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IBM looking at acquiring Sun Microsystems:There are reports that IBM is in talks to acquire Sun Microsystems. The deal is expected to be upwards of USD 6.5 billion. Commenting on the news, Justin Scheck of Wall Street Journal said the deal may or may not happen. He, however, added that the deal is workeable.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 4:13 pm See flat to ve domestic steel demand ahead: Uttam GalwaThe steel sector has recovered well after hitting a low in the OctoberDecember. Commenting on the sectors performance, Ankit Miglani, Director of Uttam Galva, said steel demand was higher during in JanuaryMarch compared to OctoberDecember quarter of 2008. \"Going forward, we expect domestic demand to be flat to slightly negative.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 3:48 pm SREI Infra aims to maintain FY08 bottomline revenueSunil Kanoria, Director, SREI Infra Finance said the company has no plans to merge Tata Quippo tower business with Essar Tele. On a bottomline basis, SREI aims to maintain FY08 revenues. \"Our cofocus right now is ensuring that the quality of our portfolio is maintained and improved, so at the moment, growth is not our key driver.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 3:46 pm Developing Rs 32,500cr projects internationally: GMR InfraMadhu Terdal, COO, GMR International, said the companys international foray, which started off from Istanbul Airport and then with the acquisition of InterGen mega global powerhouse, was a major boost to the company. He stated that GMR Infrastructure has Rs 32,500 crore of projects developing internationally.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 3:00 pm TTML may launch high speed data cardsThere has been a buzz that Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML) will be launching high speed data cards to tap both the GSM and CDMA network.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 2:16 pm RComm\'s post paid GSM trials may last for 4 weeksReliance Communications is close to launching its post paid GSM service, reports CNBCTV18. The company has already started its post paid GSM trials on Tuesday across 200 towns and is likely to start commercial post paid GSM service with one basic plan. RComm trials are likely to last for four weeks.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 1:07 pm IBM in talks to buy Sun Microsystems - WSJBANGALORE (Reuters) - IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc for at least $6.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, in a deal that could bolster their computer server products against rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 1:00 pm PE placement in Suzlon likely to happen soon: SourcesThe long awaited private equity placement in Suzlon is gathering steam. Stake sale talks have entered the last leg. A few significant names doing rounds include TPG and Carlyle among others. The equity dilution is likely to be more than 10%, but an open offer is unlikely. However, there has been no official comment yet on the likely PE names.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:50 pm ICSA bags Rs 464cr order from 3 state electricity boardsICSA India has bagged order worth Rs 464 crore from various state electricity boards. G Bala Reddy CMD of ICSA said the company has won orders from Bihar, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh state electricity boards. With this order, we have about Rs 2,200 crore as total order book position of the company and we are looking at around 15% margins.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:42 pm Rupee gains as cash tightens, shares riseMumbai: The rupee rose to its highest close in three weeks on Wednesday as tax payments squeezed cash supplies and as investors hoped a rising stock market would rekindle foreign investor interest for local assets. But looming national elections, a widening fiscal deficit and slowing growth remain weights for currency, which hit a record low of Rs52.20 per dollar in early March. The partially convertible rupee ended at Rs51.29/30 per dollar, 0.35% above Tuesday’s close of Rs51.47/4850, its highest finish since 27 February when it ended at Rs51.10/12. It is still down 0.4% so far this month, and 5% so far in 2009. It shed nearly a fifth of its value last year. “There is some sort of a shortage of rupee funds in the market due to the tax outflows. That is driving the rupee up and we may see Rs50.75 per dollar being tested in the near term,” said Sudarshana Bhat, chief currency trader with state-run Corporation Bank. One-month offshore non-deliverable forwards were quoting at Rs51.62/51.72. Quarterly corporate tax payments have squeezed funds in the money markets, sending overnight rates to two-month peaks of around 4.5% and reducing the amount of funds the Reserve Bank of India absorbs at its daily money market operations. The rupee has also found support from recent gains in the stock market, which rose 1.3% on Wednesday to its strongest close in a month. The market has risen 10% since 9 March, when it had ended at its lowest in more than 3 years. Citigroup analysts say the rupee’s fall in 2008 and 2009 has been mainly due to foreigners selling out of local shares. On a year-to-date basis, portfolio outflows totalled $12.3 billion compared to inflows of $12.5 billion a year earlier, they said. “While fundamentals support a stable rupee, in the near term, rising risk aversion and continued de-leveraging could result in a temporary overshoot,” they said in a note. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:35 pm Young designers impress as WIFW begins at new venueThough confusion prevailed at the new venue of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) Wednesday, the perfectly cut silhouettes, creativity and fusion of Indian heritage with modernity exhibited by two young designers at the opening show impressed the full house.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:31 pm GLOBAL MARKETS - World shares rise before Fed; jitters persistLONDON (Reuters) - World share prices firmed on Wednesday, while European government debt fell as rising financial stocks and forecast-beating U.S. housing data prompted more optimism among investors after the last week's rally.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:31 pm Indian rupee gains as cash tightens and shares rise - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:26 pm Sensex crosses 9K level in early trade!Sensex surged by over 178 points to cross the psychological 9,000 mark in early trade.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:21 pm SFIO wants to question Rajus again!A court on Tuesday admitted a petition filed by the SFIO to further quiz B Ramalinga Raju.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:21 pm Thailand announces 2nd stimulus plan!Thailand plans to spend USD 38.9 bn to stimulate the economy over the next three yrs.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:21 pm India`s growth rate slowing dramatically: IMF!India`s economy is slowing dramatically, the International Monetary Fund said, adding the gross domestic product growth would slow to 6.3 percent in the 2008-09 fiscal, and to 5.3 percent the following year.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:21 pm Protectionism on rise despite G20 pledges to refrain from such actions: World Bank!The World Bank has said that major economies have raised protectionist trade barriers despite their collective pledge to refrain from such actions in the face of the global recession.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:21 pm WB slashes China`s growth forecast !The World Bank on Tuesday slashed China`s economic growth forecast to 6.5 percent in 2009 but said the Asian giant was resisting the global economic firestorm with solid fundamentals.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:21 pm India may grow 6.5-7 pct in FY10: plan panel aide - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:08 pm US to claw back AIG bonuses, lawmakers eye tax - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm Mercedes-Benz seeks tie-ups with states for low-floor busesLuxury car maker Mercedes-Benz India, which entered into the bus market last year, is looking for tie-ups with state transport undertakings (STU) for selling its low-floor buses, a top official said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 pm 18 March: on way to 15th Lok SabhaVarun calls himself a victim, Congress mocks Defending himself over his alleged anti-Muslim speech, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha candidate Varun Gandhi on Wednesday said the video footage was “doctored” and a “political conspiracy” has been hatched to malign him. But the party’s main political rival Congress called Varun’s speech contrary to secular democracy and said BJP would be equally at fault if it fails to take action against him. Click here to watch video “I have been a victim of a political conspiracy. Those are not my words and that is not my voice. I have not made any communal statement,” said Varun, a scion of the estranged Gandhi family and a saffron party candidate from Pilibhit. Varun said the tape has been doctored and it was a “malicious attempt” to brand him communal. “It has been doctored. It has been a malicious attempt to brand me as communal. There is no question of my having any ill feeling towards (any) community,” Varun said. Union minister Kapil Sibal said when cognizance has been taken by the Election Commission that a prima facie offence has been committed, whether Varun denies it or not is not relevant. “The leadership of BJP will take action because if they don’t, then it will be seen that they are the co-conspirators in this,” Sibal said. Alleging the speech was aimed at polarizing votes, the minister said, “I am not concerned with the nature and quality of the speech. It is abhorrent. It is contrary to the basic foundations of our secular democracy.” “I don’t think people of the country are going to be taken in by whatever the young Varun Gandhi would have to say because the whole country is aware that it is the BJP which practices hate politics,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said. Tewari said the Election Commission would not have intervened if it was a political conspiracy as is being made out to be by Gandhi. “This means that they (EC) are prima facie convinced about the veracity of the CD,” he said. — PTI Consensus needed on prime ministerial candidate: Naidu Maintaining that he was not aspiring for the prime minister’s post, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said the issue on who will occupy the top job has to be decided by consensus. “There is only one seat for prime minister’s post. Many people have aspirations. Ultimately, we have to bring some consensus. I am confident people will realize this. Ultimately they will adjust on consensus candidate that will emerge,” he said. Asked if Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati could be a consensus candidate, the TDP leader told a TV channell, “I cannot comment on these things at this juncture. Reason is very clear - all of us have to sit in a coalition politics then decide the candidate. There is nothing wrong in aspiring, ultimately in Indian politics we are watching when the time comes everybody will adjust.” Naidu said on his part he was not interested in the prime minister’s post. “Never have I aspired, even in future. I am not a candidate. Twice I got an offer, I made very clear I am not an aspirant,” he added. — PTI UPA allies to contest in Jharkhand together: Lalu After entering into a seat sharing arrangement in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad has said the UPA allies will contest on similar lines in Jharkhand as well even as sharp differences among stakeholders - RJD, Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Lok Janashakti Party - are yet to be sorted out. “We will contest jointly even in Jharkhand,” Lalu said on Tuesday. The RJD chief’s statement notwithstanding, the allies are still far from reconciling a number of issues. The JMM’s chief whip and party MP Teklal Mahto has claimed under a “sitting getting” and “no friendly fight” formula seat sharing had been finalized among the UPA allies for the 15th Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand under which Congress would get six seats, five would go to JMM and RJD would be left with three with no seats being given to LJP as it had no presence in the state after the 2004 elections. But, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said, “We have first zeroed in on six seats in Jharkhand to contest where we have good presence. The party will, however, contest on all 14 seats and will announce its candidates phase wise.” The seat sharing arrangement was also rejected by former chief minister Shibu Soren’s son Durga Soren who said no UPA alliance is possible in Jharkhand unless his father or another JMM MLA was given chief ministership of the state. According to the formula spelt out by Mahato, JMM, RJD and Congress had agreed to retain the 12 seats currently held by the respective parties. The remaining two seats -- Hazaribagh and Koderma held by CPI and an independent -- were to be decided among the three allies -- RJD, Congress and JMM. The seat sharing issue is understood to have been discussed in the recent meeting between LJP’s senior leaders and RJD chief Lalu Prasad during the parleys for Bihar alliance after the LJP had declared candidates on six Jharkhand seats as “it was not consulted by RJD, JMM and Congress” during the earlier seat-sharing agreement for the state. Meanwhile, Congress is visibly upset with the RJD-LJP agreement in Bihar which left them with only three seats and threatens to go alone in the state complaining of being given a “raw deal”. With AICC general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Digvijay Singh announcing on Tuesday that there was no scope for seat sharing arrangement with the Samajwadi Party anymore, many of the UPA allies seem to be at loggerheads in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. — PTI Congress reaches agreement with JMM, to contest 7 seats Smarting under Bihar snub, the Congress on Wednesday struck back at Rashtriya Janata Dal by sewing up a seat sharing agreement with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Jharkhand leaving Lalu Prasad just two seats his party had won in the last elections. A day after Lalu’s RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party unilaterally got into a deal in Bihar leaving a paltry three seats for Congress, the national party and JMM announced a pact under which they would contest seven and five seats respectively. Jharkhand has a total of 14 seats. “We have finalised the seat sharing agreement. Congress will contest seven and JMM five. We have left two seats for RJD,” said AICC in-charge for Jharkhand K.Keshav Rao. The agreement negates an earlier understanding under which Congress was supposed to contest only six seats while RJD was to contest three seats. Sources say the bone of contention was the Koderma seat which both Congress and RJD wanted to contest. The seat was won in the last Lok Sabha elections by former BJP leader Babu Lal Marandi, who retained it as an independent in a by-poll later. Hazaribagh seat was last time won by CPI, which is not the party of UPA alliance this time. Hence, JMM will be contesting this seat. Apart from these two seats, the remaining 12 are sitting seats of three parties. — PTI Centre approves issue of notification for Lok Sabha polls New Delhi: A formal nod for issuing notifications for the commencement of general election process was given by the government on Wednesday. A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the issue of notifications by the President for the five-phase polls beginning 16 April. The notifications will be on 23 March, 28 March, 2 April, 7 April and 17 April, said home minister P. Chidambaram. The Election Commission had announced the schedule for general election as well as to the legislative assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim to be held on 16 April, 23 April, 30 April, 7 May and 13 May. The Representation of the People Act requires that the President shall issue notifications for the general election. — PTI Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:57 am ICSA bags Rs 464cr order from 3 state electricity boards - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:50 am BSE Sensex rebounds 1.3 pct, Reliance up 2.4 pct - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:49 am IMF wants India to fight slowdown by easing money supplyWashington: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today urged India to further ease money supply to fight economic slowdown while cautioning that additional expenditure and more tax reliefs could raise public debt to unsustainable levels. Commending the steps taken by the Reserve Bank to ease money policy by reducing key policy rates and ratios, the IMF in its annual review of the Indian economy said, “(there is) scope for further monetary easing, in light of projected decline in inflationary pressures and the need to reinforce confidence and sustain bank credit.” Though the key short-run policy objective should be to sustain liquidity and credit flows, “monetary and structural policies will have to continue to carry most of the burden of adjustment”, the review added. Noting that the “sizeable fiscal stimulus” of 2008-09 should support economic growth in India, the review warned “given the high ratio of public debt to GDP, significant further expansion of the deficit could raise concerns about fiscal sustainability”. In a bid to boost money supply and ease interest rates, the RBI has reduced the short-term lending (repo) rate and cash reserve ratio (percentage of assets that banks keep with the RBI) to 5% from 9% in September. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:43 am Reliance sees start of secondary units at refinery - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:36 am BSE Sensex rebounds 1.3 pct, Reliance up 2.4 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rebounded 1.3 percent on Wednesday to its highest close in a month, led by energy giant Reliance Industries and banks, tracking a revival in global risk appetite.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:36 am West Bengal yet to receive centre's formal approval on chemical hubWest Bengal is yet to receive formal approval from the central government on a chemical hub project that was verbally cleared early February, a minister said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:33 am ICAI wants to question former Satyam CFO Vadlamani - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:33 am Sensex rises, but closes off day's highIndian equities closed with good gains Wednesday, but off the day's high. A key index that crossed 9,000 points in the afternoon trade slipped below the psychologically important mark before closing 1.27 percent higher than its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:32 am RBI says to remain open on April 1MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said all its offices, including those in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, will function as usual on April 1.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:32 am Economic crisis may force more than half cos globally to divest: E&YNew Delhi: More than half of the companies across the world including Indian firms are likely to consider divestment of parts of their businesses due to deteriorating global economic situation and liquidity crunch, a latest survey by Ernst & Young says. Frozen credit markets and a rapidly deteriorating global economy are driving an increasing number of distressed asset sales and historic deals, the survey titled “Divesting in turbulent times: Achieving value in a buyer’s market” stated. The survey found out that globally more than half of respondents (53%) confirm they are more likely to consider divestments due to current economic events. Moreover, nearly 68% of Indian respondents mentioned the continuing need to focus on the core business is the primary reason for planning a divestment. Interestingly, about one-fourth of respondents globally anticipate emerging market buyers would be the main acquirers of assets in the next two years, the survey revealed. “With limited cash and emerging economies set to become one of the key buyers of corporate assets worldwide, companies now need to think more creatively, prepare more carefully, act more decisively and with greater flexibility to ensure their deals are successful...,” E&Y India Transactions Advisory Services Partner and National director Ranjan Biswas said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:32 am ICICI Prudential to consolidate business in KeralaPrivate life insurer ICICI Prudential Life is focussing on consolidating business in Kerala rather than going for major expansion, a top official said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:31 am Bangladeshi firm to set up food processing units in IndiaPRAN Group, a Bangladeshi food processing firm, will set up agro-processing plants in Tripura, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, officials said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:31 am March qtr advance tax receipts at 286 bln rupeesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's March quarter advance tax receipts from corporates came in at 286 billion rupees, a finance ministry official told reporters on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:29 am FOCUS-Indian pulses prices may hold despite govt curbs - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:27 am IBM in talks to buy Sun Microsystems: WSJBangalore: IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc for at least $6.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, in a deal that could bolster their computer server products against rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. That would translate into a premium of about 100% over Sun’s Nasdaq closing price Tuesday of $4.97 a share, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter. Sun, which was not immediately available for comment, has long been cited as a takeover target for International Business Machines Corp, HP, Dell Inc or Cisco Systems Inc, which this week unveiled its plan to start making blade servers that power corporate computer networks. But bankers and analysts have also said the challenge of valuing Sun’s intertwined software, hardware and services businesses could put off potential buyers. The company has never fully recovered from the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, when demand for its high-end servers cratered. “It makes sense in an industry consolidation view, but looking at Sun’s performance over the last couple of years, it’s not one of my top picks for IBM to buy,” said Jyske Bank analyst Robert Jakobsen, speaking from Denmark. “Having said that, there’s clearly a huge synergy combining these two companies,” he said. “It will lessen the competitive pressure within the data center,” he said, adding, “The market hasn’t been kind to Sun Microsystems in the last 12 months. So it’s not an expensive acquisition in my view.” An IBM spokesman in Bangalore declined to comment. The US representatives of the company, which had nearly $13 billion in cash at the end of 2008, were not immediately available. The Frankfurt shares of Sun rose 54% after The Wall Street Journal’s online report, which said the company had approached a number of large tech companies in the hopes of being acquired. HP declined the offer, the paper said, citing a person briefed on the matter. The paper said a deal with IBM could happen as early as this week, but that talks could also fall apart. If IBM buys Sun, it would be the company’s largest acquisition since it bought Canadian software maker Cognos for about $5 billion in January 2008. Global IT spending cuts IBM was the world’s largest maker of servers in the fourth quarter, with a market share of 36.3%, according to market researcher IDC. HP came next with 29.0%, followed by Dell, 10.6%; Sun, 9.3%; and Fujitsu, 4.2%. The top five server vendors all posted declines in their fourth-quarter server revenue, hurt by pullbacks in corporate spending on technology due to the weak global economy. Cisco’s new foray into the server market could trigger a wave of mergers and acquisitions, analysts have said, citing data equipment maker Brocade Communications Systems Inc, infrastructure software maker Citrix Systems Inc and niche network optimization companies, such as Blue Coat Systems Inc and Riverbed Technology Inc, as possible targets. “This is about the fact that IBM wants to become a one-stop shop for all IT related offerings, whether it is hardware, software services or solutions,” Avinash Vashistha, chief executive at IT consultancy Tholons Inc, said of IBM’s reported interest in Sun. “They have been executing this strategy for the last few years and with the Sun deal, they will only accelerate that move.” Sun, whose name stands for Stanford University Network, rose to prominence in the 1990s when start-ups flocked to its high-end computers, which run on its Solaris operating system and have been widely used in the financial services industry. When the Internet bubble burst in 2000-01, funding for start-ups dried up along with much of the demand for Sun’s computers. Sun tried to reinvent itself by acquiring companies and expanding production of Linux-based computers, which tend to be cheaper. But that failed to revive its stock price. Sun stock is down 71% in the last 52 weeks, a far cry from an all-time high of $258.75 that it touched during the dot-com boom. The company -- which is shedding up to 6,000 jobs, or 18% of its workforce -- reported a net loss of $209 million for its second quarter ended 28 December, compared with year-earlier net profit of $260 million. Revenue fell 11% to $3.22 billion. Analysts said technology companies were looking to acquisitions as organic growth was difficult given the poor economy. “Plus, valuations are also very cheap now,” said Tarun Sisodia, a technology sector analyst with Indian brokerage Anand Rathi Financial Services. “It’s a good time to pick up the companies that can contribute to your growth in these difficult times.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:27 am Spanco Tele to raise Rs 50cr via pref allotment, rightsThe board of Spanco Telesystems yesterday approved the fund raising plans. Kapil Puri, Chairman, Spanco Telesystems, said the company needs to raise Rs 50 crore. \"Off this, Rs 30 crore will be raised via preferential allotment and the balance Rs 20 crore through a rights issue.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:26 am Demolition drive alters Kalka landscape - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:25 am Govt to award 3 more UMPPs next fiscalNew Delhi: The government will award three more Ultra Mega Power Projects of 4,000 MW capacity each in the next financial year and is looking at the states of Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. “If everything goes as planned, the government would award three more UMPPs during (the) next fiscal in Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Chhattisgarh,” a senior government official said. The Request for Qualification (RFQ) for these three projects would be issued at an interval of one month, starting June, he said. “However, it takes almost nine months to complete the process for selection of a developer, but the government would expedite the process,” he added. The government has also identified sites for the three UMPPs -- Cheyyur in Tamil Nadu, Bedabahal in Orissa and Akaltara in Chhattisgarh. PFC Consulting the wholly-owned subsidiary of state-run Power Finance Corp is the nodal agency for these UMPPs, the official said. The government would invite RFQs for the Cheyyur UMPP in June this year. The RFQs for Bedabahal and Akaltara may be invited in July and August, respectively. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:24 am Aircel pushes call tariffs to as low as 40 paise a minute - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:22 am BSNL to launch BlackBerry by next monthBlackBerry services had earlier come under scrutiny after security agencies said that the data being transmitted through the device could not be intercepted.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:22 am Tobacco, alcohol brands allowed to advertise their co-productsNew Delhi: The government has allowed Tobacco and Alcohol brands to advertise their other products on television but banned display of their “prohibited product” during telecast. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry had brought the recent changes while amending the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act. Following a long pending demand of the advertisement industry, the ministry has allowed surrogate advertising for cigarette, tobacco, alcohol and brands of any other intoxicants. “No depiction, direct or indirect reference, nuances of phrases promoting and showing situations typical of promoting the prohibited product have been put as pre-conditions for advertisers to follow,” a ministry official said. The government has also instructed advertisers to submit certified audit reports citing that the product bearing the same brand of the prohibited substance is available in “reasonable quantity” and at “substantial” number of outlets. “All the advertisements, which are found to be brand extensions, would be previewed and certified by the Central Board of Film Certification prior to their telecast,” said I & B joint secretary Zohra Chatterji. Denying that the move will help promote alcohol and tobacco brands, ministry sources said that the “relaxation” has been granted in keeping with “genuine demands of the advertisement industry”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:21 am Close: Sensex loses 9k mark, ends 1.2% upNew Delhi: Markets maintained their opening rally through the day to end 1.2% higher on Wednesday riding on positive cues from European and Asian markets. All indices traded in green, with realty outperforming by making gains to the tune of 8.4%. Further metal, capital goods, banking and oil and gas stocks also witnessed significant buying momentum. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex advanced by 1% in early trade on Wall Street rise spurred by surprisingly good housing data. Sensex then crossed the psychologically strong 9,000 mark along with NSE Nifty touching 2,800. But the 30-share BSE index suffered small losses slipping from 9,000 mark to close at 8,976.68 or 112.86 points up. The 50-share NSE Niftty also dropped to end 37.25 points higer at 2,794.70. Realty stocks advanced on hopes lower rates will spur housing demand. DLF Ltd stocks led the rally on the BSE index, rising by 7.76% to Rs171.45, Jaiprakash Associates was up by 6.46% to Rs79.15 and Reliance Infrastructure by 3.51% to Rs480.40. Financial stocks continued to be strong with ICICI Bank surging by 3.41% to Rs335.20, HDFC Bank by 2.09% to Rs842.65 and State Bank of India by 1.20% to Rs960.95. Other heavy weight gainers were Tata Steel up by 4.54 % to Rs176.30, Bhel by 4.28% to Rs1,458.60, Sterlite Industries by 3.13% to Rs301.70 and Hindalco by 3.09% to Rs45.05. There were some major losers also Mahindra and Mahindra fell by 4.09% to Rs362, along with Tata Power by 2.40% to Rs660.50, ITC Ltd by 2.11% to Rs169.45 and ACC Ltd by 1.46% to Rs548.40. Meanwhile, in Asia Japan’s Nikkei after a brief slip to red edged up to its highest close in five weeks at 0.29% and Hong Kong’s index Hang Seng also rallied to end 1.9% up. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:20 am India may grow 6.5-7 pct in FY10: plan panel aideNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The economy may expand between 6.5 percent and 7 percent in the year to March 2010, as stimulus measures are expected to revive growth, a member of Planning Commission said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:10 am LIC hikes stake in 11 firms for Rs6,450 crNew Delhi: Cashing in on the current lower value of different stocks, the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has increased its stake in as many as 11 firms, including SBI and ICICI Bank, so far this year through open market transactions worth a little more than Rs6,400 crore. The country’s largest financial institution has hiked its stake in seven companies to nearly 10%, while it has raised its holding in another four in the range of 3-7%. The value of the transactions is totalling to Rs6,450 crore based on the current market prices. Analysts said with the market plunging from its peak level barely a year ago, domestic institutional investors are evincing interest in buying as they are attractive at existing levels. “During January-March period, insurance companies have cash surplus. As the premiums for different schemes keep coming in, there is no dearth of long-term funds,” Ashika Stock Brokers research head Paras Bothra said. LIC has been shopping heavily in state-run entities and at present its stake in the largest public sector lender SBI stands at 9.16% against 4.58% in December quarter. “Banking stocks were hammered in the market meltdown. LIC is on a stake hike spree knowing well that values would be attractive in future when the market recovers,” SMC Global vice president Rajesh Jain said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:09 am Protectionism on rise despite G20 pledges: World BankWashington: The World Bank has said that major economies have raised protectionist trade barriers despite their collective pledge to refrain from such actions in the face of the global recession. A World Bank study showed 17 of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries have implemented trade-restricting measures since G20 leaders signed a pledge at an emergency summit last November to avoid protectionist measures. “Leaders must not heed the siren-song of protectionist fixes, whether for trade, stimulus packages, or bailouts,” said World Bank president Robert Zoellick, on Tuesday. “Economic isolationism can lead to a negative spiral of events such as those we saw in the 1930s, which made a bad situation much, much worse.” At a G20 summit hosted on 15 November 2008 by then-US president George W Bush in Washington, leaders signed the pledge to avoid raising trade barriers as they forge a coordinated response to the deepening economic slump and an intensifying financial crisis. The G20 includes the Group of Seven industrialised countries -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- and major developing countries Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Turkey, as well as the European Union. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 11:04 am Sony targets 42% share in digital cameras marketNew Delhi: In tune with its plan to capture a 42% share in the domestic digital camera market, consumer electronic major Sony on Wednesday launched a new series of cameras. “Sony has garnered around 37% share in domestic digital camera market, and with the introduction of new series coupled with our marketing initiatives, we are hopeful of achieving 42% market share in the next fiscal,” Sony India managing director Masaru Tamagawa said here. The total market for digital cameras in India is estimated at around one million units in 2008 and is expected to grow at a rate of 20% in 2009. “In order to increase the penetration of our products in Tier II cities, we are also focusing more on placing our products in photo channel and will invest Rs20 crore as marketing expenses in the current year,” he said. “Standalone photo studios and other such establishments engaged in the business of developing photos could also be helpful in promoting the sale,” Tamagawa said. Till now, Sony has tied up with 150 such outlets and by the end of current fiscal the number would increase to 250, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:59 am RIL to sell fuel directly in USReliance Industries Ltd is looking at selling petrol and diesel from its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat directly to the United States.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:48 am Oil retreats from $50 after US stock buildLondon: Oil fell from a 2-1/2-month high to below $49 a barrel on Wednesday after industry data showed large builds in US crude stocks. Analysts said data from the American Petroleum Institute, showing crude stocks rose much more than expected last week, reflected poor demand at refineries and could foreshadow an equally poor set of numbers from the US Energy Information Administration due later on Wednesday. US light crude for April delivery fell 35 cents to $48.81 a barrel by 0945 GMT. On Tuesday, the contract gained $1.81 to $49.16, its highest settlement since 1 December 2008. London Brent crude slipped 36 cents to $47.88. Oil has tumbled $100 from a record high of almost $150 in July as economic meltdown has cut demand for fuel worldwide. But prices, which sank to levels below $35 a month ago, have since stabilized in the $40 to $50 range, as producer group Opec has targeted output cuts of 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) since last September and vowed at its Sunday meeting to achieve higher compliance from members to reduce production. Oil’s gains on Tuesday were boosted by better-than-expected US housing data and inflation, which drove US stocks higher and lifted investors’ risk appetite. Broker MF Global said in its daily note to clients that while Tuesday’s US housing figures had been supportive, “it will take far more than one set of monthly figures to turn sentiment (let alone the economy) around.” “In view of the fact that Opec has decided not to put through any additional cuts, we find it hard to rationalize a sustained push beyond this mark,” it said. “The combination of all these variables makes the case that some length should be taken off the table here, as the energy markets have done too much, too soon given the prevailing fundamental and technical backdrops.” The American Petroleum Institute (API) said in its inventory report on Tuesday that domestic crude stocks rose 4.7 million barrels last week to 349.9 million, dwarfing forecasts for an increase of just 1 million barrels. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue stock data later on Wednesday. Government data on Tuesday showed US housing starts and permits rebounded in February from record lows, rising for the first time in 10 months and offering a glimmer of hope for the recession-hit economy. Still, analysts were cautious about whether the housing data marked a turnaround for the world economy and said the market would keep a close eye on further data to gauge how the US economy was faring. Data due to be released later on Wednesday included US core consumer price index for February as well as results of an interest rate meeting held by the US Federal Open Market Committee. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:47 am No pressure tactics used to get Patna Sahib seat: Shatrughan SinhaNew Delhi: Amidst reports that he had hobnobbed with rival parties to get the presitigious Patna Sahib seat, Shatrughan Sinha on Wednesday said he did not engage in any pressure tactics to get the BJP nod to contest the coming Lok Sabha elections. “There was no pressure tactics from my side. The party had promised me long back that I would get a choice seat whenever I want to contest the election. I chose the seat as Patna is my janmbhoomi and I am emotionally attached to it,” he said. Asked how he felt after emerging successful in getting the seat in which a number of BJP leaders icluding party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad were interested, Sinha said, “Had he directly told me about his willingness to contest the seat, I could have left my claim. Seats and posts are not very important for me.” Sinha said he was not a child angling for a lollypop and that he would be “excited” on getting the seat. To him fighting elections was a responsibility. He also dismissed suggestions of a link between his meeting the SP general secretary Amar Singh here on Tuesday and the party announcement of his candidature. “Singh is my personal friend and I had gone to enquire about his health,” he said, adding he had friends in all parties, including Lalu Prasad Yadav. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:46 am Russia may acquire stake in Indian telecom firm: reportMoscow: Russia’s government is considering investing $680 million (€525 million) in an Indian telecoms firm to help out the majority Russian owner, a newspaper reported here Wednesday. Russia has set aside 23.7 billion rubles “for acquiring shares in the joint venture Shyam Telelink,” now known as Sistema Shyam TeleServices, in its draft budget for 2009, the Kommersant daily said, citing a copy of the document. A source close to the deal told Kommersant the funds would go to buying a 20% stake in Sistema Shyam TeleServices, which has licences to provide mobile phone services in 22 Indian regions and has over 500,000 subscribers. The Indian venture is already more than 73% owned by Russia’s Sistema group, which is controlled by billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov and also owns Russia’s largest mobile phone operator, MTS. Under the agreement being considered, Sistema would retain a majority stake in the Indian venture and Russia would buy the shares as part of a plan to settle New Delhi’s outstanding Soviet-era debt to Moscow, Kommersant said. The newspaper said Sistema would find it difficult to pursue its Indian expansion plans without extra support due to its hefty debt burden. Many big Russian companies have scaled back investment due to the global credit crunch. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:40 am Bharti AXA rules out major M&As in India fund marketMumbai: Indian fund industry could see revenues shrink by almost a fourth in 2009 given sharp drop in profitable equity assets and a pause in flows but may avoid major consolidation, a top Bharti AXA executive said on Wednesday. While break-even for new players may take a couple of years more, it won’t prompt sell-outs or exits as India’s potential long-term lure remained intact, said Sandeep Dasgupta, chief executive of Bharti AXA Investment Managers. “Players who have come in have built certain level of expertise, they have hired people, they have gone through the motions of getting licenses,” he told Reuters in an interview. “Would they, in light of what has happened in the last one year, suddenly change their mind? Very unlikely,” he added. India’s 35-member mutual funds industry is reeling under the impact of more than 50% drop in its once high-flying stocks in 2008 and almost 7% so far this year. Their assets have shrunk by a tenth but more ominously equity assets, which earn a fee of about one percent as compared to 5-25 basis points earned in many bond funds, have halved. Incremental flows into stock funds have paused too as investors turn risk-averse in a sagging Indian economy, which is expected to expand at its slowest pace in six years in 2008/09 with analysts predicting further slowdown next year. “We have taken a pause for maybe one to one-and-a-half years, (but) we are still in growth phase. And that belief is there across all sponsors,” Dasgupta said. “So the players who have come in even later, I don’t think they are going to leave in a hurry,” said Dasgupta, whose firm has expanded branch network to 53 after a launch in July. “It might delay your payback period by may be 1-2 years but I think everybody believe that the real growth will happen in emerging market, including India and China, and that belief is very strong,” he added. Firms such as South Korea’s Mirae Asset and Pioneer Global, a unit of Italy’s UniCredit have joined money managers like Franklin Resources and JPMorgan in India. More than 20 are said to be still seeking an entry, lured by India’s savings rate of more than 32%, much of which is in low-yielding bank deposits, an emerging middle class and the world’s second largest population. “Ultimately we all believe that this is an industry which will grow,” Dasgupta said, adding players looking to grow through acquisitions may find it tough to get a willing seller. “On paper it might look that consolidation will happen but I am not very sure whether large consolidation will happen at this stage,” he said, adding his firm was hopeful of more than tripling client base to 50,000 in the next one year. The fund house, owned 75% by French insurer AXA with the remainder held by India’s Bharti Enterprises, currently manages about Rs2 billion through six funds. The firm plans to launch its first set of long maturity bond funds soon and is exploring options to offer a couple of globally-invested funds in the second half, Dasgupta said, adding a few equity funds are also planned if markets revive. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:36 am BSNL to launch BlackBerry by next monthNew Delhi: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Wednesday said it will launch its BlackBerry services by next month. “We have got all the approvals ... and will launch BlackBerry services by April,” BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal said on the sidelines of the programme ‘Convergence India’. BlackBerry services had earlier come under scrutiny after Indian security agencies expressed concern that the data being transmitted through the device could not be intercepted due to the high encryption codes being used by the company. Goyal clarified that monitoring 3G services has not been put on hold. “It is possible to monitor 3G services ... it has not been put on hold,” he said. The department of telecommunications (DoT) had earlier asked the two state-owned telecom service providers, BSNL and MTNL, to stop providing 3G services till call-monitoring services are made available to the intelligence agencies. 3G services provide for high-speed data and video streaming. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:35 am Aircel launches Delhi operationsTelecom operator Aircel wednesday launched its GSM mobile services in Delhi, its 14th service area.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:33 am Markets close in greenIndian equities markets closed in the green Wednesday, with a key index ending trade 1.27 percent higher than its previous close, but below the psychologically important 9,000-mark.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:31 am West Bengal yet to receive centre's approval on chemical hubWest Bengal is yet to receive written approval from the central government on a chemical hub project that was verbally cleared early February, a minister said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:31 am Indian economy to grow over 5 percent next fiscalIndia's economy will grow by at least 5 percent in 2009-10, a Planning Commission member said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 18 Mar 2009 | 10:30 am RIL to sell fuel directly in USMumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd is looking at selling petrol and diesel from its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat directly to the United States of America, the world’s largest fuel consumer. “We are in discussions with certain parties in US,” said P M S Prasad, head of the company’s oil and gas business. “We believe the highest value addition to every molecule is through direct sales and yes we are keen on doing that in US.” RIL is talking to consumers of gasoline (petrol) as well as US fuel marketers who currently have a deficit, he said but did not give details. The company recently started gasoline trading operations in the US. Its office located in Houston would trade in gasoline both on the US Gulf Coast and New York Harbor market. Prasad said RIL was in talks with marketers such as Hess who currently have a product deficit. RIL this month took 1.3 million barrels of clean product storage in the New York Harbor area, the first time ever an Indian firm has taken storage in the US to store and trade petroleum products. It recently commissioned its clean storage facility at the Ashkelon terminal in Israel to tap Mediterranean and European markets. It has also leased clean oil products storages in Singapore and the Caribbean. Prasad, however, did not say what volumes was Reliance expecting to sell in the US. Reliance Industries was previously looking at sales in the US in association with Chevron Corp, which had a 5% stake in Reliance Petroleum, the unit that recently commissioned the second refinery at Jamnagar. Chevron, which had an option to raise its stake in the refinery to 29%, wanted to market gasoline and diesel exclusively in the US and Europe, but Reliance Industries insisted that it wants to sell fuel in these markets on its own. Subsequently, Chevron exited RPL and now Reliance Industries is looking at direct sales in the US. Currently, RIL exports most of the fuel from its 6,60,000 barrel a day Jamnagar-1 (or J-1) refinery to traders, who in turn resell the fuel to different markets in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. About 4-5 million tonnes of petrol and a small quantity of jet fuel find its way to the US. Its 5,80,000 barrel a day Jamnagar-2 (or J-2) refinery, which commenced operations in late December, will start producing gasoline by next month. J-1 had in 2007 been converted into an export-oriented unit while J-2 is in an SEZ that is meant to ship out all its products. All units of J-2 are likely to be commissioned by next month and full-scale operations would start in 3-4 months. Prasad said the departure of trading head Michael Ng and his team from RIL’s trading office in Singapore had not impacted its plans. “We have not closed down the trading office because Michael Ng has left. We are staffing it again,” he said without elaborating. Besides Singapore, the company has trading offices in Mumbai, Dubai and London. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:49 am India's economy is slowing: IMFIndia's growth is likely to slowdown to 6.25% in 2008-09 on falling corporate investment and deteriorating global outlook, the International Monetary Fund has said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:45 am Govt extends zero customs duty, ban on pulses' export by a yrWith pulses production estimated to decline this fiscal, the government on Wednesday extended import of these products at zero duty.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:32 am Citi chief economist quits; to join US Treasury: reportNew York: Citigroup chief economist Lewis Alexander is leaving the troubled financial services entity to join the US Treasury Department, says a media report. The Wall Street Journal quoted an internal Citigroup memo saying that Alexander would leave his job in Citi to work on domestic financial issues at the Treasury, which is facing staff shortage. Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to the Treasury “to work on domestic financial issues,” the memo stated. Further, the WSJ report cited a government official as saying that Alexander would be a counsellor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. However, Alexander and a Treasury spokesman were not available for comment, while a Citigroup spokesman declined to elaborate on the memo. Alexander, who was the commerce department’s chief economist from 1993 to 1996, is joining the Treasury at a time when the department is desperately trying to fill up the vacancies for senior posts. The staff shortage has fostered doubts on Wall Street and in Washington about the Obama administration’s ability to get a grip on the financial crisis, it added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:31 am Toshiba says to name vice pres Sasaki as new CEOTokyo: Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba Corp said it would seek shareholder approval to appoint vice president Norio Sasaki as its new chief executive in June, looking to change management as it heads for a record annual loss. Current chief executive Atsutoshi Nishida will become chairman, and chairman Tadashi Okamura will become an adviser. The management shuffle came just two days after rival Hitachi Ltd named 69-year-old power business veteran Takashi Kawamura as its new CEO from April to take on the job of restructuring its sprawling operations. Sasaki, 59, has a long background in Toshiba’s nuclear power business, which remains relatively healthy. The company’s other operations, mainly its main chip business, have been hit hard by weak demand and falling prices. Sasaki also led Toshiba’s purchase of US nuclear power firm Westinghouse in 2006. CEO Nishida explained the move as an attempt to assign a single leader to see the company through its restructuring, recovery and subsequent growth phases from start to finish. Toshiba has forecast a 280 billion yen loss for the year ending this month and has mapped out a 300 billion yen ($3.1 billion) cost-cutting plan for next business year by slashing capital spending and contract jobs. “I don’t think this means that top management is taking responsibility for the poor performance because it happened when the company was already carefully picking and choosing how to use its resources,” said Tomomi Yamashita, senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management. “It’s not as if Toshiba plunged into the red when everyone else was doing well,” he said, adding that he expected little impact on its share price. Toshiba shares closed up 0.4% at 258 yen before the announcement. The Nikkei average ended up 0.3%. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:20 am European shares rise, financials gainFrankfurt: European shares rose in early trade on Wednesday, tracking Tuesday’s gains on Wall Street on the back of a surprise jump in housing starts, and as Japan’s Nikkei was pushed up by banking stocks. At 0810 GMT (1:40pm), the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 1.1% at 723.71 points. On Tuesday, the index had fallen 0.7%. The index lost 45% in 2008 and is down 13% so far this year. Later in the day, the focus shifts to the results of a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting, and whether economic conditions warrant additional policymaker action to boost lending. “Equity markets are trying to shrug off the uncertainty of the last months,” market strategist Heino Ruland from Ruland Research, adding that the strong boosts on Wall Street and Japan had a positive effect on European stocks. Financials gained, with UniCredit up 7.4%, after the company posted a 38% fall in 2008 net profit on Wednesday, ahead of analysts’ forecasts. Royal Bank of Scotland, Allianz, Barclays and Societe Generale were all up between 3 and 3.6%. Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.9%, Germany’s DAX was up 1.8% and France’s CAC 40 was 1.6% higher. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:18 am India may grow 6.5-7% in FY10New Delhi: The Indian economy may expand between 6.5% and 7% in the year to March 2010, as stimulus measures are expected to revive growth, a member of Planning Commission said on Wednesday. Abhijit Sen, however, said there was need for more fiscal and monetary steps to maintain growth momentum in Asia’s third largest economy hit by global slump and sluggish domestic demand. “We have done a worst-case calculation on the basis of no effect of the stimulus and what we know currently about the world economy. On that basis, the worst case scenario is about 5% growth,” he said after a business conference. But the stimulus packages already announced were expected to ratchet up growth rate by 1.5 to 2 percentage points over and above the minimum assessment, he said. “That would take the growth rate to 6.5 to 7%.” Earlier, the government estimated 2008/09 growth at 7.1%, but analysts have raised doubts after December quarter data showed a lower-than-expected 5.3% expansion and the global economic situation worsened. A Reuters poll showed India’s growth rate could moderate to 7-year low of 5.7% in 2009-10. MORE STIMULUS NEEDED Since October, the central bank has cut interest rates by 400 basis points, while the government slashed excise duty and service tax rates and pledged extra spending of Rs200 billion to protect growth and jobs. “There may well be need for more fiscal stimulus,” and fresh measures would have to be framed by the next government, Sen said. After election dates are announced, a care-taker government is barred from taking any new policy initiative. India is heading for general elections scheduled between 16 April and 13 May, and any new fiscal measure has to be announced by the new government when it assumes office and presents a full budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year. “I believe, although monetary policy have to continue till the next government comes, much will depend on what the next government does on the fiscal side,” Sen added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:14 am 3G auction unlikely before polls - officialNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A global 3G spectrum auction planned by India is unlikely to happen before month-long general elections that begin in mid-April, the country's top telecom official said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:13 am South Asia needs stability to ensure flow of investment: MittalBharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal said the region needs stability to ensure continuous flow of investment and growth in trade.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:08 am DoT says difficult to start 3G auctions before electionsNew Delhi: The global auction for 3G spectrum is likely to be taken up by the next government with the telecom department today saying that it is difficult to start the auction process before the General elections commence in mid-April. “It looks difficult,” Telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura said when asked whether the auction of 3G spectrum would be possible before of the General elections. The government had constituted a Group of Ministers early this month to decide on the issue of pricing of 3G spectrum auction. The GoM would also look into the number of players in 3G mobile services in a circle. The GoM is yet to come out with clarifications on pricing of 3G spectrum. The 10-member GoM comprises external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister A K Antony, home minister P Chidambaram, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and telecom minister A Raja. Railways minister Lalu Yadav, chemical and fertilisers minister Ram Vilas Paswan, law and justice minister H R Bhardwaj, minister of state for external affairs Ananad Sharma and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia are also members of the GoM. Behura further clarified that he is not in race for becoming the Trai chairman. “I have read in papers that I have not applied for the post and which is correct. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 8:59 am 7.1 per cent growth for this fiscal not achievable: Pronab SenThe government's economic growth estimate at 7.1 per cent for the current fiscal does not seem achievable because of the slowdown in the economy.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 8:56 am Pay Subhiksha\'s remaining PF dues: EPFO to ICICI VenturesThe Subhiksha saga has taken a new turn. The Employment Provident Fund Office, Chennai is learnt to be asking ICICI Ventures to pay Subhiksha\'s remaining PF dues. Sources say EPFO believes ICICI Ventures controls the retailer\'s business. However, ICICI Ventures maintains that it only holds a minority stake in the company, and so is not liable.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 8:53 am Apple unveils new iPhone applicationsCalifornia: Apple Inc unveiled new software for the iPhone that will support some long-anticipated features, such as copy-and-paste of text and picture messaging, as the company pushes to stay competitive in the phone market. Apple also gave its vast network of software developers a slew of new options for upcoming applications, such as support for subscription models and automatic alerts, a move applauded by analysts. “They’ve taken a few more steps ahead of the pack in the race,” said CCS Insight analyst John Jackson, adding that, in spite of the omission of certain features until now, the iPhone was still the most high-profile cell phone. “Two years on they still have the cool phone and business model that everybody’s talking about and trying to emulate.” While Apple’s touchscreen inspired many imitators, some users complained it lacked functions common in other smartphones such as multimedia messaging and the ability to copy and paste text. Such features already exist on rival devices such as the BlackBerry from Research In Motion Ltd and Treo from Palm Inc and phones based on Windows Mobile from Microsoft Corp. iPhone is central to Apple’s plans, as growth in its Mac computer and iPod music player businesses slows. On Tuesday, Apple - represented by iPhone software senior vice president Scott Forstall, as Chief Executive Steve Jobs is out on medical leave - lifted the veil on iPhone 3.0 software with 100 new features, including some long-wished for updates. An early version of the software is available to application developers today and will be available to consumers this summer. IPhone users will be able to download the software upgrade for free, while iPod touch customers will be charged $9.95. The updated software kit for developers will have more than 1,000 new programming functions, including peer-to-peer capability, an interface allowing applications to communicate with iPhone accessories such as docking stations, as well as access to the phone’s music library. Analysts said that while most the of software updates were long expected, improvements to the developers kit could help increase revenue made from applications. Gartner analyst Van Baker said the message of the event was clearly targeted at the developer community. He expects the new development kit to enable third-party vendors to create better and more expensive applications. New features The next-generation iPhone operating system will enable so- called push notification, allowing developers to build applications that can provide automatic alerts of items such as sports results or the arrival of an instant message. The alerts would show up automatically even if the user is in another application. It will also allow developers to offer subscriptions and sell content within their their applications. In addition, a peer-to-peer capability will enable iPhone users near each other to interact for features such as gaming. Apple also promised multimedia messaging capability with the new 3.0 software, allowing users to send each other photographs from the phone. On top of that, the company unveiled a widely anticipated universal search feature called “spotlight,” which can scour key applications on the phone such as e-mail and iPod. Apple, which sells iPhones in 80 countries, said Tuesday consumers had already downloaded 800 million iPhone applications from its store, which offers 25,000 applications so far. Apple said it will expand its App Store to 77 countries from 62. Apple declined to comment when asked about plans to release a netbook computer or a new iPhone model. Many analysts expect to see a new iPhone this summer, while some speculate Apple will also introduce a stripped-down version for as little as $99. Apple’s second-generation, 3G iPhone was an immediate hit when it was released last July. The company sold a total of 13.7 million iPhones in 2008, topping its 10 million target. The iPhone App Store has become something of a consumer phenomenon, helping boost interest in the device. The store features a wide array of applications, some for free and some for a fee. Under Apple’s model, 70% of the revenue goes to the developer. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 8:53 am Little Nano carries a big burden for TataSANAND, India (Reuters) - What a difference a year makes. In early 2008, Tata Motors unveiled its Nano to a rapturous media reception as the snub-nosed, 4-seater with a 100,000-rupee ($1,945) price tag created a new category of super-cheap cars for the masses.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 7:22 am Russia may buy Sistema Indian JV new shares - paperMOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian government is considering buying additional shares issued by Shyam TeleServices, an Indian joint venture of Russian holding company Sistema, Kommersant business daily reported on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 7:03 am Diageo expects US spirits to grow despite recessionChicago: Diageo, the world’s biggest alcoholic drinks group, expects the US spirits industry to increase sales volumes through the current downturn while the company looks to outperform all its major competitors. The London-based maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness beer said growth of the US industry has slowed, especially toward the end of 2008, but it still expects positive industry growth through 2009. “We see growth continuing even in this difficult environment and expect industry growth staying in the range of 0-1% for sales volumes,” Ivan Menezes, head of Diageo’s North American region, said in an interview on Tuesday during the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago. “Although the US has slowed we still expect to outperform all our major competitors,” he added. With the group facing slowing worldwide consumer demand in 2009, Chief Executive Paul Walsh in February cut the company’s target for operating profit growth for the year to end-June 2009 to 4-6% from 7-9% previously. Diageo’s Menezes said the premium US spirits market for products such as Smirnoff and Captain Morgan rum, selling at around $10-15 a bottle, was holding up well and this area accounted for 50% of the group’s US spirits sales. Although the lower end of the market for products such as Popov vodka and Gordon’s gin had returned to growth, he did not believe there was a wholesale shift toward trading down to cheaper products across the market. “The consumer shift is towards strong brands with strong credentials and strong heritage,” he said, adding that current market trends were not dramatic and largely reflected a slight decline in bar trade and a pickup in drinking at home. He said US spirit industry growth had slowed from levels in recent years of 2-3% to between 1-1/2 and 2% in 2008. Destocking between Thanksgiving and Christmas saw growth by the end of 2008 in the range of 0-1%, he added. The group expects destocking will continue in the first six months of 2009, but it is in a strong position covering all areas of the market from value to ultra premium products. “We expect the market to stay tough for a while, but we see this as an opportunity to emerge stronger,” he said, adding that the group was adjusting its marketing message to focus more on the rise in drinking at home and was looking aggressively for innovative new spirit products. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 6:12 am Bourses pay crores to chiefs; businesses take hitMumbai: It pays literally in crores to head the entities facilitating trading in stocks and commodities, although the economic downturn seems to have forced investors to fly away from the markets. An analysis of remuneration paid to the business heads at various national stock and commodity exchanges in the country shows that most of them were paid crores of rupees in the last financial year and were mostly awarded a considerable increase in their compensation from the previous year. However, with the economic downturn weighing down on the investors’ sentiments, the business has taken a hit at stock exchanges, although the commodity bourses have managed to grow their turnover in non-agricultural products. Leading the remuneration tally, National Stock Exchange (NSE) gave its managing director Ravi Narain a total payout of Rs3.34 crore in 2007-08. At the same time, the bourse’s deputy managing director Chitra Ramakrishna was paid a remuneration of Rs2.16 crore. Not far behind, BSE paid a total remuneration of Rs1.18 crore to its MD & CEO Rajnikant Patel in 2007-08, which more than doubled from about Rs52.3 lakh in the previous year. Patel had, however, resigned from BSE and in November 2008 joined as President-Exchange Business at Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Money, which has entered the commodity exchange business through a stake purchase in National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE). While his compensation at Reliance Money is not known yet, Patel’s remuneration from BSE in 2007-08 was less than that of another director and company secretary at NSE, J Ravichandran, who was the third highest paid executive at the bourse during the year after its MD and Deputy MD. Ravichandran was paid total remuneration of about Rs1.17 crore during the last fiscal 2007-08. While the total remuneration for the country’s second largest commodity exchange NCDEX’s managing director during 2007-08 could not be ascertained, the payout in the last six months of the fiscal totalled Rs72.5 lakh. The largest commodity bourse MCX did not give any salary to its the then managing director Jignesh Shah in 2007-08, although he received a total of Rs2.8 crore in commission linked to the company’s profit. Shah was named as vice chairman of MCX early this fiscal, while Joseph Massey, formerly deputy MD, became MD and CEO. Massey got salary and allowances totalling Rs95.21 lakh in the last financial year. Shah, however, was paid a remuneration of Rs3.44 crore in 2007-08 as chairman and MD of Financial Technologies, the promoter of MCX. MCX’s total managerial remuneration, including salaries, allowances, commissions, perquisites and other benefits, more than double to Rs5.27 crore in 2007-08 from about Rs2.02 crore in the previous fiscal. The average daily turnover at Asia’s oldest stock exchange and the country’s largest in terms of listed companies, Bombay Stock Exchange, more than halved to about Rs3,500 crore in January this year, from over Rs8,000 crore a year ago. Similarly, at NSE, the country’s second largest stock exchange in terms of number of companies listed there, has seen its average daily turnover falling to close to Rs9,500 crore from about Rs19,500 crore in a year. At commodity bourses, the total turnover till January this fiscal grew by over 31%, but it was mostly due to a surge of about 81% in bullion trading. The agricultural commodity turnover actually fell by about 32% in the same period. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 6:09 am IMF sees India's growth rate slowing dramaticallyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - India's economy is slowing dramatically and uncertainty surrounding the outlook is unusually large, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 5:56 am Bourses pay crores to chiefs, business take hitAn analysis of remuneration paid to the business heads at various national stock and commodity exchanges in the country shows that most of them were paid crores.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 5:48 am Sensex crosses 9K level, up 178 pts in early tradeThe benchmark Sensex on Wednesday surged by over 178 points to cross the psychological 9,000 mark in the early trade on fresh buying by funds in blue-chips stocks.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 5:24 am Discovery shuttle docks with space stationWashington: The shuttle Discovery docked Tuesday with the International Space Station on a mission to deliver the orbiting lab’s first Japanese crewmember and key parts to complete construction of the station. The two vessels linked up at 2119 GMT as they flew over southern Australia, around six minutes behind the estimated docking time but, barring minor communication issues between the ISS and mission control in Houston, without a hitch. During their 13-day mission, the Discovery crew, including Koichi Wakata, who will become the first long-stay Japanese crewmember on the ISS, will install two pairs of solar panels to the space station, one of the last major tasks of the more than decade-long effort to construct the orbiting outpost. Installing the solar panels was to have taken a two-astronaut team four space walks of more than six hours each to complete, according to NASA’s original plans. But after lift-off was delayed last week because of a hydrogen leak, the solar panels are now due to be installed during three space walks, the first one set for Thursday, NASA said. The pairs of solar panels contain 32,800 solar cells and measure 35 meters (115 feet) long. Once the full array of solar panels is in place on the space station, they will provide enough electricity to fully power scientific experiments and support an expanded crew of six, due to arrive at the ISS in May. A crew of three — two Americans and one Russian — welcomed Discovery when it docked with the ISS. Wakata is replacing US astronaut Sandra Magnus who has spent four months on the ISS. The Japanese crewmember is scheduled to return to Earth in June. Shuttle commander Lee Archambault began maneuvering Discovery into position around an hour before docking, slowly pivoting the massive vessel onto its back to allow the crewmembers on board the ISS to snap photographs of the shuttle’s underbelly as it and the space station flew high above South America. “Orbiter looked clean, very nice,” ISS commander Mike Fincke told mission control. The photographs were sent back to mission control to be analyzed along with data gathered by the seven-member Discovery crew on Monday in a five-hour series of safety checks of the wings and nose, for which the crew unfurled a long robotic arm mounted with a camera. Checks for damage sustained on lift-off have become standard operating procedure since February 2003, when the Columbia shuttle disintegrated as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crewmembers. The accident was blamed on a piece of debris that broke off the external tank at launch and struck one of Columbia’s wings, gouging a hole into it. When Columbia was just minutes away from touchdown, super-heated air penetrated the aircraft’s insulation and burned through the structure of the wing, eventually causing the shuttle to break up. The shuttle program resumed with the first lift-off of Discovery in July 2005. The shuttle that took off on Sunday from Cape Canaveral in Florida was the 36th Discovery mission and the 125th shuttle mission. Launch director Mike Leinbach called the liftoff the “most visually beautiful” he has ever seen. It has been a near picture-perfect mission so far, barring the delayed lift-off, some pesky space rubble that had US and Russian experts braced to move the 100-billion-dollar ISS in an “avoidance maneuver,” and a piece of zero-gravity exercise equipment that went on the fritz. The alert over the space junk, believed to be from a Soviet satellite that broke up shortly after it lifted off in 1981, was called off Monday when data showed that the debris posed no danger to the space station. And the astronauts set about cobbling together some low-tech “rubber bungee-type equipment” to allow them to use the broken ergometer and get exercise to help battle the deleterious effects of microgravity on the body. Discovery will return to Earth on 27 March, one day after a Russian Soyuz mission takes off for the ISS carrying a crew of three, including US billionaire businessman Charles Simonyi, on his second trip as a space tourist costing him a cool $35 million. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 4:40 am Tamil Nadu VIPs look for new addressesWhatever the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, slated for May 13, the delimitation of constituencies appears to have thrown a spanner in the works, particularly for front-ranking leaders of different political parties and manySource: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am More stake for Telenor in Unitech Wireless at no extra costNew Delhi, March 17 Norway’s Telenor will acquire an additional 7.25 per cent stake in Unitech Wireless over and above the 60 per cent equity it intended to acquire earlier. It will not have to pay anything extra for this additional equity.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am CA institute asks RBI to withdraw circular on banks’ bad loansNew Delhi, March 17 The CA Institute President said that the RBI circulars on bad loan recognition and provisioning could distort bank balance sheets as on March 31 this year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Crompton Greaves (Rs 135.25): BuyWe recommend a buy on Crompton Greaves from a short-term horizon. It is apparent from the charts of Crompton Greaves that it had been on an intermediate-term downtrend from September high of Rs 277 till it found support at Rs 106 in early December.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideUtilise rallies to sell DLF stock with tight stop-loss at 167. ICICI Bank and SBI witnessed selling interest in the previous session. In which SBI retreated almost 4 perSource: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Advance tax collections from Mumbai down 7% this fiscalMumbai, March 17 Advance tax collections from companies in Mumbai have dipped 7 per cent for the fiscal ended March 2009.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Third Front is the only alternative: BasuKolkata, March 17 Veteran Marxist leader and former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr Jyoti Basu, on Tuesday said the Communist Party of India (Marxist) could consider the possibility of participating in the government in the event of the ThirdSource: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Nano effect likely to be felt across user segmentsMumbai, March 17 Even the fiercest rivals of the Tata Nano are hoping that the car does well as it will give the much needed boost to market sentiment, which is low despite all the talk about the Centre’s fiscal stimulus having workedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am SBI draws pvt bank customers with home loan at 8% interestHyderabad, March 17 The special housing loan schemes launched recently by State Bank of India at 8 per cent interest rate have triggered migration of customers of some private banks toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Highways and ports fall victim to turf warsOver the last five years, Mr T. R. Baalu, the Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways and his team could have done much more. But they will probably say that they spent most of their time to sort out several issues with the PlanningSource: Business Line - Home Page | 18 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am 12 things to do before March 31With barely two weeks remaining, taxpayers must hurry through tax-saving investments.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Mar 2009 | 10:24 pm Coal imports to fall short of target againImports total 16 mt so far this year; may touch 18 mt by March 31 against the target of 20 mt for the financial year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Mar 2009 | 10:20 pm PW names 2 more auditors in Satyam scamICAI starts proceedings against software firm's CFO and head of audit cell.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 17 Mar 2009 | 7:27 pm Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland clash over JVStrong differences have arisen between Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, the countrys two largest commercial vehicle makers, over a joint venture involving construction equipment and tractor manufacturer John Deere.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 17 Mar 2009 | 7:25 pm Eye on small business, SAP tests on-demand softwareBangalore: The world’s biggest business software maker, SAP AG is testing its on-demand software product targeted at small and medium businesses with 100 customers, including several firms in India.  Volumes game: Jim Hagemann Snabe, member of the executive board, SAP, did not disclose pricing or launch details. Hemant Mishra / Mint The product called ‘business by demand’ is already behind schedule, and the firm is yet to decide on business model that will be profitable by offering it on rent. “We need a price which is competitive in the market,” said Jim Hagemann Snabe, board member of SAP, in an interview. He, however, did not disclose at what price or when the product would be offered in the market. In 2007, SAP announced that the software as a service product would be available to customers the next year. Traditionally, SAP, which competes with Oracle Corp, sells software licences for large companies to run their businesses, and provides support. But in the current economic situation, large customers are either delaying or cancelling large software usage plans, forcing firms such as SAP to look at small and medium businesses in a market fragmented because of local players. “That is why we are eager to get the total cost of ownership equation perfect before we go with volumes,” said Snabe. “Once we are out there, it is hard to correct after that”. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Mar 2009 | 5:29 pm Google, Louis Vuitton fight on keywords in EU courtLuxembourg: Louis Vuitton told the European Union’s highest court that Google Inc. doesn’t have the right to sell trademark-protected names to advertisers that trigger sponsored links when the name is used in an Internet search. Google, owner of the world’s most-used Internet search engine, and LVMHMoet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA have been locked in a six-year fight over Internet searches that link users to sites selling counterfeit fashion accessories. Google is appealing a 2006 ruling by a Paris court that it breached Louis Vuitton’s trademark rights.  Brand wars: A Louis Vuitton outlet in New Delhi. The luxury goods brand and Google are fighting over trademark rights infringements. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint The case is the EU tribunal’s first on whether companies in the 27-nation region can block search engines from using trademarked brand names to trigger search results. Internet advertisements tied to search results generate most of Google’s revenue. Google’s advertisement activities have given companies which sell fake products, unprecedented visibility beyond their wildest dreams, Louis Vuitton lawyer Patrice de Cande told the court. LVMH sued in 2003 and the Paris Central Court in 2006 ordered Mountain View, California-based Google to pay LVMH 300,000 euros for trademark infringement. France’s highest appeals court last year referred the case to the EU tribunal for guidance. A ruling is expected by next year. Whether keywords are protected under EU trademark law has been of great concern to brand owners, said Stijn Debaene, a lawyer in Brussels with Allen & Overy LLP. This is the most important case for the e-commerce industry in the EU. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Mar 2009 | 5:26 pm First Superman comic fetches $317,200London: The first ever Superman comic which was bought for a meagre amount of some 35 cent has fetched $317,200 (around Rs1.6 crore) at an online auction. Rocker John Dolmayan, drummer for the Armenian-American alternative metal band System of a Down, paid the huge amount to possess the rare book. The untouched ‘Action Comic No. 1’—which shows the Man of Steel lifting a car on the cover—went on sale on 27 February, the Contactmusic.com reported. After a two-week auction, Dolmayan entered the bid on Friday. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Mar 2009 | 3:54 pm JPMorgan appoints Panandiker and ZhangHong Kong: JPMorgan Chase and Co. said it hired Vibhav Panandiker from Standard Chartered Plc. to help bolster private equity investments in South-East Asia and India. The bank also hired Cathy Zhang from DragonTech Ventures Management Ltd to focus on investments in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Both were hired as managing directors and report to Varun Bery, head of Private Capital Asia. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Mar 2009 | 3:49 pm Love in the time of geometry: new search option on BharatMatrimonyNew Delhi: For years, matrimonial websites have suffered from a gap in expectations: Its users would log on only to find the girl next door, when they were really secretly hoping for Bipasha Basu. A new facial search feature on BharatMatrimony and its stable of regional sites, however, now promises the next best thing: The girl next door who looks, from a certain angle and in dim light, like Bipasha Basu. Or the boy next door, who in similar light and from a similar angle, looks like M.S. Dhoni.  Tangential similarities: The new feature offers a gallery of celebrities to choose from. It then trawls the database for celebrity ‘look-alikes’. The new feature, launched earlier this month, offers up a gallery of India’s leading celebrities of (mostly) marriageable age—male as well as female—and invites its users to pick a favourite. A filter then trawls the database to find that celebrity’s “look-alikes”. The similarities are sometimes tangential but often imaginary—often enough, in fact, that BharatMatrimony’s disclaimer is sorely overworked: “Facial Search is still in beta version and is not assured to always produce appropriate results.” “We wanted to look at different preferences, and add a new, exciting dimension to the search feature,” says Uma Thenappan, head of marketing at Consim Info Pvt. Ltd., of which BharatMatrimony is a part. “We developed the facial search algorithm in-house and tested it for six or seven months internally before going live with it.” The algorithm, which allows for religion and caste preferences, works by measuring distances between facial features and then pulling up candidate photographs with similar facial configurations. “When people say: ‘I chose Aishwarya Rai and got people who don’t look like her,’ it’s because they only get photos with similar geometrical dimensions,” says Thenappan. “If you want the same green eyes and the same complexion—well, that won’t happen.” BharatMatrimony’s facial search has been customized, till date, for roughly half of its regional sites. TamilMatrimony and TeluguMatrimony get the stars of their respective cinema industries, but MarwadiMatrimony, ParsiMatrimony and AssameseMatrimony, among others, have to be content with a standard shopping-list of Bollywood heartthrobs. In testimony to cricket’s pan-Indian appeal, however, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ishant Sharma make it into every one of the regional sites. Wise in the ways of personal attraction, and knowing that beauty resides in the beholder’s eye, the website also slips in the facial templates of Aravind Adiga, A.R. Rahman, Sabeer Bhatia and Narain Karthikeyan for good measure. “After Slumdog Millionaire, the number of searches for Rahman has gone up,” Thenappan says. “Although I think it’s more to just find people who look like him, not for marriage or anything like that.” “I’m not sure it’s a good filter—it feels more like a feature for a dating website than a matrimonial website,” says V. Deviprasad, an unmarried Chennai-based executive who considers himself something of a marriage-market expert. “People tend to look first at a profile’s education, location, that kind of thing. The photograph is only a hygiene factor. You’re not going to marry a Quasimodo anyway.” On playing around with the facial search feature, Deviprasad found the results inconsistent, but he admitted that the prospects intrigued him. “What would be pretty cool would be if I could choose a combination—say (the Tamil film actress) Tamanna’s nose, Tabu’s mouth, Priyanka Chopra’s figure—and find somebody with those features,” he says. “That would really be something.” Ayeshea Perera contributed to this story. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 17 Mar 2009 | 3:41 pm
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