KNOWLEDGE UPDATES

Tiananmen anniversary yesterday

4 th June marks the 20 th anniversary of the

crackdown on prodemocracy

protests in

Tiananmen Square. Several prodemocracy

protesters were killed in the suppression on the

night of June 34,

1989. China however increased

its police restrictions on the evening of the

anniversary especially for the dissidents of the

1989 crackdown. US Secretary of State Ms Hillary

Clinton on the occasion of the 20 th anniversary

urged the Chinese government to publicly account

for those killed in the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests 20 years ago. The

Tiananmen Square was open to visitors on the evening of the anniversary that had to face

several security checks.

Meira Kumar is India's first woman Speaker

Meira Kumar nominated as the candidate for the Lok Sabha speaker by

the UPA was unanimously voted to the speaker's post. Ms. Kumar will

be the first dalit woman to become a Lok Sabha speaker. Before

beginning her political career this four time MP had joined the IFS in

1973, armed with a law degree and a masters in English. The new

speaker presided over the first Lok Sabha session held on Wednesday.

15 th Lok Sabha has 59 women MPs, which is the highest in Indian

parliamentary history.

Australia Defence Minister quits

Australia's Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has resigned. He had

been under fire for failing to declare gifts received, including two trips

to China. There had also been a conflict over contact between the

government and his brother's company, Mr Fitzgibbon said in a

statement. He is the first person to leave the Labor government

ministry since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd won power in November

2007. Australian newspapers reported that Mr Fitzgibbon's letter to

Mr Rudd said he could not be "satisfied" that he had "entirely

conformed to your Ministerial Code of Conduct".

The prime minister told a press conference on the issue in the capital, Canberra, that Mr

Fitzgibbon had been "a first class defence minister". However, he added, his ministers knew

that his government "expects high standards of accountability". On Tuesday night, Mr

Fitzgibbon had been forced to apologise to parliament for failing to declare accommodation

 

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expenses paid for the private health insurance company headed by his brother Mark by

government. He had also had to correct the public record in March this year when it emerged

that he had paid for travel expenses for ChineseAustralian

businesswoman Helen Liu. Mr

Rudd said a statement would be made "very soon" on a replacement of defence minister.

Debris of the missing airline spotted off Brazil's coast

Search planes have spotted the debris of the Air

France airliner in the water 650 Kms off the

Brazilian coast. A Brazilian navy ship is

expected to arrive in the area to begin the task of

recovering wreckage. It is hoped that the ship

will recover some of the wreckage which will

provide officials with a clue as to why the

airliner crashed. The air liner was on its way

from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people

aboard the ill fated flight.

Economy shows signs of recovery as core sectors record

growth

The index of six core industries which captures the

performance of infrastructure sector as power, crude oil,

refinery products, coal, cement and finished steel grew by

4.3% according to a release by the Ministry of Commerce

and Industry on the back of positive cues such as election of

a stable government and revival of business confidence.

Growth was highest in coal followed by cement. Given that

these six industries have a combined weight of 26.7% in the index of industrial production,

the growth figures have raised hopes of increase in industrial output. Meanwhile shoots of

economic recovery and revival of consumer spending were also inherent in the FMCG sector

where key product segments have witnessed more than 20% growth in volume in AprilMay

2009 as companies shifted focus once more on brand building and consumer spending,

facilitated by low input costs.

GM's Hummer sold to Chinese company under

reconstruction plan

Chinese road and construction equipment maker

Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery

Company has acquired the Hummer brand of large

sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks from

bankrupt auto giant General Motor in a deal reported

to be worth $500 million. The divestment is

expected to be completed by the third quarter.

Sichuan Tengzhong has plans to aggressively fund

future Hummer product programmes and expand the

 

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SUV's dealership network globally, while retaining main production in the US, protecting

3,000 jobs.

SBI receives RBI approval to guarantee Tata bond issue

The Reserve Bank of India has agreed to exercise

"regulatory forbearance" in the case of the recent issue of

non convertible debentures made by Tata Motors to

refinance its Jaguar loan. This means that the Central Bank

has made an exception to its rule preventing banks from

guaranteeing corporate bonds and has allowed the State

Bank of India to guarantee the recently concluded

debenture issue by Tata Motors worth Rs.4200 crore.

According to sources, RBI went ahead with the sanction as

it did not want to jeopardize investor interests after the issue was concluded but it has also

directed SBI not to guarantee any corporate bonds in future.

Government plans to raise Rs.10000 crore through sale

of stake in PSUs

The new UPA government expects to raise Rs.10000

crore from divestment proceeds in the next one year as it

offloads stake in various stateowned

units. It has asked

key ministries such as power, fertilizers, shipping and

textiles to prepare a list of companies that are likely to

generate interest among takers so that the state's holdings

in them can be diluted at the earliest. The targets and

timelines stated are indeed ambitious, especially in view of

the fact that in its entire previous fiveyear

regime, the

UPA government had raised about Rs 8500 crore from

disinvestment. However, this time it will be unfettered in its decisions with the Left no longer

holding the stability of the government to ransom on every disinvestment issue.

Vodafone paid Sarin 500,000 pounds for relocating to US

British telecom major Vodafone's former Chief Executive Arun

Sarin received 500,000 pounds (Rs 3.87 crore) to relocate to the US

following his departure from the company.

According to the group's annual report, for the year ended March

2009, Sarin received a remuneration of 1.42 million pounds (Rs

10.99 crore) which includes basis salary, cash incentives and other

benefits.

 

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The company stated that the benefits and other category in the remuneration "include 500,000

pounds in respect of relocation for Arun Sarin."

In the FY 2009, Sarin collected 436,000 pounds in basic salary, 434,000 pounds in incentive

schemes, 553,000 pounds in other benefits and awards, including the relocation fee of

500,000 pounds in 2009, the data available in the company's annual report shows.

Overall, Sarin's pay package stood at 8.1 million pounds in the year to March 31. It included

6.1 million pounds in shares and dividend of 564,000 pounds. The company stated that Sarin

had a contractual entitlement to 500,000 pounds in connection with his relocation to the US.

In the previous financial year 2008, Sarin had received 3.59 million pounds as remuneration

from Vodafone.

Sarin, who stepped down from the board on July 29, 2008 and later retired from the business

on February 28, 2009, was available for consultation during this seven months period, over

which, he "received a nominal base salary of one pound and no bonus or new GLTI (Global

Long Term Incentive Plan) grant in July 2008," the company said. However, on retirement,

his longterm

incentive awards vested on a prorated

basis (for both time and performance).

Sarin's successor Vittorio Colao, was paid a basic salary of 932,000 pounds for the year

ended March 2009, bonuses and other benefits took to a total to 2.2 million pounds.

Sarin became CEO in July 2003 and has led Vodafone's evolution into a fullfledged

communications company. On his retirement he had said, "I feel I have accomplished what I

set out to achieve".

Vodafone's acquisition of Hutchison Essar is the largest foreign investment made in India.

The company's customer base more than doubled from 120 million to over 260 million

globally under his leadership.

Parsvnath bags order worth Rs 19.86 crore from Delhi

Metro

Realty major Parsvnath Developers has bagged an order worth

Rs 19.86 crore from Delhi Metro Rail Corp for constructing a

residential project at Mundka Depot here, the company said. In a

regulatory statement, the company said it would build 130 flats

during the second phase of the Delhi Mass Rapid Transport

System (MRTS) project. Altogether, 129,728 square feet will be

constructed under the project, to be completed within 15 months

from the start of construction, the statement said.

 

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Pepsico launches snacks brand 'Aliva'

In tune with its plans to repeat the success of Kurkure, Pepsico

today announced the launch of its snacks under the brand name

'Aliva' and plans a largescale

advertising campaign to promote the

product.

"With Aliva, we aim to replicate the success we achieved with

Kurkure in a shorter time span. Aliva is another milestone in

Fritolay India's journey to transform its portfolio to address the

growing consumer focus on wellness and ingredient," Fritolay

India CEO and Pepsico President Gauthum Mukkavilli told reporters.

However, Mukkavilli did not divulge details regarding investment and marketing expenses

but said the proposed advertising campaign will directly interact with 1 million customers

across the country.