The recent acquisition of the Hypercity brand by Kishore Biyani’s Future Group is one of the many instances highlighting a key ongoing trend in the retail industry – cross-category consolidation.Retailers are increasingly exiting businesses that drag down their profits and focusing on strengthening their core businesses to increase their market share and create value for their shareholders.

• Earlier this year, online retail giant Alibaba picked up stakes in Chinese supermarket chains Hema and Bailan
• Amazon bought out grocery chain Whole Foods for a whopping $13.7 billion
• Last year, the world’s largest brick-and-mortar supermarket chain Walmart bought out US-based e-commerce company Jet.com for $3.3 billion
• In India, Future Group acquired Hypercity for $107 million and effectively added around 1.4 million square feet of retail space to their existing 13.8 million square feet.

There is a visible change in the appetite of retailers, especially in the food and grocery business. So, why are supermarkets out shopping?

To Gain Scale

Future Group already has presence in 221 cities after a series of acquisitions over the past couple of years. Last year, it acquired 124 retail stores of Heritage Fresh in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. It also acquired retail group chain Sangam Direct, Easy Day and Nilgiris, significantly ramping up its presence in South India. The merger with Bharti Retail and acquisition of Big Apple effectively added 250 stores to its portfolio in the North.

 

This approach has not only boosted Future Group’s organic growth in terms of geography but also in terms of formats. The group now operates across all formats – from 1000 sq. ft. feet micro-stores to 50,000 sq.ft. hypermarkets.

 

To Transition from Retail to Consumer Goods

Future Group’s strategy has slowly evolved from a pure play retail model to a fast-moving consumer goods model. Consolidation in the grocery space will further help them push their own products over private label consumer products. The recent acquisition of Hypercity is Biyani’s attempt at consolidation in the fashion and food category.

 

While most peers tried to go the FMCG way by outsourcing food processing and manufacturing to smaller firms, Future Group in fact outsmarted them all with the creation of Food Parks. These INR 1000 crore-worth large food processing factories, wholly owned by Future Group, have ensured that their margins are a few percentage points higher than their competitors’.

To get Online and Offline

The ongoing consolidations in the food and grocery business gives out strong signals of convergence in online and offline retail, as retail margins shrink for companies following both business models. India’s offline retailers such as Tata Group’s Trent Ltd and Godrej Group’s Nature’s Basket have acquired small online app-based retailers to set up their online sales operations. Though Future Group has steered clear of the online market for a while now, most of its competitors have gone ahead to bite the bullet of omni-channel retailing.

India is the Rising Food and Grocery Retail Star

India is the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables and sixth-largest food and grocery market globally, with the retail sector contributing 70% of the sales. Food has also been one of the largest segments in India’s retail sector and is, according to the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, expected to reach $895 billion by 2020.

 

In 2016, the market size of the food and grocery sector was 30,25,218 crores (or $472.7 billion), with the organized share accounting for 2.4%. (Source: India Retail Report 2017-18; Images Group). The Indian food and grocery segment is attracting investments from leading global players keen on opportunities in global-standard food services and retail technology.

 

While India’s retail story has unfolded slowly over the decades, the pace of change has now accelerated to such an extent that retail houses need to constantly innovate to remain relevant to consumers. By 2020, the market is expected to reach the size 52,91,125 crores (or $826.7 billion) and is growing at 15% per annum (Source: India Retail Report 2017-18, Images Group)

Future Readiness

There have been talks of Amazon launching a private grocery label in India, and its intention of making its nationwide debut in online food retailing soon. Future Group is readying itself for battle by building an extensive network of offline retail, covering the entire spectrum from small formats to hypermarkets.

As a result of the retail sector’s globalization, Indian retailers are facing escalating challenges from foreign retailers in providing a complete retail experience. To cater to evolving customer expectation, retailers are adopting multi-channel retailing and are re-strategizing their store networks to stay competitive. Reconfiguration of real estate is an important part of the retail evolution that brands are adopting.

 

The key mantra for success in modern retailing is no longer just ‘the store in the right location’, but necessarily also involves the right strategy to attract and retain customers as a key to constantly improving margins.

(The writer is expert in retail services.)

New Delhi : Black tea may be gaining popularity among people for health reasons, but a new study in laboratory animals has shown that consumption of black tea may be harmful during pregnancy and lactation.  

The study has found that black tea extracts alter parameters of blood and liver in pregnant and lactating experimental albino rats. Bioactive components of black tea brew and their impact on human health is very important, especially during pregnancy and lactation.  

It says excessive drinking of black tea throughout pregnancy and lactation period decreases hemoglobin concentration and total count of red blood cells (RBCs) in rats. The study done by researchers from the Kolkata has been published recently in journal Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

The parameters were measured right from day one. Initially there was no significant change but after 20 days liver parameters started changing. Hepatocytes increased in size, there was loss of structural integrity, increased sinusoidal space, breakage of central vein etc. The effects were clear on blood as the RBCs became flattened and increased in numbers. The RBCs also lost their bi-concave architecture and no grooves or white patches were found in the membrane of RBCs.

“We have studied the prenatal and postnatal stages which show that black tea extract makes changes in blood and liver parameters,” lead researcher Dr Subir Chandra Dasgupta said while speaking to India Science Wire. He said tea was considered beneficial for human health but it may be harmful for pregnant women if consumed in excess. 

Bioactive components of black tea brew and their impact on human health is very important, especially during pregnancy and lactation. Little physiological changes during this period may alter mother and neonatal health. Thearubigins and theaflavin are major polyphenolic compounds found in black tea accounting for about 60-70% of its dry weight. Rest of black tea contains alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, amino acids. 

The study has been done by Department of Zoology, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata and Laboratory of Toxicology and Experimental Pharmacodynamics at University of Calcutta. The research team included Dr. Antony Gomes, Dr. Subir Chandra Dasgupta and Avijit Dey.

Sarat Chandra wrote Devdas at 25 years of age in 1901, three years before his death Sarat Chandra would drop in at the New Theatres studio in South Calcutta, where the erstwhile Prince of Gauripur and legendary filmmaker Pramatesh Chandra Barua was busy wrapping his film Devdas. The novelist allegedly told Barua after seeing Devdas that he was born to write Devdas because Barua was born to re-create it in cinema!

Barua was working on the second celluloid version of the perennial classic that has transfixed viewers and readers over the ages alike what with sudhir Mishra’s announcement to be working on the seventeenth version of the novella! Devdas has been produced even in Pakistan in Urdu off course in 1965 and 2010!  In 1935, Barua’s band of four cinematographers included names like Dilip Gupta and Nitin Bose. However there was a new young publicity photographer at New Theatres by the name of Bimal Roy, who was getting obsessed by the film and would patiently like the proverbial Job would wait for 20 years to present his version, the sixth stab and unarguably the most dazzling film of the master called Dilip Kumar! 

Bimal Roy had approached Dilip Kumar sometime in 1954 with the idea of playing the eponymous role in the film Devdas, Dilip Kumar neither had seen the  K. L. Saigal starrer nor had  read Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s famous novel. In fact, Bimal Roy never displayed his entire deck, when he visited Dilip Kumar that his intention was to discuss the film he was keen to make from last two decades. Bimal Roy let producer Hiten Choudhury who accompanied him, bring up the subject. Dilip Kumar was stumped and asked for a few days to mull it over. Bimal Roy smiled as he was leaving, and promised Dilip Kumar a fine translation.

Dilip Kumar received the translation the very next day and boy was he in agony over rendering a character whose pain and depression over losing in love translated to dark alcohol dependency being the panacea. Dilip Kumar also felt that it could become a memorable film and he was going to play the lead in one of the iconic films of all time if he played the part with appropriate discretion. It was this dilemma that he brought on the sets and lived in angst till the film was wrapped. This was one of the films that led him attempt comedy on suggestion of famous Harley Street psychiatrist Dr. W. D. Nichols introduced to him by Dame Sybil Thorndike and Dame Margaret Rutherford

The screenwriter Nabendu Ghosh recalled that tea breaks always found Dilip Kumar wandering alone and often in an agitated state or in deep reverie avoiding the rest of the cast.  Nabendu Ghosh went up to himont afternoon and asked him what was troubling the thespian? Dilip Kumar replied that three men Sarat Chandra, Pramtesh Barua and Kundan Lal Saigal were sitting on his shoulders and were weighing him down! Dilip Kumar had got so much in to the skin of Devdas that he  is said to have taken a while to come out of the role, but it also went on to fetch him the second of his 8 Filmfare Awards for best actor. The film won the Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film in Hindi in the 3rd National Film Awards.

Bimal Roy knew that Dilip Kumar was a stickler for making the writing base of a film strong, therefore writing work was done with Dilip Kumar, screenwriter Nabendu Ghosh and dialogue writer Rajinder Singh Bedi. The lines from Devdas, are some of the most oak strong and yet sensitive and laced with poignancy that have been ever written for a Hindi film hero from the pen of Rajinder Singh Bedi.

It was Suchitra Sen’s debut in a Hindi movie and also features the great Pran in his tiniest role – a ten-second appearance at Chandramukhi’s kotha. Dilip Kumar, Bimal Roy’s first choice for Devdas, wanted Meena Kumari as Paro, and Nargis as Chandramukhi. But, Meena Kumari was under embargo because of an irate Kamal Amrohi drawing certain terms and conditions that were not acceptable to Bimal Roy. Nargis had set her heart on the lead role of Paro, if that was not enough diva trouble! Bina Rai and Suraiya too threw their hats and pestered Roy for Paro’s role! Nabendu Ghosh did not approve of the rising superstar Vyjayanthimala as Chandramukhi, but the distributors were sold to the idea to the point of being admant in having the southern belle and Bimal Roy straddled with a big unit and an uncompromising attitude towards making of his film needed money! In came Vyjayanthimala.

According to Vyjayanthimala, she was taken seriously as an actress only when Devdas happened in her career. But she was to play Chandramukhi opposite Dilip Kumar for the first time and the apprehension whether she would be able to measure up to his expectations as Chandramukhi in the critical sequences with an actor of repute like Dilip Kumar under the demanding baton of Bimal Roy kept gnawing her? But her work in this film led B.R. Chopra to replace Madhubala with her in Naya Daur (1957) and Vyjayanthimala went on to co-star with Dilip Kumar in seven successful and noted films. 

Suchitra Sen had thoroughly read her script before coming to shoot and would always be in animated discussions with Dilip Kumar, Motilal, Vyjayantimala, Bimalda and scriptwriter Nabendu Ghosh regarding the film. Though her Hindi was tinged with a Bengali accent but it sounded sweet according to Dilip Kumar. It was her acting that had Dilip Kumar mesmerised as she could give five modulations to a single dialogue. And her expressive eyes conveyed volumes with a single look. During an intense scene in Devdas, Dilip Kumar had to look straight into her eyes and Sen had to convey romance filled with pathos. She reacted doing a slight lip movement drew compliments from both Bimal Roy and Dilip Kumar.According to Dilip Kumar,Suchitra Sen maintained a distance with the crew and preferred to work in silence. But she never disrespected anyone. As an artiste, she gave full respect to even a spot boy. Musafir (1957) was the only other film that Dilip Kumar and Suchitra Sen worked as part of the cast, but were never paired together again!

The film’s characters are ordinary people caught within a rigid and crumbling social system and that holds true for the hero Devdas torn by driving passion and inner turmoil!

Dilip Kumar at the peak of his prowess as Hindi film greatest tragic hero invested himself in to the literary character with his integrity and chemistry of an actor par excellence. Dilip Kumar as the self-destructive doomed lover looks and appears remarkable in the drunken scenes which are understated and accentuated by inimitable style of dialogue delivery. In his autobiography, The Substance and the Shadow (2014), Dilip Kumar gives the credit to the dialogue writer, Rajinder Singh Bedi  as ‘…one of those rare writers whose syntax was so perfect that the simple lines he wrote inspired actors to build up deep emotions in their rendering.’

Ashok Kumar and Motilal were the two reference points in the craft of acting that Dilip Kumar constantly drew upon when he was making his mark as an actor. He and Motilal appeared in three films together- Devdas (1955), Paigham (1959) and Leader (1964).Motilal was the best Chunilal and foil to Dilip Kumar among the many versions of Devdas that have been made. His portrayal of the glib dandy whose empathy and understanding the tragedy of his friend is near perfect. Motilal’s fluent Chunni babu, who introduces Devdas to alcohol, dancing girl and doom in a lesser actor would have transmuted in to a negative character. Motilal’s innate charm, made him an arresting bon vivant and earned him his first Filmfare award for the best supporting actor. 

Devdas was the first film within mainstream Hindi cinema to gamble on celluloid a weak hero of high birth whose narcissism, passion and inner-conflict is pitted against the two women in his life, Parvati and Chandramukhi, who are stronger than he is, as independent women with minds of their own.In a rare interview in 1982, Dilip Kumar when asked  for an appraisal of his work  admitted that Roy’s Devdas was an exercise in restrained work and though Shikast, Gunga Jumna, Mughal-e-Azam and Kohinoor were all close to his heart. He personally liked doing serious work and still had a fondness for Devdas!

(The writer is filmy buff)

Jaipur: Jaipur’s historic Rambagh Palace has been ranked amongst “50 Best Hotels & Resorts in the world in the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2017”.

The hotel has ranked 25^th in the global rating and 2^nd best in India with a total score of 98.38 out of 100 marks.

More than 3,00,000 travellers took part in the 30th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey.  Millions of ratings and more than 100,000 comments were used. The data was then analyzed to create a list of winning favourites that are shaping travel across different categories that include castles, safari camps, hotels, river cruises, and islands, among others. The list features the top-rated newcomers and stalwarts known for providing authentic, personalized and unexpected experiences for their travellers.

Among the hotels, the Palace has been rated highly for its commitment to quality across facilities, location, service, food, and overall value for money.

The General Manager, Rambagh Palace, Mr. Manish Gupta said that Rambagh Palace has always been a consistent testimony of trust among its guests. “We thank all of them who voted for us. This award will further inspire the iconic hotel to reach new milestones,’’ he added.

It is to be noted that this year Rambagh Palace had also rated amongst top 100 hotels in the world by ‘Travel + Leisure Readers Travel Awards 2017’. The Palace also ranked 16 in India in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards and was rated amongst top 10 Heritage Hotels in the world by Travel Weekly, UK for the year 2017.

Rambagh Palace is a living legend in Jaipur. Originally built in 1835, Rambagh Palace has stepped gracefully through many royal transitions. In the finest tradition of Rajput hospitality, the Rambagh Palace offers its guests a taste of royal living – a luxury and extravagance that was once the sole preserve of kings. It’s elegantly done rooms, marbled corridors and majestic gardens echo with history.

NEW DELHI: Former Intelligence Bureau Chief Dineshwar Sharma will be the Centre’s Special Representative for initiating sustained dialogue with all stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The government has decided to hold a sustained dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir. As a former IB chief, Mr. Sharma is well versed with the State and he will hold talks with elected representatives, political parties, and different organizations and understand their aspirations,’’ Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced at a hurriedly called press conference here on Monday.

The Home Minister said the government has not set any time frame for Mr. Sharma to submit his report. “He may take three, six or eight months. The government is not putting any condition on him,’’ Mr. Singh said while replying to a query if separatists and their organizations like Hurriyat Conference would be invited for dialogue with the Centre’s interlocutor on J&K.

Mr. Singh said that he had visited the border State last month and as many as 87 delegations had met him. “The government’s policy and intention is clear. We want a solution to the problem,’’ he said.

The Home Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given an indication in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort when he had declared that it was time for embracing the people of Kashmir as the solution would not be found either through bullets or abuses.

Pointing out that the government’s Special Representative would focus mainly on initiating a dialogue with the youth to understand their aspirations, Mr. Singh said that the effort would be to talk to all sections of the people in J&K.

Mr. Sharma belongs to Kerala cadre of the 1979 batch of the IPS and retired as Director of the Intelligence Bureau on December 31 last year after serving a two-year tenure. He has also been an interlocutor of the government  in talking to various groups in the North-East and with the latest appointment, he would fully devote his energies to the new assignment in J&K. He will enjoy the status of Cabinet Secretary.

The UPA Government had also appointed a team of interlocutors on J&K, headed by former veteran journalist and editor Dileep Padgaonkar, who had submitted its report to the then Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram but its recommendations remained in the government files. 

Earlier, the Vajpayee government had also appointed the then Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson K C Pant as its interlocutor on J&K but its report was also confined to the archives of the government

In his tweet, former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said: “Centre announces an interlocutor to engage with stake holders in J&K. Will keep an open mind & wait to see results of the dialogue process.’’  

After receiving flak across the country on making the national anthem mandatory in cinema halls, a bench of Supreme Court has signalled to make amendments in the status quo. The centre had pleaded the Apex Court to not mend the existing rule on national anthem which was enforced on 30th November 2016.

The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud has hinted that the court might reconsider the existing order of playing the national anthem before the screening in the cinema halls and also asked the government to frame appropriate rules and regulations without making the national anthem mandatory.

“Why do we have to wear patriotism on our sleeves? People go to cinema for undiluted entertainment. Tomorrow someone may say people should not come in shorts and t-shirts in cinema halls as the national anthem is played there. Where then do we draw the line. Where (will) this moral policing would stop?” Justice Chandrachud said.  

He reiterated that a movie hall is a place for entertainment and the government has the power to change the law as the issue falls under the executive. “Do not put the burden on the SC. Why don’t you (centre) do it?”

The bench also believed that not singing the national anthem in the theatres cannot be the hallmark of a citizen’s patriotism and  one shouldn’t be judged on this ground which reflects moral policing. “It’s wrong to give anyone the badge of anti-national or ‘unpatriotic’ as he is unwilling to stand for the national anthem. Why do I need to stand for the national anthem to prove my patriotism or nationalism?”

The next hearing will be conducted on 9th January. The bench has directed the Attorney General KK Venugopal for a response on this matter by the centre. 

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has requested Phillippines to allow it to question the Karen Aisha Hamidon, believed to be a recruiter for the Islamic State terror group.She has been arrested in Manila. 

Sources said that NIA had already sent a Letter Rogatory last year over Karen Aisha Hamidon. She had reportedly played a key role in radicalising youth and alluring them, mainly through social media like Instagram and Whatsapp, for recruitment in the IS. She was believed to be in touch with two of the arrested IS terror suspects Mohd. Sirajuddin and Mohd. Naseer, sources said, 

Her name figures in two chargesheets filed by the NIA. While Sirajuddin was an Indian Oil employee and was arrested from Jaipur, Naseer was a computer engineer from Tamil Nadu who was recently deported from Sudan. 

Karen Aisha Hamidon’s network is believed to be spread far and wide as she was looking for recruits to the IS in countries from Europe as well as from Australia,Argentina, U.S. and Bangladesh. 

New Delhi : Reserve Bank of India today said biometric identity number Aadhaar linkage with bank accounts is mandatory. RBI said that anti-money laundering rules announced in June 2017 have “statutory force” and banks have to implement them without awaiting further instructions.

The RBI clarification followed media reports quoting a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application which suggested the apex bank has not issued any order for mandatory Aadhaar linkage with bank accounts. 

But the Reserve Bank, in a statement, clarified that linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules. 

It said, these rules have been published in the Official Gazette on 1st of June this year. 

It also said, these rules have statutory force and, as such, banks have to implement them without awaiting further instructions.

The Supreme Court in August had said that privacy is a fundamental right and the verdict was expected to complicate efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to make linking of the ID card numbers with bank accounts, telephone numbers, etc.

New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has approached the government to reconsider its earlier decision and allow the agency to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court in the Bofors Scam Case.

The agency has written a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training conveying that it wants to file the SLP challenging the Delhi High Court order in 2005 quashing all charges against Hinduja brothers in the case. 

Government officials said the CBI was in favour of filing the SLP in 2005 but the then UPA government did not give its nod.

If accepted now, this would reopen the probe into the scam.

Legal experts feel that the agency will have to do a lot of explanation for condoning the lapsed time period of over 12 years.

The CBI’s move comes days after its statement that the investigating agency will look into the facts and circumstances of the scam mentioned by private detective Michael Hershman, who alleged that the then Congress government had sabotaged his investigation in the case. 

Hershman, who is the President of the US-based private detective firm Fairfax, claimed in television interviews recently that the bribe money of the Bofors gun scandal had been parked in the Swiss account and he was offered bribe and was threatened to stop investigating in the case.

On May 31, 2005, Justice R S Sodhi had quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers —Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand — and the Bofors company and pulled up the CBI for its handling of the case.

NEW DELHI: Recalling the natural calamity of 2013 that had wreaked destruction in and around the shrine of Kedarnath in the snowy Himalayan heights, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that his offer for reconstruction effort as Gujarat Chief Minister had failed to elicit any response from the Congress government. 

Mr. Modi visited Kedarnath in Uttarakhand on Friday and offered prayers at the Kedarnath Temple. He also laid the Foundation Stone for five infrastructure and development projects. 

These include the development of retaining wall and ghat on the Mandakini River; development of retaining wall and ghat on Saraswati River; construction of main approach to Kedarnath Temple; development of Shankaracharya Kutir and Shankaracharya Museum; and development of houses for Kedarnath Purohits. The Prime Minister was briefed on the Kedarpuri Reconstruction Project.

Addressing a gathering, the Prime Minister pledged to devote himself fully to realising the dream of a developed India, by 2022. He  said that as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had come to do all that he could for the victims; and offered support from the State of Gujarat for the reconstruction effort.

The Prime Minister said the infrastructure being developed in Kedarnath would be of good quality, adding that it would be modern, but would preserve the traditional ethos, and ensure that the environment is not damaged.

Mr. Modi said that the Himalayas have much to offer for spiritualism, adventure and tourism, and for the nature lover. He invited everyone to come and explore the Himalayas.

Governor of Uttarakhand, Dr. K.K. Paul, and Chief Minister of UttarakhandT rivendra Singh Rawat, were present on the occasion.