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Nov to be worse than Oct; may not meet sale target: HyundaiH S Lheem, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor India, said, This year, our business plan was [sale of] 5.3 lakh units, combining together both the domestic and exports. For exports, our orders have seen a 25% drop. So I think we cannot meet our original business plan.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 6:11 pm TV channels let viewers \'read\' their moviesDid you ever struggle to follow the unfamiliar accents in an English movie? Or fretted over that dialogue you didn\'t hear well? Sit back, relax and get ready to read your movie.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 5:59 pm Himatsingka withdraws case against HDFC Bank - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:44 pm Pantaloon Retail divests stake in JVMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's top listed retailer Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd said on Monday it has divested its holding in its equal joint venture with British airport retailer Alpha Group Plc.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:40 pm RBI allows housing finance cos to raise funds from overseas - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:37 pm Wipro shrugs off slowdown fearsNew Delhi: India’s second largest software exporter Wipro Technologies has brushed aside slowdown fears saying the industry is doing fine. “Industry is doing fine. There is a global slowdown. But there is no slowdown in India so far. If there is a global slowdown, you can’t be that naive to say, there won’t be any impact,” Chairman Wipro Azim Premji said. Premji’s exuberance comes amid fears that IT exports revenue could go down to 21-24% from the earlier 30-32%. On Sunday, Infosys Technologies Co-Chairman Nandan Nilekani had said IT services growth would slow down due to the ongoing financial turmoil. But the IT industry feels they would be in a position to take advantage of the next growth cycle. “Industry is resilient enough to deal with the challenges” is the unanimous opinion of experts. “There is a global scenario, which is unprecedented and it would have an impact on everyone. But the IT industry has demonstrated time and again that it is resilient enough to deal with these challenges. “We had a similar situation earlier in 2001, but we were able to not only get out of that but also take advantage of the situation. I am sure, companies are following the right strategies to wait for the situation to subside and then take advantage of the next cycle of growth,” he added but declined any comment on specific numbers. Nasscom had initially projected a 21-24% growth for the current financial year, but the software body has now stated that the industry may see slower growth rates during the second half (against the year-ago period) in the wake of the global financial crisis. Nasscom will complete the “review process” of the FY’09 export growth targets, sometime next month. Wipro is next only to Infosys in terms of export revenue. Satyam and Infosys have already revised their dollar forecast for the year downward due to the slowdown on account of rupee depreciation and volume reduction. The optimism is also reflected in the hiring plans of IT majors. Infosys plans to hire 25,000 employees in the current financial year, while Tata Consultancy Services has plans to hire 30,000-35,000 people, and Wipro and Satyam Computer Services intend hiring 14,000 to 18,000 IT professionals, respectively. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:35 pm Citigroup to cut up to 50,000 jobs - CNBCNEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc plans to cut up to 50,000 jobs, CNBC television said on Monday, as souring economies and global credit conditions cause the U.S. bank with the farthest reach worldwide to retrench.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:33 pm Manpower to cut five percent jobs in IndiaEmployment services major Manpower Inc Monday said it would shed around five percent of its Indian workforce as part of cost-cutting measures in the background of the global economic downturn.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:33 pm 'Demand for affordable housing still strong'Demand for 'affordable housing' is still strong in India and first-time home buyers would continue to drive the realty segment, a top industry official said here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:31 pm Banks lead losses as BSE Sensex falls 1 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex fell 1.01 percent to its lowest close since late October on Monday, taking losses over four days to 11.8 percent as investors worried about how companies would be hit by a deteriorating global economy.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:29 pm Oil falls towards $56 after G20 disappointsLONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell towards $56 a barrel on Monday, not far above its lowest in almost two years, after a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies ended with few concrete proposals on dealing with global recession.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:28 pm Ranbaxy says responds to U.S. FDA probeNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Generics drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories has responded to a U.S. probe into procedural violations at two of its Indian plants and expects an early resolution, its chief executive said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:26 pm Microsoft Corp launches Windows HPC Server 2008Bangalore: Microsoft Corporation India on Monday launched the Release-to-Manufacture of Windows HPC server 2008, its latest offering in the high performance computing segment. With this, Windows HPC Server 2008 will be available to independent software vendors and computer manufacturers for final distribution, a release said. Windows HPC server 2008 provides an easy-to-deploy cost-effective and scalable high-performance computing solution-which combines the power of Windows server platform with rich,out-of-the-box functionality to help enhance productivity and reduce complexity of any given HPC environment. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:21 pm Yale University announces $75 m India initiativeUS-based Yale University, which offers courses on Hindi, Sanskrit and Tamil, today launched an India initiative with a corpus of USD 75 millionSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:21 pm Microsoft Corp launches Windows HPC Server 2008Bangalore: Microsoft Corporation India on Monday launched the Release-to-Manufacture of Windows HPC server 2008, its latest offering in the high performance computing segment. With this, Windows HPC Server 2008 will be available to independent software vendors and computer manufacturers for final distribution, a release said. Windows HPC server 2008 provides an easy-to-deploy cost-effective and scalable high-performance computing solution-which combines the power of Windows server platform with rich,out-of-the-box functionality to help enhance productivity and reduce complexity of any given HPC environment. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:21 pm Japan in recession, IMF needs money, autos stressedLONDON (Reuters) - Japan became the latest major economy to fall into recession on Monday with France close behind, and the IMF said it needed at least $100 billion to fight an economic crisis enveloping the world.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:17 pm RBI allows housing finance cos to raise funds from overseasMumbai: The Reserve Bank on Monday allowed the cash-starved housing finance companies to raise short-term foreign currency-denominated funds from overseas markets. Housing finance companies could raise these resources up to $10 million or 50% of their net owned fund, whichever is higher, for refinancing the short-term liability, RBI said in a release. As such, these companies cannot use these funds for creating fresh assets, the central bank said. These funds should have a maximum maturity of three years and must be swapped into rupee for the entire maturity, the release said. Housing finance companies can raise these funds from only those lenders, which are multilateral or bilateral financial institutions and foreign equity holders with minimum direct equity holdings of 25%, it added. Besides, these funds can be raised at interest rates not more than 200 points above London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), RBI said. Apart from taking a slew of liquidity-easing measures in general, RBI had recently reduced provisioning requirements for the housing sector. The housing market in India is facing a downturn due to general slowdown, with many real estate sector shares taking a beating in the stock market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:10 pm Fortis earmarks $500 mn for acquisitionsUnperturbed by the economic slowdown, Fortis Healthcare is planning to invest around $500 million for expanding operations, and is already in talks with several international as well as domestic hospitals for acquiring stakes, a top official said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:02 pm Equities recover on short covering, still end redIn a volatile day of trading, Indian equities markets recovered somewhat late afternoon Monday to end marginally down with a key index losing just 1 percent from its previous close last Friday after going below the psychologically important 9,000 mark mid-afternoon.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:01 pm Rajasthan firm to promote Jharkhand silk productsA Rajasthan-based firm will promote silk products manufactured in Jharkhand to help the state generate around Rs.20 million annually, the government said here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Eco summit: Cos rule out layoffs but defer investment plansOn the second day of the India Economic Summit, the Heads of leading corporates sounded very cautious. No major layoffs have been planned, as of yet. There are no retrenchments plans either. Most corporates feel that there is a scope to cut interest rates further.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 1:00 pm Received several EoIs from foreign airlines: Vijay Mallya - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:56 pm Citigroup chairman doesn’t deny job cuts are nearBy AP Dubai: Citigroup Inc.’s chairman hinted Monday the banking giant will announce more job cuts later in the day, and didn’t rule out the possibility executives will follow peers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and forgo bonuses. Various reports have suggested Citi may be looking to shed thousands more jobs through layoffs and attrition. Speaking briefly to The Associated Press in Dubai on Monday, chairman Winfried Bischoff said the company will make an announcement about its plans at 9 a.m. New York time, an hour after a town-hall meeting for employees is scheduled. He did not deny that job cuts are coming but declined to comment further. Bischoff’s comments came shortly after he told attendees at the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum that it would be irresponsible for Citi and other companies not to look at staffing needs in the event of a prolonged economic downturn. “What all of us have done and perhaps injudiciously we’ve added a lot of people over ... this very benign period,” he said. “If there is a reversion to the mean ... those job losses will obviously fall particularly heavily on the financial sector,” he added. “Certainly they will fall particularly heavily on London and New York.” Some reports have suggested Citi could be eyeing cutbacks of up to 10 % of its work force. Bischoff said the company loses about 8% of its employees annually through natural turnover. In his comments to the AP, Bischoff did not rule out the likelihood that Citi’s leaders would go without bonuses this year, a move that would effectively amount to a substantial pay cut for the company’s executives. “Watch this space,” he said when asked about lost bonuses. Goldman Sachs put pressure on other Wall Street firms to reconsider 2008 bonus packages when it said Sunday that CEO Lloyd Blankfein and six other top executives will not get cash or stock bonuses this year. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:52 pm Citigroup chairman doesn’t deny job cuts are nearBy AP Dubai: Citigroup Inc.’s chairman hinted Monday the banking giant will announce more job cuts later in the day, and didn’t rule out the possibility executives will follow peers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and forgo bonuses. Various reports have suggested Citi may be looking to shed thousands more jobs through layoffs and attrition. Speaking briefly to The Associated Press in Dubai on Monday, chairman Winfried Bischoff said the company will make an announcement about its plans at 9 a.m. New York time, an hour after a town-hall meeting for employees is scheduled. He did not deny that job cuts are coming but declined to comment further. Bischoff’s comments came shortly after he told attendees at the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum that it would be irresponsible for Citi and other companies not to look at staffing needs in the event of a prolonged economic downturn. “What all of us have done and perhaps injudiciously we’ve added a lot of people over ... this very benign period,” he said. “If there is a reversion to the mean ... those job losses will obviously fall particularly heavily on the financial sector,” he added. “Certainly they will fall particularly heavily on London and New York.” Some reports have suggested Citi could be eyeing cutbacks of up to 10 % of its work force. Bischoff said the company loses about 8% of its employees annually through natural turnover. In his comments to the AP, Bischoff did not rule out the likelihood that Citi’s leaders would go without bonuses this year, a move that would effectively amount to a substantial pay cut for the company’s executives. “Watch this space,” he said when asked about lost bonuses. Goldman Sachs put pressure on other Wall Street firms to reconsider 2008 bonus packages when it said Sunday that CEO Lloyd Blankfein and six other top executives will not get cash or stock bonuses this year. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:52 pm Cisco to save $2 b from restructuring - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:39 pm HCL unveils laptops designed for Indian conditionsPersonal computer manufacturer HCL Infosystems has unveiled a range of laptops that it says is ideal for Indian tropical conditions.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:33 pm Ashok Leyland to stabilise inventory levels by year-endThe country's leading truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland Ltd hopes to bring down its inventory to normal level by the year-end, a top official said here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:32 pm Cisco to save $2 bn from restructuring, but no layoffGlobal network applications major Cisco hopes to save $2 billion from restructuring and streamlining operations across the globe, the company said here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:31 pm StanChart aims for top 5 in India, double incomeLONDON (Reuters) - Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered aims to be one of India's top five banks by revenues and to double its income from the country in the next four years, it said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:27 pm Iffco’s Paradip unit to produce 3 mn tonnes of DAP by 2010PTI Paradip: Amid shortage of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser in the country, the revamped IFFCO’s Paradip unit is expected to increase DAP production up to three million tonnes in the next two years. “We are aiming to step up DAP production to three million tonnes by 2010,” IFFCO’s Paradip Unit Executive Director M R Patel told PTI. After takeover of Paradip plant from Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd in 2005 at Rs2,080 crore, the country’s largest fertiliser producing cooperative, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) has spent Rs1,000 crore to revamp and resume production, he said. After acquisition, the Paradip Unit or Paradip Phosphates Fertiliser Complex -- produced only 30,000 tonnes of DAP/NPK and this gradually scaled up to 7.5 lakh tonnes in 2006-07 and 8.6 lakh tonnes in 2007-08. “The production target for 2008-09 is 15 lakh tonnes and we have so far produced 7.90 lakh tonnes of DAP/NPK, a key fertiliser in agriculture,” Patel said, adding that the unit has already made a profit of Rs400 crore in the first nine months of current fiscal. He further said the acquisition of plant closer to sea port has also helped the cooperative to save transportation cost by up to Rs200 crore a year With the expansion and acquisition, IFFCO’s annual capacity of DAP/NPK has increased to 4.3 million tonnes. “With addition of Paradip unit, IFFCO is poised to make the country self-reliant in indigenous phosphatic fertiliser by reducing dependency on imported fertiliser,” he said. DAP is produced in the country by IFFCO and Paradip Phosphates Ltd (PPL). DAP demand is about 7.3 million tonnes. Of which, IFFCO produces 4.3 million tonnes and PPL 1.2 million tonnes and the rest is imported. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:25 pm ICICI Prudential total collection grows 56%PTI Mangalore: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has posted a growth of 56% in total premium collection at Rs6,726 crore for the half year ended on 30 September, this year, a top official of the company said. The company posted a growth of 56% in garnering total received premium-new business plus renewal of Rs6,726 crore against Rs4,311 crore during the corresponding period in the financial year 2007, company’s Senior Vice-President and Head-Finance Satyan Jambunathan told reporters here today. Renewal premium, one of the key indicators of long-term sustainability of the business, showed strong growth of 90% and stood at Rs3,423 crore for 2008-09, he said. The new business retail weighed premium for the half year ended 30 September, this year, stood at Rs2,650 crore and increased by 22% compared with the same period in fiscal 2008 and the Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE) for the half year ending 30 September, stood at Rs2,760 crore and increased by 25% compared with the corresponding period of last year, he said. The company’s New Business Profit (NBP) stood at Rs522 crore and company continues to be the leading life insurance player with a new business market share of 13.5% for the half year ended 30 September 2008, which is significantly higher than our market share of 12.7% for the year ended on 31 March, this year, Jambunathan said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:23 pm US in recession, jobless to peak at 7.5%: Survey!The US economy is in recession and will contract at a faster pace in the fourth quarter, extending the decline into early 2009 as high unemployment crimps consumer spending, a survey showed.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:18 pm Financial meltdown: Japan slips into recession as economy contracts!Japan`s economy, the second largest in the world, slipped into recession in the third quarter as companies slashed investment to weather the financial crisis, official data showed on Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:18 pm Sensex down 159 points in choppy morning trade!Continuing its slide, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by more than 159 points in early choppy trade on Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:18 pm Oil prices fall in Asia!Oil prices fell in Asia on Monday after hopes for an OPEC production cut later this month were dashed while grim economic news mounted, analysts said.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:18 pm Asian stocks rise as bargains sought!Asian stocks mostly rose and government bonds cut their gains on Monday, on hopes for more government rescues of limping industries and as long-term investors scooped up cheap shares.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:18 pm Cost pressures to ease, won\'t raise product prices: GodrejAdi Godrej, CMD, Godrej said he expects cost pressures easing and has no plans to raise consumer product prices. Godrej said FMCG is not impacted by the current slowdown and it wont be impacted in future too. Godrej also assures that the company can overcome this slowdown with further liquidity injection.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:17 pm Bajaj Auto\'s capex plans remain unchanged: Rahul BajajRahul Bajaj, Chairman and Managing director, Bajaj Group said the joint venture or JV with RenaultNissan is still under negotiation and Bajaj will launch four wheeler independent of RenaultNissan JV. He said Bajaj Auto is not going slow on capex, and won\'t cut production too.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:10 pm Hijacked ship leaves for Mumbai after releaseMumbai: The hijacked Japanese merchant ship released with 18 Indian sailors on board on Monday headed towards Mumbai and is being escorted by US-led coalition forces to safe waters from the danger zone in the Gulf of Aden. With some of the crew members taking ill, the option of docking the ship in the nearest Gulf port and flying out the sailors who have gone through a 62-day ordeal is also being considered. Somali pirates released the ship “MT Stolt Valor” in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday after a ransom amount between $1 million to $2.5 million was paid reportedly by the Japanese owners following negotiations. The vessel, which was hjacked on 15 September, is currently cruising at a “low speed” and is expected to be in safe waters by Tuesday. It is expected to reach Mumbai in about four days. There were reports that since the crew members had endured much over the past two months they would be flown to Mumbai from the Gulf and another crew will sail the ship home. Dehradun-based Seema Goyal, wife of the ship’s master Capt. Prabhat Kumar Goyal, said the information she got from the crew was that the ship was short of fuel and was moving at “very low speed” and is expected to be out of troubled waters by Tuesday. The crew is keen that the ship return to Mumbai, she said. Along with the Indian crew, two Filipinos, a Russian and Bangladeshi were also released. The health of Indian sailors is “just okay”, Seema said, adding “Healthwise, they are not well,” she said. Capt. Rangnekar of Ebony Shipping said coalition forces are overseeing the ship’s voyage from the danger zone to the safety corridor. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:03 pm See increasing trend of affordable housing: Mahindra LifeSpeaking on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit, Arun Nanda, Executive Director, Mahindra Mahindra Ltd (Vice Chairman, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd), said he sees some slowdown in the next threefour months, but expects that situation in housing finance will improve, thus increasing the trend of affordable housing.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:52 am Infosys sticks to revenue guidance for Q3The countrys second-largest software exporter, Infosys Technologies, said on Monday that it will stick to its revenue guidance for the third quarterSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:45 am Citi downgrades India's economic growth rate to 6.8%Global financial major Citigroup has lowered India's economic growth rate projection to 6.8 per cent from 7.2 per cent for this fiscalSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:41 am Indian State Oil Officers Postpone Start of Strike (Update1) - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:39 am Yale Univ announces $75 mn India initiativePTI New Delhi: US-based Yale University, which offers courses on Hindi, Sanskrit and Tamil, today launched an India initiative with a corpus of $75 million (about Rs375 crore) to increase engagement with the country. “The initiative will create new faculty positions on India specific courses and new curriculum across the arts and science disciplines,” Yale University President Richard C Levin said here. In addition, it would expand the university’s visibility in and engagement with India and South Asia through intensified student recruitment efforts, faculty and student exchanges and research partnership. As part of this initiative, the University would triple the number of faculty from India to about 30 in specialist position, he said. On funding Levin said, Yale has committed $30 million of its own unrestricted endowment resources to this enterprise and it expects to raise at least $20 million from donors within next year. Besides, a gift of $5 million from Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman of Infosys, has enabled the university to leverage its own resources and fund raising to catalyze the initiative, he said. At the occasion, Nilekani said as India becomes a leading nation of the 21st century, it is imperative that a pre-eminent global institution like Yale have a deep and wide base of India studies. “We expect many more connection between Yale and India in the years ahead,” he said. The MacMillan Centre of the University has already built up the course offerings on India and South Asia, including language offerings in Hindi, Sanskrit and Tamil. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:37 am Oil falls below $56 after inconclusive G-20 summitPerth: Oil fell over $1 to below $56 a barrel on Monday, dropping to near its lowest in almost two years after a meeting of the Group of 20 major economies ended with few actual proposals on how they would combat a global recession. News that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may wait until its meeting on 17 December, instead of the end of November, to make a decision on whether to cut production targets again, also weighed on prices. US light crude for December delivery fell $1.28 to $55.76 a barrel by 6:40am (IST), after having fallen earlier to $55.60, just off the $54.67 a barrel low it hit on Thursday, its weakest since January 2007. London Brent crude fell 85 cents to $53.39. “G20 leaders may have urged fast action to deal with the global financial crisis, but concern over the weakened international economic outlook still weighs heavily,” said David Moore, a commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Governments from Washington to Beijing agreed on Saturday to a raft of fiscal and monetary steps to rescue the global economy but it was left to individual governments to tailor their responses to their particular circumstances and troubled industries. Although the package of economic rescue measures agreed by the G-20 countries sought to settle volatile markets and calm consumer anxieties about leaders’ ability to work together, the proposals did little to alleviate investors’ fears. On Monday, US stock index futures slipped, while the yen and the US dollar rose as investors turned more risk adverse on assessments that the meeting yielded no concrete moves to prevent the world from sliding into a deep recession. Recession The worst financial crisis in 70 years has pushed a growing number of countries into recession, heightening fears of a sharp slowdown in near-term world energy demand and accelerating oil’s tumble from its July peak of over $147. Japan, the world’s second-biggest economy, shrank 0.1% in the third quarter, marking its first recession for the first time in seven years and following other industrialised economies - including Italy, Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore - into recession as exports were hit by weakening global demand. Oil fell over 2% on Friday after news of a euro zone recession and data showing a record decline in US retail sales stirred concerns of a further drop in fuel demand. Opec may have to wait until December to take action to reach a preferred oil price range of between $70-$90 a barrel because the effect of its latest cut is not yet clear, the group’s president said on Sunday. Chakib Khelil told a press conference that he saw a meeting of Opec ministers in Cairo on 29 November as more of a brainstorming session that might formulate recommendations for action at Opec’s gathering in Algeria on 17 December. The continuing fall in the oil price has prompted several Opec members to call for a further cut in production as they face reduced revenues and a struggle to finance domestic projects. Iran wants Opec to cut oil output by a further 1-1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) when it meets in Cairo later this month, while Kuwait, Yemen and Libya have also voiced concern about the low oil price. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:31 am Air India looks to raise funds through lease-back of aircraftPTI Mumbai: Hit by the global financial meltdown coupled with mounting losses, national air-carrier, Air India, plans to raise $165 million through sale and lease-back some of its aircraft. National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), which is the holding compnay of Air India, has floated global tenders for sale and lease-back of six of its aircraft for a period of seven years. The aircraft are one Boeing 747-400 and five Airbus A320-200. The reserve price is set at $65 million for the B747-400 aircraft and $20 million per aircraft for the A320-200 aircraft, the state-run airline said in its bid document. Air India had last year posted losses to the tune of Rs2,100-crore and this year its losses are likely to be in the range of Rs4,000-crore. Amidst these losses, the airlines has sought a bailout package from the Government in the form of both soft loans and equity infusion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:29 am UPDATE 1-India's JSW Steel in JV with UK's Severfield - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:24 am No slowdown in real estate projects: M&MNew Delhi: Mahindra and Mahindra on Monday said there is no slowdown in its real estate projects, even though there is slump in demand. “We are not slowing down on any of our projects. Jaipur is rocking, Chennai is doing well, city-based projects such as Faridabad are also doing well”, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd Executive Director Arun Nanda said on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. Fundamentals of real estate have not changed. Nanda said, adding there were no funding issues for its projects and the company’s affordable housing projects are not going to disappear. “We have actually got cash in the bank”, he said, adding there is a huge demand in Rs30 to 40 lakh apartments segment. He, however, said the housing loan segment is facing problems and investors are not coming forward. “Demand has been put on back-burner and interest rates are hurting people,” he said. Nanda also said that the group is awaiting Sebi approval for the initial public offering of Mahindra Holidays and Resorts Ltd. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:21 am Markets down, Sensex sheds 94 ptsMumbai: In alternate bouts of buying and selling, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday closed lower by over 90 points after dipping below 9,000 level during the day on selling-spree by funds, showing G-20 leaders pledge to revive economies had no impact on local bourses. The BSE barometer closed down by 94.41 points at 9,291.01. With selling pressure intensifying, it even plunged by nearly 428 points to touch the intra-day low of 8,956.68 points. The 30-share Sensex had slipped below 8,000 level at 7,697 points on 27 October last. The National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, also fell by 10.80 points at 2,799.55. Brokers said selling pressure intensified with investors forseeing economic outlook deteriorating as Japan joined the list of economies in recession. They said investors were also worried because the leaders of G-20 nations failed to produce concrete measures to tackle the global crisis. At the G-20 summit on Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned that the financial meltdown has exploded into a systemic crisis, while world leaders called for a strong regulatory mechanism to bring transparency in financial system and stimulate growth to beat recession. Marketmen said trading sentiment were dampened following rating agency JPMorgan’s cutting its forecast for India’s economic growth. Realty sector index suffered the most by losing 5.17 % at 1907.51 with all the 14 components led by Sobha Developers and DLF ended in negative zone. Banking sector index was second worst performer by losing 3.87% at 4956.04. Banking stocks such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank led the fall as investors fretted a weakening economy would raise defaults. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:21 am HCL unveils laptops for Indian conditionsPersonal computer manufacturer HCL Infosystems has unveiled a range of laptops that it says is ideal for Indian tropical conditions.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:18 am Comexes' turnover soars by 43% till Oct - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:16 am Nifty ends below 2800; bank, realty, metal stocks dip - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:13 am Biz honchos like ArcelorMittal, Rio Tinto vie for CIL minesCorporate biggies like Rio Tinto, ArcelorMittal, Reliance, Sterlite, Essar and JSW Steel have evinced interest in reviving 18 abandoned mines of Coal India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 11:11 am Obama quits Senate, starts building core teamWashington: “Ending one journey to begin another”, President-elect Barack Obama on Monday officially quit the US Senate to concentrate on assembling his core team that will serve him in his historic journey to the White House. By resigning from the Senate, the 47-year-old first-time Democratic Senator from Illinois, who defeated his Republican rival John McCain in the 4 November presidential election, has removed himself from any official role in the lame-duck session of Congress that will convene this week. Obama announced his resignation from the Senate in a letter published in Illinois newspapers, telling his constituents, “I will never forget, and will forever be grateful, to the men and women of this great state who made my life in public service possible”. Observing that he is “ending one journey to begin another”, Obama said that he is stepping down “to prepare for the responsibilities I will assume as our nation’s next president”. Obama will be sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States on 20 January, 2009. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has said he will appoint a replacement senator by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Obama has also laid more groundwork for the start of his administration by deciding on additional members of his senior staff, including a White House counsel, as he prepared to meet with Senator McCain at his transition office in downtown Chicago. The meeting comes days after Obama sat down separately with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, both of whom opposed him in the Democratic primaries. Obama has not yet announced any Cabinet selections, although the meetings with Clinton and Richardson triggered speculation that one was imminent, since both are said to be on his shortlist for secretary of state. While Congress debates how best to help the economy, Obama is expected to continue building his governing team in the coming days, Washington Post reported. Yesterday, Obama made some top-tier appointments to the White House. Washington lawyer Gregory B Craig will be White House counsel, it said, quoting a person involved in the transition. Craig had defended Bill Clinton against impeachment charges. During the campaign, Craig became a close adviser to Obama, and he served as the stand-in for McCain during debate preparations. Obama’s Senate chief of staff, Peter M Rouse, was officially announced as a senior White House adviser. Two deputy chiefs of staff were also announced: Jim Messina and Mona K Sutphen. Thus far, Obama’s selections have been mostly a mix of Washington veterans — many with ties to the Clinton administration — and trusted campaign aides. Late last week, the president-elect named close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett as a senior White House aide. Campaign strategist David Axelrod will also hold a senior advisory role. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 10:57 am 'Demand for affordable housing still strong' - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 10:56 am Isro scientists develop hydrogen fuel cells to power busBangalore: India’s space scientists have developed hydrogen fuel cells to power an automobile bus by leveraging their know-how of the homegrown cryogenic technology for rockets. The two-year effort has yielded positive results and the scientists are now readying for the fuel cells to be fitted into a bus. “That’s not exactly the cryogenic technology... (It’s) liquid hydrogen handling and that’s where we have some expertise. So, we have finalised the design”, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair said. According to Honorary Adviser of Isro V Gnana Gandhi leading the technical team in this project, Isro and Tata Motors entered into an MoU in 2006 to design and develop an automobile bus using hydrogen as a fuel through fuel cell route. Nair said: “Tatas are taking the responsibility for the locomotive part of it, and hydrogen handling system also. First protomodel has been assembled. Results are good. May be next year, it should be on the road.” Gandhi said: “We are planning to integrate the system in the first quarter of next year (January-March 2009), and vehicle integration in the second quarter”. He said the hydrogen cells are a spin-off of the cryogenic technology that Isro has been developing for the last few years. Isro officials said the agency entered into a tie-up with Tata Motors because it did not have expertise in automobiles. Gandhi said the Isro team had generated technical specifications for all the elements and general specifications for the bus, while preliminary and detailed design review for all components and subsystems have been completed. Flow and thermal analysis for critical components have been carried out. Most of the components, including gaseous hydrogen and air compressors, coolant pumps, hydrogen storage system, regulating system and ejectors, have been realised. Explaining how the whole system works, Gandhi said hydrogen would be fed to the fuel cells which would then produce 80 kw of electric power to drive the bus. “We are planning to drive a bus... a CNG-type bus. Hydrogen in eight bottles at high pressure is stored at the top of the bus. Gandhi said the cost of running hydrogen-fuel powered bus would be higher than the conventional vehicles run on diesel, since its environmental-friendly and zero-pollution would go a long way in ridding cities of vehicular pollution and enable earning of carbon credits. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 10:42 am SBI hikes interest rates on FCNR (B), NRE (Rupee) deposits - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 17 Nov 2008 | 10:22 am 'Foreign airlines interested in Kingfisher stake'Vijay Mallya said he has been approached by international carriers for a stake in his airline, and asked the government to first lift the bar on foreign shareholding in airlines.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 9:57 am Infosys: currency moves to impact Q3 revenueNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 software services exporter, will see an adverse impact on its December quarter revenue from the rise of the dollar against other currencies, its chief executive said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 9:50 am Government preparing package for exporters: Kamal NathThe government is preparing a package to give exporters a 'level-playing field' in the face of a decline in export growth rate with western economies going into recession, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 9:01 am Received several EoIs from foreign airlines: Vijay MallyaVijay Mallya said he has asked the government to let foreign airlines buy up to 25% in domestic carriers. Mallya said he has received several expression of interest (EoIs) from foreign airlines and that strategic investment should be allowed in aviation.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 9:00 am L&T wins four contracts worth Rs1,637 croreMumbai: Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro on Monday won four orders worth Rs1,637 crore from HPCL-Mittal Energy and Hyderabad Metro Water Supply. The orders were won for carrying out water supply project and for setting up two power generation units, L&T said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. L&T bags order totalling Rs937 crore from Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and Delhi Jal Board, the company said. The company recieved an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) water supply project of value Rs582 crore from Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) under Godavari drinking water supply project phase-I. The project involves construction of trunk mains of MS pipe to bring treated water to Hyderabad city. The contract period is of 24 months. Click to read release Further, two EPC project from Delhi Jal Board valued at Rs355 crore were secured for designing, providing and commissioning of MS twin-pipeline. Both projects are to be completed in 21 months, the filing added. The company secured third order worth Rs700 crore from HPCL-MIttal Energy, a joint venture of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Mittal Energy Investments. The order was bagged by the chemical plant business unit of L&T engineering and construction division. The project involves setting up two 4,4000 TPA capacity Hydrogen generation unit for HMEL’s refinery in Punjab. Click to read second release The work includes residual process design, detailed engineering, pre-commissioning and commissioning, the company said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:52 am IT majors get more fixed price contractsThree of the top five IT service providers Infosys Technologies, Wipro and HCL Technologies have posted a yearonyear as well as a sequential rise in the proportion of fixed price contracts for quarter ended September 2008.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:47 am Lenders likely to loosen grip, offer more creditLenders are expected to loosen their purse strings to make available more credit in the coming days on the back of the likely reduction in interest rates, the Confederation of Indian Industry President, Mr K.V. Kamath, has said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:44 am Mastek closing down BPO practiceMidsize IT solutions firm Mastek Ltd is in the process of closing down its business process outsourcing practice.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:43 am JPMorgan cuts India growth forecast, sees rate cutsMUMBAI (Reuters) - JPMorgan has cut its forecast for India's economic growth in 2008/09 and 2009/10, it said in a note on Monday, adding that it expects aggressive rate cuts by the Reserve Bank to support the growth momentum.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:37 am No compromise on key issues in WTO talks - IndiaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will not compromise on some of the issues which have stalled world trade talks, such as protecting its farm sector, its trade and commerce minister said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:16 am RBI committed to ensuring liquidityNew Delhi: India’s central bank is committed to ensuring adequate liquidity in all the country’s financial markets, its deputy governor, Rakesh Mohan, said on Monday. “As you have seen in the last five weeks, we have been acting on a consistent basis to make sure financial markets work efficiently, that adequate liquidity is available in the system and also that credit flows smoothly given the current global and Indian economic conditions,” he said before a business conference. The Reserve Bank of India has taken a string of measures over the past few weeks to improve liquidity and boost growth, cutting its key lending rate - the repo - by 150 basis points to 7.5% and lowering banks’ reserve requirements. The central bank expects the economy to grow 7.5-8% in 2008/09 fiscal year, slowing from rates of around 9 percent in each of the last three financial years. RBI said it will conduct a special 14-day repo auction for $11.1 billion on Monday. The reversal of Monday’s auction will take place on 1 December, it said in a statement. The special repo facility was introduced on 14 October to meet liquidity needs of mutual funds for an allocated Rs20,000 crore. RBI has increased the facility to Rs60,000 crore to include liquidity needs of non-banking financial companies, and said it would be held every day until further notice. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 8:06 am Infosys seeks acquisitions in Europe, JapanDespite the global economic slowdown, India's second largest IT exporter Infosys Technologies on Monday said it was looking at mergers and acquisitions in Europe and Japan.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:45 am Supplier woes put US auto industry in dangerNew York: The financial woes of US automakers have grabbed Washington’s attention, but similar problems at auto suppliers have the potential to set off a cataclysmic chain of events in the industry if key parts makers run out of cash and fail. As with the automakers, auto suppliers’ sales have tumbled this year because of the steep drop in demand for new vehicles. That has forced suppliers to burn through their cash reserves and slash their costs to stay in business, said Craig Fitzgerald, an automotive analyst with Southfield, Michfield-based Plante & Moran PLLP, which advises about 400 small and midsize auto suppliers. Meanwhile, banks and other credit providers have become dead-set against lending to any company in the faltering automotive industry, making it difficult and expensive for suppliers to get needed financing. But if the companies at the bottom of the supply chain don’t find a way to recapitalize, Fitzgerald warned, numerous bankruptcies and liquidations among the small companies will set off a string of parts shortages that could reach all the way to the vehicle assembly line. The resulting disruptions could negate any help the government might give General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. In most cases, auto suppliers have their own suppliers, who in turn receive their parts from other companies, meaning that many automotive components pass through a chain of several companies before they’re sold to an automaker. Tom Wiethorn, co-owner of Craig Assembly, said orders for his St. Clair, Michigan, company’s hose connectors used in radiators that end up in GM and Ford vehicles have fallen significantly in recent months. As a result the company, which has $12 million in annual sales, has cut its work force by 20% to about 60 people and is worried that it could end up violating its debt agreements. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association is hoping to win a piece of a proposed rescue package that would use $25 billion of the $700 billion financial industry bailout to help GM, Ford and Chrysler. Top Republicans, however, have said the Wall Street money should not be used for the auto industry and would only postpone its demise. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama on Sunday called the industry “a dinosaur.” Yet even foreign automakers that build cars and trucks in the United States could be affected. Companies like Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., with plants scattered throughout the South and Midwest, get their parts from the vast, multilayered network of US suppliers that employs about 800,000 people. Dave Andrea, vice president of industry analysis and economics for the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, a division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, said that’s why lawmakers need to be looking at the US auto industry as a whole. Automakers generally only have a one- to two-shift supply of some key parts, Andrea said, making them very susceptible to supply chain disruptions. The nearly 3-month-long strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. this spring crippled truck production at GM, showing how fast a parts shortage can shut down assembly lines. GM’s production cuts led to millions in lost sales at other suppliers such as Lear Corp., Superior Industries International Inc. and Magna International Inc. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:40 am Supplier woes put US auto industry in dangerNew York: The financial woes of US automakers have grabbed Washington’s attention, but similar problems at auto suppliers have the potential to set off a cataclysmic chain of events in the industry if key parts makers run out of cash and fail. As with the automakers, auto suppliers’ sales have tumbled this year because of the steep drop in demand for new vehicles. That has forced suppliers to burn through their cash reserves and slash their costs to stay in business, said Craig Fitzgerald, an automotive analyst with Southfield, Michfield-based Plante & Moran PLLP, which advises about 400 small and midsize auto suppliers. Meanwhile, banks and other credit providers have become dead-set against lending to any company in the faltering automotive industry, making it difficult and expensive for suppliers to get needed financing. But if the companies at the bottom of the supply chain don’t find a way to recapitalize, Fitzgerald warned, numerous bankruptcies and liquidations among the small companies will set off a string of parts shortages that could reach all the way to the vehicle assembly line. The resulting disruptions could negate any help the government might give General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC. In most cases, auto suppliers have their own suppliers, who in turn receive their parts from other companies, meaning that many automotive components pass through a chain of several companies before they’re sold to an automaker. Tom Wiethorn, co-owner of Craig Assembly, said orders for his St. Clair, Michigan, company’s hose connectors used in radiators that end up in GM and Ford vehicles have fallen significantly in recent months. As a result the company, which has $12 million in annual sales, has cut its work force by 20% to about 60 people and is worried that it could end up violating its debt agreements. The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association is hoping to win a piece of a proposed rescue package that would use $25 billion of the $700 billion financial industry bailout to help GM, Ford and Chrysler. Top Republicans, however, have said the Wall Street money should not be used for the auto industry and would only postpone its demise. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama on Sunday called the industry “a dinosaur.” Yet even foreign automakers that build cars and trucks in the United States could be affected. Companies like Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., with plants scattered throughout the South and Midwest, get their parts from the vast, multilayered network of US suppliers that employs about 800,000 people. Dave Andrea, vice president of industry analysis and economics for the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, a division of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, said that’s why lawmakers need to be looking at the US auto industry as a whole. Automakers generally only have a one- to two-shift supply of some key parts, Andrea said, making them very susceptible to supply chain disruptions. The nearly 3-month-long strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. this spring crippled truck production at GM, showing how fast a parts shortage can shut down assembly lines. GM’s production cuts led to millions in lost sales at other suppliers such as Lear Corp., Superior Industries International Inc. and Magna International Inc. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:40 am India Equities in red, key index down 346 pointsIndian equities markets opened higher Monday but immediately began to shed value with a key index even going below the psychologically important 9,000 mark before again inching up to stay just above that mark two hours into trading.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:30 am No slowdown in real estate projects: M&MMahindra and Mahindra on Monday said there is no slowdown in its real estate projects, even as there is slump in demand.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:23 am Govt to review export target of $200 bnNot sure whether the export momentum could be sustained in the face of the global slowdown, the government today said it will review the $200 billion target set for the current fiscal.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:23 am Top executives at Goldman to forgo bonusesTop executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc have decided to forgo their 2008 bonuses, giving up potentially tens of millions of dollars in payouts in a year that saw market meltdown.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Nov 2008 | 7:23 am Top executives at Goldman to forgo bonusesNew York: Top executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have decided to forgo their 2008 bonuses, giving up potentially tens of millions of dollars in payouts in a year that saw market meltdown and economic downturn, a media report said. The Wall Street Journal said the move, which is being closely watched, may be followed by other players at Wall Street. After months of internal debate at Goldman, the paper said that the seven top executives at the firm, including Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, asked the board’s compensation committee to grant them no bonuses. The board approved the request on Sunday. The executives will be eligible for only their base salary, which is $600,000 for each. A company spokesman said the executives felt it was the right thing to do. “While the firm has distinguished itself through many aspects of the crisis, we cannot ignore the fact that we are part of an industry that is directly associated with the ongoing economic distress,” the firm spokesman said. The paper said it is not clear yet whether other firms will follow suit. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 6:33 am Telcos not to deduct TDS on payments to MTNL, BSNL: HCNew Delhi: In a relief to private telecom players, the Delhi High Court has ruled that no tax would be deducted at source on payments to be made by private players like Bharti and Vodafone (hitherto Hutch) and others to PSUs - MTNL or BSNL - for getting interconnection. Telcos are required to set up their own equipment and necessary infrastructure for operating and maintaining their networks. Interconnection merely helps completion of a call between two networks. Any operator who seeks interconnection from MTNL or BSNL needs to pay a fee as fixed by the telecom regulator Trai and the same (payment by private operators to PSUs) is reflected in their receipts for the taxation purposes. The court in its order pointed out, “the interconnect charges/port access charges cannot be regarded as fees for technical services”. Clarifying that the companies were not liable to deduct tax at source, the order dismissed appeals of the tax department and said, “the parties (telecom companies and MTNL/BSNL) are left to bear their own costs”. The tax department held the view that the telcos were liable to deduct TDS when they made payments in respect of the interconnect or port access charges as it was a technical service. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 6:33 am Republicans, Democrats debate over fund source for auto sectorWashington: The outgoing 110th US Congress is likely to witness another debate between the Democrats and the Republicans during its lame-duck session on Monday to discuss the source of funding $25 billion in loans to rescue the staggering auto industry in Detroit. The Bush administration has made it clear that it is not averse to helping the three auto giants - General Motors, Ford Motors and Chrysler LLC - but opposed the proposal of Democrats who have been insisting that the account of $700 billion financial bailout package approved by the Congress can be utilised for this purpose. One feeling inside and outside the Capitol Hill is that the House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be able to get the rescue package of $25 billions but the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee has not got even a single Republican supporting the idea of the auto funds coming out of the bailout package. “Spending billions of dollars of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root cause of crippling automakers’ competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy,” said Congressman John Boehner, the Minority Republican leader in the House from Ohio what has a huge automotive component. Some opposition to the idea has also come from the conservative Democrats who among other things have said the language for the $25 billion is not indicated in the bailout package. “Right now, I don’t think the votes. I don’t know if a single Republican is willing to support, so I want to be careful about bringing up a proposition that might fail,” remarked Connecticut Democrat Dodd. But the Republicans are even more pointed in their opposition to the idea. The administration point of view came from the Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez who told CNN that the money for the auto industry cannot come from the financial bailout package. “If you start that, where do you stop? There’s a line of companies of industries waiting at Treasury just to see if they can get their hands on those $700 billion. That is for the financial system, it’s to stabilise the financial system and that should not be used...,” Gutierrez said. Meanwhile, there is a strong political sentiment that the top executives of the auto industry cannot expect a free ride without some significant oversight as well as on the higher limits of compensation to the top management cadre. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 6:11 am Lion Nathan bids $4.9 bn for Coca-Cola AmatilMelbourne: Lion Nathan Ltd, Australia’s second-largest brewer, has launched a $4.9 billion bid for soft drinks group Coca-Cola Amatil, the latest move in a wave of industry consolidation. The cash and stock bid, pitched at a 25% premium to Coca-Cola Amatil’s share price, sent the target’s shares up but not as high as the offer value, as Coca-Cola Amatil said the bid had material weaknesses and looked cheap, based on recent deals. “CCL is definitely not too happy with it. So obviously there is still a risk that the whole deal doesn’t go through,” said Theo Maas, a partner at Fortis Investment Partners, which manages A$5 billion, including Lion Nathan shares. A takeover of Coca-Cola Amatil, 30% owned by US—based The Coca-Cola Company, would give Lion Nathan a 60% share of Australia’s A$10.3 billion soft drinks market as well as a canned fruits and vegetables business. Lion Nathan, 46% owned by Kirin Brewery Co said that the deal made sense as there was little cannibalisation between the businesses, but could generate A$100 to A$130 million mostly in savings on distribution to pubs, restaurants and caterers. “That coupled with the growth opportunities makes the deal compelling,” said Lion Nathan spokesman James Tait. Recent months have seen a flood of consolidation among global brewers. Coca-Cola Amatil also has a beer joint venture, Pacific Beverages, with SAB Miller Plc, selling Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Miller Genuine Draft. North American brewer Molson Coors Brewing Co this month emerged as holder of a 5% interest in Lion Nathan’s bigger rival, Foster’s Group Ltd. And Belgium’s InBev NV is set to become the world’s biggest brewer with a $52 billion takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc. “Lion Nathan’s picked a good time to make their offer,” said White Funds Management portfolio manager Angus Gluskie. He said that Coca-Cola Amatil would struggle to defend the takeover given uncertain markets and a slower Australian economy. Risks to deal Coca-Cola Amatil’s shares briefly rocketed to a record high of A$12, before easing to trade up 15% at A$9.51, well below the implied offer value of A$10.28, based on Lion Nathan’s 1.6% share price fall to A$8.81. Coca-Cola Amatil said there was no guarantee its board or Coca-Cola Co would back the offer, particularly as it was pitched below valuations on recent drinks deals. Last month France’s Group Danone sold its Frucor drinks arm in Australia and New Zealand for 14 times Frucor’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, well above the 10.3 multiple Lion Nathan is offering. However Lion Nathan said Frucor was not a fair comparison as it was a small company that owned its brands, while Coca-Cola Amatil is essentially a bottler. Coca-Cola Amatil is being advised by Macquarie Capital Advisers. Lion Nathan is being advised by Caliburn, and JP Morgan is advising Kirin. Lion Nathan’s move took the market by surprise, as focus has been on Coca-Cola Amatil’s expansion plans and Australian drinks giant Foster’s, which is trying to decide what to do with its troubled wine business, the world’s second largest. Coca-Cola Amatil missed out on buying Frucor and is eyeing Britain’s Cadbury Plc’s Australian Schweppes business. Kirin has already been expanding in Australia as its home beer market shrinks. Last week, it sealed a A$910 million deal to buy milk co-operative Dairy Farmers through National Foods. It committed to put up A$3.76 billion in cash to help Lion Nathan fund the bid, buying new shares in Lion Nathan at A$11.50 a share, a 32% premium to Lion Nathan’s last trade. Under Lion Nathan’s proposal, Coca-Cola Amatil shareholders would receive A$6.15 in cash plus 0.469 Lion shares for each Coca-Cola Amatil share, which, based on last Friday’s close, valued CC Amatil at A$10.35 a share. It has lined up A$800 million in debt funding to help cover the cash portion of the deal. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 5:58 am Update: Asia stocks recover as bargains are soughtHong Kong: Asian stocks mostly rose and government bonds cut their gains on Monday, on hopes for more government rescues of limping industries and as long-term investors scooped up cheap shares. However, oil prices dipped to within striking distance of last week’s 22-month low after policymakers from both emerging and developed economies who met in Washington chose to leave individual governments to tend their own backyards. Despite the small return of some risk taking, many economies are buckling under the worst financial crisis in 80 years, with a report on Monday confirming that Japan has joined a growing list of economies sliding into recessions. “For the time being, hopes that China will be able to maintain its economic growth will lend some support to the Asian markets,” said Louis Wong, research director with Phillip Securities in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.4% in choppy trade, with shares of China Mobile and HSBC leading the way higher. Airline stocks such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines rallied on hopes they will get government cash injections to cope with high costs and weak demand. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell 1.4%, extending last week’s 9.7 drop. Year-to-date losses have piled up to around 57%. Tokyo’s Nikkei share average recovered from early losses, rising 2.6%, as the yen fell and as long-term investors snapped up cheap stocks. Some of the stocks lifting the index, such as Takeda Pharmaceutical, were so-called defensive plays, which were expected to perform relatively well in a slowdown. Stocks cheap but demand thin Many analysts had not predicted a near-term improvement in market sentiment. Financial markets and economies remained locked in a vicious circle, with weakness in one affecting the other. Equity capital flows into developed markets over the last month were at near record lows, according to State Street Global Markets analysts. Savage selling in global stock markets has made prices very cheap but investors have not judged the coast clear enough to buy wholesale yet. The yen fell against the euro and the US dollar after a report showed Japan’s gross domestic product shrank by 0.1% in the July-to-September period and government officials said the situation could worsen further. However, with the process of widespread risk reduction still very much intact, dealers did not expect the yen to stay down for long. The US dollar rose 0.4% to 97.46 yen, and the euro climbed 0.2% to 122.48 yen. US Treasuries pared earlier gains as equity markets rebounded and US stock futures flipped to positive on the day. The benchmark 10-year note was unchanged, with a yield of 3.73%. US light crude for December delivery fell about $1 to $56.06 a barrel, near the $54.67 a barrel low it hit on Thursday, its weakest since January 2007. The Group of 20 world leaders agreed on Saturday to a raft of fiscal and monetary steps to rescue the global economy, but it was left to individual governments to tailor their response to their particular circumstances. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 5:47 am Rupee slightly stronger, RBI measures helpMumbai: Rupee strengthened on Monday as it was buoyed by Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) measures to encourage foreign deposits, but gains were capped as a fall in the stock market raised concerns of further capital outflows. At 10:10am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs48.87/90 per dollar, 0.3% stronger than Rs49.01/03 at the close on Friday. It hit a record low of Rs50.29 touched on 27 October. “Some Asian markets have just turned slightly positive, helping the rupee,” said V.Kumar, chief dealer with State Bank of Travancore. “The RBI’s measures announced on Saturday should also add some temporary strength to rupee. Buy dips will be the strategy. Today’s range would be Rs48.80 to Rs49.40. The Sensex (stock index) will also have to be watched,” he added. RBI on Saturday took various measures to improve liquidity and help exporters, including an increase of the interest rate ceiling on deposits of non-resident Indians with local banks. Economists said that the measures were to attract fresh foreign money into the banking system and prop up the struggling rupee. Indian stocks opened slightly stronger but turned sharply negative on a deteriorating outlook after Japan joined the list of economies in recession. Foreign funds have already sold a net $12.9 billon worth of Indian shares in 2008 after buying a record $17.4 billion last year. One—month offshore non—deliverable forward contracts were quoting at Rs49.21/36 per dollar, weaker than the onshore spot rate, indicating a bearish outlook for the currency. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 5:22 am Kingfisher seeks nod for foreign stake saleMumbai: Kingfisher Airlines has requested the government to allow foreign airlines to buy up to 25% in Indian carriers, and said foreign airlines have expressed interest in buying a stake in it. India does not allow foreign carriers to invest in local airlines. Kingfisher’s request comes as losses mount for Indian carriers in a difficult operating environment. “I believe aviation should be treated as per international norms and other industry sectors where strategic investors can invest,” chairman Vijay Mallya said in a statement. “I have received several expressions of interest from foreign airlines. However I cannot give details.” The global financial crisis and falling stock markets has made fundraising difficult for Indian carriers, who are expected to collectively post a loss of nearly $2 billion in the year to March 2009. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Nov 2008 | 5:05 am IT majors get more fixed price contractsNew Delhi/Chennai, Nov. 16 Three of the top five IT service providers - Infosys Technologies, Wipro and HCL Technologies - have posted a year-on-year as well as a sequential rise in the proportion of fixed price contracts for quarter endedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Lenders likely to loosen grip, offer more creditLenders are expected to loosen their purse strings to make available more credit in the coming days on the back of the likely reduction in interest rates, the Confederation of Indian Industry President, Mr K.V. Kamath, hasSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Positive divergences in goldGold futures, rebounded on Friday as retail sales in the US dropped in October by the most ever, pushing the economy toward the worst slump in decades and potentially boosting bullion’s appeal as a haven. The weekend G20 meeting has not evokedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am IT sector growth rate to slow down: NilekaniAdmitting that the country’s IT sector cannot be immune to the global crisis, Bangalore-headquartered Infosys Technologies Co-Chairman, Mr Nandan M. Nilekani, said on Sunday that the tech sector would see a slowdown in the growth ratesSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Goods carriers feel the heat of meltdownMumbai, Nov. 16 The effects of the global economic meltdown are being felt by the domestic surface transportation industry as well.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Lupin (Rs 581.25): SellWe recommend a sell in Lupin from a short-term horizon. It is evident from the charts of Lupin that after recording an all-time high of Rs 780 on October 3, it reversed direction and has been on a medium-term downtrend. The stock’s reversalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Metals may probe further lowsCommodity markets continue to plunge to lower and lower levels. Central to the market performance is demand-side concerns that have continued to receive focussed attention. Producers are responding to price declines by cutting output. Also, manySource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Hatsun, Schreiber Dynamix plan milk holidays on low exportsNew Delhi, Nov. 16 With export orders drying up and global prices crashing, leading private dairies are planning to sharply cut back their milk procurement operations. The move may impact thousands of farmers, who rely on daily milk sales forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am CAT goes non-Science student-friendlyAhmedabad, Nov. 16 With 2.9 lakh applications received of the Common Admission Test 2008, an estimated 2.4 lakh students took the examination on Sunday, said Mr Gautam Puri, Vice-Chairman, Career Launcher.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Nov 2008 | 12:00 am Business leaders pin hopes on IndiaOver 800 gather for the India Economic Summit.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Nov 2008 | 7:06 pm Few takers for highway projectsThe governments ambitious highway projects under the public-private partnership mode are in serious trouble.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Nov 2008 | 7:05 pm Red tape may be cut for FIIsSebi likely to come out with a policy paper soon.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Nov 2008 | 7:03 pm Slipping satellite, rocket deadlines affect India’s space astronomyBangalore: India’s deep space exploration may have taken off smoothly with the Chandrayaan mission to the moon, but its space astronomy programmes, to explore the stars, galaxies and black holes, are still grounded. The launch deadlines for two experimental projects in astronomy—Tauvex and Astrosat—have been sliding and scientists tell Mint it’s getting increasingly difficult to keep the small research crew motivated, an issue that has larger ramifications for Indian space science ambitions.  Waiting for lift-off: The set of three UV telescopes of Tauvex. Courtesy: Tauvex Group, Tel Aviv Tauvex, built by the Israel Space Agency, or ISA, is a set of three wide field ultraviolet, or UV, telescopes to be sent into the earth’s orbit aboard GSAT-4, India’s next communication satellite, which will be launched by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, or GSLV. While signing the agreement in December 2003, ISA and Indian Space Research Organisation, or Isro, had said Tauvex would be launched in 2005. The launch date then slipped to mid-2008 and then to April-May 2009. The hardware, ready to be hurled into space, is sitting in a clean room in Israel for the last two years while the software, too, is stacked up at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, or IIA, here in Bangalore. While the instrument is losing sensitivity, it’s also very difficult to keep the group motivated when such delays happen, says Jayant Murthy, Tauvex’s Indian investigator at IIA. His Israeli counterpart and principal investigator, Noah Brosch at Tel Aviv University, says he is “angry and dismayed” at the delay. “Astronomy is a competitive science and our main competition comes from the US telescope Galex, which was launched in 2003,” says Brosch, who believes that with passing months, Tauvex is increasingly losing out to Galex on UV discoveries. “The loss is in the discovery space; there are now less discoveries to be made, because Galex already cornered some,” he says. The team is, however, shifting its scientific goalposts to maximize returns. If India delays too much, then it’ll lose its competitiveness and hold on the intended science But it’s not just Tauvex, which is one of several payloads to go on GSAT-4—a flight that is going to test Isro-developed cryogenic engine—but space astronomy at large that is suffering from a lack of focus and shifting deadlines. “GSAT-4 has many developmental projects which, in any case, take long,” argues P. Sreekumar, head of space astronomy and instrumentation at Isro Satellite Centre. But he believes Astrosat has been delayed, among other things, due to a lack of focus. “All academics are trained to work as an individual, not as a team…it’s very difficult to make them work with engineers.” Initially, Astrosat was supposed to be launched in 2005-06 by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV); then it shifted to late 2008 and, now, to early 2010. “Scientists have really squandered away the fantastic opportunity given to them…we are looking at it as a sideproject,” says Sreekumar. There is no such science mission on the anvil globally and if India delays too much, then it’ll lose its competitiveness and hold on the intended science, he notes. Unlike most Isro missions where the payloads are largely developed by its umbrella organizations, Astrosat payloads are developed by three institutes: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, IIA in Bangalore, and Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, or IUCAA, in Pune. Together they are building instruments that would enable multi-wavelength observations of stellar objects in optical, ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. This complexity, says S.N. Tandon of IUCAA, justifying the delay, “has required our laboratories to take on new developments in technology”. Murthy says some years were lost in dealing with “institutional bureaucracy” which delayed release of funds for instruments, one-tenth of the Rs400 crore Astrosat budget. “We lost four years in formal clearances, then there was change of guard at various places…,” recalls Murthy, who, after 20 years in the US, came to IIA from Johns Hopkins University in 1999 for Astrosat. Now, he says, his UV instruments won’t be ready before early 2010. Isro, besides building PSLV, is also putting together an experimental payload to scan the sky for X-rays, which Sreekumar says would be ready in six months. “Anywhere else a programme like Astrosat would have at least 10 PhD students, but I have only one and others don’t have any,” adds Sreekumar. People don’t understand that science experiments, unlike engineering, are new and provide an excellent training ground, Sreekumar says, who isn’t getting students to work on Aditya, Isro’s solar mission, either. Why can’t Chandrayaan’s success be replicated? Experts say while the moon mission is much grander in scope, it had an “emotional spin” that helped people work together. Moreover, all the payloads were under Isro’s control. “While, as scientists, we don’t like being pushed, Chandryaan had tremendous external pressure, which I think is sometimes necessary (for timely completion of projects),” says J.N. Goswami, principal scientist of Chandrayaan. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Nov 2008 | 6:33 pm Mozilla is organized to build an open InternetMitchell Baker, chairperson of Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corp., is a lawyer-turned-tech evangelist who in the early 1990s helped set up the legal department at Netscape Communications Corp., later bought by AOL. Netscape is known best for the Web browser that lost the browser war with Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer. About 10 years ago, she helped found the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization, and in 2004, Mozilla launched its Firefox Web browser. The Economist has described Firefox’s tale as a curious one. Edited excerpts from an interview with Livemint Radio: What is the curious tale? The curious tale of Mozilla? Mozilla is the tale of something everyone knew could never happen. A few things happened in the early 1990s after Netscape’s great success. Microsoft appeared on the scene, Microsoft had its own browser. Eventually, through a series of activities that browser controlled something like 97%, meaning that 97 out of every 100 people who ever accessed the Internet always did it through one single means.  Innovative Web: Mozilla Foundation chairperson Mitchell Baker says the revenue relationship with Google is kept separate from the product and the relationship is irrelevant to what Firefox is or becomes. Reuters And that, in turn, was a direct effect of having only one and no competition. But at the same time everyone knew it was impossible to compete with Microsoft in this space. And so it was left to Mozilla, the open-source small, scraggly child that no one really wanted except a few of us that were involved and no one thought it would ever succeed to take and fight this critical battle. Because it turns out that the browser is not irrelevant, it is the part that each one of us as a human being touches. It is the tool that we, as human beings, have to access the Internet and so it is not irrelevant, it is fundamental. And so, Firefox was launched in 2004. What is Mozilla’s manifesto and what are you trying to achieve through Mozilla? Mozilla is, at heart, an international public benefit organization. We are organized both legally and in our social covenants with each other to create public benefit and to build the Internet that is open and accessible and truly global and allows innovation across cultures and across a multitude of different business models and different companies. So the manifesto expresses that mission or that set of values. We are technically and legally a non-profit organization. That means that all of the value that we create is owned by the public and cannot be distributed among or to private persons as you would with shareholders. And so that’s the legal mechanism that re-enforces the Internet as public infrastructure. Tell us about your relationship with Google. You have a revenue-sharing relationship with Google. What about Google’s Chrome (Web browser) and what impact will it have on the relationship because there is a sense among certain people in the community that the folks that’ll switch to Chrome will come from the Firefox group. That’s a set of related questions. The first one is what impact does the revenue relationship have on the product or what impact does Chrome have on the revenue relationship. You know, I’ve said for many years that we keep the revenue relationship with Google separate from our product. So as to Firefox, the revenue relationship is irrelevant to what the product is or becomes. We’ll develop Firefox as best we can; as we think best. Firefox has a large share of the early adopters among its users and so I think we all expect that many of those early adopters will go look at Chrome. We expect most of them will come back. And there’s a bunch of reasons for those but clearly some will stay. We expect Chrome to have some market share; we don’t actually expect it to, like be a giant or take-off or any of those things but it will certainly have some market share. ...if you look at Firefox 3, it really is a great browser—maybe the best that we’ve ever seen. You know, we expect that some of these people may stay with Chrome for—I don’t know; release, two releases, whatever—and come back. So, we’re not actually particularly worried about losing many of our users. There is that perception again that Google is trying to do the same thing that Microsoft did 10 years ago when you talked about the monoculture. How is Google different? First of all, Google’s different because Microsoft created a setting in which they had 99% market share on the OS (operating system) and 97% across the border—operating system, browser and desktop productivity apps. We have not seen Google remotely approach that setting now. And I know that the Google relationship with Yahoo! and Microsoft feels unbalanced. Like Google is clearly winning and that’s true! But imagine what it would be like if Google were 97% market share holder. Second thing is that Google’s DNA is clearly about the Web..., about the movement of information around the Web which can’t all be controlled. So, I think their DNA is different than Microsoft’s... But, certainly there are concerns that Google’s becoming not just the powerhouse of our era but a monolith. You certainly can’t toss them off, I think. You know it’s always worth watching. You know Google, I think, will speak to this and I think they understand the concern. They understand that people are watching so to some extent it is a slightly different setting... Let’s switch to the success of Firefox. What went right for Firefox and what made the difference and what continues to make a difference in the success of Firefox? For Firefox, a couple of things lined up at the right time. First of all, it’s an important product. We talked about it earlier, how important it is. Not only was it important but the options were all bad. So people had a reason to look at something different. Three, we had the right product. So how do you get the right product? Sometimes it is the right people, sometimes it is luck, sometimes it is process. We rely somewhat on the right people and a lot on the right process—those two together which we had in Firefox and certainly we still do because if you look at Firefox 3, it really is a great browser—maybe the best that we’ve ever seen. Interestingly most of the Firefox users are not in the US but outside. For instance, in India, there are millions of Firefox users. How are you reaching out to them? What are you doing in terms of localization of Firefox? Well, we’ve always had an active localization community. In fact, I think Firefox is probably the leader in bringing real-time, multiple-language releases into consumer software. We have an odd way of doing this. We rely on local groups of people, volunteers to create the special aspects that are necessary. So, we localize both in language, menu items and so on but also for locale meaning we make sure the engine goes to the right place and various other parts of the products should be tuned and not just to a language but to the way you are. We have such communities in India and we’ve been spending more time with those communities and learning more about India, and trying to figure out what other locales are there, what’s the most important thing, the various different languages in India, is its localization not related to language so much but other aspects of being in India. What other way can we make it so that people can participate. So the reason that the localizers are good example of what’s important in Firefox is we’re trying to build communities of people who demand the ability to build the Internet we want. It is great to be a consumer and it is great when things appear for free; browsers appear for free and websites appear for free. And being able to consume that is such a wonderful thing. When it is free that is wonderful. But it only goes so far. But if all we are are consumers then, if something doesn’t work for us, we’re just stuck. And if something doesn’t work because it is tuned for one business company or one goal and we’re stuck with it, that’s a terrible place to be. So we’re trying to build not only Firefox but Mozilla as a set of people who understand that if you want the Internet to work in a way that’s good for you or your country or your people, who speak your native language or the other things that you care about, getting involved is the way to do it. And then we provide the ways to get involved. So, that is what the localizers are. What goals do you think you still have to accomplish both for yourself and for Mozilla? For Mozilla, the articulation about the importance of participation that we talked about today; this is new. We have been successful in explaining why this arcane piece of software like the browser matters and then demonstrating it and getting it into the hands of people. So first grade battle, we have done pretty well at. The next ones are, it is not just a browser—if I can’t get involved, if I’m willing to make that effort and the energy but I still can’t get involved and I can’t fix the things about my life that don’t work but I can’t get involved with the browser, I can’t get involved with the Internet, I can’t see it, I can’t understand it. If all I can do is consume it, better or worse— that is a failure of the Internet. That is a great challenge for Mozilla to explain that and to continue to demonstrate and put tools in the hands of people. It is just like the Internet were all out of the US and there was no way that content would ever break free of being US-centric and the only video you ever saw came out of US movie studios you know, produced in one culture—that would be a failure! And in the same way, the inability to access it to make it real—for me it would be a failure. And I think that is a pretty good-sized challenge and that encompasses data as well as other technologies. Excerpts from a radio interview by Kamla Bhatt. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Nov 2008 | 4:33 pm Isro to set up centre for atmospheric studies in TirupatiHyderabad: “The ISRO is ready to establish a world class facility for advanced atmospheric studies near the temple town Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh,” its chairman G Madhavan Nair informed Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Madhavan Nair was replying to a message sent by the Chief Minister congratulating the ISRO team on the success of Chandrayaan-I mission. The Chief Minister, in his message, sought the establishment of a Human Space Programme (Astronaut Training and Bio-medical Engineering Centre) and offered necessary land in Anantapur district close to Bengaluru. Rajasekhara Reddy said that the land was readily available in Anantapur district close to Bagepalli in Karnataka on NH-7, 69-km away from the new Bengaluru International Airport. “We are ready to provide required land for this project at a concessional rate and extend all necessary support,” Nair said in the letter the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) of the ISRO that is functioning at Gadanki near Tirupati since 1992 is engaged in fundamental research related to atmospheric and space sciences and developing various types of radars and lidars for atmospheric studies. “The NARL has proposed to expand its activities towards advanced technology experiments and in this regard a laboratory for developing flight instruments is planned to be set up near Tirupati,” he said. “We seek a positive response from you to support for getting suitable land of about 20 acres for establishing a world class facility for atmospheric studies,” he added. The chairman said as part of the ISRO’s initiatives on Human Spaceflight Programme (HSP), a centre for training Indian astronauts has been planned to be set up around Bengaluru in coordination with the Indian Institute of Aviation Medicine. “We are presently pursuing the approval process of the HSP with the government,” he added. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Nov 2008 | 1:46 pm
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