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IT, BPO firms may see more deals in BFSI spaceBleeding financial giants may turn to India to cut down losses. Technology consulting firms have said that Indian IT and BPO firms may see more deals being struck in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) space.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:35 pm DRL sees FY09 revenues up 25% at Rs 6250 crSaumen Chakraborty, CFO, Dr Reddy\'s sees his company\'s FY09 revenues up by 25% at Rs 6,250 crore, reports CNBCTV18, quoting NewsWire18. He said that the Dow and BASF units will add Rs 220 crore to FY09 revenues. He feels that the pressure in Europe is still a worry. The company will end pact with German company Salutas in October, he said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 3:45 pm No plan to foray in print media: Raj TVB Sukumaran of Raj Television Network has clarified that at present the company does not have any proposal to foray into print media. However, the company may look at it in the longterm, he said. He further said that the company may dilute 510% equity to PE players depending on the market conditions.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 2:17 pm Fiat trails in China, Russia raceMILAN (Reuters) - In the race to expand in two of the world's biggest and fastest growing car markets, Italy's Fiat SpA is sputtering far behind its competitors.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:12 pm Sahara exits non-bank finance business: RBI - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:09 pm Reliance drops to 52-week low in intra-day tradeMumbai: Shares of India’s most valuable company by market capitalization, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), dipped to its 52-week low of Rs1918.10 during intra-day trading on Friday before closing at Rs1931.40, losing 3.31% on the Bombay Stock exchange even as the bellwether index Sensex lost 2.26%. With this, RIL has lost some 10% in past four trading sessions, eroding more than Rs21,500 crore worth of investors’ wealth. During this time, Sensex has shed 6%. Sector analysts said the oil refiner was hit by not just weak refining margins and global slowdown but also a growing pessimism due to delay in production of gas from its blocks in the Krishna Godavari gas basin. ”There are concerns due to lower gross refining margins generally, continued stalemate on the lawsuits surrounding KG gas basin as well as pushing back of the expected time for gas production,” said a sector analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage firm who did not want to be named. This was being reflected in several brokerages slashing their ’target price’ on RIL by around Rs500 to Rs 2300-2400 levels, he added. Another sector analyst, again on condition of anonymity, said RIL could not be an exception when other commodity stocks, particularly those in the oil and cement sectors, were taking a beating because of global slowdown in demand. ”Things can only get worse in the future as there is a demand-supply mismatch,” he said, referring to the excess supply being built. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:06 pm Sun Direct TV forays into north Indian marketSouth India based, Sun Direct TV, a direct-to-home (DTH) service provider on Friday launched its services in north India with a special focus on the Punjab market.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:02 pm Indo-US nuke deal, J&K dominate BJP meetNew Delhi: Issues such as the Indo-US nuclear deal, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and rising inflation held centrestage at the opening day of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP’s national executive meeting in Bangalore on Friday. Over the next two days, nearly 200 members of the party leadership including its prime ministerial candidate L.K.Advani are expected to draw up strategy for crucial elections in six states in November, and parliamentary elections due by May. The party, which won elections in Karnataka for the first time, will kick-start a series of 150 rallies beginning Saturday, ahead of elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Mizoram. However, differences in the party over an alliance in Uttar Pradesh with regional party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, came to the fore as leaders from the state such as Vinay Katiyar and Kalyan Singh stayed away from the meeting. “If any of the state leaders have any reservation on any issue, it would be discussed at a proper forum, but the final discussions on alliances are always taken by the central leadership,” party spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Sun Direct TV forays into north Indian market - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:41 pm Weak outlook cracks Infosys - India Infoline.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:36 pm GLOBAL MARKETS - Stocks buoyed by Lehman hopesLONDON (Reuters) - World stocks rose nearly 1 percent on Friday, buoyed by hopes of a rescue for troubled Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers while oil climbed above $102 a barrel as Hurricane Ike headed for the Texas Gulf Coast.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:27 pm Indian Rupee Drops a Fifth Week as Global Investors Dump Stocks - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:24 pm Rolls Royce opens its second showroom in India - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:22 pm Rupee drops on offshore dlr demand, weak stocksMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee fell to its lowest in nearly two years on Friday as offshore-related dollar demand and weak stocks hurt, while better-than-expected industrial output data failed to provide much respite.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Oil bounces to above $101!Oil prices recovered to above USD 101 a barrel on Friday, as the markets kept a watchful eye on the path of Hurricane Ike that could disrupt refineries and production in the United States for weeks.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Sensex back in negative zone, down 274 pts!After initial recovery of about 109 points, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex plunged by 274 points at 1115 hrs on selling by foreign funds after rupee continued its slide against the US dollar.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Eicher-Volvo JV to launch new vehicles in 2 yrs!A joint venture between India`s Eicher Motors and Swedish truck-maker Volvo plans to launch two new heavy-duty commercial vehicles in two years, a top official of Eicher Motors said.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Tax sleuths to undergo training in identifying fake currency!The government is planning to train Income-Tax personnel to detect fake currency, the flow of which of late has increased manifold much to the worry of security agencies.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Global food crisis due to low agri-investment: UN !Lack of investment in agriculture and rural development is the main cause of global hunger of millions, especially in the developing countries like India, according to a UN report released on Thursday.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm China industrial output growth eases to 12.8%!Growth in China`s industrial output eased to 12.8 percent in August from a year earlier, the government said on Friday, providing further evidence the nation`s economy is slowing.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Japan reports economy shrank 3% April-June!Japan`s economy shrank at a 3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the government said Friday in a lowered revision of an already pessimistic reading for the world`s second biggest economy.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:20 pm Market shrugs off IIP, but fear of global slowdown weighs - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:13 pm Petroleum Min mulling dual pricing policy for diesel - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:11 pm Indian salaries likely to increase by 16% in 2009: ReportNew Delhi: Salaries in India are expected to increase by 16% in 2009, one of the highest in the Asia-Pacific region driven by strong economic growth and pressure on employers due to soaring inflation, a latest report says. As per a report by the Hong Kong based compensation firm HR Business Solutions (HRBS) pay increases in the Asia-Pacific region are likely grow even as the economies are expected to be impacted by the global slowdown. “The forecast pay increase in India averaging 16% is one of the highest among all the countries,” the report stated. The HRBS 2009 pay increase forecast is based primarily on four economic factors - GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, manpower demand and past pay increase trends. Elaborating further it said that the Indian economy is reported to be cooling, but still it is expected to achieve a growth rate of 7-8% in 2008, which is among the strongest in the region after China. “In addition, it has the fourth highest inflation rate of over 12% in 2008 which increases pay rise pressures on employers. Labour demand is still robust and there is a lack of sufficient supply of the skills-set required by India’s rapidly growing services, manufacturing, construction and retail industries to boot,” the HRBS report added. Economic growth rates in Asia are mostly forecast to be moderately lower in 2008 relative to 2007, while inflation rate across the Asia-Pacific region has soared to an all-time high. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:56 am Govt may allow trade in wheat, rice futuresNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India hopes to allow futures trade in wheat, rice and soyoil and other commodities by the end-November, the market regulator said, the latest sign of easing trade curbs ahead of an expected bumper harvest.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:54 am IOC seeks heavy discounts to buy crude from Cairn - Financial Express
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:51 am Sensex falls 2.3 pct as IT worries weighNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex fell 2.26 percent on Friday to their lowest close since late July, led by losses in software outsourcers such as Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services on fears about their revenue outlook.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:49 am Edelweiss to finalise partners for ARC shortlyInvestment banker Edelweiss Capital on Friday said it will soon finalise partners for its proposed foray into the asset reconstruction business.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:48 am Farmers hit by deadlock between Pepsico & workersChandigarh: The impasse between workers and soft drink giant Pepsico India continues, with the management refusing to withdraw the suspension and termination of employees while workers stick to their protest against company’s stance. Although the District Administration has also been roped in to resolve the industrial dispute, nothing concrete has come out so far, official sources said. “We have held a series of talks with workers and management officials to resolve the issue at the earliest as closure of the plant is affecting potato growers and ancillary units very hard,” Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur district, V K Ohri said on 12 September. Several potato growers and ancillary unit owners have met the Deputy Commissioner urging him to resolve the issue. Pepsico India, as a precautionary measure, has shut its plant in Sangrur since 20 August because of the industrial dispute and has shifted its production to Kukure and other products to Pune and Kolkata. However, the company has ruled out the possibility of shifting its plant from the state. Pepsico makes Frito-Lay brand of products, including Lay’s potato chips, Lehar Kurkure and Namkeen. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:42 am Wipro says currency volatility unlikely to impact Q2MUMBAI (Reuters) - Wipro Ltd, India's third-ranked software services exporter, does not see currency volatility having an impact on its September quarter earnings, a senior official said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:41 am Canara HSBC Life charts new path to quick profitsUpbeat after earning Rs.374 million in just three months from only two insurance products with average premium of Rs.111,144 per policy, private life insurer Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited (Canara HSBC Life) is expanding its product portfolio.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:32 am Markets end in red for the fourth straight dayFor the fourth consecutive day, the Indian equity markets closed in the red.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:32 am Rolls-Royce will drive in new range of cars to India by 2010New Delhi: Super luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce will introduce new range of cars, which it is currently developing, in India by mid-2010 as it looks to cash in on the burgeoning number of billionaires. The company is also expanding its current portfolio in the country and will launch a new model, Phantom Coupe, this year, expected to be priced over Rs3.5 crore. “We are working on an additional range of cars, which will allow us to expand the brand further. The new family will not compete with the Phantom, but it will be the second most expensive in the world,” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Director (Sales and Marketing) Graeme Grieve told reporters here. “It will come to the Indian market by mid-2010,” he added The BMW group company is currently developing the new range of cars at its facility in Goodwood, England. Rolls-Royce currently offers three products - Phantom, Phantom EWB and Phantom Drophead Coupe - in India. These models are priced at Rs3.15 crore (ex-showroom) upwards. “With the growing demand for our cars in India, we will be launching here our fourth car in Phantom family, Coupe, around November,” Rolls-Royce Motor Cars General Manager (South and East Asia Pacific) Matthew J Bennett said. The car is priced at about $4,00,000 (over Rs 1.82 crore) in the international market. The vehicle in India would attract an import duty of over 110%. The company, which reentered India in 2005, has since sold about 30 cars, including 12 units last year. After Mumbai, the company today inaugurated its second dealership in the National Capital. Last year, Rolls-Royce sold 1,010 cars through 82 dealers across the world. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:23 am UDPATE 1-India may allow trade in wheat, rice futures - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:16 am Sahara group firm exits NBFC businessMumbai: Subrata Roy-promoted Sahara India Investment Corporation Ltd (SIICL) has exited the non-banking financial business. “SIICL, which is one of the group companies belonging to Sahara group, as such cannot transact the business of non- banking financial institutions,” RBI said in a press release on 12 September. The RBI release said SIICL has voluntarily exited the non-banking financial business and that its certificate of registration has been cancelled as of 11 August. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 11:05 am Sahara group firm exits NBFC businessSubrata Roy-promoted Sahara India Investment Corporation Ltd (SIICL) has exited the non-banking financial business.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:59 am No plan to foray in print media: Raj TV - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:31 am Re depreciation to offset margin impact: InfosysV Balakrishnan, CFO, Infosys feels that there could be an impact seen on reported dollar numbers. He said that the rupee depreciation will offset the margin impact. However, the pricing environment is still fine, he said. Meanwhile, CLSA has said that Infosys FY09 US dollar revenue growth guidance should be cut to 1719%.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:31 am NHPC IPO to hit the stock market around DiwaliGangtok: State-run National Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (NHPC) planned to float its IPO around Diwali in October to raise Rs1,680 crore from stock markets to meet financial requirements of ongoing expansion work. The company would issue 168 crore shares in the capital market at the rate of Rs10 at face value per equity comprising 10% fresh shares and 5% shares to be divested by the government, NHPC Chief Managing Director S K Garg told a select group of reporters here today. Garg, who was here to review hydro-electric power plants, both functional and under-construction in Sikkim, said that the price band of the NHPC DS shares would be decided soon. He said that the company has already appointed its merchant bankers including Kotak Mahindra Bank and SBI Capital to deal with various aspects of the IPO. The capital, being generated from the public issue, would be utilised for the ongoing expansion work and completion of 10 under-construction hydel projects with an expected generation capacity of about 10,000 MW under the 11th five-year plan, the NHPC CMD said. On the capital requirement for its ongoing power projects, Garg said that NHPC required Rs28,000 crore for construction of the 10 under-construction projects under the 11th five-year plan out of which Rs17,000 crore was being generated through borrowing, while Rs11,000 crore would be raised from the equity market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:31 am Tripura finds favour with investors from UAE, ItalyInvestors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Italy will set up infrastructure and industrial projects in Tripura, officials said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:30 am Jet to start daily flights between Kerala, MuscatCome Monday, Jet Airways will become the first private airline in the country to operate flights from all the three international airports in Kerala, when it begins daily flights to Muscat.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:30 am Rolls-Royce to drive in new range of carsRolls-Royce will introduce new range of cars, which it is currently developing, in India by mid-2010 as it looks to cash in on the burgeoning number of billionaires.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:27 am Govt rules out regulating steel pricesRuling out any price band, the government on Friday said domestic steel prices should come down following the softening global trend.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:26 am Oz hotels major forms JV for India operationsRendezvous Hotels and Resorts International (RHI) and Chennai-based X S Real Properties Ltd announced formation of a joint venture company for managing hotels and resorts in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:26 am Sensex slips 323 points heavy sell-offNew Delhi: The markets ended weak after a choppy session with the BSE benchmark skidding 2.3% or 323 points to 14,000 levels. The Sensex had hit a low of 13,933 levels in intra-day deals. Similarly, the wider-based Nifty settled 62 points lower at 4,228 levels. Sentiment turned negative after Infosys Technologies indicated a lower revenue growth for current financial year. However, the company maintained has the margin guidance. The stock at Rs1,644 levels tanked 6% or Rs105 and was among the top losers in the Sensex pack. DLF Limited, Reliance Infra, Grasim Industries, Reliance Communications, Satyam Computer, Reliance Industries, Wipro and TCS also lost ground. Realty counters also witnessed heavy sell-off with Indiabulls Real Estate slipping 6.3% to Rs252. Phoenix Mills, Akruti City, Anant Raj Industries, Ansal Infrastructure, HDIL, Sobha Developers and DLF Limited were the other key losers. In other economic developments, industrial growth in July recovered to 7.1%, even though it moderated compared with 8.3% recorded a year ago. The growth in industrial production, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), stood at 3.8% in May and 5.4% in June. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:21 am India July industry output flags underlying strengthNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's industrial output rose more than expected in July, driven by capital goods production, suggesting the economy was resilient enough to withstand another rate rise if inflation made more tightening necessary.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:13 am Ban on corn exports may be liftedThe ban on corn exports may be lifted next month if the crop in Bihar has not been badly affected by the floods there, the government said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:03 am Iron ore producers asked to fix prices for the long termIn an effort to bring down prices of steel products, the government Friday urged iron ore producers to enter into long-term agreements with steel manufacturers and ensure supplies.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:01 am Equity markets stay in the red early afternoonIndian equity markets continued to trade in the red early Friday afternoon. Realty, banking and IT stocks were under selling pressure.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 10:00 am Cheaper crude welcome; but no fuel price cut on cards: DeoraNew Delhi: Petroleum Minister Murli Deora today said there are no plans to cut fuel prices in immediate future, while terming the fall in global crude prices to the lowest in six months as a “welcome” change. Crude prices are hovering near $100 a barrel level after hitting a six-month low of $98 on 11 September. “I welcome this that crude prices have come down,” Deora told reporters here, however, he added that the government was not considering any fuel price revision at the moment. Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said that crude prices are expected to fall even further. “Over the last one and a half months, crude prices have come down from the peak of 147 dollars per barrel. The Indian basket of crude reached an average $95.47 a barrel, which is a welcome relief. We expect prices to fall further, which would be a real relief,” Pandey said. “If crude stays at current levels for the entire financial year of 2008-09, the extent of under-recoveries is estimated at Rs1,62,254 crore. But even this figure is very high,” Pandey said. According to June data, estimated under-recoveries of state-run oil firms Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum stood at Rs2,45,305 crore. If crude prices stay at current levels, under-recoveries for the entire year are estimated to fall to Rs1,62,254 crore, Pandey said. Currently, oil firms are losing Rs400 crore per day on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene, down from last month’s Rs450 crore a day. When asked about compensation to oil PSUs on their under-recoveries, Pandey said, “If the Indian basket of crude touches USD 67 a barrel, then there would be no subsidies for oil firms.” Pandey said the dual pricing policy is still being considered, although he refused to say when the matter would be taken to the Cabinet for approval. If the policy is implemented, bulk users would be charged Rs22.20 more, he added. Oil companies are projected to lose about Rs1,00,000 crore on diesel sales this year as the subsidised fuel is being increasingly used in industries for power generation. We are considering dual pricing but it is very difficult to implement,” Deora had said a week ago. The minister asked why should people who travel in luxury cars be sold subsidised diesel. The Railways for one, which currently gets diesel at subsidised rates, may revolt if prices are raised. Also, monitoring petrol pumps that sell market-priced diesel to big cars will be difficult. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:51 am Edelweiss plans to set up asset reconstruction unitMUMBAI (Reuters) - Financial services firm Edelweiss Capital Ltd plans to set up an asset reconstruction firm and apply for regulatory approval in the next six months, a top official said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:47 am IOC to hike high sulphur crude processing limitPanipat: Indian Oil Corporation is looking at raising the quantity of high sulphur crude processed at its seven refineries to save money on crude oil imports. “Currently our refineries process 50% of high sulphur crude and we want to take this percentage up to 76% by 2012 through upgrading our refineries,” IOC Director (Refineries) B N Bankapur told reporters here. High sulphur crude is available at a discount of $4-5 per barrel to low sulphur crude oils. Bankapur said the refinery upgradation and petrochemical plant being planned by the company will cut IOC’s Naptha exports to 0.6 to 0.7 million tonnes from current level of over two million tonnes. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:33 am Sahara exits non-banking financial business - RBIMUMBAI (Reuters) - Sahara India Investment Corp, part of Indian conglomerate Sahara group, has voluntarily left the non-banking financial business, the central bank said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:24 am Govt rules out regulating steel pricesNew Delhi: Ruling out any price band, the government today said domestic steel prices should come down following the softening global trend. “We do not fix steel prices, and do not favour any price mechanism for the same. The government would like to play a facilitatory role,” Steel Secretary P K Rastogi said on the sidelines of CII Steel Tube summit adding the domestic steel prices should further come down on the falling global trend. However, he said fiscal measures were taken few months back when export duties were levied on steel products to increase its availability in the domestic market. He also said miners have agreed for a long-term contract for supplying iron ore to steel companies but the talks between the two parties have not concluded yet. “They (iron ore producers) have agreed for a long-term agreement. The government had held talks between the miners and steel producers and will be meeting again. The talks are still on,” he added. The government is for a long-term arrangement between miners and steel producers so that iron ore is supplied at a reasonable price, so that the price of the final product comes down, he said. Moreover, Rastogi said there is a need to import over three million tonnes of steel to meet the rising demand. “In the present fiscal, steel demand has grown by 12%, but the production grew only by 6%. There is a demand-supply gap of 6 per cent which needs to be fulfilled by imports,” he said. At present, the domestic steel production is about 55 million tonnes. The steel ministry has proposed a 5% hike in export duty of iron ore - from 15% at present to 20%, he said and added talks on the matter are on. Industry chamber Assocham last month on behalf of domestic steel firms had demanded a duty hike to 35% to help increase domestic supplies and lower prices. Many steel producers have recently cut the prices of their products by up to Rs2,000 per tonne on softening global trend. Domestic steel manufacturers have not increased by prices of their products since 7 May, helping the government to check the rising inflation which touched 12.1 for the week ended 30 August. Ministries of steel and mines had arranged for a meeting between steel companies and miners aimed at having long-term contracts at reasonable prices to ensure supply security and check price fluctuations. Global steel prices have declined due to the dip in its demand, especially from the construction sector. In Middle East, construction activities have come to a virtual standstill due to the ongoing holy month of ‘Ramadan.´ Also in China, blast furnaces which were shut during the recently-concluded Olympics on environmental grounds resumed operations, increasing steel production. Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on successive occasions has said that there is a case for further downward revision in steel prices due to softening trend in the international market. The steel companies have been complaining about their expansion plans being hit due to rising input costs which has eaten into their margins. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:23 am UK Trade Invt India Biz Awards 2008 announcedThe UK Trade and Investment India Business Awards 2008 were held this week at the Taj Hotels, Mumbai. The event saw many business experts trade ideas and opinions, and invest time in applauding the successes of their peers.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:13 am Three Indians among Forbes Web BillionairesThree Indians, including Indiabulls' Sameer Gehlaut and Party Gaming founder Anurag Dikshit, have been named among the 34 innovators in the 'Web Billionaires' list by US magazine Forbes.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 9:01 am RBI may fix electronic payment service charges by banksThe Reserve Bank has proposed to fix service charges on electronic payment services offered by banks this means fund transfers, both electronic and physical, will get cheaper.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:58 am 3i Infotech to adopt hub and spoke modelTechnology company 3i Infotech will assist banks and financial institutions in reducing the processing time for various back office operations by setting up 255 new service centres in the semiurban and rural parts of the country.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:57 am IBM eyes aerospace, defence sectorsStepping up its focus on the Indian market, International Business Machines Corp (IBM) is now eyeing the countrys aerospace and defence sectors with its enterprise optimisation and microelectronics solutions.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:53 am Npower foray: GMR plans Rs 10,000cr investmentGMR Energy a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd hopes to invest up to Rs 10,000 crore over the next fiveseven years to set up 2,0003,000 MWe nuclear power capacity in the country.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:51 am Global shortage boosts India's tobacco exportsThe supply crunch of tobacco in the global market spurred India's exports by 33.66 per cent to 80,571 tonne during the first four months of the current fiscal, the Tobacco Board said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:51 am Cairn India arm to invest $113 m in Lanka for explorationCairn Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Cairn India Ltd, said that it has entered into an agreement with Sri Lankas Board of Investment, committing an initial investment of $113 million in its recently awarded oil and gas exploration block.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2008 | 8:50 am Infosys says strong dlr may impact revenueBANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies' could see its dollar revenues hit by the rise of the U.S. currency against euro and British pound, although the rupee's fall would lessen the impact, its chief financial officer said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:57 am Industrial growth at 7.1% in JulyIndustrial growth recovered to 7.1 per cent in July from the dismal performance in previous two months of the current fiscal.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:42 am Sethusamudram channel project likely to miss deadlineThe controversial Sethusamudram ship channel to link India's eastern and western coasts to avoid a 785-km detour around Sri Lanka is expected to overshoot its October deadline, as petitions against it are still pending in courts and only 25 percent of the work has been completed, officials said here.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:33 am Suspected US missile strike kills militants in PakistanIslamabad: A suspected US missile strike killed eight people in northwestern Pakistan on Friday and fighting in another militant stronghold near the Afghan border killed dozens more, officials said. Two intelligence officials said that missiles struck a home near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, before dawn. The officials said the identity of the eight people killed and five others who were injured was not immediately clear. American forces in Afghanistan are stepping up their efforts to hit Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in what they describe as safe havens in Pakistan’s wild border regions, despite stiff protests from Islamabad. With the insurgency in Afghanistan intensifying, US President George W Bush secretly approved more aggressive cross-border operations in July, current and former American officials have said. The intelligence officials said agents in South Waziristan had told them about the latest attack. A military official also said he had received reports of a missile strike. He had no information on casualties. The three officials asked for anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record to media. North Waziristan is part of a belt of tribally governed territory where Pakistan’s government has little control. The frontier region is considered the most likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda No.2 Ayman al-Zawahri. Both the US military and the CIA operate drone aircraft armed with missiles of the type believed to have killed two senior al-Qaida commanders in Pakistani territory earlier this year. Pakistani officials warn that the strikes will deepen anti-American sentiment in the country and wreck efforts to win over moderate tribal leaders and bring economic development to the impoverished border region. Authorities negotiated a peace deal with tribes in North Waziristan earlier this year. Similar efforts have failed or broken down on other parts of the northwest. On Friday, army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan said 32 militants and 2 soldiers had died in the previous 24 hours in the Bajur region. Iqbal Khattak, a local government official, put the total for the 24-hour period higher, saying about 60 militants have died. Officials say hundreds of militants have died there in a weeks-long offensive into Bajur. An estimated 500,000 people have fled their homes. Officials acknowledge that civilian have been killed and villages badly damaged in the fighting. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 7:12 am Yahoo hopes to push stock with home page makeoverSunnyvale: Yahoo Inc. is preparing to tweak several popular sections of its Web site, including its home page, during the next few months to accommodate more material from rival services as the Internet company tries to polish its tarnished franchise. The makeover outlined for reporters on 11 September represents another a key step in Yahoo’s push to regain the momentum that it lost while being outmaneuvered by Internet search rival Google Inc. and more recent upstarts like the rapidly growing online hangouts MySpace and Facebook. Yahoo’s previous dawdling crimped its profits during the past two years, leading to a dramatic downturn in its market value that triggered an unsolicited takeover bid from Microsoft Corp. this year. Since Microsoft withdrew its $47.5 billion bid in May, Yahoo has been battling to boost its stock price, which recently sunk to its lowest level in nearly five years. Yahoo shares climbed 85 cents Thursday to close at $18.55 - well below Microsoft’s last offer of $33. Boasting 500 million users worldwide, Yahoo is hoping to bounce back by becoming an even more indispensable vehicle for Web surfers and advertisers. As part of that process, the Sunnyvale-based company has been spotlighting more content from other Web sites and extending its advertising network so it can run ads on more Internet properties. Yahoo plans to open up more with the first major redesign of its home page since May 2006. The changes will enable Yahoo users to plant more mini-applications known as “widgets” on personalized versions of the home page, said Ash Patel, executive vice president of the company’s audience product division. In a demonstration, Patel showed how Yahoo users subscribing to the online DVD rental service Netflix will soon be able to review their latest movie requests and ratings without leaving Yahoo’s main page. Yahoo is hosting a conference for outside developers Friday in hopes of cultivating more applications for its new home page. Patel declined to specify when the redesigned page will be unveiled, saying only that it will begin gradually within the next few months. “You will see a rolling thunder kind of thing,” Patel said. Yahoo also plans to open up its music section to rival services like Apple Inc.’s iTunes and Amazon.com Inc. during the next few weeks, said Scott Moore, who runs Yahoo’s media operations. Moore said Yahoo’s news section also will start to feature more local content from newspapers around the nation. Yahoo thinks it can boost its annual revenue by $800 million by relying on Google’s technology to sell some of the ads on its Web site, but the partnership has raised concerns about diminished competition because the two companies combined control more than 80% of the US search advertising market. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 6:58 am India’s July IIP growth at 7.1%PTI New Delhi: Industrial growth recovered to 7.1% in July from the dismal performance in previous two months of the current fiscal, even though it moderated compared with 8.3% recorded a year ago. The improved data may give some breather to the Government and RBI, struggling hard to check the double-digit inflation through tightening monetary policy, which hampers the growth process. While the manufacturing, which contributes about 80% to IIP, grew by 7.5% in July, compared with 8.8% a year ago, electricity generation was up by 4.5%, against 7.5%. Mining output growth, however, was quite higher at 5% from 3.2% a year ago. The growth in industrial production, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was low at 3.8% in May and 5.4% in June. In April, however, industrial growth stood at 7%, more or less same as in July. As such, industrial growth turned out to be 5.7% in the first four months of this fiscal, against 9.7% a year ago. The data came close to first quarterly economic growth figures at 7.9% and would play a crucial role for the GDP figures for the next quarter. If, this trend continues and other sectors like agriculture and services also contribute, GDP figure may be quite higher for the second quarter, analysts said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 6:56 am India has just two unique IP addresses per 1,000 peopleIndia has only two unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses per 1,000 people. But a just-released study says the country's net penetration could 'significantly increase in the coming years', with its economic boom and growing IT adoption.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 6:00 am After Singur unrest, WB assures Infosys of all cooperationKolkata: The West Bengal government is in constant touch with Infosys Technologies on its proposed investment of Rs500 crore after the IT major said it will review the plan following recent unrest in Singur. “My department is in constant touch with Infosys,” said Minister for Information Technology Debesh Das. Infosys board member T V Mohandas Pai yesterday said that the company may revisit its investment plans in West Bengal. “We will have to relook and rethink because we are concerned about the safety of our employees,” he said. The software major has plans to invest Rs500 crore at Kolkata campus that will create employment for 5,000 professionals. The company is yet to get possession of 90 acres of land assured by the state government. Asked whether the state government is concerned about future plans of Wipro Technologies, Das said, “Azim Premji has already made a statement that the Singur issue has not impacted their plans.” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on 11 September said that Infosys had shown apprehension about investing in the state following recent incidents in Singur where Trinamool Congress has been agitating against acquisition of farmland by the state government for Tata Motors’ Nano car plant. “I have asked IT minister Debesh Das to speak to the Infosys management and assure them that the government would guarantee that no such problem would surface when Infosys starts work in Bengal,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:50 am Lehman looking for buyer to save firmNew York: With Lehman Brothers’ shares signaling another steep drop on Friday, top executives are racing to put a sale of the beleaguered investment bank in place before it loses further market value and confidence. Confidence has waned that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will emerge from the financial crisis as an independent franchise, and the No 4 US investment bank is scouring Wall Street for a financial lifeline. Executives worked feverishly in the past 24 hours to find someone willing to buy all or part of the company, bankers and industry executives close to the situation said. And the scrutiny is expected to grow more intense on Friday, with investors placing bets that Lehman’s stock will again nosedive. Shares fell 41 cents, or 9.7%, to $3.81 in after-hours trading; the stock skidded 41.8% to $4.22 during the regular session in New York, and is down more than 94% for the year. Bank of America Corp., Japan’s Nomura Securities, France’s BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG and Britain’s Barclay’s Plc have been mentioned this week as potential buyers. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which also was being talked about as a potential buyer, is not interested, according to an industry official who ask not to be named. Lehman is also in close contact with both the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve about how to proceed. Any resolution of the Lehman troubles is not expected to involve the use of government money which would set it apart from the billions of dollars that the government put at risk to facilitate the sale of Bear Stearns in March and to rescue mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week. Lehman’s losses soared to almost $7 billion in the last two quarters alone, primarily because of wrong-way bets on mortgage securities and other risky investments. It’s not alone. Global banks have lost more than $300 billion since the subprime mortgage crisis spread to the credit markets one year ago. And the International Monetary Fund has suggested total losses globally could hit $1 trillion. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:34 am Lehman looking for buyer to save firmNew York: With Lehman Brothers’ shares signaling another steep drop on Friday, top executives are racing to put a sale of the beleaguered investment bank in place before it loses further market value and confidence. Confidence has waned that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will emerge from the financial crisis as an independent franchise, and the No 4 US investment bank is scouring Wall Street for a financial lifeline. Executives worked feverishly in the past 24 hours to find someone willing to buy all or part of the company, bankers and industry executives close to the situation said. And the scrutiny is expected to grow more intense on Friday, with investors placing bets that Lehman’s stock will again nosedive. Shares fell 41 cents, or 9.7%, to $3.81 in after-hours trading; the stock skidded 41.8% to $4.22 during the regular session in New York, and is down more than 94% for the year. Bank of America Corp., Japan’s Nomura Securities, France’s BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG and Britain’s Barclay’s Plc have been mentioned this week as potential buyers. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which also was being talked about as a potential buyer, is not interested, according to an industry official who ask not to be named. Lehman is also in close contact with both the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve about how to proceed. Any resolution of the Lehman troubles is not expected to involve the use of government money which would set it apart from the billions of dollars that the government put at risk to facilitate the sale of Bear Stearns in March and to rescue mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week. Lehman’s losses soared to almost $7 billion in the last two quarters alone, primarily because of wrong-way bets on mortgage securities and other risky investments. It’s not alone. Global banks have lost more than $300 billion since the subprime mortgage crisis spread to the credit markets one year ago. And the International Monetary Fund has suggested total losses globally could hit $1 trillion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:34 am Key policy changes needed to free India's n-power businessIndia Inc. may be gung ho over the country joining the nuclear club but experts say some key policy issues need to be addressed before domestic firms can get into the atomic power business, seen as a $40 billion investment potential.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:33 am Infosys expects weaker revenue: WSJPTI New York: India’s software services firm Infosys Technologies expects a weaker revenue growth in the current financial year amid global economic slowdown, a US media report said. “Economic uncertainties are weighing on customers’ information technology spending in the US and Europe as the malaise of weakening growth spreads,” Infosys Chief Executive S Gopalakrishnan was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal in its online edition. “That uncertainty is being reflected in (customers’) ability to increase their spending....Even when budgets are released they’re not sure if they’ll get the returns...so they are not able to kick off projects,” Gopalakrishnan said. Last year, Infosys posted revenue of Rs167 billion, reporting a 20% year-over-year rise. The report said that another IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had also stated similar concerns earlier. However, he said that Infosys isn’t seeing any rise in cancellations or demands for price cuts from its clients. The company is maintaining its margin guidance for the fiscal year. Besides, the Wall Street Journal report also quoted Gopalakrishnan saying that the company’s £407.1 million offer for UK-based enterprise-software consulting company Axon Group PLC is a “fair valuation of the company” and that the offer had Axon management’s support. He further added that it is possible that a rival bid may arise, but did not mention that whether Infosys would raise its offer if new bidder emerges. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 5:05 am Rupee weakens on offshore dollar demandMumbai: The Indian rupee weakened in early trade on Friday, as dealers bought dollars locally to sell it offshore and cash in on the high price differential. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at Rs46.00/Rs46.10 per dollar, weaker than the onshore rate. At 9:25 am the partially convertible rupee was trading at Rs45.69/71 per dollar, weaker than Rs45.56/57 at close on Thursday. Dealers said the central bank was expected to intervene in the market to help the rupee if it falls steeply. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:33 am Indian bond yields rise as auctions weighReuters Mumbai: Indian federal bond yields rose on Friday after higher-than-expected inflation and ahead of an Rs80 billion bond auction, which saw some investors sell securities to generate liquidity. At 9:15 a.m, the 10-year benchmark bond yield traded at 8.31%, 3 basis points higher than Thursday’s close of 8.28%. The annual inflation rate was 12.1% for the week to 30 August, below the previous week’s 12.34% but above a forecast of 11.96% in a Reuters poll. The central bank is auctioning Rs50 billion of 8.24% 2018 bonds and Rs30 billion of 7.95% 2032 bonds. It sold Rs90 billion of treasury bills on Wednesday. Industrial output data, due around noon (0630 GMT), is forecast to show growth of 6.5% in July from a year earlier, exceeding 5.4% in June. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 4:05 am DoT amends 3G guidelinesPTI New Delhi: The government has amended the 3G telecom policy to allow only those having a licence or experience of running such a service to apply for spectrum, while also changing norms for levy of annual spectrum fee. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has said that any person who holds a Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) or Cellular Mobile Telecom Service Licence or who has previous experience of running 3G telecom services can bid for spectrum. DoT has already started the process of appointing an agency to conduct auction of spectrum and by 30 September, the agency will be in place. For those with experience of running 3G, the new condition mandates that they give an undertaking to obtain UASL as per DoT guidelines. This means that non-licence holders for 3G spectrum would have to pay Rs1,651 crore as pan-India fee. As far as annual spectrum charges are concerned, DoT has amended the norms and now the companies would have to pay the charges at the rate of one per cent on the “incremental revenue due to 3G services” after a period of one year and the method for this shall be notified separately. Similarly in the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services also, the DoT has amended the guidelines and introduced new frequency band of 2.3 GHz band in addition to the previously notified 2.5 GHz band for spectrum allocation. It also changed the roll out obligations for BWA services and removed the clause of covering specific areas at the end of two years from spectrum allocation date and retained only five years periodicity for fulfilling obligations. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 3:49 am Oil rebounds to above $101 a barrelBy Felicia Loo / Reuters Singapore: Oil prices recovered to above $101 a barrel on Friday, as the markets kept a watchful eye on the path of Hurricane Ike that could disrupt refineries and production in the United States for weeks. US crude for October delivery rose 45 cents to $101.37 a barrel by 0256 GMT, having settled down $1.71 a barrel on Thursday. Prices have fallen to $100.10 on Thursday, the lowest level since early April. London Brent rose 61 cents to $98.25 a barrel, after dropping to a six-month low of $96.99 the previous day. “This is a small price correction following heavy falls in recent days,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia from Sydney. Prices had fallen toward $100 on Thursday amid soft global energy demand. A report that Saudi Arabia had no plans to cut output, despite Opec’s agreement this week to trim supply, also undermined prices. But losses were reversed by Hurricane Ike, which nearly paralysed a quarter of US crude oil production and more than 16% of its refining capacity. Oil markets continued to keep a careful eye on the storm, Moore said earlier in a daily note. The storm menaced Houston, the fourth-most populous US city and hub of the oil industry, sparking worries of fuel shortages and the damage could leave some coastal refineries shut for weeks. Stronger euro Supporting prices further, the euro rebounded from one-year lows against the US dollar on Thursday due to comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet that inflation remained the bank’s key focus. Oil kingpin Saudi Arabia has no plans to cut oil output at present unless customer demand falls, Saudi-owned daily Al Hayat said in an unsourced report on Thursday. Traders will be looking towards U.S. economic indicators due out later on Friday including the August Producer Price Index, August retail sales data and the Economic Cycle Research Institute’s weekly index, to gauge how the economy of the world’s largest oil consumer is faring. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2008 | 3:21 am Insurance industry, major investor in equity marketsNew business premium up 23% in FY 2008. Mumbai, Sept. 11 The life insurance industry was the largest investor in the Indian equity markets, ahead of foreign institutional investors and mutual funds, according to figures released by the Life ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Electronic trading of rights entitlements proposedFor shareholders holding active demat account. Mumbai, Sept. 11 After amending its guidelines to reduce the time line for rights issues, capital markets regulator SEBI has now proposed electronic trading of rights entitlements (RE) through ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideThe outlook remains positive as long as the stock trades above Rs 1,726. We reiterate our buy recommendation with stop-loss at Rs ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Deficit stays at 3% as excess rain zone shifts southThiruvananthapuram, Sept 11 All-India rain deficit remained unchanged at three per cent on Wednesday from the position five days ago but the excess precipitation zone has lately shifted to the southern peninsula. ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Inflation rate falls to 12.1% as some food items turn cheaperWholesale Price Index for all commodities at 240.8 points. New Delhi, Sept. 11 The annual Wholesale Price Index-based inflation rose 12.10 per cent during the week ended August 30, below the previous week’s annual rise of 12.34 per cent, ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Steep hike in support price for kharif cropsHigh raw material costs may be passed on to consumers. Mumbai, Sept 11 The Government has announced the minimum support prices (MSP) for various crops of kharif 2008 season, a recent event that went largely ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Dr Reddys Laboratories (Rs 560.30): SellWe recommend a sell in Dr Reddys Laboratories from a short-term perspective. It is clearly evident from the charts of Dr Reddys Laboratories that it has been on an intermediate-term downtrend from its June high of Rs 739 (a significant ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Brent crude below $100 as weakness sets inMumbai, Sept. 11 On Thursday, for the first time in several months – March 24 this year to be precise – the front-month Brent crude breached the psychological $100 a barrel mark to close at $98.97 a barrel. At the time of writing, ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Slipping oil prices, easing inflation: IT industry to see better days aheadBangalore, Sept. 11 The sharp decline in oil prices and the easing inflationary pressures have raised hopes of the Indian IT industry to look for better prospects in the second-half of the current ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Passenger car sales skid in Aug, two-wheelers race aheadNew Delhi, Sept. 11 The domestic passenger car market shifted gears to a declining sales route in August from the sluggish growth path in the previous months. Car sales recorded a 4 per cent dip for first time in the current fiscal. Apart from ...Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am IndiGo flies past Deccan, becomes the no-frills No. 1IndiGo, the Gurgaon-based carrier, flew past Deccan (now Kingfisher Airlines) to become the largest no-frills carrier in India in August.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Sep 2008 | 10:22 pm ESPN-Star bags Champions League T20 rights for $975mESPN STAR, a joint venture between Disney and Rupert Murdoch's Star, has won the ten-year commercial rights (telecast and ground sponsorship) for the Champions League Twenty20 for $975 million (RsSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 11 Sep 2008 | 7:13 pm Rajan, Virmani in running for RBI deputy governorFinance Minister P Chidambaram held informal consultations on Wednesday on possible candidates for the Reserve Bank deputy governors post.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 11 Sep 2008 | 7:12 pm JetLite to cut staff by a thirdGolden handshake planned, move to cut costs, integrate with flagship Jet Airways.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 11 Sep 2008 | 7:10 pm Online bookstores entice Indian readersNew Delhi: After the US and the UK, India is the third largest book market in the world with a total size of $2 billion. Books worth about $230 million are imported from the US and the UK annually, of which about $5 million worth come from online books vendor Amazon.com. Click here to watch video A1books.com is a new entrant in the world of Indian online bookstores and it now hopes to break into Amazon’s marketshare. ”Our entire US database of books is available in India, and we offer more payment methods. Amazon.com charges $11 for shipping. We are charging 50 rupees, which is about $1.50, says Shinu Gupta, Founder and CEO of A1books. A1books has been in the online books business for 12 years in the US. Its competitors in India are Rediff Books and Indiatimes. But it says it has over a million titles and the largest selection of US books. With so many online players, the competitive edge makes a difference. And in order to stay competitive, Indian websites have some work to do, like reducing the time taken to process payments and adhering to delivery schedules. “We want to be prepared to compete with Amazon when they launch in Asia”, says Amit Vig, Head of Retail Operations, Om Books. Some web sites have made online buying easier for the Indian consumer, by accepting cheques and demand drafts. Others are now starting to add features like images of books, descriptions and reviews. Some are even providing low cost shipping for imported books. Om Books has seen its online store sales increase by 50% a year, but that’s still less than 10% of its total sales. ”Forty percent of our online sales come from foreigners interested in Bollywood and Indian mythology,” says Vig. Most Indian online bookstores have books in different languages on offer. However, books in English dominate sales. Vig says hardly 10% of Om Books’ sales are in Hindi books. With readership increasing at 35% annually, a number of bookstores are opening across metros. Om Books plans to open a bookstore every year because of increasing demand and sees a large inventory in warehouses as an advantage for its online business. But for some rising real estate costs make online book selling a more viable business, enabling them to offer lower prices. A1books, for example, maintains no inventory. Publishers and distributors ship directly to the customer from the website. ”Three hundred and fifty Indian publishers have physically signed up with us”, says A1books’ Gupta. Another reason why online bookstores are bullish on the India story. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Sep 2008 | 5:54 pm IT companies build on insurers’ non-core workNew Delhi: An unexpected surge in the life insurance business is forcing insurers to farm out back-office functions—including data entry and customer service—opening a new business opportunity for software and outsourcing companies such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, or TCS, and International Business Machines Corp., or IBM. Insurers need to outsource such work to keep their costs down, stay focused on their main business and remain competitive at a time when the industry, like many other sectors in Asia’s third largest economy, is struggling with a shortage of trained employees. India has 21 life insurance companies—the latest being DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co. Ltd, a joint venture between real estate developer DLF Ltd and Prudential Financial Inc. of the US. The country opened up the life insurance business to the private sector in 2000 by dismantling the monopoly of state-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India.  Perfect Fit: A call centre in Gurgaon. The new business opportunity is a timely boost for business process outsourcing firms as they try to ride out a slowdown in the US economy. S Burmaula / HT Fresh business, or first-year premiums, in the life insurance sector jumped 23.31% to Rs92,989 crore in 2007-08 from a year ago. In the two preceding fiscals, business had grown even faster at 94.96% and 47.94%, respectively, according to a report by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, or Irda. “To build scalability and speed up our entry in the market, we have outsourced all our non-core activities to different providers. TCS is one of them,” said Kapil Mehta, chief executive officer of DLF Pramerica. “The benefits of outsourcing do not directly come from lower cost. It flows from increased efficiency of work, too. To customers it will benefit in the form of better services as operations will be handled by a specialized team,” Mehta said. TCS declined to comment. The insurance business has grown faster than expected since it opened up, as growing incomes and the absence of a social security system spurred middle-class Indians to opt for long-term savings plans. Trained insurance employees and agents are hard to find in an economy that has been expanding rapidly for the past five years. “Given the crunch of agents in the market, life insurers are expected to outsource more of their activities in future,” said Vikash Jain, engagement director of Everest Group, a consulting firm. For business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, the new business opportunity is a timely boost. Software and services firms are trying to ride out a slowdown in the US following the credit crisis in the world’s biggest economy, after having weathered a steep appreciation in the rupee last year that dented export revenue. “With insurance in India one of the fastest growing businesses, outsourcing of operational work by life insurers is a very positive sign for the BPO industry,” said Sanjiv Kapur, senior vice-president and head of Patni Computer Systems Ltd. “Outsourcing can initially start with non-core processes but gradually we can move up in the value chain with gain in customers’ confidence.” Patni also handles actuarial work, such as assessing whether or not a pension fund has enough assets to pay off promised benefits and calculating prices and payouts for insurance policies for its foreign insurance clients. Overseas insurance firms make up a sizeable share of revenue for Indian outsourcing firms. That’s the kind of skilled and essential work that Indian insurers can gradually farm out. “We have believed in outsourcing as a core philosophy of the company,” said Anita Pai, executive vice-president, customer service and technology, at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. “Outsourcing of core activities can be looked at, but with some kind of internal guidelines.” Max New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd this month entered an outsourcing agreement with IBM India for Max Vijay, a new life insurance policy in which a policyholder can invest as little as Rs10 every day. The policy will be sold through wireless hand-held devices installed at retail outlets, microfinance institutions and non-profit organizations. IBM will provide complete services from policy set-up to claims processing and customer service. IBM declined comment. Life insurers have no option but to outsource work given their high growth rates, said a senior official at Max New York Life, who declined to be named. “We are looking at process-to-process outsourcing for other products, too,” this official said. “At an initial level, however, we plan to begin with non-core activities such as renewal of policies through telecalling, customer service and, later on, documentation which is a technology-driven process.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Sep 2008 | 4:54 pm
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