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SBI cuts deposit rates by 25 bps acrossState Bank of India has revised the Deposit rates downwards by 25 bps in all maturities effective from 4th May 2009.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 4:15 pm Alliance with Fiat \'a bittersweet conclusion\': ChryslerUS President Barack Obama has announced that Chrysler has struck an alliance with Fiat but would be put through a quick surgical bankruptcy to bring it back into shape. Chryslers Chairman and CEO, Bob Nardelli said, it\'s a bitter sweet conclusion. He thinks, Breathing new life into Chrysler is what it is all about.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 1:36 pm Volatility: Experts on how to benefit from itWe talked about beta i.e. the fact that you should be looking at stocks that give you greater volatility compared to the market and this time we are drilling it down to the volatility factor itself.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 12:56 pm Gulf Air to cancel Jet lease deal!Bahrain`s national carrier Gulf Air has walked away from a deal to lease four Boeing 777 aircraft from India`s Jet Airways, citing economic conditions.Source: Zee News : Business | 2 May 2009 | 12:20 pm Oil hits 4-wk high as consumer confidence improves!Oil prices rose more than USD 2 a barrel on Friday to hit a four-week high on support from improved US consumer confidence and further evidence of record levels of compliance by OPEC with its agreed output cuts.Source: Zee News : Business | 2 May 2009 | 12:20 pm Citigroup may need $10 billion more: Report!US bank Citigroup may need to raise up to USD 10 billion in new capital as the government of President Barack Obama continues talks with banks over the results of its "stress tests," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 2 May 2009 | 12:20 pm US economy stabilizing, Chrysler fights to survive!US consumer confidence soared in April but Japan slipped into deflation and Britain`s efforts to pump cash into its financial system showed little success, signalling on Friday the global downturn is far from over.Source: Zee News : Business | 2 May 2009 | 12:20 pm Former AIG head Greenberg to sell AIG shares!Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former head of AIG Inc, which was rescued by a federal bailout, has agreed to sell his nearly 12.9 million shares of AIG to Starr International Co, according to an agreement filed on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 2 May 2009 | 12:20 pm Stanchart eyes organic growth, not acquisitionsNUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Standard Chartered PLC is looking to organic growth and not acquisitions to drive its growth, a company official said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 May 2009 | 12:16 pm SBI cuts deposit rates by 25 basis pointsMUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, said on Saturday it has cut deposit rates by 25 basis points with effect from Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 May 2009 | 12:09 pm Ranbaxy recalls Nitrofurantoin Capsules in U.S.MUMBAI (Reuters) - India-based drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories said on Saturday it is recalling all lots of Nitrofurantoin Capsules, an antibiotic, currently in the U.S. market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 May 2009 | 11:45 am Auto makers report encouraging growth in April - domain-B
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 11:45 am Bajaj posts 26.27% fall in motorcycle sales in AprilTwo-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto on Saturday reported a 26.27% fall in its motorcycle sales at 1,49,733 units in April as against 2,03,081 units in the same month last year.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 May 2009 | 11:19 am SBI slashes deposit rates by 0.25% from MondayWith this, one-year to less than two-year deposits will now attract a rate of 7.5% as against 7.75% earlier, SBI said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 May 2009 | 11:14 am Gold falls on weak global cues, silver gains Rs 200Gold prices on Saturday declined by Rs 10 to Rs 14,480 per 10 gram in the bullion market here following weak global trends.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 May 2009 | 11:10 am Obama hopes virus ‘like ordinary flu’Washington: Scores more schools shut down around the country because of the swine flu virus at week’s end as federal officials closely watched developments as at least two dozen new cases of swine flu were reported. President Barack Obama, whose administration has taken a high profile to offer reassurances and advice about the threat, expressed hopes the swine flu will run its course “like ordinary flus.” Health officials suggested the virus now appears less ominous than it did at first. “I’m optimistic that we’re going to be able to manage this effectively,” Obama said Friday. But he said the federal government is preparing as if the worst is still to come so that it won’t be caught flat-footed. “This is a new strain of the flu virus, and because we haven’t developed an immunity to it, it has more potential to cause us harm,” the president said in his radio and Internet address Saturday. “Unlike the various strains of animal flu that have emerged in the past, it’s a flu that is spreading from human to human. This creates the potential for a pandemic, which is why we are acting quickly and aggressively.” The government issued new guidance for schools with confirmed cases, saying they should close for at least 14 days because children can be contagious for seven to 10 days from when they get sick. That means parents can expect to have children at home for longer than previously thought. The Education Department said that more than 430 schools had closed, affecting about 245,000 children in 18 states. That was about 100 more schools reported closed than reported on Thursday. The latest developments in the flu scare more intense in neighboring Mexico than in the United States came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the virus had been confirmed in more US states. Confirmed cases had risen from 109 on Thursday to 141 Friday, the CDC said, with the flu reported in about double the number of states as the 11 reported Thursday. The US death toll remained at one the Mexican toddler who visited Texas with his family and died there. Mexico has confirmed more than 300 swine flu cases and has 16 confirmed deaths, although reports have indicated that roughly 120 may have died from it. Worldwide, the total confirmed cases numbered close to 600, although officials believe there are many more. The CDC said that the virus was continuing to spread, though no faster than the rate of the regular winter flu. “We think the cases do continue to occur,” said CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat. But CDC also said the new swine flu virus lacks genes that made the 1918 pandemic strain so deadly. While emphasizing at a news conference that the closures to date represent a tiny fraction of the almost 100,000 schools in the country, Duncan instructed teachers, parents and students to be prepared if their school does close. To teachers, Duncan said: “Think about reworking upcoming lesson plans so students can do their schoolwork at home if necessary.” To parents: “Learn about what they’re learning at school. Keep them on task.” And to students: “Don’t fall behind your peers at other schools that are still in session. Keep working hard.” Major US airlines announced plans to curtail flights into flu-ravaged Mexico. Many travelers have become increasingly concerned about going to Mexico, though authorities there said new cases were leveling off. US travelers have been advised to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico. Continental Airlines Inc., the biggest US carrier to Mexico, said Friday it would halve the number of seats it sells to fly there. Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines also announced plans for reduced flights to Mexico, while smaller carriers were following suit. Though most US cases have been relatively mild and have not required a doctor’s visit, US precautions include shipping millions of doses of anti-flu drugs to states in case they’re needed, replenishing the US strategic stockpile with millions more treatment courses, and shipping 400,000 treatment courses to Mexico. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 May 2009 | 11:07 am Flu fighters warn against complacency, seek cluesMexico: The leader of an international team helping Mexico face down the swine flu outbreak said it should soon learn whether the epidemic is really stabilizing in Mexico, but that many key questions about how the disease kills still need to be answered. Dr. Steve Waterman, the head of a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also warned against taking false comfort from the fact that only one person has died outside Mexico, saying more deaths are likely as the epidemic evolves. “That is the big question: Is it stabilizing or not? And it is too early to say, but I think we are getting systems in place where we are going to be able to get a handle on this soon,” Waterman, standing amid CDC doctors and specialists at the Mexico City nerve center where officials are confronting the outbreak, said Friday. Mexican officials have been cautiously optimistic that the worst is over here, even as the government took additional protective measures Friday by beginning a five-day shutdown of all nonessential government and private business. In Washington, even president Barack Obama voiced hope Friday that the new virus may turn out to be no more harmful than the average seasonal flu. “It may turn out that H1N1 runs its course like ordinary flus, in which case we will have prepared and we won’t need all these preparations,” Obama said, using the flu’s scientific name. In New York City, which has the most confirmed swine flu cases in the United States with 49, swine flu has not spread far beyond cases linked to one Roman Catholic school. The US case count rose to 155 on Friday, based on federal and state tallies, although state laboratory operators believe the number is higher because they are not testing all suspected cases. Worldwide, the total confirmed cases were 653, with the real number also believed to be much larger. The virus has also been detected in Canada, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Israel and eight European nations. China was suspending flights from Mexico to Shanghai because a case of swine flu was confirmed in a passenger on a flight from Mexico, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Hundreds of Hong Kong hotel guests and workers were quarantined after a tourist from Mexico tested positive for swine flu, Asia’s first confirmed case. Waterman, whose team is working with Mexican officials, said the scientists are trying to determine the mortality rate of the virus, and don’t yet know where it started or why. But he and other experts said it appeared the outbreak could have been far more deadly, particularly in the teeming streets of Mexico’s capital. “The virus has been circulating for over a month in a city of 20 million of high population density. It could have been much worse,” said CDC epidemiologist Marc-Alain Widdowson. Waterman agreed that the virus does not appear to match the ferocity of past killers. “Most people think it is unlikely this is going to be as virulent as the 1918 epidemic. From what we know so far, it doesn’t seem like it is as virulent,” he said. The two CDC doctors spoke during a tour of Mexico’s Intelligence Unit for Health Emergencies, the operations center of the country’s response to the disease. Teams of doctors and scientists sat at laptops monitoring the outbreak in real time. Plasma screens enabled frequent video conference calls with leaders from the Atlanta-based CDC, the World Health Organization and other institutions. Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, deputy director general of epidemiology at the center, underscored the importance of getting fast and effective care. He said that among the 16 confirmed swine flu deaths in Mexico, the average time the victims waited before going to a doctor was seven days. For those who were sickened but recovered, the average wait was three days. Lopez-Gatell said that even before the swine flu outbreak, Mexican authorities had been monitoring a higher-than-usual number of flu cases and an unusual phenomenon in which otherwise healthy young adults were falling ill with pneumonia in greater numbers. There had been 15 flu outbreaks in this year’s flu season, as opposed to the 5 or 6 that Mexico normally sees. He said that put Mexico on guard and led to a fast reaction when unexplained illnesses began in March. Despite some international criticism of the Mexican response, Lopez-Gatell said no mistakes were made. “We would have done everything the same if we had it to do over again,” he said. Asked why the swine flu death rate is so high in Mexico while only one person is known to have died elsewhere, Waterman said that is one of the key questions they are trying to answer. One of the main reasons, they believe, is that there are a lot more people in Mexico who are sick than in other countries. “The reason they haven’t had any deaths, if the mortality rate is 1 percent and you only have 20 cases, you haven’t had time to see that mortality yet,” he said. He said many infected Mexicans may also have sought help too late to be treated successfully. Friday was Mexico’s Labor Day, which is normally a raucous day in the capital as the Paseo de la Reforma boulevard fills with hundreds of thousands of boisterous marchers headed to the central Zocalo square. This time, only a few tourists wandered down its broad sidewalks, lined with shuttered shops, banks and office towers. “I’m going crazy in my house with this confinement,” retiree Rocio Lara said of the shutdown of most businesses and other gathering places. “There is nowhere to go, nowhere to spend your time.” Associated Press writers David B. Caruso and Malcolm Ritter in New York, Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Juan Carlos Llorca in Mexico City contributed to this report. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 May 2009 | 10:28 am Jet shuts down offices outside India, lays off staff - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 9:36 am Govt files affidavit in SC on black moneyNew Delhi: Government today filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the action taken by it on the issue of black money stashed in foreign banks. The affidavit was filed in response to a PIL filed by former law minister and eminent jurist Ram Jethmalani and five others who have been seeking a direction for the government to take action to bring back money to the tune of Rs70 lakh crore stashed in foreign banks. When the petition was mentioned on 22 April before a Bench headed by chief justice K G Balakrishnan, additional solicitor general Gopal Subramanium had questioned the timing of raising the issue when the elections were underway. Though the apex court had not issued notice, it had posted the matter for hearing on 4 May after the ASG had promised to file the affidavit within 48 hours. He had said that action was already taken on the issue when it came to light in February 2008 and “the situation is totally under control”. Besides Jethmalani, five others including former Punjab DGP K P S Gill and former secretary general of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, who are petitioners, have alleged that government was not taking action on the issue. However, the ASG had refuted the allegation saying that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his opening speech at the recent G-20 submit in London, had said that “there should be an absolute transparency and banking secrecy should be over”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 May 2009 | 9:34 am Auto makers enter new fiscal on a positive noteThe top two car manufacturers started the current fiscal on a positive note with the sales figures going up in April. For Maruti Suzuki, the sales grew by 15 per cent to 71,748 on a yearonyear basis.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 9:08 am Jet Air issues pink slips to 100 employeesIn yet another move of streamlining costs, Mr Naresh Goyalowned Jet Airways has terminated contracts of 50odd cabin crew staff who were on probation, and about 50 contracts of employees who have superannuated.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 9:07 am Tata Motors to bring Jaguar, Land Rover to IndiaMore than a year after Tata Motors acquired Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR), the two British car brands are entering the Indian market through an exclusive marketing tieup with their Indian parent.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 9:04 am DoT panel mulls new 2G spectrum pricing formulaThe committee set up by the Department of Telecom to review the spectrum allocation policy has come up with a new formula to impose a onetime fee from existing players with more than 6.2 Mhz.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 2 May 2009 | 9:00 am Recession in India, Europe drives Cadbury salesSales of Cadbury have increased in Britain, India and South Africa but declined in North America and Europe.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 May 2009 | 8:57 am Tata Land Rover and Jaguar to arrive soon in India - AutoTantra.in
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 8:56 am Citi may need $10 bn in new capital: ReportCitigroup may need to raise additional capital to the tune of USD 10 billion, as the Federal government continues negotiations with banks.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 May 2009 | 8:18 am Markets inch past last week's closeIndian equities markets crawled past last week's closing figure at the end of a truncated week, which saw global markets' indices rise smartly. A key index ended trade Wednesday at 11,403.25 points, 0.65 percent higher than the previous weekly close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 2 May 2009 | 8:02 am Dabur unveils fruit beverage ‘Real Burrst' - ImagesFood.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 7:30 am Boston Globe gets reprieve, deadline extendedNew York: The Boston Globe will stay alive, at least through the weekend, after its management and a key union made progress in negotiations over cost cuts, a spokesman for the paper said early Saturday morning. The Globe’s parent company, the New York Times Co, extended a deadline to get concessions from the Boston Newspaper Guild to Sunday, 3 May, at midnight. “Because there has been progress on reaching needed cost savings, The Boston Globe will extend the deadline for reaching complete agreements with its unions,” spokesman Robert Powers said in a statement. The Times had set Friday as a deadline for concessions it said were crucial to keeping the 137-year-old paper alive. The Times has threatened to shut the paper, which it said could lose $85 million this year. The Boston Newspaper Guild met the Globe’s management in Weymouth, Massachusetts, southeast of Boston, on Friday night to discuss cost cuts at the paper. “We have given the New York Times Company and Globe management proposals for deep cuts to our members’ pay and benefits that we believe will save The Boston Globe,” Daniel Totten, the guild’s president, said in a statement. The guild did not provide specifics of the proposals. Closely watched saga People in the Boston region as well as many more throughout the United States have been closely following the twists and turns in the Globe’s saga. Two US big-city dailies have closed this year, and others still might. If the Globe closed, it would be the most prominent U.S. newspaper so far to shut down and the biggest victim of changes wrought by the weak economy and changing reader habits in the 21st century. The threat has prompted a groundswell of support from readers who cherish the paper, including Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, who wrote to New York Times Co Chairman Arthur Sulzberger to urge that he find a solution to keep the paper alive. The Times Co is looking for $20 million in concessions from the Globe’s unions that it says are necessary to reduce costs at the paper. It has imposed other cost cuts at its other properties, including at its flagship paper. The Times is trying to save money to help pay off debt as advertising revenue, its lifeblood, falls at its papers. Most other US newspapers are suffering too as more people get news online and the recession crimps ad spending. Some major city dailies, including Hearst Corp’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer and EW Scripps Co’s Rocky Mountain News, have shut this year because of financial troubles. The Globe has been a trouble spot for the Times. The company bought the paper for $1.1 billion in 1993, but since then it has been wracked by big declines in retail and other kinds of advertising. The Times has not said whether it would sell the Globe, and the names of potential buyers that have surfaced disappeared just as quickly. It is trying to sell one another local holding, a 17.75 percent stake in the holding company that owns the Boston Red Sox. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 May 2009 | 7:20 am Ranbaxy recalls Nitrofurantoin capsulesMumbai: Drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories Saturday said it has recalled all lots of Nitrofurantoin Capsules, used in the treatment of infections. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Ranbaxy Labs said Ranbaxy Pharmaceutical Inc (RPI), a wholly-owned US subsidiary of the company, has recalled all lots of Nitrofurantoin (Monohydrate/Macrocrystals) Capsules, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 100 mg, available in the market there. USP is an official public standards —setting authority for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines and other health care products manufactured or sold in the US. The company has said it is conducting a voluntary recall of all lots of capsules. “Although certain lots of the products were determined to not be in conformity with the approved laboratory specifications, the company decided to recall all the lots, as a matter of abundant caution,” the filing added. The recall is being conducted in coordination with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and would be a retail level recall, it added. Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc is engaged in the sale and distribution of generic and branded prescription products in the US, it said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 May 2009 | 7:18 am Boston Globe gets reprieve, deadline extendedNEW YORK (Reuters) - The Boston Globe will stay alive, at least through the weekend, after its management and a key union made progress in negotiations over cost cuts, a spokesman for the paper said early Saturday morning.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 May 2009 | 6:34 am Sensex continues its forward march; touches 6-1/2 month highHectic short-coverings on the last day of April series helped the benchmark Sensex to close in the positive terrain at a six-and-a-half month high of 11,403.25 during the truncated week under review, completing its straight eight-week of winning string.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 May 2009 | 6:31 am Swine flu gives the jitters to Indian tourismAlready reeling under the impact of global recession, India's travel and trade industry is afraid of being dealt a double blow by swine flu - which has hit the Western world and is said to be the worst health crisis in 90 years.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 2 May 2009 | 6:00 am Govt appoints Arvind Jadhav as CMD - India Infoline.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 5:28 am Special 301 tag stays - Express Buzz
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 5:08 am Chrysler files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - India Infoline.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 2 May 2009 | 4:50 am India Inc’s profitability improves in March quarterCorporate India’s net profits in the fourth quarter were slightly better compared with the immediately preceding quarter.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am Markets this weekIndian bourses ended mixed on Monday, driven by volatile trading, owing to expiry of near-month derivative contracts. The weak Asian markets on account of the scare over outbreak of swine flu also triggered the sellingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am Jet Air issues pink slips to 100 employeesMumbai, May 1 In yet another move of streamlining costs, Mr Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways has terminated contracts of 50-odd cabin crew staff who were on probation, and about 50 contracts of employees who haveSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am Panel to look at options on DLF AssetsDLF Ltd has formed a Committee of Independent Directors to look at options for DLF with regard to its relationship with DAL. It is learnt that Mr K.N. Memani, Mr M.M. Sabharwal, Dr D.V. Kapur and Mr Ravinder Narain will be on the committee whichSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am DLF Q4 net plummets 93% on demand slumpDLF Ltd’s consolidated net profit fell 93 per cent for the fourth quarter ended March 2009, hurt by reduced demand for property, price resets and suspension of sales to DLF Assets Ltd (DAL).Source: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am NPAs of pvt banks rise, public sector banks witness declineConcerns about rising bad loans have weighed on the stocks of most banks in recent months. The March numbers show that while new private banks have reported higher non-performing assets, PSU banks have actually seen a reduction in NPAs for theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am Auto makers enter new fiscal on a positive noteMumbai, May 1 The top two car manufacturers started the current fiscal on a positive note with the sales figures going up in April. For Maruti Suzuki, the sales grew by 15 per cent to 71,748 on a year-on-year basis.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am Why Chrysler found India elusiveMumbai, May 1 Chrysler’s inability to enter the Indian automobile market can be attributed to a combination of bad luck and a failed alliance with Daimler of Germany. And as the American carmaker filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am DoT panel mulls new 2G spectrum pricing formulaNew Delhi, May 1 The committee set up by the Department of Telecom to review the spectrum allocation policy has come up with a new formula to impose a one-time fee from existing players with more than 6.2 Mhz.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am IT vendors’ average earnings per customer improveBangalore, May 1 Though the weak economy has led to a decline in new clients’ addition, Indian IT vendors have improved average earnings per client by selling a higher mix of services while strengthening focus on existingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 May 2009 | 12:00 am Gulf Air to cancel Jet Airways lease dealBahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has walked away from a deal to lease four Boeing 777 aircraft from India's Jet Airways, citing economic conditions.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 May 2009 | 11:58 pm Bangalored: the city’s slowdown storiesSource: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 11:39 pm U.S. economy stabilizing, Chrysler fights to surviveNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence soared in April but Japan slipped into deflation and Britain's efforts to pump cash into its financial system showed little success, signaling on Friday the global downturn is far from over.Source: Reuters: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 11:09 pm Oil hits 4-wk high as consumer confidence improvesNEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than $2 a barrel on Friday to hit a four-week high on support from improved U.S. consumer confidence and further evidence of record levels of compliance by OPEC with its agreed output cuts.Source: Reuters: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 11:01 pm Wall St Week Ahead - Stress tests, Bernanke, flu to dominateBy Ellis Mnyandu (Reuters) - U.S. stocks keep proving the naysayers wrong, as major averages continue to gain despite expectations for the recent rally's demise. And next week may be no different.Source: Reuters: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 10:59 pm SC dismisses AAI staff's appeal against transfer - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 1 May 2009 | 10:29 pm 'Our $1 billion investment in India is on track'Like its rival Oracle, enterprise solution major SAP is improving margins and is reinventing its business to suit the current market environment.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 9:49 pm GHCL says Pramod Jain indulged in insider tradeJain, who holds over 6% of GHCL, had recently alleged that he was barred from attending the company's board meeting on April 30.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 9:49 pm Banks take a hard look at lending to microfinance firmsThe microfinance sector, which was considered to be recession proof, has also become a victim of the economic slowdown.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 9:47 pm So the Ponzi scheme will endUltimately, all Ponzi schemes come to an end.The fourth-quarter results of DLF, the country's largest real estate company, prove just that.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 9:45 pm And now, Jag with an Indian tagFrom next month, you can buy a Jaguar in India. And a Land Rover. If half a crore or a crore is loose change for youSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 9:43 pm Trade gap pierces $100-bn markThe widely disparate rates of growth in exports and imports in the last fiscal led to a sharp increase in the trade deficit.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 9:43 pm The poor pay more for water than the richNew Delhi: The inability of the poor to pay is the primary reason politicians give against privatization of water supply services. But in India’s capital, it is the poor that sometimes pay more, with government inertia spawning a massive private water supply operation. This is the last in a three-part series on the politics of water in the country. The sound of water falling into a bucket is the signal for 37-year-old Ramhet and his neighbours to wake up at night and rush to join the queue to collect water. Also Read Earlier parts of the water series Ramhet, who uses only one name, is a resident of Sangam Vihar, a sprawling, mostly low-income, south Delhi neighbourhood that city officials call unauthorized; it means it is not sanctioned by the city’s planners or the state government. Listen to a resident talk about the water supply problem in Sangam Vihar And because it is deemed unauthorized, most households of this locality aren’t connected to the network of state water utility Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Result: growth of illegal, private water supply operations. Rashid Khan, another Sangam Vihar resident, says he and his family depend on water piped twice a week by “a private contractor” into his small home. The contractor charges between Rs300 and Rs500 a month from a family, depending on its size, he says.  Hefty bills: Slum children queue up to fill water from a Delhi Jal Board tanker. Most households in New Delhi’s Sangam Vihar spend Rs300-500 a month for buying water from private suppliers. Ramesh Pathania / Mint In Delhi, plans to privatize the government-run water utility have met with widespread protests from non-governmental organizations and local leaders. The water situation in Sangam Vihar is clearly an example of a paradox in urban water supply in India—the government subsidizes water supply but these are extended only to those that have metered connections, something that the poorest of the poor in cities do not have. This means, people such as Ramhet, who earn about Rs5,000 a month, pay Rs350 a month for water, while people in affluent localities pay as low as Rs100 per month. “It is a fact that it is the poor that are paying the most. But the payment is in distress, not by choice. In Delhi, there is no democratic distribution. There is no need-based distribution,” admits Delhi Jal Board chief executive officer Ramesh Negi. Some of the so-called private contractors in Sangam Vihar have dug borewells and connected them to several houses in the locality through water-supply pipes, according to residents. One side effect of the borewells is a depleting water table. Across Delhi, the water table has fallen by some 2-8m in the past one decade, according to Centre for Science and Environment, or CSE, a city-based non-profit organization. Around 236 sq. km area of south Delhi has seen the water table falling 1.10m every year, CSE says. According to Usha P. Raghupathi, a professor at National Institute for Urban Affairs, a New Delhi-based think tank, until two years ago, her water bill was in the range of Rs20-Rs30 a month. “I spend Rs100 on petrol a day. We don’t need the subsidy.” Raghupathi currently pays between Rs200 and Rs250 a month for water for a household of three people, less than Ramhet and his family of four. Raghupathi says most of the noise to increase water tariffs is made by people who can afford to pay. “Willingness to pay depends on how acute the need is. It is not the capacity to pay,” says Raghupathi. Most arguments against the privatization of water revolve around two central themes: water is a common resource that should be with the state, and privatizing a monopoly will lead to sharp increase in user charges. For Ramhet and his neighbours, the lack of metered water connections is emblematic of a deeper malaise. As increased immigration forces people like him to move to the cities, it is creating a floating population with little or no papers and, therefore, little voice. Gesturing to the motley vessels, Ramhet says, “These are all the vessels we have....” Most of them held paint or engine oil in an earlier avatar. “Ye bartan hi nibhate hain (These vessels are what sustain us),” says Pradeep Kumar, Ramhet’s neighbour. “Sometimes, they stay empty. And in the summers, don’t even ask,” Ramhet adds. When asked whether he had ever voted, Pradeep Kumar says, “(Once) my name came on the voters’ list... They even sent me the voting slip. I thought, ‘this time, let’s go vote’. But I didn’t have an identity card. They said, if you don’t have an identity card, then go back.” After all, officially, Sangam Vihar doesn’t even exist. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 9:32 pm Retailers in slump, but franchisees on hiring bingeAccording to an industry expert, cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are the indisputable destinations where franchisors want to have their footprint.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 8:51 pm Patent office lets Roche keep Hepatitis C drugAccording to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as many as 180 million people worldwide have been infected by the hepatitis C virus.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 8:48 pm CPM fumes over new pension ad - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 1 May 2009 | 7:37 pm Indian stocks 2nd best performers among Bric in AprilNew Delhi: Following a sharp recovery in the equity markets, Indian stocks have emerged as the second best performers as compared to their peers in three other Bric nations - Brazil, Russia and China, giving close to 20% return in April. According to an analysis of MSCI Barra indices, a measure of returns from various stock markets across the world for foreign investors, Indian stocks have given the second highest return after Russia among the four Bric countries during last month. Click here to watch video Indian stocks have provided a return of nearly 19.54% in April, while China and Brazilian markets have given 10.87% and 18.89% respectively. However, Russian equities have managed to outperform the Indian stocks in the month as it provided investors with a positive return of over 21%, as per the analysis of performances of Morgan Stanley Composite Indices (MSCI) for various nations. The 30-share benchmark index of Indian stocks, Sensex, gained close to 1,700 points in the month of April to settle at 11,403.25 points on 29 April. Indian stocks have even outperformed the MSCI Barra’s emerging market index, which includes all the developing world markets, giving returns to foreign investors to the tune of 16.28% in the month. After losing nearly 50% in the past one year, Indian stocks have gained close to 18% in the first four months. Further, Indian equities have provided negative returns of over 5% in the past three years, while taking into account the last five years, they had given positive 11.26% returns and just about 12% in the 10 years period. Besides, the emerging markets other than the Bric nations have also performed significantly better in the past month with Indonesian stocks giving the highest returns of over 30% in the period. Other emerging markets which provided around 20% returns in the period include - Korea, Hungary, Turkey and Poland. Meanwhile, the developed markets have also performed significantly better in the reviewed month with the US, Japan, Austria, UK giving returns between nine to 12%. The best performing developed markets in April were Finland and Sweden. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 7:16 pm Samsung eyes 30% growthConsumer electronics major Samsung is eyeing a 30% growth to achieve a turnover of $2 billion on the back of new products like LED TVs and mobile phones this year.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 May 2009 | 7:15 pm Pharma cos take dietary route to evade price capCompanies have found innovative ways to escape government's price control regulations, and raise medicine prices by four to five times, jacking up the consumers' medical bill.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 May 2009 | 7:15 pm JLR in India by JuneTata Motors announced that it will drive Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) marques into India in June, around one year after it brought the brands from struggling US carmaker Ford.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 May 2009 | 7:15 pm Salaries will be delayed: Jet airwaysNaresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways has informed its employees that their salaries for April will be delayed by a few days.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 May 2009 | 7:15 pm Jet lays off 169 more staffersJet Airways on Friday laid off 119 employees from its overseas base and 50 probationary cabin crew serving in the Indian skies.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 May 2009 | 7:10 pm ‘Respond quickly, massively, decisively in financial crisis’Mumbai: Managing director and country head, Morgan Stanley, India, Narayan Ramachandran, spoke about the stock market scenario, the current rally and where it is likely to go in the coming months. Edited excerpts: Do you think that inflection has happened? If the question is, are we done with the lows, I suspect the answer is very plausibly yes.  Lessons learnt: Narayan Ramachandran says the current rally will last when everybody begins to believe that this is a brand new bull market. AFP The most important risk is that in the West the actions that have been taken are not enough in magnitude and perhaps in the type of action. For example, some people believe that the back-end loading of the fiscal stimulus is not sufficient and it should be more front-end loaded. How much probability would you attach to the view that we now go through a phase of recovery but maybe six months later we have another down leg? You know we have been playing alphabetical soups, V shape, U shape, W shape. I guess the shape you are talking about is the W shape, which is that we recover and then we go back to a tailspin. I somehow think that markets will get to that point even quicker than six months from now. I think this to me represents, one, a base process and, two, also a rally relative to abysmal expectations. So it’s more that, than a severe new recovery or deterioration in the economic fundamentals. I don’t expect severe deterioration in economic fundamentals even in the West, so I don’t think the W shape. I think we sort of taper off for a while, so (it’s) dullness more than return to panic. Dullness equals ranging markets for a while? Absolutely. In my view May-October would be a ranging market with a trend which is possibly downward because we have probably overdone the expectation rally. But we are not going to revisit the old flows? Exactly. So a sort of a corridor rally or corridor trading for a while, and hopefully at that point, emerging markets in particular are able to show that even though they may not have the resilience to operate at the same rate, they have the resilience to operate at a new but still positive rate. So for example, that rate in China may not be 10% but 8%, and in India 6% rather than 9% at peak or 4.5%-5% at the bottom. If you have seen the worst of the bear market but you are not in the bull market yet, can you look back into history and also give us your perspective of how the environment is. How long this phase of twilight between the bear and the bull markets can actually extend? Twilight it’s actually an interesting term. Actually there is not much historical precedence of this, so most of the bear market that we have seen in our career have been fairly typical—inflation goes up, interest rates have to go up with inflation that brings the whole thing down after a little while and you respond with monetary stimulus and things work. The expectation, of course, is the depression in the 30s and what happened to Japan and Sweden and a couple of small countries. The twilight in Japan, many would think, has not ended yet, and the twilight ended in the depression with a little cloud, if I stretch the metaphor a bit because for 10 years nothing much happened. Then you had the war. So I think the lesson we have learnt from this sort of deflationary credit financial sector crisis is that you respond quickly, massively, decisively with monetary policy, preventing bank failures and allowing bank recaps. But the next step is fiscal stimulus and how to get it back on track. Frankly we don’t have enough evidence and if you must go by past evidence, it is not a good sign because the war in effect produced a fiscal stimulus of the magnitude of several 10s of percent of GDP. Now the real question is can it have a smooth flight after having lost altitude and I sort of have to believe it can. How are the technicals loaded globally now? I am not much of a technical guy and frankly I think technicals are not practised much outside of certain emerging markets, India being one. Frankly, one of the additional risks is whether the rally will go on or not. There’s a fair degree of scepticism that this is not a rally to participate in. This rally will last when everybody begins to believe that this is a brand new bull market. Maybe it’s (the downturn) over, maybe there is some scepticism, so maybe there is some little left on the sentiment that everybody hasn’t bought in. Maybe a month ago you would be absolutely right that a lot of money was left on the sidelines but I’m not sure that’s true today because they have been catching up relatively quickly in terms of putting that money to work and trying to catch a fair bit of this rally. But part of the logic for why we don’t revisit the lows is that at some number—lets call it 10% down from here—the residual cash and the residual risk, whatever is left in the system, begins to say is that, hey listen, I have seen a higher number in the midst of difficulty. Maybe it’s not too bad to buy at 10% lower than where we are now. Is the Indian election a big factor or do you don’t think it’s not a game changing kind of thing? I must be one of the few people who actually believe it doesn’t matter too much. I think in the world over democracies have figured out how to be somewhere in the middle and not cause too much pain to large countries. I must be one of the very few people who believe that the Indian election, barring a fantastically improbable outcome, will not much matter in the long run. How do you approach the market now? Depends on the horizon. I have been saying right from 14,000 (points of the benchmark Sensex index) down to 8,000 back to 11,000 on a three-year view that the markets would buy. But importantly, that means you have the institutional staying power because often the decisions are made by consensus to last (out) some difficult periods. Still, it is an opportunity to participate in a lot of a long-term things that we were only speaking about 6-12 months ago as being so good and positive for a country like India. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 7:09 pm Bangalore beats Punjab by 8 runsDurban: Roelof van der Merwe scored 35 runs and took two wickets to steer the Bangalore Royal Challengers to an eight-run win over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League match on Friday. The South African all-rounder hit three sixes and three boundaries to help Bangalore to 145-9, dominating a 44-run partnership with Praveen Kumar (9 not out) after Bangalore was in trouble at 84-6. Also ReadIPL Team Analysis Van der Merwe then took 2-22 off three overs as Punjab was held to 137-7 at Kingsmead. “Roelof batted well for us,” Bangalore captain Anil Kumble said. “Everyone rallied around him and it got us in a good position.” Punjab needed 13 runs from the final over, but Kumar had Irfan Pathan caught on 12 by Virat Kohli off a full toss and bowled Piyush Chawla for 3 on the penultimate ball of the match. Kumar finished with 2-27, while captain Anil Kumble claimed 2-25. Yuvraj Singh scored 50 for Punjab to add to his earlier hat trick to win the man-of-the-match award. Yuvraj hit three boundaries and four sixes in 34 balls, sharing an opening stand of 70 with Karan Goel (20 off 29 balls) before he was dismissed by Kumble attempting to sweep a full toss to be caught by Kallis at deep midwicket in the 10th over. “We needed a few partnerships ... that did not happen,” Yuvraj said. “The wicket got slower. (But) you can’t blame the wicket, you need to play good cricket.” Kumble, who led Bangalore ahead of Jacques Kallis after Kevin Pietersen’s departure for England, said: “Yuvraj wanted pace on the ball, so I took the pace away and it worked.” Punjab bowler Yusuf Abdulla took 4-36, including a maiden, to become the leading wicket-taker in the IPL with 13 dismissals. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 7:09 pm Exports slump 33% in March, up 3.4% in FY09 - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 1 May 2009 | 7:07 pm Rise in DLF shares unexplained Market expectations of the size of the company’s land bank have also been cut drastically in recent months. The company has withdrawn from two large projects, bringing down total developable area from 751 million sq. ft to 425 million sq. ft. The company has said it is contemplating similar action in long-gestation projects and assets. This is a step in the right direction. On one hand, demand for property has dropped significantly. On the other, the company’s balance sheet is already getting stretched. Also See Steep Gain (Graphic) Needless to say, most analysts factor in a further fall in property prices across the country, and this would continue to exert pressure on revenues and profit. The markets’ worry, however, is not so much that the size of large real estate developers is falling, but whether these companies would remain solvent. DLF seems to be taking drastic steps to induce sales and generate cash. While new project launches had come to a near standstill since late last year, the fourth quarter had new launches in affordable housing and an unusual step of cutting prices on apartments that had already been sold at higher prices. The company sold 450 units in its affordable housing segment in the March quarter, and a recent launch in New Delhi has resulted in sales of 1,356 units. But developers have little choice but to cut prices, since demand continues to come in a trickle at current property prices and also because of their stretched balance sheets. While companies have been able to reschedule a large chunk of their debt repayments, financial institutions are likely to put pressure on them to generate cash flows to support debt servicing obligations. While many prospective property buyers are adopting the wait-and-watch approach, developers can ill afford doing so for long. In the March quarter, the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization stood at Rs383.6 crore, more than adequate to cover the the interest charges of Rs162.5 crore. But if one were to exclude the other income of Rs229.1 crore, the company’s interest cover ratio falls to below one. It’s important to note that interest charges have risen by 73% compared with the December quarter, as a result of higher debt as well as higher interest rates. Unless the company aggressively targets new sales in the coming quarters, the situation would get even more precarious. The company’s decision to lower prices of homes sold earlier at higher rates resulted in a hit of Rs688 crore in revenue and Rs302 crore in profit. While this is a first in the realty market and shows that bargaining power is clearly on the side of buyers, it’s a positive step by the company to induce further sales. It is even taking other steps such as the proposed disposal of its wind power business. While there are these positive factors, it still doesn’t explain the steep 70% rise in the company’s shares from its lows in mid-March. With news flow expected to be negative for most of this fiscal, investors’ high hopes could come to a naught. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:55 pm Sales in months ahead critical for DLF: analystsNew Delhi: Realty analysts in the country say it is critical for DLF Ltd, India’s top real estate firm by market value, to revive sales and cash flows in the next two quarters failing which, they say, the firm may be forced to start selling chunks of its land holdings and sharply reduce home prices. The developer’s plans to make good receivables from DLF Assets Ltd (DAL), a firm owned by the realty firm’s promoter family, will weigh heavily on its shares, they added.  Stretched resources? A DLF residential complex in Gurgaon. Rajkumar / Mint A survey of six analysts by Mint last week had projected that DLF’s net profit would decline 38.59% and revenue shrink by 35.86%. DLF’s performance in Q4 to 31 March was worse. In that quarter, it posted a 93% decline in net profit at Rs159 crore, from Rs2,177 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue in the quarter declined by 69% to Rs1,351 crore. Also Read Rise in DLF shares unexplained One analyst projected a vicious circle ahead for DLF. “If the status quo continues, DLF will not be able to generate cash in which situation they may miss deadlines on project completion...and to generate cash flows, they will have to start selling land or refund their buyers if projects get delayed,” this analyst, working at a domestic brokerage firm, said on condition of anonymity. “Sales need to happen for DLF to generate cash and if it does not happen at current price levels, they will have to bring down prices further.” In an emailed statement, DLF said that around 450 flats in its so-called affordable housing segment have been booked across India at the end of Q4. “DLF has already reduced prices at some of its projects—the only company to do so—and we might see some more price reduction at its other projects during the next few quarters,” another analyst with a domestic brokerage firm, who too requested anonymity, said. “The company might also sell some of its land and other assets, but that would be mainly to bring down its debt position.” DLF, which did not release any data for Q4 other than a press statement, had debt of around Rs15,525 crore at the end of the December quarter. The firm has in the past released detailed financial data through a presentation on its website, but that was not available until late evening on Friday. Analysts expressed concern over DAL, a firm that buys completed projects from the developer and is majority-owned by the family of DLF chairman K.P. Singh. DLF, which stopped sales to DAL in Q4, has not delivered to the promoter firm the amount of constructed space originally planned, the firm said in the statement, adding DLF had received nearly Rs800 crore as advance from DAL in the quarter. It was not immediately clear if this had brought down the money DAL owes DLF, which as of end-December totalled Rs5,500 crore. Since its founding a little over two years ago, DAL has received a funding of $1.15 billion (Rs5,773 crore today), in total from Symphony Capital Llc., DE Shaw and Co. Lp and Lehman Brothers Holdings Ltd. Symphony acquired Lehman’s stake in DAL in November last year. In March, there were reports that DLF was buying DE Shaw’s stake in DAL or merging DAL with itself. It has so far declined comment on such rumours. “Till the time DLF sorts out the DAL issue, we will not revisit our rating on DLF,” an analyst with an international brokerage firm, who did not want to be identified, said. The firm has an underperform rating on DLF. Analysts attribute the sharp fall in net profit for Q4 and the year end to DLF’s suspension of sales to DAL. “We will not have a visibility on future earnings of DLF till the DAL issue is sorted out,” the analyst said. “The company needs to clarify on DAL.” A fourth analyst, again at a domestic brokerage firm, said he expected both revenues and profits to “decline sharply in the next few quarters” since sales to DAL were not taking place. “...the market is now looking at what DAL owes to DLF and what kind of structure DLF is going to come up with for DAL. Either way, there will be a loss in valuation of DAL and (investors) want DLF promoters to take the entire loss in valuation.” shabana.h@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:53 pm Everything you want to know about the New Pension SchemeFrom today, Indians will have access to another investment avenue to plan for retirement in the New Pension Scheme (NPS). The scheme has been in the pipeline for at least five years but it finally took shape in 2007-08. Although the government was pushing for the scheme after a law providing statutory backing to the regulator was enacted, the Left parties, which were supporting the UPA government, did not allow the passage of the Bill.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 1 May 2009 | 6:48 pm Tata Steel plans to restructure Corus' Europe operationsPlants in Spain, France and the Netherlands under review.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 1 May 2009 | 6:43 pm India set to build Medium Combat AircraftWith Indias home-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) the Tejas flying successfully through its testing process, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has now signed up for an indigenous Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA). Within days, the IAF and a team of aircraft designers will formally set up a joint committee to frame the specifications for Indias own MCA, which will be built largely in Bangalore.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 1 May 2009 | 6:41 pm Swine flu | More airports under check; govt says it is preparedNew Delhi: The government on Friday took emergency measures to prevent an outbreak of the dreaded swine flu—now being referred to as A/H1N1 influenza—at the insistence of the meat lobby, by setting up surveillance teams to screen passengers at six more airports across the country, an official told a news conference. In Hong Kong, authorities sealed a hotel after a Mexican staying in it was found infected with the flu. The new airports in India under surveillance are Goa, Amritsar, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Tiruchirappalli and Srinagar. So far, screening was being done at the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports. Vineet Choudhry, joint secretary at the ministry of health, said almost 250,000 capsules of antiviral oseltamivir and at least 100,000 triple-layer surgical masks are being dispatched to the states. Meanwhile, V.M. Katoch, director general of Indian Council of Medical Research, said Indian scientists now have the primer, or the genetic sequence, of the H1N1 virus based on the information sent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US. “The primer helps us to amplify the gene of the virus. We have now got the sequence of the virus and can artificially synthesize it. The virus sequence will now enable us to detect and diagnose the H1N1 virus in India,” said Katoch. He also said that if the need arises, the government would, as had been done during the outbreak of avian influenza, prepare a vaccine for the prevention of H1N1 influenza through the synthetically prepared strain of the virus. “The virus that has been identified at present is a combination of human, avian and possibly a pig virus, but we are not certain of its origin,” said Katoch. He added that there is no need for the culling of pigs since the World Health Organization has said that pigs are not the cause of the flu outbreak. Manufacturers have assured the department of pharmaceuticals that besides the 10 million doses being made available to the government, they will be able to supply any quantity of the antiviral drug to the government in four-six weeks, Choudhry said. “Currently we are spending Rs30 crore for these medicines.” However, these will not be made available through retail stores in order to avoid their overuse, thus leading to drug resistance. “The drug is prohibited for sale in India and will only be provided through government channels,” Choudhry said. An official statement said a total of 17,949 passengers have been screened since Wednesday, and 96 doctors deployed at 32 counters at the airports. Studies on the virus have shown that once released by an infected person, it can travel across a maximum 6 ft. As of now, only one suspected case, In Hyderabad, has been reported in India. Reuters contributed to this story. radhieka.p@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:38 pm Revenue may be criteria for telecom feesNew Delhi: A committee studying spectrum usage charges paid by India’s mobile phone firms is likely to recommend that the government prescribe a uniform fee as a percentage of their gross revenues. This could replace the current regime of charging firms based on the amount of radio spectrum they hold or the wireless protocol their networks run on. For up to 4.4MHz of start-up spectrum, the companies presently pay 2% of what is called adjusted gross revenues (AGR) while for wireless usage rights of between 6.2MHz and 10MHz, they are required to pay 3% of AGR. AGR is gross revenues net of service tax and expenses related to interconnecting phone networks that do not go to the company holding the licence. A draft of the committee’s recommendation was reviewed by Mint. The department of telecommunications (DoT) has to approve the panel’s suggestions. If the suggestion is accepted, it will boost the levies the exchequer receives. The government received Rs829 crore as spectrum charges from phone firms in the quarter to 31 December, according to latest available data. “Current rules encourage operators to choose a technology based on rules that govern its use, not the inherent strength of the technology. This is unhealthy and goes against an important tenet of good regulation...which lets markets, not regulators, select winners,” said Mahesh Uppal, director at Com First (India) Pvt. Ltd, a communications consultancy. Separately, DoT is also looking at a uniform licence fee to replace the 6-10% of AGR levied based on the licensed area. shauvik.g@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:35 pm Auto sales shake off April curse to growMumbai: Vehicle sales in India, which grew in the first three months of 2009, continued the momentum in April, traditionally a lean month for sales, data released by leading auto makers on Friday showed, taking some analysts by surprise. Auto sales in the country contracted in the three months to December in line with a slowdown in the economy as a global financial crisis spread and risk-averse banks pulled back on lending. Commercial vehicles, mainly trucks and buses, where financing accounts for two of three units sold, were the worst hit, with sales halving in some months. While MarutiSuzuki India Ltd, which sells one in two cars bought in the country, sold 64,857 cars in the domestic market in April, a growth of 9% over last year, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the second largest car maker, reported sales of 22,247 units, an expansion of 3.5%. Both firms saw a significant improvement in their exports mainly on back of new models introduced primarily for these markets. Exports at Hyundai, led by its compact car i20, grew nearly one-fifth with 22,124 units. The A-star car did this for Maruti, which exported a total 6,891 cars, a growth of 146%. Both Maruti and Hyundai saw a cumulative (domestic sales plus exports) double-digit growth of 15% and 10.9%, respectively, in April this year over April 2008. The growth in sales in April for most auto makers, however, still lagged double-digit growth rates in the previous year, leading analysts to say that it was too early to call if a recovery was firmly under way. In April 2008, Maruti and Hyundai in India reported sales growth of 23% and 47%, respectively, over the year-ago month. According to data from industry body, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, companies sold a total of 1.3 million passenger vehicles, which includes cars, utility and multi utility vehicles in the year to March, a growth of 21.21% over 2007. They also sold 6.1 million motorcycles and scooters, a growth of 8%. Among the two-wheeler makers, HeroHonda Motors Ltd, the country’s top two-wheeler manufacturer by volumes, sold 370,575 units in April, a growth of 29.5% compared to the previous year. Smaller rival TVS Motor Co. Ltd registered a marginal increase of 3% in its cumulative sales with 113,119 units. Sales at Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, the local unit of Honda Motor Co. of Japan, went up 7.5% to 3,656 units. Growth was led by the company’s premium sedan, Honda City, of which it sold 2,801 units. Sales of utility vehicles at Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd also expanded 15% to 23,004 units in April. Auto sales in April, which is the first month of the current fiscal year, are traditionally lean as it follows the month with the highest demand or March, which is the last month for businesses to be able to avail of depreciation benefits on a vehicle asset such as a car or truck for that previous accounting year. The sales numbers at Hero Honda, then, took one analyst by surprise. “I am positively surprised by their sales numbers. This is despite the fact that they haven’t had any new launches since 2007, the year when they launched the Hunk,” said Mahantesh Sabarad, senior analyst with Centrum Broking Ltd. Other industry watchers too were surprised, though guarded in their optimism until the industrywide numbers are out. The demand in April, said Neeraj Bandhu, director (India) at CSM Worldwide, a market strategy and forecasting firm, could be the function of softening interest rates and improving customer sentiment as inflation continues to fall. “We had expected the actual turnaround to take place only in the third quarter of the current calendar year when the festive season begins,” he said. Bandhu also attributed the growth to the pent up demand for models such as the Swift DZire and Honda’s new City, which had a long waiting period that has now been addressed by the companies. shally.s@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:33 pm The perils of feeling goodThe big change in the 2000s wasn’t India’s super-charged growth, but the change this effected in the mindset of most Indians. From people who believed that all good things should come to an end, we transformed into people who wore our cheery optimism on our sleeves. In short, we acquired a typically sanguine Anglo-Saxon mindset. Events since last September, when it was irrefutably proved that such optimism isn’t always justified, haven’t changed the way we think. Not surprisingly, several banks, finance companies and economists are now convinced an economic recovery is imminent in India. While there’s a small chance that they are grounded in sound economic logic, it’s unlikely that this is the case. While this paper wouldn’t recommend a return to the era of a Hindu rate of growth, it is all for reviving the fatalistic mindset that characterized that period. That might actually help the country negotiate the slowdown better. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:32 pm Exports down 33.3%, most in 14 yearsNew Delhi: India’s merchandise exports in March declined for the sixth successive month on weak external demand from developed economies, denting hopes of an early economic revival. Exports which contribute around 16% to India’s gross domestic product (GDP), fell by 33.3% in March to $11.5 billion (Rs57,730 crore today), the sharpest fall since April 1995. Exports for the fiscal year 2008-09 touched $168.7 billion, recording a 3.4% growth in dollar terms and falling short of the government’s revised target of $170 billion, according to data released by the ministry of commerce and industry on Friday. Imports in March also declined for the third successive month. The decline, by 34% to $15.6 billion, was led by lower crude oil prices and weakening domestic demand. In fiscal year 2008-09, imports grew 14.3% to touch $287.7 billion. Also See Tumbling Trade (Graphic) Analysts say the numbers indicate that a sustained recovery of the Indian economy is still far away. “I am not expecting any significant recovery; rather, (I am) looking for stability in the short run. In current scenario, 5.5-6% GDP growth will be extremely beneficial for India,” said Indranil Pan, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. That’s a popular view. “I don’t see any sign of sustained recovery. Till October, industrial growth will remain subdued. Nobody is talking about factory output growth of over 5% in current scenario,” said Dharmakirti Joshi, principal economist at Crisil Ltd, a Standard and Poor’s company. Factory output data, which is scheduled to be released on 12 May, is expected to be better than the 1.2% contraction registered in February. In his exit interview to Mint, Arun Ramanathan, who retired as the finance secretary on Thursday, said that the economy could start recovering from October, but the head of an industry lobby group said the numbers released on Thursday indicated that demand in the economy was still week. Harsh Pati Singhania, president of industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the contraction in exports since October last remains an area of concern. “We are also concerned about the decline in non-oil imports for three successive months. This signifies rather weak demand in the economy.” Non-oil imports in March contracted 18.9% to $11.7 billion while oil imports shrank 58.1% to $3.8 billion. “The fall in non-oil imports in the fourth quarter (January to March) of 2008-09, if concentrated in the areas of machinery, equipment and project goods, would entail slowdown in industrial production and that is a matter of deep concern,” he added. A survey of professional forecasters, conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has cut its estimate of GDP growth rate to 5.7% for 2009-10, from the earlier 6%. The numbers indicate that a sustained recovery is far away: analysts The central bank, which on Tuesday unveils its growth forecast for the current fiscal year, said a slowdown in industrial production, deceleration in private consumption and investment demand, and declining exports are the big concerns facing the economy. Commenting on the trade data, A. Sakthivel, president of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo), said the fall in exports is due to the absence of demand, primarily on account of recession in the US, Europe and Japan. However, Sakthivel said the worst was over and that exports would pick up from July. “This is because the huge inventories in Europe are fast depleting and will be over by October.” The recovery, though, would be specific to some sectors, he added, and handicrafts, and gems and jewellery wouldn’t show an immediate improvement. Crisil’s Joshi doesn’t share Sakthivel’s optimism. “Europe is in a worse shape than (the) US. Hence, any demand pick-up in Europe may be more delayed. We are looking for a subdued export scenario with a growth rate of about 2-3% in 2009-10.” The International Monetary Fund has forecast global economic growth to contract 1.3% in 2009. It has also maintained that the volume of world trade is expected to dip in 2009 for the first time since 1982. Fieo expects India’s exports to touch $185 billion in 2009-10, a 10% growth over last year. Sakthivel said that the diversification of India’s export basket—with exports to Latin America, Africa and Asia helping—would see the country post better export figures. The trade deficit in March (the value of exports less imports) declined, but it grew 51% in 2008-09 over 2007-08. Experts say the fluctuation of the rupee, one factor responsible for this, could continue this year too. “The fate of the rupee will largely depend on capital flows. It will also depend on the outcome of general elections and an unstable government may put further pressure on it,” said Joshi. asit.m@livemint.com Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:31 pm Results | Info Edge March quarter net profit declines 11%New Delhi: Info Edge (India) Ltd, owner of job portal Naukri.com, posted on Thursday a 11.4% decline in net profit of Rs13.83 crore for the fourth quarter of 2008-09, hit by tough conditions in jobs and real estate sectors. The company had reported net profit of Rs15.61 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. Total income of the company declined 7.29% to Rs64.15 crore in the quarter under review compared with the year-ago period, a company statement said. For the fiscal ended 31 March, the company reported a 7.57% increase in net profit at Rs59.68 crore, compared with Rs55.48 crore in the previous fiscal. Total income increased by 14.24% to Rs245.16 crore in fiscal 2009 compared with Rs218.93 crore in the previous fiscal, the statement added. ********* NDTV Q4 net loss widens to Rs143 cr New Delhi: Media conglomerate New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) said on Friday its consolidated net loss widened to Rs143.47 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 March from Rs116.53 crore in the same period last fiscal. The consolidated income from operations rose marginally to Rs123.30 crore during the March quarter from Rs122.21 crore in the previous fiscal. On a stand-alone basis, NDTV posted a net loss of Rs44.74 crore during the quarter under review against a net profit of Rs3.31 crore in the year-ago period. Income from operations also fell by 71% to Rs84.13 crore in January-March quarter from Rs90.54 crore a year earlier, the company said in a statement. For the financial year ended 31 March, NDTV posted a net loss of Rs73.18 crore, whereas it had a net profit of Rs4.28 crore in ficsal 2008. — PTI ********* Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:09 pm Corporate | Suzlon pays 30 mn euro for REpower stakeNew Delhi: Suzlon Energy Ltd, India’s largest maker of wind turbines, paid €30 million (around Rs200 crore) to Martifer SGPS SA as part payment for a stake in a REpower Systems AG, the Portuguese company said in a statement on its website. The money was received on Thursday. Suzlon needs to pay the remaining €175 million this month to complete the purchase of the 22.4% stake in REpower, Martifer said. Suzlon paid €65 million in December as the first instalment for the stake, Martifer said. ********* Borge’s death: R-Adag officials get clean chit Mumbai: Railway police on Friday gave clean chit to three officials of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag), whose statements were recorded in connection with the death of Air Works India Engineering Pvt. Ltd technician Bharat Borge. These officials had met Borge at the Airworks hanger in Kalina on Monday, a day before he was found dead on the railway tracks in suburban Mumbai. Borge was the technician who found pebbles and gravels in the fuel tank of Anil Ambani’s helicopter. The officials who were given a clean chit are: security officer and former DGP, K.K. Kashyap, retired assistant commissioner of police Shailesh Kale and the company’s aviation security officer and Wing Commander (Retd) Sawla. — PTI ********* Promoters to hike stake in GHCL: Sanjay Dalmia New Delhi: Soda-ash maker Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd chairman Sanjay Dalmia said on Friday that promoters would increase their shareholding in the company from about 18% “to a comfortable level”, over the next six-eight months. The stake of Dalmia and other promoters, who have been barred by the Securities and Exchange Board of India from dealing in GHCL shares, has declined by about 30% in fiscal 2009. He said the idea behind increasing the shareholding was to consolidate the controlling stake. — PTI ********* Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 6:02 pm World Bank to lend Sidbi $400 mnNew Delhi: The Small Industries Development Bank of India, or Sidbi, will receive a $400 million (around Rs2,000 crore) additional financing loan from the World Bank to boost funding to micro, small and medium enterprises, which generate 45% of India’s manufacturing output. The World Bank’s board of directors gave its approval on 30 April, Bhama Krishnamurthy, Sidbi’s chief general manager, said. The loan will be used mainly for direct lending to small entrepreneurs. Sidbi also proposes to use the loan for refinancing purposes. “This will help in Sidbi’s endeavour to support the sector in larger measures and our branches will be able to go nearer to our customers,” Krishnamurthy said over phone from Mumbai. Sidbi is currently implementing a multi-agency development programme for the small and medium segment. It has already received a $120 million loan from the World Bank. It also has a technical assistance grant from the UK’s Department for International Development and Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 5:19 pm World Bank to lend Sidbi $400 mnNew Delhi: The Small Industries Development Bank of India, or Sidbi, will receive a $400 million (around Rs2,000 crore) additional financing loan from the World Bank to boost funding to micro, small and medium enterprises, which generate 45% of India’s manufacturing output. The World Bank’s board of directors gave its approval on 30 April, Bhama Krishnamurthy, Sidbi’s chief general manager, said. The loan will be used mainly for direct lending to small entrepreneurs. Sidbi also proposes to use the loan for refinancing purposes. “This will help in Sidbi’s endeavour to support the sector in larger measures and our branches will be able to go nearer to our customers,” Krishnamurthy said over phone from Mumbai. Sidbi is currently implementing a multi-agency development programme for the small and medium segment. It has already received a $120 million loan from the World Bank. It also has a technical assistance grant from the UK’s Department for International Development and Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 5:19 pm Jet Airways lays off 110 employeesIndia's leading private carrier Jet Airways handed over pink slips to 110 employees on the eve of May Day, the company said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 3:32 pm Arvind Jadhav named new Air India chairmanThe government Friday appointed Arvind Jadhav, a 1978 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, as the chairman of the state-run National Aviation Co of India Ltd (NACIL).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 2:33 pm Ambani chopper technician's death probe: Reliance officials quizzedInvestigations are underway into the mysterious death of aircraft technician Bharat Borge, who discovered the plot to sabotage industrialist Anil Ambani's chopper, and police have recorded the statements of several people, including at least two officials of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group (ADAG), an official said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 2:31 pm Chennai industrialist buys cinema multiplex for Rs.80 croreParamasivam Pillai, a city-based industrialist, purchased a landmark cinema multiplex here through public auction for over Rs.80 crore, its auctioneers said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 2:30 pm Apex court approves Mumbai and Delhi airport workers' transferThe Supreme Court Friday paved the way for mass transfer of over 3,000 workers of Delhi and Mumbai international airports outside the metropolises following privatisation of the two airports, if they do not want to work for private firms taking over the airports.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 2:01 pm Mahindra sales up 16.6 percentMahindra and Mahindra Ltd has posted a 16.6 percent increase in its domestic sales last month at 22,617 vehicles as against 18,447 units in April 2008.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 2:00 pm ANALYSIS - Fiat might be biting off more than it can chewBy Helen Massy-Beresford, European Autos CorrespondentSource: Reuters: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 12:10 pm FX reserves at $253.091 bln as on April 24MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves rose to $253.091 billion as on April 24, from $252.46 billion a week earlier, the central bank said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 1 May 2009 | 12:05 pm Insurers bank on marketing to beat new pension schemeLife insurers are depending on their strong distribution network to stave off the competition challenge posed by the cheaper National Pension Scheme (NPS) that was launched Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 12:00 pm GHCL's Dalmia hits back at major shareholderGujarat Heavy Chemicals (GHCL) promoter and chairman Sanjay Dalmia Friday hit back at a prominent shareholder over allegations of fudging accounts, among other things, saying the person himself was involved in profiting from insider trading activities.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 1 May 2009 | 12:00 pm Chrysler quick sale will test bankruptcy limitsNew York: Chrysler LLC’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy hinges on an increasingly popular restructuring move -- the early sale of core assets into a separate company -- and that move, while controversial, may end up being what makes it work. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection in Manhattan bankruptcy court on Thursday, saying it would sell its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands into a new company to be owned by the government, Italian carmaker Fiat SpA and Chrysler workers. That sale -- a ‘363 sale’ in bankruptcy-speak -- could see Chrysler emerge from bankruptcy as a successful company within a couple of months as it and the government have advertised. The rest of the company, however, could spend years in bankruptcy court as creditors fight over how to distribute the value left in the old company, said Stephen Lubben, a bankruptcy professor at Seton Hall Law School in New Jersey. “I think it probably will work. It seemed to have largely worked in Lehman Brothers, which is the same structure where you had a quick sale to Barclays of the main assets and then the remainder can kind of plod along through the normal bankruptcy process,” Lubben said. The sale trend is part of an increasing shift toward quick asset sales in bankruptcy and away from traditional bankruptcy reorganizations where companies restructured over several years. “More and more in this economic downturn, most cases now are a sale of assets and there are very few real restructurings,” said Deborah Thorne, a bankruptcy attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Chicago. Some Chrysler creditors do plan to object to the sale. A group of about 20 lenders argues that Chrysler’s plan to sell itself compensates creditors in a way that would not be typically allowed under the bankruptcy code. But high-pressure sales like this have been approved over objections in the past, Lubben said. “Just as in Lehman, I expect it to happen because they seem to have all the other major constituencies lined up, including the creditors in this particular class. It could be a very long kind of hearing but ... at the end of the day, the sale order will probably be entered,” Lubben said. The sale hearing is expected to happen in the next few weeks. Chrysler is giving itself more time than Lehman did to do the sale. “30 to 60 days is a generous model. Barclays was start to finish in 7 days,” said Steven Gross, Co-Chair of the Debevoise & Plimpton LLP’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring Group. In fact, negotiations are still ongoing with bondholders who did not back the plan, and they could reach a consensus at any time. Still, some experts said a quick bankruptcy would be difficult with so many different groups. “I can’t tell you how many times people say ‘quick’. It’s never quick. Delphi promised a quick one and they’re still in,” said David Bitterman, managing director at Huron Consulting Group. “That’s really been a disadvantage to the entire value of Delphi. The longer they’re in, the worse the outcome for everyone.” Auto parts maker Delphi Corp filed for bankruptcy in late 2005. Lining up the dip The fact that Chrysler has lined up $3.3 billion in debtor-in-possession financing and $4.7 billion in exit financing, both from the government, are important factors in its ability to emerge. The availability of bankruptcy filing has been very tight since last fall, making it more difficult for companies to both file for bankruptcy and then emerge. Delphi, which was spun off from General Motors Corp, is one example of a company that has been mired in bankruptcy because of a lack of funding and the contracting auto market. “I don’t think they would have any chance of what they are proposing, which is a short surgical bankruptcy -- without financing both DIP and exit, it would not even be feasible,” said Scott Peltz, a managing director at turnaround firm RSM McGladrey in Chicago. Bankruptcy is the best way to deal with the large range of issues the company faces, Peltz said, such as its collective bargaining agreements and other contracts. “It’s certainly not guaranteed, but it’s their best chance.” Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 1 May 2009 | 11:18 am
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