Cover Story
- Are Indian CEOs overpaid? Mercer's study of the CEOs of the Wall Street Journal 350 showed median levels of total direct compensation to be at $6.5 million.
- With new industries and businesses taking off, the war for top management talent has pushed CEO salaries to record levels. But the fact is, not every CEO is getting paid obscenely and certainly not as much as what some CEOs in the US take home.
Destabilising divide
Besides, employment, the only way the poor can be pulled out of poverty while creating economic value, has been shrinking in the public sector. The government's attempt to resuscitate agriculture by pumping in Rs 25,000 crore into the sector is noteworthy.The corporate governance imperative
Sir Adrian Cadbury was probably the first to enshrine the "Code of Best Practices for Corporate Governance" in 1992 at the behest of the London Stock Exchange. Rising liquidity in the system is not only fuelling inflationary pressures, but also creating monetary management problems for the central bank. GE's young turk
Tejpreet or TP was serving as President & CEO, Commercial Finance, in GE India since 2006. Fresh lease of life?
With a debt of Rs 757 crore weighing on his shoulders and dogged by no less than 43 lenders, Sushil Suri (43), CMD, Morepen Laboratories, has for long been in troubled waters. Goodbye low fares?
The consolidation in the Indian airspace will put an end to predatory pricing. The fortnight's burning question. The Seiko Corporation has a policy of not getting into many markets at the same time. We did a lot of research before we decided to enter India.No, sensex won't crash, it'll move sideways
For months now, pundits have been expecting the stock market to tank. And, if only to prove them wrong, the BSE Sensex has defied these predictions and hovered around the 14,000-mark for the last few months.Cell phone sales grow 50 per cent
Riding on an addition of 65 million to India's wireless subscriber base in 2006-07, mobile handsets clocked sales of Rs 21,434 crore in 2006-07, a growth of 50.3 per cent.Indian Immigrants: America's best 'Imports'
Immigrants are fuelling the creation and growth of hi-tech businesses in the US, with at least one foreign-born founder in a quarter of hi-tech firms started between 1995 and 2005.Inflation monster down, not out
Inflation may have cooled, to less than 5 per cent for the week ended May 26, down from over 6 per cent a few weeks ago, but the authorities are not taking it easy yet. As part of its strategy to combat rising prices, the government is now planning to permit cheaper imports. That India has an incredibly complex indirect tax structure is indisputable. Complicating matters is the dual VAT system currently in vogue, with taxes imposed at both central and state levels and the separation between VAT for goods and VAT for services. Three of Tamil Nadu's Top 20 engineering colleges have modified their placement systems to provide a slightly more level playing field for companies that may not be automatic first choices for students. It would not have been difficult for Chepuri Krishna, a student of IIM-Ahmedabad, to get a summer internship at any leading company. But unlike his peers, he chose to walk on a path that had never been explored before. $150 billion (Rs 6,15,000 crore) is what India will have to spend over the next seven-to-eight years to bridge the infrastructure deficit. For more on such interesting numbers read on.India's bane: Low productivity
Despite the steroid-charged 9.4 per cent growth in Indian GDP in 2006-07, the country still lags way behind other Asian economies in a crucial, even critical, parameter-labour productivity. Phil Hester, senior VP and chief Technology Officer of computer chip maker AMD, was in India recently. He spoke to Business Today's Rahul Sachitanand on the semiconductor market. Excerpts.India Inc.: Other income to the rescue
The overall optimism was kept alive by India Inc. which reported another good quarter ended June 2007. At first glance, the performance seems fantastic. Go green, get hired
Climate change management and green projects are offering new career avenues. Here's how you can do your bit for the cause of the environment as you expand your horizons.Project managers in peak demand
India Inc. looks for versatile project executors. Tarun Sheth answers queries related to your career. Coffee, Tea or Bhajan?
Big Bazaar is going out of its way to make small-town consumers feel comfortable with the beast called modern retail, discovers. The great Indian grain game
Wheat trade in the country is no longer what it used to be. Underlying the new dynamics is the loss of self-sufficiency in production. BT looks at how the farmer misread the market, and (surprise!) the government got it right. Here's how procurement can be made more efficient. It's well known for its insurance ventures with the Tatas (and arguably better known for being Manchester United's principal sponsor). Now, however, the world's largest insurer is going the whole hog in the Indian financial services arena, with forays into mutual funds, real estate funds, mortgage guarantee and asset reconstruction. A clutch of Indian corporate giants is following in the footsteps of global megacorps like Microsoft, Intel and Alcoa by kickstarting operations in one of the few global economies (other than China and India) that's humming at a growth rate of 8 per cent. Indian engineers are turning out to be Korean chaebol Samsung Electronics Co.'s secret weapon. They are leading global productivity benchmarks and are now pushing its agenda of innovation and helping develop some of the niftiest gizmos on earth. The promoters at Murugappa have returned to the helm at a time when group revenues have topped $2 billion, but the market cap has taken a big hit. The challenge is obvious.A foggy castle in the toxic air
In all, Dharavi is spread across 223 hectares. If even a fifth of Dharavi's slum dwellers decide to block the central line for a couple of hours, the city would come to a standstill. Fortune in cookies
Two and a half years into her stint as the MD of biscuit major Britannia, Vinita Bali has got growth back. But where are the margins? A shortage of manpower and soaring overheads have forced hotels to adopt technology to lower costs and improve service. Noted
By the TV Today Network, the Rs 200-crore topline mark in 2006-07. Its revenues have grown over 20 per cent to Rs 202.44 crore (Rs 167.89 crore) and its net profit is up 12 per cent to Rs 31.09 crore against Rs 27.77 crore last year. New promises to keep
Kushal Pal Singh, 75, is credited with almost single-handedly transforming Gurgaon, a once sleepy village on the outskirts of Delhi, into one of India's hottest and ritziest residential and commercial hubs over the last two decades. A bird's eye view
M&A deals in the country are in for a dose of regulation. If the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has its way, global M&A deals involving assets exceeding Rs 500 crore and a turnover in excess of Rs 1,500 crore in India, will require the approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The future of computing is here
Bill Gates' latest toy, earlier called Project Milan, is a computer integrated into a flat surface (table/wall/door) that has been five years in the making. Sniffing the moolah
Drink, be merry and, while you are at it, make some money. It's early days yet, but wines are spicing up the investment space. Diabetes falls in the category of "lifestyle diseases" and, often, the best way to treat it is to bring about changes in your lifestyle. The Nissan Teana is very comfortable, but guzzles a little too much fuel. Sexy, but very expensive
The new Sony Vaio VGC-LA38G is pure eye candy, but it could do with better specs. Southern Seduction
PE investors are a rage in small town south India. An Idea-Spice merger may have fallen through-for now. Acquisitions aren't exactly a novelty for Amtek Auto-the Delhi-headquartered auto component major has picked up six companies in the past 5 years. No-poaching pacts will have mixed results in a fast market India Infoline poaches big time from a foreign brokerage. A private equity player appears set for a foothold in Patni. Rishad's appointment clears the air over succession plans. Call for information, but share some too. An American university gets ready to operate out of AP. Movie rentals could be worth Rs 2,000 crore by 2010. The consumer electronics giant aims for $1 billion by 2009. FDI pours into West Bengal's realty space. Now BlackBerrys in Bangalore will help track erring drivers. TimesJobs and Naukri slug it out-again. TCS clicks on solutions in regional languages. Multiplayer gaming is the latest sport in town. Mumbai's municipal corporation joins the retail rush. On a Roll
Mutual funds assets under management have hit a new landmark. For the first time, there is an endowment plan that combines three features. Interest costs on credit cards cost a fortune. Here's how to pay it back. Real estate stocks have soared to sky-high levels. But with growth staggering, it's time for a reality check. As markets zoom higher, volatility increases and so does risk. But options offer a hedge against risk. They grow fast and often provide multi-bagger returns for investors. Here's how to profit from them. Whatever happened to serviced apartments?
A few years ago, serviced apartments seemed all set to take off. They haven't. What went wrong? Indian hospitality groups have been making desultory acquisitions abroad. That may not be enough to produce an Indian Four Seasons. More than 37,000 hotel rooms, at a cost of $3 billion, are expected to be added over the next three years. That's more than the 'branded' rooms India currently has. 
