US President Barack Obama visited rural India and saw how information technology has improved lives, allowing access to education, healthcare, and local governance online. The Reserve Bank of India increased interest rates by 0.25% during its quarterly meeting. Menswear retailer Koutons plans to open 100 new outlets on Friday for its youth brand Charlie Outlaw. Major companies like Reliance, Bharti Enterprises, and Tata Group are investing heavily in India's growing retail sector through new stores and partnerships.

1. Weekly News
By: Vikram Jain MBA 2A

2. IT can take India directly to 21st century:
Obama
US President Barack Obama on Sunday got a first hand account of
how information technology (IT) has revolutionized life in rural
India, and said this technology would help India directly leapfrog
into the 21st century
Obama spoke to the villagers who shared the benefits of
broadband penetration - from online medical consultation,
education and local e-governance

3. RBI rate hike
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the key
policy interest rates by 25 basis points during its
quarterly review meeting.
increase, the repo rate stands at 6.25 percent and
the reverse repo rate stands at 5.25 percent.

4. Apple looks at new computing era
through Macbook Air
New MacBook Air with a little extra help from the
iTunes store.
No need of DVD slot in your next Mac laptop, it
will completely replace desktop.
It will replace those discs with a fluffy white
iCloud, where software, music, video and your
own personal content fly around in the air like
happy seagulls at the beach.

5. Koutons to open 100 new outlets on Friday
 Menswear retailer Koutons announced that it will
be opening 100 stores for its youth brand, Charlie
Outlaw.
 DPS Kohli, Chairman of Koutons Retail India
said, "The opening of more than 100 stores in a
day is not just a characteristic of the corporate
culture of this company but also a reflection of the
spirit of young India stepping into the 21st century
and the Charlie outlaw brand has taken this spirit
as its USP." The brand will target high school,
college students as well as young professionals.

6. Retail buzzing in India
The retail segment is buzzing again with the entry
of several top business houses in the sector. Top
industrial houses such as Reliance, Bharti
Enterprises and The Tata Group are all getting
involved in the business in a big way. The most
recent of the announcements was Tata’s tie up with
Australian retailer Woolworths for setting up a
consumer durable chain of stores called Infiniti
Retail India.

7. Cont……..
The Tata Group is likely to expand to other formats as
the size of the industry grows. Another major tie up
happened between India’s Pantaloon Group and UK
based Alpha Airports Group Plc to set up travel and
food stores at airports in India.

8. Tata Group to invest Rs. 4 billion in Infiniti
Retail
The Tata Group announced that it would be
investing up to Rs. 4 billion in its new retail
venture dealing with consumer durable products.
The company will be setting up 30 stores, named
Croma, stocking a wide range of electronic
products and brands in the first phase and 100
stores in the next few years. The first store will
open in the Mumbai suburb of Juhu on October 9,
2006 and will cover 20,000 sq ft of space. In
general the stores will range from 15,000-20,000
sq ft in spa

9. Carrefour in talks with Landmark group for
franchise de
French retailer Carrefour is reportedly in talks with Dubai based
Landmark Group to set up 200 stores in India under a franchise
agreement. The companies are still only in an early phase of talks
which could conclude in November, according to Landmark
Chief Executive Micky Jagtiani.

10. Carrefour in talks with Landmark group for
franchise de
French retailer Carrefour is reportedly in talks with Dubai based
Landmark Group to set up 200 stores in India under a franchise
agreement. The companies are still only in an early phase of talks
which could conclude in November, according to Landmark
Chief Executive Micky Jagtiani.