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Documents seized from Satyam offices appear fakeThe twists in the Satyam fiasco seems to be neverending. During the several raids at the company\'s offices, a number of bank statements and other cerfication of deposits that have been seized appear to be fake.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 4:20 pm Sebi asks MFs not to give indicative portfolio, yieldsMumbai: The market regulator Sebi Monday prohibited mutual fund companies from showing indicative portfolio and yields in their debt and fixed income schemes, as the practice is misleading investors. “It is...decided that the mutual funds shall not offer any indicative portfolio and indicative yield. No communication regarding the same in any manner, whatsoever, shall be issued by any mutual fund or distributors of its products,” Sebi said in a circular. The market watchdog further said its advisory committee on mutual funds discussed the practice of mutual funds offering indicative portfolios and indicative yields, and there was consensus that the practice should be prohibited as it misleads the investors. The circular added the compliance of the directive shall be monitored by the asset management companies, trustees and submit their respective reports to Sebi. Mutual fund tracking firm Value Research CEO Dhirendra Kumar said, “This is a step in the right direction and is formalising the obvious, as giving indicative portfolios and yield is actually misleading the investors. It would not be a disadvantage for the fund houses, as all are prohibited from doing so.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:29 pm UK's Savills to help raise $150 mln for IndiaREIT fundLONDON (Reuters) - UK-based real estate consultant Savills has been appointed by fund manager IndiaREIT to raise a further $150 million of private equity for an opportunity fund focused on Indian property.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:27 pm Vodafone aims for strong cash flow, bullish on India - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:25 pm India's investment in Sri Lanka dips - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:25 pm Vodafone aims for strong cash flow, bullish on IndiaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Mobile phone group Vodafone will strive for strong cash generation and continue to invest in its "jewel" Indian operations as it battles a global slowdown, its chief executive said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:22 pm I was not responsible for Raju's rise: YSR - Press Trust of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:21 pm Rupee up 9 paise at 48.70/71 against a dollar - Press Trust of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:21 pm TABLE-Tata Teleservices unit Q3 loss widens - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:18 pm Metal stocks rise, led by Sterlite; auto firms dropThe Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) benchmark index rose for a second day on Monday. Commodity producers advanced after metal prices gained on optimism that stimulus packages by the UK and the US will help economies ride out the global recession. Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd gained 4%. Hindalco Industries Ltd added 1.3%. ”We’re are seeing a rebound in metals and that’s boosting commodity stocks,” said Jayesh Shroff, who helps manage about $4.7 billion (about Rs22,840 crore) at SBI Asset Management Co. Ltd in Mumbai. Auto makers led by Tata Motors Ltd fell after BNP Paribas reduced its stock price estimate by 67%, saying the slowdown in demand for commercial vehicles will deepen. The Sensex added 5.98 points, or less than 0.1%, to 9,329.57. The S&P CNX Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose 17.75 points, or 0.6%, to 2,846.20. The administration of President-elect Obama will deploy the second half of the $700 billion troubled asset relief program (TARP) ”in a very different way”, said Lawrence Summers, the president-elect’s top economic adviser. TARP may be directed to housing, automobile loans, consumer credit, small business and municipalities rather than banks, he said. Copper futures in New York climbed for a second day and advanced as much as 3.6% to $3,475 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, the highest since 12 January. Sterlite climbed 4% to Rs270.30. Hindalco added 1.3% to Rs50.65. Steel Authority of India Ltd added 4.6% to Rs82.70, the highest since 7 January. Tata Steel Ltd gained 2.2% to Rs208.55. The share prices are composite of BSE and NSE rates. Tata Motors fell 1.9% to Rs150.10. ”We believe the company’s fundamentals will continue to deteriorate rather than recover from here,” Joseph George, an analyst at BNP Paribas, said in a note to clients. ”The recessionary phase of the commercial vehicle cycle has just begun. With IIP growth now close to zero, we expect freight demand to fall further, which will continue to hurt commercial vehicle sales.” Maruti Suzuki India Ltd dropped 2.7% to Rs573.90 after the stock had its rating cut to ”hold” from ”buy” at BNP Paribas on 16 January. Jet Airways (India) Ltd jumped Rs30.35, or 19%, to Rs187.50, the most since 3 November. It has secured funding of about Rs1,250 crore from Indian banks and plans to raise Rs750 crore more through loans, KG Vishwanath, senior general manager, told analysts in a conference call. Bloomberg Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:16 pm Tata Teleservices launches campaign in virtual worldTo tap the new digital platforms, telecom services provider Tata Teleservices on Monday, launched its media campaign in the virtual world - Second life.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:14 pm Raw material cost hit us hard; see better Q4: Apollo Tyre - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:12 pm Maytas Infra CEO PK Madhav quits - NDTV.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:03 pm Oil falls towards $35 on gas deal, Gaza ceasefireLONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell more than $1 towards $35 a barrel on Monday on signs of a resolution of a gas row between Russia and Ukraine and after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza eased supply concerns.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 2:00 pm Govt sees "nexus" between Satyam, Maytas cosNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The corporate affairs minister said on Monday there appeared to be a "nexus" between the fraud at outsourcer Satyam Computer Services and other firms linked to its promoters.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:57 pm Mindtree Q3 net down 56% - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:53 pm Rolta India net up to Rs60 crMumbai: Rolta India today reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 60.56 crore for the second quarter ended 31 December, 2008, against Rs60.22 crore in the same quarter of FY’08. The total consolidated income rose by 32.17% at Rs371.45 crore in the quarter under review from Rs251.94 crore a year ago, Rolta India said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the company said it would buy-back Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) issued by it and in this regard it has appointed BNP Paribas Capital as its advisor. On a standalone basis, Rolta India registered a 11.68% rise in its net profit at Rs60.07 crore in the December quarter as compared with a net profit of Rs68.02 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. Total income rose to Rs234.90 crore in the second quarter ended 31 December, 2008 from Rs222.22 crore in the same period last year. Shares of the company closed at Rs87.20, up 0.63% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:49 pm Daiichi not to up open offer price to buy stake in Zenotech - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:48 pm Unitech gets shareholder nod to raise Rs 5K cr equityUnitechs equity raising plan that the EGM has approved is very important, although the co continues to maintain that this is just an enabling resolution that they have taken. It can now raise Rs 5,000 crore worth money from equitylinked securities. It is willing to dilute up to 40% to raise these funds.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:47 pm Maytas Infra CEO Madhav resignsMaytas Infrastructure's CEO PK Madhav, facing a criminal case relating to a non-banking finance company, resigned from the company.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:47 pm Rolta India's current capex at Rs 3 billion - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:46 pm UK throws banks a lifeline, Spanish credit cutLONDON/MADRID (Reuters) - Britain launched a second bank rescue plan and Royal Bank of Scotland recorded the biggest loss in UK corporate history on Monday while a cut in Spain's credit rating caused fresh market wobbles.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:46 pm Making NTPC pay $4.2 for KG gas would lead to scam: JethmalaniRNRL's lawyer Ram Jethmalani said if NTPC is directed to pay $4.20 per mmbtu, then the power PSU will have to pay Rs 30,000 crore more to RIL which will be a bigger scam than Satyam.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:33 pm Airtel launches IPTV services in DelhiThe country's leading telecom player Bharti Airtel Monday launched a service that allows subscribers to watch television programmes using the company's Internet broadband facility in Delhi and the National Capital Region.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:31 pm India to run bullet trains, says LaluFresh from a ride on a Japanese bullet train, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Monday announced that India would soon have similar high-speed trains on select routes.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:31 pm Maytas chief executive resigns from boardP.K. Madhav, chief executive of Maytas Infra, promoted by disgraced founder and former chairman of Satyam Computer Services B. Ramalinga Raju, resigned as whole-time director of the board, the company said Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:31 pm Rahul Khullar named divestment secretaryRahul Khullar, a 1975-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with the union territory cadre, has been named the next secretary in the Department of Disinvestment.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:30 pm Narayana Hrudayalaya to set up health city in AhmedabadNarayana Hrudayalaya, one of the largest heart hospital chains in the country, signed an agreement with the Gujarat government to set up a 5,000-bed health city here, a statement issued here said Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:30 pm Allahabad Bank posts Rs.3.7 bn net profitThe city-based Allahabad Bank has posted net profit of Rs.3.69 billion for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2008 as against a profit of Rs.3.65 billion in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, a top company official said here Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:30 pm M&M plans to launch hybrid and electric vehiclesM&M has already drawn up plans to launch a few more products from the Ingenio platform in the next two years in both the passenger vehicle as well as commercial vehicle segments.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:19 pm Nalco cuts aluminium price by Rs3,500 a tonneNew Delhi: The country’s leading aluminium producer, Nalco, on Monday, slashed prices of its products by up to Rs3,500 a tonne after the rates of the metal softened on the London Metal Exchange. “We have reduced prices of all our products by Rs3,500 a tonne following movement of the metal on the London Metal Exchange,” Nalco CMD CR Pradhan said. Aluminium prices have nosedived by more than 50% on account of slump in demand, especially from the automobile and construction sector, amid the global economic downturn. It sees the prices of raw material stabilising at about $200-250 a tonne mark and that of aluminium at $1,700-1800 a tonne. The company, which has lined up multi-billion dollars investment plans in India and overseas, had seen aluminium prices touching the peak of $3,800 a tonne earlier, last year. Due to the falling offtake, the industry is expected to witness a gloomy Q3, the firm maintains. “The industry will post lower result in the third quarter of this fiscal,” Pradhan said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:18 pm Home prices crash to half on Mittal street!In a double-whammy sort of blow to Lakshmi Mittal, the value of three houses owned by his family on UK's costliest street has nearly halved.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 1:05 pm Satyam withdraws suit against UpaidSatyam had withdrawn the disparagement case against Upaid on January 8. The Texas court has denied Satyam\'s motion to dismiss fraud or forgery case. Satyam filed a motion as it wanted state court hearing, not federal court. The IT major filed a motion as it alleged that there is not enough detail for pleading fraud.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:58 pm Pranab talks tough on countries harbouring terroristsNew Delhi: Raising the pitch against countries that harbour terrorists, India has said that there should be zero tolerance to the scourge of terrorism and nations, which do not follow it should be made to ‘pay a heavy price’ by the international community. “Countries that do not follow zero tolerance to terrorism must be made to pay a heavy price by international community,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on the sidelines of ‘Partnership Summit 2009´. Seeking an international partnership to root out the menace of terrorism, Mukherjee said the global community should ensure that the states, which sponsored terror should be forced to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. “Countries that support or tolerate terrorism must have no choice but to dismantle terror infrastructure,” he said, not naming any country that he may have had in mind while making these strong remarks against terror-sponsoring States. Stating that Mumbai terror attacks had shocked the world, the Minister said that terrorism was one of the threats that affected all nations. Mukherjee further said that India had long faced the scourge of terrorist activities and pointed out that there was a need for developing technologies in the global efforts to counter terrorism. “However, adequate security to ensure such technologies do not fall in the wrong hands have to be provided,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:43 pm RBS expects £28 bn loss in 08, share price tanksLondon: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said on Monday, it expected an annual loss of up to £28 billion - a record in British corporate history - linked to the credit crisis and its part-takeover of Dutch lender ABN Amro. The news sent the RBS share price plunging 40% to just 20pence on London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares, which was up nearly 2% overall. “Credit and market conditions in the fourth quarter of 2008 were particularly challenging and RBS estimates the group will report for full year 2008 an attributable loss, before exceptional goodwill impairments, of between £7.0billion and £8.0 billion,” RBS - majority-owned by the taxpayer - said in a trading update. “The group is currently reviewing the carrying value of goodwill and other purchased intangibles on its balance sheet as part of the finalisation of the year end results. Preliminary findings indicate an estimated impairment charge in the region of approximately £15billion to £20 billion,” it added. The additional losses are largely linked to the value of RBS assets secured after a consortium takeover of Dutch banking group ABN Amro in 2007. Even at the low-end of its estimated losses - £22 billion (€24 billion, $32 billion) - Royal Bank of Scotland was on course to post the biggest loss in British corporate history. The record is held by telephone giant Vodafone, which recorded a loss of £15 billion in 2005-2006 after being forced to revalue assets. The British government separately said it would convert its preference shares in RBS obtained during October’s bailout and worth £5billion into normal shares. This would mean the bank would no longer have to pay a fixed dividend to the government, thus freeing up cash to lend. In return, the taxpayer’s stake in the bank would increase to almost 70% from 58. “The dislocation of credit markets and the global economic downturn continue to hit RBS hard, as with many other banks,” the bank’s group chief executive Stephen Hester said on Monday. “We are making progress in recognising excess risk and dealing with it. Significant uncertainties and risks inevitably remain. In this context, the support we are receiving from government benefits all our stakeholders and enables us to provide more customer support in return,” he said. The Scottish bank on Monday said that its retail and commercial banking businesses in Britain remained profitable, offset by losses in its global banking and markets division. In a bid to raise cash, RBS last week sold its stake in Bank of China for £1.6 billion. RBS, alongside HBOS and Lloyds TSB, which are merging, has been a leading beneficiary of the government’s banking sector bailout, announced last October, after the global credit crunch savaged markets and economies worldwide. The bank has meanwhile faced criticism over its leading role in the takeover of ABN Amro for €71 billion ($100 billion). Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:36 pm India, Africa must be on UN Security Council: RwandaPaul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, Monday said it is 'absurd' India and Africa do not have any say in the expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC), adding that the two regions ought to have permanent seats in the council.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:32 pm Kerala's Smart City project is unlikely to materialise: UDFThe Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Monday expressed fears that the much talked about Rs.15 billion 'Smart City' project proposed in Kochi is unlikely to materialise.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:31 pm Maytas Infra CEO quitsMaytas Infra chief executive P.K. Madhav has resigned, the company announced Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:31 pm Gujarat diamond units form new state-level forumOwners of diamond cutting and processing units across Gujarat Monday floated a new organisation to represent them in a more unified manner and put greater pressure on the central government to heed them.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:30 pm India remains world’s backoffice amid Chinese competitionNew Delhi: India is likely to retain its tag as the backoffice of the world for the time being, but the country is expected to face competition from its neighbour China in the long run, a latest report says. India at present is in a comfortable position as the share of IT and IT-based services in China’s export revenues comes to only just above 3%, compared to over 26% in India, but China should not be underestimated in this sphere. “China has an advantage as the country can boast of a qualified labour force which is one of the most important prerequisites for successful offshore locations. Besides, the country has government support and a dynamic home market which the suppliers of IT services use as a stepping stone,” Deutsche Bank Research said in its latest report. China has however two major, structural disadvantages the command of the English language and the protection of intellectual property. The report further highlighted that “languages can be learnt, software piracy (and other violations of intellectual property) can be combated. This requires political resolve and the ability to act, which the Chinese government has proved in other respects already.” China already ranks in the second position of the Global Services Location Index, mainly because of the large supply of skilled staff and the quality improvements of Chinese providers. Besides, some Chinese cities could also benefit from the fact that Indian locations are reaching their capacity limits. According to forecasts published by market researcher IDC, Shanghai could by 2011 become a more attractive location than Bangalore, and Dalian more attractive than New Delhi. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:29 pm Satyam: Court to hear bail plea of Rajus and Srinivas!The Hyderabad court on Monday will hear the bail plea of Satyam Computer Services` disgraced founder-chairman B Ramalinga Raju his brother Rama Raju and their former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:23 pm UK to unveil 2nd bank bail out plan!Britain is set to announce its second bail out package plan for banks on Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:23 pm Tata Comm faces liquidity crisis !Facing a severe liquidity crisis and the possibility of breaching long-term loan covenants, Tata Communications has approached the govt, which is a 26 percent partner in erstwhile VSNL, for changes in shareholders agreement.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:23 pm Sensex opens marginally higher!BSE Sensex opened marginally higher by adding 58 points in early trade.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:23 pm Sterlite Tech net down 2% at Rs36 crMumbai: Global provider of optical fibers Sterlite Technologies today reported 1.74% decline in its net profit at Rs36.54 crore for the third quarter ended 31 December 31, 2008. The company had a net profit of Rs37.19 crore in the December quarter of FY’08, Sterlite Technologies said in a filing to the BSE. Total income rose to Rs841.94 crore for the quarter under review from Rs502.03 crore in the corresponding year ago period. Shares of the company closed at Rs55.45, up 19.12% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:18 pm ITC Q3 net up 8.4%, shares fall 1%By Mumbai: India’s top cigarette maker, ITC Ltd, on Monday matched market expectations with an 8.4% rise in quarterly profit, but its revenue growth disappointed and sent its shares down 1%. ITC, 31.7% owned by British American Tobacco, said revenues and profits were hit by a slowdown in its hotels business as corporate travel fell in the wake of a slowing economy and militant attacks in Mumbai in November. The company said net profit rose to Rs900 crore ($185.2 million) in its fiscal third quarter ended 31 December from Rs830 crore a year earlier, while gross revenue rose 8% to Rs59.2 billion from Rs54.8 billion. Also Read Ultratech Q3 net dips 15% at Rs238.36 cr “Its profits were more or less in line with what we had expected but we expected the topline to grow more, especially the agri business,” said Aashish Ubganlawar, analyst with brokerage Sharekhan. ITC said profit from its hotels fell 34% from year ago and revenue dropped 14% as it cut room rates in the wake of poor occupancy. “It was much more than what we expected,” Ubganlawar said. The brokerage had estimated net profit to rise 8.8% and sales to climb more than 16%. ITC said higher prices from its filter cigarettes helped drive profits even as a ban on smoking in public places curtailed sales. Cigarettes contributed about 66% of gross revenue. High commodity prices and store rentals, costs involved in building its personal care portfolio and investments on expanding its distribution network also put pressure on its profitability, the company said. In the agri segment, revenues fell 6% due to lower soya volumes, while sales of branded packaged foods were modest, it said. “The spillover inflationary impact of input commodities along with the high fuel prices significantly impacted margins during the quarter,” the company said. Shares in ITC, which has market value of $13.3 billion, ended down 1% at Rs170.55 in a flat Mumbai market. The stock had fallen 18.4% in 2008, when the main index lost more than half its value. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:09 pm Britain announces new set of measures to help banksLondon: Britain on Monday announced its second package of measures, including an insurance scheme to protect banks from “toxic debts”, and to boost lending by the battered banking sector. Unveiling the measures, Chancellor of Exchequer, Alistair Darling said the measures were needed because if the banking system collapsed, the economy “would come down with it”. The measures include a scheme to offer insurance against banks losing more money from the toxic debt that started the credit crunch. The government has also agreed to change the terms of its rescue of Northern Rock and RBS Group. Under the insurance scheme, banks would agree with the government the amount they expect to lose from particular debt. The banks will have to pay for the insurance, but the government said that it does not expect to be paid in shares. The Treasury will then sell insurance against about 90% of the institutions’ additional losses from the debt. Most of the debt involved is very difficult to value because the market in it has collapsed. The government hoped that by insuring them against additional losses, it will encourage the banks to resume normal lending to businesses and individuals. Chancellor Darling said banks taking out the insurance would have to make “very specific legally binding agreements to lend more money”. New measures came after a first package last October. But Chancellor Darling also indicated that the regulation of the banking sector might be reviewed, stating that “in the world we’re living in just now we do need to look again at the way we supervise and regulate these banks”. The latest deal with the banks would require the taxpayer to pour billions of pounds into the troubled banks in the form of guarantees for new lending and the purchase of a range of loans and other assets now on their books, in addition to the £37 billion pledged in October. Details of the package include the extension of the £250 billion credit guarantee scheme announced with the last package of measures in October until the end of this year. The Bank of England will set up a special fund to buy high quality loans and other assets direct from the banks, to be funded by the Treasury, with an initial £50 billion set aside. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:54 am BSE Sensex little changed; banks, autos fallMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex seesawed on Monday and ended little changed as investors awaited direction from the incoming U.S. administration, while bracing for dismal quarterly earnings, especially from the auto sector.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:49 am Ado about ad: Maruti, Honda in legal tussleNew Delhi: As auto makers slug it out in a difficult environment for market share, Honda Siel Cars India has slapped a legal notice on Maruti Suzuki India over an advertisement that compared “falsely” company’s sedan new Honda City with the latter’s SX4. Taking exception to an advertisement by Maruti Suzuki India in November 2008 in one of the newspapers published in Chandigarh, HSCI’s notice said a comparison between SX4 and the new Honda City was made, which had “given completely false figures of new Honda City in order to show superiority of your product SX4”. When contacted, a spokesperson of MSI said: “We have received the legal notice. We are examining it and will respond to it appropriately.” The comparison relates to height and length of the new Honda City as well as ‘absence’ of integrated stereo systems. “The comparison drawn in the advertisement and published in the newspaper as “SX4 bigger than expensive City” itself (is) bad and the same cannot be sustained in law as well as well as facts. The above unfair method and deceptive practice of promoting the product by you is illegal,” the notice said. HSCI accused MSI of intentionally making “false projection” in order to bring down its reputation and cause adverse effect to the sale of new Honda City. It said MSI was indulging in “unfair trade practice” by giving false projection about HSCI’s product to the people at large. Asking MSI to withdraw the advertisement immediately, HSCI’s notice demanded an apology from the country’s largest carmaker, failing which it said it would initiate legal proceedings. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:45 am Maytas Infra CEO P K Madhav resignsMumbai: Maytas Infrastructure Chief Executive Officer P K Madhav has resigned from the company, according to the information available on the Bomaby Stock Exchange. “P K Madhav, the Whole Time Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maytas Infra Ltd, tendered his resignation from directorship as well as CEO of the company owing to personal reasons,” Maytas said in a filing to BSE. Maytas Infra, promoted the family of disgraced Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju, has been hitting headlines ever since the IT firm announced a deal to acquire the company which was later called off following investors’ strong opposition. Earlier this month, Maytas Infra’s Non-executive Director and Chairman R C Sinha had resigned from the company. Maytas Infra’s board of directors include R P Raju (Independent Director), B Teja Raju ( Vice-Chairman) and Chander Sheel Bansal (Whole Time Director). According to Maytas Infra’s shareholding pattern as on September 2008, Ramalinga Raju’s son Teja Raju holds 2.53% stake, while the entire promoter group, which includes other members of the Raju family, controls over 36% in the company. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:44 am Bharti Airtel launches IPTV servicesNew Delhi: Bharti Airtel has launched its Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, becoming the first private player to offer the service in the country. “We will now offer triple play service — telephony, broadband and television over a single line to customers in the NCR and will be followed by eight leading metros,” Bharti Airtel President (Telemedia Services) Atul Bindal said. IPTV refers to delivery of television content via a broadband connection. Apart from Airtel, state-owned MTNL and BSNL are also offering these services. “Airtel has already tested IPTV services through its soft launch in some of the cities and we will soon extend these services in a phased manner to the top eight metros over the course of the year,” he said. “We have close to two million customers and would look at catering to these customers as well as new users, who are looking for three services together from a single operator,” Bindal said declining to comment on the targeted number of subscribers. The announcement follows the recent launch of Airtel’s direct-to-home (DTH) services in the country. Airtel will provide these services under two packs — Magic@Home Pack at Rs999 per month, which would offer 135 channels including 256 kbps broadband speed with unlimited download and a landline connection, and the Combo Pack, priced at Rs599 per month, will provide 117 channels including 256 kbps broadband speed with download limit of 2.5 GB. The service will also offer features such as real-time interactivity, where customers can order pizzas and book movie tickets on their TV, record programmes for seven days, rewind, forward, and Movie on Demand (MOD). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:41 am Steel makers to push for 15% import dutyNew Delhi: Steel majors like SAIL, Tata, JSW and Essar may push for a higher import tariff on steel at a meeting convened by the government on Tuesday, even as the dip in foreign arrivals has weakened the case for duty hike. Seeking protection against cheap dumping of steel items from countries like China and Ukraine, the domestic producers want the import duty to be increased to 15% from the present 5%. However, with steel imports declining by 14% to 4.8 million tonnes during April-December period of the current fiscal, the government may not immediately decide on hiking the duty, an official source said. To discuss threadbare the repercussions of a higher import duty and the impact of fiscal measures taken by the government for the sector, the Steel Ministry has called a meeting of the major domestic producers, including SAIL, Tata Steel, Essar Steel, JSW Steel and Ispat Industries tomorrow. The secondary steel manufacturers like Uttam Galva, Bhushan Steel and representatives from industry’s associations have also been invited for the deliberation that would be chaired by Steel Secretary P K Rastogi, official sources said. “The meeting would review demand-supply scenario in the domestic sector and the steps needed to protect the industry against falling demand and crashing prices,” a senior Steel Ministry official said. Besides seeking an increase in import tariff, the steel producers also want the government to continue curbing overseas shipments of the commodity by keeping it in the list of restricted items for imports. Endorsing the industry’s concern over dumping of steel items in the country, the government had in November brought hot-rolled coils, a vital steel product, under the restricted list of items and slapped a 5 per cent import duty on specified iron and steel products. Among the other measures taken by the government to cushion the steel sector against falling demand and prices, included restoration of duty entitlement passbook scheme to incentivise exports and withdrawal of 15% export duty on long steel products used by the construction industry. Accepting the industry’s demand for a level playing field against cheap imports of TMT bars, government has also levied a 10 per cent countervailing duty on the product, used widely in real estate and construction industry. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:41 am India seeks more cooperation with Africa in tackling piracyNew Delhi: In the backdrop of increasing incidents of hijacking of ships off the Somalian coast, India on Monday sought enhanced cooperation with the African nations to check the menace. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said it was India’s desire to continue to enhance cooperation and dialogue with African nations on “crucial global concerns” including “jihadi terrorism and marine piracy”. “It is our desire that on crucial global concerns like climate change, food and energy security, health, jihadist terrorism, marine piracy and democratisation of international institutions we continue to enhance our cooperation and dialogue,” he said addressing the India-Africa Business Partnership Summit here. Mukherjee said India has committed to more than double the amount on the Lines of Credit to $5.4 billion for the five year period beginning 2008-09. He stressed on the need to “vacate in a hurry” impediments to trade and investment to boost economic ties across various sectors including railways, road and construction, healthcare and pharma, power, mining and agriculture. India has already announced “duty-free preference scheme” for least developed countries, including 34 African nations, which covers 94% of the total tariff lines extended by New Delhi. Mukherjee said $500 million will also be provided over the next five to six years for projects in critical areas from the Aid to Africa budget. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:38 am Gold falls by Rs30 on weak global cuesNew Delhi: Gold prices fell by Rs30 to close at Rs13,370 per ten gram in the bullion market on Monday on emergence of selling by stockists at existing higher levels influenced by weakening trend in global market. Selling pressure gathered momentum after the gold in overseas markets fell by nearly six dollar to $834 an ounce. An off marriage and festival season was another dampening factor for the gold while silver held unchanged in scattered small deals. Stanndard gold and ornaments moved down by Rs30 to Rs13,370 and Rs220 per ten gram while sovereign ruled flat at Rs10,750 per piece of eight gram. In a similar manner, silver weekly-based delivery dropped by Rs110 to Rs18,250 per kg while silver ready ready held steady at Rs18,350 per kg. Silver coins also declined by Rs100 to Rs26,900 for buying and Rs27,000 for selling of 100 pieces. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:36 am Dish TV eyeing 9 mn subscribers by 2010Direct-To-Home service provider and part of the Essel Group, Dish TV on Monday, said it was aiming at nearly doubling its subscriber base to nine million by next year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:17 am Vasudeva becomes new ONGC director (offshore)Sudhir Vasudeva will be the new director (offshore) of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), the nation's largest oil and gas producer.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:16 am Astonfield to invest USD two bn in renewable energy sectorStating that the focus of the company would be on solar energy, Sen said that ARRL has already committed USD 1.2 billion in solar energy.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:14 am Multiple block deals seen in UnitechUnitech witnessed multiple block deals in morning trade. More than 50 lakh shares changed hands at avergae Rs 27 per share. In today\'s EGM the company will approve fund raising plans of Rs 5000 crore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:11 am Deutsche names Bagga as wealth management headForeign lender, Deutshe Bank, on Monday appointed Ajay Bagga as the head of private wealth management business in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:09 am Maytas Infra says chief executive resignsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Maytas Infra Ltd, in which promotors of fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd hold 36 percent stake, said on Monday its chief executive officer has resigned.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 11:01 am Vodafone to invest more in India: CEOThe world's largest mobile operator by revenue, Vodafone, said it will invest more in India as it sees more opportunities in the country.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:56 am Nano technology for road construction gets IRC accreditationAhmedabad: The Zycosoil Nano technology, developed by a Vadodara-based Zydex Industries, for reducing construction cost of road projects and increase load factor, has got accredition of Indian Road Congress (IRC), company official said here today. “Usage of Zycosoil Nano technology has been accredited by the apex technical body of the government, Indian Road Congress,” Zydex Industries CEO Ajay Ranka told PTI, on the sidelines of ‘Nanoways’ a seminar organised at Nirma University. Zycosil Nano technology is a technology developed by the industry to cut down construction cost of road projects and enhance its load bearing strength. It finds application in preventive maintenance of roads as a water proofing compound. “We have got the Indian patent for this breakthrough technology, and have also been assured by the Ministry of Surface and Road Transport and National Rural Road Development Authority for allocation of road stretches to be constructed using this technology across the country,” Ranka said. According to Ranka, the technology promises to eliminate the possibility of laying the stone layer, so that is where the cost saving will come with the soil. “The Zycosoil Nano technology eliminates the necessity of re-layering the roads to protect them from cracking during monsoons,” Ranka said. The construction of roads using this technology will be monitored by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kaharagpur (IIT-K) and IIT-Chennai, besides other national technical institutes before final adoption starts taking place, he added. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:53 am Reliance, ONGC quarterly profit seen lowerMumbai: India’s top petrochemical producer and refiner, Reliance Industries Ltd, is expected to report its first fall in quarterly profit in three years as slumping oil prices squeezed refining and petrochem margins. Earnings will, however, get a boost when the energy giant starts pumping 30-40 million cubic metres of natural gas a day from its deep-sea fields off India’s east coast in the second half of February. “RIL’s earnings are likely to have low sensitivity to refining margins going forward as new cash flow from its gas business is likely to become more meaningful for the company,” Goldman Sachs said in a report. A new 580,000 barrels a day refinery which started operations on 25 December should also boost profit in the coming quarters. However, Reliance’s net profit in October-December is expected to have dropped 19.3% from the net profit excluding one-off gains reported a year ago, its first quarterly drop since late 2005, a Reuters poll showed. “For Reliance, refining margins and volumes and pethcem margins and volumes -- all are likely to drop,” said Sanjeev Prasad, co-head of institutional equities at Kotak Institutional Equities. “It may book significant inventory losses for the December quarter,” he said, referring to crude oil prices that fell sharply in the quarter. Reliance’s most watched gross refining margins are likely to have fallen to $9.16 per barrel from $15.4 per barrel a year earlier as sluggish demand in the wake of global economic slowdown pushed oil prices sharply lower. Reliance’s refining margins are significantly higher than the Asian benchmark in Dubai as its refinery can process cheaper heavy crude to produce high value products. ONGC State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp is set to report a second consecutive fall in quarterly net profit on lower crude prices, and its outlook is weighed down by falling output and its costly acquisition of UK-listed Imperial Energy. ONGC, India’s top oil producer, agreed to pay 1.3 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) for the Russia-focused Imperial when oil prices were near $130 a barrel versus current prices around $36. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:48 am Close: Markets end flat after a seesaw sessionNew Delhi: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex traded volatile on Monday, swinging from positive to negative zone throughout the day to finally end flat, merely 0.06% higher. Investors seemed wary of dismal quarterly earnings by companies. Markets opened the day’s trade marginally higher on firm Asian markets but within 15 minutes slipped to negative. The 30-share Sensex ended 5.98 points up at 9,329.57 and broad based 50-share NSE Nifty index ended 17.75 points up at 2846.20. Realty sector rallied the most, surging by 2.17%, other segments that pushed the index were metal, oil and gas and capital goods segments. Shares of Jai Prakash Associates gained by 4.69% to top the BSE index at Rs69.20, boosted by 6% rise in net profit for the third quarter. The profit of the company rose to Rs165.51 crore from Rs156 crore in the same quarter previous year. Sterlite Industries followed close at Rs270.65, a rise of 4.02%, along with ONGC by 3.45% to Rs670.50, Bharti Aietl by 2.23% to Rs646.95 and Tata Steel by 1.98% to Rs208.20. Meanwhile, riding on hopes of fresh economic stimulus under the new Obama administration in US, Asian markets rallied with Japan’s index, Nikkei ending 0.3% up and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.6% higher. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:43 am Citi among largest foreign investors in IndiaNew Delhi: Close on the heels of splitting its worldwide business into two, financial services provider Citigroup on Monday said it remains one of the largest foreign investors and a leading full-service bank in India. “Citi is among the largest foreign investors in India, continuously investing new capital and retaining earnings in our India operations, making us one of the largest full service banks in the country,” the American financial services behemoth said on Monday. After reporting losses for fifth consecutive quarters, totalling nearly $28 billion, Citigroup announced late last week that it would split its business into two in an effort to revive its business floundering under huge losses. “Our operations across the world and in India are solid and our exceptional access to funding across the globe provides us with robust levels of liquidity,” Citi said in a public announcement, adding that “more than ever before, Citi never sleeps.” “Our unchanged mission is to help you save, borrow and transact and provide advice that helps achieve your financial aspirations,” Citi said. Media reports have said that after its worldwide split, Citi may hive off its Indian retail financing arms --Citi Financial and Citi Maruti Financial -- and later sell them off. In its fourth-quarter results for worldwide operations, Vikram Pandit-led Citigroup had said that its Asian operations were hit hard by rising credit costs in India. For the quarter ended 31 December 2008, it posted a loss of $8.29 billion in the fourth quarter against a loss of $9.83 billion a year-ago. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:24 am Porsche bids for Swedish truck maker ScaniaBerlin: Germany’s luxury sportscar maker Porsche said on Monday it was making a €2.8 billion ($3.7 billion) bid for Swedish truck firm Scania. Porsche added, however, that it had “no strategic interest” in Scania and that the takeover bid was a legal requirement following its acquisition of more than 50% of Volkswagen earlier this month. As Volkswagen holds more than 30% of Scania, Porsche indirectly became the majority shareholder in Scania. Swedish takeover law obliges Porsche to bid for the remaining shares not under its direct control through the Volkswagen deal, the statement said. Porsche - the maker of the iconic 911 sportscar - said Scania’s shareholders had from 21 January to 10 February to accept their offer for the shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:21 am Porsche bids for Swedish truck maker ScaniaBerlin: Germany’s luxury sportscar maker Porsche said on Monday it was making a €2.8 billion ($3.7 billion) bid for Swedish truck firm Scania. Porsche added, however, that it had “no strategic interest” in Scania and that the takeover bid was a legal requirement following its acquisition of more than 50% of Volkswagen earlier this month. As Volkswagen holds more than 30% of Scania, Porsche indirectly became the majority shareholder in Scania. Swedish takeover law obliges Porsche to bid for the remaining shares not under its direct control through the Volkswagen deal, the statement said. Porsche - the maker of the iconic 911 sportscar - said Scania’s shareholders had from 21 January to 10 February to accept their offer for the shares. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 10:21 am Daiichi revises Zenotech open offer price to Rs 113.62/shDaiichi Sankyo makes open offer to Zenotech Laboratories\' shareholders at Rs 113.62 per share. It has revised its earlier open offer price of Rs 160 per share. Jayaram Chigrupati, MD, Zenotech Laboratories, said , the agreement on open offer price was withdrawn on January 15. \"No reasons were given by Daiichi for change in the open offer price.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 9:51 am Inflation fall frees RBI to boost liquidityNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A sustained decline in inflation in recent weeks has given the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) room to raise liquidity without fuelling prices, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 9:43 am Satyam board appoints internal auditors, legal advisorsThe new sixmember Satyam board met on Saturday, and it has appointed internal auditors and lawyers. The board decided to appoint an audit committee to be chaired by TN Manoharan and it will include C Achuthan and SB Mainak as members. Brahmayya Company has been appointed as internal auditors with immediate effect.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 8:52 am Unitech to seek shareholders\' nod to raise Rs 5K cr at EGMCashstrapped Unitech is heavily burdened with repayment of loans. At an Extraordinary General Meeting today Unitech will seek shareholders approval to raise Rs 5,000 crore on an expanded capital base.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 8:51 am Former Satyam chief may have siphoned cash - NYTNEW YORK (Reuters) - B. Ramalinga Raju, the founder and former head of Satyam Computer Services may have skimmed huge amounts of cash from the company, rather than padded its books as he claims, according to a report in the New York Times that cited a person involved in the Satyam investigation.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 8:28 am SBI hopes to cover one lakh villages next fiscalThe State Bank of India is planning to open 1,000 new branches across the country to cover one lakh villages in the coming financial year, according to the bank Chairman, Mr O.P. Bhatt.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 8:28 am \'India Inc unprepared for terrorist threats\'Corporate India is not prepared to cope with a security incidence in case they are caught in terrorist attacks or are faced with an unconventional threat, according to a KPMG survey conducted by the forensic services practice.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 8:27 am GAIL to buy gas from ONGC Mumbai offshore at market priceGAIL (India) Ltd is all set to source 3.2 million standard cubic metres a day of gas from ONGCs marginal fields in Mumbai offshore at a market related price. Sources told Business Line that ONGC is going to sell the gas at about $5.255.75 a British thermal unit (mBtu) to GAIL.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Jan 2009 | 8:25 am India think tank trims 2008/09 growth forecastMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's economy is seen slowing in the current financial year from a previous estimate, weighed down by an industrial slowdown due to a global credit crisis, think tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Jan 2009 | 6:56 am Asia PC sales down 5% in Q4, first fall in a decadeTaipei: PC sales in Asia fell 5% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the region’s first such decline in a decade as the global downturn sapped demand, according to data released on Monday. The fourth-quarter drop in Asia, excluding Japan, was well ahead of 0.4% drop in global PC sales for the period, according to data tracking firm International Data Corp. It was the region’s first decline since the third quarter of 1998 at the height of the Asia financial crisis, said IDC PC analyst Bryan Ma. “This quarter was quite a jaw-dropper -- not just in China, but also in India where economic and channel issues really took their toll,” Ma said. “The clouds are darkening in 2009, although there might be some pockets of shelter in the region.” Regional leader Lenovo, China’s dominant player, took the biggest hit of all of the region’s major players, notching a 4.4% decline in fourth quarter shipments. Earlier this month Lenovo announced a major restructuring including 2,500 job cuts, as it forecast a loss in its December quarter. The region’s No. 2 player, Hewlett-Packard also saw its fourth quarter regional sales dip 3.6%. But No. 3 player Dell came on strong with a 15.4% rise, followed by the Taiwanese pair of Acer and Asustek, up 7.8% and 26.5%, respectively. The region posted 9% growth for the full year, less than half the 22% from a year earlier and the slowest growth rate since 2001. Lenovo remained the region’s top player for the year with 18.3% market share, up slightly from 18.2% in 2007. HP boosted its share to 14.1% from 13.2%, while Dell and Acer both posted strong gains of more than a percentage point. The PC industry’s fading fortunes come after the sector stood tall for most of the last year, even as other technology sectors foundered. But all that has changed in the last two months, with a slew of sales warnings and cuts in business forecasts signaling the sudden downturn may last through most of 2009. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Jan 2009 | 6:51 am Satyam accounts: Clear picture only after final probe report, says GuptaNew Delhi, Jan. 18 The Corporate Affairs Minister, Mr P.C. Gupta, on Sunday said that it was too early to come to the conclusion that there had been a diversion of funds from Satyam.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Ashok Leyland (Rs 15): BuyWe recommend a buy in Ashok Leyland from a short term perspective. The stock has been in a short term correction since the January 6 peak at Rs 16.9. This decline halted at Rs 14 last Thursday after retracing 61.8 per cent of its prior up-move.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Who audits the auditors?The Satyam fraud and various actions taken by the Government to salvage the situation have captured media attention both in India and abroad. The fall of Satyam from grace has come at a time when policy-makers in India were telling the world in noSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Rajus, Vadlamani in police custodyThe Crime Investigation Department (CID) sleuths have taken Mr B. Ramalinga Raju (former Chairman of Satyam Computer Services), Mr Rama Raju (former Managing Director), and Mr Vadlamani (former Chief Financial Officer) into custody onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Govt plans to check sugar exports via advance licenceNew Delhi, Jan. 18 Sugar millers fulfilling export obligations under the advance licence (AL) scheme may soon have to obtain the Food Ministry’s ‘release orders’ (RO) for shipping out any consignment.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am GAIL to buy gas from ONGC Mumbai offshore at market priceNew Delhi, Jan. 18 GAIL (India) Ltd is all set to source 3.2 million standard cubic metres a day of gas from ONGC’s marginal fields in Mumbai offshore at a market related price. Sources told Business Line that ONGC isSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Ramalinga Raju sold 4.4 crore shares in 2001-08 periodChennai, Jan.18 Satyam Computer Services’ ex-Chairman, Mr Ramalinga Raju, sold a little under four-and- a-half crore shares in the company over a seven-year period since September 2001, an analysis of data on changes in ownership profileSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Gold may see bullish reversalGold futures, ended higher on Friday as the dollar slid on lingering economic worries and signs of strengthening in investment demand as the recession deepens, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Investment demandSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Ports fall short of targetFigures released recently by the Indian Ports Association show that in the first nine months of the current fiscal, traffic growth in the country’s major ports was 3.43 per cent, at 391.8 million tonnes (mt), compared to 378.8 mt in theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Public sector companies losing first mover advantage in nuclear powerNew Delhi, Jan. 18 Amid growing opportunities in the newly-opened nuclear power sector, State-owned Indian firms are losing the initiative to their private sector counterparts.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Ex-Satyam BPO chief in contention for CEO postEven as the buzz around Vivel Paul's candidature as CEO is still doing the rounds at Satyam Computer Services, insiders say the government is considering a person who was an integral part of the company till three months ago.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Jan 2009 | 6:42 pm Stringent data protection law to help maintain lead in IT sectorIndia is the hub of global information technology (IT) outsourcing. The IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sector has witnessed phenomenal compounded annual growth of around 30% during the last few years, growing to a revenue of $52 billion (about Rs2.54 trillion) in 2007-08. Even this year, after the global financial meltdown, the industry’s revenue is expected to grow by 18-20% compared with the previous year. It provides direct employment to two million professionals, and indirect employment to four times that number.  For India to maintain its leadership in this field, and to further expand it, certain enablers are necessary—in fact their need has been felt by the industry for quite some time. Most notable among them is the requirement to strengthen the data protection regime so as to make global data flows to India more trustworthy. Industry gave its inputs to the government on amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, with the objective of addressing its concerns on data protection, and for creating a more predictive legal environment for the growth of e-commerce and e-governance that includes electronic signatures, data leakage and cyber crime, among others. The IT Act, 2000, created a basic legal framework for e-commerce through acceptance of electronic documents and digital signatures as evidence in a court of law; promoted e-commerce and e-governance as major applications through legal sanctity accorded to electronic records and digital signatures; acceptance of electronic documents by the government, and provided for dealing with offences in cyberspace in the form of hackers and other criminals trying to gain unauthorized access into databases and other business sites. While the amendments to the Act were triggered by the arrest of Avnish Bajaj, CEO, Baazi.com (now part of eBay.com) for transmitting obscene images of schoolchildren, as an intermediary, industry’s concerns about data protection issues were given due consideration by the government. Given the importance of outsourcing to India, data protection has become a pressing issue. Customers in the US, Europe, Australia and other countries require that the privacy of data is maintained in transborder data flows. In order to manage compliance in global space, adequate local laws will increase India’s ability to compete with emerging outsourcing destinations such as Vietnam and eastern Europe.  Critical support: A legal outsourcing firm in Bangalore. Any disruption in the information technology and outsourcing industry has the potential to affect milions of jobs across sectors. Hemant Mishra / Mint Cyberspace legal issues include everything: e-commerce and e-governance applications, electronic signatures, data protection, encryption, protection of critical information infrastructure, cyber security and national security. A strong data protection regime requires addressing of all of these. The amended Act does precisely that. It has tried to respond in a way that enhances trustworthiness of the entire cyberspace. The amendments to the IT Act broadly includes: • New definitions of certain terms such as electronic signature, communication device, cyber café and cyber security, bringing more devices and services within the ambit of the Act. • Role and responsibilities of intermediaries have been clearly defined; conditions under which they will be liable for third-party information are more explicit. • Data protection strengthened through a new clause, 43A, that stipulates that service providers must protect personal information of clients while processing under a lawful contract, with scope for consultation with industry bodies for prescribing security standards. • Penalty for breach of confidentiality under a new section, 72A. • Cyber crimes, including cyber terrorism and child pornography, under new provisions of sections, 66A to 66F, 67A to 67C, and 69A, 69B. • Protected systems under section 70 now declared as critical information infrastructure and protected through additional sections 70A and 70B that have created a nodal agency for their protection— the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. • Preservation and retention of traffic data and information by service providers and intermediaries under sections 67C, 69B and 70B for cyber forensic evidence and for analysis for new attacks on the information infrastructure in the country. Kamlesh Bajaj is chief executive officer, Data Security Council of India. This is the third of a four-part series on cyber security. Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Jan 2009 | 6:41 pm 'Ban Satyam directors from other boards'The government has approached the Company Law Board (CLB) with a request that all former directors of scam-hit Satyam Computers should be banned from becoming directors in other companies in India.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Jan 2009 | 6:40 pm Unitech restructures debt from mutual fundsFund managers agree to roll over Rs 500 cr for three months.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Jan 2009 | 6:38 pm Genetic mutation behind heart failure risk of 45 mn IndiansBangalore: About 45 million Indians are at a risk of chronic heart failure, according to a new research that has identified a genetic mutation in the people of South Asian ancestry. An international team of researchers, led by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) at Hyderabad, reports in Monday’s issue of Nature Genetics, a monthly journal, that the gene that encodes for a certain cardiac protein has a deletion that increases the risk of cradiomyopathy sevenfold. Cardiomyopathy is characterized by weakening of heart muscles and people carrying this mutation have a lifelong predisposition to heart failure. Analysing the DNA of 800 cardiac patients undergoing treatment at nine hospitals across India, researchers found that a 25 base pair deletion in the gene making the heart protein, called myosin binding protein-C (MYBPC3), makes people susceptible to this disorder. Also See Anomalous Gene The deletion of base pairs—pairs of nucleotide that determine the size of a gene—when checked against 699 normal individuals, was found to be significantly higher in the cardiac patients. A person carrying mutation in only one copy of the gene (heterozygous), mostly lives up to 45 years of age without any symptoms of heart problem, but if both copies of the gene (homozygous) have this mutation, the risk is much higher, says Kumarasamy Thangaraj, a scientist atCCMB. Homozygous individuals can die as early as at age 5. Thangaraj and Lalji Singh, director of CCMB, think this finding could lead to prenatal diagnostics to screen women for this genetic defect in the early months of pregnancy. They believe eventually a new drug could be developed to increase the “degradation” of the abnormal protein and delay the onset of symptoms. “This is an important finding which can, down the road, be a predictor for even ischemic heart disease,” says Vivek Jawali, chief thoracic and vascular surgeon at Wockhardt Hospital in Bangalore. In the present study, scientists screened 6,273 randomly selected individuals from 107 ethnic groups. “We covered all castes, sub-castes, tribal and religious groups in order to make it a nationally representative sample and found that about 4% of the individuals had this genetic defect,” says Thangaraj. The team also found that the frequency of the mutation is significantly higher in southern and western India, than in the northern part of the country. “This indeed correlates with higher rates of heart failures in southern India,” says Dr Jawali. The mutation, however, is not found in the people of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the North-East. In order to test if this genetic abnormality was only restricted to India, scientists studied 2,085 individuals from across 26 countries and found that this genetic defect is confined to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia. Graphics by Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Jan 2009 | 6:29 pm
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