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Downtrend in realty affecting furniture retailingOrganised furniture retailing has been witnessing growth of over 30% every year. But the present downtrend in the real estate sector seems to have directly affected furniture retailers like Future Group\'s Home Town, among others.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:38 pm Spectrum allocation: HC asks govt to respond by Dec 10The Delhi High Court has sought response from the Centre on a petition challenging its first comefirst serve procedure adopted in spectrum allocation. The High Court has asked the government to file its response within three weeks and posted the matter to December 10 for hearing.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:08 pm To achieve 65% growth rate for next 34 yrs: Lanco InfraL Madhusudan Rao, Chairman, Lanco Infratech, is confident of the company achieving a 65% growth rate yearonyear at least for the next threetofour years. Many of our projects have already achieved financial closure, he said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:07 pm Rico Auto cuts FY09 sales growth outlook to 67%Rico Auto has cut FY09 sales growth outlook to 67% from 30%, reports CNBCTV18, quoting agencies. It sees a slowdown in US truck, offload vehicles industries. The company has cut production shifts to five days a week from six days.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 3:17 pm Liquidity crunch to haunt India Inc for next yr: Ratan TataRatan Tata Chairman of Tat Sons said the Tata companies foreign operations acquisitions were already facing problems in raising capital. He does not expect this state of affair to improve over next 12 months and feels that failure to manage this crisis could result in irretrievable positions.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 2:40 pm Nalco to maintain aluminium, alumina sales in FY09: SourcesNational Aluminium Company Limited or Nalco will drop its South Africa foray plan due to unavailability of coal,reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. However, Nalcos FY09 aluminium and alumina sales volume are expected to be unchanged, the sources added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:18 pm Chandrayaan-1 closer to final orbit: ISROBangalore: Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is slated to reach about one km away from its final orbital home of 100 kms above the moon’s surface on Wednesday evening. ISRO scientists are planning the final orbit reduction manoeuvre for about one minute at around 7 pm that would bring the lunar spacecraft to around 101 kms above the moon’s surface, ISRO sources said. The circular orbit is expected to be trimmed to 100 kms on Thursday, they added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:11 pm Chandrayaan-1 closer to final orbit: ISROBangalore: Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is slated to reach about one km away from its final orbital home of 100 kms above the moon’s surface on Wednesday evening. ISRO scientists are planning the final orbit reduction manoeuvre for about one minute at around 7 pm that would bring the lunar spacecraft to around 101 kms above the moon’s surface, ISRO sources said. The circular orbit is expected to be trimmed to 100 kms on Thursday, they added. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:11 pm India credit info bureau to maintain fraud databaseMUMBAI (Reuters) - Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd plans to develop a repository of financial frauds in order to help lenders become more prudent in the lending procedures, top officials said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:09 pm Cities to be rated on sanitary condition - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:08 pm Fortis to spend $500 mn for expansionsNew Delhi: “Fortis Healthcare has earmarked a fund of around $500 million for acquisitions and is soon going to add one more hospital to its kitty,” a top official of the company said. “The group has earmarked a fund of around half a billion dollar, which would be spent mainly on acquisitions,” Fortis Healthcare CEO and MD Shivinder Singh said without giving any time span. Earlier, the company had said it is going to acquire one hospital of the size of 100-200 bed. “We are in advance stage of negotiation for acquiring one more hospital, which the company will announce by mid-December this year,” Singh said. Speaking about the size of deal, he said: We are looking at a price of Rs50-75 lakh per bed”. When asked about the sourcing of the fund, Singh said that it will be through mix of debt and internal accruals. The company also announced the opening of ‘in vitro fertilisation centre’ at its hospital Fortis La Femme here. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:05 pm Fuel rate cut only if rupee, international prices stabilise: DeoraIndia will consider cutting fuel prices only after the rupee stabilises and the volatility in the international oil prices subsides, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Rupee posts biggest 1-day fall since Feb '96MUMBAI (Reuters) – The rupee posted its biggest single-day fall in more than 12 years on Wednesday, hit by rising outflows from the local share market and heavy dollar demand from state-run banks to meet commercial operations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:59 pm NTT DoCoMo, Tata agree on mobile phone allianceTokyo: Japan’s top mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. has said that it has agreed with Tata Teleservices Ltd. on a mobile phone alliance through the purchase of a 26% stake in the Indian company. DoCoMo will spend about $2.7 billion (Rs130.7 billion) to acquire 26% of one of India’s largest telecom service providers, the Japanese company said in a statement. The investment would allow DoCoMo to gain a foothold in India’s fast-growing telecommunications market as the company seeks expansion abroad with growth at home sluggish. DoCoMo said that it will acquire about 20% in the mobile phone arm of India’s largest conglomerate Tata Group through tender offer, and purchase another 6 percent from existing shareholders. “As a result of the capital alliance, the partners expect to expand mobile communication operations in the fast growing Indian mobile market, aiming to increase operating revenue and achieve steady business growth,” DoCoMo said. The number of Japanese subscribers is still growing but at a slower rate, up 0.3% in October from the previous month to 105 million. In contrast, India’s market continues to expand rapidly, despite the recent economic downturn. More than 10 million subscribers signed on for mobile phone services in September, bringing the total to 315.31 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Tata Teleservices, which covers nearly all of India, is part of the $62.5 billion Tata Group, which has more than 80 companies and about 330,000 employees. The alliance with DoCoMo also involves Tata Sons Ltd., the owner and promoter of Tata Group brands, which have made some of India’s highest profile overseas acquisitions in recent years, including Tetley Tea, Corus steel, and Jaguar and Land Rover. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:58 pm Workers at Bosch India’s Jaipur plant strike workJaipur: Workers of auto component maker Bosch India at its Jaipur plant have gone on a strike protesting retrenchment of 170 employees. Describing the strike as illegal, Bosch India Vice President Ashok Abraham said that the negotiations are in progress between the company management and Mico Bosch Labour Union (MBLU) Jaipur. “The union has struck work without serving appropriate notice even while conciliation proceedings are ongoing before the Joint Labour Commissioner,” Abraham said. MBLU President Bhagwan Ranawat, however, said that the union has given the strike notice to the management on 15 October. Services of as many as 118 workmen were terminated and that of 59 apprentices were discontinued at the plant citing slowdown in the automotive industry. MBLU have been on a strike since Monday demanding the withdrawal of termination orders and absorption apprentices whose services had been terminated by the company management. “The services of apprentices have been terminated in the wake of global meltdown. The service condition of apprentices clearly describes that on successful completion of training period they can be absorbed only when there is vacancy. Since the demands are down by 45% we are not recruiting any workman,” Abraham said. The union is also demanding a salary revision to attain parity with the workmen of other plants like Nasik, Bangalore, Naganathapura (near Bangalore) and Goa. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:48 pm India successfully test-fires Shourya missileNew Delhi: India successfully test-fired a medium-range, surface-to surface missile on Wednesday, the defence ministry said. The new Shourya (Valor) missile has a range of 600 kilometers, the ministry said in a statement that hailed the technology as “state of the art.” India and longtime rival Pakistan routinely test-fire missiles. They usually notify each other ahead of missile launches in keeping with an agreement between the two nations. “The high maneuverability of the missile makes it less vulnerable to available anti-missile defense systems,” the ministry said. A ministry official earlier said the weapon tested was a nuclear-capable K-15 missile, an undersea submarine-launched ballistic missile with a range of up to 700 kilometers. He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media. The Shourya missile was fired from a test range in Balasore in eastern Orissa, nearly 1,300 kilometers southeast of New Delhi, the ministry said. India’s current crop of missiles are mostly intended for confronting neighbouring archrival Pakistan, but the country’s longest-range missile, the Agni 3, is designed to travel 3,000 kilometers — putting China’s major cities well into range, as well as targets deep in the Middle East. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. They have been holding peace talks since 1994 aimed at resolving their differences, including their dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Meanwhile, PTI quoted DRDO sources saying the speculation that the missile was a land version of the under development K-15 submarine launched ballistic missile was not right. The surface-to-surface missile had nothing to do with K-15 ’Sagarika’ project, DRDO sources said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:47 pm Lack of funds delaying realty projects in India: CBRENew Delhi: Real estate projects in India are getting delayed due to paucity of funds, even as developers struggle to cope with decline in sales volume across residential, office and retail verticals, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) said in its latest report. “Domestic credit control measures have impacted the availability of funds for developers and delayed project timelines and schedules,” CBRE Chairman and Managing Director (South Asia) Anshuman Magazine said. In its latest report on investment scenario in Asian property markets, CBRE pointed out that sales in all the three major verticals—residential, office and retail have further declined during July-September quarter. “Transaction volumes in the residential, office and retail sectors, which had already begun to slow earlier in the year, further tapered off during the third quarter,” the report said. CBRE said that the real estate investment market in India continued to remain subdued amid economic worries. “High interest rates and inflation have negatively affected investor demand,” Magazine added. Discussing about the Chinese realty market, CBRE said that the country witnessed sizeable drop in transaction volumes in the residential sales market in the third quarter of 2008, which forced a number of developers to discount their asking prices to encourage sales. “Despite the overall success of the Olympic Games, investment sentiment softened dramatically in response to significant corrections in the stock market,” it added. On overall Asian property market, the consultant said that the sentiment was affected considerably during the third quarter of 2008 as the worsening global financial markets further impacted capital flows into the sector. “Preliminary data shows investment volume down across the region,” CBRE said. It also said that the regional investment market has been changing from being a buyers to a sellers market as a rising number of sellers come under pressure to dispose of real estate assets in exchange for cash in order to shore up balance sheets and replenish liquidity. “Highly—leveraged investors have largely stepped out of the regions investment markets, while core investors, including pension and sovereign wealth funds, have been hesitant to increase their exposure to commercial property under the present market conditions. CBRE said that the outlook for the investment markets is expected to be difficult, but opportunities remain for buyers looking for distressed sales. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:41 pm More developing countries needing help to tackle financial crisis: World Bank chief!In recent weeks, more developing countries are turning to the World Bank to help ease the effects of the global credit squeeze, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday, a sign that a larger number of countries are being hit by the financial crisis.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:36 pm Oil hovers near 20-month lows at USD 59 on global growth pessimism!Oil prices hovered near 20-month lows at USD 59 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors come to grips with the prospect that global growth next year will slow more than originally feared, cutting demand for crude products such as gasoline.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:36 pm Benchmark Sensex dips 280 pts in early trade!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday fell by over 280 points in early trade on fresh selling by foreign funds in heavy-weight stocks, taking cues from weak global markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:36 pm Japanese mobile giant DoCoMo buys 26% of Tata Teleservices for USD 2.7 bln!NTT DoCoMo Inc will buy a stake of about 26 percent in India`s Tata Teleservices Ltd for 260 billion yen (USD 2.7 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:36 pm `Near-term future of financial firms bleak`!Indian non-bank financial firms may see future earnings diluted due to a shrinkage in spreads, while banks may see more defaults among the small and medium enterprises, credit ratings agency ICRA said.Source: Zee News : Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:36 pm India's industrial production up 4.8 percent in SeptemberIndia's industrial production expanded 4.8 percent in September, which was higher than the poor growth of 1.3 percent in the previous month, but sharply lower than the 7 percent registered during the like month of last fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:33 pm Toonz teams up with US firms to produce film on Santa ClausCity-based Toonz Entertainment Ltd will tie up with the US-based animation majors Gang of 7 Animation and Hyde Park Entertainment to produce a computer graphic imagery (CGI) animated feature film, 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus', he company announced Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:33 pm Software lobby to talk to union on layoffsThe software industry is willing to talk to the sector's trade union on layoffs and other work-related issues, a top official of the industry's representative body said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:32 pm Bears finally prevail, key index down 300 pointsWith the Indian index for industrial production (IIP) growing 4.8 percent in September compared to a rise of only 1.3 percent in the previous month, analysts said Indian equities tried to bounce back Wednesday but bears still prevailed and a key index shed more than 300 points.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:31 pm Oil below $60 "overshooting" to the downside - IEA - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:31 pm Court notice to government on spectrum allocationThe Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the central government on a petition challenging its first come-first serve procedure adopted in spectrum allocation.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:30 pm Corp Bank to cut fixed deposit rates by 50 bps in DecemberNew Delhi: Corporation Bank said that it would cut deposit rates by 50 basis points across all maturities beginning next month. “We have decided to slash term deposit rates by 0.5%,” the newly appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank J M Garg said. “Following the reduction, the peak rate would come down to 10%,” he said. The bank has already reduced the benchmark lending rate by 75 basis points beginning this week. The Prime Lending Rate of the bank has been revised downwards to 13.25% from earlier level of 14%. Talking about the credit expansion, Garg said that the advances are likely to witness a growth rate of 22%. However, loan growth in the first half was 25%. “The total business of the bank is expected to increase to Rs1,15,000 crore by the end of March 2009,” he said. At the end of September 2008, the total business of the bank stood at about Rs1,05,000 crore. “At the same time deposits are expected to increase by 18%,” he said, adding: “The bank’s focus going forward would on increasing its CASA (Current Account Savings Account) base.” “The bank intends to raise its CASA to 30% of the total deposits by the end of March 2009 from the current level of 26%,” he said. “The increase in low-cost deposits would also help the bank in increasing its Net Interest Margin (NIM),” he said. “Although the NIM is 2.43% at the end of the first half, the bank aims to take this to at least 2.75% by the end of the current fiscal,” he added. On branch expansion, Garg said that the bank would be opening 45-50 branches in the next four months with its focus on the Northern and Western regions. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:28 pm Bajaj Hind agrees to pay 200809 SAP at Rs 140/qtlBajaj Hindusthan has agreed to pay SAP for 20082009 at Rs 140 per quintal, reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. Bajaj Hindusthan would start 14 mills from November 16, ahead of the November 18 hearing.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:18 pm BSE Sensex falls 3.1 pct as downturn fears weighNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex fell 3.08 percent on Wednesday, taking its losses over two days to 9.5 percent as investor fears of a global recession and a local downturn remained dominant, despite some data meeting expectations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:16 pm Japan's DoCoMo to buy 26 percent stake in Tata TeleservicesJapan's leading mobile telecom operator NTT DoCoMo will pick up a 26-percent stake in Tata Teleservices for $2.7 billion (Rs.13,070 crore/Rs.130.7 billion), it was announced Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:03 pm Liquidity crunch to haunt India Inc for next yr: Ratan Tata - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:01 pm Gujarat Congress against giving cash incentives to Tata MotorsDescribing the deal between the state government and Tata Motors to set up Nano small car plant as a 'sell-out', the Gujarat Congress has said the government is giving huge incentives to the Tatas while thousands of closed industrial units are not getting any help to revive operations.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 pm Indian Bank headquarter fire cause not yet establishedIndian Bank's operations continued uninterrupted on Wednesday despite Tuesday's fire partly damaging three top floors of its headquarters.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:45 am Jet Airways denies report on Temasek talksMUMBAI (Reuters) - Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, on Wednesday denied a newspaper report it would sell a 10 percent stake to Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings for 2.5 billion rupees ($50 million).Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:41 am DoCoMo enters Indian market with $2.7 bln Tata dealTOKYO/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - NTT DoCoMo Inc will pay $2.7 billion for a 26 percent stake in Tata Teleservices, giving Japan's top mobile operator a foothold in the world's fastest-growing major mobile market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:35 am Sensex sheds 303 pts in choppy tradeMumbai: In see-saw trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday extended losses for the second day by losing another over 300 points on heavy selling in blue-ship stocks like RIL and ICICI Bank. The 30-share barometer settled the day lower by 303.36 points, or 3.08%, at 9,536.33 after swinging wildly on alternate bouts of selling and buying. In two days it has shed nearly 1,000 points. The bellwether index lost 280 points in early trade but it recovered sharply on encouraging numbers on industrial growth. It even seemed that the crucial 10,000 level is very well within the day’s trade when the index touched the day’s high of 9928.60 points. However, by mid-session profit-booking emerged bringing the Sensex steeply lower. It even plunged to day’s low of 9376.73 points before rising again to settle day at 9,536.33 points. The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also lost 90.20 points, or 3.07%, to close at 2,848.45 points. Marketmen said sentiments were so weak that even 4.8% industrial growth in September, a reversal of abysmal performance in August, failed to revive buying support. A fall in excise duty collection in October, coupled with a decline of 15% in country’s exports in the same month have severely damaged sentiments. Realty sector index suffered the the most by losing 7.34% at 2,046.64 as stocks of DLF Ltd fell by 8.61% at Rs244,60, Indiabull Realty by 13.82% at Rs112.60 and Unitech Ltd by 4.02% at Rs49. Reliance Industries, the heaviest among all Sensex-related stocks, also declined by 3.72%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:31 am ISB to come up in Punjab - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:26 am Sensex ends off lows; Realty, banks plunge - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:17 am UPDATE 1-India's Jet Airways denies report on Temasek talks - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:16 am Obama not to attend G20 SummitWashington: US President-elect Barack Obama will not attend the G-20 Summit scheduled for this weekend as he believes that there is “only one president at a time”, his aides have said. It was widely speculated that Obama will join the G-20 Summit on 15 November in which leaders from various countries, including India, will participate to discuss ways to overcome the financial crisis across the world. Although invited to the global financial summit, Obama has opted to stay in Chicago and will not meet any of the leaders separately, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. “While some may say it’s awkward that he’s not there, it would be far more problematic to be there. We firmly believe there is only one president at a time,” Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to Obama, said. Instead, the Obama team is scrambling to arrange for surrogates to meet with visiting foreign officials while emphasising that Bush remains the nation’s leader until 20 January. “It’s not appropriate for two people to show up for this meeting,” John D Podesta, co-chairman of Obama’s transition team was quoted as saying by the New York Times. Foreign affairs veterans told the paper that Obama was trying to play it safe and avoid being forced to take positions on matters he is not authorised to decide, much less take ownership for the problems and decisions of Bush. “I sort of understand why he can’t go to that meeting,” said Howard L. Berman, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:12 am Reebok unveils winter collectionLeading sports gear and apparel major Reebok India on Wednesday launched its 'Fall Winter-2008' collectionSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:02 am Indian Bank headquarter fire cause not yet establishedIndian Bank's operations continued uninterrupted Wednesday despite Tuesday's fire partly damaging three top floors of its headquarters. The cause of the fire was yet to be established, an official said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:01 am Lucknow, three more Uttar Pradesh cities to get new mallsReal estate developer Big Apple will invest Rs.10 billion to develop shopping malls in four cities in Uttar Pradesh, including the state capital, the company said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:01 am Special therapy for internet addicts in ChinaPTI Beijing: Chinese hospitals will open special psychiatric units designated to treat internet addicts as a survey showed that 42% of youths in the Communist nation “felt” addicted to the Web. China is on track to become the first nation to officially recognise internet addiction as a clinical disease as increasing number of youths in the Communist country spend most of their time in chatrooms, blogging or playing online games. Tao Ran, an expert at Beijing’s Military General Hospital, which drew up the diagnosis, said Chinese hospital will open special units to treat internet addiction after surveys revealed that over four million teenagers spend more than six hours a day online. “Eighty percent of addicts can be cured with treatment, which usually lasts about three months,” said Tao. The manual was drawn up by psychologists who studied 1,300 “problematic” internet users. One-tenth of surfers under 18, or four million people, are addicted, mainly to online gaming, Daily Telegraph said today. Meanwhile, a poll by InterActiveCorp, an online media company, showed that 42% of Chinese youths “felt” addicted to the Web, compared to 18% in the US. Gao Wenbin, a researcher with the psychology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said Chinese youths were finding refuge online from the pressures of being the only child in the family. “Most children in China are the only ones in their families. They are told only to study hard, but no one really cares about their needs,” he was quoted as saying by the British daily. The Communist government has attempted to check “problematic” internet users by incorporating software into games which kicks players off after five hours. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:01 am Britain’s unemployment rate rises to 5.8% London: Britain’s unemployment rate rose to 5.8% or 1.82 million unemployed in the three months to September, as the economic slowdown hit the job market, official figures showed on Wednesday. The rate rose from 5.4% in the previous quarter, Britain’s Office for National Statistics said. The total number of unemployed people in Britain is now the highest it has been in more than a decade. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 11:01 am NTT DOCOMO to buy 26% in Tata Tele - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:57 am Versace eyes Asia to help ride out economic crisisReuters Bejing: Luxury Italian fashion house Versace expects that strong demand from a still resilient Asia will help it ride out the current global economic turmoil, its CEO said on Wednesday. Chief Executive Giancarlo Di Risio told reporters in Beijing he expected Asia would become its second biggest market by turnover after Europe by the end of next year, helped in part by a push into China. “Versace is not feeling the crisis as much as everyone else because we have a very high position,” Di Risio said ahead of the company’s first fashion show in the world’s most populous country. “Already in 2007 our company decided to make Asia and China a very important business market for us to invest in and develop,” he said, speaking in Italian. Versace is investing 45 million euros ($56.5 million) to strengthen its presence in Asia and is opening 11 new stores this year -- nine in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and China, and two in Europe, including a home furnishings store in Milan. “China is not growing 11% now but 8%, which in any case is good for business,” Di Risio added, referring to China’s slowing though still strong economic growth, compared with Europe and the United States which are teetering on the verge of recession. Versace, whose glamorous gowns cost thousands of euros, will hold a fashion show on Thursday just off Beijing’s central Tiananmen Square and then an auction to raise money for victims of May’s massive earthquake in China’s Sichuan province. It competes with Richemont, the world’s second-largest luxury goods maker after LVMH, and Bvlgari, which have also made booming China a top priority in their strategic development. Versace is owned by design head and vice president Donatella Versace, her brother Santo and her daughter Allegra. Versace’s consolidated net profit in 2007 was 13 million euros ($16.3 million), down from 19.1 million euros a year earlier. Di Risio declined to give an outlook for 2008 profit. “I would rather complete the year,” he said. Di Risio reiterated the company, known for its Medusa-head logo and penchant for lashings of gold, had no intention of listing on the stock market just yet. “Right now, it’s important to know that Versace is a company that’s growing and can support itself,” he said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:47 am Telecom Commission clears 3-yr lock-in, 3% fee on 3G - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:35 am ING reports first ever quarterly lossDutch bank and insurance group ING, which received a massive cash injection from the government last month, reported its first ever quarterly loss as a result of the financial crisis.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:24 am Big Apple Real Estate to invest Rs 1,000 cr in UPBig Apple Real Estate, a joint venture between UPAL Group and Phoenix Mills, said it will invest Rs 1,000 crores in the next three yearsSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:23 am POLL - Indian annual inflation seen at 10.37 pct on Nov 1MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's annual inflation rate is forecast to have eased to around 10.4 percent in early November, helped by falling commodity and fuel prices, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:19 am NTT DOCOMO to buy 26% in Tata TeleNTT DoCoMo will buy 26% stake in Tata Teleservices, according to agencies reports. NTT DoCoMo may reportedly pay USD 2.7 billion for the Tata Teleservices stake. Tata Teleservices is the parent company of listed entity, Tata Teleservices.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 10:00 am Emami targets Rs 200-cr sales from winter-care brandsFMCG major Emami is on Wednesday said it is eyeing sales worth Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal from its winter-care product segment as expands its portfolio.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:44 am Small industries feel the pinch of economic slowdownThe government's move to improve liquidity has hardly helped small enterprises in India as banks and other financial institutions are still reluctant to lend them money.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:44 am Mutual funds see outflow of Rs 47,000 crMutual fund investors pulled out as much as Rs 47,000 crore in October -- the highest redemption from MF schemes in a month so far this fiscal -- triggered by the meltdown in equity markets.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:43 am Emami targets Rs200 cr sales from winter-care brandsPTI New Delhi: FMCG major Emami is today said it is eyeing sales worth Rs200 crore in the current fiscal from its winter-care product segment as expands its portfolio. The company, which is launching a host of new products in the winter-care range, will invest about Rs60-80 crore on advertising and promotions of the new brands. “We are looking at a sales target of Rs200 crore from our winter products. Last year, we saw sales of about Rs150 crore,” Emami Director Aditya Agarwal told PTI. The Kolkata-based firm is launching new products like Emami Vasocare (petroleum jelly), Emami Pure Skin (glycerine soap), vaporubs and lozenges to boost sales in the November to January period, besides the already existing brands like Boroplus and Sona Chandi Chyawanprash. “Emami will invest about Rs60-80 crore on advertising and promotions for its brands. We would be reaching out to almost 15 lakh households pan India through door-to-door activities and promotions,” Agarwal said. The company will roll out nationally its over the counter segment ‘Sardi Ja´ Cough Syrup. Emami would also give a face-lift to its product packaging and has hired UK-based Evolve Creative for giving design to its Chyawanprash, pain relief ointment and cold cream. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:41 am Microsoft’s lobbying tab dwarfs Google’s tallyWashington: The most recent federal lobbying disclosure forms offer a stark reminder of Microsoft Corp.’s mighty Washington presence: The software giant’s tab of almost $2 million for the third quarter alone nearly equaled the amount its rival Google Inc. spent in the first nine months of the year. But Google already has spent more on lobbying this year than it did for all of 2007 as the Internet search company starts to emerge as a formidable player in DC lobbying circles. The lobbying muscle of both companies was on full display in recent months as Microsoft and Google battled over Google’s plans to sell some of the online advertisements that appear alongside search results on Yahoo Inc.’s Web site. Google and Yahoo entered into the partnership in June in an effort to keep Yahoo out of Microsoft’s hands. But Google walked away from the deal last week in the face of an antitrust challenge being prepared by the Justice Department. That retreat marked a key victory for Microsoft, which had mounted a major lobbying and public relations offensive to convince the government to block the agreement. It’s unclear whether the outcome would have been different without Microsoft’s efforts as it was hardly alone in opposing the deal. Some of the nation’s biggest advertisers also had warned that the partnership would drive up the cost of online advertising and cement Google’s control over the market. Microsoft had “the tail winds working in its favor,” said Stanford Washington Research Group analyst Paul Gallant. But he added: “Microsoft played this about as well as it could be played.” Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a consumer advocacy group that opposed the deal, went even further. “It is possible that the Justice Department might have come to a different conclusion” had Microsoft not become involved, he said. Indeed, it has escaped no one’s attention that the Bush administration has allowed many big, controversial mergers to go through, including Google’s recent purchase of online ad service DoubleClick. While Microsoft and Google were on opposite sides in the battle over the Yahoo partnership, they have found themselves aligned in other big lobbying fights. The two companies led a recent push to open up “white spaces” - the unused, unlicensed spectrum between television channels - to deliver wireless Internet access. That effort paid off when the Federal Communications Commission approved the use of white spaces for broadband last week. Google and Microsoft also have been key proponents of reforming U. patent laws to address a mounting backlog of applications and halt the increase in infringement litigation often driven by poor-quality patents. In both cases, the companies have faced off against other powerful industries with deep pockets and well-established lobbying arms in Washington. In the white spaces fight, Microsoft and Google took on the National Association of Broadcasters. In the patent reform dispute, they have battled the nation’s big pharmaceutical companies and other industries that want to leave the existing system intact. Microsoft has had a presence in Washington for years, which it beefed up significantly after becoming the target of a major Justice Department antitrust suit in the late 1990s. But Google is catching up. The company spent $2.1 million on federal lobbying during the first nine months of this year, compared with $1.5 million for all of 2007. And while not all big technology companies have chosen to play active roles in the nation’s capital, Google wants to be a key participant. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:29 am Bharti Wal-Mart to open training centre in Punjab - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:26 am Titan sees robust demand, expansion plans on trackMumbai: “Watches and jewellery maker Titan Industries Ltd sees firm consumer off—take across all segments and expects the wedding season to boost sales,” a top official said. The company’s expansion plans are on track despite the concerns over slowing demand due to the current financial meltdown. “In the jewellery business we want to be national by the end of the year and we want to open 80 stores by March and that plan has not changed,” Bhaskar Bhat, managing director, told television channel NDTV Profit. “Similarly in the watch business we are set to add 90 stores to the current 243,” he added However, Bhat admitted the trickle down effect from other sectors may hit Titan but said that the company was prepared to meet those challenges. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:25 am Luxury cars, mobile phones buck slowing trend in IndiaMUMBAI (Reuters) - Have money, will buy Mercedes and mobile phone.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:22 am ING reports first ever quarterly lossAmsterdam: Dutch bank and insurance group ING, which received a massive cash injection from the government last month, reported its first ever quarterly loss on Wednesday, blaming the financial crisis. ING said that it had suffered an underlying net loss of €585 million ($731 million) in the 3 months to September, compared with a net profit of €1.95 billion a year earlier. The third quarter was extremely challenging for financial institutions, the company said in a statement. Against this background, ING reported its first ever quarterly loss, the statement said. This translated into a net loss per share of 0.22 euro cents, compared to a net profit per share of €1.08 a year earlier, said the bank. Net rocket and mortar attacks to which Israel has responded by tightening the territory’s closure. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:15 am Sep IIP up at 4.8%: Are we still staring at slowdown? - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:13 am Is it right time to buy property?If there is one sector that has been hit the worst by the slowdown it\'s the real estate sector. We have seen the government and the RBI infuse much needed liquidity, but is it enough to revive realty?Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:07 am 'Time ripe for India Inc to invest in Latin America'With Latin American economies largely insulated from the global financial tsunami, the time is ripe for India Inc to invest in the region and turn the crisis into an opportunity.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:07 am Tata tells group CEOs to gear up for crisisTata Group Chairman Ratan Tata has asked CEOs and Managing Directors of 98 group companies to tighten belts, which could include putting off acquisitions.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 9:05 am Bharti Wal-Mart to open training centre in PunjabBharti Wal-Mart entered into an agreement with the Punjab government for setting up a special skills training centre in AmritsarSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 8:59 am Global pain translates into gain for Indian healthcare bizThe illhealth of the global financial markets is acting as a tonic for the healthcare sector. Pranshu Sikka gets the details.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Nov 2008 | 8:51 am Govt may cut fuel price if crude, currency stableNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India may consider cutting fuel prices if global crude prices and the rupee stabilise, the oil minister, Murli Deora, said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 8:51 am Indian industry output rebounds but outlook gloomyNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Activity at Indian factories recovered in September from its slowest pace in a decade as consumers spent for the festival season, but analysts said the rebound would be short-lived after the global credit crisis turned on India in October.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 8:44 am Industrial growth rises by 4.8% in SepNew Delhi: Reversing the earlier trends, industry staged a 4.8% growth rate in September from a dismal 1.42% in the previous month. It was, however, still behind the 7% growth recorded in September last year. For the first six months of this fiscal, industrial growth, as measured by Index of Industrial Production (IIP), stood at 4.9% compared to 9.5% a year ago. The figure for August was revised to 1.42% against the provisional estimate of 1.3%, which many policy makers had described as aberration. Manufacturing, which contributes around 80% in the index, grew by 4.8% in September from 7.4% a year ago, while electricity generation grew by 4.4%, more or less same at 4.5%. Mining output, however, rose by 5.7% from 4.9% in September 2007. For the first half, manufacturing grew by almost half at 5.2% from 10% a year ago, while electricity was drastically down to 2.5% from 7.7% and mining to 3.8% from 4.9%. Power generation also decelerated to 4.4% against 4.5% a year ago though the mining sector growth rate rose by 5.7% compared to 4.9% a year ago. For the first six months of this fiscal, the industrial growth rate halved to 4.9% compared to 9.5% a year ago. Pitching for fiscal stimulus to mitigate the negative affects of the slowdown, ICRIER Director General Rajiv Kumar said, “Policy measures should be taken to ensure that the downturn is short and shallow.” He said the economy is in the midst of a cyclical downturn. “Any notion that this downturn will reverse on its own should be given up.” As per the use-based classification, capital goods grew by 18.8% in September as against 20.9% during the same period last year while consumer goods improved impressively from a negative 0.2 in September 2007 to 5.6% this year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 8:30 am PTC to achieve double-digit growthPTI New Delhi: State-run Power Trading Corporation today said despite the global slowdown and prevailing liquidity crunch, it will register a double-digit growth rate in this financial year. “Last year we traded 10 billion units (KWh), this year we hope to register double-digit growth,” PTC Chairman and Managing Director T N Thakur told reporters. He said, “There will be no impact of global slowdown on us directly. But those who have signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with us may be affected due to the liquidity crunch. Therefore, there might be indirect impact on us.” When asked about the plans of buying coal mines in Indonesia, Thakur replied, “We are trying to strike a deal for getting a coal mine in Indonesia during this fiscal only.” About the new power projects, he said that the projects who did not go for financial closure may have liquidity problems. There are some projects on which PTC had signed PPAs. “If all those get affected, there will be a little impact of this ongoing slump,” he added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:49 am Google creates tool to track flu outbreaksWashington: Google, the Internet search engine, has created a new tool that will help track illness, a development that could put in place early warning and control measures for flu outbreaks. The tool developed by Google.org, the company’s philanthropic department, uses search terms that are commonly entered into the Internet to work out possible flu clusters. “This is an example where Google can use the incredible systems that we have to come up with an interesting, predictive result,” said Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive. “Flu trends” is based on the idea that people who feel sick will probably turn to the Internet for information by searching for terms such as muscle aches, thermometer and chest congestion etc. “One thing we found last year when we validated this model is it tended to predict surveillance data. The data are really, really timely,” said Dr Lyn Finelli, chief of influenza surveillance at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US. It tracks their ebb and flow, broken down by regions and states that can be notified to a central data control unit as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US. “They (model) were able to tell us on a day-to-day basis the relative direction of flu activity for a given area. They were about a week ahead of us. They could be used... as early warning signal for flu activity,” Finelli, was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wenesday. According to the British daily, early tests suggest that the service may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are normally reported by the CDC. The company said it will keep user information confidential. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:24 am Google juices up Gmail with video channelCalifornia: Google Inc. is introducing new tools that will convert its free e-mail service into a video and audio channel for people who want to see and hear each other while they communicate. Activating the features, introduced on Tuesday, will require a free piece of software as well as a Webcam, which are becoming more commonplace as computer manufacturers embed video equipment into laptops. Once the additional software is installed, Gmail users will be given the option to see and hear each other without leaving the e-mail application. The video feature will work only if all the participants have Gmail accounts. It’s supposed to be compatible with both the Windows and Macintosh operating systems. Google, the Internet’s search leader, has been adding more bells and whistles to Gmail as part of its effort to gain ground on the longtime leaders in free e-mail, Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Video chatting has long been available through the instant messaging services offered by Yahoo and Microsoft, but the feature isn’t available in their free e-mail applications. Although Mountain View, California-based Google made strides since it began welcoming all comers to Gmail early last year, it remains a distant third with nearly 113 million worldwide users through September - a 34% increase from the previous year, according to comScore Inc. Microsoft’s e-mail services boasted 283 million worldwide users, up 13% from the previous year, while Yahoo was a close second at 274 million, an 8% gain, comScore said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:14 am Tata Group puts acquisition plans on holdMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Tata Group, the flagbearer of corporate India's overseas expansion with its purchases of Corus in 2007 and Jaguar and Land Rover this year, has put its acquisition plans on hold as the global credit crunch bites.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Nov 2008 | 7:07 am DoCoMo to buy 26% of Tata Tele for $2.7 bnTokyo: NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan’s biggest mobile phone operator, will buy a stake of about 26% in India’s Tata Teleservices for 260 billion yen ($2.7 billion), Japanese business daily Nikkei reported on Wednesday. A DoCoMo source said earlier it was set to announce a plan to buy a stake in India’s No.6 wireless carrier later on Wednesday, a deal that would give it a foothold in the world’s fastest growing cellphone market as it seeks growth outside of its mature home market. It would also add to a record value of overseas acquisitions by Japanese firms this year as companies increasingly snap up competitors abroad, taking advantage of tumbling global stock markets and the yen’s recent surge. Company sources said in September DoCoMo was in talks to buy a stake in Tata, part of the Tata Group conglomerate and parent of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd It would be the latest of a series of overseas acquisitions by DoCoMo and follows $350 million investment in Bangladesh’s No.3 cellphone carrier. Shinji Moriyuki, a telecoms analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, said DoCoMo’s recent acquisitions in Asia would be positive for the company, especially with its extensive knowledge of third-generation network services to which many developing countries are now moving. “Many people have voiced concerns because of its overseas investment spree in the early 2000s and failures afterward, but business conditions are totally different now,” Moriyuki said. “This time, the acquisition value should not be too large because of sluggish stock markets, it can count on growth in developing markets, and both parties (DoCoMo and Tata) should be able to find synergies because of the current timing that 3G services are about to be launched.” DoCoMo spent nearly 1.9 trillion yen in the late 1990s and early 2000s to buy small stakes in operators around the world to promote use of its i-mode mobile Internet technology and ensure the adoption of 3G networks on the same W-CDMA standard that it uses. But it saw its investments sour, and pulled out of AT&T Wireless Services Inc, Dutch operator KPN Mobile N.V. and Hutchison 3G UK Holdings after incurring heavy losses. Japan firms going abroad Acquisitions abroad by Japanese firms in 2008 already total almost $63 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data, and DoCoMo’s Tata investment would come a day after Japanese chemical maker Mitsubishi Rayon announced a $1.6 billion acquisition of British rival Lucite International. The figure already breaks the previous annual record of $44.2 billion set in 2006. The Nikkei said DoCoMo will obtain about a 20% stake in Tata Teleservices through new shares and buy the remaining 6% from existing shareholders. DoCoMo said in a statement it had not made any such decision. India, with more than 300 million mobile users, is the second-largest wireless market in the world after China, and still has the potential for further huge growth as just over a quarter of its 1.1 billion population use cellphones now. Research firm Gartner has forecast India’s mobile user base will more than double to 737 million by 2012. Japan currently has some 109 million mobile subscribers, about 85% of the population. DoCoMo also aims to provide 3G technologies and other advanced services such as Web browsing and electronic payment through its investment in Tata. Carriers in India at the moment provide only 2G services. But it could still face tough competition because India plans an auction of radio waves for 3G and 4G wireless services this year and could invite foreign firms like AT&T Inc to enter the market. Tata’s bigger rivals, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar and TM International backed Idea Cellular, are unlikely to cede market share easily. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:42 am World business leaders back more regulation: surveyLondon: Business leaders around the world back greater regulation in response to the global financial crisis, a survey showed on Wednesday, with support strongest for curbs on credit rating firms, hedge funds and structured finance. Responses from more than 700 chief executives, chairmen, partners and directors across Asia, Europe and the United States were received between 4 November and 6. The survey, conducted by international law firm Allen & Overy, was timed ahead of this weekend’s Washington DC summit on the deepening crisis between the leaders of the Group of 20 leading world economies. More than three-quarters of those polled agreed that more regulation of credit rating agencies was necessary, while two thirds supported greater regulation of hedge funds. Some 67% said more complex instruments used in global finance - such as securitisations and other forms of structured credit - required better regulation, more restrictions and more disclosure. Even more, 77%, said derivative products that provided exposure to shares should be made more transparent. However, more than two thirds of executives surveyed did not support bans on short selling, a practice typically employed by hedge funds and involving the sale of borrowed shares or securities in the hope of repaying the loan with cheaper stock. Many authorities in Europe and the United States have prohibited short selling of financial stocks in particular during the worst moments of the recent crisis. Senior partners at Allen & Overy said the survey showed sometimes conflicting and confused views on what new regulation was needed and there were some regional disparities. But they said it was important G20 leaders listened to business rather than regulating across the board or raising barriers like currency and capital controls. Doubts about global regulator The survey showed no consensus for a global financial regulator to bring all these changes into line. While a majority of U.S. and UK respondents - 56% and 55% respectively - were against a global regulator, some 58% of continental European business leaders backed its creation. Asia was split. There was overwhelming support for a consolidation of domestic regulators, however, and almost 80% of all surveyed backed local restructuring of existing national frameworks. That came in tandem with calls for government agencies to be funded with better pay and more high quality staff. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:32 am Rupee down 37 paise on stock worriesMumbai: The Indian rupee on Wednesday fell by 37 paise against the greenback in early trade on heavy dollar buying by banks and pick-up in demand from importers amid weak Asian equity markets. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic unit, which plunged 73 paise on Tuesday, depreciated by another 37 paise at Rs48.48 against the US currency. Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark BSE Sensex closed over 696.47 points, or 6.61% down on Tuesday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 4:02 am Asia stocks down for 2nd day on dismal outlookHong Kong: Asian shares fell for a second day on Wednesday and oil prices slipped back near a 20-month low as poor corporate earnings highlighted the damage from the global economic slowdown on companies and consumers. The yen surrendered gains as the drop in Asian markets was less than that seen on Wall Street overnight, with Japan’s Nikkei average dipping 0.3% after losing more than 2% in early trade. But investors confessed they had few reasons to be optimistic. The MSCI benchmark index of Asian stocks outside of Japan fell 0.5% in early trade. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 shed 2.2% on news of faltering demand at aluminium maker Alcoa and a dismal outlook from Tyco International Trading activity remained sluggish as many investors stuck to the sidelines, choosing to sit out the final months of what’s been a brutal year as they try to assess how deep a recession the global economy may be facing. Shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong briefly rose on hopes for more official measures to help the economy after a batch of data showed Chinese consumer inflation slowing to a 17-month low and import growth falling even as latest numbers on Wednesday showed consumer spending holding up. China at the weekend launched a nearly $600 billion economic stimulus package aimed at infrastructure spending, a move that gave a fleeting boost to equities and investor confidence earlier in the week. Analysts said a slowdown in Chinese import growth suggested domestic investment was slowing more quickly than demand for its goods, raising worries about a deeper economic slowdown despite the record trade surplus posted last month. The troubles in the United States cast a shadow on the rest of the world. Shares of General Motors slid to a 65-year low of just $2.92 on mounting worries about whether it can avoid bankruptcy. US automaker woes have prompted Congress to consider emergency aid that could be passed as soon as next week. Traders said the prospect of near-term assistance to US automakers helped left S&P 500 futures 11 points, or 1.3%, in Asia trade. The yen gave up initial gains as stocks trimmed losses, but traders said any further slide in major indexes would help the yen push back towards last month’s 13-year peak hit against the dollar. The yen tends to trade closely with stocks due to its role in the carry trade - borrowing the low-yielding Japanese currency to buy higher-yielding currencies or other assets. But the stock market losses in Asia and on Wall Street the previous day gave a lift to safe-haven Treasuries, which traded again after US bond markets took a break for the Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 8/32 in price to yield 3.728%, down about 3 basis points from Monday’s close. A deteriorating global economic outlook has also cast doubt about demand for commodities, driving oil and metal prices down. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 3:50 am Economy fears hammer investors againNew York: Economic gloom overpowered financial markets again on Tuesday, sending world stock and commodity prices lower as the enthusiasm resulting from China’s $600 billion stimulus plan announced late on Sunday fizzled out. Further evidence of a slowing Chinese economy, the world’s fourth largest, came with data showing China’s import growth slowed in October as domestic demand cooled. This followed Friday’s dismal US jobs report and both reports overshadowed China’s plan to spend nearly $600 billion to stimulate its economy with new government spending between now and 2010, leaving investors to brace for a long spate of weak data. The gloom pushed US stocks down and sent oil, which is heavily dependent on global growth, to a 20-month low of $58.32 a barrel. Gold also took a hit while the US dollar was broadly firmer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 180.96 points or 2.04% at 8,689.58. The benchmark S&P500 stock index fell 20.71 points or 2.25% to 898.50, while the Nasdaq ended down 35.98 points or 2.23% at 1,580.76. Bad news Bad news from corporate America - General Motors shares currently at a 65-year low, Goldman Sachs seen posting a first-ever quarterly loss, and the second largest US electronics retailer Circuit City’s bankruptcy filing on Monday - overwhelmed any optimism. Adding to the grim tone, Merrill Lynch & Co Chief Executive John Thain said the global economy is in a deep slowdown and will not recover quickly, and the environment recalls 1929, the advent of the Great Depression. Blaming faltering global demand, Alcoa cut aluminum-making capacity worldwide. The company, a Dow component, saw its shares slide. The diminishing appetite for risky assets, such as stocks, roiled markets across Asia overnight and pushed European shares down. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stock index closed down 4.22%. Japan’s Nikkei average ended down 3.0%. The German government’s panel of economic advisers will forecast on Wednesday that the country will be “in recession” next year, a source familiar with the data told Reuters on Tuesday. The US government bond market was closed for Veterans Day, depriving investors of a traditional safe haven during times of trouble in financial markets. Investors’ fear of risky assets benefited the US dollar, which edged higher against a basket of currencies. The US Dollar Index was up 1.38% at 87.16 from a previous session close of 85.971. The euro was down 1.62% at $1.2525 from a previous session close of $1.2731. The Japanese yen also rose against most currencies as worries over slowing growth kept up the pressure to reverse carry trade positions, where low-yielding currencies like the Japanese currency are used to buy assets in higher-yielding ones. Against the Japanese yen, the US dollar was down 0.27% at 97.73 from a previous session close of 97.990. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Nov 2008 | 3:31 am Deposit funds with public sector banks, PSUs toldNew Delhi, Nov. 11 The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, is understood to have once again told cash rich central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to stop inviting bids from banks for parking their surplus funds.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Sensex sheds 700 points on economic worriesMumbai, Nov. 11 Heavy profit booking after a two-day gain of more than 800 points hammered the benchmark index – the Sensex—down by almost 700 points onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Iron ore exports dip 22% in July-OctKolkata, Nov. 11 Between July and October this year, iron ore exports through the country’s major ports dropped by more than 22 per cent vis-À-vis the same period last year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Sweden easing immigration rules to allow more workersMumbai, Nov. 11 Indian labourers aspiring for a foreign job now have a better chance to land one in Europe.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am RIL treads cautiously on restarting fuel retail bizNew Delhi, Nov. 11 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will continue to tread cautiously on domestic retail fuel business. This is inspite of the softening of global crude prices.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh short position if the stock declines below Rs 425, with tight stop loss.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am EIH (Rs 83.45): BuyWe recommend a buy in EIH from a short-term trading perspective. It is evident from the charts of EIH that it has been on a medium-term downtrend from its September peak of Rs 172, gradually forming lower troughs and lower peaks.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Index funds fare better than sector-based onesMumbai, Nov. 11 Most sector-based mutual fund schemes have fared worse than their index counterparts during the past six months. These funds might have performed worse than their corresponding indices as they are more diversified. Also, stockSource: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Rupee to be range-boundThe resistance at 47 proved too strong for the rupee to surpass and it moved sideways between 47 and 48 for a few sessions.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Oct excise revenues fall 8.7% as slowdown bitesNew Delhi, Nov. 11 The Centre’s excise duty revenues declined 8.7 per cent in October 2008 to Rs 9,399 crore compared with Rs 10,293 crore recorded in the same month last year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 12 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Ministerial group suggests new formula for 3G, 2G+3G pricingNew Delhi: A ministerial committee looking at how India can charge for spectrum in a business environment where some telcos provide second-generation, or 2G, services, some provide data-rich third-generation, or 3G, services, and some provide both has suggested a formula that seeks to address difficulties in accounting and monitoring involved in levying this charge. The committee, comprising representatives from several ministries, has suggested that firms offering only 3G services pay 3% of their annual gross revenue and those offering both 2G and 3G services pay 1 percentage point more than what they currently pay for spectrum—a proportion that ranges between 2% and 5% of annual gross revenue for firms offering services on the GSM platform and 2% for those offering services on the competing CMDA platform. Both will kick in a year after firms have been issued licences and spectrum, allowing them enough time to roll out their services. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or Trai, had earlier recommended that telcos offering 3G services pay 1% of their revenue as spectrum charges. This, however, would have meant that while these firms paid 1% of their annual gross revenue, those offering 2G services would have had to pay up to 5% of their annual gross revenue as spectrum fees. The ministerial panel was created by the department of telecommunications (DoT) to look at a fair model of charging firms offering 3G services and ways to segregate revenue from 2G and 3G services. The panel, in its report, however, said segregating revenue between 2G and 3G services of a telco would be difficult. The report cites “huge difficulties in verification and audit to prevent creative accounting and arbitrage, and other practical difficulties” to rule out segregation of 2G and 3G revenues. 3G services won’t generate much revenue initially because they will likely be restricted to the metros and “be a high-end service”, said Romal Shetty, director at audit and consulting firm KPMG. “The fact that it is being given out by auction and the fact that the handsets are priced at Rs10,000 at least does not allow for the service to be really cheap and driven by volumes.” Shetty said it would take at least two or three years for revenue to come in. With DoT considering raising charges for 2G spectrum by 1 percentage point, the panel has also suggested that firms providing both 2G and 3G services continue to pay what they currently do for 2G spectrum. The additional 1 percentage point would mean doubling the spectrum charge for telcos in the lowest slab, the panel’s report said. Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, India’s telecom minister A. Raja, under fire for allocating spectrum to new entrants without an auction, is likely to ask for an investigation into how DoT didn’t issue new licences before he took charge, claiming there was no spectrum available, news agency PTI reported, citing unnamed sources. PTI contributed to this story. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:46 pm FIPB bars land resale by realtors with foreign joint venturesThe Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has clarified that foreign joint ventures in the construction and development business will not be allowed to sell undeveloped land they acquire forSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:17 pm Jet gets Rs 1,000 crore from Abu Dhabi firmPrivate carrier Jet Airways is believed to have struck a deal last week with west Asian investment agency Mubadala Development Company for a funding of Rs 1,000 crore.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:16 pm India Inc goes slow on capex plans, suffers 30% cost overrunA study by Credit Suisse estimated a month back that capital expenditure for a clutch of 34 projects with an investment of about $190 billion (around Rs 9.16 lakh crore) faced a 19-month delay on anSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:14 pm IT firms to use China as base to enter $100 bn Japanese marketHyderabad: With business from the US and Europe expected to decrease due to the ongoing financial turmoil, Indian information technology services (IT) firms are increasing their focus on the Asia Pacific region, particularly China, in an effort to tap the latter’s IT market and use it as a strategic base to enter the at least $100 billion (Rs4.76 trillion)-a-year Japanese IT market. Business from the US and Europe together account for between 80% and 95% of revenues of the top five Indian IT services firms, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd or TCS, Infosys Technologies Ltd, Wipro Ltd, Satyam Computer Services Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd.  Upbeat on plans: Girija Pande of TCS says the company’s revenues from its Chinese operations will grow by around 45% in the next two years. Market research firm IDC estimates the Chinese IT services market to reach at least $55 billion by 2010. TCS entered China in 2002 with a software development and delivery center. While its initial objective was to serve its global clients having Chinese operations, the company has now started addressing the regional and local market. Currently, it has 1,300 employees working in China. In its latest annual report, TCS said its China operations had managed to break even. According to Girija Pande, executive vice-president and head of Asia Pacific division at TCS, the Chinese IT market is growing by at least 20% annually and revenue from the company’s Chinese operations will grow by around 45% in the next two years. “In the short term, we will be expanding our presence and increasing the headcount to at least 5,000 by 2011,” said Pande. Similarly, Infosys has a 1,000-strong workforce in China and said it is in expansion mode. “We have expanded our operations in two cities Shanghai and Hangzhou,” a company spokesperson said in an email response. The company’s Chinese subsidiaries, however, were still loss-making as on 30 September, according to the company’s second quarter results. Satyam admitted it is yet to make significant headway with its China operations but said it is in expansion mode with an eye on the long-term. The company currently employs around 1,000 people in its two subsidiaries in China and plans to scale up headcount to nearly 2,000 by 2010. It is also investing in a training centre in China, which will have a capacity of at least 2,500 by 2010. “It is still a mystery why Indian companies have not been able to get any significant share of outsourced work from China and Japan,” said Virender Aggarwal, head of rest of the world operations for Satyam. Analysts acknowledge that China has been a rather difficult market for a variety of reasons. Nasscom estimates the market at $108 billion, with at least 8-10% of the work offshored TCS said it views China as a better base to address the Japanese market. “A significant share of outsourced work from the Japanese market is cornered by Chinese companies, as they have a relative cultural and linguistic advantage over their Indian counterparts. We see being present in China as the first step in building the right relationships,” said Pande. Both TCS and Satyam are betting on local talent to succeed in their Chinese operations and help the company better address the local market as well as help build bridges with Japanese companies. At least 90% of TCS’ workforce in China comprises local hires. Nasscom’s Som Mittal said that the size of the Japanese IT market and the potential for outsourcing presents a huge opportunity for Indian IT firms, but, he added that the market has been relatively insulated due to language and cultural barriers. “However, we see an increasing desire among Japanese companies for sourcing competitively priced IT services from foreign companies. More importantly, the factors limiting market penetration by Indian companies are being recognized and addressed by the Japanese themselves.” Nasscom has set up a Japan desk to explore ways for Indian IT companies to adapt themselves to compete more effectively in the Japanese market. Both China and Japan are long-term plays, said experts. “It is very important for Indian IT companies to understand that investments in the Chinese market should be done with a long term view. Given the nature of that market, it is unrealistic to expect quick turnarounds,” Sheth said. Wipro and HCL did not respond to queries on their China and Japan strategy. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Nov 2008 | 7:02 pm DoT proposes telcos pay more of spectrum-linked revenueNew Delhi: The department of telecommunications, or DoT, the Union government’s telecom policymaking body, has decided to increase the share of annual revenues phone firms in India pay the exchequer by a percentage point for those vested with rights to use up to 8.2MHz of spectrum and by two percentage points for those in excess of that threshold. Indian mobile phone service firms are levied annual fees of between 2% and 5% of their gross revenues every year currently, depending on the rights to spectrum, or radio waves, that they have. The new rates, decided at a meeting of the telecom commission, the top body at DoT, on Tuesday, will be effective from 1 January, telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura told reporters. DoT also decided to approve the recommendations of an interministerial committee tasked with arriving at a revenue-sharing formula for phone firms offering current voice-dominated phone services (also called second-generation, or 2G, services) and so-called third generation, or 3G, services that include high-speed data, Internet access and video content. India aims to auction 3G licences in January. Phone operators offering only 3G services will pay 3% of annual revenues, while for those firms offering both 2G and 3G services, there will be no additional charge as they will already be paying a higher levy after Tuesday’s hike in spectrum-linked fees. The telecom commission’s decisions still need final approval from communications minister A. Raja. The new, higher charges could affect profits of market-leading mobile phone service firms, an analyst said. “The hike in charges was coming for a long time and was expected. It is a negative as with the higher charges, they will have to pay more. This may lead to some pressure on the margins of the telecom companies,” said Harit Shah, analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. The firms may have to pass on the hike to consumers in the short term, but there will not be much of an impact on tariffs in the long term, Shah said. India’s leading phone firms, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd, Vodafone Essar Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd, have spectrum rights in excess of 8.2MHz in big cities, which are designated as licence areas, and also in some prosperous states such as Maharashtra. The third item on the agenda of the telecom commission was related to a one-time fee to be paid by phone firms with more than 6.2MHz of spectrum. The commission decided to defer this by about a fortnight as the Planning Commission and the department of industrial promotion and policy wanted time to look into the proposal, a DoT official said, asking not to be named. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Nov 2008 | 5:42 pm CBI’s SMS campaign pays rich dividendsNew Delhi: The SMS campaign launched by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to create public awareness against corruption seems to have paid rich dividends with the agency claiming it has successfully laid 40 traps so far from September. “This is not the end. The complaints continue to pour in the agency’s Anti-corruption Branches all over the country,” CBI’s Press Information Officer R.K. Gaur said. On 13 August, CBI tied up with various telecom operators like Vodafone, MTNL, BSNL, Airtel, Reliance and Idea among others to send out messages to their subscribers giving out the agency’s phone number on which citizens could report about any government official demanding bribe. “As an outcome of these campaigns, numerous queries have been received by Anti Corruption Branches (ACB) of CBI regarding the nature of complaints CBI entertains and the procedure for making such complaints among others,” he said. “As a result, the complainants approaching ACB have increased manifold (about 500). On the basis of SMSs received by general public, 40 traps could be successfully laid during the last month,” Gaur said. “Some information about suspected offenders and also about cases already being investigated by CBI have also been received and the same is under process for further necessary action,” he said. The Anti-Corruption Branch of CBI in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Patna, Ranchi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Bhopal and Chandigarh regions had participated in the campaign. The CBI, however, said that the queries or complaints pouring in ACBs are not very focused yet, they are just an interface to educate the people towards new possibilities. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Nov 2008 | 12:58 pm
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