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TMC wants maximum land inside Tata Motors\' projectAs the Singur stalemate continues, the Joint Committee met for the first time today to resolve the crisis. However, there was no real outcome. Rabindranath Bhatarcharjee, Chairman of this meeting said that the talks have been positive. The TMC, or the Trinamool Congress has demanded maximum land inside the Tata Motors project.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:05 pm Sterlite restructuring: Key takeawaysThe Vedanta group has announced a complete restructuring of its businesses. Sterlite\'s energy and aluminium business will be shifted to MALCO. Sterlite shareholders will get seven MALCO shares for every four held in Sterlite.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 4:53 pm Dolphin Offshore bags 2 orders from ONGC worth Rs 300 crSatpal Singh, Joint MD, Dolphin Offshore said the total order book as of date is Rs 482 crore and represents a very substantial portion of the order book. \"One contract which is for about Rs 132 crore is to be finished by the beginning of June next year and the second by end December next year,\"he said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 4:30 pm Paswan for addl 5% duty on iron ore exportsThe Minister of Steel has recommended an additional 5% duty on iron ore exports, adding that the steel prices should come down.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 3:43 pm Sai Service plans to delist, floor price set at Rs 189/shSai Service Station has made an offer to delist at a floor price of Rs 189.54 per share. The delisting price is to be decided by the reverse book building process.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 2:00 pm Punj Lloyd arm bags Rs 167 cr order from Singapore co!Engineering, procurement and construction firm Punj Lloyd on Tuesday said it has bagged a contract worth 54 million Singapore dollars (about Rs 167 crore) from a Singapore-based joint venture firm.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm Oil prices ease ahead of OPEC meet!World oil prices slipped in Asian trade on Tuesday ahead of a key OPEC meeting in Vienna amid mixed production signals from the cartel`s members, dealers said.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm Rupee at near two-year low!Rupee fell to near two-year lows on Tuesday, tracking weaker regional currencies while lower shares triggered concern about further foreign fund outflows.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm Oil market `fairly well balanced`: Saudi Arabia!The oil market is fairly well balanced, said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi, as he arrived in Vienna Tuesday for the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm Sensex down 164 points in early trade!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 164 points in early trade on Tuesday on funds selling and profit-taking by retail investors at higher levels in capital goods, oil and gas and metal sectors stocks.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm `Canada to focus on free trade pact with India`!Calling his country`s backing for India in getting the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) last week a "turning point" in bilateral ties, Canadian Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Deepak Obhrai has said his country will now focus on a free trade agreement with New Delhi.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm `RBI may soften policy stance in the mid-term review`!With hawkish monetary policy to contain double-digit inflation beginning to bear fruit, the new RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao may signal softening of stance in the mid-term review of annual monetary policy next month, bankers said on Tuesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm Economic slowdown: Job portals may lose business!If India did not overcome the present economic slowdown soon, some of the country`s job portal players may have to look for other business options as the industry would be hit badly.Source: Zee News : Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:52 pm Guide to Vedanta restructuring processVedanta Resources will demerge alumina, energy business of Sterlite Industries. Restructuring will happen in four stages. If you look at the restructuring, the aluminium and energy assets of Sterlite Industries will be merged into MALCO (Madras Aluminium Company). MALCO will be renamed as Sterlite Aluminium Limited.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 1:44 pm Tech Mah bags 5 yr deal of $250 m with existing US clientTech Mahindra has bagged a five year deal of USD 250 million from its existing US client, reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. The IT major has also signed System Integration deal with a broadband player in Kuwait, sources added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:58 pm Restructuring to unlock value for all shareholders: VedantaAnil Agarwal ,Chairman, Vedanta Resources said that the company will create three commodity focus groups. He also said that the company will demerge alumina, energy business of Sterlite Industries. The company has announced USD 9.8 billion aluminium capex programme and aims to raise aluminium smelting capacity by 2.6 mt per annum by 2012.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:10 pm GLOBAL MARKETS - Stocks keep momentum alive in Europe; yen firmsLONDON (Reuters) - Europe halted a slide in stocks and Wall Street was set for a firmer start on Tuesday, keeping alive some momentum from the bailout of U.S. mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:02 pm Rupee drops to near 2-yr lows, RBI seenMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee dropped to fresh near two-year lows on Tuesday, weighed down by the dollar's broad strength against a basket of currencies, but central bank intervention checked a sharper decline.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 pm RBI chief: too early to take inflation callMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's inflation rate is showing some signs of moderation but it is too early to conclude whether it represents a "discernable trend", the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:49 am Ultra Motor cuts prices of e-scootersUltra Motor has planned to invest Rs 150 crore in India over the next three years to expand operations and launch new products, including five new e-scooters.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:46 am RBI chief: too early to take inflation call - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:41 am HIGHLIGHTS - Comments from new RBI chiefSept 9 (Reuters) - Following are comments from new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao at his first news conference on Tuesday after taking over from Y.V. Reddy on Sept. 5.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:37 am Southern planters seek exemption from minimum wagesCoonoor: United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) appealed to the Centre to exercise its power over revision of minimum wages by states, demanding removal of plantations from the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act (MWA). “Though the Centre has the power under Central Plantations Act to regulate working conditions including wages of plantation sector, this power was now exercised by the State Governments as appropriate governments, under the MWA,” said UPASI President D P Maheshwari. In his address to the 115th Annual Conference of the Association, he said that it was a matter of grave concern to the industry that State governments have closed their eyes to the vast changes that have taken place in the plantation labour scene in the past 60 years. “Tamil Nadu, by a notification, has revised the minimum wages to meet the demand of the local MLA for a wage of Rs100 plus, instead of following the logical and time-tested practice of subjecting the dispute to statutory conciliation,” Maheshwari alleged. “The Centre should exercise a degree of control and achieve a modicum of uniformity of approach over the revision of minimum wages by the States by giving directions as provided for it in the Act,” Maheswari said. “The Centre should advise the State governments concerned to take into account the special characteristics of plantations, their agricultural orientation and status as a nationally important export industry in the matter of fixing minimum wages,” he said. Maheswari further requested the Centre to convene a meeting of the Governments of the plantation states to discuss the issue and evolve a consensus. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:36 am Leo Burnett wins Tata Capital’s creative accountThe latest update, by Spatial Access Media Solutions, on advertising account movements for the period between 26th of Aug 2008 to 8th of Sept 2008 is out. Lord Ganesha brings in prosperity this fortnight. Soon after announcing its creative agency, Sun Direct appointed Mindshare as media AOR for its Rs120 crore business. Leo Burnett & Lintas Media Group (LMG) won Tata Capital’s Rs40 crore creative & media account respectively. Some more media wins for LMG included Jindal Stainless Group’s Rs25 crore account and Asian Health & Nutri Foods’ Rs8-10 crore business, however lost out on Greenply Industries to Alliance Advertising, adding Rs15 crore to the agency’s kitty. Among major creative moves, SAB decided to part ways with Leo Burnett to award its Rs12-15 crore account to Interpublic Group’s Pickle Advertising. Pickle also picked up Kalpataru Group’s Rs8-10 crore account which moved from The Republic. PerceptH won Integrated Group’s Rs10 crore creative account. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:35 am Mkts end lower; metal, banks, realty, pharma stks down - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:32 am NPC to add 2600 MW power by 2010 - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:26 am Telcos lift Sensex off lows; ends 0.3 pct downNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex pared sharp early losses and ended down 0.3 percent on Tuesday, helped by lower oil prices and positive European markets, but investors were wary about the outlook on global growth concerns.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:22 am My ambition is to have airports in almost all districts in 2 yearsBangalore: The first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka completes 100 days in office on Tuesday. The BJP, which rode on a surge of expectations following dysfunctional coalition experiments of the past four years, is battling infrastructure woes, power outages and poor connectivity. Karnataka’s 28 Lok Sabha seats would be crucial for the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance it heads, if they hope to come back to power in New Delhi. National elections are due by May 2009. The initial 100 days has seen a mixed report card. The BJP succeeded in engineering defections from the rival Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), winning elections in May by a wafer-thin margin to form the party’s first government in southern India.  Lofty ambitions: Chief minister Yeddyurappa claims in five years, Karnataka will exceed its target of power generation. Hemant Mishra / Mint Power generation has not kept pace with growing demand. Karnataka generates only about 40% of its total peak power demand of 9,300MW, and a delay in rains in June saw blackouts that forced the government to look for suppliers and even buy expensive power from Chhattisgarh. In Bangalore, which accounts for nearly 60% of Karnataka’s gross state domestic product, a delay in conducting elections to the city corporation is holding up the bulk of a Central grant of Rs12,000 crore to improve infrastructure. Back from the US, where he spent the past week meeting prospective investors at an annual conferenceof US-based Kannadiga associations, chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa spoke to Mint on how he plans to tackle these issues. Edited excerpts: After 100 days in office, how would you rate yourself? Whatever promises I have made to the people of Karnataka at the time of elections have been fulfilled, and we have issued government orders (to implement them). I’m satisfied with my performance. Before elections, you had acknowledged that investments coming into Karnataka, especially Bangalore, had been affected because of political instability. Have you been able to change that? We have already formed a task force for (adding infrastructure in) Bangalore. We are trying our best to improve. It will take one, or two years to see the change. Will there be a change in Bangalore? Yes, definitely. Not only Bangalore, but other cities such as Mysore, Mangalore and Gulbarga as well. We have invested about Rs100 crore (in each of these city municipal corporations). My ambition is to have airports and airstrips in almost all district headquarters in 24 months. Will this help attract investments? For industries, time is money. So we’ll give railway facility and air connectivity. They will readily come and invest. Everybody need not come to Bangalore only. You are about to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chhattisgarh government for power generation (Karnataka, on Monday, inked an MoU with Chattisgarh to build a 1,200MW thermal plant in that state at a cost of about Rs6,000 crore). How do you plan to scale up beyond that? This is the first time we have taken such an initiative. Our aim is to increase power generation from 5,000MW to 10,000MW. We are in touch with many others (investors). When I was in America, so many persons were ready to come and invest here. Before five years (are up), we will be able to exceed our target of power generation. What kind of investments are they proposing? We discussed many things. Power projects, housing, airports and steel plants. You have been reported saying that you could not take up new programmes because the state treasury was empty. That is not correct. My statement was that we do not have money for (new) programmes, other than what we announced in the budget. Is the BJP insecure and is that why you have invited MLAs from other parties to join the government? Before I took oath (of office on 30 May), we had the support of six independent MLAs. The opposition parties tried to destabilize our government, but a few MLAs from JD(S) and Congress joined our party after resigning from their membership in the legislative assembly. This is a great thing, and we have nothing to worry about morally, legally and constitutionally. We are going to complete (our term of) five years. There is a perception that this could be dangerous for the BJP in the by-elections, especially because some (from other parties) have been made ministers, while party loyalists have been ignored. Let us wait. They have confidence that they will win again. When will there be elections to the Greater Bangalore City Corporation? They will be held as early as possible. It’s left to the state election commission to decide the dates. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:19 am Restructuring to unlock value for all shareholders: Vedanta - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:13 am Bengal U-turn: Govt says Tata won't lose Nano land - IBNLive.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:11 am Yes Bank raises Rs200 crore with bondsMumbai: Yes Bank on 8 September announced that it has successfully raised Rs200 crore of Upper Tier-II subordinated debt through private placement issue of unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible, subordinated 15-year bonds. The issue was fully subscribed. Earlier, the bank had raised Rs364 crore in a combination of Upper Tier II Subordinated Debt and Hybrid Tier I Capital from Rabobank, a AAA-rated global ank. The Upper Tier II private placement issuance of Rs343 crore was for a tenure of 15 years while the Bank also raised Hybrid Tier I Capital (Perpetual Capital) of Rs21 crore. With these two placements, Yes Bank has raised over Rs564 crores and has capital adequacy ratio in excess of 15% at present. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:07 am Corporation Bank launches prepaid travel cardBangalore: Mangalore-based Corporation Bank has launched a prepaid travel card in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Visa. Corporation Bank is the second public sector bank in the country after the State Bank of India (SBI) to launch such a card. SBI and Visa International had launched a prepaid travel card in 2004. The card from Corporation Bank is currently available for US dollars and would enable a customer to make purchases, withdraw cash in local currency (currently US dollars) at ATMs while traveling abroad. “The card helps travelers avoid the risk of carrying foreign currency, credit or debit cards and traveler cheques,” said B.R. Bhat, general manager, Corporation Bank. Last year, nearly 8 million Indians traveled abroad. The bank expects to sell 25,000 such cards over the next one year. It will soon launch such cards for currencies in euros and pounds and later for yuan also. Corporation Bank did not divulge the revenue sharing model amongst the three partners. Bhat says that the advantage of using the travel cards is that there is no transaction cost involved, unlike credit cards. The minimum loading amount for these cards is $200 and maximum $9,000 at any single instance. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 11:03 am RBI: will be monitoring inflation, growthMUMBAI (Reuters) - Inflation expectations must be contained for sustained growth and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will monitor the situation closely and take appropriate action, the new RBI governor, D. Subbarao, said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:57 am US elections: Are outsourcing jobs to India under threat?At the recent democratic convention in Denver, the keynote speech by former Virginia Governor Mark Warner singled India out as the destination of jobs outsourced from America. But Labor Union and Democratic supporters insist the talk against outsourcing is mainly targeted at manufacturing, not the kind of hitech jobs currently going to India.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:55 am Fox teams with STAR to launch Asia-wide studioTwentieth Century Fox and Star, the satellite broadcaster, have joined forces to launch Fox Star Studios, a new business which will span movie production, marketing and distribution. The News Corp. owned units said the 50:50 joint venture will deliver slates of local language films in Asia, kicking off in India before expanding its presence into South-East Asia and establishing a foothold in Greater China. Paul Aiello, chief executive of Star, said the formation of the new venture was an expression of the company’s confidence in the market and the region. ”The formation of Fox Star studios marks a new milestone for STAR’s expansion into the business of filmed entertainment beyond television broadcasting and underscores our growing confidence in the market,” he said. Although the company did not reveal its production targets, industry sources speculated that the venture would release three films before the year-end, with ten films targeted in 2009. Vijay Singh, currently head of strategy and corporate development at Star India, will head up the new venture in India. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:46 am Nagarjuna Cons led consortium bags Rs 1K cr orderNagarjuna Constructionled consortium has bagged an order of Rs 1,000 crore. The consortium will develop Andhra Pradesh International Centre.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:38 am Nissan, Leyland look to beef up management team for LCV JV - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:37 am Times ready with business channel teamNew Delhi: The upcoming business news channel from Times Global Broadcasting Co. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, which is targeting a fourth quarter launch has put in place its senior editorial team. The company is also in talks with potential content partners, but is unlikely to bring on board a strategic investor, said chief executive Chintamani Rao. The company bought back a 25.82% stake held by Reuters Singapore Pte Ltd early this year. Bloomberg’s Asia columnist Andy Mukherjee and former Business Today managing editor R Sridharan are joining the channel as senior editors. Sidharth Dubey from Reuters TV has been hired as lead anchor and senior editor. All of them will report to Economic Times executive editor Rahul Joshi, who is also heading the TV project. Former NDTV Profit senior editor Abheek Barman is also part of the team as consulting editor. Mukherjee will be responsible for the programming during the 9 am - 4 pm markets band, Sridharan will handle the evening to late night programming another executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. “We have a strong integration plan with The Economic Times,” the executive said, adding that about 100 journalists from the business newspaper has already been given basic television training. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:32 am Idea offer for 20% of Spice to open from Sept 17 - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:21 am ICICI Bank, TVS Motor bag Symantec awardsIndia's largest private bank ICICI Bank, and leading two-wheeler maker TVS Motor Co, are the two Indian firms selected for the 2008 Symantec visionary awards.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:19 am NCDEX to launch coal futures on Sept 10 - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:17 am Rupee hits 21-month lowThe Indian rupee fell to 44.8 to one US dollar on Tuesday, its lowest since Dec 12, 2006.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:17 am Sensex ends down 44 pointsLivemint.com Mumbai: The markets ended flat after trading weak for most part of the day with the BSE benchmark index settling at 14,901 levels, down a modest 44 points or 0.3%. The Sensex had slipped to 14,714 levels in intra-day deals. Similarly, the wider-based Nifty shed 14 points to close at 4,469 levels. Sterlite Industries shed 7.5% or Rs47 by close after its parent company Vedanta Resources announced a restructuring plan. Under the scheme, Sterlite will demerge its aluminium and energy businesses to Madras Aluminium which will be later renamed Sterlite Aluminum. Gujarat NRE Coke, Hindustan Zinc, Jindal Steel, Welspun Gujarat, Tata Steel, Jai Corporation, NALCO and Ispat Industries were some of the other losers in the metal pack. Most banking counters ended the weak with IndusInd Bank and Punjab National Bank skidding over 3% each. Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Canara Bank also closed in negative turf. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:17 am Tea planters rejoice as the prices riseCoonor: “Indian tea growers are savouring a 30% jump in the prices of their produce for the first time in several years, thanks to rising exports and a production shortfall in Kenya, the world’s largest exporter,” industry officials said. “Things are now looking rosy at the moment as exports are good and consumption in the domestic market is also rising,” said Basudev Banerjee, chairman, Tea Board. India’s tea exports in the first seven months of 2008 rose 19% to 105.6 million kg. While most of the North Indian tea is consumed at home, nearly 40% of the tea grown in the South India is normally exported. In Jan-July, North India produced 335.7 million kg and exported 53.6 million kg, while in South India output was 141 million kg, of which 52 million kg was shipped overseas. “It’s definitely a better situation for us ? now we can think of improving our tea estates,” said T. Rangaiah, president, Nilgiri Small Tea Growers’ Association. In India, the world’s second largest tea producer after China, area under tea is estimated at about 521,500 hectares. About 130,000 growers and 1.26 million workers are associated with the industry in the country. “This firm prices would help us to recoup our previous years’ losses,” said N. Dharmaraj, vice president, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, south India’s largest tea planter. Tea prices moved up to Rs85 per kg at the end of July from Rs65 in January, according to the Tea Board. Prices in the last seven years hovered around Rs60 per kg. “A tea grower cannot turn to crop rotation when the prices are weak nor he can increase the output in a short time to take advantage of higher ruling prices,” Dharmaraj said. Tea is a perennial crop. Newly planted tea bushes require at least 4-5 years to start yielding green leaves and the tea bush has a life of more than 100 years. Costs Still Weigh Despite a spike in prices, margins are under pressure, thanks to a steady rise in costs. “The price rise is not in proportion to the rise in production costs,” said G. Herbert of Kolukkumalai Tea Estate in Tamil Nadu. “In the last 5-6 years wages have increased significantly. Other input costs like fertiliser, transportation and raw material costs have also jumped sharply,” he added. “Labour cost in the last five years has moved upto Rs103 from Rs60 earlier, while prices of packing sacks doubled to Rs30. Fuel price hike has also been a concern,” they said. “Prices may decrease after 2-3 yrs but rising costs are not going to come down,” said DP Maheswari, chief executive of Jaishree Tea. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:07 am India most optimistic about hiring amid global slowdownIndian companies are most bullish about their hiring plans, when compared to any other country, but might turn more cautious over the next three months amid global slowdown.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:06 am Satyam sees strong demand in emerging mktsBANGALORE (Reuters) - Satyam Computer Services sees strong demand for outsourcing in emerging markets like Australia and the Middle East even as deals in the United States shrink due to economic turmoil, an official said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 10:00 am Go on the Ramayana trail this DussehraTour operators are increasingly cashing in on mythical tales to lure more pilgrims and the curious to religious trails.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:47 am Oil falls to new 5-month lows, awaits OPECLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to a new five-month low on Tuesday, pressured by a rise in the U.S. dollar and expectations that OPEC will not cut output when it meets later in the day.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:45 am Serbia approves energy pact with RussiaBekgrade: Serbia’s parliament ratified an energy pact with Russia on Tuesday that gives Russia’s Gazprom control over its oil monopoly in return for Serbia’s inclusion in the South Stream gas pipeline project. In the 250-seat parliament, 214 deputies voted for the pact signed in January last year, while 22 were against it. The deal for the partial sale of NIS was controversial in Serbia. It was seen by analysts as politically motivated as a payback for Russia’s support of Serbia over the issue of Kosovo, the former province that seceded in February with Western backing. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:39 am Govt begins 3G auction process - Newstrack India
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:36 am BHEL bags Rs 2,200 cr order in TripuraState-run Bharat Heavy Electricals has outbid French equipment maker Alstom by winning a Rs 2,200 crore turnkey contract for setting up a Combined Cycle Power Plant in Tripura.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:35 am Idea offer for 20% stake in Spice to open from 17 SeptMumbai: Aditya Birla Group firm Idea Cellular said that its open offer for acquiring 20% equity shares in the BK Modi led firm Spice Communications will now be open from September 17. Spice Communications informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that the schedule of the opening and closing of the open offer has been revised to 17 September and 6 October from earlier 22 August and 11 September, respectively. On 30 June, Idea Cellular had announced the open offer for acquiring about 13.79 crore shares in Spice Communications at a price of Rs77.30 per share. However, on 14 August, the offer was deferred to a later date following a delay in approval for the same from the market regulator SEBI. Shares of Spice Communications were trading at Rs76, up 0.80% in the afternoon trade, while shares of Idea Cellular were trading at Rs85.20, up 2.84% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:35 am Indian sugar futures up on short-covering, spot - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:28 am Himachal allots land for new generation technology parkThe Himachal Pradesh government has allotted a plot in Solan district for developing the country's first integrated nanotechnology and biomedicine technology park, an official statement said Tuesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:01 am Singur's young farmers want land back, unhappy being workersAnirban Bose, 20, of Gopalnagar is a school dropout. He switched to agriculture in his teens, helping his father cultivate 11 acres of land that is now part of the Tata Motors' Nano small car project in Singur.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Sep 2008 | 9:00 am Vedanta to up aluminium smelting capacityNew Delhi: Vedanta Resources Plc has announced a $9.8 billion investment programme to increase its fully integrated aluminium smelting capacity to 2.6mtpa by 2012. Upon completion, Vedanta is expected to be Asia’s largest and among the top 5 integrated producers of aluminium worldwide. The next phase of brownfield growth projects consists of 1,250 kilo-tonne (kt) aluminium smelter project together with an associated captive thermal power plant in Orissa, as well as a 325kt aluminium smelter project in Chattisgarh. Correspondingly, Vedanta will also increase its alumina capacity at Lanjigarh from 1.4mtpa to 5mtpa. This increase will be achieved by de-bottlenecking the capacity of the existing 1.4mtpa alumina refinery by an additional 0.6mtpa by March 2010 and building three new production streams of 1mtpa each. The first stream of 1mtpa is scheduled for commissioning by mid-2010 and all three streams are expected to be completed by mid-2011. Restructuring plans The group also announced plans of restructuring to simplify its corporate structure into three commodity focused groups — Copper and Zinc-Lead, Aluminium and Energy and Iron Ore. Under the Scheme which will be effective from 1 April 2009, Sterlite will demerge its aluminium and energy businesses to MALCO (to be simultaneously renamed Sterlite Aluminium Ltd) and Vedanta will transfer its 79.4% equity interest in Konkola Copper Mines Plc. to Sterlite. “We believe that the resulting structure will bring material improvements to our organization and will improve focus and transparency across our businesses,” said Anil Agarwal, chairman, Vedanta. The Scheme will also eliminate cross holdings between businesses arising out of MALCO’s holding in Sterlite. The corporate restructuring is expected to be completed by March 2009. “The restructuring plan is a positive for the shareholders of the group entities as it will not only lead to the emergence of three focused commodity businesses, but will also help in according better valuations to these companies with lesser cross-holdings and overlapping businesses,” noted Hitesh Agrawal, Head of Research, Angel Broking. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 8:51 am BHEL gets $490 mn power plant orderMumbai: Indian state-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd said on Tuesday it had received an order worth $490 million. The contract is for setting up a power plant with a combined output of 726.6 MW in Tripura in north-eastern India for ONGC Tripura Power Co, a venture of Oil anad Natural Gas Corp, it said in a statement. The first part of the contract will be completed in 42 months, with the second part scheduled to be completed in 45 months, it said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 7:29 am Vedanta Resources restructures into 3 unitsLONDON (Reuters) - Indian-focused miner Vedanta Resources Plc plans a reorganisation to eliminate cross holdings and streamline the corporate structure, it said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 7:24 am NCDEX to launch futures trading in thermal coalPTI New Delhi: Leading agri-commodity bourse National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) will launch futures trading in thermal coal on 10 September. “The first set of contracts in thermal coal would be launched on September 10,” NCDEX said in a statement. The exchange said that it would initially launch October, November and December contracts and subsequent contracts would be launched next year. “Trading and delivery units are fixed at 100 tonnes each,” it said, adding that the main delivery centre would be Nagpur, Maharastra. The daily price fluctuation limit is set at 6%. Highlighting delivery specification, NCDEX said: “The seller would be required to give their intention at least five trading days prior to the expiry of the contracts.” “If the buyer with outstanding positions at maturity or a seller, who has agreed to deliver, fails to meet the obligation, he would have to pay penalty structured by the regulator,” it added. NCDEX registered a business of Rs30,057 crore during the first fortnight of August. Mustard seed trading surpassed soyabean with a turnover of Rs6,919 crore. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 7:23 am CBI to create data bank of fake currency notesNew Delhi: Aiming to check the menace of forged Indian currency notes, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is creating a national data bank of such currencies. The moves comes after the recent seizure of fake Indian currency notes having a face value of around Rs8 crore. “We are developing a national data bank of fake currency notes so that it helps in source identification. It will help us trace the origin of the fake notes and the areas in which it has been circulated. The idea is to discourage further printing of fake currencies,” a senior CBI official said. The proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval, sources said. In recent years, mostly Rs500 denomination notes have been forged. “Forged notes are aimed to introduce terrorrism in the country and subvert the economy,” he said. In the past, it was easy to detect fake currencies as they were printed by people with limited expertise, using crude facilities. But with the forgers attaining a high level of sophistication, it is increasingly difficult to detect such notes. The forgery is done so well that it is hard to tell which is the real currency. “To an unsuspecting person, the fake currency appears as good as the genuine note,” said another official. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 7:09 am Google plans to digitalize old newspapersSan Francisco: Google announced on Monday it is working with a growing number of newspapers to “bring history online” by digitizing archives of articles ranging from lunar landings to local obituaries. “Around the globe, we estimate that there are billions of news pages containing every story ever written,” Google product manager Punit Soni wrote in a blog posting at the Internet giant’s website. “And it’s our goal to help readers find all of them, from the smallest local weekly paper up to the largest national daily.” Google is expanding a project started in 2006, when it began converting to digital format stories from newspapers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times. The California firm boasts that partners include the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph, which has been publishing for more than 244 years and is considered the oldest newspaper in North America. People can find old articles by searching Google’s online News Archives. As the index grows, articles will be woven into results of general searches using Google.com, according to Soni. “Not only will you be able to search these newspapers, you’ll also be able to browse through them exactly as they were printed - photographs, headlines, articles, advertisements and all,” Soni wrote. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 6:40 am Tata Consultancy sees project delaysSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top software services exporter, said it had seen some delays from clients, but no project cancellations despite a weakening macro-economic backdrop.Source: Reuters: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 6:12 am RBI likely to end its monetary policy stanceMumbai: With monetary policy to contain double-digit inflation beginning to bear fruit, the new RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao may signal softening of stance in the mid-term review of annual monetary policy next month, bankers said on Tuesday. “The RBI is likely to end its hawkish policy stance when it meets for the mid-term review. A set of facts like falling global crude oil prices are likely to take inflation to 7-8% by April,” State-run Jammu & Kashmir Bank Managing Director and CEO Haseeb A Drabu said. Bankers also said that the Governor is likely to take more proactive steps to push the banking sector reforms further. Even if RBI did not lower rates, it would certainly not tighten the monetary policy further in the near future. But the apex bank has a task in hand to bring down inflation to the targeted 7% by March next year, the head of a public-sector bank said. “We can expect the continuity in the Central Bank’s actions as the policy tools available with the RBI Governor remains the same. However, given the good signals such as slowing inflation and improving fiscal discipline, the apex bank is likely to maintain status-quo in the October review,” the official said. Many bankers expected more steps from the RBI to further liberalise the banking sector in the country in the ensuing months, especially with regard to norms related to the investment exposure of foreign lenders in domestic banks. India’s headline inflation shot up to around 13% in the recent past, primarily because of the ‘price shocks’ in international crude oil market, record-high commodity prices and a not-so-good monsoon in the Indian sub-continent. In a bid to check inflation, the reserve bank hiked its Cash Reserve Ratio, the amount banks are required to park with the central bank, by 1.5% since April. The RBI also increased its short-term Repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, by 1.25% during the period. Meanwhile, financial services major such as Barclays Wealth and StanChart have given a different view, saying that the Reserve Bank may hike its key-rates by up to another 0.5% to check inflation. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:46 am Indian bond yields edge lowerPTI Mumbai: Indian federal bond yields eased on Tuesday as lower oil prices helped calm inflation concerns, but heavy debt supplies this week would limit a further drop in yields. At 10:25 a.m, the 10-year benchmark bond yield was at 8.45%, off a low of 8.43% and five basis points lower than Monday’s close of 8.50%. “Yields are lower mainly tracking lower crude prices, but the rally is getting overdone. Yields should stabilise around 8.43% levels,” said Prasanna Patankar, senior vice president at STCI Primary Dealers. “The yeilds are likely stay in a range of 8.43% to 8.5% through the session,” he added. Oil prices fell toward five-month lows on Tuesday, resuming a near two-week slide as a resurgent US dollar drove investors away from commodities and Opec appeared set to sit tight on production policy. Crude was trading just above $105 a barrel, extending a slide from a record high above $147 in mid-July. India imports about 70% of its oil and high prices had pushed inflation into double digits. Dealers said cash conditions had improved but sentiment was cautious ahead of fresh debt supplies this week. Overnight call rates, a barometer for cash supplies in the inter-bank money market, were at 8.40/50%, lower than above 9% in recent weeks. The central bank is selling Rs90 billion ($2 billion) of treasury bills on Wednesday and another Rs80 billion ($1.8 billion) worth of bonds on Friday. Banks and companies will also start making payments toward quarterly advance taxes during the next week, which is likely to pressure cash supplies in the system. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:34 am No plans to buy Dell factories, says Lenovo CEOReuters Singapore: Lenovo Group, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, said on Tuesday that it has no plans to buy computer factories from rival Dell Inc, its Chief Executive William Amelio said on Tuesday. “Lenovo has enough capacity,” Amelio told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore. Dell is trying to sell factories around the world to cut costs and improve profitability, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Amelio also warned that the weakness in the global economy could affect tech spending by companies. “The only thing I would caution is that we are coming into a budget cycle now,” he said, adding this could mean companies would be reassessing their operating expenses. Lenovo posted a 65% rise in first quarter earnings that ended June, the slowest growth in a year, as it copes with a US slowdown and weaker Chinese demand after a devastating earthquake. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:24 am No plans to buy Dell factories, says Lenovo CEOReuters Singapore: Lenovo Group, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, said on Tuesday that it has no plans to buy computer factories from rival Dell Inc, its Chief Executive William Amelio said on Tuesday. “Lenovo has enough capacity,” Amelio told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore. Dell is trying to sell factories around the world to cut costs and improve profitability, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. Amelio also warned that the weakness in the global economy could affect tech spending by companies. “The only thing I would caution is that we are coming into a budget cycle now,” he said, adding this could mean companies would be reassessing their operating expenses. Lenovo posted a 65% rise in first quarter earnings that ended June, the slowest growth in a year, as it copes with a US slowdown and weaker Chinese demand after a devastating earthquake. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:24 am HCL Tech counters Infosys’ Axon bidMumbai: Indian outsourcer HCL Technologies plans to bid for British consultancy Axon, offering 15% more than bigger rival Infosys Technologies’ bid, the Economic Times daily reported on Tuesday. HCL plans to offer around 690 pence a share for Axon in the next two weeks, bettering Infosys $753 million or 600 pence a share offer late last month, the newspaper said citing unidentified people involved in the discussions. “We have a policy of not commenting on speculation and, hence, I will not be able to answer,” the paper quoted a HCL official as saying. Infosys had earlier said it was better positioned than others to acquire Axon because it had management backing. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:18 am Google, NBC Universal ink ad dealSan Francisco: Internet search leader Google Inc and NBC Universal said on Monday they are teaming up to allow Google to sell advertisements on some of NBC’s cable channels such as MSNBC, Oxygen and the Sci Fi network. The partnership signals Mountain View, California-based Google’s desire to sell ads in different places besides next to its search engine, and NBC’s efforts to get access to advertisers who currently advertise online through Google but don’t place any ads on TV. It also illustrates the desire of both companies to capture more data on which TV ads are most popular among viewers, and how to find those people, an ability made possible because of Google’s partnership with Englewood, Colorado-based Dish Network Corp, the second-largest satellite TV service in the US. Through that partnership, Google can measure down to the second what viewers are watching by monitoring data flowing through the DISH Network’s set-top boxes. That gives advertisers a valuable insight into which ads are working, and which ones are flops, and allows them to better target their ad campaigns. NBC said Google will be allowed to advertise in some of the slots on the CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, Sci Fi and Sleuth and Chiller channels “in the coming months,” with a potential to expand to other channels in the future. The companies said they will share all ad revenues from the partnership and are looking at ways to allow Google to sell ads locally, not just at the national level. NBC Universal is a unit of General Electric Co. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:10 am Equity markets start in the redIndian equity markets, which opened lower Tuesday, stayed in the red in early trade. Oil and gas, PSU, realty, power and metal stocks were under selling pressure.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:01 am Latest craze in Uttar Pradesh: fake currency detectorsWith fake currency notes tumbling out of various places in Uttar Pradesh at regular intervals, no one is willing to take a chance. From the mall owner to the common man, everyone is now depending on currency detector equipment to tell the real from the fake.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Sep 2008 | 5:00 am Nuclear deal faces final hurdle in US CongressWashington: The United States faces a final hurdle in the implemention of a landmark civilian nuclear pact with India - convincing lawmakers that the deal has adequate safeguards as prescribed by US law. President George W Bush’s administration said on Monday it was “hopeful” the US Congress would endorse the agreement, which would lift a ban on nuclear trade with India after three decades, before his term ends in January. But lawmakers who began a short final session Monday ahead of a presidential vote on November 4 have sought greater transparency on the deal, especially details of its approval by the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) last week. The greenlight from the NSG, a regulator of sale of nuclear fuel and technology, came after countries such as China, New Zealand, Austria and Ireland expressed reservation about opening up nuclear commerce with India, which is not a member of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “Before we vote, Congress needs to study the NSG decision, along with any agreements that were made behind the scenes to bring it about,” said Howard Berman, chairman of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee. Berman, who plays an influential role in rallying House support for the deal, has demanded that any final agreement must be consistent with a special law - the Hyde Act - passed overwhelmingly in 2006 laying the foundation for the nuclear deal. A key condition under the law is immediate termination of all nuclear commerce by NSG member states if India detonates a nuclear explosive device. “If the administration wants to seek special procedures to speed congressional consideration, it will have to show how the NSG decision is consistent with the Hyde Act ..., including which technologies can be sent to India and what impact a nuclear test by India would have,” he said. The White House said it would work with the Congress to get the deal approved. Weapons experts said the NSG did not provide clear restrictions over India’s involvement in nuclear trade or about terminating such commerce if India conducted a test explosion. Sharon Squassoni, a nuclear expert who once advised the US Congress, said India had not key provisions of the Hyde Act, including filing a declaration with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, of the civilian nuclear facilities New Delhi would place under safeguards. It has also not made “substantial progress” on negotiating an additional protocol with the agency for strengthened safeguard measures, she said. The Bush admimistration also may not have sufficient time to get the deal through Congress, she added. US law requires that the Congress be in 30 days of continuous session to consider the deal. Given the targeted date of adjournment of September 26, this would leave only 15 days of continuous session. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 4:51 am Rupee at near 2-year low as stocks dropMumbai: The Indian rupee fell to near two-year lows on Tuesday, tracking weaker regional currencies while lower shares triggered concern about further foreign fund outflows. At 10:12 am the partially convertible rupee was at Rs44.885/895 per dollar, its lowest since December 12, 2006 and 0.6% weaker than its previous close of Rs44.60/61 on Monday. A senior dealer with a state-run bank said foreign banks were selling dollars at around Rs44.90, but the rupee could slip towards Rs44.95-45.0 if local shares fell sharply. The US dollar edged up to a one-year peak against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, riding a boost in confidence in the US financial sector after the government seized control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. India’s main share index dropped more than 1%in early trade, tracking weaker Asian markets that fell on uncertainty over the health of the global economy. Foreign funds have been net sellers of $7.6 billion worth of Indian shares so far in 2008, a key factor in the rupee’s 12.2% fall against the dollar. It rose more than 12% in 2007, when foreign funds bought a record $17.4 billion. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at Rs45.08/18, weaker than the onshore spot rate. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 9 Sep 2008 | 4:50 am Tussle over Tata Nano project continuesThe prospect of Tata Motors launching the world's cheapest car Nano from their upcoming factory at Singur in West Bengal came under a cloud again Monday as the company was 'distressed' over the deal with protesters and the government issuing a statement seemingly going against the much-touted pact with the opposition.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:30 am Tata also readying 684cc diesel NanoTata Motors is believed to be working on a two-cylinder 684cc diesel version of the Nano, which is scheduled to debut during the last quarter of 2009-10.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:06 am India’s hi-tech lagAs India’s government gloats over its US-brokered entry into the world’s nuclear club, it may be sobering to examine the implications of some information collated in the recently released biennial Science and Engineering Indicators ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Ashok Leyland-Nissan LCV project at ‘zero cost’Leyland’s two ventures come under TN’s concession scheme. Chennai, Sept. 8 The VAT refund for 21 years for two different projects of Ashok Leyland practically means that the entire $500 million (Rs 2,200 crore) investments in the ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Banks hiking merchants’ fees on card swipesPRICING REVIEW. Mumbai, Sept. 8 Faced with shrinking interest incomes, banks are looking at all possible ways to increase their fee income. One way, they have decided, is to increase the merchant fees on their point of sales (POS) machines. ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am EPFO defers transfer of funds to new managersSpecial meeting of trustees convened on Sept 18. New Delhi, Sept. 8 The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) that had appointed three new private sector fund managers last month has postponed transfer of funds to the newly appointed ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am India-China trade scales new heights in first halfNew Delhi, Sept. 8 Sino-Indian bilateral trade continues to grow by leaps and bounds, with the trade value in the first half of calendar year 2008 hitting the $ 29-billion mark, recording a 69 per cent jump over the corresponding period last ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Work suspension at Singur will continue: Tata MotorsCompany distressed at limited clarity on outcome of talks. Kolkata, Sept. 8 Even as Tata Motors said it was “distressed at the limited clarity on the outcome of the discussions between the Government of West Bengal and the ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh long-position only if the stock exceeds Rs 739, with stiff stop-loss. ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Subhiksha to raise $80-100 m FII fundsChennai, Sept. 8 Close on the heels of the news of Wipro’s Azim Premji taking a 10 per cent stake in discount retail chain Subhiksha, the company now plans to raise $80-100 million by an investment from large foreign institutional ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Allied Digital Services (Rs 750): BuyWe recommend a buy in Allied Digital Services from a short-term horizon. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that it has been consolidating sideways in a broad range between Rs 700 and Rs 920 since late January. The support at Rs 700 ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Companies cut conversion price to resolve FCCB tangleForeign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), which in a bull market were seen as a low-cost option for Indian companies to raise funds, are now turning out to be millstones around their necks. Faced with ballooning debt after the stock prices ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 9 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Adani has made some very 'power'ful movesOne criticism levelled against the Government of India in respect of its private power purchase policy is its excessive concern about the returns investors getSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Sep 2008 | 11:12 pm Airlines battle to corner global corporate trafficWith Kingfisher Airlines joining Jet Airways and Air India on international routes, the fight for high-yielding international corporate traffic has taken off.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Sep 2008 | 11:07 pm In bad times, Re has few friendsLast September, when the rupee was at 40.69/$ and rising, exporters rushed to sell their dollars and buy rupees.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Sep 2008 | 11:05 pm OVL submits bid for 20% stake in Angolan oil blockChina's Sinopec and CNOOC are also in the race.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Sep 2008 | 6:39 pm Subsidies, tax breaks got Tata to SingurThe agreement between Tata Motors and the government of West Bengal to manufacture the world's cheapest car in the state involved much more than subsidies on land and interest paid on bank loans.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Sep 2008 | 6:38 pm Indian stocks gain on nuclear energy dealThe benchmark Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had its biggest gain in about a week after India won the right to buy nuclear energy supplies for the first time in aboutSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Sep 2008 | 6:36 pm Tata Motors 'distressed', Bengal says don't worryCar-maker seeks clarity on vendor park, continues work suspension.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 8 Sep 2008 | 6:34 pm GM forms new company for sales, marketing in IndiaNew Delhi: US car maker General Motors Corp. said on Monday it has created a separate firm for sales and distribution in India as part of restructuring its corporate structure.  Branching out: A file photo of Richard Wagoner, chairman and chief executive officer of GM Corp. Jeffrey Sauger/Bloomberg Formation of the new entity—General Motors (India) Marketing Pvt. Ltd—comes close on the heels of the US car firm stepping up its investment in India with plans to pump in $200 million (Rs886 crore) at Talegaon in Maharashtra, to set up a power train facility. Power train is the system that transfers power from the engine to the wheels in an automobile. “With GM’s operations in India expanding significantly in size and scale, it has become necessary to bring greater focus and efficiency to selling and distributing our world-class products and services,” GM India vice-president P. Balendran said. The move would help GM improve planning, inventory management and management, timely delivery and maximize cost synergies, he added. The restructuring exercise would also involve transfer of some employees engaged in sales, marketing and distribution to the new company, the company’s statement said. GM India is expanding its sales points to 145 and service outlets to 160 by the end of this year. It currently has 122 sales points and 129 service outlets across the country. The company had last week opened its second factory, set up at an investment of $300 million, at Talegaon that has a capacity to produce 140,000 units every year. The engine plant that the company plans to build will have an annual capacity of 160,000 that could be expanded to 300,000 engines a year. The firm has a factory in Halol, Gujarat, with a capacity to make 85,000 cars a year. The company makes Tavera, Optra, Aveo, Aveo U-VA, SRV, Spark and Captiva for the Indian market. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Sep 2008 | 5:04 pm A meritocratic system allows new sites to overthrow old onesBangalore: So, what makes a website popular—a headstart, bells and whistles, or talent and novelty? The evolving Internet has been traditionally conservative in spotting talent, showing a preference for experience, which has led to the rich-gets-richer syndrome among websites, but a new study shows that upstart new websites regularly oust existing leaders by providing enhanced novelty and utility. In the first-ever empirical measurement of activities of the Web, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, the US, and University of Regina, Canada, report in Tuesday’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the rules of a “meritocratic” society govern the Internet. “For the first time, we empirically tested how talent, or fitness is distributed on the Web and found that most pages tend to have low fitness; only a very small number of pages have high fitness,” said Vwani P. Roychowdhury, lead author, department of electrical engineering, UCLA. The few high fitness pages start with only a handful of in-links, but accumulate links at a much higher rate than most of the established pages, and then over time, surpass them. At the same time, all alive pages continue to accumulate links with time, but the rate depends on their fitness, said Roychowdhury. Also See Top 1,000 Home Page Growth (Graphic) In one experiment, Roychowdhury and co-authors Nima Sarshar and Joseph S. Kong, found that 48% of the websites that reached a threshold of 1,000 incoming links over a given period used “talent” to displace more experienced pages. That’s not true for all types of websites, argues Navneet Kaushal, chief executive of PageTraffic Web-Tech Pvt. Ltd, a search engine optimization firm in New Delhi, which offers link building services through its affiliate Link Popularity India. Citing the example of Google, as a search engine, he said there’ve been some promising new search engines, but none has been able to make any mark. However, in the case of Google, one of the main reasons it became a hit way back in 1999 was its simplicity and speed in search, said Kaushal. “But if we consider some other examples like Myyearbook.com, it became instant hit just because of its novelty and offerings, which were unique; same goes for Twitter (a social networking and microblogging site).” For all the increasing complexity of the Web, no one has really studied what dying pages do to it. This study for the first time shows that the “death rate” is pretty high. “For every new page created, 0.77 pages get deleted and with such high rates, if pages did not have different talent, or fitness, then the structure of the Web would be very different,” said Roychowdhury. Researchers studied 22 million Web pages over a year. The most important discovery, they said, is that there’s a “fine balance” in the birth and death of pages and their accumulation of links as despite high churn, the overall structure of the Web remains seemingly static. Only 6.5% of websites had any perceptible growth in one year. So, how does this new finding help the Internet? All major search engines already make some use of the structure of the Web—pages at the top in a search query are those with high in-links. And no points for guessing, it was Google that first utilized the structure of the Web and implemented the so-called page rank system. Researchers argue that each page can be given a constant fitness, which is simple to calculate and determines the rate at which a website will accumulate links. “It works in the real world as all one needs are regular crawls of the Web,” said Roychowdhury, who has founded a start-up, NetSeer Inc., in Los Angeles, which uses this knowledge to match online advertisements to user patterns. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 8 Sep 2008 | 4:35 pm Kerala Travel Mart draws representatives from 50 nationsRepresentatives from about 50 countries, including Australia, France and the US will participate in the fifth edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), which will be held in Kochi Sep 20-23, state Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Sep 2008 | 1:03 pm Stone India at final bid stage for European firmStone India Ltd, a G.P. Goenka group-company, is in the 'final bidding stage' of acquiring a European railway equipment maker, said a top company official here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Sep 2008 | 1:01 pm Tata Consultancy, state utilities to set up power exchangeSoftware services and consulting firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will float a joint venture company along with the state-run National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), National Hydro Power Corp (NHPC) and Power Finance Corp (PFC) to operate a national level power exchange, the company announced Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Sep 2008 | 1:01 pm SRF acquires Thai yarn manufacturerTextiles and fluorochemical products manufacturer SRF Ltd has acquired Thai Baroda Industries Ltd, a Rayong, Thailand-based yarn and cord fabric manufacturer, the company announced Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Adlabs given international security recognitionLeading entertainment company Adlabs, a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has become the first motion picture services facility in Asia to be certified by the UK's industry body Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Dataquest says Indian IT domestic market growing faster than exportsNew Delhi: India’s domestic IT market grew by 29% in the financial year 2007-08, its growth rate overtaking the IT export market growth for the first time in a decade, according to a recent survey by information technology magazine Dataquest, published by CyberMedia Digital Limited. An accelerated 34% growth in 2007-08 FY 08 (as compared to 27% in FY 07) took the total domestic IT market, the survey says, to Rs 99,018 crore in FY 08 - reversing the decade-old trend of export industry growing faster than the domestic market. ”Despite the downturn and the challenging economic climate, the top IT services companies managed to keep growth up and their margins intact,” said Pradeep Gupta, the chairman of CyberMedia Digital Limited. The overall Indian IT industry grew 29% in FY 08 to report revenues of Rs 288,810 crore. Exports, contributed largely by software and services, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the industry at Rs 189,792 crore, grew at 27% (compared to a 35% growth recorded during 2006-07). Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 8 Sep 2008 | 10:47 am
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