The largest such refiner -- Indian Oil Corporation -- has earmarked over Rs 13,500 crore (Rs 135 billion) to meet these specifications (essentially lower sulphur and aromatic hydrocarbons) in petrol and diesel at its seven refineries.
The rupee, which rose by over 12 per cent against the dollar this year, has slowed down the hiring plans of companies like Infosys, Satyam and HCL Technologies and also put pressure on their margins. Country's top software exporters -- TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and HCL Technologies have added 25,801 employees in the second quarter of 2007-08, against 27,000 in the second quarter of last fiscal.
Consequently, the thousands of first- and second-level students (comparable to first year and second year) will now have to go abroad to pursue the CFA course if they still wish to do so. This would mean an additional expense of thousands of dollars besides heartburn and anxiety.
After Harvard Business School and Tuck School of Business, India's developing corporate scenario has now attracted France-based ESCP-EAP European School of Management to hold executive education programmes for corporates in India.
Anil Kumble would be raking in around Rs 60-75 lakh a year for endorsing Manipal Education. Viswanathan Anand would be getting anywhere between Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Universities are choosing sports icons as brand endorsers as they not only want to portray themselves as excellent in academics, but extra-curricular performances too.
Industry bigwigs and corporate heavyweights have been scurrying to get the best students for themselves. Naturally, salaries are headed north.
Consider this. India's best paying B-school -- Indian School of Business, Hyderabad -- made offers to five international faculty members in the past three years. All of them chose to join management institutes in Singapore because of the fat pay packets. ISB pays its professors salaries that are five times more than an Indian Institute of Management professor. This means if an IIM professor's monthly salary is Rs 54,000, his counterpart at ISB would draw Rs 2,70,000 a month.
Leading five-star hotels in the country are taking their signature restaurants to cities across the country, thanks to their success and popularity. Taj Hotels and Palaces in Mumbai will open its signature Japanese restaurant, Wasabi by Morimoto, in Delhi by early next year.
While IIM-B is yet to decide on the exact quantum, the increase could be anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000. The institute will be revising its fee after three years. Through the revision, the institute plans to increase its earnings from the placement fee.
More than six hotel chains are looking at either building properties or expanding their presence in these states. ITC's WelcomHeritage brand, for instance, is scouting for properties in Nagaland and Kaziranga, Assam. The hotel, however, is already there in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya.
The Planning Commission, according to highly-placed sources, says GDP allocation to education will increase from its from current 3.5 per cent to 5 per cent by the end of the 11th Plan. Around 19.7 per cent of the total plan resources would be set aside for education, according to the sources in the Commission.
This Diwali, Rakesh Mehta, a senior sales and marketing employee with an IT firm, will celebrate in Australia with his family. Mehta, is one of the top performers of his company and has been rewarded with this 'Diwali Gift'. Other top performers from his company will celebrate their Diwali in New Zealand and Mauritius. In fact, a lot of IT, BPO, pharma companies and banks are rewarding their employees for good performance by sending them to exotic locations.
Another Indian School of Business (ISB) is taking shape. Rajat Gupta, the former CEO of McKinsey & Company and now a senior partner in the professional services firm, along with his team is planning to set up a second ISB, this time in the North. The existing ISB in Hyderabad was Gupta's brainchild and is among India's most coveted business schools. It is spread over 260 acres of land and was set up in December 1999 at a cost of around Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).
Dubai Holding, an investment firm of the Dubai government, has threatened to come out with an open offer for Orient-Express Hotels if the Tata group acquires a significant stake in the hotel chain. This comes exactly a month after the Tata group's Indian Hotels Company bought 10 per cent and expressed interest in striking a deal which was turned down by Orient-Express.
Shortage of staff is preventing the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission from summoning over 140 B-schools to furnish details about their fee structure, faculty payments and tie-ups. The body issued notices to around 100 "defaulter" B-schools last week.
Rising real estate costs and lack of good locations in cities are driving hotel companies to rent space in malls and other commercial complexes. For instance, Accor Hotels is in talks with mall developers to build its Formulae 1 brand of budget hotels at the topfloor of malls in tier I and tier II cities.
Ginger Hotels, the no-frills brand by Roots Corporation, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Indian Hotels which operates Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, is in talks with real estate developers to rent space in commercial complexes to run its hotels.
IMT-Ghaziabad's placement chairperson, Nilanjan Chatopadhyay, has scheduled visits to 15 companies in Singapore and eight in Hong Kong from July 2007 to January 2008. The institute has set aside a fund of Rs 6 lakh for promotional activities.
IIM-Bangalore has received around 70 offers so far this year .Companies which have made offers are Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro, HSBC, JP Morgan, HLL, P&G and Marico among others.
The rooms will be priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,400, based on the location, and will provide a basic room and dining service, gym and a wi-fi connection.
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