While a few say that they have already recorded a significant drop in bookings, others say that if the trend continues, the effects will be reflected on the revenues for the next three to six months.
According to Crisil Research, the average room rates in cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are likely to fall 5-10 per cent in the next few months. Industry experts said the occupancy rates could fall from 75-80 per cent now to 65-70 per cent soon.
Hospitality majors, including Le Meridien and Pride Hotel, are opposing pay channels such as Star and Zee for raising rates for the second time in six months, pending an earlier court battle between the hotel trade body and private broadcasters.
The oil marketing companies are driving credit growth. The banking sector -- which typically sees credit contraction in the initial months -- has managed to buck the trend and has added nearly Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) of advances in the first seven weeks of the current financial year thanks to the demand from the two sectors.
Two ex-IIT Kharagpur students have decided to come out of their comfortable professional zones to create a venture called 'Demazi', which would enable SMEs to create their own IT solution online at a minimal cost. SMEs owners can log on to the website and key in the requirments they need from the software.
Brushing aside objections over brand dilution, the government has reportedly begun work on modifying the IIT Act, 1961, to ensure that the eight new engineering institutes it is setting up come under the premier Indian Institute of Technology umbrella.
The central government's view of exploring public-private partnership (PPP) in the establishment of new institutes of higher learning has a private hand, right from the first step.
For students aspiring to take up post graduate studies at Canada and getting a work permit subsequently, there is good news. International students will now be able to obtain an open work permit under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Programme, with no restrictions on the type of employment and no requirement for a job offer.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation's wind power foray is facing teething troubles. The state-run company plans to set up 100 mw capacity at an investment of Rs 500 crore. Its first project - a pilot of 25 mw coming up in Maharashtra's Dhule district - is being shifted to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan following protests by farmers.
The premier Indian Institutes of Management will have to draw on all their management skills to solve the current financial imbroglio they are in. On the one hand, the fee hike by IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore has caused heartburn not only among students and the Union Human Resource Development Ministry but also among the other IIMs who say they were not consulted despite an existing agreement to do so. IIM-A and IIM-B have said that a fee hike is a prerogative of their own
Ahmedabad-based Malibu Plastica, a manufacturer of polycarbonate plastic sheets, is working on redesigning the metal tops of post boxes, which would make it rust-free and weather resistant. This is the first time such a project has been undertaken.
They are of the view that calling the new institutes "IITs" would dilute the brand image of the existing premier institutes, which figure among the world's 100 best technology universities and are compared with the likes of MIT, California University and Berkeley. The seven IITs are located in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Delhi, Guwahati and Roorkee.
The government appears to have hit upon a novel faculty-sharing solution to tackle the shortage of quality faculty at the premier Indian Institutes of Technology. The shortage will accentuate now that eight new IITs have been announced.
For those mulling their first job offer and wondering if they are being paid right, here is a website that could give an indication.
In December 2009, the Consulate will change its address from the landmark Lincoln House in south Mumbai to the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where it will have 40 visa windows as compared with the 17 visa windows at present.
The move was initiated by National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda as an incentive to encourage innovation, collaboration, licensing and commercialisation in Indian institutes. The matter is before the Cabinet and will shortly be moved to Parliament for approval, according to a source close to the development. The law will be on the lines of the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act of America.
The Delhi Daredevils, IPL's Delhi team which is owned by the GMR Group, has recruited a student of the Postgraduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGP-PMP) from the institute to manage its operations. Colonel Vinod Bisht, the student, has been hired as assistant vice-president (operations) for the company for a Rs 30-40 lakh package.
When Samir K Barua took over as the director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) in November 2007, he had listed knowledge creation, hiring and retention of faculty members and increasing contacts with the industry as his priority work areas. Four months on, Barua is planning a number of initiatives in the upcoming academic year towards achieving his objectives.
At IIM-Ahmedabad, 11 students opted out of placements to start their own venture. While at IIM-Bangalore, 4 students chose not to join the corporate world, IIM-Kozhikode had 5 students who decided to kick-start their own venture. At S P Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, out of 89 students, one student decided to opt out of placements to join his own family business where he would be heading a new division.
CPI (M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury has outsourced the planning of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme in West Bengal to IIM-A students. Students will be involved closely with the constituency's role in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. 4-5 students will work on this project and will be guided by faculty advisors. This project will enable students to understand the working of government and public policy.