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Forbes launches in India: The editor speaksIt is only appropriate that the worlds foremost business magazine, Forbes, gets a show on Indias biggest English news channel, CNBCTV18. On the show, the guests are: Steve Forbes, the President and CEO of Forbes Media and the EditorinChief of Forbes magazine, and Indrajit Gupta, the Editor of Forbes India.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 4:11 pm GM restructures as bankrupcty deadline loomsIn the US markets, General Motors was in focus as the June 1 deadline looms. The company is also doing some lastminute restructuring. The United Auto Workers Union has ratified a package of concessions designed to reduce General Motors\' labour costs, completing a key piece of the automaker\'s massive restructuring effort.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 3:37 pm IVR Prime looking to exit realty businessA few big real estate players may have succeeded in raising money last month, but the reality is that sentiment on the ground has not changed much. Shortage of funds is forcing Hyderabadbased real estate major IVR Prime to put its real estate business on the backburner.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 3:01 pm Bharti, Wal-Mart open first joint store in IndiaIndia's Bharti group and Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, opened their first cash-and-carry joint venture store here on Saturday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 May 2009 | 12:43 pm Banks agree deal to ease conditions on Tata Steel loan - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:39 pm Banks agree deal to ease conditions on Tata Steel loanMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Steel UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel Ltd, has won approval from banks to ease conditions on 3.7 billion pounds of loans it took to buy Anglo-Dutch Corus, the company said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 12:27 pm Amitabh Bachchan turns down Australian doctorate to protest attacksMumbai: Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan has reacted to racial attacks on Indian students in Australia by rejecting an honourary doctorate offered to him by an Australian university. The Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, had offered the 66-year-old veteran a doctorate for his contribution to the world of entertainment and Bachchan had earlier accepted the title. The honour was to be conferred on the star in July as a part of celebrations to commemorate a retrospective of his films in the city. “I have been witnessing, with great dismay and shock, the recent violent attacks on Indian students in Australia, on the electronic media the entire day,” Bachchan wrote on his blog. “I mean no disrespect to the institution that honours me, but under the present circumstances, where citizens of my own country are subjected to such acts of inhuman horror, my conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country that perpetrates such indignity to my fellow countrymen,” he added. Australia has recently seen a series of attacks on Indian students, the most serious being the assault of Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student from Andhra Pradesh, who is battling for life in a Melbourne hospital after being stabbed by a screwdriver by a group of teens. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 May 2009 | 12:22 pm NSEL launches Indian Bullion Market AssociationNational Spot Exchange Ltd announced the launch of the Indian Bullion Market Association which will represent the Indian bullion trade and industry.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 12:15 pm `H1B restrictions would choke US of talent`!Restricting H1B visas for skilled workers will choke America of talent, Azim Premji has said.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:08 pm US stocks rally on rising economic optimism !Wall Street`s major stock indices jumped Friday as raw-materials producers, banks and transportation companies all benefited from growing confidence that the world economy is regaining momentum.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:08 pm Ruling on Chrysler`s sale on Monday!The US bankruptcy judge overseeing Chrysler LLC`s bankruptcy case said on Friday he would issue an opinion "sometime on Monday" on the automaker`s proposed sale of most assets to a new company run by Italy`s Fiat SpA.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:08 pm Germany picks Magna bid for Opel!Germany has selected a bid by Canadian auto parts maker Magna to take over General Motors` Opel unit, an offer backed by Russia`s Sberbank and Russian automaker GAZ, officials said.Source: Zee News : Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:08 pm UBI changes int rates on FCNR (B), NRE (Rupee) Term DepositsUnion Bank of India has revised interest rates on both its FCNR (B) deposits as well as its NRE (Rupee) term deposits.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 12:04 pm Oman to up oil output to 830000 bpd by end-2009 - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:03 pm Germany seals deal to save Opel, Obama helps - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 12:01 pm Shimla summer festival begins June 2The five-day annual Shimla summer festival will begin in this Himachal Pradesh capital Tuesday, an official said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 pm 100 days: India Inc spells out an agenda - Hindustan Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 11:34 am We intend to close MTN deal this time: Bharti - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 11:32 am Bharti, Wal-Mart joint store first to open in India - IBNLive.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 11:07 am We intend to close MTN deal this time: BhartiThe Bharti group Saturday expressed confidence that it will seal the proposed $23-billion deal with South African telecom giant MTN, after restarting negotiations that had collapsed last year.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 11:00 am India should attract more foreign tourists: SeljaIndia needs to attract more foreign tourists, whose number has dipped after the Mumbai terror attack and due to economic depression, Tourism Minister Kumari Selja said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 11:00 am India should attract more foreign tourists: Selja - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 10:41 am Bharti, Wal-Mart open their first joint store in IndiaIndia's Bharti group and Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, opened their first cash-and-carry joint venture store here Saturday on an investment of $7 million, and they plan to open at least 15 outlets across the country in the next three years.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 10:31 am Tata Steel resets covenants on Corus loanTata Steel has reached an agreement with lenders of Tata Steel UK for resetting the covenants on the 3.7 billion pound loan raised for the acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 10:31 am Naimi says no OPEC boost until stocks fall - reportVIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC would wait until crude inventories fell to around 53 days of forward cover before considering raising output, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was reported as saying in remarks published late on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 10:01 am Multiplex owners, producers standoff may be resolvedThe deadlock between multiplex owners and producers on revenue sharing seems to have been amicably sorted out, with an official announcement expected on Saturday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 9:49 am Polaris to take acquisitions route to new places, clientsPolaris Software Lab will look for acquisitions to help it expand into new geographies and acquire new customers. It has cash and cash equivalent of Rs 340 crore for the year ended March 31.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 9:45 am Dell bullish on IndiaComputer maker Dell Inc has been able to improve its share in the Indian market though growth was down.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 9:38 am Gold surges to 2-week high, regains 15-k level on global cuesGold prices on Saturday surged to a two-week high to trade at Rs 15,000 per ten gram on the bullion market.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 May 2009 | 9:37 am NTPC, CIL plan venture for mining, power plantNTPC Ltd and Coal India Ltd (CIL) will shortly enter into an agreement for launching a 50:50 joint venture for mining coal as well as setting up a 4,000 MW pit head power plant at Brahmani coal block near Rajmahal coalfields in Jharkhand.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 May 2009 | 9:21 am INTERVIEW - Gulf Arabs look east after EU trade deal hits wallMUSCAT (Reuters) - Gulf Arab oil producers are expected to sign trade pacts with China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand starting this year after talks with the European Union for a similar deal hit a wall, an Omani official said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 9:17 am Cabinet discusses President’s address to ParliamentNew Delhi: The first meeting of the expanded Union cabinet on Saturday is understood to have discussed and approved the President’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament on 4 June. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting which was also attended by ministers of state with independent charge. Singh is believed to have held deliberations with his team on implementing the 100-day programme of the government during the two-hour long meeting. The Prime Minister has given each minister tasks to be achieved by concerned departments under the ministry within 100 days of the government taking office. President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament on 4 June is expected to unveil the government’s agenda for the year ahead in tune with the policies and programmes of the ruling party and its allies. The President’s address is likely to incorporate its commitment to strengthening schemes like NREGA and economic policies to be followed in the wake of global recession and promises to weaker sections of society. A suggestion to bring the long pending women’s reservation bill at the earliest was made at the first meeting of the ruling UPA alliance recently presided by chairperson Sonia Gandhi recently. Singh expanded his council of ministers on 28 May. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 May 2009 | 9:06 am Jharkhand villagers protest transfer of land to ArcelorMittalVillagers in Jharkhand's Khuti and Gumla district are protesting the transfer of government land to steel giant ArcelorMittal for a proposed greenfield project.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 9:00 am Seafood exports till February-end better than expectedSeafood exports in 2008-09 till February-end have grown close to 8 percent in volume and about 10 percent in rupee terms as compared to the corresponding period the previous fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 9:00 am Bharti Wal-Mart may invest $100 mn in 4 yrs in opening storesBharti Wal-Mart is likely to invest about 100 million dollars in the next 3-4 years to open 15 cash-and-carry stores in India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 8:55 am Tata Steel gets lenders' nod for easier Corus loan termsTata Steely said lenders of its UK-based subsidiary have approved easing certain terms for a Corus acquisition-related debt.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 8:42 am Govt may end fuel subsidies as reform push beginsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government said it may eliminate diesel and gasoline subsidies as soon as July, quicker than expected, ending a policy that had crushed state refiners' profits, strained government finances and inflated oil demand.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 8:37 am Industrial projects in Chhattisgarh hanging fire for nine yearsChhattisgarh is set to examine why agreements that various companies have signed with the government since 2000 to set up projects in the state haven't been honoured.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 8:32 am Cabinet finalises president's address to parliamentThe president's address to the joint session of parliament next week was finalised here Saturday at the first meeting of the cabinet after it was expanded Thursday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 8:31 am Now nurture your hair with natural ingredientsGreen is the new black for your hair. An international hair care brand Saturday launched a new product range that is made of natural ingredients like avocado, grape, and peach milk to make your hair naturally healthy.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 30 May 2009 | 8:30 am Debt waiver plan for weavers to go to Cabinet soonThe Textile Ministry will soon seek Cabinet's approval for a Rs 3,200-crore debt waiver scheme for handloom weavers, as part of the 100-day agenda of the UPA government, Minister of State for Textiles Panabaaka Lakshmi said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 May 2009 | 8:02 am Expressway to be built on recommendations of GFCA: UP - Hindu Business Line
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 7:59 am Bourses in upbeat mood on reform hopes, Sensex jumps 738 pts - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 7:49 am Bourses in upbeat mood on reform hopes, Sensex jumps 738 ptsNothing seems to stop Indian bourses from moving ahead as sustained flow of investments this week lifted the key indices - Sensex and Nifty - by five per cent.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 May 2009 | 7:36 am Toyota to invest Rs 3,200 croreToyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited has decided to invest Rs3,200 crore in its plant at Bidadi, on the outskirts of Bangalore.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 6:54 am Cobra Beer bought over by Molson Coors in a JV dealCobra Beer has been bought over by UK's Molson Coors in a joint venture deal with its NRI-founder Karan Bilimoria.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 6:43 am Hold SAIL, target of Rs 187: KRChoksey - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 30 May 2009 | 6:03 am Judge pushes ruling on Chrysler's sale to MondayNEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. bankruptcy judge overseeing Chrysler LLC's bankruptcy case said on Friday he would issue an opinion "sometime on Monday" on the automaker's proposed sale of most assets to a new company run by Italy's Fiat SpA.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 5:11 am Germany says agrees deal with Magna, GM to save OpelBERLIN (Reuters) - Germany reached a landmark deal with Canadian auto parts group Magna, General Motors and governments to save carmaker Opel from the imminent bankruptcy of its U.S. parent, German leaders said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 5:10 am Worst over for economy, UPA details more reformsNew Delhi: India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2008-09 grew 5.8%, faster than what was widely expected by economists, leading some of them to conclude that the economy has stabilized and the central bank’s loose money policy may be coming to an end.  The economy grew faster than what was widely expected by economists, leading some of them to conclude that the economy has stabilized and the central bank’s loose money policy may be coming to an end. Paras Jain / Mint The economy expanded at this rate despite a contraction in manufacturing, but this was more than offset by the growth in the services sector and pick-up in agriculture. The government’s chief statistician, Pronab Sen, says the future course of the economy will depend on the resumption of investments, which rose higher than expected in the fourth quarter of FY09. GDP for fiscal 2009 expanded by 6.7%, lower than 9% recorded the previous year, but at the upper end of the range forecast by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao in his monetary policy speech in April. At current prices, India’s GDP measured Rs49.33 trillion for the year, ensuring that India remained a trillion-dollar economy. “There are growing signs of stability and probably the worst is behind us,” Shubada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank Ltd said. The implication of stabilization is that “the need for further interest rate cuts has eased,” wrote Sherman Chan, economist at credit rating agency Moody’s, in a report. Following the release of fourth quarter GDP numbers, some economists revised upwards their GDP estimate for 2009-10. “We are raising our GDP forecast to 6.3% y-o-y (year on year) in FY10 from 5.3% earlier, as the initial conditions for a gradual domestic demand-led recovery are now in place,” said Sonal Varma, economist at Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pte Ltd, in a report. However, Sen was sceptical about using fourth quarter GDP data of 2008-09 to draw clear conclusions for the current year. “We are seeing clear discontinuities,” said Sen, referring to difficulty in drawing trends from the fourth quarter GDP data. The 5.8% growth in the fourth quarter came largely on the back of growth in agriculture and government spending. Agriculture grew 2.7% over the corresponding period of the previous year, compared with a contraction of 0.8% in the third quarter (October- December) of 2008-09. The government’s final consumption expenditure in real terms in the fourth quarter was Rs1.31 trillion, higher by 21.29% over the previous year. Click here to see what few ministers have set for themselves to achieve their policy milestones This is because the Centre expanded its fiscal deficit to revive demand and combat the slowdown. For 2008-09, the fiscal deficit in the interim budget of February was revised upwards to 6% of GDP compared with the original budget estimate of 2.5% of GDP. According to Rao, the key to recovery is “how do we translate government spending into private spending”. Investment demand has been the primary driver of India’s growth since 2004. Even as economic activity slowed down in 2008-09, investment grew faster and increased as percentage of GDP. Gross fixed capital formation, or investment levels, in real terms for fiscal 2009 was Rs11.63 trillion, higher by 8.18%. As a percentage of GDP, it was 32.2% compared with 31.6% the previous year. According to Manoj Vohra, director, research, Economist Intelligence Unit, the growth rate in investment fits in with the growth in construction during the year. Moreover, a lot of projects which were in the middle of their completion cycle when credit markets began to choke last year are continuing, he added. The quarterly real investment growth showed an interesting trend. In the third quarter of 2008-09, in which India clearly experienced the impact of global financial turmoil, investment grew by 5.05%. In the next quarter, investment growth increased to 6.52%. Sen said investment over the next few quarters held the key to GDP growth. “Going forward, are they (companies and governments) going to restart projects? That is the big question,” Sen said. Economists Mint spoke to expressed cautious optimism about the current financial year, and added that the economic intent of and measures presented in the budget would play a key role in influencing confidence and, consequently, investment.  Even as the economy beat expectations, the next fiscal year would not be an easy one. Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Addressing the media earlier this week, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said: “Sustained stimulus to growth can be harnessed by the next round of economic reforms.” Manufacturing was the worst performer in the fourth quarter of 2008-09. Manufacturing output contracted year-on-year by 1.4% to Rs1.25 trillion. For the full year, manufacturing output in real terms was Rs4.87 trillion, higher by 2.4%. Sen saw a silver lining in the manufacturing data as it was not as bad as it was initially expected. On 27 February, when the government first announced GDP data for the third quarter of 2008-09, manufacturing output had contracted by 0.2% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year. In the revised GDP data released on Friday, manufacturing output in the third quarter of 2008-09 had grown by 0.9% to Rs1.21 trillion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 May 2009 | 4:41 am H-1B restrictions would choke US of talent: PremjiWipro chief Azim Premji has warned that a proposal to restrict hiring holders of H-1B visas for skilled workers could generate a trade war with countries such as India.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 30 May 2009 | 3:46 am Obama fashions a government of many czarsWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Name a top issue and President Barack Obama has probably got a "czar" responsible for tackling it.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 May 2009 | 1:31 am Q4 GDP growth brings cheerNew Delhi, May 29 The Indian economy logged a better-than-expected 6.7 per cent growth in 2008-09 despite the global financial meltdown adversely impacting its output in the second-half of the fiscal year under review.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am MFs allow investors to shift schemes on profitsMumbai, May 29 In these times of short-lived and uncertain rallies, some mutual funds are offering “trigger facilities” to retain investors and to keep up their interest inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am Moody’s puts 13 Indian banks on rating watchMumbai, May 29 Moody’s Investors Service on Friday placed the ratings of 13 Indian commercial banks, including State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, on review for possible downgrade in the light of its global review of systemic supportSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am Markets this weekA large number of scrips listed under the B, S and T categories hit the upper circuit onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am My motto is phone calls at 10-20 paise a minute: RajaNew Delhi, May 29 The Communications and IT Minister, Mr Andimuthu Raja, expects telephone tariffs to come down to as low as 10 paise a minute for local calls and to 25 paise a minute for domestic long distance calls as a result of the decisionsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am Govt to consider freeing petrol, diesel pricesNew Delhi, May 29 The Government will consider deregulating petrol and diesel prices, Mr Murli Deora, said on Friday after taking over as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas for a second term.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am Certificate of deposit rates of private, foreign banks hardenBangalore, May 29 With bulk investors exerting pressure on short-term debt papers, yields on certificates of deposits and commercial papers are beginning toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am P-Notes on the rise with market surge, say expertsMumbai, May 29 There are signs that issue of Participatory Notes by foreign institutional investors has been increasing the last six months and has gathered momentum in the current market rally, say marketSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am GMR Group signs deal to buy Island PowerBangalore, May 29 The GMR Group has signed an agreement to buy 100 per cent stake in Singapore-based private electric utility Island Power, which is developing an 800-MW power plant in Jurong Island.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am IOC cushioned by Govt bonds, lower fuel sale lossNew Delhi, May 29 Indian Oil Corporation has posted a profit during the fourth quarter of the fiscal ended March 31, 2009 as losses for selling fuel below the cost were lower compared to the same quarter a year ago.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 May 2009 | 12:00 am FICCI calls for simpler taxes, singledigit interest ratesHarsh Mariwala, Vice President, FICCI, wants Fringe Benefit Tax removed and wants direct taxes rationalised and made simpler. Harsh Pati Singhania, President, FICCI, feels effective interest rates should be down to singledigit levels, including a reduction in interest rate required for even small and mediumsector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 May 2009 | 10:21 pm After ‘Slumdog’, Danny Boyle set to film ‘Maximum City’Pune: Director Danny Boyle seems all set to continue his love affair with Mumbai after the global success of Slumdog Millionaire, the movie that won eight Academy Awards earlier this year and made the city and its inhabitants a hot topic of conversation in living rooms across the world. The British film-maker has apparently bought the film rights to Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, a 2004 book by Suketu Mehta, the Indian-born, New York-based journalist and author, for an undisclosed sum.  Drawn to Mumbai: British director Boyle often credited Mehta’s book for its invaluable insights into the city. Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP Boyle, who shot Slumdog on the streets and slums of Mumbai, one of the most crowded cities in the world, has, in the past, often credited Mehta’s book for its invaluable insights into the city. Last December, in a Seattle Weekly interview about the making of Slumdog, Boyle said: “Maximum City, became my Bible, really. I took it with me everywhere. I felt part of the time we were adaptingthat.” Mehta’s non-fiction narrative immersed itself in the lives of Mumbai’s policemen, underworld dons, dancing girls and religious mafia. With a journalist’s skill in documenting, he met with Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, followed Mumbai top cops on their beats, and tracked the life of a bar dancer, weaving it all in a modern-day epic that compared the Indian megapolis with that other Godzilla-sized city, New York. “That is not something I would like to comment on at this time. You would have to address your qusetions to Danny Boyle,” Mehta said. Boyle’s agent said the director is travelling currently and that he had no comment to make at this point. Mint is in possession of an email sent out by a New York-based literary agent and New York Times award-winning writer who teaches creative writing to students across various cities, including those in India, through writing retreats and online classroom sessions in which Mehta is often a guest. An email sent out to a Mumbai-based group of her students recently read, “Author Suketu Mehta, who appears regularly in our digital classroom, just sold film rights to his best-selling book Maximum City, to Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire. We’ll talk to him about the deal in an upcoming Master Class.” Boyle was in Mumbai earlier this week, to help find housing for the child stars of Slumdog, who were recently rendered homeless after civic authorities demolished the illegal hutments in which they lived. The plight of the child stars and their abject poverty had catalyzed the formation of the Jai Ho Trust, immediately after the filming of Slumdog Millionaire and this trust helped to find housing for the stars, with Boyle reportedly spending $42,000 (Rs19.87 lakh) on a tiny apartment for Mohammed Azharuddin Ismail, one of the child stars. Boyle is now on the lookout for similar housing for actor Rubina Ali, who was at the centre of a controversy last month over alleged attempts by her father to sell her to a wealthy buyer. It is not clear if Boyle, who has made films such as Trainspotting, Sunshine and The Beach, will immediately start work on the film adaptation of Maximum City. But in January this year, he had said in an interview to Times Online that he would love to direct another project set in India’s ‘Maximum City’ and that he had a modern thriller set largely in the night when its inhabitants are asleep. The Indian media has been abuzz with reports that Boyle has approached actor Aamir Khan to star in his next venture. Incidentally, Shantaram, another book about Mumbai released in 2003 and written by Australian Gregory David Roberts, is being made into a movie by director Mira Nair. It will be interesting to see if Boyle commissions Mehta himself to write the screenplay of Maximum City, given that the latter has in the past written the screenplay for Bollywood movie Mission Kashmir (along with novelist Vikram Chandra) and for The Goddess, a Merchant-Ivory film. Mehta is working on a book on the immigrant experience in New York, for which he was awarded the 2007 Guggenheim fellowship. Tanmaya Nanda in Mumbai contributed to this story. sudha.m@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 8:17 pm Obama financial reform, yet unwritten, faces battlesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's ambitious draft plan to redraw U.S. financial regulation has been panned by banking groups, setting the stage for a bruising months-long battle among lawmakers and federal agencies.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 7:59 pm Soon, pay market price for fuelYou may soon have to pay more to get your vehicle or genset refuelled if the govt succeeds in its effort to link retail fuel prices with international crude prices.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 7:55 pm Good news: At 6.7%, GDP grows more than expectedWhile this is only a bit higher than the 6.5% most in government were expecting, it is a lot better than the 5-5.5% that independent economists and analysts had projected.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 29 May 2009 | 7:48 pm Dabur Q4 net up, sees steady growth in FY10New Delhi: Quarterly consolidated profit at Dabur India Ltd rose 31% to Rs1.04 crore, led by increased sales in its two key units, and its finance chief on Wednesday said the firm would maintain its growth pace in 2009-10 too. Revenue rose by a fifth to 7.37 crore. The maker of Dabur Amla hair oil and Vatika shampoo would improve its core margins by up to 1 percentage point in the year that began 1 April on cooling commodity prices and cost reductions at the firm, said chief financial officer Rajan Verma. “We believe (sales) growth the next year will mirror this year’s growth, again on a higher base,” Verma said over the telephone. Asked about commodity prices, which had hit record levels in the September quarter, Verma said Dabur’s raw material costs had come down in the March quarter from the previous quarter, and would continue to decline. “Coupled with other initiatives we have taken in managing our costs...we will see some marginal growth in margins this financial year,” he said. “But nothing dramatic will happen.” Dabur shares on wednesday closed 1.8% higher at Rs103.55 in a Mumbai market that rose 3.65%. feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 7:45 pm Oil prices to be freed in 6-8 weeks?In six to eight weeks, petrol could be dearer by Rs 2 a litre but diesel cheaper by 30 paise at current levels of crude price if the government decides to unshackle motor fuel pricing.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 29 May 2009 | 7:44 pm Biocon ups diabetes play with BasalogHopes to log $500 m sales in 10 years from the Lantus generic; To launch in US by 2015 after innovator patent expires.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 7:40 pm GMR Infra to buy S'pore power coGMR Infrastructure Ltd will buy Island Power, the Singapore-based private electric utility, which is developing an 800 mw power plant in the island-state.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 7:40 pm Govt may hike coal pricesCoal India fears hit on profits on labour costs.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 7:40 pm India Inc bets on 9% growthAn upbeat industry, riding on impressive growth achieved in the January-March 2009 period, feels the economy can grow at much faster pace and possibly as high as 9% depending on the success of the Manmohan Singh government's 100-day action plan.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 29 May 2009 | 7:37 pm MTN shareholder Mikati backs deal with BhartiLebanon's Mikati family, one of the largest shareholders in MTN, on Friday threw its weight behind the proposed $23 billion deal between Bharti Airtel and the South African telecom player, and expressed hopes of a full merger of the two entities in the future.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 29 May 2009 | 7:34 pm SBI may cut rates in JuneThe State Bank of India will consider a cut in interest rates after FM Pranab Mukherjee meets chiefs of all PSU banks in early next month.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 29 May 2009 | 7:32 pm Consider Mistry, Rajan reports: Govt to financial markets panelThe High-Level Coordination Committee (HLCC) on Financial Markets is meeting tomorrow to chart a road map for the governments reforms agenda for the sector.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 May 2009 | 7:15 pm UPA back in business, strikes pro-reform noteA strong and unambiguous signal that the new government would forge ahead with reform, especially in fuel pricing, law, education, roads and environment, several of these issues the four Left parties had stalled in the previous government as the price for support in Parliament.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 May 2009 | 7:14 pm Govt set to fast-track borrowing to avoid interest rate pressureComfortable liquidity may prompt RBI to defer gilts buyback.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 May 2009 | 7:13 pm Jaypee Group targets over 15% guidance in FY10Rita V Dixit, Director of Jaypee Group, said the success of Jaypee Greens Aman lies in giving the right product at the right price while retaining the quality level. Speaking on FY10 guidance, Dixit said, \"In FY10 we should definitely do more than 15% to the turnover.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 May 2009 | 6:45 pm Expensive, but India will be the next place to look atMumbai: Global markets have risen over the past two months and, since 9 March, most have seen an unbroken rally. Many markets are up 50%, India is up 70-75%. Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd, who invests in several markets across the world, was one of the first to predict that global equities were readying themselves for a big rally.  Buying opportunity:Templeton Asset’s Mark Mobius says the markets may correct by a modest 15-20%. JC Franca / Bloomberg Is it time for a pause or you think we can still run on from here? Well, the fact that the markets are up so much...—emerging markets in general are up 70% and, as you know, India is up more than that. I think it’s a good time to take a break and maybe have a correction, but there’s still a lot of money waiting in the wing. So...better not get too much in cash if you are fully invested at this stage. Generally, in the past, after such big rallies, markets sometimes give back one-third of the gains, sometimes even half of the gains. Are you expecting a fall as big as that or a more modest one? I would say it would be more modest—15-20%; something like that, of course, depending on the sector and the country..., but I think that’s a doable correction. But, as I mentioned, there’s still a lot of money waiting to (be) invested, a lot of people missed this rally and want to get it but are afraid to get in at this stage. So you’ll probably see a lot of takers if the markets come back this much. So, I would say the correction would be a little more modest. What would be the trigger for such a correction? It will probably be an external event. Something about interest rates, something about government policies in various parts of the world. Maybe something happening in North Korea; it could be a political event. But any trigger like that would enable the market to correct back, so I think that it could be almost anything and, of course, there would be people on the sidelines waiting for that event to come back in. In case you get that 15-20% dip over the next few weeks or days, would you be looking to buy that dip? Would you look on that as a buying opportunity for the remainder of cash that you may be sitting on? Well, the best thing would be to see if there are any opportunities, any bargains lying around. As I mentioned, we are up 70% from the absolute bottom and P-E (price to earnings) ratios, price-book value ratios have come up but it is still relatively cheap looking at the historical perspective. So, any correction would, of course, be an opportunity to look for cheap stocks. What about the flip side to that in terms of an upside? Do you think there is potential for more in terms of an upside? There is potential for much more for two reasons. One, there is more money coming into the funds—our funds and other funds around the world—dedicated to emerging markets and to India. Second, there are quite a few reasonably-priced companies, and, if we look further out from this year to 2015, for example, we see lots of growth opportunities. And, of course, the change that’s taking place politically in India means that there will be substantial economic changes, which means that there will be further growth. Just to scratch that point on liquidity, you are saying it’s not just reserve cash or emerging market funds or Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) funds that are deploying in markets. Are they actually getting fresh inflows now? That’s right. Since the beginning of this year, we have had positive flows. Of course, as you know, (in) October, November, December there were negative flows. In other words, we had more money going out than coming into funds. But now, its just the opposite and we see it accelerating as we go forward. How do you read the Indian political verdict? Do you agree with a lot of commentators that this actually could be an economic game-changer as well? I mean, could it rerate India in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) and also earnings in your eyes? Yes, most definitely. The fact that an incumbent party was re-elected is very significant in the history of Indian politics, as you know, and then, the fact that this party is dedicated to reforms...; even if they achieve half of what they will like to achieve, it will be a big boost to the economy. You must remember that a lot of this is about confidence. If the people are confident that the government is willing to change and institute reforms, then you are going to see money being invested, not only by domestic investors but by foreign direct investors. What would you like to see from a financial market perspective from this government? Well, first and foremost, disinvestment. We would like to see more shares of government-held companies offered in the market. As I mentioned, India is not a cheap market relative to other markets around the world, so you need more supply; there is just not enough supply, that’s the first thing. And, of course, if the government does that, it means they have given up on nationalist issues that have plagued privatization for so long. And with that they will hopefully do more in infrastructure, in terms of sharing with the private sector..., infrastructure projects—toll roads, rail roads—where the private sector participates. This will go a long long way towards rapidly vamping up development in the country. Those would be the spaces then that would perhaps warrant more attention now. That’s correct; that’s where you are going to see... The banks will benefit from that, but you are also going to see sectors like cement, heavy construction, steel, all these sectors will benefit from that move. By the way, we are seeing that in China and other countries where governments are stepping in to boost economic growth, and that’s probably one of the reasons why the commodity prices are coming up and are starting a recovery phase. So if you are bullish on emerging markets, albeit with a bit of a correction, what are your favourite markets in the Bric countries? Well, I would say first of all China. That would be an appropriate target because of the tremendous growth we are seeing in China... India is relatively expensive compared with the emerging markets, but the prospects, in view of the political changes that we have seen, are very, very good. So, I would say India would be the next place to look at and then there would be Russia. Russia is probably the cheapest emerging market around; it’s very, very cheap in terms of P-E (ratios) and other measures. So I would say Russia is a place to keep an eye on. How would global investors like you be approaching the Indian markets now? Because we hear two things, one a newfound confidence in the government, policy direction, and therefore, growth in the next few years. The flip side is that India is trading at a premium to most emerging markets... Do you think investors will still continue to buy India despite slightly stretched valuations? No, (not) unless these reforms kick in pretty rapidly because that would mean forward expectations of earnings would increase, and that means low valuations, lower P-Es and so forth, provided that prices don’t go up so much. So, I would say there’s going to be a lot of focus on India. One aspect, which I think is very important to remember in India, is that although the large-cap stocks (stocks of companies with a high market capitalization) have moved up a lot, the small- and medium-cap stocks provide a lot of opportunity because there’s so many of them and many of them are very good companies with good opportunities. Is that where the interest would probably shift to even among the global institutional investors? Yes, I think so. In their search for opportunity, they would begin to move down into those mid- and small-sized companies. And, of course, the new funds, like our newly-started Asia Small Cap Fund and Global Small Cap Fund, that would be interested in the Indian small-caps. On the point you made about India trading at a premium valuation, if that’s the case, would you be interested in increasing your cash allocation to India? Or would you just wait and watch for more details in the budget...the divestment announcements to come out? We are still nibbling because of the new money coming in but we are still waiting for the new budget...to see how the government moves on these promises. But, nevertheless, because of this new small-cap fund for Asia and the world, we are picking up these smaller companies, so we continue to invest in these companies, large-caps we are more cautious. When you spoke about the possible 15-20% correction, were you talking about the S&P or the US markets, because some of the emerging markets have gone up 60-70%? I think the emerging markets would be correcting less than the US markets, if there’s a correction. I think 15-20% for emerging markets makes sense. If the markets continue their trajectory up then, of course, the correction may be more than that. So, we are not at a point where things are very expensive, and we certainly aren’t near the previous highs in terms of valuations, but we are certainly quite a way up from the bottom. And you must remember that a lot of this is dependent upon the forward expectation for earnings and, in India’s case, it will depend on what the government policies turn out to be. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 6:12 pm GMR Int\'l buys Intergen\'s stake in Singapore Island PowerRanjith Murugason of GMR International said they purchased the project simply because they believe in the value of the project and the longterm prospects of providing energy in Singapore. He added that by 100% control the company will be able to determine the strategic direction of that business.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 29 May 2009 | 5:41 pm Tata Motors 2008/09 net halves, cuts capex plansMUMBAI (Reuters) - Profit at Tata Motors Ltd fell less than expected in 2008/09 due to investment sales and accounting changes, and India's top vehicle maker said it expects an improvement in business towards the end of the year.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 4:57 pm Global talent crunch is set to worsenNew York: Global employers still have trouble finding the right people for open positions, even as candidate resumés pile up amid recession. A global talent crunch has eased slightly, but is set to worsen in coming years because of demographic trends, according to an annual survey by global employment services company Manpower Inc. Worldwide, 30% of employers reported trouble filling positions because of the lack of suitable talent, down slightly from 31% who said so a year ago, according to Manpower, which polled 39,000 employers across 33 countries. While many more people are looking for work, they often lack the skills, or experience, that employers need. “Work is getting more complex, employers are looking for more specific skills, so there is more of a mismatch between supply and demand,” said Mara Swan, Manpower’s executive vice-president for global strategy and talent. The trend points to a looming shortage of skilled workers—or “talent shortage”—that will emerge once economies recover, according to Manpower. The working population is aging in both developed and emerging economies, while lower birth rates point to a dwindling supply of workers in coming decades. Employers need to be ready. “(The recession) gives a false feeling that this is not something we need to spend time on,” Swan said. “As employers, it may be making us a little lazy, because it makes us think it’s not going to happen.” For the second year in a row, vacancies were hardest to fill in skilled trades, which include electricians, plumbers and carpenters. Sales representatives ranked second on the global list, followed by technicians, engineers and managers. Manpower found stark regional differences. Majorities of those surveyed in Romania, Taiwan, Peru and Japan reported feeling the talent shortage, and employers in Australia, Costa Rica and Poland also had problems matching people with jobs. By contrast, their counterparts in Ireland, Spain and the UK had far less trouble filling positions. In India, 80% of employers have no difficulty matching candidates and jobs; 85% said so in China. In the US, where engineers and nurses are most in demand, the talent crunch has eased amid recession. Out of those surveyed, 19% said they faced a crunch, down from 22% a year earlier, and less than half the figure in 2006. When there is excess supply of workers, like now, companies can be picky about whom they hire, but once the talent shortage deepens, it becomes more important for companies to manage their image, or “employer brand”, Swan said. Some companies do a good job of managing their brand, such as Finland’s Nokia Oyj., which asks potential employees if they want to work at the heart of the mobile Internet revolution, or Apple Inc., which trumpets its design capabilities. In such places, new hires know what they are getting into. Key for employers is keeping their message consistent with what new hires actually experience. If it is not consistent, worker morale suffers, and so can the brand, especially given the proliferation of social networking sites and anonymous company reviews on sites such as Glassdoor.com. “If you’re not actively managing your brand, someone else is going to,” Manpower’s Swan said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:49 pm Where are the good people?A recent survey by staffing services firm Manpower indicates that the global talent crunch—evident during the boom years—is still very much around. At first sight, this is counterintutive. After all, if companies have been shedding jobs, and there aren’t too many new ones going around, shouldn’t there be a lot of good people available for the picking? It would seem not. The results suggest that companies have managed to hang on to their best people, but that is only half the story. The other half has to do with how people react to a slowdown. Even the most talented employees, with skills that are much in demand across companies and sectors, tend to hunker down and wait out a slowdown. Their preference for the status quo and fear of change outweighs the appeal of, say, an attractive new job at a higher salary. The bad news for companies is that these employees will leave as soon as the economy turns—unless they are given good reason not to. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:46 pm Government spending boosts GDP growth Nevertheless, it’s an improvement from the third quarter, when the y-o-y growth in GFCE was as high as 56%, with private consumption expenditure growing at 2.3% y-o-y and capital formation growing at 5.1%. Just to put things in perspective, it’s worth recalling that in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008-09, GFCE’s growth rate was negative y-o-y, private consumption was growing at 4.6% and capital formation growth was as high as 9.2% y-o-y. But it’s true that the third quarter of the fiscal marked a low for the economy and both consumption as well as investment demand have picked up since. The sector-wise break-up of the gross domestic product (GDP) data also tells a similar story, with growth in community, social and personal services at 12.5% y-o-y in the fourth quarter, compared with 22.5% in the third. Apart from mining and manufacturing, growth rates have picked up in all sectors in the fourth quarter, compared with the preceding one. The biggest turnaround has been in agriculture, but the construction sector too has increased its growth rate substantially, while the services sector has been resilient. Recall that robust credit flows to the real estate sector had indicated that construction was indeed growing strongly.  It’s true that the third quarter of the fiscal marked a low for the economy and both consumption as well as investment demand have picked up since. Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint But if government expenditure has been the main driver of growth in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2009, the big question is whether it can continue to deliver in future, given the rising fiscal deficit and the fact that it has already led to higher bond yields. Robert Prior-Wandesforde, economist at HSBC, believes that although the scope for a further fiscal push is difficult, the economy will benefit from “the lagged benefits of the previous collapse in commodity prices, the extra oil and gas output set to be pumped from Indian fields, the prospect of a regional if not world trade recovery and the impact of the interest rate cuts, which should start to filter through towards the end of 2009 and in 2010.” The impact of better liquidity is already being seen as firms take advantage of it to repair their balance sheets. The market, though, has been rallying in the hope that the government will give a big push to infrastructure. Pranab Mukherjee had also indicated when he presented the vote-on-account that there would be scope for fiscal push of another percentage point or so of GDP when the final budget would be presented. Also, all the indications seem to point towards more spending in the budget, which is why the sectors that have been going up the most are realty and capital goods. Engineering and capital goods companies have been pinning their hopes on a government push in the infrastructure sector for order inflows. How the government can reconcile higher spending and borrowing with lower interest rates, though, remains to be seen, especially now that oil prices are rising again. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:46 pm World stocks hit new 2009 high, dollar sinks to 5-month lowLondon: World stocks posted a new 2009 high on Friday, hitting levels last seen six months ago, and the dollar sank to a five-month low against major currencies on hopes the global economy has seen the worst of its downturn. Wall Street looked set to join the rally. Commodity prices also gained, with oil at a six-month high, crossing $66 (Rs3,121) a barrel.  On recovery path: A man checks the figures on stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei average closed up 0.75%. Koji Sasahara / AP MSCI’s all-country world stock index was up 1%, having hit 245.40, its highest level since late October. The index has gained nearly 43% since a global stock market rally began in March. Emerging markets stocks were also at year highs. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 1.1% and Japan’s Nikkei average closed up 0.75% at a more than seven month high. Stock markets have been rising since March, although there had been some signs recently of an easing off in gains. Hopes for a second-half recovery in the global economy, however, have been fanning demand for riskier assets and those tied to growth. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global commodities benchmark, is up 12.3% for the month, on its way to the biggest monthly gain since July 1974. “Gains in commodities reflect continued recovery of demand outlook from its collapse after Lehman’s bankruptcy triggered concerns of a depression,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist with SJS Markets in Hong Kong. “Medium-term outlook remains positive for commodities and other risky asset classes as we continue to expect that US GDP (gross domestic product) will start to expand in Q3 and several major Asian economies already in Q2,” he said in a note. Spot gold was up 1.4% at $972 an ounce for a near 10% gain on the month. Some of the rise in commodity prices, however, is linked to the fall in the dollar, which hit a five-month low against a basket of currencies. Signs the global recession may have passed its worst has reignited concern about ballooning US government debt and prompted investors to sell the safe-haven currency. The euro rose 1% to above $1.40 and the dollar sank 1% to less than 96 Japanese yen. Higher-yielding currencies were big gainers as befits a mood of risk appetite. The New Zealand dollar gained nearly 1.7% against its US counterpart. Yields on euro zone government bonds fell despite the stock gains. “Euro zone supply is out of the way...maybe there’s a bit of a chance of an end of week recovery,” said a trader in London. “There’s a fair bit of data so there’s a danger that US data comes out on the strong side again and knocks things down.” Tamawa Desai contributed to this story. feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:46 pm Economic growth spurs rising equity market; rupee also gainsMumbai: Better-than-expected economic growth numbers made investors rush to buy stocks, sending the equity markets soaring on Friday. The rupee, too, gained on expectations of strong foreign inflows. The 30-stock Sensex, India’s bellwether index, gained 2.3% to close at 14,625.25, a level last seen in mid-September. With this, the Sensex has gained 28.3% in May, its strongest monthly performance in 17 years. The broad-based 50-stock Nifty rose 2.58% to 4,448.95.  Strong performance: The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex index rose 2.3% to close at 14,625.25 on Friday, a level last seen in September. Punit Paranjpe / Reuters India’s GDP grew 5.8% in the January-March quarter beating economist estimates. GDP for the whole fiscal year was 6.7%, lower than the 9% recorded the previous year. The latest growth figures prompted brokerages to revise GDP forecast for the current fiscal and next. For instance, Sonal Varma, India economist of Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt. Ltd, raised GDP estimate for fiscal 2010 to 6.3%, from 5.3% as “there are signs that the economy has started to stabilize”. Rajeev Malik, head of India and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economics at Macquarie Capital Securities, Singapore, also revised the growth projections. “Essentially, under reasonable and realistic assumptions about what the government can/will do, we expect an earlier move toward realizable trend growth of 7.5-8% per annum.” According to him, the revival in capital markets is a key factor in healing the crippled investment cycle. Foreign institutional investors, the largest category of investors in Indian equity markets, pumped in $4.2 billion (around Rs19,870 crore today) since January this year after taking out close to $13 billion from Indian markets last year. This has pushed up the Sensex 79% since 9 March, the start of the current rally. “There is a liquidity overhang now,” said Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, chief executive of Tata Asset Management Ltd, which manages assets worth Rs19,438 crore. “There are very few markets where there is growth now. This liquidity has to find its way somewhere and many investors could prefer emerging market equities.” Expectations of more foreign money waiting to be invested in India drove the rupee up against the dollar even as the greenback depreciated against all major currencies. The rupee advanced 6.4% this month to close at 47.09 a dollar, a five-month high, according to Bloomberg. Dealers said the rupee could have gained more, but for central bank intervention. The Reserve Bank of India bought around $400 million from the market to rein in an appreciating local currency, as a rising rupee hurts exporters since their dollar income in rupee terms goes down. Dealers expect the rupee to hover around 47 a dollar level for some more time and strengthen further, but chances of depreciation are less. There was no cheer from the bond market though despite the good GDP numbers, as the threat of government over-extending its Rs3.08 trillion borrowing programme continued to discourage risk appetite. The benchmark 10-year bond yield closed at 6.70%, from 6.73% on Thursday. Fund managers expect the rally in the equities market to continue, but cautioned that a lot also hinges on the performance of the government, which has built up a lot of expectations after its win. The question is “whether the government is able to go back to governance—get demand started, improve infrastructure”, said Sameer Kamdar, chief executive of the proposed asset management company from the ASK Group. “The markets have a lot of expectations regarding disinvestment, privatization and (freeing) foreign direct investments. If these do not happen, this could lead to a short-term sell-off.” “I can’t see it (Sensex) rising beyond 15,000 unless we see earnings upgrades over the next one year,” said Sanjeev Prasad, Kotak Securities Ltd’s head of research. “Blanket buying post the election outcome has happened. Now, for the markets to rise further, looks a stretch.” The index may fall to as low as 11,000 over the next 12 months, he added. Shares in the Sensex trade at an average 14.8 times future earnings, up from their 2009 low of 8.83 on 11 March, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China’s Shanghai Composite Index is valued at 17 times future earnings, Brazil’s Bovespa trades at 10 times and Russia’s RTS index trades at 6.8 times earnings. Robert Prior-Wandesforde, senior Asian economist at Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd, is one of those who is not hugely excited about the GDP numbers. He has not changed his growth forecast. According to him, the pace of reform is likely to remain slow and cautious, and “the benefits of economic reforms typically take a couple of years to filter through”. Anup Roy and Ashwin Ramarathinam of Mint, and Rajhkumar K Shaaw and Pooja Thakur of Bloomberg contributed to this story. ravi.k@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:45 pm Sensex lifeline: high beeps and pratfallsHPCL 8.4% Up Shares of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) ended up 8.4% to close at Rs362.95 on the National Stock Exchange on Friday after petroleum minister Murli Deora said the cabinet will soon take a decision on tax breaks for gas production, and also decide on deregulation of oil prices. ********* Gateway 11.59% Up Shares of Gateway Distriparks Ltd gained 11.59% after Allcargo Global Logistics exited the firm by selling a 5.97% stake in the last two months. Yesterday, Sealand Terminals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allcargo Global, sold 1.45 million shares of Gateway Distriparks at Rs83.7 per share. ********* JP Associates 8.36% Up Shares of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd closed 8.36% up as one of its residential projects in Noida sold 3,300 apartments in 24 hours, at a price of Rs19-30 lakh per unit. The firm has guided revenues of Rs1,000 crore from its real estate division in 2009-10. ********* Nagarjuna Cons 10.2% Up Shares of Nagarjuna Construction Co. Ltd closed up 10.2% after the firm guided FY10 consolidated profit at Rs5,500 crore and new orders at Rs6,500 crore. The firm’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortization) may improve to 9.5-9.75% in the fiscal. ********* Sun Pharma 8% Down The Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd stock declined 8% on the back of poor performance of its US unit Caraco Pharmaceuticals Laboratories Ltd. The unit reported a lower-than-expected net income, at $20.5 million for FY09 compared with $35.4 million a year ago. ********* Mahindra Forgings 20% Up Shares of Mahindra Forgings Ltd surged 20% after a Mahindra and Mahindra meet where the company said that 200 auto component suppliers in Germany are expected to default by 2009, which could benefit Mahindra Forgings’ export business. ********* Gokaldas Exports 5% Up The Gokaldas Exports Ltd stock gained 5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday. The management of the firm told CNBC-TV18 that they are meeting the finance secretary next week to submit requests for textile reforms, which include reducing duty drawbacks and interest rate exemptions. ********* KCP 10.01% Up Shares of KCP Ltd gained 10.01% on the back of improved fourth quarter results. It had reported a 31% increase in its revenue to Rs119.68 crore, against Rs91.31 crore a year ago. It posted a net profit of Rs20.91 crore in the quarter, against Rs6.18 crore in the year-ago period. ********* Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:44 pm Industry pitches for reforms in first 100 days of new govtNew Delhi: Business lobbies Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) have recommended a set of economic reforms for the early months of the United Progressive Alliance government. CII’s agenda includes a demand for a reduction in the repo and reverse repo rates by at least 50 basis points, to 4.25% and 2.75%, respectively. Disinvestment of equity in well-performing public sector units and introduction of the goods and services tax regime are among the other recommendations. “We expect the new government to move forward on reforms, now that a stable government is in place,” said Venu Srinivasan, president of CII. In its 100-day agenda, Ficci has asked for measures that will restore economic growth to 9%, from 5.8% in the March quarter. It has asked the government to give incentive to the private sector in agriculture by treating 150% of investment by private firms in the agricultural infrastructure chain as deductible expenditure. It has also asked for a reduction in interest rate for the manufacturing sector to 8-10%, bringing stability in the policy for special economic zones, and bringing back disinvestment into the mainstream economic agenda. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:43 pm LG India to double R&D spending to Rs400 crore a yearNew Delhi: Despite a slowing economy, makers of consumer goods such as refrigerators, television sets and washing machines say demand in India for their wares has been largely unaffected. LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd, or LGEIL, in one such firm. The South Korean company continues to be bullish about its India prospects and is investing in expanding operations across areas such as design, service and manufacturing, managing director Moon B. Shin said in an interview. Edited excerpts: Has the current economic downturn affected the electronics and appliances industry? What is the way forward?  Gathering pace: Managing director Shin says it is more important for LG Electronics to be No. 1 in India than anywhere else across the globe. Rajkumar / Mint I am of the view that by the end of this year, India’s economy will get rid of the downturn, so going ahead, we will only see growth happening, and increase in consumer demand. Also, rural markets were better than last year for us. A good harvest coupled with initiatives announced by the government provided a boost to the purchasing power of rural consumers, which also benefited our business. Having said that, do you have specific plans for rural consumers? We are increasing our focus on the rural markets. It is interesting to note that for rural consumers, price is not the only deciding factor. Consumers today are looking for value for money, premium products, along with good service. I visited some rural markets recently, (where) people are asking for 50-litre refrigerators. So it’s not that they want only cheap products. So we are currently working on developing a range of low-end products across categories which will offer value for their (rural consumers) money. The launch is slated around Diwali season this year under the LG brand. Which are the areas you are investing in India? India is a very strategic and important market for the parent company. Given the nature of the consumer electronics industry, our business requires a lot of investment in logistics, skill development, services and manufacturing. In the next five years, we are going to invest in the fundamentals of the business. The focus this year will be on setting up a design centre and a research and development facility at our unit in Greater Noida. Going forward we are thinking of setting up an institute here to study and review the future of India’s economy, which will help us in our plans for the market here. We have such centres in Korea and China. The research will help us know where is India heading. What kind of investments are you planning in R&D and manufacturing? In the last five years, we have invested about Rs200 crore on R&D and Rs400 crore every year on marketing. Going ahead, from this year onwards, we are looking to double the amount of investments done in R&D to Rs400 crore every year. Currently, we have one manufacturing unit each at Greater Noida (near Delhi) and Ranjangaon in Pune. As we continue to invest in manufacturing, there is scope for expansion at the Ranjangaon unit for the next three years. Probably by 2012, we may have to find another extension. We will look at setting up another unit around that time. What is your vision for the Indian market and are you making any changes at the organizational level to support the vision? We want to be the No. 1 player in every category in India. In the last six-seven years, we have managed to grab the top slot in many categories. It is important to be No. 1 here than anywhere else across the globe. Since India is an emerging market, we need speed in operations here. We will soon appoint an expert to look into the company’s organizational structure and help us in making the decision-making process shorter. The vision is to empower people in different verticals to take decisions and clearly define their own roles and responsibilities. What is the company’s current turnover and the target for this year? In 2008, the company sold products worth Rs10,730 crore. In 2009, the target is to take this figure up to Rs13,000 crore. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:28 pm Karunanidhi appoints Stalin as Tamil Nadu deputy CMChennai: Long groomed as his heir to the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s throne and to head the DMK, M Karunanidhi on Friday appointed his son M K Stalin as the deputy chief minister of the state. Click here to watch video The DMK chief, who appointed his 55-year-old son to be his deputy, entrusted to him the portfolios of Industry, General Administration, District Revenue Officers and Minority Welfare hitherto held by him. Stalin, who still heads the party’s youth wing and had shot to fame after his incarceration under MISA during the 1975 Emergency, will also continue to hold the portfolio of Rural Development and Local Administration, a Raj Bhavan press release, announcing his appointment, said. The elevation of Stalin, who was Chennai mayor during Karunanidhi’s earlier tenure between 1996 and 2001, has been on the cards for quite sometime as Karunanidhi had been having problems after his major surgery for back pain in February last. In his absence, Stalin was the main campaigner for the DMK in the Lok Sabha polls. His elevation came a day after his elder brother M K Azhagiri was sworn in as union chemicals and fertilisers minister in the UPA government. In a statement, Karunandhi (85) said he was unable to pay full attention to the administration because of his ill health. “I have to clear not less than hundred files a week. I had discussed the issue with finance minister K Anbazhagan and asked him whether he can shoulder some more responsibility. He had also cited health reasons (for not taking up). “After discussions, it has been decided that I will keep one or two important portfolios and Anbazhagan continue as the leader of the House in the state Assembly. Stalin will be after two of us’, Karunanidhi said. Stalin, who was the DMK’s deputy general secretary, was promoted as party treasurer in June last year, giving him the number three spot in the party hierarchy, after Karunanidhi and another veteran general secretary K Anbazhagan, who is a year older than Karunandhi. His elevation is seen as an attempt by Karunanidhi to pave the way for Stalin’s succession to the positions held by him. Stalin had deputized for his father at the swearing in ceremony of the union Council of Ministers on Thursday in Delhi. He bore the brunt of campaigning for the DMK in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls as Karunanidhi, who underwent a major surgery for his back pain in February last, had been advised against travelling by the doctors. ”Stalin has brought energy to the party and his hard work has been rewarded’, Kanimozhi, his sister and Rajya Sabha member said commenting on her father’s decision. The organizational skills of Stalin came to fore when he conducted a massive youth wing conference of the DMK at Tirunelveli last year. There were demands in the conference that Stalin should be given more say in the government and party affairs but Karunanidhi said they would be considered at an appropriate time. During the feud between the families of Karunanidhi and Maran brothers, Stalin took the initiative to bring it to an end amicably. Known for his silent negotiating skills, Stalin successfully negotiated the seat-sharing arrangements with the Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi during the recent Lok Sabha polls. He was said to have a key role in the selection of DMK nominees in Manmohan Singh government that was fully constituted on Thursday. Dayanidhi Maran reportedly Stalin’s choice in the ministry, besides Jagatratshagan, Gandhiselvan and Nepolean, who were inducted as ministers of state. Stalin had always functioned from Chennai unlike his brother who was sent to Madurai to look after the party in the southern districts. During his incarceration in Emergency, there were complaints that jail officials had attacked him and ill-treated him. Chittibabu, then a DMK MP, who was his roommate in the jail who bore the brunt of the attack and died in the prison in 1976, DMK leaders had then claimed. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:28 pm The week in reviewAfter much deliberation 59 ministers were sworn in on Thursday and on Friday the action had started as ministers took charge of their portfolios. In their first interactions with the media many of them gave clues on how they planned to proceed. Petroleum minister Murli Deora said that the Cabinet would take a decision on the deregulation of petrol and diesel prices in 6 weeks. Company affairs minister Salman Khursheed said that the would reintroduce the Companies Bill. On Satyam scandal, he said that he had asked the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to chalk out a strategy for prosecution along with the CBI. And minister for commerce and industry Anand Sharma said he would work to intensify India’s trade engagement with the world. Click here to watch video Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has promised more economic and financial reforms, a focus on infrastructure creation and emphasis on inclusive growth. In his first press conference after taking charge Mukherjee reiterated that the government would strive for balance. “I have no hesitation in saying that along with reviving the momentum of growth and employment creation, our government will strengthen the various ‘inclusive’ elements in the coming budget,” he said. The stock market reacted positively to the statement of intent by the finance minister. Pranab plans to present the full budget for 2009-10 in the first week of July. Bharti Airtel has revived merger talks with South Africa’s MTN group. If the merger goes through, it would create one of the largest mobile phone companies in the world, with close to 200 million customers and combined revenues of at least $20 billion or Rs94,400 crore. The two companies will engage in exclusive negotiations till the 31 July, 2009. The announcement came almost exactly a year after the two firms broke off merger talks because of differences over who would control the combined entity. National corporate editor Josey Puliyenthuruthel talks about the significance of the deal. Television—and advertisers —just can’t get seem to get enough of cricket. The IPL just got over but with other high-profile tournaments coming up ensure that advertising money keeps flowing to channels telecasting these matches, while non-sports channel lose advertising revenue. Riding high on the cricket craze in the country, sports channels are walking away with a large chunk of the advertising pie. There are a number of international cricket tournaments scheduled for the entire year like ICC Champions Trophy and Champions League. “There is clearly no cricket fatigue because interest from advertisers has been phenomenal. We’ve got 10 sponsors and over 20 advertiser on spot-buys buying advertising time at Rs4 lakh as against Rs2.25 lakh last time, ” says R.C. Venketeish, managing director, ESPN. To woo back big advertisers, the non-sports channels are reworking their programming strategy and are holding back major plans for the lean cricket seasons. The estimated 40 million workers who have kept their retirement money with the state-run Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation will receive a return of 8.5% in 2009-10, thanks to new private sector fund managers who injected a dose of competition and a rise in bond prices after October. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:26 pm Sensex up 2.3%, capping best month in 17 yearsMumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) sensitive index rose on Friday, capping its best month in 17 years, after a government report showed faster-than-expected economic growth last quarter. The rupee rallied. Click here to watch video DLF Ltd. jumped 9% and Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) added nearly 4%. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.8% in the three months to 31 March 2009, beating the 5% median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey. “There is reason to be optimistic for investors as this can be taken to mean the economy is on a rising growth path,” said Murthy Nagarajan, who manages the equivalent of $181 million (Rs856 crore) in Indian assets at Mirae Asset Global Investments in Mumbai. The Sensex added 329.24 points, or 2.3%, to 14,625.25. The S&P CNX Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) added 111.85 points, or 2.6%, to 4,448.95. The rupee advanced 0.8% to 47.23, the biggest gain since 18 May. It gained 6% in May, the most since 1973, according to Bloomberg data. Overseas investors have bought $3.7 billion of more local equities than they sold this year. Inflows accelerated on speculation the Congress government, with almost twice as many seats as the main Opposition, may reduce barriers to foreign investment in insurers and retailers, plans that had been blocked by its former communist allies. The Sensex has surged 28% in May, its biggest monthly gain since March 1992, when the index climbed 51%. Gains were boosted by a 17% rally on 18 May, the first day of trading after the ruling Congress party’s biggest election victory in two decades. DLF jumped 9% to Rs406.50, the highest since 22 September. L&T rose 4.2% to Rs1,402.20, the highest in more than nine months. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd gained 5% to Rs668.90. The company reported during late trading on Thursday a better-than-estimated 89% surge in fourth quarter profit. State-owned Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC) led gains by refiners after oil minister Murli Deora said that he will seek cabinet approval to free fuel prices from government control. “The government has taken notice and is working on a proposal,” said Deora, who was re-appointed oil minister on Thursday. He said: “We will take it up to the cabinet in six weeks.” IOC gained 6.8% to Rs609. Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd climbed 3.7% to Rs464.70, while Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd added 8.4% to Rs362.95. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:18 pm R-Infra sole bidder for 2nd Mumbai Metro projectBangalore: A consortium led by Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd on Friday emerged the sole bidder in a financial tender for the Rs7,660 crore second line of the Mumbai Metro rail network. The Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) firm, in partnership with Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group and Reliance Infocomm Ltd, submitted a bid amount of Rs2,298 crore, which is the capital grant it requires from the Central and state governments for the mass rapid transit project.  In progress: A Metro construction site in Mumbai. Vijayanand Gupta / Hindustan Times “This (Reliance Infra’s) is the only bid we have received and we will send it for approval to the executive committee of the MMRDA,” said Dilip Kawathkar, spokesman for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the nodal agency handling the project. Once approved, the contract will be handed over to the bidder. “Reliance’s bid of Rs2,298 crore is much less than the 40% grant that it is entitled to, which is a qualifying criterion,” said a senior Reliance Infra official on condition of anonymity. The second Metro line, to be built in a public-private partnership model, is entitled to a maximum grant of Rs3,064 crore, or 40% of the project cost, from the Union and state governments. Of this, the Union government has approved Rs1,532 crore. Six other groups that had submitted technical bids earlier—Reliance Industries Ltd, GVK Group-Bombardier Inc., Tata Power Co. Ltd-Mitsubishi Corp., GE India-Larsen and Toubro Ltd, IL&FS-Punj Llyod Ltd and Essar- Alstom—dropped out in the financial bid round. Reliance Infra is also constructing the first 11km long, Rs2,356 crore Andheri-Versova-Ghatkopar rail corridor connecting the city’s western and eastern suburbs. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 4:02 pm 3 Ruia Group firms under lens in sales tax caseMumbai / Kolkata: The Maharashtra sales tax department is probing at least three firms owned by Kolkata-based businessman Pawan Kumar Ruia for allegedly running a hawala racket to reduce sales tax liability, according to a media release. Kolkata-based Ruia Group is not connected with the Mumbai-based Ruia family, which owns the Esssar Group and has interests in telecom, shipping and logistics, and oil, among others. The firms under investigation are Dunlop India Ltd, Falcon Tyres Ltd and Monotona Tyres Ltd, all of which make and supply tyres and rubber products.  No comment: Ruia Group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint The investigation wing of the sales tax department had on 15 January raided the premises of Adhirath Commercial Pvt. Ltd at Malad, a western suburb of Mumbai, that houses five Ruia Group companies—Girish Commercial Pvt. Ltd, Chandani Commercial Pvt. Ltd, Perfect Vinimay Pvt. Ltd, Teerth Traders Pvt. Ltd and Jessop and Co. Ltd. The release did not not divulge further details of the case. According to officials, all these five firms belong to the Ruia Group. The group took over Jessop in 2003, and Dunlop in 2005. Ruia could not be contacted because he was travelling. Calls made to his mobile phone were not answered or returned. The group’s spokesperson Dhrubajyoti Nandi said he didn’t have any comments to offer because Ruia was not around. Sales tax is levied on the sale of a commodity, which is produced or imported and sold for the first time. If the product is sold subsequently without being processed further, it is exempt from sales tax. The modus operandi followed by the companies involved in the racket was to issue sales and purchase bills to each other without actually carrying out the transactions in order to avail of the input tax credit running into huge amounts, said the release, dubbing the system as hawala. Input tax credit is the amount of tax paid by the dealer on purchases for which credit can be claimed. Input tax credit thus sets off the input tax paid against the amount of output tax plus a value-added tax collected from the buyer. One of the officials said that the total amount of fake purchase bills issued by the firms is about Rs1,200 crore. Hawala is an informal money or value transfer system for remitting money in which a financial obligation between two parties is settled by transferring it to a third party. Typically, a debtor passes on the responsibility of payment of his debt to a third party. Since hawala is a paperless mechanism for settling international accounts, and operates largely through cash transfers on the basis of trust, it is hard to investigate. According to its website, the Ruia Group is a “fast emerging industrial conglomerate with interest in infrastructure and engineering, tyre and rubber products, sugar and electronics”. The Ruia Group has a workforce of “about 9,000 skilled, committed and qualified professionals”, the website said. It has manufacturing facilities at Kolkata and Sahaganj (West Bengal), Chennai, Mysore, Kamlapur (Uttar Pradesh) and Hirakud (Orissa), and offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. The group also has offices in New York, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Guangxhou (China), and manufacturing units in London and Kuala Lumpur. khushboo.n@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 3:48 pm Auto volumes will not return to earlier levelFor Baba Kalyani, chairman of the $2.4 billion, or around Rs11,352 crore (by revenue for the year ended March), Kalyani Group that owns Bharat Forge Ltd, venturing into global business through the 2004 acquisition of CDP Aluminiumtechnik GmbH of Germany, was part of a carefully charted strategy. The acquisition turned the company from a low-cost supplier of auto components into a multinational that could compete globally. Over the next three years, the group made two more acquisitions in Germany, and one each in Sweden, Scotland, the US and China, becoming one of the world’s largest forging companies. In an interview, Kalyani spoke about his firm’s investments and acquisitions in Europe and the way ahead in what is one of the worst times for the auto industry .  Playing safe: Kalyani Group chairman Baba Kalyani. The decision to get into acquisition mode and acquire a global presence was a very clearly thought-out strategy. At Bharat Forge, we knew in early 2000 that despite the big growth in the domestic auto industry, it was not enough to give us the kind of growth we wanted. The only way to grow rapidly was through establishing a global footprint, especially in Europe. We realized early on that it is not enough to be a mere low-cost supplier of components. A company has to be in the local market (in the world market) to get local business. Our overall acquisition strategy has played out very well. Going global meant that our image changed from being a low-cost Indian supplier to a global MNC (multinational company), which got us the same opportunities that other global MNCs got. Even our Indian operations benefited from our European experience, in that our entire business model changed; our exports went up dramatically and that put us way ahead in the business. On managing buys We decided it would be strategically right to keep the management of all subsidiaries with local people. There was the usual initial resistance—the tug-of-war between white and non-white—but in the end, people respect hard work and, talent and intelligence, and now there are no issues. We now have strong cross-functional teams in India and European subsidiaries, but management is local. On the hard times Nobody anticipated the meltdown, and we are going through the same tough time that the entire manufacturing industry is. While the global auto industry has witnessed recessionary phases earlier, this time the scale is completely different. The US, which was running on (sales of) 16.5 million light vehicles (cars and vans) annually, is down 60% to 9.5 million in just one year. Europe has come down from 15 million units to 11 million units. Can you imagine the havoc it is playing with the suppliers and the system? Volumes will never come (back) to the same level, and both the auto manufacturers and suppliers will have to restructure to the new realities. But we are taking steps that will help tide over difficult times; we are right-sizing operations, cutting costs, freezing capex (capital expenditure) and bringing down manpower across locations. In Europe, across the board, we have reduced manpower. By 2010, we will be a leaner organization, and the bright side of the recession, I think, is that companies, which survive this recession will emerge stronger. Our US subsidiary is a different challenge altogether and unless the Chrysler and General Motors saga unfolds completely, we can’t put any strategy in place for this market. On overseas acquisitions With the depressed business scenario that we are going through now, it is easy for people to say in hindsight that it could have been avoided. But, like I said, for us it was a conscious decision and a very successful journey. We invested prudently. On a total €57 million (around Rs377 crore) investment for all our acquisitions, we have made a 25% return, which I consider as reasonable. It is not a great RoI (return on investment) but then the entire cost structure abroad is different, and it is not possible to have the same level of RoI as in India. On profitability abroad You can’t compare foreign operations with Indian operations. The cost structure is completely different. The cost of manpower there is very big. Average Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a measure of profitability) margins in Europe are between 8% and 12%, but analysts want everything to be the same as in India. It does not work that way. We are also told things would be better if we shifted production to India. Yes, it would be cheaper and we might better our margins but this is not the time to do so. It has to be done strategically, in the medium term, with planning. It would be suicidal to take up something drastic when morale is so down all around you. On 2010 priorities It is not a good time for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) just now. Distressed companies are possibly available almost for free, but there are too many imponderables, you just don’t know what liabilities these firms come with. M&As in the US are out of the question. In Europe, valuations will come down even more after a couple of months. Our priority is to secure our companies so that by 2010 each one of them is back on track and in the black. Samar Srivastava contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 May 2009 | 3:22 pm Growth beats expectations, fuels recovery hopesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's economy grew faster than expected in the March quarter, helped by strength in farm and services sectors that suggested Asia's third-largest economy has already turned the corner and may be set for an early recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 29 May 2009 | 1:39 pm
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