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Tata Capital NCD issue draws Rs 3K cr, subscribed 6 timesTata Capital, a whollyowned subsidiary of Tata Sons, has received an overwhelming response for its public issue of Secured NonConvertible Debentures (NCD). Based on subscriptions of over Rs 3,000 crore received, the Issue was over subscribed by more than six times.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:32 pm Jubilant Organosys buys back FCCBs worth $59mJubilant Organosys Ltd. has bought back and cancelled via a Tender Offer, Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs), to the tune of US $ 48.3 million.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 4:59 pm Sical Logistics partners with MMTC for iron ore terminalSical Logistics Ltd announced its strategic partnership with MMTC Limited, the countrys premier international trading company, for its greenfield iron ore terminal project at Ennore Port.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 4:54 pm Monnet Group buys 50% in Orissa Sponge Iron SteelThe Monnet Group has acquired over 50% in Orissa Sponge Iron Steel. Monnet Ispat and Torsteel together will hold over 50% in Orissa Sponge. Both companies will have a proportionate representation on the board.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 4:15 pm Not hit by recession, say stationary makersRonnie Netto, Director, Today\'s Writing, does not see much of a slowdown in the writing instruments business except in the corporate sales side of the business. The management is also positive that the government spending will increase in education sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 3:47 pm TRAI\'s media ownership proposal not to see speedy outcomeTRAI has released recommendations on media ownership. However, with polls around the corner, no major decisions are likely to be taken. These recommendations will go into file at IB Ministry and very soon there will be a new government as well as a new regulator.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 3:35 pm NPAs under control, advances being rescheduled: OBCSC Sinha, ED, Oriental Bank of Commerce, said the banks nonperforming assets are under control. We have taken a lot of measures for restructuring, where it was permitted by the RBI and have rescheduled advances, he said. \"This process is already going on because we have got time up to March 31.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 3:07 pm Expect PLR cuts in next two quarters: ABN Amro BkGaurav Kapur, Senior Economist, ABN Amro Bank, expects some action on the PLR front in the next quarter or two. \"There is a possibility of PLR cuts from the banks. Its highly possible that RBI might cut the policy rate by 50 bps between March and April.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 2:38 pm Satyam board in favour of 31% open offer: SourcesThe Satyam board is leaning towards an above 31% open offer, reports CNBCTV18, quoting sources. The company may look at preference issue if the buyer fails to get 20% in open offer. It is undecided on whether the first, second preference issue will have same pricing.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 2:36 pm Ashok Leyland cuts CV prices, Tata Motors may follow suitAfter a cut in excise duty, commercial vehicles will be cutting prices too. Many feel this will boost the confidence in the CV market.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 25 Feb 2009 | 2:05 pm Jindal criticises Obama`s revival plan!Republican leaders continued attacks on Prez Obama`s handling of economy Tuesday, calling it irresponsible and certain to increase taxes and federal debt.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Wall Street gets boost amidst gloom!Wall Street bolted higher on a regulator`s prediction that the recession may end this year.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm US Fed Res issues new guidance on bank dividends!The Federal Reserve is letting banks know they need to be careful when they decide to pay dividends to shareholders.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm US` banks ready for stress tests!The Obama administration is getting ready to conduct "stress tests" on the nation`s biggest banks to judge whether they can hold up if the recession were to worsen.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Japan logs record trade deficit !Japan`s recession woes deepened as exports plunged at fastest pace ever last month, leaving Asia`s biggest economy with a record trade deficit.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Sensex recovers 134 pts !Sensex gained over 134 pts in opening trade on Wednesday due to buying of funds on firm global mkts.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm SBI likely to receive Rs 2,000-crore investment from LIC!State Bank of India plans to raise Rs 2,000-crore by issuing upper Tier-II bonds to Life Insurance Corp of India (LIC), by the end of this month.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm "We will rebuild and recover"!In his 1st inaugural speech, Prez Obama summoned all to work to tide over recession.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Oil prices at USD 40.07 as mkt looks for signs of demand in a weakening economy!Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade on Wednesday as the market searched for signs of demand in a weakening global economy, analysts said.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm 10 American firms that beat the recession !Bucking the recessionary trend, US corporates Apple, Google and Colgate are doing so well that they are unlikely to fire their employees and may even recruit, a media report has said.Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Monnet Ispat sees 18-19 bln rupees revenue in FY09 - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:10 pm India Inc wanted to exit MFs in Oct '08: Sebi Chief - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:07 pm Markets shed early gains, end on flat noteIndian equities markets drew to a tame close Wednesday in spite of investors buying stocks to cover their positions before futures and options contract expire Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:02 pm Commercial vehicle makers pass on duty cut benefitsA day after the central government announced 2-percent excise duty cut, some of India's commercial vehicle manufacturers Wednesday slashed prices across their trucks and bus line-ups to pass on the benefit to consumers.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:01 pm South Indian Bank, ING Life tie-up on premium paymentsThe South Indian Bank, one of the oldest banks in south India, will collect insurance policy renewal payments on behalf of ING Life, part of the ING Group, it was announced Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 pm RBI task force meets diamond industry representatives - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:58 am Sensex up by over 80 points on auto, IT rally - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:58 am In Asia, suicides rise due to financial crisisHONG KONG/SEOUL (Reuters) - Chan Kiu-hung thought about committing suicide when she discovered that her retirement nest egg had been lost with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:47 am JK Tyre reduces commercial-vehicle tyre prices - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:47 am GMR Infrastructure's subsidiary acquires Indonesian firm - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:47 am SBI likely to receive Rs 2000-crore investment from LIC - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:45 am No immediate plan to cut India diesel price - DeoraNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government has no immediate plans to cut diesel prices, the oil minister told reporters, reacting to speculation that rates would be cut by Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:43 am India studies US anti-terror strategiesNew Delhi: India said on Wednesday it was looking at adopting some of the anti-terror strategies adopted by the US in the wake of the deadly militant attacks on Mumbai last November. The Congress led-government, which has come under strong opposition criticism over the delayed response by authorities to the attacks that left 165 people dead, insisted it was much better prepared to deal with any new strikes. “Our level of preparedness is much higher than it was three months back and in the event of any attack, our response will be swift and deterring,” said home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram. The government is keen to be seen acting tough on security which is expected to emerge as a key issue in general elections that must be held by mid-May. India dispatched a team to the US to study anti-terror strategies prepared in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Chidambaram told Parliament. Nearly 3,000 people died 11 September 2001 when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. “The team has come back and we are trying to replicate the strategies studied there that suit our requirements,” Chidambaram said. Earlier in February, Islamabad admitted that the Mumbai attacks were planned partly in Pakistan. New Delhi has blamed the bloody 60-hour siege on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). In the meantime, the home minister said India was ramping up security arrangements. Coastal security had also been strengthened after the Mumbai attackers travelled to India’s financial hub by boat, the minister said. Help was being given to coastal states to use boats, jeeps and motorcycles for land and sea patrols. The government was also setting up 20 counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism schools, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:40 am Protectionist approach to hurt US firms: Mukherjee - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:39 am CERC unveils new power trading normsNew Delhi: Power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) today announced new Inter-State Trading Regulation 2009, replacing the existing regulation introduced in 2004. Power imported from other countries for resale in the domestic market has also been covered under these regulations, an official statement said today. The new regulation is aimed at making the terms and conditions for granting trading licence more stringent, keeping in view the current price of trading in power, liquidity needs of power trading business and to encourage only serious players intending to undertake trading business. The existing licencees have been given time till March 2010 to re-orient themselves as per the new provisions. Under the regulation, number of categories of licences have been reduced from six to three. Also, one can apply depending upon the applicants’ net worth and amount of electricity to be traded every year. A provision has also been made under the regulation that a licencee shall not purchase electricity from the entities defaulting in payment of unscheduled charges, transmission charges and charges of national or state or regional load dispatch centres, if so directed by the CERC. The minimum net worth requirement has been revised upward from Rs1.5 crore to Rs5 crore. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:36 am Export drop hits Japan, Germany; EU eyes new rulesTOKYO/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Plunging exports drove Japan's trade deficit to a record high in January and caused a sharp contraction in Germany as EU plans took shape to bolster financial supervision blamed for exacerbating the global crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:34 am TRAI's media ownership proposal not to see speedy outcome - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:34 am Village and small-scale industries key to new jobs: govtNew Delhi: Government today said it foresees village and small-scale enterprises to generate most of the new employment opportunities during the 11th Plan period. “Village and small scale enterprises (VSE) will provide most of the new employment opportunities during the 11th five-year plan,” Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes today informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question. As part of the government’s measures to prevent job cuts and generate them, Fernandes said a new scheme called Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMGEP) was started in August 2008 for the 2008-09 to 2012-13 period. The scheme is being implemented with an estimated expenditure of Rs4,735 crore towards margin money and Rs250 crore towards backward-forward area linkages to generate 37.37-lakh additional employment opportunities. Fernandes also said rural employment and urban entrepreneurship schemes of the government, namely, Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) are part of the measures. The government noted that two separate surveys had revealed more than 6.09 lakh job losses during October 2008 to 16 January 2009 in Mining, Textiles, Metals, Gems and Jewellery, Automobile, Transport and IT/BPO sectors which had contributed more than 60% to GDP during 2007-08, he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:29 am Govt plans Rs55,804 crore spending for port sectorNew Delhi: The government plans to invest Rs55,804 crore in the port sector of the country and would also encourage investment from the private sector, Parliament was informed today. “(The) government has already launched the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) involving a total investment of Rs1,00,339 crore. In the port sector, the total anticipated investment is Rs55,804 crore for 276 projects...,” shipping, road transport and highways minister TR Baalu today said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The investment will be on construction/upgradation of berths, deepening of channels, rail/road connectivity projects and equipment upgradation and modernisation schemes among others, Baalu said. The government has also finalised model for request for qualification (RFQ), request for proposal (RFQ) and model concession agreement (MCA) to attract and encourage private sector investment in the sector, he added. The ports handled 519.31 million tonnes of traffic in 2007-08, with the Kandla port handling the highest 64.92 million tonnes against a capacity of 62.60 million tonnes followed by 64.59 million tonnes by Visakhapatnam port against a capacity to handle 61.15 million tonnes. The ports have a handling capacity of 532.07 million tonnes. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:22 am BSE Sensex rises 0.9 pct; banks, auto gainMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex recovered 0.9 percent on Wednesday after falling for two consecutive sessions, with banks leading the rise on renewed hopes for a rate cut to boost consumer spending and stem a slowdown in growth.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:18 am Don’t compel customers to drop cheques in boxes: RBI to banksNew Delhi: With a number of incidents of cheque theft from the drop boxes coming to light, the Reserve Bank has asked the banks not to force their customers to drop the cheques in the boxes only, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. “(The) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed that a few such incidents have been reported by the complainants to the offices of the banking ombudsman,” minister of state for finance P.K. Bansal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. RBI has further reported that the details of such cases are not compiled separately as they are categorised as 8(1)(a) of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006, i.e. non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment of collection of cheques, he said. “RBI has advised the banks that they should ensure that customers are not compelled to drop the cheques in the drop box,” the minister said. Banks have further been asked to create customer awareness by displaying on the cheque drop box itself that “customers can also tender the cheques at the counter and obtain acknowledgment on the pay-in-slips”. The banks have also been advised to make absolutely full proof arrangements accounting for the number of instruments each time the box is opened so that there are no disputes and the customer’s interest are not compromised. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:13 am Gold tumbles the most in six-week - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:09 am Protectionist approach to hurt US firms: MukherjeeNew Delhi: In the wake of US putting restrictions on American companies hiring H-IB visa workers, the Union government on Wednesday said it is constantly endeavouring to sensitize authorities there that any protectionist policy would hurt the interests of their companies. “In our regular interaction with the US, we have been conveying that employment protectionism does not help the US or any other country, neither it is good for the global economic order,” external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee informed the Lok Sabha during the question hour. The minister noted the government was “fully committed” to protecting the interests of Indian professionals working in the US. Noting the US has imposed restrictions on hiring H-IB visas by US firms receiving bailout money, he said “any protectionist policy would hurt the interest of the US companies the most”. Mukherjee said India has been sensitizing the US authorities the fact that India happens to be the largest contributor of highly skilled workers to the US economy. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:09 am Unique ID Authority to ensure identity scheme implementationNew Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India will formulate plans and policies to implement ambitious UID project in the country aimed at assigning a unique identification number to each citizen, the government said today. “Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) shall have the responsibility to lay down plans and policies to implement Unique Identification (UID) scheme, shall own and operate UID database...,” Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy said in a reply in the Lok Sabha. The Authority has been notified on 28 January as an attached office under the aegis of Planning Commission with an initial core team of 115 officials and staff, he said adding that a governance structure to manage the UID system is in the process of establishment and that the state governments would be active partners in its activity. The government has earmarked Rs100 crore in the interim budget to kickstart the UID project. “A provision of Rs100 crore has been made in the annual plan 2009-10 for this,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said. UID aims at eliminating the need for multiple identification mechanism prevalent across various government departments. The project will be helpful in better monitoring and targeting of social benefits and employment programmes and identifying synergies among various ID initiatives prevalent in the country, Narayanasamy added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:07 am India, Vietnam sign trade pactsShillong: As many as nine memoradum of understandings on different economic deals and trade relations have been signed between the north-eastern states and Vietnamese counterparts during a recent conference in Vietnam. The pacts would help both India and Vietnam to intensify trade and investment relations, an official said on Wednesday. Two MoUs were signed with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and one with Indian Business Chamber of Vietnam. The pacts would further strengthen trade and business ties between the chambers of commerce of both the countries. They would also facilitate transfer of technology between trade bodies of both counties, the official said. The summit which was held between 12-15 February and attended by a delegation from the northeast backed by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and DoNER ministry, also brought together government and business delegates from Southeast Asia. Trade and investment scope in infrastructure, IT and tourism were discussed during the three-day summit which also focused on rich natural resources of eight north-eastern states and their investment opportunities in hydropower, food and agro-processing and oil and natural gas. Thirteen tourism companies from South East Asia which attended the conference showed keen interest in future cooperation. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:03 am Broadcasters cannot control distribution: RegulatorThe telecom watchdog Wednesday said broadcasters should not have any control over distribution operations and vice-versa.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:03 am Indian settlement system robust: Market regulatorThe settlements system in Indian equities markets was robust and has successfully tackled redemption pressures in the past, the markets watchdog said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:01 am Markets close on tame noteIndian equities markets closed Wednesday on a tame note with a key index ending only 0.68 percent above its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:01 am Irda study shows AIG gives no cause for concern now: ministerNew Delhi: Insurance regulator Irda has assessed the impact of the beleaguered insurer American International Group (AIG) on the Indian insurance sector and said it has no immediate concerns, the Finance Ministry informed the Lok Sabha today. “In view of the present comfortable solvency position and the assurance of continued availability of future capital contribution by the JV partner (AIG), Irda has no immediate regulatory concerns,” Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal said in a written reply. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has reported that it has assessed the impact of the AIG debacle on the Indian insurance sector. AIG has two joint ventures in India -- Tata AIG Life Insurance and Tata AIG General Insurance. “The performance of the two JVs between Tata Sons and AIG (74:26) has exceeded the projection made by the two entities at the time of registration in the year 2001,” Bansal said. The minister said the solvency positions of the life insurance and general insurance ventures were comfortably above what was required. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:01 am Steel prices to fall by up to Rs600 a tonneNew Delhi: Steel prices are set to come down by up to Rs600 a tonne following the government cutting excise duty from 10% to 8% with effect from midnight Wednesday. “The duty cut will result in reduction of prices in the range of Rs500 to Rs600 per tonne and help in creation of demand for the commodity,” SAIL Chairman S K Roongta told PTI. Most of the steel items, including hot-and cold-rolled coils, and TMT bars, used by sectors like automobile and construction attract 10% excise. With 2% reduction in the tax structure, the duty applicable on the commodity would now be 8%. “We will pass on es,” Essar Steel Holding CEO J Mehra said. JSW Steel and Ispat Industries also said rates would come down. “Prices of our products would come down in the range of Rs400-600 a tonne,” said JSW Group CFO Seshagiri Rao. Steel products are priced in the range of Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 per tonne, depending upon their quality and value addition. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 10:57 am Close: Sensex regains losses on stimulus boost; eye on rate cutsNew Delhi: The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex maintained positive opening but lost some gains to end 0.91% higher on Tuesday. Firm Asian markets and positive opening of the European markets also boosted the sentiments. Markets opened 1.5% with a strong buying sentiment as government slashed excise and service tax as stimulus to boost slowing economy. Prices of most manufactured products are likely to come down following a reduction in excise duty to 8%. Investors are also eyeing rate cuts by RBI to allow more liquidity into the system. But some volatility is expected to remain ahead of the expiry of Futures & Options (F&O) contracts for February 2009 series on Thursday, 26 February. With rate duty cuts and reduced rates expectations auto metal and banking stocks rallied. The 30-share index failed to reach the 9,000 mark but closed at 8,902.56, 80.50 points higher and 50-share NSE Nifty ended 28.60 points up at 2,762.50. Auto stocks snapped from demand worries to gain as Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors led the rally gaining by 7.90% to Rs318.40 and 5.87% to Rs139.85 respectively. Maruti Suzuki also surged by 3.20% to Rs662.75. Other gainers from the BSE pack were Reliance Infra by 3.60% to Rs506.75, TCS Ltd by 2.85% to Rs479.80, Infosys Technologies by 2.72% to Rs1,216.25, Wipro by 2.47% to Rs217.45, Hindalco Industries by 2.43% to Rs40.05 and ONGC by 2.37% to Rs696.75. There were some hefty losers on the index as well like Ranbaxy Laboratories, which fell by 3.54% to Rs207.25, Housing Development and Finance Corp by 2.68% to Rs1,254.40, Larsen and Toubro by 2.08% to Rs612.45, DLF Ltd by 1.75% to Rs154.60, and Reliance Communication by 1.75% to Rs154.45. On the global markets front, European markets are trading positive on Wall Street surge. Asian Markets were also extended gains of Dow Jones as Japan’s Nikkei gained 2.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 1.6%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 10:52 am Essar Telecom Infra appoints Navin Kaul as CEONew Delhi: The Essar Group Wednesday announced the appointment of Navin Kaul as the chief executive officer of Essar Telecom Infrastructure, the infrastructure arm of the telecom firm. Prior to this, Kaul has worked with Spice Communications as the CEO and was responsible for the company’s development and growth by creating financial value, ensuring customer and employee satisfaction and creating strong processes to build a world-class organisation, the company said in a statement. He has also held key positions with companies like Samsung SDS InfoTech and Usha Martin Group in marketing and business development roles, it added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 10:51 am Oil pushes above $40 as equities rallyLONDON (Reuters) - Oil held above $40 a barrel on Wednesday after a 4 percent rally in the previous session, as equities gained and investors looked ahead to U.S. inventory data expected to show rising supplies.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 10:48 am Oil pushes above $40 as equities rallyLondon: Oil held above $40 a barrel on Wednesday after a 4% rally in the previous session, as equities gained and investors looked ahead to US inventory data expected to show rising supplies. Crude’s advance on Tuesday stemmed from Wall Street gains sparked by reassuring comments from Fed chief Ben Bernanke, while President Barack Obama said the United States would emerge stronger from the economic slump. “The equities rally is supporting the market,” said Tony Machacek, a broker at Bache Commodities Ltd. US crude was up 20 cents to $40.16 by 0948 GMT. Brent, trading at an atypical premium to US crude because high US inventories are weighing on the US benchmark, was up 1 cent to $42.51. Oil has fallen from a record high near $150 reached last summer, battered by the recession and weakening global fuel demand which forecasters such as the International Energy Agency predict will contract in 2009. The price of oil has become closely intertwined with equities, a barometer of economic sentiment, in recent months. European stocks were up more than 1% on Wednesday, following gains in Asia. Bernanke signalled on Tuesday that US banks should be able to weather the downturn without being nationalised. But Obama tempered his message of hope with a warning that America faces a “day of reckoning” for its past excesses. Attention will focus later in the session on the latest snapshot of oil supplies in the United States. The US Energy Information Administration releases its weekly inventory report at 1530 GMT, which is expected to show that crude stocks probably rose 1.4 million barrels last week. American Petroleum Institute data on Tuesday showed crude stocks rose 341,000 barrels last week. Oil traders consider the EIA data gives a fuller picture because energy firms are required to respond to its weekly survey. Also supporting oil were figures earlier this week showing higher-than-expected compliance by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to agreed production cuts. Opec oil ministers meet to set policy on 15 March, and the group is expected to consider deepening its output cuts. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 10:25 am Marrying your Twitter feed with your blogNew Delhi: Among other things 2008 was the year Twitter became ubiquitous. Thousands upon thousands of users began to use the micro-blogging service as a curious mix of content generation, sharing and discussion. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the plane landing on the Hudson river and even the Oscars a few days ago were covered on Twitter by hundreds of avid Tweeters. Eyewitnesses flashed information and other users commented and even corroborated that data.  • Twitterfeed: Tell the world as soon you update your blog. You can use a service called Twitterfeed that will pull RSS feeds and automatically sent updates into your Twitter feed. This was as soon as you update your blog your friends and followers on Twitter will get to know. Remember that forwarding links to friends on Twitter is a snap. Your friends could popularise your post in no time. • Now that your blog send info to Twitter, make sure the vice versa happens as well. Make sure your Twitter feed appears prominently on your blog. Use one of several widgets, flash badges or even an RSS feed of twitter updates to display on your blog. • Bookmarking is old news! Add a Tweet This button at the end of your blog posts to get users to directly bookmark links to your posts on their Twitter feed. • Wordpress users must try out the WP Twittertools plugin. The function we like best is the one that lists, just below your post, all the twitter messages that link to your blog post. It is a an indicator of popularity and as effective as comments on a blog. • Finally use the old Seth Godin trick. Have a little box right at the top of your blog that welcomes new and returning users to your blog and then tells them to subscribe to your Twitter feed if there don’t find any new blogposts. Wordpress users can use the What Would Seth Godin Do plugin or the Wp Greetbox plugin. Those are five ways of really marrying your twitter feed with your blog. Next time we’ll talk to a few power twitter users about how to really get a successful twitter micro-blog going. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 10:15 am Suzuki Motorcycle to invest Rs150 cr in 3 yearsChandigarh: Undeterred by the current economic slowdown, two-wheeler maker Suzuki Motorcycle today said it will invest Rs150 crore on tripling its manufacturing capacity by 2012, besides launching three new models. “We will be expanding our production capacity from 12,000 units per month to 40,000 units per month in next three years at our plant in Gurgaon, which will entail an investment of Rs150 crore,” Suzuki Motorcycle India Zonal Head (North and East) Rakesh Kumar told reporters here. Stating that the investment would also go towards developing new models to woo customers, he said: “At present, we have four models of bikes, which are ingeniously manufactured and we plan to roll out three more new models during our capacity expansion drive.” Being a late entrant in bike segment and having a minuscule market share in country’s over seven million units bike market, the company expects to witness tremendous improvement in its share post expansion. “We sell 12,000 units per month against the sale of six lakh bikes each month in the country which means we have very small share... but this capacity expansion will enable us to consolidate our share in the biking segment,” he asserted. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:53 am SEBI eases share norms, seen helping SatyamBANGALORE (Reuters) - India's market regulator has eased the norms for preferential allotment of shares by some companies, a move that should help fraud-hit outsourcer Satyam Computer Services to find a strategic investor.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:44 am SpiceJet plans international flight by 2010New Delhi: Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Wednesday said it will start international flights by May 2010, but is not looking at the US and the UK markets. “We will start our international flights by May 2010 but we have no desire to fly to the US and the UK,” Spicejet CEO Sanjay Aggarwal said. He said the carrier is currently evaluating markets which it would like to fly to. “As for the aircraft we will use the same that we already have,” Aggarwal added. The carrier currently has a fleet of 19 aircraft of Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-900 ER. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:42 am POLL - Inflation seen at 3.31 pct on Feb. 14MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's annual inflation rate is seen falling to its lowest in nearly 15 months at 3.3 percent in mid-February as cheaper fuels reduce prices of manufactured products, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:37 am POLL - India's Dec qtr GDP growth seen slowing to 6.2 pct y/yNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian economic growth is forecast to have slowed to a four-year low in the December quarter as it was hit by the spreading global financialSource: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:33 am No exodus from Middle East to Kerala: StudyContrary to media reports, there has been no 'exodus' of the diaspora from the Middle East to India, and remittances are not falling, says the Centre for Development Studies.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:32 am Markets hold on to gains in afternoonIndian equities held on to their morning gains about an hour before close Wednesday, with a key index trading 1.51 percent higher than its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:31 am Orissa to swap power to meet shortfallPower trader PTC India will swap power with Orissa to help it overcome the power shortage it is facing currently, an official said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:30 am European stocks rise after Wall Street surgeFrankfurt: European stocks recovered in early trade on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, after statements by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke caused a Wall Street rally. At 1:40pm (8:07GMT) the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.6% at 730.70 points, after it had fallen 1.4% on Tuesday to a six-year low. US stocks had risen late Tuesday, recovering from 12-year low, after Bernanke signalled that nationalisation of big banks was not imminent, causing relief in the markets. Financials were among the biggest gainers, with Deutsche Bank up 7%, BNP Paribas up 8.3% and Deutsche Boerse up 6.8, after the German stock exchange operator released solid results late Tuesday. Shares in British confectionery giant Cadbury rose 2% after the company reported a 30 percent rise in 2008 profits. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:25 am Sebi eases share norms, seen helping SatyamBangalore: India’s market regulator has eased the norms for preferential allotment of shares by some companies, a move that should help fraud-hit outsourcer Satyam Computer Services to find a strategic investor. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said its rules on pricing of preferential share issues would not be applicable to companies that have been granted exemption by the regulator. Preferential allotment of shares are usually at the average price of a company’s stock over six months, or two weeks, whichever is higher. The regulator said this rule would not be applicable to a company where the Sebi board had granted relaxation for “substantial acquisition of shares and takeovers”. Sebi’s statement, which was issued late on Tuesday, can be found at: On 13 February, Sebi had said it would ease takeover rules in certain conditions. It did not say specifically how it would change the rules or mention Satyam, saying it would consider plans submitted by a target firm that met it requirements for an exemption. Last week, Satyam won approval from the Company Law Board to increase its authorised share base and bring on board a strategic investor through a competitive auction, with the option to also make a preferential issue of shares. Satyam has been struggling for survival since 7 January, when its founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju quit after disclosing that profits had been overstated for years at the New York-listed outsourcing firm in India’s biggest corporate scandal. The outsourcing firm is looking for a buyer to help restore the confidence of its more than 600 clients and about 50,000 staff. Satyam, which counts General Electric, Cisco and Qantas Airways among its clients, is likely to find a strategic investor in about two months, the outsourcing firm said in a staff newsletter. Potential suitors for Satyam include India’s top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro, Hinduja Group and Spice Group. Earlier this month, the Sebi had said it would change its rules on mandatory open offers to buy shares in firms after an approach from Satyam’s new government-appointed board. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:06 am Pressure mounts on government to stop Gandhi artefacts auctionWith Gandhians keeping up pressure on the government to stop many of Mahatma Gandhi's artefacts from going under the hammer at a US auction next month, the 'matter is being looked into', say officials.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 25 Feb 2009 | 9:01 am Cadbury 2008 profit down 10% amid divestmentsLondon: Cadbury PLC’s profits fell 10% in 2008 as it shed its beverage units in North America and Australia, but continuing operations more than doubled their profits for the year, the company reported Wednesday. The company, which makes Cadbury chocolates, Trident and Dentyne gum, and Halls and Bassett’s candies, said net profit dropped to £366 million ($532 million) from £407 million in 2007. Revenue was up 14.6% to £5.38 billion. Continuing operations, now focused on Cadbury’s chocolate, chewing gum and candy business, produced a net profit of £370 million, up from £149 million in the previous year. Cadbury reported growth in all segments: chocolate was up 6%, gum up 10% and candy up 6%. For the current year, Cadbury forecast revenue growth at the lower end of its goal range of 4% to 6%. Cadbury, formerly Cadbury Schweppes, completed the demerger of its Dr Pepper Snapple Group in May, and announced a deal to sell its Australia Beverages unit in December. It took a charge of £194 million for restructuring costs, up from £165 million in 2007. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 8:58 am Gold buyers trickle in as prices fall by 5%Mumbai: Gold buyers in India trickled into shops as prices fell by about 5% from the all time high struck last week, and dealers said, a further dip below the psychological mark of Rs15,000 may rekindle buying interest. “We are witnessing some buying since yesterday,” said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai, adding that “a lot of traders are waiting for a fall below $950 levels.” “Buying has picked up transaction wise,” said the dealer, adding “We are getting calls for the first time after gold dipped below $1,000.” The benchmark April contract traded at Rs15,265 rupees per 10 grams at 1:48pm, down about 5% from its all-time high of Rs16,040 struck late last week. A stronger rupee also made the dollar-quoted asset cheaper. The Indian rupee edged higher on Wednesday as gains in domestic shares eased concerns about outflows, but the dollar’s strength overseas, and demand from importers, prevented a sharper rise. “Buyers are enquiring but they are eyeing the lower side,” said Pinakin Vyaas, chief chief manager - treasury with IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. “Still there is disparity between bank and local gold,” said Vyaas, adding demand for imported bars would also depend on the amount of scrap sales coming in the market. Traders said the flow of scrap may ease after gold prices declined. Scrap sales may fall slightly compared to yesterday, said an official with Jitendra Kantilal, a scrap buyer in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar, who said he was buying scrap gold at Rs15,300. The flow of scrap and high prices had been impacting country’s imports that slowed after strong demand in August to November last year. Gold imports nearly halved to 400 tonnes in 2008 in India, the world largest consumer, from an annual average of around 700-800 tonnes per annum. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 8:52 am ADB chief seeks US funding despite disquietManila: The head of the Asian Development Bank was in Washington on Wednesday to seek US support for additional funding, an official said, amid increasing questions from Congress about the functioning of the multilateral institution. A spokeswoman for the Manila-based ADB said Haruhiko Kuroda, the president of the bank, would hold talks with US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner later on Wednesday on a general capital increase for the institution. The ADB is seeking to at least double its capital base from $55 billion. Donors are likely to decide by May, when the bank holds its next annual general meeting. The United States, the biggest donor to the ADB along with Japan, has long called for more lending to aid poverty reduction in Asia’s poorer economies, away from fast-developing nations. In 2007, the largest recipients of ADB funds were India, China, Pakistan and Vietnam. In a letter to Geithner seen by Reuters on Wednesday, Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked whether an increase in funding was appropriate given the global economic crisis. “In light of the fact that nearly 50% of the ADB’s regular lending in 2008 went to India and China, two fast-growing countries with access to private capital markets, one must ask whether the bank could do more with its current lending authority if it concentrated on its mission of poverty reduction in the least developed countries,” it said. Some donors have sought to link the increase in funding to speedier internal reforms at the development bank. “If you determine that a capital increase is appropriate, I believe it is crucial that it be linked to specific commitment by the bank to undertake certain reforms,” Lugar said in his letter to Geithner. Some members of the ADB’s board, who represent both borrowers and donors, are concerned about the bank’s review of its energy and social safeguards policies, and the need for internal reforms, including staff management issues. Last month, several NGOs wrote to the bank saying that its energy policy review was not transparent and the language adopted in the drafts of new policies diluted safeguards. US Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Barney Frank said in another letter to Geithner last week that there were concerns the review could “weaken existing mechanisms for transparency and oversight” and “fall short of international standards and practices of other multilateral development banks”. The ADB has maintained that reforms that were currently ongoing were part of a self-improvement process rather than in exchange for any additional capital infusion. “It is not a condition for capital increase but it is fair the shareholders ask us and hold us accountable for it,” Rajat Nag, the ADB’s managing director-general, said in an interview to Reuters earlier this month. A higher borrowing base would allow the development bank to raise more funds which it can lend out to support emerging Asian economies. The ADB has said it expects much slower growth for the region than previously forecast because of the global downturn. The 67 members of the ADB include 48 from the region and 19 from elsewhere, mostly Europe and North America. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 8:29 am TRAI says broadcasters can't control distributionMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said on Wednesday broadcasters should not control distrubution operations and vice versa.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 8:16 am Mutiny sparks fierce battle in DhakaDhaka: A fierce gun battle broke out Wednesday inside the headquarters of Bangladesh’s border security force in the capital Dhaka after a mutiny by soldiers against their officers, officials said. At least one bystander was killed and eight others wounded, medical sources said, as police and regular troops ringed the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles. “There has been a huge exchange of gunfire at BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) headquarters complex this morning,” local police chief Nabojit Khisa said. Smoke could be seen coming from the complex, with security forces sealing off the area. “The army has been called in. They have already started moving to the area,” said Colonel Rezaur Rahman, the deputy chief of Bangladesh’s elite internal security force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). “RAB officers have also circled the whole compound... Gunfire can be heard from inside.” Official sources told AFP that the mutiny broke out while senior officers were meeting at the Bangladesh Rifles’ headquarters, which is home to 3,000 to 4,000 troops in Dhaka’s Pilkhana area. But they stressed that the mutiny was the result of a problem within the security force, including demands for higher pay and subsidised food, and was not an attempted coup d’etat. “It seems to be a mutiny of BDR (paramilitary) troops” against their regular army officers, an armed forces spokesman said, adding the troops had even “fired at army helicopters hovering over their barracks.” In a statement, the Bangladeshi army called on the renegade BDR troops to “surrender arms and go back to the barracks.” “The honourable prime minister (Sheikh Hasina) will herself talk to you about your demand. Any soldiers who fail to give up arms after this announcement will be prosecuted,” the statement added. According to local media, BDR troops are demanding better payment, more subsidised food and more holidays. Reports said the BDR chief, Major General Shakil Ahmed, refused to listen to the demands, prompting the armed revolt. Several television channels said the BDR chief was injured in the attack, but no official confirmation was available. The head nurse at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Khademul Islam, said all but one of the casualties were civilian bystanders caught in the crossfire on the streets of the capital. “At least one person has died and eight were injured, including a BDR soldier, all hit by bullets in the BDR gunfight. The deceased is a rickshaw puller,” Islam said. Since winning independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has had a history of political violence, coups and counter-coups. The grindingly poor country was run by military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad from 1982 to 1990, before democracy was restored in 1991. The army again stepped in in January 2007, cancelling elections and declaring a state of emergency following months of political unrest. Democracy was restored with elections last December. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 8:11 am Satyam sees decision on investor in 6 to 8 weeksBANGALORE (Reuters) - Satyam Computer Services is likely to find a strategic investor in about two months, the outsourcing firm hit by India's biggest corporate fraud said in a staff newsletter.Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 7:17 am MySpace founders launch DailyFill celebrity gossipAFP San Francisco: The creators of social networking website MySpace on Tuesday launched DailyFill, an online locale devoted to nuggets of celebrity gossip. Josh Berman and Colin Digiaro believe DailyFill has a winning formula of bite-sized news about film and music stars written with edgy wit by a small team commanded by lead editor Chris Case. DailyFill headline stories Tuesday included “Nicole Ritchie Pregnant Again: Trying to Catch Octuplet Mom,” and “Sorry I Strangled You, Here’s An iPod” about singer Chris Brown trying to win back a girlfriend he allegedly battered. Stories are typically a few paragraphs and offer online links to longer versions. “With the wild growth of Twitter you can see people are looking for quick hits of content,” Digiaro said, referring to the hot micro-blogging service famous for terse Haiku-style messages about people’s daily activities. “We applied that concept to celebrity entertainment news. You can find out everything that is happening in the celebrity world with literally a 20 to 30 second scan in our space.” Case’s resume includes being former lead writer for bitingly satirical television program “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher” and being a writer and producer for shows “Spin City” and “Mad About You.” Since a stealth launch in test mode 75 days ago, DailyFill has gone from zero to 3.3 million visitors monthly, according to Berman. “People aren’t reading really long articles,” Berman said. “They want a quick summary.” DailyFill is the first startup launched by Slingshot Labs, a News Corp venture that Berman and Digiaro were put in charge of after the Rupert Murdoch operation bought MySpace in 2005. MySpace chief executive Chris DeWolfe set up Slingshot, which was given 15 million dollars to create companies to be owned by News Corp, according to Berman and Digiaro. “Our mission is to quickly identify trends and put businesses out there at low cost,” Berman said. “Being serial entrepreneurs we got really excited about launching this venture.” Berman and Digiaro said that “well under” 500,000 dollars was spent to get DailyFill running. Their goal is to annually start from three to five companies built to take advantage of Internet trends. “We look for markets that we don’t feel are served the way they should be served,” Digiaro said. “We can work inside this huge organization, be quick, be nimble and not have to rely on entrepreneurs.” DailyFill is ad-supported and uses content obtained from partners that include properties in the News Corp empire. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 6:15 am Obama announces steps to restore confidence, restart lendingObama has announced a series of measures, including creating a new lending fund to provide auto and small business loans as well as a housing plan.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:51 am Obama says economic stimulus plan will create 3.5 mn jobsObama on Wednesday promised that the $787 billion economic stimulus package will create 3.5 million jobs in the next two years and announced plans to cut tax.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:49 am Japanese auto output slumps in JanuaryTokyo: Japan’s top automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan said on Wednesday they had sharply reduced their production in January in response to a slump in sales. Toyota Motor, the world number one, said its global output had fallen 42.6% in January from a year earlier. Nissan Motor reported a 54.0% plunge while Honda logged a 33.5% drop. Mitsubishi Motors, Japan’s fourth-largest automaker, said its global production had declined 53.9% in January. Japanese companies have been idling plants and laying off workers to cope with the global economic crisis, which has sent demand for cars plunging as consumers tighten their belts in recession-hit major economies. Toyota said its domestic sales had dropped 23.4% in January from a year earlier, excluding subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors. It did not give a figure for worldwide sales. Nissan reported a 26.6% fall in global sales for the month. The falling factory output has taken a heavy toll on Asia’s largest economy. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:47 am San Francisco Chronicle may shut downNew York/San Francisco: San Francisco may lose its main newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, as owner Hearst Corp cuts a “significant” number of jobs and decides whether to shut or sell the money-losing daily. The privately held New York-based publisher already is considering shutting a second West Coast paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in the face of a devastating decline in advertising revenue and big losses. Founded shortly after Gold Rush fever hit California in the mid-19th century, the Chronicle has long been an essential part of daily life for many Bay Area residents, even as it sometimes disappointed or outraged them. But the Chronicle lost more than $50 million last year and this year’s losses to date are worse, Hearst said on its website on Tuesday. It said the paper has lost “major” amounts of money since 2001, a year after Hearst bought the paper. “Survival is the outcome we all want to achieve. But without the specific changes we are seeking across the entire Chronicle organization, we will have no choice but to quickly seek a buyer for the Chronicle or, should a buyer not be found, to shut the newspaper down,” said Hearst Corp Chief Executive Frank Bennack Jr. More than 100 employees gathered in a conference room to hear the news from editor Ward Bushee and publisher Frank Vega after receiving a message about a mandatory staff meeting. “Some people were crying at the meeting,” said Rachel Gordon, 47, a transportation reporter at the paper. “But people are trying to get the newspaper out for tomorrow.” “We knew it was going to be ominous when we got that message,” Gordon added. “[Vega] said Hearst really wants to make this work, that shutting us down is a last resort.” A Hearst spokesman declined to say whether the company has hired an adviser or banker to try to sell the paper. The paper employs 275 news staff and is the 12th-largest in the United States, according to the US Audit Bureau of Circulations, with average weekday circulation of 339,430. It is the 19th-largest paper by Sunday circulation. Circulation fell 7% as of the six months ended 30 September,2008, compared with the same period a year earlier. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Chronicle was founded in 1865, about a decade and a half after gold was found in California. With the help of the local literary crowd, including Mark Twain and Bret Harte, the paper captured the largest circulation west of the Mississippi. It covered the biggest events in the city’s history, from the earthquake and fire of 1906 to the assassination of its mayor, George Moscone, and the state’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, in 1978. The paper has reflected many changes in US culture first seen in its own often cutting-edge city, including the shift from beatnik - a word it may have coined - to hippie in the 1950s and ‘60s and the shock waves from the AIDS pandemic in the city’s sizeable gay population. The Chronicle is the latest US paper to face the threat of extinction if its owners cannot find ways to cut costs. Advance Newspapers´ Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey, cut its newsroom staff by 40% last year. Hearst has said it might take the Seattle Post-Intelligencer online only or close the paper if it cannot find a buyer by mid-March. Other papers, including EW Scripps Co’s Rocky Mountain News, could fold if a buyer is not found. The Chronicle and its unions are expected to begin discussing the situation later Tuesday and on Wednesday. Doug Cuthbertson, who represents the Northern California Media Workers Guild, declined to comment on the talks. Hearst owns several other papers throughout the United States including the Times Union in Albany New York, and the Houston Chronicle. It also owns magazines such as Marie Claire and O, The Oprah Magazine. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:34 am Sensex snaps two-day fall, gains over 80 pts on duty cutsSensex on Wednesday snapped a two-day falling trend by gaining over 80 points on fresh buying in blue-chips led by the auto sector.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:34 am 'Diamond ind system defective'RBI task force says few units are registered, which makes it difficult to provide help.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:29 am 'Indian economy to bounce back in the third quarter'A deluge of Oscars is a reason for Indians to believe that the economy will bounce back in the third or fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009-10.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Feb 2009 | 5:05 am Google apologizes for Gmail breakdownSan Francisco: Google on Tuesday was scrambling to figure out what caused Gmail to crash, leaving millions of people worldwide without access to the free Web-based email service for a few hours. “We’re actively investigating the source of the issue and will share more information with our users as soon as we have it,” said Google spokesman Andrew Kovacs. Gmail became what was referred to in online chat forums as “Gfail” at approximately 0930 GMT and remained inoperative for two-and-a-half hours. Also Read Google Gmail crash: What is Gmail? “We know that for many of you this disrupted your working day,” Gmail site reliability manager Acacio Cruz wrote in a posting at the California Internet titan’s website. “We’re really sorry about this, and we did do everything to restore access as soon as we could. Obviously we’re never happy when outages occur, but we would like to stress that this is an unusual occurrence.” Gmail service was reportedly disrupted for an estimated 113 million users in Europe, Asia, the United States and elsewhere. Quick-thinking porn-peddlers capitalized on the situation by creating a Gmail user group titled “Gmail Down” that displayed sex pictures and videos to people that went searching for information about the problem. Gmail service crashed a couple of times last year but had operated uninterrupted since it was bolstered with features that include people being able to draft and read messages offline. To make amends for the apparent computer server problem on Tuesday, Google is extending by 15 days the subscriptions of users that pay for Google Apps Premier editions of Gmail designed for businesses. Google sparked online panic last month when a glitch temporarily prevented users from visiting any websites in search results. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 4:48 am Nasa satellite to monitor CO2 fails missionWashington: The module carrying a US satellite to monitor global carbon dioxide emissions failed to separate from its rocket soon after it was launched on Tuesday, Nasa said. “It appears that there were problems separating” and the satellite “did not achieve orbit,” said Nasa TV announcer George Diller. “We are still evaluating the status of the location and the exact state” of the spacecraft, he said. “We have not had a successful launch tonight,” he added. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a Taurus XL rocket, live images on Nasa TV showed. The mission of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) was to map the global distribution of carbon dioxide and study how that distribution changes over time, Nasa said in a statement. It is Nasa’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide. In January, Japan launched a satellite on a similar mission. Carbon dioxide is the leading greenhouse gas driving climate change. However “several minutes into the flight, launch managers declared a contingency when the fairing failed to separate properly,” Nasa said in a brief statement. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Feb 2009 | 4:43 am Govt cuts excise, service tax; revenue loss at Rs 30,000 crNew Delhi, Feb. 24 The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today gave up Rs 30,000 crore of revenue on an annual basis when he announced a slew of indirect tax concessions to bolster sagging demand for industrial goods and services.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Consumers to benefit in most segmentsCorporate India said the cut in excise duty and service tax will bolster consumer confidence. It will also help companies tide over the impact of a globalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Rupee to move lowerThere is pandemonium prevailing in global financial markets with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 declining to levels last recorded in 1997, dollar strengthening against all major currencies including the Yen and the future of majorSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am SAIL (Rs 76.05): SellWe recommend a sell in Steel Authority of India Ltd stock from a short-term trading perspective. It is clearly visible from the charts of SAIL that it was on an intermediate-term uptrend from its 52-week low of Rs 55 recorded in late November tillSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Satyam suitors may not get full client-specific informationNew Delhi/Mumbai, Feb. 24 Satyam Computer Services’ suitors may not be able to avail themselves of complete client specific information including size of individual contracts or customer names. Disclosing such details would violate theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am ‘Infra management, BPO to drive IT sector growth’Chennai, Feb. 24 Cognizant Technology Solutions, the US-based IT company with offshore centres in India, says that opportunities in infrastructure management services and business process outsourcing (BPO) would give an impetus to the Indian ITSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Guidelines for preferential share issues relaxedMumbai, Feb. 24 The Securities and Exchange Board of India has relaxed norms for preferential issue of shares to those target companies whose boards have been superseded by government and which have already been exempted from strict compliance ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am E&Y has overvalued Maytas Properties, says GovtNew Delhi, Feb. 24 The Government has claimed that the accounting and auditing firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) has overvalued Maytas Properties Ltd.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideFresh long-position can be initiated only if DLF exceeds Rs 168 and ICICI Bank moves above Rs 346, with tight stop-loss. Sell Infosys stock if it fails to surpass the 21-day moving averageSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am S&P revises India’s outlook to negative on rising fiscal deficitMumbai, Feb. 24 Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised the outlook, on the long-term sovereign credit rating on India, to negative from stable. The global credit rating agency reasoned that the revision in outlook reflects itsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 25 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am TCS to extend staff work hours to offset price hitTata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest software company, is planning to extend working hours of its staff beginning April.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Feb 2009 | 10:19 pm DLF, Laing O'Rourke parting waysUK firm wants to pitch aggressively for infra projects; local ally cautious.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Feb 2009 | 10:17 pm More sops likely this week before poll code kicks inBarely a week after the vote-on-account, the government has announced measures that are being broadly referred to as the third stimulus package.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Feb 2009 | 10:15 pm Naphtha duty exemption extendedIn a bid to maintain retail electricity prices ahead of the general elections, the government has decided to keep naphtha imports free of customs duty beyond March 31.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Feb 2009 | 10:10 pm CBEC clarity on service tax rule is a huge reliefMountain of cases pertaining to export of services may be resolved soon.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Feb 2009 | 10:08 pm S & P cuts India outlook to negativeExcise and service tax cuts may make consumers and companies happy, but earlier giveaways and spending schemes to stoke economic growth this year have contributed to a deteriorating fiscal situation that has prompted Standard & Poors to revise its outlook on Indias long-term sovereign credit rating to negative from stable.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 24 Feb 2009 | 7:24 pm Radioactive steel dulls engineering exports to EuropeGovt convenes meeting after contaminated containers land in Germany.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 24 Feb 2009 | 6:58 pm Pranab unveils fiscal stimulus IIIService tax has been cut across the board from 12 per cent to 10 per cent and the excise has been reduced by the same margin only for items that currently attract the 10 per cent rate.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 24 Feb 2009 | 6:57 pm Apple, Google among 10 American cos that won’t cut jobs: TimeNew York: Bucking the recessionary trend, US corporates Apple, Google and Colgate are doing so well that they are unlikely to fire their employees and may even recruit, a media report has said. The Time magazine in its report published online has named Cisco, Visa, education company Apollo, cigarettes firm Altria, cellular operator Verizon, Corinthian College and pharma entity Amgen in the list of 10 companies which are defying the trend. “The other firms included have large amounts of cash on their balance sheets and have elected to use the slow economy to develop new products and services to take share away from financially weaker competitors,” the magazine said On search engine giant Google, which had fired a small number of people last year, the magazine said, “if the company wants to control personnel costs, it can simply stop hiring.” About Apple, the magazine said because its success is based on creating new products, improving old ones and aggressive marketing, it would need all the people who work at the company and perhaps more. “The company has $24 billion in cash and securities and adds to that every quarter. Apple refuses to make acquisitions, preferring to create and market its own products,” Time said. Further, Apple would also not lay people off because its CEO Steve Jobs would have to admit he had made a bad decision and that the entity would not appear to be perfect, the magazine added. Besides, Colgate has “side-stepped the global slowdown” and in the most recent quarter the company’s profits were up 20%. It would be hard to pick a better time to sell toothpaste, pet food, and shampoo. Even in a bad economy, most of these are products would have stable sales, it stated. Apart from this, quoting networking major Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers, who has said that the company plans to avoid job cuts the magazine stated that Cisco probably has as much or more cash on hand as any tech company in the US, holding $27 billion in available funds. On Visa, which acts as an agent to transfer funds between buyers and merchants, it noted that unlike large banks, when a customer defaults, Visa’s balance sheet is not at risk, while in the last quarter, its profits rose to 35%. The Time magazine stated that, “employees at these firms are as close to being safe from being thrown into the job market as almost anyone in the country.” Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 24 Feb 2009 | 1:08 pm
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