Ban and Ashton pave way for Myanmar aid

Yangon: Visits to Myanmar this weekend by Lady Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, and Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, highlight the country's rapidly growing diplomatic ties after decades of being shunned by the west.

In separate talks with leaders including President Thein Sein and key cabinet ministers, Lady Ashton and Mr Ban are expected to discuss plans that would vastly increase aid to Myanmar.

The meetings will take place days after the EU moved to suspend sanctions against Myanmar and come amid a stream of high-level visits. The German and South Korean foreign ministers will arrive in the coming days after their Italian counterpart, Giulio Terzi, left Myanmar on Friday.

The trips underscore moves by multilateral organisations and donor countries to plan for the resumption of large-scale assistance.

Officials from the UN and Japan have started organising an informal gathering of multilateral aid organisations and 20 to 30 bilateral donor countries, to be held in Myanmar in mid-May. This would be an informal, preliminary meeting to discuss how best to co-ordinate what one diplomat described as "the tidal wave of aid" heading towards the country.

Aleph books will be competitively priced: David Davidar

David Davidar, co-founder of Aleph Book Company, tells Forbes India that his company hopes to fix the dearth of great books in history, science, politics, sociology and travel.

David Davidar

Age: 53

Amit Verma

Profile: Co-Founder and MD, Aleph Book Company

Career: Over 25 years as a publishing professional. Founder-publisher of Penguin India at age 26; was then variously CEO & Publisher, Penguin India; MD, Dorling Kindersley India; CEO, Pearson India; Publisher, Penguin Canada; President & Publisher, Penguin Canada; CEO, Penguin International

Education: BSc, Madras University; Diploma in Publishing, Harvard University

Interests: Tennis, swimming, music, movies, books

Here is why JetLite does not exist any more

It's an airline in transition. And no one feels it more than Jet Airways' cabin attendant Sushmita D. Depending on her roster, it is, "What meal would you like to have sir?" on some days. And "What meal would you like to buy Sir?" on others. These days, it can be a bit confusing with both lines being delivered on different flights the same day. Sushmita has been with the airline for about four years and is getting used to either selling a vegetarian meal for Rs 200 on JetKonnect flights, or dishing it out gratis with a smile, on Jet Airways. Her dilemma, in some ways, reflects that of India’s largest airline, as it tries to straddle the full-service and low-fare models—trying out, these days, a hybrid model along the way.

Last month, Jet Airways extinguished JetLite, one of its two low-fare brands that had been created to operate Air Sahara, bought about seven years ago from Subroto Roy. The other, JetKonnect, launched in 2009, is now the low-fare brand with more than twice the number of seats on offer than Jet Airways on the domestic routes. Cabin crew and uniforms are common on both brands, though the aircraft liveries are different. JetKonnect competes head-on with IndiGo and SpiceJet, the two largest low-cost carriers (LCC) in the country—but it is not a pure LCC like them. All the JetKonnect planes (sourced from the erstwhile JetLite and Jet Airways) will have a small business class cabin, called JetKonnect Premiere.

Jet is reconfiguring the JetLite planes, to carve out a business class that the planes did not have earlier. So, even while catering to the price sensitive Indian customer, Jet is also trying to scoop up its original constituency of business class passengers in the front of the plane. Operationally too, the low-fare airline does not work like a typical LCC. So will this strategy of straddling two separate worlds work?

That's not all. In another six months or so, if it continues to grow at the same pace, IndiGo could overtake Jet as the country’s biggest domestic airline in terms of market share. So, will Jet's new avatar be able to slow down IndiGo's runaway growth?

That's far from clear at this stage.

Having a separate business class certainly increases the complexity in any airline operation. Business class passengers—no matter how few they may be—are served up all the frills: Meals on linen, hot and cold beverages, plus on-ground facilities like special check-in and lounges. "The truth is that we are seeing a number of passengers who are willing to pay more [around 1.5 to 2 times the economy fare] to travel business class. This obviously helps shore up the margins on every Konnect flight. Already, the yields are much better than on JetLite, the pure economy carrier," says Nikos Kardassis, CEO, Jet Airways.

US economic growth of 2.2 pc disappoints

Washington: The US reported disappointing economic growth of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 as inventories continued to pile up and a large fall in government spending knocked 0.6 percentage points off the total.

The figure was behind market expectations of around 2.7 per cent at an annualised rate and compares with a 3 per cent pace of growth in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Spot gold hit a session high on Friday after the data and the dollar fell to its lowest since mid-April against the yen, while US stock futures pared back early gains.

Overall the release suggests that the economy is still on a path of steady but mediocre expansion, with growth in consumer demand too slow to overwhelm headwinds such as government cutbacks.

"The US economy remains a bright light in the global economy, although the light is hardly blinding, and also showing some signs of fading," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit in London.

Consumption was resilient, growing at an annualised pace of 2.9 percent, and adding 2 percentage points to the growth rate. But investment would have been almost flat were it not for an inventory build up that added 0.6 percentage points to growth. Net trade was flat, but had been expected to subtract from growth, and may cause downward revisions to the figures.

Excerpt: Business Etiquette by Shital Kakkar Mehra

Shital Kakkar Mehra is one of the most experienced practitioners of corporate etiquette and international protocol in India today, having trained over three thousand executives, focusing on the specific requirements of the global Indian. Her articles have been published across business dailies and magazines. For the past 4 years, and has been invited as guest speaker to several business schools, including the Indian School of Business, IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow.

Here's an excerpt from the book 'Business Communication':

What's the fine art of communicating in business? Is it about putting forward your views aggressively? Using uzzwords to impress your business associates? Or, is it the ability to keep the conversation flowing while striking a fine balance between speaking and listening? At times, I have noticed that managers suffer from the teacher-student hangover, reminiscent of schooldays; managers assume the role of teachers, belting out instructions, completely forgetting that communication is a two-way street.

Business communication is the communication used to promote your products/services, your firm, even yourself before an outsider. Within the firm, it's used to provide information to employees, peers, seniors and juniors.

Communicating effectively in business:

- Builds rapport

- Attracts buy-ins from business partners/counterparts

- Gets your point across succinctly and achieves the desired results

Today, there are multiple communication tools available and it's important that managers learn to use the correct one.

Business Housing market 'Nation of renters' warning from estate agency chief

House sold sign in Paulton, near Bristol. But a poll for Countrywide estate agency found many in the 18-34 age group cannot raise a deposit. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The chief executive of the UK's largest estate agent has renewed calls on the government to intervene in the housing market to prevent future generations being priced out of owning a home.

Grenville Turner, the head of Countrywide, said the UK could become a country of renters after a survey commissioned by the company found that almost half of 18- to 34-year-olds said difficulty raising a deposit was the biggest barrier to buying a property.

Turner said: "We are at a crossroads for home ownership, where we could see the next generation becoming a nation of renters without the right intervention from government.

"Based on current levels of activity, the average home owner moves house once every 25 years as opposed to [historically] once every 12 years. These levels are unsustainable and we call for further support as a strong, vibrant, housing market contributes to GDP growth and will dramatically improve the economy."

Jaeger fashion brand sold to Jon Moulton in £20m rescue deal

Harold Tillman has sold his majority stake in Jaeger, the business he saved from collapse nearly 10 years ago. Photograph: Ian West/PA

The Jaeger fashion brand has been sold in a rescue deal as the retail empire built by one of the UK's best known rag traders unravels in the high street downturn.

Harold Tillman, who is chairman of the British Fashion Council, sold the business to distressed debt expert Jon Moulton's Better Capital for just under £20m with "substantial majority" used to settle its debts. Moulton is best known for his failed attempt to rescue another historic British brand, MG Rover.

Tillman is also locked in talks about the future of one of his other investments, the loss-making Aquascutum clothing brand, which he has owned since 2009.

Obama dubs tax plan 'Reagan rule'

Washington: Barack Obama suggested Ronald Reagan would be sympathetic to a minimum tax on the wealthiest Americans, saying the so-called "Buffett rule" could be renamed the "Reagan rule" in the Republican icon's honour.

Surrounded by a group of millionaires and their secretaries, Mr Obama invoked the late president in support of a measure to prevent millionaires from taking advantage of tax breaks to allow them to pay lower rates than some middle-class Americans.

Administration officials say the push for the Buffett rule is an attempt more broadly to reframe the debate ahead of the November election in a way which forces Republicans to drop their opposition to tax rises in any form.

In his second event in as many days to push for the rule, Mr Obama quoted a speech from 1985 in which Reagan said it was "crazy" that in some cases the wealthiest Americans were paying "nothing" while bus drivers were paying "ten per cent of their salary".

"What Ronald Reagan was calling for then is the same thing that we're calling for now – a return to basic fairness and responsibility, everybody doing their part," said Mr Obama.

"And if it will help convince folks in Congress to make the right choice, we could call it the Reagan Rule instead of the Buffett Rule," he said.

Ertiga gets 400 bookings on launch day from Maharashtra

Mumbai: The country's largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki said its first global compact multi-purpose vehicle Ertiga has received around 400 bookings from Maharashtra on the first day of the launch.


"Even before the launch of the Ertiga here, we have had 400 bookings from Maharashtra," Maruti Suzuki commercial business head for western region, S N Burman, told reporters here last evening.

Click here for more news on Maruti Ertiga

Besides, the company has received large number of enquiries about the Ertiga, priced at Rs 6.23-8.88 lakh.

"The Ertiga is a major step forward for Maruti. Many urban families are now looking for a vehicle that offers more space and flexibility than a sedan, without being bulky, bland and expensive like a utility vehicle. The Ertiga is designed for these customers," Maruti managing director and chief executive S Nakanishi said.
The company plans to take the Ertiga to other Southeast Asian markets too. 

Forex reserves hit 2-month low at $292.92 billion

Mumbai: India's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 1.47 billion to USD 292.92 billion for the week ended April 6, the lowest level in more than two months, largely due to suspected sale of dollars by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to curb the slide in value of rupee, official data showed.

Foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves kitty, dropped by USD 1.42 billion to USD 258.65 billion during the week under review, according to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement.

The RBI did not provide any reasons for the change in foreign currency assets.

It said the assets expressed in US dollar terms included the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.

However, analysts said the central bank might have sold dollars to strengthen the value of rupee as it dropped to three-month low during the week under review.

The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) declined by USD 31.5 million to USD 4.43 billion, and India's reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by USD 20 million to USD 2.81 billion.

The value of gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 27.02 billion.

Monti under fire as crisis deepens

Rome: Jittery bond markets, militant union leaders, angry bosses and even a spate of suicides by recession-hit Italians – the crisis confronting Mario Monti's technocrat government shows no sign of relenting.

Capping the prime minister's worst week in office since he replaced Silvio Berlusconi in the midst of financial turmoil in November, Italy's main trade union federation confirmed on Friday that it would press ahead with strikes in protest against the government's economic reforms.

"We are not standing down," said Susanna Camusso, leader of the leftwing CGIL. Workers are to down tools next Friday over pension reforms passed in December and will strike again when parliament debates Mr Monti's controversial labour reform legislation.

Rather than feeling mollified by concessions made by Mr Monti over changes to rules on the firing of workers for economic reasons, Ms Camusso made it clear the union felt emboldened by its mobilisation.

Those concessions, announced by Mr Monti on Wednesday just two weeks after he said the matter was "closed", drew a fierce response from Confindustria, the main employers' lobby, as well as associations representing banking, insurance, co-operatives, retailers and even farmers.

Eurozone crisis looms over French election

Paris: The spectre of the eurozone crisis has returned to haunt France's presidential election, with President Nicolas Sarkozy using the launch of his campaign manifesto to accuse François Hollande, his Socialist rival, of threatening the country with the fate of Greece or Spain.

Casting himself as the guardian of budgetary rigour and economic reform, Mr Sarkozy said it would take just two days for financial markets to turn on Mr Hollande's "festival of spending plans" if the Socialist leader beat him in the election, which takes place over two rounds on April 22 and May 6.

But with markets already registering renewed concern over developments in Spain, whoever wins the Elysée palace is likely to come under close scrutiny.

"I think the new French government will be given very little time to convince the markets about its plans," said Laurence Boone, Europe economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Mr Hollande, who is holding on to a significant opinion poll lead for the assumed second round run-off against Mr Sarkozy, is mostly in the spotlight.

Sharp slowdown in US jobs growth

Washington/New York: The pace of US jobs creation slowed sharply in March, reviving doubts about the health of the American economic recovery and delivering a blow to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

Employers generated 120,000 new positions last month, below economists' forecasts of 205,000 and the weakest rate of payroll formation since last October.

The US unemployment rate fell from 8.3 to 8.2 per cent, but that improvement was the result of a decline in the number of people in the labour force, as dispirited jobless workers abandoned their search for employment.

The signs of fading momentum took financial markets by surprise and were pounced on by Mr Obama's opponents ahead of November's presidential election. S&P futures fell 15.3 points to 1,374.90 in an abbreviated holiday session, following the worst weekly loss since mid-December during trading on Thursday.

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes dropped 12 basis points to 2.05 per cent while the dollar eased 0.2 per cent on a trade-weighted basis, with investors more confident that the Federal Reserve will extend its current bond buying efforts beyond June.

Omidyar's Jayant Sinha: Volatile government policy is a deterrent to investing

Jayant Sinha, partner and MD, Omidyar Network India Advisors, tells Dinesh Narayanan that government trying to micro-manage the economy is not good. Edited excerpts from an interview.

Jayant Sinha

Age: 48

Profile: Partner and managing director, Omidyar Network India Advisors

Career: Was a partner at McKinsey and Co; Managing Director, Courage Capital Management

Vikas Khot

Education: MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School; MS in Energy Management and Policy, University of Pennsylvania; and BTech with Distinction from IIT, Delhi

Hobbies: Tennis, writing, public affairs

German industrial production falls

Frankfurt: Germany's industrial production fell by 1.3 per cent in February after bitter winter weather hit construction activity, adding to the risk that the country had slipped into a technical recession.

The month-on-month fall, reported by the Berlin economics ministry on Thursday, highlighted the weakness of Europe's largest economy at the start of the year. The ministry blamed the decline on February's cold snap, which led to an unexpectedly-steep 17.1 per cent fall in construction activity compared with January.

Germany's economy contracted in the final three months of last year as the eurozone crisis escalated. A second consecutive quarter of falling gross domestic product would amount to a technical recession.

However, Dirk Schumacher, economist at Goldman Sachs in Frankfurt, said that even if March's industrial production levels remained unchanged from February's, the German economy could still have expanded modestly in the first quarter. That would "put to rest" some of the worst fears about the impact of the eurozone debt crisis on Germany's economy although the improvement since late 2011 was "nothing spectacular," he said.

US to ease sanctions on Myanmar

Washington/Tokyo: The US is to begin easing sanctions on Myanmar following the weekend by-election victory by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies, starting with a relaxation of restrictions on travel by Myanmar officials and on financial transactions and investment.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, who made a historic trip to Myanmar in December, said the elections represented real change in a country dominated by military rule for decades and that the US would consider further steps if the pace of reform were maintained.

"We applaud the president [Thein Sein] and his colleagues for their leadership and courage," she said. The country had embarked on "a historic new path".

The announcement came as the European Union, Japan and Australia all said they were considering ways to ease sanctions and restrictions on doing business as a result of the by-elections, in which Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 40 of the 45 seats at stake.

The decisions underline the remarkably rapid turnround in attitudes towards Myanmar, which was treated as an international pariah for years but whose leaders have consistently surprised the international community with their commitment in recent months to political and economic reform.

New Delhi heaps pressure on Coal India

New Delhi/Mumbai: The battle between India and a UK activist hedge fund over political interference in Coal India is set to intensify after New Delhi issued a rare presidential decree demanding that the coal miner agree to increase supplies to the country's power groups.

The move is designed to boost India's electricity generation and reduce blackouts. But it is likely to trigger a reaction from The Children's Investment Fund, Coal India's largest minority shareholder, which recently launched a public campaign against political meddling in the world's largest coal miner by production volumes.

The demand, which follows intense lobbying by industrialists who have seen their plans to spend about $36bn on new power plants stalled by coal shortages, will penalise the state-run miner if it fails to meet at least 80 per cent of targeted production, and may force it to import more expensive coal from abroad. Previously there had been no such requirement.

If Coal India fails to boost production under the agreement, it would be forced to pay power companies between 20 and 40 per cent of the average additional cost caused by the state miner's inability to provide them the fuel, an official told the Financial Times.

It was unclear whether the board of Coal India would sign the agreement. In theory, it is legally bound to do so, but it has previously objected to a similar scheme put forward by Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister.

Romney sweeps three primaries

Milwaukee/Wisconsin: Mitt Romney secured has solid wins in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia, overwhelming his opponents and piling pressure on them to quit the race for the 2012 Republican nomination.

Mr Romney's sweeping victories in Tuesday's primaries will give him the bulk of the 98 delegates at stake in the three ballots, reinforcing an already all but an impregnable lead over Rick Santorum, his chief rival.

Mr Romney had accumulated at least 646 delegates to Mr Santorum's 272 – putting him more than halfway to the 1,144 needed for the nomination.

Mr Santorum would need to win 76 per cent of the remaining delegates in upcoming primaries to win the nomination, the Associated Press calculated – a next to impossible task unless Mr Romney pulls out of the race.

Newt Gingrich, who for a short time competed strongly with Mr Romney, has already acknowledged that he cannot win. The fourth remaining candidate, Ron Paul, is also not in a position to threaten the former Massachusetts governor. Neither has indicated they will drop out anytime soon.

China to let in more foreign investment

Beijing: China has almost tripled the amount of money foreign institutions can invest in its capital markets, in the latest move aimed at loosening strict capital controls and internationalising the renminbi.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced on Tuesday that international fund managers would be allowed to invest a combined total of $80bn in China's onshore capital markets – up from the previous limit of $30bn – in an expansion of the so-called qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) scheme. Beijing also increased the total amount of renminbi that foreign investors can raise in Hong Kong for investment back on the mainland, from Rmb20bn ($3.2bn) to Rmb70bn.

Together the moves will allow global financial institutions to play a more active role in China's largely closed domestic equity markets and breathe life into a market that was one of the world's worst performing last year.

Also on Tuesday, China's premier Wen Jiabao endorsed bolder financial reforms when he declared that the government intended to "smash the monopoly" of the country's big state-owned banks, for whom he said profits come "too easily". His comments, made on Chinese radio, appeared aimed at advancing reforms that would remove the current cap on deposit rates and a floor on lending rates that guarantee banks a healthy profit margin. The reform is also a necessary step towards full convertibility.

Obama hits out at 'social Darwinism'

Washington: President Barack Obama will on Tuesday deliver a sharply worded riposte to Republicans advocating swingeing budget cuts, accusing them of "social Darwinism" that will bring an end to the American dream.

His remarks will lay the foundations of an election-year battle aimed at portraying Republicans as heartless towards ordinary Americans while looking after millionaires, while the Democrats advance the interests of the middle class.

The budget proposal put forward by Republicans in the House of Representatives last month is nothing but "a Trojan horse", Mr Obama will say on Tuesday at a lunch organised by the Associated Press.

"Disguised as a deficit-reduction plan, it's really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It's nothing but thinly veiled social Darwinism," the president will say, according to remarks released in advance by the White House.

"It's antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who's willing to work for it – a place where prosperity doesn't trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class," he will say.