|
|
|
|
Ashok Leyland stutters but JNNURM bails it outIn FY09, Ashok Leyland\'s net profit fell 59% to Rs 190 crore but experts say this fall could have been worse if its bus business had not driven it to rescue.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 1:39 pm BandraWorli Sea Link to open in JuneAfter having delayed for years, Mumbai\'s new skyline, the cablestayed bridge sea link, is getting ready to open in June. The BandraWorli Sea Link, which was awarded to Hindustan Construction Company by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation in 2000, ran into various controversies over the years including writ petitions.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 1:34 pm Custom board orders transfer of 100 senior staffThe central board of excise and customs (CBEC) has issued transfer orders to 100 officers of the level of commissioner of central excise and customs. Sources in the CBEC have told CNBCTV18 that the orders are a part of the annual general transfer and are administrative in nature.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 1:29 pm Can think of supporting Congress, if approached: Amar - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 May 2009 | 1:04 pm Video story | India Inc hails UPA victory; expects faster reformsNew Delhi: India Inc on Saturday welcomed the poll verdict in favour of the UPA, saying the mandate is for a stable government that could pursue the economic reforms faster without worrying about the Left and “hotch-potch” partners. Click here to watch video Apex business chambers and leading industry leaders said the UPA’s decisive win was a verdict for the continuity of the Manmohan Singh government. Noted industrialist and UB group head Vijay Mallaya said victory by the Congress-led coalition “is a vote for stability... UPA need not worry about hotch-potch partners. Congress can clearly pursue ..its policies without the need to convince the Left”. Ficci president Harsh Pati Singhania said, “The industry is happy that we have a verdict which is clear and not fractured... This will help the government take quick and decisive action.” Happy that stability and continuity has been ensured by outcome of the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha, Singhania said,“Industry is now expecting faster reforms in the areas such as pensions, insurance, banking, education reforms, retail and labour reforms”. There could have been a rethinking on pension and insurance reforms had UPA not returned with a convincing victory, Singhania said. The UPA government, which depended on Left support for over four years, could not bring about reforms in the areas of pension and insurance. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, introduced in Lok Sabha in 2005 could not be passed. However, the government did a smart thing by introducing the insurance reforms bill in the Rajya Sabha towards the fag-end of its tenure to keep the draft legislation alive. The bill seeks to raise FDI cap in insurance from 26% to 49%. Assocham described the Lok Sabha election results “a vote for development” and hoped that UPA government would continue its social and economic agenda for inclusive growth. Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said the government’s flagship job guarantee programme seemed to have made a great impact in favour of UPA. After an anxious last week when there was a speculation of a close race between the NDA and the UPA, CII got satisfaction in the fact that the process of government formation would be quick enough. “It is a decisive victory. What the country needs is a stability and not uncertainty. There will be a quick formation of the government which is significant for the country and the economy,” CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said. Growing by an average 9% in the last four years, India has emerged as the second-fastest expanding economy in the world after China. However, under the impact of the global downturn, the economic expansion started decelerating since October 2008 with the previous fiscal estimated to have witnessed less than 7% growth. The industry would like increased public spendings for getting the economy back on the fast track. “(The) government needs to increase public spending to drive inclusive growth...there has to be a strong focus on infrastructure development, healthcare and education. There is also a need to address crisis of economic confidence,” pharmaceutical major Ranbaxy Lab managing director and CEO Malvinder Mohan Singh said. Exporters, who are facing a tough time due to the global economic downturn, are pinning their hopes on the UPA government. Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A Sakthivel said exporters would soon present the government an action plan to deal with the crisis in the export sector. Job-oriented export sector contributes close to 20% to the country’s GDP. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:50 pm India Inc upbeat as it sees stable government, push for reformsIndia Inc, too, has given its verdict: It has applauded the people's mandate that seeks the return of the Congress-led UPA government, hoping for stability in governance and a major push to economic reforms.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 16 May 2009 | 12:48 pm Audio story | Praja Rajyam slips from early projected leadsChiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) started counting day with a bang, with early projected leads that seemed to give him the party as many as six seats. But the vote share arithmetic now appears to give the PRP just two seats, including Chiranjeevi’s own constituency of Tirupathi. The votes he did get, however, played into the hands of the Congress, cutting down the share of the anti-incumbent votes that parties like the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) might otherwise have bagged. Meanwhile, a discrepancy crept in between the assembly projections and the Lok Sabha projections for Andhra Pradesh. The assembly elections saw a closer contest between the Congress and the TDP, even though the Congress surged forward far more easily in the Lok Sabha elections. To form the state government, the Congress is likely to reach out to independents as well as the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimmen (AIMIM). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:45 pm Audio story | Why did the Communists suffer?Across the nation, and even in traditional strongholds like Kerala and West Bengal, the Left parties suffered setbacks in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. None, perhaps, more symbolic than Kannur, in Kerala. Following the delimitation exercise, the political masters of the CPM in Kerala thought that Kannur, the home town of state party chief Pinarayi Vijayan, has become a formidable party bastion. Vijayan, who insisted on fielding one of his lieutenants K.K. Ragesh from this seat, superseding many other senior contendors in the party, was in for a rude shock. Ragesh lost by huge margin to Congress veteran K. Sudhakaran in one of the most humiliating defeats for the CPM in Kerala in recent times. A.P. Abdullakkutty, the CPM MP from the seat had recently joined the Congress and threw his weight behind Congress. Finally, the CPM is battered in its den. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:43 pm Taiwan, China to expand air links furtherTAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will begin regular flights with China in mid-July, the island's transport minister said on Saturday, a move that will benefit airlines on both sides and another sign of closer ties between the political rivals.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 12:41 pm Audio story | Dayanidhi Maran lashes out at the HinduAs the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam shot to a lead in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, Dayanidhi Maran lashed out repeatedly at the Hindu, in various television interviews and in an interview with Mint. Maran said that the Hindu’s editor N.Ram had repeatedly predicted a resounding defeat for the DMK -- by a margin as great as 39-0 -- and that he had been proven wrong. “The media should go elsewhere for its information” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:41 pm Audio story | Sri Lanka issue stirs no electoral chordsFor all the bluster by M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalitha over the last few weeks, each politician more eager than the other to declare that they would create a separate Eelam in Sri Lanka, the issue seems to have made little difference to how people voted. During the lead-up to the elections in Tamil Nadu, I spent some time on the ground, talking to voters and to individual candidates. Somehow, the emphasis never seemed to be on Sri Lanka. At least a couple of analysts told me that the economy would prove to be more important, and that seems to have been the case. Prices had climbed, agriculture in areas of the state had suffered, and industrial jobs were threatened because of the economic slowdown. On the day of the elections, the Chennai-based psephologist ”Cho.” Ramaswamy pointed out that Sri Lanka mattered very little, if at all, to the rural voters of Tamil Nadu. But Ramaswamy also alleged that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s strong performance in the state came solely on the basis of distribution of money, a tactic they had followed in the Thirumangalam by-election last year and that went completely unchecked by the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct. ”I do not see any other reason why the result should have come out like this,” Ramaswamy told Mint. “Tamil Nadu is now worse than Bihar.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:38 pm Congress says to carry out extensive reformsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Congress party will carry out extensive economic reforms, a spokesman said on Saturday, after the ruling party-led coalition's win in a general election.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 12:37 pm Audio story | Priya Dutt retains seat, Congress-NCP sweeps MumbaiMumbai: The North-Central Mumbai constituency belongs to Priya Dutt for the second time consecutively as she drubbed her nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mahesh Jethmalani by 1,74,555 votes while the Congress-NCP combination tore apart the Marathi bastion of rivals Shiv Sena and MNS on Saturday. The Congress party retained all five seats it contested in the country’s financial capital. Its ally Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) opened its account in the Bollywood city winning the sixth seat. Political analysts attributed the stunning success of the ruling coalition’s candidates to the Maharashtra Nirman Sena factor which cut into the votes of Congress-NCP’s arch rival Shiv Sena-BJP. Several candidates of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS polled over one lakh votes. Besides Priya Dutt, candidates who won were Milind Deora (Mumbai South), Eknath Gaikwad (Mumbai South Central), Gurudas Kamat (Mumbai North West), Sanjay Nirupam (Mumbai North)-- all belonging to the Congress and Sanjay Patil (Mumbai North East) of the NCP. MNS candidates stunned BJP’s candidates Kirit Sommaiya (Mumbai North East) and Ram Naik (Mumbai North), Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar (Mumbai North West), who were considered sure winners. MNS’s Bala Nandgaonkar finished in second position in Mumbai South constituency. Shilpa Sarpotdar of MNS polled more than 1.31 lakh votes in Mumbai North Central. While Shishir Shinde polled 1.94 lakh in Mumbai North East. In neighbouring Thane and Bhiwandi too, MNS candidates got more than one lakh votes. While in Nashik, MNS got 2.17 lakh votes. Mint’s Bhuma Shrivastava contributed to the audio story Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:37 pm People express no-confidence on CPM: Mamata Kolkata: Flush with success of the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance in West Bengal, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee today demanded an early assembly election in the state, saying that people have expressed ‘no-confidence’ in the CPM led ruling Front. “People have expressed no-confidence in the CPI(M) led Left Front through their verdict in the Lok Sabha poll and we want an early Assembly poll in the state”, she said. Thanking the people, she said: “I salute them for the way they fought against CPI(M) terror and exercised their franchise. We dedicate our victory to the people.” Asked if Trinamool, which emerged as a key partner of the UPA, would get some good portfolios in the central government, Mamata said that counting was still not over. “Let all our newly-elected MPs come. We will sit and discuss. I had earlier stated that we will not go with the BJP and work for the installation of a secular government in Delhi”, she said Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:19 pm Swine flu will probably spread to new regions: WHOGeneva: The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Saturday, research suggests the A(H1N1) swine flu virus is so contagious it will probably spread to new, so far unaffected, regions. Acting WHO assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda said studies by experts indicate a “significant number of people” had been infected but remained undetected or unconfirmed by laboratory tests. “Their work also suggests that the virus is transmissible enough that we will expect to see continued community level outbreaks and regional spread,” he told a WHO meeting in Geneva on pandemic preparedness. “It is still reasonable to expect that at this pace, we have a long-term activity going on.... There will probably be periods of intense activity,” said Fukuda. WHO director-general Margaret Chan noted the virus had “quickly demonstrated its capacity to spread easily from one person to another, to spread widely within an affected country and to spread rapidly to additional countries.” “We expect this pattern of international spread to continue,” she said. “This is a time of great uncertainty, and great pressure on governments, ministries of health and WHO,” she added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:12 pm DMK-Congress forges ahead in Tamil NaduChennai: Putting up a strong showing, the UPA constituents DMK and Congress were racing to capture a lion’s share of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. The two parties won five seats each out of the 15 seats for which results were declared and the combine was leading in 16 seats. The Third Front led by the AIADMK in the state won only five seats - three by AIADMK and one each by MDMK and CPM. Union Minister of State for Textiles E V K S Elangovan (Congress) and MDMK leader Vaiko were among the prominent losers, while Union Ministers A Raja and S S Palanimanickam (both DMK) won from Nilgiris and Thanjavur respectvely. In Sivaganga, dispute between Congress nominee and union home minister P Chidambaram and AIADMK nominee Raja Kannappan over counting delayed the declaration of result. The district election officials referred the matter to the Election Commission. Tension prevailed at the counting centre in Karaikudi as supporters of two parties demanded declaration of results, raising slogans. Union Panchyati Raj Minister Manishankar Aiyar was trailing by over 67,000 votes at Mayiladhuthrai. The DMK was leading in 12 seats, the Congress in three and Viduthlai Chiruthgal Katchi in one. The AIADMK was leading in seven seats while its ally was ahead in one constituency. Congress president Sonia Gandhi congratulated DMK chief M Karunanidhi for the impressive. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:11 pm India lifts wheat futures ban, exporters may gain!India removed a two-year-old ban on trading in wheat futures on Friday, a move analysts said will help exporters if the futures contract falls to a level that makes Indian grain competitive in the international market.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 May 2009 | 12:10 pm US stocks decline at end of poor week !US stocks fell Friday, capping one of the worst weeks since March as oil prices fell while a government official suggested some banking executives could be forced out in the coming weeks.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 May 2009 | 12:10 pm Ashok Leyland net plunges by 59.5%!Hit hard by slowdown in demand, commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland on Friday reported a sharp decline of 59.5 per cent in its net profit at Rs 190 crore in the past fiscal.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 May 2009 | 12:10 pm GM temporarily closes Mexican plants: Report!Struggling US automotive giant General Motors will temporarily close three of its Mexican plants in May and June, local news media reported.Source: Zee News : Business | 16 May 2009 | 12:10 pm BJD not to support Cong-led govt at CentreBhubaneswar: The Biju Janta Dal (BJD) on Saturday said it will not support a Congress-led government at the Centre and would like the new government to fulfil the “just” demands of Orissa. “We have been repeatedly saying that we are not going to support a Congress-led or a BJP-led government at the Centre,” BJD chief and Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik said here. Reacting to the results of the Assembly elections in Orissa where BJD is set to form a government for the third consecutive term, Patnaik said that he was grateful to the people of the state for “showing tremendous generosity” to his party during the elections. “I and my party will work with dedication and serve the people of Orissa,” the chief minister said. He alleged that successive governments at the Centre have been neglecting Orissa.“ I hope the next government will fulfil the just demands of Orissa,” Patnaik said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 12:07 pm Congress alliance wins electionNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's ruling coalition won an overwhelming election victory on Saturday, boosting hopes of a stable government as the emerging Asian power faces economic downturn and tensions with Pakistan.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 11:42 am Sonia thanks electorate, praises ManmohanNew Delhi: A visibly jubilant Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed her gratefulness to the nation on Saturday for re-electing her party-led alliance for another term consecutively and said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the undisputed leader to head the new government. “Eventually the people of India know what’s good for them and they always make the right choice,” said Congress head Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi. Singh’s ruling coalition is right on its path to register an overwhelming election victory, boosting hopes of a stable government as the emerging Asian power faces economic downturn and tensions with Pakistan. Singh’s Congress-led coalition, riding on the back of years of economic growth, did better than expected and will probably be only just short of an outright majority, according to data from the Election Commission and projections by TV channels. The victory over the Opposition National Democratic Alliance means the Congress may find it easier to form a stable coalition with smaller parties and be less vulnerable to pressure on issues like economic reforms. Congress party supporters, their arms in the air and carrying banners of star campaigners Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, set off firecrackers in celebration on the party’s return to power. The Congress party-led coalition was projected to win 261 seats, short of the 272 needed for a parliamentary majority, a TV channel said. Full results are expected later on Saturday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition alliance would take 160 seats and a Third Front of communist and smaller groups 58 seats, the TV channel said. The BJP effectively conceded defeat by saying that Congress had the biggest mandate. Singh, 76, said he wanted a cabinet role for Rahul Gandhi. The Congress general secretary was instrumental in having orchestrated the Congress party’s resurgence in northern states particularly Uttar Pradesh. “It is my wish that he should be in the cabinet. But I will have to persuade him,” Singh said. The results should boost investor confidence and hopes for reforms. Markets had been jittery over a poor showing by either national alliance, fearing the emergence of a weak coalition. “This is a dream for the market. You could not have thought of anything better than this. Get ready for a 7-8% rally in the stock market on Monday,” Samir Arora, a fund manager at Helios Capital management in Singapore. About 714 million people were eligible to vote in the largest such exercise in the world staggered over a month to allow security forces to supervise the vote. India’s economy and the Manmohan factor India’s booming economic growth for the past four years, including rising rural incomes, may well have worked for the Congress-led coalition headed by the reformist Singh. A severe financial downturn that began last year and is continuing in Asia’s third largest economy appeared to have had little impact on the fortunes of the ruling alliance. “It seems to me that we must acknowledge the economy,” said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan. “Despite the slowdown in the economy in the last year, these four or five years have been among the best in India’s recorded economic history.” The election was a setback for regional, caste-based parties and the communists who were once seen as indispensable for any coalition formation. The communists, who were trailing in their bastion states, broke away from Singh’s coalition last year, angry over a civilian nuclear energy deal with Washington seen as undermining national sovereignty. Mayawati, the maverick chief minister of Uttar Pradesh who was tipped as a possible kingmaker, did not make significant electoral gains to wield influence in a possible coalition. “The pressure will be much reduced. You will not have a government hostage to smaller parties,” said Anand Sharma, junior foreign minister in the government Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 11:40 am Maytas, lenders to discuss debt restructuring packageInfrastructure firm Maytas Infra has said it will likely hold a meeting with its bankers next week to discuss a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) package that was approved by the company board May 9.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 May 2009 | 11:30 am Congress to stress on economic reformsThe Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman, Suresh Tendulkar, on Saturday said the new dispensation will lay more stress on economic reforms.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 16 May 2009 | 11:25 am UPA’s return to push financial sector reformsNew Delhi: Financial sector reforms are likely to get a push in the coming days, which were relegated to the back seat due to persistent opposition from the Left parties, with the Congress-led UPA set to form the next government. “We have to see what the constitution of the new government is. Reforms would certainly get a push,” interim pension regulator PFRDA chairman D Swarup said. Pension, insurance and banking sector reforms are there before the government, he said, adding, it is up to the government to decide whether to take on reforms together or pursue one-by-one. The new government has to prioritise which reform to carry forward, the PFRDA chairman said. Speaking about the PFRDA Bill, he said, the Bill has to be re-introduced in Parliament as it has lapsed. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill was introduced by finance minister P Chidambaram way back in 2005 to replace the ordinance promulgated in 2004 for setting up the regulator. The bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee after the Left parties opposed the legislation. The standing committee recommended the bill with some modifications. But the amended bill could not be tabled in Parliament due to persistent opposition from the Left. UTI chairman and managing director U K Sinha said, “I think it is a clear verdict for reforms.” Financial sector reforms as well as disinvestment should take place, he said, adding it will be good for the sector and economy as a whole. The coming Budget would highlight something to that effect, he added. Last year, the government tabled the insurance reforms bill in the Rajya Sabha aimed at increasing the cap on foreign investment in private companies in the sector from 26% to 49%. The minimum investment limit for health insurance companies is proposed to be fixed at Rs50 crore. At present, the companies entering in insurance business - life or general insurance - are required to have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs100 crore. The move to lower the investment limit is expected to encourage companies with less capital to launch health insurance business and increase the penetration of this important segment of insurance business. Finally, leadership honesty and execution are beginning to matter in politics. This is a values based victory for the country particularly at a difficult time like this, said Max India Group chairman Analjit Singh. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 11:20 am Sensex expected to rise with UPA victoryMumbai: Cheering the people’s verdict for a pro-reform government, market participants on Saturday said that the bourses would welcome the poll results with a rally on Monday of more than 543 points - the number of seats in the Lok Sabha. Soon after the trends became clear that the Congress-led UPA would form the government again, but without Left support this time, the analysts said that the Sensex could rise by 700-800 points on Monday - the first trading day after the announcement of the results. “The verdict of the people is clear ... The Left is left out. The UPA has a clearer mandate than they had during the last elections,” Kejriwal Research and Investment Services Head Arun Kejriwal said. “(The) market would react positively on Monday and could gain 500-700 points. In the coming three days, we will witness a hefty 8-10 per cent rally in the Indian markets,” he said. The Sensex had surged 300.51 points on Friday to settle at 12,173.42 points. A rally of 500-700 points could take the benchmark index closer to 13,000 on Monday. Kejriwal exuded confidence that the market would continue to trade on the higher trajectory in the coming week. Brokerage firm SMC Global vice-president Rajesh Jain also said that the market would open strong on Monday and could rally by up to 400 points in early trade. (The) Congress has emerged as the biggest single party winner, and all small parties have failed. This ensures (fewer obstacles) in the decision making of the Congress ... Left has been washed out. It is a reflection that people are now preferring to go with the nationalistic point of view, rather than the Leftist ideology,“ Jain noted. He, however, warned that negative cues from the global markets could put some pressure on the Indian bourses. “Whatever movements happen on Monday will be mainly driven by the win of the UPA,” he added. Brokerage house Sharekhan’s research head Gaurav Dua said that it was clear that the “people voted for a stable party and made it clear they do not want to follow Leftist ideologies”. “Markets will give a thumbs-up on Monday and open firm. A 100-150 point rally on the Nifty can be expected as investor sentiment would be high as a stable government comes to power,” he added. Unicon Financial CEO G Nagpal said that the market could open with a 2-3% gain on Monday and it was “likely that before noon the Sensex would see a 500 point rally as the the investors would be greatly relieved now that a stable government would come to power”. “Broadly, people have voted for continuity, development and leadership and ushered in a wave of change as the Left has been wiped out,” he said. “However, as the day progresses it would look at global cues as all positive news that were to come from the domestic front would be over,” he added. “If the global markets turn out to be weak, our markets might see some correction post Monday,” Nagpal said. Although the stock market had gained in its last trading session on Friday, prior to that it was seen under pressure for two consecutive days on concerns about the outcome of the general elections. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 11:04 am India Inc upbeat as it sees stable government, push for reformsIndia Inc, too, has given its verdict: It has applauded the people's mandate that seeks the return of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, hoping for stability in governance and a major push to economic reforms.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 May 2009 | 11:01 am Video story | UPA surge makes President’s task easierNew Delhi: With a clear picture emerging after counting of votes cast in the Lok Sabha polls, President Pratibha Patil’s task of inviting the largest party or coalition to form the government has been made easier. Click here to watch video Since the United Progressive Alliance has left its principal Opposition National Democratic Alliance way behind, an invitation to the Congress-led alliance to form the government is inevitable. With BJP admitting the UPA was ahead, the NDA was unlikely to toy with the idea of staking claim to form the government, making the job of the President easier. Virtually accepting defeat in Lok Sabha elections, BJP spokesperson Balbir Punj said: “...we concede UPA is ahead.” Admitting that Congress “seems to have the upper hand”, senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said: “...we are lagging behind” and added the party would analyze what went wrong. With Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi announcing Manmohan Singh will be the prime minister now, Singh is set to be the first person after Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after a full five-year term. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan official, Patil will meet former attorney general Ashok Desai to consult on formation of government as per earlier schedule. Officials in the Presidential Secretariat said Patil was unlikely to broaden the consultation process with the legal experts in view of the clear picture emerging after the counting. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 10:44 am Video story | Manmohan’s comeback clips Advani’s ambitionsNew Delhi: With Manmohan Singh all set to retain the country’s top job, the prime ministerial ambitions of several leaders, including Bharatiya Janata Party heavyweight L.K. Advani and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, lay shattered on Saturday. Click here to watch video With Congress and its allies doing well and on the road to forming the government again, it is perhaps the end of the road for Advani’s prime ministerial ambitions while Mayawati still has age on her side. The United Progressive Alliance had projected the incumbent Manmohan Singh as its prime ministerial candidate. It was the first time the Congress had nominated its prime ministerial candidate before the elections. BSP chief Mayawati, who had been the most vocal in articulating the Dalit aspirations for the top post, fared badly having put up 461 candidates across the country. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, who was another potential candidate but never articulated the aspirations himself, welcomed the Lok Sabha verdict and stuck with the UPA. “People were confident that only the UPA can provide a stable government and with the results and trends available so far, there should be no hindrance to formation of a stable government,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 10:34 am GTL bags Rs 324cr Maharashtra electricity dealGTL Ltd has entered the domain of distribution and transmission networks for power utilities. It has been awarded contracts worth Rs 324 crore from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 10:33 am BSNL opens GSM bids for 3 zonesNotwithstanding the concerns raised by the security agencies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Friday opened the financial bids submitted by Ericsson and Huawei for its 93 million line GSM contract.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 10:27 am Tatas, MM, Maruti join hands for hybrid modelsIn their quest for alternative technology at lower costs, domestic auto makers are now working together to develop future technology.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 10:14 am Real estate investors wait for new govt, says studyAs the country awaits the result of the polls, everyone would be interested in knowing which party will come to power.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 10:10 am Builders claim increase in demand for housingIs it a case of early signs of demand recovery or just tall claims by realtors? After six to eight months of a dry spell in the real estate space, builders are claiming that there has been a pick up in the residential property market over the last one month.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 16 May 2009 | 10:02 am The “five star” small car - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 May 2009 | 9:56 am Indian markets expected to rejoice surprise electoral outcomeHoping for continuity in governance, stock markets in India are expected to rejoice Monday as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) looked all set to return to power, after election results Saturday handed huge unexpected gains for the Congress-led coalition.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 May 2009 | 9:31 am Video story | UPA set to return to powerNew Delhi: The Congress-led UPA is all set to retain power at the Centre putting up an impressive performance in states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to overwhelm the BJP-led NDA. The UPA alliance was ahead in 250 constituencies with Congress alone leading in 198 seats. The ruling Front is just short of a little over 20 seats for the magic figure of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Click here to watch video The NDA was leading in 157 seats with BJP ahead in 119 seats. The Congress exulted over its victory saying it was a vindication of its policies while BJP spokespersons were still unwilling to concede defeat though they admitted that the UPA was ahead in early trends. Manmohan Singh will be the first Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after a full five-year term with the Congress having nominated him as its candidate for the top post, first time it had done in its history. The Congress performance was spectacular in Kerala where it routed the Left Front and dealt a severe blow to the Marxists in West Bengal with help from ally Trinamool Congress. It also swept Delhi, did exceedingly well in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and more than doubled its tally in UP leading in 20 of the 80 seats there. Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli), her son Rahul Gandhi (Amethi), external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee(Jangipur), industry minister Kamal Nath (Chhindwara), Veerappa Moily (Chikaballapur), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna) and Sachin Pilot(Ajmer) were among the prominent party candidates leading. BJP leader L K Advani(Gandhinagar), party president Rajnath Singh(Ghaziabad), Yashwant Sinha(Hazaribagh), Jaswant Singh (Darjeeling), Sushma Swaraj (Vidisha) and Varun Gandhi (Pilibhit) were leading while his mother Maneka Gandhi was trailing in Aonla. Other prominent leaders who were ahead were Sharad Pawar (Madha), Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri, Lalu Yadav (Pataliputra and Saran), Kalyan Singh (Etah), Ajit Singh (Baghpat), Sharad Yadav (Madhepura) and Mamata Bannerjee (Kolkata South). LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan was trailing in Hajipur. Surprsingly, the Congress ally DMK put up a good showing leading in 18 of the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu while AIADMK, which had no member in the outgoing House, was ahead in nine seats. The Congress was leading in eight seats but its stalwarts P Chidambaram and Mani Shankar Aiyar were trailing in Sivaganga and Mayiladuthurai respectively. DMK candidates M K Azhagiri, son of chief minister M Karunanidhi, and Dayanidhi Maran were leading in Madurai and Chennai South respectively while Union minister T R Baalu was trailing in Sriperumbudur. MDMK leader Vaiko was trailing in Sivakasi. The Left parties, which had 59 seats and was instrumental in UPA coming to power in the last Lok Sabha, fared badly. The CPI-M, which had 43 seats, was leading only in 16 seats and the CPI, which had 10, was just ahead in four. The Fourth Front comprising RJD, SP and LJP also fared poorly and was ahead only in 29 seats. The SP was leading in 24 seats in UP while RJD, led by Lalu Prasad was ahead in five seats and Paswan’s LJP in two. The BSP, whose supremo Mayawati fielded 461 candidates across the country with Prime Ministerial ambitions, also performed badly with her influence restricted only to UP. Her party was leading in 25 seats, two of them in Madhya Pradesh, apart from UP. The NCP, an ally of Congress, was leading in 11 seats in Maharashtra. The BJP performance was good in its strongholds in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Chhatisgarh and fairly well in Maharashtra in alliance with Shiv Sena. In UP, once its bastion, the party was nowhere near its expectations. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 9:30 am Mandate for stability; govt must work for eco revival: MallyaNew Delhi: The mandate for the 15th Lok Sabha would give the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government a freedom to pursue reforms and revive economy, without bothering about placating hotch-potch allies like the Left, leading industrialist Vijay Mallya said on Saturday. Describing the mandate as vote for stability, Mallya, the promoter of Kingfisher Airlines and UB group, said the election outcome would help Manmohan Singh, an accomplished economist, push harder for the economic revival to get back to 9% growth. “It is a vote for stability and, more importantly, a vote for the Congress. It can pursue its policies and will not have to worry about the Left ... The ruling combination will not have to worry about the hotch-potch partners,” Mallya said. When asked whether the mandate would help faster recovery of the Indian economy, Mallya said, “Absolutely, without doubt.” He added that the mandate would offer the youth great opportunities for the future under the stewardship of Manmohan Singh. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 9:27 am ANALYST VIEW - Congress alliance set to win polls(Reuters) - The ruling Congress-led alliance was projected on Saturday to win a second term in office after a general election, according to vote counting trends from the election commission.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 9:18 am Markets move up brushing aside poll result fearsIndian markets crawled upwards this week brushing off fears of political uncertainty, with a key index gaining over 300 points.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 May 2009 | 8:49 am GM, Chrysler dealership closings create heavy job lossesNew York: Moves by ailing carmakers Chrysler and General Motors to slash their US dealerships will cost tens of thousands of jobs, taking a heavier toll than cuts in production, analysts say. General Motors, the largest US automaker, said Friday ithat t would seek to eliminate nearly 40% of its US dealers, more than 2,300 sales outlets, by the end of 2010 as part of its reorganization to avert bankruptcy. Chrysler, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, said on Thursday that it had asked the bankruptcy court to shut down 789 dealers, nearly one-fourth of its sales outlets. “For GM, the decision to close the dealerships, which employ about 50 people each, could translate into the loss of as many as 150,000 jobs representing a 0.2 percentage point rise in the unemployment rate,” Joel Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors said. By contrast, the restructuring plans of GM and Chrysler project the loss this year of 47,000 and 3,000 jobs, respectively, in the recession-ravaged economy. The two struggling automakers have already taken the hatchet to payrolls in the last several years: Chrysler has slashed 32,000 jobs since 2007; GM cut 31,000 in 2008 alone. David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said that the announcements of the dealership closings brings the issue of the problem of the auto industry to the attention of the entire country. The crisis affects not just the hub of the US auto industry in Detroit, Michigan, and its industrial spokes in the Midwest, but directly touches dealerships across the country, from large cities to small towns. George Magliano, an auto industry specialist at IHS Global Insight, said that unlike factory closings, the shuttering of dealerships is more painful—it’s more localized. “These guys were a source of support of a lot of the community activity,” he said. “The ripple effect of the dealership closings can be significant, they can be the key employer of the area. You shut them down, and it hurts the revenue base there,” he added. Cole estimated that each dealership job acts as multiplier, creating three related jobs. Magliano noted that it was impossible for GM and Chrysler, faced with a severe US auto industry slump in general and their loss of market share, to maintain dealerships at boom-year levels. Rival Japanese automakers operate nearly half as many dealerships as GM intends to keep. “They’ve been trying to consolidate dealerships for years, it’s a 10 year process,” Magliano said of the US auto giants. Naroff said that at least a disorderly dismantling at bankrupt Chrysler was avoided. “Had they just shut down, then you can multiply the impact by three or four—that’s just Chrysler. With GM you see the disaster was there,” he said. Naroff noted that the large impact of the dealership closures on unemployment, but said that it would have been bigger without the working capital given by President Barack Obama’s administration to GM and Chrysler to help them through restructuring. “The fact that money was used to stabilize the situation and give them a chance to have some sort of reasonably controlled and negotiated bankruptcy probably has saved a lot of jobs,” Naroff said. The Treasury Department acknowledged the difficult decisions and stressed Obama’s auto task force had not been involved in deciding which dealers, or how many dealers, would be closed. Without the president’s intervention, the entire GM and Chrysler dealer networks could have been lost, the Treasury said in a statement. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 6:57 am Bipasha Basu brand ambassador for Henkel's Fa Men XtremeFMCG player Henkel India Ltd announced it has roped in Bollywood star Bipasha Basu as the brand ambassador for its deodorant brand 'Fa Men Xtreme'.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 6:41 am Week update: Sensex above 12,000 on poll trendsBourses sustained their gains in yet another week with the benchmark Sensex settling above 12,000 at the weekend amid strong indications that the UPA will form a govt.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 16 May 2009 | 6:14 am Astronauts work through repair trouble at HubbleCape Canaveral, Florida: Spacewalking astronauts had to put a refurbished pair of gyroscopes into the Hubble Space Telescope after a brand new set refused to go in Friday, but scientists were satisfied nonetheless and confident that the observatory would point precisely to more distant objects in the cosmos. Replacing the gyroscopes was the top priority of the repair mission, and the struggle had NASA on edge for two hours. Thanks to the spacewalkers’ effort, Hubble ended up with four brand new gyroscopes and two refurbished ones that were original 19 year old telescope parts, said to be almost as good as the new ones. The telescope also got fresh batteries. It was the second spacewalk in as many days for the Atlantis astronauts, who once again were bedeviled by problems. On Thursday, another two man team installed a powerful new camera and a computer data unit, after struggling with a stubborn bolt. NASA had hoped for an easier, less stressful spacewalk, but instead had to endure more drama. As on Thursday, the astronauts got their work done, but it was harder and took longer than expected. Friday’s spacewalk was one of the longest ever, lasting nearly 8 hours, and Mission Control told the weary crew members that they could sleep in and start Saturday’s spacewalk a little late. “The first two spacewalks have gone a long way to extending Hubble’s life,” said Hubble chief scientist David Leckrone. And Hubble’s new main camera installed on Thursday passed its functional test. Leckrone said that Saturday’s spacewalk, which is one of the most challenging involving never-before done in-space repairs of a science instrument, will probably go smoothly because that was his big worry. He said: “And nothing has gone quite as expected.” On Friday, Michael Massimino, who was working from inside Hubble, and his partner, Michael Good, had no problem removing all six of Hubble’s 10 year old gyroscopes. But the last set of new gyroscopes wouldn’t fit properly. Mission Control instructed the men to go get a spare box of gyroscopes from the shuttle, and put that one in. This spare set originally was launched aboard Hubble in 1990 and returned in 1999. “My friend Leonidas has a couple of words for you guys that are appropriate right now,” shuttle commander Scott Altman told the spacewalkers, referring to the ancient Spartan king. He said: “Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time.” Then Altman laughed. Leonidas died in battle in 480 B.C. “We’ve got a little more work to do, but thanks,” replied Massimino. Hubble’s deputy senior project scientist, Mal Niedner, said that he was not concerned the astronauts had to resort to refurbished gyroscopes. They lack the latest anticorrosive wiring, but it’s ‘the difference between an A and an A-plus’. In all, five spacewalks are planned so that the observatory, beloved by astronomers and many others for its breathtaking views of the universe is at its apex while living out its remaining years. Scientists expect the upgraded Hubble to look back even further in time, to within 500 million to 600 million years of creation. Good was so tired near the end of Friday’s spacewalk that he asked “Can I come in?” Good drove in the bolts for the gyroscope boxes as Massimino, a returning Hubble mechanic who is over 6-feet tall, worked from inside the telescope, where he had wedged himself in head first. “Trained my whole life for this,” he said. Massimino had a brief scare when his communication system fouled up at the start of the spacewalk. For a minute or two, no one could hear him. NASA hopes to get another five to 10 years of use out of Hubble, once the Atlantis astronauts plug in all the new equipment. They also will take a crack at fixing two broken science instruments this weekend. The mission cost NASA more than $1 billion, one-tenth of what has been spent on Hubble over the decades. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 6:11 am GTL bags Rs 324-cr Maharashtra electricity deal - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 16 May 2009 | 5:15 am US stocks, crude fall on recovery concernsNew York: US stocks and oil prices turned south on Friday as investors questioned recent rallies in the face of economic data that still shows a mixed picture of when economies will rise from a deep global recession. The dollar and yen rose as worries persisted about global economic prospects despite a batch of better-than-expected US economic data, prompting investors to seek shelter in the two safe-haven currencies. Gold climbed to a six-week high after data showed US core inflation rose more than expected in April, boosting the precious metal’s appeal as a hedge against rising prices. Oil fell toward $56 a barrel, pressured by weak global demand and a stronger dollar. Europe sank to what may have been the recession’s low point in the first quarter of this year as tumbling German exports and investment plus further sharp drops in output elsewhere hastened the pace of a year-old contraction. Official GDP estimates showed the period was the worst since records at the European level began in 1995. “Overall risk appetite is still down because of the bad numbers from Europe,” said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital, in Toronto. European shares closed higher, with gains for most banks outweighing losses for defensive plays such as telecoms. But US stocks turned lower after earlier gains due to the expiration of option contracts and a fresh assessment of a jobs report on Thursday that was worse than expected, said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in New York. Shortly after 1:30pm, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.43 points, or 0.56%, to 8,284.89. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 8.77 points, or 0.98%, to 884.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 4.02 points, or 0.24%, to 1,685.19. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.5% to close at 839.94 points. Over the week, the index fell 3.1%, but is up 30% from a lifetime low on 9 March. But analysts were skeptical about when, and how strongly, an economic recovery will come through. US and euro-zone government debt slipped after US industry and consumer sentiment reports bolstered hopes the economy might soon start to recover. US industrial production fell 0.5% in April, a more modest pace than in recent months and less than the 0.6 percent economists had expected. The data dimmed the allure of safe-haven investments such as US Treasuries. Separate reports showing improved national consumer sentiment and a slower rate of contraction in New York state manufacturing this month also trimmed flight-to- safety bids. The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies, with the US Dollar Index up 0.41% at 82.777. The euro fell 0.80% at $1.3524. Against the yen, the dollar was down 1.04% at 94.87. US light sweet crude oil fell $2.06 to $56.56 a barrel. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 May 2009 | 1:54 am Hunt for Madoff money to drag on for yearsNEW YORK (Reuters) - Five months after Bernard Madoff's massive fraud was revealed, little of his victims'Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 1:34 am Following Chrysler, GM slashing U.S. dealersDETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp said it would drop about 1,600 U.S. dealers as it struggles to slash billions of dollars in operating costs and debt ahead of an anticipated bankruptcy filing by the end of the month.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 1:30 am Bharti sees users doubling to 200 mln in 3 yrsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel, India's leading telecoms firm by subscribers, hopes to double customers to 200 million within three years, its chairman said, adding any acquisition would see it reach the target even faster.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 1:26 am Five-star Bahamas resort closing as losses mountNASSAU (Reuters) - A five-star, Four Seasons resort in the Bahamas will close its doors later this month after it was put into receivership nearly two years ago due to mounting financial losses.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 May 2009 | 1:26 am Tatas, M&M, Maruti join hands for hybrid modelsNew Delhi, May 15 In their quest for alternative technology at lower costs, domestic auto makers are now working together to develop future technology.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Maruti boosts compact car portfolio with RitzNew Delhi, May 15 Maruti Suzuki on Friday launched its second premium compact car within six months, aiming to further strengthen its small car portfolio. In November it had launched the A-star.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Govt lifts ban on futures trading in wheatMumbai/Chennai, May 15 A 24-1/2 month ban on futures trading in wheat has been lifted with polling coming to an end across theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am BSNL opens GSM bids for 3 zonesNew Delhi, May 15 Notwithstanding the concerns raised by the security agencies, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Friday opened the financial bids submitted by Ericsson and Huawei for its 93 million line GSM contract.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Sensex rises 300 points on the eve of election resultsMumbai, May 15 Showing confidence in the midst of uncertainty, foreign and domestic institutional investors pumped in as much as Rs 1,400 crore into equities, driving the Sensex up 300 points on Friday, on the eve of the general electionSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Challenge of balancing portfolios and partnersWithout the benefit of psephology or exit polls, it is safe to say that the election results are set to throw up a coalition of parties, big and small, at the Centre. Now, this poses two challenges. First, how does one satisfy the ministerialSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Stage set for monsoon onset in Bay of BengalConditions are becoming favourable for advance of southwest monsoon into south Andaman Sea and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal during the next two to three days.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Builders claim increase in demand for housing; banks feel otherwiseNew Delhi, May 15 Is it a case of early signs of demand recovery or just tall claims by realtors?Source: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Bharti open to acquiring domestic operatorsNew Delhi, May 15 Bharti Airtel on Friday said that it was open to acquiring domestic telecom operators as part of its strategy to add another 100 million subscribers in three years. The company, which today touched the 100-million mark, isSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Investment behaviour of funds differs around pollsResearch Bureau The current economic and political state of affairs may be different from those of 2004, but the investment behaviour of foreign institutional investors and domestic mutual funds remains the same in the run-up toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 16 May 2009 | 12:00 am Monsoon may arrive earlier, say weathermen - Expressindia.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 11:46 pm Caught in air pocket, Jet plans job cuts - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 11:25 pm Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks may brake for housing, Home DepotNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are likely to hit more speed bumps next week as investors become more wary of Wall Street's ability to rally further and housing starts, jobless claims and other indicators are in the spotlight.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 11:15 pm Railways is the right track for movement of goods in IndiaWe have innumerable dilapidated, under-utilised and un-used private rail terminals all across the country, which could be put to use.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 10:26 pm BoI may reduce stake in Star Union Dai-ichi LifeBank of India, the largest promoter in Star Union Dai-ichi Life, may offload around 3% stake in favour of Union Bank of IndiaSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 10:22 pm Oil bonds worth Rs 10K cr soonThe government is expected to issue bonds worth more than Rs 10,000 crore to compensate for the losses incurred by three state-run oil marketing companies.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 10:20 pm A short tailwind for shippingCommodity shipping rates, which have risen by almost 35% this month, are expected to continue their upward trend in the near term.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 10:18 pm EMRI angles for rural health mission fundsThe EMRI is eyeing the budgetary support from the National Rural Health Mission for taking its expansion plans ahead.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 10:17 pm 'Chinese iron ore miners may go out of business'Hemankur Upadhyaya, head of research, Earthstone Group, talks about how the downturn will change the iron ore industry.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 10:10 pm Grupo Mex plea against Sterlite Asarco dealGrupo Mexico appealed a US judge's decision to upholdSterlite Industries' deal to acquire the bankrupt copper miner, court documents showed.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 9:52 pm 'Bharti will double subscribers to 200m within three years'Bharti Airtel said its subscriber base just crossed 100 million, 15 years after starting the service in 1995.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 9:47 pm After SBI, ICICI Bank cuts rates by 2550 bpsBarely 48 hours after the State Bank cut its deposit rates, ICICI Bank has followed suit. The bank announced a 25 to 50 basis point cut in deposit rates across several tenures. This makes it the fifth bank to cut rates this week.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 9:29 pm BSNL gets nod to award deal to Huawei - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 8:51 pm Aegis buys Aussie BPO for Rs 200 cr - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 8:06 pm Essen RFID enters into agreement with BartronicsEssen RFID (Indian OEM) enters into a partnership agreement with Bartronics India to address RFID opportunities in UHF spaceSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 7:58 pm Ban on wheat futures removedWith only hours left for the outcome of the 15th Lok Sabha elections to be known, politically sensitive issue of ban on trade in wheat futures has been lifted.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:56 pm Alcatel-Lucent bags $150m Unitech dealFrance-based Telecom firm Alcatel-Lucent on Friday said it has bagged a five-year contract of about $150 million from Unitech Wireless.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:54 pm 'Regulate autonomy of financial innovation'A uniform global regulatory mechanism and an omnibus regulatory body to vet innovative financial instruments and better governnance are some of the key proposals of a broad-based policy being tossed around by a UN panel.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:44 pm Bharti has 33% market shareDespite stiff competition from players like Vodafone, Reliance Communication, BSNL and Idea among others, Bharti Airtel has a market share of almost 33% in mobile segment.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:42 pm DoT shortlists four firms to audit records of telcosFour audit companies have been shortlisted by DoT to scrutinize the records of telecom majors and to assess whether correct revenue data has been provided to the department.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:40 pm Aegis buys Aussie co for Rs 200crSeven months after it acquired PeopleSupport, a Nasdaq-listed outsourcing firm, Essar group's global business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, Aegis, has announced the acquisition of Australia's UCMS Group.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:33 pm Alcatel bags $150 mn contract from Unitech WirelessFrench telecom infrastructure firm Alcatel-Lucent Friday said it had bagged a $150 million contract from Unitech Wireless to support its launch of GSM operations.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 May 2009 | 7:30 pm ICICI tweaks deposit rates - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 7:30 pm Bharti crosses 100 million users markBharti Airtel's subscriber base has crossed the 10 crore (100 million) mark, making it the sixth largest telecom service provider in the world.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 15 May 2009 | 7:29 pm Ashok Leyland to use Nissan-Renault's Chennai facilityAshok Leyland Nissan Vehicles, whose proposed plant here to make commercial vehicles has been delayed due to land acquisition problems, may use the car manufacturing facility of Nissan-Renault, being set up near here, to roll out trucks, a top official said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 May 2009 | 7:03 pm Counting the cost as the countdown beginsSmaller political parties have begun listing the price for their support.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 7:03 pm M may move production of key models out of NashikUnion to appeal against court deadline for workers to return.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 7:00 pm HCL Tech plans to cancel Rs 3,000 cr worth of hedgesNew Delhi-headquartered IT services provider HCL Technologies plans to cancel hedging contracts worth $600 million (around Rs 2,970 crore), as the rupee continues to remain at Rs 49-50 levels.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 6:58 pm We won't cut prices, say steel makersRaw material prices are above 2007 levels whereas finished product prices have fallen, they argue.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 6:56 pm West Bengal plans to build small portThe West Bengal government is planning to build a small port at the mouth of the Hooghly river, a senior government official said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 May 2009 | 6:33 pm MTNL launches 3G services in MumbaiState-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) Friday launched third generation (3G) mobile services in Mumbai at an investment of Rs.250 crore.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 May 2009 | 6:33 pm Syamal Gupta retires as Tata BP Solar chairmanTata group veteran Syamal Gupta has retired as chairman of Tata BP Solar after 53 years with India's largest industrial house. He will be succeeded by BP Solar's chief executive Reyad Fezzani.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 May 2009 | 6:30 pm Fitch says may cut 9 US banks ratings - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 6:24 pm Govt lifts ban on futures trading in wheat - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 15 May 2009 | 6:13 pm Sanjay Chandra | ‘As a company, we need to concentrate on launching affordable projects’New Delhi: Unitech Ltd, the other star in the realty firmament whose shine seemed to have faded is ploughing its way back. Unitech managing directorSanjay Chandra explains how exactly in a special interview with CNBC-TV18. Edited excerpts: I was a bit surprised that you only raised $325 million because you had a book of $1 billion. Were you not tempted to raise more? Actually when we went out to raise the capital, we were looking to raise anywhere between $200 and $250 million. The response was so large that we got a demand of over $1 billion. So we discussed it with the key investors and finally concluded to retail the size to about $325 million because that was also quite an upsize from the initial deal size.  Strategic move: Chandra says the firm is launching about 30 mn sq. ft of new projects, expect to book about 20 mn sq. ft of that. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint What was it, fear of dilution, because the equity money is not easy to come by nowadays? It was our strategy. We started working on it much prior to all of this. We were looking at overall fund raising of $500-600 million from private equity at project levels, selling off non-core assets and equity dilution. When we went for the equity raise, we felt $200-250 million was sufficient but we saw a demand which was far more so we upsized it to be able to do that because now what we are seeing is that assets sales are happening at better valuation today because no longer are we perceived to be in distress. People don’t perceive that you are in a corner anymore? No, that’s one thing that came out good from both the equity raise and other fund raising process. We changed our business plan a lot. We started focusing rather than land banking from the capital intensive side to actually banking on the land. So a couple things were that we could sell land but there were not enough buyers. Developers have enough of their own land so they really wouldn’t buy land. So the only exits which we had was to price our product in a way that it sells very fast. So what we did was we redesigned most of our product portfolio from luxury to relatively affordable to affordable, reduce the apartment sizes, reduce the prices in a sense we got our ticket prices of the product we are selling down by over 50%. Is that right because the general perception is that you only reduced the prices by only 15 to 25%? Prices have been reduced by 25%. But we have reduced the sizes of the apartments also, so now we are catering to a far larger market size. For instance in Gurgaon our cheapest product was for Rs70 lakh, now we’ve got Rs29 lakh, Rs28 lakh product also. So now the speed of sales of these products have been phenomenal. Last 45 days we have booked new property of residential of over 2 million sq. ft. Just to give you a perspective, from October to February we would have only booked 100,000 sq. ft because that’s how bad things were in that period. 2 million at an average realization of? Rs3,000. And this is across which geographies? One project in Gurgaon and one project in Chennai. So similarly we are launching new products in various markets at price points where we are trying to be 20 to 25% lower than the market prices around, as well as offering sizes that are not available in the market which is opening a whole new customer base. Do you think you will manage to deliver the kind of targets you are talking about? We are launching about 30 million sq. ft of new projects, in the least we expect to book about 20 million sq. ft of that. In the last 45 days itself we have achieved 2 million sq. ft itself just out of 2 markets, but every new market takes us a few more months to establish. What we have realized is that we need to price it to see it move. As developers we were focusing on the luxury market, but we had enough product that we could have been a Wal-Mart. Now we need to sell to the masses so we need to price our product accordingly and not go after the margins, margins will come down but return on equity can be much faster, with today’s cost of capital. So your focus is firmly on cash flows right now? What we want to focus on is rather than realization per acre, cash flow per acre. We want to convert the land into cash receivables. How much will you end up delivering or constructing by the end of this fiscal do you think? About 9 to 10 million sq. ft will be delivered this year. You will be able to sell it? Yes. Are you sure about that? The bookings will be far more, but this is the past product that is being delivered now. This actual 20 million sq. ft that we book now will be delivered in the next two or two-and-a-half years. And the blended realization would be about roughly 3000? Yes it will become high because of Mumbai. NCR is about 3,500-3,600, Calcutta would be 2,500, south where Chennai has the first initial launches we have sold 1200 apartments in the last one month, our realization is about 3,100. So what will you margin profile come down to? Margins will still be about 40%. Our land costs are on an average about Rs 200 per sq. ft. Our construction cost depending on the product would be Rs 1300-1500 per sq. ft. So its still healthy margins, earlier they were very healthy. So what will you end up this year in terms of profits? I think we will stay away from those numbers because we don’t give guidance but profitability will be down because of costs of capital and interest costs, etc. But I think the worst is behind us. About asset sales, were you talking about ready property or other assets like hotels from which you need to raise cash from? It’s hotels, some commercial office buildings and also ready properties. In every project of ours in the past what typically happens is that there are 500 apartment complex, you sell 450 and go on to the next project, you have left overs everywhere. The inventory is pretty substantial and those are ready to move in. Hotels are moving pretty fast, we sold one and the other one we should be close to finalizing within this next month or so. We should net Rs450 crore between the two hotels. We have a target of Rs1,600 crore from asset sales by March. How much more cash do you need to breathe easy on your balance sheet? Our peak debt was 10,500 crore, it became 8,500 recently, pre-QIP (qualified institutional placement). Now post QIP and some of these assets sales we think we will be able to achieve 6,000 to 6,500 crore, which is comfortable level but still intend to take it down to 4,500 to 5,000 crore. That’s still high debt, interest chargers are close to Rs1,000 crore. It was Rs1,000 crore, pre- all that, now average blended charges would be Rs750-800 crore for this year. After paying Rs800 crore interest you will generate 18 crore net cash flow? Yes. So you don’t need to dilute any more equity? No. No equity dilution needed at all. As a company we need to concentrate on launching affordable projects which move fast. I think the best thing for us to do is bank on the land which we created. You think you need to cut prices further? I think the prices are set, but I don’t think we will increase our prices substantially. We have cut them enough to excite the customers. Has Unitech seen the worst? Yes, it has. We have worked towards dispelling all that. We are concentrating on a much larger market than two years ago. Our fresh bookings are higher and the volumes are a lot more. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 May 2009 | 5:50 pm Spl: Sunil Mittal on Bharti\'s journey to 100mn subscribersSunil Mittal Chairman of Bharti Enterprises said that India has emerged as a dominant player in one fieldtelecommunications. He further added that the company clocked a subscription base of 100 million customers, which is a great reason to rejoice.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 May 2009 | 5:38 pm 3G networks will give technology deployment a boost, says panelMumbai: There’s a lot more Indian firms can do in deploying technology to raise productivity, especially with the advent of third generation, or 3G, phone services in the country, which can further help firms cut costs and improve efficiency, panellists at a Mint event said. The panellists were participating in a discussion titled “Tech@ Work: Driving Productivity Through Effective Use of Technology,”, part of Mint’s Clarity Through Debate series. D. Shivakumar, managing director of Nokia India Pvt. Ltd, cited studies that showed how empowering an employee with a mobile phone lets the employer utilize what is called secondary or dead time of an employee. “That is estimated to be anywhere around 10 days a year. Most organizations have about 12 holidays in a year. If you’re giving an employee a mobile phone, you’re virtually getting back all that you gave him in holidays,” he said.  Tech talk: (L to R) Mukund Govind Rajan, managing director (MD) of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, Bindu Ananth, president of IFMR Trust, D. Shivakumar, vice-president and MD, Nokia India, Josey Puliyenthuruthel, national corporate editor, Mint, M.D. Mallya, chairman and MD Bank of Baroda, N. Srinath, MD and CEO, Tata Communications Ltd, and Piyush Doshi, Booz Co. principal, at the conclave. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint Mukund Govind Rajan, managing director, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, said: “But only when 3G spectrum allocation happens will we know how much data individuals will be empowered to carry with them. The pain point today is spectrum availability and allocation.” M.D. Mallya, chairman and managing director of Bank of Baroda, India’s fourth-ranked lender by assets, said there are certain businesses, especially in financial services, that have been able to leverage technology to improve efficiency. Apart from benefits from management information systems that help in asset-liability and risk management, technology has also helped in dramatically reducing transactions costs, he said. The bigger opportunity, another panelist said, was in furthering financial inclusion using solutions such as mobile banking. Bindu Ananth, president of IFMR Trust, said: “Ninety per cent of all Indian villages have a population less than 5,000 people. How do you build robust banking infrastructure that is viable in such sparsely populated locations, and for the additional 100 million people which make up the seasonal migrant population,” she asked. At the business-to-business level, benefits of smart use of technology are also playing out. N. Srinath, Tata Communications Ltd’s managing director, said. “With our infrastructure, I can provide services with an India cost advantage. I can theoretically host applications anywhere and provide a lot of the services from India.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 May 2009 | 5:21 pm Maruti launches Ritz hatchbackNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's top carmaker, on Friday launched its premium hatchback, Ritz, as it battles to boost sales in a segment that is set to see greater competition.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 May 2009 | 2:37 pm Hazira Port to develop cargo terminalsHazira Port Pvt Ltd (HPPL) is planning to develop cargo berthing facilities at Hazira port in south Gujarat at an investment of $400-500 million, a top official said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 May 2009 | 12:32 pm
|
