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Zoellick warns finance rescues may hurt poorMIANYANG, China (Reuters) - Wealthy nations must be careful not to cause more suffering to the developing world as they take bolder steps to boost their faltering economies, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 2:24 pm Indian IT industry caught in unpredictable times: RamadoraiThe global meltdown has plunged the Indian IT industry into unpredictable times and a period of uncertainty looms large, according to a top executive at software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:30 pm Airports Authority on austerity drive, curtails air travel!Airports Authority of India (AAI), to initiate a slew of austerity measures in a bid to overcome the on-going economic turbulence.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:43 pm TopsGrup looking at China, ME, SA for acquisitions!TopsGrup plans to acquire majority stakes in like firms in China, South Africa and the Middle East, a top official of the company said.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:43 pm PSUs on a hiring spree; LIC, SBI lead!PSU banks and LIC have initiated steps for recruitment of around 45,000 people this fiscal.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:43 pm US may change credit card rules!The US credit card industry, harshly criticized for imposing surprise fees and interest rate hikes on consumers, may face a day of Credit Cards reckoning on Thursday.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:43 pm Recession painful since Great Depression !The ongoing recession in the world`s largest economy US is expected to be the most painful since the 1930s Great Depression even as economists anticipate the economic downturn to come to an end in June next year, reveals a survey.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:43 pm Madoff`s alleged $50 billion fraud hits other investors!Investors scrambled to assess potential losses from an alleged $50 billion fraud by Bernard Madoff, a day after the arrest of the prominent Wall Street trader.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:43 pm Global crisis hits Indian PR industryNew Delhi: As the global financial crisis forces companies to cut cost, public relations firms are facing the heat as business houses are going slow on image building and advertisement campaigns. According to Assocham, the Indian PR industry, which till some time ago was witnessing a massive growth rate of more than 30%, is struggling to retain clients. “As against the normal 25-30% growth rate the industry has been experiencing over the past five years, growth this year may be 10-15%,” says Adfactors Public Relation Managing Director Madan Bahal. “The Indian PR industry is an integral part of the larger business landscape. Anything that impacts global or Indian business will indirectly impact the industry here,” he says. Industry sources say that PR companies are working hard to renegotiate terms with clients, who are, at least for now, finding it difficult to spend hefty amounts on public relations. “Cost reduction is a natural pursuit for all corporates under these circumstances and expenditure on marketing-related activities would be no exception,” says Shrishti Communication Managing Director Ashish Datta. “As far as it is manageable and affordable, we are not against giving some relaxation to the suffering business houses,” a top executive in the industry said, adding that the industry is ready to help out their clients of the trouble. Integral PR CEO Sharif Rangnekar said: “It is a bit early to say whether the industry is hit. But certainly there is a concern about the foreign clients and the clients who are operating on the international level.” Integral PR CEO says that there is a strong likelihood that various companies, which are still assessing the impact of financial crisis on them, might renegotiate their terms with their respective PR partners, adding: “This is an industry which grows with the economy.It’s very natural to have an adverse impact when global economy is not in a good state”. But at the same time, he also sees a new opportunity for the industry. “It is testing time as well as an opportunity for the industry to come up with innovative ideas and new plans to reinstate the image of their clients in a weak market,” he said. The PR industry, in a bid to slash its operating cost, is also resorting to cost-cutting measures in its own way. “I haven’t been given the appraisal despite having got verbal assurances,” a PR executive in a top PR firm said. On condition of anonymity, she said that the company has suddenly withheld all promotions, as it has lost around 10% of its clients. According to sources, since the sectors mainly affected by the economic crisis are banking and financial services, Technology, Reality and Infrastructure, the PR firms dealing with Healthcare, FMCG, Education etc are happy even at this time, as their growth remains unaffected. The industry has attracted a number of International PR agencies over the last decade to start their operations in India, thanks to the high growth rate and tremendous potential of the industry in the country. According to ASSOCHAM figures, the estimated size of Indian PR industry is $3 billion. Accoeding to sources, the already high attrition rate, at around 40% in the industry, is also expected to go up further on account of the job dissatisfaction amidst its employees. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:21 pm China's premier says stimulus moves not over - mediaBEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday measures to stimulate the Chinese economy were not yet over, according to the website of Hong Kong's Phoenix TV.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:03 pm IIT status still eludes IT-BHUVaranasi: Even after five months of the Union Cabinet decision to upgrade IT-BHU to an IIT, the status still eludes the institute as no further step has been taken to give the decision a concrete shape, adding to the deep disappointment of the students and the faculties here. “We are deeply disappointed at this juncture as no visible steps have been taken to accomplish the Cabinet decision to upgrade the IT-BHU to an IIT and the present Lok Sabha is about to complete its five years’ term,” Prof Siddha Nath Upadhyay, Director of IT-BHU, said. The Union Cabinet had approved the setting up of eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, HP and MP at a total cost of Rs6080 crores for 6 years period, on 17 July this year. At the same meeting the Cabinet also approved in principle the taking over of the IT-BHU, a unit of the Banaras Hindu University, its conversion into an IIT and integrating it with the IIT system in the country. “But since then while the academic sessions commenced in 6 new IITs opened with effect from 23 July this year, even without any formal campus for them, the sprawling lush green campus of IT-BHU has been left out without any visible further step in the direction of upgrading it to the IIT status,” a senior official of the institute said. “The IT-BHU has not been even officially informed about the Cabinet decision to upgrade it till date,” Prof Upadhyay said. “We had demanded for an additional estimated fund of about Rs300 crore for the first phase of the upgradation plan of the institute but still waiting for the response of the Union Government,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:45 am Buffett is 'Hero', Greenspan is 'Zero': FortuneThe much-maligned 'derivative' has made legendary investor Warren Buffett a 'hero', while former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has been rendered a 'zero'.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:42 am Decision on selling licenses to deprive revenue of billionsVadodara: “The decision of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on sale of licence to realty and retail companies will deprive the central exchequer of potential revenue running into billions of dollars,” G.L. Jogi, General Secretary of Sanchar Nigam Executives Association (SNEA) said. Jogi said that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) stood fully exposed on this issue which allowed these inexperienced companies in telecom activities, in making huge money by selling their recently acquired licences bundled with 4.4 mhz of spectrum per circle at throw away prices to international telecom giants at huge premium. Jogi was in the city with the three days 27th All India Conference of SNEA starting from today. “Despite all the warning from Prime Minister’s office, Ministry of Finance and other central agencies on refraining from allocating the precious 2G spectrum in Arbitrary manner, DoT went ahead with such allocation, and thus deliberately deprived national exchequers of thousands of crores of revenue,” he said. According to him, these huge sums find their place in the kitties of realty estate and retail companies. Jogi said: “The decision of BSNL to allow private operators to roam on BSNL network and consequent use of 2G spectrum, is a political one, based on purely extraneous considerations not caring about BSNL’s future finances.” “About 1300 delegates from various parts of the country have been attending this annual conference and will dicuss on various issues and demands raised by them,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:35 am Sony India mulls price cut; expects 30% growth in FY’09New Delhi: On the heels of consumer durable companies such as Samsung and LG announcing price cut, Sony India has said it is mulling over the idea and is waiting for “an opportunity” to pass on the benefit to consumers. Sony India Sales Head Sunil Nayyar said “despite a reduction in excise duty, the adverse exchange rate fluctuations have been a reason for us to hold the prices for now. However we will definitely look for an opportunity where we can pass on the benefit to consumers.” Nayyar further said “we are working on it and consider it to be positive and are pretty sure that these initiatives will stimulate demand.” Last week Samsung and LG decided to marginally slash prices of plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, refrigerators and washing machines. The move by these consumer durable companies was pursuant to the government slashing Cenvat by 4% across the board to boost demand as part of package to stimulate the economy, hit hard by the global financial crisis. This year durable industry suffered due to increase in input costs declining demand and adverse exchange rate fluctuations. Echoing similar sentiment Nayyar said “both the appreciating yen in the first half of the year and the depreciating rupee, has lead to a “double impact” on our import costs. But till now, we have not passed on this cost to our customers.” For the current financial year Sony India is maintaining its 30% growth projection despite recessionary fears largely due to the fact that the company reported robust sales till October. “November onwards there has been a slowdown in the market but since we had registered robust sales till October we maintain our growth estimates of 30% for the current fiscal year,” Nayyar added. He however said “under the current circumstances the company expects a slowdown in the next financial year and has kept its growth projection at 20-25%.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:19 am Mohali industrial units languishing under long power cutsBesides grappling with the global economic meltdown that has crippled industries all across the world, industrial units in Punjab's Mohali district have also to cope with one more crisis - prolonged power cuts.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:00 am RBI projects further deterioration in Govt financesNew Delhi: With the government coming out with financial incentives for the industry, the Reserve Bank has said central finances will further deteriorate during the second-half of the year on account of the impact of financial turmoil on the Indian economy. “While expenditure is slated to increase in the coming months, growth of tax revenue is likely to decelerate with the expected moderation in real economic activities following the global financial meltdown,” RBI said in its monthly bulletin. “Finances...in the first-half indicate deterioration in all key deficit indicators, both in the absolute term as well as per centage of GDP,” it said, adding the “pressure” on deficit indicators would continue during the remaining part of 2008-09. The government has come out with a fiscal stimulus package of over Rs30,000 crore which will have an adverse bearing on central finances. This will be an addition to over Rs1 lakh crore the government has sought during the first batch of supplementary demands for grants raising the government expenditures. With the industrial production as well as exports recording a negative growth of 0.4 per cent and 12.1% respectively in October, the government may come out with the second stimulus package increasing further pressure on finances. Referring to the performance of the first half, the RBI report said, “As per cent of the Budget estimates, both revenue deficits and fiscal deficits were higher mainly due to rise in revenue expenditure, both non-plan and plan.” RBI has already indicated that it would review the economic growth estimate at its quarterly monetary policy to be announced on 27 January. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 10:35 am Eminent engineers receive awards at Engineering CongressThe Institution of Engineers India (IEI) presented 200 awards and certificates under various disciplines to engineers for their outstanding academic and professional excellence at the 23rd Indian Engineering Congress, which concluded Sunday at Warangal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 10:31 am Oil price heading towards $25-30 a barrel?New Delhi: Global investment banks Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, which had earlier this year forecast oil prices would surge to $200 per barrel level, now foresee it slipping to $25-30 level, while Indian analysts anticipate a strong resistance at $40. After hitting a peak of over $147 in July this year, crude oil prices have declined sharply and are currently trading near $45 level. Goldman Sachs’ commodity research team in its latest research note has predicted that the oil price might slip to $30 per barrel level in the next three months. Meanwhile, the firm’s energy equity research team, led by Arjun Murti, said in another report that it is cutting its forecast for 2009 to $45, from $80 previously, due to global economic slowdown. Murti, who is known as ‘oil guru’, had shot to fame for rightly predicting a spike in the price to USD 100 when it was trading at around $40 level. Later in May, Murti forecast a spike to $150-200 level in the next 6-24 months. In an interview with the stock market weekly Barron’s in June, when oil price were hovering at about $135, Murti had said that oil prices might fall below $75, but after 20 years. The latest report from Murti’s team has, however, said that there was a possibility of prices falling below $40 level shortly. Indian analysts, however, see a strong resistance to the oil prices slipping below $40 level and do not foresee any possibility of $25-30 level. “Crude oil prices may not fall below $40 a barrel. Rather it will consolidate at $40 a barrel level,” Kotak Commodoties Vice President Si Kannan said. Opec meeting which is scheduled in the coming week may cut production further and this will consolidate prices,“ Kannan added. “Crude oil will have good support at $40 per barrel. I doubt if it falls to $30 per barrel in the short-term,” Religare Commodities Business Head Jayant Manglik said. Earlier last week, Merrill Lynch had warned that oil price could fall to as low as $25 if economic recession in the US, Europe and Japan spreads to China. Merrill Lynch currently forecasts an average price of $50 for 2009. The Goldman Sachs report from the Murti-led team noted that the global credit crunch could push oil prices below $40 level as the impact of the global economic recession had swung the oil market from “pricing demand destruction in 2008 to pricing supply destruction in 2009.” The energy equity team of Goldman Sachs said that oil prices were likely to bottom out in the first quarter of 2009. It further noted that a recovery was expected after that and oil markets would not see “a decade-plus period of weakness like seen in 1980s and 1990s.” At the same time, Goldman Sachs’ commodities research team, led by Jeffrey Currie, noted that oil price could claw back to $42 by June and then to $65 by December of 2009 — after a fall to $30 in first quarter — thus keeping the average for the year at about $45. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 10:14 am China eyes 17 pct money supply growth in 2009BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to increase its money supply by 17 percent in 2009, the country's cabinet said, as it unveiled a broad blueprint for easing financial conditions to help grease the wheels of the world's fourth-largest economy.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 10:02 am Snowberry foraying into Indian market with $50 mn investmentUnperturbed by the economic slowdown, the US-based ice cream maker Snowberry USA Inc is entering the $200-million Indian ice cream market with a planned investment of $50 million, a top official has said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 10:00 am 25 US banks failed this year so farNew York: Reeling under a recession that’s getting worse, the US has seen the collapse of 25 banks this year, with two entities going belly up on average each month. The world’s largest economy, which officially entered a recession phase in December last year, has seen the demise of three banks this month. Sanderson State Bank and Haven Trust Bank, both of which were seized by the authorities on Friday, are the latest to join the league of failed entities. Last week, First Georgia Community Bank went bust. According to data available with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, an independent agency of the US government often appointed as receiver of failed banks, 25 banks failed so far this year. On average, it means two bank failures every month. Ironically, in the past eight years, 52 banks went belly up and more than half of them collapsed in the ongoing financial turmoil. As many as 27 banks went bust since September last year, when the economic crisis surfaced in the country’s banking sector. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has said that the US entered a recession phase in December last year, the longest since World War II. There were five bank failures in November, making it the highest in any month this year. Among the five, three entities — PFF Bank and Trust, Downey Savings and Loan, and The Community Bank — folded up on 21 November. The other two were Security Pacific Bank and Franklin Bank. Before 2008, the highest number of bank collapses happened in 2002, when 11 entities went bust. This year, there were four bank failures in October, three each in September, August and July, two in May and one each in March and January. There were no bank collapses in 2005 and 2006, while just two banks failed in 2000. The ones that failed have been mostly small and regional banks, primarily due to the falling housing market. However, the raging credit crisis has also seen the collapse of Washington Mutual, the US’s largest savings and loan entity, which is among the biggest bank collapses in 2008. The failed firm, better known as WaMu, has been snapped up by its rival JPMorgan Chase. The number of banks in America have steadily been declining since 1990. FDIC data show that the number of commercial banks in America has come down by over 5,000 in the past 18 years. On the other hand, a panel of economists of the NBER, which is responsible for dating the business cycles in the US, has noted that the nation entered recession in December last year after 73 months of economic expansion since November 2001. The committee’s word is considered final on this. The recent collapses include Franklin Bank SSB, Security Pacific Bank, Freedom Bank, Alpha Bank & Trust, Meridian Bank, Main Street Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, Ameribank, Silver State Bank, Integrity Bank, The Columbian Bank and Trust and First Priority Bank. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 9:34 am Industry wants 49 percent foreign investment in defence sectorIndustry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has called for a hike in existing foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling for defence from 26 percent to 49 percent.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 9:30 am A plane with two enginesThe world economy has often been described as a plane driven by two powerful engines: American consumption and Chinese investment. Both these engines have run into trouble and need oiling. The problems in the US are well known: falling real estate prices, indebted households, a public finance mess and a financial sector that is in deep trouble. American consumption has started falling. Now there are growing signs that the second engine, too, has stopped whirring at top speed. The World Bank expects China to grow at its slowest rate in nearly two decades. China has already announced a $586 billion spending plan to boost local demand. And the People’s Bank of China announced on Wednesday the deepest interest rate cut in a decade. And what about India? We have our own problems, such as high fiscal deficits and a slowing economy. But this is the time to test an old belief—that India can weather a global slowdown better than China, because we are less dependent on American consumers for growth. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 9:15 am Obama’s team mulling $1 trillion stimulus programNew York: President-elect Barack Obama’s team is considering an economic-stimulus program of up to $1 trillion to revive the economy, a media report says. Quoting people familiar with the process the Wall Street Journal said, “Obama’s economic team is considering an economic-stimulus program that will be far larger than the two-year, half-trillion-dollar plan under consideration two weeks ago.” The daily further said, “Obama aides and advisers have set USD 600 billion over two years as “a very low-end estimate,” and the final number is expected to be significantly higher, possibly between $700 billion and $1 trillion over two years. However, transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter denied that any decisions have been made on the scope of the plan and the newspaper quoted her as saying “any speculation on size or scope is premature at this time.” Christina Romer, who will lead Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, is trying to build political consensus around a larger number before it is presented to Congress in early January, WSJ added. As economic conditions worsen, Obama’s economists now say the package will have to be larger than expected to ensure the needed stimulus actually reaches the economy. “The economic team would brief Obama next week, largely about the size of the package. Discussions are still under way about content,” the report said. Obama is scheduled to take office on 20 January. On the upper bounds, liberal economists in the team have staked out $600 billion in the first year and $300 billion to $600 billion in the second, depending on economic conditions in 2010, the WSJ said. Quoting people familiar with the discussion the WSJ said Lawrence Lindsey, President George W Bush’s first National Economic Council (NEC) director, has counseled $800 billion to $1 trillion in stimulus over two years. Meanwhile, Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, a Reagan White House economic adviser, has raised his initial, one-year, $300 billion figure to at least $400 billion, the report added. Obama has said the package would include an initial tax cut and a massive infusion of funds for roads, bridges, water systems, school repair, spreading broadband access, promoting health-care information technology, improving energy efficiency in buildings, renewable-energy projects, and assisting struggling state and local governments. Earlier, the world’s largest economy had announced $700 billion plan primarily to shore up the fortunes of the country’s battered financial institutions. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 9:13 am Kerala's first Malayalam portal stops operationsThe first Malayalam portal from Kerala, malayalam.webduniya.com, has decided to stop operations amid rising concerns of economic crisis spreading into the media industry in the country.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am India Inc. against sectoral tariff negotiations: FicciIndian industry is strongly against any mandatory sectoral tariff initiatives in non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), according to a leading industry lobby.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 9:00 am D-Street may witness positive trend, FIIs to give pushStock markets are likely to remain positive this week on the back of strong foreign fund inflow and the prospects of second stimulus package from the governmentSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:57 am Indian output in first drop in 13 years as crisis bitesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's factory output fell for the first time in more than 13 years in October, the latest evidence of a rapid economic slowdown which could spark more interest rate cuts after aggressive monetary easing last weekend.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:51 am Dabur banks on TV stars to boost homecare products salesNew Delhi: FMCG major Dabur India is turning to television stars for endorsing homecare brands as it bids to make its products a common household name. The company has signed up Sakshi Tanwar, better known as ‘Parvati’ in the popular television soap opera Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki as brand ambassador for its toilet cleaner ‘Sanifresh Shine’. Dabur already has India’s favourite tele-bahu Smriti Irani, of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi fame, for endorsing its recently launched hard surface cleaner brand ‘Dazzl’. “Both Smriti and Sakshi are well respected stars and symbolise a true family woman. We are confident that these associations will prove very fruitful for our home care brands,” Dabur India Senior General Manager (Home Care) Girish Kumar said. This is the first time Dabur is taking television celebrities in a big way as brand endorsers for its products. Known for signing big-ticket celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee and M S Dhoni, the roping in of TV stars is seen as a strategic move to penetrate into common household. “The move will help it to move deeper into the Indian households, where both Smriti and Sakshi enjoy huge popularity,” an an advertising industry insider said, adding it was important to identify right personalities for right products. “It makes better sense to get television celebrities, who housewives and households in India identify as being the ideal bahu or beti,” he said. Dabur claims its new hard surface cleaner brand ‘Dazzl’, launched nationally in July 2008, has already garnered a market share of 6.1% in its first quarter in the floor and kitchen cleaner category. The company said in the toilet cleaner market, its Sanifresh has reported an over 35% volume growth in September, followed by a nearly 60% growth in October, garnering a 10% share of the market as against under 8% share in 2007-08. As per industry estimates the overall surface and toilet cleaners market is valued at about Rs200 crore. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:49 am MFs all set to use equity-linked schemes as spring-boardNew Delhi: The mutual fund industry may have seen a dull period with the economic downturn keeping it away from any action, but a host of popular tax saving schemes are awaiting Sebi approval to kickstart the year with a new vigour. ELSS (Equity-linked Saving Scheme), as commonly known, have been a popular instrument in volatile markets among tax savers, since investment in them up to a maximum of Rs1 lakh is tax free and with the three year lock-in period, they more or less cushion one from current turbulence. Unlike the trend so far, the mutual funds began rallying for ELSS much earlier this year. Besides, the number of applications filed this year is also much higher than those in the past few years. Among a few new funds awaiting Sebi nod are Religare Aegon, Quantum Mutual Fund, Bharti AXA, Edelweiss and Tata Asset Management. The net asset value of these funds are expected to swell as current unfavourable market conditions will look upwards over the next three years. As Edelweiss Asset Management Ltd Director Rujan Panjwani says, “We are bullish on MF schemes (including ELSS) and are awaiting Sebi approval.” Panjwani further points out that equity and income-related schemes will do well in future. While earlier this month, market regulator Sebi had made it mandatory for all close-ended fund schemes to have their NAV calculated by fund houses on daily basis and all except ELSS be listed with the regulator. This has also added to the advantage of these popular schemes. In the current market downturn, all equity schemes including ELSS plans have suffered. However, for the investors seeking long-term growth, they still remain a good option. They hold a good chance to deliver in the long-term also on account of their being an all-equity long-term investment instrument. Some of the ELSS that have done well in the past include IDFC Tax Advantage-D, Baroda Pioneer ELSS 96, ING Tax Savings-G and Tauras Tax Shield-G, among others. Close-ended funds account for 26% of the Rs4 lakh crore total asset under management of the industry. Close-ended equity schemes have around 19, 000 crore (including ELSS) assets under management and income funds (primarily debt) around Rs84, 801 crore. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:39 am SME sector expecting aid in next stimulus package: PHDCCINew Delhi: Industry is expecting specific measures in the next stimulus package for the small and medium enterprise (SMEs), which is fearing large-scale layoffs if the current worldwide economic slowdown continues, PHDCCI has said. “Industry watchers are of the opinion that the next stimulus package for pepping up the economy will include some targeted measures for the SME sector,” industry body PHDCCI said. The government might announce a second set of stimulus package this week, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had said on 11 December. SMEs associations in representations to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) had expressed fear of large-scale job losses, if the present economic scenario continued. Over 42 million people are employed in the SME sector in the country. The government on 7 December had announced several steps including extending guarantee cover under Credit Guarantee Scheme on loans from Rs50 lakh to Rs1 crore and reducing the lock-in period for loans covered under the scheme from 24 months to 18 months for the micro, small and medium enterprises, besides sops on export credit for the sector. A delegation of industry associations including PHDCCI had recently met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and recommended suggestions for the betterment of the small and medium enterprises. “The Prime Minister was receptive to the suggestions and assured that the government would address the problems of MSE sector in the right perspective,”, the Chamber said in a statement. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:27 am Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu: Tear Down That Wall.This is Kamla Bhatt today my guest is Sridhar Vembu, who is the CEO of Advent Net, the company that produces “Zoho” an office productive suite. Sridhar was recently described by The Economist as a dangerous man. If Sridhar succeeded, then there are a lot of people who will lose money points out The Economist article. What makes Sridhar fearless in his workplace is because of what he deals in his personal life on a daily basis. We are here with Sridhar to find out more about how he became this dangerous person, who recently called the CEO of a Silicon Valley company to tear down that wall.  It is a pleasure to meet you Sridhar. Sridhar: Happy to be here. Kamla: If we use the Cold War analogy with the Iron Curtain, where are we in the IT industry today? Are we close to tearing down that wall of data being locked up? Sridhar: Yes, really the wall is about data really being imprisoned by applications. If you think about the most important kind of data they are your documents. Today it is Microsoft Office. Application really owns the data. I would like to say that data actually does not want to be owned by an application. Data wants to be free and set free and go wherever the user needs it and whichever application needs it. That is really the wall that I am talking about here. So, if your data is in Salesforce, Zoho, Google, Microsoft, or everywhere it’s the user that owns the data and they want the data to go whichever application wants to access it. They give the permission and that application should own the data. Kamla: So where are we in terms of the cold war? Sridhar: We still have I think a long way to go in that revolution. This whole cloud computing to me is about data and liberating the user data. It is putting the user in control of the data and not the application in control of the data. We are in the early states and this may be the first innings of a very long game. Kamla: Talk to us about the consumerisation of the IT revolution. That is another way of describing what is happening in today’s world. A recent Gartner report said that consumerisation is the new IT civil war. You in some ways have fired the first salvo against the CEO of Sales force by writing in your blog post and asking him to tear down that wall. What prompted you to fire that salvo? Sridhar: Yes, in that case specifically it was triggered by a statement he (Mark Benioff, CEO of Salesforce) made in their dream force conference. They said we love everybody. We love Microsoft and we actually embrace everybody and we are very open. But then I pointed out that they are not. And it is just a marketing positioning. In reality, for example, they invited Zoho and then once they realised we could be a competitive threat they locked their data out of us. They tell customers you cannot migrate data until you pay for the full contractual period -- remaining period. So those kinds of things they are doing and that is why I actually wrote that post. Kamla: And what was his response? Sridhar: I did not hear anything from them and I guess they said no comments. They seem to take the position that by ignoring you will go away. We are not going away. We are going to be here for a long, long time. Kamla: Let us switch to Zoho. Describe to us the different products that you have. What are the new products that you are going to be introducing by the end of the year? Sridhar: We have just this year, for example, we completed the office suite with a really good e-mail solution and we have a CRM, and project management. And one of our most interesting products is called Zoho Creator that allows anyone to develop applications on it. Alongside we launched Zoho marketplace. So that is really what we have done this year. Our next year’s priority is going to be around integrating all of these applications. That is the top request for our users is to integrate seamlessly. Mostly for example CRM with e-mail and office documents with CRM and those kinds of integration. We still have new products but those will all be for example CRM adding support modules those are the new things that are coming up. Really a lot of the focus is going to be on integrating these applications and to make a coherent integrated suite. So that is the part of the vision. Kamla: What is the revenue that you are generating per month? I have heard and looked at different numbers. Sridhar: We are a private company and that is why that is one of the freedoms that you get by not having to reveal your numbers. We are profitable. We have never raised money. We have organically grown inside. We fund all of the development ourselves. Kamla: What about that $1 million dollar per month and more (in revenue)? Sridhar: I just say that it is all in the right ball park but I won’t actually…because I don’t intend to give Mark Benioff any numbers to play with so… Kamla: Well, anyway for those of you who are interested Sridhar has commented else where about how much money they do make (some ball park figure). Tell us how did you get started with Zoho? In 1996 you started AdventNet. Just before we started this interview I got a background of how you started. It was something that you kind of discovered and stumbled upon the first product that you built. Then you went on in 2000 and come up with Zoho. How did the idea come up because the telecom bust clearly impacted you all? Tell us how the idea started? Sridhar: We had a successful business by 2000. We were doing really well in the telecom market. Then the whole bust happened. It is even more severe than the housing (market). The bust in that specific market …I mean something like 90% of the companies vanished in that market. Those were our customers. So by around 2002-2003 those were tough years for us. Fortunately during the bubble we had made money. We had good cash and we had good engineering resources here, but what we were seeking was a new market opportunity. We decided this market is not going to recover in any sensible timeframe and we had to do something else. So, basically it was a reboot time and Zoho was one of the things that we came up with. In fact we had come up with 2 or 3 different ideas at that time and all 3 of them were fairly successful. Zoho was one of the most successful of that whole episode. It was the most visible. Kamla: Elsewhere in another interview you had mentioned that you had to reinvent yourself 3 or 4 times. But talking to you it seems difficult to believe that you had to spend time reinventing 3 or 4 times. You seem like a very logical person, who goes through in a very methodical way -- why a certain company should start or not. Listening to your story again before the interview where you had talked about how Zoho started. What is it that you did to reinvent yourself those 3-4 times? Sridhar: Yes, the first reinvention. I did my PhD in Princeton. If you had asked me in 1993 what I really wanted to do in life I would have said that I want to become a faculty member in some leading university. That would have been my dream job. So that was the first in 1993-94. I went through a phase where I started to recheck my assumptions, my priorities and I just decided I did not like the work I was doing. I did not like that academic style of research and writing papers that were mostly meaningless, but for publishing consumption and sort of marketing your work. Stuff that I did not like. That was the first reinvention. That was gut-check time in 1994 spring. Infact I had a faculty job offer and I had rejected it. This was actually in Australian National University. I was all set to go to Canberra in Australia. After Princeton it’s a great university in Australia. And in 1994 spring I decided I am not going there and I decided instead to go to Qualcomm to take up a job as an engineer in their CDMA group. So that is a complete change from what I was thinking. It startled my advisor. He thought that he was all set to go it was all ready and then I said that I changed my mind and I am not going. Kamla: Why? Walk us through your reasons. How did you convince yourself? Sridhar: I felt that the style of research I was doing…it was in engineering. Technically it was supposed to be engineering work, but was really highly mathematical abstract work. Increasingly I felt that the mathematical models were out of touch with reality. Because we were supposed to be analyzing mathematical models of engineering systems and in this case communication systems. I started to feel that these models were getting out touch with reality. Slowly people were going into remote branches of the knowledge tree and then at one point you realised that this has no touch with reality and you just walked off the cliff and people don’t know it. So this were my feeling in 1993-1994 and I decided I need to go to the real world and do real engineering in a company that is doing real products and I would get back to the real world. That is how I felt. That was really my feeling. And I did not want to continue in that line and school and train other students to be doing the same kind of stuff that I was doing. I sort of religiously said that I don’t believe in this anymore. So it was a kind of religious conversion episode -- to move from an academic world to the engineering real world, shipping products. That is how I ended up in Qualcomm and that was my first reinvention. What it taught me is to always challenge my assumptions periodically. To think what am I thinking today that I would change a year from now or 2 years from now. Kamla: So that was your first reinvention. What were your second and third reinventions? Sridhar: Then I left Qualcomm in 1996 and that was really nothing to do with the work. I loved Qualcomm. It was a great company and I got excellent experience. I still have a lot of friends from there. But I decided I wanted to do something in India. My brother was there with me in Qualcomm. He is actually one of the co-founders of Advent Net. We were talking about how something big is about to happen in India in software. We wanted to be a part of that. Now remember this is reinvention because what I was doing in Qualcomm was CDMA wireless technology and nothing to do with software per se. Kamla: And India became one of the big countries for CDMA… Sridhar: Yes for CDMA later. But in 1996 we decided my brother decided to return to India and I decided to come to Silicon Valley to figure out something in software. Really, we didn’t have a concrete idea of what we would do, but we knew we wanted to do it in India and that was really the situation and that was kind of a reinvention. I left my job and came here to Silicon Valley and for the next 6-9 months I tried out various things, wrote some code, met people. I did not have a focus but that is how I met Tony Thomas, co-founder and we started interacting with him. We had a product and I started to be a part time sales man for the product. That was again a reinvention because I am an engineer by training. I had nothing to do with sales. I had never gone on a sales call ever. So I printed out a business card and said I am going on a sales call and that is how it led me to become the CEO of the company later. Because other guys and the engineers said you are the sales guy and you become the CEO of this company. You are the one who can go and sell now. So, in 1999 I became the CEO of the company. Kamla: During the course of your discovery in the late 1990s when you were with AdventNet and you made the first product...you also tried raising money through VCs. Tell us what happened? What is it that you can tell other entrepreneurs who are looking to build companies and probably don’t have the money, but they have a vision and have an idea. What should they be doing? Sridhar: We didn’t try to to raise money, but we would get approached by a VC. We would have a conversation and then that will tail off because they would decide it is not very interesting. What we are doing was in a very niche market, which at one time I estimated the market size to be $2 million. That clearly was not interesting and the moment we say it they would just walk away. That actually was an instructive moment for us because we realised that $2 million was great for 4 guys doing something, but it is not interesting for VCs. So what I would tell entrepreneurs, who are addressing a small market maybe just doing it yourself, bootstrapped with a small budget is a good idea. Then you can actually build something of value just like we have done. Expand it, expand it and expand it in an organic way. That is the path that people should consider. Kamla: So you probably got a lucky break. Here is something I want to run by you. You are a math buff and you love to look at patterns. When you look at your own success and the success of Zoho do you think of yourself as an outlier as Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, 2008) talks about in his new book? He says that successful people don’t do extraordinary things. They get lucky breaks or their timing is good. They generally put in about ten thousand hours of work in their field. And then there is the cumulative experience and timing factor. What do you have to say about this? Sridhar: I wouldn’t call ourselves … not in the way Malcolm Caldwell describes as outliers. I would call ourselves as a moderately successful company. Definitely there is a lot of time and effort that went into it. For example, I personally didn’t know anything about software as of even 1996 when I left my job in Qualcomm. I had written some programmes, but I really don’t know about software and shipping software for a living. The 10,000 hours is really true, I didn’t go to business school but to engineering school. (Learnt) All of this by doing and figured it out as we go. Develop software. We put bugs. We analyzed why that happens. Figure out a better way to build software. Then in 2003 … how to build web services, as opposed to packaged software. That is again a new lesson that we learnt. Definitely Gladwell has a point there that is persistence, sticking with it, putting in a lot of time, thinking about it, trying different things and along the way the breaks happen .. if you are doing it . When the breaks happen, you recognize it and seize it. Kamla: So the one factor that I left out in the case of Zoho is the lucky break. In your case the lucky break could have been the growth of the internet and the evolution of what is now been called the Web 2.0 and the various tools. Zoho is everywhere you go on the internet …you know you guys are everywhere. Sridhar: We are not quite everywhere. We would like to be everywhere. Definitely we are riding a wave of adoption. It helps that Google is evangelizing it, Salesforce is evangelizing it and we are saying the same thing. I truly believe there is a lot of opportunities here and lot of competition, hich is why sometimes when people say Google is going to crush these guys or Microsoft is going to crush these guys …what they don’t realise is that this is a 10-15 years transformation. There is going to be a lot of companies that are still to be born in this business. And that is why I am confident that we will have our share in this pie. Kamla: Building a company is not an easy task; it is a very tough task. On top of that building a product company is even tougher when actually the company is based in India. You described Zoho as an Indian company with a skeletal staff here in the US. You can read about Sridhar Vembu’s answer to this question and others in Part-2 of the interview. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:21 am Top 10 firms gain Rs53, 000 cr last weekMumbai: The recovery on bourses last week has added over Rs52, 600 crore to market valuations of country’s 10 most valued firms, with Reliance Industries gaining the most and regaining the crucial Rs2 trillion mark. The combined market capitalisation of the country’s top 10 firms — comprising five pubic sector and five private sector entities — gained Rs52, 621.06 crore last week at Rs9, 98, 374.84 crore at the end of Friday’s trading. The combined valuation of the elite club stood at Rs9, 45, 753.78 crore a week ago. After dabbling below the psychological Rs2 trillion mark for six consecutive weeks, the country’s most valued firm Reliance Industries regained its lost turf by adding Rs29, 524 crore to its valuation last week. Mukesh Ambani-led RIL saw its market capitalisation rising to Rs2, 05, 568 crore at the end of Friday’s trade against a valuation of Rs1, 76, 044 crore a week ago. The shares of RIL gained nearly 17% in the week to settle at Rs1, 306.20 on last Friday. Since 24 October, when the firm had first slipped below the Rs2, 00, 000 crore mark, it has gained about 29% to its share price. Leading cellular operator Bharti Airtel rose to the third place, adding Rs10, 820 crore in a week to its valuation. However, state-run NTPC dropped to the fourth spot despite a gain of Rs3, 092 crore last week. Public sector ONGC and IT bellwether Infosys Technologies bucked the trend and lost a combined over Rs3, 400 crore. ONGC lost Rs1, 797 crore but kept intact its second position with a valuation of Rs1, 38, 267 crore. Infosys’ valuation eroded by Rs1, 620 crore and the IT major lost out the seventh slot to ITC. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained 527.45 points last week at 9,690.07 points at the end of Friday’s trade. In the coveted top 10 club, the PSU firms added Rs11, 627 crore last week while the private sector entities witnessed an addition of Rs40, 994 crore. Country’s largest lender State Bank of India added Rs5, 019 crore and retained the fifth slot with its market valuation at Rs77, 116 crore. Mining giant NMDC gained Rs4, 302 crore in the week. On other hand, the biggest private sector lender ICICI Bank saw its valuation rising Rs45, 805 crore, up by Rs5, 900 crore. Also HDFC Bank saw its valuation rising to Rs45, 805.08 crore, thereby adding Rs1, 331.58 crore during the week. RIL, the numero-uno in the list of the most valued firm, is followed by ONGC (Rs2, 05, 568 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs1, 37, 107 crore), NTPC (Rs1, 36, 050.09 crore), SBI (Rs77, 115.70 crore), Bhel (Rs66, 557.59 crore), ITC (Rs65, 027.45 crore), Infosys (Rs63, 398.65 crore), NMDC (Rs56, 318.56 crore) and HUL (Rs52, 964.11 crore). Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 8:13 am NHAI pulled up for delays in PPP highway projectsNew Delhi: Majority of the 17 road works awarded under the public private partnership (PPP) as part of Phase-I of National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) were delayed, according to a recent report by Comptroller and Auditor General of India on roads states. Of the 17 projects, only five were completed in time, while there were delays of two-42 months in others, the report said. The government would also lose revenue to the tune of about Rs384 crore from the projects under NHDP due to the irregularities on the part of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), according to the report. NHAI did not prepare a detailed project report or levy penalties upon concessionaire for eight of the roads and highway projects under PPP programme. “If the Authority had fixed the concession period on the basis of sound financial evaluation, the concession period in Jaipur-Kishangarh and Delhi-Gurgaon projects could have been restricted to 12 and 14 years, respectively,” the report pointed out. Consequently, based on the projected traffic collection and reasonable concession period, the concessionaires would gain Rs121.63 crore and Rs187.77 crore, respectively, during the extended concession period. NHAI also failed to impose penalty of Rs28.23 crore for non-performance of three out of the eight projects. The report, which studied four projects constructed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT)-toll and an equal number of projects executed under BOT-annuity basis, has been tabled in Parliament. Toll collection started late in all the four projects reviewed under the BOT-annuity basis resulting in revenue loss of Rs23.89 crore. Under the BOT-toll system, the contractor recovers the investment through toll collection, while in BOT-annuity projects, the developer takes payments in instalments from the government. The report adds NHAI did not align base toll rates with the latest wholesale price index at the time of sending draft toll notification to the government. “This resulted in lower toll rates and a consequent loss of revenue of Rs22.73 crore in three BOT-annuity projects,” the report adds. NHAI failed to use escrow account statements in three of the BOT-toll projects and conduct independent audit for the projects, the report states. The report studied eight of the 17 PPP projects covering a total of 930 km completed under Phase-I of NHDP. These include the stretches of Jaipur-Kishangarh, Delhi-Gurgaon, Satara-Kagal, Nellore-Tada, Tambaram-Tindivanam, Tuni-Ankapalli, Panagarh-Palsit and Palsit-Dankuni. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:51 am Raise FDI cap in defence to 49%: AssochamNew Delhi: Industry body Assocham has asked the government to raise the foreign direct investment cap in the defence sector to 49% for enabling indigenisation and the transfer of latest technology. At present, 26% FDI is permitted in the sector. “This needs to be accelerated to 49% so that defence indigenisation speeds up with latest technological transfer to the domestic defence sector,” Assocham said. India’s arms imports since the 1999 Kargil conflict have been worth $25 billion and would further rise to $30 billion by 2012. It is, therefore, necessary to move towards self-reliance in defence production, Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said. India is the world’s largest importer of defence equipment — over $6 billion, it said. As India has a large industrial base, offsets (as introduced in the 2006 and 2008 defence procurement procedure of the government) will further develop its technical and manufacturing potential and help increase investments in domestic research and development, it added. “Defence Offsets Policy (DOP) is expected to bring in $10 billion during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, as every foreign company is required to spend 30% of the value (of exports) on offsets goods or services purchased from Indian defence companies,” the chamber said. Offsets policy is expected to create market-entry opportunities for private companies, and generate investment in research and development and manufacturing defence goods, it said. Under DOP, a single-window clearance wing called the Defence Offset Facilitation Agency assists potential vendors in interacting with the Indian defence industry for identifying potential offsets products and projects. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:38 am Delhi government builds houses for poorThe Delhi government has built for slum dwellers and other urban poor 9,817 houses that are now ready for allotment, a senior official said Sunday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:32 am Layoff watch: At least one job ticked off every 10 secondsNew York: Nicolas Cage took just a minute to vanish away with one car in the 2000 Hollywood blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds, but the jobs seem to be disappearing at a faster rate, with companies laying off at least one employee every 10 seconds to cut costs and fight the economic crisis. So far in December, companies across the world have announced at least 1.15 lakh job cuts — a figure which translates into an average of more than 8,200 people being laid off a day or about six every one minute. In reel scenes, the plot might have been thrilling but in real sequences, the story is getting gloomy, with layoffs happening across diverse sectors — right from finance to electronics to mining, to name a few. While the financial crisis cost more than 30,000 jobs in the first week of December, the number nearly trebled to touch about 85,000 in the following seven days. More than one-third of the layoffs happened in the US, which has already seen a stunning 5,33,000 job losses in November alone. Last week’s layoff wave was led by banking firm Bank of America, which announced plans to axe 35,000 jobs in the coming months. In terms of sheer numbers, Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp came next with 16,000 layoffs followed by mining major Rio Tinto, which is all set to trim its headcount by 14,000. Adding to the global market woes, Swedish auto components maker SKF would be reducing its workforce by 2,500 employees and French telecom entity Alcatel-Lucent would be slashing 1,000 jobs. Both the world’s first and second largest economies — the US and Japan — already in recession, are bearing the brunt of the worsening labour market. Other companies which announced layoffs include Abx Air (1,900 jobs), International Paper(1,500), Delta Airlines (1,000), Fairchild Semiconductor (1,100) diversified consumer business group Sara Lee (700 jobs) and world’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal has said it would cut 650 positions at its largest plant in Belgium. All the firms have cited cost cutting measures amid the ravaging financial turmoil as the prime reason for layoffs. “Bank of America expects to have a final plan early in 2009 and estimates it will project reduction of about 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years,” the company said. Sony would be axing 8,000 full-time positions and 8,000 temporary jobs. Further, the company plans to reduce the total number of manufacturing sites by 10 per cent from the present 57 by March 2010. Rio Tinto would trim its global workforce by 14,000 employees as part of a slew of measures to reduce its debt of 10 billion dollar by the end of 2009. In the first week of December, the telecom giant AT&T said it would slash 12,000 jobs or about 4% of its total workforce. Further, Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse would be axing 5,300 jobs, accounting for 11% of its global workforce, by the first half of the next year. Other major job cuts have been announced by ArcelorMittal (over 9,000 jobs), American car rental firm Avis Budget Group (2,200 jobs), Japanese financial services major Nomura (about 1,000 jobs), General Motors (2,000 jobs) and chemical company Dupont (2,500 jobs). Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:26 am Qualcomm to launch Rs10k alternative PC platform in IndiaNew Delhi: San Diego-based wireless communications major Qualcomm will introduce its small laptop, Kayak, primarily used for accessing Internet services, in India priced at Rs10,000 in the second half of next year. “We will introduce Kayak Internet access platform in second half of next year and this device leverages 3G chipsets as well. The main USP is it can compute in low power scenario like India. It will cost about Rs10,000,” Qualcomm Senior Vice-President and India head Kanwalinder Singh said. In Kayak prototype Qualcomm has designed a device capable of bringing the Internet over cell phone data networks to areas that may lack wired Internet service from cable and telephone providers. The US-based firm, pioneer of CDMA technology, has already launched Kayak PC alternative globally. Kayak is a reference design for building low-cost wireless-computing devices designed to fill the niche that exists between desktop PCs, which require landlines or separate accessories for connectivity and Internet-capable wireless devices. Kayak uses Qualcomm’s dual-core mobile station modem chipsets to provide both computing and connectivity, he said. “We see developing markets like India seeking connectivity as inevitable and believe that concepts such as Kayak that leverage 3G wireless will be a key to success in helping these areas join the global online community, Singh added. Qualcomm is pushing its phone processors into PC territories such as desktop computers after adding computing features like e-mail and web browsing onto cell phones. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:24 am Qualcomm to launch Rs10k alternative PC platform in IndiaNew Delhi: San Diego-based wireless communications major Qualcomm will introduce its small laptop, Kayak, primarily used for accessing Internet services, in India priced at Rs10,000 in the second half of next year. “We will introduce Kayak Internet access platform in second half of next year and this device leverages 3G chipsets as well. The main USP is it can compute in low power scenario like India. It will cost about Rs10,000,” Qualcomm Senior Vice-President and India head Kanwalinder Singh said. In Kayak prototype Qualcomm has designed a device capable of bringing the Internet over cell phone data networks to areas that may lack wired Internet service from cable and telephone providers. The US-based firm, pioneer of CDMA technology, has already launched Kayak PC alternative globally. Kayak is a reference design for building low-cost wireless-computing devices designed to fill the niche that exists between desktop PCs, which require landlines or separate accessories for connectivity and Internet-capable wireless devices. Kayak uses Qualcomm’s dual-core mobile station modem chipsets to provide both computing and connectivity, he said. “We see developing markets like India seeking connectivity as inevitable and believe that concepts such as Kayak that leverage 3G wireless will be a key to success in helping these areas join the global online community, Singh added. Qualcomm is pushing its phone processors into PC territories such as desktop computers after adding computing features like e-mail and web browsing onto cell phones. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:24 am Indians prefer insurance over FDs as investmentNew Delhi: Government securities may be seen as safe investments the world over in these times of turmoil but the findings of a survey say that more number of people in India think insurance is a better option than fixed deposits. At the same time, the survey, conducted by the global research firm Nielson, said all-weather investment option gold continues to be the safest bet for most of the respondents. As many as 58% of the surveyed people prefer gold as safe investment, followed 54% respondents for insurance and 34% for fixed deposits. The findings came in the backdrop of global financial turmoil shaking the investors confidence, sending stock markets around the world into tailspin. The survey, however, said while the Asian markets will continue to grow, the rate of growth would be slow due to the financial crisis. The survey took a sample size of 1,000 people, all from the big Indian cities. While 200 people each were from Delhi and Mumbai, the sample comprised 150 people each from Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Besides, most of the respondents in the survey also raised hopes of the current financial turmoil blowing over latest by six more months. “Almost half of the respondents believe that it will take 1-6 months before this financial crisis gets over, while another one-third think that it might be at least 7-12 months,” the survey said. “So, the action plan for most of the customers is to hold on to their investments till the market stabilises,” the respondents said in the survey. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 7:02 am First nuke power plant after N-deal may come up in Haryana - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 6:16 am First nuke power plant after N-deal may come up in HaryanaJhajjar, Haryana: Haryana could become the first state in the country to set up a 2,800 MW nuclear power plant after India’s inking the civil nuclear deal with the US. “Atomic Energy Commission has already approved our proposal to set up a 2,800 MW nuclear power plant at Kumaharia village in Fatehabad district in the state. We are waiting for the Centre’s nod,” Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said. He was speaking on the sidelines of a function to attend the boiler drum lifting ceremony of the 1,500 MW Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power plant which entails an investment of Rs 7,892 crore. The plant is being set up by the Aravali Power Company Pvt Ltd (APCPL). “We expect the proposal to get through soon as no other state aspiring to set up a nuclear power plant has identified any site for that. We have no dearth of land and water at the identified site, which are the essentials for setting up a nuclear power plant,” Hooda said. Chief Minister further said, “The two units of 500 MW each of this thermal power plant would start generation before the Commonwealth Games. The plant would be fully functional by the end of 2,010.” Bhel Director Anil Sachdev, who was also present, said, “Bhel is making all efforts to commission the first unit (500MW) one month ahead of schedule by June 2010. The remaining two units would be commissioned with a gap of three month each.” Bhel is supplying the main generating equipment, including boiler, steam turbine, generator and their auxiliaries. The company had bagged the supply, erection and commissioning order in July, 2007. If everything goes well, Delhi would get its share of 750 MW before the Commonwealth Games. The power generated from the plant would be shared by Haryana and Delhi on 50:50 basis. NTPC, Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited and Indraprastha Power Generation Company Limited are jointly promoting APCPL. NTPC% has 50 stake in the company while the other two promoters have an equal share. The debt equity ratio is 70:30. The equity requirement will be met from the promoter’s contribution, while the debt would be financed by the Power Finance Corporation. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Dec 2008 | 5:55 am Petrol and diesel can be freed in Feburary - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 4:53 am Futures trading in wheat, rice is likely very soon - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 4:48 am Foreign firms can participate in 3G auction - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 14 Dec 2008 | 4:48 am Global car crisis far from over, executives sayPARIS (Reuters) - Top European car makers warned of a bleak 2009 as signs grew the deep crisis in the auto sector went far beyond the U.S industry's life-or-death struggle.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 4:16 am White House takes "available" time for autosWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House was studying on Saturday how best to rescue collapsing U.S. automakers, a day after picking up the pieces of a failed congressional bailout plan.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 3:48 am Obama stimulus could reach $1 trillion - reportNEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's team is considering a plan to boost the recession-hit U.S. economy that could be far larger than previous estimates and might reach $1 trillion over two years, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Dec 2008 | 3:45 am Auto parts makers cut working days on reduced demandChennai, Dec. 13 Following the slowdown in the automobile sector in the country, auto component manufacturers have reduced the number of working days to three to five days a week depending on the production schedule of their customers . ThoseSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am No windfall tax proposed on oil refineries: GovtNew Delhi, Dec. 13 Brushing aside the clamour from certain political allies that windfall tax should be levied on windfall profits made by oil refineries, the Government has made it clear that it does not propose to amend the direct tax laws forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Weekly News Round-upThe Index for Industrial Production has posted a negative growth of 0.4 per cent in October as against a robust 12.2 per cent in the same month last year. However, between April and October the index had grown by 4.1 per cent compared with 9.9 perSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Indian Hotels to reopen Taj Mahal Tower on Dec 21Mumbai, Dec 13 The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower that now more resembles a fortress after being barricaded and guarded by police personnel on all four sides, will re-open its Taj Mahal Tower on December 21, a statement from Indian Hotels CompanySource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Slowdown bites BollywoodMumbai, Dec. 13 The credit crunch in the economy has hit the pause button on over 30 big Bollywood films as listed entertainment companies and banks that fund films are backing out from projects, which they had earlierSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Telecom cos’ revenue growth lags subscriber growthIndian telecom companies have managed scorching growth in subscriber numbers and have become a role model for almost every new sunrise sector. But did you know that the subscriber growth has not translated into matching revenue growth for theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Maruti to shut production for maintenance for 10 daysNew Delhi, Dec. 13 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd will be closing production at its plants for 10 days from the last week of December.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Bank interest rates cut in next 2-3 weeks: Kamath - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 13 Dec 2008 | 11:25 pm Nepean Sea Road flat goes at 33% discountPhilips India auctioned a 2,000 sq ft apartment at Nepean Sea Road for Rs43,000 a sq ft -a discount of 33% over the rate of Rs65,000 that flats in the area were commanding less than a year ago.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Dec 2008 | 10:58 pm 3 Kingfisher planes groundedIn a major setback to Kingfisher Airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has de-registered three of its aircraft on account of rental payment default.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Dec 2008 | 10:56 pm Biocon to scale up R&D spend - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 13 Dec 2008 | 9:59 pm Taj, Trident to reopen on December 21The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, stormed last month by terrorists, will partially reopen four days before Christmas.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 6:58 pm ONGC's technical experts object to Imperial dealThe scientific and technical officers of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, or ONGC, have objected to the company's decision to go ahead with the $2.1 billion acquisition of Imperial Energy of the UK,Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 6:56 pm Kamath talks of steep cut in ratesICICI Bank yet to reduce interest rates.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 6:54 pm Maruti to shut production for maintenance for 10 days - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 13 Dec 2008 | 6:36 pm Terror being used as garb to displace us: Goa fishermenA section of Goa's fishermen are upset over moves by the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to oust them from their ancestral Khariwada fishing jetty under the 'cover of terror', a state minister said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Railways to spend Rs.300 bn on infrastructure upgradeIndian Railways Saturday announced it will invest around Rs.300 billion (Rs.30,000 crore/$6.6 billion) to upgrade its infrastructure as well as boost the economy.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Legacy of 115yrold Amrutanjan helps tide over slowdownK Nageswara Rao launched the first pain balm. Amrutanjan health care limited started in Bombay in 1893 and later shifted to Chennai. K Nageswara Rao who was also a wellknown freedom fighter popularized the brand by distributing it free at antiBritish rallies. During tough times, Amrutanjan\'s legacy is helping it tide over the slowdown.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 2:55 pm Maruti turns 25, set on becoming top global playerAt a time when the Indian automobile industry is passing through one of its worst phases, the country's largest car-maker, Maruti Suzuki India, will celebrate its 25th anniversarySource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Dec 2008 | 2:55 pm Sebi issues code of conduct for membersMarket regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has adopted a code of conduct on conflict of interest for its board members. The new Sebi code is in addition to existing provisions under Section 7 (A) of the SEBI Act, 1992.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 2:17 pm New York Times to freeze salary hikesPublishing firm New York Times Company has decided to freeze salary hikes for its non-union employees in the print and web sections.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Dec 2008 | 2:07 pm Bailout failure: GM, Ford India image may sufferWith the bailout of the US\'s big three automakers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler falling through, how much of a hit will their Indian subsidiaries get? Also, how does a possible bankruptcy similar to that of Daewoo impact the Indian customer? CNBCTV18\'s Sumantra Barooah reports.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 1:54 pm IT margins to be hit as US gets tough with visasCompanies which found a way to overcome the shortage of H1B visas, are now going to find the going tough. That\'s because the alternate L1 visa they used to send employees to the US are now harder to come by. This will hit IT company margins.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 1:53 pm Hoteliers eye areas near BIAL to set shopDespite the slowdown and the recent terror attack, hoteliers are still eyeing the rich hospitality pie in Bangalore. Expansion is the name of the game, and the New Bengaluru International Airport is driving it full throttle.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 13 Dec 2008 | 1:20 pm
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