MVAS Players Define Code Of Conduct Policies

IAMAI has issued a diktat for the orderly movement of Mobile VAS players.The code of conduct agreement issued by IAMAI will help in scrutinizing mobile VAS players in times of mishaps and would help in providing more qualitative services to Subscribers and Telcos. The code of conduct defines following regulations: All members to abide by TRAI regulations [...]Also Check Out: WATShow.com - Our Video Show WATJob.com - Our Job Site WATGame.com - Our Gaming Blog WATPR.com - Our Press Release Site

SIS in talks to buy SDB Cisco

Some private equity players that are believed to be in the fray include Carlyle, Sequoia Capital, Actis and TVS Capital. But, nothing has materialised so far, said the person close to the development. As reported by ET last week, MAC Group is looking ...

Aster Data Systems Wins Red Herring 100 North America Award

Aster Data Systems Wins Red Herring 100 North America AwardTrading Markets (press release), CAAster is headquartered in San Carlos, California and is backed by Sequoia Capital, JAFCO Ventures, IVP, Cambrian Ventures, and First Round Capital, as well as industry visionaries including David Cheriton, Rajeev Motwani and Ron Conway. ...

SIS in talks to buy SDB Cisco for Rs 300 cr

Some private equity players that are believed to be in the fray include Carlyle, Sequoia Capital, Actis and TVS Capital. But, nothing has materialised so far, said the person close to the development. As reported by ET last week, MAC Group is looking ...

Dataquest: 25 Hot Web 2.0 Startups in India

DataQuest, one of an oldest and most read magazine on IT, in association with IndianWeb2.com has created well created list of Hottest Web 2.0 Startups in India, thanks to DataQuest Research team and Editor Shyamanuja. The Dataquest team and editors included those startups in India which become operational on or after 1 January 2007 and then [...]

TRAI Gets New Chairman; JS Sarma Commences Duty

J.S. Sarma, a 1971 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Services (Andhra Pradesh cadre) today took charge as the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, one of India's most important independent regulators that oversees the telecom and broadcasting sectors. Sarma holds a doctorate in public enterprises from the University of Paris. Prior to joining Trai, Sarma was a member at the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appelate Tribunal, and was telecom secretary to the government of India during 2005-06. Full press release. Sarma succeeds Nripendra Misra. Read our interview with Misra here and here. Another key government official overseeing the media sector, information and broadcasting secretary Sushma Singh, is set to retire on 31 May, according to Indiantelevision.com. Related INTERVIEW: Former TRAI Chairman Nripendra Misra On Achievements, Unfinished Agenda Nripendra Misra Interview Part 2: 'Strengthen The Endowment Of The Regulator' From our Sponsors: Lotame Locate, Target, and Message your customer using Social Data What happens when events in Social Media threaten your brand, like Dominos Pizza? Read the real world case study that tells you exactly what to do and what not to do, if your brand comes under attack. This FREE case study from Lotame is a must read for every CEO, CMO and Brand Manager, EVEN if you don’t use Social Media today. Click here to download the case study.

Balaji Stock Downgraded After First Ever Quarterly Loss; Realizations, Commissioned Hours Drop

Balaji Telefilms Ltd, the Mumbai-based producer of television software, posted its first quarterly loss yesterday. The company swung from a net profit of Rs23.85 crore for Q408 to a net loss of Rs14.62 crore for the corresponding quarter this fiscal. Consolidated net profit dropped 99.14% from Rs95.59 crore, to Rs47 lakhs. Net sales for the quarter ended 31 March dropped 48.8% y-o-y to Rs49.41 crore. Brokerage Angel Broking downgraded the stock to 'Reduce' with a target price of Rs35. On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Balaji scrip dropped 5.36% to close at Rs41.5.  Excerpts from the Angel Broking's latest report on the stock: Commissioned hours of programming have reduced by 51% y-o-y during the quarter under review to 42.3 hours, owing to the decommissioning of three shows by Star Plus and one by Zee TV. "Moreover, Other Expenditure increased by a whopping 200% yoy to Rs23cr (Rs7.7cr) largely on account of significant jump in provision for doubtful debts (dues from INX Media) to Rs15.7cr, legal charges against Star and partly due to diminution in long term investments further adding to the woes." Film division: Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, posted a net loss of Rs23.3 crore on revenues of Rs42.6 crore. "Profitability of this division was partially hit due to Rs8.85cr write-off which the company took on account of advances made for Movie Projects which it doesn't expect to pursue further (due to financial non-viability of the projects)." Organizational Restructuring: Under Group CEO Puneet Kinra, the company has appointed three new divisional CEOs. Nachiket Pantvaidya for television, Uday Sodhi for new media and Ajit Thakur for movies. Pantvaidya was general manager, south asia, BBC Worldwide, before joining Balaji, while Sodhi was senior vice-president, interactive services, at Rediff.com (NSDQ: REDF) and Thakur was COO at UTV Television.  Bottomline: "We believe BTL is going through extremely tough times owing to its ongoing tussle with Star, lack of demand for its content and falling realisations ... Going ahead, we expect BTL's financial performance to remain under pressure owing to low visibility of its programming slate (3 out of 5 commissioned shows on-air were launched in 4QFY2009) and dipping realisations," analyst Anand Shah wrote. "Given significantly poor 4QFY2009 results, limited show pipeline, sharp losses in Movie business and lack of demand for its content, we downgrade the stock from Accumulate to Reduce with a Target Price of Rs35 (Rs52) based on cash on books of Rs216cr (likely to act as downside cushion). Moreover, exodus of Top level Management, ongoing tussle with Star and lack of clarity over dues from INX Media is likely to weigh heavily on the stock." Balaji management could not immediately be reached for comment. Flash Back: Balaji seems to have been hit hard by the end of a long and beneficial relationship with Star India Pvt Ltd, India's biggest private broadcaster. For years, Balaji soaps on Star, such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki topped ratings and defined what worked in terms of television content. Balaji produced shows for Star under an exclusivity agreement—Star would pay a premium for Balaji shows, but the content shop could not produce shows for rival channels that would run on the same time slot as Star. While the premium was never disclosed, the extent of the drop in average realisations post the decommissioning of Star shows gives some idea of the higher rates Balaji attracted. The relationship grew stronger when Star picked up a 25% stake in Balaji and the two companies formed a joint venture to launch entertainment channels in regional languages. Curiously, there was a sudden deterioration of their relationship in early 2008 and in August that year, the two companies agreed to part ways, ending with it the exclusivity agreement and the premium Star paid. Balaji agreed to buy back the stake owned by Star and the regional language GEC was wound up. Star later dropped three Balaji shows from its programming line up. The breakdown in relationship coincided with the entry of a number of new, well-funded entertainment channels, such as 9X and NDTV Imagine, both headed by former Star India CEOs (Peter Mukerjea and Sameer Nair) who enjoyed good working relationship with Balaji and wanted its shows for their new channels. 9X has since seen tough times and Balaji has now had to make higher provisions for "doubtful debts" from that channel's broadcaster INX Media.  From our Sponsors: Lotame Locate, Target, and Message your customer using Social Data What happens when events in Social Media threaten your brand, like Dominos Pizza? Read the real world case study that tells you exactly what to do and what not to do, if your brand comes under attack. This FREE case study from Lotame is a must read for every CEO, CMO and Brand Manager, EVEN if you don’t use Social Media today. Click here to download the case study.

Aster Data Systems Honored as a TiE50 Winner

San Carlos, Calif. – May 14, 2009 - Aster Data Systems, a proven leader in high-performance database systems for data warehousing and analytics, has been awarded a TiE50 Winner - a leader in innovation, ingenuity, and management excellence. The ...

India’s top 20 Web 2.0 sites

India's top 20 Web 2.0 sitesTimes of India, India... India-centric Web 2.0 sites. From social networks to rating and reviewing to mobile applications to online libraries, these home-bred sites offer all this and much more. Technology magazine Dataquest, along with Indianweb2.com, which tracks Indian ...

India’s executives choose business over social networks

TopNewsIndia's executives choose business over social networksTopNews, India22000 Indian executives seem to agree that sites like MeettheBoss. com are the future of Web 2.0. Experts predict this new way of business networking is the way forward for the region's development. It is imperative that the executives can speak in a ...