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Home , Crossword Bookstores, Kolkata Book Fair, Oxford Bookstore, Sapna Book House

: 23 No. 23 March 2014 – October 2014 NEWSLETTER

THE FEDERATION OF PUBLISHERS’ & BOOKSELLERS’ ASSOCIATIONS IN 84, Second Floor, Darya Ganj, (Opp. Cambridge Primary School), New - 110002 Phones: 011-2327 2845; Fax: 2328 1227 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.fpbai.org In this Issue • From President’s Desk 2 • From the Editor 4 • The Great Thoughts on Life 5 • FPBAI Welcomes New Members 6 • Terms of Supply: Journals 9 • Approved Suppliers of Journals/Subscription Agents 10 • GOC Related Warning Given to Members 12 • Safeguarding the Interests of Trade 12 • FPBAI Seminar in Nepal 13 • A Brief Report of Srinagar Book Fair 15 • The 7th Executive Committee Meeting of FPBAI at Srinagar 16 •12th National Book Fair, 18 • Interview of Mr. Sunil Sachdeva of Allied Publishers (P) Ltd., Delhi 20 • Booksellers Want Curbs on Discounts by Online Dealers 22 • Benefits of Advertising in FPBAI Newsletter 23 • Trade Talk 24 — S. Chand Marching Ahead 24 — Sapna Book (P) Ltd. 25 — Restructure at PRH India–Joshua Farrington 25 — Amazon Sales Growth Slows in the UK–Lisa Campbell 26 — Amazon to Open Bookstore on International Space Station–Roger Tagholm 27 — The Journey of the ‘The Book’–Hasan Khurshid 28 • Media Scan 30 — Safeguarding the Interests of Book Trade–S.C. Sethi 30 — Publishers Throw the Book at Online Discounters–Navadha Pandey 30 — e-Retailers Threaten to Put Brick-and-Mortar Stores out of Business–Manavi Kapur 31 — Who is Funding Flipkart’s Massive Discounts? 32 — Flipkart Negotiating Fresh Deals with Samsung, LG 32 — e-Tailers Make it Dull Diwali for Retail Stores 33 — ‘Govt. to Look into Complaints on Flipkart’s Big Sale’ 33 — ‘Govt. Looking into Complaints over Flipkart Sale’ 34 — Mega Sale: Flipkart Apologises for Glitches 34 — Sorry, Say Flipkart Founders 35 — Flipcart Under Scanner for FEMA Violation 36 — Bring to e-Book 36 — e-Retailers Queue up for Hiring at B-Schools 38 — Internet Killed the Bookshop Star 38 — ‘Online Cannot Add New Readers’ 39 — Tihar Launches Coffee-Table Book on Prison Reforms 40 — Booksellers Face the Burnt of FYUP Rollback, Suffer Losses 40 — GST Enters Final Leg; May Stretch to 2016-17 41 — Government will not Entertain FDI in Multi-brand Retail: Nirmala Sitharaman 42 — GST set to be Rolled Out by April 2016 42 — Pirated Books Worth Rs. 31.5 Lakh Seized 43

1 FROM PRESIDENT’S DESK

Dear Friends, Change is the philosophy of life. Days and nights change, seasons change, physical structure of humans, animals and plants change. There is just no restraint to change. A philosopher once said, “The key to change is to let go of fear”. Another thinker said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending”. I entered the world of publication four decades ago. There were challenges at that point of time but the same required managerial skills to come over. Whereas, today the challenges are not of organizational or simply commercial nature. The publication and book trade is faced not by local challenges but with the IT revolution that has gripped the trade across the globe. It is the age of renaissance for the trade we all are in and we have to accept this truth whatever bitterness or uneasiness it might carry with it. One can trace back the beginning of the IT era when during 1945, in his seminal article, “As we may think.” Vannevar Bush of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had first articulated the concept of electronic . In 1991, Apple Computer introduced Jurassic Park, as an electronic book using the Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). Further to that the Rocket e-book came into being in the year 1998; followed by electronic novella published by Simon & Schuster and Stephen king in 1999, which could only be read on any internet browser on a computer, or downloaded to certain e-book devices. The factors behind fast proliferation of e-publishing include:- a) Technical advancement which provides increased computing functionality at a lower cost. b) Development of Intranet and Internet. c) Efforts to reduce the costs by eliminating paper, and inventory expenses. d) Electronic files can be searched efficiently and the information can be retrieved fast. e) Modern day generation’s choice to read on silver screen. f) The virtual ability of any to become his own publisher. In the near past many renowned and old booksellers in India have gradually been winding up their business of book selling because the return is very marginal. Today booksellers across the country are facing tough time in the age of e-readers. All these online sellers are pushing forth the books of ‘best sellers’ and the other dignified are being kept aloof from public view, as their precious work is not showcased being online with the fact that ‘what is visible, can only be sold’. As of now online sale has become very competitive, both retail buyers and institutions are all lured in to buying from them. The whole idea and trend of visiting a shop, browsing of books, getting to know new books, the new authors, and new areas of publishing, has eroded completely. The cultural fabric of book world is almost at the edge of dying. Renowned and very old book stores such as oxford and the multi-national bookstores chain of Reliance are at the brink of closing down. Similarly, Capital Book Depot Chandigarh shifted from ground floor to 2nd floor.

2 Teksons Book Shop South Ext. 1, New Book Depot, Connaught Place have also been closed down. Another 60 year old Mehta Bandhu Book Store, situated in ‘N’ Block of Connaught Place is suffering from the absence of buyers. Another 25 year old book store in Mayur Vihar is likely to be closed soon. However, there are a large number of booksellers who are about to close their business, which include: Danai Book Shop ; Strand Book Store, ; Reliance Book Stores across the country; Odyses stores including stores at Airports; Teksons relocated to Defence Colony and closed other branch at GK; Crossword, Delhi; Landmark Gurgaon and Delhi are on the anvil; PG Lifestyle, Delhi’s two stores are also in the process of closing. Hudson and Café in Metro stations of Delhi; Ganga Ram has relocated from the main premises to smaller premises from 3 floor to 1 floor; Crossword Bangalore on MG road; Media Marts at Metro stations; Large chains at airports in Delhi and Mumbai are reducing their areas; Considerable number of jobs are also suffering with the country riding high on technology, internet and smart gadgets. Readers will continue migrating from print to screen, the early adopters have adopted and the laggards will shift more slowly. Readers will continue transition from print to e-books, making the print distribution to physical bookstores less important, thereby weakening the grip big publishers once had on famous bigger-name authors. However, books are pleasure delivery devices and bookstore is a spa of mental health. The trend of e-book business can be brought back to basics by providing the readers an unlimited quality of high-quality and low-cost books. The authors who can achieve great success will be those who take their readers to the most emotionally satisfying extremes. The subjects can vary ranging from romance novels, gardening, memoirs or political treatise, etc. This also involves great writing skills, professional quality and the best layout. The booksellers and publishers need to frequently sit together to devise ways and means for promotion of books. “For everything you have missed, you have gained something else and for everything you gain, you lose something else”. Acting on this maxim we must look forward to embrace the change which is inevitable, while simultaneously struggling to keep the traditional system alive and intact. The opportunity with young readers is ripe, but to reach them, publishers are required to have a strong digital strategy that offers customized content catering to specific needs of the readers. The digital age offers an abundance of opportunities. The conventional publishers who introspect and self-analyse themselves taking advantage of these opportunities and avoid common pitfalls, are likely to prosper. Whereas, those who do not wake-up and keep sticking on traditional publishing models will find it increasingly difficult to make hay with the time and tide and hence it will be difficult for them to chart a profitable course in the midst of the industry’s digital transition.

S.C. Sethi President

3 FROM THE EDITOR

Today, there is a loud cacophony pertaining to digital onslaught impacting upon the survival of the book industry including the publishing, selling, distribution, etc. The threat on one side is not quite totally imaginary, it is not real as well. It is the time for introspection and action in case we the ones in book trade are serious enough to save the industry from extinction. We have to think optimistically keeping the following facts in mind:- That the online bookseller’s policy of offering heavy discount does not much affect the sale of printed books, as their policy is limited to a few front list . Moreso, the online booksellers offer discounts on dollar or pound price of the book, whereas, the conventional bookstores go by the rupee price of the book. We have to accelerate the distribution channel as the retail bookstores take four to six weeks for delivery of an imported title, whereas, the online store does the same job within one week. This inefficiency of distribution diverts away the willing customers from retail to online. The retailers need to improve their situation to be at par with the online operators, which can be managed if the well placed iconic publishers work in tandem and devise methods to compete with their online counterparts, by way of making the imported books available to the customers. One should not like online booksellers focus on bestsellers, as that way many valuable and interesting books get overshadowed by bestsellers, which is not a healthy and professional trend. There exist lot many laureates and book worms who find themselves mirthful and comfortable in the surrounding of books. Feeling, smelling, browsing books passionately gives them a soothing effect. Hence, there can be a certain level of deceleration in book sale but they no longer can extinct. Book is the best friend of a wise man, therefore the company of the books is pleasurable and therapeutic. Despite the furious onslaught of digital age, the book culture retains its sheen. However, the threat of online megastore giants like Amazon and Flipkart can not be overlooked straightaway. The threat can be perceived as real or imaginary as well. Much depends on our response to the threat. We have to get ourselves united to approach the government to mitigate the causal factors of the threat. Organization like Amazon and Flipkart are busy in using the golden thread of foreign investment funds which are in plenty. The BJP in its election manifesto had announced, “barring the multi-brand retail sector, FDI will be allowed in sectors wherever needed for job and asset creation, infrastructure and acquisition of niche technology and specialized expertise”. However, prima-facie, it seems that the government may not be averse to allowing foreign investment in e-commerce to boost the online retail sector. If the Flipkart and Amazon get the FDI approved, then in the next one decade, it will force the retail book stores to close down and will then dictate its own terms to the book world. The need of the hour is therefore to persuade the government not to let it happen by law. We also need to emphasise the government to put a blanket ban on the practice of offering huge discounts on books beyond permissive limit as this is an endangering trend that will engulf the trade. In case, the government comes forward to protect the large, debonair industry through the tool of statute, there will be the hope of the day.

Editor

Pradeep Arora

4 THE GREAT THOUGHTS ON LIFE

Man, the Homo Sapien, comes into this world without his consent, and leaves it against his will. When he is little, the big girls kiss him, and when he is big, the little girls kiss him. If he makes a lot of money, he is dishonest; if he is poor, he is a bad manager. If he needs credit, he can’t get it; if he is rich, everyone wants to do something for him. If he is religious, he is a hypocrite; if he doesn’t go to the church, temple or mosque, he is a hardened sinner. If he gives to charity, it is for show; if he doesn’t, he is a stingy cuss. If he is affectionate, he is soft specimen; if he doesn’t care for anyone, he is cold-hearted. If he dies young, there was a great future before him; if he lives to a ripe age, he is an old fogy. If he saves money, he is a tightward; if he spends it, he is a spendthrift. If he has money, he is a grafter; if he hasn’t got it, he is a bum. So what is the use? Life is divided into three terms – that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present to live better for the future.

✬ ✬ ✬

Life is like a tree which has fragrant flowers on every branch, but never try finding out where this fragrance comes from. The moment you pull this tree out of its roots to see where this fragrance comes from, this very fragrance that makes the tree very special, is gone forever.

✬ ✬ ✬

There are people who laugh to show their fine teeth; and there are those who cry to show their good hearts.

—Contributed by S.C. Sethi

5 FPBAI WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

Mr. Deepak Singhal Deepak Publishers Distributor Ms. Supriya Biswas Maina Wali Gali Om Books Publishers & Distributors Old High Court Road Mandir Marg, House No.8 A Gwalior-474009/M.P. Odalbarkrah, Kamrup Guwahati-781034 Mr. Asharfi Lal Integrated Subscription Agency Mr. Anjit Kumar Singha D-223/216, Laxmi Chambers Avatara Books Laxmi Nagar H. No.14, Rupam Rabha Path Near Laxmi Nagar Metro Station Jatia Kahilpama Road Delhi - 110092 Guwahati-781006 Mr. Sumit Jain Mrs. Anuradha S.Kacker Edubooks Solutions (P) Ltd. Ask Infotech 2/19 Ansari Road, Daryaganj 2 & 3, Konark Complex -110002 Opp. White Rose Near Hotel , Fatehgunj Mr. Anu Ahuja -390002 Shankar Book Agency () 133, Lenin Sarane, First Floor, Flat No. 4 Mrs. Sweety Jain Kolkatta-700013 Kirti Prakashan 4573/15, Padam Chand Marg Mr. Sanjay Kumar Mallick 1st Floor, Daryaganj S. K. Books & Periodicals New Delhi-110002 135, UGF, Humayun Pur Opp. B-6, Safdarjung Enclave Mr. Devraj Arora New Delhi- 110029 K.T. Foundation J-l, Aashiana Colony Mr. Abhinav Krishan Lucknow-226012 Aggarwal Maniac Reader Cl/2, Cottage No. 2, Model Town-Ill Mr. Ekagra Aggarwal Delhi-110009 Shri Adhya Educational Books (P) Ltd. 23/23, B.EMCA House Mr. Rajaram Mukurji Ansari Road, Daryaganj Poonam Book Service Centre New Delhi-110002 4546-A/16, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002 Phone: 23285055 Mr. Vishmadeb Deb Mr. Prem Kumar Nimbus Books Zenith Subscription Services (P) Ltd. Abhinandan Aparement BH-525, Ground Floor, A-2, 2nd Floor, Kahilipara, East Shaiimar Bagh, Delhi-110088 Phone: 45534005; Mobile: 9873183225 Mr. Udtkal Das D.N.S. Publishers & Distributors Mr. Sheikh Mohammad Waseem H. No.14, Rupam Rabha Path Young Publishing House Jatia Kahilpama Road Women College Road Guwahati-781006 Nawa Kadal Srinagar-190002

6 Mobile: 9906630188 Ms. Japleen Kaur Mr. Kanak J Bookzone Books India E Book Solutions P. K. House, Behind M.J. E. Boook Conversion & Ellis Bridge, -380006 Publishing Services, st Mobile: 9824016112 Suit #, l Floor, SFS Market Ashok Vihar, Phase 4, Delhi-110052 Mobile: 9810077526, 8800373906 Mr. Vinod Kumar Poddar Book Zone Mr. Palash Saha Shree Kunj, R.P.Street (Sonar Gali) Global Books & Periodicals Gandhi Chowk, Upper Bazar AF-226, Rabindrapally, Krishnapur -834001/ P.O Prafulla Kanan, Kolkata-700101 Phone: 0651-2563143; Mobile: 9835106859 Mobile: 9836631118/8420110216

Mr. Ganesh Sharma Mr. Anisur Rahaman Mallick G.G. Books & Periodicals Techno World JN2-llB/3, Sector-9 90/6A, M. G. Road (lst Floor) Vashi, -400073 Kolkata- 700007/West Phone: 022-65124924; Mobile: 9323801571 Phone: 033-22571650; Mobile: 9830168159

Mr. Rajaram Mukurji Mr. S. Venkateswarnu PBSC Publishers & Distributors Bibliotheque Books (P) Ltd. Shop No. 12, University Shopping Ground Floor, 4546-A/16, Complex, University of , Daryagsanj, New Delhi-110002 Gachibowli, Hyderabad -500046/A.P. Phone: 040-23011592; Mobile: 9440554030 Mrs. Ranjini Menon ARM Book Bazar Mr. Saurabh Aggarwal 777, Vikas Nagar Vedi Books (P) Ltd. Opp. Khanna Hardware, Dehuroad Unit-3, Rahul Apartments -412101/ 24/24, Ansari Road, Daryaganj Phone: 020-69330087; Mobile: 9762202336 New Delhi-110002 Mobile: 9999993107 Ms. Seema Singh Brick Publications (Publishers & Distributors) Mr. Laxman Prasad Sharma B/23, Nilkanth Bunglows Tirupati Publishers & Distributors Near Yamuna Park, Nana Bazar 19/154, Shantipuram Colony Vallabh Vidhyanagar Nagar Near A.D.A. Police Chowki, Anand-388120/ Agra Road, Aligarh-202001 Phone: 0571-2907643; Mobile: 9219124104 Mobile: 9427549183 Mr. Kartick Samanta Mr. Sheikh Mohammad Shahid Maa Kali Book Suppliers Oxford India Press Vill-Deriachak (P. Mahal), Batashah Mohalla Near J & & Bank P.O. Deriachak, P.S. Kolaghat Lai Bazar, Srinagar-190023 Dist-Purba Medinipur-721151, Mobile: 9858749726 Phone: 03228-251020; Mobile: 9735508821 Mr. Suraj Rajashekar Reader’s Choice Mr. Vikash Agaarwal #78, South End Road Shree Agronomic Project (P) Ltd. Opp. Axis Bank & SBM Basavanaguidi 4, Sunagogue Street, Suit #803 Bangalore-560004 Kolkata-700001

7 Mr. Debraj Patra Ms. Anupama Jauhry Katha-O-Kahini Booksellers (P) Ltd. The Energy And Resources (Teri) 13, Bankim Chatterjee Street Darbari Seth Block, Kolkata-700073 JHC Complex, Lodhi Road Phone: 033-22419071; Mobile: 9830257999 New Delhi-110003

Mr. Suraj Rajashekhar Mr. Samar Das Reader’s Choice B&B Publisher & Distributor No. 78, South End Road # 44, Kalibari Road, Bashitha Chariali Natun Bazar, Guwahati-781029 Opp. Axis Bank & SBM, Basavanagudi Assam Bangalore -560004 Mr. Indresh Kumar Shukla Mr. Devender Kumar Shraddha Book Distributors New India Book Agency Nirala Nagar (Khojanpur) C-12/137, Khojuri Khas Faizabad-224001/U.P. Delhi-110094 Mr. Jitendra Jain Mr. Rajendra Singhvi Narendra Publishing House Rajasthani Granthagar Publishers Distributors 1417, Mali-wala, Delhi-110006 & Booksellers First Floor, Near Ganesh Temple Mr. Hamid-U-llah Outside Sojati Gate, Jodhpur-342001 Mountain-Valley Publications Nowpora-Kalan Mr. Naresh Kumar Sopore-193201/J&K Branch Head Panworld Books (P) Ltd. Mr. Khalid Yaseen B-300, Okhla Industrial Area Fast Maximum Services New Delhi-110020 90 FT Road, Pandach Ganberbal, New Sumo Stand/J&K Dr. R.K. Thukral Mr. Sonam Yerphel Datanet India (P) Ltd. Lehling Book Shop D-100, 1st Floor, Main Bazar, Leh-Ladakh Okhla Industrial Area Phasse-I J & K-194101 Delhi-110020 Mr. Radheshyam Tiwari Ms. Sushmita Roy Sanjana Prakashan Bharat Books & Journal Agency D-70, Street No.4, Ankit Enclave 22/E, Nayan Chand Dutta Street Karawal Nagar, Delhi-110094 Kolkata-70006/W.B. Mr. Ajid D. Nagpurkar Mr. Dinesh Dalmia Timely Management Atlas Book House Consultancy Services (P) Ltd. Shop No. 3, Khitan Plaza 15/4, Shivpuri, Near, Chemburnaka G.N.B. Road, Tinsukia-786125/Assam S.T. Road, Chembur Mumbai- 400071 Mr. Harish Arya Aryas Publishers Distributors Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Bhagawari 2D, Hazareshwar Colony Unique Books Near Court Chouraha Monjera House, 1st Floor -313001/Rajasthan M.L.N. Road, Pan Bazar Guwahati, Assam- 781001

8 GOOD OFFICE COMMITTEE The Federation of Publishers’ & Booksellers’ Associations in India 84, Second Floor, Darya Ganj, (Opp. Cambridge Primary School) New Delhi-110002 Phone: 23272845 Fax: 23281227 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: http://www.fpbai.org S.C. Sethi J.L. Kumar Chairman Secretary

TERMS OF SUPPLY: JOURNALS 1. No Discount 2. Conversion rates as per latest GOC circular as prevailing on billing. 3. Bills to remain valid for 30 days from the date of invoice. All payments not made within the 30 days validity of the bills will be subject to change as per the new conversion rates prevailing on the date of receipt of payment. 4. Supplementary bills shall not be raised if the bills are paid in 30 days, except when subscription rate is changed by the publisher and revised rate is paid by the supplier. Such a revised rate shall be paid by the Librarian on production of documentary evidence. 5. Full advance payment to be made against all journals’ bills. Bills to be accompanied with price proof, if required by the Institute. 6. No security deposit/performance guarantee /required from the GOC approved vendors either for print journals or electronic resources. (journals/books/databases etc.) No such deduction to be made by the customer from the payments due to the vendor. 7. Claims for missing issues of journals to be made within 90 days of the publication of the issue in case it is supplied directly by the publisher to the end user. In case of claims beyond 90 days of publication, if rejected by the publisher, the agent will not be held responsible for refund. No penal interest is payable on stray missing issues. In case of delivery from the agent, the supply will be reviewed every quarter between the library and the agent. 8. The customer should not insist on acknowledgements for receipt of payment from the Publishers when orders are routed through approved vendors of GOC. Most publishers do not have a system of sending such acknowledgements. 9. In case of no-discount journals the approved vendors will not offer any discount and would be entitled to a 2.5% handling charges, over and above the list price of the subscriptions will be levied. 10. In case of no-discount journals the approved vendors will not offer any discount and would be entitled to a 2.5% handling charges, over and above the list price of the subscriptions will be levied. 11. The approved vendors of the GOC need not submit ISO Certification for providing services to an institution. They can instead provide membership details from GOC. 12. All subscriptions are subject to full advance payment only. No monthly, quarterly or half yearly payment will be accepted by the approved vendors from the institutes. 13. In case of remittance proof, the approved vendors need to provide details of cheques, drafts or bank certified copy of wire transfers to the publishers as required by the end customers.

9 14. All legitimate claims from customers to be settled by the vendors within one and half years from the date of receipt of payment. However, this would not include titles which are published behind schedule. 15. All Institutional customers are advised to route their requirements through the approved vendors of GOC and not directly through foreign publishers. 16. In case of any grievance regarding subscription orders placed through a GOC approved agent, institutions/end customers are free to bring forth their complaint directly to the GOC for amicable settlement.\

S.C. Sethi Chairman – GOC

APPROVED SUPPLIERS OF JOURNALS/SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS

1. A 4 Apple Agency 13. Bibliomatics 90/3144, Shramik CHs, Nehru Nagar Kuria East, Post Box No. 177 Main Road, Manipal/ Mumbai-400024 14. Central News Agency Ltd. 2. A.K. Books & Periodicals 23/90, Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001 C-7, Ajay Enclave Extension New Delhi-110018 15. Consortium Books (P) Ltd. 3. Ahuja Subscription Agency 19B/13, Elgin Road, 1st Floor Civil Lines, 4348/4C, Madan Mohan Street, Ansari Road, Allahabad-211001 Darya Ganj, New Delhi -110002 16. Creative Books & Periodicals (P) Ltd. 4. Allied Publishers Subscription Agency Halima Building 7NanabhaiLane Mumbai-400001 Post Box No. 7203,13/14, AsafAli Road, 17. D.S. Information Services (P) Ltd. New Delhi-110002 Flat No. 301, Ratandeep Apartment Phase II, 127/292 ‘U’ Block, Nirala Nagar, -208014 5. Aryas’ Book Centre The Hospital Road, Post Box No. 61 Udaipur- 313001 18. Global Information System Technology (P) Ltd. 877, Phase V, UdyogVihar, Gurgaon-122001 6. Arvind Prakashnan 15, Durga Nursery Road, Ashok Nagar Main Road 19. Globe Subscription Agency Udaipur/Rajasthan 34-870/1, Barkatpura Hyderabad-500027 7. Aura Impex 20. Globe Publications (P) Ltd. lllrd Floor, 16, Durga Nursery Road, B13, 3rd Floor, Block A, LSC. Ashok Nagar Main Road, Ring Road, NerainaVihar, New Delhi-110028 Udaipur-313001/Rajasthan 21. Hind Book House A-29, New Friends Colony New Delhi-110025 8. Asian Books(P) Ltd. 7/28, Mahavir Lane, 1st Floor 22. Hindustan Subscription Service Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002 R Box No. 8804 PMG Complex, 1st Floor, 57, South Usman Road, I Nagar, -600017 9. B. Bras & Co. 13A, Nirmal Chandra Street, (1st Floor), 23. IBH Journal Services Calcutta-700012 1st Floor, Rajendra Mansion 19A, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002 10. Balani Infotech Pvt. Ltd. B-116, Sector-67, Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, 24. iGroup Infotech India (P) Ltd. Noida-201301 (U.R) B-116, Sector-67, Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida-201301 (U.R) 11. Bhaisaiya Books & Periodicals 25. Indica Publishers & Distributors. Pvt. Ltd. A-463, Shastri Nagar Delhi-110052 7/31, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002 12. Bharat Book Bureau 26. Innovative Subscription Service 207, Hermes Atrium, Sector-11, CBD Belapur, Flat No. 1, Plot, H-2/94, Dwarka, Sector-1, Navi Mumbai-400614 Mahavir Enclave, New Delhi-110045

10 27. Infotrack Library Solutions 45. Saurabh Pustak Bhandar International 506-A, Jyoti Shikhar, District Center Janakpuri, B/20, Sthapatya Apartment, Near New Delhi-110058 Sterling Hospital Memnagar, Ahmedabad-380052 28. International Book House (P) Ltd. 46. Savan Books Indian Mercantile Mansion (Extn.) 1, 160, V.O.C. Street, Palavakam, Chennai 600041 Madama Cama RoadMumbai-400039 47. Scientific Publishers (India) 5-A, New Pali Road 29. Jain Periodicals Subscription Agency P.O. Box 91, Jodhpur-342001 1586/113, Tri Nagar, Delhi-110035 48. Students’ Book Depot 30. Journals Subscription Services Kunjlal Street, Upper Bazar, Ranchi 23, North West Avenue First Floor, Club Road, West Punjabi Bagh 49. Surya Infotainment Products Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi-110026 “Abhilaash” No. 12-A/1, Yamunabai Road Madhavanagar, Bangaluru-560001 31. Kunal Subscription Agency A-402, 4th Floor, Govind Plaza Flats 50. Swetal Subscription Service Near Kiran Park, Nava Wadaj, Ahmedabad-380013 410, Galaxy Mall, Haridas Park, Above Roymond’s Near Mithakhali Crossed Six Road, Showroom, Opp. Rani Zansi Brts Bus Stop Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009 Satellite Main Road, Ahmedabad-380015 32. Lakshmi Periodicals & Books (P) Ltd. 51. South Asia Distributors & Publishers 2/78, Jankipuram Extn. 92-C (Part), Next To Span House, 1st Floor Sitapur Road Scheme Lucknow-226021/U.P. Gurudwara Road, Madangir, New Delhi-110062 33. Library Book Supplier 52. The Law Publishers 290A, South Malaka Allahabad-211003/U.P. Sardar Patel Marg, Civil Lines, Allahabad-211 003 34. Maya Library Services 53. The Standard Book Co. S-9, 2nd Floor, Above Federal Bank 16, Main Krishnappa Garden Pocket-5, Sector-5, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075 Opp. Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore-560041 35. New India Publishing Agency 54. UK Subscription Private Limited 101, Vikas Surya Plaza, I.S.C. Market K-20 Model Town-ll, Delhi-110009 C.U. BIock, Pitam Pura Delhi-110088 55. Unique Media Integrators Printers & Publishers 36. Panima Subscription Agency 16, Prakash Apartments, 5, Ansari Road 148,Valluvarkottam, High Road, Nungambakkam Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110002 Chennai-600034 37. Paras Medical Books (P) Ltd. 56. University Book House 5-1-473, Jambagh Road, Opp. V.V. College, Subscription Agency RB. No. 544, Near Putli Bowli, Hyderabad-500095 O-16, Malviya Marg, C-Scheme, -302001 38. Prashant Book Agency 57. Unique Media Intergrators 4263A/31st Floor, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj Printers & Publishers New Delhi-110002 148, Valluvarkottam, High Road, Nungambakkam 39. Rapid Book Service Chennai-600034 Shop No. 6, 7 Kishore Bazar, Mausam Bagh 58. Universal Subscription Agency (P) Ltd. Sitapur Road, Lucknow-226020 877, Udyog Vihar, Phase-V, Gurgaon/ 40. Ratan Subscription Services 59. Vardhman Books & Periodicals 5A, Citizen Enclave, Sector-14 Extention 102, Vikas Surya Plaza (Above Vijaya Bank) Rohini, Delhi-110085 CU-Block (LS.C. Market) Pitam Pura, Delhi-110034 41. Readers’ Point 60. Vatsal Enterprises No.565, 1st Floor, 9th Main Mc Layout FU-75, Pitam Pura (Near Income Tax Coony) Vijayanagar, Bangalore-560040 Delhi-110088 42. Rhino International Agencies 61. Vijay Store (Ahmedabad) 74, Mahavir Centre, Sector-17 Vasi 62, Kalayn Bhawan, Near Rupam Cinema Navi Mumbai-400705 Relief Road, Ahmedabad-380001 43. S.K. Publication 62. V.P.H. Subscription Services (P) Ltd. 10/323, Sunder Vihar, Outer Ring Road Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110087 12, Bhabanath Sen Street, Kolkata-700004 44. Satish Serial Publications 63. Vijay Store (Anand) 404 Express Tower Near Gopal Talkies, Station Road, Commercial Complex, Azadpur, Delhi-110033 Anand-380001, Gujarat

11 GOC RELATED WARNING GIVEN TO MEMBERS

The President, FPBAI has issued GOC related new guidelines and requested the members to submit the fresh affidavits. President revealed that almost 70% member have already adhered to the new guidelines. Whereas, those members who have not acted upon the new guidelines are being expelled from the GOC as well as from the Federation membership. This decision was taken by General Body of GOC and ratified by FPBAI executive committee during 6th ECM. The President feels our intention is that our members should make reasonable profits and they should not create unhealthy competition, where nobody earns anything. We have received many complaints from librarians that many members have taken the money and have not fully supplied the journals. In many cases we have taken action against the defaulters and due to our action librarians expressed their satisfaction. This has helped a lot to create goodwill between librarians and the industry. We are working in this direction so that cordial atmosphere is created between publishing industry, academician, and librarians. On March 28, 2014 a General Body meeting of the GOC was held at Federation House, New Delhi in which a resolution was passed. The minutes of the resolution passed by the House were circulated to all the members. In accordance to the above, it was unanimously resolved that w.e.f July 1, 2014, onwards the names of those subscribers shall only surface in the Approved Subscribers list, who have adhered to the new conditions in toto and have submitted their agreement through the execution of new affidavit.

Secretary GOC

Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of or information – the activity of making information available to the general public. Traditionally, the term ‘publication’ refers to the distribution of printed works such as books (the ‘book trade’) and newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include electronic resources, such as the electronic versions of books and periodicals, as well as micropublishing, websites, blogs, video games and the like.    Publishing includes the stages of the development, acquisition, copyediting, graphic design, production – printing (and its electronic equivalents), and marketing and distribution of newspapers, magazines, books, literary works, musical works, software and other works dealing with information, including the electronic media.    The birth of every book is like the birth of a new baby in a welcoming, affectionate, happy home. The publisher is emotionally attached to the production of every book. Hence, book publishing is a specialized enterprise and publishing of good quality educational text books can be undertaken only by professionals.

12 FPBAI SEMINAR IN NEPAL

A Successful seminar was organized by FPBAI at Kathmandu (Nepal) on 25th January, 2014 in collaboration with National Booksellers Publishers Association of Nepal. Initially, FPBAI were apprehensive of organizing a seminar in a foreign land, therefore it was enquired from the right source about the legality of conducting such an event over there. Once FPBAI got the green signal, it proceeded the matter further culminating it into the very successful seminar on ‘Publishing’ that was applauded by one and all. FPBAI received a warm welcome and hospitality extended to delegates during the three days stay over there wef. 24th January 2014. The seminar on ‘Publishing & Piracy’ held on 25th January, 2014, at Kathmandu was a grand success. The speakers who deliberated included: Mr. S. C. Sethi, President, FPBAI; Mr. Basanta Thapa, President, NBPA; Mr Joseph Mathai; Mr N.N. Sarkar; Mr S.K. Ghai; Mr Ameet Dutta and Mr Navin Joshi. One day the dinner was hosted by National Booksellers and Publishers Association of Nepal and the other day by Federation of Nepal Books Stationary Business (FNBSB). During FPBAI delegates’ stay at Kathmandu, certain participants of Nepal complained that they are not able to sell their books in India, whereas Indian books are largely sold in India and Nepal as well. Mr. S.C. Sethi, advised them to come to India and promote their sale. He also assured them entire corporation and assistance from FPBAI in India for the promotion of their trade. Encouraged with the success of the seminar at foreign land, FPBAI is now planning to go to other SAARC countries.

Left to Right: Mr. Basanta Thapa, President of the National Booksellers and Publishers Association of Nepal and Mr. S.C. Sethi, President of FPBAI, illuminating the traditional lamp

13 Mr. Basant Thapa, President, NBPA of Nepal addressing the audience

Mr. S.K. Ghai, Chairman, Seminar Committee, FPBAI addressing the audience

Mr. Navin Joshi of S. Chand & Co. addressing the audience

14 A BRIEF REPORT OF SRINAGAR BOOK FAIR

His Excellency N.N. Vohra, Hon’ble Governor of J&K on August 23, 2014, inaugurated a big Book Fair at Haat, Srinagar, which was jointly organized by National Book Trust, India (NBT); the Federation of Publishers and Booksellers Associations in India (FPBAI); National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL); Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages. In his inaugural address, the Chief Guest, His Excellency N.N. Vohra, Hon’ble Governor, emphasised the importance of good books in life. He said that a valuable book once bought enlightens several generations in the family. The wisdom which comes from knowledge, lays the basis for advancement of civilization and culture of a Nation. Mr. S.C. Sethi, President FPBAI, in his address during inaugural function in the presence of His Excellency, N.N. Vohra, Hon’ble Governor of J&K drew the attention of the authorities and other audience that the space charges for Kashmir Haat are high and the same should have been nominal. He also drew attention of the Government of J&K and the Hon’ble Governor towards the , where one rupee is being charged for the space of Book Fair. Responding positively to Mr. Sethi’s suggestion, the Hon’ble Governor and the Director (Handicraft) announced that next time onwards they will give the space free of cost. This was applauded by one and all. Other dignitaries who deliberated on the occasion included: Dr. Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, ; Mr. Farooq Ahmad Shah, Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar; Mr. Tariq Ganie, Director Handicrafts, Kashmir; Professor Khawaja Muhammad Ekramuddin, Director, NCPUL and Professor Shafi Shauq, Kashmiri writer. Dr. M.A. Siknadar, Director NBT, gave the welcome address and Mr. Harron Rashid, officiating Secretary, J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages presented a formal Vote of Thanks.

Mr. S.C. Sethi addressing the audience during inaugural function in the presence of the His Excellency N.N. Vohra, Hon’ble Governor of J&K, sitting on the dias

15 THE 7TH EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING OF FPBAI AT SRINAGAR

The 7th Executive Committee Meeting of FPBAI took place at Srinagar on 23rd August 2014, as FPBAI had been requested by M/s. Wattan Book sellers and other members of Srinagar to hold the Executive Committee Meeting over there. The FPBAI willingly accepted their request keeping in mind the strength of about 100 members at Srinagar. During the ECM, the President, FPBAI resolved the surrounding local problems of Srinagar members by giving them technical advise through his vast experience.

Mr. Manzoor ul Haque and Mr. M.G. Ahmad raised the issues pertaining to local problems faced by the Book Trade in Srinagar, which were as follows:

— Kashmir University and Central University have been asking for the security deposit and 2% of the quote amount to be donated for Library Fund. The President requested them to send their representation in writing so that action could be initiated against the unjustified demands of the buyers by approaching the authorities concerned and the ministries as well.

— The Srinagar members also raised the issues of local traders-in-conflict with GOC terms. The Chairman GOC advised them that the only way out is that the traders should get united to counter such situations and we shall extend our whole-hearted support to them to address the nightmarish situations that may ever arise. The Chairman assured the House that the Federation shall impress upon the local institution of Srinagar not to call the tenders but before doing so the traders of Srinagar have to get united. Once it is done we shall not hesitate to expel the erring members from GOC/ FPBAI membership.

— Mr. Manzooul Haque suggested that they would like to form a local committee in Srinagar and all the applications for membership from Srinagar in future should be sent to them for screening before final approval. The President was quick to respond in affirmation and said that we shall be too happy to do this.

— Certain members present in the House who had gone from Delhi drew the attention of the House towards the rampant complaints against many booksellers of Srinagar who have not been making payment to the suppliers. The President suggested that this issue too should be looked in by the proposed new local committee. On this members from Delhi pointed out that if the booksellers find themselves not in a position to sell the books then they should return the unsold stock but the problem is that they are neither returning the books nor making the payment to the suppliers.

— It was recommended that in such cases action against such members should be initiated. This was accepted by Mr. Manzoor ul Haque and Mr. M.G. Ahmad. The House also passed this decision and ruled that this condition should be implemented with an immediate effect. Mr. Manzoor ul Haque requested the approval for the formation of the local committee for J&K, which was duly approved by the House.

The meeting ended with a Vote of Thanks to the Chair.

16 Members of the Executive Committee during the 7th ECM held at Srinagar on August 23, 2014

Mr. S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI; and Mr. J.L. Kumar, Secretary, FPBAI during ECM

Left to right: Mr. Virender Arya; Mr. Manish Sabharwal; Mr. Usman; Mr. Yakub; Mr. Arvind Jain and Mr. Gopal Aggarwal during ECM

17 12TH NATIONAL BOOK FAIR, LUCKNOW

The 12th National Book Fair was organized by K.T. Foundation, Lucknow (UP); in active collaboration with the Federations’ and Booksellers’ Association in India (FPBAI), New Delhi, during September 19-28, 2014. The Book Fair was very well organized. The inauguration of the Book Fair was done by Hon’ble Governor of U.P., His Excellency, Mr. Ram Naik.

In his address, Mr. S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI, drew the attention of the Hon’ble Governor towards the problem of non-availability of the space for organizing the Book Fair. The Fair was organized on a private land at an exorbitant price. Mr. Sethi invited his attention towards the space problem not only in his capacity as Governor but also as the Chancellor of Lucknow University to arrange a space at a nominal rate for Book Fair.

In his address, the Hon’ble Governor was pleased to honour Mr. Sethi’s suggestion and annunciated that the space will be allotted in future at the University campus @ Re. 1 per sq. meter, which was applauded by one and all.

Mr. S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI addressing the audience

18 Left to Right: Dr. Dinesh Sharma, Lucknow; His Excellency, Mr. Ram Naik, Governor of U.P.; Mr. S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI; Mr. Devraj Arora; and Mr. Umesh Dhall

Mr. Devraj Arora presenting the trophy to His Excellency, Mr. Ram Naik, Governor of U.P.

Mr. Umesh Dhall presenting the trophy to Mr. S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI

19 INTERVIEW OF MR. SUNIL SACHDEVA OF ALLIED PUBLISHERS (P) LTD. DELHI

To find out the trends of publishing and industry in yester years and today, Mr. S.C. Sethi, interviews Mr. Sunil Sachdeva of Allied Publishers (P) Ltd. Q. You have been in the industry for the past four decades. Kindly share with us your vast experience and changes as experienced during this prolong period. A. I joined the Book Industry soon after my graduation from St. Stephen’s College of Delhi in 1969. The Book trade at that time used to be a very contented and pleasurable affair. The pushing and pulling of customers was not there to grab the business. Almost all the publisher, traders, retailers, wholesellers were at ease and quite satisfied with the business there were in. The institutional customers would visit our showrooms and make their selection of books. But today this trend no more exists. There were some wholesale stockists / distributors who started the race by becoming more aggressive and they initiated the practice of taking stocks to the doorsteps of the Institutes and making selections on the spot. This is from where the mad race began and each one in his own way tried to outdo the other by giving more incentives and benefits to the end customers in order to take a larger share of the business. This was also the period when import of books was against licence and one had to apply annually for getting these licenses in order to conduct the book import business. There were only a few renowned publishers from UK who had a presence in India and it was much later that publisher from the participated actively in marketing and promotion of their own printed books. They also subsequently setup their joint venture offices in India and to take the benefit of subsidized American text books through the PL480 Aide Programme. They were followed by the European publishers particularly from and Holland. It was in the early 60s that publishers like Elsevier and Springer created their own presence in India. These foreign publishers set up their marketing teams either directly or in partnership with their Indian distributors and made arrangements for distribution of their printed books all over the country. It was quite natural that many of the leading journal publishers also wanting to increase their business in India approached their Indian business partners for marketing and processing of journal subscription orders. Earlier this business was only done through subscription agents based in UK. The larger publishers who followed the subscription marketing model were Elsevier, Springer, Kluwer and Pergamon Press. Q. What have been the major challenges faced and addressed by you? A. As I mentioned earlier that historically the business in India was either through Indian publishing or through import of books. The Indian publishing was also largely dominated by foreign companies who were established in India such as Macmillan, , Blackie & Co, Longman etc. The choice was either to build a publishing programme which should be strong enough to withstand the challenges of Multinational companies or to import books as required by our Institutions of higher learning. Here again, the Indian publishers felt threatened and wanted to curtail or stop the import of books to India. Representations were made time and again to the Government to stop the import so that the Indian publishing may prosper. Fortunately this challenge could slowly be overcome and both imports and publishing continued to co-exist with each other.

20 Similarly, piracy of established text books was always a challenge and it was the Federation’s primary aim to stop this menace. The FPBAI hired the services of a Law Firm where any of our members was free to consult and use there legal services free of cost. This programme was to a great extent sponsored by the Publishers’ Association in the UK who actually contributed financially for the success of this programme. The government had given a special incentive to the Publishing Industry under section 80QQ of the Income Tax Act, where 20% of the profit of publishing companies could be retained for further development. We enjoyed this benefit for several years. Unfortunately it came to an end and inspite of our vigorous efforts, we could not get the approval of Finance Ministry to extend the same further. Q. How do you view the competition scene today, compared to forty years ago? A. Sometimes, it is frightening to see how business is conducted in the present environment. It is like the jungle raj and free for all. Traders / publishers are creating unhealthy competition in the hope that they can give more liberal terms than their competitors. There is no stopping of this practice and the efforts made by the Good Offices Committee (GOC) could not be much effective. Most Indian book distributors are losing and many of them are not able to pay to their suppliers on time. Yet this practice of offering unreasonable terms is not subsiding. Q. How do you visualize the future of the publishing industry? A. The future of the publishing industry seems to be somewhat hazy. The printed book / journals are slowly fading away from the scene. Publishing is more on demand or through e-format. There is no large scale printing and stocking of titles. The book retailers are finding this most disturbing. Their walk-in customers are far and few. With the advancement in technology, they are looking to methods of acquiring titles through e-commerce sites such as Amazon and Flipkart etc. These online retailers are walking away with most of the business and it appears that many of the retailer / book shops may have to look for other avenues of business. This will be a future shock for the Indian Publishing Industry as they will not be able to display their titles in the retail book showrooms. It will be a marketing setback and we have already examples before us where many of the chain book shops in UK and USA have closed down. At this stage we need to impress upon the Indian government not to allow multibrand online stores for conducting business in this country. Q. What all are the lurking challenges before the industry today and how do you view to address them? A. I have already indicated the challenge that our book shops are facing from e-commerce companies and multi brand retail / e-companies. All these are shrinking our marketing activities and we need to come together to address this challenge on a war footing. We should resolve together not to make supplies to such firms in order to ensure that our own publishing and retail chain survives. This chain is the backbone of the Indian Publishers and needs to be protected at all cost. There is also the challenge that the Indian distributors / subscription vendors are facing from foreign publishers dealing in e-content. They are all bypassing the traditional avenues of business and making direct supplies to industries and institutes of higher learning. We need to make them realize about the advantages of dealing through the Indian vendors and the services that we provide from time to time. The Federation should make suitable representations to the Ministry concerned as well as the UGC that direct supplies for e- resources from overseas suppliers should be curtailed forthwith and the same be routed through Indian vendors only.

21 It is also observed that the Finance Ministry has imposed too many taxes and without providing any clarity on what is applicable or not. The issues regarding Service Tax as well as Withholding Tax are bothering most of us. Q. What message would you like to give to the young generation aspiring to join the industry? A. There was a time when I would always recommend that the younger generation should come forward and join the publishing industry. We even initiated publishing courses at Federation level and also requested to many companies to offer summer jobs to those candidates who were doing publishing courses. Many of the youngsters were absorbed in our industry and are doing well today. Q. What you have to say about present Federation activities in comparison to two decades ago? A. The FPBAI has withstood the test of time and carried on its activities for approximately 60 years. There have been many ups and downs but the leaders of our Industry always gave good counseling to our Industry members for following certain ethical practices. Earlier the Federation activities were confined to issues such as high paper price, piracy, import licenses and implementation of GOC terms. Unfortunately, GOC witnessed some drawbacks and our members could not resist the temptation of offering free for all terms. In today’s scenario, the Federation has renewed its efforts in bringing the Industry back to its feet and is trying to discipline it members. Their activities range from workshops on publishing/editing/ exports, piracy and setting terms for GOC on supply of books and e-resources as well as analyzing new tax structures in the form of Withholding Tax or Service Tax. It is indeed laudable to see that Mr. S.C. Sethi, President of this Federation spends a lot of time in giving remedial advice to members. We need to take seriously the directives as issued by the Federation from time to time so that we can together conduct business which can be more rewarding for all of us.

BOOKSELLERS WANT CURBS ON DISCOUNTS BY ONLINE DEALERS

Even as the success of city-based Flipkart and Amazon is being celebrated, worried Bangalore book-sellers are gearing up to take on the e-commerce giants. They are lobbying for a protective law, similar to that in , to control rebates and free shipping offered by the e-commerce companies. Nitin Shah of Sapan Book House said, “These large corporations are aggressively capturing the book market through a price war, which no retailer can ever afford. If this goes unchecked, they will mo-nopolise the industry and eliminate independent book stores in five years.” Inspired by the French re-course to law on the issue, the association has decided to lobby with the government for a similar measure to put en to rebates on books and free shipping offered by these portals. D.N. Guruprasad, a techie who started Akruti Books three years ago, said they are not shying away from competition but are only seeking a level playing field with adequate regulation. Krishna of , said they are not against the interests of readers, but are only demanding fair business practices. He said the e-commerce portals are offering huge rebates and free shipping, even at the cost of incurring losses, to achieve scale, Mayi Giwds, of Blossom Books, cautioned that monopoly by e-portals may also lead to change in trends in publishing, with a thrust only on bestsellers. Writer Vikram Sampath, executive director, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, said book-stores are a slice of culture and the times, and not just business units. He said the government should take steps to protect independent book stores.

—, August 16, 2014

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23 TRADE TALK

S. CHAND MARCHING AHEAD

India’s oldest Publishing House S.Chand turned 75 this year. Seventy five years of unblemished service is a long time in the life of any organizations. S. Chand Group started in 1939 in a small by-lane of Chandni Chowk, out of the vision and zeal of the late Shyam Lal Gupta. His aim was clear-to produce quality by Indian authors at reasonable prices. In Pre-independent India, when the industry was dominated by British authors and publishers, competing with them was not the easy task. Mr. Gupta did the impossible. He published two books in quick succession, each at a cost much lower than the prevailing market rate, and successfully sold them. The journey had begun! The revised editions of some of those early books are still in circulation, a mark of the company’s commitment to quality is well reflected in its Founder’s motto of ‘No Compromise’ on quality. Today, S. Chand has 7,000 titles, 250 bestsellers and a pool of 1200 authors with national and international imprint. There are many milestones in the company’s growth: establishing its own printing press in 1960s to ensure quality and timely delivery was a key one. The company progressed from the monotype composition and offset printing to the Computer plate printing and continues to increase efficiency and effectiveness with the latest machinery. Recognizing the need of the times, S.Chand entered the school segment in the 1970s and today publishers’ school books for the National and State Boards. The turn of the century marked its advent into the digital space, producing progressive educational multi-media resources. In the recent years, the company has expanded its base through two joint ventures with foreign educational organizations and key acquisitions of publishing houses, and drawing private equity. With the technology and information communication revolutions and increasing globalization, there is a new educational culture which focuses on the development of knowledgeable and innovative citizens with analytical, creative and competitive competencies. In alignment with these changing times, the company has transformed itself into a ‘knowledge corporation’, offering an array of educational products and services: print, digital, assessment, analytic teacher training. Continual evolution is a hallmark of any progressive company. For S. Chand, the tone was set by its founder, Mr. Shyam Lal Gupta, hailed as the doyen of the publishing industry. He realized the vital importance of the need to nature the publishing industry, for the education of the large populace. This was both in alignment with the socialistic philosophy of the times but a very forward looking ideology—the balance of quality with economics. S. Chand continues, as a critic said, ‘to fly the ideological flag of its founder with a steadfast and clear focus, constantly proving that while it is descendant of a great past, it is also a living example of dynamic India’.

This issue of the Newsletter is sponsored by DELHI BOOK STORE, NEW DELHI

24 SAPNA BOOK (P) LTD

Sapna Book House opens 11th book store a book store, not only gaining in popularity and in range, but also in its multi-locational existence. With its presence in the industry that spans for nearly five decades, Sapna is India’s most reputed Book Store and a publishing house. Sapna presently has six stores in Bangalore and one each at Mysore, , Hubli and Coimbatore. This will be its eleventh store and the first in a full-fledged Mall at South Bangalore. We have created 100% eco-friendly lighting in this store which is spread over 15,000 sq.ft.

Sapna is a leading publisher of and English books in India, with over 4,000 titles in Kannada and 550 titles in English by reputed to its credit. It has achieved an unique position and has established a milestone in the field of publication.

The Government of Karnataka on behalf of Kannada Book Authority have accorded the Best Publisher Award to Sapna. Further the Rajyotsave Award for 2008 in the field of publication is its crowning glory. Several of its publications have been selected for Jnanapeetha and Central Academy Awards. Sapna has also been conferred with The Best Seller Award by the Federation of Indian publishers and the Distinguished Publisher Award by Federation Publishers, New Delhi.

RESTRUCTURE AT PRH INDIA Joshua Farrington

Penguin Random House India has restructured its publishing, sales and marketing teams, with Chiki Sarkar taking on the role of publisher of Penguin Random House India.

Sarkar was previously publisher at India, and will now have responsibility for building the local publishing programme in both English and local languages. In 2006 she was Random House India’s first editor-in-chief, before moving to Penguin Books India in 2011. She will report to Penguin Random House India C.E.O., Gaurav Shrinagesh.

Other changes include Mille Ashwarya and MeruGokhale both being appointed to the role of publishing director, Penguin Random House India, reporting into Sarkar. Gokhale, currently editorial director of Vintage, Random House India, will have responsibility for Vintage India, Hamish Hamilton, Viking and Classics. Ashwarya, presently editorial director for Ebury India and Random Business, will oversee the same divisions, as well as Portfolio, Metro Reads, Shobhaa De Books and Penguin Ananda.

Hemali Sodhi will take on a newly created role of Director, Children’s, moving over from her current role of vice president marketing and communications. In addition, she will remain as manager for corporate communications for Penguin Books India. Meanwhile, Caroline Newbury, currently vice president marketing and publicity for Random House India, will become vice president marketing and corporate communications for Penguin Random House India.

Shrinagesh said: “Penguin Random House India is home to some of the finest editorial talent in the country, and this new structure ensures we will continue to be at the forefront of trade publishing in India. With the combined expertise of Chiki, Meru and Milee, who have each built

25 lists of considerable repute, I am confident that our reputation for discovering the region’s best new writing talent as well as building the careers of our established authors is in very good hands. In sales, Ananth Padmanabhan has been appointed senior vice president, sales, with overall responsibility for Penguin Random House India sales. Nand Nath Jha will become vice president, international product and digital sales, reporting to Padmanabhan. Manoj Satti will take on the role of general manager, international product (Random House) and sales planning, while Rahul Dixit will be general manager, local publishing and sales. —March 20, 2014

AMAZON SALES GROWTH SLOWS IN THE UK Lisa Campbell

Accounts filed in the US have showed that Amazon’s sales growth slowed in the UK during 2013.

Amazon’s UK sales grew by 12.6% to £4.5bn last year, according to accounts filed by Amazon’s US parent company.

However, this figure is just over half the 21% growth delivered between 2011 and 2012. Taking into account changes to the exchange rate, UK growth is estimated at 14% on a like-for-like basis, down from 22% in 2012 and 31% in 2011.

Amazon has been the subject of prolonged criticism over its tax arrangements since it was revealed that the company did not attract corporation tax on its UK sales due to being headquartered in Luxembourg. Following the revelation, Amazon was hauled up in front of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee and questioned on tax avoidance, with PAC chairman Margaret Hodge joining a campaign by the Ethical Consumer magazine to boycott the company in 2013.

Around 77% of independent booksellers also reported to The Bookseller that had experienced a backlash towards Amazon over the latest Christmas trading period in The Bookseller’s Independent Christmas Trading survey, with 36 out of the 47 respondents saying that they had seen an increased awareness of the need to support independent bookshops following bad publicity over its low UK corporation tax payments and the treatment of its warehouse employees.

However, retail analyst Nick Bubb was sceptical about the Amazon boycott campaign hitting its UK sales. Instead, he said the sales lag was likely to be down to technology retail rivals such as Dixons andJohn Lewis upping their games and initiating web service like “click and collect’”.

He said: It’s hard to keep growing at high double-digits and it’s still a big (sales increase) number. I’m sure Jeff Bezos [the Amazon chief executive] is laughing all the way to the bank.”

A recent report by Kantar World Panel showed that Amazon had a quarter of the entertainment market in the UK.

—February 4, 2014

26 AMAZON TO OPEN BOOKSTORE ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION Roger Tagholm

Amazon is to open a bookstore selling physical books on theInternational Space Station (ISS). NASA announced the historic agreement in Houston this morning. The shop, which is expected to open in time for the busy summer season on the ISS – when international crews come and go every 50 days – will stock around 2,000 titles in hardback and , curated by Amazon’s buyers working in conjunction with ISS Mission Control in Houston. Its aim is to make the downtime for the crews on the spacecraft more pleasant and provide welcome distraction in one of the ‘world’s’ most isolated of work environments. The historic deal is the culmination of a long-held dream of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He has been fascinated by space travel for many years and in 2000 established Blue Origin, a “human space flight start-up company”, with the aim of developing “space hotels, amusement parks and colonies for two million or three million people orbiting the Earth”. The bookshop on the ISS is the first stage of that dream. It will be the first time that the company has opened a physical bookstore. It already has lockers in a number of cities and some see the move as a natural, if unexpected extension of that– a locker in the sky, some have dubbed it. Bezos himself is now in training to make the three-day journey to the ISS where he will perform a space walk for one of the book industry’s most extraordinary ribbon cutting ceremonies. He once said: “I am awed by the prospect. If you’ll forgive me, this will be one small step for a bookseller; one giant leap for bookselling.” But, inevitably, there are detractors. One agent warned: “Is space an open market? How do we know publishers have the rights for the territories the International Space Station will be above?” In France publishers were up in arms about pricing. “I want to know that when the Space Station is over France, there will be no discounting,” said one. But Amazon has acted to allay these fears. The bookshop will use a special sensor to detect which territory is below, and a bank of computers will indicate whether a particular publisher has rights or not. Similarly, when the ISS is above France, or any other territory that has fixed prices, all the stock will revert back to full RRP. This will happen every 91 minutes – the time it takes the ISS to orbit the globe. Bezos plans to host trips to the ISS for editors and there is talk of author tours, with freeze- dried white wine and vacuum-sealed canapés the order of the day. Interestingly, there will be adjustments to the standard categories in the store. Thus titles set on earth and normally filed under Fiction will now be Science Fiction, and vice versa. Astronomy will become ‘Local Interest’. Amazon is opting for physical books because Kindle’s Whispersynch technology is believed to interfere with the ISS’s navigation equipment. “Besides,” Bezos observes, “in space, even a book the size ofUlysses doesn’t weigh anything”. As high streets go, this will definitely be one of the highest. The ISS orbits the earth at height of around 250 miles and travels at 17,200 mph – these will be the most well-travelled books in history.

27 But a spokesperson for the US Indiebound movement of independent booksellers is not impressed. “Not content with taking over earth, Amazon now wants to take over space as well.” In the UK was believed to be readying a response for 2024. However, there is one piece of good news for those battling the online behemoth – at least in space, no one will be able to hear Bezos laugh. —April 1, 2014

THE JOURNEY OF ‘THE BOOK’ By Hasan Khurshid

“So many books, so little time”, said Frank Zappa, whereas, Marcus Tullius Cicero said,” A room without book is like a body without a soul”. Fair enough, as in fact, the books besides bestowing on knowledge and wisdom are the communicating medium of social and cultural history of mankind by print.

In French it is,”Histoire du livre”, in German, it is “Geschichte des Buchwesens” and in English, we call it,” history of book”, which conveys to us centuries old contribution of ‘The Book’ passing through numerous stages of evaluation. We are today so accustomed to books that in the words of Ernest Hemingway, “There is no friend as loyal as a book”.

However, today we are standing at the verge of losing our most loyal friend and the requite of friendship compels us to safeguard that most loyal friend, not to be separated during rickety moments.

The cultural fabric of book world is almost at the edge of dying. Today booksellers across the country are facing tough time in the age of e-readers. Renowned and very old book stores such as Oxford and Reliance are at the brink of closing down. Similarly, Capital Book Depot Chandigarh, Teksons Book Shop South Ext.1, New Book Depot, Connaught Place have also been closed down. Another 60 year old Mehta Bandhu Book Store, situated in ‘N’ Block of Connaught Place is suffering from the absence of buyers. Another 25 year old book store in Mayur Vihar is likely to be closed soon. However, there are a large number of booksellers who are about to close their business. Considerable number of jobs are also suffering with the country riding high on technology, internet and smart gadgets.

Online retailers are selling books below cost price. The discount they offer far exceeds what they receive from the publishers, which is akin to dumping and against the regulations of Fair Trade. They manage to do this by sourcing foreign venture capitalist funding with the objective of wiping out competition from traditional retailers and then monopolizing the market.

However, the book lovers need to have heart and the mere thought of extinction of books may be considered as blasphemous. However, we cannot as well deny the fact that our friend is not ailing. Following prescription may be found as effective healer:

Infact, unlike other consumer products where promotions are brand specific, the success of a book depends largely on the efforts put in by the publishers on marketing and sales promotion of the new title. The publishers are therefore required to generate innovative techniques of marketing by feeling the market pulse.

28 Each title is a product by itself. Other strategies involved include excellent packaging; well- organized book launch; large scale supply of catalogues, giving information to booksellers, librarians and others on forthcoming titles and advertisements.

Reviews in newspapers and magazines are also very necessary. The well-covered review arouses the interest of the potential reader but his interest is lost if he does not find the book at his favorite book shop. Quite often even the authors find that their books are not available at the designated book shops they have an arrangement with.

Publishers and the authors should request the editors of the newspapers/magazines to publish the reviews alongside the date of the book launch. It will boost the sale. Recently, the 20th Delhi Book Fair, 2014 was organized at Pragati , New Delhi, in which almost 169 exhibitors participated. It is assumed that the response to the Fair has dipped in the last couple of years as the availability and interest in books has varied because of online stores and e-books. However, none of those platforms can offer as vast a variety as is available at Book Fairs.

The government must promote the book culture by establishing more and more public libraries including the mobile ones with variety of books that are spacious, centrally located and air- conditioned with modern sitting facilities. Attaching to libraries allied infrastructure such as cyber cafe, tea, coffee, snack corners, stationary mart, etc. will add to attraction of the libraries for the casual visitors. It is better to have such venues near schools, colleges, universities and other academic hubs.

Finally, the vicious circle of financial crunch has to be addressed as cash flow is paramount to publishers’ survival and growth, who are dependent on payments coming from booksellers, who in turn depend on getting payments from government institutions, libraries, etc. which are most of the time late. In addition to the above, the government should consider to give grants to the libraries in at least two to three phases, instead of the present trend of once at the end of financial year. This way the books published in rest of the year will not be ignored and discriminated. The corporate groups and NGOs must also come forward to protect what Jorge Luis Borges once said, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”

Let all of us through the unified efforts, as coalition partners protect this Paradise, not to let it happen the “Paradise Lost”.

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS Attention of all members is being invited towards the new members’ directory which is being updated and is going to be published very soon. The new directory would have come by now but we, at Federation preferred to wait for including the names of the new team of office bearers after the 60th AGM scheduled to take place on 24th December, 2014. In view of the above, members are requested to send us their new entries if any latest by 31st October, 2014. Members are also advised to check the contents of their entries in the previous directory and in case they find any discrepancy therein, kindly intimate to us immediately otherwise we shall be left with no option but to carry the same old entries of them which had appeared in the previous directory.

29 MEDIA SCAN

SAFEGUARDING THE INTERESTS OF BOOK TRADE

The Online matter has of late become a nightmare for the book trade. The booksellers across the country are facing tough time in the age of e-readers. Online retailers are selling books below cost price, besides engaging themselves in numerous other malpractices, in the result of which the book trade is threatened and is at the edge of extinction if adequate measures are not taken. Keeping this into consideration, the Federation sent representations to the Prime Minister of India, Ministry of Commerce & Trade and The Competition Commission of India. Recently the Federation has pursued this matter by sending representations to the Prime Minister of India, Finance Minster and Minister of HRD. The Federation has sent a written request to all the Members of Parliament to pursue our representation as mentioned above at their respective levels. In addition to the above, in the result of sustained efforts made by Federation, the media has taken-up this issue. The renowned media groups like Business Line and Business Standard have given wide coverage highlighting the issue of questionable e-commerce practice. —S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI

PUBLISHERS THROW THE BOOK AT ONLINE DISCOUNTERS Navadha Pandey

Book-lovers are having a great time, what with huge discounts offered by e-commerce players, while publishers are facing the music. Now, book publishers have sought policy as well as legal intervention. The Federation of Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Associations in India (FPBAI) had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministries of Finance, Commerce, and Human Resource Development, complaining about the ‘questionable trade practices’ adopted by e- commerce majors such as Flipkart and Amazon. S. Chand, a well-known publisher of text books, had also served legal notice to Flipkart, accusing it of modifying discount structures, violating the clause, and retailing only their fast-selling titles. BusinessLine has had access to both the letter to the Prime Minister as well as S. Chand’s legal notice to Flipkart. The FPBAI letter seeks action to protect the publishing trade. It says: “E- commerce stores purchase at lower discounts from publishers and distributors (as per information collected from some well-known publishers and their distributors, the maximum purchasing discount was 35-45 per cent) and sell at higher discounts, making a loss in each transaction. It is indeed a questionable activity.” Failing to compete with the flood of discounts offered by e-commerce firms, bookstores such as Capital Book Depot in Chandigarh, Teksons and New Book Depot in Delhi have shut shop, while many others are struggling for survival.

30 S.C. Sethi, President, FPBAI, told BusinessLine: “The cultural fabric of the book world is dying. E-commerce entities are pushing best-sellers and other authors and budding writers are kept out. We are not against the online business but against the spirit of those who wish to wipe out the competition and then create a monopolistic opportunity.”

Follow France

India can take a cue from France which, last year, had shown support to book-sellers by passing a Bill that effectively stops large chains from engaging in aggressive price wars with smaller rivals. France has barred e-commerce players from offering free delivery to customers on top of a maximum 5 per cent discount on books.

S. Chand, after sending a legal notice to Flipkart, has snapped all ties with the e-commerce giant. Navin Joshi, Business Head, S. Chand Publishing, said: “Six months ago we had sent a legal notice to Flipkart and after that stopped supplies to the company. However, Flipkart continues to sell our books by sourcing them from wholesalers.”

The problem is that these companies are creating a lot of disturbance in the market, Joshi said, besides hampering the publisher’s tie-ups with book-store owners, which cannot compete with Flipkart’s discounts.

Pitching for a cap on discounts, Kinjal Shah, CEO, Crossword bookstores, said: “E-commerce giants want to develop a very monopolistic market by enticing customers with huge discounts. We believe that both online players and retail chains can co-exist if a healthy environment for a cap on discounts is created.”

Manas Mohan, CEO, Publishing, A.C.K. Media, which brings out Amar Chitra Katha titles, said: “The sad truth is that book stores which fail to keep up will go out of business. We are having serious discussions with book-sellers in order to tackle this problem.”

—The Hindu: Business Line, October 07, 2014

e-RETAILERS THREATEN TO PUT BRICK-AND-MORTAR STORES OUT OF BUSINESS Manavi Kapur

Shopkeepers are losing buyers in droves to e-tailers for everything from fashion to smartphones and are struggling to find solutions The category worst hit by e-retail is books, of course. According to S.C. Sethi, president of the Federation of Publishers and Booksellers Associations in India, nearly 200 bookstores have shut down in the last two to three years. But some feel there is still life left in the business. According to Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders, though bookstores were the first to be affected, the share of e-retail is only about 18 per cent. “Those who buy books online are only looking for expensive titles and bestsellers. E-retailers do not sell regional literature, educational books and small publications,” he says. Priti Paul-owned , a niche bookstore in large Indian cities which also has an in-house cafe, hopes to brave the storm with its promise of a carefully-selected range.

31 “It is just a minute segment of customers with a pre-determined list who are swayed by the online offers. For the serious buyers, the charm of browsing in a brick-and-mortar bookstore is still intact,” says Swagat Sengupta, country head (operations and purchase), Apeejay Oxford Bookstore. —Indian Express: Business Standard, September 27, 2014

WHO IS FUNDING FLIPKART’S MASSIVE DISCOUNTS?

Monday saw Flipkart’s cash registers ringing. But did the company make money from the discounts or was it funding the discounts? This is the question uppermost in the minds of industry watchers.

A look at the 2013 filings of Flipkart Pvt Ltd, the -registered holding company for the retailer’s business, reveals that money poured in by private equity firms is fuelling the massive discounts.

The filings show that the entire net worth of the Flipkart Group — a maze of companies was eroded by March 31, 2013; its liabilities exceeded its assets by Rs. 475 crore as on that date. Flipkart, which began commercial operations in 2007, had till 2013 raised around Rs. 2,000 crore. But this was wiped out. It raised some Rs. 8,000 crore in two more rounds of funding to stay afloat.

Ernst & Young LLP, which prepared Flipkart’s accounts in December 2013, had pointed out that the balance sheet for fiscal year 2013 would normally indicate “existence of material uncertainty, which may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue” but the fund-raising is a sign of continued financial and operating support from investors and their confidence in the viability of the group.

—The Hindu: Business Line, October 07, 2014

FLIPKART NEGOTIATING FRESH DEALS WITH SAMSUNG, LG

Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce company, is renegotiating its deals with consumer durable majors such as Sony, Samsung, LG and Philips. Some of these companies had threatened to stop supplying TVs, microwave ovens, air conditioners etc to Flipkart following the latter’s “Big Billion Day” sale on Monday, in which it sold these items at below-cost price, making it difficult for these companies to sell their products through their regular distributors. HT has learnt these companies and some others have called a meeting with Flipkart promoters Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal later this week. “As the largest marketplace in India, we have thousands of sellers and brands selling their products on our platform. We value our relationship with every seller and brand and it is our continuous endeavour to facilitate an e-commerce platform that is beneficial to both them and our customers,” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, senior vice-president, retail, Flipkart.

32 Top executives in major consumer goods companies, however, confirmed that an e-mail has been sent to Flipkart’s management, asking them to explain the pricing aspect and also renegotiate agreements. “We have been regularly monitoring developments in both the online and offline retail space,” Samsung India spokesperson Rajiv Mishra said in an email response to HT. The LG India spokesperson refused to comment, but one of its top executives, Sanjeev Agarwal, vice-president, sales, was quoted in various media as saying, “We do not deal with them directly, and they are not our authorised trade partners.” The Sony spokesperson did not comment at the time of going to press. But a top executive said, “We have written to them asking for an explanation on the pricing.”

—The Hindustan Times, October 9, 2014 e-TAILERS MAKE IT A DULL DIWALI FOR RETAIL STORES

NEW DELHI: It is a sight that's becoming increasingly common across electronic and mobile phone stores: the customer walks in, checks out the product, its price, and then flips open his smartphone and logs on to an e-tailer's website to check the online price. And more often than not, finds the price offered by e-tailers to be much more attractive. The result: poor sales at the brick-and-mortar shops as online stores such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon are snapping customers away. Not just for mobiles and electronic goods, but white goods, shoes, clothes, household goods, books — you name it. The online discount euphoria has hijacked the Diwali rush from retail showrooms this year, and not surprisingly, the mood in markets is distinctly downbeat. "Footfalls at dealerships this time are nowhere near the levels they usually are during the festival season. The days leading up to Diwali have traditionally been bumper days for us. But the excitement is missing this time around," says a retailer at Gurgaon. "We cannot match the prices offered by e-tailers as we have higher overhead costs." Take, for example, the 13-inch model of Apple's MacBook Air laptop. While traditional retailer Tata-owned Croma sells it for Rs 72,900, e-tailer Amazon is offering it at Rs 57,798 and Flipkart for Rs 67,999. Similarly, a Bosch washing machine is available at Rs 29,990 on Flipkart, but is retailing for Rs 34,000 at a store in central Delhi's Lodhi Road. The same is the case in Lajpat Nagar, one of Delhi's largest markets, where the rush is usually the heaviest during the festive period because it is traditionally considered to offer better bargains than other markets. "There is a big pressure, and especially in categories like mobiles phones, laptops and computers," says Sahil Gupta, manager at Vijay Sales, a leading consumer goods retailer there.

—The Times of India, October 9, 2014

‘GOVT. TO LOOK INTO COMPLAINTS ON FLIPKART'S BIG SALE’

The government has received “many complaints” from traders on e-retailer Flipkart’s massive discount sale on Monday that offered deep discounts but also threw open the question of lack of regulatory oversight over India’s booming e-commerce business.

33 “We have received many inputs. Lot of concerns have been expressed. We will look into it,” Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday. Flipkart’s ‘The Big Billion Day’ overburdened its servers within two hours of the sale being opened and many users complained of landing on error pages and seeing their sale process being interrupted, amid accusations that discounts were offered on inflated prices. “There are many complaints. We will study the matter... Whether there is a need for a separate policy or some kind of clarification is needed, we will make it clear soon,” said Sitharaman, who is also the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs. The Confederation of All India Traders has also sought a probe into the business model and trade practices of e-commerce companies to find out how they are offering huge discounts during the festive season. Flipkart on Tuesday wrote a formal apology to its registered customers for the technical and transaction troubles faced on Monday, when attempting to purchase goods on the website. The company earned the ire of disgruntled shoppers by offering some supposedly discounted items at prices higher than what rivals such as Amazon and Snapdeal were offering.

—The Hindustan Times, October 9, 2014

‘GOVT. LOOKING INTO COMPLAINTS OVER FLIPKART SALE’

NEW DELHI: After receiving “many complaints” from traders on Flipkart’s massive ‘Big Billion Day’ discount sale, the government on Wednesday said it will look into the concerns and take a call on whether more clarity is required on e-commerce retail business. “We have received many inputs. Lots of concerns have been expressed. We will look into it,” Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here. Flipkart's ‘Big Billion Day’ sale on Monday, which offered steep discounts on various products, has raised concerns among Small and big traders are concerned that such campaigns would badly affect players in the traditional retail market. When asked whether the government is considering any particular policy for e-commerce retailing, she said the matter would be looked into. “Now there are many complaints. We will study the matter... Whether there is a need for a separate policy or some kind of clarification is needed, we will make it clear soon.”

—The Times of India, October 9, 2014

MEGA SALE: FLIPKART APOLOGISES FOR GLITCHES

E-commerce giant Flipkart on Tuesday apologised for the glitches encountered during Monday’s “Big Billion Day” sale, admitting its “failure” in live up to the expectations of its customers. “...we know that your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry,” founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal wrote in an email sent to customers. The e-commerce firm earned the ire of disgruntled shoppers by offering some supposedly discounted items at prices higher than rivals such as Amazon and Snapdeal.

34 In other instances, the company allegedly marked up the retail prices of some products and then offered “discounts”, thereby bringing the selling prices close to market rates. The sale overburdened its servers, which crashed within two hours of opening, angering shoppers further. The company admitted that it was not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event. “We didn’t source enough products and deals in advance to cater to your requirements. To add to this, the load on our server led to intermittent outage, further impacting your shopping experience on our site,” it said.” We failed that (customer) trust.” The e-commerce firm said about 1.5 million people shopped at its portal on Monday, helping the company sell products worth over Rs-600 crore in just 10 hours under the scheme. “ while we stand humbled by the sheer faith that such a large number of customers have shown in us , we are unhappy that we were unable to live up to the expectations of millions more who wanted to buy from us yesterday, and this is not acceptable to us,” the founders said. It also acknowledge running out of the stock for many products with in a few minutes (and in some cases, seconds) of the scale going live.” Most of our special deals were sold out as soon as they went live…. It was nowhere near the actual demand.” The company claimed to have deployed nearly 5,000 servers and had prepared for 20 times the traffic growth.” We are continuing to significantly scale up all our back end systems so that we do a much much better job next time.” The statement said.

—The Hindustan Times, October 8, 2014

SORRY, SAY FLIPKART FOUNDERS

A day after the failure of the much-touted the Big Billion Day deal from the online retailer Flipkart, founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal have apologised for the troubles the customers faced on Monday. In an email, they said, “Yesterday (Monday) was a big day for us. And we really wanted it to be a great day for you. But at the end of the day, we know that your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry.” “Delighting you, and every single one of our customers, is absolutely the top most priority for Flipkart, and we have worked very hard over the last seven years to earn your trust. Yesterday, we failed that trust. We have learnt some valuable lessons from this, and have started working doubly hard to address all the issues that cropped up during this sale,” they further said. On Monday, the online retailer had launched the Big Billion Day challenge to celebrate its one billion journey. The company had announced deep discounts for products in over 70 categories. Eager customers, however, found the website inaccessible and encountered glitches. Flipkart, however, said it had hit the 24-hour sales target of $100 million in gross merchandise value in just 10 hours. In the apology mail, the founders also admitted to the lack of preparation from the company’s end. “We saw unprecedented interest in our products and traffic like never before. We also realised that we were not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event. We didn’t source enough products and deals in advance to cater to your requirements,” they said. The letter from the founders ended in an emotional note saying, “Everything that we have

35 achieved at Flipkart is purely on the basis of our customer’s trust and faith. This is why we come to work each day and continue to remain extremely passionate about building the best possible customer experience for Indian consumers. We failed to live up to this promise yesterday and would like to apologise once again to every single customer for our failure.”

—The Hindu, October 8, 2014

FLIPKART UNDER SCANNER FOR FEMA VIOLATION

Flipkart, the showpiece of India's online retail industry, is under regulatory scanner for probable violation of foreign exchange laws. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which tracks money laundering deals that involve overseas transactions, is “looking at the possibility” to tender a show-cause notice to Flipkart for alleged violation of foreign investment rules. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is not allowed in e- commerce companies that sell directly to customer, though it is allowed in portals that act as a platform for vendors to showcase and sell their products. A clutch of foreign private equity players—Accel Partners, Naspers, and Tiger Global among others—have invested millions of dollars in Flipkart since it was set up in 2007 “We are looking into the possibility of issuing a show-cause notice under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) to Flipkart,” said a senior ED official requesting anonymity. The ED officials declined to peg a figure of the alleged Fema violation saying the probe it still on. The investigation dates back to 2012. “The RBI has informed ….that matters related to Flipkart Online Services have been referred to the directorate of enforcement for further investigations,” the commerce minister said in its written reply in Lok Sabha on December 3, 2012. FDI norms allow foreign investment only in those online companies that have a "marketplace model". Flipkart, set up by two former Amazon.com employees — Sachin and Binny Bansal — had switched over to the marketplace model after the government made it clear that policies do not allow foreign investment in direct e-retail ventures in India. But the investigation pertains to the period before the switch. “Flipkart is in complete compliance with the laws of the land. We will continue to support the authorities whenever we are approached,” said a Flipkart spokesperson. —The Hindustan Times, May 01, 2014

BRING TO e-BOOK

Jon P Fine, Director of Author & Publishing Relations, Amazon, talks about self publishing and how technology is changing what and how we choose to read. I often get asked: What’s the future of publishing? Most of the time, I tell people that if I say anything to predict the future of publishing, they should ignore me because who knows? The one thing I do believe is that, from an author perspective, the opportunities are just growing, there’s a proliferation of options. That means all publishers are going to have to think about serving authors more effectively than they have. Five years ago, when you talked about self publishing it was viewed rightfully as the place people

36 who couldn’t get published would go to publish themselves. Over the course of those five years that stigma has really been alleviated in many ways. Sonny Mehta still makes jokes to me about self-publishing and he has a right to but the fact of the matter is that most of the publishing world realises that these self-published authors are a great annotated slush pile. It’s a way for me, as an agent or an editor or a publisher, to say, “Wow, this guy published this book himself; I like the reviews; it’s got good sales ranking; maybe we should publish it, ‘ This past year at Book Expo America I was on a panel with Robert Gottlieb of the Trident literary agency. All he could talk about was the great young authors they were finding in the self-published ranks. So it’s really seen a sea change.

BEZOS AT THE SUPERMARKET! When we launched Kindle, Jeff Bezos made a comment that made me laugh: “We’re building a system where I will be able to stand in a checkout line at the super-market and read a book on my Blackberry”. I thought that was hilarious for two reasons: One, I couldn’t imagine Jeff on a checkout line at a supermarket, but the other one was on a Blackberry! I mean I couldn’t do it and I have one! (But) It is so true. Half of the people standing in checkout lines are reading books not playing video games. In subways, on buses… It’s awesome. I think, to me, this is the most powerful aspect of this. One of the great things about Kindle Direct Publishing is that anybody who has a device is going to be able to read your book. They don’t have to spend money on a special device to do so. A crucial part of that ecosystem is that 200 million people are buying books or shopping on our site globally every day. Those two key facts make KDP a compelling choice for authors.

NEW VISTAS FOR EVEN LONGER FORM JOURNALISM With KDP, it’s super easy for an author to get his book up there. His book will be published and available in a couple of days. I don’t think fast-to-market is by itself a benefit or a good thing. If you’re writing a novel, it’s not about speed; it’s about making it really good. In journalism, there are plenty of topics that would warrant a book or a long magazine piece but if you wait a year or two years- if you go by traditional publishing process- it’s going to lose its audience. What KDP does is take the stuff you couldn’t do on your own before and make it possible.

OF TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING I’m lucky to be working with authors who are doing transmedia storytelling. The idea is you build a universe and that universe might have books, a video game, movie. There’s a summer camp in the US for high school students called Shared World where authors of science, fiction and fantasy teach these teenagers to create the world that the book will exist in. If you’re creating an Avatar type of world, you really need to create that universe inside your head before you start writing it. Otherwise it won’t work. It’s really cool to see that sort of stuff happening.

THE RETURN OF THE NOVELLA But it’s not just newfangled stuff that this technology is helping liberate. I think shorter works, fiction and non-fiction, magazine articles, novellas, stuff that’s very expensive to publish in traditional forms because it is very hard to economically sustain that model, is seeing an incredible comeback. We created Kindle Singles to provide a platform for authors with works that were longer than traditional magazine pieces, but shorter than books. It is doing incredibly well whether it’s Stephen King, Jodi Picoult or John Krakauer. And so, because the technology lends itself, shorter forms of writing are experiencing a regrowth.

37 THE THIRST FOR STORIES We’re seeing all of these great opportunities being jumpstarted by this technology. The demand for the stories and the demand to tell the stories was always there, but there was no way to satisfy it, no way to indulge it. Now there is. I’m not saying anything about writing a book is necessarily easy. This is the easy part. To be an author you have got to have a story, and trust me, have somebody else read it —The Hindustan Times, February 22, 2014

e-RETAILERS QUEUE UP FOR HIRING AT B-SCHOOLS

With an increasing number of Indians taking to online shopping, the job market is hotting-up offline. The entry of gaint Amazon has spruced up competition and domestic e-tailers including Flipkart, Myntra, Jade eServices, Jabong, Taxi for Sure and Yepme are making a beeline for India’s top business school (B-schools) to recruit the best talent to take on the world’s largest rateiler. And money seems to be a non-issue for most of them right now. Armed with interesting pitches and funds raised from venture capital and private equity firms, e-commerce firms, many of them barely a couple of years old, are offering average annual salary packages of R16 lakh against the overall campus average of R17 lakh at most Indian Institute of Managements (IIMS). Besides IIMS, recruiters are also thronging the Indian School of business and XLRI among others, in large numbers. “The hiring in the e-commerce space has gone up by 50% compared to last year. The number of such companies visiting has also gone up significantly”, said Sapna Agarwal, head, career development services, IIM Bangalore. “E-commerce companies made a total of 81 offers, constituting about 28% of the overall technology offers we posted a 50% increase in offers from e-commerce companies against those in 2013,” said M Padmanaban, director, career advancement service, ISB. “The advent of Amazon.com is a big reason why companies are scaling up operations to counter its entry into the Indian market space.” said Mayank Chandra, managing partner, Antal International, a UK-based executive recruitment firm. “Soon, young management and engineering graduates will have a number of choices between IT platforms and e-commerce ventures.” —The Hindustan Times, June 19, 2014

INTERNET KILLED THE BOOKSHOP STAR Booksellers in the city are going through a tough time in the age of e-readers

With the country riding high on technology and smart gadgets, the paper world is suffering losses. Come to think of it a considerable number of jobs are suffering too. Booksellers in the city are not able to sustain that the same salaries they were able to five years ago. Deshbandhu Mehta, 50, has been running a small yet once popular shop over the last 60 years in the heart of Delhi Connaught Place’s N Block. No one buys books and journals like they use to, says the owner of Mehta Bandhu books.

38 “The last few years have been terrible. There is a significant decline in our sale. News is already out on the internet, so we look too late in the day,” says Mehta. He has already started a small stationery store alongside to make up for the loss, but it isn’t helping yet. Pradeep Mandal, a popular book vendor in Mayur Vihar Extension Market since 1990, is planning to pack his bags and trying his hands at cloth business. “I have lost my customers by 50%. There are a number of reasons for it, rise of technology being one but also the fact that books and magazines have become expensive. A magazine which used to cost around Rs. 10 is now available for Rs. 40. People have easy access on the web,” he says. The 33-year-old had almost conquered the whole of the east Delhi vicinity. He is also emotionally attached to the place and will take a good two years to move. High-end book stores like Oxford are still able to sail through. They are also tying up with schools and corporates for their sale. However, the competition is high. Oxford, too, has been pushing itself into extra features to gather more readers. There is the fancy Cha Bar to its credit, which is also one of the popular hangout places. “We also provide online books, which is a saying grace. No denying that we are in loss, but it’s just about 20%. Plus, we keep arranging events like talks and film screenings, “says Pankaj Sinha, department manager. —The Hindustan Times, May 22, 2014

‘ONLINE BOOKS CANNOT ADD NEW READERS’

Even though books are sold online, it may not add new readers. Existing readers will buy books online, books stores can initiate a new reader into books, said Subroto Bagchi, co-founder of Mind Tree and best selling business writer. Speaking at the inauguration of the 11th store of the Sapna Book House at Meenakshi Maal on Bannerghalta Road here on Thursday. Mr. Bagchi batted for the need to establish more books stores. He said that book stores were like a “mental park” where young children could be initiated into the habit of reading. “Despite progress in the IT field I am hoping that it does not effect the book trade,” he said. P. Satish Chandra, Vice Chancellor of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences highlighted the impact that literature can have for patients with mental and neurological problems. “These patients are generally stigmatized and books as well as media can play an important role in reducing stigma in the patient’s life. Communication can play an effective role in removing stigma and literature can act as an aid in treating patients,” he said.Speaking on the occasion, Writer S.L. Bhyrapa said there was a need to ensure that books reach tier-two cities. He said there was a need to ensure that books were available at the taluk level. In Karnataka, books are available only in Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli and Dharwad, Small book store owners need to expand their business by improving their marketing methods, he said. Big book shop owners from across the State should meet to understand the challenges and chalk out a strategy for the growth of the book trade, he suggested. —The Hindu, June 6, 2014

39 TIHAR LAUNCHES COFFEE-TABLE BOOK ON PRISON REFORMS

Binding together the reformative measures initiated by Asia’s largest prison, Tihar Jail on Wednesday released a which highlights the rehabilitative activities launched by the prison for its inmates in the past years. The ceremony which was organized at the Air Force auditiorium, Subroto Park, was attended by BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi and the founder of the reformative activities in prisons, Kiran Bedi. The inmates warmly responded to the presence of Bedi who encouraged the crowd to participate in the jail activities. Tihar Jail frequently conducts participative vocational activities for its inmates such as campus placements, band performance and fashion shows to encourage inmates to cultivate their talents and move away from their criminal past. “The response was over-whelming as Kiran Bedi is considered the brain behind the first jail reforms in the country.” Said Sunil Gupta, the public relations officer of Tihar Jail. The launch was also followed by the release of, TJ’s, the brand under which various products manufactured by Tihar inmates is made available in the market. TJ’s brand manufactures products such as furniture, snacks and decorative items. The inmates who make these products within the jail also get paid by the jail authorities. For keeping the crowd entertained, the jail’s in-house band, ‘Flying Souls’ also gave their performance. It was followed by a fashion show, the clothes for which were designed in Tihar who had trained under fashion designer Rina Dhaka. —The Hindustan Times, June 19, 2014

BOOKSELLERS FACE THE BRUNT OF FYUP ROLLBACK, SUFFER LOSSES

While many students and teachers celebrate the rollback of the Four-Year Undergraduate Pragramme (FYUP) and others still fight for it, book sellers are facing the brunt of this huge structural change that Delhi University has made once again. Book Sellers are in a fix as they have to bear the losses due to unused FYUP book’s stock. Since FYUP has been scrapped, the course books are likely to be the same as those that were used earlier for the three-year set up- making the ones used for the foundation course during the FYUP useless. “I have around 2,500 books that were in use during FYUP, but are of no use now. Due to constant change happening in the university, we had to bear losses last year and now this year as well. Normally, people sell off their old books and we resell it at lower prices but this cannot be done in this case,” said Rakesh Rastogi, owner of Bookland. The spare books have now become piece of scrap papers to be sold at negligible prices. “My stock between Rs. 60,000- 1 lakh rupees has turned valueless. When FYUP was introduced, we had to face losses due to the syllabus change but now we might sell those old copies again. But the FYUP course books are total waste now,” said Avtar Singh Datta, owner of Datta Book Centre. A few booksellers were more clever because they decided to keep limited stock of the books

40 of the controversial FYUP. “Since FYUP was always in controversy, I was unsure about how long the course will last. For this very reason I never ordered a surplus stock of FYUP books and hence the rolling back did not affect my business,” said S.M. Katial from University Book House. The aftermath of FYUP has made some book sellers sceptical about what books to stock up for the coming session. “The syllabus is not confirmed yet and so I am not stocking up on any books for now. I have already suffered a loss of around Rs. 1 Lakh earlier when the course was changed to FYUP,” said S.S. Tulsi. —The Hindustan Times, July 4, 2014

GST ENTERS FINAL LEG; MAY STRETCH TO 2016-17

One of India’s biggest tax reform initiatives—Goods and Services Tax (GST)-has entered the final leg with most the contentious issues expected to be ironed out this year, but experts said it implementation schedule may still be pushed to the 2016-17. “Implementing this law is complex as state governments are resisting the loss of fiscal autonomy with the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). The law also needs a constitutional amendment that requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament and hence we expect that realistically it is likely to be implemented by 2017,” investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a research note on Thursday. GST’s implementation faces political hurdles as it could rob state government of discretionary fiscal power. If adopted, GST can dramatically alter tax administration by giving one-shot solution to a welter of levies such a excise, value added tax and octroi and stitch together a common national market. Under the system, the Centre and states will tax goods and services on identical rates. For instance, if 20% is the agreed rate on a certain good, the Centre and states will collect 10% each. The government had introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in 2011 in the Lok Sabha to enable GST’s roll-out. A new government and Lok Sabha will have to re-star work on the tax reform. The debate on whether to introduce GST must come to an end now, finance minister Arun Jaitley said during this budget speech, adding: “we have discussed the issue for past many years. Some states have been apprehensive about surrendering tax jurisdiction others want to be adequately compensated.” GST is India’s most ambitious indirect tax reform plan, which aims to stitch together a common market by dismantling fiscal barriers between states. It is a single national uniform tax levied across the country on all goods and services. The indirect tax system in India is currently mired in multi-layered taxes levied by the Centre and State Government at different stages on the supply chain such as excise duty, octroi, central tax (CST), value added tax (VAT) and octroi tax among others. In GST, all these will be subsumed under a single regime. In addition to the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bill by the Parliament and State Assemblies, it is also imperative to have a robust country-wide Information Technology (IT) network and infrastructure to make the implementation seamless across state boundaries. The IT network is still work in progress. —The Hindustan Times, July 12, 2014

41 GOVERNMENT WILL NOT ENTERTAIN FDI IN MULTI-BRAND RETAIL: NIRMALA SITHARAMAN

Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said FDI flow is dependent on the business environment and how decisions are made. Clearing government stand on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will not “entertain” FDI in multi-brand retail. She said during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got a massive mandate on the basis of its election manifesto which opposes FDI in multi-brand retail. However, the government has not initiated any move to scrap the policy of allowing FDI in multi-brand retail approved by the previous United Progressive Alliance government. “The mandate given to government is on the basis of our manifesto...we do not entertain FDI in multi- brand retail,” she said.

She said FDI flow have not been consistent in past few years. “During the last three years FDI inflow has fluctuated. FDI inflow decreased by 26.33% in 2012-13 and increased by 6.12% in 2013-14,” she said. FDI flow is dependent on the business environment and how decisions are made, she said, adding FDI inflow has been skewed in favour of Mauritius. Mauritius accounted for $80.809 billion out of $222.89 billion that came to India between 2000 and 2014.

“We are using FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board) to carry out check (on investing companies),” she said. Even in sectors where FDI is allowed under automatic route, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scrutinises the funds flow, she said. RBI and department of revenue through FIPB takes critical look at the kind of investment coming into India, she said.

“Under the liberalised economic environment, investment decisions of investors are based on the macro-economic policy framework, investment climate in the host country, investment policies of the trans-national corporations and other commercial considerations,” the minister said.

—The Hindustan Times, August 13, 2014

GST SET TO BE ROLLED OUT BY APRIL 2016

India’s biggest tax reform initiative — Goods and Services Tax (GST) — has entered the final leg of implementation with the government planning to announce a roadmap to roll out the new indirect tax regime by April 2016.

The Centre and states are believed to have agreed on a broad consensus on the issue of revenue losses with a Rs. 35,000-crore compensation plan spread over three years for reimbursing states after phasing out the Central Sales Tax (CST), sources said. The government has gradually brought down the level of Central Sales Tax (CST) — a proportion of which go to the states — over the last few years from 4% to 2% as a precursor to rolling out GST. As an interim measures, the government has also periodically compensated states for revenue losses.

The Central government had disbursed Rs. 6,000 crore in 2011 and another Rs. 9,000 crore had been provided for in 2013, but the states have been claiming compensation for 2011-12, 2012- 13, and now 2013-14.

42 The first tranche—Rs. 14,000 crore—of the CST compensation plan is likely to be paid in 2014-15, with the balance over the next two years, sources said. If adopted, GST can alter tax administration by giving a one-shot solution to a welter of levies such as excise, value added tax and octroi and stitch together a common national market. Under the system, the Centre and States will tax goods and services in identical rates. For instance, if 20% is the agreed rate on a certain good, the Centre and States will collect 10% each. The Centre plans to introduce the Constitution Amendment Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament in December. States also want an independent compensation mechanism to be incorporated in the Constitution Amendment Bill and are also seeking for petroleum and liquor to be kept outside the ambit of GST. chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday wrote to finance minister Arun Jaitley on this. “The proposal to bring petro products under GST is another area of concern, which would seriously diminish the limited revenue resources of the states,” Jayalalithaa said. GST’s implementation has faced political hurdles since state governments feel it would rob them of discretionary fiscal powers and affect earnings. Maharashtra, for example, earns more than Rs. 13,000 crore annually from octroi. Gujarat, on the other hand, a highly industrialised state, earns about Rs. 5,000 crore from its share from the CST. Each of these states fear that they will lose these revenues once these levies get subsumed under GST. The Centre is hoping that a robust country-wide IT network and infrastructure to make the implementation seamless across state boundaries will be ready by April 2016. —The Hindustan Times, September 12, 2014

PIRATED BOOKS WORTH Rs. 31.5 LAKH SEIZED

Sleuths from the Central Crime Branch (CCB) recently raided two printing presses in the city and recovered copies worth Rs. 31.5 lakh of the latest bestsellers. CCB sleuths raided Aishwarya Printing Press in Mudalapalya, Vijayanagar, on Thursday evening and recovered pirated books worth Rs. 20 lakh of bestselling authors, including Paulo Coelho, Arvind Adiga, Dan Brown and Nicholas Sparks. Police arrested the owner of the press, Devarajbabu (52), and the three workers — Ravikumar (28), Rehman (30) and Shobha (26). Another employee, Chetan, escaped. Sleuths raided Saptagiri Press in Kamakshipalya, and recovered pirated books worth Rs. 11.5 lakh of leading authors, including Dan Brown and Paulo Coelho. Police arrested two employees Mahadeva Naik (32) and Ravikumar (28). The owner is absconding. Bangalore booksellers said that this is only the tip of the iceberg and the police had for long turned a blind eye to the problem. Nitin Shah, chairperson of the Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers Association, said that when booksellers had tried to lodge complaints of piracy, police had refused to entertain them saying that only publishers could lodge a complaint. He welcomed the recent raids, but was sceptical of the follow-up action. According to him, the accused get bail and return to work within a few days of their arrest, and they are not convicted. Booksellers have been lobbying to include book piracy under the Gonda Act.

—The Hindu, September 14, 2014

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