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AREVA TD bags 33mn order from Lanco InfratechAreva TD bagged the first private sector Ultra high Voltage Generator Transformers order from Lanco Infratech Ltd. The order valued at more than 33 million.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 4:36 pm No plans of splitting co into five verticals: MindTreeNewspaper reports suggest that MindTree might be splitting into five different verticals. Clarrifying the same, Rostow Ravana, CFO, MindTree, said the company hase no plans of spinning verticals into different entities and raise money. \"We are just reorganising the various business line, essentially to drive more specialisation.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 1:09 pm KEC International wins PGCIL orders worth Rs 291crKEC International Ltd., an RPG company and a global leader in the power transmission EPC business, has won two orders worth Rs 291 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:56 pm Ramsarup Industries bags orders worth Rs 164crRamsarup Industries Ltd., second largest producer of steel wires in India, has bagged orders worth Rs 164 crores for RGGVY electrification work from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co. LtdSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:50 pm Akruti City price rise to end with Mar expiry: SP TulsianSebi, BSE, and NSE are learnt to have initiated a probe into the sharp surge in the Akruti City stock price. Over the last 10 days, the stock price has more than doubled. SEBI said 3 brokers from Mumbai, Kolkata are being probed in Akruti case. Two SEBI teams are checking brokers\' books on Akruti share price rise.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:36 pm AIG employees starting to return bonuses: CEO!Testifying under oath at a congressional hearing, AIG CEO Edward Liddy said some workers have returned the money.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:23 pm Indian, US businessmen join hands against protectionism !Captains of Indian and American industries have vowed to work together for the revival of the global economy while fighting growing calls for protectionism in either country.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:23 pm Markets pare early gains!Sensex erased earlier gains of 1.2% on Thursday morning as investors locked in some profits.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:23 pm Rupee rises by 30 paise against dollar to three-week high!The Indian rupee soared by 30 paise against the US currency to trade at a three-week high in early trade on dollar selling by banks and expectations of rally on domestic bourses following firm trends in other Asian markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:23 pm Fed to buy Treasury, mortgage assets!Fed Reserve would buy US Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities worth USD 1.25 tn this year.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:23 pm Book your Nano, follow these stepsFollow a few simple steps and book your Tata Nano.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:10 pm Indian CEOs raise H-IB visa issue with Obama administrationThe issue was raised by the visiting CII's CEO Mission led by Bharati enterprise chairman Sunil Bharati Mittal.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:48 am Book your Tata Nano for Rs 60K - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:37 am AIG’s Liddy Takes ‘Offense’ at Congress Bonus Blame - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:32 am India ranks 75th in world’s best nations for business: ForbesNew York: India has slipped 11 positions to be ranked 75th in a list of world’s best countries for business, compiled by US publication Forbes, as the country lost ground in areas like trade freedom, technology, corporate tax rate and corruption. The list has been topped for the second year in a row by Denmark, while India has moved down from its 64th position in Forbes’ annual list, which ranks 127 nations on the basis of business climate in a country for entrepreneurs, investors and workers. The US has moved up two position to be ranked second on the list. Besides, Canada and Singapore have moved up four spots each to number three and four respectively. Other countries in the top 10 this year include New Zealand, UK, Sweden, Australia, Hong Kong and Norway. Three countries -- New Zealand, Australia and Norway -- are new to the top-ten this year, while three others -- Finland, Ireland and Switzerland -- have fallen out of this league. “Sliding the most this year was Ireland (No. 14, down 12), which even saw plans for a Guinness mega-brewery shelved by parent Diageo as exports slowed,” Forbes said, adding Uruguay, Armenia, Paraguay and Latvia also moved down considerably. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:26 am BSE Sensex pares gains on econ, political worryMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex pared most of its gains on Thursday as lingering economic concerns and uncertainty related to coming national elections triggered profit taking after the market rose 1.2 percent early.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:25 am LIC invests Rs40,000 crore in equities in FY ‘09 - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:24 am Kolkata Port faces huge viability threat for low productivity - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:24 am Canadian Inflation Unexpectedly Accelerates on Gasoline Prices - Bloomberg
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:22 am Italy Finmeccanica eyes rail cars, engines in IndiaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Finmeccanica SpA, Italy's largest aerospace and defence group, is in talks with private and state-run firms to build rail coaches and engines in India, a company official said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:20 am Sony India expects lower growth next fiscalKolkata: Consumer electronics major Sony India Private Ltd is expecting a lower growth rate in the coming financial year, a company official said today. Sunil Nayyar, head (sales), Sony India, told reporters that sales growth in the coming fiscal would be lower due to the current economic meltdown. Nayyar said that during 2008-09, the growth of the company would be 20-25 % higher over 2007-08, when it clocked a revenue of Rs3,000 crore. “In the next fiscal, growth in revenue would be in the range of 15-20%. We do not expect robust growth,” he said. Nayyar said the CTV category had witnessed a sales drop and was the worst-hit. The company would focus on the LCD and digital imaging segments, he said. The eastern region contributed 10 per cent of the company’s total sales in the country. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:14 am Fake stamp papers case: Telgi gets 7 year imprisonmentAhmedabad: Fake stamp paper scam kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi was Thursday sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a special CBI court here. Judicial magistrate A P Gohil, who presided over the special court, also sent Telgi’s aide Sadik Ibrahim to seven years in jail. His another aide Siddarth alias Peter Fernendes was awarded five years’ imprisonment. While Telgi and Sadik have been fined Rs35,000, Siddarth has been fined Rs30,000 by the court. All the three had on Wednesday pleaded guilty before the special court in a fake stamp papers case filed in Gujarat. The multi-crore fake stamp paper scam was first unearthed in Maharashtra. Telgi and his Gujarat based aides were also running the racket in the state. Telgi had urged the court to grant him minimum sentence considering his health. The judge observed that the offence committed by all the three was against the nation as well as the society and deserves maximum punishment. “They are not entitled for any kind of mercy and that is the reason they have been sentenced to maximum punishment under the law for the offence committed by them,” the court further observed. CBI had carried out raids at several places across Gujarat in which fake stamp papers worth more than Rs25 crore were recovered after the scam was unearthed in Pune in 2002. About 20 people who were found to be involved in the scam, were arrested by the investigating agency while a few are still absconding. Later all the accused including mastermind Telgi were chargesheeted by the agency and the case was put for trial in the special court. Also, four out of the 20 accused, who had pleaded guilty before the court in last August were sentenced subsequently. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:12 am First edition of IPL fetched Rs 91 crore as Income Tax - Press Trust of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:09 am Oil rises above $49 as Fed spurs optimismLONDON: Oil rallied to $49 a barrel on Thursday after a move by the Federal Reserve to buy government bonds on a large scale hit the dollar and revived hopes the US economy could soon begin its recovery. The Fed announced on Wednesday it would pump another $1 trillion into the US economy by buying long-term government debt for the first time since the 1960s and by expanding purchases of mortgage bonds. “It’s a combination of a drop in the US dollar and the Fed’s move that has pushed up oil prices,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “But I suspect more of it is probably on hopes that US policy stimulus would help turn the economy around, or at least stabilise it.” US crude for April rose 86 cents to $49.00 a barrel by 1:30pm after climbing as high as $49.83 earlier. London Brent for May delivery rose 87 cents to $48.53. Analysts who use past price moves to predict future direction were not convinced that crude would break through resistance at $50, the top of oil’s trading range so far in 2009. “Whether Wednesday’s advance now extends into the balance of the week remains to be seen,” analyst Edward Meir of MF Global said. “We have our doubts, as we are once again approaching key resistance at $50.” Steady dollar The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies on Thursday, after posting its biggest daily fall since 1985. A weak dollar can boost investor demand for oil and other commodities priced in the US currency. Besides technical resistance, falling demand could also limit oil’s gains in the near term. On Wednesday, oil fell after data showed US crude inventories ballooned to the highest in nearly two years and the World Bank cut its 2009 forecast for China’s economic growth. In its weekly report, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude oil stocks rose 2.0 million barrels to 353.3 million last week - double the increase forecast by analysts. Slumping demand and rising inventories have helped drag oil down from a record high near $150 reached last summer as the economic crisis hit consumption across the globe. Analysts say oil, which sank below $33 in December, has stabilised around $40 to $50 due to Opec supply curbs of 4.2 million barrels per day, but the grim economic outlook is standing in the way of a further advance. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) pledged to comply more strictly with its supply curbs at a meeting on Sunday. It meets again to set oil output policy on 28 May. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, the group’s most influential voice, said on Wednesday he believed Opec had managed to put a floor under the market. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:08 am SpiceJet cuts fares on advance bookingsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Low cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd said on Thursday it has cut fares on all bookings made 30 days or more in advance, by up to 600 rupees a ticket.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:06 am India’s exports to start growing after JuneNew Delhi: Overseas sales of Indian textile, leather, gems and jewellery are picking up but overall exports may start growing only after June, trade secretary Gopal Pillai said on Thursday. “I expect, in April, May and June, exports to stabilize. Thereafter there would be a recovery,” he told reporters. He expects India’s annual exports will be $170 billion in the year to March, sharply lower than an earlier target of $200 billion, after the dismal performance in December and March quarters. Exports were estimated at $144.3 billion until January. Exports have been declining since October as the global economic slowdown trimmed demand from major markets. A trade ministry official had earlier expected further falls in February and March. Since December, the government and Reserve Bank of India have announced a series of measures including cuts in lending rates and interest subsidies for loss-making exporters in order to prevent massive job cuts. Pillai said exports of textiles, leather and gems and jewellery, which contribute heavily in India’s total export basket, were showing signs of a pick up. “Textile is now stabilizing. Most textile people are now saying...they are now getting orders...They are hopeful that once supplies (start) again fresh orders will come. So, lack of orders is slowly going away,” he said. An official of the Textile Ministry told Reuters in Mumbai he expected textile exports at $22-23 billion in 2009-10 fiscal year, almost the same as that estimated for FY09. Earlier, an industry body said India’s gems and jewellery exports fell 4.6% to $17.79 billion during April 2008 to February 2009, from a year earlier, but Pillai said exports were picking up. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:05 am Al-Qaida, Taliban are not in Balochistan: PakistanWashington: The Pakistan government does not believe Taliban or Al-Qaida officials have moved from the tribal border region to Pakistan’s southwestern-most province and would oppose expanding US drone strikes there, a government official said. The Pakistani reaction followed a New York Times report Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering proposals to expand air strikes into the province of Baluchistan to target Al-Qaida and Taliban officials. US intelligence officials believe some militant leaders have fled there to avoid the US drone attacks in the lawless tribal region to the north. The proposals are part of an ongoing larger review of US strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan to counter terrorist organizations and help stabilise both countries, according to the Times. ‘‘As far as we’re concerned we do not think Taliban leadership or Al-Qaida are present in Balochistan or Quetta as some suggest,“ said a Pakistan embassy official, who asked for anonymity to discuss the sensitive intelligence issue. “If there is any evidence of Taliban or Al-Qaida, we are available for intelligence sharing and we will take immediate action,” the official said.” Pakistan has repeatedly objected to Predator drone strikes in the Federal Administered Tribal Areas along Pakistan’s northwest frontier with Afghanistan, believed by US intelligence to be home to Al-Qaida leaders. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:05 am Exports to start growing after JuneNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Overseas sales of Indian textile, leather, gems and jewellery are picking up but overall exports may start growing only after June, Trade Secretary Gopal Pillai said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:04 am SpiceJet cuts fares on advance bookingsMumbai: Low cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd said on Thursday it has to cut fares on all bookings made 30 days or more in advance, by up to Rs600 a ticket. The reduced fares would cover its entire fleet of 119 flights across 18 destinations, it said in a statement. The airline said its market share stood at 12.4% in February. Its share was 11.8% in January, chief executive Sanjay Aggarwal had said on 18 February. SpiceJet shares closed down 1.59% at Rs14.24 in a firm Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:04 am Ericsson unveils new telecom tower for Indian marketEricsson, a leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators, Thursday unveiled its new energy-efficient and less expensive radio base station site concept, Ericsson tower tube, for the Indian telecom market.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:02 am India registers slight slowdown in new telecom connectionsIndia's telecom operators managed to add 13.42 million new subscribers to the network in February, which was lower than the 15.26 million new connections during the previous month, official data showed Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:02 am Sebi wants more trading hours; experts don't see it work - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 11:02 am Cabinet secy says no sign of deflationNEW DELHI (Reuters) - There are no signs of deflation in the Indian economy, the country's top bureaucrat said on Thursday, pointing to a revival in sectors catering to domestic demand.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:59 am India exports to start growing after June - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:56 am LIC invests Rs40,000 crore in equities in FY ‘09Mumbai: The country’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), has invested Rs40,000 crore in equity so far this fiscal, exceeding its total equity exposure of the last financial year. “For the eleven months ended February 2009, we have invested Rs40,000 crore in equities. Equity investments in FY ‘09 have exceeded the total equity investments made last fiscal,“ a top LIC official said here. LIC’s investment in stock markets every year is around 8-9% of its total premium collection, the official said, adding, “(The) banking sector remains appealing to us.” The state-run insurer recently invested in three large companies, including State Bank of India, taking into account “an attractive valuation and good investment prospects”. The insurance giant picked up a 2.11% stake in SBI for Rs1,484.12 crore, taking is total shareholding in India’s largest bank to 9.16% (4.94 crore shares). It acquired a 2.86% stake in Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), also a government lender, for Rs57.65 crore and a 2.18% in private firm Cummins India for Rs72.22 crore. LIC increased its stake in IOB to 9.96% by purchasing additional shares worth Rs57.65 crore between 19 February and 3 March. It also purchased 43.22 lakh shares Rs72.22 crore in engine manufacturer Cummins India. With this, LIC now has a total of 7.6% stake in the company. The insurer had also bought an additional 2.27 crore shares in ICICI Bank, increasing its total holding in the bank to 9.38% (10.44 crore shares). LIC has also upped its stake in various other state-run banks in recent times. These banks are Union Bank of India (2.18%), Oriental Bank of Commerce (2.60%), Bank of India (1.63%), Canara Bank (1.21%) and Punjab National Bank (0.38%). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:55 am Amid volatile trading Indian equities end marginally up - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:50 am Inflation gives room for stimulus - AhluwaliaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's low inflation rate will enable policy makers to take more steps to stimulate a slowing economy, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:44 am Low inflation gives room for stimulus: MontekNew Delhi: India’s low inflation rate will enable policy makers to take more steps to stimulate a slowing economy, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday. He also said there would not be sustained deflation in India. India’s wholesale price index rose 0.44% in the 12 months to 7 March, the lowest annual reading in the history of the current series. “It is a good development. It gives us reassurance that we can take measures to stimulate the economy,” Ahluwalia told reporters, adding negative inflation would not be good from a growth point of view. “We will not have sustained deflation,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:43 am Govt revises coal imports target by 15% for FY10New Delhi: The Power Ministry has enhanced the coal imports target of electricity generation units by about 15% to 28.7 million tonnes in 2009-10 to ensure that the utilities do not reel under any dry fuel shortage. As per the earlier target set by the Ministry, the power firms, including NTPC, were supposed to import 25 million tonnes of coal next fiscal, a senior government official said. “In view of the anticipated availability of 312 million tonnes of coal from Coal India for power utilities in 2009-10, import target of power firms has been enhanced from 25 million tonnes to 28.7 million tonnes,” the official said. As the calorific value of imported coal is high, the 28.7 million tonnes dry fuel shipped from overseas would be equivalent to about 43 million tonnes of the domestic coal. In 2008-09, Coal India would supply 292 million tonnes of coal to power companies. Next fiscal, however, the earmarked quantity would increase to 312 million tonnes. “In incremental terms, we would be providing 20 million tonnes of additional coal to power utilities next fiscal as compared to the current financial year,” Coal India chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya told PTI. As per the data released by Central Electricity Authority, the power planning body, 37 thermal power plants, out of total 77 units in India, are running on coal stocks availability of less than seven days. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:40 am First edition of IPL fetched Rs91 crore as Income TaxNew Delhi: The IPL is not just a money spinner for sponsors, players and franchises but also for government which earned a whooping Rs 91 crore as income tax from first edition of the Twenty20 cricket tournament. The revenue was received by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) after it categorised the tournament under the “professional services” last year. The taxes had been accrued as Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) from the remuneration paid to players, umpires, coaches, commentators amongst others by the organisers of the sporting extravaganza. “The first edition of the IPL has fetched Rs91 crore under the TDS category. The CBDT has brought a notification categorising sporting services as professional services last year,” CBDT member (Revenue) Saroj Bala told PTI. On 21 August last year, the Board had notified the services under section 194 J of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as rendered by sport persons, umpires and referees, coaches and trainers, team physicians and physiotherapists, event managers, commentators, anchors and sport columnists as “professional services”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:36 am Slowdown will lead to consolidation across industries: BirlaThe ongoing global slowdown would lead to a phase of consolidation across industries, Kumar Mangalam Birla said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:35 am Dollar slides after US Fed plan - BBC News
Source: Google News India - Business | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:34 am Goa to appoint gaming commission to regulate casino gamblingThe Goa government, which has for many weeks been plagued by a controversy over the granting of licences to offshore casinos, announced Thursday that it will appoint a 'gaming commission' to regulate gambling in the casinos.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:32 am How the techies tamed the cyber zooGeneva: Huddled around a vintage computer, four of the creators of the world wide web were blissfully unaware of their audience as they showed how, 20 years ago, they spawned the growth of the Internet. In the atmosphere of a school reunion at the European laboratory for particle physics (CERN) last week, the bright-eyed old boys, now middle-aged, reminisced geekishly over computer programming. Little pink windows popped up on screen and links were created, allowing them to click from one section to the next. Yet, as impenetrable as the conversation seemed during the commemorative event, their aim in 1989 was to allow thousands of physicists from around the world to communicate and swap research on atom-smashing at a distance. “We connected up the zoo of machines,” explained Ben Segal, one of the programmers and engineers. Personal computing was in its infancy in the 1980s: different computers often had their own incompatible and complex code-based operating systems or formatting, while networking was cumbersome. On a now forgotten date in March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, then a consultant software engineer at CERN, handed his supervisor a proposal on “information management”. The original copy kept by Berners-Lee still has the response the supervisor, Michael Sendall, scribbled at the top of the page: “vague but exciting”. “Mike was the boss who didn’t say no,” said former CERN systems engineer Robert Cailliau -- dubbed by his colleagues the “second user of the web”. “He was crucial to getting it going,” added Cailliau. The document advocating a universal system based on hypertext -- the programming language that allows links between pages on the web -- contained a complicated diagram with a circle marked “Mesh” in the centre. “I thought of ‘mesh´, but it sounded too much like ‘mess´,” said Berners-Lee, who adopted the name World Wide Web in May 1990. Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the new director general of CERN, was a German physicist at the laboratory straddling the Swiss-French border at the time. “I just took it for granted, we didn’t foresee the incredible phenomenon that it created.” The lab provided a “canvas” for early web development: it was staffed by engineers who were intent on problem-solving and they were often scattered around Europe and elsewhere. And, unusually for the time, “there was a computer on every desk,” Heuer said. The project’s slogan was “let us share what you know”. However, Berners-Lee, Cailliau, Segal and Jean-Frangois Groff, a young programmer who was seconded to CERN as an alternative to military service in France, had some convincing to do. “It was actually illegal until 1988-1989 to make an external connection from the lab,” Segal said. “CERN is full of smart people with good ideas, and this was just another one.” It took more than a year for Berners-Lee to start developing the web browser. He remembers that when they demonstrated it by simply clicking on a link and a page appeared, the reaction was often a puzzled “so what?”. “After that it took off because people across the planet, random people, started to get involved,” said Berners-Lee. “Universality, that was the rule, and it worked.” The key was the outward simplicity. “The key invention is the URL (website address), it’s the thing you can write on a napkin,” said Groff. The first server outside Europe, at the SLAC particle accelerator in California, was connected at the end of 1991. Berners-Lee later pursued development in the United States and CERN released the software for free in the public domain in 1993. “Back then there were 26 web servers, now there are 10 to the power of 11 pages. That’s as many as the neurones in your brain,” said the Briton, now 53, who heads the World Wide Web Consortium (3WC). “The difference is that your neurones are going down and the web is growing.” Twenty percent of humanity is connected to the web, according to standard-setting authorities. It is used worldwide for personal communications, entertainment, knowledge, education, commerce, shopping and science, in the office, home and increasingly on the move. Twenty years on -- six generations in the computer world -- it incorporates more than 30 software standards, as well as audio and video, and even live transmissions. “The web is not all done. It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Berners-Lee. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:32 am Amid volatile trading Indian equities end marginally upIndian equities markets ended marginally higher Thursday after a session marked by wild fluctuations, which even took a key index to dip below the previous day's close for well over two hours.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:31 am Fitch cuts Pantaloon Retail’s credit ratingNew Delhi: Rating agency Fitch has cut the credit rating assigned to Pantaloon Retail’s short-term debt, reflecting the pressure on operating cash flow due to slowing sales. Fitch said in a rating action note that Pantaloon Retail was witnessing pressures in its operating cash flow and losses were continuing at some of its key subsidiaries. The agency has downgraded PRIL’s short-term debt instruments from ‘F1’ to ‘F2+’. The revised rating denotes a good capacity for timely payment of financial commitments, whereas an ‘F1’ rating indicates strongest capacity for on- time payment. Fitch Ratings affirmed Pantaloon Retail India Ltd’s National Long-term Rating at ‘A-’, which denotes expectations of a low default risk, and revised the rating Outlook to Negative from Stable, which indicates a possible downgrade action in future. “The rating action reflects the ongoing pressure on PRIL’s operating cash flows during H1FY09 due to slowing same store sales growth, primarily in lifestyle retailing and to some extent in value retailing,” Fitch said. The rating action also reflects the continuing losses at its key subsidiaries, primarily Home Solutions Retail and Future Agrovet Ltd, which have impacted PRIL’s consolidated credit metrics. “This is a trend that Fitch believes is likely to continue over the near-term. Consequently, financial leverage has increased over the past year and is likely to remain high in the short- to medium-term. Fitch said that any delay in realisation of the company’s cost-cutting initiatives, that results in a further deterioration in credit metrics, could trigger a rating downgrade, as could any additional debt-led capex/investments. “At the same time, a substantial equity infusion supporting PRIL’s capital structure and debt metrics could lead to the rating Outlook being revised back to Stable.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:25 am IBM eyes Sun Microsystems: Industry calls it a smart moveThere is a mega deal brewing in the global technology space IBM is close to acquiring Sun Microsystems. Mohandas Pai of Infosys said, I would think that what IBM has done is quite smart because they\'ve removed a player who could possibly be a disruptive price warrior.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:12 am Close: Sensex ends flat, but touches 9k markMumbai: Markets rose 0.21% on Thursday, paring early gains of as much as 1.2%, as economic worries and uncertainties related to upcoming general elections weighed on investor confidence. The 30-share BSE index ended up 25.07 points at 9,001.75, with 19 stocks advancing. The 50-share NSE index closed up at 2,801.45. Realty, Technology, IT and oil and gas sectors witnessed some buying but segments like capital goods, auto and FMCG remained in red. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:12 am India's inflation dips sharply to historic low of 0.44 percentIndia's annual rate of inflation fell by as much as 200 basis points to a historic low of 0.44 percent for the week ended March 7 against 2.43 percent for the week before, official data showed Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:02 am Tata Motors gets environmental guidelines for Nano plantTata Motors, which is building its Rs.20-billion Nano small car plant in Gujarat's Sanand, has been slapped with a list of environmental conditionalities by the state government, a few days before the launch of Nano.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:02 am 4% asset allocators positive on emerging markets: ML surveyAccording to a Merrill Lynch Fund Manager survey nearly 4% asset allocators are overweight on global emerging markets (EM).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 10:01 am Fujitsu launches world’s first colour e-bookTokyo: Fujitsu has launched the world’s first e-book with a colour display in Japan, the company said Thursday. When used with a separate memory card, the paperback-sized gadget dubbed the “FLEPia” can store the equivalent of 5,000 conventional books. It weighs 385 grams (13.5 ounces), is 12.5 milimetres (half an inch) thick and has a 20-centimetre ‘electronic paper´ display that can show 260,000 colours. Equipped with Bluetooth and high-speed wireless LAN, it can operate 40 hours when fully charged, the company said. Online sales began Wednesday, priced at 99,750 yen (about $1,000). The company aims to sell 50,000 units in two years. “We are seeing very good customer interest since the launch,” said Makoto Saito, spokesman for Fujitsu Frontech, which developed the device. Fujitsu hopes to sell the e-book abroad in the future, Saito said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:51 am Sebi, NSE, BSE put Akruti City under surveillanceThe Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi), BSE, and NSE are learnt to have initiated a probe into the sharp surge in the Akruti City stock price. Over the last 10 days, the stock price has more than doubled.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:48 am Airline ‘09 losses to pass previous estimates: IATAKuala Lumpur: The losses of world airlines in 2009 are likely to exceed the $2.5 billion forecast previously, as the global economic crisis eats up passenger and cargo traffic, an industry body said on Thursday. “Our last industry forecast made in December was for a $2.5 billion loss in 2009 based on a 3% fall in passenger demand and a 5% demand in cargo,” said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “This is now looking very optimistic and next week we will issue a revised forecast,” he said. IATA, which represents 230 airlines including British Airways, Cathay Pacific and United Airlines, said earlier this month world airlines lost up to $8 billion last year, far more than the $5 billion previously estimated. In January, international passenger demand fell 5.6% year-on-year, following a 4.6% decline in December, according to IATA. February numbers are to be released next week. Cargo volumes in January fell 23.2% year-on-year after December’s 22.6% decline, the eighth consecutive month of contraction for freight traffic. Bisignani said while economy travel demand has also slumped in response to the global financial crisis, a much faster decline in the premium segment, which airlines depend on for their bottom line, was hurting more. “Business classes are empty. The airlines make money in the front and recover the cost on economy, and when the business class disappears, it’s a big problem,” he said. Airlines around the world have been battered severely by the global financial crisis and have unveiled a slew of cost-cutting measures to stay afloat. Asian carriers have been worst hit. Singapore Airlines, the world’s biggest airline by market value, last week asked staff to take unpaid leave for up to two years in a bid to reduce costs. The Singapore carrier, which last month announced plans to cut its capacity by 11% and has grounded 17 of its 100-plus aircraft, had already asked pilots at its cargo arm to volunteer for unpaid leave. Cathay Pacific, the dominant airline of Hong Kong and Asia’s fifth-largest carrier by market value, which reported a record $1 billion second-half loss recently, said last week it could sell some assets to raise cash. Bisignani said he expected more capacity cuts by airlines across the world to adjust to slowing demand. “You see further capacity cuts practically every week in different parts of the world. We have to try to adjust capacity to demand,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:30 am Don\'t delay rollout: DoT to telcosCNBCTV18 has learnt that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has warned the telecom companies that have been allotted spectrum for the first time, against delaying the rollout of services.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:21 am Inflation heads towards zero; rate cuts seenNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Inflation headed towards zero in early March and analysts tipped it would soon turn negative, opening the way for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates further to prop up demand and growth.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:19 am India may soon get Chinese nod for basmati exportsIndia may soon be allowed to export basmati rice to China, Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said here Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:00 am Inflation heads towards zero; rate cuts seenNew Delhi: Indian inflation headed towards zero in early March and analysts tipped it would soon turn negative, opening the way for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates further to prop up demand and growth. The wholesale price index, India’s most widely watched inflation measure, rose 0.44% in the 12 months to 7 March, sharply lower than the previous week’s 2.43% and below a forecast of 0.89% in a Reuters poll. It was the lowest reading since annual numbers in the current series began in April 1995, well below the previous low of 1.13% on 2 February 2002, and a peak of 12.91% last August. “We are looking at deflation by the last week of March. It will have a stabilising impact on bond yields in the days to come,” said Abheek Barua, the chief economist at HDFC Bank. “It also gives the central bank that much more headroom to keep cutting rates.” The new benchmark 10-year bond fell to 6.39% from 6.44% before the data, but later unwound the fall. Since October, the central bank has cut its key lending rate by 400 basis points, most recently in early March, as the policy focus has shifted to boosting demand and arrest slowing growth. Trade secretary GK Pillai said inflation would not be a concern for the next 2-3 months, but some analysts say policy makers would be in a dilemma over further rate cuts as the consumer price index is still over 9% in annual terms. HDFC’s Barua said a sharp decline in food prices would help close the gap between the wholesale and consumer price indexes. Cuts in state-set fuel prices, falling global commodity prices, and policy measures such as cuts in duties and interest rates have contributed to the sharp fall in wholesale price inflation over the past seven months. Asia’s third largest economy is expected to expand 7.1% or less in the fiscal year to end March, slowing sharply from 9% or more recorded in previous three years. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 9:00 am Recession the fashion at major Indian couture showNEW DELHI (Reuters Life!) - India's biggest fashion event started on a dark note in New Delhi with designers using the global recession and emotional depression to set a sombre trend for their autumn/winter collections.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 8:17 am China prefers talks with India to settle toys ban issueChina can drag India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the ban on Chinese toys here, but 'we believe in resolving the issue through talks', a Chinese minister said here Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 8:00 am Inflation falls below 1% for week ended March 7Inflation drastically fell to a two-decade low of 0.44 per cent in the first week of March, prompting analysts to say that rate of price rise would soon turn negative.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 7:39 am IT companies in Kerala face heat of slowdownThe global economic slowdown has taken its toll on the IT companies in Kerala, with some cutting salaries, while some others have already having informed stakeholders that they have no option but to cut operating costs.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 7:00 am India's inflation dips sharply to historic low of 0.44 percentIndia's annual rate of inflation fell by as much as 200 basis points to a historic low of 0.44 percent for the week ended March 7 against 2.43 percent for the week before, official data showed Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 19 Mar 2009 | 7:00 am Indian CEOs raise H1-B visa issue with Obama administrationWashington: India’s corporate leadership raised the issue of H1-B visa restrictions during their first high level interaction with Obama Administration officials and was assured that there would not be a serious setback to the programme unless unemployment rate in US plummets drastically. The issue was raised by the visiting CII’s CEO Mission led by Bharati enterprise chairman Sunil Bharati Mittal, who among others met Lawrence Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, at the White House yesterday. During the meeting, the delegation comprising of top Indian CEOs brought to the notice the concerns about the recent developments in the US with regard to H-1B work visa programme and certain provisions in the stimulus bill. “I do not see that there would be serious setback to H1-B visa programme or export programme, unless the unemployment rate goes down further in a severe manner,” Mittal, chairman and group CEO of Bharati Enterprise, told PTI in an interview after the meeting. “They were positive,” Bharati said referring to the response from the Obama Administration officials with regard to these issues raised by the CII delegation. “They believed that US will still remain open,” he said. During the meeting the officials shared the pressure the administration is facing from the US Congress on the issue of unemployment in the country. ”I think, we must also be conscious that that pressure is legitimate when they have the all kinds of difficulties here. They would have to take care of their own people and employment,“ Mittal said. “But they also recognise that the companies like IBM and many others are establishing large bases in India, getting large businesses there. Boeing is getting businesses, others are getting businesses, so it is a two way process,” he said. During the meeting, the CII delegation also raised the issues in the pharmaceuticals sector where US transit points for South American market have recently run into problems as Indian medicines have been impounded. Among other prominent members of the CII’s CEO Mission are C K Birla, chairman of Hindustan Motors Ltd; Tarun Das, CII mentor and chairman Haldia Petrochemicals; Pawan Munjal, CEO and managing director of Hero Honda Motors; Sunil Kumar Munjal, chairman of Hero Corporate Services; Kamineni Shabana, chairman Apollo Group of Hospitals; Vijay Thadani and CEO, NIIT Ltd. Prominent among those the CII CEO’s delegation met was Jim Steinberg, the Deputy Secretary of State at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department and Michael Froman, Deputy Assistant to the US President Barack Obama. The delegation attended a luncheon meeting with US corporate leadership and also held a meeting with the former US Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, and the former Assistant Secretary of State, Karl Inderfurth. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:55 am Sun Micro: Web powerhouse poised at brink of IBM's mawSANTA CLARA, Calif (Reuters) - Its name was once synonymous with the Internet. It championed networking at a time most people thought e-mail was revolutionary. It used to be mentioned in the same breath as Microsoft and Intel.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:51 am Toyota to halve recruitment in 2009Tokyo: Toyota Motor Corp said on Thursday it will nearly halve its hiring of new graduates next business year to the lowest level in more than a decade as it copes with weak global demand for cars by cutting costs. The world’s largest carmaker, heading for a record loss in the year ending on 31 March, said last month it aims to slash fixed costs including labour but without forcing job cuts. Toyota plans to hire 1,400 new graduates in the year starting on 1 April, down from an estimated 2,733 in the current year. It will be the lowest number since 1996, a Toyota spokesman said. Toyota’s US operation has introduced a work-sharing programme and offered early retirement for those who leave instead of joining the programme. Global auto sales have fallen by almost a quarter since January 2008 and by an even steeper margin in the United States, the biggest single market for Toyota and the struggling industry. Toyota, which forecasts an operating loss of ¥450 billion ($4.69 billion) this financial year, is set to incur a loss of around ¥482 billion next year, according to a poll of 19 analysts by the Reuters Estimates. Toyota shares closed down 2.2% at ¥2,965, against the Nikkei average’s fall of 0.3%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:50 am AIG CEO asks employees to repay some bonus moneyWashington: The head of AIG said he was trying to prevent the company from collapsing when he allowed the payment of $165 million in bonuses that have stoked outrage stretching from the White House to Main Street. Edward Liddy, who took over as chairman and chief executive of American International Group Inc in September when the government stepped in with the first of a series of rescues, said he had asked employees receiving more than $100,000 in bonuses to repay at least half. “Americans are asking quite simply, Why pay these people anything at all?” Liddy told a House of Representatives subcommittee on Wednesday. “Here’s why: I am trying desperately to prevent an uncontrolled collapse of that business.” Liddy said some employees had already given back their entire bonuses. Some had taken payouts and left the company. One AIG executive who agreed to return his bonus was Douglas Poling, who received the largest payout of more than $6.4 million, according to a report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, quoting a person familiar with the matter. Poling, 48, is an executive vice president responsible for energy and infrastructure investments, the Journal said. When contacted by the paper, Poling declined comment. Under Fire From Public, Politicians AIG has drawn intense fire from the public, politicians and President Barack Obama for accepting up to $180 billion in government aid and then handing out fat bonuses. Liddy said the payouts were necessary to retain top employees with the specialized knowledge to dispose of $2.7 trillion in complex securities that ended up dragging the insurer to the brink of collapse last year. He said the company whittled down that amount to $1.6 trillion, and he was worried that employees responsible for winding down the rest would return their bonuses “with their letters of resignation,” which would make the task tougher. But on Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the work of defusing the most dangerous bets placed by AIG was largely concluded before the company gave out bonuses to employees it said it needed to retain to avoid a financial meltdown. Citing company documents and interviews, the newspaper said the outstanding volume of risky and highly complex derivatives had been reduced to roughly $13 billion from $78 billion by the end of December, the Post said, citing the company’s financial filings. Two executives with AIG’s Financial Products unit were cited as saying the hardest work was complete and their focus has shifted to the resolution of a vast but less risky portfolio of bets on more straightforward financial instruments. ‘People Are Right To Be Angry’: Obama Fury over the AIG bonuses threatens to undermine Obama’s efforts to solve the credit crisis and pull the economy out of a deep recession. He has said he might have to ask Congress for money beyond a $700 billion bailout fund approved in October. “People are right to be angry. I’m angry,” Obama said on Wednesday. Many voters view the financial rescues as free handouts to wealthy executives who made bad decisions, and the big bonuses fueled that anger. “It is morally reprehensible and fiscally irresponsible to expect bonus money for bringing a corporate giant to its knees,” Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney said. Another Democrat, Representative Paul Hodes, quipped that AIG stood for “arrogance, incompetence and greed.” Channeling the populist sentiment, House lawmakers will vote on a bill on Thursday to recoup most of the bonuses paid to AIG executives. The bill would impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses for executives whose incomes exceed $250,000. The tax would apply to executives of any company that received at least $5 billion in government bailout money. Representative Barney Frank, the Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, pressed Liddy to release the names of those who received bonuses and said he intended to subpoena the information. Liddy refused, citing concerns for the safety of his employees, and read aloud what he said were examples of death threats that had been received. There was some concern that the firestorm in Washington would turn off the big private investors, such as hedge funds, the government needs to help stabilize the financial system. New York attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has subpoenaed AIG for a list of those who received bonuses, said asking employees to give back half the money was “too little too late” and would cover only 298 of 418 bonus recipients. “If AIG has nothing to hide and is not embarrassed about these payments, they should turn over the list now. The era of shrouding huge bonuses in secrecy must end,” he said in a statement. “We prefer not to go to court on this matter, but AIG is leaving us little choice.” In addition, the US Justice Department is working with the Treasury to determine how it might go about recovering the bonuses, Attorney General Eric Holder said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:38 am AIG CEO asks employees to repay some bonus moneyWashington: The head of AIG said he was trying to prevent the company from collapsing when he allowed the payment of $165 million in bonuses that have stoked outrage stretching from the White House to Main Street. Edward Liddy, who took over as chairman and chief executive of American International Group Inc in September when the government stepped in with the first of a series of rescues, said he had asked employees receiving more than $100,000 in bonuses to repay at least half. “Americans are asking quite simply, Why pay these people anything at all?” Liddy told a House of Representatives subcommittee on Wednesday. “Here’s why: I am trying desperately to prevent an uncontrolled collapse of that business.” Liddy said some employees had already given back their entire bonuses. Some had taken payouts and left the company. One AIG executive who agreed to return his bonus was Douglas Poling, who received the largest payout of more than $6.4 million, according to a report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, quoting a person familiar with the matter. Poling, 48, is an executive vice president responsible for energy and infrastructure investments, the Journal said. When contacted by the paper, Poling declined comment. Under Fire From Public, Politicians AIG has drawn intense fire from the public, politicians and President Barack Obama for accepting up to $180 billion in government aid and then handing out fat bonuses. Liddy said the payouts were necessary to retain top employees with the specialized knowledge to dispose of $2.7 trillion in complex securities that ended up dragging the insurer to the brink of collapse last year. He said the company whittled down that amount to $1.6 trillion, and he was worried that employees responsible for winding down the rest would return their bonuses “with their letters of resignation,” which would make the task tougher. But on Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the work of defusing the most dangerous bets placed by AIG was largely concluded before the company gave out bonuses to employees it said it needed to retain to avoid a financial meltdown. Citing company documents and interviews, the newspaper said the outstanding volume of risky and highly complex derivatives had been reduced to roughly $13 billion from $78 billion by the end of December, the Post said, citing the company’s financial filings. Two executives with AIG’s Financial Products unit were cited as saying the hardest work was complete and their focus has shifted to the resolution of a vast but less risky portfolio of bets on more straightforward financial instruments. ‘People Are Right To Be Angry’: Obama Fury over the AIG bonuses threatens to undermine Obama’s efforts to solve the credit crisis and pull the economy out of a deep recession. He has said he might have to ask Congress for money beyond a $700 billion bailout fund approved in October. “People are right to be angry. I’m angry,” Obama said on Wednesday. Many voters view the financial rescues as free handouts to wealthy executives who made bad decisions, and the big bonuses fueled that anger. “It is morally reprehensible and fiscally irresponsible to expect bonus money for bringing a corporate giant to its knees,” Democratic Representative Carolyn Maloney said. Another Democrat, Representative Paul Hodes, quipped that AIG stood for “arrogance, incompetence and greed.” Channeling the populist sentiment, House lawmakers will vote on a bill on Thursday to recoup most of the bonuses paid to AIG executives. The bill would impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses for executives whose incomes exceed $250,000. The tax would apply to executives of any company that received at least $5 billion in government bailout money. Representative Barney Frank, the Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, pressed Liddy to release the names of those who received bonuses and said he intended to subpoena the information. Liddy refused, citing concerns for the safety of his employees, and read aloud what he said were examples of death threats that had been received. There was some concern that the firestorm in Washington would turn off the big private investors, such as hedge funds, the government needs to help stabilize the financial system. New York attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has subpoenaed AIG for a list of those who received bonuses, said asking employees to give back half the money was “too little too late” and would cover only 298 of 418 bonus recipients. “If AIG has nothing to hide and is not embarrassed about these payments, they should turn over the list now. The era of shrouding huge bonuses in secrecy must end,” he said in a statement. “We prefer not to go to court on this matter, but AIG is leaving us little choice.” In addition, the US Justice Department is working with the Treasury to determine how it might go about recovering the bonuses, Attorney General Eric Holder said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:38 am Relations with China not at cost of India: US to Indian CEOsThe delegation held meetings with the State Department and the White House, besides meeting the US corporate leadership, policy makers and think tanks.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:33 am AIG CEO asks employees to repay some bonus moneyWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of AIG said he was trying to prevent the company from collapsing when he allowed the payment of $165 million in bonuses that have stoked outrage stretching from the White House to Main Street.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:19 am Gold rebounds sharply on strong overseas marketsMumbai: India gold futures rebounded sharply on Thursday tracking overseas markets, but a strong rupee kept a lid on gains, analysts said. The benchmark April gold contract was 3.26% higher at Rs15,233 per 10 grams at 11:21 am, after hitting a high of Rs15,292 in early deals. The contract had shed 2.6% in the last session. Comex April gold surged by over 4% after the Federal Reserve said it will buy up to $300 billion worth of long-dated US government debt, which rejuvenated bullion’s appeal as a hedge against inflation. “Fed’s actions added fuel to fire,” said Pradeep Unni, a senior research analyst with Richcomm Global Services in Dubai. Analysts said the yellow metal may see a further upside, but it could be restricted due to a strong rupee. “The move by Fed would weaken the dollar and fuel gold’s rally further,” said Debjyoti Chatterjee, associate vice-president with MAPE ADMISI in Mumbai, adding ”the momentum is very much positive in gold.” “Technically there is still room left on the higher side which might take gold northwards,” said Unni, adding ”If gold manages to hold above 14,850, in today’s session gold might rise to 15,500.” Open interest for April gold on MCX was at 14,167 lots, down from 15,440 a day earlier. Volume on Wednesday was 86.93 kg. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 6:14 am Rupee jumps 62paise vs dollarMumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday jumped by a whopping 62paise to a near three-week high of Rs50.68/69 against the American currency in late morning deals on the back of heavy dollar selling amid firm equity markets. In active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the local unit resumed sharply higher at Rs51.04/05 a dollar from yesterday’s close of Rs51.30/31 and improved further to quote at Rs50.68/69 a dollar, the level not seen since 27 February. On Wednesday it was up by 19paise. Expectations of more capital inflows after two days of net buying by foreign funds and weak dollar overseas also helped the rupee rally for the second straight day, a forex dealer said. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pumped in $110.10 million on 17 March while they were net buyers on 18 March, according provisional data. Dollar selling by banks and exporters in anticipation of further fall in the greenback boosted the rupee sentiment, he added. Another rise of 73 points in the Indian benchmark Sensex at 10:30am today too gave support to the rupee. Asian indices were trading steady to firm with upward bias in late morning deals today. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 5:51 am Sensex climbs 107 points on firm global cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday gained 107 points in early trade on increased buying by foreign funds.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 5:21 am US recognises Pak as 'hot bed of terrorism': MittalTop US officials have told a group of Indian CEOs that Washington recongnises Pakistan as "hot bed of terrorism which needs to be controlled".Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Mar 2009 | 5:10 am Loss-making Sony freezes wages; others may followTokyo: Japanese electronics firm Sony Corp said on Thursday it would freeze workers’ salaries this year as the company tried to recover from a record loss, and its rivals may follow in the face of a global sales slump. Unemployment is rising in Japan as a slide in exports forces firms to curb production, with the tech sector among the worst hit. Unlike many Japanese companies, Sony does not automatically raise salaries each year based on seniority. Instead pay rises are set annually for each worker based on their role and performance. ”This time we decided to keep the workers’ salaries unchanged,” Sony spokeswoman Mami Imada said, ahead of the pay round for the financial year starting next month. Three other Japanese tech companies -- Toshiba Corp, NEC Corp and Hitachi Ltd -- said on Wednesday they were considering similar moves. The global financial crisis and a strong yen that hit 13-year highs in January is pushing Sony to a projected operating loss of $2.9 billion for the current financial year to 31 March. Sony’s shares dropped 1.4% to 1,963 yen on Thursday, underperforming a 0.6% fall in the Nikkei 225 index. Sony said in January that pay for managers would drop by 10 to 20% through wage cuts and bonus reductions of 35 to 40%. Imada said Sony workers’ bonuses would be cut to four months’ pay from six months. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 5:07 am Sony e-book reader gets 500,000 books from GoogleNew York: Google Inc. is making half a million books, unprotected by copyright, available for free on Sony Corp.’s electronic book-reading device, the companies were set to announce Thursday. It’s the first time Google has made its vast trove of scanned public-domain books available to an e-book device, and vaults the Sony Reader past Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle as the device with the largest available library, at about 600,000 books. The scanned books were all published before 1923, and include works like Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” as well as nonfiction classics like Herodotus’ “The Histories.” The books are already available as free downloads in the Portable Document Format (PDF), which works well on computer screens but not on e-book readers. Google will provide the books to the Sony Reader in the EPUB (electronic publication) format, which lets the lines flow differently to fit a smaller screen. Google spokeswoman Jennie Johnson said the company wants to make the books available as widely as possible. “Really our vision is: any book, anywhere, any time and on any device,” she said. “We want to partner with anybody who shares our vision of making them more accessible.” The publishing industry has more or less united on EPUB for e-book distribution, but Amazon uses its own format for the Kindle. However, unencrypted EPUB files can be converted to a format readable by the Kindle using PC software. Unlike the Sony Reader, the $359 Kindle has a wireless connection directly to its e-book store, which boasts more than 245,000 titles. To get books onto the Reader, the user first downloads them from Sony’s Web site using a computer, then connects the Reader to the computer. There are two models of the Reader, priced at $300 and $350. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 19 Mar 2009 | 4:30 am Should accounting be driven by economic conditions?Adding to the list of other ongoing conflicts is the recent spat between an industry body and the accounting regulator. The hot question is whether the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) should enforce its book-keeping standardsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Zero duty on pulses to continue for another yearNew Delhi, March 18 The Centre, on Wednesday, extended the imports of pulses at zero Customs duty by one more year, while extending the ban on their exports, barring chickpeas (or Kabuli chana) for a similar period till March 31 next year toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Kingfisher in talks with GVK for repayment of duesMumbai, March 18 Kingfisher Airlines is in talks with the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) over repayment of Rs 19.70-crore dues for a host of overheads relating to landing, parking, route navigation levy and terminal charges.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideDLF moved up in the last trading session negating our prior view. Buy the stock in dips as long as it trades above Rs 162, with tight stop-loss. Utilise rallies to sell ICICI Bank and SBISource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Parties may feel diamond’s cutting edgeThe global economic recession is set to make its impact on the Indian elections. When voters cast their ballot to elect their Members of Parliament for Gujarat, one of the issues that will influence them will be the crisis in the diamondSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am NRIs shifting funds from dollar to rupee accountsMumbai, March 18 Non-resident Indians (NRIs) appear to be making the most of the rupee’s depreciating trend against the dollar. By liquidating their foreign currency non-resident (banks) deposits denominated in dollars and parking theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Russian Govt may pick up 20% stake in Sistema ShyamNew Delhi, March 18 The Russian Government may pick up a 20 per cent stake in Sistema Shyam Teleservices for close to $700 million.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Agriculture hostage to knee-jerk actionsThe United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came into office in May 2004 with a comfortable public foodgrain stocks position. Now, as it demits power, the ruling alliance leaves behind burgeoning granaries. The country was heavily deficit in sugarSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Cement stocks outdo SensexBL Research Bureau Cement stocks have witnessed a significant rally in 2009 as compared to the benchmark Sensex.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Thermax (Rs 174.65): BuyWe recommend a buy on Thermax stock from a short-term trading perspective. We observe from the charts of Thermax that from December 2008 high of Rs 222, the stock was on a medium-term downtrend till it found support at around Rs 150 in earlySource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am What makes Genentech so special is its innovation cultureCompelling as it was, reacquisition of the company shows Roche's management bandwidth & far sight, too.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:28 pm Traffic at 12 ports dips 12% in FebAs the downturn in global trade continues, Indian ports have seen volumes shrink for more than five months now.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:27 pm CERC seeks more freedom for power monitoring agenciesCERC has proposed the monitoring agencies be given more autonomy from the control of state utilities to facilitate uninterrupted flow of power from one state to another.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:26 pm Infra firms wary of BOT projectsNHAI last week sought the EC's permission to go ahead with the bidding of 50 projects that had been initiated before the election dates were announced.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Mar 2009 | 9:24 pm CPI(M) won't do as well as in 2004, Karat tells EU envoysBemused ambassadors of countries that are part of the European Union (EU) confessed they heard an admission from a politician they would not get to hear back home. Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest of the four Left parties in the outgoing Lok Sabha, cheerfully told a gathering of EU envoys earlier this month that he did not expect his party to do as well in 2009 as it had done in the 2004 general elections.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 6:45 pm UTV hunts for strategic partner for UTViWithin a year of the launch of its English business news channel UTVi, the UTV group has decided to rope in a strategic partner with a "significant stake". According to investment banking sources, the company is looking at raising between Rs 100 crore and Rs 125 crore from the strategic partner on a valuation of about Rs 200 crore.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 6:43 pm Travel firms feel early summertime blues: Few takers for packagesThe travel industry is feeling the pinch of the slowdown this year, with few takers for the international summer holiday packages on offer.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Mar 2009 | 6:41 pm IBM in talks to buy Sun for $6.5 billionInternational Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc., people familiar with the matter said, a combination that would bolster IBM’s heft on the Internet, in software, and in finance and telecommunications markets. The two firms have a common interest in that both make computer systems for corporate customers that aren’t reliant on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows software, and their product lines are less dependent than rivals’ on Intel Corp.’s microprocessor technologies. The two firms are also strong supporters of open source Linux and Java software.  Eye on Sun: IBM chief executive Sam Palmisano. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint If the deal does go through, which is expected this week, IBM is likely to pay at least $6.5 billion (Rs33,410 crore) in cash to acquire Sun, the people said. That would translate into a premium of at least 100% over Sun’s closing price on Tuesday. A combination would require melding companies with distinct, dissimilar cultures. IBM, an east coast stalwart that helped invent the computer industry, grew up with a button-down style and a philosophy of delivering what customers want. Sun, which grew up in the go-go environment of the 1980s in Silicon Valley, is an engineering-driven maverick with a record of major innovations that has lately struggled to profit from them. Once the quintessential high-flying start-up under Scott McNealy, one of the tech sector’s most outspoken chief executives, the company started in computer workstations and morphed into a major seller of server systems during the Internet boom. But the company has struggled since the dot-com bust, jumping late on the trend of low-cost servers that use chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. McNealy’s pony-tailed successor, Jonathan Schwartz, has driven the company to focus more on innovations in software and data storage. But Sun shares have plummeted over the past year, battered by its reliance on sales of high-end machines and customers in the financial sector, which experienced the economic slump earlier than other parts of the economy. A combination would require melding companies with distinct and dissimilar cultures Any transaction would strengthen IBM’s position against rival HP. It could be the largest acquisition in IBM’s history, surpassing the acquisition of Cognos Inc. last year. The deal would mark a sharp break from IBM’s recent past. It has been buying software companies and a few service firms in recent years. But it has been selling off hardware operations such as its personal computer (PC) business. IBM gets more than half its revenue from services, and services and software provide the bulk of its profits. Acquiring Sun would make hardware close to one-third of its revenue. IBM has worked hard in recent years to boost its profit margins, and its profits exceed those of the larger HP. But buying Sun, which reported a $209 million loss for the second quarter ended in December, would hurt IBM’s profitability. It would have to slash the combined companies’ cost base sharply to gain a favourable reception for the deal from investors. Acquiring Sun would bolster IBM as it takes on a new rival, Cisco Systems Inc., the networking company, which this week announced that it would start selling a server of its own. On Monday, Cisco CEO John Chambers said the company would continue to work with IBM despite the fact that the firms would be competing head-to-head on servers. A Cisco spokesperson declined to comment on a potential acquisition of Sun by IBM. The deal furthers a recent pattern of consolidation in the tech industry around the services, hardware and software used to run data centres, the big computing rooms that store and process information. HP, over the past few years, has acquired software companies to expand its offerings for managing data centres. And last year the company bought services giant Electronic Data Systems Inc. for at least $13 billion, putting it into direct competition with IBM on IT outsourcing services. Along with companies such as IBM and Cisco, Dell, which specializes in selling low-priced servers, has been expanding its portfolio. It now offers its own data centre software and some services. By making a bid for Sun, IBM may be acknowledging the necessity of competing in hardware, despite its slim profit margins. In recent years, Dell and HP have been pushing server prices down, and servers, like PCs, have increasingly become commodities. The deal would strengthen IBM’s position as the world’s largest server maker. According to research firm IDC, IBM had 31.4% of the market last year; HP was second with 29.5%, and Dell third with 11.6%. Sun ranked fourth, at 10.6%. In recent years, the market for servers has shifted from the huge, custom-built “mainframes” that IBM dominates to vast numbers of standardized computers. By pushing standardized servers, HP has made inroads on IBM. In the meantime, Sun has suffered, as its strategy of using its own operating system on standardized software has failed to propel new growth. The deal could face regulatory hurdles. IBM and Sun make many overlapping products, and the two have dominant market shares in servers that run the Unix operating system. The two companies also have overlapping products in areas that include software and tape storage systems. President Barack Obama’s choice to be the next antitrust chief at the department of justice, Christine Varney, has said she would take a different approach than the previous administration, which was widely viewed as more open to such mergers. Don Clark and Ben Worthen contributed to this story. wsj@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 6:35 pm Deutsche Bank appoints Jain, Cohrs to boardFrankfurt: Deutsche Bank AG appointed four executives to its management board, including investment banking co-heads Anshu Jain and Michael Cohrs, broadening the field of potential successors to chief executive officer Josef Ackermann. The Frankfurt-based bank’s supervisory board also voted to promote Rainer Neske, the head of private and business clients, and regional management chief Juergen Fitschen to the management board, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The appointments take effect on 1 April. Germany’s largest bank will probably appoint a successor for Ackermann, 61, from the enlarged board, two people with knowledge of the matter said on 13 March. Ackermann is scheduled to step down at the annual general meeting in May 2010. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Mar 2009 | 4:15 pm
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