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NREGS\' 3rd anniversary marks a changeMonday, February 2, was the third anniversary of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Interestingly among those felicitated was the collector of Sivaganga, which is Home Minster P Chidambarams constituency.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 2:00 pm Satyam to shortlist bidders soonThe Satyam board meet is underway in Mumbai. This comes after LT, Tech Mahindra and the Spice group filed expressions of interest (EOI) and iGate pulled out of the race on Friday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 1:58 pm Satyam board meets in Mumbai, evaluates suitorsSatyam's Government-appointed Satyam board to evaluate the EoIs from suitors to acquire a majority stake in the IT major as also to take stock of the company's performance.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 1:02 pm Satyam board meets in Mumbai, evaluates suitors - Press Trust of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:58 pm Global economy to shrink in 2009 - World BankBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The global economy is set to shrink by one to two percent this year, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday, saying the depth of the slowdown was unprecedented since the 1930s Great Depression.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:42 pm M\'shtra govt to bail out Ratnagiri Power Project?The Rs 7,000 crore, which large banks have lent to the Ratnagiri Power Project, has to be restructured by March 31 or there is a risk of the loan having to be booked as a nonperforming loan. However, if the Maharashtra government agrees to buy Ratnagiri\'s power at a 50% higher price, the restructuring will be through and it most likely, it will.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:36 pm CBI takes Rajus into custody - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:30 pm Essar Steel sets up Rs 75 crore steel processing facilityThe facility, which would offer customised steel products was inaugurated by Bank of India chairman and managing director TS Narayanasami.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:27 pm Auditors project deeper deficits !Prez Obama`s budget would produce USD 9.3 trillion in deficits in next decade, Cong auditors said.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm Venezuela suspends sale of Stanford Bank!Venezuela`s Finance Ministry has suspended sale of a local bank controlled by Texas financier Stanford, saying the only bidder`s offer was too low.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm 2 corporate credit unions taken over by US govt!Federal regulators seize control of two large institutions that provide wholesale financing for US credit unions.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm US stocks slide as investors pull back !US stocks seesawed through most of Friday, with markets closing at their lowest in two weeks after analysts slashed earnings estimates for GE.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm US toxic asset plan near completion: Sources!Treasury Secy Geithner could announce as soon as Monday his much-anticipated plan to get toxic assets off the books of the country`s struggling banks.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm Citigroup CEO protests efforts to tax bonuses!Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit pushes back against US efforts to tax bonuses at financial companies that received federal bailout funds.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm Republicans impede taxing AIG bonuses!Republicans drew a flap that made Obama admin squirm, by impeding Democratic attempts to tax most bonuses.Source: Zee News : Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:04 pm Govt to boost \'next hot tourist spot\' Emerald IslesThe Andaman and Nicobar islands are on the fast track to emerge as the next hot travel destination. Emerald islands, the Indian union territory plays host to 150,000 Indians a year and there will soon be space for more! The government has embarked on an ambitious project to develop sites in four islands under the Public Private Partnership model.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 11:44 am Fund crunch hits Indian startups as investors get waryA slowdown in the economy is typically the best time for entrepreneurs to start a business. The slowdown in 2001 for example saw the birth of many a startup in India. But this time around, the present picture doesnt seem too rosy in India for some others though.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 11:34 am Edible oil firm introduces new brands, targets hotels and rural marketsThe Rs.60-billion (Rs.6,000 crore) branded edible oil company Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL) is expanding its production and distribution lines and targeting hotels and rural markets, said a top company official.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Mar 2009 | 11:30 am Wipro Infotech banks on India, MiddleEast to up biz growthIT companies are finding that business from the US and Europe are falling due to the slowdown, but Wipro Infotech believes increased business from its Indian clients will help compensate for the slowing business.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 11:00 am BSNL launches PRBT services on landline phones - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 10:35 am Financial crisis can lead to modest lifestylesLONDON (Reuters) - The financial crisis is a timely warning of much greater risks the planet faces from excessive focus on profit and growth, veteran British environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 10:35 am Obama sticks to budget but sees room for compromiseWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Saturday to stick to the big-ticket items in his budget proposal but acknowledged that dollar amounts would "undoubtedly change" as Congress prepared to take up his record spending plan.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 10:25 am US announces additional measures for hiring of H-1B workersObama administration has announced additional measures for hiring foreign specialists under the H-1B visa work programme.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 10:13 am BSNL launches PRBT services on landline phonesHyderabad: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched the Personalised Ring Back Tone (PRBT) services on landline telephones for customers in Hyderabad. “This facility is likely to be extended to about 2.65 lakh customers in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on a fixed monthly subscription of Rs25,” T.N. Sudhindra Kumar, chief general manager, BSNL said. Kumar said that BSNL plans to spent Rs500 crores this year for providing more and more mobile phone services in the society and various number of Cellular Base Stations (Mobile Towers) are being constucted at many locations to improve the quality of service. Referring to reports that mobile signals radiated by the cell towers affect the health of general public, he said: “There has no authentic report so far.” “The Radio ferquency emissions from mobile phones and base stations are some 50,000 times lower than the levels at which the first health affects begin to be established. The mobile hand set radiates only 02 to 0.6 watts of power, which is lower than the power radiated by Microwave, Radio transmitter and TV transmitter,” Kumar said. “The International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has fixed radiation standards based on several decades extensive RF Research results across the world, which has been endorsed by World Health Oranization (WHO). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 10:09 am Sony targetting 20% growth in 2009 fiscalKochi: “Sony India, consumer electronics major, is targetting a 20% growth in Digital Still Camera market in the 2009 fiscal,” Sunil Nayyar, general manager sales, Sony India, said. “The company had sold one million units in 2008 fiscal and was hoping to touch 1.2 million in the 2009 fiscal, a 20% growth,” he told reporters here. “Recession made no impact in its growth and it had in fact helped in its growth,” he said, unveiling a range of new cameras. “Sony expects to sell 5,00,000 camera units this fiscal, against the 3,70,000 units sold in 2008,” he said. In Kerala, Sony hopes to increase its market share to 47% from the present 42%. The company has expanded its cyber shot collection to include 11 new additions to its T, W, H and S series camera range. Available in four colours, the slim cameras are 13.9mm thick and futuristic in design. Takahiro Hirata, divisional head digital imaging, said that they were expecting a similar growth in the handycam sector and hope to sell about 2,00,000 units in 2009 fiscal. Sony currently enjoys 80% market share in this category. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 9:54 am ECGC sees 5% jump in export credit policiesJaipur: State-run Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has reported around 5% jump in the number of policies, even as the country’s exports have slid considerably due to the global meltdown. “We have recorded 13,081 policies as on 28 February, 2009, this fiscal as against 12,533 policies in the last fiscal across the country. This shows exporters’ growing trust on us. It is significant for us as this rise is against an acute dip in exports,” ECGC Jaipur branch Manager P.D.M. Rao said here. Export credit policy covers risk arising from political and commercial environment and exporters buy credit covers to safeguard their payments against the default of buyers on account of the risk existing in the countries they are exporting to. The corporation has also witnessed a sharp rise in the payment of claims. “So far this fiscal, we have cleared claims worth Rs202 crore in 578 cases, which is 80% more than the last fiscal when the corporation had paid Rs112.07 crore in 649 cases in the country,” he said. India’s total exports have entered the negative territory since October last year, with the biggest fall of 16% witnessed in January forcing the government to revise its $200 billion target. For the April-January period, shipments stood at $144.26 billion. In line with providing cover to exporters, the corporation has recently paid a claim of Rs53.83 crore, the highest in the history of ECGC to a textile exporter — Devgiri Exports — in Jaipur. This was against payments for a shipment worth Rs65 crore that was sent to a US-based company, which went bankrupt. “We have sold 338 policies in Rajasthan as against 282 policies in the last fiscal. Our premium business has also increased by 13.45% to Rs8.57 crore from Rs7.55 crore in the last fiscal in the state. The global meltdown has made exporters aware about the value of insurance,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 9:43 am The interest rate gambitThe latest reduction in interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not at all surprising. The government said on Friday that the economy is now growing at its slowest rate in six years. The news from other parts of the world is even more gloomy. The economy needs another push. The government is not in a position to do the job, for two reasons. One, the fiscal deficit is already so high that bond markets have been spooked and the private sector is being starved of money. Two, the code of conduct that prevents a government from taking any major policy decisions in the election season is in force. That means RBI will have to shoulder most of the burden over the next few months, till a new government is in place in June. The central bank will now have to use its firepower judiciously. The repo and reverse repo rates, through which RBI pours in and sucks out funds from the short-term money market, are at their lowest since 2000. There is now less space for dramatic rate cuts, in case the economy worsens in the months ahead. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 9:24 am Avoiding polling dates is not enough for IPL: ChidambaramNew Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has avoided matches on poll days in its revised schedule but it may not be enough to get them the security clearance with home minister P. Chidambaram saying there could still be ‘problems’ during the event. Chidambaram said that the IPL organisers will also have to take into account the election dates of not only the states where matches are bing held but also the neighbouring ones. “It is not security only in that state. You see, if election is taking place in a neighboring state or just across the state border. If we have an IPL match in the state, there could be problems,” Chidambaram said. Chidambaram said that it could take a few days to end the uncertainty over holding of the IPL matches as he was still awaiting the states’ response to the league’s schedule, which has been revised for the third time. “It depends upon when states respond. It could take a few days,” the minister said in an interview to a news channel. He said that the organisers were in touch with his office. “What is presented to me is the result of discussions. The last time it was brought to my notice we issued a statement saying this schedule is not acceptable and they have to go back to the drawing board. They have come back with another schedule but the states have not come back with their response,” he pointed out. Maintaining that elections were ‘unquestionably’ the first priority, the Minister said that he would not spare any central para-military forces. On whether the IPL should be simply called off if the dates failed to work out, Chidambaram said: “I think the organisers are responsible people. I think they are patriotic Indians. I think they will take a call.” “The security for the IPL must be provided by the state governments,” Chidambaram said, reiterating that his obligation was to provide intelligence. “I have made it clear that I cannot exempt any state government from giving to the Election Commission forces which they promised,” he said. On whether the IPL should be simply called off if the dates failed to work out, Chidambaram said: “I think the organisers are responsible people. I think they are patriotic Indians. I think they will take a call.” Chidambaram maintained that India remained a safe place to conduct sporting events but security can not be guaranteed for the period of elections. “Every cricket player will be safe, every cricket match will be conducted safely. The point is because the two scheduled (elections and IPL) virtually overlap, it is difficult to give that assurance only for this time period of about 45 days. “Before and after, there is no doubt in my mind that the state and central governments can provide foolproof security to cricket matches or football matches or anything else,” Chidambaram said. While Maharashtra and Karnataka are understood to have given their clearance, Andhra Pradesh has also given its nod barring one match. The home ministry has sent on Tuesday the revised schedule to the eight states which are hosting the tournament beginning 10 April. The new schedule was prepared taking into account the reservations and security constraints of the states hosting the matches and a decision on the fate of the second edition of the IPL will be taken soon after the home ministry received feedback from the concerned state governments. The schedule was revised for third time after the home ministry told the organisers that cosmetic changes in the fixture was not acceptable and they would have to finalise the dates in consultation with the state governments. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 9:20 am China clears Johnson & Johnson baby products after probeBEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese health authorities said on Saturday that they had found no evidence of cancer-causing chemicals in baby products made by U.S. company Johnson & Johnson.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 9:05 am TRAI tightens service quality norms; check on call dropThe Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has laid down more stringent standards of Quality of Service of Basic Telephone Service and Cellular Mobile Telephone.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:51 am Ashok Leyland\'s costcutting initiatives yield Rs 1.67 crThe slowdown is creating opportunity for companies and employees to do things differently, especially when it comes to costcutting.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:47 am CBI takes Rajus, Vadlamani into custody for another two daysThe XIV additional chief metropolitan magistrate on Friday granted permission to the CBI to take custody of the trio for two more days from Saturday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:45 am Jaguar Land Rover begins cutting management jobsTata Motors UKbased subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has initiated a voluntary redundancy programme to cut jobs of 600 of its own salaried employees over the next few months, including 300 from the management grade. This is over and above the reduction of 850 jobs late last year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:43 am Sensex up by 2.40% during the week - Indian Express
Source: Google News India - Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:41 am Indian equities end higher on positive global cuesDespite some range-bound trading in a few sessions, Indian equities ended higher during the week ended Friday on positive cues from global markets, which especially saw most of the Asian bourses logging some handsome gains.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:31 am CBI takes Raju brothers, Vadlamani into custody for another two daysHyderabad: Satyam Computer founder B. Ramalinga Raju, his brother and former managing director Rama Raju and ex-CFO Vadlamani Srinivas were taken into custody by the CBI today to interrogate them further in the Rs7,800- crore fraud case. The XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate yesterday granted permission to the CBI to take custody of the trio for two more days from today. The CBI had sought the custody stating that the agency wanted to further question the accused following some new disclosures during their seven-day custodial interrogation from 10-17 March 2009. A seven-member CBI team, who were members of Multi-Disciplinary Investigation Team (MDIT) set up specially to investigate the fraud, arrived at Chanchalguda jail here at about 9.45am and took the trio into their custody as per the court orders. In its orders, the designated court also restricted the presence of the counsels of the accused for two hours only. The court said that the counsels of the accused should be allowed to be present from 10-11am and again from 3pm to 4pm. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:19 am Hope, perseverance and ambition drives deaf-mute designerSingled out and discriminated against for being deaf and mute, Nidhi Prakash Kaul learnt early in life that hard work and perseverance was what was required to prove everyone wrong. Kaul is today an accessory designer, with watch brands like Fastrack and Timex in his kitty.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Mar 2009 | 8:00 am Citigroup CEO protests efforts to tax bonusesNew York: Citigroup Inc’s CEO Vikram Pandit has pushed back against efforts in Washington to tax bonuses at financial companies that received federal bailout funds, saying it could result in the loss of valuable employees right when they’re most needed. Pandit, in a memo to employees said: “Citigroup has already removed the executives responsible for Citi’s troubles, and that any effort to spread blame to each and every employee in the financial industry is unwarranted.” Pandit’s remarks came as lawmakers tried to impose punitive taxes on bonuses at financial institutions following outrage over millions paid to employees at the failed insurance company American International Group Inc (AIG), which has received $182 billion in federal aid. “Efforts to stabilise the financial system would be significantly set back if we lose our talented people because Congress imposes a special tax,” Pandit said, adding that many people will likely find it difficult, if not impossible, to pay back the bonuses. Pandit said that the company is working with lawmakers to come to an agreement on a constructive industry compensation system and to ensure his employees are paid fairly. Citigroup itself has received three lifelines from the government as it struggles under the weight of bad mortgage-related investments. Last month, the Treasury Department pledged to take up to a 36% stake in the beleaguered bank. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 7:46 am Citigroup CEO protests efforts to tax bonusesNew York: Citigroup Inc’s CEO Vikram Pandit has pushed back against efforts in Washington to tax bonuses at financial companies that received federal bailout funds, saying it could result in the loss of valuable employees right when they’re most needed. Pandit, in a memo to employees said: “Citigroup has already removed the executives responsible for Citi’s troubles, and that any effort to spread blame to each and every employee in the financial industry is unwarranted.” Pandit’s remarks came as lawmakers tried to impose punitive taxes on bonuses at financial institutions following outrage over millions paid to employees at the failed insurance company American International Group Inc (AIG), which has received $182 billion in federal aid. “Efforts to stabilise the financial system would be significantly set back if we lose our talented people because Congress imposes a special tax,” Pandit said, adding that many people will likely find it difficult, if not impossible, to pay back the bonuses. Pandit said that the company is working with lawmakers to come to an agreement on a constructive industry compensation system and to ensure his employees are paid fairly. Citigroup itself has received three lifelines from the government as it struggles under the weight of bad mortgage-related investments. Last month, the Treasury Department pledged to take up to a 36% stake in the beleaguered bank. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 21 Mar 2009 | 7:46 am Audience fights for seats at Manish Arora's 'Jungle' showIt was not the grand finale of the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), yet the audience was fighting and getting into arguments over the seating arrangements for flamboyant designer Manish Arora's show on the 'Jungle' theme.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Mar 2009 | 7:01 am Weekly wrap: Sensex gains 210 pts - Sify
Source: Google News India - Business | 21 Mar 2009 | 6:50 am Vodafone to spin off Indian mobile masts - reportMUMBAI (Reuters) - The Indian business of mobile phone group Vodafone plans to put its mobile phone towers and infrastructure along with the stake in a tower firm into a separate firm, the Economic Times said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 6:47 am L&T stays in race for Satyam Computer - reportsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Engineer Larsen & Toubro Ltd has submitted a detailed expression of interest to buy fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services, newspapers reported on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 6:25 am Diversification key to survival in fashion world: Raghavendra RathoreForget the recession. Even in good times the key to survival in the fashion world lies in designers diversifying, says veteran stylist Raghavendra Rathore, who himself has spread his wings to areas like jewellery and software and has also tied up with a leading fabric manufacturer.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Mar 2009 | 4:35 am IBM, Sun talks seen continuing to next week - sourcesNEW YORK (Reuters) - IBM is still in talks to buy Sun Microsystems Inc and discussions could take several more days as IBM studies various parts of Sun's computer server and software businesses, according to people with knowledge of the matter.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Mar 2009 | 1:33 am New tax rule to usher in clarity on TDS creditNew Delhi, March 20 Tax deducted at source (TDS) credit can now be availed by persons other than the deductees. This has been clearly articulated by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in a new rule on TDS credit availment.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Jaguar Land Rover begins cutting management jobsPune, March 20 Tata Motors’ UK-based subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has initiated a voluntary redundancy programme to cut jobs of 600 of its own salaried employees over the next few months, including 300 from the management grade. ThisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Essence of an ex-French colony in a Dior bottleIn the rarefied world of luxury perfumes, the Indian influence has historically been heavy like the jasmine top note in a floral ‘pour femme’.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Fixed maturity plans: Fund managers hope to retain part of money redeemedMumbai, March 20 With 195 fixed maturity plans totalling over Rs 16,000 crore headed for maturity by April end, fund managers are hoping that some of the money will be reinvested in ultra short-term funds and liquid funds.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am The danger of rising economic nationalismAs economies all over the world are going deeper into recession (or at least significant slowdown, as in China and India), economic nationalism is rearing its head everywhere. The hardest hit have been some of the economies that rely moreSource: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Lower offtake hinders CIL’s production plansInadequate offtake during the peak production months of February and March may have spoiled Coal India Ltd’s production plan during thisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Gold ETFs’ collections decline, net asset value surgesMumbai, March 20 Collections for the five listed gold Exchange Traded Funds have dipped in February over the previous month, though their assets under management (AUM) increased as net asset values rose, as they tracked the sharp rise in the spotSource: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am TRAI tightens service quality norms; check on call dropsNew Delhi, March 20 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has laid down more stringent standards of Quality of Service of Basic Telephone Service and Cellular MobileSource: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Logica eyes power sectorBangalore, March 20 The UK-headquartered IT and business services company Logica is eyeing a share in the Indian power sector pie after the Government announced big-ticket IT investments to moderniseSource: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am L&T, Spice Corp, Tech Mahindra in race for SatyamHyderabad, March 20 As the deadline for filing Expression of Interests ended on Friday, the six-member board of Satyam met here to discuss the EoIs and bidding process.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 21 Mar 2009 | 12:00 am Now, exotic derivatives in the works - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 20 Mar 2009 | 11:36 pm Akruti price, volumes crash - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 20 Mar 2009 | 10:34 pm Coal import target for power raised to 35 million tonnes for 08-09 - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 20 Mar 2009 | 10:29 pm Rs 1 lakh poser: Who rides first few Nanos? - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 20 Mar 2009 | 10:03 pm Maytas Infra faces new challenge: To hold on to employeesThe two new independent directors at Maytas have their agenda cut out apart from ensuring that Maytas retains all infrastructure projects they have a huge challenge of managing employee exodus and salaries.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:41 pm ‘Lending for infra projects should be at 7-8 pc’ - Indian Express
Source: Google News India - Business | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:18 pm Adani Wilmar plans Rs 600 cr capexAs part of this blueprint, the company is looking to acquire refining and crushing assets, especially in south India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:10 pm LG to exit 32-inch plasma TVsLG Electronics India, a consumer durables maker, said it will exit the 32-inch plasma TV segment in India and focus on selling larger-sized sets.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:07 pm VCs lose appetite for risk as slowdown bitesSeek serial entrepreneurs with good track records, sound management teams for assured returns.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:07 pm Net gains offset landline losses for MTNL, BSNLArpu from broadband around the same as for land connections at PSU telcos.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:06 pm Tata Tea forays into cold drinksTata Tea is foraying into the Rs 10,000-crore non-carbonated cold drinks market with the launch of T!ON, which is aimed at youngsters.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:06 pm CavinKare eyes 4% of skincare marketThe company launched Fairever Fruit, a new variant of its Fairever fairness cream, in the national market on Friday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 9:05 pm Parallel universeNew releases Firaaq and Barah Aana have more in common than just the actor Naseeruddin Shah. Both films invite us to reflect on the Indian Dream. Not the dream of Mukesh Ambani to govern every aspect of our lives through Reliance products or the vision of Ratan Tata to flood our roads with cheap cars. Remember the older, loftier one of building a nation in which citizens are equal and safe from violence? That one. Firaaq, directed by Nandita Das, unfolds in a city that resembles Ahmedabad. It explores the aftermath of a communal riot through several characters, including an orphaned Muslim boy and a guilt-ridden housewife. The worst hit in this riot, as in most communal conflagrations that have the overt or covert backing of the police force and the local government, are Muslims. The reference is, of course, to Gujarat, the state that has managed to wash away the stains of the 2002 riots and repackage itself as the country’s best governed state.  Art house gem: Naseeruddin Shah (centre) in Barah Aana Although both films hold a mirror to the world we live in, they remind me at least of the art house cinema movement between the 1960s and 1980s. One of the hallmarks of Indian art house cinema, which was also known as the Indian New Wave or the parallel movement, was its grimness. Several art house titles, including Shyam Benegal’s Ankur, Gautam Ghosh’s Paar, Ketan Mehta’s Holi and Saeed Mirza’s Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro, unsmilingly revealed the blemishes of the secular and socialist republic of India. They forced us to look certain ugly truths about India in the face. There were almost certainly no song-and-dance sequences or detours to Switzerland to lift the mood. Parallel films often reacted to the issues of the day, sometimes in a literal and direct manner that undermined a movie’s efficacy. Several art house films were indulgent and misfired rants against discrimination and exploitation—summed up in the crude but succinct coinage “arty-farty pictures”. Often poorly funded (by the government-run National Film Development Corporation) and even more poorly distributed, the movement seemed destined to fail. Yet, these movies took us to places we’d never been before, whether it was rural India or the recesses of the Indian conscience. For all its flaws, parallel cinema was easier to identify than multiplex cinema, which is indiscriminating in its embrace of stories, film-making forms and production techniques. By encouraging small-budget movies that explore offbeat themes and feature non-marquee names, the multiplex has drastically changed the dynamics of film-making. Yet the fact that the multiplex is a largely urban phenomenon means that small-budget films mostly reflect urban concerns. Multiplex movies don’t often travel outside Mumbai or Delhi, secure in the knowledge that the multiplex-goer has paid far too much money to be reminded of the economic despair that lies outside the city’s borders. Experienced art house director Shyam Benegal’s most recent release, the ribald comedy Welcome to Sajjanpur, was set in a neat and tidy village that clearly smacked of a studio set—a departure for somebody known for using rural and small-town locations. Benegal acknowledged the artifice by introducing a plot twist that questioned the honesty of his “village tale”. The urban backdrops of Firaaq and Barah Aana reveal the shortcomings of the secular and socialist republic of India. Nandita Das’ acting career sprang out of the dying embers of art house passions. She imports from parallel cinema its naturalism, preference for realistic locations and situations, and the desire to make a meaningful statement. Yet Firaaq is open-ended enough to signal its unease with convenient solutions. Barah Aana is more in the spirit of an American indie, but it works hard on rooting its characters in a milieu that’s very local and easily identifiable. It’s fitting that both films have Shah, who is one of the great veterans of parallel cinema and who, in his roles as the self-absorbed Khan in Firaaq and the taciturn Shukla in Barah Aana, is perfectly poised to be a nightmare catcher for today’s fraught times. Nandini Ramnath is film editor, Time Out Mumbai (www.timeoutmumbai.net).Barah Aana and Firaaq released in theatres on Friday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 7:00 pm An ode to troubled timesI read Burnt Shadows over a day and a bit, which is perhaps the only reason why a story stretching over half a century, traversing several continents, interlocking lives unexpectedly and peppered with momentous historical events kept me involved. It seems that a sense of race, religion, nationality, politics and geography played the all-important role in the conceptualization of the plot, with the atom bomb on Nagasaki, Partition, the invasion of Afghanistan, the Mujahideen training camps, India’s nuclear tests and 9/11 giving it a finite timeline. It is Shamsie’s attempt to write a book about our complicated times.  War-torn: Part of Shamsie’s book is set in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Bloomberg The characters, however, become the casualty of the book, tiny as they are against the tragic backdrop of the events that shape their lives and the ambitious task undertaken by the author. The protagonist, and the one thread of continuity through the novel, is a Japanese woman Hiroko Tanaka, whom we watch growing from a young schoolteacher in love with the dashing German Konrad Weiss on the eve of the Nagasaki bombing to an old lady, Mrs Ashraf, sharing a flat in Manhattan with her old German friend’s granddaughter Kim, sometime in 2002. The narrative gambols through Tokyo in the 1940s, to Delhi on the eve of Partition, where Hiroko travels to seek out her dead fiance’s sister Elizabeth Burton, carrying the physical scars of the bombing and a survivor’s guilt. A series of events in New Delhi, where Hiroko lives with the Burtons in their colonial home, learning Urdu from the young and attractive young Muslim servant Sajjad Ashraf, brings the two together as unlikely lovers who overcome all hierarchies and social norms in an uncertain world and get married impulsively, and in an equally coincidental way are transported to Istanbul to ride out the Partition. At this point, you hope for some good serious storytelling and exploration of relationships, when you are fast-forwarded as it were to Karachi, which is where Mr and Mrs Ashraf live, bringing up their only son Raza Ashraf in the early 1980s, not having been allowed to come back to Delhi after Partition.  The 17-year-old Raza is dealing with his own fractured sense of identity, enlisting for a short-lived stint in a Mujahideen camp pretending to be a Hazara boy, to justify his half-Japanese appearance. Curiously enough, the Burtons’ son resurfaces in Pakistan as an American embassy official/CIA agent. This is when the pace steps up as the action shifts from Karachi to New York, with Hiroko living in with her now-divorced friend and ex-Mrs Burton, Ilse Weiss, and Raza Ashraf moving from Dubai, Miami and Afghanistan in a series of events that pull mother and son further apart. The giddying sequence of events towards the end of the book has a sense of urgency to it and the narrative ends with a touch of good and bad. Having read all of Shamsie’s previous novels with both an Indian curiosity about a strong creative voice out of Pakistan and as an observer of young writing out of South Asia, I was somewhat disappointed with this novel. Almost in a personal vein, I wanted to love it as I had her previous books; I wanted to be involved in the lives of the characters, but I never went from being an outside observer to an insider from the prologue to the afterword. While the storytelling and craft is intact and the novel does have some beautiful Shamsie-esque moments that draw you in, these are short-lived and exist in isolation rather than as integral building blocks in the plot. The simple evocative nature of her prose, the clarity of vision and the tenderness with which some of the episodes are rendered is remarkable. But that’s just not enough to do justice to the epic sweep of the storyline and the author’s powerful imagination. Payal Kohli is editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure, South Asia, and Better Homes and Gardens. Write to lounge@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 7:00 pm Video nights in PusegaonThe Sony World Photography Awards Cannes 2009, were announced on 17 March and Mumbai-based photographer Amit Madheshiya won first place in the Arts and Entertainment category for professionals. Madheshiya’s images of travelling cinemas depict a film-crazy world sans the glitz and glamour of multiplexes. Also See Graphic Click here to watch video The photographs, titled ‘Travelling tent cinemas of India’, chronicle the journey of mobile film theatres in rural Maharashtra that accompany religious yatras from village to village. The yatras are processions of Hindu and Sufi religious figures and thousands of villagers assemble to catch a glimpse of the deity. Afterwards they often troop into one of sometimes a dozen mobile film tents unpacked from the backs of trucks. Madheshiya, whose project is supported by a fellowship from the India Foundation for the Arts, continues to follow and record the travels of these tent cinemas all over Maharashtra. We spoke to the photographer, who is currently at Sailani village, 600km from Mumbai, and asked him to comment on six of his award-winning pictures, all shot at Pusegaon village in Satara district. Edited excerpts: Text by Sidin Vadukut Photographs ©Amit Madheshiya, courtesy Sony World Photography Awards Cannes 2009 Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 7:00 pm Neglected teen? make a special effortWe lost our 12-year-old son to a long illness this year. In the meantime, our elder son, who is now 15, has become a problem. He was a happy child but he got neglected. Now he has withdrawn from us, stays in his room and is often rude. We took him to a counsellor, who tried to help him deal with his grief as well as anger. But he just fobbed her off saying, ‘I’m okay’, that all those things were in the past and he has no problems. How do we draw him out and back to us and his old self? We are worried he may fall prey to drugs or alcohol. Please help.  Outsider: Pay attention to your teenage child in times of family crises. Your family has been through a harrowing time. It often happens that when a family has a sick child, the one who is alright gets sidelined, as the parents have only that much energy to deal with the situation. This is also true in the case of homes where there is a child with special needs—whether ill, disabled in some way or one who has serious behavioural issues. All eyes and energies are on the child who has the problem, and the other child ends up simply growing up on his or her own during this period. His/her normal, healthy and undemanding presence gets taken for granted. Ideally, in a situation of this kind, either one of the parents or a close family friend or relative should consciously “stick to” this child and try to ensure that he or she has some normal interactions. What happens with a child who gets neglected in the process of a family emergency or chronic problem is this: At first there is the numbness of dealing with a sibling who is ailing or seriously troubled. Then there is his need for the parents, but the child tells himself that he should be “good” and not bother his parents during the crisis. However, there is also a build-up of resentment and anger at being neglected. Close on its heels is guilt and self-criticism for having these feelings. All of this becomes a bad mix of unresolved emotions and unfulfilled needs which the child cannot act upon. The child finds ways to disconnect so that he doesn’t feel so hurt, neglected and angry. The parents may find that this child begins to behave cool towards, and detached from, the ill/troubled sibling too. This emotional cut-off helps the child deal with the pressure. You need to find a counsellor or therapist who will get to your son’s core in an empathetic and non-threatening way. Perhaps you too should have some sessions with this person. You could also approach your son and tell him that you have lost out on being with him and being there for him. If you find it awkward to be direct with him at this juncture, find ways to indirectly communicate this. Pull out pictures from his childhood; repeat funny or endearing stories from his earlier years; plan a vacation or even some regular home activities together. Meanwhile, the counsellor can work on helping him connect with his grief and anger, and finding his way back to you. Gouri Dange is the author of The ABCs of Parenting. Send Gouri your queries at learningcurve@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 7:00 pm Japanese premium cars on a collision course with Europe and KoreaJapanese, European and Korean car makers have a new battleground for their super-premium cars: India.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 20 Mar 2009 | 6:46 pm Maharashtra agrees to guarantee Dabhol loanThe Maharashtra government has offered some respite for the troubled Dabhol Power Project by agreeing to provide a guarantee for a Rs 300 crore loan that owner Ratnagiri Gas and Power Project Ltd (RGPPL) is seeking from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC).Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 20 Mar 2009 | 6:45 pm Govt calls for bank, industry meetTo discuss ways of increasing lending to optimise stimulus package impact.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 20 Mar 2009 | 6:38 pm BJP versus Sri Ram SeneIt is good to see that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not pulling any punches when it comes to the Sri Ram Sene, the group that shot to national prominence when it beat up young pub-going girls in Mangalore, all in the name of protecting tradition. The group has now shifted attention to an area a little north of Mangalore—the tourist haven of Goa, which also happens to have communal harmony between Hindus and Christians. Manohar Parrikar, leader of the BJP in Goa, was blunt: “Sri Ram Sene is a bunch of crooks and criminals, and should not be allowed in Goa. We don’t want such people to come to Goa and disturb our secular fabric,” he told local reporters. Earlier, L.K. Advani said in an interview with Outlook magazine that he was “genuinely revolted by what happened (in Mangalore)”. There is no shortage of loonies who misuse religion to impose their notion of what constitutes decent behaviour. This is true of fringe groups from all religions. National parties should have nothing to do with them. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 6:30 pm Govt to seek EC nod for stimulus planJangipur (West Bengal): The government plans to go ahead with its proposed so-called stimulus package for bus and truck makers, despite the general election that starts next month and stays its hand in terms of the ability to implement major initiatives such as this one. To get around this, the government will seek the permission of the Election Commission (EC) to launch a scheme that will allow states to buy around 5,000 buses funded by the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), according to interim finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.  Roadshow: The external affairs and finance minister campaigning in the Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency of West Bengal on Friday. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint “We will seek the EC’s permission so that the package could be executed. We cannot announce it, but we have already made allocations to different states. For example, we have allotted some 1,300 buses to West Bengal. So orders can be placed, and procurement can begin,” Mukherjee said in an interview. Mukherjee, 73, who is also India’s foreign minister and the government’s preferred trouble shooter, also spoke about the efforts to manage the economy and tackle the growing threat of terrorism. Edited excerpts: How do you rate your government’s performance in containing inflation and, now, in coping with the economic downturn? The economy is growing steadily. Because of the financial crisis, there will be some impact. When we started our government, India used to buy crude petroleum at $37 (Rs1,854 today) a barrel, and in August 2008, it reached as high as $147 a barrel. So, it must get reflected in the rise of the prices of commodities. During the six year-tenure of NDA (the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government that was in power between 1999 and 2004, and which was succeeded by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of which Mukherjee is a part), the minimum support price of wheat and paddy increased over a period of six years by Rs60-70—at an average rate of Rs10 a year. During the five years of UPA (government’s rule), we have increased the minimum support price of wheat by Rs450 per quintal, and for paddy, (by) Rs350 per quintal. You may say ‘Why have you increased it?’ We have increased it to ensure food security. That is why, when there was a major food crisis all over the world, India did not feel the pinch. But again, for a short while, say for a year, prices went high. And now it has started to come down. As far as terrorism is concerned, I don’t subscribe to the view that the govt failed. Yes, the government has taken the appropriate action—(it has announced) three fiscal packages and a monetary package (has) been announced by the Reserve Bank (of India). Reserve Bank has created enough liquidity in the system. Banks can lend money, but there should be takers. But takers are a little shy… The two stimulus packages that Prime Minister announced, and the third one, which I announced in my interim budget, will have an impact. In between, election came… so, to some extent, there will be some delays. The UPA has been criticized for being soft on terrorism. As far as terrorism is concerned, I don’t subscribe to the view that the government failed. Terrorism is a global problem. It cannot be switched off (and) switched on. Simply the presence of strong law does not prevent terrorism. Tada (a previous anti-terrorism law that was repealed because it was repressive) was there. It did not prevent the attack on Parliament (in 2001). It did not prevent the attack on Srinagar Assembly (in 2001). Therefore, the short point is that (tackling) terrorism requires patience. It is a global phenomenon, and India has become the worst victim. We told Pakistan (where some of the terrorist groups that have carried out attacks in India, such as the ones in Mumbai in November, are based) what we expect of them. It is not a question of India and Pakistan—there is no tension as such (between the two countries), but we want Pakistan to respect its own commitment that territories under its control will not be allowed to be used by terrorists. That logically means that the infrastructure available there, which is being used by terrorists, should be dismantled. Perpetrators of terror attacks must be brought to justice. The fugitives must be handed over to India. On the political front, you seem to be having problems keeping your allies together. In West Bengal, where you have joined hands with the Trinamool Congress, aren’t there dissident voices from within your own party? Frankly speaking, this is nothing new in politics of coalition. Every political party has to face it. Until the other day, BJD (Biju Janata Dal, a regional party based in Orissa) was with the NDA. TDP (Telugu Desam Party, based in Andhra Pradesh) supported NDA’s government to the hilt till 2004, and Jayalalitha (leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu), …NDA could form government only because of her support. Hers was the last voice that clinched the magic number, but she withdrew support. Still, we are trying to work it out (with allies)… (And) after the election, everything will depend on numbers. You know, political parties always are in talking terms with everybody, and that is the beauty of politics. We are political opponents, not enemies. In Bengal, some of our leaders feel we should have got a better deal, but at the same time we felt it (the alliance with the Trinamool Congress) is necessary because the Left Front has become really unpopular. The mood of the people is they want to have a change. What struck me was that during the panchayat election, Congress workers at the grass-roots level entered into seat adjustments (with the Trinamool Congress) at the panchayat-level, panchayat samiti (committee)-level, and in a few cases, in the zilla parishad-level (all local administration bodies). The performance is reflective... So the conclusion was, there is a groundswell (of support) for this alliance and as a political party we cannot ignore it. I do hope that they (Congress leaders in West Bengal) will recognize the logic. Also, the Trinamool leader’s announcement that in the formation of government at the Centre, she will support secular, progressive, democratic forces is a big achievement. We will project Mamata (Banerjee) as the popular leader (in West Bengal)…we have no problem in doing that. We did it (in) 2001, we will do it again. Do you see differences within the BJP (party leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh have been sparring, for instance) helping the Congress? The Congress always depends on its positive programmes not on the weakness of others. We have ruled this country on our own strength for 45 years (and) we have led a coalition for five years out of 60-plus years of our independence. It is not on somebody’s weakness—it speaks of the strength of the Congress. So the Congress will do much better this time compared with 2004, on its own strength, on its performance. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 6:28 pm Political yatras: get up, close and personalNew Delhi: His BlackBerry helps him stay in constant touch with friends. But to woo votes, Rahul Gandhi prefers a political tool that goes back to the days of Mahatma Gandhi: long marches to the countryside. The Congress party’s lodestar is not the only one who follows a mass contact programme. Be it L.K. Advani, the octogenarian leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who blogs almost every week, Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM’s, controversial Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan or former chairman of Lanco Kondapalli Power Pvt. Ltd L. Rajagopal, a high-profile first-time member of Parliament (MP) in the 14th Lok Sabha; they all believe in the power of the so-called political yatra in mobilizing public opinion. This is despite the rapid growth of the electronic media and live telecast of parliamentary and, in several instances, assembly proceedings, which ensure an unprecedented familiarity with their constituency and also the fact that there is no guarantee that the yatra would yield results. Significantly, many are not even linked to the general election due to begin from 16 April. When Andhra Pradesh chief minister (CM) Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddyembarked on a 100-day yatra across the state in April last year to publicize his government’s achievements, his arch-rival and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naiduannounced his own march immediately. Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K. Chandrasekhar Raoalso followed the other two in a few days. While Vijayan’s February-March Nava Kerala Yatra was aimed at asserting his own d ominance in the faction-ridden state party unit, his arch-rival and Congress’ state president Ramesh Chennithalawanted to consolidate his party’s support base in Kerala ahead of the elections by his Save Kerala March, conducted earlier this month. In Chhattisgarh, CM and BJP leader Raman Singhaddressed 360 public gatherings during his six-day Kisan Utsav march that started on 22 February, to highlight his government’s schemes for farmers. Singh had then distributed Rs440 crore as the first instalment of paddy bonus to about 800,000 farmers, hoping to boost the BJP’s prospects ahead of the polls. His Madhya Pradesh counterpart and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chauhanalso went on a Nyaya Yatra on 21 February to protest against alleged discrimination by the Centre in allocation of coal to the state, and other issues. Although political yatras have always been a part of Indian politics, ever since Mahatama Gandhi popularized the concept, it was revived as a political instrument, first by N.T. Rama Rao, when he launched the TDP in 1982, and later by Advani with his Rath Yatra demanding the construction of a Ram temple on a disputed site in Ayodhya; it helped the BJP consolidate Hindu votes in North India and led to the BJP’s ascent to power at the Centre in 1999 as the biggest party in the National Democratic Alliance. Political leaders, even young and gizmo-friendly politicians admit that the response yatras receive is amazing. “There is no alternative to meeting them in person. If you have been in touch with them during the five years, nothing else matters,” said Jitin Prasada, minister of state for steel and Congress MP. Arguing similarly, Rajagopal, MP from Vijayawada, who has personally visited every household in his constituency twice during the last five years, said, “It is better to have personal contacts. No media can reach the entire constituency.” Some analysts believe that the socio-economic diversity in the country is the reason as to why yatras continue to gain traction. Rama Brahmam, a professor of political science at the University of Hyderabad, said, “This is a tool through which political mobilization takes place. In a country with a large number of illiterates, personal appeal matters a lot when it is towards a cause or for a purpose. These normal political instruments are available and they are significant too.” However, a senior BJP leader added: “Political roadshows will be effective only if the party or the leader has something solid to offer. Rahul Gandhi could not make any inroads despite his numerous roadshows in Uttar Pradesh. Although Advani’s Rath Yatra was a success, he failed to infuse the same spirit during his cross-country rally ahead of 2004 general elections.” It will be interesting to see whether this return to the touchy-feely brand of politics returns the desired political dividends in the coming polls. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 6:28 pm Consumer goods firms face threat from cheaper products Since price cuts hadn’t kept pace with the drop in input costs, a sharp jump in profit was expected this year. But less-established companies in the unorganized sector have begun to play spoilsport. Just like in 2002 and 2003, these firms are taking advantage of the enlarged gap between manufacturing cost and selling price of branded consumer goods. Also See In A Spot (Graphic) Not only do these firms sell at prices that are far lower than branded goods, but the sharp decline in commodity prices is enabling them to offer high trade margins as well. Are consumers taking the bait? Brokerage Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd has come out with an interesting report, based on a visit to some rural areas in Maharashtra. The report states that consumers in these areas have shifted to discount brands of large companies as well as unorganized and regional brands. This process of consumers shifting to cheaper products is known as down-trading, a phenomenon seen widely in 2002 and 2003. Motilal’s consumer goods analysts Amnish Aggarwal and Amit Purohit, who wrote the report, say this could well be the scenario in the rest of country, noting that the growth of large firms has lagged that of the entire consumer goods industry lately. While a large chunk of rural income is tied to agriculture, which hasn’t been hit by the economic downturn, rural consumers have begun exercising caution because of dwindling non-farm income. In the areas visited by Motilal’s analysts, 30% of the workforce are employed in non-farm jobs, which contribute to as much as 50% of each household’s income. Income of these workers, employed in sectors such as construction and jewellery, have taken a huge hit, forcing them to shift to cheaper products. The last time around, big consumer goods companies countered this threat by lowering prices in some cases and improving quality in others, a prime example of the latter being the change in the composition of Lifebuoy soap. Unless they repeat these steps, the slippage in market share can be expected to continue. Already, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s consumer goods index has begun to give up some of the relative gains against the benchmark Sensex index. So far this month, the index has fallen by 6%, while the Sensex has risen by about 1%. Graphics by Paras Jain / Mint Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 5:38 pm 'Defence safe from global recession'In a time of financial meltdown, when all economies are feeling the heat of recession, the Indian defence sector is well guarded and safe from the repercussions of the global slump, a top military officer said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 20 Mar 2009 | 5:33 pm West Bengal budget tries to help people in meltdown: MinisterProviding sops to a cross section of people, West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta Friday presented a Rs.70-million deficit budget in the state assembly for 2009-10.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 20 Mar 2009 | 5:33 pm Tax officials make surprise checks at Punjab Cricket AssociationThe Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has come under the scanner of the Income Tax (IT) department, which conducted a surprise check at its office in Mohali, officials said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 20 Mar 2009 | 5:32 pm ICRA subsidiary acquires US-based IT firm for $1 millionICRA Techno Analytics Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kolkata-based ICRA Techno Analytics Ltd (ICTEAS), has acquired 100 percent stake in US firm Sapphire International Inc with an investment of $1 million (over Rs.50 million) over the next one year.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 20 Mar 2009 | 5:31 pm Hedge fund incubates, grows and exits telecom tower businessMumbai: In perhaps the first instance of a hedge fund—rather than a venture capital firm or a private equity fund—to incubate, own and profitably exit a business in India, the local arm of US-based Q Investments Lp. is selling Xcel Telecom Pvt. Ltd to American Tower Corp.  Unlikely role: Managing director of Q-India Pranav Parikh. Incubation is an unlikely role for a hedge fund, which is popularly seen as trading in high-risk, high-return securities. It is seen more an area of operation for venture capital companies and private equity funds. Q-India Investment Advisors said earlier this week that it agreed to sell Mumbai-based Xcel, a commucations towers company, which it incubated in 2006 and helped it expand to 1,700 towers across the country. Bhavesh A. Shah, executive director of investment banking at JM Financial Consultants Pvt. Ltd, said there are some instances where fledgling businesses have been acquired by a private equity fund with plans to grow them from scratch. “Classic private equity style investing, even for growth investing, has been similar—to create value for the investment perhaps through roll-up strategy for the portfolio company rather than make conflicting investments in the same sector,” he said. An acquisition plan designed to acquire many small firms in a particular industry is known as a roll-up strategy. ‘We don’t mind investing time and effort in such ideas as it allows for a better risk to reward ratio.’ Therefore, while Q-India’s aggregation of telecom towers through Xcel may look like a SPAC, it really isn’t one. “When we entered, there was nothing called the telecom tower industry. We didn’t even know whether the industry would grow,” said Pranav Parikh, managing director of Q-India. “It was in early 2006 that we started to evaluate the tower business in India. At that time, there were no independent players.” That was the time when others companies, such as Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd, which recently merged its tower business with that of Tata Teleservices Ltd, GTL Infrastructure Ltd and Essar Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, were just beginning to plan for telecom infrastructure companies. “At that time, even if I were to invest in any of these companies, at what valuations would I have done it?” asked Parikh. It was only much later in 2007 that the likes of Bharti Airtel Ltd and Reliance Communications Ltd, the country’s top two mobile phone services firms, spun off their telecom towers into separate entities and divested minority stakes in favour of private equity investors. Q-India had also approached Idea Cellular Ltd in 2006 to buy out its towers and lease it out, but Idea had thought it a preposterous idea at the time, said a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In September 2007, however, the Aditya Birla Group-promoted cellular services company hived off its tower business. But having been investors in American telecom tower companies, including American Tower, the Indian arm of Texas-based Q Investments, which has $2 billion under management, took the plunge. It entered into a joint venture with Hyderabad-based telecom tower manufacturer, Icomm Tele Ltd, and by November 2006, invested $3 million in the new company, Xcel. “Our initial task was to hire the right people,” said Parikh. A chance meeting with Sandip Basu, former chief executive officer of BPL Mobile Communications Ltd (now Loop Mobile India Ltd), got Parikh the man for the top job. In the next two years, the team was built and $40 million (Rs200 crore at current rates) invested in phases. Speculative towers, or towers set up in the hope that a mobile operator would lease it if it was there, were a strict no-no. Only after customers were signed up did Xcel build towers. At the time of exiting, Q-India got Rs800 crore from American Tower, half of which went to creditors, leaving it with a neat 100% profit on its initial investment, a person familiar with the sale said. Parikh declined to divulge the details of the transaction. The value per tower works out to Rs47 lakh, which is considerably less than as much as Rs1.6 crore per tower that Bharti Infratel Ltd and Reliance Infratel Ltd got when they divested stake to some private equity investors in 2007. The difference in valuation, though, is largely because of the timing and scale, according to an investment banker who said that the valuation game has changed. “When all the big players sold stake, it was a time when you could sell your stories, but was that the right value? I don’t know. Besides, scale always commands a premium,” he said, but declined being named. When Bharti Infratel sold a stake to private equity investors in December 2007, it owned 20,000 towers and an additional 70,000 through Indus Towers Ltd, the three-way joint venture between Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communication and Vodafone Group Plc. By contrast, Xcel only had 1,700 towers at the time of sale. On whether Q-India would incubate other businesses in India, Parikh said that he is open to the idea. “However, such successfully implementable ideas are hard to come by and cannot be timed,” he said. “Such ideas or investments are not meant to replace the traditional investment opportunities available in the market, but we don’t mind investing time and effort apart from capital in such ideas as it allows for a better risk to reward ratio.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 5:04 pm Close: Markets fall flat on mixed global cuesNew Delhi: Indian shares fell 0.4% on Friday, led down by ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries, as investors took profits in a market that climbed more than 7% over two weeks. Uncertainty related to India’s slowing economy and political outlook ahead of upcoming elections, along with a drop in world markets, made traders wary ahead of the weekend and halted a two-day rise. Click here to watch video Tata Steel, aluminium producer Hindalco Industries and non-ferrous metals poducer Sterlite Industries shrugged off the broader decline and rose on the back firmer metal prices. The 30-share BSE index closed down 0.39% at 8,966.68 points, with 17 stocks declining, after falling as much as 1.5% at one stage. The 50-share NSE index ended little changed at 2,807.05. The benchmark gained 2.4% on the week, after gaining 5.2% the previous week, but is down 7.1% this year. This week’s rise was underpinned by foreign fund buying of a net $280.9 million over five sessions to Thursday. It also helped propel the rupee to a three-week high and set it on course for its best week in 2009. “Global uncertainties continue to have an impact on the economic situation here. Election worries will keep the market volatile,” Jigar Shah, senior vice president at Kim Eng Securities, said. India goes to the polls in April and May, with little prospect of a single party winning a majority on its own, while the economy is seen slowing down sharply as the global crisis squeezes demand worldwide. Traders said they expected the market to trade in a narrow range over the next few weeks, with a weak bias until there was more clarity on the political outcome. Reliance, which has the heaviest weight in the main index, shed 0.5% to 1,338.55 rupees on profit taking. Still, the energy giant which is set to start pumping gas from its field off India’s east coast this month, gained 4.4% on the week. Private sector lender ICICI Bank fell 4.5% to Rs322.90, while government-run bigger rival State Bank of India dropped 1.5% to Rs953.55. The banking sector fell almost 2% but ended the week up 2.1%. Hindalco jumped 5.7% to Rs47.60 rupees, while Tata Steel climbed 1.7% and Sterlite rose 0.4%. In the broader section, advancers edged past losers 1,255 to 1,225 on relatively light volume of 251.4 million shares. Asian shares declined, with MSCI’s measure of Asian markets outside Japan falling 1.2 %. Japan was closed for a holiday. Video by Vaishali Jain Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 4:29 pm Denied funds by Blackstone, Allcargo to up Gateway stakeMumbai: Mumbai-based Allcargo Global Logistics Ltd may increase its stake in rival firm Gateway Distriparks Ltd. On 12 March, Sealand Terminals Pvt. Ltd, a unit of Allcargo, bought 6.1 million shares, or a 5.97% stake, in Gateway for Rs29 crore from Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, the Singapore government’s investment arm. On the same day, Allcargo chairman and managing director Shashi Kiran Shetty said it was a treasury investment and had nothing to do with consolidation. Analysts and company executives, however, said Allcargo could increase its stake. “You may not see this immediately. In future this is a possibility. I cannot reveal further details,” said a senior Allcargo executive, who didn’t want to be identified citing the sensitivity of the issue. “Though the management maintains the acquisition is purely a treasury investment, in our view it is (a) strategic move by Allcargo to consolidate its presence in the container handling space where Gateway Distriparks is a rival,” said a 18 March report of domestic brokerage Centrum Broking Pvt. Ltd. An analyst with another local brokerage, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, also said there is a strong possibility of Allcargo increasing its stake in Gateway. The move comes in the backdrop of private equity firm Blackstone Group Lp. saying it would not put in any more money into Allcargo. Blackstone has invested Rs115 crore in Allcargo and was supposed to pay another Rs140 crore by converting warrants at Rs1,284 per share. Ravi Jakhar, vice-president of corporate strategy at Allcargo, denied that the firm would increase its stake in Gateway or that Blackstone will not invest further. He pointed out that the conversion of warrants by Blackstone is due in September and Blackstone had already paid 20% of the agreed amount. On Friday, Allcargo Global shares rose 1.61% on the Bombay Stock Exchange to close at Rs715. Gateway Distriparks fell by 2.06% to close at Rs50. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 4:22 pm Rupee posts biggest weekly gain since DecMumbai: The rupee completed the biggest weekly gain since December on speculation sliding US bond rates will spur global investors to seek higher-yielding emerging market assets. The Federal Reserve had said on 18 March it willpurchase $1 trillion (around Rs50 trillion) of debt. The rupee touched the month’s high on Friday, up 1.7% this week to 50.645 per dollar. It earlier touched 50.03, the strongest since 26 February. The rupee pared the week’s gains on Friday on concern refiners will increase dollar purchases after crude oil rose above $50 per barrel, approaching almost a four-month high. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 4:15 pm Row with producers may cost multiplexes Rs300 crMumbai: A long-running dispute between cinema owners and producers could see multiplex chains losing up to Rs300 crore over the next two months because insurers will not protect cinemas against the non-delivery of films.  Seeking settlement: A Fun Cinemas complex in New Delhi. The multiplex could lose anything between Rs12 crore and Rs15 crore. Suman Sarkar / Mint Insurance experts declared the loss of revenue through business disputes as “beyond the purview” of the insurers and said losses would have to be absorbed by the multiplexes. It comes just days after producers pledged to put all cinematic releases on hold from April 4 unless they receive a 50% share of ticket sales from the multiplexes. “This is something that the insurance companies will not cover,” said Rahul Aggarwal, chief executive of Optima Insurance Brokers, referring to cover for loss of revenue. “This is something called business risk, and the dispute is about how to share revenues, so it is not an accidental loss. It is beyond the purview of the insurers.” Relations between cinema owners and producers hit an all-time low earlier this week after producers joined forces to take a stand on a dispute over revenue-sharing terms—a historically thorny issue in their relationship with multiplexes, including BIG Cinemas, Fun Cinemas and Fame India. Arguing that multiplexes have been holding them “to ransom” and exploiting their lack of unity, producers are demanding that revenues be split equally between the parties, irrespective of factors such as the budget of the film and its cast. In turn, multiplexes are advocating a performance-linked revenue system which affords them some protection in the event that the film is a flop. “We are not insured against this sort of thing,” said Shravan Shroff, managing director of Fame India, which operates a chain of cinemas, referring to the threat to hold back new releases. “This would be for the non-supply of movies and we have no cover for that. We continue to be in discussions and both sides are eager to find a settlement. We are optimistic that there will be a settlement as both sides have a lot to lose. We are going to be computing the potential losses over the next couple of days—we do not have a figure yet because this is a unique situation that none of us have been in before.” Insurers said that protection against loss of revenue for multiplexes only applied to eventualities such as fire and floods, and did not cover business disputes and that if such a policy was needed, it would take months to create it. “In the case of non-supply from suppliers, in this case of films from producers, I do not think there is any policy to cover that,” said S.K. Sethi, vice-president of the Insurance Brokers Association of India. “And if such a policy was needed, it would require several months to develop and would need to be approved by the regulator. The insurers have to calculate what the risk is and what the premium would be.” Adding that the cinemas were hoping to screen IPL cricket matches as one potential source of supplementary income during the next two months, Shroff said that Fame had not yet lined up contingency plans in case the deadlock in talks was not broken. “We will think about contingency plans from next week if the talks are not broken, but we still have a couple more weeks to go and we are being optimistic about reaching a solution.” The dispute throws into doubt the release of up to two dozen films over the next two months, and has already cost the delay of several releases, including Shortcut, a romantic comedy produced by Anil Kapoor due to be out on 3 April, as well as Life Partner, starring Govinda and Tusshar Kapoor. In addition, trade analysts have voiced concerns that Nagesh Kukunoor’s 8x10Tasveer, which stars Akshay Kumar, could also be delayed as it is currently in post-production and might not be ready on time for its expected April 3 release. Multiplex owners remained sanguine yesterday about reaching a deal with producers before the deadline, as they acknowledged the mutual interdependency of the two parties and the extent of the losses they would bear. Comparing the relationship between the multiplexes and producers to the link between “fish and water”, Tushar Dhingra, chief operating office of BIG Cinemas, said: “There is no other way to reach a compromise so talks are continuing.” Emphasising that talks were ongoing, Vishal Kapur, chief operating officer of Fun Cinemas, said that the chain would lose “anything between Rs12 crores and Rs15 crores” if there were no new releases through April. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 4:10 pm Satyam receives bids, board extends meeting by a dayThe government-appointed directors of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services Friday extended their meeting to Saturday amid reports that they have received bids from three companies to buy the country's fourth largest software exporter.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 20 Mar 2009 | 4:01 pm India growth pick up from Oct, no deflation - ministerNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's economic growth will start picking up from October as government stimulus measures kick in and fears of deflation were unfounded, a junior finance minister said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 3:26 pm Spice, Tech Mahindra take next step in Satyam raceBANGALORE (Reuters) - Spice Group and Tech Mahindra said on Friday they were in the race for fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services, but as a deadline passed U.S.-based iGate Corp said it would not proceed.Source: Reuters: Money News | 20 Mar 2009 | 3:17 pm BSNL announces nationwide launch of Blackberry solutionsChandigarh: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) today announced the countrywide rollout of its blackberry solutions on the 3G network by launching Blackberry smart phones here today. Blackberry smart phones have a price range of Rs14,499-34,399. Three blackberry handsets launched today are Blackberry Bold, Blackberry Curve 8310 and Blackberry 8700. “The launch would strategically expand our gamut of services,” BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told reporters here today. He said that with the launch of Blackberry services, BSNL would look at selling 1,000 handsets in the domestic market in coming months. Introduced under the post-paid mobile service, Blackberry service would carry fixed monthly charges ranging between Rs299 and Rs999 for Blackberry Internet service (BIS) and Rs425 and Rs875 for Blackberry Enterprise services (BES). These are in addition to the voice plan charges and customers can avail of this service under the monthly existing plan of Rs225, Rs325, Rs525 and Rs725. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 20 Mar 2009 | 11:32 am
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