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Financing still an issue, but Jan may pep auto cos: MarutiMaruti Suzuki India\'s latest launch, AStar, hasn\'t revved up sales for Maruti. RC Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India said that financing still remains a big handicap. He hopes January to be a better month because of new model, new models, new year etc.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 5:43 pm Ashok Leyland asks suppliers for breather in paymentsReeling from the slowdown, Ashok Leylands inventory levels are as high as threefour months, reports CNBCTV18 quoting sources, adding that the company is having problems in making payments to suppliers. Sources added that the commercial vehicle major has asked its suppliers for a 20% cut in payments for the time beingSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 5:42 pm SRF buys SRF Polymers for Rs 150 crOn December 16, the SRF Board approved buying two businesses of SRF Polymers for Rs 151 crore and this news has got away because of the Satyam fiasco. FY08 EBIDTA made by both these businesses is a loss of Rs 1.7 crore and FY08 net loss of nearly Rs 14 crore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 5:41 pm Average ticket size of PE deals to go below $100 m in \'09The global financial crisis and flagging investor sentiment have led to shrinkage in private equity infusion in the real estate sector by 50% from last year, with some funds not having done a single deal this year. Investors feel that the average ticket sizes of PE deals will shrink below USD 100 million in 2009.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 5:35 pm Extend excise cut to dealer level: Auto dealers\' bodyThe Federation of Auto Dealers (FADA) has asked the government to extend the excise cut to dealer level, reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. The FADA has asked the Planning Panel and Commerce Ministry to extend 4% excise cut on stocks lying.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:37 pm DDA house allotment defaults may head for CBI probeCNBC TV18 in an exclusive last week had exposed the plight of more than 25,000 applicants waiting for allotment of their affordable house through DDA since last 27 years. Now there are reports that the case may be headed for a CBI probe.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:13 pm Auto cos suffering from inventory pile up; cut productionMany automobiles companies, such as, Tata Motors, MM, Ashok Leyland and Asia Motor Works plants have been shut due to inventory pile up. The enquiries for new vehicles have dried up and there is no movement in core sectors like cement and steel, except coal.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 3:21 pm Rel Infra sole bidder for 135km Delhi expresswayReliance Infra has emerged as the sole bidder for the 135kilometre Eastern Peripheral Expressway around Delhi, reports CNBCTV18.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 2:49 pm CEAT asks workers to suspend work for a weekWith recession hitting the automobile industry, Satpur-based tyre manufacturer CEAT has asked its workers to temporarily suspend work for a week.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:54 pm Should Satyam\'s management resign? Experts reactOmkar Goswami of CERG Advisory is angry on Satyam for going into the Maytas deal without seeking shareholder approval. He is shocked by news that the World Bank has admitted to debarring Satyam for eightyears due to data theft. Goswami feels its management should resign. Nilesh Shah of ICICI Pru feels there is lack of transparency at Satyam.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:51 pm Telecom industry sees mergers and acquisitions worth $9 bnNew Delhi: The fast growing Indian telecom industry has seen mergers and acquisitions valued at over $9 billion this fiscal, unfazed by the global slowdown that resulted in lesser number of global M&A deals, an industry survey said today. In fact, consolidation in telecom industry accounted for one-third of the total M&As in the country. The largest of around 20 deals this year was the buyout of 26% stake in Tata Teleservices by Japanese major NTT DoCoMo Inc, an Assocham EcoPulse study said. “The 2.7-billion dollar deal enabled the Japanese giant’s entry into the world’s fastest growing telecom market, which has over three times the number of subscribers in Japan,” the study said. In another deal, Dubai-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) bought out 45% stake in Swan Telecom for cash up to $900 million. Idea Cellular acquiring 40.8% stake in Spice Communications for $679 million dollar was among the major domestic deals in the last eight months of this fiscal. The study revealed that most of the telecom deals were inbound with foreign companies infused about $8.06 billion. The valuations of deals between domestic players, however, remained relatively less. “The robust deal activity in the telecom sector gains significance in the backdrop of decline in the global merger volume by almost a third in 2008 due lack of credit,” the study said, adding the sector is expected to continue to grow at rapid momentum despite all odds.Indian telecom market is the fastest growing in the world, where it is addingabout 10 million subscribers per month. The industry has shown outstanding results. Sales for the top firms have increased by 30% for the quarter ended September 2008. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:50 pm Rs 1k cr rights issue to fund projects: Fortis HealthcareFortis Healthcare has announced a Rs 1,000crore rights issue to raise funds and also warrants over and above that. Shivinder Mohan Singh, its Managing Director and CEO, said the company has a threepronged plan to invest the money that is likely to be raisedSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:45 pm ANALYSIS - U.S. banks to slash payouts as recession persistsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank stocks yielding close to 10 percent might tempt investors in a market where such income is rare, but the payouts are likely to plummet if not disappear.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:42 pm Fortis Healthcare plans to raise upto Rs 1000cr - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:37 pm Vardhman Textiles to buy back convertible bondsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Yarnmaker Vardhman Textiles on Wednesday said its board approved buyback of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) that were issued in 2006.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:23 pm Bhutan bans import of poultry from Assam, West BengalThimphu: Bhutan has banned the import of poultry and its products including poultry feeds from neighbouring Assam and West Bengal in the wake of outbreak of avian influenza in these states. According to the country’s ministry of agriculture, the transport of poultry and poultry products via Assam and West Bengal will also not be allowed. However, import of poultry and its products from designated farms or processing plants in unaffected states of India will be allowed only by air. The ministry has also banned the import of poultry feeds from Samrat feed mills in Siliguri with immediate effect. It said transport of animal and poultry feeds manufactured in Bhutan via West Bengal and Assam will be allowed only if all the feed bags are fully covered and sealed at the place of origin in presence of Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (Bafra) officials. The seal will again have to be verified and opened in the presence of BAFRA officials at the entry point of the destination. Earlier in the month Bhutan had banned the import of eggs and frozen chicken from Assam and West Bengal. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:21 pm Govt issues $830 mln bonds to fertiliser cosNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Wednesday issued to 16 fertiliser companies 6.20 percent special bonds maturing in 2022 and worth 40 billion rupees ($830 million), it said in a statement.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:20 pm No cash bonus, Santa comes with G1 for Google staffInstead of the USD 1,000 pay cheque as bonus, Google is giving a version of its G1, the recently released mobile phone, to its employees.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:18 pm Financing still an issue, but Jan may pep auto cos: Maruti - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:16 pm Banks not liable to pay interest on export subsidy: SCThe RBI gives export subsidy to banks to make good their losses due to extending export credit at a lower rate of interest.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:11 pm Second stimulus pkg to address liquidity issue: Kamal Nath - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:06 pm Oil falls below $37, tracking equitiesLONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $2 to below $37 a barrel on Wednesday, tracking global equity losses and ahead of U.S. data expected to show an increase in crude stocks.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:04 pm Pay hike for Gujarat government employeesIt is bonanza time for the Gujarat government employees as the state cabinet Wednesday decided to implement the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:01 pm Second stimulus package this week, says Kamal NathIn a bid to help the economy tackle the global financial meltdown, the government is expected to come out with its second stimulus package within the next three days, commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:00 pm Satyam shares pullback on takeover talkBANGALORE (Reuters) - Shares in Satyam Computer Services pulled back from steep losses on Wednesday on market talk the outsourcer may see a takeover bid after its valuation plummeted on corporate governance concerns.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:49 pm Sensex falls 1.2% on earnings worriesNew Delhi: Indian shares skidded for a third day, falling 1.2% on Wednesday to their lowest close in more than two weeks, as investors braced for poor quarterly earnings due in January. There were also worries foreign portfolio investment could take a knock as recessions in the US, the eurozone and Japan took their toll. Shares in Satyam Computer plunged as much as 18.3% to a five-year low after it was barred from business with the World Bank for eight years, dealing another setback for the no. 4 Indian outsourcer following a botched move into the construction industry. However by close the stock, which had fallen 13.6% on Tuesday, clawed back to limit losses to 3.9% at Rs134.95 as some investors termed the loss was excessive after the stock fell nearly 50% in just six trading sessions. The main 30-share BSE index, shed 1.22%, or 118.03 points, to 9,568.72, its lowest close since 8 December, with all but five components in the red. The market, which is closed on Thursday for Christmas, has lost 5.3% this week after rising 4.2% last week. “This is typical of a bear market where you see such technical rallies,” Kohli said. “But fundamentally nothing has changed.” The benchmark is still up 5.2% in December, but down nearly 53% in 2008 that has made it one of the worst performers in Asia and setting it on course to end a six-year gaining streak. “The trend could turn positive again if global indices rebound, and (foreign funds) resume their shopping spree,” brokerage India Infoline said. Emkay’s Kohli said the outlook for inflows from foreign funds were dim. The funds been net sellers of $13.3 billion of India stocks in 2008, compared with a record net purchase of $17.4 billion last year. Data showed the funds were net sellers of $67.3 million of shares on Tuesday, trimming the total purchases in December to $395 million. Top petrochemicals maker Reliance Industries, the heaviest stock in the BSE index, extended its decline to be down 1.5% at Rs1,241.20. Brokerages have said a sharp fall in crude prices would hit the firm’s refining margins. The stock has lost 8.7% in four trading sessions. Banking stocks rose on short covering as investors expected another round of rate cuts by the RBI to shore up a slowing economy. The finance ministry said on Tuesday in its mid-year economy review that an aggressive monetary policy might be necessary if the global economic depression continues to adversely affect the manufacturing sector. Separately, a key economic adviser said it would be desirable to cut the RBI’s two key policy rates by 100 basis points each. Top lender State Bank of India closed up 1.8% at Rs1,286.40 rupees, while No. 2 ICICI Bank. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:49 pm Govt for raising threshold limit for appointing CS to Rs5 crNew Delhi: Considering the shortage of company secretaries, the government is planning to relax rules for corporates on employing a full time company secretary but their apex body ICSI is opposing the move. At present, companies with a paid-up capital of Rs2-crore are required to hire a full time company secretary. The government is planning to amend the Companies Act and raise the threshold limit on equity capital from Rs2-crore to Rs5-crore for employing a full time secretary. Once the proposal is approved, companies with less than Rs5-crore paid-up capital need not employ a full time company secretary and instead they can hire one on temporary basis, an official in the know of the matter said. The proposal is aimed at addressing the problem of shortage of company secretary in the country. There are 31,705 companies with a paid-up capital of Rs2-crore plus, whereas there are only around 15,000 qualified company secretary, making it difficult for many companies to appoint a whole-time company secretary, the official said. The government is planning to amend the Companies Act, 1956, which lays down the criterion for employing a whole-time company secretary, in this regard. According to Section 383 (A) of the Companies Act, 1956, “every company having paid up capital of Rs2-crore shall have whole-time secretaries and where the Board of directors of any such company comprises only two directors, either of them shall be the secretary of the company”. However, there is a huge gap between the availability of company secretary and their demand by companies. As per the officials, there are 19,582 qualified members of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), of which not even 50% are in employment. The official said, “The companies above Rs5-crore threshold are only 15,000 so it would be prudent to fill the demand-supply mismatch like this.” The move is going to benefit around 16,000 companies, as they are not required to employ a whole-time company secretary, which would save cost for them. However, ICSI President opines differently. “We don’t want the limit to be enhanced right now. Large companies are properly governed, it is the small and medium size companies which need good governance,” ICSI President Keyoor Bakshi said. “We will write to the government requesting them not to raise the limit right now. With the economic slowdown, it may not be a right time for such a decision,” Bakshi said. He said as far as the shortage of company secretaries is concerned, the institute has seen an increase in the number of applications this year, with enrolment increasing by 50% this year. Over a period of two years, the gap will be filled, Bakshi said. This year, 35,000 students enrolled for the course of company secretaries as a result of various awareness campaign organised by the institute. Also, the ICSI is planning to increase its office count from 70 to around 150, which will promote the course, Bakshi said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:47 pm Bond yields ease on inflation, rate cut viewMumbai: The federal bond yields ended lower on Wednesday, on expectations of easing inflation and lower oil prices would provide the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with more leeway to cut rates to bolster the slowing economy. The benchmark 10-year bond yield ended at 5.61%, after trading in a 5.57-5.75% range during the day. It had closed at 5.74% on Tuesday. The 10-year bond yield has fallen 146 basis points so far in December. The bond market is closed for Christmas on Thursday. Volumes were a high Rs14,650 crore on the RBI’s trading platform. India’s annual inflation is expected to have fallen to a fresh 9-month low of 6.57% in mid December, lower than 6.84% a week earlier, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Wednesday. Inflation data is due at around midday on Friday. “If inflation comes in lower, there is a scope that yields may fall to 5.45-5.50% levels,” Jigna Thakker, a dealer at Saraswat Co-operative Bank, said. Oil fell towards US $37 a barrel on Wednesday. Lower fuel prices give RBI more elbow room to cut interest rates to support economic growth. Oil forms a major component in the India’s wholesale price index (WPI). The government said on Tuesday there was considerable scope for monetary easing next year and there may be a need for more aggressive action, while a top economic adviser expected the RBI to cut its key rates by up to 100 basis points. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:44 pm FMCG stayed in the fast laneNew Delhi: True to its name, the fast moving consumer goods industry remained on the fask track in 2008, as the rising input costs, high inflation rates or the economic downturn failed to hinder the pace of activity in the sector. As per a study by industry chamber Ficci, FMCG industry is projected to grow by 16% to Rs95,150 crore during 2008-09, up from Rs85,470 crore last fiscal, amidst rising raw material prices, increase in costs of various inputs like petro-based raw and packaging materials, and above all, that of key ingredient -- palm oil. The year also saw FMCG growth in rural market overtaking that of the urban market. While the sector maintained a 17-18% growth in the urban market, this year, according to industry estimates, the rural market showed over 20% growth. Ficci had said, about 35% of the off-take for FMCG products come from rural areas, and the affluent segment in villages grew at a faster rate than the urban one. The estimated number of households using FMCG products in rural India have grown from 13.6 crore in 2004 to 14.3 crore in 2007. FMCG products continued to show good momentum aided by buoyant demand in rural markets worth Rs27,369 crore. Perhaps, these were the reasons for major players like Nestle and Pepsi to announce multi-million dollar investments in India as they sought to consolidate their positions. While Nestle planned to pump in Rs600 crore in 2009 to augment research and development, advertising and capacity building, soft drinks major PepsiCo announced plans to invest $500 million dollar in the Indian market over next three years with the aim of tripling the company’s business in the country. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:42 pm EU’s new digital library operational againBrussels: The European Union’s first large-scale digital library, Europeana (www.europeana.eu), was online again on Tuesday, a month after it crashed after being overwhelmed by readers’ interest. “Europeana works again ... after we have quadrupled server capacity,” European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr told a daily news briefing. Europeana gives multilingual access to two million digitised books and other items of cultural and historical significance held in more than 1,000 institutions in the 27 EU states. Europeana brings together more than two million books, maps, recordings, photographs, archive documents, paintings and films. Many of Europe’s top museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre in Paris, have contributed to the project. Soon after its launch on 20 November the website froze, with servers overwhelmed by a volume of 10 million hits an hour. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:35 pm EU’s new digital library operational againBrussels: The European Union’s first large-scale digital library, Europeana (www.europeana.eu), was online again on Tuesday, a month after it crashed after being overwhelmed by readers’ interest. “Europeana works again ... after we have quadrupled server capacity,” European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr told a daily news briefing. Europeana gives multilingual access to two million digitised books and other items of cultural and historical significance held in more than 1,000 institutions in the 27 EU states. Europeana brings together more than two million books, maps, recordings, photographs, archive documents, paintings and films. Many of Europe’s top museums, such as the British Museum and the Louvre in Paris, have contributed to the project. Soon after its launch on 20 November the website froze, with servers overwhelmed by a volume of 10 million hits an hour. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:35 pm India sees 1.7% growth in PC shipments - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:34 pm 'Mergers, acquisitions in telecom lucrative despite slowdown'Despite the global downturn slowing mergers and acquisitions (M and amp;A), 20 such deals worth $9.15 billion took place in the country's telecom sector this fiscal, said an industry lobby study released Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:30 pm Delhi metro completes 6 years, 729,000 use it dailyThe Delhi Metro completed six years of operations Wednesday and the average number of commuters now stands at 729,000 every day, an official said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:30 pm Satish Bagrodia takes charge as president of PHD ChamberWinsome Textile Industries chairman Satish Bagrodia Wednesday formally took charge as the president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, succeeding L.K. Malhotra.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:30 pm Playstation2This month, we’re seeing perhaps the last big, international game releases for the venerable console, though its not at the end of its life atleast here in India, and i’ll get to that a bit later.  Grand Theft Auto is perhaps a good example here - the enormously controversial GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas were out on PS2 first. The Guitar Hero franchise had its roots here. Some of the great platform/action titles - Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, started out here. It was also the home of the Final Fantasy series - with the hugely succesful FF X and XII. There were also cult classics and experimental titles, like ICo, Shadow of the Colossus, Rez, Disgaea, Okami. Established franchises released landmark titles for the console - Resident Evil 4 was here. Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3. When first revealed, there was expected to be a close race between Microsoft’s original XBox, and and Nintendo’s Gamecube, but there was really no contest at all. 140 million units wordwide. Second place is the Nintendo DS with approximately 85 million units. Though both MS and Nintendo have got some degree of revenge with the Xbox 260 and Wii, both of which are more succesful than the PS3, no one will be, for a few years atleast, able to replicate the degree of success and influence that the PS2 did. Now, perhaps the last big international title released for the PS2 is, rather fittingly, an role playing game. That game is Persona 4, or rather Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, which is the full title. The Persona series of RPGs involve kind of balancing a normal life - in this game’s case, your life as a student in a high school, with standard RPG mechanics - which is exploring strange places, killing monsters, defeating the bad guys. And the game plays these two with each other very nicely. You go theough a normal day, attending classes, making friends, going for drama practice...and at night, you and your band of adventurers journey to diabloical dungeons defeating really strange monsters using the powers of your persona, which is like a manifestation of your personality. This itself is pretty neat, but the ace in the hole of the Persona series has always been it’s...well, weirdness. These are very surreal, often strange games with bizzare but intriguing storylines. Here’s a sample: In Persona 4, there are rumors of something called ’The Midnight Channel’, which is a semi-mythical TV show that only shows up at midnight once every two weeks, when the TV is switched off. You then find out that you can actually enter said channel by umm..jumping into the TV. Once there, you meet a bear suit - not a person in a bear suit, just a teddy bear suit called Teddie, who gives you information. And of course, this is the same Persona series which got into a bit of controversy last year. Persona 3, that game that immediately precedes 4, had the characters summoned their personas in battle by aiming a pistol shaped object called an Invoker, and shooting themselves on the forehead. Ofcourse, its not really a gun, and they’re not really shooting themselves...but it was quite rightly considered rather reckless of the game to involve imagery of teenagers aiming a gun-like thing at themselves in the backdrop of questions being raised about the school shootings in the US. New lease of Life in India. Sony India country manager Atindriya Bose says that the ps2 is seeing robust sales 8-10 k sales a month, driven by titles like Bollywood Singstar, and a number of Indian game studios have cropped to develop games on this platform. End with some of the games. One is an action platformer called Hanuman, Boy Warrior, being developed by Aurora Tech of the Pyramid Saimira Group in Hyderabad. The second is a untitled collecteion of minigames based on indigenous sports - so far Kabbadi, Kho-Kho and Kite Flying have benn confirmed. This one is being developed by Gameshashtra. Also, and this is both a blessing and a curse, a set of Quiz software - both general and for entrance exams, engineering , medical, maybe even CAT, is under development for the PS2 by Candella Soft Bangalore. So, expect to get both work and play done on your Playstation 2 in the near future. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:29 pm Rupee loses another 35 paise against dollar!The Indian rupee on Wednesday fell further by 35 paise against the US dollar in early trade following heavy dollar demand from importers and fall in the domestic stock markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm Investor who lost USD 1.4bn to Madoff kills himself!He was a distinguished investor who traced his lineage to the French aristocracy, hobnobbed with members of European high society and sailed around the world on fancy yachts.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm Satyam plunges 18%, Wipro surges !Satyam plunged over 18% while Wipro`s shares surged 5% a day after the company acquired CTS.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm Sensex tank 112 pts, Satyam tumbles!BSE Sensex fell by 112 points early on Wednesday, with Satyam Computers tumbling 13.5%.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm Japan OKs biggest-ever budget amid recession!Japan`s Cabinet approved USD 980.6 billion budget on Wednesday for the year from April.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm US, Britain sinks deeper into recession!Bleak housing data showed the United States and Britain were sinking deeper into recession and authorities from Washington to Tokyo worked hard to spend their way out of the worst downturn in decades.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm Cement prices decline on excise duty cut!Cement prices are expected to soften as cement companies have announced a price cut following the excise duty reduction announced by the government, the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:23 pm DTH operators turn towards realty players for subscribersNew Delhi: The competition in the DTH space is set to increase further with players now looking at residential societies and apartments to add subscribers in volumes by offering Multi Dwelling Units (MDUs) that will benefit both parties. “Its easier to wire buildings at construction stages. So, we are talking to real estate developers for partnership. It gives them a chance to offer the DTH connection as an added advantage,” Dish TV Chief Operating Officer Salil Kapoor told PTI. The MDU solution has a single dish antenna, erected for the building, and it caters to all the flats through multi switches and amplifiers. “MDUs offer a perfect solution to customers who are not too keen to have too many dish antennas peeking out of balconies. And it gives us the opportunity to serve a larger number of customers as well,” Kapoor said. However, each television set will require the set top box (STB) to be bought by the user and provide access to content that they would like to see and not a bulk package for the entire building. Such a tie-up also ensures multiple subscribers to the DTH operators, though the cost of installation of the MDU antennas is being currently borne by DTH operators which is anything between Rs1,200-1,500 per flat. The concept might seem new but has a huge revenue potential and the companies have already drawn out strategies to capture large market shares. BIG TV, which launched its MDU solution earlier this month, is targeting a market share of 40% within the first year of operations and a 25% share in the annual incremental growth in the market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:21 pm 5,000 to 10,000 new Twitter accounts a dayWashington: Micro-blogging service Twitter is gaining 5,000 to 10,000 new accounts a day and most of its users have joined this year, according to a study released on Tuesday. Internet marketing company HubSpot, in a “State of the Twittersphere” report, said 70% of the estimated four to five million people using Twitter have signed up in 2008 and 20% have joined in the last 60 days. It said the average user has been on the real-time short-messaging service for about 275 days. “A year ago Twitter was a relatively small community of techies and Web 2.0 geeks, now it is going mainstream,” the report said. “Twitter is not only being talked about and used by a lot more people, but more and more marketing industry events and conferences are using Twitter as a standard means of communication,” it said. HubSpot said 35% of Twitter users have 10 or fewer “followers” - people who subscribe to receive their 140-characters-or-less messages - while 9% of Twitter users follow no one at all. The average number of followers for a Twitter user is 70, it said, and the average person follows 69 people. The report said Twitter traffic was the highest on Wednesdays and Thursdays and dropped off by about 30% over the weekend. Launched in August 2006, Twitter has been embraced by a number of celebrity users including Barack Obama, who racked up more than 150,000 followers during the US presidential campaign, and four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal of the Phoenix Suns. Twitter users have also made news recently by providing lightning fast, on-the-scene updates from events such as the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:13 pm BHEL bags Rs 2100 cr power plant order from NTPC - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:12 pm India Inc needs to layoff in order to survive: PHDCCINew Delhi: India Inc must resort to layoffs in order to survive in the present circumstances and the textile sector has already given pink slips to 5,00,000 workers, business body PHDCCI today said. “If they (industry) have to survive they will have to lay off in the current situation,” the new President of PHDCCI Satish Bagrodia told reporters here. He said the textiles industry has already cut over 5,00,000 jobs and as many more would lose their livelihood in the next four months if the economic environment does not improve. However, on Tuesday, the government had said the impact of economic crisis on layoffs in India has been limited and even moderate economic growth is enough to generate jobs. Unlike the developed countries job losses have been limited in India as a large proportion of the population is employed in the agriculture sector, which has not been hit by the crisis, it said, adding the services sector that makes up for a large share of the GDP has also been less affected. PHDCCI said the country’s economy, which is being impacted by the world financial meltdown, is unlikely to recover before 2010-11. “In the current scenario of tight and expensive credit, recovery before 2010-11 does not seem likely,” Bagrodia said. The immediate challenge is to rekindle business sentiment by creating an environment of growth, he said. To spur the economic growth the second stimulus package should contain Rs1,50,000 to Rs2,00,000 crore for the core sector, besides cut in key policy rates, it said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:06 pm India pledges $100 million to Maldives, ink two pactsIndia Wednesday pledged $100 million credit to the Maldives by signing a pact that will enable the island nation to invigorate and diversify its tourism-centric economy.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:02 pm Kolkata airport upgrade to be completed by May 2011The modernisation work of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here will be completed by May 2011, a senior official familiar with the projectsaid.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:02 pm I had better offer to exit: Pyramid Saimira promoterTo emphasise that he has no wish to leave the company he heads, Pyramid Saimira Theatre chairman P.S. Saminathan Wednesday said he had a more 'attractive offer' for his holding even before receiving a fake directive to sell out.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:02 pm Rs.10 bn investment expected from Kerala diaspora meetThe two-day diaspora meet 'Ente Naadu', billed as a platform for the Kerala diaspora to invest in tourism projects in the state, concluded here Wednesday with an investment of over Rs.10 billion expected to take place in the coming years, a minister said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 pm Chandramouli named next provident fund commissionerK. Chandramouli, a 1975 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been named the next central provident fund Commissioner, it was announced Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 pm Indian rupee snaps 3-day fall as exporters cash dlrs - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:57 am Kerala to launch package to woo domestics travellers - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:55 am Sensex ends 118 pts down on weak global sentiment - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:45 am Cadbury sells Australian drinks unit to AsahiLondon: Cadbury PLC, the world’s biggest candy maker, said Wednesday that it has reached a conditional agreement to sell its Australian drinks business to Asahi Breweries, Ltd. for £550 million ($808 million). The agreement between Cadbury and Asahi is subject to a right of negotiation with Coca-Cola, which can negotiate a potential acquisition of Schweppes Australia until March 2009. The company had been considering the future of Schweppes Australia since May, when as the former Cadbury Schweppes it divested its U.S. drinks operation. That business has since become Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. The decision to sell the Australian business was announced in a trading update earlier this month, the company said in a regulatory announcement to the London Stock Exchange. Cadbury said that if Coca-Cola made an offer on the business, it would “carefully consider such offer, including the price and likelihood of receiving necessary regulatory and other consents.” If it does not reach an agreement with Coca-Cola, then Cadbury’s agreement with Asahi will be binding. Shares in the Cadbury fell 0.93% to 586 pence. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:42 am Cadbury sells Australian drinks unit to AsahiLondon: Cadbury PLC, the world’s biggest candy maker, said Wednesday that it has reached a conditional agreement to sell its Australian drinks business to Asahi Breweries, Ltd. for £550 million ($808 million). The agreement between Cadbury and Asahi is subject to a right of negotiation with Coca-Cola, which can negotiate a potential acquisition of Schweppes Australia until March 2009. The company had been considering the future of Schweppes Australia since May, when as the former Cadbury Schweppes it divested its U.S. drinks operation. That business has since become Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. The decision to sell the Australian business was announced in a trading update earlier this month, the company said in a regulatory announcement to the London Stock Exchange. Cadbury said that if Coca-Cola made an offer on the business, it would “carefully consider such offer, including the price and likelihood of receiving necessary regulatory and other consents.” If it does not reach an agreement with Coca-Cola, then Cadbury’s agreement with Asahi will be binding. Shares in the Cadbury fell 0.93% to 586 pence. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:42 am Global Slowdown To Hit Export: ESC - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:35 am Government Issues Oil Bonds For OMCs - TopNews
Source: Google News India - Business | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:31 am BSE Sensex falls 1.2 pct on earnings worriesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex skidded for a third day, falling 1.2 percent on Wednesday to their lowest close in more than two weeks, as investors braced for poor quarterly earnings due next month.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:13 am Kamal Nath: considering further stimulusNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is considering another stimulus package to lift slowing growth, which may include steps to ease liquidity and relief measures for export and housing sectors, the trade minister said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 11:10 am Gold gains for 4th day on global leadsMumbai: The gold futures extended gains for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday tracking overseas futures market and a weaker rupee, analysts said. Comex gold for February delivery traded 0.33% higher at US $840.9 an ounce, helped by a weaker dollar against the euro. A weaker rupee made the dollar-denominated gold expensive locally. A correction is expected in gold on expectations of huge dollar buying ahead of the year-end, said Debjyoti Chatterjee, associate vice president at MAPE ADMISI Commodities. He recommended selling MCX gold at Rs13,200 and above with a target of Rs12,900 and with a stop loss of Rs13,290. At 11:45am, the benchmark February gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) traded higher by 0.40% at Rs13,125 per 10 grams after gaining over 2.5% in the last three sessions. Selling is recommended in March silver at Rs17,350 to Rs17,400 with a target of 17,000 and with a stop loss of 17,750 said Harish Galipelli, head of research at Karvy Comtrade. The benchmark March silver contract last traded Rs89 higher at Rs17,276 per kg following the yellow metal. Open interest for February gold on MCX was at 15,656 lots, up from 15,390 a day earlier. Volume on Tuesday was 45.6 kgs. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 10:58 am Isro eyes lunar landing in 2012, Mars mission in 2013New Delhi: Buoyed by the success of Chandrayaan-I, space scientists now plan to conquer new frontiers by sending a robot on moon in 2012 and a spacecraft to Mars the following year which will also see an Indian astronaut in space. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lined up a slew of missions which also include landing a spacecraft on an asteroid and sending a probe to fly past a comet. Isro plans to send an Indian astronaut in space onboard a Russian mission in 2013 and follow it up with two Indian astronauts on a seven-day mission on an indigenously developed rocket in 2015. India’s mission to Mars is at a conceptual stage right now, Isro Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI on the sidelines of a felicitation of the Chandrayaan-I team by CII. “Next year we will be able to finalise and by 2013 it can take off,” he said. Nair said the current Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), used to put communications satellites in orbit, will be used to launch the probe to Mars. Isro also plan to launch a sequel to Chandrayaan-I, which will entail landing a rover robot on moon by 2012. The lunar rover will be built in collaboration with Russia. “The design for Chandrayaan-II is ready,” Nair said. Last year, Isro had sent to space a capsule which was recovered after keeping in orbit for 22 days. The Space Recovery Experiment (SRE) was seen as a technology demonstrator for future manned missions. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 10:15 am Govt blames Opposition for disruption in ParliamentNew Delhi: Sharing the concern of presiding officers over reduced number of sittings, government on Wednesday defended passage of a number of Bills without discussion and blamed the opposition for disruption of Parliament. “Parliament is meant to have legislative business. If political parties disturb, how can we have Bills passed. Government is also not happy over reduced number of sittings,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vyalar Ravi told a press conference here a day after Parliament was adjourned sine die. Concerned over the frequent disruption of the two Houses, he said if Parliament functions in an orderly manner, the government can explain the reasons of Bills and the opposition can criticise and make suggestions. He disagreed that the government had decided to prorogue the session under pressure from Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The minister said it was not fair to drag the Speaker’s name into the issue and added that he was “surprised” to see media reports in this regard. “It was never the intention of the government to prolong the session,” Minster of State for Parliamentary P K Bansal, who was also present, said. Ravi said a notice was issued on Tuesday itself for convening a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) on Wednesday to prorogue the House. Before adjourning the House, the agenda for the CCPA was issued, he said. The monsoon session, which started on 21 July, met in three parts and concluded only on Tuesday. The two Houses had around 46 sittings during the calendar year and lost over 13 hours in din since they met on 10 December. Bansal said the government was in favour of having atleast 100 sittings in a year. “But what is the use if the opposition does not allow the House to function,” he asked. He appreciated that despite the brief session, considerable legislative business was carried out and a number of Bills were passed. To a question whether all political parties should sit together on the number of Parliamentary sittings, Ravi said some minimum number of sittings should be fixed. “It is not a good thing for everyone of us. The government is very much concerned about it. The number of sittings coming down will not be appreciated by the people,” he said. While adjourning the Rajya Sabha sine die, Chairman Hamid Ansari had on Tuesday lamented the passage of important legislative business in the ‘din´ and said it did no credit to Parliament. Altogether 19 Bills were passed by the two Houses during the last part of the Monsoon Session, and 18 Bills were introduced. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 10:05 am Sharif’s U-turn on Mumbai attack; asks India to give evidenceIslamabad: In a U-turn, former premier Nawaz Sharif, who last week indicated that the lone captured Mumbai attacker Ajmal Amir Iman was a Pakistani, has said India should provide evidence for Islamabad to take action or else it should avoid creating tensions through “fake allegations”. “Pakistan, as a state and as a government, is not at all involved in the incident. If India provides evidence to Pakistan, the country will look into them and take action,” Sharif, the leader of the opposition PML-N, said. The former Pakistani prime minister said he will request President Asif Ali Zardari to take stern action if India provides evidence of the involvement of the Pakistani elements in the Mumbai terror attacks. “If we get the evidence, I will personally go to President Zardari and ask him to take stern action against such people,” Sharif said at a ceremony held ahead of Christmas at the chief minister’s Secretariat in Lahore Tuesday. Sharif’s latest remarks follow his statement on Friday last when he indicated that Ajmal was from Pakistan, embarrassing the Pakistani government. “It has been said this individual named Ajmal Kasab hails from Faridkot village (in Pakistan’s Punjab province). I have seen and I personally got this checked - the village and its surrounding areas were cordoned off. His parents are not being allowed to meet anyone,” Sharif had told Geo News. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 9:29 am Maruti says to start Nissan shipment by MarchNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's top carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, expects to begin shipping its A-star small car to Japan's Nissan Motor by March for sale in Europe, the Indian company's managing director said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 9:27 am Telenor hopes to close Unitech deal by Jan 2009New Delhi: The completion of one of the most hyped deal of the year between Unitech Wireless and Telenor has now been delayed by about a month to January 2009 from the anticipated time frame of the transaction being wrapped by this year’s end. An industry source said the reason for the delay might have been the Telenor’s search for alternative sources of funding the Rs6,120 crore buy-out for Unitech’s 60% stake. The Norway-based company was planning to raise money through the rights issue to invest in Unitech. Telenor’s 54% stake is held by the government. Telenor on 26 November said that it had retained Deutsche Bank to help reassess the alternative ways of funding the investment. The evaluation of alternatives, including the previously announced rights issue of NOK 12 billion, is ongoing and Telenor intends to announce a decision on the funding of the investment at, or prior to, the closing of the Unitech Wireless transaction. It is believed that the telecom deal is to finish off Rs2,000 crore debt from Unitech’s balance sheet. The Norway-based company had on 29 October announced the expected closing of the Unitech Wireless transaction in India by the 2008-end. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 9:14 am “Hot” temper: Pakistan may pull out from hockey, squash eventsKarachi: In a tit-for-tat response, Pakistan is likely to pull out its teams from upcoming sporting events in India, who decided against touring their country for a cricket series citing a diplomatic stand-off following the recent Mumbai terror attacks. Pakistan’s Federal Secretary of Sports Ashraf Khan has described the situation as “so hot” and said it was not advisable for the players to tour India in the current circumstances. Pakistan is scheduled to take part in a four-nation hockey series to be played in Chandigarh and Jalandhar next February after its squash team has a chance to defend the Asian junior title in Chennai on 16 January. “Allowing our squash and hockey players to leave for India will be too risky at the moment as the gravity of the situation does not allow us to send our sports teams there,” Ashraf was quoted as saying in the Dawn. Asked if security was a concern or it was a tit-for-tat response, Ashraf admitted that it was in reply to India scrapping its cricket team’s tour of Pakistan. “The situation is so hot that I don’t think it will be advisable for Pakistan team to tour India, particularly when Indians have refused to come to Pakistan. So, we have to look at that but yes, we have not taken final decision,” he told a television channel. “We have to take into account our foreign office, we have to take into account our political leadership and after that we will decide, but my personal view is that at present atmosphere is not conducive for such events,” Adhraf said. Ashraf said the final decision would be made in a day or two. When pointed out that England cricket team did not face any security problem, Ashraf said “there is difference between the English team and Pakistan. You know the hype and relation between Pakistan and India is different from England and India.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 9:06 am UK menswear chain The Officers Club in administrationLondon: British menswear retailer, The Officers Club became the latest British high street victim of the financial crisis as administrators moved in and 118 of its 150 stores were sold to its chief executive. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the administrators appointed late on Tuesday at the height of the Christmas shopping season, said in a statement that 32 stores excluded from the sale would close immediately. It said TimeC 1215 Limited, a company backed by David Charlton, CEO of The Officers Club, had purchased the business and assets of the 118 stores, securing the employment of 1000 staff. No financial details were disclosed. Administration in Britain is a type of protection from creditors. Privately-owned, The Officers Club also operates under the Petroleum brand. News of The Officers Club deal came hours after Whittard of Chelsea, the tea and coffee retailer owned by Icelandic investor Baugur, fell into administration and was immediately sold to private equity investor Epic for an undisclosed sum. Wednesday’s Financial Times reported that loss-making Allied Carpets, the UK’s second biggest flooring retailer, has been put up for sale by its French owner, Tapis Saint-Maclou. With consumer confidence dented by crumbling house prices and soaring unemployment, British retailers are experiencing the most difficult trading environment for years and many have already collapsed into administration. Variety store retailer Woolworths and flat-pack kitchen seller MFI are the most high-profile casualties so far. Earlier this week, insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor predicted 15 national and regional retail chains will collapse early next year. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 9:01 am IT giants express interest in Himalayan KingdomThimphu: If things go according to plan, Bhutan could well become an important IT hub with giants like Infosys, Gen Pac and Microsoft evincing keen interest to set up BPOs and data centres in the Himalayan country. Around 30 leading IT firms from India held strategy meetings here recently to explore investment possibilities in Bhutan. The IT leaders said that Bhutan can play host to an array of possibilities like data centres operation, disaster recovery centre, BPOs and software development centre. “We are looking at Bhutan as a good destination for investment,” said Infosys Board chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy. He said this was a exploration trip and “that is how you start building a relationship, once you start appreciating the country and good things in the country, possibilities start coming before your eyes.” On the chances of a small country like Bhutan being an IT destination, Murthy said they are good as Infosys itself had started with seven people but was now worth nearly $5 billion. “Apart from formulating our long term IT strategy what we do is visit new countries which could potentially be partners to India. I think we can work together with Bhutanese companies or even help Bhutan to set up ICT industries,” Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan said. A NIIT centre was launched at the campus of the Royal University of Bhutan to train 1,000 IT students over the next two years. Murthy also offered 100 seats at the Infosys Institute in Bangalore for “intensive training” of Bhutanese students for six months. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 8:37 am Reliance delays oil delivery by 2 monthsReliance Industries has delayed the delivery of crude oil to Chennai Petroleum Corp by almost two months due to equipment failure at its oilfield.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 8:22 am POLL - Inflation seen at 6.57 pct on Dec 13NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual inflation rate is expected to have fallen to a fresh 9-month low in the second week of December due to a tax cut on manufactured products and cheaper fuels, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 8:21 am Reliance postpones crude oil delivery to CPCLNew Delhi: Reliance Industries has put off delivery of crude oil from its eastern offshore Krishna Godavari basin D6 block to Chennai Petroleum Corp. (CPCL) by almost two months to 15 February due to equipment failure at the oilfield. Reliance, which last month sold its first shipload of oil from MA-1 oilfield in the predominantly gas-rich D6 block to Vizag refinery of HPCL, was to deliver the second consignment to CPCL on 23/24 December. “They (Reliance) have told us that the shipment will reach us around 15 February,” CPCL Managing Director K.K. Acharya said. MA-1 field started crude oil production in September but on 9 December it was shutdown for three to four weeks following pipe rupture at the floating, production, storage and off-loading vessel (FPSO). CPCL has contracted 450,000 barrels of oil from Reliance at a discount of $5.34 a barrel to the internationally traded price of Nigerian Bonny Light crude oil. The price is the same what Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) paid for the first consignment, Acharya said. CPCL was interested in entering into long-term contract for buying MA-1 crude but the pricing can be settled only after the refinery is able to process the first consignment to know of the characteristics of oil. After the shutdown at MA-1, Reliance had offered to sell 300,000 to 320,000 barrels of oil to CPCL and informed the company that if it wanted the full contracted quantity it would have to wait till February for producing the remainder quantity after the field restarts production. CPCL has opted to wait. Sources said output from MA-1 field before the shutdown was erratic with more than expected natural gas flowing out of well along with crude oil. Production from the field varied on daily basis, sometimes falling to as low as 8,000 barrels per day and then suddenly rising to 12,000 bpd. Crude oil from the MA-1 field is stored on a FPSO vessel at the well-head and once critical volumes are reached it is transferred to a ship for transportation to a refinery. Reliance had last month sold the first consignment of 59,000 tonnes of oil from the field to Vizag refinery in Andhra Pradesh at $5.34 a barrel discount to Nigerian crude grade Bonny Light. Oil and Natural Gas Corp, India’s largest crude oil producer, also benchmarks its prime Mumbai High crude at this grade. Both Vizag and Chennai refineries have evinced interest in taking the entire peak output of 40,000 bpd (2 million tonnes a year) of sweet crude on a long term basis. The peak output was envisaged in second calendar quarter of 2009 and in all likelihood, Reliance may split the volumes equally between the two, sources said. Reliance is the operator with a 90% stake in the 7,645 square km D6 block, off the Andhra coast. Niko Resources of Canada holds the remaining 10% interest. The company, which had budgeted $1.5 billion for developing the oil field, has till now spent $950 million and would invest the remainder in drilling and tying in four additional wells. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 8:00 am Maruti may cut production if demand remains sluggishThe country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, on Wednesday said it may consider production cut if the market does not improve.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:59 am FACTBOX - Where has the U.S. bailout money gone?WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it completed purchases of equity in 49 banks on Friday and 43 on Tuesday as part of a plan to stabilize the financial system and restore normal lending.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:56 am Maruti Suzuki may cut productionNew Delhi: The country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, on Wednesday said it may consider production cut if the market does not improve. The company, which has been negotiating contract manufacturing deal for its A-Star model with Nissan, also expects to start exports for the Japanese car maker by around February-March next year. Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director, Shinzo Nakanishi said that across the world there has been a slowdown in demand, including China, India and other BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). On the company’s planned export of the A-Star for Nissan, an agreement on the volume has not been signed as yet but shipment to Europe is “expected by about February-March next year,” he said. In the April-November period, the company’s sales growth witnessed a negative growth of 3% compared with the corresponding period last year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:35 am Coca-Cola warned over nutritional claimsWashington: Federal health regulators have scolded Coca-Cola for placing inappropriate nutritional claims on its Diet Coke Plus soft drink. The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to the company, objecting to the product’s labeling, which describes the drink as ‘‘Diet Coke with Vitamins and Minerals”. Regulators said the beverage does not have enough nutrients to justify the use of the word ‘‘plus’’ in its name. According to the agency, foods labeled ‘‘plus’’ must have at least 10% more nutrients than comparable products. Additionally, the FDA said it is inappropriate to add extra nutrients to ‘‘snack foods such as carbonated beverages”. In the 10 December letter, the FDA calls on Coca-Cola to revise the drink’s labeling and inform the agency of its plans within 15 days of receiving the message. The FDA posted the letter online Tuesday. Coca-Cola said it will respond to the FDA in early January, but currently has no plans to change the label. ‘‘This does not involve any health or safety issues, and we believe the label on Diet Coke Plus complies with FDA’s policies and regulations,’’ said spokesman Scott Williamson. The company launched Diet Coke Plus in March 2007, touting it as a calorie-free soft drink with extra vitamins and minerals. According to the company’s website, the drink contains vitamin B, zinc and magnesium. Once a niche market, nutrient-enriched beverages have grown into multibillion dollar business, which includes everything from calcium-enhanced orange juice to energy drinks containing ginseng, ginkgo and other herbs. In recent years the FDA has begun cracking down on companies that overstate the benefits of the products. The FDA has endorsed health claims on several foods, but only after government researchers verified that the products help prevent disease. Oatmeal products, for example, can carry the FDA-approved claim, ‘‘may reduce risk of heart disease”. The FDA regularly issues warning letters to companies that do not follow regulations for manufacturing and marketing. The letters are not legally binding, but the agency can take companies to court if they are ignored. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:25 am Toyota’s global sales mark worst drop in 8 yearsTokyo: In more bad news for Toyota, Japan’s No. 1 automaker said on Wednesday its global vehicle sales plunged 21.8% in November, its biggest drop in eight years. The news comes just days after the company predicted that this fiscal year it would report its first operating loss in 70 years. Toyota Motor Corp., running neck-and-neck against industry leader General Motors Corp. in global vehicle sales, sold 6,18,000 automobiles in November, down 21.8% from last November. That’s the biggest year-on-year slide since Toyota began tracking comparable data in January 2000. Such declines never reached 20% in the past, the company said. For the January-November period, Toyota sold 8.356 million vehicles around the world. Detroit-based GM has not released such figures. Japanese automakers, which boast a reputation for fuel-efficient models, had avoided some of the serious problems of their American rivals. But shrinking demand in the U.S. after the financial crisis hit earlier this year has battered their sales and profit. Toyota said on Monday that it expects to report an operating loss of $1.66 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2009, its first such annual loss since 1938, the year after the company was founded. It also lowered its net profit forecast which gives a fuller picture by including income taxes and various other expenses to just $555 million for the year through March 2009. For nearly a decade, Toyota was steadily on track toward reaching the 10 million vehicles mark in global sales, and readying to dethrone GM from the top position it held for 77 years. But with the global slump, Toyota has had to lower its sales targets as well. On Monday, it reduced its global vehicles sales target for 2008 again, this time by 4%, to 8.96 million. Earlier in the year it had expected to sell 9.85 million vehicles globally. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 6:15 am Satyam plunges 18% after World Bank banSatyam Computer Services on Wednesday plunged over 18 per cent on the bourses after the World Bank banned business with IT major for eight years.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2008 | 6:14 am Chinese tainted milk company declared bankruptWellington: The Chinese firm that sparked a nationwide tainted milk crisis that made nearly 3,00,000 children ill and killed six has been declared bankrupt, New Zealand shareholder Fonterra said on Wednesday. A court in Shijiazhuang in the northern province of Hebei had issued a bankruptcy order against Sanlu Group, the company whose melamine-tainted baby formula triggered the crisis in September, said Fonterra. The world’s biggest international trader of dairy products, Fonterra held a 43% stake in Sanlu, one of 22 dairy companies identified as selling toxic milk products. “This bankruptcy order is not a surprise to us. We were aware that Sanlu was in a very difficult situation and faced mounting debts as a result of the melamine contamination crisis,” said Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier. Sanlu would be managed by a court-appointed receiver who would assume responsibility for selling the company’s assets and payment of creditors over the next six months, Ferrier said. Fonterra has written off its $114 million investment in Sanlu. Earlier this month China dramatically raised the official tally of children sickened by dairy products laced with the industrial chemical melamine to 2,94,000, and said six babies may have died from drinking toxic milk. Melamine is a chemical normally used in making plastics but it emerged in September that it had been routinely mixed into watered-down Chinese milk and dairy products to give the impression of higher protein content. Melamine can cause kidney stones if taken in excessive levels and babies who were fed tainted milk powder suffered the worst. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 5:15 am Net woes: RCom writes to telecom regulatorNew Delhi, Dec. 23 Even as Internet services continued to be disrupted in the country, Reliance Communications has written to the telecom regulator that other long distance telecom operators, especially Bharti Airtel, was not co-operating inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Wipro buys Citi’s captive IT unitBangalore, Dec. 23 Wipro Technologies completes its Christmas shopping, acquiring Citi Technology Services Ltd (CTSL), the India-based captive IT unit of Citigroup Inc for $127 million (Rs 615.8 crore) in an all cash deal.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideUtilise rallies to sell DLF stock with tight stop-loss at Rs 315. We retain our sell recommendation in ICICI Bank.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Online share trading sees lower volumesMumbai, Dec. 23 Online traders are having difficulties in accessing their online trading site due to poor Internet connectivity. The link-up remains affected for over three days after three undersea fibre optic cables snapped during theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am World Bank to keep out Satyam for 8 yearsHyderabad, New Delhi, Dec. 23 The World Bank has decided to keep Satyam Computer Services off all businesses for a period of eight years beginning SeptemberSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am JLR supply chain will collapse without bailoutMumbai, Dec. 23 Any delay in bailing out Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) would be “catastrophic” for the entire supply chain associated with the car company, say top sources in the UK familiar with theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Maytas ‘deal’: Satyam told to provide details of board meetHyderabad, Dec. 23 The Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) has given Satyam Computer Services a week’s time to provide all the information on the December 16 board meeting that took a resolution to buy Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am India Cements (Rs 94.35): SellWe recommend a sell in India Cements stock from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of India Cements that it was on a modest medium-term uptrend from its 52-week low of Rs 68, touched in late October. However, the stockSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am 50-DMA to lend support for rupeeRupee has been undergoing an intensely volatile phase over the last few sessions. It raced beyond 47 on Friday as low inflation and hopes of another stimulus package buoyed sentiment in the equity and forex markets. But renewed fears of economicSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Advance tax: Top Ten payments’ growth slowsNew Delhi, Dec. 23 The advance tax contribution of the top ten advance tax paying companies grew only 6.6 per cent up to the December 15 instalment on a year-on-year basis. This was in sharp contrast to the near 30 per cent year-on-year growthSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Bankers see retail lending slowing down in FY09Weak economic prospects, high asset prices killing demand.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Dec 2008 | 9:00 pm There's no substituting the GDSGDS distribution adds value for traditional airlines by providing them reach beyond their national boundaries.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Dec 2008 | 9:00 pm MVNO policy may come before 3G auctionThe Department of Telecom (DoT) is giving its finishing touch to the policy on allowing mobile virtual network operation (MVNO) in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Dec 2008 | 8:23 pm Dr Reddy's settles spat with Schering, SepracorDr Reddy's Laboratories has settled a patent infringement case with Schering and Sepracor.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Dec 2008 | 8:21 pm Letter forged, say Sebi, Pyramid SaimiraPyramid Saimira Theatre, the Chennai-based entertainment firm, was in the limelight Tuesday after it announced it was the victim of a forgery and the stock was frozen at circuit filer of 10 per centSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Dec 2008 | 7:25 pm Unitech seeks buyers for Orissa Sponge stakeIn another bid to mobilise funds for the cash-strapped realty major Unitech, promoter Ramesh Chandra and his family are in talks with leading Indian and global steel giants to sell their 25 per centSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Dec 2008 | 7:24 pm Essar withdraws Jamnagar SEZ planMumbai-based infrastructure conglomerate Essar group has withdrawn its plans to build a 1,125 hectare Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Jamnagar (Gujarat) because of the adverse economic environment, aSource: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Dec 2008 | 7:20 pm Seawater science can help climate forecastsSingapore: A team of scientists has come up with a new definition of seawater which is set to boost the accuracy of projections for oceans and climate. Oceans help regulate the planet’s weather by shifting heat from the equator to the poles. Changes in salinity and temperature are major forces driving global currents as well as circulation patterns from the surface to the seabed. Understanding exactly how much heat the ocean can absorb and accounting for tiny differences in salinity are crucial for scientists to figure how oceans affect climate and how that interaction could change because of global warming. “Getting these circulations right is central to the task of quantifying the ocean’s role in climate change,” said Trevor McDougall of Australia’s state-backed research body the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), who is part of the international team that updated the methods to define seawater. He said the new definition allows, for the first time, to accurately calculate ocean heat content and take into account small differences in salinity. Previous methods assumed the composition of seawater was the same around the globe. Seawater is a mixture of 96.5% pure water with the remainder comprising salts, dissolved gases and other matter. McDougall said data from around 1,000 seawater samples showed global variations. There were small but significant differences in the composition of seawater between the North Pacific and North Atlantic, for example. “We’ve got along quite well for 30 years without delving deeper into what the sea salt is composed of,” said McDougall, of the CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans Flagship in Hobart in Tasmania, Australia. But ever more complex computer models and greater demands to project how oceans and climate will behave in a warmer world mean an increasing need for more precise data. McDougall said salinity affects ocean density, and changes in density help drive huge vertical ocean circulation patterns. “Water sinks to the bottom and rises to the top in a very slow circulation that accounts for around half of the heat that the globe needs to transport from the equator to the poles.” The constant circulation of heat by the oceans and atmosphere keeps the planet liveable. “What we’re doing is providing a more accurate way of estimating that circulation,” McDougall said. McDougall chairs the Scientific Committee on Oceans Research, an international guiding body, and said he expected the new methods to be formally backed by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at a meeting in June next year. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 6:28 pm Energy-efficient technologies to the foreNew Delhi: In 2009, India will launch prototypes and start pilot projects to test energy-efficient technologies—a fallout of increasing policy initiatives and industries recognizing that such efficiencies add to corporate image. To be sure, scientists say awareness about global warming is still low in the country. “Though global warming might sound like old news, awareness of its impact on the climate and the need for solutions to mitigate it, have not reached our villages and towns,” says Rajender K. Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel peace prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It’s only the cities that are somewhat sensitized.”  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint Gagan Mehra, managing director of Osram India Pvt. Ltd, a lamp maker, says his company will sell at least two million CFL units at a deep discount to poor families in Maharashtra, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh in 2009. A CFL unit will cost around Rs10-15, while the actual cost is around Rs300, he says. A study by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), an industry lobby group, says that six million CFLs used every year in India would eliminate the need of 3,700MW of electricity and save around $6 million (Rs28.4 crore). Most power plants in the country are coal-fired, that add to greenhouse gas emission, a prime cause of climate change. “In India, there are 300 million general lighting service points, and if 10% of these are converted to CFL, 4,400 million kW per annum of electricity would be saved, reducing the country’s electricity bills by Rs1,320 crore,” says N.K. Bansal of the Centre for Energy Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Although there are no formal studies done on CFL adoption, ballpark estimates put the figure at as low as 10-20%. “The centre, too, is planning a scheme to popularize CFL adoption. So, that would mean several projects across 2009 to increase their popularity,” says Pachauri. Many local companies are also looking at technologies that reduce the toxicity of greenhouse gases. Though these technologies have been around for a while, international market-based mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism—under which industries in developed countries have agreed to offset a portion of their emissions by paying industry in developing countries such as India and China to implement cleaner and costlier technologies—have renewed interest in them. Clean biogas Chandan Gadgil is an entrepreneur who 15 years ago figured out a way to clean up biogas, a useful but polluting gas. The clean biogas, he says, can be used as natural gas to power boilers. Chemical factories, such as Kanoria Chemicals and Industries Ltd in Gujarat, have adopted the process. Gadgil, the chief executive of Innovative Environmental Technologies Pvt. Ltd, now adds an extra line to his sale pitch—“This can also help your company gain carbon credits.” “This line really gets people’s attention,” he says.  Elemental power: Wind turbines at a wind farm in Raghapuram, Tamil Nadu. Scientists are looking at ways to make wind power generation more efficient. Rogan Macdonald / Bloomberg Swatantra Kumar, one of the directors of the company, says the firm has now tied-up with CantorCO2e India Pvt. Ltd, a firm that consults on managing emissions and trades in carbon credits. CantorCO2e advises companies on what technologies may be useful to reduce their carbon emissions and importantly gain carbon credits. Ram Babu, managing director, CantorCO2e India, says: “Indian industries have already taken a lead in capturing major portion of the multibillion carbon credit market.” Kumar claims the strategic tie-up with Abhitech has greatly stoked buyer interest from coal companies and kiln manufacturers. State-funded innovations Unlike in the US, where bulk of the clean technology research is done in universities, India’s efforts are concentrated in government labs such as those of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Scientists here are looking at developing low-cost fuel cells, isolating strains of algae and bacteria that may yield biofuel as well as making solar, wind and hydroelectric projects more efficient. Notable projects that may see progress in 2009 include CSIR’s fuel cell programme that aims to harness hydrogen to produce electricity, and hopefully, run cars. “The immediate aim is to indigenously manufacture a 1kW fuel cell at a viable cost. Once that happens, we can experiment on a variety of other fuel cells, including methanol-based ones to power laptops,” says K. Vijayamohanan, a senior scientist at the National Chemical Laboratory, a CSIR lab involved in the fuel cell programme. Other research organizations such as the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore; IIT Kharagpur; and the Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, are set to scale up pilots that use algae such as Botryococcus braunii and Enterobacter cloacae, a bacteria that may potentially be a storehouse for extractable hydrogen. Telecom efficiency India’s burgeoning telecom sector may be the first beneficiary of new age energy-efficient technologies. Since diesel-powered generators are the main source of energy for telecom towers, operators are increasingly looking at biofuel-run generators and cooling systems that could reduce power consumption and save costs. If 10% of India’s general lighting is converted to CFLs, electricity bills can be reduced by Rs1,320 crore An ACME spokesperson says the company’s clients included Bharti Airtel Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd, Vodafone Essar Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd, and “depending on the number of installations, we’ve been able to achieve efficiency, and thus cost savings, of nearly 30-40%.” In October, Ballard Power Systems, a Canadian company that manufactures clean energy fuel cell products, said it had signed multi-year supply agreement with ACME to provide fuel cells for backup power in the wireless telecom market. The supply agreement imposes mutual exclusivity on both companies for the India wireless telecom backup power market through 2010. jacob.k@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 6:24 pm Green cars: technology race still wide open for winning formulaTokyo: As Detroit’s Big Three auto makers flirt with collapse, punished for years of over-dependence on gas guzzlers, the future of the motor industry would seem to belong to energy-conscious rivals such as Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Not necessarily, say Japanese auto executives.  Geared for future: Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV electric car is based on a gasoline-powered 660cc mini-car. Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg “So far, the majority of cars still run on internal combustion engines,” Kondo said. “Sure, there’s all kinds of hype about electric vehicles and hybrids and fuel-cell cars, but no one has the breakthrough technology to bring them into the mainstream.” That may seem surprising coming from a company that has, with Toyota, been alone for most of the last decade in offering fuel-sipping, petrol-electric hybrids, seen as the next big thing to replace petrol and diesel-powered cars. To widen that lead, Honda is preparing to launch next spring its low-cost Insight, which chief executive Takeo Fukui has said would mark the true test for hybrid cars as a sustainable business after selling at a loss or at razor-thin margins so far. Kondo’s peer at Japan’s third-ranked Nissan Motor Co. Ltd agrees, saying the most difficult part is mass production—a feat first achieved 100 years ago by Henry Ford with the Model T. “You can’t build next-generation cars cheaply enough without the volumes,” Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan’s executive vice-president in charge of research and development, said. “It’s thanks to Ford’s system that we can sell a lump of steel with all those functions at a relatively low price. The business model doesn’t work with vehicle technology alone.” Volt to the rescue? That should be music to the ears for companies such as General Motors Corp. that are bleeding cash but are not necessarily behind in developing next-generation cars. GM is betting on its Chevy Volt electric car to grab the industry crown back from Toyota and craft a new image as an auto maker capable of producing “green” cars. Nissan and French partner Renault SA hope to pull off something similar with their big push into electric cars. You can’t build next-generation cars cheaply enough without the volumes But Nissan’s Yamashita acknowledged that no one knows who is leading the field in developing electric cars. Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd are the only mass-market auto makers currently testing electric cars on the road—and still only a few dozen at that. “It’s impossible to tell who’s got the competitive products because they’re all still in the lab,” Yamashita said, adding that even Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV electric car, based on a gasoline-powered 660cc mini-car, was too expensive at an expected price of 2.5-3 million yen (Rs12.8-15.3 lakh). Not so fast Japanese executives said the Detroit auto makers’ financial woes put GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Llc. at a big disadvantage, noting Nissan faced the same problem as it came close to bankruptcy in the late 1990s and skimped on research and development outlays. “Even if it’s just two or three years, once you fall behind the damage is big and it’s tough to close that gap,” Yamashita said. “You really have to pick your battles and use resources wisely.” Even then, coming up with a winning product is no small feat, and something the Detroit model has had little success with lately. “Detroit has some great technology, but there’s a big difference between the way technology is defined in the US and in Japan,” said Shoichiro Irimajiri, former board member at Honda and US parts maker Delphi Corp., who is now co-chairman of Japanese supplier Asahi Tec Corp. “In the US, it’s all about the invention, the patent,” he said. “But in reality, there are many stages—innovation, application, and applying the technology in an actual, winning product with feedback from consumers. That’s where (the Americans) lose competitiveness.” Honda’s Kondo said producing cars cheaply in itself would require a “revolutionary” technology akin to Ford’s invention in 1908 that made the automobile affordable for the masses. “These past three-four years have been a contest in the technological field,” he said. “I think (the Volt) has some impressive technology behind it, but any product has to be desired by consumers. Those that can’t make products like that will be weeded out in this next stage of competition.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 5:11 pm Airbus to test fuel-saving winglets on its A320 planesSeattle: They have become a familiar sight on one of the world's most popular commercial jets—large sail-like structures at the end of the wing that gracefully curve up towards the sky. The blended winglets, developed by Aviation Partners Inc., a small Seattle company, have helped transform an industry that is looking for all things “green”. The winglets improve fuel burn and help big jets be more efficient. They are on some 2,500 Boeing Co.’s planes, mostly the single-aisle 737s. And someday they could be on the Airbus A320 family of single-aisle planes, too. The A320 and 737 families are the most frequently flown commercial jets around the globe. “We are in a green revolution today and we have a great solution. Our winglets are the best fuel hedge that an airline can get,” said Joe Clark, one of the founders of Aviation Partners, after his company and Airbus SAS announced that blended winglets will be tested on an A320. Interestingly, Boeing would profit if the tests prove successful and Airbus decides to offer the winglets as an option to customers, as Boeing does now for customers who order its 737s. Clark said Boeing has helped Aviation Partners pioneer the technology. A new company would likely be formed to provide the technology for Airbus, Clark said, and Boeing would have a financial interest in that company. “But we have not even discussed those kinds of things,” Clark said. “We are still in the technical stage. We are a long ways from getting blended winglets on an Airbus plane.” He said the Airbus trials may take about three months. Clark said the winglets designed for the A320 are unique to that plane, though they look similar to those on the 737. Even though Clark's company and Boeing have worked closely over the years, and formed a joint venture called Aviation Partners Boeing, Clark said the joint venture has nothing to do with the work his company is doing with Airbus. He used the analogy of GE engines, which are found on both Boeing and Airbus planes. Aviation Partners was established by Clark and Montana businessman Dennis Washington in 1991. The idea took root when Washington called his friend Clark and asked Clark to explore the possibility of extending the range of Washington's Gulfstream II. Clark gathered a team of mostly retired Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. engineers and flight-test department heads. They included Louis Gratzer, a University of Washington professor of aeronautics who had once been chief of aerodynamics for Boeing. Clark called the bunch his “dream team”. “They were all just waiting around to play tennis,” Clark quipped in a 1999 interview. “We harnessed some marvellous Boeing talent.” The winglet, the team designed, reduced the drag on Washington's Gulfstream II by more than 7%. The winglets work by reducing drag created by the vortices that are generated by a plane's wingtips. By 2014, Aviation Partners Boeing estimates that blended winglet technology will have saved the airline industry more than 5 billion gallons (22.5 billion litre) of jet fuel. Winglets were common on business jets before Aviation Partners took an interest. But those traditional winglets, which also are found on all Airbus models and the Boeing 747-400, rise at a sharp angle from the wing. Blended winglets gently curve up, as if they are part of the wing. Winglets were first developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or Nasa, in the 1960s to help reduce drag. Increasing the wingspan can produce the same results. But jetliner wings can't get any longer and still fit at airport gates. That's why Boeing decided to put a traditional winglet on its 747-400. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm
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