Jammu Kashmir Bank plans to exit PNB MetLife Insurance

Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Mushtaq Ahmed had last October said the lender was considering to fully exit the investment.

Jammu & Kashmir Bank  is planning to exit PNB MetLife Insurance by selling its 5 percent stake in the life insurance joint venture, an official said today. "Initial talks to fully exit the insurance business by selling the entire 5 per cent stake in PNB MetLife Insurance are on and it may help raise over Rs 500 crore," the official told PTI.

Bank Chairman and Chief Executive Mushtaq Ahmed had last October said the lender was considering to fully exit the investment. He had hinted the bank would wait for the right pricing to sell out. Ahmed was not immediately available for comment on the possible stake sale.

PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited (PNB MetLife) is a joint venture between MetLife International Holdings Inc. (MIHI), Punjab National Bank Limited (PNB), Jammu & Kashmir Bank Limited (JKB), M. Pallonji and Company Private Limited and other private investors, with MIHI and PNB being the majority shareholders.

In 2012, the bank had cut its stake to 5 percent by selling 6 percent in the insurance venture and raised Rs 190 crore. State-run Punjab National Bank holds 26 percent in the venture, while US-based MetLife has 26 percent stake. The Srinagar-headquartered lender, held majorly by the state government, acts as a corporate agent selling policies of the life insurer.

Also Read: Hidden stressed loan story absolutely false, says J&K Bank

JK Bank stock price

On June 05, 2014, Jammu and Kashmir Bank closed at Rs 1569.75, up Rs 26.15, or 1.69 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1995.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 995.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 243.92 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 6.44. The latest book value of the company is Rs 1247.41 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.26.

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India to be in one of our top 10 markets: Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz India today announced the local production of the new S-class 350 CDI from its manufacturing facility in Chakan, Pune.  In an interview to CNBC-TV18, managing director and CEO Eberhard Kern spoke about the company's upcoming plans. The luxury car market in India registered growth even as the rest of the passenger car market skidded to its worst performance in years.

Continuing the upbeat tone, he said that the company is optimistic about the future and the sentiment has improved with the new government in place. He added that the luxury car market is doing better now and the company has plenty of launches lined up for India in the coming years.

India is likely to be in one of its top 10 markets and Mercedes-Benz has no plans to export out of India yet, he added. 

Further, Kern sees potential for strong demand pick up in coming years.

Also Read: Mahindra launches 'XUV500 Sportz' at Rs 13.68 lakh

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Q: The luxury car market in India registered growth even as the rest of the passenger car market skidded to its worst performance in years. So, now that we are seeing sings of a pick up in the economy in general are you feeling a lot more confident and optimistic about growth in the luxury car space?

A: Generally it is true of course the automotive car business in the last 1.5-2 years went through a very bumpy period of time. The luxury car market was doing better and is doing better now as well. We have a kind of optimistic outlook for the months to come and for the years to come. When we ask our dealers and talk to our dealers, since the election results are out and it is clear that there is a stable government with maturity and probably not only government being able to make decisions but as well to execute we get the feedback that sentiment is now better again; the mood is better. There is lot of expectation around and going for any investment, going for luxury car or whatever it is not only a rational decision it as well a decision based on emotions and with more positive emotions around we believe that the car business and especially the luxury car business can do better in the months to come.

Shereen: So you are saying that things will look better but quantify for me what you mean by strong growth and where will that take India? Is India likely to be in your bucket of one of the fastest growing markets, is it likely to be in your top five markets for Mercedes globally given the kind of growth rate that you expect?

A: This is not so easy to answer. What we see since mid of May there are more visitors in our showrooms, the number of enquiries went up, the interest in buying a Mercedes-Benz is higher, so this makes us kind of optimistic that a more positive time will be ahead of us. As I shared with you earlier India is one of the focus markets for Mercedes Benz globally. It is one of the markets we developed a strategy, Mercedes Benz 2024. We expect that India's importance in the overall global setup of Mercedes Benz is further growing. It could even be that India develops into one of the top 10 markets of Mercedes Benz for the passenger cars. The focus is there and all the support by Mercedes Benz headquarters in Germany as well is there. We follow our strategy, we take it forward and today is a very important day for us because a much awaited model we are going to launch into the market; it is the S Class diesel, the S350 CDI and given the fact that four out of five Mercedes today in India equipped with diesel engine you can imagine that we are quite happy to have this car now available as well. So, let us see if these expectations what are there in India could be backed by concrete actions. If this happens we believe that India is on a very good way.

For complete interview, watch video

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Jabong announces India's first online fashion week

Online apparel retailer Jabong today unveiled the country's first online fashion week in partnership with Talenthouse India. Talenthouse India provides emerging artists opportunities to work with leading artists and brands.

Bollywood actress Yami Gautam will be the celebrity mentor of the event, which is scheduled to be held between July 25-30 this year.

"Opening doors of next generation fashion designers and making designer clothes accessible to fashionable audience, at large, India Online Fashion Week aims at providing a world class career defining opportunity to the aspiring artists," Jabong co-founder Praveen Sinha said.

Talenthouse India CEO Arun Mehra said India as a country is full of talent, but is lacking platforms to help our people showcase their expertise.

"The India Online Fashion Week is one such initiative to bridge the gap between aspiring artists and the dynamic fashion industry and enable them to showcase their talent to the world," he added.

The online fashion week will open its doors by inviting applications from artists across 4 broad categories -- designers, models, fashion photographers, hairstylist and make-up artists -- from across the country, Sinha said.

India Online Fashion Week (IOFW) 2014, will also offer training by different mentors including Yami Gautam who will be giving them the grooming tips, he added.

Talent across various verticals will be required to submit their entries for this event as per a pre-defined theme and a timeline, Sinha said.

"IOFW 2014 in its inaugural season will launch a first ever, Fall Festive collection consisting of pret-a porter and party designs. It will demonstrate fashion based on the themes, Graphic Story, Black and White - Opart and Bohemian Look," Mehra said.

Fashion is more than runaways and models, Gautam said adding that this endeavour can help build the future of fashion from the ground.

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Despite opposition, support pours in for Tata-SIA airlines

Pilots, engineers, non-profit organizations and even state airline Air India is not opposing the Tata's re-entry into aviation.

The Tata Group's plan to launch a full-service carrier with Singapore Airlines may not find support among its rivals but, support is pouring in for the airline from all corners, reports Tarun Shukla, reporter, Livemint.

Pilots, engineers, non-profit organizations and even national carrier Air India is not opposing the Tata's re-entry into aviation.

Also Read: Tata-SIA airline to lease 20 A-320 planes to launch flights

Only the lobby group of Federation of Indian Airlines, which includes IndiGo, Jet Airways ,  SpiceJet and GoAir is opposing the move.

Lots of pilots and engineers have infact been writing to the regulator DGCA to give go ahead to Tata-SIA as it is going to give them jobs. After Kingfisher Airlines went down a lot of pilots and engineers are left without jobs.

Going ahead, because the matter is already with DGCA, it will review the comments received so far. Tata-SIA is expecting a launch by October.

The opposition from lobby group FIA is not expected to have much of an impact and Tata-SIA is likely to sail through unless it runs into legal hurdles.

Jet Airways stock price

On June 04, 2014, Jet Airways closed at Rs 257.70, up Rs 1.15, or 0.45 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 499.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 210.25.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -350.63 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -0.73.

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Govt's signals right; simple quick fixes needed: Kiran Shaw

If one week is anything to go by, then the Modi-led BJP government is making all the right moves, believes Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman, Biocon .

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Shaw says the Centre now seems to have the political will to revive the economy and believes that the leaders will now get the bureaucrats to perform exceedingly well.

The Modi government has scrapped the EGoM and GOMs and has asked ministers and bureaucrats to work for six days every week. The prime minister wants to change the work culture of bureaucrats and ministers.

Below is the edited transcript of the interview.

Q: It's too premature, it's just been a week for the Modi government in office but some would say that he has gotten off to a good bold start where it's the way that they have now decided to bring together allied ministries, club ministries like power and coal together, steel and mines together, corporate affairs and finance ministry together – gotten off to a good start. How would you assess the one week performance?

A: I certainly think the signals are very positive and its music to my ears to hear Nirmala Sitharaman talk about self-certification and third party certification. I really believe that we have to get out of this approval Raj. I think we need rationalisation and simplification of regulations in a big way. This is what is slowing down industrial growth, investment and whatever we want to address in terms of kick starting growth and the economy.

Q: We thought people will think we are crazy that we are discussing boiler inspectors and boiler norms on India Business Hour but the fact of the matter is that these are the sort of the things that make it hard for business to operate in the country and this is the sort of practical stuff that needs to be over and done with and get it out of the way. So, in that sense forget big ticket legislative action, it's this kind of stuff that needs to get moving as soon as possible?

A: Look at our pharmaceutical industry, we are regulated by five ministries that are not working in a synchronous way. This is so complex and so time consuming and tedious that we are the slowest working industry sector in the country or in the world maybe. The approval timelines that the Indian pharmaceutical industry has to go through is multi-fold compared to any other part of the world. This is what the reality is and there are simple fixes for these kind of issues.

Q: In that context are you disappointed because if you look at the way that these ministries have been restructured there is actually been no restructuring of ministries. You basically appointed one person to head allied ministries. So, you have got Piyush Goyal looking after power and coal but in our understanding at this point in time there is actually been no change in bureaucratic protocol or coordination as far as the operational and the ground level is concerned. Does that disappoint you?

A: I think that if you have political will and if you have ministerial will to really bring about change which I am sure many of them have, I know people like Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman and many others have this particular can do attitude. They will get their bureaucrats to perform in an effective way. Modi has shown the way in the way he administered Gujarat; I am sure he is going to do the same as a Prime Minister. So, I am sure it can be done.

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CNBC-TV18 ties up with MSCI

Among the top 10 stocks in MSCI India include Reliance, Infosys, HDFC, TCS, HDFC BanK, ITC, L&T, HUL, M&M, SBI.

CNBC-TV18 has entered into a strategic relationship with MSCI to display its indices for the first time in India. CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, CNBC-TV18 prime HD and CNBC Bazaar will showcase.

MSCI India, MSCI EM, MSCI all countries Asia ex Japan which comprises of developed and emerging countries in Asia excluding Japan and MSCI all countries world indices, which comprises of all developed and emerging countries in the world.

Among the top 10 stocks in MSCI India include Reliance , Infosys , HDFC , TCS , HDFC Bank , ITC , L&T, HUL , M&M , SBI .

India has a 7.02% weight in MSCI emerging market index, 6.63 percent in MSCI Asia ex Japan and 0.75 percent in MSCI all countries worldwide.

Also Read: Bourses extend deadline for common contract note till Aug

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Jet may lease three planes to Etihad

Jet was earlier planning to induct these wide-bodied planes, which are on lease with Turkish Airlines and will be coming back by October this year on completion of the lease period.

Naresh Goyal-promoted  Jet Airways is likely to lease three of its Boeing 777-300 ERs to its equity partner Etihad Airways after they return from Turkish Airlines later this year, according to sources.

Jet was earlier planning to induct these wide-bodied planes, which are on lease with Turkish Airlines and will be coming back by October this year on completion of the lease period.

However after Etihad's proposal, it shelved the plan, they said.

"Jet Airways wanted these three Boeing planes to be put on its international network. However, Etihad requested Jet to lease out these planes to them as it wants them to deploy for its overseas network, which is under consideration," a source told PTI.

Etihad had picked up 24 per cent stake in the Mumbai-based carrier for over Rs 2,060 crore last year, making it the first FDI in the domestic aviation sector.

Spicejet  is also reportedly in talks with investors to sell stake to raise cash.

Jet has already leased out some of its aircraft--Airbus 330-200s and Boeing 777-300ERs-- to Etihad.

When contacted, a Jet Airways spokesperson only said the airline will take measures which will help it achieve profitability.

"We continually evaluate option with a focus on profitability," the Jet Airways said in a statement.

Last week, Jet reported its worst-ever losses at Rs 4,129 crore 2013-14, forcing it to adopt tough measures to lower costs and achieve profitability with a three-year business plan.

The airline, which last week hired the Australian national Cramer Ball who was formerly with Etihad, as its new CEO, posted a net loss of Rs 2,153 crore for the March quarter. This was the fifth straight quarterly loss for the airline. (More) PTI IAS BEN NSK

Jet Airways stock price

On May 30, 2014, Jet Airways closed at Rs 241.45, up Rs 3.80, or 1.60 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 548.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 210.25.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -350.63 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -0.69.

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Toyota sales rise 6 percent in May

The company had sold 12,502 units in the corresponding month of the previous year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor today reported a nearly 6 percent increase in total sales at 13,230 units in May 2014.

The company had sold 12,502 units in the corresponding month of the previous year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

In the domestic market, TKM sold 11,833 units in May 2014, up 18 percent as compared to 10,023 units in May 2013.

During the month, the company exported 1,397 units of Etios.

Commenting on the sales performance, N Raja, Senior Vice President (Sales and Marketing), said: "We have resumed normalcy in production and have registered growth in May. We launched Etios Cross and the All New Corolla Altis, last month."

"We have received a very good response for the new launches and would like to thank customers for their appreciation. We started dispatching new models in May. We registered sales of 555 units and 548 units of Etios Cross and Corolla Altis, respectively," he added.

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Lok Sabha polls India's 1st twitter elections: Rishi Jaitly

The buzzing social media network that allows only 140 characters per tweet is practically the world's town square, says Twitter India hear, Rishi Jaitly.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Jaitly says India witnessed its first Twitter elections this year.

"Our biggest contribution in this space, first of all television, it was very difficult to watch television coverage during the election and not feel the impact of Twitter. Twitter is now the second screen for TV in India," he adds.

Also read: Modi most mentioned politician in 2014 poll-related tweets

And this couldnt be farther from truth. There were more than 58 million tweets on the Indian election this year. BJP leaders like Sushma Swaraj and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi chose Twitter to express dissent with the party, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the micro blogging site to announce his victory.

Below is the edited transcript of the interview.

Q: Let me start by asking you this, that from verifying celebrity accounts to dodging political curve balls describe to me a day in Rishi Jaitly's life?

A: I wake up and I check Twitter. My day is full of evangelizing this service, that is Tweeting across partners, whether you are in the media business, the mobile business, entrepreneurs, brands and others and the day of course ends with Twitter. Before I go to bed I am usually checking Twitter, tweeting back to people.

Q: Is it difficult, you follow about 900 accounts?

A: I have vowed that I will not follow more than 1000 people. So, if you follow me on Twitter you see that I am always hovering in the 990s.

Q: Unlike your larger social networking rivals you have entered India just two years ago. You are now competing with the likes of Facebook and Google in this very fierce competitive advertising space and you are the managing director and your role is to basically turn India into Twitters largest market. How are you planning to do that?

A: I researched the history of Twitter in India. Lot of people talk about the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai as one of the first times they heard of Twitter. You can still find tweets of people tweeting from Colaba saying I am trapped at the Inox theatre, what is happening? All the way through the protests in Delhi in 2012, India's victory in the World Cup in 2011, the state elections last year, IPL, this Lok Sabha election, what we are trying to do is drive growth. So, what we are doing is immersing ourselves in India's media business. We are working with television broadcasters, public figures, news organizations, political parties, government agencies, cricket federations, cricketers and helping everybody in the audience business understand that Twitter can be your mobile microphone. It can be your way to connect with in real time your fans and your audiences.

Q: Talking about the general elections what according to you are the top three things that would not have happened if there was no Twitter?

A: It is safe to say this was a Twitter election. It was India's first Twitter election. Our biggest contribution in this space, first of all television, it was very difficult to watch television coverage during the election and not feel the impact of Twitter. Twitter is now the second screen for TV in India. It is indispensible when you are watching TV to have Twitter open, so, whether it was Arnab Goswami reading tweets on air, Rajdeep Sardesai saying #AskRajdeep, Rahul Kanwal hosting a Twitter debate show every Friday night at 9 pm or Barkha Dutt on Counting day saying tweet to us and we will give you the election results, things like that. Twitter SMS, both Narendra Modi and the Congress party used Twitter SMS. You could actually dial a phone number and leave a missed call and you would receive their tweets via SMS.

So, we made Twitter more accessible and then finally news broke on Twitter. We all know that first thing Narendra Modi did was tweet then sought his mothers blessings. When we was deciding where to contest from the first thing he did was tweet. We now see him engaging in diplomacy with world leaders. Tweeting with Prime Ministers and Presidents. So, those are some of our contributions.

Watch videos for more.

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Cadila recalls over 10K bottles of anti-allergy drug in US

Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA, a unit of the company, is recalling 10,200 bottles of promethazine hydrochloride tablets that contain foreign tablets, according to information on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.

Cadila Healthcare is recalling over 10,000 bottles of an anti-allergy drug in the US because of a mix-up in tablets.

Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA, a unit of the company, is recalling 10,200 bottles of promethazine hydrochloride tablets that contain foreign tablets, according to information on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website.

The recall is due to the "presence of atenolol 25 mg tablet mixed into promethazine 25 mg tablet bottles," the FDA said. The nationwide recall was initiated on May 8. The 25-mg tablets in 100-count bottles were manufactured by Cadila Healthcare and distributed in the US market by Zydus Pharmaceuticals, it added.

The withdrawal was classified as a Class-II recall, which the FDA defines as "a situation in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically
reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote."

Comments from Cadila Healthcare could not immediately be obtained.

Cadila Healthcare shares today closed at Rs 931.40 on the BSE, up 0.37 per cent.

Cadila Health stock price

On May 12, 2014, Cadila Healthcare closed at Rs 1000.25, up Rs 7.80, or 0.79 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1079.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 631.00.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 43.13 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 23.19. The latest book value of the company is Rs 186.33 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 5.37.

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