08.12.2006

• National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities
• Is a 4 member body headed by former Supreme Court Justice Ranganath Misra
• CAC proposal gets shelved
• TRAI’s proposal to implement Carrier Access Code (CAC) which allows the end users to choose their preferred NLD (National Long Distance) operator has been given a cold shoulder by the DoT. And TRAI also seems to have given up on the issue.
• One plausible reason for not pursuing the matter further is that over 10 new operators have now entered the NLD space. This has resulted in adequate competition in the NLD space; a thing which was the driving force behind introducing the CAC.
• Private Security guards business
• This industry is growing at a brisk 25%.
• Currently estimated to be about Rs. 8,000 cr business in India.
• The organized big firms in this sector employ more than 50 lakh security personnel, 4 times larger than the police force in the country.
• Nevertheless the industry is have more number of unorganized players than organized players.
• Airport regulator proposed
• A regulatory body for the airports is on the anvil.
• It would look into a variety of subjects including encouraging investment in airport facilities, ensuring a level playing field among all airports, protecting interest of the users and determining tariffs at all major airports.
• Consequences of delisting for a company from a stock exchange
• Delisting means that the company’s stock cannot be traded on the exchange. It results in the investors’ losing out, if they want to exit a company. A listed company’s shares get traded more than an unlisted company’s shares. Trading in the latter category is virtually NIL.
• BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) or for that matter many other regional stock exchanges follow a skewed policy when it comes to organizing the stock market. They delist a company when they get to know that a company has violated corporate governance norms. This should not be done. This is nothing short of washing their hand off troublesome companies. It damages instead of protecting the interests of the shareholders. The managements of such companies simply walk away after cornering public money and using it for their personal purposes rather than build any wealth for and on behalf of the investors who made the investments in good faith.
• In developed countries what such bad companies face is the prospect of being hauled up before the courts and facing the strong arm of the law of the land. Only when civil and criminal cases fail to rectify any situation, the companies are delisted, as a last resort.
• Snippets about Chirstmas
• Who is Krampus?
• Folklore has it that it is a devil like figure who drove away evil spirits during the Christian holiday season.
• Santa Claus is also known as St. Nicholas, Father Christmas or Kris Kringle.
• What benefits did PE (Private Equity) players bring to the Indian market?
• In a very good article that appeared in today’s ET, this question gets answered very well.
• Before we go into the specific answer let us see what is meant by Private Equity. It is a broad term that refers to any type of equity investment in a company in which the equity is not freely tradable on a public stock market. Private equity funds typically control management of the companies in which they invest, and often bring in new management teams that focus on making the company more valuable.
• There are broadly three core competencies that PE players bring in:
• It opens doors: PE players accelerate the process of providing access to extensive networks of suppliers, potential customers, other investors and outside management experts. They are masters of matching talent and resources across their holdings, enabling companies to help one another.
• PE players know their way around mergers and acquisitions: In the context of Indian companies looking to acquire stakes in strategic partners globally and being willing to be acquired by foreign companies looking to expand their presence in India, PE players offer the needed strengths to consummate successful mergers and acquisitions.
• PE elevates corporate governance: Transparency and independent oversight – the key attributes of good corporate governance ethic – are important in view of the prevalence in India of company boards that operate through close family ties. PE players bring in fresh talent and formal discipline for the corporate board room.
• The article also gives you some very good examples on each of the three competencies. It is worth reading it at least once. Read it here.