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Future Group rakes over Rs 300cr in preDiwali salesKishore Biyani\'s Future Group has done over Rs 300 crore in preDiwali sales. This is a 55% increase over the same period last year. Pantaloon and Big Bazaar see same store sales growth around 20% and 18% respectively. Fashion and apparel recorded highest growth, while mobile and furniture are down over last year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 4:01 pm Wipro\'s new hiring policy signals break from the pastWipro says the slowdown in staff addition is part of a plan to delink the number of new software professionals to growth in business. Known for a costconscious approach under the leadership of Azim Premji, the company is challenging that linear model used by outsourcing companies all these years.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 2:25 pm Hybrid LLP model to help Indian firms scale upIndian entrepreneurs and professionals will soon have a hybrid corporate model for doing business, a halfway house between the flexible form of partnerships and the more organized form of companies.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 1:41 pm CORRECTED - Markets tumble as investors run for cover(Corrects paragraph 2 to refer to the rupee, not the rupiah)Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:03 pm BSE Sensex ends down 2.2 pct; had fallen 11.5 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex ended down 2.2 percent on Monday, after a sharp afternoon rally saw them pare an 11.5 percent fall, as buying by local institutions triggered some hectic short covering in late trade.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:59 am G7 nations to `cooperate` for market stability!The Group of Seven rich nations will "cooperate as appropriate" to bring stability to battered global markets, finance ministers and central bank chiefs said in a joint statement on Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am SBI Q2 net up 11% at Rs 2,458 crore!Country`s largest lender State Bank of India on Monday said it has posted a 11.50 percent growth in its net profit at Rs 2,458.04 crore for the second quarter ended September 30.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am IMF announces aid for Ukraine, Hungary!The IMF unveiled two new members of a growing band of countries set to receive its help in the financial crisis, announcing a USD 16.5-billion loan for Ukraine and a "substantial" package for Hungary.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am Rupee down 11 paise to 50.06 a dollar!The Indian rupee extended its losses to ninth day in a row as it fell further by 11 paise to 50.06 against the US currency in early trade on Monday amid declining equity markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am Recession fears haunt Asian markets!Fears of a deep global recession dominated investor sentiment as financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region began to reopen on Monday after last week`s worldwide slide in stock prices and currency collapses.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am World oil prices lower in Asian trade!World oil prices weakened in Asian trade on Monday with OPEC`s decision to cut supply at a time of global financial turmoil seen as hurting already weak energy demand further, dealers said.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am Stock markets plunge, Sensex falls below 8,200 pts!Picking up from where they left on Friday, Indian stock markets continued to plunge for the fourth straight session on Monday, with the benchmark Sensex falling over 500 points. Tracking weak global trend, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex lost over 500 points to hit an over three-year low of 8,195 in early trade on fresh selling by funds.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am Ambanis overtake Mittal in wealth erosion!The focus is always on who is the richest among Ambani brothers and Lakshmi Mittal but Mukesh and Anil are ahead of the India-born steel tycoon in terms of losses suffered due to the global stock meltdown.Source: Zee News : Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:55 am Blue Star Q2 net down marginally on higher costsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Central airconditioning and refrigeration company Blue Star Ltd posted a marginal fall in net profit in its second quarter on Monday as costs rose and demand fell amid slowing economic growth.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:52 am Bhushan Steel cuts galvanised steel outputMUMBAI (Reuters) - Bhushan Steel Ltd has cut production of galvanised steel by 20-30 percent due to a slowdown in demand, a senior official told Reuters on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:46 am GLOBAL MARKETS - Doubts over official action hound equitiesLONDON (Reuters) - Investor fears that further possible coordinated action to calm markets will not be enough to fend off a global recession sent shares from London to Tokyo reeling on Monday, while the yen continued to surge.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:44 am Mkts end lower; Sensex tests 8000 but sees V-shape recovery - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:41 am UTV July-Sept net doubles; cuts broadcasting spendMUMBAI (Reuters) - UTV Software Communications Ltd on Monday reported an operating loss for July-September, but benefits from deferred tax on broadcasting business helped the media group almost double its net profit.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:41 am Asian shares tumble despite G7 unity pledge - Channel News Asia
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:40 am RBI delays concessional interest rates for exportsNew Delhi: Giving a major relief to exporters, hit by the recession in the US and Europe, the Reserve Bank has extended the time period for concessional interest rates for overseas shipments. The rupee export credit interest rate scheme, under which exporters get loan at 250 basis points lower than the prime lending rate, has been extended till 30 April, 2009. It was to expire by this month-end. With the extension, the ceiling on interest rates on pre- shipment rupee export credit up to 180 days and post-shipment rupee export credit up to 90 days are pegged at Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) minus 2.5%. With several sectors such as carpets, tea and handicraft putting up a dismal show, the overall export growth in September this fiscal slipped to a little over 10% from 26.9% in August. The country’s exports during the first five months of this fiscal had shown growth of 35.1%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:28 am UTV July-Sept net doubles; cuts broadcasting spendMumbai: UTV Software Communications Ltd reported an operating loss for July-September, but benefits from deferred tax on broadcasting business helped the media group almost double its net profit. “UTV reported an operating loss of Rs16.45 million from a Rs188.6 million profit a year ago after expenditure rose on account of consolidation of new media and broadcasting,” Ronnie Screwvala, managing director, told analysts. The company’s net profit almost doubled to Rs251.4 million on net sales of Rs1.54 billion. The company had deferred taxes worth Rs338.3 million, while the loss before taxes stood at Rs3.76 million. “It is a deferred tax asset that we can utilise as we go forward,” Screwvala said. Net sales more than doubled helped by broadcasting and new media businesses, which focuses on digital distribution of content over web and mobile. Broadcasting Expense Cut “UTV may double its revenue in the current fiscal on a consolidated basis,” he said, adding that it is also cutting its investment in the broadcasting business. “We are looking at a 80-100% growth this year,” he told analysts, adding: “Carriage fees have substantially kept increasing quarter-on-quarter basis.” “We do believe there is a slowdown in advertising that is hitting everyone 1 November onwards. I think delay in digitalisation in the space will also create some slowdown,” he said. “UTV plans to spend about Rs1 billion more over the next 18 months. It is cutting expenditure down by Rs1.4 billion -1.5 billion,” he added. The broadcasting business posted revenue of Rs247.7 million and a loss before interest and tax of Rs87 million. UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd, the broadcasting unit of UTV Software, runs the two youth channels, Bindass and Bindass Movies, as well as UTV Movies and World Movies. In August, Walt Disney Co acquired 15% stake in UTV Global Broadcasting for Rs1.18 billion, while UTV Software bought 75% stake for Rs2.4 billion. The founders now hold 10% in the broadcasting unit. Disney holds 32% in UTV Software. Shares in UTV Software closed up 2.6% at Rs473.85, in a Mumbai market that fell 2.2%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:23 am Sensex recovers losses, closes 191 pts downMumbai: After dipping below 8,000-points level, the benchmark Sensex recovered most of its early losses, to quote 191 points down in closing trading on the back of buying by domestic financial institutions and short-covering by speculators. The 30-share index, which had lost over 1,000 points at midsession on major sell-off by jittery funds, recovered partially to trade 191.89 points down at 8,509.18 points after touching the day’s low of 7,697.39, a level last seen on October 2005. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty was down by 79.80 points at 2,504.20 points after dropping to 2,252.75 points at one stage. Marketmen said emergence of buying by domestic financial institutions and covering-up of short positions by speculators at prevailing lower levels helped Sensex to recover part of lost ground. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:19 am Areva T&D India Q3 net at Rs52.31 crMumbai: Electrical equipment maker Areva T&D India said that its net profit for the third quarter ended 30 September grew 8.8% at Rs52.31 crore over the corresponding period a year ago. The company had a net profit of Rs48.05 crore for the September quarter last fiscal, Areva T&D India Ltd said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Total income rose to Rs586.62 crore for the quarter under review from Rs437.30 crore for the same quarter last year. For the nine months ended 30 September, it posted a net profit of Rs171.08 crore against Rs132.39 crore for the same period a year ago. Shares of the company closed at Rs160.15, up 2.76% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:14 am Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Q2 down 9% at Rs36 crPTI Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services today said its consolidated net profit for the second quarter declined 8.61% t at Rs35.62 crore, from the corresponding period a year ago. The firm had a net profit of Rs38.98 crore in the second quarter of FY’08, the company said in a filing to the BSE. Total income rose to Rs331.05 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs290.07 crore in the same period last fiscal. On a standalone basis, the firm registered a net profit of Rs35.22 crore, a 9.01% dip over the corresponding year-ago period. The company’s standalone income rose to Rs327.58 crore in the September quarter, from Rs207.57 crore in the same period last year. M&M Financia Services closed at Rs190, down 3.06% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:13 am G7 frets about yen, rate cuts seen aheadLONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Group of Seven warned on Monday the surging yen posed a threat to financial and economic stability, the latest coordinated effort by the world's richest nations to curb the worst financial crisis in 80 years.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:07 am Hotel industry clocks normal growth despite global tremors - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:07 am What is the future of ‘Nano land’? - Merinews
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:06 am Oil falls below $62 on economic gloomLONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell to a new 17-month low below $62 a barrel on Monday, driven down by pessimism about the deteriorating global economic climate and its likely impact on demand for fuel.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:04 am Indian equities crash to three-year low, recoverA key Indian equities index fell below the 8,000-point mark in intra-day trading to its lowest since November 2005 as the bear hug continued Monday on the back of overall panic and weak global cues.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:03 am Blue Star net profit falls in second quarterBlue Star, the country's largest central air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration company, Monday reported a near Rs.10-million dip in its net profit in the second quarter this fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:02 am Dishman Pharma to take loan from International Finance CorpDishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Ltd is raising a foreign exchange loan from the International Finance Corp, part of the World Bank group, to fund its expansion projects, to be executed in the next three years, the company announced.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 11:01 am ICICI Bank's UK subsidiary posts USD 35 mn lossAmid criticism of its exposure to 'toxic' assets abroad, India's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank said its UK subsidiary has registered a USD 35 million net loss.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:59 am Insurance co draws flak for appointing several surveyorsPTI New Delhi: The tendency of insurance firms to appoint several surveyors for assessing the damage in a claim case has drawn flak from a consumer court which has directed the National Insurance Company to pay Rs13 lakh to a company which suffered loss in a fire in 1999. The Delhi Consumer Commission said a surveyor should not be changed in an insurance claim case until there are malafide and extraneous considerations in his/her report. The court gave vent to its feeling after the second surveyor scaled down the estimate loss of the claimant company to Rs5.8 lakh from the original Rs13 lakh estimated by the first surveyor. “We deprecate the practise of appointing surveyor after surveyor. This tendency has to be curbed,” the Commission said. Complainant Ashok Jain, Managing Director of the Select Flavours India Limited, New Delhi, had approached the Commission with a claim of Rs16 lakh when the insurance company scaled down the insurance claim for its damages to Rs5.8 lakh on the basis of the report prepared by the second surveyor. The Court suggested that recommendations of the first surveyor’s report should ordinarily be honoured. “Until the report suffers from an element of bias, malafide or extraneous consideration or non-appreciation of the documents produced by the complaint, the insurance company should not appoint second surveyor,” Commission’s President Justice J D Kapoor said. Objecting to the insurance company’s dilly-dallying in settling the claims of the insured, the Commission said such acts amount to deficiency in service. (More) PTI WDA RB RAH Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:57 am G7 vows cooperation on financial crisis, warns on yenTokyo: The Group of Seven major economies vowed to work together to protect the crisis-hit financial system and fired a warning shot to currency traders over the surging yen. But their efforts to soothe skittish markets fell on deaf ears with global stocks plunging and the yen rising back up towards fresh 13-year highs against the dollar. “Unless the G7 takes ‘drastic steps’ such as joint market intervention to sell the yen, the currency is unlikely to come down,” said Kenichi Yumoto, vice head of forex trading at Societe Generale in Tokyo. In a brief joint statement, the G7 finance ministers and central bankers reaffirmed their shared interest in a strong and sts investors dumped high-yielding currencies and fled to safe havens. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:52 am Hotel industry clocks normal growth despite global tremorsNew Delhi: It is business as usual for the country’s high-end premium hospitality segment though many companies world over have announced cutting down on travel plans. Major hospitality players, including the Oberoi Group, the Marriott Group and the Phoenix Group, have reported almost normal room occupancy or only a slight decline in this festive time compared to that of previous year. The Oberoi Group, which owns or manages more than 30 hotels under the Oberoi and the Trident brand in various countries, including a dozen in India, said that business has been almost normal in the country. “We have seen a very slight drop in the luxury segment while rate of room occupancy in the leisure segment is intact. Even the drop in occupancy in the luxury segment has been only around 2-3%,” a Oberoi Group spokesperson said. The group, however, has no plans for introducing any incentives to tap customers. “There are still more than five months left in the fiscal and we have no plans for mid-term schemes or course correction,” the spokesperson said. Global hospitality major Marriott Group said that although its operations overseas have been affected by the global slowdown, the group’s business in India is almost running normal. “The Indian market has been lot more stable and we have not seen a major downturn in occupancy. Our average rate of occupancy during this season is more than 75%,” Marriott Group Area Vice President (India) Rajeev Menon said. The group, which has six premium segment hotels in major Indian cities, has no plans to bring down room rent. Another premium segment player Phoenix Group has reported a nominal 10% decline in occupancy rate compared to that in the corresponding period last year. “The slowdown is a temporary phenomenon and the fundamentals of the hospitality sector in India are quite strong,” Phoenix Group Director for Communication Priti Chand said. “While the Group has an average room occupancy rate of around 75% during October last year, this time the rate is hovering around 65%,” she said. However, the Group is going ahead with its plans to open three more hotels in various cities over next year, including a five-star deluxe at Bangalore in December. The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, which runs a chain of hotels and resort in Kerala, Goa, Mumbai and Bangalore, has reported a rise in occupancy rate during the first few weeks of the third quarter vis-a-vis the occupancy rates in the second quarter. “The trend is now healthy and the third quarter has brought a robust growth in occupancy both among business and leisure travellers,” The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts Vice-President (Marketing) Sanjay Pashricha said. He said that the group caters to the upper and premium end of the market and that might be the reason for almost normal business. “The occupancy rate in our 1,000 odd room inventory is between 78 to 80% in previous years. This year also we have maintained the business near normal level and the occupancy rate is around 70-72%,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:46 am Oil falls below $62 on economic gloomLondon: Oil fell to a new 17-month low below $62 a barrel on Monday, driven down by pessimism about the deteriorating global economic climate and its likely impact on demand for fuel. US light crude for December delivery was down $1.77 at $62.38 a barrel, after touching a 17-month low of $61.30 a barrel. London Brent crude was down $1.75 to $60.30. Gloom about the world economy overshadowed OPEC’s deal on Friday to chop output by 1.5 million barrels per day, which some traders have said will not be enough to arrest the price slide. “I think Opec has actually taken a fairly decisive step to cut production but the oil market is obviously just focusing on economic woes at the moment,” said David Moore, a commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Oil prices have more than halved since they hit a record high of $147 a barrel in July. Demand is falling in the United States, the world’s top energy consumer and other industrial countries as the credit crisis infects the wider economy and begins to spread to emerging markets. Signs of a sharp slowdown in Europe and a barrage of profit warnings and job cuts from companies worldwide have intensified fears of deep global recession. Investors around the world are trying to find shelter, contributing to heavy losses on Asian, European and US stock markets. Evidence of weakening oil demand is increasing. Japan’s top refiner Nippon Oil said it would cut production by 15% in November versus last year while data showed China’s September oil demand rose by just over 2%, its slowest pace in 10 months. Oil traders will now watch for signs that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is implementing its cuts. Asian oil refiners said on Monday they had yet to receive notice of curbs on their Gulf crude oil shipments, but most were bracing for a likely 5% cut. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:45 am Nagarjuna Construction Q2 net up 26% at Rs42.30 crPTI Mumbai: Nagarjuna Construction Company today said its net profit for the second quarter ended 30 September stood at Rs42.30 crore, a 25.74% growth over the same period a year ago. The company had a net profit of Rs33.64 crore for the September quarter last fiscal, Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income rose to Rs1,056.81 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs677.53 crore in the same quarter last year. For the six-month ended 30 September, the construction firm posted a net profit of Rs79.38 crore, against Rs69.67 crore in the same period a year ago. While, total income rose to Rs1,855.84 crore for the reviewed period from Rs1,297.34 crore in the same period last year. Shares of the company were up by 15.47% and closed at Rs50 on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:40 am CAG raps DDA for lack of quality assuranceNew Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has come under severe criticism from Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for lack of quality assurance in the houses built by it besides extending undue benefit of Rs10.71 crore to contractors. The CAG said there were ‘inordinate delays’ in disposal of constructed houses to public. Besides, houses were alloted to people without ensuring basic amenities. The DDA did not prepare budget estimates on realistic basis and that the autonomous body under the Ministry of Urban Development incurred expenditure in excess of administrative approval and expenditure sanction, it said. The CAG said that the delay in completion of works led to payment of price escalation charges during the extension period which amounted to Rs6.83 crore. Interestingly, the financial watchdog said, “The DDA routinely included normally inadmissible clause of 10 CC in the lumsum contracts resulting in undue benefit of Rs10.71 crore to the contractors.” It said that there was no practice in DDA to obtain required certificate from the architect to ensure that the work was executed as per approved drawings and designs. It said, as per provisions of the manual, the architect of the work should certify on completion of a particular building that it has been constructed according to approved design and specifications. It further added, it was, however, observed that out of the 30 housings’ works test checked in performance audit, no certificate was obtained in respect of 12 works involving construction of 6,417 houses from the architect. DDA did not furnish information in respect of the 18 works. The DDA stated that no such practice was being followed by them. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:32 am Tata Tele Q2 net loss at Rs 47.35 crTata Teleservices Maharashtra said its net loss for the second quarter ended September 30 stood at Rs 47.35 crore.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:29 am Europe shares hit 5-1/2 yr low on recession fearsLondon: European shares plumbed fresh 5-1/2 year lows on Monday, echoing a slide in Asia prompted by a surge in the yen as investors feared a barrage of central bank support would not be enough to ward off global recession. The yen continued to gain even after Group of Seven finance ministers on Monday singled out the excessive volatility of the currency, which sent Japanese equities to their lowest in nearly three decades. Little that officials said could convince panicky investors that governments around the world can stem the fast-spreading crisis that has ravaged financial markets and now threatens to erode both economic growth and company earnings. Emerging market equities fell to their lowest since September 2004, while in Western Europe, shares slid nearly 5 percent in early trade on the FTSEurorfirst 300 index, led by banking stocks and energy companies, which took a hit from a fresh drop in the price of crude oil to 17-month troughs. The euro fell to a two-year low against the dollar and in another sign of profound risk aversion, European credit spreads hovered just shy of Friday’s record highs. “There’s lots of volatility, not just in the equity market but in the interest rate and currency markets too,” said Neil Parker, market strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland. “We’re going to get further big swings as the markets watch for what the authorities are going to do,” he added. The MSCI world index of shares, which on Monday was down by more than 3%, has lost nearly 50% so far this year to reach its lowest since 2003 as investors around the globe have dumped stocks. Multilateral support In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index swung wildly throughout the session before ending down 6.4% at its lowest close since 1982 as the stronger yen hit exporters such as Canon Inc. Japan pledged fresh measures on Monday to try to shield the world’s second-biggest economy from the financial crisis while South Korea slashed interest rates and Australia’s central bank intervened for a second day to support its tumbling currency. The actions by Asian policy makers come days ahead of a widely expected interest rate cut of 50 basis points by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the U.S. advance report on third-quarter economic growth due on Thursday. “Nobody can tell for sure where the support levels are or where the bottom is,” said Castor Pang, a strategist with Sun Hung Kai Financial in Hong Kong. “The current bear market trends point to continuous declines in the market as fund managers unload their positions in the face of increased redemptions.” The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan fell for a fourth consecutive session, losing 5.3 percent by 0830 GMT. On Monday, the Group of Seven warned that the surging yen posed a threat to financial and economic stability, in the latest coordinated effort by the world’s richest nations to contain the worst financial crisis in 80 years. Analysts said the G7 statement suggested authorities were getting closer to the point where they would consider intervention, possibly jointly, to stem the yen’s recent surge. Yet the yen, after initially slipping slightly on the news, climbed towards a 13-year peak against the dollar hit on Friday, and an all-time high versus the Australian dollar as the plunge in the Nikkei overshadowed the G7 warning. The yen has risen as investors have rushed to unwind carry trades built up over the last several years in which they borrowed the low-yielding Japanese currency to invest in higher-yielding, riskier assets and currencies. Few expect the sinking global economy to recover quickly despite moves by central banks to cut rates, or government efforts that have so far included pledging about $4 trillion in a bid to support banks and thaw frozen credit market. Emerging markets have been hit especially hard in the global sell-off. Several more countries are expected to turn the International Monetary Fund after Ukraine on Sunday agreed on a $16.5 billion loan package to ease the effects of the financial crisis. The dollar fell 2.0% from late US trade last week to 92.3 yen, pulling back after rising to near 94.50 yen after the G7 warning. The euro was down about 4% at 114.24 yen, near a six-year low of 113.79 yen hit on Friday. The Australian dollar hovered near record lows against the yen and a 5-1/2 year trough against the US dollar, even after the central bank intervened on Monday for a second day. Mirroring global recession fears, oil fell 4% to $61.45 a barrel, near a 17-month low, while spot gold - ordinarily a perceived safe-haven investment - dropped by more than 3%, undermined by the strength in the dollar against the euro and the slide in crude oil. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:28 am ICICI operating profit soars 42%Helped by a strong growth in income from interest and fees and rationalisation of expenses, ICICI Bank said its second quarter operating profit grew by 42 per cent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:27 am SBI sets 26% credit expansion targetNew Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI) said it expects a loan growth of 26% in 2008-09 against 23% recorded last year. “The internal credit expansion target is 26% for the current fiscal,” SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said here after announcing results for the second quarter ended 30 September. The country’s largest bank’s advances for the year ended March 2008 stood at Rs4,22,181 crore. During April-September, the bank registered credit expansion of a whopping 162.35% at Rs51,020 crore against Rs19,447 crore in the same period a year ago. SBI has drawn expansion plan for business growth that includes addition of 1,500 branches across the country. “Last year, the bank opened 900 branches. This year, we plan to add another 1,500 branches at potential centres,” Bhatt said. So far, the bank has opened 500 branches and was awaiting approval from RBI for the remaining branches, he said, adding: “This will add to our topline and bottomline”. The bank’s total number of branches has surpassed 10,400 mark. On the Qualified Full Banking licence accorded by the Singapore Monetary Authority, Bhatt said: “SBI is authorised to open 25 branches.” Currently, SBI has three branches and an equivalent number of ATMs in Singapore. “The bank would focus on retail banking and back-end operations would be handled from India,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:24 am Bad loans weigh on India's top banks; shares hit - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:18 am NMDC Q2 net up 48% at Rs945 crPTI Mumbai: Domestic mining major NMDC today said its net profit for the second quarter ended 30 September stood at Rs944.93 crore, a 47.64% growth over the same period a year ago. The company had a net profit of Rs640.02 crore in the second quarter of FY 2008, NMDC said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income rose by 44.79% at Rs1,857.27 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs1,282.72 crore in the same period last year. For six months ended 30 September, NMDC registered a net profit of Rs1,926.24 crore, a 52.17% jump over the year-ago period . The company had a net profit of Rs1,265.79 crore in the July-September period. Total income rose to Rs3,298.90 crore during six-month period from Rs2,213.01 crore in the same period last fiscal. Shares of the company were trading at Rs 143, down 4.98 per cent on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:17 am Unitech denies reports of payment defaults in NoidaUnitech stock fell 50% on Friday. The stock is down 94% from its record close of Rs 538.25 per share on January 2. The management has planned to file complaint to SEBI for probing share manipulation and has denied reports of default on payment to Greater Noida Development Authority.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:14 am LIC starts selling policies to non-Indians in BahrainLIC International has for the first time started selling policies to non-Indians in Bahrain, where it posted a growth of 46 percent in the first nine months of this year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:10 am Hungary in deal with IMF, forint steadies - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 10:09 am Tata Tele Q2 net loss at Rs47.35 crPTI Mumbai: Tata Teleservices Maharashtra today said its net loss for the second quarter ended 30 September stood at Rs47.35 crore. The loss has reduced marginally from Rs49.31 crore in the year-ago period. The total income rose 20.72% to Rs518.24 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs429.30 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, Tata Tele said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. However, for the six months ended 30 September, Tata Teleservices registered a net loss of Rs82.07 crore, against a net loss of Rs77.72 crore in the year-ago period. The total income from telecommunication services for the half-year period rose to Rs1,015.18 crore, from Rs836.70 crore in the year-ago period. Shares of Tata Tele were trading at Rs12.90, down 7.19% in the late afternoon trade on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:46 am BSE Sensex trims losses to 3 pct in late trade - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:38 am ICICI net up 1.1 percent, shares tumbleICICI, the country's largest private bank, posted a net profit of $216 million in the quarter ended Sep 30, clocking a year-on-year growth of 1.1 percent over $214 million registered the same quarter last fiscal, the company said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:30 am Is RBI's about-turn tactical or strategic? - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:30 am India and Myanmar to boost trade: MinisterIndia has taken a slew of measures to boost trade with South Asian countries through Myanmar after Bangladesh refused transit for enhancing business, central Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:30 am Rupee falls to record low as stocks diveMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee weakened to a record low on Monday as a steep fall in the stock market heightened concerns of more foreign fund outflows offsetting dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India to hold up the rupee.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:28 am RBI policy just a strategic pause, say economistsThe Reserve Bank may have been merely striking a strategic pause on Friday before it chose to engage the CRRSLR levers as early as the next few days, says Mr Abheek Barua, Chief Economist, HDFC Bank.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:11 am Bharti Airtel revamps internal IT processes through etizeIn a bid to make its operations more efficient and cost effective, Bharti Airtel has undertaken a major internal IT programme etize to revamp its processes and systems through the use of technology.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:09 am Auto sales: Festive season sparkle missingWith the DaseraDiwali festival and wedding season setting in, early pointers show that the overall automotive sales volumes are yet to pick up, according to Mr Jnaneswar Sen, VicePresidentMarketing, Honda Siel Cars Ltd.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:04 am Festival, low gold price, propel people to Orissa jewellersWith the price of gold slipping, people rushed to purchase gold across Orissa Sunday on Dhanteras - an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:03 am Mangalore Refinery net down 92.4 percentMangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) posted a net profit of Rs.250 million in the second quarter this year, as against Rs.3,320 million in the corresponding period last year - reflecting an erosion of 92.4 percent, the company said Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:02 am State Bank net up 40.2 percent in second quarterState Bank of India (SBI) Monday posted 40.2 percent growth in net profit to Rs.22.59 billion for the quarter ended Sep 30, as against Rs.16.11 billion registered in the corresponding period last year.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:01 am IT firms resort to \'temporary\' hiring to beat US slowdownThe US slowdown has prompted Indian IT majors to increase hiring on a temporary or contractual basis; as a result, there is boost in demand for agencies that are in the shortterm staffing business.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am Hundreds protest anti-Posco activist's arrest in OrissaAround 300 people, including villagers and opposition party leaders, staged a demonstration in Orissa's Cuttack city Monday, demanding the release of anti-Posco leader Abhaya Kumar Sahu who was arrested Oct 12.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am Pride Hotels plans Rs.7.5-bn expansionLeading hotel chain Pride Group of Hotels will invest Rs.7.5 billion to expand its operations in India, a top official has said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 27 Oct 2008 | 9:00 am MRPL net dips 92 pc at Rs 24.92 cr - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 8:52 am Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Q2 net up 56% at Rs117 crPTI Mumbai: Drug-maker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals today said its net profit for the second quarter ended 30 September grew by 56.23% at Rs117.36 crore over the corresponding period a year ago. The firm had a net profit of Rs75.12 crore in the second quarter of last fiscal, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The revenue rose by 49.29% at Rs559.71 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs374.89 crore in the same period last year. The generic business posted a growth of 56.21% at Rs247.51 crore against Rs133.23 crore in the same period previous year. “Glenmark has once again registered impressive sales and profit growth. All business units have performed well with strong growth recorded by the generic business. The US generic business units continue to power growth for the generic subsidiary,” Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Managing Director Glenn Saldanha said. The firm’s speciality business had revenues of Rs312.20 crore against Rs241.66 crore for the year-ago period. “For the speciality business, the Indian formulations business continues to register steady growth and the introduction of new products will further boost sales for the business. On the discovery front, too, we have made progress with another two molecules in the process of progressing to the clinics,” Saldanha said. For six-month ended 30 September, it had a net profit of Rs232.73 crore against Rs132.27 crore for the previous year. The company’s revenue increased to Rs1020.54 crore during six-month period from Rs726.25 crore in the year-ago period. Shares of the company were trading at Rs 259.25, down 20 per cent on the BSE. PTI SP JAS Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 8:46 am NRI's company ties up with Boeing for space suppliesAn Indian-born American's company tied up with aircraft manufacturer Boeing for a role in the US' manned space missions.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 8:34 am G7 says yen swings ‘excessive’, pledges cooperationTokyo: The Group of Seven major economies said on Monday that the yen’s recent “excessive” volatility was bad for the global economy and pledged to cooperate to protect the financial system. “We reaffirm our shared interest in a strong and stable international financial system,” finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 major industrialised nations said in a brief joint statement released by Japan. “We are concerned about the recent excessive volatility in the exchange rate of the yen and its possible adverse implications for economic and financial stability. We continue to monitor markets closely and cooperate as appropriate.” The surprise statement from the G7, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, came after the yen hit a 13-year high against the dollar and a six-year peak versus the euro last week. The remarks, however, had only a muted impact on the currency market. The dollar rose to 94.11 yen after the joint statement was issued, up from compared with 93.90 in early Tokyo trade but weaker than its level of 94.24 in late New York trade on Friday. “It would be difficult (for the G7) to bring the yen down significantly unless they take drastic steps such as intervention,” said Kenichi Yumoto, vice head of forex trading at Societe Generale in Tokyo. He said the statement - issued while North American and European markets were closed - appeared to be a Japanese initiative. “If it were a joint statement in a true sense, other G7 countries would be making back-up comments now,” Yumoto said. On Friday the dollar had dropped to the upper 90-yen level for the first time since August 1995, while the euro slid below 114 yen to levels not seen since December 2002. The yen often rises at times of financial turmoil as dealers unwind risky bets funded with cheap Japanese credit. Japan’s Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa earlier warned that “excessive” volatility in the yen exchange rate was destabilising Asia’s biggest economy. The comments sparked fresh speculation that Tokyo may intervene in the market for the first time since March 2004 to curb the yen’s rapid ascent, which is taking a heavy toll on exporters. Such “disorderly” moves were negatively affecting economic and financial stability, Nakagawa told reporters. His remarks were echoed by the chief spokesman for Prime Minister Taro Aso’s government. “The Japanese yen’s strength isn’t necessarily always a bad thing,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a news conference. “But the impact that the higher yen would have on Japan’s real economy is concerning, so the government needs to implement appropriate measures,” Kawamura said. Analysts believe, however, that for now the US and the eurozone authorities are unlikely to support joint intervention in the market to sell the yen. The strength of the yen has battered the Japanese stock market because of concerns about the impact on exports. At one point on Monday the Nikkei index dropped to the lowest level in 26 years. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 7:37 am ICICI Q2 net up 1.1 pct, beats forecast - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 27 Oct 2008 | 7:32 am ICICI Q2 net up 1.1 pct, beats forecastMUMBAI (Reuters) - ICICI Bank, India's second-largest bank, reported a 1.1 percent rise in quarterly net profit, beating forecasts, as higher other income and lending rates offset investment losses and slowing credit growth.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Oct 2008 | 7:25 am India not delaying 3G telecom auction - officialNew Delhi: India will not delay its planned multi-bilion dollar auction of next-generation wireless spectrum because of the global financial crisis, a telecoms ministry spokesman said. “We are sticking to our schedule. As has been told before, the auction process should finish by 15 January,” said Akshay Rout, additional director general at India’s telecoms ministry. In August, the government outlined guidelines for a global auction of radio spectrum for third-and fourth-generation (3G and 4G) wireless services to be held by December, from which it hoped to raise up to Rs400 billion ($8 billion). Media reports said Vodafone, whose unit is India’s third-largest mobile operator, had requested the auction be delayed until early 2009 because of the financial crisis. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 7:17 am ICICI Q2 net up 1.1%, beats forecastReuters Mumbai: ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank, reported a 1.1% rise in quarterly net profit, beating forecasts, as higher other income and lending rates offset investment losses and slowing credit growth. The country’s leading private-sector bank, which is also listed in New York, said July-September net profit was Rs10.14 billion ($203 million), up from Rs10.03 billion a year ago. A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast a 2.3% dip in net profit to Rs9.80 billion for the fiscal second quarter. ICICI has borne the brunt of investor concerns about the Indian bank sector’s exposure to the global financial crisis. Since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers last month, it has repeatedly said it was well-capitalised and deposits were safe. Shares in ICICI fell 15% in July-September, lagging the benchmark index’s 4.5% drop and the sector index’s 9.5% rise. At Friday’s close of Rs310, ICICI shares were down 42% in October. Click to read their results Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 7:16 am State Bank Q2 net up 40%, beats forecastMumbai: Shares in State Bank of India <SBI.BO> tumbled 13% to 1-“ year lows on Monday on worries about bad debt provisions even after the country’s largest bank beat forecasts with a 40.4% rise in net profit. Provisions for bad debts rose to Rs9.11 billion ($182 million) in the fiscal second quarter ended September from Rs2.47 billion in the previous quarter, although net non-performing assets fell to 1.34% from 1.42% in the previous quarter. “The slippages are a cause for concern given the economic slowdown. Going forward the market is convinced SBI may not be able to get the best out of its other revenue streams,” VK Sharma, head of research at Anagram Stock Broking said. SBI shares touched a low of Rs1,006.10, their weakest since April 2007,in morning deals. The shares were trading 10.6% to Rs1,033 in a Mumbai market that was down 6.4%. ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank, reports its quarterly results later on Monday. State-run SBI, which raised $4.1 billion in a rights issue in March, said July-September net profit rose to Rs22.6 billion from Rs16.1 billion a year earlier. A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast a 16% rise in fiscal second-quarter earnings to Rs18.70 billion. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose 45 percent to Rs54.56 billion. Treasury income, primarily from trading in bonds, rose by a third to Rs43.14 billion. State Bank, which has more than 10,000 branches across India and overseas, has the lowest cost of funds among the nation’s lenders. The bulk of its funds come from savings bank deposits that cost about 3.5% in annual interest payments. Shares in State Bank rose 32 percent in July-September, easily outperforming a 4.5% drop in the main share index, but are down around 30% in October. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 6:25 am Nikkei up on techs after 26-year low, banks weighTokyo: Japan’s Nikkei average climbed 0.4% on Monday after earlier hitting a 26-year low, buoyed by tech shares such as Sony Corp and a slightly weaker yen as investors pinned their hopes on government policy steps. But shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and other large banks weighed on the market amid general gloom about the global economy, hit by concern they may need to raise billions of dollars each to offset hefty losses on their stock portfolios. The benchmark Nikkei fell as far as 7,486.44, its lowest since 1982 - when Ronald Reagan was US president and Sony Corp introduced the first CD player. It ended the morning up 30.42 points at 7,679.50, while the broader Topix was down 1.5% at 794.45. Market players said they were waiting for the announcement of government steps to brake the relentless fall in Japanese share prices, which has seen the Nikkei lose 32 % so far this month and 50% this year, although expectations were mixed. “We need something that surprises the market in a good way, perhaps something like the government intervening to sell yen in the currency market,” said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities. “If we don’t have something like this, today’s low - the 26-year low - won’t be significant at all.” The yen relinquished some early gains against the dollar after climbing back near a 13-year peak against the US currency, and Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said he was watching the currency market with great interest, suggesting that Japan may be getting closer to considering intervention. The Nikkei business daily had reported on Sunday that the government would announce additional steps to stabilise financial markets before the start of trade on Monday. Tokyo is considering banning so-called naked short-selling and introducing a rule requiring stock investors to disclose massive short-selling transactions, the Nikkei said. “We need something more than what was in the Nikkei. That might help stop stocks from sliding, but it certainly wouldn’t help them recover much,” Okamoto added. Nakagawa is set to meet with Prime Minister Taro Aso and ruling party policymakers from 11:30amto discuss the economic and financial situation surrounding Japan. Many market players were wary. “The announcement of such economic steps may have effects but whether those will be strong enough to turn the current market trend upward still needs a careful assessment,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities. Banks Battered Banks dragged on the Nikkei, with Mitsubishi UFJ down more than 13% at one point after people familiar with the matter said the bank, Japan’s top lender, is considering raising up to 1 trillion yen ($10.8 billion) to shore up its capital. Mizuho Financial Group, Japan’s second-largest bank, and third-ranked Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group are both looking to raise as much as 500 billion yen ($5.4 billion), newspapers reported on Monday. Mitsubishi UFJ was down 11.1% at 607 yen, while Mizuho lost 8 percent to 248,300 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui shed 10.6% to 389,000 yen. This downward pressure was countered, though, by gains in tech shares, especially Hitachi Ltd and Sony Corp Hitachi rose 3.9% to 430 yen after the electronics conglomerate lifted its half-year profit forecast by 58% on a stronger-than-expected information technology business, bucking falls in electronics makers that have been hit by a weakening global economy and a firmer yen. Sony was up 2.9% at 2,030 yen after Chief Executive Howard Stringer said on Monday the electronics maker intends to keep its performance targets for the year to March 2011, which includes hitting a return on equity of 10 percent. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Oct 2008 | 5:37 am Auto sales: Festive season sparkle missingHyderabad, Oct. 26 With the Dasera-Diwali festival and wedding season setting in, early pointers show that the overall automotive sales volumes are yet to pick up, according to Mr Jnaneswar Sen, Vice-President-Marketing, Honda Siel CarsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Weak sentiment across commoditiesMumbai, Oct. 26 It was a disastrous week for the commodities market. There was an across-the-board collapse covering especially industrial metals, base metals, precious metals, ferroalloys, scrap and energySource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am It’s not selling alone for FIIsChennai, Oct. 26 If you think that foreign institutional investors are pressing only the ‘sell’ button in panic, think twice.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Cotton farmers’ hopes belied as meltdown hits pricesBhathinda (Punjab), Oct. 26 It happened to sugarcane in 2006. This time, it is happening to soyabean and cotton — a case of growers responding enthusiastically to bullish crop price signals only to find their hopes belied duringSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Punjab National Bank (Rs 419.60): SellWe recommend a sell in Punjab National Bank from a short-term trading perspective. It is evident from the charts of Punjab National Bank that it was on a broad sideways consolidation in the range between Rs 440 and Rs 530 between late July and lateSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Market outlook is still bleakWeekly outlook for the equity market is bleak, to say the least. Foreign institutional investors’ sell-off is unlikely to stopSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am IT firms resort to ‘temporary’ hiring to beat US slowdownMumbai, Oct. 26The US slowdown has prompted Indian IT majors to increase hiring on a temporary or contractual basis; as a result, there is boost in demand for agencies that are in the short-term staffing business.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Their lights have been knocked outMumbai, Oct. 26 For a group of 18- to 20-year-olds, the first investment they made in the stock market, and that too on borrowed money, was into Reliance Power. And one of the reasons for the choice of stock: the younger Reliance scion, Mr AnilSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Bear, bear, go away, retail investors want to playJogin (an economics student) and Mack (an American expat working in India) start celebrating Diwali before their friends Divya (a journalist) and Bidyut (an economics professor) can join them. Between bursting crackers and munchingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am Low airfares may attract 'hits, not clicks'Over the past week, SpiceJet, GoAir and Jet Airways have announced special fares in a bid to attract passengers. Will passengers bite?Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Oct 2008 | 10:21 pm Q2 operating profit growth slowest in 6 qtrsNet profit growth of 620 companies, which have declared their September-quarter results so far, stands at 11.6%.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Oct 2008 | 10:20 pm Government to reclaim closed mines' landThe government is finalising a new policy to ensure closure of expired coal mines for the purpose of reclaiming the idle land to be put to other gainful uses.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Oct 2008 | 10:19 pm Time correction could last till Oct '10, as per FibonacciThe recent meltdown (for want of a more adjectival term) has proved that optimism can be an expensive affair in a once-in-a-century raging bear market.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Oct 2008 | 10:18 pm Short week will force big adjustments with world trendThrough the next two months it flattered to deceive, soaring to 21K, but then erased 10200 points by the penultimate day of Samvat 2064, or more than half the index value.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Oct 2008 | 10:17 pm FIIs continue overseas lending despite warningsForeign institutional investors (FIIs) continue to lend stocks to overseas investors despite a warning issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Finance Minister P ChidambaramSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Oct 2008 | 7:07 pm More companies show fall in profit, losses in Q2The tide for Indian firms seems to be turning. As much as 41 per cent of companies announcing their second-quarter results have registered a drop in profit.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Oct 2008 | 7:07 pm Motorola launches GPS-based touchscreen phoneNew Delhi: US-based mobile handset maker Motorola has launched its touchscreen GPS-enabled phone offering navigation maps and landmarks of 30 cities priced at Rs15,847 in this festive season. The phone has satellite based GPS which offers consumers lifetime free GPS navigation maps and landmarks of 30 cities, Motorola Mobile Devices India and South West AsiaLloyd Mathias said. It also allows voice-guided navigation across major national and state highways. “MOTOMING A 1600, is the first GPS-enabled mobile phone. The navigation service is free with no activation charges, independent of mobile networks and can be used even without inserting the SIM card,” Mathias said. The touchscreen phone offers 1 GB MicroSD card and an expandable memory capacity of up to 4 GB and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Powered by MapmyIndia, India mapscome preloaded on the memory card of the phone. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Oct 2008 | 6:46 pm Unconventional actions, conventional scriptIn his maiden monetary policy review, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao has committed to use both conventional and unconventional monetary tools to “manage the challenge” that the central bank is currently facing.  For instance, he has not cut the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), or banks’ investments in government bonds, but allowed them to hold a lower SLR portfolio for the time being. Norms require banks to invest 25% of their deposits in government bonds and excess SLR holdings can be used as collaterals to get liquidity from RBI. So, if they are allowed to hold a lower SLR, commercial banks can get higher liquidity support from the central bank. Similarly, Subbarao has opened a foreign exchange window for oil marketers from where they can buy dollars directly from RBI to meet the cost of crude oil imports. This will ease the pressure on the local currency as demand for the dollar will come down. Besides, the RBI has cancelled two bond auctions—one of them three hours after the bids were submitted. Finally, Subbarao also cut banks’ cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the portion of deposits that commercial banks need to keep with the central bank with a retrospective effect—something that has never happened in the regulator’s history. But, his 29,523-word, 63-page mid-term review of the annual monetary policy is conventional at best and confusing at worst. The statement has two parts—a review of the annual monetary policy (20,655 words) and a review of developmental and regulatory policies (8,868 words). The first part has three sections. The first, an assessment of macroeconomic developments, is divided into sub-sections such as domestic developments (5,637 words), external sectors (1,679 words), development in global economies (5,536 words) and overall assessment (4,082 words). The other sections are stance of the monetary policy (3,509 words) and monetary measures (212 words). There is no surprise in the assessment of macroeconomic developments section. It talks about a near-normal monsoon, falling index of industrial production and sales and profits of Indian corporations, and sagging business confidence, besides the growth in bank deposits, credit, money supply and the state of affairs vis-à-vis liquidity, inflation and the government’s fiscal health. The section on development in global economies graphically describes the slowdown in the US, Euro zone, Japan, China and the rest of Asia and how the global liquidity problem turned into a solvency problem, triggering a crisis of confidence in the financial markets. Against this backdrop, the bailout packages offered by various governments and policy measures of central banks lend a perspective to the unprecedented crisis that the financial system across the globe is experiencing. But one stumbles at the policy stance. Four days after cutting its policy rate by one percentage point and less than a fortnight after releasing Rs1 trillion into the system by cutting CRR, the monetary policy stance says, “Going forward, the Reserve Bank’s policy endeavour would be to modulate the monetary overhang generated by the sustained expansion of money supply…This is necessary in order to ensure that inflationary pressures are not fuelled and that the current stance of the monetary policy is not attenuated by expansionary monetary conditions.” It also reiterates its old stance of moderating of money supply growth to 17% (against 20.3%), deposit growth to 17.5% (against 21.6%) and credit growth to around 20% (against 29.4%). “Non-food credit has posted a growth of 29% on a year-on-year basis…This is well beyond projection of 20% for 2008-09. This higher rate of credit growth could possibly be due to the additional demand on domestic credit because of constraints on external credit…Even so, such a rapid rate of credit growth is a cause for concern and will warrant intensified monitoring and continued correction,” it says. In other words, RBI is against an expansionary monetary policy because it strongly feels that the undercurrent of inflationary pressures still exists and banks are overstretching themselves in the credit market. If that is the case, why did it cut the rates and release so much money in the system? The 204-word RBI statement issued on 20 October, announcing the rate cut, did not have a word on inflation. In fact, none of the RBI releases issued in the past few weeks on CRR cut and other measures spoke about the monetary overhang and credit expansion that stoked inflation. The policy document has reiterated RBI’s confidence in “managing the situation and minimizing the adverse impact of the global crisis on the Indian economy”. It also says, “Our financial system is strong and healthy, and our economic fundamentals are strong.” Subbarao has also assured the market that RBI will closely and continuously monitor the situation and respond “swiftly and effectively” to all developments. Indeed, this is an abnormal time and the enormity of the crisis calls for prompt response. RBI does not need to pander to the market expectations of freeing more liquidity and cutting interest rates every other day but it must convince the market that there is consistency in its approach in tackling the crisis. However abnormal the time is, if expansionary policy actions are followed by hawkish statements, all stakeholders of the financial system get confused. RBI is not well known for clarity when it comes to policy statements. The latest policy has not deviated from that tradition. And it has also not given any signal. Also Read Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s earlier columns Tamal Bandyopadhyay keeps a close eye on all things banking from his perch as the Mumbai bureau chief of Mint. Please email comments to bankerstrust@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Oct 2008 | 6:45 pm
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