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<keyword id="97017" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="N-Chandrasekaran">N Chandrasekaran</keyword>, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/breaking-news-n-chandrasekaran-is-the-new-tata-sons-chairman/articleshow/56500469.cms">new chairman</a> of Tata Sons, made his first big move in the company and offered a <keyword id="418383" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="voluntary-retirement-scheme">voluntary retirement scheme</keyword> (<keyword id="6362193" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="VRS">VRS</keyword>) to its executives, which would lead to some cost cutting. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/chandrasekaran-moving-out-of-tcs-may-be-alarming-for-most-profitable-it-company/articleshow/56564074.cms">Chandrasekaran moving out of TCS may be alarming for most profitable IT company</a> 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Indias-Tata-Motors-Microsoft-ink-technology-collaboration-deal/articleshow/57184582.cms">Tata Motors</a> is shrinking its management from 14 levels to five starting next month, and the VRS scheme is targeted at 400-500 executives, making it the biggest workforce change in the history of the company. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/india-is-becoming-a-hot-auto-market-toyota-volkswagen-hyundai-etc-are-looking-to-zoom-operations/articleshow/57645449.cms">India is becoming a hot auto market; Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, etc are looking to zoom operations</a> 
 
India’s largest automaker in terms of revenues aims to reduce costs and streamline its operations after suffering ample losses at its local unit. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/tamo-racemo-the-two-seater-sports-coupe-from-tata-motors-unveiled/articleshow/57521429.cms">Tamo RaceMo, the two-seater sports coupe from Tata Motors unveiled</a> 
 
Other than employee rationalisation via VRS, it also plans to shift some middle-level executives to new job responsibilities in global development centre (GDC) in Pune, under finance and data analytics. 
 
(Image source: GG2)

Tata Motors offers VRS to executives in a bid to cut costs

<ul><li>The 'Bharat Petroleum <keyword id="418383" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="voluntary-retirement-scheme">Voluntary Retirement Scheme</keyword> - 2020 (BPVRS-2020)' opened on July 23 and will close on August 13. </li><li>A senior company official said the <keyword id="6362193" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="vrs">VRS</keyword> has been brought to offer an exit option for any employee or officer who does not want to work under a private management. </li><li><keyword id="44555" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BPCL">BPCL</keyword>, where the government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake, has about 20,000 employees. </li></ul>State-owned BPCL has brought a voluntary retirement scheme for its employees ahead of the government privatising the country's third biggest <keyword id="911903" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="oil-refiner">oil refiner</keyword> and second-largest fuel retailer. "The Corporation has decided to offer a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS), with a view to enable employees, who are not in a position to continue in service of the Corporation due to various personal reasons, to request for grant of voluntary retirement from the services of the Corporation," <keyword id="170673" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharat-Petroleum-Corp-Ltd">Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd</keyword> (BPCL) said in an internal notice to its employees. The 'Bharat Petroleum Voluntary Retirement Scheme - 2020 (BPVRS-2020)' opened on July 23 and will close on August 13. A senior company official said the VRS has been brought to offer an exit option for any employee or officer who does not want to work under a private management. "Some employees feel their role, position or place of posting may change once BPCL is privatised. So this scheme offers them an exit option," he said. BPCL, where the government is selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake, has about 20,000 employees. The official said 5 to 10 per cent of employees are expected to opt for VRS. Expressions of Interest (EoI) for buying BPCL are due on July 31. All employees who have completed 45 years of age will be eligible for the scheme, according to the VRS notice accessed by . It, however, excludes active sportspersons (employees recruited as sportsperson who are yet to be deployed in mainstream) and board level executives. "Employees opting for VRS would be eligible to receive a compensation payment equivalent to two months' salary for each completed year of service or the monthly salary at the time of voluntary retirement multiplied by the balance months of service left before normal data of retirement on superannuation, whichever is less," it said. Repatriation expenses, as payable in case of retirement, will also be paid. Employees who opt for voluntary retirement will be eligible for medical benefits under Post Retirement Medical Benefit Scheme. Also, they would be eligible for encashment of leaves including casual, earned and privilege leaves. While those opting for VRS will neither be eligible for employment in company's joint ventures nor be engaged as retainers/consultants/advisors, any persons facing disciplinary action will not be eligible for the scheme, the notice said. BPCL will give buyers ready access to 15.3 per cent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel market share in the world's fastest-growing energy market. BPCL has a market capitalisation of about Rs 97,247 crore and the government stake at current prices is worth over Rs 51,500 crore. The successful bidder will also have to make an open offer to other shareholders for acquiring another 26 per cent at the acquisition price. <keyword id="6369532" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Privatisation">Privatisation</keyword> of BPCL is essential for meeting the record Rs 2.1 lakh crore target the finance minister has set from disinvestment proceeds in the budget for 2020-21. BPCL operates four refineries in Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kochi (Kerala), Bina (Madhya Pradesh), and Numaligarh (Assam) with a combined capacity of 38.3 million tonnes per annum, which is 15.3 per cent of India's total refining capacity of 249.8 million tonnes. While the Numaligarh refinery will be carved out of BPCL and sold to a PSU, the new buyer of the company will get 35.3 million tonnes of refining capacity. BPCL also owns about 16,309 petrol pumps and 6,113 LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) distributor agencies in the country. Besides, it has 51 LPG bottling plants. The company distributes 22 per cent of petroleum products consumed in the country by volume as of March this year and has more than a fifth of the 256 aviation fuel stations in India. The government has appointed Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP as its transaction advisor for the strategic disinvestment process. The government of India is proposing strategic disinvestment of its entire shareholding in BPCL comprising of 114.91 crore equity shares, which constitutes 52.98 per cent of BPCL's equity share capital, along with transfer of management control to a strategic buyer (except BPCL's equity shareholding of 61.65 per cent in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd), the notice inviting offer said. The bidding will be a two-stage affair, with qualified bidders in the first EoI phase being asked to make a financial bid in the second round. Public sector undertakings (PSUs) "are not eligible to participate" in the privatisation, the offer document said. Any private company having a net worth of USD 10 billion is eligible for bidding and a consortium of not more than four firms will be allowed to bid, it said. According to the bidding criteria, the lead member of the consortium must hold 40 per cent stake and others must have a minimum net worth of USD 1 billion. Changes in the consortium are allowed within 45 days, but the lead member cannot be changed, it added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/coovid-vaccine-from-oxford-serum-institute-and-astrazeneca-shows-promising-immune-response/articleshow/77069321.cms">The COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford and AstraZeneca shows 'promising' results in early human trials</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/dil-bechara-kissing-booth-2-and-other-movies-you-can-watch-on-netflix-amazon-prime-disneyhotstar-this-week/slidelist/77142498.cms">Dil Bechara, Kissing Booth 2 and other movies you can watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+Hotstar this week</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/work-from-home-effect-these-companies-are-shelling-out-for-employees-power-bills-internet-cost-and-more/articleshow/77139229.cms">WFH effect – These companies are paying for employees' power bills, internet cost and more</a>

Bharat Petroleum offers voluntary retirement scheme before privatisation

<ul><li>Auto major <keyword id="42747" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Motors">Tata Motors</keyword> is considering rolling out a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its employees across commercial and passenger vehicle businesses. </li><li>The package will be available to 1,600 permanent employees — especially those from engineering operations. </li><li>The automobile giant is aiming to reduce its employee cost — which rose to 10.7% of its net sales for the second quarter.</li></ul>Homegrown auto major Tata Motors is considering rolling out a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its employees across commercial and passenger vehicle businesses — thanks to the sluggish growth and falling sales. The package will be available for over 1,600 permanent employees in its fold — especially from engineering operations. “This year, Tata Motors’ employee cost-cutting plans are more aggressive than the previous times. The company is now seeking voluntary retirements from more than 1,600 people across all locations and hierarchies," Mint <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/tata-motors-to-offer-vrs-to-1-600-staff-as-slowdown-takes-a-toll-11574877056533.html">reports</a>. Tata Motors’ engineering employee count is also much higher than the industry average, and this move might rationalise it to improve efficiency. The automobile giant is aiming to reduce its employee cost for quite some time now. It had introduced a similar employee package in 2017 as well. Its employee cost rose to 10.7% of its net sales for the second quarter which almost doubled from . 5.9% last year. Job losses have become common in the automobile industry. The homegrown auto major suspended production, leading to plant shutdowns in Pune and Jamshedpur for a few days. It <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/slowdown-blues/maruti-suzuki-tata-motors-cut-production-festive-sales-get-lukewarm-response/story/383628.html">slashed passenger vehicle production by 63%</a> during the same time, while the overall sales declined by over 40%. In all, over 400,000 permanent and temporary <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-auto-manufacturers-have-laid-off-350000-jobs-in-four-months/articleshow/70563890.cms">auto workers lost jobs</a> in the last six months. During the quarter ending September, Tata Motors’ net sales also fell by 44% — registering a net loss of ₹1,281 crore. Yet another group company <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/amid-slowdown-steel-companies-reduce-prices-for-automakers-by-14-119111801491_1.html">Tata Steel </a>also announced its plans to cut nearly 3,000 jobs across Europe. And it is a domino effect of global slowdown in auto sales which led to a 14% fall in steel prices. Not just Tata Motors Voluntary retirement in India is not a group or sector-specific trend either. Debt-laden companies — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/taxes-transfers-and-all-other-worries-that-dog-bsnl-and-mtnl-employees-as-they-decide-on-vrs/articleshow/71967148.cms">MTNL and BSNL</a> — announced its VRS package for its employees aged above 50 years. The government will infused a total of ₹29,900 crore for settlements and retirement liabilities of these state-owned telcos. In 2018, Cognizant too introduced a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cognizant-may-layoff-hundreds-of-employees-sitting-on-the-bench/articleshow/70696484.cms">‘voluntary separation programme’</a> for senior executives. Under this, it offered 12-month salary and stock benefits depending on the employee’s tenure in the organisation. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/tata-motors-jaguar-land-rover-q2-earnings-bring-good-news-for-auto-industry/articleshow/71802900.cms">Not just Tata Motors, a lot of other companies are excited by Jaguar Land Rover numbers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/taxes-transfers-and-all-other-worries-that-dog-bsnl-and-mtnl-employees-as-they-decide-on-vrs/articleshow/71967148.cms">Taxes, transfers and all other worries that dog BSNL and MTNL employees as they decide on VRS</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-maker-of-general-motors-and-toyotas-parts-in-india-is-folding-up-axing-thousands-of-jobs/articleshow/70603130.cms">The maker of General Motors and Toyota's parts in India is folding up — axing thousands of jobs</a>

Tata Motors is the third biggie after BSNL and MTNL to dole out voluntary retirement package

Speculations were rife that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cognizant&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Cognizant</a>, which is undergoing slow growth, would lay off at least 1,000 employees to cut costs. Now, the company has come up with another way to let go off employees. <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword> is offering <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=VRS&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">VRS</a> to senior executives as it seeks to reduce costs. Cognizant has given an option to its D+ category employees, which includes directors and senior VPs to exit the organisation by accepting either six or nine months' pay as severance package, depending in which category the employee sits. As per various reports, nearly 1,000 employees are eligible for the <keyword id="6362193" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="VRS">VRS</keyword>. "We are offering a voluntary separation incentive to some eligible leaders, representing a very small percentage of our total workforce. It is related to our overall company strategy to accelerate our shift to digital and to deliver high-quality, sustainable growth," a Cognizant spokesperson told ET. Meanwhile, employees at Cognizant are also facing heat due to lower variable pay and less increments. Cognizant has been experiencing slow growth and lowered its growth guidance thrice last year. For 2016, the company registered revenues of $13.5 billion, up 8.6% from $12.42 billion for 2015. However, it raised guidance for 2017, estimating revenue to be from $14.5-14.84 billion.

Cognizant has come up with a new way to let go employees to cut costs. Here it is

<ul><li>State-run telecom firm <keyword id="30351" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL">BSNL</keyword>'s employee unions have called for a nationwide hunger strike on Monday, to protest against delay in execution of the Rs 69,000-crore revival package announced by the government.</li><li>In October 2019, the central government approved a Rs 68,751-crore revival package for loss-making BSNL and MTNL, including 4G spectrum allocation and voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), as well as their merger.</li><li>The BSNL employees' body said that due to the delay in the allotment of 4G spectrum and also due to the non-availability of funds, it is understood that BSNL's 4G service is not likely to be launched before the end of 2020.</li></ul>State-run telecom firm BSNL's employee unions have called for a nationwide hunger strike on Monday, to protest against delay in execution of the Rs 69,000-crore revival package announced by the government. "The All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB) is organising a country-wide hunger strike on February 24, 2020. This hunger strike is being organised to demand the expeditious implementation of the Union Cabinet's revival package in respect of BSNL, as well as to demand settlement of the grievances of the employees," AUAB said in a statement. In October 2019, the central government approved a Rs 68,751-crore revival package for loss-making BSNL and MTNL, including 4G spectrum allocation and voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), as well as their merger. AUAB, , said the salient feature of the revival package is the allotment of 4G spectrum, the issuing of sovereign guarantee for raising funds to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore, with share of BSNL at Rs 8,500 crore and Rs 6,500 crore for MTNL, by way of issuing long-term bonds, monetisation of assets and implementation of a VRS. "Out of these, only the VRS has been implemented, through which 78,569 BSNL employees have been sent home. It is extremely disturbing to note that, even after the lapse of nearly 4 months, 4G spectrum has not been allotted to BSNL," statement said. It added that the government has not yet issued the sovereign guarantee to BSNL, to enable it to raise Rs 8,500 crore, by way of issuing long-term bonds. "The process of monetisation of BSNL's assets is also moving at snail's pace. The Supreme Court of India's judgment, with regards to the calculation of the AGR, has caused uncertainties in the telecom sector, due to which banks are also unwilling to extend the much-needed loans to BSNL," the statement said. The BSNL employees' body said that due to the delay in the allotment of 4G spectrum and also due to the non-availability of funds, it is understood that BSNL's 4G service is not likely to be launched before the end of 2020. "This delay is much against the spirit of the Union Cabinet, in approving the revival package for BSNL. The attention of the Minister of Communications (Ravi Shankar Prasad) has already been drawn to the need to provide BSNL with the much-needed working capital. However, nothing has happened," the statement said. AUAB said that despite the relief package, employees are not getting salary on time and the wages of the contract workers have not been paid for the past 10 months. "Under these circumstances, the AUAB has already organised country-wide lunch-hour demonstrations on February 11, 2020. In continuation of this, hunger strikes are being organised throughout the country on February 24 to urge the Department of Telecommunications and the BSNL management to take expeditious actions," AUAB said. PRS HRS See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/taxes-transfers-and-all-other-worries-that-dog-bsnl-and-mtnl-employees-as-they-decide-on-vrs/articleshow/71967148.cms">Taxes, transfers and all other worries that dog BSNL and MTNL employees as they decide on VRS</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/unpaid-bsnl-employees-react-to-the-current-crisis/articleshow/71063961.cms">An unpaid BSNL employee believes the company will survive the current turmoil</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/after-vrs-now-bsnl-will-now-slash-contract-worker-jobs/articleshow/72283164.cms">After VRS, BSNL will now slash contract worker jobs</a>

BSNL employee unions call for nationwide hunger strike on Monday for delay in relief package

<ul><li><keyword id="2573" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Air-India">Air India</keyword>’s total employee strength stands at 17,984, out of which 9617 are permanent employees. Over 36% of the permanent employees will be retiring in the next 5 years.</li><li>The Government of India issued a new expression of interest for 100% sale of the troubled state-owned airline.</li><li>There are reports of interest from HIndujas and Tatas in bidding for the airline.</li></ul>The government wants to ensure that Air India is sold this time around, as it has also cut down the debt that the new owner will take onto the books. But there remains yet another hurdle that has been keeping the state-owned airline from being sold - its employees and their unions. According to a release from the <keyword id="149609" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Civil-Aviation">Ministry of Civil Aviation</keyword>, the airline has 17,984 employees, out of which 9,617 are permanent. Over 36% of the permanent employees will be retiring in the next 5 years - that is almost 3,000 of them. “The trade union representatives are said to have discussed with the management all the issues concerning their employment such as service-contracts, job-security, gratuity, pension and voluntary retirement scheme after the company goes into private hands,” a source told PTI after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/air-india-panel-discusses-privatisation-related-issues-of-employees/articleshow/73672621.cms">a panel </a>of Air India management and trade unions met in Delhi recently. These employees could now seek what other troubled state-owned companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tata-motors-is-the-third-biggie-after-bsnl-and-mtnl-to-dole-out-voluntary-retirement-package/articleshow/72270927.cms">BSNL</a> and MTNL received. Voluntary retirement scheme for Air India - before or after the sale? The Indian government had retired over 92,700 employees via VRS for the employees of the debt-laden <keyword id="30351" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL">BSNL</keyword> and MTNL– the telecom giants that it’s trying to merge and revive. However, with Air India’s sale and privatization in mind, VRS could be a risky move as it is uncertain about the liability of the settlements. But it will also offer an opportunity for the government or the bidder to cut down on the number of Air India’s employees. 
 
 <div type="image" title="air india toon" msid="73692808" hostid="261"></div>





 And, there are other issues that have to be cleared by the buyer as well. As per the bid document, 3% of equity shares of Air India are to be offered to the permanent employees of Air India as stock options. However, employees’ dues of about ₹1383.7 crore will be cleared by the government, before the transaction closes. The Government of India’s new expression of interest for 100% sale of the troubled state-owned airline, has already taken a large chunk of the liability onto itself. As per the revised EoI, the bidding party will have to bear ₹23,286 crore of the total ₹60,000 crore debt of Air India. And the deadline for bidders is set on March 17. The net worth for eligible bidders too has been relaxed to ₹3,500 crore from ₹5,000 crore. Tatas and Hindujas show interest in Air India An IANS report quoted a private airline senior executive to say that the deal is sweeter than expected. And it seems to have had its effect. According to recent reports, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/vistara-may-explore-opportunities-to-bid-for-air-india/articleshow/73683872.cms">Tata</a>s who run Vistara along with Singapore airlines, might bid for Air india. In an <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/will-ask-my-team-to-look-at-bidding-for-ai-tata-group-chief/articleshow/71883484.cms">interview with TOI</a> in November, Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran said that he will get his team to look into the matter. “Ideally it should be a Vistara decision, not a Tata Sons decision. I’m not going to run a third airline (in addition to Vistara and AirAsia) unless we merge. There are issues. I will never say yes or no. I don’t know,” he told TOI. Interestingly, Air India was run by the Tata Group before the Indian government acquired a 49% stake in the airline in 1948. The Hinduja Group has also reportedly expressed its interest in bidding for the airline. See Also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indian-government-sweetens-air-india-sale-by-slicing-its-debt-burden-by-more-than-half/articleshow/73653131.cms">Indian government sweetens Air India sale by slicing its debt burden by more than half</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/air-india-flights-sale-may-not-include-its-debt/articleshow/71177898.cms">Indian government is looking to sell Air India but may keep its debt</a>

Air India may opt for a BSNL-like voluntary retirement scheme to shed employee cost along with debt

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/jlr-unveils-range-rover-velar-thanks-ratan-tata-for-showing-faith/articleshow/57430509.cms">Tata Motors</a>, India’s largest automobile manufacturer headquartered in Mumbai, has launched its much awaited compact sedan Tigor at an introductory price ranging from Rs 4.7 lakh to Rs 7.09 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). 
 
Powered by a 1.2 litre petrol engine and 1.05 litre diesel engines, the new car is priced Rs 65000 to Rs 83,000 lower than Swift Dzire, one of the most popular models from market leader <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Maruti-Suzuki">Maruti Suzuki</a>. 
 
The prices are even Rs 20,000 lower than the hatchback <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/marutisuzuki-swift-2017-has-been-creatively-copied-from-at-least-5-different-cars-heres-the-proof/articleshow/56315268.cms">Swift</a> and Rs 58,000 lower than Maruti Baleno. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/tamo-racemo-the-two-seater-sports-coupe-from-tata-motors-unveiled/articleshow/57521429.cms">Tamo RaceMo, the two-seater sports coupe from Tata Motors unveiled</a> 
 
Tigor comes with features like LED Tail Lamp, projector headlamp, dual tone interiors, touchscreen Infotainment system, multi-drive mode, fully automated climate control. All these features, along with airbags and ABS packed on the higher variants, usually come in cars falling one segment above. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/tata-motors-offers-vrs-to-executives-in-a-bid-to-cut-costs/articleshow/57648092.cms">Tata Motors offers VRS to executives in a bid to cut costs</a> 
 
(Image source: Indian Autos Blog)

Tata Motors’ compact sedan Tigor launched for Rs 4.7 lakh

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Prachi BhardwajMitzi Reaugh and Michael Ludden at the Tribeca Film Festival panel, "State of the Art: How AR, VR, and AI are Transforming Media," moderated by Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget.</div></div></div><ul><li>For years, the entertainment industry has been excited by the possibility of using Virtual Reality to tell stories, but so far few have seen real success. </li><li>At this year's <a href="https://www.tribecafilm.com/">Tribeca Film Festival</a>, two executives from companies making strides in VR and AR discussed the presence and future of these technologies in storytelling in a panel moderated by Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget, State of the Art: How AR, VR, and AI are Transforming Media.</li><li>The panelists agreed that turning a traditional movie into a VR experience wouldn't cut it - here's what they said works when it comes to a different medium that calls for a different set of rules. </li></ul>Virtual reality is a relatively new form of storytelling that Hollywood is trying to master, as experts discussed in a panel at the 17th annual <a href="https://www.tribecafilm.com/">Tribeca Film Festival</a> in Lower Manhattan. The panel, titled "State of the Art: How AR, VR, and AI are Transforming Media," included Mitzi Reaugh, VP of development and strategy at Jaunt VR, as well as Michael Ludden, director of product for IBM's AR/VR Labs. It was moderated by Business Insider CEO Henry Blodget. Over the course of the panel, the tech experts discussed use cases for the different technologies in VR storytelling, where they're seeing success, and what they're most excited about going forward."I think photogrammetry is going to be a big part of immersive entertainment going forward," said Ludden, referring to a sort of 3D model visual that users can walk around.Both Ludden and Reaugh agreed that if a filmmaker were to take a traditional movie and just turn it into a 360 experience, it's not going to work - in fact, would just be boring, Ludden said. "Fundamentally, [VR]'s a different medium, so there is different storytelling things that you need to consider," said Reaugh. She said to consider two things that really help make a great story: "escape" and "empathy." Giving headsets to patients in hospitals and allowing them to temporarily transport to another location allows escape, while connecting with someone by seeing what they see creates empathy; this is why Ludden refers to VR as "an empathy machine." That isn't enough to make a distinction between what works for a traditional film and what works for a VR film, of course. Plenty of movies today allow us to escape or feel empathy, albeit not in an immersive way. Reaugh outlined three things to keep in mind in order to create a good 360 or VR experience that people will actually pay for:<ul><li>Pacing: "It's not the same pacing that you would get in linear video, because you have to let somebody settle into the environment and recognize where they are."</li><li>Sound: "There's a lot of opportunity to use sound to help the person look where they need to go and follow where the story's happening." You need to know which direction to turn your head in, for example. </li><li>Location: "I think you really have to think about stories where the location matters," she said "Thinking about where it is that's compelling to transport people."</li></ul>Looking forward, the panelists were excited about AR and VR's presence in industries including athletics, healthcare, and enterprise. But storytelling stuck out to the panelists as the application for VR that's most poised for success. "You can literally be in the perspective of somebody that's not you," said Ludden. "There's a really powerful emotional, low-hanging fruit piece here." Get the latest IBM stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/ibm-Quote"> here.</a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nintendo-virtual-boy-reality-3d-video-games-super-mario-2018-3">The incredible story of the 'Virtual Boy' - Nintendo's VR headset from 1995 that failed spectacularly</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Tech experts talk about what makes virtual reality so promising for making movies and TV

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Francois LenoirGeneral view of the city of Luxembourg October 11, 2013. Luxembourg's voters will take to the polls in a general election on October 20. </div></div></div>LONDON (Reuters) - "Life in Luxembourg is simply different," says its government website. The same could be said of tax in the Grand Duchy. It's known for its generous tax policies, but what's less familiar is a Luxembourgrule that lets companies cut their income taxes using costs that they haven't actually borne - a break offered by almost no other state.
The rule, which dates back to World War Two, helps companies save hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes each year, a Reuters analysis of the accounts of several major international corporations shows. The profits that escape tax have often not been earned in Luxembourg, but in countries like Britain, the United States and Germany. Those countries may lose out.
New York-listed telecoms group Vimpelcom, U.S. internet group AOL Inc., building equipment maker Caterpillar and UK mobile telecoms group Vodafone are just four of those to have made use of the system, accounts for theirLuxembourg subsidiaries show. Other firms have similar arrangements, tax advisers say, but have not made them public.
What these firms can do that companies in most other countries cannot is use notional losses - like a fall in thevalue of an asset that a business still holds - to cut their corporate income tax. In other countries, such an asset would have to be sold, so that the loss is realized, before the company could use it to reduce its tax bill. The only other country to offer a similar tax break is Switzerland, according to 20 tax advisers from a dozen countries interviewed by Reuters; but they said the Swiss are more restrictive.
In the European Union, where some countries use tax incentives to attract corporate investment, Luxembourg's rule is a unique lure. Tax advisers say it has helped attract more than 40,000 holding companies and thousands of high-paying jobs for the population of nearly half a million.
"For a government that wants to collect taxes ... this is just a stupid idea," said Reimar Pinkernell, tax partner in Flick Gocke Schaumburg in Bonn. "But if you don't want to collect taxes, if you are just happy that the company is there, and employs some people, then this is a perfect system."
The leaders of the Group of 20 biggest economies pledged in September to close some international loopholes in company tax, but their plans won't target country-specific practices like Luxembourg's. EU sources said in September the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, wrote to Luxembourg, Ireland and theNetherlands asking for details of tax deals they had cut with foreign companies, to see if they meet competition rules.
Tax advisers point out that other countries offer different tax breaks to attract investment. The LuxembourgMinistry of Finance said its tax rules are sensible, and not intended to help companies shift profits from other countries.
"A lot of countries use tax competition," said Heather Self, partner at law firm Pinsent Masons in London. "There's nothing wrong with it and there's nothing wrong with companies taking account of different tax rates. Tax is just another cost of business."
Spokespeople for the U.S., UK, French and German finance ministries declined to comment or said it would be inappropriate to comment on another country's tax rules. A spokesman for the EU Commission said the issue was not one it has examined in detail.
<h3>AN "INTERNAL BANK"</h3>
Here's how the rule works. If a company makes an investment, say it buys another firm, and the business turns out to be worth less than it paid, the company will follow international accounting rules to reduce, or write down, thevalue of the asset in its accounts. In countries like Britain and the United States, that impairment does not generate a tax saving. But in Luxembourg it does.
The case of Dutch-based Vimpelcom Ltd, one of the biggest phone operators in Russia with operations inCanada, Italy and North Africa, shows how firms can benefit.
At the end of 2012 a Vimpelcom subsidiary, a holding company called Weather Capital Sarl, made a 1.1 billion-euro ($1.51 billion) write-down in relation to some shares it held in a subsidiary, Weather Capital Special Purpose 1 Sarl, also a holding company. It also reported an 840-million euro decline in the value of a loan it had made tothe holding company.
Under Luxembourg rules, those two losses could save hundreds of millions in tax.
But the loss doesn't give a saving on its own: It must be offset against profits. And Luxembourg's domestic market is too small to make much profit; Vimpelcom doesn't even have a telephone business there.
So the company found another way to benefit.
In January this year, it told investors at a presentation in London that it planned to establish an "internal bank" that would borrow money and lend it on to operating units around the world, to fund their investments.
Henk van Dalen, its Chief Financial Officer at the time, said the company planned to route $13 billion to $15 billion of loans each year through the new financing unit. The in-house bank would generate large profits by charging more in interest than it had to pay. And these profits would escape tax because the financing operation would be based in Luxembourg, where Vimpelcom had big tax losses to use.
The "tax saving" would be $200 million to $250 million each year, van Dalen said.
Vimpelcom declined to comment or answer questions about its Luxembourg operations. Van Dalen did not respond to requests for comment.
It could go on indefinitely, van Dalen told the London meeting, a video of which is available on the company website. "Of course, at a certain moment you will run out of these tax losses and then there will be a new phase developed for the financing company," van Dalen said.
One investor on the video described the structure as "fairly ingenious."
But University of Connecticut School of Law Professor Richard Pomp said the system made no sense. "It's absurd," he told Reuters of the Luxembourg rule. "It gives the taxpayer too much control in managing their tax bill."
<h3>AOL'S LUXEMBOURG MOVE</h3>
Luxembourg's practice was actually inherited from Germany and dates back to the occupation of the Grand Duchy during the Second World War, said Ministry of Finance spokeswoman Veronique Piquard.
Indeed, Germany allowed companies to create such tax losses until 2001, although Berlin was less generous, German tax lawyers say.
Another difference was that while Germany gave deductions for write-downs, if a firm made a profit when it sold an investment, the company would be taxed on that.
In Luxembourg, if the investment goes up in value or is sold at a profit, the gain isn't taxable. Pomp, the University of Connecticut professor, calls that a "one way bet" for companies. "There should be symmetrical treatment," he said. "This is a pure tax incentive."
Tax advisers say Germany changed its approach because it stopped taxing capital gains, so it no longer made sense to give a deduction for losses. Piquard said Luxembourg's treatment of write-downs was not a tax incentive and the tax authority only gave deductions for write-downs which were justified.
The deductions can be quite quickly arranged, as illustrated by the case of internet group AOL Inc.
AOL told investors in its 2009 annual report that it was experiencing weakness in its European display advertising business.
In 2010, it transferred ownership of several European advertising subsidiaries from a British to a Luxembourg-based company.
Months later, that company, AOL Europe Sarl, wrote down the value of the advertising units as part of a 27-million-euro impairment. It then offset this against royalty income totaling 6 million euros, which could otherwise have incurred tax of almost 2 million euros.
Had AOL left the units with the British holding company and taken the losses there, it would not have received any tax benefit.
Piquard declined to comment on individual companies' tax affairs. AOL also declined to comment.
CATERPILLAR'S CONSOLATION
Boosting the appeal of Luxembourg's rule is the fact that many takeovers - more than half, according to some studies - don't work out for the acquirer.
Take Caterpillar, which shocked investors in January by writing down almost all of the value of ERA Mining Machinery Ltd., a Chinese company it agreed to buy for more than $653 million in 2011. Caterpillar cited alleged accounting irregularities at an ERA subsidiary, and the write-down wiped out more than half its earnings for thefourth quarter of 2012.
However, there was some consolation for Caterpillar investors, because the deal was structured through aLuxembourg holding company.
The write-down generated a tax deduction of $445 million that could be used to offset Caterpillar's future income in Luxembourg.
Caterpillar declined to comment.
<h3>VODAFONE'S PROFITS POWERHOUSE</h3>
One of the most successful users of the Luxembourg rule is Vodafone. The losses it built up in Luxembourg are so big the Grand Duchy's approach to taxing write-downs has helped it save billions of euros in taxes over thepast 13 years.
Vodafone became the largest mobile phone company in the world after a buying spree in the late 1990s, with deals such as the $180 billion takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG. After the tech bubble burst, Vodafone had to write down these assets.
They were held in Luxembourg, which meant that the 70 billion euros in charges it reported could be used to offset future profits.
These have been significant. Since Vodafone's first write-downs in the year to March 2002, just four VodafoneLuxembourg subsidiaries have earned almost 30 billion euros.
Two have been like Vimpelcom's "internal bank". Vodafone Luxembourg 5 Sarl (VL5), made $15 billion in profits from lending to the group's U.S. arm, while Vodafone Investments Luxembourg Sarl (VIL) made 18 billion euros lending to affiliates such as Vodafone's German arm. Interest payments are tax deductible in the United Statesand Germany, so the U.S. and German units' taxable income, which could have exceeded 60 billion euros, was also reduced by this arrangement.
More recently, two other Vodafone subsidiaries have gone beyond lending, to start business operations inLuxembourg. The firms - Vodafone Procurement Company Sarl (VPC) and Vodafone Roaming Services Sarl(VRS) - trade phone equipment and telephone bandwidth between affiliates and external suppliers. Their 300 staff generated an average 1.7 million euros per head in profit in the year to March 2013, compared with a group average of around 44,000 euros per worker.
Combined, these arrangements mean Vodafone reports more profit in Luxembourg than it does in any other country apart from the United States, group accounts show.
And thanks to the tax losses it has built up in Luxembourg, it has paid only around 100 million euros in tax since 2001. If Vodafone had paid the headline tax rate on this profit, it would have faced a bill of almost 9 billion euros.
Vodafone said it did not use contrived arrangements to shift profits. "Vodafone acts with integrity in all tax matters and operates under a policy of full transparency with the tax authorities in every country in which we operate," thecompany said in a statement.
Head of Group Media Relations Ben Padovan said the profits reported in Luxembourg reflected genuine economic activity there and the arrangements had no impact on Vodafone's UK tax bill.
Vodafone added that the decision to hold its investments and base its inter-company financing in Luxembourgreflected a variety of factors including the country's location within the euro zone, "the stability and predictability ofthe tax, regulatory, social and political environment and the availability of relevant skills within the labor market."
If companies do use Luxembourg's rules to avoid taxes in other countries, said Luxembourg tax lawyer Thierry Lesage, then it was up to other countries to change their systems.
The system is "really part of the DNA of the Luxembourg holding (company) taxation system," he said. "As a sovereign state Luxembourg is allowed to determine its fiscal policy."
($1 = 0.7283 euros)
(Edited by Sara Ledwith and William Waterman)

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