It’s not new. Our business media is routinely taken for a ride by corrupt businessmen and their PR hatchetmen. However, this case is a class apart.

On December 21, Business Standard carried a news report, which was faithfully “followed up” by other business newspapers in Mumbai and the rest of the country. The report centred around a certain letter, purportedly written by markets regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India). The letter was addressed to Pyramid Saimira, a Chennai-based theatre chain. The letter asked the promoters of the company to make an “open offer” to the shareholders of the company.

As per rules, anyone buying more than 5% stake in a company within a year is expected to make an open offer to its ordinary shareholders, offering to buy shares (upto 20% of the total outstanding shares of the company) at the same price. It seemed, from the letter, that the promoters did not make the open offer, and hence violated Sebi’s Takeover code.

At the time of the news reports coming out, the Pyramid Saimira shares were trading at Rs 60. If the Sebi letter and the news reports were true, the promoters would have been forced to make an open offer at Rs 250. “Share at Rs 75. Open offer Rs 250,” screamed the headline in DNA Money. With reports chorusing the impending offer at Rs 250, the shares of the company shot up.

Pyramid Saimira admitted to receiving a couriered letter from Sebi and confirmed the news. It seemed everything was in order.

However, a couple of days later, Sebi clarified that it had never sent any such letter. And Pyramid Saimira too woke up to realise that the “Sebi” letter was forged. By this time, the share price had gone up to Rs 83 from the previous Rs 60s. And as the price went up, someone  – later revealed to be Nirmal Kotecha, a company co-promoter – heavily sold his shares. And exited at a profit before the stock came crashing when it came to light that the reports were fake and there was no Sebi letter and hence no open offer at a high price either.

Where did the media get this fake letter from? Business Standard said in a front page mea culpa that it got the letter from one Ashok Jainani of Khandwala Securities. Let’s not forget that news media never reveal their sources, whether the reports are right or wrong. (in BS words: Like other media organisations, Business Standard was duped by a forgery. We apologise to all our readers, to Sebi and to Pyramid Saimira) Rather than admitting to the failure of their own fact-checking mechanisms, the report sought to pass the blame to an analyst. Other media outlets had received the letter from one Rakesh Sharma, a PR agent. Lets also not forget that business media routinely eat of the hands of the PR industry.

The police have since arrested PR guy Rakesh Sharma, and questioned Nirmal Kotecha who sold his shares when the stock had gone up. Investigations are on, but there is still no clarity on who forged the letter, who transmitted it among the media and how our venerable business media gleefully swallowed the letter without even a simple fact-checking with the corporate finance department of the market regulator Sebi.

The three-year engagement between Mercator and Infosys is expected to allow Mercator’s parent company Emirates to enhance its IT environment in order to accommodate increasing demand. Infosys was selected for its custom application development expertise and its ability to deliver a quality service on time.

Mercator is a global provider of business technology solutions, including financial management, cargo and logistics, passenger and airport solutions, IT consulting and systems integration, delivering business services to more than 100 customers in five continents. From its Dubai base, Mercator assists the Emirates Group to meet the increasing demands of a growing business environment. Through this engagement with Infosys, Mercator aims to improve time-to-market of new offerings and reduce risk to its customers’ business through enhanced knowledge management processes and productivity gains, a source said.

According to Patrick Naef, President, Mercator, “Emirates Group and Mercator are expanding rapidly, placing increasing demands on the technology applications and infrastructure driving business processes. There was a clear mandate to change the IT operating model to support rapid growth. Infosys’ proven track record of delivering quality, combined with their intellectual property and global delivery model made them a preferred technology partner.”

With over 91,000 employees in over 40 offices worldwide, Infosys designs and delivers IT-enabled business solutions which focus on providing operational superiority to their clients. “Large enterprises such as the Emirates Group are working with Infosys to use technology to improve their business models. Our clients are discovering the competitive edge they can gain by utilising the Infosys Global Delivery Model.  We also believe that this new opportunity from Emirates will help Infosys increase its presence in the Middle East significantly,” Dheeshjith V G, Head of New Markets and Services, Infosys Technologies, said.

AXN Beyond TV channel in India

The new channel, AXN Beyond, will have programmes with sci-fi, suspense, horror, mystery, fantasy, paranormal and supernatural undertones unlike the action-adventure and lifestyle reality shows that have been the mainstay of AXN.

Earlier in 2008, AXN Beyond was launched in the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, shows like Lost and Supernatural were migrated to AXN Beyond. AXN Beyond also airs Pushing Daisies,  Andromed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hex, Night Stalker, Northern Mysteries, The Dresden Files in Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Rohit Bhandari, AXN’s new Country Head, India, has said that considering high costs of entry and operation in India, AXN is on the lookout for the best time to launch AXN Beyond in India.  AXN has said that the company is following CAS and other modes of distribution to find the optimal solution.

AXN has more plans for India. afaqs! has quoted Bhandari as saying that AXN is still finalising a few reality series formats and weighing them. “Currently, most general entertainment channels (GECs) have the song and dance reality shows which are predominantly talent based. We will bring in shows that are based on adventure and thrill,?Bhandari said.

AXN has said that with AXN Beyond and its India-specific reality shows it wants to capture a larger audience in India. The programming of AXN Beyond will target action and adventure enthusiasts in the age group of 25-45 years. AXN will put its muscle behind shows and ground event that will involve audiences.

The shows will not be aired in the 10 pm – 12 pm slot as that may affect the premium shows.