A MOTLEY COLLECTION OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC NEWS

The burgeoning Indian economy is creating a serious demand for high-quality managers to oversee the nation's growing businesses. That makes the MBA a valuable commodity that insures a quick RoI. And the growth of India's middle class means more Indians than ever before are able to afford brand-name American degrees. As a result, even though foreign applications to American B-schools have dropped since visa restrictions were tightened after 9/11, applications from Indian students are increasing. In just the last year, the number of Indians taking the GMAT (the test required for entrance to most American B-schools) increased 19%, reaching 7,123, according to the General Management Admission Council (GMAC).

The recent spate of news flow in the IT sector has the technology funds smiling again. They are the best performing equity category for the past one month period, posting an average return of 8.40 per cent. They have outperformed the BSE IT index for the period, with index returns amounting to 6.52 per cent. SBI Magnum Sector Umbrella- Software topped the list during the period with 11.16 per cent returns, followed by DSP ML Technology.com at 11.09 per cent. Technology funds haven't done that badly for the one-year period either with the average returns amounting to 53.40 per cent.

Reliance Communications UK will launch its Reliance IndiaCall service in England and Wales on Friday. The company already has such a service in the US and Canada. Reliance IndiaCall will charge 7.9 pence per minute for landline calls made from the UK to India, and 8.9 pence per minute for mobile phone calls to India, said a news release from Reliance Infocomm. Reliance Communications, registered in the UK, is an affiliate of Reliance Infocomm. This service is aimed at non-resident Indians in the UK and Indians on visit or in transit in that country. Reliance IndiaCall can be used to call any number in India from any phone (no matter who the local operator is) in England and Wales. Each customer will have to register to get the unique four-digit PIN (personal identification number).

Orient Craft, one of India's largest garment exporters, has acquired a Levi's plant in Spain for US$ 13 million. Orient exports to a wide range of international buyers such as Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic, Gap, Susan Bristol, Nike, Levi's and Dockers. The machinery from the newly acquired plant will form part of the company's expansion plan at Manesar, near Gurgaon. Orient Craft MD Sudhir Dhingra said, “The state-of-the-art equipment in the plant is comparable to the best global standards. Its induction in the Indian textile industry could give new dimensions to garment manufacturing.”

Infosys has announced that in a survey by Forrester Research it was ranked the highest in client satisfaction in outsourcing services and was among the top three in consulting services among 11 major global IT service providers. In another report, Forrester has recognised Infosys for taking a more strategic approach than other offshore players. It states Infosys’ strategic objective is to become a preferred global IT service and consulting firm not just the largest vendor. “To avoid becoming a commodity service provider, it does not bid on non-strategic deals. It is one of the few Indian vendors that do not do pure staff augmentation engagements, and it is rarely a low-cost bidder, preferring instead to differentiate itself through higher-quality skills.”

The Bangalore-based pharmaceutical market services company Indegene Lifesystems has acquired a leading US pharmaceutical solutions company, Medsn Inc, signalling consolidation in the pharmaceutical services sector. 
Indegene, the country's largest pharma marketing solutions company with full fledged operations in the US and Singapore, signed the takeover deal last week. The valuation of the deal is not disclosed. 
Indegene is involved in providing a gamut of integrated scientific promotions, medical education and business analytics solutions to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide.