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No revival in realty demand post price cut by developersFollowing the recent call by CREDAI, or Confederation of Real Estate Developer\'s Associations of India, to reduce prices, real estate developers have reduced prices to the tune of 2025%.But CNBCTV18s Vineetha Athrey finds out the price reduction has not really resulted in revival of demand.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:20 pm Clarity needed on govt\'s gas price move: SP TulsianSP Tulsian of sptulsian.com feels more clarity is needed on the government\'s move of setting the price of gas at USD 4.20/MMTBU.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:13 pm LIC Housing Fin to maintain 30% FY09 growthR Ramachandran Nair, Director and Chief Executive Officer, LIC Housing Finance, said the companys growth during the current year is around 30%. Our policy has been consistent. We have around 78% project loan in our portfolio and continue to be strong in retail.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 4:07 pm Gurgaon surveillance PhaseI order to fetch Rs 9cr: ZicomPramod V Rao, MD, Zicom Electronic Security Systems, said the government has decided to spend around Rs 3,000 crore on security post the terror attacks. \"We have just bagged a city surveillance job at Gurgaon. The order will fetch us Rs 9 crore in phase one alone.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 3:31 pm Media sector abuzz on news of FDI limits being raisedThe media sector has been buzzing in today\'s trade. The main factors that are affecting the sector is the buzz about FDI limit being raised in DTH and cable industry.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 3:28 pm Infra cos want govt to cut cost, provide concessional loansThere are reports that government plans to unveil a slew of measures for the infrastructure sector by the week end. On the anvil, is some kind of refinancing arrangement which might make it a little cheaper for infrastructure companies to borrow funds.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 3:21 pm Vodafone case: BMR Asso see stay as temporary setbackThe Bombay High Court has ruled in favour of the Income Tax Department in the Vodafone tax case, but the order has been stayed for eight weeks. Mukesh Bhutani of BMR Associates said the verdict seems to be a temporary setback for the time being.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 3:00 pm Sensex jumps 482 points to end past 9KThe bellwether index on the Bombay Stock Exchange jumped over 480 points on Thursday to regain the 9,000 level after five daysSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:22 pm China, US vow to tackle global crisis!China and the United States vowed on Thursday to work together to tackle the global financial crisis.Source: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Wall Street jumps on Coke, defensive plays!Stocks rose for a second day on Wednesday as investors flocked to shares of Coke and other companies that hold up well in recessions.Source: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm `GM, Chrysler considering bankruptcy`!GM Corp and Chrysler LLC are considering accepting bankruptcy to get a multi billion dollar govt bailout.Source: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Bankers seek measures to propel credit demand!Bankers have highlighted the slowing credit demand in retail and corporate portfolios as an emerging challenge to the domestic banking system.Source: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Japan faces deep recession, central banks slash rates !Japan may be in a deeper recession than first thought as businesses cut spending because of the worsening global recessionSource: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Rupee appreciates by 11 paise against dollar!The Indian rupee on Thursday appreciated by 11 paise against the US dollar in early tradeSource: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Sensex up 69 points in early trade!Sensex rose by 69 points in the early trade on Thursday on firm trend in global equity markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Oil near 4-yr low, falls below $46!Oil fell below USD 46 a barrel to near four-year lows on Thursday.Source: Zee News : Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:19 pm Macquarie lays off 100 bankers, advisers: ReportGlobal financial service provider Macquarie Group has laid off about 100 investment bankers and advisers, as a part of its consolidation drive of its global workforceSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:01 pm Telecom Italia to cut 4,000 more jobsTelecom Italia will slash more 4,000 jobs and sell assets worth 3 billion euro following its restructuring and growth plan, which aims to reduce company's debtSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 pm India may cut rates, RBI sees painful adjustment - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:57 am BSE Sensex up 5.5 pct on rate cut, stimulus hopesMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose 5.5 percent on Thursday to its highest close in more than two weeks as expectations for an interest rate cut received a boost from slower-than-expected rise in inflation.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:57 am Tata Steel output surges up to 27 pc in Nov - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:49 am SEBI restricts early exit from close-ended fundsMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday said investors won't be allowed to exit from close-ended mutual fund schemes before maturity and asked fund houses to list them on stock exchanges.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:42 am UPDATE 1-SEBI restricts early exit from close-ended funds - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:39 am Ashok Leyland truck sales slump 67pct in NovMUMBAI (Reuters) - Heavy truck sales at Ashok Leyland Ltd, India's second-largest commercial vehicle maker, slumped by two-thirds in November, data showed on Thursday, and analysts said demand would remain sluggish in the coming months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:39 am India may cut rates, RBI sees painful adjustmentNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is likely to cut rates to boost confidence after last week's attacks in the financial capital Mumbai, with inflation falling to a seven-month low on Thursday and providing headroom to ease policy.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:37 am HPCL sells oil bonds to RBI - officialNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp sold special oil bonds worth 2.05 billion rupees ($41.2 million) to the Reserve Bank on Thursday, a company official said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:35 am Assocham opposes cross-media ownership, calls for regulationsIndustry lobby Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) Thursday expressed its opposition to cross-media ownership that allows companies to own different branches of media, and urged telecom regulator to introduce fresh regulations for media.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:31 am Wipro stalemate in Kolkata over, selected candidates backtrackThe stalemate between information technology (IT) company Wipro and engineering students who were offered jobs as technical support engineers in the company's business process outsourcing (BPO) department in West Bengal was resolved Thursday with the selected candidates agreeing to the offer.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:30 am Metro Cash & Carry plans Rs 900-crore investment in Punjab - domain-B
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:30 am France draws up 26 bln euro stimulus packageDOUAI, France (Reuters) - The French government has drawn up a 26 billion euro ($32.9 billion) stimulus plan for the faltering economy, or around 1.3 percent of gross domestic product, according to official documents seen on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:26 am Likely rate cut boosts mkts; Nifty ends above 2750 - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:24 am Govt raises interest assistance for short term crop loan - Myiris.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:21 am India's Sensex gains 482 points on rate cut hopesIndian equities markets shook off some initial hesitation Thursday morning and surged rest of the day on expectations of rate cuts with a key index finishing more than 482 points higher to once again breach the psychologically important 9,000 mark.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:02 am Security upped after air borne attack warning in IndiaSecurity at major airports in India was heightened Thursday after warnings of hijacking and terror strikes from the Deccan Mujahideen, a hitherto unknown terror outfit that claimed the responsibility of the Mumbai attacks last week, officials here said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:02 am Equities gain, Sensex up 482 points to cross 9,000Indian equities markets bounced back Thursday on rate cut expectations and after some initial hesitation surged throughout the day, with a key index finishing more than 482 points higher to once again breach the psychologically important 9,000 mark.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:01 am Cabinet approves Konkan Railways' financial restructuringThe cabinet committee on economic affairs Thursday approved the financial restructuring of Konkan Railways Corp (KRCL) by the railways ministry.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:00 am India may exceed 2020 nuclear power target: Kakodkar - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:00 am Bajaj Auto sales dip 32 percent in NovemberBajaj Auto Ltd, the country's second largest two-wheeler maker, Thursday reported a 32 percent fall in its total sales in November, thanks to a credit squeeze that has hit hard the auto industry.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:00 am Likely infra package too small, see slow impact: ExpertsAjay Shah, Senior Fellow, NIPFP, said the fiscal package being planned is too small. \"It will take a long time to execute.\" This view is also shared by Nasser Munjee, Chairman, DCB. He too feels that the effect of the fiscal package won\'t be fast.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 11:00 am BHEL bags order from Oman for supplying gas turbines - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:57 am Indian airports on alert, threat of airborne attacksNew Delhi: India on Thursday put all of its major airports on high alert following warnings of possible attacks using hijacked airlines, officials said. The alert was sounded after Defence Minister A K Antony ordered the armed forces to be on guard against “any terror strikes from the air,” officials said. “This is based on a warning which has been received by the government and we are prepared as usual,” Air Chief Marshal Fali Major told reporters. Government sources said all major airports - including New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata - were on high alert. The sources cited intelligence “inputs” that militants may have sneaked into India to try and hijack civilian aircraft. The alert comes the week after Islamist militants, whom India says were from Pakistan, launched a coordinated attack against India’s economic capital Mumbai which left nearly 200 dead. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, which is in overall charge of airport safety, said additional paramilitary troops had been deployed to guard six of the country’s busiest international airports. Indian Air Force sources said fighter jets had also been put on stand-by. “We are now on a high state of alert,” Arun Arora, spokesman of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport told AFP. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:56 am Infosys to freeze new hiring as growth slowsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies Ltd will freeze recruitment after meeting this fiscal year's target of hiring 25,000 staff, a telling sign the global downturn is hitting India's $52 billion outsourcing sector.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:51 am Government may cut fuel prices: SourcesWith the assembly polls in major states concluding, the government may slash petrol price next week by Rs 10 a litre, diesel by Rs 3 per litre and domestic LPG by Rs 20 per cylinder.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:46 am Tata Steel output surges up to 27%Even as major steel producers have resorted to production cuts due to slump in demand, Tata Steel Thursday said its output grew by up to 27 per cent in November.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:44 am Auto makers drive slow due to dismal Nov salesNovember saw dismal sales performance by automobile majors, with a weak sentiment in markets and financiers pulling the plug. CNBCTV18s Prasad Deshpande and Sumantra Barooah reports show the auto industry will have to struggle to show growth at the end of this fiscal.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:40 am Orchid receives USFDA node for new drug - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:39 am Russian President arrives in New Delhi this eveningBy AFP New Delhi: President Dmitry Medvedev arrives in New Delhi today for a visit that will see Russia agreeing to build India’s new nuclear reactors and give its backing to the anti-terror fight post Mumbai attacks. A cornerstone of his visit would be to strengthen ties with Moscow and sign a new accord for Russia to build four new nuclear reactors that can o generate energy in southern India. Defence ties will also be discussed during the two-day visit, with Moscow keen to retain its position as India’s main supplier of weaponry amid increasing competition from the United States and Israel. Tight security The visit is taking place under the tight security. The credentials of staff at the Sheraton Hotel where Medvedev is staying have been checked and Russian secret agents are already in the city, according to news reports. The Russian leader, whose visit was planned well before the attacks, is set to be the first foreign head of state to visit the country after the Mumbai attacks. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited on Wednesday. Medvedev will arrive in India at around 7:30 pm (1400 GMT) this evening and will meet President Pratibha Patel, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the head of the ruling Congress party Sonia Ghandi. “We are planning on Friday to sign a bilateral agreement foreseeing the construction of four new reactors at Kudankulam and also cooperation in new areas,” said Russia’s nuclear agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko, according to the RIA Novosti news agency. Building nuclear reactors Moscow is already building two 1,000-megawatt light water nuclear reactors at Kudankulam and can now construct more after a group of nuclear supplier states in September lifted a ban on India shopping for nuclear technology. Russia is the only foreign country working in India to expand the country’s nuclear energy programme. The continued strength of ties between Moscow and New Delhi contrasts with the sometimes prickly relationship between Russia and India’s longtime foe Pakistan. Step up trade Trade is also strengthening, with the two countries increasing trade volumes by a third each year and on course to reach a 2010 target of trade worth $10 billion, according to the Kremlin. But Russia, which accounts for some 70% of Indian military hardware, has been concerned that its slice of the defence market risks becoming leaner amid disputes over costs and late deliveries. The sale by Russia to India of a refurbished Soviet-era aircraft carrier, the 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov, which has been marred by a price dispute, is set to be discussed on the visit. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:34 am Rowling waves her magic wand with first post-Potter taleLondon: Superstar author J.K. Rowling on Thursday launched “The Tales Of Beedle The Bard”, her first book since ending Harry Potter’s adventures, which is expected to trigger more long queues at bookshops. Many British shops opened opened early so children could buy the book before going to school. The tales went on sale in about 20 countries around the world with some retailers predicting it would become the Christmas literary hit. Rowling will host a tea party and reading for about 200 children in Edinburgh to mark the first day of sales for the book, proceeds from which will go to her charity helping vulnerable children in eastern Europe. “The Tales Of Beedle The Bard” originally featured in the seventh and last Harry Potter book as a volume of fairytales left to Hermione Granger by Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The boy wizard Potter used it to help him defeat arch-enemy Lord Voldemort. After finishing the Potter series last year, Rowling hand-wrote and illustrated just seven copies of “Beedle”, giving six to people who had helped her make Potter a success and selling the seventh at auction for 1.95 million pounds (2.2 million euros, 2.8 million dollars) to online retailer Amazon. But now she has decided to expand the print-run to help the Children’s High Level Group, which she co-founded in 2005. Fans have already given a warm reaction to the 130-page book, whose five stories include “The Wizard And The Hopping Pot”, “Babbity Rabbitty And Her Cackling Stump” and “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart”. “I loved it! It was about 30 times better than I thought it would be!,” wrote a fan calling herself stellathemuggle on fansite mugglenet.com. “I loved the illustrations; Jo (Rowling) has a very nice style to her people she draws.” Another fan, Browsa, added: “Have only just got through the first couple of stories and already I have a favourite... better get back to it. JK Rowling rocks this world!” The Harry Potter series has sold more than 400 million copies around the world and a spokesman for Waterstone’s, one of Britain’s biggest bookshop chains, said the latest Rowling was also likely to be a blockbuster. “Many of our shops opened extra early so that kids could get it before going to school,” said spokesman John Howells, adding that some were selling books from as early as 0600 GMT. “It’s almost definitely going to be the biggest selling book this Christmas. It has every chance of being the biggest selling book of the year.” The book, which has a print run of 7.5 million copies, is being launched in 10 different languages in more than 20 countries including Britain, the United States, France, Germany, China and Japan. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:34 am Layoffs mount as crisis drags on; Credit Suisse, Nomura cutSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Credit Suisse and Nomura Holdings announced big job cuts on Thursday, further evidence the global financial crisis is unrelenting for an industry battered by heavy losses and weak markets.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:33 am Rice says Pakistan committed to India probeIslamabad: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged a united stand against terrorism Thursday on a visit to Pakistan aimed at easing relations with India over last week’s attacks in Mumbai. With tensions rising between them since India said that all the attackers in the brazen assault that left 188 people dead had come from Pakistan, Rice praised Pakistan’s efforts in the “war on terror.” “I think it is clear that Pakistan is fighting its fight against terrorists,” she said at a joint press conference with President Asif Ali Zardari before winding up her lightning visit to the country. She said she had found Pakistan’s leadership “focused and committed” to helping India investigate the attacks. Pakistan has been a key US anti-terror ally since the 11 September attacks seven years ago, but many critics openly question whether elements in the Pakistan military and intelligence services support Islamist militants. Pakistan’s role in the “war on terror” has come under renewed focus since last week’s stunning assault in Mumbai, which saw militants with guns and grenades lay siege to hotels and other sites in the city for 60 hours. India says there is “no doubt” that all the militants, including the sole gunman captured alive and now in custody, had come from Pakistan and been coordinated from within Pakistan. Zardari has repeatedly insisted that Pakistan is not responsible for the carnage and has demanded proof of India’s allegations - which have also been backed up by US officials. Suspicion has fallen on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group which has fought Indian control of divided Kashmir and which attacked the Indian parliament in 2001, nearly pushing the two nations to another war. Rice visited India on Wednesday and spent Thursday in Pakistan, meeting with Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other officials, looking to calm tensions and ensure Pakistani cooperation in the investigation. But the Pakistan president indicated that any suspects on its soil would not be extradited to India. New Delhi has demanded that Pakistan hand over 20 terror suspects, including Lashkar-e-Taiba’s founder, Hafiz Saeed. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:33 am India may exceed 2020 nuclear power target: KakodkarIndia is expected to exceed the nuclear power target of 20,000 MW by 2020, thanks to the removal of curbs on the import of technology and fuels by the international community, says a top scientist in India's nuclear establishment.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:32 am FDI of Rs.8.05 bn approved in Shriram Retail HoldingsA cabinet panel Thursday approved foreign direct investment of Rs.8.05 billion in Shriram Retail Holdings Private Limited by TPG India Investments of Mauritius.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:31 am Maytas Infra bags order worth Rs222 cr from PGCIL - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:27 am Vodafone to pay Rs10,000 crore in taxThe income tax authorities said Vodafone International will have to shell out US$2 billion (about Rs 10,000 crore) as capital gains tax after a Bombay High Court order.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:17 am Sensex regains 9k level on falling inflationNew Delhi: The benchmark Sensex regained the 9,000-point level on Thursday, 4 December, surging 400 points on renewed investor confidence after government data showed inflation much lower than expected at 8.4%. India’s inflation hit a seven-month-low of 8.4% for week ended 22 November, against 8.84% the preceding week. Sliding inflation along with expected RBI rate cuts raised hopes of investors. The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer surged 482.32 points to close at 9,229.75 with banking and realty sectors leading the rally. Unitech, the top gainer, rose 14.67% to Rs30.10. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 131.55 points at 2,788. Tata group companies were important gainers in the day’s trading— Tata Motors surged 14.07% to Rs152, followed by Tata Communication (13.03%, Rs428) and Tata Steel (12.54%, Rs185.35). Meanwhile Asian markets retreated from the opening gains as global economic fears grew among investors. Hang Seng and Nikkei fell by 1% at closing. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:16 am Credit Suisse cuts 5,300 jobs worldwideZurich: Credit Suisse Group said Thursday it is cutting 5,300 jobs - about 11% of its global work force - in a bid to reduce costs and take its business back into the black. Jobs will be lost in all parts of the world, said spokesman Marc Dosch, including in New York, London and Switzerland. Switzerland’s second biggest bank predicted another loss-making quarter, saying it was 3 billion francs ($2.5 billion) in the red by the end of November because of adverse market conditions and expenses associated with the job cuts. A fourth-quarter loss would be the third this year, following losses totaling over $3 billion in the first and third quarter. Credit Suisse said it hopes the cull, which should be completed by mid-2009 and will primarily affect its ailing investment banking business, will save 2 billion francs ($1.65 billion) a year. “These actions will better position us to weather the continuing challenging market conditions, capture opportunities that arise amid the continuing disruption, and prosper when markets improve,” chief executive Brady Dougan said in a statement. In line with other banks, Credit Suisse said Dougan and other senior officials will not receive salary bonuses for 2008 because of the bank’s bad performance during the year. The Zurich-based bank did not say whether it would follow its cross-town rival UBS AG by instituting a so-called “bonus-malus” system under which executives would see even their basic pay package cut if they produce poor results. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:13 am Credit Suisse cuts 5,300 jobs worldwideZurich: Credit Suisse Group said Thursday it is cutting 5,300 jobs - about 11% of its global work force - in a bid to reduce costs and take its business back into the black. Jobs will be lost in all parts of the world, said spokesman Marc Dosch, including in New York, London and Switzerland. Switzerland’s second biggest bank predicted another loss-making quarter, saying it was 3 billion francs ($2.5 billion) in the red by the end of November because of adverse market conditions and expenses associated with the job cuts. A fourth-quarter loss would be the third this year, following losses totaling over $3 billion in the first and third quarter. Credit Suisse said it hopes the cull, which should be completed by mid-2009 and will primarily affect its ailing investment banking business, will save 2 billion francs ($1.65 billion) a year. “These actions will better position us to weather the continuing challenging market conditions, capture opportunities that arise amid the continuing disruption, and prosper when markets improve,” chief executive Brady Dougan said in a statement. In line with other banks, Credit Suisse said Dougan and other senior officials will not receive salary bonuses for 2008 because of the bank’s bad performance during the year. The Zurich-based bank did not say whether it would follow its cross-town rival UBS AG by instituting a so-called “bonus-malus” system under which executives would see even their basic pay package cut if they produce poor results. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:13 am Orchid receives USFDA node for new drugMumbai: Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals today said it has received US administration approval for a drug used for the treatment of acute mania, manic episodes. The company has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Divalproex Sodium Delayed, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Mania is a severe medical condition characterised by extremely elevated mood, energy, unusual thought patterns and sometimes psychosis. Divalproex Sodium Delayed-release tablets will be available in strengths 125 mg, 250 mg and 500 mg, the filing added. Shares of the company were trading at Rs84, up 3% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:08 am Indian intelligence: What went wrong?Following the terror attacks in Mumbai last week, blame has begun to be pinned on Indian intelligence agencies  To answer these questions, we have two guests with us today on Just to Clarify. Our first, Nitin Pai of Bangalore, is the editor of Pragati, a highly regarded monthly newsletter on strategic affairs. Our second guest is B Raman, an expert on security and anti-terrorism operations. Mr. Raman was head of the Counter-Terrorism Division of the Research & Analysis Wing for six years. He has been a member of various special task forces related to security and intelligence issues, and he is also a prolific writer and speaker on security-related topics. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:07 am Maytas Infra bags order worth Rs222 cr from PGCILMumbai: Infrastructure development firm Maytas Infra today said it has bagged orders worth Rs222 crore from state-run Power Grid Corporation for rural electrification work in Orissa and West Bengal. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Maytas Infra said it has received contract worth Rs222.25 crore from PGCIL for rural electrification work under Rajeev Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana. The company would be executing these projects on a turnkey basis. The scope of work involves design, supply and commissioning of projects. “We look forward to partnering with PGCIL to make a difference in the lives of rural and semi-urban populace in Orissa and West Bengal....we at Marts will be executing these projects with highest efficiency, highest standard of safety and the best environmental norms,” Maytas Infra Chief Executive Officer P K Madhav said. The Hyderabad-based firm won two contract of Rs75 crore for electrification in Khurda and Sundergargh districts of Orissa and two contracts of about Rs 146 crore for West Midnapore district of West Bengal respectively. Shares of the company were trading at Rs485.50, down 1.63% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:04 am India's inflation drops to 8.4%India's annual rate of inflation dropped further to 8.4 percent for the week ended Nov 22 from 8.84 percent the week before due to a fall in prices of petroleum fuels.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:02 am National Aluminium's net profit up 9.4 percentThe global economic slowdown may have pushed many companies into crisis world over, but for National Aluminium Co. (Nalco), India's second largest aluminium producer, it is business as usual.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Dec 2008 | 10:01 am Nearly 40% polling in Rajasthan Assembly pollsJaipur: Inter-caste violence and clashes between Congress and BJP supporters marred polling for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly today as nearly 40% of 3.62 crore electorate exercised their right to franchise till after midday amidst tight security. A supporter of former Minister and expelled BJP leader K L Meena allegedly opened fire at a group of Gujjar voters who were on their way to a polling booth near Balghat in Todabheem constituency, Home Department sources said here. One person suffered bullet injuries, they said. Caste rivalry was suspected to be the reason for the violence, they said. A police team was sent to arrest the culprit identified as Holasingh Meena, the sources added. In another incident, members of a Scheduled Caste community laid a siege at police station in Mahua area in Bharatpur division claiming they were not allowed to cast their ballot by people belonging to an “influential” caste, they said. A police party escorted hundreds of the protesting members to the polling booth, the sources said. In Degana constituency, two groups of ruling BJP and the opposition Congress clashed at a polling station in which five persons were injured, they said. Six persons were injured in a similar clash at Nedach village in Nathdwara Assembly constituency of Rajsamand district late last night, the police said. Barring a few problems in EVMs in civil lines area here and in Jodhpur city, polling was undergoing smoothly, an official spokesman said. Tight security measures have been taken in all 42,212 polling booths. The one-day polling will decide the fate of a total of 2,194 candidates including Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje (Jhalara Patan) and Congress leader and ex-CM Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura). A 68% turnout was registered in the 2003 Assembly polls. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:58 am Punj Lloyd signs pact with US-based Thorium PowerMumbai: Engineering and construction firm Punj Lloyd today said it has entered into an agreement with US-based Thorium Power for consulting activities in the development of nuclear power generation in India, South Asia and other territories. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Thorium Power to expand consulting activities for the development of nuclear power generation regionally and worldwide, Punj Lloyd said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. “The Indo-US civil nuclear deal has opened up investment opportunities which will make the Indian industry robust and competitive. The nuclear space is very promising and with this partnership we aim to take forward India’s long-standing commitment to the thorium fuel cycle,” Punj Lloyd Group Chairman Atul Punj said. Thorium Power is a US-based nuclear energy company. The company develops non-proliferative nuclear fuel technology and provides comprehensive advisory services for emerging nuclear programmes. “Through this collaboration we will explore the full range of options available to both our companies in areas as diverse as marketing our non-proliferative fuel designs,” Thorium Power President and CEO Seth Grae. Shares of Punj Lloyd were trading at Rs148.25, up 3.67% on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:49 am Infosys to freeze new hiring as growth slowsNew Delhi: Infosys Technologies Ltd will freeze recruitment after meeting this fiscal year’s target of hiring 25,000 staff, a telling sign the global downturn is hitting India’s $52 billion outsourcing sector. India’s second largest software services firm however has no plans to cut jobs and is sticking with its third quarter outlook, CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan told reporters. He said the outsourcing sector’s growth rate would halve next year as some customers delay orders. “Last year the IT industry grew more than 30%, this year it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15%,” Gopalakrishnan said. India’s export-driven IT sector, used to a scorching pace of growth, has been hit by the financial crisis and recession in the United States, which contributes more than half their revenue. In the last few years, the outsourcing industry has created tens of thousands of jobs, mainly attracting young workers, as global companies look to trim labour costs. Infosys hired 16,000-17,000 employees in the first half of the fiscal year that began in April and would honour commitments to 6,000 under training, Gopalakrishnan said. Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs and Philips Electronics among its clients, cut its full-year dollar revenue outlook in October due to the worsening global downturn. Gopalakrishnan said on Thursday the company would freeze fresh recruitment, apart from meeting specific skill needs. “We will have to look at controlling our cost, controlling our expenses making sure that we run an optimised business. We will have to look at what are things we need to do in order to prepare ourselves for the recovery.” “Growth is coming more and more from emerging markets so these are the things we need to prepare ourselves. We should not lose momentum in this slowdown,” he said. But Infosys still expects its strong client base and a weakening rupee to help it meet a forecast for December quarter earnings of $0.57 a share. The Indian rupee has fallen nearly six percent so far this quarter against the dollar. “Infosys is seeing further degradation of the demand environment, with headwinds from leadership changes at customers, a shrinking large deal pipeline .... Pricing pressure has emerged,” CLSA Asia-Pacific said in a report this week. By 0845 GMT, Infosys shares were up 2% in a Mumbai market, but outperforming a 4% gain in the broader Mumbai market. Infosys shares have fallen 33% so far this year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:37 am Apple claims Macintosh to be virus safeSan Francisco: Apple replaced advice on Wednesday that people install anti-virus software on Macintosh computers with assurances that the machines are safe “out of the box.” The move prompted online speculation as to whether Apple was merely polishing the Macintosh image or that the increasingly popular computers are as impervious to hackers as the California company maintains. Apple routinely touts how rarely Macintosh computers are afflicted with malicious software as compared to machines based on Microsoft Windows operating systems, which run more than 90% of the computers in the world. On Tuesday Apple removed a 2007 Knowledge Base posting telling people to install “multiple anti-virus utilities” in Macintosh computers to thwart ill-willed software savants with arrays of defenses. Some software specialists believe that Macintosh computers have been spared attacks mostly because hackers see more return in targeting Windows-based machines that make up the bulk of the market. Macintosh sales have rocketed with the popularity of Apple’s iPhones and iPods, but the rising profile of the computers has also made them more appealing to hackers. Software security firms consistently urge people to protect computers with anti-virus software kept up-to-date no matter the operating systems used. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:34 am Apple claims Macintosh to be virus safeSan Francisco: Apple replaced advice on Wednesday that people install anti-virus software on Macintosh computers with assurances that the machines are safe “out of the box.” The move prompted online speculation as to whether Apple was merely polishing the Macintosh image or that the increasingly popular computers are as impervious to hackers as the California company maintains. Apple routinely touts how rarely Macintosh computers are afflicted with malicious software as compared to machines based on Microsoft Windows operating systems, which run more than 90% of the computers in the world. On Tuesday Apple removed a 2007 Knowledge Base posting telling people to install “multiple anti-virus utilities” in Macintosh computers to thwart ill-willed software savants with arrays of defenses. Some software specialists believe that Macintosh computers have been spared attacks mostly because hackers see more return in targeting Windows-based machines that make up the bulk of the market. Macintosh sales have rocketed with the popularity of Apple’s iPhones and iPods, but the rising profile of the computers has also made them more appealing to hackers. Software security firms consistently urge people to protect computers with anti-virus software kept up-to-date no matter the operating systems used. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:34 am Listen to Google’s first investorWe bring you part 2 of our conversation with Ram Shriram of Sherpalo Ventures. In this episode,  Ram: The Google success of course- I can’t say anything other than that I was an advisor; not the person executing on the ground. It was a different role than at Netscape. So in this case, I was sort of the old man, trying to go through life stories and say don’t do this or do this or this is how you deal with PR. This is how you deal with competition. Let us focus on the users’ role or let’s hire only the best- you know, those sorts of things. So taking the mistakes and the learning and trying to adapt that to a different time so that you know, this young company, with another big opportunity in front of it was not doomed to repeat some of the same mistakes at Netscape. That’s why I have my book of mistakes, which I clearly share with the companies that I work with. Kamla: We’ll come to your book of mistakes- Ram’s book of mistakes. What prompted you to look at Google and say- okay, here is the company I want to bet my fortunes on? Ram: What you know, sort of got me interested in them was simply the fact that at Netscape, I could see that the two big applications that the users cared about, on the internet, were essentially mail and search. So if you look at your time spent on the Net, you’re mostly doing those two things 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time, you could be doing other things. But this is where you spend the majority of your time. And that’s why it was a really big opportunity and it was one that was being ignored. It wasn’t like the opportunity was such a wide open “new opportunity” because there were lots of companies that were doing search at the time. There were 5 or 6 companies so it was counter intuitive. In fact, no body wanted to invest in Search. Everywhere I went, people said no we’re not interested, it doesn’t make any sense cos you know, there is Yahoo and Lycos and Infoseek and everybody else that’s doing Search. Kamla: And Excite? Ram: And Excite. So I said, well look. Their quantum leap in user experience that was achieved and in relevance of searches themselves on a small index inside the Stanford network was a big eye opener. And so I said, let’s just see what happens. But nobody was at that time was interested in innovating in and search. It was felt that the market had matured and the winners had already been picked. And as we now know, that’s never true in any market. Mature markets represent as much of an opportunity as completely new markets. Kamla: Does it feel like Déjà vu when you look at the browser wars of today? And what is different about today’s browser war? Ram: Well, I think you know, today’s browser war could be over done. In that, I think there are multiple choices in browsers- you’ve got Safari, you’ve got Google Chrome which is a new comer. You have got Firefox which is from a lot of my old friends from Netscape and which is open source by the way. That’s one of the only ones of these and of course Chrome is open source as well and we’ve got Internet Explorer which has got the bulk of the market share. So it’s good to have choice in front of the users and its good to have competition. Kamla: Let me switch to something that interests your consumers. You’re very focused on consumers. Tell us why you’re so focused on consumers in terms of your investments. I think your investment strategies are also focused on consumer facing companies. Ram: Absolutely. A very accurate statement. I spent the first 10-15 years of my career focused on corporate customers. Because when you are selling software, you are selling it to enterprises. When you are selling networking gear, before that you’re selling to enterprises. The consumer opportunity came about when IP became pervasive. When they were enough PCs and all the PCs were networked and they were all out there. The opportunity to download software. In fact Netscape was the innovator in coming up with the new way of distribution, which is download Netscape directly on the web. That was first time anybody had tried it and it was a new innovation. So today, if something were to succeed, it can succeed quite rapidly. You know, you build your field of dreams and if the users come, that is half the battle. And then the second part of it is how you monetise it. So you have the sense of instant thrill from having created something that lots of users like. There is this website that is doing aggregating personal and financial information called Mint.com- no relation to Mint, the newspaper. This guy did his PhD at Princeton, left Princeton, came out to the Valley and holed himself up in an apartment. And over a period of 8 months, essentially created this whole website with a very pleasing new eye and a whole good experience and then he put it out there. Basically this has become the new Quicken as an example. So I think the opportunity to be able to realise quickly and validate quickly, the fruits of your labour is what the consumer opportunity provides you. The other advantage is I love companies that touch tons of people. It makes a material difference in the lives of those people. And I think to the extent that is there that it’s great. And I think the other advantage with consumer businesses is you have the ability to actually both impact and influence people. I think there are many facets to touching consumers that are valuable beyond just the sort of financial reward of it. Kamla: What should a technology led company look out for when it is in a consumer space? Ram: Well, first of all, every company that’s in the consumer space still needs to have real technology. So I am interested in only in companies that have defensible technology that I prefer to invest in. Occasionally, you may find a company that’s more of a business model innovator than a technology innovator. eBay is an example of a business model innovation, which was this whole notion of reverse auction around physical goods. But generally, most of the companies even in the web consumer commerce and/or in commerce-commerce space are technology companies. Amazon is a technology company. Google is a technology company. Yahoo is Technology Company. What do I look for. I look for that defensible technology and I look for some view of that market space that they are trying to a business in. Being in it for so long I have some intuitive knowledge of what areas inherently might succeed or fail. Then you extrapolate on that. Of course you also do a lot of research, market research and other sorts of test before you decide that this makes sense but it starts with having a great team. Kamla: What are the challenges that a company faces when it grows big? How do you think it can scale talent, acquire, grow and retain competence? Ram: For a company to grow big you first need an early DNA that is set by the founders of the company. So it could be about their work ethic, their quality of the hiring that they do, how high a standard they set in terms of the quality of the website, the user experience and all of those things. And then the early people they hire will have the same DNA as the founders and then they all go out and hire other smart people and that is how you built from strength to strength as it were Afterwards what matters is the management team that you have in place and how you build a sort of goals that you can execute against. And by goals I am talking about your objectives and key results for each employee. It may sound like it is very task oriented but infact it is very valuable because if everyone in the bowels of the organisation as a company gets larger has a sense of what their objectives are and what the tactics are that they need to follow to meet their objectives . And how that bubbles up into their manager. And how that bubbles up from their manager in to their division and how that bubbles up from their division up to the top of the company. And at the very top the CEO may have goals such as so much in terms of net margins, so much top line growth and revenue and this is the value of the company that the shareholders should see in the next coming year or two. That may be their goals but down below there needs to be a set of objectives and key results that guide everybody in the management chain all the way down to the individual contributor. And that is what Intel did way back when they were a young company. And to this day it is one of the best models to follow. To some degree learning from what they built in terms of process for success, is quite valuable. Kamla: While you were describing it the analogy that came into my mind was the standard operating procedures, strategy and tactics. How in defence forces for instance say the military you have a strategy and the foot soldiers execute on the tactics. But sometimes what happens is because it is a top down organisation their could be some foot soldier who is really brilliant but might not get an opportunity to reach up to the commander ant and say hey you know what I have seen something different in the field out there that you sitting in your tent cannot see. How do tech companies accommodate for such people? Ram: The military analogy makes sense. However I wasn’t thinking of the military analogy because it doesn’t really work well with the technological companies because you can stifle creativity when you do that. I was thinking more in terms of the objectives and key results, not necessarily to pigeon-hole every employee to a sand box. But rather to give them a sense of what their guidelines and goals are and that may only consume 60 or 70 or 80 % of their time and the other 20% of their time, they can have their other creative pursuits within their area of knowledge then, they may come up with new ideas, maybe even boobstrap a new product or a feature or a solution that they can then take up to their management and say, hey, this makes good sense of this company. So this is what Google does. It allows every employee to innovate, at an individual level, in their free time- in their 20% time as it were. And some of those 20% time projects make it in the mainstream 80% projects and some frankly, do not. So again, the 80-20 rule follows. So I think, that is a great way to think about it. But, you do need to unleash creativity by not hamstringing or putting an employee in a narrow compartment and saying, this is all you need to do and this is all you need to focus on. So that’s not what I was referring to when I said objectives and key results. But you do need the discipline of having those objectives and key results because if you said, its completely open; you can do anything you want and not necessarily hold them to product schedules and delivery schedules and execution time tables, then what you have is sort of a free-for-all which can lead to chaos. So what I am advocating is controlled chaos and not unbridled chaos. Kamla: Let’s switch to your “Ram’s Book of Mistakes” What are the key lessons from your “Book of Mistakes”? Ram: The first key lesson is throughout your career, you will be making mistakes. So if you begin to think that you will not make mistakes, right there- it’s a failing. So in other words, it is good to have an ego but keep your ego in check. By keeping it in check, you’re going to be able to listen. And when you listen, you learn. And when you learn, you act, with the better judgment. That is at the simplest level for one of the learnings. A lot of mistakes that go on in the life of the company have to do with people judgments. The hardest thing is people judgments. And you know, we know this through our personal lives where people change. And when you are hiring into an organisation, you want to hire the right people for that stage of the company, to be able to take the company to the next stage of growth. And if they can continue to scale and grow with you - great. If they cannot, then they will have a place in the organisation where they may belong or they may not have a place in the organisation. But making those early decisions on hiring, whether it is for the first few engineers that you want to hire or it is for the first few managers that you bring into the company, whether it’s the first head of Sales or Business Development that you bring in, the first VP of engineering that you bring in, the first server engineer, the first user experience engineer, the first CEO that you hire-in fact that’s a big decision. So in the early life of a young company, those decisions have a multiplier effect on the future of the company. Those same decisions, when a company is much bigger are less painful to the existence of that company. In other words, they don’t have quite the impact they do when the company is young. So if you make a bad decision in the CEO hire in the early life of a company that could be a mortal blow to that company. Whereas when you make that mistake when a company is large, yes it could still have a negative impact on the company, but you can rectify it and the company might be able to recover. Kamla: Who are some of the good people that you have known who have been kind of force multipliers for you? Ram: Force multiplier is a great Colin Powell term. It is definitely a true statement in business. I’ve been fortunate to work with number of great people among them- Jim Jim Barksdale and Jim Clarke; the two people at Netscape. Both the people I learned a lot from- one on the management side, the other on the creativity side. Clarke of course, is a professor at Stanford and has three successful companies to his credit. Jeff Bezos is incredibly smart and capable entrepreneur and still one of the most successful companies in the web. You know, learning from Larry, Sergei and Eric and the whole- you know several other management teams that I’ve brought in and then I worked with, at Google, from the early days have all been learning experiences. And building a company of that size and scale is just you know, chockfull of examples of learning that go on everyday. It is easy to focus just on your successes. I did learn through the failures. The failures of Aduleus way back in the 1980s, the failure of other companies like Sytech for example was sold successfully still could have been an independent company. It was the largest networking company; larger than 3Com at the time but yet it had a more chequered existence as compared to 3com. And the reason was, it had to be sold because the opportunity had shifted to Ethernet and this company was under different market space . Why did they not move to the new markets? Those kinds of learning, ensuring that there is no hubris in the company as it succeeds is really really important because the moment you start to get comfortable in your success, as Andy Grove says, only the paranoids survive, the time to really worry about staying successful is when you’re on top. Kamla: You’ve mentioned that success is a crap shot so is it a crap shot when it comes to personal success versus compared to success for a company? Ram: Let me give you some context for this. You need to work hard, you need to work smart and you need to do all the right things and then, you need a little bit of luck. Preparation means opportunity. So you can’t get lucky because I can’t say I got lucky at Netscape, I got lucky at Amazon, I got lucky at Google; it doesn’t happen that way. You typically will need to be discriminating enough to find the right opportunity. When I went to Netscape, I had three or four other opportunities that I could have gone to. There was a security company that I could have gone to. I could have gone to a big enterprise software company when I had an opportunity. I could have gone to a young enterprise startup, which was different than Netscape that I could have gone to. I could have gone into a networking company because networking was all the rage at the time. And yet, I chose Netscape. Kamla: Why? Ram: I chose it because I felt that there was a new opportunity there at the time. However, I could not tell you how big that opportunity is. I could not tell you when I invested in Google how big that opportunity would be, because you don’t have a crystal ball that necessarily says this is what the future is. And even if you did have the crystal ball that told you that this is the future there is many a slip between the cup and the lip. In other words, there are tremendous numbers of execution challenges even if the market was as big as advertised. Today people talk of Search being a $ 50-100 billion market but-well, when you go two and a half years without revenue and you raised a little bit of money and you’re waiting to figure out how to monetise, you are not thinking of how big the market is, you’re thinking of “what am I going to need to do to execute tomorrow morning when I wake up so that I can bring some revenue in as we are burning cash.” That is not necessarily the same as saying I know it’s going to be a runaway success because you don’t know these things when you’re investing initially. So all you do is you work really hard at building that execution once you feel you have picked the right market space. So as career learning and as a sort of learning from a company building stand point, I would say luck plays a small role. If you put all your eggs in the luck basket, then you should just go play the lottery. Kamla: So in that way, it is not a lottery, it’s not a roll of the dice. Ram: Definitely not. It does help to have a little bit of luck going in your way. Just as I say lightning doesn’t strike repeatedly, luck doesn’t come all the time either. You know, frequently, you end up in resting in the wrong space for example. Then you learn and you figure out what to do. Or, you invest in the right space but the company doesn’t grow as big. An example of that was what we did with Plaxo. It was great space, we were doing mobile sync, we had the best sync product in the market, but the fact is-social networking grew all around us and we didn’t realise that we could have easily been the premier social networking company. So the opportunity was capped because the company that grew around us did social networking better than the company that owned the address book. So the address book company got subsumed into the bigger market. So the exit for that business wasn’t as large as it could have been. You were listening to Ram Shriram for Sherpalo Ventures. Tune back in for part 3 of the conversation where he talks about Sherpalo and the investment opportunities he sees in India. This is Kamla Bhatt and this interview is brought to you in association with Live Mint Radio. And as always, thank you for tuning in. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:28 am Security industry estimated to touch Rs50,000 cr by 2011: AssochamBy PTI New Delhi: Private security in India is estimated to become a Rs50,000 crore industry in four years as corporates have increased their spending on safeguards after the Mumbai terror strikes, industry chamber Assocham said. Corporates are likely to scale up their security budgets by 35-40%. The private security business, presently a Rs22,000 crore industry is expected to touch Rs50,000 crore as security becomes top priority for Indian firms, it said. Key Findings * The industry, which has been growing at 25% over the past 5-7 years, would achieve a growth rate of 125% by 2012 * Since substantial industrial expansion is expected in the infrastructure sector, cost of security gadgets that need to be imported will work out to Rs20,000 crore in the next two years * Demand for security gadgets has gone up in educational institutions, hospitals, shopping malls and business centres * There will be a spurt in production of security gadgets as also deployment of security personnel * Over two lakh security professionals will be required in industrial installations in coming years Recommendation * With foreign security companies assessing Indian markets for selling gadgets, the government should cut import duty on security gadgets by about 50% Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:12 am Asian shares retreat, economic fears nagHong Kong: Asian shares fell on Thursday as more bad news piled up for the global economy, while the dollar and yen steadied as central banks in the UK and Europe were set to cut interest rates to their lowest in years. European shares were set to open slightly lower ahead of the central bank decisions, with the focus also on Swiss Bank Credit Suisse, which announced a net loss of about $2.5 billion in the two months to end-November and cut another 5,300 jobs. Despite a flurry of government measures in recent months aimed at stabilising markets, investor fears of further losses persist. A corporate survey in Japan pointed on Thursday to a deeper recession than first thought, while Australia’s vehicle sales slumped in November, in the latest signals that the global economic downturn is sparing few corners of the world. Oil prices fell to below $46 a barrel to almost four-year lows, as investors opt for safer-havens. The US Treasury 10-year yield hit its lowest in five decades, helped as well by expectations for more US purchases of government debt. Central banks are responding to weak economic growth by cutting rates aggressively, with the European Central Bank and the Bank of England on Thursday expected to join countries such as Thailand and New Zealand in slashing borrowing costs. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 0.6% as of 12am turning around after earlier gains of as much as 1.2%. The MSCI index has advanced more than 10% since hitting a five-year low on 21 November, but is still down 59% for the year as of Wednesday’s close. Although Wall Street shares rose on Wednesday for a second session on the back of defensive stocks seen as riding out a recession, data showed large job losses among US employers and a slumping service sector, suggesting the worst may not be over for the world’s largest economy. Japan’s Nikkei average fell 1%, surrendering earlier gains of 1.3%. Major share indexes in South Korea and Taiwan fell more than 1% each, Hong Kong fell 0.7%, while Australia ended flat. But shares in Shanghai rose 1.5%, as financial stocks benefitted from the government’s liquidity measures on Wednesday and amid hopes for more economic stimulus measures. Indexes in India and Singapore also advanced. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 9:04 am TCS reviewing capex plans: RamadoraiTata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) is in the process of reviewing its capital expenditure plans for the current year due to the global economic crisis.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Dec 2008 | 8:54 am New BlackBerry handset wrapped in security webLaunch of a new touchscreen BlackBerry handset in India has been caught in a security webSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 8:52 am LeT leaders masterminded Mumbai attacks: officialMumbai: India suspects two senior leaders of a banned Pakistani militant group orchestrated the three-day siege of the country’s financial capital that killed at least 171 people, Indian officials said on Thursday. Evidence collected in the investigation pointed to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Yusuf Muzammil as masterminds behind the bloody rampage in Mumbai, according to two government officials familiar with the matter. Lakhvi and Muzammil are top members of the outlawed Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba , which India blames in attacks and are believed to be living in Pakistan, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Lakhvi has been identified as the group’s chief of operations and Muzammil as its operations chief in Kashmir and other parts of India. The revelations came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Pakistan on Thursday for meetings with civilian and military leaders after visiting Indian leaders in New Delhi. She aimed to raise pressure on Pakistan’s government to help get to the bottom of the terror attacks, saying that Pakistan must mount a “robust response” to bring the terrorists to justice. Indian airports, meanwhile, were put on high alert after the government received warnings of possible airborne attacks. Last week’s attacks were carried out by 10 suspected Muslim militants against hotels, a restaurant and other sites across Mumbai. In a stunning new example of the botched security that has sparked public outrage since the assault, police on Wednesday found two bombs at Mumbai’s main train station nearly a week after they were left there by gunmen behind the attacks. While searching through about 150 bags, which police believed were left by the dozens of victims in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station, an officer found a suspicious-looking bag and called the bomb squad, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Bapu Domre. Inside were two 4 kilogram bombs, which were taken away and safely detonated, he said. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday adopted a more strident tone against longtime rival Pakistan. At a candlelight gathering in Mumbai, many chanted anti-Pakistan slogans and called for war. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 8:25 am Government asks Reliance to give gasThe government has asked Reliance Industries to supply natural gas from the company's eastern offshore D6 fields to the beleaguered Dabhol power plant.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 8:24 am Punj Lloyd in pact with Thorium PowerPunj Lloyd Thursday said it has entered into an agreement with US-based Thorium Power for consulting activities in the development of nuclear power generation in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 8:21 am Inflation slips further to 8.4% from 8.84%New Delhi: India’s wholesale price index rose 8.4 % in the 12 months to 22 November, below the previous week’s annual rise of 8.84%, government data showed on Thursday. The rate was also below a median forecast of 8.91% in a Reuters poll of analysts. The annual inflation rate was 3.11% during the corresponding week of the previous year. The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index, which is published monthly, because it covers a higher number of products and is released weekly. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:50 am India to add up to 1,500 MW nuclear power in 2009NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India expects to add new nuclear power generation capacity of up to 1,500 megawatts by the end of next year, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar, said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:25 am Infosys pegs IT industry growth at 15% this yearNew Delhi: The country’s second largest software exporter Infosys Technologies today said the domestic IT industry is likely to grow by 15% this year against 30% growth last year in the wake of global slowdown. “Last year the IT industry grew more than 30%, this year it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15%. So, it has slowed down,” Infosys CEO S Gopalakrishnan told reporters here on the sidelines of the CII conference. IT industry association Nasscom has pegged the growth rate at 21% for this year due to the downturn in the world’s largest economy US, which contributes 60% of the total revenue. “As per the estimates we are getting from industry bodies it looks like the sector will register a growth of 15% this year,” Gopalakrishnan added. However, he clarified that Infosys will stick to its revenue guidance for the third quarter and the fiscal. Infosys had earlier scaled down its dollar guidance (revenue projection in dollars) by about three percentage points for the full year to 13.1-15.2%. Infosys has seen delays in orders but there was no change in its third quarter guidance, Gopalakrishnan added. On hiring plans, he added Infosys would hire 25,000 people this year, but there would be no fresh recruitments beyond that, except in specific skills. He further clarified that therewere no plans to cut headcount. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 7:22 am Production from UG mines to exceed target in 11th Plan: CILKolkata: After arresting the decline in production from its underground mines, state-owned Coal India Ltd today said production from the mines would exceed the target of 54 million tonnes in the current plan period with the help of sophisticated high wall mining technology. “The production from the underground mines was on the decline which we have arrested and this year CIL is likely to produce one million tonnes (MT) more than last year from underground mines,” CIL Chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya told PTI here. He said that last year CIL had produced 43.4 MT from underground mines and this year so far the company has produced 0.6 MT additional coal from them. Stating that the company was trying to procure high wall mining machines from the USA, Bhattachayya said this fiscal one machine was likely to be installed at its subsidiary South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. The company has plans to procure a number of high wall mining machines and tender has been floated for one for installation at a colliery under SECL. He said initially CIL would procure the machines on contractual basis. Asserting that the company would meet the production target of 54 MT from underground mines in the current plan, the CIL chairman said the output would exceed the target with the help of high wall mining. CIL has a production target of 520 MT in the current plan. Asked how much additional production CIL would make from underground mines in this plan, Bhattacharyya said that it would depend on the procurement of high wall mining machines. Stating that underground mining was the focus area in the 11th Plan, he said that to boost production from underground mines, the company was taking the support of powered support long wall technology in the Moonidih mines of its subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. BCCL has signed a long term contract with Chinese company ZMJ on Tuesday for implementation of a long wall project at Moonidih colliery. He said CIL which had a production of 379 MT last year would produce 405 m.t in the current fiscal. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Dec 2008 | 5:37 am GM, Chrysler considering bankruptcy to get bailout - reportReuters - General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC are considering accepting a pre-arranged bankruptcy as the last-resort price of getting a multi billion dollar government bailout, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with internal discussions.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Dec 2008 | 5:30 am Insurance regulator working on norms for mergers & acquisitionsNew Delhi, Dec. 3 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is pitching for consolidation in the Indian insurance industry.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Indian crude basket dips to $43.17 a barrelNew Delhi, Dec. 3 The Indian crude basket has hit a fresh low for the current fiscal on Tuesday at $43.17 a barrel. The crude basket, which has fallen 70 per cent since it hit a high of $142.04 a barrel in July, has averaged $102.09 a barrel soSource: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideOn Wednesday, the stock slumped by 4 per cent, accompanied with above average volume, in line with our expectation. We retain our sell recommendation for the session.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Bonds rally on rate cut expectationsMumbai, Dec. 3 Prices of Government Securities (G-Sec) shot up by around Rs 2 on Wednesday on expectations that the Reserve Bank of India would soon announce “steep cuts” in its signal rates – repo and reverse repo.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am NSE revises lot sizes of derivative contractsChennai, Dec. 3 NSE has revised upwards the market lot for 243 stocks in the derivative segment.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Cipla (Rs 183.45): SellInvestors with a short-term trading perspective can consider selling Cipla stock. It is clearly visible from the charts of Cipla that after recording a 52-week low of Rs 146 in late October, it was on a medium-term up move. This up move of the stockSource: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Goodbye, Mr ChidambaramFor the last five years I have deliberately not written about the former Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram. But now that he is gone from the Finance Ministry — forever, perhaps — it seems right that one should make amends, not leastSource: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am HC dismisses Vodafone challenge in tax caseMumbai, Dec. 3 The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed the writ petition filed by Vodafone International Holdings challenging the jurisdiction of Indian tax authorities to assess withholding tax (akin to tax deduction at source) arising outSource: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am MAN to raise stake in jt venture with Force MotorsPune, Dec. 3 MAN of Germany will buy a 14.2 per cent stake from its joint venture partner, Force Motors Ltd of Pune, for about Rs 300 crore (€49 million), taking its stake in the joint venture to 50 per cent. MAN will acquire additionalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am BlackBerry Storm hits security hurdelNew Delhi, Dec. 3 With the security agencies tightening their screws following the terrorist attack on Mumbai, BlackBerry has come under Department of Telecom’s scanner yet again. This time concerns have been raised on a new device -Source: Business Line - Home Page | 4 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Bhaskar in advanced talks for INX stakesD B Corp, the owner of the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, is in advanced discussions with broadcaster INX Media to acquire a stake in the company that operates the entertainment channels as well as aSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 6:49 pm Europe's slowdown forces Nissan to cut sourcing from MarutiNissan Motor Company, Japan's third-largest auto maker, has decided to cut its small car sourcing target from India's biggest car company Maruti Suzuki by 80 per cent in view of the severe downturn inSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 6:49 pm Stimulus package for economy on SaturdayThe series of big-ticket measures proposed by a committee of secretaries today to boost demand and minimise job cuts will include a Rs 2,000-crore export package, a further relaxation in externalSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 3 Dec 2008 | 6:48 pm GM to slash up to 31,500 jobs in USChicago: General Motors (GM) told lawmakers that it plans to cut up to 31,500 more jobs in the US, as it confronts a severe slump that has it begging Congress for a $18-billion bailout. GM said on Tuesday, 2 December, it planned to reduce its total US employment from the current level of 96,537 people to between 65,000 and 75,000 salaried and unionized workers by 2012. The total number of US plants would be cut to 38 in 2012 from 47 in 2008. GM has already slashed its workforce nearly in half from the 2000 levels of 191,465 people. The company operated 59 powertrain, stamping and assembly plants in the US in 2000. The job cuts were detailed in a report GM presented to Congress in hopes of securing government-backed, low-cost loans. GM said it expects to be “fully competitive” with Toyota on wage costs for “both current workers and new hires” by 2012 due to “additional changes to be negotiated” with its main union, productivity improvements, turnover rates and the planned cuts. A landmark labour agreement reached last year has lowered GM’s total costs for new workers to $25-35 an hour compared with Toyota’s average US labour cost of between $45 and $50 per hour, GM said. “The operating and capital restructuring elements will significantly improve the company’s profitability and cash flow for the long term, and enable full repayment of any temporary federal assistance by 2012” in the event US auto sales remain at or above 12 million vehicles a year, GM said in the plan. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 3 Dec 2008 | 10:55 am
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