How to go about credit & debt recovery in slowdown phase

New Delhi, Feb 18 (UNI) A new book warns that in the wake of the recent global financial crisis and slowdown, the risks of businesses resulting from bad debt and ineffective credit controls are greater than ever before.

For businesses and institutions to survive in difficult economic times, there must be effective systems in place to successfully manage credit risks and recover bad debt Losses, the book says.

Entitled 'Essential Guide to Credit Management and Debt Recovery in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and India', the book has been writen by two experts--Roberto (Bobby) Rozario and Puru Grover. The book brings out how credit management is an important business discipline, as it impacts working capital and cash flow of an organisation.

It borrows a common adage in business that goes as follows: 'revenue is vanity, profit is sanity but cash is king!''

Credit is all around us every day. We need to understand that learning about credit management involves gaining greater insight into how it impacts us at the macro and micro level. Business closures, layoffs, higher prices, tax increases and budget deficits are just a few examples of failures in credit management and debt recovery,' the authors say.

The book is a practical, easy-to-follow guide to proven credit management and debt recovery systems throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

It is a book written by leading experts in the financial and credit and money management industry. The authors have drawn upon their years of professional and academic experience to provide a definitive guide for the industries in Hong Kong as well as Malaysia, Singapore and India.

Useful for credit managers and more accessible to beginning students in the field, the book provides a distillation of the essential concepts in credit management and debt recovery. It is supported by current examples and a solid pedagogical framework.

The text has been praised both for its balanced yet solid coverage of traditional topics, and its broad coverage of managing the risk associated with accounts receivable.

The book comes at a time when globally experts are striving to improve credit performance. The global financial crisis is linked to reckless lending practices with a broadbased credit boom which fed into a global speculative bubble in real estate and equities that reinforced risky credit transactions. 'Credit Management that encompasses prudent management of cash is the life blood of all businesses, and takes a paramount position when braving an economic downturn.

The effect of liquidity is immediate and mismanagement of credit could be unforgiving,' the book says.

The foreword of this book is written by the president of the Association of the Credit & Collection Professionals (ACA International - Minneapolis, MN US) which is the world's largest association for credit and collection professionals. 'It is so very important that we continue to encourage more youth to consider credit management as a career goal,'the book says.

Mr Bobby Rozario is the Managing Director of Alpha & Leader Risks and Assets Management Co Ltd in Hong Kong and Principal of Alpha & Leader Law Firm in China. He is the current Executive Councillor and Fellow Member of the Hong Kong Credit and Collection Management Association. Having over 15 years of experience, Mr Puru Grover has worked for organisations like Philips Electronics, Bell and D&B. He is currently the General Manager at Credit Guru Inc, a Canadian company.

Gurdip Singh
Head of Business & Economy
United News of India (UNI)

Glory, power & splendour on display at 'Beating the Retreat'

New Delhi, Jan 29 (UNI) In military splendour and glory, the nation today witnessed 'Beating the Retreat' ceremony on the occasion of the 61st Republic Day celebrations.

Comes as it does at sunset, the rays of the sun added to the majesty of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Raisina Hills looked resplendent as the services bands played various tunes, many of which were composed in the bygone era.
All said and done, the Retreat is a shadow of the Raj era and despite more than six decades of Independence, the traditions are still maintained.
As many as 35 bands from the Army, Navy and Air Force literally called the tunes at the ceremony. The Army had 27 bands, and Navy and Air Force contributed four bands each.
The salute was taken by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, in her capacity both as the Head of the State and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
The arrival of the President on a six-door Mercedez Benz was preceded by the Bodyguards of the Head of the Republic.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Defence Minister A K Antony and the three Services Chiefs were there to receive the President.
The President was given a salute on her arrival by the three Services Chiefs-- Chief of Army Staff Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Naval Staff P V Naik and Chief of Air Staff Sureesh Mehta.
The Retreat is a century-old military tradition dating from the days when troops disengaged from battle at sunset. As soon as the buglers sounded the Retreat, the troops seized fighting, sheathed their arms and withdrew from the battlefield.
It is precisely for this reason that the custom of standing still during the sounding of Retreat has been retained to this date. Colours and standards are cased and flags lowered at Retreat.
Drum beats are the relic of the days when trooped, billeted in towns and cities, were recalled to their quarters at an appointed time in the evening. Based on these military traditions, the ceremony of the Retreat creates a mood of nostalgia for the times gone by.
This year, nearly 1000 bandsmen drawn from the three wings of the Armed Forces took part in the ceremony.
Both the beginning and end of the ceremony were marked by the playing of the National Anthem.
The military power of the nation was on display, not with guns and ammunition as is done on the Republic Day, but by the power of the services.
It all began with 'Sam Bahadur,' a tune composed in honour of first Field Marshall of India Sam Manekshaw.
The Army's 15 Massed Pipes and Drums Bands played six tunes including 'Surya', which was accompanied by a quick march. The other numbers included 'Sky Boat Song', accompanied by slow march and 'Highland Laddie'.
The most soothing tune was 'Nocturnal Cry,' which was marked by the sound of Bugles located atop the North and South Blocks.
Mahatama Gandhi's favourite tune 'Abide with me' was received well by the spectators at the Vijay Chowk. The hymn pleads with God to be ever present with a person.
To give a human touch to the affair, 16 visually-challenged children from city’s 'Venu Institute of Universal Education' were brought in as special guests as a goodwill gesture.
The departure of the President was again preceded by her Bodyguards who took her permission to depart.
In fact, on display was the might and power of India, not a slow moving country any longer but one which marches briskly and stoutly as the world wonders at its magnificence, glory and its power.

ECONOMY-RBI-PLATINUM JUBILEE

RBI celebrates Platinum Jubilee, President showers it with praise

By Gurdip Singh & Shabbir Ahmed

New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) Central Banks all over the world have come to play an increasingly important role in managing booms and busts of their economies, a phenomenon which has gained currency in recent times.The vicissitudes of an economy do not necessarily follow the behaviour of traditional business cycles. This, therefore, means that monetary policy has to be used with imagination, vision, foresight and innovatively.Central Banks, which have not done so, have landed their economies in a tight spot.For instance, during the recent global financial crisis in many economies, monetary policy ran out of steam. Their Central Banks, as if in panic, continuously lowered interest rates to prop their economies until it reached zero level.In such a situation, monetary policy can do little and the moot question is if the global recession gets deeper due to whatever reason, what would be the role of the monetary policy. The reliance in such a case would be exclusively on fiscal policy, without an aligned monetary policy.India's Central Bank--The Reserve Bank of India--has played a significant role for propelling growth and orderly management of the economy.India now is the second fastest growing economy in the world and appears to be headed towards becoming an economic powerhouse in future.Yet, monetary policy has come in for both commendation and scathing criticism.Its chief merit has been the cautious manner in which it managed the opening up of the capital account convertibility and the credible manner in which it handled the banking system during the recent phase of global slowdown and its consequential impact on theIndian economy. Both the Indian economy and its banking system have weathered the storm well.Nevertheless, it has been criticised for knee-jerk reactions as if acting in panic. It pushed down the growth rate by pressing the brakes too hard on interest rates, when faced with an inflationary spiral and then reversing the policy as soon as the global financialcrisis emerged on the horizon. India's main problem is now how to exit from the accommodative monetary policy. Being an important part of the global community, including the G-20, it has to go by the exhortions of the Group.With inflation again surfacing, it needs to move back to higher rates of interest and other monetary policy tightening.All said and done, the dice is loaded in favour of money tightening as inflation is an extremely sensitive area in Indian politics. Today marked the celebrations of its platinum jubilee. This is a time for introspection and looking back to what has been achieved and what else needs to be done. The event in this regard was held at the RBI's main office on Parliament Street which is in the heart of the capital city.Significantly, the event was led by none other than President Pratibha Patil. Mrs Patil commended the monetary policy role the Reserve Bank has played in "normal" and "critical times" since it came into existence, asking that it should now gear itself to achieving the task of financial inclusion.Mrs Patil said the Central Bank has acted in a ''highly'' responsible manner and contributed to providing support to the nation's economy.''The problems of the Reserve Bank, including during the recent crisis demonstrates that its experience of regulating monetary flows of the nation has lent to it a high status and given it deep maturity and prospective to deal with a range of complex economic issues,'' Ms Patil said.On the occasion, the President released a stamp commemorating the RBI's Platinum Jubilee.The RBI started functioning on April 1, 1935, making April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 its 75th year.The stamp depicts the iconic New Delhi building of the RBI and a representation of India's paper currency and coins.The stamp was released in the presence of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Gurudas Kamal and Minister of State for Finance (Banking and Insurance) Namo Narain Meena.Three of the RBI former Governors were also present at the function, namely Dr C Rangarajan, Dr Bimal Jalan and Dr Y V Reddy.The President said priority of the banking system should be to strengthen itself significantly to support a "modern vibrant and inclusive economy."She said the banking system has grown considerably, but yet the challenge is to reach the unbanked areas, particularly in the rural sector.''I am confident that the Reserve Bank will provide an appropriate policy framework to achieve this objective. The Reserve Bank has been aligning the banking system to response to the needs and priorities of our developmental agenda. At this stage as part of the increased social responsibility, we need greater involvement of the banking system in the ongoing national development programmes,'' Mrs Patil said.The President said the Central Bank has adapted itself well to the changing requirements and has been able to innovate and implement policies that have enabled the country to achieve high growth rates.Speaking on the occasion, RBI Governor D Subbarao observed that ever since the RBI was established, there have been momentous changes in the economy.The paradigm shift in economic ideology, new perspectives on economic development, growing aspirations of the people, path-breaking financial innovations and major technological breakthrough have influenced the banking system, to which theReserve Bank has responded "in its own unique way." Mr Kamal said the postal stamp speaks off the cultural heritage of the nation.Mr Mukherjee lauded the role of the Central Bank in effectively tackling the impact on India of the global financial crisis.Mr Meena said apart from efficiently administering economic policy changes, the RBI has in a responsible manner taken care of the interests of its agents, including depositors, intermediaries, government business and external trade.All in all, while 75 years a relatively short span for an institution, the journey since RBI's establishment has been eventful, shaping not only its intellectual evolution but alsosecuring its permanent position in the economic policy space of the country. To achieve something may or may not be easy, but sustaining it and taking it forward is a formidable challenge. As India tackles its problems of growth and poverty, it's Central Bank will be called upon to manage growth, stability and achieve financial inclusion.

PEOPLE-JITIN PRASADA-WEDDING

Wedding bells for Jitin Prasada; to say 'I do' on Feb 16

By Shabbir Ahmed & Gurdip Singh

New Delhi, Jan 17 (UNI) Love since time immemorial has transcended religions, regions, classes and other barriers.Come February 16, two days after the Valentine's Day, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Jitin Prasada will exchange vows with Lucknow-based girl Neha Seth, a political journalist, in a blissful culmination of a four-year courtship with her.For the first time, an Indian Minister while being inoffice will be walking down the aisle.This may seem strange to foreigners, too used to seeing youngpoliticians in office and far too familiar with affairs of people in public life. These include former assassinated US President John F Kennedy, former US President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's affair and later marriage with Carla Bruni, a model.India is, by and large, a conservative country where people inpublic life are shy of throwing in the limelight their private affairs. For this can have disastrous consequences for the image of theperson concerned and may mar his or her prospects at the hustings.Demure Neha, formerly a television journalist, has pleasing looks, sharp features, a disarming smile and what have you. Mr Prasada, 36, is known to be close to Mr Rahul Gandhi, the youngest ever General Secretary of the Congress and the son of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.It appears that some of the friends of Mr Gandhi are bidding bachelorhood goodbye to enter into wedlock.Recently, Mr Milind Deora, son of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, got married. Mr Prasada and Ms Seth have been going around for some years now, with the two finally deciding to become partners for life.The wedding is planned to be a grand and classy affair with many VIPs slated to attend it. Surprisingly, Mr Gandhi, like his father late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has Greek God looks, but for some reasons best known to him, has decided to remain a bachelor so far.Neha is no stranger to the people of the country for having been a television journalist and later Media and Public RelationsAdvisor to former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje, a heavy-weight BJP leader.When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose his Cabinet, it appeared that he had given preference to wise old men, whose experience was to be used for nation building. As always, there are two sides to a coin with many describing it as a lacklustre affair, where there will be no excitement but a continuation of all that is going on in the government.As things have turned out, it is in continuity with change in policy making, where there are no punches, hard knocks or excitement.Some were pleased to see new and young faces like Dr Shashi Tharoor, now Minister of State for External Affairs. All said and done, Dr Tharoor has given a new flavour to the Cabinet by his eloquence and excellent communication skills, notwithstanding the fact that his statements have now and then courted controversies.The reasons are not too far to see. Dr Tharoor contested the election of the United Nations Secretary-General and after losing by a narrow margin, decided to join Indian politics. He won his Lok Sabha seat from Thiruvananthapuram with a record margin. Dr Tharoor is an erudite writer with his popular columns appearing in many mainstream newspapers. Mr Prasada represents the Dhaurahra (Lok Sabha constituency) of Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh. A product of the rich man's school--The Doon School, Dehradun, Mr Prasada graduated in Honours in Commerce from the prestigious Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, and completed his MBA from Indian Management Institute(IMI), New Delhi. His great grandfather, Jwala Prasada was a Colonial Civil Service officer and great grandmother Purnima Devi was the niece of Rabindranath Tagore.In his first tenure as a Member of Parliament, Mr Prasada was inducted as Minister of State for Steel and was one of the youngest ministers in the Cabinet. He was inducted into the Cabinet in April 2008.Mr Prasada's interests are varied and include bird watching and jungle safari. He likes films, music and reading, and has a taste for trying out different cuisines of the world and seeks recreation in interacting with friends and working on computer. Mr Prasada was just 27 when his father, Jitendra Prasad, a Congress leader and political advisor to former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao, died. Life changed overnight for him. He quit his corporate job to be with his mother and later helped her contest the elections. Neha, too, has lived for long in Uttar Pradesh, having done her schooling from La Martiniere, Lucknow. Sources say that there was no opposition to the marriage from the families of the couple.After Mr Prasada joins the marriage club, just two ministers --Mr Mukul Wasnik and Agatha Sangma -- in the Union Cabinet will be left single. Those who have come to know about the wedding are wishing the couple well, including the community of journalists. History is not only made by big political decisions, but even more important by what happens to people in their personal lives.They say marriages are made in heaven and solemnised on earth. And it appears that Jitin and Neha will make a perfect couple.

ECONOMY-KEYNES (2)

''It is also obvious to the more thoughtful that the present system is intellectually and politically unstable,'' Lord Skidelsky said. Prof Skidelsky asked as to whether the world can still afford to go along with a system which crashes every few years, with increasingly serious social consequences. ''It is both impossible as well as undesirable to restore the trade unions as a'countervailing power' in the Anglo-American type of economies dominated by the service sector and high-tech manufacturing,'' he said. Lord Skidelsky said the liberal solution of breaking up concentrations of big business was unavailable in the increasingly integrated global market. ''The key to the restoration of a Keynesian political economy is thus the rehabilitation of the State as an instrument of public interest,'' he said.Prof Skidelsky said it can be argued that nation states cannot control global capital and that a world state was unavailable.''But a 'single world' model of globalisation was not the only one. It is far more plausible to think of global integration developing via regional integration. This offers a more feasible route to reinserting democratic oversight of the economy,'' he said.Prof Mundel spoke about the many sided genius that was Keynes and how he gave up his wealth and spent it on buying art and on many other interests he had.Prof Mundel said Lord Keynes was not the only one who gave up his wealth for more recently Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world, has given much of it in charity. Similarly, Bill Gates doles out huge sums for charity. Prof Mundel referred to the wide gulf between the rich and the poor in India, a bane of Indian economic policy and planning. Huge social spending would go some way in ameliorating the condition of the poor, he said. The concepts of social spending too has been borrowed from Keynes interventionist government policy. Born on June 5, 1883, Keynes, the British doyen, in the 1930s spearheaded a revolution in economic thinking, overturning the older ideas of neoclassical economics like Jean-Baptiste Say that held that free markets would automatically provide full employment as long as workers were flexible in their wage demands. Following the outbreak of World War II, Keynes's ideas concerning economic policy were adopted by leading Western economies. During the 1950s and 1960s, the success of Keynesian economics was so resounding that almost all capitalist governments adopted its policy recommendations.Keynes's influence waned in the 1970s, partly as a result of problems that began to afflict the Anglo-American economies from the start of the decade, and partly due to critiques from Milton Friedman and other economists who were pessimistic about the abilityof governments to regulate the business cycle with fiscal policy.However, the advent of the global financial crisis in 2007 has caused a kind of resurgence in Keynesian thought. Keynesian economics has provided the theoretical underpinning for the plans of US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other global leaders to ease the recession.Keynes is widely considered as the father of modern macroeconomics. In addition to being an economist, Keynes was also a civil servant, a patron of the arts, a director of the Bank of England, an advisor to several charitable trusts, a writer, a privateinvestor, an art collector, and a farmer. Of towering stature, both metaphorically and physically. Keynes stood at six feet, six inches.Apart from being an exercise in intellectual delight, the debate on the resurgence of Keynesianism, brings home the relevance of the ideas of India's wise men. Much before Keynes and Warren Buffet, Buddha renounced his princehood to take to meditation. He gave to the world the middle path, popularly known as the eightfold path to attaining 'Nirvana' or salvation.While Keynes continues to dominate economic thinking, Buddha rules the hearts, minds and lives of many of the world. It is for this reason that he is worshipped.

By Gurdip Singh

ECONOMY-KEYNES

Global meltdown: Is it the exit of Keynesianism or its revival?

By Gurdip Singh

New Delhi, Jan 18 (UNI) It is now a clash of titans from the world of economics on the argument as to whether recent global experience testifies to the exit of Keynesianism or its revival. A scintillating debate on the subject took place at a recent seminar in the capital where divergent views were expressed on the subject by two giants from economics--Lord Meghnad Desai, Professor Emeritus at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics and Lord Robert Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick. Dr Sudipto Mundel, Emeritus Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, gave insights into the little known side of Keynes. Lord Desai, who is also a member of the House of Lords, said while Keynes did develop an elaborate theory on unemployment and underemployment in a state of depression, he, however, did not delve at any great length on the riddle of inflation. He said Keynes spoke about full employment and how demand could be generated to reach this state, the missing link being the present day phenomena in many economies of tackling inflation. Visualising this, classical monetary economists like Milton Friedman put the blame of inflation on the doorsteps of excessive money supply and slow growth for the lack of it. He, however, acknowledged the great contribution that Keynes had made to macroeconomic theory by developing tools of analysis which remain useful till today, such as the investment curve, the consumption function and the concept of Marginal Propensity to Save or its mirror opposite Marginal Propensity to Consume. The other big concepts that Keynes gave to economics included liquidity preference and the Aggregate demand and Aggregate Supply model. Dr Skidelsky said while Keynes did not develop a well worked out theory on inflation, the monetarist school did not give any significant answer to the problem of unemployment, a curse which plagues the developing world and now and then the developed economies. He said Keynesianism has witnessed a remarkable come back in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis which witnessed governments the world over instituting fiscal stimulus packages to stop the economic slide getting into depression. The event was organised jointly by the New Delhi-based Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The theme of the seminar was ''Global Economic Crisis: Back to Keynes?''Lord Skidelsky is the celebrated author of the three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, entitled ''Keynes:The Return of the Master''. It was during the Great Depression of the 1930s that Keynes in his General Theory had argued for a large scale public works programme to stimulate demand and by doing so had put the Apple Cart upside down of the classical economists who opined that supply will create its own demand or consumption. In a state of depressed economic activity, private enterprise could not be expected to undertake investments due to poor demand. It was thus for the government to step in and create demand by giving employment to people by undertaking huge public works programmes. Lord Desai said during the recent global crisis ''two dogs did not bark''. In India, there was no clamour for going back on liberalisation and integration of the Indian economy with the global economy. Secondly, the Left in Europe did not make a mark anywhere.The entire debate globally centred on reforming the global institutions and economy. The arguments advanced favoured immediate revival of the global economy and also on setting up regulatory mechanisms to bring checks and balances in the system. He said this was also the theme of the G20 meetings in which India played a prominent role and suggested ways and means to step up economic activity relating to the global economy and reform of the international institutions and the prevailing order. Lord Skidelsky described the resort to fiscal stimulus packages by various countries of the world as a ''remarkable second coming back of Kenynesianisms''. He spoke of the ''enduring power of the common sense of Keynes'', for its applicability never ceases to exist. Lord Skidelsky said, ''although the financial crash has been an iconic example of the importance of 'uncertainty' in economic life, the volatility of financial markets, the speed of change of output and the sluggishness of wage and price adjustments, the Keynesian model has not yet been fully rehabilitated. The economist said the present global capitalist set up has been much more favourable to capital than for labour.

TECH-SONY-CAMERA

Gurdip Singh

Sony to increase market share; unveils 22 new camera models

New Delhi, Jan 19 (UNI) Even though the Indian economy is in a slowdown phase with most sectors getting impacted by it, Sony India today announced plans to increase its market share of digital cameras from 42 per cent to 45 per cent by next fiscal, spending Rs 50 crore on marketing strategy.''The market for digital cameras is vibrant and Sony India is continually fuelling this competitive environment by introducing new and innovative products that alter the market landscape,'' company Managing Director Manasaru Tamagawa told UNI. Earlier, Sony India unveiled an innovative product line-up with a total of 22 products for the Indian market. It brought to camera connoisseurs an innovative product line up in 'H', 'S', 'T' and 'W' series Cyber shot cameras. These new cyber-shot cameras are a class apart as they are multi-equipped with revolutionary technologies like 'Sweep Panorama' and HD (High Density) movie.Also, most cameras are equipped with 14 mega-pixel resolution to produce sharper and cleaner pictures. Mr Tamagawa said the company plans to increase the unit sales to 8,00,000 units in 2010-2011, up from the sales figure of 5,50,000 units in financial year 2009-10.He said the introduction of 'sweep panorama' and high density movie technology that ensures a wider consumer audience would be able to experience Sony's technological superior products.The 'sweep panorama' technology allows capturing ultra wide pictures with the huge field of up to 270 degrees.The 'HD movie' feature with the new 720p (1080p high definition movie) shooting capability allows capturing own HD videos at 30 FPS at 1280x720 pixel resolution and share the excitement with one's friends.The sweep panorama and the HD movie technology will be available in a price range between Rs 12,990 to Rs 29,990, capturing a wide customer base.Mr Tamagawa said the compact camera segment in India is currently estimated at 1.3 million units and is expected to grow up to 1.8 million units by financial year 2010-2011.Asked how Sony India plans to increase its market share, he said it will launch an aggressive marketing strategy, opening new sales channel and advertising blitz, entailing television and billboard.Apart from this, it will capture on the growing income of the middle class and the upper classes.Given the high GDP growth, the income of these people are expected to grow in earnest.Sony India's main competitors in the digital camera market are Canon and Nikon.The company plans to enhance the number of exclusive outlets by 30-40, from existing level of 240.Mr Tamagawa said India is the eighth largest market for Sony India, the first being the United States.Cameras are becoming more intelligent where they capture the reality without much involvement of the person taking the picture, he said.The Managing Director said most camera models are available in 14-mega pixel resolution. The company's cameras are manufactured in Japan and China and are imported to India from there.However, software work is done in its unit in Bangalore, even though the company is outsourcing some of its software activities.He said 1,000 top class engineering brains are involved in the software development.Asked as to whether it would like to be linked to the government for its sales, he said that it would like to be a supplier of high definition equipment for the Commonwealth Games to be held this year.In many ways, Sony India is a unique and a successful MNC for neither the deep recession in Japan nor the slowdown in India has impacted its sales. The popularity of its products, even in times like this, continues to surge.