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Satyam scam: AP court dismisses Rajus bail pleaThe sixth additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate dismissed the bail petition filed by former Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju, former Managing Director Rama Raju, and former CFO Vadlamani.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:26 pm Indiabulls Real to raise Rs 6K cr to fund power projectsIndiabulls Real Estate is looking to raise Rs 6,000 crore, via bank debt and external commercial borrowings, for its power projects. The company is in talks to sell part of one Indiabulls Centre in Mumbai. The move will provide liquidity to pay off bank debts. CNBCTV18s Priyanka Ghosh reports.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 3:36 pm Satyam CEO, CFO hunt over: PC GuptaMinister for Company Affairs PC Gupta said the Satyam board had zeroed in on two people for the CEO and CFO post. However, both candidates have sought legal immunity, he said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 2:55 pm Cummins India sees sales, net margins fallingMUMBAI (Reuters) - Cummins India Ltd expects sales to fall sequentially in the Jan-March quarter as well as in the next fiscal year, hurt by a slowdown in the power and industrial sectors, a top official said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:47 pm Govt steps in to foil ex-Satyam officials' bid to escape probe - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:44 pm Tata Steel India ops Q3 net halves; shares riseMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Steel Ltd, the world's sixth-largest steelmaker, on Wednesday reported December quarter profit from its Indian operations more than halved as sales volumes dropped and margins slipped.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:42 pm Diageo in Talks to Buy Stake in Indian Distiller United Spirits - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:39 pm Investment in infrastructure sector plunges by 85%: Assocham - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:38 pm ONGC profit dives and misses forecast on crude slumpNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Oil and Natural Gas Corp, missed forecasts as quarterly profit plummeted more than 43 percent, hit by a slump in crude oil prices and a hefty subsidy bill.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:38 pm Wall St bonuses down 44 percent in 2008 - NY StateNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street firms slashed cash bonuses for New York City employees by 44 percent in 2008, as they reeled from record losses in the securities industry, New York State's comptroller said in a report issued on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:36 pm Slowdown may dip Indian chip market growth by 50 percentThe global economic slowdown will dip the growth of the semiconductor (chip) market in India by over 50 percent, an industry study said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:32 pm CESC third quarter net up by 5 percentThe net profit of city-based power utility CESC Ltd increased 5 percent during the quarter ended Dec 31, a company release said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:32 pm 25-year-olds among Indian corporate leaders at DavosTwo 25-year-old entrepreneurs are among the youngest Indian corporate leaders attending the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:31 pm Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland ratings downgradedCredit rating and market research firm Crisil Wednesday downgraded the ratings of Tata Motors and Ashok Leylands debt due to the increased risk in the finances and business environment of the two commercial vehicle manufacturers.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:31 pm GAIL net down 59 percentState-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd Wednesday said its net profit declined 59.22 percent to Rs.2.53 billion (Rs.253 crore/$51.5 million) in the quarter ended Dec 31 from Rs.6.21 billion a year ago.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:31 pm Dow Jones allowed to publish facsimile editionsA proposal from Dow Jones to publish facsimile editions of its newspapers and magazines like The Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review, are among 30 others approved by the government, an official statement said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:30 pm Rubber consumption hit by global slowdownRubber consumption in the country may dip to 862,000 tonnes in the current fiscal as against the targeted 899,000 tonnes, a top official said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:30 pm Tata Steel India ops Q3 net halves; shares rise - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:30 pm Indian Stocks Rise to Highest in More Than a Week; ICICI Gains - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:24 pm TCS signs $100 mn deal with Phones 4U - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:23 pm Satyam shares rise for 8th day as bidders circleNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Shares in Satyam Computer Services rallied as much as 18 percent on Wednesday, extending gains to an eighth session, after the fraud-hit outsourcer's new board said there had been wide bidding interest and a transparent process would be devised.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:20 pm Investment in infrastructure sector plunges by 85%: AssochamNew Delhi: Investments announced in the infrastructure sector have plunged by 85% during October-December this fiscal, against the same period last year, due to the global liquidity crisis, a study said. “Indian corporates have announced investments of Rs46,328 crore during October-December 2008-09 compared to Rs3,11,707 crore in the corresponding period previous year, registering a sharp dip by 85%,” industry body Assocham said in the study. Liquidity crunch and global financial crisis has dampened fresh investment announcements by domestic business leaders in the sector, as about $500 billion is required for financing infrastructure projects during the 11th Plan period, it said. The share of infrastructure sector in total investment plans during the three-month period (October-December) also reduced from 32.5% in FY 08 to 11.3% in FY 09. “Most domestic private players are unable to take up new projects in infrastructure segment, as even the prior announced investments are having difficulties due to acute shortage of funds faced by the industry,” Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said. The study further said the number of projects announced by the domestic companies in the sector also dipped by 71.8% to 18 during Q3 FY 09, from 64 in Q3 FY 08. It also said the once investment-bullish sectors like power and steel have now dried up, failing to attract fresh announcements in the third quarter of the fiscal. In the steel sector, capex plans dipped by a whooping 95.9% in the Q3 FY 09 to Rs4,950 crore from Rs1,22,950 crore same time in FY 08. Similarly, in the power sector, investment plans slipped by 92.3% to Rs3,520 crore in Q3 FY 09 as against Rs46,123 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:13 pm HPCL net loss at Rs 422 cr in December quarter - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:12 pm Realty, metal stocks propel Sensex - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:10 pm US Senate panel expands stimulus!A US Senate panel on Tuesday expanded the economic stimulus package to about USD 887 bn.Source: Zee News : Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:10 pm Obama discusses eco crisis with Rudd!US Prez Obama on Wednesday called on Oz PM Rudd and discussed range of issues including global economic crisis.Source: Zee News : Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:10 pm Textile body seeks stimulus package, tax exemption!The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India has asked for a further two percent interest subvention, removal of income tax on exports, an increase in duty drawback rate and changes in the labour law.Source: Zee News : Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:10 pm Economic turmoil dominates Davos forum!Worsening economic turmoil dominated talks and thoughts as world leaders and hundreds of top financial and corporate chiefs gathered on Wednesday for the annual Davos forum.Source: Zee News : Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:10 pm ANALYSIS - For 2009, Fiat needs a banker, not a partnerMILAN (Reuters) - Forget Fiat SpA's planned alliance with Chrysler LLC for the moment.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm Satyam Rajus bail plea dismissedA court here Wednesday dismissed the appeal of Satyam Computer Services disgraced founder B. Ramalinga Raju, his brother B. Rama Raju and the company's former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas for bail in the Rs.70 billion (7,000 crore) fraud case.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 pm Tata Steel net down 56.4 percentTata Steel Wednesday reported 56.4 percent year-on-year decline in net profit in the third quarter this fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 pm Govt approves FDI proposals worth Rs1,277 crNew Delhi: The government has cleared 31 foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs1,277.23 crore of firms such as Morgan Stanley Financial Services, Keystone Realtors and Ramky Enviro Engineers. “The proposals relate to ministries or departments of commerce, economic affairs, telecommunication, urban development, civil aviation, industrial policy and promotion, post and information and broadcasting,” an official statement said. The largest investment proposals have come from Ramky Enviro Engineers and Keystone Realtors, which intend to invest Rs320 crore and Rs300 crore, respectively. Both plan to convert their operating companies into operating-cum-holding ones to make further downstream investment. Mumbai-based CMS Computers will invest Rs190 crore in converting the operating company into an operating-cum-holding company. Besides, Morgan Stanley Financial Services has proposed Rs100 crore investment in the Industrial Policy and Promotion sector. Rama Cylinders’ proposal to invest about Rs84 crore was cleared. It would issue and allot fully funded or paid warrants. Three proposals worth Rs16,000 crore including two by Japan’s NTT Docomo and one by New Delhi-based Orange Realty have been recommended for the consideration of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) as these involve investments of more than Rs600 crore. A total of 17 proposals have been deferred including those by Mahindra, Broadband and JT International. Four proposals of RBS Credit and Financial, Vatika Ltd, GSR Sugars and Meta Telecom were rejected. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:53 am $600 mn fraud on London stock marketMadrid: Spanish police said Wednesday they had arrested six people suspected of involvement in fraud totalling $600 million dollars (€450 million) on the London stock market. The main suspect in the fraud, which began in 2003, is among six people who were arrested in Madrid, Barcelona and the town of Elche in the southeast, they said in a statement. “Through complex commercial and stock market operations, as well as falsifications, the arrested managed to make the value of the shares of a firm on the stock market increase, without deposits to back it up, and profited from the subsequent sale of the shares,” it said. Police did not name the firm, which was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in October 2003, nor given the name or nationalities of six people who were arrested. The arrests follow the opening of an investigation into the firm by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office in 2005. When the company was listed on the stock market it said it had assets worth €219 million, police said. It later on announced several financial operations, including a guarantee in the form of an International Certificates of Deposit from a Brazilian bank, “with the aim of generating an increase in the share price of the company. “The investigation revealed that the listing of the firm on the stock market, as well as the public share listing, was achieved through fraud and various false announcements were made, in specialized media in London, to generate interest in the shares of the company,” police said. “Those announcements were allegedly planned by the main suspects who then sold the shares that they owned or existed in their name,” it added. Police carried out six searches as part of their investigation in which they seized several computers and extensive documentation. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:50 am Dabur not to open new stores, eying acquisitions in FY10 - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:42 am Saving Satyam: Options for amalgamationThe Satyam board said it would take measures to invite open bids and adequate number of bidding interests have been evinced. But experts don\'t think amalgamation is an option for Satyam.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:40 am Welspun-Guj shares surge on GAIL orders - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:38 am Dabur net up 16 percentFast moving consumer goods major Dabur India Wednesday said its net profit rose 16 percent to Rs.1.07 billion (Rs.107.4 crore/$22 million) for the quarter ended Dec 31, from Rs.925 million a year ago.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:33 am Global meltdown hits Indian semiconductors, growth halvedThe global slowdown would pull down the growth rate of the Indian semiconductor market by half in two years, a report said here on Wednesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:33 am Tata Investment Corp Q3 net dips 22% at Rs35 crTata Investment Corp today reported a 22% decline in net profit of Rs34.84 crore for the third quarter ended 31 December, 2008. The listed-investment arm of the Tata Group had a net profit of Rs44.70 crore in the third quarter of last financial year, Tata Group firm said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income dipped 22.86% to Rs48.31 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs62.63 crore in the same period last fiscal. Shares of Tata Investment were trading at Rs219.75, up 1.24% in the late afternoon trade on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:26 am BSE Sensex rises for 2nd day, up 2.8 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex rose 2.8 percent on Wednesday, propelled by heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd, as rebounding world markets calmed risk aversion concerns.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:25 am Piramal Healthcare buys RxElite Holdings for $4.2 mnMumbai: Piramal Healthcare, formerly known as Nicholas Piramal, has acquired outstanding capital stock of US-based RxElite Holdings for $4.2 million. This acquisition gives Piramal ownership of RxElite Holdings’ sales and distribution network in the US and complements Piramal’s pending acquisition of inhalation anesthetic gas manufacturer Minrad International in December 2008, the company said in a statement. RxElite Holdings is a subsidiary and inhalation anesthetic gas distribution arm of US-based RxElite Inc. It would use $4.2 million to retire a portion of its long-term debt, Piramal said. The acquired company’s customers include hospitals, wholesalers, surgery centres and clinics. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:09 am Satyam scam betrays gaps in UN systemThe Satyam scandal seems to have revealed a huge gap in the sprawling UN system, with some of its affiliates squarely blaming the World Bank.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:07 am Raju created 300-strong network of firms to divert funds, says ministerNew Delhi: The government said on Wednesday that Satyam Computer’s disgraced founder Ramalinga Raju created a network of about 300 companies and diverted funds from one company to another in a complex but carefully planned process. “There has been an issue of siphoning off funds. This is what we have understood from the information we have received from (the) RoC, SFIO and various other agencies (probing the Satyam case),” union minister of corporate affairs Prem Chand Gupta said on Wednesday in a TV interview. Gupta said, “Our information is that there was a network of almost 300 compnaies and funds were diverted from one company to (another) and then to (a) third.” “So like this, it was a very complex process he had adopted,” he said, but added that “unless the investigation is complete we can’t say what exactly happened”. Asked if it meant a carefully planned process to avoid detection, the minister said, “...Well, to some extent I would agree with you that it was a carefully planned operation, but ... still what we personally feel it was a complex process.” Gupta also said, “I feel there are other people involved ...” “But if you go into the systematic inspection and investigation of the structure of the company, you come to the conclusion that the whole thing (revolves) around the Raju family only.” On the employee count, Gupta said there were reports that 10,000 ghost employees have been identified but the issue is being looked into by those specially appointed CA firms, KPMG and Deloitte. “They are looking into this and I think the fact would come before all of us... It is difficult to verify because Satyam has operations in more than 50 places...” If there are fake employees, no salary will be paid against their names, the minister said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:07 am Govt kicks off ID project for all IndiansNew Delhi: The project to assign a unique identification number to each of the over one-billion citizens in the country got a start with the government notifying setting up of a national authority for the purpose. The project will ensure a permanent ID card, which would have a unique number, photograph and biometric data, for every Indian, from birth till death, and would also cover children and is targetted at cutting down identity-related frauds and addressing security issues, among others, people familiar with the issue said. The identification number will be provided by the National Authority for Unique Identify (UID), an entity being set up under the Planning Commission. The authority will work in cooperation with the similar bodies being set up at the state level, authoritative sources told PTI. In the beginning, the UID number will be assigned to all voters by building on current electoral roll data. Progressively, other persons, including those below 18 years of age, will be added to the list. Photographs and biometric data would be added to make the identification fool-proof, sources said, adding easy registration and information change procedures are also being envisaged for the benefit of the people. Cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar had asked the Planning Commission to expedite setting-up of the authority. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 11:00 am Reliance Power gets 4,000 MW Tilaiya UMPPNew Delhi: Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power today bagged its third 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project, at Tilaiya, in Jharkhand. “Reliance Power has bagged the 4,000-MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand,” a source said. The Reliance bid for the project was Rs1.77 per unit. Five companies including NTPC, Reliance Power, Lanco Infratech, Jindal Power and Sterlite Energy, of the 11 pre-qualified bidders, were in the fray for the project. The financial bids for the project were opened today. A high-level committee, which includes state representatives from Bihar and Jharkhand, selected the developer. The financial and technical bids for the coal-based thermal power project were invited on 29 December and the final financial bids were to be opened within 15 days. The bidding process for the UMPP had been delayed due to various reasons, including the global slowdown. Apart from the delays in bidding, the Tilaiya project faced loss of time on identifying the site, getting the water source and obtaining other regulatory clearances. The project entails an investment of Rs16,000 to Rs18,000 crore and will have a debt equity ratio of 70:30. PFC is the nodal agency for UMPPs and is facilitating the process of selecting the developer of the Tilaiya project. Tilaiya is the fourth UMPP to be awarded to a developer. Earlier, two UMPPs bagged by Reliance Power are those of Sasan and Krishnapatnam. Tata Power got the Mundra UMPP. The financial closure for Tata Power’s Mundra project has been completed and the other two are expected to follow suit. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:59 am Raju created 300-strong network of cos to divert funds: GuptaThe government said that Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju created a network of about 300 companies and diverted funds from one company to another.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:56 am Close: Markets end 2% higher, Satyam surges by 18%New Delhi: Markets traded positive for the second straight day on Wednesday to end 2.81% up as strong buying emerged following positive opening of the European markets. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex began the day’s trade 110 points up on overnight rally in Wall Street and firm Asian markets. Index traded it’s highest during mid-session as Realty segment advanced by 6.2%. DLF Ltd gained as much as 6.63% at Rs177.70. Across board trading was green with significant buying seen among the realty, metal, banking, oil and gas stocks. During noon auto indices had picked up after the UK government announced financial aid for automakers, a decision benefiting Tata’s Jaguar Land Rover. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 253.39 points up at 9,257.47 and broad based 50-share NSE Nifty trading above 2,800 mark at 2,849.50 or 78.15 points higher. Shares of Satyam Computer Services surged for the eight straight day today on the NSE since the new government-appointed board is taking corrective measures. They rallied as much as 18% on rising bidding interest for the company. Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd was the top gainer on the BSE list, trading higher by 7.56% at Rs213.50 and was followed closely by ICICI Bank Ltd at Rs408.35 or 7.08% higher. Larsen and Toubro regained from Tuesday’s fall resulting from its decision to increase stake in Satyam by 12%, it surged by 5.20% to Rs671.40 today. Other gainers were Tata Motors that rose by 4.60% to Rs146.75, Mahindra and Mahindra by 4.28% to Rs283.85, Housing Development Finance Corp by 4.02% to Rs1,504.60 and Reliance by 3.76% to Rs1,273.15. Meanwhile cues from Asia were firm as Japan’s Nikkei edged up by 0.6% on Wall Street rally and expansion of US stimulus plan. European shares also opened 1.4% higher on modest company earnings. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:54 am No action so far on Satyam: SECUS market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that it is yet to take any "disciplinary action" in the Satyam scandal.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:53 am LT\'s Satyam stake buy lacks transparency: Ajay SrivastavaThe spotlight has been on LT after the concall yesterday on what they said about their interest in Satyam, their other investments and what they see come off it. Ajay Srivastava, CEO of Dimensions Consulting has been somewhat critical about LTs latest move. He further said that the LT\'s Satyam stake buy lacks transparency.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:46 am TCS gets $100 mn deal from UK’s 4U GroupBangalore: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), India’s largest IT vendor said it won $ 100 million or Rs 489 crore multi-year managed IT services deal from British telecom and financial services firm 4U Group Ltd. TCS employees in the UK will support and manage software applications, the IT infrastructure and data centres for the British retailer , a statement said. A TCS spokesperson said the contract would be spread over multiple years. “This relationship with TCS is part of our ongoing commitment to further enhance our business, deliver on our strategy and meet the ongoing needs of our customers,” said Darren Billings, Chief Technology Officer at 4U Group. TCS employs around 4800 people in 65 locations in the UK. “This contract demonstrates that while there is undoubtedly unrest in global markets, there is still interest and investment going into outsourcing contracts,” said Ian Brown, Senior Analyst at Ovum in the statement. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:44 am Satyam swindle: Sebi to appeal against court orderNew Delhi: Market regulator Sebi on Wednesday said it would appeal against a magistrate court’s order denying permission to it to interrogate Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju in connection with the Rs7,800 crore fraud in the company. “We are going for appeal,” Sebi chairman C.B. Bhave told reporters. The 6th additional chief metropolitan magistrate in Hyderabad had rejected Sebi’s’s application seeking a day’s custody of the Raju brothers. The Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi is probing to find if there was any insider trading in the company, whose books Raju admitted to cooking over several years. The Raju brothers, along with Satyam’s former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas, are in judicial custody awaiting charges to be filed against them. Raju had on 7 January disclosed that he had falsified profits and created fictitious assets in the company, which is now being administered by a government-appointed board. The new board Tuesday said it had received many offers for a takeover, but ruled out selling the company in parts. Asked whether engineering major Larsen & Toubro, which has increased its stake in Satyam to over 12% through open market transactions, has approached the regulator seeking waiver of open offer conditions, Bhave said: “I cannot comment.” L&T is reportedly seeking waiver in a clause that requires it to make an open offer to buy 20% shares taking the average price of the last six months. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:42 am Oil cos toughen stand on Jet, Kingfisher duesNew Delhi: State-run oil companies have put Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines on notice to clear all outstanding beyond credit period and pay interest on it, failing which supplies would be discontinued from 4 February. IOC, BPCL and HPCL have written to the private airlines to clear the interest on fuel bill beyond the period of credit by tonight, failing which the two airlines would be put on cash and carry from tomorrow, industry sources said. The state-run firms are demanding that the private carriers pay interest on all their outstanding beyond the credit period as the same was agreed at the time of one-time settlement reached few months back. Sources said as per the agreement reached between the oil companies and the airlines in October 2008, the outstanding on fuel bills was to be cleared in six monthly installments and future purchases were to be done on commercial terms. The three oil companies had given a 90-day credit period to private airlines on their current fuel purchases and they are now demanding clearance of all dues beyond this credit period. Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways and Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines and state-run NACIL together owe over Rs2,000 crore in fuel bills to Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, as on 21 October when the agreement was reached. Jet’s total outstanding to IOC, the nation’s largest oil firm, as on 21 October stood at Rs859 crore, while Kingfisher owed Rs110 crore to IOC. Jet owes Rs284.3 crore to Bharat Petroleum, while Kingfisher owes Rs246 crore to BPCL and Rs525 crore to HPCL as on 21 October. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:40 am HPCL net loss at Rs422 cr in December quarterNew Delhi: Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd on Wednesday said its net loss has widened to Rs422 crore in the third quarter ended 31 December, 2008, from Rs15.74 crore a year ago. Sales was increased to Rs29,386.67 crore in the October-December quarter as compared to Rs27,117.01 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, a company press release said here. HPCL had reported a Rs3,218.92 crore net loss in the second quarter of current fiscal and cumulatively in the first nine months the net loss stood at Rs4,529.06 crore. This was against Rs750.36 crore net profit in the April-December period of the previous financial year. Net sales increased to Rs99,598.21 crore as opposed to Rs73,233.15 crore. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:26 am Earnings drive European shares higherLondon: World stocks gained for the third day in a row on Wednesday after reassuring corporate results on Wall Street while a Federal Reserve meeting later on Wednesday was eyed for possible new actions on the credit crisis. The dollar was generally weaker against most currencies, with the euro rising nearly 1%. European shares opened sharply higher with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up 1.7%, driven higher by banking and energy stocks. Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.56% a day after jumping 4.9%. The main driver was a series of modestly positive earnings results from Wall Street overnight. American Express, for example, posted a quarterly profit that surpassed analysts’ forecasts and chip maker Texas Instruments’ quarterly profit fell less than feared. “Yahoo had in-line sales after the close in the US and a lot of other companies’ results have not been as bad as expected which is probably creating a more positive atmosphere,” said Bernard McAlinden, market strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in London. Earnings disappointments, however, remain a major concern for investors. Swiss wealth manager Sarasin said on Wednesday that global estimates still need to fall by 10% to 20%. “Most companies are going to deliver results that will be even worse than the estimates which have already been significantly downgraded,” it said in a note. But Sarasin also forecast rises in US and European stock market indexes of 25% to 30% by year-end. Fed meets The Fed’s meeting was also in focus. On Tuesday, the US central bank took a step toward easing mortgage foreclosures, announcing it would write down troubled mortgages to keep people in their homes. The Fed concludes a two-day policy meeting later in the day and with the benchmark interest rate already near zero, the market is looking for any new policy measures, such as purchasing long-dated Treasuries. “If the Fed makes comments on purchasing Treasuries, it would soothe concerns that overseas investors may start picking up fewer US bonds,” said Hideki Hayashi, chief economist at Shinko Securities. The euro rose 0.9% against the dollar to $1.3294 and by 1.1% versus the yen to ¥118.51. The dollar also gained 0.3% against the yen to ¥89.11. Britain’s pound continued to recover versus the dollar after its slump to a 23-year low last week, rising 0.9% to a one-week high of $1.4299. The pound was flat against the euro. On bond markets, two-year Schatz yields edged up 1.4 basis points to 1.690%, while 10-year Bunds yielded 3.274%, up 1 basis point. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:24 am Bail plea of Raju dismissed; CBI to probe into SatyamHyderabad/New Delhi: A city court on Wednesday dismissed the bail applications of Satyam’s disgraced founder Ramalinga Raju, former managing director Rama Raju and former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas. The 6th additional chief metropolitan magistrate also posted for tomorrow, hearing on separate petitions relating to the bail and police custody of SRSR Holding general manager Gopala Krishna Raju. SRSR Holding is promoted by Ramalinga Raju’s family and Raju held stake in Satyam through this company. Ramalinga Raju, Rama Raju and Srinivas are in judicial custody till 31 January. Also open to a CBI probe into the Satyam fraud, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the IT firm resorted to “embellishment” of bank accounts for more than seven years. “Investigation has so far revealed embellishment of bank accounts by the Company for more than seven years to impress the clients within the country and overseas... “Our Government would welcome making over the case to CBI, if deemed appropriate,” Reddy said in a letter to the PM. Stressing a coordinated mechanism between the Central agencies and departments like SEBI and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, he said the scope of probe underway by the state government included Satyam’s connection with the Maytas firms. The Maytas firms are an infrastructure group promoted by the family members of Satyam’s disgraced former chairman Ramalinga Raju. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:20 am Nice try IE8, but Mozilla slices betterWe’ll spend a few moments reflecting on Microsoft’s new IE8 browser. Release Candidate 1 of the browser was launched this weekend but we won’t blame if you don’t know or don’t care. The launch had nothing remotely like the buzz surrounding Google’s Chrome launch. And really Microsoft can’t help but launch it in the most boring, staid way possible. So what do we think? Now I’ve been using it for a day or so and I actually think it’s not so bad. In this day and age a browser must do many more things than just browse and display webpages. Firefox, Opera and Google have all made the browser something of a jack of all trades with browsing forming just the core of a very diverse portfolio of products. My desktop install of Firefox, for instance, browses the web, updates twitter, helps me seamlessly bookmark pages on my delicious account, streams music, transfer files using an in-built FTP client add-on and so on. And with IE8 Microsoft tries to make a few steps in this direction. The two key things that help it do this are accelerators and Web slices. After fiddling around with both for a while I think, think, that I know how these functions work. Accelerators are basically selection-based shortcuts that help speed your online experience. Let me explain with the example of Microsoft Live maps. Highlight a postal address on a webpage, right-click and then choose the Live Maps accelerator and this automatically opens a little window with the address highlighted on a map. Firefox afficianados will see some similarity with this and the Ubiquity application that does pretty much the same thing. Both Ubiquity and IE8’s accelerators use selection-based searches to basically simplify life on the web. The other interesting thingie in IE8 is the web slices function. It is a fantastic idea. The concept is to help you to bookmark pieces of a webpage and the browser then periodically updates only that portion of the page. So if you have your eyes on a particular product on Ebay and want to see how the bidding is going… then you can pull out a web slice of the product alone and IE* will keep refreshing the slice for you to tell how the bids are going. The downside to this concept is that, as far as I know, publishers must incorporate web-slices into their pages. You can’t create web slices as you go. Alas, for MS, not only has someone managed to grab IE8 thunder with the WebChunks extension for Firefox but also enabled you to make your own Web Slices on the fly! Links can be found online along with this podcast. Overall we want to like IE8 more. Unfortunately Firefox keeps upping the ante at every twist and turn. As usual for all your IE8 and other tech queries drop us an email on playcast@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:20 am General elections in India between Apr. 8 - May 15 - reportNEW DELHI (Reuters) - General elections in India will be held sometime between April 8 and May 15, the country's election commissioner was quoted on Wednesday as saying.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:11 am Genome Foundation signs MoU for satellite diagnostic centreHyderabad: City-based Genome Foundation today signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) with Kolar-based Sri Devaraj University for establishing a satellite diagnostic centre in Karnataka that would cater to the needs of rural people. Genome Foundation (GF) Managing Director Lalji Singh and University Vice-Chancellor S Chandrashekar Shetty signed the MoU in the presence of University president and MP R L Jalappa at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology here. Under the MoU, the University would provide land to the Foundation and also create necessary amenities for the proposed diagnostic centre. The Foundation, in turn, would impart training to people in modern techniques of biochemical, chromosomal and molecular diagnostics. The entire process is expected to be completed in the next 18 months. “The satellite diagnostic centre will serve the rural community by creating an awareness among them on several prevailing genetic diseases and also provide available cure and counseling as part of the Genome Foundation’s goal of reduc ing suffering from such debilitating diseases,” Lalji said on the occasion. The Foundation aimed to establish various such branches across the country to make available its services to the rural masses. The Foundation’s first such centre has already been established in Kalawari village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, the GF managing director said. It would start full-scale functioning from June this year. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 10:02 am Tata Steel Q3 net falls 56%Mumbai: Tata Steel Ltd, the world’s No. 6 steel maker, on Wednesday reported a 56.4% fall in December quarter profit from its Indian operation, lagging forecasts as volumes dropped. Tata Steel, which acquired Europe’s second-largest steelmaker Corus in 2007, said standalone net profit fell to Rs4.66 billion ($95.5 million) for the fiscal third quarter ended December from Rs10.7 billion reported a year earlier. Net sales fell to Rs47.36 billion from Rs49.28 billion. A Reuters poll of 10 analysts had forecast a standalone net profit of Rs12.34 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:51 am Govt likely to cut fuel prices again as polls nearNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government may cut fuel prices by up to 11 percent on Wednesday, its second cut in nearly two months, officials said, as crude's $100 fall since July gives New Delhi a chance to pass on the benefit to consumers ahead of elections.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:49 am United States, Nordics top tech usage rankingHelsinki: The United States and Scandinavian countries top the annual rankings on the usage of telecommunications technologies such as networks, cellphones and computers, a report released on Wednesday shows. The Connectivity Scorecard, created by London Business School professor Leonard Waverman last year, measured 50 countries on dozens of indicators, including technological skills and usage of communications technology. Researchers said the new indicator, already used by several countries in developing innovation strategies, showed there was plenty of room for improvement in infrastructure and usage in all countries. Professor Ilkka Lakaniemi, head of global political dialogue at telecom network gear maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN.UL), which commissioned the study, said the focus has been on infrastructure. But he added investment in teaching was essential if countries wanted to boost competitiveness. Countries in eastern and southern Europe, including Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland, took the last spots on the list of 25 developed countries. Malaysia, helped by good co-operation between the public and private sectors, topped the list for developing countries, with four more countries bypassing last year’s leader Russia. “Malaysia has invested heavily in infrastructure and due to this, it has attracted more foreign companies than its neighbours have,” Lakaniemi said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:34 am HDIL Q3 net dips 32% at Rs185 crMumbai: Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) Wednesday reported a 31.58% decline in net profit at Rs184.88 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2008. The real-estate developer had a net profit of Rs270.23 crore in the third quarter of FY’08, HDIL said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total revenue declined 35% to Rs334.73 crore for the quarter under review, from Rs515.28 crore in the corresponding period last year. During the nine months ended December 2008, HDIL posted a net profit of Rs768.51 crore, a 9.43% growth over the year-ago period. It had a net profit of Rs702.28 crore in the third quarter of previous fiscal. The total income of the city-based firm declined 1.18% to Rs1,425.79 crore during the nine-month period, from Rs1,442.84 crore in the same period last fiscal. Shares of HDIL were trading at Rs89.70, down 1.10% in the late afternoon trade on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:27 am EU scientific body raises health alarm on MP3sBrussels: Up to 10 million young Europeans are in danger of damaging their hearing by playing their MP3 personal music players too loud, a European Union body on health risks told a conference on Tuesday. Listening to MP3 players and other personal music players at high volumes for long periods of time can cause loss of hearing and tinnitus, a ringing sensation in the ears, the EU Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks said. It found that 5-10% of MP3 users risk permanent hearing loss if they listen to a personal music player for more than one hour per day, each week at high volume settings for a period of at least 5 years. No cure is currently known for hearing loss or tinnitus, the committee noted in its report. “Let’s be frank, we are looking at a catastrophe unless something is done soon,” Stephen Russell of the pan-European ANEC consumer safety group said. The conference, organised by the European Commission in Brussels, discussed possible measures to prevent such health effects, ranging from warnings flashed on the devices’ screens, to limits on the maximum volumes on players. The Commission said it would examine possible action on the problem. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:23 am Bond yields steady on lack of fresh cuesMumbai: A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left its key rates unchanged at its monetary policy review, the federal bond yields remained largely steady due to lack of fresh cues on Wednesday. At 1.22pm, the 2018 bond yield was at 5.97%, unchanged from its Tuesday’s close. Bonds were unaffected by the news that the government is likely to cut fuel prices later in the day, as the move was along expected lines and was already priced in, dealers said. The yield fell to a low of 5.89% earlier on value buying, but surged later on concerns of debt supplies this week. RBI will sell Rs90 billion of bills on Wednesday, and buy back Rs30 billion of intervention bonds the following day ahead of a government auction for Rs100 billion on Friday, leading to a net outflow from the system. Dealers said they expect a good response to the debt sale and see the benchmark yield in the 5.93-6.05% range, unless there are some fresh triggers. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:18 am Vedanta Q3 EBITDA falls 98.5 pct, shares slideLONDON (Reuters) - India-focused mining group Vedanta Resources posted a 98.5 percent fall in third-quarter core profit on Wednesday due to low metals prices, inventory writedowns and currency losses, hitting its shares.Source: Reuters: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:08 am Free mkts should be left free: Anand MahindraAnand Mahindra of Mahindra Mahindra said that free markets need to be left free. \"I am going to find another way to cushion the blow to the people who will be out of a job because in the long run, I believe that the free markets need to be left free.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 9:07 am Realty players shy away from Tier II, III citiesReal estate developers who have stretched themselves to Tier II and III cities may face tough times ahead as private equity players say they will not invest beyond Tier I markets. The Tier II markets boom lead by IT and retail sector is not where investors are willing to park their money in.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:59 am ILFS arm opening office in LondonILFS Financial Services Ltd (IFIN), the investment banking arm of the ILFS Group, is opening an office in London to tap the European financial market.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:43 am Etam to pull out of venture with Future GroupCost cutting measures has forced Parisbased fashion retailer Etam to withdraw its 50:50 joint venture with the Future Group (through Pantaloon Industries). Restricting its lingerie and clothing brand in certain markets like France and China, Etam is also withdrawing from other European countries such as Belgium and Italy.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:41 am FordMagna electric car may drive into India after 2011The electric car being developed jointly by Ford Motor Company and Magna International could find its way into India but only after 2011 when it debuts in North America.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:38 am Satyam surges 17% as board takes corrective measuresShares of Satyam opened on a firm note and touched an intra-day high of Rs 55.15, up 16.96 per cent on the BSE.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:37 am Toyota launches new Innova in IndiaToyota launched an advanced version of its multi-purpose vehicle Innova in India offered at an introductory price between Rs 7.66 lakhSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:35 am Global investors should not see Satyam as a 'red flag': NathCommerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath said, said that the global economy should not view the Satyam incident as a "red flag".Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:32 am Sumitomo Mitsui profit tumbles 74%Tokyo: Major Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday its net profit for the April-December period tumbled nearly 74% amid the global economic turmoil. The company, known as SMFG, one of Japan’s three “megabanks,” reported that net profit for the nine months fell to ¥83.4 billion ($935 million) from ¥319.5 billion during the same period last year. Revenue fell 13% to ¥2.8 trillion, while operating profit declined 47% to ¥276.4 billion. Higher interest income and better bond returns were overshadowed by heavy credit costs, which surged almost 150% to ¥399.9 billion. The company blamed “the earnings deterioration of borrowers and loss provisions for claims on certain overseas financial institutions against a backdrop of financial market turmoil and global economic slowdown.” Slumping equity markets also hit hard, with losses on its stock holdings totaling ¥106.1 billion. For the full fiscal year through March, the company left its forecasts unchanged. It expects net profit to fall 61% to ¥180 billion on revenue of ¥3.7 trillion. Shares of SMFG rose 1.2% to ¥3,360 Wednesday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Its earnings were released after market closed. The company’s earnings are based on Japanese accounting standards. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 8:26 am General elections in April-May, says ECLondon: The next general elections in India will take place in April-May this year, SY Quraishi, Election Commissioner of India said here. “We, in the Election Commission, have not yet discussed the final dates, but it will be held between 8 April and 15 May,” Quraishi said after delivering a lecture on ‘J and K Elections 2008’, at the India House last evening. The Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Shiv Shanker Mukherjee, was present on the occasion. Narrating the problems faced by the Election Commission in holding the 7-phase elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Quraishi said the 61.5% turnout despite adverse weather conditions justified their decision to go ahead with the poll, which was fair and transparent. “The Indian Election Commission has the highest credibility,” he asserted. General election in India is the largest electoral exercise in the world involving 671 million voters. Noting that India is the only country in the world to introduce the Electronic Voting Machines at such a large scale, he said the system has ensured that the “secrecy of vote is not compromised.” Answering a question, he said the State Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir were not linked to the Kashmir problem. “It (the dispute) should be resolved through negotiations,” he said. Quraishi said “our experience is that while the party in power is almost invariably unhappy with us, the opposition parties love us. But once the opposition party becomes the ruling party the roles get reversed.” He said both the ruling and the opposition parties realise, especially when they are no longer in power, how much they stand to benefit from EC’s interventions. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 7:17 am Textile body seeks stimulus package, tax exemptionThe Clothing Manufacturers Association of India has asked for a further two per cent interest subvention, removal of income tax on exports and changes in the labour law.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 7:12 am Davos Diary, Day 2: Ben Verwaayen, CEO Alcatel Lucent Actually, it shows more than ever the meltdown of confidence in leadership, in politics, in business and in public policies. No wonder, of course, with all the massive issues that we have to deal with. But a clear message to the gathering here in Davos: This is a time to show what drives us. To openly debate the issues, the challenges, the solutions and most of all provide transparency where needed. Confidence, of course, is built on results, but lacking those, it is mandatory that leadership shows a willingness to debate in the open. Davos has a great opportunity to value different points of views and promote willingness for change. The first indications give me hope that we are willing to listen and absorb; but also to challenge long held beliefs and let younger people to have a voice. The young world leaders, highly talented individuals from all over the world have very different priorities; they worry more about the glue of the global society and the openness for those who do not yet have access to fair opportunities. This is good to have. The higher the bar, the higher the energy needed to come up with real new solutions. Remember the 80’s? When there was that debate about what values to pursue? Shareholder values or stakeholder values. Well the debate is back and in my view this time stakeholders value will win. That doesn’t mean less value for shareholders, it simply means that the almost exclusive domain for shareholders to determine the definition of success will be changed in a slightly more balanced one. Interesting to see how that will translate: more regulations or behaviourly change? Walking around here it becomes clear: it is the mix of experience and youth, of background and insights that will spur the right focus. The crisis gives fuel to a more inclusive debate than any I have ever seen before. And that gives hope. And should rebuild the confidence that we will do what it takes. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:12 am Sensex closed higher by 253 ptsSensex closed higher by more than 250 points on Wednesday on brisk buying in blue-chip stocks.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:23 am Rae Bareli Rail Coach Factory to be eco-friendlyNew Delhi: The upcoming Rail Coach Factory in Rae Bareli will present the eco-friendly side of Indian Railways sporting smokeless chimneys and neutralising effluents from the plant. As many as 14 types of coaches, including ‘AC double decker day cars’ would roll out from the factory. “The factory will represent the environment-friendly side of Indian Railways, adhering to highest standard of pollution safety norms,” sources in the Railway Ministry told PTI. There will be no emission of smoke or spillage of oils, while vapour exhaust arrangements would ensure efficient removal of pain vapour simultaneously, they said. The plant will use lightweight stainless steel in producing the coaches with improved comfort level. The eco-friendly approach of Indian Railways will also ensure that there is little contamination of the discharge from the factory. “The effluent and sewerage from the workshop will be neutralised before being discharged,” they said. Besides, fume extraction system will be used in areas where acids will be used in acid handling areas used for welding and cutting machine. The coaching complex will be spread over an area of 543 hectors and set up at an investment of Rs 1685 crore. Railways push for eco-friendly initiatives in its manufacturing units was demonstrated recently when it decided to tap wind energy to power the Integral Coach Factory in Perumbur, Chennai. It also put its green toilet programme on fast track. Sources said, the factory, after commission, is expected to produce 840 coaches per year, thereby substantially meeting the demand of Indian Railways which requires 1,150 coaches annually. While the rolling stock will comprising of AC and non-AC coaches, there would be three type of coaches which will have a compartment for passengers with disabilities. Sources said, the Rai Bareli factory will generate about 7000-8000 jobs during construction and operations. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 5:01 am Moon Impactor Probe silenced skeptical scientistsNew Delhi: Scientists were a divided lot over sending onboard Chandrayaan-I the Moon Impactor Probe which later produced excellent pictures of the earth’s natural satellite. The Moon Impactor Probe (MIP), which crashed onto the lunar surface on 14 November, was included as one of the 11 payloads of Chandrayaan-I at the suggestion of the then President A P J Abdul Kalam. However, some scientists were doubtful about including the 28-kg MIP as a part of the payload and favoured carrying some other experiments, said senior scientist Narendra Bhandari, who has been involved with Chandrayaan-I since its inception. On the one hand there was one experiment that “would weigh 28 kg and crash on the lunar surface and on the other hand, we had 10 experiments with a total weight of 50 kg,” he said. Any given day, scientists would have preferred carrying more diverse experiments instead of one weighing 28 kg, Bhandari said. But the breathtaking pictures beamed back on earth by MIP as it plunged towards the moon gladdened scientists. Never before had they seen pictures of the moon clicked from an altitude of six kms. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:18 am CEO confidence plunges around the globeDavos: Confidence among leaders of the world’s top companies meeting in Davos has nosedived to a new low, with recession and a worsening credit crisis torpedoing faith in corporate prospects. The findings from a poll of more than 1,100 Chief Executive Officers sets a grim backdrop to a four-day meeting of the world’s business and political elite which opens on Wednesday in the Swiss ski resort. Bankers are thin on the ground this year but policymakers will work behind the scenes ahead of a summit of the G20 group of big and emerging countries in April and a G8 summit in July. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will both address the meeting later on Wednesday. The annual PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey suggests the need for action is urgent, as a crisis that started in the banking system takes a growing toll on revenues, profits, expansion plans and jobs across all regions and industries. Worldwide, just 21% of CEOs said they were very confident of growing revenue in the next 12 months, down from 50% a year ago. And hopes for a short “V”-shaped recession appear to have evaporated with most business leaders expecting no more than a slow and gradual recovery over the next three years. “The three-year view is a bit better but the bad news is it is not that much better. Compared to the 21% confidence over the next 12 months, it’s only 34% over three years,” said Tony Poulter, global head of consulting at PwC. Lehman fallout Poulter said the situation had deteriorated significantly since September, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and sale of Merrill Lynch. Back in September, only 46% of business leaders interviewed thought the banking crisis would affect them but by December that had risen to 67%. Worryingly, even this gloomy picture - with confidence the lowest in the survey’s seven-year history - may be over-optimistic, given the slew of further bad news since it was completed in early December. More than 70,000 job cuts were announced on Monday this week alone, with Caterpillar Inc axing 20,000 after the heavy equipment said it had “pretty much hit a wall in December”. In contrast to last year, corporations based in previously hot emerging markets were equally gloomy, a fact which PwC said had exposed the idea of the “decoupling” of developed and developing world markets as a myth. The Washington-based Institute for International Finance, a grouping of the world’s biggest banks, said on Tuesday it expects private capital flows to emerging markets to drop by nearly two-thirds to $165 billion this year. Not surprisingly, the sharp downturn means some of the issues that caused headaches in boardrooms in the past are no longer such a big issue. Last September, the scarcity of natural resources still troubled one in five CEOs; by December this had more than halved to less than one in 10. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:16 am Monster data fraud hits job seekersNew York: Monster Worldwide Inc, the popular global website for job hunters, has said that hackers have broken into its databases and stolen personal data. Monster spokeswoman Nikki Richardson confirmed Tuesday that sites around the world had been targeted, but said some regions, notably Asia Pacific and eastern Europe, were spared. She said Monster was working with the “appropriate law enforcement agencies” but declined to say in which countries. In the US, where the company is based, “an investigation is in progress”. Monster operates in 36 countries with millions of users, including 4.5 million in Britain. A statement on www.monster.com said: “We recently learned our database was illegally accessed and certain contact and account data were taken, including Monster user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data.” The breach did not access resumes, social security numbers or financial data, Monster said. The company advised clients to change their password and said it had taken its own “corrective steps”. Hackers could use email addresses to “phish” for further information, the company warned. This is the second serious data breach at the company in 18 months, according to Computer Weekly magazine. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 3:22 am Broking firms feel strainMumbai, Jan. 27 The trend of declining profits for the broking and financial services industry appears to be continuing into the third quarter of the current fiscal.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am RBI pares growth forecast further to 7%Mumbai, Jan. 27 The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday left its key rates unchanged in its third quarter review of monetary policySource: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Raju bail plea: Orders reserved for todayHyderabad, Jan. 27 Mr Ramalinga Raju, the former Chairman of Satyam Computer Services, Mr Rama Raju (ex-CEO) and Mr V. Srinivas (ex-CFO) – the trio accused in the Rs 7,136-crore financial fraud – will have to wait till Wednesday toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Telenor to fund Unitech stake buy via cash, debtNew Delhi, Jan. 27 Norway-based mobile services company Telenor on Tuesday said it has scrapped its proposed 12-billion-krone ($1.8 billion) rights offer to fund its acquisition of 60 per cent stake in Unitech Wireless.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Idea Cellular (Rs 44.50): BuyInvestors with short-term trading perspective can buy Idea Cellular. This stock is reversing after recording a 52-week low of Rs 34 in late October. Since November, the stock has been consolidating sideways in a broad range between Rs 41 and Rs 55.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am L&T sees significant value in SatyamMumbai, Jan. 27 Larsen & Toubro, which recently increased its stake in Satyam Computer to 12 per cent, believes that “significant value” is embedded in the scam-stung IT firm, amidst reports that the engineering firm is mulling aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Goldman, Avendus appointed Satyam investment bankersHyderabad, Jan. 27 The board of Satyam Computer Services today appointed Goldman Sachs and Avendus Capital as investment bankers, while asserting that the company will not be sold in parts forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Keeping e-learning in ship-shapeMumbai, Jan. 27 Twenty-five-year-old Tuhin Deb is a marine officer who spends more than six months of the year on the high seas, criss-crossing the globe. But this does not deter him from pursuing his academicSource: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh long-position only if DLF surpasses Rs 176 and ICICI Bank exceeds Rs 391, with tight stop-loss. Buy Infosys in dips with stiff stop-loss at Rs 1,230. Fresh long-position canSource: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Price Waterhouse suspends tainted partnersNew Delhi, Jan. 27 Audit firm Price Waterhouse on Tuesday said it has suspended Mr S. Gopalakrishnan and Mr Srinivas Talluri of all their duties and functions as partners, pending completion of the investigations into the Satyam issue.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Turf war means no CEO, CFO yet for SatyamThe new board had promised employees and investors on January 23 that a new CEO and CFO would be in place this week. But it could not come to a conclusion on the appointments.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 27 Jan 2009 | 10:35 pm Telenor drops rights issue; to buy Unitech with cash, debtNew Delhi: Norwegian phone firm Telenor ASA, which is buying a 60% stake in the mobile phone services unit of Unitech Ltd, India’s second most valuable real estate company, has withdrawn a plan to raise $1.8 billion (about Rs8,800 crore) through a rights offer, deciding to fund the purchase instead with debt and cash reserves. Unitech Wireless Ltd now expects the first instalment of about Rs1,250 crore from Telenor to come in by early February and not by end-January. The deal is structured in six tranches.  No rights issue: A file photo of Unitech managing director Sanjay Chandra (left) with Telenor’s Asia chief Sigve Brekke. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint Once the first instalment comes in, Unitech Wireless will repay Rs350 crore of shareholder debt to Unitech, said R. Nagaraju, the company’s general manager, corporate planning and strategy. The realty firm has invested nearly Rs2,000 crore in its telecom unit, of which about Rs1,200 crore is by way of loans from banks. Unitech had also lent Rs770 crore to Unitech Wireless. Unitech, which had a consolidated debt of around Rs8,000 crore, needs to repay around Rs2,500 crore by March. On 19 January, after the company’s extra-ordinary general meeting, Unitech said it has reduced that March obligation to Rs600 crore from Rs2,500 crore, by restructuring Rs1,000 crore bank loans and repaying in part Rs900 crore to mutual funds. The company plans to repay Rs600 crore further through sale of assets and internal accruals. It has put on the block a hotel property in Gurgaon and an office building in Saket, New Delhi. “Cash flow for Unitech is pretty tight right now since they still have debt repayment obligations of about Rs600 crore,” said an analyst with an international brokerage firm, who did not want to be identified. “So, if the money comes in soon, it will give a breather to Unitech.” “Their Gurgaon and Saket properties will generate about Rs700 crore. So, we don’t think a possible delay in the first instalment will have an impact on their debt obligation,” said an analyst with the local unit of other overseas brokerage on the impact of the delayed inflow from Telenor, who also refused to be identified. “We expect the Telenor money to come by March and this will give some relief to Unitech in fiscal 2010.” Unitech, whose shares closed 1.11% up at Rs27.25, on a day the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark index gained 3.8%, is to declare its December quarter results on 31 January. An analyst tracking Telenor said it was bad news for investors that the firm had decided not to pay dividend but the India focus remained intact. “As far as the additional debt goes, there are other stocks in the sector that are leveraged to about 2.5 times while Telenor is just over two,” David George, an analyst with Credit Suisse said on phone from London. Shares of Telenor jumped 2.3% to 47.55 Norwegian kroner in midday trade on the Oslo exchange. shabana.h@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2009 | 7:14 pm Internet users rise 17% in 2008: studyNew Delhi: The number of active Internet users in the country has grown by nearly 17% in 2008 over the same period a year ago, a study says. According to a study by Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, India has 45.3 million active users at the end of September 2008, of which 42 million are from the urban community. Urban users continue to dominate Internet use contributing to 42 million of the 45 million odd users, a study by the organisations ‘Internet in India´ finds. In the same period last year, the number of active users in urban India was 36 million, which shows a year-on-year growth of 16.66%. “The growth rate was alarming compared with the rest in past years as well as with some other countries notably China where the number of Internet users are more than 250 million,” IAMAI President Subho Ray said. Study defines active Internet users as those users, who have used the Internet at least once in the last one month, which is an internationally accepted benchmark for enumerating internet users. Meanwhile, the study also found that the number of ‘claimed’ Internet users in September 2008 was 57 million compared with 48 million of last year. Claimed users are those, who have used the Internet sometime but not in the last one month. I-Cube (Internet in India) study is conducted annually by IMRB International and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2009 | 7:00 pm Fare cuts don't work for airlinesA month after they cut fares 25-30 per cent, the countrys leading airlines have realised that the surge in passenger traffic they had expected has not happened. The first half of January saw bookings climb just 12-13 per cent, though last week the numbers went up 20 per cent after Jet Airways, IndiGo, GoAir and SpiceJet cut fares another 50 per cent.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 27 Jan 2009 | 6:39 pm Easier FDI rules for real estate likelyTo ease the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into real estate, the government is mulling a proposal that mixed development projects should be exempt from the minimum capitalisation and area development norms.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 27 Jan 2009 | 6:37 pm Satyam appoints sale advisorsPW suspends auditors.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 27 Jan 2009 | 6:36 pm RBI prods banks to cut ratesUco, Lakshmi Vilas agree; others say cost of deposits needs to soften further.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 27 Jan 2009 | 6:34 pm Satyam board to meet todayThe meeting of the six-member Satyam Computer Services board, which was nominated by the government to stabilise the fraud-devastated company, was deferred by a day as it was working on some other issues to salvage the company from the current crisis, according to Hari Thalapalli, head of global marketing and communications, Satyam.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 27 Jan 2009 | 6:29 pm Davos Diary, Day 1: Kofi AnnanDavos, Switzerland: Compared with the 40 heads of state and hundreds of political and business leaders heading to the World Economic Forum (WEF), I only have a short trip in front of me. It is just 500km from my office in Geneva to Davos, although that’s a long journey within Switzerland.  It would be easy for what has been dismissed as a rich men’s club to be so preoccupied with their own problems this week that they ignore those of the rest of the world. My role as this year’s co-chairman is to help ensure this doesn’t happen. It is vital for everyone that the discussions at Davos look outwards, not inwards. For what this unprecedented crisis has shown is no country, no matter how prosperous or powerful, can now alone protect itself against the challenges of an inter-connected world. We can only do this by working together. And solutions won’t be effective or lasting unless they are seen to be fair. Click here for more news on WEF 2009 Also See Africa Progress Panel  Ground work: A file photo of a staff member at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos. The 2009 meet, which starts today, will focus on shaping the post-crisis world and see at least 2,500 participants. Fabrice Coffrini / AFP We need to coordinate the global economic response so it supports jobs, incomes and opportunities in Africa and across the developing world. There must be the same new collective approach, based on the principles of fairness and opportunity for all, to the other challenges we face including climate change, food security and Africa. In every crisis, there is opportunity. At Davos, the task is to show we recognize our world has changed for good. Kofi Annan is a former secretary general of the United Nations. Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2009 | 5:06 pm Davos Diary, Day 1: Ben Verwaayen, CEO Alcatel Lucent It is now clear that this is more than a standard crisis that we are dealing with. It shakes the very foundations of the set of beliefs many of us have had up to now. What started as a banking crisis became an economic crisis and now turns into a geo-political debate. The silver lining is that the notion of informed collective initiatives is well accepted. First meeting with world leaders for the newly inaugurated US president is not going to be a classical G8, but more like a G20. How telling! But also: well done. More than ever, we feel how interconnected we all are. We need coordinated global actions, of course, within the total economic and political framework but also within the specifics of the various industries. And here most of the discussions are on how we get investments going again. Click here for more news on WEF 2009 But this time of crisis is also an incredible time of opportunity for profound changes with perhaps more innovative ideas floating around than people think! By looking hard at how we do things and the business models we use, we will see how we can work better together. That is the buzz here in Davos: we are in this crisis together and we need each other to get out of it! I will be interested to learn if we can cope with this, while at the same time keeping top issues like global warming and corporate governance on the agenda. Or, if the avalanche of the economic downturn wipes out all other issues! That would be a pity, because the list of participants is so diverse and will bring about opportunities to dialogue with scientists, politicians and business leaders from all over the world. Let’s think about it: if Davos wants to keep on being this open brainstorming forum where you can still think long term. And if what we are trying to shape here is the post-crisis world. Then, we should certainly keep these important subjects in mind and not let them drown in the mid-term turmoil. I am sure the coming days will be hectic as ever, but perhaps even more rewarding. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 27 Jan 2009 | 3:49 pm
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