Business Today - India’s No.1 Business Magazine

EDUCATION

EVENTS

MUSIC

PRINTING

WELFARE

f o r m a n a g i n g t o m o r r o w

AUGUST 26, 2007

COVER STORY


	Best Cities, Or So We Say Bangalore gets pummelled, Delhi climbs, and Mumbai stays put at #1. The surprise gainers in this year's survey: Ahmedabad and Surat. Gung-Ho In Gujarat Ahmedabad and Surat climb up the rankings in the Best Cities for Business survey. That may have something to do with Chief Minister Narendra Modi's goal of achieving growth that's even faster than that of China. Read More Second Option Cities As state capitals get crowded, businesses are scrambling for newer destinations within and outside their home states. Happily for India Inc., there are quite a few cities to choose from. Read More Young And Eager, But... Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are attracting big-ticket investment proposals. But, problems remain. Read More Growth Pangs In Techie-land The IT boom has turned Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurgaon into cities of opportunities. But on the flip side, it has turned these cities into urban nightmares. Read More

Are SEZs The
Future Cities?

India's Special Economic
Zones promise to become booming microcosms of industrial, commercial and residential complexes.
Click Here

City Of Pipe-Dreams
Mumbai is still the best city for business.
Read More

Urban India:
Could Small Be Beautiful?
Column by Ramesh Ramanathan, National
Technical Advisor, JNNURM.
Read More

Methodology
How we did it.
Read More


	FEATURES


	Fresh Fillip After virtually abdicating its position in the consumer electronics market to nimbler rivals, Philips India is coming back with a radically different, more inclusive game plan. Will it work? more...		Indian Advertising's Global March Indian ad agencies are now pitching for, and winning, mandates from MNCs for creating ads for foreign markets. more...



	Brand New Hardsell IHow do you turn a music television channel into a marketing vehicle that goes beyond plain vanilla advertising? MTV thinks it has the answer. And it's called Viacom Brand Solutions. more...		Fertilisers Once More Rising cost of production and delays in subsidy payments have stymied capacity addition in the fertiliser industry over the last six years. But with the government mulling a new subsidy regime, fertilisers promise to get hot again. more...




	REPORTER'S DIARY The New Farmers Farming gets a technology makeover at Bharti's agri-venture in Ludhiana. Kushan Mitra checks out 'corporate farming' in action. more...




	To advertise in Business Today click here



	FROM INDIA

	FROM OUTSIDE INDIA
	Air Mail
	Online Version








Opec Woes The Organization of Oil Producing Countries' decision not to hike output ahead of the hurricane season in the US comes in sharp contrast to its actions last year. With oil prices at record highs of $78.65 a barrel last August, OPEC had steadily upped output to cash in on the oil boil, pushing up its oil and gas export revenue 22 per cent to a bumper $649 billion in 2006. This year, despite oil hitting $78.77, OPEC has adopted a wait-and-watch policy.

Trade Tunes India and Pakistan have decided to increase bilateral trade by six times to $10 billion (Rs 41,000 crore) by 2010. They have also agreed to ease barriers that hamper commerce. To strengthen ties, both countries have allowed banks in each nation to open branches in the other. The State Bank of India and the Bank of India will open branches in Pakistan and the National Bank of Pakistan will open a branch in India. Besides this, the trade basket will be increased and transport links will be improved.

Banks Gain In its quarterly review of monetary policy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has maintained its focus on curbing liquidity. It has increased the cash-reserve-ratio (CRR) by 0.5 per cent, which indicates a loss in interest income because banks don't earn interest on parking the funds with RBI. What saved the day for banks was RBI's decision to remove the Rs 3,000-crore cap on reverse repo operations. This means banks can now deploy excess cash with RBI and earn higher interest.

Bumpy Ride Domestic air passengers may have to shell out more for flying. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started auctioning new fuel stations at airports to oil companies and will hand over the infrastructure to the oil company that bids to pay the highest throughput charge. It is likely that oil companies will recover this extra fee from airline companies, which may pass the burden to passengers. Though this step helps AAI, it defeats the cause of low-cost airlines.





	MONEY		JOBS TODAY


	The Best Loans For Entrepreneurs Banks are ever-willing to fund your start-up or finance your expansion plans. Here's how to get the best deal. more...		Get a Privacy Shield While the data security vs workplace privacy debate rages on, bt tells you how to safeguard your interest when you sign on the dotted line. more...

	BOOKEND		BACK OF THE BOOK


	Native Intelligence An Indian-American fund manager serves up unique investing lessons from the 'motel Patels'. more...		The New Age Do-Gooders Philanthropy and social service find new takers in young professionals who are giving back to the society like never before. more...
	PEOPLE		COLUMNS


	People Starring Royal & SunAlliance's Paul Whittaker; Darshan Mehta, ex-CEO of VF Arvind Brands; ISB's Mendu Rammohan Rao; iGate Global Solutions' Phaneesh Murthy; Mudra Group's Madhukar Kamath; and Sunil Dutt, former Director (Sales), Nokia. more...		Leadership Spotlight Pramod Bhasin President & CEO, Genpact


	TRENDS		CURRENT


	What's Troubling RBI? Y.V. Reddy is finessing his strategy to control inflation without sacrificing growth. more... Instan Tip The fortnight's burning question. more... Q&A: Anne Bernard more... India Inc.: Other Income to the Rescue more... No Kidding: Ads Can be Quite Misleading Following concerns about companies promoting unhealthy practices-especially through advertising targeted at children and young adults-companies are beginning to make all the right noises, and some have even issued marketing guidelines on the same. more... Top of Mind more... Economy Watch more... Policy Watch A bird's eye view of what's hot and what's not on the government's policy radar. more... P-Watch Column The why, what and how-to of policy making.. more... Newsmaker This fortnight's personality is Sanjay Dutt. more... Numbers of Note more... NOTED more... It's Raining Planes more... India Inc. Shy of Selling Out more...		Bear Market Ahead? Perhaps in the US, but in India it's a welcome correction. more... Software, Hard Battles Tier-II IT companies are facing the heat. more... Road to Nowhere Dues of over Rs 600 crore may delay Mumbai sea link project. more... Thrill of the Magic Pill Dr Reddy's is closer to taking a molecule to market. more... Another Billion-Dollar Baby NVIDIA has big plans for India. more... Wrong Medicine? Novartis' plea to patent Glivec is set back. more... RIL's $100-bn (Long) Shot That's how much Reliance could soon be worth. more... Thirsting Once Again New launches and M&As are back in bottled water market. more... Private Equity Pasha No other Indian VC raises money like this man does. more... CFA vs ICFAI One-time partners have turned bitter foes. more... Create, But Don't Own It TV's content producers are a disgruntled lot. more... The Sweet Sasan Coup How Anil Ambani finally bagged the Sasan power project. more... Dusting Up SpiceJet A new investor gets the low cost carrier to shape up. more... There's Life After Sasan Lanco takes stock after losing the ultra-mega power project. more... Celebrity Clutter Will the real Big B please stand up? more... Small-screen Superstore The TV18 Group spreads wings into home shopping. more... Investing in Allah's Name Offshore Islamic funds make a beeline for Dalal Street. more... Tapping the Islamic Billions Is India ready for Shariah-compliant financial products? more... Out of the Box Dishtv's set-top box is compatible with a PC and a TV. more...


		HOME \| EDITORIAL \| COVER STORY \| FEATURES \| TRENDS \| BOOKEND \| MONEY BT SPECIAL \| BOOKS \| COLUMN \| JOBS TODAY \| PEOPLE
		Partners: BT-Mercer-TNS—The Best Companies To Work For In India INDIA TODAY \| INDIA TODAY TRAVEL PLUS \| BT EVENTS ARCHIVES \| CARE TODAY \| MUSIC TODAY \| ART TODAY \| SYNDICATIONS TODAY © LIVING MEDIA INDIA LTD