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Air India set to join Star Alliance

The decks have been cleared for Air India to restart its integration with the Star Alliance, aglobal network of 28 airlines. the alliance invited Air India to join its network following ameeting of Chief Executives in Vienna. The process is expected to be completed in threemonths.

Air India had been inducted into the Star Alliance in Beijing in December 2007. But inAugust 2011, the airlines application for membership was put on hold for not meetingparameters contractually agreed to in 2007. Air India becoming part of the alliance willmean that flyers on the Maharaja could get better fares, frequent-flier benefits and loungefacilities during their international travels

Maruti to transport cars on dedicated trains

Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has said it will soon start transporting its cars through wagonsin which the company has invested. This will not only save cost, but also make the journey tostockyards faster.

Once the service starts, Maruti will become the first car company in India to do so. Thismode of transporting vehicles is used by car companies in Europe and the US. The serviceswill start from January and the company plans to transport at least 30 per cent of theproduction through railways in the next four-five years to its stockyards located across India.

Canara Bank rolls out ATM cards for jointaccount holders

Canara Bank has launched a payment product, whereby each joint accountholder will beissued an ATM-cum-debit card. The new service, launched by R.K. Dubey, Chairman andManaging Director, Canara Bank, is enabled for all accounts operated by two jointaccountholders.

While one accountholder is designated as primary, the other will be secondary.

A transaction is initiated by the primary cardholder by inserting the card in the ATM andkeying in the PIN. The transaction is authorised only after validation by the secondarycardholder, using the card and PIN issued.

The ATM-cum-debit cards can be used only for ATM cash withdrawal. The card is valid fordomestic use on Canara Bank ATMs only.

FinMin may garner Rs 3,000 crore from servicetax amnesty scheme

A one-time amnesty scheme to encourage payment of service tax dues is proving to be awinner for the Finance Ministry.

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We have managed to get over Rs 2,500 crore from the Voluntary ComplianceEncouragement Scheme for Service Tax. The total will easily exceed Rs 3,000 crore or evenmuch more than that, Finance and Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose toldBusiness Line.

This scheme scheme was introduced in this years Budget , which was notified on May 10,and the window will close on December 31.

Every day, 800 to 900 applications for settling dues are coming in. So far, we have got over12,000 applications, Bose said. The largest number of applicants is from the constructionsector, followed by the manpower/private security firms, and rentals sector.

India can have over 2 lakh R&D jobs by 2018:Zinnov

Given the fact that global companies find India attractive for their R&D spend, there is a

clear opportunity to create an additional two lakh R&D jobs in India by Global 500companies in the next five years, according to Zinnov.

Forty-five per cent of the worlds top 500 R&D spenders invest in India, and the DeccanTriangle (Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune) has over 200 established R&D centres.Globaladvisory and management consulting firm Zinnov in its report titled Crossing the ValueChasm, highlights some of the trends in India and other global locations.

Globally, the automotive vertical has the highest R&D spend and India is one of the keydestinations for these companies with cities such as Pune and Chennai fast emerging as autohubs. Close to 50 per cent of the Global 500 companies have over 10 per cent of the globalR&D head count in India. Currently, only 11 per cent of the companies with centres in India

have global roles in engineering, product management and support functions.

Pharma major GSK to make Rs 6,400-cr openoffer to hike stake in Indian arm

Bullish on the long-term opportunity that India holds, British drug-maker GlaxoSmithKlinePlc is set to fork out up to Rs 6,400 crore to increase its stake in its publicly-listedpharmaceutical subsidiary.

GSK said it would increase its stake in GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd from 50.7 per

cent to 75 per cent, at a price of Rs 3,100 a share. The move comes within a year of GSKupping its stake in its consumer healthcare arm from 43 per cent to 73 per cent, a Rs 4,800-crore transaction. About a month ago, GSK committed to investing Rs 864 crore in a newfactory in India, creating 250 jobs.

Nirbhaya Fund lies unused even a year afterDelhi gang rape

Faced with criticism for not utilising the Rs 1,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund announced in theBudget, the Government is set to implement various measures to ensure safety and security

of women in public places. The measures include fixing closed-circuit television

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(CCTV) cameras on buses, an SOS alert system in trains and an SOS button on mobilehandsets.

The Fund was set up after public outrage over the brutal gang rape and subsequent death ofa 23-year-old paramedical intern in New Delhi last year.

The proposal for an SOS button on mobile handsets came from the Home Ministry inconsultation with the Information Technology Ministry. It involves instructing all mobilephone makers to mandatorily introduce an SOS alert button in all handsets. For existinghandsets, users will be allowed to download software for an SOS alert system free-of-cost. Inthe first phase, the scheme will be launched in 55 cities, while the second phase will cover102 cities. The expected outlay for this proposal is Rs 1,000 crore.

The CCTV camera proposal came from the Road Ministry and will cover 32 cities withpopulations of 10 lakh or more. It will be implemented in two years at the cost of Rs 1,700crore. The scheme will make it mandatory for public transport vehicles to have a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) for tracking and enforcement. Permits will be issued only if

vehicles have an on-board GPS. The scheme also envisages a control room in select cities fortracking public vehicles, CCTVs in public buses, scrutiny and constant review of every publictransport vehicle and driver, a womens enforcement wing in the transport department,besides training and licensing more women drivers and conductors.

The third proposal relates to the setting up an SOS alert system in trains in select zones. Thiswill be designed like a helpline and will cover all service providers in telecom circles ofmobile and landline networks. Conversations between passengers and call centre agentswould be recorded

Tesco to invest $100 million in multi-brand

retail stores

More than a year after India opened up multi-brand retail trade to foreign direct investment,British retailer Tesco Plc became the first global retailer to seek the Governments nod toenter the segment.

Tesco plans to pick up a 50 per cent stake in Trent Hypermarket Ltd, a retail arm of the Tatagroup, and enter the multi-brand retailing arena.

The British retailer plans to invest $100 million (around Rs 620 crore) to set up retail storesin the country.

The stores will operate under the names Star Bazaar, Star Daily or Star Market, and the firstfew will come up in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

India unfazed as Fed begins tapering; betterprepared, says Chidambaram

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said India is better prepared to deal with the situationarising out of a cut in the US bond purchases and the local markets have already factored inthe impact of such a move.

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If any other policy responses are required, we will respond. At the moment, we think that allthat has been announced has been factored in, Chidambaram told reporters after the USmonetary authority initiated the much-awaited tapering or quantitative easing (QE).

Accordingly, the monthly purchase of bonds will be reduced to $75 billion from $85 billion.

This would result in lower fund flow from the US, which, in turn, will affect the stockmarkets in emerging economies, such as India, which hugely depend on foreign funds.

Bala, another veteran, quits Infosys

V. Balakrishnan, Bala, a key board member at Infosys and considered a hot favourite for thechief executive officers job, said on Friday that he is leaving the company by the end ofDecember.

This is the eighth high-profile exit at the IT major since May 2012. In a statement, InfosysChairman N.R. Narayana Murthy, who returned to the helm in June 2013, said: It is

difficult to imagine Infosys without Balas passion, commitment and intellect.

Bala currently heads Infosys BPO, India business, banking software unit Finacle, andconsulting subsidiary Lodestone. His roles will be shared by co-founder of the company andits Executive Co-Chairman, Kris Gopalakrishnan, who will head the BPO business on aninterim basis while the head of European operations as well as global head for financialservices and insurance unit, B.G. Srinivas, will hold additional charge of the chairmanship ofLodestone Holding.

It is learnt that Bala has, along with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai and former WiproJoint Managing Director Girish Paranjpe, launched a venture, Exfinity, which has a corpus of

Rs 100-125 crore, that will invest in tech start-ups.