In our continuing series Namaste Obama, today we take a look at why US companies oppose the IPR regime which India claims is WTO compliant
India and the United States have been engaging actively on boosting trade and investment ties but differences over India's IPR regime is an irritant. In our continuing series Namaste Obama, today we take a look at why US companies oppose the IPR regime which India claims is WTO compliant, reports, CNBC-TV18's Rituparna Bhuyan.
There is tremendous need for innovation in these days whether it is in the renewal of existing systems and bringing more efficiency to those or completely new kinds of opportunities that are opening up, says Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka.
Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18's Menaka Doshi on the sidelines of 45th World Economic Forum in Davos, Sikka says the company needs to look beyond IT budgets and must consider revenues and costs.
He believes a lot of companies are fighting fundamental disruption in the industry and many clients are looking at automation to cut costs.
Below is verbatim transcript of the interview:
Q: What take away are you taking away from Davos with regards to the spending environment in 2015?
A: I have always believed that when the times are good you need innovation and when the times are not so good you need innovation and so far I would say I have met a dozen leaders and that is coming true in spades.
There is a tremendous need for innovation in these days whether it is in the renewal of existing systems and bringing more efficiency to those or completely new kinds of opportunities that are opening up in front of us. So, I just met with a very large financial services company chairman and it is true. There is a tremendous need for innovation out there.
Q: What does that mean in term of IT budgets, do you think that this will be a year of robust IT budget spending?
A: It depends on the industry, the circumstances companies are in, however, we have to also look beyond the IT budget and at the broader performance of the company both on the costs side as well as the revenue side. So, when you look at it more holistically, we see that a lot of companies are fighting fundamental disruption in the industries and so there is a great need for innovative ways to think about things.
Yesterday, we met with a whole bunch of our clients and our prospects and everyone seems to be on the one hand thinking about the broader economic environment, how to lower costs and things like this and on the other hand they are thinking about what does automation mean for us, what is the sort of pervasive digitisation that is happening all around and what does that mean for us. So, I do not see any shortage of need for new ideas and new innovations.
Q: What does that mean for those who measure Infosys quarter by quarter or even financial year by financial year? Will your clients be spending more this year than they were in 2014?
A: We will have a lot more to say on that in April but there is a great opportunity. There is no shortage of innovation to be done in the software world, in the services world, the bigger challenge is can we rise up to those opportunities and deliver internally and this is the thing that I worry about.
I am focussed most on how do we organise ourselves, how do we gear up to serve the great need out there for software and so the performance depends not so much on the availability of the opportunity outside but our ability to deliver against that.
Q: I am going to quote from a survey done by Goldman Sachs very recently on spending intentions for the IT business and 52 percent of the respondents expected a pickup in discretionary budgets in the next six months, a 16 percent uptick from the August reading and large offshore vendors have been preferring tier 2 vendors, the survey seems to be indicating that this is a time when Indian companies can improve market share. Would you agree broadly with these statements?
A: Broadly, I would agree with that. There is no shortage of innovation and great projects to be done.
Infosys stock price
On January 22, 2015, Infosys closed at Rs 2195.70, up Rs 30.60, or 1.41 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 4401.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 1447.00.
The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 104.69 per share as per the quarter ended December 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 20.97. The latest book value of the company is Rs 366.51 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 5.99.
Weak jewellery demand and rising operational expenses have hurt the company's profitability over the last four quarters.
Having faced poor customer demand and rising operational costs, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri is now inviting franchisees to be part of its 150 year old family run business. So will the new business model add the much needed sparkle to TBZ's financial performance? Here's a report.
According to CEO Prem Hinduja, the plan of the company is to expand from 91,000 sq ft to 150,000 sq ft the first phase of its business expansion with both company-owned managed stores and franchisee stores."
Weak jewellery demand and rising operational expenses have hurt the company's profitability over the last four quarters.
TBZ says it may take a few more quarters for demand to pick up, but it is confident that customers will return to the stores in larger numbers as the economic mood lifts across the country.
Investing.com - Investing.com - The Australian dollar gained in Asia early Thursday as investors looked ahead to a key European Central Bank meeting.
AAUD/USD traded at 0.8098, up 0.15%, while USD/JPY traded at 117.83, down 0.11%. EUR/USD changed hands at 1.1616, up 0.04%.
In Australia, MI inflation expectations are due at 0030 GMT for January, with a sharp fall expected from last month's 3.4%, while HIA new homes sales for November are also due with the previous a gain of 3.0%.
Overnight, the dollar trimmed losses against the other major currencies on Wednesday, inching its way back toward recent 12-year highs as investors turned their attention to the European Central Bank's upcoming policy meeting on Thursday.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month decreased by 1.9% to 1.032 million units from November's total of 1.052 million.
Analysts expected building permits to rise by 1.3% to 1.055 million units in December.
The report also showed that U.S. housing starts rose by 4.4% last month to hit 1.089 million units from November's total of 1.043 million units, compared to expectations for a reading of 1.040 million.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded down 0.01% at 93.00.
Sentiment on the single currency remained vulnerable as investors waited to see if the European Central Bank would embark on an outright quantitative easing program on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Bank of Japan maintained the size of its stimulus program and reiterated its pledge to increase base money at an annual pace of ¥80 trillion through buying government bonds and risk assets.
The central bank also cut its core inflation forecast 1% from 1.7% three months ago.
The loonie weakened broadly after the Bank of Canada unexpectedly lowered its overnight target rate to 0.75% from 1.0% previously, saying that the rout in oil prices over the past six months would be negative for growth and underlying inflation in Canada.
The BoC said it now expects economic growth to slow to about 1.5% and the output gap to widen in the first half of 2015. Inflation is also expected to fall below the bank's target during the coming year, before moving higher again in 2016.
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Investing.com - Investing.com - Crude oil prices eased in early Asia on Wednesday as markets look ahead to data on U.S. supplies.
The American Petroleum Institute will release its estimates of U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products last week. The data is a day late because of a public holiday in the U.S. on Monday.
That means the more closely watched data by the U.S. Department of Energy on U.S. supplies will come a day later on Thursday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in March eased 0.07%, to trade at $46.64 a barrel.
Overnight, West Texas Intermediate oil futures sold off sharply on Tuesday, after the International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth outlook and China's economy expanded at its slowest pace in 24 years.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for March delivery declined 88 cents, or 1.79%, to trade at $47.97 a barrel Tuesday.
The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for 2015 to 3.5% from a previous estimate of 3.8%, citing slowing economies in China, Russia, the euro zone and Japan.
Meanwhile, official data released Tuesday showed that China's economy grew 7.4% in 2014 from a year earlier, below the government's official target of 7.5% and the slowest pace since 1990. It expanded 7.7% in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, China's economy expanded at an annual rate of 7.3%, beating expectations for 7.2% and holding steady from the prior quarter.
China is the world's second largest oil consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.
Oil prices have fallen nearly 60% since June as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries resisted calls to cut output, while the U.S. pumped at the fastest pace in more than three decades, creating a glut in global supplies.
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Investing.com - Investing.com - The yen held weaker ahead of the latest Bank of Japan monetary policy review statement due Wednesday with New Zealand consumer prices also ahead.
USD/JPY traded at 118.84, up 1.08% in early Asia, while NZD/USD changed hands at 0.7673, down 1.39%. AUD/USD was also weaker at 0.8176, down 0.42% and EUR/USD held around 1.1554, down 0.44%.
In New Zealand, fourth quarter CPI data is due at 1045 local time, with expectations for a flat quarter and a year-on-year increase of 0.9%.
In Australia, the January Westpac-MI consumer sentiment is due at 1030 in Sydney (2330 GMT). In December, the index fell 5.7% m/m to 91.1, the lowest level since August 2011.
The main event for the day is due in Tokyo around 1230 (0330 GMT), with the BoJ due to make its policy announcement after its 2-day board meeting.
The BoJ is likely to keep monetary policy unchanged as officials continue monitoring the longer-term stimulative effect of falling energy prices. There has been some speculation of fresh easing in the wake of the SNB's decision last week, though most analysts believe this is unlikely.
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will then host a news conference at 1530 (0630 GMT) to explain the board's decision.
Overnight, the dollar remained at 12-year highs against the other major currencies on Tuesday, after the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global economic growth in 2015 and as tepid Chinese economic growth data failed to boost investor confidence
Global growth is projected at 3.5% for 2015 and 3.7% for 2016, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report, reducing its forecast by 0.3 percentage points for both years. However, the IMF raised its outlook for U.S. growth this year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, stood at 93.91 in early Asia.
The euro showed little reaction to a report showing that the closely watched ZEW index of German economic sentiment rose to an 11-month high of 48.4 in January from 34.9 in December, ahead of forecasts of 40.0.
The report boosted hopes that Germany's economy, the euro zone's largest would rebound in 2015 after weakening at the end of last year.
The ZEW survey of euro zone economic sentiment increased to a six-month high of 45.2 from 31.8 in December, beating forecasts of 37.6.
Sentiment on the single currency remained vulnerable as investors waited to see if the ECB would embark on an outright quantitative easing program at its upcoming meeting on Thursday.
Uncertainty over the outcome of Greek elections, due to be held on Sunday, with anti-bailout party Syriza leading in the polls also weighed.
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Israeli helicopter strike in Syria killed five members of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement including the son of group's late military leader Imad Moughniyah, sources close to Hezbollah said, in an attack that has the potential to trigger reprisals.
Israel's military declined to comment, but Israel's Ynet news Web site quoted an Israeli military source as saying the attack had targeted "terrorists who intended to attack Israel".
The missile strike hit Jihad Moughniyah's convoy in the Syrian province of Quneitra, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the Lebanese sources said.
The strike comes three days after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he considered frequent Israeli strikes in Syria as a major aggression, and that Syria and its allies had the right to respond. Hezbollah has been fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria's nearly four-year-old civil war.
The Hezbollah-run al-Manar news channel did not mention Moughniyah but said Hezbollah had confirmed that a group of its fighters were killed when they were checking an area in Quneitra.
It said Hezbollah would announce the names of the dead later on Sunday.
Quneitra has seen heavy fighting between forces loyal to Assad and rebels including fighters linked to al Qaeda.
"An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles on Amal Farms in Quneitra," the Lebanese news channel said earlier, adding that two reconnaissance planes had also been seen flying over the area.
Israel has struck Syria several times since the start of the war, mostly destroying weaponry such as missiles that Israeli officials said were destined for Hezbollah, Israel's long-time foe in neighbouring Lebanon.
Syria said last month that Israeli jets had bombed areas near Damascus international airport and in the town of Dimas, near the border with Lebanon.
Imad Moughniyah, who was on the United States' most wanted list for attacks on Israeli and Western targets, was assassinated in Damascus in 2008.
(Reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut and Dan Williams and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
USA-BOXOFFICE:Eastwood's "American Sniper" wins big in U.S. box office battle
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oscar-nominated war film "American Sniper" led U.S. and Canadian box office charts over the weekend with a record-setting $90.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates.
The film, which smashed the record for a January weekend, was directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Bradley Cooper.
It far exceeded expectations after widely expanding to some 3,500 screens the day after scoring six Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for star Bradley Cooper, who plays a Navy Seal sharpshooter.
R-rated comedy "The Wedding Ringer" finished in second place with $21 million for three days through Sunday during the U.S. Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend.
Another new release, family film "Paddington" based on the series of classic children's books about a loveable bear, came in third with $19.3 million.
"The Wedding Ringer" stars Kevin Hart and Josh Gad in a buddy comedy about a for-hire best man, played by Hart.
"Paddington" chronicles the adventures of the bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) who travels to London from Peru seeking a home. Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and Nicole Kidman star in it.
"American Sniper" was released by Warner Brothers, a unit of Time Warner Inc. "The Wedding Ringer" was released by Sony Corp's movie studio. "Paddington" was released by The Weinstein Company.
(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Blackberry is back with the much awaited 'Classic' aiming to woo its original fan following all over again. Will the company hit a home run this time around, reports CNBC-TV18's Megha Vishwanath.
It's time for the weekly tech dose and this story might get you somewhat nostalgic! Blackberry is back with the much awaited 'Classic' aiming to woo its original fan following all over again. Will the company hit a home run this time around, reports CNBC-TV18's Megha Vishwanath.
Remember the Adra concept showcased at the Auto Expo 2014 ? Looks like GM will launch the production version only by late 2017 or early 2018. According to reports, Jaime Adrila, president of GM South America said that Chevy is looking to produce a new compact SUV and it will be in the market three years from now. While Jaime didn't say this, we believe that this new compact SUV will most... Read More
