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Diageo confirms stakebuying talks with United SpiritsReplying to news reports that Diageo may pick up minority stake in Vijay Mallyas United Spirits, the company confirmed it was in talks with the latter. The company, however, added that the talks were in a preliminary stage, and may or may not have any outcome.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 2:37 pm B\'luru int\'l airport may shelve its expansion plansAll is not well at the Bengaluru International Airport. Reduced air traffic, unclear dues from airline companies, the new airport is grappling with many challenges. CNBCTV18s Vineetha Athrey reports that the airport may even shelve its planned expansion.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 1:51 pm Vikram Akula to step down as CEO of SKS MicrofinanceVikram Akula, the poster boy of Indian micro finance will soon be stepping down as CEO of SKS Microfinance. Vishwanath Pilla finds out what made Akula relinquish his position after bagging the largest private equity deal in the history of the microfinance sectorSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 1:40 pm SCENARIOS - What to expect from G20 summitWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders from major developed and emerging countries wrap up their G20 summit on Saturday and are expected to unveil a plan for repairing the world financial system, ravaged by the credit crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 1:23 pm RBI takes more steps on liquidity, creditMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Saturday the global financial crisis was having a bigger than expected impact on the domestic economy and it was taking measures to augment market liquidity and help export sectors.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 1:19 pm Steel Min asks for 10% import duty; SAIL denies prod cutsThe Steel Ministry has proposed to the Finance Ministry for a 10% duty to be imposed on steel imports and is hopeful of a solution soon. Even as steel companies globally are cutting production as demand slows down, SAIL Chairman SK Roongta said the company\'s production has always been oriented directly to the demand.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 1:14 pm Iran: OPEC members need oil price of $70-100TEHRAN (Reuters) - OPEC members need an oil price of at least $70-100 per barrel to continue with their energy projects, Iran's OPEC governor told state television on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:49 pm Private banks maintain status quo; no PLR cuts seenEven after all the public sector banks cut their prime lending rates, private sector banks continue to maintain status quo. This could be because private banks are seeing small depositors flee to PSU banks.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:42 pm Pakistan agrees to IMF credit of at least $7.6 blnKARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan has agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a stand-by credit facility of at least $7.6 billion to stave off a balance of payments crisis, the country's top economic adviser said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:38 pm National Internet Exchange starts operations in AhmedabadThe National Internet Exchange of India (Nixi) has set up its new hub in Ahmedabad, a move that would help internet service providers in Gujarat reduce bandwidth expenses.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:30 pm I'M Furnture launchedWipro Furniture Business, a part of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting Group, has entered the high end domain in the furniture business with the launch of I'M.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:13 pm Textile hub Tirupur sees 20% reduction in ordersThe global downturn has hit one of India\'s biggest textile exporting hubs hard. Tirupur has seen a 20% reduction in order sizes and exporters say they might have to resort to layoffs if market conditions dont improve.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:02 pm World leaders panned over handling of financial crisis - pollLONDON (Reuters) - More than two thirds of U.S. voters and the majority in some European countries think their government has handled the financial crisis badly, according to an opinion poll published on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:01 pm ATF prices cut by 12%, lowered fifth time since Aug - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 11:21 am Mini-India at your doorstep - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 10:31 am More government servants enrol for special IIM-A programmeA retired soldier, a doctor and an IAS officer are among 39 participants who have enrolled for a special programme at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM-A) aimed to enhance skills and broaden perspectives in public policy formulation.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 10:31 am Dutch firm wants hearing over controversial project deferredDutch power major Brakel Corp, which wants the Himachal Pradesh government's green signal to save a controversial hydropower project allotted to it, Saturday asked the government to postpone its personal hearing over the project to next week, officials said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 10:30 am '26 lakh farmers to get loan waiver benefits'Maharahtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that farmers who are yet to receive loan waiver benefits, even after clearing their debts, would receive them within a month.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 10:05 am BIG Home Video releases DVD of latest Indiana Jones movieThe Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-promoted BIG Home Video has released the DVD of the latest Indiana Jones series movie, 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull', in India.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 10:00 am G-20 summit: High powered Indian representation at Washington - domain-B
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:51 am Mini-India at your doorstepAre you one of those who always wanted a taste of the varied cultures of India, but never got the chance to take a round-the-country trip? Well, here’s a chance to experience India (and a couple of other countries, too) at one place—the 28th India International Trade Fair (IITF). Held at the centrally-located Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, IITF is like a mini-India. Enid Blyton fans may liken the annual experience to the Land of India atop the Faraway Tree, with all sorts of goodies from each of the 28 states and seven Union territories at their doorstep.  Jewellery stalls from Iran and South Asian countries are great crowd pullers. As Indians, we are, after all, born and bred into the belief that unity in diversity is the essence of our identity. And in these brother-kill-brother times, what more could be the need of the hour than a platform where all the states in the country come together in a rare display of camaraderie, where regional differences are effaced amid the babble of cheerful bargaining, and where the tantalizing wafts of culture curry keep spirits high. With visitors reaching at least 2.3 million in the past, the quest for the perfect purchase at IITF will be challenging but its your best bet if you’re looking for the real McCoy. With as many as 38 countries showcasing their wares—from Vietnamese brocade, flower pots from Thailand, crystal products from Istanbul, and of course, Chinese consumer electronics—you are sure to be spoiled for choice in terms of consumer eclecticism. Even if you want to stick to the familiar, there’s always room for surprises. Take, for example, everyone’s favourite stall Saras, which is putting up a theme pavilion displaying saris and dress material from around India. You can liaise with rural artisans, the backbone of India’s thriving handloom industry, whom Saras provides a platform to display their products.  Folk dances are an integral part of IITF. The other popular venues are the Good Living halls, where one can find anything from common kitchen utensils to marble sculptures; the Rajasthan pavilion finds itself a top place on popular radar with the food stalls being probably more popular; and the electronics pavilion is always a good place to shop around if you’re looking to refurnish your house. At a time when India’s defence systems are the talk of the global-town, take a walk around the defence ministry’s pavilion for a look into history and the future of Indian defence systems. For those interested in a taste of local dance and music, each day at IITF is celebrated as a state day, where cultural folk groups and classical musicians and dancers perform at the various venues across Pragati Maidan. (Click here to see a complete list of cultural programmes.) And how can one forget the food. Pamper the glutton in you with some rare delectables from typical pickles from Gujarat and Rajasthan (dal, bati churma, theple, etc., are available, of course), melt-in-your-mouth butter fish from Benfish in the Bengal pavilion, or try the popular mutton gosht and kebabs from Pakistan, which are here for the second after getting a ”brilliant response” last year. Pakistan, which is also the partner country for the fair is also much visited for its jade and marble furnishings and decorative items—ideal for gifting or add that Persian glamour to your living room.  At least 2.3 million people visited IITF last year, and the number is expected to grow this time. With China forming the biggest delegation of overseas visitors, it is recommended that all those looking to make a good business deal head for that English-Mandarin dictionary to tell their P’s from their Chi’s. Around 7,500 companies are participating in this year’s fair. Rest assured, a heady mix of business and pleasure is what you’ll get, whichever way you’re inclined. The mornings are reserved for the doyens of the trade industry to rub shoulders and talk shop. If one cringes at the very thought of parking, metros will run with increased frequency for the duration of the IITF (14-27 November). So get your pass to a voyeuristic fortnight around the world with your feet planted firmly on home soil. The India International Trade Fair will be on at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, till 27 November. 10am to 1pm: business hours, 1-8pm: open for all. Tickets are available at the venue, the Indraprastha metro station and at select Mother Dairy outlets across the Capital. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:49 am Lanco Infra sole bidder for Rajpura power plantLanco Infratech has emerged the sole bidder in the competitive bidding process for the development of a 1,320 MW coalbased power plant at Rajpura in Punjab.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:43 am Mallya to meet AAI officials over payment of duesAs domestic airline companies campaign to get Airports Authority of India to reduce its charges, the Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, Mr Vijay Mallya, is set to meet the top honchos of AAI on Monday to ask them to stagger the dues his airline owes them.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:41 am Union Bank to hire 5,000 more this fiscalAt a time when banks globally are laying off people, Union Bank of India is planning to hire 5,000 more people for manning the over 500 additional branches the bank will be opening in the next five months.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:36 am How have IIM placements fared in wake of slowdown? - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:29 am Key Indian equities index sheds 5.8 percent during weekAfter posting gains of 12.5 percent and 1.8 percent for two successive weeks, Indian equities once again finished in the red Friday with a key index losing 5.8 percent during the week from its closing figure the previous Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 9:00 am Iran switches reserves to gold - reportTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has converted financial reserves into gold to avoid future problems, an adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in comments published on Saturday, after the price of oil fell more than 60 percent from a peak in July.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:56 am Jittery markets lose 6% in the weekAfter a strong surge at the outset, bourses turned jittery and registered hefty losses over the week, pulled down by several negative factors as investors became cautious.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:56 am Several Pakistani stalls remain vacant at trade fairPakistan is partner country at this year's India International Trade Fair that opened Friday, but its exhibitors complain that cumbersome procedures have kept a third of their allotted 75-odd stalls vacant.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:31 am Sensex Ends Week On A Positive Note - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:28 am SKF Haridwar plant commissioning deferred till 2010 - Wheels Unplugged - Indis'a Automobile Magazine
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:19 am Steel Min asks for 10% import duty; SAIL denies prod cuts - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:07 am World leaders pledge action plan to fight crisisWashington: World leaders grappling with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s pledged on Friday to deliver a concrete plan to ward off recession and prevent future meltdowns. But prospects for joint action on growth, let alone a major overhaul of the world financial system, looked slim with host President George W. Bush resisting bold moves before leaving office in two months and President-elect Barack Obama absent. French officials said the Group of 20 advanced and developing economies were close to agreement on a final declaration at the summit which wraps up on Saturday. European officials said the leaders pledged to finalize a first series of measures to reform financial regulations by 31March. “We share a determination to fix the problems that led to this turmoil,” Bush said earlier at a White House dinner for the leaders. Emerging market countries warned time is running out to stem the economic damage from credit market turmoil that began about 17 months ago. “If we don’t take quick action we run the risk of falling into a depression,” said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega, adding both regulatory reform and concerted government spending were needed. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, a top Indian economic policy-maker, piled on the pressure for developed countries to inject large amounts of government money into their economies. “If we are facing the most serious crisis in the world economy since the Great Depression then we need to take a lot of possibly unorthodox and special steps,” he said. The euro zone, the world’s second largest economic block, tumbled into recession in the third quarter. The United States and Britain are fast headed there, which would risk pulling the world into its deepest slump in many decades. Asian economies heavily dependent on exports to the West are particularly vulnerable. China, South Korea and Japan said at the summit they were considering steps including currency swaps, which would strengthen their regional defences against the global financial upheaval. A French official told reporters the G20 leaders agreed on the need for budgetary and monetary policies which supported growth, and that this was “implicitly an appeal for a cut in interest rates.” The leaders agreed in principle to meet again in April, French officials said. Role of Capitalism European leaders have said the deepening financial crisis shows why stricter market rules are needed to rein in free-wheeling capitalism. As she left Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a clearer framework is needed to prevent future problems. Her finance minister, Peer Steinbrueck, said the window of opportunity for financial reform had never been so wide open. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown goes further, calling for redesigning the 60-year-old world financial order, called Bretton Woods, to meet the demands of a global economy where capital moves at lightening speed across borders. But the United States and Canada only want moderate reforms, and have ruled out a major financial overhaul. Bush, trying to counter criticism that US-style capitalism is to blame for the crisis, said in a toast that “free market principles offer the surest path to lasting prosperity.” He has urged leaders to work to fix the system, not dismantle it. Despite underlying tensions over the summit’s objectives, Bush was all smiles as he welcomed arriving leaders, including Britain’s Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso. “I don’t think the major economies of the world will ... consent to have external control over their regulatory systems,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters before arriving in Washington. Japan backed that view. “We think the fundamental principle should be that capital flows based on the free market should continue to serve as the foundation of the global system,” Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama said. The crisis began when falling values of US mortgage-related debt triggered credit turmoil that has felled world-class banks and virtually shut down lending. The United States, however, is in a poor position to make commitments on reform with Bush’s credibility in tatters and his days in office quickly dwindling. Obama, who moves into the White House on 20 Jan, opted to stay away and instead send representatives, including former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to meet leaders on the sidelines. Obama has urged a further fiscal stimulus to lift the economy, but the current White House stands opposed. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson admitted the administration’s weak hand. He told CNBC television the United States had “in many ways humiliated ourselves as a nation with some of the problems that have taken place here.” Greater Emerging Market Role The summit unites leaders from 19 nations and the European Union under the umbrella of the Group of 20. It includes emerging markets like China, Brazil, India and South Africa and older industrial powers from the Group of Seven nations in what could be the power constellation of the future. The summit was billed as a chance to shift more policy-making power to emerging-market nations. But that may await negotiations, since it would require some rich countries to yield power, which is unlikely to come easily. However, there have been calls for countries like China and Saudi Arabia that are flush with foreign exchange reserves to play a larger role in throwing a safety net to other emerging nations by more fully funding institutions like the IMF. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:03 am 'Dostana' rakes in 80 percent collection on day oneKaran Johar's latest production 'Dostana', which has Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham pretending to be gay, got a great opening, raking in 80 percent collection at the box office in Mumbai on the opening day.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 8:00 am As crisis goes global, is US reaching out?A summit of leaders of the world's 20 largest economies, which will begin the process of rebuilding the global financial system, comes at the invitation of a humbled global superpower.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 7:43 am Urban migration now takes a CATty turn - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 7:07 am World leaders pledge action plan to fight crisisWASHINGTON (Reuters) - World leaders grappling with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s pledged on Friday to deliver a concrete plan to ward off recession and prevent future meltdowns.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 7:00 am Tata Tele sees turnaround in 3 years - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 4:41 am As crisis goes global, is US reaching out?A summit of leaders of the world's 20 largest economies, which will Saturday begin the process of rebuilding the global financial system, comes at the invitation of a humbled global superpower.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 4:30 am Laid-off Silicon Valley worker kills three - policeSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A man laid off recently from his job in Silicon Valley shot and killed three people, believed to be former co-workers, at an office park on Friday, police in the ailing U.S. technology hub said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 4:18 am Ahluwalia calls for coordinated fiscal stimulusWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Indian economic policy-maker said on Friday he hopes leaders of major world economies will endorse coordinated fiscal stimulus plans to combat global recession during their meetings here.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 4:11 am 'India could benefit from global economic meltdown'Even though India is feeling the pinch of the financial crisis, a leading US expert has said India could benefit the most from this economic meltdown as this offers new opportunities to it.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 4:00 am 'Tom and Jerry' adventures still top chartsNearly 28 years after its inception, cartoon show 'Tom and Jerry' is still a top-rated kids' entertainment show on Indian television, reveal latest statistics.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Nov 2008 | 4:00 am Wall St Week Ahead: Weak stocks face earnings and CPINEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street will struggle to avoid a third straight week of losses next week as investors face another flood of earnings and data, including PPI and CPI, that are likely to signal a prolonged economic slowdown.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Nov 2008 | 3:36 am Spectrum controversy in all its shades - Indian Express
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 1:06 am IEA warns oil will soar as economy picks up later!Oil prices could soar dramatically after the world economy picks up due to delays in energy investment during the credit crisis, the head of the International Energy Agency warned on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am Immigrants to send less money home, UN warns!A vital source of income for poor countries - the money that immigrants send back home to their relatives - could decline by up to 6 percent next year because of the world financial crisis, the UN`s trade chief said on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am Citi reiterates full support to board chairman Bischoff!Global financial services major Citigroup`s board of directors have reiterated their full support to the firm`s Chairman Sir Win Bischoff.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am Freddie Mac Q3 net loss at $5.3 bn, seeks $13.8 bn!Troubled mortgage lender Freddie Mac, which was bailed out by the government, reported net loss of USD 25.30 billion for the third quarter ended September 30.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am Finland`s Nokia lowers 4Q outlook!Nokia Corp, the world`s largest cell phone maker, has downgraded its outlook for industry mobile device volumes for the fourth quarter, citing the economic crisis and currency volatility.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am Recession in West, Australia reaches out to India!With recession hitting the US and Europe, Australia on Friday reached out to India, discussing ways to deal with the international crisis through cooperative approaches in the Asia-Pacific region.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am US Fed budget deficit in October hits record $237.2 billion!The federal government began the new budget year with a record deficit of USD 237.2 billion, reflecting the billions of dollars the government has started to pay out to rescue the financial system.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am IMF, Financial Stability Forum to cooperate in alarm system!The International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Forum said on Friday they will cooperate to provide an early-warning system in an effort to prevent financial crises.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am British PM warns against protectionism!Britain`s Gordon Brown on Friday said that leaders meeting for a summit on the world financial meltdown must resist calls for protectionism.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am Decision on steel import duty within a week: Paswan!Government will take a decision on levying import duty on steel within a week, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday said.Source: Zee News : Business | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:10 am India to push for more inclusivity in global financial systemFrankfurt Three points will be highlighted by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, at the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, which is being held in Washington on November 14 and 15.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am We are confident we can weather the crisis: ChidambaramFinance Minister: That depends upon where the resources would be found. If the resources can be found and channelised through the existing multilateral institutions, that would be good. But if you find resources that cannot be channelisedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am L&T Info sees significant decline in growthBangalore, Nov. 14 L&T Infotech, the IT arm of construction major Larsen and Toubro Ltd, expects a significant decline in growth rate for the current fiscal due to the economic meltdown, but sees long-term potential in WestSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am State loans see good demand; govts set to gainBangalore, Nov. 14 States are beginning to benefit from the chase of government securities by banks as yields have fallen sharply since the beginning of the financialSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Mini, currency futures trade activeMumbai, Nov. 14 Exactly a year after SEBI approved seven derivative products for the securities market, only three have been launched. But two of the launches — mini contracts and currency futures — have met with a fair degree ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Iron ore exporters to China hit by payment defaultsBangalore, Nov. 14 Iron ore exporters have been hit by a cash flow crisis with Chinese importers defaulting on paymentSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Vegoil imports hit record in Oct on falling pricesChennai, Nov. 14 A record 8.27 lakh tonnes (lt) of vegetable oils were imported during October, thanks to sharp fall in the prices in the global markets and a favourable duty structure. This was against 7.87 lt imported during the same periodSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Vedanta cuts capex plansMumbai, Nov. 14 Hit by the sharp fall in metal prices amid global economic slowdown, Vedanta Resources Plc has decided to cut its capital expenditure plans by $5.1 billion through various initiatives. The company planned to invest $14 billion inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Fiat to export engines from India ventureFiat’s Ranjangaon (Pune) plant with the capacity to produce 3.33 lakh engines a year, can produce a much larger volume of engines than the company and its joint venture partner Tata Motors would need in the near future.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Union Bank to hire 5,000 more this fiscalAt a time when banks globally are laying off people, Union Bank of India is planning to hire 5,000 more people for manning the over 500 additional branches the bank will be opening in the next fiveSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Another ATF price cut on the cardsAviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices are likely to be reduced by 10-12% this weekend, which would be the third such cut in the current month.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:23 pm Oilcos see profit on diesel after three yearsPublic sector oil retailing companies will earn profit on sale of diesel for the fortnight beginning November 16, after nearly three yearsSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:22 pm RIL's RNRL contract flouts rules: GovtThe legal dispute between Reliance Industries (RIL) and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) reached a crucial stageSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:20 pm HCL Info spots moolah in police control roomsThe system integrator and distribution firm, whose technology is being implemented in police control rooms (PCRs) across the country to reduce tracking and action timeSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:15 pm mjunction's online retail entry by April next yearmjunction, a 50:50 e-commerce joint venture of steel majors Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), will enter the online retail business-to-consumer (B2C) segmentSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:14 pm Satyam delays joining for campus hiresThe company has already said it would slash its new recruitments from the earlier 14,000-15,000 to 8,000-10,000.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:13 pm Pantaloon Retail eyes 26 mn sq ft in 34 yrsPantaloon Retail will continue with its expansion plans despite the ongoing global recession. It is continuing with its expansion plan of expanding from 15 million sq ft to 26 million sq ft in the next 34 years. This will require an investment of USD 750 million.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Nov 2008 | 8:51 pm Chandrayaan-I lands on the moonMumbai: A lunar probe from India’s first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 has landed on the moon and started sending its first images, officials at the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Friday. The Moon Impactor Probe detached itself from Chandrayaan-1 (moon vehicle) about 100 km from the moon’s surface and crash-landed on the south pole of the moon at 1501 GMT, officials said in Bangalore. “It was a flawless operation,” said SK Shivakumar, director of ISRO Telemetry’s tracking and command network. The Probe, to be named “Aditya”, aimed to kick up some dust, which instruments in the craft would analyse. It has started sending images to the mother ship, Shivakumar said. A principal objective is to look for Helium 3, an isotope which is very rare on earth but is sought to power nuclear fusion and could be a valuable source of energy in the future. It is thought to be more plentiful on the moon, but still rare and very difficult to extract. India launched Chandrayaan-1 on 22 Oct, joining the Asian space race in the footsteps of rival China and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power. Chandrayaan-1, a cuboid spacecraft built by ISRO, is also seen as a boost for the country’s ambitions to gain more global space business. In April, India sent 10 satellites into orbit from a single rocket, and ISRO says it plans more launches before a proposed manned mission to space and then on to Mars in four years’ time. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:52 pm Chandrayaan-I lands on the moonMumbai: A lunar probe from India’s first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 has landed on the moon and started sending its first images, officials at the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Friday. The Moon Impactor Probe detached itself from Chandrayaan-1 (moon vehicle) about 100 km from the moon’s surface and crash-landed on the south pole of the moon at 1501 GMT, officials said in Bangalore. “It was a flawless operation,” said SK Shivakumar, director of ISRO Telemetry’s tracking and command network. The Probe, to be named “Aditya”, aimed to kick up some dust, which instruments in the craft would analyse. It has started sending images to the mother ship, Shivakumar said. A principal objective is to look for Helium 3, an isotope which is very rare on earth but is sought to power nuclear fusion and could be a valuable source of energy in the future. It is thought to be more plentiful on the moon, but still rare and very difficult to extract. India launched Chandrayaan-1 on 22 Oct, joining the Asian space race in the footsteps of rival China and reinforcing its claim to be considered a global power. Chandrayaan-1, a cuboid spacecraft built by ISRO, is also seen as a boost for the country’s ambitions to gain more global space business. In April, India sent 10 satellites into orbit from a single rocket, and ISRO says it plans more launches before a proposed manned mission to space and then on to Mars in four years’ time. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:52 pm Networking? Here’s how to stand outFans of Bruce Mount sang his praises to BzzAgent before he applied to become vice-president of engineering of the Boston word-of-mouth marketer. In late June, the software-development manager asked nearly two dozen present and past colleagues to tout his abilities. “Even one sentence will help!” he assured them. Their testimonials ranged from a brief haiku to a multipage missive dubbing him “a freakin’ gold mine of knowledge, ingenuity and kindness”.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint Mount’s creative approach “made him stand out”, recalls Rossana Y. de la Cruz, BzzAgent’s director of recruiting. He was the front-runner among 166 prospects. And though the firm ultimately promoted an insider, de la Cruz vows to consider him again for a relevant vacancy. Unusual times demand unusual networking tactics. Most candidates find work through networking, surveys show. But in today’s dismal job market, many feel frustrated with standard strategies such as tapping friends for referrals. Clients of Laurence J. Stybel, a Boston outplacement counsellor, fret that acquaintances ignore their aid requests because the contacts fear they may lose their jobs. Anxious about unemployment, people hoard knowledge about openings for themselves and closest friends. Networking “is perceived to be a zero-sum game”, the president of Stybel Peabody Lincolnshire says. “The bar has been raised on what it takes to make networking work,” concurs Scott Allen, a consultant about online networking. “Virtual interaction allows us to create the illusion of networking by making electronic links with people” but online ties are “just a starting point”. “You still need some kind of relationship,” he says. For job hunters who use networking websites such as LinkedIn.com, Allen favours a more sophisticated approach. When you invite someone to join you on LinkedIn, he proposes including a personalized offer of help, such as an introduction to a customer or a useful link. In the real world, you can improve your networking by finding out whether key executives of potential employers will attend a trade group meeting and then scheduling encounters during the event, recommends Brandon Gutman, vice-president of business development at Battalia Winston International, a New York search firm. “Don’t expect to just show up and bump into these people,” he cautions. Robb Leland wanted to move into mobile marketing, which involves targeting promotions at mobile devices. He identified three concerns that were listed on an industry association’s site as being registered for the group’s March conference. He then contacted officials at the companies, including Shira Simmonds, president and co-founder of Ping Media. Seated beside each other at a seminar, they found common ground. “That’s why I’m here today,” says Leland, who joined Ping Media as senior business- development manager in September. There are additional ways to network more effectively at events. “Be the only person like yourself in the room,” Stybel advises. For instance, he encourages human resource managers to attend local meetings of Financial Executives International and share their expertise. Because many HR executives report to chief financial officers, those who belong to that professional organization probably hear about promising HR positions. An offbeat but memorable “elevator pitch” will also make you stand out in a crowd, says Lorraine Howell, a public-speaking trainer in Seattle. Several years ago, Howell coached Wimsey Cherrington, a Seattle massage therapist who unearths hidden causes of chronic pain. The therapist was having trouble describing her speciality during gatherings of a women business owners’ group. “Networking wasn’t working at all,” Cherrington remembers. Things changed after she began calling herself “a body detective”. The catchy description “at least doubled my practice”, Cherrington says. Still frustrated? Your network may know why. Ask friends, relatives and associates to anonymously assess your strengths and weaknesses through SurveyMonkey.com, an online polling tool, suggests Diane Darling, a Boston networking specialist. The gambit worked for her. Based on her SurveyMonkey feedback, she realized her artsy-looking purple suits hindered her career because she didn’t look “corporate”. The contacts “would have never told me this in person”, Darling says. She fixed her image by buying costly, classic business suits. Write to wsj@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:28 pm This is a dramatic, never-before opportunityMumbai: The next few months we will see opportunities that somebody told me is seen once in several lifetimes. Most of us will never see this in our lifetime or in our careers again,” says Ramesh Venkat, chief executive officer of Reliance Equity Advisors, a Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) company that is the latest entrant in the private equity (PE) business. Venkat was earlier involved in raising funds abroad and in India for R-Adag. Between meetings at R-Adag’s group headquarters in Ballard Estate and a more modest setting in Nariman Point, Venkat says in an interview why entering the PE space now was the best thing that could have happened to the company. Edited excerpts: Reliance Equity is not the only thing you are looking at in your current position? I joined the group with a mandate to manage the finance and treasury activities of the group. I’ve been doing this for the past three-and-a-half years to four years  Strategic moves: Chief executive officer of Reliance Equity Advisors Ramesh Venkat says the company is open to the idea of investing in listed firms, but from a PE perspective and not from a short-term view. Ashesh Shah / Mint It is touted as a $800 million-1 billion (Rs3,960-4,950 crore) fund? Is there a delay in floating the fund? Those are numbers that we didn’t really talk about. We don’t have a definitive number in mind or fund targets. We want to place funds in two or three phases. A couple of months back, we initiated discussions with a closed group of potential investors known to this group (R-Adag) and who have some kind of prior relationship and have dealt with the group. So, we will raise money from this group somewhere in the January-March quarter of next year and then we will go out in the market. Yes, the timeline has shifted a bit, but not in a big way. What is the profile of the group? These are large institutional investors—couple of sovereign investors from the Middle East, some are from Europe and some the US. There is a universe of probably 1,000 investors. These are investors who have done business with us. ...and includes investors like George Soros? Names of that kind, a very small set of people with whom we have initiated discussion about six-eight weeks back. But recent events that happened have kind of put this plan a bit on the slow burner. So, we are in the process of resuming these discussions. Realistically, I think we need to wait for relative stability in the market. A more realistic time frame looks like the first quarter of next calendar year Why not sooner? Investor psychology is such that (with) what happened in the last two weeks, it is difficult for any investor to quickly commit large amounts (of investment). We have to wait for sentiments to change a bit. It is not just correcting the valuations down. Execution risk has dramatically changed. Financing risk has gone up dramatically. The PE funding is only a small part of the total. All of that funding will have to be revisited (now), in every single case. In many cases timelines have to be reworked. Therefore, while this is a dramatic never-before opportunity in recent times, it is not something to rush in(to). How are the proprietary investments (such as yatra.com, and Gini and Joni Apparel) of R-Adag faring and will those be shifted to Reliance Equity Advisors? From a business perspective, they are faring okay. We don’t see any major crisis in any of them. We have to revisit the exit plans because their plans to go public have also changed. They will not be physically shifted into this fund, but we will take over the management of those investments. Will the R-Adag companies and promoters investing in this fund as well? Yes, approximately 20%. Reliance-Adag will be the anchor investor. Should PE funds invest in listed companies? Why do the investors need PE funds then? We are absolutely open to the idea of investing in listed companies, but from a PE perspective and not from a short-term view. This is for two reasons: Firstly, the universe of unlisted companies is not that large. We will like to look at listed space and that is a reinforced view because valuations have plummeted and they are realistic. Secondly, listed companies will not have access to public money for a long time. A majority of investors who invest in PE firms do so because either they don’t have the time or expertise or manpower to invest in multiple markets. Have expectations of promoters (companies seeking PE) become more realistic in the valuations they expect? It takes time for private valuations to get aligned to public valuations. Clearly, expectations are lower but not necessarily to the extent that there is a meeting of minds. Again, it depends on the sector and the strength of the player. bhuma.s@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:17 pm Need to Know | Toyota halves monthly Altis output to 1,000Pune: The India subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp., Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd, has halved monthly production at its newly launched Corolla Altis sedan, said two vendors familiar with the situation. The firm is making 1,000 units of the sedan at its Bidadi factory in Karnataka from 2,000 earlier, they said on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the media. “Certainly there is a production cut for the Altis, but I am not sure what the figure is just now,” said deputy managing director Sandeep Singh. Altis was launched in September and sold at least 2,000 units in the first month, but dealers in at least two markets said demand has fallen after that. —Sudha Menon ********* Ministry asks for 10% duty on steel imports New Delhi: The steel minister is seeking a 10% import tax on steel products and expects the finance ministry to take a decision within a week. Steel imports are currently not taxed. “The government will soon take steps on imposing import tax. I have written to the finance ministry and the finance ministry may take a decision within a week. I have asked for 10% import duty,” Union steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters on Friday. The minister said he was not aware of any plans by steel firms to cut production because of falling demand. The minister also said State-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) will proceed with its expansion as planned, denying a report India’s second largest steel maker may defer plans on weakening demand. —Reuters & Bloomberg ********* Second oil discovery for ONGC Videsh off Egypt Mumbai: The overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), ONGC Videsh Ltd, and IPR Energy Red Sea Inc. said they have made a second oil discovery in the Gulf of Suez off Egypt. The North Ramadan-2 reservoir produced 800 barrels of oil a day during tests, New Delhi-based ONGC said in a statement on Thursday. The first find, NR1, had produced 3,000 barrels a day during tests, the company said. The companies plan to begin drilling at North Ramadan-3 in the first fortnight of this month. ONGC Videsh owns a 70% stake in the area and IPR owns the remaining. —Bloomberg ********* Oil may boil once world economy revives: IEA Tokyo: Oil prices could soar dramatically after the world economy picks up due to delays in energy investment during the credit crisis, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned on Friday. But it also warned that the price could jump to more than $200 a barrel by 2030 as demand soars in China, India and other emerging economies. “What we are worried about is that oil development is being delayed,” IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka told a news conference in Tokyo. IEA warned that slower investment in new oil projects by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member countries may cause an energy-supply crunch in the next two decades. —AFP & Bloomberg ********* Tibetan exiles to go ahead with India meet New Delhi: A day after China asked the Indian government to block a conclave of Tibetan exiles, a delegate to the meeting next week said he expects it to proceed as planned in the absence of any public reaction from India. “I guess we expected this (China’s stance), although we didn’t give it much thought. But it isn’t surprising,” says Youdon Aukatsang, a member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile. “But I don’t think the Indian government will buckle under this.” The Ministry of External Affairs could not respond with a comment by the time this story went to press. “The Chinese government is solemnly against any international activities aimed at splitting China,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday. “The Indian government has made solemn commitment about not allowing any anti-China activities on its soil. We hope that the commitment will be implemented.” The special meeting, which begins on 17 November in Dharamshala, has been summoned by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. Some 500 chosen Tibetans will attend the meeting. The agenda, Aukatsang says, is open-ended, featuring mainly discussion and debate about the future strategy to promote the Tibetan cause. —Samanth Subramanian ********* Bhuyan’s death: hospital sacks 2 for surgery error New Delhi: Max Healthcare division of Max India Ltd has fired two people responsible for an “error” during a surgery on Jayant Bhuyan, the deputy director general of industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) who died early October at a company-run hospital. Pervez Ahmed, executive medical director of Max Healthcare, declined to say whether they were doctors. Ahmed made these comments to Mint on Friday, a day after a meeting between Ramola Bhuyan, the wife of the CII senior official, and a Max India team led by Analjit Singh, its chairman. “The information on the investigation or root cause analysis of the problem was shared with her. All that information was given in an open and frank way,” Ahmed said. He said a written report wasn’t given to Bhuyan. “We are trying to make sure such an incident does not happen again,” the Max Healthcare director said. “We have taken action against some personnel and instituted some processes.” According to Ahmed, the hospital has also re-trained its operating room staff at various levels and resimulated surgical protocols. “We are also trying to get the processes validated by external agencies from abroad.” Bhuyan said she was told a written report was pending “some loose ends” being tied up. They, however, explained to me in detail the cause of his death.” Jayant Bhuyan was declared dead on 6 October that saw an oxygen-supplying tube being wrongly inserted into his heart leading to an oversupply of oxygen to his brain. The incident occurred at Max Devki Devi Heart and Vascular Institute and was reported by Mint on 12 November. Ahmed wouldn’t elaborate on the specific error which led to Bhuyan’s death but clarified that the error did not have anything to do with the heart and lung machine. “I have been told that some action has been taken...and they also told me that further action will be taken,” said Bhuyan. “I want to give the hospital more time to come out with the report and punish the guilty doctors.” —Shabana Hussain ********* Millennium Campaign seeks $300 bn extra aid New Delhi: The UN Millennium Campaign called on the G20 summit to assign $300 billion in extra aid and debt relief to poor countries, to make up for gross domestic product it said they would lose because of the crisis over the next two years. The campaign was set up by Ban’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, in 2002 to press for governments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals—a set of UN targets for slashing poverty, hunger and disease by 2015. “Independent forecasts that the global financial meltdown will cost developing countries $300 billion in GDP over the next two years do not adequately take into account the effects of shrinking exports and remittances, the global credit squeeze, and rising unemployment and poverty ,” Salil Shetty, director of the campaign, said in a statement. “The trillions of dollars found overnight to bail out Western bankers have shown us that the real issue we face in addressing this global crisis is not the availability of money, but of political will. World leaders must craft a similar ‘bailout’ package for the world’s poor nations, who are bearing the brunt of a crisis they had no role in creating.” “For the world’s 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day, having less purchasing power is literally a question of survival—the difference between whether their children get a meal each day or not,” Shetty said. Separately, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon appealed to leaders meeting at a financial summit in Washington this weekend not to let the global crisis become a “human tragedy” for people in poor countries. In a letter to leaders of the G20—the Group of Seven top industrial democracies and other key economies—Ban warned that throwing hundreds of millions of people out of work could have major political and security implications. “The poorest and most vulnerable everywhere, but particularly in the developing countries, will be the most affected” by the world growth slowdown now being predicted, he said in the letter released by the United Nations on Thursday. —Staff Writer and Reuters ********* Ipca Labs announces foray into Ayurvedic remedies Mumbai: Drug maker Ipca Laboratories Ltd on 14 November announed its formal entry into traditional ayurveda by launching Ipca Tradtional Remedies Pvt Ltd. The Mumbai-based allopathic drugmaker, which floated the new venture in partnership with leading ayurveda scientist Vaidya Balendu Prakash, has developed an Ayurvedic treatment protocol for treating migraine, and with comprising diet, lifestyle and herbo-mineral formulations. Ipca managing director Premchand Godha said under the new venture “efforts are also being made with leading institutes to develop the innovation for mass uses following WHO guidelines under industry and institutional partnerships in league with department of Science and Technology, Government of India.” —C. H. Unnikrishnan Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:12 pm Star and Jupiter form JV to tap south Indian marketNew Delhi: News Corp’s Star India Pvt. Ltd and Bangalore-based entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar have teamed up in southern India’s media and entertainment market. Star India said on Friday it had formed a joint venture (JV) with Chandrasekhar’s media and entertainment company, Jupiter Entertainment Ventures Pvt. Ltd.  Growth plans: Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s Jupiter Entertainment is looking at buying an English news channel and a regional newspaper. Hemant Mishra / Mint Terms of the deal were not disclosed. ACL runs general entertainment channels in Kannada (Suvarna), Telugu (Sitara) and Malayalam (Asianet, Asianet Plus). Chandrasekhar will continue to run his news ventures, which include news channels in Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, under Jupiter Entertainment. Indian laws do not allow foreign entities to hold more than 26% stake in news and current affairs ventures. Hence, the news venture has been retained under Jupiter Entertainment, fully owned by Chandrasekhar. A Jupiter executive said the company was also looking at acquiring a national English news channel and a regional newspaper. “We are in talks with some existing national news channels and aim to acquire a leading running channel soon,” claimed K. Sanjay Prabhu of Jupiter Ventures. For Star, the deal replaces its partnership with content producer Balaji Telefilms Ltd, under which the duo had announced the launch of several regional channels primarily focusing on the south India market. Star’s existing channel in Tamil Nadu, called Vijay TV, will now be part of the new JV. “South India represents the next big growth story for Indian television. With this strategic partnership, we should be able to capture this growth opportunity,” said Uday Shankar, chief executive officer, Star India, in a statement. News Corp. also owns ‘The Wall Street Journal’, which has an exclusive content partnership in India with Mint. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:12 pm US wants more of India’s nuclear pieNew Delhi: The US department of commerce will lead a delegation to India comprising executives from nuclear technology manufacturers, nuclear energy engineering and consulting companies as well as suppliers of nuclear fuel and components from 3-9 December. Click here to watch video Announcing this on Friday, the US ambassador to India David Mulford said nuclear civil engineering companies in that country are interested in participating in and trading with Indian nuclear power companies. He also said that, contrary to some reports, there was no dearth of activity in the US civil nuclear power industry. Addressing reporters after the seminar organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry on Friday, special envoy to the prime minister, Shyam Saran, said India was looking at France and other countries with civil nuclear capabilities as much as the US to set up nuclear power plants. He also said the new US administration under President-elect Barack Obama has reiterated support for the nuclear deal between India and the US. Earlier, answering a question, chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dale E. Klein said the economic recession could have an impact on the nuclear energy sector. “If there is a drop in the demand (for electricity), there could be some slowdown in the building of some of these nuclear reactors.” Video by Rahul Sharma Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:11 pm India seeks new prudential norms for crisis-hit financial industryOn board the Prime Minister’s special aircraft: New prudential norms, stronger surveillance mechanisms and reform of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, are among the key issues India will raise on Saturday at the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy in Washington that will discuss the global financial malestrom, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said. Most important among these, in terms of having a widespread impact, will be the setting up of common regulatory and accounting standards across the globe, or at least for the Group of 20, or G20, nations. “We must have convergence of accounting standards,” Chidambaram said. But he dismissed the idea of a common global regulator saying, ”I don’t think regulation can be raised to a global regulator. That’s too ambitious, and perhaps not possible in today’s circumstances. Regulation must be national.” The need for global standards goes hand in hand with IMF reforms. “IMF,” Chidambaram said, “was unable to provide the early warning signals to the crisis.” That does not mean the creation of new multilateral agencies and financial institutions, informally being called Bretton Woods II, he added. “But surely IMF must begin to discuss within itself governance reforms.” “We need to put in place a surveillance mechanism that would have identified the huge risks being taken by some financial entities,” Chidambaram said, adding that an “agreeable entity” is needed. “This is what we talked about in Sao Paulo and this is what we’ll talk about in the Summit.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has the Indian agenda laid out for the summit, which comes four days after finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 countries met in Sao Paulo, Brazil. “I will put forward our views on the need for greater inclusivity in the international financial system, the need to ensure that growth prospects of developing countries do not suffer, and the need to avoid protectionist tendencies,” Singh said in a 13 November departure statement. “Today there are only a handful of economies that are driving global economic growth,” Chidambaram said. “These include China, India and few others. It is very important that the few countries that are able to drive economic growth should not suffer. More resources should be made available to these countries.” On that front, he clarified that India did not seek IMF funds. “We don’t need an IMF programme,” he said. “We need a development programme. So if World Bank is willing to give us more, we will be happy to take it.” The new financial order, the seeds for which will be laid in the Summit, needs to become more inclusive, Chidambaram said. “G7 is too small. It must expand.” Among the new prudential norms that are needed, Chidambaram listed common norms for capital adequacy, risk assessment and risk weights. Taking Singh’s anti-protectionist agenda forward, Chidambaram said the crisis should not lead to the creation of “protectionist cocoons. We must now try to ensure free flow of goods and services, capital.” Apart from G20 leaders, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick, the United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, and Financial Stability Forum chairman Mario Draghi have also been invited. On the impact of the global crisis on India, Chidambaram repeated what is now getting to be a somewhat permanent government line: “We will be indirectly impacted. Our growth, our exports and currency flows will be affected.” “We can weather the crisis and still return a decent growth in 2008-09,” he added. “Even the IMF’s last week’s assessment places India’s growth rate in the current fiscal at 7.8%.” When asked whether the soon-to-change leadership of the US and India is qualified to take these decisions, he said the resolution of the crisis will stretch well beyond January 2009, when US President-elect Barack Obama takes charge. “I don’t think we are going to take an election-oriented point of view,” Chidambaram added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:11 pm Despite recession, finance jobs still strong at FMSNew Delhi: The Lehman Brothers’ collapse in the United States has not affected summer placements at Delhi University’s Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) in the banking sector. About 50% of the summer internships offered at FMS this month were finance jobs, the same as last year. Offers from the marketing sector came second. Leading banks such as Standard Chartered, Citibank, HSBC, Bank of America, American Express, ICICI Bank and Axis recruited 15% of the students for the two-month internship in both corporate and consumer banking. ”Despite global recession, there wasn’t much of a deviation from the placements last year. Even the percentage of finance jobs were as many as last year,” Arvind N, member, Placement Cell at FMS said. The highest domestic package offered at the institute was Rs50000, the same as last year. The offers were made by Coca Cola and Cadburys. Among international offers, FMC Technologies, an oil exploration firm in France, repeated its last year’s offer of 1550 Euros per month. The average stipend, however, rose to Rs37,000 per month from around Rs30,000 last year. While the business school registered 100% placements in four days, the internships offered niche profiles to students, ranging from private equity to investment banking to media and communication. As many as 107 MBA students and 48 students got multiple job offers. Corporate finance continued to lead with 19% of the batch being offered the profile. 29% of the batch were placed in marketing positions, of which 21% got offers from IT firms — such as Microsoft and Apple — that offered sales and marketing profiles for the first time. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:09 pm Orange says outsourced work to India remains intactNew Delhi: British telecom company Orange UK, owned by France Telecom SA, has no plans to move its call centre operations out of India, a company official said. “We have no intention of pulling out,” a spokeswoman said in a phone interview from London, “and we are committed to working with our partners in India.” She declined to be named.  U-turn: Reports quoted Orange UK’s Tom Alexander as saying that it will not be long before all its call centres will be run in Britain. In reports carried on Sunday by ‘The Independent’ newspaper and later by ‘Press Trust of India’ news agency, the company’s chief executive Tom Alexander said that “it will not be long before all its call centres for customers will be run in Britain”. The company spoksewoman did not deny Alexander made the comments at a media lunch, but said the comments reflect an announcement the company made last June to focus on customer service within the UK, and did not signal a new outsourcing policy for the company. Earlier this year, Orange consolidated its offshore work with Convergys and IBM Daksh Business Process Services Pvt. Ltd, ending contracts with two others, ExlService Holdings Inc. and 24/7 Customer Inc. Convergys declined comment and an IBM Daksh spokesperson did not return Mint’s calls for comment. “We are definitely seeing more and more of call centre work remaining in the UK,” says Avinash Vashishta, chief executive of outsourcing advisory firm Tholons Inc. “I think the priority is maintaining the customer base,” says a London-based telecom analyst who declined to be named citing his employer’s policy against talking to the media. “It is clearly a business judgement on the higher cost per head of onshore versus offshore, versus how many customers you’re loosing on style of customer service,” the analyst said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:08 pm Govt’s stand on gas pricing rights helps RIL’s claimsMumbai: All the gas mined by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) from the Krishna-Godavari basin has to be sold to “all consumers” at the state-approved price of $4.20 (about Rs208) per million British thermal unit (mBtu), the Union government said in an affidavit filed in the Bombay high court on Friday. The government’s stance, as stated in the affidavit, is in line with arguments made by RIL’s legal counsel that the company can price its gas only with approval from the government. Also Read Government’s affidavit filed in the Bombay HC (PDF) The document was submitted before a two-member bench that’s hearing a case between Mukesh Ambani-controlled RIL and his estranged brother Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) over the pricing of the gas from the basin. RIL, India’s largest petrochemicals maker and second-largest oil refiner, is set to start production of gas in January from the KG basin, which will have a peak production of 80 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd). But it has to wait for the legal dispute to be settled before it can sell the output. RNRL has been laying claim on a portion of the gas reserves at a lower rate, citing a family agreement that formed the basis of a split between the estranged brothers in 2005. RNRL is demanding 28mscmd of gas from the prolific reserves on the country’s eastern coast—discovered by RIL—at $2.34 per mBtu for 17 years. The affidavit was submitted before justices J.N. Patel and K.K. Tated by additional solicitor general Mohan Parashar, the government counsel who was recently brought into the case. The production sharing contract (PSC) between the government and RIL states that the contractor has to sell “all natural gas…from the contract area at arms-length prices.” Quoting from this, the government’s affidavit says, “It is clear from this provision that all the gas and not just the share of the contractor or the government shall be sold at a price, which follows from the price formula/basis approved by the government, which in this case, comes to $4.2 per mBtu.” It adds that the price of the gas will be “approved by the government prior to the sale of natural gas to the consumers/buyers” and that “sale at a price less than $4.2 per mBtu is not envisaged as per the eGoM decisions”. There has been a lack of clarity until now on whether the $4.2 per mBtu price, pegged by the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) in September 2007, was to be RIL’s sale price for all buyers or just for the government’s purchase of gas. In the previous hearing on Tuesday, the Bombay high court had asked the government to clarify its role in pricing the gas. Agreeing that the latest document produced before the court favoured RIL, its counsel Milind Sathe told Mint, “This is what we have been saying (all along). This supports the arguments that RIL has been making.” RNRL’s counsel Mukul Rohatgi, however, said he didn’t think his company’s case had been weakened. “We are disputing that (government’s) position,” said Rohatgi. “(The) government is drawing its powers from the PSC and we want the court to interpret that, since it gives no such powers to the government.” RNRL wanted to cross-examine ministry of petroleum and natural gas official S.M. Sundaram, who filed the affidavit in court, but the government counsel objected, saying this could be allowed only after procedural requirements were followed. The document also states that “it was always understood by the parties to this litigation that, under the PSC, ...gas is subject to the approval of price formula/basis of Government of India as well as the gas utilization policy,” and “therefore, no third party can suggest a different interpretation to the provisions of the PSC...other than the interpretation” that has been understood by the parties to the contract so far. Shares of RIL slipped 1.17% to close at Rs1,148.55 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday, while the bellwether Sensex index ended the day 1.58% lower. RNRL’s shares rose by 0.91% to Rs49.75 a share on Friday. The hearings will resume on 27 November. Utpal Bhaskar in New Delhi contributed to this story. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 7:03 pm Wyeth drug tests fall foul of watchdogNew Delhi: Patient trials of an advanced pneumonia vaccine by the domestic unit of US drug giant Wyeth Inc. have been suspended by India’s drug quality regulator after the death of an infant on whom the vaccine was tested in a trial in Bangalore. The child had a pre-existing cardiac disorder. Indian drug rules prohibit testing on human subjects with such conditions without the prior approval of the drugs controller general of India (DCGI), the drugs quality regulator. The inclusion of an infant with a cardiac condition in the Wyeth vaccine test violates India’s drug testing rules that strictly monitor subjects on who such tests are conducted. Wyeth had been permitted to conduct tests only on healthy babies, according to the regulator. The trial was being conducted on healthy babies who were between 42 and 72 days old. Also See Difficult Times (PDF) “The baby was suffering from a cardiac abnormality and should not have been included in the trial at all. It seems that the ‘inclusion-exclusion’ criteria protocol has not been adhered to by the investigator,” said Surinder Singh, drugs controller general. “We have suspended all further trials across the country.” The incident brings to the fore an ongoing debate among the medical and drugs community in the country on allowing foreign companies to conduct what are called phase III trials here for a drug that is not marketed anywhere else in the world. Until January 2005, such human trials for a molecule developed outside India were allowed only under that the drug was already approved for use abroad and was being sold in the market. Though the Indian regulator has suspended several drug trials in the past, all of them have been over adverse reactions or efficacy issues, and not for violation of the rules themselves, drug regulation experts said. “This is the first reported instance I can recall,” said Chandra M. Gulati, one of India’s top experts in drug regulations, and editor of Monthly Index of Medical Specialities. Under the inclusion-exclusion protocol, if the investigator or the company decides to include or exclude a subject from its trial not fitting into approved criteria such as age, weight and health conditions, it must take prior permission of the licensing authority, in this case, DCGI. It was not immediately clear at which link in the testing chain the mistake occurred. Wyeth Ltd, the Indian unit, said the tests were conducted by GVK Biosciences Pvt. Ltd, contracted for the trials. But Singh said Wyeth had conducted the trials on its own. A GVK Biosciences spokeswoman said it couldn’t comment because of “client confidentiality”. The tests were done at Bangalore’s St John’s Hospital’s National Academy of Health Sciences. The Wyeth phase III trial—the final stage of testing before a drug is approved for sales—was part of global clinical trials to assess the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that fights 13 strains of bacteria compared with seven strains in the company’s current vaccine, Prevenar, the only vaccine of its kind. Singh said he would be sending his drug inspectors to investigate the death of the baby, next week. “Further action will be taken based upon the outcome of our investigation,” he said. “We want to take very stern action. You (the company) should select the right type of child and subject. When the child has died, you are telling us that the child had a cardiac abnormality. We will not allow companies to fiddle with the safety system set out for clinical trials in India.” Wyeth said the child who died had been administered Prevenar and not the new 13-strain variant. “The event occurred in the control group, which used the current worldwide standard vaccine for prevention of pneumococcal disease and which has been administered safely more than 200 million times worldwide during the past seven years,” a company spokesperson said in an email. The test was comparing efficacy of Prevenar and the new variant. Gulati predicted Wyeth would be eventually held responsible even if it contracted a testing firm for the trials: “Ultimately, the sponsor (that is, the company) is legally responsible though if there is any injury, then in a court case summons will also be issued to the investigator (for negligence), hospital (for not monitoring the trial properly) and DCGI (for not conducting inspection of the trial).” The trial, begun in 2007, was being conducted on 350 children in India. Some 250 have already been tested. Wyeth is still allowed to collect the data. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:59 pm UBL, SAB Miller sue AP govt on beer priceMumbai: India’s top two beer producers by revenues, United Breweries Ltd (UBL) and SAB Miller India, have filed a case against the government of Andhra Pradesh for not revising the procurement price of beer in more than a decade, despite a significant rise in costs and a 300-400% increase in the retail price. In their joint petition filed in the last week of October with the Andhra Pradesh high court, the market rivals have joined hands to complain that the state is using its monopoly in not revising the 1997 procurement price, which is around Rs200 per case of 12 bottles of 650ml each. In Andhra Pradesh, only the state agency Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corp. Ltd (APBCL) has the right to purchase alcoholic beverages from companies through quotation. It also fixes the consumer price and supplies beer to private retailers. Officials from APBCL weren’t immediately available for comment. UBL and SAB have market shares of 43% and 37%, respectively, and Andhra Pradesh is the single largest market for both companies. The state contributes about 30% of the total annual beer revenues of SAB and some 18% for UBL. The price revision committee of the state government has revised the beer procurement prices only once in 11 years, in 2005 after pressure from the industry. That 9% revision from 1997 prices, the industry claimed, was not adequate to cover rising costs. “Though the actual cost of production, which includes the price of malt, cost of power, and salaries and other overheads has gone up multifold after the fixation of the price in 1997, the government has not considered an appropriate revision at least to cover up the cost till now despite our requests,” said one SAB executive, who didn’t want to be named because of the matter is sub judice. “SAB Miller had closed its brewery in Andhra Pradesh for more than a month early this year as it could not cope with the increasing cost, and it was only after a recent dialogue with the government that it decided to resume operations at this brewery,” he added. The companies, which have set up breweries in the state, are also not allowed to supply to other states without permission from the Andhra Pradesh government. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:54 pm Industry group seeks GI status for Scotch whisky in IndiaThe Scotch Whisky Association, which represents whisky distillers and exporters of Europe, is planning to register the geographical indication (GI) status of Scotch whisky in India. The decision comes after the group lost a trademark case in May against Bangalore-based Khoday India Ltd, an Indian distiller that makes the Peter Scot whisky. The group has hired New Delhi-based law firm Anand and Anand to file the application with the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks. GI is a status used for goods that have a specific place of origin and possess qualities or reputations that are due to that origin, such as Darjeeling tea. Globally, the use of the word scotch is understood to indicate a whisky’s manufacture in Scotland. There is no such GI marker for scotch in India. “We are moving the application for registering a geographical indication for Scotch whisky in India,” said Gavin Hawitt, chief executive of the association. “We realize that there is a strong system existing in India now to protect GI rights. Registering the geographical indication for the scotch whisky will help us in stopping others using this place-related title on whisky brands which are not made in Scotland. This will also help us in fighting such cases arising out of illegal use of this reputed whisky mark in the country.” Says Pravin Anand, partner at Anand and Anand: “Moving an application for such intellectual property rights or geographical indication necessarily depends on the comfort level of the applicant within the system that is available worldwide.” In May, the Supreme Court of India ruled that a trademark registered by Khoday India for its whisky brand Peter Scot in the local market was valid and that the company could continue using it. This ruling closed a nearly two-decades-old challenge by the group against Khoday’s right to have a non-Scotch whisky brand called Peter Scot because of the similarity between the words “Scot” and “Scotch”. Hawitt said anyone using the sign Scotch for whisky brands that don’t qualify for the same in origin, quality and characteristic specifications is cheating the consumer. If the application is successful, it is likely to trigger large-scale withdrawal of labels on several premium Indian whisky brands, which are distilled or bottled in India and sold locally as scotch. Once the GI registration is granted, these premium whiskies will have to necessarily change the label information as “blended with Scotch whisky bulk”, or entirely remove the word Scotch from the label. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:53 pm FCCB issuers may be given buyback optionPromoters or issuers of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) may be allowed to buy back the bonds if they go in for prepayment.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:49 pm Kapoors may not buy Star out of BalajiAgreed price of Rs 190/share way above current price of Rs 66.??The Kapoor family of Balaji Telefilms, known best for its television soap operas, is unlikely to buy the 26 per cent stake held by theSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:47 pm Balloons and trialsA global financial regulator won’t work, is perhaps an easy thing to say. Union finance minister P. Chidambaram repeated this received wisdom to reporters on Friday. Are there alternatives to a global financial regulator? The problem is devilishly hard to come to grips with. National regulation of financial markets in a globalized world has not worked. A crisis in one country can, and often does, spread quickly to other countries. There are external factors that national regulators can’t contain. At the same time, a global regulator will run into problems of the kind that unhinged Soviet central planning. It is almost impossible for a single entity to regulate millions of decentralized economic agents. The point is to recognize these extremes and then arrive at a solution that makes it meaningful to talk of global coordination. Chidambaram should know better. There is no point muttering about global standards when India is years behind implementing even widely implemented global regulatory standards. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:45 pm Ambani brothers stay mum amid conflicting casesNew Delhi / Mumbai: Estranged billionaire brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani may have fought over the inheritance of their father, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, a gas-rich river basin and global acquisitions, but the two have, so far, pulled their punches on one issue that could trigger future business conflicts. Companies owned by the sibling rivals have applied for a raft of trademarks in the past three years that are markedly similar to the other’s already established brands. Besides the similarity in names, the applications also suggest they are looking at the possibility of entering businesses that could potentially put them in direct competition. Information available on the website of the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks shows that elder brother Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and its associates have filed for a bevy of trademarks such as Reliance Big Boy, Reliance Big Lots, Reliance Big Box and Reliance Big, among others. The Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) of Anil Ambani has, in turn, filed for names such as Big Reliance, Big Fresh Mall, Reliance Big Retail and Reliance Fast Retail. R-Adag uses the ‘Big’ moniker for its entertainment and media businesses. While its FM radio business is branded Big FM, its chain of mulitplexes has recently been rebranded Big Cinemas from Adlabs Cinemas. The group’s direct-to-home television service is called Big TV, the movie rental venture is named Big Flix and its film production company is registered as Big Pictures. The younger brother, in the past, fended off a trademark filing by Mumbai-based Apricot Media Pvt. Ltd. The company had sought brand protection for the ‘The Big TV’, but R-Adag opposed the move in the trademark office. However, so far, the group is conspicuously quiet over the applications filed by the elder brother in the trademark office. Similarly, the Mukesh Ambani group has kept quiet over the younger brother’s move to register Reliance Big Retail and Reliance Fast Retail. RIL operates a multi-billion-dollar retail venture under a company called Reliance Retail Ltd. The trademark office, after receiving an application for a trademark, puts it in the public domain for three-four months, to give parties that perceive a conflict of interest an opportunity to protest. The two parties have, so far, not raised any objections against each other. RIL, India’s largest company by market value, has also filed for brand protection for ‘Reliance Magicplex’ and ‘Qwikrent Books.Movies’ for providing retail services and entertainment, sporting and cultural activities. The firm has created a spate of fully-owned subsidiaries whose stated business objectives could overlap with some existing R-Adag companies operating in the same space. The moves also raise questions about the so-called non-compete clause in the family de-merger pact under which the brothers carved up the Reliance empire in June 2005. While the scheme of de-merger that split the Reliance empire was put to all the shareholders, the family agreement remains shrouded in mystery. Some trademarks experts who Mint spoke with differed on the issue. While some said the two parties may have agreed on some sort of a “co-existence” pact, others said it was unlikely because similar brand names are bound to create confusion among consumers. Pratibha Singh, a New Delhi-based trademarks and patents attorney, agreed that the “phenomenon was strange”, noting that avoiding public confusion about identities of products or entities is one of the main objectives of trademark law. “We don’t know the origin of the word ‘Big’ within the Reliance group. If it came from a common pool of assets and marks that were meant to be shared, then it is okay, but if that is not the case, then prima facie it is a case for filing an opposition,” Singh said. Trademarks lawyer H. Subramanium said the two parties could have common brands if they had “an internal agreement” that allowed them to do so. “Trademark law allows for an honest, concurrent user,” he said, adding that while tangible assets can be divided in a de-merger, it is difficult to split intangible assets and some parties may decide to share them. It is, however, not clear whether such an agreement exists between the two Ambani brothers. Responding to a detailed questionnaire sent by Mint, an RIL spokesperson said: “The names mentioned in the list were part of a comprehensive set of names, which was filed as a pre-emptive step with the authorities over two years ago. This exercise was undertaken prior to the finalization of the brand names of our various retail formats. As you will appreciate, since then we have pruned the actual list of brand names, which we would like to be registered.” The trademark website, however, doesn’t say if the applications have been withdrawn. The website shows the brand name Reliance Big as registered by RIL. The RIL spokesperson added that the company was “committed to protect our trademarks and acknowledge the right of other corporates to protect their trademarks”. An R-Adag spokesman didn’t respond to Mint’s questions. Three years after their father died in 2002 without dividing the empire he built, the brothers agreed to split businesses with a 10-year non-compete agreement. This implied one will not enter the business in which the other is already present. There is no clarity on whether the agreement puts restrictions on entering existing businesses at the time of the de-merger, or applies to new ventures as well. rasul.b@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:44 pm Painful structural adjustments neededThe leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies will have lots of gloomy news to chew over in Washington on Saturday—from slowing growth to swelling bailouts. Nothing grand is likely to emerge from the sessions, especially as the host, George W. Bush, is on his way out and the world’s soon-to-be-most powerful man, Barack Obama, is diplomatically staying away.  Click here for breakingviews.com Still, there should be enough heavyweights there—including Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown, the French and UK leaders—to come up with some basic principles. Here are four suggestions, two bitter and two bittersweet. First, politicians should admit that painful structural adjustments are necessary. A lot of the growth in recent years was unhealthy. Distended trade deficits in the US and the UK financed too much consumption, too many houses and too little investment in manufacturing. Meanwhile, an artificially depressed currency kept uneconomic Chinese exporters in business. Also, easy money supported sky-high commodity prices, which let countries such as Russia and Iran get too rich. Good times were too kind to the hotel and gambling trades, and not harsh enough on the US auto makers. In much of the world, finance and anything to do with real estate grew vastly out of proportion. At least some of these excesses need to be reversed, an economic gear shift that will bring recession and higher unemployment. The G-20 should tell the world that it will need to live through an economic night before the dawn arrives. Second, the G-20 members should make it clear that they won’t let the credit crisis stretch that night out unnecessarily. A healing recession should not become a destructive slump. What is required is an “in-and-out” commitment to financial support. The “in” part is already well advanced. The total value of programmes from central banks and governments is now several trillion dollars. There are signs that the financial system may be over the worst, but its recovery is still too slow. More support may be needed. So the G-20 should commit to providing further help for countries in trouble and banks in need of capital. The politicians should also pressure banks to increase their lending. The “out” side comes later, but should be sketched out. By the time this recession is over, governments will have lent to, or hold equity in, too many banks and companies. That will hurt the economy. The enlarged government role may be the unfortunate result of past lax oversight. But inadequate regulation should not be replaced by central planning. There should be timetables for governments to sell their stakes and get their loans paid off. Third, the leaders should do something that comes naturally to politicians—offer goodies to voters. Fiscal stimulus, whether through tax cuts or carefully targeted additional spending, is necessary to supplement more direct support of the financial system. The prospect of generous help from governments should reduce widespread fear among consumers and companies, which is causing them to cut back spending, making a bad situation worse. The political sweetness of this deficit spending should be tempered by a bitter consideration. Too much government borrowing is risky. It can lead to currency crises and higher inflation. And the sums involved are large. To fund its deficit and its financial support programmes, the US is already expected to issue $1.5 trillion of new debt next year, 30% of the total now outstanding. Though absent, Obama should be particularly receptive to a fourth piece of advice for the leaders. He can take the lead on rethinking the way the financial world works. The previously prevailing model—overly light regulation, unchecked international flows of speculative investments, lax monetary policy—has failed miserably. It’s time to develop a new approach. That sounds fun and challenging, just the sort of thing that people dream of when they go into government. But the work will also be embarrassing for many whose past policies led to the current crisis. They will have to admit their view of the financial world was fundamentally wrong. Admitting failure may be bitter, but it is better than repeating it. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:44 pm Penguin bets big on Nilekani’s Imagining India book debutNew Delhi: Nandan Nilekani, normally unflappable, lost his cool when he was asked in an interview why he was becoming an author. What do you have left to prove? Are you playing at being an author? “What do you mean?” Nilekani, co-founder and co-chairman of software maker Infosys Technologies Ltd, had retorted in the interview he gave for a profile published in the 2 August edition of Lounge. “I have worked hard on this. Every single idea in that book is mine. I am going out on a limb here; opening myself up to criticism; people I don’t know can take potshots at me.” Nilekani’s much anticipated book, Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century, will be launched on 24 November in New Delhi, and in his hometown Bangalore three days later, followed by other Indian cities, including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The book will also be released in the US and elsewhere in 2009. Imagining India will also mark the India debut of Penguin Books Ltd’s non-fiction imprint Allen Lane, named after the publisher’s founder. The list of authors published under the label include economists Amartya Sen, Thomas Friedman and Joseph Stiglitz; journalist Malcolm Gladwell, American film-maker Michael Moore and biologist Richard Dawkins. “It’s a definitive book on India,” says Penguin Books’ India managing editor Udayan Mitra on Nilekani’s debut offering. “It’s the kind of book that has an international appeal. Nilekani has been in the forefront of IT revolution in India and is one of the most recognized faces globally”. Imagining India is divided into four parts: The first dwells on topics, including globalization, India’s demographic advantage, the changing role of the entrepreneur and technology. The second is about the infrastructural challenges and the third looks at issues such as conflicting political ideologies, labour reform and higher education. The last section deals with democracy and technology, health, pensions and entitlements, the environment and energy.  “There is a slew of books on India’s future that make Indians feel good; they inculcate an air of self-congratulation,” said historian-author Ramachandra Guha, a longtime friend of Nilekani, who was one of the first to see a draft of the book. “Nandan’s book makes you think and introspect about India’s future.” “It is a very well-written, carefully argued book,” Guha added. “He has accurately identified the problems and faultlines, and suggested solutions. Of course, anyone reading it won’t agree with it 100%, but will (nevertheless) be stimulated, provoked and informed.” Guha said he himself doesn’t share Nilekani’s optimism because “by temperament, I am more sceptical” as historians usually tend to be. Penguin is betting big on Imagining India. Though the publisher isn’t disclosing the precise number of copies it is printing, the book will have the biggest print run this year for a book by the publisher, says Mitra. The last biggest print for Penguin this year has been 25,000 copies, but Mitra declined to name the book. In the next nine months, the Allen Lane imprint’s line-up in India will include former presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and K.R. Narayanan, Infosys co-founder and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and author-activist Arundhati Roy. Other non-fiction imprints available in India include Little, Brown and Co. and Weidenfeld and Nicolson from Hachette, Knopf from Random House and Fourth Estate from HarperCollins Publishers. “Imprint strategy is a recent thing in India and it’s to be seen how many imprints can be spun out successfully here,” says Thomas Abraham, managing director, Hachette India, part of Paris-based publishing group Hachette Livre SA. Imprints help publishers focus on a “particular genre and certain kinds of books”, says Yogesh Sharma, general manager for sales and operations at HarperCollins Publishers India Ltd. “But at the end of the day, it is the author which really matters”, Sharma says, adding: “Readers really do not care who publishes (pulp fiction author) Sidney Sheldon.” Penguin plans to put a major effort into promoting Imagining India over the next several months, including a six-city tour by Nilekani, tie-ups with mobile service providers and a website (www.imaginingindia.com) to engage readers in a discussion on India. It also plans a separate marketing strategy for academic institutions and says it is in talks with a coffee chain for specifically reaching out to young people. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:44 pm Outflows from income funds quicken in OctData for redemptions and new sales of mutual funds are now available for October.  Total redemptions amounted to Rs3.86 trillion during the month, well below the previous month’s redemptions of Rs4.89 trillion. In July and August, too, redemptions were higher than in October. The impact of the credit crunch can be seen from the net outflows from income. During October, net outflows from income funds were Rs52,820 crore, on top of Rs26,665 crore worth of net outflows in September. The only other month in this fiscal year that saw an outflow in income funds was during June. Rather surprisingly, in view of the hullabaloo about liquid funds, there were actually net inflows into these in October amounting to Rs3,256 crore, compared with a net outflow of Rs19,675 crore in September. This net inflow in October was more than that in July, while liquid funds had seen a modest net outflow in August. Also See: Rising Outflows (Graphic) Despite the carnage in the stock markets, however, there have been remarkably little redemptions from equity mutual funds. In October, net outflows from equity funds totalled Rs706 crore, compared with an inflow of Rs604 crore in the previous month. In October, fresh inflows into equity funds were Rs1,965 crore, while outflows were Rs2,671 crore. October also saw a net withdrawal from gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) for the first time this fiscal as investors realized the contrarian gold call was not paying dividends. But volumes in gold ETFs continue to be low. Gilt funds, on the other hand, saw a lot of inflows during October, probably on account of investors betting on further interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India. But October has been the worst month so far in the year that began in April in terms of net outflows from funds. The large net outflows in September and October reflect the credit crunch. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:16 pm
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