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Is United Coal buy a distant dream for JSW Steel?In July, JSW Steel announced with much gungho its plans to acquire North American metallurgical coke maker United Coal. It even went to the extent of predicting that the deal will be closed by August. However, that dream has remained just a dream.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:28 pm Advance tax nos not correlated with profitablity: MacquarieAdvance tax numbers numbers have come out and Macquarie\'s report has suggested that there is no correlation between these numbers and company\'s profitabilIty. The report is based on a study of advance tax paid or accounting tax declared by ten companies across seven quarters.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:29 pm Lehman exposure not to hit balance sheet much: ICICI BkEdelweiss sees ICICI Bank\'s MTM losses at USD 400500 million on UK books. Reacting on the same, ICICI Bank has said that UK unit\'s exposure to Lehman is at 57 million and the impact of Lehman exposure on balance sheet is not material.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:47 pm RCom launches prepaid BlackBerry servicesReliance Communications on Tuesday launched the country's first prepaid Blackberry services on both GSM and CDMA models.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:28 pm PNB sees little impact from Lehman exposureNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Punjab National Bank does not see much impact from exposure to Lehman Brothers, its chairman said on Tuesday, without giving details of the exposure the bank had.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:25 pm Tata Communications partners with Bharti TelesoftTata Communications Ltd has partnered with Bharti Telesoft to launch its value-added service (VAS), Intelligent Camel eXchange (ICX), the company announced on Tuesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:15 pm ICICI plans $28-mn additional provision to cover Lehman invstment - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:13 pm Ahead of the Bell: AIG shares fall - Forbes
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:10 pm Rupee posts biggest fall in a decade - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:01 pm IRDA seeks status report from Tata, AIG - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 1:00 pm Lehman India unit to continue trading on BSEMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) said on Tuesday Lehman Brothers had no outstanding open positions or settlement obligations in the spot segment.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:55 pm Rel Cap to enter banking, PE biz - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:53 pm Asian c.banks should not loosen policy - ADB - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:53 pm India copper weak on financial market worries - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:52 pm Rupee posts biggest daily fall in a decadeMUMBAI (Reuters) – The rupee posted its biggest fall in a decade on Tuesday, hit by risk aversion and banks arbitraging a weaker offshore rate, although suspected Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervention stopped the slide just short of 47 per dollar.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:52 pm No fuel price cut as of now: DeoraThe government ruled out a cut in retail fuel prices till global oil prices dips to USD 67 a barrel, saying the fall in rupee against the USD had negated the 38 per cent drop in crude prices.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:44 pm Asian c.banks should not loosen policy - ADBHONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The chief economist of the Asian Development Bank warned Asian policy makers on Tuesday to avoid the temptation of loosening monetary policy to soothe market jitters over the credit crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:42 pm IT stocks hit by global crisisIT stocks continued to fall for the second day on Tuesday reeling under the impact of global financial crisisSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:42 pm ML buy was too compelling to ignore: Bk of America - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:34 pm Uttar Pradesh book fair to offer classics to cook booksChildren's books, cook books, classics and a lot more will be on offer at a national book fair that begins here Sep 18, an organiser of the fair said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:33 pm Cargo carriers likely to continue ground handlingThe government will likely allow cargo carriers to continue handling their own cargo at airports following a representation from them last week, according to a senior official.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:33 pm Markets recover to end flat on short coveringIndian equities markets Tuesday seemed to have weathered the financial tsunami following the collapse of Lehman Bros. and buy out of Merrill Lynch Monday to end the day more or less flat after opening very weak.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:32 pm SunTec to deploy product suite to French companySunTec, provider of relationship-based pricing and centralised billing solutions, Tuesday said French vehicle fleet company Arval will be deploying its product suite to bill customer services.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:32 pm Tata Communications partners with Bharti TelesoftTelecom major Tata Communications Ltd has partnered with Bharti Telesoft to launch its value-added service (VAS), Intelligent Camel eXchange (ICX), the company announced Tuesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:30 pm Reliance to set up Rs 40,000-cr steel plant in Jharkhand!Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group has proposed to set up a 12-million-tonne per annum steel plant in Jharkhand, a top official in the state government said.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm World shares dive, banks shore up markets!Global stock markets have gone into a dizzying fall as the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers sparked fears that more bad news is on the horizon for the finance sector and the economy. Japanese share prices tumbled 5.06 percent by the end of morning trade on Tuesday, with banking shares plummetting.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm ADB downgrades Asian growth forecast, warns of inflation!The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said that developing Asian economies will revert to a more moderate growth outlook of 7.5 percent this year and experience a high inflation rate of 7.8 percent.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm Oil plunges below USD 92 in Asia on US credit fears!Oil prices plummeted on Tuesday in Asia, falling below USD 92 a barrel as investors feared the US credit crisis that brought down brokerage giant Lehman Brothers will drag on global economic growth and restrain demand for crude. Light, sweet crude for October delivery tumbled USD 3.77 to USD 91.94 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm Lehman in talks to sell portions of itself to Barclays: Report!Lehman Brothers was in talks for a deal to sell parts of the company to Barclays Plc with the potential for an agreement to be reached as early as Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday night.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm Lehman collapse: Sensex follows global cues, slides by 400 pts!The global financial Tsunami set in motion after financial giant Lehman Brothers went bankrupt has hit Indian equity markets for second day in a row. The BSE benchmark index Sensex was down by 410 points or 3.03% to13121.48 at 11.25 am. The upheaval on Wall Street and the prospect of more foreign fund outflows also led the NSE Nifty to slide by 82.45 points or 2.02% to 3990.45.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm HP to cut 24,600 jobs worldwide !US technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) said it would cut 24,600 jobs worldwide over the next three years as part of its integration with computer services firm Electronic Data Systems.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm Kamal Nath, French Minister to hold bilateral trade talks!A bilateral meeting between Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath and French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Anne Marie Idrac will be held here on Tuesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm Pawan Hans to buy 16 choppers by fiscal-end: CMD!State-owned Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL), which has issued global tenders to buy 16 helicopters, plans to complete the acquisition process before the end of current financial year.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:26 pm Andrew Yule to complete all divestmentsAndrew Yule will complete its disinvestment in Phoenix Yule Ltd, its engineering and electrical units, and Dishergarh Power by the end of this fiscal, a top company said here on Tuesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:14 pm Citigroup is big trustee to Lehman debtCitigroup and Bank of New York Mellon are trustees to $138 billion of Lehman Brothers' bonds, the biggest on the list of unsecured creditors.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:13 pm Intel rolls out computer chip with six brainsSan Francisco: Intel on Monday rolled out its first chip with six brains, unveiling a “multi-core” microprocessor that boosts computing muscle while cutting back on electricity use. The world’s leading computer chip maker’s new Xeon 7400 series microprocessor is tailored for businesses that want to boost server performance while conserving on space and energy. Intel executives say the Xeon 7400 is part of an “incremental migration” toward chips with limitless numbers of “cores” that seamlessly and efficiently share demanding computer processing tasks. Intel and rival Advanced Micro Devices have two-core and four-core chips on the market. The six-core chip delivers 50% more performance than its quad-core predecessor while using 10% less electric power, according to Intel enterprise group vice president Tom Kilroy. Electricity and cooling expenses can account for nearly half the cost of running company computer servers. “It isn’t just performance and energy efficiency but the use models,” Kilroy said of the boon promised by increasingly powerful chips. “One of the major ones is virtualization.” Multi-core chips are boons to computing trends including high-definition video viewing online; businesses offering services applications on the Internet; and single servers running many “virtual” machines. “There is a realization that we will be able to bring things to market that weren’t feasible four years ago,” MySpace vice president of technical operations Richard Buckingham said while discussing the new chip’s potential. MySpace is among a growing number of Internet companies using “virtualization” to essentially multiply the usefulness of computing hardware with software that creates simulated computers complete with operating systems. Multi-core chips basically allow computers to divvy up tasks to work on simultaneously instead of having a single powerful processor handle a job in a linear style from start to finish. Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Unisys and Fujitsu are among the computer makers building the new Xeon 7400 chips into servers designed for business networks, according to Intel. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:11 pm Nokia adds Bharti Airtel to ad networkHelsinki: Nokia has signed up carriers Sprint and Bharti Airtel and a number of European publishing houses as partners for a mobile advertising network it is building, it said on Tuesday. The world’s biggest cellphone maker entered the market when it bought US mobile advertising firm Enpocket last year. It plans to use partnerships with carriers to push advertising to publishers’ mobile websites, with Nokia acting as an ad agency. New publishing members of the network include the International Herald Tribune Europe, Agence France-Presse France and RTL Mobile Germany, Nokia said. Existing members include Reuters and Cosmopolitan. The mobile and advertising industries are currently working out how best to exploit a market that research firm Gartner estimates will be worth more than $12 billion by 2011. Cellphone makers and carriers need new revenue streams to balance the constant pressure to cut prices for handsets and standard services like voice calls. Nokia is creating mobile campaigns for brands that include banner ads, location finders and mobile coupons. It says its media network gives advertisers access to more than 100 million consumers through its partners. Nokia said click-through rates on its network - the percentage of ads delivered that users click on - average 10%, significantly higher than the industry average. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:11 pm Intel rolls out computer chip with six brainsSan Francisco: Intel on Monday rolled out its first chip with six brains, unveiling a “multi-core” microprocessor that boosts computing muscle while cutting back on electricity use. The world’s leading computer chip maker’s new Xeon 7400 series microprocessor is tailored for businesses that want to boost server performance while conserving on space and energy. Intel executives say the Xeon 7400 is part of an “incremental migration” toward chips with limitless numbers of “cores” that seamlessly and efficiently share demanding computer processing tasks. Intel and rival Advanced Micro Devices have two-core and four-core chips on the market. The six-core chip delivers 50% more performance than its quad-core predecessor while using 10% less electric power, according to Intel enterprise group vice president Tom Kilroy. Electricity and cooling expenses can account for nearly half the cost of running company computer servers. “It isn’t just performance and energy efficiency but the use models,” Kilroy said of the boon promised by increasingly powerful chips. “One of the major ones is virtualization.” Multi-core chips are boons to computing trends including high-definition video viewing online; businesses offering services applications on the Internet; and single servers running many “virtual” machines. “There is a realization that we will be able to bring things to market that weren’t feasible four years ago,” MySpace vice president of technical operations Richard Buckingham said while discussing the new chip’s potential. MySpace is among a growing number of Internet companies using “virtualization” to essentially multiply the usefulness of computing hardware with software that creates simulated computers complete with operating systems. Multi-core chips basically allow computers to divvy up tasks to work on simultaneously instead of having a single powerful processor handle a job in a linear style from start to finish. Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Unisys and Fujitsu are among the computer makers building the new Xeon 7400 chips into servers designed for business networks, according to Intel. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:11 pm Nokia adds Bharti Airtel to ad networkHelsinki: Nokia has signed up carriers Sprint and Bharti Airtel and a number of European publishing houses as partners for a mobile advertising network it is building, it said on Tuesday. The world’s biggest cellphone maker entered the market when it bought US mobile advertising firm Enpocket last year. It plans to use partnerships with carriers to push advertising to publishers’ mobile websites, with Nokia acting as an ad agency. New publishing members of the network include the International Herald Tribune Europe, Agence France-Presse France and RTL Mobile Germany, Nokia said. Existing members include Reuters and Cosmopolitan. The mobile and advertising industries are currently working out how best to exploit a market that research firm Gartner estimates will be worth more than $12 billion by 2011. Cellphone makers and carriers need new revenue streams to balance the constant pressure to cut prices for handsets and standard services like voice calls. Nokia is creating mobile campaigns for brands that include banner ads, location finders and mobile coupons. It says its media network gives advertisers access to more than 100 million consumers through its partners. Nokia said click-through rates on its network - the percentage of ads delivered that users click on - average 10%, significantly higher than the industry average. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:11 pm Senior Bengal Cong leader attends Trinamool Singur rally - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:03 pm Vikram Limaye joins board of IDFCMumbai: The Board of Directors of Infrastructure Development Finance Co (IDFC), at its meeting held on 15September, 2008, appointed Vikram Limaye as whole-time director on the Board of IDFC. He joined IDFC in March 2005 and has played an important role in transforming the company by shaping its strategy and helping it become a diversified financial services organization over the last three years. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:59 am Henkel to expand air freshener product portfolioBy PTI New Delhi: Henkel, which has clocked a sales of about Rs500 crore in India mainly through its home cleaning products, is now expanding its ‘Renuzit´ brand of room sprays with launching car fresheners, continuous air instant fresheners and super odour neutralizers. “We started marketing Renuzit in India with room sprays and sold them exclusively in the modern trade channel but are now entering the growing car freshener and continuous air freshener market with innovative consumer offerings,” Henkel India category manager, laundry and homecare division, Debashis Das told PTI. He said Henkel has been able to garner an average market share of 10% across supermarket chains. “We are looking at garnering 20% shares in modern trade stores over the next couple of years,” Das added. “The air freshener market is only Rs55 crore market but is growing at around 30%,” he said adding that the company is looking to expand its retail presence. Das, however, said Henkel would seek to consolidate its existing range before going for any further diversification of the portfolio. The company is targeting the premium and upper-end segment of customers. Henkel’s Renuzit range include aerosol sprays (5 varieties), adjustable continuous air fresheners (4), cars fresheners (2) and super odour neutralizers (2). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:59 am Nath opposes propping up rupeeNew Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today said he is against propping up rupee which has hit a two-year low against the US dollar on concerns of capital outflows from emerging markets. “We should not calibrate the exchange rate,” Nath said. He said that a fast depreciation of the domestic currency appears to be an aberration. Asked whether a weak rupee would not lead to a wider trade deficit through expensive imports, Nath said: “Rupee weakening also means higher exports”. He said that India has a strong institutional system but it did not ‘artificially’ prop up the currency. Rupee has hit a two-year low of 46.53 against the a dollar on concerns that the global financial turmoil would lead to asset outflows from the emerging economies, including India. Asked whether he favoured continuation of the sops for exporters which were given when the rupee had notched up sharp gains last year, Nath said: “I am in favour of anything that supports exports because exports create economic activity and generate employment.” Weakness in the local currency has helped exports grow by 24.6% in the April-July period to $59.19 billion. The export target for the fiscal 2008-09 is set at $200 billion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:57 am HP to axe 25,000 staffNew Delhi: Job market seems to be turning gloomy not only in the banking space but also in the technology sector, with global IT giant Hewlett-Packard planning to slash close to 25,000 jobs across the world. However, it was immediately not clear what would be the impact in India, where HP has over 30,000 employees. “Approximately 7.5% of the combined company’s workforce, or about 24,600 employees, will be affected over the course of the program,” HP said. HP’s job cut plans come in the midst of huge layoffs in the financial services sector, where thousands of employees have already been given pink slips by firms like Citigroup. Thousands more job cuts are expected to come soon in the backdrop of Merrill Lynch’s distress sale to Bank of America, Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy protection and firms like AIG suffering huge losses. However, the layoffs at HP are of different in nature and are part of the integration process related to the company’s recent acquisition of EDS. HP said that nearly half of the reductions would be in the United States. HP has a considerable presence in India with over 30,000 employees working for the firm, but the company’s officials in the country declined to comment on how the Indian workforce would be impacted by the restructuring. In India, thousands of employees of Lehman and Merrill Lynch are already at risk of losing their jobs, while AIG is also said to be nearing a possible bankruptcy, which could lead to layoffs there as well. Besides, a number of IT and BPO firms in India have significant exposure to financial services majors of the US and those firms being deep in the financial crisis could lead to the Indian entities losing a number of contract, which could subsequently result into job losses. HP said in its statement that it intends to implement a restructuring program for the EDS business group that will better align the combined company’s overall structure and efficiency with the operating model that HP has successfully implemented in recent years. However, the company made it clear that it will provide employees affected by this restructuring program with severance packages, counseling and job placement services. Once completed, the restructuring program is expected to result in annual cost savings of about $1.8 billion. These savings are net of reinvestments in areas including sales coverage, delivery optimisation and emerging markets, it added. HP will be recording a charge of $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 relating to the restructuring program. About $1.4 billion, of which will be recorded as goodwill and $0.3 billion will be recorded as a restructuring charge that will be included in HPs GAAP financial results. The company has announced it ahead of their security analyst meeting. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:56 am HP to axe 25,000 staffNew Delhi: Job market seems to be turning gloomy not only in the banking space but also in the technology sector, with global IT giant Hewlett-Packard planning to slash close to 25,000 jobs across the world. However, it was immediately not clear what would be the impact in India, where HP has over 30,000 employees. “Approximately 7.5% of the combined company’s workforce, or about 24,600 employees, will be affected over the course of the program,” HP said. HP’s job cut plans come in the midst of huge layoffs in the financial services sector, where thousands of employees have already been given pink slips by firms like Citigroup. Thousands more job cuts are expected to come soon in the backdrop of Merrill Lynch’s distress sale to Bank of America, Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy protection and firms like AIG suffering huge losses. However, the layoffs at HP are of different in nature and are part of the integration process related to the company’s recent acquisition of EDS. HP said that nearly half of the reductions would be in the United States. HP has a considerable presence in India with over 30,000 employees working for the firm, but the company’s officials in the country declined to comment on how the Indian workforce would be impacted by the restructuring. In India, thousands of employees of Lehman and Merrill Lynch are already at risk of losing their jobs, while AIG is also said to be nearing a possible bankruptcy, which could lead to layoffs there as well. Besides, a number of IT and BPO firms in India have significant exposure to financial services majors of the US and those firms being deep in the financial crisis could lead to the Indian entities losing a number of contract, which could subsequently result into job losses. HP said in its statement that it intends to implement a restructuring program for the EDS business group that will better align the combined company’s overall structure and efficiency with the operating model that HP has successfully implemented in recent years. However, the company made it clear that it will provide employees affected by this restructuring program with severance packages, counseling and job placement services. Once completed, the restructuring program is expected to result in annual cost savings of about $1.8 billion. These savings are net of reinvestments in areas including sales coverage, delivery optimisation and emerging markets, it added. HP will be recording a charge of $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 relating to the restructuring program. About $1.4 billion, of which will be recorded as goodwill and $0.3 billion will be recorded as a restructuring charge that will be included in HPs GAAP financial results. The company has announced it ahead of their security analyst meeting. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:56 am Lufthansa takes a strategic equity share in Brussels AirlinesNew Delhi: Brussels Airlines is embarking on a new future with Lufthansa. Lufthansa Chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber and SN Airholding Chairman Eitienne Davignon have signed an agreement, which initially envisages a strategic stake in SN Airholding SA/NV and, in a second step, the full integration of the Belgian carrier in the Lufthansa Group. The agreement still requires the approval of the regulatory authorities and the Lufthansa Supervisory Board as well as the Board of Directors and shareholders of SN Airholding SA/NV. In a first step, Lufthansa is taking out a stake of 45% in SN Airholding SA/NV for €65 million via a capital increase. After securing the air traffic rights of Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa will then have an option of acquiring the remaining 55% from 2011. It would then wholly-own the Belgian carrier. The price for taking up the remaining 55% depends on performance-related factors so that the cost for complete acquisition of Brussels Airlines could amount to a maximum of €250 million. The jointly drafted integration model is shaped along the lines of the successful cooperation between Lufthansa and SWISS: It envisages that Brussels Airlines will operate as a largely independent company in the Lufthansa Group subject to its uniformly formulated targets, strategic guidelines and financial resources. It also stipulates that, after exercise of the option, Brussels Airlines should retain its headquarters and management in Brussels. It will continue operating and developing its strengths under its familiar brand with its own aircraft and crew, and expand its local advantages in the Belgian market. That includes a demand-driven route network including intercontinental connections. The Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich will complement the overall services offered to customers in accordance with specific market potential, customers’ preferences and cost structures. The integration is designed to enable Brussels Airlines to operate in a demanding market environment, to develop further, attain its growth targets and raise its profitability, and thereby offer customers and staff better long-term perspectives. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:55 am Lufthansa takes a strategic equity share in Brussels AirlinesNew Delhi: Brussels Airlines is embarking on a new future with Lufthansa. Lufthansa Chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber and SN Airholding Chairman Eitienne Davignon have signed an agreement, which initially envisages a strategic stake in SN Airholding SA/NV and, in a second step, the full integration of the Belgian carrier in the Lufthansa Group. The agreement still requires the approval of the regulatory authorities and the Lufthansa Supervisory Board as well as the Board of Directors and shareholders of SN Airholding SA/NV. In a first step, Lufthansa is taking out a stake of 45% in SN Airholding SA/NV for €65 million via a capital increase. After securing the air traffic rights of Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa will then have an option of acquiring the remaining 55% from 2011. It would then wholly-own the Belgian carrier. The price for taking up the remaining 55% depends on performance-related factors so that the cost for complete acquisition of Brussels Airlines could amount to a maximum of €250 million. The jointly drafted integration model is shaped along the lines of the successful cooperation between Lufthansa and SWISS: It envisages that Brussels Airlines will operate as a largely independent company in the Lufthansa Group subject to its uniformly formulated targets, strategic guidelines and financial resources. It also stipulates that, after exercise of the option, Brussels Airlines should retain its headquarters and management in Brussels. It will continue operating and developing its strengths under its familiar brand with its own aircraft and crew, and expand its local advantages in the Belgian market. That includes a demand-driven route network including intercontinental connections. The Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich will complement the overall services offered to customers in accordance with specific market potential, customers’ preferences and cost structures. The integration is designed to enable Brussels Airlines to operate in a demanding market environment, to develop further, attain its growth targets and raise its profitability, and thereby offer customers and staff better long-term perspectives. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:55 am K K Birla group’s fertiliser biz to be co-sharedKolkata: The fertiliser businesses of K K Birla Group would be co-shared among the Poddar, Bhartia and Nopany families. The group’s two fertiliser companies —Zuari Industries Limited and Chambal Fertilisers — would have Saroj Kumar Poddar, son-in-law of late K K Birla, as Chairman. Zuari Industries informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that at the board meeting held today, Saroj Kumar Poddar, who is married to Birla’s second daughter Jyotsna, has been appointed Chairman with immediate effect. The other company, Chambal Fertilisers, also informed the BSE that Saroj Kumar Poddar would be the Chairman of the board, Shyam S Bhartia, co-Chairman and Chandra Sekhar Nopany, son of Birla’s eldest daughter Nandini Nopany, Additional Director. While Zuari’s stock was quoted at Rs261 on the exchanges, Chambal Fertiliser’s share was hovering at around Rs61. The complete succession plan of the K K Birla Group was unveiled with the two companies announcing the new Chairman and others who would co-share the flagship business area of the group. Noted industrialist K K Birla, who passed away on 30 August, has left behind a huge diversified group with an annual turnover of Rs10,000 crore. The sugar and textile businesses of the group would be looked after by Chandra Sekhar Nopany. The engineering units and Texmaco would go to Saroj Poddar and the media business would be looked after by Birla’s youngest daughter Shobhana Bhartia. The group has almost 15 companies, some of which were listed and some closely held. Birla also created several modern institutions, including Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani. He also set up the K K Birla Academy to undertake research on scientific, cultural and historical subjects. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:54 am Oil drops 4 percent on financial market turmoilLONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell more than 4 percent on Tuesday on rising concern that turmoil in global financial markets will further undermine fuel demand and send investors into safer havens.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:51 am Rel Cap may enter banking biz when norms permitAnil Ambani,CMD, Reliance Capital said that the company would enter into the banking sector as and when regulations permit. He said that Reliance Capital would enter into the asset reconstruction business into the institutional broking and PE business. He said the company would invest RS 2000 crore into insurance operations.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:48 am HPCL to decide by Nov on funding of Vizag refineryNew Delhi: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and its partners will decide by November on the project structure and funding of the proposed 14-15 million tonnes a year refinery-cum-petrochemical plant at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. The five-way alliance of HPCL, steel czar Lakshmi N Mittal, French energy giant Total, gas utility GAIL and Oil India Ltd are currently doing pre-feasibility study for the project that may cost at least & $6 billion. “We should have project structure and refinery configuration ready by end October or November to make the investment decision,” a source in the joint venture said. The joint venture will by November freeze cost of the refinery after the pre-feasibility study is completed and will then decide on the equity structure of the project. “Most likely, it will be a 14-15 million tonnes export-oriented refinery. We are studying the demand for petrochemicals and their markets to decide if a naphtha-based petrochemical unit should be constructed along with the refinery,” the source said. The five companies have only signed an MoU and equity structure would be decided after the completion of pre-feasibility study. The pre-feasibility report that is looking at demand in India and Asia and project economies, will be ready by end of third quarter of 2008 after which the steering committee of the five partners will meet to decide if the project is to be taken up, he said. If the project goes through, this will be Mittal’s second refinery venture in India after he picked 49% stake in HPCL’s greenfield refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab that is set for commissioning by early 2012. Mittal Investment Sarl, which holds Mittal family’s interest in ArcelorMittal, Total, GAIL, HPCL and OIL had in October signed a memorandum of understanding to look at the feasibility of setting up the project. The refinery was earlier planned for 15 million tonnes per annum capacity, but may be scaled down to 14 million tonnes, the source said. Total is leading the project feasibility and demand studies, while GAIL is in charge of the study of the petrochemical unit. He said the exact equity structure and project finances would be decided only after the feasibility studies are completed. About 2,500 acres of land near HPCL’s existing 7.5 million tonnes a year refinery at Vizag has been acquired for the project. “The plant in all probability would be an export-oriented unit and fuel produced by the refinery would be exported to markets in South-East Asia and Middle East,” he said, adding that the product demand in Asia is likely to rise by 5 million barrels a day in 10 years from now. While the refinery would be built to process sour and heavy crudes, which are cheaper than low-sulphur sweat crude oil, the petrochemical plant may use the naphtha produced in the refinery as feedstock. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:48 am ICICI says has 57 mln euro of Lehman bondsMUMBAI (Reuters) - ICICI Bank said on Tuesday it had 57 million euros ($81 million) of Lehman Brothers senior bonds, and would increase its provision on the debt by about $28 million to cover half of that exposure.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:47 am Ukraine’s governing coalition collapsesKiev: Ukraine’s pro-Western coalition collapsed Tuesday, paving the way for complicated coalition talks or yet another early parliamentary election. The nine-month-old alliance composed of parties loyal to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his 2004 Orange Revolution partner, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, fell apart following months of infighting between the two leaders. They have become fierce rivals ahead of a presidential election scheduled for 2010. It is the latest setback in the country’s four-year-old embrace of democracy, amid growing tensions with Russia following its war with Georgia last month. Ukrainian politicians are split between those condemning the Kremlin and determined to push for membership in NATO, and those weary of antagonizing their giant neighbor. “I officially announce the termination of the democratic coalition in the Verkhovna Rada,” parliament speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk told lawmakers, referring to the Ukrainian legislature. “It is yet another democratic challenge, but I hope that together we will overcome this challenge.” The parliament now has 30 days to form a new coalition; if it fails, a new election will be called. That would be the third parliamentary vote in as many years and another blow to hopes for quick reforms in Ukraine and its integration with the West, which both leaders campaigned for. The two leaders have engaged in a political tug-of-war since Tymoshenko regained the premiership in December, accusing each other of corruption and incompetence and blocking each other’s policies. The final straw came when Yushchenko accused Tymoshenko of acting in the Kremlin’s interests by failing to condemn Russia’s war with Georgia. Tymoshenko fired back that Yushchenko’s overwhelming support of Georgia was dragging Ukraine into the conflict. Tymoshenko then teamed up with the Russia-friendly opposition to pass a law that trims presidential powers and boosts her own. Yushchenko called that a coup attempt, and his party pulled out of the coalition. The infighting dealt a devastating blow to Yushchenko’s popularity and that of his party. According to a poll conducted this month by the Kiev International Sociology Institute, should an election be held, Tymoshenko’s party would get 24%, the Russia-friendly Party of Regions would garner 23% and Yushchenko’s bloc less than 4%. The poll comprised 2,036 respondents across the country and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. Some analysts predict that if a new coalition can be formed to avoid elections, it may involve the Party of Regions, making the new government more friendly toward the Kremlin. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:47 am Markets pare losses by closeLivemint.com New Delhi: The markets wiped out most of their losses by close with the BSE benchmark index settling at 13,519 levels, down 12 points. The Sensex had slipped to 13,051 in intra-day deals after a sell-off by foreign funds following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers led to turmoil in global stock markets. A depreciating rupee also impacted sentiment, dealers said. The broader-based Nifty closed flat at 4,075 levels. The recovery based on bargain hunting and short covering towards the fag end of the trading session was led by oil and gas counters with the BSE oil and gas index surging 1.5%. Indian PSU oil refining and marketing companies – BPCL, HPCL and IOC registered strong gains on the back of easing crude oil prices that dropped $3 a barrel in Asian trade on Tuesday. Reliance Industries moved up 2.5% or Rs47 and was among the top gainers in the pack. Most banking counters rebounded from their intra-day lows with State Bank of India logging gains of over 7% or Rs109 by close. Allahabad Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Bank, Karnataka Bank and Yes Bank were some of the other key gainers. However, realty counters witnessed heavy sell-off. Anant Raj Industries (down 15%), Sobha Developers (7.3%), Indiabulls Real Estate (6.5%), Mahindra Life (5.4%) and Peninsula Land (4.6%) lost ground. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:47 am Asian growth to ease to 7.5%: ADBAP Hong Kong: Growth across developing Asia will slow to 7.5% this year from 9% in 2007 in the face of rising inflation, turbulent financial markets and weakening world demand, the Asian Development Bank has said. Inflation is expected to climb to 7.8% this year from 4.3% last year, the Manila-based lender said in a report, further squeezing a region where food and fuel costs account for nearly 60% of household spending. Next year could see inflation ebb to 6%. Downturns in the US and Europe, buyers of vast amounts of Asian-made goods, will only aggravate the situation. Already, there are signs that demand for exports is waning. “Uncoupling is a myth,” ADB chief economist Ifzal Ali said, referring to the idea that Asian economies are increasingly less dependent on the US and Europe to drive their growth. “The region still depends on industrial countries to fuel its growth. If the global slowdown extends beyond 2009, the repercussions for the region could be severe,” he said. The forecast comes amid turmoil in financial markets, with Asian stocks plunging today on news about the bankruptcy filing of US investment bank Lehman Brothers and that Bank of American is buying Merrill Lynch. The Chinese economy, which expanded 10.4% in the first half of the year, is likely to see its growth rate moderate somewhat to 10% for the year due to softening demand for its exports and tighter fiscal measures, the ADB said. The country will post 9.5% growth for 2009 as its trade surplus and investment shrink. On Monday, the Chinese central bank said it was cutting interest rates for the first time in more than six years to stimulate growth. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:46 am Now HP to axe 25,000 staffGlobal IT giant Hewlett-Packard plans to slash close to 25,000 jobs across the world but says financial crisis not to blame.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:44 am ICICI has Rs 375-cr exposure in Lehman BrothersCountry's largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank said its London subsidiary has 57 million Euro (about Rs 375 crore) exposure in the Lehman Brothers.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:41 am Nifty ends 5-day losing streak; RIL, SBI, HDFC Bk - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:38 am States demand greater share in divisible Central taxesStates on Tuesday asked the Finance Commission to increase their share in the divisible pool of the central taxes to 50 per cent from the current 30.5 per cent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:36 am 'India cannot be immune to global financial crisis'In view of its economic integration with the world economy, India cannot remain immune to the present global financial crisis, Reliance Capital Chairman Anil Ambani has said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:35 am GLOBAL MARKETS - Global equity selloff wreaks havoc on money mktsLONDON (Reuters) - Investors dumped equities and oil as the financial meltdown spread on Tuesday, a day after Lehman Brothers collapsed, driving the yen and government bonds higher and unleashing a panic rush to secure short-term cash.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:32 am Barclays in talks on Lehman unit, crisis spreadsLONDON (Reuters) - Barclays emerged as a potential buyer of some of felled investment bank Lehman Brothers' assets, as the financial sector carnage spread on fears American International Group could be the next to fall.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:10 am Sensex pares losses, ICICI Bank tumblesMUMBAI (Reuters) – The Sensex pulled out from a nosedive to end almost level on Tuesday after starting down 3.5 percent, as domestic funds chased bargains in the battered market and triggered hectic short covering.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:08 am Indian equities recover from weak start, end flatIndian equities markets Tuesday seemed to have weathered the financial tsunami following the collapse of Lehman Bros. and buy out of Merrill Lynch Monday to end the day more or less flat.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 11:00 am Intel unveils most powerful chip designed in IndiaThe world's largest chip maker Intel Corp Tuesday unveiled its most powerful six core microprocessor designed and developed at its India development centre in this information technology (IT) hub.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 10:00 am Andrew Yule to re-launch packet tea during festive seasonAndrew Yule will re-launch its packet tea during the festive season this year and pump in Rs.600 million over the next 12 years into its tea business for modernization of its gardens, a top company official said here Tuesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 10:00 am India not to cut fuel prices despite drop in crudeNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will consider cutting fuel prices only if the average cost of the crude oil it imports falls sharply to $67 per barrel, Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:44 am Lehmans India exposure worst already over?Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing in the US over the weekend will certainly have significant implications for the broader financial market and fund flows into India. But the fear that dumping of shares by the beleaguered Lehman group will now send the entire Indian market into a tailspin, may well be exaggerated, reports The Hindu Business Line.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 9:27 am Dish TV offers new Rs 100 packExisting DTH players are making sure their share of the subscriber pie will not shrink with the entry of new players such as Reliance ADAGs Big TV.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:52 am HCL in talks to buy captive BPOsHCL Technologies has plans to acquire three or four captive BPOs in the banking and financial services space in the AsiaPacific region, a senior official with the company said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:51 am Educomp teams up with Intel, Dell, AcerEducomp Solutions Ltd has partnered with Intel, Dell and Acer to drive up the use of technology into classroom teaching and learning in schools across India. The company said it has also bid for technologyaided educational projects at 9,000 odd government schools across the country.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:49 am Titagarh Wagons set to take joint control of Cimmco BirlaTitagarh Wagons Ltd is poised to take joint control of Cimmco Birla, a sick wagon unit promoted by the SK Birla group.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:46 am SABMiller on revamp mode to gear up for growth phaseAfter consolidating its operations in India, SABMiller has restructured its organisation to gear itself up to the growth phase.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:44 am Welspun India spins off wings into separate firmsHome furnishings and textiles maker, Welspun India, part of the $3-billion diversified Welspun Group, Tuesday announced the de-merger of two divisions - distribution and marketing, and investment - into two separate companies on a cost basis.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 8:32 am Reliance Capital plans housing finance armReuters Mumbai: Indian financial services firm Reliance Capital Ltd plans to set up a housing finance subsidiary and a non-banking finance company, Chairman Anil Ambani said on Tuesday. “Reliance Capital, a unit of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has made the necessary applications and is awaiting regulatory approvals,” he said at a shareholders’ meeting. Reliance Capital will invest more than Rs40 billion ($860 million) across its portfolio including insurance over the next three to five years, he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 6:54 am Indian equities slide further on weak global cuesA day after the mayhem in global stock markets following the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Bros and Merrill Lynch's takeover announcement by Bank of America, equities continued to slide in Indian bourses.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2008 | 6:32 am AIG ratings downgraded as it struggles with capitalNorth Carolina: American International Group Inc., the world’s largest insurer, was hit by a wave of downgrades by credit-rating agencies worried that the deteriorating housing market is further undermining the company’s battered finances. All three major agencies Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Services and Fitch Ratings dropped AIG’s ratings at least two notches late on Monday. While the new ratings are all still considered investment grade, the downgrades add to the pressure on AIG as it seeks billions of dollars to strengthen its balance sheet. AIG spokesmen did not return calls seeking comment on the impact of the downgrades. But last month, the company estimated in a regulatory filing that a one-notch downgrade of its long-term senior debt ratings by both S&P and Moody’s would force it to post $13.3 billion in extra collateral. The need for that extra capital would put a constraint on AIG’s day-to-day liquidity position, which is why the company has been seeking new financing or capital investments. AIG is in a precarious position, in part, because of concerns about its credit ratings and how that would affect its portfolio of financial instruments known as credit default swaps. The swaps are essentially insurance coverage to protect investors against defaulting bonds or debt. Moody’s said it downgraded AIG “in light of the continuing deterioration in the US housing market and the consequent impact on the group’s liquidity and capital position due to its related investment and derivative exposures.” AIG has been battered over the past year by billions of dollars of losses tied to deterioration in the mortgage and credit markets. On Monday its shares fell $7.38, or 60.8%, to close at $4.76. The Federal Reserve has asked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to work with JPMorgan Chase & Co. about a possible short-term loan to keep AIG in business, according to a person familiar with the request who could not speak publicly because talks were still ongoing. The loan could be for about $70 billion, the person said. AIG’s chief executive, Robert Willumstad, who has been CEO since June, has indicated he is willing to shed some assets, saying about a month ago that a “less complex AIG would be a better competitor.” Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 6:20 am AIG ratings downgraded as it struggles with capitalNorth Carolina: American International Group Inc., the world’s largest insurer, was hit by a wave of downgrades by credit-rating agencies worried that the deteriorating housing market is further undermining the company’s battered finances. All three major agencies Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Services and Fitch Ratings dropped AIG’s ratings at least two notches late on Monday. While the new ratings are all still considered investment grade, the downgrades add to the pressure on AIG as it seeks billions of dollars to strengthen its balance sheet. AIG spokesmen did not return calls seeking comment on the impact of the downgrades. But last month, the company estimated in a regulatory filing that a one-notch downgrade of its long-term senior debt ratings by both S&P and Moody’s would force it to post $13.3 billion in extra collateral. The need for that extra capital would put a constraint on AIG’s day-to-day liquidity position, which is why the company has been seeking new financing or capital investments. AIG is in a precarious position, in part, because of concerns about its credit ratings and how that would affect its portfolio of financial instruments known as credit default swaps. The swaps are essentially insurance coverage to protect investors against defaulting bonds or debt. Moody’s said it downgraded AIG “in light of the continuing deterioration in the US housing market and the consequent impact on the group’s liquidity and capital position due to its related investment and derivative exposures.” AIG has been battered over the past year by billions of dollars of losses tied to deterioration in the mortgage and credit markets. On Monday its shares fell $7.38, or 60.8%, to close at $4.76. The Federal Reserve has asked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to work with JPMorgan Chase & Co. about a possible short-term loan to keep AIG in business, according to a person familiar with the request who could not speak publicly because talks were still ongoing. The loan could be for about $70 billion, the person said. AIG’s chief executive, Robert Willumstad, who has been CEO since June, has indicated he is willing to shed some assets, saying about a month ago that a “less complex AIG would be a better competitor.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 6:20 am Rupee falls to weakest since Aug 2006Mumbai: The Indian rupee fell to its weakest level against the dollar since August 2006 on Tuesday, hit by concerns about capital outflows following upheaval on Wall Street and heavy dollar demand from oil firms and foreign banks. At 11:20 am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.61/63 per dollar, off a low of Rs46.65, its weakest since 3 August, 2006. It had ended at Rs46.05/06 on Monday. India’s main share index was down around 3%, hurting sentiment on the rupee. Lower oil prices and the possibility of central bank intervention could provide some support for the rupee which ended down 0.65% at Rs46.05/06 per dollar on Monday, off a low of Rs46.08, its weakest since 20 September, 2006. Oil, India’s biggest import, was trading below $92 a barrel, as the collapse of Lehman Brothers ignited fears the credit crisis may weaken the global economy and further depress energy demand. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:56 am Welspun India to demerge divisionsReuters Mumbai: Terry towels and home furnishings maker Welspun India Ltd said it will demerge its distribution and marketing as well as its investment divisions into two separate firms. The distribution and marketing company will hold all the international businesses as well as Welspun Retail, and will be known as Welspun Global Brands. The investment firm will be called Welspun Investments Ltd. “Welspun India shareholders will get 10 shares in the marketing company and 5 shares in the investment firm for every 100 held,” it said. “The restructuring will give more flexibility on business operations by increasing focus on specific tiers of the business,” Welspun India said. Upon the demerger, set to be completed by April next year, both new firms will be listed separately on the NSE and BSE. Shares of Welspun India were up 2.05% at Rs39.80 in a weak Mumbai market. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:28 am Wall St woes dampens lavish NY lifestylesNew York: The deepening upheaval on Wall Street has rippled throughout New York’s business community, hurting everyone from luxury goods stores to charities to Manhattan restaurants, store owners and experts say. With New York already feeling the effects of a weak US economy, the fall of bank Lehman Brothers, the sale of its rival Merrill Lynch & Co Inc and the struggles of insurer American International Group, all headquartered in Manhattan, has only added to concerns as Wall Street lays off well-paid bankers and the wealthy rein in their spending. “These people will probably have to start curbing on some of the more lavish expenses,” said Matthew Miller, editor of Forbes magazine’s list of the richest Americans. “A $20 martini might need to turn into a $15 martini - it’s all relative.” “There’s probably a lot of millionaires who can’t buy their girlfriends Prada bags this Christmas,” he quipped. The biggest financial industry shake-up since the Great Depression will likely worsen an already tough situation, the city’s restaurant owners and retailers say. Wall Street’s total compensation is about 35% of all wages and salaries paid in New York. Each job in the financial sector creates from one to as many as four service jobs, at companies ranging from shops to law firms, economists say. “There has been a definite downturn in the economy and a restaurant purchase is a discretionary purchase. People don’t have to eat in restaurants,” said Chuck Hunt, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association. “The only thing we’ve got going for us in terms of customers are the Europeans that come in with their euros that are worth a lot more than our dollar at this point,” he said. Sari Brown, chief executive of Internet retailer and boutique store LuxCouture, which sells items priced up to $5,000, said people trying to stay in fashion are definitely shopping more responsibly. “People want to shop but even the wealthy people, they’re buying differently,” she said, speaking a few yards from Lehman’s midtown building. “Shopping is like a disease and they want to keep doing it, so they shop differently.” Fewer chartered jets New York’s millionaires may also be choosing more humble means of transportation. Ricky Sitomer, chief executive of Blue Star Jets, which arranges luxury chartered air travel, said his clients are changing the way they spend. “People who are wealthy are still wealthy. They’re being more prudent with their money, making wiser decisions,” he said. “Not knowing what the future is, especially on Wall Street right now, people are looking for less-expensive alternatives to fly private.” Milton Pedraza, the head of the Luxury Institute, an organization researching high-net worth consumers, said the wealthy were looking for alternative ways to maintain their lifestyles such as renting instead of owning assets. Charities are also suffering from Wall Street’s woes. “This is the worst fundraising environment I have worked in in my 25-plus year career in fundraising for nonprofit organizations,” said Jeff Towers of the American Red Cross. He said the effects of hurricanes Gustav and Ike alone could reach $100 million and to date the charity has raised only $10 million. In 2004, US corporations donated an average of 1.5% of their pretax profits to charity, but that portion has since declined to 0.7 percent, said Mark Shamley of the Association of Corporate Contribution Professionals. “Our signals tell us that corporate giving as a whole is expected to remain flat or slightly decrease in the coming fiscal cycle,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:21 am Terror on agenda of Bush, PM talksBy PTI Washington: Condemning the serial blasts that rocked New Delhi over the weekend killing 24 people, the United States today said terrorism will be high on the agenda when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets President George W Bush later this month. The Prime Minister, who will go to the United Nations for attending the General Assembly, will meet Bush at the White House on 25 September. “We were distressed to see the terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in India this weekend. We obviously stand with the Indians in trying to fight against terrorism and extremists, and we would help them in any way that we can to fight back against them,” White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said. When asked whether the President will discuss the issue of terrorism with Singh, she said: “Absolutely. And I know that he and the prime minister will talk about it when he’s here,” Perino said. During their meeting, the two leaders may sign the Indo-US nuclear deal if it is approved by then. The senior White House official also said she believed that the latest developments on the global economy will be discussed at the United Nations with world leaders, including India. “I think there is no doubt that the way that our system -- our financial system works in the world now, that everything is much more globalised, and they are dependent on one other. Which is why Secretary Paulson has been talking with his counterparts so frequently in the past several months,” Perino said. “And increasingly over the past weekend they did that with more frequency. I’m sure that the economy is going to be a topic at the UNGA meeting, which is going to take place next week. It was a topic at the G-8 meeting, and the G-7 ministers continue to talk about it as well,” Perino added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 5:09 am Asian markets tumble after Lehman collapseHong Kong: Asian stock markets plunged on Tuesday after the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused a meltdown on Wall Street, with governments holding emergency meetings to stave off a wider financial crisis. Hong Kong opened off 6.5% and Tokyo was down more than 5.0% as trading screens across the region went red on the heels of the biggest one-day point loss on the US markets since the 11 September terror attacks. Officials appealed for calm, trying to avert a public panic and urging investors not to over-react to the plunge, which comes after months of market turmoil set off by US subprime, or high-risk, housing loans. But the bankruptcy filing by Lehman, a US banking institution that had survived even the 1929 stock market crash in the Great Depression, intensified worries about the seemingly endless fallout from the subprime mortgage fiasco. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson vowed on Monday to ensure “stability and orderliness” at home and overseas, but markets across Asia found no solace after news that two Japanese banks were among Lehman’s biggest lenders. Aozora, one of those banks, lost almost 18% of its share value by mid-day. Meanwhile Lehman’s Japanese unit was reported to have liabilities of $32.6 billion - the second most of any bankruptcy filing in post-war Japan. Government officials held an emergency meeting with Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Masaaki Shirakawa. The BoJ injected $14.4 billion dollars into money markets to try to calm the turmoil. But there were fears the chaos would continue to have a broad impact across Asia, not least in Japan, the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. In South Korea, share prices were down 5.4% in early trade and the currency, the won, was down three percent against the dollar. The central bank said it would intervene on the foreign exchange market if necessary. American International Group (AIG), one of the world’s biggest insurance companies, slid 60.8% and could now be facing the end after three major credit agencies lowered their ratings for the firm. Meanwhile Merrill Lynch got a lifeline with a $50 billion takeover deal from Bank of America in a move that appeared to ease some worries. But shares in Bank of America fell 21%. European markets were also sharply affected on Monday. London’s FTSE 100 index slumped 3.9%, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 3.8% and in Frankfurt the DAX shed 2.7%. The Hong Kong government said it would ensure orderly market trading as shares tumbled sharply. At least six blue-chip stocks were down more than 10% by mid-morning. Markets across the region were hit hard. Sydney was down 2.6%, Jakarta opened down 6.5%, Shanghai was off 4.1% and Singapore was off 2.3%. Manila plunged 4.3% at the opening bell. Taipei shares were off 3.9%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:46 am BoJ injects money to help calm crisisBy Mari Yamaguchi / AP Tokyo: The Bank of Japan injected 1.5 trillion yen ($14 billion) into markets Tuesday as Japan scrambled to calm fears about a financial crisis after US investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Financial Services Minister Toshimitsu Motegi sought to allay fears by saying the impact on Japanese financial institutions was limited. “So far, we haven’t confirmed any signs that Japanese financial institutions are seriously affected,” he said, adding officials will “raise alert levels” to closely monitor the situation. Japan’s central bank pumped 1.5 trillion yen ($14 billion) into money markets even before trading began to prepare for possible volatility in the wake of Monday’s news that Lehman had filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. Its Japanese unit did the same on Tuesday. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 5%, falling under than 12,000-point level for the first time since mid-March. The dollar also nose-dived to 104 yen levels. With Monday being a holiday here, Tuesday was the first day for investors to react to the news about Lehman’s collapse, as well as news that Bank of America had taken over Merrill Lynch for about $50 billion. The Bank of Japan issued a statement vowing to take measures to maintain stability in the country’s financial markets. Cabinet ministers, along with the central bank chief, were also holding an emergency meeting. “The Bank of Japan will closely watch development surrounding the latest US financial institutions and its impact, and will continue to take appropriate measures to maintain smooth settlement and stability in the financial market,” Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said in a statement. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors on Monday. The 158-year-old investment bank was crippled by $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings and was unable to find an investment partner to throw it a lifeline. Its Japanese unit also filed for bankruptcy protection at a Tokyo court Tuesday under the Japanese civil rehabilitation law, according to the office of Hiroyasu Ueda, lawyer representing the company, with debt totaling about 3.43 trillion yen (US$33 billion). The size of the debt is the second-largest bankruptcy in Japan since the World War II, according to a think-tank Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd. Lehman Brothers Japan officials were not immediately available for comment Tuesday. Actual exposure Some of the Japanese lenders to Lehman Brothers said Tuesday that their actual exposure to Lehman would be little changed from their earlier projection or even smaller. Aozora Bank Ltd., which is among the top lenders to Lehman, said its projected exposure could be “less than $25 million,” or “less than 6% of the $463 million exposure reported in Lehman bankruptcy filings, as it assumes “reasonable recoveries” against Lehman’s Japan unit and market pricing for recoveries against its US parent. Another Japanese lender Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc. said it has a total of 15 billion yen in loans to Lehman Brothers and its Japan unit, while regional Chiba Bank said it’s lending to Lehman totaled $47 million (4.98 billion yen), and will announce its impact on earnings projections. On Monday, Japan’s financial watchdog ordered Lehman’s Japan unit to suspend operations. The agency said in a statement that Lehman’s Japanese operations, except those that involve returning assets to customers would be suspended for 12 days starting Monday. The agency issued a separate statement ordering Lehman’s Japanese unit to take “full measures” to protect investors and assets after it filed for bankruptcy. The Japanese watchdog also ordered Lehman Brothers Japan Inc. to keep certain assets in the country. Lehman opened its first office in Japan in 1973, and its Tokyo office is key for its global operations. Citing data from the Japanese financial watchdog, Kyodo News agency said Lehman’s Japanese unit manages about 1.2 trillion yen ($11.4 billion) worth of assets from investors. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2008 | 4:39 am Bisleri to register Maaza brand in eastern EuropeBisleri International has decided to register the mango drink brand — Maaza — in eastern European countries, and launch the brand through a franchisee operation.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Aban Offshore (Rs 2,308.55): BuyWe recommend a buy in Aban Offshore from a short-term perspective. It is clearly visible from the charts of Aban Offshore that its intermediate-term downtrend which began in late May from Rs 4,292 appears to have halted at around Rs 2,015 duringSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Bloodbath on Dalal St as FIIs exitMumbai, Sept. 15 The rout in the global equity markets following the crises at US-based investment banking firms Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch shook the Indian stock markets on Monday, sending the benchmark indices plunging by 6 per centSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Rupee falls to below 46; bonds gainMumbai, Sept. 15 As news of Lehman Brothers’ filing for bankruptcy sent the stock markets into a churn, the rupee breached the 46- level against the dollar on Monday, for the first time in two years. Widening arbitrage in the overseasSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Indian stocks better Asian peers in routBL Research Bureau Investors appalled by the mayhem in the equity markets on Monday can take heart from the fact that Indian equities have outperformed their Asian peers in the last two months.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcyLehman Brothers Holdings Inc today filed for bankruptcy protection, making it the largest casualty of the global credit crisis, and given its assets at the time of filing, Lehman surpassed WorldCom as the biggest U.S. Bankruptcy filing till date.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideIn the last trading session, the stock tumbled by 4 percent decisively penetrating it 200-day moving average. The daily relative strength index has entered into the bearish zone. We recommend a sell.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Who said crude price fall is good for equitiesChennai, Sept. 15 Even the continuing collapse in crude prices, as well as other commodities, could not protect the stock market from a poor performance. Back in mid-July, when oil was $147 a barrel, few expected the possibility that it mightSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Iron ore exports rise despite imposition of dutyNew Delhi, Sept. 15 Export of iron ore from India has actually gone up after the Government tried to restrict exports of this non-renewable natural resource by imposing exportSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am BankAm to buy Merrill Lynch for $ 50 billionMerrill Lynch & Co. agreed late on Sunday to sell itself to Bank of America Corp for roughly $50 billion.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 Sep 2008 | 12:00 am Holland, team to join AmbitAndrew Holland, managing director of the strategic risk group (SRG) for DSP Merrill Lynch in India, has resigned with most of his team of eight to ten people to join Ashok Wadhwas AmbitSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Sep 2008 | 7:29 pm BankAm gets brokerage, wealth mgmt in IndiaThe buyout of Merrill Lynch will give Bank of America (BankAm) access to the financial power houses huge wealth management and broking business in India.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Sep 2008 | 7:28 pm More than Rs 2,000 crore wiped out from Lehman's India investmentsThe 158-year-old Lehman Brothers move to file for bankruptcy today wiped off more than Rs 2,000 crore from the market valuation of those Indian companies in which the US financial major hasSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Sep 2008 | 7:27 pm Sensex sees 850-point intra-day fallThe tsunami in the US financial markets following the stunning sell-out of the 94-year-old Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers devastated the Indian stock markets on Monday.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 Sep 2008 | 7:23 pm Job portal Shine.com hits the one million markNew Delhi: Within four months of its launch, Shine.com, an exhaustive career portal launched by Firefly eVentures under the HT Media banner, has touched the figure of over one million candidates in its job database. According to Amit Garg, business head, Firefly eVentures, “Shine is more than an ordinary jobsite – it is a one-stop career portal that is based on a unique patented Matching Technology model having numerous career-related content and tools that help candidates make correct career choices. From a recruiter’s perspective the site’s matching technology makes business sense since it allows shortlisting of relevant candidates within minutes, as compared to days spent using other means. The site puts out candidate profiles on the basis of experience, educational qualifications and so on. Majority have more than two years work experience with a healthy representation from premier institutes and from across organizational levels, including top management. Garg elaborated, “Shine has a high proportion of qualified candidates who are not available on other job sites. This is attributed to the site being geared towards meeting the need of career conscious candidates, who till now perceived job portals as being largely for entry-level, B-grade job hoppers”. He added that Shine’s commitment to safeguarding the identity of its candidates is a key feature. Media plans launched for 2008-09 across multimedia platforms include TV, Internet, Print, radio, cinema and below-the-line activities. Firefly e-Ventures Ltd., is a 100% HT Media subsidiary that manages Hindustantimes.com, Livemint.com, Desimartini.com and Shine.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Sep 2008 | 5:53 pm Use of brain scans in courts dismays criticsMumbai: The new technology is, to its critics, Orwellian. Others view it as a silver bullet against terrorism that could render waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods obsolete. Some scientists predict the end of lying as we know it. Now, well before any consensus on the technology’s readiness, India has become the first country to convict someone of a crime relying on evidence from this controversial machine: a brain scanner that produces images of the human mind in action and is said to disclose signs that a suspect remembers details of the crime in question.  Illustration: Jayachandran/Mint The technologies, generally regarded as promising, but unproved, have yet to be widely accepted as evidence—except in India, where in recent years judges have begun to admit brain scans. But it was only in June, in a murder case in Pune, in Maharashtra, that a judge explicitly cited a scan as proof that the suspect’s brain held “experiential knowledge” about the crime that only the killer could possess, sentencing her to life in prison. Psychologists and neuroscientists in the US, which has been at the forefront of brain-based lie detection, variously called India’s application of the technology to legal cases “fascinating”, “ridiculous”, “chilling” and “unconscionable”. (While attempts have been made in the US to introduce findings of similar tests into court cases, these have been generally by defence lawyers trying to show the mental impairment of the accused, not by prosecutors trying to convict.) “I find this both interesting and disturbing,” Henry T. Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford Law School, said of the Indian verdict. “We keep looking for a magic, technological solution to lie detection. Maybe we’ll have it someday, but we need to demand the highest standards of proof before we ruin people’s lives based on its application.” Whatever American scientists think, law enforcement officials from several countries, including Israel and Singapore, have shown interest in the brain-scanning technology and have visited government labs that use it in interrogations, Indian officials said. Methods of eliciting truth have long proved problematic. Truth drugs tend to make suspects babble as much falsehood as truth. Polygraph tests measure anxiety more than deception, and good liars may not feel anxious. In 1998, the US Supreme Court said there was “simply no consensus that polygraph evidence is reliable”. This latest Indian attempt at getting past criminals’ natural defences begins with an electroencephalogram (EEG) in which electrodes are placed on the head to measure electrical waves. The suspect sits in silence, eyes shut. An investigator reads aloud details of the crime—as prosecutors see it— and the resulting brain images are processed using software built in Bangalore. The software tries to detect whether, when the crime’s details are recited, the brain lights up in specific regions— the areas that, according to the technology’s inventors, show measurable changes when experiences are relived, their smells and sounds summoned back to consciousness. The inventors of the technology claim the system can distinguish between people’s memories of events they witnessed and between deeds they committed. The Brain Electrical Oscillations Signature (Beos) test was developed by Champadi Raman Mukundan, an Indian neuroscientist who formerly ran the clinical psychology department of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in Bangalore. His system builds on methods developed at US universities by other scientists, including Emanuel Donchin, Lawrence A. Farwell and J. Peter Rosenfeld. Despite the technology’s promise—some believe it could transform investigations as much as DNA evidence has—experts in psychology and neuroscience were almost uniformly troubled that it was used to win a criminal conviction before being validated by any independent study and reported in a respected scientific journal. Publication of data from testing of the scans would allow other scientists to judge its merits—and the validity of the studies—during peer reviews. “Technologies, which are neither seriously peer-reviewed nor independently replicated, are not, in my opinion, credible,” said Rosenfeld, a psychologist and neuroscientist at Northwestern University and one of the early developers of EEG-based lie detection. “The fact that an advanced and sophisticated democratic society such as India would actually convict persons based on an unproven technology is even more incredible.” After passing an 18-page promotional dossier about the Beos test to a few of his colleagues, Michael S. Gazzaniga, a neuroscientist and director of the SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said: “Well, the experts all agree. This work is shaky at best.” None of these experts has met the Indian inventors and the investigators using the test. One British forensic psychologist, who has met them, said he found the presentation highly convincing. “According to the cases that have been presented to me, Beos has clearly demonstrated its utility in providing admissible evidence that has been used to assist in the conviction of defendants in court,” Keith Ashcroft, a frequent expert witness in the British courts, said in an email message. Two states, Maharashtra and Gujarat, have been impressed enough to set up labs using Beos for their prosecutors. Sunny Joseph, a state forensic investigator in Maharashtra who used to work with Mukundan as a researcher on Beos in Bangalore, said the test’s results were highly reliable. He said Mukundan had done extensive testing, as had the state. Here in Maharashtra, about 75 crime suspects and witnesses have undergone the test since late 2006. But the technique received its strongest official endorsement, forensic investigators here say, on 12 June, when a judge convicted Aditi Sharma of murder based on evidence that included polygraph and Beos tests. In the only other significant judicial statement on Beos, a judge in 2006 in Gujarat denied the test the status of “concluded proof”, but wrote that it corroborated already solid evidence from other sources. In writing his opinion on the Pune murder case, judge S.S. Phansalkar-Joshi included a nine-page defence of Beos. Sharma insists that she is innocent. Even as the debate continues over using scans to trip up obfuscators, researchers are developing new uses for the technology. No Lie MRI Inc., a company in California, promises on its website to use the scans to help with developing interpersonal trust and military intelligence, among other tasks. In August, a committee of the National Research Council in Washington predicted that, with greater research, brain scans could eventually aid “the acquisition of intelligence from captured unlawful combatants” and “the screening of terrorism suspects at checkpoints”. “As we enter more fully into the era of mapping and understanding the brain, society will face an increasing number of important ethical, legal and social issues raised by these new technologies,” Greely, the Stanford bioethicist, and his colleague Judy Illes wrote last year in the American Journal of Law and Medicine. If brain scans are widely adopted, they added, “the legal issues alone are enormous, implicating at least the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution. At the same time, the potential benefits to society of such a technology, if used well, could be at least equally large”. ©2008/The New York Times Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Sep 2008 | 5:13 pm Lehman-invested Indian firms lose over Rs2,000 croreMumbai: Lehman Brothers’ move to file for bankruptcy on Monday wiped off more than Rs2,000 crore from the market valuation of those Indian companies in which the US financial major has made equity investments. Lehman itself recorded a loss of more than Rs50 crore on Monday on its investments in India, which is nearly 10% of its current holding worth an estimated over Rs500 crore. The loss would have been much higher if Lehman had not started offloading its equity holding in Indian companies late last month. In a major selling spree that started on 21 August, Lehman has sold shares worth close to Rs400 crore in nearly 10 companies, including NIIT Ltd, Cranes Software, Amtek Auto, Amtek India, Fedders Llyod, Northgate, Mastek, Triveni Engg and Prajay Engg. Prior to this sell-off, Lehman’s Indian equity portfolio is estimated to have been worth more than Rs1,000 crore, which has now nearly halved to about Rs500 crore. Most of the shares offloaded by Lehman in India, including those in NIIT, Cranes, Amtek Auto, Amtek India and Northgate, has been purchased by Deutsche Bank, according to the bulk and block deal data available with the bourses. Besides the 10 companies where Lehman has offloaded its shares, Lehman had equity holding in about two dozen firms at the end of June quarter. These firms include Spice Communications, Spice Mobile, Anant Raj Industries, Edelweiss Cap, IVRCL Infra, Tulip Telecom, Consolidated Construction, PSL, Orbit Corp, Development Credit Bank, Champagne Indage, Godawari Power, KPIT Cummins, West Coast Paper, IOL Netcom, Dhampur Sugar, Prithvi Info, Golden Tobacco, Emkay Global, Vijay Shanti Builders and Pioneer Embroidery. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Sep 2008 | 11:41 am
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