The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Over 15 US cos spent millions in 2012 to lobby in India Washington, D.C., December 16 Global retail giant WalMart, whose lobbying with US lawmakers for access to India has generated much political heat in New Delhi, has got the company of at least 15 other large American companies and entities that have spent millions of dollars in 2012 itself to lobby for their Indian business interests along with other issues. These include pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, computer makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP), telecom players like Qualcomm and Alcatel-Lucent, financial services majors like Morgan Stanley and Prudential Financial, as also Alliance of Automobile Manufactures and the Aerospace Industries Association of America, according to the Congressional records of lobbying disclosure reports. There are also lobby groups like Financial Executives International, Business Roundtable, Business Software Alliance and Financial Services Forum as well as consumer goods makers like Cargill Inc and Colgate-Palmolive that have indulged in lobbying with US lawmakers so far in 2012. Giants like Boeing, AT&T, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Eli Lilly and General Electric (GE) have also lobbied earlier with US lawmakers on "specific lobbying issues" related to India, which include discussions on market opening initiatives and support for their sales and business opportunities in the country. According to the quarterly lobbying disclosure reports filed with the US Senate and the House of Representatives, at least three organizations — Financial Services Forum, Business Roundtable and Financial Executives International — have lobbied on issues related to taxation and other proposals of the Finance Bill presented in the Parliament early this year. Besides, Qualcomm has lobbied on issues related to spectrum licenses, Alcatel-Lucent on preferential market access regulations and Pfizer on "issues related to a Supreme Court decision on generic medicine pricing" and certain patent cancellation matter in India. — PTI Walmart controversy casts spotlight on MNC lobbying in India Walmart recently disclosed that it spent around US$23 billion to lobby for access to overseas markets, including India.The report created a furore in the Indian parliament, with the opposition lawmakers demanding a probe into the disclosure. The Indian government has ordered an investigation into Walmart's disclosure that it had lobbied US lawmakers for help to gain access to overseas markets which included India. Lobbying is illegal in India — it is seen to be a form of disguised bribery. But the American retail giant claims the money was spent in the US, where lobbying is legal. This case has served to highlight business practices in India.
	GMR seeks over $800 m; Maldives insists on forensic audit Male, Maldives, December 16 Indian infrastructure firm GMR will seek a compensation of over US $800 million from Maldives for the termination of its airport deal here but Male is insisting on a "forensic audit" as it feels the actual amount would be less than half. "We have sent a letter to the Maldivian government indicating a number of more than $800 million as compensation amount. This is our initial estimate. The final figure would be based upon various calculations, loss of profit among others," GMR (Airports) CFO Sidharath Kapur said. The Maldivian government, however, debunked the calculations and insisted on getting a forensic audit done through an international firm. "We’ll go in for a forensic audit as we want to see how much money has poured in to GMR coffers through the Male International Airport and how much actual money has been spent here. As per our information, GMR has cashed in only $150 million of the about $350 loan it had bagged through a bank," Maldives President Mohamed Waheed's press secretary Masood Imad said. Asked if GMR is open to a forensic audit, Kapur told , "Our books are transparent. The concession agreement signed with Maldives government did not have the clause of forensic audit. Having said that, I must add that we don't have any objection to an audit but it has to come through proper legal process". Sources in the Maldivian government say that the compensation amount, as per their calculations, should come to about a lower limit of $150 million and an upper limit of $350 million. "We will present our case before the Singapore Court and let them take the call," a source said. The US $500 million airport project contract awarded to GMR for modernizing and operating the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), signed in 2010 during the previous regime of Mohamed Nasheed, was "unilaterally" terminated by the current government on Nov 27. The airport was taken over by the Maldives Airports Co Ltd after a high voltage legal tussle in which GMR had initially got a stay order on the termination from the Singapore High Court. However, the Singapore Supreme Court ruled on Nov 6, a day before the notice period expired, that Maldives has the power to take over the airport on Nov 6. Replying to a query if GMR is not welcome in Maldives anymore, Masood said, "We don't have anything against GMR. We had objection to the contract that was signed under dubious conditions. In the future we’ll initiate a lot of infrastructure projects and GMR is welcome to bid for it." However, sources in the know said that the "unlawful" termination of the contract sends a "negative signal" to foreign investors, a stand taken by Indian government too. "It now feels that any contract signed with a particular regime can be scrapped when a new government comes in. It’s a risky proposition," a source said. — PTI
	Renault taps Logan creator for Rs 3 lakh India car Paris, December 16 Renault's move into low-cost cars, which has kept the French automaker afloat as mass-market peers drown in European losses, may soon help it sink competitors beyond the old continent. That is the long game for Gerard Detourbet, the man behind the no-frills Logan and other "entry" models, who has a new mission: to devise an even cheaper vehicle programme for India that can compete with such champions of frugality as Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai. If he pulls off the challenge set by Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, it could then give his carmaking alliance a new weapon with which to undercut rivals in emerging markets around the globe. Detourbet, 66, moved to Chennai early this year and has been quietly building an Indian supplier network and crack team of local executives, including several lured away from the competition. "We don't set out to poach people, but it happens that they sometimes come to us from Suzuki and Hyundai," Detourbet said in a recent interview during a return visit to Paris. "We've put together a new team, so of course there are people from all over." Set firmly in chief executive Ghosn's sights is a major auto market combining the promise of breakneck growth with implausibly low prices. Suzuki Motor Corp holds sway in India with models from its Maruti subsidiary starting below Rs 250,000 and accounting for 1 million registrations a year in a market of 2.6 million. Hyundai has also made dramatic inroads of late with its Eon mini, priced closer to Rs 300,000. Renault's new "sub-entry" architecture will offer roomier cars for a similar price tag and spawn at least one additional model for Nissan, Detourbet said. Renault and its 43.4%-owned Japanese affiliate, which share Ghosn as CEO, already make costlier vehicles such as the Pulse and Micra subcompacts at their Chennai factory, claiming a combined 3% Indian market share for April-November. BATTLE PLANS: Producing a car in the Eon's $5,500 (4,300 euro — about Rs 300,000) bracket would then provide the blueprint for an assault on the lower ends of markets such as Brazil and Russia, outflanking offerings from Volkswagen, General Motors and others. "India is the only country where you begin to see modern cars at this kind of price," Detourbet said. "Once you've done battle with the world's best cheap car manufacturer, you can go into another country where there isn't a Maruti Suzuki and be relatively comfortable." Detourbet left behind a promising career as a university mathematician. After joining Renault in 1971 as an IT specialist, Detourbet rose steadily through the ranks to become senior vice president in charge of gearboxes and transmissions in 1997. Louis Schweitzer, then CEO, asked him to set up the group's low-cost car programme three years later. Logan-derived models such as the Duster SUV and Lodgy minivan have since become an earnings mainstay, helping Renault to avoid the kind of job cuts and plant closures announced by PSA Peugeot Citroen and Ford. — Reuters
	Nano being ‘refreshed’ to realise full potential: Tata Mumbai, December 16 The world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano, is being 'refreshed' to realize its full potential, says group chairman Ratan Tata. "We were not prepared to market the car as we should have. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that momentum got lost," he said in an interview. He listed out the reasons due to which Nano, nicknamed 'The people's car', could not realize its full potential as the momentum got lost in initial years due to issues like plant transfer and insufficient advertising campaign and dealership network. Asked whether these issues are being addressed, Tata said, "It’s being addressed now and I think we’ll succeed. It’s a three-four year old product (and) we have to do something to refresh the product, which we are also doing." To a query as to what went wrong with Nano, which was promised as 'people's car' with a price tag of Rs one lakh and that hit the road in 2009, he said there were "several things", including the events in West Bengal. "It caused us to move and caused us to build another plant. That cost us another year from the time of the launch which created a lot of excitement and three months from that launch date, the car should have been on roads. Instead, because of those events it went on the road a year and half after that event," Tata said. Nano was originally planned to roll out from a plant in Singur, West Bengal, but the plant had to be shifted to Sanand in Gujarat after political protests at its earlier plant. The first Nano rolled out from a factory in Pantnagar in Uttarakhand in 2009, while output from Sanand plant began about a year later in June 2010. The car was launched with an initial ex-factory price tag of close to Rs 100,000 for the basic model while the current ex-showroom price here is in the range of Rs 1.55-2.16 lakh. Tata Motors has sold more than 220,000 units of Nano since its launch, while sales grew by 5.8 per cent in the last fiscal ended March 31, 2012 to 74,521 units. Talking about the issues faced by Nano in the initial days, Tata said: "The next issue was when it went on the roads, we had an order with payments for 320,000 vehicles, which would have taken from zero ramping up 18 months to do. So we decided we’d restrict the orders to 100,000 and we would have a lucky draw to decide who got the vehicle. When this 100,000 were over, we were in a normal market condition and the company did not seem to have prepared itself. There was no advertising campaign in place”. According to the firm’s latest monthly sales figure, Nano sales stood at 3,503 units in November, as compared to 6,401 units in the year ago period. — PTI
	Rupee may breach 55/$ mark again by yearend New Delhi, December 16 Continuing its volatile path, the rupee is likely to breach the 55-mark again before this yearend against the dollar due to demand for the US currency from banks, oil importers and withdrawals by FIIs, experts have said. Also, an expected status quo on rate cut by the RBI could keep the rupee under pressure in the next fortnight, they added. "Monthend dollar demand from oil importers and some banks will keep the rupee volatile till 2012-end. It is likely to move in the range of 54-55.5 but where it ends the year, depends on euro's movement against the dollar," Dhanlaxmi Bank EVP (treasury) Srinivasa Raghavan told PTI.
	biz talk Infosys’ Finacle gears up for rapid adoption of mobile banking Developed by Infosys, Finacle’s banking software solutions and services are now recognized globally by banks, consultants and analyst groups as one of the leaders in the core banking space. It has helped banks across the world to power up their innovation agenda, enabling them to differentiate their products and services, enhance customer experience and achieve greater operational efficiency. Finacle is now powering 165 banks in 78 countries, enabling its customer banks to serve 390 million accounts and 289 million consumers worldwide. Haragopal Manigupdi, global head of Finacle, Infosys, talks to Girja Shankar Kaura about the company’s future. Q: Could you give us an overview of Finacle from Infosys? Infosys Finacle, apart from being a preferred banking product worldwide, it is the most successful example of an IT product from India. Finacle solutions address not just core banking, but also wealth management, CRM, Islamic banking and treasury requirements of retail, corporate and universal banks worldwide. It also empowers banks with multiple sales, service and marketing channels including e-banking, mobile banking and call centers. These offerings make Finacle a strong innovation-facilitator enabling banks to differentiate their products and services to accelerate growth, maximize value, enhance customer experience and achieve greater operational efficiency. Finacle is the chosen solution in over 165 banks across 78 countries, with about 14% of the global banked population being serviced by Finacle. In India 7 of the top 10 banks are powered by Finacle, with a 69% market share among the top 35 banks. Q: Any brief on the latest offerings from Finacle? Infosys Finacle has seen five product launches in past 12 to 18 months. Finacle Digital Commerce: Empowers banks to offer simple, safe and cost-effective commerce solutions like cashless payments & settlements to their customers, leveraging cost-effective ubiquitous technologies Finacle e-banking version 11: Persona driven user experiences and analytics promise to redefine online banking engagements Finacle Mobile Banking Solution 2.0: One of the first mobile banking solutions in the world to offer mobile financial management and advisory services ·FinacleAnalyz: Provides holistic customer analytics for banks, through both insightful business reports and rigorous statistical models Finacle Lite: A ready-to-deploy, preconfigured banking solution for Regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperative banks, credit unions and Financial Inclusion Q: How is the Indian market taking to Mobile banking? The potential of mobile banking in India is huge given the deep penetration of mobile phones. With a large unbanked population and limitations of the banking infrastructure, mobile banking is increasingly being seen as a tool to facilitate financial inclusion, particularly as it facilitates even small-scale transactions. Several leading banks are tying up with telecom operators and handset manufacturers to provide this facility to enhance customer service and facilitate branchless banking.In fact, according to an RBI report, there has been a fivefold increase in banking through mobile phones in the last six months. This service is witnessing an increased uptake in urban areas with more consumers availing of mobile banking facilities for paying utility bills, accessing bank account information and making ticket payments. Q: Do you think people will adapt to mobile banking? At Infosys Finacle we are very bullish on the increasing adoption of mobile banking. Mobile devices are becoming an integral part of people’s lives. Banks have realized the value advantages and cost-effectiveness of mobile banking, to themselves and to customers, and are encouraging this trend. With over 80% mobile penetration, falling acquisition costs of smart phones and growing capabilities of feature phones, buttressed by the overarching financial inclusion agenda, it is only a matter time before mobile banking becomes mainstream. Q: What are the mobile banking solutions from Finacle? Finacle launched its Mobile banking 2.0 versionin 2011. This comprehensive solution enables retail and corporate consumers to access banking services through mobile SMS, GPRS, 3G and USSD-enabled handsets. In terms of phone models supported, Mobile banking 2.0 supports over 8000+ mobile handsets, including both basic feature phones and hi-end smartphones.Finacle Mobile Banking is offered today on iOS, Android and Windows platform thus supporting more than 90% of devices globally. This solution enables banks to create and leverage game changing opportunities through the mobile channel, to build, deepen and institutionalize relationships with both customers and new emerging consumer segment. Q: You said the digital banking solution will help increase financial inclusion, could you explain how? While large sections of the population lack traditional banking infrastructure, most of them have access to mobile phones. And mobile penetration in India is only increasing. Banks have realized the opportunity in this trend and are harnessing mobile and digital banking solutions to further the financial inclusion agenda. Most banks today are geared for low-value high-volume transactions with IT implementations managing from 500 to 1,500 transactions per second. Today, there is only one bank branch and one ATM machines per 10,000 people in India, whereas there are more than 6,000 cellular connections per 10,000 people, this trend is not only disruptive but also has helped deliver financial services to those who need it but couldn’t access it due to lack of branch or ATM in their area.
	personal finance Ensure your family stays well protected The essence of life insurance cannot be underestimated but equally vital is the need to know the right product and the necessary steps to buy them Niraj Shah Life insurance is a primary and most essential tool of risk management for an individual. Moreover, in light of increasing inflation, shift to nuclear families and change in lifestyle patterns, life insurance assumes vital importance. It is paramount for every individual to first adequately insure his/her life for the financial security of the dependants and then proceed to address other aspects of financial planning. In the unfortunate event of the demise of the bread winner of the family, life insurance is the only financial instrument that will ensure that the dependants are provided with the much needed funds to be financially independent. Importantly, it will also ensure that the family's financial plans continue unhindered and that it does not compromise their standard of living. This aspect of protection is unique to life insurance and hence it should be the first element in an individual's financial plan. Calculating life insurance needs There are several complex calculations as well as simple thumb rules to estimate the quantum of life insurance needed for an individual. A simplistic way is to calculate life insurance needs as about 20 times of the individual's annual income. Here, it is important to remember that life insurance is not meant only to cover the expenses of daily living of the family in the absence of the breadwinner. It should be sufficient to provide for the family when they face large financial exigencies. The need for life insurance also depends on the financial goals and premium paying capacity of the individual. This has to be reviewed periodically as the individual goes through different life stages. Term insurance Term insurance is the purest form of insurance and is a risk management tool. It does not have any savings element. The structuring of a term insurance product is such that the family of the insured gets a lump sum payment of the sum assured in the event of demise of the insured individual during the tenure of the policy. No maturity benefit is payable to the insured at the end of the policy term. The advantage of this product is that it is extremely affordable and an individual can provision for the financial security of his family at affordable rates. An endowment product on the other hand, in addition to providing the financial security of life insurance also has an element of savings that gets invested and provides a maturity benefit to the individual at the end of the policy term. This enables the individual to save systematically and create wealth over a period of time while enjoying the financial security of life insurance. Life insurance is bought to protect the financial independence of the family in the event of the untimely demise of the bread winner of the family. This will ensure that the living expenses of the family are taken care of and the long term financial planning of the family is not compromised. An individual should first set out his long term financial goals and then consider the appropriate amount of life cover. One can also use different life insurance products to systematically save and create long term wealth. This will be determined by need for returns, risk taking capacity, need for regular cash flows and the like. In fact, an individual can systematically provide for future financial obligations, for example, higher education and/or, marriage of children, etc, by purchasing life insurance policies with varying maturities. While life insurance primarily covers the risk of a family losing its bread winner too early, pension products cover the risk of living too long as they provide regular income to the individual in the golden years post retirement from an active working life. Hence, it is prudent for an individual to consider a financial provisioning for his retirement years. The financial plan of an individual should be tailored to meet one's individual needs at different stages of life and also maintain a balanced mix of instruments to address the various needs of protection, savings and wealth creation. Settlement of claims A speedy, convenient and hassle-free claim settlement process is essential to the family of the policy holder. During a death claim, the family of the policy holder is still coming to terms with the emotional trauma of losing a dear one. During this time, it is critical that they experience a sensitive, speedy, hassle-free and convenient claim settlement procedure and that the insurer hand holds them through the entire process. In order to ensure that the family of the policy holder is not inconvenienced during the time of claim, the policy holder should clearly intimate the nominee regarding the policy details, features and sum assured immediately after the policy has been purchased. He should also inform his nominee about where the policy documents are kept and what would be the relevant documents that will be needed by the insurer to settle the claim. It is equally important for the policyholder to provide all relevant information truthfully at the time of buying the insurance policy. This will ensure that the family will not face any inconvenience at the time of claim settlement. If relevant material information is not disclosed to the insurance company at the time of purchase, then there is a possibility that the claim would be rejected by the insurer. This would defeat the purpose of buying an insurance product by the policyholder. Hence, it is in the larger interest of the financial welfare of his family that the policyholder makes all relevant disclosures truthfully. The author is senior VP & head of product management at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. The views expressed in this article are his own
	Make a nomination for your bank account Balwant Jain I recently read a news item referring to the answer given in Parliament on the question of unclaimed funds lying with Indian banks, amounting to a whopping sum of approximately Rs 2,481.39 crore as on December 2011. I couldn't stop myself relating to the death of my friend's family member who had missed out on making a nomination for his bank salary account. The report stated that a major portion of these unclaimed funds belonged to individuals, mainly due to the death of the bank account holder. Probably they were not conscious about availing the nomination facility, or postponed it to later date only to meet the untimely death later. This has not only deprived their legal heirs but also posed a problem for the banks to manage these unclaimed funds. To combat this double-edged problem, the government amended banking laws in 1983 to provide for nomination facilities in respect of all banking accounts. But nomination is important and all of us must do it. What is the process involved? You can file a request for nomination of a single account as well as for a joint account in Form No. DA-1. You can nominate any person to receive the amount lying to the credit of the account in case of your death or the death of any of the joint account holders. This form is applicable for all types of bank accounts, be it a savings account, recurring deposit account, fixed deposit account or even a current account. You can submit the nomination form at the time of opening the account. Even if you fail to submit the form at the time of opening the bank account, the above nomination facility can be availed any time later on by submitting the form to your bank. If you wish to modify the existing nomination, you can do so by submitting Form No. DA-3. The nomination once submitted can be cancelled later on simply by submitting Form No. DA-2. Even while cancelling any nomination, it is advised to keep nomination of someone on the account alive at any given point of time. This exercise of making nomination, cancellation and modification can be made as many times as you want by filling simple forms available with the bank. It is important to obtain a written acknowledgement of any request made to the bank whether of nomination, cancellation or variation thereof. The banks normally give an acknowledgement in a tear-off of the form being submitted. You must keep photocopies of the forms in respect of nominations submitted to avoid any dispute in future and also for a ready reference. The banks also make note of such submission of nomination forms or variations/cancellations thereof in their records. Whenever there is any deletion or addition to the original bank account, ensure that the nomination form is also filed with the bank signed by all the account holders at the relevant time. Who can make the nomination? The nomination facility is available in case of individuals only, and not to other entities like partnership firms, public limited companies, trusts, etc. However, this facility of nomination is also available to all the accounts operated by proprietors in respect of their business concerns including current accounts. In case of minor account holders, any parent or a guardian legally appointed can make nomination in respect of bank account of a minor. However if your nominee is a minor, then you will have to appoint a person to receive the money on behalf of the minor in case the account holder dies while the nominee is still a minor. In case of death of the person who has nominated a minor and the minor has become a major, the minor who has meanwhile become major can claim the money from the bank himself. In case any of the joint accountholder dies without having made any nomination, the remaining account holder/s can still make a valid nomination in respect of the bank account. After death of one of the account holder, the bank will remove the name of the deceased from the account and the remaining account holder/s remain the account holder/s. In case of only one account holder surviving, he becomes the sole account holder of the account. However in case you are holding deposit account jointly, all the joint account holders have to make a request for nomination and a nomination request not signed by all the account holders will not be a valid request. The nomination will remain active and alive even if the deposit account is renewed. The nomination automatically gets renewed on renewal of the deposit from time to time. Like in the case of bank accounts, you can file nomination for your bank lockers as well so that in case anything happens to you, the nominee can claim the contents of the locker from the bank. In case of death of the person who made the nomination, the nominee steps into the shoes of the account holder and becomes entitled to all the rights of depositor as against the bank. However, while making a claim as a nominee, you need to attach a valid proof of death of the account holder along with the claim in the prescribed form. The banks are also supposed to send a letter to the nominee in case no claim is filed within a period of three months after the notice of death of the account holder is given to the branch. The legal heirs can lodge their claim for the money of the deceased against the nominee and not against the bank, once the bank has paid the money to the nominee as per the terms of the nomination filed with it. The banks allow the nominee to foreclose the fixed deposit on submission of the relevant document like death certificate/claim form etc, however the banks can not grant any loan against such fixed deposit held by the deceased. What are you waiting for? Nominate your near and dear ones to ensure that the money in your bank account does not remain unclaimed after your death. Even in case of saving bank account where the amount maintained is generally not substantial, please submit nomination forms because you never know that something may happen to you when the balance in the saving bank account is temporarily very high. The author is CFO at Apnapaisa.com. The views expressed in this article are his own