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Bajaj Auto unveils new bike - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:42 pm Ethnic Tobacco, Brazilian firm ink pactHyderabad: The Indian tobacco sector has an export revenue turnover target of $700 million during the current fiscal against last year’s export of $503 million. Indian Tobacco Board Chairman J Suresh Babu, on the sidelines of signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Ethnic Tobacco India Ltd (Guntur) and KBH&C Portugal of Brazil today, said that till the end of December 2008 export revenue from tobacco had reached $540 million. The competitive remunerative price was hiked from Rs47 per kg to Rs89 per kg in Andhra Pradesh while in Karnataka it is Rs112 per kg, Suresh Babu told the media after signing the MoU. He said that during the last financial year the industry exported 270 million kg of tobacco with 172 million kg alone from Andhra Pradesh. “By entering into this joint venture we propose to export ten million kg of Indian tobacco in the current year and target achieving 25 million kg by 2013”, he said. This is the third joint venture, while the earlier two were forged with Alliance of USA and Premier Tobaccos of UK. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:05 pm All eyes on US Treasury’s upcoming banking planSource: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:48 pm US Senate moves ahead on $780 bn stimulus plan!The Senate was set Saturday to debate a pared-down plan to pump at least 780 billion dollars into the troubled US economy, as President Barack Obama called for urgent action to stem rising unemployment.Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm Mfg sector growth slips into negative zone: CII!Under the impact of downturn, a third of India`s manufacturing sector slipped into negative zone during April-December 2008 over the same period last year, according to a survey by industry chamber CII.Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm Tata hires over 1,650 workers!Tata Motors is hiring over 1,650 temporary workers for its Jamshedpur plant.Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm US Senate imposes strict conditions on H-1B visas!In what could be seen as a setback to Indian IT professionals, the US Senate has voted for imposing strict conditions on hiring of people with H-1B visas by American companies receiving federal bailout money.Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm `Indian economy likely to grow 6.5-7% this fiscal`!Indian economy is likely to grow by around 6.5-7 per cent in the current fiscal against 9 per cent in the previous fiscal.Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm `Trai favours spectrum allocation by auction`!Telecom regulator Trai still advocates auction for spectrum allocation.Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm Industry favours more rate cuts to stimulate demandA leading industry lobby, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Sunday said it favoured further cuts in interest rates to stimulate demand and help arrest slowdown in the manufacturing sector.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:33 pm First optical fibre link between India, Myanmar openedMandalay: India and Myanmar today operationalised their first optical fibre telephone link, a $7 million state-of-the-art network that will bring the two countries closer and give a boost to bilateral economic cooperation. Watched by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Myanmar’s Communication Minister Brig Gen Thein Zaw made the first call to Indian Telecom Minister A Raja in New Delhi, applauding the quality of the project funded by India and executed by public sector Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL). The high-speed broadband link for voice and data transmission connects Mandalay, Myanmar’s second most important commercial hub after Yangon, and the border town of Moreh in Manipur. The two towns are separated by a distance of 500 km. TCIL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Rakesh K Upadhyay later told PTI that the call rates between India and Myanmar are bound to fall sharply with the installation of the optical fibre link between Mandalay and Moreh. Myanmar announced it was planning to construct optical fibre network in the entire area along its border with India which could then have another direct link also with China, Laos and Thailand. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:30 pm First optical fibre link between India, Myanmar openedMandalay: India and Myanmar today operationalised their first optical fibre telephone link, a $7 million state-of-the-art network that will bring the two countries closer and give a boost to bilateral economic cooperation. Watched by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Myanmar’s Communication Minister Brig Gen Thein Zaw made the first call to Indian Telecom Minister A Raja in New Delhi, applauding the quality of the project funded by India and executed by public sector Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL). The high-speed broadband link for voice and data transmission connects Mandalay, Myanmar’s second most important commercial hub after Yangon, and the border town of Moreh in Manipur. The two towns are separated by a distance of 500 km. TCIL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Rakesh K Upadhyay later told PTI that the call rates between India and Myanmar are bound to fall sharply with the installation of the optical fibre link between Mandalay and Moreh. Myanmar announced it was planning to construct optical fibre network in the entire area along its border with India which could then have another direct link also with China, Laos and Thailand. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:30 pm General insurance premium to top Rs 1 tn by 2015 - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:25 pm Russia sees ‘very positive’ shift in US policyMunich: Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov welcomed on Sunday signals from Washington that it wants a fresh start in relations with Moscow, a day after Vice President Joe Biden heralded a “new tone” in US foreign policy. Speaking before one-to-one talks with Biden at a security conference in Munich — the highest level meeting since President Barack Obama took office on 20 January — Sergei Ivanov said the latest signals were “very positive”. Speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, Biden set out Obama’s foreign policy vision, saying Washington wants to turn over a new leaf with Moscow. Crucially, the vice president said the US would press ahead with its missile defence shield project, but only “provided the technology is proven to work and cost effective”. “We will do so in consultation with you, our NATO allies, and with Russia,” he said. “It is time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should work together.” Asked on Sunday which aspect of Biden’s speech he thought was “very positive,” Ivanov told reporters in English: “Restarting the button.” Under Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush, relations between the White House and the Kremlin hit lows unseen since the Cold War. Moscow was angered by Washington’s intention to base radars and interceptor rockets in Czech Republic and Poland, which Bush said would detect and shoot down incoming missiles from “rogue states” such as Iran. Russia strongly objected to having such installations so close to its borders and feared that it was slowly being encircled by the West — a fear stoked by the prospect of Georgia and Ukraine joining Nato. Russia’s short war in August with Georgia, and its subsequent recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, also rankled Washington. The West has meanwhile grown critical of what it sees as growing authoritarianism and human rights violations under Vladimir Putin, its all-powerful president turned prime minister. Biden also signaled Saturday the Obama’s team is ready to consider Russian demands in negotiations — stalled under Bush — to renew START, the Cold War-era nuclear disarmament treaty that expires in December. Russia’s Nato envoy Dmitry Rogozin said Biden’s speech “contained many hints and associations from which one can conclude that it is possible to expect some new accents in US foreign policy on the irritants in Russian-US relations, including missile defence.” The Munich security conference includes power brokers from around the world focusing on hot-button security issues for the 21st century. Other big guns from Washington attending the conference are national security advisor James Jones, special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, and General David Petraeus, US commander in Afghanistan and Iraq. Jones and Petraeus joined panel discussions Sunday on Afghanistan, where Obama is sending 30,000 extra troops while calling upon allies do do more to snuff out a Taliban insurgency. Afghan President Hamid Karzai used the Munich conference to call for reconciliation with the Taliban, and urged foreign forces in his country to do more to halt civilian casualties. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:38 am New telcos ask Trai to scrap mobile termination chargeNew Delhi: The telecom industry is divided into two camps -- existing operators vs new players - on interconnection charges, in particular termination rates, with the former gunning for the maximum level possible while the latter doing away with it. At present mobile operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular charge 30 paise a minute from an operator on whose network the call ends. “Removing Mobile Termination Charge would make calls made from (the new players’) network and terminating on (another’s) on a par (with) established GSM operators,” a telecom player said. Telecom regulator Trai is in the process of holding consultations with the industry, and ahead of open house discussion next week the new GSM players have urged that termination charges either be done away with or kept below 10 paise a minute to compete with the existing players. According to new players like Datacom, Unitech, Swan Telecom, Shyam, Loop and Reliance Communications, they would be able to cut mobile tariffs by at least 50% or more if termination charges are set below 10 paise a minute. However, the existing operators have said that any drastic cut in charges would affect their rollout plans in the rural areas as this would reduce revenue. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:32 am Slumdog gets top award at Writers Guild of AmericaLos Angeles: The Oscar front-runner “Slumdog Millionaire” continued its victory march in award circuits by bagging top honours at the Writers Guild of America. WGA award has given the film another major boost ahead of the Oscars on 22 February. With 10 Oscar nominations, the film is only second to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. The bilingual film, which depicts the heartwarming story of a Mumbai slumdwellers rags-to-riches journey, won the prize for for the Best Adapted Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. The screenplay has been adapted from Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q & A”. Beaufoy, however, was not present at the ceremony as he is in London to attend the BAFTAs tonight, where the film has been nominated in 11 categories. The WGA award for Best Original Screenplay went to Dustin Lance Black for biographical drama “Milk”, which depicts the inspirational story of 1970s slain gay politician Harvey Milk, the Los Angeles Times reported. The awards took place simultaneously at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and at the Hudson Theatre in New York last night, the paper reported. Meanwhile, the prize for Best Documentary Screenplay went to Israeli film “Waltz With Bashir”. The award for Dramatic series went to “Mad Men” while “30 Rock” won the prize for Comedy series. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:29 am Reliance Life eyeing offshore expansion, to re-apply next yearBy PTI New Delhi: Private sector life insurer Reliance Life Insurance today said it is looking at expanding its operation beyond Indian shores and would apply again to the regulator in the light of fresh guidelines after April. “We do believe that there is opportunity outside India as well and the company would be re-applying to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) in the next fiscal,” said Reliance Life Insurance chief executive officer P Nadagopal. Recently,IRDA asked the domestic insurance companies, whose applications for permission to open representative offices aboard are pending, to apply again in conformity with the fresh guidelines. The new guidelines specify that the overseas representative office is an extended arm of Indian firm, hence is not allowed to contract any liability outside India. Emphasising the need for Indian companies to be allowed to set up representative offices abroad Nadagopal said “if foreign companies are allowed to India, I see no reason why Indian companies cannot go out of the country.” When asked about the countries in which the insurer would be interested, he said, to begin with Reliance Life Insurance will look at countries with NRIs dominance. To start with we will be looking at gulf nations as these nations have large number of expat population, he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:25 am Govt to announce stimulus package for media - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 11:06 am PNB aims at workforce rationalisationNew Delhi: In step with global banking trends, the country’s second-largest state-owned lender, Punjab National Bank, is expected to rationalise its workforce and reduce its staff strength by 28,000 in the next six years from 58,000 now. “My long-term goal is that the bank must be run by 30,000 people by 2015,” Punjab National Bank chairman and managing director K C Chakrabarty told PTI. “We don’t have any exit policy (and) we don’t want anybody to leave with an exit package. These people (about 28,000) would retire in natural course,” he said. The workforce reduction, however, will be side by side with the induction of personnel with specialised skills to improve operational efficiency. “We are recruiting about 2,000 people (this) fiscal... I need specific types of skill ... people for credit, treasury, corporate communications and marketing,” he said. Chakrabarty said the bank will recruit more next year to cater to the growing business and also to make up for the staff who would be retiring. “It (recruitment) will be more... maybe my reduction of staff will be more than 2,000 next year,” he said, adding, “my number will not go up but still I will be hiring the people. Many people will be leaving me. I have to replace them.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:51 am Reports of company's sale 'unfounded': Piramal Healthcare - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:44 am Tata Motors hiring signals hopeNew Delhi: Indicating that some recovery is under way, the country’s largest commercial vehicles maker, Tata Motors, is hiring over 1,650 temporary workers for its Jamshedpur plant, after temporarily stopping operations several times at the unit over the past few months. The Jamshedpur plant, where the company mainly makes heavy duty commercial vehicles, had last year disengaged over 700 temporary workers as production fell due to a severe sales slump. “From the beginning of February we have hired over 1,650 temporary workers for our Jamshedpur plant,” a company spokesperson said. Asked if production has increased at the plant, he said, “The plant is also functioning normally.” The hiring of temporary workers comes on the heels of Tata Motors recording healthy commercial vehicles sales in January at 17,373 units, its highest in three months. This was, however, 43% down compared to the same month last year, which was at 30,530 units. The company’s Jamshedpur plant had undergone three temporary block closures on 6-8 November, 25-29 November and 8-13 December last year. Last October, after the disengagement of 700 temporary workers, their number had come down to 1,200 at the plant. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:41 am Realty sector to be under pressure: MacquarieBy PTI New Delhi: The Indian real estate sector is likely to remain under pressure for the next few months due to small capital flow into this segment as lending to developers has not improved considerably among other factors, a report says. “We maintain a zero weight for India in our regional real estate portfolio. On a 12-month view several real estate names in India look good value, but for the next few months expect the sector to come under continued pressure,” Macquarie Research said in its report. In today’s scenario, banks are scrutinising mortgage borrowers more closely but they have resumed lending to some extent. “However, lending to developers has not improved and may have tightened even further and the well is dry for developers,” it said. “Borrowing for developers remains very, very tight. Conditions are perhaps at their worst ever level. Project financing has dried up as banks will not put money up front for developments,” the report said and added : “Banks are now waiting for pre commitments for up to 30-40% of developments before approving finance.” Besides, there are concerns regarding the structural challenges within the sector, such as the requirement for promoters to disclose their equity stake pledges and the possible equity holder dilution which may come about due to strict bank lending policies to developers. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:33 am Private life insurers to seek clarity on tax lawsAfter having received notice from the Income Tax department to reopen their past tax assessments, private life insurers are likely to approach the sectoral watchdog seeking clarity on tax laws.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:30 am General insurance premium to top Rs.1 trillion by 2015: ReportGeneral insurance premium earning is likely to grow at 20 percent annually over the next six years and top the Rs.1-trillion (Rs.100,000-crore) mark by 2015, says an industry report released Sunday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 10:01 am Kuwait, Iraq reach deal on shared oilfields - paperKUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait and Iraq have reached a preliminary agreement over oilfields in a border area at the heart of Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of the small Gulf Arab state, an Iraqi official said in remarks published on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:50 am Irrigation to be biggest water guzzler by 2025New Delhi: The demand for water in the country for various purposes, including irrigation, drinking and energy, will increase to over a thousand billion cubic meters in 2025 from the present 81,30,000 crore litres, a Planning Commission report said. The demand for irrigation in the country will increase by several billion cubic meters in the next 15 years. While it is estimated that farmers will require 688 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water for irrigation in 2010, the demand will increase to 910 BCM in 2025. While the demand for drinking water is pegged at 56 BCM during the next year, it will increase to 73 BCM in 2025, the report of the Steering Committee of Planning Commission on Water Resources for 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) said. The report has quoted the data given by the standing committee of the ministry of water resources. Similarly, while the industry requires 12 BCM of water per annum, the demand will increase to 23 BCM after 15 years. For generating hydro electric power, India will require 15 billion cubic meters of water compared to the 5 billion cubic meters it will require next year, the report adds. ‘Other’ users would require 72 BCM of water in 2025, while their demand during the next year has been pegged at 52 BCM, the report said. In 15% of the blocks in the country, the annual extraction of ground water exceeds annual recharge and in 4% of the blocks it is more than 90% of recharge. As the ground water recedes, wells have to be deepened and more energy has to be used to pump water, the report said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:50 am Lalu likely to present poll focused railway budgetNew Delhi: Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is likely to dole out some sops to the travellers when he presents the interim railway budget in Parliament on 13 February. Prasad, who has spared the public from the upward hike in the passenger fares despite increase in global prices of crude oil in the past five years of UPA rule, may this time announce some populist schemes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Besides highlighting Ministry’s achievements in the last five years, the interim budget is likely to have proposals for introduction of more Garib Raths. As the Railways have already hiked the freight rate of food-grains and fertilisers by 8.3% from early February, it is likely that the freight and passenger fare will remain unchanged. While the budget is likely to register the cash surplus before paying dividend at about Rs25,000 crore, the operating ratio is also expected to be more than last year’s 76%. The implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission for the railway employees is the reason for the higher operating ratio in the current year than the last financial year, said a senior official of the ministry. Keeping the Mumbai terror attack in mind, the budget is likely to spell out a series of measures undertaken by railways to strengthen the security including filling up of vacant RPF posts and installation of integrated security system at sensitive stations. The railway minister is expected to announce some pro-poor steps in his budget besides starting new trains in different parts of the country. Commissioning of the pre-feasibility study for the bullet train in Pune-Mumbai-Ahmadabad route, awarding the contract for the ground work on the Dedicated Freight Corridor, installation of escalators at 100 stations are likely to find place in the budget. Aiming at curbing accidents at level crossings, Prasad is likely to announce construction of railway over- and under- bridge at certain identified places. Use of stainless steel coaches and operation of base kitchens for providing quality food to passengers are also slated to be mentioned. The extension of train operation from Rajwansher to Baramulla in Kashmir is likely to find a special mention in the budget. Currently, the train is running between the 66-km long Anantnag-Rajwansher route as part of the Kashmir rail link project. Besides, ongoing rail projects in northeast are also slated to be mentioned in the vote-on-account. As per the general practise, there has to be full budget withing 75 days of the interim budget. However, Article 85 (1) of the Constitution says the next Parliament session has to be called within 180 days of the termination of the previous session. As the Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for general elections soon after the Parliament session ends on 26 February, the interim budget is the last major opportunity for the ruling UPA alliance to woo the electorate as the model code of conduct will be enforced after the announcement. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:41 am Pranab cautions against linking terrorism with religion - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:25 am Satyam board to outline stake sale process soon: KarnikThe board of Satyam would soon define the process for inviting proposals from prospective buyers, its newly appointed chairman Kiran Karnik said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:21 am Motorola eyes youth, professionals; to launch new rangeUS cellphone major Motorola announced the launch of three mid-to-high segment mobile phones targeting the youth with music-rich features.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:14 am Developing countries turn to South-South tradeGENEVA (Reuters) - Developing countries hoping to compensate for slumping demand in rich countries and falling commodity prices are looking at ways to bolster one of the most dynamic parts of their economies -- South-South trade.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 9:09 am Thales awaits IAF nod for Mirage-2000 upgradeEven as it supports a French bid for an Indian Air Force tender for 126 combat jets, European aerospace major Thales is awaiting the IAF's final nod for upgrading its fleet of Mirage-2000 fighter bombers to enhance their strike capabilities and extend their operational life by at least 20 years.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 8:33 am GMR power project hits roadblock in ChhattisgarhA Rs.55 billion project has hit a roadblock in Chhattisgarh as about 150 farmers Sunday decided not to hand over their land to GMR Energy for its proposed 1,200 MW thermal power project.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 8:32 am Satyam to outline stake sale process soon: Karnik - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 8:04 am Satyam's restated accounts to take at least six monthsA 30-member team from Chennai-based Brahmaiah & Company, appointed as the internal auditor, is going through the fraud-hit IT major's accounts in Hyderabad.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:44 am Slowing manufacturing sector needs rate cuts - CIINEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's slowing manufacturing sector needs further interest rate cuts to stimulate demand, an industry body said on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:36 am Satyam to outline stake sale process soon: KarnikNew Delhi: The board of Satyam Computer Services would soon define the process for inviting proposals from prospective buyers, its newly appointed chairman Kiran Karnik has said. The former Nasscom president, who put on the mantle of Chairman at a time when the scam-hit firm is passing through one of its worst phases, told PTI, “Our investment bankers, Goldman Sachs and Avendus, will shortly define the process of the first stage - inviting proposals from the suitors, which will be transparent and investor friendly. “Only after that (will we) be in a position to look at those proposals, whether they are meeting our criteria...” Karnik further said, “There has to be a transition from the Government-supervised company status to a professionally- run company. The transition should be smooth and transparent. That will give a lot of comfort to both investors and employees. It is key priority.” He went on to add that a number of buyers had shown interest by sending their proposals, while some were waiting for a formal process to begin. “So, we have to first put the process of inviting those who are interested in the company,” Karnik said. He said at the moment Deloitte and KPMG were engaged in carrying out the restatement of accounts, but how long that could take it was difficult to say. “They (the auditors) have to go back several years to see where the funds came from, where and since when they were (being) diverted, the exact amount of revenue and so on... That’s not an easy task and is likely to take time,“ he said. The man who guided the Indian IT industry through the outsourcing backlash said there were short- and long-term challenges for the fund-starved company. “The first problem is financial. There has to be enough funds in the company (giving) comfort to the employees and investors. About Rs600 crore worth of funds have been committed by the banks. But we want a continuous and sustainable source of revenue. Fortunately, the receivable position is good,” he added. Spice Corp has put forth its expression of interest to the board. L&T has over a 12% stake in the firm. Market regulator Sebi has said it will amend the takeover regulations to allow easier acquisitions in special cases like Satyam. The Satyam board has already proposed to Sebi to relax the current open offer pricing norms for L&T in view of the financial fraud admission by the disgraced Satyam promoter B Ramalinga Raju on 7 January, which forced the share prices to tumble by over 80% cent. However, on positive feedback, shares of Satyam soared by 6.81% in intra-day trade on Friday and ended with a gain of 2.49% at Rs47.40 on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:32 am PNB workforce to get slimmer - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:23 am RBI's Hota likely to be named as NPCI interim CEORBI chief general manager, AP Hota is likely to take over as the interim CEO of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a top official said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 7:21 am Interim budget likely to focus on job creating sectorsNew Delhi: Faced with an extraordinary circumstances following global financial meltdown, the Government is likely to focus on labour intensive and export oriented sectors in its interim Budget on 16 February to protect jobs. The interim Budget to be presented by external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is currently holding the charge of finance portfolio, may not contain any major policy decision, but it could cut certain indirect taxes to address the urgent concerns to arrest economic slowdown. “Alleviating job losses should be the government’s priority. Demand for exports has gone down, so sectors like gems and jewellery, textiles etc need to be revived so that more jobs can be created,” Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chairman Suresh Tendulkar said. Tendulkar further said that fiscal space of the centre is limited due to growing subsidies adding that public expenditure has also increased. Crisil principal economist D K Joshi said indirect taxes may be slashed in the interim budget, but he does not expect any cut in the direct tax. Joshi said construction, automobiles and export oriented sectors might get some benefit from the budget. Yes Bank chief economist Shubhada Rao also said the government could cut tax rates to provide stimulus to the economy reeling under the impact of global financial meltdown. She said sectors like housing, exports, SME and auto should be promoted by measures in the interim budget. Tendulkar said RBI will decide on signalling cut in interest rates after the vote on account is tabled. “RBI is awaiting the Vote on Account which will indicate borrowing projections by the Centre. These projections would indicate liquidity in the system, accordingly RBI will decide on rates and ratios because RBI has to worry about financial stability also,” he said. However, there is a divided opinion on whether the Government could in fact announce measures in the interim budget. “Constitutionally, there is no bar,” Home Minister P Chidambaram had said earlier this week when asked whether the Government can announce measures to stimulate economy. On the possibility of the government changing the tax structure in the interim budget, Planning Commission Deputy chairman Montek Ahluwalia said, “This is something for the Finance Ministry to say. Normally it (tax changes) does not happen.” When asked whether the Government can announce measures to stimulate the economy in the interim Budget, JNU Professor Jayati Ghosh said,“Apparently not.” Mukherjee had earlier said the Government would take more steps to boost the labour-intensive sectors. “As next year’s outlook is more downbeat... the Government will take further steps to ensure that the labour- intensive sectors are less adversely affected,” he had said. Ahluwalia, who returned recently from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, said the world economy is not in good shape and “fiscal stimulus that we have given during the year should continue for one more year.” The Government has already come out with two stimulus packages and raised the public expenditure by 20% over and above the budget estimate to arrest the impact of global crisis, which manifested in September, on India. The crisis has already impacted industrial production, which contracted in October after a gap of 15 years. Even the exports moved into the negative territory, declining for three consecutive months since October. The economic growth, as per the RBI projections, is likely to slip to seven per cent in 2008-09 from 9% in the previous fiscal. In view of these developments, it would be imperative on the Government to take some immediate steps as the final Budget for 2009-10 could only be presented in July after the formation of new government post-elections. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:59 am StanChart to consider India acquisitions once sector openedForeign lender, Standard Chartered Bank, on Sunday, hinted that it might look at acquiring a bank in India once the sector is opened up for foreign buyers.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:53 am Kingfisher targets equity infusion of Rs 2,000 crKingfisher Airlines is targeting an equity infusion of around Rs 2,000 crore through strategic and financial investors and may even monetise aircraft order book over time.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:44 am Piramal Health says Glaxo, Sanofi acquisition reports unfoundedMUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian drug maker Piramal Healthcare Ltd said reports about a potential sale of the company to GlaxoSmithKline Plc or Sanofi Aventis SA were 'unfounded.'Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:23 am Companies look at CSR initiatives for branding in slumpNew Delhi: Hurt by the global economic downturn in their operations, companies are increasingly seeking brand-building and other strategic benefits from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, rather than straight philanthropy and charity work. Philanthropy activities across the world are said to have taken a big hit and India is no exception, but CSR initiatives are expected to continue with some modifications here and there, experts believe. “We feel they (CSR initiatives) would not be delayed, rather they will be modified and made more strategic as per the company core values,” global consultancy KPMG India Associate Director - Aid and Development Services - Parul Soni said. However, philanthropy and charity-based CSR activities are likely to take a hit whereas sustainability-driven CSR initiatives would make more headway and emerge. Companies might try to use least resources for maximum branding and competitive advantage, Soni added. Non-profit organisation SOS Children’s Villages of India, which gets contributions from corporate houses for well-being of children, also said there has been no impact of slowdown on the companies’ social benefit initiatives. “Surprisingly, we have seen no decline in the interest of companies for CSR activities... What has been affected is the due diligence process in NGO selection,“ SOS Children’s Villages of India Dy National Director (PFR) Joygopal Podder said. Corporates are now more cautious and selective and shortlist only NGOs with high credibility, transparency in accounting procedures and a long track record of high quality social work, Podder said. From the corporate perspective, companies maintain that their socially-inclined activities has not be impacted by the credit crunch and they are continuing as before. Global science products and services firm Dupont, which is a strong supporter of socially beneficial initiatives, has funded various programmes in India, which focus on improving village infrastructure, improving school and education standards for the under-privileged children. Asked whether Dupont India would be initiating some new CSR activities this year in the midst of a global slowdown, a company spokesperson said, “our community projects are ongoing. We cannot comment on any new initiatives at this point of time.” “I think the CSR initiatives by companies will remain constant and may be more strategically planned following the downturn in the global economy,“ Tata Capital managing director and CEO Praveen P Kadle said. Moreover, Podder said that CSR budgets do not seem to have been hit by the current economic slowdown with trusts and foundations of MNC’s operating out of India, which are headquartered abroad, continuing to send contributions to SOS-India once they are convinced of the viability and quality impact of the project proposal that has been sent to them. In a sharp contrast, a global survey of senior executives by advisory firm Booz & Co revealed that 40% of respondents expect ‘green´ and other corporate social responsibility initiatives to significantly slow due to the downturn. “The pullback would be especially pronounced in transportation and energy industries, with, respectively, 51% and 47% of respondents in those industries saying CSR agendas will be delayed,” the survey pointed out. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:03 am India's rural job scheme also addressing climate changeIndia's flagship rural job scheme has resulted in some rather unusual spin-offs, chief among them reducing the impact of climate change, a top official says.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 6:00 am Big investors shy away from large-sized stock market deals in ’08By PTI New Delhi: Bearish conditions in the stock market have made corporate, FIIs and other big investors to shy away from bulk and block deals, which involve transaction of large chunks of shares of a company, leading to a nearly 30% fall in trading volumes through such deals in 2008. Analysts believe that High Networth Individuals (HNIs), Foreign Institutional Investors and other big corporate investors staying away from large-sized deals last year, lead the trading volume to take a dip. “Drop in the block and bulk deals shows that the HNIs and FIIs are preferring to stay away from the market,” Nexgen Capital Equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said. The combined trading volumes of bulk and block deals on Bombay and National stock exchanges have plunged 27%, representing a decline of Rs1,57,000 crore. The bulk transactions fell 29% to Rs1,36,000 crore in 2008, while the block deals declined 11% to Rs21,132 crore, in value terms. A block deal, refers to a trade with a minimum quantity of five lakh shares or minimum value of Rs 5 crore executed through a single transaction window on the bourse. Whereas, a bulk deal involves the transaction in a scrip where the total quantity bought or sold is more than 0.5% of the entire outstanding shares of the listed entity. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:50 am Electric vehicles not cool enough for GenYSanjiv Sharma, a city-based hospitality consultant, plans to buy a car. His first. And like most of his peers he is certainly concerned about the rising cost of fuel. Yet he has ruled out electric vehicles: He doesn't find them cool enough.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:32 am Killing of Telugus in US linked to recession?Is the spate of killings of students and professionals from Andhra Pradesh in the US linked to the economic meltdown and massive job losses in that country?Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:30 am Global fighter jets scramble for Indian aero showpieceGlobal aerospace majors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Dassault have flown in their metal birds to India's IT hub to showcase their air power at the seventh Aero India 2009 biannual trade expo that takes off Wednesday from the Indian Air Force (IAF) station at Yelahanka.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:30 am JSL to invest up to Rs100 cr to save on logisticsNew Delhi: In order to curb cost on its cargo movement, country’s largest stainless steel producer Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) has set up a logistics arm and will be investing up to Rs100 crore in the firm in the next two years. “We will invest Rs 50-100 crore in JSL Logistics Ltd in the next two years. Our board has already approved an initial investment of Rs25 crore in it,” JSL director (Finance) Arvind Parakh said. JSL Ltd spends up to Rs800 crore per annum on movement of inbound and outbound cargo, including raw materials and finished alloy products. Through its new logistics firm, the company intends to save the 20-30% margins that hired transporters make on ferrying cargo. Initially, JSL Logistics will cater to the phase-I of the company’s eight lakh tonne stainless steel project, which is being set up in Orissa with an investment of about Rs6,000 crore. Among the suppliers of heavy commercial vehicles, JSL Logistics is preferring Tata Motors, as the auto major is offering a better deal. “We are preferring Tata Motors for procuring trucks as the company has offered us incentives for the deal,” Parakh said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:14 am PNB to open branches in all North-East districtsBy PTI Guwahati: Second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank would open branches in all the district headquarters of the seven states in the North-East. PNB deputy general manager, Satish Kalra told reporters here today: “To further strengthen our presence in the region, the bank is penetrating the untapped market through strong focus on inclusive banking and technology.” The bank was also planning to have door-step services for its customers and make its presence felt in almost all the villages of the region, he added. He also said local youths would be given preference in employment by the bank. The bank is providing loans at the cheapest rate, Kalra said. The bank had recently signed an agreement with the Assam government for giving easy housing loans to its employees, besides other loans. PNB had a good credit-deposit ratio of about 51% in the North-East region, while its loan recovery rate was 13% compared to the all-India figure of 4% Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:07 am After Q3 growth, banks to face challenges ahead: analystsBy PTI New Delhi: The banking sector, which took the market by surprise with robust growth in the third quarter of this fiscal, is likely to face tough days ahead on slowdown in lending growth and declining margins, analysts say. Despite the better-than expected performance of banks in the third quarter this fiscal, analysts predict difficult times in coming days providing various reasons, which could put pressure on their earnings. “While Q3 FY 2009 results have been a positive surprise from bottom line perspective, there are tough challenges ahead,” leading brokerage firm Sharekhan said in a latest report. Another brokerage firm Motilal Oswal also expects the conditions for public sector banks to deteriorate in the next fiscal. “We expect margins to decline for PSU banks in FY10, fee income growth to moderate and Non-Performing Assets (NPA) costs to rise,” a latest report by Motilal Oswal stated. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:07 am UPA’s Bharat Nirman moving at snail’s paceNew Delhi: The UPA government’s ambitious Bharat Nirman initiative, aimed at improving the rural infrastructure for an estimated Rs1,76,000 crore, seems to be progressing at snail’s pace as not even half of the target has been met under the four-year programme ending next month. Even as the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself expressed his displeasure at the slow progress, at a review meeting of the programme, achievements remain abysmally low. The three key areas in infrastructure - electrification, roads and irrigation - out of the total six, has made bleak progress according to a government’s report on the initiative till December 2008. Singh chairs the Committee on Rural Infrastructure, which monitors the implementation of the programme, a part of the Common Minimum Programme of the ruling alliance at the Centre and was to be implemented over 2005-09. Under rural electrification, only 17.95% of the targeted 230 lakh rural below-poverty-line households, have been electrified till December 2008. “It was targeted to provide electrification to 1.25 lakh villages and electrify 230 lakh BPL households. Against this, 64978 villages are electrified and 41.29 lakh BPL households provided electric connection till December 2008,” the official documents show. At the same time, against a target of creating additional irrigation capacity of 10 million hectares (mha), only 5.08 mha has been achieved. Likewise, rural roads remain an area of concern with only 345 of the targeted 66,802 habitations connected through road network and only 1.63 lakh km of new roads and upgraded rural roads constructed till December, 2008 against a target of 3.40 lakh km road network. However, the progress has been relatively better in terms of providing telephone connectivity in villages, drinking water and building houses, although even in these areas 18-27% work needs to be completed by March 2009. As regards providing telephone connections to rural households 27% target is still to be achieved in the present quarter while 23% of the targeted habitations are still without drinking water facility. The only area where target achievement is more than 80% remains housing with government claiming construction of 41.29 lakh households out of 60 lakh under infrastructure strengthening programme. In his address to Parliament in 2005, the President outlined an overarching vision to build India, and called it ‘Bharat Nirman´. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Feb 2009 | 5:04 am Obama chides Republicans, demands speed on stimulusWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pounded Republicans on Saturday for policies that fueled the U.S. economic crisis, while welcoming a Senate deal on his stimulus bill that ideologically split lawmakers hope to finish by mid-month.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Feb 2009 | 2:37 am Kalam asks engineers to become constructive political leaders - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Feb 2009 | 1:12 am Piramal Healthcare: Talk of sale to Glaxo `unfounded'It is an open secret that Big Pharma is looking for potential acquisition targets in emerging markets like India, since their product pipelines are under pressure and the global economic slowdown has thrown up attractive valuations.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Stricter H-1B hiring norms will not impact India, says NasscomNew Delhi, Feb. 7 The US Senate has voted for imposing stringent conditions on hiring of workers on H-1B visa by American companies that are recipients of Federal bailout funds.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Weekly News Round-upImports in January this year fell by 16 per cent over the same month the previous year, in line with the 22 per cent decline in exports during the month.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am High coal prices dent cement firms’ realisationsMumbai, Feb. 7 Cement companies continued to reel under the high cost of production besides drastic fall in demand due to delay in execution of infrastructure and housing projects on the back of liquidity crisis in the third quarter of theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Report outlines ways to deal with volatile capital flowsNew Delhi, Feb. 7 There is “no one size fits all” solution for the emerging market economies battling volatile capital flows in the wake of the global financial turmoil, according to a Working Group chaired by Dr Rakesh Mohan, DeputySource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am 9 PSBs on board new currency futures exchangeMumbai, Feb 7 Robust trading volumes in currency derivatives has drawn nine public-sector banks led by Bank of India, Federal Bank, MMTC, TCS and Jaypee Capital to jointly float India’s fourth currency futures exchange — the UnitedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Two out of five cos cut employee costs in Dec quarterBL Research Bureau With sales and profit growth slowing down for India Inc, two out of every five companies, or 40 per cent (of a universe of 450), have slashed employee costs in the December 2008 quarter compared with the September quarter,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Low placement response prompts B-schools to cut participation feeNew Delhi, Feb. 7 With a bleak placement scenario this season, some of the top B-school campuses are reducing ‘participation fee’ to encourage companies to visit their campuses. Other management institutes are also willing to considerSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Mobile cos to pay higher penalty on unverified usersNew Delhi, Feb. 7 In a bid to address concerns raised by security agencies, the Department of Telecom has further tightened the mobile subscriber verification norms.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Eight firms pledge power - Calcutta Telegraph
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Feb 2009 | 9:02 pm Slowdown, Satyam erode trust in business: SurveyThe economic slowdown has eroded trust of opinion leaders on business, the government, civil society and media alike, said a survey of 200 opinion leaders in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore carried out between November 5 and December 14 2008 by Edelman, the worlds largest standalone public relations firm.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 7:00 pm State-owned oil producers face double whammyI-T dept says Oil India cannot claim subsidy given to retailers as a deductible expense.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 6:58 pm Bhushan's Singhal brothers at war again - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 7 Feb 2009 | 6:43 pm Bhushan's Singhal brothers at war againBhushan Power and Steel promoter Sanjay Singhal today made an open offer for Orissa Sponge Iron, a company in which his younger brother Neeraj Singhal has 14.8 per cent stake. Neeraj is Bhushan Steels managing director.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 6:42 pm 'More railway terminals needed in Kolkata'This metropolis needs at least three more terminals to split the growing rail traffic load, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on railways Basudeb Acharia said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Feb 2009 | 6:32 pm Rajus' jail 'luxuries' raises browsAfter scripting the country's biggest corporate fraud,Ramalinga Raju is set to become Andhra Pradesh's first undertrial in two decades to get special status.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Feb 2009 | 3:44 pm Satyam suitor backs away; new chairman appointedBANGALORE (Reuters) - A potential bidder for fraud-tainted Satyam Computer Services backed away from a deal on Friday, as one of the members of the new board was appointed as the chairman of the outsourcing company.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Feb 2009 | 3:11 pm Google India reaches out Tier II populationGoogle India which is very optimistic on the Indian growth story wants to get more Indians on to the world wide web. CNBCTV18s Divya Rajagopal and Avni Raja take a ride on Google\'s internet bus.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:24 pm Global crisis to hit China more than IndiaAsian Development Bank said that the impact of global financial meltdown will be much more on China than India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:10 pm Lufthansa sacks 17, closes four city offices in IndiaLufthansa sacked 17 employees and announced closure of its offices in four cities as part of restructuring of its sales network in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:08 pm Amid falling prices, Indan metal sector may bleedThe Indian metal sector may be heading towards a meltdown of sorts. A report by CLSA says projects worth over Rs 2.2 lakh crore are at a risk of getting delayed.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 2:00 pm Sebi satisfied with Raju\'s probe, has enough evidenceEven as the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) investigation team maintains a stoic silence on the interrogation of the Raju brothers, CNBCTV18 learns Sebi is satisfied with its probe and may have found enough evidence to prove market manipulation. CNBCTV18s Priyanshu Sikka reports.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 1:43 pm Hit by slowdown, developers put SEZs on holdSlowdown woes are hitting special economic zones (SEZs), which were much in vogue until a year or two ago. Many SEZ projects across the country are being put on the backburner.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 1:23 pm Iraq oil minister sees OPEC cuts in MarchBAGHDAD (Reuters) - OPEC is likely to decide to cut oil production targets when it meets in March, which should help prices gradually rise back above a fair price of $70 a barrel, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Feb 2009 | 1:04 pm Only Satyam board has legal immunity, not CEO: ManoharanTN Manoharan, a board member of the Satyam board said that only funcionaries appointed by the government would enjoy legal immunity under the Company Law Board.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Feb 2009 | 12:24 pm
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