The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Debt-ridden Kingfisher files revival plan with DGCA

New Delhi, December 24
Ailing carrier Kingfisher Airlines submitted its revival plan to aviation regulator DGCA on Monday in a bid to restart limited operations after having remained grounded for almost three months.

“The airline has submitted its revival plan, which we had sought as a precondition for revoking its suspended flying licence,” an official of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

Kingfisher had a few weeks ago submitted an application for renewal of its flying permit, which is due to expire on December 31. The permit was suspended by DGCA on October 20. DGCA officials had then said a decision to renew or revoke the suspension of its Standard Operating Permit (SOP) cannot be taken till it submitted a comprehensive financial and operational revival plan, which was given today.

The official, however, did not elaborate on the revival plan of Kingfisher Airlines.

DGCA had on October 20 temporarily suspended the SOP of the Vijay Mallya-promoted carrier following a strike by its pilots and engineers over non-payment of salaries for several months, which completely grounded the fleet.

The cash-strapped airline is yet to pay its staff for seven months now. Mr Mallya told the 17 lenders consortium weeks ago that he was preparing to restart limited operations with a planned fund infusion of Rs 425 crore through internal resources.

“We will restart operations in a phased manner and will provide funding ourselves. We have not asked the banks for any support. We have also shared full recapitalization plan (with the lenders) which will be further discussed with a small designated group of bankers,” the airline had then said.

Kingfisher, which has a debt of nearly Rs 8,000 crore and accumulated losses and liabilities of a similar amount, has been grounded since October after its pilots and engineers went on strike.

After remaining grounded for over three months, Kingfisher had earlier this month applied for the renewal of its operating licence.

Kingfisher has been saddled with a loss of Rs 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another over Rs 7,524 crore. It was issued an airline licence on August 26, 2003, which was actually in the name of Air Deccan that was bought over by the Mallya-owned carrier. With DGCA suspending its SoP 19 days after the October 1 lockout, the airline had stopped all ticket bookings on its entire network as well as through travel agents. — PTI

Aviation STOCKs SURGE, Kingfisher up 5%

Aviation stocks saw sharp gains in a lacklustre market on Monday. Kingfisher shares surged higher on reports that the beleaguered airline had finally given a revival plan to the DGCA, rising by their maximum daily limit of 5%, Jet Airways and SpiceJet rebounded sharply and traded 2-4% higher. Kingfisher shares jumped on reports that the company has submitted a revival plan to the civil aviation authorities. Kingfisher was locked up at Rs 15.97 on the BSE.

After Delhi rape case, working women’s confidence shaken
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 24
The horrendous rape case in Delhi and the national outrage which followed has shaken the confidence of workforce not only in the NCR region but also in other major cities, reveals an Assocham survey.

Almost 88% of the female respondents said they had started getting more calls while at work from home after the incident. The anxiety is more among the guardians of those women who travel by chartered buses. Those who use the Delhi Metro feel relatively secure as long as they are within the premises of the metro stations. About 74% of those participated in the survey in Gurgaon, Noida, Delhi, Sonepat and Faridabad said they have begun insisting on leaving offices as soon as duty hours are over following the atmosphere of insecurity.

The survey says while confidence has also been affected even among office-goers and the workforce in other cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, they felt relatively better off than those staying in the NCR region.

A key finding of the survey was if the confidence of workforce is shaken, the NCR region would lose its eminent position among even investors. The respondents also wanted company HR departments to devise new ways of ensuring that the staff security is enhanced, especially among those who work on night duties.

In view of its deep concern at the growing insecurity of women in the country, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and the FICCI Ladies Organization have decided to set up an industry task force on safety of women. There are over 31% economically active women in India's workforce.

The task force will endeavour to address the growing insecurities of women. Broadly it will look into developing a national safety policy for women to be adopted by industry and review the existing setup.

It will envision a safe environment for women by sensitizing the various agencies involved, whether it be infrastructure related, police, and other civic as well as decision makers. In addition, it will conduct actionable research on concerns of women and establish a conceptual and workable framework for delivery and safety.

‘Tata India’s best-known global brand’

Built in 1924, Bombay House in Mumbai is the Tata Group’s headquarters

New Delhi, December 24
Days ahead of Ratan Tata's retirement, an Assocham survey said the US $100 billion Tata Group is perceived to be India's best-known global brand within and outside the country.

"Ratan Tata occupies the well-deserved iconic status who has taken the group from largely an Indian family-owned business house into a professionally managed global conglomerate," the survey said.

About 77% of those who participated in the survey said they are confident that Ratan Tata's successor Cyrus Mistry will be able to steer the group well, it said. Assocham said it has surveyed about 78 top CEOs and heads of both domestic and foreign companies in the first fortnight of December.

The survey, it said, was conducted not only in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, but also in London, New York and Singapore.

However, the respondents said the biggest challenge for Mistry would be to ensure that the Tata companies are able to sail through the global slowdown, since the group operates in some 80 countries, several of which are in the grip of difficult times.

The group has interests in steel, automobile, chemicals, telecommunications, information technology, beverages and hospitality, among other areas.

"The Tata story which began in 1868 by Jamsetji N. Tata has been the most successful among India Inc. The role played by Ratan Tata and J.R.D. Tata in making the group truly global has been deservedly recognized all over the world," Assocham president Rajkumar N. Dhoot said.

Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Aditya Birla Group were the other major Indian corporate houses listed to have made their mark on the global business landscape, the survey said. However, it said, the brand Tata stood out among all the top Indian corporates and perceived as the truly international brand.

It said while the change of guard at the Bombay House, the headquarters in Mumbai of the Tatas later this month, is on the corporate calendar and the event would go down as a landmark occasion among the most watched for several years.

Ratan Tata, after being at the helms of affairs for 21 years at Tata Sons, the holding company of the group, will be retiring on December 28.

The survey said emergence of TCS as India's number one software export company with a turnover of $10 billion, launch of the Nano car in 2009, takeover of Anglo-Dutch company Corus (renamed as Tata Steel Europe) and acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover from Fort Motor in 2008 have gone down as the major milestones for the group.

Talking about the group's perception outside India, it stated that the best perception for the Tatas was seen in western Europe, followed by the United States and Southeast Asia. — PTI

China to open world’s longest high-speed rail line

Beijing/Zhengzhou, December 24
China will open the world's longest high-speed rail line next week when a link between Beijing and the southern metropolis of Guangzhou is inaugurated, officials said on Saturday, underscoring its commitment to a trouble-plagued transport scheme.

The 2,298-km (1,428-mile) line, parts of which are already in operation, will begin full service on Wednesday, halving travel time to less than 10 hours on trains which will run at over 300 kph (186 mph). The new route offers a chance for China's railways ministry, which has been dogged by scandals and missteps, to redeem itself.

A July 2011 crash of a high-speed train killed 40 people and raised concerns about the safety of the fast-growing network and threatened plans to export high-speed technology.

"We have developed a full range of effective measures to manage safety," Zhou Li, head of the ministry's science and technology department, told reporters on a trial run from Beijing to the central city of Zhengzhou. "We can control safety management," he added.

Last year's accident near the booming eastern coastal city of Wenzhou occurred when a high-speed train rammed into another stranded on the track after being hit by lightning.

Rail investment slowed sharply in the wake of that accident and state media reported earlier this year that the government had cut planned railway investment by 500 billion yuan to 2.3 trillion yuan under a five-year plan to 2015. But that may reflect cuts that have already taken place as the railways ministry has raised its planned investment budget three times this year as part of government efforts to bolster a slowing economy.

The ministry plans to spend a total of 630 bn yuan in 2012 and has been given clearance to sell more bonds to finance the investments — one of the few outright spending commitments made by the central government. — Reuters

8 Indians among HBR’s 100 best performing CEOs

New Delhi, December 24
Eight Indian CEOs have made it to the list of 100 global chief executives, compiled by Harvard Business Review (HBR), with ITC's Y C Deveshwar and the late Subir Raha of ONGC finding a place in the top 20.

Deveshwar was first among the Indian CEOs featured in this list, and cornered the seventh place overall. Under his leadership, ITC delivered industry-adjusted shareholder returns of 1,574% and saw its value increase by $45 billion.

The other Indians on the list include Raha at 13th place, ahead of Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani who was ranked 28th. Larsen & Toubro's A.M. Naik was ranked 32nd, followed by BHEL's A.K. Puri (38), Bharti Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal (65), Jindal Steel & Power's Naveen Jindal (87) and Steel Authority of India's V.S. Jain (89).

Meanwhile, the best-performing CEO over the past 17 years globally was Steve Jobs of Apple. From 1997 to 2011, Apple's market value increased by $359 billion, and its shareholder return experienced average compound annual growth of 35%. "That remarkable accomplishment is likely to go unbeaten for a long time," HBR said.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com was at the second place. Others in the top 10 include, Samsung Electronics' Yun Jong-Yong (3rd), followed by Vale's Roger Agnelli (4), Gilead Sciences' John C. Martin (5), Hyundai Motor’s Chung Mong-Koo (6), ITC's Deveshwar (7), Simon Property Group's David Simon (8), eBay's Margaret C. Whitman (9) and Cisco Systems John T Chambers (10).

The highest-ranked woman on the list is Meg Whitman, currently the CEO of beleaguered HP, whose performance as the CEO of eBay from 1998 to 2008 earned her the 9th spot. Interestingly, overall, only 1.9% of all the CEOs studied were women. — PTI

Rupee up on inflows; more gains seen

Mumbai, December 24
The rupee reversed its early losses to close stronger against the dollar on Monday in thin trade, aided by custodial flows and dollar sales by software exporters. Traders expect the rupee to continue to be supported in the last week of the year, potentially trading in a 54.20 to 54.60 range, on the back of inflows into local stocks and debt, along with continued dollar sales by exporters.

"Capital flows will be there, which will prop the rupee. There will be more equity flows and investments in debt," said N.S. Venkatesh, treasurer at IDBI Bank.

The rupee closed at 54.95/96 per dollar versus its previous close of 55.06/07, after touching a low of 55.21 in early trade on oil-related buying. Still, traders warned against expecting strong gains in the rupee in the near term. — Reuters

Coal India bets on domestic growth to meet demand

New Delhi, December 24
State-run Coal India Ltd said it prefers to pursue a production increase at home over securing coal assets overseas as it seeks to meet rising demand from India's fuel-starved power plants. "Our unrelenting focus should be on domestic production," Coal India chairman S. Narsing Rao said in an interview.

Coal India, which supplies about 80% of India's coal, has been under immense pressure from its industrial customers and the government to raise output quickly after stagnation in the past two years has left many power plants running below capacity. — Reuters