Wrong approach to food security

Coupons would work better than PDS as a food security mechanism. It is not surprising that the largest support for PDS comes from regions where pilferage is maximum

Business Line : Today's Paper / OPINION : Wrong approach to food security

PE Investment in Schools

“Education and Housing are core needs of India’s emerging consumers. This partnership between two sector leaders will leverage complementary strengths to help address the huge and immediate unmet  demand for K12 education from India’s quality seeking consumers," said Gopal Jain, Managing Partner of Gaja Capital.
There have been several investments in the school managements business since last year. Reliance Equity Advisors, the PE arm of Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital, invested Rs 100 crore in Pathways World School in its debut deal last year. New Silk Route invested up to $25 million in Hyderabad-based Sri Chaitanya Educational Group, one of the largest network of private schools and junior colleges.
India's K-12 segment is a $20-billion market growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14%, said a report by education-focused PE firm Kaizen Management Advisors. Factors like large and growing population, inefficient public system and preferences for private schools and colleges is driving this sector.
Education sector has seen investments of $190 million across 23 deals in the calendar year 2010, according to VCCEdge. This compared to 10 deals worth $128 million in the entire calendar year 2009.

REIT - Real Estate Investment trust

A real estate investment trust or REIT (pronounced /ˈriːt/ rhymes with street) is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate that reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their income, which may be taxable, into the hands of the investors. The REIT structure was designed to provide a similar structure for investment in real estate as mutual funds provide for investment in stocks.^[1]

Like other corporations, REITs can be publicly or privately held. Public REITs may be listed on public stock exchanges like shares of common stock in other firms.

REITs can be classified as equity, mortgage, or hybrid.

The key statistics to look at in a REIT are its net asset value (NAV), adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) and cash available for distribution (CAD).

What Does Real Estate Investment Trust - REIT Mean?
A security that sells like a stock on the major exchanges and invests in real estate directly, either through properties or mortgages.

REITs receive special tax considerations and typically offer investors high yields, as well as a highly liquid method of investing in real estate.

Equity REITs: Equity REITs invest in and own properties (thus responsible for the equity or value of their real estate assets). Their revenues come principally from their properties' rents.

Mortgage REITs: Mortgage REITs deal in investment and ownership of property mortgages. These REITs loan money for mortgages to owners of real estate, or purchase existing mortgages or mortgage-backed securities. Their revenues are generated primarily by the interest that they earn on the mortgage loans.

Hybrid REITs: Hybrid REITs combine the investment strategies of equity REITs and mortgage REITs by investing in both properties and mortgages.

Sustaining cost advantage

 He points out that having a demographic advantage and the youngest population in which a large number is not educated enough – and even if educated, lacks in employable skills – would not only deprive the corporate sector of manpower but also create conditions for skill shortage, high attrition rate, and exorbitant salaries thereby undermining the low-cost advantage of Indian corporates.

What anguishes Verma is that investments by the government on roads, ports, power, healthcare and education and so on with the potential to catalyse development could come to nought ‘because of the scale of corruption where 80 per cent of investments goes into wrong hands' and because there is no compliance and consequence management, and bureaucracy has a maze of rules and regulations that are enough to drive away the most passionate entrepreneur!

 Be perpetually prepared, be flexible, be innovative, build capacity, manage change, and manage partner ecosystem.
 ability to rebalance and reconfigure. In a classic repudiation of the strategic positioning principles, firms must have the capability to switch segments and operate in a plug-and-play mode to respond to opportunities which typically have
Airtel for its leveraging a network of relationships to bring in the necessary skills, technology, and architecture, making a choice of what it was good at and outsourcing the rest to its partners. “The resounding success of Airtel is a tribute to its capability in transforming its partners to become co-creators
 HR deliverables are therefore business deliverables, he calls for measurable value for HR investments; and demands that performance appraisals be not shorn of the understanding of financial dimensions of people performance such as EVA (economic value added), and CVA (customer value added).

Business Line : OTHERS / ACCOUNTANCY : Sustaining cost advantage

Opinion : IFRS and fair value

Business Line : Opinion : IFRS and fair value

‘A personal brand makes up your reputation, image'

“A brand is more than a logo. A personal brand is the sum of your behaviour, attitudes, action and personal style. It's what you are known for and makes up your reputation and image,”

but it is actually the process of building a better perception of yourself among others. So you need to care about other's perception of you as a brand. Most people also think personal branding is difficult. But if you believe in your skills and ability, it becomes easier to sell your brand,” she said.

“In a nutshell, a personal brand is nothing but who you are and so it becomes important for you to create your persona. To separate yourself from the rest of the crowd, create your own identity that enhances your visibility and preserves your reputation,” she said.

‘Personal branding is about identifying and articulating your unique value position.'

Business Line : OTHERS / STATES : ‘A personal brand makes up your reputation, image'

Indian Accounting Standards (Ind ASs) finalised by the Council of the ICAI

These are the near final Indian Accounting Standards (Ind ASs) finalised by the Council of the ICAI and sent to the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS). These are subject to any changes, which may be made by the Government before their notification. Any changes in the Ind AS vis. a vis. corresponding IAS/IFRS are given in Appendix 1 appearing at the end of each Ind AS
Ind AS.