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11 Pages 10TH

DECEMBER – 16th

DECEMBER 2010 www.xedintellect.com

BUSINESS NEWS

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 2 COVER STORY 3 PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK 4 BUSINESS NEWS 5-8

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 9 MISCELLANEOUS NEWS 10 GENERAL AWARENESS 11

NEWS DIGEST…

IN BRIEF

PERSONALITIES OF THE WE

COMPILED BY

FUTURE TECHNOLOGI

BSE SENSEX 19864

NSE NIFTY 5948

RS/$ 45.39

ECONOMICINDICATORS

India tops Forbes

list of best

countries for new

jobs next year

COVER STORY

GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India & Chinapartners, not

rivals: Wen Jiabao

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

Indra Nooyi’s

sister in race for

Grammy

XED NEWSLETTER… a weekly news bul leti n

(as on 16.12.2



TOP 10 HEADLINES OF THE WEEK

1. India is engine of Dell ’s global growth.2. Inflation falls to 11-month low of 7.48%.3. RCOM launches 3G in Metros.4. Petrol price hike: Up by Rs 3/litre, diesel unchanged.5. India tops Forbes list of best countries for new jobs next year.6. Tendulkar turns down record liquor endorsement offer7. Toyota recalls 94,000 cars due to brake fault.8. India & China partners, not rivals: Wen Jiabao.

9. India a ‘superpower’ in corruption.10. IIM Bangalore ranked amongst top 25 business schools in world.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Poverty means lacking the ability to fulfill the basichuman needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care

education, clothing and shelter. Poverty leads to hungerand disease. Poor children don’t have access to educationSlum-dwellers make up a third of theworld's urban population. The poor are forced into drugtrafficking and prostitution. The adjoining graph shows %of population below poverty line (income of less than 1.25US dollars per day). The sourced data refers to the mostrecent year available during the period 2000-2007.Overpopulation and lack of access to birth control methodsdrive poverty. The world's population is expected toreach nearly 9 billion in 2040. The reverse is also truethat poverty causes overpopulation as it gives women littlepower to plan childhood, have educational attainment, ora career. Rise in the costs of living make poor people less

able to afford items. Poor people spend a greater portionof their budgets on food than richer people. 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. In Africa, icurrent trends of soil degradation continue, the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025.Decline in Poverty: Due to moderateeconomic development in South Asia, thepoverty rate has fallen from 60 percent to 40percent over 1981-2005. In India, number of poor increased from 420 million people in 1981to 455 million in 2005, while the poverty rate asa share of the total population went from 60%in 1981 to 42% in 2005.Much of the decline in poverty has occurred inEast Asia, which is mostly due to the rise of China, who's poverty rate plunged from 80% of

the population living on less than $1.25 a day in1981 to 18 percent in 2005. In Sub-SaharanAfrica, poverty rate was 50 percent in 2005—the same as it was in 1981. The number of poorhas almost doubled, from 200 million in 1981 toabout 380 million in 2005. If the trend persists,a third of the world’s poor will live in Africa by2015.http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats8.htm,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_by_countryhttp://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2009/poverty_backgrounder.html

Stock Market Indices as on 16th Dec’10 Values

BSE SENSEX 19864

NSE (NIFTY) 5948

Current Market Rates as on 16th Dec’10 Values

Rupee / US Dollar 45.39

Rupee / Euro 60.05

Rupee / Pound 70.66

Gold (10 Gram) in Rs. 19849.4



COVER STORY: THE GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL

For a country of India's size, an efficient road network is necessary both for national integration as well as for overalsocio-economic development. The National Highways, with a total length of 65,569 km, serve as the arterial networkacross the country. They carry almost 90 percent of the country’s passenger traffic and 65 percent of its freight. Thedensity of India’s highway network at 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land is similar to that of the UnitedStates (0.65) and much greater than China's (0.16) or Brazil's (0.20). However, most highways in India were narrowand congested with poor surface quality, and 40 percent of India’s villages did not have access to all-weather roads.

Highway to Prosperity: The Golden Quadrilateral project was initiated by the

Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. It entailed four-laning of the highwaysconnecting New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, thus forming aquadrilateral of sorts. It was unique in its sheer scale 5,846 kms at a project cosof Rs 30,000 crore at initial 1999 prices. The GQ project ran behind schedulemainly due to land acquisition constraints and disputes with contractors. Thegoodwill from this project also led to the inception of the National HighwayDevelopment Programme with an outlay of around Rs 2 lakh crore. IndianGovernment annually spends about Rs 18,000 crores under the NHDP.

The NHDP is panning out in phases:

Phase Project Length Cost Deadline Status as on date

1 The Golden Quadrilateral 5846 kms Rs 30000 cr Dec 2006 99% completed

2 North-South and East-West corridors 7300 kms Rs 34300 cr Dec 2009 42% completed

3 Highways to connect state capitals to NHDP roads 12109 kms Rs 76400 cr Dec 2012 Contracts awarded

4 Conversion of single lane highways into 2lanes 20000 kms NA Dec 2013 Govt approval pending

5 Upgradation of 4-lane GQ roads to 6-lanes 6500 kms NA Dec 2013 Planning

It Changed the way we travel: The GQ has dramatically reduced travel time forgoods and helped save Rs 8,000 crore a year through fuel consumption savings andlesser wear and tear of vehicles. It enables industrial and job development in smallertowns through access to markets. It provides opportunities for farmers through bettertransportation of produce from the agricultural hinterland to major cities and ports forexport. It reduces wastage of time and perishable foods. Finally, it drives economicgrowth directly through construction as well as through demand for cement, steel and

other construction materials.

Lessons learnt the hard way: In August 2003, Jharkhand-based project director ayoung IIT-Kanpur alumni Satyendra Dubey, in a letter to the Prime Minister, outlined a list of illegal practices in asegment of GQ in Bihar. Dubey's name was leaked by the PMO to the NHAI, and he was transferred against his wishesto Gaya, Bihar, where he was murdered on November 27. The NHAI eventually admitted that Dubey's charges were

substantiated, and implemented radical reforms in selection and contract procedures. In February 2006, a 600 meterstretch of the highway connecting Kolkata to Chennai subsided into the ground, opening up ten meter gorgesnear Bally, West Bengal. This stretch had been completed by a Malaysian multinational firm, selected after globatendering. As of 2008, while the Golden Quadrilateral makes up under 2 percent of India's road network, it carriesabout 40% of the country's traffic and accounts for one-third of its traffic deaths. The vast majority of the GoldenQuadrilateral (GQ) is not access controlled, although safety features such as guardrails, shoulders, and high-visibilitysigns are now used.

How they did it: A dedicated non-lapsable fund was created through petroand diesel cess of Re 1 per litre which has now increased to Rs 2 per litre. Al

contracts were awarded through competitive bidding. Build Operate Transfecontracts permitted tolling. Contractors enjoy 100% income tax exemption foa period of 10 years. Cheaper loans were offered for highway projects worthmore than US$ 12.7 billion.

Fun on the GQ: On June 16, 2009 threeteams of journalists from Auto Bild set a new record for navigating the GoldenQuadrilateral in an unmodified Skoda Laura 2.0 TDI in 75 hours and 32 minutes. Tobeat that record and in a bid to enter the Limca Book of records on 17 Dec, 2009,two engineering students of Chennai drove around the Golden Quadrilateral in 72

hours in a Honda CRV. On March 12, 2010 Behlul Jafar Masalia, BBA Pune completedhis dream of cruising the entire Golden quadrilateral stretch on his 350 cc RoyalEnfield- Thunderbird in a leisurely 42 days of motorcycling.



PERSONALITI ES OF THE WEEK:

BARKHA DUTT: Face of the modern news reporterA role model for the young, her appeal cuts across all age groups. Barkha has pushed thelimits of bold news reporting far beyond the conventional. She is daughter of SP Dutt an AirIndia Officer and late Prabha Dutt, a well-known journalist with the Hindustan TimesBarkha credits her journalism skills to her mother. Younger sister Bahar Dutt is also a T.V journalist working for CNN IBN.

Trailblazer: She received a Master's in Mass Communications from Jamia Millia Islamia

New Delhi and also a master's in journalism from Columbia University, New York. Barkha iscurrently the Group Editor, English News at New Delhi Television. She currently anchors the

9 p.m. daily news bulletin and co-anchors ‘Newshour’, an hour-long analysis and discussion program for STAR TV, theAsian satellite channel. She hosts popular talkshow, ‘We The People’ in NDTV. Some of her writings can also beviewed in Outlookindia's website. She writes a column for The Hindustan Times, called ‘Third Eye’.

Some don’t like her style: Dutt gained prominence for her reportage of the Kargil War including an interview withCaptain Vikram Batra. Barkha reported news from the centre of action during the war. Indian Navy Chief AdmiraSureesh Mehta criticized her saying that she may have compromised the security of the troops by giving away trooplocations. Newswatch, a media watchdog, observed that her style of reporting was full of theatrics that simply reducecomplex issues to sound bytes. Barkha, according to many publications, was the journalist who came in for the moscriticism for sensationalist coverage after the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks. Vanity Fair Magazine carried a report citingthat her broadcasts were used by terrorist handlers in Pakistan to relay orders back to those in Mumbai.

Feathers in her cap: Barkha Dutt was conferred the Padma Shri, a civilian honor in India, for her coverage of the2004 Tsunami. Barkha also received the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association award for Journalist of the Year2007. Her Sunday talk show has won the most awards for any show across television channels. In 2008, Dutt receivedthe Indian News Broadcasting Award for the Most Intelligent News Show Host. She has been awarded the GlobaLeader of Tomorrow Award twice by the World Economic Forum (2001, 2008).

LARRY PAGE AND SERGEY BRIN: Google FoundersThe Duo changed the way most people use the Internet. The pair started the Googlesearch engine while working on their Ph.D.s in Computer Science at the StanfordUniversity, USA. They initially had no plans to start a business, but were simply doing

research for their Ph.D. They crammed their dormitory room with inexpensivecomputers and applied Brin’s data mining system to build a superior search engine.Google quickly went from a research project of two Stanford students to being one of the most visited websites on the Internet.

Startup Blues: Page and Brin started with their own funds, and that of their friendsand family but the site quickly outgrew their own available resources. They eventually receivedprivate investments through Stanford to fund the rapid growth of up to 20% per month. Soliciting funds from facultymembers, family and friends, Sergey and Larry scraped together enough to buy some servers and rent that famousgarage in Menlo Park. Soon after Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a $100,000 check to GoogleInc.

Lineage: Lawrence E. Page was born on the 26th of March, 1973 in Michigan, USA. Page always had a keen interest

in computers while growing up and was encouraged by his father, Dr. Carl Victor Page a computer science professor oMichigan State University. Sergey Brin was born in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, to Jewish parents, the son of MichaeBrin and Eugenia Brin, both graduates of Moscow State University. His father is a mathematics professor athe University of Maryland, and his mother is a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Their work and vision: Page and Brin managed the company up until it reached more than 200 employees in 2001when they handed over the CEO position to Dr. Eric Schmidt, a seasoned technology executive. Brin serves as

president of technology, Page heads product division. Google founders want to solve really big problems usingtechnology. In October 2010, for example, they invested in a major offshore windpower development to assist theEast coast power grid, which may eventually become the first offshore wind farm in the United States. Recently theyintroduced cars with artificial intelligence, which can drive using video cameras and radar sensors.

Pow er and wealth: Since taking company public August 2004, the partners' meteoric rise in wealth outpaces the

rate set by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Based on its recent stock price of $513 per share, Google, which has madesearching the Web easy and even fun, is larger than Disney, General Motors and McDonald’s combined. In November2009, Forbes magazine decided Brin and Larry Page were the fifth most powerful people in the world. Sergey Brinand Larry Page are currently tied as the 24th richest person in the world with a personal wealth of US$17.5 billion in2010.



BUSINESS NEWS

1. ‘India is engine of Dell’s global growth’ ET Dec 11In late 2006, Dell lost its lead in the PC business to Hewlett-Packard globally. Last year, itslipped further, to No. 3, as Acer barged into the No. 2 spot. Surprisingly, in India, roughlyduring the same period, Dell was moving precisely in the opposite direction. It went steadily upthe ranks and became the biggest seller of laptops in the second quarter of this year. In thethird quarter, it also became the biggest seller of desktops in India, toppling HP from the spot ithad retained for five years.

The fact that this happened in a relatively short period, and against competition that also includes aggressive Asianplayers such as Lenovo and Acer and Indian players like HCL, makes Dell India’s achievement all the more creditableThis, combined with the $53-billion company’s previous record of establishing a successful global customer serviceand support division in the country, has raised Dell’s ambitions in India. The company now wants to challenge thelikes of IBM, HP and the Indian IT majors in the services and solutions space. Investing in a manufacturing plant isseen to be the one of the big reason for the company’s success in the PC segment. Dell invested close to $30 millionin its Chennai plant. Today, it produces around a million units a year.

2. Inflation falls to 11-month low of 7.48%- BS Dec15Headline inflation, measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), moderated to an 11-monthlow of 7.48 per cent in November owing to deceleration in food inflation and high base effect.Wholesale inflation has maintained a broadly moderating trend since April. The inflation rate

was at 4.5 per cent during the corresponding period last year and at 8.58 per cent in October.

The moderation in the rate is in line with expectations of experts and analysts, who believeinflation would moderate further, backed by the statistical base effect in the coming months.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has expressed hope that the inflation rate will come down to six per cent,coinciding with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) target by the end of the financial year.

3. RCOM launches 3G in Metros- BS Dec14The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s Reliance Communications has becomethe first telecom operator to launch third-generation (3G) services in themetro cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. While Tata Docomo launched 3Gservices in November, they did not cover any of the metro cities. Otherthan these three metros, RCom will also launch 3G in Chandigarh, and in13 other areas it is to cover by March 2011. It expects to cover theremaining areas through tie-ups with other 3G licensees during 2011.UnlikeTata, which has an entry level 3G package at Rs 350 for 30 days, RCom is

providing a bundled plan at Rs 199 per month to a maximum of Rs 2,499 for post-paid users.

RCom is also looking at incentivising higher usage by reducing the pricing as users start using more data. Forinstance, a user who’s taken the Rs 199 package gets 0-50 MB of data free. After that, data consumption of 50-100

MB will attract a charge of 10p/10KB. The company is clearly focusing on increasing its average revenue per user.RCom also launched 3G pricing for its wireless broadband.

4. Petrol price hike: Up by Rs 3/ litre, diesel unchanged- ET Dec15State-run oil firms have decided to raise petrol prices by about Rs 3 to partly make up for highercost of crude oil, but diesel rates remain unchanged for the time being. Bharat Petroleum Corphas raised petrol price by Rs 2.95 a litre in Delhi from Wednesday, a company spokesman said.Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) are also finalising new petrol rates. “HPCL will announce petrol price hike in a day or two,” a director at HPCL said.

The three companies dominates over 90% of India’s fuel retail business and dictates retail pricesin the country often hitting bottomlines of private retailers — Reliance Industries , Shell Indiaand Essar Oil .

5. India tops Forbes list of best countries for new jobs next year-ET Dec15India has pulled ahead of China to take first place in the Forbes list of best countries for new jobs next year, with a whopping 42 percent net hiring outlook for the first quarter of 2011China follows close behind at 40 percent, a 2 percent decrease from last quarter. Taiwan comesin third, with a net employment outlook of 37 percent, the US business magazine reportedbased on latest global employment outlook survey by the staffing firm Manpower.

Brazil rates fourth on the tally of the nations with the greatest optimism with a net hiringoutlook is 36 percent, driven by a 7 percent gross domestic product growth rate, three times higher than in the US.



6. Tendulkar turns down record liquor endorsement offer- TNN Dec 11True to his promise and character, Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar has refused a megaoffer to endorse a liquor brand . Experts in the commercial endorsement business say it wouldhave been the highest-ever deal for an Indian sportsperson had it been clinched.

TOI has learnt that the offer, a one-year contract, was much higher than what Mahendra SinghDhoni recently signed for a three-year deal with Vijay Mallya’s UB Group, which is worth Rs 26 crores. Sources sayTendulkar was offered as much as Rs 20 crore annually. A former player who is also close to Tendulkar said themaestro is living up to the promise he made to his father Ramesh Tendulkar many years ago. “His father had advisedhim against endorsing alcohol-related or tobacco products soon after he had made the Indian Test team.

7. RCom to raise $1.9bn from China bank-ET Dec15Cash-strapped Reliance Communications (RCOM) plans to borrow $1.9 billion, or Rs 9,000 crore,from China Development Bank, in a deal to be signed when Premier Wen Jiabao visits New Delhion Wednesday. An executive at the Anil-Ambani promoted mobile service operator said 70% ofthe $1.9-billion loan from the Chinese bank—around $1.3 billion—will be used to repay costlyloans it had taken locally to buy airwaves for launching third-generation (3G) services. He asked

not to be named.

The remaining $600 million will be used to buy mobile network equipment from Chinese vendorsHuawei and ZTE , this executive added. These two Chinese telecom gear makers are building

RCOM’s 3G networks across the country. The company has got RBI’s approval for borrowing this amount, he added.

8. Hero Honda board to talk spl it today- ET Dec16

THE partnership between the Munjal family and Japanese firm Honda Motor, signed in thelast year that Indira Gandhi was prime minister, is close to an end as the board of the jointventure company Hero Honda will meet on Thursday to finalise the terms of thedisengagement.

For Honda, the loss of valuation will be compensated by the higher royalty and direct accessto the Indian two-wheeler market, the second-largest in the world after China. The stake salewill enable Honda to strike out on its own. Honda’s immediate priority will be to expand its100%- owned two-wheeler subsidiary Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) and enter the aggressively-pricedentry-level motorcycle segment. Honda plans to build a new factory in Andhra Pradesh for its two-wheeler business,while speeding up its development of sales and distribution outlets.

9. Festive cheer boosts Oct IIP to 10.8%- ET Dec12

Robust 11.3% jump in manufacturing powers Index of Industrial Production to its best show in 3 months

INDIA’S industrial output grew at its fastest pace in three months inOctober beating economists’ estimates and driving away, for nowconcerns over a slowdown in economic activity. Output at factories andmines grew to 10.8% over the year-ago period, and was more than twiceas fast compared with 4.4% clocked in September this year, according todata released on Friday. The rebound to double-digit growth was spurredby religious festivals in October and November.

The growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), waspowered by a robust 11.3% jump in manufacturing output as factoriesproduced more consumer durables like cars, 2-wheelers and television setsto feed the festival demand. Manufacturing output, which makes up about

80% of the overall industrial output, was at 10.8% in the year-ago month.

10. Sensing opportunity, Indian start-ups take passage to UK-ET Dec11FORGET computer engineers or doctors. It’s India’s entrepreneurs who top the dowry list fromoverseas — not from matchmaking mammas, but from governments, trade missions and as inwardinvestors. Europe, at least the UK, and continental Europe isn’t far behind, has ‘discovered’ thevalue of Indian entrepreneurship, and desperately wants them to come in and give their jaded

economies a shot in the arm. For the often rather surprised grooms in this matchmaking exercise,this isn’t about empire building or aspiration. It’s a business opportunity to be grabbed. They can’tquite figure out why they command such a huge dowry, but hey, who’s saying no when opportunityknocks?

So from crowd-sourcing to analytics, from pharma to defence to media, a slew of Indian start-ups are heading towestern markets, even as the big boys of India Inc are rushing to other emerging markets, and the rest of the worldis rushing to India.



11. Big powers make beeline for India- TNN Dec13It was the fresh faced, new occupant of 10, Downing Street who set the ball rolling. Among DavidCameron's first decisions as British PM was an announcement that he would take charge of UK-India relations; he then promptly set off with a planeload of businessmen and cabinet ministers on

a discovery of India. It was a canny move. Looking at India's heavily loaded diplomatic calendarCameron was a trailblazer of sorts. As the year rolls to a close, India's diplomats are busy rollingout the red carpet for the P-5 (permanent members of the UNSC). As a French diplomat observed,we haven't found another instance where all the P-5 nations have visited one country within aspace of six months.

The biggie was the visit of Barack Obama, who made his own little discovery of India (but reserved the Taj Mahal for alater sojourn) and found that US presidents facing political pressures at home could be assured a fun-filled week inIndia. In January, Iceland President Dr Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, created a political storm in Reykjavik over thefinancial crisis, and disappeared to India for a week’s state visit, stunning the Icelandics.

12. Talent shortage singes solar companies- ET Dec10India’s solar sector is gearing up for huge capacity additions — plants that will eventually

generate about 20,000 MW of solar power, a whopping Rs 4,337 crore in allocations and thecreation of over one lakh jobs. But a dearth of good manpower may just play spoiler. Whilea few academic institutions are now offering courses on renewable solar energy and itsrelated technologies, a shortage of electrical engineers who know how to harness it ismaking the nascent industry flounder.

The solar industry is likely to face a crunch in R&D and manufacturing, among other things.

In November, just two months before the launch of the mission, the MNRE had indicatedthat about one lakh trained and skilled personnel would be required by 2020, the last yearof the Solar Mission. But experts are not sure where the personnel will come from.

13. Tata Docomo partners Sony Music for Michael Jackson's album- ET Dec 10Tata Docomo, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservices , today said it has partnered with SonyMusic to launch the much awaited album 'Michael' for its subscribers. Michael is a collectionof priceless songs recorded by the legendary King of Pop - Michael Jackson . The albumcarries a total of 10 tracks, including the 'Hold My Hand' duet with Akon. Tata Docomosubscribers can access Michael's Call Me Tunes, My Song, Full Songs, Videos, Wallpapers andRingtones as part of the deal. The entire bouquet of services will be available at a charge o2 paise per second.

Bagging exclusive rights and partnering with Sony Music to offer the first posthumous

release of Michael Jackson's new album 'Michael' exclusively is offering interesting value-based service offerings.

14. Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles launches its Revai - ET Dec 11Electric vehicle-maker, Mahindra Reva , today launched its Revai priced at Rs 3.10-lakhand is targeting tripling its sales in the next 12-18-months. Of this, the domesticmarket will constitute 3,000 units and the balance 600 in overseas markets. We haveset a 12-18-month target to achieve this target," Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles' COO.The company plans to launch a slew of models in the domestic as well as overseasmarkets in the coming year.

Mahindra Reva plans to ramp-up its dealer network ten- fold to 100 across 60-70 citiesby January 2012. "Presently, we have 10 dealers--we are planning to set up another 90dealerships across 60-70 cities in the next two- years," Chandramouli said. The Mahindra group acquired the Reva in

May 2010 for USD 7.1-billion to enter the electric vehicle market.

15. Tech cos double hiring incentive- TNN Dec13Preparing to address renewed demand for their services next year, India’s top tech firmssuch as Wipro and Infosys are scrambling to attract talent and are aiming to hire at leasta quarter of new staff through employee referral schemes. Wipro has doubled cashincentives for each new hire joining through internal staff reference from around Rs20,000 paid earlier to Rs 40,000. Till 2008, even a 15% attrition rate was conservativein an industry where some firms struggled to keep it below 20-30%. OVER the nextwelve months, India’s over-$50 billion IT industry is expected to hire another 2,00,000employees, much higher than the nearly 80,000 gross employee additions the industryreported last year. Some employees say the cash incentives are still much lower thanwhat companies pay to recruitment consultants.



16. Intelligence costs Dalal Street dear- ET Dec10INDIAN shares tumbled the most in more than six months on fears that a widening probeinto corruption and price rigging will slow businesses at a time when global stocks are at atwo-year high on improving economic fundamentals. Sensex was the worst performer

among major indices in the world, with Reliance Communications falling to a historic low. Investor confidence has been shattered in the past few weeks with various agencies suchas the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Securities & Exchange Board of India(Sebi) charging bank officials and company promoters with corruption and price rigging.

17. Ludhiana in genes, Mittal on Unilever board- TNN Dec10IT’S yet another sign of what they call the might of the D&E—developing and emerging markets—for multinationals. Soon after NR Narayana Murthy finished his three-year term earlier this yearUnilever has proposed to make. “Sunil will add considerably to the business. He is distinguished inhis field and will further strengthen the expertise and independence of the board, as well asbroadening its diversity,” said Michael Treschow, chairman, Unilever, in a statement.

The 52-year-old Mittal has transformed Airtel into a pure-play marketing company, outsourcing alnuts and bolts infrastructure to third parties to the extent that search firms now equate Airtel witha consumer goods company. Mittal’s name will be proposed for election to the board at the group’s

annual general meetings in London on May 11, 2011, and in Rotterdam on May 12. Currently, Paul Polman is the chiefexecutive of the Rotterdam-headquartered Unilever.

18. Emirates smell India link in surge in bank deposits- ET Dec11

In the past few months, there has been an unusual surge in deposits at many high-streetbanks in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and financial centres in the Emirates. Where the money camefrom is a subject of speculation in the Gulf, with the regulator yet to spell out thesources. But amid buzz that much of it could be government money taken from reservesto help state-owned firms pay off debts next year.

Dubai is convenient because there is no tax and banks ask few ques-tions if the moneydeposited has no drug or terror trail. The whole transaction can be broken up into a few simple steps. First, a firm isfloated in the Dubai Free Trade Zone and then staffed with local direc-tors, many of whom are Indians working in theGulf. Secondly, a bank account is opened in the firm's name. The money is then wired from Switzerland or a taxhaven to either a Dubai bank, or to the UAE arm of an MNC bank. Finally, it is transferred to a local Emirates bankThe cash received by the newly-formed company in Dubai is shown as trading income or consultancy fee frominternational clients.

19. Egg exports drop by a third in 2010 as West Asia keeps door slammed- ET Dec16Egg exports have dropped by a third in the first eleven months of 2010 compared to the same periodlast year as the West Asia market remains closed due to non-tariff barriers and the high prices aredeterring consumption in West Africa. Average exports have come down to 62.5 million eggs a monthin 2010 compared to 90.3 million eggs a month in 2009. In the first eleven months of 2010, exportshave come down to 687.9 million eggs compared to 952.4 million eggs during the period last year.While it is perceived that import by West Asia has been banned due to health reasons, Only Bahrainand Oman have begun importing eggs after the last bird flu scare in India.

In West Africa, the high Indian egg prices have led to less consumption. A carton (each 360 eggs) from India isquoted at $20 while eggs from domestic suppliers are cheaper by two dollars. “Nearly 50 containers used go to WestAfrica from India every month. Now it has almost stopped due to the high prevailing prices,” said All India PoultryProducts Exporters Association chairman and Ponni Poultry Farm managing director K Singaraj.

20. Did Pradip Baijal make a mistake in joining Niira Radia's firm? TNN Dec16When a CBI team arrived at Pradip Baijal’s Noida home early on Wednesday morning, areputation built over 35 years of assiduous government service was seriously damaged.Baijal has been a formidable bureaucrat during his service years. He served as the

disinvestment secretary during the NDA regime, and later became the chairman of theTelecom Regulatory Authority of India. Prior to these high-profile jobs, he served long stintsin the ministry of steel and the ministry of power.

Even before he joined lobbyist Niira Radia’s consulting firm Neosis as a director post-retirement, questions were being raised about the decisions he made as Trai chairman. Butto those who knew him as an official are still surprised by the sudden turn of events.



INTERNATIONAL NEWS

21. Toyota recalls 94,000 cars due to brake fault-ET Dec 14Toyota on Monday recalled some 94,000 of its 2011 Sienna minivans in the United States toreplace a brake bracket that could get stuck. Citing a light problem that could causeunwanted brake activation, Toyota announced it was just the latest in a series of recalls.

The latest problem comes after a series of mass recalls of around 10 million vehiclesworldwide in late 2009 and early 2010 undermined Toyota's once stellar reputation. It led to

US congressional investigations and a record 16.4 million dollar fine to settle claims Toyota

hid accelerator pedal defects blamed for dozens of deaths. Since then Toyota has seen its USmarket share shrink by 1.4 points to 15.2 percent for the first nine months of this year.

22. India & China partners, not rivals: Wen Jiabao- TNN Dec16Indian and Chinese companies signed 48 agreements worth nearly $16 billion as ChinesePremier Wen Jiabao began his three day visit on Wednesday seeking to deepen trade andinvestment relations between the two Asian giants. Top firms from both countries signed dealsin several sectors, including power, telecom, steel, wind energy and food and marineproducts, as Wen sought to downplay the rivalry between the nations. “There is enough spacefor the development of both China and India,” Wen told a business leaders' meeting.

Main agreements:

Reliance Power & China Development Bank (CDB), Shanghai Electric for power projects anddevelopment, Ficci and China Chambers of Commerce for trade in machinery and electronic

products, R-Comm and CDB and $400 m facility agreement between ICICI Bank and CDB

23. More than half of Americans want Fed reined in or abolished- TNN Dec10A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the nation's independent centrabank, saying the US Federal Reserve should either be brought under tighter

political control or abolished outright, a poll shows. Voters from both partiesCongress and Republicans have criticised the Fed's $3.3 trillion in aid to thefinancial system.

The survey, conducted during December 4-7, also shows deep skepticismespecially among Republicans, over the Fed's November 3 announcement that itwould buy bonds in an attempt to bring down unemployment and preventdeflation. More than half say the purchases won't help the economy.

24. More billionaires pledge to give away wealth-Yahoo News Dec14Another 17 US billionaires, including Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and DustinMoskovitz, have pledged to give away at least half their fortunes in a philanthropic

campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. A total of 57 billionaires now have joinedThe Giving Pledge, which was launched by Microsoft founder Gates and investor Buffettin June.

Forbes magazine said the United States is home to more than 400 billionaires, the mostof any country. Individual Americans gave more than $227 billion in 2009, according tothe Giving USA report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, down just 0.4% from the previous yeadespite the US recession. Buffett pledged in 2006 to give away 99 percent of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation and family charities.

25. Ex-Wiki staff to launch rival site- Reuters Dec10A group of former WikiLeaks collaborators who quit the project are to launch a newcampaigning site next week to protest against its founder, a Swedish newspaper

said on Thursday. Respected daily Dagens Nyheter said the decision was made tolaunch the site, Openleaks, in protest against Julian Assange.

Assange, who was remanded in custody in Britain after an arrest warrant issued inSweden over accusations of sexual misconduct, has been the public face oWikiLeaks. The WikiLeaks site has attracted international attention in the past twoweeks with leaks of secret US diplomatic cables, angering Washington.



MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

26. India a ‘superpower’ in corruption- ET Dec10ABOUT 54% Indians paid a bribe in the past year, according to a global survey byTransparency International (TI), which pegs the extent of corruption in India atlevels comparable with Cambodia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Senegal, Uganda andLiberia.

TI’s Global Corruption Barometer survey, released on global anti-corruption day,

measures public perception on corruption across the world. India is the ninth most

corrupt country in the world, in a ranking of 86 countries, with 54% of peoplereporting having paid a bribe. The world average is 25%, while the Asia Pacific average is 11%. Indians perceivedpolitical parties to be the most corrupt, ranking them 4.2 on a scale of one to five. Political parties are followed byPolice (4.1), Parliament/legislature (4) and civil servants (3.5). Private sector, NGOs and judiciary are all seen to besimilarly corrupt (3.1), with the media enjoying a marginally better rating at 3. Military (2.8) and religious bodies(2.9) enjoy better public confidence.

27. II M Bangalore ranked amongst top 25 business schools in world-ETDec10The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) has been ranked 24th whileIIM-Ahmedabad ranked 55th in a worldwide survey of 'Universal Business Schoolswith major international influence'.

The results of the annual survey 'Eduniversal Worldwide Business Schools Ranking2010' conducted by French consulting firm SMBG amongst deans of 1000 business

schools were officially announced in Prague at the third Eduniversal world convention,IIM-B said in a statement. "This is the third consecutive annual recognition of IIM-Bas the number one business school in India," it said. The institute has been awarded'5 Palmes', given to the top 100 business schools. The ranking positions IIM-B in the

top 25 amongst 100 best business schools worldwide. Notably, only two Indian B-Schools feature in the Top 100.

28. Time names Mark Zuckerberg 2010 Person of the Year- Reuters Dec15Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of The Facebook social networking site that hasmore than half a billion users, was named Time magazine's 2010 Person of the Year onWednesday. Time defines the Person of the Year as the person who, for better or for worse,does the most to influence the events of the year.

Zuckerberg was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard University in 2004 when he started aWeb service called the facebook.com from his dorm. Now he is one of the world's youngest billionaires and his

privately held company is projected to have 2010 revenues of $2 billion, Time said. Zuckerberg pledged a $100 milliondonation to the Newark, New Jersey, school system this year, and he was the subject of the Hollywood movie "TheSocial Network". At 26 years old, Zuckerberg is the youngest winner since Charles Lindbergh was named themagazine's first person of the year in 1927 when he became the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. U.S.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was the 2009 winner.

29. Big B, John in Madhya Pradesh to save tigers- ET Dec 12Big B and John Abraham, who often associates himself with social causes, arrived Saturdayevening and will stay in Pench till Dec 13, said a Pench official. Talking about his participationAmitabh said in a message on his blog: "Tomorrow (Sunday) starts the Telethon for the Savethe Tiger campaign. There is a desire and hope to collect as much money as one can for thebenefit of those that manage and look after these regal animals and prevent them from beingpoached and destroyed."

"In a survey by project tiger group in 2007, Pench was (rated the) second best after Kanhareserve in Madhya Pradesh as far as tiger conservation is concerned in India," Tiwari said. I

has 25-39 tigers according to the 2006 census.

30. Indra Nooyi’s sister in race for Grammy- TNN Dec13She has decades of managerial experience and now, India-origin Chandrika KrishnamurthyTandon, the sister of PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi, is in the race for a Grammy award.Tandon’s work Om Namo Narayanaya: Soul Call, which features Sanskrit chants, has beennominated for a Grammy Award in the ‘Best Contemporary World Music Album’ category.The annual awards, given by the US National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences,

recognize outstanding musical works. The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will beheld on February 13. Tandon has served in various roles at many organizations, including a 11-year stint at McKinseyand Company. She is a trustee of New York University and the American India Foundation.



FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES

When Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator in 1852, he changed cities forever. The upper levels of buildings in thecity changed from being the cheapest to the most expensive to rent, and the sky became the limit for urbanarchitecture. Automobiles in the 19th and 20th century had a similarly revolutionary effect on the city. In the yearssince, countless new technologies have been integrated into the urban environment, constantly refining ourexperience. But have any had such a groundbreaking effect as the elevator and the automobile, and will any in thefuture? What will happen to the built environment if electricity becomes fully wireless? If society continues toembrace social media and location-based services, how will our interactions with city evolve? And if we tap into the

wealth of data being generated by smartphone use, can we create a better architectural and urban environment?

FUTURE COMPUTERS: Today's computers operate using transistors, wiresand electricity. Future computers might use atoms, fibers and light. You canimagine what the world might be like, if computers the size of moleculesbecome a reality. These are the types of computers that could be everywhere,but never seen. Nano sized bio-computers that could target specific areasinside your body.

One of the most important areas of research in the world of computers is thaof artificial intelligence. One of the most powerful uses of artificial intelligencethus far is in the world of speech recognition. This powerful technology isalready in place in call centers, banks, brokerage centers, insurance

companies and other businesses throughout the world.

Future computers will be giant networks in your clothing, your house, your car. Entrenched in almost every aspect ofour lives and yet you may never give them a single thought. You won't see them, but they will be all around you. Yourpersonal interface to this powerful network of computers could come from a single computing device that is worn onor in the body.

FUTURE TRANSPORTATION: The coming convergence of how we communicate and how we travel is spawningtechnologies that will change how we get around and make transportation safer and more efficient, at the same timeThe promise of vehicles communicating with each other and with the road, coupled with advancements intransportation infrastructure, has planners, technocrats and futurists creating an Intelligent Transportation SystemThis future of transportation will be based around smart phones, mobile navigation systems and other commongadgets and will drastically change how we navigate and interact with cities. e.g. Put RFID chips on buses andsubways, and the ramifications for mass transit are immense. If riders know in realtime when the cross-town express will arrive, and get a text message update, theycan plan trips more effectively. Cars will be able to talk with one another to help

avoid accidents and warn drivers of impending dangers from other vehicles beforethey happen.

Personal rapid transit is a public transportation mode featuring small automated

vehicles operating on a network of specially-built guide ways. Perhaps mostimportantly, PRT systems offer many traits similar to cars. PRT may in fact allow forquicker transportation than cars during rush hour, since automated vehicles avoidunnecessary slowing. A PRT system can also transport freight.

FUTURE ROBOTS: Robotics is the art and commerce of robots, theidesign, manufacture, application, and practical use. Robots will soon beeverywhere, in our home and at work. They will change the way we live.This will raise many philosophical, social, and political questions that wilhave to be answered. In future robots will be indistinguishable from human

beings and some people may become Cyborgs: half man and half machine.

Scientists say there are two obstacles to creating a robot with human or

super-human intelligence: vision and processing sensory information. Motorvehicle production is one area where robotics automation is already beingused. Researchers are also looking at robots similar to those featured inIsaac Asimov's "I Robot" that cooperate together in a swarm-like way to

complete complex tasks.

Some of the most powerful technologies of the past have taken us by surprise, so expect the unexpected form a truly

fascinating future.

http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/content/which-emerging-technologies-will-shape-future-cities

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