides India enters into JV with Japan's Otsuka AgriTechno to set up R&D centre in Rajasthan

Agro-chemical manufacturing company Insecticides India Ltd (IIL) has announced its entry into a joint venture with Japan-based Otsuka AgriTechno. The JV is aimed to set up an R&D centre in Rajasthan.

 

“The joint venture is estimated to be set up on an initial capex of Rs 40-50 crore,” as per the statement issued by IIL.

 

In the venture, the Japanese firm would provide the technology and research know-how and the venture would mainly focus on new agro-chemicals.

 

As per plans, the centre would come up on 4,000 sq mts area.

 

“IIL will have the exclusive right to develop, productise and commercialise the new products across the world in their specified territories,” it said.

 

IIL Managing Director Rajesh Aggarwal said, “The new centre will have brains from both India and Japan. A team of scientists will work at the centre to invent about 4-5 molecules in next 5 years. These products will include all categories of agro chemicals such as insecticides, weedicides and fungicides.”

India workers at riot-hit car plant win 75% pay increase: company

India's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, has given workers at a plant where rioters went on a deadly rampage in July a record pay hike of 75 percent, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Workers at the Manesar plant will see their pay and allowances rise by around 18,000 rupees a month on average over the next three years, making them among the top-earning factory workers in the country.

An increase in transport and other allowances makes the package work out to “an increase of 75 percent,” said the spokesman, who said a permanent worker's average pay packet was around 25,000 rupees.

While wages had been increased “labor costs will continue to make up 2.4 to 2.5 percent of total sales ... it is in our business plan,” said the spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with company policy.

The pay hike at the plant owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. — the biggest ever awarded by Maruti — comes after workers chased managers at the plant with iron rods and car parts in July, killing one and injuring close to 100 others.

Panasonic India enters air, water purifier segments

Panasonic’s India arm is firing on all cylinders as it seeks to make the most out of a sustained boom in the consumer durables segment. Apart from expanding its manufacturing base in India, the company announced plans to enter the air and water purifier segment on Wednesday. Panasonic India is looking at revenues of Rs 5,500 crore from the consumer durables segment this financial year.

“Our focus is on improving quality of life and we are concentrating on health,” said Manish Sharma, Panasonic India’s managing director of the consumer products division while elaborating the company’s product strategy. The company launched ‘Panasonic BLUE water purifiers’ and ‘Nanoe Air Purifiers’.

Panasonic will also launch discounts from October 1, to take advantage of the festive season and mop up close to Rs 1,200 crore in sales. “The theme will be celebrations. We will roll it out to consumers by October 5,” Sharma added.

The water purifiers will be priced between Rs 7,990 and Rs 25,490 while air purifiers will be priced between Rs 19,995 and Rs 47,995. A number of water purifiers are available for less than Rs 5,000. Sharma was quick to defend Panasonic’s pricing strategy and said that the low-cost purifiers were predominantly gravity-based while electric (reverse osmosis based or UV-based) were more expensive.

Panasonic, which has close to 1,400 service centres across India, is looking to expand its footprint to 1,500 service centres by the end of the financial year. After-sales service has long been a cause for complaint in this segment. “We plan to differentiate on after-sales service,” said Sharma.

The company plans to roll out these products in the national capital region (NCR) initially and then move to Andhra Pradesh within three months. “NCR is extremely competitive and we are using this market as a test case for our systems and processes,” Sharma said.

While the water purifiers will initially be imported from Japan, the company will begin manufacturing locally within six months. The company, which already manufactures a significant portion of its product portfolio in various locations in India, will operationalise a manufacturing facility in Jhajjar by December. “The facility will be spread over 78-acres and will see an investment of $300 million over five years,” Sharma said. The facility will house three independent plants for manufacturing air conditioners, washing machines and welding machines and create 1,025 jobs.

Reports of an impending economic slowdown have not dampened spirits at the company. “More options available to consumers, explosion in retail are key growth drivers that

Google Nexus 7 goes on sales in Japan – might arrive soon in India

Google started selling its Nexus 7 tablet in Japan, deepening the competition with Sony, the Japanese hardware maker whose tablets also run on the world’s No.1 search engine’s operating system.

Sales of the 7-inch 16-megabit tablet began on the Google Play website on Tuesday with a starting price of 19,800 yen ($250). The device will be available in retail stores from October 2.

Google hopes to ensure that its online services remain at the forefront for consumers, as tablets increasingly become gateways to the Web and Web-based content such as movies and music.

Japan is the first country in Asia outside Australia to sell the device. According to the Google Play page it’s already available in France, Germany, Spain, Canada, the UK and the US.

The tablet market is dominated by Apple and its iPad, which represented about 70 per cent of global sales in the second-quarter, and includes Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Samsung Electronic’ s Galaxy Tab.

What's Whatsapp? India's Hike App Aims for Global Launch in October

As Korea gave birth to Kakaotalk, Japan to Line, and China to WeChat, an Indian startup is looking to have its own group messaging smash hit with the new Hike app. For the moment, Hike is Android-only, but versions for iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and Symbian are in the works. Also, Hike has been focusing on just India in its first few months of running - but the aim is for it to go global.

Of course, New Delhi-based Hike will need to challenge some other behemoths in this space, such as Whatsapp, and eventually Apple’s iMessage too. To do this, a Hike team member tells us that the startup is listening to its early users and making good design a priority. And then the big leap: “We will be launching cross [mobile] clients and globally in October this year.”

With India’s phone users being such fans of SMS, Hike is not just relying on its apps, and allows its global users to do Hike2SMS and Indian users to fire back with SMS2Hike. The first option is free for Hike users to do, and the latter response costs only the same as a regular SMS.
In terms of features, Hike is opting to be as minimalistic and judicious as it is with its elegantly simple design. A member of Hike's 'growth team' says of some of its local and global rivals:

They are building features like video chat, voice chat and what not, which the Indian infrastructure does not support. Also, somewhere the customer requires an app which is simple and enables him to do what he intends to, rather than building features which are seldom used.

And so, after consulting with users via social media, the Hike crew will focus on group chat and file transfers, plus a spam filter that they reckon is clever enough to learn what you’d consider to be a rubbish message; but the team is open to other things as input from app users comes through.
After launching just over a month ago on Android and getting into the Google Play store, Hike has between 10,000 and 50,000 downloads from there, mostly in India and without using any marketing, which the Hike team reckons is a good basis for its global roll-out - and the appearance of the iPhone app - next month. The startup is under the wings of the Bharti Softbank (BSB) incubator, which is a joint venture between the Indian and Japanese telcos.
The head of product and strategy for BSB, Kavin Bharti Mittal, weighs in:

People use messaging in various forms; they use it via different apps and modes for different purposes. What we’re trying to provide via Hike is a single application to connect with everyone via messaging. We believe that streamlining this will greatly improve the connectivity of Indians.

And, soon, other markets too.
Though a pretty face and a keen attitude will help it, Hike faces old challengers like Whatsapp, and newer ones like China’s WeChat, which is gunning for Indian users these days.
Get Hike for Android in Google Play - though it’s still limited in which nation’s users can download it prior to the upcoming worldwide roll-out.

All the way from Japan, on a gold trail

Before you picture Makie Yamaguchi as some Indiana Jones-esque treasure hunter, you should know that she’s a TV director-cum-journalist with the Broadcasting System of Niigata. The island of Sado is not a noteworthy place, barring the gold mine that was discovered in the early 1600’s.

“Since Japan was closed to trade with all the European countries except the Netherlands, our gold coins only went to Dutch colonies. Our records showed that the only colony in Asia was somewhere near Madras,” explains Makie in rapid-fire Japanese. Luckily, Noriko Nasukawa of the Nihongo Centre for Languages was present to translate. “As Pulicat was the only port that was under Dutch control then, the large gold slabs were brought there and traded for spices in 1609 AD. I am now visiting the places where our gold has gone and am making a television documentary about it,” she adds. Incidentally, Pulicat was along the famed ‘spice route’.

Though Pulicat is more of a neglected little fishing hamlet now, the fact remains that the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established the country’s first coin minting press inside their fort. “Our gold always bore the mark ‘Sa’ (she points to a Japanese letter on a picture of an old gold slab) and our historical manuscripts show that it was sent to Pulicat for almost 250 years,” she explains. At Pulicat, the gold that was received from the Japanese was melted and minted as Dutch currency and sent to Europe - which is Makie’s next stop after India.

“This is just another link between India and Japan, which could possibly be the earliest recorded in history,” says Xavier Benedict, of the AARDE foundation that is working to popularize Pulicat as a heritage spot. He also pulls out a picture of a grave in the Dutch cemetery there and shows that it belonged to a Japanese lady who married a Dutchman named Higginbottam. “We were quite astounded when we arrived there because it is such a small village,” recalls Makie, “All the people gathered round when they saw my camera and began tugging at my hand,” she adds. Her surprise lies in the fact that such a heritage-rich site has seen such little conservation.
It is a rare honour that the documentary with Pulicat’s golden link to Japan will play on New Year’s Day 2013 on Japanese national TV - it is something of a custom there to watch the programme, according to Makie. Beyond this, there lies a larger plan -  As the isle of Sado is applying to be made a world heritage site, they are also trying to get the ‘gold route’ to Pulicat and Netherlands be declared as heritage sites to promote trans-national world heritage, says Benedict.

As Makie winds up filming and interviewing folk in the fishing hamlet, she says that she had a great time in the country, barring one part - “The traffic is insane almost all the way on the 60-km drive from here. I could never drive here,” she says with mock disbelief.

Can Wal-Mart Build a Nation?

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Anand Sharma, the commerce minister, told India Ink the government’s decision was prompted by the need for the “creation of an infrastructure, an integrated food chain, bringing in the newest technology.” Foreign retail giants would help rural farmers, he said, as well as salvage the huge amount of food that rots before getting to consumers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised during an address on Friday that the move would “create millions of good quality new jobs,” and improve earnings for farmers.
Foreign multi-brand retail chains will be allowed to open stores in India and own a majority stake, the commerce ministry said September 14, but have to follow strict conditions.

Some analysts are just as optimistic about the Wal-Mart effect. Ernst & Young said in a Sept. 14 report that India’s changes will “improve the supply chain infrastructure, regulate food inflation, secure remunerative prices for farmers and generate employment opportunities.”
That’s a pretty tall order for a retail chain, even one as powerful as Wal-Mart. After all, many of the basics necessary to regulate inflation, or build infrastructure, are tasks traditionally done by the government, from building roads to setting feasible agriculture policy.

How realistic are current expectations about big foreign retailers?
There is a substantial body of research on the effects of foreign investment in emerging markets, looking at Central Europe (including this 2002 working paper on Hungary and this oft-cited 2004 report that includes data from Lithuania), Latin America and South East Asia. Unfortunately, the sum total of these studies is inconclusive – some show positive “spillovers” (academia’s preferred term for effects) from foreign investment, others find negative “spillovers.” This 2009 research report, co-written by professors at Rice University and Peking University, includes a good summary of other research.
One thing, though, is certain: There is no precedent for big retail chains like Wal-Mart, Britain’s Tesco or France’s Carrefour to enter an emerging market and building foundational infrastructure like roads, or improve railways, said Milos Ryba, senior retail analyst with Planet Retail in London, a global research company. Much of India’s rotting food problem is attributed to the country’s shambolic transportation network, which means produce takes much longer to travel from farm to consumer than it should. Trucks carrying cargo in India travel an average of 250 to 300 kilometers (150 to 186 miles) a day, compared to twice that in the developed world, according to a McKinsey report, and that is unlikely to change just because foreign investors come in.

Still, Wal-Mart and other big retail players may have a transformational effect on manufacturing and distribution in other ways, analysts say. Wal-Mart’s Mexico operations, its largest internationally, provide some good clues for what could change in India.
In 1997, Wal-Mart took full control of a joint venture in Mexico, now named Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex. By 2003, it was Mexico’s largest private employer, “transforming not only the retail sector, but the consumer goods industries that supply it,” said a 2009 report sponsored by the World Bank, which involved the University of Oxford and University of Colorado.
Among other things, Walmex provided its affiliated manufacturers with a much larger national market, the report found, and the possibility to export. But that was accompanied by “continuous pressure to raise the quality of the product, lower one’s price, or a combination of the two.”

Ultimately, the nation’s manufacturers were bifurcated, with those who worked with Wal-Mart spending more on technology and research and development, and those who did not spending less than before Wal-Mart entered the market. In Mexico, Wal-Mart brought “massive changes to the manufacturing sector,” Mr. Ryba said. “Some manufacturers cooperated, and became larger, and some died.”
That’s because when Wal-Mart buys from local companies in the country, it expects them to innovate by changing their products every year, or it pays a discounted price for the products from the year before, Mr. Ryba said.

Wal-Mart also enacted some changes in the trucking industry in Mexico that might be welcome in India. The company introduced centralized warehouses, required delivery trucks to have appointments, carry standardized identification cards and deliver shipments on standard-sized pallets. Drivers that missed appointments would be fined, the World Bank report said, and deliveries subject to third-party audits.

But real comparisons between India and Mexico remain tough to make – Mexico’s proximity to the United States has made it a growing manufacturing destination for numerous foreign companies, despite a rise in violence attributed to the drug trade, an advantage India does not have. India’s complicated labor laws may discourage Wal-Mart and its peers from hiring permanent employees here, creating an entirely new generation of lower-paid contract workers without job security or medical insurance.
And any long-term impacts of Wal-Mart’s Mexico business have been overshadowed this year by the company’s involvement in a bribery scandal there. The company paid “bribes to obtain permits in virtually every corner of the country,” amounting to some $24 million, and then hushed up its own investigation into the bribes, The New York Times reported in April.

Wal-Mart is sure to find similar demands for bribes in India – especially now that ample evidence exists that the company has paid them elsewhere.
In June 2010, Wal-Mart’s chief executive, Michael T. Duke, promised an Arkansas shareholders meeting that Wal-Mart was becoming a “a truly global company,” one that would add 500,000 jobs worldwide in the next five years. The glitzy meeting featured performances Mariah Carey and Enrique Iglesias and included delegations from Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Argentina, India and Britain, among other countries.

In August, Wal-Mart said it would slow down the opening of stores in China, Brazil and Mexico, after growth in those markets eased, Reuters reported — leaving India one of the few big emerging markets it could look to for growth. Perhaps those nation-building skills will be put to the test shortly.

Why Dentsu is in a tearing hurry to scale up in India

Dentsu has been on a roll ever since it gained full control of its India operations after buying out joint-venture partner Sandeep Goyal in January last year. "I came on board in August 2011, and it has been a very exciting time since then," says Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, Dentsu India Group. And productive too - he has bagged more than 15 business accounts since then (see Win-Win) with a total budget of about Rs 100 crore.

Dentsu, Japan's biggest advertising agency and the world's fifth-largest, has been looking to expand business outside its slowing home market. The purchase of a 51 per cent stake in Taproot in India by Dentsu's local subsidiary in end-August was part of that strategy and comes within weeks of Dentsu deciding to acquire the UK-based Aegis Group for $4.9 billion. "Our goal is to serve more clients in more places with more capabilities, not just in India, but on a global scale," says Tim Andree, President and CEO, Dentsu Network, an umbrella organisation of the group's agencies outside Japan set up earlier this year. "We have further acquisition plans in India that will complement our current practice."

The group entered India in 2003 through a partnership with Sandeep Goyal, who held a 26 per cent stake. Apart from its Taproot investment, Dentsu has three full-fledged advertising agencies here - Dentsu Marcom, Dentsu Communications, and Dentsu Creative Impact - as well as Dentsu Digital and Dentsu Media. The association with Goyal helped the agency establish a firm footing and gain accounts outside of Dentsu network, such as Aircel, Suzlon and Raymond.

But, clearly, the agency had reached a point where more processes were required. Industry observers say there was a difference between Goyal's style of doing things and the Dentsu way. "No doubt, Sandeep (Goyal) was a very passionate, aggressive salesperson and had excellent personal relationships that made things work, but as a client you want a more stable system, continuity, better processes and collaboration," says a candid Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice President, Canon India, who has been a client of Dentsu Marcom for a long time.

Referring to Ohri, he adds, "Now what I see is a CEO who is reasonably good with relationships but, importantly, is addressing the issues of building a stronger organisation." Before Ohri took charge there were murmurs in the market about the agency's inability to hold on to talent and nurture middle-level managers. "It was stressful dealing with a new face from the agency very often," says Bharadwaj.
Ohri, who worked at advertising agency JWT for 21 years before joining Dentsu, assiduously worked at putting together an aggressive team. He understands only too well the power of the communication messages that agencies create.
Even before the Taproot deal, he had been living the popular tagline Taproot created for client Bharti Airtel - Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai (You need every friend you have).

It helped that Ohri had worked with Taproot co-founder Agnello Dias at JWT. "Dentsu group seemed sincere and genuine about maintaining our independence and letting us grow the way we were," says Dias. Ohri also brought in old associate Soumitra Karnik from JWT as national creative director for the Dentsu group in India. Karnik was behind JWT's acclaimed 'Youngistan' and 'Aamsutra' campaigns for Pepsi and its fruit drink brand Slice, respectively. He also roped in other stalwarts - Arijit Ray as CEO of Dentsu Communications, Glen Ireland as head of Dentsu Digital and Divya Gupta as the chief of its media business. He persuaded Titus Upputuru to rejoin as national creative director at Dentsu Marcom.

Dentsu will derive dual benefits from the Taproot buy. The deal brings into the Dentsu group's fold not only Taproot's immensely creative team of founders Dias and Santosh Padhi, but also the big-ticket accounts such as Bharti Airtel, PepsiCo, Marico, Karbonn Mobiles and Times Group that Taproot held. Taproot, set up only in 2009, had made a major splash in a short time with a host of much-admired campaigns.

However, Ohri has a larger aim of bringing the Dentsu agencies into the mainstream, and creating a stronger identity among mid-level agencies in India.

"Yes, we get the best creative team with this partnership, but we are in the perception business and people have to acknowledge that we speak a language that connects us here," he says. Industry observers feel the Taproot deal gives Dentsu a more 'Indian' identity and removes a lingering view that the Japanese agency works only for select clients.

Is anyone worried about this new aggression? Not really, say industry insiders. They point out that Taproot will continue to function independently, though it will have support from the Dentsu network. Industry players say India's advertising market would have been shaken a bit had Dias and Padhi become creative heads at Dentsu. "The Taproot acquisition appears to be only a financial transaction. I do not see it impacting Dentsu's other three agencies in any direct way," says Prabhakar Mundkur, CEO, Percept/H, a joint venture of Percept and Hukuhodo, Japan's second-largest communication network.

There are expectations the Taproot team will pitch in with inputs for Dentsu's local business as and when required. But it remains to be seen if the deal is a precursor to a total sell-out by Taproot's founders. "Why would they contribute if they know that they need to exit after some time," says a highly placed source. "The challenge for Ohri will be to hold on to the new people." He may well take inspiration from two of his successful taglines - 'Find Better' for Monster.com and 'What makes us Click!' for Canon PowerShot - to realise his goals.

Diesel powered Honda cars by 2014

The CEO of Honda Japan, Takanobu Ito, has confirmed that diesel vehicles will be launched in India by 2014. The Japanese automaker will first introduce diesel mill in a new Brio based compact sedan, which will be launched in the here, in the next one year. This sedan is expected to compete with the Maruti Dzire, Toyota Etios and the upcoming Chevrolet Sail. 

Honda plans to keep costs down by sourcing components and manufacturing the engine locally; allowing Honda to price the model competitively. Putting to rest rumours of the launch of a diesel powered car during the current festive season, Honda has said that it will not introduce a diesel option for any of its existing models.

We were hoping to see Honda diesels sooner in the Indian market, making them more competitive in the current market conditions. For now, we will have to be content with the CNG variant of the City sedan, which was launched in Thailand some time back.

In India, gift-giving drives drug makers' marketing

Sales representatives for Abbott Laboratories Inc's Indian subsidiaries know what it takes get a doctor to prescribe the drugs they market: a coffee maker, perhaps, or some cookware, or maybe a vacuum cleaner.

These are among the many gifts for doctors listed in an Abbott sales-strategy guide for the second quarter of 2011, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters. As laid out explicitly in the guide, doctors who pledge to prescribe Abbott's branded drugs, or who've already prescribed certain amounts, can expect some of these items in return.

Consider the guide's entry for Nupod, an Abbott antibiotic generically known as cefpodoxime. It lists a medical textbook, a mosquito repellant and a coffee maker as incentives for doctors.

It also provides a script of the social niceties for clinching the quid pro quo: "Dr presenting you advanced coffee maker from Philips which will make coffee within three minutes Dr in the box we have made advancement easy for you by giving the ideal usage guidelines of the coffee maker Dr I look forward for advancement in action i.e. our Nupod brand Dr can get just 3 Rs per day for Nupod."

Especially in India's poorer areas, says one Abbott rep, "if you give them a small gift, they are happy."

A LARGER PROBLEM

The Abbott guide -- reps say the company produces them regularly -- is evidence of a larger problem in India. In interviews with Reuters, dozens of doctors, drug reps and other healthcare insiders said domestic and multinational drug makers routinely shower Indian doctors with gifts, posh junkets abroad, and cash payments disguised as consultancy or other types of fees.

"Indian CRM," or customer-relationship management, is what industry insiders call this system of inducements. None of the doctors or reps who described their participation in this trade would speak on the record. Under Indian law, doctors are prohibited from accepting cash, gifts or travel from drug companies. Still, enforcement is rare, and drug makers may lavish gifts on doctors with impunity, though their home countries may punish the practice.

In a country where doctors often make less than $10,000 a year, it can be an effective strategy.

"Somebody is doing something for you," says a Delhi-based cardiologist. "Obviously you will want to return the favor." He says he prescribes more drugs from companies that provide gifts and send him on paid vacations to Thailand, Hong Kong and elsewhere. One of those companies, he says, is the India-based Ranbaxy unit of Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co.

"We do not sponsor vacations for doctors," a Ranbaxy spokesperson said. "We are viewed as a scientifically and academically orientated company and our promotional activities are built around academics and science."

In response to questions from Reuters, Chicago-based Abbott said that it complies with local laws and regulations in India. It added that company policy forbids employees to "offer or give a sponsorship, gift, meal or entertainment in exchange for an explicit or implicit agreement that Abbott Products will be used, purchased, ordered, recommended or prescribed or that Abbott or any Abbott products will receive any favorable treatment."

SO MANY CHOICES
The Indian market is particularly vulnerable to corruption because of the intense competition here. Until 2005, India flouted drug patents, refusing to rein in domestic copycats of Big Pharma's blockbusters. Brands proliferated. Today, an Indian doctor can choose from among 224 registered brands of the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin, sold by Pfizer Inc as Lipitor in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Foreign companies that want a piece of this crowded market "have to adapt, or they are not going to survive," says an executive with Biocon, a leading Indian biotech company. The executive says Biocon routinely gives doctors iPads, iPods, mobile phones, "you name it."

A Biocon spokesperson said the executive's statements are "incorrect and absolutely untrue" and added that the company operates "in strict compliance" with the law.

Public health experts and some Indian doctors say that as a result of drug companies' tactics, drugs are dangerously overprescribed and expensive brands are prescribed instead of cheap ones. That can be devastating for patients -- physically and financially -- in a country where health care is mostly private and unsubsidized and 400 million people live on less than $1.25 a day.

At the Amrita Clinic, a private practice in Pune, Maharashtra State, physician Vinay Kulkarni says he refuses to accept gifts from reps, in part because he believes drug makers overcharge for their products to recoup marketing expenses. "Ultimately," he says, "everything is being paid by the patient."

As Big Pharma has pushed into emerging markets like India in recent years, companies have been running into trouble with their home-market overseers. Many of the world's top drug makers have warned in recent regulatory filings of potential costs related to charges of corruption in foreign markets.

TEA SETS IN CHINA

Last year, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $70 million to settle U.S. charges that it paid bribes and kickbacks to win business in Greece, Iraq, Poland and Romania. Pfizer Inc recently agreed to pay $60.2 million to settle a U.S. government probe of the drug maker's use of illegal payments to win business overseas, including gifts such as cellphones and tea sets to doctors in China who prescribed the company's products.

Abbott became the No. 1 pharmaceuticals company in India in 2010, when it paid $3.7 billion for the branded generics business of Mumbai-based Piramal Healthcare. Its thousands-strong Indian sales force has helped buoy the parent, as sales in emerging markets rose 23 percent to $2.59 billion in the second quarter of 2011 -- more than twice Abbott's global growth rate.

Reps from Abbott True Care, Abbott Healthcare and Abbott Primary Care - all formerly part of Piramal and now subsidiaries of Abbott -- say sales plans are revealed to them at "cyclical sales meetings" every three or four months. These meetings, they say, sometimes include studying printed strategy guides like the one for second-quarter 2011 that Reuters reviewed.

That guide offers no clarity on why particular gifts are paired with particular drugs. None of the items that come with Nupod, the antibiotic, go to doctors who prescribe Pantagon IT. That drug - a combination of itopride, for bloating and indigestion, and the antacid pantoprazole - comes with a stapler, a set of six glasses and a jar from Luminarc, and a Forbes Trendy Nano vacuum cleaner.


"THE PANTA REWARDS INPUTS MUST ONLY BE PRESENTED AT THE DRS HOME," the guide tells reps. When delivering the glassware, reps are instructed to say, "Thus Dr requesting your continuous prescription support for Pantagon IT."
Prescriptions for Paraxin, a drug for typhoid fever, are rewarded with a hand sanitizer and an antique pen. Prescriptions for Lysupra, a multivitamin supplement, could earn a beaded car-seat cover "for the relaxation when you are traveling."
Depending on the drug, a doctor might find himself the owner of a Kiwi shoeshine kit, an Ambi Pur car air freshener, a Birla steam iron, or a Pure Relaxation CD series. And if that's not enough, participation in a "Doctor Talent Contest" judged by Bollywood actor Boman Irani might seal the deal.

SCANNERS AND STEAM IRONS

Abbott reps say that so far this year, they have doled out, among other things, scanners, steam irons, shoes, stethoscopes and gift vouchers worth more than $100 to doctors - both private and government-employed.

Amitava Guha, a member of the national working committee of the Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives' Associations of India, worked as a rep for decades, including for Piramal from 1997 to 2008, when he retired. "Everybody is doing it," he says. "I was doing it when I was in service.... They said that it is your job to go and give to the doctors."

He says he resisted giving anything but the smallest gifts, like pens. Today, he says, he receives frequent complaints from reps across the country about the practice. It taints their professional image, he says. Also, it's hard work toting around all those gifts. "They have been given huge extra bags to carry," he says. "One on the shoulders and two others in the hands."

The managing director of a large diabetes clinic in Calcutta says he sees as many as 25 reps a day. "Whatever you like, they can provide you," this doctor says.
His interview with Reuters was interrupted when a man squeezed into his office and placed a big yellow box on the table. "Sir, this is an exquisite casserole set," the visitor said, slipping the doctor a note bearing the brand name Rostar, a cholesterol-lowering medicine from Mumbai-based Unichem Laboratories Ltd.
Unichem did not respond to requests for comment.

Guha, the union federation official, says that reps have begun reporting a shift in emphasis away from the types of gifts listed in Abbott's guide toward free "foreign tours" and outright cash payments, often made under the guise of public health initiatives or research.

Every year, Abbott, collaborating with doctors and other groups, conducts hundreds of "health camps" across India to raise awareness about conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, anemia, breast cancer, sleep problems and thyroid disease.

Abbott says these programs "generally incorporate diagnosis, prevention and education. � The focus of these camps is around disease and not products."

IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE

Reps say public health isn't always the point. "This is a business transaction," says one. This rep says that at a diabetes camp he worked on, patients were given random blood-sugar tests - not a valid means of diagnosing diabetes - and based on the result, were prescribed Abbott oral diabetes medications by the participating doctor.
Similarly, reps and doctors say companies try to boost sales through so-called non-interventional post-marketing studies, commonly used around the world to monitor the safety and efficacy of drugs after they have been approved for sale.

Doctors and reps say that often, companies use these studies as cover for paying doctors to prescribe the drugs under study. According to one Abbott rep, the company doesn't pay doctors if sales at nearby pharmacies don't increase.

A doctor who has done post-marketing studies in India says the companies rarely monitor the studies or check the data. "We all understand that post-marketing studies are not really true studies," says the doctor, a diabetes specialist at a Calcutta hospital. They're "just a way to offer an honorarium. So we also don't take them seriously."

How the retailing world stacks up globally and the challenges it faces in India

With foreign direct investment ( FDI) in retail, India's $450-billion retailing industry is about to undergo a big change. What you buy and how you buy will change too.

Pushing for this change will be an entire brigade of big retailers. The big daddy of retail — Walmart — has already announced that it will be here in 12-18 months. Others like Metro and Tesco too are figuring out their India strategy. They all will do their best to stir up the Indian shopping experience.

In the next five-ten years expect many more global retailers to get into the fray in India. Who will they be? What are they like? And how will they fit into Indians' shopping basket? These are questions with no easy answers. But global pecking order should hold a few clues.

Japan refuses to buy ‘toxic’ shrimp from Odisha

Shrimp farmers in the state are a worried lot as export of their produce to Japan, one of the major buyer countries of the seafood, has been severely hit since the past two months after the Japanese authorities detected ethoxiquin in the shrimps, a quinoline-based antioxidant used as a preservative and a pesticide, and have been refusing to buy the produce since.

"Odisha has been affected badly as around 60% of our shrimp is exported to Japan," said G Mohanty, president of Odisha Seafood Exporters Association.

Exporters are not procuring more shrimps from farmers as they already have heavy stocks. As a result, shrimp farmers are forced to distress sale their produce to the middlemen of Andhra Pradesh. Seafood exporters in the neighbouring state export the shrimp to USA and European countries in larger quantities, sources said. In the face of heavy losses, small and middle category shrimp producers re unlikely to take up prawn culture next year.

"Not only seafood exporters, but shrimp farmers in the state will also be badly affected if the situation persists for a few more months," said A Chandra Sekhar Rao, a shrimp producer in Ganjam district.

Seafood exporters have urged chief minister Naveen Patnaik to intervene in the matter and take up the issue with the Centre for an early solution of the issue. "The issue can be solved only after the prime minister of the country takes up the matter with his Japanese counterpart," said Mohanty. He pointed out the issue has remained unresolved even after an official delegation discussed the matter with Japanese officials recently.

"We are aware of the fact and will discuss the issue with higher authorities for its early solution," said the state's commissioner-cum-secretary, fishery and animal resources department, Satyabrata Sahu. Other government officials, however, said except Japan the export has not hit other countries.

Odisha exported seafood worth around Rs 800 crore last year.

Canon EOS M: hands-on preview of Canon's first mirrorless EOS

Canon today expands its award-winning EOS range with the launch of the new EOS M. The company’s first ever compact system camera (CSC), the EOS M is designed for those who use photography to share their everyday passions – from food, to fashion and culture, music and art. Offering DSLR-quality imaging, creative features and Full HD movie creation in a compact and easy-to-use model, the EOS M is the perfect, take-anywhere partner for a new breed of enthusiasts who chronicle their lives through images, without necessarily considering themselves to be ‘photographers’.

The EOS M is available in sleek black, glossy white, stylish silver or bold red colours, and condenses Canon’s renowned EOS imaging heritage into a stylish, compact design. The model launches alongside two new lenses, the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM pancake and the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM standard zoom, as well as a new compact EX Speedlite – the Speedlite 90EX – providing everything you need to capture stunning images every day. For those who want to push their images even further, the EOS M can also utilise Canon’s extensive range of EF lenses with the new Mount Adapter EF-EOS M, for even more creative freedom.

The quality of a Canon DSLR

Print your favourite moments in poster-size or crop your image for maximum impact – whether shooting the atmosphere of your favourite club or the intricate stitching of the latest must-have handbag – thanks to the EOS M’s high-resolution, 18 megapixel APS-C hybrid CMOS sensor. The large sensor also allows you to artistically blur the background for beautiful portraits, or for close-ups with impact.
With the inclusion of Canon’s DIGIC 5 processor, colours ‘pop’ and skin tones are beautifully natural, whilst a super-fast shutter allows you to capture split-second action. The atmosphere of evening shoots and challenging night-time scenes are also easily recorded in stunning detail thanks to the EOS M’s sensitive native ISO range of 100- 12,800 (extendable to 25,600).

For pin-sharp shots and professional-looking footage, this new design features a Hybrid AF System that supports super-fast, accurate AF when shooting stills and movies – allowing you to record any moment with confidence.

Shoot what you see and easily express your creative vision

Every aspect of the EOS M has been designed to make it simple to capture beautiful, creative, high-quality images. From the very first swipe across the bright, high- resolution, 7.7cm (3.0”), Clear View LCD II Touch screen, the EOS M gives you as much or as little control over your photos as desired. Simply select different shooting modes and settings via the on-screen icons, or let Scene Intelligent Auto adjust the camera settings according to the subject and shooting conditions, leaving you free to focus on composition and selecting the perfect moment to hit the shutter release button.
EOS M users can shoot with the confidence that comes from having the world's most comprehensive photographic system behind them. Whether you want to capture every detail of a close-up or zoom in to frame a subject in the far distance, any one of Canon’s extensive range of EF lenses can be connected via the new

Mount Adapter EF-EOS M for photographic flexibility.

With one of Canon’s Speedlite flash units, you can also explore creative lighting techniques to add an extra level of interest to your shots. Alternatively, create unique images with a range of Creative Filters like Toy Camera effect, Grainy B&W or even a filter that mimics the distortion of a fish-eye lens. The filters can be applied before the shot is captured, with the result previewed in Live View, allowing you to experiment with different effects before selecting the perfect treatment for your final image.

Turn film-maker with EOS Movie and Video Snapshot

When a moment calls for more than a still image, the EOS M lets you switch easily to Full HD video with stereo sound for superb results. Video Snapshot mode also helps family and friends avoid long home movie viewing sessions, guiding you to create exciting movies in-camera, with a professionally edited feel.

Extending the EOS System with dedicated accessories

In addition to compatibility with Canon’s existing EF lenses1, accessories and Speedlites, the EOS M launches with its own bespoke range of compact accessories. Two new EF-M lenses offer portability and high performance when using the new model – the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM standard zoom and the
EF-M 22mm f/2 STM pancake lens. Both feature new Stepper Motor technology for exceptionally smooth AF performance, as well as precision Canon optics, while their compact designs offer the perfect form-factor to complement the camera’s pocket-sized body.
Additionally, the EOS M will ship with the new Speedlite 90EX flash unit as standard. Lightweight and highly-compact, it offers a maximum guide number of nine and supports wide-angle lenses, making it an ideal general-purpose flash for everyday use. A wireless master function also allows the control of multiple flash guns wirelessly, allowing more advanced users to experiment with a range of creative lighting effects.

EOS M – key features

•  The quality of a digital SLR in a compact body
•  Scene Intelligent Auto
•  Be versatile with interchangeable lenses
•  Create out-of-focus backgrounds for high impact
•  Easy-to-use touch-screen
•  Atmospheric photos in low light
•  Full-HD video with Video Snapshot Mode

Indian visitor arrivals to Japan rebound in first six months of 2012

Japan has witnessed an impressive 21% increase in the number of Indian visitors visiting Japan in the first six months of 2012 as compared to the same period in the year 2011. This is quite significant as Japan was struck with a twin natural disaster last year. Indian visitor arrivals to Japan rebound in first six months of 2012 Indian visitors’ arrival figure cross the pre-crisis level of 2010 Motonari Adachi Motonari Adachi, Executive Director, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), Singapore Office, said, “It gives us a great pleasure to notice the growth in the number of Indian visitors visiting Japan in the first six months of 2012. It is a remarkable development for JNTO reassuring that our marketing activities in India are in the right direction. India will continue to remain our one of the key focus markets and we expect continuous increase in the number of Indians visiting Japan in coming months.” The number of visitors to Japan has also exceeded the pre-disaster level for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The total visitor arrivals for June 2012 were 686,600; an increase of 1.4% over the level recorded in June 2010, according to JNTO statistics. This trend is in sync with the visitor arrivals from the Indian market. The number of Indian visitors to Japan has also increased during the first six months of the year 2012, as compared to the corresponding six months of the year 2010. Total 34, 648 Indians visited Japan from January to June in 2012 vis-à-vis 34,379 during the corresponding period in 2010

India may have to wait for iPhone 5 till November

After a long hiatus Apple Inc launched the much-awaited iPhone 5 – a lighter, thinner and more powerful version of its iconic mobile.

The iPhone 5 would be available on pre-order from Friday. In what could bring disappointment to iPhone patrons in India, the company has made no official comment about the phone’s release in the country.

However, it will hit the shelves in US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore on September 21, followed by 22 more countries on September 28.
 

WHAT DOES THE NEW IPHONE 5 OFFER?

Apple would offer 4G wireless technology for the first time 4-inch display, up from the current 3.5 inches Siri voice assistant Apple's own mobile mapping service Turn-by-turn voice directions for navigation ‘Passbook’ that organises a user's electronic airline tickets, movie tickets and restaurant loyalty cards

Apple hasn't made any confirmation about the launch date in India.

Meanwhile, a tech site reported that the iPhone 5 will light up India during Diwali with its release.

The iPhone 5 will support a 4G LTE chipset and sport a bigger, a refreshed 4-inch display. The phone will be seen running on iOS 6.

Honda in diesel drive: Brio, City, SUV coming

Hit by the shift in Indian customer preference to diesel cars, Japanese auto major Honda on Friday unveiled a rollout plan for diesel variants of its models in the next financial year. “An all-new diesel engine will be adopted sequentially to new models starting in financial year

 

2013-14,” Takanobu Ito, CEO, Honda Motors, said in a press conference in Japan.
Honda, which has only petrol cars in India, has suffered due to the price differential between petrol and diesel.
The small car Brio helped salvage some sales, but even this tapered off in recent months with August seeing a 21% dip.
The first diesel car will be a sedan based on the Brio platform. “Honda will add sedan-type and utility-type models utilising the platform of the Brio, Honda’s strategic model for Asia,” Ito said.

A diesel SUV based on the City will be launched by 2015, pitted against the recently-launched Nissan Duster and the Ford Ecosport, which comes next year. Local sourcing and production will make the cars affordable, Ito said.
The company has big plans in the two-wheeler segment as well, and will enter the popular 100 cc segment in the first half of 2013, where it is posing stiff challenge to erstwhile partner Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj.
Worldwide, Honda is looking to double its car sales to 6 million vehicles in four years, and 25 million motorcycles.

Panasonic India eyes turnover of Rs 1,200 crore

Eyeing a turnover of Rs 1,200 crore this festive season, electronics major Panasonic India on Wednesday said it will invest Rs 75 crore on its marketing initiative.

"While we are targeting Rs 150 crore turnover this festive season from the eastern region, nationally we plan to clock about Rs 1,200 crore.

"We are offering festival bonanza, like assured gifts and hampers, to customers," Panasonic India Managing Director (Consumer Product Division) Manish Sharma told reporters here.

For this fiscal, the company aims at increasing the market share to 20 per cent from the present 14 per cent.

He said the company would invest Rs 75 crore on the festive campaign, including Rs 25 crore on brand positioning through television.

Companies become hopeful of good sales during the festive season which contribute well to the earnings, but the festive configuration, Sharma said, had come down to 35 per cent from the 50-55 per cent three-four years ago.

On whether the company planned to slash prices or offer discounts during the season, Sharma replied in the negative.

"It is a difficult year. With rupee depreciation, economic situation, it is difficult to sustain with slashed prices. We have zero per cent finance offers though," he said.

He said the company was also not considering hiking price of its products, as it has already done so four times in the past five months.

Panasonic India has over 140 exclusive brand shops all over India and 1,187 service centres across the country.