BW Communities

After Challengers, Comes Challenges

BW Online Bureau Nov 08, 2014

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) new chief and the first woman at the post, France's Christine Lagarde, will have much to do when she takes over the post on 5 July for a five-year term. To start with, Greece's economic situation has to be addressed urgently. In the longer term, one of the major goals is to improve IMF's image and its functioning. The other goal would be to give more representation to emerging markets, which was among the promises Lagarde made while touring emerging nations before being elected. India, as many other countries, voted in her favour at the last moment after the US had made its choice. Nearing An End ONGC's board is finally ready with the red herring prospectus for a follow-on public offer (FPO) now that it has the required number of independent directors, and is thus able to comply with Sebi's norms. The company, however, still needs a go-ahead from the Department of Disinvestment. The plan is to sell 5 per cent of the government's 74.14 per cent stake in the company, worth about Rs 11,500 crore, within three weeks of the government approval. ONGC's FPO has been in the wings for long as it did not have the adequate number of independent directors. No Trust In Trust With more questions being raised over the way the trustees are running the multi-crore Sai Baba Trust, the Andhra Pradesh government may have found a way in to take over the trust, or at least control it in some part. It began with the government asking the trust to give financial details for the past five years. There is also a suggestion that the Sai Baba Trust should function on the lines of the Tirupati temple's trust. The government may, however, not be the best authority to run the trust, given its own high corruption levels. It could step in temporarily till transparency is built in, but exit after that. <table style="width: 260px;" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="10"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img src="/businessworld/system/files/AKHazarikaTS_justintimberlakeAP_250x176.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" width="250" height="176"></td> </tr> <tr> <td>MOVING ON: ONGC's A.K. Hazarika (left) (BW Pic By Tribhuwan Sharma) says follow-on offer may be out soon. Justin Timberlake and Specific Media buy Myspace (AP)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> A Breather On 30 June, the Calcutta High Court asked the West Bengal government to file an affidavit by 8 July on Tata Motors' petition challenging the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011. Tata Motors will have to reply by 12 July, and the next hearing will be on 14 July. A day earlier, the auto company had got a breather  when the Supreme Court barred the state government from returning the land set aside for a Tata project in Singur to its original owners until the case is settled. It's A Crowd Toyota recently launched a premium hatchback, Etios Liva. Priced in the Rs 3.99-5.99 lakh range, it will compete with Maruti Suzuki's Swift and Ritz, Hyundai's i10 and i20, Ford's Figo, General Motors' Beat, Volkswagen's Polo, Nissan's Micra and Tata Motors' Indica. Importantly, there is no diesel variant yet. And that might come in the way of selling 30,000 Livas this fiscal.      Sexy's Back Myspace has new owners — Justin Timberlake and advertising network Specific Media. The $35-million deal was reportedly hammered out in just 72 hours. News Corp had bought Myspace in 2005 for a much bigger amount — $580 million. The aim is to revive the ailing social network, which — the new owners believe — can become a leading digital platform for original shows, video content and music. The number of unique visitors to Myspace had slipped to about 35 million in May, and the company is going for large-scale lay-offs. Specific Media's Tim and Chris Vanderhook will take over the day-to-day running of operations. (This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-07-2011)