Hollywood legends Katherine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson are the other two actor with an impressive tally of nominations, 12 each.

The 61-year-old actress may have the record of most nominations but she has not been so lucky when it comes to winning the golden trophy.

Streep won her first Oscar for best supporting actress for ‘Kramer vs. Kramer” when she was 30 and her second win was the best actress trophy for her role in film ‘Sophie’s Choice’ in 1982.

Hepburn won four lead-actress Oscars and Nicholson a pair of lead-actor Academy Awards as well as a supporting one, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Streep’ losses include– ‘Silkwood’ (1983) to Shirley MacLaine; “Out of Africa” (1985) to Geraldine Page; “Ironweed” (1987) to Cher ; “A Cry in the Dark” (1988) to Jodie Foster ; “Postcards From the Edge” (1990) to Kathy Bates ; “The Bridges of Madison County” (1995) to Susan Sarandon; “One True Thing” (1998) to Gwyneth Paltrow ; “Music of the Heart” (1999) to Hilary Swank; “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006) to Helen Mirren; and “Doubt” (2008) to Kate Winslet.

Streep lost her first supporting bid — “The Deer Hunter” (1978) — to Maggie Smith and “Adaptation” (2002) — to Catherine Zeta-Jones for “Chicago”.

If Streep wins on March 7, it will be 27 years since her previous victory

NEW DELHI: Star India is making an attempt to raise its effective holding in direct-to-home broadcaster (DTH) Tata Sky by taking advantage of
foreign investment rule changes made about a year ago. The Rupert Murdoch-controlled company has asked the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for permission to buy a 49% stake in TS Investments, an investment firm of the Tata Group, which, in turn, will buy a 20% stake in Tata Sky for Rs 324 crore.

Current rules cap direct foreign investment in an Indian DTH operator at 20%. Foreign funds are allowed to buy up to an additional 29%. But Star is hoping to benefit from guidelines announced in February 2009, which said that investment through companies owned and controlled by Indians would not count in the calculation of foreign investment.

This meant that despite foreign ownership of as much as 49%, investments by such companies in key sectors, where foreign participation is capped, would not be counted as foreign investment. If the deal is approved, Star India’s effective holding in Tata Sky, India’s second-largest DTH service provider after the Zee group’s Dish TV, will rise to 29.8%.

India’s DTH industry, fragmented between six players, is in the middle of an intense battle to add subscribers in a market that is seen growing by about 50% over the next three years. But the drive to win new customers is coming at a price: companies are selling the set-top-boxes, through which the signals are received at homes, at steep discounts and most of them are incurring heavy losses.

Dish TV, which has about a third of India’s 20 million DTH users, has been raising money to fund its expansion. India’s only listed DTH provider issued global depository receipts to raise $100 million (Rs 465 crore) in November and has plans for a Rs 1,200-crore rights issue in June.

Tata Sky, which has about 4.5 million subscribers, sold a 10% stake for $56 million to Temasek in 2007. Star India owns 20% and the Tatas the rest. Reliance Communications’ Big TV, which has some 3 million users, started talks to sell a stake to private equity firms last year, but there has been no apparent outcome so far. Airtel Digital Television, Sun Direct and Videocon D2H are the other major DTH service providers.

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Mouyokolo’s earlier effort on a frustrating night for Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea.

EPL Points Table

Drogba struck his 20th goal of the season on 43 minutes to haul the Premier League leaders level after Hull defender Mouyokolo had headed Phil Brown’s Hull City side into a surprise lead with his first ever goal for the top flight strugglers.

But despite Drogba coming to the rescue it wasn’t enough to help Chelsea secure the win they so badly needed to restore their four point advantage over Manchester United at the top of the table.

The London club now have a lead of just two points and United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be thankful to Hull for holding his great rivals to a draw to blow the title race wide open.

Ancelotti had the luxury of recalling Drogba for the first time since he departed for the African Cup of Nations over four weeks ago, while England internationals Joe Cole and Ashley Cole had to be content with a place on the bench.

John Terry also maintained his place in the side despite the on-going pressure on him to resign as England captain following his off-field problems while Deco was recalled to the starting line-up.

Brown, meanwhile, made just one change to the side which was held to a disappointing draw with Wolves last weekend, recalling Craig Fagan on the right wing in place of Bernard Mendy. The Hull manager resisted the temptation to hand a full debut to new loan signing Amr Zaki.

Hull had gone nine games without a victory and found themselves entrenched in the relegation zone. Considering Manchester City were the next visitors to the KC Stadium then the immediate future looked bleak.

But Chelsea struggled to find their rhythm from the start and seemed to make Hull’s evening easier than expected.

Frank Lampard worried Boaz Myhill with a swerving drive inside nine minutes which the Hull goalkeeper could only palm straight to Nicolas Anelka but the French striker stubbed his shot badly wide with the goal at his mercy.

It wasn’t until the 24th minute that Chelsea threatened again when Branislav Ivanovic sent over an inch-perfect cross for the waiting Michael Ballack but all the German midfielder could do was power his diving header straight at Myhill from close range.

The longer the game went on the more Hull seemed to grow in confidence but it still came a surprise when they took the lead with their first real attack of the game.

Terry was nowhere to be seen as Stephen Hunt swung over a corner and Mouyokolo rose the highest to head past the helpless Petr Cech.

But Hull’s lead always looked fragile and it lasted just 13 minutes before Drogba levelled the scores with a powerful free kick into the bottom corner of Myhill’s goal.

Hull could have restored their lead on the stroke of half time when Tom Cairney’s free kick found the head of the unmarked Anthony Gardner, but the defender could only direct his effort over the crossbar.

Yet Chelsea always carried a threat and Myhill had to be at his best to keep the scores level with a fine double save just before the hour mark.

First he got down sharply to tip wide a skidding drive from Florent Malouda before producing an even better stop to keep out Drogba’s downward header from Malouda’s cross as Brown’s men hung on for a point that is of much more use to them than Chelsea.

The North American foods group is expected to win more than 75 percent of votes for the deal at which level it can delist Cadbury shares in London, but it only needs 50 percent plus one share to take control of Cadbury and declare victory. Cadbury shareholders have until 1300 GMT to cast their votes and with the deal recommended by the Cadbury board and no rival bidders envisaged, the takeover of the British confectioner is expected to be declared complete some four hours later.

“We would expect Kraft to win comfortable support for the deal given it’s agreed and the supportive comments from Cadbury shareholders,” said an industry source close to the situation. Meanwhile, Cadbury’s workers gathered in central London at midday Tuesday to urge the British government to do all they can to protect Cadbury’s 4,500 UK workforce and future investment at its British sites as they join with Kraft’s 98,000 global staff.

During an acrimonious near five-month bid battle, Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr has attacked Kraft’s business model, financial performance and record of integrating businesses leaving Kraft’s CEO Irene Rosenfeld to try and soothe worries. Rosenfeld is expected to outline her strategy to win the hearts and mind of Cadbury’s staff, while delivering the cost savings and revenue growth she has promised to keep her largest shareholder Warren Buffett happy.. She has promised $675 million of annual cost savings from the deal, which will mean job cuts, analysts said. Cadbury’s annual sales are only one fifth of Kraft but the British group will be a major driver for growth at a combined company with over $50 billion of sales. Kraft will still be the world’s No 2 food group after Nestle but leapfrog Mars-Wrigley to be the world’s biggest confectionery group.

Kraft agreed its friendly deal to buy Cadbury on Jan. 19 in an offer that valued Cadbury shares at 840 pence with 60 percent of the price coming as cash and the rest in new Kraft shares. With the fall in Kraft shares, the current value of the bid is around 830p a Cadbury share. Last month, potential Cadbury bidders like Hershey, Italy’s Ferrero and Nestle ruled out bids leaving the field clear for Kraft to complete its deal for the British group. A Kraft-Cadbury combination will bring together Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate, Halls cough drops and Trident gum with Kraft’s portfolio of Milka and Toblerone chocolates, Oreo biscuits, Maxwell House coffee and Philadelphia cheese.

How Korean consumer durable majors LG and Samsung knocked out rivals in the fight for market share and brand recall.
Some time in the middle of 1994, the Dhoots of Videocon put their brightest man, Ravinder Zutshi, on a special project. They had been approached by Samsung which was keen to sell its consumer electronics in India. The Korean company had proposed a joint venture which could source products from Videocon’s factories at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. Zutshi was asked to study the possibilities.
Quantitative research threw up no surprises. Unaided awareness about Samsung was close to zero, aided awareness was slightly better at 7 per cent. People thought the Japanese were the masters of all technology, and the Koreans were at best imitators. But when he dug deeper, Zutshi found deep dissatisfaction amongst consumers from multinational (Sony, Sanyo, National, Philips and others) as well as Indian (Videocon, Onida, BPL et al) brands. The consumers’ aspiration and awareness were high, but the technology made available to them was low. And there was no indication that any of them would invest in the latest technology. After-sale service existed only on paper.

LEADING THE PACK
Combined market share of LG and Samsung
TVs 45%
LCD TVs 63%
Refrigerators 43%
Washing machines 41%
ACs 42%
Microwave ovens 48%
Source: Industry
Zutshi’s report said there was a big gap that could be exploited. With better technology, contemporary products and a customer-friendly disposition, Samsung stood a fair chance in the market. The Dhoots trusted Zutshi. If Samsung did well, they argued, their factories at Aurangabad would run at full capacity, and whenever the foreign investment rules were further liberalised, they could sell their stake to the Korean chaebol and make a neat pile of money. Quickly, they formed a 49:51 company with Samsung. It was 1995.
Around the same time, LG (it was at that time known as Lucky Goldstar) sent a large and high-powered team to India. The odds were stacked against the company — low awareness of its brand, poor perception of Korean technology and so on. But the team saw that the Japanese were not too interested in India; Europe and the US were their primary focus. This had made Indian brands complacent, and they lacked the financial wherewithal to come out with cutting-edge technology.
LG also found out that education was very high on the agenda of Indians. The team members knew that it was education that had transformed South Korea from a poor agrarian country into a developed industrial powerhouse in a matter of decades. The same would happen in India, the team reported to its bosses back home. The LG brass was convinced and made up its mind to enter India. As rules did not allow a fully-owned subsidiary, it first tried its luck with Bestavision and then with Chandra Kant Birla. Finally, in 1997, when the foreign ownership rules were relaxed, it came on its own.
Cut to the present. In most product categories of the consumer electronics market, LG and Samsung lord it over a market share of over 40 per cent — television, refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines and microwave ovens. Outside South Korea, this has not happened in any other large market. In certain categories, their products sell at prices similar to Japanese rivals — a clear indication that the perception of the Koreans being poor cousins of the Japanese is history. Their brand recall is universal. Indian brands, with the exception of Videocon, which has now hired ex-LG honcho Kwang Ro Kim as chief executive, are on oxygen. LG did business of $2.8 billion in 2009. India accounts for about 6 per cent of LG’s worldwide turnover. “We want to raise it to at least 10 per cent by 2012,” says LG India Managing Director Moon Bum Shin. “By 2015, India will become the second largest contributor to LG’s revenue after the US and ahead of (South) Korea,” he adds. Samsung crossed the $2-billion mark in 2009 — India is around 2 per cent of its global turnover. How did the Koreans get the better of rivals in India?
Strong foundation

Both LG and Samsung knew that half measures wouldn’t work in India. Thus, LG has invested $300 million and Samsung $200 million in two production facilities each. “It wasn’t a global factory that also supplied to India. We didn’t want to make the customers wait,” says Rajeev Karwal, who drove sales and marketing at LG from 1997 to 2003, then headed Philips and Electrolux in India, and now runs a consultancy for small-scale enterprises called Milagrow. Apart from Videocon, no rival of the Koreans has put up large production facilities. “In terms of investments and technology, no other Indian company apart from Videocon had the might to rival them,” says Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot.
LG and Samsung brought the latest products, customised them to Indian conditions (Samsung, for instance, reduced the size of the freezer in its fridges because Indians didn’t want it; LG cut out all frills that were not required in India) and began to give quick after-sale service. Samsung, says Zutshi, now deputy managing director, Samsung India (the Dhoots exited the venture in tranches by 2002; it had broken even by 1998), was the first in the industry to give uniform training to all technicians. “When pagers came in July 1995, we gave one to all technicians across metros,” says he. Also crucial were the Korean price tags. LG as well as Samsung prices were up to 20 per cent below Sony, but around 10 per cent higher than Indian rivals. The brands were positioned as value for money.
They spent large sums of money on brand promotion. Both LG and Samsung now earmark 4 to 5 per cent of their turnover for brand development, above- as well as below-the-line. This translates to ad spends of at least Rs 400-500 crore from each. In the initial days, when they were yet to build scale, help poured in from their Korean parents in liberal measures. The Koreans knew little about cricket but were quick to join the bandwagon in India.
But how did they address the quality perception? For the first three months, Samsung campaigns focused on its technological achievements. It was, after all, the world leader in colour picture tubes and semiconductors. “If you don’t want the best, go to Sony, National and Philips, we said in our advertisements,” says Zutshi. Karwal says he was able to convince the LG brass that it should build on its Korean heritage and not hide it. “The company wanted to play on the Goldstar brand because it had some recall. But I argued that it had failed in India so why harp on it? We went ahead with LG. I said let’s not pretend to be what we are not.”
“Where they have scored,” says the top functionary of a rival, “is that they treated India differently than other Asian markets.” And they ambushed rivals whenever they could. Karwal says when he came to know that Sony was ready to launch its flat-screen television, he rushed to Seoul and managed a consignment of 500 flat-screen televisions to launch first.
“I also got to know that Sony had booked the centrespread of a publication. So, I bought the wrap-around which said ours was the flattest thing on earth.”
The Japan factor

Still, LG and Samsung owe a debt to their neighbours across the sea — they were quick to adopt the best manufacturing practices of Japanese companies. Samsung, for instance, uses the just-in-time supply principal with its vendors — they need supply only when the factory demands. Its vendor development exercises could be straight out of the Japanese management textbook. “They (the Koreans) combine American marketing with Japanese manufacturing,” says Karwal.
So, where did the Japanese go wrong? An industry veteran, who for long worked with the Japanese, says they tested the waters in India for too long, and thereby lost the first-mover’s advantage to the Koreans. Panasonic India CEO Daizo Ito admits that the company has ratcheted up its focus only in the last one year. “Panasonic has been in the Indian market for long but, as a part of strategy, the focus has been increased exponentially since last year or so.” The Japanese also went after the premium slots in the market, and thereby missed the volumes. “LCD television is the only segment where we compete (with the Koreans) but here too our and their key target segments are different. We are focused on households with an annual income above Rs 5 lakh, unlike the Koreans,” says Sony India Managing Director Masaru Tamagawa.
The question is, have the Koreans taken an unassailable lead over the Japanese? The Japanese take heart from their large market share in automobiles, cameras, cordless phones, small appliances and LCD televisions. Panasonic, for one, is aiming for growth of over 100 per cent in each of the next two years, and double-digit market share in LCD television. “Coming from the Japanese domain, the quality and reliability of products is our strength. The challenge is to make this strength reach the consumer,” says Ito. “The retail experience is also the key. Therefore, we have continuously expanded our brand shops and presence at other retail counters.” But this is the game the Koreans seem to have perfected.
Trade relations

When the Koreans first came to India, the consumer electronics trade was archaic and in disarray. All producers had appointed distributors who then sold to the dealers. There was thus little direct contact between the dealer and the company. No company had a full portfolio of products, so the dealer had to deal with several producers and their distributors. Companies that did have more than one product had separate divisions for each line, which often didn’t talk to each other. This only compounded the dealer’s headache. Companies encouraged multiple dealers in every location — the rivalry kept the trade margins low.
“The first thing we did,” says Zutshi, “was that we cut out the distributor.” This, at one stroke, improved the profit margins of the dealers. More important, it improved their bankability. And dealers, who were reluctant to invest at the behest of the distributors, began to jazz up their showrooms. Of course, they began to push the Samsung brand with gusto, though its price tags were higher than those of Indian brands.
LG too took a new approach. Instead of going to all, it identified the best dealer in every locality, the one with maximum footfalls. It made sure that the dealer did not face competition from others in the vicinity. As a result, the dealer, who earlier got no more than 5 to 6 per cent commission on sale, now began to get as much as 12 per cent. This was unprecedented in the history of Indian consumer electronics. The goodwill helped LG and Samsung expand quickly to the heartland. And that was the key to its success. Ever since, dealership for a Korean brand has been more profitable than others.
This is a point even rivals do not dispute. Onida Vice-president (sales, service and marketing) Sriram K says that the Koreans invested upfront and got the rewards later. “At one point, LG was even known as a credit brand because of how flexible it had become in trade circles,” says he. “It realised that doing business in India needed flexibility and therefore extended credit to dealers unlike a lot of other multinationals. Now that it has strong relations with the trade, it has tightened the terms. But the initial flexibility helped it garner volumes.” That’s the learning.
Additional contribution with Amit Ranjan Rai & Sayantani Kar
SCORING BIG WITH SMALL
The Korean challenge in automobile is led by Hyundai. With 23 per cent of the car market, it is second in the pecking order after Maruti Suzuki. It has a factory that can make up to 600,000 cars in a year, wants to set up a diesel engine plant and has close to 300 dealers across 230 cities and towns. In 2009, almost 18 per cent of Hyundai’s worldwide sales happened in India. It’s good but not the same as in consumer electronics. That is perhaps because the Korean car industry has gone through consolidation: Hyundai acquired Kia, and bankrupt Daewoo was bought by General Motors.
Daewoo, in fact, was the first serious challenge to Maruti Suzuki. It had started out with the Cielo sedan. Daewoo had tasted success in China with big cars and saw no reason why Indian consumers should not move en masse to large cars. It put up a factory near Delhi that could make 60,000 Cielos in a year. But India remained a small car market. Daewoo then changed course and began to focus on the Matiz, a small car. But then the parent went belly up and Daewoo’s operations in India came to a grinding halt. Some Daewoo cars have now reappeared under the Chevrolet brand — the Optra, Spark et al.
That was the time when Suzuki was fighting a pitched battle with the Indian government over control of Maruti Suzuki. Between 1996 and 1998, as the two partners fought, Maruti Suzuki was paralysed and could not introduce new models. It had turned into a soft target. Trouble back home kept Daewoo from drawing maximum mileage out of the situation. The challenge was taken up by Hyundai. It set up a plant in Tamil Nadu — the bastion of the late Murasoli Maran who had led the government in its fight against Suzuki.
By 2002, the government and Suzuki had settled the row. This helped Maruti Suzuki shift gears and flood the market with new models. It became a company on a mission — Japanese executives even agreed to stay in a hostel close to the factory near Delhi. It still sits on over 52 per cent of the market. “Suzuki’s commitment to India in the auto sector has been whole-hearted, which reflects in the way the company operates here. Look at our management. Unlike Japanese companies in other segments, we have had a completely Indian management,” says Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava.
Jagdish Khattar, who was the managing director of Maruti Suzuki from 1999 to 2007 and now runs a car-service venture called Carnation, says Maruti Suzuki has the upper hand in India as Suzuki’s core strength lies in small cars. That is because Japan is a small-car market. Korea, though it offers tax sops for small cars, is a large-car market.
But Hyundai has grown rapidly in India. “We have consistently outperformed the market,” says Hyundai Motor India Senior Vice-president (marketing & sales) Arvind Saxena. “This means our market share has grown consistently.” The company benchmarks itself against Toyota in quality, and has made India the hub for small cars. It has begun work on a new car that will be smaller than the Santro. It is lobbying hard against the Indo-Thai Free Trade Agreement which helps Japanese companies to source cheap components from Thailand. The Korean aggression is unmistakable. In comparison, Toyota and Honda, after spending almost a decade in the country, have only now begun to talk of a small car.

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first time on Monday ahead of his official return to the sport after a three-year absence.

Dozens of fans, photographers and journalists watched as the seven-time world champion completed 40 laps on the Ricardo Tormo de Cheste circuit during the first free practice session of the season.

“In a way, it’s like 1991, honestly,” said Schumacher.

“When I came into F1, I was shocked in the first lap and I was extremely excited at the second and further lap. It’s exactly the same today. I feel today like a young boy that has a toy in his hand and just enjoys himself.”

The German clocked the third fastest lap time of 1min 12.947sec behind Brazilian Ferrari driver Felipe Massa (1:12.574) and Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa of Sauber (1:12.784).

Wearing a red helmet, Schumacher admitted it was a strange feeling not to be lining up with his old Ferrari team.

“Yes, naturally I suddenly see my car, my old car on the track and I’m not sitting in it. It’s a strange sensation,” he said.

“But it’s good to see my brother (Ralf who is a test driver for Ferrari) on track, in the car. I’ll enjoy seeing my friends down at Ferrari some time this week.”

Mercedes took over Brawn GP, with whom Britain’s Jenson Button won the 2009 world drivers’ title, following the end of last season.

It has led to Schumacher teaming up again with former team owner Ross Brawn, the 55-year-old Briton who was in Schumacher’s pits for all seven of his world title wins – two at Benetton and five at Ferrari.

Brawn is now responsible for making sure Mercedes’ Silver Arrow car is in perfect condition when the season starts.

Schumacher said: “The guys have done a superb job being out there just making a few control checks today and run the car reliable. We have done 18 laps, if I’m correct. For the first day, I think that is a superb job.”

Having retired in 2006, Schumacher, 41, broke a three-year hiatus to sign a three-year contract to race for Mercedes.

And he has made no secret of his desire to win an eighth world drivers’ championship title with Brawn as team principal at Mercedes and Nico Rosberg as his team-mate.

“I feel very good. I have worked out very well. I have prepared myself extremely precisely. For the best result,” said Schumacher, whose return to Formula One last year was hampered by a neck injury.

And his decision to wear a red helmet has nothing to do with his former Ferrari team, he insisted.

“Because it’s me, that’s my sign. At a time, there was a completely different reason why I chose this colour. Nothing to do with Ferrari. That’s me. That’s what I am.”

The first race of the season is the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 14.

Times

1. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1min 12.574sec (103)

2. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/Sauber) 1:12.784 (74)

3. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes) 1:12.947 (40)

4. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 1:13.543 (39)

5. Gary Paffett (GBR/McLaren) 1:13.846 (86)

6. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Williams) 1:14.449 (75)

7. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso) 1:14.762 (18)

8. Robert Kubica (POL/Renault) 1:15.000 (69)

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vehicles. Fear of price hikes following withdrawal of stimulus incentives in the Budget also contributed to higher purchases in January.

M&M , Tata Motors, Hyundai and General Motors saw record growth in monthly numbers, while marlet leader Maruti Suzuki continued its strong run. Hyundai’s domestic market sales were up 41% at 29601 units, the highest monthly number since the company started selling cars in India in 1998. The company said the government should continue with its stimulus package, comprising lower manufacturing duty and easy interest rates, to maintain the tempo.

M&M too had record growth as its utility vehicle sales in January stood at 20,332 units against 13,397 units, led by the Xylo multi-utility vehicle. “The momentum remains strong and the Xylo is doing well for us,” M&M’s automotive sector president Pawan Goenka said.

Maruti’s sales were up 21% in the domestic market at 81,087 units against 67,005 units in January 2009. The company’s heavyweight portfolio of small cars, that includes models like Alto, Wagon-R, Swift and Ritz, grew 25%.

Rakesh Batra, who tracks the auto sector at Ernst & Young, said the revival in economy and the low interest rates were among the positives fuelling demand. “The consumer sentiment is very positive,” he said, adding, that concerns over withdrawal of stimulus package that can see car prices go up was also among reasons pushing numbers. “There could be a case of preponement of purchases.”

Tata Motors said it sold 26,245 units in the month against 18,331 units in January last year, a growth of 43%. General Motors, that launched a new compact car Beat in January, sold 9,421 units, showing a growth of 139%. The sales comprised 3,477 units of the Spark mini car, 2,825 units of Beat and 686 units of Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The company is ramping up production at its two plants as it expects demand to remain robust.

On the two-wheeler side, Hero Honda’s numbers were up 23.5% at 3.89 lakh units against 3.15 lakh units in January last year. “The sales growth we have achieved is significant in light of the high base that we created in the same period last year,” Anil Dua, VP (marketing & sales), said. Hero Honda said it will launch three new products in the next two months.

The Essar Group is in talks with the government of South Africa to set up a power plant in the country. It also plans to invest over $2 billion (Rs 9,270 crore) to have a pan-African mobile operation in six-seven countries in the region.

“South Africa has no dearth of coal reserves, but lack of regulation is a problem. We are in talks for a presence in the power sector,” said a top source in Essar. South Africa is known for its huge power deficit, ensuring demand for new projects in the sector. Raising debt could be difficult in the country, though there is a lending channel open through foreign banks present in Africa.

The source said it would be difficult to go for the standard 70:30 debt-equity structure which is popular in India. Not revealing the size of the project, he said Essar was looking for only big projects and the company might need to set aside more equity for it.

The group, he added, had also prepared a telecom blueprint for Africa under which it would invest $2 billion to get 20 million customers and more, spanning six to seven countries in the region. “It sees huge potential in investing in Africa, which has a mobile customer base of 200 million,” he said.

According to an Ernst & Young report, the African wireless telecom market grew 49.3 per cent (compounded annual growth rate) between 2002 and 2007. The average mobile penetration for the continent is 37 per cent, expected to rise to 61 per cent by 2012.

Under Essar Communication Holdings, the Essar Group has a 49 per cent stake in Econet Wireless, which in turn has 70 per cent stake in its Kenyan subsidiary. The partnership between Essar and Econet has launched the ‘Yu’ network and has a million subscribers in the country. Essar also has a majority stake in Dhabi Group’s Warid Telecom operations in Uganda and Congo.

Indian companies in the past have failed in trying to cut big-ticket deals with South African companies. In September last year, Bharti Airtel had to call off a complex share swap deal with MTN after the government in South Africa rejected the merger structure. Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications’ deal with MTN also ended abruptly, after RIL said it had the first right of refusal for any stock sale.

Essar has a presence in the telecom business in India under the Vodafone Essar partnership, where it has a 33 per cent stake. Vodafone Essar is the second largest mobile operator in the country. Essar also has a 9.99 per cent stake in Loop Mobile, which operates in the Mumbai circle.

The South African telecom market is an emerging one. “Though we have no pricing pressure there like in India, the cost structure in that market is different. Therefore, we might end up making just as much margin as we do in India,” the source said.

In Africa, the group is into oil and gas, too. It has three onshore assets in Madagascar and an offshore block in Nigeria. It also has a 50 per cent stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries, which operates an 80,000 barrels per day refinery in Mombasa.

Alister Dcunha, a 30-year-old Australian resident and a die-hard cricket fan, is all set to watch the third season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the online video streaming site, YouTube. Besides watching key matches live this year, for free, the India-born Australian plans to keep himself tuned to cricket matches via his mobile phone too.

“I never miss a game unless I am asleep. In fact, last season, I was forced to catch IPL matches live on the TV channel, One HD, which was a tough call because of the time difference,” he says. This year, Dcunha can catch all IPL matches via delayed telecast on YouTube, instead of just the match highlights that YouTube had last season. “Thanks to the web, I can stream the content on my main TV as well,” he further adds.

Industry estimates indicate that YouTube gets over six million users from Australia alone. UK is not behind, too. Ajay Naik, an Indian residing in the UK, elaborates: “I use the internet extensively for daily soaps and news. So, the fact that IPL-III will be live on YouTube works to my advantage. For people like me, who think twice before paying for expensive cable subscriptions, Google just made lives easier.” It’s no wonder then that YouTube is the most popular video destination in the UK, with a market share of 65 per cent.

But cricket fans in the US are feeling left out. Kiran Bhanushali, a student at Northeastern University, Boston, was awaiting an announcement from IPL and Google on how the matches would be telecast. For now, fans in the US won’t get to stream live matches on their computer screens.

“Last year, I watched IPL matches on http://www.willow.tv. The website streamed cricket matches live from around the world. This year though, I am not sure as the site has been bought out by Global Cricket Ventures, which has signed a deal with Google India to broadcast live on YouTube,” says a dejected Bhanushali. He is now looking out for other vendors who would stream the games live. “Having a single place to watch any kind of clips related to the tournament is a great idea. Earlier, user-generated videos would be scattered and would usually be taken down due to copyright violations,” Bhanushali points out.

A blueprint for future

According to third-party reports, an estimated seven million cricket followers visited YouTube during the second season of IPL. Now, with the IPL-Google tie-up, which gives cricket enthusiasts across the globe a chance to catch IPL-III live for free on YouTube, the view-per-user model can only get better.

Google India Managing Director Shailesh Rao acknowledges, if IPL and Google get this right, it can serve as a blueprint for sport events in the future. Rao, along with BCCI’s Lalit Modi (the brain behind the IPL series), might create new grounds for sport events for the 50-million-plus internet subscribers in India.

While live cricket streaming is not a new phenomenon in India, it will be interesting to see what an event like IPL does for advertisers and marketers when broadcast live on the internet. A few months ago, TV channel Ten Sports had launched live streaming on its website. It claimed it streamed content to over 70 million homes globally and even had advertisers such as Airtel, Maruti and Samsung running commercials on its web telecast.

Internet speed an issue

Internet surfers in India, however, look disinclined to switch broadcast media when it comes to watching their favourite sport.

“I think it is great news for Indians settled in the UK, US and other geographies. But it may not be a game-changer for the domestic crowd,” rationalises 25-year-old Kushal Shah, co-founder of Resorcetek Systems, who has no intentions of moving to the web to watch cricket matches. According to him, with current broadband speeds averaging at around 768 kbps in India, it does not make sense to watch IPL matches on the web.

“It is cricket.I can’t afford to have connectivity failures. Besides, I am already paying a fixed monthly charge for the cable subscription,” he emphasises.

Good business sense

But the market is bullish on the success of web telecast of cricket matches. According to Vdopia, an online and mobile video monetisation company, three million internet viewers watched the five ODIs, three Test matches and two T20 matches of the recently concluded India-Sri Lanka series. There is money to be made, too.

Vdopia claims to have served over 40 million dynamic online video ads from brands like Aircel, IDBI Bank, Axe, Maruti, Volkswagen and SBI on Neo’s website, http://www.cricketnirvana.com, which is a part of Nimbus Communications. During the match webcast, there were approximately 150,000 concurrent users watching the live stream.

“And this is certainly not a one-off event for cricket fans,” Vdopia Chief Business Officer Saurabh Bhatia says. The World Championship of Cricket (India-South Africa series) that begins on February 6 is set to be webcast live on Cricketnirvana.com, the exclusive online destination for live matches for all Indian international cricket played domestically in 2010.

Experts agree. Brand consultant Santosh Sood says: “YouTube is one of the most popular sites and IPL has a big audience. It looks like a winner.”

The ad rates, however, will be quite different from that of TV. For instance, a ten-second ad-spot on Ten Sports live streams was almost a tenth of the rate TV commands. For BCCI’s Lalit Modi, that should not be a problem as his focus is to broad-base the IPL audience into countries that don’t have access to TV rights.

The icing on the cake according to experts would, however, be the significant domestic crowd, which, desperate to catch the action while stuck at work, may take to YouTube’s webcasts.

(With inputs from Aabhas Sharma and Priyanka Joshi)

Kurkure, Pepsico’s Indian innovation in the salted snacks market, may go on its first overseas trip – soon. Encouraged by its blockbuster success in India, Pepsi is planning to give foreigners a taste of Kurkure, which has become a Rs 700 crore brand in its 10th year.

The foods and beverage giant is in negotiations with Pepsico managements in other countries, especially those in West Asia, to introduce the product there. The vast expat community is the prime target since they have similar tastes. It’s not Kurkure alone, Pepsico is planning to do the same with Aliva, another snacks brand which has done exceedingly well in India.

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Vidur Vyas, executive vice president (marketing), Frito Lay India, wouldn’t comment on the overseas foray, but says Kurkure would look for a gradual progression as it has become one of India’s most loved snack food brands and created a new category of ‘tea time’ ‘snacks. ‘It’s become a lovable family brand, examining Indian traditions with a perspective that is new and different,” he says.

Kurkure, according to Vyas, has been a brand of many firsts – from packaging to flavours keeping Indian tastes and preferences in mind. In 2009, for instance, Kurkure went regional with a vengeance with flavours like ‘Mumbai Chatpata’, ‘ Parar Tok Jhal’ and ‘South Special’, which are targeted at the western, eastern and southern parts of the country. On the anvil are Kurkure Funjabi, Kadai Masala, made with rajma (kidney bean) for the north Indian consumer.

The positioning, analysts say, has been unique. For example, last month, Pepsico came out with a print campaign which told readers how Kurkure is made from what can be found in any Indian kitchen, underlining that the ingredients are as wholesome as what goes into home-made food. Kurkure now on will be less about flavours and more about ingredients.

What it means in terms of branding is that Kurkure will have another differentiation from FritoLay’s other brands (Lays, Aliva et al), apart from staving off competition from a growing tribe of roasted snacks, including Aliva, Parle Product’s Monaco Smart Chips and Parle Agro’s Hippo.

Kurkure has also managed to snack its way even into the highly-lucrative festive season in India, with new tamper-proof packaging along with an online gifting option, where consumers can now send a gift pack of the product via the internet.

Features such as these, say analysts, have helped the brand carve a special place for itself in the Indian snack food market, which would be hard to replicate not just by competitors but also by the company itself. “Kurkure is a classic example of exemplary product innovation and a good marketing strategy. The purely Indian outlook and taste has helped it make a mark on the minds of the consumer”, notes Purnendu Kumar, senior analyst. Technopak India.

Pitching the product on the health platform has also helped Kurkure. While the claims are not direct, the company’s statement that Kurkure has zero per cent trans fats and no cholesterol and that it’s made from corn, rice and gram flour, have helped the product give consumers a ‘guilt free eating’ experience, according to analysts. Its Snack Smart initiative has cut out trans-fat from its products and changed the oil used for Kurkure to rice bran which cuts saturated fat by 40 per cent. An attempt to control portions consumed by users has seen it launch Rs-3 packs. This has pushed sales in the lower-tier towns.

These and the first-mover advantage are reasons why Kurkure enjoys a virtual monopoly in its category. While ITC tried to compete with ‘Tedhe Medhe’, the impact has not been encouarging so far. While ITC did not respond to queries, Anand Ramanathan, sector analyst from KPMG, says “ITC has a great distribution network. But ‘Tedhe Medhe’ is not doing well because ITC couldn’t add anything different than what Frito-Lay’s Kurkure alreday had.

However, new products like Hippo and a few local brands are trying to gradually make their presence felt in the market and ramping up market share.

(Additional reporting by Seema Sindhu)