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Profit seen in base metalsIt was an eventful week for the markets as traded volumes rallied 12% on the Multi Commodity Exchange.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 5:25 pm Oil, politics to keep market on toesWhat should be a holiday lull of a week looks set to be anything but, with Wall Street on high alert for the latest twists and turnsSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 5:24 pm After the Games, China's economy faces big hurdlesBEIJING (Reuters) - For China's policy makers the race has only just begun to prevent the world's fourth largest economy from slowing too sharply after the end of the Olympics.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 5:08 pm Mamata launches indefinite stir at Singur, moots a proposal - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 4:36 pm Domino's Pizza to have 500 outlets in IndiaGlobal fast food chain Domino's Pizza is planning to add another 300 odd outlets in the country by end of 2010-11 at an investment of Rs 200 croreSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 2:54 pm The curious case of India's oil policyThe latest report on the oil sector by former petroleum secretary BK Chaturvedi has proposed a phased raise in oil product pricesSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 1:11 pm New Congress Chief takes a Shot at Nitish Kumar - Patna Daily
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:38 pm Cargill to sell fortified edible oil in the countryNew Delhi: Cargill India Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based food, agricultural and financial services giant Cargill, has decided to fortify refined oils that it sells in the domestic market with vitamin A, D and E. “Malnutrition in India is high and according to World Health Organization, around 80 million Indians are at risk because of vitamin A deficiencies. We have decided that we will not pass on the burden of fortifying oil to customers,” said Siraj A Choudhry, chairman, Cargill India. According to government statistics, nearly 46% of children below four years are malnourished and 33% of women in the age group of 15-49 have a body mass index (a measurement of healthy body) below normal. Cargill India sell around 5,00,000 tonnes of edible oil a year, including soya, palm, sunflower, ground nut and mustard oils besides hydrogenated fats, to wholesale trade, processed food industry and retail customers. Its share is around 4% of the 13 million tonnes of total edible oil sold in the country in a year. The fortification initiative will cost the company around Rs5-7 crore a year. The first lot of fortified oils have already been rolled out. “Each litre of vegetable oil will cost us 20 paise. The total cost, therefore, works out to Rs10 crore. But since some portion of oil is supplied to the industry that makes biscuits, noodles, namkeens and other edible oils and some of them already fortify their end product, oil sold to them may not be fortified,” said Choudhry. He added that the company has already started working out with such companies whether fortification would be required in oil supplied to them or not. Edible oil business contributes almost 50% or Rs3,000 crore to Cargill’s total business in the country. Its brands Gemini and Nature Fresh comprising soyabean, sunflower, cotton seed oil, ground nut and mustard oil, are in the mid- segment and largely cater to the middle class with the maximum retail prices in the range of Rs68-100 a litre. Cargill India largely imports vegetable oils from countries such as Argentina and Malaysia, refines and then markets them in the domestic market. The company got an idea of fortifying its oil from the Gujarat government which has made it mandatory for all vegetable oils to be fortified. B Sivakumar, former director of the National Institute of Nutrition, a government-affiliated body, is not very enthused with the programme. “The intention might be noble, but vitamin deficiency in India is a complicated problem, and mere oil fortification won’t help.” Lower income groups, he said, generally use less-refined oil that have most of the nutrients including vitamins A and D. “The refining process, which increases the cost of the oil, removes these nutrients. Also, anyone who can afford that oil, can also afford other, more wholesome sources of those nutrients such as nuts, meat etc.” According to him, there is also a regional variation of nutrient deficiency within the country. “Kerala, for instance, has far less incidence of vitamin A deficiency than places such as Bihar and Jharkhand, because of their local diet. Thus a blanket increase in vitamin content might not be good for all. Over consumption of vitamin A could actually be harmful,” he added. Jacob P Koshy contributed to this story. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:24 pm Production cut at Tata`s Jaguar in UK!Drop in sales have forced Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to cut production of the utility vehicle and re-deploy about 300 workers in the UK, a media report said on Sunday.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm German bank IKB sold for 150 million euros: Reports !German bank IKB, a casualty of the subprime mortgage crisis, was sold to US private equity group Lone Star for 150 million euros, German media reported on Saturday.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm IMC to study bottlenecks in transport infrastructure!The Indian Merchants Chamber has decided to form a panel to identify bottlenecks in existing transport infrastructure in the western region and suggest ways to overcome them.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm Tatas unveil fully Indian Indica Vista!Tata Motors launched the country`s first and its only fully indigenously manufactured car - Indica Vista - at a glittering function here Saturday evening.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm India aspires to achieve $660-bn merchandise exports by 2015!India has set an ambition of achieving USD 660 billion merchandise exports by 2015, maintaining an annual growth rate of at least 23 percent.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm Shemaroo looking to raise Rs 100 cr through pvt equity route!Entertainment major, Shemaroo Entertainment, is in talks with private equity players to raise Rs 100 crore for fuelling its expansion programme, a top company official said.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm Mukesh, Anil qualify for USD 6-8 bn coal-to-liquid project!Mukesh Ambani-run Reliance Industries and Anil Ambani`s Reliance Infrastructure are the only two companies to have qualified for the USD 6-8 billion project to convert coal into oil, as per the criteria set by the government.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm PNB to start Bhutan ops by March 2009!Country`s second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank is expected to start operations in Bhutan by March next year, for which it has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the local partner.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm COAI in dilemma, whether to challenge HC verdict - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:58 am More tools developed to crack cyber crimesPTI Thiruvananthapuram: Law enforcing agencies are now armed with more software tools to fight cyber crimes with a premier centre claiming to have developed them. Emailtracer, CyberCheck, Siman and Calltrack are some of the softwares developed indigenously by the Resource Centre for Cyber Forensic (RCCF) here. RCCF, under the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has emerged as the premier national centre for development of investigative tools through authentic analysis of cyber crimes and using well established methods and techniques, C-DAC Chief Administrative Officer P G Gopinath said. Emailtracer, a cyber forensic analysis tool, incorporates graphical features to help investigators easily track sender’s identity in cases of anonymous and threatening emails. It can also be used to retrieve information from mailbox files with extensions. “The device can trace any email received by anyone,” he told PTI. This tool analyses the email header and gives complete details of the sender, including IP address, the key point in finding the culprit, he said. It gives the geographical location of the sender, he said. The cybercheck is a Windows-based application, which allows law enforcement agencies to analyse hard disk content, including deleted files. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:49 am More tools developed to crack cyber crimesPTI Thiruvananthapuram: Law enforcing agencies are now armed with more software tools to fight cyber crimes with a premier centre claiming to have developed them. Emailtracer, CyberCheck, Siman and Calltrack are some of the softwares developed indigenously by the Resource Centre for Cyber Forensic (RCCF) here. RCCF, under the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), has emerged as the premier national centre for development of investigative tools through authentic analysis of cyber crimes and using well established methods and techniques, C-DAC Chief Administrative Officer P G Gopinath said. Emailtracer, a cyber forensic analysis tool, incorporates graphical features to help investigators easily track sender’s identity in cases of anonymous and threatening emails. It can also be used to retrieve information from mailbox files with extensions. “The device can trace any email received by anyone,” he told PTI. This tool analyses the email header and gives complete details of the sender, including IP address, the key point in finding the culprit, he said. It gives the geographical location of the sender, he said. The cybercheck is a Windows-based application, which allows law enforcement agencies to analyse hard disk content, including deleted files. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:49 am Consumer durables sector may grow 10% in FY’09: SurveyPTI New Delhi: Consumer durables sector, which was facing sluggish demand over the last few quarters, is expected to witness a topline growth of over 10 per cent in the current fiscal, a survey of industry leaders conducted by CII says. According the survey, around 92% of the CEOs has expected that the sales are expected to increase by 10% in 2008-09. Out of these 92% CEOs, 31% expected top line growth to be in the range of 15 to 20% while another 31% expected the sales growth to be more than 20% during the year 2008-09, the survey said. The optimism stems from the fact that against a negative growth of 0.7% in the first quarter of 2007-08, the sector grew by 3.8% in the first three months of the current fiscal. “The signs of turnaround and the growth optimism have come on the backdrop of a difficult period experienced by this sector last year,” CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said in a statement. The survey, however, said that rise in raw material costs and high interest rates are putting pressure on profits. Outlining the impediments to growth, CEOs revealed that infrastructure bottlenecks, rising input costs and access to capital, regulatory burden due to multiple compliance formalities and frequent inspections were the major inhibitors to the growth of the consumer durables sector. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:44 am Increase in cotton MSP to hit textile sector further: CITIPTI New Delhi: Increase in minimum support prices of cotton by up to Rs970 per quintal would hit textile industry of the country which is already reeling under high interest rates and rising input cost, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry said. The move will not only push the textile industry further down, but will also be counter productive even for farmers, CITI said in a release today. Last week, the government decided to raise the support price of medium staple cotton by Rs700 to Rs2,500, while the same for long staple has been increased by Rs970 to Rs3,000 for the October-September cotton year. CITI Chairman P D Patodia said rise in prices of raw materials, interest rates as well as input costs during the current year have already drained out the cost competitiveness of the country’s textile value chain and the huge increases announced in the MSPs for cotton would aggravate the situation beyond redemption. During the last financial year and the first quarter of this year, most textile companies have made losses and many others have made substantially lower profits compared to the earlier years. These MSPs have eroded whatever hope the industry had of reviving in the near future, he said. There is going to be chaos both in the industry and farming sectors, unless government is able to take immediate remedial action to sustain cotton consumption by reducing the MSPs or by assisting the industry to absorb the extra cost, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:16 am Investment in Bangladesh textiles drops 26 pctDHAKA (Reuters) - Investment in Bangladesh's textiles and ready-made garments -- which contribute more than 75 percent of total export earnings -- dropped by 26 percent in the year to June 2008, a senior official of the Board of Investment said on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:12 am COAI in dilemma, whether to challenge HC verdictPTI New Delhi: Stung by outright rejection of GSM operators’ petition challenging government’s policy on dual technology and revised spectrum allocation norms, the COAI is in dilemma whether to challenge the Delhi High Court’s verdict to larger Bench or wait for telecom tribunal TDSAT’s verdict. The members of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) are examining the Delhi High Court’s judgement and a decision would be taken in a day or two, sources close the development said. COAI had questioned the events of October 18 and 19, 2007, and said that the Department of Telecom had shown undue haste and hurry in which an in-principle approval was given to Reliance Communications for offering GSM services. This was, however, rejected by the Delhi High Court in its judgement last week. “Prima facie, it cannot be held that the decision of the government confers any unfair advantage to any particular person and consequently the submission that the government has disturbed the level playing field has to be rejected,” Justice Gita Mittal had said in the judgement. A senior official in the DoT said that it was strange on part of the GSM lobby to question government’s act as the spectrum was first allocated to the existing GSM operators in various circles and this was also presented in the TDSAT last week. DoT counsel had said that spectrum was allocated in orderly manner and existing players have been beneficiary of this. “The TDSAT is admittedly seized of and is competent to examine the entire matter relating to the decision to permit cross over of the technology,“ the Delhi Court had said. With this in mind, the members of the COAI are in big dilemma that whether to challenge the verdict or not. In TDSAT also, the government had refuted GSM players’ allegation that policy of dual technology has eaten into their quota of additional spectrum, the DoT had said that the air waves have been allocated in an orderly manner and the needs of existing players have been addressed ahead of others. Leading GSM operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, have been given additional or fresh spectrum, since October 23, 2007, when the COAI challenged the government’s new policy. According to the DoT, Bharti has been allocated additional spectrum in West Bengal, Assam, UP (West), twice in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Vodafone was also allotted in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Besides, Vodafone and Idea have also been allocated initial start-up spectrum in various circles. “The petition (by COAI) has been filed on October 23, 2007, upon misplaced apprehensions expressed by some quarters that all players in telecom industry would not be allotted spectrum in an orderly manner as per their respective entitlements,” Goolam Vahanvati, Solicitor General of India had said in the TDSAT on behalf of DoT. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 11:06 am Tata to cut Jaguar-Rover production: Report - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 10:55 am West Bengal steel plant on schedule, says JSW SteelPTI Mumbai: Unfazed by the recent developments in West Bengal over the small car project of the Tatas, JSW Steel hsa made it clear that its Rs35,000-crore steel project in Shalboni was on schedule and construction work for the plant would start in November. “Our steel project in West Bengal is on schedule and we will commence construction work of the project from November this year,” JSW Steel Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal said. JSW Steel is setting up a 10 million tonne integrated steel plant at Shalboni in West Bengal. The company has already acquired 4,800 acre land. He, however, said if the Tatas pull out of the small car project from Singur, it would send a wrong signal to the industry as a whole but at the same time, expressed hope that project would take off at Singur. Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata had recently said that if the controversy over land acquisition continues, Tatas may pull out of the project. JSW Steel expects to commission an eight million tonne per annum iron ore beneficiation unit and six million tonne per annum pellet plant in West Bengal by 2012 before the steel production starts. JSW Steel plans to produce 32 million tonnes of steel by 2020, with an investment of Rs1,000,000 crore. Apart from putting up a plant in West Bengal, the company has plans to set up a Greenfield plant, too, in Jharkhand and increasing the Vijaynagar plant capacity to 10 million tonnes per annum. Jindal said the company would upgrade a local ITI, where students from the area would be trained before getting employed. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 10:44 am No plan to privatise BSNL: ScindiaPTI Khandwa: Denying rumours that BSNL would be privatised, Union Minister of State for Telecom and IT Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that the public sector telecom major is just thinking of coming out with an IPO and that too with a cap of 10 per cent only. “There is no plan to privatise BSNL, but thinking is going on coming out with an IPO with a cap of 10% only,” Scindia told reporters here on Saturday. The money generated through an IPO would be used to strengthen the BSNL network in far-flung areas, he said. He said that there is a gulf between privatisation and IPO and added that to capture investment and market share, IPO is necessary. “BSNL should focus on providing high-quality service so that it can attract people towards it and also compete with the private players instead of worrying about its future,” the minister said. Referring to the GSM network, he said at present 1,392 towers of the service are established in the state, while by 2009, the number of towers would reach up to 4,500. He said by 2009, mobile and broadband services would be available where 100 customers are guaranteed and added that the target of the ministry is to provide telecom services up to panchayat level. At present, there are 12 lakh landline connections in the state and in the last three months there is an increase of 67,000 more landline phones in the state. The BSNL has set the target to install three lakh more connections by the year end, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 10:40 am New telcos may get spectrum in Mumbai, Maharashtra, MP,KolkataPTI New Delhi: Within days of Delhi High Court giving clean chit to the government, the Department of Telecom is all set to allocate start-up spectrum to new players in four more circles of Maharashtra, Mumbai, Kolkata and Madhya Pradesh. The new players include Datacom promoted by Mahendra Nahata of HFCL, realty major Unitech, BPL led Loop Telecom, Swan Telecom and Tata Teleservice under the dual technology clause and others. The DoT has already alloted start-up spectrum in five circles of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Spectrum refers to the radio frequency that enables wireless communications and has been the sources of considerable controversy over the past one year due to differences between the existing players and the policy makers over the dual technology and revised norms of spectrum allocation. The association of existing GSM players, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), had strongly opposed the move to give new licences saying there was not enough spectrum. The DoT had earlier said that enough spectrum was available to meet the demands by the existing players as well as new players. Shyam Telecom, which has opted to adopt CDMA technology for the mobile services has already got spectrum in most of the circles, except in two major circles of Delhi and Mumbai. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 10:35 am MNCs seek detectives help to check IPR violationsPTI New Delhi: In order to provide brand protection and curb duplication of products, IT, pharma, electronics, telecom and electrical goods manufacturing giants are approaching private detectives to safeguard them against Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violation. “A number of global firms have approached us seeking help to stop IPR infringement. Companies are really taking the issue seriously. We expect number to grow further,” said Kunwar Vikram Singh, President, Association of Private Detectives of India. To strictly deal with such “modern crimes” they have formed a separate wing of professionals including former officers from intelligence agencies. “We have qualified and efficient hands from all the sectors like automobile, electrical, electronics, medical and ITES. They are an excellent mix of technology and investigation skills,” said Singh. “We receive number of complaints related to copying. From tea brands to fashion apparels all are harmed by this. We are contacted by known fashion designers also. Some of whom have formally lodged complaint and requested us to probe the matter,” he said. However, police is also involved in the task. “After thorough probe on the complaints, we approach local police to help us in nabbing the culprits,” he said. Private detectives say that their services for probing such crimes does not come cheap. “It is very hi-tech job that requires skilled manpower. We charge Rs40,000 for the job,” Sanjay Singh, Chairman of Indian Detective Agency, said, adding that the charges vary with the quantum of work. “Surprisingly, India is now the latest target. We have a number of marginalised people living in our country who prefer cheap goods. This has become one of the major causes behind promotion of counterfeiting of products,” Singh adds. Detective agencies have also been approached by national and international industry associations to extend help for safeguarding their products. “Every year we attend a lot of national and international seminars organised by confederation of industries. They are really worried about protecting their brands,” he said. As per an on-going study commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, the estimated losses due to piracy in Motion pictures is 7.3%, Sound Recordings and Musical Compositions 24.5%, Books 21% and the highest is in Software domain reaching 292.8%. While recent trend of piracy has badly affected Indian film and musical industry, we are doing our best to bring this fake business to end, he added. “Earlier, under the aegis of Indian Fans Manufacturing Association I was really surprised to note this trend. We found that there were small manufacturing units who were producing number of duplicate fans by cleverly copying company’s name. Unfortunately, their products were being sold at the price of original ones,” said a former member of Indian Fans Manufacturing Union, on condition of anonymity. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 10:34 am JK Lakshmi Cement to set up five RMC plantsPTI New Delhi: Aiming to augment its capacities, cement manufacturer JK Lakshmi is embarking on an expansion plan to set up five ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants, which could entail an investment of up to Rs1,000 crore by the end of this fiscal. “By March 2009, we will set up 4-5 RMC plants in four different locations to add value to our RMC business. With the growing demand of cement in the realty space in the country, we see a good future for RMC plants,” Lakshmi Cement Managing Director Vinita Singhania told PTI. She, however, declined to comment on the production capacities and the possible locations of the plant. “We are targeting to set up 6-7 RMC plants per year as our existing facilities are undergoing optimum capacity utilisation,” Singhania added. On the size of the investment, she said the cost of setting up one RMC plant is between Rs140 crore and Rs200 crore. “The company will fund the cost of expansion through internal accruals. The construction work of two plants is on and the company would launch the other projects very soon,” she added. In the last financial year, J K Lakshmi set up five RMC plants each with a capacity of 60 cubic mt per annum at Ahmedabad, Baroda, Jaipur, Mohali and Surat taking the total number of RMC units to 10. Besides, the national capital-based cement manufacturer is also enhancing its captive power generation by adding new plants. ”With the rising cost pressure, we at JK Lakshmi Cement will undertake several cost cutting measures to ensure that the fund requirements for value addition can be met through internal accruals. “The rising cost of power plants has also made it necessary to set up captive power plants for each of our cement units,” Singhania said without divulging any detail. She said the company is expecting its operating cost to minimise after its 36 MW captive power plant at Sirohi (Rajasthan) gets commissioned later this year. JK Lakshmi Cement has added a cement plant at Sirohi with a production capacity of five million tonnes. Clinker capacity In its recently held annual general meeting, the company said it was able to reduce power consumption to 79 KWH per tonne from 83 KWH per tonne of cement in the previous year, besides reducing coal consumption to 80 kg per tonne from 84 kg per tonne. The company is also enhancing its clinkering capacity and installing a split location grinding unit at Kalol in Gujarat to take its current capacity to 4.75 million tonnes from 3.65 million tonnes. Last month, the company had announced an investment of Rs1,200 crore to set up a greenfield project in Chhattisgarh with an annual capacity of 2.7 million tonnes, which is scheduled to commission by 2011. “With the completion of the plant at Durg in Chhattisgarh, our capacity will go up to 7.5 million tonnes per annum,” Singhania said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 10:31 am Jet Airways scouts for second operational hub in Europe - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 9:50 am Thousands protest land seizure for India's Nano carKOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters surrounded a factory building what is billed as the world's cheapest car, the Nano, in the biggest demonstration yet against seizure of farmland for industry in eastern India on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 9:29 am Banks up credit card finance charges to up to 50%PTI New Delhi: When it comes to exorbitant interest rates, even the loan sharks — the neighbourhood moneylenders — can learn a few tricks from the banks which have raised the charges to as high as nearly 50% per annum for their credit card customers in the past few days. Over the past few days, nearly all the banks — starting from PSU giant SBI to private sector leaders like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank and foreign players such as Deutsche Bank and HSBC — have either raised or are in the process of raising the finance charges. These rates, between 35 and 50% at present, are charged on credit card users for payments made after credit- free period, which ranges from 15 days to two months. These are over three times the current benchmark prime lending rates of less than 15% at most of the banks. The high rates are being charged despite a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) ruling last month that “charging of interest at rates in excess of 30% per annum from the credit card holders by banks for the formers’ failure to make full payment on the due date or paying the minimum amount due, is an unfair trade practice”. To top it all, these high charges, which varied between 30-40% till some days back, get a mention only in the asterix-marked fine prints of credit card statements and there is virtually no limit to what level these could be raised. On their part, banks claim it has become necessary to raise these charges, which a customer has to pay after the expiry of his or her credit-free period, in the wake of tightened liquidity in the system. However, while the hike in interest rate for secured lending products like auto and home loans have been mostly about 0.5- 1%, the unsecured credit card finance charges are being increased by about 10%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 9:09 am Tata to cut Jaguar Land Rover production: ReportPTI London: Drop in sales figure has forced the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover to cut production of the utility vehicle and redeploy about 300 workers, the British media reported today. “Two shifts have been lost at Solihull, the main Land Rover production centre, and three will be cut next month at the Halewood factory on Merseyside, where the Jaguar X-Type is assembled,” a report in The Sunday Telegraph said. JLR has also transferred about 300 staff from Solihull to the Jaguar production line at Castle Broomwich because there is no work for them, the report added. Due to weakening demand, JLR is reviewing Land Rover production on a monthly basis. Land Rover sales so far have shown only a three per cent fall from 226,000 vehicles last year, but as overall demand dips by 30% in the sectors in which it competes, JLR is being cautious, it added. Land Rover sales slumped by 31% in the US market in the year to July but strong demand in Russian and Chinese economies almost offset the sharp fall. Uncertainties about the outlook at Land Rover will slow the recovery in JLR profits. Last year Land Rover accounted for all of JLR’s $650 million profits and almost all of the first quarter’s $421 million. “Jaguar has struggled, but is enjoying a new lease of life and moving into the black,” the report said, adding that “Tata must also decide on whether to replace Ford, possibly with Italy’s Fiat, as JLR’s engine supplier.” Meanwhile, the report noted “Tata was forced to ditch the rights issue planned to help finance the 1.15 billion pound paid to Ford for JLR due to share price weakness. Tata will look at asset sales as an alternative.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 8:38 am BSNL board meet on 27 August; may discuss IPO issuePTI New Delhi: Country’s largest telecom operator BSNL will hold its board meeting on 27 August to discuss growth strategies and challenges, including its listing plan which is facing stiff opposition by its employees unions with over three lakh staff under its fold. “It (discussion on IPO) may come for discussion in the board meeting on August 27...nothing concrete yet. ...other issues would be general — operations, growth,” BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal told PTI. The decision on IPO has brought the company in direct conflict with its employee unions, which have threatened an indefinite strike if the PSU goes ahead with the IPO. On the IPO prospects, he said: “Employees acceptance is a critical to the process to start and succeed...we are in no hurry for the IPO. Just trying to make the groundwork. We have made no tangible progress towards any consensus on IPO.” Goyal’s disappointment stands contrast to his exuberance few weeks ago when he had said the management of BSNL is seeing some positive response from the unions. A senior official of the PSU said now Department of Telecom, not BSNL is holding discussions with the union. Government notification He said to kickstart the process, the government has to issue a notification. A committee comprising of officials of different ministries including Finance, Disinvestment and law has to be set up to oversee the process, merchant bankers to be appointed and account cleaning has to start. “The basic activity has not started...we are waiting for the Union to understand and give us some sort of acceptance. This is a key requirement of the start-up process,” the official said. The official said the board is also likely to discuss the proposed merger between BSNL and ITI. A proposal has been given by ITI employees for the merger and BSNL employees have opposed it. The PSU board has already cleared the company’s proposed $10 billion listing plan, with divesting 10% stake of government’s 100% holding. It has already offered Esops to the employees which have been rejected by the union. They believe that the Government will gradually privatise the company as it did in the case of VSNL and IPO is detrimental to BSNL’s growth. Corporate structure of BSNL board consists of CMD and five full time Directors. There are five other Directors in the board of BSNL. Department of telecom has two nominees on BSNL board. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 8:35 am Inflation to eat into salary hikesPTI New Delhi: Surging inflation will soon start reflecting onto the pay packets with the companies looking at cutting down the salary hikes of their employees for the next year and the high-flying IT space could take the maximum hit. According to a survey by HR consultancy major Hewitt Associates, IT sector would see the lowest pay hike of 11.3% in India next year, down from 12.5% in 2008. It would be followed by the ITES sector with the second lowest hike of 11.4%, down from 12.5% in 2008. The survey of 150 leading corporates in India found that a majority of companies are taking into account inflation and rising input costs for their salary hike budget for next year. “While the year 2008 has still seen a strong average salary increase of 14.8%, the global economic slowdown, US sub-prime crisis and rising inflation have caused Indian companies to revisit budgets for 2009 and the average salary projections for the coming year are lower by a percentage point at 13.9%,” Hewitt said. Interestingly, the pay hikes for both IT and ITES sectors is on the decline in recent years. The IT industry saw a salary rise of 15.4% in 2007 which came down to 12.5% in 2008. Similarly, the ITES sector witnessed a jump of 14.1% in 2007 while the figure declined to 12.6% this year. “Adversely impacted by the recent rupee-dollar volatility and the slowdown in the global economy, the IT-ITES sector is treading cautiously on salary and rewards,” it said. Infrastructure sector to gain For 2009, Hewitt has projected infrastructure sector to see the highest pay hike to the tune of 18.8%. However, the expected rise for the industry is much less than 24.1% jump in salary witnessed in 2008. On the other hand, the report pointed out that there is an acute talent crunch because of which “we see a one per cent increase in the projected salary increases for 2009.” Among them, only telecom is projected to have higher salary rise as compared to 2008. The industry is expected to witness a hike of 16% next year as compared to 14.9% this year. The report noted that telecom sector is projected to see continued growth in India especially with the advent of five new players over the last one year. “Projections for 2009 are slightly lower than the increases given in 2008 across sectors, with Telecom being the only sector showing an increase. “This is reflective of the cautious approach companies are taking towards salary increases in the current economic environment and the dip is largely in the range of one to two percentage points. Infrastructure is showing the maximum dip although they are still projecting the highest increases for 2009 at nearly 19%,” the report said. Manufacturing sector is expected to see a pay rise of 15.1%, followed by FMCG (14.7%), BFSI (14.2%) and pharma (12.4%). About 63% of the companies said that inflation and rising input costs have been discussed and considered in the context of their salary increase budgets for 2009. While none of the organisations are expecting a “salary freeze” next year, nearly 42% said they would have lower salary increases, bringing in a greater correlation between performance and pay. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 8:25 am Fly to launch eco-friendly miniature phonePTI New Delhi: Targeting five per cent marketshare by the end of FY’09, Meridian Mobile is coming up with aggressive marketing strategy including launch of eco-friendly miniature phone. “Fly, UK-based Meridian Mobile’s brand is coming up with miniature phone, thus reducing the amount of heavy metals used. Miniaturisation means we use slimmer batteries and small accessories,” Rajiv Khanna, CEO of Meridian Mobile told PTI. Having a turnover of more that Rs200 crore, Khanna said “We are targeting 5 per cent national marketshare by the end of FY’09”. When asked about other tie-ups apart from recent agreement with R-Com, he said, we have been invited by Vodafone in many circles. Recently signed agreement with Brightpoint (national distributor for operators) and with other distributors in South where we are expanding to top 50 to 110 towns. When asked about competition with leading brands like Nokia, Samsung and LG, Khanna said, “Most of our products are made in Korea with superior quality. We also bring in stylish phones with very good touch and feel with consumer experience”. On rural initiatives and 3G, he said company would tie-up in rural segment. “We are also launching a hummer 3Gphone. Even our low-end phone would have an element of high design”. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 8:17 am Union Bank hopes to start mutual funds biz by JanuaryPTI Mumbai: State-run Union Bank of India expects to launch its mutual fund business by January next year and is currently working on the shareholders agreement for its proposed joint venture with Belgium-based partner KBC Asset Management NV, a top bank official said. Union Bank entered into an agreement with KBC in July this year. It will hold 51% stake in the JV while the balance will be with the Belgium-based firm. The JV will have an initial capital of Rs100-150 crore. “We are currently working on the shareholders agreement. The idea is to launch the business by January,” Union Bank’s General Manager, Planning and Development, B L Javeri told PTI here. Though Union Bank had agreed to hold a majority 51% stake in the JV, the bank might increase its holding in the future, Javeri said. “As of now, we will have 51% stake in the JV. It may even go up,” he said. “While KBC’s huge global experience in the mutual funds business will benefit the new venture, the lender is also looking at shaping up its own business model, which includes the bancassurance and agency models,” Javeri said. KBC, which is making its entry into the domestic market through this JV, is one of the largest MF players in Belgium. The company has assets under management worth Euro 174 billion as on end-2007. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 8:01 am India aspires for $660-bn merchandise exports by 2015PTI New Delhi: India has set an ambition of achieving $660 billion merchandise exports by 2015, maintaining an annual growth rate of at least 23%. The growth optimism is based on the performance in the last four years, which saw exports more than double from $63 billion in 2004 to $155 billion in 2007-08. “Our exports are not just double of what they were four years ago, but two-and-a-half times of that. The average cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) at 23% was way ahead of the average growth rate in international trade,” a Commerce Ministry document said. For the current year, the government has fixed a target of $200 billion, and by 2010 exports are expected to cross $234 billion. India accounted for 1.5% of the global trade in 2007-08, with merchandise trade aggregating to $400 billion. With the addition of services, “our commercial engagement with the world was about USD 525 billion which is equivalent to 50% of our GDP”. The ministry document, which has been sent to the 13th Finance Commission, said India is committed to achieving a five per cent share in world trade by 2020. “In practical terms, this means a four-fold increase in our percentage share in the next 12 years. Considering that the world trade is itself increasing, this would translate into an eight-fold increase in absolute terms,” the document said. Exporters share the government’s confidence but want a helping hand to achieve the ambitious target. “The targets are achievable provided an export-friendly environment is created to make our products globally competitive,” President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations Ganesh K Gupta said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:51 am Shemaroo looking to raise Rs100 cr through pvt equity routePTI Mumbai: “Entertainment company Shemaroo Entertainment is in talks with private equity players to raise Rs100 crore for fuelling its expansion programme,” a top company official said. “We are in negotiations with both, domestic and foreign private equity players to raise Rs100 crore,” Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada told PTI here. “Shemaroo hopes to seal transactions within the next six months,” he commented. The company is mulling over diluting a portion of its equity to raise funds from private equity players. “We are looking at equity dilution as an option to raise funds,” said Gada. However, he did not disclose the identities of the players Shemaroo was in talks with. “Shemaroo, an integrated film production, post-production, distribution and animation player, would utilise the funds raised to enhance and strengthen its existing verticals. A part of the funds raised would be used for production of eight films out of which six would be Hindi while the other two would be animated films.” he added. Shemaroo also plans to expand its films acquisition and distribution rights business. “This will be a strong focus area for us,” Gada said, adding that this would be for various media such as television, internet, mobile, home video and other emerging technologies.Investments in both businesses would be done over the next 12 months,” Gada said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:49 am Asia share buybacks pause would flag more rough timesHONG KONG (Reuters) - Corporate Asia's rapid pace of stock buybacks is a sign executives want to capitalise on the region's economic promise, but any pause in repurchases could further weigh on battered markets.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:31 am Markets likely to remain bullish on global cues: ExpertsPTI Mumbai: The markets are expected to surge this week on the back of relatively improved sentiments in the American bourses and falling crude prices even though the chances of higher inflation playing a spoilsport cannot be ruled out, say analysts. “The markets would be closely watching developments related to the Indo-US nuclear deal at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” they said and pointed out no key policy decisions is expected this week on domestic front. “Tracking global cues, the stock market is likely to be bullish. As no major policy decision is expected this week and with Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Index hovering in the positive zone, the sentiments in the domestic market would remain positive. “The market will remain volatile and witness a strong opening on Monday. Then it will take cues from the crude price movement,” brokerage firm SMC Global’s Vice President Rajesh Jain said. Noting that crude prices would determine the movement of the market, he said that Sensex is likely to hover around 14,500 to 15,500 levels during the week. According to experts, a further rise in crude oil prices may act as a dampener for the capital markets. On the crude front, the simmering tension between United States and Russia could push up the prices, which has been on the decline in recent weeks. Even though crude closed at $114.59 per barrel on Friday, the prices had touched a high of nearly $121 per barrel during that day. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:31 am DuPont introduces photovoltaic solutions - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:20 am PNB to start Bhutan ops by March 2009By PTI New Delhi: Country’s second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank is expected to start operations in Bhutan by March next year, for which it has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the local partner. “We have recently signed an MoU with the a prominent local business house and are in the process of obtaining regulatory approval from the Bhutan for the operation,” Punjab National Bank General Manager Ranjan Dhawan told PTI. The bank already has got regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India. “The JV (Joint Venture) with the paid-up capital of Rs30 crore has been named as Druk PNB Ltd and hopefully should be operational in the January-March quarter 2009,” he added. “To start with the venture would have two-to-three branches that would be ramped up in due course of time,” he added. Besides, the bank is also in the process of starting overseas operations in four locations in the immediate future. These include Norway, Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore. It has also applied for regulatory approval for a representative office in Norway. RBI has already accorded approval for upgrading the bank’s Shanghai (China) representative office to a branch. PNB is also planning to upgrade its representative office in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) into a branch. At the same time, the bank has exited from the Malaysian joint venture led by Bank of Baroda. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:09 am EIU cuts India’s economic growth forecast to 7.5%PTI New Delhi: On the heels of Prime Minister’s panel lowering the economic growth projection for 2008-09, the research arm of London-based Economist has scaled down the expansion to 7.5% this fiscal from its earlier forecast of 7.7%. “The moderation in growth would be on account of issues like tight monetary policy and some global factors, including rising prices of oil and commodities,” EIU (India) Director Research Manoj Vohra told PTI. The PM’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) recently revised its GDP forecast for the current fiscal to 7.7% from 8.5% projected earlier in the wake of slow down in industrial production and global financial turbulence. India’s GDP, which grew by 9% in 2007-08, is expected to fall further in 2009-10 to 6.8%, Vohra said, adding “the long-term growth story remains intact and 2010-11 will see resurgence in growth”. The RBI, too, in its first quarterly review of the monetary policy, had moderated India’s growth outlook to 8% from 8-8.5% projected earlier. Delhi-based think tank NCAER expects the economy to grow by 7.8%, against the earlier projection of 8.8% in view of the slowdown in growth momentum because of factors like high inflation, rising interest cost and spiralling oil prices. Justifying the moderation in economic growth, Vohra said that industrial production would be affected on account of measures taken by the banking regulator to squeeze money supply. “Tight monetary policy will also hit corporate earnings and their expansion plans,” he added. Further elaborating on the reasons of moderation in economic growth, Vohra said it would be primarily on account of domestic factors like rising interest rates though global factors will have some implications. Rising inflation, oil and commodity prices will also attribute to further moderation in growth. As regards inflation, he said that it is likely to average 7.1% in 2008-09. He said the effect of the banking regulator’s tight monetary measures is likely to show some result in the next fiscal. However, the PM’s EAC had said inflation was mainly due to rising global commodity prices and could cool off to 8-9% by March 2009 by coordinated policy action while maintaining that tight monetary stance was necessary. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Aug 2008 | 7:02 am Govt Instructs Domestic Steelmakers To Lower Prices - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Aug 2008 | 3:48 am Daiichi-Ranbaxy FDI plan may be placed before CCEAIt exceeds Rs 600 crore and needs the panel’s nod. New Delhi, Aug. 23 Even as the open offer by Daiichi Sankyo to acquire additional 20 per cent stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories is currently on, a “procedural issue” appears to ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am 8 of 11 open offers delayed in ’08Merchant bankers take in their stride the changes in schedules. Mumbai, Aug. 23 The recent delay in the high profile open offer for Ranbaxy shares by Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo might appear routine, with the Securities and Exchange ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am India’s growth story: ‘Precocious’ and ‘unusual’Chennai, Aug. 23 The Indian economy’s turnaround should be attributed to a period at least a decade prior to 1990, argues Mr Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington DC, and the author ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am Process to ensure faster I-T refunds in more citiesDIALOGUE WITH BANKS. New Delhi, Aug 23 The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has initiated dialogue with public sector banks (PSBs) to rope them in as ‘refund bankers’ as part of its attempt to put in place a quicker and ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am Action shifts from futures to optionsMore informed trading, a possible reason. Chennai, Aug. 23 An interesting shift is taking place in the trading pattern in the derivatives segment of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am Weekly News Round-upThe Union Government, last Thursday, approved a new open market sale scheme for wheat and rice in order to keep grain prices in check ahead of the upcoming festival season. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decided to allocate wheat under ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am States vie to house Nano projectNew Delhi, Aug. 23 With the Tatas’ Nano project hanging in the balance, West Bengal’s loss could well be a gain for other States. ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am ‘Marginal decline’ in growth of corporate advance tax paymentsFinance Ministry refutes slowdown in economy. New Delhi, Aug. 23 The Finance Ministry has refuted any slowdown in the economy based on the “marginal decline” in the growth of corporate advance tax payments in the first quarter as ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am Tata Motors launches new version of IndicaMumbai, Aug. 23 Tata Motors launched the new generation of its flagship passenger car Indica on Saturday. The new model called ‘Indica Vista’— 3.8 m long and 1.7 m wide — is larger than the existing Indica and has more ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am Markets lose steam as inflation takes centre stage - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 23 Aug 2008 | 11:35 pm Vendors to follow Tata's trailVendors are ready to pull out of Singur and follow Tata Motors, said some of them, a day after Ratan Tata threatened to do so.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Aug 2008 | 11:06 pm Deshmukh entices Tata with Mamata-free infraMaharashtra today tried to lure Tata Motors project to make Nano, even as West Bengal, its current host, fought to retain it with an alternative plan that may secure 300 acresSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Aug 2008 | 11:04 pm All-new Indica Vista launched - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 23 Aug 2008 | 9:08 pm Indian art gets its first public airing - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 23 Aug 2008 | 6:46 pm Wall St Week Ahead: U.S. stocks brace for another whipsaw weekNEW YORK (Reuters) - What should be a holiday lull of a week looks set to be anything but, with Wall Street on high alert for the latest twists and turns in the credit crisis, more volatility in commodity prices and key developments in the race for the White House.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Aug 2008 | 6:28 pm
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