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Expect Q1FY09 to be better than Q4FY08: Atul LtdSunil S Lalbhai, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of chemicals manufacturing company, Atul Ltd expects, the first quarter of FY09 to be better than the last quarter of the FY08. He further adds, the company, that showed a growth of 45% in the first quarter, is sure to maintain similar standards.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 4:19 pm Hiring in March not as good as Feb: Info EdgeAmbaresh Raghuvanshi of Info Edge, said there has not been much improvement in hiring in March. If anything, at the macro level, it will be either flat or marginally down from February. It thus reflects that the market may have overcorrected in terms of hiring in December, but is still not seeing enough confidence to really go full steam ahead.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 3:12 pm Fiat CEO warns Chrysler unions: cut costs or we walkMILAN (Reuters) - Fiat SpA's chief executive, facing a two-week deadline to work out a partnership with Chrysler LLC, warned the troubled U.S. carmaker's unions he would ditch the idea unless they agreed to cut labour costs.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:11 pm PM open to tie-up with LeftNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday appeared to be keeping Congress options open for a tie up with the Left parties and other allies fighting his party in the post-poll scenario, saying he has had a good experience working with all of them. However, he expressed confidence that the Congress would be able to form the government with its allies. At an interaction with the members of the Editors Guild of India here, he was asked whether Congress would take support of the Left parties in forming the next government. “We will cross the bridge when we come to it. As of now I am confident that the Congress would be able to form the government (with allies). I have dealt with the Left parties, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar. Also Read Election 2009 (Full Coverage) “I have dealt with Jayalalithaa, DMK and PMK. I have also negotiated with Mufti Saheb (PDP leader). I have enough experience in dealing with diverse forces,” he said. Asked whether he would like doing business with the Left, Singh said “well, I think circumstances will decide. But I was quite happy when as government we were dealing with the Left.”  “These were very well considered statements. Every serious observer of the political scene will find them as truth,” he said when asked whether his recent statements attacking Advani were an emotional response out of a sense of personal hurt. “I did not respond to Advani earlier because there was no question at that time that I will be the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress party. “Once the Congress party announced my name as the PM candidate I owe it to myself and to Congress to compare my record as Prime Minister and previously as finance minister with that of the BJP, specially that of Advani. I thought enough is enough,” he said. Singh said he thought that the public at large should know “where the issue lies”. In a response to Advani’s attacks, the Prime Minister on Monday had said the “iron man” had quickly melted during the Khandhar hijack crisis and was weeping in a corner when Barbi mosque was demolished by hoodlums. ************ Manmohan speaking different things at different times: CPI New Delhi: As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to be keeping Congress’ options open for a tie- up with the Left, Communist Party of India on Wednesday said the Congress leader was speaking different things at different times. “The Prime Minister is speaking different things in different places on different occasions. Just a couple of days ago, he was in Kerala where he accused the Left of always being on the wrong side of history. Now, he says a different thing,” party secretary D Raja said here. However, the Left parties “have problems with the Prime Minister and his government on policy issues”, he said. Raja said the Left parties withdrew their support to the UPA government due to “major differences of macro-level economic issues and finally over the Indo-US nuclear deal”. He charged the government with not fulfilling even the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme to mitigate the problems of the common people, the peasants and the workers. —PTI ************ Left Front should be voted to power: Jyoti Basu Kolkata: Ailing Marxist veteran Jyoti Basu on Wednesday expressed confidence that despite concerted efforts by opposition parties, the CPI(M)-led Left Front would emerge victorious in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. “Notwithstanding efforts (by the opposition parties), the Left Front will win the Lok Sabha elections with the support of millions of people,” 95-year-old Basu said after releasing a CD at his Salt Lake residence on the Bengali New Year day. Regretting his inability to attend any poll rally due to failing health, the former chief minister said, “Left Front will win the elections as it has plans and programmes and implemented people-oriented policies ever since it came to power.” “I appeal to you from my bed to vote for the Front candidates and I am sure that your love and support will stand us in good stead,” Basu said. —PTI ************ Chidambaram picks holes in BJP’s ’discovery’ of Ambedkar Mumbai: Home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday criticized BJP’s sudden “discovery” of B R Ambedkar citing Arun Shourie’s controversial book ‘Worshipping False Gods,´ which he claims has “outrageous views” of the saffron party on the late dalit leader. “Suddenly BJP has discovered Baba Saheb Ambedkar... BJP’s outrageous views on Babasaheb Ambedkar are contained in this book ‘Worshipping false Gods´ by Arun Shourie... Not one reference has a good word for Dr Ambedkar,” the home minister said while talking to reporters here. Noting that Shourie was “friend, philosopher and guide” of BJP, Chidambaram said, “Shourie’s advise is being sought on matters, which required an IQ of more than 60.” He expressed hope that after discovering Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and B R Ambedkar, BJP would soon discover the virtues of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. On the occasion of B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on Tuesday, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani had said Congress did not do justice to Dalit icon and ignored the late leader while nominating members for the Constituent Assembly. —PTI ************ EC allows state-specific documents for identity of voters New Delhi: The Election Commission has permitted certain state-specific documents in Chhattisgarh, Assam, Kerala and Maharashtra to establish identity of electors during the Lok Sabha polls beginning on Thursday. These documents would be allowed in addition to the 13 alternative photo documents, like passport and PAN card, which were permitted for establishing identity of voters if they fail to produce the Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC). In Chhattisgarh, ‘Bhoo Adhikar Evam Rin Pusthika´, with photograph issued on or before 28 February 2009, shall be permitted for establishing the identity of voters. In Assam, where EPICs have not been issued, 11 additional documents, including the certificate issued by the management of tea garden estates to the employees, domicile certificates issued by government, permanent resident certificate issued by the district administration, revenue certificate issued by district magistrate/executive magistrate would be allowed. In Kerala, ration card with photograph issued on or before 28 February 2009 and secondary school leaving certificate with photo in original would be allowed for establishing identity of electors. Ration cards issued on or before 28 February 2009 shall also be permitted as an additional document for establishing identity in Maharashtra. —PTI Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:05 pm ArcelorMittal may cut size, investment of India projects in phase-I - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:58 am Tech Mahindra raises $175 mln of debt - sourcesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian software services group Tech Mahindra, which is awaiting regulatory approval to buy Satyam Computer Services, has raised $175 million through bonds and commercial paper, sources said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:50 am ‘BJP manifesto mum on growth of public, pvt sectors’Mumbai: Targeting BJP’s manifesto, home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the opposition party’s election promises are silent on the growth of the public, private and financial sectors, whose development is essential for the country. “Not a word (has been said) about public sector...private sector...about industry, not a word about the growth of the financial sector...yet they (BJP) devote some four pages for Murli Manohar Joshi’s outdated atavistic views about India’s glorious past...  He added that on contrast, the Congress’s manifesto focused on the growth of the public, private and financial sectors as their development is necessary for “India’s continued high growth success story.” He further said that the Congress rejected the policy of blind privatisation, which was followed by the BJP-led NDA government. Public sector enterprises, manufacturing sectors like energy, transport and telecom along with the financial sector like banks will remain in the public sector and will be given all support to grow and become competitive, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:49 am PM open to tie-up with LeftNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday appeared to be keeping Congress options open for a tie up with the Left parties and other allies fighting his party in the post-poll scenario, saying he has had a good experience working with all of them. However, he expressed confidence that the Congress would be able to form the government with its allies. At an interaction with the members of the Editors Guild of India here, he was asked whether Congress would take support of the Left parties in forming the next government. “We will cross the bridge when we come to it. As of now I am confident that the Congress would be able to form the government (with allies). I have dealt with the Left parties, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar. “I have dealt with Jayalalithaa, DMK and PMK. I have also negotiated with Mufti Saheb (PDP leader). I have enough experience in dealing with diverse forces,” he said. Asked whether he would like doing business with the Left, Singh said “well, I think circumstances will decide. But I was quite happy when as government we were dealing with the Left.”  “These were very well considered statements. Every serious observer of the political scene will find them as truth,” he said when asked whether his recent statements attacking Advani were an emotional response out of a sense of personal hurt. “I did not respond to Advani earlier because there was no question at that time that I will be the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress party. “Once the Congress party announced my name as the PM candidate I owe it to myself and to Congress to compare my record as Prime Minister and previously as finance minister with that of the BJP, specially that of Advani. I thought enough is enough,” he said. Singh said he thought that the public at large should know “where the issue lies”. In a response to Advani’s attacks, the Prime Minister on Monday had said the “iron man” had quickly melted during the Khandhar hijack crisis and was weeping in a corner when Barbi mosque was demolished by hoodlums. ************ Manmohan speaking different things at different times: CPI New Delhi: As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to be keeping Congress’ options open for a tie- up with the Left, Communist Party of India on Wednesday said the Congress leader was speaking different things at different times. “The Prime Minister is speaking different things in different places on different occasions. Just a couple of days ago, he was in Kerala where he accused the Left of always being on the wrong side of history. Now, he says a different thing,” party secretary D Raja said here. However, the Left parties “have problems with the Prime Minister and his government on policy issues”, he said. Raja said the Left parties withdrew their support to the UPA government due to “major differences of macro-level economic issues and finally over the Indo-US nuclear deal”. He charged the government with not fulfilling even the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme to mitigate the problems of the common people, the peasants and the workers. (PTI) Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:49 am Sensex gains for eighth day to close over 11000 - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:47 am Meltdown forces Infosys to freeze wages, hiring - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:47 am OPEC sees oil demand falling, prices under pressureLONDON (Reuters) - World oil demand is shrinking faster than previously thought as a slowing global economy erodes consumption, OPEC said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:46 am Vegetable oil imports rise 28% in March - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:45 am BRIEF - Daimler, Hero end Indian commercial vehicles venture* Says it and Hero Group end Indian commercial vehicles ventureSource: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:45 am Nimbooz becomes official sponsor of Kings XI PunjabPepsiCo said its newly-launched drink Nimbooz has become the official beverage sponsor of the IPL franchisee team Kings XI Punjab.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:44 am Close: Markets cross 11,200 mark; Infosys top loserNew Delhi: Markets rallied near closing hours to end Wednesday’s trade with handsome gains of almost 3% on continued buying, the eight straight-session of profits for the domestic index. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex traded above the 11,200 mark, also boosted by slight recovery in the European markets. Domestic indices began the day on negative note tracking weak cues from the Asian markets. In addition, India’s No 2 software outsourcer Infosys Technologies unveiled disappointing fourth quarterly results. By noon markets had rebounded with some profit booking and fresh buying by foreign funds. Stocks continued to extend their gains and by 11:30 am Sensex had crossed 11,000 level, later the NSE Nifty also crossed 3,400 mark. The 30-share BSE index closed higher by 317.51 points at 11,284.73 and NSE Nifty ended up by 101.55 points at 3,484.15, at this level it is the highest close for NSE since 14 October, 2008. All sectoral indices ended in green barring IT stocks that were weighed down by Infosys results. Majority of the buying was seen among the realty stocks, rising by nearly 9%. Capital goods, power, bank, pharma and auto also witnessed significant buying. Leading the BSE rally was Tata Motors, up by 11.50% to Rs281.20, along with DLF Ltd by 10% to Rs256.80, Bhel 9.48% to Rs1,669.85, Reliance Infra by 7% to Rs710.30, ICICI Bank by 6.77% to Rs443.70, Larsen and Toubro by 6.65% to Rs878.80 and State Bank of India by 6.38% to Rs1,295.60. Infosys Technologies was the biggest loser, dropping by 2.72%. The company announced its net profit in Q4 FY09 at Rs1,613 crore against Rs1,641 crore in the previous quarter, marking a drop of 1.7%. Revenue for the fourth quarter is also down by 2.6%. Moreover, expects a decline in revenue by 6.7% to 3.1% for FY10. Other losers with Infosys were Tata Consultancy Services Ltd by 2.39% to Rs577.55, HDFC Bank by 1.17% to Rs1,083.90, Tata Power by 0.86% to Rs898.50 and Sterlite Ind by 0.75% to Rs421.90. Among the global markets, in Asia Japan’s index Nikkei fell for third straight day, loss 1.1% on weak US retail data and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up slightly by 0.57%. meanwhile, the European markets are trading mixed. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:36 am Honda to invest Rs 300cr in three yearsHonda Motorcycle and Scooter India on Wednesday said it will invest Rs 300 crore as part of its expansion plans in India over the next three years.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:32 am ArcelorMittal may delay India plan by 2 yrsNew Delhi: ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel group, may delay its planned $20 billion to $25 billion investment in India by at least two years from an earlier schedule, the head of its India unit said. ArcelorMittal had plans to build two steel plants in eastern Indian states of Orissa and Jharkhand to produce about 25 million tonnes of steel in total, but chairman Lakshmi Mittal said last September the cost could rise by about a half due to delays in getting government approvals. An economic downturn also slashed demand for everything from cars to new buildings and household appliances, hitting world steelmakers, miners and metals processors. ArcelorMittal in February expected overall steel demand to fall 7-10% in 2009. “What I can say is production is not coming up before 2014,” Vijay Bhatnagar, the chief executive of ArcelorMittal India, told reporters in New Delhi. The firm earlier planned to start production in 2012. “The top reason is the economic downturn... second thing is there has been certain procedural (delays). Cycle times have been much more to get land and mining resources, more than we had anticipated,” Bhatnagar said. He said the company would “reassess” costs and might start with lower capacity, than the six million tonnes planned in the first phase, but added the total capacity would remain unchanged. ArcelorMittal has been looking to expand its business in emerging markets such as China, India, Mexico and Brazil, but has faced obstacles in China and India. Mittal had tried to take over steel firm China Oriental in 2007, but had to pull back to a 47% stake as the Chinese government restricts ownership in steel assets. In India, acquisitions of large tracts of land by foreign and local companies have proved controversial in several states recently, with the country’s courts needing to step to resolve disputes involving big projects. Last October, thousands of villagers marched in Jharkhand state to protest against the building of the ArcelorMittal plant. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:30 am Oil firms raise ATF price for third time in a monthState-run oil companies raised prices of jet fuel or ATF for the third time in a month, this time by about 6.7 per cent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:24 am Sensex gains for eighth day to close over 11,000The Sensex bounced back to wipe off early losses and closed higher by 317.51 points at 11,284.73, a level last seen on October 15.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:22 am SC to hear ONGC petition on oil cess on 21 AprilNew Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on 21 April the petition of state-run ONGC challenging the Andhra government’s right to impose cess on mineral oil and petroleum and natural gas. The issue has been raised by ONGC and others alleging that the Andhra Pradesh government had no powers to impose cess on mineral oil and petroleum and natural gas. A bench headed by chief justice K G Balakrishnan will hear the case. Earlier, it had issued notice and stayed the levy of cess. According to ONGC, the state government had no powers to regulate and tax mineral oil unlike in the case of minerals, and it can only levy fee on a matter covered under Entry 66 of List II - the State list. The legislation on mineral oil was exclusively the prerogative of the Central government, it said. “Cess is a tax, The state government has no power to impose such a tax on mineral oils. ... The state government has sought to justify the impugned levy on the purported grounds that it is to be collected to provide and improve infrastructural facilities for exploitation of the mineral resources in the state,” the petition stated. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:22 am BSE Sensex up 8th day; Infosys trips outsourcersMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex shrugged off a shaky start on Wednesday and rallied for an eighth consecutive session, in its longest winning streak in 1-½ years, as robust risk appetite helped beat back earnings outlook concerns.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:13 am Wellness services market to grow at 30-35% in 5 yrsNew Delhi: Notwithstanding the current economic slowdown, the Rs 11,000-crore Indian wellness services market is expected to grow at about 30-35% for the next five years on the back of rising consumerism, globalisation and changing lifestyles, according to a study. According to a FICCI-Ernst and Young study titled ‘Wellness-Exploring the Untapped Potential´, the wellness services market, presently estimated at Rs11,000 crore, would sustain an annual growth rate of about 30-35% for the next five years. The report classified wellness industry into seven core segments of allopathy, alternative therapies, beauty, counseling, fitness/slimming, nutrition and rejuvenation. While rejuvenation services such as spas, alternative therapies, ayurveda treatments and beauty services are expected to grow by as much as 30%, fitness comprising gyms and slimming centers are expected to grow by more than 25%, the study said. “Given the favourable demand and supply dynamics, wellness presents strong business potential,” Ernst and Young Partner (Advisory Services) Farokh Balsara said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:06 am Satyam moves CLB for sale of IT company to Tech MahindraSatyam Computer Services on Wednesday moved the Company Law Board (CLB) to seek approval of its proposal to sell the IT company to Tech Mahindra.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:05 am No delay in constituting new Satyam board: MCAThe government on Wednesday said there would not be any delay in constituting the new board of Satyam Computer.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:05 am No delay in constituting new Satyam board: MCANew Delhi: The government today said there would not be any delay in constituting the new board of Satyam Computer and exuded confidence that the incoming management would retain the existing staff. “There would not be any undue delay, all the procedures would be followed... Satyam has very well experienced people working. The employees are always (the) foundation of the company. No wise management would like to unnecessarily disturb employees of the company,” Corporate affairs minister Premchand Gupta told reporters. When asked whether the present government’s nominees would be there on the new board, Gupta said it is for the acquirer to decide on the issue. “The final call has to be taken up by the (new) board of the company,” he said. Gupta refused to reply on further queries on the issue, saying first the Company Law Board has to approve the merger. “Right now, they (Satyam) have to move honourable CLB. Unless, they take a view I can’t say anything and it would not be fair on my part...,” he said. To a query on lay offs, he said there are certain restrictions on the new management in the deal. “Any new management will have to follow (these conditions), like there is lock-in period for stripping off asset and transfer of shares. Similarly, I think there should be some restrictions on employees lay-off also,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:02 am Infosys net PAT was Rs 1613cr for qtr ended March 31, 2009Infosys Net profit after tax was Rs 1,613 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2009 (Indian GAAP)Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 11:01 am Infosys revenues were $ 1121mn for qtr ended March 31, 2009Infosys revenues were $ 1,121 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2009; YoY decline was 1.8%Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:53 am Thailand aims to revive economy after protests endBangkok: The Thai government turned its attention to new measures to revive the economy on Wednesday, a day after the end of violent protests that further dented confidence in a country heading into recession. Thailand kept a state of emergency in the capital for a fourth day and security forces kept tight guarded around the prime minister’s office, epicentre of protests by ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s “red-shirt” supporters. An end to the latest round of political chaos in the kingdom allowed the government some breathing space to focus on fixing the economy. Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said Thailand may have to borrow more to finance additional stimulus measures to compensate for any economic losses from this week’s political turmoil. “With tourism expected to suffer more losses, and private investment likely to fall after what happened this week, the impact would likely be reflected in more tax revenue shortfalls and increased fiscal deficits,” Korn told Reuters. “We will have to review our public sector borrowing plans. With the problems this week, fiscal stimulus will probably need to play a bigger role to boost the economy,” he said. The Thai Cabinet will meet on Friday to discuss the budget and the stimulus package, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told Reuters on Wednesday. He declined to say where it would meet due to security concerns. Selling Pressure Financial markets were closed for the three-day Thai New Year holiday, but will reopen on Thursday. Shares and the baht were expected to come under selling pressure. “Selling pressure will come from foreign funds constrained by their policy of not investing in countries where there is a state of emergency in place,” said Tisco Securities strategist Viwat Techapoonphol. An expanded stimulus package could boost employment and purchasing power in the countryside, where Thaksin has long been popular, but few believe that Thailand is heading for a period of prolonged stability. “The whole vicious cycle seems set to continue,” said Danny Richards, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. In broad terms, Thailand’s crisis is a battle between the “yellow shirts” — royalists, the military and urban Thais, who back Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva — and the “red shirts” -- supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra whose power base was mainly drawn from the country’s millions of rural poor. The “red shirts” consider Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s goverment illegitimate because he came to office in December via parliamentary defections they say the army engineered. They have vowed to resume their campaign to force new elections — which they would be well-placed to win. Abhisit has ruled out elections until law and order is restored. Thai courts have issued arrest warrants Thaksin and 13 leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) for violating state of emergency regulations. At least three were already in custody. The Foreign Ministry revoked Thaksin’s passport, saying he helped instigate the unrest that caused an Asian summit to be cancelled lAst weekend, the government spokesman said. “According to the law, the government has the right to revoke a passport of a person who damages the country and the Pattaya incident has shown Mr.Thaksin is trying to damage our country,” spokesman panitan said. Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup, lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a two-year jail term on a corruption conviction. His whereabouts are not known. A nearly three-week siege of Government House, where Abhisit’s administration has offices, ended without bloodshed on Tuesday when Thaksin supporters decided to surrender with hundreds of troops and riot police surrounding them. Two people died in skirmishes between “red shirt” protesters and local residents, the authorities said, while at least 123 were injured in clashes between soldiers and protesters trying to blockade a major road junction on Monday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:49 am Dish TV plans to go mobile in metrosMumbai: Direct-to-home operator Dish TV India is exploring a new technology to beam channels in vehicles for intra-city travel in metros at special subscription rates, a top official said on Wednesday. The product, which can be fitted in cars, buses and sports utility vehicles (SUVs), will air limited channels only, unlike a similar product launched last year, managing director Jawahar Goel told Reuters over the telephone. Last year, the firm had launched Dish TV mobile, which airs all channels, can be fitted in large cars and SUVs for inter-city travel, and the service is currently being used by Kingfisher Airlines, the Railways and Indian Navy. “We are working on the hardware, which goes in the cars in metro cities, where the travel time from office to home takes 1-“ hours or more,” he said. “We can provide people with a couple of news channels, business channels, sports and music.” The new device would be compact and will have buffering capacity so the viewer doesn’t lose video under a tree or in a tunnel while driving, he said, adding unlike the Dish TV mobile units which are bulky. This month, rival Sun Direct, which has over 3 million subscribers, launched high definition services, claiming to be the first such platform in India. ONE MAN’S LOSS, ANOTHER’S GAIN While analyst view the ongoing spat between multiplex owners and movie producers as a posiitve for DTH operators, Dish TV is not keen on buying movie rights and has a revenue-sharing model with producers, Goel said. In March, film-makers decided to freeze marketing and release of all films over a dispute on revenue-sharing with multiplex owners. “Movie-on-demand is a category which is taking up but there is no great revenue. DTH will not become significant revenue generator for film-makers,” Goel said. The firm, which plans to spend Rs8 billion in 2009-10 to acquire hardware and add more subscribers, expects television consumption to rise in the coming months due to elections and the upcoming indian premier league matches. “The total industry will garner 10-11 million subscribers in FY10,” Goel said, adding there was a concern due to recession in world economies and a rising dollar. However, the company sees an additional burden of 500 rupees per new subscriber on account of foreign exchange losses on set-top boxes, which are imported. This impact on the subscriber acquisition cost translates to Rs1.25 billion in the current fiscal year, Goel said. The Indian rupee has lost 2.3% against the US dollar so far in 2009. Shares in the firm ended down 0.16% at Rs32.05 in a choppy Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:47 am SBI sees loan growth of 25% in FY10Mumbai: State Bank of India, the country’s biggest lender, expects loan growth of 25% in the financial year 2009-10, its chairman said on Wednesday. The bank’s total business grew by Rs2.5 trillion ($50 billion) in 2008-09, O P Bhatt told reporters. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:45 am Dish TV plans to go mobile in metrosMUMBAI (Reuters) - Direct-to-home operator Dish TV India is exploring a new technology to beam channels in vehicles for intra-city travel in metros at special subscription rates, a top official said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:44 am Infosys sees first sales fall as outsourcing weakensBANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies Ltd forecast its first decline in annual revenue as global demand for outsourcing slowed in a harsh economic climate, halting growth for India's once burgeoning IT services sector.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:42 am Hyundai sees no sign yet of auto market recoveryWHASUNG, South Korea (Reuters) - The global auto market is not recovering yet as sluggish economies in developed markets have deeply dented demand, a Hyundai Motor Group vice chairman said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:38 am Natco Pharma, Dr Reddy’s in cancer drug tie-upMumbai: Drug maker Natco Pharma Ltd said on Wednesday it has entered into an agreement with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd to jointly develop and sell generic cancer products. Dr Reddy’s will pay an undisclosed amount upfront for securing the rights to sell the products and for capacities to make the drugs, Natco said in a statement to the stock exchange, adding the firms also have a profit-sharing agreement in place. The deal covers oral and injectible drugs, including paclitaxel, the generic form of Abraxis Bioscience’s breats cancer drug Abraxane. Natco will exclusively supply the drugs to Dr Reddy’s, which will sell them globally, it said. The deal could be expanded to include more products, Natco added. Natco shares ended up 8.9% at Rs71.30 in a firm Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:34 am Public-private projects can provide stimulus: AssochamThe public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the infrastructure sector in various states will provide a Rs.200,000-crore stimulus for the Indian economy, a study by an industrial lobby released Wednesday said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:31 am Meltdown forces Infosys to freeze wages, hiringThe impact of global recession has forced Infosys Technologies, India's second largest IT bellwether, to freeze wage hike and fresh hiring in new fiscal 2009-10, a senior official said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:30 am Bull run continues, Sensex above 11,000Indian equities markets closed in the green Wednesday, with a key index gaining 2.9 percent to end trade above the 11,000-mark.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 10:30 am PE`s appetite for educational cos rises - India Infoline.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:44 am Infosys hires 5,000 employees in Q4Software services provider Infosys Technologies said on Wednesday that it has hired close to 5,000 employees in the first three months of this year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:44 am ArcelorMittal may delay India plan by 2 years - aideNEW DELHI (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steel group, may delay its planned $20 billion to $25 billion investment in India by at least two years from an earlier schedule, the head of its India unit said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:42 am EBay plans IPO for Skype, undoing $2.6 bn-plus dealNew York: EBay Inc. plans to spin off its Internet communications service Skype through an initial public offering, undoing a $2.6 billion acquisition that puzzled analysts and eBay struggled to justify. San Jose, California-based eBay said Tuesday it expects to complete the IPO in the first half of next year, though it said the timing will be based on market conditions. EBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005 _ and later had to pay some of Skype’s investors $530 million because the division met certain targets for profit and growth. Many analysts questioned the high price because it was unclear why eBay needed to own a service that lets people make free or cheap voice and video calls on computers and cell phones. Skype was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, creators of the music downloading service Kazaa, which had riled the recording industry. EBay had hoped that buyers and sellers on its online marketplace would use Skype to communicate. That didn’t catch on, and eBay took a $900 million write-down on the business in 2007, essentially acknowledging it had drastically overvalued it. When John Donahoe replaced Meg Whitman as chief executive in April 2008, eBay said it would re-evaluate Skype’s role in the company. In a statement Tuesday, Donahoe said it’s clear Skype has “limited synergies” with eBay and its payment service, PayPal. Despite eBay’s inability to fully integrate Skype with its core businesses, the unit has posted rapid growth: At the end of 2008, Skype had 405 million registered users, up 47% from 2007. Revenue totaled $551 million in 2008, up 44% from 2007. EBay expects Skype to post more than $1 billion in revenue by 2011. EBay spokesman Alan Marks said that Skype’s management, including its president, Josh Silverman, is expected to stay in place. The announcement about Skype came a day after two founders of Web content recommendation service StumbleUpon said they had bought the company back from eBay, which had purchased it two years ago for $75 million. The price the founders paid eBay to regain the company was not disclosed. EBay’s plans for Skype could be hampered by the economy. The number of companies that have priced IPOs has dried up: According to Renaissance Capital’s IPOHome.com, there were 43 IPOs in 2008, compared with 272 in 2007. There were only two in the first quarter of this year. Earlier Tuesday, eBay announced it would change some of the ways sellers list items on its site. Beginning in June, eBay will let sellers charge various prices for similar products sold under one listing, like shirts of different sizes. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:42 am India's wellness industry seen growing 30-35 percentEstimating India's market for 'wellness' services at Rs.110 billion ($2.2 billion), a report released Wednesday has projected this industry to grow at an annual rate of 30-35 percent.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:31 am Goa may run out of beer by polling day: Liquor tradersThe ongoing tussle between liquor traders and the state excise department has triggered a shortage of booze, especially beer, in Goa, a state with one of the highest alcohol consumption levels in the country.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:30 am Danone, Wadia scrap ties in BritanniaEnding a 13-year old association, the Wadia Group and Groupe Danone have terminated their joint venture in biscuit major Britannia Industries Ltd, with the Indian partner buying out the French food giant.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:18 am Satyam files application for delisting from NYSE EuronextA day after Tech Mahindra won the race for Satyam, the fraudhit tech major filed an application for delisting from NYSE Euronextthe regulated market of Euronext Amsterdam.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:15 am US planning to divulge details of top banks: reportWashington: The US government could reveal details about the health of its top 19 banks in a bid to reassure investors about the state of the ailing sector, local media reported Wednesday. The New York Times, quoting unnamed senior officials, said the administration of President Barack Obama was considering publishing the results of its analysis of individual banks, known as its “stress-tests.” “It’s becoming clearer that we and the banks are going to have to explain clearly where each bank falls in the spectrum,” the paper quoted an official. To date Washington has been reticent about publishing details of its analysis, fearing frankness might spark a run on banks deemed to have faired poorly compared to competitors. The Federal Reserve asked banks not to discuss the tests during earnings season, for fear of destabilizing markets. But with rumors swirling about the health of the some of the country’s top financial firms, some are now advocating greater candor. The information that may now be disclosed includes the size of potential loses. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:13 am Rupee surges as markets gainMumbai: The rupee recovered its early losses and rose to a new one and half month high in afternoon trade on Wednesday as stocks reversed losses and edged up over 2%, reducing worries of slowing foreign capital inflows. At 2:25pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs49.76/77 per dollar, off an early low of Rs50.09 and stronger than its previous close of Rs49.88/89. It rose as much as Rs49.75 during trade, its strongest since 25 February.. Indian shares extended gains to more than 2%, recovering from earlier losses of as much as 2.3% as strong risk appetite helped offset a decline in Infosys Technologies after it gave a weak outlook. Foreign investors are buyers of more than $400 million of local equities in April, but remain net sellers of about $1.2 billion in 2009, on top of more than $13 billion sale in the previous year. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at 49.8325 and 49.8350 respectively, with the total traded volume on both exchanges at about $466 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 9:04 am Air France to cut 2,500 jobs without layoffsParis: Air France plans to eliminate 2,500 jobs over the next two years, without making layoffs but through natural attrition, a spokesman for the French airline said on Wednesday. Air France, part of the Air France-KLM group, currently employs 70,000. It has seen its passenger traffic numbers shrivel since the start of the economic crisis and last month it forecast an operating loss of about €200 million ($272.1 million) for its fiscal full year, which ended 31 March. Air France’s job cuts will be made by not replacing retiring workers and not renewing short-term contracts, airline spokesman Jerome Nguyen said. Until last month the airline group had been forecasting a profit, but passenger and cargo traffic has been hit by a decline in business travel and international trade. Air France-KLM’s passenger traffic fell 9.4% in March, with traffic within Europe and on routes to the Americas particularly hard-hit. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 8:52 am Allahabad Bank targets 21% growth in bizAllahabad Bank targets 2021 per cent growth in deposits and advances in 200910. The bank hopes to achieve business of Rs 1.75 lakh crore by March 2010 and Rs 2 lakh crore by the end of 2010, according to its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr K.R. Kamath.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 8:48 am Polaris to focus on insurance sectorPolaris Software Lab plans to focus more on the insurance sector and intends to introduce new products and solutions for this vertical.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 8:47 am ITBPO headcount may stay nearly constant in this fiscalThe overall manpower strength of the Indian IT and BPO industry for FY10 could remain nearly constant or be a shade lower than 2.23 million estimated for FY09, according to some top industry officials.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 8:46 am Maruti to roll out BS4 compliant models in a phased mannerMaruti Suzuki plans to roll out its Bharat Stage (BS 4) compliant models in a phased manner this year. The company said due to its vast product portfolio it may not be able to make all its models compliant at the same time.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Apr 2009 | 8:43 am Infosys survives slowdown, but braces to stay afloatIndia's second largest IT bellwether Infosys Technologies, which survived the impact of slowdown in fiscal 2009, is bracing to stay afloat in a grim fiscal 2010.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 8:32 am Obama holds out hope for GM; bondholders waryNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama offered a "fervent hope" for Chrysler and General Motors Corp's survival on Tuesday as GM bondholders said completing the automaker's restructuring outside bankruptcy has become increasingly less likely.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:59 am RCom to buy back bonds listed at S'pore Exchange - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:37 am Larsen and Toubro in pact with Russian firm for nuclear plantsIndian diversified conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L and amp;T) has further expanded its footprint in the nuclear power space, signing a pact with a Russian nuclear energy major to design and develop reactors for the Indian market, including four at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:31 am UBS says lost $1.75 bn in first quarter, to cut 8,700 jobsZurich: Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS on Wednesday said it would slash 8,700 jobs in a bid to “make substantial cost savings” amid fresh losses for the first three months of this year. The bank, which has been struggling to recover after losing billions in the financial and economic crisis, said its losses for the first quarter reached about two billion francs (€1.32 billion euros, $1.75 billion). As a result it is seeking to “realize substantial cost savings in all areas.” “Major job cuts are unfortunately unavoidable. UBS expects to reduce the number of its employees to about 67,500 in 2010,” said the bank, which employed 76,200 people at the end of March. The latest round of job cuts comes on top of 11,000 which have been announced since October 2007, and would help the bank trim its costs by up to four billion francs. Even as the bank downsizes, the bank’s new chief executive Oswald Gruebel warned that the bank was not out of the woods. “But you should not assume that this will bring about a marked improvement in our results as early as the next few quarters. Our outlook remains cautious and we face many uncertainties,” he said in a speech to be delivered to shareholders during the bank’s annual general meeting later today. The bank said it has yet to stem an outflow of funds, as its net money outflow for the Wealth Management and Swiss Bank division reached some 23 billion Swiss francs. “The outflow was mainly recorded after the announcement of the agreement in connection with the investigation into our cross-border activities for US clients,” said Gruebel. One of the biggest challenges faced by UBS is in the United States, where the bank still faces a US government lawsuit to recover the details of some 52,000 US customers suspected of tax offences. The bank was forced to pay $780 million to US justice authorities in February to settle other charges of assisting tax fraud. Gruebel acknowledged recent attempts by countries including the US, Germany and France to clamp down on tax cheats, and said UBS was “under particularly close scrutiny in this regard.” “The operating conditions for cross-border wealth management will change, and this will affect how our clients act. We shall make sure that this does not catch us unprepared,” he said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:24 am UBS says lost $1.75 bn in first quarter, to cut 8,700 jobsZurich: Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS on Wednesday said it would slash 8,700 jobs in a bid to “make substantial cost savings” amid fresh losses for the first three months of this year. The bank, which has been struggling to recover after losing billions in the financial and economic crisis, said its losses for the first quarter reached about two billion francs (€1.32 billion euros, $1.75 billion). As a result it is seeking to “realize substantial cost savings in all areas.” “Major job cuts are unfortunately unavoidable. UBS expects to reduce the number of its employees to about 67,500 in 2010,” said the bank, which employed 76,200 people at the end of March. The latest round of job cuts comes on top of 11,000 which have been announced since October 2007, and would help the bank trim its costs by up to four billion francs. Even as the bank downsizes, the bank’s new chief executive Oswald Gruebel warned that the bank was not out of the woods. “But you should not assume that this will bring about a marked improvement in our results as early as the next few quarters. Our outlook remains cautious and we face many uncertainties,” he said in a speech to be delivered to shareholders during the bank’s annual general meeting later today. The bank said it has yet to stem an outflow of funds, as its net money outflow for the Wealth Management and Swiss Bank division reached some 23 billion Swiss francs. “The outflow was mainly recorded after the announcement of the agreement in connection with the investigation into our cross-border activities for US clients,” said Gruebel. One of the biggest challenges faced by UBS is in the United States, where the bank still faces a US government lawsuit to recover the details of some 52,000 US customers suspected of tax offences. The bank was forced to pay $780 million to US justice authorities in February to settle other charges of assisting tax fraud. Gruebel acknowledged recent attempts by countries including the US, Germany and France to clamp down on tax cheats, and said UBS was “under particularly close scrutiny in this regard.” “The operating conditions for cross-border wealth management will change, and this will affect how our clients act. We shall make sure that this does not catch us unprepared,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:24 am India gold futures flat; equity markets eyedMumbai: India gold futures traded flat on Wednesday as investors watched equity markets to gauge risk apetite and awaited US earnings and manufacturing data, analysts said. The benchmark June contract was 0.10% higher at Rs14,343 per 10 grams at 11:29am, after hitting a high of Rs14,400 in early deals. “There is no direction as of now,” said Debjyoti Chatterjee, associate vice-president with ADMISI Commodity Services. “Current prices are unlikely to draw buying or selling interest,” added Chatterjee. “It is not giving any indication of how it is going to behave and would look at stock markets for direction,” said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director with Commtrendz Research. US March data for consumer prices, real earnings and industrial production will be released later in the day. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:08 am Satyam drops 6 pc in morning trade - Indian Express
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 7:07 am Asia stocks retreat, China hopes limit dropHong Kong: Asian stocks pulled back from six-month highs on Wednesday but held up after the drop on Wall Street overnight, with hopes for more Chinese stimulus spending helping offset reports of weak first-quarter growth. Investors were cashing in on gains after many equity markets have jumped between 20% and 30% since early March, with Asian markets leading the charge higher on signs that China is helping drive a regional growth pick-up, analysts said. Futures on European shares were down between 1.1% and 1.3% in early trade. Higher-yielding currencies such as the Australian dollar relinquished some of their hefty gains in the past month after data showing a surprisingly big drop in US retail sales last month highlighted the bumpy road to recovery in the recession-hit global economy. But gains in safe-have government bonds were limited as investors fret about the wave of coming supply to fund government spending aimed at reviving growth, as well as signs that Asian central banks may have finished with their aggressive rate cuts. Two of the top performing markets in the world so far this year - the Shanghai Composite index and the Taiwan Weighted index - held up the best with declines of less than 1 percent. A report on the Shanghai Securities News website said that Chinese annual economic growth, due to be released on Thursday, was between 6% and 6.8% in the January-March quarter, what would be the lowest on quarterly records going back to 1992. Speculation has been rife in the past few days that China might announce a new package focused on boosting consumer spending on top of the $585 billion plan targetting infrastructure spending. “We’ve been expecting the first quarter of 2009 to be the bottom of this cycle, and it doesn’t look like we will be disappointed,” said Andy Rothman, China macro strategist at brokerage CLSA in Shanghai. “Whether the full-year number is closer to 7% or to 8% is far less important than our firm conviction that the Chinese economy will be very strong in the second half of 2009, and that this strength should last well into 2010,” Rothman said. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 1.4% led by a drop in consumer discretionary and technology shares -- some of the biggest gainers in the rally. Volumes were lighter than the previous day when stocks jumped. The increase in volumes on days of solid gains had suggested more market players have become more confident in putting money to work in riskier assets. On Tuesday the US S&P 500 shed 2%, and S&P futures were pointing to further losses with a drop of 0.7% in Asia. After the closing bell, Intel Corp said the worst was over for the battered tech sector but its shares tumbled after it failed to give a clear revenue forecast, citing the economic uncertainty. US corporate earnings season has kicked into high gear this week, stirring some caution among investors. Japan’s Nikkei average fell 1.1% pulling further away from a three-month peak reached last week. Japanese government bonds gained on the stock retreat and a solid auction of 30-year paper the previous day, while South Korean government bonds extended gains after the Korea Securities Finance Corp joined pension funds and other investors to take advantage of higher yields to buy. Bond yields and swap rates have jumped in many countries on the worries about supply and as central banks, such as South Korea’s, have chosen to keep rates on hold while eyeing signs of economic growth improving. The yen climbed across the board as market players trimmed carry trades - using the low-yielding Japanese currency as a source of funds to buy higher-yielding currencies. A fall in volatility across asset markets has helped make carry trades more appealing after many investors got burnt with the strategy late last year as stock markets plunged. Equity strategists at HSBC said in a note to clients that what they called the volatility bubble - highlighted by the violent plunge in stocks and other assets last year -- may be over. The dollar was down 0.5% at ¥98.30, while the Australian dollar dropped 1.3 percent to 70.50 yen after having reached a six-month high the previous day. Oil prices edged down 10 cents to $49.32 after losing more than 1 percent on Tuesday. Gold edged up $2.55 an ounce to $891.40, helped in part after the world’s largest gold-backed ETF said its holdings of bullion remained at a record high. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 6:47 am Markets back in green after weak openingIndian equities markets climbed back into the green Wednesday after opening weak, as a key index rebounded to rule about 52.29 points higher than its last closing figure, a little before noon.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 6:32 am Infosys dips 8% in morning trade on weak FY'10 forecastInfosys Technologies on Wednesday declined as much as eight per cent in the early trade.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 6:29 am Pantaloon to realign companies for expansionPantaloon Retail India intends to complete in the next two months legalities for its ambitious plans of raising Rs 1,500 crore and realigning of group companies for expansion.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 6:06 am Larsen and Toubro in pact with Russian firm for nuclear plantsIndian diversified conglomerate Larsen and Toubro has signed a pact with a Russian nuclear energy major to design and develop reactors for the Indian market, including four at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 6:00 am Infosys declares 270 percent final dividendInfosys Technologies Ltd has declared a final dividend of Rs.13.50 per share, which is 270 percent on par value of Rs.5 per share, for the just-concluded fiscal 2008-09.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Apr 2009 | 6:00 am ArcelorMittal to lay off 400 workers in IndianaPittsburg: ArcelorMittal SA, the world’s largest steel maker, plans to idle a US plant and lay off about 400 workers due to global economic turmoil that has dampened demand for the metal. The Luxembourg-based company said Tuesday it will suspend operations indefinitely at the Indiana Harbor Long Carbon facility in East Chicago, Illinois. The plant is part of a larger facility that employs about 5,000 union workers and hundreds of nonunion workers. The layoffs of union and management workers are expected to begin in about 60 days. The world economic crisis has hurt steel makers badly as consumers and steel-intensive industries rein in spending. ArcelorMittal said last week it would continue to freeze production while demand remains low for the metal used in everything from cars to buildings. It cut output by 45% late last year and planned to do the same early this year to reduce steel stocks. The plant to be idled makes steel bar used in autos and heavy equipment. The larger Indiana Harbor works includes several other facilities, including blast furnaces and mills that will not be affected. “The global economic downturn has caused a reduction in the demand for the company’s products,” ArcelorMittal said in a statement. “This indefinite closure and corresponding layoffs reflect measures the company is being forced to take around the world to adapt to the market’s situation.” Jim Robinson, director of United Steel Workers District 7, said the union had been notified of the layoffs and that about 400 workers would be affected. An electric furnace and 12-inch bar mill will be idled, he said. “Obviously, this is not a good situation,” he said. “Just another unfortunate reason we need to take every possible action to get this economy back up and running.” As of 31 December, ArcelorMittal employed 315,867 people, with about 12% of them in North America. Other steel companies have taken similar steps to cut production and lower costs during the recession. United States Steel Corp., the largest US-based steel company, has laid off thousands of workers since late last year, when demand and prices for steel plummeted. US-traded shares of ArcelorMittal fell $1.19, or 4.4% to $26.03 Tuesday. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:59 am ArcelorMittal to lay off 400 workers in IndianaPittsburg: ArcelorMittal SA, the world’s largest steel maker, plans to idle a US plant and lay off about 400 workers due to global economic turmoil that has dampened demand for the metal. The Luxembourg-based company said Tuesday it will suspend operations indefinitely at the Indiana Harbor Long Carbon facility in East Chicago, Illinois. The plant is part of a larger facility that employs about 5,000 union workers and hundreds of nonunion workers. The layoffs of union and management workers are expected to begin in about 60 days. The world economic crisis has hurt steel makers badly as consumers and steel-intensive industries rein in spending. ArcelorMittal said last week it would continue to freeze production while demand remains low for the metal used in everything from cars to buildings. It cut output by 45% late last year and planned to do the same early this year to reduce steel stocks. The plant to be idled makes steel bar used in autos and heavy equipment. The larger Indiana Harbor works includes several other facilities, including blast furnaces and mills that will not be affected. “The global economic downturn has caused a reduction in the demand for the company’s products,” ArcelorMittal said in a statement. “This indefinite closure and corresponding layoffs reflect measures the company is being forced to take around the world to adapt to the market’s situation.” Jim Robinson, director of United Steel Workers District 7, said the union had been notified of the layoffs and that about 400 workers would be affected. An electric furnace and 12-inch bar mill will be idled, he said. “Obviously, this is not a good situation,” he said. “Just another unfortunate reason we need to take every possible action to get this economy back up and running.” As of 31 December, ArcelorMittal employed 315,867 people, with about 12% of them in North America. Other steel companies have taken similar steps to cut production and lower costs during the recession. United States Steel Corp., the largest US-based steel company, has laid off thousands of workers since late last year, when demand and prices for steel plummeted. US-traded shares of ArcelorMittal fell $1.19, or 4.4% to $26.03 Tuesday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:59 am Rupee dips 18 paise against dollarRupee depreciated by 18 paise to 50.06 against the US currency in early trade today on raised concerns of fresh capital outflows by funds from the domestic bourses.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:46 am Tech Mahindra raises $55 mln via comm paper-sources - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:45 am Sensex falls 248 pts in early trade on Infosys' resultsSensex fell by over 248 points in early trade on emergence of selling by funds after IT major Infosys announced a disappointing Q4 earnings.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:37 am Infosys Q4 net up 29%, forecasts weak FY2010Bangalore: Infosys Technologies Ltd, reported a stronger-than-expected 29% rise in quarterly profit but gave a downbeat forecast in dollar terms for the current fiscal year amid slowing outsourcing momentum and price pressure. India’s second-largest software services exporter forecast revenue for the year ending March 2010 would fall 3.1-6.7% to between $4.35 billion and $4.52 billion, after rising 11.7% last year and after growing by more than 30% over the past few years. “The pricing for the quarter declined by 3%,” SDShibulal, chief operating officer, said in a statement. India’s $60 billion outsourcing sector, which provides an array of services from software coding to managing computer networks and call centres, face headwinds such as weak demand, cut-rate prices and rising competition from global rivals. The sector has also been dented by a large accounting fraud at Satyam Computer Services. On Monday, mid-sized Indian outsourcer Tech Mahindra won an auction for a controlling stake in Satyam. After the acquisition, Tech Mahindra will become the country’s No. 4 IT services exporter, and could be in a stronger position to compete for large deals with leader Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and third-ranked Wipro. Infosys, which develops applications, designs supply chains and offers back-office services, said net profit rose to Rs1613 crore billion ($323 million) in January-March, its fiscal fourth quarter, from 12.49 billion reported a year ago. A Reuters poll of 13 brokerages had estimated a net profit of Rs1,566 crore billion for Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs, Philips Electronics, and BT Group among its clients. An army of English-speaking engineers and cheaper wages has driven an outsourcing boom in India, but turmoil in global markets and a recession in the United States, which accounts for more than half the sector’s revenue, have halted the scorching pace of growth. Shares in Infosys, valued at more than $16 billion in the market, jumped 19% in Jan-March, outperforming a nearly 3% gain in the sector index and a nearly 1.0% rise in the main index. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:28 am Polling for 1st phase of LS elections tomorrowNew Delhi: The fate of RJD’s Lalu Prasad, BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao will be decided on Thursday in the polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections that was marked by bitter exchanges between petulant politicians. A total of 124 constituencies spread over 15 states and two Union Territories will go to the polls with a total electorate of 14.31 crores. The polling would be held from 07:00am to 05:00pm in most constituencies and in naxal-infested areas. Prominent among those seeking election to the lower house of Parliament in the first phase are Congress’ Renuka Chowdhury and Shashi Tharoor, actress Vijayasanthi, NTR’s daughter D Purandeswari and former union minister B Dattatreya. While all 20 seats in Kerala, 11 in Chhattisgarh and two in Meghalaya would go to polls in a single phase on Thursday, polling would be held in 13 out of 40 seats in Bihar, 16 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra 13 out of 48, Andhra Pradesh 22 out of 42, Jharkhand 6 out of 14, Orissa 10 out of 21, Assam 3 out of 14, Arunachal Pradesh 2 out of 2, Manipur 1 out of 2 and Jammu and Kashmir 1 out of 6. The lone seats in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Mizoram and Nagaland would also be covered. Voters casting their vote in the first phase will have to wait for more than a month for the results as counting will be taken up only on 16 May. Elections are also simultaneously being held to 154 assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 70 assembly seats in Orissa in the first phase. A total of 1,715 candidates, including 122 women, are seeking elections to the Lok Sabha. The polling would be held across 1.85 lakh election stations. As has become customary, voters would be exercising their franchise through electronic voting machines (EVMs). The campaigning for the first phase of the polls, which ended on Tuesday, was mostly peaceful but verbally violent. with politicians making personal attacks. The highlight remains Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s retort to the repeated attacks by his BJP rival L K Advani, who had called him the “weakest”, and Varun Gandhi’s alleged hate-speech in the Lok Sabha constituency of Pilibhit. Varun has since given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that he would not make any speeches that incite communal passions. The Supreme Court will be hearing the matter on Thursday when parts of the country would already be voting to decide who would go to Lok Sabha. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:27 am Sensex rebounds, up 89 pointsAfter a weak start, Sensex today gained nearly 89 points at 1130 hrs on emergence of fresh buying by funds and retail investors.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 5:06 am Company Update: Pantaloon Retail - Livemint
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 4:57 am Infosys Q4 net dips 1.71% at Rs 1,613 crGlobal economic slowdown and the consequent pricing pressure pulled down the net profit of Infosys Technologies by marginally 1.71 per cent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Apr 2009 | 4:52 am Infosys Q4 net dips 1.71% at Rs 1,613crWhile the IT major's net profit dipped by 1.71% for the fourth quarter over the corresponding period last year, it posted a 28.53% YoY growth for FY '09.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 Apr 2009 | 4:31 am Yahoo to cut hundreds of jobsSan Francisco: Yahoo Inc is preparing to lay off several hundred workers in the first round of cuts since Carol Bartz became chief executive in January, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The layoffs could be announced next Tuesday, when Yahoo reports its first-quarter financial results, according to the source, who wished to remain anonymous because of the issue’s sensitivity. Yahoo’s last round of layoffs was in December, under former CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. The company, which is the No. 2 US Internet search provider, finished 2008 with roughly 13,600 employees, down by more than 1,600 employees from the third quarter of 2008. Yahoo declined to comment on the planned layoffs, first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday. The cuts would come almost two months after Bartz implemented a broad internal management reorganization and as Yahoo explores partnerships to help revive its growth. Yahoo and Microsoft Corp met recently to discuss a deal involving the company’s search business, according to a source familiar with the matter who wished to remain anonymous. The search company has projected that sales in the first quarter could be down as much as 16 percent at $1.53 billion. Shares of Yahoo were up 3 cents at $14.10 in after hours trade. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 4:25 am Yahoo to cut hundreds of jobsSan Francisco: Yahoo Inc is preparing to lay off several hundred workers in the first round of cuts since Carol Bartz became chief executive in January, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. The layoffs could be announced next Tuesday, when Yahoo reports its first-quarter financial results, according to the source, who wished to remain anonymous because of the issue’s sensitivity. Yahoo’s last round of layoffs was in December, under former CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. The company, which is the No. 2 US Internet search provider, finished 2008 with roughly 13,600 employees, down by more than 1,600 employees from the third quarter of 2008. Yahoo declined to comment on the planned layoffs, first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday. The cuts would come almost two months after Bartz implemented a broad internal management reorganization and as Yahoo explores partnerships to help revive its growth. Yahoo and Microsoft Corp met recently to discuss a deal involving the company’s search business, according to a source familiar with the matter who wished to remain anonymous. The search company has projected that sales in the first quarter could be down as much as 16 percent at $1.53 billion. Shares of Yahoo were up 3 cents at $14.10 in after hours trade. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Apr 2009 | 4:25 am Allahabad Bank targets 21% growth in biz - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 Apr 2009 | 3:36 am Earnings may decline, sales flatten out for March quarterIt is time for a reality check after the euphoric 34 per cent rise in stock markets over the past five weeks.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am DoT asked to explain concerns raised by CVCNew Delhi, April 14 The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the Department of Telecom to submit facts relating to concerns raised by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) against DoT’s decision to give new telecom licences on aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Moral hazard in Satyam resurrectionIn 1983, the Government of India passed legislation taking over sick textile mills in the then Bombay a year after the workers had begun what was to become the world’s longest strike. In its preamble, the Textiles Undertakings (Taking Over ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Consolidated Construction Consortium (Rs 127.50): BuyWe recommend a buy on Consolidated Construction Consortium (CCCL) stock from a short term trading perspective. It is clearly apparent from the charts of CCCL that it was on an intermediate-term downtrend from August 2008 high of Rs 634 to anSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am M&M earmarks Rs 100 cr for new tractor rangeMumbai, April 14 Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector, which manufactures tractors, is investing Rs 100 crore on product development this fiscal.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Russia offers India role in uranium centre projectNew Delhi, April 14 Russia has offered India the option of participating in its International Uranium Enrichment Centre (IUEC) at Angarsk, Siberia as a means of securing guaranteed fuel supplies in the future.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Tech Mahindra to form Integration TeamHyderabad, April 14 Tech Mahindra, which has emerged as the successful bidder to acquire Satyam Computer Services, is likely to form an Integration Team soon with representatives from departments such as human resources, finance and key businessSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Reliance Pharma unit ‘reconfigured’Mumbai, April 14 The fledgling Reliance Pharmaceuticals Ltd seems to be having teething problems.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am It’s a cliff-hanger in KeralaThiruvananthapuram: Even as one of the most keenly observed election campaigns ended in Kerala on Tuesday, a number of opinion surveys were already predicting a victory for the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF)Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Apr 2009 | 12:00 am Essar Oil delays shutdown of its Gujarat refinery by 3 days!Essar Oil has delayed a planned shutdown of its refinery in Gujarat by three days to April 16.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm Satyam to delist ADS from Euronext Amsterdam!Satyam Computer on Tuesday said it would delist its American Depositary Shares from NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam due to financial and legal pressures and has started the process for the same.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm `Worst is over; India on recovery path in 2-3 quarters`!The worst is over for India and in the next two to three quarters from now the economy would be on its path of recovery, global financial services major Macquarie said.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm Pantaloon March sales up 30%, Biyani to roll out more stores!Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group firm Pantaloon Retail India has witnessed an over 30 per cent rise in sales from its value, home and lifestyle retailing segments in March 2009.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm FMCG cos to see 15% revenue growth in March qtr: Analysts!Major FMCG companies are likely to report a 15 per cent revenue growth in the March quarter, on the back of price hikes and increase in demand in rural markets, analysts say.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm TDSAT issues notice to TRAI over termination charges!The telecom tribunal TDSAT has issued notice to sectoral regulator TRAI over the latter`s recent regulation reducing mobile termination charges to 20 paise per minute.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm Workers `sucking up` is bad for business: Experts!If there`s a bit more false flattery and loud enthusiasm at the office than usual, don`t be surprised.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm Mittal keen to sell half stake in Kazakh oil field to OVL!Steel czar Lakshmi N Mittal is keen on selling half of his stake in a Kazakhstan oil field to state-run ONGC Videsh Ltd to tide over the severe financial constraint affecting his planned expansion in energy sector.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm `Dell to roll out smartphones in China by year end`!Dell, the world`s No. 2 PC brand, plans to enter the lucrative but crowded smartphone market by the year-end with an initial rollout in China as it looks for new revenue sources, two analysts said on Tuesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm India Inc likely to post 77% growth in PAT in FY`10: CMIE!India Inc may not have done well in terms of PAT growth in the previous fiscal, but FY`10 could see it clocking a robust growth rate of over 77 per cent in PAT, an economic think-tank has projected in its latest report.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Apr 2009 | 11:20 pm Subhiksha debt recast near overCash-strapped retail chain Subhiksha expects its ongoing corporate debt restructuring to be complete this month.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Apr 2009 | 10:22 pm Motown suffers a bout of C sicknessC-plus segment sedans such as Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Skoda Octavia and Laura and Chevrolet Optra have taken a massive hit.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Apr 2009 | 10:22 pm Deal value of mid-sized M&As plunges 62.5%The economic meltdown seems to have hit merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in India hard.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Apr 2009 | 10:20 pm Satyam's accounts lack information: AnalystsPost the Tech Mahindra-Satyam deal - the biggest buyout deal in the Indian IT sector this year - analysts are handicapped by the lack of information about the fraud-hit company.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Apr 2009 | 8:27 pm Infosys's outlook to set the tone for earningsThis time, market players will be looking not so much at the net profit or revenue the Bangalore-headquartered firm would report for the fourth quarter, but at its guidance for the current fiscal.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 14 Apr 2009 | 8:26 pm Finding utility in the jumble of twittered thoughtsSan Francisco: The first reaction that many people have to Twitter is befuddlement. Why would they want to read short messages about what someone ate for breakfast?  Streaming messages: Evan Williams (left) and Biz Stone, Twitter’s founders, at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Twitter can be a surprisingly useful problem-solving Web service. Companies are using Twitter for sales pitches, getting feedback from customers. Peter DaSilva / NYT Individually, many of those 140-character tweets seem inane. But taken collectively, the stream of messages can turn Twitter into a surprisingly useful tool for solving problems and providing insights into the digital mood. By tapping into the world’s collective brain, researchers of all kinds have found that if they make the effort to dig through the mundane comments, the live conversations offer an early glimpse into public sentiment—and even help them shape it. Companies such as Starbucks Corp., Whole Foods Market Inc. and Dell Inc. can see what their customers are thinking as they use a product, and the companies can adapt their marketing accordingly. Last week in Moldova, protesters used Twitter as a rallying tool while outsiders peered at their tweets to understand what was happening in that little-known country. And over the weekend, Amazon.com learnt how important it was to respond to the Twitter audience. After one author noticed that Amazon had reclassified books with gay and lesbian themes as adult and removed them from the main search and sales rankings, a protest broke out on blogs and Twitter. The company felt compelled to respond despite the Easter holiday, initially saying the problem was due to a “glitch in our system” but later blaming a “ham-fisted cataloguing error” that affected at least 57,000 books dealing with health and sex. Companies are using Twitter for sales pitches, getting feedback from customers Pairing sensors with Twitter leads some to think Twitter could be used to send home security alerts or tell doctors when a patient’s blood sugar or heart rate climbs too high. In the aggregate, such real-time data streams could aid medical researchers. Already doctors use Twitter to ask for help and share information about procedures. At Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, surgeons and residents twittered throughout a recent operation to remove a brain tumour from a 47-year-old man who has seizures. “A portion of the skull is being removed to allow access to the dura, the lining of the brain,” an early tweet said. Medical residents and curious laymen following online asked the doctors what music they were listening to (Loreena McKennitt, a Celtic singer), whether the patient felt pain in the brain (no, just pressure) and how big the tumour was (the size of a golf ball). As is convention on Twitter, they tagged all their tweets with a keyword so anyone could search for the keyword and read the stream of posts. “Twitter lets people know what’s going on about things they care about instantly, as it happens,” said Evan Williams, Twitter’s chief executive and co-founder. “In the best cases, Twitter makes people smarter and faster and more efficient.” Williams, along with the other founders, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey, first envisioned Twitter as an easy way to stay in touch with people you already know. In 2006, when Twitter was just starting, the three men felt a small earthquake in San Francisco. They each reached for their phones to twitter about it and discovered tweets from others in the city. At that moment, it dawned on them that Twitter might be most useful for something else—a frontline news report, not just for friends, but for anyone reading. Indeed, the news-gathering promise of Twitter was most evident during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November and when a jetliner landed in the Hudson river in January. People were twittering from the scenes before reporters arrived. The attention the service received helped it nearly double the number of new users in the last month, making Twitter the third largest online social network, behind Facebook and MySpace, according to Compete, a Web analytics firm. “Twitter reverses the notion of the group,” said Paul Saffo, the Silicon Valley futurist. “Instead of creating the group you want, you send it and the group self-assembles.” Corporations often use Twitter for sales pitches. Intuit Inc. monitors Twitter for people writing about Mint.com, a personal finance website that competes with its Quicken Online service. Intuit then writes to them and offers its service. (Mint.com is not connected with this newspaper.) Even small businesses find Twitter useful. For example, Mary F. Jenn, of True Massage and Wellness in San Francisco, twitters when masseuses have same-day openings in their schedules and offers discounts. The spa is often fully booked within several hours. But Twitter’s most productive use has been for businesses that want to peer into the minds of their customers, reading their immediate reactions to a product. Dell noticed customers complaining on Twitter that the apostrophe and return keys were too close together on the Dell Mini 9 laptop. So Dell fixed the problem on the Dell Mini 10. At Starbucks, customers used to complain by leaving notes in suggestion boxes. Now they can also post their complaints or suggestions on Twitter, where Brad Nelson, who writes the company’s Twitter updates, tracks what people are saying about Starbucks online. Last month, rumours surfaced that Starbucks would not send coffee to troops in Iraq in protest against the war. Nelson shot them down, twittering, “This is not true. Get the facts here,” with a link to Starbucks’ refutation of the rumour. Some developers are creating tools to help companies keep an eye on the buzz. Akshay Java, a scientist at Microsoft Corp., is trying to figure out a way to identify which experts are most influential on given topics by automatically analysing the content of their tweets and who is in their Twitter network. Companies such as Microsoft could use that information to figure out which twitterers they should contact to create buzz about a new product. However, for Twitter to be truly useful as a research tool, more people will have to start using it. If it collected a more representative slice of what the world is thinking, Twitter could enable academics and scientists to track epidemics, for instance. To make that easier, Twitter will soon add a search box to the home page so users can search for terms like earthquake or flu and get any tweets about those topics in their Twitter feeds. To continue growing, Twitter will also need to earn meaningful revenue, which the two-year-old company has yet to do. Twitter hopes to charge companies for features that help them communicate with and learn more about their customers, the founders said. As the company taps into the $35 million (around Rs175 crore) it recently raised from two venture capital firms in Silicon Valley—on top of the $20 million it previously raised—Williams sees evidence that Twitter has started to find a more utility-minded, mainstream audience. He points to people using it to find gasoline in Atlanta during a gas shortage last fall. “It was so far from sharing what you had for breakfast—yet it only works because it’s the same place where people talk about breakfast,” Williams said. ©2009/The NEW YORK TIMES Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Apr 2009 | 7:45 pm Centre to review security threatThe Centre has decided to take a fresh look at the threat perception from the Naxalites and other ultra groups to mines owned by both the government as well as the private sector across the country, in the backdrop of the Naxalite attack on the bauxite mines of Nalco.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Apr 2009 | 6:44 pm Tiger issue tamed, Wadias get Britannia from DanoneFrench dairy major Groupe Danone and Mumbai-based Wadia Group today gave the finishing touches to a pact to end their 13-year-old joint venture for running Britannia Industries, India's largest food products firm. With it, they buried their bitter intellectual property disputer over the Tiger brand.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Apr 2009 | 6:43 pm Scared Nalco workers being goaded to returnThe company says there will be no impact on the overall operations.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Apr 2009 | 6:43 pm Grupo Mexico counters Sterlite, againOffers $1.3 billion for Asarco, Sterlite may revise payment pattern.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Apr 2009 | 6:42 pm Insurers, MFs commit Rs 875 cr to Tech MahindraInternal accruals, bridge loans to help fund Satyam deal.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Apr 2009 | 6:41 pm Science and Technology | Indian scientists sequence fish genomeNew Delhi: Scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory, have sequenced the genome of a fish, which, because of its similarity to the human genome, holds several clues to identifying genes that cause diseases in human beings. Vinod Scaria, IGIB scientist, said that the wild zebrafish strain analysed, was a first of it’s kind genome analysis in India. “To my knowledge, it’s the first time that a vertebrate’s whole genome has been analysed in an Indian lab,” said Scaria. Globally, scientists have studied zebrafish genomes before, but Scaria said these were mostly hybrids cloned in labs. “Studying a wild type strain is vital to understand the complete genetic variation within a species. Without that it’s not possible to determine which genes are responsible for certain diseases,” he added. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Apr 2009 | 6:17 pm Iran expects major energy deals with Europe, IndiaTehran: Iran expects to finalize two energy contracts totalling $7 billion with an unnamed European firm and India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC), state broadcaster IRIB said on Tuesday. Citing Mahmoud Zirakchian-zadeh, managing director of Iranian Offshore Oil Co., IRIB said the contracts would be signed in the near future, without elaborating. Zirakchian-zadeh did not name the European firm which he said had completed a development plan for the offshore Lavan natural gas field in the Gulf. “We are now involved in serious negotiation on the contract’s financial aspects,” he told IRIB, estimating the investment at $4 billion. Major European firms France’s Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. have delayed or scrapped plans for multi-billion-dollar natural gas export projects in Iran, which is under UN and US sanctions over its disputed nuclear work. The Lavan gas field, which was discovered in 2003, has in place reserves of around 10 trillion cubic feet. Zirakchian-zadeh also said ONGC had completed a development plan for the Farzad gas field, which forms part of the Farsi block in the Gulf, and that “contractual and financial negotiations” are under way. That investment would amount to $3 billion, he said. Separately, state television quoted him as saying ONGC had discovered an offshore oilfield, Binaloud, in the Farsi block with one billion barrels of in-place reserves of heavy crude. In November in New Delhi, an official at a firm holding a stake in the block said Iran had approved the commercial viability of natural gas production at the Farsi block operated by Indian firms. The official, who declined being named, said then the firms would submit a $3 billion development plan to Tehran. ONGC and Indian Oil Corp. Ltd each hold a 40% interest in the block, while Oil India Ltd has the rest. It is operated by ONGC’s overseas arm ONGC Videsh Ltd. The block is estimated to hold recoverable gas reserves of 12.8 trillion cubic feet. Iran is drawing interest from Indian and Chinese firms keen to tap the world’s second largest reserves of oil and gas and are less susceptible than many other companies to Western pressure over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 14 Apr 2009 | 5:31 pm
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