How much difference can Rs 250 make?

In a price-sensitive market, a difference of a couple of hundred rupees can result in a significant drop in market share. A study of the market shares of the top 20 mobile phone models in the country reveals that a price increase of about Rs 250-300 could result in market shares dropping by more than half.

For instance, the largest selling model, priced at about Rs 3,000, enjoys a 25% market share, while the second largest selling model, which costs about Rs 250 more, has a market share of less than 12%. Again, when it comes to colour phones, the difference in the market share of the highest selling and the second highest selling models is twice as much.

“At the entry level, the buyers are very price conscious. Even minor price differentials affect their purchases,” said an industry source.

Although 13 colour models feature among the top 20 models, the total market share of the colour models is about 28%. The seven monochrome models, with prices ranging from Rs 2,400 to Rs 3,700, have a total market share of about 54%. Of this, three phones (Rs 3,000-3,700) account for 46% of market share, according to a study by ORG-GFK. These figures are for March ’05.

There is a marked difference in the market shares of the top three models, although the price difference between these are only about Rs 250-400. The largest selling handset is the Nokia 1100, priced at about Rs 3,047. It has a market share of about 25% in terms of volumes, and 16% in terms of value.

The market share of the second highest selling model, the Nokia 1108, priced at Rs 3,301, fell by more than half to 12% (volume) and 8% (value). The third largest selling handset, the Nokia 2300, priced at Rs 3,698, had market shares of 9% (volume) and 6.8% (value).

The fourth and the fifth largest selling models are colour handsets that together have a 10% market share in terms of both volumes and value. The highest selling colour model is the Nokia 2600, priced at Rs 4,685, with a 7% market share. The Nokia 3120 model, priced at Rs 5,365, has a 3% market share. Taking the colour segment alone, these two phones have 17.6% and 7% market shares, respectively.

The Rs 13,890 Nokia 6600 colour handset is the only model that features among the top 10, with a market share of 2.3%. Motorola’s C 115 (Rs 2438 - ranked seventh) and Sony Ericsson’s J 200 I, priced at Rs 5,116, were the only two models to break Nokia’s hegemony in the top 10 selling models.

Nokia accounted for 12 of the top 20 models, followed by Samsung and Sony Ericsson — with three models each — while Motorola and LG had one each.

India offers best returns among emerging markets

A firm interest rate trend in the US has triggered off a selloff across global equity markets. Since April ’05, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI)- managed MSCI World Index has fallen 2.5%.

However, emerging markets led by India continued to show resilience. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose a modest 0.3% and the MSCI India Index looked up 3.2%, outperforming all other markets in the peer group.

The picture is relatively mixed in other key emerging markets. The MSCI Korea Index remained flat, while the MSCI Taiwan Index rose 2.5%. The two markets have a 40% weightage in the MSCI Emerging markets Index, while India’s weightage is just over 5%.

The MSCI Brazil index rose 1.7%, while the MSCI South Africa Index fell 2.5%. The outperformance in Indian equities is attributed largely to the strong $1.2bn inflows from domestic mutual funds, which is their highest investment in equities in any single year. In May ‘05, the MSCI India clocked a 9% gain in dollar terms.

The entire emerging markets pack was up only 3.4%. A low domestic investor participation is a significant concern for most of these markets. “Asia generally has a high savings rate but currently majority of such savings tend to go into relatively low-yielding bank deposits,” Hazel McNeilage, MD, Asia, Principal Asset Management told ET.

The liquidity from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remains the key driver for equities in the region. However, the strong buying from Indian funds has allowed local equities to outperform the emerging market pack.

Domestic MFs collected around Rs 9,000 crore by selling new units in the past nine months and have invested around Rs 6,000 crore. When it comes to domestic participation, India still has a long way to go.
Market estimates put domestic savings allocation to equities in India at 0.2% in ’04 against 2.4% 10 years ago.

Hedge funds, which have an exposure of over $2.5bn in Indian equities, have pulled out over $300m.

Sources say the net FII outflow of $350m in April and May from Indian equities is largely on the back of the selloff from hedge funds, investing through participatory notes. A string of new India-specific hedge funds are raising new money. The money that moved out of India was more from global and regional mutli-strategy funds, sources say.

Fund managers say that Indian equities are relatively expensive at current levels, trading at 11.2 times their expected earnings in fiscal ’05-06. The whole emerging markets trade at just over 10 times their earnings.

Yet, investors see a strong resilience in Indian equities, because the broader macro-economic picture of the country is more attractive than any other market in the region.

“The India growth story continues to keep investors interested despite a slowdown in the earnings growth momentum,” a fund manager at a leading US-based fund said. Average earnings in top Indian companies are expected to hover around 20% against an over 30% growth rate over the next two years, according to analysts. Credit Lyonnais Securities estimates the compounded annual growth rate for earnings in India over the next two years at 12.3%, against Korea’s 5.6% and Taiwan’s 2.7%.

Make sure you have a smart baby. Here's how

You want your child to excel at his/her studies and later in his/her career.

Popular myth states that intelligence is purely hereditary. Actually, it is an outcome of interaction between heredity and environment.

Here are the ways that a child's potential for intelligence can be maximised:

1. Balanced nutrition

2. Providing a stimulating environment and fun activities

3. Providing formal and informal education

4. Love and affection from well-adjusted parents and other caretakers

• Food and drinks for your child!

Your child's health and well being are intimately related with your (the mother's) health and well being!

Did you know that 70 percent your baby's brain growth takes place in the womb?

That is why you, the mother, must take a balanced nutritious diet with brain-friendly supplements during your pregnancy.

Make sure, also, that you breastfeed your baby. It is the best way to stimulate your baby's brain growth. Improve the quality of breast milk with a balanced nutritious diet and brain-friendly nutritional supplements.

Fifteen percent of a child's brain growth happens during the first year of its life. The remaining 10 percent of the child's brain growth occurs during the pre-school years.

This is when you must pay special attention to complementary foods and an optimal intake of micronutrients and trace minerals.

• Are you packing the right lunch for your child?

It is important to be aware of the key nutrients essential for the optimal growth and functioning of your child's brain:

1. Molecules like Decosahexaenoic Acid contribute to a major part of the human brain. DHA accounts for 40 to 50 percent weight of the brain cells (neurons) and their membranes.

An essential Omega-3 fatty acid, DHA is a must for brain development.

2. Other essential nutrients for brain development include vitamins (vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E), trace minerals (iron, iodine, zinc), essential amino acids, glucose and antioxidants.

Let's talk about DHA!

It is the key nutrient for optimal brain growth and that of the retina.

Your baby gets its quota of DHA from you while in the womb and during infancy.

Be sure to take adequate quantities of Omega-3 fatty acids and supplements of DHA during pregnancy and lactation.

The traditional Indian diet, especially among vegetarians, is deficient in Omega-3 fatty acids and DHA. Good dietary sources of Omega-3 fatty acids and DHA include:

• Seafood and fish
• Vegetables oils, like flaxseed oil, soya oil, peanut oil and canola oil
• Dry fruits, like walnuts and almonds
• Kidney beans, Bengal gram, avacados, fenugreek seeds, etc.

DHA from vegetarian sources, like marine algae, is better than fish oil capsules, especially during pregnancy.

Tech schools that will help you earn big bucks

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur is the best engineering school in terms of placements and overall assessment in India. IIT-Bombay, IIT-Madras and IIT-Kharagpur are the other top three tech schools in the country, in that order. IIT-Guwahati is the sixth best but it's down on recruitment due to its geographic location. The figures were released in a survey by IDC-Nasscom-Data Quest Survey recently.

IIT-Kanpur and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Suratkal are at the top when it comes to the average salary for the last two years. The average package offered to students here was Rs 4 lakh per annum.

For tech grads 2004 was a golden year. While IIT-Kanpur grads were offered Rs 5 lakh per annum average salary last year, IIT-Madras and NIT Warangal grads got a cool Rs 4 lakh per annum as starting salary.

In fact, Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) offered an average of Rs 5.05 lakh in 2004, even better than IIT-Kanpur. It’s one of the top colleges for recruiters but loses out on objective assessment ranking.

The survey
The IDC-Nasscom-Data Quest Survey had four broad component as parameters for an objective assessment -- placement, infrastructure, intellectual capital and industry interface.

Old bastions like Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) , Pilani and DCE have been knocked out of the top 10 list by new entrants like National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), Delhi and Thapar Institute, Patiala.

The survey is the first of it's kind and would be conducted on an annual basis. It would rank different tech schools on various parameters based on an average of two years.

A total of 116 engineering colleges participated in this study from different corners of the country. IIT-Delhi is the only premier institute that is not covered as it didn't participate in the survey.

A pleasant surprise is IIT-Guwahati, which is ranked third on an objective assessment while it is at 21st position on recruiters' perception.

Says Parijat Chakraborty, head, communication research, IDC India: "This new IIT is yet to establish its brand image among the recruiters, as compared to its elder brothers. However, they are doing a better job in putting their houses in order".

An opposite scenario is observed for BITS Pilani. It enjoys an impressive image among the recruiters (5th position) while on objective assessment they are way below at 25th rank.

Placements in these engineering institutes have seen a general upturn with the salary increase of 10-15 per cent over last year. IT majors like Infosys, Wipro and TCS are the top recruiters and in some colleges they have recruited over 100 students by themselves.

What to look forward in a college?
It's that time of the year when students across the country are anxious to get into the best engineering school. But how to chose a college is the question that perplexes everybody.

Says Chakraborty of IDC: "Students should do a scientific evaluation rather than going by what their peers and relatives say. They should check infrastructure, faculty, industry interface and placement scenario before getting into a college. Brand image and how a school sells itself to recruiters is also very important.”

Schools like BITS Pilani and IIT-Roorkee are doing well just because they are able to sell themselves well.

Which are the hot sectors?
Computer science, electronics and telecom continue to be the hottest, with students graduating in these getting both fat pay packets as well as plum postings.

But there is also a great demand for engineers in the software industry. So, whether you opt for mechanical, chemical or automobile engineering, IT companies are sure to queue outside your college to recruit you.

China-Japan strain to boost Indian IT

MUMBAI: The straining of relationships between Asia's two economic power houses - China and Japan - will be beneficial to India with Japanese firms "withdrawing from China" and intending to make India its manufacturing base, according to a report by a global IT research agency. There is a large disconnect in political and business relations between the two countries, and if tensions were to escalate, Japanese technology firms would reduce their commitment to the Chinese market, Gartner Inc said in a report released on Thursday. This would result in many Japanese firms "ultimately withdrawing completely" from the Chinese market, it said. However, as India is actively supported currently by the Japanese government, the country would become Japan's new base for low-cost manufacturing, it said. Chinese industry would suffer as its source of leading-edge technology dries up amid continuing export restrictions from US and Europe. Certain technology companies from North America, Europe and Asia would acquire Japanese assets at "attractive prices" but others would steer clear and divert sourcing away from and unstable region. Gartner expects continued uncertainty and volatility in relations between China and Japan. This would have a broad business impact with bias against each other's products becoming more widespread and pronounced. apanese technology firms would assume a lower profile in China through intermediaries and local brand strategies, it said. Moreover, Japanese investment in technology manufacturing would gradually decline due to difficulties in hiring and retaining staff, in turn, creating an opportunity for other overseas investors, it said. Meanwhile, Chinese IT service and software firms would reduce their Japanese business initiatives as they refocus on North America and Europe. These firms would meet more direct competition from established global IT service firms, particularly from India, it said. The ongoing political and business tussle between China and Japan reached a flashpoint on May 23 with the former's vice-president Wu Yie cancelling a high-profile meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Gartner in its report encourages enterprises to develop contingency plans for reducing dependency on products and services from north-east Asia in anticipation of unstable relations between China and Japan for the foreseeable future. Gartner vice-president and research director Dion Wiggins said, "more than 95 per cent of the largest 2,000 companies in the world have extensive interests, investments and employees in China and Japan". "Most large global companies will have to adjust their strategies and plans if the China-Japan situation remains volatile. For many companies, it is no longer business as usual in north-east Asia," he said. Economic growth in both China and Japan would suffer with the shock enough to drive Japan into recession and perhaps act as a catalyst for business and government reform.

Southern India Shining

Maharashtra is not the only state grappling with acute power shortage and the situation is equally bad in 11 other states as temperatures soar to above 40 degrees this summer, a survey by Assocham has said.

Besides Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Meghalaya are in the grip of power shortage, according to the Assocham Eco Pulse Survey.

The energy deficit in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Haryana ranged from 7 per cent to 25 per cent in April 2005, the chamber said in a release.

NO POWER
1	Maharashtra
2	Gujarat
3	Uttar Pradesh
4	Haryana
5	Madhya Pradesh
6	Bihar
7	Delhi
8	Himachal Pradesh
9	Rajasthan
10	Jammu & Kashmir
11	Punjab
12	Meghalaya

Maharashtra, which recently faced a furore over long power cuts, is facing an energy deficit of 19 per cent. The peak shortage of nearly 4,000 MW in India's most industrialised state, has resulted in load shedding ranging from 4-8 hours a day in various regions across the state.

"Lack of fresh investment and modernisation coupled with huge transmission losses are responsible for the grave power situation in the country," chamber president M K Sanghi said.

Madhya Pradesh requires 3,003 million units, but has only 2,250 MU resulting in a deficit of 25 per cent.

The situation is no better in Gujarat where power deficit is 12.7 per cent. The availability in the state is only 4,766 MU against the requirement of 5,459 MU, the figures for April 2005 reveal. In Uttar Pradesh, deficit is almost 18 per cent with demand-supply gap well over 800 MU.

In terms of region wise comparison, the survey found that the highly industrialised western region was the worst hit in terms of energy deficit which was 16.7 per cent in April 2005.

The availability in the region was only 15,883 million units against the requirement of 19065 million units.

Northern region, where Uttar Pradesh is the worst hit, faced a deficit of 7.9 per cent with the demand-supply gap of 1,108 MU. Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan are better off while Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Punjab are badly hit.

Bihar, with 19 per cent deficit is the badly hit state in the eastern region which suffered a deficit of 4.4 per cent.

The southern region is better off facing deficit of only 0.8 per cent. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu had shortages of less than 1 per cent.

The survey said that the business leaders were concerned about the grim power situation in the country. Ninety-nine per cent of them blamed power theft, leakages and transmission and commercial losses as the main culprit.

The CEOs raised concerns over the rising T&C losses which ranged from 23.6 per cent to 75 per cent in various parts of the country in 2003-04.

All the industry leaders felt that the subsidising of electricity led to more wastage. Even if it was subsidised it should be for only certain number of units and beyond that, slabs for number of units consumed and the respective rates should be set, the survey said.

Software cos grow faster in Europe

Software cos grow faster in Europe

INDIAN software companies are seeing increased momentum in Europe. The continent turned attractive for Indian companies when the US slowed down between financial years 2000 and 2003.

Now, even as revenues from the US remain healthy, revenue contribution from Europe has jumped for several software companies.

For all companies in the table, contribution from the US (or North America as the case may be) to total revenue has fallen, while that from Europe has increased.

Over the last eight quarters, revenue contribution from Europe has jumped significantly for companies such as Infosys (17.7 per cent for the year ended March 2003 to 22.3 per for the March 2005 year), Satyam (12.4 to 16.6 per cent).

Interestingly, Mastek too saw a slump in revenue contribution from the US. It has been deriving a good chunk of revenues from Europe for some time now and has recently said that it wants to see more growth in the US. It has also relocated its CEO, Mr Sudhakar Ram to the US.

Like Mastek, iGate Global Solutions has seen absolute revenues jumping for Europe. Both companies have seen revenues slumping in the US and the rest of the world year-on-year.

Industry watchers say IT companies have been making investments in parts of the world other than the US, especially during the US slump and that those investments are bearing fruit now.

Infosys last year said it had made concerted efforts to increase revenues from non-US geographies over the last few years. "We have invested in sales and marketing in Switzerland, France, Germany and Australia," Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, Deputy MD and Chief Operating Officer, Infosys, had then said.

Interestingly, contributions for Infosys from India have come back to earlier levels. From 2.1 per cent of revenues in the March 2003 year, it slumped to 1.4 per cent in March 2004 and is now back up at 2 per cent.

Cognizant's European contribution to its revenues increased from 11 per cent in March 2003 to 13 per cent recently. It said for the quarter ending December 2004, it had noted increasing interest in offshore outsourcing from companies in the UK and in continental Europe, as was evident from a "steadily growing number of inquiries and visits from potential clients."

It added, "That trend has continued and during the quarter (ended March 2005), our operations in (these geographies) had several key wins for application development and re-engineering services. We believe that we are just beginning to see the start of real momentum growing in Europe."

Apu Trilogy, Nayakan in Time list of 100 great films

New York, May 23. (PTI): Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy which helped redefine Indian cinema in the 1950's, Guru Dutt's classic 'Pyasa' portraying the disillusionment of a poet with the material world and Mani Ratnam's 'Nayakan' based on the life of a Mumbai gangster are among a list of 100 all time great films compiled by the Time magazine.

Put together by Time magazine's critics, Richard Schickel and Richard Corliss, the unranked list of the 100 greatest films has a host of acclaimed movies like 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Casablanca', 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and 'Pulp Fiction'.

The list, which is posted on the magazine's website and would be published in today's issue of the magazine, also names the best film from each decade since Time began: Metropolis (1927), Dodsworth (1936), Citizen Kane (1941), Ikiru (1952), Persona (1966), Chinatown (1974), Decalogue (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Talk to Her (2002).

Indian films in the list include the works of famed directors of the country.

Ray's Apu Trilogy - Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apu Sansar (1959) - trace the life of a Bengali family and their son Apu as he moves from childhood in a rural village through his youth in Varanasi, where the family later shifts, to manhood and marriage in Kolkata.

These films show that "Ray's filmmaking is direct in manner, simple in its means and profound in its impact," the critics says.

Pyasa

Describing Dutt's 'Pyasa' as a soulful romantic film, the Time critics says the writer-producer-director star paints a glamourous portrait of an artist's isolation through dappled imagery and the sensitive picturising of S D Burman's famous songs.

"Waheeda Rehman in her screen debut is sultry, radiant - a woman to bring out the poet in any man, on screen or in the audience," they say.

Mani Ratnam

The Kamal Hassan starrer 'Nayakan', which was Ratnam's second film, has been described by the Time critics as a defining work in his career.

"His movies, often dramatising social unrest and political terrorism, churn with narrative tension and camera energy that would be the envy of Hollywood directors, if they were to see them", they say.

Nayakan tells the Godfatherish tale of Velu, a boy who embraces a life of crime after his father is killed by the police.

"Velu (Kamal Hassan) has trouble juggling his family life with his life-and-death mob "family; Ratnam has no such difficulty blending melodrama and music, violence and comedy, realism and delirium, into a two-and-a-half-hour demonstration that, when a gangster's miseries are mounting, the most natural solution is to sing in the rain," the magazine's critics says.

Digital light processing cinema technology enters India

The new technique offers crystal-clear images and detailed sound

---

Supports 35 trillion colours

Repeated showings do not corrode image

Film is encrypted up to projection

Inbuilt anti-piracy tools

---

CHENNAI: "Most movie-goers think digital cinema already exists in India," said Swaroop Reddy, Director, Sathyam Cinemas, while launching the Real Digital Experience (RDX) for the first time in India.

Sathyam is the first cinema hall in the country to obtain DLP (Digital Light Processing) cinema technology for digital cinema with crystal-clear image, detailed sound and vibrant colour. With a DLP projector developed by Texas Instruments, Sathyam will now be able to screen even those Hollywood films that were sometimes inaccessible — or, if accessible, were of poorer quality when converted to film medium — to the Indian market because they were in digital format.

There have been about 45 digital movies to date that require DLP technology to be screened in full brilliance.

The server, projector and overall image quality of DLP cinema adheres to the specifications of Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI), a Hollywood-funded body that sets standards for digital cinema. Mr. Reddy said that what was already available in India was "E-cinema (electronic cinema), which is low-end projection — low resolution, limited colour, and unimpressive sound." Today, it is film that is considered the best quality format since it supports 4 trillion colours. However, DLP cinema technology is said to support 35 trillion colours, and repeated showings do not corrode the image.

Ganesh, Business Development Manager, Texas Instruments, said that apart from the non-diminishing quality of each digital print, one of the greatest benefits of digital cinema is that it is encrypted right up to the projection, and there are inbuilt anti-piracy tools.

Sathyam Cinemas will kick off its RDX initiative with the world premier of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith on Friday (20th May).

McKinsey rates India ahead of China

How many times have you dismissed the government’s growth analysis as window dressing? It’s time you stopped. India’s reputation in the BRIC-and-mortar world is now earning it more brownie points from overseas analysts than official number crunchers back home.

Sounds unbelievable? Well, here’s the lowdown: In its recent report on a comparison of Indian and Chinese financial systems, the McKinsey Quarterly has trotted out some pretty impressive growth stats for India.

Entitled “India’s Lagging Financial System”, the report makes a point-by-point comparison of the two “emerging economic giants”. But the real surprise lies in the fine print. According to the report, India’s GDP growth in the ‘93-03 period at 8.4% is higher than China’s 8.1% — the only parameter where the Indian economy scores over China.

This is quite in contrast to the more plebeian numbers the government’s own Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) dishes out annually. According to the CSO, the decadal growth of the Indian economy is less than 6%.

Finance minister P Chidambaram has gone on record to say that the key difference between India and China is that both have reached a similar high growth phase. But while China has held on to it, the Indian GDP growth rate has oscillated widely.

In Budget ‘05-06, he said, “At the recent meeting of the finance ministers of the G-7 countries, to which India and China were invited, the finance minister of China looked in my direction and told the gathering that China had received $500bn worth of foreign investment since it opened its economy in 1980. Of this, nearly $60bn came in calendar ’04.”

The McKinsey report is, however, less euphoric about the India story in other respects. “As powerful as the progress of both countries has been, China’s industrial development is clearly outstripping that of its neighbour, not only because of China’s headstart in economic liberalisation but also because of a commonly overlooked factor: India’s financial system,” it says.

The report says that even after discounting the huge NPAs of the Chinese banking system, its financial stock was more than $4 trillion in ’03, nearly four times the size of India’s stock. It is this difference and the lower domestic savings ratio and FDI inflow, due to which “India has been less able to finance investment and accumulate physical capital” (including infrastructure).

PM gives 6 on 10 for UPA's performance

As his government completes one year in office, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday gave six out of ten marks to its performance but said he was not satisfied with it and emphasised the need for reform of government, political system and judiciary.

"I am not satisfied with what we have been able to do in terms of implementing new policy initiatives," he said in a frank appraisal of his government's working at the Congress Working Committee meeting in Delhi.

The prime minister said a journalist had recently asked what score he would give to himself and his government.

"And I said 6/10. For some, this may seem a reasonable mark to get but I have never been satisfied with 60 per cent," 72-year-old Oxford-educated Dr Singh said, adding, "I do sincerely believe that we can do better. In the coming year, that will be our endeavour."

The new earning mantra: grow hair

Hair today, gone tomorrow. Of course, but it will for sure fetch some foreign revenue so long as it is the result of the horizontal movement of the metal extensions on the barber’s hands called the scissors. If it is natural and gradual then hold your head in dismay and resign to your baldness.

For now it is time to let your hair down. For India’s hair exports for the year last year stood at $70.26 million and it is rising. The top three importers of hair from India are China, Hong Kong and Tunisia. Italy, Brazil and the US are the others.

And if you are the religious kind making your annual trip to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh then take heart. The hair you offer to the deity fetches the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam an annual revenue of $6.9 million from exports. Hair from Tirupati fetched Rs 4.5 crore in March, up by 15%. It is expected to cross Rs 12 crore in May-end.

They call it black gold there. And they guard it like gold. the hair that devotees leave behind are collected and kept away safely in lockers that would put the ones in RBI to shame.

Commission agents from Eluru, Bangalore and Chennai make a visit after every two and half months to make bids for the hair that the temple authorities auction. A kilo of ‘first grade’ hair fetches Rs 8,000 on an average. The hairs are divided into four categories: 16 inch which is the top class, 8 inch, grey and small hair called thooku.

Hairs thus bought are then taken to factories, the biggest of which is in Eluru, in any of these places and washed. It is then treated after separation and smoked and packed in locks. Two hundred strands of a 16 inch hair would make one pack and would fetch 30 cents if it is sold to buyers in Italy and $1.5 in the US.

Tirupathi hair is in great demand in Italy. It is also the favourite of Hollywood stars whose wigs are made hair supplied from India via Italy. Companies like UK’s Racoon International uses Indian hair to make their hair extension products. They used Indian hair for Samantha Morton’s hairdo in the film Enduring Love.

What companies like Raccon do is process and strips the cuticle off the hair they buy from India. What was once black and straight, may become blonde and curly. Though, Tirupati hair needs more aftercare, says the company, it is less expensive than the European equivalent and can look equally fantastic.

Most of it was bought from Indian agents by Italian firm Great Length International. Imports and exports of hair have no specific restrictions. Says minister of state for commerce and industry EVKS Elangovan:

“It can be done freely.” And it should be after all there is something ‘divine’ about this trade. Mythology has it that Vishnu borrowed money from Kuber to meet his extravagant wedding expenses. And devotees go to Tirupati and have their hair cut to repay the money owed to Kuber.

Tata plans to storm Hyundai bastion

Tata Motors is exploring the possibility of introducing its passenger cars, including Indica, Indigo and Xover, in South Korea.

The company showcased its passenger car range at the Seoul Motor Show 2005 where it is jointly participating with Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co Ltd, a joint venture between the two companies.

"By participating in the Seoul Motor Show, the company is exploring the opportunities in South Korean automotive market, especially in view of diesel cars being allowed to be sold in South Korea from 2005," Tata Motors officials told PTI.

The company also showcased the trucks, due to be launched in the Indian market, at Tata-Daewoo stall. Asked about the status of import of buses to India, the officials said, "TELCO has announced plans to introduce a range of medium and heavy commercial vehicles (predominantly M-CV's) in India towards the end of 2005 and the launch is as per schedule."

The vehicles displayed included the Tata Xover -- a concept crossover, the Tata Indica -- a 5-door hatchback, Tata Indigo -- an entry level sedan and the Tata Indigo SW – a station wagon based on the Indigo platform.

The Tata Xover, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2005, is a 4.85 meter car with a rugged frame-based design. With a large interior space and flexible seating, the car can comfortably accommodate up to 7 adults and ample baggage.

The Xover is configured to be powered with a range of Euro IV engines including Tata Motors' own next generation power-trains.

Nokia to start making handsets in India from '06

Terming India as its fifth largest market, global mobile handset major Nokia on Wednesday said it would start production of handsets in the first half of the next year at its Chennai plant.

"We expect to start production in the first half of next year. We have a very tough time-table but we will meet that goal," Nokia chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila told reporters here after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“India is the fastest growing mobile market and India is our number five market globally,” Ollila said, adding, "We are committed for long term and we have been very well received. We have had good cooperation from the Central as well as Tamil Nadu government for long term success in India.”

Regarding his meeting with Singh, Ollila said, "It was very positive... had very good discussion about Indian economy... our investment going forward and he (Singh) showed very much interest in telecom industry. He said that he feels very good about the positive investor climate that the government is working to acheive."

"He (PM) said that India has made great progress here and feel that our investment in Tamil Nadu is a proof that things are moving in the right way... and he looks forward to the further development in the telecom industry", Ollila said regarding his discussion with the PM.

India best for IT business, say Israeli firms

Underlining the advantages of outsourcing to India, executives of global hi-tech firms in Israel have said the country is the most preferred destination for doing business in the IT sector.

"India has everything that a multinational needs. It is a young country, has creative minds and a huge market with almost 27 cities with more than a million population," chairman of AON Global, Simon Wasserman, said at an 'India conference on outsourcing' aimed at familiarising Israeli businesses with economic operations in India.

He said India will overtake Japan in GDP in 2030 and become the biggest economy in the world in 2050.

Atsmon Group Ltd, an Israeli compensations and benefits consultancy, organised the conference in which senior executives from Intel, AON Global, BMC and Comverse made presentations touching upon various aspects of doing business with India from their personal experiences.

Representatives of some 60 Israeli companies attended the conference.

"We have realised that opening operations in India is becoming more and more relevant during our interaction with our clients. The response to the conference was overwhelming," CEO of Atsmon, Tali Atsmon, said.

Indian Ambassador to Israel Arun Kumar Singh, who inaugurated the conference, touched upon at length the growing IT sector in India and the initiatives taken by the government to catalyse the growth.

Ramo Yosef, Regional compensation and benefit manager of BMC, a software company with global presence, said that his company started its India operation in Pune in 2001 with only 45 people but now employs 798, bringing out the favourable conditions prevailing there.

Comverse vice president for strategic outsourcing, Ofer Glanz, in his presentation said India has several competitive advantages over China as a destination for outsourcing.

There is abundance of skill, engineers with experience in telecom, the economy has financial stability and there is a process maturity in India, Glanz said.

Great find at Mahabs

Archaeologists have found "structures" buried in the sea off the coast of Mahabalipuram that show evidences of "human activities", and could lend credence to the age-old myth that seven temples existed in the area, five of which are believed to be under the sea.

Mahabalipuram, which was recently ravaged by the killer tsunami, is known as the land of 'Seven Pagodas'.

Archaeologists say they have found stone blocks and pottery under the sea, and are examining whether the site is that of the fabled temples that went under water.

"Some of the rocks we found undersea bore definite signs of human activities. We have already found remnants of a temple offshore. This new finding is not in isolation and we will have to compare and correlate it with the onshore structures," said Alok Tripathi, deputy superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The ambitious expedition, jointly conducted by the Indian Navy and the ASI, began in early 2001 with the aim of clearing the mystery behind the seven temples in Mahabalipuram, where only one temple exists now.

"We have recovered artefacts and structures which resemble the shore temple, during the expedition which lasted more than three years," Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, told reporters here.

The ASI undertook preliminary search of the area in 2001 and based on the results, a team of Navy divers and ASI officials carried out extensive exploratory work in the area with INS Darshak, a hydrographic survey vessel, providing administrative support. (Agencies)

U.S. award for Indian website

WASHINGTON: A website (www.effortsunited.com) built by a team of students from Gurgaon, Haryana, has won the prestigious Doors to Diplomacy Award of the U.S. State Department, along with the site (www.ndadoors.org) of a U.S. team.

India has crossed the 100-million mark in telephone lines

India has crossed the 100-million mark in telephone lines, both landline and wireless put together. This means a teledensity of 9 per 100 population, that is one out of every 11 Indians on average has a phone connection. To those accustomed to American and European teledensities of over 100, that is there are more phone lines than people, this may not seem like a big deal, but in India's context, it is a minor miracle: for only ten years ago, there was only 1 phone per 100 Indians.

A revealing chart in the Indian media ('Phone connections cross 10-crore mark,' The Hindu Business Line, April 14, 2005) had the figures below. The growth shows no signs of slowing down, and another 150 million lines are likely to be added in the next three years. India has the fifth largest telecommunication network in the world, after China, the US, Japan and Germany. In the near future, India is likely to move up a few spots.

Year	Teledensity (phones per 100 people)	Total connections (millions)	Landline + WLL (million)	Cellular (million)
1948	0.02	0.08	0.08	0
1951	0.03	0.10	0.10	0
1961	0.08	0.33	0.33	0
1971	0.18	0.98	0.98	0
1981	0.31	2.15	2.15	0
1991	0.60	5.07	5.07	0
1997	1.57	14.88	14.54	0.34
1999	2.33	22.81	21.61	1.2
2000	2.86	28.53	26.65	1.88
2001	3.53	35.29	32.71	3.58
2002	4.29	44.96	38.53	6.43
2003	5.11	54.62	41.93	12.69
2004	7.08	76.54	50.39	26.15
2005	9.13	100.27	58.81	41.6
CAGR 2000-05	26%	29%	17%	86%

The astonishing growth rate in cellular connectivity, ignited by private carriers, has made these numbers possible. To give credit where it is due, the ex-monopoly public-sector carriers have also shaped up and started competing, although they still demand special treatment in the 'interests of the public'. And deregulation has been the key in India as it has been elsewhere. But there are differences. India, which used to have an utterly inadequate telephone network before deregulation, is now moving towards having a half-way decent system.

The US, which used to have one of the best networks under the undivided Bell System, continues to have a great system, but hypercompetition has set in, making it difficult to make any money. Of course, hyperinvestment preceded the bursting of the dot-com bubble: $50 billion of venture capital money was poured into optical communication systems, and that has sunk without a trace.

In Europe, in a rare instance of regulatory guidance proving beneficial, the unified GSM standard has made it easy for travellers to roam; although there is criticism that GSM has become rigid and has not evolved as rapidly as CDMA has in the more chaotic American environment.

In India, demand is not the constraint; supply has been. Under the old system of quotas and permits, ruled over by a self-perpetuating and bribe-seeking bureaucracy, telecommunications was seen as a scarce good to be rationed. This regressive idea persists: in India you have 'volume penalties' instead of 'volume discounts'. That is, if you are a good customer, making a lot of calls, you get penalised: the price per call goes up as your volume goes up. The scarcity-economy model perpetuated by socialist entities such as the Planning Commission encourages bizarre ideas about demand and supply.

From the point of view of the ordinary person in India, the changes brought about by the improved telecommunication system are very positive. Telephones used to be hard to come by. For instance, when I was growing up, we lived in a neighbourhood of perhaps thirty households in a medium-sized city, and only one person had a telephone in their home, and all his neighbours gave out his phone number for them to receive critical calls, thus bothering this poor person.

If you applied for a line, it took five or six years for it to be sanctioned: a classic socialist economy. The powers-that-be made it clear that until everyone could afford a phone, nobody really should have one, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking for a phone when so many people don't even get a square meal. You slunk away, shame-faced, feeling like some kind of heartless Scrooge.

There were also no public telephones. You depended on the kindness of shopkeepers to use their phone to call home in case of emergency and you were one of those evil capitalist individuals who had managed to get a phone at home. Of course noble socialist bureaucrats and politicians had arrogated to themselves the right to get phones for 'official' purposes, even after they retired.

The first revolution happened when the regulators threw open ownership of so-called 'Public Call Office' to various groups of people, especially the handicapped. This pay-phone with an attached attendant rapidly became a fixture in every neighbourhood except in the more remote villages. In an unintended irony, PCOs became the biggest ever employment-generator in a country that had wasted billions on dim-witted employment schemes that came to naught.

In an article in the Harvard Business Review some years ago, Sam Pitroda, a telecom entrepreneur who made a fortune in the US and was the architect of new rural exchanges designed in India, pointed out how farmers in remote villages increased their economic efficiency as soon as phones were available to them. For instance, they could schedule city-based truckers to pick up their produce, or to deliver fertiliser, something hitherto impossible.

The second revolution took place when the regulators decided to allow a number of cellular licensees. Even though there were teething troubles, GSM and CDMA as well as wireless-local-loop limited mobility systems are available over the counter today, no waiting and no guilt-trips required. You get your connection more or less instantly. As can be seen from the table, cellular systems have proven remarkably popular; you see them wherever you go. On trains, on the street, there is the persistent chirp of mobiles, and plenty of distracted, staring-into-the distance users thereof. Some drive two-wheelers, dangerously and illegally, one hand glued to mobile and ear.

People have put mobiles to ingenious uses, and lower income groups have taken to them with a vengeance. For instance, the person who plucks coconuts for my parents can now schedule his time efficiently; so can small-time taxi drivers. The most startling example comes from fisherfolk along the west coast, especially Kerala. There is continuous connectivity on land because it is densely populated. Smart fishermen in small country craft found that this coverage extends out to sea for a few miles as well; and started carrying their mobiles with them for emergency calls and storm warnings.

But then they realised another major benefit: disintermediation. They could call wholesalers directly from out at sea, fix the price, and sell the catch before they landed, instead of being cheated by middlemen. Furthermore, they could set sail for the fishing port where their catch would earn the most. And finally, they could choose to only catch whatever was in demand. Thus their investments in mobiles have paid off handsomely.

Telecommunications in India is a classic study in the benign results of letting people choose what they want, instead of allowing the dead hand of economic planning to dictate terms.

Diabetics, stay away from pizzas!

f you are diabetic, a soft, scrumptious pizza can wreak havoc in your life.

A Pennsylvania State Diabetes Center, USA, study suggests a slow and steady insulin-dosing pattern may best combat the glucose-raising effects of that common favourite food.

• Diet dos and don'ts for diabetics

"Keeping glucose levels from jumping too high or dipping too low may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, which has been connected to erratic glucose levels in those with diabetes," said Robert Gabbay, M D, Ph D, associate professor of medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center, and co-director, Penn State Diabetes Center.

"Our study shows that after a high-carbohydrate, high-fat meal like the pizza we used in this study, spacing out insulin given by an insulin pump in two doses, one of which is over an eight-hour period, may keep glucose levels in a more favourable range than a single dose of insulin or a double dose taken over a shorter period," he added.

"We noticed it was very difficult for those with diabetes who were using insulin pumps to maintain good glucose values when they ate pizza," Jones said. "Because pizza is a favourite food for so many people, and good quality of life is eating what you want every now and again, we suggested a study to see how best to help those with diabetes enjoy this common favourite food while maintaining good glucose levels."

• The good diabetic meal plan

Gabbay cautions this method of insulin delivery may not be applicable to all high-carbohydrate, high-fat foods.

"Pizza is a complex food and causes prolonged post-meal hyperglycaemia," he said. "For now, generalisation to food types other than pizza may best be based on foods that are known to cause the same type of prolonged hyperglycaemia and not necessarily those that have only the same composition."

Gabbay said future studies will investigate whether the method works with foods of other compositions.

ANI

IT: China claims it is ahead of India

China, whose software exports surged to $2.8 billion, has claimed that the scale of its software industry has surpassed that of India and South Korea.

The scale of China's software industry in 2004 reached 230 billion yuan ($27.84 billion), up 2.8 times when compared to that of five years ago, surpassing India and South Korea, a senior official from the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said.

China views the software industry as the core of the information industry and attaches high importance to the development of the software sector, deputy president of MII's Department of Electronics and Information Product Administration Ding Wenwu said while participating at a recent software conference.

Since the implementation of favourable industrial policies, the core competitiveness of China's software industry has become increasingly stronger, Ding was quoted as saying by China News Service.

China's software export volume rose from $400 million in 2000 to $2.8 billion in 2004, up six-fold in five years, Ding said.

Five years ago, policies encouraging the development of the software industry issued by the State Council, China's cabinet, has served as an active guideline for the development of the sector.

In the past five years, China has invested billions in funds on finance, taxation, industrial technology, export, income allocation, professional training, purchase and protection of intellectual property rights in an effort to promote the development of the software and integrated circuit industries, the official noted.

China has established 11 national software industry bases, six national software export bases and 172 national key software enterprises, signalling the communist nation's desire to be a major global software player.

However, China's software employees have been suffering from rigid education at universities and lack of training at enterprises, a survey on the existence of software workers by a committee of China Youth Software Promotion Project has found.

The survey, which involved 4,400 people, found that 60 per cent domestic software companies failed to provide necessary career plans for their employees, which are urgently needed at a rapid updating trade, the People's Daily reported on its Web site.

Although most software employees hope to improve themselves through training, the social environment provides very few opportunities, the survey revealed. On the one hand, companies are reluctant to train their staff, on the other hand, very few social institutions are able to offer trainings on up-to-date technologies.

It is also found that 77 per cent software employees work over eight hours, and those at middle level have no time to digest new ideas or technologies.

The survey says that the country's 'backward education system' has resulted in students weak in programming capability, while enterprises employing them have been unwilling to provide relevant training.

China lacks special institutions to train managerial staff for software development. The result is, software students can hardly find employers to accept them, while companies have difficulty in recruiting qualified programmers, the report said.

Source : Rediff.com