Business

Biztro

Business in bitesizes

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1. Dramatic reversal of stance

After calling the newspaper Eenadu an anti-Telangana platform and threatening to take back “encroached” land from the Ramoji Film City, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao is now singing a different tune. KCR met Eenadu promoter and media baron Ramoji Rao at the Ramoji Film City recently. Giving a clean chit to Ramoji Rao, KCR said that he had examined all the land documents of RFC and had found them to be in order. The sudden bon­homie between Ramoji Rao and KCR makes one wonder whet­her AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, a longtime friend of Ramoji’s, will now be left out in the cold. 

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2. Labour spotlight on TCS   

When India’s largest software company, TCS, resorts to mass layoffs, one can expect employees and industry people to be upset. What is surprising though is that many unions and representative bodies are planning to “fight” against what is pur­ely a company’s prerogative. TCS last week laid off 1,500 employees from its 3,00,000 workforce, ostensibly for cost cutting. The company registered a 17 per cent growth, higher than its competitors, in the first half of this fiscal. Perhaps that’s why the Forum for IT Employees (FITE) and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) are weighing in. Even software industry body Nasscom has said that it “is watching the situation closely and is in touch with TCS”.

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3. A suitable replacement for Mr Deveshwar?

In Calcutta, where ITC is headquartered, its chairman Y.C. Deveshwar is referred to as ITC Deveshwar. Given his larger-than-life role in transforming ITC, Deveshwar will (hopefully) hang up his boots in 2017. Executive directors Kurush Grant, Pradeep Dhobale and Nakul Anand have all seen changes in their portfolios. Sanjiv Puri (52), B. Sumant (51) and Sushma Rajagopalan (49), considered the “youn­ger” brigade, have been given top portfolios as heads of ITC’s FMCG businesses. For long, the buzz was that Grant was No. 2 in the company and would succeed Deveshwar. But with Grant now being han­ded the comparatively lighter paperboards portfolio, speculation is rife whether he is being sidelined.

Math

Rs 1.5 trillion Indigo’s deal with Airbus accounted for 80% of new investment announcements for the quarter ended Dec 2014

24 Tamil Nadu leads the country with 24 products registered for GI (geographical indications), including Kancheepuram silk

Growing glitter for gold

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$22 Amount India’s airlines have lost over the past seven years every time a passenger steps on board

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Mojo

Twitter fails the empathy test

The world’s who’s who uses it to communicate, yet Twitter has been criticised for the way it communicates. In an Empathy Index compiled by a British agency, Twitter has come No. 92 in the 100-firm ranking and called a “textbook example of how not to engage on social networks” for its “boring, repetitive and robotic” tweeted responses.

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Mind

This week we learnt about…Double standards in net telephony

Last week when Hike, promoted by Airtel owner Sunil Mittal’s son Kavin, announced the acquisition of internet telephony provider Zip Phone, it raised several questions. Even though Hike, a messenger company, works independently, it is considered a part of Airtel. Only two weeks ago, Airtel had made headlines by announcing it would charge a higher rate for VOiP, going against the growing argument for net neutrality. Following strong criticism, it withdrew the move. One wonders what Airtel will do when Hike eventually starts offering VOiP services which, going by others like Skype and Viber, would be free.

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