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Nano finds new home in Gujarat; Ratan Tata, Guj CM ink pactTata Motors has signed an agreement with the Gujarat government for the Nano Plant. Nano will manufacture 2.53.5 lakh units in the first phase and 5 lakh units in the second phase. More than 60 industries will come up together in the same complex. Rajkot will be the location for the second and the third ancillary units.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:01 pm Cashstrapped airlines up inflight advt to raise revenueAirlines are using creative ways to make money, so the next time you look at the ceiling, there could be a brand staring up at you and whether or not, it will make you feel better and even the airsickness bag could be a branded one and if thats not done they might even offer you a test drive of the latest car as soon as you land.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 3:48 pm Barclays, RBS in talks with European banks for fundingBarclays and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are in talks with European banks and the government for around USD 79 billion funding, reports CNBCTV18, quoting reports. RBS CEO Fred Goodwin declined to comment on Government recapitalization, reports CNBC.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 2:40 pm Tata Motors to make Nano in GujaratMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Motors Ltd said on Tuesday it will make its ultra low-cost Nano in Gujarat and will launch the car in the the Jan-March quarter of 2009, after it pulled out of West Bengal last week because of protests.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:49 pm Rupee backs off its lowest since Dec '02MUMBAI (Reuters) – The rupee clawed back some of its losses on Tuesday after dropping to its lowest since December 2002, but weaker Asian currencies and a fall in the local stock market kept pressure on the unit.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:42 pm Tata Motors signs deal for Nano in GujaratMumbai: Tata Motors Ltd on Tuesday signed an agreement with Gujarat state to make the ultra low-cost Nano car there, days after India’s top vehicle maker pulled out of West Bengal state. Chairman Ratan Tata and other company officials signed and exchanged documents with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. Tata Motors, which had planned to launch Nano from around October, had received offers from several other states after announcing its pullout last week from West Bengal, where farmers unhappy with the compensation for their land had forced work to be suspended for more than a month at the factory. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:37 pm Russia and Iceland move to stem banking crisisREYKJAVIK/LONDON (Reuters) - Iceland sought an emergency bailout from Russia on Tuesday and the Russians unveiled an aid package for their own banks in the latest piecemeal responses to the global financial crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:35 pm Airtel set to enter direct-to-home television sectorTelecom operator Airtel Tuesday announced it would launch a direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service from Oct 9.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:30 pm India's Tata Motors signs deal for Nano in Gujarat - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:27 pm Tata Motors signs deal for Nano in GujaratMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Motors Ltd on Tuesday signed an agreement with Gujarat to make the ultra low-cost Nano car there, television images showed, days after India's top vehicle maker pulled out of West Bengal.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:23 pm Oilmeal exports dip in September - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:18 pm Domestic market to protect Indian economy from global crisis - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:17 pm BSE Sensex falls; Tata Motors up on Nano hopesMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex staged a late rally to trim losses to 0.9 percent on Tuesday, helped by domestic institutional buying in battered blue chips, but sentiment was weak after British banks were hammered on funding worries.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:15 pm Mkts end mixed amid extreme volatility; Nifty above 3600 - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:07 pm Ahead of the Bell: Legal fight for Wachovia halted - Forbes
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:03 pm Opposition wants Achuthanandan's son probed in Smart City dealKerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's statement that the Rs.15-billion Smart City project will not come under the new special economic zone (SEZ) guidelines has hit a fresh controversy -- with the opposition accusing his son of being involved in the decision and demanding an independent probe.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:03 pm Kerala-based SunTec ties up with eServGlobalCommunication and payment service major eServGlobal has signed a partnership agreement with the city-based billing solutions provider SunTec, the latter announced here Tuesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:02 pm ISIS Group to buy 10 Hawker jets for chartered operations in IndiaAircraft manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft Corp (HBC) announced Tuesday that the UK-based investment company ISIS Group has placed orders worth $70 million for 10 Hawker 400XPs light jets for its chartered operations in India.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:01 pm WIFW gets bigger with 10 commercial partners, 79 designersFor the first time in its 10-year history, the premier Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) that focuses strongly on promoting business-to-business contacts will have as many as 10 commercial partners, 79 designers, 53 models and 36 shows as the event gets bigger and better with each passing year.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 pm Australia rate cut stuns, markets thirst for moreSYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) - Australia stunned markets with its steepest interest cut in 16 years on Tuesday and investors expected that other central banks would follow suit in a coordinated move to combat the global credit crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:56 am Nano in Gujarat, Tatas likely to identify site in CharodiThe Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi and Tata Motors Chairman Ratan Tata will hold a joint press conference at 5.30 pm today to announce the new Nano plant site, reports CNBCTV18. Tata Motors are likely to have identified site at Charodi In Sanand, near Ahmedabad.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:53 am Sensex ends lower as sentiment remains weakMumbai: In a day marked with high volatility, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday shed another 106 points as funds continued their selling-spree amid the melting in global stock markets. Taking positive cues from Reserve Bank’s cutting CRR rate by 50 basis points on Monday, the BSE barometer commenced the day higher by a handsome over 379 points and had regained the 12,000 level, which it lost on Monday on massive selling for the first time in two years. However funds continued their selling, pulling down the key index to 11,695.24, a loss of 106.46 points. With selling continuing unabated, the Sensex even dipped to the low of 11,501.85 points during the day. As the market experienced choppy trade throughout the day, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved between 3,732.65 and 3,537.00 points before ending at 3,606.60, a marginal gain of 4.25 points. Trading activity was mixed as initial gains were on the back of the RBI cutting cash Reserve ratio, which would infuse Rs20,000 crore into the liquidity. But reports of melting global stock markets quickly reversed the trend. Stocks in Europe and Asia declined on concerns that financial firms may need more capital than $USD 700 billion, announced in the bailout package by the US. The downtrend overshadowed the speculation that central banks around the world may reduce interest rates. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1%, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 0.5 %. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated less than 0.1%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:46 am Bharti Airtel launches DTH servic - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:14 am PE investments in listed firms suffer loss of $1.27 bn: ReportPTI New Delhi: The meltdown in the market and bearish trading sentiments have taken a toll on private equity investments in the listed firms as these deals have suffered loss to the tune of a whopping $1.27 billion so far this year, says a report. An analysis of private investment in public equity (PIPE) in 2008 shows that these deals in the country have lost suffered a loss of $1.27 billion so far this year. “The overall till date-return on PIPE deals of 2007 on volume basis is down 24.07% aggregating to a loss of $1.27 billion on absolute basis,” according to the latest report of Nexgen Capitals, the merchant-banking arm of brokerage firm SMC Global Securities. In 2007 the total investment in PIPE deals were to the tune of $5.29 billion, while the current mark-to-market value of these deals now stands at $4.02 billion. Wealth creation was highly imbalanced in different sectors. While media and real estate witnessed a major erosion in value, only telecom space braved the downtrend and managed to post decent returns. “Only telecom with Bharti stood out the volatile capital market conditions. The investments made in media and real estate sectors have lost about two-thirds of their value,” the report added. An analysis of the various sectors shows that media suffered the maximum loss (66.25%) followed by real estate (64.12%), and infrastructure and IT & ITeS reported loss of 56.65% and 55.18%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:14 am Sebi for exchange traded platform for greater transparencyMumbai: Market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said that India needed to graduate from over-the-counter to exchange traded platform in derivatives trading to provide transparency, better execution and liquidity. “We have to move progressively to the exchange-traded platform from OTC to provide transparency, better execution and liquidity,” Sebi’s Executive Director Manas S Ray said. “Sebi would have a relook at the regulatory mechanism,” he said. “We have to realign regulation (in keeping with present requirements),” Ray said. “The country needs to introduce direct market access, currency derivatives and interest-rate futures,” he added. Referring to commodity prices, which had shot up worldwide earlier this year, Ray blamed (overseas) index funds for investing in futures, which led to a speculation in the spot market. “Index funds had invested heavily in commodity futures leading to speculation in futures in the US and major economies,” he said. “Financial markets are integrated but the Indian markets are insulated to a large extent”, he said. “The top five US banks have base in India, but efforts have been taken to see that the crisis in the US does not spread here,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:14 am Japan dollar funding ops keep credit open for world - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:13 am UK-based firm places order for 10 Hawker business jetsNew Delhi: A premier British investment firm today announced orders for 10 new Hawker business jets, worth over $70 million, which would be operated on lease for air charters in India by a Bangalore-based firm. “The UK-based ISIS Group placed firm orders for 10 Hawker 400XP light jets at a business aviation convention in Florida yesterday,” a Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) spokesperson said. These aircraft would be leased and operated for air charter services by Aviators India Pvt Ltd, whose entire operations would be supported by InterGlobe General Aviation’s HBC-authorised service centre in Delhi. For the ISIS Group, this initial purchase of aircraft is for their new investment in the Aviators India, which would launch its charter services in the second half of next year. While five of these aircraft would be delivered next year, the remaining five would be delivered in 2010. “This order highlights the growing demand in India for private aircraft and it further cements Hawker Beechcraft as the superior choice for business travel in the region,” HBC President (Commercial Sales) Brad Hatt said in a statement. Maintaining that the existing sales of aircraft engines was ‘strong’, he said: “With the surge of orders we have experienced in India this year, we are poised to continue to grow our aviation leadership position in the region.” The Hawker 400XP aircrafts are the ‘biggest, fastest and most reliable’ light jet in its class, the HBC said, adding that it had a spacious interior and could fly at a maximum cruise speed of 465 knots or 535 miles per hour. The HBC is headquartered in Kansas, USA. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 11:06 am Airtel launches DTH serviceNew Delhi: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel made its debut in the television space with the launch of its direct to-home (DTH) satellite television service, which will offer over 175 channels across the country from 9 October. The service would be available to customers through 21,000 retail points including Airtel Relationship Centres in 62 cities. “This is a right time for Airtel to enter the market the launch of Airtel digital TV is the culmination of our ‘three screens´ strategy, which is to be present across mobile phone, computer and TV screens. We are very clear at Airtel and will take over as a leader of the sector as soon as possible,” Airtel chief executive officer and managing director Manoj Kohli said. At present there are five DTH players in the Indian market. There are 225 million households across the country and the penetration is only 3% for DTH services. “There is a huge potential in this market. We believe that the Indian DTH segment offers immense growth potential going forward. With added benefits of Airtel’s strong brand equity and wide distribution network, we are well placed to emerge as a leading player in the segment,” he added. Initially , the company had introduced three different packages for the North and Southern markets. For the Northern market, the package starts from Rs2,499 and for the South, the package would start from Rs1,499. “Depending on the language and genre of channels, the monthly tariffs would range from Rs125 to Rs424,” he informed. The company would also offer special deals for its eight million existing mobile, broadband and other customers. Kohli further said that the company’s DTH services would have universal remote for both set-top box (STB) that receive signal from the antenna, and the television set, besides other features such as high STB memory, exclusive interactive applications, onscreen games and more efficient battery. “Airtel digital TV uses the MPEG4 standard with DVB S2 technology, which translates into picture clarity and consistent high quality audio for the customer,” he said, adding: “This technology also enables delivery of more complex interactive content and is High Definition ready.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:59 am Precision to launch bomb disposal robot at IFSECNew Delhi: Precision Operations Systems, a supplier of security equipment to the armed forces is launching a state-of-the-art advanced EOD robot at IFSEC India 2008, an exhibition that brings together leading players from the security industry. Advance EOD Robot Caliber is used by bomb squads to detect and dispose off bombs. The robot consists of two arms, one of which is a claw (to lift objects and other tools) and the other arm houses twin disruptors, which are used to dispose off bombs. The robot can be fitted with a semi-automatic weapon and has two audio and video communication systems, playing a pivotal role during emergency situations like kidnappings and hostage crisis. Armed with a camera for day and night time operations, it has in-built features that make it possible for an operator to easily see the surroundings during the operation. The robot has a removable track system that helps the robot climb up the stairs. This helps it to function in harsh environmental conditions such as sand, mud and snow. It can be controlled from a wireless command and control unit from a distance of 1km. IFSEC India 2008 will be held from 16-18 October 2008 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:55 am Precision to launch bomb disposal robot at IFSECNew Delhi: Precision Operations Systems, a supplier of security equipment to the armed forces is launching a state-of-the-art advanced EOD robot at IFSEC India 2008, an exhibition that brings together leading players from the security industry. Advance EOD Robot Caliber is used by bomb squads to detect and dispose off bombs. The robot consists of two arms, one of which is a claw (to lift objects and other tools) and the other arm houses twin disruptors, which are used to dispose off bombs. The robot can be fitted with a semi-automatic weapon and has two audio and video communication systems, playing a pivotal role during emergency situations like kidnappings and hostage crisis. Armed with a camera for day and night time operations, it has in-built features that make it possible for an operator to easily see the surroundings during the operation. The robot has a removable track system that helps the robot climb up the stairs. This helps it to function in harsh environmental conditions such as sand, mud and snow. It can be controlled from a wireless command and control unit from a distance of 1km. IFSEC India 2008 will be held from 16-18 October 2008 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:55 am BoA to raise $10 billion, slashes dividendNew York: World’s largest finance services company Bank of America (BoA), which has acquired investment banking major Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial, has slashed its dividend and plans to raise $10 billion adding another $1.4 billion to the company’s capital. The company initiatives aim at raising capital, targeting an eight per cent tier 1 capital ratio, which includes sale of common stock for raising $10 billion, a Bank of America statement said. In addition, the board of directors declared a quarterly dividend on common stock of $0.32 to be paid on 26 December, 2008 to shareholders of record on 5 December, 2008. Assuming the current number of issued and outstanding shares, the reduction from $0.64 paid in recent quarters would add more than $1.4 billion to the company’s capital each quarter, the statement added. “We believe it is prudent to raise capital to very substantial levels in this uncertain environment. Both economic and financial market conditions have changed significantly in the last two months,” BoA Chairman and CEO Kenneth D Lewis said. “We were willing to operate at capital levels over the short-term that were good, but not at our targeted levels, given projections two months ago,” he added. “We now believe it is important to be at or near our 8% Tier 1 capital ratio target given the recessionary conditions and outlook for still weaker economic performance which we expect to drive higher credit losses and depress earnings,” he said. We believe that achieving higher capital levels today will position our company to provide credit to those consumers and businesses that are attracted to our strength and stability, added Lewis. BoA Corporation reported a decrease in the net income of $1.18 billion in the third quarter 2008 from $3.70 billion a year-ago. Lower earnings in the third quarter was due to significant increase in provision expense, as credit costs continued to rise, partially offset by advances in various income categories largely as a result of the acquisition of countrywide Financial Corporation on 1 July and LaSalle Bank. Countrywide results were not included in prior period results, the statement said. Commenting on the financial turmoil Lewis said: “These are the most difficult times for financial institutions that I have experienced in my 39 years in banking”. On dividend reduction Lewis said,“We know many investors in our stock are quite disappointed with a dividend reduction”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:44 am NHPC defers IPO till stock mkt condition improvesPTI New Delhi: State-run hydro power producer NHPC, which was planning to come out with a Rs1,670 crore initial public offer, is witholding the offer the time being. “NHPC is ready to hit the capital market as all governmental approvals have been accorded. They are waiting for the right opportunity to enter the market, the company has told the ministry that as the market improves they will announce the IPO,” Power Secretary Anil Razdan told PTI. The company had earlier scheduled to hit the market between 13 - 17 October to raise Rs1,670 crore worth fresh equity besides premium. NHPC Board had approved the IPO together with 5% disinvestment of government stake in the first week of August. Asked whether NHPC has filed the final prospectus with Sebi, company officials said it would be submitted along with replies to the queries raised by the market regulator. This is the second time that NHPC would be forced to defer the IPO. First time, last year when the company had to shelve its plans as independent directors were not on the Board and now due to the choppy market conditions. NHPC, which accounts for 3.7% of country’s total power generation capacity, targets to double its capacity by 2012 from the present 5,200 MW and has outlined expansion plans worth Rs28,000 crore. The company has also proposed to come out with a public issue of about 111.82 crore fresh shares and 55.91 crore existing shares of Rs 10 each at a premium that is expected to fetch the company about Rs 5,500 crore and government about Rs 2,800 crore. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:40 am IMF picks Egyptian finance minister as chiefWashington: The policy-steering committee of the International Monetary Fund has elected Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali as its chairman, the first to come from the emerging market or developing countries who have been pushing for more influence in the 185-nation organization. He won in a consensus vote Friday after Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chadambaram dropped out. Normally the post has been held by a European although one chairman in the 1980s was a Canadian. Boutros Ghali succeeds Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italy’s former minister of economy and finance, who resigned in May 2008 after his party lost an election. Boutros Ghali, nephew of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali, will preside over his first International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting on Saturday, which is expected to focus on the global financial crisis. The committee meets twice a year and provides guidance to the IMF’s 24-member executive board, which handles day-to-day operations. Boutros Ghali is a former member of the IMF staff, who was Egypt’s chief negotiator for reform programs with the IMF in the late 1980s and 1990s. He is a nephew of former Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a former secretary-general of the United Nations. China, Brazil and India among other countries with rapidly growing economies have been seeking a greater role in the IMF that reflects their increasing influence on the global economy. At its meeting in April the IMF agreed to increase slightly he voting rights for some of those countries. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:29 am Government may allow FIIs park funds in debt marketMumbai: “In the face of continuing uncertainty in the domestic stock markets, the Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may look at allowing foreign institutional investors to temporarily park their funds in the domestic debt market,” a top Sebi official said. “Many FIIs have approached us demanding permission to park their funds temporarily in the G-sec and Corporate Bond markets given the high volatility in equity markets. The matter may be looked into by the concerned authorities so as to prevent a fight of FII funds from the system,” Sebi’s Whole time member, T C Nair said. “Peturbed by the high volatility in India’s premier stock exchanges, a few FIIs have approached the market regulator with this demand,” Nair said. Presently, FIIs are allowed to park upto $8-billion in the domestic debt markets, which includes upto $5-billion in the Government securities and upto $3-billion in the corporate bonds. FIIs have asked Sebi to temporarily raise the ceiling to $10-15 billion as against the present $8-billion. The weakness in Sensex continued today as investors continued to exit positions, primarily owing to the advesre sentiment about a possible spillover of global financial downturn into the domestic system. In order to ease the prevailing tight liquidity conditions, the RBI yesterday slashed its cash reserve ratio by 0.5%, releasing Rs20,000 crore into the banking system. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:24 am Sarkozy seeks G8 summit on financial crisisTokyo: France has made a formal proposal to Japan and other Group of Eight (G8) countries to hold an emergency G8 summit meeting to deal with the financial crisis, Japan’s Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday. A Japanese official said Tokyo was aware of the proposal by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been pressing for a summit of world leaders before year-end to overhaul the global financial system, but declined specific comment on it. “We have heard through various channels the French president’s proposal to the effect that G8 leaders should have an emergency meeting in some format, either G8 or G8 plus outreach countries,” a foreign ministry spokesman said. Outreach countries are non-G8 nations that are invited to attend its meetings. “In our view, what is most important right now is to restore the confidence of the markets vis-a-vis the financial system so we intend to coordinate with other relevant partners from this perspective regarding French President Sarkozy’s proposal,” the spokesman said. The Nikkei, which did not cite sources, said Japan, which currently chairs the G8, would discuss the proposal with other members. The crisis that began with US mortgage defaults last year is also washing up on Asian shores, pushing South Korea to call for emergency talks with Tokyo and Beijing, and forcing a policy easing from India. G8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and Russia. Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who has been cautious about France’s proposal, said on Tuesday that he would work closely with his counterparts from G7 - G8 minus Russia. G7 finance ministers and central bank governors will hold talks on Friday in Washington. “I’m racking my brains for what Japan can do, while collaborating with other members, because we have our own experiences from the past,” Nakagawa told a news conference. “I understand the G7 meeting comes at a time when we need to work more closely with other countries as well as the central bank domestically.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:23 am EU gears up for fight over executive payThe European Union (EU) finance ministers were braced for confrontation with the financial sector on Tuesday as they met in Luxembourg.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:21 am INTERVIEW - Principal India sees testing times ahead for mutual fundsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Shrinking investment flows will test business models of Indian asset managers, many of whom have given away margins to gather assets, a top executive of Principal Pnb Asset Management said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:18 am Bharti to launch DTH services this weekNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd, India's top telecoms firm, said on Tuesday it would launch direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television services from Oct. 9, initially in 62 cities.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:15 am Spanco-Spice JV to merge BPO business - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 10:06 am Growth rate likely 8% this fiscal and 9% in FY10: FM - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:48 am Airtel to enter direct-to-home television marketTelecom operator Airtel on Tuesday announced the launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite televisionSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:40 am Britain is already in recession: ReportBritain is already in a "worsening recession" and is facing the dual threat of slowing growth and rising unemployment, a survey of 5,000 companies by the British Chambers of Commerce said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:39 am 'India can weather the global financial storm'The global financial crisis will affect India indirectly and require industry and the regulators to remain ever so vigilant to weather the storm, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:38 am 'Wanted, a Facebook to tackle global financial crisis'Robert B. Zoellick has suggested formation of a core group comprising seven emerging powers, including India, joining the Group of Seven to deal with the global economic crisis.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:37 am 'Expand G7 to beat global turmoil'Robert Zoellick on Monday called on the world's largest nations to band together to prevent the kind of massive economic downturn now striking the globe from happening again.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:36 am Citigroup sues Wachovia, Wells Fargo, for $60 bnCitigroup on Monday sued rival Wells Fargo & Co and Wachovia for $60 billion in punitive and compensatory damages, Citigroup said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:36 am Neel Kashkari named to oversee bailout planAn Indian American Neel Kashkari was appointed to oversee the $700 billion US financial rescue plan as stocks plunged more than 6 percent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:35 am Hi-tech traffic management - Express Buzz
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:31 am Beam Global chalks out expansion plansPTI New Delhi: In tune with its plan to expand operations in India, Beam Global Spirits, the makers of scotch brand ‘Teachers´, is looking to establish its other brands like DYC and Bourbon in the domestic market. “We have around a dozen brands in India but around 70% revenue comes from single brand ‘Teachers´. But we are now focusing more on establishing our other brands such as DYC and Bourbon in the domestic market,” Beam Global Spirits and Wine CEO and Country Head Harish Moolchandani told PTI. The company now plans to invest more in establishing its other brands in the country and has particularly chalked out plans for strengthening its India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) DYC in the domestic market. “We would launch an aggressive below-the-line marketing activity for our other brands in the domestic marketing, besides strengthening our sales and distribution network,” Moolchandani said. When asked about the projected growth he said, “The company is expecting a growth of around 20-25% for the near future and is targeting a revenue of Rs500 crore in the current year.” Beam Global Spirits is also expecting that modernisation of airports would also fuel its growth as sales from the duty- free shops contribute around 20% of its revenue. “With the modernisation of three most important airports -- Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore -- in the country, we are also expecting a growth in our sales,” he said without giving any projections for the expected growth. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:31 am Bajaj Elec sees FY09 revenues cross Rs17 bn Reuters Mumbai: Lighting products and electrical appliancs maker Bajaj Electricals Ltd expects revenues in the year to March 2009 to cross Rs17 billion, its chairman said on Tuesday. Last year, the company’s revenue was Rs14 billion and the company may not have to raise prices of its appliances, Shekhar Bajaj told reporters at a news meet. “With the reduction in prices of copper, aluminium and steel, I don’t think there will be any need to increase prices.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:28 am Hunt for Nano site on; Tata Motors surveys sites in APWest Bengal\'s loss could be Andhra Pradesh\'s gain. The AP government has joined the race to get the coveted Nano plant to their state. A team from Tata Motors led by its MD, Ravi Kant met Andhra Pradeshs Chief Minister, YS Rajasekar Reddy at his residence and held discussions over Nano project.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:16 am Spanco-Spice JV to merge BPO businessPTI Mumbai: Information technology and hardware firm Spanco Telesystems and Solutions today said it has entered into an agreement with Spice Group to merge their domestic BPO businesses. Bharat BPO, a 50:50 joint venture between the company and Omnia BPO Services (a Spice Telecom group company), would merge domestic business process outsourcing businesses with itself, Spanco said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. “Each of these BPOs specialises in specific market and vertical segments and their coalition will lead to a synergistic value proposition for clients, enabling them to address diverse target segments through one organisation,” the company said. The joint venture has currently around 7,000 seats and under its robust growth plans it would increase to around 15,000 in future, it added. Shares of the company were trading at Rs52.30, down 5.60% in the afternoon trading on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:12 am IT cos may report sequential topline growth in Q2The Street expects the frontline Indian IT companies to post a sequential topline growth ranging between 5.59.5 per cent in the second quarter ended September 2008, aided by a sharp depreciation of the rupee against the greenback.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:09 am BSNL seeks Govt nod for expanding network in foreign shoresIn a bid to expand its operations beyond India, Stateowned Bharat Sanchar Nigma Ltd has approached the Government seeking permission to invest in the telecom sector in other countries. The company is looking at emerging markets including Oman for expanding its network.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:05 am JubilantEli Lilly to forge JV; plans early stage drugsJubilant Organosys and Eli Lilly have agreed to forge a 50:50 joint venture for early stage drug development. The JV will be investing USD 8 million over three years and the research and development centre will be based in Bangalore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am Durable majors push premium products this festive seasonHit by high inflation and rising input costs, consumer durables majors are looking to boost sagging revenues by unleashing a slew of products in the premiumend category this festival season.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:54 am IGH Holding hikes stake in HindalcoPTI Mumbai: Hindalco Industries, the flagship company of Aditya Birla Group, today said one of its promoter IGH Holding has increased its stake in the company by acquiring an additional 19.68 lakh equity shares. In a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Hindalco said that IGH Holding has acquired 19,68,213 equity shares of the company on 6 October, from the Stock Exchanges. Till the end of the June quarter, IGH Holding, held 8,83,07,573 equity shares in the company, representing 7.20% stake in the company. Earlier on 6 October, Hindalco Industries had said that IGH Holdings has acquired 9,40,000 shares of the company from stock exchanges. Shares of the company were trading at Rs 95.15, down 1.25% in the afternoon trade on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:35 am Facebook co-founder leaves to set up another new ventureBy AFP San Francisco: The college roommate who helped Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook is leaving the fast-growing social networking website in a matter of weeks to create a new Internet technology firm. Dustin Moskovitz promises to remain at Facebook at least one more month before setting out to follow “another passion: making companies themselves run better.” “I didn’t want to construct efficiencies, I wanted to engineer them,” Moskovitz said of his vision for a new startup. Moskovitz, who helped Zuckerberg start the social networking service in their Harvard University dormitory nearly five years ago, is taking Facebook engineer Justin Rosenstein with him on the new business adventure. “Whether I work here or not, I’ll forever bleed Facebook blue,” Moskovitz wrote in a message posted, appropriately enough, on his Facebook profile. “Our new project is not a replacement for what we build here, but instead both a complement and a compliment, and we have every intention of making it feel like a natural extension of Facebook’s product and purpose.” Rosenstein says that he and Moskovitz are setting out to “build an extensible enterprise productivity suite, along with a high-level open-source software development toolkit, built for the Web from the ground up.” Moskovitz said that he expects Facebook to continue doing fine without him and that his departure is merely him pursuing another passion. “Dustin has always had Facebook’s best interests at heart and will always be someone I turn to for advice,” Zuckerberg said in an email announcing the move. Moskovitz is described as a member of Facebook’s technical staff on the company website responsible for internal tools and strategy. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:20 am Reuters Summit - India hopes to attract over $4bln in green energyNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is hoping to attract investments of more than $4 billion in renewable energy over the next 5-7 years, as it prepares to unveil a new biofuels policy within a month, the renewable energy minister said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:06 am And now, Airtel to enter direct-to-home television marketTelecom operator Airtel Tuesday announced the launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:02 am Nano rollout from Gujarat?Tata Motors could announce the rollout of its Nano car from Gujarat Tuesday, the day Chief Minister Narendra Modi celebrates his seventh year in office, according to a government official here.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:02 am Transdot all set to 'clean up' KeralaInto a decade of starting its sewage treatment division, city-based Transdot is all set to 'clean up' Kerala using its latest membrane bio-reactor (MBR) process, considered to be the most advanced waste water treatment technology.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 8:00 am Gene discovery may help hunt for blindness cureReuters London: Scientists have discovered a gene mutation linked to the most common cause of blindness in the developed world, holding out the prospect of better treatments and perhaps eventually a cure. British scientists said on Tuesday they had found six variants within the gene called Serping1 that were associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). “Our findings add to the growing understanding of the genetics of age-related macular degeneration, which should ultimately lead to novel treatments for this common and devastating disease,” Sarah Ennis and Andrew Lotery of the University of Southampton reported in the Lancet journal. AMD - which involves damage to the delicate cells of the macula, a region at the centre of the retina - is increasingly common as people get older. Around 90% of patients diagnosed with AMD have the so-called dry version, for which no treatment is currently available. The rest have wet AMD, which occurs when tiny new blood vessels grow between the retina and the back of the eye. This form of the disease can be treated with modern drugs. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:52 am India remains upbeat on growth despite mkt turmoilNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's economy will grow 8 percent this fiscal year and rebound to 9 percent next, the finance minister has said, despite the rout in global markets which has triggered recession fears in industrialised nations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:27 am EBay cutting 1,600 jobs, 10% of work forceBy AP New York: After a series of changes designed to draw more people to its online marketplace, eBay Inc.’s latest alteration is aimed at its own employees. The auction site operator said Monday it will cut about 1,600 jobs, 10% of its work force, in its largest round of dismissals ever. About 1,000 full-time employees will be gone, while eBay will achieve the rest of the cuts by letting temporary and part-time workers go and by leaving open positions unfilled. EBay would not describe which positions would be cut, other than to say they will come across the company and around the world. EBay chief executive John Donahoe said in an interview that the cuts were not a reaction to the weak economy. Investors were still disheartened, sending eBay shares to a 5-year low. Donahoe, who took over as CEO from Meg Whitman in March, said eBay’s leadership had been thinking about making the cuts since midsummer. The moves will make eBay “more responsive and nimble,” he said, and will give it an opportunity to reinvest in growth areas like its online payments service PayPal and its classified-ads business both of which eBay augmented with acquisitions announced Monday. EBay anticipates $70 million to $80 million in restructuring charges related to the job cuts, mostly in the fourth quarter. The company said the cuts will result in $150 million in annual cost savings. This round of cuts is eBay’s second this year. The company said in March that it would cut 125 positions in Europe and North America, including 70 jobs at its San Jose, California headquarters. EBay has struggled to match competition from other areas of e-commerce, with many consumers increasingly using more online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. that follow a more traditional selling model. In the second quarter, eBay’s count of “active users” rose just 1.4%. Already this year, eBay has altered the fees that vendors pay, its search results and its feedback system in an effort to improve the experience for buyers and keep them coming back. But the changes have also angered a number of sellers, some of whom have left the site. Donahoe did acknowledge that the weak economy and the effects of the strengthening dollar are hurting eBay’s business. Third-quarter revenue will be at the low end of the company’s expectations. Nonetheless, eBay said its third-quarter earnings would be higher than it had predicted in July. EBay also said Monday that it will purchase Bill Me Later, a privately held company that lets online retailers give shoppers credit without detailed application forms, for about $820 million in cash and $125 million in outstanding options. The Timonium, Maryland-based company is expected to become part of PayPal by the end of the year. Shoppers should be able to use the Bill Me Later service on eBay’s sites in the second half of 2009, PayPal President Scott Thompson said in an interview. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:21 am India can weather the global financial storm: ChidambaramThe global financial crisis will affect India indirectly and require industry and the regulators to remain ever so vigilant to weather the storm, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:01 am Indian equities slip after strong openingIndian equities slipped into the red in early hours of trading Tuesday after opening on a strong note following interventions by the markets watchdog and a cut in minimum cash balance for banks against deposits announced by the central bank a day earlier.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Oct 2008 | 7:00 am Insurance giant AIG’s role in market crisis probedWashington: The government’s rescue of insurance giant American International Group Inc. last month is getting a critical eye from lawmakers examining the chain of events that forced a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. Three former AIG chief executive officers, including its largest individual shareholder, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, are scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The hearing is the second in two days into financial excesses and regulatory mistakes that have spooked stock and credit markets and heightened fears about a global recession. The Federal Reserve rescued AIG with the $85 billion loan 16 September, one day after investment bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy when the government would not come to its aid. Lehman Brothers’ chief executive officer testified on Monday before the congressional oversight panel but did not shed much light on how the mid-September events cascaded into a collapse of credit markets requiring a broad bailout. The government now holds warrants that can be converted into an 80% stake of AIG and there is hope taxpayers won’t lose money on the deal since the company has profitable subsidiaries that could be sold to pay off the Fed’s loan. The Fed’s move rescued the company from bankruptcy after the insurance conglomerate’s exposure to enormous losses related to subprime mortgage securities forced it to the brink. Problems at AIG did not come from its traditional insurance subsidiaries, but instead from its financial services operations, primarily its insurance of mortgage-backed securities and other risky debt against default. Government officials feared that a panic might occur if AIG could not make good on its promise to cover losses on the securities; investors feared the consequences would pose a threat to the US financial system, which led to the government bailout. Despite the government’s move on AIG and Congress agreeing to spend up to $700 billion to buy up soured mortgage-based securities and other bad debt, credit remains tight and the stock market continued to plunge downward Monday despite a brief rally at the end of the day. For four decades Greenberg oversaw AIG’s growth into a sprawling conglomerate with businesses in 130 countries. Also on deck is Robert B. Willumstad, the former CEO just ousted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. On Monday, Paulson named Neel Kashkari, 35, to head the office created under the emergency bailout enacted Friday. Kashkari, an assistant Treasury secretary for international affairs, helped draft the bailout legislation and is one of Paulson’s closest advisers on the crisis. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:39 am Tatas likely to drive Nano project to GujaratAhmedabad: Tatas are understood to have decided to set up the Rs1lakh Nano car project in Gujarat, an announcement for which is expected to be made anytime. A state government official in the know of the development said Tata Motors have accepted the proposal to set up the project at Sanand near Ahmedabad. The official said the state government has offered 1,000 acres, including 80% of its own land to Tatas, who earlier this week closed shop in West Bengal. No comments could be obtained from Tata Motors immediately. Announcement for the project in the state is expected to be made jointly by the Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Tata officials. Ever since the Tatas faced political resistance in West Bengal for their project at Singur various state governments, including Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, have made offers for locating the small-car project in their territory. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 6:07 am Rupee trims fall after slipping past Rs48/dlrMumbai: The Indian rupee slipped past Rs48 per dollar early on Tuesday to its lowest since January 2003, but trimmed losses on suspected central bank intervention and dollar sales by some custodial banks. By 10:50am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs47.86/87 per dollar, 0.1% weaker than Rs47.80/81 at close on Monday. In early trade, it fell to 48.01, its lowest since 6 January, 2003. At this level, it has shed 17.9% in 2008. “There was a bit of panic dollar buying due to weak Asian currencies, but the Reserve Bank came in to intervene immediately, which caused the long dollars to get out,” said Agam Gupta, head of currency trading at Standard Chartered Bank. “Later there was also some dollar selling by custodial banks. The rupee should stay in a range of Rs47.60 to Rs48.0 through the day,” he added. Dealers said the dollar’s strength overseas also hurt rupee sentiment. The dollar and the euro jumped to session highs against the yen after Australia’s central bank slashed interest rates by a full percentage point. India’s main share index rose as much as 3.2% early, after concerted moves by regulators to improve liquidity, but shaky world markets kept a check on sharp gains. Dealers said refiners were expected to push up dollar purchases to buy oil, which was trading below $90 per barrel. Oil is India’s biggest import item. The rupee is likely to remain under pressure in the near term and could test Rs49 to the dollar in about a month, with the central bank not expected to aggressively defend the unit at any particular level, dealers said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 5:46 am Asian markets show signs of life, some recoverAP Seoul: Asian stocks showed signs of life Tuesday after a global market rout the previous day, with several markets climbed into positive territory or paring losses after opening sharply lower. Australian stocks jumped after its central bank cut interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 1% point to 6% in response to the unfolding global financial crisis. The S&P/ASX-200 index rose 2% to 4,634 after opening down 3.7%. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index erased some losses after briefly falling over 5% to below 10,000 for the first time in almost five years. By midday, it was trading about 1.7% lower at 10,292. Markets in South Korea, India, Singapore and Taiwan all edged higher. Trading in Hong Kong was closed for a holiday. The Bank of Japan announced it was keeping its interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, as expected. However, there is growing speculation that the central bank may soon coordinate with the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central bank in an emergency policy move. Investors in Asia said they were encouraged by a late day rally on Wall Street Monday as well as overall sentiment that Japanese stocks had fallen too far too fast, said Toshikazu Horiuchi, equity strategist at Cosmo Securities. “There was a sense that the market was oversold,” he said. The Dow Jones industrial average, down more than 800 points at one point, recovered in the final 90 minutes of the session to finish down 370 points, or 3.6 %, to 9,955.50, its first close below 10,000 since 2004. Still, traders were jittery after global markets plunged Monday on signs that the credit crisis was spreading to Europe, where troubled banks have needed bailouts. “It’s very hard to anticipate how long the repair job is going to take across financial markets at the moment,” said Jamie Spiteri, senior dealer at Shaw Stockbroking in Sydney. On Monday in Europe, leading bourses were battered, with Germany’s DAX sinking 7.1%, London’s FTSE 100 index sliding 7.9% and France’s CAC-40 down a stunning 9%, its worst performance ever. In Japan, carmakers were among the morning’s biggest losers, partly due to the dollar’s drop to 101 yen levels. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. was down 8.9%, Nissan Motor Co. fell 6.7%, and Toyota Motor Corp. slid 5.9%. In South Korea, investors steadily bought back shares after the sharp early drop, with the Kospi gaining 0.5% in early afternoon trading. Shim Jae-youb, a strategist at Meritz Securities in Seoul, also said that the Dow’s late rally Monday was providing some comfort to investors. Expectations that leading central banks might lower interest rates would be welcome, he said. Such a move would provide “positive momentum to the stock market,” Shim said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 5:43 am No joy for tech cos as US crisis counters weaker ReBangalore: Technology firms such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), Infosys Technologies Ltd and Wipro Ltd will start reporting second quarter (Q2) earnings this week, with analysts lowering their expectations for the industry as the US economy battles its worst crisis in decades. The US is the largest market for Indian IT firms, which had expected business growth to come in the second half of the fiscal year, with a weaker rupee providing a boost to exports. The rupee fell Monday to its lowest level against the dollar in more than five years. Infosys is set to report results on 10 Oct, followed by Satyam on 17 Oct, TCS on 21 Oct and Wipro on 22 Oct Demand for offshore work is expected to slow, forcing software firms to put hiring plans on hold. On 30 September, India’s software lobby Nasscom had said it may reduce in December its July projections of 21-24% growth for fiscal 2009. In a 2 October report on Indian IT services, JPMorgan India Pvt. Ltd had forecast a conservative 15% revenue growth for large Indian IT companies for fiscal 2010, and cut estimates and target price earnings across the board to factor in lower tech spending. Infosys, seen as the weathervane for the sector, will report results on Friday, followed by Satyam Computer Services Ltd on 17 October, TCS on 21 October and Wipro on 22 October. Projections on campus hiring, demand from clients and importantly, “whether pricing is stable”, will be the factors to watch out for, says Gaurav Dua, head of research at Sharekhan Ltd, a Mumbai brokerage. In a 9 September report on enterprise IT services, Forrester Research Inc. had said 43% of US firms surveyed had already cut overall IT budgets, and 29% had put projects and new initiatives through a more thorough test of return on investment. It added that 43% of those surveyed were increasing use of offshore vendors. A Mint analysis of forecasts by four brokerages showed Infosys’ average sales revenue for the quarter to September was likely to grow between 8.8% and 9.7% at Rs5,298 crore, marginally higher than the firm’s own estimate. The average net profit projected by analysts is Rs1,397 crore. In June, Infosys had forecast revenue for Q2 to be in the range of Rs5,229-5,272 crore. An analysis of forecasts by the five brokerages—Angel Broking, Sharekhan, Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd, Religare Securities Ltd and Citi Investment Research, a unit of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.—showed revenue at TCS may grow between 5.8% and 8.8% to Rs6,877 crore. The firm’s net profit is expected to be Rs1,373 crore. Wipro, the third largest IT vendor, is expected to report a profit of Rs872.90 crore on revenue of Rs6,331.20 crore, including its consumer products business, according to an analysis of estimates by four brokerages. In July, Wipro had forecast that it would earn $1.09 billion (Rs5,177.50 crore today), from IT services in Q2. “All the benefits would come from currency depreciation,” said Harit Shah, an equity analyst with Angel Broking, a Mumbai brokerage. The rupee dropped 9% against the dollar, the currency Indian firms bill customers in the US, during the quarter to September. “There is little volume growth,” he said. Satyam is expected to post flat quarterly profit growth at Rs539.30 crore on a revenue of Rs2,824 crore, on reduced business from customers such as Merrill Lynch. In June, the Satyam had forecast revenue to grow between Rs2,743 crore and Rs2,769 crore. A Credit Suisse survey of 20 small Indian IT firms said these firms are more open to admitting lower-than-expect-ed hiring, pricing pressures, contract delays and possible revenue misses. “With possible earnings downgrade, we believe sector performance will stay lacklustre,” the firm had said in a 29 September report. raghu.k@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Oct 2008 | 5:22 am BEML (Rs 583.30): SellWe recommend a sell in BEML from a short-term trading perspective. It is clearly visible from the charts of BEML that it has been on a downtrend from its December 2007 high of Rs 1,849. Since then the stock has been forming lower bottoms andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Durable majors push premium products this festive seasonNew Delhi, Oct. 6 Hit by high inflation and rising input costs, consumer durables majors are looking to boost sagging revenues by unleashing a slew of products in the premium-end category this festival season.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Curbs on P-notes liftedMumbai, Oct.6 The SEBI board on Monday lifted the October 2007 restrictions on issue of participatory notes by foreign institutional investors with immediate effect, a move widely perceived to bring in more funds to lift the sagging capitalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Sensex sinks below 12,000Mumbai, Oct. 6 The benchmark Sensex fell by a massive 724 points to close below the 12000-level for the first time in more than two years, as the panic in the international markets gripped domestic investorsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Mills can have custom grown wheat from Down UnderChennai, Oct. 7 With Australia ending the monopoly of AWB Ltd from July 1 this year, Indian roller flour mills can now custom grow wheat inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am HCL Tech seeks shareholder nod to borrow up to Rs 4,000 croreNew Delhi, Oct. 6 HCL Technologies, which is in the race to acquire UK-based Axon Group, would soon seek shareholders’ approval to authorise the Board of Directors to borrow up to Rs 4,000 crore outstanding at any time, over and above theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am RBI cuts cash reserve ratioMumbai, Oct. 6 In a bid to ease the current cash crunch in the financial system, the Reserve Bank of India on Monday announced a half percentage point reduction in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) to 8.5 per cent from 9 per cent.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am 12000 round trip: Winners and losersThe Sensex may be back where it was two years ago — struggling to hold on to 12,000 levels, but whether your portfolio value is back to where it was depends completely on the stocks you hold. If you bought stocks such as Bharti Airtel orSource: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh long-position if the stock moves above Rs 505 with stiff stop-loss.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Baldota group co setting up Rs 4,700-cr steel plantBangalore, Oct. 6 The Baldota Group is setting up a new Rs 4,700-crore steel plant, which will mostly manufacture products for passenger cars as well as auto parts producers based out of southern and western India.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Oil falls below $90 as turmoil spreads!Oil prices fell to an 8-month low below $90 a barrel on speculation that the spreading financial crisis will exacerbate a global economic slowdown and cut demand for crude oil.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm NTPC gas row: RIL ready to look at out of court settlement!Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), locked in a legal dispute over its gas supply contract with state-run NTPC, told the Bombay High Court on Monday that it was willing to look at an out-of-court settlement.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm RBI cuts CRR rate to increase liquidity!The Reserve Bank of India on Monday announced a marginal cut of 50 Basis Points in Cash Reserve Ratio for banks. The rate has been revised from the current 9% to 8.5%, with effect from October 11.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm SEBI raises shareholding ceiling to 15% in stock exchanges!Market regulator SEBI on Monday increased the investment ceiling in the demutalised stock exchanges by certain categories on investors, including banks and insurance firms, to 15 percent from the existing 5 percent.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm Tata AIG Life launches InvestAssure Health!Tata AIG Life Insurance Company (Tata AIG Life), on Monday announced the launch of its first-ever unit-linked health product-Tata AIG Life InvestAssure Health.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm SEBI opens gates for foreign funds as Dalal Street goes berserk!Market watchdog SEBI on Monday announced a slew of measures to increase control on the vagaries of bourses and provide boost to foreign funding. Among other measures, it has decided to do away with the 40% cap on investment through Offshore Derivative Instruments.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm `Bank failures will rise next year`!Here`s a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won`t survive the next year of upheaval despite the US government`s $700 billion plan to restore order to the financial industry.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm Rupee falls to lowest since April 2003 !The rupee fell to its lowest since April 2003 on Monday as demand for the US currency from foreign banks weighed, but state-run banks sold dollars to help the local unit recover some ground.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm Dual mobile no portability opposed !Cellular operators along with Tatas have urged the government to drop the `Internal Mobile Number Portability` proposal saying it would cause huge financial losses to the exchequer and is against the announced policy.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm BofA in $8.6 billion deal over Countrywide loans !Bank of America (BAC.N) has agreed to settle claims brought by state attorneys general regarding certain risky loans originated by Countrywide Financial Corp in a deal that could be worth more than $8.6 billion, the Wall Street Journal said.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Oct 2008 | 11:14 pm HP faces Rs 100cr tax penaltyHP India, the local arm of Hewlett Packard, the global information technology major, is likely to face a penalty of Rs 100 crore for alleged duty evasionSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:51 pm UBS calls global recession in 2009Asian growth too will be dragged down, but India seen unaffectedSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Oct 2008 | 10:42 pm Cozy deals and conflict of interest mark Indian patent grant processMumbai: The rush for patents in India among foreign-owned and large Indian companies in the world’s second fastest growing major economy is not new. But as scores of firms and individuals scramble to get protection for their technologies and products, what is coming to light is the cosy relationship between patent controllers, the Indian government officials who decide whether or not to grant a patent, and patent “agents” filing applications for patents. While it is difficult to prove specific wrongdoing in patents being granted, a Mint investigation, activists seeking transparency in India’s patent granting process as well as a report by an Austrian government entity all point to a nexus between government officials and private law firms that point to significant conflicts of interest and favouritism in the patent granting process. Most of the 20 or so people Mint spoke to for this in-depth look at India’s patent granting process would only speak if they were not identified or if their information was used as background. Almost all the law firms named in this story declined to comment on specific questions posed by Mint. These patent agents, often large and established law firms, who file some 90% of the patent applications in India’s four patent offices—in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai—have nurtured relationships in each office and are very powerful in this commercially crucial department. The rush in demand for patents in India has its roots in a 2004 amendment to India’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) law that added a few industries, such as agro-chemicals, food and drugs, to a product patent regime. It threw up an opportunity for companies— including foreign-owned ones —to patent their products in India, which, with its 1.1 billion-plus people, offers a significant domestic market for these firms. This has in turn put professional patent filing services offered by the law firms, specializing in intellectual property law, in high demand. “More than 80% of our clients are multinational companies, who want to file national phase applications in India,” said a senior patent attorney at DePenning and DePenning, a Kolkata-based law firm that has a strong practice in Chennai, a key city because of its patent office. The attorney did not want to be named. Also seeAgent muscle? De Penning is not alone. There are at least a dozen law firms, including Remfry and Sagar, DP Ahuja and Co., Anand and Anand, RK Dewan and Co., among others, that serve a significantly large clientele base of foreign-owned firms for patent filing in India. According to V. Rangasamy, assistant controller of patents and designs at Chennai, a majority of foreign patent applications filed in the Chennai patent office is through De Penning. A patent official in Mumbai also notes that “there are two or three law firms, including Remfry and RK Dewan, (who) file (a) large chunk of corporate applications here”. Patents logjam Since the new product patent regime kicked off in India on 1 January 2005, patent applications from foreign firms in the country’s four regional patent offices have shot up 300%, and the grants by 150%, according to the annual report of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, the Union government department that administers and monitors patents. India issued about 11,000 patents in 2007-08, which was almost double the annual number granted in 2006. India, which has one of the most stringent patenting regimes in the world after Japan and Germany, has been granting an average 50 patents a day. But the department has not made a proportionate increase in the staff strength. Though it initially posted 149 patent examiners, adding to some 10 staff engaged in such work in 2004, this number has been falling continuously as such experts get poached by patent agents and large companies. The department of patents and designs has lost at least 40 people in the past four years. It now has around 110 patent examiners and some 70 unfilled vacancies. Murali Gopal Krishna, a former patent examiner from the Chennai patent office, who has filed a petition with the Central Administrative Tribunal against the department’s decision to cut his tenure prematurely, said he was regularly told by his superior officers not to raise objections in applications filed by some patent agents. He resigned last year to join a software company in Bangalore. “The controllers used to overrule our objections while making decisions to grant patents,” he said citing the example of patents granted to 36 software applications, mostly business methods, which are not patentable in India, filed by an information technology company based out of Bangalore, despite rejection of 30 applications in the first examination report. Several firms, including International Business Machines Corp.’s (IBM) global services division “have patents granted on business methods,” he said. Responding to an email query, Satheesh Karra, counsel for intellectual property law at IBM, said: “IBM is not aware of any such allegations.” He declined to name the law firm that files patent applications for his company, noting that “we don’t discuss this externally”. The problem, said a patents expert, is in the way patent rules are being interpreted. “As of now, section 3(k) of the Indian Patents Act excludes ‘software’ per se and ‘business methods’ per se from patentability. What the term ‘per se’ means is not clear. In other words, as to what additional element has to be added to software or business methods to make them patentable is not known,” said Shamnad Basheer, a patent lawyer and an associate at the Oxford Centre for Intellectual Property Research. According to him, the US Patents and Trademarks Office has granted innumerable business method patents, including the famous “one click- check out” Amazon online shopping patent. Many scholars question the propriety of such patents, arguing that such methods of doing business are not really technological innovations worthy of monopoly protection and that a multitude of such patents unduly tax the patent office and choke online innovation. Multiple calls made to the office of T.C. James, director, department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), which oversees policies related to grant of patents, to have this and other issues clarified, weren’t returned. Corruption claims With limited transparency in the system, allegations of corruption in the Indian patent granting process run rife. “Bribery in patent offices is very easy to allege, but very hard to prove as there is no evidence one can produce as no transparency is maintained in the process,” noted Feroze Ali, asenior lawyer in Chennai, who argued frivolousness in the Indian patent of Swiss-drug maker F Hoffman-La Roche Ltd’s ant-infection drug Valcyte, in a post-grant opposition. Since the patent examiners’ “examination remarks are not accessible to the public, it remains a secret when they are overruled”, said Basheer. He recently led a campaign to make Indian IPR system more transparent as a means to reduce corruption. Following this campaign early this year, the National Knowledge Commission had recommended several measures, including publication of patent applications and grant details online in simple language, instead of the current practice of publishing extracts with a delay of three-six months. Some others point to the big markups in fees charged by patent agents on filings as another sign of how some law firms can get the patent application through. The fees for applying a patent in India are Rs4,000 for a corporate applicant and Rs1,000 for individual applicants, each filing. Law firms charge between Rs40,000 and Rs2.25 lakh as service charge per application. To be sure, law firms often levy fees at wide variance with actual costs of rendering the service and hefty fees in itself doesn’t constitute any evidence of any wrongdoing when it comes to interacting with the patent office. But some say often the very patent examiners, who will clear applications, are engaged by the law firms to write out patent applications in the first place. Said the same Delhi-based patent lawyer who didn’t want to be identified: “There are more serious allegations, such as these underpaid patent officers even undertake patent drafting for individual and corporate clients.” A second assistant patent controller in Chennai blithely describes that relationship as “a moral help”. While also insisting on anonymity, he claimed: “We help applicants to highlight the claimable innovations in the applications,” adding: “Patent drafting is very crucial in making the examiner convinced on the claims, and this is the art that often wins a grant. However, several individual applicants fail to make a perfect application though they are good at science and technology”. But the involvement of the patent examiner or the potential for a conflict of interest is never disclosed. Pressure tactics It isn’t just in Chennai. Elsewhere too, this procedure appears to be fairly common. An official in the Delhi patent office, requesting anonymity, agrees patent examiners there also advise applicants or point them to a professional agent. In Mumbai, “there are even local and multinational corporates who ‘seek’ help of examiners and controllers to get their applications drafted, thereby ensuring a grant for a price”, said a leading patent lawyer from the city, who didn’t want to be identified. Another instance of this relationship between patent officials and patent agents is the case of a former official in the Chennai patent office who was forced to return to his parent cadre in 2005. This official, who asked not to be named, said his contract was not renewed at the patent office despite a shortage of examiners and his parent department’s willingness to extend his deputation, because he questioned a number of unfair practices, including a financial fraud involving nearly 200 patent applications early in 2005 being backdated to escape a fee of Rs400 per page for a patent agent filing from 1 January that year. The new fee was introduced through an ordinance on 31 December 2004 and a legislation was approved by Parliament months later. “Considering 196 applications backdated, I believe, just one patent office must have made a loss of at least Rs1-2 crore. And the same manipulation must have taken place in other offices as well,” said this person. “One can clearly make out (the extent of the loss to the government) by comparing the number of applications filed in the month of December 2004 and January 2005.” When asked about this specific allegation, the same assistant controller in the Chennai patent office, responded: “Because the law was still not in effect as the Bill was delayed, it was an ‘adjustment’ to not to charge the additional fee, which was notified in the ordinance, for a few days.” Patent offices across the country witnessed a sharp increase in filing of patent applications in December 2004, while in January and February 2005, when the new patent regime came into force, the number of patent applications were comparatively less in key patent offices where these law firms file most of their applications. “If you look at the internal register of inward applications at these offices, which is not available in the public domain, this will be clear,” said the same former patent examiner. The patents offices release monthly data on approvals, but not applications filed. A report on the Indian IPR system prepared by Austria’s Wirtschaftsservice (AWS), a public sector entity mandated to promote development of innovative firms and commercialize new technologies, in February, was forthright without the protection of anonymity. There is, the report noted, “widespread ‘collaboration’ between patent attorneys and IP officials”, and a “clear dependency of official examiners and legal representatives (patent agents) on patent drafting and searches that have been previously carried out in other national IPR jurisdictions”. The report went on to say: “Considering that the Austrian patent office has 100 examiners and approximately 3,000 annual filings, it seems impossible that 155 or 230 examiners can handle more than 30,000 applications annually, unless they simply follow the research reports of US patent office and Japanese patent office (and the weight of bribery).” AWS prepared this Indian enquiry report for the Austrian ministry of commerce and labour after interviewing several officials at the four patent offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, including N.N. Prasad, joint secretary at DIPP, and executives and lawyers in 16 law firms located at these regions. Controller general of patents, designs and trademarks V. Ravi declined to comment for this story. Calls made to his office, visits to his Mumbai office, and an email query remained unanswered. Red tape Despite this report and others pressing for reforms, for patent agents, it is business as usual. Some are even boastful of their success rate in filings. “More than 95% of our total 6,500 filings in the country have been granted patents,” said a lawyer with a leading law firm in Chennai, who also didn’t want to be identified. “We are comfortable with Chennai patent office as we know them (the officials) very closely.” While De Penning is a very strong player in Chennai, Remfry, Ahuja are key players in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively, according to patent examiners in the regional patent offices. A second lawyer from De Penning said that the firm’s “grant rate” is more than 95% at the Chennai patent office. A Remfry & Sagar executive in its Gurgaon office said he could not comment for this story as the firm typically doesn’t talk to the media. Mohan Dewan, a senior patent attorney and partner at RK Dewan and Co., a Mumbai-based law firm specializing in IPR, said: “As far as we are concerned, we will not take a case, which is not crackable. I would say virtually every application that we have filed has been been granted.” The firm files most applications of its clients in the Mumbai patent office. There is no suggestion that either RK Dewan or any of the law firms noted here have done anything illegal in building such impressive success rates with filings on behalf of their clients. Indeed, a “majority of our patent applications are through the international patent filing route (Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT) by multinational clients. Most of them are already granted in other parts of the world, including the US and Europe, and they are ought to get same treatment in India too. So, there is no controversy involved in the high rate of patent grants,” said the lawyer at the Chennai law firm that claims a 95% success rate in its patent filings. Not everyone buys that argument. “Since the US law is too liberal, any claims such as minor modifications, incremental innovations or even business methods are patentable, but Indian law doesn’t allow such claims for granting a monopoly, unless they contribute significantly to its use,” said Basheer, the patent expert. Meanwhile, for large companies filing patents in India, the law firms offer a process that helps them to not deal with red tape. “It is always hassle-free to proceed the national phase applications through experienced and capable patent agents in India, since most of our patent filings are handled by our parent organization through Patent Cooperative Treaty,” said a senior F Hoffman-La Roche executive, who didn’t want to be named. PCT is the international patent filing body that channels applications to respective countries where the applicant wants to secure patents. With such prolific granting of patents—India grants an average of 50 patents a working day with 120 patent examiners on its rolls—it is not surprising that one granted in one patent office infringes another granted elsewhere. Some recent examples include a court case between Eureka Forbes Ltd and Hindustan Unilever Ltd, related to double patenting of a water purifier technology, and the controversial patent of Bajaj Auto Ltd for a twin spark ignition technology, which was challenged by Chennai-based two-wheeler firm TVS Motor Co. Ltd. Since litigations are expensive, said Gopakumar Nair, a patent consultant in Mumbai, only those seeing a clear return on opposing a patent will do so. “...so, many patents, which do not actually deserve a grant, would also be able to enjoy market monopoly by being not opposed,” he said. Meanwhile, some experts said that the bigger problem stems from what they see as the frivolous nature of some patents that are being granted. “The implication of such decisions is serious, though the granting authority is not often very careful while taking the same,” said D. Vedaraman, a Mumbai-based consumer activist. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:25 pm RBI cuts CRR 50 basis points to ease liquidityIn a move to ease liquidity and cool the markets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced an ad-hoc 50-basis-point reduction in the cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the proportion of deposits banks mustSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:14 pm Sebi rolls back P-Note curbsThe Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) lifted curbs on foreign institutional investors (FIIs) imposed a year ago to stem huge sales by FIIs that have triggered a 42 per cent slide in theSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:13 pm Sensex follows global indices, plunges 725 ptsThe Sensex today slumped to its lowest in more than two years as the credit crisis deepened in Europe, reinforcing concern the global economy would slow.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Oct 2008 | 7:11 pm What is bothering RIL stock?Reliance is trading at 52week low with lot of delivery based selling, warrant conversion and promoter holding reclassification is also keeping it in news. The main reason why the stock is under pressure is because RIL has reclassified promoter shareholding ahead of warrant conversion.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Oct 2008 | 1:26 pm
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