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Nokia 5yr deal multicountry, multilingual: HCLHCL Tech has signed a fiveyear deal with mobile manufacturing major Nokia. Outlining the details of the deal, Pradeep Bindal, Senior Vice President, HCL Tech, said the deal is a multimilliondollar deal that provides Nokia with multicountry, multilingual support for a complete endtoend enduser computing services.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:08 pm Rajus passport impounded as per SFIO request: SourcesThe passports of Raju brothers have been impounded on the request of the Serious Fraud Investigations office, government sources told CNBCTV18\'s Siddhart Zarabi. The action follows request by SFIO. Also, the passports of other Satyam top brass may also be impounded.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:44 pm DLF renegotiates terms for Dwarka project with DDADLF had emerged as the sole bidder for the DDA auction in 2007. Sources say DLF is trying to renegotiate terms with the Delhi Development Authority for the Rs 6,000 crore Dwarka project.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 5:38 pm Unitech seeks govt nod to raise Rs 5,000 cr via GDRsUnitech has told the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) that it will raise Rs 5,000 crore via global depository receipts (GDRs). Unitech had earlier requested the board for an exception to raise that amount.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 4:24 pm Company Law Board grants legal immunity to Satyam boardFormer SEBI member C Achuthan said that the Company Law board has granted legal immunity to Satyam board. He is of the view that Satyam board members are like court officers discharging public service duties and every state, central agency is expected to assist and support the board.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 2:20 pm Sony sinks to Q3 loss, Nintendo cuts outlookTOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp fell into the red in the latest quarter and reiterated its forecast for a record annual loss due to sliding demand and a stronger yen, while rival Nintendo Co cut its full-year outlook for the second time in three months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:45 pm Bank of Baroda Oct-Dec net boosted by interest income - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:42 pm Ford posts loss, drawing on available creditDETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co posted a deeper than expected quarterly net loss on Thursday, but said it would have sufficient cash to fund its turnaround without seeking government loans, and shares rose in premarket trade.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:39 pm Economic growth to be 7%: Pranab MukherjeeNew Delhi: The two stimulus packages given by the government to boost the economy have started working and the economic growth in the current year is likely to be 7%, External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also holding the charge of the Finance Ministry, said. “The two stimulus packages have started working...that has been reiterated by the Reserve Bank governor while announcing the (third-quarterly review of the) credit policy,” Mukherjee said after his first meeting with minister of state for finance P.K. Bansal and senior officials of the ministry at North Block. Mukherjee took charge of the Finance Ministry as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was looking after the finance portfolio, is recuperating from a heart surgery at the All-Indian Institute of Medical Science. The minister was briefed by the senior officials of the finance ministry on various issues, including preparation for interim budget which is to be presented in Parliament in February. As regards economic growth, Mukherjee said, “though the economy will not grow at 8.9 or 8.8%, it will grow around 7%. There is no doubt about that ... Indian economy is sound and will bounce back ”. The RBI in its review of the credit policy projected a growth rate of 7% for the current fiscal year, down from 7.5 to 8% estimated earlier. On his priority as in-charge of the Finance Ministry, Mukherjee said, “My first priority is to get the vote on account passed. That is the top most priority and it is also a constitutional requirement.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:35 pm New Toyota Innova launched with advanced & dynamic styling - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:33 pm 'Fuel price cut to lower inflation to 2%' - Indian Express
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:30 pm Madras Cements net down 44% - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:29 pm India corporate bond yields rise, govt auction eyed - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:28 pm Lost LessonsExactly 50 years ago, a remarkably detailed, extraordinary blueprint was drawn for The Gandhi Institute—a university that would “extend and fulfil” Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s thoughts and philosophy. It named Albert Einstein, Karl Jung, Aurobindo Ghosh and Jean-Paul Sartre as “patrons”. Envisioned as a global hub for Gandhian studies and education, its elaborate plans included 17 departments, 10 institutions abroad and “an imposing building in Delhi” to house the institute.  Art by Vasudha Thozhur. An untitled work of mixed media on canvas, Thozhur’s work evokes the monkey, common on the rooftops of Gujarat. Playing into the image of the three monkeys, the work suggests that in the land of Gandhi’s birth, the doctrine of ‘ahimsa’ has been violated. At Saffronart Gallery, Mumbai, till 15 February. “Things are not in a good shape. The financial situation of a lot of Gandhian institutions, especially educational, is not very rosy,” says Razi Ahmed, secretary of the Gandhi Sangrahalaya in Patna. According to Ahmed, while the government has provisions to help such institutions, most functionaries rise to symbolic action only “during centenaries and anniversaries”. Also See Linked In (PDF) It was in that vein in 1969, on Gandhi’s birth centenary, that the government announced a set of ambitious plans to set up 69 Gandhi Bhavans in universities and a National Service Scheme, a student volunteer corps focusing on community service. History repeated itself. “Most of these plans are in disarray as they were not well- coordinated,” says Singh. At around the same time, a large, elaborate exhibition complex came up along the Rajghat memorial; it was called the Gandhi Darshan International Exhibition Complex. In a by now all-too-familiar pattern, the exhibition, after a six-month run, was forgotten and largely abandoned. An early plan to convert the site into an international centre for Gandhian studies resurfaced 25 years later in 1994, when then prime minister Narasimha Rao christened it the International Centre for Gandhian Studies and Research.  Last bastion: Savita Singh hopes the International Centre for Gandhian Studies and Research in New Delhi will finally get its due. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint Elsewhere, as part of the Ninth Plan from 1997 to 2002, the University Grants Commission (UGC) announced the “Epochmaking Social Thinkers” scheme, which granted financial support to universities starting Gandhian study centres. As of August 2008, 61 universities had signed up and obtained funds. While Singh is of the opinion that few of these centres function with any success, Jeevan Kumar, director of the Centre for Gandhian Studies at Bangalore University, disagrees: “From my experience, a number of these centres are doing significant work, and we must remember that most of these are started with UGC support... So when the UGC withdraws this support in, say, five years, the lack of adequate finances on the university’s side means that activities get curtailed.” Other universities have found that a little modification of the syllabus helps increase the number of takers. The Panjab University’s department of Gandhian studies, for example, has seen a flood of applications for its master’s programme in Gandhian and peace studies. So much so that the university recently increased the number of seats from 20 to 25. The change? “We’ve restructured the course to be more oriented towards people taking competitive examinations,” says Jai Narain Sharma, professor, chairman and honorary director of the department. “We’re proud to say that nine students from our current batch have made it to the final stages of the civil services examinations, while two others have sat for the judicial services.” Sharma says Gandhian studies are still relevant and contemporary, but students are mostly looking for something “job-oriented”, a need few Gandhi courses seem to cater to. Kumar, however, says he’s “not convinced” this particular approach would work: “I’m not sure we can adjust a course on Gandhi to be more career- oriented. I would look at it more as a philosophy or a set of principles one inculcates in whatever career you find yourself in.” Outside India, however, the outlook appears more optimistic. Sushil Mittal, a professor of Hinduism at the James Madison University in Virginia, US, sees a growing interest in the ideals of Gandhi. “Recent years, especially after 11 September 2001, have witnessed a considerable worldwide growth, and in particular in the US, in Gandhian thought,” said Mittal in an email interview. Mittal is founder-director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at the university. According to Mittal, the centre is helping to put together the considerable amount of Gandhi-related work going on in American institutions. Starting this year, the best of this research may be found in the International Journal of Gandhi Studies, the flagship annual publication of Mittal’s centre. Mittal hopes that the journal will help revive neglected areas of Gandhian studies and find relevant, modern interpretations. In April, the centre will host an international conference on non-violence with the theme “Rethinking Gandhi and Global Nonviolence”. As far as Mittal is concerned, Gandhian studies are getting a new lease of life abroad. He says several teacher-scholars are doing cutting-edge work and contrasts this with the largely symbolic efforts in India. And while most students are non-Indian—Mittal says that only around 1% of the 1,500 students he has taught are Indian—he believes that the discipline has come of age. Contemporary global events have provided a new reason to go back to the Mahatma’s teachings. Referring to 9/11, Mittal observes, “It took the worst act of terror in Western history to make the world, and in particular the scholars, remember and learn from the life and achievements of the Mahatma!” In India too, after years of start-and-stop initiatives, we could now see a resurgence in the discipline. “We feel that now, when the government is mulling plans for a World University at Nalanda, we can push for a plan that is equally relevant: setting up a central university of Gandhian thought here in Delhi,” says Singh. She, along with other signatories, has drafted a letter outlining plans to Arjun Singh, the Union minister for human resource and development. The Rajghat campus is ready with a “full-fledged” plan, Singh says, including course curricula up to the PhD level. All it needs now is the government’s go-ahead. While films and art exhibitions continue to perpetuate the icon that was Gandhi, the essence of the Mahatma, his beliefs, convictions and philosophy,struggle to find people willing to study or teach them. Singh says, “Gandhi himself didn’t want to be remembered or idolized; he wanted people to build a world that would make him irrelevant.” That has probably happened. But not in the way the Mahatma intended. krish.r@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:27 pm Stimulus pkg to effect steel ind from H2\'09: ExpertsRoger Manser of Steel Business Briefing, said steel prices are likely to move up from the second half of CY09 as the stimulus package becomes effective. Seshagiri Rao of JSW Steel too sees the impact of the stimulus package being felt over the next two to three quarters.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:24 pm Seven suitors line up for Satyam: Tarun Das - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:24 pm Bharat Petroleum's third quarter profit up 172 per cent - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:24 pm What would Gandhi do?I received an interesting Internet petition from a gentleman I have never met. To mark the Mahatma’s 61st death anniversary, he wanted us to switch off our cellphones and BlackBerrys for one whole day to send a message to Messrs Anil Ambani and Sunil Mittal that we Indians would not tolerate “fascists as future prime ministers”. The politician in question is, of course, Narendra Modi, who has recently been proposed and endorsed (by the two corporate chieftains) for the post.  Art by Jagannath Panda. An untitled work of acrylic and fabric on canvas by the Gurgaon-based artist. Gandhi is projected as a figure on the margins of the skyscraper-filled modern city--and a place for sparrows to perch on. At Saffronart Gallery, Mumbai, till 15 February Every now and then, and nowadays with increasing frequency, I mull the question: What would Gandhi have done? How would he have reacted to Modi’s actions? Is the measure of a leader economic growth or human rights? Why not both, you will ask. Yes, but if this particular neta’s tenure has been marked by extremes in both these areas, which one will count towards eligibility for higher office? Modi is lauded by businesspeople throughout India for making his state an economic powerhouse. By deregulating entire sectors and establishing an accessible, business-friendly bureaucracy, Modi has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth millions of dollars into his state. Yet, he is a tainted politician who has been accused of standing by, Nero-like, during the 2002 post-Godhra riots. And that, some say, is the charitable description, hinting at complicity. Modi’s own party, the BJP, called the riots a “stain upon the country’s history”. The US revoked Modi’s tourist visa, stating that any foreign government official who “was responsible for or directly carried out, at any time, particularly severe violations of religious freedom” was ineligible. At what price growth? While it is true that Modi has raised the standard of living in Gujarat, it is also true that the state’s Muslims feel marginalized like never before. Today, Gujarat is basking in the afterglow of having touched a 15% average industrial growth rate. Much of its growth is attributed to Modi. Does that make him a credible candidate for higher office? What would Gandhi have done if he were Modi? The easy answer is that Gandhi would never have let the post-Godhra riots happen. Put that aside for a moment. If Gandhi were Modi now, with aspirations to national office while still fighting off character allegations, what would he do? I believe that Gandhi would find a way to take ownership of the massacre. Similarly, Modi must find a way to acknowledge his role as a leader during that time. He must find a way to apologize to his state for failing in his role of maintaining law and order at a critical moment. And he must figure out a way to recompense the victims. There are many precedents that Modi can look to. Somehow I doubt that he will choose the Nuremberg trials model as a way of bringing the perpetrators to justice. But he could use South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that focused on the victims of apartheid as a way of righting past evils. Or, he could simply look at Gandhi. Also Read Shoba’s previous Lounge columns The Mahatma had flaws—he was a cruel husband and a mostly absent, if intensely anxious, father—but his moral compass was as unwavering as it was right. How else could a frail man sway a nation and chase out a powerful empire through ahimsa (non-violence) and satyagraha? Gandhi conducted peculiar experiments with young women—sleeping and bathing nude together to strengthen his chastity—but he didn’t suffer from the moral ambivalence that plagues much of Indian industry today. Ever the champion of human rights, he even put it ahead of nation-building. When Patel, Nehru, Azad and Jinnah were pondering the semantics and logistics of independence, Gandhi was in the largely Muslim areas of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and Bihar, trying to stop communal violence. Gandhi was an expert at reconciling irreconcilables, something that every politician must do. He married the sublime and the mundane—talking national politics while spinning the charkha (spinning wheel) and singing bhajans. He was a keen strategist who placed his cards on the table but also played them well. He collected friends and nurtured political alliances with the opposition—such as the one with Jinnah. But there is one overarching principle that defined Gandhi and permeated everything he did. Unlike Modi, Gandhi didn’t look at the world through “we-they” eyes. He never viewed people as Hindu or Muslim, Brahmin or untouchable, British or Indian, rich or poor. Even though he was fighting the British, he refused to think of them as the enemy. As Rajmohan Gandhi says in his excellent book, Mohandas: “For many Indians, Gandhi’s position—‘I cannot and will not hate Englishmen; nor will I bear their yoke’—was hard to comprehend. For them fighting and hating went together.” If Modi does a Gandhi, he may well suffer a loss. But as Narayana Murthy said in a television interview, sticking to your principles usually involves a loss of some kind. If Modi finds a way to address the carnage, either through an apology or some sort of reconciliation commission, it may end his chances for higher office. For now. But it will prove to the nation that this able administrator also has the makings of a statesman. Modi’s mea culpa will allow him to rise above the “we-they” elements of his party. Can a 15% industrial growth rate make up for the loss of 1,000 lives? In its answer lies Modi’s legacy. And his future. Shoba Narayan plans to write a series titled “What would Gandhi do?” Write to her at thegoodlife@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:23 pm The Mahatma’s childrenMahatma Gandhi’s ideas were not new. He carried forward concepts such as honesty, non-violence and living an austere life, which had been a part of Indian philosophy (such as Jainism) and thought for a long time. But what Gandhi really did well was reiterate them and live by them to his last breath. He followed what he believed in much more intensely than other people. There was no difference between his words and his deeds and that is what makes Gandhi admirable.  Life lessons: Gandhi did not differentiate between his words and deeds. Harikrishna Katragaddda / Mint There are four concepts which Gandhi followed that I believe are relevant even today and I want my 13-year-old son to understand and imbibe these. Speak the truth, always Adolescents nowadays know that truth has consequences and lying has benefits. So it is very tough to convince them to be truthful all the time. As parents, it is important that we make them understand that the consequences of speaking the truth are not always bad and that truth is not to be feared. Sometime back, someone I knew picked up something at school that did not belong to him. When his mother found out, she had a chat with him and asked him to return it. He was scared that his principal would be upset if he owned up and that his friends would make fun of him. But his mother took him to school and told him that he must own up. Finally, he did that. After that incident the boy realized the power of truth and why one should not be afraid to speak the truth always. Keep a promise Last year, I attended an annual inter-school competition organized by Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, Mumbai. There was a little girl who wrote a piece on Gandhi. She said the thing she liked best about Gandhi was that “Bapu made a promise that he would get us independence and he kept that promise.” I was very touched at how she was able to recognize that and assign the role of promise-keeper to Gandhi. As a parent, if you want your child to honour any commitment, you must learn to do the same first. Do not initiate violence Nowadays children tend to believe that Gandhi stood for cowardice because he advocated the path of non-violence. In today’s context, it is very tough to tell children to turn the other cheek, especially if they are facing a bully at school or are threatened in some other way. The concept of total non-violence and its spiritual context is understood over a period of time and most teenagers are probably not at a point to understand it. I like to explain to my son that if you disagree with somebody or dislike someone, it is not right to express that through violence. “I don’t like you, or your ideas, or what you believe” should not mean that it is okay to get into a physical fight. Neither are discomfort, dislike and disagreement reasons enough for aggression, nor does attacking someone make you a brave person—that is the message a parent must get across. It is important to explain to teenagers that if you are operationally in a position where you can exercise the option of not hitting somebody or if you can, through a conversation, resolve a disagreement, then that is the first path to take. Violence as a measure of getting someone to agree to your point of view is unacceptable, and your child must know that. Contribute to society Children nowadays indulge in a huge amount of spending. Things that we aspired to in our youth are a necessity for the children of today. I like the way Gandhi contributed to society and I think that this is something that should be inculcated in children at a young age. For example, encourage your children to share some part of the money they receive on occasions such as birthdays and festivals for causes that they want to support, such as the welfare of stray dogs or saving trees. Make them aware, but do not force them to do this. Teaching a child the concept of denying himself something so that someone else can benefit is an extremely valuable lesson to learn, but this will come only if parents follow the concept of social responsibility themselves. Feroz Abbas Khan is a theatre director and has directed the film Gandhi My Father. As told to Seema Chowdhry Write to lounge@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:23 pm Gandhi at crossroadsBapu doesn’t look like Bapu any more. Or at least that is what seems to be the point of artist Vivek Vilasini’s work Vernacular Chants II—a set of nine photographs of Gandhi statues and busts taken in south India. The idea was born when Vilasini visited the town of Attur in Tamil Nadu to pick up some granite for his sculpting work. On his way to the granite dealer, he had to take a turn at the town’s Gandhi statue. “I found that it looked nothing like the great man,” he recalls. “Instead, Groucho Marx was staring down at me. That’s when the idea of putting this work together occurred to me.”  Sculpted by Vivek Vilasini. ‘Vernacular Chants II’ is a series of photographs of Gandhi statues. (clockwise from top left) A statue resembling L.K. Advani; a Tamilian face, smeared with ash; a Groucho Marx lookalike in Attur, Tamil Nadu; and a C. Rajagopalachari lookalike. At Saffronart Gallery, Mumbai, till 15 February Soon after, Vilasini set off on a two-week expedition with his brother to photograph Gandhi statues and busts, and managed to capture 30 cement sculptures. Nine of these make Vernacular Chants II. Most of them have been shot in Tamil Nadu. “The visualization of Mahatma Gandhi seems to have become imaginative, and it speaks volumes about the open-mindedness of Indians,” Vilasini says. A Gandhi statue that he found outside a municipality office in a town near Salem, Tamil Nadu, looked uncannily like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani. The resemblance probably has nothing to do with the town’s political allegiance, says Vilasini, as the BJP doesn’t have much of a presence in the state. “In all probability, it just speaks of the artist’s imagination,” he says. Vilasini also stumbled on a statue which reminded him of his high school art teacher. “If Mr Das shaved his head, he’d look like that,” he says. Another statue he spotted by a bus stand resembled C. Rajagopalachari, or Rajaji, independent India’s first governor general and father-in-law of Gandhi’s son Devdas. One, in front of a temple, looked very Tamilian, complete with sacred ash smeared on the forehead. “It (my work) is rather humorous, and yet makes a socially relevant statement,” the artist says. “As I toured towns and villages looking for Gandhi statues and busts, I found that while there were plenty of them, most of them were neglected. They got attention only once or twice a year.” Vilasini’s work, infused with humour as well as satire, has already provoked some Gandhi loyalists to question whether the artist indeed visited these places and photographed statues that exist, or sculpted them himself to make a point. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:22 pm Her hymnIn M.S. Subbulakshmi, an immortal hymn found an immortal voice. For many years, Subbulakshmi sang Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajan, Vaishnava Janato, towards the end of her Carnatic music concerts, regularly moving her audiences to tears. “But you know,” says Gowri Ramnarayan, Subbulakshmi’s grandniece and for long her vocal support in concerts, “MS amma was never entirely satisfied with the melody of Vaishnava Janato, with the way the tune went up and down, up and down. But there was another song, brilliantly tuned and conceived—and the story behind that is a fascinating one.”  Voice of god: Subbulakshmi was overwhelmed by Gandhi’s praise. Hindustan Times Archives In 1947, roughly a week before Gandhi’s 78th birthday, Indian National Congress leader Sucheta Kriplani telephoned the Chennai offices of the magazine Kalki and asked to speak to T. Sadasivam, the magazine’s co-founder and Subbulakshmi’s husband. On 2 October, there were to be a few musical performances for Gandhi in New Delhi. Would Subbulakshmi be able to come to the Capital on the day, to sing one of his favourite bhajans, Hari Tum Haro? Sadasivam had to decline politely. “He told her that Kunjamma (as he and many others called Subbulakshmi) did not know that song,” says Ramnarayan. “Also, for some family reasons, MS amma could not go to Delhi that particular week, so Sadasivam said, ‘No, you’ll have to find somebody else.’” But the matter did not rest there. Just a day or two before Gandhi’s birthday, Kriplani called Sadasivam again. “Gandhiji would rather hear Subbulakshmi recite the verse on a tape,” she is said to have told Sadasivam, “than hear anybody else sing it.” After that highest of compliments, there was no way Subbulakshmi and Sadasivam could refuse. So, at 9pm, they picked up their friend R. Vaidyanathan— Ramnarayan calls him “a pianist and an eccentric genius”—and made their way to the All India Radio (AIR) recording studios in Chennai. There, Vaidyanathan mulled over the lyrics of Hari Tum Haro, Meera’s prayer to Lord Krishna. “You who saved Draupadi, you who are so compassionate,” the song pleads, “remove all the sorrows of the people.” The best raga to express the pathos and grandeur of the song without meandering into the maudlin, Vaidyanathan decided, would be Darbari Kaanada. Through that night-long recording session, Vaidyanathan set Hari Tum Haro to music, for Subbulakshmi to learn and record immediately. The spool tape left for New Delhi the following morning, on 2 October, in the care of Sadasivam’s nephew, aboard a Dakota flight. Thus, on the evening of his birthday, Gandhi was able to listen to his beloved bhajan. Subbulakshmi would learn what he had to say about the music only later, from Maniben Patel’s diary. “Her voice is exceedingly sweet,” Patel had quoted Gandhi as saying. “To sing a bhajan is one thing; to sing it by losing oneself in god is quite different.” Subbulakshmi and Sadasivam would meet Gandhi soon after that, during a trip to New Delhi in January 1948. “Gandhiji was so depressed because of the communal riots,” Ramnarayan recalls. So Sadasivam urged Radha, their little daughter, to dance for Gandhi as Subbulakshmi sang. “Gandhiji’s laughter was said to have rang out in peal after peal as Radha danced,” she says. “At the end of their visit, Gandhi’s followers thanked them, because they hadn’t seen him smile in such a long time.” On the evening of 30 January 1948, Subbulakshmi was at home in Chennai, listening to AIR’s recorded broadcast of the annual music festival at Tiruvaiyaru, which had been held earlier that month. Suddenly, the broadcast was interrupted, and an announcer broke the unvarnished news: Mahatma Gandhi had just been assassinated at his prayer meeting in New Delhi. As Subbulakshmi listened in horror, the brief announcement ended and AIR, stuck for further details, segued into a musical tribute. The song, inevitably, was Hari Tum Haro in Subbulakshmi’s voice. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:22 pm Drama kingAs India approached the 50th anniversary of its independence in 1997, a few Indian playwrights, notably from Maharashtra, had begun to present the compelling figure of Mahatma Gandhi on the Indian stage. The preceding years had seen the rise of the right wing forces, the rath yatra, the assassination of a prime minister and the deregulation of the Indian economy. The epochal changes and a general mood of stocktaking no doubt contributed to a reassessment of nationhood and its central ideas.  Art by Sachin Karne. While viewing this untitled work of acrylic on mirror, the spectator becomes a part of it. The artist invites the viewer to walk alongside Gandhi and the two daughter figures who always accompanied him. At Saffronart Gallery, Mumbai, till 15 February The depiction of Gandhi in these early plays was as varied as the sympathies of the playwrights and the points of view adopted by them. Thus Gandhi appeared as a failed father in Ajit Dalvi’s Marathi play Gandhi Virudh Gandhi in 1995. Earlier, in 1989, the Maharashtra government had refused permission to stage the controversial Marathi play Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoi, written originally by Pradeep Dalvi in Gujarati. The play was staged in 1997 and the government banned it after just six shows. After its return to the stage in 2002, the play was a resounding commercial success across Maharashtra. Gandhi is seen through the lens of extreme rightist thought and shown to be responsible for Partition. A more measured tone was struck by Premanand Gajvi, whose play Gandhi Ambedkar attempted to present the differences the two had, mainly over the vexed issue of the caste system. A play of ideas backed by eight years of careful research, it met with reasonable critical success but could run only for a few months in 1997. Clearly the passage of time had liberated a section of Indian playwrights, allowing them to explore specific aspects of this multifaceted personality. These plays, which depicted Gandhi on stage as an actual historical figure, were followed by a wave of plays which idealized Gandhi. Perhaps this was inevitable, more so in the face of the commercial success of a play such as Mee Nathuram. Playwright Ramu Ramanathan says part of the reason behind writing the heart-warming play Mahadevbhai was to correct the false propaganda about Gandhi that was being lapped up not only by adult audiences in Mumbai but also by the young. “The entire idea of Gandhi was being violated in more ways than one and I felt it was necessary to remind people about what Gandhi stood for,” he says. Since 2002, Mahadevbhai, directed by Ramanathan and performed by Jaimini Pathak, has had many shows across the country. Narrated by Mahadev Desai, secretary to Gandhi, it is based on the daily diary that Desai maintained. The play offers an intimate look at the Mahatma and has freedom fighters appearing in cameos and asides as ordinary humans, not superheroes. The play has been particularly successful with young students. “Most of them came backstage and thanked us for doing this show since they did not know this history,” says Pathak.  Playwright’s muse: A scene from Sammy, written by Pratap Sharma. Photo: Primetime Theatre Company Sammy, a play on similar lines written by Pratap Sharma and directed by Lillette Dubey, makes use of all that is inspirational in Gandhi’s life and covers his political life, from his time in South Africa till his assassination. Although plays such as Mahadevbhai idealize Gandhi and present only the entirely defensible aspects of the man, they do so without distorting history. This cannot be said of plays such as Mee Nathuram, a first-person account by Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse, which reveals a deep contempt for non-violence. In order to justify killing Gandhi, the playwright has doctored historical facts pertaining to the time before and just after Partition. Five hundred shows later, the success of the play is a testimony to the fact that hostility to Gandhi and his ideals continues, particularly in Maharashtra. Audiences have also warmed to plays which are not antagonistic to Gandhi, such as Gandhi Virudh Gandhi, which shows him as a troubled family man, partly because these strike at the idea of the Mahatma being infallible. Gajvi, who spent eight years researching Gandhi Ambedkar, says his task was compounded by the fact that every time he read something new, he would also come across a contradictory reference. “I had to be very careful about the facts because I felt responsible for the followers of the two leaders,” he says. Although Gajvi’s research is thorough, the play often tilts towards Ambedkar. Ramdas Bhatkal, founder of the publishing company Popular Prakashan, is working on a doctoral thesis on Gandhi and has been researching the subject for a decade. He says that Gandhi tends to suffer in contemporary depictions as “knowing the facts about Gandhi is one thing and forming an understanding of him is another matter. He was essentially a great unifying force. Besides, a close look at his life provides more evidence than a reading of documented facts.” Perhaps it is significant then that of late there has been a resurgence of interest in Gandhi in theatre circles outside Maharashtra. Last year, New Delhi-based director M.K. Raina presented Stay Yet Awhile, a play which chronicled the correspondence between Gandhi and Tagore. The play had three actors reading out the letters, while video and documentary footage of the freedom movement was used as a backdrop. Raina, who has since begun to script a play on Gandhi’s special relationship with children, was drawn to the humour and grace that marked the relationship between Tagore and Gandhi. “We are all so eager to hero-worship that we don’t realize that these two had serious differences. Besides, there is not a single issue on which Gandhi does not speak to us today. Everything he talked about has come back to hit us today,” he says. Therein lies the enduring idea of a leader who sought to fuse idealistic humanism with the pragmatic and political, even as he subjected himself to superhuman trials in the pursuit of truth. The plays based on his life have tended to take positions of intense hostility and deep admiration, and there is plenty of unexplored material which could lend itself to a more critical, nuanced and thoughtful representation in theatre. Write to lounge@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:21 pm Why Gandhi still mattersSince independence and Partition, no event has so divided the Indian people as the demolition of a mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya in December 1992. Hindu radicals claimed that the mosque, known as the Babri Masjid, was built on the ruins of a temple, and that the site itself was the birthplace of god Ram. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, bands of volunteers tried to storm the mosque, in the process provoking a series of bloody riots across northern India.  This photograph was taken by Ram Rahman in 2002, during an India Day parade in New York. A man dressed as Gandhi walks down Madison Avenue as others follow him, holding the tricolour in their hands. At Saffronart Gallery, Mumbai, till 15 February Shortly before the Babri Masjid was destroyed, a group of Gandhians visited Ayodhya. They were led by a woman named Sushila Nayar, an 80-year-old physician who had worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi. A prayer meeting conducted by Nayar ended in the singing of Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, a favourite hymn of the Mahatma. When they came to the line Ishwar Allah Tero Naam (God is named both Ishwar and Allah), the meeting was disrupted by shouts and slogans. A section of the crowd surged towards the stage. Nayar came down to explain to the protesters that the singers had come “on behalf” of Gandhi (“hum Gandhijiki taraf se aye hain”). “Aur hum Godse ki taraf se,” the disruptionists are said to have replied: we have come on behalf of (Gandhi’s assassin) Nathuram Godse, and like him, we think you Gandhians are too soft on the Muslims. In contemporary India, it is not just the Hindu right that detests Gandhi. So does the Maoist left, which has recently been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the “greatest internal security threat” facing the nation. As readers of this newspaper know, the Indian Maoists are known as Naxalites, after a village in north Bengal where their movement began in 1967. Two years after the birth of naxalism, the world celebrated the centenary of Gandhi’s birth. Through that year, 1969, the Naxalites brought down statues of the Mahatma in towns and villages across West Bengal. Occasionally, by way of variation, they entered a government office to vandalize his portrait. Also Read Where khadi is no longer for freedom What would Gandhi do? The Mahatma’s children Gandhi at crossroads Her hymn Drama king Spinning a new yarn In the bylanes of Porbandar You can do it too The Maoists were vanquished in the 1970s by a combination of police action and killings by cadres of rival Communist groupings. But they later revived, and are especially powerful now in the states of central and eastern India. Now they have once more made their presence felt in West Bengal. They were blamed, probably accurately, for a recent attempt on the life of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The rise of the Maoists in the 1980s and beyond owes much to the work of a former schoolteacher named Kondapalli Seetaramaiah. He was the head of the Peoples War Group which, especially in Andhra Pradesh, mounted a series of daring attacks on railway stations and police camps. The police finally arrested KS (as he was known); but then he feigned illness and was admitted to hospital, from where he escaped. “At least a handful of India’s many millionaires are influenced by Gandhi. Where the majority hoard their wealth or spend it on jewellery and foreign holidays, there are some titans who have given away vast amounts of money to promote primary education and transparency in governance” It took the police two years to recapture Seetaramaiah. A journalist later asked him what he had done when on the run. KS replied that he went from the hospital in Hyderabad to Gandhi’s birthplace in Gujarat, some 900 miles (about 1448km) away. Here the revolutionary got off the train and took a rickshaw to the Mahatma’s parental home, now a museum dedicated to his memory. “I went there and spat on the maggu,” KS told the reporter, maggu being the Telugu word for the painted decorations placed outside most Indian shrines. Thus did this Maoist show his contempt for a man acknowledged to be the Father of the Indian Nation. Extremists despise Gandhi— what, however, of the vital centre? For much of the time that India has been an independent nation, the government in New Delhi has been run by the Congress party, to which Gandhi himself belonged. On the day of independence, 15 August 1947, the Mahatma was striving for communal peace in Kolkata. When the new ministers of the Bengal government went to seek his blessings, Gandhi told them that they had been tested during the British regime: “But in a way it has been no test at all. But now there will be no end to your being tested. Do not fall a prey to the lure of wealth. May God help you! You are there to serve the villages and the poor.” To say that Indian politicians have since dishonoured Gandhi’s advice would be a colossal understatement. The first betrayal, perhaps, was the abandonment of the villages and the poor. Through the 1950s and the 1960s, the economic policy of the state focused on the urban-industrial sector. Agriculture and crafts were neglected; so, even more grievously, was primary education. There still remained something “Gandhian” about the men in power; they were, on the whole, not personally corrupt. However, from the 1970s, politicians began abusing their position to enrich themselves and their families. A global survey carried out by Gallup in 2004 found that the lack of confidence in politicians was highest in India. As many as 91% of those polled felt that their elected representatives were not honest. What remains of Gandhi and Gandhism in India today? Before answering this question, let me note that like the Buddha, Gandhi was born in the Indian subcontinent but does not belong to this land alone. Just as the Buddha found his most devoted adherents elsewhere, the legacy of Gandhi has been admirably taken over by Martin Luther King, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi. It is a matter of shame that Gandhi was never awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; the shame is also felt by those who decide on the prize in Oslo, who have since made amends by awarding it to the four “Gandhians” mentioned above. Within India, meanwhile, a Gandhian tradition exists outside politics. There is a vigorous environmental movement, which has campaigned against the excesses of industrial development and worked to promote renewable energy and small-scale irrigation systems. These Greens often begin or end their programmes on 2 October, Gandhi’s birthday. The Gandhian influence is also present in the feminist and human rights movements, where it co-exists with tendencies drawing inspiration from other, more conventionally left-wing political traditions. Doctors and teachers inspired by Gandhi leave their city homes to run clinics and schools in the countryside. And at least a handful of India’s many millionaires are influenced by Gandhi. Where the majority hoard their wealth or spend it on jewellery and foreign holidays, there are some titans who have given away vast amounts of money to promote primary education and transparency in governance. What should remain of Gandhi and Gandhism in the world today? Sixty-one years after his death, some of his teachings are plainly irrelevant. For example, his ideas on food (his diet consisted chiefly of nuts and fruits and boiled vegetables) and sex (he imposed a strict celibacy on his followers) can hardly find favour with the majority of humans. That said, there are at least four areas in which Gandhi’s ideas remain of interest and importance. The first is the environment. The economic rise of China and India has brought a long suppressed, and quintessentially Gandhian, question to the fore: How much should a person consume? So long as the West had a monopoly on modern lifestyles, the question simply did not arise. But if most Chinese and most Indians come, like most Americans and most Englishmen, to own and drive a car, this will place unbearable burdens on the earth. Back in 1928, Gandhi had warned about the unsustainability, on the global scale, of Western patterns of production and consumption. “God forbid that India should ever take to industrialization after the manner of the West,” he said. “The economic imperialism of a single tiny island kingdom (England) is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation of 300 million took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts.” The second area is faith. Gandhi was at odds both with secularists who confidently looked forward to God’s funeral, and with monotheists who insisted that theirs was the one and true God. Gandhi believed that no religion had a monopoly on the truth. He argued that one should accept the faith into which one was born (hence his opposition to conversion), but seek always to interpret it in the most broad-minded and non-violent way. And he actively encouraged friendships across religions. His own best friend was a Christian priest, C.F. Andrews. In his ashram he held a daily prayer meeting at which texts from different religions were read or sung. At the time, his position appeared eccentric; in retrospect, it seems to be precocious. In a world driven by religious misunderstanding, it can help cultivate mutual respect and recognition. The third (and perhaps most obvious) area is non-violent resistance. That social change is both less harmful and more sustainable when achieved by non-violent means is now widely recognized. A study of some 60 transitions to democratic rule since World War II, by the think tank Freedom House, found that “far more often than is generally understood, the change agent is broad-based, non-violent civic resistance—which employs tactics such as boycotts, mass protests, blockades, strikes and civil disobedience to de-legitimate authoritarian rulers and erode their sources of support, including the loyalty of their armed defenders.” These, of course, were all methods of protest pioneered by Gandhi. The fourth area is public life. In his Reflections on Gandhi, George Orwell wrote that “regarded simply as a politician, and compared with the other leading political figures of our time, how clean a smell he has managed to leave behind!” In an age of terror, politicians may not be able to live as open a life as Gandhi. There were no security-men posted outside his ashram; visitors of any creed and nationality would walk in when they chose. Still, the politicians (and activists) of today might at least emulate his lack of dissembling and his utter lack of reliance on “spin”. His campaigns of civil disobedience were always announced in advance. His social experiments were minutely dissected in the pages of his newspapers, the comments of his critics placed alongside his own. Gandhi was a Hindu; but his Hinduism was altogether less dogmatic than that of the fundamentalists of today. Gandhi fought against injustice; but without recourse to the gun and without demonizing his adversary. That, six decades after his death, the extremists of left and right still need to vilify him is in itself a considerable tribute to the relevance of his thought. So, in a somewhat different way, is the need for mainstream politicians to garland portraits of Gandhi even as their practice is at odds with the man they profess to honour. Gandhi was a prophet of sorts, but by no means a joyless one. On a visit to London in 1931 he met a British monarch for the first and last time. When he came out of Buckingham Palace after speaking with George VI, a reporter asked whether he had not felt cold in his loin-cloth. Gandhi answered, “The King had enough on for both of us.” Another version has Gandhi saying, “The King wears plus-fours; I wear minus-fours.” In those self-deprecatory jokes lies a good deal of (still enduring) wisdom. © Ramachandra Guha. A version of this piece first ran in The Guardian. Ramachandra Guha is the author of India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy. Write to lounge@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:21 pm Davos Diary, Day 3: Kofi Annan And while, understandably, the financial crisis is top of the agenda here, I am pleased its impact on developing nations is being discussed. We need, too, to ensure other serious challenges are not forgotten. These include the scandal that a billion people on our planet won’t have enough food to eat today. Food prices may have fallen from their frightening high last year. But this must not fool us into thinking the crisis has gone away. It hasn’t. Nowhere is this truer than in Africa – a continent where food production per head has fallen over the last four decades. With the lowest use of fertiliser in the world, grain yields in Africa are a quarter of the global average. The result is misery for millions of families and a huge obstacle to the development of their countries. Click here for more news on WEF 2009 Also See Africa Progress Panel A uniquely green revolution in agriculture which tackles these long-term structural problems is desperately needed to provide food security. This requires both greater public and private sector investment in agriculture. Several Asian and Middle Eastern countries are already getting more involved. The challenge is to ensure that local people and economies benefit as well as international investors. We will all share, too, in the rich prize for fixing agriculture in Africa. Because it is one of the major keys to unlocking the continent’s potential and enabling Africa to be part of the solution to the world’s challenges. This is one of the main findings of a report the Africa Progress Panel is launching tomorrow, which highlights how Africa’s growth can help drive the global economy. It also points to opportunities in energy and infrastructure, and urges richer countries to keep their pledges to increased development aid to help African countries manage the impact of the global meltdown on their economies and people. The real test is whether, at next year’s Davos meeting, we can point to concrete measures taken which put into action the ideas and initiatives being proposed this week. Kofi Annan is a former secretary general of the United Nations. Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:20 pm Spinning a new yarnThe 5-hour car ride from Kolkata to Chowk village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on a bumpy, broken road is sure to leave you with a sore back. This journey is probably why the region has escaped the attention of potential handloom buyers, who flock to more accessible hubs in the state.  Wheel of life: (top) Weavers in Islampur; and Mondal at Chandrakant Lalitmohan Resham Khadi Samity, from where he sources fabric. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint But 29-year-old Kolkata-based designer Soumitra Mondal is willing to make the trip once every two months to nurture his camaraderie with the local weavers and reassure them that their craft is still valued. Silk weaving is the main cottage industry in Murshidabad. Around 16,000 families in Chowk, in the Islampur area, and 30 neighbouring villages are engaged at various points of the process of silk production—from separating silk threads from cocoons and spinning the yarn to weaving them into cloth. Walk down the dusty roads of Chowk and the air hums with the rattle of the taant(the indigenous wooden loom on which the cloth is woven). The brick-and-mortar houses indicate that the village is relatively more prosperous than other parts of the poor district. The looms date back to the 1950s, when the craft took root in the area, and have been handed down from one generation to the next. There has been little impetus from the government to modernize the fabric and make it popular among the general public. But now, hope has come in the form of Indian fashion designers who are willing to experiment. Designers such as Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Raghavendra Rathore and Anamika Khanna have used khadi in their creations, and newer labels such as Gaba are now doing so. Mondal is currently working on a line of autumn/winter clothes for daily wear for his fashion label, Marg. He says this collection—in earthy tones of brown, yellow ochre, green and maroon—will be crafted with just cotton and silk handloom and khadi, and adorned with thread embroidery. “Khadi can be given a soft texture that breathes well, and with the infusion of vibrant colours and modern designs, it can be very chic,” Mondal says. We visited Chowk with the designer, who was there to take delivery of a consignment of bleached white “linen silk”, an innovative combination of handmade silk and linen yarn that he has conceptualized. Having extensively researched khadi (he began experimenting with the fabric in 1999, while he was interning with designer Rahul Gupta), Mondal has been working with the artisans of the Islampur area to procure fabric for his collections. His linen silk dresses were well-received at Lakme Fashion Week in Spring/Summer 2008.  Khadi’s bright hues: Models showing Mondal’s Spring/Summer 2009 collection at Lakme Fashion Week; the outfits are now available at fashion stores in Mumbai. Lakme Fashion Week That was the first time Mondal presented a collection using khadi silk. He went a step further with his Spring/Summer 2009 collection (currently selling at Aza and The Oak Tree in Mumbai; prices start at Rs1,200), which was crafted entirely from khadi silk and included a few linen silk garments. The collection received an overwhelming response at Lakme Fashion Week in October. The look and feel of the lightweight and translucent linen silk was a hit. “This kind of innovation is required not only to popularize khadi, but also to make sure that the artisans are given new challenges to make the job more exciting. The only way an art or a profession can survive is when there is a demand for it,” he says. “If I am successful in popularizing khadi as a niche material in India and abroad, I could support a hundred families in this area involved in the production of khadi.” There is a long way to go. With khadi generally relegated to being a dull and coarse fabric without mass appeal, the fortunes of around one million artisans involved in the production of khadi across India have been dwindling. Though much of Mondal’s production work is done in Phulia (the more famous handloom hub in the state), he delegates a substantial portion of it to Islampur since it is the only area in the state, according to him, where the entire process takes place—from the cultivation of silkworms to the separation of the thread and the weaving of the cloth. Moreover, since Phulia is only a 2-hour drive from Kolkata, the artisans there have more than enough work and are, therefore, often hard-pressed to deliver consignments on time, says Mondal. “Since Islampur is far less accessible and further away from Kolkata, it has not yet been explored by potential buyers. So the commitment and excitement among the weavers of this area is far greater.” Procuring the material directly from weavers also gives him a cost advantage. Mondal is planning to give linen silk a popular platform by incorporating it in designs meant for apparel stores such as the Linen Club, promoted by the Aditya Birla Group. He has also been in talks with Fabindia, which is interested in exploring the idea of stocking dresses made of khadi silk with traditional ikkat work. If the deal is clinched, it would mean more work for the artisans of Chowk. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:20 pm Davos Diary, Day 3: Kofi AnnanAnd while, understandably, the financial crisis is top of the agenda here, I am pleased its impact on developing nations is being discussed. We need, too, to ensure other serious challenges are not forgotten. These include the scandal that a billion people on our planet won’t have enough food to eat today. Food prices may have fallen from their frightening high last year. But this must not fool us into thinking the crisis has gone away. It hasn’t. Nowhere is this truer than in Africa – a continent where food production per head has fallen over the last four decades. With the lowest use of fertiliser in the world, grain yields in Africa are a quarter of the global average. The result is misery for millions of families and a huge obstacle to the development of their countries. Click here for more news on WEF 2009 Also See Africa Progress Panel A uniquely green revolution in agriculture which tackles these long-term structural problems is desperately needed to provide food security. This requires both greater public and private sector investment in agriculture. Several Asian and Middle Eastern countries are already getting more involved. The challenge is to ensure that local people and economies benefit as well as international investors. We will all share, too, in the rich prize for fixing agriculture in Africa. Because it is one of the major keys to unlocking the continent’s potential and enabling Africa to be part of the solution to the world’s challenges. This is one of the main findings of a report the Africa Progress Panel is launching tomorrow, which highlights how Africa’s growth can help drive the global economy. It also points to opportunities in energy and infrastructure, and urges richer countries to keep their pledges to increased development aid to help African countries manage the impact of the global meltdown on their economies and people. The real test is whether, at next year’s Davos meeting, we can point to concrete measures taken which put into action the ideas and initiatives being proposed this week. Kofi Annan is a former secretary general of the United Nations. Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:20 pm Nokia outsources its desktop maintenance and support to HCL - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:19 pm Seven suitors lined up for Satyam: Tarun Das"We are aware of four companies that have approached Satyam, with another 2-3 firms also interested " Satyam Computer board member Tarun Das said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:18 pm APHC to hear SEBI plea tomorrow; SRSR GM sent to police custody - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:15 pm Minister says Satyam Board has ability to raise fundsThe government ruled out a financial bailout to scam-ridden Satyam as it was confident of the newly-appointed Board's ability to raise funds.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:11 pm Fuel cuts fail to prop MarketsA cut in fuel prices failed to add impetus to Indian equities markets which slipped into the red Thursday. A key index fell 0.23 percent over its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:02 pm India's growth to fall further: Economist GroupThe Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has predicted a 5.6 percent economic growth for India, much lower than the 7 percent expansion forecast by the government and policymakers.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:02 pm Emraan's 'Raaz' outshines 'Slumdog...' at box-officeDespite the hype and global applause that Danny Boyle's multiple award-winning 'Slumdog Millionaire' has garnered, the film has failed to surpass the box office collections of Bollywood thriller 'Raaz - The Mystery Continues', which released on the same day.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 1:02 pm Centre defers decision on changes to sugar import policy - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:55 pm Jindal Steel & Power Q3 net marginally upMumbai: Jindal Steel and Power on Thursday said its net profit in the third quarter (Q3) of the current fiscal grew marginally by 1.91% at Rs325.17 crore over the corresponding period a year ago. The company had a net profit of Rs319.05 crore in the third quarter last financial year, Jindal Steel and Power said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income of steel and power producer rose to Rs1,791.46 crore in December quarter this fiscal from Rs1,407.41 crore a year ago. For the nine-month period ended 31 December, Jindal Power and Steel posted a net profit of Rs1,179.63 crore, 39.49% growth over the corresponding period a year ago. It had a net profit of Rs845.63 crore in the same period last year. Shares of Jindal Power and Steel on Thursday closed at Rs912, down 1.39% on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:52 pm Voltas, Abu Dhabi firm in JV for airconditioner partsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Air-conditioner maker and services company Voltas Ltd on Thursday said it has taken 49 percent stake worth 29.81 million rupees in a joint venture, Universal Weathermaker Factory LLC, in Abu Dhabi.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:42 pm India warns of rising protectionismDAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Policymakers sounded the alarm about the growing threat of protectionism on Thursday as new data showed a sharp fall in air freight traffic that signalled a broader slowdown in world trade.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:40 pm Colgate-Palmolive Q4 profit up nearly 20%New York: Consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive says its fourth-quarter (Q4) profit jumped nearly 20%, helped by cost-cutting, higher prices and new products. Profit rose to $497 million, or 94 cents per share, from $414.9 million, or 77 cents per share, in 2008. Excluding restructuring charges, Colgate-Palmolive posted a profit of $527.5 million, or $1 per share, in the most recent quarter. Sales rose to $3.66 billion from $3.64 billion a year ago. Analysts expected a profit of 98 cents per share and sales of $3.69 billion. Chief executive Ian Cook says cost-cutting and new products helped results during the quarter, despite a tough economy. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:32 pm IMF lowers India`s growth projections for 2009 to 5%!The International Monetary Fund has lowered India and China`s growth projections for 2009 to 5 percent and 6.75 percent respectively as it forecast world growth falling to its lowest level since World War II.Source: Zee News : Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm Productive investment needed to combat global meltdown: ILO!A top UN agency has called on the governments to focus on productive investment, decent work and social protection as it warned the current global crisis could push some 200 million workers into extreme poverty worldwide.Source: Zee News : Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm Jabil Circuit to cut 3,000 jobs worldwide!Electronics parts maker Jabil Circuit says it is cutting 3,000 jobs mostly overseas, or nearly 4 percent of its work force, because of the global economic turmoil.Source: Zee News : Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm US House OKs $819 bn stimulus bill!The Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge USD 819 bn stimulus bill on Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm Boeing loses USD 56mn in Q4!Boeing Co has reported loss of USD 56 million or eight cents per share in the fourth quarter.Source: Zee News : Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:07 pm Markets open in the green!Bombay Stock Exchange opened at 9,334.47 points, higher than its 9,257.47-point close on Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:07 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 | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:55 am Indian Hotels Q3 net dips 38% to Rs83.85 crMumbai: Tata Group firm Indian Hotels on Thursday said its net profit in the third quarter (Q3) of current fiscal year plummeted 37.69% to Rs83.85 crore. The company had a net profit of Rs134.58 crore in the third quarter last financial year, Indian Hotels Company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income of hotels, resort and restaurant firm also fell to Rs478.61 crore in December quarter of FY 09, from Rs525 crore last fiscal. For the nine-month period ended 31 December, the Tata Group firm posted a net profit of Rs195.78 crore, a 19.29% decline over the corresponding period a year ago. It had a net profit of Rs242.58 crore in the same period FY 08. Shares of Indian Hotels were trading at Rs38.95, unchanged from its previous close on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:55 am Cairn India clocks net profit of Rs236.42 crNew Delhi: Cairn India Ltd on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs236.42 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2008 as compared to a loss of Rs13.91 crore in the year-ago period. The net profit included one-time reversal of deferred tax liability amounting to Rs123.60 crore, the company said in a statement. The consolidated profit before tax for the fourth quarter of 2008 was Rs169.37 crore as opposed to Rs20.52 crore in the October-December quarter of 2007. Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir said that cash flow from operations were down 20% at Rs95.2 crore on lower realisation on crude oil, it sold in the quarter. The average oil price realisation was $56.4 per barrel, down from $90.2 a barrel the previous year. The gas price realisation in Q4 2008 was higher at $4.0 per million standard cubic feet when compared with $3.63 per million standard cubic feet of 2008. Cairn produced 63,005 barrels per day of oil equivalent (boepd), down from 65,331 boepd in Q4 2007. The consolidated revenue of Cairn India was Rs210.8 crore, a decline from Rs266.7 crore of 2007. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:51 am Economy to grow around 7 pct in 2008/09 - MukherjeeNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's economy will expand around 7 percent in the year to March, a senior cabinet minister said on Thursday, in line with central bank and government estimates.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:40 am Time Warner to cut 10% of AOL workforce: reportWashington: US media-entertainment giant Time Warner will cut 10% of the workforce, or up to 700 jobs, from its AOL Internet unit to stem losses from a declining online advertisting market, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. “Online marketers have tightened their ad buying across the board, reducing their spend by hundreds of millions of dollars,” AOL chief executive Randy Falco wrote in an internal memo, said the newspaper. According to Swiss bank UBS, AOL’s profits from online advertising are set to fall 12% in the fourth quarter. “We will continue throughout the year to carefully and thoroughly review all our products and services to make sure every one fully supports our strategy and has the potential for growth,” said Falco in his memo, stressing the cuts mean consolidation for parts of the company, without specifying which. “AOL now focuses on three main areas: advertising, online publishing and social networks,” wrote the Times. Time Warner, the sector leader that owns Warner Brothers studios, said earlier this month that it would take a writedown of $25 billion to reflect declining values of its AOL Internet unit along with cable and publishing operations. The media giant has in the past explored the possibility of merging AOL with Yahoo! or Microsoft, and discussions on a deal are still ongoing, according to people close to the case. New Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz is seen “as one catalyst towards progress in these discussions,” said the Financial Times. In the third quarter of 2008 AOL showed signs of strain as it tried to prioritize its advertising business, posting a decline of 634,000 subscribers. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:33 am Investigate Satyam for insider trading: MoneyLifeDebashish Basu, Editor and Publisher, Moneylife Magazine, said regulators have not taken action on various issues with respect to Satyam, and LT. He feels Sebi must investigate insider trading allegations in Satyam.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:21 am BSE Sensex snaps 2-day rise, autos buck trendMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex snapped a two-day rally and fell 0.2 percent on Thursday in choppy trade as investors squared their positions on the last day of monthly derivatives contracts.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:19 am ADB to release first tranche of loan to Himachal soonThe Asian Development Bank (ADB) will soon release the first instalment of a multimillion-dollar loan for the construction of four medium to large run-of-river hydropower generating plants in Himachal Pradesh, a senior official said Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:05 am Hope and jobs for students at Delhi University's job fairAt a time jobs are becoming scarce and pink slips the order of the day with the global meltdown, there is reason to cheer. Delhi University's newly-launched Central Placement Cell has provided jobs to at least 200 undergraduate students with major companies, including IT major Wipro, pharma giant Ranbaxy and BPO major Genpact.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:04 am Close: Markets end flat, upset by rise in inflationNew Delhi: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex continued to trade choppy, ending 0.23% lower on Thursday after a weak wholesale price index was announced with inflation rising to 5.64% from previous week’s 5.6%. Markets opened positive today and traded in green most part of the day on firm Asian markets. News of approval of Barack Obama’s $825 billion economic stimulus bill, by the US House of Representatives also helped market sentiment. The 30-share BSE index had been rallying for the last two sessions but unexpected inflation data dragged Sensex to end flat at 9,236.28 or 21.19 points down. The broad based 50-share NSE Nifty ended 25.55 lower at 2,823.95 mark. Auto and IT index gained by 1%, others like metal and banking witnessed some buying too. But sectors like Realty, capital goods, power and consumer durables caused the Sensex to shed morning gains. Choppy sentiment was also the result of investors acting cautious ahead of expiration of January F&O series, on the other hand marketmen had expected buying to be enthused by 11% cut in fuel prices. Jaiprakash Associates was the top gainer from the BSE pack, surging by 5.6% to Rs69.55. Maruti Suzuki followed close by 4.6% at Rs544.80 even though the company posted fall in net sales to Rs4,626 crore from Rs4,674 crore. Other gainers were Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Tata Motors. DLF suffered the most on the BSE index, losing 7.15% to Rs165.00, followed by Bharti Airtel by 3.92% to Rs627.95, Wipro Ltd by 3.33% to Rs226.55, Bhel by 2.72% to Rs1,355.70, Reliance Communications Ltd by 2.61% to Rs162.05 and Larsen and Toubro by 1.65% to Rs660.30 Asian markets also influenced morning’s bearish sentiment as they continued to gain after Obama’s $825 billion stimulus plan was approved. Japan’s Nikkei rose by 1.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 4.5% higher on rallying financial stocks. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:04 am Go-ahead to Rs.3.87 bn plan for Lady Hardinge Medical CollegeThe central government has given the go-ahead to a Rs.3.87 billion redevelopment plan for the prestigious Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and associated hospitals.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:03 am Markets close in the redIndian equities markets shut shop in negative terrain Thursday, with a key index falling 0.64 percent from its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:02 am India's GDP to grow at 7-8 percent: Kamal NathCommerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath Thursday expressed hope that India's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 7-8 percent in 2008-09 and said the country's recovery from the financial crisis will be 'faster than the rest of the world'.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:01 am Gas utility GAIL scales down capital expenditureState-run gas utility GAIL India has scaled down its capital expenditure to Rs.55 billion (Rs.5,500 crore) for 2009-10 after the Planning Commission objected to the higher estimate prepared earlier, the company said here Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 11:01 am Govt relaxes norms allowing states to borrow Rs 30,000 cr moreOperationalising the second stimulus package to boost the economy, the government relaxed the debt relief guidelines allowing states to borrow an additional Rs 30,000 crore.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:58 am Fidelity buys 2.5 pct of Satyam for $19 mlnMUMBAI (Reuters) - Asset manager Fidelity Investments bought a 2.5 percent stake in fraud-scarred Satyam Computer Services for 915 million rupees ($18.7 million) through two block deals on Wednesday, stock exchange data showed.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:54 am Seven suitors line up for Satyam: Tarun DasNew Delhi: Scam-hit Satyam Computer has been approached by as many as seven possible suitors, including private equity players, even as the company’s investment bankers are trying to find the best match. “So far we are aware of four (companies that have approached Satyam Computer). But we have heard that another two or three firms are also interested,” Satyam Computer board member Tarun Das, who is also the chief mentor of industry body CII said. Investment bankers are talking to everybody and finding out which firm is interested, what is the level of seriousness and are evaluating the proposal before getting back to the board. The process is likely to take six weeks, Das added. Earlier this week, the board of Satyam Computer Services appointed Goldman Sachs and Avendus Capital as investment bankers and mandated Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to act as its management adviser. Asked whether Satyam’s founder Ramalinga Raju had inflated employee numbers as claimed by the Andhra Pradesh police, Das said: “We have done a head count using external agencies and we believe in the basis of investigation that we are well over 50,000 people in Satyam. So I do not think that there is any inflated numbers.” Earlier, Andhra Pradesh CID had claimed in a court that there were 13,000 ghost employees on the rolls of the IT firm, following which the human resources department of Satyam Computer Services conducted a verification of the head count. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:33 am Inflation rate rises, but economists not alarmedIndia's annual rate of inflation rose marginally by 0.04 percent to 5.64 percent for the week ended Jan 17 from 5.6 percent the week before, official data released here Thursday showed. Economists, however, said this was 'temporary'.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:32 am Tata's Corus set to sell stakes in steel plantIndia's Tatas-owned Corus, Britain's biggest steel maker, plans to sell a majority stake in a large steel plant for about 450 million dollars, securing about 2,000 jobs at the site.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:27 am BPCL Q3 net jumps two-fold at Rs799.84 crMumbai: State-run oil major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) on Thursday said its standalone net profit for the December quarter jumped more than two-fold to Rs799.84 crore. The company had a net profit of Rs291.3 crore in the same quarter FY 08, BPCL said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income rose to Rs32,184.63 crore for the quarter under review, against Rs29,258.48 crore in the corresponding period. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:20 am Govt looks to ministers to end 3G auction logjamNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government has asked a panel of ministers to consider key issues relating to a delayed auction of third-generation telecommunications spectrum and decisions are expected soon, the junior telecoms minister said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:19 am Inflation rises for second week in a row, now at 5.64 per centDriven by higher prices of essential food articles, jet fuel and alcohol, inflation inched up further for the second consecutive week, to 5.64 per cent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:18 am Maruti Q3 profit falls 54 pct, shares upMUMBAI (Reuters) - Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's largest car maker, missed forecasts with a 54.3 percent fall in quarterly profit as high material costs and adverse currency changes in a sluggish market squeezed margins.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:04 am India sees export growth, warns on protectionismDavos: India sees growing signs of protectionism and will respond by taking measures of its own if its exporters are threatened, trade minister Kamal Nath said on Thursday. His comments at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos were the latest warning that the global economic crisis could fuel protectionism to protect national industries and jobs. “In some places there are sounds of protectionism, in some places it is real,” the minister told Reuters. “We are seeing greater use in the western world of anti-dumping measures, non-tariff barriers being used in Europe.” As an example, Nath cited Dutch authorities’ seizure last week of a Brazil-bound shipment of a generic high blood pressure drug made in India. He said India had taken up the issue with the Dutch authorities and the European Union, and hoped to resolve it. “We do fear this because one must recognise that at the heart of globalisation lies global competitiveness, and if governments are going to protect their non-competitive production facilities it’s not going to be fair trade,” he said. “If there are protectionist measures India will be compelled to also take commensurate measures against those countries which will be good for no one.” India itself has raised tariffs on steel to protect local producers, a measure which trade experts say was aimed at China. Nath said India would impose safeguard or anti-dumping duties on products from any country selling goods below cost. The deepening economic crisis, and the failure to complete the World Trade Organisation’s long-running Doha round on freeing up global commerce, have raised fears that countries would block their partners’ exports to protect jobs at home. Such protectionism, if it leads to tit-for-tat retaliation, would intensify the crisis, as happened in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Egyptian trade minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid expressed concern on Wednesday at the way countries were rolling out stimulus and bailout packages to defend local industries and called for a more coordinated approach. Nath said it was important for trading powers to continue efforts to complete the Doha round, launched in late 2001. Ministers came close to a deal last July but stumbled over differences about a safeguard to protect poor farmers against import surges and calls by the United States for duty-free zones in some industrial sectors. “I think that at this point the multilateral trading system more than ever before needs strengthening,” he said. Despite the global crisis, Nath said India expects exports to grow by 17% this year. Exports in April to November were 19.4% higher than a year earlier, but fell at an annual 9.9% rate in November itself. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:02 am India sees export growth, warns on protectionismDavos: India sees growing signs of protectionism and will respond by taking measures of its own if its exporters are threatened, trade minister Kamal Nath said on Thursday. His comments at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos were the latest warning that the global economic crisis could fuel protectionism to protect national industries and jobs. “In some places there are sounds of protectionism, in some places it is real,” the minister told Reuters. “We are seeing greater use in the western world of anti-dumping measures, non-tariff barriers being used in Europe.” As an example, Nath cited Dutch authorities’ seizure last week of a Brazil-bound shipment of a generic high blood pressure drug made in India. He said India had taken up the issue with the Dutch authorities and the European Union, and hoped to resolve it. “We do fear this because one must recognise that at the heart of globalisation lies global competitiveness, and if governments are going to protect their non-competitive production facilities it’s not going to be fair trade,” he said. “If there are protectionist measures India will be compelled to also take commensurate measures against those countries which will be good for no one.” India itself has raised tariffs on steel to protect local producers, a measure which trade experts say was aimed at China. Nath said India would impose safeguard or anti-dumping duties on products from any country selling goods below cost. The deepening economic crisis, and the failure to complete the World Trade Organisation’s long-running Doha round on freeing up global commerce, have raised fears that countries would block their partners’ exports to protect jobs at home. Such protectionism, if it leads to tit-for-tat retaliation, would intensify the crisis, as happened in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Egyptian trade minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid expressed concern on Wednesday at the way countries were rolling out stimulus and bailout packages to defend local industries and called for a more coordinated approach. Nath said it was important for trading powers to continue efforts to complete the Doha round, launched in late 2001. Ministers came close to a deal last July but stumbled over differences about a safeguard to protect poor farmers against import surges and calls by the United States for duty-free zones in some industrial sectors. “I think that at this point the multilateral trading system more than ever before needs strengthening,” he said. Despite the global crisis, Nath said India expects exports to grow by 17% this year. Exports in April to November were 19.4% higher than a year earlier, but fell at an annual 9.9% rate in November itself. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 10:02 am IBN18 Broadcast to acquire 43.4% stake in Viacom18 MediaIBN18 Broadcast is going to acquire 43.4% stake in Viacom18 Media from TV18 subsidiary B K Holdings for $62.5 million. After this acquisition, the stake will go up to 50%.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:48 am Indian IT stars look to cast off Satyam shadow in DavosDavos: India’s burgeoning IT sector has granted its businessmen glamourous places among the world’s elite in Davos, but this year they are on the defensive, looking to rebuild trust after the Satyam scandal. The last 12 months have been brutal for the reputations of many former high-flying businessmen, none more so than the boss of Satyam, B Ramalinga Raju, who is currently in jail. The founder of India’s fourth-largest software services company was on the initial guestlist for Davos this year, but is in custody facing charges of cheating and forgery after owning up to multi-million-dollar fraud. The rest of the Indian IT sector, which has enjoyed years of rapid growth due to outsourcing by multinationals, now faces a crisis of confidence at a time of falling demand due to the global economic crisis. “It was a ‘caught in the headlights´ feeling,” reflects Vineet Nayer, chief executive of HCL Technologies, India’s fifth-largest outsourcing provider by sales, when recalling the day he learned of the Satyam fraud. “One day you open the newspaper. It was an unbelievable morning. It seemed impossible that something like this could have happened in India,” he said on the sidelines of this year’s Davos forum. The incident, he said, had required Indian IT companies to reassure customers and investors about their businesses and is driving a broader trend towards greater transparency. “One bad apple does not make the whole orchard bad,” he stressed, adding that HCL did double auditing - a second auditor checks the work of the first - and has six independent directors. “Satyam is a bad incident but I think we are converting that into an opportunity to have an open conversation with customers.” The sector was also hit by the World Bank in January, which said it had barred a handful of Indian companies, including Satyam, from doing business with it because of accusations of corruption. Wipro Technologies and Megasoft Consultants Ltd were also named. Nayer predicted that competition in the Indian sector, which generates $40 billion a year, is set to hot up in the current depressed climate, with global consolidation and the failure of weaker firms. “Overall, there is going to be a reduction in IT spending. We can’t run away from it. However, I believe there are so many companies providing IT services, that there will be a turn towards quality and value. HCL, which reported a sharp rise in fourth quarter profit and sales, would look to step on the accelerator in the “tunnel” of the current climate and look to emerge into the light the other end faster than its competitors. Last month, HCL acquired Britain-based Axon in an $811 million deal that was described as the largest overseas acquisition by an Indian outsourcing firm. Elsewhere in Davos, the head of Infosys Technologies, India’s second-biggest technology company, warned that the current environment was the toughest since he started his career as a software engineer 30 years ago. Conditions had deteriorated over the past month and employee bonuses and compensation packages would be cut in the months as the global financial crisis bites. “This year it’s expected to be very muted the number of people getting increases in salaries and bonuses and promotions. It will be very limited,” Infosys chief executive Kris Gopalakrishnan told Dow Jones Newswires. “The velocity of business has slowed down significantly ... The bottom is not yet reached, that’s very clear,” Gopalakrishnan said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:46 am Wall Street cash bonuses plunge 44 pc in '08Deepening financial crisis has hit the employees of Wall Street hard, whose yearly bonuses were down 44 per cent from last year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:42 am Fuel prices at June '06 level; we kept promise, says DeoraThe second fuel price cut in less than two months has brought down fuel rates to June 2006 level, petroleum minister Murli Deora said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:39 am Computers at $10 to be available in six monthsNew Delhi: To take knowledge to every household and help students get feed on every subject while sitting home, the government is set to make available low-cost computers at $10 within six months. Technology for these small devices have been developed by IISC, Bangalore and IIT Madras. “But lot of testing has to be done to ensure that the technology works properly. Once the testing is over, the computers will be made available on commercial basis. The target is to make it available in six months time,” Higher Education Secretary, Ministry of HRD, R P Agrawal told reporters here today. The computer will be a small equipment with expandable memory, LAN and Wi-Fi facilities. The government will also produce e-content on every subject which will be made available free of cost. A prototype computer has been designed which is being tested now. “Its cost will be $10. If the parents want to gift something to their kids, they can easily purchase this item and gift them,” he said. Students can get the e-content feed and load them in their computers and take advantage of the materials. The government will provide these computers to educational institutions at a subsidised price, Agrawal said. The government is in the process of consultation with different agencies for production of these computers and are seeking collaboration with them. These computers can run at two WT power. “The ultimate target is to have a Virtual Technological University,” Agrawal said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:14 am Karnataka cancels projects assigned to MaytasMumbai: State of Karnataka will cancel projects being executed by Satyam-linked construction firm Maytas Infra, television channel CNBC-TV18 said on Thursday, quoting the state’s chief minister. Maytas, along with Nagarjuna Construction, holds rights to develop two minor airports at Shimoga and Gulbarga in the state. Maytas is founded by the family of B Ramalinga Raju, former chairman of fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 9:13 am Project delays hit Future Groups retail plansThe Future Group will be opening 1820 stores this year against its planned 40 stores as real estate developers, strapped for funds, are falling behind schedule.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:54 am Inflation edges up, rate cuts still expectedNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Inflation edged up for a second week in mid-January due to lingering effects of a strike by truck drivers, but analysts said the broader trend was down and they still expect the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 8:32 am Parliament to have 300 hi-tech camerasNew Delhi: Surveillance in Parliament will be upgraded with the installation of 300 hi-tech cameras in the high security zone. “We are procuring about 300 hi-tech cameras to be installed in parliament complex as part of the security upgradation drive,” said a senior Lok Sabha secretariat official. There are currently about 265 cameras installed in the complex. “These cameras were installed in 1980s. So it was decided to replace them with the latest ones,” the official said, adding that more cameras would be installed to meet the present requirement. Three PSUs involved in installing the cameras had made a presentation on the functioning of the equipment for members of the parliament committee on security. Senior officials handling parliament security were also present at the demonstration which was held this week. The command and control room set up to monitor the CCTV network is also being upgraded. Lok Sabha Secretary General PDT Achary said, “upgradation of CCTV system is very essential and also urgent. We are trying to upgrade the system as far as possible to meet the security needs of parliament.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:11 am IMF lowers India growth to 5% as global economy sinksThe IMF has lowered India and China's growth projections for 2009 to 5% and 6.75% respectively as it forecasts world growth falling to its lowest level since World War II.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 7:01 am RNRL replies to govt on final day of argumentsRNRL tried to show that there was no provision in the production sharing contract between RIL and the Govt requiring the latter to approve the final selling price, the court heard.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:52 am Starbucks shuts stores, cuts jobs as profit lagsLos Angeles: Starbucks Corp’s quarterly profit fell more than expected as sales at established US stores fell 10%, and the company said it will close 300 more cafes and could slash up to 6,700 jobs. Starbucks, whose shares fell 2.5% after-hours, said it now aims to cut fiscal 2009 costs by $500 million from a previously targeted $400 million. The coffee chain reported fewer customers, spending less, and was hit by a stronger dollar against the pound and the Canadian dollar. Total revenue slid 6%. After cementing its global brand by selling $3 lattes to the masses, the company got into trouble when it built too many US outlets. It has been hard-hit by a US-led recession that has wiped out more than 3 million jobs, decimated home values and investments and battered consumer spending and confidence. “The operating environment is terrible but they’re doing a lot of the right things here - slowing their growth, looking for cost savings. They’re preparing themselves for the time in the future where sales come back,” said Larry Miller, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. “There are a lot of stores that haven’t been profitable. It’s a harsh reality but they need to right-size the organization. Unfortunately, there are some casualties.” Starbucks said 200 of the new-store closures will be in the United States, where it had already targeted 600 stores for termination. The remaining 100 are in international markets. Last year, Starbucks also shut 61 cafes in Australia. The coffee chain, which brought back Howard Schultz as chief executive in January 2008, has repeatedly jolted investors with bad news since its US traffic started slowing in late 2007. Schultz said on a conference call on Wednesday that Starbucks was able to find new positions for about 70% of the workers affected by the closure of the 600 domestic stores. Starbucks said it now expects to open 140 new company-operated stores in the United States in fiscal 2009, 60 fewer than previously targeted. The company plans to open 170 new international company stores, down from 270. Net new licensed-store targets also were lowered to 125 in the US and 360 internationally. Starbucks reported a non-GAAP earnings per share of 15 cents for the fiscal first quarter ended 28 December, lagging a comparable consensus estimate for 17 cents, according to Reuters Estimates. At the end of the fourth quarter, there were more than 11,500 US Starbucks stores and more than 5,000 abroad. Analysts held out hope that Starbucks’ aggressive cost-cutting efforts will put it back on a growth track once the economy rebounds. “There are stores out there that are in no-man’s-land, there are fields of dreams of unsold homes, this is not surprising. I think it’s a very rational thing to do in this environment.” Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:10 am Sensex sheds 21 pts, auto stocks up fuel cutSnapping the two-day rally, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday closed down nearly 21 points.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jan 2009 | 6:00 am Google out to expose Internet traffic chokersSan Francisco: Google on Wednesday began offering tools to expose Internet service providers (ISPs) that choke traffic or shift users into slow lanes while allowing others to zip along at high speeds. The online search and advertising king is an unabashed champion of “net neutrality” in which all Internet traffic is treated equally instead of letting service providers give preferential treatment to privileged clients. “At Google, we care deeply about sustaining the Internet as an open platform for consumer choice and innovation,” Google chief evangelist Vint Cerf and principal engineer Stephen Stuart wrote in an online posting. “No matter your views on net neutrality and ISP network management practices, everyone can agree that Internet users deserve to be well-informed about what they’re getting when they sign up for broadband.” Google worked with New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers to create an online Measurement Lab (M-Lab) that researchers can use to detect Internet traffic manipulation. “When an Internet application doesn’t work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else?” Cerf wrote. “It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users, to address this sort of question today.” M-Lab went online Wednesday with three diagnostic tools running on computer servers near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. The tools are available to help users “diagnose common problems that might impair their broadband speed, as well as determine whether BitTorrent is being blocked or throttled by their ISPs,” according to Cerf, a computer scientist often called “father of the Internet”. ISPs such as US behemoth Comcast have sparked controversy by clandestinely throttling some traffic, such as peer-to-peer file sharing. ISPs argue that such measures are necessary to manage growing congestion on the Internet highway. Google has been among those advocating against fettering online traffic, saying that doing so stifles Internet innovation and growth. M-Lab is in a nascent phase and through the year Google will add servers in a dozen locations in Europe and the US. More diagnostic tools will be added and results made public, according to Google. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 29 Jan 2009 | 3:56 am Indian Ocean, hotspot for research workTokyo, Jan 28 The Indian Ocean is becoming the hotspot for research activities by major international institutions with studies indicating its growing influence on evolving weather over places as far away as western US and northern Europe.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Cos start divulging pledged share dataKolkata, Jan. 28 Voluntary disclosures have begun to trickle in before SEBI has made the necessary notification for mandatory disclosures by promoters regarding shares pledged by them.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideWe reiterate buy recommendation in DLF, ICICI Bank and L&T for the session. Infosys is facing key resistance at Rs 1,305. Initiate fresh long-position only if the stock surpasses theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Steel majors take a hit in Q3 as demand dips, costs riseMumbai, Jan. 28 Slackening demand for steel due to the economic slowdown and a sharp rise in prices of raw materials, especially coal, have made a major dent on the bottomlines of Indian steelSource: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Govt likely to cut petrol, diesel pricesNew Delhi, Jan. 28 The Government is likely to cut petrol and diesel prices for the second time in nearly two months.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Scope for further cuts in lending, deposit rates: RBIMumbai, Jan. 28 Even as the Reserve Bank of India wants banks to respond to its earlier policy cues by cutting deposit and lending rates, its third quarter review of Monetary Policy 2008-09 clearly recognises structural factors, including theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am TRAI wants more than one CDMA player to get 3G spectrumNew Delhi, Jan. 28 The telecom regulator has told the Government that it should explore allotting 3G spectrum to more than one CDMA-based mobile operator.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Great Offshore (Rs 256.55): BuyWe recommend a buy in Great Offshore for a short-term horizon. It is evident from the charts of Great Offshore that after encountering resistance around Rs 550 in late September, it has seen a steep decline.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Rules of promoter-less corporatesNow, after the Satyam scam, a furious debate on corporate governance is on in India. Like the US had debated it, even more furiously, after Enron and Worldcom scams. The author of the current Indian debate undoubtedly is Ramalinga Raju. To captureSource: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am RPower emerges frontrunner for Tilaiya power projectMumbai, Jan. 28 The Anil Ambani group controlled Reliance Power Ltd has emerged as the front-runner for the 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Project at Tilaiya in Jharkhand.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 29 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am Davos Diary, Day 2: Kofi Annan From my talks so far, I believe this anger is understood. But what’s needed now is to go beyond this recognition that people feel badly feel let down. It is not enough for business leaders—and there are more here in Davos than ever before—to admit their collective mistakes. They will only start winning back trust by committing themselves to change the way they operate and focus on social outcomes as well as profit. Africa’s potential Nowhere is this shift in approach needed more than in Africa. The continent’s long-term prospects are better than any time since independence. But the global downturn risks are undermining progress. It is not just in the interest of Africa but also of business that this does not happen. Africa represents a vast potential market of nearly 500 million consumers. But many still lack access to the most basic services. By finding ways to provide services and goods more cheaply, businesses can boost development, increase incomes and increase markets for goods. There are huge opportunities, for example, in renewable energy which can help increase economic growth and help tackle climate change. Beyond public relations The Africa progress panel is already working with senior African and international business leaders to identify opportunities. I hope to set out in Cape Town this summer specific initiatives which can help accelerate progress to the benefit of everyone. Click here for more news on WEF 2009 Also See Africa Progress Panel We need to go beyond public relations and cosmetic corporate social responsibility programmes. It’s by what they do, not what they say, that an angry public will now judge business leaders. Kofi Annan is a former secretary general of the United Nations. Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 7:00 pm 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.  Redefining values: The Davos gathering is a mix of experience and youth, background and insights, that will spur the right focus, says Verwaayen. Pascal Lauener / Reuters 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 1980s? 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. Click here for more news on WEF 2009 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 behaviourally 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. Ben Verwaayen is chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent. Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 7:00 pm Government's probe finds ex-Satyam directors guiltyThe government has decided to make all former Satyam Computer Services top executives and board members, including the independent directors, answerable for the fraud in the company on grounds that they "attempted to enrich themselves unjustifiably at the cost of the company and its stakeholders".Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:49 pm Petrol price cut Rs 5, diesel Rs 2, LPG Rs 25For the second time in as many months, the government today cut the prices of petrol by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, while the domestic LPG rate was also slashed by as much as Rs 25 per cylinder.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:48 pm Adani plans to merge SEZsFor the first time since its inception in 2006, the Board of Approval on special economic zones (SEZs) in its next meeting in March will take up a proposal from a developer to merge these tax-free industrial enclaves for exports. The Adani group has sought the boards approval to merge its three SEZs at Mundra in Gujarat. The merger will result in lesser expenses on infrastructure, utilities and administration.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:48 pm Reliance Power bags Tilaiya UMPP tooReliance Power has bagged the Tilaiya ultra mega power project (UMPP) in Jharkhand by offering to supply power at Rs 1.77 per unit the lowest price quoted by the four companies in the fray.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:47 pm Semiconductor industry in India may hold its own in downturnBangalore: India could be relatively insulated from the worst effects of the severe downturn in the global semiconductor market, with the domestic market for semiconductors forecast to grow more than six times faster than the worldwide market.  Opportunity beckons: India Semiconductor Association’s Jaswinder S. Ahuja, says the country makes only 46% of the products consumed. Hemant Mishra / Mint Local production meets only 46% of total semiconductor demand in India, and ISA terms the other 54% as a lost opportunity. “India’s manufacturing index is low; it manufactures only 46% of the products consumed, so there’s a greater opportunity for the industry (in manufacturing),” said Jaswinder S. Ahuja, chairman of ISA, and corporate vice-president and managing director of Cadence Design Systems India Ltd. The current opportunity loss of $3.37 billion (about Rs16,479 crore) is expected to rise to $4.35 billion by 2010. The earlier ISA-Frost and Sullivan report had projected the 2008 total market to be $4.56 billion, with a compounded annual growth rate of 26.7% against the current $5.9 billion growing at 13.4%. The variance, the report says, is due to the inclusion of new products such as digital cameras, closed circuit television and power supplies. However, it’s the boom in direct-to-home, or DTH, business that has led to the surge in this segment. The semiconductor industry is known to brace cyclical troughs— for instance in 2001, 1996, 1991. This time around the trough, which is not driven by technology but by the weak economic conditions, is much larger in scope and scale. For the first time, Chinese chip market is projected to shrink 5.8%, according to market intelligence firm iSuppli Corp., which estimates the global semiconductor market to decline by 9.4% in 2009. Also See Chipping in (Graphic) Still, semiconductor companies think the impact of the global industry downturn is less in India because of the small market base and its underserved nature. “There sure is an impact …the type of work done here will not change, but the amount of work will,” says Madhusudan V. Atre, president, Applied Materials India Ltd, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer. He is optimistic about the growing solar gear market and thinks the value of business proposals with the Indian government to manufacture solar photo voltaic cells, or PV—which are made from silicon wafers that are also used in semiconductors—ranges anywhere from $25-30 billion. The sector sees less of an impact from the meltdown because of the small base in the country Besides solar, semiconductor design, which is not included in the present report, is a potential growth segment. “Design has a three to four year lead time, so to that extent design companies don’t get impacted,” says Anil Gupta, managing director, ARM India, part of the UK-based company that designs chips for advanced digital products and employs about 350 design engineers in India. But the business is affected as old designs sitting on the shelves take a hit and the shipments start getting impacted, which has already happened in the last quarter, says Gupta. According to the latest ISA-IDC report, Indian semiconductor design industry will grow 21.7% to $10.96 billion in 2010 from $7.3 billion in 2008. “There’s no slowdown in design, it’s business as usual,” says Sanjeev Keskar, country manager, sales, at Freescale Semiconductor India Ltd. Analysts think for design services companies such as Wipro Ltd, MindTree Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd, it’s a good time to consolidate. There will be pressure on productivity and accountability; a design which earlier needed six months will now be expected in three months, but it’s also a time for Indian companies to hire as layoffs happen globally and semiconductor skill is not easily available, says Ganesh Ramamoorthy, principal research analyst at Gartner Inc. in Mumbai. Ramamoorthy thinks Indian companies should also look for acquisitions overseas, just as Wipro strengthened its European presence by acquiring the Austrian chip design company NewLogic Technologies in 2006. Learning from cyclical trends, the industry may have a lesson or two for other sectors, particularly the automotive industry. “The lesson is for all to see—keep innovating on your product…but in auto engineering, people have not been able to reach the economies of scale,” says Ramamoorthy. “To capitalize on the change that’s coming, people need super-efficient supply chains.” However, Cadence’s Ahuja thinks the automotive industry has more challenges when it comes to regulation where the amount of testing and certification is much more than standard semiconductor products. That doesn’t mean semiconductors can breathe easy. “We have to be sensible enough to innovate in downturn to continue reaping benefits, that’s the nature of this business,” says C.M. Menon, country manager of Analog Devices India Pvt. Ltd. Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 6:04 pm How the Satyam fraud will affect Indian ITHyderabad / Bangalore: The Rs7,136 crore accounting scandal at Satyam Computer Services Ltd, dovetailing with a global recession that is likely to force companies to pare their technology budgets, has cast a cloud over corporate governance standards in India. To gauge the fallout of the scandal on the information technology (IT) industry, Mint polled eight experts. They were asked to address five questions: a) What is the impact of the Satyam scam on the Indian IT sector? b) Who stands to gain—other Indian IT firms or global companies such as International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Accenture Ltd, or competing geographies? c) What will help remove the blot the Satyam scam has left on the Indian IT sector? d) What is the outlook for IT services spending over the next 12 months? e) Is the Barack Obama administration in the US likely to curb outsourcing and offshoring? Here are the edited responses.  a) The impact is short-term and will pass quickly unless there is another scandal involving another IT services firm. We believe the negative publicity is largely media hype amid a political backlash against offshoring of US jobs in the current economic slump. International corporations will continue to make the right decisions for their business models to remain competitive. We do not believe customers can easily sever their existing services relationships with Satyam without significant issues: Rebadging personnel, losing critical operational staff and the expense of transferring H1B visas. b) I am more concerned regarding the governance of firms from countries, such as China and Russia, which have much less stringent regulatory procedures than India and the US/Europe. c) Time. And Satyam being acquired. And other India IT services firms acting with sensitivity to Satyam’s situation. d) Overall, it will remain flat. Spending on commodity offshore IT services will increase in the region of 5% as international corporations look at “low-hanging fruit” cost-reduction opportunities. e) Obama will be incentivizing US firms to create onshore jobs but won’t be penalizing them for using global delivery services from locations such as India. We’ve now been sucked into a global employment war for sourcing services and from what I am hearing from Obama, he intends to give US firms tax breaks to source work onshore.  a) We cannot rationalize the situation and apply it to the entire IT industry in general. Clients do understand that this is a company-level debacle and the industry is not responsible for it. b) The cost and scale of operations are important factors when thinking about who might (gain) leverage from this incident. While other geographies may use this to get India’s share of offshoring, the unique Indian advantages of talent and cost can withstand it. China is the only threat but they have very few companies with comparable scale and capabilities. c) Concerted action from industry bodies, government and other IT services companies is important. Any future actions taken by the government and board should ensure business continuity to clients. Uninterrupted operations, smooth transition of client operations to other companies/captives will help a great deal to showcase the integrity and maturity of the industry. d) In the US, we expect the IT spending growth to be anywhere in the range of 3.5% to 5%. While spending on mission critical IT services will continue, new implementation/contracts will be staggered over the next 18 months to better manage cash flow. e) We have to watch out for policies/incentives which will be announced to encourage near-shoring in the US. However, it may be too early to speculate about the impact on offshoring due to a change in the government. India continues to offer cost arbitrage, talent capabilities and a huge market opportunity which is of interest to every enterprise in the world.  a) We see significant concerns from global clients in the near term—many of them re-evaluating existing and potential service providers with much more rigor. This can further delay decision-making on outsourcing of projects. However, we do not expect any systemic long-term impact. b) Over the year 2009, there will be continuous movement of clients to competition unless an amicable and sustainable solution comes from Satyam. On the one hand, Indian tier-I providers will gain from shared clients, while more risk-averse companies will prefer engaging with international service firms despite higher overall outlay. The need to diversify risk, access to niche talent, time zone alignment and cultural proximity are driving global companies to many alternative destinations. However, India is expected to be the most favoured outsourcing destination. c) The key will be stringent governance and transparency. Indian firms need to ensure that their systems are fully operational and able to identify and address any fraudulent activities. Also, India should bring in faster and stringent legal resolutions to such fraudulent activities—justice should be seen (to be) delivered and fast! d) We expect global IT spending in 2009 will witness a marginal decline over the previous year. The Indian IT outsourcing market should be able to register impressive growth in 2009 by adapting itself to clients’ changing needs. Overall, the sector would grow by 8% to 12% over 2008. e) It is quite early to predict the specific policy impact on outsourcing with the new US administration. We believe outsourcing and global sourcing (offshoring) are an integral part of sustainable business growth against global competition. It is unlikely the new administration will take drastic measures against outsourcing, given the interdependencies of the global economy.  a) The damage is hopefully limited to Satyam. Indian IT companies will face a higher level of scrutiny and audits and verification processes. However, the value proposition of India is strong enough to ensure continued work flow to India. b) Transitioning from one service provider to another is a complex and time-consuming exercise. Clients are unlikely to take such a decision in haste. c) Most executives realize that these scandals are not unique to India. The effects of the sudden instability of Satyam are being addressed through government intervention, but the concerns around risks to business operations remain. On a positive note, this development provides an opportunity for the regulatory agencies and corporate boards to strengthen their systems of checks and balances. d) Looking forward, we anticipate that new contract awards in 1H09 will continue to be shaped by the recession together with lingering effects of the Indian market challenges. The transactions may be more piecemeal in nature than big, transformational, multibillion dollar deals. As a result, we expect outsourcing in 1H09 to be softer than last year and more in line with the trajectory we saw in the 2H08. e) Most US administrations have been supporters of free trade. That said, the new administration...is likely to encourage job creation or prevention of job loss in the US. However, economics does prevail over politics in the medium term and hence such actions, we believe, will only have an impact on a limited scale and for a short period of time.  a) There will definitely be higher concern among clients in the short term about corporate governance practices in the Indian IT industry, but in the long run, I don’t see it being a problem. We will see the impact of this in the next six-nine months. b) Other Indian firms will benefit to some extent. Cost will still remain a factor but (I) don’t see newer geographies or players benefiting substantially. Yes, the due diligence will be greater before awarding big projects or multi-year deals. c) Strong consequence management by the government will send a positive message. All involved need to be prosecuted... That would also serve as a deterrent for any future scandals. d) Stronger self-regulation. Nasscom code of conduct. e) Democrats traditionally have been more protectionist. However, President Obama did not fight elections on that plank. We will have to wait and see how the new administration pans out.  a) For years, clients have praised Indian firms as transparent and forthcoming. The recent Satyam events bring that well-cultivated image into question and will drive further focus on formal risk management reviews and assessments from the clients’ end. Overall, we see it as an isolated case and (one that) wouldn’t have any impact, but if a trend of fraud continues, then there’s a good enough reason to be concerned. b) Offshore providers that are either family-owned or part of large industry conglomerates will face more financial scrutiny. With such smaller firms facing the brunt of this extra checking, top Indian providers such as Infosys will continue to take market share. Other geographies don’t offer the scale of the talent pool and skills available in India. c) We see it as an isolated case. But vendors can improve further through greater transparency into accounting practices and financial health indicators. d) Global IT services and outsourcing will decline. Governments and businesses will buy $484 billion (Rs236,6760 crore) of IT consulting, systems integration and outsourcing services in 2009, 3% less than in 2008. e) We don’t think so (that the Obama administration will be protectionist about outsourcing).  a) The model of Indian IT service providers has been replicated by the IBMs and Accentures and that we see in their huge development centres (in India). They came here because Indian firms proved that service delivery could be done effectively out of India. I think, in the short term, questions will be asked. Indian companies should look at this as an opportunity and not as a threat. b) This country offers a strategic advantage which is large scale, competitive and better quality. You can’t build a 100,000 capacity centre in Hungary and China; you can reach scale but quality is an issue. China will always be a competitor but it would be wrong to say that they would overwhelm India. c) The Indian IT sector should be more open for questioning. Don’t withhold information, be transparent. d) (Gartner does not have the data ready). e) The first thing for Obama is to get the economy on track. If he can sort out problems in the US economy, the IT industry would anyway get business. Obama made those comments of keeping jobs during the elections; now he hasn’t talked about keeping the jobs in the US.  a) Clients who consider the Satyam saga a stand-alone event would continue to show faith in the India-based outsourcing vendors and we expect a few clients to migrate work from Satyam’s kitty to its peers. Further, as Satyam would not be favourably considered for new contracts, competitors may benefit. Indian players will have to be more convincing about their corporate governance standards. Credit from banks could become difficult, especially under current market conditions. b) Large multinationals such as IBMs and Accentures, as well as US-headquartered firms with India-based delivery such as Cognizant, will benefit the most. Clients who have become apprehensive about Indian corporate governance standards, and do not isolate the Satyam episode from the larger Indian industry will move towards non-Indian MNCs... Indian vendors will gain where they have client overlaps with Satyam. c) It would be wrong to take it as a “blot” on the Indian IT sector. The Indian IT sector, on the aggregate, has demonstrated high standards of corporate governance. Satyam was more of an aberration. d) IT services spending for the financial services sector has stabilized following the turbulence triggered by the Lehman Brothers’ fall. The overall new revenue growth in IT would most likely remain negative over the next quarter and flattish for the quarters ending June and September, before picking up by the end of December. e) Protectionist steps may discourage offshoring of government work. For the rest, curbing any tool for optimization of costs...may push some struggling firms over the edge. In our view, a strong protectionist policy will be counterproductive at this stage, hence very improbable. lison.j@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 4:30 pm Microsoft’s CRM solution promises cost optimizationNew Delhi: Microsoft India on Wednesday launched its customer relationship management (CRM) software to help businesses optimize costs and streamline processes amid the current economic scenario. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is a value-driven customer relationship management solution that delivers the ability for organizations to optimize productivity, profitability, infrastructure and their budgets, the company said in a statement. “With customer service and loyalty becoming increasingly critical to business success, our CRM solution assists organisations place their customers at the centre of all their business activities,” Microsoft India director (business solutions) Sushant Dwivedy said. In India, insurance sector is driving the adoption of CRM followed closely by the Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services segment, it added. According to a Forrester Research study, the CRM software and services market is expected to grow from about $8.4 billion in 2006 to $10.9 billion in 2010, with much of the growth coming from the mid-market firms. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 28 Jan 2009 | 12:55 pm
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