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HDFC cuts PLR by 50 bpsHDFC has cut its prime lending rate (PLR) by 50 bps. A new slab has been introduced for loans upto Rs 20 lakhs; interest rates are at 10.25%. The interest rates on loans above Rs 20 lakhs are cut by 50 bps to 11.25%.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:26 pm ICICI Bank needed new thought, young blood: KV KamathKV Kamath, CEO, ICICI Bank, said it is a tradition that at some point in time the company needs to infuse new thought and young blood into an organisation. \"We have been thinking about this for a long time. I was fully supportive that a decision had to be taken now, and I had made it very clear. So, we just stuck to that process.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:43 pm Chennai Petroleum sees ve GRMs aheadKK Acharya, Managing Director of Chennai Petroleum said the company is having a negative margin because of the falling crude prices. He sees a negative GRM but according to him, it has to steady out at some level of USD 40/bbl or so.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:30 pm Unitech Wireless deal taking long time to close: TelenorA Telenor spokesperson has said the closing deal with Unitech Wireless has taken more time than expected, and that the timeline of the deal closure cannot be commented upon, adding that it would close post decisions on tower sharing and IT systems.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:07 pm \'IT to see volume degrowth, pricing pressure ahead\'Sudin Apte, Senior Analyst and Country Head, Forrester, says the next 90120 days are going to see lot of drop. \"Everyone is going to reduce the guidance for the next twelve months. Surely even 15% growth looks a bit difficult to me and I think a lot of firms will project 20092010 year in singledigit growth.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:32 pm Mumbai attacks hits RIL\'s EP activityRIL has told DGH that Mumbai terror attack has impacted its EP (electrification and plant) programme. Foreign contractors have issued force majeure due to travel advisory. Informs of force majeure has been announced by some foreign contractors.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:27 pm Chanda Kochhar sees lending rates coming downChanda Kochhar, CFO and Joint MD, ICICI Bank, was named new CEO effective March 2009. Kochhar said, \"The cost of funds is coming down gradually. Also, bulk deposit rates have fallen in the last two weeks. That\'s why we see deposit, lending rates coming down further.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:16 pm Post Maytas uturn, Upaid files motion against SatyamUpaid has filed three cases against Satyam, including one on disparagement, reports CNBCTV18. The motion was filed yesterday with respect to a disparagement case. However, it is connected to both parties, it said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:04 pm Interest rates headed downwards: Chanda KochharICICI Bank Joint Managing Director Chanda Kochhar, who will succeed K V Kamath as the CEO, said that interest rates are going southwards.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:28 pm Google Earth gives first geography lesson to terroristsMumbai: Google Earth is the seventh popular Internet application tool but it is being growingly misused by terror groups to have the first glimpse of sensitive places to plot attacks without moving an inch. Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Fahim Ahmed Ansari, arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police in Feburuary this year with maps and details of the spots hit during the recent terror attacks, in his statement had conceded that his masters showed him the maps on Google Earth to pin-point the specific targets. The interrogation report of Fahim, who was trained at the Baitul Mujahideen camp in Pakistan in his statement said that a top Lashker commander ‘Kahasa´ asked him to show the spots in Mumbai on the Google Earth. “I was shown the map of Mumbai in Googleearth.com. Kahasa asked me to point out places in Mumbai he noted down and marked those places in the map,” he told interrogators, adding, “I was first asked about my residence location and in-laws location in Mumbai.” Sensitive places like offices of Commissioner of Police and DGP, Gateway of India, Navy Nagar, Colaba, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mantralaya, Wankhede Stadium, Race Course, Church Gate Railway Station, Stock Exchange Building, BARC, Kalina Army Gate and other such spots were located and marked on the Google Earth Map. Fahim, along with Sabauddin, were brought to Mumbai and remanded to police custody till 31 December. They are being questioned to ascertain whether they had provided the minute details to Lashkar terrorists to help them plan the terror strike here on 26 November. The Google Earth Map gives a birds eye view of the city providing detailed topography of the area in the forms of actual photographs. The details provided in the application can be useful for identifying buildings, roads, streets. Fahim also said that Lashker top brass was interested in knowing the height of airport wall, wire fencing and location of aircraft runway from the nearest building. “They also enquired about the possibility of striking an aircraft from the nearest building. Kahasa was also keen to know about the availability of taxis near DGP office,” he said in the statement given to UP Police. The terrorists who attacked the Metropolis were well acquainted with the location of their targets and the streets leading to them. The lone terrorist arrested by Mumbai police, Kasab, reportedly told the investigators that their group was also given detailed location of spots using the software. In the wake of the misuse of the Google software, a petition was also filed in the Bombay High Court after the Mumbai terror attack to blur the images of sensitive spots shown on the software till the case was decided. Advocate Amit Karkhanis who filed the petition said that online satellite imaging was used in the satellite planning of the attacks and the online software does not have any control to prevent its misuse or give limited access. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:14 pm ECB norms to be liberalised in about a week: Plan Panel - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:12 pm Interest rates headed downwards: Kochhar - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:10 pm Sensex holds 10k; Rally to continue - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:02 pm Weekly Recap: 15th-19th DecemberIn the midst of a rather uncertain environment, corporates have not had it easy. Satyam is a case in point. The management of Satyam made the announcement of the acquisition of Mytas companies on Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, it was  The setting up of the National Investigation Agency is being projected by the government as a step in the right direction to combat terror. But experts on security continue to be skeptical about the move. On the economic front, inflation for the week ending December 6… fell to a nine-month low. Corporate India is now pushing for yet another rate cut, while the government has announced an additional $9 billion growth stimulus package. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:01 pm Panasonic to acquire Sanyo for up to $9 billionTokyo: Japan’s Panasonic Corp. said Friday it had cleared the way to acquire struggling Sanyo Electric Co. for up to nine billion dollars, forming an industry heavyweight amid the global downturn. The deal is the first major realignment of Japan’s electronics industry since the start of the economic crisis, which has led companies to suspend production as consumer demand dries up. Panasonic will buy Sanyo shares from US investment firm Goldman Sachs and Japan’s Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui, giving a badly needed cash injection into the financial sector as it reels from the credit crunch. “We, the electronics industry, are faced with the need to restructure amid the global recession as well as a downward shift in prices and the growth of emerging markets,” Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo told a news conference. “Under these circumstances, it is all the more important to strengthen our management practices to grow further,” he said. Sanyo, which started off making bicycle lamps after World War II, has cut thousands of jobs as it attempts to return to profit. Recently it has tried to focus on environmental technologies including solar energy and rechargeable batteries - areas coveted by Panasonic. Panasonic said it had reached a deal on a tender offer aiming to secure a 70.5 % stake in Sanyo at 131 yen a share, valuing the deal at a maximum of 800 billion yen (around $9 billion). Ohtsubo said that the companies sought to increase operating profit by 80 billion yen in the 2012 financial year through the tie-up. “What we want to add as our new core business is the energy business,” including batteries which are key to eco-friendly hybrid cars, Ohtsubo said. “In order to accelerate the synergy effect of our two companies, we are ready to invest 100 billion yen,” mostly in the battery business but also in other fields, he said. “We believe that we will evolve into a corporate group which will be highly admired globally, coexisting in harmony with the global environment,” he said. Sanyo, which like Panasonic is based in the western Japanese metropolis of Osaka, will remain listed. Sanyo has had a troubled few years. It was forced to raise cash by issuing new shares, effectively handing over control to Goldman Sachs and other financial firms. Toshimasa Iue, a member of the founding family, stepped down last year after he clashed with the big investors over how far to restructure the company. Panasonic, which is already Japan’s biggest seller of consumer electronics, has been seeking to raise its global profile against rivals -- notably Sony Corp. -- that enjoy solid name recognition. Kazumasa Kubota, an analyst at Okasan Securities, said that despite the high cost, “in the longer term the acquisition is absolutely an advantage for Panasonic.” “Sanyo reportedly holds hundreds of patents in the field of battery technology and has strengths in solar power,” he said. Kubota credited Panasonic with negotiating shrewdly, knowing that Goldman Sachs needed cash. Just two weeks earlier, Goldman Sachs had rejected an offer from Panasonic that was reported to be 130 yen per share - only one yen difference from the 131 yen in the agreement. But on Tuesday, Goldman Sachs reported a 2.12 billion dollar net loss in the fiscal fourth quarter to November, the first time it has gone into the red since going public in 1999. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:54 pm Taj, Trident resume hotel bookings - NDTV.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:37 pm India rupee off 1-½ mth high as dlr gains vs euro - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:37 pm Indian economy outlook mixed, fundamentals strong: RBI - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:16 pm Sensex bounces back to 10K level!The Sensex rebounced to trade 108.30 points up, higher to 10,184.73.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm `GM, Chrysler close in on deal for US loans`!General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC made significant progress late Thursday on a deal to secure emergency loans as part of a US government aid package, sources familiar with the talks said.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm Oil steady above $36, lowest levels in 4 years!World oil held steady above USD 36 on Thursday, at its lowest levels in more than four years, after OPEC`s announcement of a record production cut failed to rally prices.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm BlackBerry posts 66% jump in revenue!Amid the deepening economic crisis, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has reported revenue of USD 2.78 billion for the third quarter, posting a 66 percent jump in year-over-year revenue for the quarter.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm Telecom Commission to decide spectrum charges!The Department of Telecom is likely to finalise on Friday the revised spectrum charges ranging between 3-8 percent for telecom operators.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm Global economy to contract in `severe` 2009 recession: IIF!The global economy likely will contract next year for the first time in decades in a "severe" recession as the credit crunch bites, an international banking group said.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm Japan forecasts zero growth till March 2010!Japan on Friday forecast zero growth for the year to March 2010, with the government battling to stave off a prolonged contraction in the world`s second-largest economy.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm Closing: Sensex ends flat after choppy sessionMumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended changing little after a day of volatile trading on Friday, 19 December ahead of the weekend. Sensex had a weak opening but rebounced around noon to end 0.23% higher still retaining the 10,000 mark. The 30-share BSE index closed 23.48 points up at 10,099.91. The broad based 50-share NSE index Nifty closed up 16.75 points at 3,077.50. Morning sentiment reflected weak cues from global markets as Dow Jones ended negative and Asia stocks slipped on lowering oil demand. By afternoon investor expectations of more rate cuts by the government in a possible second stimulus package next week boosted the market, with realty and capital goods shares leading. Buying activity lifted DLF Ltd by 10.80% to Rs307.35, followed by Jaiprakash Associates (6%, Rs89.20), Mahindra and Mahindra (4.23%, Rs321.20) and Sterlite Infrastructure (3.62%, 280.70). Despite rate cuts by Bank of Japan to 0.1%, Nikkei failed to pick up closing 0.91% down and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lower by 2%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:10 pm Oil drops below $36 to touch fresh 4-year low - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:08 pm CBI team arrives in Guwahati for blast probe - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:04 pm LS passes supplementary demands; hikes outlay to Rs 9 lakh cr. - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:04 pm Ranbaxy's Malvinder Singh is now its chairmanPharmaceutical major Ranbaxy's chief executive and managing director Malvinder Mohan Singh will now also be its chairman, the company announced Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:03 pm Group of think tanks to shape agriculture, trade debateGlobal Development Network (GDN), an international associations of think tanks, has launched a four-year project to contribute to agricultural and trade policy debates in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, a spokesperson said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:03 pm More than 500 investors to visit Kerala tourism meetMore than 500 prospective domestic and overseas investors have registered at 'Entee Naadu', a two-day meeting of the Malayalee diaspora and entrepreneurs to be held at Kochi Dec 23-24, the government said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 pm BOJ cuts rates, pumps funds to fight credit crunch - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:57 am Japan cuts rates, recession bites European firmsTOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - Japan cut interest rates to just above zero on Friday and announced extra steps to ease a credit crunch that has ravaged companies worldwide and plunged leading economies -- including its own -- into recession.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:36 am Problems are global, responses remain national: PMNew Delhi: India on Friday questioned the efficacy of the developed world’s response to tackle global financial crisis as well as the threat of terror and asked the developing world to find own ways to address these challenges. “The response of the developed countries to the challenges of our times, be it financial crisis or climate change or terrorism, shows that they have no monopoly on good ideas. We in the developing world wish to work with the developed, but we have to find our own ways to deal with these challenges,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in New Delhi. “The imperatives of development, of the well-being of our people, and the logic of democratic politics dictate this. We are after all answerable to our people,” Singh said at a function to mark the 75th birthday of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The Prime Minister expressed wonder over the manner in which “some nations” control international institutions. “I am often amazed by the jealousy with which nations guard their control over international institutions even as they speak of the virtues of globalization and democracy.” The time has come for the global polity to catch up with the times and address the challenges posed by the global economy, he added. He also said while problems have become global, responses remain national or regional. “One reason for this could be the inherent weakness of global institutions,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:31 am Oil drops below $36, touches fresh 4-yr lowLONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell below $36 on Friday to its lowest level in more than four years as the global economic slowdown overshadowed OPEC's record supply cuts.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:29 am BSE Sensex rises 0.2 pct, rate cuts awaitedMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex rose 0.2 percent on Friday after a volatile session, with rate cut expectations and a stimulus package underpinning the market though investors were wary to keep open positions ahead of the weekend.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:26 am India regulator to decide Nifty futures trade timeMUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian stock marker regulator will take a decision soon on whether to allow the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the country's largest bourse, to start trading in Nifty futures early, its chairman said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:18 am Slowdown blues: RIL puts new initiatives on holdReliance Industries has put investments on new initiatives on hold indefinitely, reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. The company has scraped plans for its semiconductor business for now and has asked the team to leave.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:12 am Uphaar case: HC upholds conviction of Ansal brothersNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court today upheld a trial court’s order convicting real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal for the Uphaar fire tragedy which killed 59 cinegoers in 1997. However, the High Court reduced the jail term of Ansal brothers, who own the cinema hall, from two to one year. Justice S Ravinder Bhat who pronounced the verdict in a jam-packed court rejected the plea of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) to enhance the jail term awarded to the Ansal brothers and other convicts awarded a punishment less than the cinema owners. The High Court also upheld the conviction of four accused H S Panwar (Delhi Fire Service Staff), Brij Mohan Satija, Bir Singh (both DVB officials) and Manmoham Unniyal (gatekeeper of the cinema hall) but reduced their jail terms. While jail terms of Satija, Singh and Unniyal were reduced from seven years to two years, Panwar’s sentence was reduced from two to one year. The five other accused - Radhakrishan Sharma, N S Chopra, (both Uphaar cinema managers), A K Ghera (DVB official), S S Sharma and N D Tiwari (both MCD officials) - were acquitted by the High Court. Another cinema manager, Ajit Chowdhary, who was sentenced to seven years had died recently in Tihar jail. The proceedings against him was abated. The High Court pulled up the CBI for not carrying out investigations against senior officials of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) and directed the agency to complete the probe against them by March 15 next year. It said that there were glaring lapses on the part of MCD, DVB and the licencing authority and their officers who were not made accused in the case. The High Court expressed its anguish against the CBI as no progress was made by the agency in the last one year since the trial court directed it for further investigation in the case. It was unhappy that only lower-level officials had faced charges in the case and one accused even died in the jail. However, while rejecting the petition of AVUT for enhancement of sentence of the Ansal brothers and others, the High Court said “it is unreasonable”. The Ansal brothers, who were sentenced to two-year jail term by the trial court for causing death due to rash and negligent act, are presently lodged in Tihar jail as the Supreme Court on September 11 had cancelled the bail granted to them by the High Court. The cinema owners were represented by noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani while senior advocate Harish Salve argued for the CBI in the High Court. The agency had contended that the trial court had adopted a lenient approach towards the Ansal brothers and they should be punished under section 304 part-II of IPC that deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder which is punishable upto 10 years of imprisonment. On June 13, 1997 59 cinegoers, including women and children, were killed due to asphyxia in a devastating fire that broke out in the cinema hall during screening of Hindi film “Border”. The trial court on November 20 last year had held the Ansal brothers guilty, along with three others, under Section 304-A IPC (causing death due to rash and negligent act) and had sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment. Seven others including two theatre managers, Ajit Chowdhary and Nirmal Chopra, were convicted under Section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sentenced to seven years’ jail. Others who were convicted under the same section were R K Sharma, Manmohan Unniyal (cinema’s gatekeeper), Brij Mohan Satija, A K Gera and Bir Singh (all DVB officials). The High Court on January 4 had granted bail to the Ansal brothers and two other accused Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:09 am Chanda Kochar is ICICI Bank's new chief executiveICICI Bank joint managing director Chanda Kochar was Friday named the bank's next chief executive. She will assume charge May 1 from K.V. Kamath, who will take over as the non-executive chairman from N. Vaghul.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:02 am Government will examine further oil price cut: Pranab MukherjeeThe government will look into the oil price issue following the steep fall in global oil prices, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee told parliament Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:02 am Markets sag as day's trade endsA key index of the Indian equities markets dipped Friday before close to lose some of the gains of the day.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:01 am DLF Brands launches Italian, French fashion labelsAfter introducing international fashion brands Armani and Ferragamo in the Indian market, DLF Brands, the retail management subsidiary of real estate firm DLF, has launched five more labels in the country.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:01 am Management change in ICICI in May under KocharICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, will see structural changes in its management next May, chief executive-designate Chanda Kochar said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:01 am Govt committed to provide quality education to poor: PMChennai: Asserting that the centre was committed to providing quality education to the poor, Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh on Friday said that his government has taken several initiatives to achieve this goal by setting up several technical institutions including six new (Indian Institute of Technology) IITs in the current academic session. Inaugurating the global Pan-IIT conference here through video conferencing from his office in New Delhi, he said “I am proud of the fact that we are able to start six new IITs in the academic year 2008-09. We also initiated a second wave of institution-building, and promoted excellence.” Apart from the new IITs, the government was in the process of setting 30 Central Institutes of Excellence, 10 National Institutes of Technology (NIT), 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT), 2 Indian Institutes of Science (IISc), 2 Schools of Architecture and Planning and 1000 new polytechnics across the country in the next five years. “We also need to be alive to the need for providing access to quality education to the poor and the disadvantaged. Our Government has implemented a series of scholarship schemes for the under-privileged sections of the society, which I am confident, would help us make the growth in educational opportunities inclusive,” Singh said. It was India’s “destiny” to become a knowledge power, Singh said adding the IITs, had contributed “handsomely” in the country’s efforts to realise this destiny. The IIT community was acknowledged as a community that had contributed very significantly to the knowledge economy and knowledge society, globally and in India, he said. The IIT impact study released by the PM had validated this assessment, he said adding that the bigger opportunity today was that such a large and rich community was available for generating ideas and initiatives that may help translate the emerging wonder of ‘India at 60´ into the embodied success of ‘India at 75´. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:59 am FEATURE - In tough times, Americans cling to Christmas treesGENEVA, Ill (Reuters) - Beleaguered Americans may have to trim the size of their Christmas tree this year or cut back on gifts to afford one, but few will do without the holiday centerpiece no matter how bad the economy.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:45 am Fiscal package will be required in 2009-10, too: MontekNew Delhi: The economy may require another round of stimulus package in 2009 as it is unlikely to beat the downturn by that time, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. “Since global slowdown is not this year but will be will continue next year also, fiscal stance that needs to be considered should not be just for this fiscal but also for the next year,” Ahluwalia told reporters on the sidelines of a function held to mark the 75th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Ahluwalia said the plan panel is working on plan allocation estimates for the next fiscal. “In my view need for fiscal stimulus will not end this fiscal, it will go beyond that,” he added. The government had cut across the board four per cent across the board excise duty recently, besides increasing planned expenditure as stimulus package to perk up the economy, hit by global slowdown and earlier rising interest rates regime. On Thursday, the government sought parliamentary nod for additional around Rs42,000 crore for planned expenditure. In the first supplementary, the government has already got Parliament approval for Rs1.05 lakh crore as the additional planned outlay. Ahluwalia said, the most important thing is the package that has been presented gets implemented, and the expenditure provided in the budget is incurred. He said the fiscal deficit will be much more than budgeted after the package. “On the fiscal side, I think it was necessary to give the economy the stimulus it needs, we have made it clear fiscal deficit will be larger and government will report that to Parliament at appropriate time. That was the right thing to do. Nobody is saying that we should stick to fiscal deficit target,” he added. As per the plan target it was aimed to lower the fiscal deficit to 2.5% of GDP, but has already touched 88% of till October. Besides the first stimulus package, there is speculation for some more steps to boost demand in sectors like housing and auto. On falling inflation, Ahluwalia said, “I have said it will come down, it has come down. It may come down even further.” Inflation came down drastically to 6.84% for the week ended 6 December after a cut in petrol and diesel prices. Analysts are expecting that inflation will come down further in a slow growth scenario. As such, now focus has shifted to boosting growth. Ahluwalia said 7% growth this fiscal would be a good performance. Economy expanded by 7.8% in the first half of this fiscal from 9.3% a year ago. However, analysts expect further slowdown in the growth in the second half. Already, industrial output has contracted for the first time in 15 years by 0.4% in October, and this will affect the economic growth unless services expansion neutralise the negative growth in industrial production. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:38 am India's total extra '08/09 spending at $31 blnNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India plans to spend an extra 1.47 trillion rupees ($31 billion) on top of the amount announced in February's budget, and the additional funding was aimed mainly at countering an economic slowdown at home, the former finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:33 am Himachal allots hydro projects to smaller playersCorporate giants like Tata Power, Larsen and Toubro (L and amp;T), Essar Power, the Bhilwara Group and GMR Infrastructure, which were bidding for hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh, have lost out to relatively smaller players, a senior official said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:30 am Satyam buyback may not be enough to restore confidenceBANGALORE (Reuters) - A share buyback by Satyam Computer Services Ltd may help to douse shareholder anger over a botched move into the construction industry and ward off a hostile bid for India's No.4 software services exporter.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:22 am Chanda Kochhar ICICI Bank new CEO effective Mar\'09ICICI Bank has named its current CFO and Joint MD, Chanda Kochhar as new CEO effective March 2009. Meanwhile, KV Kamath is likely to take over as NonExecutive Chairman effective May 1 2009.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:05 am Maoist threat to Bhilai steel plant officials?Panic has gripped the Bhilai Steel Plant - the flagship unit of the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) - in Chhattisgarh after small posters were found inside its high-security compound threatening to kill its officials, it was announced Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:04 am ISRO makes $40 million profit out of W2M satelliteBangalore: India’s space programme is all set to achieve a major milestone when European space consortium Arianespace launches over the weekend the W2M satellite built by ISRO for a foreign customer for the first time fetching it $40 million profit. Building W2M for satellite operator Eutelsat under the ISRO-EADS Astrium alliance has signalled the Bangalore- headquartered space agency’s foray into the satellite-manufacturing market. While W2M was built under a $80 million (Rs400 crore) contract by ISRO, officials said it was a good deal for the space agency which made a profit of $40 million (Rs200 crore) in this venture. “ISRO builds such spacecraft without payloads for less than Rs200 crore. That way we made a good profit”, an ISRO official said. “It (W2M) is comparable to INSAT-4 series. For the first time, we have built a satellite for a foreign customer. So, that’s why the launch is important for us”, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI. Nair would be at the Europe’s spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana when the W2M spacecraft is launched, along with HOT BIRD satellite built by EADS Astrium, Europe’s leading satellite system specialist, by an Ariane rocket early Sunday Indian time. ISRO spokesperson S Satish said “weighing 3,462 kg at lift-off, W2M is the heaviest spacecraft built by the Indian space agency till date. It was built in 26 months”. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:53 am ISRO makes $40 million profit out of W2M satelliteBangalore: India’s space programme is all set to achieve a major milestone when European space consortium Arianespace launches over the weekend the W2M satellite built by ISRO for a foreign customer for the first time fetching it $40 million profit. Building W2M for satellite operator Eutelsat under the ISRO-EADS Astrium alliance has signalled the Bangalore- headquartered space agency’s foray into the satellite-manufacturing market. While W2M was built under a $80 million (Rs400 crore) contract by ISRO, officials said it was a good deal for the space agency which made a profit of $40 million (Rs200 crore) in this venture. “ISRO builds such spacecraft without payloads for less than Rs200 crore. That way we made a good profit”, an ISRO official said. “It (W2M) is comparable to INSAT-4 series. For the first time, we have built a satellite for a foreign customer. So, that’s why the launch is important for us”, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI. Nair would be at the Europe’s spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana when the W2M spacecraft is launched, along with HOT BIRD satellite built by EADS Astrium, Europe’s leading satellite system specialist, by an Ariane rocket early Sunday Indian time. ISRO spokesperson S Satish said “weighing 3,462 kg at lift-off, W2M is the heaviest spacecraft built by the Indian space agency till date. It was built in 26 months”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:53 am ICICI Bank names Chanda Kochhar CEOMUMBAI (Reuters) - ICICI Bank named joint managing director Chanda Kochhar as its new chief executive to lead the country's second-largest bank as it battles declining market share, souring bad debts and a tough global environment.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:52 am Noon: Sensex back in positive zoneMumbai:After a weak opening, stock markets rebounced to trade higher with the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rising by over 108 points at 11am after shares of realty, consumer durables and metal sectors recovered on funds buying. The Sensex, which fell by 81.06 points in the opening trade, rebounced to trade 108.30 points up, or 1.07% higher to 10,184.73. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also rose by 28.25 points to 3,089.00. Stock brokers said expectations of more rate cuts and possibility of the government making a number of announcements as second stimulus package next week following dipping of inflation rate to 6.84% for the week ended 6 December helped the Sensex rebounce. Buying activity was seen in stocks like DLF Ltd, which rose 5.88%, Maruti Suzuki went up by by 4.74%, Sterlite Industries by 3.53%, Mahindra and Mahindra by 3.85%, and Jaiprakash Associates by 3.33%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:27 am Ceasefire in Gaza over, violence set to riseGaza: A six-month Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and Palestinian factions, led by Hamas Islamists, in the Gaza Strip ended on Friday, raising the prospect of fresh cross-border fighting. “We announce that the calm between us and the Zionist enemy has finished entirely and it will not be renewed as a result of the occupation’s denial of its fundamental conditions and obligations,” Hamas’s armed wing, Izz el-Deen al-Qassam, said in a statement saying the truce had expired at 9:30am. Hamas and other militant groups in the Gaza Strip said they were prepared for any military escalation with Israeli forces and possible Israeli army raids into the territory. They said their gunmen had undergone training during the six-month truce. Qassam Brigades said any Israeli incursion would “open the doors of the battle wide and would be met by a painful response from our side”. “The calm is over,” Hamas official Ayman Taha said in an announcement after concluding talks with Palestinian factions on Thursday in the coastal enclave controlled by the Islamist group. He said the ceasefire would not be renewed “because the enemy did not abide by its obligations” to ease a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip and halt all attacks. An Israeli military source said two rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel on Friday morning, after the truce was declared to have ended, and that a cross-border shooting from Gaza at a collective farm also resulted in no casualties. Hamas stopped short of threatening an immediate escalation of violence against Israel, which had hoped to extend the truce and appears wary of a confrontation that could cause heavy casualties on both sides. Palmor did not name foreign influences, but Hamas gets support from Iran and Hamas leaders live in exile in Syria. Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said more than 30 rockets launched from Gaza into Israel over the weekend were “the opposite of calm”. Israel is willing to abide by the truce terms but “every rocket launched is a direct and flagrant violation of the understandings reached and cannot be tolerated,” he said. The European Union called for an immediate cessation of both rocket fire and Israeli incursions. Tensions along the Israeli-Gaza border have been escalating since early last month when a deadly Israeli army raid triggered a wave of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 9:06 am Global mobile phone sales set to slide: ReportGlobal mobile phone sales are set to slide for the first time since 2001 as a result of the global economic crisis, market research firm IDC Corp has forecast.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:53 am Sensex almost unchanged; realty index jumps 11%The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex closed almost unchanged on Friday after a highly volatile trading day.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:52 am Satyam scrip falls again, regulator to probe acquisition bidSatyam Computers, which is planning to buy back shares to regain investor confidence, saw its scrip slide again in Friday mornings' trade.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:44 am Panasonic to spend at least $4.5 bln to buy SanyoTOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp said on Friday it would spend at least $4.5 billion to take control of smaller rival Sanyo Electric Co Ltd, creating Japan's second-largest electronics maker behind Hitachi Ltd.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:38 am Fulfill SAIL iron ore need before pvt firms: GovtNew Delhi: The iron ore requirement of the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) from the Chiria mines in Jharkhand should be fully before any of its portion is given out to private steel manufacturers, said the union steel ministry on Friday. Replying to supplementaries during question hour, steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan said of the 10 iron ore mines in Chiria, only one has till now been allocated to SAIL. Chiria mines have 4 billion tonnes of iron ore reserves, he told. Adding, he said, the Jharkhand Chief Minister has been asked to “fulfill the demand of SAIL before giving (any of the mines) to private companies.” He did not name any private company interested in Chiria mines. Public sector companies, he said, had a balancing role to play and their requirements needs to be nurtured. Currently, of the 56 million tonnes of steel production, only 30% comes from public sector companies. Paswan said his ministry was of the opinion that high-quality iron ore should be discouraged from exports so as to meet the future requirement of the mineral for steel production. Of the 200 million tonnes of iron ore produced, 95 million tonnes are consumed by domestic firms and the rest is exported. India is believed to have 25 billion tonnes of iron ore resources but only 7 billion tonnes have been classified as explorable reserves. Of these, 1.93 billion tonnes are high-grade iron ore reserves. Steel production in the country would rise to 124 million tonnes by 2012-13 from current 56 million tones, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:21 am GM, Chrysler near emergency loan dealDetroit/Washington: General Motors Corp and Chrysler are close to securing emergency loans as part of a US government aid package that would demand sweeping restructuring at the troubled automakers, according to sources familiar with the talks. Bridge loans to carry the companies for several months could be announced as early as Friday said the sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the negotiations. That would stave off the prospect of an “orderly” bankruptcy, one option being considered by the US government after more than a month of wrangling. The aid package being spearheaded by the White House would demand that both automakers restructure by seeking new concessions from unions and creditors, two people briefed on the talks said. Both GM and Chrysler have been forced to idle plants and lay off thousands of workers across North America as they try to shore up cash and have warned they could face bankruptcy without federal assistance. No automakers have been spared in the brutal global sales slump, and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp could report its first annual parent-only operating loss since the company was founded more than 70 years ago, Japanese media reported on Friday. Toyota shares fell 2% in Tokyo ahead of a year-end news conference on Monday, where the world’s biggest carmaker is expected to revise down its profit forecasts. Toyota last posted an operating loss in its first year of operation in 1937/38. A Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports. Automakers everywhere are under huge pressure to cut costs as a global recession and tight credit strangle demand, and Japanese carmakers are feeling the extra pinch from a weak dollar/yen, now trading around ¥89. US automakers are burning through dwindling cash reserves, raising the prospect of a bankruptcy that would cause massive disruption to the entire industry, add to growing jobless lines and deepen a global economic slowdown. In a pair of interviews on Thursday, US President George W Bush said he was concerned about the impact a “disorderly bankruptcy” might have on markets and the economy. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offered mixed signals on the prospect of a bailout. Chrysler question One remaining uncertainty is where an emergency federal bridge loan would leave Chrysler, widely considered the weakest of the big three US automakers. Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said last month the privately held automaker needs both taxpayer-backed loans and an alliance with one or more automakers to survive. More recently, Nardelli has said the automaker could restructure to emerge as a stand-alone competitor, but most analysts are sceptical of that because of Chrysler’s heavy reliance on the deeply depressed US market and its inability to fund new vehicle development programs. Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that bought 80% of Chrysler from Daimler AG, has retained advisors to study a range of options for the No. 3 US automaker, including selling off its most valuable assets, including its Jeep brand and its minivan line. From Friday, the No. 3 US automaker will be shutting all 30 of its plants for at least a month in order to keep inventories of unsold vehicles from building further. Bankruptcy threat Both GM and Chrysler have said a bankruptcy filing is not an option they would chose because of the risk that it would drive more consumers away from their brands. The Detroit-based automakers have also said a bankruptcy filing by one could topple suppliers and endanger the remaining two companies because of the overlap in their key parts suppliers. Ford Motor Co is not seeking emergency loans but has asked the government to consider standby credits it could draw on if its own position worsens more than expected in 2009 or if Chrysler or GM were to fail. Both GM and Chrysler have been hard hit by the sudden tightening of credit since September, a development that has made it harder for their dealers to carry inventory and for consumers to find financing. GM’s sales in the US market dropped 41% in November and are down 22% so far this year, while Chrysler sales have dropped 28%. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:12 am GM, Chrysler near emergency loan dealDetroit/Washington: General Motors Corp and Chrysler are close to securing emergency loans as part of a US government aid package that would demand sweeping restructuring at the troubled automakers, according to sources familiar with the talks. Bridge loans to carry the companies for several months could be announced as early as Friday said the sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the negotiations. That would stave off the prospect of an “orderly” bankruptcy, one option being considered by the US government after more than a month of wrangling. The aid package being spearheaded by the White House would demand that both automakers restructure by seeking new concessions from unions and creditors, two people briefed on the talks said. Both GM and Chrysler have been forced to idle plants and lay off thousands of workers across North America as they try to shore up cash and have warned they could face bankruptcy without federal assistance. No automakers have been spared in the brutal global sales slump, and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp could report its first annual parent-only operating loss since the company was founded more than 70 years ago, Japanese media reported on Friday. Toyota shares fell 2% in Tokyo ahead of a year-end news conference on Monday, where the world’s biggest carmaker is expected to revise down its profit forecasts. Toyota last posted an operating loss in its first year of operation in 1937/38. A Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports. Automakers everywhere are under huge pressure to cut costs as a global recession and tight credit strangle demand, and Japanese carmakers are feeling the extra pinch from a weak dollar/yen, now trading around ¥89. US automakers are burning through dwindling cash reserves, raising the prospect of a bankruptcy that would cause massive disruption to the entire industry, add to growing jobless lines and deepen a global economic slowdown. In a pair of interviews on Thursday, US President George W Bush said he was concerned about the impact a “disorderly bankruptcy” might have on markets and the economy. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offered mixed signals on the prospect of a bailout. Chrysler question One remaining uncertainty is where an emergency federal bridge loan would leave Chrysler, widely considered the weakest of the big three US automakers. Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said last month the privately held automaker needs both taxpayer-backed loans and an alliance with one or more automakers to survive. More recently, Nardelli has said the automaker could restructure to emerge as a stand-alone competitor, but most analysts are sceptical of that because of Chrysler’s heavy reliance on the deeply depressed US market and its inability to fund new vehicle development programs. Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that bought 80% of Chrysler from Daimler AG, has retained advisors to study a range of options for the No. 3 US automaker, including selling off its most valuable assets, including its Jeep brand and its minivan line. From Friday, the No. 3 US automaker will be shutting all 30 of its plants for at least a month in order to keep inventories of unsold vehicles from building further. Bankruptcy threat Both GM and Chrysler have said a bankruptcy filing is not an option they would chose because of the risk that it would drive more consumers away from their brands. The Detroit-based automakers have also said a bankruptcy filing by one could topple suppliers and endanger the remaining two companies because of the overlap in their key parts suppliers. Ford Motor Co is not seeking emergency loans but has asked the government to consider standby credits it could draw on if its own position worsens more than expected in 2009 or if Chrysler or GM were to fail. Both GM and Chrysler have been hard hit by the sudden tightening of credit since September, a development that has made it harder for their dealers to carry inventory and for consumers to find financing. GM’s sales in the US market dropped 41% in November and are down 22% so far this year, while Chrysler sales have dropped 28%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:12 am Bond yields off lows, investors trim holdingsMumbai: Indian federal bond yields climbed off intraday lows in volatile trade on Friday as investors pared positions after prices rose for nine consecutive sessions. At 11:29am, the benchmark 10-year bond yield was at 5.60%, off an early trough of 5.40%, its lowest since June 2004. It had ended at 5.50% on Thursday. Dealers said investors were cashing in gains at 5.48% to 5.58% levels but they expect bond yields to stabilize later in the day. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to slash interest rates before or at a review in January as Thursday’s data showed annual inflation slowed to 6.84% in early December, below the RBI’s target of 7% for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Rate cut expectations have also risen after a huge US rate cut this week and a sharp drop in global crude prices to 4- year low of around US $36 per barrel. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:47 am GMR plans to buy coal mine in IndonesiaNew Delhi: GMR Group plans to buy a 100-150 million tonne capacity coal mine in Indonesia to feed 1,500 MW power generation capacity for 20 years. The deal is likely to strike within the next three months. “The company has plans to set up a 1,000 to 1,500 MW coal-fired thermal power plant on the western coast. The company has already done the land survey in Maharashtra and Gujarat,” GMR Group chief financial officer Subba Rao Amarthaluru told reporters here on Friday. He said, “The company would increase its domestic power generation capacity from 800 MW to 3,000 MW by 2013.” He also said that the company’s 1,050 MW coal-fired power plant in Orissa would be operational by March 2010. He remained tight-lipped about the future investment plans of the firm and said amidst the global financial crisis, power sector is a potential sector where there is a scope of investment and higher returns considering the EPC cost coming down to around Rs4 crore per MW from the earlier Rs5-6 crore. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:25 am 'Super' Kochhar makes journey from trainee to CEOSuccess like her's is the staple dream that school children dream of, but Chanda Kochhar is one that would have hardly had the time for such fantasies.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:25 am Chanda Kochhar to succeed Kamath as ICICI Bank CEO & MDICICI Bank, the country's largest private lender, named Chanda Kochhar as its new CEO and Managing Director on FridaySource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:24 am Polaroid Corp. files for bankruptcyMinneapolis: Polaroid Corp. and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, saying that allegations of fraud at its parent company are to blame. In a statement, Concord Massachusetts-based Polaroid said its ongoing financial restructuring process and Thursday’s filing in US Bankruptcy Court in Minnesota are the result of the federal investigation into its parent, Petters Group Worldwide. Petters Group has owned Polaroid since 2005. Petters Group and its venture capital unit Petters Co. Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October following a federal investigation into a $3 billion fraud scheme that authorities say was run by the company’s founder, Tom Petters Petters is in custody and has maintained his innocence. But several of his top executives have pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme. Minnetonka-based Petters Group is under the control of a court-appointed receiver. Petters Group has investments in dozens of companies. Its holdings include Polaroid and Sun Country Airlines, which also made a separate Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in October after it couldn’t turn to its parent company for a short-term loan because of the federal investigation. Polaroid, best known for inventing instant photography, said in a statement that the company and its officers are not part of the fraud investigation. However, the allegations “have compromised the financial condition of Polaroid.” Polaroid said Thursday’s move will not impact day-to-day operations for employees, customers, retailers and suppliers. The company also said it has ample cash reserves to finance its reorganization under Chapter 11. “We expect to continue our operations as normal during the reorganization and are planning for new product launches in 2009,” said Mary L Jeffries, Polaroid chief executive officer. Polaroid Corp.’s largest unsecured creditor is Petters Capital, LLC, with a claim of nearly $184 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:17 am Inflation to fall further, stimulus not overNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's inflation rate will fall further and with the global slowdown likely to spill into the next financial year, there may be a need for more fiscal stimulus, a senior government official said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:58 am Antulay resigns over Mumbai attacks debate: sourcesNew Delhi: Union Minister A R Antulay, who is at the centre of a storm triggered by his remarks on the circumstances surrounding Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s killing, has sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, highly placed sources said on Friday. 79-year-old Antulay, whose remarks created an uproar in Parliament and outside with the opposition parties demanding his removal, had sent his resignation on Wednesday night, they said. When contacted, Antulay on Friday declined to comment, saying “I am neither confirming it nor denying it”. Throughout Thiursday Antulay had maintained that he owed explanation to none on his controversial statement and that he had neither met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi or the Prime Minister, nor had he written to them. The Union Minister for Minority Affairs had created a furore by his remarks raising doubts on the issue of killing of Karkare and two other senior police officers on 26 November night in Mumbai and sought to link it to the ATS chief’s role as a key investigator in the Malegaon blast case in which Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Lt Col Shrikant Purohit were arrested. He had said that Karkare could have been a victim of “terrorism or terrorism plus something. I do not know”. Later, Antulay had sought to wriggle out by saying he did not question the fact that Karkare was killed by Pakistani terrorists but had only wanted to know who had sent him “in the wrong direction” towards Cama hospital instead of Taj or Oberoi hotels or Nariman House which were on fire. Opposition BJP and Shiv Sena have demanded his removal saying that the comments had weakened India’s position on the Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistani terrorists. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:30 am Amar Singh, CII among Clinton foundation donorsNew York: Indians, including Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh, have contributed millions of dollars to charity controlled by former US president Bill Clinton for alleviating poverty and fighting diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria. Governments, corporations and rich individuals paid hefty sums to the Clinton Foundation which has raised over $492 million since its establishment in 2001. A Pakistani source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the disclosure of millions contributed by Indians, who are seen close to the Clintons, could complicate the task of incoming Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she would be perceived to be close to New Delhi. The list released on Thursday shows Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and steel baron Lakshmi Mittal among those who paid between $1 and 5 million to the foundation but it was not clear when the donations were given. The list of about 205,000 donors also includes Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the category of those who paid between half a million and $1 million and Tulsi R Tanti-headed Suzlon Energy Limited based in Amsterdam and a major supplier of wind turbines. Tanti is said to be among the wealthiest Indian executives. It also includes the name of Lalit Suri, Vinod Gupta and Ajit Gulabchand among those who paid between quarter and half a million dollars. India Today group, Reliance Europe, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, Lata Krishnan and Mike Patel finds place among those paying between $100,000 and $250,000. The list does not give exact amount paid by each contributor nor the dates on which the donations were made. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:29 am Toyota may post 1st parent operating loss since 1937Tokyo: Toyota Motor Corp is likely to report its first annual parent-only operating loss since the company was founded more than 70 years ago, hit by plunging sales and the soaring yen, several Japanese media reported on Friday. Toyota is set to issue a revision for its parent and consolidated forecasts at a year-end news conference on Monday, the Chunichi Shimbun and Kyodo news agency reported. Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, last posted an operating loss in its first year of operation in 1937/38. A Toyota spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports. Toyota made a parent-only operating profit of $1.57 billion in the first half after incurring currency losses of 300 billion yen, making a full-year loss at current exchange rates a near certainty. Shares of Toyota were down a relatively tame 1% in morning trade, in line with the Nikkei average, as conflicting reports emerged. The Nikkei business daily predicted Toyota would also report a consolidated operating loss for the full year, while the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said the company would not issue a profit warning this month. The Nikkei this week incorrectly reported that Japan’s No.2 automaker, Honda Motor Co, would lower its annual operating profit forecast to about 300 billion yen, instead of the actual 180 billion yen. “Toyota has been expected to post (consolidated) losses for the second half, but it would be a surprise if the loss became so big that it would more than wipe out the first-half profits,” said Koji Endo, auto analyst at Credit Suisse. Toyota made a group operating profit of 582 billion yen in the first half, and last month slashed its full-year forecast by 1 trillion yen to 600 billion yen. Pressure is on Automakers everywhere are under huge pressure to cut costs as a global recession and tight credit strangle demand, and Japanese carmakers are feeling the extra pinch from a weak dollar/yen, now trading around ¥89. Credit Suisse’s Endo said the pressure would only grow on the automaker to cut costs, including procurement. “Negotiations with Nippon Steel Corp and others will begin early next year, and how much (price cuts) Toyota can secure from raw material suppliers will determine whether it will post losses for the next business year,” he said. Toyota said during its profit revision in early November that it would do everything it could to meet the new forecast of ¥600 billion for the year, setting up an Emergency Profitability Improvement Committee to secure short-term cash. But sales trends and currency rates have turned far more severe and unpredictable. A company source said Toyota may alter its plans and refrain from announcing sales and production forecasts for the 2009 calendar year. Toyota had been expected to lower its 2009 global sales forecast, with various media estimating the figure at anywhere between 8.0 and 8.7 million units, down from the record 9.37 million in 2007 and well below the company’s most recent forecast of 9.7 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 6:02 am Fast growth is not the right approach now: ICICI chiefMumbai: Chanda Kochhar was formally named as CEO-designate and the incoming head of India’s largest private bank, ICICI Bank Ltd. She will take over the job in May succeeding K.V. Kamath, who will become non-executive chairman. Edited excerpts: You are taking over a very critical time both for the economy as well as the banking system and particularly for ICICI Bank. The bank’s book is shrinking and non-performing assets or NPAs are rising. Mustn’t be a happy time to take over? This is the kind of time where the leadership qualities will be tested. I am quite open to being tested on that challenge and hope to do the best in the interest of the bank. Chanda Kochhar talks to Tamal Bandyopadhyay about the qualities required to take over the leadership of the bank in the current economic situation, her agenda for the future and the inspiration she has drawn from K.V. Kamath. What’s your agenda? The agenda is consolidation. I think fast growth is not the right approach at this point. What is important is that within the existing balance sheet we should really improve the composition of our deposit structure. We should have more retail deposits; more current and savings accounts deposits. And we must continue to strongly monitor the credit quality. This is not in the context of ICICI per se but in the context of the way the economy is moving. The corporate sector is going through a process of adjustment and the retail customers too are going through an adjustment in terms of their income level. So, at this point of time it is very important for us that the monitoring of the assets continues to get a lot more focus. Also Read ICICI Bank CEO job for Kochhar Are you rebalancing the portfolio in terms of paring exposure to retail assets and focusing more on corporate assets? At one point of time the share of retail loans was 67% of your balance sheet. Now, it is about 55%. I would say that the mix would change depending on the business opportunities in each of the segment. I would not like to set a number and say we would want to get there. Each of the businesses should grow at a rate which is good, given the environment at which we are operating. The business mix will be a result of this. Are your NPAs growing? In the current economic scenario, on the corporate side I still think that NPAs would not grow much because the corporate profits are still high and their debt levels are low. Currently, the firms are going through an adjustment process in terms of unlocking their inventories and cutting the prices and so on. But a quarter or two later, the whole cycle will settle down. They will start operating in a cycle where both the raw material prices as well as selling prices will be low and so they will have margins. Even though capacity utilization may not be 100% but that will be certainly better than what we are seeing currently when they are unlocking inventories. So, I think over a quarter or two, the adjustment period will come to another level and it will be a viable cycle. On the retail side, as long as India does not face any large scale retrenchment – I don’t think that will happen – and the scenario continues to be what it is currently, we will not have any worry on mortgages and car loans. On unsecured loans and credit cards, we have already seen industrywide higher credit losses than what used to be prevalent a couple of years ago. I think we will have to learn to leave with the little higher level of credit losses of such loans. Will you go slow on your international operations?  Chanda Kochhar. Ashesh Shah / Mint Is the worst over for ICICI Bank in terms of liquidity and your exposure to credit linked notes and other derivatives? How much more provision would you need? Let me put it in context. ICICI Bank is the second largest bank in the country and the environment in which it operates has a lot of bearing on the working of the bank. It all depends on how the global scenario moves and more so how the Indian scenario moves. That will drive the course for the bank. Today no one is predicting on a long-term basis on what the economic scenario will be. Even in the most difficult liquidity time, we always have a rupee liquidity of Rs10,000 crore to Rs15,000 crore daily, barring may be 10-15 days.. On the international side, our growth rate will be lower but we do not have any imminent liquidity problem. We have sufficient liquidity to take care of our operations. Six months ago we had sold off all non-India credit linked notes and credit default swaps. As a banker, I would say that anything that happens to the economy impacts all banks. In the current scenario, one should never make a forward-looking statement. You’re confident about retaining profitability Yeah. That’s going to be our target and we will have to work towards it. ICICI seems to be always partial towards women. Instead of saying the bank is partial towards men or women, I would say it is partial towards merit. Clearly, the decisions in ICICI Bank are taken on the basis of merit and not on the basis of gender. The bank looks at what is the requirement of the job and which person fits the requirement the best and it does not matter whether the person is a male or a female. Finally, how easy it will be to fit in Kamath’s shoes? The way he has driven the organization, transformed it and the kind of impact that it had not only on ICICI Bank but the economy as such is something extraordinary. I should only draw inspiration and learn from them Will you miss him? Yes, definitely. But he will be there as a non-executive chairman for all our group companies. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 5:47 am Asia stocks slip on weak economic outlookHong Kong: The US dollar fell on Friday, on track for the biggest weekly decline since 1985, while oil was pinned near 4-1/2-year lows under $40 after plunging overnight on a dismal outlook for energy demand. Tokyo stocks fell 1% ahead of a policy decision by the Bank of Japan, which could follow the Federal Reserve this week in cutting its benchmark rates closer to zero and taking more unconventional action to make commercial banks lend to each other. However, the financial sector still looked shaky, with HSBC shares down 7% on fears about whether Europe’s largest lender will raise capital or cut its dividend. The dollar also remained under pressure after the Fed indicated this week it has embarked on quantitative easing, the final option of any central bank in which the financial system is immersed with cheap funds in an effort to revive lending. Prospects of an oversupply of dollars on the market and the belt-busting US fiscal deficit has made dealers dump the currency. The dollar, still the world’s foremost reserve currency, had served as a haven for investors during the bloodiest months of the financial crisis. A persistent decline could have a big impact on Asian central banks, exporters and companies with dollar-based revenues. The euro was up 0.3% at $1.4255, after having surged overnight to a near three-month high of $1.4720 on trading platform EBS. The euro has gained a stunning 20 cents in the last month as the euro zone’s interest rate advantage was expected to hold for a while longer. The dollar was down 0.2% to ¥89.25 and fell as low as ¥87.13, its weakest in more than 13 years, on Wednesday. An overnight bounce frayed the nerves of traders who are anxious the Bank of Japan could intervene to cap the yen’s rise, but no evidence was found to support such a move. The trade weighted dollar is down 4.5 percent this week, heading for its biggest weekly fall since September 1985, according to Reuters data. Asian stocks were set to end of the last full trading week of 2008 with a whimper. The MSCI index of stocks in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan fell 1.4%. The index plunged 53% in 2008, easily the biggest annual decline since the gauge was launched in 1988. The region was not able to escape a global slowdown that accelerated following a shakeup in the structure of Wall Street banks and a sudden pullback in China’s economic growth. However, some big investors still believe the long-term outlook of corporate Asia is bright. Battermarch, a unit of Legg Mason, said it favours Asian stocks related to domestic demand and infrastructure development. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led the region lower, down 2.3%. In addition to HSBC, stocks of Chinese oil refineries also weighed on the broad market after Beijing slashed domestic fuel prices. PetroChina fell 3% and Sinopec slipped 1.7%. Longer-dated US government bonds edged lower, as dealers squeezed what profits they could from a treacherous year for trading. However, the Fed’s plan to buy late maturity Treasuries and government-sponsored agency securities to lower borrowing costs will likely support prices in the near term. The benchmark 10-year yield, which moves inversely to the price, was at 2.07% after falling as low as 2.04% overnight, the lowest since the 1950s. The yield has slumped around 200 basis points in 2008, with the lion’s share happening in the last month. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:46 am Skoda bullish on India despite slowdownMumbai, Dec. 18 SkodaIndia, the wholly-owned local arm of the Czech carmaker and part of the Volkswagen (VW) group, has reiterated that it will go ahead with its product launch plans during calendar 2009 despite the currentSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Inflation dips sharply on fuel price cutsNew Delhi, Dec. 18 With the cut in fuel prices earlier this month coming into play, inflation slipped to its lowest in over nine months, even as the Finance Ministry said this could help further ease interest rates in the economy.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am RBI cautions banks on realty exposureMumbai, Dec. 18 The Reserve Bank of India said it is imperative for banks to manage the balance sheet risks associated with real estate exposure, particularly in the current scenario of slowdown in the economy with its expected ramifications onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Tyre companies resort to cutting outputMumbai, Dec. 18 Pushed to the wall by cheap imports from China and tapering demand, tyre manufacturers have decided to cut production to protect theirSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Corporation Bank (Rs 190.45):BuyWe recommend a buy in Corporation Bank from a short-term trading perspective. It is apparent from the charts that the stock was on a medium-term downtrend from its September high of Rs 303. It found isupport at the long-term support band betweenSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am ONGC, OIL told not to subsidise crudeNew Delhi, Dec. 18 The Government has told ONGC and Oil India Ltd not to extend any discounts with effect from last week of November to public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Pvt equity funds hope to achieve 30-35% on investmentsBangalore, Dec. 18 With global liquidity remaining tight, private equity (PE) funds return expectations from investments have escalated to 30-35 per cent.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Bond prices see huge rally; rupee gains 70 paiseMumbai, Dec. 18 Falling inflation numbers and a cut in rates by the US Federal Reserve brought cheer to the currency and the Government securities market with the prices of the 10-year benchmark security rising by Rs 2.40 and the rupeeSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideWe retain our buy recommendation in DLF and Reliance Capital.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Sensex closes above 10,000 on lower inflation, new packageMumbai, Dec. 18 Fall in inflation figures steeper than the market expectations, reports about the Government considering a second stimulus package and speculation about another rate cut by RBI, boosted sentiments in the stock market on Thursday.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Was it meant to be a bailout for Maytas cos?While senior executives of both Satyam and Maytas deny such intentions, a top source said it was indeed a bailout package since Maytas is seeking to strengthen its balance sheet.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:48 pm Buyback as bad in spirit as buyoutThe decision by the management of Satyam Computer Services to buy back shares is as bad as the earlier one to buy Maytas Properties and Maytas Infrastructure.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:46 pm Trai raises fresh fears over 3G chargesthe chairman of Trai has pointed out that the annual spectrum charges proposed by DoT are in variance with the regulator's recommendation of July.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:42 pm Solvency margin cut on traditional insurance plansThe Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda) has reduced the solvency margin from the start of 2009.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:40 pm Taj, Trident flooded with reservation requests for December 21Hotels lining up special menus, Taj to use Jaguar cars for guest transfers.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:43 pm Govt mulls Rs 20,000 crore stimulus via trust fundThe government is considering a fresh stimulus of around Rs 20,000 crore for manufacturing companies and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) routed through the Stressed Asset Stabilisation FundSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:42 pm Hyundai to lay off 2,000 temporary workersKorean car maker Hyundai Motors India Ltd said it will have to lay off 2,000 temporary workers, about one-fourth of its labour force, to tide over a decline in car sales.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:40 pm Aditya Puri is BS Banker of the YearHDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri is the Business Standard Banker of the Year.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:39 pm Satyam tries to appease investors, plans buybackStung by investor outrage over its now-aborted plan to buy two firms in which the promoter-family members have stakes, Satyam Computers today went into shareholder-appeasement mode.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:37 pm Dec quarter may be worst in 10 yrs for ITBangalore: It may be the festive season for some, but analysts say the three months ending 31 December will be the worst quarter in almost 10 years for Indian software services firms such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, or TCS, Wipro Ltd and Infosys Technologies Ltd as customers in the US offshore less business, and bargain for lower prices. The IT firms could see their lowest sequential (this quarter over the last) growth in volume, add the analysts. Most Indian software services firms, with the exception of TCS, opt for so-called time and money contracts where they bill customers by man-hours spent on a project. Their growth in revenue is a function of man-hours (or volume) and billing rates. The US is the world’s largest technology market and accounted for between 50% and 60% of the revenues of the three Indian firms in the three months ended September. Since September, however, the economic situation in the US and the rest of the world has worsened. India’s software lobby group, the National Association of Software and Service Companies, or Nasscom, had estimated that India’s software and back-office services industry would grow by 21-24% in the 12 months to March, but its president Som Mittal said on 15 December that this number could be revised downward. India’s software and back-office services exports reached $40.4 billion (about Rs1.96 trillion) in the year to March. Several Indian companies had expected business to grow in the second half of the year to March, starting October. “Their (customer’s) feedback suggests that their IT spend would be back-ended (i.e. higher in the second half of the year). Our guidance is based on data we have collected from them,” V. Balakrishnan, chief financial officer, Infosys, had previously said. Since September, several US investment banks have collapsed, and the world’s biggest economy had tipped into a recession. India, which grew its economy by an average of 8.9% in the past four years, could grow much slower this year. “(For the) first time in 10 years, we could see volumes declining sequentially this quarter,” said Mitali Ghosh, a research analyst with Merrill Lynch and Co., Inc., in a research note on 11 December. “Compounded by weakening of the European currencies, we forecast a quarter on quarter decline in dollar revenue for all majors”. The three months to December also coincides with the holiday season both in India and US, and is traditionally a weak quarter for Indian software firms as they have fewer people deployed on projects. “The utilization (of people) would be low; it is negative. Volume growth would be lower,” said Dipesh Mehta, an equity analyst tracking the IT sector at Khandwala Securities Ltd, a Mumbai brokerage. “The rupee would be the only saviour (for the software firms)”. The Indian currency has depreciated around 5% against the dollar, the currency in which most software firms bill customers, since 1 October. Viju George, equity analyst with Edelweiss Capital Ltd, another Mumbai brokerage, expects Indian firms to register low single digit volume growth. TPI Inc., an offshore advisory firms that helps companies chose offshore partners and locations, said that since September, the volume of project based services and staff augmented services for Indian software firms has reduced significantly. “We have found that the bottom has not (been) reached. It is going further down,” said Siddharth Pai, partner and managing director at the Bangalore office of TPI. “There is delay in decision making; they (customers) are not sure (whether this is) the bottom of the trough”. In a 9 December report, research firm Forrester Research Inc. projected that IT outsourcing growth would remain moderate till 2010, even as recession in the US continues till mid-2009. The moderate growth would be due to smaller outsourcing deals and the 9-15-month time lag between decisions to outsource and the actual transition, the firm said. Merrill Lynch’s Ghosh said in her note that instances of companies wishing to renegotiate rates had grown in the past three months and that this, and the risk of companies opting to work with fewer service providers had combined to push billing rates to under $20 an hour in some cases. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:20 pm Microsoft releases emergency patch for Internet ExplorerBy Glenn Chapman San Francisco: Microsoft on Wednesday released an emergency patch to fix a perilous software flaw allowing hackers to hijack Internet Explorer browsers and take over computers. The US software giant said security update MS08-078 addresses a vulnerability cyber-criminals can exploit to their advantage. “Microsoft encourages all IE customers to test and deploy this update as soon as possible,” said Microsoft security response communications head Christopher Budd. The threat led Microsoft to mobilize security engineering teams worldwide to deliver a software cure “in the unprecedented time of eight days.” According to researchers at software security firm Trend Micro, attacks based on the vulnerability in the world’s most popular Web browser were spreading “like wildfire” with millions of computers already compromised. Microsoft typically releases patches for its software on the second Tuesday of each month and rushing this fix to computer users out-of-cycle is testimony to the severe danger of the threat, according to Trend Micro. “People should run, not walk, to get it installed,” said Trend Micro advanced threat researcher Paul Ferguson. “This vulnerability is being actively exploited by cyber-criminals and getting worse every day.” The IE software patch will be automatically applied to hundreds of millions of personal computers due to standard update settings in the machines, according to Microsoft Security Response Alliance director Mike Reavey. Wednesday morning, business networks using IE began getting the critical fix through routine patching processes. Reavey said Microsoft went into “emergency response” mode on December 9 after it first learned of the attacks on IE browsers. A day later, Microsoft published a security advisory that “listed workarounds that blocked all known attacks.” “Over the course of the next eight days, this advisory was updated five times, adding newer workarounds and mitigations,” Reavey said. “We also continually monitored the threat environment, noting when the attacks began to change in nature and scope.” Trend Micro has identified about 10,000 websites that have been infected with malicious software that can be surreptitiously slipped into visitors’ unprotected IE browsers to take advantage of the flaw. A major Internet portal in Taiwan is among the legitimate websites unknowingly tainted with malicious software aimed at IE’s weak spot, according to Ferguson. Hackers can take control of infected computers, steal data, redirect browsers to dubious websites, and use machines for devious activities such as attacks on other networks, according to security specialists. “What makes this so insidious is it takes advantage of a big gaping hole of IE, which has the largest install base of any browser on the market,” Ferguson said. IE is used on nearly three-quarters of the world’s computers, according to industry statistics from November. Reavey said the patch consists of more than 300 distinct updates for more than half-a-dozen versions of IE in scores of languages. Analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley said it was “amazing” that Microsoft was able to turn out a complex critical fix in a week when such jobs typically can take a month or longer of intense work. “Even with that, the release Emergency Response process isn’t over,” Reavey said. “There is additional support to customers and additional refinement of our product development efforts.” Trend Micro urges IE users to heed precautionary advice from Microsoft, or avoid using the browsers, until the patches are applied. The “exploit” is similar to one used recently to steal user names, passwords and other information from people playing online games in China, according to Trend Micro. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:59 am Microsoft releases emergency patch for Internet ExplorerBy Glenn Chapman San Francisco: Microsoft on Wednesday released an emergency patch to fix a perilous software flaw allowing hackers to hijack Internet Explorer browsers and take over computers. The US software giant said security update MS08-078 addresses a vulnerability cyber-criminals can exploit to their advantage. “Microsoft encourages all IE customers to test and deploy this update as soon as possible,” said Microsoft security response communications head Christopher Budd. The threat led Microsoft to mobilize security engineering teams worldwide to deliver a software cure “in the unprecedented time of eight days.” According to researchers at software security firm Trend Micro, attacks based on the vulnerability in the world’s most popular Web browser were spreading “like wildfire” with millions of computers already compromised. Microsoft typically releases patches for its software on the second Tuesday of each month and rushing this fix to computer users out-of-cycle is testimony to the severe danger of the threat, according to Trend Micro. “People should run, not walk, to get it installed,” said Trend Micro advanced threat researcher Paul Ferguson. “This vulnerability is being actively exploited by cyber-criminals and getting worse every day.” The IE software patch will be automatically applied to hundreds of millions of personal computers due to standard update settings in the machines, according to Microsoft Security Response Alliance director Mike Reavey. Wednesday morning, business networks using IE began getting the critical fix through routine patching processes. Reavey said Microsoft went into “emergency response” mode on December 9 after it first learned of the attacks on IE browsers. A day later, Microsoft published a security advisory that “listed workarounds that blocked all known attacks.” “Over the course of the next eight days, this advisory was updated five times, adding newer workarounds and mitigations,” Reavey said. “We also continually monitored the threat environment, noting when the attacks began to change in nature and scope.” Trend Micro has identified about 10,000 websites that have been infected with malicious software that can be surreptitiously slipped into visitors’ unprotected IE browsers to take advantage of the flaw. A major Internet portal in Taiwan is among the legitimate websites unknowingly tainted with malicious software aimed at IE’s weak spot, according to Ferguson. Hackers can take control of infected computers, steal data, redirect browsers to dubious websites, and use machines for devious activities such as attacks on other networks, according to security specialists. “What makes this so insidious is it takes advantage of a big gaping hole of IE, which has the largest install base of any browser on the market,” Ferguson said. IE is used on nearly three-quarters of the world’s computers, according to industry statistics from November. Reavey said the patch consists of more than 300 distinct updates for more than half-a-dozen versions of IE in scores of languages. Analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley said it was “amazing” that Microsoft was able to turn out a complex critical fix in a week when such jobs typically can take a month or longer of intense work. “Even with that, the release Emergency Response process isn’t over,” Reavey said. “There is additional support to customers and additional refinement of our product development efforts.” Trend Micro urges IE users to heed precautionary advice from Microsoft, or avoid using the browsers, until the patches are applied. The “exploit” is similar to one used recently to steal user names, passwords and other information from people playing online games in China, according to Trend Micro. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:59 am
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