Who: Munesh Khanna, Managing Director, NM Rothschild (India). A name on the country's financial circuit, Khanna, a chartered accountant, has worked on the financial restructuring of Dabhol Power Company and an infusion of private equity into Air Deccan

What: Will be joining Enam Financial Consultants as Managing Director early next year. Khanna joined Rothschild in early 2002 and was earlier with Arthur Andersen as Country Head (Corporate Finance)

Why: Khanna is said to be keen on expanding his role to cover capital markets. This is not something that Rothschild focusses on in India. Besides, Enam has just seen the exit of Mahesh Chhabria who will join private equity major 3i

Impact: Khanna, 43, gets to expand his mandate (and leverage some more of his Rolodex). Enam, which has managed 30 initial public offerings over the past two years, can expect to strengthen its presence in other areas

-Compiled by Krishna Gopalan

Beyond The Box

What: Toyota Innova, the successor to the best-selling Qualis (which Toyota Kirloskar Motor Limited or TKML stopped producing to accommodate the new entrant)

Why: After a strong beginning, sales of Innova are beginning to slow down

Details: TKMC hoped to sell 42,000 Innovas in the first 12 months (the car was launched in January this year). It has thus far sold 26,855

Rationale: One possible reason could be the fact that the Innova hasn't really found takers among fleet operators who couldn't have enough Qualises

Company response: No comment

-Compiled by Venkatesha Babu

We Told You So
A TRAI test drive shows the telcos were right all along.

TRAI's Baijal : The operators were right all along

The lack of spectrum and issues arising from interconnection with state-owned telcos (read: BSNL and MTNL) have been the preferred excuses of telcos responding to gripes concerning poor services. There haven't been too many takers for these; the prevailing opinion has been that telcos can make do with existing spectrum provided they are willing to spend a little more on infrastructure. Now, it emerges, these weren't excuses after all.

So says the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that recently conducted what it calls a test drive of the services of three telcos, Airtel, Hutch and BPL in Mumbai after receiving a rash of complaints from subscribers over the quality of service provided by these three companies. "I am only highlighting the issues faced by the operators," says Pradeep Baijal, Chairman, TRAI. The companies themselves have been singing that tune for some time; only, there have been no takers.

-Kumarkaushalam

P-WATCH
A bird's eye view of what's hot and what's not on the government's policy radar.

REVIVING INDIA'S DECAYING CITIES

Indian cities can look forward to better days. The government launched the Rs 1-lakh-crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission on December 3 to improve urban infrastructure in the country. All state capitals, a few religious towns and some tourist hotspots will be covered under the scheme. The programme, cleared by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will focus on providing better housing, water supply and sanitation, especially to the urban poor. So, will Mumbai become another Shanghai? Unlikely! But the lot of the common city dweller should, hopefully, improve.

A SECURITY NET FOR UNORGANISED SECTOR WORKERS

Here's another blockbuster scheme from the UPA government for the benefit of the aam aadmi: a social security net for the 370 million unorganised sector workers in the country. The goodies they can expect: health insurance, survivor benefit and old-age pension. The state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India has already made a presentation in this regard to the Prime Minister's Office. The government wants an accident cover of Rs 40,000, health insurance of Rs 6,000 and a monthly pension of Rs 200 per person. One of the funding proposals calls for the worker-beneficiary to contribute Re 1 a day, and the Central and state governments the rest. Er, how much is "the rest"? That is still being worked out. The government is planning to table the Unorganised Sector Workers' Social Security Bill, 2005, covering all these issues, in the current session of Parliament.

TINKER, TAILOR AND OIL WILL BE WELL

Finance minister P. Chidambaram has hinted that the government may tinker with the duty structure of oil products to tailor an enabling atmosphere for economic growth. "Rising crude prices are a cause for worry and I will not hesitate to take fiscal measures if there is a need for them," he told the recently concluded Economic Editors meet in New Delhi. Earlier this year, the government had appointed a high-level committee chaired by C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, to look into the issue of petroleum products pricing and subsidies on LPG (liquified petroleum gas) and kerosene. The committee is likely to submit its recommendations by the end of January. So, expect some changes in the duties on petro-products in next year's Budget.

-Ashish Gupta

PC's Ahluwalia: Choice for all

PROMOTING COMPETITION

The public sector container Corporation of India (CONCOR) will soon face competition. Says Montek Singh Ahluwlia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission (PC): "People should have a choice." Earlier, the Railways had asked RITES to submit its recommendations for framing the necessary guidelines in this regard. RITES, in its report, had suggested an entry fee of Rs 135 crore for private players who wish to challenge CONCOR's monopoly.

STEMMING THE ROT

The controversy over stem cell research may soon become a footnote in India's medical history. The Department of Biotechnology is putting in place an approval system for research projects in this field. Every project will have to be approved by an ethics committee, a Department of Biotechnology or Indian Council of Medical Research panel and an yet-to-be-formed National Stem Cell Committee. This should, hopefully, allow Indian companies steal a march over their rivals in other parts of the world.

-Ashish Gupta