MUMBAI: The Ahmedabad International Film Festival, which runs from 25 – 28 June, will be launching its Independent Film Bazaar.

Three studios at the Film Festival will be exclusively reserved for screenings for the film bazaar. The organisers of the event FulMarxx Integrated Filmed Entertainment Company and Go Bananas have launched this open market where filmmakers and buyers can interact and make business happen.

Shamiana-Short Film Club founder Cyrus Dastur said, “We at Shamiana are proud to be associated with The Ahmedabad International Film Festival and are in fact looking forward to an exciting event ahead. At AIFF, we’re hoping to acquire independent films for distribution. It is a great platform for people to connect and is sure to give a fillip to the business of short films.”

NDTV Lumiere business head Dhruvank Vaidya adds, “The Independent Film Bazaar is an excellent initiative to further promote the cause of high quality films in India. I am sure the participants of this Bazaar, both buyers and sellers will gain a lot from their interactions with a cross section of the industry and the network of connections that they will develop during these three days. NDTV Lumiere, whose mission is to develop an audience for quality cinema in India will also be an active participant in the Bazaar. We look forward to meeting and interacting with a wide range of like minded individuals during this time.”

This three-day event invites participation from filmmakers interested in finding buyers for their films.

AMRITSAR: Bharti Wal-Mart, an equal joint venture between world’s largest retailer Wal Mart and the Bharti Group that owns India’s largest
telecom company by sales, on Saturday said its first Indian cash and carry store will give up to 25% discount over the local wholesale market.

With this, Wal Mart becomes the second foreign retailer after Germany’s Metro to start cash and carry operations in India. UK retailer Tesco’s and France’s Carrefour are also planning to set up wholesale stores in India. Government policy currently bars foreign companies from setting up retail chains in India.

Bharti Wal Mart will sell cereals 2-5% cheaper, daily household products 10% cheaper, and higher-margin apparel and general merchandise 25% cheaper.

At the inuguration of its Amritsar-based store, that cost over $6-7 million, excluding real estate expenses, the company didn’t specify by when the store would break even. “We are not worried about profitability now. We are focused on serving cheap products to our customers. If we can have satisfied customers, profits will flow in,” said Bharti Wal-Mart CEO Raj Jain.

“There is a crying need for cash and carry business in India,” Bharti Enterprises MD Rajan Mittal said. Retailers can choose from 3,000 stock keeping units (SKU) in the Bharti Wal-Mart store compared to 700 SKUs in a typical wholesale store, he added.

The 50,000-sq-ft Amritsar store has already got 30,000 kirana stores, hotels, restaurants, and offices signed up as members out of a potential 75,000 members in 25-km radius, Mittal said.

The company has 800 suppliers, of which 80% are from Punjab. The store employs 200 people, including 60 from the company’s retail training school in the city. The company plans to roll out 15 such stores over three years in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Market sources claim that Hyundai India is considering bringing back the diesel edition of their Accent sedan in the market.

Hyundai Verna was launched as a replacement for the Accent but the diesel version of that model is much expensive compared to rival diesel sedans in the market.

Hyundai Accent is currently available in Petrol along with CNG/LPG options.

Maruti Suzuki dominates the diesel sedan market with their Swift DZiRE model. Other rivals include Tata Indigo.

Hyundai Accent remains an excellent model in its segment and a diesel version would further boost the sales for the company.

Bharti Airtel has joined the nettop and cloud computing bandwagon with its new “http://www.airtel.in/applications/genericlead/netpc/netpc.html” Airtel Net PC. This cloud-based computer consists of a 15-inch LCD monitor, keyboard and mouse, while storage is offered on Cloud servers. Airtel is offering this new Airtel Net PC from Airtel outlets and NEXT Electronics Stores for Rs. 7,999 for Airtel broadband customers in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida.

Airtel Net PC is a plug-and-play nettop that is power by Microsoft and Nivio Companion. This Net PC’s Windows XP customized by Nivio is connected to a backend Linux-based server for various applications
and storage through Nivio Companion. Net PC comes with 10GB of storage space in the clouds with 100 per cent data security.

Airtel is offering net PC in three entry packs - Home at Rs. 699 per month, Professional at Rs. 899 per month and Business at Rs. 1,199 per month.

The Home Pack gives 256kbps Airtel broadband connection with 3GB data transfer cap, online desktop service with 10GB storage and Microsoft Office standard. Professional pack offers Airtel broadband at same speed, data transfer cap, 10GB online storage and MS office standard with Admin rights.

While the Business pack offers again the same 256 kbps broadband connection with 3GB data transfer cap, 10GB online storage and MS Office Premium with Admin rights.

AHMEDABAD: In a record of sorts, two biggest cities of the state, Ahmedabad and Surat, saw housing projects worth over a staggering Rs 15,000 crore cleared in last couple of months, with some 1,000 building plans approved under section 80 IB of the Income Tax Act.With the Centre discontinuing the IT exemption under the section in this year’s budget, developers flocked to get their plans approved before March 31.

Projects under 80 IB enjoyed 100% tax exemption for a housing project on the size of a plot which has a minimum area of one acre; and the residential unit which has a maximum built-up area of 1,000 sq feet where such a unit is situated within the cities of Delhi or Mumbai or within 25 km from the municipal limits of these cities and 1,500 sq feet at any other place.

According to sources in Surat civic body and Surat Urban Development Authority, some 521 plans estimated to be worth Rs 10,000 crore were cleared in Surat alone. In Ahmedabad, over 400 plans have been approved by Ahmedabad civic body and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority worth close to Rs 5,000 crore. “We were hoping that the IT exemption would be extended.

But now all future projects will be taxed and most of the burden will have to be borne by property buyers,” president of Surat Builders’ Association Jayant Ganatra.
Developers said approvals were expedited at the behest of the state as projects exempted under IT target middle and upper middle income group people, and the latter probably did not want to annoy voters or developers in an election year. “The state urban development department issued a communique to all civic bodies to put all projects under 80 IB on priority and clear them before March 31,” said a civic official.

Ganatra said should also have to ease the norms to convert land into NA (non-agricultural), so that they can get a letter of permission from civic bodies to avail of the
IT benefit.

NEW DELHI: Country’s largest software services exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has opened a new development centre in
lop solutions for global corporations and support the e-governance initiatives of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Spanning over 3 acres of land, the centre is company’s second largest IT establishment in UP after the TCS facility in Noida. The centre which has a capacity of 1,500 seats is the latest addition to the company’s Global Network Delivery Model (GNDMTM).

TCS CEO and MD, S Ramadorai said, “Lucknow is an integral part of the TCS’ strategy to invest in Tier II cities and spread the IT revolution in the country. Lucknow has the potential to be a leader among the emerging IT destinations in India and it is this belief that has driven our strategy to invest in this area.”

The Lucknow centre will enable TCS to develop and implement software solutions for global corporations countries like the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore and South Africa. It would also support e-governance initiatives in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the company said.

The recent Nasscom and AT Kearney’s study, on attractiveness and potential of 50 cities across India for IT-BPO operations, listed Lucknow as a ‘challenger’ after the top 7 existing IT destinations.

Electronics major Sony India today said it is aiming at a market share of 30 per cent in the country’s ballooning LCD TV market in 2009-10, even as the Japanese company has no plans to start manufacturing LCDs in the country.

“We expect that our market share in LCD market in terms of volume should grow by 2 per cent to 30 per cent in the current fiscal compared with 28 per cent market share in last fiscal. In value terms, our market share would grow to 35 per cent,” Sony India General Manager Sunil Nayyar told reporters here.

With shifting its strategy to capitalise on the swelling LCD market in the country, the company is targeting to sell 4.5 lakh units in 2009-10 against 2.8 lakh units sold in the last fiscal.

Elaborating on the country’s growing LCD market, he said that the total market size of LCD television is expected to grow to 15 lakh units per annum in this year from just three lakh units in 2007-08.

“We are projecting that LCD market will grow by 50 per cent to 15,00,000 units from 10,00,000 units in 2008-09,” he said.

On being asked if Sony has any plan to set up a manufacturing facility for LCDs in the country to cater to the mounting demand, Nayyar said, “At the moment we do not have any plan to start manufacturing here due to some quality issues.”

He said the company would continue to import units from Japan, Malaysia and Thailand for marketing in India.

Sony India has already launched 14 new Bravia range of LCDs, which also includes slimmest LCD TV model measuring 9.9 mm and weighing 15 kg.

With a focus on passenger cars, the company’s top-line growth has improved, beating the automobile slowdown.
With a 14 per cent return over the past year, the Maruti Suzuki stock has outperformed the BSE Auto index (17 per cent decline) and has turned out to be one of the best defensive picks. At Rs 848, the stock discounts its four quarter earnings by 19 times. Strong performance has pushed its valuation to a premium over the entire auto pack (about 17 times), limiting possible upside over the medium term. However, shareholders of the company can remain invested for its strong earnings visibility.

With value-for-money offerings in the sedan segment and price increases to offset input costs, the company’s top-line for 2008-09 registered a growth of 13 per cent, beating the automobile slowdown. However, net profits have disappointed, declining by 30 per cent due to higher material costs, a change in depreciation policy and forex losses. With sustained sales growth in April 2009, planned launches and good export prospects, the company appears well-placed to deliver continued sales growth this year. Easing margin pressures, as commodity price declines filter in, suggest that the company is on track to deliver better earnings performance.

Strong product portfolio

Maruti’s key advantage lies in its focus on the passenger vehicle segment, which has weathered the slowdown better than commercial vehicles. Products at almost every price point — Alto, WagonR, Zen Estilo, Swift and A-Star — make the company a market leader in the hatchbacks (A2) segment. Intense competition and tight credit availability that prevailed for most of last year muted its sales growth in this space to 2.4 per cent. But with credit crunch easing out, this segment has shown better growth since the beginning of 2009 (10 per cent increase in sales between December 2008 and April 2009). Maruti has enlarged its market share in this segment to 59 per cent this year as against 53 per cent last year. Swift and the recently launched A-Star have helped these gains. The launch of Ritz this week may strengthen Maruti’s position in the hatchback market, as it occupies a price point between Swift and A-Star.

While the hatchback segment witnessed a slowdown last year, it is the sedan or the A3 segment that has delivered surprising growth for Maruti. Driven by launches of SX4 and Swift DZire (the sedan version of Swift), this segment has grown by 53.9 per cent. The sedans have been less vulnerable to the credit crunch, given that a higher proportion of purchases is funded by cash. The Sixth Pay Commission revision has also aided cash purchases in this segment.

Concerns however remain on Maruti’s entry-level models such as Maruti 800 and Alto. Preferred by the urban middle-class, these cars may face challenges in 11 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai Kolkata and Chennai, after a change in emission norms to Bharat Stage IV mandated by October 2009.

The company may have to either re-engineer these versions or phase them out in these cities to meet the new norms. As of now, there is not much clarity about what it plans to do in this regard. The Tata’s Rs 1 lakh car, the Nano, has also been perceived as a threat to Maruti’s entry level models. About 50 per cent of the bookings for the Nano are estimated to be for its high-end variants which are relatively close to Maruti 800 and Alto in terms of performance.

With the on-road price differential (in Delhi) of about Rs 35,000-Rs 50,000 between Maruti’s entry-level models and Nano’s high-end version, competition from this source cannot be ruled out.
Mighty export ground

Domestic sales apart, exports too are seen as a key growth driver for Maruti over the next couple of years. Engineered to suit European standards, A-Star has lifted Maruti’s exports by 32 per cent for FY09. Exports accounted for 10 per cent of the company’s sales volumes in the last fiscal.

Maruti has a contract with Nissan to manufacture 50,000 of A-Star under the ‘Pixo’ label in Europe and a tie-up with Suzuki to ship 10,000 units of the car to Latin America, Algeria, Australia and some African nations.

Favourable incentives offered by the European countries, for fuel-efficient small cars to replace the older ones, give ample room for the company to expand its export volumes. Maruti has reached 38 per cent of its export target (two lakh units by fiscal year 2010-11) so far. The launch of Ritz (another model that may suit European requirements), could also hold potential.

Financial scorecard

The year 2008-09 ended with a sales growth of 13 per cent, while total volumes grew by 3.6 per cent. Excise duty cuts aided sales margins. High-cost pressures from some raw materials such as steel, aluminium alloys and rubber, and a change in product mix in favour of diesel variants (particularly in Swift and DZire), resulted in the operating profits declining by 48 per cent on a year-on-year basis. The net profits shrank by 30 per cent.

Forex losses incurred in FY-09 may be viewed as a one-off profits dampener since they were on account of import contracts for raw materials. The company has been slow to benefit from softened commodity prices since it has entered into long-term agreements for raw materials.

The effect of lower input costs will trickle in by the first quarter of this fiscal. With initiatives to localise vendors, operating profits are expected to grow by 20-30 per cent in 2010-11. On a sequential basis, the company has seen 33 per cent increase in sales volume and a 19 per cent increase in net profits for the March 2009 quarter.

Microsoft has unveiled a toolkit for PHP developers building open-source applications that help fluff its planned Azure cloud.

PHPAzure is a software development kit (SDK) for programming to both Windows Azure and the underlying SQL-like Windows Azure Storage service’s blobs, tables, and queues. PHPAzure is an open-source project developed with RealDolmen and hosted on Microsoft’s CodePlex site.

The PHPAzure community technology preview (CTP) was unveiled by Microsoft India and is due for completion on August 21. Azure is itself currently in CTP and has been promised for delivery by the end of this year.
PHP is one of the web’s most popular programming languages, running more than 20 million sites. It’s also used in conjunction with Apache, Linux, and MySQL - a web server, operating system, and database combo that Microsoft is in competition with.

Microsoft’s recognized the importance of winning over PHP developers and has worked with Zend Technologies to fine-tune PHP to Windows until now. The risk was developers would otherwise build their PHP applications on Windows and deploy on Linux instead.
With PHP being a default web-programming environment, Microsoft has accepted it must embrace the language as a way to populate Azure with applications, moving it from a standing stop.

PHPAzure sounds like a framework for PHP programmers to build to Azure and its underlying storage system rather than a new language from Microsoft. Features include PHP classes for Windows Azure blobs, tables, and queues, for HTTP transport, AuthN/AuthZ, REST, and error management, and there is manageability, instrumentation, and logging support. You can read more on the architecture here.

Bootnote

Sybase has announced plans for its server products to work in Amazon’s cloud. The company said it’ll make Amazon Machine Images (AMIs), developer guides, and developer software for its software freely available for development and testing. Sybase is also working with Amazon to devise “flexible utility computing models” of its software to enable pay-per-use billing on the Amazon cloud.

Once a database contender to Oracle, Sybase today has a diverse set of products covering mobile and business intelligence. But the announcement will likely only apply to its database and data integration and replication products. It will expand the number of database options available on Amazon and keep Sybase in the game - though it’s coming a little late. Amazon’s EC2 currently offers IBM’s DB2 and Informix, Oracle 11g, Microsoft’s SQL Server Standard Edition 2005, and MySQL Enterprise.

Sybase also said it’s working with Symantec and its Veritas Storage Foundation to optimize its Virtualized Resource Management framework from the company’s ASE Cluster Edition for use in cloud-based storage. ®

Sony
has announced the launch of the world’s thinnest LCD TV in the country along with dozens of other new models to strengthen their current crop of offerings in the mid to high end segment.

The highlight of the launch however was the announcement of the Bravia ZX1, which at 9.9mm happens to be the world’s thinnest 40″ LCD TV. And soon it will be on sale in India! Apart from being slim, this one is quite light as well, tipping the scales at just 15.5 kg. The slim form factor doesn’t mean that features have been compromised upon. In fact, this might just be one of the most feature-packed LCD TV’s out there.

The ZX1 features Bravia Engine2, Edge LED technology, Motionflow 100Hz and Image Blur reduction as image techniques to reproduce premium pictures with vivid and vibrant tonal range. As expected, the TV supports a Full HD display resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels. For easy integration with compatible BRAVIA products, it comes with Theatre Sync and possesses outstanding audio enhancement features like a digital amplifier, S-Force Surround, voice zoom and Dolby digital plus.

For wireless freaks who wouldn’t want themselves caught fiddling with messy wires, say hello to Wireless HD that enables the users to enjoy Full HD quality images without any messy wires or cables. The TV comes packed with four independent HDMI inputs, a PC input, composite inputs, component inputs, USB connection, and a RGB compatible SCART input.
Apart from the ZX1, the company has also announced the addition of as many as fourteen new TV’s to the S, V, W and Z series. The new TV’s launched will be priced between the Rs. 16,000 and Rs. 2.99 lakh range and will range from 20″ entertainers to 50″ monsters. The price of the ZX1 is yet to be announced.

Sony has also announced that after its decision to cease the production of CRT’s back in December, it will now completely stop the sale of CRT’s and is awaiting the exhaustion of stocks at its dealers to concentrate on LCD’s and large screen TV’s. The company has also registered a considerable growth in the number of large screen TV sales over the past year.