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Railway minister promises jobs for land deals for the project.
Thirteenth Finance commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar today said the price of energy should be the same for everybody and subsidy should be directly given to the targeted beneficiary.
The hearing in the gas dispute between the Ambani brothers today commenced afresh in the Supreme Court after a change of judge and the two sides indulged in a verbal battle with the one side accusing the other of deviating from its earlier stand.
Aiming to break even in the next three years, ING Life is targeting a 15 per cent increase in its new business premiums, a top company official today said.
Financial regulators including Reserve Bank, and Sebi will meet next month to decide on giving a formal status to HLCC — a co-ordinating body for the sector — to make it more effective.
The stock soared to a high of Rs 429 and finally ended at Rs 421, up 5.5% from its previous close. The counter clocked volumes of 323,029 shares as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 20,162 shares on the BSE. _________________________________________
I’m considering buying a hatchback for local commutes for my children. My requirement is for a car that is easy to drive, fuel efficient, low on maintenance and has a refined engine. I am considering the Maruti Suzuki Alto, the Hyundai i10, Hyundai Santro, Maruti Suzuki A-star and Chevrolet Spark. The Alto has good manoeuvrability but seems to be outdated. My budget is Rs 3-3.50 lakh. Which car would you suggest?
Two artists explore different mediums in an exhibition that explores their respective skills.
The Sensex touched a fresh 22-month high of 17,790, However, it were the mid-cap and small-cap stocks which stole the limelight this week.
To fund its 2,400-Mw project in Raigarh
The Orissa government will start a pilot project for computerisation of the details of land acquisition for different projects and rehabilitation and re-settlement (R&R) of affected persons. To be launched under the banner of ‘punarbas project’, the pilot scheme will initially cover three projects.
Jindal Steel & Power today reported a two-fold increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 988.47 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2009.
After triggering a row over the formation of a separate Telangana state, the Congress leadership has adopted a “go slow” approach to defuse the political tension that threatens to split the party in Andhra Pradesh. Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, have ruled out imposition of President’s Rule in the state and dismissing its own government.
Jaiprakash Hydro Power today said it would raise up to Rs 1,500 crore through various means, including stake-sale or issue of securities in domestic as well as global markets for funding its projects.
The Nano and IPL come on top, Swift Dzire springs a surprise in the 13th annual Brand Derby
Gujarat government today awarded Rs. 110 crore contract to HCL Infosystems to take Information Technology (IT) to around 7,000 schools in the state. As part of the contract, the IT major will supply PCs with biometric finger print scanner and UPS to over 6,000 schools under education department and 1,000 schools under tribal department.
The Nifty closed in a Doji pattern after a breakout above 5,182 on profit-booking above 5,200. The trading volumes on the futures and options (F&O) segment declined by over Rs 10,000 crore with the number of contracts in index futures lower by almost 12 per cent. This means the participants are wary of taking positions at the current level as only two trading days are left for the expiry of the current series.
Cracking the whip to turn around ailing Air India, the government today announced an overhaul of its top management within 30 days by inducting seven independent directors with proven track record on the airline"s board.
Nasscom today said that the India Innovation Fund (IIF) promoted by it and ICICI Knowledge park (IKP) has achieved its first closing corpus of Rs 40 crore.
The sales of used gold, known as scrap gold in commodity parlance, shot up 25-30 per cent on Wednesday as retail investors rushed to cash in on high prices before a correction, which analysts forecast as imminent.
The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), which started its summer placements process today, saw offers trickling in from the world’s leading finance and consulting firms on day one.
*This fictional character is a $5-billion cash cow for its company. But its popularity seems to be waning and the company has plans to rebrand its personality by moving away from its clean image. The first project for this exercise has been code named Super Secret. Name the character.
Demanding higher prices for sugarcane in Uttar Pradesh, Rashtriya Lok Dal President Ajit Singh has said that if sugarcane farmers did not get the right price for their crop, they will gherao the cane mills and stop the supply of their produce to them.
The Punjab government would soon announce its new Agro Industrial Policy-2009 which would be implemented through its nodal agency – Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Ltd (PAIC) to achieve the goal of rapid industrialisation in the field of agriculture and agro-processing.
Bhupesh Bhandari / New Delhi December 03, 2009, 0:30 IST
The much awaited Pune Metro rail project has inched forward with the civic body approving the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to be forwarded to Maharashtra and Central government for its clearance.
The Mumbai-based Avon Corporation has posted first ever quarterly net profit at Rs 3.38 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal on a turnover of Rs 25.79 crore.
Allianz Infratech, wholly-owned unit of Etisalat DB, will outsource its telecom infrastructure requirements to RCom.
Anil Ambani"s Reliance Big TV today said it was evaluating proposals for diluting stake even as it has earmarked around Rs 600-crore investment in the current fiscal for expansion.
Luxury carmaker Audi India today reported over two-fold increase in its sales in September at 205 units over the same period last year.
ICICI Bank’s Global Head (Investment Banking) Kalpesh Kikani says the time for multi-billion dollar deals is over. “India Inc’s appetite for large deals has gone down. In any case, financing such deals would be tough,” he says.
ING Life today launched a unit-linked investment solution, ING Flexi Life Plus, which offers flexibility in premium payments as well as the convenience to change premium amount during the term.
Brewberrys Hospitality Pvt Ltd (BbH), which operates the Brewberrys chain of cafes in India, plans to increase its footprint by over 200 per cent in the coming months. The Vadodara-based cafe chain is banking on the franchisee model to gain further scale and depth in its operations, according to Reji Thomas of JenJon Retail & Services Private Limited, the master franchiser for Brewberrys.
Port and Dock workers’ unions call for a nationwide strike after December 15 to protest at lack of wage revision may be averted, as the port authorities have expressed willingness to hold talks before the end of this month.
The FBI has charged 14 people, out of which five have already pleaded guilty, in a case related to the $20 million hedge fund insider-trading scam, the largest ever such case in the US.
ING Life Insurance is expecting a 60 per cent growth in renewal premiums during this fiscal.
The Indian team of intelligence officials, which went to the US in connection with probe into Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley"s terror designs, has come back with "good information", Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said today.
Everyone with a reasonable memory remembers 26/11, but how many can instantly recall 31/10, 21/5 or 6/12? Those were equally shattering dates in the nation’s political calendar that led to convulsive bloodletting, grief and trauma. They are the dates when Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated and the Babri Masjid was demolished. Public memory is notoriously short, but unless personally affected by tragedy, catastrophic moments lie chiefly in the province of chroniclers of history. There are thousands of others who perished in other recent calamities, natural or man-made — terrorist strikes, Naxalite encounters, floods, earthquakes and rail accidents — but can anyone precisely recall when? Of course not.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown today pledged to curb the entry of doctors and other professionals from outside Europion Union (EU) into the UK in a new crackdown on immigration, a move likely to adversely impact thousands of Indians.
More doctors and healthcare professionals are joining management schools, turned away by the limited number of seats for a post-graduate course in medicine and the prospects of a better pay package after graduating from a B-school.
Launches GSM service in the two states
Users are increasingly taking to dual-SIM handsets, which enable two connections on a single device.
The company has ambitious plans for mobile telecom services in Africa. Will it succeed?
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) will appoint a consultant to enhance shareholder value, its Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal said today.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has again deferred its recommendation on the revised Rs 2,500-crore proposal of Swiss telecom company ByCell to start telecom services in India.
Private sector power producer JSW Energy has fixed the issue price of its public offer at Rs 100 per share, at the lower end of its price band.
Famed micro-blogging site Twitter has acquired location tracking firm Mixer Labs for an undisclosed amount.
SANDEEP DHAR, CEO, Tesco HSC, credits the Apple iPod Touch as the coolest music device and believes that the multi-touch user interface on iPods can revolutionise the gadgets of tomorrow. The corporate honcho also prefers LCD technology as it saves energy
Priyanka Joshi / New Delhi August 16, 2009, 0:46 IST
- The Fennell effect - Automatic digging - Kalmadi seeks to dispel all doubts about C"wealth Games - "Facebook" floods search bars, tops list - Social networking sites fast catching up with job portals - PM on Facebook, Tharoor on Twitter
Even as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi hopes to see the state, alongwith Japan and Singapore dominate the Asian economy, a delegation of 95 real estate developers from Gujarat will be visiting Japan and Korea to study and imbibe technological know-how of infrastructure in these Asian economies.
Barista Coffee Company is looking at registering its maiden net profit next financial year. Currently the company is registering operating profit with a turnover of Rs 150 crore.
The Nifty maintained its support of 4,580 and closed at 4,593, indicating that it could go down to the 4,500-level in the near future. The Nifty September futures closed at a discount to the spot and built an open interest (OI) of 0.6 million shares, hinting at fresh sell-offs by bear operators. The upside for the index is around 4,650 with a major support likely at 4,500.
Tired of filling several application forms to invest in different mutual fund schemes? Wait till March 2010, and you’ll just click this cumbersome process away.
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has lost an oilfield in Algeria to a consortium led by a Chinese oil firm.
Google Inc, seeking new ways to make money from internet-search advertising, is dressing up its plain-text search ads with movie and TV previews.
Private sector life insurer Aviva India today forged a strategic tie-up with DBS bank for distribution of its insurance products through the bank"s branches to affluent and high net worth (HNI) customers.
India has urged the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) not to impose fine on Satyam, now Mahindra Satyam, in view of irregularities as the company was also listed there.
The annual maintenance charges for subscribers of the New Pension System (NPS) may come down by Rs 70 from April. National Securities Depository (NSDL), the record-keeper for NPS, expects over one million people to join the scheme in the next six months, leading to a reduction in the account maintenance fees from Rs 350 to Rs 280.
Tata Teleservices thinks it has hit upon the formula for success with its "pay per call" plan.
BS Reporter / New Delhi November 22, 2009, 0:37 IST
Business Standard / New Delhi November 11, 2009, 0:27 IST
Shyamal Majumdar / Mumbai December 22, 2009, 0:04 IST
This year"s computerised Common Admission Test (CAT), which was marred by technical glitches, will not be scrapped, the exam committee announced today.
Hyderabad-based drug maker Natco Pharma reported an 8.5 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 43.98 crore for the year ended March 2009, compared with Rs 40.52 crore posted in the previous year.
Reliance Industries, which had declared an intention to seek inorganic growth opportunities, confirmed a preliminary offer for a controlling interest in global petrochem major, LyondellBassel. The timing is prime for acquisitions in the space as there has been a steep decline in replacement cost and asset value given the plummeting of margins in the petrochemical space.
Indowind Energy Ltd on Friday said it had availed of Rs 36 crore term loan of the Rs 76 crore sanctioned by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd in October 2008 for completing the existing 18 Mw operational projects. The balance Rs 40 crore has been earmarked for implementing new projects to be undertaken this year
The government today said that China has denied reports suggesting it was planning to divert the course of the Brahmaputra river.
India Inc is likely to post a whoping 63 per cent growth in net profit in the second quarter, thanks to four oil marketing companies which are expected to post a combined net profit of Rs 2,730 crore in the quarter ended September. If one excludes these four from the sample of 235 companies studied, net profit is expected to only increase marginally, around 1 per cent.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today allyed concerns about capital inflows building an asset bubble and said it is keeping a vigil on these.
The Supreme Court collegium has decided to drop its recommendation for elevating Karnataka Chief Justice P D Dinakaran, facing charges of land grabbing, to the apex court, bringing to end months of controversy over the move.
The private hospital sector is expected to touch $45 billion (around Rs 2,00,000 crore) in the next three years riding on growth in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, a study said.
With Copenhagen Accord setting a January 31 deadline for the nations to specify 2020 emission targets and other steps, India will hold discussion with other BASIC group members comprising China, South Africa and Brazil in New Delhi to discuss their climate strategy.
At a time when deal flows in private equity remains muted, structured deals are being seen as the most prominent form of deal making, going forward.
The number of deals came down to 80 in 2009, from 127 in 2008.
The ongoing fare war and the launch of wireless services by new players will only worsen the profitability of mobile service providers.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today announced a financial package of Rs 10,000 crore to carry out various developmental works in Vidarbha region, assuring to implement it within three years.
Suven Life Sciences net down 48%
India"s largest retailer, Pantaloon Retail (India), today said it will raise Rs 500 crore by way of private placement of shares with qualified institutional buyers.
Development Credit Bank (DCB) today said it has raised Rs 81 crore by private placement of shares with qualified buyers.
Ranbaxy Laboratories today said it would market products from Daiichi Sankyo"s portfolio in Mexico through its Latin America-based subsidiary, Ranbaxy Mexico S A De C V.
The government today said in the Lok Sabha that a special audit has observed that Reliance Communication and its other subsidiaries under reported revenues during 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) today said a section of its workers belonging to an unrecognised union at its Chennai plant have threatened to go on strike from December 5, which could hurt its production.
With rising terror threat, the Centre today asked states to beef up security for both public and private aircraft fleet and aviation facilities, including abandoned airstrips, and carry out drills on a regular basis.
The government today shot down a suggestion in the Lok Sabha for setting up a committee under the Member of Parliament in respective constituencies for monitoring disbursement of loans by banks to priority sector like agriculture, small and medium enterprises.
Slamming the government for what they called siding with sugar mill owners on the cane pricing issue, the Opposition in the Lok Sabha today urged the government to protect the interest of growers.
State-run Oil India (OIL) has rejected the resignation offered by V K Sibal after he was reverted to the company following denial of extension as oil regulator amid reports of alleged favours to corporate houses.
Reliance Industries (RIL), today said the bonus shares allotted by the company last month have been listed on stock exchanges and will be traded from tomorrow.
The Railway Board is likely to utilise the undisputed 600 acres for setting-up a coach factory at Singur, the erstwhile site for the Nano project.
Janta Roadways, a Chennai-based logistics services provider in the car transportation segment, launched its luxury taxi service in the city on Tuesday. The service will cover Greater Chennai, which includes Sriperumbudur.
IN MY MIND
Lending rates might move upward in the months ahead as credit growth picks up, but banks may take a cue from the RBI policy before effecting any change in their rate-structure, a top banker today said.
This erstwhile plain vanilla product has been made attractive by banks through bundled deals and flexible options
The Paradeep Port Trust (PPT) authorities have sought the intervention and permission from the Centre and the director general of shipping to initiate legal action against the owner and the management company of the vessel MV Black Rose, which sank near the port two weeks back.
The Orissa government today asked the Orissa Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) to take steps to prevent any possible oil spillage by the sinking of the Mangolian ship, M V Black Rose, in the port limit of Paradip port.
At least six persons were injured when striking workers of CPI(M)’s labour wing Citu clashed with members of Trinamool Congres-affiliated union near the Haldia Petrochemicals’ (HPL) supermax project site in Purba Medinipur district on Sunday. Police said the Citu workers were picketing near the plant site in support of their indefinite strike, which began yesterday, when some members of INTTUC (Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress) tried to forcibly enter the HPL complex.
The government today approved the conversion of its Rs 128 crore loan to state-run Hindustan Prefab (HPL) into equity to help the company becoming a viable enterprise.
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), plans to raise $250 million to fund its expansion plans, a top company official said.
Three contract workers died in a mishap at a unit of the Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) in East Midnapore district of West Bengal.
In order to reduce costs, global oil major Shell will soon transfer additional office jobs from Houston and elsewhere to India and the Philippines.
Diversified business conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) today said it has allotted 21,173 equity shares to its employees under the Employees Stock Option Scheme (ESOS).
State-run NTPC has agreed to buy natural gas from Reliance Industries but is opposed to paying marketing margin to the private firm and wants to use the fuel at plants other than Kawas and Gandhar that were identified by the government.
Air India (AI) may review its ground handling joint venture agreement with Singapore Air Terminal Services (SATS) if the latter diluted its stake to another firm in that country, sources said.
Business Standard / New Delhi July 1, 2009, 0:30 IST
This election saw the re-emergence of single party dominance in our democracy. The tide had turned from a few years ago when our states were churning ‘Kingmakers’.
There were marginal changes in networth for the four fund managers in the first week of Smart Portfolios II. The managers have invested around 28-35 per cent of their individual starting corpus.
Normal life was paralysed for the second consecutive day in Telangana as violent demonstrations rocked the region in support of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president, K Chandrasekhar Rao, whose fast-unto-death entered ninth day on Monday.
The Centre"s decision to carve out a separate state of Telangana today created ripples in political parties in Andhra Pradesh with as many as 60 legislators and three MLCs from the Congress, TDP and Praja Rajya Party submitting their resignation to the Speaker.
Business Standard / New Delhi November 04, 2009, 0:56 IST
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that he agreed to the November 7 run-off elections for the sake of peace and stability of the country, though he feels that the Presidential election result was "clear".
Dubai"s indebted conglomerate Dubai World has said its ship building firm Drydocks World and its subsidiaries will not be included in the proposed restructuring plan.
Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is selling a third of its 6.9 per cent stake in Mahindra Satyam, formerly Satyam Computer Services. The transaction is expected to fetch Rs 304 crore for the company, said banking sources.
The Finance Ministry today said the surge in foreign capital inflow in the country, powered by initial recovery in the global economy, is not a cause for concern at present and no specific action is required to arrest it.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has put India on the "Wall of Shame" for hiking airport user charges by over 200 per cent, but hopes that the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) would play a role to rationalise these charges paid by airlines and passengers.
Foreign direct investment in the country surged by 60 per cent to $1.74 billion (around Rs 8,000 crore) in November, an official said today.
Non-life insurers earlier offered discounts as high as 97 per cent in some cases.
Engineering products manufacturer, Forbes Marshall is expecting a lower growth rate during 2009-10 at around 15 per cent due to slowdown in the economy, a top official said.
Rajesh Bhayani / Mumbai December 24, 2009, 0:12 IST
Public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) today received final approval for its general insurance venture from the sectoral regulator IRDA.
Think of what can go wrong — insurance companies have a list and the answer.
Investors, who bought gold from banks, are in a fix as leading jewellery houses are not ready to buy it and it cannot be sold back to banks either.
Canara HSBC Life Insurance is planning to foray into group insurance by the beginning of the next financial year. It is also working on products for high net worth individuals and the rural market and to bring volumes in a bid to double its premium income to Rs 1,000 crore by the end of the year.
The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,541 - down 75 points.
The rapid conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural uses is not the best way to food security. That is what the government-appointed panel on land reforms and agrarian relations says in its report, currently under the consideration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It blames the conversion both on absence of land use policies, “opening up of economy’’ and also on the non-remunerative nature of farming.
China/Africa: Chinese growing investment in sub-Saharan Africa is both a huge global development and a short-term bubble. Both sides will benefit, but there may need to be some pain first. In 2008, China’s $106.8 billion bilateral trade with sub-Saharan Africa made it the region’s largest trading partner, surpassing the US’s $104.6 billion. The Africa-China trade is close to balanced, while Africa’s exports to the US, mostly raw materials, are worth five times as much as its imports.
Leslie D"Monte / New Delhi October 20, 2009, 0:49 IST
Tolerance is bred deep among Indians: we are told of this ancient verity by both “secularists” and “communalists”. After all (the story goes), most Indians daily rub shoulders with a variety of other Indians from apparently different social and cultural backgrounds. For the most part, we muddle along well enough together — well enough to share a country and a civilisational outlook.
Chennai-based mobile retail chain, UniverCell, will be opening 700 stores across the country in the next two years. Each outlet will entail an investment of Rs 28 lakh.
Samsung has the first-mover advantage, but Nokia wants to catch up fast
Peeved by undue delays in implementing the Hubli-Ankola Railway line, Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi has urged the Centre to take steps to implement the work immediately.
The West Bengal government today said a relaxed Essential Commodities Act and "forward trading" had led to the rise in prices of commodities. "During the NDA regime when Trinamool Congress was a partner, there was a complete relaxation of the Essential Commodities Act. We are trying to bring that in order," West Bengal state finance minister Asim Dasgupta said here when asked about price rise.
Sensex has finally ended (provisionally) at 17,336 - up 104 points.
In what could be an embarrassment for India at the ongoing Copenhagen climate change negotiations, government data reveal that the rate at which Indian power plants emit carbon dioxide (CO2), which has been on a decline for many years, has increased.
Coal-based generators plan upgrades, clean tech over 5 years.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) will approach Cabinet shortly seeking allocation of Rs 10,000 crore to prepare an optical fibre cable (OFC) network for defence forces in the next three years in lieu of release of spectrum for mobile services.
Narayana Murthy, Rajeev Chandrasekhar role questioned in airport project
Jeera future prices are likely to firm up in January as there is a possibility for renewed export demand in the market. The demand from overseas market is expected from first week of January 2010 and this may support the price to strengthen.
For most companies, hiring women employees at an entry level has never been a problem. However very few of them make it to the higher levels. This has been a concern for recruiters.
The Dubai government said today neighbour Abu Dhabi has agreed to give $10 billion in emergency funds that will go toward paying debts owed by its Dubai World conglomerate.
As negotiators from 193 nations were busy negotiating a historic deal on cutting carbon emissions, the UN"s top weather agency today said that the world, including parts of India were experiencing the hottest decade on record.
As delegates at the Copenhagen summit discuss a new climate treaty, green activists here are hoping that it would focus on emission cuts and safeguarding of biodiversity.
A group of Muslim MLAs of the Samajwadi Party today demanded expulsion of senior leader Amar Singh from the party, accusing him of damaging the interests of the organisation.
Wind energy major Suzlon Energy has officially opened Infigen Energy’s Capital wind farm, the largest wind farm in Australia at Bungendore in New South Wales.
Markets have recovered after a brief drop into the red.
The UPA government today cleared the introduction of State Bank of India (Amendment) Bill in the current session of Parliament. The Bill seeks to bring the government’s holding in the country’s largest public sector bank on a par with other public sector banks at 51 per cent. Currently, the Union government holds 59 per cent stake in the SBI.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which took $10 billion in US bailout funds last year, shouldn’t get taxpayer support if the firm focuses on trading over banking, according to former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
Allahabad Bank is restructuring its financial services subsidiary, AllBank Finance Ltd, to widen its operations, currently limited to merchant banking services and allied fee-based activities like distribution of mutual funds.
Asian markets have recovered from the lows of the day. The Hang Seng has added 376 points (1.7%) to 21,873. The Nikkei has slipped 92 points (1%) to 10,546.
Dubai: Abu Dhabi"s $10 billion bailout of Dubai World will boost confidence and please Nakheel bondholders. But this volte-face won"t restore the credibility lost over recent weeks.
Political expediency should not stunt a great city’s growth.
The Sensex has ended at 17,589, down 111 points and the Nifty has closed at 5,257, down 24 points.
Global semiconductor sales is expected to decline by 11 per cent this year to touch $226 billion, according to research firm Gartner.
Indian chief information officers (CIOs) appear to be more progressive as compared with their global counterparts and are looking to ‘make innovation real’ and ‘expand business impact’ for their respective organisations.
It was the biggest line-up of farmers’ organisations and they came to Delhi from all parts of the country with one clear message: they did not want to grow the genetically modified (GM) version of one of the country’s most popular vegetable, the brinjal. The leaders looked mild enough but they said they would resort to “direct action ” if their voice was not heard and they said they represented 200 million farmers in the major brinjal-growing states.
Will get access to large distribution network in eyecare segment