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Slowdown affects recruitment in engineering collegesA survey by CLSA across 45 engineering colleges finds that there has been a 17.7% fall in job offers this year over the last year. The big four IT companies made 7,278 job offers last year as against 5,835 offers this year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Oct 2008 | 4:25 pm Tatas to invest in Hyderabad aerospace SEZAndhra Pradesh might have lost the race to win the Nano, but it is still getting some Tata investment. The State Government has unveiled plans for an aerospace and precision engineering SEZ in Hyderabad.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Oct 2008 | 3:55 pm Café Coffee Day eyes 900 outlets by April 2009In the 1990s, coffee consumers in India knew just one form of coffeethe home made filter coffee. India clearly needed a Coffee Revolution and one was headed by Café Coffee Day (CCD). It is targeting 900 outlets by April 2009, and wants to open 2530 outlets a month.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Oct 2008 | 2:17 pm Shipping Corporation Q2 net 56 pc at Rs 274.88 cr - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 2:03 pm Indian banks will not be hit by global crisis: FMThe government on Saturday said that the bank deposits are safe and there will be no impact of the 'global economic tsunami' on them.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 2:03 pm RBI promises swift action on liquidity if needed - Press Trust of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:51 pm Tata Communications Q2 net dips 63 pc at Rs 32.64 cr - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:47 pm 'Integrity makes Tatas an outstanding business house'Tata Group, stands out from any other business group in the world due to their intellectual, moral and financial integrity, according to Finance Minister P Chidambaram.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:27 pm Adlabs post 49% revenue growth YoY in Sept - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:15 pm Adlabs re-branded as Big CinemasAdlabs Films Ltd, part of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), has re-branded its Adlabs Cinemas across the country as BIG Cinemas, a top official said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:10 pm Corporate houses cut down on Diwali giftsThe economic slowdown has dampened the festive mood this season, with even business houses slashing their budget for corporate gifting by almost 25 percent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:09 pm Haryana wakes up to traffic chaos in GurgaonTaking stock of the chaotic state of the traffic here, the Haryana government has engaged a private consultant to make a plan to smoothen the traffic flow in this showpiece township adjoining New Delhi.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:01 pm Integrity makes Tatas an outstanding business house: ChidambaramOne of India's top business conglomerates, the Tata Group, stands out from any other business group in the world due to their intellectual, moral and financial integrity, according to Finance Minister P.Chidambaram.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:00 pm Vizhinjam port developers seek environmental clearanceDevelopers of the Vizhinjam port project, to be developed in Vizhinjam near Kerala's famous tourist destination Kovalam, Saturday held talks with the state government, seeking environmental clearance for the project.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 1:00 pm HIGHLIGHTS - RBI chief's comments on monetary policyMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must balance growth and financial stability with price stability during the global market turmoil, even though it sees inflation easing from double digits, its chief Duvvuri Subbarao said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:47 pm Asia, Europe close ranks to ease financial crisisBEIJING/LONDON (Reuters) - Asian and European leaders closed ranks on Saturday to try to bolster confidence among investors who fear that a global credit crunch has ushered in a deep and damaging world recession.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:44 pm Dr D Subbarao: Steering India through financial crisis - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:37 pm The short selling controversy! - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:14 pm Suzuki Motorcycle to invest Rs. 150 crore by 2010 - Wheels Unplugged - Indis'a Automobile Magazine
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 11:32 am Jet Airways posts net loss of Rs.3.84 bnLeading private airline Jet Airways posted a net loss of Rs.3.84 billion for the quarter ended Sep 30, 2008, compared to Rs.283 million in the corresponding period last year, the company announced Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 11:30 am Reverse repo to continue as policy tool-India cbankMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will continue to use its reverse repo rate as an active variable in its monetary policy and has not abandoned it, Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 11:29 am RBI to balance growth, prices, stabilityMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must balance growth and financial stability with price stability during the global market turmoil, even though it sees inflation easing from double digits by March, its chief said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 11:25 am Adlabs re-branded as Big CinemasAdlabs Films Ltd, part of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), has re-branded its Adlabs Cinemas across the country as BIG Cinemas, a top official said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 10:30 am Bank of Baroda Q2 net up 21%Public sector lender Bank of Baroda said its net profit for the second quarter ended September 30 stood at Rs 395.29 crore, a 20.81 per cent growthSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 10:25 am Panic, recession worries pull Indian equities downWorries over a global slowdown and large-scale selling by foreign funds led Indian equities to witness one of the most volatile sessionsSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 10:24 am Centre not interfering with RBI: SubbaraoThe Reserve Bank set at rest speculation that the Centre was interfering in formulation of monetary policies, saying the relationship was "healthy" between the two.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 10:18 am India not in recessionary mode: SubbaraoIndia's growth story will continue despite a slight deceleration, but there will be no recession as in some advanced economies, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao saidSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 10:13 am Jet Airways posts loss of Rs 384.5 cr in Q2Private air-carrier Jet Airways has posted a net loss of Rs 384.5 crore in the second quarter of FY 2009Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 10:08 am India's Inflation Concerns Persist, Subbarao Says (Update1) - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 9:37 am Govt ratifies notification on Essar, Mundra SEZ: Sources - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Oct 2008 | 9:37 am Cos see more headroom for growth in EuropeNotwithstanding the gradual spread of economic crisis to Europe, Indian IT firms are bullish on prospects in Continental Europe thats slowly warming up to the concepts of outsourcing and offshoring.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am Taj Hotels to open 2 safari lodges in M.P.The discerning Indian wildlife enthusiast need not look beyond India for that unique fivestar safari experience any more.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:57 am Make-A-Wish Foundation, New DelhiAs I walk across the corridor of the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, Rohini, I mentally run through the instructions given to me the previous day by Manasmita Patra at the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s (MAWF) Delhi centre. Talk to the children with care and understanding; give them hope and make them feel good; and most importantly, find out what their most cherished wish is—a wish that is not influenced by their parents. Also Read: Give and take Prabhjot, a six-year-old leukaemia patient, is lying on the second-last bed of the children’s ward. I accompany two other volunteers—Nidhi and Kanika, both undergraduates at Delhi University. He turns our way and a wide smile lights up his face when he sees Nidhi holding up a gift-wrapped box—after all, his wish is going to be fulfilled today! He tears open the wrapping to reveal a shiny red car. “It is much nicer than cars my friends have,” says a shy but radiant Prabhjot. We then make our way towards the ward’s newest member, five-year-old Neha, to find out if she has a wish. The tiny tot, who also has leukaemia, is slightly sedated after her first chemotherapy session. We start chatting about her school, friends, what she likes, what she doesn’t. As Nidhi takes the lead in finding out more about Neha’s wish, I begin to see what it means for these children to have a wish-granting “Santa Claus” at hand. Common wish requests include a desire to meet celebrities (actors Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are popular), and going for a trip with their families within the country. Normally the MAWF volunteers take down three wishes that a child has and work to grant the most cherished one, if possible. “We have always managed to fulfil at least one of the three wishes,” says Patra.  Supercop: Ravi, 15, gives out tickets to traffic rule violators. Make-A-Wish Foundation “The most touching wishes are those in which the children want to become something, such as a doctor, a fairy or even a pilot,” says Patra, my mentor and the foundation’s programme manager in Delhi. Like an 11-year-old child in Ahmedabad, who wanted to be a pilot. The MAWF got in touch with Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd, which allowed them to bring the child and let him spend time with one of the staff pilots for a day. He got to wear a uniform, sat in the cockpit, and even “flew” the helicopter as a co-pilot. Another wish that stands out is one by 15-year-old Ravi, also in Ahmedabad, who wanted to become a policeman for a day. MAWF approached the local police station and with their help had him sworn into the city police force, where he got to patrol the city and issue traffic tickets to offenders. The foundation was started in India by Gita and Uday Joshi in 1996, after their son Gandhar, who was suffering from leukaemia, had been granted his wish to spend a couple of days in Disneyland by the foundation’s main branch in the US (he passed away a couple of months later). The couple was so touched by the selflessness of the action that they came back and established the foundation’s Indian arm, which is now headquartered in Mumbai. Over the past 12 years, the foundation has granted at least 14,000 wishes in the nine cities— Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Bangalore and Pune—where it has centres. “We try and grant the wishes as soon as possible since many of these kids don’t even have a month more to live,” says Patra. Back at the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, we have a wish for a red dress and a pair of blue jeans from Neha. ***** If you want to volunteer MAWF is always in need of volunteers to talk to the children and find out their wishes and for event-specific work. For fieldwork, people with a background in psychology are preferred because “such people can talk to the kids better”. The volunteer work is usually for a minimum of six months and it requires two days’ training with MAWF. 011-41823514 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Be added to the foundation’s central bank and used to fulfil any number of wishes Fulfil a wish from the foundation’s pending list that you want to sponsor. A photograph of the wish-granting ceremony, along with the child’s details, are sent to the donor, who can choose to be present at the time the wish is granted Sponsor an event. The foundation organizes regular events such as sponsoring someone at the forthcoming Delhi half-marathon ***** People like us Cancer Foundation of India Money: The foundation works for the prevention and detection of cancer in rural areas in West Bengal. Donations will be used to fund research. Time: People with a medical background are needed to accompany workers to rural areas on projects. Contact: Email cfindia@hotmail.com Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) Money: Although donations of all amounts are welcome, Rs40,000 will sponsor a child for a year, paying for medicines, counselling, food, clothing, accommodation and education. Donors will be sent regular progress reports of the child they sponsor, irrespective of the amount donated. Donors can also sponsor gifts or wishes for the children. Time: CPAA organizes three-day training workshops every month that interested volunteers can attend. They are then trained further for 7-10 days by counsellors, and those interested can help in palliative counselling of patients and family members. Contact: ‘www.cpaaindia.org’ or call 022-24924000 Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:47 am Mumbai Mobile Creche, Mumbaiwww.mobilecreches.org Sushila Jadhav, 12, had never been to school until her parents came to work at K. Raheja Corp. Construction’s Vivarea project, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai. She took care of two siblings while her parents laboured at construction sites. Today, her siblings are taken care of at the mobile creche on the site while she studies at the creche. Also Read: Give and take Expecting a dusty site area, with noisy children and jaded teachers, I head for the six-month-old residential construction site where at least 80 families work. But as Vasanthi Ghadi, a 58-year-old kindly but sharp programme officer, guides me to a large brick structure, I am in for a surprise. The school is noisy alright, like any place with at least 60 kids should be, but it’s clean, airy and spacious, with cheerful artwork on the walls. Children of the migrant labourers, who live and work at the construction site, study, eat and play here till their parents return from work. Mobile Creche aims to give these children an opportunity to be a part of mainstream society by providing day-care facilities for the smaller children and empowering the older ones through education. In the past 35 years, Mobile Creche has set up about 550 day-care centres at construction sites in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. They keep a database of the children and build creches at as many sites as possible in these cities so that the children don’t lose out on a stable environment even as they move from one construction site to another with their parents. The creche at the Vivarea project site has three rooms: The first has babies (under three) lying in makeshift cloth cribs, sleeping or chewing contentedly on plastic toys, while two caretakers bathe and feed toddlers, play with them and teach them. The second room is for three-to-six-year-olds and the third for older children. These rooms double up as classrooms. The class for the older kids has desks and benches and the walls are covered with artwork and diagrams. There are also two computers which are not yet functional. Children in this class are learning math, and I teach little Aparna to write the number 6 in Hindi. Soon, other children crowd around, demanding attention from the “new teacher”. “We are very strict about the teacher-child ratio, which can’t be over 1:25,” says Neeta Khajuria, general manager of the creche. Regular PTA meetings, called chai parties, are held to give parents detailed progress reports. One of the aims of this organization is to prepare the children for admission at local municipal schools, which is difficult for migrant parents to do on their own. Mohammed Shafique, 14, used to work at a tile shop before the staff at this creche convinced his parents to allow him to study. He is the oldest student in his class, and the teacher gives him extra classes so that he’s equipped to attend a municipal school soon.  Work and play: Toys and picture books keep the younger children. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint On my way out of the Vivarea project site, I see a 12-year-old girl washing dishes outside her home. Khajuria tells me that the girl’s sister, who works as a maid, doesn’t allow her to join the creche because she needs her to do the housework. A boy of about 18 steps out of the house. Khajuria is worried—she has never seen him there before. The girl says he’s a cousin who has come to the city looking for work. Khajuria takes her inside her house, and asks if he has tried to touch her. I leave Khajuria and Ghadi there as they explain “good touch and bad touch” to her. ***** If you want to volunteer The organization requires volunteers who can raise funds to sponsor events, equipment and technical guidance. Other volunteers can spend time at the creches and help teach and play with the children or cook for them. “Anyone is welcome to volunteer as long as they are dedicated. We need people who can take an initiative and add to our efforts. They need to spend a consistent amount of time with us,” says Neeta Khajuria, general manager of the creche. You can also donate toys, books and stationery, besides clothes for babies. 022-22020869 011-23347635 020-25513804 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Support comprehensive development—health, education and nutrition expenses—for 10 children a month Support nutrition expenses for five children for a year Support one ‘balwadi’ teacher for a month Rs25,000 supports a small child development centre for a month ***** People like us Deepalaya, Delhi Money: There are two main sponsorship programmes. The integrated child development sponsorship, which includes education, health care, field trips and talent development, costs Rs7,000 per child per year. The education sponsorship, which covers only education fees, costs Rs4,000 per child per year. Donors can contribute any amount to other initiatives such as the mobile health clinics or the emergency medical fund. Time: People can volunteer in a number of areas, including education, community programmes, talent development and administrative duties. Contact: ‘www.deepalaya.org’ or call 011-28525788 Akanksha, Mumbai and Pune Money: Any sum can be donated to sponsor computer classes, art classes or a sports programme. People can also buy products bags, cards and photo frames made by the children. Time: The Akanksha volunteer works directly with the children. Volunteers need no prior experience. Contact: ‘www.akanksha.org’ or call 022-23700253. Butterflies, Delhi Money: Donors can specify which Butterflies’ initiative (education, health care, etc) they want to donate to. During Diwali, they can also buy candles and ‘diyas’ made by the children. Time: Volunteers can help with their education, health or alternative media programmes, which include a newspaper, radio programme and bank run for working children. Food can be donated to a community kitchen run by some of the children. Contact: ‘www.butterflieschildrights.org’ or call 011-26163935 ************** Door Step School, Mumbai www.doorstepschool.org As she walks through the bylanes of cramped concrete tenements in Colaba, Vijaya Dalvi calls out to the scampering children she passes on the way. She wants to know why one little boy didn’t come to school yesterday, and why another, carrying his baby sister in his arms, missed his computer class. They smile sheepishly and promise didi they’ll be there tomorrow.  Sweeping change: From 25 children in 1989 to 5,000 children in 2008. Abhijit Bhatlekar /Mint Over the years, Door Step has educated thousands of children through a school on wheels, makeshift classrooms in slums and a school adoption programme that tries to place the children in municipal schools throughout the city. “We started with just 25 children,” Lashkari says. “But now we have 5,000 children enrolled in municipal schools.” The centre in Colaba, a series of rented garage spaces around a dusty courtyard, is modest, but bustling. There are 10 classes in session, with children between the ages of seven and nine. Raveena, a shy eight-year-old who Dalvi has brought along, is sent off to her class, where they are learning the months and days of the year. Though bright, she is often kept away from school by her mother, Dalvi tells me. Her case, in many ways, is not so different from that of dozens of her classmates, seated on the floor. Most of these children come of their own volition, bringing along siblings, who are dispatched by parents too busy working to look after them. Anita, a slim, brown-eyed girl standing outside the classroom, is proof that enrolling in the Door Step School is a ticket to a better life. Her parents are both fisherfolk, and Anita has spent her life in this neighbourhood. Now 18, she is enrolled in the arts programme at Elphinstone College. Her goal, she says, is to eventually become a teacher, to educate children so that they, too, know that outside the four walls of their cramped kholis lies a world of opportunity. Donors’ contributions are put to varied use—to help pay for teachers’ salaries or buy supplies such as sports kits. Volunteers can assist teachers or help out in other areas, depending on their skills. (Tara Kilachand) Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:43 am Unitech to offload 2645% stake in telecom bizReal estate developer Unitech on Friday said it would divest 26 per cent to 45 per cent stake in its telecom venture to a strategic partner, within a month.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:39 am Micro charityHow should you give to a charity? The reasons why you support a specific cause are always intensely personal. Some people want to spend their money to protect baby seals while others would prefer it spent on human babies. Bill Gates thinks AIDS is a big threat, while Bono wants to save Africa. Also Read: Give and take My wife and I have decided to keep some part of our annual earnings aside to help those who are less lucky than we are. We give our money to an NGO that tries to assist poor children. It offers us a menu of programmes that can be funded. We usually ask this charity to use our money to give girls an annual dose of iron and folic acid tablets.  Share the wealth: Baby seals or kids’ health? Pretty unscientific stuff—but we have stuck to our game plan. However, earlier this year, I stumbled across the most recent findings of the Copenhagen Consensus, a project that uses the principles of welfare economics to find out how the world should spend money to improve the well-being of the poor. Eight economists, including five Nobel laureates, prepared the final wish list. The latest report was prepared this year. It says that micronutrient supplements of vitamin A and zinc are the best way to spend money to improve the lives of the poor. Free trade comes in at No. 2. The third slot is taken by micronutrient fortification—iron and salt iodization. The entire list can be read at the official website of the Copenhagen Consensus. What I find interesting is the fact that fashionable causes such as global warming, taxes on tobacco and microfinance come pretty low in the rankings. The world will do better if money is spent on commonplace stuff such as deworming and immunizing children against disease. Not everyone would agree. A friend commented on a blog post I had done on this issue in September: “I guess I’m a bit of the old world chap for whom donations have to come from a call of the heart rather than doing complex econometric modelling in the head.” Niranjan Rajadhyaksha is the editorial pages editor of Mint and writes a weekly column called Cafe Economics Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:39 am Markets almost hit bottom, Sensex hits 3-yr lowThe stock markets almost hit their bottom, falling to nearly three-year low at the weekend as the recession worries continued to haunt investors across the worldSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:38 am Help’s at handIread about Childline in a newspaper called The Metropolis on Saturday in 1996. I thought it was a good idea: street children attending to a helpline for children in distress. I called the number, wrote a cheque and forgot about it. But a week later, three social workers came looking for me. That was the whole Childline team then: Jeroo Billimoria, who had invented it; Prakash Fernandes, who drew the charts and did the writing; and Meghna Sawant, who did everything else. Also Read: Give and take Billimoria wasted no time. “We need your help,” she said. “I’d love to help but what can I do?” I asked. “We are thinking about a training manual. You could edit that for us,” Billimoria said. That was more like it. Editing I could do. That was something I had done for years.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint To many this may sound like not calling a spade a spade. I don’t think so. It’s about caring enough to make sure you try and do what is needed, not ride in to reform everyone and show them how things should be done. Too often, volunteers assume that they bring sound common sense to the development sector. They do, but every volunteer would do well to remember that those who are professionally involved in development work have studied several models, tried various methods, and are standing on the shoulders of the giants of their field. A little humility goes a long way. I learnt this in one long and insight-packed night. After several weeks of email exchanges, Billimoria rang me up and suggested that we meet in the Childline office for half an hour so she could orient me to the needs of editing a manual in the development sector. At around 7pm, we sat down at a computer, I cracked my knuckles, she ordered tea and we began work. At 2am, the watchman of the building came in to complain. Billimoria emailed the file to herself and we went off in search of one of her friends who had a computer at home. At 3am, we were ensconced in front of a computer of some bemused friend who had opened her door, asked if we wanted some coffee, and then gone back to sleep without giving us any. At 5am, it was done and I had learnt that if you want to help, you have to relearn several things. Over the course of the next five years, I edited eight or nine manuals for Childline. I did their reports, edited their proposals and then the inevitable happened. Childline became a government project. It had funds. It was in 50 cities. It was big and it would survive. “I want you to help Meljol,” said Billimoria in 2001. I liked the idea. Meljol was a small struggling organization at the time. It had no funds though it was doing pioneering work in child rights. By the way, the term “child rights” does not mean children going on strike for their rights; it only means that children have the right to survival, to development, to protection and participation. In the face of every child labourer, in the body of every child sex worker, you can see a violation of the basic rights of the child. Meljol works with children in the school system, with teachers in schools, to strengthen the notion that children have rights. If you think this is unimportant, consider this. Most teachers think of the good student as the student who listens to the voice of authority and obeys immediately, without asking questions. Every Indian child internalizes this; the good child is the obedient child. Without a tradition of asking questions, without a tradition of asking for facts, without a tradition of independent thinking, the same children can turn into the cannon fodder of fascists. Meljol believes that India will reap what she sows in these classrooms. Where democratic values, tolerance, and a respect for differences are sown, we will reap an inclusive India. For some years, I worked with Meljol, doing precisely what I had done with Childline. And then one day, Billimoria blew into town again. We drove to a school in which the students greeted Sumitra Ashtikar, our executive director, with the kind of approval reserved for film stars. They roared the Meljol song and danced the Meljol dance, Sumitra leading with panache, and they almost made me cry. Then suddenly, Billimoria asked whether anyone had a bank account. No one did. She asked who had been inside a bank. A very few had. She asked how many children had parents who had bank accounts. Not too many. Less than 40%. On the way back, during the long drive from the outskirts of Panvel to the office of Meljol, located in a municipal school in Bombay Central, she outlined her plan. “A bank for children, no, we’ll call it a child savings scheme, the word bank brings all kinds of problems with it. And we have to have a passbook. And maybe a bank day, on which deposits are made, and withdrawals. No, they can’t just withdraw. They have to say why. It should be written in the book, put in another column, there. No, we should use the Meljol clubs for this. It should be one of their activities. Where should the money be kept? With the teacher. Later we can have them open accounts in the banks. Or the post offices. Even where there are no banks, there are post offices. We need to talk to the post offices…” And so it went. By the time we were back in the city, Sumitra and I were exhausted but we knew that we had another project to start. Neither of us was sure it would work. But today hundreds of thousands of children are learning the concept of savings, not just in rural Maharashtra but in 20 countries all over the world. Meljol’s concept lives and breathes in Egypt and Vietnam, in Brazil and Kenya, in Argentina and Serbia and is teaching children to take charge of their lives and their futures. I know my role was small but it was one which gave me immense satisfaction of the kind you could experience tomorrow. You could be a lawyer or a doctor or a teacher or a homemaker. Your skills are needed. They can, with a little rejigging, be put to use. The social development sector needs corporate help more than ever before. It needs help with setting up systems, writing financial plans, corporate planning, things that will establish institutional longevity. As the global slowdown begins, it will have to turn self-sufficient. You can help. All you have to do is ask. Jerry Pinto still works pro bono with Meljol as executive secretary to the board of directors. More information can be found on www.childlineindia.org.in and www.meljol.net Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:37 am Arushi (Salaam Baalak Trust), Gurgaonwww.salaambaalaktrust.com It is the post-lunch TV hour at Arushi and the mood among the girls who live here is buoyant. When a television actor (Rajat Tokas) appears on screen, I am taken aback by the dozen-odd flying kisses thrown at him by my fellow viewers. The conversation veers quickly towards who adores whom. “Please write that Sapna loves Salman!” says Sapna. Also Read: Give and take “And that Himesh is Pooja’s favourite!” pleads Pooja. “Asha here prays for Rajat Tokas all the time!” says a girl—not Asha—with a giggle. Asha turns slightly red, then smiles and looks accusingly at the girl who has volunteered this information. Just five months old, Arushi, which houses 47 girls, is the fifth shelter home for children opened by the Delhi-based NGO, Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT). Over the past 20 years, SBT has provided a home, education and future to many street children in Delhi. Tucked away among a row of houses in a pleasant residential Gurgaon colony that is still in the process of shedding its rural vestiges, Arushi houses girls aged between five and 18. These girls either don’t have families or their families are too poor to take care of them and have left them here. The home reminds you of a clean and well-maintained, if somewhat spartan, students’ hostel. Its spacious dorm-style rooms, built over three levels around an atrium with a sunroof, are neatly ordered and have bunk beds. There is a dining area on the ground floor which also serves as a common room. Classrooms, an amphitheatre and a TV room are being built in the basement. If Arushi’s unplastered and unpainted walls indicate that budgets were tight, then their patterned red brick and (polished) concrete finish also shows that the aesthetics of the building has been thought through. Plaques on the walls show that funding for Arushi came from corporations, both Indian and multinationals, as well as from the American and Japanese governments—a testimony to the confidence and trust SBT’s work inspires.  The future is here: The children have full-time teachers to help with their studies. Harikrishna Katragadda /Mint All of which does not obviate the need for volunteers to give a leg up to the young wards of Arushi in what remains an uphill struggle for a decent future. On a weekday morning, volunteers from the Motorola corporation come in identical yellow company polo shirts to tell the kids about the environment—this involves a drawing contest with a green theme, a short cartoon film, some talk about why trees and forests should be preserved and, best of all, pizza for lunch. It is after the pizza that I sit with five girls selected by Rai and try and converse with them in English. Husna is in class VI, Heena and Ritu are in class V, Aarti in class VIII and Yashi in class II—their ability to speak English is limited. “There are things we can write,” says Husna in Hindi. “But it is harder to talk in English.” She is 13 and says she wants to be an astronaut like Kalpana Chawla. I am curious about how much the girls will understand if I read something out and ask Husna for her English textbook. Continuing with the green theme, I decide to read out The Giant Stone of Tears, a story adapted from a Tajik folk tale. It traces the friendship between a giant rock and a peepal tree that ended with the tree being felled by thoughtless humans. The girls understand only a little but listen attentively and follow the story as I explain it in Hindi. As I read to the girls, I can’t help but think that they are easier to handle than their more affluent peers. Unfailingly courteous, they are careful not to betray any signs of impatience even when their attention is straying. This could be for a number of reasons— maybe I am a naturally gifted teacher or, more likely, they are hungrier than other children to learn and want to make the best of the cards life has dealt them. ***** If you want to volunteer “We look for long-term volunteers,” says Sanjoy Roy, a founder trustee of SBT. “Anything less than six weeks is a waste of time for both—the children and volunteers.” Roy says volunteers who can teach are always welcome—it could be English, science, math or how to use computers. SBT has full-time tutors on its rolls, but Roy points out that the sheer number of children and their vastly varying levels of education require all the extra help they can get. “If someone wants to just play with the kids or tell them stories, they are welcome too,” he says. Doctors and specialists willing to treat the children are always welcome. 011-23584164 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Provide food for five children for a month Provide educational aid such as books and stationery and fees for 10 children in a private school for one month Provide health and hygiene products for 50 children for one month A donation of Rs6,000 will educate a child in a private school for one year ***** People like us Parikrma, Bangalore Money: Parikrma runs four schools which give underprivileged kids quality English-medium school education. A donation can go to their “invest in a child” programme, which focuses on the requirements of one child. Half a day’s salary as part of their Change Your World initiative can also be paid for. Time: People can help children with remedial classes or engage with them in outdoor activities such as basketball and swimming, read stories to them, or take them to the planetarium. Contact: ‘www.parikrmafoundation.org’ or call 080-26572065 Nanhi Kali, Mumbai Money: Sponsorship for a girl child studying in classes I to VII costs Rs1,800 per month, and for a girl child studying in classes VII-X, Rs2,000 per month. The sponsorship money is used for material support, including stationery, books, uniforms, shoes and academic support beyond school hours. Time: Nanhi Kali is a sponsorship project for underprivileged girls and works with 25 NGO implementation partners at the grass-root level, hence there is no scope for direct volunteer participation. Contact: ‘www.nanhikali.org’ or call at 022-22021031 Jamghat, Delhi Money: Donors can pay for the educational and vocational training of children, their food, the rent for their Lado Sarai shelter or the day-care centre near Jama Masjid. Time: People can help with documentation, or website maintenance. They can teach the kids or work with the street theatre programme. Jamghat is planning 10 performances in New Delhi starting 31 October. Contact: Email at jamghat@gmail.com or call 09818705715 ***************** Pranab Kanya Sangha, Kolkata www.pranabkanyaschool.org Situated in Madhyamgram, on the fringes of Kolkata, the Pranab Kanya Sangha (PKS) serves as an orphanage, school and crèche, all rolled into one, for about 70 girls, aged 6-18. Many girls here have been abandoned by families, while others have been entrusted to the Sangha by parents too poor to take care of them. The girls are engaged in academic and vocational pursuits within the institute’s lush green campus, where they live, study and play together. “I love my friends and would like to stay here as long as I can. I have a lot of toys to play with here,” says four-year-old Chandana Hemrom, who has just started going to playschool. Too poor to take care of her, her parents sent her to the institute. An in-house primary school has 400 students from the institute as well as outside it and the Sangha administration arranges for the resident girls’ higher education. Some of them leave early to get married, while others pursue their studies or take vocational training to learn skills such as tailoring.  Taking a break: Enjoying a game of kabbadi between classes. Ayan Laha / Mint To break the ice, I decide to organize a small general knowledge quiz for the girls. The alacrity with which hands go up to answer the questions is overwhelming. A right answer by one is greeted with a loud round of clapping by her mates, while a wrong one is booed. “Through every activity, we try to inculcate a sense of togetherness and responsibility towards society in these children,” says Sanyasini Paramanandamayee, secretary of the Sangha and popularly called Sanyasi Didi. Pranab Kanya Sangha began with a handful of children in 1971 under the patronage of the Bharat Sevashrama Sangha—a non-profit charitable organization reaching out to the underprivileged around the world. It has now branched out into various areas of West Bengal, the Andamans, Haryana, Maharashtra and Orissa, and is home to around 260 girls, also providing education and crèche facilities to many others. A donation of Rs5,000 to the Sangha can sponsor a child for one year (taking care of her education, accommodation, food, clothing and all other necessities). Long power cuts are frequent and the donation of a generator would be welcome. The institute is also looking for well-qualified female volunteers who can teach in a primary school. (Aveek Datta) Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:32 am Kerala minister to scout for investments in the USKerala's Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem is leaving for a week-long trip to the US to scout for investments, after having lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at public meetings for hobnobbing with the Americans.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:30 am Naz Care Home, New DelhiThe white and green building that houses the Naz Care Home in south Delhi looks no different from the other two-storey houses in the lane—if anything, it is prettier. Inside too, red, green and yellow walls are covered with black and white photographs of beautiful, smiling children who live in the home. Also Read: Give and take As I walk up the stairs around 4pm to the dormitory which houses 35 HIV positive children (the youngest is 20 months old and the oldest 15 years), I am greeted with a cheery “Hello didi” many times over. A batch of 12 kids is waiting in the playroom adjacent to the dormitory to start an art and craft activity. On a previous visit, I had been told by Mita*, 6, that besides paints, I should get some sequins too. I have brought those in three colours—pink, blue and gold—along with small round mirrors, and 30 earthen diyas. In a matter of seconds, the number in the room swells to 20, with some of the older children who had been loitering around joining in. “Mujhe pink glitter milega (May I get pink glitter)?” “Hume broosh nahin mila (I did not get a brush).” “Didi, ek aur diya mere dost ke liye do na (Didi, please give me an extra diya for my friend).” I scramble to fulfil the requests—doling out the sequins, brushes, Fevicol tubes, ice-cream sticks, glitter and paints. Meanwhile, the children have spread old newspapers on the floor and divided themselves into groups of three and four on their own. Over the next hour or so, between demands for more Fevicol and glitter, the children seek comments from Sonu bhaiya (a counsellor with the home) and me. Their faces light up when either of us compliments them on how well they have coloured the diyas, or how cleverly they have used the glitter. Most children at the Naz Care Home are orphans abandoned by their immediate families because of the disease. They have come through other NGOs and hospitals. Some have a single surviving parent who is also an AIDS patient and cannot take care of them—and hence has left the child here. “We have a lifetime commitment to them. They can stay with us as long as they want,” says Anuradha Mukherjee, programme manager.  Busy bees: Many children wanted more than one diya to decorate. Ramesh Pathania / Mint Naz Care Home, which was started in 2000, runs on donations from well-wishers and individuals—people like the local rationwala have made a difference. “Ever since he found out about our work, not only does he give us a discount on the bill but sends Rs1,000 every month as donation,” she says. Girls from the nearby Lady Shri Ram College come in regularly to mentor the children, help them with studies and teach them to speak English— something the home authorities believe is an important life skill that can help the children to become self-reliant as they grow older. The care home holds workshops for the volunteers to explain that the HIV virus is not transmitted through touch or by being around people who carry it, so that they are totally at ease when they work with the children. “Contrary to what people think, these children will grow older and healthy, and need skills to be self-reliant and earn. That’s why we want them to study, learn music and computers and yoga,” says Mukherjee, adding that in the last eight years only one child has died at the home—and that too, because of pneumonia. The children are enrolled in a nearby school run by another NGO* and Mukherjee proudly informs me that 10 among them are in the toppers’ list. “Once a child is tested positive, family members give up hope. We have a 10-year-old girl, Asha*, who came to us weighing only 10kg. Forget knowing how to read and write, most are severely malnourished. Here we aim to provide them with more than adequate nutrition, medical supervision at all times (they have a doctor on call 24 hours a day and psychologists visit twice a week) and give them a home—a place where they are accepted.” Of the 35 children, only 12 are aware that they are HIV-positive. “They are 10 years or older and two years ago we sat them down and explained to them what HIV means and what it does to the human immune system. As they grow older, it is better that they learn the facts from us rather than from outside.” The rest are too young, and though they question the need for regular medication, they are told it is to build up their immune system. * Names withheld at the request of Naz Care Home ***** If you want to volunteer If you have an interest in art, music, yoga or photography, take an hour off your hectic weekly schedule and volunteer with the care home. Participate in the children’s lives by spending time with them in a way which can help them learn a new skill or just have fun with an activity. Ideas for activities are welcome and can be discussed with the programme manager at 011-26910499 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Buy calcium, multi-vitamin and iron supplements for 35 children for two months Organize a day’s outing in Delhi, which will include transportation and refreshments for 35 children Pay a month’s salary for one tutor or a caregiver Sponsor education for a girl child (including school fees, books, uniforms and shoes) Sponsor a day’s meal at the care home for 35 children, including breakfast, lunch, fruits and dinner Sponsor milk and eggs for a week for all 35 children Sponsor a birthday party for two children By 2010, Naz Care Home will have a new building, located near Vasant Kunj in New Delhi. To complete the building, donations of material such as cement, bricks, hardware, wiring and fittings are welcome ***** People like us Diya, Hyderabad, and Positive Kids, Bangalore Money: You can sponsor a child for a month for Rs5,000 (this will include education, extra-curricular activities, food and medicine, hospital visits and tests). The same amount will also provide a day’s meal for all children at a centre. DD/cheques should be in favour of “Freedom Foundation” and payable at Bangalore. Time: Opportunities are available on a need basis on weekdays between 9am and 5pm. Contact: Call 080-65966451 or email diyahyd.freedom@gmail.com and freedomc2@gmail.com or Manavya, Pune Money: Sponsor a child’s monthly stay (excluding Anti Retroviral treatment— ART) for Rs3,500. A child’s monthly ART can be sponsored for Rs2,000. Time: Celebrate birthdays, etc. or organise picnics for the children. Help to arrange awareness programmes on HIV in nearby schools and villages. Contact: www.manavya.org or call 020-32302695 Child Survival India, Delhi Money: You can donate funds for the Nanhe Sapne project, which works at raising awareness levels about HIV among street children, adolescent girls living in rural and slum communities, and the HIV-infected and affected children at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and Narela in New Delhi. The money will be used to provide midday meals, milk, fruits and medicines to these children. Time: You can spend time with the children, but it is best to discuss the activity you want to conduct with the programme coordinator first. Contact: Call 011-27844740 or email csi_org@hotmail.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:28 am Aasra, Mumbaiwww.aasra.info Several of the plastic chairs inside the Aasra office lie vacant at 6pm on a Sunday evening. Johnson Thomas and the two other volunteers could be expected to be crestfallen. But after years of trying to recruit volunteers, they are now used to the disappointing mathematics of Aasra’s weekly orientation sessions for new volunteers. Also Read: Give and take “Six people had called up and said they’d like to come. We are happy at least two people came,” says Thomas, a freelance art and film writer, with an enigmatic half-smile that is his default facial expression. Every Sunday evening, Aasra, a 10-year-old helpline for people with suicidal tendencies, conducts an orientation session for potential volunteers. The sessions take place in front of a well-used blackboard, streaked with several layers of white chalk markings, in the cramped and slightly claustrophobic Aasra office in Koparkhairane, Mumbai. During the hour-long session, Thomas and other volunteers take potential volunteers through a brief profile of Aasra, the process involved in becoming a volunteer and, as candidly as possible, try to convey a true picture of the work involved. Aasra is part of an international network of suicide helplines supported by the UK-based charity organization Samaritans—the global network is called Befrienders International. Established in 1953 by Chad Varah, the organization’s prime activity is a telephone helpline that is open to anyone with emotional trouble, especially those that could potentially lead to suicides. Troubled individuals are encouraged to call in and speak to a volunteer who is specially trained to listen and offer support. In Koparkhairane, Aasra volunteers run the helpline 6 hours a day, seven days a week, between 3pm and 9pm. Volunteers man the line in 3-hour shifts on most days. “Normally, we get around seven or eight calls a day,” says Thomas. But during school examinations and result declaration season—“You could call it ‘peak’ season for want of a term”— Aasra has to handle 70 to 80 calls a day.Schoolchildren are the single largest contingent among Aasra’s callers. The 20 volunteers end up working overtime handling calls from students. Taking a call is anything but a matter of speaking softly in a soothing voice. “You have to be a friend: non-judgemental, non-intrusive. And never give advice. Most kids already get enough of that from their parents and teachers. They don’t want even the helpline to do that,” explains Thomas. And to make sure that every “listener” sticks to these basic tenets, all volunteers are made to go through a six-month training programme involving classroom sessions, group activities, role-plays and mock telephone calls.  Lifesavers: Aasra volunteers at a public outreach programme in Mumbai on the occasion of World Mental Health Day. Ashesh Shah / Mint When pressed, he talks about how students, normally children in classes X and XII, call in during exam times. “It is a period of transition for these kids. And they feel scared. They call up saying they haven’t been able to study...or they’ve done badly in the exams.” The children then confess that they are scared of their parents’ reactions. Aasra volunteers first let the children speak their minds and focus on the issue bothering them—often just getting someone to listen to them prevents these children from doing anything drastic. Thomas says about 40% of the children call back for further help. “We don’t keep a database of callers. But we do know the frequent callers.” Calling regularly, though, is not something Aasra encourages. “We want them to become self-reliant over time.” One of Thomas’ Aasra colleagues, an employee with Central Railways, relates how the volunteer training programme often ends up helping a lot of volunteers cope with their personal issues too. Thomas then reiterates how the rewards are unmatched: “When you do a good job here you save a life. Almost instantly.” After the meeting ends, and both potential candidates leave, promising to call back, Thomas and his companions pack up after ensuring the phones have been set to auto-forward calls to volunteers’ cellphones: “This way, not everyone has to come down to Koparkhairane to help.” What Aasra needs right now is both visibility and volunteers. After the meeting, the trio walks me down the road to a teashop. As Thomas sips on chai, he expresses his hope for Aasra: “We are happy with what we do now. But if we grow we can help more people. More children will see our telephone number and more children will call. If they do, we will make sure that there is always someone on the other end of the line.” ***** If you want to volunteer Those who wish to be “listeners” have to mandatorily go through a six-month training programme, over weekends only. All volunteers are expected to put in 3-6 hours of work a week, including at least one 3-hour shift on the phone and additional time for team meetings and any outreach programmes. Knowledge of Marathi or Hindi is desirable. You can also help Aasra by assisting it with seminars, outreach programmes and public events. Just turn up for the weekend orientation programme to know what you can do. For details, call Johnson Thomas at 022-27546667 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Pay a month’s telephone and electricity bills Pay three weeks’ rent for the Aasra office Help them to conduct 10 batches of school outreach programmes where Aasra volunteers hold seminars and study sessions with schoolchildren Buy five months of study material and refreshments for an orientation programme batch of 12 volunteers ***** People like us Saath B12, Nilamber Complex, HL Commerce College Road, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad Contact: Call 079-26305544 Lifeline Foundation 17/1A, Alipore Road, Sarat Bose Road, Kolkata, West Bengal Contact: Call 033-24637401/7432 Childline India Foundation Nana Chowk Municipal School, 2nd Floor, Frere Bridge, Near Grant Road Station, Mumbai Contact: ‘www.childlineindia.org.in’, email dial1098@childlineindia.org.in or call 022-23881098. Roshni 1-8-303/48/21, Kalavathy Nivas, Sindhi Colony, SP Road, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh Contact: Call 09166202000 Sneha 11, Park View Road, RA Puram. Chennai, Tamil Nadu Contact: Email help@snehaindia.org or call 044-24640050 Maithri ICTA-Santigram, Changampuzha Nagar (PO), Kalamassery, Ernakulam Kochi, Kerala Contact: ‘www.maithrikochi.org’ or call 0484-2540530 Sumaitri 1, Bhagwan Das Lane, Aradhana Hostel Complex, Basement, New Delhi Contact: ‘www.sumaitri.org’ or call 011-23389090 The Samaritans, Helpline Riddhi Siddhi CHS, Next to Lal Baug Police Chowky, Dr B. Ambedkar Road, Parel, Mumbai Contact: 022-32473267 Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 8:13 am Panic, recession worries pull Indian equities downWorries over a global slowdown and large-scale selling by foreign funds led Indian equities to witness one of the most volatile sessions during the week ended Friday and pulled a key index down by over 10 percent on a single day.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 7:31 am Pankhudi, Bangalorewww.pankhudifoundation.org There are causes that need your money,and there are causes that need your time. I chose to give my time,” says Pankaj Ghanshani, an IIT Roorkee graduate who works at Amazon Software Development (India) Pvt. Ltd. Like his friend Deeptangan Pant, 24, also an engineer, at Oracle India Pvt. Ltd, 24-year-old Ghanshani volunteers a couple of hours every Saturday, teaching visually impaired children at the Sri Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind (SRMAB) in Bangalore to speak English and learn to use computers. Also Read: Help’s at hand Both are volunteers with the Pankhudi Foundation in Bangalore which works with SRMAB. Volunteers with the foundation in other cities work towards the education and health of street children and children living in slums. Pankhudi was founded in April 2005 by Shahzad Wakeel, who had then just passed out of IIT Mumbai. The foundation started as an Orkut community comprising young professionals with day jobs who were keen to contribute to society’s well-being. Pankhudi has no employees and every individual associated with it works only as a volunteer. Most volunteers with the foundation learnt of its existence through friends already working with it, or have chanced upon its website. Volunteers in a particular city are encouraged to keep in touch via group mail or email. If a volunteer shifts to another city where Pankhudi is present, she just has to send an email to pr@pankhudifoundation.org and she will be put in touch with local workers. At SRMAB, I have elected to work with students of classes V and VI and help them brush up their spoken English skills. The methods of teaching are left to the volunteers. They are free to experiment with ways that can make a foreign language part of these children’s everyday lives. Armed with the warning that the younger children are the most difficult to handle, I walk into the class, which has 12 restless children, with another volunteer. We introduce ourselves in Kannada and the quizzing begins—“Miss, nimge Kannada gotta?” (Miss, do you know Kannada?). “Matte, namige yake English hel kodtira? Kannada nal mathadona” (then why teach us English, when we can talk in Kannada?). Smart. So, we set rule No. 1—no talking in Kannada in English class.  Helping hand: Visually impaired children at SRMAB learn how to use computers with the help of techies who volunteer on weekends. Hemant Mishra / Mint One of the first lessons I learn is that while talking to visually impaired children, emotions have to be delivered by the voice alone, just as a radio jockey does when hosting a show. Also, it took me three classes to figure out that I had to break away from the monotony of teaching the rules of the English language. Instead, I have decided to concentrate on reading simple tales and encouraging the children to talk and narrate stories in their own words. ***** If you want to volunteer Volunteers can teach, organize activities for the children, contribute towards the Pankhudi newsletter, or just choose to help during collection drives such as the recent Bihar flood relief drive. Pankhudi invites volunteers in five other cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai) to teach and work on health care drives in slums. For those who want to make contributions in kind to SRMAB, the school needs computers, headphones, sports equipment and tape recorders. They can teach or organize activities for the children. 080-25681076 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Provide three meals for a day for all the children at SRMAB (breakfast, Rs1,500; lunch, Rs2,000; and dinner, Rs2,000) Rs7,800 can sponsor a child for a year at SRMAB. This includes tuition, shelter and clothing ***** People like us The Blind Relief Association, Delhi Money: Rs 4,000 will sponsor a child for a month. Donors can also pay for blank tapes, tape recorders, etc. Time: The association invites volunteers to read out aloud to children and also record stories and textbooks in an audio format. Contact: ‘www.blindreliefdelhi.org’ National Association of the Blind, Mumbai Money: Support ‘The Home Bound Programme’ Scheme, which allows the blind to run independent businesses from their homes. The schemes involve the purchase of flour-grinding machines, sewing machines, etc. The cost of these machines varies from Rs5,000 to Rs15,000. Time: You can get involved in taking classes for the blind. Contact: ‘www.nabindia.org’ Esha—People for the Blind Contribute by getting your business cards Braille-enabled. For a rupee per card you can Braille-emboss your name and contact details on your business card. The embossing is done by visually-impaired workers. For more information, visit ‘www.braillecards.org’. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 7:14 am Room to Read, New Delhiwww.roomtoread.org In 1998, John Wood, an executive at Microsoft, took a life-altering vacation to Nepal. During the course of the trip, he met a regional school inspector who offered to show him around a rural school, swarming with students but bereft of books. As Wood left, the school’s headmaster is said to have told him, “Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books.” Also Read: Help’s at hand He has—many times over. Room to Read, the NGO that Wood set up after quitting Microsoft, has established at least 5,000 libraries in schools across Asia and Africa; its Indian chapter alone, in the five years since its inception, has set up at least 2,300 libraries in government-run schools in eight states. Room to Read buys children’s books at a discount from publishers such as Scholastic, at a cost of Rs30-40 per book. In the New Delhi office of Room to Read, a big print of the cover of Wood’s book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, translated into Hindi, hangs on one wall; it features Wood grinning, standing next to a yak-like creature bearing a sack of books. Shelves of slim children’s books run around the large front room. “We select our books extremely carefully,” Rajesh Bhattacharya, Room to Read’s development officer, says. “They should be age- and environment-appropriate. Many library programmes omit that.” Room to Read has four primary streams of activity in India. Its Room to Grow scheme selects and sponsors girl students through years of education, providing mentoring and guidance along the way. “I was in an area in Rajasthan recently where for five decades no girl child has gone to school,” Bhattacharya says.  Engrossed: Students pore over library activities at a Room to Read project in Cambodia. Jayson Morris / Room to Read The library campaign is clearly Room to Read’s favoured child, however. Tying up with state governments, Room to Read stocks each library with 800-1,000 books and offers library support for three years. “We don’t always get a good response from the state government, and then the teachers have to be won over,” Bhattacharya says. “But now schools and states are really beginning to own their library programmes.” At the 500-student-strong MCD Primary School in Andrews Ganj, New Delhi, the library is a room on the first floor, with rugs on the floor and three cabinets of books off to one side. The unlocked cabinets are the ones from Room to Read. “We insist that our books are openly accessible,” Bhattacharya says. “Too often, government schools tend to lock up their books for fear of damage, but it also deters the children from reaching for them.” The Room to Read books, however, look pleasantly well-worn, as books should. They were stacked neatly by class level, and I was shown a scrupulously kept register of issued books. As I watched a library training workshop for teachers, I noticed that every single child wandering the corridor outside would stop and, with a smile, peer around the door. One teacher at the school, who asked to remain anonymous because she wasn’t authorized to speak to the press, says that she has seen slow but steady progress in her students’ reading skills since the library opened last year. “Unfortunately, sometimes the teachers don’t have the time to follow up with their students about their reading,” she says. “Having a library, and having designated reading periods, is a good way to make sure that they keep improving their reading.” And only by reading, as Bhattacharya says, “can they develop their imagination, and begin to envision brighter things around them”. ***** If you want to volunteer Volunteers at Room to Read can visit project libraries to read to children, or lead them through one of the many scheduled activities during the school day. A more pedagogically intensive way is to volunteer to teach Room to Grow candidates in their external tuitions, at one of Room to Read’s many tuition centres. The best way to sign up to volunteer is to log on to the Room to Read website and fill out a volunteer opportunities form. 011-41750236 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Buy 140 books for a school library Sponsor six months of an individual girl student’s Room to Grow programme. A full year’s programme, which costs Room to Read Rs10,000, includes not only a scholarship and textbooks, but also mentoring, career guidance, and external tuitions, if necessary ***** People like us Akshara Foundation, Bangalore Money: For Rs4,000, a donor can buy a learning kit for two children for a year, providing them with reading charts, educational puzzles and blocks. Time: You can volunteer for activities such as teacher training, etc. Contact: ‘www.aksharafoundation.org’ or call 080-25429726 Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children, Delhi Money: An upcoming campaign to publish and distribute books for children in the areas of Bihar affected by the recent floods in the Kosi river will run to publication costs of Rs50,000 per book title. Time: At the AWIC’s Kathavachan projects, volunteers visit schools, hospitals and libraries. Contact: ‘www.awic.in’ or call 011-23311095 Pratham, Mumbai Money: Even Rs250 can buy a Pratham learning kit for a child. Time: You can help develop teaching and learning material, or assist in monitoring. Contact: ‘www.pratham.org’ or call 022-23851542 Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 7:11 am Family Home, MumbaiIn the BDD Chawl behind the erstwhile Hindmata theatre (now a mall) in Dadar, the Family Home charity has, for 35 years, run a home for 20-26 boys, aged 6-12. They are mostly homeless children (a few do have family, but they are unable to care for them), rescued by NGOs and sent to government rehabilitation centres after registration with the family court. The government assigns these boys to junior homes such as the Family Home, where they are looked after until they turn 12. They are then reassigned by the government to senior homes. Also Read: Help’s at hand Though the exterior of the chawl is somewhat drab, the kids are bright and cheerful, as are most of the 10 spacious rooms that have recently been renovated. The boys are always up to some mischief; Sitesh, a six-year-old, sticks up his fingers to create bunny ears when he sees the camera. During study time, one boy insists on climbing over the desks, another yells a study-related question across the room to his friend, a third tells me his friend is a jabber-mouth—all indicating healthy, relaxed interaction. Smita Gaikwad, matron (or “home mother”), says that a year ago, all the kids were transferred from a municipal school to a local private school, and there’s already a huge difference in their learning and overall well-being. The boys agree, and continue to chat about the movie they saw over the weekend, their yoga, music, karate and drawing classes. Chetan, 11, whose friends call him “drawing master”, proudly pulls out his drawing book to show off some neat artwork. A team of six boys, aged 10-12, joins me in cooking —making a simple dessert of chocolate laddus using Marie biscuits, cocoa powder, butter and condensed milk. The team enthusiastically follows all the steps, from crumbling the biscuits to making the circular balls, though undoubtedly the most joyful moment comes when they can lick their fingers and scrape the bowl clean of leftover batter. Pratik,11, sweetly suggests to his mates that they should make the laddus smaller, so that they can each get more to eat! As we walk from room to room, I notice four computers sitting untouched on a desk—gifts from well-meaning donors. These were given to the home over a year ago, but without technical assistance, software upgrades and a system in place for computer education for the kids, they lie idle. The children, of course, would love to learn to use computers and, like kids everywhere, they’re keen to play with electronic gadgets, as they do when I leave my cellphone on the table for a few minutes.  Sweet treat: Even though the boys loved these laddus, they saved some to share with friends. Niloufer Venkatraman The Family Home’s aim is to create an environment that is as close to family life as possible. The boys go to school, play, do homework, eat meals together, have affectionate caregivers, are disciplined from time to time, and even fight with each other the way siblings do. It is run as an open home, in that the children are allowed basic freedoms, including going to school by themselves and leaving the home with permission, much in the way children in a regular family ask parents permission to step out and play outside. A managing committee (mostly senior citizens) looks at the fund-raising, and long- and short-term requirements of the institution and its children. While the government provides some money for the children’s upkeep, the bulk of the money it takes to raise 20 energetic boys comes from funds solicited by committee members from their friends and family and from organizations such as Wereldkinderen, a Dutch project aid organization. With more support, perhaps the Family Home could provide six more destitute youngsters a decent childhood, and improve the lives of those already under its protection. Write to lounge@livemint.com ***** If you want to volunteer People can start a computer lab on the premises with regular and competent instruction or teach the boys conversational English. They can also help with renovations and improve the interiors of the home. A sensitive and skilled counsellor is always required. Professionals (both individuals and companies through their corporate social responsibility divisions) can contribute by virtue of their skills—for instance, a construction or interiors firm, an architect or anyone else could sponsor some interior upgrades. For more information, call the home’s superintendent, Swati Sawlapurkar, at 022-24130721 ***** Rs5,000 for this charity can Pay one month’s salary for a part-time counsellor Buy the children two sets of clothes each Get an AMC (annual maintenance contract) for the computers Cheques can be written out to “Family Home, Guild of Service” and sent to: Family Home, BDD Chawl No. 16A, BJ Deorukhkar Road, Naigaum, Dadar, Mumbai-400014 ***** People like us SOS Children’s Villages of India Money: Rs6,000 a year will sponsor a child for one year, paying for food, education and living expenses. The same amount can also be donated to the village’s general fund. Time: The organization encourages people who would like to volunteer to do so on a long-term basis for teaching different subjects. Contact: ‘www.soscvindia.org’ or call 011-24359450, 24357299 Balagurukulam, Chennai Money: Rs14,000 will sponsor a child’s education for a year, paying for tuition, uniform, books and transport. Rs1,500 will sponsor a child’s food and clothing for a month, while Rs2,500 will sponsor a child’s food, clothing and education for a month. You can also sponsor special events and meals. Cheques must be made in favour of Balagurukulam and sent out to Balagurukulam, 1, Ashram Street, Murugambedu, Kallikuppam, Ambattur, Chennai. Time: The organization mainly encourages volunteers who can teach the children or take care of infants. Contact: ‘www.balagurukulam.org’ or call 044-26580790/26864607. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Oct 2008 | 7:03 am Tata, Mahindra interested in Hummer book - sourceNEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Corp and Chrysler have moved closer on Friday to offloading two niche vehicle brands associated with the era of cheap gasoline and big profits for Detroit, even as both sides intensified talks on a merger that would combine the struggling automakers.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 6:14 am Delhi's new airstrip, touted India's longest, is just seventhThe authorities that built the third runway at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport claim it's India's longest - but it's a credit that remains on paper because of a curious problem.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 5:31 am Political alarms ring as panicked markets diveBEIJING (Reuters) - Asian and European leaders closed ranks on Saturday to try to bolster the confidence of shell-shocked investors fearful that the year-long global credit crunch is mutating into a worldwide recession.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 5:05 am U.S. banks getting capital, National City soldNEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government took further steps to prop up the U.S. banking system on Friday, starting to inject capital into a new group of banks, and helping to finance a $5.2 billion takeover of National City Corp by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 4:57 am Hit by slowdown, corporate houses cut down on Diwali giftsThe economic slowdown has dampened the festive mood this season, with even business houses slashing their budget for corporate gifting by almost 25 percent.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 4:30 am Gold a safe harbour, investment advisors tell clientsWith prices of gold expected to shoot up during the Indian marriage season beginning November, portfolio strategists have begun to advise clients to invest in gold as most other asset classes are in trouble following the global financial meltdown.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Oct 2008 | 4:00 am Wall St demo gets little traction despite Dow dropNEW YORK (Reuters) - Many Americans may be deeply upset over the financial crisis, worrying about their personal losses and the cost of government bailouts, but they appear a long way away from taking to the streets in anger.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:23 am RBI leaves key rates unchangedMumbai, Oct. 24 Belying market expectations of further measures to boost investor sentiment, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday left all its key rates – repo, reverse repo and CRR – unchanged, in its mid-term of the monetary policySource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Borrowed money flees, triggering melt-downAs Indian investors come to terms with the carnage witnessed in stock markets on Friday, they can draw comfort from the fact that the 10 per cent decline in the Sensex was more due to de-leveraging by global investors than any fundamental factorsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Maruti net down 36%; to hike pricesAn increase in raw material prices, losses on external commercial borrowings and a new depreciation policy on its tools triggered a 36 per cent drop in Maruti Suzuki’s net profit at Rs 296 crore for the second quarter ended September 30,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Markets in free fallMumbai, Oct. 24 Investors were witness to one of the blackest days in Indian stock market history as FIIs shed a record quantity of Indian stocks sending the Sensex plunging 11 per cent on Friday, driving it back three years in time.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Auto cos seek price cuts from vendorsNew Delhi, Oct. 23 It is now the turn of automobile companies to ask their vendors for a price revision. They want their suppliers to cut prices as commodity prices dip globally.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Diamond biz in Surat goes on a longer holidayThe diamond business, which was estimated to have fetched revenues and foreign exchange worth about Rs 75,000 crore annually only a couple of years ago, no longerSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am FIIs selling pulling down Re: Kamal NathThe ongoing sell-off by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the stock markets has pulled down the rupee against the dollar, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said here today.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Markets this WeekThe Reserve Bank of India on Monday slashed its key short-term interest rate - Repo rate - by 100 basis points to 8 per cent, to ease pressure on the credit market and also maintain financial stability. This is seen as a clear signal to banks toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am How far will FIIs go?Mumbai, Oct. 24 As the intensity of selling by foreign institutional investors left the market belly up on Friday, (when FII net sales at Rs 1400 crore, were the highest for any single day), market watchers were wondering just how much more FIIsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Cos see more headroom for growth in EuropeBangalore, Oct. 24 Notwithstanding the gradual spread of economic crisis to Europe, Indian IT firms are bullish on prospects in Continental Europe that’s slowly warming up to the concepts of outsourcing andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Maruti net skids 37 per cent - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Oct 2008 | 11:21 pm Global recession fears intensify, markets diveWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Poor economic data around the world and another international barrage of corporate profit warnings and job cut announcements intensified fears of deep global recession on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Oct 2008 | 10:29 pm Venezuela calls for $70-$90 OPEC oil price bandCARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said OPEC should create a price band for crude oil between $70 and $90 per barrel, adding his government would not collapse even if oil prices dropped to $7 per barrel.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Oct 2008 | 8:17 pm Q2 show: Tata Steel beats expectations, net up 50.13%Mumbai: Tata Steel Ltd, India’s largest private sector steel maker, beat market expectations to record a 50.13% rise in quarterly profits as it sold more value-added steel products such as galvanized steel and cold rolled products. Net profit for the second quarter ended 30 September, excluding the company’s Anglo-Dutch unit Corus Group Plc., increased to Rs1,787.81 crore from Rs1,190.83 crore a year earlier, as sales surged 42.73% to Rs6,744.16 crore. Five analysts polled by Bloomberg had on average forecast net profit of Rs1,650 crore for the second quarter. “It (profit) is higher than what we expected. This is because other income has gone up, operating profit has increased 3%, and tax rate is pegged at 30% instead of the 33% we had expected,” said Rakesh Arora, associate director, Macquarie Securities. “In the last quarter, the company had paid 35% tax.” The firm’s other income, or non-core income, increased to Rs238.37 crore from Rs80.51 crore a year ago. To cut risks Tata has prepaid 10% of the loans to its UK arm in the first six months of this year Tata Steel also said prices would drop by Rs3,000-4,000 per tonne in October-November as commodity prices has fallen globally, but this would not hurt margins. The company, which got exposed to foreign loans in 2006-07 for its Corus acquisition, dismissed fears that it would be affected by the current global credit crisis. “We are well-funded and well-capitalized. We are sitting on liquid funds,” Koushik Chatterjee, group chief financial officer, said. “We have enough for the short term, the credit lines are in place, (and) the underlying credit quality has not changed since the last two months.” Tata Steel shares have been pounded at the stock bourses along with other metal stocks this year, with the company shedding 80.93% of its value since 1 January, when it started at Rs934.80. On Friday, Tata Steel shares fell 14% to Rs178.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after dropping to a year’s low of Rs174.15 earlier in the day. In October alone, Tata Steel shares have shed 58.11% from Rs425.60 per share at the beginning of the month. This is more a reflection of declining metal prices and overall selling pressure from abroad. The BSE Metal index has lost 78.05% this year, while the benchmark Sensex index has dropped 57.11%. On Friday, the Sensex lost almost 11% to end at 8.701.07 points. Tata Steel’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), a key measure of operational performance, rose to Rs3,421 crore from Rs2,050 crore in the last year, and Rs3,037 crore in the June quarter. “The Ebitda of Rs28,000 per tonne of steel is the highest Ebitda we have achieved so far,” said Chatterjee. The company, considered to be one of the lowest-cost producers of steel, has been working on cutting costs further, especially its working capital requirements. “Our average debtors have come down in number of days from 13 days to 10 days, and our inventory has gone down from 45 days to 40 days,” Chatterjee said. On whether the steel maker is financially stressed after its purchase of Corus group, the CFO said the firm has invested Rs1,000 crore in the first half. Corus Group, the foreign unit that is three times the size of Tata Steel, had reported production cuts recently as a result of the global slowdown. Its results will be announced by end November. Tata Steel, however, has been conservative and taken several steps to cut risks. It has prepaid about 10% of the loans in Tata Steel UK in the first six months of this calendar year, said Chatterjee. Of the £3 billion (about Rs23,195 crore) term loan taken for Corus, the company has pre-paid £300 million in the first six months from the excess cash it held, he added. “We have prepaid in a manner that the next repayment has to be made by December 2009, (so) we don’t have a significant principal prepayment obligation...there are no short-term or even medium-term repayment risks as far as Corus is concerned,” Chatterjee said. On the Corus pension fund, Chatterjee revealed that in the June quarter, the fund had a surplus of £690 million. “... it will be at least £100 million higher (for the September quarter),” he added. The company reported a total notional exchange loss of Rs599.81 crore for the first half of fiscal 2009, including Rs345.62 crore for the quarter, on convertible alternate reference securities (CARS) issued in September 2007. “The forex loss is just a notional loss,” Chatterjee explained. “We have hedged all the foreign exposure in the Tata Steel balance sheet. As far as as CARS are concerned, these are convertible bonds. This will be converted after 2011 and are not hedged because we are of the view that this will be converted,” Chatterjee added. “We have almost 3.5 years to go.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:58 pm Sensex leads global routIndia's benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) plunged 11 per cent, the most in 16 years, tracking a sell-off in the global markets, and also as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) failed to announceSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:44 pm Maruti profit declines as rates hurt car salesMumbai: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, maker of half the cars sold in the country, reported its smallest quarterly profit in three years after costlier auto loans and higher inflation hurt vehicle sales. The stock plunged. Net profit in the three months ended 30 September, fell a worse-than-expected 37% to Rs296 crore, the Indian unit of Suzuki Motor Corp. said in a statement. That was the smallest profit since September 2005. Revenue grew marginally to Rs4,806 crore, from Rs4,547 crore in the September quarter last year. Vehicle sales declined 1% as the fastest inflation in 16 years and seven-year high interest rates curbed spending in Asia’s third largest economy. India’s car sales fell for the first time in two-and-a-half years in July and August as the economy slowed. “The overall environment has been pretty tough for the auto industry,” said S. Ramnath, an analyst at IDFC-SSKI Securities Pvt. Ltd, who rates Maruti “outperform”. “Banks are still cash-strapped, the stock market is crashing and the sentiment is still down. The customer is not going to come back soon.” The Maruti stock plunged as much as 9.6% to Rs538.25 on the National Stock Exchange. The stock has declined 47% so far this year. Maruti’s depreciation of investments in new factories and other facilities almost doubled to Rs166 crore in the last quarter. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:43 pm HUL profit up 34% in Q3 on one-time gainNew Delhi: The only stock in India’s benchmark index to rise this year, Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL), said third quarter (Q3) profit climbed 34%, exceeding estimates, on a one-time gain from sale of properties. Net profit rose to Rs547 crore in the three months ended 30 September, from Rs408 crore a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said in a release on Friday. That compares with the Rs477 crore median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. HUL, the country’s biggest maker of household products, will benefit from a decline in prices of raw materials, including palm oil and petroleum derivatives used to make soaps and detergents. Chief executive officer Nitin Paranjpe had raised prices of soaps, including Lifebuoy and Liril, as the cost of raw materials rose to a record earlier this year. “There has been a slight margin contraction because of high commodity prices earlier this year that affected the company’s soaps and detergents business,” said Anand Shah, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd in Mumbai. He has a “neutral” rating on the stock. “With input prices declining, the margin is set to improve.” The company’s operating margin, the percentage of sales left after subtracting production, marketing and other expenses, narrowed to 12.9% in the quarter from 13.2% a year earlier. Earnings include a one-time gain of Rs109 crore from the sale of properties. Sales climbed 20% to Rs4,030 crore in the quarter. That compares with analysts’ estimate of Rs4,020 crore. HUL’s stock is the best performer this year on the 30-stock Sensex with a gain of 5%, compared with a 57% drop in the benchmark. HUL fell Rs18.40, or 7.56%, to Rs224.90 in Mumbai trading on Friday. The Sensex slumped 11%. Revenue from soaps and detergents gained 26% to Rs1,990 crore. Sales of Fair and Lovely skin cream, Pepsodent toothpaste and other personal care products rose 18% to Rs1,050 crore. Profit before interest and tax rose 4.3% to Rs268 crore. Declining prices of commodities may help boost profitability for fast moving consumer goods companies such as HUL. The UBS Bloomberg CMCI Commodity Index of 26 commodities has fallen 46% since peaking on 2 July. “If commodity prices are softening, we need to see that they are sustained,” D. Sundaram, HUL finance director and vice-chairman, said in a conference call with reporters. “Our own approach to pricing has been consistent. We need to give value to our customers and remain very competitive in the marketplace in terms of pricing.” Earlier this year, HUL passed on higher costs of raw materials to consumers. The company raised the price of Surf Excel detergent in July after doing the same for soaps earlier this year. Soaps such as Lifebuoy and Lux, and detergents such as Surf Excel and Wheel account for about half of the company’s revenue. Advertising spending rose 14% to Rs404 crore, or about 10% of sales, as competition intensified from rivals, including ITC Ltd and Procter and Gamble Co. The company’s London- and Rotterdam-based parent,Unilever, owns about 52% of the Indian unit. India is Unilever’s biggest market in Asia, generating about 6% of annual sales. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:43 pm Biggest correction in Indian markets, but not the worst yetAnd worse I may be yet: the worst is not. So long as we can say ‘This is the worst,’” said Edgar in Shakespeare’s King Lear. The 58% drop in the benchmark index, Sensex, from its highest close in January is the worst correction the Indian markets have witnessed ever.  When the tech bubble went bust in 2000, the Sensex had corrected by 56% from its peak, and that too if one were to count the sharp fall after the 9/11 attacks as part of that correction. After the Harshad Mehta scam in the early 1990s, the index had corrected by 55%. But it still doesn’t seem that the markets have seen the worst yet. Global markets are in turmoil, as investors continue to liquidate positions en masse. Friday was one of the worst days the Indian markets faced, but so was the case with most other markets. It hardly helped that amid the selling, news emerged that the UK’s gross domestic product had contracted last quarter, besides which some European firms reported disappointing results. But of course, the larger worry now is if the global financial system will go out of control and the whole process of liquidating assets and capital flowing to safe havens has only gained momentum. Also See: Peak to Trough (Graphic) In this context, FT Alphaville’s blog post called “Quote of the day” is rather apt: “It’s a depressing world when the only safe haven at the moment is a country that has recently nationalised its two largest mortgage companies, bailed out the world’s largest insurance company, is spending $700 billion (Rs35 trillion) buying toxic assets, is injecting $250 billion into its largest banks after high-profile failures and is about to go on a fiscal expansion the likes it has never before seen in its history.” The statement was made by Jim Reid, head of fundamental credit strategy at Deutsche Bank AG. Under the circumstances, few investors want to take any risk, as attractive as some share prices may be. Hindalco Industries Ltd achieved the distinction of being one of the rare prominent stocks in the country to trade below its level on 1 April 2003. That’s when the rally had begun, which means the stock has given away all of its gains in the 2003-08 rally. There are a few other large companies such as Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd that also trade lower than April 2003 levels, but then these stocks hardly participated in the rally. Another shocker in Friday’s trading was the halving of Unitech Ltd’s shares. These prices now suggest that Indian markets are pricing in a strong possibility of bankruptcy of some firms. Of course, those with the highest leverage and dependence on fresh fund infusions have taken the biggest hits in share price. Some firms may not be at the brink of bankruptcy but there’s little buying interest because it’s evident that there would be negative news flow from the company and its sector for some time to come. Take, for instance the metals sector, which is expected to be hurt badly because of the fall in commodity prices. And it’s not that only companies and sectors with some form of overseas exposure will be hit. There are home-grown problems as well, as is now evident with the real estate sector and the financial institutions who have lent aggressively to them. While the markets are already pricing in some of these problems, it’s important to note that the impact in terms of provisions and write-downs is yet to be seen. The fall in prices could have been much worse but for sustained buying by domestic financial institutions. So far this month, they have bought stocks worth Rs9,200 crore, offsetting a large part of the sales worth Rs14,500 crore by their foreign counterparts. But domestic institutions are increasingly depleting a large part of their cash surplus. One can’t imagine what would happen to share prices if these institutions add to the selling pressure, if faced with large redemptions. So far, domestic institutions and large investors haven’t scrambled for cash the way their foreign counterparts have. With the markets now faced with a long bearish phase, and debt instruments yielding double-digit returns, at least a few may change their strategy. We may haven’t seen the worst yet. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:39 pm Realty stocks bear the brunt of the fallNew Delhi: Shares of real estate firms were the worst hit on Friday after concerns of a liquidity crunch in the business drove the sectoral index, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) realty index, down nearly one-fourth. Shares of Unitech Ltd, India’s second largest developer by market value, fell by a record 51.29% to close at Rs30.10 each after intra-day trading took it down to an all-time low of Rs26.60. Bangalore-based real estate developer Puravankara Projects Ltd, which saw its shares closing 44.32% lower, also touched a record low of Rs42.20 in day trade. “People are concerned about cash provisions and where will real estate companies get money from,” said Sandeep Mathew, an analyst at BNP Paribas Securities in Mumbai. An analyst with a domestic brokerage firm, who did not want his or his employer’s name to be used, said, “...people are exiting at any price because there are no buyers for realty stocks”. There is an aversion towards real estate stocks among “investors (who) are now shifting from net asset value-based valuation to cash flows of the company”, he added. Shares of DLF Ltd, the largest developer in the country, shed 23.96% to close at Rs203.90. Parsvnath Developers Ltd fell by 20.70% to close at Rs45.20. BSE’s benchmark index, the Sensex, shrank 10.96% while BSE’s realty index, which consists of 14 real estate stocks, fell by 562.31 points or, 24.4%. “Real estate stocks have been correcting mainly because developers have not reduced home prices despite a slowdown in sales,” said another analyst with a domestic brokerage firm. “In Unitech’s case, the stock has corrected because the company is heavily leveraged.” Sumit Sharma of Bloomberg contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:39 pm Greenspan’s hands-off regulation has failedAlan Greenspan has found a flaw in his model. Too bad that he didn’t recognize it a decade ago. The US Federal Reserve’s former chairman says he’s in a state of “shocked disbelief” that self-regulation didn’t work in the banking sector. He now admits regulatory changes must be made in the areas of fraud, settlement and securitization, “as much as (he) would prefer it otherwise”.  Click here for breakingviews.com While this tepid mea culpa from the “maestro” was unexpected, he’s hardly the first to recognize the shortcomings of his hands-off approach. The criticisms of Greenspan’s Fed are widespread and have merit. It was lax on monetary policy, argued against oversight of new financial instruments and took an extremely relaxed view of its regulatory responsibilities over banks. His overarching flaw, however, was his inability to entertain the idea that individual financial actors’ hubris and greed could hurt the system — and themselves. This can be readily seen in the housing bust. Greenspan now admits that mortgage salesmen didn’t have incentives to evaluate the credit quality of the loans they originated and securitized. The risk management systems established by banks were flawed in their use of housing data from cheerful economic times. And investors didn’t want to face the risks they took. It was hardly the first time Greenspan ignored the danger of base motivations. Take his claim in 2001 that high-grade collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) could replace government treasuries as riskless investments. In their purveyors’ wildest dreams, yes. In reality, the structure of a CDO encourages its managers to hold schlocky, high-yielding assets. They were designed to enrich their designers, not their investors. And when Greenspan told consumers to take out adjustable rate mortgages at the height of the housing boom, while opposing limits on predatory lending, he turned a wilfully blind eye to the potential for disaster. There is an irony in this. Hands-off regulation has failed catastrophically, establishing a climate in which hysterical and poorly conceived regulation may fester. Had Greenspan accepted the idea that an outside party is needed to administer a few firm rules, the John Galts of the world have been better able to flourish. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:38 pm Can you see me now? Can you hear me now?Bangalore: Binoy Joseph, an employee of a multinational company, was readying to go abroad for the first time in his life. The 34-year old was to attend a two-week training session in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the end of this month. Then last week, he received an email from his employer saying the session had been postponed. In the meantime, training via videoconference will have to do. “It’s a far cry from travelling overseas,” says the content developer. Building relationships just isn’t the same, interruptions are plentiful, and connectivity tenuous. But it’s the reality for Indian workers who do business around the world as their employers — and their clients — slash travel budgets to fight soaring airfares amid an economic slowdown. In fact, curbs on travel have been announced formally and informally in many companies across the world except in case of critical interactions with customers. Polycom Inc.. is the leader in the video conferencing space. Computer networking company Cisco Systems Inc launched telepresence, a set of virtual technologies which it claims delivers a near in-person experience, in India in late 2006. Early on Cisco clinched a deal with the Indian Hotels Company Ltd, operator of the Taj group of hotels, and has since sold the product to several technology companies including Wipro Technologies and the Indian unit of Yahoo Inc. Cisco itself has saved $279 million in travel costs since it installed telepresence, says Ranajoy Punja, vice president for advanced technologies Cisco India & SAARC, or South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Says Girish Rao, head IT solutions at consumer products firm Marico Ltd, “We use the Microsoft office communications server (which offers video conferencing, live meetings and chat) for colloborative work like production and dispatch planning across locaitons.” Marico has installed the product across its seven plants and eight offices across the country. Rao says, “While we have not quantified the monetary savings, there is huge savings of time. For instance, instead of travelling from Pondicherry to Dehradun which would take one and half days, we video conference.” Sanjay Manchanda, director of the business division at Microsoft Corp.’s India unit, expects a boom in the video conferencing market. “This kind of scenario raises interest levels and necessity... Top of the mind is cost savings. Travel and hotel expenses is the first place any CFO (chief financial officer) would look at first to cut expenses,” says Manchanda. A survey by consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan pegs the Indian videoconferencing market at $5.5 million in 2007. It is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 23.2% till 2014. Goofs and glitches But behind the numbers are the goofs and glitches that come with transitioning to a form of communication many workers don’t understand — especially when more than two parties are communicating at once. “Very often the presenter who has set up the meeting is unprepared and arrives one minute before the conference starts. Minutes pass before the file (to be presented) is identified and shared with everyone, leaving all participants in limbo,” says a manager in an IT services firm who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to embarrass his colleagues (or himself). Cell phones ring aloud, people answer the phone and start a conversation in a corner of the conference room. They don’t realize that everyone — yes, even New York — can hear. Other frustrated workers recount that rarely does a video conference meeting start flawlessly; either the audio works and the video doesn’t, or vice versa, or neither. People wait on both sides of the conference restless, walking in and out of the conference room and the clock keeps ticking. To be sure, there’s some fun to be had. “We were having a team meeting between 10 of us in Bangalore and six teammates in Kolkata. People took their turns speaking and left the room one after the other. Soon there was no one sitting in the conference room in Kolkata,” narrates K. Ambika, a senior consultant at a knowledge process outsourcing firm in Bangalore. And so a videoconference continued with really no need for a video. Participants often forget they are being seen and heard, indulging in cross-talk and giggles. At other times, the interactivity works too well — and the call becomes so interactive that too many people start talking at the same time. That’s when a moderator comes in handy. Video conference etiquette # The presenter should be well prepared and be in the conference room well ahead of the start of the meeting in order to organize the conference. Keep the files meant for sharing ready on your desktop. # If you are sharing a presentation, make sure the font size and graphics are big enough for all in the room to read. # Start the call with an exchange of pleasantries in a friendly tone of voice. # Pay attention to body language. No winking, sly smiles etc, remember you are on camera. # Turn the microphone off before starting a side discussion. # All participants should keep their mobile phones on mute and step outside the room if they need to answer a phone call. # Speak one at a time with interrupting another person. # If a discussion gets chaotic it is the responsibility of the person who has set up the conference to moderate. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:35 pm Global events, RBI inaction roil boursesMumbai: Indian stocks led the fall across the world on Friday, registering one of their worst days ever after the country’s central bank refrained from reducing its policy rate in a review and a confirmation that the UK is indeed in recession, with data showing that its economy shrunk in the three months ended September — the first such decline since 1991. Click here to watch video Analysts and experts admitted that the fall was unexpected, but said that the trend could continue as foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who invested $7.9 billion (Rs39,500 crore today) in Indian equities in 2006 and $17.36 billion in 2007, scrambling to sell these at any price to meet redemption pressure back home. With markets across the world falling after similar signs that indicated that the global economy is in the throes of a recession, US stock futures dove so steeply that they had to be frozen at several points. In New York, December Dow Jones futures were down 6.3%, Standard and Poor’s 500 futures were off 6.6% and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 6.8%, with all three contracts losing the maximum amount permissible before the start of trading in the US. When trading began, the Dow fell sharply and was trading at 8,683.21 points, down 3.69%, at 8.30pm India time. Earlier, Indian stocks suffered their worst day in history and saw some Rs3.5 trillion being wiped off their collective market capitalization. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) benchmark Sensex dropped 1,070.63 points, or 10.96%, to 8,701.07. The fall was among the highest in percentage terms and the second highest in absolute terms after 21 January, when the index lost 1,408.35 points. The broader Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange plunged 12.2%, it’s biggest fall in percentage terms too. The fall in the Nifty was accelerated by two component stocks, realtor Unitech Ltd, which plunged around 50% and wind energy player Suzlon Energy Ltd, which dropped around 40%. Also See: All Fall Down (Graphic) The trend for global markets was set early Friday, when markets in Asia opened weak. On Thursday, former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan confessed that he was in a state of “shocked disbelief”. On Friday, Sony Corp. and NEC Corp. slashed earnings estimates. And UK data proved right Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s prediction of a recession. On Friday, worried by falling oil prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries slashed production by 1.5 million barrels per day, but recessionary fears overwhelmed the anxiety and price rise this would have usually resulted in. Crude was trading down at around $63 to the barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at around 7pm India time. RBI’s non-event As global events took control of local equities, the mid-term review of the monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which was expected to be the main focus for local markets on Friday, became a non-event. The central bank eventually decided to do nothing after weeks of feverish interventions. In the foreign exchange markets, the rupee crashed below the 50-mark against the US dollar for the first time in its history. In morning trades, the currency quoted at Rs50.15 against the greenback. It ended trading at Rs49.95 to the dollar. “India is facing collateral damage as its market is pushed lower by persistent and heavy selling by foreign institutional investors facing heavy redemptions in their home markets,” said Deepak Lalwani, India director at London-based Astaire and Partners Ltd, a member of the London Stock Exchange. “Considering the severity of the current crisis, (we) expect the bottom to be around Sensex (at) 8,500.” Brokers and senior analysts in Mumbai were numbed by Friday’s events. “We never anticipated this kind of a fall,” said Rajat Rajgarhia, head of institutional research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Dealers on institutional desks of brokerages said that many of their FII clients gave the biggest ever sell orders. “It is now too late to sell India across the board,” said Christopher Wood, chief strategist at foreign brokerage CLSA Asia Pacific Markets, in his Friday report. Funds that are in a mad scramble to raise money, out of fear and redemption pressures, however, failed to heed such advice. FIIs sold stocks worth more than Rs1,430 crore in the cash market net of purchases, according to BSE data. Local institutions bought equities worth Rs514 crore, but failed to hold the market. So far this year, foreign funds have net sold $12.2 billion worth of Indian securities. The Sensex is now down more than 57% this year. RBI’s inaction on Friday didn’t come as a surprise to brokers and analysts. “Don’t be surprised if the RBI doesn’t do anything today,” local brokerage India Infoline Ltd said in a Friday morning note to its clients before the central bank released its policy. The note, however, added: “Expect some more easing in interest rates and CRR (cash reserve ratio, which determines the amount of money banks need to keep with the central bank) over the next weeks if inflation continues to moderate.” Slowing economic growth across the world will reduce demand for commodities and result in a fall in inflation, say analysts. Inflation in India, as measured by the rise in the Wholesale Price Index, is down from its peak of 12.91% for the week ended 2 August to 11.07% for the week ended 11 October. Some analysts also see the slowdown spreading to Asia. Economists at European financial services firm UBS AG expect “marked slowdown spreading to Asia”, according to a report released by the firm on Wednesday. And India’s railways minister Lalu Prasad told a general manager’s conference in New Delhi on Friday that there was a slump in the incremental loading of iron ore, cement and finished steel in the first 20 days of October. “This may be due to the impact of the current economic crisis being experienced by various countries in the world,” said Prasad. This is for the first time in five years that the growth rates in the three commodities are showing a downward trend at the same time. Among Asian markets, India’s were hit the hardest on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 9.6%, while Korea’s Kospi index slumped 10.5%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong and Singapore’s Strait Times index dropped 8.3% each. K.P. Narayana Kumar in New Delhi and Reuters contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:32 pm ‘RBI and RBI alone is in the driver’s seat’Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao says the monetary measures taken in the past six weeks have started showing results with liquidity returning to the system and bond yields coming down, but that the crisis is not over, yet. He adds that he is ready to take all actions, conventional and unconventional, but that he does not necessarily have to do this during half-yearly or quarterly policy reviews.  Man in charge: D. Subbarao, Reserve Bank of India governor. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint In an interview with Mint, Subbarao outlined RBI’s challenge of balancing price stability, financial stability and economic growth and made it clear that every policy measure that RBI takes is the central bank’s call, though the finance ministry, along with other stakeholders, are consulted. Edited excerpts: Four days ago, you had cut the policy rate by 100 basis points, but today your statement sounded very hawkish with a focus on inflation and high credit offtake. It looks like there are contradictions in your stance and we are confused. Thank you for this opportunity to clear your confusion. We are going through an uncertain time. The international financial situation is very fluid and that’s transmitting to us. Nobody is able to comprehend what has been happening. Growth, price stability and financial stability are three equally important concerns for us and I am not willing to put one over another. All along, we have taken financial stability for granted because we did not have any problem. So, the monetary policy management was (about) balancing price stability and growth. This time around, financial stability as a policy priority has come to the fore. In a manner of speaking, the stance has shifted for balancing between growth and price stability to balancing among growth, financial stability and price stability. Inflation is 11.07% and you cannot let your guard slip on inflation. We have injected liquidity to ease the constraints across the system and ensure flow of credit for productive purposes. As long as bank credit goes to productive sectors, we have no problem. You are not in favour of expansionary monetary policy at this point. Is this the voice of real RBI? What we had seen in the past six weeks was a very different regulator. In fact, North Block (the finance ministry) was in the driver’s seat. No, I don’t think so. Whatever we have done over the past one-and-a-half months have been at the initiative of RBI. What we did in the past and what we have done today is essentially RBI’s judgement. RBI and RBI alone is in the driver’s seat. We have consulted a number of stakeholders and the government, of course, has the responsibility in a democracy for the smooth functioning of macroeconomic system. So, the government has to be consulted, but the decisions have been ours. But RBI’s policy today is very different. Is there a shift in your stance? I believe not. It may been some deficiencies in writing English… You took measures keeping an eye on the equity markets. Some of the announcements were made before the trading hours, which is not the normal RBI practice. You seem to be very concerned about the fall in the Sensex Not at all. We did not time our announcements to suit the requirements of the equity market. Our consideration has been to meet our task — to manage liquidity and the troubled spots in the financial system. With crude oil price coming down, people have started talking about single digit inflation by December and 5% inflation by March 2009. Are you exaggerating your concerns about inflation? Our judgement is, inflation will be 7% by March 2009. RBI’s institutional response regardless of who is the governor is to respond to the emerging situation. Dr Reddy (Y.V. Reddy, the former RBI governor) had a difficult time with the rising inflation. The situation has changed. His prime concern was managing inflation, but today the prime concern is managing financial stability and price stability. The growth will moderate. From finance secretary you have become RBI governor. Is there any identify crisis? Do you still feel part of the finance ministry? That sort of identity crisis is across all jobs. When I shifted from the state government to the Government of India, I had an identity crisis. When I moved from the government to the World Bank, I had an identity crisis. You have revised the estimate of growth from 8-7.5% for fiscal 2009. What about 2010? Won’t we see much lower growth? We have done some calculations, but it’s not in public domain, yet. It all depends on how the international situation settles and how quickly. If the recession is deep and the recovery takes longer, it is going to affect us. Our fundamentals are strong and we are going to return to the high growth trajectory, but how quickly we could do that will depend on international situation and its impact on India. Liquidity has returned to the financial system, but how long will it last? With money drying out overseas, there will be tremendous pressure on local banks. When do we see the next CRR (cash reserve ratio, which determines how much money banks have to keep with the central bank) cut? I can’t say. We are monitoring the situation continuously and we are acting without waiting for any particular date. We will continue to act with such promptness. Any time when we feel RBI should act, we will act. So, quarterly reviews are meaningless? Or, should you shift to six-weekly reviews? I would not say that. I don’t see that happening. In any case, we are managing the situation on a continuous basis and we will take action without waiting for the policy dates. The quarterly policies serve a valuable purpose. The consultation process that we go through with the bankers and others for producing the policy document is valuable for the institution. What is your message to bankers? You seemed to have asked them to cut deposit rates and at a later stage, the loan rates No, that is not the message. I have not asked them (to) cut deposit and lending rates. It’s not RBI’s job. We have given them two clear messages. The first is: credit must continue to flow for productive sectors, particularly for loans that have already been sanctioned, but they have stopped disbursements; for restructuring SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and other segments, which they find vulnerable. At the same time, they must keep an eye on credit quality because one lesson from this crisis is that if you let your guard slip on credit quality, you’ll get into a deep, deep problem down the line. The second message that I have given to the bankers is that RBI is there to manage the system; monetary policy, liquidity. They are free to come and talk to us and give their feedback and we will respond to that. Bank credit has grown 29% this year so far. If we want the banking system to pare it to 20%, then no bank can lend in next few months. One needs to see the nuances; 20% is our estimated projection of credit growth. We are trying to understand the dynamics behind the high-credit growth. One of the reasons, we believe, is the substitution effect. The overseas lines of credit have been drying up, exerting demand on the Indian system and credit to substitute overseas loans must flow. We will not strictly follow the numbers for their own sake; we have goals larger than numbers. The immediate goal is to preserve financial stability and ensure that the downturn in inflation continues. Yes, the growth will get moderated but we will return to the high growth path soon. You spoke about taking unconventional measures. When are they coming? We have done some unconventional measures such as special market operations for the oil marketing companies (offering them foreign exchange directly); special repo (borrowing) window for mutual funds and even reduction in SLR (statutory liquidity ratio). May be they are not unconventional enough by your yardstick. Any plan to use the foreign exchange reserves to offer special dollar line of credit to banks and companies? We will be open to all ideas; consider all options. I’d not like to say anything about the particular measure that you are suggesting. I cannot comment on this. But we do not rule out anything. Are you happy with the outcome of the measures taken so far? I think that the measures that we have taken in last one-and-a-half months have yielded desired results. The LAF (liquidity adjustment facility) window has shifted from repo mode to reverse repo (this means, banks are parking surplus money with RBI instead of taking money from it); the yield on benchmark 10-year paper has come down from 8.3-7.8%. There is liquidity in the system, but I would not say that every thing is fine and we are sailing along perfectly. There are challenges ahead. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:32 pm No-measure policy pares growth estimateMumbai: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao paused for breath in his effort to loosen credit while pledging swift and effective action to maintain price and financial sector stability in his maiden monetary policy review on Friday. That Subbarao would hold his hand had been expected after he cut the policy rate by 100 basis points and banks’ cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the proportion of deposits that commercial banks need to keep with the central bank, by 250 basis points, releasing Rs1 trillion into the system, over the past fortnight. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. The governor pared the economic growth projection for fiscal 2009 from 8% to 7.5% but kept the year-end inflation projection unchanged at 7%. High bank credit growth, according to him, still remains a concern for the central bank. Economists and analysts said worries about a credit bubble and a falling rupee, which pierced the psychologically important level of 50 to a dollar on Friday, has stopped the central bank from further loosening monetary policy, which may stimulate the economy but increase the risk of capital flight. Some of them are finding the growth projection too optimistic while a few others feel RBI will have to cut policy rates sooner than later to keep the growth momentum. “This is an optimistic projection, showing the central bank’s confidence,” said Sherman Chan, an economist with Moody’s Economy.com, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corp. She expects the Indian economy to record a less upbeat growth rate — but still-stunning amid the sharp global downturn — of around 7% for the current fiscal year. “With the growth environment coming under stress, we expect a further easing of the repo rate going forward,” said the Asia Policy Watch of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., released after RBI announced its mid-term policy review. Subbarao admitted that the pace of economic expansion will moderate but the country will return to the high growth path soon if inflation is kept low and financial stability is preserved. The policy statement said the task before RBI is to strike a balance between financial stability, price stability and maintain growth momentum. “To manage this challenge, RBI has deployed and will continue to deploy both conventional and unconventional tools,” it said. The bond market, which had been expecting a cut in key policy rates like statutory liquidity ratio, or SLR, showed its disappointment with the benchmark 10-year bond yield rising to 7.8% from its Thursday’s close of 7.56%. “I think we have addressed the liquidity problem but we need to ensure that the liquidity is passed on to the financial system. Liquidity may prove to be a pressure point once again, But RBI still has a room to infuse liquidity further,” said Subir Gokarn, chief economist (Asia Pacific) for ratings agency Standard and Poor’s. Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank Ltd, said recent weeks have seen significant easing in the monetary stance and probably RBI will wait for the effect of these measures to kick in before taking any further action. Bank chiefs admitted that liquidity has eased but none of them at this point is committing to any cut in interest rates. R.S. Reddy, chairman and managing director, Andhra Bank, said, “The cost of funds is still very high. We have to wait and watch before taking any action on rates. I am not looking at a rate cut as of now.” “We have to quickly evaluate our asset liability mismatch and decide on the future course of action,” said M.D. Mallya, chairman and managing director, Bank of Baroda. “Our asset liability committee will evaluate any rate related decision and we will not initiate any hasty move.” Subbarao has not directed any bank to cut rates but insisted they maintain credit flow and quality. “The central bank will monitor the rate of credit growth and credit quality closely and will as necessary, engage with select banks which are outliers on the norms,” he said, signalling the central bank’s intention to intervene with a strong hand. “Banks are advised to follow stricter credit appraisals on a sectoral basis, monitor loan to value ratios and calibrate their credit portfolio in tune with their asset-liability projections,’’ he cautioned. “These are extraordinary times,” said K.C. Chakrabarty, chairman and managing director, Punjab National Bank. “We should not interpret too much into RBI’s decision. As and when the situation demands, it can swing into action. Our own course of action remains the same. We should be very cautious and not try to become adventurous.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:31 pm RBI makes the right callAfter weeks of singing a tune scripted in New Delhi, India’s central bank finally did the right thing on Friday in its policy review — nothing. By doing so, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sent out a strong message that its focus is more on inflation (high, but gradually declining to less alarming levels) and the rupee (at historic lows) than credit. Sure, the Indian financial system, much like the global one, could do with an infusion of trust and confidence, but what’s left unsaid in the bank’s policy review is that the responsibility for such things lies with the government, which needs to build these without taking recourse to monetary management tools. RBI’s call is a good one and, as the performance of the stock markets on Friday shows, it is an unpopular one. Still, monetary policy cannot be made the slave of either market sentiments, or the preference of industry lobbies. Liquidity, or the lack of it, is more a symptom than an illness in itself. The bank should address the ills, and ignore all calls asking it to address the symptom. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Oct 2008 | 6:29 pm \'Eli Lily deal suspension to hit Glenmark\'s pipeline\'Vikas Dandekar of Pharmasianews.com feels the suspension is definitely a blow to Glenmarks pipeline. With GRC6211 there were a couple of other followon molecules that were outlicensed to Lily. We dont know about that particular possibility. But GRC6211 was seen as a big breakthrough in the pain management category.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Oct 2008 | 3:59 pm
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