The Bankersalmanac.com ranks the world’s largest banks by total assets in US dolalrs. So which are the top 10? Read on to discover:

UBS AG , Zurich, Switzerland

UBS AG is the world’s biggest manager of other people’s money. The bank’s asset stood at $1,963.227 billion as in January 2008.

Present in major financial centres worldwide, UBS has offices in 50 countries. The bank had 81,557 employees on June 30, 2007. It originated in 1747, with its maiden branch coming up in the Swiss region of Valposchiavo.

The new UBS evolved out of a merger of the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation in June 1998. The merged bank’s new name was originally supposed to be the United Bank of Switzerland. But it had to be named UBS as the proposed name clashed with United Bank Switzerland.

Marcel Opel is the bank’s chairman of the board of directors, its executive vice chairman is Marco Suter, and the group CEO is Marcel Rohner. The bank’s main competitors are Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse etc.

Barclays PLC is a major bank operating in Europe, the United States, West Asia, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC.

The bank has registered assets worth $1,951.041 billion. It is also the sponsor of the English Premier League. Forbes Global 2000 ranked Barclays PLC as the 18th largest company in the world in 2007.

The bank’s roots can be traced back to 1690 in London. It borrowed its name from Alexander and David Barclay, who provided credit to slave traders. The bank is headed by Marcus Agius, the group chairman.

Barclays being a member of the global ATM Alliance, its customers can use ATMs of other banks free of charge.

BNP Paribas is a major European bank. It was created on May 23, 2000 through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,899.186 billion.

It’s history can be traced back to 1869, when a group of bankers and investors, including Adrien Delahante, Edmond Joubert and Henri Cernuschi, founded the Banque de Paris.

The bank employs 162,700 people and operates in 87 countries. The bank is active in the finance, investment and asset management markets.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Edinburgh, UK, is the largest banking group in Scotland and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,705.680 billion.

The bank originated from the Equivalent Society set up by investors in the bankrupt Company of Scotland. The Society was formed to protect the compensation the investors received as part of the arrangements of the 1707 Acts of Union.

Controversy has dogged the bank off and on. It has been infamously dubbed ‘Oil Bank of Scotland’ by environmentalists as it provides finance for the fossil fuel industry, thereby causing global warming.

In 2001, the bank received threats for having financed animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences. As a direct fallout of this, RBS withdrew the company’s overdraft facility.

Credit Agricole SA is the largest retail banking group in France and the eighth largest in the world, according to The Banker magazine. On January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,663.101 billion

Through its subsidiaries, Credit Agricole SA is involved in the following services:

Retail banking

International retail banking

Specialised financial services

Asset management, insurance and private banking

Corporate and investment Banking

The banks’ varied activities are supervised by Rene Carron, the bank’s chairman.

Deutsche Bank AG is headquartered in Frankfurt. It employs more than 78,000 people in 76 countries. As on January 31, the bank’s asset stood at $1,485.008 billion.

Deutsche Bank was founded in Germany in 1870 as a bank for foreign trade in Berlin by private banker Adelbert Delbruck and politician Ludwig Bamberger. Its chief executive officer today is Dr Josef Ackermann.

he Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd came into being with the merger of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Limited and UFJ Bank Limited. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,362.598 billion.

The bank, through its several subsidiaries, performs the following activities: commercial banking, trust banking, securities dealing, leasing, venture capital deals, factoring, research and consulting, securities custody service, etc.

The bank’s CEO is Nobuo Kuroyanagi.

ABN AMRO Holding NV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, evolved from the amalgamation of AMRO and ABN. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,301.508 billion.

The bank created history when the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Fortis and Banco Santander announced on October 8, 2007, that an offer for 86 per cent of outstanding ABN AMRO stock had been accepted. This made way for the largest ever bank takeover in history. On November 1 2007, an extraordinary shareholder meeting changed the bank’s management.

Mark Fisher from RBS took over as the bank’s CEO. Since then, Fortis has been using the ABN AMRO brand name for retail banking in the Netherlands.

Societe Generale, one of the oldest banks in France, is also one of the main European financial services companies. As on January 31, 2008, its assets stood at $1,261.657 billion.

It is headquartered in France with the main head office in Tours Societe Generale in the business district of La Defense west of Paris.

Bank of America was formed after the consolidation of quite a few historical banks, the most prominent of those being the Bank of Italy. On January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,196.124 billion.

In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to VISA in 1977. A consortium of other California banks came up with Master Charge (now MasterCard).

Bank of America has divisions in US, Europe and Asia. The US headquarters are located in New York, European headquarters are based in London and Asia’s headquarters are split between Singapore & Hong Kong.

It is a city that you will fall in love with. Friendly people, homely atmosphere and beautiful sea. Given a choice, you might want to stay here forever.

We are talking about Mangalore, coastal city of Karnataka, about 300 km from Bengaluru.

The city is changing rapidly and it is just a matter of time before Mangalore makes its mark on the world map. Today, it is rated as the second-fastest growing Indian city in terms of real estate boom, according to the global real estate consultant Knight Frank.

Investors targeted Mangalore rather late. First they explored Bengaluru and then moved on to Mysore.

Real estate prices have hit an unimaginable high in the past six months, thanks to various developers showing interest in the place. The advent of information technology units has contributed to the city’s rapid development.

Now with both cities having almost reached a saturation point, the next stop has to be Mangalore. The upgradation of the Bajpai Airport to an international one is one of the reasons for investors to show a keen interest in this city.

The revamp ensured that the city is now well connected by land, water and air. Moreover, unlike Bengaluru and Mysore, plenty of land is available, especially in the outskirts of Mangalore, drawing IT giants as well as other investors.

According to the Knight Frank report, Mangalore is among the eight tier-III and tier-IV cities in India that are emerging as big growth centres.

IT major Infosys has already set up base in the city. Several other IT majors, who have been cribbing about the lack of infrastructure in Bengaluru, are also expected to shift operations to the city soon. This would mean that BPOs (business process outsourcing units) too would come up in Mangalore leading to further growth.

Apart from IT and BPOs, Special Economic Zones would also play a major role in the development of Mangalore. Infosys is setting up a 300-acre facility at the IT SEZ in Konaje. Satyam and Wipro will also be setting up base at a 200-acre campus in Ganjimutt where an export promotion park is coming up.

ONGC is planning to invest Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) at the yet-to-come up SEZ in Mangalore. The city is already home to big companies like Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers, BASF, Nagarjuna Power, GMR Group, Suzlon, etc.

The change: These factors have had a straight impact on the prices of real estate. According to Ranjan Shetty, a leading real estate developer in Mangalore, there has been a drastic increase in the prices of land and it is going the Bengaluru way.

Land prices at Kadri, one of the best residential areas, stand at about Rs 700,000 per cent (1/100th of an acre or 435.6 sq ft). The ‘apartment culture’ — so far not too popular in Mangalore — too is on the rise. The prices of apartments (flats) in the city are steadily shooting up. Land that used to cost Rs 1,200 per sq ft is now available at Rs 2,500 per sq ft.

The prices of commercial property too have risen from Rs 500,000 a cent to Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) in the past two years. In case of residential property, the prices have shot up from Rs 1,200 per sq ft to Rs 2,500 a sq ft in two years, Shetty added.

Mangalore’s situation is so much similar to Bengaluru where very expensive prices are being quoted, but in many cases there are no takers for the same. Shetty says there are several instances where a fancy price is quoted, but there are no buyers.

This is exactly what happened in Bengaluru too. Builders quoted fancy prices for their apartments and as of today almost half of them lie vacant.

Areas in Mangalore where prices are going up are Falnir and Ballal Bagh. The Lal Bagh area, which was more a blend of commercial and residential complexes, is gradually transforming into a pure commercial area and is competing with areas like Hampankatta and Balmatta in pricing.

Vikram Hegde, a leading advocate in Mangalore, says the city is growing very fast. In fact, it startles one to see so many new complexes and residential buildings coming up at such a rapid pace.

What will Mangalore be like in the years to come? Ten years ago, it used to be a quiet town. The major shopping hubs were Hampankatta and Balmatta. It had two pubs, one discotheque and a couple of ice-cream parlours. The only non-Mangalorean crowd that existed were college students. But the city’s scenario has changed over the years.

Mangalore is a popular tourist centre now. The Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatheshwara Temple, Kadri Sri Manjunatha Temple, Mangaladevi Temple and the Kudroli Mosque are few places of religious importance in Mangalore.

The New Mangalore Port, St Aloysius Chapel and Sulthan Battery are the other places of religious importance in Mangalore. Proximity to the temple city of Udupi make tourists flock this place.

It is worth mentioning that banks like Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank and Karnataka Bank were launched in the Mangalore. The city also houses the country’s most prestigious institutions like the Kasturba Medical College, SDM Law College and the St. Aloysius College.

All this is bound to change, says Hegde. There will be more people from outside coming into the city and that, in turn, will ring in rapid social change. Mangalore might soon get rid of its laid-back culture and become like Mumbai, where no one has any time for others, says Hegde.

A lot is being done to attract people from outside to invest in Mangalore. The airport upgradation is one of the major factors. Apart from this, the Mangalore Corniche project will soon become a reality and is expected to give the city a new feel altogether. The Corniche is a 31-km promenade along the sea.

Mangalore currently lacks in the hospitality sector. There are very few quality hotels in the city. However, now that seems to be changing too. There are proposals from the Hilton, Leela, and Intercontinental groups for setting up hotels in and around Mangalore.

Will Mangalore lead by example or will it go the chaotic Bengaluru way? Only the time will tell.

You might not have heard of Tara International or the electric cars and mopeds it plans to launch. But once the company unleashes Tara Tiny and Tara Titu — which will cost about Rs 99,000 — and Tara Shuttle and Tara Carrier, it is quite likely to become a household name.

“While Tara Tiny and Tara Titu are priced at Rs 99,000 (approximately), Tara Shuttle and Tara Carrier are priced at Rs 500,000 (approximately). The company�s electric bikes are priced between Rs 12,000 and Rs 35,000.

The running cost of these cars is about 40 paise per km, while the two-wheelers’ running cost will be as low at 15 paise per km. (100 paise = 1 rupee)

So here are some of vehicles that the company will soon be unleashing and the charming history of the company.

Tara Titu specifications:

No. of seats: 2

Net weight: 940 kg

Wheel base: 1800 mm

Maximum speed: 55 km/hour

Maximum grade ability: 13%

Motor power: 5 kw

Battery voltage: 12V*4

Recharge duration: 8 hours

Driving charge: 130 km

Ground clearance: 110/mm

Running cost: 55 p/km

Battery capacity: 200/Ah

The Tara Titu which will come in 2 variants: 2-seater and 4-seater, and will cost from Rs 99,000 onwards.
The story of Tara Ganguly

At the first meeting, you are sure to take Tara S Ganguly for a retired army man. Once you strike a conversation with him, you understand why: the chairman and chief executive officer of Tara International has the same zeal and fervour of a general. He is a visionary who wants to give back something to the society.

It is this urge in Ganguly that has goaded him to conceive pollution free, battery-driven cars. He visualises in his mind’s eye a pollution free world where green aka electric cars would replace fuel-driven cars.

“With the phenomenon of global warming breathing down our necks every minute, it is high time we switched over to battery-driven vehicles,” he told rediff.com during an informal chat in Kolkata on March 15. During the meeting, he also shared some interesting details about his life, business, electric cars et al. Excerpts:

Ganguly, born in 1942, went to the United States after finishing school at Darjeeling for a degree in engineering and management. He got a bachelor�s degree in industrial engineering from Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia, and a post-graduate degree in management engineering from Columbia University, New York.

After spending 10 years in the US working with DuPont Corporation, Ganguly returned to India to join his family business — Bengal Enamel — as production planning engineer and works manager. He gradually became the company’s managing director.
On the company’s inception

Bengal Enamel was set up in 1921 by Colonel Dwijendra Bhattacharya with nationalist leader Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy as its first chairman. The company soon became a name to reckon with for its enamelled and other ware like plates, mugs and waterbottles for households and the army. Business runs in the blood of colonel’s grandson Ganguly and he decided to carry forward his ancestor’s legacy.
On why the company closed down

In the eighties, Bengal Enamel fell prey to competition from other materials and sank into the red before closing down in 1991. The company ended up before the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction and is still paying off its dues to banks and workers.

The Tara Shuttle, which is a 14-seater and expected to cost about Rs 500,000.

Tara Shuttle specifications:

No. of seats: 14

Net weight: 1300 kg

Wheel base: 2800 mm

Maximum speed: 30 km/hour

Maximum grade ability: 15%

Motor power: 4.5 kw

Battery voltage: 6V*12

Recharge duration: 12 hours

Driving charge: 70 km

Ground clearance: 220/mm

Running cost: 70 p/km

Battery capacity: 180/Ah

Aamir Khan’s recent comments on close competitor Shah Rukh Khan is a testimony to the fact that today stars prefer waging wars in open than back-bitching. The usually reticent and media-shy Aamir was quoted saying, “Shah Rukh Khan prefers being No 2″.

Irrespective of whether he actually meant it or was instigated by the byte-hungry media, the comment clearly came across as caustic. And this wasn’t the first time that Aamir had remarked on Shah Rukh.

Some years back he had commented, “If Shah Rukh is the Badshah (King), I am the Ekka (Ace)”. Of course SRK had his replies ready. Which makes us wonder, not only is the Bollywood industry ruled by Khans, it’s rivaled by them as well.

The question arises as to who is at the Number 1 spot amongst the two? Not and easy one to answer considering both the Khans are ruling big time at the box-office. We attempt to track down their business records and market value to assess and analyze their star power.
Current Records

In the past couple of years, both Aamir and Shah Rukh have constantly delivered hits at the box-office. Aamir had Rang De Basanti, Fanaa and Taare Zameen Par to boast of, while Shah Rukh had a steady run with Don, Chak De India and Om Shanti Om. The last dud that they both encountered was in 2005 when Aamir’s much-hyped film Mangal Pandey flopped and SRK’s Paheli failed.

Last year, SRK’s Om Shanti Om did a gross business of Rs 160 crores worldwide and became the highest grossing Hindi film in the overseas territory. Aamir’s offbeat attempt Taare Zameen Par proved to be a good gamble collecting around Rs 95 crores worldwide.

OSO was an instant hit while TZP was a slow starter though soon gained momentum. Interestingly, both, SRK and Aamir produced their respective films. And with their success stories both continued to be the most popular and saleable actors of Bollywood.
Aamir is content oriented, SRK is business oriented

Aamir has always been known as an very choosy actor. Though he commands a big fee, for him money is only secondary. Recently he was offered Rs 20 crore for one film by a big corporate house. While this was a deal-to-die-for, Aamir refused it just because the corporate did not have any script ready with them.

On the other hand SRK is aware of his worth and understands the fact that people make money with his star power. So he takes stakes in his own films or offers to make them under his own production banner. “Main Hoon Na was perhaps the first film where he started doing this”, says trade analyst Atul Mohan.

“Venus was to produce the film initially but SRK stepped in as the producer and made Venus co-producers”. This way he ensures that his star power benefits him the most and he receives the maximum returns.
SRK believes in profit-sharing

Earlier SRK used to take the overseas rights and assign them to Eros. But now he believes in profit sharing. A part of his remuneration comes in the form of stakes in the profits of his film. While this can prove risky if the film flops, SRK seems to be confident enough of his brand value.

Shah Rukh also openly admitted, “If someone makes Rs 50 crores from me, then I have the right to ask for at least 25 crores from it”. If sources are to be believed SRK will be sharing profits in Yash Raj’s forthcoming film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi as well. Only someone of the stature of SRK can command a profit-share from someone as big as Yash Raj.
Aamir believes in brand-sharing

Aamir too has ways of thinking beyond the regular boundaries when it comes to raking in moolah from his films. An industry insider on condition of anonymity says, “Apart from his remuneration, Aamir Khan also charges 30% money on any brand that is promoted in his film. While other actors haven’t realized the potential of this deal, Aamir takes a considerable amount of every product endorsed in the film at the producer’s expense. Other actors promote these brands for free, but Aamir has the power to command for share from in-film branding too”. Unlike, profit-sharing there isn’t any risk involved in brand-sharing.

Usually for in-film branding deals, the marketing company that gets the deal done between the brand and the film usually takes a 15% share of the deal. But when it comes to Aamir’s films, the brokerage goes down to 10.5%. Producers state the reason being the percentage share given to Aamir Khan on the in-film deals. Since they lose out money to Aamir, they try to compensate it by reducing the percentage share of the marketing agencies in between.
Shah Rukh has his camp, Aamir is open to all

If one observes Shah Rukh’s filmography in the last five years, he has mostly done films produced either by close friends Karan Johar and the Chopras or his own production house - Red Chillies. He is more camp-based with the camps being some of the biggest in the business.

Aamir isn’t associated with any camp and has not always restricted himself to big banners. He usually likes to work with smaller and relatively new people (Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini) on whom he can dictate terms.
SRK believes in quantity, Aamir in quality

Shah Rukh has the ability to multitask with his immense energy-levels. He can indulge himself in films, production, endorsements, cricket leagues, world tours and promotional events simultaneously.

Aamir on the other hand has always been known for his slow and steady approach. He invented the idea of doing one-film-at-a-time when actors were juggling between multiple projects. And with less quantity on his hands, Aamir concentrates more on quality which has got him the ‘perfectionist’ tag and at times even the ‘intrusive’ label.

A trade expert says, “While other actors are all into multi-film deals, Aamir does just one film in a year. So he has to get his money back through the single film that he is related to. And with one film at a time, he has all the time in the world to work and rework on his films till the perfectionist in him is satisfied. So he focuses all his energies in getting the best from this one film”.

He goes on to add, “If I had to compare the working style of Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan, I would say Shah Rukh is ‘get set go’. With Aamir its get, set, come back to get, try again to set and there is no go.” As Shah Rukh himself confesses, “Aamir is more intellectual and intelligent, but I’m more instinctive”.
Branded rivals

Shah Rukh Khan is undoubtedly at the number one position, at least as far as the number of brands he is endorsing is concerned. He is the ambassador of almost every other product. And when rival companies of the brands endorsed by Shah Rukh want a contender who is equally powerful as the king, their first choice happens to be Aamir. In other words, if there’s any actor who can give competition to SRK, it’s none other than Aamir Khan.

Both the actors have their own market value but interestingly they have always featured in rival brands. SRK endorses Pepsi while Aamir promotes Coke. SRK has Nokia while Aamir supports Samsung, SRK is endorsing Hyundai and Aamir endorses Toyota.

Yes, ŠkodaIndia recently launched Fabia, ŠkodaIndia, a fully owned subsidiary of ŠkodaAuto a.s. Czech Republic (Volkswagen Group), one of the fastest growing car manufacturers in Europe, unveiled its new Fabia 1.2 petrol version in three variants – Active, Classic and Ambiente, attractively priced from Rs 4,86,795 lakh to Rs 5,80,174 lakh (ex-showroom Thane.)

The new Fabia emerges with 1198 cc petrol engine with High Torque Performance (HTP), which notably enhances fuel economy & ensures low emissions. It sports a 1.2 litre engine with 4-valves per cylinder and a double overhead cam (DOHC). The vehicle will have dual airbags, rear wash & wipe and collapsible steering wheel as standard features. The Fabia 1.2 MPI is engineered to deliver high standards of performance, drivability and ride comfort to meet growing customer expectations in the market.

<Launching the Fabia 1.2 MPI, Mr. Thomas Kuehl, Member, Board of Directors (Sales & Marketing), ŠkodaIndia said, “With the introduction of Fabia 1.2 MPI, we are expanding the opportunities for ŠkodaIndia to be a meaningful part of our modern customers’ lifestyle. It carries all the attributes of the Fabia range, which have been so well appreciated in the market place. I am delighted to present the Fabia 1.2 MPI with HTP engine that significantly enhances drivability & fuel efficiency of the car to our Indian customers.”

The new Fabia 1.2 MPI has been strategically added to the Fabia range & complements it with value added features that Indian customers have come to associate with the ŠkodaIndia badge - commitment to quality, durability and advanced technology. It is available in eye-catching candy white, cappuccino beige, brilliant silver, magic black, satin grey, corrida red, tangerine orange colours.

The lowest priced variant of the Fabia 1.2 MPI is also fitted with fully adjustable steering wheel, adjustable rear head restraints, height adjustable front seat-belts, rear wash-wipe, rear fog lamp, rear defogger, and many such features that are usually present only on top versions of other premium hatchbacks in the market. Effortless inter-city travel, smooth engine performance and less engine stress at high speeds reflects the company’s unwavering focus to technical superiority and elegance.

The Fabia has been well accepted in the Indian market and has sold over 3500 units till April 2008. The target sales of Fabia product line is 10,000 units for 2008 wherein the share of Fabia 1.2 MPI is slated at 40%. ŠkodaIndia is confident to surpass the annual target of 25000 units.

As a leading player in the premium segment of Indian automobile industry, ŠkodaIndia boasts a wide product range, extensive sales and a support network of 54 dealerships across the country.

Specifications- Škoda Fabia 1.2 MPI

Price Rs.4,86,795 lakh to Rs 5,80,174 lakh (ex-showroom Thane.)
Torque 108Nm @ 3000rpm
Engine 1.2 MPI petrol ,HTP
Power 51kW/70 bhp @ 5400rpm
Displacement 1198 cc
Kerb Weight(kg) 1050
0-100 kmph 14.9 sec
Top Speed 163 km/hr.