Mira Inform: February 2013

Sunday 24 February 2013

Weekly Column

SPECIAL EDITION ON 30^TH ANNIVERSARY OF MIRA INFORM PRIVATE LIMITED

TATA EYES THE SKY AGAIN WITH AIRASIA

Tata Sons will hold 30 % in proposed venture with AirAsia holding 49 %. Tatas wouln’t have operating role in the JV. The Tata group is joining AirAsia Bhd., Asia’s largest low fare carrier and a local investor in seeking to enter the aviation market, 13 years after the conglomerate’s bid to buy a stake in Air India in partnership with Singapore Airlines Ltd collapsed in the face of political and corporate intrigue.

TATA PLANS NANO DRIVE TO MALAYSIA

Tata Motors, AirAsia chief Fernandes may set up joint venture to make, sell Tata vehicles in South East Asia. The aviation deal stuck by the Tata group and AirAsia Bhd, Asia’s largest low fare airline, is creating a new synergy that may enable the companies to jointly build low cost vehicles drawn from the stable to Tata Motors Limited in Malaysia for sale in that country and other markets.

US FED SPLIT OVER BOND-BUYING PLAN

A number of US Federal Reserve officials think the central bank might have to slow or stop buying bonds before seeing the pick-up in hiring the programme is designed to deliver, according to minutes of the central bank’s policy meeting last month.

TVS LOGISTICS BUYS UK’S RICO FOR RS 1000 MN

TVS Logistics Services Ltd part of the $6 bn TVS Group has acquired an 85 % stake in UK based Rico Logistics for Rs 1000 mn and is in talks to buy out another firm that has operations in Asia.

BIGGEST CHARITY GESTURE IN INDIA

Premji of Wipro gives Rs 12.3 k crore to his trust. He transfers 12 % of company’s total shares in biggest charity gesture in India. His foundation will open 60 district level institutes and 8 state level institutes across India by 2016. It will open 80-100 schools. Premji University is expected to have 2500 students in the next year.

JAPANESE MNC KYB CORPORATION ACQUIRES 50 % STAKE IN CONMAT SYSTEMS

Japanese company, KYB Corporation acquired 50 % stake in Vadodara based Conmat Systems Private Limited. KYB which made slightly above Rs 1000 mn investments to acquire the stake, is investing for the first in India targeting India’s Rs 30000 mn construction equipment market.

BOEING CLOSE TO FIXING DREAMLINER BATTERY

Boeing company has found a way to its battery problems on its grounded 787 Dreamliner jets that involves increasing the space between the lithiumion battery cells, a person familiar with the US company’s plans told Reuters.

CLIMATE CHANGE, A HUGE BULLET

Mr John Englander writes : the last truly abrupt changes in the Earth’s climate occurred more than 50 mn years ago. During that period carbon dioxide increased abour 100 ppm over a million years. The global temperature spiked by about 9 degrees F… over 10000 years. While that may sound slow, in geologic time, it is considered quick and drastic. At current rate of carbon emissions, we will increase carbon dioxide levels by that same 100 ppm in just 30 to 40 years. In other words, we are increasing carbon dioxide levels roughly 20000 times faster than at any time in the last 540 million years. Temperatures, which can lag behind the rise of carbon dioxide, are now rising about 55 times faster than they did even during the most recent cycle of glacial melting. Human beings are to blame ! Englanders believes that present trends will raise water levels some 212 feet. When ? He doesn’t know.

GOLD SINKS !

Bloomberg reports : Billionaire Investors George Soros and Louis Moore cut their stakes in exchange-traded products backed by gold last quarter as futures dropped the most in more than eight years. John Paulson maintained his holding. The fourth-quarter decisions by Soros and Bacon may bolster speculation that gold’s 12 year bull-run is coming to an end as economic data from the U.S. to China show signs of recovery, curbing haven demand. Soros Fund Management LLC reduced its investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest fund backed by 55 % to 600000 shares as of Dec. 31 from three months earlier, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed recently. Becon’s Moore Capiral Management LP sold its entire stake in the SPDR fund and lowered holdings in the Sprott Physical Gold Trust. Paulson & Co., the largest investor in SPDR, kept its stake at 21.8 mn shares.

The Financial Times : Gold sinks through $ 1600 on recovery hopes. Gold prices tumbled..for the first time in six months as investors turned to other assets amid hopes of an economic recovery.

INDIA’S HIGHEST PAID EXECUTIVES

Mr Naveen Jindal, the CMD of Jindal Steel & Power tops the list with a salary of about Rs 734 mn. Mr and Mrs Maran from Sun TV with a total salary of Rs 1.14 bn. Pawan Munjal, MD & CEO and Brijmohan Lall, Chairman of Hero Motocorp ranked the highest combined figure of Rs 1.3 bn. Most of the executives are the promoters of the companies that they are heading

THIRTY INSPIRING YEARS !!!

Dear friend :

Greetings !

On the 2^nd March 2013, MIRA INFORM completes 30 years. During this period, MIRA INFORM produced millions of Business Information Reports on businesses and carried out various kinds of Background Check on individuals from most of the major countries for international clients. As we commemorate this special occasion, I would like to convey my deepest gratitude to you, our valued clients for your unstinted faith and support through this memorable journey. Your continuous trust has indeed significantly strengthened our shared aspiration of creating one of Asia’s respected Business Information Company. Mira Inform Japan Limited, Tokyo was born on 12^th February, 2013 !

The journey of excellence is undoubtedly a tribute to our clients, partners, associates and our dedicated employees of today and yesterday – who have steadfastly stood by us through this voyage of change and challenge. These 30 inspiring years have been marked by overarching VISION to serve a larger national purpose, to live up by the strong VALUES and to nourish internal VITALITY to create superior value for all our stakeholders and important place in Business Information Market in India and overseas. As we look back on the historic journey, we feel deeply touched that our Paid up Capital was just Rs 300 in 1983 against Rs 17 mn now ! We started with Rs 1800 priced Remington baby typewriter from residence when today our aggregate offices, company, database, brand and others are valued at huge sum ! I have proud to have had the opportunity to lead MIRA INFORM since its’ inception.

With warm personal regards,

Monday 11 February 2013

WEEKLY COLUMN

· MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS ! ?

Recent New York Times : Broadly speaking, the data now indicate that as people get richer, they report getting happier too. Though , it’s not quite simple. Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan who helps advise the U.S. government on happiness statistics, told that poor people in poor countries are not unhappy simply because they don’t have wads of cash. They are more likely to have fewer choices, more children who die in child-birth and other grave problems. And wealthier nations are generally happier, there is no evidence, Wolfers says, that an artist would be happier, if she became a hedge-fund trader.

· INDIAN CURRENCY : MOST UNDERVALUED

India has the most undervalued currency amongst the major economies of the world. The Index, that forms its exchange rate based on the price of a standard McDonald burger in each country, is of the view that an exchange rate of Rs 20.4 to the dollar will buy you the same burger in US that you buy in India. Thus, undervaluation is as high as around 60 %. On purchasing power parity basis, India does punch above its weight in the economic packing order.

· COGNIZANT EXPECTS 17 % REVENUE GROWTH IN 2013

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. posted a 16 % rise in December quarter profit and forecast revenue growth at 17 % for 2013, confirming expectations of a potential recovery in India’s $ 70 bn software exports sector.

· INDIA’S GROWTH SEEN AT 5 % !

In an unpleasant shock, India’s economy is projected to grow at 5 % in the current financial year, the lowest in a decade and substantially lower than the 5.7 % projected earlier by the finance ministry.

· BHARTI AIRTEL SPLITS INDIAN OPERATIONS INTO EIGHT SEGMENTS

In a major organisational restructuring, telecom firm Bharti Airtel Ltd recently split its business into eight segments with a view to build a more connected organisation.

· ARGENTINA FREEZES PRICES

Argentinal announced a two month price freeze on supermarket products, recently – in an effort to break spiralling inflation. The price freeze applies to every product in all the nation’s largest supermarkets – s group including Walmart, Carrefour, Colo, Jumbo, Disco and other large chains. The companies’ trade group, representing 70 % of the Argentina market, reached the acoord with Commerce Secretary, the government’s news agency Telam reported. Earlier, Argentina government said, inflation was only 10 %, turned out, like 30 % !

· BILL GATES : INDIA LESS DEPENDENT ON AID

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is of the view that India is becoming less dependent on aid. The country may no longer require in the future. Strong growth by the India Inc. and rise of the middle class with more disposable incomes may be the reasons. However, India has a long way to go while tackling the issues of infrastructure, corruption and politics.

· CHINESE STEEL COMPANIES – NO MORE CASH COWS FOR GOVERNMENT

An article in the Financial Times reports that cash-strapped local governments started demanding taxes upto 2 year in advance from steel companies. Chinese steel mills account for nearly 50 % of the total global steel production. These were the cash cows for local governments. Slowdown in the economy has adversely affected the fortunes of these companies. Some biggest Chinese companies reported about 98 % yoy drop in profits last year. Some unprofitable mills saw losses zooming sevenfold. It is said that companies that have not conformed to these demands have been subjected to audits, investigations and fines.

· FOREIGN RETAILERS, YET TO COME IN INDIA

As per a daily, four months have passed since the green signal to retail Foreign Direct Investment and not a single investment proposal has been received, yet. Some of the riders are indeed tough for the retailers to wrap their hands around. There is the independence given to states to reject the FDI in their states. This clearly puts restrictions on the number of cities foreign retailers can expand to. Thus, in view of these issues, FDI front takes a long time to come.

Dear Readers :

I am Minesh Gandhi, the Managing Director and founder of MIRA INFORM, a company that has been actively involved in Credit Management Services, Background Check and Collection of Overdue Accounts over the last 30 years. In this short e-bulletins I would like to share my experience, with some important and summarized excerpts from my day to day reading. This is a complimentary WEEKLY COLUMN for all the well-wishers of MIRA INFORM,

Today, this is my 57th WEEKLY COLUMN ! .

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2. 1.Siemens AG, 2 Skytron Energy GmbH., 3. Maxwell Pharma Sdn Bhd 4. Panasonic Mobile Communications Ltd., 5. Arizona Chemical Co. Inc., 6. HUL international Pty. Ltd., South Africa, 7. Sterling & Hunt Ltd., U.K., 8. Nissan Trading Co. Ltd., Japan, 9. Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd.,10. Dickinson Group Pty Ltd., 11. Hitachi Chemical Dupont Microsystems Ltd., 12. Nexus Trade Centre, 13. Spectrum Shipping Agency,14. Tokyo Marine Co. Ltd.,15. Pharmaceutical and Veterinary Material Joint Stock Co.

RETAIL INDUSTRY CREDIT RATING : MIRA INFORM is the first to introduce Retail Industry Credit Rating in-view of opening of Foreign Direct Investment. More details are on our website (mirainform.com).

Request to : mineshgandhi@mirainform.com

JOKE

A young Law Student, having failed his 3^rd year Law exam, goes up to his crusty old professor, who is renowned for his razor-sharp legal mind. Student : “Sir, do you really understand everything about the subject?” Professor : “Actually, I probably do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be a professor, would I?” Student : “OK, so I’d like to ask you a question. If you can give me the correct answer, I will accept my marks as they are. If you can’t give me the correct answer, however, you’ll have to give me an “A”. Professor : “Hmmm, alright. So what is the question?” Student : “What is legal but not logical, logical but not legal and neither logical nor legal?” The professor continues to wrack his brain over the question all afternoon but still can’t get the answer. So finally he calls in a group of his brightest students and tells them, he has really, really a tough question to answer : “What is legal but not logical, logical but not legal and neither logical nor legal ?”. To the professor’s surprise, all students immediately raise their hands. “All right”, says the professor, and asks his favourite student to answer. “It’s quite easy, sir” says the student, “You see, you are 75 years old and married to a 24 year old woman, which is legal but not logical. Your wife has a 20 year old lover which is logical but not legal. And your wife’s lover failed his exam but you’ve just given him an “A”, which is neither legal nor logical!” Professor becomes comatose !

INSPIRATIONAL

Success is almost in any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains, why we have so many stupid leaders. – Sloan Wilson

With warm personal regards,

Thursday 7 February 2013

Weekly Column

MIDDLE CLASS

If you measure inflation properly, the damage has been much worse than most people realised. At 10 % per year, few middle class families can keep-up. They’ve lost income, purchasing power and wealth over the last 20 years. In US, home prices rose in November, the biggest increase since August 2006 when the housing market was starting to collapse. Recent, data on consumer confidence was less encouraging. Americans became more pessimistic about the economic outlook and their financial prospects in the wake of higher taxes for many. Middle class is still the primary victim of the world’s biggest scam. The feds create more money – more than $ 1 trillion per year. The money doesn’t go to the middle class. It goes to corrupt politicians, bad companies with good lobbyists, people and bureaucrats.

US ECONOMY

The New York Times : The United States economy unexpectedly reversed course in the final quarter of 2012 and contracted at a 0.1 %, the Commerce Department said last week, its worst performance since the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009. The drop in gross domestic product was driven by a plunge in military spending, as well as fewer exports and a step slowdown in the buildup of inventories by businesses. Anxieties about the fiscal impasse in Washington also contributed to the slowdown, one reason stockpiles grew more slowly. The 22.2 % drop in military spending – the sharpest quarterly drop in more than four decades – along with the drop in inventories and exports overwhelmed more positive indicators in the private sector, as said.

The manufacturing comeback in the US is not based on making real things for real buyers. 40 % of US manufacturing is for the military. If military production is reduced, the economy is in trouble.

SHELL INDIA ACCUSED OF TAX EVASION

Income Tax department says, firm had underpriced intragroup share transfer by Rs 150000 mn and evaded taxes consequently. The Indian arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell India Private Limited has been accused by the income tax authorities of underpricing an intragroup share transfer by Rs 150000 mn and consequently evading taxes, said a person familiar with the development.

JET AIRWAYS SWINGS TO PROFIT AHEAD OF LIKELY ETIHAD DEAL

Jet Airways (India) Limited, India’s second largest airline by passengers carried, swung to a profit in the third quarter, ahead of a likely deal that will see Etihad Airways acquiring a stake in the airline.

BHARTI AIRTEL POSTS 72 % DROP IN Q3 NET PROFIT

Bharti Airtel Ltd., India’s largest phone company by revenue and subscribers, posted its 12^th consecutive quarterly drop in net profit on Friday, hit be increased interest and financing costs as a result of the rupee’s depreciation in the three months ended 31^st December.

It bids for licence in Myanmar.

FACEBOOK PROFIT DECLINES 79 % ON EXPENSES

Operating expenses jump 82 % in Q4, mobile contributes 23 % to total advertising revenue, up from 14 % last quarter. Facebook Inc., reported a plunge in fourth-quarter profit on higher spending even while it made long awaited progress luring advertisers eager to reach mobile-device users.

EVERSTONE INVESTS IN LOGISTICS FIRM

Private equity firm Everstone Capital Advisors Private Limited has invested Rs 2200 mn in Delhi-based logistics company Transpole Logisitics Private Limited for an undisclosed stake.

FORD REPORTS $ 36.5 BN REVENUE IN Q4

Ford Motor Co., Detroit posted a better than expected fourth quarter profit and predicted 2013 operating profit will be about equal to its performance last year.

DELL FOUNDER SAID TO SEEK MAJORITY CONTROL USING PERSONAL FUNDS

Michael Dell is seeking majority control of Dell Inc. in a buyout that would combine his 15.7 % stake in the company with as much as $ 1 bn of his personal funds, said people familiar with the matter.

MICROSOFT LETS USERS ‘RENT’ OFFICE

Microsoft Corporation is about to find out whether people will buy the company’s software the same way they pay for cable television. The company recently started offering consumers a new version of Office – the widely used bundle of personal-computer applications – that for the first time arrives along with a version that can be ‘rented’ for a monthly fee, similar to how people subscribe a cable movie services.

MIRA INFORM, MUMBAI NOW IN JAPAN

Mira Inform, India takes pride in informing having MIRA INFORM JAPAN LIMITED, TOKYO which has started producing good quality reports on Japanese businesses with a delivery time of 4 working days for the global market. Each report covers full company profile with credit recommendation and advice. Introductory offer :

US $ 85 or equivalents !

Dear Readers :

Today, this is my 56th WEEKLY COLUMN ! .

FREE WEEKLY OFFER WORTH RS 10000/US $ 200. ORDER ANY THREE BUSINESS INFORMATION REPORTS/CREDIT & STATUS REPORTS FROM FOLLOWING

Request to : mineshgandhi@mirainform.com

JOKE

Manager : “Do you know anything about this fax machine?” Staff : “A little. What’s wrong, sir?” Manager : “Well, I sent a fax and the recipient called back to say all she received was a blank page. I tried it again and the same thing happened.” Staff : “How did you load the sheet?” Manager : “I didn’t want anyone else to read it by accident so I folded it so only recipient would open it and read it.”

INSPIRATIONAL

The DIFFERENCE between what one person and another achieves depends more on goal CHOICES than on ABILITIES. The profound differences between successful people and others are the goals they choose to pursue. Individuals with similar talents, intelligence and abilities will achieve different results because they select and pursue different goals. Each decision affects WHAT YOU BECOME. We form our decisions and our decisions from us. There is no escaping this; the smallest choices are important because – over time – their cumulative effect is enormous.

With warm personal regards,